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PixelPlex, a blockchain solutions developer, has announced an update to its webpage regarding blockchain development and consulting services for enterprises. As a customer-oriented company, PixelPlex always tries to provide the most up-to-date information on its website.
The page now explains what are the features and benefits of blockchain applications developed specifically for business, as well as the advantages of blockchain-based solutions for various industries.
As noted by PixelPlex representatives, unlike their regular blockchain development services, their enterprise blockchain developers specialize in creating customized solutions designed to meet strict functional and architectural requirements and specific needs of each business.
“We create solutions that guarantee high performance, increased resiliency, and uncompromised privacy and security. These necessarily include fast consensus protocols, parallelization, seamless asynchronous flows, and clustered ordering services,” shared the PixelPlex team.
They also added that enterprises can reap significant benefits from blockchain, as blockchain solutions show higher power efficiency compared to the public blockchain. Maintenance costs and transaction fees are lower as well. One of the most important features of blockchain for enterprises is hacking protection.
The engineering team also noted that their services can help businesses change the game in their field. PixelPlex enterprise blockchain NYC-based firm offers them advanced services, relying on its full-scale research and development, business analytics, and engineering powerhouse.
Industries such as healthcare, logistics, supply chain management, real estate, retail, eCommerce, eGovernment, and gaming are just a few examples of domains where blockchain can be successfully implemented.
When it comes to healthcare, blockchain has many use cases. For example, Electronic Health Records (EHR) could be stored on the blockchain, and smart contract mechanisms would protect the confidentiality of EHR data. Blockchain solutions can also help manage prescription medicines and equipment supply chains and prevent medicine counterfeiting.
In retail and e-commerce, blockchain can introduce crypto payments and help businesses create and run loyalty programs. At the same time, customer trust can be significantly increased. "Since the blockchain allows you to track goods in the supply chain, this information can be open to customers. They download an application, go to the supermarket, scan the QR code of the product and receive all the information they are interested in: about the manufacturer, location, origin, delivery conditions, etc.,” said the PixelPlex developers.
Finally, the webpage explains exactly what services PixelPlex can provide. Those are enterprise DLT consulting and audit, custom enterprise blockchain development, smart contract or chaincode development and audit, enterprise dApps development, and others.
PixelPlex (pixelplex.io) is a software development company specializing in blockchain technology. As of today, the firm has delivered more than 50 blockchain projects and raised over $500M via its blockchain solutions. The company’s professionals also work with AI, IoT, and VR/AR and provide consulting services on cybersecurity and web accessibility.


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(Ping! Zine Web Tech Magazine) – Google Now has arrived for iOS devices; and with it are complaints that it actually causes serious battery drain.
However, Google has pushed back against the complaints, recently releasing a statement.
“Reports that Google Now on iOS drains battery life are incorrect. We understand people’s concern about seeing the Location Services icon stay on when they use Google Now. Many apps that keep the icon on actually do drain the phone’s battery because they require very accurate location. (For example, some apps have to run your GPS all the time during navigation to keep you from missing your turn.) This update to the Google Search app is built very differently: it uses cell towers and wifi hot spots for much lower battery impact,” commented a representative, according to CNET.
The statement continued, “We extensively tested Google Now on iOS for months and didn’t see reports of significant battery impact — we would encourage you to try it in the Google Search app for a few days and we don’t expect you to see significant impact on your battery. If you are seeing a problem, please do tell us (just tap feedback in the app settings). We take user feedback very seriously.”
The service provides users with information upon recognizing voice commands, kind of similar to default iPhone service Siri.

domain: news


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Panasonic, Samsung, Sandisk, Sony, and Toshiba announced they'll collaborate on a content-protection scheme targeting SD cards and other flash memory devices. The “Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative” will involve PKI (public key infrastructure) and will be robust enough to protect HD video content, according to the companies.
On Dec. 19, Panasonic, Samsung, Sandisk, Sony, and Toshiba said they have "reached an agreement in principle" to collaborate on a new content protection technology for SD cards and other flash memory-based storage devices. The Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative will provide content protection for HD video "in advanced consumer applications such as tablets and smartphones," according to the companies.
64GB flash chips from Samsung, one of the Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative partners
Like other copy protection schemes, the Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative — which will gain a more catchy name later — may be more of an annoyance to consumers than a benefit. However, the partners promise, it will enable "various HD content applications such as HD network download, broadcast content to go, and HD digital copy/managed copy from Blu-ray disc media."
According to the companies, their new content protection scheme will let users enjoy HD content on a wide range of devices, "including Android-based smartphones and tablets, TVs, and Blu-ray products." No mention was made of any Microsoft Windows devices, however, and it would appear the partners tacitly expect Apple — whose ecosystem does not support Blu-ray drives in any case — to keep going its own way.
No information was provided on how the Next Generation Secure Memory Initiative will work, but it apparently will involve modifications to flash memory. "A high level of content security will be realized through the use of the initiative's technologies, including unique ID (identification) technology for flash memory and robust copy protection based on public key infrastructure," the companies stated.
According to Panasonic, Samsung, Sandisk, Sony, and Toshiba, their new secure memory technology will be licensable early in 2012, and products based on it should start coming onto the market later in the year. More information may eventually appear on the Next Generation Secure Memory website.
This article was originally published on LinuxDevices and has been donated to the open source community by QuinStreet Inc. Please visit LinuxToday.com for up-to-date news and articles about Linux and open source.


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Contact centre and unified communications vendor Interactive Intelligence plans to bring its PureCloud service to Australia in January 2015.
Competition in the Australian market for cloud-based contact centre services is set to intensify with local player, Engage, to be acquired by US-based LivePerson, a $US157m per year company with over 8000 customers including IBM. HP and Microsoft.
Sydney-based IPscape, a provider of cloud-based call centre services, has set its sights on becoming a global player backed by Telstra which took a 31.3 percent stake in the company in June.
All mobile phone repeaters are illegal in Australia, with the exception of the celfi units, because the carriers can remotely[…]
To this day there is still some 700MHz spectrum unallocated.NO there isn't! I'm sorry but you are wrong here. The[…]
If TPG or Optus are limited in the amount of spectrum they can buy (by a cashed up telstra with[…]
All of the repeaters linked to in this article are ILLEGALThe only legal repeaters authorized for use by the ACMA[…]
Mortgage fraud where identity theft makes families homeless, is not being helped in the U.S. by private equity/lending firms, banks[…]


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Demographics point to need to expand halal industry — DTI
THE Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said Philippine and global demographics will support greater opportunities in the market for halal goods, which are prepared in accordance with Islamic dietary rules.
“We see halal food as a sunrise industry. The growing Muslim population is a strong demand driver of the halal economy. Estimated at 1.9 billion in 2020, Muslims are 25% of the world’s population and projected to grow up to 2 billion by 2030,” Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual said in a keynote speech at a National Halal Capacity Building Program event on Tuesday.
The DTI said in a statement that halal goods present an opportunity for micro-, small-, and medium-sized enterprises, and cited the need for an adequately trained workforce.
“The Philippine government is also active in its pursuit of developing and promoting the halal industry through three separate active engagements — one with the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Gulf Accreditation Center, and the International Halal Accreditation Forum,” the DTI said.
“Aside from this, the government seeks to renew its agreement with Brunei Darussalam and forge trade agreements with its neighbors in the ASEAN region,” it added.
Mr. Pascual said the DTI is developing the domestic halal industry by training producers especially in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
He added that the DTI’s Halal Board has been tasked with creating the Philippine Halal Development Plan as required by Republic Act No. 10817 or the Halal Export Development and Promotion Act. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave


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Pankaj Mohindroo, National President, Indian Cellular Association The Excise Duty differential of 11 percent on domestically manufactured mobile phones over imported phones. The step up in the differential from 5 percent in the pre-budget ... Communications Today, 4 days ago
Indian Cellular Association Welcomes Excise Differential on Mobile Manufacturing - Communications Today, 4 days ago
1 images for "indian cellular association"
As per a report of Indian Cellular Association, mobile phone exports are expected to fall to zero in 2015 from Rs 2,450 crore estimated in 2014, mainly due to suspension of handset production at Nokia's Chennai plant.Money Control, 2 weeks ago Sensex Soars As RBI Cuts Repo Rate RTTNews.com, 2 days ago BIS mandate may weed out shady phone makers Financial Chronicle, 3 weeks ago India Mobile Phones Exports May Crash Down To Zero In 2015 : Reports EFYTimes.com, 2 months ago
The lobbying body of GSM players, Cellular Operators' Association of India (COAI), has decided to steer clear of filing any legal petition in the court seeking a stay on spectrum auction due next month in what was being perceived by it as ...DNA India, 3 weeks ago Telecom Newsletter February 02 to 06, 2015 India Infoline, 4 weeks ago Facilitate merger and acquisitions norms to attract investment in telecom sector, says COAI Economic Times, 1 month ago How Indian telecom operators defend their attack on net neutrality Medianama, 1 month ago
Indian Cellular Association (ICA) and the Government of Uttar Pradesh today signed an MoU with the objective of encouraging and facilitating new investment of up to Rs 1,000 crore in Electronics Manufacturing Clusters (EMCs) being established in the ...EFYTimes.com, 1 month ago Government must take steps to boost electronics manufacturing: Indian Cellular Association Economic Times, 1 month ago Indian Cellular Association, UP sign MoU on manufacturing hubs Prokerala, 1 month ago ICA and Govt. of U.P. signs MoU to invest Rs. 1,000 crores for proposing EMCs My Mobile, 1 month ago
CITYBRIEFS Mobile handset makers' body Indian Cellular Association (ICA) has appealed to the Maharashtra government to reduce VAT from 12.5 per cent to 5 per cent on mobile phones. According to ICA estimates, of the total Rs 10,000 crore mobile ...Pune Mirror, 2 months ago ICA urges TN govt. to reduce VAT on mobile handsets The Hindu, 2 months ago Maharashtra loses Rs 2,500 cr revenue due to high VAT rate: ICA Business Standard, 2 months ago Indian Cellular Association urges 5 states to reduce VAT Economic Times, 2 months ago
Industry body Indian Cellular Association (ICA) National President Pankaj Mohindroo has been appointed as Chairman of the task force. Nokia SEZ President and Director – India Operations Josh Foulger has been made co-chairman along with Lava Co-Founder ...Jagran Post, 2 months ago Government Establishes Joint Task Force To Foster Mobile Phone Manufacturing In India EFYTimes.com, 2 months ago Task force set up to boost mobile manufacturing IndiaPost, 2 months ago Govt sets up joint task force to boost mobile manufacturing Business Standard India, 2 months ago
The Indian cellular industry has expressed concern that manufacturing is moving out of the country to Vietnam and says the government needs to create a business-friendly environment to attract more investors. Manufacturing has been moving out to ...Manufacturing Global, 1 month ago Make in India a flop? Phone manufacturers moving to Vietnam Times of India, 1 month ago Ditching the Make in India dream: Mobile phone manufacturing moving out to Vietnam Firstpost.com, 1 month ago Indian mobile manufacturing moving out to Vietnam India Today, 1 month ago
0503 GMT [Dow Jones] The Indian telecommunications regulator's three-year timeline to roll out new cellular servicesa proposed deadline that would come attached to new frequency spectrum allocated at upcoming government auctionswould be onerous for ...iMarketReports, 2 months ago Indian Telcos Seek Review of Cost of Spectrum Licence This Day Online, 1 month ago COAI Takes On Telecom Minister Over Spectrum Communications Today, 2 weeks ago
Independent market analyst, Sanjeev Bhasin Indian stock markets are likely to move up with derivatives expiry out of the way. Global cues seem benign with US markets hovering around record highs and macroeconomic data sending bullish signals. ...NDTV Profit, 2 months ago
HYDERABAD, Jan 17: Scientists at the city-based Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) and Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) have found that metformin, a widely used anti-diabetic drug all over the world, had protective ...Daily Excelsior.com, 1 month ago
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There have been talks about a new Kinect coming with the next Xbox, and at Eurogamer, they’ve received word about the Kinect 2. Their source indicated that the new Kinect will be more powerful that it can read lips and even pick up on player’s facial expressions. While the current Kinect uses advance technology, it’s actually restricted by the Xbox 360 hardware so a new system designed for a new Kinect will really change the potential of a device like the Kinect.
What was your favorite game of November?
The rise of the loudmouth jackass
Why Does My Extra Content No Longer Feel Like A Bonus?


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FinTech startup Razorpay is reportedly in talks with existing investor Singapore investment fund GIC to raise circa $150m to $200m in a new financing round.
Brazil-based mobile payments company RecargaPay has raised $70m with the aim to further develop its payment platform.
Remittance firm MoneyGram suspends trading on Ripple’s payment platform, RippleNet, citing the ongoing $1.3bn lawsuit filed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
Google Maps will enable street parking and transit payments.
Challenger Bank Monzo and fintech firm TrueLayer have entered into a partnership to protect customers using new payment methods to remit money when gambling.
Challenger bank Revolut has introduced a QR code payments solution for small businesses.
With an aim to disrupt and digitise the payment sector, the First International Bank of Israel launched new mobile wallet app, FibiPay.
Expanding its business into other areas, Swedish furniture giant IKEA has entered the banking space by acquiring a 49% stake in Ikano Bank.
Accelerating its journey to becoming a unicorn, Indian QR-based payment firm BharatPe has reportedly raised $ 108m in a Series D equity round.
WealthTech and cybersecurity enterprises were among the FinTech businesses that closed investment rounds in the last seven days. Companies operating in the WealthTech, cybersecurity, RegTech,...


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Destiny 2 developer Bungie is working on “a number of undeclared projects” with parent company Sony.
In January 2022, Sony Interactive Entertainment announced the purchase of Bungie for 2.6 billion pounds (3.6 billion dollars), which was completed in June.
According to Bungie creative director Tom Farnsworth, this partnership is proving useful. On Twitter, he shared an image of a shield that shows “what 11 years of Bungie look like. Each medal represents one of the 25+ Destiny releases that we have sent to millions of players.”
“During this time, we have completely changed the way we develop games and conduct business, moving from strictly boxed products to live service games,” he continued, before looking into the future.
“With Sony’s support, we are also working on a number of unannounced projects,” Farnsworth said.
This Shield is what 11 years at Bungie looks like. Each medal represents one of the 25+ Destiny releases we’ve shipped to millions of players. During that time we completely changed how we develop games and do business, moving from strictly boxed products to live service games. pic.twitter.com/XVab4UJmS1
— Tom Farnsworth (@tomfromtheweb) January 4, 2023
Prior to the acquisition of Bungie, the Destiny 2 developer stated that he planned to bring a completely new IP to the market by 2025.
“I think Bungie’s long-term vision will be that we have worlds like Destiny that are great places to socialize and make friendships. And we [want to] start imagining new worlds that are very important to people,” Bungie CEO. Pete Parsons told IGN in 2019.
Last February, Sony announced that it was working on ten service games with Bungie. During the same call, it was confirmed that Bungie is still working on a new IP.
After the news of the acquisition, Sony confirmed that Destiny 2 (which is currently available on Xbox Series X, Xbox One and PC, as well as on Sony’s PS5 and PS4) will remain multiplatform.
“Everyone wants the extremely large Destiny 2 community, whatever platform it runs on, to be able to continue enjoying their Destiny 2 experience. And this approach will be applied to future Bungie releases. This is unequivocal,” said Jim Ryan, CEO of Sony Interactive Entertainment.
In other news, it was confirmed that both Gran Turismo 7 and Beat Sabre will be released on PlayStation VR2. Ryan also stated that “over 30 games” are in development for the headset launch window.


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Mobile Apps Are Preferred More For Telecom Services: Study
Mobile apps are gaining a lot of traction and becoming the most chosen route for getting telecom services by consumers, revealed a new survey conducted in the Delhi-NCR region by mobile services aggregator 10digi.
The study noted that local mobile retailers and company stores are losing grounds, while only 23 percent preferred websites and only 12 percent preferred company stores over apps and websites.
The survey highlighted that 57 percent users find it convenient to get a recharge done for its prepaid services using online methods through mobile apps, followed by websites.
The customers also said hassle-free documentation is another high point of mobile apps primarily belonging to telecom aggregator.
It added customers find telecom apps the most convenient way for getting multi-brand telecom services.
“With the rapid strides in online connectivity and proliferation of mobile connectivity the mobile apps which provide multi-brand telecom services to the customers are being preferred by the customers,” said Ozair Yasin, Managing Director, 10digi.
“Moreover, home delivery of telecom services is the way to go as most customers find it hassle free of getting the same services without having to move out. We feel this is where telecom service providers should be concentrating on providing their services in the times to come,” he further said.
The study pointed out that since mobile apps bring up several offers and discounts in telecom services, customers find it easy for getting multi-brand telecom services through these apps.
The study stated that even the offline modes of service delivery like local mobile retailers and company stores will have to take help of online methods for better service delivery.
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Scented candles and carpets pollute air inside your home
Cleaning products, cosmetics and scented candles are causing a rise in dangerous air pollution in homes.
Chemicals known as volatile organic compounds (VOC) evaporate from such products and irritate the eyes, nose and throat, cause headaches and nausea, and in high concentrations can damage the liver and kidneys.
VOCs are also emitted in the home by air fresheners, perfumes, deodorants, hair styling products, solvents, candles, cooking, carpets and paint.
The emissions rose by 1 per cent in 2017, bucking the trend for most other types of air pollution, according to a report by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.
Household products are the largest source of VOC emissions and emitted a total of 165,000 tonnes in 2017, up from 142,000 tonnes in 2005.


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From January 2023, all coffee capsules will be allowed in the blue PMD bin bag, as a recycling system for them has now been worked out after years of research.
While some consumers return their used coffee capsules to the producer, many are simply thrown away even though they still contain many valuable materials such as aluminium, polypropylene and other plastics that can be reused.
"These are important materials that we very much want to bring into the recycling chain," Fost Plus, the company behind the blue PMD bin bags, told Belga News Agency. "By collecting them with the blue bag, this is possible."
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The aluminium capsules, which were launched by the well-known coffee company Nespresso in the early 1990s, were criticised for being harmful to the environment. In 2011, the brand started its own collection programme for used capsules, currently collecting 33% of them.
After years of research, Fost Plus has now worked out a recycling system in collaboration with Nespresso, whose competitors have also joined, De Standaard reports.
In the first year, Fost Plus is counting on collecting around 4,500 tonnes of capsules. The PMD centres will be adapted to sort out the capsules, after which they will be recycled by a German and Dutch partner.


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“We could have some fun with it and maybe make the product less embarrassing”Justine Kish
Footage of Justine Kish’ fight with Felice Herrig went viral after the blonde appeared to make a mess of the ring.
Admitting what happened during the strawweight bout, Kish appeared to take the incident in good spirit, claiming that “s*** happens”.
And she is now set to profit from the unfortunate incident, with a host of companies ready to sponsor her.
Following the fight, she wrote: “I am a warrior and I will never quit #S***Happens haha be back soon [sic].”
Kish has since appeared on the radio to reveal adult wet wipe companies had approached her to become an brand ambassador.
Rather than trying to make the incident go away, she is seriously considering signing on to change the stigma behind wet wipes.
She said: “I’m actually considering it because we could have some fun with it and maybe make the product less embarrassing and more funny.”
Dude Wipes, who have previously sponsored UFC fighters, tweeted her after the fight offering her a free lifetime supply.
Although this may have seemed like a joke, the brand has since revealed they are interested in working with Kish.
Chief executive Sean Riley said: “We think Justine had an awesome attitude about the situation and are discussing a fun way to work together to make light of it.”
Justine’s attitude towards the incident also drew praise from UFC CEO Dana White.
He told her: “You fought like hell out there and I love how you owned up to it.”


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[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]According to a recent publication, the European Union allocated almost 54 million euros to promoting meat and dairy in 2021. Despite the fact that last year was International Year of Fruit and Vegetables, only 35 million euros were spent on advertising fruits and vegetables.
In 2021, the Commission launched an initiative to overhaul its spending, “with a view to enhancing its contribution to sustainable production and consumption, and in line with the shift to a more plant-based diet, with less red and processed meat and more fruit and vegetables.” A heated debate followed.
“Unfortunately, these figures suggest that although the Farm to Fork strategy recognises the benefits of consuming more plant-based products, in 2021 the European Union continued to spend millions more on diets that harm our health and our planet,” commented Jasmijn de Boo, Vice-President at ProVeg International.
“We truly hope that from 2022 onwards, the Commission will stick to its original goal of promoting sustainable diets, will increase its spending on promoting plant-based diets, and end the promotion of meat and dairy. European citizens should be incentivised to make healthier and more sustainable dietary decisions in line with the Farm to Fork strategy. This can only really happen if Europe has the courage to act on the science, shift the EU agri-promotion budget towards more plant-based diets, and end the promotion of harmful products.”
Notes for editor
ProVeg International is a leading food awareness organisation. In 2021, our This Makes No Sense campaign created awareness around the EU’s agricultural promotion policy.
For more information contact:
Lara Pappers, Director of Communications at ProVeg International
ProVeg is an international food awareness organisation working to transform the global food system by replacing conventional animal-based products with plant-based and cultured alternatives. ProVeg works with international decision-making bodies, governments, food producers, investors, the media, and the general public to help the world transition to a society and economy that are less dependent on animal agriculture and more sustainable for humans, animals, and the planet. ProVeg has permanent-observer status with the UNFCCC, is accredited for UNEA, and has received the United Nations’ Momentum for Change Award. www.proveg.com[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row]


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Transport is Europe's biggest climate problem accounting for 27% of its GHG emissions in 2017. This report summarises a series of studies by Transport & Environment. (T&E analysed pathways for decarbonisation in the road freight, aviation, shipping and car sectors.) It demonstrates that transport can and must be decarbonised by 2050 at the very latest, not only to limit global warming but also to ensure Europe's competitiveness, its energy sovereignty and the health and well-being of its 500 million citizens.
Are consumers unwilling to buy electric cars or are carmakers reluctant to sell them? In a poll conducted by Ipsos Mori for NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), 40% of citizens surveyed say it is likely the next car they’ll buy or lease will be electric or fuel cell powered. A considerable 5-12% of citizens across the countries surveyed say it is very likely they'll buy an electric next. The survey shows there is an immediate opportunity to grow the 2% of sales that presently can be plugged-in.
There are now 43 million dirty diesels on Europe’s roads, and their numbers continue to grow three years after the Dieselgate scandal was exposed, a new report concludes. Even a diesel car that passed the EU’s new on-road test emits nine times the legal amount of nitrogen oxides (NOx) when driven in a way more representative of typical driving, new testing shows. NGO Transport & Environment (T&E), which authored the report, said it shows combustion engines – including those which passed the official Real-Driving Emissions test – are not clean and will continue to pollute in the foreseeable future.
This paper presents evidence to dispel many of the myths about electric vehicles and explains why they are key to reducing CO2 emissions from personal mobility.
T&E is about to undertake an ambitious new programme of vehicle emissions testing. We are looking for a motivated professional with experience in emissions testing to manage this programme and contribute to T&E’s work on vehicles, air quality and climate.
Carmakers are manipulating the results of a new test for CO2 emissions, evidence uncovered by the European Commission indicates. The new lab-based WLTP test was supposed to fix the testing problems that in the past allowed manufacturers to cheat EU emissions targets. But Commission documents indicate the industry is manipulating the new test results to inflate the CO2/fuel economy results of its vehicles. This will reduce the stringency of the EU’s proposed 2025 CO2 targets by more than half.
The biggest failure of the current regulation to reduce CO2 emissions from new cars and vans has been the inability to deliver emissions reductions on the road. Whilst new car CO2 emissions measured using the obsolete laboratory test (NEDC) have fallen by 31% since 2000, on the road the reduction is just 10%. The gap between test and real-world performance has leapt from 9% in 2000 to 42% in 2017. Had the gap remained constant there would have been 264 Mt CO2eq less cumulative emissions by 2017. The additional fuel burned to produce these emissions cost drivers an extra €150 billion EU-wide.
City breaks are supposed to be refreshing. But tourists are being warned that spending a long weekend in Europe’s 10 most popular but polluted cities could have the same health impacts as smoking between one and four cigarettes.
European Commission scientists have uncovered evidence of carmakers manipulating the results of a new test for CO2 emissions, documents obtained by Transport & Environment show. Less than three years after the Dieselgate NOx emissions scandal, the car industry is now inflating its CO2/fuel economy results, which could reduce the stringency of its 2025 CO2 targets by more than half.  In this way they will be able to sell fewer electric cars and more diesel vehicles while still hitting their targets.
The use of palm oil for EU biofuels dwarfs the amount used to make cookies, hazelnut spreads, ice cream, shampoo, lipsticks – and other food and cosmetic products. That’s according to new industry data which shows diesel cars and trucks burned 51% of all the palm oil used in Europe in 2017.


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Apple has acted to block Hermit spyware, attributed to an Italian software firm, which targeted iOS devices by posing as an enterprise app.
Today, Volvo-backed electric car maker Polestar announced that the latest over-the-air update for Polestar 2 now adds Apple CarPlay support.
Global supply chain issues aren’t just affecting new device shipments. Many Apple repair providers are suffering the crunch, too.
Ericsson is now suing Apple in six countries for 5G patent infringement. The company just filed a lawsuit in the U.K.’s High Court.
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President Joe Biden applauded workers of the Apple Store in Towson, Maryland for their successful union election.
A new report said that more than 1 million subscribers have canceled their subscriptions from music streaming services such as Apple Music.
Reports indicate that Billy Crystal is set to star and executive produce the new series “Before” for Apple TV+.
Apple has opened registration for its Professional Learning Conferences. Throughout the summer, users can learn about a variety of subjects including art, science, history and coding.
After Simply Mac announced its bankruptcy, including the closing of all 53 of its stores, many customers find their devices trapped in a closed store.
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A new patent granted to Apple describes how its rumored mixed reality headset could process sound for a more immersive experience.


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Fashion profits fall at Coast, Warehouse and Oasis as Icelandic owner goes cold on sale
Fashion chains Coast, Warehouse and Oasis have all revealed falling profits just weeks after their owner called off a sale.
There had been hopes the group would attract bids up to £100million, but the brands were taken off the market last month. The chains have a total of 1,000 outlets and more than 6,000 staff.
Chic: Actress Olivia Palermo models clothing supplied by Coast
Accounts filed last week for the year to February show profits across the businesses slumped and sales at two of the businesses also fell.
Oasis Fashions reported an uplift in sales from £149million to £151million. Directors had opened four new stores and had expanded overseas – including into Russia.
Coast had completed the final year of its three-year turnaround strategy and was poised for growth. It recorded a £79million turnover, but profits dropped from £1.6million to £200,000.
Warehouse, which has just started its turnaround plan, made a pre-tax loss of £12.3million on sales of £108million compared with a loss of £1.1million on £124million of sales the previous year.
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Scrap metal group Sims Ltd has shifted into the spotlight as something of a sharemarket darling as investors reassess the role it can play as the world takes early steps in trying to decarbonise the economy.
Sims has a sharemarket value of $4.2 billion and while its main business of buying and selling scrap metal is still the mainstay of the company, it has also been making solid headway with some new business ventures.
Sims was started by Albert G Sims in 1917 as a scrap metal merchant and then listed on the Australian stock exchange in 1948. Its share price has almost doubled to beyond $20 since early October as the price of scrap metal soared.
Putting car wrecks through large industrial shredders and then recycling the metals is still a big part of its business. Earnings before interest and tax climbed almost sixfold to $362 million in the December half for Sims.
Chief executive Alastair Field is bullish about the prospect of a relatively new division called Sims Lifecycle Services, set up three years ago, and which works closely with big players in technology to refurbish and re-use computer hardware housed in large data centres.
Data centres and data warehouses with large banks of computers inside are growing fast. But Field expects it to accelerate even quicker.
“The data centre growth will be prolific,” he says.
Field says large technology companies are very conscious of environmental considerations, and shortages of semiconductors globally are also hastening the push to re-use parts.
“It’s become a re-purpose, a re-engineering, a re-use,” he says.
Sims repurposed 1.3 million computing hardware “units” in the six months ended December 31, and expects that to rise to 8.5 million by 2025.
The company expects the overall data storage industry to grow by 250 per cent over the next five years. It is aiming to enter the Japanese market and expand its global market share from the current 3 per cent, to as high as 10 per cent of the repurposing computer memory market.
Sims is also benefiting from the shift to electric vehicles, and predicts demand for recycled copper and aluminium will climb as penetration of electric vehicles rises.
This is pushing prices for those materials higher. The volume of materials needed in the transition to electric vehicles is there for all to see. The share prices of lithium miners around the world have climbed as investors factor in future needs, but there’s plenty of copper and aluminium required too.
Wind farm demand
Sims in an investor day presentation on March 29 outlined that traditional combustion engine vehicles had between 18 and 49 pounds of copper in them, while a fully electric vehicle has 183 pounds of copper.
Demand for recycled aluminium is on the rise, with heavy usage in solar panels, electric vehicles and as a construction material for wind farm turbines.
Australia has a relatively low penetration rate of electric vehicles still, with about 2 per cent of all new vehicles sold being electric vehicles. Tesla, led by pioneer Elon Musk, is the No.1 seller in that category in Australia followed by MG, the historic British company which was acquired in 2007 by a Chinese group SAIC Motor, which has repositioned it as a value brand.
But Sims is a global player. It operates 260 facilities around the world, of which 50 are in the United States and 48 in Australasia.
Sims had been investing heavily in technology at its sites to enhance the quality of the recycled metals it sells to customers. Field says customers are very clear in their demands for specific levels of quality in various metals.
But it’s the steel industry where investors see the biggest upside for Sims. More and more steel producers are shifting to electric arc furnaces in their operations rather than traditional blast furnaces. Scrap metal is a feedstock for electric arc furnaces.
British billionaire Sanjeev Gupta has both types in his Australian operations. Gupta’s Infrabuild business operates electric arc furnaces at Rooty Hill in Sydney, and at Laverton on the outskirts of Melbourne.
He also owns the old-school Whyalla steelworks in northern South Australia which operates a blast furnace. That steelworks was built in the 1960s by BHP and Gupta is examining options for an upgrade, with part of the ambitious plans being for it to be powered by renewable energy.
The Australian arm of Gupta’s GFG Alliance is one of the best performers in a global entity employing 35000 people which is still trying to refinance about $6 billion which had previously been provided by Greensill Capital, which collapsed in March 2021.
Field says the steel industry produces about 7 per cent of the world’s carbon emissions, and is undergoing a steady transformation to using electric arc furnaces able to use 100 per cent recycled steel as a feedstock, instead of the traditional blast furnaces.
Goldman Sachs analyst Paul Young says demand is strong for scrap metal and Sims is looking at installing two new shredders in Australasia and three in North America.
Sims has a target of putting through 9.6 million tonnes of ferrous volumes by 2024-25.
Young says in the medium term there are several opportunities, including export of new aluminium scrap into China, while the reduction of ferrous
scrap exports from Japan provides an opportunity to sell obsolete ferrous scrap into the China market.
“Sims also sees strong global electric arc furnace capacity growth driving increased ferrous scrap demand across Asia and the US,” Young says.
Sims has already had discussions with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and Field believes there is room to grow in Australia through acquisitions generally, with the Queensland and NSW market fragmented.
Young says the Sims Lifecycle Services business generated $23 million of earnings before interest and tax in 2020-21 and is targeting 300 per cent growth in repurposed computer memory units for data centres over the next four years, including entering the Japanese market.
He says Sims currently handles about 2 million units of the 85 million global contestable computer memory unit market, and is aiming for 10 per cent market share, which would equate to 8 million units.
Young says Sims is definitely benefiting from “tailwinds from steel decarbonisation” and the solid base metals outlook.
He says ferrous scrap demand is rising from an increase in global electric arc furnace capacity as the global steel industry decarbonises.
There is also higher non-ferrous scrap consumption from copper and aluminium smelters and fabricators because of projected market deficits, and the focus on decarbonisation.
Stockbroking house Ord Minnett says the businesses outside of the traditional scrap metal trading divisions “could provide a hidden source of value the market isn’t paying for in the stock, although they also add to the complexity of the group”.
There are extra capital expenditure requirements, and the investment returns potential isn’t fully defined, Ord Minnett concludes.
It is a balancing act for investors when it comes to the newish technology-focused businesses.
“On one hand, we are in favour of diversifying Sims’ income stream and reducing its cash flow at risk, given there is likely to be less cyclicality in some of these businesses.”
But Sims management isn’t able to say whether this diversification improves group margins in the longer term.
Field says it is simply too early to be able to say whether the returns will meet certain hurdles but he is very conscious of the need for a clinical and disciplined approach.
One of those businesses is Sims Resource Renewal, which was introduced in Australia in 2020 to try to recover value from residues left behind in the automotive shredding process.
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After reports emerged last month that Tesla was about to announce a new Gigafactory in Mexico, a government official has revealed that no deal has been reached, and that a decision on a potential investment south of the border might not even be made in 2023.
In mid-December there were reports that Tesla was close to announcing a new Gigafactory south of the border in Nuevo Leon, Mexico. The reports suggested Tesla had secured a deal for a piece of land for the factory, and that an official announcement was expected in either December or January. While Tesla has since announced a massive expansion of Giga Nevada, there has been no further developments regarding a potential Giga Mexico.
As it turns out those reports were being overly optimistic. Today a government official confirmed that there is no deal in place between Nuevo Leon and Tesla for a factory in the region. According to statements made to Nikkei Asia by Emmanuel Loo, the deputy secretary of economic development for Nuevo Leon, the two parties are in discussions but that no agreement has been reached. Loo tempered expectations as well, saying that he does not know if a decision will be made this year.
The idea of a Mexican Gigafactory in Nuevo Leon is not without substance. Last year Tesla hosted Governor Samuel García Sepulveda and other Ministers at Giga Texas, which included a factory tour and meetings with Tesla officials. A few months later it was discovered that the pro-business state had established a dedicated Tesla lane at the Columbia Solidarity port of entry, providing Tesla’s half dozen suppliers with swift border crossings to transport goods to Giga Texas, about four hours away.
Then a few months after that Elon Musk was spotted in Nuevo Leon where he reportedly visited with various state officials about a potential Tesla investment in the region.
While Mexico seems to be out of the running, at least for now, we haven’t heard much lately about the possibility of a Tesla expansion into Canada. Last year it was revealed that Tesla was considering both Mexico and Canada for a potential Gigafactory location. It was later discovered that Tesla had been lobbying federal and provincial governments to set up an “advanced manufacturing facility” north of the border, and based on job postings it seems as though Ontario and Quebec are the front runners for a potential facility.


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2016 was a good year for UK ecommerce with a surge of online sales made across the year and in the run-up to Christmas, largely fuelled by online sales made through smartphones, and this is set to continue into 2017. …
Ecommerce tips in order to help nurture loyal customers, and what influences online shoppers to return to ecommerce websites.
2017 is sure to bring a lot of innovation in the ecommerce space, and it will be interesting to see what ecommerce trends emerges amongst online retailers.
This year, Black Friday fell on the 25th of November, and with it came expectations of big sales both on and offline. Now it’s passed, news is coming out on how retailers fared this year, along with a number of …
Having an effective on-site search can make a huge difference to any ecommerce business, helping to improve the customer experience and boost the conversion rate of the ecommerce store. By implementing an advanced on-site search, online retailers can gain a …
Amazon has finally launched the one-button ordering Dash Button in the UK, after launching it in the US back in 2015.
What are the essential elements to ensure your ecommerce store is high-performing, and gets you the results your business needs?
The UK has voted to leave the EU - but where does all this uncertainty leave online businesses, and how will this affect digital marketing efforts?
PCI DSS Version 3.2 has been released, on April 28th 2016, bringing a host of changes and new requirements your ecommerce business will need to meet in order to ensure your PCI DSS compliance.


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End solar panel subsidies to avoid punitive tariffs
As if China's solar panel makers weren't suffering enough as their industry goes through its worst-ever downturn, things could soon get much worse as Western governments prepare to roll out punitive tariffs to protest unfair subsidies from Beijing.
The brewing battle that will pit the West's desire for fair trade against China's aim to nurture certain key industries highlights the fact that the current model of generous, long-term government support for those industries is unsustainable. Instead, Beijing needs to find a new template if it wants to build truly world-class players that can stand on their own.
The solar industry's current downturn across the world has seen panel prices drop 30 percent or more since the beginning of the year, fueled by the addition of major new capacity built in response to generous incentives by Western governments rolled out at the height of the global financial crisis.
Many US and Europe-based firms have been particularly hard hit, with plunging prices and their relatively higher costs forcing them into the red. As a result, a steady string of US solar cell makers, including Evergreen Solar and SpectraWatt, have filed for bankruptcy in recent months. Chinese companies have also suffered, though most have managed to remain profitable in the most recent quarters.
It is estimated that this year alone, Beijing will make USD29 billion in credit guarantees for its solar companies.
In a rare show of bipartisanship, both Democrats and Republicans in the US have railed against Beijing's strong support for its solar sector, blaming it for the string of US bankruptcies that has ravaged American manufacturers. There is also talk of anti-dumping complaints being filed against Chinese manufacturers in both the US and Europe. And with presidential elections coming in the US next year, such measures are likely sooner rather than later from politicians looking to boost their poll ratings.
Such action would prove devastating to Chinese solar panel makers, who sell the lion's share of their output to the US and Western Europe.
The latest concerns have taken a heavy toll on sagging stocks of China's major solar players, with shares of Suntech, one of China's strongest firms, losing more than half their value since the beginning of September, and most other players seeing similar drops.
Beijing is no doubt taking note of this looming crisis, and will need to move quickly but carefully to avoid a complete collapse of this industry it has worked so hard to nurture.
While tariffs are almost inevitable in the short-term, they may be quietly removed after next November's US elections if China ends most or all of its subsidies to its solar sector.


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On May 19, 2018, the world’s first “HTML5 Blockchain Gaming Alliance” is established on the “Global HTML5 Blockchain Gaming Summit 2018” in Beijing. Representatives of alliance members from all over the world attended the event and witnessed the ceremony of the world’s first HTML5 blockchain game industry alliance. The alliance was initiated by Egretia and Egret Technology together with some senior technology companies and game media organizations. It aims to strengthen the communication among developers in the global blockchain technology industry, explore the real application scenarios of blockchain in the game field, and promote the cooperation among blockchain enterprises and excellent projects to create a win-win ecosystem for blockchain applications.
The industry alliance is established by following the tendency
Relying on “decentralization” and self-construction of “consensus ecology”, blockchain technology innovation and commercial applications expand continuously, increasingly affecting industrial upgrading, transformation and value reshaping, and gradually becoming an indispensable transforming gene in the future. Development has therefore received universal attention on a global scale. Games and blockchain are a match made in heaven. Although blockchain technology is still developing, blockchain core technologies such as distributed ledger, smart contract, and consensus mechanism have a huge potential and broad prospects in games.
The establishment of the “HTML5 Blockchain Game Alliance” conforms to the development tendency of blockchain technology, focusing on the development strategy of the emerging technologies of the global mobile Internet, and focusing on complementing the existing cooperation mechanisms. The alliance will be the first global non-profit industry organization in the field of HTML5 blockchain games, with the aim of “globalization, cooperation and innovation, mutual benefit and win-win strategy”, with the principle of “resource sharing, complementary advantages, equality and mutual benefit, sincere cooperation”. Committed to promoting coordination and organizing extensive cooperation among the members, to jointly create an open, inclusive and innovative HTML5 blockchain game cooperation framework, to contribute to the development of the HTML5 blockchain game industry, and to achieve a diversified global blockchain game industry with independent and sustainable development.
Open and inclusive, the alliance creates a win-win ecosystem
Egretia launched the cooperation proposal of establishing the “H5 Blockchain Game Alliance”, making the “open, cooperative, trustworthy and inclusive” Internet spirit inherited and promoted under the new situation and will be full of vitality. The mutually beneficial cooperation between blockchain game companies will achieve a new historical height.
With an attitude of openness and inclusiveness, the “HTML5 Blockchain Game Alliance” Committee has involved the world’s first HTML5 blockchain service platform and ecosystem Egretia; Egret Technology, which is the world’s largest HTML5 technology service provider; the smart commercial contract blockchain CyberMiles belonging to 5xlab under 5miles, the United States well-known e-commerce platform; Arcblock, the world’s first blockchain ecosystem designed specifically to develop and deploy decentralized applications; Merculet, the chief growth officer for global entrepreneurs; TrustNote, lead global mining and also have DAG public chain supporting the Internet of Things; Sina Gaming, serves the world’s largest Chinese media player; PlayBlock, decentralized intelligent entertainment platform, dedicated to blockchain technology for global users to provide a better entertainment experience; ETIUM, committed to create a decentralized application platform with centralized performance; CastlePeak World, the world’s first decentralized game platform based on the Middle East market; and many other leading technology companies all over the world, senior game manufacturers and professional game media and so on.
Currently, Egretia has built partnership with Egret Technology to create the world’s first complete blockchain game development toolset successfully, which will bring 200,000 developers and 1 billion mobile devices into the blockchain world and promote the blockchain gaming ecology and development. In order to enhance the overall innovation and vitality of the alliance, the “HTML5 Blockchain Game Alliance” will consider to invite more companies, universities, and R&D institutions with common R&D aspirations, strong R&D capabilities, to join alliance organizations, and share capabilities and achievements, and jointly promote the development of a more reliable Internet.


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For novel ideas about building embedded systems (both hardware and firmware), join the 40,000+ engineers who subscribe to The Embedded Muse, a free biweekly newsletter. The Muse has no hype and no vendor PR. Click here to subscribe.
By Jack Ganssle
A Shifting Landscape
Wind River, which spent the last several years poo-pooing Linux has now released a version of their IDE that supports both Linux and VxWorks. Clearly there's more substance than fluff in their new courtship with Red Hat.
Perhaps even more interestingly the company has taken steps to mitigate the biggest complaint (that I hear) against VxWorks: a new licensing model will no longer require royalties. Customers may opt to pay a yearly blanket fee instead of per-unit charges.
Both companies have growth problems. With nearly 100% market share on the desktop that's now being seriously challenged by a free alternative Microsoft needs new business arenas. The embedded industry, with some 9 billion CPUs shipped per year compared to a paltry 100m or so PCs, has got to be an enticing opportunity for the rascals from Redmond.
Wind River's presence is the embedded space is nearly as ubiquitous as Microsoft's is on the desktop, yet WRI hasn't had a profitable year since 2000, since then accumulating some $583m in losses (http://edgar.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/833829/000119312504062379/d10k.htm). Product sales continue to falter, now amounting to under half of their 2001 high. Change is needed, fast.
Now that Linux, CE and VxWorks are reasonably mature products the battleground is the licensing model. Technical features and merit fade into the background as CEOs, not developers, make OS decisions. In Chuck Murray's important article about the business of embedded systems (http://www.embedded.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=22102158) he says: "Linux's popularity, the companies maintained, is itself a reaction to the forces that have shaken the embedded industry to its foundations over the past three years. Among those are the ever-increasing complexity of application software, the intense pressure on OEMs to reduce lead times and the recessionary push on all players to cut costs." Note that context switch times, memory requirements, security and all of the other factors we techies weigh aren't mentioned.
So Microsoft, who will never provide a Linux-like solution, must compete with the GPL. Wind River makes their platform OS-agnostic, while providing VxWorks in a more cost effective (read: competes better with Linux) manner.
Few markets are stranger than embedded systems. We create products worth hundreds of billions of dollars, yet the entire embedded tool business (OSes, debuggers, compilers, etc) is only $764 million, spread among hundreds of mostly small companies. Even if Microsoft got all of that business it's still chump change to them, representing only 2 percent of their annual global sales (http://edgar.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/789019/000119312503045632/d10k.htm). Yet Chuck's article details Wind River's belief that the real embedded OS market could be $3 to 20 billion once developers stop building their own operating systems and buy commercial offerings. Microsoft must agree. Neither company is run by fools so it's reasonable to take the prediction seriously.
The one ringer remains Linux. There will never be a multibillion dollar market for a free OS. Do the two companies expect their proprietary operating systems to completely trounce Linux?


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Japan’s economy is expected to moderately recover around the middle of fiscal 2023. This recovery is likely to be supported by the materialization of pent-up demand. However, it also is expected to be under downward pressure that stems from past high commodity prices and slowdown of the recovery pace in distinctive overseas economies. Kavan Choksi points out that thereafter as a virtuous cycle from income to spending gradually intensifies in the nation; the economy of Japan is projected to continue growing at a pace above its potential growth rate.
Kavan Choksi provides an insight into the current economic landscape of Japan
The economy of Japan has picked up in 2023, despite of being impacted by factors like past high commodity prices. The pace of recovery in many overseas economies has, however slowed down. Even though industrial production and experts have been impacted by the developments in overseas economies, they have been flat more or less, while being supported by the declining of the effects of supply-side constraints.
Corporate profits have been relatively high overall, and business sentiment has also remained fairly consistent. Business fixed investment in Japan has gone up moderately in this situation, while income and employment situation has also witnessed an improvement. Even though private consumption in the nation has been impacted by price rises, it has still increased. Housing investment and public investment in the country has, however, remained weak. Even though weakness in the financial positions of certain companies has remained in specific segments, financial conditions in Japan are quite accommodative on the whole at the moment. The year-on-year rate of increase in the CPI is slower than what it was previously on the price front largely due to the effects of pushing down energy prices from the economic measures undertaken by the government.
Kavan Choksi points out that the number of both regular and non-regular employees is expected to go up owing to the improvement in economic activity being witnessed in Japan. The wage growth in Japan may go up, based on the price rises and the tightening labor market conditions. In such a situation, even though private consumption is expected to be impacted by price rises, it still is projected to continue increasing moderately as pent-up demand is likely to materialize. This demand might be partly supported by household savings that have been accumulated owing to pandemic-related restrictions.
When it comes to the corporate sector, production and exports are projected to be impacted by the slowdown in the pace of recovery in overseas economies. These slowdowns largely result policy interest rate hikes and impact of global inflationary pressure. The inbound tourism demand in Japan meanwhile is expected to continue increasing. This has been categorized under services exports. While past high raw material costs are known to be projected to exert downward pressure, corporate profits are expected to remain at high levels on the whole owing to continued improvement in economic activity. However, some variations across industries and firm sizes are expected. As accommodative financial conditions offer support and the impact of supply-side constraints wane, business fixed investment is likely to continue to go up.


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Travel Franchise Industry News & Announcements
Franchising.com brings you the latest in Travel franchising news from around the web. As one of the most trusted news sources for the Travel franchise industry, Franchising.com streams hundreds of the latest news directly to your desktop.
Global hospitality leader Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR) was named by Great Place to Work® and Fortune to the 2016 50 Best Workplaces for Parents, ranking No. 31 on the list.
Cruise Planners has seen an increase in travelers booking their vacations further out and with many vacations for 2017 already booked, the company shares the top travel trends of 2017.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation announced that its Board of Directors has authorized the repurchase of up to an additional $250 million of the Company’s common stock.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced the opening of Hyatt Regency Cartagena, the first Hyatt-branded hotel in Colombia.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts today announced the opening of Hilton Bali Resort, which joins 130 distinguished resort properties across the Hilton portfolio located in some of the world’s most sought-after destinations.
DoubleTree by Hilton, one of Hilton’s (NYSE: HLT) 13 industry-leading brands, announces the opening of its newest hotel in Mexico City, the DoubleTree by Hilton Hotel Mexico City Santa Fe.
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) and Grupo Cartes today announced the signing of a management agreement to operate a new build Hilton hotel and residences in Asuncion, Paraguay – bringing the company’s flagship brand to a new country.
Once home to John Steinbeck, Thomas Mann and other celebrated writers and artists, The Renwick Hotel, a historic property in the heart of midtown Manhattan, is now open as part of Curio – A Collection by Hilton™.
Hilton Hotels & Resorts today celebrates its arrival in Brooklyn’s Boerum Hill with the landmark opening of Hilton Brooklyn New York.
The Hyatt Regency brand marked its return to Sydney with the debut of Hyatt Regency Sydney.
Westin Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ:MAR), today announced the official unveiling of The Westin Hamburg, marking the brand’s debut in Hamburg.
SPONSORED Open a Spavia Day Spa Franchise
The Spavia Day Spa business model is built around 10 years of experience, giving you the tools and support you need to accomplish your personal and financial goals.
DoubleTree by Hilton, one of Hilton’s 13 market-leading brands, brings upscale, contemporary lodging to the Gold Country of Northern California with the opening of DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Sacramento Rancho Cordova.
Le Méridien Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), today introduced a new bath amenity programme with globally sought-after skincare brand MALIN + GOETZ.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG®), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, has opened the doors to Holiday Inn Express Krabi Ao Nang Beach on the popular Ao Nang Beach in Krabi, Thailand.
Sheraton Hotels & Resorts, part of Marriott International, Inc. (NASDAQ: MAR), has joined #GivingTuesday.
Wyndham Hotel Group announced two new appointments in the Europe, Middle East, Eurasia and Africa (EMEA) leadership team.
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, proudly announces the opening of the InterContinental Real Santo Domingo hotel.
Park Hyatt Hangzhou opened to welcome guests in Hangzhou, the picturesque and cultured city fabled as a “paradise on earth” in East China.
RLHC (Red Lion Hotels Corporation) (NYSE:RLH) is encouraging online shoppers to consider the gift of travel this season.
This month, more than 600 travel agents and industry partners joined Cruise Planners, an American Express Travel Representative, at the Light the Night walk in Miami in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society® (LLS).
Choice Hotels International, Inc. (NYSE: CHH) announced today it has entered into a partnership with Clean the World to collect and recycle hotel soap and bottled amenities that will help fight the spread of hygiene-related illnesses.
Voted ‘Best Travel Agency in Central Ohio,’ Expedia® CruiseShipCenters® – part of Expedia Inc., the largest travel company in the world – is one of ThisWeek Community News 8th Annual Reader’s Choice award winners.
Hilton (NYSE: HLT) today announced the signing of the Botánika Osa Peninsula to Curio - A Collection by Hilton™.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (“Hyatt” or the “Company”) (NYSE: H) announced today that it will webcast its Investor Day, which is being held on Tuesday, November 22, 2016.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a franchise agreement with M&L Hospitality for a Hyatt Place hotel in London, to be managed by Cycas Hospitality.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today plans to expand its Grand Hyatt and Hyatt Regency brands in Pakistan with the signing of management agreements by a Hyatt affiliate for four Hyatt-branded hotels:
Following a $30-million renovation, a historic Hawaiian property debuts today as the first hotel on the Big Island of Hawaii for DoubleTree by Hilton, one of Hilton’s (NYSE: HLT) 13 market-leading brands.
CruiseOne/Dream Vacations celebrated Veterans Day early with a special ceremony recognizing military veterans and the 2016 winners of the fifth annual contest “Operation Vetrepreneur: Become Your Own General.”
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), one of the world’s leading hotel companies announces today that the new-build, 100-room Candlewood Suites® Queretaro-Juriquilla property has opened as the brand’s first property in Mexico.
Steps from the crystal-blue Caribbean Sea in Honduras, Indura Beach & Golf Resort today joined Curio – A Collection by Hilton.


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The Stack: W3C Forms First Board; TikTok Could Be Fined Over Data Privacy
by Grace Dillon on 30th Sep 2022 in News
This week: W3C forms first board, TikTok could be fined over data privacy…
The World Wide Web Consortium announced the creation of their first board of directors whilst it looks to gain non-profit status. TikTok received a “notice of intent” from the ICO which could precede a USD$27m fine for allegedly breaching UK data protection law, whilst Sephora’s USD$1.2m fine for violating the CCPA has sent brands scrambling to become compliant.
In APAC, Southeast Asian super app Grab announced plans to turn a profit for the first time in 2024, whilst LINE MAN Wongnai became Thailand’s biggest tech firm and Sydney-based Livewire raised AUD$4.7m in a Series A funding round. On a lower note, Australia’s Optus was hacked, compromising the personal information of over 10 million customers. The telco giant have been ordered to pay to replace the stolen identity documents.
The MadTech Sketch: Making Sense Of The Addressable TV Market
CTV continues to be the mantra for ad tech, as US viewers “cut the cord”. Outside the US, CTV is just a part of a wider addressable TV category: to say that this market is complicated would be an oversimplification.
In this week's MadTech Sketch, Ciarán O'Kane takes on an issue more tangled than a bag of old cables; the non-US addressable TV market.
Seedtag Survey: 76% of UK Consumers Willing to Consume Ads in Exchange for Free Content
Teads APAC & IMPACT+ Partner in Measuring the Carbon Footprint of Online Advertising
ID5 Hosts First London Event in Almost Three years: Secure Your Seat Now
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Against the background of falling demand on dairy products, the French-based agro-food corporation Danone will have to close three dairy companies in Germany, Italy and Hungary by 2015, eliminating 325 jobs, the company said in a statement.
Spokespeople for the administration of Danone said that the company was cutting production due to "reduced consumption of fresh dairy products in Europe and, as a consequence, in connection with overproduction of these products."
The phenomenon is particularly noticeable in Germany, Italy and Hungary.
The company hopes that it will be able to maintain production on the required level building up production facilities in Belgium, Poland and France. In general, the sales of fresh dairy products in the world have grown by 3.9% in the first quarter of this year.
In February 2013, Danone decided to reduce 900 managerial and administrative positions in its companies during the following two years, which accounts for ten percent of its staff in Europe.
The sales of dairy products gives Danone more than a half of its capital. The European market, however, allows the corporation, which is widely represented in other regions of the world, to sell only 40 percent of its dairy products.
Avdiivka is a northern suburb of Donetsk, from where the Armed Forces of Ukraine shell the capital of the DPR, Donetsk


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Sea asparagus and sea purslane are harvested by Professor Megan Davis (L) and staff as part of an aquaculture study at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute. Photo by Megan Davis/Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute
ORLANDO, Fla., July 13 (UPI) -- Aquaculture experts and fish farm operators in Florida say a potential new crop, sea vegetables, could provide a tasty source of nutrition and generate revenue.
The native Florida vegetables that grow in salty areas near the ocean can be cultivated in fish farms using fish waste for fertilizer, according to new research. Such crops could provide a new sustainable and environmentally friendly source of nutrition, researchers say.
"I think there's a huge market for these sea veggies, which are more nutritious than even kale, the most nutritious soil-farmed plant," said Megan Davis, professor of aquaculture at Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute in Fort Pierce, about 120 miles southeast of Orlando.
Davis led a 10-week study this spring to determine the best growing conditions for sea vegetables. Plants in the study were sea asparagus, which looks similar to regular asparagus; sea purslane, harvested for the fleshy leaves on long red stems; and saltwort, a smaller frilly plant.
The plants are high in minerals, such as zinc and iodine, and vitamins, but Davis said she is awaiting a detailed nutrition analysis from the harvest.
"Obviously, a lot of people eat seaweed, but I think these sea vegetables appeal to a broader public. They have a crisp salty taste," Davis said.
Besides Florida, the sea vegetables are native to other coastal regions around the world. For the Harbor Branch experiment, they were grown in tanks that also raise fish, shrimp, urchins and oysters.
The vegetables were grown in three different types of hydroponic media -- sand, clay pebbles and only water with nutrients. Davis and other researchers used the waste from the marine life to provide nutrients, or fertilizer.
She said the sand provided the best growth in the study, which received $25,000 in funding from the state's marine-themed specialty license plate sales. One of the plants grew to weigh 2 pounds in 10 weeks.
Companies that farm fish, shrimp and clams said they were impressed with the findings by the institute, which is part of Florida Atlantic University.
Shrimp farmer Robin Pearl said he'd like to add sea vegetables to his product lineup at his company, American Penaeid in Pine Island, Fla., 120 miles south of Tampa.
"We currently sell shrimp to many high-end restaurants, and we'd offer sea vegetables to the chefs who like new, interesting cuisine," Pearl said.
With 100 acres of shrimp tanks, Pearl's company has plenty of shrimp waste to use as fertilizer, he said.
"We've thought about doing this before, but we've been too focused on the business of growing shrimp. Given what we've learned, it might make sense now," Pearl said.
Shrimp are among many farmed marine products that could complement sea vegetables, said Carolina Panoff, sales and marketing manager at Seaventures Clam Co. in Fort Pierce.
Seaventures, founded in 2018, sells young clams to clam farmers. The company plans to grow sea vegetables, Panoff said.
"Sea vegetables look like an incredible market to get into. Seaweed is super healthy, and frankly, it should be available in every grocery store in the near future," Panoff said.


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Vastavam web: FMCG companies, including ITC, Dabur, HUL and Marico, today said they have cut prices of various products to pass on the benefits of GST rate reduction to end-consumers.The companies said they will extend the price reduction to other categories, which have also seen tax rate cuts. The development comes a day after the government asked the firms to pass on lower GST rates to consumers.Similarly, an HUL spokesperson said: “We have reduced price for Bru Gold coffee from Rs 145 to Rs 111 on a 50 gm pack. Any further price changes will be communicated in due course.”
HUL remains committed to passing on the benefits of GST reduction to the consumers, the spokesperson added.Likewise, Marico CFO Vivek Karve said the company has effected MRP reductions on products across categories such as deodorants, hair gels, hair creams, body care etc.Earlier in the day, Dabur India said it has cut prices of existing stocks across categories such as shampoos, skin care and home care by 9 per cent.
The company said it had also revised the MRP of fresh production with immediate effect which will hit the shelves by next month.When contacted, a Patanjali spokesperson said: “We welcome this step and the benefits must be transferred to the customers. We are evaluating over the quantum of decrease.” Yesterday, CBEC Chairperson Vanaja Sarna in a letter to all major FMCG companies had pointed out the need to immediately revise the MRP on all the products for which the tax reductions have been announced by the GST Council.Items on which tax rate has been cut from 28 per cent to 18 per cent include chewing gum, chocolates, coffee, custard powder, dental hygiene products, creams, after-shave, deodorant, detergent and washing power, razors and blades, cutlery, batteries, goggles, wrist watches and mattress.


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First customers at a revamped Northumberland pub have been checking out its new look - and are now being wooed by a new menu.
The Snowy Owl on the outskirts of Cramlington has undergone an extensive refurbishment and is out to build on its popularity with a revamp of its pub food too.
And the menu is set to prove a further feather in its cap thanks to the introduction of new dishes such as Black Pearl scallops and venison.
The country pub, in Blagdon Lane, is known for its traditional charms and has managed to freshen up its rustic character while keeping the emphasis on relaxation in cosy surroundings with the help of open fires which proved a hit on its March re-opening.
Now that the weather is warming up, customers are set to make the most of its picturesque location too, thanks to a new outside dining area where they can while away long summer nights.
Samantha Kerr, landlord of The Snowy Owl which is part of the Vintage Inns collection, calls the watering hole’s location “fantastic”.
She said: “We wanted the new look to provide guests with a cosy pub where they can enjoy dinner, have a few drinks after their busy day or simply to relax with their four-legged friends and read the Sunday paper.”
Those keen to sample the new menu of traditional food with an imaginative twist can check out the likes of the seared scallops - a starter dish including black pudding on minted pea puree with crispy bacon - or desserts such as sticky toffee or apple pudding.
See here for details.


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Russia’s Ozon has opened a new fulfilment centre in Novosibirsk, at the PNK Park Tolmachevo logistics complex.
The fulfilment hub is the e-commerce company's largest logistics centre in the Siberian Federal District and the group hopes its establishment means that local sellers will find it easier to access the platform's marketplace.
Ozon Fulfilment Centre
Ozon's fulfilment centre will have a floor area of 14,000 square metres, with the possibility of expanding it to a maximum of 64,000 square metres in the future.
The fulfilment centre can process more than 85,000 parcels per day.
Ozon invested RUB 600 million into the first construction phase of the fulfilment centre and plans to invest a total of almost RUB 3.5 billion (approx. €39 million) into the facility within four years.
A majority of the funding will be used to purchase high-tech equipment and create proprietary IT systems to automate operations, Ozon said.
The opening of the fulfilment centre will create around 1,000 new jobs in the Novosibirsk region in the logistics hub alone, as well as attracting new couriers and partners to Ozon’s network of delivery pick-up points.
Mikhail Chebotnikov, director of logistics in the Siberian region, Ozon, said "Ozon’s mission is to support entrepreneurs who want to develop their online sales. This support is particularly needed in the regions where small and medium-sized businesses dominate, and by support we mean comprehensive assistance.
"Logistics hubs play a key role in this support network. They ensure that sellers no longer need to incur costs for transportation to central warehouses. At the same time, they enable goods to appear on the site much faster and be delivered with greater speed, making it easier and more profitable to sell online.”
The group hopes the arrival of a large logistics facility will increase e-commerce activities in the region, which accounted for only 8.1% of the total retail market in 2020.
At the end of 2020, Ozon's turnover in the Siberian Federal District grew by 3.5 times year-on-year.
Sellers from the region earned RUB 1.3 billion with the help of the Ozon marketplace and currently more than 1,600 entrepreneurs from the region sell their goods on Ozon, which recently enhanced its financial services functions.
To make deliveries more convenient, Ozon is developing a last-mile network in the Siberian region that already includes more than 1,000 Ozon-branded parcel lockers and in-person pick-up points.
The fulfilment centre is being opened in partnership with PNK Group, a Russian developer of industrial facilities, which carried out the project on built-to-lease terms at the PNK Park Tolmachevo industrial grounds.


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SALT LAKE CITY, Utah - ADP Lightspeed has created a data interface with Dealer Spike’s website and inventory management systems for powersports, marine and RV dealerships.
"We are glad to announce that Dealer Spike is a certified vendor of ADP Lightspeed," said Dave Johnson, manufacturer solutions and consulting with ADP Lightspeed. "The automated flow of data will allow Dealer Spike to enhance the dealer's ability to quickly project their offerings to the market, saving them time while increasing accuracy and profitability."
The integration gives dealers on the ADP Lightspeed DMS platform seamless integration of new and pre-owned inventory units, drastically cutting staff time required for web site inventory management.
"We couldn't have asked for a better data integration partner than ADP," said Jay Mason, president and CEO of Dealer Spike. "We look forward to a strong relationship helping dealers throughout North America to grow and support their online business, while increasing their online results. Dealers will now have the option for a deeper level of automation with our systems, helping them to Find, Sell and Keep more customers profitably."
Posted by Holly Wagner


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Alison Pierce was 11 when she tried her first sips of Milo’s Famous Tea. Now the brand director at the Bessemer-based beverage company, she plans to serve Milo’s tea at her upcoming wedding.
The drink has built a devoted following since the first glasses were sold 75 years ago in Milo and Bea Carlton’s original sandwich shop on Birmingham’s Norwood neighborhood. People even share Milo’s-related photos on social media using the tags @DrinkMilos or #Milosmonents.
The level of fanaticism goes far beyond filling a refrigerator with gallon jugs of tea. Take, for example, the guy who painted his new refrigerator to look like a jug of Milo’s tea. Others have decorated birthday and wedding cakes with replicas of the red-and-white logo.
“There are people with Milo’s tattoos,” Pierce says. “A guy made a boat out of Milo’s boxes, entered it in a race, and won. I love the passion of our fans. We’ve even created a page on our website where consumers can share their stories.”
What’s not to love about Milo’s sweet tea? It’s made only with a proprietary blend of black teas, water, and sugar. Its ingredient list doesn’t read like a chemistry textbook. And most important of all, it tastes like tea, not tannin-tinted water.
“We make it just like somebody does in their kitchen,” Pierce says. “Our kettle’s just a lot bigger.”
In addition to sweet and unsweet versions, the sweet-tea lineup includes zero calorie, decaffeinated, and extra-sweet. Milo’s also makes lemonade, and an Arnold Palmer-style blend of tea and lemonade. The company plans to unveil additional flavors this fall.
All come in gallon and 20-ounce bottles, and the sweet tea also is sold in six-packs of 12-ounce bottles.
When he opened the restaurant in 1946, Milo served his tea unadulterated, leaving sugar bowls on the table for customers who preferred it sweet.
But post-war sugar rationing inspired him to rethink his approach. He figured he could do more with less by adding sugar to hot fresh-steeped tea, and serve it pre-sweetened.
It didn’t take long for his sweet tea to become as famous locally as Milo’s special sauce and the extra hunk of beef he added to his hamburgers.
After taking over the business, Carlton’s son, Ronnie, noticed that some people came just for the tea, like Pierce’s mother, Renee. As an occasional treat, she would stop by Milo’s after work and order large teas—no ice—before driving them 45 minutes to the family’s home in Oneonta.
“We weren’t a rich family so any kind of fast food was exciting, but especially getting Milo’s tea,” Pierce recalls. “It was a treat for us.”
The first gallon jug of Milo’s tea was sold in 1982 at the Piggly Wiggly grocery in Homewood. Twenty years later, the Carlton family spun off Milo’s Tea Company after selling the restaurant portion of the franchise.
Ronnie’s daughter, Tricia Wallmark, now runs the booming company. Milo’s Famous Tea is sold by more than 31,000 retailers in 45 states, as well as via national giants Amazon, Target, and Walmart.
Adding to its allure, Milo’s Tea is a company with a conscience. It’s earned a platinum certification as a “Zero Waste Manufacturer,” meaning it recycles at least 99 percent of the waste it produces. The company donates one percent of its profits to organizations and communities.
“We really try to stay true to the values of Milo Carlton,” Pierce says. “We’re people first. There’s a lot of love put into our product.”
(Courtesy of SoulGrown)


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“JVC Americas Corp. on Sunday said it would offer a new series of LCD televisions with built-in docks for the popular iPod media player from Apple Inc.,” The Associated Press reports.
“The dock will allow consumers to play music and video from their iPods on JVC’s P-Series TVs, JVC said. The iPod, which charges while it is in the dock, can be controlled with the TV remote,” AP reports. “During music playback, artist and song information is displayed on the television screen. Other features include photo viewing and the ability to play music from the iPod during television programming.”
JVC will debut 32-inch and 42-inch models in March, a 47-inch model in April, and a 52-inch model in summer 2008. No retail prices were disclosed.
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Note: JVC also announced a number of new audio and video systems with iPod integration. More via JVC’s press center here.


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Montana's ad agency's social media manager manages to offer a "F this job" post on the state's tourism Facebook page, as opposed to her personal one.
If we were to believe what suggested Yahoo searches say about the United States, there'd only be 48 instead of 50, or didn't you hear that Wyoming and North Dakota aren't real?
Screaming little tweens aren't the only ones buzzing about Disney's Hannah Montana's 3D concert film, which is fueling online ticket sales.
Scosche Industries announces the availability of the PowerFuze home and car USB charging system. The PowerFuze is both "Made for iPod" and "Works with iPhone" certified and lets people carry just one charger for all their USB based devices.
Possible update to the S-Series Walkman is spotted in the wild.
To pop the question, a guy in Montana traveled to 26 different countries and made an impressive lip-synched proposal video for his sweetie.
An aggravated mom questions Disney's motives for saying Hannah Montana's 3D concert film will be a one-week theater release, and then changing its tune.
Matt Rosendale, a Republican candidate for the House in Montana, believes the government will soon be flying over us to monitor our every move. He demonstrates his solution.
The emergency broadcast system of a television station in Montana is hacked to broadcast the announcement that the undead are coming.


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The National Milk Producers Federation and U.S. Dairy Export Council joined in support of the agreement reached last weekend on the future framework of World Trade Organization talks.
Among the decisions made were:
The total elimination of export subsidies, which will reduce the artificial price advantage of the European Union, a profligate user of export subsidies for its dairy products, and make U.S. products more competitive.
Scaling back high tariffs that protect key markets in the EU, Switzerland, Japan and Canada. The inclusion of this provision means it may be possible for the United States to secure greater access into major dairy markets, compared to access the United States must provide in return. This would allow the U.S. to maintain reasonable tariff protections for dairy while increasing the competitiveness of U.S. exports by lowering barriers elsewhere.
Allowing some level of domestic farm support to continue, while calling for higher levels of support used in other countries to be harmonized with the generally lower levels found in the U.S. farm sector.
"Our negotiators did a great job of pushing hard to keep the talks going, while protecting U.S. dairy interests. This is just a small step in the Doha Round, but a giant leap for the overall prospects to finish the negotiations and reinforces the credibility of the WTO as an arbiter for world trade," said Jerry Kozak, president and CEO of NMPF.
"A great deal of hard work still lies ahead to finalize an agreement that levels the playing field in dairy trade," said Thomas M. Suber, president of USDEC. "Although the talks could stumble and fall as further details are negotiated, this agreement injects new life into the process, and helps put pressure on all the parties to seal the deal in the future."
SOURCE U.S. Dairy Export Council; National Milk Producers Federation


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Seagate Technology: Ready to BreakoutSTX) announced second quarter ended January 1, 2016 total revenue of $2.99 billion, up slightly and sequentially from $2.93 billion in first quarter of fiscal 2016 but down 19 percent year-over-year from $3.70 billion in second quarter of fiscal 2015.
Seagate declared second quarter of 2016 non-GAAP net income of $246 million or $0.82 per diluted share, up 49 percent sequentially from $165 million or $0.54 per diluted share in first quarter of fiscal 2016 but down 46 percent year-over-year from $452 million or $1.35 per diluted share during the same period last year.
The key PC technology company reported continued year-over-year decline in both its top and bottom lines primarily due to the ongoing cannibalization of the global PC market share by the mobile and handheld devices which are increasingly replacing PCs and thus, continuously hurting the company’s key margins.
After the continued decline in both revenue and adjusted gross margin for Seagate since third quarter of fiscal 2015 till the first quarter of fiscal 2016, the company has impressively posted sequential growths in both its top line and non-GAAP gross margin for second quarter of fiscal 2016 and mainly driven by solid profitability and superior cost controls achieved across the company’s product portfolio.
Seagate has continued to grow its year-over-year average capacity per drive and total exabytes shipped which highlights the company’s confidence on its drive business that is increasingly facing headwinds from the expanding popularity of mobile and handheld devices, gradually eating into the worldwide PC market share.
The data storage products provider has continued to witness sharp year-over-year declines in both its top line and gross margins with an expanding long-term debt profile, driven by significant fall in the global PC market share to the increasing popularity of mobile devices and this trend is believed to continue over the longer term thus, forcing Seagate to look out for new revenue streams.
During the second quarter of fiscal 2016, Seagate delivered nearly $382 million of cash flow from operations and thus, disbursed $188 million worth of dividends and bought back about 2.9 million ordinary shares at $107 million. Moreover, nearly 296 million ordinary shares were outstanding till the quarter end. Seagate recorded a total of about $1.3 billion of short-term investments, cash and cash equivalents by the quarter end. In addition, the Board of Directors at Seagate recently approved $0.63 per share of cash dividend for the quarter payable February 23, 2016 to all the key stakeholders as of February 9, 2016.
Despite, the ongoing recent fall in both the company’s top line growth and key gross margins Seagate is committed towards returning a majority of the invested capital to its key stakeholders in form of dividends and strategic share repurchases which should further attract several other key investors to make equity investments in the company who are looking for making investments in technology stocks.
Seagate recently launched Seagate ClusterStor G200 Spectrum and ClusterStor L300 which are high performance computing (HPC)-class storage solutions. Further, ClusterStor HPC drive was uniquely launched by Seagate that has capability to get combined with the ClusterStor L300. Seagate declared the establishment of Seagate Government Solutions which is a unique U.S.-based business segment particularly developed to help address the expanding data-management requirements of key government agencies.
Also, Seagate declared the introduction of the SAGE European Exascale HPC project through which the company would work closely with nine strategic partners across different sectors, industries, and nations to advance its data storage capabilities.
The latest new introductions of superior data storage solutions coupled with strategic partnerships with key government agencies is believed to somewhat help the company offset the continued decline in its top line and strongly position it for sustainable long-term growth once the global slowdown eases.
The rising global popularity of solid state drive (SSD) over the traditional hard disk drive (HDD) is mainly driven by the low cost of SSDs which is approximately $0.40 per usable gigabyte and this declining pricing trend for SSDs is expected to continue as their demand continues to rise, thereby posing significant threat for key hard drive manufacturers including, Western Digital and Seagate. A majority 40% of the SSD market share is currently captured by Samsung.
Overall, the investors are advised to “Hold” their position in Seagate Technology Public Limited Company considering the currently weak global demand for hard disk drives and the company’s hugely debt-burdened position with notable total debt of $4.14 billion against smaller total cash position of $1.26 billion only, restricting the company to make future growth investments. However, the PEG ratio of 3.22 suggests healthy company growth and somewhat better than the industry’s growth average of 0.56. The profit margin of 5.14% also seems satisfactory.
Published on Mar 24, 2016By Vinay Singh


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The mirror selfie queen did it again with this one, which appeared to be an ad for the tanning brand, Bondi Sands. The outlet stated that his lease expired in 2017. The I Feel Pretty actress revealed she and Bear-McClard tied the knot on Instagram in February. Emily O'Hara Ratajkowski was born in London, England, to American parents, Kathleen Balgley , a professor, and John David Ratajkowski, a painter.
The not-so-casual shopping look appeared to have found Em a few new fans. Getty Images , is an ode to all things over the top, extra, and avant garde—while having loads of fun doing it—has paved the way for some major fashion moments on this Met Gala red carpet, including and a hot pink convertible, and Zendaya arriving as Cinderella complete with glass slippers. She got some coverage from what looks like a straw hat. Emily was raised in Encinitas, California, near San Diego. But the press has the story wrong, Emrata wrote on her Twitter.
Emrata seemed to channel a few notes from Cher's signature styles from her days working with Bob Mackie on her red carpet and performance looks, including the barely-there bodice and the angel wing headpiece. Her husband is not as rich as people are making him seem, and he's fighting the good fight, she explained in a series of tweets. The brunette beauty turned heads in a red sleeveless sports crop top and matching workout shorts, as she confidently walked into the Los Angeles store. Emily opted for a skin-baring metallic gown that will easily go down as one of yet. Her black two-piece was barely there, leaving little to the imagination. Don't worry, people concerned about sun protection.
The model-actress shared a pair of nude photos on Instagram Wednesday, which People magazine and Entertainment Tonight report were taken while honeymooning with her new hubby, producer-actor Sebastian Bear-McClard, in Utah. Add a naked dress, and things begin to feel even more familiar for the It-girl, whose body is so enviable it deserves a red or pink carpet all its own. Unlike many, Emrata has the fashion chops and the body to do it, with the help of Peter Dundas. Keep reading to see more snaps of Emily's daring Met Gala outfit. It appears the stunning model can do no wrong when it comes to picking out bikinis, and her latest snapshot showed off what might be her hottest yet. It was just one week before that the In Darkness star whipped out an incredibly while stepping out to go grocery shopping.
Mackie, a tentpole in the history of camp's place in fashion, is serving on the board of this year's Gala. While others , like Ciara's Diana Ross inspired hair and Ryan Murphy's Liberace-inspired cape, few attempted to channel the icon that is Cher. Emily Ratajkowski is known for her swimsuit looks, but her latest might just be her steamiest yet. But that's what Emily Ratajkowski did on Twitter yesterday, in defense of her husband, Sebastian Bear-McClard. Getting to pack light is one of the reasons she wants to go back, right? Emily Ratajkowski took to Instagram on May 8 to show off an incredibly sexy photo that showed her sitting up in bed while wearing nothing but a weave. Getty Images While at first one can only let their jaw hit the floor and simply covet the face, the body, and the confidence that Ratajkowski exudes, this look at second glance is an ode to the queen of Camp herself, Cher.
. Emily teased her Cher-inspired look on her Instagram Stories leading up to the event, and oh boy, she did not disappoint. More: Emily Ratajkowski speaks out about nude photo book. McClard is fighting to save his home, which he has lived in for years.
The gown sparkled from head-to-toe, including the wing headpiece she paired the look with, which included strands of crystals draped from ear-to-ear. She is of British Isles, German, Polish, and Jewish ancestry. She accessorized the stunning look with red-framed sunglasses and gold earrings as she let her long hair down as she sported Nike sneakers. As a model, she often confidently shows off her body with or without all kinds of fashion choices, including lingerie, swimsuits, and dresses.
She traveled a lot, and also spent some of her childhood in Ireland and Mallorca. Getty Images Fashion rule-breaking—events like the Met Gala are just another day in the life of Emily Ratajkowski. It's not every day that a celebrity argues that they're less wealthy than they seem. He was raised in the neighborhood he lives in now, both of his parents are artists who were priced out of their homes in downtown New York.
Ratajkowski implied that her man was behind the lens for Wednesday's cheeky photos. The gorgeous brunette shared the eye-catching snapshot to her page on May 8 and boy did she get a lot of attention! Another day, another jaw-dropping swimsuit look from , 27. She took to Instagram on Apr. Another year, another insanely , courtesy of Emily Ratajkowski.