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2019 Honda Passport release date
The LA Auto Show at the end of November was filled with product announcements, with one of the most notable being the return of the Honda Passport. After 15 years off the market, the Passport is back and has been redesigned for 2019. The crossover SUV is essentially a smaller version of the 2019 Honda Pilot, but with more dynamic styling and off-road capability. Best of all, the new model has an early release date and is expected to go on sale in the first part of 2019. Read the rest of this entry »
2019 Honda Passport vs. 2019 Honda Pilot
The all-new Honda Passport made its world debut at the LA Auto Show at the end of November, much to the excitement of SUV shoppers. This sporty new model is larger than the Honda CR-V, but smaller than the Pilot. But just what are the differences between the 2019 Honda Passport and 2019 Honda Pilot? You might be surprised! In fact, the Passport is like the Pilot, but is smaller in size, has more ground clearance, less seats and sharper exterior styling. Read the rest of this entry »
2019 BMW X7 color options
Excitement surrounding the all-new 2019 BMW X7 is already building! The luxury SUV made its world debut at the LA Auto Show on November 28 and is expected to arrive at Hansel Auto Group as early as March 2019. Choose from a variety of trims and sophisticated color options. Read the rest of this entry »
2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid release date
The LA Auto Show has been filled with new vehicle releases, but perhaps one of the most exciting announcements was the debut of the 2020 Toyota Corolla Hybrid. Since its creation, the Toyota Corolla has been recognized for its strong fuel economy figures and great reliability. Adding a new hybrid powertrain is sure to add even greater power and capability to the sleek sedan. Best of all, the new Corolla Hybrid is set for a spring 2019 release date. Read the rest of this entry »
When is the Subaru Crosstrek Plug-In Hybrid’s release date?
The Subaru Crosstrek is back and this time with electric power. Introducing the new 2019 Subaru Crosstrek Plug-In Hybrid, which made its world debut at the LA Auto Show on November 28. So when can you expect to see the new model released? While there is no specific date as of now, Subaru did say the new Crosstrek will go on sale starting in December 2018. Read the rest of this entry »
What is the BMW X7 2019 release date?
SUVs have taken the U.S. market by storm and BMW is heating things up with the introduction of the all-new X7 on November 28 at the LA Auto Show. The large SUV is the epitome of luxury and offers the finest driving experience and cabin comfort. In fact, the X7 is BMW’s largest SUV to date. Read the rest of this entry »
Are you shopping for a versatile three-row crossover SUV? Then you already have many great options to choose from. But if you have your eye on an SUV with a quiet ride, a generous array of premium features and a spacious cabin, consider the 2019 Toyota Highlander. It’s available in six models, including the LE, LE Plus, XLE, SE, Limited and Limited Platinum, all of which are standard with a variety of entertainment and convenience technologies. Read the rest of this entry »
Hear the Lincoln Aviator SUV’s Detroit Symphony sounds
Beeps, buzzes and chimes are some of the many ways that driver assistance technologies alert and notify drivers. From a gentle reminder that the vehicle is moving out of its lane to a notification that your vehicle is due for service, these are some of the ways automotive technologies help drivers stay alert and in control. That said, these notifications have always been very electronic sounding and can sometimes be more annoying than helpful. Lincoln is working to change that with some innovative updates on the 2020 Aviator. Lincoln has done something unique and has worked with the Detroit Symphony to come up with a variety of unique chimes for 25 features on the new Aviator. Read the rest of this entry »
The Ford F-150 has always been a powerful force on the road, thanks to its incredible engine options and dynamic handling. Ford has upped the ante even further for 2019 with the creation of the F-150 Raptor. This high-performance, off-road pickup truck isn’t brand-new to the F-150 lineup, but it does receive a variety of new features and equipment for the 2019 model year. Best of all, the truck’s official release date has arrived and the new model is now available! Read the rest of this entry »
What are the 2020 Toyota Corolla color options?
Since it first made its world debut, the Toyota Corolla has been recognized time and time again for its strong reliability ratings and great overall value. The 2020 Corolla carries on this tradition as the 12th generation of the sedan. Toyota marks this major milestone in the Corolla’s history with a complete redesign of the model, including new engine options, high-tech features and safety technologies. Read the rest of this entry »


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K’taka issues guidelines to firecracker sellers ahead of Deepavali
Bengaluru: The Karnataka government on Wednesday issued Deepavali guidelines for sale of crackers, which makes it mandatory for the firecracker sellers to sanitise their shops on a daily basis.
Besides, as per the Covid-19 protocols, both sellers and buyers must wear masks compulsorily and it must be strictly enforced by the sellers during Deepavali.
The guidelines also mandate that the seller should not allow the people to gather around their shops in large numbers.
Deepavali is celebrated for as many as 17-days in the state beginning from November 1 to 17.
These guidelines were issued by the Chief Secretary T. M Vijay Bhaskar, directed Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendent of Police (SPs) of all districts, Bengaluru City Police Commissioner and Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) to enforce these guidelines.
As per these guidelines, only authorised dealers will be allowed to sell firecrackers and would be permitted to sell between November 1 and 17 only.
The firecracker sellers must ensure to follow Covid-19 protocols (SOPs) such as maintaining social distance.
The firecracker shops should be operated only in open places and not in crowded places and these shops must have adequate ventilation facility.

domain: news


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Renewable energy sources like wind and solar are taking off in a big way, in the U.S.A. That’s not just a claim by a random meme picture on Facebook, the latest Federal Energy Regulatory Commission reports say so.
According to the recently-released “Energy Infrastructure Update” report from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission’s (FERC) Office of Energy Projects, wind and solar accounted for all new generating capacity placed in-service in April. For the month, two “units” of wind (the 300-megawatt (MW) Hereford-2 Wind Farm Project in Deaf Smith County, TX and the 211-MW Mesquite Creek Wind Project in Dawson County, TX) came on line in addition to six new units – totaling 50 MW – of solar.
Further, since the beginning of 2015 over half of new 3,287 megaWatts of electricity generating capacity in the U.S. has been renewable energy projects. Of the 3,287 megaWatts total so far, 1,518 megaWatts were natural gas plants, making 1,769 megaWatts of wind, solar, geothermal, biomass and other renewable electricity generation sources.
This is a strong sign we’re moving in the right direction.
For details see – http://www.ferc.gov/legal/staff-reports/2015/apr-infrastructure.pdf
- Tesla plans to keep more stores open, re-increase prices, backtracking on previous plan - March 11, 2019
- Imperial Beach CA backs off from “managed retreat” from the ocean that was their plan for sea level rise response - March 7, 2019
- Tesla closes stores to raise cash to pay off convertible bonds? - March 5, 2019
- Tesla does end-run around states prohibiting direct car sales, and starts shipping $35k Model 3 - February 28, 2019
- Trump Administration cuts off “negotiations” with California over clean air rules - February 21, 2019
- Amazon investing in Rivian, GM possibly to follow - February 15, 2019
- Pres. Trump selling Paradise to coal baron who donated money to his campaign - February 13, 2019
- GM, Amazon, looking to invest in Rivian, no sign of GM/Tesla EV truck joint venture - February 12, 2019
- Tesla’s goals may require rumored joint venture with GM on electric pickup truck - February 12, 2019
- Green New Deal outline proposed in US Congress - February 7, 2019


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A Financial Investment with a Guaranteed Return
What a week! Starting on Monday — continuing on Wednesday and concluding on Friday — I had the pleasure to lead the selection process for the Venture DC Black Tech Pitch Competition. The competition yielded 53 tech companies from DC, run by African Americans who are disrupting their respective sectors. On Thursday, I attended the State of Entrepreneurship, hosted by the Kauffman Foundation. Surrounded by peers and colleagues — the majority of whom were white and male — I was pleasantly surprised with the content of the Foundation’s presentations. @KauffmanFDN publicly acknowledged that entrepreneurship is not equally accessible by all people in the United States. More specifically, Wendy Guillies, President and CEO of the Foundation, noted that the “changes in the composition of America’s population are not yet fully reflected in the composition of our nation’s entrepreneurial population. This means that the portrait of U.S. entrepreneurs — 80.2 percent white and 64.5 percent male — looks a lot different than that of the overall U.S. population.” Kauffman’s research is available in their #ZeroBarriers report; I think it could easily be renamed #entrepreneurshipsowhite.
When I left the session, I was moderately excited. Victor Hwang, the Foundation’s new Vice President of Entrepreneurship, noted that moving forward Kauffman would focus on “ecosystems, market gaps and turning big ideas into action.” Maybe now the world would pay attention to what so many Black and Brown entrepreneurs have known and more importantly, experienced, for years. While the statistics are readily cited about increased entrepreneurship amongst African Americans, especially women, there seems to be little action (i.e. increased funding), or evidence of outcomes, that a change is underway.
So, what made my optimism rise? Kauffman funds a majority of entrepreneurial research and activity in the US. With an endowment of $2 Billion, and a new commitment to invest in big ideas, maybe Kauffman can turn this sinking ship of American economic prosperity and wealth creation around — especially for communities of color.
As I returned to listen to pitches from Black tech entrepreneurs my optimism turned to a sense of urgency. Over the course of three days I saw 22 companies. Many of these companies have made money and proven their value proposition. Others have proven customer adoption via beta sites and demo products. Every entrepreneur has made significant sacrifices and has given blood, sweat and tears to their ventures. And all need money!
As many individuals seek to create million dollar funds, take on LPs and begin the path to 10x returns, these entrepreneurs need help now. And the funds needed are not excessive. I met a Ph.D. graduate who with just $5,000 could create groundbreaking technology in healthcare. I met a woman who left her job and is helping parents and children across the US and with an investment of just $50,000 is now poised to generate over $1M in revenue. And I met three men of color who are moonlighting in the shared economy to help homeowners across the country who have chosen to self-fund because they are tired of being taken advantage of by prospective angel investors.
When will we stop talking about the problem and make an equitable investment in entrepreneurs of color?
I am calling on everyone who has access to funds to help Black and Brown entrepreneurs across the US — NOW. A small amount of money can go a long way — from supporting product or sales expenses to providing validation of the entrepreneur. Rest assured I make this request based on experience. I founded Venture DC in 2015. Since its inception it has awarded six African American entrepreneurs with cash support, mentorship and training. During the first year of the competition, one of our winners received $2,000. With those funds, she left her job, created a beta site and secured a provisional patent. During the second year, one of our winners completed her product and secured a contract to initiate sales. Another winning team was selected as a “Company to Watch” at Startup Grind Global in San Francisco next week.
Who knows what great entrepreneurs will be discovered at this month’s Venture DC Pitch Competition?
Join me and many others on this journey to make entrepreneurship accessible for communities of color in the United States.


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Home Prices Are Rising, Along With Post-Lockdown Demand
Mortgage rates may be appealingly low, but people shopping for a new home this spring face a challenging market.
Demand, which was pent up during coronavirus stay-at-home orders, and a dearth of homes for sale are keeping prices high and setting off bidding wars in some areas as states continue to reopen for business. Some buyers may also find it tougher to qualify for mortgages, as lenders require higher credit scores and bigger down payments in response to higher unemployment and economic uncertainty in the pandemic.
The situation is different from the economic downturn in 2008, when home prices fell sharply as a housing bubble popped.
“We’re still seeing a huge sellers’ market,” said Colsie Searcy, an agent in Colorado Springs.
Nationally, the median price for a home, excluding new construction, was about $287,000 in April, up more than …continued .
[Source: New York Times]


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June 6, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — IBWA member bottlers began responding immediately to provide substantial supplies of bottled water to those affected.
April 22, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Substantial reductions in plastic use and significant increases in recycling rates make bottled water packaging a ‘face of positive change’ for Earth Day 2013.
March 21, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — IBWA supports the smart and responsible management of the world’s water resources.
March 15, 2013
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The annual commemoration marks America’s need to protect and maintain water from underground aquifers.
November 26, 2012
NEW ORLEANS — Allen has been a forceful and eloquent supporter of the bottled water industry for many years.Read More
November 19, 2012
NEW ORLEANS — IBWA has announced winners of four prestigious awards at its 2012 IBWA Annual Business Conference.Read More
November 7, 2012
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — IBWA member bottlers began preparing to provide substantial supplies of bottled water as the storm approached.Read More
August 6, 2012
SAFAT, Kuwait and ANN ARBOR, Mich. — NSF International is a global organization that writes public health product standards.Read More
May 23, 2012
ALEXANDRIA, VA — The new BMC data shows the overall consumption of bottled water has increased by 4.1 percent, building on 2010’s solid growth.Read More
May 16, 2012
KONA, Hawaii —The company is being accused by the state of diverting concentrated ocean water that had been rejected by its reverse osmosis system.Read More


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Regulation is one of the factors that has been linked to the unprecedented plunge of Bitcoin prices since December of last year. However, Bitcoin, the biggest cryptocurrency by price and market cap, is expected to gradually bounce back.
Growth in the cryptocurrency industry has largely been spontaneous, generating mixed reactions on its sustainability. By the end of this year, the crypto market cap is predicted to reach $1 trillion. According to experts, this will only be achieved if a proper regulatory framework is put in place.
It is in this spirit that the Japanese regulator, Financial Service Agency (FSA), along with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) are cracking down on unregulated crypto exchanges.
The ongoing crackdowns and warnings by financial watchdogs in the U.S. and Japan are good for the industry. In the coming months, other countries are likely to follow suit because crypto exchanges are well on their way to becoming mainstream and the need for a regulated market is inevitable.
This can only be achieved if regulators formulate proper policies and legislations to protect both businesses and investors, as well as create revenue collection model. Some cryptocurrency exchanges may also be targeted for taking advantage of the unregulated market or crypto-friendly environment to defraud investors or finance illegal activities such as terrorism.
In Japan, the FSA targeted crypto exchanges that did not adhere to minimum security and money-laundering requirements to guarantee protection of investor money and personal information.
Tom Meredith, CEO at BitMinutes says, “Given the experiences that multiple business entities like Equifax and large retailers have had with hacks and thefts of customer data, we have to note that managing cyber-risks is not unique to the ICO market. When someone’s personal information is stolen, such as a social security number in the U.S., the damage to the individual can be far greater than the loss of a cryptocurrency they may have purchased.”
Long Term Benefits
The cryptocurrency market cap is gradually rising gradually and more people are showing interest in crypto-related investments. The industry is potentially poised for tremendous growth in the coming years.
To realize better rewards, it is critical that crypto businesses comply with the regulations and guidelines that governments and regulatory agencies have in place. According to Steve Kuh, founder and CTO of Group Project, crypto exchanges will become a critical source of revenue for governments.
He says, “We will see more government involvement with crypto exchanges as they provide a huge opportunity for the government to collect tax revenue. Although this might seem counterintuitive for cryptos, I think it is good for the industry that exchanges are regulated. Ultimately, it will create stronger exchanges that can guard against thefts that seem to plague the coin exchanges and boost confidence for many investors who are on the fence. It should be regulated, insured even, and offer some assurances that no hack would cause loss of coin properties.”
On his part, Jose Merino, Chairman of SID Limited supports crypto exchange crackdown and sees it as a way to separate compliant exchanges from non-compliant ones.
He says, “It would be nice if those ones with good governance & track record be praised, such that the market can auto adjust by companies shying away from those non-compliant exchanges to those who do. That said some basic clear and simple regulation globally is likely to come along. Hopefully the expected crypto exchanges guidelines or regulations are similar across the globe, as not to affect certain regions negatively and provoke massive wealth movement or concentration, because healthy crypto exchanges competition is what benefits users in the end.”
Crackdowns will make crypto exchanges more transparent and valuable. As a result, we are likely to see investors starting to prefer exchanges that have fulfilled all security and regulatory requirements and hold the right licenses. This is definitely a good step towards protecting investors and traders against manipulative practices and fraud.
Article by David Drake
Disclaimer: David Drake is on the advisory board for most of the firms mentioned or quoted in this article.


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Intel Appoints New PC Chief As EVP Gregory Bryant Ends 30 Year Tenure
It has been quite the long run at Intel for Gregory Bryant, who is leaving the company at the end of this month after 30 years of service. Bryant joined Intel back in 1992 taking on engineering, operations, and director roles in the company's Information Technology Group. Then in 2017, he became vice president and general manager of Intel's Connected Home and Commercial Client Group.
Bryant has been a mainstay at Intel, and most recently the face of the company's livestream just ahead of the Consumer Electronics Show. He also co-engineered and help deliver numerous consumer and PC platforms, including Intel Evo and vPro.
"I want to thank GB for his outstanding leadership and 30 years of service at Intel, which has seen five consecutive years of business growth and, most recently, the successful launch of the 12th Gen Intel Core family. We wish him all the best in his next endeavor," Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger said in a statement.
It's not yet clear what's next for Bryant. In a press release announcing the leadership change, Intel simly stated he is leaving at the end of January "for a new opportunity."
Meet Intel EVP Michelle Johnston Holthaus And CFO David Zinsner
Intel announced that EVP Michelle Johnston Holthaus will lead its Client Computing Group (CCG) following Bryant's departure in a few weeks. Another longtime Intel employee, Holthaus has been with the company for 25 years and has held a variety of management roles since 1996. That includes having led global CCG sales before going on to lead Intel's sales, marketing, and communications teams.
"Michelle’s track record of success driving global sales and revenue for the last five years, combined with her profound understanding of the client computing business and trusted relationships across the entire industry, make her a natural choice to lead our largest business," Gelsinger said. "Michelle is a proven leader who embodies Intel’s values, and I look forward to partnering with her in this new capacity as we drive innovation and unquestioned product leadership across the client business."
The full transition to her new role will be spread out over a few months. It's obviously an important position, with Holthaus being tasked with running every aspect of the client business, from strategy and financial performance to product development for all of Intel's client technologies and platforms. And she assumes the role as Intel gets back on track with Alder Lake and future hybrid architectures.
"We have a tremendous opportunity to build on past successes—and even accelerate our pace as we continue to enable our customers and partners to elevate PC experiences," Holthaus said.
Meanwhile, Intel also appointed David Zinsner as its EVP and CFO starting January 17. He's been serving in the same role at Micron for the past four years, and brings with him two decades of financial and operational experience in semiconductors and manufacturing. He'll report directly to Gelsinger.
"I am excited to join Intel, a company I’ve long admired with a storied history of innovation and technology leadership," said Zinsner. "Intel’s scale, re-invigorated culture and depth of technical talent positions the company to capitalize on the unprecedented demand for semiconductors across the globe. I look forward to working with Pat and the rest of the leadership team to help drive the IDM 2.0 strategy forward and create long-term value for shareholders."
Zinsner replaces outgoing CFO George Davis, who is retiring from Intel in May of this year but will remain in an advisory role until then to help with the transition.
Top Image Source: Adam Bacher for Intel


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Plastic Packaging Press Release Information direct from Raepak. Keep up to date with the latest news, insights, new products and customer innovations in the industry.
Berlin Packaging, the world’s largest hybrid packaging supplier, announced today the acquisition of Raepak Limited, [...]
Raepak Ltd has solved one of the plastic packaging’s biggest environmental headaches. The UK based [...]
Raepak has launched its new ISO 9001 pharmaceutical product range for medicinal liquids. Raepak’s range [...]
Plastics In Packaging recently covered an article called ‘Finger on the trigger’. Paul Hill investigated [...]
Raepak now offer a Biopolymer plastic bottle alternative to help combat climate change. These new [...]
Raepak introduces a new dosing cap that could potentially change the liquid dispensing packaging industry. [...]
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CALHOUN, Georgia, July 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Sustainable practices are ultimately good choices. In its fifth annual sustainability report, Mohawk Industries, the world's largest flooring manufacturer, highlights the good choices the Company makes each day for customers, employees, shareholders, communities and the environment.
"Mohawk's success is attributable to the good choices made in the past and will be sustained by making good choices in the future," said Dave Patton, Mohawk Industries' chief sustainability officer. "As our business continues to grow and expand into new geographies, we remain committed to making responsible choices that create the greatest value for our stakeholders, our customers and the men and women who make up our Company."
Mohawk's sustainability report underscores the Company's commitment to good choices while maintaining consistency, transparency and accuracy in reporting. The 2013 sustainability report includes Mohawk's three recent acquisitions, which ensures a comprehensive report that truly covers the entire enterprise.
"Last year, Mohawk's global footprint expanded significantly, and our three major recent acquisitions are reflected in our sustainability report," said Jenny Cross, vice president of corporate sustainability at Mohawk Industries. "Companies usually require years to fold acquisitions into their sustainability reporting, but our 2013 report includes complete and accurate performance metrics from our entire enterprise."
Mohawk's interactive report, available exclusively online at www.mohawksustainability.com, highlights the Company's good choices in 2013 and reaffirms its commitment to global stakeholders.
Highlights from Mohawk's 2013 Sustainability Report include:
During 2013, Mohawk continued to make positive progress toward all of its 2020 environmental goals, which are key components of the Company's sustainability platform. Using 2010 levels as baselines, Mohawk has committed to 25% intensity reductions for energy, greenhouse gases (GHG), water and waste to landfill by 2020.
"We remain committed to using resources more efficiently, reducing our emissions and up-cycling our waste stream into first quality products," said Cross. "These practices are consistent with the values of millions of people, and we encourage that community to enter into dialogue with us through our social media platforms. We welcome feedback and good ideas that can help us further improve our sustainability practices."
Individuals can post comments on Mohawk's LinkedIn platform or follow the company's Twitter feed (@mhkgreenworks). The Company also has a dedicated e-mail account to respond to sustainability inquiries: firstname.lastname@example.org.
To access Mohawk's fifth annual Sustainability Report, please visit: www.mohawksustainability.com.
About Mohawk Industries
Mohawk Industries is a leading global flooring manufacturer that creates products to enhance residential and commercial spaces around the world. Mohawk's vertically integrated manufacturing and distribution processes provide competitive advantages in the production of carpet, rugs, ceramic tile, laminate, wood, stone and vinyl flooring. Our industry-leading innovation has yielded products and technologies that differentiate our brands in the marketplace and satisfy all remodeling and new construction requirements. Our brands are among the most recognized in the industry and include American Olean, Bigelow, Daltile, Durkan, Karastan, Lees, Marazzi, Mohawk, Pergo, Unilin and Quick-Step. During the past decade, Mohawk has transformed its business from an American carpet manufacturer into the world's largest flooring company with operations in Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Europe, India, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia and the United States.
Robert Webb, Corporate Communications
Tel.: +1 (706) 272-48-59


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The C-X16 concept could very well become a production model as a competitor to Porsche's entry-level Cayman and Boxster sports cars. It's a two-seater with a 375-horsepower 3.0-liter V6 engine and, in this concept version at least, a hybrid system that provides 94 horsepower more at the press of a button.
The new Maserati Kubang SUV is expected to be built in Detroit alongside the Jeep Grand Cherokee and Dodge Durango.
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|Make sure your retirement savings last a lifetime|


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Snowboarding, Berlin and recycling are just three aspects of German life represented on Brighten the Corners’ posters and postcards designed to encourage British schoolchildren and students to learn German. The campaign is a follow-on from a similarly lighthearted project last year and is designed to play on the stereotypical view of Germans portrayed in the British press, with tabloid headlines and straplines. Thus Oliver Kahn, ‘Learn German (and let it all in)’ sits alongside Rottweiler ‘Learn German (it’s love at first bite)’. The work is launched in schools and colleges in April.
Sweden-based studio Snask has created the identity for Axfood’s #Mat2030 campaign, which features a series of fresh food items arranged into different words.
Last week, publisher Oxford University Press Education was given a new look by Baxter and Bailey. Now, designers share some of their favourite examples of educational design.
F1’s logo, designed by Wieden + Kennedy last year, could face a copyright dispute because of its similarity to that of a compression tights brand owned by manufacturing giant 3M.
The games company’s Labo kit features flat-pack cardboard sheets that can be transformed into pianos, motorbikes and fishing rods when combined with the Nintendo Switch console.


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Bite Squad Expanding to St. Cloud, Hiring 100 Drivers
ST. CLOUD -- You will soon have another option for ordering food from your favorite St. Cloud area restaurant. Bite Squad has announced they are expanding to this area.
The on-demand restaurant delivery service says they are partnering with about 50 different restaurants in this area.
Delivery is available within a seven-mile radius.
You can order via Bite Squad seven days a week from 10:30 a.m. until 10:00 p.m. with delivery fees starting at $2.99.
The company is also looking to hire 100 drivers in the St. Cloud area.
As part of their kick-off to this area, Bite Squad is offering free delivery for a year for all customers who place an order between this Friday and September 1st.
Bite Squad started in Minneapolis in 2012 and is now available in 375 cities nationwide.


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A new policy has been proposed by the Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) which will allow the contractors to utilize the products made in Nigeria as a first preference in the execution of government projects.
The proposal came up during a campaign for supporting and promoting products made in Nigeria which was organized for the North-Western region at Hamdala Hotel in Kaduna.
Alhaji Ali. S. Madugu, who represented the National President of MAN – Chief Kola Jamodu, added that once the campaign for supporting and promoting Nigerian commodities is completely assimilated and adopted, the industries will undergo expansion in capacity utilization and there will be enhancement in the quality of products made in Nigeria. This will also lower excessive reliance on overseas products and boost the overall growth and development in the manufacturing industry.
He also appealed the government to balance the campaign with facilities for sufficient power supply, LFPO, AGO as well as natural gas. He also advocated the provision of soft loans to the industry and requested the Ministry of Commerce and Industry to ascertain the immediate ending of the discussion that is still continuing with the stakeholders on the notice that has removed the ban on several prohibited products.
The Minister of Commerce and Industry – Senator Jubril Martins-Kuye, in his address, stated that the difficulties that were being faced by textile industries forced the government to take a decision regarding the establishment of N100 billion Cotton and Textile Revival Fund which will be managed and supported by the Bank of Industry (BOI).
Fibre2fashion News Desk - India


text: Mary Hitchcock Memorial Hospital d/b/a Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center (“MHMH”) recently discovered that a password-protected audiology testing medical device containing certain patients’ information was lost on or about March 22, 2022. MHMH initiated an internal investigation and conducted an exhaustive search to locate the device; however, the investigation ultimately determined that the device could not be located. On June 15, 2022, MHMH determined that the device contained a limited number of patients’ first and last names, dates of birth, and medical record numbers, as well as the dates, types, and results of audiology tests. The device did not contain any other patient diagnosis, treatment, medication, or hospitalization information, nor did the device contain any Social Security numbers or financial information. MHMH has no evidence at this time of any misuse of patient information contained on the device. MHMH sent written notification to those patients whose information was contained on the device and for whom it has current contact information. Individuals should refer to the notice received in the mail regarding steps they can take to protect themselves. As a precautionary measure, individuals should remain vigilant to protect against potential fraud and/or identity theft by, among other things, reviewing account statements and monitoring credit reports closely. If individuals detect any suspicious activity on an account, they should promptly notify the financial institution or company with which the account is maintained. They should also promptly report any fraudulent activity or suspected identity theft to proper law enforcement authorities, including the police and their state’s attorney general. Affected individuals may also wish to review the tips provided by the Federal Trade Commission (“FTC”) on fraud alerts, security/credit freezes, and steps to avoid identity theft. For more information and to contact the FTC, please visit www.ftc.gov/idtheft or call 1-877-ID-THEFT (1-877-438-4338). Affected individuals may also contact the FTC at: Federal Trade Commission, 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW, Washington, DC 20580. MHMH takes its responsibility to safeguard personal information seriously and apologizes for any inconvenience or concern this incident might cause. Individuals seeking additional information may call a confidential, toll-free inquiry line at 1-800-939-4170 between 9:00 a.m. and 9:00 p.m., Eastern Time, Monday through Friday.


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Listen to this article
Ambi Robotics, the creator of the AmbiSort robotic sorting solution, and Pitney Bowes, a global shipping and mailing company, signed a $23 million expansion deal. Pitney Bowes will make the investment over the next four years in Robot as a Service (RaaS) fees.
Pitney Bowes opted for the expansion after using Ambi’s robots in its Stockton, California ecommerce hub. There, AmbiSort systems were able to keep up with the 2021 peak holiday season and nearly doubled the throughput for parcel sortation to local direct delivery hubs.
Before implementing AmbiSort, Pitney Bowes employees would pick, place and place items with a manual putwall. Now, one operator can oversee up to four automated putwalls. This allows the worker to oversee the organization of up to four times as many packages.
“As we continue to scale our global ecommerce business, Pitney Bowes is working with some of the most innovative companies in the industry to configure new solutions that improve our service offerings and make B2C ecommerce logistics easier for our clients,” Gregg Zegras, EVP and president of global ecommerce at Pitney Bowes, said. “The deployment of AmbiSort AI-powered systems is part of our long-term plan to further enhance our technologically efficient, employee and client-friendly ecommerce logistics network.”
AmbiSort is powered by AmbiOS, an artificial intelligence operating system. AmbiSort is able to begin operating and sorting any item during its first day on the job, making it easier to scale quickly.
“Every decision we make at Ambi Robotics centers around the value we bring to our customers and how to uplift their employees,” Jim Liefer, CEO of Ambi Robotics, said. “Our partnership with Pitney Bowes is symbiotic – the company courageously embraces innovation and technology. There is a reason Pitney Bowes is a 100-year strong company.”
Ambi Robotics won an RBR50 Robotics Innovation Award in 2021 for AmbiSort and AmbiKit. Stephanie Cannon of Pitney Bowes was recently on The Robot Report Podcast, where she discussed deploying Ambi’s sorting system.


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We recently reviewed the international version of the HTC Windows Phone 8X, which will launch on Verizon Wireless, T-Mobile and AT&T in the United States. Verizon’s model will apparently have a unique feature that isn’t offered by other versions of the device.
The Verge said Tuesday morning that Verizon’s phone will indeed offer wireless charging, a feature we so far thought was only going to be available from Nokia’s Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 handset on AT&T. Apparently the device won’t be thicker than its counterparts without the feature and Verizon will be the exclusive carrier with it. Verizon has so far not said how much the device will cost, or when it will be available, but we suspect it will launch before the holidays with the Samsung ATIV Odyssey and the Nokia Lumia 822.
TechnoBuffalo reached out to AT&T for comment as to why its model doesn’t offer wireless charging. We’ll update this post as soon as we hear back, if any comment is available.
[via The Verge]


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Was unveiled at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show.
The Porsche Mission E concept is the first-ever all-electric four-seat sports car from Porsche that was unveiled at the 2015 Frankfurt Motor Show (2015 IAA), and has now been officially confirmed for production by the supervisory board of the Porsche AG. The company has announced that its first all-electric four-seat sports car will be launched at the end of the decade i.e. in 2020.
The Porsche Mission E concept features a newly developed electric drive system which features two permanent magnet synchronous motors (PMSM) to power the sports car and recover braking energy. These motors are similar to those used in the second generation Porsche 919 hybrid race car.
The all-electric drive system produces 600 hp and provides a driving range of over 500 km. Other technical tidbits include an electric all-wheel drive system with Porsche Torque Vectoring, and all-wheel steering. The concept model is capable of sprinting from 0-100 km/h in less than 3.5 seconds and 0-200 km/h in less than 12 seconds.
Unlike the regular electric vehicles that operate at 400 volts, the Porsche Mission E concept operates at 800 volts. Thanks to this innovative 800-volt technology, the Mission E is claimed to have shorter charging times and lower weight with lighter, smaller gage copper cables.
The benefit of rapid charging is that, unlike the current production electric vehicles, the Mission E concept doesn't make its driver wait hours long to be ready for the go. The battery can be charged to approximately 80% in just around 15 minutes.
By 2020, the technologies used in electric vehicles will be far more advanced and so, the production-spec Mission E will likely be a practical all-electric sports car that doesn't run out of charge rapidly during a quick and dynamic driving - something that the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive was criticised for.
Also Read: 2017 Porsche Panamera confirmed for Geneva Motor Show by Matthias Muller
The Porsche Mission E concept's production version will be built at their facility in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen, Germany. The company will invest around €700 million in its main site there. A new paint shop and a new assembly plant will be built ovet the next few years, while the existing body shop there is being enlarged. Investment will be made in some other areas also, such as in the Weissach development centre. Thanks to the Mission E concept's production approval, more than 1,000 new jobs are being created in Stuttgart-Zuffenhausen alone.
Porsche Mission E officially confirmed for 2020 launch - Press Release


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Here is a look at some of the stocks the Yahoo Finance team will be watching for you today.
Earnings continue to take center stage on Wall Street this morning. Apple (AAPL) reported strong sales of its iPhone helped boost profits, but its iPad sales fell for the second consecutive quarter. The consumer electronics giant is gearing up to debut iPhone models with larger screens this fall. Earnings came in a nickel better than estimates, with profits rising 12% from a year ago to $7.7 billion. Even though revenue rose 6% from a year ago, it still came in below expectations. Apple also gave a weak outlook for its current quarter.
Microsoft (MSFT) reported quarterly profits fell 7% with earnings coming in at $0.55 a share, $0.05 below estimates. The company took a financial hit from the purchase of Nokia's cell phone unit. Revenue on the other hand came in slightly above expectations as it benefited from improving corporate demand for cloud-based services and computers. PC shipments also fell a smaller-than-expected 1.7%.
PepsiCo (PEP) shares got a nice pop in early trading. The world's largest snack maker reported earnings of $1.32 a share, topping analysts’ estimates thanks to cost-cutting. Revenue also beat estimates helped by higher beverage and snack volumes. The company also increased its earnings outlook for the year.
Boeing (BA) shares edged higher before the bell. The aerospace giant raised its outlook for the year after second quarter earnings jumped 52% driven by strong demand for its passenger jets, as the health of the airline industry improved. The company reported earnings of $2.42 a share, topping analysts' estimates. Revenue also came in better-than-expected at $22.05 billion.
Whirlpool (WHR) shares fell in the premarket after the company’s earnings and revenue missed analysts’ estimates. Sales in North America rose more than 3%, but fell 14% in Asia. Whirlpool is trying to expand their international footprint as it has pending deals for controlling stakes in appliance companies in Italy and China. The world’s largest maker of home appliances also cut its full-year outlook because of expenses tied to the pending deals.
Puma Biotechnology (PBYI) shares surged in the pre-market after the company said that its experimental breast cancer treatment was successful in a late-stage trial. Puma plans to file for regulatory approval with the Food and Drug Administration in the first half of 2015.


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Will Activision’s lawsuit stop the release of the game ‘Overwatch 2’?
Based in Santa Monica, CA, Activision Blizzard gained notoriety for producing the game Overwatch, a popular multiplayer first person shooter game. In 2019, they reported a total revenue of $6.49 billion. But what could put one of the biggest producers of video games in the world at a stand still?
They were moving forward to release the much-demanded sequel Overwatch 2. Now, they’re facing trial for allegations of employee mistreatment. Are their proverbial chickens coming home to roost?
The California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) is bringing those allegations to a court of law. How will this affect the game release of Overwatch 2?
In October 1979, former Atari game developers were among those who founded Activision in Sunnyvale, CA. Alan Miller, David Crane, and Bob White teamed up with Jim Levy to create what is today one of the most successful video game publishers.
Ironically, Miller, Crane, and White left Atari due to employee mistreatment. Atari had allegedly refused to give them screen credit for the video games they’d worked on. So, they left and created their own properties in order to never experience such humiliation again.
In 2008, Activision merged with Vivendi Games to become AB. This marriage produced the game Overwatch. It has also produced major scandals – such as Activision, ironically, coming under fire for allegedly mistreating their employees.
The video game industry is no stranger to allegations of discrimination & sexual misconduct. Game developers – especially women – have gone on record throughout the years to share their negative experiences of the gaming world.
They’ve spoken out about silently burning out due to exhaustive work environments. They’ve also spoken out about being targeted with gender-specific violence by other developers in the workplace.
AB tried to deny the accusations leveled at them by the DFEH. Staff & employees alike were not happy with their response.
A little over a quarter of the company’s staff penned an open letter demanding they reconsider their immediate denial. Then, Activision CEO Bobby Kotick promised an internal review. Unsatisfied with this response, employees walked out on July 28th, 2021.
In August 2020, angry AB employees openly shared details of their compensation to push the company to address pay disparities. Instead, the producer of the popular game Overwatch dismissed their claims.
Among many other accusations, this incident prompted the DFEH to conduct a two-year investigation. On July 20th, 2021, the DFEH officially filed a lawsuit against AB in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The lawsuit claims the video game publisher cultivated a toxic work environment, specifically for women. They were allegedly sexually harassed by executives, groped by drunk male co-workers, and routinely subjected to rape jokes.
In the past, lawsuits like these and the allegations they brought forth were eventually shoved under the proverbial rug. Video game publishers like AB had the money to silence their accusers and used it liberally.
But then the #MeToo movement happened. People were no longer satisfied allowing alleged perpetrators of sexual assault to silence their accusers and avoid judgment. This meant companies like AB could no longer avoid their day in court.
Gamers everywhere are excited for the new changes coming to the game Overwatch 2 and its predecessor Overwatch. Fan-favorite Bastion will be transformed to Sentry mode, allowing for a wide variety of updates & add-ons.
Overwatch game director Aaron Keller also confirmed upgrades being made to Sombra’s crowd control abilities. She’ll be able to cause more damage and be able to hack while in stealth mode.
AB assured fans the sequel to one of their most popular games wouldn’t be impacted by their current legal drama. However, on Friday, executive producer Chacko Sonny resigned. This is significant because Sonny was also in charge of the release.
What does Sonny’s resignation mean for the release of Overwatch 2? AB maintains the release is going as planned. But one can’t help but wonder for the future of AB’s presence in the gaming industry. Can they survive the legal mayhem? We’ll just have to wait & see.
Are you excited for Overwatch 2? Which game do you prefer – Overwatch or Overwatch 2? What are your thoughts on AB’s current legal struggles? Let us know in the comments below!


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Reed Travel Exhibitions will launch Arabian Travel Week – an umbrella brand comprising four co-located shows – during the 2019 edition of Arabian Travel Market (ATM) which opens its doors on Sunday 28th April for four days of business networking opportunities and insightful seminar sessions at Dubai World Trade Centre.
Arabian Travel Week comprises ATM 2019 and ILTM Arabia as well as CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa 2019 – a new route development forum launching this year and new consumer-led event ATM Holiday Shopper which take place on Saturday 27th April.
Claude Blanc, WTM Portfolio Director, Reed Travel Exhibitions, said: “The success of both ATM and ILTM Arabia has provided us with the platform to not only introduce two new events for 2019 – but to create a travel week which encompasses the Middle East’s inbound and outbound markets for general leisure tourism and luxury travel as well as introducing an exclusive consumer event and providing a dedicated networking forum for the region’s top airline specialists, aviation authorities, tourism boards, airports and tour operators.”
According to the World Travel and Tourism Council (WTTC), the direct contribution of travel and tourism to the UAE’s economy is predicted to rise 4.1 percent per annum to AED 108.4bn by 2028.
“Building on these figures, we are confident Arabian Travel Week will be a key driver attracting top international destinations to the attention of the Middle East’s travel trade and consumers and equally, marketing the Middle East to strategic overseas tour operators and travel professionals,” Blanc said
Now in its 26th year, ATM 2019 will welcome over 2,500 exhibiting companies and an expected 40,000 industry professionals, with over 150 countries represented, 65 national pavilions, and more than 100 new exhibitors set to make their ATM debut.
Identifying the top tourism trends showing the greatest growth potential is one of the most valuable insights Arabian Travel Market has to offer, and this year’s event will be no different as it adopts cutting-edge technology and innovation as its official show theme.
Running throughout the event, professionals from across the industry spectrum will discuss the ongoing unprecedented digital disruption, and the emergence of innovative technologies that will fundamentally alter the way in which the hospitality industry operates in the region.
Also new to ATM 2019 will be the Arabia China Tourism Forum which will take place on the Global Stage on Sunday 28th April. With China set to account for a quarter of international tourism by 2030, an expert panel will discuss how destinations around the world can capitalise on this growth. The forum will also include a 30-minute networking session with over 80 Chinese buyers.
Blanc said: “This year’s event is set to showcase the largest ever exhibition from Asia in the history of ATM, with the continent witnessing an 8% YoY increase in total show area and Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Sri Lanka being the largest exhibiting countries.
“The last 12 months have brought unprecedented developments in growing source markets such as China – and the region is poised for further great developments throughout 2019 and beyond.”
Other Global Stage highlights will include sessions on the future of selling travel, Saudi Arabia’s tourism potential, the Global Halal Tourism Summit and the debut ATM Hotel Industry Summit which will host various expert panels to debate and provide an insight on the latest hotel developments and innovative digital infrastructure shaping the future of the hospitality sector.
As well as the ultra-innovative Travel Tech Show at ATM, other calendar favourites returning for ATM 2019 include the Best Stand Awards, the Travel Agents’ Academy and the Digital Influencers and Buyers’ Speed Networking Events which will feature 20 Chinese buyers for the first time.
Issam Kazim, CEO of Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing (DCTCM), said: “Our presence at Arabian Travel Market forms a core part of our efforts to raise awareness of Dubai as a diverse travel destination to global audiences, and we are pleased to extend our support once again to the 26th edition of this influential event. We remain focused on strengthening collaborations with our network of industry partners, in turn underlining the enormous diversity that the emirate offers global travellers. Keeping in mind this year’s theme of innovation and technology, Dubai as a destination has already embraced a ‘digital, mobile and social first’ agenda that places future readiness at its core while promoting the adoption of disruptive technology. As a global hub of innovation, we will continue to support public-private sector partnerships to evolve our product offering and the way we engage with today’s digitally-savvy consumers. Keeping ahead of the global competition, we are anchored by an unwavering vision of establishing Dubai as the number one most-visited and innovative city in the world.”
Thierry Antinori, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer, Emirates Airline, commented: “Cutting-edge technology and innovation, ATM’s theme for 2019, are redefining how customers experience travel across every touchpoint in their journey. As an airline, we are working hard to deliver a more seamless and connected end-to-end experience for our customers, from the time they book to the moment they board our aircraft. This is being propelled by new data capabilities, using technologies like biometrics, personalisation tools, as well as a host of other innovations that will help create bespoke experiences for our passengers, and ultimately help them fly better.”
Chris Newman, Chief Operating Officer, Emaar Hospitality Group, added: “As the Official Hotel partner of ATM, we look forward to welcoming the world to Dubai for this global event. ATM 2019 is underlining the strides Dubai has made in innovating the hospitality landscape through smart transformation and creativity. Further in our role as the Official Hospitality & Hotel Partner of Expo 2020 Dubai, we will highlight the strengths of the city’s hospitality sector to support the Dubai Tourism Strategy 2025. We will showcase our roster of hotels in Dubai and international markets including our upcoming hotel openings.”
Anwar A.Z. Abu Monassar, Destination Director – Strategy & Operation, The Vision, added: “We are approaching a very important target – 2020. This represents two decades’ effort in promoting the destination and it will be in conjunction with Expo2020, a milestone for the entire region. Arabian Travel Market 2019 will gather regional and international professionals and The Vision Destination Management is proud to be once again the official partner in welcoming the industry. We are experiencing a dynamic environment in terms of trends and expectations and our boutique-concept style is thrilled to be an active part of this process.”
For more news about ATM, please visit: https://arabiantravelmarket.wtm.com/media-centre/Press-Releases/
- New week-long series of events comprises Arabian Travel Market 2019, ILTM Arabia, CONNECT Middle East, India and Africa and ATM Holiday Shopper
- ATM 2019 will feature over 2,500 exhibitors and an expected 40,000 attendees, placing a spotlight on technology and innovation


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PITTSBURGH, May 23, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL) today announced that its subsidiary Mylan Pharmaceuticals
Divalproex Sodium Capsules had U.S. sales of
Currently, Mylan has 167 ANDAs pending FDA approval representing $100.3 billion in annual sales, according to IMS Health. Forty-five of these pending ANDAs are potential first-to-file opportunities, representing $25.8 billion in annual brand sales, for the 12 months ending Dec. 31, 2010, according to IMS Health.
Mylan Inc. ranks among the leading generic and specialty pharmaceutical companies in the world and provides products to customers in more than 150 countries and territories. The company maintains one of the industry's broadest and highest quality product portfolios supported by a robust product pipeline; operates one of the world's largest active pharmaceutical ingredient manufacturers; and runs a specialty business focused on respiratory, allergy and psychiatric therapies. For more information about Mylan, please visit www.mylan.com. For more information about generic drugs, please visit www.ChoosingGenerics.com.
SOURCE Mylan Inc.
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Rocket Fizz hopes to open in Decatur soon
The owner Rocket Fizz’s new Decatur store tells Decaturish that the soda pop and candy shop chain plans to begin slinging sugar this weekend.
“We’re hoping to open Friday or Saturday,” owner Richard Mashburn said. “We’re ready.”
[adsanity id=27331 align=aligncenter /]
Mashburn said all that’s left is a walk through with the fire marshal. He said it will be a “soft opening” that will also occur before one of Decatur’s biggest annual events, the Decatur Book Festival.
“We usually do soft openings because we need to get employees trained and of course we’ll have the Book Festival so it will be a crash course at that time,” Mashburn said.
Rocket Fizz, which was founded in California in 2009, will be subleasing space from the Decatur Visitor’s Center on Clairemont Avenue.
The company says its stores are “one-stop shops for all of your soda pop and candy cravings.”
“There are thousands of bottled soda pops and candies from all over America, including some from other galaxies,” the company’s website says. “The gigantic selection will launch you back in time to when you were a kid—even if you are over a hundred light years old. And if you are a kid, don’t plan on growing up when you are inside of a Rocket Fizz store. Rocket Fizz is a lot of fun and nostalgic.”
There will be “retro and gag gifts,” posters and signs.
[adsanity id=32721 align=aligncenter /]


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Young buyers are inching back into the new-vehicle auto market after several years on the sidelines, helped by easing credit and a slightly improving job market.
“Younger buyers have returned to market at a higher rate than any other age category,” according to a recent report by J.D. Power and Associates’ Power Information Network.
The young buyer group — from teens through age 35 — is a hefty 23 percent of so-called retail buyers, the highest since 2008, according to Power. The retail sales category excludes multiple-vehicle sales to fleet buyers, such as rental and taxi companies.
Data from Polk, which tracks new-vehicle registrations, not sales, found a similar move, showing buyers 18 to 34 provided 12 percent of all new-vehicle registrations from January through July — the highest since 16.4 percent in 2007.
Power’s Thomas King, a senior director, says high used-car values could be helping younger buyers with something to trade in. Credit is also easier to get now, he says, and the group is seeing growth in longer-term loans, 72 months and over, which cuts monthly payments.
Younger shoppers don’t typically buy high-profit vehicles, at first. But if they can be kept loyal, automakers believe, they’ll move up to very profitable models as they get older and richer.


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Channel stuffing can only get you so far Microsoft.
X1 -143K (Wow terrible)
PS4 - 2x 143k = 286k
-Tomb Raider PS4 outsold Tomb Raider Xbox One by 2:1
-Xbox One has a 2.7 attach rate.
-2.27 million games were sold on "Xbox" this month.
PS4: Almost double Xbox One. [#1 best selling platform]
Xbox One: Estimated 143K (thanks Aquamarine) [#2 best selling platform]
Originally Posted by VentureBeat
“PS4 led overall hardware sales this month, followed by the Xbox One,” said Callahan.
We reached out to Microsoft for its sales result, but it declined to comment. Sony, however, confirmed that the PS4 doubled Xbox One’s sales.
Edit: Microsoft PR
The release of January NPD Group data today provides a chance to reflect on the success of Xbox One. We are incredibly humbled and proud to see Xbox One continue to be the best launch of an Xbox in our history. Comparatively, Xbox One consoles have sold at a rate of 2.29 times faster than Xbox 360 in the U.S. in the same timeframe for the first three months on the market. From our blazing start out of the gate, we have continued to see Xbox One delight fans in 13 markets around the world, with many more markets to come this year.
More importantly, it is gratifying for our team to see Xbox continue to prove it’s the best place to play games. January NPD Group figures released today revealed Xbox* sold the most games across all console platforms in January with 2.27 million units sold, making up 47 percent of software market share. Fans continue to show their excitement for new generation Xbox One games, with U.S. consumers purchasing an average of 2.7 games per console since launch. This amazing success is due in large part to our unrivaled games lineup, first class Xbox Live multiplayer games service and a platform for game developers that offers unique capabilities such as Kinect and Xbox SmartGlass.


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NEW YORK, Feb 9 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Wal-Mart Stores’ gun sales are shareholders’ business. The U.S. mega-retailer claims a Wall Street church’s request for an arms-peddling policy is overly meddlesome. Add that to the list of excuses companies use to keep investor ideas off proxy ballots. True, lots of proposals are far out, but ones that raise issues that can affect investors deserve a vote. It’s up to the Securities and Exchange Commission to define the difference.
Proxy materials must generally include shareholder submissions, with at least three big exceptions. Proposals can’t be misleading, conflict with management items or intrude on ordinary business. The rules weren’t controversial until activist investors started inundating companies with suggestions on everything from governance to the environment.
Harvard Law School’s Shareholder Rights Project, for example, has cited academic studies to persuade more than 100 companies that annual board elections boost a firm’s value. An SEC commissioner and other prominent critics now claim the project’s shareholder proposals are misleading - and should be squelched - because they don’t cite contradictory evidence.
Whole Foods Market, meanwhile, ditched an investor proposition last year by ginning up a conflicting one of its own. The SEC approved the dodgy tactic in December but reversed itself last month after outraged shareholders protested.
The Wal-Mart case could break new ground. In 2013, investor Trinity Church asked the retailer’s board to adopt policies for selling dangerous products like the assault weapon used in the 2012 massacre at Connecticut’s Sandy Hook Elementary School. With SEC consent, Wal-Mart blocked the proposal as interfering with operations. In November, though, a federal judge in Delaware ordered the measure back on the ballot, because it may “transcendbusiness matters” and addresses board policies, not operations. Wal-Mart has appealed.
Trade groups squawk that the ruling upends SEC precedent and encourages lawsuits, and they have a point. Persistent shareholders might credibly threaten litigation if proposals advancing their narrow interests are excluded from corporate ballots.
That’s not an argument against Trinity’s submission, which addresses an issue of national importance that directly affects Wal-Mart’s reputation with customers. It is, however, reason to question the SEC. Waffling on Whole Foods and failing to define a company’s ordinary business operations adds uncertainty to already complex rules. Investors and issuers deserve a lot better.
- Wal-Mart Stores on Feb. 13 is scheduled to file a U.S. appeals court brief arguing that a shareholder proposal intrudes on ordinary business operations and can be excluded from the company’s 2015 proxy ballot. The shareholder, Trinity Church in New York, filed its brief in opposition on Feb. 4.
- Trinity’s proposal calls for the governance committee of Wal-Mart’s board to implement policies for determining whether the company should sell guns and other products that may endanger public safety and potentially harm the company’s reputation. Wal-Mart obtained the Securities and Exchange Commission’s permission to exclude the proposal from the 2014 ballot.
- But a federal court in November overruled the commission, ordering the proposal included in 2015 proxy materials because it involves public policy issues that transcend ordinary operations like selling products. Wal-Mart appealed the decision, and a ruling is expected in April, well before the company’s annual meeting in June. (The author is a Reuters Breakingviews columnist. The opinions expressed are his own.)


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All posts tagged "jim ryan"
Gaming/ 2 years ago
Sony expects that PlayStation 5 demand will slow down to reasonable levels soon
Haven't been able to snag a PS5 yet? There's still hope.
Gaming/ 3 years ago
The PlayStation 5 is “absolutely” sold out, according to Sony CEO Jim Ryan
Black Friday is going to be wild.


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Here's one more reason to hate the Snapple lady: the high price of apples.
Apple prices have more than doubled since last year, but what does an ice tea-based beverage have to do with the price of Granny Smiths?
Apple and pear juices are now the neutral sweetener of choice in much of the beverage industry. And with that boom has come a shift in apple economics. It used to be that juice was a secondary market for apple growers; it's where they would send blemished fruit that wouldn't sell fresh.
All that's changed. Apple juice concentrate that was selling for $40 to $70 a ton last year has been going for as high as $220 a ton this year. And when growers figure the break-even point between fresh and juice is $100 a ton, you can guess which way they're tilting.
How much of an effect does that have on the apple market? Preliminary estimates had this year's California fresh harvest (not including juice apples) at about 352 million pounds. The current mid-season estimate has the fresh crop closer to 240 million pounds--a drop of about 30%.
"We have never experienced a crop decline as dramatic as we are facing this year," says Kenton Kidd, president of the California Apple Commission.
Certainly some of that decrease is the result of weather-induced blemishes; after all, the cold, wet weather of last winter and spring was tough on apples. But a report by the California Apple Commission also notes an "abnormally high volume of processing."
Of course, California apples are not the only ones heading for the juicer. Washington State--by far the country's largest apple-producing state--has revised its harvest downward as well, to 2.8 billion pounds from an early projection of 3.5 billion pounds.
As a result, the wholesale price of apples is about 50 cents per pound, as opposed to last year's 20- to 25-cent-per-pound range. At the grocery store, they're showing up at about 90 cents to $1 a pound.


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This transcript was prepared by a transcription service. This version may not be in its final form and may be updated.
Zoe Thomas: This is your Tech News Briefing for Friday, July 9th. I’m Zoe Thomas for The Wall Street Journal. Reaching for the stars. This weekend British billionaire Richard Branson hopes to head for space in a flight with his company Virgin Galactic. He’ll experience weightlessness for a few minutes before heading back down to earth. Just over a week later, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, plans to board a spacecraft of his own for a short trip with his company Blue Origin. Both men and their companies are looking to cement themselves as leaders in the space tourism industry. So what do their trips mean for this burgeoning sector? And when will the rest of us get a chance to go to space? Reporter Micah Maidenberg, who covers the business of space for The Wall Street Journal, joins us to discuss. That’s after these headlines.
More moves in the streaming wars. Streaming services are adding to their lineup in the face of growing competition. Netflix signed an exclusive multi-year deal with Shonda Rhimes, the producer behind smash hit Bridgerton. Rhimes, and her production company Shondaland, are expanding their relationship with Netflix beyond television, into films, gaming, merchandise, virtual reality, and live events.
Also adding to its streaming lineup, Amazon. The company signed a deal with Universal Pictures to show the studios movies on its Prime and IMDb TV services. New Universal releases will run on the company’s sister streaming service Peacock for four months before streaming on Prime.
Global auto making giant, Stellantis, is going big on electric vehicles. It plans to spend more than $35 billion expanding its EV lineup in the coming years. The company formed earlier this year through a merger of Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group, plans to release electrified options under all 14 of its brands, including Jeep, Ram, and Peugeot. It also plans to set up five battery plants in Europe and North America.
And grocery delivery startup, Instacart, is under new leadership. It’s named Facebook veteran, Fidji Simo, as its new chief executive. Simo spent the last decade leading Facebook’s mobile and products teams. Her appointment comes as Instacart looks to expand its business and go public following a banner year of growth during the pandemic. Instacart’s current CEO and co-founder, Apoorva Mehta, will become executive chairman starting next month.
All right. Coming up, space tourism is about to take off. What will it mean for humanity’s cosmic dreams? We’ll discuss after the break. This Sunday, assuming no weather or technical issues, Richard Branson will join the first space flight with a full crew for company his Virgin Galactic. He announced the planned flight in a video released at the start of the month.
Richard Branson: I’ve always been a dreamer. My mum taught me to never give up and to reach for the stars. This July, our dream will become a reality.
Zoe Thomas: But Branson is not the only billionaire headed into space this month. Just nine days later, Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, is set to join the first crewed mission for New Shepard, the reusable rocket built by his company Blue Origin. In announcing his trip, Bezos, also released a video explaining what the flight would mean to him.
Jeff Bezos: I want to go on this flight because it’s the thing I’ve wanted to do all my life. It’s an adventure. It’s a big deal for me.
Zoe Thomas: So aside from letting two billionaires live out their dreams, the launch of these flights and the developments made by the two companies behind them could have real implications for the future of space travel and space tourism. Joining us to discuss this is our reporter, Micah Maidenberg, who covers the business of space. So Micah, we’ve got two space flights coming up from two different companies with two different approaches to getting there. Virgin Galactic space flight is scheduled for Sunday, so let’s start with them. How does their spacecraft work?
Micah Maidenberg: So Virgin Galactic gets to space, in a sense it’s a two-part method. The company has a custom built high flying airplane that they attach their spacecraft to. The plane flies up to about 45,000 feet, at which point the craft releases and kind of rockets into space. Virgin Galactic said during their last flight they reached a little bit more than 55 miles above earth. And then after sort of spending a little time, a few minutes, at that altitude, the craft kind of comes back down to earth, sort of similar to how a badminton shuttlecock kind of feathers when it’s losing altitude. And then eventually the craft sort of glides in for a landing.
Zoe Thomas: All right. But Blue Origin took a different approach. What are they doing?
Micah Maidenberg: Right. Blue origin has a rocket. For the launch, they have scheduled on July 20th, and the vessel rockets into space and eventually a capsule, which is where the passengers will sit, detaches from the rocket and sort of gets above what is called the Kármán line, which is one sort of definition of space. Blue Origin’s rocket is reusable, so it travels back to the company’s space facility in West Texas, of course it’s meant to land there, and the capsule comes down underneath a parachute.
Zoe Thomas: If everything goes according to plan, Richard Branson goes into space nine days before Jeff Bezos. Is there some sort of rivalry here and does it help or hurt the industry?
Micah Maidenberg: Yeah, I mean, Blue Origin and Jeff Bezos sort of announced first that Mr. Bezos would be joining others going up on July 20th. And after that, after some regulatory sign off, Virgin Galactic came out and said, well, Richard Branson is going to be joining a flight on July 11th. Now I actually asked the company about this last week and they said, look, we’re doing it because we’re technically ready and it’s the right time. Is there a rivalry there? I would imagine many people would sort of see that rivalry. I think the companies also, or at least some analysts who follow the companies, sort of see efforts by both of them is kind of creating, sort of building interest in the industry.
Zoe Thomas: One other difference about these flights is who’s on them. Virgin Galactic is taking its founder, Richard Branson and other mission specialists. But Blue Origin is taking passengers, including Jeff Bezos, his brother Mark, and unnamed auction winner. And 82-year old would be astronaut, Wally Funk, who actually trained in the 1960s to go to space, but never got the chance. And I just want to play a clip of Mr. Bezos talking to Ms. Funk about the trip.
Jeff Bezos: You’re in zero gravity for four minutes, you come back down, we land gently on the desert surface. We open the hatch and you step outside. What’s the first thing you’ll say?
Wally Funk: I will say, honey, that was the best thing that ever happened to me (crosstalk).
Zoe Thomas: But beyond Wally Funk, what’s the significance of Blue Origin having passengers onboard?
Micah Maidenberg: I mean the biggest one is that this is their first human fight. Blue Origin doesn’t have a pilot on their rocket. That’s actually something else that’s important to note. Another difference between the two companies is that with Virgin Galactic, there’s a pilot taking the plane up and there’s a pilot controlling the craft that eventually goes into space. Whereas Blue Origin doesn’t have pilots sort of onboard. So this is their first human flight essentially. And that’s definitely a big deal, not just because of who the passengers are.
Zoe Thomas: Do we know anything about the pricing for these flights? I can imagine they’ll be a little cost prohibitive if you’re not a billionaire.
Micah Maidenberg: Virgin Galactic has not said what they’re going to price tickets at when they start selling them again. The company has collected deposits for future flights from folks worth $250,000 each. So it’s definitely not a cheap flight.
Zoe Thomas: And what about Blue Origin? What do we know about their ticket costs?
Micah Maidenberg: Blue Origin, as far as I know, has not disclosed what those costs could be.
Zoe Thomas: All right. So pricing is kind of unknown. What does that mean for when we can expect space tourism to become something a little more attainable for the rest of us?
Micah Maidenberg: Yeah, it’s a good question. Part of what’s happening with these two flights this month is these high-profile billionaire entrepreneurs are putting themselves behind their products. They’re going to experience what the companies that they founded have been working on for many years. And I think a lot of people observing the industry sort of see these fights as a bit of an inflection point that would shift the whole space tourism industry, which is not really quite an industry yet, but sort of a speculative idea that one day you could have people paying money to go to space the way they might pay to go on a cruise ship or something like that. But these fights are seen as kind of like a moment where that shift toward more consumer orientation is starting to occur. The thing is though it may be years before there’s sort of mass access to these kinds of trips.
Zoe Thomas: So if I can be super cheesy, it’s kind of one small step for an industry and one giant leap for two billionaires.
Micah Maidenberg: That’s definitely one way to look at it. Both Bezos and Branson have talked a lot about their dreams, longtime dreams, of going to space. What that means in terms of a space tourism industry, it’s hard to say, but it’s still, I think, a long way away from being something ubiquitous for most people.
Zoe Thomas: All right. That’s our reporter, Micah Maidenberg. Thanks for joining us, Micah.
Micah Maidenberg: Thank you, Zoe.
Zoe Thomas: Well, that’s it for Tech News Briefing this week. You can always find more tech stories on our website, wsj.com. Our supervising producer is Chris Zinsli and our executive producer is Kateri Jochum. I’m your host, Zoe Thomas. Thanks for listening.


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OWWF at the conference Intelligent Manufacturing Shenzhen / Munich
On 24 September 2018, OWWF Board Member and China Speaker Bill Holler opened the conference between Shenzhen Baoan and Munich.
High-ranking representatives of the government of Shenzhen Baoan were represented in Munich by a business delegation to draw attention to this special location in China.
The city of Shenzhen, 30 years ago an insignificant fishing village with Chinese production of cheap mass-produced goods, has since developed into China's Silicon Valley. The Baoan district is one of the hundred strongest industrial districts and regions in China.
With the advent of the "Industry 4.0" age, Baoan has tackled and actively promoted promising industries such as intelligent equipment at an early stage; a dominant industrial cluster has already formed in areas such as robots, portable devices and intelligent systems, and there is great demand and market for technical innovations in intelligent manufacturing. Baoan and Germany have good prospects for future cooperation in industries such as intelligent equipment manufacturing, biomedicine, and aerospace. Baoan can be a preferred location for Chinese-German cooperation in intelligent manufacturing.
In his speech, Bill Holler addressed the historical link between Bavaria and China. After all, in 1975 Prime Minister Franz-Josef Strauß was one of the first Western politicians to recognize China's importance as Germany's economic partner. Since then, these relations have developed fruitfully and now bear rich fruit for both sides.
However, he also expressed his criticism of the problems caused by Chinese companies, which many medium-sized companies in Germany are suffering from. This includes product piracy, where a friend of his recently told him that his complete product catalogue exists on the Chinese market as a fake copy with a slightly changed company logo.
According to Bill Holler, respect for each other's peculiarities and cultural differences is a prerequisite for entering into successful long-term cooperations in China. Especially in the field of intelligent manufacturing (Industry 4.0), Germany has a special significance for China.
Experience has shown that the Chinese delegation was sympathetic to the restrictions imposed by the Oktoberfest, which coincidentally took place at the same time.


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Stung by a recent high-profile hacking involving nude photos of celebrities, Apple has added two-step authentication for backups on its iCloud cloud-based storage service. The change is aimed at preventing hackers from being able to access someone's personal backup data with just a password.
A user who chooses the option of two-step authentication must enter both a password and a four-digit code sent at his request to his phone or other trusted device. While Apple already offered two-step authentication for iCloud, the previous level of security left backups and the Find My iPhone service vulnerable.
Those vulnerabilities enabled someone to access nude photos that several female celebrities had taken using their iPhones, even after the women had deleted the pictures from their devices. A large number of those photos were then posted on the imageboard site 4chan in late August.
‘A Very Targeted Attack’
In a statement issued on September 2, following the release of the stolen photos, Apple said that it was "outraged" and "immediately mobilized Apple’s engineers to discover the source." Those investigations revealed that the celebrities' accounts were "compromised by a very targeted attack on user names, passwords and security questions, a practice that has become all too common on the Internet."
To prevent such security attacks, Apple recommended that all users "always use a strong password and enable two-step verification."
On September 10, however, Ars Technica reported that its team was able to use forensic software and other strategies to access other users' iCloud backups. Included in that backup data were phone call histories, deleted images, Apple Maps address searches and an address book database.
"It’s clear that anyone targeted by an iCloud account hack hasn’t just had pictures exposed; their entire digital lives have been laid out on display," Ars Technica reported at the time.
In a followup article published Tuesday, Ars Technica reported that it was no longer able to use forensic software to access backup data from iCloud accounts protected with the new two-step authentication. Accounts that had not activated two-step authentication were still vulnerable, it added.
App-Specific Passwords Required Soon
Apple on Tuesday updated its FAQ page on two-step verification. It noted that users who enable two-step verification must be sure to remember their passwords, keep their devices physically secure and store their recovery keys in safe places. The 14-digit recovery keys ensure that users who forget their passwords or lose their trusted devices can still access their accounts.
Two-step verification is now available to Apple users in 59 countries, including the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, China, India and Brazil.
Starting October 1 of this year, iCloud users who want to sign into their accounts using third-party apps (such as Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thunderbird) will also be required to use app-specific passwords. Such passwords allow users to "sign in securely, even if the app you're using doesn't support two-step verification," Apple noted.
Posted: 2014-09-19 @ 11:11pm PT
2 is larger than 1 on paper, but two weak boys in the real world may well be far weaker than a toughened guy. Physical tokens and phones are easily lost, stolen and abused. Then the password would be the last resort. It should be strongly emphasized that a truly reliable 2-factor solution requires the use of the most reliable password.
It is very worrying to see so many ICT people being indifferent to the difference between AND/conjunction and OR/disjunction when talking about “using two factors together”.
Biometrics can theoretically be operated together with passwords in two ways, (1) by AND/conjunction or (2) by OR/disjunction. I would appreciate to hear if someone knows of a biometric product operated by (1). The users of such products must have been notified that, when falsely rejected with the devices finally locked, they would have to see the device reset.
Touch ID and other biometric products are operated by (2) so that users can unlock the devices by passwords when falsely rejected, which means that the overall vulnerability of the product is the sum of the vulnerability of biometrics and that of a password. It is necessarily larger than the vulnerability of a password, say, the devices with Touch ID and other biometric sensors are less secure than the devices protected only by a password.
As for an additional vulnerability unique to biometrics, we could refer to
Needless to say, so-called 2-factor systems with a password remembered as the first factor and something possessed as the second factor are generally operated by (1), providing raised security at the sacrifice of lowered convenience. This may have misled many people to take it for granted that using two factors will always raise security, and, that the devices with biometric sensors are always safer than the devices without.


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Taylor Woodrow, a UK-based construction company, has switched its 1,800 employees’ e-mail from Microsoft Outlook to enterprise Gmail.
The company is also beginning to use other components of Google Apps, the suite of Web-based applications that includes, in addition to Gmail, calendar, chat, word processing, spreadsheets and wikis.
According to Rob Ramsay, Taylor Woodrow’s IT director, the company has already realized a cost savings of nearly $2 million in licensing and support costs.
According to Google, Google Apps premier edition for enterprises costs $50 per user per year. In an interview with CIO, Ramsay cited four major lessons from implementing the enterprise version of Gmail and dabbling with Google Apps.
1. Easier E-mail Maintenance
Because Gmail is hosted by Google, Taylor Woodrow doesn’t need to put the data on its own servers.
As a result, Ramsay says IT doesn’t have to spend time or money maintaining e-mail servers (which is a where some of that $2 million in savings was realized).
This means it frees up IT to work on other applications and systems. Google also handles spam and messaging security, and so eliminates another task Ramsay’s IT group had to manage.
This was especially a big deal for Taylor Woodrow, since 50 percent of the company’s e-mail user base changes every year, he says.
2. Distributed Model Helps E-mail Security
With Gmail, Ramsay says that data is distributed across many machines on the back-end of Google, a fact he believes boosts e-mail security because it means his vendor is not putting all his eggs in one basket.
“We were determined not to have a single point of attack,” Ramsay says. “If we did this [e-mail implementation] in a traditional method [on premise], there would have been a single point of attack,” he says.
3. Moving Users Out of Folders Is Hard
Gmail doesn’t look like your typical enterprise e-mail system. E-mail systems such as Lotus Notes and Microsoft Outlook operate on the principles of foldering (largely an extension of paper-based filing before the technology emerged).
With Gmail, the theory is different. A user “labels” – or essentially tags – an e-mail with terms that are pertinent to the subject of that e-mail. They can then click on those tags to view e-mails relevant to that term, and the search engine will also remember to make them relevant for future searches about that topic.
While Google – and its Gmail users – has maintained that allowing the information to be labeled and searched for is more efficient than electronically thumbing through folders, it doesn’t mean all users will want to do it right away, Ramsay says.
“People like to drag things and put them in sub sub sub folders,” he says. “People were finding that difficult culturally, so that was a challenge and we helped them [learn to use search to organize the information].”
4. Don’t Throw Away Microsoft Office Yet
Ramsay says that Taylor Woodrow has also begun experimenting with other Google Apps (that came included with the Gmail offering).
While most of his company still uses Microsoft Office on many of its employees workstations, the teams among the company have begun to use Google Docs (an online word processor in Google Apps) when they need to work on documents together in real time.
In addition, Google Docs allows you to export a Google Doc to Word (or Excel from Google Spreadsheets), making integration with the existing on premise productivity suite easy.
“Google Docs is not seen as a replacement,” Ramsay says. “We still run Office and that suite because everyone is familiar with it.”
Until now, Google primarily has worked with small or mid-sized companies – such as Taylor Woodrow – looking to capitalize on Google Apps’ low cost. (The enterprise edition rings in at $50 per user per year and its ability to enable people to collaborate in real-time on documents).
Gaining large enterprise adoption, however, hasn’t necessarily materialized.
Microsoft still dominates the productivity space. According to Techcrunch, Microsoft made $16 billion from Office in 2007. Google Apps, conversely, made about $400 million, only accounting for a small fraction of Google’s overall revenue.
On the customer page of the Google Apps website, the chief technology officer of General Electric (GE) is quoted as saying the company is considering using the web-based software, and Procter & Gamble Business Services has enrolled as charter member.
But analysts such as the Burton Group’s Guy Creese says Google Apps hasn’t caught on yet in the Fortune 500.
“Because Google Apps came out of the consumer space, there’s a bunch of things missing [for enterprises],” says Creese, who also wrote a report pondering if adopting Google Apps could be “career limiting” move for IT leaders in the enterprise space.
Among the primary features Google Apps fails to have in its portfolio, Creese notes, are sufficient offline functionality and records management for documents. While Google addressed the offline problem for its documents and spreadsheets last week, a similar function has not followed for its enterprise Gmail.
During a question and answer session after the companies unveiled their newest partnership at the Four Seasons hotel in San Francisco yesterday, Dave Girouard, vice president and general manager of Google Enterprise, and Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff noted that the issue becomes less relevant as the ubiquity of wireless and other connections to the Internet continue to envelop the world.
But even if companies can get over the offline issue, the adoption of Google Apps could be a cultural challenge as much as technological one. Microsoft’s technology has pervaded the enterprise space for so long that many IT managers, as well as regular users of the Office software, have difficulty seeing how they could get off of it.
“Office is woven into line of business applications [in the enterprise],” says Tom Austin, a Gartner audience.
Austin noted another problem IT departments at large enterprises face with Google – lack of a road map for their apps.
“Does anyone get a road map from Google?” Austin asked the audience. “No. For every application Google offers, there’s a blog with it. Go read the blog, they say, and you’ll see what new features we offer. You’d never accept this from a mainline vendor.”
Salesforce.com, on the other hand, has become a trusted, mainline vendor, says Rebecca Wettemann, a vice president and analyst with Nucleus Research. She notes that Salesforce.com has become successful at selling enterprise software “in the cloud.”
Google even somewhat conceded that it considered this street creditability in the partnership.


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The Florida Lottery is back again with a new announcement where a lucky Jacksonville lady has found fortune claiming the $500,000 prize. The lottery team has revealed that the name of the lucky woman from Jacksonville is Linda Dargel. Dargel is now among the list of the luckiest people who are now half millionaires.
The lottery team has revealed that the player had gone for one of the latest scratch-off games powered by the Florida Lottery. The name of the recently launched scratch-off game is “Pay Me! Scratch-Off Game”. The lottery officials are very excited for Dargel that she tried the new game for the first time and ended up bagging a huge prize.
The Florida Lottery officials have revealed that Linda Dargel had secured her $500,000 scratch-off at the Jacksonville District Office dropbox, which is one of Florida Lottery’s offices.
The lottery team has confirmed that the player had purchased her “Pay Me! Scratch-Off” game ticket from Circle K. The lucky store that sold the $500,000 prize winning ticket is located at 13697 Beach Boulevard (Jacksonville).
The lottery officials also had the opportunity to know the story of Linda Dargel and share it with the entire Florida Lottery community. Dargel informed the officials that she has been playing games through the Florida Lottery for a very long time.
She has been doing it for ages and she hardly ever won a few hundred bucks by playing several games through the Florida Lottery.
Dargel stated that she likes to play game as a mix as one week, she purchases a lottery draw ticket and the next week, she goes for the instant scratch-card ticket.
This way she gets to try different games and keep trying her luck as well as keeping herself entertained. The player stated that this week, she was supposed to purchase a ticket for the lottery draw game. However, as she walked into her regular store to purchase the lottery draw ticket, she saw the ticket panel for “Pay Me! Scratch-Off” game.
As soon as she saw it, she couldn’t get her eyes off of it and ended up purchasing the ticket for the game alongside her regular lottery draw game. The player stated that although she didn’t win any prize from the regular lottery draw ticket, she was able to bag a $500,000.
When she scratched the ticket in the first instance, she couldn’t quite understand what was happening. The player stated that initially she thought she had won only $50,000 through the scratch-off game. However, as she visited the store for the claim, the store told her about another zero she had missed telling her she had won half a million.
The “Pay Me! Scratch-Off” is one of the latest lottery games introduced by Florida Lottery in February of 2021. Each scratch-off ticket for the particular game costs players $5 and the chances for the players for winning a prize are 1 in 3.98.


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South Korean game makers face massive fine for loot box controversy
A new loot-box controversy has come to light recently. The South Korean Fair Trade Commission (FTC) has decided to fine three game developers because of their specific loot-box implementation. The three companies, Nexon, Netmarble and NextFloor, have been punished to the tune of roughly US$945,000. Nexon alone has been fined US$882,000 for apparently not informing its customers of the correct odds of collecting 16 puzzle pieces found in loot boxes in its game Sudden Attack.
The FTC claimed that the chances of receiving a piece of the puzzle during a special "Celebrity Count" event were 0.5%, with one player spending a reported 460,000 won (~US$430) just to complete the puzzle. The fines were issued because the companies apparently failed to inform customers of the true odds of winning what they needed from loot boxes. With countries like Belgium and Germany also taking a closer look at how loot boxes are currently being implemented, it seems that game developers around the world are going to have to carefully consider how they utilize this particular form of microtransaction in future to avoid this type of punishment.


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The number of homes sold in the U.S. and their median selling prices increased in June, up from 2014 and setting the highest selling pace since 2007.
Completed sales transactions on existing homes increased to 573,000, which is growth of 13.2 percent from a year ago, according to the National Association of Realtors.
The median selling price of $236,400 on single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops grew 6.5 percent above June 2014, continuing an upward month-over-month trend that has been ongoing for more than three years.
“Buyers have come back in force, leading to the strongest past two months in sales since 2007,” Lawrence Yun, the organization’s chief economist, says. “This wave of demand is being fueled by a year-plus of steady job growth and an improving economy that’s giving more households the financial wherewithal and incentive to buy.”
For more details about June’s home sales, click here.


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The transaction will further solidify Jupiter’s market leading position across the broader Indian financial services space, while also leveraging synergies across the Jupiter group, the company said.
“We are delighted to join hands with Alteria Capital who are also aligned on our mission to democratise credit in India and encouraging responsible use of the same. This partnership will act as a catalyst to our efforts of building an all-inclusive and innovative platform. For cutting-edge financial services products,' said Jitendra Gupta, Founder & CEO, Jupiter.
According to Vinod Murali, Managing Partner & Co-Founder, Alteria Capital, Jupiter is a very strong brand in the personal finance app space for Indian consumers. He believes that providing customised and agile credit products is going to be an important differentiator and Jupiter is well placed to target this opportunity.
"This is one of the largest commitments for Alteria and we are excited to partner with Jiten and the team at Jupiter to help facilitate their credit journey and make a meaningful impact in the Indian retail credit ecosystem,” he said.
The three year-old company prepares to roll out multiple innovative investments and credit-focused products designed to broaden the Indian consumers’ basket of financial offerings in 2023, the press note added.