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On the road show
The Mustang-Inspired SUV Is Almost Here… And It Has a Name
Ford has been teasing the Mustang-inspired electric SUV for quite some time. But fear no more, the wait is almost over. The automaker has confirmed that the newest member of the family will be revealed this weekend (November 17th) in Los Angeles. The Blue Oval has also just released the name of said SUV: the Mustang Mach-E. We’re surprised that the SUV will retain the Mustang nameplate but hey, if the shoe fits!
At the close of the event, Ford will begin taking reservations for the Mustang Mach-E and will require a $500 deposit. Customers that act early will be eligible for a limited First Edition model (details of this version will be announced at the event.) We don’t have any performance specs for you just yet, but hope that we’ll learn more after the debut. As always, check back in later for more updates.


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I've always found that it isn't very hard to find people willing to express anti-WalMart sentiment these days. I've heard complaints about their hiring practices, complaints about their putting Mom-and-Pop stores out of business, complaints about how unpleasant the chaotic store organization methods make it to shop there. This time, the NY Times relates a different set of complaints, from residents of the Ultra-Orthodox enclave of Monsey, against the plans to open a new location:
When residents talk about traffic, they are fearful for the safety of families walking to synagogue on Saturdays. When they fret about merchandise, they wonder if frowned-upon items like bikinis and lingerie will be on display for everyone to see. And when they imagine the outsiders who would shop at the store, they worry that their presence could transform the town’s pious, sheltered atmosphere.It seems that WalMart is doing everything they can to appease the community:
“The reason a lot of us came to live in Monsey is because we wanted to raise our families in a safe place, away from the influences of the outside world,” said Yossi Weinberger, 30, a father of four who works at a local travel agency. “I’m not sure it will be easy to do it if we have such a gigantic piece of the outside world move to our town.”
Elsewhere, Wal-Mart, the nation’s largest retailer, has often acquiesced to public pressure and made adjustments. It has hired local architects to meld stores into particular landscapes, painting a store in desert sandstone in Arizona and building an outlet in Long Beach, Calif., with an Art Deco look. In Middlefield, Ohio, home to one of the nation’s largest Amish communities, Wal-Mart placed hitching posts for horse-drawn buggies in a store’s parking lot and stocked shelves with barley soup and non-electric refrigerators.But I have to wonder whether this opposition really makes sense. I understand that the members of this community chose to live here because they can live a more insular existence, but they do live in America. The march or consumerism has been going on and on, everywhere you look. And as hard fought as it has been in certain locales, it shows no indication of slowing down. It certainly can be sad to see so-called Big Box stores taking over and putting smaller stores out of business (to wit: Seen a small, owner-operated bookstore lately? If so, take a picture - it's one of an endangered species). That said, there are certainly pros that come with the cons of these large chain stores, such as longer hours, broader product range and far more liberal return policies. In addition, regarding the arguments that a WalMart will somehow expose members of this community to a facet of life they are trying to avoid, I find that hard to fathom. The store is taking over an abandoned lot, and people - as always - have a choice as to whether they will patronize WalMart or not. It certainly doesn't seem to be an issue for the hundreds of Chasidim one can see in the Monticello WalMart on a given summer night.
Here, Wal-Mart has already agreed to conceal magazine covers that may be deemed offensive, such as the ones picturing celebrities in provocative outfits, “something that’s new for us,” Mr. Serghini said.

domain: news


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For the second time in two weeks, a container shipping line is introducing Port of Oakland’s first-call service, according to the company’s release. The Port said that Taipei-based Wan Hai Lines will commence its new service here on August 8. Called the AA5, the route links Oakland with three Asian ports: Kaohsiung, Ningbo, and Qingdao. First calls are where shipping lines make their initial U.S. stop after sailing from Asia.
The Port’s announcement follows the July 27 launch of an Oakland-China first-call service operated by Matson Lines. The Port has now introduced three such services in 2021 after going years without a prized first-call. It attributed the trend to aggressive marketing and a burgeoning Northern California economy.
First-call ports are where container carriers discharge the bulk of U.S. imports. Importers value the first-call service because it provides more immediate access to cargo.
Until this year, Oakland-bound ships stopped first in Southern California before sailing north. With first-calls, the Port will likely break its all-time annual cargo handling record in 2021.
The Port said first-calls have strengthened Oakland’s position in the discretionary cargo market. Cargo destined for the U.S. interior can enter the country at any West, Gulf, or East Coast port. Discretionary containers are usually discharged at the first U.S. stop, then shipped inland via rail. Oakland said it has ample rail capacity to ship import loads to the interior.
The Port said importers increasingly target the Oakland trade gateway because Northern California consumer demand is strong. It added that e-commerce retailers have established distribution centers near the Port. The first-call service hastens delivery to consumers of goods produced overseas, the Port explained.


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Should You Wait For The Tesla Model 3?
Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced the Model 3 on March 31 with a delivery date for late 2017. However, some autonomous car enthusiasts are not happy with the news that the release will be moved to late 2018.
Although the delivery has moved, the reason behind is nothing negative of the car line. The company has already received 400,000 pre-orders that caused the manufacturing delay of the car. The delay though, may have consumers thinking of other options in the market.
People have been waiting for the Model 3 since it was announced that it would be the smallest and most affordable car while maintaining its mainstream appeal. Consumers have been waiting for a more affordable version of the Tesla, as it has received positive feedback since its first model hit the streets.
Other autonomous cars are also due for release for 2017. Models such as the Next generation Audi A8, Volvo XC90, a new Mercedes E-Class, and a few more that made already made their announcements. All these upcoming autonomous cars are promising in their own ways, and can be a tough competitor for the Tesla Model 3.
The cars mentioned above all have autonomous or auto pilot capabilities, has a lot of features including camera and laser technology, sensors, high-end navigation systems, and safety features. Most are similar to what the Tesla Model 3 promises.
More and more manufacturers are slowly, but constantly, moving into autonomous car production and development. Each one, having a say in their own perspective. All are focused in road safety and being environment friendly. Tesla may need to speed up their pace in order to maintain its status as the leader of the pack.
One factor that consumers, who are looking at other options, may want to do is to research on how long the batteries will run. Autonomous cars are powered by batteries and are electrically charged. Buyers may want to check available charging stations first before saving their hard earned money for a brand new autonomous car. Since the technology is young, it is no wonder that there are only few charging stations available.
These cars are truly innovative and cost efficient in terms of daily use. And, like any other new technology, almost everyone is excited and would want to get their hands on one as soon as they can. What is really important is that everyone is aware of the capabilities of what they are purchasing, be it a petrol or an electric car.
Although understandable, Tesla's announcement to delay may make a big impact on the autonomous car market. Other manufacturers may use it as an opportunity to lead the race in the market, and may cost Tesla a huge amount of revenue. The decision, anyway, will still be left to the prospective buyers.
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After the long wait and the recently released 3DS version of the game, Super Smash Bros. finally has a release date for the Wii U.
With some leaked information from other major game retailers hinting for a November release, Nintendo has finally broke its silence and announced that Super Smash Bros. will be available in North America on November 21 and December 5 on UK along with the Amiibo figurines releasing at the same day for their respective regions.
Nintendo also confirmed that they will be selling a Gamecube gamepad adapter for $19.99 and the Super Smash Bros. themed gamepad for $29.99, there’s also the $99 bundle pack that includes the game, Smash-themed controller and GCN Adapter. There is also revealed an Amiibo bundle pack which include the game and a Amiibo figure, no pricing has been announced for the said bundle.
The Amiibo will have its first wave of figures on the release day, it’ll include Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Link, Fox (Star Fox), Samus (Metroid), Wii Fit Trainer, Villager (Animal Crossing), Pikachu, Kirby and Marth (Fire Emblem)


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In the 1970s and 1980s, E. F. Hutton was one of the best known brokerage houses in the United States. A Madison Avenue ad-maker came up with the tagline, “When E. F. Hutton talks, people listen.” The same could be said about successful people in general. When a successful man makes a decision, it’s a good idea to listen, if you want to be successful also.
Hairdressers, sandwich shops, spas and even escort services have all jumped on the bandwagon to accept bitcoins. Lawyers have been slow to embrace the digital currency that is sweeping through the marketplace. As Bitcoin has grown in popularity, attorneys from Wall Street to Main Street are starting to take a look at this new digital currency.
One driving force behind the legal profession’s attention is the continual need to maintain client confidentiality. In New York there is a criminal defense lawyer who accepts bitcoins. Checks and credit cards can create an unwelcome paper trail, a problem that is eliminated with Bitcoin.
Noted criminal defense attorney, Arkady Bukh, specializes in cyber criminal cases. Bukh has begun accepting the digital currency as payment helping ensure the privacy his clients expect and demand.
Bukh, attorney for alleged Boston Marathon conspirator, Azamat Tazhayakov, has also represented Russian cyber criminals and international hackers. As Bukh met with his clients, he became aware of the potential for bitcoins in his law firm. Listening to his clients talk about their experiences with the currency, Bukh’s interest was ignited. As an attorney representing high-tech cyberhackers, Bukh was intrigued by the online-based currency. The ability to protect client confidentiality was a side benefit which led to the decision.
Bukh says that using bitcoins doesn’t put him or his firm at any more risk than accepting cash. “In my field, people want to keep things as hush, hush as possible,” Bukh says. “I don’t see a downside, it is traded on public exchanges.”
Bukh, in addition to Tazhayakov, has also represented Russian digital pickpockets and international hackers, like Igor Klopov, Oleg Nikolaenko, Sergey Tsurikov, Dmitry Naskovets, Dmitry Smilyanets, Vlad Horohorin, and a host of others.
A partial reading of his client list, and their accomplishments, is like reading the names of the recent inductees into a Criminal Hall of Fame.
Igor Klopov, targeted Forbes 400 individuals including a close friend of former President George W. Bush; Oleg Nikolaenko, dubbed “King of Spam” by the FBI. Nikolaenko was responsible for one-third of the world’s spam before being arrested in 2009.
Sergey Tsurikov led a ring that hacked into RSB ATM’s and walked away with a cool $9.5 million dollars over a twelve-hour period; Dmitry Naskovets ran a website that was an online garage sale for identity thieves. Designed to bypass the normal security measures that banks and businesses have, Naskovets helped over 2,000 hackers swipe millions of dollars.
Dmitry Smilyanets, most widely known as the founder of a championship electronic gaming team called Moscow 5, traveled the world for competitions. Smilyanets was able to steal over 130 million credit cards.
Finally, Vlad Horohorin, who was described by the US Secret Service as one of its five most wanted cyber criminals globally.
Bukh’s success with these clients? While collectively they were facing hundreds of years in prison, most received sentences of less than ten years. One got probation.
Bitcoin and International Transactions
Bukh says that deciding to accept Bitcoin was a smart decision for dealing with some of his international clients as well. International financial exchanges can be huge headaches. Wire transfers are expensive and time consuming. Bitcoin offers a lower rate than routine wire transfers. With credit card processing, typical processing fees can be as high as 3-5 percent whereas Bitcoin services are usually less than 1 percent.
The Ethical Issues of Accepting Bitcoin
Bukh explained how attorneys can accept Bitcoin from clients and covert them into dollars while still complying with rules on professional responsibility. If an attorney is paid in Bitcoin and its value is $1,000, the lawyer can take the digital legal tender and convert it into $1,000 today. The Bitcoin value may change, but once converted, the $1,000 credited to a bank account remains stable. That factor makes the acceptance of Bitcoin legal and ethical.
Bitcoin can be accepted for legal services just as precious metals or other valuable. The Model Rules note that a fee for legal services must be “reasonable.” When accepting Bitcoin, a practice should be sure to use the current Bitcoin/USD rate exchange as a guide. When it comes time to billing clients most attorneys include a simple line in the contract such as “$1,000 USD or its present Bitcoin equivalent.”
While the Model Rules allow it, the reader may want to double check with specific jurisdictional rules for more information.
Bukh believes that over the next 12 months more security around Bitcoin will be developed. He also sees the possibility of global regulation on the digital currency. While recognizing the current issues surrounding Bitcoins, Bukh feels that the quicker that issues facing Bitcoin are defined, the quicker the digital currency will have a stabilized market and value. Until then, Bukh has no plans to abandon, bitcoin or the privacy, the digital currency offers his clients.
Just how successful is Bukh? On February 27, 2013, Oleg Nikolaenko, the “King of Spam” walked away with a three-year probation. Igor Klopov, who targeted members of the elite Forbes 400 got three-and-a-half years.


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Elmwood Memorial Hospital's cold avocado soup.From the early 1900s, when Louis Diat, head chef at New York’s Ritz-Carlton Hotel, invented vichyssoise by combining potatoes, leeks and onions with cream, diners have enjoyed a growing repertoire of soups that bring refreshment in hot weather.
Traditional chilled favorites include borscht, the cold beet soup that originated in Russia and Poland, and gazpacho, a tomato-based soup rich in flavors. But many operators are creating new variations.
At Pfizer in Madison, N.J., for example, Chef Eric Schneider likes to offer customers a chilled cucumber soup in warmer weather. Last year, when he was working on summer menus, Schneider introduced a Grand Marnier ginger cantaloupe soup, which was garnished with a cilantro lime cream on top, which he says was very popular.
“I also do a chilled pickled watermelon soup with sugar and vinegar, simmered with the pickled rind and puréed,” Schneider says. “I julienne the watermelon with a mandoline and garnish the soup with it.”
Trying new things: Randy Sparrow, director of food and nutrition services at Indiana University Health in Bloomington, Ind., says he thinks his customers need to become better acquainted with cold soups, but once they have the chance to try them they quickly become fans. The health center serves 1 million meals annually between the café, patients and other facilities.
“When we do special theme days we might sell 25 or 50 servings of a cold soup,” Sparrow says. “We do cold fruit soups in the warmer months and we’ve run gazpacho as a special.”
Sparrow also offered a series of cooking classes, including one on cold soups, which helped make people more familiar with the concept and tried to change their perceptions. “Everyone is pretty open to new options, but sometimes they’ll admit that ‘it’s not as bad as I expected!’”
Sparrow’s customers are not as fond of some of the options such as a chilled squash soup and a pumpkin soup. “They like the fruit soups,” Sparrow says.
The residents of Edgewood, a continuing care retirement community in North Andover, Mass., where meal counts number around 400 a day, tend to favor gazpacho, according to Lou DiAngelo, director of nutrition. “Vichyssoise is also very popular, and we will do cold strawberry or cold melon too.”
Shonna Sherman, executive chef manager at Boylston Place, a high-end senior living facility in Chestnut Hill, Mass., makes gazpacho for the residents, who also like potato leek soup. “As the weather gets warmer, I introduce different soups, made from scratch
with fresh local ingredients. Sometimes, I’ll try a chilled fruit soup like blueberry with a dollop of sour cream.”
Mike Brimer, executive chef at Elmwood Memorial Hospital, Elmwood, Ill., says this summer he plans to offer a cold avocado soup, which customers enjoyed last summer. Brimer says the soup will reappear on the menu because it was perceived as a healthy option with lower fat than some soups.
“We do a tomato with basil that’s very popular and a crab soup with roasted red peppers,” Brimer says.
Chilled soups aren’t served only during summer months, Brimer adds. During the fall his farmers’ markets offer cold soups. “We did a cold pumpkin soup for one with a little coconut, cumin and coriander,” Brimer says.
Building an audience: Joanne McMillian, R.D., director of food and nutrition services at Saint Clare’s Health System in Danville, N.J., says after the success of a cold soup at a catering event she is planning to do more. “Scott Chapman, our executive chef, just did a cold strawberry champagne soup for a catering event,” McMillian says.
“We just changed our retail menus and will be doing a lot more cold soups,” Chapman adds. “We have vichyssoise, watermelon, gazpacho and regular melon soups. Our customers love the strawberry champagne.”
At Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., Director of Culinary Operations Martin Breslin also does a strawberry champagne soup along with minted melon, gazpacho, blueberry and orange, and chilled tomato.
“They love cold soups in hot weather,” Breslin says. “Chilled soups are so simple to make. One that I love is fresh tomato and extra virgin olive oil. It’s tomato, bread and olive oil. We also do a gazpacho with golden tomatoes and serve it with Maine lump crab, which makes for a great presentation.”
In suburban Cleveland, Jeff Potocnik, foodservice director at Lincoln Electric, a manufacturer of welding supplies that operates its own foodservice facilities, likes to do cucumber soup or cold melon soup with cantaloupe and fresh strawberries puréed with honey and agave. “We serve it in six-ounce cups with cold sandwiches,” Potocnik says.
At The New York Times cafeteria, in New York, Michael Smith, executive chef for Restaurant Associates, likes to offer a chilled roasted sweet potato soup with curried shrimp and sliced scallions and apple. “We do it with a stock that has a little spice from jalapeño peppers,” Smith says. “We also do heirloom tomato soup and a summer melon soup with thick Greek-style yogurt and mint, and a cucumber and avocado soup too.”
Cold soup challenges: At Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tenn., Camp Howard, director of dining, says chilled soups can be “awkward in a quick-service type environment where customers serve themselves.” Howard notes that customers tend to think the soup has turned cold rather than the soup was designed to be served cold. He adds that the department tends to do more with cold soups in catering, where it offers shooters of cold melon, strawberry or oyster gazpacho soups. “The guests pick up a small shot of big flavor,” Howard says.
Cyndi Gloodt, general manager for Sodexo at Chicago’s Northern Trust Bank, agrees that cold soups don’t do well in self-serve situations. “They do better in table service settings where they can be nicely garnished and served with better presentation,” Gloodt says.


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Time: 07:30:00 - 10:00:00
Place: MCLE, Inc. 10 Winter Place
Three months into a completely new revenue strategy (its third to date), CampusLIVE Inc. is stacking up name-brand customers, and sources said the startup is close to putting the final ink on at least $1 million in a Series A round with Highland Capital Partners.
CampusLive started in Amherst in 2006 as a campus home page provider for college students. In 2010, the company raised $400,000 in angel funds, added a video chat service and began working with restaurants to publish menus and provide analytics related to student engagement. Since late October, it’s been selling a service to brands that publishes “challenges” – social games and raffle-style contests designed to increase engagement with student populations. Its list of a little more than two dozen customers so far includes Ace Ticket, Peter Pan Bus Lines, Hotelplanner.com and UMass Amherst, and the client re-sign rate is 95 percent, the company reported. CEO and founder Boris Revsin said the service is like Groupon, “but you don’t have to take out your credit card.”
Revsin declined to discuss the company’s future financing plans but said the company has about 100,000 students signed on at 283 universities, and is growing at a rate of about 5,000 members a week. Building on a baseline of users of its original home-page service, the company was able to grow its user number with email marketing campaigns, Revsin said. Now, the service is spreading by word of mouth. Over the next two weeks, the company is hoping to more than double its number of schools, he added. CampusLive adds service on a campus as soon as it gets at least 50 inbound requests from new users, he said.
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Russians drink less beer, Baltika's volumes drop
Baltika has eight breweries in Russia and was taken over by Carlsberg in 2008. On Thursday, Carlsberg announced a 4,8 billion Danish kroner (€645 million) impairment of the Baltika brewery in Russia, the business newspaper Børsen reports.
Sales in Russia was last year impacted by the government’s decision to downsize plastic bottles, Carlsberg says. A new law introduced in mid-2016 limits plastic bottle sizes to a maximum of 1,5 liters.
«Our Russian volumes and market share were severely impacted by the PET [bottle] downsizing,» the company tells.
Baltika, and its sub-brands like Sibirskaya Corona, Arsenalnoye, Yarpivo and Nevskoye, had a 14% drop in sales last year.
Russia’s Health Minister, Veronika Skvortsova, said to Kommersant in January that alcohol consumption in the country is down 80% over the last five years. Asked by BBC to detail the figures, the health ministry, though, declined to elaborate. BBC reports, based on Rosstat figures, that the official sale of alcohol is down 30% and not 80% as claimed by the minister.
Russians on average drank the equivalent of 6.6 litres of pure alcohol last year, according to Rosstat, which said this included 6,6 litres of vodka and spirits, 57 litres of beer, 7,3 litres of wine, sparkling wine and champagne.


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Rafael Reyes on Saturday, 25 August 2012 16:36
BMW is expanding its premium car-sharing program in San Francisco. The car maker’s DriveNow program launched in the Bay Area in June with 70 electric vehicles, and BMW announced that its ParkNow offering will debut there next month. To borrow one of the 70 luxury cars available, customers can register online or in person, and use the DriveNow website or mobile app to locate and reserve a vehicle. Fully electric, zero-emission BMW ActiveE cars are parked at eight DriveNow stations around San Francisco. Read more here.
- as seen on the Daily Bright Spot www.cabrightspot.org


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Sir James Dyson, the UK billionaire, revealed his previously cancelled BEV prototype that sports some exceptional performance specs. The SUV remains cancelled, largely because it was expected to have too high a production cost, even at scale. Dyson, famous for his line of vacuums, is a serial inventor, whose team has relevant expertise in design, batteries, and DC motors. And while Dyson has an impressive track record for innovation, business, and delivering on promises, we're still finding room for doubt that his car could have doubled the range of the biggest Tesla SUV battery. As it stands, we'll never know.
To read the full Engadget article, click here.


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The developers once popular messenger ICQ, is now owned by Mail.Ru Group, said the release of an updated version of the client for mobile devices based on Android.
The interface of ICQ for Android is now adapted for tablets and meets requirements Material Design. As a result, the tablet is visible on one screen and a list of contacts and a chat window. The interface adapts to the size and resolution of the display device. Also, the messenger moved to a new VoIP-engine, resulting in improved stability and audiozvonkov video.
Another innovation was the introduction of support for smart hours on the platform Android Wear. As a result, the screen will display gadget notifications and text messages, and provide chat can watch using voice dialing.
ICQ for Android is available for free download in Google Play.


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On April 19, Randy Garutti, the CEO of Shake Shack, took to LinkedIn to explain why his company—which operates 275 locations worldwide and has a market cap of $1.8 billion—applied for federal small-business assistance under the Paycheck Protection Program.
Garutti’s 1,200-word post was a far-ranging treatise that touched on everything from the importance of eateries (“Restaurants function as the lifeblood of the U.S. economy and the nation’s spirit”) to the vagaries of applying for the loan (“The PPP came with no user manual, and it was extremely confusing”) to an acknowledgement that many genuinely small businesses wound up with no money at all (“We now know that … many who need it most haven’t gotten any assistance.”)
Shake Shack returned the $10 million it received, and was the first such company to do so. And while the fast-casual burger chain received many kudos for that gesture, a number of the responses to Garruti’s missive reflected anything but goodwill.
“You and other shithole companies … took advantage of loans meant for small businesses,” raged one reader. “Just shows what kind of company you really are.” Huffed another: “Good at making excuses but probably nothing else.” And a third: “Great PR student for you to coax out good will [sic], but let’s be real.”
By now, most everyone has heard of the debacle that characterized the distribution of $349 billion worth of aid money through the federal Small Business Administration. Owing to a single paragraph nestled somewhere in the 900-page, $2 trillion rescue package, scores of very large companies were able to obtain federal assistance as “small” businesses. And while many of them were industrial firms that the average man on the street had never heard of, a notable few were prominent consumer-facing brands including Potbelly sandwich shops, the upmarket Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse chain, the Los Angeles Lakers and, most visible of all, Shake Shack.
But now that the hubbub has died down and the media spotlight has moved on, a key marketing question remains for these and other big brands that accepted small-business aid money: Will they suffer any damage—reputational or financial—as a result of the headlines? And are angry consumers likely to exact their revenge once business gets back to normal?
Speculation about the latter issue varies. On the one hand, news of the small-business aid money going to big brands was so widespread (and at a time that many Americans have short tempers anyway) that some believe a backlash is unavoidable.
“I’ll use Shake Shack [as an example]—they’re getting hit,” said Eric Yaverbaum, the author of Public Relations for Dummies and founder of New York public relations firm Ericho Communications. “They tried to take money that wasn’t really theirs, and they lamely apologized. The fact they apologized so quickly will help them over the long term. But in the short term, nobody’s going to forget Shake Shack. Yes, they will absolutely take a hit in the short term.”
To be sure, a quick check of the Twittersphere turns up no shortage of gall. Podcaster Kenyon Laing tweeted that her own small business lost 40% of its revenue in April and she received no loan money. “But I’m so glad MASSIVE corporations […] with millionaire owners will get thru ‘these uncertain times.'”
But other observers told Adweek these brands might well win this case in the court of public opinion—not because consumers aren’t red-faced but because, ironically, Covid-19 itself could act in their favor by keeping Americans at home long enough for the angry ones to get over their fury.
“My sense is that brand reputation damage is a long-term outcome, and I don’t think they’re going to experience that,” said David Lemley, president and chief strategist of Retail Voodoo. The pandemic and the lockdown it’s brought about, Lemley explains, have afforded brands a “grace period. And by the time we’re able to go out and imbibe, we’ll be so enamored by the possibility of going out and enjoying a meal somewhere that we will flock to the [restaurants we like]—not because they were good citizens, but because they deliver on the promise of a dining experience.”
How big businesses could seem small
Rolled out on April 3, the Paycheck Protection Program suffered from a glut of applications, confusion over how to apply and, since the Small Business Administration allocated the funds through some 5,000 lenders, charges that businesses with standing relationships with large banking institutions received more attention than the little guys. Terms of the aid specified that businesses had to use at least 75% of the money to meet payroll obligations within an eight-week window and, if they do, the loan will convert to a grant.
Whether it was an indicator of the favorable terms or just the immense need, the $349 billion pool of money drained away in just two weeks, forcing Congress to drop another $310 billion into the kitty, money that banks began distributing on April 27.
But it was a single paragraph in the legislation that wound up creating much of the news and, soon afterwards, much of the public anger. While Congress broadly defined a “small business” as one with fewer than 500 employees, one section of the legislation stipulated that an eligible businesses could have 500 of fewer employees “per physical location.” That opened the door for some rather large corporations (over 100 publicly traded companies, in fact) to apply for funding and be approved.
Among them were consumer brands including Red Lion Hotels, hot dog chain Nathan’s, casual-dining outfit J. Alexander’s, and U.S. Auto Parts Network, a large manufacturer in the aftermarket accessories space. But the companies that generated the most attention were household names including Potbelly, which received $10 million in aid despite a market cap of $71.2 million. Ruth’s Chris, the expense-account steakhouse whose Q4 revenues hit $135 million, received $20 million in assistance.
The L.A. Lakers also received small business assistance to the tune of $4.6 million, even though it’s the second-most valuable franchise in the NBA and is valued somewhere north of $4 billion. (With only 300 people on the payroll, the Lakers met the letter of the law.)
Of the brands above, all but Red Lion Hotels have announced they are returning the money.
How afraid should these brands be?
At first blush, it would seem these companies are in for their day of reckoning with consumers. A Morning Consult survey released Wednesday found that only 1 in 5 Americans felt that the SBA loans were distributed fairly. And a PR News survey released April 30 found that the reputation damage stemming from the SBA loan debacle is likely to be shared equally by the federal government and the big “small” brands that took the money: 48% of Americans pin the blame on Uncle Sam, and 52% on companies.
Significantly, 45% of respondents said big brands would suffer “significant” damage to their reputations for having taken money earmarked for little brands.
But it seems just as likely that, as Lemley suggested, brands might well dodge this particular bullet, if for no other reason than Americans have a lot of time to cool their heels at home and, come the day they head out to eat again, they’re likely to have gotten over it. He’s not the only expert to feel that way.
“Whatever the impact is, is going to be vastly diffused because we have Covid-19 underway,” said Pacific Management Consulting Group founder John A. Gordon, who’s spent 45 years working in restaurant operations. Gordon points out that, right now, restaurants are either doing business on a take-out and delivery basis only, or are simply shuttered altogether. As a result, “consumers’ consumption patterns are extremely disrupted by this thing and, as we all know, people are not going to return to normal patterns for a considerable period of time,” he said.
“If this had happened while there were normal consumption patterns and normal retail patterns and normal mobility patterns, these companies would have had a miserable slap on the face by the consumers,” Gordon added. “But this impact will be muted at best, because of everything else.”
Eric Schiffer, an entrepreneur, author and reputation-management expert, compares consumers’ ire at these companies to what happens with brand boycotts: “a period of emotional peak, and then a dissipation,” he said. “Time is the best friend of a brand that’s under assault because the media cycle ends and their branding and advertising cycle kicks in, and so you then get a one-way channel, and advertising always rules and the brand is reshaped. There are few brands that don’t benefit from this condition unless they continue to do further harm.”
Maybe they got a bum rap
Adweek reached out to Ruth’s Chris, Potbelly, the Lakers and Shake Shack, but only Shake Shack responded by press time. Speaking on background, a company representative said the negative responses so apparent on social media don’t represent the broader sentiments of the consumer community, which applauded the chain’s decision to give the money back.
But what about the decision to take the money in the first place? While it’s easy to assume that all of it was little more than a greedy cash grab, the truth appears to be more nuanced.
None of these chains was violating the law by applying for the money. As for the poor optics, those arose after it became clear that mom-and-pop operations were being shut out—a fact that Shake Shack said it did not realize when it was submitting its paperwork. For its part, in a prepared statement Potbelly said: “We were surprised and disappointed when the fund was quickly exhausted, leaving many without help.”
Gordon added that even if some of the companies applying for the loans were big brands, it was a case of executives making decisions under pressure about how to preserve their payrolls in a crisis—not screwing the little guy.
“This is the largest single challenge to the restaurant industry ever. Even before WWII, there’s been nothing like this,” he said. “Their major issue has been to get the restaurants and staff secured and to preserve cash. They just might not have been able to take the time to think. And as a result, when they went to their banks and said: ‘I need more working capital because I’m in shut-down mode,’ [their banker] said, ‘Well, your best option right now is the PPP.’”
As for what these brands should do about a damaged image going forward, that’s a job for the marketing department. “If Shake Shack was smart,” Yaverbaum said, “what they’d do is make some gesture to small business.”
Such as? “A free burger!” he said. “That would be a good PR move for them.”
Don't miss Brandweek Masters Live, Sept. 14-17, a fully reimagined virtual experience assembling the foremost brand marketers for 4 days of main stage insights, Masterclasses and more. Secure your pass before rates increase on 9/2.


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SOTHEBY’S 2017 AUCTIONS UP 13% TO $4.7 BILLION WORLDWIDE
Sotheby’s concluded its 2017 auctions this week, prompting the auction house to announce their results for the year. According to a press release, Sotheby’s raked in $4.7 billion from its auctions worldwide in 2017 – a 13.1% increase over 2016.
Asia has been especially good to Sotheby’s this year. According to the auction house, Asian clients contributed $1.6 billion – over 30% of Sotheby’s 2017 worldwide sales. Additionally, 23% of all lots were sold online, raking in “more than $180 million” in 2017.
Last week, Sotheby’s Jewellery division announced that its sales for 2017 totaled $551,300,000, making it the world auction leader in this category. Major highlights in 2017 included: world auction record for any diamond or gemstone, with “The CTF Pink Star” ($71.2 million in Hong Kong in April); and a world auction record for earrings, with “The Memory of Autumn Leaves” and “The Dream of Autumn Leaves” ($57.4 million, Geneva, May). All in all, Sotheby’s has sold 4 of the 5 most expensive jewels offered at auction during 2017. In addition, Sotheby’s said that 32% of buyers were new to Sotheby’s; and that 23% of lots were purchased online.


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Originally posted on VentureBeat:
After a year of investigation, FTC investigators recommended charging Google under antitrust laws after agents found that Google illegally abused its power as the dominant search engine. Now, however, Google may be ending the FTC probe and heading off any pending legal action by promising to change and be good.
After all, Santa knows who’s naughty and who’s nice.
Google, which makes over $100 million each and every day, has added so much advertising and sponsored results in the past year that some have called its actions a “war on free clicks.” Most troubling of all are the prominent positioning of Google’s own services — especially for local search and shopping results — at the top of Google search engine result pages (SERPs).
Now, however, Google is planning to change its business practices in at least two ways, according to a Bloomberg story. The search giant…
View original 193 more words


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Xbox Store to launch its biggest sale ever tomorrow
Xbox is advertising that it's biggest sale ever gets underway on December 22nd with 40% to 60% off games, which may include the latest blockbusters.
The Xbox Store's "biggest sale ever" gets underway tomorrow with the countdown trailer promising "epic games, great deals, and no lines."
The standard discount will range between 40% and 60% off selected titles, while those with a Gold membership will save even more. The sale will feature more than 200 daily and weekly deals.
The promotional video for the sale also exclaims, "And for the first time ever...great deals on the greatest games." We get to see a panning shot of titles like Halo 5: Guardians, Rise of the Tomb Raider, Forza Motorsport 6, and Gears of War," giving us just a hint of what titles may be on offer.
There's not long to wait; the Xbox Store sale gets underway on December 22nd.


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City of Bryan says Planet K is operating without a permit
Planet K on Texas Avenue says it's open for business, but the City of Bryan won’t turn on the lights because the Austin-based business doesn't have a commercial permit.
The city has also said that land isn't zoned for that kind of business, but that's not stopping Planet K from still selling its paraphernalia in the parking lot.
At a news conference Friday, the business said it has also reached an agreement with Texas A&M and will remove all Aggie-related images from it's mural on the building. The issue of copyright and trademark violations were brought to the university's attention after the mural was complete.
Residents like Richter say their biggest concern is what's around the corner from the head shop: a school, daycare, and a local church.
"I understand business and everything, and I understand there's a need for it, but just the location of where it's at does bring up some concerns," said Bryan resident, Veronica Richter.
Planet K's owner Michael Kleinman says he's not a threat.
"We do not sell pornography. We do sell sexual aides of all kinds.” Kleinman continued. “The only way that kids can go in is with their parents. So, if parents don't want their kids to go in, they just don't go in."
But Kleinman didn't have many answers when we asked why he didn't have a permit to operate a business.
“Talk to the City of Bryan. I don’t know why, they’ve got issues,” Kleinman said.
In the parking lot, they are selling things like grinders, pipes, and vape oils. The City of Bryan says the store submitted paperwork for a commercial permit, but they were denied due to insufficient documentation.
"They don't get to afflict their choice on me or our customers or our business. If people don't want to come in the store, they don't have to," Kleinman said.
The City of Bryan says a vendor permit is required to sell items in a parking lot, and Planet K does not have one. The City says it's notifying the owner and they're giving them a chance to rectify the issue before taking action.
Related StoriesExclusive: Planet K facing several hurdles with city of Bryan, Texas A&M
Neighbors pushing back against new Planet K location in Bryan
State agency seeks to educate parents about smoke shops, paraphernalia
City of Bryan asking Planet K to remove sign by Sept. 6
Bryan City Council to receive legal advice regarding 'adult novelty' shops


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Seeing thousands of you stand up in defense of our strike and against Uber's greed has been so deeply moving. Striking is the hardest decision workers have to make, even when you win, because of the isolation that follows. Your solidarity brings us light in these dark times, in so many ways.
Uber, more than any other share-the-scraps company, has used liberal rhetoric to woo progressives all the while retaining three times more lobbyists than Wal-Mart to push for policies that keep workers poor. It's not shocking that Uber would put greed above social principles. It does that to drivers every day.
Now is the time for all those who value justice and equality to join together in holding Uber accountable, not only for its complicity with Trump's hateful policies but also for impoverishing workers.
Uber's greed and disregard for social values was evident before the company's CEO Travis Kalanick became an advisor to Donald Trump. And Uber drivers along with other professional drivers bear the brunt of that greed.
Make no mistake, the corporations leading the gig economy and the sharing economy will never be a part of the resistance. Backed by billions of dollars in Wall Street funding, these companies, including Uber and Lyft, are upending labor standards for which workers have spent centuries fighting. Sharing is the new euphemism for worker exploitation, meaning that workers share the scraps after corporations loot profits. Even as these corporations make million-dollar pledges today, they still refuse to abide by Minimum Wage laws.
We are a workforce that is predominantly Muslim and Sikh, a workforce that is predominantly black and brown, and a workforce that is increasingly impoverished. Uber and other so-called sharing economy actors are predicated on turning full-time jobs into part-time gigs, keeping workers impoverished and fragmented, making it harder to take action - at a loss to the workers and to civil society as we know it. That's why we are so incredibly proud of our members, including Uber drivers, who stood up to the injustice of the Muslim ban on Saturday.
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance represents all professional drivers in New York City, uniting those who drive Yellow Cabs, Green Cars, and Black Cars, including app-dispatched drivers for companies like Uber and Lyft.
Let's hold Uber and every single corporation accountable for its greed-at-all-cost complicity in this inhumane policy and every such policy that follows. And let's equally hold them accountable for the policies of impoverishment.


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The effects of the US-China trade conflict are being felt across the world. South Africa, for example, could see damages to its economy of €200 million, as its steel industry is being hit by tariffs already imposed.
G8 countries cancelled the debts of 18 African countries in 2005. But many of these countries now face bankruptcy again. Is China really to blame, as many in the West believe?
The US is suspending its participation in the INF treaty, with an eye to full withdrawal in six months. That does not bode well for the future — and especially not for peace in Europe, warns Max Hofmann.
An annual poll by Gallup shows that the global popularity ratings for all world leaders has declined. That indicates dwindling stability around the world, Gallup President Kancho Stoychev told DW.
The charges against Chinese telecommunications giant Huawei and its CFO, Meng Wanzhou, have been unveiled in two unsealed indictments. China has urged the US to "stop the unreasonable crackdown" on its companies.
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Motorway has partnered with BT Sport to co-sponsor its coverage of the Premier League and the UEFA Europa League.
The sponsorship agreement will span 127 live games across BT Sport’s coverage of the 2022-2023 season, with the first game on August 6.
A series of five- and ten-second idents will be shown before games, during half-time and after games. The campaign is expected to reach more than 5.9m people.
Motorway’s partnership with BT Sport follows its recent sponsorship of the Guinness Six Nations coverage across 2022 and 2023.
Lloyd Page (pictured), CMO at Motorway, said: "We're proud to partner with BT Sport and to play a role in bringing not just the beautiful game, but some of the most exciting football leagues in the world, to millions of football fans via our sponsorship of BT’s coverage of the Premier League, UEFA Europa League and UEFA Europa Conference League.
“With record numbers of motorists selling their cars online through Motorway this year, this sponsorship gives us an incredible opportunity to continue driving awareness of our platform - and help our nationwide network of more than 5,000 dealers get even greater access to the best used car stock, 100% online.”
Motorway has reported a 200% uplift in used vehicles sales via its online marketplace in the first half of 2022.
Record numbers of motorists turned to the online car buying site during the period, with daily sales of over 1,000 vehicles helping to generate resulting in over £750 million in completed transactions.
The number of verified dealers in Motorway’s nationwide network now exceeds 5,600 across franchised and independent dealerships, up from 3,000 in November 2021.


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Mar 28, 2019 at 10:14
DragonEx Crypto Exchange Hacked, Users to be Compensated
Giant Singapore-based crypto exchange DragonEx announced on Tuesday March 26, that its platform has been attacked by anonymous hackers who escaped with a weighty amount of user funds. The overall amount of stolen funds is not yet known.
Mar 14, 2019 at 14:52
Samsung Galaxy S10 Blockchain Wallet Supports Ethereum, not Bitcoin
The electronics bull, Samsung has officially declared that the blockchain and cryptocurrency wallet for its Galaxy S10 phone is at this time compatible only with Ethereum (ETH) and Ethereum-derived ERC20 coins. Bitcoin (BTC) and other major cryptocurrencies are not yet supported, regardless of the BTC logo surfacing on previous pre-release presentation pictures.
Nov 07, 2018 at 13:27
Bank of America Finally Wins Patent for Secure Digital Currency Storage System
Several financial institutions have recently been hedging their bets or completely integrating cryptos. The proper acquisition and filing of patents is how big organizations express their interest in a particular field, and Bank of America (BofA) still leads, one for "tamper-responsive". On October 30, 2018, BofA put yet another crypto-related patent to its major collection of over 50 applications that were filed in similar field.


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Fake Brussels Airport 'lost luggage sale' ads traced to Kenya
Ads on social media that claim people can buy luggage lost at Brussels Airport for just €1.95 are a scam, consumers are being warned.
The ads, which are posted by an account called ‘Brussels Airport’, claim to sell abandoned or lost luggage and all the "surprise" contents within, RTBF reports.
They are often accompanied by a multitude of glowing comments that seem to bolster the legitimacy of the sale, but these are false.
“These are obviously fake accounts,” said Brussels Airport spokesperson Nathalie Piérard. “They are scams, and unfortunately there are more and more of them on social networks.”
The ads feature a ‘buy’ button that directs would-be victims to a website that tries to obtain their bank details.
A Belgian contact number listed for the page has a prefix of 01 (whereas the airport’s official numbers have an 02 prefix), but calls are met with an automatic message explaining that the number does not exist.
The WhatsApp account associated with the user posting the ads is tied to a number with an area code in Kenya, RTBF found, and the ‘Brussels Airport’ Facebook account itself has only a few photos of luggage and the airport while others show wedding or graduation ceremonies that seemingly took place somewhere in Africa.
“Brussels Airport obviously doesn't handle lost luggage in this way – there are very strict procedures in place, both on the part of the baggage handling companies for baggage that has already been checked in, and on the part of the airport for any objects, bags or other items that you forget in the terminal,” said Piérard.
“In both cases, these items go through a whole procedure. They are classified and every effort is made to trace their owners. These objects and luggage would never just appear on a Facebook account.”
Brussels Airport is asking that people never respond to this type of advertisement and instead report the fake accounts that post them, adding that the airport has already reported several such accounts to Facebook itself, requesting that they be deleted.


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The Pop Up Expert Excites CUC Students
By Maci Killman
l-r Stephen Brooks, Marge Johnsson, Emily Carpenter, and Linh Trinh
CEO and founder of The Pop Up Expert, Stephen Brooks, brought life to a lecture hall on a Thursday evening on the Sept. 21st at Concordia University Chicago (CUC). What can sometimes be a drowsy and tiresome end to a long day for students became animated with an English accent on why retail is still alive. Malls may be a dying community, but the retail industry is not. In the first of CUC’s College of Business Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship’s Expert Third Thursday Entrepreneurship Speaker Series, retail industry expert, Stephen Brooks explained why retail and thriving.
“Technology itself is not the real disrupter, being non-customer-centric is the biggest threat to any business,” said Brooks. Retail, at its core is shopping and online retailers, such as Amazon, have become masters of customer-centric service and operations. According to Brooks, Amazon currently spends $3 billion on video content, and he advised retailers and all businesses to post video content to social media as an interactive, engaging way to introduce and showcase what the business is selling. This is especially essential, for pop-up store with only a limited timeframe.
Brooks pointed out that despite the prevalence of online purchasing, the essentials of shopping haven’t changed much since the introduction of shopping malls in the 1950s. “Retail is still all about engaging with a consumer,” he stated. Consumers still shop for best value, still shop locally, and still desire excellent customer service.
According to Brooks, “78 percent of people want to touch, feel, and engage with a product before buying.” This is an opportunity for bricks-and-mortar retailers to intentionally interact with consumers, from the moment they pick up a product, to their exit from a dressing room, and their decision and attempt to purchase at a check-out counter. People will return to the store and buy again, if they felt that they received great customer service.
Brooks even considers partially empty shopping malls as a strategic retail opportunity. This is where Brooks introduces pop-up stores or stores that stand-alone. Selling your product with no wall-to-wall neighbors allows people to more quickly make purchase decisions, as there is less temptation to comparison shop at another store.
From the Q&A session at the end of the speaking event, Brooks’ reply to one question from the audience shed light on why pop-up stores are doing so well in the U.K. compared to the U.S. pop-up stores. According to Brooks, the administrative process for opening a pop-up store in the U.S. is much more complicated than the UK. Brooks stated that landlords in the U.K. require “two sheets of paper,” to get started and are welcoming of short-term leases as opposed to vacant retail space, whereas in the U.S. landlords and malls are still holding out for longer-term retail leases and require would-be pop-up retailers to fill out extensive paperwork before even finding out the rental price for the desired location.
In closing, Brooks advised all businesses to utilize the pop-up retail model to “Test before you invest.” Testing your products for 16-18 weeks allows enough time to determine whether your products are selling well and whether consumers return to the business as repeat customers. This is also a good way to test a turn-around concept or the geographic expansion of a business. “Entrepreneurial life is about taking a risk,” Brooks declared.
Stephen Brooks will be conducting his “7 Secrets to Success” hands-on workshop at CUC’s College of Business on Saturday, October 21, 2017. Contact the Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at CIE@CUChicago.edu for more information about registration and a limited number of free scholarships.
For more information about check out Stephen Brooks’ website https://www.thepopupexpert.com/. Connect with Stephen Brooks on twitter @StephenABrooks, Instagram @stephenabrooks, or LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephenabrooks1/?trk=hp-identity-name to learn more about the pop-up retail expert.


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Indian Motorcycle has denied reports of discontinuing the Scout Sixty model from the India market. We had reported earlier that Indian may be planning to discontinue the Scout Sixty, after new GST prices seeing a 12 per cent reduction in prices of the Indian Scout. But now Polaris India, which markets and sells the Indian Motorcycle brand, has confirmed that there are no plans to discontinue the Scout Sixty. The Scout Sixty is available in the market and would remain in the Indian line-up, Polaris India stated.
The Scout Sixty looks near identical to the Indian Scout, and is a nice mid-size cruiser. The Scout Sixty priced at ₹ 11.99 lakh (ex-showroom), and with the new GST prices, the Indian Scout is now priced at ₹ 12.99 lakh (ex-showroom), making it just ₹ 1 lakh more expensive than the Scout Sixty. The Scout Sixty is powered by a 999 cc, v-twin engine which makes 78 bhp of power and 89 Nm of torque and gets a five-speed transmission. The Indian Scout, on the other hand, has a slightly larger engine displacing 1131 cc with peak power of 100 bhp and 97.7 Nm of peak torque, and has a six-speed transmission.
Indian Motorcycle offers a total of nine models in India, and so far, new GST prices have been announced for just three models - the Indian Scout, the Indian Chief Dark Horse and the Indian Chief Classic. So far, the company has not announced new prices of the other six models in its India line-up.


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Apple Online Store Opens in Turkey With Full Product Lineup
Apple opened its online store to customers in Turkey today, bringing direct ordering of its full lineup of products to the the country's 74 million residents.
Apple is set to open its first Turkish retail store in Instanbul at the beginning of 2014, with several other stores in the country in the pipeline. Earlier this year, Apple launched its online store in Russia as international sales make up an increasing portion of Apple's revenue.
Turkey is not part of the first round of countries selling the iPad Air.


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The holiday season means higher sales for retailers and seasonal opportunities for consumers to give charitably, but it can also mean increased fraud opportunities for criminals. Fraud is a concern year-round, but it gets a new spin during the holidays. Phishing scams can take the form of emails from shipping companies luring consumers to click and enter information, unknowingly infecting their device with malware. Similarly, “Dear Santa” scams target children in an effort to steal personal identifying information to sell and share with third parties wreaking havoc.
Check Fraud Attempts See First Increase since 2008
Check fraud remains one of the most common types of fraud because it’s easy to execute. Forgery, alterations, and counterfeit checks continue to prevail. This ‘old-school’ tactic is lucrative for fraudsters. A report earlier this year from the American Bankers Association noted that between 2014 and 2016, “check fraud losses saw their first increase since 2008, surging by 28% to $789 million”.
Other well-worn tricks that fraudsters deploy include work-from-home, lottery and contest scams. Victims are also socially engineered to cash fraudulent checks or wire funds to criminals posing as legitimate companies, while an “excess of purchases price” scheme is when criminals “mistakenly” send a consumer a check for more than expected and then ask consumers to wire back the extra cash.
In some instances, fraudsters may shop online and have goods shipped to them, only for the payee to realize that the method of payment, usually a check, hasn’t cleared.
High turnover at branch locations may also present vulnerabilities for financial institutions, as novice tellers fall prey to convincing counterfeit checks.
What Credit Unions Need to Consider About Fraud
While the threats are clear, FIs and consumers have multiple lines of defense.
In addition to getting an entire organization on board to fight fraud, credit unions can effectively foil fraudsters if they’re equipped with the right tools, policies, and procedures. This includes extra training for frontline staff before and throughout the holiday season. Staying in constant communication with members about their accounts and the latest fraud scams gives consumers agency to protect themselves. Consumer reports of fraud attempts can alert an organization to patterns and tactics of fraudsters, and give a financial institution an actionable advantage.
Consumers falling victim to holiday fraud means mounting losses for financial institutions.
Regular monitoring of accounts and use of a designated credit card rather than debit cards can help consumers avoid becoming victims. Using one credit card won’t link to a personal account and lessens chances of exposure to breach through multiple cards.
Just as fraudsters share financial institution’s vulnerabilities within their network, communication can benefit credit unions and their members. Taking steps to stay secure shifts the focus from fraud to festivities.
Written by Josh Sheehan is VP, Sales at Advanced Fraud Solutions in High Point, North Carolina, firstname.lastname@example.org, www.advancedfraudsolutions.com.
— originally published in Credit Union Journal


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September 6, 2023
6 Min Read
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We need a new perspective on plastics. Despite significant pressures to reduce the use of plastics and warnings of its environmental impact, plastics play a vital role in achieving a sustainable world and enabling continued societal advancement.
Next month, the United Nations will host an event to mark the International Day of Awareness on Food Loss and Waste Reduction. As the UN notes, in a world where millions remain hungry, we lose 14% of food produced between harvest and retail, and an estimated 17% of global food production is wasted. In the US, according the Department of Agriculture between 30-40% of the food supply is wasted. When that happens, all the resources used to produce the food — including the water, land, energy, labor, and capital — go to waste. According to the USDA, the disposal of this food loss and waste into landfills contributes significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, with organic waste (such as food) emitting methane as it breaks down – a gas that is 25 times as effective as carbon dioxide at trapping heat in the atmosphere.
Without plastic packaging, food waste would be even greater. Every year in the US, about 30 to 40% of the food we grow goes uneaten, according to the US Department of Agriculture and the American Chemistry Council says that the longer a food item stays fresh, the greater its chance of being eaten. Plastics play a vital role in preserving food and preventing loss. It helps reduce food spoilage by providing a protective barrier and extending the shelf life of food, guarding against light, oxygen, heat, and humidity that can degrade perishable foods and beverages. To take one example, plastic film can increase the shelf life of meat by ten times compared to traditional cutting food waste by 75%. We see similar benefits for a wide range of foods.
Eliminating plastics would add to waste, reduce food security and availability, and contribute to increasing the cost of food – at a time when high inflation across countries is already stretching household budgets.
If we want to feed the world and protect the environment, it’s critical to recognize that plastics must continue to have a place in our food systems even as we work together to minimize the material’s environmental impact.
Plastics waste is a growing problem.
The goal here is never to downplay the well-founded environmental concerns surrounding plastic waste. Plastic waste has doubled in the last two decades and is set to triple again by 2060. According to the OECD, globally, only 9% of plastic waste is recycled. The rest is incinerated (19%), dumped in uncontrolled sites (22%), or ends up in regulated landfills (50%).
Faced with a growing problem, governments have begun to act. In 2002, Bangladesh became the first country to ban thin plastic bags, reflecting their role in clogging drainage systems and causing or exacerbating flooding. By 2021, the European Union had banned single-use plastic plates, cutlery, and more as well as cups, food and beverage containers made of expanded polystyrene, and all products made of oxo-degradable plastic.
Most recently, California signed SB 54 into law last year. It’s a bill that by 2032 will require all packaging in the state to be compostable or recyclable. It also requires that by 2032 100% of packaging in the State of California be recyclable or compostable, 25% of plastic packaging be cut, and 65% of all single-use plastic packaging be recycled.
As California’s new law recognizes, reducing plastics is only one part of the solution. Plastics will still be essential not just to protect food but also for various other uses, including pharmaceuticals for packaging pills, medical devices and filtration, and critical medical supply infrastructure.
Moreover, alternatives are not necessarily better for the environment. Plastic is also often lighter than other options, for instance, which means less fuel and lower greenhouse gas emissions to transport it. One study calculated that replacing plastic packaging in Europe with alternatives would boost packaging mass by a factor 3.6 and increase GHG 2.7 times – by 61 million tonnes of CO2. Indeed, plastic’s light weight is the reason it’s a key material in the manufacture of electric vehicles, where it’s used in place of metal to reduce mass and power requirements. As the push for increasing electrification continues, we can expect plastics usage to increase dramatically.
We need to reduce plastic packaging, but also recycle more of it. As noted in California SB-54, the legislation also requires that 65% of all single-use plastic packaging be recycled by 2032.
A workaround that can revolutionize recycling.
Recycling, just like reduction, has its own challenges, however.
Regulations for recycled plastic used in packaging food and medicines are rightly strict as many materials are simply unsuitable for traditional mechanical recycling infrastructures.
Mechanical recycling shreds or crushes plastic waste and then melts it to be reused but doesn’t significantly change the chemical structure. This can be used for PET to make drink bottles — PET is by far the most common plastic that is mechanically recycled.
Other types, however, cannot be processed this way. For instance, thermoset plastics are made of polymers that form irreversible chemical bonds, which cannot be recycled. Cling film is an obvious example. With collection, sorting and processing usually unable to adequately separate different types of plastic waste, less than 10% of plastic waste ends up being recycled.
Since critical properties of mechanically recycled plastics are too compromised for use in food packaging, virgin material derived from fossil sources is typically required. However, there may be a workaround.
Honeywell’s UpCycle Process Technology employs an industry-leading molecular conversion, pyrolysis, and contaminants management technology to convert waste plastic to Honeywell Recycled Polymer Feedstock. This can then be used to create new plastics. And it can do so repeatedly, breaking down waste plastic into its molecular building blocks to create a recycled polymer oil (RPO) that can be used to create new, virgin-quality plastic, closing the circularity loop even for food-grade plastics to both alleviate the plastic waste issue without losing the positive impact plastic affords our food supply chains.
Crucially, the UpCycle Process Technology expands the types of plastics that can be recycled to include colored, flexible, and multilayered packaging, as well as polystyrene — waste that would otherwise go unrecycled.
When used in conjunction with other chemical and mechanical recycling processes — along with improvements to collection and sorting — Honeywell's UpCycle Process Technology has the potential to help recycle nearly 90% of waste plastics. This would represent a considerable increase in the amount of waste plastics that can be turned into polymer feedstock.
It could be a critical technology in our move towards a circular economy, where we continue to reap the benefit of plastics for protecting food and other uses — without costing the earth.
Marc Yagoub is a Global Business Director within the Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions Group. He works at Honeywell UOP Ltd, United Kingdom, where he’s accountable for the Advanced Plastics Recycling portfolio with special focus on closing the plastics circularity gap and driving value for Users.
His full profile is found on LinkedIn.
About the Author(s)
Global Business Director – Advanced Plastics Recycling
Marc Yagoub is a Global Business Director within the Honeywell Sustainable Technology Solutions Group. He works at Honeywell UOP Ltd, United Kingdom .
In his current role, Yagoub is accountable for the Advanced Plastics Recycling portfolio with special focus on closing the plastics circularity gap and driving value for Users. Yagoub has a total of 20 years of experience in the Refining & Petrochemical industry. Marc has 11 years of experience at Honeywell UOP. His previous position was Sr Product Line Manager, Plastics Circularity. Before joining Honeywell UOP, Yagoub worked over 9 years for TotalEnergies in various operations, technical support and engineering positions in both Grandpuits Refinery, France and Antwerp Refinery, Belgium.
Yagoub holds a Master of Science degree of the Ecole des Mines, Douai, France. He also studied one year at Technische Universität in Berlin, Germany. Yagoub holds a Post graduate degree in Oil & Gas Refining from the IFP School in Paris, France.
His profile is available on LinkedIn.
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Paret Håvard and Geysa Furulund said the German dictator’s image adorned several bottles, while a couple more were emblazoned with the face of the Italian dictator, Benito Mussolini.
"I heard that this wine is sold all over Italy, also in Rome. They sell it as a souvenir. It's a special wine for special people. I was astonished,” Håvard told The Local.
“I was surprised that there was a market for something like this, because I thought that even in Italy, the market couldn't be so big that it was economic to produce this kind of wine."
The bottles, which were placed on a shelf of dry goods instead of among other wines in the shop, were labelled ‘Adolf Hitler’ and ‘Mein Fuhrer’, while others had a swastika sign.
"There can only be two kinds of people who are buying this wine: you have people who actually identify with these kinds of thoughts, and you have young people haven't lived through the Second World war, so they think it's funny, it is almost a joke," added Håvard.
The company said the wines have “attracted a lot of attention from media around the world both for the originality of the idea and the quality of the product.”
Alessandro Lunardelli, the company’s owner, could not be reached for comment by The Local on Monday.


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Jaybird has today announced the release of special edition Earth Day Jaybird RUN headphones. While reiterating their commitment to Mother Earth, Jaybird ANZ will also donate 10 per cent of proceeds from the special edition headphones to Wings For Life, a not-for-profit spinal cord research foundation.
Inspired by the colours of Jaybird’s home in Park City, Utah, the special edition Earth Day RUN buds show off nature’s greenery with a forest green charging case.
Also included in the special edition box is a print of El Capitan in Yosemite National Park by renowned outdoor sports photographer and Jaybird Ambassador, Tim Kemple.
“Australians are blessed to have access to so many open spaces” says Estelle Corria, Brand Manager of Jaybird ANZ. “Earth Day is an important moment globally to celebrate open spaces and focus on both enjoying and protecting the world around us.”
According to Spinal Cord Injuries Australia, the average time spent in hospital for spinal cord injuries ( SCI) is 133 days while there are currently 20,000 people living with an SCI injury. The estimate lifetime care cost for a quadriplegia is about $9.5 million.


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Facebook has begun testing the ability to cross-post Facebook Stories in Instagram for some users. Code found in Facebook for Android app points to a toggle to share a Story that was created using the app directly to Instagram.
Facebook is working on cross-posting Stories to Instagram pic.twitter.com/uH2w3VVnSe
— Jane Manchun Wong (@wongmjane) March 9, 2020
The feature was spotted by popular app reverse-engineer, Jane Manchun Wong, when combing through the Facebook for Android app. According to her tweet, once a story has been created, right before posting, there will be an option to review who can see the story by tapping Privacy. Along with the options of Public, Friends, Custom and Hide From options, there will be a new toggle to share the story directly to the users Instagram account.
At the moment, it is possible to share Instagram stories to Facebook but not the other way around. Facebook did confirm that they are testing the feature with limited users for now, with no expected date for wide roll-out. The feature would help social media managers to quickly share content on both platforms simultaneously thereby increasing views.


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India signs cooperation agreement with World Food Programme for 2023-27
To help in strengthening product development strategy
Spice Story, a D2C brand offering the widest range of ethnic chutneys from various regions of the country, has announced a partnership with Jayanti Herbs and Spice for its offline expansion. The Mumbai-based startup is looking to expand its offline presence in over 15000 stores by March 2023.
At present, Spice Story products are available in about 1,200 stores and should reach its customers via 5,000 physical touchpoints by end of this year.
Through this partnership, Spice Story will leverage JayantiHerbs and Spice’s 23000-strong distribution channel of multi-brand modern format retail stores (both national and regional chains along with standalone modern retail stores).
Bengaluru-based Jayanti Herbs and Spice is one of India’s oldest and the world’s leading premium suppliers of herbs and spices. The 75-year-old company owns the premium spice brand ‘On1y’ which offers over 30 different kinds of herbs and seasonings.
Backed by VC firms such as venture catalysts, Agility Ventures, and marquee industry professionals, Spice Story has been growing at over 50 percent annually. Founded in the year 2019 by Soumyadeep, the brand is mulling plans to enter new categories over the next 3-4 quarters and grow its business by 25X by 2025.
Image credit- shutterstock


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GPI and USA Sports to Work Together on Poker Sportification today
The Global Poker Index and USA TODAY Sports Media Group announced on Thursday which they had penned a multi-year content contract, under which USA TODAY Sports is to host a poker-only web https://aussie-pokies.club/queen-of-the-nile-slots-review/ page that could feature GPI assets and related information. The internet site is slated to be launched in 2016 january.
The GPI, that is owned by Mediarex Sports and Entertainment, has always noticed that its definitive goal is always to ‘sportify poker.’ It really is wanting to accomplish that not merely through the existing rankings of earth’s most successful and profitable poker players but also through the organization of different competitions and leagues. Plus the worldwide Poker League is to be one such competition. It will likely be streamed live on line and certainly will feature teams from around the world contending against each other.
The worldwide Poker League is scheduled to be launched into the very first quarter of 2016 as an element of GPI’s strategy to completely replace the realm of poker by increasing the activity value for the game through exciting consumer content as well as the organization of equally exciting activities. In the beginning, the league will feature 12 franchises, including vegas, l . a ., and brand New York-based teams.
Commenting regarding the agreement that is recent Jason Ford, Vice President of Sports Marketing for USA TODAY Sports, stated that the GPI has accomplished significantly more than any other such company in unifying poker and making a ”big league’ environment around play.’ The administrator also noted that they’re looking towards working closely together generate what will be a 24/7 electronic poker community and also to addressing several of the upcoming ‘groundbreaking’ competitions and related events the GPI is placed to launch in the months and years into the future.
GPI CEO Alexandre Dreyfus stated that they’re incredibly pleased to announce the media that are multi-year with United States Of America TODAY Sports. The professional also explained that the 2 companies are preparing to create ‘an important platform’ for showcasing GPI’s newest activities and promoting its positioning.
Mr. Dreyfus further noted they are looking towards being supported by the industry frontrunner like USA TODAY Sports that stocks their vision that is own to poker.’
Evolution Gaming to Purchase Riga-Based Studio Building
Evolution Gaming announced today it is to buy the company which has the building where in fact the video gaming designer and supplier’s Riga-based operational activities are happening. Evolution Gaming is pay the total amount of €12.4 million for the latest purchase.
The business noted that the purchase will not impact its goal to circulate a minimum of 50% of its net that is full-year revenue. Evolution Gaming also remarked that the brand new acquisition is in line with its technique to efficiently expand its studio space on the floor in Riga.
The building has been accommodating the provider of real time Casino as well as other video gaming services and products since 2011. Development Gaming happens to be renting more than a half the general work place. The company realized that it would need more space to provide its gaming services with the constant expansion of its operations. And because the landlord had not been able to guarantee the much-needed room expansion, Evolution Gaming considered the purchase of the whole building the best possible choice both economically and strategically.
Evolution Gaming CEO Jens von Bahr said that the latest purchase will give you the business with certain strategic benefits. Through the expansion of its studio flooring, the international provider of real time Casino services should be able to meet the constantly growing demand for video gaming tables also committed casino surroundings. The administrator also pointed towards the slight benefit that is financial purchase for the entire building would bring about.
Development Gaming revealed that the acquisition is to be carried out through the purchase for the ongoing business that currently has the building. The transaction is likely to be completed sometime in January 2016. Development Gaming is always to pay €9.3 million in loans and €3.1 million in cash, with the purchase that is whole being less than the building’s external valuation. What exactly is more, costs related to interest and amortization are required to be lower than the rental expenses in the years to come.
Evolution Gaming reported revenue increase of 57% to €19.5 million for the quarter that is third September 30, 2015. The business noted that revenue from mobile operations accounted for 28% of overall return. Profit for the time totaled €5.8 million. Adjusted EBITDA expanded 60% throughout the reported 3 months to achieve €7.8 million.


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Roblox results reflect tough environment and a need for advertising | WARC | The Feed
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Roblox results reflect tough environment and a need for advertising
Roblox, the gaming and creation platform, has had another tricky quarter as overall revenue and user increases couldn’t make up for a dip in the critical “bookings” metric.
Why it matters
Roblox is the closest platform to a functioning metaverse (despite not being interoperable with other platforms) in which users can move between virtual experiences with an economic layer that binds it.
This is where bookings come in, as they cover what users have spent on Roblox’s virtual currency, Robux. As such, in previous earnings seasons WARC has explored the firm’s results from the perspective of consumer will to spend money on virtual items at a time of heightened interest in the metaverse.
Roblox has also been interesting from a brand perspective, as the company continues to entice investors with details of a self-service brand offer.
By the numbers
While the markets have reacted badly to a dip in bookings, it’s part of a wider slowdown in video gaming, which had naturally seen a huge boost during lockdowns when lots of gamers had nothing else to do. More recently, a more general dip in discretionary spending in the face of inflation has also affected the company.
Ahead of its earnings call, the company told the markets the following highlights for Q2 (all year-on-year):
- Revenue up 30% to $591.2m
- Bookings down 4% to $639.9m
- DAUs (daily active users) up 21% to 52.2m
- Hours engaged were up 16%.
- Bookings per DAU were down 21% to $12.25
While there is still a serious business in the economy of virtual currency and goods that the bookings signify, the many engaged users who are playing but not necessarily spending suggest a serious opportunity in advertising.
How advertising is going
Following the company’s explanation of validated brand accounts and boosted experiences in May (full details here) David Baszucki, Roblox chief executive outlined the investment going into the project:
“The product direction for this advertising system will also be self-service, but it will be complemented by our amazing brands. We have a great team. It's scaling. We have amazing people who are working with the Gucci and the Tommy Hilfiger […] in this new form of advertising to the platform,” he told investors.
“We expect to continue building this amazing brand team. It will not be a sales team, it will be a consultative team to help people who are doing self-service and exploring our platform.”
He added that Roblox will be “testing our immersive advertising system sometime this year, we believe.”
A development flywheel
Part of the self-service ideal would mean brands seeking out experienced developers without even necessarily going through Roblox by using its talent hub – “that's the dynamic that we want to see, and as that demand comes from brands that will spur on more developers,” explained CFO Mike Guthrie, adding: “I wouldn't be surprised to see agencies off of it as well.”
Sourced from BusinessWire, Motley Fool, WARC
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In a bold move the Board of Supervisors (BOS) in San Francisco has voted unanimously to phase out the sale and distribution of plastic water bottles on city owned or rented grounds.
The agreement means that San Franciscans could see ‘single-use’ plastic bottles disappear from many shelves across the municipality over time. But as yet they will still be available for sale in corner stores and by supermarket chains.
The BOS also voted to ban any future purchase of plastic water bottles with city funds.
"There are incredible, enormous environmental costs of plastic water bottles," said Supervisor David Chiu, who introduced the measure. He believes that if the ban is effective on public property than the city can look at the next steps, which could include a complete ban across the board.
The plan will go to a second reading and vote next week and is expected to be signed by Mayor, Ed Lee. Then from October onwards the purchase of water in plastic bottles will not be allowed and plastic water bottles will be banned from indoor events held on public property. The ban will extend to the majority of outdoor events and sales on public property by the year 2016.
A problem with the ban was highlighted in January by Commissioner Gravannis during a Commission on the Environment meeting. Gravannis said that public health and hydration should remain a great importance and that a ban on plastic water bottles without an available, adequate water supply could not be enforced.
At that meeting, during public comment, Environmental strategy consultant and San Francisco resident, Ms. Kate Krebs said she found it hard to imagine that millions of plastic bottles were being thrown away given that the city had an 80 percent diversion rate she questioned the city’s recycling infrastructure.
Another city resident, Ms. Llyse Magi questioned the term ‘reusable’ in relation to plastic water bottles and plastic bags. She expressed concerns that thick bags were now being used in place of regular plastic bags and that she didn’t want the same thing to happen with water bottles. Although she said she would support the ordinance, as it would mean reduction at source rather than creating further waste/recycling.
At the Board of Supervisors meeting yesterday (Tuesday) Chiu, who is President of the Board stated that San Francisco was leading the way in combating climate change and that he hoped his Board colleagues would support the ordinance to “reduce and discourage the use of single use and single serving, plastic water bottles’.
“Today Americans buy half a billion bottles of water every week, which is enough to circle the globe twice. And Americans drink more bottled water than any other nation,” Supervisor Chiu told the Board.
“in 1976 the average American drank 1.6 gallons of bottled water per year,” he added.
And according to Chiu’s figures, that number had risen to 28 gallons per person by 2007.
Speaking about the overall environmental costs of producing and distributing bottled water, he said that one company alone collects 10-15 million single-use water bottles per year, not including those that go to redemption centers or landfill.
"It’s estimated that it takes a typical single-use, plastic water bottle a thousand years to biodegrade,” Chui said.
Chiu said that the he had recently organized a taste-test that proved that members of the public found it difficult to distinguish between the city’s Hetch Hetchy sourced tap water and bottled water.
An inventory of the city’s public spaces and buildings will also be undertaken to list and determine were further public water access should be made available.
Christopher Hogan, of the International Bottled Water Association said in a recent interview that he thought the new rules would make it difficult to choose water as a healthier alternative to sodas or other drinks that could still be readily available.
"If people are at an event and they don't have a reusable container in front of them, they're going to look for a packaged beverage,” he said.
"It really reduces people's opportunity to choose the healthiest packaged beverage, which is bottled water,” Hogan added.
Penalties of $500 for a first offense and $750 for a further offense will be enforced by the Department of the Environment
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The Madison-based startup seeks to accelerate product and customer growth.
DataChat, the fourth tech startup from University of Wisconsin–Madison computer sciences professor Jignesh Patel, makes data science accessible to anyone.
Wisconsin Inno has named DataChat as a Wisconsin-based startup to watch in 2021.
Solutions Review has named DataChat as one of their top data science and machine learning vendors to watch in 2021.
DataChat was recently selected by Computer Reseller Network (CRN) as one of the coolest data analytics startups of 2020.