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What would you do if you knew your doctor has made an incorrect diagnosis before prescribing you some medicine? Would you just sit there and take it?
Because right now, PhD bearing central bankers are completely misunderstanding the source of inflation. And so, their response has been dangerously misguided. But investors don’t seem to be acting in response to the threat.
Today, we explore what’s really going on, and what you can do about it…
As the modern macroeconomists who run our monetary policy see things, inflation is caused by aggregate demand shifts. If people buy more stuff, it raises prices. If they’re buying less, prices fall.
Closely tied to this is employment, which has an impact on the amount people can buy. But it’s a secondary factor.
A central bankers’ job is to manage the economy so that demand is growing moderately. If it grows too fast and prices start rising, higher interest rates are used to slow it down. If the economy is struggling and prices don’t go up, or even fall, the economy needs stimulus with lower interest rates.
The fact that this doesn’t really consider the supply side of things is the first big flaw in the theory. Especially in the wake of a pandemic that disrupted the supply sector of the economy badly.
What we’ve seen over the past two years is a spike in producer costs. Resources and energy prices surged first, well before consumer prices. Yes, this eventually led to a shift in consumer prices too. But the causation is obvious because of the temporal relationship — producer prices moved and then consumer prices followed.
In 2020 and 2021, I tracked this through producer price indices (PPIs) and purchasing manager indices (PMIs). These are also known as ‘factory gate prices’, meaning the prices that factories pay for their inputs. They surged rapidly long before consumer prices did, allowing me to predict the consumer price inflation we’ve seen since.
The misdiagnosis on the part of central bankers — confusing the inflationary spike for a demand-based issue rather than a supply issue — is the source of what happens next in financial markets.
You see, interest rates are not just important to demand, but to supply too. Raising interest rates doesn’t just slow demand. It also raises costs for producers, including those that supply energy and resources, the lack of which caused the PPI spike in the first place.
In other words, central bankers have made producer price spikes worse by adding costs to struggling factories, energy producers, miners, and other producers. They’ve added to the cause of inflation.
Worse still, they have created a demand slowdown where they didn’t need to. This is because excess demand was never the source of the inflationary problem. It was one of supply.
Before we unpack the implications for investors, a quick tangent for those of you who are thinking that inflation is everywhere and always a monetary phenomenon.
The trouble with monetary policy is that, at some point, the dose of monetary policy needed to keep the economy ticking over becomes so high that money itself becomes undermined.
If you have a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. But eventually, the hammer will break from whacking the wrong thing. In the same way, at some amount of quantitative easing, negative interest rates, and other interventions in the economy, people will lose faith in the currency. And faith is all a fiat currency has. That’s when true inflation emerges — the loss of value of the currency, rather than prices moving.
The fact that the symptom of such inflation is the same as what gets central bankers into trouble. Just as they can’t tell the difference between cost-push and demand-pull inflation, they can’t tell if inflation is happening because of a loss of faith in the currency.
Hence the risk of hyperinflation — when central bankers still blame profiteers, greedy businessmen, speculators and everyone but themselves and their policies, right until the end.
We clearly haven’t reached this point yet. And, while the very definition of inflation may well be price increases caused by the money supply, that doesn’t mean monetary policy doesn’t have effects on supply and demand as I’ve focused on today. So, let’s go back to focusing on those effects.
Central bankers, having misdiagnosed a supply problem as a demand one, are busy making it worse by raising interest rates, only further constraining the recovery amongst producers and thereby worsening inflation.
The result is that producers face a nightmarish combination — rising costs from their suppliers and falling demand from their consumers. This is the definition of stagflation.
The eurozone, for example, has high inflation and a recession at the same time. Not so long ago, predicting this was economic heresy.
It happened because higher producer prices are still filtering through to consumer prices. However, consumers can’t afford to buy thanks to higher interest rates adding to cost-of-living pressures.
The misdiagnosis of the problem has led to the worst of all possible outcomes — severe side effects from the medicine, but no cure for the underlying disease. Inflation and a recession at the same time.
The correct response is, of course, to go and see another doctor for a second opinion and get some very different medicine. Which, in the monetary context, means having a chat with Dr Copper and gold.
Dr Copper got his PhD in economics the hard way — by being useful and operating in the real world. That’s why the price of copper is such a good economic signal of what’s really going on.
Copper is up by around 35% from the trading range it was in between 2014 and 2020, dramatically adding costs to just about all real-world economic activity and pushing up inflation. But it’s down by 20% since the post-pandemic surge, undermining the recent inflationary spike. More on that in a second.
Gold, meanwhile, remains stuck inside its trading range, which formed in early 2020. It’s signalling neither inflation nor deflation has an upper hand. That’s because the inflation happened, disproportionately, amongst producer prices, not consumer prices.
So much for what got us here. What’s happening now?
The combination of high producer prices and a lack of demand keeping a lid on consumer prices risks a severe corporate profits crunch. Companies face higher costs without consumers able to bear the burden of passing those costs on.
Unemployment comes late in the business cycle because it occurs once businesses struggle in this way. It’s a consequence, not a cause, of inflationary turning points.
But here’s the thing. Producer prices have recently stopped rising. The eurozone’s producer price index fell for the first time since inflation spiked this week. The US’ PPI is close behind. This signals that the struggle has begun amongst companies.
Just when the central bankers have managed to cause an unnecessary recession by clobbering demand, they’re going to see the true source of inflation pull the rug out from under it. They have overdosed on high-interest rates.
The next phase is a struggling corporate sector, with bankruptcies and unemployment making the recession worse. In the US, corporate bankruptcies are at recession levels already.
It’s bad news for investors. Especially when bond yields are still not compensating for high inflation. In fact, bond yields may be signalling that investors expect inflation to turn soon and are pricing this in.
In 2022, the year inflation began to roar, cash was one of the best-performing asset classes in the US because everything else fell in price, including bonds. If you expect inflation to drop fast, it may outperform once again.
Perhaps bed rest is the best way forward from here.
Interestingly, my colleague Greg Canavan has a similar metaphor for the click-hungry investment journos gushing about income stocks right now:
‘The buffet is plentiful…but you’ll get food poisoning if you make the wrong selections…[and] the obvious solutions are rarely the best ones…’
Editor, The Daily Reckoning Australia Weekend


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BOULDER, Colo., March 26, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Weller, an innovative pioneer in CBD-infused food and beverage products, announced today that their high-quality CBD Sparkling Water will be available for purchase in April. Exhibited earlier this month at Natural Products Expo West, Weller‘s CBD Sparkling Water line offers three fresh flavors: Watermelon, Black Cherry and Tangerine which is infused with 25MG of CBD (cannabidiol) broad-spectrum hemp extract per can. Weller‘s CBD Sparkling Water is made with clean, simple and sustainably-sourced ingredients to help promote a clean and healthy lifestyle.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Ugandan police responded violently to protestors, killing at least 37, injuring more than 65 others, and incarcerating approximately 350 Ugandan
ATLANTA, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Lindsay Roberts of TheGiftInsider.com has some advice for gifts that family and friends will love! GIFTING EXPERIENCES Continue Reading Black Friday
DUBLIN, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The “Market Opportunities for Additive Manufacturing in the General Industry and Tooling Sector – 2020-2029” report has been added
Shop NC400 here: https://www.annke.com/products/nc400 Buy NCA500 now: https://www.annke.com/products/nca500 What’s ACE True Full Color Night Vision TechNot every security camera that sees colors at night can
DUBLIN, Nov. 27, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — The “Oil Condition Monitoring – Global Market Outlook (2018-2027)” report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com’s offering. The Global Oil
MIAMI, 27 de noviembre de 2020 /PRNewswire/ — El comunicador, autor bestseller y estratega Ismael Cala presentó esta semana el diario digital www.CalaBienestar.news, un portal

domain: news


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Google has caught it rivals well and truly on the back foot, as it announced plans for a clonky, built-up shoe. The 7” high unit is based on an Android ‘platform’, and can look a little ungainly when compared with competitors’ encumberments. But pundits have welcomed its open access and similarity to a normal shoe, aside from the noise it makes when walking across wooden floors.
“We like to stay one step ahead of our rivals”, claimed a Google spokesman, while visibly struggling to remain balanced. “It’s an ideal accompaniment to our weird new glasses, or haivng one short leg.” Beta testers reported that the big shoe was awful to get to grips with, but was reliable, and not so bad when traversing hills.
Apple has reacted swiftly to the announcement, bringing forward the launch for their much-anticipated hearing aid, which emits a high-pitched whistle in the company of strangers. Distinctive, costly and designed without compromise to the shape of a human ear, fans are already claiming they can't imagine life without one.


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Rihanna poses for the latest edition of DIOR Magazine. Come inside and check out the sleek and chic pics while listening to two tracks from Season 2 of "Empire."
Earlier today, Rihanna shared a few stills from a high-end fashion shoot for DIOR Magazine. You'll recall that she was named the face of Dior last year, making her the first black woman to star in a campaign for the fashion house.
The pics were shot by Craig McDean and completely capture RiRi's essence.
And just in case you don't have a body like Rihanna or the coins to buy DIOR, you can still smell like her. A few days ago she launched her latest fragrance, RiRi by Rihanna at Macy's.
As we gear up for the Season 2 debut of “Empire”, which premieres Sept. 23rd at 9 p.m. ET/PT, Columbia Records has released two new songs off the second season's forthcoming soundtrack.
The tracks go along with the theme of Season 2 which will pick up three months after Lucious’ shocking arrest and incarceration at the end of last season. Knowing Lucious won’t be held much longer in prison, Cookie and her allies within the Lyon family make a desperate attempt to seize control of the company. But as the Lyons continue to battle each other, a bigger external threat emerges that could force them to unite.
“No Doubt About It” is a Ne-yo penned track which features Jussie Smollett (Jamal Lyon) collaborating with Pitbull.
The next track is “Ain’t About the Money,” which features both Jussie and Yazz (Hakeem Lyon).
The original soundtrack from Season 1 (released in March) debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Top 200 chart and made history as the first soundtrack to debut atop the Billboard R&B/Hip Hop chart. We're sure this one will be equally successful.
Photos via Rihanna Instagram


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The answer is yes for the Filipino artist Gilbert Calderon Angeles, who distinguished himself for the use of post-consumer waste for the creation of works of art. Aware that the Philippines is one of the world’s most polluting countries, Gilbert has decided to include in his paintings scraps of plastics, especially those that are no longer recyclable, transforming his works of art into eco – paintings.
In fact, compared to the 8 million tonnes of waste reaching the oceans every year, those from countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia, China and Thailand account for 60 according to a 2017 report by the McKinsey Center for Business and Environment.
As for the process of recovery and creation of the works, Gilbert uses chopped plastic bags, of various colors and from different types of waste – from candy packages, bottle caps. In addition to the aim of giving new life to waste, thus avoiding further polluting the planet, it aims to create awareness of the negative effects of plastic, especially of disposable plastic. In fact, he is convinced that a greater awareness of a problem is the first step to intervene and make real and necessary changes. His hope is to be able to contribute, with his works, to this growing awareness.
It is artistic upcycling. Angeles is able to create works of art from a material almost banal but definitely abundant: waste. Works that he makes unique, giving new value to garbage, which becomes one with the work of art.
To obtain the vibrant and bright colors that characterize his paintings, Angeles joins the shredded plastic to paint residues and scraps of acrylic colors, which he calls “eco-paint”. In addition, his canvases are made with wooden panels recovered from construction sites. Everything is recovered and reused, so as not to create further waste and damage to the environment.
In addition to this, Gilbert has created Green Artz, an environmental defense platform dedicated to art lovers and all those who want to be actively environmentally friendly, including companies and governments. With it, it aims to promote a sustainable arts culture, aiming to become a real global movement. For example, Green Artz collaborates with several companies, including an eco construction company – aware, which recovers disposable plastic bags and, once shredded, uses them as raw materials to create eco-bricks.


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At a value over $7 billion, the Skype deal would rank at or near
the top of the biggest acquisitions in the 36-year history of
Microsoft, a company that traditionally has shied away from large
deals. In 2007, Microsoft paid approximately $6 billion to acquire
online advertising firm aQuantive Inc. Many current and former
Microsoft executives believe Microsoft significantly overpaid for
that deal. But they are also relieved that Microsoft gave up on an
unsolicited $48 billion offer for Yahoo Inc. nearly three years
ago. Yahoo is valued at half that sum today.
Skype for $7B sounds nutty to me. Skype loses money. Everyone agreed Skype wasn’t worth much after eBay took a bath on it a few years ago, at a far lower price than this. What’s changed?


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The images and news reports coming out of Japan are absolutely heartbreaking.
If you’re an artist and would like to do something to help out, Wednesday’s Heroes has a way to contribute.
Craig at the site has started an art auction and he’s looking for donations from folks who want to participate. Details at the link. The Fraim Brothers, Mitch Byrd, Gene Colan, and Robert Pope already have stuff up with more to come.
Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter has a number of related links to other ways you can help, along with announcements related to those affected by the crisis.
Robot 6 also has a nice round-up of helpful links.
Japan was a big help to the US following Hurricane Katrina and the US comics industry is very closely aligned with the Japanese manga industry, so if you can please lend a hand.
[Artwork: News photo of Sendai]
Given the destruction caused by the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis, Apple announced today that it will delay the release of the iPad 2 in the country.
"We are delaying the launch of the iPad 2 in Japan while the country and our teams focus on recovering from the recent disaster," Apple spokeswoman Natalie Kerris confirmed.
The iPad 2 went on sale in the U.S. on March 11 and was scheduled to launch in more than two dozen additional countries, including Japan, on March 25. An 8.9-magnitude earthquake, however, hit northeast Japan on March 11, prompting devastating tsunamis that have wiped away entire towns and killed thousands.
Hours after a massive earthquake measuring 8.9 on the Richter scale struck Japan, an Apple store in Tokyo kept its doors open to hundreds of nearby victims, and instructed stranded employees and their families to stay overnight at the five-story flagship store.
A moved Kevin Rose, founder of Digg, posted two anonymous letters from "an admitted [Apple] fanboy" and Apple store employee in Japan, who wrote at length about Apple's calm, humanitarian response to the quake.
"[With] the phone and train lines down, taxis stopped, and millions of people stuck in the Tokyo shopping district scared, with no access to television, hundreds of people were swarming into Apple stores to watch the news on USTREAM and contact their families via Twitter, Facebook, and email," the letter read. "The young did it on their mobile devices, while the old clustered around the Macs. There were even some Android users there. (There are almost no free wifi spots in Japan besides Apple stores, so even Android users often come to the stores.)"
"Staff brought out surge protectors and extension cords with 10s of iOS device adapters so people could charge their phones & pads and contact their loved ones. Even after we finally had to close 10pm, crowds of people huddled in front of our stores to use the wifi into the night, as it was still the only way to get access to the outside world."
AUSTIN - Just as SXSW attendees were landing in Austin and heading to their first conference sessions, news and images of the terrible tsunami that hit Japan were hitting the Web. Organizers acted quickly to create a site (sxsw4japan.org) that not only accepts contributions, but also enables attendees to do what they do best, share the news and create their own support networks.
The goals of sxsw4japan.org are simple:
- DONATE: Make a donation or text your donation to 90999
- SHARE: On the Web, on Twitter, mention it in your SXSW talks with #sxswcares and #sxsw4japan
- CREATE A FUNDRAISING PAGE: Start a page so your friends/family can donate to disaster relief.
The original goal of $10,000 has been doubled to $20,000. So far the site has raised more than $15,000 with two days remaining.
SXSW organizers are also encouraging attendees to like the Facebook page of DogBlessyou.org. The site, which is affiliated with the Annenberg Foundation, is donating $1 for every person who "likes" they page over the next few days.
As the devastating images of the earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in Japan come in via cable news, newspapers, blogs, and homemade videos, tech giants like Google, Apple, Twitter, and more are donating funds and using the power of tech to help those in need.
In the wake of the earthquake, Google set up its Person Finder Web site to help people locate the missing or post data on those who had been found. In a Saturday blog post, Google Japan's Ken Miura said his team started working on Google's Crisis Response page within minutes of the quake.
Miura was in Tokyo, about 250 miles away from where the first quake hit, but the Google Japan office – located on the 26th floor – "started shaking slowly," he wrote.
"Although alerts from the building urged us to evacuate via the emergency stairs, I couldn't help but stay and search for information about the earthquake's epicenter and scale," he wrote. Miura said he was a university student when the Kobe earthquake hit 16 years ago and he recalled "the immediate desire for information."
With that in mind, the team launched Person Finder in Japan within an hour of the earthquake, pulled together public information from local governments about affected areas, and posted tsunami warnings on the Google homepage.
Miura also said Google will donate $250,000 to Japanese relief agencies.
In the wake of the devastating 8.9 magnitude earthquake and subsequent tsunamis in Japan, Google has launched a version of its Person Finder tool for Web users looking friends and loved ones in the affected region.
The tool is available in English and Japanese. Users can click on the "I'm looking for someone" link or the "I have information about someone" link and enter what they know. Search by name or parts of a name, or - if you have information - enter the family or given name to create an entry.
Google stressed that all data entered is available to the public and viewable and usable by anyone. The search giant also does not review or verify the data entered into the system; after the immediate crisis has passed, Google archives the data. At this point, the system is currently tracking about 7,200 records.
Ever since the 2004 tsunami, scientists have been searching for a better method to detect and warn us of upcoming earthquake-generated tidal waves. Austrian Michael Stadler may have devised an answer. Stadler has developed a program that accesses and analyzes data that comes from hard drive vibration sensors. Once the data is analyzed, it can be shared with other computers.
The program can ignore minor vibrations and differentiate between normal seismic and tsunamic activity. When “the big one” is about to occur, the system sends warnings to the other connected computers. Unfortunately, there is so much interest in the freeware download that his site seems to have crashed (no pun intended). Hang onto the link and try again in a day or two, or visit his suggested site of Dr. Eduard Heindl. Dr. Heindl has also created a warning system that can alert you by cell phone through a GSM network in any country at a price of EUR 9.95 (~$12.60) for a 1 month trial or EUR 29.95 (~$38.00) per year subscription.
Read More | Michael Stadler Website
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One year following the end of the quota regime, with world and EU sugar prices having reached historically low levels this summer, well below the reference threshold and the cost of production in the EU, the beet sugar sector in the EU continues to experience severe turbulences. Furthermore, over-restrictive decisions on the use of plant protection products and new breeding techniques are strongly affecting European growers who have always been at the forefront of innovation and implementation of sustainable practices. Taking stock of this adverse situation, European growers call for urgent actions and for a stop to the “wait-and-see policy” of the EU Institutions. Indeed, the current severe crisis endangers the farms’ financial stability and the resilience of the EU beet sugar sector. The only winner of the reform are the sugar-using food and beverage industries, to whom around €1.5 billion value was transferred at the expense of farming families within one year.
• The move of the EU beet sugar sector from a net importer to a net exporter has significantly changed the price structure in the EU. But with production and exports (around 3. 2 Mt in MY2017/18) well behind those from Brazil, India and Thailand, the EU beet sugar sector is not a price maker. World fundamentals, positions of speculators and third countries dumping subsidised sugar on the world market are the cause of price fluctuations and the current collapse of sugar prices (minus 26% in the EU since September 2017).
• The necessary reactions by EU growers to market drivers are being limited and delayed by rigidity, low transparency of contractual framework and the weakening position of beet growers. EU beet sugar production in 2018/19 is expected to decrease, not because of significant beet area decrease but because of severe difficult climatic conditions this summer and poor yields in many regions, amplifying the very bad financial results of farms growing beet. CIBE’s first estimate for 2018/19 shows a decrease of EU production by around 2.4 Mt.
• The recent EU decisions against the use of plant protection products in pelleted beet seed and against the use of new breeding techniques further jeopardize the current and future competitiveness of the sector vis-à-vis third countries.
• The resilience of the EU beet sugar sector is put at risk because of the absence of appropriate safety nets and risk management tools and because of the impossibility for growers to hedge their margin and income.
To maintain sustainable beet growing in the EU, vibrant rural communities and high-quality products as aimed for by the EU Institutions, CIBE calls for:
1- Further progress in the clarity of the sugar beet contractual framework: CIBE calls for more transparency in establishing beet contracts, prices, indicators, value sharing clauses, possibility for growers to hedge on markets and a ban on unfair trading practices.
2- Access to efficient risk management tools: CIBE calls for the available “toolbox” for farmers to be adapted to deal with the inevitable climatic risks and higher volatility of prices, margins and revenues. For example, the introduction of the Income Stabilisation Tool in the beet sugar sector should be rapidly envisaged and supported by the EU and the Member States. The implementation of adequate safety net in the next CAP 2021-2027 must also materialize: indeed, the current tools (aid for private storage, CMO provision in case of market imbalances) are not workable to limit the collapse of beet growers’ income.
3- Time and financial support to respond to the ban on plant protection products and to develop alternative sustainable products and practices are crucial.
4- A level playing field with third countries: CIBE calls for a stop to granting market access concessions and to put pressure on countries dumping subsidised sugar on the world market. EU growers are the most sustainable and efficient growers in the world but they cannot compete against competitors which can use plant protection products banned in the EU, they cannot compete with Brazilian currency depreciation, they cannot compete with the export subsidies implemented by some countries.


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On Jan 10, Automotive Grade MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) LIDAR solution supplier ZVISION officially announced its completion of billions RMB in Pre-C round financing which is led by Xpeng and followed by SAIC Motor’s SHANGQI Capital, co-fund of Dongfeng Motor and Bank of communications, as well as support from its current shareholder Intel Capital.
ZVISION was founded in Beijing in Nov 2017, Founder and CEO Dr. Tuo Shi is an expert in integrated optoelectronic chips, with more than ten years of experience in his area of expertise. Dr Shih and his team provide international leading all-solid-state LIDAR solutions, high-performance, small integrated and mass-produced automotive-grade all-solid-state LIDAR products, empowering autonomous vehicle, robots and other artificial intelligence to have reliable and stable, wide-view, long-range and high-quality 3D depth vision capability.
After half a year, ZVISION has been endorsed by several industrial investors, signifying that their products have gradually started to gain mainstream endorsement and move towards mass production.
Xpeng leads Tesla in autonomous driving
Tesla’s Autopilot equipped on Model3 & Model Y is only based on imaging technologies which relies on the image captured by onboard cameras to perform calculations. Xpeng has already began employing mmWave radar in its XPILOT 3.0 system. For Xpeng, Automotive Grade MEMS(Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) LIDAR can be mass produced, since the length of wave is shorter the the frequency of waves can be denser. The accuracy of sensitivity will be improved especially in bad weather, making the gap between Xpeng and Tesla much greater.
High-expectation from Xpeng
“As an important safety redundancy sensor for advanced assisted-driving and autonomous driving, we strongly appreciated the efforts of the team led by Dr.Tuo Shi in optimizing the transceiver structure, chipization of key pieces and mass production, which provides the possibility of mass production of cost-effective automotive-grade LIDAR; We are confident that the team will bring impressive breakthroughs in the localization and technological innovation of next pure solid-state LIDAR.”Xpeng Vice President Zhang Xiaofeng and Investment Director Zhang Xiaoqi


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As Trulia gears up to launch its first-ever national marketing campaign, the San Francisco-based firm has brought on Silicon Valley marketing vet Kira Wampler as its first chief marketing officer.
Trulia CEO Pete Flint announced the firm’s plans for a $45 million national marketing campaign Thursday in conjunction with its fourth-quarter and full-year 2013 earnings report.
Wampler, who joined Trulia as CMO in November after a two-year stint as vice president of marketing at the photography tech company Lytro Inc., will lead all consumer product and marketing efforts at the company in addition to overseeing the launch of the national campaign.
The campaign, which will include TV, Web, mobile and radio advertising, is set to launch sometime in late March, Trulia spokesman Ken Shuman told Inman News.
“We’ve built a fantastic real estate search experience for buyers and sellers,” said Trulia CEO Pete Flint in a statement. “After thorough research and testing, we feel confident that we can extend our brand, drive even higher levels of engagement and deliver a more compelling ROI to our subscribers through a national marketing campaign.”
The campaign will be designed to reach consumers ready to make a move and build awareness of the Trulia brand, Flint told investors on an earnings call Thursday.
“Our marketing campaign will be principally focused on these transaction-ready consumers and will be designed with two goals in mind: one, to drive awareness of Trulia [from] active home movers, and two, to make Trulia the primary and preferred app in the category,” Flint said.
With the campaign, Trulia will be playing catch-up in that arena to larger rival Zillow, which doubled its marketing spend in 2013 with a $40 million campaign that included its first-ever national TV commercial. The firm plans to up its marketing spend across multiple channels in 2014 to $65 million, Zillow CEO Spencer Rascoff told investors during an earnings call Wednesday.
While Zillow’s hefty marketing spend in 2013 — which also targeted “transaction-ready” consumers — contributed to the company’s $12.5 million net loss for the year, Rascoff told investors that it was a success and prompted the company to come back bigger in 2014.
The 2013 campaign helped Zillow grow its year-over-year overall traffic by nearly 60 percent in 2013, and home-shopper traffic and contacts to agents by 80 and 70 percent, respectively, Rascoff said.
Trulia’s campaign may help it chip into the lead in Web market share that Zillow secured over its top two competitors over the course of 2013.
Last year, Zillow grew its Web market share over Trulia and realtor.com by 4.79 percentage points and 4.99 percentage points, respectively, according to Experian Marketing Services data. In December, Zillow captured 15.29 percent of all real estate-related traffic from desktop computers; Trulia captured 8.33 percent; and realtor.com captured 7.22 percent, Experian data showed.
In conjunction with its earnings release, Trulia introduced a new look for the desktop version of its website. The revamp features a more image-dominated design and links to connect consumers with agents, local market info and a rent-or-buy calculator.
Trulia also noted that it has engaged the global ad agency Draftfcb to help develop the national campaign.


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According to the latest Global Retail Theft Barometer, an annual industry study, missing goods from shoplifting and other causes cost U.S. retailers approximately $42 billion per year. Consumers are the ones who end up paying the price for the theft — roughly $403 annually per U.S. household, according to the same study.
Retailers are grappling with a broader range of threats today than even twenty years ago, and these challenges go well beyond preventing loss and increasing sales. More than ever, retailers face serious obstacles such as identity theft, organized crime, workplace violence, changing buyer behaviors and the challenge of reducing shrink.
However, addressing these issues isn’t always easy, which is why retailers are turning toward new technology advances to help address the changing nature of threats and build solutions that can not only protect employees and assets, but be utilized to enhance business intelligence and protect business continuity.
One way retail organizations are mitigating these risks is by deploying comprehensive, networked-enabled video surveillance that is integrated with access control, alarms and intelligent video applications such as video analytics, emergency response software and other systems.
To achieve the kind of video data that can support high-quality analytics and deliver superior video evidence for investigations, retailers are shifting their focus to omnidirectional cameras, such as those with 360-degree views.
Single-lens fisheye cameras get a full 360-degree image that needs to be “dewarped.” Multi-lens 360-degree cameras contain multiple lenses in one unit and images are stitched together to create a 360-degree image. With higher resolutions and more efficient dewarping/stitching technologies, these omnidirectional cameras will soon replace pan-tilt-zoom (PTZ) cameras, which are widely used in the retail space today. Single lens fisheye cameras typically use less bandwidth and are less costly compared to multi-lens cameras.
Higher resolution sensors allow these multidirectional cameras to record superior images and deliver more situational awareness value to customers. Current PTZ technology only stores the video from what the camera sees; but with 360-degree cameras, multiple areas are monitored simultaneously for full situational awareness. The stored video includes the full 360-degree view, which can be accessed later for investigational purposes, even if an operator is only interested in a particular area within the whole range of view.
360-degree IP cameras are cost-effective because the solutions can provide a much larger coverage than narrow field-of-view (traditional) surveillance cameras. As the technology of these IP cameras improves, 360-degree video surveillance devices will become more affordable and see even greater sophistication with analytics, expanding the range of knowledge and information that retailers need about their businesses to optimize operations and accelerate sales growth.


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Spanish brand Kelme hits India
Spanish fashion and sportswear brand Kelme is on track to expand its foothold in India as it plans to open up to 10 stores on its first year of operation.
The Millennium Sports-owned Kelme has signed a joint venture with India-based Global Overseas, a subsidiary of Singapore-based Sports Fashion. Based in Elche, Spain, Kelme produces apparel and footwear for running and football.
Kelme has set up first India store in Delhi.
Commenting on the expansion plan, Kelme’s director for international business, Luca Gios said, “India has been a part of our international plan for the last three to four years. In the first year we plan to open seven to 10 stores in the country. The first one has been set up in Delhi.”
Gios said Kelme’s decision to team up with local company rather than to operate as full owner despite the allowed 100 per cent foreign direct investment on single brand retail is a part of a global strategy.
“We follow distribution and licensing model worldwide. You have to think globally and act locally,” Gios said.
Partner Global Overseas is also licensed to manufacture locally some of the brand’s products.
Kelme was established in 1977 by Diego and Jose Quiles and is sold in 45 countries around the world. Kelme footwear cost between Rs2000 to Rs5000 (US$40 to $101) while apparel are priced Rs500 to Rs2000 (US$10 to $40).


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IMBOX Protection Named a CES 2023 Innovation Award Honoree
We are happy to share that IMBOX Flagship has been named CES® 2023 Innovation Awards Honoree.
IMBOX PROTECTION SUPPORTS “KNÆK CANCER 2022”
Imbox Protection A/S is supporting the campaign “Knæk Cancer” again this year
100 million IMBOX treatments
100 million IMBOXED shoes worldwide!
IMBOX Protection launching in the U.S.
Imbox Protection is now available in North America with the new IMBOX Flagship. The new innovative IMBOX features groundbreakin...
Download our new whitepaper
In our newest white paper, we take a look at physical shopping in the digital era.
Imbox Protection wins regional EY Entrepreneur of the Year
On Tuesday, November 30th, Imbox Protection won the EY Entrepreneur Of The Year award in the Central Denmark Region. Imbox Prot...
Download our free whitepaper
Imbox has been awarded gazelle award 2020
Imbox support danish cancer society
Imbox in new french collaboration
IMBOX PROTECTION A/S – FORMERLY IMBOX SHOECARE A/S
IMBOX AWARDED FREMSTILLINGSGAZELLE 2019
Imbox has been awarded Gazelle Award 2019
IMBOX PROTECTION SUPPORT “KNÆK CANCER 2021”


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Pertamina Launches “gas station” Roving..
Juni 16, 2012 Tinggalkan komentar
According to the Marine Fuel Industry and Region III Manager, Arief Prianto, a breakthrough that is launching a retail dealer of fuel oil tanker with a capacity of five thousand liters.
“The car that moves like a gas station (public refueling station) is only selling the fuel type of Solar,” Arief said at the pump Hayam Wuruk, Denpasar, Bali, Friday, June 15, 2012.
According to Arief, the car is equipped with a flow meter, product pump, and nozzle. “This will serve retail agents selling non-subsidized Solar for various needs such as generators in the hospitality, offices, small businesses, as well as the needs of mining and plantations,” he added.
The launch of this round of retail fuel dealer, he continued, is part of Pertamina’s initiative to support the government’s policy in curbing the consumption of subsidized fuel.
Arief said, the spread of these agents will take precedence in the industrial area, to enable customers to obtain non-subsidized fuel.
Actually, according to him, the industry has purchased non-subsidized fuel to meet the needs that are stored in tanks at industrial locations.
However, he continued, is often the problem is sometimes there are industrial vehicles which are not always able to come to the location of the fuel tank, so it would line up at gas stations that provide subsidized fuel.
This retail agent, Arief expect, can meet the needs of consumers who require non-subsidized Solar with a small volume purchases or below 1,000 liters.
In the Bali-Nusra, Arief said, Pertamina will target fleet of 11 fuel retail dealer. The first phase, in Bali will operate a fleet owned by Pertamina. Meanwhile, in Kupang, NTT, will operate a fleet of fuel-owned Pertamina agent.
Nationally, there are currently 65 fleets Pertamina fuel dealer who will be operating. The details, Sumatra 12 fleet, Jakarta, West Java, Banten six fleets, Central Java, East Java Balinus-21 fleet, a fleet of 20 Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Maluku-Papua-6 fleet.
“Until the end of the year there will be about 200 similar fleet that will operate throughout Indonesia,” he said.
In addition, Arief said, Pertamina will provide “red carpet” for the consumer or non-subsidized fuel Pertamax buyers.


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NEW YORK Burlington Coat Factory Warehouse has selected four New York teams as finalists in its creative and media review, said Ark Advisors, the consultancy managing the search.
In addition, the media incumbent, Interpublic Group’s Initiative here, is pitching media duties alone.
Ark principal Ken Robinson identified the creative and media teams as Publicis Groupe’s The Kaplan Thaler Group, which is pitching with sister media shop MediaVest in New York; independent ML Rogers, pitching with independent Horizon here; independent Cramer-Krasselt, with the media department from its Chicago office; and independent Gardner Nelson + Partners, with independent TargetCast here.
Not advancing were MDC Partners’ Cliff Freeman and Partners in New York and Havas’ Euro RSCG in Chicago.
The finalists emerged after client executives visited six shops this week.
The agencies will be briefed next week at the client’s headquarters in Burlington, N.J., and final presentations are scheduled for late April, said Ark’s Robinson.
Burlington’s major media spending totaled $60 million last year and nearly $75 million in 2006, according to Nielsen Monitor-Plus. (The 2007 figure does not include online spending.)
For several years, Sheer Advertising in South Orange, N.J., handled creative duties for the client, but that shop closed in late 2007, resulting in those chores moving in-house.
Besides coats, Burlington sells apparel, shoes and accessories at some 395 stores in 44 states. Bain Capital acquired the retailer in 2006, taking the company private in a deal valued at $2.1 billion.


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Yellowknife prices in biggest year-on-year jump for 30 years
Price increases in Yellowknife over the past year were the sharpest in three decades, the NWT Bureau of Statistics says.
The city’s Consumer Price Index rose 6.9 percent in March 2022 compared to a year ago. The bureau said this marked “the largest annual increase for Yellowknife since May 1991.”
The picture is similar nationwide, where inflation is also at its highest in 30 years, though the year-on-year increase is a little higher in Yellowknife than other nearby centres.
By comparison, the year-on-year price increase was 6.7 percent across Canada, 6.5 percent for Edmonton, 6.1 percent for Whitehorse and 3.7 percent for Iqaluit.
Prince Edward Island had the highest increase (8.9 percent) while Saskatchewan had the lowest (5.7 percent).
The Consumer Price Index works by assigning a value of 100 to prices in 2002. That’s considered the base period, and today’s index shows the percentage increase in prices between 2002 and now.
Importantly, CPI measures change in price and not the price itself. If one area has a higher CPI than another, that doesn’t mean prices are higher there. It means there has been a larger price increase in that area, in percentage terms.
(If something already cost more in Yellowknife than in Calgary in 2002, and the price has since increased by the same percentage in both cities, the CPI will be identical in both places and the thing will still cost more in Yellowknife.)
A look at the data since 2011 shows the effect of the pandemic. For most of the past decade, prices rose at roughly the same rate in Yellowknife and across Canada as a whole. In 2020 and 2021 – where the blue and red lines converge, below – price increases weren’t as severe in Yellowknife as they were nationwide.
Data for 2021-22 suggests Yellowknife is now back to experiencing roughly the same overall price increase as the rest of the nation.
“In Yellowknife, the main driver of higher prices was fuel oil and other fuels,” the NWT Bureau of Statistics said in a Wednesday news release.
That category rose 43.4 percent year-on-year and also drove a 6.1-percent annual increase in Yellowknifers’ costs associated with shelter. Gas prices rose 34.5 percent, contributing to an overall 11.7-percent increase in local transportation costs.
Food prices in Yellowknife rose 7.1 percent over the past year. Meat, fish and seafood, fruit and nuts all increased at least 10 percent. The cost of food from restaurants, however, rose only 1.6 percent, the bureau said.
Increases in food prices have been a little more pronounced across Canada as a whole than in Yellowknife during the pandemic, the bureau’s data for the past decade shows. Clothing, however, continues to see higher price increases in Yellowknife than nationwide. (Clothing’s price index in Yellowknife has risen 11 percentage points since 2011. Across Canada, clothing prices have barely changed in that time.)
The orange line shows the pronounced increase in transportation costs – the price of gas being an obvious factor – over the past two years. The rate of increase has been slightly higher Canada-wide than in Yellowknife.
The household category, in purple, includes the cost of household operations and furnishings – things like your phone bill, childcare, cleaning products, pet food and appliances. For years, that index has remained relatively stable in Yellowknife but steadily increasing elsewhere. In the past year, household costs rose at roughly the same rate in both Yellowknife and Canada.
Overall, the Canada-wide year-on-year figure of 6.7 percent was significantly higher than most economists had expected. Inflation has now exceeded the Bank of Canada’s target (one percent to three percent) for an entire year.
Factors behind price increases include continuing supply chain disruption and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.


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Udupi: four persons entered the Durga Jewellers at Kota as customers and attacked the owner with lethal weapons during the power cut time on Saturday here on May 21.
Ravindra Acharya the jeweller was seriously injured and admitted to a private hospital in Brahmavar.
According to the police, four persons entered the shop in the guise of customers during the evening time to purchase ornaments. After seeing some ornaments, they closed the shutter of the shop when Ravindra went into the backroom to bring new designs of the ornaments.
They attacked Ravindra with lethal weapons and collected whatever jewellery was on display. The owner of the neighbouring shop noticed that the shop was closed from inside, Suspecting something may have gone wrong, he lifted the shutter of the shop. Immediately the persons from inside the shop fled.
Udupi SP Annamalai, DySP Manjunath Shetty, Brahmavar CPI Arun Nayak Kota PSI Kabbalraj and other senior officials visited the Spot. The fingerprint experts and the canine squad also arrived at the spot for investigation.
A case has been registered in the Kota Police Station.


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Join our students, who are making the most of their time spent outside the classroom. A new positioning paper authored by the EBU and its Members, arguing for the creation of dedicated dataspaces for the European media and creative industry, has now published by the Gaia-X consortium. Get.tech needs to review the security of your connection before proceeding.
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The Hanoi Cooperatives Alliance and some provincial peers will continue to enhance the application of information technology in marketing and export in the coming time.
|Local cooperatives and distributors discuss current obstacles at the event. Photo: The Hanoi Times|
This is one of the commitments between representatives from the Hanoi Cooperatives Alliance (HCA) and 150 cooperatives from 17 provinces, supermarket chains and retail systems participating in the promotion conference on August 18.
The participants will hold promotional activities including marketing and selling of cooperative products, as well as timely collect information about the market, potential and investment cooperation opportunities of the provinces and cities across the country.
Other activities will also be promoted and implemented, such as advice and support for the construction of cooperative models in value chains and brand identity.
At the conference, local cooperatives and distributors presented a lack of a number of sustainable production chains, the products of many cooperatives are still mainly raw, packaging, labeling and traceability are insufficient, making it difficult for them to access distribution channels.
HCA vice president Nguyen Trung Thanh told The Hanoi Times that the unit has helped hundreds of cooperatives engage in promotional activities that associate specialties with regional cultures in recent times.
The city is lending support to local businesses and cooperatives in putting agricultural products on the e-commerce platforms, as well as boosting trade promotion activities.
"Through programs and activities, many cooperatives signed contracts with distribution channels, helping to raise the economic value and improve the income of the members," he stressed.
The city recently completed and put into operation an area to display cooperative and business assets to further support cooperatives in selling their products.


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(WFLA) — A pair of women from central Florida both claimed big prizes from the same scratch-off game, according to the Florida Lottery.
Tuesday, the Lottery said Deborah Anson, 67, of Apopka and Sheryl Sprouse, 56 of Belleview both claimed a $1 million prize each from the $30 300X The Cash Scratch-Off game.
Anson got her ticket from the Circle K at 900 South 14th Street in Leesburg. Sprouse got hers at the Quick King Food Store at 14725 Southeast US Highway 441 in Summerfield.
Both stores will get a $2,000 bonus commission for selling the winning ticket.
Each woman chose to take their prize home as a one-time payment of $695,500.
The300X The Cash game launched last September and has three remaining top prizes of $15 million along with 17 $1 million prizes.


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Latest Alexander Samwer News
Jan 8, 2021
Gurugram: Meddo, a health-technology startup that focuses on providing out-patient department (OPD) clinics with digital solutions, has extended its pre-Series A round with a $3 million (nearly Rs 22 crore at current exchange rates) capital infusion. This extension has been led by the Philadelphia- and Hyderabad-based SRI Capital and Picus Capital, a global early-stage VC player set up by investors including Rocket Internet co-founder Alexander Samwer. This takes the total capital raised by Gurugram-based Meddo in this round to $6 million. In September 2019, the company raised $3 million (around Rs 21.53 crore) in an exercise led by SRI Capital. Operated by Arctern Healthcare Pvt Ltd, Meddo was set up in 2018 by Saurabh Kochhar and Naveen Nischal. Kochhar is the former CEO and founder of food delivery company Foodpanda as well as Printvenue (both of which have been funded by Rocket Internet), while Nishchal is a co-founder of Cygnus Hospitals. Apart from providing digital solutions to OPD clinics, Meddo says its platform also gives these centers supply chain solutions. Some of these services include diagnostics support and medicine delivery services. In a statement, Kochhar said the company will use the capital it has raised in this pre-Series A round to invest in three areas – increasing its geographical presence in the national capital region and other parts of the country; launching MeddoSure, an omnichannel unlimited care membership plan; and enhancing technological infrastructure, with a focus on integrations with the Bharat Health Stack. Meddo says it so far served nearly six lakh patients, has on-boarded more than 350 doctors and has rebranded almost 200 clinics under its brand. Source
Alexander Samwer Investments
Alexander Samwer has made 3 investments. Their latest investment was in Millimetric as part of their Angel on October 10, 2019.
Alexander Samwer Investments Activity


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January 14th, 2010 11:16 AM by Lehel S.
The bond market has improved from early gains following a fairly strong 30-year Bond auction. The stock markets have not moved too much from this morning's levels with the Dow currently up 30 points and the Nasdaq up 8 points. The bond market has improved from this morning, currently up 19/32. This will likely improve this afternoon's mortgage rates slightly, even after this morning's improvement. But, many lenders may opt to wait until tomorrow's pricing to reflect this improvement.
The Commerce Department reported this morning that retail level sales fell 0.3% last month, falling well short of expectations. Analysts were expecting to see a 0.5% increase in sales, meaning consumers spent less last month than many had thought. This is good news for bonds and mortgage rates because drops in consumer spending eases inflation and economic recovery concerns. That creates a favorable environment for the bond market and mo rtgage rates. However, minimizing this news was a sizable upward revision to November's sales, indicating that consumers spent more in November than was previously thought.
There are three economic reports scheduled for release tomorrow morning. The first is December's Consumer Price Index (CPI). This is also one of the most important monthly reports that we see since it measures inflationary pressures at the consumer level of the economy. The overall index is expected to rise 0.2% while the core data is expected to increase 0.1%. Weaker than expected readings should lead to bond improvements and lower mortgage rates tomorrow morning.
December's Industrial Production report is the second report. It will be released at 9:15 AM ET and measures output at U.S. factories, mines and utilities. This gives us a good indication of manufacturing sector strength or weakness. Current forecasts are calling for an increase in production of 0.6% from November's lev el. A smaller than expected increase would be considered good news for bonds and should lead to lower mortgage rates as long as the CPI doesn't reveal any negative surprises.
The final report of the week is January's preliminary reading to the University of Michigan's Index of Consumer Sentiment. This index measures consumer willingness to spend and can usually have enough of an impact on the financial markets to change mortgage rates. Good news would be if it shows a reading weaker than the 73.8 that is expected. However, it is not one of the week's more important releases and probably will have little impact on tomorrow's mortgage rates due to the importance of the CPI and production reports.
If I were considering financing/refinancing a home, I would.... Lock if my closing was taking place within 7 days... Lock if my closing was taking place between 8 and 20 days... Float if my closing was taking place between 21 and 60 days... Float if my closing w as taking place over 60 days from now... This is only my opinion of what I would do if I were financing a home. It is only an opinion and cannot be guaranteed to be in the best interest of all/any other borrowers.


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Visakhapatnam gets its very own Global Retail School, promoted by Cosmo Aviation Training School Pvt Ltd.
In order to meet the growing retail industry’s demand for efficient and trained human resource Cosmo has tied up with Annamalai University to prepare the course material.
As Aditi Srivatsava, CEO, Global Retail School, said, “The retail sector, growing by leaps and bounds in the country, would require 2.5 million trained personnel in the next few years and there was a huge demand-supply gap. We are offering, in technical collaboration with Annamalai University, three-year degree courses and one-year diploma courses.”
Announcing the fee structure, she said, ‘The degrees are recognised. The fees will be Rs 60,000 a year for the degree as well as for the one-year diploma course.”


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“My partner wanted me to make sustainable underwear, but I said, 'No way'," says Sébastien Kopp, cofounder of the ethical footwear brand Veja, as we sit on the fringe of the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, reflecting on the devastating global impacts of fast fashion. "Underpants are like coffee," he explains. "When you buy fair-trade coffee you drink it at home and nobody else knows [about your values], but when you wear Veja shoes in the street it’s visible."
Over the past 14 years, Veja has grown into one of the most recognisable ethical fashion brands in the world – a proud symbol of resistance to fast fashion – and has been spotted on the feet of everyone from Eddie Redmayne to Meghan Markle. Veja prioritises sustainability and fairness above profits, eschewing cheap materials and production processes that contribute to the emission of greenhouse gasses, the poor treatment of animals, the abuse of workers' rights and, of course, the destruction of the rainforest. Today, just weeks after speaking to Kopp and with large swaths of the Amazon currently ablaze, that ethos has never seemed more relevant, nor more urgent.
When Kopp and I first meet in the Brazilian state of Acre, he has arranged to visit a group of local seringueiros – people who extract wild rubber from the region's native trees. (The Brazilian Amazon is the only place on earth where rubber trees grow in a wild state.) He calls them the "guardians of the forest" in recognition of their critical work. Kopp explains that most modern shoe manufacturers make the soles of their shoes using purely synthetic rubber derived from petroleum, but Veja favours a composite mix made with wild rubber sourced by local seringueiros (a material Clarks and Converse also tried in the Seventies).


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In February 2020, when the pandemic hit the world in full swing, the global economy took an inevitable jolt.
As transport came to a halt and offices shut down, millions of people were forced to work from home. As a result, travel took a backseat, and the world entered a phase of severe economic meltdown.
With depreciating stock market value across the globe, in March 2020, the UN trade agency UNCTAD forecasted that Covid-19 was likely to cost the economy $1 trillion in 2020 alone.
The world financial crisis worsened as supply chain disruptions from China kept growing, along with uncertainty in global oil prices. When the pandemic hit, the world bank had predicted that the global economy would shrink by 5.2%. These numbers represent the deepest recession plunge since World War II.
Amidst these economic shocks, the logistics and supply chain interruptions experienced during the pandemic have compelled supply chain industries to reassess their transport networks and manufacturing strategies.
Adding to that, according to HBR, the U.S.-China trade war has triggered a wave of domestic production amongst manufacturers to keep up with growing supply chain demands.
The pandemic has ultimately exposed the vulnerability of our supply chain system and raised questions about globalization. Hence, the current challenge – to make our supply chain systems more robust while reducing the probability of failure due to risks.
But first, here’s a list of obvious supply chain risks associated with the pandemic to help you predict bottlenecks and take proactive steps to avoid losses.
Identify pandemic-related risks to build a resilient supply chain
1. Lockdowns disrupt factory operations
Shutdowns lead to supply chain delays and sometimes disrupt one full product lifecycle. If procuring raw materials and hardware through freight or cargo is delayed, the setback snowballs further, leading to delays in releasing the product into the market. These delays affect sales, and product lifecycle time increases, leading to losses.
Solution: Resort to sustainable manufacturing solutions like lean manufacturing to avoid supply chain bottlenecks ahead of delivery deadlines.
2. Public health concerns slow down supply chain activity
More than one year into the pandemic, the deadly health hazards virus mutations can cause are only worsening day by day. Working with masks, PVC suits, and other extra equipment makes it even harder for factory workers to perform their daily activities. These additional steps lower efficiency. When coupled with frequent lockdowns, production slows down, leading to substantial financial liabilities.
Solution: Systemize production to adapt to current working conditions and use tracking data to increase efficiency in operations. Divide multi-tier supply chains to establish a list of critical components, determine the origin of supply, and identify alternative sources to keep the system transparent and easy to access in case of a bottleneck.
3. Labor shortage causes freight and cargo service disruptions
Due to a lack of staff, picking up cargo containers was delayed in many ports in China. This led to freight terminal congestion and cargo bottlenecks.
Solution: Use predictive analysis and logistics intelligence to give you ample time to plan the pickup ahead of possible congestions. Logistics Intelligence helps estimate existing inventory across the value chain to keep production running and enable delivery to customers.
4. Low demand and empty runs lead to losses
During the peak of the pandemic, on a major Asia-to-northern Europe route, an estimated 46% of ship departures were canceled over four weeks in February 2020.
Another estimate suggests that more container ship tonnage was lying idle than during the 2008 global financial crisis.
By March, there were several cases of empty runs reported by shipping companies. In addition, shipowners canceled several pre-planned stops due to low demand.
5. Supply-demand imbalance leads to an increase in raw material prices
As of March 23, more than 20 airlines suspended their operations by 100 percent, implying all flights were canceled. On average, 25,000 flights were canceled per week worldwide.
When the flights and cargo suspension rate of global airlines went up, freight capacities exceeded. As a result, due to limited freight capacities and increasing delivery demands, raw material prices have gone up, eventually leading to an increase in commodity pricing.
Devise a complete overview of your supply chain system to make it more resilient
As a supply chain company, operating without an outlook of the processes and systems is one of the biggest reasons businesses fail to identify leaks in their revenue.
Most supply chain companies do not have access to real-time logistics data from their third-party suppliers.
They haven’t figured out the next step in case of a logistics failure or supply chain discrepancy due to unprecedented reasons.
In short, tracking the flow of goods gives you control and power to make the right next move.
What if you could see and compare the total shipping charges and refunds you’ve received in the past 12 months, on one screen, at the same time?
Within a matter of seconds, you would know the exact amount of audit savings last month, and you would have access to your net spend without having to tackle hundreds of spreadsheets and scour millions of rows. You would know the exact number of packages being shipped without having to go through piles of paperwork. You would have access to numbers that tell you the exact average shipment cost in the last 30 days. With a distribution overview summary, you can keep track of receiver locations, real-time.
Not just that, being able to view the numbers to assess quarterly savings for different package services helps you see if your current carrier is helping you save money or not.
When you have a clear picture of what’s happening in your supply chain business, you’re equipped to make business choices that lead you towards profits and less data backlog. Need help setting up a logistics intelligence system that lets you digitize your supply chain operations? We’ll help you take proactive steps to optimize your supply chain operations. Request a free demo here.


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A UK-based startup has announced an ethereum-powered platform aimed to reward users for sharing their transport data. DOVU, which reportedly already has notable investors on board, plans to create a secure environment for individuals and companies to share any data relating to mobility – such as location, distance traveled and weather conditions. According to TechCrunch, the startup has already received […]
When the manufacturing company behind Mercedes-Benz issued its first blockchain bond last month, it did something that impacts much more than just a single automobile brand. As revealed to CoinDesk, the €100m bond, issued on a private version of the ethereum blockchainsignals the first step in a much larger plan by Daimler AG to explore the technology. But […]
A future with autonomous vehicles is fast approaching – and with it, the idea that blockchain could connect automobiles and other Internet-of-Things (IoT) devices is getting its fair share of attention. Even though smart houses (where doors, thermostats and appliances are connected to the internet for added functionality) may have seemed more trendy a year ago, blockchain startups are becoming drawn to the […]
Ta spletna stran uporablja piškotke, da vam lahko zagotovimo najboljšo možno uporabniško izkušnjo. Podatki o piškotkih so shranjeni v vašem brskalniku, omogočajo pa dodatne funkcije delovanja kot je prepoznavanje vas, ko se vrnete na naše spletno mesto. To nam pomaga pri razumevanju, kateri deli spletišča se vam zdijo najbolj zanimivi in koristni.
Nujni piškotki naj bodo vedno omogočeni, saj lahko tako shranimo vaše nastavitve ostalih piškotov.
Če onemogočite ta piškotek, vaših nastavitev ne bomo mogli shraniti. To pomeni, da boste morali vsakič, ko obiščete to spletno mesto, piškotke znova omogočiti ali onemogočiti.


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Recession stress is making Americans even fatter
As if it's not bad enough that many Americans have lost jobs and retirement money to the recession, many of them are getting fatter, too.
According to a Gallup-Healthways poll, the number of people in the U.S. who tip the scales as obese rose 1.7%, or 5.5 million, in the past year. In the first quarter of this year, about 26.8% of Americans were considered obese, which is measured by having a Body Mass Index (BMI) above 30. BMI measures the ratio of height to weight.
While the 1.7% increase may seem small, health experts say this is a significant change. "A 2% increase in BMI is not trivial at the population level," Frank Hu, a professor of nutrition and epidemiology at Harvard University said in a Newsweek article. "This level of increase can have important public health implications for health outcomes such as diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol."
Treating health conditions related to obesity accounts for about 5% to 7% of annual health costs, or around $100 billion. People who are obese also have a lower quality of life than people who are not obese, the poll found.
A major culprit contributing to folks packing on the pounds seems to be stress about jobs, paying bills, and keeping a roof over their heads. It's commonly known that some people turn to comfort foods when they are stressed, and those comfort foods are more likely to be higher in fat and calories. People who are struggling with their finances may also be more likely to buy processed foods and eat at less expensive fast-food restaurants.
I've heard many people complain that they're tired of hearing health experts go on about eating more fresh fruits and vegetables, because large amounts of those foods just don't fit into their budgets. And don't get me started on the rant one person made about the price of organic produce.Yes, fresh produce is key to a healthy diet, but until more low- and moderate-income Americans can afford to buy enough fruits and veggies, many of them will probably continue to turn to processed and fast foods, especially when they're stressed. And some people will continue to get whatever vegetables they eat from a can because that's what they can afford.
Maybe as more families experiment with planting vegetable gardens, they'll begin to have better access to fresh produce. Come to think of it, working in the outdoors could also help countless Americans reduce their stress levels and get exercise, helping them avoid gaining weight.


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Export-Import Bank of the U.S. Vice Chair Judith Pryor Highlights Support for Local Exporters During Visit to Arkansas
Fayetteville, Arkansas – Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) First Vice President and Vice Chair Judith Pryor traveled to Arkansas last week to meet with local businesses, elected officials, and community partners to underscore EXIM’s commitment to supporting Arkansas exporters.
“It was a privilege to visit Arkansas and meet with exporters and community stakeholders to highlight how EXIM can be a gamechanger for local businesses looking to grow through exporting,” said Vice Chair Pryor. “EXIM is deeply committed to supporting Arkansas exporters, including women-owned businesses, and we stand ready to provide financing tools that can help U.S. exporters compete and win in the global marketplace.”
On Wednesday, Vice Chair Pryor began the day by participating in a roundtable discussion with local business leaders and elected officials, hosted by World Trade Center Arkansas. During the event, she highlighted Make More in America, EXIM’s domestic financing initiative, and the agency’s work to support Arkansas exporters. Vice Chair Pryor ended the day by participating in a fireside chat at the University of Arkansas hosted by the Global Business and Markets Student Organization. On Thursday and Friday, Vice Chair Pryor visited with a number of prospective small businesses and held meetings with members of the sustainability and international teams at Tyson Foods and WalMart.
Vice Chair Pryor ended her tour by participating in a panel discussion hosted by the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition on International Women’s Day. During the event, Vice Chair Pryor discussed social cultural and economic achievements of women entrepreneurs in global trade and underscored EXIM’s commitment to leveraging financing tools and resources to help women-owned businesses grow and expand through exporting.
The Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) is the nation’s official export credit agency with the mission of supporting American jobs by facilitating U.S. exports. To advance American competitiveness and assist U.S. businesses as they compete for global sales, EXIM offers financing including export credit insurance, working capital guarantees, loan guarantees, and direct loans. As an independent federal agency, EXIM contributes to U.S. economic growth by supporting tens of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. Learn more at www.exim.gov.


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The Government is encouraging players in the milk industry to adopt the Quality Based Milk Payment System.
Livestock Principal Secretary Harry Kimtai said a regulatory framework in the dairy industry is also being addressed through the draft Dairy Regulations that seeks to enhance organization and compliance of milk dealers across the dairy value chain.
The Quality Based Milk Payment Systems focuses on motivating farmers to produce quality and safe raw milk, providing a direct monetary benefit to farmers.
Speaking during a milk quality and safety seminar, Kimtai said the Government has procured and distributed over 300 milk coolers to dairy farmer groups through the County governments to address the problem of storage.
“An additional 600 milk coolers will also be distributed in the next few years to improve proximity of cooling facilities to dairy farmers. Raw milk should ideally be cooled within two hours of milking and therefore expanding the infrastructure for raw milk cooling is an important step in improving the microbiological quality of raw milk,” said Kimtai.
Kenya Dairy Board Managing Director Margaret Kibogy said the industry, which has 25 licensed processors handling approximately 650 million litres per year, is characterized by milk with high residual levels for aflatoxin and antibiotics.
“There is also lack screening of raw milk, adulteration, use of non-food grade containers and a high bacterial load brought about by the inadequate cold chain in distribution and retail,” said Kibogy.
Kimtai also added that the Government is planning to establish an authority that will have overall responsibility for the safety of food and drugs in the country, similar to the powerful US Food and Drug Administration.
Kenya Food and Drug Authority will comprehensively address food safety and promote domestic and international trade.
“The mechanisms for the establishment of the proposed body are underway,” said Kimtai during a milk quality and safety seminar in Nairobi.
Article first published on Capital Business


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Unedited news and product information from vendors.
WowWe's Pioneering CEO Preaches the Power of Video Email & Conferencing to an International Audience
Oct 28, 2011 (06:10 PM EDT)
THE WOODLANDS, Texas, Oct. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The CEO of WowWe Inc. has just returned from a European speaking tour, where he underscored the potential of video communications to revolutionize international business.
Speaking in Warsaw, Poland, and Berlin, Germany, Starkey discussed WowWe's rapidly expanding global footprint, including its new, super-secure European datacenter.
"Video communication over the Internet is bringing people and nations closer than ever before," Starkey said. "It drastically cuts the cost of conducting business overseas and at home. It's fueling an unparalleled productivity boom."
The facts back Starkey's assertion. Gartner Research found that video email marketing was 280 percent more effective than direct mail. The Warton Research Institute reported that people were 400 percent more likely to retain information they saw compared to what they hear without video. A Marketing Vox study revealed that more than 60 percent of people who received a vmail watched it to completion, whereas the average person spent only 8 seconds with text-based emails.
"Of course, to take advantage of the power of video email and conferencing in a global context, you need a provider with a global footprint," Starkey said. "You need a platform that's secure, flexible and far reaching. You need your message to hit its target no matter where you send it from, and no matter where you send it to. iWowWe.com is that platform."
Whether it's vmail or video conferencing, and whether you are utilizing a laptop, desktop or mobile phone, WowWe has the infrastructure you need to video communicate around the globe.
Starkey, a Texas native, has long been a sought-after speaker, traveling the world to talk on theology, organizational growth, personal development and leadership.
Starkey has been starting and managing high-growth companies for more than 25 years, founding three other successful businesses. Starkey started WowWe in 2007 with the goal of creating a leading-edge technology company with the power to transform the way consumers, businesses and organizations of all sizes communicate with their families, customers, clients and members.
WowWe now gives its clients the power to send more than 1,000 video emails at once, to host video meetings with 100 participants, to store an unlimited number of contacts, to share files and desktops, and much more.
It all starts at $20 a month. That makes WowWe the clear value leader in video email and video conferencing.
To learn more, visit http://www.iwowwe.com/.
SOURCE WowWe Inc.


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Earlier this month, the country's second-largest telecom operator Reliance Jio officially launched its fixed broadband service JioFiber. It had been beta-testing for over a year. Just a few days before the launch, the telco's chairman Mukesh Ambani gave a curtain raiser at Reliance Industries' AGM (annual general meeting) of what to expect from JioFiber. For Jio, which disrupted the telecom sector more than three years ago, the bar was too high this time but it seems to have fallen short of the expectations of most consumers, industry experts and analysts.
To begin with, the pricing of JioFiber is nowhere close to its disruptive wireless pricing that shook things up in the telecom sector. For a telco, which has been dictating the tariff structure in the wireless segment, the pricing of Jio's fixed broadband services is unlikely to cause trouble to incumbents such as Bharti Airtel and BSNL. How?
Let's do a pricing comparison. As per the first quarter report of Bharti Airtel, its ARPU (average revenue per user) for home broadband in June 2019 stood at Rs 825 per month, and this segment contributed nearly 4 per cent to the telco's revenues in the quarter. Jio's cheapest plan (Bronze) is going to cost exactly the same amount - Rs 825 (Rs 699 plus 18 per cent GST). With the lack of disruptive pricing, Jio would neither be able to increase the overall fixed broadband penetration nor attract the subscribers of other telcos. According to TRAI data, there are 18.42 million wired broadband subscribers in the country.
"We believe Jio's tariffs are competitive but not disruptive. We do not expect these plans to change adoption dramatically as other large internet service providers (ISPs) offer similar plans and some regional ISPs offer even lower prices," said Kunal Vora, analyst at BNP Paribas, in a report.
A move away from the tariff war strategy has let down other analysts as well who hold a similar view. In a report, the ratings agency CRISIL said that the lack of pricing aggression and non-attractive bundled pricing would result in limited disruption in the underpenetrated wired broadband market. "Pricing for mid-size packs continues to remain higher than current wireless pricing on a per GB basis...JioFiber's base plan starts at 100 Mbps (megabits per second) for 100 GB (gigabyte) data limit...the base plan of most other wired broadband providers starts at 50 Mbps for almost the same amount of data, if not more. While Jio's pricing per GB is approximately Rs 4 for the base plan...government-owned BSNL's is much lower at Rs 2," it said.
There are over 300 broadband service providers in the country but even the largest operator - BSNL - has just about 9 million subscribers (subs). That raises serious doubts on Jio's aggressive targets to increase its subs base. For instance, the telco aims to connect 20 million homes and 16 million enterprises across 1,600 towns, up from 0.5 million home broadband customers currently. Although the timeline to achieve the target has not been specified, experts argue that fixed broadband market is a different ball game. Jio didn't respond to the Business Today's queries.
One can argue that with a low fixed broadband penetration of 7 per cent, there is enough scope for Jio and others to grow the market. Why not? Developed countries like the UK, US and Japan have 40-50 per cent penetration levels. But the reason for slow adoption of fixed broadband services is largely because of the relatively high tariffs and poor focus of telcos in this space. Jio's tepid entry is not going to jolt the incumbents out of slumber but the pricing will continue to remain a roadblock.
Also, unlike the wireless business where by putting just one tower, a whole area (over 2,500 subs) gets activated, it takes time to wire up housing societies and set up a connection. "At the current price points, operators like Airtel and BSNL who have toiled for years in building broadband business have a clear advantage and Jio might take years to reach their scale," says a telecom consultant.
In a recent note, investment bank Goldman Sachs has forecast that Jio would reach 8 million subs in this segment by 2022/23 - four years from now.
For Jio, which reached the record 100 million mobile subs in 170 days, there is a significant fall in the frenzy that it had generated three years ago. That is because Jio's competitors, primarily Airtel, are now better prepared to take it head-on than last time when it was caught unaware.
To be fair, Jio understands the challenges in this business too well. It has been preparing to gain foothold in the fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) segment through acquisitions of large MSOs (multiple system operators) - Den Networks and Hathway Cable and Datacom. Hathway has over 50 per cent share in the MSO cable broadband market, which has given Jio a bit of leverage.
Whether it's broadband, smart home solutions, free HD television offer, first-day-first-show of movies, experts are busy picking holes in Jio's offering, and pointing out missed opportunities. For instance, Jio couldn't tap the large cable and DTH market - called Pay TV in general parlance - where the penetration is huge (at 65 per cent) with over 190 million households. Nearly 88 per cent of these households don't have wired broadband, and could have been easy targets for Jio if it had bundled the broadband services with Pay TV. Moreover, it's believed that Jio is unlikely to have a standalone Pay TV offering in the future which could slower its pace of signing up new users.
Similarly, the free HD TV offer is available on plans starting at Rs 1,299 per month (for 24-inch TV), but there is a minimum upfront commitment of Rs 35,000. As per analysts, this offer may appeal to a limited set of consumers. Why? "Eighty-five per cent of Indian consumers buy 32-43-inch screen TVs, with very limited sales of sub-26-inch TV sets...a quick look at the e-commerce website Amazon.in suggests 24-inch televisions in India are available starting Rs 5,000. We believe Jio's target homes (of 20 million initially) are likely to already have an HD or UHD television and most consumers may not be willing to commit a large upfront amount for home broadband," Goldman Sachs said in a report.
Jio also talks about services like virtual reality sets, home security, content sharing, and device security in its top-end plans. Given the telco's aim to target masses, these niche services might not have many takers at this point. 'Smart homes', as a concept, is yet to take off in India where people are still struggling to get basic connections. The presence of fixed broadband services in rural India is fairly low. Also, households would rarely need data speeds of 1GB, and such high bandwidths are mostly used for IoT (internet of things) and high-end gaming.
Jio's other announcement - first-day first-show - may not be a big draw either. The telco plans to launch this service - where consumers will get to watch movies at their homes on the day of official release - by the middle of 2020. It will be available for users subscribing for Rs 2,499 per month plan and above. Experts believe that there will be just a few hundred thousand subscribers for this service. "People would not subscribe to JioFiber's costly plans and wait for new movie releases since they already have plenty of choices such as frequent releases of shows and movies in the OTT (over-the-top) space," says a telecom consultant.
While analysts are giving thumbs down to JioFiber, it is equally important to highlight that the telco has proved them wrong in the past on many occasions. But for now, it seems that the poster boy of the wireless market is lacking the punch in the wired space.
Copyright©2022 Living Media India Limited. For reprint rights: Syndications Today


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Michael has warned consumers to defend themselves online at an information session on safe and secure banking in Swanley on Saturday.
The session was hosted by Barclays and was organised by Michael following the announced closure of the Farningham branch. Designed to help customers to explore the alternatives to branch banking, experts were on-hand at the event to explain what services are available through the Post office and through online, mobile and telephone banking.
It was a good opportunity for the local MP to discuss the work that Barclays has done to support Farningham customers with Will Dixon, the Community Banking Director for Barclays in Kent, and Judith Gafatchi, the Swanley branch manager.
Crucially, the event also covered digital safety where local residents learned to protect themselves from financial fraud and scams.
Michael said: ‘Banks have a duty to ensure all residents affected by sudden branch closures are still able to access banking simply, safely and securely. Learning to defend yourself online is vital in this digital age. I will continue to work with banks to ensure everyone can access the services they need.’
Michael visited the Sevenoaks Crown Post Office, South Park on 25th July to mark the extension of the Post Office’s current account facility to Sevenoaks. Michael met the local manager, regional manager and local staff and was given the background to this new venture. Now customers will be able to open a Post Office current account, in partnership with Bank of Ireland UK, with a minimum balance of £20 and take advantage of other generous offers.
Michael officially visited refurbished Hextable Post Office, which is now open significantly longer opening hours for customers. The branch, at McColls Retail Group Ltd, 2 Home Hill, Hextable, Swanley, BR8 7RR is now a new local-style open-plan branch, which offers Post Office services from a till at the retail counter alongside retail transactions during shop opening hours.
Post Office customers now benefit from opening hours being increased to 107 hours a week as the new branch is open Monday to Saturday: 06:00–21:30; Sunday: 07:00-21:00. This offers customers an extra 56 hours of Post Office service every week, including all day Sunday. The branch also opens significantly earlier and closes much later every day.
Michael said: “The branch looks great. The open-plan counter makes it far easier for staff and customers to talk without the need to talk loudly. The opening hours really are impressive, which makes it far more convenient for people with busy lives to visit Hextable Post Office any day of the week.”
Post Office Senior Stakeholder Manager, Martine Munby, said: “We understand how important having a Post Office is to residents in Hextable and we are confident this new modern Post Office service will meet the needs of the local community and secure services for the future. This modernisation is part of a major investment programme, the largest in the history of the Post Office and marks a commitment to no more branch closure programmes.”
Under the current Parliament the Government has committed £1.34bn for the Post Office network to make sure there is no programme of Post Office closures and to update branches; in November the Government announced a further £640m investment in the Post Office network, from 2015 to 2018.
Nationwide the investment programme will see up to 8,000 branches modernised with additional investment in over 3,000 community and outreach branches.
The Post Office, now independent of Royal Mail, is the largest retail network in the UK, with over 11,500 branches. It is also one of the fastest growing financial services companies and is developing its online and telephony services.
Ide Hill Post Office, which had been temporarily closed for more than two years, had an official opening ceremony on Friday 27 September, at its new location – the newly-built Ide Hill Community Shop, next to the Village Hall.
Michael cut the ribbon to open the new Community Shop and Post Office at 8pm. This was followed by a big village celebration, hosted by The Chairman of the Ide Hill Community Shop Community Interest Company, Andy Edmonds, and the new Subpostmaster Richard French, to thank everyone who had helped with the shop and Post Office project.
Ide Hill Post Office was forced to close temporarily in July 2011 due to the withdrawal of the old premises for Post Office use. From 28 September it is operating from the new Ide Hill Community Shop. Until recently the shop had been run from a shipping container organised by the Ide Hill Community Shop Community Interest Company. The group then rallied villagers and local businesses to raise funds for more suitable premises, which could also accommodate a Post Office.
Mr Fallon said: “Post Offices are vital to the local community and I am so pleased that Ide Hill once again has a Post Office. I am delighted to be re-opening this branch at a wonderful new location. The new Village Shop has been funded by villagers and businesses; this shows just what is possible when a community puts its mind to a project. Everyone involved should be congratulated.
“The Post Office is now open for longer hours than before and is conveniently open seven days a week. The branch will be open for the same number of hours as the Village Shop.”
The branch is now one of the Post Office’s modern new-style open-plan “local” branches. Post Office Local is a new concept for delivering Post Office services from an open plan counter with Post Office products and services available alongside retail transactions during shop opening hours, allowing Post Office services to be available for longer offering greater convenience to customers.
The new opening hours are Monday to Friday: 08:30 – 16.30; Saturday: 08.30 – 14.30; Sunday: 08.30 – 12.30.
Subpostmaster Richard French said: “This is a very proud day for myself and the residents of Ide Hill, who have worked extremely hard to fundraise to make a dream of a village shop and a Post Office in a wonderful new building become a reality. This fabulous shop and Post Office will mean that residents will have essential services right on their doorstep.
“There has been a terrific Community Interest Committee, including our superb Chairman, Andrew Edmonds, which masterminded plans for the shop. Our plans would have amounted to nothing without the generosity and support of villagers from Ide Hill


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The upcoming World CX Summit, organized by Trescon, is scheduled to take place in Singapore on 2nd-3rd August 2023 at the prestigious Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre. This highly anticipated Summit will bring together top technology experts, CX specialists, and innovators to share valuable insights and discuss successful use cases that are reshaping the CX landscape.
In recent years, businesses have shifted their focus towards providing customers with captivating and immersive experiences. Customer experience has become a pivotal factor in transforming the way businesses operate. Companies now recognize customer feedback as an integral part of their revenue model.
A recent study by Grand View Research indicates that the customer experience management market segment is projected to grow at an impressive compound annual growth rate of 18.1% from 2022 to 2030. With intensifying competition, brands are embracing digitalization and integrating artificial intelligence and emerging technologies into their operations.
The Asia-Pacific market is witnessing rapid expansion, driven by the rising popularity of conversational AI. The conversational AI market is predicted to reach a revenue of US$ 3.022.4 million by 2028, as per Research Dive’s study. This notable growth can be attributed to the presence of favorable government regulations and the advancement of ICT infrastructure in countries like Singapore, India, and Japan.
The World CX Summit is set to have a substantial impact on expediting the digital transformation of the economy. The event will center around critical themes like conversational AI & chatbots, as well as enabling omni-channel customer experiences, digital experience platforms, and more.
Naveen Bharadwaj, CEO of Trescon, highlighted the importance of the event, stating “Majority customers today are either digital natives or tech-savvy and expect services to be delivered via omni-channels, available at their fingers tips anywhere, anytime and their overall experience has to be seamless. Our World CX Summit in Singapore will help businesses create unique CX strategies powered by emerging technologies to enhance customer satisfaction, attract more customers and become dominant customer-centric brands.”
The World CX Summit will be coinciding with the 42nd global edition of the World AI Show and the 25th global edition of the World Blockchain Summit in Singapore. This convergence offers an extraordinary chance for attendees to engage in unparalleled networking and learning opportunities.
The summit boasts an impressive lineup of expert speakers and panelists, including:
- Guillermo Arbeiza, Chief customer officer, Singlife with Aviva.
- Achint Setia, Chief Revenue and Marketing Officer, Zalora.
- Anna Znamenskaya, Chief Marketing Officer, foodpanda.
- Nikki Taylor, Marketing Growth Strategy Director AMEA, UPS.
- Denise Miura, Geo Vice President, APAC, Medallia
- Raymond Tan, Assistant Commissioner, Taxpayer eXperience Division; Quality Service Manager, Inland Revenue Authority of Singapore (IRAS)
- Vineet Sharma, Chief Operations Officer, Pizza Hut South Asia – Yum! Brands
- Jana Marle-Zizkova, Co-founder & CEO, She Loves Data
- Pavel Bulowski, Co-founder, She Loves Data
- Sachin Sharma, Chief Product & Commercial Officer, Standard Charted nexus
- Lino Ahlering, Group Chief Customer Officer, Daraz (Alibaba Group)
- Natalia Goh, Chief Operating Officer, Trust Bank
- Pamela Choong, Head of Customer Experience, JTC Corporation
- Vikrama Dhiman, Head of Mobility Products, Gojek
- Katja Forbes, Head of Client Experience CCIB, Standard Chartered Bank
- Soo Huat Chew, Head, Biz Initiative and Enablement, DBS MidCap/SME
- Natalia Goh, Chief Operating Officer, Trust Bank.
The 9th global edition of the World CX Summit is supported by:
- Community Partners – Cyberverse Foundation, She loves data
- Innovation Partner – Karnataka Digital Economy Mission
- Platinum Sponsor – Medallia,
- Gold Sponsors – Contentsquare, Braze, Locobuzz, ai
- Silver Sponsors – Servicenow, Acquia, Sitecore | FPT, Survey2Connect
- Bronze Sponsors – Zegocloud, InMoment
- Executive Roundtable Sponsor – Insider
The World CX Summit promises to be a groundbreaking event, driving innovation and fostering collaboration in the realm of customer experience, ultimately contributing to business growth in this new era.


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Ramona Junior Fair is on now!
This year, the fair is a hybrid of kids showcasing their animals with a judge, socially distanced, and an online auction and Barn Sale this Friday and Saturday
The big week of the year for our local 4-H and FFA kids is here! The 49th Annual Ramona Junior Fair, with the theme “Barn in the USA!” began on July 25 and runs through this Saturday, Aug. 2.
There are big changes for buyer for the 2020 Junior Livestock Fair — a unique year with Covid-19 requiring changes in the fair format for everyone’s health and safety, making this year a hybrid type of fair for the exhibitors, and also holding the auction online. Unfortunately, no public are allowed at the grounds during the fair, only exhibitors and their family.
The Junior Fair board spent countless hours coming up with a best case show for the participating kids, including the exhibitors doing both a virtual online video showcasing their animals and a brief in-person showing of their animals to the judge for the market classes.
Last weekend, July 25 and 26, exhibitors took their animals to the fair grounds for a health check, weigh in, ultrasound scan for the carcass contest, and a live in-person time with the fair’s livestock judge before returning home with their animals. The kids expressed how important it was to have the judge see their animals live and Junior Fair Board of Directors Vice President Chuck O’Neal says they are happy they were able to make that happen.
To participate in the online auction, potential bidders need to register as a buyer this Thursday, July 30, at ramonajuniorfair.com/auction and be sure to review all the instructions ahead of time, and to see all the kids who will have animals available to purchase. The website has a link to ShoWorks, which is the company that is hosting the Junior Fair livestock show and auction.
The auction will be a 24 hour period starting at 10 a.m. this Friday, July 31, and ending at 10 a.m. on Saturday, August 1. Both the fair and ShoWorks websites have all the details on how the online auction works.
And just in case you miss out on a purchase of an animal through the normal livestock auction, there will also be a Barn Sale Auction immediately following the normal auction to support the kid’s extra animals that they have to sell. Check the fair website at ramonajuniorfair.com for details.
Fair directors invite the public participate in the auction and Barn Sale and “take the opportunity to purchase the highest-quality meat you will find!” said O’Neal. “Not only will you be able to fill your freezer, your support will also help teach these young entrepreneurs the value of hard work, and enable them to put money into a college fund or savings account or towards next years’ projects.”
If you have any questions, email Ramona Junior Fair Vice President Chuck O’Neal at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 760-224-6478. You can also check for more information and updates at ramonajuniorfair.com, or follow the fair’s Facebook page: Ramona Junior Fair.
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The free cable salad-for-visuals tool for the Web gets another big update for October, with everything from enhanced usability to open browser-based VR.Read more
The latest browser-tab antidote to bad news – treat yourself to 30 seconds of acid with some trippy animation.
More like this, please. Novation’s Launchpad 2.0 updates (for Launchpad Mini and X) are a great example of how manufacturers can make it easier to adapt hardware to your setup. Now they’ve added keystrokes to the custom faders and melodic and drum widgets you can lay out on your custom controls.
brings together the latest breaking news on music, technology, gear, and live visuals. Got a project, found a news tip, or want to share your product? Submit to us directly.