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concerns over milk ads?
Erie Times News
Every school day,
images of Spider-Man, Build-a-Bear, Elliot Yamin, Rascal
Flatts and others encourage 12,000 Erie School District
students to drink milk.
The images, according to representatives for the agency
that creates them, are meant to encourage students to
drink milk instead of sugary alternatives, and to make
healthy life choices in the cafeteria.
"What we really want is to make sure students drink
milk," said MilkMedia CEO Richard Long.
But the question being asked by parents, school
officials who order the milk and even the dairies that
distribute it is whether this type of in-school
promotion is appropriate.
"If I was a parent, I would be concerned about what was
being marketed to my child on my milk carton," said Erie
schools Superintendent Jim Barker. "This is a very
subtle way of bringing very powerful messages into
schools and putting them in front of kids."
Promoting milk is a good thing, according to Meadow
Brook Dairy and school district officials, but
advertising for outside companies is not. A
representative from Dean Foods, Meadow Brook's parent
company, announced Thursday that it is looking into
phasing out all Build-a-Bear ads on the cartons that
they distribute because they object to the content being
"What we liked about the other ones was it was a direct
message to drink milk, and this one was one step away
from what we don't want," said Marguerite Copel, vice
president of communications for Dean Foods.
The Build-a-Bear cartons promote the Web site
www.buildabearville.com, where students are encouraged
to log on and sign up for an online pet. A special code
is listed on cartons that rewards students with free
virtual milk cartons for their pets.
"We certainly don't want any advertising that is asking
someone to buy something or give information. That's
certainly very inappropriate," said Jim Twerdok,
director of food services for the Erie School District.
Long said the Web site is completely kid-friendly and
complies to the Children's Online Privacy Protection
Act, which requires they do not request and do not get
any personal information about a child unless they have
parental consent or are older than 13 and consent to
The promotions are managed by a partnership between Dean
Foods and Meadow Brook, MilkMedia and MilkRocks and the
packaging company Evergreen, Long said. The Erie School
District does not receive any profit.
Long and MilkRocks spokesman Erik Stein said the
MilkRocks program has reached more than 24 million
students per day and has always received positive
feedback since it started in September.
Denise Vanderstraeten, the mother of a fifth-grader at
Harding Elementary School, said children are regularly
exposed to a lot of advertising and that advertising
milk doesn't bother her.
"I personally don't care as long as it's kid-friendly,"
Laurie Brady agrees that milk should be required in
schools, but doesn't like that her children are targeted
at school where she can't regulate what they are shown.
"I'm just surprised there are ads, even if it does have
to do with milk," said Brady, the parent of two Harding
Brady, who runs an in-home day-care center, said she
isn't sure if she supports or opposes the program since
the main promotion is for milk.
"If a child's toy is trying to promote milk, I guess
that's OK," she said.
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Fashion businesses Lowes, Best & Less and the Just Group are being targeted on social media after being singled out in the Australian Fashion Report released last week by Baptist World Aid.
The report revealed 91% of businesses did not know where their cotton is sourced, 75% did not know the source of their fabrics, and the report shows many businesses are still exploiting workers.
The Australian Fashion Report examined 59 apparel companies collectively supplying more than 200 clothing brands in Australia and graded them on their policies, transparency, supply chain traceability and worker rights.
Lowes and Best & Less were named among the worst performers, receiving a score of F and a D- respectively.
The Just Group, which includes Just Jeans, Peter Alexander, Portmans and Dotti, received an overall D rank but an F for worker rights.
About 75% of businesses covered in the report responded to a survey about their business practices, with the remaining businesses graded solely on publicly available information.
Lowes, Best & Less and The Just Group did not respond to the survey and are now facing a backlash on social media.
A post by Just Jeans on its Facebook page spruiking the return of its product “Amaze Jeans” has been singled out by critics of the business citing the Australian Fashion Report.
“There’s nothing amazing about the mistreatment of workers,” one follower wrote.
“What would be Amaze is if you lifted your game and signed the Bangladesh Fire and Safety Accord and took at least one baby step towards being an ethical fashion producer,” said another.
Best & Less also received criticism on Facebook with one follower describing the business as “shameful” and posting a link to coverage of the Australian Fashion Report.
A spokesperson for Best & Less responded on Facebook by saying the rating given by the report was “not representative of our practice and standards”.
The spokesperson noted Best & Less had not responded to the survey and so the Australian Fashion Report “used whatever information they could find to make an assessment”.
“Sourcing our products ethically and fairly is very important to us,” the spokesperson said.
“We know that our customers care about this as much as they care about getting high quality at low prices. Thanks for your interest in this and getting the facts clear for yourself.”
Gershon Nimbalker coordinated the report at Baptist World Aid and told SmartCompany the social media campaign shows people are interested and engaged in pushing for traction.
Nimbalker says he’s made a “number of attempts” to engage the Just Group in the process along with Best & Less, which claimed it was a “small company” and so couldn’t respond.
But with over 200 Best & Less stores across the country, Nimbalker says he is not sure Best & Less is that small.
“Certainly many small businesses have engaged in the report,” he says.
“The small businesses that have been able to use ethics as part of their niche approach to marketing and have made the effort to engage have performed really well,” he says.
Fair trade and organic fashion business Audrey Blue was highly rated in the report and has reported a “significant boost in sales over the weekend”.
“There’s a real risk for companies that choose not to engage both in terms of managing their supply chains and also a big PR risk for them as well,” Nimbalker says.
“We know that more consumers are becoming more conscious of this issue.”
SmartCompany contacted Lowes, Best & Less and the Just Group but did not receive a response prior to publication.

domain: news


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The upcoming Sony G8341 and G8441 smartphones, which had leaked online in leaked benchmarks recently, have finally been caught on camera. Alleged live images of the two handsets appeared on the web today, showing a very similar design to previous flagship Xperia models. The back appears to be very similar to that of the Xperia XZ Premium, although it isn’t anywhere near as glossy. However, there are a few noticeable changes as well.
The most significant difference is the positioning of the fingerprint scanner. So far, Sony has been embedding the fingerprint sensor inside the power button on the side. On the Xperia XZ1 (and perhaps the Xperia XZ1 Compact as well), the fingerprint scanner has been mounted at the rear, right below the NFC logo. The front of the device is relatively clean, with no buttons whatsoever. Of course, the bezels aren’t very thin when compared to devices such as the Samsung Galaxy S8 and the LG G6, but we have to keep in mind that the Xperia XZ1 will not be a flagship device.
One of the images also shows the Xperia XZ1 (G8341) with the “System” area under the Settings Menu. The image confirms the device is currently being tested on the Android O operating system. It clearly means that the Xperia XZ1 Compact and the Xperia XZ1 will be running on Android 8.0 OS out of the box at launch. Nokia’s upcoming flagship, the Nokia 8 too is expected to launch with the Android O operating system out of the box.
Sony is expected to debut three new Android smartphones at its pre-IFA 2017 press conference in Berlin. The third device is rumored to be the next Xperia flagship with a 6” display and a bezel-less design. While the rumored flagship hasn’t been spotted online anywhere yet, we are hopeful that it will surface online very soon.
The post Alleged live images of the upcoming Sony Xperia XZ1 and Xperia XZ1 Compact surface online appeared first on Android News.


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With the holiday shopping season about to kick off in a big way, Consumer Reports has announced its 2011 Naughty & Nice Holiday List. First introduced in 2010, the list looks at shopping policies and the companies behind them, citing the top ten “Nice” and top ten “Naughty” retailers.
We’re proud to say that Orvis has once again earned a berth in the top ten “Nice” ranking based on the company’s top-notch customer service, which includes live chat on its website.
Check out the whole list and the rationale behind it on the Consumer Reports website.
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Marks & Spencer is making a return to France with a programme of store openings and an online retail presence. Marks & Spencer’s first transactional international website will launch towards the end of 2011, in French and trading in euros. The retailer will also open a store at the Champs-Elysées in the heart of Paris. It had initially exited the French market in 2011.
Home shopping group FGH (Freemans Grattan Holdings) has launched Curvissa, a new clothing brand selling plus-size women’s apparel. The brand trades online at curvissa.co.uk and targets women aged 30 to 55 years. The launch is supported by PR and social-media activity. The company’s other brands include Kaleidoscope, Grattan and Bon Prix.Greeting-cards etailer Moonpig is believed to have received approaches for the business. The Telegraph writes that it is considering bids from private equity firms as well as trade buyers.
Amazon customers can now use their login credentials to check out at other retail websites. The online behemoth has launched Checkout by Amazon, which appears to be similar to Google Checkout or Paypal. The service allows UK customers to shop through websites offering Checkout by Amazon using their Amazon accounts and preferred delivery address.
Feather & Black, which launched a Kids furniture catalogue in 2010, has further expanded its children’s range with the launch of nightwear.
Fashion retailer Jaeger has opened up its online shop to seven new markets including Norway, Greece, Poland, Lithuania, Hong Kong, Mauritius, and Singapore. The site now delivers to 36 countries and customers can shop using pounds, euros or US dollars.
Total group sales at Laura Ashley rose 6.2 percent to £285 million in the 52 weeks to 29th January 2011. In the UK, retail sales were up 5.3 percent to £256.6 million, with like-for-likes up 5.6 percent during the period. Pretax profit, excluding exceptional gains, almost doubled to £19.3 million, compared with £10.1 million last year. The company’s ecommerce channel now accounts for 12.5 percent of UK retail sales, that’s up from 9 percent last year.
Mothercare’s overseas performance is boosting the company’s
overall sales. In a trading statement for the full year, the company
said UK sales were flat but group sales were up 3.6 percent largely
thanks to a rapid growth in its international business. It now has 894
overseas stores, including 62 in India, and is looking to open “at
least 150 new overseas stores” in the current financial year. The Independent has more on Mothercare’s and Laura Ashley’s international expansion plans.
Electricals retailer Dixons warned that profit for the year would be £85 million—around £20 million lower than expected. The Telegraph writes that following the announcement, shares in the company fell more than 18 percent, and “are now trading below the level of the emergency 14p-a-share cash call carried out in 2009”.
The house where the Party Pieces business was set up by Michael and Carole Middleton is up for auction with a tag of £460,000, reports the Telegraph.
Horticulture Week reports that Peter McDermott, director of Ideal Shopping Direct-owned Lead the Good Life, is leaving the business. The company is due to release its financial results for fiscal 2010 next week.
Tesco has moved into yet another product line—used cars. Andrew Higginson, chief executive of retailing services at Tesco, told the Guardian that by “supplying directly to customers, there is no middle man, no expensive showroom and no salespeople on commission”. The article also says that Tesco will buy the cars from rental firms and corporate fleet suppliers and they will typically have had one previous owner.
*Mandatory fields your email address will not be published. All comments are moderated and may be edited. Comments do not necessarily reflect the views of the Catalogue Development Centre Ltd.


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Visa has followed Mastercard in investing in Deserve, a provider of bespoke white label mobile-centric API and SDK-based credit card technology.
Deserve hs developed a credit-card-as-a-service for financial institutions, fintechs and brands.
Visa's strategic investment comes after the payments giant selected Deserve last year as a launch partner for its Fintech Fast Track programme. As part of the programme, Deserve has already partnered with BlockFi and Visa to launch the world’s first credit card with crypto rewards.
Kalpesh Kapadia, CEO, Deserve, says: "This investment validates the industry’s embrace of a digital-first, embedded approach driven by APIs and SDKs. We’re transforming credit cards into software that lives on mobile devices not in wallets.”
In June, Mastercard co-led a $50 million Series D funding round for the startup with Mission Holdings and Ally Ventures.


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If you've engaged in some serious spring cleaning, one of the biggest perks is figuring out what staples your wardrobe may still be missing — and shop for them. Now, with a long weekend of sales approaching, its time to take stock of what you're in need of. Mango's Memorial Day sale is happening now through May 31, and the brands promotion this year is 30 percent off of its entire site, which makes it a destination worth checking out.
If you're in need of a few new staples, you can find plenty of those along with affordable iterations of some of the trends you've seen take off on Instagram lately. A lavender polo sweater and ripped straight-leg jeans are separate pieces that can be styled for the current temps, but will also suit chillier weather come Autumn, especially worn in tandem. For the heat of summer, pieces like a basic white tank top, paper-bag denim shorts, and a new on-trend sandal are worth putting on your list. And especially notable is Mango's take on the scrunchie bag, which is currently on sale for just $28.
Ready to nail down the remainder of your outstanding summer attire needs? Shop a few favorite sale finds below, and because the sale isn't exclusive to a seasonal category, use it as an excuse to plan ahead. Here's the best of what TZR is shopping from Mango's sale now.
We only include products that have been independently selected by The Zoe Report's editorial team. However, we may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article.


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Here at Smart Finish, we get to see/repair/drive all sorts of vehicles. Old or new, cheap or expensive, utility or luxury. We think it’s fairly safe to say, however, that we haven’t yet repaired any of these Aussie-built cars! Check out this article for a brief history lesson.
12 weirdest cars ever built in Australia, Malcolm Flynn in Car News · Carsguide · 7 February 2014
With all the recent news about local car manufacturing, you could be forgiven for thinking Australia has only ever built Fords, Holdens and Toyotas. But in fact, we’ve got a long, varied – and often quite weird – car building history.
From a bugeyed oddity spawned by a company who honed their skills on washing machines and cement mixers, to a car co-designed by a motoring journalist, there are a host of strange vehicles lurking in our past. Here are some of the best…
Perhaps the most surprising car in the list is the “Goggomobile”, which – thanks to this old YellowPages advert – you might have always believed was a Scottish import. Not so according the article above!
The list of cars includes:


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San Diego, CA and Norwalk, CT (MAR 31, 2003) — Technology Marketing Corporation (TMC™)'s Communications Solutions® magazine, named LumenVox's Speech Platform as a Product of the Year winner for 2002. Communications Solutions® is the premier publication in the rapidly growing IP telephony industry.
"LumenVox's Speech Platform is a clear leader in the communications and telecom industry. We're proud to reward their hard work and innovation with a Product of the Year Award for 2002," said Rich Tehrani, president of TMC and group editor-in-chief of Communications Solutions®. "The Product of the Year award honors the outstanding teams who developed and manufactured the products and services on our winning list, and also to educate our readers on the vast array of offerings in this market. Choosing the winners was a difficult process."
"The Communications Solutions Product of the Year Awards are an important tradition and the perfect way for us to honor companies developing cutting-edge products and services," added Marc Robins, TMC's Vice President of Publications and Trade Shows. A full list of Product of the Year winners appears at http://www.tmcnet.com/comsol/cs_poy02.htm.
"Our Speech Platform has received both commercial and critical acclaim in the past year. The announcement as a Product of the Year by Communications Solutions®, a respected magazine in the telephony industry just helps reinforce our dedication to the development of the highest quality GUI-based speech recognition product available in the marketplace today." said Chris Lotspeich, Director of Marketing at LumenVox.
© 2017 LumenVox, LLC. All rights reserved.


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Seagull Guitars introduces new branding
Seagull Guitars of Montreal recently retained Bite Size Entertainment, also based in Montreal, to conduct a rebranding initiative. The assignment includes a new brand identity, logo and website with content at <http://www.seagullguitars.com>. The new brand is being introduced with a communication strategy focusing on the music industry. The agency also participated in new product and accessory design. Seagull Guitars is a division of Godin Guitars.
"From reshaping guitar looks to creating a new logo, we went deeper than ever in order to fully reshape this amazing brand and to fully connecting it with our understanding of the youth lifestyle market," said Bite Size Entertainment co-founder Martin Durocher. "Everything was built to propel Seagull into unrivalled heights."


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The Trinidad and Tobago Electricity Commission (T&TEC) will no longer open its Nicholas Towers, Port of Spain, and Chaguanas customer service centres on Saturdays.
In a post on its Facebook page, the commission said the service will be discontinued from October 1.
It said all its customer service centres will continue their regular opening hours from Monday- Friday from 8 am-3.45 pm.
It added the public can still pay their bills through these means:
Online: Quick Pay (www.ttec.co.tt/quickpay)Commercial banks (online and in bank) BillExpress (Grace Kennedy) SurePay (Massy Stores)
Automated credit card payment (registration required).


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Facebook on Tuesday offered advertisers another tool to target consumers on the platform with Lookalike Audiences, a feature that lets them reach users similar to those in their Custom Audience databases.
Launched in late 2012, Custom Audiences lets marketers use existing data like email addresses, phone numbers and user IDs to inform their Facebook strategy. As the name implies, Lookalike Audiences is a tool that alerts advertisers to similar consumers.
In a blog post heralding the new feature, Facebook noted that marketers can buy Custom and Lookalike audiences in conjunction with any ad buy.
"For instance, a business could choose to run an Offer to both people who they know have bought from them before, and to people who share similar attributes with those customers," the post explains. "Like with custom audiences, marketers can further refine lookalike audience targeting using Facebook’s standard interests and demographics targeting (i.e. a company could reach lookalikes with an Offer and use standard targeting to make sure that Offer only reaches lookalikes in Florida)."
The object is to try to lure new fans. However, marketers will only know certain details about the Lookalike Audiences, like their size.
Facebook says it won't share any personal info with advertisers. Facebook claims that such targeting increases ad efficacy. The company claims an unnamed online retail partner, for instance, has seen a 56% lower cost-per-fan acquisition cost and a 94% lower cost per checkout using Lookalikes in beta.
Facebook launched Lookalikes in beta in February. The product ties in with Facebook's goal of improving overall ad performance.
As CEO Mark Zuckerberg told analysts in January during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, "There's a big opportunity in front of us to make every ad that we’re showing a lot better. The biggest ways we’re going to do this are by improving targeting and relevance so we can show everyone content that they care more about and by designing better ad products that aren't just about links and text and images. For targeting, I’m most excited about the work that we’re doing on Custom Audiences."


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LEICESTER’S garment industry is set to benefit from a new £500,000 business support project.
The sector has received a boost after the city council was successful in a bid to the Government’s Community Renewal Fund (CRF).
It means Leicester City Council will receive £500,000 to work together with partners Fashion-Enter Ltd and De Montfort University (DMU) to offer co-ordinated support to textiles manufacturers and local textiles workers.
The project will see all three partners providing lots of practical support to participating businesses to ensure ethical compliance and best practice, support innovation and develop their workforce skills.
Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke said: “This is great news for Leicester and demonstrates our commitment to the garment sector locally, which is a vital part of our economy. We’re determined to help raise standards and promote best practice in the industry – and this funding will help us to do that, by working intensively with local businesses.
“We are very pleased to be working with our partners Fashion-Enter and De Montfort University on this project, both of whom bring substantial valuable expertise to the project. Specialist training providers Fashion-Enter are also working with us on our fashion technology academy, while DMU is well known for driving innovation in the fashion industry. Together, we can combine our expert local and industry knowledge to support businesses to become beacons of best practice, in turn sharing what they learn with other businesses to create a wide-reaching positive impact.”
DMU will mapping all the textiles activity in the city from companies and dye houses to brands. The university will then work with companies to develop a sector growth plan - providing leadership training and shifting the focus from low cost and non-compliance to high quality products. New business models will be developed, focusing on new production systems and more sustainable methods and fabrics.
Professor Katie Normington, Vice-Chancellor of De Montfort University, said: "The city of Leicester and DMU share a rich history in fashion and textiles, and the university is delighted to be part of this far-reaching project. We will be working closely with companies of all sizes on this plan, which has the potential to re-imagine business models and develop a more sustainable future for the industry."
Jenny Holloway, CEO of Fashion-Enter, said: “Following on from the launch of the fashion technology academy, this is more good news for Leicester! The CRF revenue will allow for a wider range of training initiatives that will offer further wrap-around support to factories and workers. This will include information on new learner technologies, workers' rights and e-commerce websites for brand development. It’s time to really establish Leicester as a major quality ethical manufacturing centre of excellence.”
The project will work with local manufacturers and textiles workers on accredited skills and training via the newly-launched Fashion Technology Academy, develop links to research and innovation to drive productivity, offer support for manufacturers to adopt best practice ethical compliance procedures, and work to promote the best of Leicester manufacturing.
The funding award is part of an overall £3milllion package secured by Leicester City Council from the Community Renewal Fund, with four further projects also benefitting, including schemes to support people into employment, provide English lessons for speakers of other languages, help women in business and provide mentoring and digital support to businesses.
The UK Community Renewal Fund is a Government programme which aims to support people and communities most in need across the UK, investing in skills, community and place, local business, and supporting people into employment. For more information, visit https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/uk-community-renewal-fund-prospectus
Notes to Editors
About Fashion Enter
Fashion-Enter Ltd (FEL) was incorporated in 2006 and owns the UK’s leading fashion portal www.fashioncapital.co.uk which was set up by Government in 2001. FEL undertakes other government-funded programs such as N17 Creative Callings and FC Designer Collective in Islington, working to support young fashion brands.


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California-based Tesla Motors announced during a conference call to report third-quarter earnings and sales that its long-awaited Model X crossover has been delayed, again.
Even as the net loss accounted for the quarter was of $75 million and Tesla also trimmed down its full-year sales forecast of the Model S to 33,000 units from the previous guidance of 35,000 vehicles, the company’s stock gained pace.
The shares went up to $247.75, a 7.3% rise – as the stock has gained so far 54% throughout the year. The explanation is simple: the fourth-quarter sales outlook has been trimmed because the company’s lone plant in California was retooled to allow for increased production. Also, Elon Musk, the company’s CEO is predicting 50% growth for the years to come for the Model S – recently updated with new technology and an all-wheel drive option.
Coming back to our subject of debate – the Model X crossover, Musk seems to be unwilling to release it before all issues are ironed out and the second time it’s been delayed means that next year’s production of the model is already sold out. So, even as the new model should assist Tesla in paying up development and production of its affordable Model 3 (scheduled to arrive in 2017), customers ordering the crossover now most likely won’t take delivery of the car until 2016.


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Learning English - Words in the News
16 July, 2004 - Published 12:28 GMT
The European Commission has agreed to big changes in sugar trading arrangements. These would lead to a cut in the amount of sugar grown and a lower price offered to EU producers. These proposals have been criticised both by producers and by development agencies. This report from John Moylan
Europe produces around 20 million tonnes of sugar each year - much more than it consumes. Producers enjoy guaranteed prices some three times those on world markets. High tariffs keep cheaper imports out - while subsidies allow producers to dump millions of tonnes on export markets each year.
So unveiling this reform the EU's Agriculture Commissioner Frans Fischler said it recognised the unpleasant truth that an artificially high sugar price in the EU was not economically viable and was bad news for development policy and consumers too.
The new proposals would reduce by about a third the guaranteed price that EU producers receive. The proposals would also cut quotas - or the amount of product eligible for subsidies. That should ultimately lead to a drop in production.
The new system would maintain preferable terms for sugar exports from certain African, Caribbean and Pacific countries - although development agencies claim this seriously disadvantages other nations.
The plans were immediately criticised by sugar producers - the German Sugar Industry Association warned that the proposals threatened the entire future of the EU sugar industry.
And Oxfam and the environmental group the WWF said that the proposals would not reduce poverty or increase environmental standards. They warned the moves would allow continued export dumping on developing countries, thereby undermining poor farmers' livelihoods.
John Moylan, BBC
some three times


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TORONTO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Founded in 2018, theturnlab, a Canadian marketing, technology and consulting lab, is working to solve one of the most common problems retailers and manufacturers face today – closing the gap between brands and their audiences.
The leadership team that founded theturnlab has a long history in the digital space having launched the first digital commerce site for their client Fitness Depot in 1999. Over 20 years of building enterprise digital solutions for brands like Honda Canada, Callaway Golf, Golf Town, WWF and many others showed them that research, audience intelligence and strategy can have a profound impact on digital transformation outcomes. Hence a new model of consultancy led marketing technology company - theturnlab.
In 2019, Yamaha Motor Canada needed an upgraded online and ecommerce experience to better align with their customers’ needs. theturnlab conducted quantitative and qualitative research and developed audience personas and customer journeys to influence the design and development of their website. The transformation was a major success, nearly doubling previous web activity and engagement with the right audience. “We were highly impressed with theturnlab’s deep experience developing enterprise-level web and ecommerce solutions,” says John Delanty, Manager Digital Marketing at Yamaha Motor Canada. “But what sealed the deal was the insights they brought to building an exceptional user experience through insight-driven customer experience design”
Founder Howard Chang says, “we have 9 full-time, in-house developers who work at our Toronto head-quarters. Together with our dedicated team of researchers, consultants, strategists, marketers, and creatives we’re ready to take businesses’ ecommerce issues of today and turn them into next-level audience engagements and conversions.”
Recently, the company built and launched a proprietary tech business, Just Boardrooms, an innovative marketplace platform in desktop as well as IOS and Android apps with a wide variety of private boardrooms to book across the GTA and growing in other markets in Canada and the US. The startup has been so successful securing investments from well-known Canadian business leaders including former Dragon, Jim Treliving, and Venture Capitalist, John Ruffolo, who love the concept of creating additional revenue streams for businesses that own boardrooms and meeting spaces but don’t get enough use out of them.
Under their new CEO Stephanie Hurst, theturnlab’s mission is to be the company that leaders seek to solve their biggest challenges in the marketplace – things like identifying the target customer, understanding where and when they spend their attention and delivering a seamless online brand experience that leads to conversion. Through rigorous research theturnlab is able to help redefine the user experience and create fluid, digital and ecommerce ecosystems, bridging the gap between audience and brand; exactly what it’s doing with JustBoardrooms.com
To learn more about theturnlab and to view their case studies, please visit theturnlab.com.
theturnlab is a marketing technology and consulting practice that builds apps, enterprise e-commerce sites and incubates technology with a team of consultancy-led problem solvers. Innovation is at the heart of everything they do. From out-there ideas and hot insights, to technology incubation and their unique in-house outsourcing option, they are always cooking something up in the lab to help clients excel and improve the world around them. They are a values-based organization, operating on a triple bottom line of people, planet and prosperity. Since their founding, they have been operating 100% carbon neutral, and are a certified B Corp, committed to returning value to all stakeholders, not just shareholders.


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The first anniversary of GDPR, Europe's gold standard law, is later this week – and Microsoft has marked the occasion by supporting Apple's call for a US version.
Microsoft, like Apple, responded at the time by committing GDPR level protection to all its customers globally, but believes voluntary action by technological giants is not enough …
Europe's general data protection regulation has 99 separate articles, but there are four requirements for the law that companies want to store and process your personal data:
- There must be a specific legal reason to process the data
- Personal data must be encrypted
- You are right to a copy of your data
- You can request that your data be deleted
Apple CEO Tim Cook has repeatedly called for a US Federal Privacy Act that will provide equivalent protection to the GDPR, especially in a journal breakdown.
Microsoft has now borrowed its support in a blog post, noting that many other countries have followed Europe's example.
It has inspired a global movement that has seen countries all over the world, adopting new privacy laws modeled on the GDPR. Brazil, China, India, Japan, South Korea and Thailand are among the nations that have passed new laws, proposed new legislation, or are considering changes to existing laws that will bring their privacy regulations closer to the GDPR […]
Anyway How much work companies like Microsoft do to help organizations secure sensitive data and allow individuals to manage their own data, maintain a strong right to privacy, will always be a matter of law falling for governments. Despite the high interest in exercising control over personal data from US consumers, the United States has not yet joined the EU and other nations around the world by implementing national laws describing how people use technology in their lives today […]  Now it's time for Congress to take inspiration from the rest of the world and adopt federal law that extends privacy protection in the GDPR to US citizens.
The company says compatibility with GDPR is crucial.  While federal privacy legislation should reflect US case law and the cultural values and norms of American society, it should also work with the GDPR. For US businesses, interoperability between US law and GDPR will reduce the cost and complexity of compliance by ensuring that companies do not need to build separate systems to meet different and even conflicting privacy requirements in the countries with which they operate.
There is two-sided support for a federal privacy law, but no consensus on the exact approach. In particular, there are different views on the FTC's role.
The democratic notion is that Congress should give the FTC authorities the opportunity to create and enforce privacy rules, while the Republican belief is that the Legislative Department should create the rules, and the FTC should simply be empowered to enforce them.
Is the first anniversary of the GDPR a good time to ask Congress to stop discussing and acting? Is there really a need for separate rules in the United States, or can Congress simply mirror GDRP protection so that exactly the same standards apply? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments.
Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:


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Cybersecurity and threat news for Europe, the Middle East & Africa
These search results are from across the Techday network of sites
80% of cyber threat landscape uses COVID-19 as leverage - report
A report released recently by Proofpoint reveals the extent to which cyber attackers are capitalising on fear and paranoia surrounding the pandemic, with instances of coronavirus-themed attacks increasing every day.
COVID-19: Surfshark joins growing list of companies offering free services
The VPN service has recently announced its intention to offer free six-month subscriptions for small businesses, as more countries tighten quarantine measures and finances become strained.
Internet infrastructure strained as demand for servers surges 30%
Internet service providers are extending data caps to meet the newfound reliance on the network, however, some experts express uncertainty concerning internet infrastructure’s ability to keep up with the rapidly growing demand.
Phishing cases explode as attackers prey on coronavirus fears
Attackers, ever the opportunists, are capitalising on COVID-19, pushing phishing lures and establishing newly-registered coronavirus-related domains.
Cybercriminals prey on healthcare panic to spread malware
Cybercriminals are now using fake HIV test results to spread their malicious phishing attacks, as they move quickly to cash in on healthcare scares in the wake of COVID-19 Coronavirus.
Security survey: The internet’s for porn… and gaming
"As well as being inappropriate use of a work device, these sites are more likely to harbour malware or other malicious threats that lead to a compromise."
Phishing URLs grew by 640% last year - report
“In the cybersecurity industry the only certainty is that there is no certainty, and there is no single silver bullet solution.”
FIDO: The word that could defeat phishing attacks once and for all
Attackers know that sometimes they don’t need to attack the technology – they just need to attack people instead.
IBM report projects evolution of phishing, ransomware and spoof tech
"The amount of exposed records that we're seeing today means that cybercriminals are getting their hands on more keys to our homes and businesses.”
Australian professionals high target for cyber crims, new study shows
More than half (54%) of surveyed Australian Infosec professionals faced phishing-triggered ransomware infections in 2019, according to a new report titled ‘State of the Phish’ by Proofpoint.
Google adds iPhone capability to Advanced Protection Program
iPhone users are now able to use their phones to sign up to Google’s Advanced Protection Program, using the iPhone’s built-in security key technology.
Five security risks faced in the modern workplace - Empired
According to the Australian Government Department of Communications, the average cost of an individual cybersecurity breach to a business is $276,000.
Five ways to ensure cyber-criminals don’t damage your business over Christmas break
The Christmas period creates a series of opportunities for threat actors to compromise business owners and steal credentials and data for illicit use, Watchguard finds.
EC-Council appoints distie to expand into A/NZ
It has appointed ACA Pacific to help roll out its cybersecurity solutions, including newly acquired OhPhish, to the Australia and New Zealand markets.
Cyberattacks becoming increasingly targeted in nature, research finds
The number of unique cyber incidents have increase for third quarter of 2019, according to a new report on the cybersecurity threatscape.
Nearly half of Aussies can’t identify fake NAB website - survey
Phishing continues to be one of the leading attack methods because it allows cybercriminals to target people at scale using social engineering.
ANZ Bank warns businesses and customers of phishing scam
"This sole purpose of this elaborate phishing scam is to harvest the login credentials of ANZ customers so the criminals behind this scam can break into their bank accounts."
Organisations' cybersecurity readiness for new regulations still low - ESET
Across all countries surveyed, prioritisation was identified as the biggest organisational cybersecurity challenge (20%).
Cybersecurity in New Zealand is not working, expert says
"Businesses and organisations must act to prevent future cyber hacks, which is now costing New Zealand vast sums annually."
Phishing leading cause of data breaches across Australia
This indicates hackers are targeting the weakest link in the security chain – end users.
WatchGuard releases cloud-based service to automatically block phishing attempts
DNSWatchGO aims to fill security gap beyond the network perimeter, as new research shows 64% of remote users have fallen victim to a cyber-attack.
Security flaw left Android phones open to SMS phishing attacks found
Check Point Research discovered the vulnerability impacts phones from Samsung, Huawei, LG, and Sony.
Southeast Asia a hotbed for phishing attacks
Kaspersky detects over 14 million phishing attempts in Southeast Asia for H1 2019.
Stairway to hell: Scams, ransomware, and $6.5m gone from Kiwis' pockets
In just a three month period this year, New Zealanders reported more than 1000 cybersecurity incidents and financial losses of $6.5 million to CERT NZ.


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A couple from Assam, who went viral a few months back for signing an unusual contract on their wedding, is yet again making waves on social media.
The wedding of Shanti Prasad and Mintu Rai took place on 21 June in Assam. After exchanging vows, the pair signed a piece of paper, comprising a fun list of do's and don'ts. The list included going to the gym every day, shopping after every 15 days and eating one pizza every month.
Now, months after their wedding, while it is still unclear if they are following other conditions, the couple has been sponsored by the multi-national restaurant chain Pizza Hut to fulfil their wish of eating a pizza every month. On the occasion of Karva Chauth, Pizza Hut India announced on Instagram that they would provide the couple with free pizzas once a month for a year.
"A pizza a month for a long and happy life with your husband!! That's the deal we are living for. #HappyKarvaChauth to all pizza-loving happy couples," Pizza Hut wrote in the caption of the post.
The video showed the couple visiting a nearby Pizza Hut outlet, where they enjoyed a variety of delicious pizzas. They were also seen taking some selfies together while waiting for the food to come.
Viral Video | Lioness Attacks Antelope, What Happens Next Stuns Internet
Pizza Hut India shared uploaded the post on Thursday and since then the video garnered nearly 30,000 views and over 1,300 likes.
In the comment section, while one user jokingly wrote, "This generation has lost it," another hilarious added, "Is it a ninja technique for free pizzas?" "So nice," commented third.Click for more trending news


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JSE-listed Blue Label Telecoms and Blue Pencil announced on Tuesday that they have jointly launched a business accelerator programme that will provide high potential South African businesses with access to the funding, market opportunities, channels and skills they need to take their commercial success to the next level. By Staff Writer
The new business acceleration programme will focus on scale-ups that are maturing from their incubation phase and that are ready to develop into more mature businesses. The initiative will provide them with access to skills and infrastructure cutting across finance, IT, HR, marketing, product development and other business functions.
“South Africa as a nation is crying out for initiatives that can create jobs and stimulate economic growth,” says Tallies Taljaard, owner of Blue Pencil. “Many small businesses struggle to take off and thrive after the incubation phase – by increasing their chances of success and through the right interventions we can help them to have a positive impact in the SMME economy.”
In addition, where the businesses need capital to grow, Blue Label may provide funding in exchange for an equity stake or help them to secure external funders. Blue Label and Blue Pencil are currently evaluating companies suitable for the programme, with the aim of bringing 10 on board during Q1 2017.
“While there is a strong focus on incubation, there are not enough structures in place to accelerate the growth of high potential organisations. We will seek out businesses that are built on innovation and disruption and support them with Blue Label Telecoms’ frameworks, experience, and infrastructure,” says Mark Levy, CEO of Blue Label Telecoms.
“We want to enable them to upscale rapidly and, ultimately, penetrate new markets across Africa, and the rest of the world. We will work with them in terms of commercialisation and market opportunities, assist them to refine their value proposition and see where we can leverage synergies with Blue Label.”
It is anticipated that the first phase of the accelerator programme will last for approximately three years.


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PETA dismisses plans by Louis Vuitton to introduce new crocodile farming standards as 'tosh' and claims its £31k exotic handbags cause 'immeasurable suffering' to animals
- Louis Vuitton's parent company LVMH has devised new crocodile farming policy
- The new standards were approved by certification company NSF International
- They be applied to 20 farms that supply crocodile skin to the company by 2020
- But PETA told MailOnline that the new policy would ensure 'pretty much nothing
Animal rights group PETA has dismissed plans by fashion giant LVMH to implement new crocodile farming standards as 'tosh'.
The luxury retail group, which is the parent company of Louis Vuitton and sells exotic handbags for up to £31,000, announced this week it had devised a new set of standards for 'responsibly-supplied' crocodile skin and applied them to three farms that supply their leather tanneries.
According to WWD the guidelines, which have been approved by certification company NSF International, will eventually be applied to the 20 farms that supply crocodile leather to the company by 2020.
But PETA said the new policy amounted to 'pretty much nothing' and would continue to cause 'immeasurable suffering' to the animals.
Scroll down for video
LVMH announced this week it had 'devised standards' for crocodile farming and applied them to three farms that supply one of their tanneries in Singapore (file photo)
Louis Vuitton's Capucines MM handbag, made from 'exotic crocodilian leather', will set shoppers back £31,000. It is lined with goatskin and accented with polished hardware
A spokesperson told MailOnline: 'LVMH's assurances of "responsibly-supplied" crocodile skin are tosh, given that it will apparently take the company nearly two years to get around to ensuring pretty much nothing.
'Most importantly, the standard won't prevent the worst of the cruel practices: the method of slaughter, which consists of cutting the back of the crocodile's neck and thrusting a metal rod down the live animal's spine, causing unimaginable agony.
'Fashion houses and designers – such as Chanel and, most recently, Victoria Beckham – that have come to the conclusion that there's no way to turn an exotic animal into a fashion accessory without causing immeasurable suffering have dropped exotic skins from their collections, and PETA urges LVMH to do the same.'
LVMH - which stands for LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE - is the parent company of luxury brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Fendi.
An Alma BB handbag made from crocodile weather, priced at £12,800 on Louis Vuitton's website. PETA said the new crocodile farming policy would ensure 'pretty much nothing'
Made from crocodile skin and lambskin, this Petite Malle handbag is priced at £16,000 on Louis Vuitton's website. There are 20 crocodile farms that supply crocodile leather to LVMH
Handbags made from 'precious' exotic leathers currently appear on Louis Vuitton's website for as much as £31,000.
There are some 20 crocodile farms that supply crocodile leather to Heng Long, LVMH's crocodile tannery, according to WWD.
Jean Baptiste Voisn, strategy director for the luxury conglomerate, said: 'LVMH has decided to set a new frame of reference by launching a new standard for the industry, whose regulations seemed inefficient to us.'
Chanel, Victoria Beckham, Vivienne Westwood and Diane von Furstenberg are among the labels that have banned exotic animal pelts from their collections in recent months amid mounting pressure from consumers and animal rights groups.
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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As the United States enters the height of election season, a new national survey shows that legislative cannabis policy diverges from public sentiment when it comes to consumers' reported emotional health, safety and economic benefits of allowing home cannabis cultivation.
The 2024 survey of Americans 21 and older conducted online by The Harris Poll on behalf of Royal Queen Seeds (RQS), one of the world's largest and most trusted cannabis seed banks, shows that 59% of Americans agree that all Americans should have the right to legally grow cannabis at home.
The study also shows:
- 81% of cannabis consumers agree all Americans should have the right to grow at home
- 62% of cannabis consumers would rather grow their own cannabis than buy it
- 34% of cannabis consumers who have grown at home do so because they feel safer consuming their own home-grown flower compared to store-bought cannabis
Findings suggest that home cultivation is as key to successful cannabis legalization legislation as regulated sales or record expungement.
The nationally representative study, conducted in February 2024, surveyed more than 2,000 adults ages 21 and older, among whom 713 are cannabis consumers. Survey participants shared their thoughts on cannabis home grow laws as well as habits and purchasing patterns tied to 4/20, the largest cannabis sales day of the year. The results indicate continued normalization of cannabis in the U.S.
- 37% of Americans (21+) agree that they would consider buying cannabis seeds as a gift for someone on 4/20
- 66% of cannabis consumers agree that they would consider buying cannabis seeds as a gift for someone on 4/20
- 81% of cannabis consumers who plan on growing this year agree that they plan to buy cannabis seeds on 4/20 for themselves
Benefits of Home-Grown Cannabis
It is no wonder Americans believe that growing cannabis at home should be legal—more than 40% of American households already cultivate their food. Why would they not be allowed to grow their cannabis in a home garden, especially when, according to the survey, cannabis consumers who have grown at home are reaping a multitude of tangible benefits from it:
- 49% say doing so gives them a sense of confidence; 48% a sense of joy; 46% a sense of pride; 34% a sense of ease; 44% a connectedness with nature or Earth
- 47% say they do so because it is fun
- 43% said it is more cost-effective than buying cannabis flower in a store
- 39% said the quality of the flower is better compared to store-bought
Habits of a Home Grower
The survey also polled cannabis consumers on an array of cultivation topics:
- 26% of cannabis consumers have grown at home
- 21% who have not grown at home would like to try
- 56% of cannabis consumers who have grown cannabis at home admit to singing or playing music for their cannabis plants
- 61% who plan to grow cannabis at home this year plan on growing in Spring (March-May); 49% in Summer (June-August); 24% in Fall (Sep-Nov); 29% in Winter (Dec-Feb)
- 61% who plan to grow cannabis at home this year say they will grow cannabis from seeds; 21% from clones or seedlings
- 44% who plan to grow cannabis at home this year say they will grow indoors; 33% outdoors
“All adults should be allowed to grow their own cannabis alongside their fruits and vegetables, if they so choose, without the fear of financial or criminal penalties,” said Shai Ramsahai, President of Royal Queen Seeds. “There are many reasons people enjoy growing at home, from cost savings and knowing how their plants were grown, to just plain old having fun. Royal Queen Seeds is here to champion them through their journey, whatever their reason, with more than 100 seed strains, including F1 hybrids, and one of the largest catalogs of best practices for home cultivation.”
This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Royal Queen Seeds from February 15-20, 2024, among 2,024 adults ages 21 and older, among whom 713 consume cannabis (i.e., cannabis consumers). The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the sample data is accurate to within +/- 2.5 percentage points using a 95% confidence level.
For more information, visit royalqueenseeds.com/us.
About Royal Queen Seeds
Established in 2007 in Amsterdam, Royal Queen Seeds (RQS) is the market leader at the forefront of the global cannabis genetics industry, recognized as “Best Seedbank of the Year” at The Emjays International Cannabis Awards 2023 in Las Vegas. Driven by an inherent passion for the plant, RQS meticulously tests each seed for germination, vigor, yield and both recreational and medical efficacy. This dedication, combined with relentless research and development, allows RQS to pioneer and anticipate market trends while delivering top-tier genetics curated by its team of biologists. The company is also a respected cannabis educator that offers comprehensive grow guides, resources and instruction for cultivators. It has developed an extensive range of modern genetics—including autoflowering and proprietary F1 hybrids—that cater to the varied needs of contemporary growers at every skill level, from hobbyists to professionals. Multiple Cannabis Cup victories and "Best Seed Bank'' awards—at prestigious global events including The International Cannabis Awards and Spannabis—speak to the company’s outstanding breeding and innovation.
RQS now operates online in the U.S., Thailand and 28 countries across Europe. Headquartered in Barcelona, brick and mortar locations can be found in Amsterdam, Barcelona and Bangkok. Learn more at royalqueenseeds.com.


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CLEVELAND, Ohio – Skylight Park – an urban park set within Tower City Center – is scheduled to be unveiled Saturday, July 16.
Real-estate developer Bedrock partnered with the Conservancy for Cuyahoga Valley National Park on the project.
The interior urban park setting is billed as an experiential park that offers a break in the day for passersby and will be furnished with benches, picnic tables and chairs.
Officials with the developer and national park collaborated to highlight natural beauty and greenery. A representative for Bedrock said in a release that the park is “inspired by classic midwestern foliage, hand-selected and native to Ohio.” It will include Eastern Purple Coneflower and Black-eyed Susan.
Also, “Mindfulness Moments” with quotes and mantras will be posted amidst the greenery for visitors to reflect.
A grand-opening celebration is scheduled noon to 6 p.m. July 16 in the Skylight Concourse, with programming and performances, food and beverage pop-ups, family-friendly activities and more. CVNP rangers will present a family-friendly event on “misunderstood critters and creatures” noon to 4 p.m.
Starting Thursday, July 14, family-friendly programs and events will take place throughout the summer in and around Skylight Park, including a lunchtime music series 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. Thursdays.
Skylight Park is part of Bedrock’s efforts to revitalize Tower City as a hub for shopping and retail experiences, dining, entertainment and more. Additional dining and retail businesses recently were announced, and the venue also was the site for pop-up businesses and activities during this year’s NBA All-Star Weekend.
I am on cleveland.com’s life and culture team and cover food, beer, wine and sports-related topics. If you want to see my stories, here’s a directory on cleveland.com. Bill Wills of WTAM-1100 and I talk food and drink usually at 8:20 a.m. Thursday morning. Twitter: @mbona30.
Get a jumpstart on the weekend and sign up for Cleveland.com’s weekly “In the CLE” email newsletter, your essential guide to the top things to do in Greater Cleveland. It will arrive in your inbox on Friday mornings - an exclusive to-do list, focusing on the best of the weekend fun. Restaurants, music, movies, performing arts, family fun and more. Just click here to subscribe. All cleveland.com newsletters are free.


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A little over one week to go until the all new iPhone 5 is unveiled officially by Apple at the media event they have scheduled for September 12th and rumors are flying around faster than ever. What exactly is the new iPhone 5 going to have in store for us? It’s a very exciting time for any Apple fans.
We have been hearing of and seeing renderings of the new iPhone 5 for the past few months, maybe even longer. The new iPhone is a highly anticipated device with a huge amount of hype surrounding it, so it gets a vast amount of attention from all the techno blogs out there.
So far we know a bit about the new device, including a bit about how the new device looks and stacks up compared to the earlier iPhone model – the iPhone 4S. In fact, we have a nice video which shows the new iPhone alongside the iPhone 4S so you can compare the two visually, side-by-side. Take a few minutes to watch the video below and get an idea of what the new iPhone is going to look like compared to the iPhone 4S from last year.
As you probably noticed in the video, the new iPhone is reasonable amount taller and slimmer than the iPhone 4S – making it a lovely size and shape. There had been rumours floating around of a curved back plate for the iPhone – this rumour has surfaced since last year when it was rumoured for the iPhone 4S, although it would be very nice to see a curved back plate, I’m not sure if that is something that will make it through to the iPhone 5. We have heard in the past that it can be hard to shape the glass so probably wouldn’t be done.
Apparently the new iPhone is going to be utilizing the Sharp Igzo screens, bringing superior pixel power to the iPhone. I hope that the new iPhone also makes use of something similar to Samsung’s Gorilla Glass – as my iPhone 4S screen and backplate both shattered during a mediocre 1m height fall from my desk onto carpet! Very disappointing indeed.
On top of the new iPhone, there is also the all new operating system too – iOS 6. This is very exciting in itself as it brings a whole host of new features and even a couple of all new applications. iOS 6 is going to be released to download on September 21st alongside the release of the new iPhone.
iOS 6 will be available for the iPhone 4S too, it’s not just for the new iPhone – old iPhone users will benefit from the updated iOS too.
What do you think of the new iPhone and operating system? Will you be updating to both as soon as they’re available? Share your thoughts with us in the comments section below.


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The home remodeling and design platform Houzz recently released its top 10 home-design-trend predictions for this year. The site’s forecast, derived from conversations with industry experts as well as trends noticed among its 40 million monthly users, gives a glimpse of what we might soon see in our homes—and on our social media feeds.
Get the best piercing experience at Modern Ritual or update your jewelry collection with some new swanky pieces. The downtown Canton shop carries all kinds of jewelry for piercings, as well as plenty nonpierced jewelry options.
The origin and the mission of Compassion Delivered is expressed concisely in a statement by one of its founders. “Our organization was formed because of recognizing a need in our community,” said Amanda Anschutz, who, with her husband, Daniel, founded in 2017 a nonprofit organization to reach out arms of assistance to those around the couple who are suffering. “We provide nutritional meals to people coping with life-threatening illnesses and diseases.”
“Growing your own food allows you to enjoy vine-ripened produce fresh from the garden.” So says a Cooperative Extension Service page for the Master Gardener program at the website for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
“Frank Lloyd Wright: Architecture of the Interior,” an exhibit that showcases the insides of Wright’s houses, will be on display at the Wm. McKinley Presidential Library & Museum from March 2 through April 29.
The Artisan Bianco fared well in Alison Matas’ Review of Meyers Landing (inside the November 2017 issue), but our judges deemed the entry definitively “not pizza.” We’re awarding the submission an honorable mention. It’s one of the most delicous garlic cheesy breads we ever have tasted.
Canton native Andrea Legg works as a public librarian in Tuscarawas County. Her writing has been featured on Scary Mommy, The Mighty and For Every Mom. She is a member of Ohio Library Council and the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators.
Everyone loves the Feast Awards issue. And I mean everyone! You may remember in the past, we chose several dishes from different local restaurants to feature in the issue. Last year, we turned it into a competition. As with any competition, there is judging. That’s kinda why we changed the game—we wanted a chance to taste-test before featuring them in the magazine.
The Repository Select Rite Aid Stores Spee-D Foods Buehler's Fresh Foods Fishers Foods, including 44th Street NW, Tuscarawas St. W, Fulton Drive, Lincoln Way E. and Cleveland Ave. NW locations Aultman Hospital Gift Shop Mercy Medical Center Gift Shop Gervasi Vineyard Marketplace Carpe Diem Coffee Shop, downtown Canton and Belden Village Mall locations News Depot Avenue Arts Marketplace Yum Yum Tree Alliance Grapes in a Glass


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If you are struggling to get through the weekdays and are still looking forward to your weekend doing fun activities then Bhuvan Bam is surely going to make you feel jealous. Bhuvan, one of the biggest content creators in the country, is doing it already.
Bhuvan has been roped in by the Dubai tourism board for a campaign to promote Dubai as a hot tourism hub for their special summer time campaign making the hub ideal spot for excursions and fun activities galore.
Bhuvan, who recently made a trip to the one of the world's biggest and shiniest metropolises, had the time of his life. The actor engaged in a variety of fun activities, interactive spaces, and cultural events in the city which was curated by the tourism board.
Bhuvan engaged in a Desert Safari, explored Old Dubai m, had a cultural lunch and much more in the between July 20-July 23. He was invited by Dubai to experience all these offerings the city has for all the millions of tourists who throng the metropolis every year.
The Dubai Tourism board has roped in Bhuvan being India’s biggest content creators owing to a massive reach he has built reaching upto 100 million people across social media and enjoys a loyal close to 30 million subscribers on his YouTube platform alone.
The digital campaign has just gone live across social media handles of the star and of the tourism board with a specially curated experiential video expected to be dropped on the creators YouTube platform soon.
“I visited Dubai Autodrome, Skyview Observatory, and the Museum of the future. It was like a whole different world. This trip is special because I saw something from the past like Old Dubai and something futuristic as well.
We all know Dubai for having a shopping extravaganza, which is also a part of it, but it is such a culturally rich country with such unique curated experiences that one can be part of. I’m grateful to Dubai Tourism and it was great to collaborate with them for this special campaign”, says Bhuvan.
The YouTuber and now an actor has recently wrapped shooting for the maiden OTT series, Taaza Khabar, which also has Shriya Pilgaonkar in the lead role. While trying out different things, the creator turned actor is leaving no stone unturned to play the role of Vasya, including doing some action for the role. Recently, he shocked his fans by revealing a brand new clean shaven look from the series.


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Now that Apple has launched the new iPhone, Samsung is all set to launch the Galaxy Note 4. The phablet’s unveiling ceremony talked about the phone going on sale in October and has now unveiled the launch date; 17th October 2014.
Galaxy Note 4 will be launched in US on the 17th and will cater to all the major carriers including US Cellular. The phablet will be available for purchase from Best Buy, Costco, Amazon, RadioShack, Sam’s Club, Walmart and Target as well.
Pre-ordering began on 19th September, however further information will have to be dug out from the carrier retailers. There is no news about lauch of this smartphone in other countries as of yet.
Samsung remains silent on the pricing of this phablet as well, however, speculations put it $700 on full retail and somewhere around $300 for on-contract prices.
You can buy your note 4 here


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Activision looks set to officially announce Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 next week, as it comedically tweets a box art made in Microsoft Paint along with the wording: "We’ll share our artistic abilities and even more next week." Joining in with the fan-made artwork spread online over the past few weeks, we see a stickman with a cowboy hat and a gun.
The upcoming PS5, PS4 title has already been the subject of a few leaks, with Monster Energy drink cans of all things making the key art and logo public ahead of schedule. Activision was then forced to confirm a leak that stated guns from Modern Warfare 2 will carry over into this year's instalment. Since Modern Warfare 3 was originally planned as a large-scale DLC to the 2022 entry, this connection makes a lot of sense.
It has already been confirmed the full Modern Warfare 3 reveal will take place in Warzone 2, as has been the case in previous years. "Drop into Call of Duty: Warzone to experience the worldwide reveal for Call of Duty 2023 in a limited-time event. Stay tuned to Call of Duty channels for more details about the upcoming reveal."
Of course, despite the fact Microsoft will likely close its $69 billion deal to acquire Activision before Modern Warfare 3 releases, the game will still ship on PS5, PS4. In fact, there's now a 10-year "binding agreement" in place to ensure the series stays on PlayStation for the next decade. If the firm sticks to its newer release window for the series, Modern Warfare 3 will be out in October.


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Another Amazon Prime Day has passed, bringing a revenue surge and new customers for retailers. This year’s Prime Day set records as 2023’s largest online spending day, and Amazon’s top sales day with shoppers saving over $2.5 billion. The success of this summer’s event prompted Amazon to announce plans for a fall edition of Prime Day, taking place this October.
This surge in online spending underscores the importance of discount events like Prime Day, Black Friday, and Cyber Monday. These events help retailers and advertisers reach new and price-conscious consumers in the competitive e-commerce market.
WITHIN clients achieved their best Prime Day ever: sales rose by 200% WoW, impressions by 125%, clicks by 89%, and sales by 61% compared to Prime Day 2022, spanning the watches, pet food, and personal care industries. Driving these remarkable outcomes, WITHIN’s Retail Media Team uncovered these industry-agnostic insights:
While it may seem far off, if you haven’t started planning your holiday marketing strategies, you’re already behind. Luckily, there are some Prime Day influenced strategies that Amazon retailers and advertisers can repurpose for the upcoming holiday season:
Based on WITHIN’s Prime Day findings, prioritizing Non-Branded campaigns can be highly effective. By targeting a broader audience, including those new to your brand, you can make the most of your budget while boosting visibility. Plan to shift funds from Branded to Non-Branded campaigns for the holidays to smartly attract potential customers.
During high-traffic days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, real-time tracking is key. By making swift adjustments based on real-time results, you can avoid overspending and optimize your marketing budget effectively.
Even with a reduced post-holiday budget, it’s essential to allocate enough funds for effective remarketing to the holiday-season audience. By determining this strategy beforehand, you can ensure that your ad dollars are utilized efficiently in the weeks following the holiday season.
Over the past three years, Prime Day sales growth mirrored holiday season e-commerce growth. This correlation emphasizes the importance of Prime Day trends for your holiday marketing strategies. Here are key observations from Prime Day to guide your holiday approach:
Trend #1: Four-in-five shoppers knew what they wanted to buy going into the sale, and half were specifically waiting for the sale to purchase certain products.
What does this mean for holiday? Customers plan purchases before the holidays. Educate them early on your products by highlighting unique features, benefits, and what sets you apart. This cements interest and secures your spot on their holiday shopping list.
Trend #2: 54% of Prime Day shoppers compared prices at competitors like Walmart and Target before making their purchases.
What does this mean for holiday? To distinguish yourself amongst competitors offering the same or lower prices, highlight your excellent customer service, shipping deals and speed, and flexible returns through reviews or traditional marketing tactics. This incentives customers amid competition.
Bonus Tip: Gradually increasing bids before major sales events like Black Friday and Cyber Monday can attract customers who typically add items to their carts in anticipation of upcoming deals. This approach can help effectively redirect these customers away from competitors.
Trend #3: 32% of shoppers shopped for the same items they typically buy on Amazon.
What does this mean for holiday? Customer’s previous purchase history provides valuable clues about their holiday shopping intentions. Utilizing these insights to personalize your marketing strategies can elevate conversion rates, enhance ROI, and amplify product recall.
This past Prime Day has reaffirmed its role as a pivotal event for retailers, advertisers, and consumers alike. For retailers and advertisers, it’s a vital chance to enhance sales, leverage heightened consumer engagement, and gather valuable marketing insights for the approaching holiday season. For consumers, Prime Day has become synonymous with significant savings — now across retailers — making it a highly anticipated shopping event.


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The practice of people selling their homes by themselves in Canada without a realtor’s help is still the exception rather than the rule. But Power Corp. of Canada is making a big bet that more Canadians will embrace the idea, launching a nationally branded service to help them do it.
Through its Quebec-based subsidiary Bytheowner.com (Duproprio.com in Quebec), which it owns by way of holding company Square Victoria Digital Properties, Power Corp. has bought four smaller no-commission companies in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Ontario for an undisclosed amount. The company now lists 12,000 properties for sale across Canada.
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With this move the diversified management company, with a market cap of more than $12-billion and interests in businesses such as Great-West Lifeco Inc. and Investors Group Inc., joins Rogers Communications Inc. and its online real estate search engine, Zoocasa, as major conglomerates taking a chance on consumers moving away from the traditional realtor model.


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Ford Plans $1.3 Billion Investment, 2,000 New Jobs at Louisville Plant
This story has been updated.
The Ford Motor Company will invest $1.3 billion in the Kentucky Truck Plant to support production of its new F-Series Super Duty Truck, creating 2,000 new jobs, it plans to announce later this morning.
The automaker will hold a press conference in Louisville to announce the major expansion. Company executives will be joined by Gov. Steve Beshear, city officials and United Auto Workers union leaders for the 10:30 a.m. announcement at the truck plant on Chamberlain Lane.
Ford officials said the expansion would include an all-new body shop, facility upgrades and retooling to build the new truck.
The investment will support production of the new F-Series Super Duty Truck. The expansion will also create 2,000 new jobs.
Ford employs roughly 9,400 hourly workers between the truck plant and the Louisville Assembly Plant, which manufactures the Ford Escape.
Members of the UAW nationwide voted earlier this month to ratify a new four-year contract with Ford that included a pledge from the Detroit automaker to invest $9 billion in its U.S. facilities.
Ford's union workers in Louisville voted down the contract, with some telling reporters the deal's terms for legacy employees were unacceptable, and that Ford had yet to make workers whole after concessions driven by the recession.
Joe Hinrichs, Ford's president of the Americas, said the commitment for this investment was actually part of the previous national agreement in 2011. He credited city and state leaders with creating an environment for growth, especially during the recession, when the company was deciding which plants to close.
This was one of the last major economic development announcements by Beshear, who leaves office next week. Beshear joked that he might pick up an application.


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Food aid more harm than good
Food aid to developing countries could actually worsen rural poverty and distort global trade, according to a report by the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation (RIRDC).
"In many cases food aid can compete with domestic agricultural production and imports, inhibiting internal markets," said (RIRDC) chairperson Mary Boydell.
Boydell was launching the RIRDC report Food Aid and Agricultural Trade Reform, which examines the economic impact that food aid can have on market conditions in recipient countries and on world trade.
"Genuine emergency food aid prevents loss of life in emergency situations and the research suggests that this type of aid needs to be clearly distinguished from trade-distorting disposal of surpluses by developed economies," Boydell said.
In many developing countries the rural sector is characterised by small-scale farmers who produce food for their own consumption and sell small quantities to generate cash income. Non-targeted food aid affects the local markets for their produce, and can worsen rural poverty.
Food aid also has international trade-distorting effects, reducing demand for commercial imports into food-deficit countries.
The objective of the research was to examine concerns about the use of food aid as a form of export assistance, by reviewing global developments in food aid since the UR Agreement on Agriculture was implemented in 1995.
"Emergency relief and short-term assistance to prevent loss of life are reasonable responses to crisis situations, but if non-emergency food aid acts as a substitute for commercial trade in food on domestic and global markets, this can obstruct economic development," said Boydell.
The report recommends a World Trade Organization agreement should establish a set of principles to identify when food aid is required in an emergency situation. Careful consideration should be given to the forms of aid provided in non-emergency situations to prevent distortions of the market.
Researchers have discovered a gene that improves yield and fertiliser use efficiency of rice,...
Research has revealed that Australian food manufacturers are not adhering to the voluntary...
Fruit carrying the citrus canker pathogen has been intercepted by Australian biosecurity...


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Great day for Apple Bad Day for Blackberry
Friday was a great day for Apple as a total of 5M iPhone 5’s were sold through the weekend beating the debut of the iPhone 4S by a million units. This had Apple stock soaring and received much praise by fans and users alike.
Not to be beaten by news, Blackberry had a major outage on Apple’s big day, further sealing the fate of the once beloved company. The outage, which affected Europe and Africa went on for up to three hours for some users.
RIM sent out an official statement apologizing for the outage and assured users that no data or messages were lost. As Apple had its biggest day ever in the smartphone space, Blackberry continued its downward spiral with the latest outage.
Last October Blackberry users experienced a massive outage with millions of users affected for almost 3 days, seeing many of its users flee the service over what was called the “Worst Outage Ever.” The latest outage had many reliving the experience and further questioning the service.
RIM, since the October outage has seen its stock fall from $24 per share now to an all time low in the sub $7 range. RIM is frantically trying to downsize to stay afloat with continual layoffs. The company is trying hard to release its newest version of the smartphone operating system for the Blackberry; version 10 which it hopes will turn around the company.
Top brass from RIM is currently in San Jose California for its yearly developer conference, Blackberry Jam. It is expected that there will be announcements regarding its newest operating system, but new devices are not expected. RIM has a lot of work to do to get back to its glory, with Apple, Google, and even Microsoft innovating the smartphone arena Blackberry better get it together just to survive.


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Buick LaCrosse Hybrid Delights the Crowd at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show
Since China happens to be one of Buick’s largest markets, it only makes sense that the American luxury automaker decided to debut its new LaCrosse Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) at the 2016 Beijing Auto Show.
“GM’s leadership in electrification technologies, now and in the future, are coming to Buick in China,” said Larry Nitz, GM executive director of Global Propulsion Systems. “In fact, over the next five years, we will roll out more than 10 new energy vehicles in China, including several models for Buick. That includes full hybrids, plug-in hybrids and extended-range electric vehicles.”
The 2017 Buick LaCrosse HEV comes equipped with a 1.8-liter SIDI engine, an electric variable transmission, and a 1.5-kWh lithium battery, which all contribute to the sedan’s strong fuel efficiency of approximately 50 mpg. That number is a 35% fuel economy improvement over the LaCrosse with eAssist technology. Furthermore, Buick also announced the new LaCrosse HEV will be able to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 8.9 seconds.
The exterior of the LaCrosse HEV is highlighted by its sleek roofline, as well as its active grille, which opens and closes in order to improve the sedan’s efficiency. Other advanced technology for the 2017 LaCrosse HEV includes electronic power steering, exhaust thermal energy recycling, and an electronic climate control compressor.
General Motors also used the Beijing Auto Show as a platform to introduce its new “Buick Blue” logo, which is meant to symbolize Buick’s devotion to providing more efficient powertrain options and other green technologies.
The LaCrosse Hybrid Electric Vehicle will be presented to the public on April 25th. Buick has yet to announce whether this new LaCrosse variant will be sold in the United States.
Gallery: The 2017 Buick LaCrosse HEV
The News Wheel is a digital auto magazine providing readers with a fresh perspective on the latest car news. We’re located in the heart of America (Dayton, Ohio) and our goal is to deliver an entertaining and informative perspective on what’s trending in the automotive world. See more articles from The News Wheel.


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Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper recently launched the 2018 Technician of the Year to award top technicians for their discipline to uphold superior automotive skills and industry knowledge. This new training program is exclusively for Certified Service Center technicians.
“We created this program to encourage and support technicians at every level,” Shane Norman, vice president of sales and marketing at Eastern Auto Parts Warehouse. “We wanted our professional technicians to feel the personal pride that comes from achieving their training and certification goals, and to experience the rewards and recognition that comes from being the very best in the industry.”
Technicians who qualify will be sent to the Bob Bondurant School of High Performance Driving in Phoenix, Ariz., for two days of driving and live training. On site, technician finalists will be tested to determine the 2018 Auto Value Technician of the Year and the 2018 Bumper to Bumper Technician of the Year.
The two grand prize winners will receive a four-day, three-night trip to Las Vegas, including travel, meals, receptions, and VIP access to the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo (AAPEX) and the Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) Show, along with a $2,500 cash prize. While there, the two winners also will be honored on stage at the 2018 Aftermarket Jackpot Convention hosted by the Alliance.
The winners also will be sent to the ASE Technician of the Year Awards Ceremony in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
“We value training and want to reward the best technicians in our customers’ shops for keeping current with their certifications and automotive knowledge, along with striving to excel further. We sincerely hope they are excited by the possibility of being named the 2018 Technician of the Year!” says Elizabeth Estes, corporate training director at Parts Warehouse Inc.
To qualify to be a finalist for this training trip, technicians must attend and show proof of completion of six hours of live training and 10 vendor partner classes, as well as provide their ASE report of test results for this testing period. The testing period is based on the ASE testing schedule from July 1, 2017 to June 30, 2018.
For more information, contact your local Auto Value or Bumper to Bumper representative.
Auto Value and Bumper to Bumper are part of the Aftermarket Auto Parts Alliance.


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New York State Assembly Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Jeffrey Dinowitz (D-Bronx) announced today the passage of legislation that he sponsored along with Senate Consumer Affairs Committee Chair Lee M. Zeldin (R-Suffolk) in both the Assembly and the Senate that would allow parents and guardians to freeze the credit record of their children in order to prevent identity theft (A.8955-B/S.6682B). This measure has become increasingly necessary as a 2011 report by ID Analytics, an identity theft protection firm, noted that an estimated 140,000 minors are at risk of falling victim to identity theft every year. Moreover, a 2011 study, from CyLab, a research center at Carnegie Mellon University, examined 41,000 children who were registered with a commercial identity protection service and found that 10% of them had someone else using their social security number.
Currently, New York State law only allows a parent to freeze a child’s credit if a credit file already exists in the child’s name. However, more often than not, the reason a file exists at all means that the child has already fallen victim to identity theft. This measure would allow parents to enact a freeze without an existing credit report on file for a child, significantly reducing the risk of child identity theft.
“This bill gives parents the ability to take proactive steps to protect their child’s identity and their credit information. Child identity theft can go on for years without a parent realizing it is occurring and this can have harmful effects on the child’s credit report,” Mr. Dinowitz noted. “This can lead to serious problems later in life for the children when they apply for student loans, try to find a job or attempt to build their credit. Parents have every right to freeze their child’s credit and stop a potentially horrible situation from ever occurring.”
“With today’s constant stream of data-sharing and the 24-7 use of technology to store personal information, reports of identity theft have soared and children are quickly becoming the number one target,” Mr. Dinowitz said. “Knowing that a child will not be applying for credit cards or taking out loans for many years, criminals see a window of opportunity for credit abuse that can take place for a long time before anyone is made aware of the fraudulent activity. It is more important than ever for parents to have a way to shield their children from the lingering and detrimental effects of identity theft. This legislation will allow parents to freeze their child’s credit report, prevent child identity theft and help New York push back against a rapidly growing problem.”
This legislation would require credit reporting agencies to place a credit record freeze on a child’s account at the request of parent or guardian. Following the freeze, a consumer reporting agency would be prohibited from releasing the child’s credit report or any information included in the report to any third party, with a few minor exceptions as required by law. The credit freeze could be removed at the request of the parent or guardian or by the child once he or she turns 16 years old.
The bill would align New York State law with that of several other states – including Maryland, Wisconsin, Delaware, Illinois, Michigan, Texas and Oregon – that already have statutes requiring credit reporting agencies to allow parents or guardians to freeze their children’s credit even when no file exists. States such as Florida, Virginia, Indiana and Pennsylvania all have similar statutes pending.


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New York photo and video equipment store B&H Photo Video is making a big bet on mobile this holiday season with a new responsive Web site and two mobile applications.
Articles Tagged ‘Android app’
Frank & Oak is furthering its mobile investments with an upgraded iPhone application as well as the launch of an Android version.
Online deal site RetailMeNot has revamped its mobile couponing application to give consumers more control in finding and redeeming online as well as in-store coupons.
Target is giving its mobile applications a significant boost with new location-based features, pointing to the critical role that in-store experiences are playing for retailers in taking their mobile efforts to the next level.
Marriott Hotels has launched a mobile application that allows travelers to check into a hotel from their mobile device in an attempt to reach its increasingly mobile guests.
Viggle has expanded its presence to Android devices in an effort to reach as many users as possible and reward them when they check-in to their favorite TV shows.
NEW YORK – A Zappos executive at Mobile Commerce Daily’s Mcommerce Summit conference said that although the mobile Web is a great way to capture new customers, the company is seeing more sales coming from its mobile applications.
Domino’s Pizza is proving that it is a force to reckon with in the mobile ordering arena with a new Android application that lets pizza lovers order their favorite meals no matter where they are.
Pizza chain Papa John’s is cementing its position in the mobile commerce arena with a new Android application that lets pizza lovers order their favorite meals on the go.
Outdoor cataloger and online retailer The Sportsman’s Guide is making a bigger investment in mobile with a new mobile site, new apps and enhanced functionality as it looks to broaden its reach.


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NGINX’s Plan to Create a $1 Billion Business from its Open Source Software
NGINX Inc. has a set an ambitious goal for itself: To become a $1 billion company within the next eight to 10 years. It will not be an easy task, especially given that its biggest competitor may be its own well-engineered open source software. For NGINX, the key to success will be to successfully get customers from additional markets.
The open source NGINX project, which began in 2002, is a widely-used high-performance web server and reverse proxy. However, the commercial company, NGINX Inc., created to support the open source project, was founded much later, in 2011, with the first commercial product in 2013.
Many early adopters and other users of the open source version of NGINX have the skills and engineering resources to rely solely on the open source version, so commercially, NGINX Inc. is facing an uphill battle in monetizing this user base.
In order to survive over the long term, it’s critical that the company expands beyond its historical user base and into new markets to customers who need additional features along with support and services to implement and maintain the software and customers who will pay for commercial products and services.
NGINX is used by many of the top websites in the world, and its market is continuing to grow. According to Netcraft’s July 2016 report, NGINX is used by almost 28 percent of the top million websites. As of August 11, 2016, W3Tech’s survey put this number at almost 36 percent of the top million websites and almost 53 percent of the top 10,000 websites. Both of these surveys have limitations, but they show a trend of NGINX growing relative to the competition that aligns with what we’ve been seeing in the market.
When you have an open source product as good as NGINX, it can be difficult for any company to provide additional value, a challenge recognized by Gus Robertson, CEO of NGINX, Inc.
“In building a company around an already successful project like NGINX,” Robertson said, “we’ve got to then deliver significant additional value on top of this incredibly great software.” This hinges on enterprises recognizing these new features as valuable. With many of the open source developers on staff at NGINX, Inc., enterprises may “also pay to know that the authors of the software will have their back when they go into production,” said Robertson.
From a feature standpoint, Robertson tells us “anything that extends NGINX into the traditional application delivery platform space, such as load balancing, media streaming, caching, monitoring, application health checks, etc. goes into the commercial product.”
The NGINX Plus Release 10, announced Tuesday, arrives with a new Web Application Firewall along with some other security enhancements, support for IP Transparency and Direct Server Return (DSR) load balancing, and other features. These premium features, along with support and services, are what they need to be able to monetize.
About 90 percent of the company’s revenue comes from their commercial product, NGINX Plus, which is sold as a subscription service with 24×7 support, and the remaining 10 percent of their revenue comes from professional services.
On a positive note, the company is seeing quite a bit of growth in its commercial business. In the past 12 months, NGINX, Inc. doubled their customer base to the current 1,000 commercial customers, and more than half of these customers have over $1 billion per year in revenue. The sales team is focused on enterprise and mid-market companies with websites that are mission critical to their business, which tends to include mature tech companies, online retailers, media, financial services and more. Health care, telecommunications and government are also important markets for NGINX, Inc.
In April, NGINX received an $8 million investment in addition to earlier investments, which it is using to aggressively go after this growing market, rather than focusing on becoming cash flow positive.
When we asked Robertson about his plans for the future, he replied “Number one, we will continue to be open source … We are committed to providing the best open source web server in the world.”
From a commercial point of view, “we’re focused on helping customers transition from expensive hardware appliances to using software for application delivery, and then moving to microservices, which helps them build more scalable applications,” Robertson told us.


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Curtis Lee first got the idea for his valet parking app, Luxe, while he was running late for a dinner reservation looking for a parking spot in San Francisco — a city notorious for its lack of parking.
Lee and his then-girlfriend (now-wife) circled the block for half an hour and almost missed their reservation entirely. Lee was so angry, he started sketching out early ideas for the company right there at the restaurant.
Luxe, which launched Thursday, is a valet parking app that’s almost too good to be true. Before you leave your house, you plug in the address you’re going to. The app tracks you as you make your way to your destination, and about 10 minutes before you get there, it matches you with a Luxe valet attendant.
Dressed in a bright blue jacket, your attendant meets you at your destination, hops into your car, and asks when you’ll need it back and if you want them to run your car through a car wash or to fill your tank up with gas. Then they take your car to one of several lots in the city that Luxe has struck deals with.
Ten minutes before you’re ready to leave, you use the app to request the valet to bring your car wherever you are. The most surprising thing about the app is that it costs $US5 an hour, or $US15 a day. That’s ridiculously less expensive than other services. A competitor in this same space, ValetAnywhere, charges $US6 an hour, and up to $US42 a day, the Wall Street Journal notes. And that’s only available in New York City.
The parking situation in San Francisco is so dire that apps have been created specifically to let people auction off their parking spots, and the San Francisco City Attorney has had to make a statement declaring such auctions illegal. But since so many people commute into San Francisco, they don’t have the option of forgoing cars altogether and hailing an Uber or Lyft to get to work, or to wherever else they want to go.
There are a couple of drawbacks that Luxe will surely straighten out as it grows. It’s only available in San Francisco for now, though the company says it plans to expand to other cities. And the app is only available on iOS.
Lee, the CEO and cofounder of Luxe, was most recently the Entrepreneur in Residence at Lightspeed Venture Partners, where he met his cofounder Craig Martin and started developing Luxe a year and a half ago.
Lee previously had stints at Groupon, Zynga, Google, and Skype. Martin and Lee brought their COO from Lightspeed, Greg Zanghi, on board. Zanghi had also built Tesla’s operations group from the ground up.
On Thursday, Luxe announced its first round of fundraising: $US5.5 million from Google Ventures, Sherpa Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Upfront Ventures, Foundation Capital, BoxGroup, Slow Ventures, Data Collective, Eniac Ventures, and Rothenberg Ventures.
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