text:
If you own a Xiaomi device, and you probably don't if you live outside of Asia, then you're familiar with MIUI. This build of Android ships on all of the company's devices. 7.0 arrived a couple months ago, and now folks are receiving the first update of 2016, version 7.1.
The update is small, and so are many of the tweaks. The file manager has changed private folders to "Hidden Folders," which let you hide files from view and protect them with a password. The code will be the same one guarding your lockscreen unless you leave your phone unlocked. Read More
There's a version of the latest Moto X that we here in the States can only get in the form of the DROID MAXX 2. The Moto X Play, as it's called, offers a weaker processor but increased battery life compared to the Moto X Pure Edition. Owners in Brazil and India have reached out to us with word that Android 6.0 is now rolling out to their devices. Read More
Well this is a bit of a surprise. When Sprint launched its carrier-branded version of the LG G Stylo back in June of this year, it didn't garner too much attention - it's just another big-screen, low-price device filling out the mid range, albeit with a somewhat novel built-in stylus. If you were to make a list of the phones you'd expect to see rocking the latest version of Android by the end of 2015, the G Stylo might be just in front of the Kyocera Echo. Read More
It was merely a couple of weeks ago that Mo Versi announced on Twitter that some Marshmallow goodies were on track for December release on HTC's latest flagships, the One A9 and One M9. Now according to him, the updates are ready to roll out on both devices, just in time for Christmas. I think HTC likes the idea of being the Santa of OTA updates. Read More
At this point, anyone who shelled out the kind of cash it takes to buy a flagship Samsung phone on day one might be wondering when the TouchWiz their Android 6.0 update is coming. If you happen to live in the United Kingdom, the answer is "now," at least if you're willing to beta test some software for free. Samsung sent out tweets inviting UK customers to test the Marshmallow update on its 2015 flagships, the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge. Read More
Motorola is swiftly making its way through its Moto X flagship series, upgrading all of them to Android 6.0. Today it's the Moto X 2014 Pure Edition's turn - that's the one that was sold carrier-free in the US on Motorola's website between last fall and this fall. Several Android Police readers, plus posters on Reddit and XDA, say they've been given the over-the-air update as of yesterday. To be clear, we haven't heard anything about the various carrier editions of the Moto X 2014; presumably those will be trickling in over the next few weeks as the carriers run their various tests and certifications. Read More
When Google released the Marshmallow source code, many manufacturers were quick to jump on the news and start announcing updates to their flagships. In mid-October, LG started rolling out the android OTA in Poland first as a test, with promises to expand to other countries and operators later.
Now that update is ready for the US and Sprint is the first operator to get it. On its support page for the device, Sprint says the update was available yesterday, December 17th. It's rolling out as software version LS991ZV9 with Marshmallow and Sprint Global Roaming. There'll be a lot waiting for you when you jump from Lollipop 5.1 to Marshmallow 6.0, including app permissions, the new floating text selection toolbar with options to expand it through Google Translate or Wikipedia, better external storage integration that should be handy with the G4's MicroSD slot, and so much more. Read More
Earlier this week Motorola began rolling out the official Marshmallow over-the-air update to the Moto X Pure Edition. That's the weird-ass name that Motorola gave the US version of its latest flagship - the international version, which differs only in carrier support, is called the Moto X Style. According to at least one of our readers in the United Kingdom, the Moto X Style is now receiving its Android 6.0 upgrade as well.
The rollout will almost certainly be staggered by territory, so I would imagine that it's propagating across Western Europe at the moment. Other locations will probably follow over the next couple of weeks if they're not being served already. Read More
Owners of the Moto X Pure Edition, ostensibly Motorola's flagship US phone at the moment, should be receiving the over-the-air update to Android 6.0 soon. That's according to Motorola employee David Schuster, who has shed light on upcoming updates many times before. He told his Google+ followers earlier today that the Marshmallow upgrade is currently being sent out to those Moto X Pure Edition phones on Verizon, Sprint, and US Cellular. The updates follow shortly after the soak tests from last week.
Recall that the Pure Edition, which is compatible with all five major carriers in the US, is being sold directly from Motorola and isn't being distributed through carriers at all. Read More


text:
Krispy Kreme is set to open its second Bronx storefront in the borough’s iconic commercial center, The Hub, on Tuesday, and is offering 30 lucky patrons a tasty opportunity to have their trademark glazed doughnuts free for a whole a year.
The new location, at 396 E. 149th St., which is New York City’s 13th Krispy Kreme opening since 2020, will be open seven days a week from Sunday through Thursday, 6 a.m.-10 p.m., and Friday and Saturday, 6 a.m.-11 p.m. Throughout its opening week, the store will randomly award 30 lucky guests a Celebration Ticket worth a dozen free original glazed doughnuts every month for a year.
South Bronx patrons can purchase doughnuts via in-shop takeout, and by ordering online or through the Krispy Kreme app for pick-up or delivery.
The new shop will employ more than 30 new team members and managers. The first Bronx Krispy Kreme location in the Fordham Manor section opened in 2020, on East Fordham Road between Marion and Decatur avenues.
“Our amazing new South Bronx shop will treat residents, commuters and visitors to the world’s most delicious doughnuts,” said Quay Parham, general manager of the new location. “We are thrilled to be expanding in this vibrant and dynamic community and look forward to being a great neighbor and sharing a lot of joy here.”
Reach Robbie Sequeira at email@example.com or (718) 260-4599. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes.

domain: news


text:
It's been said by diehard fans of the stick shift that piloting a car with an automatic transmission is not driving, but mere steering. Most people, however, are perfectly content to let the car do work that motorists, in primitive times, once had to do for themselves. The auto industry, ever attentive to consumer desires, has figured out that if less effort is good, then none would be even better. So it is working to hasten the day when driving will require virtually zero attention from the person behind the wheel.
First came cruise control, which made it unnecessary to manipulate the accelerator to maintain a constant highway speed. Then came seats that adjust automatically to maximize the comfort of the driver.
Automatic brakes took the guesswork out of sudden stops. Before long, there were gadgets to warn you when you were about to back into a tree and computers providing not only electronic maps of your best route, relying on global positioning satellites, but oral instructions on how to get where you want to go.
But all these devices will soon look about as advanced as head restraints. Already cars are acquiring technology that will make drivers largely superfluous. Some Lexus models, The New York Times reports, will soon have radar and computers to anticipate a crash and tighten the seat belts and increase brake pressure in response. Mercedes S-class sedans will automatically signal the sunroof to close when they detect an imminent accident. Nissan has a device alerting you when you drift from your lane.
Those are just the beginning. BMW has developed a system that will actually take over steering when the car is about to go out of control. Toyota has introduced a car that parks itself.
Says Car and Driver editor Csaba Csere, "Now we have cars with GPS. Combine that with radar cruise control, add a lane-changing system and throw in a transponder, or cameras, and pretty soon you could have a car that self-drives itself in the middle of a bunch of conventional cars."
For some drivers, such interventions would be an intolerable affront, like having Ralph Nader in the passenger seat, barking commands and grabbing the wheel whenever he feels the urge. But even for technophobes, there is some potential appeal in the trend.
After all, countless motorists find it hard to focus on driving, preferring to occupy their time in the driver's seat with activities like drinking, eating, talking on the phone, fiddling with the radio, shaving, and even reading. Some cars have DVD players, computers and coffeemakers, affording even more distractions that make them and their drivers a menace to everyone else.
With new technology, though, they could let the car handle the driving chores, with nothing required of them except their presence--which is about all they provide right now.
For those drivers, the new technology would be a relief. But it would be even more of a blessing to all the other motorists who currently have to steer clear of them. Computers may have their shortcomings, but you'll never see one applying makeup in traffic.


text:
China's one of the fastest growing electric car markets in the world.
According to a report on Bloomberg, Mahindra is looking for a Chinese partner to manufacture and sell electric cars in China, one of the fastest growing electric car markets in the world.
The CEO of Mahindra's electric car division (Mahindra Reva Electric Vehicles Pvt Ltd), Mr. Arvind Mathew, expressed interest in entering the Chinese market, praising the country as being "attractive" for selling electric vehicles. Currently, Mahindra Reva sells the e20 plug-in electric vehicle in the U.K., India and few global markets, and is open to licensing its powertrain to other manufacturers as well.
To manufacture and sell vehicles in China, a foreign manufacturer must strike a partnership with a Chinese company as vehicles imported to China will be subjected to a 25 percent custom tax, which significantly increases the final price. Mahindra is yet to find one such partner in China, reportedly, and the CEO has not said whether talks for were held with Chinese parties. It was just yesterday that Mahindra's group company Ssangyong Motor signed an LOI for Joint Venture with Shaanxi Automobile Group of China, to manufacture SUVs at a new facility.
Mahindra Reva is currently working on 4-door version of the Mahindra e20, which is expected to launch in India by the end of this year.
This could be one of the products, if not the only, to launch in China once Mahindra commences sales operations. The other vehicle Mahindra Electric has shown as a concept is the Mahindra Halo, a two-door sports car, which server as a great brand builder.


text:
Performance Under Pressure: Lessons From COVID-19 Success Stories
These are tough times for almost every organization, but some for-profits are finding ways to make membership or subscription models continue to work for them. Here’s what they’re doing.
A lot of organizations are struggling right now as the coronavirus creates new challenges for their business models. But some are finding ways to thrive—or at least discover bright spots in an otherwise dreary time—by leaning into the membership model.
As a result, these for-profit organizations offer examples worth learning from in the association space. Among their strategies:
Don’t be shy, ask for support. Case in point: The Daily Beast, which nearly doubled its membership growth rate in the early months of the pandemic, according to Digiday. Site visitors are encouraged to financially support the media outlet, which currently is offering a one-month trial for $1 and says its coronavirus coverage earns only 77 cents on the dollar in ad revenue compared to other content. The Daily Beast also displays a “give more” option, which has raised the average order size by 35 percent, says Chief Revenue Officer Mia Libby. (The publication also put a stronger focus on its homepage, which it discovered was a major driver of subscriptions.)
Offer promotions that help others. With millions of commuters working at home instead of consuming audio content on the way to work, it’s not a great time to be a podcast or an audiobook company. But membership in one audiobook firm, Libro.fm, jumped by 300 percent in March. What’s its secret? A campaign that supported its brick-and-mortar counterparts. According to Forbes, Libro.fm’s #ShopBookstoresNow campaign offered two audiobooks for the price of one, along with the pledge that the customer’s full payment would go to a local bookstore of their choice. The campaign not only helped local shops but gave the audiobook service access to a new audience.
Lean on your content offerings. Did you get sucked into the latest season of Ozark or the wacky weirdness of the Tiger King documentary? If so, you represent evidence that Netflix has been doing its job. According to Adweek, the company added 15.7 million subscribers in the months after the pandemic. The success, which has mostly been ongoing, is even leading the streaming firm to change up its strategies—the company recently revealed that it was dropping its longstanding free trial for new subscribers. Netflix has worked through a significant production backlog—it has filmed most of its 2020 shows already—which is helping serve its audience during a difficult time. When content consumption is peaking, emphasize your content game.
Leverage your natural advantages. During normal times, a service like Blue Apron can offer a nice change of pace for a family whose idea of a home-cooked meal is takeout. But during a time of crisis, such a service can be critical. Blue Apron, which had been considering a sale before the pandemic, saw a major surge in sales, leading to an increase of 20,000 subscribers during its second quarter and an average per-customer payment rate of more than $300, according to Food Navigator USA. Many associations have advantages that can offer benefits during a pandemic, including online education and access to virtual networking and online member communities. As engagement in these offerings increases during the crisis, look for insights into how you can maintain that momentum long term.
(vtwinpixel/iStock/Getty Images Plus)


text:
Superdry co-founder James Holder is expected to receive at least £300,000 a year in consultancy fees from the brand, the Sunday Telegraph has reported.
As expected, chairman Peter Bamford, chief executive Euan Sutherland, chief financial officer Ed Barker and chairman of the remuneration committee Penny Hughes resigned with immediate effect.
Sutherland is reportedly entitled to a full year’s salary of £728,000 despite resigning, which means he will have been paid more than £10m in total for less than five years at the business.
Superdry’s current creative director, former Nike executive Phil Dickinson, who joined the business in January, has not yet decided whether to stay, sources told the Sunday Telegraph.
Superdry has been contacted for comment.


text:
Motorola holds down the third-place spot with 6.7 percent of the market
Reporting its market share numbers for Q4 2013, comScore shows Android taking a small dip in overall share of the U.S. at the end of the year. Compared to the period ending in September 2013, Android dipped by 0.3 percentage points to 51.5 percent of the market as of December, with Apple gaining to 41.8 percent — BlackBerry and Microsoft round out the three and four spots, naturally.
On the manufacturer side, Apple leads things in the U.S. still with that same 41.8 percent of the market, with Samsung a relatively distant second-place with 26.1 percent, which is up 1.2 percentage points in the quarter. In a very distant third place, Motorola is holding things at 6.7 percent, just marginally above LG with 6.6 percent and HTC with 5.7 percent. That of course only adds up to 86.9 percent, with a variety of other manufacturers making up the gap to 100 percent of the market.
Amazon says employees are not being forced to delete TikTok
Amazon is the latest entity to lash out at TikTok, with the retail giant now requiring all of its employees to delete the app from their phones.
Everything we know (so far) about the Google Pixel 5
We're still months out from Google unveiling the Pixel 5, but that doesn't mean it's too early to speculate what it might offer. Here's everything we know so far!
Technostalgia: A series about the Golden Age of mobile tech
Join us for a look back at the best (and worst) of Android and Google over the years in our series Technostalgia.
New to PS4? You can't go wrong with these titles!
It's never too late to kick off your PS4 experience in style. Not sure where to start? Here are some of the best games in your favorite genres!


text:
Best-Ever Super Bowl Ads: Apple’s "1984"
It’s even more amusing now seeing that Apple’s market cap is something like two times IBM’s and it runs the most authoritative regime in the tech world.
Rico Gagliano, host of the “Dinner Party Download” also chose this ad as his favorite Super Bowl spot: “Its amazing that this commercial only aired one time nationally, during the 1984 Super Bowl.”
Check out other Super Bowl ads that the Marketplace staff picked here.
As a nonprofit news organization, our future depends on listeners like you who believe in the power of public service journalism.
Your investment in Marketplace helps us remain paywall-free and ensures everyone has access to trustworthy, unbiased news and information, regardless of their ability to pay.
Donate today — in any amount — to become a Marketplace Investor. Now more than ever, your commitment makes a difference.


text:
IBM ramps up to catch up with undisclosed Netezza demand
Running out of boxes was 'great'
IBM has taken steps to ensure the growing demand for its Netezza data warehouse appliance doesn’t mean that Big Blue runs out of boxes in 2012.
Arvind Krishna, the man in charge of IBM’s entire information management portfolio, told The Reg he has increased manufacturing capacity for Netezza ahead of yet-more crushing levels of demand.
Krishna wouldn’t detail how much IBM has expanded, but said: “We have Netezza stock back in... we have increased manufacturing capacity for demand.
“Without getting into details, you can think about how many sources of manufacturing, plants and skilled people do you have, shipping... maintenance and spare-parts depots.”
Krishna: Netezza demand is no problem
The information management software general manager said the number of Netezza appliances shipped in 2011 was double that pushed out in 2010 and he “expects more growth” this year. Krishna wouldn’t give an exact growth forecast.
IBM chief financial officer Mark Loughridge revealed in January’s fourth-quarter conference call that Big Blue had completely sold out of Netezza.
The appliances saw revenue growth of 70 per cent year-on-year and IBM claimed it had won around 85 per cent of competitive bids against, among others, Larry Ellison’s Sparc boxes. Netezza and the information management systems are part of IBM’s mighty software group, which grew 10 per cent to $24bn in sales last year.
It’s slightly ironic for the division of a company responsible for making sense of information to have been unable to anticipate demand for its own product.
According to Krishna: “These are reasonably complex systems, so you do try and plan and build more than you think will get bought in the quarter, but the fact is demand was even higher than we expected - and that was great.”
Krishna also pointed to the traditional pressures of making and shifting hardware: you don’t want too many units sitting around getting old waiting for orders. Also, he spoke about the sheer physical logistics involved in arranging global shipping such as getting space on freighters.
He said: “One client wanted 10 racks delivered ASAP – that’s 30,000 pounds when created - so [there are] slight logistics challenges. You can’t deliver that over the wire - I wish you could!”
One reason for the Netezza’s popularity, especially against Oracle’s Exadata and Exalogic, is its simplicity and speed of setup for analytical warehouse loads, Krishna said.
“People want this appliance-like characteristic – stand up in a day,” he said. “From what we hear from Oracle customers it takes weeks to get Exadata or Exalogic systems up and going. They might have a goal to be there but they are not there yet.”
IBM bought Netezza for $1.78bn in 2010 and the unit has delivered clear gains for IBM in terms of revenue and access to a new set of customers.
To believe one can be monolithic, proprietary and closed and ... succeed is a foolish proposition. One has to embrace open source and work with an ecosystem
Krishna noted that for IBM, its acquisitions have to open up new buyers, allow IBM to speak to chief marketing officers, or plug holes in the company portfolio. If it’s something that won’t allow IBM to be defined as a leader in a given area, IBM steers clear, he said.
Asked whether IBM planned to make any deals on the software field in the area of big data and analytics, Krishna was cool.
“I don’t know where I will buy something there or not,” Krishna said of open-source and big data. “You can't just be a packager, you have to have deep skill.”
Potential targets do exist with NoSQL support companies such as 10Gen and Couchbase and Cloudera or Hortonworks on Hadoop. These have the added twist of being open source, something IBM has opened up to over the years. It is also an area where Big Blue has already made a purchase: in 2005 it bought the Gluecode application server for its WebSphere stable.
Gluecode gave IBM a low-end Java 2 Enterprise Edition application server.
Instead, IBM is working with open source while building its own offerings. Currently there is InfoSphere BigInsights, which delivers Hadoop, HBase and Zookeeper – all under the Apache licence – with Netezza and IBM’s flagship DB2 database. IBM last year announced plans to add graph store and key value store, staples of NoSQL, into DB2.
“Wherever open source is mature I will leverage it; I won't compete with it," Krishna said. “To believe one can be monolithic, proprietary and closed and ... succeed is a foolish proposition. One has to embrace open source and work with an ecosystem. Clients are looking to you to add value,” he said.
As for NoSQL in particular, IBM’s data and information chief seems to think it’s more of a problem than a universal solution, and that events have to play themselves out before IBM makes a move – if it makes a move.
Krishna said he sees the potential for three pillars of data-based computing: SQL – to give a language and syntax for programming; Hadoop – to provide a MapReduce semantic; and a third pillar which is yet to be decided upon. That could be a MongoDB or HBase, but the market will pick a winner. “There's a whole set: one will survive,” Krishna said. ®


text:
In Riot’s effort to continue an initiative that began last year, a special Rainbow Fluft summoner’s icon will once again in the shop in support of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia (IDAHOTB). The icon will be available for purchase for one Blue Essence until May 30.
Riot released an article on their official website about the cause, and explained that over 3.5 million players around the world purchased the icon last year. This time, they’ll be making things a little bit more interesting by including an exclusive rainbow homeguard and load-in animation. You’ll also get a unique background for your summoner profile for showing your support.
Match notifications, latest esports news, and more. Get the Upcomer app now.
While this is a creative way for Riot to allow people to support the cause in-game, Riot has also committed to splitting a $100,000 donation between two charities that have a relationship with the company: The Trevor Project and the It Gets Better Project.
"The It Gets Better Project is proud to partner with Riot Games for a second year in honor of the International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia, and Biphobia. Rioters have proven themselves over and over again that their commitment to LGBTQ+ inclusion is unwavering. Their efforts are essential to building a positive, supportive, and respectful gaming community for all people,” - Brian Wenke, Executive Director of the It Gets Better Project
"Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth are twice as likely to be electronically bullied than their peers, so we know how much of a positive impact it will have on LGBTQ+ youth nationwide to see themselves represented in a massively popular game like League of Legends," - Amit Paley, CEO & Executive Director of The Trevor Project
Riot states that their hope with this small event is to invite the global gaming community to show support and acceptance for those who identify as LGBTQIA+.


text:
CHICO — Residents of Butte County will have a new shopping choice that includes family-friendly pricing that in turn helps another group of residents.
The Salvation Army of Chico is preparing for the opening of its new family store on the corner of East Park Avenue and Fair Street, in what previously was a furniture and mattress store.
Major Ray Yant said the building owner is in the process of having the structure remodeled, and an opening in early August is anticipated. The store will stock clothing, furniture, knick knacks, electronics and other items.
“(Owner) Ron Piret approached us and we jumped at the idea,” Yant said Tuesday. “For various reasons we closed down two (Salvation Army) thrift stores. As well as providing a good shopping venue, (the new store) will be a much needed income base.”
Income from Salvation Army’s thrift stores is the prime support for the Chico Adult Rehabilitation program that helps individuals with drug and alcohol addiction, according to Yant, who administers the program, along with being in charge of thrift stores between Marysville and Redding.
“People don’t realize that when they shop at a Salvation Army thrift store, 100 percent of the funding after expenses goes to the drug program near the airport. Without that income, we can’t keep our doors open.”
Yant said the program isn’t operating at its 50-bed full capacity because of the coronavirus, instead serving about 37 at the moment. That number of clients is increasing, he noted, as the program re-opens. He said it costs between $1,500-$1,600 per month per person to operate the program.
The Salvation Army temporarily closed all its thrift stores as the impact of coronavirus was realized, but has now reopened them, including the one in Oroville at 1889 Oro Dam Blvd.
The Salvation Army had two retail outlets in Chico previously that were closed. One was near the Safeway on East Avenue, and another — a family store — was in the rear of the Elite Repeat store at West Seventh and Broadway avenues.
The Elite Repeat store will remain operational, as is the warehouse and offices on Browns Valley Road, by the Chico airport.
Donations of items will continue to be taken behind the Broadway store and will not be accepted at the new store, Yant said.
As remodeling progresses, the Salvation Army is starting its hiring process. Applications for employment at the new Chico store are available from Jodene Setera, 342-2199.


text:
Crowd for Angels
25 June 2019: Crowd for Angels has beaten off tough competition to secure itself a place as a finalist in the Best Use of Technology category of the first-ever Growth Finance Awards. The Growth Finance Awards launched this year in order to celebrate the companies providing “more than finance” to the UK’s growing businesses. It’s […]
January 02, 2019 European Standards Organisation to Elevate Governmental Bodies with new group ETSI is Planning to Roll Out A New Blockchain Group https://coinpedia.org/news/etsi-roll-out-new-blockchain-group/ Bitcoin Sees Worst Year in 2018 Down more than 70 in 2018, Bitcoin Closes It’s Worst Year on Record https://www.coindesk.com/down-more-than-70-in-2018-bitcoin-closes-its-worst-year-on-record Financial Conduct Authority Issues Warnings Against Crpyto Companies FCA Probes 18 […]
Crowd for Angels is delighted to announce that growth company guru and charity ambassador Oliver Rothschild has become a shareholder in the company. This further strengthens his ties with the business, at which he became a special advisor to the board in January this year.
You might think that with the budget of last week, it is all gloom for non-doms. However, it would pay to revisit a previous government initiative.
On 6 April 2012, the government introduced the very attractive Business Investment Relief (“BIR”) for non-UK domiciliaries. This is relevant if you are currently a resident in the UK, are treated for tax purposes as non- domiciled (non-dom), and have overseas income and gains.
Crowdfunding is a popular way for small companies to raise money and provides many marketing opportunities that would otherwise be unavailable. Since many ideas that are crowdfunded are innovative and exciting, it levels the playing field for smaller companies to develop their products. It can be challenging for companies to create a successful crowdfunding campaign, but when done correctly, crowdfunding can be extremely effective. It offers the company a loyal following and the investment needed to create new products and services.
We are pleased to announce that Crowd for Angels are now proud members of the UK Crowdfunding Association (UKCFA).
The UK Crowdfunding Association was formed in 2012 by fourteen crowdfunding businesses. Their aims are to:
Promote crowdfunding as a valuable and viable way for UK businesses, projects or ventures to raise funds.
Be the voice of all crowdfunding businesses in the UK (donations, loans and equity) to the public, press and policymakers.
Publish a code of practice that is adopted by UK crowdfunding businesses.
Crowd for Angel’s director, Tony De Nazareth, said: “We are really glad to become part of this credible organisation and work towards improving the crowdfunding environment for both investors and companies. We will work hard to support the UKCFA’s values.”
On 13th July 2012, Tony De Nazareth set out to forge his knowledge of quoted sector financing and social media platforms to create an online crowdfunding platform that allowed ordinary people to become investors in both debt and equity funding for Private and Public companies. Crowd for Angels was started


text:
The next big thing in health insurance may be on Roosevelt Avenue in Queens, N.Y.
There, tucked between a drugstore and a mobile phone center, is the storefront where UnitedHealth Group is learning to sell health insurance to consumers the way other companies sell shoes, office supplies or iPhones.
The experiment by UnitedHealth, the biggest U.S. medical insurer, is designed to help the company compete in anticipation of sweeping changes under the new health-care law. By 2014, as many as 85 million consumers, representing $600 billion in purchasing power, may be shopping for their own health care on public and private exchanges, according to a November report from Oliver Wyman, a New York-based management consulting firm. To get ready, insurance providers are striving to bolster their reputations for customer service.
“Customers want to bring the conversation to where they are,” said Christopher Law, a national vice-president at UnitedHealth who oversees the insurer’s retail site. “Why can’t it be more like a bank, where you can go in and have tellers helping you out?”
So far, the trend toward retail health insurance outlets is in its infancy, though growing. The year-old Queens storefront is one of eight opened in the U.S. by Minnetonka, Minn.- based UnitedHealth, joining outlets in Manhattan, Philadelphia and the Los Angeles area. Late last year, the company also decided to make permanent 16 temporary centers it had opened in malls from Las Vegas to Houston to Palm Beach, Fla.
In Pennsylvania, Highmark Inc. has opened nine stores, while Florida’s Blue Cross Blue Shield plan has 11, some paired with health clinics where members can also obtain medical care.
Whether the locations succeed in luring sizable new business will depend on their ability to provide useful services, rather than serve as marketing gimmicks, said Marc Pierce, the founder of Stonegate Advisors, a Chicago-based firm that advises health plans on retail strategy.
Customers may get premium discounts if they attend in-store wellness programs, he said. Or insurers can offer experts to navigate the complexities of the health law, providing a health- care version of the “Genius Bar” at Apple’s retail outlets.
“If you can truly demonstrate you’ve got a ‘Genius Bar’ of health care, where people can get answers to questions that they couldn’t get anywhere else,” Pierce said, “then you can see it taking off.”
The UnitedHealth Queens storefront occupies 16,000 square feet in a busy commercial district in the New York borough’s Flushing section. Most of its 3,200 monthly visitors are UnitedHealth members seeking help with private plans or government-sponsored Medicare and Medicaid coverage, Law said. Customers can buy a medical plan, check their blood pressure and plop the kids in front of the office’s Xbox while getting advice on doctors, healthy cooking and drug interactions.
For Yun Yuen Chen, 73, a retiree enrolled in a UnitedHealth Medicare plan, the one-on-one attention she received recently at the storefront was well worth the time spent, she said. Chen said she went there knowing it has employees who speak Chinese to get help with a hospital bill for her husband’s appendicitis.
“We got a bill that said we owed some money and we wanted to make sure it was the money we were supposed to be paying,” she said in an interview.
A few of the stores opened before the federal Affordable Care Act, largely to cater to recipients of Medicare, the U.S. health plan for the elderly and disabled. Still, the 2010 law has been an added push, said Matt Fidler, the vice-president of consumerism and retail marketing at Pittsburgh-based Highmark. The act may expand coverage to more than 30 million Americans, many buying for themselves using online marketplaces set to debut later this year.
Employers such as Sears have taken similar steps, announcing they’ll shift workers to private exchanges where they can select their own insurance and Sears will help pay for it. The aging U.S. population also means more Americans joining Medicare, which gives seniors the option of choosing private plans run by companies like UnitedHealth or Louisville, Ky.-based Humana.
“When you see a massive category shift like we’re going to see with reform, the first movers, the first ones out of the gate, they are the ones deemed the most knowledgeable and credible,” Fidler said in a telephone interview. “We want to be the one people recommend to their friends and family.”
It’s a shift for insurers that have traditionally won by focusing on an audience as small as one: the business owner or human-resource chief who may choose coverage for an entire workforce.
Brick-and-mortar is only part of the strategy. In April, UnitedHealth debuted a series of wellness-themed shows online, featuring celebrities including Dr. Mehmet Oz and nutritionist Joy Bauer. In September, Humana announced a program to give WalMart shoppers a discount on healthy foods. Indianapolis-based WellPoint Inc. (WLP), the second-biggest insurer, said it would spend more than $50 million on a branding campaign starting in 2012.
“You’re going to have to market in a more retail environment, something that this industry hasn’t had to do historically,” WellPoint Chief Financial Officer Wayne DeVeydt told investors at a Sept. 10 conference. “Branding is going to become even more relevant.”
Catering to local Asian-American populations, UnitedHealth’s Queens store offers help in eight languages and Chinese dialects. There are iPad stations offering self-guided tours of benefit plans, a private office to discuss medical claims and a wellness room where an audiologist can fit hearing aids. The store hums with the sound of an automated blood- pressure cuff, part of a “biometric station” where members can check their vital signs.
Among the store’s 30 employees are five social workers who help with services like a New York State program that subsidizes prescription drugs for seniors. In Superstorm Sandy’s wake, employees helped replace lost medications and food stamps, Law said. Upstairs is a classroom the company opens up for wellness programs and local community groups.
While retail sales are “the centerpiece,” UnitedHealth is doing more than just peddling insurance, Law said. “You have to wrap it around all of these other programs for the community. We’re building a long-term relationship. Our customers know us by name.”
Through October, the store had enrolled about 4,200 people, just a sliver of the 36.5 million members in the carrier’s medical plans. Retail centers may never rival Internet or phone sales for UnitedHealth, said Tom Paul, the carrier’s chief consumer officer. Still, the storefronts are popular with groups that prefer more face-to-face attention, like Medicare members, he said. And they keep existing customers happy.
“We understand that each individual customer has an individual set of needs and we need to simplify and personalize the system,” he said in a phone interview. “What we’re trying to do is recognize that the responsibility for consumers is only continuing to grow.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Alex Nussbaum in New York at firstname.lastname@example.org
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Reg Gale at email@example.com
Register or login for access to this item and much more
All Employee Benefit Adviser content is archived after seven days.
Community members receive:
- All recent and archived articles
- Conference offers and updates
- A full menu of enewsletter options
- Web seminars, white papers, ebooks
Already have an account? Log In
Don't have an account? Register for Free Unlimited Access


text:
The competition is open to BBQ amateurs of all stripes across four categories — ribs, burgers, homemade beer BBQ sauce and an “Anything Goes” People’s Choice category.
Times Collaborative owner Heather Marvin said the BBQ Throwdown was a natural progression after working with a number of chefs in the coworking space’s commercial kitchen. When looking for some events they could host out of the building, Marvin was connected to Lousiana Glynn’s Glynn Hatcherson. Hatcherson introduced Marvin to Stoake-D-Fire and the ideas started cooking.
Would-be competitors will make use of the lot at 300 Kimbark Street, behind the Times Collaborative, to set up their equipment to smoke the competition. Load-in begins at 6:30 a.m. and the first turn-in for a dish will be around 4 p.m., Marvin said.
Ribs, hamburger meat and the 300 Suns beer used for the BBQ sauce will be provided by the Times Collaborative to keep the field even. The three main categories will be judged by professional chefs, including Hatcherson, but there’s also an opportunity for hungry locals to join in. Members of the public can buy 10 judging tokens for $10 and sample the competition.
The event is open to individuals and teams for an entry fee of $100, which will help cover the cost of materials. According to Marvin, there will be more than just glory for the victors. A combination of cash prizes, along with some surprises, await first, second and third place competitors.
“We’d love to grab more competitors,” Marvin said. “There’s plenty of space in the next two weeks to join us.”Rules and sign-up information are available at the Times Collaborative website, and the competition heats up on September 5.


text:
It’s New Year’s Day, and Chelsea Cordoba is at the office. She and her husband, Kenneth, run Mountain High Recreation, a licensed cannabis delivery business in East Sacramento. They work 7-day weeks and 16-hour days, and have sunk most of what they have into the business they founded in 2017 — the stuff of startups everywhere in competitive industries.
But in this sector, the thriving black market makes this competition something like playing hoops against an opponent with extra players on court. Mountain High pays hefty taxes, licensing fees and attorney bills, and keeps a compliance consultant on retainer, all of which adds up to getting undercut on price by 30 to 40 percent, says Cordoba. The couple are parents of two small children, and Cordoba says while the company’s future is bright, “we’ve held on by a string sometimes.”
A check of the cannabis locator platform Weedmaps, which doesn’t require operators to have a legal license to post on the site, confirms what Mountain High is up against. A search turns up 20 delivery businesses in south Sacramento, where law enforcement has often shut down unpermitted deliverers and growers in the past. Only nine of the 20 have a state permit, according to the state’s Bureau of Cannabis Control. The status of two others is unclear because of a possible error in the BCC’s licensing search system, says BCC spokesperson Aaron Francis. The remaining nine are running without a permit. (None of these last nine responded to requests for comment.)
Jerry Chin of Humble Root, one of the nine legal licensees, says his own search of the metro area on Weedmaps turns up about 150 unlicensed delivery companies. He says those companies are beating his prices by about 50 percent on average.
The underground market is flourishing in Sacramento and across the state. The BCC and city have promised a crackdown. But there’s disagreement in the industry about whether that’s the right move.
Proposition 64 was supposed to bring marijuana sellers and producers out of the shadows — dispensing with prosecutions would remove the incentive for illegal operators to deal on the sly. The end of the illegal market still may come to pass, but if so it looks years away. Last August, industry analyst New Frontier Data calculated the size of the state’s illicit adult-use market at $3.3 billion, five times that of the legal one. Now the state says it’s ramping up enforcement. In 2018, the BCC’s focus was getting through the temporary licensing phase, but in 2019 that will shift toward shutting down unlicensed businesses, it says.
To that end, the agency is launching a messaging campaign in part targeting underground players. “For those illegal operators, the picture is, ‘We know you’re out there and operating and we need you to get a license because we know where you’re at,’” says BCC spokesperson Alex Traverso. “Hopefully, they get the sense that the walls are going to start closing in and that they’re not going to be able to operate the way they are now forever.”
When the agency learns about an illegal business, it issues a cease-and-desist letter. “It basically says, ‘You don’t have a license, here’s how you go about getting one and here are some of the penalties if you don’t,” Traverso says. Statewide, the BCC has issued about 2,600 of those letters, he says. (The agency has no data on how many have complied as a result.)
As for the City of Sacramento, it’s already several months into a squeeze on illegal indoor growers. Joe Devlin, Sacramento’s chief of cannabis policy and enforcement, says the city at one time had about a thousand of those. But after a wave of arrests by city police — at least 70 according to city records — the number of illegal grow houses is down to perhaps 400, says Devlin.
Devlin is promising more where that came from. In a November presentation at an agency meeting with cannabis stakeholders, he warned businesses that weren’t moving to get their temporary state permits. “Those folks that don’t have this temp permit to operate after Dec. 31, we’re going to be taking a very hard look at … who is operating and who is not, and matching up those folks who are operating with who has a state permit,” he said. “And [for those who don’t], we’re going to be having the conversation of, ‘What time today are you closing down?’”
The industry itself appears split on whether better enforcement will actually bring more of the operators into the open. Chin says the city and state agencies have lived up to their promises on the regulation side of the ledger but not the enforcement side. “Not dealing with these [enforcement] issues aggressively enough might cause Prop 64 to fail,” he says. In January came a report from the California Cannabis Advisory Committee, an agency tasked with making recommendations to regulators. (About a quarter of the agency’s members work in the cannabis industry). The committee concluded that state agencies initially took a “slower than expected approach to enforcement” to give businesses time to come into compliance. “Lack of enforcement is creating a thriving environment for the unregulated ‘underground market,’” the committee wrote.
Steven Domingo of the California Cannabis Courier Association doesn’t think more focus on shutdowns and arrests will work. He says exorbitant market-entry costs, in part levied by government, are keeping small businesses underground. Sacramento, for example, charges about $17,000 to $34,000 for a conditional use permit and $2,600 to $31,000 for a business operating permit, depending on business type. Add state license fees, various insurance premiums, attorney fees and other costs, and many operators need $250,000 to step into the daylight, says Domingo. And that’s all before a tax burden that runs more than 35 percent all in, according to the advisory committee.
Zachary Pitts of the CCCA says many delivery businesses are small family-run enterprises that have been around a long time but can’t come up with the upfront investment required to go legal because they have trouble raising money, particularly in an industry without access to banking. “Everyone we talk to in non-storefront delivery… they’re all interested in getting licensed,” he says.
For those that are legal, their success rides in large part on consumers knowing the difference between licensed and unlicensed dealers, and choosing safety and reputation over price. Gov. Gavin Newsom’s budget reveals that the state is bringing in only about half the taxes that were projected from legalization, largely because consumers are continuing to buy from illegal dealers, according to experts interviewed for a January Associated Press report.
To that end, Traverso says the BCC is launching a public awareness campaign starting in late January to direct consumers to legal operators and make them aware of the public-safety risks — like potentially high pesticide levels — in untested products bought from unlicensed dealers.
As for Sacramento, Devlin says there’s been talk of coming up with some kind of city-issued seal or emblem that licensed operators could display to differentiate themselves. (Mountain High Recreation lets customers know that they’re legit by posting their state license number prominently at the top of their home page.)
Weedmaps and similar platforms also might help by refusing to let businesses without permits post on their sites. The company didn’t respond to multiple inquiries about the reasons for its apparent policy of letting unlicensed businesses advertise. Last March, the BCC issued a cease-and-desist letter to Weedmaps for “aiding and abetting in violation of state cannabis laws.”
One start in the direction of incentivizing compliance might be a tax relief package. But a bipartisan plan to reduce taxes failed last spring in the legislature, and a second was vetoed by then-Gov. Jerry Brown in September. “The way you end [the underground market] is to create a competitive market that squeezes it out,” Domingo says. “You don’t see moonshiners anymore — alcohol is so readily available and at such a cheap price that it doesn’t make sense to have a black market.”


text:
Facing product surpluses as factories are forced to temporarily close down, agricultural producers are asking for federal assistance to purchase some of the excess commodities in an effort to keep farmers in business.
First reported in Reuters, multiple farming advocacy organizations, such as the National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) and the National Milk Producers Federation (NMPF), have published statements asking for the government to purchase excess goods as demand erodes during the coronavirus pandemic.
“We remain committed to supplying Americans with high-quality U.S. pork, but face a dire situation that threatens the livelihoods of thousands of farm families,” wrote NPPC President Howard “A.V.” Roth. “We are taking on water fast. Immediate action is imperative, or a lot of hog farms will go under.”
With restaurants shuttered, economists Dr. Dermot Hayes and Dr. Steve Meyer estimate that pork farmers are projected to lose $37 per hog, amounting to $5 billion collectively for the remainder of 2020.
Pork producers also face a particularly dire situation in terms of supply, mainly because they farm livestock. Whereas milk, fruit and vegetable farmers can simply move or throw out their unused harvest, pork farmers cannot simply “throw out” a pig.
“The pork industry is based on a just-in-time inventory system. Hogs are backing up on farms with nowhere to go, leaving farmers with tragic choices to make,” Roth noted.
Similarly, dairy farmers are facing a lack of demand for milk and milk products, having been forced to dump excess product as restaurant dining rooms close. The NMPF estimates that there is a 10 percent discrepancy where the supply of milk products outweighs demand.
“The COVID-19 crisis has hit the dairy industry with a unique set of challenges that impact our dairy farmers and processors equally hard,” International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) President and CEO Michael Dykes said in a statement. “As the impact deepens across our economy, the federal government must go above and beyond traditional programs and solutions to bring balance and certainty to the dairy industry.”
For both pork and dairy producers, the most tenable solution appears to be federal purchases. The NPPC asked for more than $1 billion in pork purchases by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), citing two benefits: pork farmers will be able to clear excess supply and sell products for equitable pay, and supplementing food banks across the country to provide food security for the growing number of unemployed Americans.
Similarly, a joint proposal submitted to the USDA by the NMPF and IDFA outlines steps that can be taken to give dairy farmers economic stability and give excess product to food banks.
The plan calls for the immediate purchase of “substantial volumes of dairy products” for food donation programs, stabilizing the dairy market and providing food supplies.
The dairy plan includes projected food bank needs for 2020 for products like butter, cheese, milk and powdered milk. The total would be approximately 607 million units of dairy products, which could result in a $525 million payday for dairy producers.
On the congressional side, there is support for these federal purchasing initiatives. Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the House of Representatives Agriculture committee chairman, sent a letter to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue urging the government to use the federal funding awarded to the agency in the CARES Act to support farmers.
“The agricultural economy was already in a fragile state from several years of adverse weather conditions and our challenging trade situation. Despite being an essential service, our ag producers and their supply chain partners are facing the total loss of some market segments and the inability to quickly change their marketing and processing capabilities to meet the new realities,” Peterson wrote.
He also addressed growing national food insecurity, saying that federal purchases can “help ensure that the production that no longer has a foodservice market can be made available to help our nation’s foodbanks.”
Reuters notes that on Twitter, Perdue said that the USDA is working on establishing a program that can make direct payments to farmers and develop “procurement methods to help solidify the supply chain from producers to consumers.”
As for food security services, organizations like Feeding America reportedly proposed a voucher program to allow farmers and food banks to work together.
“We are seeing literally tons of agricultural goods being discarded because of the shutdown of so much of the economy,” the letter said, according to Reuters. “Paradoxically, we are seeing a simultaneous surge in demand at a moment when many farmers are being told there is an oversupply of their product.”


text:
Apadmi Retail Report
The future of retail: Using apps to ensure business success
Highlights from the report:
Download the report to see the full set of results:
The UK's leading mobile app developer
For the second year running, we’ve commissioned new research to review consumers’ attitudes to retail apps.
The results were clear. Consumers are downloading more apps, but retailers are not doing enough with their apps to satisfy consumer expectations.
Connect with us on social media
34% haven't noticed any improvements in the apps they use
Only 40% of consumers were satisfied with current retail app offerings
A third of consumers downloaded more retail apps in the last 12 months than the previous year


text:
Being normally submerged in Washington policymaking, it’s a welcome break to get out to the world of business reality, that is, where companies sell things to people. And that’s what the Chicago Auto Show 2008 is all about — making your products attractive to the buying public. (Yes, yes…Well, duh. But stay inside the Beltway for too long, and dullness starts to set in.)
So when Dodge today unveiled the Challenger — a world premiere, or “reveal” in auto show parlance — it was quite a show, with nary a word about the policy issues that dominate Capitol Hill discussions. The Challenger is a new generation muscle car, harkening back to the classic Challenger that hit the American roads from 1970-75. Testimonials in the preview film raved about its power, its roar, its coolness. Important facts: It goes to 0 to 100 to 0 in less than 17 seconds. On hand for the show, Paul Teutel Sr. and Teutel Jr. of American Chopper. A fog machine was deployed.
Jim Press, Chrysler’s vice chairman and president, in introducing the car made sure to emphasize that the Challenger is just one of a full range of vehicles. You’ve got the vegetables — family cars — the meat and potatoes — Dodge trucks — and the dessert, the Challenger. And isn’t it sweet. (Oh.)
And this show, like others, places a big premium on fuel efficiency and environmental responsibility.
Thing is, auto companies, like everybody else, have to make products that people want to buy — vehicles that meet people’s needs. In Washington, members of Congress and their staffs can eschew that responsibility, even though they are through their policymaking effectively designing cars. So their dictates lead to vehicles no one wants.
Would be a good thing for some Inside the Beltway folks to meet a Challenger buyer. Or, heck, drive one themselves.
Latest posts by NAM (see all)
- Manufacturers Win Several Website Design Awards - June 15, 2011
- China Makes Commitments on Trade, Intellectual Property - December 16, 2010
- ITC Details Widespread Theft of Intellectual Property in China - December 14, 2010


text:
TikTok users can now credit specific videos to ensure viral creators get their due
TikTok offers users a new way to credit videos that start viral trends.
When uploading content, users will be able to tag not only individual creators in video descriptions, but also specific videos – an addition that the platform says will “better enable creator credit and fair attribution for our community of creators and content creators”.
The change is, in part, a response to user complaints that the platform thrives on a parasitic approach to viral content. Last summer, for example, several black dance creators went on strike of the app, noting how many viral dances (like the Renegade and the Savage, etc.) were created by black users before spreading to the rest of the community without credit or attribution.
It’s an exploitation model that existed in digital spaces long before TikTok rose to prominence. write in Wired in 2016, for example, Latoya Peterson noted how video progenitor Vine also unknown black designers which has given the platform some of its most enduring and original productions. On TikTok, however, the attribution problem is arguably intensified by the app’s ability to spread viral trends via audio files and shared hashtags.
Keeping creators happy is a big part of maintaining a platform’s longevity, which TikTok Creator Community Manager Kudzi Chikumbu alluded to in a post announcing the change.
“These features are an important step in our ongoing commitment to invest in resources and product experiences that support a culture of credit, which is critical to ensuring TikTok remains a hotbed of creative expression,” Chikumbu wrote. “Whether it’s participating in the latest trend, adding a punchline to a joke, or creating the next viral sound, creators can easily and directly quote their inspiration.”


text:
In North America, if it’s not a crossover, truck or SUV, a vehicle’s sales are probably declining.
New passenger car sales have decreased 12 percent through the first eight months of 2017, compared to the same period last year. The result is 565,000 fewer cars being sold, while the light truck category sees a four-percent increase year-over-year. In terms of total auto sales, cars now account for just 37 percent, down from over 50 percent as recently as 2012.
There are, however, some cars that continue to see growth in sales, although there aren’t many. Our friends at The Truth About Cars compiled data from the Automotive News Data Center, seeking out cars with a meaningful volume of at least 1,000 U.S. sales per month. Models that weren’t on sale throughout the first eight months of 2016 were also excluded. The result? A total of 16 cars that have seen a growth in sales over 2016, and here are the top 10.
10. BMW 4 Series
Through eight months of 2016, the BMW 4 Series saw 23,747 units sold. This year, however, the German luxury automaker’s popular model has seen an uptick to 26,629 units sold for 12.1-percent growth.
9. Kia Forte
Kia‘s affordable compact car continues to be popular after moving 81,461 units through eight months of 2017. Last year, over the same time period, Kia sold 71,352 units. That marks a 14.2-percent increase in sales for the Kia Forte.
8. Toyota Yaris iA / Scion iA
The Toyota Yaris iA started its life as the Scion iA, before the Japanese automaker decided to discontinue the brand. Through eight months of 2016, the iA sold 21,949 units. This year, however, Toyota’s branding may have contributed to the model’s boost in sales to 25,472 units, a 16.1-percent increase.
7. Volkswagen Beetle
Although the Volkswagen Beetle saw a 16.1-percent increase in sales, the overall volume is still a bit low for the iconic compact. Last year, Volkswagen sold 9,820 units through the first eight months of the year. Over the same time period in 2017, a total of 11,404 Beetles have left dealership lots.
6. Toyota Corolla iM / Scion iM
Like the Yaris iA, the Toyota Corolla iM started its life as a Scion model. Sales of the model have increased 18.5 percent to 14,313 units through the first eight months of 2017. Last year, 12,079 units were sold through the first eight months.
5. Nissan Leaf
Nissan has introduced its all-new, next-generation Leaf, but the current model is still seeing success. Through the first eight months of 2016, the Nissan sold 7,922 Leaf electric vehicles in America. This year, however, it has sold 9,685 units through the first eight months, marking a 22.3-percent increase.
4. Mazda MX-5 Miata
Mazda‘s popular lightweight sports car may have low volume numbers compared to the brand’s crossovers, but the MX-5 Miata continues to see growth. Last year, the company sold 7,088 units through the first eight months. Over the same time period this year, however, Mazda has seen 8,871 units roll off dealership lots for a 25.2-percent increase.
3. Volkswagen Golf
The Volkswagen Golf family’s sales are boosted by the SportWagen/Alltrack variant, helping increase sales from 36,513 units over the first eight months of 2016 to 49,791 units through the first eight months of this year. That’s an impressive 36.4-percent increase in sales.
2. Subaru Impreza
The Subaru Impreza sees a boost in sales with the introduction of an all-new model. Sales jumped 44.6 percent year-over-year, after moving 40,284 units through the first eight months of 2016. This year, Subaru has sold 58,265 units over the same time period.
1. Audi A5
But the model seeing the biggest growth in sales through the first eight months of 2017 is the Audi A5. This year, the German automaker has sold 11,597 units compared to last year’s figure of 5,926 units. That represents a 95.7-percent increase, and the availability of a new, more practical four-door Sportback model probably has something to do with this.
[Source: The Truth About Cars]


text:
From expedited trucking transportation to pharma logistics services in the form of pharmaceuticals transportation, there are many ways in which the industry of trucking (and of transportation as a whole) has grown here in the United States – and likely in many of the other places of the world as well. Already, the market for less than truckload shipping services – also known as LTL shipping – has grown to reach a value of $35 billion and will likely only continue to grow in the years that are to come.
And the growth of the trucking and transportation industry as a whole can seen by the statistics that have been gathered surrounding the subject. For instance, the amount of cargo that is being transported on a yearly basis has grown from the 15 billion tons of it that were being shipped over the course of 12 months back in the year of 2013. By the time that we reach the year of 2040, now in the not so distant future, this number is expected to climb as high as nearly 19 billion tons of cargo shipped over the course of a single year. Even after that year has passed, the amount of cargo shipped on a yearly basis is still quite likely to grow and grow.
And it’s not just the amount of cargo that’s growing – in addition to this, it’s value is growing quite significantly as well. Back in that same year of 2013, a ton of cargo was only worth a value of just over $880. Nowadays, this value has grown significantly and by the time that we reach that year of 2040, it is anticipated to have reached a value of $1,377 per ton, which shows a considerable amount of growth over the course of time, to say the least.
After all, new forms of transportation have come onto the scene, from expedited trucking transportation to trade show shipments to even overweight shipping. And all of these, including expedited trucking transportation and the like, can be directly tied back to the rise of online shopping, better known as e-commerce. After all, recent years have shown a dramatic growth in the market value of e-commerce, and not just here in the United States. In addition to this, this market value has already exceeded $423 billion – and is only set to grow quite exponentially in the years that are to come as well.
When you look at things closely, it makes quite a bit of sense that e-commerce has grown to be so very successful both here in the United States and in many other places outside of it too. After all, online shopping is an incredibly convenient thing, allowing us to purchase everything from clothing to books to children’s toys from various online platforms. In fact, even groceries can now be purchased online, something that would be virtually unthinkable just a few short years in the past.
And when people order things online, they want their goods fast – this is where expedited trucking transportation services really come into play. More in demand than ever before, these expedited trucking transportation services can provide goods faster than ever, driving longer and more miles than before. Of course, expedited trucking transportation services and LTL shipping services really do work hand in hand, something that has helped to bolster and change the transportation and trucking industry as a whole – particularly over the course of these last few years.
And this has been able to provide a great deal of additional jobs to people all throughout the country. As a matter of fact, as many as very nearly 6 million people are working as drivers in the transportation industry at the current date – and that only represents employment in one aspect of an entire industry, where many areas have grown considerably over the course of the last few years. For many people, the need for expedited trucking transportation services and the like have changed much about the world, including how they get goods and even how they work.


text:
As part of its release of the Forza Racing Championship, a new online simulated racing structure, the Forza video game franchise announced that it is offering customers a free download of a significant current Ford race car, the #66 Chip Ganassi Racing GT. Its non-pixelated real-world prototype will join three other Ford GT race cars June 18–19 in the 2016 running of the Le Mans 24-hour endurance race.
Not to deflect Forza Racing Championship news to backwater status—for the record, the new series will enable all users to compete for real-world prizes—but the #66 Ford GT race car download is just beyond cool. The car’s number, which harks back to the original 1966 Ford GT race car’s overall win at Le Mans, will weigh heavily, at least symbolically, at next week’s 24 Hours of Le Mans—the first with a Ford factory team entry since 1969. The other three Ford GTs racing in France will wear the numbers 67, 68, and 69 to commemorate Ford’s other victories at Le Mans in 1967, 1968, and 1969. The digitized Forza Racing 2016 GT race car, #66, will be available to download on Forza 6 as soon as users receive download codes, which are being sent out now via Xbox Live messages. Due to the volume of recipients, it could take up to a week for all users to receive the code.


text:
However, what the press release mentions but does not highlight are the following two statistics:
Compared with one year earlier, shipments were down 19.5%, and excluding defense orders, they were down 21.1%.
New orders were down 28.4% year on year, and were down almost 30% (29.6%) excluding defense.
Think of the irrelevance of a 3% month to month gain in the face of this cataclysmic decline. If the value of a stock dropped from 100 to 70 in one year, how good would you feel if in the thirteenth month you owned it, the price rose to 72?
Also, in what is becoming much too common for comfort, in the larger category of all manufactured goods (not just durable goods), new orders volume was revised downward by $5 Billion, to $347 Billion. Why is it that all the revisions are downward?
Let us remember that February 2008 was not some wild boom time. For new non-defense order to be down 30% year -on-year is unbelievable. The term "recession" appears inadequate, thus this blog channels Herb Stein from the Ford Administration and calls this downturn a banana.
In the face of numbers such as this, and failed government bond auctions today in the U. K. and recently in Germany, Governments are going to have to tighten their belts and share the pain.
How can anyone believe that the markets will let the U. S. Government throw vast sums of money into financial companies as well as auto manufacturers without the pain being felt by the owners (shareholders) of those companies and those who have been getting interest payments by lending money to those companies (bondholders)? And even if the markets would allow it, what is fair about such a scheme?
The truth is that we need to rebuild our economic and financial structures by consuming less than we produce. That's the old-fashioned way: you earn money (profits or wages), then you save what you can, then you try to do productive things with the savings. You don't help yourself by borrowing money from poor Chinese and you certainly get nowhere by simply printing it.
Copyright (C) Long Lake LLC 2009


text:
Adobe Photoshop now runs natively on M1 Macs
Apple Silicon —
Other M1-native apps that hit this week include 1Password and DaVinci Resolve.
After a multi-month beta period, software company Adobe has publicly released a version of its Photoshop image-editing software that runs natively on M1 Macs like the late-2020 models of the MacBook Air, Mac mini, and 13-inch MacBook Pro.
In a blog post announcing the release, Adobe’s Pam Clark claims that Photoshop will now run “significantly” faster on M1 Macs. Here’s a snippet:
Our internal tests show a wide range of features running an average of 1.5X the speed of similarly configured previous generation systems. Our tests covered a broad scope of activities, including opening and saving files, running filters, and compute-heavy operations like Content-Aware Fill and Select Subject, which all feel noticeably faster. Our early benchmarking also shows that some operations are substantially faster with the new chip.
Naturally, Adobe says it plans to continue optimizing and improving the Apple Silicon version of Photoshop. The blog post notes a couple features that didn’t make it to this initial public release for the architecture: “Invite to Edit Cloud Documents” and “Present Syncing.” There are a few others that aren’t named in the post, but the post does point out that they’re mostly features that were only recently added to other Photoshop builds.
The announcement about M1/Apple Silicon support was accompanied by the introduction of an entirely new feature that is available on this platform, though: the Camera Raw plugin will get “Super Resolution,” which is basically a machine-learning-driven version of the oft-mocked “enhance!” functionality seem in TV crime procedurals and sci-fi films. Trained on a large data set, Super Resolution attempts to double both the vertical and horizontal resolutions of an image. It improves on similar features that were already available in Photoshop but which had more limitations.
(On a related note, Adobe also says it has added two new features to Photoshop for iPad: “Cloud Documents Version History” and “Make Cloud Documents Available Offline.”)
Adobe had already brought its Lightroom photo-editing and management application to Macs running on Apple’s new chips, and it is working on others as well.
All told, this has been a relatively eventful week for M1 software support. Microsoft’s Visual Studio Code received a widely available M1 version for the first time a few days ago, and we’ve also seen Apple Silicon-native versions of CorelDRAW, Octane X, DaVinci Resolve, and 1Password roll out this week.


text:
Before The Bell - September is thus far living up to its reputation as a choppy month for stocks. No particular path is set in stone, but lately the set of divergent forces influencing the market has been giving more mixed signals than in the recent past. That has chipped away at the raging bullish sentiment that lifted the major averages to one record after another earlier this year.
On the plus side, the economy is undeniably enjoying a major upturn in its recovery from the shutdowns caused when the coronavirus first hit. Business data released on Thursday showed a surprise increase in retail sales for August, when a decline had been the expectation. That news lifted the shares of several retailers, and offered an indication that consumers remain enthusiastic about spending.
Initial jobless claims ticked higher, though, hinting that the job market is being affected at the margin by the spread of the Delta variant. Moreover, employers in certain cases are willing to hire, but a number of workers appear somewhat reluctant to take positions where they may have more of a risk of contracting COVID-19. That snag seemed to come through with the less-uplifting-than-expected government employment released earlier this month. A percentage of prospective employees may be uncomfortable with requirements to wear masks all day, as well.
Broadly, investors expected the difficulties caused by COVID to have receded to a greater extent by this time, instead of having to gauge the effects of the Delta strain on the economy and earnings. At the same time, inflation, ongoing supply-chain disruptions, and the ripples caused by regulatory tightening on China-based companies also make it tougher to look past generous stock market valuations.
Despite the hurdles, prospects for a durable expansion and continued low interest rates remain fundamental underpinnings for the bulls.
The Federal Reserve meets next week, and is broadly expected to reaffirm its position that no rate hikes are in store for the foreseeable future, likely at least through 2022. The Fed may announce a timeline for a slowdown in its asset purchase program, though.
Thursday’s market action saw a drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average of 63 points; a seven-point dip in the S&P 500; but a 20-point gain on the NASDAQ.
This morning, stock futures are mostly flat about a half hour before the opening bell. Data on consumer sentiment to be released this morning may provide some direction. - Robert Mitkowski


text:
Holiday Shopping Alert: How to Avoid New PayPal Payment Scam
If you’re holiday shopping, after holiday shopping, or just purchasing the everyday stuff, there’s a new take on a skimming payment scam affecting PayPal users worldwide. There are 305 million active PayPal accounts globally since the end of last year, with almost 44% of those users in the U.S. This latest skim scam is popping up just in time to steal your gift giving spirit and your money, but being aware of it can help PayPal shoppers avoid becoming the next victim. And if not you, then tell your friends and family about this latest scam and help keep them from being ripped-off.
From all reports, a group known as Magecart is behind this new card-skimming attack method on PayPal users. Magecart is an umbrella term for different threat groups using the same attack method, and it has a long history of targeting e-commerce websites and those who shop on them. Magecart compromises retail checkout pages and steals payment card details and other information added to the page. Now, PayPal has become Magecart’s target for this new card-skimming technique. And those using PayPal to make online purchases are its latest victims.
This new take on payment card skimming relies on steganography to work. Simply put, steganography can embed malicious code in files like images, messages, and videos. For this scam, it’s hiding in the PayPal logo on a fake PayPal web page. Once payment information is entered, the skimmer gets to work stealing the data, sending it to the hacker in a remote location. The skimmer then hits the true “order button” underneath the bogus page, sending the victim back to the real checkout page to finish the transaction. It’s all done in the blink of an eye, with the user and retailer being none the wiser.
The good news is there are precautions to keep this and other skimming scams away from your online shopping.
Keeping it real:
- Enable two-factor authentication (2FA) on your PayPal account. The malicious forms do not use 2FA, so this will be a huge red flag.
- Closely check the spelling of the URL. Hacker’s look to fool us with misspellings of the domain name, such as “gooogle.com.” They’re very tricky, so always put the domain spelling under a microscope before continuing.
- Make sure the lock icon is present at the far left of the URL, and the web address starts with “https” and not “http.” Having both present means the site is secure and communication between you and the seller is encrypted and not open to online snoopers.
- Take an overall good look at the web page. Hacker’s may be okay at reproducing the appearance of a page, but even that’s questionable. Blurry logos and other out of place graphics are sometimes common on a bogus web page. And when it comes to spelling and grammar, hackers are even worse. Bad spelling and poor grammar are a dead giveaway that a hacker is behind creating the web page, and it’s a sure sign that you should abandon the page immediately.
From Stickley on Security


text:
Spotify ‘Home’ Redesigned With Personalized Shortcuts, Rolling Out On Android, iOS
Just a few weeks before, Spotify announced a new look for navigation on its Android and iOS app. And now, the company is rolling out an update to its app on Android and iOS with a redesigned Home screen. Starting today, all Spotify users will see a redesigned interface when they open both the mobile and tablet versions of the app.
Now, the homepage has a dedicated space at the top of the screen for your most-played content. There are six slots, which will be a mix of playlists, podcasts, and albums. Just below that, there is a “made for you” section with recommendations based on your listening history.
The Spotify home screen will also now greet you with a “Good morning/afternoon/evening” message at the top of the screen depeding on the time you are opeing the app. The content served up on the home screen will change through the day, though Spotify doesn’t give much detail on how that will work.
Although this new change is not a huge change in the design from its earlier home tab, but it looks like a useful change. Spotify says that this new design is rolling out now to all mobile users — both Android and iOS included — globally. You should see the refreshed UI as long as you have at least 30 days of listening history on your account.
For the latest tech news and updates, Install TechCodex App and follow us on Google News, Facebook, and Twitter. Also, if you like our efforts, consider sharing this story with your friends, this will encourage us to bring more exciting updates for you.


text:
Actor Kevin Pollak visits Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk
NORWALK, CT – Actor Kevin Pollak recently stopped by Stew Leonard’s in Norwalk to express his love for pizza cupcakes and even nabbed some of the store’s famous free samples!
Meghan Bell, the store’s public relations manager, confirmed that the ‘Wonderful Mrs. Maisel’ actor visited the Norwalk store on April 25 to promote The Pizza Cupcake, a new product the store is selling in which Pollak is an investor.
In a short video, Pollak can be seen standing with Chase Leonard, daughter of store owner Stew Leonard Jr., expressing her excitement about the product available at Stews.
“[I’m] venture into Stew Leonard’s for the first time, and what do I find? Pizza cupcake,” Pollak said in the video. “The best treat anytime, day or night; 12 minutes from the freezer to eat. I can’t get enough of pizza cupcakes.”
Pollak then followed up with an impersonation of “Pulp Fiction” actor Christopher Walken and urged customers to “go to Stew Leonard for everything, but don’t forget: cupcake pizza.”
The video also included a brief shot of Pollak heading further into the store after picking up some pizza cupcake samples.
According to the store’s website, Pollak had never been to Stew Leonard’s stores before his April 25 visit, but said the Westport Avenue store “blew his mind.”
The Pizza Cupcake was recently made available in select Northeast grocery stores starting in November. The product’s website promises customers a flaky exterior and cheesy interior, delivering a tasty gourmet snack all around.
Bell noted that the product had already been a hit with shoppers at the store.
Pollak starred in a number of acclaimed films, including “A Few Good Men,” “Grumpy Old Men,” “The Usual Suspects,” and director Martin Scorsese’s “Casino.” He is also a regular cast member of Amazon’s popular comedy-drama television series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” starring Rachel Brosnahan and Tony Shalhoub.
In addition to Norwalk, Stew Leonard’s has stores in Danbury and Newington, as well as multiple locations in New York City. Last summer, the store announced plans for a major renovation project proposed for the Norwalk flagship location.
Pollak isn’t the first celebrity to be spotted at a Stew Leonard’s store. In June, Emmy-winning actor Bryan Cranston visited Stew Leonard’s Wines & Spirits of Norwalk to meet customers and promote his new mezcal line, Dos Hombres.


text:
Last Updated on March 8, 2022
With world economies heading into recession left, right and center, the crypto universe has suddenly become abuzz with a lot of activity. The recent Bitcoin halving saw the crypto exhibit a much more mature and responsible growth and valuation. All the volatilities and insecurities regarding Bitcoin seem to be slowly fading away, every single day.
On the contrary, more and more countries are announcing recessions with each passing day. Germany and Japan are the two latest economic powerhouses, which have officially declared recession following the after-effects of the Coronavirus.
In this article, we are going to look at three important developments, which signal the positive impact and growth of crypto in our present world.
So what are we waiting for? Let us get right to it.
Bitwala announces Interests on Bitcoin Holdings
Last week, Bitwala, a Germany based Neo-Banking enterprise announced interests for all its clients who are willing to hold Bitcoins in the establishment. In other words, whenever you store Bitcoins in Bitwala banking, you stand to earn a healthy interest on your possessions.
This is very similar to your standard Savings Account, which always has an annual rate of interest payout mechanism inbuilt. This is done to encourage and motivate people to store their Bitcoins in banking institutions.
Contrast with the formal banking problems in Germany (banks have started charging negative interest rates) and you can see how cryptocurrencies like Bitcoins are developing rapidly. The rate of interest Bitwala is offering is 4.3% per annum. They have launched this process in conjunction with the crypto lender, Celsius Network. This is open to all 80000 of their European clients present in 32 countries.
J.K.Rowling of Harry Potter Fame asks for Bitcoin advice on Twitter
Every time a billionaire asks about crypto online, it stirs a hornet’s nest. In this particular instance, JK Rowling, the famed billionaire author behind the celebrated Harry Potter series took to Twitter, to ask about Bitcoin.
Needless to say, within minutes she was inundated with messages, links, explainer videos, and even real-time made videos explaining what Bitcoin is. Among the people who responded to her on Twitter was Ethereum Founder, Vitalik Buterin. Gemini Crypto Exchange, founded by the Winklewoss Twins also replied to the author.
However, the response that drew most of the attention was made by real-life Iron Man, Elon Musk. He stated how Bitcoin is ‘solid’ owing to the mismanagement of financial systems by government authorities. He also made the revelation that he owns 0.25 Bitcoins.
Way to go Elon Musk. Now the entire crypto universe knows how much BTC Iron Man really owns!
Visa Patents its own Crypto-Based Payments Network
Financial payments and transactions giant, Visa announced that they had filed for a new patent regarding a new digital payments network. While many see this news as a great positive, others are out to criticize Visa for patenting technology, which was meant to be free and decentralized.
The new patent shows that Visa is working on a technology to help replace traditional currency-based transactions with cryptocurrencies. The exact nature- whether it is crypto or a CBDC is not yet known.
The patent sheds light on how a supercomputer is going to maintain a record of all transactions, a distributed ledger function and the presence of different entities at different nodal points- validating, redeeming and end-users.
It also demonstrates that Visa will be using the popular Blockchain technology to help drive the entire process from start to finish. This is major news, as it announces how the world’s biggest fintech companies are taking to cryptocurrencies.
With investor sentiment and interest rising every day, exchanges and trading platforms like https://bitcoin-pro.live are seeing a lot of action from new investors eager to turn over a quick profit.


text:
As expected, Tampa-based RNR Tire Express is working on some more Kansas stores.
The chain’s first Wichita store opened in May at the southwest corner of Douglas and West Street.
At the time, a spokesman said the company was looking to open 13 stores in Kansas.
There’s now a second RNR is under construction at 5010 S. Broadway, across from Goodwill. It will open in November.
There’s also one in the works in Hutchinson at 1418 30th Ave., which is next to Dillons, that will open Aug. 1.
Another Hutchinson location had been planned, but it fell through.
“We couldn’t get it rezoned,” says franchisee Tim Daniel.
He says business is going well in Wichita so far.
“Things have been really great in Wichita.”
Daniel says the company offers discounted prices and 120-days same-as-cash deals without credit checks.
He says the emphasis is still on quality tires, though.
“We take that very seriously,” Daniel says.
“We really appreciate all of the people who have come out and supported our company.”


text:
This week, KnC Miner began offering each of its employees Xapo Debit Cards for salary payouts. So far, around 30 pecent of its employees are participating.
KnC Miner is a bitcoin mining company, and therefore, most of its employees already have their own selection of bitcoin wallets, cold storage solutions and investments. The company decided to use Xapo Debit Cards for its convenience, since Xapo Debit Cards can be used anywhere that accepts MasterCard or Visa.
“A large percentage of our staff are real Bitcoin aficionados and of course they already own bitcoins and operate their selection of wallets, cold storage solutions etc.,” Nanok Bie of KnC Miner told Bitcoin Magazine. “Some have also invested in Bitcoin via the instrument Bitcoin Tracker One listed on NASDAQ/OMX in Stockholm, issued by a subsidiary to KnC. The Xapo Debit card is just another convenient solution, as it can be used to pay for goods and services anywhere in the world where Visa is accepted.”
Since 2014, several bitcoin debit cards have been introduced in Australia and the United States. The most


text:
Sponsored by Monday Properties and written by ARLnow.com, Startup Monday is a weekly column that profiles Arlington-based startups and their founders, plus other local technology happenings. The Ground Floor, Monday’s office space for young companies in Rosslyn, is now open. The Metro-accessible space features a 5,000-square-foot common area that includes a kitchen, lounge area, collaborative meeting spaces, and a stage for formal presentations.
You might not think that a smartphone app that plays background sounds to help people sleep could be particularly lucrative or innovative. But then you would be underestimating both the market and the vision behind the app.
TMSoft, a small software company based in Crystal City’s 1776 space, released version 7.0 of “White Noise,” its flagship app, over the summer. The update pushes the app in the direction of being a social network, of sorts, for ambient sound.
White Noise, as we’ve previously reported, was released in 2008, just after the Apple App Store started letting iPhone users easily download third-party apps to their phones.
“When I first started I didn’t think anyone was going to download the thing,” said its creator, Ballston resident Todd Moore. “I just ran around my house with a recorder and recorded eight different loops: a bedroom fan, the outside crickets, rain, my HVAC [system]” and so on.
Thanks in part to media exposure — it was written up in the Washington Post, featured on the Today Show and made fun of by Jimmy Fallon — and a first-mover advantage, it became the No. 1 free app in the App Store. Through in-app advertising and a paid-for “pro” version, it was soon bringing in enough revenue that Moore quit his otherwise lucrative R&D job to focus on apps full time.
“I was making more money in a week than I was making all year at my job, and I said to myself, why don’t I quit and do this full time,” Moore recounts.
White Noise remains popular to this day, with the main app and its variants — including a “White Noise Baby” version for parents that includes a built-in baby monitor — generating the bulk of TMSoft’s revenue. (The company has some popular games and novelty apps in its catalog, but none were sustained smash hits on the scale of White Noise.)
“Putting people to sleep is our bread and butter,” Moore quipped, although White Noise is also used by those who want to use background sounds to help them work or study. “It was definitely the story of an app that bootstrapped a company.”
“The goal is to catalog the world’s sounds,” Moore said. “I want every country covered and every sound available.”
Why do that when a simple fan or rainstorm noise will usually suffice? User feedback, Moore said, has made him realize that the most impactful sounds represent a specific time and place in people’s memories.
“People are most comforted by sounds of their childhood,” Moore said. Thanks to user submissions, if someone wants to find a loop of a certain type of frog they heard once upon a time in Bermuda, for instance, there’s a sound for that.
Version 6.0 of White Noise introduced the feature that allows users to record sounds on their phone and, through an algorithm, seamlessly loop the sound so that it can play on repeat without distracting clicks or pops — no small engineering feat.
With version 7.0, users can now upload those sounds — and mash-ups of existing sounds — and download others from a marketplace that can be searched geographically. Users can then “heart” and comment on each other’s sounds.
“It’s definitely been an evolution,” said Moore, who still writes code alongside his developers. “This idea is about five years old, so it’s taken me a long time to get to this point. This is the big version I’ve always wanted to get out.”
As of a month ago, TMSoft had seven full-time employees, most of whom work out of the Crystal City office. The company is profitable, growing and hiring, Moore said, and has finally gotten to the point where its revenue is higher than it was when White Noise was topping the early app charts. Those were much simpler times, Moore remembers, compared to the current crowded and competitive app marketplace. (There are now more than 2 million apps in Apple’s App Store.)
“It’s taken me awhile to get the company back to making that kind of money again, it’s taken a lot longer than I thought it would,” he said.
Part of the strategy has been diversification — in addition to app advertising and download revenue, White Noise sounds are available for purchase on iTunes and for streaming via Spotify. (A fan noise created by TMSoft has been streamed more than 5 million times.) White Noise also supports Apple TV and will soon have Android TV and Chromecast support.
As for what’s coming next, Moore wouldn’t say — except to confirm that there will, indeed, be a version 8.0.
Everyone has flat screen TVs already so how about a more interesting Black Friday special? The ARLnow Press Club for free, to try out the daily Early Morning Notes email…
There’s not a whole lot going on in Arlington today, save for activity at local shopping centers, so we’re going to fast forward right to the top story countdown. Here…
Statues of Liberty gives thanks this holiday season and grateful for a few things this year.
It’s turkey time. Thanksgiving Eve is upon us and extra revelry can be expected at some local bars tonight, ahead of the holiday. Please be careful on the roads and…
The Optimist Club of Arlington is holding its 76th annual Christmas tree sale!
This year, the tree sale will be held at the Knights of Columbus (5115 Little Falls Road). The lot opens for sales on November 25th. The Optimist Club is selling small and large trees ranging from tabletop size to huge 14 foot tall trees! Wreaths, garlands, tree stands, and White House Christmas ornaments will also be for sale.
100% of all proceeds go towards helping Arlington County youth.
For more information, please visit the Arlington Optimists website at https://optimistclubofarlingtonva.org/.
Art House 7 is a small art studio in Arlington – offering instruction in painting, ceramics, sewing and more. We are looking for kind, dedicated people who love both creating and teaching.
Ceramic Teachers are needed to teach wheel-throwing to adults and 6-12th graders and to teach hand building to elementary grades. Classes have 3-8 students.
Drawing teachers are needed to teach either kids or adults. For kids, we offer cartooning, manga or traditional drawing. For adults, we only offer traditional drawing.
Painting teachers are needed to teach either kids or adults. We offer oil, acrylic or watercolor for adults or teens. All elementary classes use acrylic and tempera.
NCE’s Holiday Concert will bring the finest classical masterpieces and holiday favorites together for the whole family. The festivities begin with Leroy Anderson’s classic “Sleigh Ride” and “Chanukkah Festival”, music from the Nutcracker and by J.S. Bach.
Outstanding Young Artist


text:
Fireboy DML Becomes The New Brand Ambassador For….
Fireboy DML of YBNL has been picked as a brand ambassador for one of the world’s most recognizable brands.
Fireboy DML, a talented singer and performer, has been selected as the brand ambassador for a well-known technological company. The ‘Playboy’ singer has been named as a brand ambassador for Tecno, a well-known technological corporation.
He has been named the Spark, a Tecno mobile phone model, brand ambassador. The artist was revealed after great anticipation and build-up in an official statement made by the brand today, Wednesday, June 8, 2022.
Fireboy, who is presently preparing to release an album called “Playboy” and has been nominated for the BET Awards 2022, is showing no signs of slowing down, and his fans are ecstatic.
CONGRATULATIONS TO HIM


text:
Stock Development has posted a very strong sales report for 2012 at Lely Resort. The 2008 through 2012 Community of the Year, Lely Resort is priced from the $200s to over $2 million.
According to Brian Stock, CEO of Stock Development, Lely Resort was a hit with homebuyers. The community registered 164 new home sales worth nearly $89 million, a 6 percent increase in sales revenue over 2011. There were also closings on 150 new homes.
"Stock Construction saw sales prices increase more than 10 percent per home in 2012," said Stock. "We sold new homes across all styles of homes available, which includes single-family and multifamily homes in styles ranging from 1,200 to more than 4,000-plus square feet."
Priced starting in the $200s, flats, town homes, casitas, coach homes, twin villas and several series of single-family homes and custom-built estate homes with furnished models are open for viewing in each neighborhood.
"At Stock we are never content to rest on our laurels. We are always working to improve our residential offerings and expand our already award-winning amenities."
The community will soon be unveiling the new single-family home neighborhood of Canwick Cove, and has dozens of new homes under construction and many newly opened furnished models throughout its other neighborhoods.
Lely Resort's lifestyle is anchored by three golf courses designed by Robert Trent Jones, Gary Player and Lee Trevino, as well as two golf clubhouses and the Players Club & Spa.
Currently offering 20,000 square feet under air, the Players Club & Spa features a fitness center, social room, aerobics room, an arts and crafts room, a card room, a media room, billiards room and a theater room. Outside is a resort-style pool and spa with cabanas and a beach area around the pool. Adjacent to the pool and beach area is a lap/fitness pool set up for water aerobics. A children's tot lot and a private yoga garden round out the amenities at the pool.
Stock is in the middle of a two-year expansion plan that will double the size of the Players Club & Spa. There is a new full kitchen at the Tiki Bar, which has seven 50-inch flat screen TVs broadcasting sporting events throughout the year.
Thirteen tennis courts recently opened in the new tennis complex. This facility nearly doubles the size of the existing one and is located adjacent to clubhouse and locker rooms.
"Our existing complex was already highly regarded and served as the host site of world class tennis events such as the Outback Champion Series," said Stock. "We pride ourselves on providing our residents with Naples' finest amenities and this new complex is even better. Opening soon are a new private tennis pro shop and a maintenance building."
The fitness center, spa and dining and pool area will also undergo major upgrades. The fitness center makeover includes expanding the current fitness studio and adding a new one. A spa wing is being added as well as five treatment rooms and private men's and ladies' relaxation and locker rooms. The dining room is being enlarged, an indoor/outdoor bar area is being added and there will be a new card and gaming room and a new club kitchen. The pool will also be upgraded and there will be a new wading area and a children's pool and play center.
Stock has also opened Bark Park, a dog park for the exclusive use of Players Club & Spa members.
Lely Resort's sales center is at 8020 Grand Lely Drive, with entrances on U.S. 41 East and Collier Boulevard. From Interstate 75 take Exit 101, Collier Boulevard south five miles to Grand Lely Drive. Online at www.lely-resort.com.
Need Help? Call us at 1-888-878-6842.
Monday-Friday: 6am-6pm / Saturday: 7am-3pm / Sunday: 7am-2pm