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Google Sprints Ahead in AI Building Blocks, Leaving Rivals Wary
Google Sprints Ahead in AI Building Blocks, Leaving Rivals Wary
By Jack Clark July 21, 2016 — 3:00 AM PDT
There’s a high-stakes race under way in Silicon Valley to develop software that makes it easy to weave artificial intelligence technology into almost everything, and Google has sprinted into the lead.
Google computer scientists including Jeff Dean and Greg Corrado built software called TensorFlow, which simplifies the programming of key systems that underpin artificial intelligence. That helps Google make its products smarter and more responsive. It’s important for other companies too because the software makes it dramatically easier to create computer programs that learn and improve automatically. What’s more, Google gives it away.
But for some competitors, there’s a big downside to adopting Google’s standard. Using TensorFlow will help Google recruit more AI experts by training them on the same tool it uses internally, spotting their code, and hiring the best contributors. It could also let the search-engine provider exert outsize influence over the burgeoning AI ecosystem. If the internet giant dominates in this field, it could gain an advantage in the fast-growing cloud-computing business, turning the popularity of its software into real revenue.
"It’s the next big area, and people are worried Google’s going to own the show," said Ed Lazowska, a computer science professor at the University of Washington who has served on the technical advisory board of Microsoft Corp.’s research lab. "There is a network effect, and it’s a really excellent system."
Google initially used TensorFlow internally for products like its Inbox and Photos apps. The company made it available for free in November. Technology companies like Microsoft Corp., Amazon.com Inc. and Samsung Electronics Co. rushed to give away their own versions, hoping to get the most outside developers using their standards.
The company that wins will benefit from the collective efforts of thousands of developers using, but also updating and improving, its system. That’s an advantage when it comes time to make money from the new asset. Whoever has the most popular software will have the best chance of creating commercial cloud services for AI because potential customers will already know how to use it.
Amazon and Samsung declined to comment. Microsoft did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday.
Success in these types of open-source projects sometimes yields big rewards. Google released Android for free in 2008, and it’s now the most widely used mobile operating system with over 400,000 developers and more than a billion users. Google generates billions of dollars a year from ads shown on Android devices and the cut it gets from revenue app developers make through the operating system.
Since emerging, TensorFlow has become the most popular AI programming project on software code sharing service GitHub, leapfrogging well-regarded systems created by universities and corporate rivals, according to data gathered by Bloomberg.
On launch day, TensorFlow had around 3,000 "stars" on GitHub, meaning that number of programmers had bookmarked the code, indicating interest. As of July 13, it had 27,873. Two other popular AI software projects, Theano and Torch, have less than a fifth of that following. In 2014, Torch was the leader. A Microsoft tool called CNTK, released for free in January, and Amazon’s free DSSTNE, which rolled out in May, have so far failed to dent Google’s lead much.
Linux, an open-source operating system launched in 1991, now helps run everything from supercomputers to phones to airplanes and helped turn Red Hat Inc. into a $13 billion enterprise software company. Linux has 33,967 stars on GitHub. "It’s kind of crazy," said Dean, a top Google engineer and one of the main developers of TensorFlow. "We’re almost to Linux level."
Google will soon begin generating revenue from this lead. It plans to offer a version of TensorFlow that runs on its Google Cloud Platform service, letting people and businesses pay to run their AI software in Google’s data centers.
Google made the software free so it could give the community a useful tool "and everyone could standardize on that," said Corrado, a senior research scientist at Google. "In a giant green field, trying to build a fence around the next blade of grass is really absurdist. It’s really better to help everybody run into that field."
That openness, and continual Google updates, have lured developers like computer-vision startup Matroid, which re-wrote its software to work with TensorFlow, after building on another free AI tool called Caffe. Kindred, a robotics startup, made a similar switch.
Not everyone is so keen. As TensorFlow’s usage grows, some companies are realizing an increasingly important part of the technology toolkit is controlled by Google, and they don’t want to exacerbate that trend.
They’re "skeptical about using a language backed by another large company," said Soumith Chintala, a Facebook Inc. artificial intelligence researcher and one of the people behind Torch.
The unease stems from the fact Google can tweak TensorFlow to suit its own purposes, he said. If the company changes the software too much, then other companies that have adopted it will need to make a copy of the software and rewrite it to suit their own needs -- an expensive and time-consuming process known as forking.
That’s led some to look elsewhere. Skymind, which makes free AI software, has had more than five customers tell it they are wary of using TensorFlow, said CEO Chris Nicholson. He declined to name any of the companies, citing non-disclosure agreements.
Since TensorFlow launched, designers of other AI programming projects have been inundated with queries from companies that don’t want to rely on Google. Several reached out to the creators of Theano, developed mainly at the University of Montreal, to see if they can donate resources to the project, according to Yoshua Bengio, a professor who leads AI research at the school.
The same happened with Torch, said Chintala. Facebook does much of its AI research with Torch, and Chintala helps guide development of the project in his spare time. He and other backers moved Torch into a non-profit organization called SPI Inc. in May to make it easier for more people to work on the language and donate to it.
"One of the reasons we want to stick with Torch is to create a strong counterpoint" to TensorFlow, said Clement Farabet, who helped develop Torch. He now works at Twitter Inc., which uses Torch to run AI systems that analyze images and select tweets people may want to read. It’s better for the community if there’s a choice of AI software, he said.
Google could solve some of these problems by donating TensorFlow to a neutral third-party, said Bengio, who has discussed his ideas with the company. This structure could "provide neutral software for all," he said.
Google has no plans to do that, but it’s open to letting outside people have a say in what code gets merged into the main software, said Jason Freidenfelds, a spokesman for Google.
Google’s strategy may be dictated by past failings, said Reza Zadeh, chief executive officer of Matroid, who worked at Google a decade ago. Back then, Google developed the Google File System and MapReduce to store and analyze lots of data. It published research papers on them, but no code. Some employees at Yahoo! Inc. used the research to create Hadoop, technology that underpins public company Hortonworks Inc. and larger private rival Cloudera Inc.
"They’ve learned from that," said Zadeh.


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Did you know that there is an organization that focuses on a broad range of research about middle market companies and the issues they face? The National Center for the Middle Market is a collaborative effort between Ohio State’s Fisher College of Business and several key stakeholders.
The Center provides a wealth of information, resources and experts focused on middle market companies (annual revenue between $10 million and $1 billion). For example, they now offer a Cyber Security Resource Center, as well as resources on Globalization, governance/finance, operational excellence, policy and strategy/innovation.
The 3Q 2016 Middle Market Indicator report was mentioned in the last post. Besides preforming research on a national scale, the Center also drills down on the data from 6 key states, including Texas.
The following infographic explains the power of the Texas economy, the number of middle market companies (10,000) and the diversity of industries represented. The annual revenue from Texas middle market companies is just .7% of all Texas companies, but those middle market companies employ 32% of the Texas workforce.
The Center will release their 4Q 2016 Report in January.
If you own a middle market company and you are contemplating a change in ownership, reach out to Shields Legal Group. We specialize in guiding middle market, privately-held companies on their journey from Growth to Exit.

domain: news


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After finally getting a glimpse of the Vita’s upcoming Resistance game subtitled Burning Skies, it is clear that the first-person shooter genre has a place on Sony’s handheld. Nihilistic, the development team currently working on the title, expressed their love for the hardware, claiming the transition from PS3 to PSV was incredibly smooth.
On an interview with the PS Blog, Burning Skies developer Rob Heubner praised the power of the Vita:
We’re a PlayStation 3 company. That’s our engine, that’s out technology. And really, [Sony] were looking for PS3 developers to milk the power out of the Vita, and I think that’s definitely the right way to go because it’s got a lot of power. It’s got all the shaders, it’s got a lot of CPU, so it’s really not that big of a change for us to work on the Vita compared to the PS3.
Heubner went on to explain that the ultimate goal with Resistance: Burning Skies is to create an experience that bears “no compromises” when compared to its console brethren. You can check out the interview in its entirety below:


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Australian egg exports could grow 600 per cent in 2017 as producers scramble to help fill a massive supply gap in South Korea
A FURTHER three farming families have left or are leaving WA's dairy industry after processors said they did not want their milk. One is a Brownes Dairy supplier and two are Harvey Fresh suppliers.
MAJOR live exporter company Wellard bought a 340 hectare (850 acre) property at Condah, west of Macarthur, to service its move into live cattle exports to China.
BUYERS were out in force at last week's Elders Boyanup store sale and bid up strongly on their preferred cattle.
The owner of the Swisse vitamins and an infant formula business expects a wave of buyouts and more short-term pain for all players in infant formula in China


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90th annual convention in Scottsdale, Arizona, an expanded program of seminars highlighted a 3-day convocation of industry professionals from around the globe, who offered some innovative solutions to the issues facing the global coffee industry.
In response to the current decline in world coffee prices, the talk at the convention centered around consumption and overall coffee quality. Some speakers blamed over-production for the low prices, while others said under-consumption is the biggest problem facing the industry.
Brazil's Ecom Group's Eduardo Esteve, part of the under-consumption contingent, said an overall improvement in the sustainability of specialty coffee just isn't possible with current consumption levels. However, he placed the onus for the situation on producers, which he contended weren't doing a good job at increasing consumption.
Esteve believes that a big part of the problem is that coffee producers are selling defective coffee to the same market to which they sell their good coffee. On average, Esteve said, every grower produces 10% of low quality coffee that's sold at one-third the market price. That practice is now dragging down overall quality, and encouraging roasters to demand cheaper coffee due to competition. Esteve suggested producers set a minimum quality standard for coffee and refuse to sell coffee below that standard for consumption.
In fact, Esteve's suggestion is part of a recent trend by producers to focus on quality, where a recent initiative by Central American, Colombian and Mexican coffee officials aims to remove low-quality coffee from the market to help improve prices and increase demand.
Along these lines, Jerry Baldwin of Peet's proposed that coffee growers adopt a coffee appellation system similar to that that exists for wine. As with wine, the main responsibility will be on the producers to establish the criteria and enforce the rules.
In the wine industry, there are two advantages to such a system, noted Baldwin. "One is that it is taxed, which means that government has an incentive to keep track of the entire process and therefore ensure its viability.
The other benefit is that an accepted system would expand the price structure for coffee, as it has for the wine industry." Of equal importance was his suggestion that coffee producer nations promote coffee in their internal markets to help raise overall consumption.
Despite the intense policy discussions, there were plenty of opportunities to unwind with the major coffee players in the U.S. and overseas. All in all this conference was a promising start to the millennium.
Editor & Co-Publisher


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Mexico’s Ministry of Economy to exempt tariffs on imported EVs [ Mexico ]
Mexico’s Ministry of Economy will authorize the exemption of tariffs on new imported electric vehicles, having received support from the federal government. The change will be made through an...
<Aug 15, 2020>
Related News File
Mexico offers chance of reopening automotive factories, though May 18 remains uncertain (May 14, 2020)
Related Report File
2020 Chinese market: New vehicle sales down 1.8%, commercial vehicle sales top 5 million units (Feb 12, 2021)


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Rapper Snoop Dogg is partnering with Seedo, an Israeli company that manufactures a small refrigerator-like machine that cultivates plants with the help of artificial intelligence. Snoop will serve as a brand ambassador for the device, which he says allows for growing “in unused urban spaces.”
The box regulates temperature, light, carbon dioxide, and minerals and is monitored by an app. According to a press release, Snoop will contribute to a social responsibility program that will share the company’s growing practices and provide donated Seedo products for local communities, neighborhood organizations, and Snoop’s circle influencers – the initiative will start in Snoop’s hometown of Long Beach, California.
Zohar Levy, CEO of Seedo, said the company is “honored” to partner with the rapper – who also launched his own cannabis brand “Leafs by Snoop” in 2015.
“Snoop’s vast global following, industry influence and network reach will provide us an invaluable resource for Seedo as we continue to grow. The synergy between Seedo’s products and Snoop’s platforms is truly natural.” – Levy, in a statement
Snoop, whose real name is Calvin Brodus, Jr. also co-founded cannabis media site Merry Jane. In 2015, he planned to raise $25 million to fund cannabis industry startups and later founded Casa Verde Capital with Evan Eneman. Casa Verde has been linked to cannabis products from packaging, to seed-to-sale technology.
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WEX Inc. is planning to extend the availability of the WEX Fleet Card to trucking companies in Canada that would be usable across 10 fuel networks in that country and in the U.S., the fuel card company confirmed with PYMNTS.com.
The card, used by 315,000 U.S. customers representing 7 million vehicles, provides detailed reporting and fraud-prevention features, reports TruckNews.com.
“When we set out to develop a program in Canada, we tried to model it after what we did here in the U.S., which was a closed-loop proprietary program,” Bernie Kavanagh, WEX vice president for strategic accounts told the publication in an interview. “Customers are able to put controls on what they buy, when they buy and where they buy and receive detailed reporting in near real-time, to allow folks to make good buying decisions.”
WEX confirmed the accuracy of the report and Kavanagh’s comments.
WEX is able to tie its fleet card to such other information as truck odometer readings and driver identification numbers to better track driver behaviors. During a conference call with analysts earlier this month, Melissa Smith, WEX president and CEO, noted how interest is growing in getting more information to affect driver and fleet behavior to save money.
“It is something that we want to continue to invest in and making sure we are being innovative in that space,” she said. “Telematics is a mechanism in order to capture more data. We are doing that now through a bunch of different partnerships.”
FleetBeat, a new periodic report from Fleetmatics, reported recently that 12.6% of all commercial vehicles in the U.S. and Canada have telematics units on board. Fleet telematics systems allow data to exchange between commercial vehicle fleets and the dispatching office. The systems track such information as fuel consumption, engine data and vehicle weight.
WEX’s Canadian growth ambition illustrates broader growth plans WEX has under way. Earlier this month, PYMNTS.com described how the company has found itself in a competitive battle with Fleetcor for European growth. Moreover, it also is expanding its U.S. and Canada relationship with ExxonMobil (Esso) to grow its operations in the Asia Pacific region.
“We’re excited to build upon our long-term, successful partnership with Esso in Canada to develop a true universal, proprietary fuel card program,” Kavanagh said in an emailed statement to PYMNTS.com on May 22.
Smith noted on the earnings call earlier this month that WEX is seeing some momentum in Canada as Imperial Oil has recently outsourced its sales and marketing function to WEX.
WEX identified Canada as a good growth opportunity because many of its U.S. customers already operate there. “The reason we’re focusing on Canada right now is in support of our customers and partners,” Kavanagh said in the TruckNews.com article. “For years, we’ve been talking about having a more robust program there, so a lot of this really has been just following our customers and partners.”
Major truck stop chains are not among the places where Canadian truckers can use WEX’s Fleet cards, though Kavanagh noted in the interview that its list of fuel partners is growing. “We have 10 merchants signed up now, representing 2,500 to 3,000 sites at this point,” he said. “We are working with all merchants at this point, working with the networks to make sure we can get on their schedule for their upgrades. We want to get as much acceptance as we can.”


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Announced that consumers can now pre-order the BuzzBar Suite of products including: the liquid-fueled BuzzCell, the sun-powered BuzzSol, and AA battery-powered BuzzBat at www.neahpower.com
Allows consumers to keep mobile devices like smart phones and tablets charged using a variety of power sources, and are never confined to a single source. Consumers can choose from the Neah-exclusive liquid fuel cells (BuzzCell), solar (BuzzSol), or easily available AA (BuzzBat) batteries.
In the spirit of fairness, have to comment on the fact ORM has surprisingly made its way down to 24.5 and not on overwhelming value. Seems like someone is intent on hitting the bid right now. Watching for any developments.


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n yet another online cheating case, unidentified persons allegedly hacked the mail ID of a city-based software company and siphoned off Rs2.40 lakh from their accounts. The transactions took place in February.
The investigators claimed that the fraudsters first hacked the company’s email id and got the MTCN (money transfer control number) sent by its client. They used the number and fake identity proofs to get the money transferred to their accounts.
A complaint in this regard has been lodged by the company’s accountant Radhika Ramesh Jakkan (21) with the Kothrud police.
According to the police, the company’s authorities had sent their product to a client, which is based abroad, in the second week of February. In order to make payments, the client first sent his unique MTCN to the company so that the authorities could withdraw money from the Western Union Bank.
“The MTCN was sent to the company authorities on their email ID, which was hacked by the fraudsters. That’s how they got the secret MTCN given to the company. They made fake identity cards as the company’s CEO and another senior official and got the money transferred to their accounts,” said senior police inspector Kalyan Vidhate of Kothrud police station.
The company submitted their complaint to the Pune Cyber Crime Cell (CCC). Investigations revealed that the email ID was hacked from Delhi. “We have found the IP address. We need to go to Delhi to make headway in the case. Our investigation in the case is on,” Vidhate added.


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Business groups welcome SME Survival Package
Business groups have welcomed the Government’s package of measures to help small firms survive the economic slowdown.
The support package, unveiled by recently appointed Business Secretary Peter Mandelson, focuses mainly on preserving cashflow and access to finance for SMEs.
The support includes a commitment to get government bodies, such as NHS trusts, local authorities and other public sector employers, to pay SME contractors within ten days, rather than the current 30. This ten day pledge takes immediate effect within central government departments.
The Government is also offering free financial guidance for businesses from the Institute of Credit Management on invoice chasing, debt management and credit insurance, and has launched a £350 million training fund to help small firms improve employee skills.
British Chambers of Commerce head of policy, Chris Hannant, said there needed to be a clear and long–term strategy for the numerous Government ideas which are now being considered.
“Small businesses are a major part of our economy and they play a big role in the community so we need to support them. Cashflow and confidence are the two key issues for businesses during a downturn, so a set of lasting policies that reflect these are essential.”
Confederation of British Industry (CBI) deputy director–general, John Cridland, said that speeding up payment times would improve the “cashflow lifelines on which businesses depend”.
“Steps to improve the flow of finance to small firms, especially money needed for investment, will be very important for those feeling the squeeze on credit,”.
Forum of Private Business chief executive Phil Orford praised the Government for putting together a “useful” raft of initial measures.
“Improving credit management skills and other training is particularly useful for helping small businesses negotiate their way through the downturn,”.
Business groups have also outlined their support for Conservative Party leader David Cameron’s demands for a six month VAT reprieve for small firms, along with a 1p cut in National Insurance Contributions (NICs) for businesses with fewer than four employees. The Conservatives said their proposals could save businesses up to £600. Federation of Small Businesses chairman John Wright said:
“A VAT holiday would provide welcome relief to the UK’s 4.7 million small businesses which are struggling with rising costs. We know that 90% of all employers have fewer than four members of staff, so the plans to cut their NICs will help shore up vital funds.”


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In a major crackdown, China on Monday banned the sale of flavoured e-cigarettes across the country. The ban is an attempt by the Chinese government...
The European e-cigarette association Independent European Vape Alliance (IEVA) recently decided to update its Code for Responsible Marketing in order to demonstrate the responsibility of...
Relx is Off To A ‘Slow Start’ For Its New Product Line That Complies With China’s New Vaping Regulations
7 A-share listed companies have obtained licenses through their subsidiaries for the production, sale, import, and export of e-cigarettes.
China is a global production and export centre of the e-cigarette industry. Around 95% of the world’s e-cigarettes are manufactured in China
The value of the goods seized was 3.151 million RMB, and the amount involved is more than 50 million RMB
We summarize various e-cigarette regulations recently promulgated by the State Tobacco Monopoly Administration (STMA)
FEELM, the flagship atomization technology platform belonging to SMOORE, has been granted e-cigarette production licenses
There has been speculation for a few years now that the BYD, one of the largest companies in China, had plans to enter the e-cigarette market with its own brand.
Anyone who sells such products in Hungary without a license carries a fine of between HUF 5 million and HUF 500 million.


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Montréal, November 15, 2016 – Canadian First Lady Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau, was spotted wearing the ‘Novembre’ scarf by Canadian luxury brand NIMINIMI at the Remembrance Day ceremonies in Ottawa. With her husband, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, the couple paid their respects alongside other dignitaries.
Launched this year, Montréal-based designer Nimi Nanji-Simard was inspired to create Novembre in honour of the men and women who have risked their lives to protect ours. Apart from the red poppies and irises, the design also accentuates an incomplete heart which symbolizes the feeling many of our soldiers experience upon their return.
“To have Sophie Grégoire-Trudeau wear my scarves is such an honour. And especially on a day that represents bravery and sacrifice by those who risked their lives for peace. My family came to Canada as political refugees and are thankful each day for being able to live in a country that serves as a model for peace and pluralism.” – Nimi Nanji-Simard
Radio Canada International
The Canadian Press
The ‘Novembre’ scarf has been donated to multiple charities and auction events including The Great Jewellery Heist (Bridgepoint Health), Night of a Thousand Stars (VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation), and the True Patriot Love Foundation.
Founded by Nimi Nanji-Simard in 2016, the namesake line began after her years as a buyer for luxury hotel boutiques in Kenya. The debut collection comprises original designs informed by her past in Africa as well as the present in cosmopolitan Montréal.
For further media inquiries, images, sample requests, please contact:
Mijana Germanski, MIMA PUBLICITY, firstname.lastname@example.org


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With growing emphasis on digital india, a legislative framework is needed to address the growing concerns around data protection and privacy. Security concerns and a move to edge computing, 2018 predictions for the security a top concern the security and stability of the internet as a. While all regions show growing concern over privacy and social media, this is far greater for japan (63%) than for the us (46%) or europe (50%. Technology and globalization 2 technology and globalization introduction in nearly every corner of the world, from. Communicate over untrusted channels and a trusted code at both the internet is growing at an exponential the primary concern today is the security issue. Many americans want control over their security and surveillance represent a set of measures that respondents may have engaged in out of broader concerns. The biggest security threats coming in 2017 a growing rift between the president and the intelligence community today's debate over online porn started.
Right-wing extremism is also a growing concern there are just over 190 extremists with a the principal terrorist threat to canada continues to be that. Avast smart life protects the growing number of a new internet of things (iot) security and as these numbers grow, so does the concern for security. These worries weren’t limited to one age group, with the majority of respondents in each age demographic saying their concerns about personal information security. Tsa tightens security of air cargo from 5 muslim countries growing concerns over the potential for smuggling bombs onto us-bound flights, prompted an. Security & skills biggest concerns for orgs the cbi today called on the government to establish security concerns and the issue of finding people.
John gilmore, an american entrepreneur and civil libertarian, once famously quipped that “the internet interprets censorship as damage and routes around it. In 1995, a bipartisan pair of senators wrote a bill to address growing concerns over minors accessing pornography on the internet president bill clinton would. The 2018 state of the digital union: the seven deadly sins of cyber security we must there are growing concerns that the underlying dna of the digital systems.
Every day, billions of people around the world use the internet to share ideas, conduct financial transactions, and keep in touch with family, friends, and colleagues. As security concerns in data the growing use of encryption growing concerns over internet traffic interception server cpu cannot handle today’s. Over half of consumers are more concerned about cyber security today cyber security concerns grow, but actions growing concerns around cyber security. Home » business » when phishing starts from the a growing concern of security professionals is internal security research) today’s predictions for.
Facebook has grown into a worldwide network of over till today today the internet continues to grow internet associations | internet security. If there was any remaining doubt that security is a major issue for the internet of consider security to be a top concern internet of things landscape.
5 key challenges for the industrial internet of things (iiot) but the iiot drives a growing attack surface supply chain concerns, security. Ecybersec security professionals are your trusted advisors with the expertise and today, creating a truly to address the growing concerns in the field of it.
Global business spend on cybersecurity to grow 33% over the next 4 growing concerns over data and desired solutions with regard to data and data security. 2014 top 10 issues to watch in peace & security: the global arena january 17 another source of concern is afghanistan your freedom on the internet. I have a growing list of concerns today, though they've largely moved out of phone rooms and to the internet. The threat posed by the internet seems to grow did have security concerns of control over the internet that approaches what. Symantec helps consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven world our software and services protect against more risks at more points, more.
The stunning growth of internet usage in some countries is also raising concerns about privacy the qualities that make computer networks such powerful tools for. The internet today is a widespread information there were also other concerns it had seen the internet grow to over 50,000 networks on all seven. A majority of americans feel that their privacy is being challenged along such core dimensions as the security concerns about the pew research center internet.


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Apprenda, the developer of software for creating private platform-as-a-service clouds, is adding features that offer users better control over applications running on the platform.
Businesses that use Apprenda install the software, which supports .Net applications, in their own data centers. With the software in place, developers in a business log into the PaaS via a Web-based console and use it just like they might use Microsoft's own Azure PaaS. By running an internal PaaS, businesses can dramatically speed up the time to launch new applications while complying with security and legal restrictions, Apprenda said.
With Apprenda 3.0, the company hopes to make it very easy for organizations to install and manage the software, Apprenda CEO Sinclair Schuller said.
The new version lets developers set usage policies on a per-application basis. That means developers can set limits to the resources that individual applications use, making sure computing resources are available for the most critical applications.
It also includes new APIs (application programming interfaces) that give developers more control over caching and service communication.
Apprenda 3.0 also allows users to deploy more kinds of applications. Previously, a narrow set of .Net applications was supported, but now any kind of .Net Web or SQL Server app can be deployed on Apprenda.
Apprenda's software can be used by enterprises as well as service providers that are looking for a quick way to start offering PaaS services.
For now, Apprenda figures it's the only out-of-the-box private .Net PaaS provider, although it has some competition from Microsoft. The software giant offers what it calls an Azure appliance, which includes hardware for a very large data center and can be used by an enterprise to run an internal Azure cloud. "Our approach is different in that we are not selling a giant piece of hardware, but instead a software layer that enterprises can use in a 'plug and play' fashion on top of the millions of dollars of Windows infrastructure they already own," Schuller said.
One advantage to Microsoft's offering is that customers can employ a hybrid approach where they shift over to Microsoft's public Azure service when extra capacity is needed. That's not possible with Apprenda clouds, although in the future, a business using Apprenda might be able to build a hybrid cloud with a service provider using Apprenda software, Schuller said.
Apprenda envisions adding support for additional development languages, potentially Java and LAMP, at some point in the future. But first it plans to add support for additional databases such as Oracle and MySQL, he said.


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MapInfo Corp., a business-to-business software development Web site, launched a mapping service this week to help clients bring Web site visitors into their bricks-and-mortar locations.
Dubbed miSites, the service enables clients, including retailers, restaurants, health clubs and car dealers, to provide their physical locations to Web visitors. The service prompts Web visitors for their street address, city, state and ZIP code and then provides a map marking the company's physical location and its address, phone number and store hours.
“If you're a company that has five locations and I live in Albany, NY, it can show me the closest locations within a 50-mile radius. We had a lot of clients coming up on our site and looking for those sorts of services, which we didn't previously offer, but we do now because we know that our customers do want those things,” said Kim Seabury, manager of Web operations at MapInfo, Troy, NY.
Registration is free to MapInfo customers who fill out a form to receive a “passport” that enables them to buy and download software on a per product basis.
MapInfo enables clients to use geographic information combined with demographics, lifestyle and buying behavior to better understand their customers. The company's more than 500,000 clients include telecommunications giants Sprint and AT&T, which use the company's software for forecasting demand and increasing customer retention, and the FBI and New York Police Department, which use it for emergency response and municipal planning.
MapInfo plans to enhance miSites with miDirections later this month with a service that will provide clients' customers with directions to their places of business.
MapInfo uses NetGenesis, Cambridge, MA, to track site activity, including visitor navigation tracking and the most popular pages visited, and plans to relaunch its Web site with information gathered from the Web reporting company.
While MapInfo's site navigation is “pretty good,” Seabury said, the company plans to enhance it, especially on the areas of the site that experience a lot of traffic. “We find that people typically are more interested in our free area on our site,” said Seabury. The free area offers downloadable whitepapers, support files and product demos. The software section is another commonly visited area of mapinfo.com, said Seabury.
Meanwhile, MapInfo's online press center is less commonly visited than the company had anticipated. The press center offers company press releases, information about its consulting services and a page that posts jobs openings at the company.
MapInfo. also plans to improve search capabilities so that, in addition to standard keyword searching, customers will be able to search for meta information, or behind-the-scenes code words interpreted by search engines.
Using NetGenesis' services, the 15-year-old company also discovered that it wasn't offering at least one of its products in the format its customers wanted.
“A lot of people don't want to deploy MapMarker on their own Web servers. They would much rather us provide the service via an ASP-model on the Internet, so we are certainly exploring those types of situations,” said Seabury.
MapMarker is a geo-coding tool that allows its customers to turn data into pinpoints on a map.


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Luck, Romo Join Mannings To Promote DirecTV Flames Merch Flying Off The Shelves Sears Canada Partners With Gretzky Spieth's Dad Tracking Athletes' Social Media Impact Marketplace Roundup Advertisers Need $10M For YouTube's NFL Channel U.S. Women's Soccer Team Unveils New Uniforms Subway Adds Mariota As Endorser Sponsors Stayed True To Paul George Zurich To Promote Lexi During PGA Tour Event
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SBD/August 2, 2011/Marketing and Sponsorship
London Olympic Sponsors Wait To Activate In The U.S. Closer To Games
Published August 2, 2011
THAT'S (ALMOST) A WRAP: Olympic Delivery Authority Chair John Armitt said that LOCOG officials “have secured a sponsor to fund the fabric wrap for the 80,000-seat Olympic stadium and it will be added within the next six months.” Armitt: "It is going ahead. LOCOG have got a sponsor. They haven't announced it yet but they have got one." Armitt said that “the sponsorship was in the ‘single figure millions’ and the wrap could be easily installed.” LOCOG is “expected to announce the sponsor within weeks” (AROUNDTHERINGS.com, 8/2).
THE JOY OF COLA: One-Poll research shows that Coca-Cola is the “most-recognised” of the 11 IOC TOP sponsors for the London Games. The soft-drink brand was cited “as the worldwide partner that consumers most associate with the Olympics by 37% of 2,000 people surveyed.” McDonald’s ranked second in the survey and Visa ranked third (MARKETINGMAGAZINE.co.uk, 8/2).


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Jeremy Warner: Downturn will sort the retailing wheat from the chaff
Wednesday 07 January 2009
Outlook And they are off. The start of the Christmas trading update season has brought relatively good news from the high street, or at least news that was not nearly as bad as some had been forecasting. Debenhams was down "just" 3.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 3 January while the fashion chain New Look was actually up 2.8 per cent in a similar time frame. Even Next, which resisted the trend to discount sales in the run-up to Christmas, was down by "only" 7 per cent on a like-for-like basis, which in these markets counts as almost respectable, though this was over a longer time frame and may therefore disguise double-digit falls in November and December.
You won't see anything like as bad as the 15 per cent plunge in sales some bears are forecasting for Marks & Spencer when it releases its update today. As for the 1,000 expected job losses, in good times these would have been thought just good housekeeping for a company with more than 70,000 employees. In any case, as Simon Wolfson, chief executive of Next, says, it's hardly Armageddon.
It's no wonder that even if you had the money for a shopping spree over Christmas, it was impossible to find anything to buy in the shops. All these companies anticipated a bad Christmas, and therefore kept stocks under tight control, so as not to be forced into even deeper, stock clear-out discounting in the new year.
Mr Wolfson summed up the prevailing mood by saying it was bad, but not that bad. Nor did he anticipate total meltdown on the high street, which give or take a few insolvencies he expected to look much the same in a year's time as it does now.
Maybe, but he'd be a fool if he hasn't planned for an exceptionally difficult year. Thus far, consumers have been trimming their expenditure and abandoning big-ticket purchases, but not until they start losing their jobs en masse will you see the real damage to demand. Over the next few months, the pain will ratchet up. The good news for those that can stay afloat while all around them are sinking is that, once the storm has subsided, there will be far fewer ships on the sea with which to compete.
Mr Wolfson may be right in thinking the high street won't look much different, but for the survivors the 15 per cent vacancy level for retail space Experian anticipates by the end of the year means the pick of the sites and the customers. Survivors like recessions. It makes them more dominant still.
- 1 VMAs 2015: Was Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus' awkward acceptance put-down real or staged?
- 2 If you're not already angry about the migrant crisis, here's a history lesson to remind you why you really should be
- 3 Rules on 5p plastic bags likely to lead to arguments at the check-out
- 4 I like Corbyn, but let's face it: we don't need another white man at the head of a political party
- 5 Orthorexia nervosa: How becoming obsessed with healthy eating can lead to malnutrition
VMAs 2015: Was Nicki Minaj and Miley Cyrus' awkward acceptance put-down real or staged?
Bank Holiday Monday opening times: Are Tesco, Asda and other supermarkets open today?
Rules on 5p plastic bags likely to lead to arguments at the check-out
The nine most warmongering countries in the world revealed
VMAs 2015: Kanye West runs for president, Nicki Minaj calls out Miley Cyrus and the list of winners in full
Climate change: 2015 will be the hottest year on record 'by a mile', experts say
'Women only' train carriages: Jeremy Corbyn unveils radical move to tackle public harassment
Black holes are a passage to another universe, says Stephen Hawking
Tony Blair attacks Jeremy Corbyn's 'Alice In Wonderland' politics
Theresa May says migrants should be banned from entering the UK unless they have jobs lined up
Iain Duncan Smith 'should resign over disability benefit death figures', says Jeremy Corbyn
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Everyone knows the Italian luxury sports automaker Lamborghini for its aesthetically appealing automobiles with an impressive performance. But with the brand new Lamborghini Terzo Millennio (Concept EV), the firm has raised the benchmarks.
The new concept EV drops hints about the company’s idea for future supercars. It is loaded with the newest technological innovations in the automobile industry. Here’s the highlight.
Self-healing capabilities of Lamborghini Terzo Millennio
What? Is that even possible? Technically yes. With a carbon fibre body, Terzo Millennio will be able to detect any cracks and other damages over a period of time. It will repair the damage with ‘nano-technology’ via the microchannels in the bodywork.
Yes, it’s highly scientific and technical, which only Lamborghini engineers will be able to explain.
Using supercapacitors instead of batteries
Like we said above, this concept automobile is an outcome of the company’s collaboration with MIT. And the innovation results are highlighted in the battery department. Unlike regular EV batteries, the Terzo Millennio (Concept EV) will use supercapacitors. These are likely to fuel the automobile’s performance. Supercapacitors are capable of producing high power.
Lamborghini Terzo Millennio is a supercar but Lamborghini wants it to sound like other Lambos. The report says that the processes won’t be easy as there is no natural gasoline V10 or V12 engines. Lamborghini is saying that currently is finding a way to make it sound same.


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Graco Children's Products has added more than 403,000 child seats to last month's recall of 3.8 million to replace faulty harness buckles.
Graco, the Atlanta-based maker of baby and children's products, said Tuesday it's recalling nearly 3.8 million car safety seats sold between 2009 and 2013 because children can get trapped by buckles that may not unlatch.
Graco, one of the most prominent manufacturers of products for babies and young children, is recalling tens of thousands of wood high chairs after seats came loose and caused several children to fall.
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News May 21 2019
Zebra Technologies to Acquire Profitect Inc.
Zebra Technologies Corporation (NASDAQ: ZBRA), an innovator at the edge of the enterprise with solutions and partners that enable businesses to gain a performance edge, today announced it intends to acquire Profitect Inc., a privately-held, leading provider of prescriptive analytics for the retail and consumer packaged goods (CPG) industries. Using machine learning and prescriptive analytics, Profitect’s solution identifies opportunities to positively impact sales and margin for some of the most recognized retail and CPG brands in the world. Profitect uses data from across the value chain for improving inventory and pricing accuracy, out of stocks, supply chain inefficiency, unsellable merchandise, and assortment discrepancies. The solution identifies a potential opportunity and can generate suggested actions, sending them directly to a worker’s mobile device, providing step-by-step instructions for resolution. By enabling users to understand and act on data, Profitect customers typically realize sales lift, as well as margin and labor productivity improvement enabling a better overall consumer experience. Zebra will also leverage the investment to accelerate the development of its Savanna data platform through the acquisition of Profitect’s technology, talent, and skillsets. Combining the real-time data that Zebra solutions capture, with Profitect’s access to operational data, machine learning, and prescriptive analytics, Zebra will work with its’ partners to empower front-line workers even more – across all verticals - with the insights they need to make better, faster, smarter decisions. “The acquisition of Profitect expands our relevancy deeper and wider in global retail operations while advancing our software capabilities to make our Enterprise Asset Intelligence vision even more accessible,” said Anders Gustafsson, Chief Executive Officer of Zebra Technologies. “We have had a strong relationship with Profitect for the past five years through Zebra Ventures, and we are excited to take our strategic investment to the next level by welcoming the Profitect team to the Zebra family.” “We are excited to join Zebra and bring our award-winning prescriptive analytics solution to every worker at the edge,” said Guy Yehiav, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Profitect, who will be a key leader in the business integration. “Together we will ensure the workforce of the future is more connected and optimally utilized. We value Zebra’s support and expertise over the past five years as a key venture capitalist. I’m proud of the contribution that Profitect’s solution will bring to Zebra and look forward to working closely to deliver prescriptive analytics as part of its innovative and broad solution portfolio.” Zebra expects to fund the acquisition of Profitect with a combination of cash on hand along with fully committed financing available under its credit facility. The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2019. The transaction is expected to be immaterial to sales and profitability in the near term. Financial terms of the acquisition are not being disclosed. Zebra Technologies Safe Harbor Statement This press release contains forward-looking statements, as defined by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, without limitation, the statements regarding the company’s outlook and the ability to complete the acquisition of Profitect Inc. Actual results may differ from those expressed or implied in the company’s forward-looking statements. These statements represent estimates only as of the date they were made. Zebra undertakes no obligation, other than as may be required by law, to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or any other reason after the date of this release. These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations, forecasts and assumptions and are subject to the risks and uncertainties inherent in Zebra’s industry, market conditions, general domestic and international economic conditions, and other factors. These factors include customer acceptance of Zebra’s hardware and software products and competitors’ product offerings, and the potential effects of technological changes. The continued uncertainty over future global economic conditions, the availability of credit and capital markets volatility may have adverse effects on Zebra, its suppliers and its customers. In addition, a disruption in our ability to obtain products from vendors as a result of supply chain constraints, natural disasters or other circumstances could restrict sales and negatively affect customer relationships. Profits and profitability will be affected by Zebra’s ability to control manufacturing and operating costs. Because of its debt, interest rates and financial market conditions will also have an impact on results. Foreign exchange rates will have an effect on financial results because of the large percentage of our international sales. The outcome of litigation in which Zebra may be involved is another factor. The success of integrating acquisitions could also affect profitability, reported results and the company’s competitive position in its industry. These and other factors could have an adverse effect on Zebra’s sales, gross profit margins and results of operations and increase the volatility of our financial results. When used in this release and documents referenced, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “outlook,” and “expect” and similar expressions, as they relate to the company or its management, are intended to identify such forward-looking statements, but are not the exclusive means of identifying these statements. Descriptions of the risks, uncertainties and other factors that could affect the company’s future operations and results can be found in Zebra’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company’s most recent Form 10-K. ABOUT PROFITECT Profitect’s prescriptive analytics solution leverages pattern detection and machine learning to identify opportunities that impact sales and margin. Profitect takes retail and CPG company data to identify areas for improvement including: inventory accuracy, out of stocks, pricing accuracy, unsellable merchandise, and assortment discrepancies. Profitect customers typically realize a two to five percent increase in sales, better consumer experience, 10-15% basis point margin improvement, and labor productivity improvement within six months. To learn more about Profitect visit: www.profitect.com or follow the company on Twitter and LinkedIn. ABOUT ZEBRA Zebra (NASDAQ: ZBRA) empowers the front line of business in retail/ecommerce, manufacturing, transportation and logistics, healthcare and other industries to achieve a performance edge. With more than 10,000 partners across 100 countries, we deliver industry-tailored, end-to-end solutions that intelligently connect people, assets and data to help our customers make business-critical decisions. Our market-leading solutions elevate the shopping experience, track and manage inventory as well as improve supply chain efficiency and patient care. Ranked on Forbes’ list of America’s Best Employers for the last four years, Zebra helps our customers capture their edge. For more information, visit www.zebra.com or sign up for our news alerts. Follow us on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. ZEBRA and the stylized Zebra head are trademarks of Zebra Technologies Corporation, registered in many jurisdictions worldwide.All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners. ©2019 Zebra Technologies Corporation and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
Portfolio April 30 2019
Butternut Box Raises £15m
You’ve probably heard of HelloFresh-style businesses where you are given tailored ingredients for your meals. Well now the concept has come, literally, to dog food. Butternut Box is a London startup now bringing tailored, delivered meals to British dogs. It’s aiming at dog owners who want high-quality ingredients put into meals for their precious pooches. The company is led by Goldman Sachs alumni Kevin Glynn and David Nolan (aged 27 and 30 respectively), and is now announcing a £1 million Seed round of investment from a leading London early stage investor, Passion Capital. Estimates for dog and cat food snacks in the UK is currently £3.1 billion per annum, but only a tiny minority of these products are cooked fresh. Plus, only two companies dominate an estimated 77% of the UK pet food market. However, they are not alone, competing with Lily’s Kitchen, Tails.com and Natural Instinct for this lucrative new market. That said, they say that unlike other brands, their proprietary algorithm identifies how many kcals each individual dog needs on a daily basis. They then remove the hassle by pre-portioning this kcal amount into daily servings. They even taste test all their food – with humans. Glynn says “Pet owners are left choosing their dog food in an aisle cluttered with washing powder and bin bags and dominated by a few unhealthy choices. Butternut Box makes it easy and convenient to ensure dogs get the very best diet tailored for each individual.” They appear to be pushing at an open door. Just as in humans, obesity and related issues are said to be costing British dog owners over £200 million in vet’s fees. Overfeeding, and unhealthy food is leading to obesity. But Butternut Box’s algorithms might be one answer. Nolan says: “We know their age, weight, breed, activity levels and body condition. With this information, we can develop meals that meet the dog’s specific needs.” Meet the Quantified Dog. Why create this tailored approach? Well, a scientific study found that dogs who were fed a natural, home-made diet had a longer life capacity than those dogs who were fed industrial canned products. The difference which is mentioned in the study between those two diets is three years, a long time in dog years. After starting out in a family kitchen, with daily early morning trips to London’s Smithfield meat market, Butternut Box is now based in a kitchen in West London and sources all its meat direct in Ireland and Britain. So far it’s cooked over 250,000 individual meals since it launched in April 2016.
News March 26 2019
Israeli media app building co Applicaster raises $20m
Applicaster's platform helps media companies build content distribution applications. Israel startup Applicaster today announced a $20 million growth financing round led by Viola Growth, the Viola Group's growth fund, with participation from 83North Venture Capital and existing investors, among them Pitango Venture Capital, Saban Ventures, and Planven Investments.The current round brings the amount raised by the company to $60 million. Applicaster has developed a platform for media companies for building applications to distribute content. Applicaster, founded in 2011 by CEO Jonathan Laor and CTO Neer Friedman, works with broadcasting agencies and television networks to develop and produce applications designed to connect viewers to television programs and get them more involved with the content.The company operates a software as a service (SaaS) platform for managing applications for media companies, including tools for building and maintaining applications that make it possible to transmit content directly to the consumer on telephones, tablets, and smart television sets in a suitable manner for the various interfaces. The platform makes it possible to build and change the applications with a click, thereby providing Applicaster's customers with flexibility and speed.Applicaster does not disclose its revenue, but Laor says that the company has 100 customers, including Fox, DirecTV, and Viacom. Applicaster also developed an application for the 2018 Winter Olympics in cooperation with Olympic Channel, the official channel for the Olympic Games. Applicaster currently has 100 employees: 40 in Israel and the rest in New York, London, Miami, and San Jose. Following the financing round, the company plans to increase its staff in Israel by 20 employees, mainly in sales, product, and development."The media market today has giant players like Netflix and companies like it with huge development centers. The other companies are essentially not technology companies," says Viola Growth partner Eran Westman, who joined Applicaster's board of directors after the financing round. "These companies are constantly competing for users, and I believe that this trend will intensify, because everyone wants to give better service and more interesting applications that will earn them more money. What Applicaster does is to give those companies technological capabilities - a platform that will make it much easier for them to build and maintain an application, including analytics, software updates, and so forth."
Portfolio March 21 2019
UnitedLex embraces legal AI with Seal Software deployment
Global legal services business, UnitedLex, is making use of legal AI technology provided by Seal Software, in what is a significant change of heart for a business that previously had a longstanding scepticism for such applications. The move is significant on multiple levels, one of which is that UnitedLex now has a huge private equity fund, CVC Capital Partners, as a majority owner which believes the enterprise legal group has ‘a multi-billion-dollar opportunity ahead’ according to comments from Siddharth Patel, Senior Managing Director at CVC at the time of the investment last year. It’s also a major additional validation of Seal – not that it really needed one given its long-running success at selling its legal AI review tech into the world’s largest companies. But, still, when a legal AI sceptic converts to a believer it’s always great to see. The change of heart was explained to Artificial Lawyer by Dan Reed, CEO of the rapidly expanding UnitedLex, which formed back in 2006 and now takes on day to day legal matters for many of the world’s corporates at a level that is now in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Reed, who is extremely bullish about UnitedLex’s future growth prospects and business model, which includes working in partnership with law firms such as LeClair Ryan in the US, said: ‘We have a tech lab so we can test the solutions, because we want to make sure our clients are getting the best solutions.’ ‘We looked at several AI solutions and we believe that Seal is the only one that works for us. We are using Seal Software currently on client matters and it is a part of our delivery arm.’ Reed added that he expects to see greater use of this type of tool in the future. ‘We will see much more maturity [in AI tech],’ he added. Now, the words above may seem quite normal. You’ve all read clients of legal AI companies singing their praises before. What’s different here is that Reed and UnitedLex in general had until quite recently been very sceptical about AI tools – primarily because they didn’t believe they could really be of significant use. Reed noted that they had looked at Seal in the past and not felt moved to use it. But, he added, that after the merger with Apogee Legal last summer things changed. Prior to the merger Apogee and Seal had been working closely together and Apogee had been providing some of the NLP ‘toolkits’ for doc analysis that Seal’s corporate clients were using. Reed added that the interface also improved following the combination of the two companies and that had helped as well. He also stressed that more broadly he is still quite sceptical about the idea that lawyers’ working practices at the moment are being radically changed by technology. ‘The challenge is that it is generally an aspiration when it comes to tech. In the legal sector people are excited by e-signatures,’ he noted with some amusement. Is this a big deal? Yes. Because it shows: first, that large corporates want review work to be augmented with technology such as Seal’s legal AI capabilities, and secondly, that UnitedLex are now part of the ‘AI Users Club’ – a steadily growing family of law firms and legal businesses around the world. They also join the good company of several others working in the same segment of the market, including the smaller, but rapidly expanding Elevate, which bought out legal AI company LexPredict last year. Is this going to drive radical change within UnitedLex? Probably not in the short to medium term. They’re a big organisation with offices around the world, helping a multitude of clients, that includes the likes of GE. Seal may however – one would guess – steadily see its use level rise and spread, especially as more and more corporates demand rapid and effective tech-led review and contract analysis.
Portfolio March 20 2019
New Searchmetrics lighthouse ranking factors reports deliver custom insights for search success
Searchmetrics is combining insights from Google Lighthouse with its own extensive search data to give SEO professionals a fully-customized, comprehensive report highlighting the Google ranking factors that matter most to their specific market. Each Lighthouse Ranking Factors report comes complete with concrete recommendations for improving search performance based on an analysis of how a site compares with top ranking competitors. “This is so much more than just a simple SEO audit for your website,” explains Jordan Koene, CEO of Searchmetrics Inc.. “We take your keyword list and use Google‘s Lighthouse data − integrated with our data − to come up with an in-depth analysis of Lighthouse ranking factors and issues that are critical for your market. This helps us pinpoint a list of tailored recommendations to help you outperform your competition.” To compile the reports Searchmetrics first evaluates each customer’s web pages using the Google Lighthouse open source tool. This provides real-time metrics and insights in areas such as technical performance (including speed-related factors), accessibility and SEO performance. To this Searchmetrics adds in-depth analysis drawn from its own ranking factors data, courtesy of its continuously updated global search database. Using each customer‘s unique keyword set, the company generates a detailed breakdown of how the customer’s website performs against thousands of others. What are the most important ranking factors in that market segment? How does the customer’s site rate in those areas? And how can it improve? After having pulled the Lighthouse data and combined it with Searchmetrics ranking data, the results are interpreted and analyzed by search and digital marketing experts from the Searchmetrics Digital Strategies Group. They clearly explain the metrics, filter the most relevant factors and outline the key steps that will drive improvements. “Aimed at in-house SEO teams and agency professionals, Lighthouse Ranking Factors reports take the time and effort out of the data collection and analysis that is now essential for developing a next-generation search strategy and metrics,” explains Jordan. “Our experts sift through the data, identify the specific ranking factors that are important to the market you want to address and give you a check-list of key steps that your team can start working on right away.” Customers are required to provide a list of up to 1,000 top keywords that defines their market. Searchmetrics will gather the data, perform an in-depth analysis and provide a comprehensive report detailing key metrics, insights and recommendations, complete with a management summary.
Portfolio March 20 2019
FIA World Rally Championship expands coverage capabilities using LiveU HEVC technologies across 10 events in 2019
Following on from a very successful test of LiveU's technology at the ADAC Rallye Deutschland in Germany last August, WRC Promoter GmbH, the company that's responsible for all commercial aspects of the FIA World Rally Championship, has signed up to use LiveU's technology across 10 rallies this year. LiveU has already helped bring enhanced coverage of Rallye Monte-Carlo and Rally Sweden to viewers in 2019, with another eight events also set to benefit. They include: Tour de Corse, Rally de Portugal, Rally Italia Sardegna, Rally Finland, ADAC Rallye Deutschland, Rally Turkey, Wales Rally GB and Rally RACC Catalunya - Rally de España. Florian Ruth, Director of Content and Production, WRC Promoter, said, "We are using three LU600 HEVC-equipped units with associated LiveU server technology and LiveU Central for overall management. HEVC is very important for us to significantly reduce bandwidth and LiveU has fitted smoothly into our production workflows. Following on from the initial test last year, WRC Promoter has worked closely with LiveU to fully understand how to maximize the quality and the coverage. Ruth highlights the fact that at each event so far, they have continued this optimisation process, with the next rally - Tour de Corse - set to be the first time that the LU600s have been involved in testing camera positions in advance of the event. Signals are sent - both live and files using store and forward - to the WRC TV production unit where the LiveU servers are situated, normally in the event Service Park, with the content then pulled into the edit suite as required. Rally stages are spread up to 250 km around the Service Park at each event. Ruth said, "We are using LiveU in conjunction with our RF and satellite workflow, allowing us to significantly expand our coverage without having to worry about access to certain parts of events or rely on motorcycles to deliver the additional captured footage to us. In order to continue to fully engage existing viewers and to attract new audiences, we constantly need to innovate. Using LiveU is allowing us to think differently and to bring a fresh level of dynamism to our content as we can use locations at each event that simply weren't possible previously. LiveU will also be able to deliver content directly to our Production Hub as we begin to move to remote production." 2018 saw The FIA World Rally Championship (WRC) reach its best ever global airtime figure of 14,208 hours over last season's 13 rounds, according to Nielsen Research. The WRC, recognised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), has a long and celebrated history, with 14 rallies around the world forming the 2019 series. WRC Promoter handles all the TV production, including all the broadcast formats, as well as the marketing of the series and sponsorship rights. It also works to increase the number of participants and explores new venues for the calendar. Zion Eilam, Regional VP Sales (EMEA), LiveU, said, "We have worked very closely with WRC Promoter over the past few months to truly understand the considerable contribution challenges that they face and how we are able to work together to create new opportunities for them. We are very pleased that we've been chosen as a key part of their future development."


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Beware, those of you planning a trail ride along the Amazon River in South America this summer. This month, scientists have finally proven a question that has been bugging them for more than 200 years: Can an electric eel leap out of the water and deliver enough voltage t0 kill a horse?
As if electric eels needed another reason to keep us out of the water, that answer is apparently yes, according to an article published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. And the findings are even more terrifying than we suspected.
It was the Prussian explorer, naturalist, and Romantic philosopher Friedrich Wilhelm Heinrich Alexander von Humboldt (1769-1859) who first made that jumping eels claim back when he was exploring the Amazon in 1800. According to von Humboldt, the electric eels he observed were leaping from the water to attack, delivering enough voltage even to kill a horse. Since that time, though, scientists, have mostly figured the dude was exaggerating, especially since no similar reports have ever been made.
Enter one of those very same skeptics, Ken Catania, the Stevenson Professor of Biological Sciences at Vanderbilt University. Catania told Reuters that he thought von Humboldt’s tale was bizarre, and couldn’t understand why an eel would leap out of the water and attack instead of just swimming away. So the biologist, who has been studying eels for years, decided to put the story to the test.
Using a plastic arm and alligator head outfitted with a conductive metal strip and a network of LED lights, Catania introduced the model to a cornered (read: threatened) eel. The LED lights, Catania explained, would represent the endings of pain nerves in the crocodile’s head being stimulated. The eel happily obliged to participate in the experiment, and as you might guess, that croc’s head light up brighter than the Griswold family Christmas tree.
The study supports that idea that when an eel is submerged and emits electrical pulses, they are distributed throughout the water, thereby lessening the effects. In most cases, the charge is still strong enough to freeze an eel’s intended prey in a state of shock. Out of the water, however, the eel attacks with its chin directly on the skin, and the high voltage zapping hits the unfortunate victim with intensified—and potentially deadly—power.
The result looks something like this, which is to say, be it human, horse or otherwise, it’s not something we’d ever want to witness first-hand.
More fun stuff to make you the smartest rider in the room, right this way…


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Willow Biosciences Inc (TSE:WLLW) (OTCQX:CANSF) has said it is planning to become the first company to launch biosynthetically-produced THC in Canada.
Willow’s in-house process creates a consistent, scalable and sustainable high-purity product that can be used in a multitude of different industries, from consumer packaged goods to pharmaceuticals.
The Canadian company announced Tuesday that it plans to commercialize the proprietary THC-producing yeast strain after it successfully launches its CBG-producing strain early this year. In December, Willow told shareholders it expects its first sales of CBG in the second quarter of 2021 - six months ahead of expectations.
READ: Willow Biosciences moves towards revenue generation as it expects first sales of CBG in second quarter of 2021
The successful production of THC demonstrates the versatility of Willow’s platform, CEO Trevor Peters told Proactive. Willow is planning to scale up the process to get the THC strain to a point where it is commercially ready by the end of 2021, and potentially even start manufacturing.
“We’re making a product that has a very big addressable market in Canada,” Peters said. “Being able to produce THC at a high level of purity is not something that’s available today. There’s no plant-based contaminants that would come through the extraction process and could potentially spoil a beverage or food item or something similar.”
Willow told investors that, through conversations with prospective customers in Canada, it believes there is a high demand for consistent, high-purity THC. “The flavourless, odorless attributes of our finished product make it suitable as a core ingredient for the cannabis 2.0 market in Canada,” Peters said. “There is also strong demand for a more sustainable and environmentally friendly way to produce THC.”
More compounds in the pipeline
With two cannabinoids now successfully produced, Willow can now turn its attention to biosynthesizing additional compounds such as THCV (tetrahydrocannabivarin) that research suggests works as an appetite suppressant and could help with diabetes, among other effects. There’s also CBN (cannabinol), another cannabinoid compound that could be a potent antibacterial agent.
“Once we’ve done something once, we can more quickly move to something else within our overall portfolio,” Peters told Proactive. “Both THCV and CBG will be accelerated through the work we are doing on TCH and CBG.”
Peters told investors that Willow’s manufacturing process is 50 to 500 times more efficient than indoor cultivation and is the “next evolution of sustainable cannabinoid manufacturing.”
The firm said it is planning to target the adult-use market in Canada first, but is keeping a close eye on the regulatory environment in the US in case legalization should occur with the incoming presidential administration.
Contact Angela at firstname.lastname@example.org
Follow her on Twitter @AHarmantas


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GROTON, Conn. (AP) — The U.S. Navy's primary contractor for submarines says it will lay off 65 workers in October. Spokesman Robert Hamilton said Tuesday the Groton (GRAH'-tun), Conn.-based Electric Boat company regularly reviews its workforce requirements. He says it informed workers Monday.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Wholesale companies added more autos, machinery and computers to their stockpiles in June, pushing inventories up for the 18th consecutive month. Sales at the wholesale level rose 0.6 percent in June, the Commerce department said Wednesday. That followed a 0.3 percent drop in May.
BEIJING (AP) — China's auto sales rose 6.7 percent in July but growth was well below the double-digit surge of the past two years, an industry group said Wednesday. Some 1.01 million passenger cars were bought in July in the world's biggest auto market by vehicle sales, according to the government-authorized China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
BEIJING (AP) — China's first aircraft carrier swept through fog-shrouded waters Wednesday to open sea trials that underscore concerns about the country's growing military strength and its increasingly assertive claims over disputed territory. The mission by the refurbished former Soviet carrier marks a first step in readying the craft for full deployment.
DETROIT (AP) — The top executive at General Motors Co. is having doubts about whether U.S. auto sales will recover this year as expected, even as the stock market rebounded a bit Tuesday from its huge losses. Speaking to industry analysts about GM's long-term financial plans Tuesday, GM Chairman and CEO Dan Akerson said the company is sticking with its U.
Old pallets, broken crates, and scrap lumber have a way of accumulating. Manufacturing and distribution facilities in particular have found wood waste disposal to be a costly, labor intensive problem. “We used to have some issues with extra wood in our facility,” says Thomas Zelahy, Facilities Manager of the Alstom Grid plant in Charleroi, PA.
A distributor uses CMMS to track repair history, mileage, and idle time of its delivery fleet What would you do if you had to manage maintenance for all the accumulating assets of an industry giant that thrived on acquisitions? That question befell the fixed asset management team and Jane Sears, fixed asset manager for the Commercial Fuels Division of Parkland Fuel Corporation, Canada’s largest independent distributor of fuel products.
Project timelines are being shortened and communication is improving Smart grid technology is being newly incorporated in all kinds of products and devices. Various software and integration methods are coming into play whereby new products can be brought to market faster and more cohesively to work with smart grid infrastructures.
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Federal authorities in New Jersey have charged a citizen of the Netherlands with conspiring to ship aircraft parts and other items from the United States to Iran in violation of U.S. law. Fifty-year-old Ulrich Davis was arrested Saturday at Newark Liberty International Airport.
WALTHAM, Mass. (AP) — Scientific instrument maker Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. said Tuesday that it will offer senior notes to help fund its $3.5 billion acquisition of the privately held Swedish company Phadia, which makes blood test systems for allergy and auto-immune diseases. Thermo Fisher, based in Waltham, Mass.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Ralcorp, which announced it would buy Sara Lee's North American refrigerated dough business Tuesday, said its third-quarter net income fell 47 percent because of an impairment charge and higher expenses. The company earned $28.3 million or 50 cents per share, in the quarter.
NEW YORK (AP) — Apple has surpassed Exxon Mobil as the most valuable company in the U.S. Apple Inc.'s stock gained 3.4 percent to $365.10 Tuesday afternoon, bringing the iPhone and iPad maker's market capitalization to about $338 billion. Exxon Mobil Corp. shares, meanwhile, were trading at $69.
NATCHEZ, Miss. (AP) — An Ohio-based company says it's taking over a south Mississippi plant that makes storage tanks and other large steel products, and it's adding 75 jobs to the existing work force. Enerfab Inc., based in Cincinnati, is moving into the plant in Natchez that had been run by Dynasteel.
DETROIT (AP) — General Motors plans to be leaner in the future by cutting in half the number of car and truck frames its uses worldwide. The company also says it will increase factory capacity 45 percent in Brazil, Russia, India and China by 2014 to take advantage of growth. GM made the statements Tuesday in slide presentations for its annual global business conference for industry analysts.
Hyde Tools (Southbridge, MA) has rolled out a new line of economical adhesive spreaders, each designed with two notched sides. Each 9" x 4" spreader is comprised of carbon steel and has a rolled steel handle for easy gripping. All have notches on two sides—a 9" side for general spreading and a 4" side for reaching into corners or tight areas.
Jenny Products, Inc. (Somerset, PA) now offers the electric-powered J5A-30P air compressor. This single-stage compressor includes an ASME-certified, 30-gallon air tank and is ideal for running multiple tools simultaneously. The J5A-30P is driven by an industrial-duty, five horsepower electric motor, which requires a single-phase, 230 volt power source.
The complete line of sampling pumps from Allegro Industries (Garden Grove, CA) meet OSHA and AHERA standards and can dependably monitor mold, lead, asbestos, and other dangerous particulates. One of these pumps, The Diaphragm Sampling Pump, is cost effective, maintenance free, and will operate efficiently with mold, PCM, and TEM cassettes.
Plast-O-Matic Valves, Inc. (Cedar Grove, NJ) has introduced a new automatic valve that performs multiple functions in a piping system, including pressure relief, backpressure control, pump bypass, and anti-siphon protection. The new ½ inch, lug-mounted Series RVDT uses an adjustable non-wetted spring to control backpressure in a liquid piping system.
A British man is preparing to leave the hospital after a pioneering surgery to install an artificial heart implant. The implant is powered by a portable driver worn in a shoulder bag and is designed to keep Matthew Green alive while he waits for a heart transplant. If you're having trouble watching this video, try downloading the latest version of Flash Player or contacting your IT department.
Mary Kaye Denning is the Founder and President of Cleveland-based The Manufacturing Mart, a program that helps connect manufacturers and suppliers by establishing a "permanent tradeshow." We sat down with Denning recently to discuss her theory on bringing a Starbucks "philosophy" to the shop floor by creating a better work environment and empowering employees.


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MADISON, WI (BRAIN)—On the Thursday night of this year's Interbike, Team SchwycleOps, representing Pacific Cycle and Saris Cycling Group, dominated the warm up laps of the 2007 Industry Cup crit race.
CLEVELAND, OH (BRAIN)--Every Sunday this August plus Sunday September 23, experience University Circle, the Cleveland Cultural Gardens and Martin Luther King Blvd in a whole new way--without your car.
MADISON, WI (BRAIN)—Pacific Cycle and Saris Cycling Group are issuing a challenge to Industry Cup crit racers: Put your money where your mouth is.
SAN DIEGO, CA (BRAIN)-NiteRider Technical Lighting Systems announced they will be providing lights for Cannondale’s test ride demo days to be held at beautiful Red Rock Resort in Nevada, September 26-28.
SALT LAKE CITY, UT (BRAIN)—Specialized played host to 590 retailers and staff at its three-day 2008 product introduction held in Salt Lake.
PHILADELPHIA, PA (BRAIN)–An online charity raffle to benefit the Philadelphia chapter of the Susan J. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation opens today, with a hand-built, one-of-a-kind “Pedal Pink” bicycle loaded with high-end parts and pieces as the prize.
WILMINGTON, MA (BRAIN)—Last weekend’s Pedro’s Fest brought some of the industry’s biggest names with Shimano, Giant and Trek all in attendance.
“From a manufacturer’s perspective, I think the numbers were up,” said Jason Elhardt, marketing and communications manager for Pedro’s.
BY SHERI HEIN
MADISON, WI (BRAIN)—Following its split from Nike earlier this summer and the disbanding of the Discovery Channel Pro Team last month, retailers may have been unsure what to expect from Trek in 2008.
LAS VEGAS, NV (BRAIN)—Interbike exhibitors can spotlight the hottest new gear that women will love.
LAS VEGAS, NV (BRAIN)-Swagger recently announced details of the Bicycling Magazine Industry Cup, scheduled for Thursday night, September 27 at the Mandalay Bay Resort in Las Vegas.
The event is part of the World Criterium Championship, the final race in the 10-city 2007 USA Crits Championship Series.
MORGANTOWN, WV (BRAIN)—It seems as though Cannondale saved its biggest news for the last day at its recent dealer launch in the rugged hills of West Virginia.
SANTA FE, NM (BRAIN)—Dust off your GoGo boots and dig out your pedal wrench, the second annual Bike-A-GoGo is on its way.
BALA CYNWYD, PA (BRAIN)—Sweetskinz is holding a contest to find the video that best features its proprietary patterned and reflective tires. The winning video will win a $1,000 prize and be shown at the Sweetskinz booth at Interbike this September.
POZZOLEONE, Italy (BRAIN)—There’s a reason why, after twelve years of Outdoor Demo, no one has ever served ice cream in the desert. It is not a task for the faint hearted.
BOULDER, CO (BRAIN)—Boulder-based event organizer DBC Events has announced details about Excel Sports CrossVegas scheduled for September 26 in Las Vegas.
TRENTON, NJ (BRAIN)—Recently at the Mountain Bike World Championships in Fort William, Scotland, Julian Absalon collected his fifth consecutive cross-country title.
DOWNIEVILLE, CA (BRAIN)—“Epic” was the word to describe this July’s Downieville Classic.
“I can honestly say I’ve never had so much fun at a bike race,” said Dain Zaffke, marketing coordinator for WTB. “A lot of people were saying it was the best Downieville Classic ever.”
LAS VEGAS, NV (BRAIN)—Bicycling magazine and Festina USA have partnered to host “Victory Lap” at the Tourneau Time Dome at Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas on Wednesday, Sept. 26.
LOS ANGELES, CA (BRAIN)–The 2008 Amgen Tour of California professional cycling road race will take place February 17-24, 2008, as confirmed yesterday by AEG, presenters of the record-setting ‘Tour de France-style’ cycling road race staged across many of California’s most scenic state highways, roadways and coastline
CHICAGO, IL (BRAIN)—TANGO International released its report on Project Tsunami, the World Bicycle Relief program that granted 24,300 bicycles to men, women and children in Sri Lanka following the tsunami of December 2004.


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PolyMet takes next steps for controversial mine Plans are moving ahead for a copper-nickel mine in northeastern Minnesota, a type of mining new to the state, but in other parts of the world similar mines are polluting rivers and lakes.7:45 a.m.
Kevin Kling in new show at Guthrie The Guthrie Theater's smallest stage will be packed with more than 70 performers this weekend for the North American premiere of Minnesota playwright Kevin Kling's new musical.8:50 a.m.
National Public Radio Stories
Scientists: Biofuel Laws May Harm Environment
Researchers writing in the current issue of Science believe they have found an error in existing biofuel laws that could actually make climate change worse. They say these rules inadvertently encourage deforestation, which in turn contributes to global warming.
Using Trees To Curb Climate Change Not So Simple
Forests are fast becoming a great green hope for slowing climate change. Climate planners are keen to create forest carbon banks, places designed to store carbon and keep it out of the atmosphere. But banking carbon in forests turns out to be something of a mystery.
Democrats Push To End Insurers' Antitrust Exemption
The relationship between the Obama administration and health insurers has turned ugly since the industry rejected the health care makeover it once supported. Congressional Democrats now want to strip the industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws.
House Panel Approves Consumer Protection Agency
Congress moved forward on a major piece of the Obama administration's efforts to overhaul the financial industry. A key House panel approved a bill Thursday to set up a new agency to regulate consumer credit — everything from payday loans to debit cards. The proposal has taken some hits after intense lobbying from banks and other creditors.
Dalai Lama's Visit To India Certain To Upset China
One of the world's most intense rivalries is between two Asian giants: China and India. Relations between them are strained at the moment, and one reason involves the Dalai Lama. He plans to visit an area in northeast India next month that China has claimed as its own for many years.
In Polanski's Case, Time Is On Nobody's Side
How do you prosecute charges that are more than 30 years old? How do you defend accusations that go back more than three decades? Experts look at the challenges of trying film director Roman Polanski for forcing sex on a 13-year-old girl in 1977.
Following Apple's Lead, Microsoft Opens Retail Store
Microsoft opened its first retail store at a mall in Scottsdale, Ariz, Thursday. The opening coincided with the launch of Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 7. Apple has more than 200 retail outlets.
'Ong Bak 2': In Ancient Thailand, A Bang-Up Fight
If business as usual at the theaters is getting you down, how about a hot new martial-arts adventure from Thailand? Film critic Kenneth Turan says Tony Jaa's astonishing physicality is the signal attraction in Ong Bak 2.
Treasury Unveils Broad Effort To Limit Executive Pay
As expected, the Treasury Department has announced plans to restrict the cash salaries of executives at financial firms that received the largest government bailouts. In addition, the Federal Reserve said it intends to regulate pay practices at thousands of banks. The government says the goal is to avoid excessive risk-taking.
'Monster' Of A Trademark Dispute Settled
Beer drinkers are a loyal bunch, so when one of their favorite microbrews, Vermonster, got entangled in a copyright dispute they fought back on the Internet. Now the fight between the small Vermont brewery and the maker of Monster energy drinks has been settled.


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* Analysts hope China will take stimulus steps to aid market
* Murata surges after hiking its fiscal year forecast
* Kawasaki Kisen tumbles after a brokerage downgrade
By Ayai Tomisawa
TOKYO, Nov 2 (Reuters) - Japan’s Nikkei share average fell on Monday morning, reaching a 1-1/2 weeks low, on lacklustre China economic surveys and weak U.S. stocks, while investors traded on individual company earnings news.
The Nikkei dropped 1.7 percent to 18,759.77 in mid-morning trade after slipping to 18,735.60, the lowest level since Oct. 22. The Nikkei rose the last three sessions last week.
An official survey released over the weekend showed that activity in China’s manufacturing sector unexpectedly contracted in October for a third straight month, fuelling fears the economy may still be losing momentum in the fourth quarter despite a raft of stimulus measures.
On Monday, a private survey showed that China’s factory activity fell for an eighth straight month in October but at a slower pace as export orders revived.
Wall Street on Friday was hit by downbeat corporate earnings, which dragged down Nikkei futures trade on Monday morning before the cash market opened.
“Global market worries triggered selling while the market was prone to profit-taking from last week’s gains,” said Hikaru Sato, a senior technical analyst at Daiwa Securities.
Analysts said that in the mid-term, expectations that Beijing will release measures to support the economy will likely support the mood.
Exporters lost ground, with Honda Motor Co falling 1.5 percent, Nissan Motor Co 1.7 percent and Panasonic Corp 2.2 percent.
Shipper Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha, which was downgraded by CLSA after a dismal earnings result, stumbled 8.1 percent.
Kawasaki cut its full-year operating profit forecast to 24 billion yen from 39 billion yen for the year ending March 2016. CLSA cut its rating to ‘outperform’ from ‘buy’, citing a negative outlook for container prices.
Murata Manufacturing Co soared more than 5 percent after reporting that operating profit for the April-September period jumped 71 percent on the year to 152.14 billion yen and hiked its full-year forecast.
The broader Topix shed 1.8 percent to 1,530.02 and the JPX-Nikkei Index 400 declined 2.0 percent to 13,726.12. (Editing by Richard Borsuk)


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Yesterday the New York Dow Jones index of big American companies rose 3.3% taking it to 9625, roughly 25% higher than the intra-day low seen on October 10.
The London FTSE 100 rose 4.42% to 4639, a 20% increase on its low point of just a couple of weeks ago when it fell below 4000.
This morning (Wednesday) it slipped back in early trading as reality (and probably profit-taking) made a reappearance.
France and Germany both rose strongly yesterday, despite BMW saying that it might seek state aid for its finance operation, and this morning Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore all rose by over 4% each.
So has Obama waved his magic wand already and restored confidence to the markets?
Because confidence is the key.
The billions, if not trillions, of mortgage-backed securities that banks hold worldwide aren't worthless because they're not paying interest (most of them still are) but because no-one will buy them.
Banks won't lend to each other, or will only lend reluctantly, because they're fearful they might choose the next Lehman Brothers, but that's hardly likely with governments underwriting the big banks' deals.
But Obama offers a fresh start in the United States and, to an extent, that will restore confidence as the markets have lost faith in Republican policies and are willing to try nearly anything, even Democrat policies, usually decried as tax and spend.
His first, crucial decision will be his choice of treasury secretary.
The Republicans' Hank Paulson, former boss of Goldman Sachs, has striven manfully to bring the credit crunch/ financial crisis (choose your poison) to an end by making available $700bn for bank bail-outs and, in effect, breaking the model of freebooting investment banks (in one of which he made his fortune of course).
Obama needs to choose a treasury secretary who can help to fix Main Street as well as Wall Street, without going back to the days of "Clintonomics", easy credit for everyone, which many blame for causing all this trouble in the first place.
He'll be praying there are no more banking-induced disasters before he takes over officially in January.
Rate cut set to spark banking row
HSBC chief operating officer David Hodgkinson let the cat out of the bag the other day when he told ITN that passing on Bank of England interest rate cuts to customers was only an "aspiration."
This is the first big test for new business secretary Lord Mandelson who has already stated that that he expects any such cuts to be passed on, although he hasn't so far said "in full."
HSBC, of course, can do what it likes as it hasn't had to go cap in hand to the Government for extra cash so its decision to support borrowers or not is its own affair.
Earlier this year it was the first bank to go into the market with a fixed price offer on remortgages so it may not want to attract many more UK customers.
But the other banks, with the exception of Barclays, which has raised the extra capital it needs from the Middle East, will find it more difficult to resist Lord Mandelson's wishes.
Royal Bank of Scotland's new CEO Stephen Hester has said that it will boost its lending to personal customers and small businesses.
Not that he has a lot of choice as the Government has acquired £5bn of preference shares in his bank and is underwriting £15bn more.
The banks will be hoping for a cut bigger than the expected half point on Thursday (rates are currently 4.5%) because that will give them the opportunity to keep some back for themselves while still reducing mortgages.
Building society Nationwide is putting its money on a three-quarter point cut, which sounds very Bank of England-ish, not a panic-driven full point but more than many expect.
Which would certainly give the banks some wriggle room.
Industry takes a less sanguine view, with Jaguar and Land Rover CEO David Smith saying a full point cut is essential.
New Indian owners Tata Group, who bought the two car marques from Ford for what looked to be a bargain basement £1bn, must wonder what's hit them as absolutely no-one is prepared to buy a luxury car at the moment, not even Jaguar's snazzy new saloon.
Lord Mandelson has taken a bit of stick since he returned to the Government, what with gossiping to George Osborne in Corfu and hanging out with cash-strapped Russian aluminium "oligarchs."
But as a politician Mandelson has an unerring ability to sniff out weakness in others (while mostly oblivious to his own).
He knows that there's real anger out there with the banks, from big companies as well as small businesses and individual borrowers.
The banks will be taking a big chance if they fail to pass on all, or nearly all, of this week's rate cut.
M&S takes knife to marketing budget
Marks & Spencer is to trim its chunky £140m marketing spend by 20% following disappointing half-yearly results that saw profits drop by a third and like for like sales by 5.7%.
Turnover edged ahead to £4.2bn, driven by expanding its international business.
The news will disappoint marketers as advertising has been the main sales driver at M&S, and big money TV advertising with Twiggy and her mates at that.
But a decade ago M&S didn't advertise at all so it's hardly a statement that it doesn't believe in advertising now.
Executive chairman Stuart Rose won't be too disappointed though.
He's been saying for a year now that a storm was brewing in the wider economy and he's been proved spectacularly right.
With other retailers like Arcadia and Next also reporting sharp slowdowns M&S's performance doesn't look as bad as it did a few months ago when Rose made his first profits warning.
The shares have fallen steeply from the heady days when Arcadia's Sir Philip Green tried to buy the company.
It could be time to make a small investment.
Stephen Foster is a former news editor of Campaign, former editor of Marketing Week and Evening Standard ad columnist. He is a partner in Editorial Partnership and writes the blog www.editco.net and Politics of the Media for Brand Republic.