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What new business stories were most popular with our readers in 2021? Here's our list
As businesses that survived that COVID-19 pandemic were reopening their doors early this year, they were joined by an enthusiastic lineup of newcomers.
Crawford County welcomed many new businesses in 2021 — everything from two new grocery stores to owner-operator storefronts offering specialty services.
Which business announcements attracted the most attention from our online readers? Here's our list, ranked by page views from Jan. 1 to Dec. 15 on BucyrusTelegraphForum.com. Not all businesses included in the list are currently open.
1. Aldi, 1885 E. Mansfield St.
2. Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Galion West Shopping Center, 200 Portland Way North, Galion
3. SuBourbon Street Shack House, inside of Bucyrus Suburban Lanes, 975 Hopley Ave.
4. The Copper Irons, 215 S. Sandusky Ave.
5. Arrogant Goat Brewing, 125A E. Rensselaer St. (Opening Jan. 7)
6. Flashback Vintage Game Room, flea market and more, former Swan Rubber Co. building on East Mansfield Street.
7. The Hub at Village Square, 311 N. Seltzer St., Crestline.
8. Mark’s Homemade Ice Cream Scoop Shop, 201 N. Sandusky Ave.
9. Your Great Escape: Break It or Break Out, 1685 Marion Road.
10. Shanielle's, 223 N. Sandusky Ave.
Plans were made during pandemic
In many cases, local residents turned plans made during the coronavirus shutdown into reality, said Jessie Furner, executive director of the Bucyrus Area Chamber of Commerce.
"The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well here in Bucyrus isn't it?" Furner said. "We have had a lot of the new businesses opening over the last year — over the last few years. It's really kind of a incredible: Against the odds, some of these courageous, young entrepreneurs have taken the helm and opened their businesses and some of them are doing quite well.
"I think in part it is due to the fearlessness of our area and perhaps COVID kind of heading peoples' minds to think about what's more important and making folks have the courage to follow their dreams."
Mother and daughter open Family Roots Boutique
That was the case for mother-daughter team Stacie Benton and Keaton Durbin, who opened Family Roots Boutique, 1315 E. Mansfield St., in early November.
"We kind of knew we wanted a small business together, but it was during quarantine and COVID and all that, so we took that time and sat down and kind of decided what we were going to do," Durbin said. The considered opening a Christian bookstore or a coffee shop, but ultimately decide on a Christian boutique.
"Something that makes women feel on the outside as beautiful as they are on the inside," Benton said.
"And the way God wants them to feel," Durbin added. "That was a big point for us, because body image is hard for everybody these days. ... A place where they can come in and no matter what your size is, no matter what your age is, no matter what you do for a living, you can come in, find something for you and feel good in it."
The shop offers the same fashions for sizes extra-small to 3X. They also stock Bibles, which are given away to anyone who needs one.
They've been encouraged by a lot of positive feedback since they opened their storefront, after launching their business online about a year earlier. Everything about the small shop is designed to reflect the importance of faith and family, from the business name to the live-edge wooden shelves and countertop.
"With COVID, we didn't want to pay rent on a space, not knowing what was going to happen," Durbin said. But the business started to outgrow their Galion home, so they started looking for a storefront.
The Bucyrus site was close enough to keep their supporters from Galion, but far enough away to avoid competing with the boutiques there, she said.
"Even when she was in high school, we talked about having something that we would share," Benton said. The two of them, plus Benton's mother, wanted a way to share what they had learned from their own family.
"It it wasn't for COVID — all the bad things that happened, this was something good in our family that came out of it, because it made us slow down ... we had time to really work on what that vision was and hammer it out," she said. "It was a blessing, truly."


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© mikhail mishchenko dreamstime.com PCB | March 25, 2015
Top 20 Rigid PCB companies in 2014
2014 was a good year for majority of PCB companies, as output value of PCB industry touched USD 59.6 billion, rising 3.7% against 2013, the fastest growth rate since 2011. Here is the Top 20.
Global Top20 Rigid PCB companies in 2014 (revenue in USD million)
More information is available at RIC.
|12||Chin Poo Industry||738|
|Gold Circuit Electronics||608|
More information is available at RIC.
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JAKARTA (RambuEnergy.com) – Indonesia’s crude palm oil (CPO) recorded an increase of 12.65% in 2018 to 43 million tons (Mt) from 38.17 Mt in the previous year, mainly driven by higher exports of derivative CPO products, the Indonesian Federation of Palm Oil Producers (GAPKI) said Wednesday (Feb. 6).
The total production of CPO and palm kernel oil (PKO) reached 47.43 Mt, up from 41.22 Mt in the previous year.
Of the production, 34.71 Mt were exported, increased 8% from the previous year of 32.18 Mt, said Joko Supriyono, chairman of GAPKI) at a press conference.
The significant rise was recorded by biodiesel exports, recording a surge of 851% to 1.56 Mt from 164,000 tons in the previous year. The rise was due to a recovery of biodiesel demand after Indonesia won an anti-dumping dispute with EU at WTO.
The other derivative CPO products were also increased, including refined CPO and lauric oil, which rose by 7% to 25.46% tons in 2018 from 23.89 Mt in the previous year.
Oleochemical exports also rose 16% to 1.12 Mt in 2018 from 970,000 tons in the previous year. In addition, CPO products declined by 8% to 6.56 Mt from 7.16 mt in the previous year.
Indonesia’s exports to certain countries were higher than in the previous year, including to China, Pakistan, Bangladesh and some African countries and USA. Exports to China rose 18%, USA up 3% and Bangladesh jumped 18%. Meanwhile, exports to the European Union and India declined.
Exports to India was due to the decision of the Indian government to raise imported CPO.
The average price of CPO last year stood at US$595 per metric ton or 17% lower than in the previous year of US$714.3 per metric ton. The decline was due to a rise of CPO stocks as a result of a trade war between the US and China as well as slower world economic growth,
According to GAPKI, CPO exports contributed US$20.35 billion in foreign exchange last year, slightly lower than in the previous year of US$22.97 billion.
As for 2019, GAPKI projects Indonesia’s CPO and PKO production to rise by 4-5% this year. He said the production this would return to normal average annual increase.
Last year’s production, he said, was recorded given as production returned to normal level after experienced El Nino in the previous years. (*)
Written by Staff Writer, Edited by Roffie Kurniawan (Email: email@example.com)


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Internet ride-sharing company Uber says it welcomes a new transport bill that plans a crackdown on drivers who don’t have meter taxi licences. By Gareth van Zyl, NewsAgency
The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Cabinet has approved the National Land Transport Amendment Bill which regards Uber operators as metered taxi operators.
Subsequently, Uber drivers are expected to have metered licences as part of the law.
Cabinet also reportedly rejected Uber’s request to include a category called ‘transport network operator’ which entails operators using technology to solicit customers.
Despite this rejection, Uber has welcomed the bill.
“Uber respects the key role the national government plays in ensuring that South Africans have access to safe, affordable and efficient transportation options and we welcome this positive outcome,” Uber Africa spokesperson Samantha Allenberg said in an emailed statement.
“For over two years we have been actively working with regulators across South Africa to adopt appropriate regulations to accommodate new technologies that can help solve many of the current problems with urban transportation – safety, accessibility and lost productivity at work.
“We appreciate our ongoing conversations with these regulators and believe that consumers and communities will continue to benefit from the progress we have seen this far,” she added.
Regulation around internet ride-sharing came under the spotlight last year when Cape Town traffic officials impounded over 200 Uber cars because drivers did not have metered taxi permits.
However, the City of Cape Town initiated plans to introduce an e-hailing bylaw to cater for the likes of Uber. The internet ride-sharing service further moved to get its drivers licensed by the Western Cape provincial transport department.
Metered taxi drivers also protested in Gauteng last year as they claimed that Uber drivers have an unfair competitive advantage because of a lack of regulation around the internet service. – Fin24


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Editorial: Ford shake-up sign of new times
It’s been a while since we’ve seen headlines around here about executive shake-ups at the top of auto companies and cutbacks of auto industry jobs.
Michigan’s bread-and-butter industry has been soaring along for the last seven years, posting record profits and sales.
But the dramatic moves at Ford Motor Co. is a reminder that this isn’t necessarily a cyclical industry anymore, but one that is in perpetual disruption. It’s also an industry that has learned the hard way about the dangers of waiting too long to respond to warning signs.
Ford first announced it was trimming a sizable chunk of its white collar workforce — some reports said up to 10 percent — in what appeared a desperate cost-cutting move aimed at driving up its wilting stock price.
That was followed by the dumping of its chief executive officer, Mark Fields, who has presided over several solid sales and earnings years after taking over from Ford’s crisis savior, Alan Mulally.
Traditionally, such drastic steps come in response to dismal financial performance.
But here’s the environment in which Ford made the moves:
■2016 net income was $4.6 billion, for an operating margin of 6.7 percent.
■Blue-collar workers claimed their second largest profit sharing checks ever, averaging $9,000 each.
■Ford finished the year with automotive cash on hand of $27.5 billion, against cash net debt of $11.6 billion. Shareholders received $3.5 billion in dividends.
■And vehicle sales, at 2.6 million, were the best in a decade, as the automaker launched 18 new products.
That reads like a solid year.
But more than any other time in its history, the auto industry and its investors are looking forward. And what it sees is dark clouds.
North American sales are tapering off, and Ford’s market share declined slightly. The Dearborn automaker has not moved as swiftly as General Motors Co. to shed less profitable overseas operations and contain costs elsewhere.
And nobody is quite certain how the mobility revolution, including electric and self-driving vehicles, will impact Ford, or any of the automakers, for that matter.
So investors have turned cool to a company they loved just a few years ago, when Mulally was at the helm. Stocks fell roughly 40 percent during Fields’ tenure.
Now there’s a new leader, Jim Hackett, a retired Steelcase CEO who was plucked from retirement once already to restore the University of Michigan’s troubled football program.
His claim to fame is hiring Jim Harbaugh to lead the Wolverines.
Hackett, who serves on Ford’s board of directors and was recently brought in under Fields to run Ford’s mobility unit, is in some ways an odd choice.
At 62, he’s the age at which most auto executives retire, not take on the top job. He spent most of his career at Steelcase, an office furniture maker, with little experience in the transportation industry.
But he has a reputation as a turnaround wizard. And although Ford would not seem to need a complete overhaul, the automaker’s owners are looking to Hackett to create a more nimble an innovative company, and one better prepared to respond to the rapidly changing automotive landscape.
They also want an executive who knows how to deliver value for stockholders. In this case, the shareholders include Ford family members including Executive Chairman Bill Ford.
Michigan needs Hackett to succeed at this assignment. Ford is one of the state’s largest employers and taxpayers, and we’ve seen what happens to the quality of life here when auto companies fall behind.


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NGOs demand Samsung protect employees from toxic chemicals
Chemical Watch 07 December 2016 | Tammy Lovell
Call for electronics giant to compensate ill factory workers
A network of NGOs is calling on Samsung to protect its employees from toxic chemicals and compensate those who contracted diseases, while working in its factories.
The International POPs Elimination Network (Ipen) has issued an open declaration, with 63 signatories calling on the electronics giant to "immediately institute measures to protect worker rights and health at facilities worldwide”.
It has announced its support for the South Korean advocacy group, Supporters of Health and Rights of People in the Semiconductor Industry (SHARPS), which has been staging a sit-in protest outside the Samsung D'light exhibition space in south Seoul, since October 2015.
SHARPS says that 224 employees developed diseases, including leukemia, brain tumors and multiple sclerosis, while working in Samsung's factories in South Korea. The group says 76 employees have died since 2007.
Ipen said it upholds SHARPS' call for Samsung to make a full apology and “transparently and sufficiently” compensate former employees who have contracted diseases and their families.
In the open declaration, Ipen writes: "We are deeply saddened to learn of the many people, most of whom are young women, who are suffering and dying from cancers and other diseases associated with exposures to toxic chemicals."
It adds that although Samsung "can never reverse the suffering perpetrated upon the workers and their families", it "can and must prevent further harm to workers and institute a system that remedies the harm done to former workers and protects current and future workers".
It calls for the company to:
- provide a safe working environment;
- ensure workers’ right to know about chemicals and associated health hazards;
- substitute safe substances and materials;
- provide occupational health and safety training;
- provide proper protective gear and ventilation; and
- institute regular independent health assessments and medical care for workers.
A Samsung spokesperson said the company has been "faithfully committed to working with the affected families to determine how to best help".
They added: "In fact, although there has been no scientifically proven correlation between the workplace environment and employee illness, Samsung Electronics is providing support because it is the right thing to do - not because it received a legal or court-ordered mandate to do so."
An independent, third-party mediation committee was formed in December 2014 to oversee open dialogue between Samsung and its former employees.
In response to the mediation committee's proposal, the company has created a fund of KRW 100bn (€800,000) to provide financial support to "eligible employees and onsite contractors" who worked in the semiconductor and liquid-crystal display (LCD) manufacturing facilities and were diagnosed with one of 11 diseases. The fund will also be used for research into promoting health and safety at Samsung's semiconductor facilities.
The spokesperson said that, as of November 2016, more than 160 people had applied and 120 people had received financial support through the programme as well as "a heartfelt message of sympathy" from Samsung's CEO.
In a statement on its website, the company denies claims that it used the justification of trade secrets to intentionally avoid disclosing use of toxic chemicals.
It says that suppliers are required to do this, even if they are deemed a trade secret. It also says that it conducts tests on materials received from suppliers for traces of toxic chemicals.
An independent ombudsman committee was established in June this year to assess workplace safety within Samsung’s semiconductor facilities in South Korea.
The company says it will "faithfully implement any proposed improvements" from the ombudsman.


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Jaguar Land Rover will look outside the company to find a platform for new full-electric Jaguar models, CEO Thierry Bollore said.
The UK automaker plans to make its Jaguar brand all-electric starting in 2025, dropping combustion engines as the marque’s sedans and crossovers reach the end of their life cycles. Land Rover will get its first battery-powered vehicle in 2024 but will not be electric-only in the near term.
The plan includes giving Jaguar its own standalone electric platform, which would be expensive to produce in-house for a brand that is expected to remain low-volume, below even the 103,000 vehicles it sold worldwide last year.
Bollore said the automaker has started the process to find a company willing to partner with Jaguar on the architecture. “Naturally there is massive appetite to work with us,” he told financial analysts during an investor day on Friday.
The decision to work with a partner “was a matter of scale and speed to go to market,” Bollore said.
He said the company was talking “with a selection of actors,” without going into detail.


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- Veröffentlicht: 08. November 2020
Remarks of USAid Philippines Mission Director Lawrence Hardy 2nd at the 3rd annual Indo-Pacific Business Forum on Oct. 29, 2020.
This year’s Indo-Pacific Business Forum, organized by the US government, the US Chamber of Commerce and the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry, brings together senior government representatives, private sector CEOs, and representatives of nongovernmental organizations throughout the region and around the world to discuss trade promotion and investment aimed at increasing economic growth in the Indo-Pacific region. This event also underscores the close economic ties shared by the United States and the region, as well as our commitment to the region’s long-term, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Today’s event will explore how advancements in digital technology and connectivity are helping the private sector, governments, and civil society. Most importantly, we want to examine what opportunities exist to equip Indo-Pacific countries to pursue sustainable growth.
With some of the fastest connectivity rates in the world, the digital economy is growing at an unparalleled pace. Rapid technological advancements have created incredible opportunities, as well as new challenges, for the region. Today we will have a panel discussion on these challenges and opportunities in e-commerce and digital transformation in the Philippines.
The Philippine internet economy has significantly expanded from $2 billion in 2015, to $7 billion in 2019, that represents a 32-percent growth rate. This sector is estimated to more than triple to $25 billion in the next four years.
The Covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated the need for digital solutions, tools, and services, speeding up the transition towards a robust digital economy. Restrictions on the movement of people and business operations are changing the way Filipinos consume and pay for goods and services.
Recognizing the country’s potential, USAid has and will continue to work with the Philippine government to support its digital transformation. Our partnership with the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) helped set up the National Retail Payments System, in laying the foundation for the country’s transition from a cash-heavy to a cash-light economy.
We also worked with BSP to accelerate digital payments in the country through the PESONet and InstaPay payment platforms. These reforms helped revolutionize payment transactions in the Philippines. A report by the Better Than Cash Alliance in 2019 revealed that average monthly digital payment transactions increased twenty-fold from 25 million in 2015 to 490 million by the end of 2018. In dollar terms, this translates to a quadrupling of digital payments from $6 billion in 2013 to $24 billion over the period.
Since 2013, USAid has also been using information technology to support the Bureau of International Revenue’s tax administration to improve business processes and automate key tax services. Over the past five years, the country saw a 13-fold increase in taxpayers filing their taxes online, using an upgraded electronic system for tax collection. Today, more than 85 percent of taxes are paid electronically via commercial banks, mobile payments and online payment portals.
This, alongside many other tax policy and tax administration reforms, has boosted tax revenues by 56 percent, enabling the Philippine government to conceptualize and implement new projects that benefit the Filipino people.
During the early months of the Covid-19 pandemic, USAid also created digital platforms to help Filipino farmers and fisherfolk transport their produce to market. This addressed urgent food security needs in Metro Manila as well as in the provinces.
To complement this effort, USAid supported the National Economic and Development Authority to establish a Supply Chain Analytics Dashboard to inform government agencies and industry associations of ground-level issues impeding the flow of goods and inputs.
USAid has also been at the forefront of this digital transformation in the health sector.
Partnering with government, the private sector and civil society, we have supported a number of digital solutions, like the Integrated TB Information System, the Covid Kaya application, and the National Commodity Dashboard and Data Collect application to continue implementing USAid’s TB and family planning programs, as well as aide in the government’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. USAid also assisted the Department of Health Academy that has established an e-learning platform which has enhanced the knowledge and skills of tens of thousands health workers across the country in key areas like TB, family planning, and Covid-19.
In the education sector, USAid and the Department of Education (DepEd) have developed an e-resources platform that has become the backbone of the Philippine government’s Learning Continuity Plan amid the global pandemic.
USAid also helped develop DepEd’s Commons, an online education platform that provides public and private school teachers with e-books, video-based learning on various subjects, literacy-specific resources, and other e-resources for their teaching needs during the pandemic. We also helped establish a Professional Science Master’s program at Holy Angel University in Angeles City to boost national cybersecurity capacity.
Responding to the need of local government partners and business chambers, we facilitated the creation of online platforms that helped streamline processes for business registration, construction permitting, and access to land information, reducing costs and waiting times for the public.
We have also supported various initiatives to promote smart cities and enable technological advancements to improve service delivery. We are currently working with the Anti-Red Tape Authority and Department of Information and Communications Technology on improving internet connectivity and access in several urban centers.
These are just some of the more recent examples of USAid’s support for the Philippines’ digital transformation. Many of these projects were done in partnership with the private sector, including both American and Filipino technology companies.
I am pleased to share with you today that USAid will double down to provide assistance to not only increase digitization e-platforms in the Philippines but also expand our assistance in this space over the coming five years. The landscape is changing rapidly. We will continue to collaborate with the government and private sector partners on infrastructure development, e-government initiatives and cybersecurity protection.
USAid will also promote greater engagement of small and medium-sized enterprises in e-commerce, as well as continue pursuing digital interventions in our work involving health, education, governance, and the environment.
In closing, I wish to thank the Respond team, a project of USAid in partnership with the University of the Philippines Public Administration Research and Extension Services Foundation, Inc., for organizing this forum. True to its mandate, Respond is improving the trade and investment environment by reducing barriers to market entry, improving regulatory quality, and encouraging greater citizen participation in regulatory and policy reforms.
Autor(en)/Author(s): Lawrence Hardy 2nd
Quelle/Source: The Manila Times, 01.11.2020


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New mobile phones, refrigerators, children’s toys and a range of other Internet-connected consumer products sold in California will have to contain “reasonable security features” starting in 2020, under legislation signed Friday by Gov. Jerry Brown.
Senate Bill 327 and Assembly Bill 1906 do not dictate specific steps manufacturers must take to block hackers or shield owners’ personal information. Instead, the legislation says protections should be “appropriate to the nature and function of the device” and “appropriate to the information it may collect, contain, or transmit.”
The new law, which the authors say is the first in the nation, contains no private right of action and leaves enforcement in the hands of the attorney general, city and county counsel and district attorneys. There are no mandated penalties.
“The lack of basic security features on internet connected devices undermines the privacy and security of California’s consumers, and allows hackers to turn everyday consumer electronics against us,” said Sen. Hannah-Beth Jackson, D-Santa Barbara, who authored the Senate bill. The Assembly bill, nearly identical, was enacted simultaneously.
The legislation “ensures that technology serves the people of California, and that security is not an afterthought but rather a key component of the design process,” Jackson said.
Jackson introduced connected-device privacy legislation in early 2017. The much broader terms of that bill would have mandated that manufacturers update owners about security patches and to design their products to alert consumers when their information was being collected.
The legislation drew immediate criticism from the tech industry’s trade associations, including Technet and The Internet Association, as a potential roadblock to future product development.
Jackson scaled back her bill to focus on data security. Many tech groups dropped their opposition to the bill, easing its passage through the Legislature. The legislation was still opposed by the Entertainment Software Association and the National Electrical Manufacturers Association.
In a letter to the Senate, the Entertainment Software Association said the legislation wasn’t needed. “Existing law already requires manufacturers to implement reasonable privacy protections appropriate to the nature of the information they collect,” the letter said.
The bill was backed by privacy rights organizations and consumer groups, including the Electronic Frontier Foundation and Privacy Rights Clearinghouse.
The new connected-device requirements are slated to take effect at the same time as the California Consumer Privacy Act. That legislation, derived from a would-be ballot initiative, requires companies to tell customers what information they gather about them and who they share it with. It also forces companies to delete that information upon a consumer’s request.
Tech companies and their trade associations are expected to launch a major lobbying campaign in the next legislative sessions to weaken those provisions.


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Nectar, the 100% online New Zealand personal loan company, is well ahead of the curve making interest rates available to potential applicants, even as new regulatory changes in New Zealand put pressure on other financial services providers to close the gap. Recent changes to New Zealand’s credit laws only underscore Nectar’s status as one of the nation’s most ethical and transparent loan providers.
Last month, the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner implemented an amendment to Schedule 3 that obliges Credit Providers offering risk-based pricing for consumer credit products to offer quotation inquiries. This allows consumers to acquire quotes for their credit costs without leaving behind a Previous Enquiry record on their credit report that could negatively impact their future borrowing potential.
Prior to the Privacy Commissioner’s latest amendments, Nectar had already made it easy for borrowers to view their interest rates without impacting their credit score. While most lenders require that borrowers submit a formal application or speak directly with a professional, Nectar allows borrowers to see the cost of their credit in as little as seven minutes, with no impact whatsoever on their credit history.
Nectar is making instant personal loans possible with exciting new financial solutions that put the power back in borrowers’ hands. By eliminating the need for paperwork, Nectar streamlines the borrowing process, giving Kiwis access to the cash they need, the day they need it, with no risk of early repayment charges. Their real-time credit decision technology promises an interactive, flexible loan offer in minutes, all while preserving borrowers’ anonymity, minimising stress, and providing unparalleled clarity.
To learn more about Nectar’s ethical lending standards, click here: https://nectar.co.nz/loan-uses/#how-we-compare


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Can Bluetooth Track Your Phone and YOU? A team of engineers from the University of California, San Diego has demonstrated for the first time that the Bluetooth signals constantly emitted by our mobile phones have a unique fingerprint that can be used to track the movements of individuals.
Mobile devices, such as smartphones, smartwatches, and fitness trackers, transmit Bluetooth beacon signals at a rate of approximately 500 beacons per minute. These beacons enable features such as Apple’s “Find My” lost device tracking service, COVID-19 tracing applications, and the connection of wireless earbuds to smartphones.
Previous research has demonstrated the existence of wireless fingerprinting in WiFi and other wireless technologies. The crucial realization of the UC San Diego team was that this type of tracking can also be accomplished with Bluetooth and with high precision.
Nishant Bhaskar, a Ph.D. student in the UC San Diego Department of Computer Science and Engineering and one of the paper’s lead authors, said, “This is significant because in today’s world Bluetooth poses a greater threat because it is a frequent and constant wireless signal emitted from all our personal mobile devices.”
Researchers from the Departments of Computer Science and Engineering and Electrical and Computer Engineering presented their findings at the IEEE Security & Privacy conference on May 24, 2022 in Oakland, California.
Small manufacturing defects in the hardware of all wireless devices are unique to each device. These fingerprints result from the manufacturing process. These Bluetooth hardware flaws produce unique distortions that can be used as a fingerprint to identify a specific device. This would allow an attacker to circumvent Bluetooth anti-tracking techniques such as a mobile device’s constantly changing Internet connection address.
Bluetooth tracking of individual devices is not straightforward. Prior WiFi fingerprinting techniques relied on the fact that WiFi signals contain a lengthy known sequence, known as the preamble. However, Bluetooth beacon signal preambles are extremely brief.
Hadi Givehchian, a Ph.D. student in computer science at UC San Diego and the paper’s lead author, said, “The short duration produces an inaccurate fingerprint, rendering prior techniques useless for Bluetooth tracking.”
Instead of relying on the preamble, the researchers developed a new method that examines the entire Bluetooth signal. They developed an algorithm for estimating two distinct Bluetooth signal values. These values vary based on Bluetooth hardware defects, giving researchers a unique fingerprint of the device.
Using a variety of real-world tests, the researchers evaluated their tracking technique. 40 percent of 162 mobile devices observed in public areas, such as coffee shops, were uniquely identifiable, according to the first experiment. Next, they expanded the experiment by observing 647 mobile devices for two days in a public hallway. The team discovered that 47% of these devices contained unique fingerprints. Finally, the researchers demonstrated an actual tracking attack by fingerprinting and following a study participant’s mobile device as they entered their residence.
Although their discovery is unsettling, the researchers also uncovered a number of obstacles an attacker will face in practice. Temperature variations, for instance, can alter the Bluetooth fingerprint. Certain devices transmit Bluetooth signals with varying levels of strength, which impacts the distance at which they can be tracked.
Researchers also note that their technique requires a high level of expertise, so it is unlikely to pose a significant threat to the public at this time.
Despite the obstacles, the researchers determined that Bluetooth tracking is likely feasible for a vast array of devices. It also does not require sophisticated equipment; the attack can be carried out with less than $200 worth of equipment.
Options and subsequent steps
So how can the issue be resolved? Bluetooth hardware would need to be fundamentally redesigned and replaced. However, the researchers believe that simpler alternatives exist. The team is currently working on a method to conceal Bluetooth fingerprints using digital signal processing in the firmware of Bluetooth devices.
Additionally, researchers are investigating whether their method could be applied to other types of devices. Dinesh Bharadia, a professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering at UC San Diego and one of the paper’s senior authors, stated, “Today, every form of communication is wireless and vulnerable.” We are developing hardware-level defenses against potential attacks.
Researchers discovered that disabling Bluetooth may not prevent all mobile devices from transmitting Bluetooth beacons. Some Apple devices continue to emit beacons even when Bluetooth is disabled via the control center on the home screen. “As far as we know, the only way to completely disable Bluetooth beacons is to turn off your phone,” said Bhaskar.
Researchers are careful to note that although they are able to track individual devices, they cannot obtain information about the owners of those devices. The campus’ Internal Review Board and campus counsel reviewed the study.
Aaron Schulman, a computer science professor at UC San Diego and one of the paper’s senior authors, stated, “It’s the devices themselves that are being scrutinized.”
Physical-Layer BLE Location Tracking Attacks on Mobile Devices: An Evaluation
Dinesh Bharadia, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, UC San Diego
Nishant Bhaskar, Hadi Givehchian, and Aaron Schulman, Computer Science and Engineering Department, UC San Diego
Christian Dameff, Department of Emergency Medicine, UC San Diego
Eliana Rodriguez Herrera Hector Rodrigo Lopez Soto, UC San Diego ENLACE Program


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Exclusive: Clorox signs 10-year lease in Harford; 950K s.f. warehouse to be built
The Clorox Co. has signed a 10-year lease on a 945,720-square-foot, build-to-suit distribution warehouse in Aberdeen in one of the largest new construction starts in Harford County.
Malvern, Pa.-based Liberty Property Trust (NYSE: LRY) has broken ground on the 50-acre site, located at 1501 Perryman Road in Aberdeen, and expects to deliver the warehouse in summer 2014, said Lisa Sullivan Lisa Sullivan vice president of Liberty’s Maryland portfolio. The new warehouse marks an expansion for Clorox, which will depart the 644,000-square-foot warehouse at 500 Old Post Road in Aberdeen that the company has occupied since 2001.
“We made the decision to transition to a larger facility to support our future growth, and we’re pleased to reaffirm our commitment to Harford County,” Aileen Zerrudo, a spokeswoman for Clorox (NYSE: CLX) said in a statement.
Zerrudo declined to specify how many jobs the new warehouse would create, but said the company would maintain its 350,000-square-foot manufacturing plant nearby at 1319 Perryman Road.
Sullivan said she could not disclose the value of the lease or the project’s cost. Costar Group Inc. estimates Clorox pays $4.50 per square foot at their current distribution center on Old Post Road.
Clorox’s departure from that warehouse will likely generate strong interest among tenants in the bigger-is-better trend in the regional warehouse market. Duke Realty has proposed a 1 million-square-foot distribution facility for Broening Highway in Baltimore, and in Carroll County, the Solo Cup distribution warehouse sold for $44 million, brokers acknowledged last week.
Kevin Litten covers Commercial Real Estate and Economic Development
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Technological advances aimed at enhancing your dining experiences are everywhere these days. A device that interferes with Wi-Fi connections to give you peace at dinner is disguised as a pepper grinder, while a pill with all the health benefits of chocolate but none of the calories is also in the works. Thanks, science.
What Monsanto is up to is all of our beeswax
The long-demonized agricultural behemoth Monsanto is rearing its head in a bee-friendly light, according to Wired. It’s been reported that the pollinators have been dropping dead in alarming rates, and one point of blame has been the pesticide-spraying Monsanto. The company, however, has been working on fighting a major enemy of the bee: the varroa mite. Wired reports that the mite is a parasite that “drains the life out of bees and delivers a deadly cargo of viruses.” A genetically specific mite killer, RNAi, was soon developed and incorporated in Monsanto’s chemical wheelhouse. Unlike traditional pesticides that rid their targets while harming humans and animals, RNAi is engineered to target specific genetic codes while leaving other organisms unharmed. Jerry Hayes, a former big name in the Florida beekeeper community, was hired by Monsanto to sell the bee savers on the idea of this possible save-all. Hayes tells Wired that the treatment is nearly a decade away from market.
Would you like to shut off Wi-Fi with your dinner?
We’re all aware that our pocket-size bright screens are taking over our social lives, especially when it comes to dining. Simply turning a phone off or leaving it in one’s pocket is not longer a foolproof way of going off the grid for an hour or so at mealtime. A European food company, Dolmino, has figured out a way to fight fire with fire and make dinnertime a less wired event. According to Fast Co. Design, the company created a pepper grinder that temporarily bars TVs, computers, phones and other Wi-Fi-capable devices from being used with a twist of the top as a commercial campaign. “Frustrated moms” tested the Pepper Hacker and endured some fearsome tantrums at first, but then sat down to some wholesome family dining soon after. The pepper grinders, and they really do grind peppercorns, were such a hit that Dolmino will be giving away a few thousand in a contest only open to those Down Under.
New Jersey is for cheap coffee lovers
A recent study found that more than half of people surveyed at one New Jersey mall prefer $1 deli coffee to $3.25 “gourmet” brew in a blind taste test, according to Mic. This survey, performed by Today investigative correspondent Jeff Rossen, is supposed to mirror the tastes of the rest of the country. Other Today personalities, including Samantha Guthrie, Al Roker and Matt Lauer, also preferred the inexpensive cup of joe. Lauer even said that the pricier cup was “very bitter.” Mic reports that higher-priced items can seem to be of a higher quality.
A chocolate pill full of health benefits is in the works
Say it ain’t so: Dark chocolate is actually not all that great for you. However, scientists are working on a pill that contains all the reportedly good stuff that helps fight against cardiovascular disease without all the added calories from milk, fat and sugar, NPR reports. The pill made of cocoa extract is currently going through a four-year trial with women 65 and older and men 60 and older. The pill will not, however, taste anything like chocolate.


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The future of logistics on the horizon
The concept of using drones for commercial deliveries has gained traction over the last few years, and is increasingly on the way to becoming a reality. As Liquid Telecom’s AfriCAN Insight reports, the continent is set for the construction of the world’s first droneport, located in Rwanda.
The ambitious Red Line droneport project began in September 2015 and is expected to open during 2017. It is the result of collaboration between architecture firm Foster + Partners and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, and its linked Afrotech initiative.
The project will eventually see a network of drones help deliver medical and emergency supplies as well as commercial products across the country.
According to Jonathan Ledgard, director of Afrotech-EPFL and founder of Red Line, two different types of commercial cargo drones will be used to transfer medium-sized payloads between secondary towns in Africa, or to deliver goods such as medical emergency products.
“In the next five to seven years, I expect very large retailers to start using delivery drones on a massive scale to serve African towns,” Ledgard says.
“Roads, railways and other transport links will still be needed, but I do think carrier drones will be a useful supplemental transportation system for higher-value, lighter-weight products,” he adds.
The idea is for the droneports to be sustainably built and civic in nature. Droneports will have a digital fabrication lab for repairing drones, a secure operational area and a post office area, where people can come to collect and drop off packages and items.
There are plans to build another three or four droneports within five years.
“In Rwanda, we have the president, military and civil aviation authority all supporting our project. We are confident that within three years we can help establish a regulatory framework, which is safe, secure and will allow drone technology to scale on the middle mile,” says Ledgard.
“I don’t buy into this vision of delivery drones serving the last mile in Africa, except for emergency use. There is huge unemployment across Africa. Why would you need a drone to deliver on the last mile when a person on a bike can earn money doing it?” he adds.
Read the full report here.


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Communications and collaboration vendors in China to benefit amidst coronavirus outbreak, says GlobalData
Communication software and remote conferencing collaboration vendors are likely to benefit as the Coronavirus epidemic prods companies to avail app and software platforms for employees to conduct every day business as they work remotely from homes, market research firm GlobalData Wednesday said.
NEW DELHI: Communication software and remote conferencing collaboration vendors are likely to benefit as the Coronavirus epidemic prods companies to avail app and software platforms for employees to conduct every day business as they work remotely from homes, market research firm GlobalData Wednesday said.
All the sectors are currently feeling the impact of the coronavirus, with manufacturing companies closing offices, stores, and factories across China as well as restricting employees from non-essential travel to the country.
Amidst this backdrop, the analytics firm said, that leading companies having a presence in China are striving to continue with business as usual while promoting remote working and that this is expected to lead to an exponential rise in the video calls/phone calls, as an increasing number of people will be organizing client meetings and internal team briefings via apps or collaboration platforms.
GlobalData estimates the overall communications and collaboration spending in China to be approximately US$40.8bn in 2020. Of this, ‘services’ are estimated to account for 91%, whereas software/applications are forecast to account for 8%. This can significantly go up, depending on how long the outbreak continues.
“The outbreak of coronavirus in China offers a unique opportunity for vendors offering communications and collaboration services. However, organizations need to continue to collaborate to remain productive" , Sunil Kumar Verma, Lead ICT Analyst at GlobalData said.
“The overall data traffic on the telcos network is expected to surge exponentially, as companies will interact virtually with their counterparts in the outbreak affected regions. A large section of these people will be discussing on videochat apps or other productivity software/platforms like WeChat, Skype and Zoom”, he added.
The firm further suggests that prominent collaboration software/platform providers such as LogMeIn, Fuze, WebEx, join.me and ‘Whereby’ are also expected to benefit from the need for an effective collaboration mechanism between the remotely located teams.
"Even China-based communication and collaboration vendors are expected to benefit from these developments. Tencent's cloud-based video conferencing service- Tencent Meeting (in addition to WeChat), DingTalk operated by AliBaba and WeLink offering from Huawei are some of the prominent offerings from the domestic players", it said in a statement.
Share prices of communication software company Zoom surged significantly in early February 2020 due to the growing inclination of an increasing number of companies towards reducing business travel and shifting to online services offered by these collaboration services providers.
“With increasing number of employees staying connected and collaboration tools becoming ubiquitous, collaboration in the enterprises is becoming essential. Also, these new age collaboration tools support cloud based deployment features, enabling the enterprises to scale up the capabilities quickly during the peak periods. Despite the challenges of the outbreak, the current situation offers a mutually beneficial scenario for both the vendors as well as potential clients under a real-world use-case scenario, until the coronavirus outbreak is brought under control", Verma said.
BSNL had issued bills amounting to Rs 20,18,198 for the billing period between December 1, 2018 and December 31, 2018 and bill, dated February 2, 2019 for Rs 2,30,29,264 for the billing period of January 1, 2019 to February 1, 2019 to the Isha Foundation.
The deal, the single biggest investment of its kind in Maharashtra -- coveted by Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telangana and Himachal Pradesh -- was signed in the presence of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis.


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A senior official from the supplier of China’s top photo-retouching app, Meitu, will now lead HBUS – the new U.S. key accomplice of cryptocurrency trade Huobi.
As indicated by a declaration on Monday, Frank Fu, previous overseeing chief of Meitu’s worldwide business, will join the juvenile U.S. trade as CEO and will deal with its tasks and regulate the stage’s innovation improvement going ahead.
Fu’s arrangement comes when the trade is advancing towards a formal dispatch in the U.S., having officially enlisted as a cash administrations business with controllers in the nation. As indicated by its site, the San Francisco-based trade intends to begin exchanging ahead of schedule one month from now.
Remarkably, Fu’s new position does not check his initial step into the digital currency space. In April this year, he put $2 million of every a blockchain-based games diversion called MyDFS and was named a consultant to the undertaking, as indicated by a declaration at the time.
Fu, who said he sees the present minute as a “convincing time in the digital currency industry,” is additionally not the principal Meitu executive to have demonstrated an enthusiasm for cryptographic money.
As detailed by CoinDesk, Cai Wensheng, the organizer and executive of Meitu – which opened up to the world in Hong Kong in 2016 with a valuation of $5 billion at the time – said in May that he had accomplished his objective of hoarding 10,000 bitcoin amid the market auction in the primary quarter of this current year.


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“For psychopaths, it [corporate success] is a game and they don’t mind if they violate morals. It is about getting where they want in the company and having dominance over others.”
The global financial crisis in 2008 has prompted researchers to study workplace traits that may have allowed a corporate culture in which unethical behaviour was able to flourish.
Mr Brooks’s research, conducted with a colleague from Australia’s Bond University and a researcher from the University of San Diego, was based on a study of corporate professionals in the supply chain management industry across the US.
The findings, presented on Tuesday at the Australian Psychological Society Congress in Melbourne, are due to be published in the European Journal of Psychology.
The researchers have been examining ways to help employers screen for potential psychopaths.
“We hope to implement our screening tool in businesses so that there’s an adequate assessment to hopefully identify this problem – to stop people sneaking through into positions in the business that can become very costly,” Mr Brooks said.
Disney announced today that Disney+ has reached a stunning 10 million plus subscribers just 24 hours after its launch yesterday in the U.S., Canada, and Netherlands; the figure surprised analysts who had expected a much slower rollout for Disney to reach that level, although let’s just ignore that most of the new “subs” are only there thanks to one of the various free streaming offers (perhaps someone should launch WeStream).
Separately, Apptopia reported 3.2 million mobile app downloads in the first 24 hours, with an estimated 89% of mobile downloads in the U.S., 9% in Canada, and 2% in the Netherlands. In just one day, users spent 1.3 million hours watching it, Apptopia said, more than Amazon.com Inc.’s Prime Video, but far less than the 6 million hours watched on Netflix.
“Disney should silence naysayers who expressed reservations about a pivot to streaming,” said Geetha Ranganathan, a media analyst for Bloomberg Intelligence. “It took HBO Now about four years to reach about 10 million streaming subscribers.”
That’s just the beginning: on Nov. 19, Disney+ will launch in Australia, New Zealand, and Puerto Rico (Puerto Rico’s launch was delayed one week) and will launch in Western Europe on March 31, 2020. While the service experienced first day technical glitches, this was likely due to high consumer demand which was ahead of management’s expectations and not structural issues with the app.
At this fervent adoption rate, Disney could hit its target of 60 million to 90 million worldwide subscribers in just months, if not weeks, and certainly well before the company’s original 2024 goal, according to Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives. This, of course is bad news for legacy streamers such as Netflix, which could see as many as 10% of its customers lured away to rival services such as Disney+ and one from Apple that launched earlier this month.
Commenting on Disney’s stunning disclosure, JPM said that the steep ramp reflects a philosophy of “initial subscribers now; pricing later.” Disney’s willingness to debut its content-rich service at an attractive price point is leading to massive subscriber growth which will likely lead to pricing power later. To be sure, JPM noted questions arise regarding the ARPU despite the strong ramp in subs, including:
subscribers opting-in to the Verizon deal for a free year of Disney+ from a potential opportunity of ~17-19m eligible Verizon customers;
subscribers to the bundle with ESPN+ and ad-supported Hulu; and
subscriber churn following the free seven-day trial. Overall, we are positive on the read-through for subscriber growth at ESPN+ and adsupported Hulu as the combination at $12.99/month is a compelling deal.
Even so, the bank pointed out that “the announcement surpasses our expectations for 5m subs in the first quarter; we now expect 15m subscribers in FQ120 and bump up our full year expectations from 15m to 25m.”
Separately, Disney clinched important last minute deals for its content. Ahead of the Disney+ launch, Disney started to remove on-demand content for cable customers, in our view to create heightened demand for the content and the product.
As a result, nearly all Marvel movies are available to stream in the U.S., including Avengers: Endgame (initially expected to stream on Dec. 11) as Disney struck some last-minute rights deals. Four Marvel films will remain on Netflix through the end of 2019 (Black Panther, Ant-Man and the Wasp, Avengers: Infinity War, and Thor: Ragnarok) and will stream on Disney+ in 2020.
As an aside, JPM analyst Alexia Quadrani noted that she was impressed by the content and user experience of Disney+ upon launch: “The recommendations, originals tab, as well as different collections under the search tab make it very easy to navigate through content and find what one is looking for. We did experience some technical issues on launch day, which we think is due to strong demand and not any underlying issues given the service has been in beta for months in the Netherlands.”
Not surprisingly, DIS stock exploded higher on the announcement, climbing as much as 6.8% on Wednesday, its biggest intraday rally in seventh months, and hitting a new all time high.
Netflix shares tumbled 3.7% as its company’s investors assess how big a threat Disney+ will be.
Finally, for those curious, yesterday we showed a full breakdown of which video streaming service is showing what exclusive content; we recreate it below.
The Google empire is enormous and ubiquitous, covering basically the entire Internet in one way or another. There is, however, one lucrative business the company does not yet have a foothold in: banking. And now it has plans to change that.
Google is working to launch consumer checking accounts next year, The Wall Street Journal first reported this morning. The project, code-named Cache because apparently nobody can resist a pun, is expected to launch next year, sources told the Journal. CNBC, also citing “sources familiar,” confirmed the WSJ’s reporting.
Google: Not a bank
The accounts will be run in partnership with Citibank and a credit union based out of Stanford University. Google executive Caesar Sengupta told the WSJ that the accounts will carry branding from the banks, not from Google, which will also “leave the financial plumbing and compliance” to the banks.
Google and its partners are still hammering out the details of these accounts, including whether or when accounts might incur fees. (Many banks that offer checking accounts waive monthly fees for customers who maintain a certain average balance or who use direct deposit.)
“Our approach is going to be to partner deeply with banks and the financial system,” Sengupta told the WSJ. “It may be the slightly longer path, but it’s more sustainable.”
Banks are subject to fairly strict regulatory standards. An institution offering a checking account must comply with a lengthy list of federal laws, as well as any relevant state laws that might apply.
That’s the same kind of partnership Google’s major mobile competitor Apple has taken. Apple this summer launched a credit card that all US iPhone users are eligible to apply for. While the card carries Apple branding and is managed through an Apple-designed iPhone app, the bank behind the card is Goldman Sachs, which took the partnership as an opportunity to expand its individual consumer business.
A partnership with Google could be a similar opportunity for Citibank. Citi is the nation’s third-largest bank, behind JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America, but has a smaller retail banking footprint. Chase operates about 5,000 US branches, and CEO Jamie Dimon said earlier this year it plans to cover about 93% of the US population by 2022. BoA has about 4,300 branches and says its footprint will encompass 90% of the United States by 2021. Citi, on the other hand, operates about 700 branches and has about $800 billion less in assets than Chase does.
Maybe American kids will only have to live through one Christmas without Toys “R” Us.
About a year after shuttering U.S. operations, the remnant of the defunct toy chain is set to return this holiday season by opening about a half dozen U.S. stores and an e-commerce site, according to people familiar with the matter.
There are over 15,000 Dollar General stores in the US and by the end of 2020, just over half of these will offer FedEx drop-off and collection services.
This new partnership, which was announced on Monday, is mutually beneficial. It enables FedEx to offer convenient services to a broader range of shoppers (thanks to Dollar General’s giant store base) and gives these customers another reason to visit a Dollar General store. The hope is that by offering more services customers become more loyal, use the store more frequently, and spend money on other things when they’re there.
After helping drive local shopping malls toward collapse, Amazon is coming back to finish the job: turning them into warehouses.
That’s according to scores of reports in recent years, including one early this month published in the Wall Street Journal, discussing how Amazon keeps on turning old malls into fulfillment centers in Northeast Ohio.
Have you ever searched for a product online in the morning and gone back to look at it again in the evening only to find the price has changed? In which case you may have been subject to the retailer’s pricing algorithm.
Traditionally when deciding the price of a product, marketers consider its value to the buyer and how much similar products cost, and establish if potential buyers are sensitive to changes in price. But in today’s technologically driven marketplace, things have changed. Pricing algorithms are most often conducting these activities and setting the price of products within the digital environment. What’s more, these algorithms may effectively be colluding in a way that’s bad for consumers.
More bad news for the network liars. According to this Fortune report, more and more people are cord cutting forcing companies like AT&T and Comcast to raise their rates.
The rate of consumers dropping their cable and satellite TV packages hit the highest level ever in the last three months of 2018. And for the first time in a few years, the losses weren’t more than offset by people signing up for Internet TV subscriptions.
Seriously, I’m not making this up. Kmart has opened a 10,000 square foot convenience store inside a Sears store. This multi-level cluster**** is located in Brooklyn, New York and offers a full range of necessities like groceries, grab and go snacks, health and beauty supplies, and finally cleaning and pet supplies. I’m not sure if the marketing team at Sears is aware, but Walmart and Target essentially dominate this space, leaving no room for underachieving retailers like Sears and Kmart.


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Smartphones are set to become the main device for enterprise users in the future, taking over from desktops and laptops. That's the result of a recent Computing poll, which also placed wearable technology...
That's several hours faster than the average human
Password re-use weakness enabled attackers to compromise developer's TeamViewer software
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ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – A local favorite fish place is closing down one of its locations.
Ted’s Fish Fry announced it is closing their Western Avenue store. It’s one of six locations across the Capital Region.
The last day the Western Avenue location will be open is July 15.
The restaurant is currently looking for a new location in the Guilderland area.


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A four-way agreement was signed at the World Halal Forum Europe 2010 (WHFE), held in London on the 10-11 November 2010, bringing the goal of international Halal standards one step closer.
The International Halal Integrity Alliance (IHI), The Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), The American Halal Association (AHA) and the Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) signed the agreement during the final session.
These four bodies will collaborate on issues relating to Halal Standards development and the formation of a network of national Halal Accreditation bodies to ensure Halal integrity throughout the supply chain.
MCB’s Deputy Secretary General Dr Shuja Shafi joined with Executive Director of ISNA Development Foundation Ahmed El-Hattab, President of the AHA Ahmad Adam and CEO of the IHI Alliance Darhim Hashim to sign the agreement.
The WHFE was held at Earls Court Conference Centre to engage business leaders and stakeholders in discussing current issues in the Halal industry and potential ways to further its growth.
The theme of WHFE 2010 was ‘Halal Products and Services – Going Mainstream’ and it included a wide range of expertise from businesses and organizations across Europe, Australia, S E Asia and North America. In total there were over thirty countries represented.
One of the key resolutions of the Forum included collaborative actions to combat the discriminatory EU amendment 205 which if passed will impose forced labelling of Halal and Kosher meat as ‘unstunned.’
Project Director of World Halal Forum Europe Abdalhamid Evans is confident that the EU legislation can be overturned with the help of the WHFE resolutions.
“There was an overwhelming consensus among the WHFE delegates that the proposed legislation is not only discriminatory, as it casts an unfounded negative light on religious slaughter methods, but it also goes against World Trade Organisation guidelines on unnecessary barriers to trade.”
World Halal Forum Europe 2010 also featured cutting-edge practitioners who are engaging the Halal industry in other ways apart from food-related issues. Discussions on Halal cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, travel and investment potential were a part of the two-day programme. There were also presentations on GMO and cloning issues as well as the use of digital media in the Halal sector.
Notes to the editor:
- Interviews with Project Director of World Halal Forum Europe 2010 Abdalhamid Evans can be arranged by contacting the Press Officer or World Halal Forum Secretariat.
- To receive a copy of the World Halal Forum Europe official statement and executive review, please contact the Press Officer or World Halal Forum Secretariat.
- Over the two days, sessions covered topics such as: Certification and consumer protection, new European legislation on labelling for Halal and Kosher meat products, challenges from genetic modification and cloning, developing the cosmetics and pharmaceutical sectors, Investment potential in the Halal sector, the rise of Halal-friendly travel, legal implications of religious descriptions on product labels, key issues for Halal products manufacturer, the emergence of national Halal accreditation bodies in the global market, developing a Halal accreditation agency for the UK, rising consumer power in the Halal sector, reaching consumers through digital media.
- Confirmed speakers and panellists included senior representatives from the following companies and organisations: The Muslim Council of Britain; Australian Meat Industry Council (Chairman Halal Committee), Australia; Unitas Communications Ltd, UK; Kingston University, UK; Chadbourne and Parke LLP (Lawyers) UK; European Muslim Union, Germany; Cert ID Europe Ltd, UK; Saaf International Ltd, UK; International Halal Integrity Alliance Ltd, Malaysia; Chemical Company of Malaysia CCM, Malaysia; Dinar Standard, USA; CrescentRating.com, Singapore; FoodChain Europe Ltd, UK; Volys Star, Belgium; HalalFire Media, UK; Muxlim.com, Finland; American Halal Association, USA; Lyon Grand Mosque, France; Euro Quality Lambs; European Halal Development Agency, UK; Janan Meat, UK; Ogilvy Noor, UK; University of Greenwich, UK.
- More information on the contents of the Forum as well as the programme can be found on the World Halal Forum Europe website, www.worldhalalforum.org.
Zahra Khimji, Unitas Communications
Direct Line: 0203.308.2358
World Halal Forum Secretariat:
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Sega of America Has Been Hit With Layoffs
Sega of America has confirmed that the company has laid off a number of its employees this week. Sega is a division of the large Japanese video game publisher, and they did not mention how many jobs were lost.
A spokeswoman for Sega confirmed the news with GamesBeat , she said:
As the gaming industry continues to evolve, companies must adapt and adjust in order to compete and succeed in an ever-changing environment. As a result of this, Sega of America has recently undergone a restructure that will enable the company to focus efficiently on developing new and existing content across digital platforms as well as continuing to focus on key brands for packaged goods.
When speaking with GamesBeat, Sega did mention that the number of people that were laid off were small. Still it is never good to hear that a single person has been laid off. So we at 6aming would like to wish everyone the best of luck.


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Verizon, the largest wireless phone company in the U.S., last week confirmed that data belonging to about six million of its wireless customers was exposed after the information mistakenly was allowed to remain unprotected on an Amazon cloud server.
The disclosure follows reports that an engineer at Nice Systems, which provides workforce management technology to track call center performance, allowed the data of 14 million Verizon customers to reside on an Amazon Web Services S3 bucket.
The Verizon data was part of a larger data exposure, according to UpGuard, the firm that discovered the problem.
Data from Orange, a Paris-based telecom, was exposed as well, it said.
Of greatest concern were the Verizon personal identification numbers that were left exposed, along with customers’ names, addresses and account information, said Chris Vickery, director of cyber risk research at UpGuard.
“With that detail, a fraudster could have master access to a Verizon customer’s account control,” he told the E-Commerce Times. “It would be theoretically possible to order new hardware or issue a new SIM card for a phone.”
Getting a new SIM card would allow a fraudulent actor to overcome two-factor authentication requirements, Vickery said.
Upguard disclosed the information to Verizon on June 13 and the breach was closed on June 22.
Nice Systems technology is used around the world for government surveillance, according to UpGuard.
Nice officials confirmed the Verizon exposure, but denied the error was indicative of any larger problem within the company. The company did not comment on the reported Orange data exposure.
“A human error that is not related to any of our products or our production environments, nor their level of security, but rather to an isolated staging area with limited information on a specific project, allowed a customer’s data to be made public for a limited period of time,” Nice said in a statement provided to the E-Commerce Times by spokesperson Ilana Hart.
Data belonging to six million customers was exposed, Verizon confirmed.
The company is committed to customer security and privacy, it said, and it apologized for the incident.
The number of exposed accounts reported in the original media report was “overstated,” Verizon said.
A vendor’s employee put the data onto a cloud storage area and “incorrectly set the storage to allow external access,” Verizon explained, emphasizing that there was no loss or theft of Verizon customers’ information.
The only party — besides the vendor and Verizon — to gain access to the customers’ information was the researcher who discovered the exposure, Verizon said.
It was Chris Vickery, director of cyber risk research at UpGuard, who discovered the exposed data, an UpGuard spokesperson confirmed to the E-Commerce Times.
The back story to the incident is that the vendor was supporting an approved initiative to help Verizon improve a residential and small business wireline self-service call center portal and required certain data for the project, Verizon explained.
The “overwhelming majority” of the exposed data had no external value, the company said, but it confirmed that it included a “limited amount of personal information.”
The data supported a wireline portal, Verizon said, and it included a “limited number” of cellphone numbers for customer contact purposes.
To the extent that PINs were included in the data set, they were used to authenticate a customer calling into Verizon’s wireline call center, but they did not provide online access to customer accounts, according to the company.
The Verizon data exposure is “eerily similar” to the breach of 198 million voter records at Deep Root Analytics, which also was sitting on Amazon S3 servers and was discovered by the same UpGuard researcher, noted Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud research at Trend Micro.
Although Upguard hasn’t discussed how it discovered the exposed data, it’s likely the researcher scanned the S3 namespace — a unique root folder where users store their data — looking for misconfigured buckets, Nunnikhoven told the E-Commerce Times.
Amazon should not be blamed entirely for the incident, he said, noting that the S3 buckets are secure by default.
“All AWS servers operated on a shared responsibility model for operations and security,” he said. “That means that both AWS and the user have responsibilities for securing data.”
S3 customers have to decide which data to store and who can access it, Nunnikhoven noted.
It appears that in both of the recent cases, the customers took explicit steps to configure the policies to allow unauthorized access.
“The pattern that is emerging,” Vectra Networks CTO Oliver Tavakoli told the E-Commerce Times, “is that the impact of a single, sloppy misconfiguration in the cloud is likely to have a much bigger effect than the same misconfiguration inside the company’s own data center.”


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Is the Electrical Car still stable now grants have been cut?
The UK’s electric car industry is at an impasse following a government U-turn on grants given to the public.
Previously, those who chose to make the move to an electric car were awarded £4,500 off the purchase of a brand-new electric vehicle. But, as of November 2018, this has been cut to £3,500, while incentives of £2,500 to buy new hybrid cars will be abolished altogether.
Introduced in 2011, a plug-in grant was brought in to make electric cars more established in the UK but there are now fears that the market will destabilise following the surprising cut.
The decision to cut grants came just three months after the transport secretary, Chris Grayling, published a Road to Zero strategy to curb vehicle emissions by promoting greener cars.
Motoring groups and car manufacturers have both expressed disappointment with the cut, which undermines one of the few parts of the auto market that is currently growing healthily and may deter buyers who would have previously chosen to purchase an electric vehicle.
Recent research by the AA showed the vast majority of drivers cited the purchase price as the main obstacle to owning an ultra-low emission vehicle.
However, to understand whether the electric car market is still viable because of this cut, means it must be weighed against the motor industry as a whole.
Sales of electric cars reached a record high in September 2018, up a staggering 23% from the same period in 2017, and now account for one in every twelve cars purchased in the UK.
The benefits of being environmentally friendly and avoiding the rising cost of petrol of diesel sales are too good to ignore despite the government cut in grants being handed out.
While the reduction in grants will certainly send confusing signals to car buyers, electric vehicles will still play a vital role in the industry and we predict continued growth in years to come.
Are electric vehicles still on the rise? Let us know in the comments!
Tootle is a digital car selling platform that successfully bridges the gap between consumers and dealers. To find out more, please visit: www.tootle.co.uk


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28 September 2020. The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE), the body set up by the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to deliver open banking in the UK, has today announced that over two million customers are now using open banking-enabled products*. This represents a significant upswing in the use of the innovative banking technology despite the disruptive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
OBIE figures show open banking user numbers have doubled since January 2020. There has been a steady increase at a rate of around 160,000 users per month, which only plateaued in April and May when lockdown measures in the UK were introduced, before the strong growth resumed.
Research sponsored by Nesta Challenges’ Open Up 2020 Challenge, shows a sharp increase in the use of money management apps during the pandemic, of which 45 per cent were 25-34-year-olds. According to the survey of 2,000 UK adults in early July 2020, one in five started using online banking apps during lockdown and 54 per cent now use them regularly.
“Open Banking used to be the best-kept secret in financial services. With 2m active monthly users and growing strongly that is clearly no longer the case. We can now see that people want to exercise their rights over their data and will do so, as long as you make it simple and secure. Open banking enabled products are rebalancing the market in favour of consumers and small businesses. Users are now able to engage more with their finances and getting access to better products.”
“I’m excited to see the 2 million users threshold passed so quickly. Open banking will revolutionise the way we pay. While open banking payments are currently a small proportion of open banking usage, recent strong growth is a sure sign that people welcome more payments choice. We predict that payments will eventually form a considerable proportion of our growing user numbers.”
“When the CMA investigated retail banking, we found banks were not working hard enough for consumers, and so we required them to give people control of their own data. By doing so, we believed this would unleash a wave of innovation and stimulate rivalry.
“The fast growth in personal customers and small businesses using Open Banking during 2020 – and hitting the 2 million mark – is another important milestone towards that goal.”
Open banking can be used in multiple ways to help users access their banking data and better manage their finances. Examples of this include:
The Open Banking App Store, houses more than 80 open banking mobile applications and online products so that consumers and businesses can easily identify the one that best suits their needs.
*According to data provided by the CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS Group and Santander).
For enquiries, please contact: firstname.lastname@example.org, 020 7297 5965
The Open Banking Implementation Entity (OBIE) is the entity set up by the CMA in 2016 to deliver Open Banking. Its trading name is Open Banking Limited.
OBIE is governed by the CMA and funded by the CMA9 (Allied Irish Bank, Bank of Ireland, Barclays, Danske, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, Nationwide, RBS Group and Santander). Its works with the CMA 9, as well as challenger banks, financial technology companies, third party providers and consumer groups.
OBIE’s role is to:


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Vermont winemakers and distillers got good news Tuesday when Gov. Jim Douglas signed a bill allowing them to sell more products on-site.
Previously, wineries could offer tastings or sell bottles of wine. Distilleries could do neither.
Now, wineries also may sell glasses of wine on-premises, and distilleries can offer tastings and sell bottles of their spirits.
In addition, wineries will be allowed to sell and offer tastings of other winemakers' wares, rent their sites for events such as weddings, and produce and sell fortified wines such as ports.
Vermont's first winery was founded 25 years ago, and the state now is home to 20.
Ed Metcalfe, of Whitingham, told the Associated Press he was on the fence about opening a distillery in Vermont if he couldn't sell his vodka and specialty liquors on site. He said the new law cinched it for him, allowing him to sell and offer tastings at the distillery he plans in Marlboro.
To Dowd's Wine Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Spirits Notebook
To Dowd's Brews Notebook latest entry.
To Dowd's Tasting Notes latest entry.
Back to Dowd On Drinks home page.


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CNET editor Nicole Lee collects eye-catching phones that made their debut in 2010.
At CNET, we look at so many cell phones and smartphones throughout the year that many of them tend to look the same after a while. Therefore, it's easy to remember the ones that looked especially interesting. I've compiled a list of the most eye-catching phones we've seen this year, be they short stubby phones like the Kin One or the giant handset that is the Motorola Droid X.
They're listed in no particular order. We're sure we've missed a few, so let us know in the comments if there's any phone that made you do a double take.


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Mobile ad spending hits record high
By Ibidunni Banjoko
Global mobile ad spending surged to a remarkable $362 billion in 2023, marking an 8% increase from the previous year, according to insights from Data.ai’s State of Mobile 2024 report. The growth was primarily driven by revenue generated from short-form video and video-sharing apps. Projections indicate that this upward trend will continue, with mobile ad spending projected to reach $402 billion in 2024, representing an 11% year-over-year increase.
In tandem with the rise in ad spending, mobile consumer spending also witnessed a significant uptick, reaching $171 billion in 2023, marking a 3% year-over-year increase. The report highlights the growing attention towards social apps and the creator economy, which are emerging as new avenues for monetization beyond traditional advertisements.
Moreover, generative AI experienced explosive growth in 2023, with innovations such as AI chatbots and art generators fueling the integration of new features across various mobile sectors.
However, despite these positive trends, the mobile app marketing ecosystem faced unprecedented challenges in recent years. Apple’s introduction of the App Tracking Transparency (ATT) framework in April 2021 significantly impacted marketers’ ability to measure and optimize their campaigns, shifting the focus from user-level data optimization to aggregate data. Although alternative measurement solutions have emerged, confidence levels among marketers have yet to return to pre-ATT levels.
The Covid-19 pandemic further disrupted the mobile landscape, leading to rapid digital acceleration worldwide due to lockdowns and social distancing measures. While mobile apps capitalized on aggressive user acquisition campaigns during this period, a post-Covid digital cooldown ensued, with digital usage returning to pre-pandemic levels.
Adding to the complexity, the global economic downturn and rising inflation rates in 2022 had a profound impact on mobile businesses. Many consumer-facing mobile apps responded by reducing marketing budgets and staff, further compounded by the shock to the global economy caused by the war in Ukraine.
These developments contributed to significant volatility in the mobile advertising market. Between 2020 and 2021, Covid-19 and ATT shaped ad spend trends. Despite industry adaptations, the market saw a 5% drop in 2022 following a 40% leap in 2021.
Overall, while mobile ad spending has reached record highs, challenges such as regulatory changes, economic uncertainty, and evolving consumer behaviour continue to shape the landscape, necessitating adaptive strategies and resilience within the industry.


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|Save||Go to Replacement product|
|EverFocus Electronics AG|
|Model Code||ESB 220|
|Chip Inch Size "||1/3|
|Picture Elements HxV||500 x 580|
|Auto Gain Control||Yes|
|Electronic Shutter range||1/50 - 1/100.000|
|S/ N (Signal/ Noise) Ratio dB||>48|
|Physical Specifications||Weight g: 120|
|Environmental Specifications||Operating Temperature oC: 10 ~ +50|
|Accessories||Smoke detector camera|
|Model Info||Standard lens f=4,3mm, Further lenses 2,5/ 3,6/ 6,0/ 8,0mm.|
|Honeywell introduces Total Connect HD indoor and outdoor Wi-fi security video cameras to connected home portfolio|
Honeywell, a provider of connected home technology, announces new Total Connect HD indoor and outdoor video cameras designed to give homeowners even more control over...
|Oncam debuts pioneering online visualisation tool and 360-degree dewarping capabilities to website|
Oncam, a provider of 360-degree video capture and business intelligence technology, has announced that it has added two new functionalities to its website in an...
|DICE Corporation is at forefront of video monitoring with Matrix Universal Video event management system|
DICE Corporation, a research and development company specialising in technologies for the alarm and security industries, recently launched an all-new video monitoring...


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Visit: EU PlayStation.Blog
I am happy to introduce a new boss character called “Darkbeast.” This electric beast emerges from giant skeletal remains. With lightning coursing through its body, it bombards the player with its erratic and off-speed movements. You can check out this beast in action in the video just released as part of IGN First.
I can’t tell you how exciting it’s been to be a PlayStation developer. I jumped on board with the PS4 and Vita launch of my horror game Home last fall, and now I’m excited to finally share with you some lovely news about my new title in development, Alone With You!
Earlier this month, we announced PlayStation HEROES, a new initiative that brings PlayStation 4 owners and celebrities together to benefit some great charities, and today the official PlayStation HEROES app for PS4 is available for download on PlayStation Store. Now is your opportunity to enter for the chance to play Bungie’s Destiny in-person with legendary snowboarder Shaun White in March to benefit Make-A-Wish.
Greetings, PlayStation nation! I am beyond excited to announce that Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare’s Havoc DLC has arrived on PS4 and PS3, heralding the arrival of Exo Zombies, four new multiplayer maps, and the AE4 directed energy assault rifle.
Hello, PlayStation fans! I’m Claudio Pinto from Fair Play Labs, and I’m excited to share some news with you: we’re going to launch our latest game, Color Guardians, on both PS4 and PS Vita on April 14th of this year.
Hi everyone! March is here, and that means it’s time for our annual Spring Fever promotion with discounts for PlayStation Plus members on hot new digital-only games each week. This year, Spring Fever is going to last eight weeks – that’s twice as long as last year – with new PS4 games launching each week.
Hello everyone! I’m Laurent Mercure, community manager at Frima. Last fall, we launched our latest game, Chariot, on PS4, and we were thrilled to have the PlayStation community embrace it! With Chariot, we wanted to make a game that was accessible and that players of different skill levels could play together and have a good time. My colleague Phil explained his vision in a previous post: Chariot, Bringing Gamers Together.
Would you be willing to answer a few brief questions about PlayStation.Blog?


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Cloud storage service Backblaze released its drive stability report for Q2 2021 today, and it looks like the quick rise and apparent fall of storage-based cryptocurrency Chia hardly affected the company this quarter, and potentially won’t going forward thanks to a “leveling off” of demand.
Despite boasting 181,464 drives across its four data centers and facing recent reports of Chia bricking SSDs, it seems like Backblaze’s biggest Chia concern was drive supply rather than stability. However, the supply team managed to avoid being thrown off too much despite low stock, as it was already setting up a buffer of drives to deal with the ongoing chip shortage.
“The main impact of Chia was felt by our Supply Chain team,” Backblaze’s Principal Storage Cloud Evangelist, Andy Klein, told Tom’s Hardware over email. “Prior to Chia, the Supply Chain team was already navigating the effects of the chip shortage, as shipments of some of the servers used to support our service were being delayed. We maintain a safety buffer to deal with such market behaviors, but anytime there are delays, the team sweats a little.”
Klein elaborated that despite the team’s concerns, “Chia did not have a near term effect as we had enough of a safety buffer and purchase contracts in place.” He also said that demand has now returned to normal, with an implication that we probably won’t see another Chia spike soon. “This has allowed us to ride out the rise and apparent fall (or at least a leveling off) of Chia demands, as supply and demand return to equilibrium.”
Aside from the Chia insights, Backblaze’s report also gave us insight into which drives from which companies tended to last longest for the service. Which we suppose could apply to Chia if you’re still trying to make it profitable even as it seems to decline.
Of all of Backblaze’s drives, the Seagate 6TB, HGST 12TB and Western Digital 16TB recorded no failures during the quarter, which we took a closer look at here. The Seagate did face one failure over the last year, while the HGST hit a record high of five failures during Q1 2021. But overall, the failure rates are still low for all three drives. The Seagate’s lifetime failure rate number currently sits at 0.92%, while the HGST’s is 0.41%. The Western Digital was a new install for this quarter, and currently only sits at 624 drives across Backblaze’s network, so lifetime numbers are still being gathered for it.
As for Backblaze’s overall drives, they recorded an annualized failure rate of 1.01% this quarter, up from 0.85% in Q1 2021 and 0.81% in Q2 2020. Backblaze told us this jump is “within our coincidence interval, but bears watching going forward.”
Finally, the company also shared that its HDD boot drives have double the failure rate of its SSD boot drives, at 1.54% vs 0.79%. This is controlled for age, drive model and number of drive days, although it’s not surprising given that HDDs involve moving parts.
Despite controlling for age in its general SSD and HDD failure rate comparison, though, Backblaze did say that “As the average age of the HDD boot drive fleet increased, so did the failure rate.” While this also seems obvious at first, it did prompt the company to ask itself if we can start to see the same phenomenon appear in its SSD fleet, which is still quite young, in the future. It will be keeping an eye on this data going forward
We at Tom’s Hardware can’t speak to the data presented by Backblaze, as the company uses far more drives than we could ever test. But at the same time, that scale does provide some key insights into how we can expect the storage industry to look going forward.
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Michelle Ehrhardt is an editor at Tom's Hardware. She's been following tech since her family got a Gateway running Windows 95, and is now on her third custom-built system. Her work has been published in publications like Paste, The Atlantic, and Kill Screen, just to name a few. She also holds a master's degree in game design from NYU.