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A University of Washington engineering professor has come up with a new goop for his 3D printer that costs 1/30 - 1/50 of the authorized goop, using a mix of clay, sugar and nutritional supplements, then open sourced their formula. Basically, these guys are the inkjet cartridge refillers of the 3D era:
About five years ago, Mark Ganter, a UW mechanical engineering professor and longtime practitioner of 3-D printing, became frustrated with the high cost of commercial materials and began experimenting with his own formulas. He and his students gradually developed a home-brew approach, replacing a proprietary mix with artists' ceramic powder blended with sugar and maltodextrin, a nutritional supplement. The results are printed in a recent issue of Ceramics Monthly. Co-authors are Duane Storti, UW associate professor of mechanical engineering, and Ben Utela, a former UW doctoral student.
"Normally these supplies cost $30 to $50 a pound. Our materials cost less than a dollar a pound," said Ganter. He said he wants to distribute the free recipes in order to democratize 3-D printing and expand the range of printable objects.
Glitzy three-dimensional printers have become common in the industrial world, churning out fast 3-D prototypes of everything from airplane parts to running shoes. But the machines also are becoming popular among artists, hobbyists and educational institutions.
A flashlight review that begins with the promise “I’m about to hike through a remote canyon to an abandoned mine, and I gotta tell you there’s a storm raging outside” should end on an interesting note, and this one does. [via] Disturbing, strange sounds. That’s exactly what I caught on video while filming and documenting […]
Reflectacles, the hyper-reflective Ray Ban-style $75 glasses frames that Scott Urban is Kickstarting have a new feature: now you can get ones doped with materials that reflect the infrared light that CCTVs kick out to let them capture images in low light, which blind cameras’ sensors. Cool!
Typewriter historian Martin Howard (previously) writes, “I was able to pick up a rare and exquisite Waverley typewriter (1896) this summer in Scotland and have just the other day posted it to my website all cleaned and ready to show.”
Loot Crate is a totally different kind of subscription service that mails subscribers monthly boxes filled with curated geek, pop culture, and gamer paraphernalia. Its cult following awaits a box every month filled with everything from bobble heads to T-shirts to special edition collectibles. But nothing gets Loot Crate fans as excited as the limited […]
The ARMOR-X Mini Flexible Phone Tripod is a smartphone tripod that is designed with flexible legs to rest on virtually any type of surface. Other tripods have proved useless unless I conveniently have a flat surface in front of me, which is why this particular tripod was appealing enough to try out. The ARMOR-X is compact and easy […]
You don’t need to get an advanced degree and take out massive loans to become a coder. This bundle of 10 courses was designed to teach anyone to code at home for less than it costs to go out for dinner. I was particularly impressed with this new 2017 bundle because it includes courses on […]


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Latest economic reports from Germany are sparking concerns. The slowdown in the 3rd quarter of 2018 could very well extend into the 4th quarter as well. The slowdown signaled by initial economic indicators comes as the ECB is looking to tighten its monetary policy.
Industrial production figures released over the week showed an unexpected decline in November. The data reflected a mix of headwinds facing Europe’s largest economy amid rising trade tensions and softer global demand.
A monthly survey from the European Commission released last week showed that business confidence fell sharply in December. Various regional manufacturers including Spain, France, Italy, and Germany are downgrading their expectations on business outlook.
The weak patch of data comes as the Federal Reserve has been on policy tightening path. It aims to find a balance between higher interest rates to rein inflation and the global markets.
ECB has also reasons to be concerned
A slowdown from Germany will no doubt raise concerns for the European Central Bank which recently announced an end to its QE program which spanned over the years. Interest rates should remain steady until the middle of next year.
However, the Eurozone’s economy has been rising at a slower pace than what ECB officials had previously estimated. The first slowdown in the third quarter matches the temporary factors such as the automobile emission standards. However, the data released recently showed otherwise.
The ECB will likely face with a tough choice if the German economy continues to slide further. It could spark concerns of a recession, with the ECB’s interest rates near record lows. The Central Bank argued that its bond purchase program was the biggest driver of growth in the Eurozone’s economic recovery.
However, with the QE program ending in December, the slowdown could potentially come back to haunt the policymakers at the central bank.
Some of Germany’s key industrial sectors slowed when adjusted for inflation and seasonal changes. Industrial production dropped 1.9% in November compared to the month before. This was worse as economists forecasted an increase of 0.3%.
Industrial production fell for the second consecutive month as the data for October revised down to show a 0.8% decline on the month.
The data comes as manufacturing orders also fell, as seen in a separate report released earlier in the week.
The German economy declined in the third quarter of the year. This was the first pace of decline since 2015 with weaker exports hitting growth the hardest along with the emission standards hitting automobile production.
Italian economic performance under scrutiny
Besides Germany, the Italian economy also contracted in the third quarter of the year.
Following the weak patch of data, officials in Germany brushed aside the concerns of the economic softness and maintained the narrative that it was only temporary. Germany’s economy ministry said that the drop in industrial production was due to extra vacation days.
However, the slowdown was not just in Germany but also in other major regional economies in the Eurozone.
Growth was seen sliding sharply after reaching a decade high in 2017. The gains came due to a surge in exports and manufacturing which started the year 2018 on an optimistic note. However, the momentum was seen fading toward the end of the year.
The European Commission’s survey showed that the Economic Sentiment Indicator which is an aggregate measure of consumer and business confidence in the eurozone fell to 107.3 in December compared to 109.5 in the previous month. This was the lowest reading in the economic sentiment indicator since January 2017.

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Technology & Market News Explored
By Hanna Bubser
Looking forward, reacting now can be daunting as there are so many variables and new advancements that impact the greater industry at large.
As the saying goes, perspective is everything. This relates well to the automotive industry, seeing as it is no stranger to changes, and no stranger to challenges either.
Sometimes all you need is some insight to understand what really matters and what the biggest takeaways are.
Donny Seyfer is an executive officer with the National Automotive Service Task Force, and he understands that there are a lot of things happening at once, especially as it pertains to technological advancements.
“Technicians have not changed their point of view in 40 years. They’re still expecting to repair a car based on the fact that they’ve got a Y chromosome in those cases and they should just know how it works,” Seyfer says. “And it doesn’t work that way anymore.”
But the notion of a mindset change doesn’t need to be an overwhelming thought, even though some of the larger shifts within the industry have already begun. One example of this is the ICE to EV transition.
“I don’t think that a transition [will happen] in most of our lifetimes. I think there’ll be a lot of [EVs] coming, and I think there’ll be a significant part of the market share unlike where they are now,” Seyfer says, “but there just are markets where they’re not ready to cover them yet for quite some time. However, with that said, opportunities abound right now for folks who want to get in early.”
Seyfer notes that there are EV manufacturers who want to use independent repair shops as their service points, which gives an incentive to invest in EV technologies and training. But that isn’t a feasible solution for every shop, and Seyfer understands that as much as he recognizes the importance of EVs overall.
“I don’t think that anybody needs to completely freak out,” Seyfer says. “But if you’re not aware of them, that means you’re probably not aware of hybrids either, and they’re gaining market share very rapidly.”
Acting on ADAS
Keeping that in mind, another important area of advancement for consideration is advanced driver assistance systems. Along with all of the conversation surrounding EVs, ADAS is also undoubtedly a hot topic right now.
Some shops are leaning into it, and some are leaning away. But what aspects should shops really be focusing on? Seyfer says it depends on your shop’s discipline.
“If you’re in the collision industry, you need to be aware. You need to be capable of providing service for those by whatever means you do it,” Seyfer says. “But for general repair shops … those vehicles can’t be aligned without some kind of calibration, and that will change as more and more dynamic cars come online. But you still have to calibrate them.”
Understanding ADAS calibration and repair procedures is crucial if you don’t want to be turning away repairs. In order to avoid miscommunication with a customer, Seyfer says it’s important to be well-versed on the processes and procedures ahead of time. Put in the work to understand ADAS, and it will pay off.
“If you’re still thinking that this is a trend that is not going to go on or these cars will be completely self calibrating, that’s not actually going to be the case,” Seyfer says.
Seyfer goes on to say that another step worth taking involves customer education. Currently, ADAS has the potential to interfere with how a driver performs on the road. That is to say that these systems are not perfect, even if they are well intended. Seyfer is hopeful that in the future ADAS will only help and not cause distractions for drivers.
“They know it’s there, but I don’t think they have any idea in most cases what’s involved in making those systems work properly after what they would consider a simple operation like an alignment,” Seyfer says of general customer knowledge on ADAS. “As a repair shop, you have to be aware of this.”
This also ties into who is hired on as technicians. Who are the people in your shop educating the customers and doing these complex repairs?
The labor shortage throughout the industry right now certainly does not make this question any easier to consider, but Seyfer has an idea of the right approach, which unsurprisingly has to do with shedding perspective on the situation.
“Where I would be focusing is that technician/IT mindset,” Seyfer says. “Because everything on the cars anymore is on the network in some way, shape or form. So, someone’s got to be able to service the network.”
Article Credit to Fenderbender.
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“Hey Siri, what’s my bank balance?”
ING customers can now check their Orange Everyday account balance by asking their Apple smartphone.
ING is the latest bank to dabble with voice biometric technology, launching a new capability that allows customers with an Apple smartphone to ask virtual assistant Siri for an update on their bank balance. Rather than logging into their mobile banking app, customers with a compatible device can simply ask Apple's assistant, "Hey Siri, what's my bank balance?" to get an update on their Orange Everyday transaction account.
While other financial institutions have also launched voice biometrics technologies, ING is the first Australian bank to launch Siri voice authorisation. Customers won't even need to enter their PIN in order to check their balance with Siri, but can simply ask their phone,"Hey Siri, what's my bank balance" or "How much do I have in my Orange everyday account?" Customers can also ask the virtual assistant more specific questions, like "How much do I have in my holiday savings account?" Customers can check the balance of any ING account and, for security and privacy, it will display on the screen the balances of the accounts that the customer has asked for.
At the moment the feature only allows customers to check their ING account balance, but ING is planning to extend the technology to enable users to make transactions and payments via voice authorisation. Research commissioned by ING found one in five customers are using virtual voice assistants daily, and 69% said they'd be likely to use this technology to perform daily banking transactions.
Head of digital innovation at ING Chris Barwick said, "This latest development with Siri marks a major milestone in Australian consumer banking as it brings us one huge leap closer to making voice activated transactional banking a reality. In the future we want our customers to be able to use Siri for banking transactions such as transferring funds between accounts or making bill payments."
This is already a reality in Australia. In September 2017, ANZ was the first Australian bank to launch voice authentication technology for mobile, allowing customers to complete mobile transactions using their voice. The launch of the technology followed a successful pilot program back in April 2017 and allows ANZ customers to authorise transactions over $1000 without logging into their mobile banking app.
Earlier last year Citi launched its voice biometrics verification service, allowing customers to verify their identity with their voice when they call through to the customer care team with a question.
To take advantage of the new capability, ING customers should ensure they have the latest version of iOS downloaded, as well as the latest version of ING's mobile banking app.
- Why is ING ditching unlimited free ATMs for a $100 cashback offer?
- How will the Newcastle Permanent and Greater Bank merger affect customers?
- Xinja is closing down, what does this mean for customers?
- Tips for parents as school banking programs to be banned in Victoria
- Revolut launches in Australia: How does it compare to rival neobanks and fintechs?


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"Shut up and take my money" - KFC continues its humorous campaign, starring a chip-eating, student-teasing janitor.
KFC has released a fourth chapter of the 'Shut Up & Take My Money' value campaign.
From Ogilvy, this iteration sees a janitor teasing students with KFC chips while they undertake an exam.
Previously, other spots from the campaign saw an elderly woman hosting a KFC party and a boss shouting his employees lunch.
Ogilvy creative director Shaun Branagan said that the Shut Up & Take My Money has been a huge success for the fast food company.
“Whilst most retail campaigns are moronic and monotonous, this one is designed to sell without the yell, to entertain with story-selling,” says Branagan.
KFC marketing director Annabel Fribence says: “As the next instalment of SUATMM this playful execution continues to communicate the fact that our value offers are too good to be true offering you so much more than just a low price.”


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The Lufthansa Group is disputing a report that its GDS
bookings in Europe plummeted in the two weeks after the company implemented a
controversial GDS surcharge of 16 euros.
“Currently there is no significant change of the overall
booking situation within the Lufthansa Group,” spokeswoman Claudia Lange said
in an email to Travel Weekly on Thursday. “We are in line with the statements
and forecasts given regarding the booking figures.”
Her comment came on the heels of a report by travel technology publication Tnooz on
Thursday that the four Lufthansa Group airlines (Lufthansa, Austrian Airlines,
Brussels Airlines and Swiss International Airlines) saw a 16.1 % year-over-year
decline in European GDS bookings between Sept. 1 and Sept. 14.
By comparison, the story said, Lufthansa's Europe bookings
were flat year-to-date through August. Meanwhile, other leading legacy carriers
saw an aggregate growth of 4.1% in their European bookings through the Sabre,
Amadeus and Travelport GDSs during September's first two weeks. Tnooz said that
it obtained the data through an undisclosed third party, and that the
information was only intended to be circulated among senior executives at
Sabre did not immediately respond to an email for comment
According to the data, Lufthansa lost significant market
share during the first half of this month on several of its major routes,
including Frankfurt-New York, Frankfurt-London and Berlin-Vienna.
In the weeks before and after Lufthansa's imposition of the surcharge
on Sept. 1, travel agents and corporate customers chafed at the plan, saying that it threatened
the entire distribution model that the industry is built upon. Some agents said
that they would avoid GDS bookings with Lufthansa when possible, and also that
they had no plan to book direct to avoid the surcharge.
The figures reported today suggest that those claims are
coming to fruition. U.S travel agencies that use Sabre did 24.8% less in volume
with Lufthansa during the first two weeks of September than they did during
that period last year, Tnooz reported.
Lufthansa suggested that such numbers should be view with
“The first weeks of September were heavily influenced by a
pilot’s strike action as well as other seasonal effects,” Lange said. “We
certainly will give the public detailed and reliable sales figures within our
regular financial reporting.”
Lufthansa was forced to cancel more than 1,000 flights on
Sept. 8 and Sept. 9 due to a pilot's strike.
Bill Florence, spokesman for Travelport, said that the
company is analyzing its Lufthansa bookings for the first half of September and
expects to have the data compiled by Friday.
Amadeus did not immediately respond to an email for comment


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Something for the weekend: As a nation, it’s fair to say we are big fans of hot drinks; Britain is synonymous with a cuppa at this point. Nowhere is this more clear than in the workplace. Many workers have bonded over a cup of tea or coffee, providing various social, collaborative and wellbeing benefits. But have you ever wondered what is considered to be the top brew?
Well, according to a new National Tea Day (21 April) study, the UK’s top tipple is not the builder’s brew you might expect, but green tea, though black tea was ranked a close second, with the most popular varieties being English Breakfast and Assam, with chamomile, matcha and white tea taking up the other top spots.
When it comes to the all-important dipping, the UK’s favourite was found to be a chocolate cookie. Other biscuits that the study found to be popular were florentines, jammy dodgers and shortbread, while oat biscuits were the least favoured.
The analysis was collated by Just Eat for Business, which aimed to find out the nation’s favourite types of tea, flavour accompaniments and biscuits to coincide with this year’s National Tea Day.
Matt Ephgrave, managing director of Just Eat for Business, said: “Many workers have missed out on office socialisation over the last two years, perhaps due to a shift to remote working, or restrictions in social spaces, which was beneficial for fostering healthy work relationships, and promoting healthy breaks away from work.
“Organising regular team building events centred around the British staple, like treating the team to an afternoon tea delivery or organising a tea tasting party, can do wonders for improving employee engagement and morale, even if it’s just making sure we’re taking regular tea breaks and having a chat over a cuppa.”
We at Employee Benefits feel that a good cuppa is a must, believing it to have many social and mental benefits, not least the chance to step away from our computer screens and strike up friendly conversations in the workplace. Put the kettle on for us, will you?


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The Globe's monthly roundup of research from business schools.
We've all heard it said that timing is everything. Now researchers at Simon Fraser University's Beedie School of Business have put that old adage to the test and found it to be measurably true – at least as it applies to the success or failure of cutting-edge, science-based startups.
The study, published in the Nature Nanotechnology journal, is part of an ambitious, multiyear project on the global nanobiotechnology industry. It's led by Elicia Maine, a Beedie professor of innovation and entrepreneurship, and Jon Thomas, a Beedie research associate, lecturer and author on the cross-section of science and technology commercialization.
Specifically, the researchers are seeking to understand – and ultimately vanquish – the many barriers that nanotech and biotech startups face in bringing what Drs. Maine and Thomas call high-capital "radical innovation" from the lab to the business world.
Success, they say, is too often stymied by long and uncertain development times of up to 10 or 15 years from innovation to production, and the associated difficulty of attracting the necessary funding at critical phases throughout a product's development, since most investors typically want to see a return on their money after three to seven years.
The research draws on previous analysis, led by Dr. Thomas, of the prolific entrepreneurial success enjoyed by Robert Langer, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) scientist behind several successful ventures, such as a nanotechnology platform that allows targeted drug delivery via a patient's bloodstream and the controlled release of that delivered drug.
Of note, the research found Dr. Langer was able to maximize interest among venture capitalists by strategically timing when he published his ideas in academic journals, filed for a patent and formally launched a company.
Applied to the latest study, the researchers say science-based entrepreneurs can gain much from Dr. Langer's example. They recommend scientists pursue broad patents on their technologies while still in the university laboratory and then delay forming a company until they are closer to commercial viability.
"Essentially, you need to have good news coming out in a timeline that suits venture capitalists," says Dr. Maine.
Money aside, the impact on society from a lack of forward movement from lab to real life is a much bigger concern.
"The big challenge, and reason Jon and I are so passionate about this, is that some of the biggest issues in the world could be addressed and potentially solved by research that is happening in university labs and yet it is incredibly difficult, much more so than most people realize, to get those very promising inventions out of the lab and into society," says Dr. Maine.
All is fair in love, war and supply chains
If all is fair in love and war, surely in a supply chain system, where competition is a given and profit maximization the goal, the same rules must apply.
But a new study published in the European Journal of Operational Research has uncovered another, surprisingly powerful factor at play in the relationship between suppliers and retailers: fairness.
"That is the major takeaway of this paper," says Sungchul Choi, associate professor of marketing at the University of Northern British Columbia's school of business and co-author of the report with Paul Messinger of the University of Alberta's school of business.
"Being a fair-minded participant is quite important because in a competitive situation, due to the repeated interaction [of players], if you are only being self-minded, it is quite difficult to make the entire system efficient. At the same time, a fair-minded participant will make the entire system better – not only their own profit, but the entire channel profit because of utility, everyone is going to get more," says Dr. Choi.
Fairness in a supply chain is equated with "equal profit" among channel participants – a factor that might seem at odds in a system involving several players who are independent and where conflict seems inevitable, should one player choose to push its own interests over others in the chain.
But, using an analytic model to measure participant behaviour, Dr. Choi found supply chain members to be deeply cognizant of their mutual interdependence, especially between the same partners over time.
Why is this important? Say you have five channel members in a particular system and they are each going to apply their own interests – that is, mark up their price.
"Ultimately the consumer is going to pay a high price and a high price means demand goes down," says Dr. Choi. "That is not the optimal situation."
Players are also aware that playing fair with other channel members helps keep those relationships in place – a critical element in a business that relies on efficiency and effectiveness.
With costs and compatibility front of mind, supply chain members will look to find ways to work with the same partners over and over again, says Dr. Choi.
"Given this context, if you just focus on your own interests, how are you going to keep the relationship," he asks.
In an experimental economic model involving volunteers playing a game in which they assumed the role of manufacturers and retailers in a three-member supply chain, one manufacturer had higher production costs, while another recorded lower production cost. Yet, rather than using the cost advantage, the second manufacturer remained focused on getting equal profits throughout the chain.
The study also found that volunteer players learned quickly from the outcomes of previous rounds – that is, "if they didn't get what they expected or got lower than what the opponent got, they are going to adjust their price … to make equal profit over time," says Dr. Choi.
Those findings were further supported in a follow-up survey that ranked fairness as critical to the supply chain relationship.
Story ideas related to business school research in Canada can be sent to email@example.com.


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The developer’s games will be available in Michigan via Gaming Realms, its US platform partner.
US.- Online casino games developer 4ThePlayer.com has been granted a provisional license in Michigan. The firm’s games will be available via Gaming Realms, its US platform partner. It launched in New Jersey in August.
The first title to enter the market will be the flagship 9k Yeti. That will be followed by two more games, 6 Wild Sharks and 3 Secret Cities.
Chris Ash, business development director and co-founder of 4ThePlayer.com, said, “This is another exciting chapter for 4ThePlayer. We are thrilled to have our second state under our belt. Our US rollout and market-specific roadmap is making looking very exciting over the next 12-month period; if you would like to know more, we will be attending G2E in Las Vegas, so get in touch to arrange a meeting.”
Based in London, the developer was founded by Andrew Porter, Chris Ash, Thomaz Scalzilli, and Henry McLean in 2018 with the purpose of creating player-centric games. It signed a partnership with Gaming Realms to be integrated into Gaming Realms’ network and distributed in the US. It expects to see the release of its first game by the end of November and to deliver four to five games in the US markets by the end of the year.
Michigan igaming and sports betting revenue reaches $154.9m in August
Michigan’s commercial and tribal operators reported a combined $154.9m in gross online gaming and sports betting receipts for August. Receipts increased 4.5 per cent from July’s $148.2m.
Online gaming gross receipts hit $130.9m, up 3.4 per cent from the $126.6m reported in July. Gross sports betting receipts were $24m, up 11 per cent from $21.6m.
The Michigan Gaming Control Board reported that combined adjusted online gaming and sports betting gross receipts were $133.6m: $117.5m from online gaming and $16.1m from sports betting. Monthly internet gaming adjusted gross receipts rose 0.3 per cent while online sports betting adjusted gross receipts climbed 14.7 per cent.


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Virtual Reality News Features
News: Windows Holographic Is Coming to Intel's Project Alloy Cord-Cutting Headset
Most popular virtual reality headsets, like the HTC Vive and Oculus Rift, require a tethered connection to the computer and that imposes some obvious restrictions on how much we can move in our space. We'd all prefer a simpler, untethered option, and Intel wants to provide just that.
News: HTC Vive Project Proton Concept Devices Offer Potential Future High-End & Mobile AR Wearable Options
Part of the fallout from the canceled Mobile World Congress is that a range of products, ideas, and designs slated for reveal in Barcelona are now being showcased without the framing and context of the massive tech gathering.
News: Google's Daydream May Materialize in Just Two Weeks
We've heard a bit about Google Daydream—the new smartphone-based virtual reality platform that is supposed to provide a markedly better experience than Cardboard—but don't really know what it'll look like. Engadget claims we could find out in just a couple of weeks, since Android Nougat is already out, a necessary component of Daydream.
News: Apple VR Platform for iPhones May Actually Be in the Works
Google and Samsung have been leaving Apple in the dust when it comes to virtual reality gear. However, as the market grows and becomes more impossible to ignore within the tech world, Apple may be forced to play catch up. This could account for the new Apple patent that was granted today.
News: This Is the Easiest Way to Try Out HTC's Vive Right Now
If you've been debating on whether or not HTC's new virtual reality headset, the Vive, is worth the $800 price tag, then you'll be able to find out for yourself soon enough.
News: Fly with Superman Thanks to This Integrative Roller Coaster Experience
Six Flags is teaming up with Samsung to make riding a roller coaster a little more thrilling, and quite possibly a little more nauseating as well.
IFA 2014: Oculus-Powered Samsung Gear VR Headset
Samsung has shown off its new smartwatch, the Gear S, and its two new Notes, the Note 4 and the Note Edge at IFA 2014, but it had one more trick up its sleeve.
News: Oculus Rift Preorders Finally Begin on January 6th
Virtual reality technology company Oculus VR announced that it will begin accepting preorders for its long-awaited Oculus Rift headset beginning Wednesday, January 6th, at 8 a.m. Pacific time.


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HAMPTON ROADS, Va. – Commonwealth Brewing Company is teaming up with the Allagash Brewing Company for its sixth annual Saison Day.
The party starts at 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 6, and runs until 12 a.m. at Commonwealth’s taproom at 2444 Pleasure House Rd. in Virginia Beach.
It will be the first-ever Saison Day in Virginia, according to Allagash, who says it’s excited to be partnering with Commonwealth Brewing Company.
“This will be our first time partnering up with Commonwealth for Saison Day,” said Jason Perkins, Allagash Brewmaster. “Jeramy, Natalie and the team there are wonderful people; it was a blast brewing our collab beer, Tōji.”
Saison Day will celebrate saison-style ale. Saisons were historically brewed with the local ingredients Belgian farmers had on hand. That origin lends itself to this celebration of local beer, across the country, according to Allagash.
“Saisons are a beautiful and rustic style and we were stoked to brew one with Allagash, a champion of the style here in the US,” said Jeramy Biggie, Commonwealth head brewer and founder.
The company says the centerpiece of the event is indeed a curated list of rare and special saison-style beer from Allagash, Commonwealth, Casey, Fonta Flora, Jester King, Plan Bee, Burial, Oxbow, and Casa Agria. Some of the beer making an appearance at the event will include:
Commonwealth The Wealth – Bright, lemony dry hopped saison brewed with pale wheat 5.3% ABV
Commonwealth Tellurian – Dry hopped Foeder Brett saison 5.0% ABV
Commonwealth Amaranthine – Blend of Saison barrels refermented on Black Currant and Blackberries. 9.3%ABV
Allagash Saison – Rustic and dry Belgian farmhouse-style ale. 6.1%
Allagash Interlude – Complex, tart ale aged in red wine barrels with Brettanomyces. 10.6% ABV
Allagash Shiro’s Delight – Mixed-fermentation ale wine barrel-aged on plums and Pluerries. Tart, spicy, and balanced. 9.3% ABV
Allagash The Stranger and the Crane – Roasty aromas and a hint of tartness. A dark saison with cranberries. 6.3% ABV
Allagash Darling Ruby – Farmhouse-style ale with grapefruit zest. Tart, fruity, dry. 4.5% ABV
Allagash The Daring Man – A wild blend of saison and muscat grape must. Tart notes of orange, pineapple, grape. Finishes dry. 9.0% ABV
Commonwealth & Allagash Collab Tōji – Foeder-fermented Brett Saison conditioned on Medjool Date and Yuzu fruit 7.2% ABV


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Filed in Transportation
Wednesday, February 02, 2011
Many shipping analysts suggest that U.S. West Coast ports should be back on their heels when it comes to discussing the Panama Canal expansion. At least one leading port authority disagrees
Legislation calling to increase competition in the railroad industry was recently introduced by Senators Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) and Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX).
Tuesday, February 01, 2011
In what has again become a common occurrence, diesel prices are up once again this week, going up $0.8 cents to $3.438 per gallon, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA). The EIA added that current prices are up 65.7 cents per gallon compared to last year.
Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico was up 15.5 percent in November 2010 compared to November 2009, increasing to $68.1 billion, according to data released by the United States Department of Transportation’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS).
Even though the economy is still taking its lumps en route to a full-fledged recovery, UPS appears to be ahead of the game based on its fourth quarter and full-year 2010 earnings performance.
Freight forwarders need to see “realizable and significant value” added to the airport-to-airport portion of the air cargo supply chain before making a commitment to e-commerce, said two major shipper associations.
While the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC) is moving forward with an investigation of slow steaming practices in the transpacific, some analysts question whether it will even be an issue after the upcoming Lunar New Year.
Monday, January 31, 2011
When FedEx announced it was redesigning its network structure for its less-than-truckload (LTL) network, FedEx Freight, last September, which officially went live today, there was one small detail regarding this news that flew somewhat under the radar. That detail was that the company said it planned to be more active on the intermodal side.
FedEx Freight, the market leader in the LTL (less-than-truckload) sector, is changing the way shippers move freight in the $28.5 billion LTL sector.
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Irrespective of political concerns or positions, the current upheaval in Egypt must not result in the closing of the Suez Canal


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PETALING JAYA: The consumer price index (CPI) rose 0.6% in October 2018 to 120.7 compared to 120 in corresponding month of the preceding year, according to Statistics Department.
The increase in the overall index was due to higher price for housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels (2.1%), food and non-alcoholic beverages (1.2%), restaurants and hotels (1.2%), education (1.1%) and transport (0.8%), it said in a statement.
On a monthly basis, CPI increased 0.2% as compared to September 2018, while CPI for the period January-October 2018 registered an increase of 1.1% as compared to the same period last year.
In terms of overall CPI, the department reported that four states surpassed the national CPI rate of 0.6% recorded in October 2018 as compared to October 2017.
The states were Kuala Lumpur, Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Putrajaya as well as Pulau Pinang. Johor showed the same rate as the national CPI.
Meanwhile, it said the higher increase in the index for food and non-alcoholic beverages was reflected in most states in the country.
“Three states recorded higher increases for food and non-alcoholic beverages index above the national index level in October 2018 as compared to the corresponding month in 2017.
“The index for food and non-alcoholic beverages rose 4.5% in Kuala Lumpur, followed by Negeri Sembilan, Selangor and Putrajaya, while Penang showed the same rate as the national CPI of this main group,” the department said.


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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — The briny fog and spastic downpours aside, nothing could truly rain on Sigrid Olsen’s parade as she opened her first store in this affluent Boston suburb on Friday.
Olsen came hours early to inspect the 2,000-square-foot door at the Mall at Chestnut Hill. She meandered through, delighting in the gouged-oak shelving and the “found objects” — a Chinese rice basket filled with dried lavender, a teak chair — that provide a rustic foil for her collections. Yet, there’s modernity, as well, in squared, chunky tables and white, bleached-oak floors that mirror the ones in Olsen’s home.
“I’ve been dreaming about retail for a long time,” she said. “And I wanted exactly what we have here, which is a very faithful representation of the brand. I love the feeling of the primitive mixed with the modern.”
The Chestnut Hill store is the first step in a modest but important retail rollout that parent company Liz Claiborne Inc. has planned for the Wakefield, Mass.-based better-priced label. In September, a multilevel Sigrid Olsen flagship will bow on Boston’s Newbury Street, followed by doors in White Plains, N.Y., Boca Raton, Fla., Troy, Mich. and Richmond, Va.
An additional 10 to 15 doors are slated for 2004, said Mark Walsh, Claiborne’s president of specialty retail, who attended the opening. He’s also overseeing the company’s push to open freestanding stores across its divisions, based on the success of its Lucky Brand chain. Ellen Tracy and Mexx boutiques will both bow in September, in Manhasset, N.Y., and on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, respectively. They join Claiborne’s existing 218 specialty units. Together with 260 outlets and nearly 500 international concession stores, the firm’s stores produced net sales of $384 million during the first half.
Apart from dovetailing with the parent company’s own strategic direction, the new stores play off the successes of other retailers such as Chico’s and Eileen Fisher, which show just how avid the 50-plus customer is for concepts dedicated to her.
“Fifty-year-old women are not what you think,” said Olsen, herself 50, who with her Scandinavian hair and complexion could make an ideal model for a Dove soap commercial. “They want clothes with a little pizzazz, not something camouflaging your entire body.”She described her own aesthetic as falling between the nonstop novelty of Chico’s and the simplicity of Eileen Fisher.
The August and July deliveries — a roughly equal mix of the brand’s Collection, Sport and denim-based So Blue lines — show off Olsen’s flair with knits and predilection for colors, such as a tweed jacket with fringed cuffs in olive, melon and burgundy at $198. To date, Olsen has not designed anything exclusively for the store, but said she may use it to test items.
“There’s a little seed of a lifestyle store here. As we move forward and we start to expand, we hope to have home furnishings, as well,” she said, adding the company is looking at a 2005 launch for the category.
Her retail instincts are well-honed. Entering the dressing area, she is pleased by the generous space but wonders, “How many husbands will want to sit down in those chairs?” about two suspiciously delicate, bentwood numbers.
There’s another detail Olsen hasn’t quite worked out. An artist, her original works hang in the dressing room. Are they, too, for sale?
“We probably should have a plan for that because I think it’s going to happen,” she laughed.
There'll be no rest for those headed to Europe for men's, as Paris just closed the gap with Milan. According to a provisional calendar released by the Chambre Syndicale, Paris Men's Week will now open a day earlier on January 16. See new highlights on the official lineup on WWD.com. #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: @kukukuba)
BREAKING: Jonathan Saunders is leaving @DVF. The designer has resigned from his position as chief creative officer of Diane von Furstenberg, the company said in a statement on Friday. At the time of his hire, von Furstenberg said Saunders’ arrival symbolized and facilitated her stepping back from the day-to-day duties that occupy the work of a full-time creative director. The British designer joined DVF in May 2016 and was in charge of all product categories. #wwdnews
For @versace_official’s spring ad campaign, the brand emphasized the archival prints from the spring tribute collection dedicated to the late Gianni Versace. Closing out the show were five of Gianni’s favorite models: Cindy, Naomi, Carla, Helena, and Claudia. Bowing on December 18, the new campaign is yet another tribute to supermodel-dom as the images by Steven Meisel are fronted by @iamnaomicampbell, @cturlington, @gisele and more. #wwdfashion
Four-time Oscar-nominated actress Annette Bening has been waiting 20 years to play Gloria Graham in "Film Stars Don't Die in Liverpool," which will be released on December 29. The movie about Graham – a Hollywood star known for her controversial relationship with a younger Englishman named Peter Turner – is based off a memoir Turned wrote. "She felt vulnerable to him, because she loved him, she really did love him. And anyone that we really truly are in love with, we re vulnerable to in a very deep way," said Bening. Read our full interview with the modern icon of an actress on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @ninebagatelles; Styled by @cristinaehrlich)
The crisp white button down: a staple that can be dressed up or down and accessorized throughout the decades. Here, on a Art Basel-goer in 2017 on the left and on the iconic Audrey Hepburn in “Roman Holiday” in 1953 on the right. #tbt #wwdfashion (📷: Andrew Morales)
Known for her work with @victoriassecret, 25-year-old model @georgiafowler is raising her profile in Hollywood. Fowler stars in @vincecamuto’s holiday campaign, which launched in partnership with “Pitch Perfect 3.” “Almost every shoot with Vince Camuto, I’ve had to face a fear…It was definitely a challenge. I’m so grateful for it, though. I’ve always wanted to be a pop star, so that was the perfect chance,” Fowler said. Head to WWD.com to read about Fowler’s experience modeling, including at the #VSFashionShow, and her relationship with Nick Jonas. #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
EXCLUSIVE: Huda Kattan just became the first beauty influencer to land a major beauty deal. Kattan's business, @hudabeauty, has received a minority investment from private equity firm TSG Consumer Partners. The brand, which industry sources say is on track to do $200 million in retail sales for 2017, will receive support on product, retail and geographic expansion through the deal. Get all the details on the deal and read @_a_collins' interview with Kattan on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: @jgreenery) #wwdbeauty #wwdnews
Peruvian model @juanaburga_official – who is known for walking the runways of @rodarte, @viviennewestwood and @torybuch – is making the move to the big screen with drama “Los Últimos.” The film premiered in Argentina in November and arrives in the U.S. and Europe in 2018. On making the switch from modeling to acting, Burga told WWD: “It’s a completely different thing – a lot of people think it’s similar or try to connect things, especially like getting used to the camera or being looked at all the time or playing these different characrers, but film is a completely different story.” #wwdeye (📷: @jgreenery)
London’s newly opened @designmuseum will look back on the life and work of Azzedine Alaïa in a show that the designer helped to curate before he died of heart failure last month. The retrospective, which Alaïa had worked on with Mark Wilson, chief curator of the @groningermuseum, will look at the impact of his work worldwide. The show, “Azzedine Alaïa: The Couturier,” will run from May 10 to October 7. Read more about the exhibit on WWD.com #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: @zefashioninsider)


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Download full Board Memo 2021
The world’s most important privacy law – Europe’s GDPR – went into force more than two years ago. But 2021 may be the year its shockwaves are truly felt across the globe.
GDPR copycat laws are now taking hold in some of the most important jurisdictions. Brazil’s privacy law, modeled closely on the GDPR, finally took effect in August 2020; South Africa’s came into force a month earlier and enforcement starts in July 2021. India continues to consider its comprehensive Personal Data Protection Bill, spurred by a landmark Supreme Court judgment declaring privacy to be a fundamental right. And in late October, China began consultations on a GDPR-inspired Personal Data Protection Law. The enactment of these measures will complete the expansion of comprehensive private sector privacy laws across the BRICs. Meanwhile, the California Consumer Privacy Act went into effect at the start of 2020, and now California citizens have adopted a supplemental law (the California Privacy Rights Act) that will bring the state’s regime even closer to EU standards. The bottom line is that companies need to plan for an environment where privacy laws give individuals substantial rights over personal data that businesses previously regarded as a proprietary asset.
Alongside this, the world continues to grapple with the Schrems II decision, in which the European Court of Justice applied GDPR to invalidate a key mechanism for moving personal data from Europe to the United States. In 2021, expect the decision’s impact to be felt in two ways. First, other countries with GDPR-like laws may follow the Schrems II reasoning and similarly restrict transfers to the US. Second, EU member states may start looking at jurisdictions other than the US - in particular those with powerful surveillance authorities - and restrict cross-border transfers there, too. Meanwhile, the US government’s orders against TikTok and WeChat show how even a country without a comprehensive privacy regime can use other measures (such as sanctions) to restrict personal data flows.
Finally, expect greater activism by private individuals and organizations in the privacy space. Europe’s baby steps towards mass-claim regimes has created fertile ground for self-appointed privacy champions to bring large-scale litigation against companies for perceived privacy failings. Across the globe, these advocates have rapidly garnered a popular following that gives them real influence in the marketplace.


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The fashion industry is definitely not everyone’s playground. Even with a perfect physique and everything, a lot of aspiring young models fail to achieve success here. But, this isn’t the case with the Filipino model, Noah Carlos. The 19-year-old model, currently working for the modeling agency IMG, has revolutionized the fashion industry.
Noah has inspired a whole generation of young models. While the fashion industry remains a battlefield for young models, Carlos has made it their own in less than two years by getting quite a lot of exposure. A lot of things about this astonishing model has not reached out to the masses. With that in mind, we have got together some interesting facts about the model, so don’t forget to stick to the very end.
Noah Was Featured On Vogue’s Top 14 Models
Probably one of Noah’s biggest achievement so far was being featured on Vogue’s top 14 models. On the list released in March of 2019, Noah made it to the list of talented models like Giselle Norman and Ana Barbosa. The list focuses on new emerging models who are taking the industry by storm through their stunning looks and physique.
Noah was undoubtedly overwhelmed by excitement after the selection. As the model’s career is relatively new and still growing at an alarming rate, there is no boundary to things that Noah can achieve. Carlos is a promising youngster with a strong passion to complete the dream. Let’s hope we see this emerging talent at new heights in the near future.
Noah Carlos Is Very Fond Of Thrifting
Noah has a keen interest in thrifting. In fact, the model got into modeling through it. In an interview with CR Fashion Book, Noah mentioned the amount of exposure from thrifting. Carlos had a friend who used to sell goods in an app to make extra money from old clothes. This inspired Noah to do the same and it became a hobby for the youngster. Noah added,
I was selling things from Forever 21 that I wasn’t wearing anymore, and then that’s when I started thrifting, and when I was over it, I would sell it. I was like, ‘Woah! I could make money selling vintage.’ It just kind of happened. Then, people were like, ‘We want more! We want more!’ so I gave into their needs and it blew up from there as well.
Noah also used to wear the clothes from thrifting and it was the very reason for the young modeling aspirant to get into modeling. Trying out vintage clothes to oversized flannel and mom jeans. Noah has a thrift shop Loser Thrift on Depop which sells a variety of clothes. Thrifting has been the best gift for the teenage model who could not afford to buy expensive fancy clothes.
Carlos also has a YouTube channel that is solely based on trying on new clothes from thrifting to thrifting hauls. The YouTube channel is slowly growing and it may reach astonishing numbers pretty soon.
Noah Carlos Looks Feminine But Is Non-binary
Although Noah has the looks of a female, the 19-year-old model is non-binary. They don’t dress like a normal male person while also not fitting with the females. At first, it was the clothing brought home from charity stores and trying them in the mirror, that they began exploring their gender identity. Soon they found out to identify as non-binary. Noah’s identification as both Filipino and a queer was a challenging task in the modeling industry but soon they got a hold of it.
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Noah was first scouted on Instagram through IMG and at Camp Flog Gnaw, Isabel-one of the scouts approached them and asked if they were interested in modeling. Their journey into modeling has been inspirational to many like them. From trying outfits from their own shops to model for a prestigious agency, Noah’s career has taken a huge leap.
Noah’s Mother Has Been Supportive Of Them From The Get-Go
Noah’s mother Iresa has been fully supportive of her child from the very beginning. When Noah first started to wear women’s clothing, Iresa would just tell them it was fine to wear anything of their choice. Noah who has not officially come out to their mother believes they have a special bond with her. A bond that needs no words to describe your situation. Noah’s mother has always been the best support of everyone in the family from their gay uncle to their aunt who got pregnant before marriage.
Iresa has never made Noah uncomfortable to talk about anything. The bond these two share surely is exemplary and Iresa is a typical Filipino woman who is very accepting of any situation. Currently working as a medical assistant, Iresa has made her child prouder than ever through her love and support.
Noah Carlos’s Net Worth
Modeling has been a hit or miss for generations. Those who get the exposure they need can succeed while others slowly drift away. In Noah’s case, they have been lucky to get exposure from a young age. Carlos who currently lives in Orange County, California has been part of shows like Maison Margiela, Helmut Lang, and Dries Van Noten. They have also received various endorsement deals that make the most of Noah Carlos’s net worth.
As we already know modeling can have huge money under it, Noah’s success has definitely made quite a lot of again. Moreover, they also have a thrift shop which makes a decent amount of money. Even though we do not have an exact estimation of Noah Carlos’s net worth, they must have a commendable one.Articles, Celebrity Babies, Celebrity Feuds, Celebrity Siblings, Entertainment, Richest Celebrities, Keep In Touch With eCelebritymirror.


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JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel’s Supreme Court ordered the Tel Aviv municipality to enforce a by-law that bans the city’s businesses from opening on Saturday, the Jewish Sabbath.
Tuesday’s ruling came following a lawsuit filed with the court by small businesses in Tel Aviv. The suit was filed against the municipality, as well as two large supermarket chains that remain open on Saturdays.
The justices ruled that the municipality and the supermarket chains violated the municipal by-law against opening on the Jewish Sabbath. The court suggested the city could change the by-law to allow businesses to remain open on Saturday.
The owners of the small shops claimed they were losing customers to the chains that could afford to remain open on Saturday and absorb the modest fines levied for their transgression.
The justices also suggested that the municipality continuously violated the by-law in order to collect the fines.
Tel Aviv was given 60 days to decide how to enforce the ruling.
“Tel Aviv-Jaffa will continue to be a free city. We will study the court ruling and find a solution that will balance the Sabbath rest and the freedom that the city has allowed until now,” the municipality said in a statement.
The Tel Aviv District Court last year refused to rule on a previous petition by the small stores, saying it was a political issue and not a legal one.


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It hasn’t been a great year for Rupert Murdoch. There was the phone-hacking scandal; the Parliamentary committee declaration that he was “not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”; The Daily, his iPad publication, laying off a third of its staff over the summer; and a confession that, when it came to MySpace, “we screwed up in every possible way.”
John C. Abell
Thousands of people will be “the first” to get the new iPhone 5 today. I won’t be among them. I’ve had every model of Apple’s revolutionary handset since it was first unveiled five years ago — upgrading even if my phone contract hadn’t expired yet — and, like the first-time parent of a toddler in a public place, am in a state of panic the moment I don’t know where my iPhone 4S is.
Revolutions can be exciting, but sometimes evolution can be even more powerful. With the curtain drawn back today on what exactly the new iPhone will do (and will be called), Apple is entering a period of consolidating its lead. Its next trick is to outflank smartphone competitors as deftly as it has in the tablet wars.
Amazon is going where few have dared to tread, announcing a “full size” tablet that takes on Apple directly — and has the gall to be cheaper than the iPad. The tablet highway is littered with the remains of wannabe iPad killers from big hardware names — Motorola, Blackberry, Samsung. Even Google, whose Android software powers the Amazon tablets, didn’t bother to poke the Cupertino giant when it released its Nexus 7, choosing to make a tablet a smidge under two inches smaller than the iPad.


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It has been revealed that national restaurant chain YO! Sushi no longer wants customers to think of it as a sushi restaurant, as part of a major rebrand of the group.
The Japanese restaurant brand, which operates close to 100 restaurants across 10 countries, officially dropped the ‘sushi’ from its logo three years ago, now simply being called ‘YO!’ The change in name was the beginning of a continued effort by the brand to not just be known as a sushi restaurant, with YO!’s official website stating that there are “more than 100 delicious Japanese street food dishes” on its menu.
The group has appointed creative agency Pablo to communicate the message to its customer base that YO! has diversified its menu and product range beyond just sushi. The move has likely been spurred on by the growing popularity of Japanese food in the UK, with several of London’s most popular restaurants taking their inspiration from the country – from the high-end likes of world famous Nobu to mid-market mini-chains such as Roka and Flesh & Buns.
YO!'s menu was originally best known for its sushi
YO! has been pivoting away from its sushi offering for some time now. The group’s latest London opening in Westfield Shepherd’s Bush has ditched the signature bright orange conveyor belt of sushi, in an attempt to emphasise to customers that sushi only makes up 30% of YO!’s menu, and that there are several other non-sushi dishes to choose from.
YO! posted a 5% jump in turnover for 2018, but a 29% dip in UK earnings. However, the business is still valued at a hefty $425m, and boasts a range of supermarket sauces, as well as continuing to open new locations.
Non-sushi dishes on the menu include a chicken burger bao
The shift in the restaurant’s brand strategy comes at a time when high street chains across the UK are struggling. In recent times, Jamie Oliver’s restaurant empire has collapsed, while once successful chains such as Byron Burger and Carluccio’s have all suffered closures. YO!’s move away from its signature dish and diversification of its menu is likely an attempt to avoid suffering a similar fate as some of its contemporaries.
If you like keeping up with London’s biggest restaurant names, learn all about Irish fast-food chain Supermac’s imminent arrival in London.


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If you don’t already know, the world is facing a semiconductor shortage due to Covid 19.
Semiconductors are necessary for modern electronics to function, such as gaming consoles and even electronics in cars and motorcycles.
As Covid-19 began to spread around the world, early signs of fluctuating demand led to stockpiling and advance ordering of chips by some tech firms such as Bosch.
The automotive industry is among those feeling the shortage most acutely. At the start of the pandemic, manufacturers scaled back their production plans as demand for cars fell away.
Consequently, suppliers have struggled to meet consumer demand at times, although manufacturers have been able to catch up once again in recent months.
This has resulted in a supply chain disruption across countless industries, and a recent US Department of Commerce study shows that the global chip stocks will plunge under soaring demand in 2022.
According to trade body the Semiconductor Industry Association, sales of chips actually fell 12% in 2019 but were already growing (up 6.5%) in 2020 before rocketing by 30% between August 2020 and August 2021.
The value of semiconductors has historically been quite volatile, meaning makers don’t want to over-invest in multi-billion-dollar factories for fear demand will disappear and profits could collapse at any moment.
That means the industry is now playing catch-up to meet sustained demand for chips in everything from smartphones to cars with advanced driver assistance technology and cloud-connected infotainment systems.
That, combined with the fact that the automotive manufacturing industry is a relatively small part of the chip maker’s business, means they are now at the back of the queue when it comes to securing vital electronic components.
As for riders, modern-day motorcycle prices might be higher until the supply-chain cycle returns to its pre-pandemic efficiency.


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If there’s one thing some men’s magazines are guilty of, it’s promoting an unrealistic image of women. We’re sometimes force fed messages that say we should be stick-like thin, have long, flowing hair and large “assets.” So, while it’s no surprise that the editor of a men’s magazine admits to doing this, it still stings.
On Tuesday (Mar. 19), Esquire editor Alex Blimes sat on a panel with women to discuss feminism in media and advertising at the Advertising Week Europe Conference in London. While discussing the role of women in the magazine’s pages, he compared us to inanimate objects used for men’s enjoyment.
“We use pretty girls in the same way we provide pictures of cool cars,” he said. “I could lie to you if you want and say we are interested in their brains as well. We are not. They are objectified. Men see women in 3D in many different roles in life, but at certain times, we like to see them sexy.”
While Blimes also points out that Esquire is far more “ethnically” and “shape” diverse compared to other glossies, it’s still disheartening to know that the ideas behind such a popular publication are only skin deep.
Check out video of the discussion here.


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Land Rover’s first foray into Battery Electric Vehicles (BEV), the I-Pace is
now a step closer to being launched in India. The first unit of the all-electric
performance SUV has landed in India at JNPT near Mumbai, for extensive testing
and validation across the country.
Suri, President & Managing Director, Jaguar Land Rover India said, “We are
delighted to share with you pictures of the first Jaguar I-Pace in India. The
I-Pace marks a significant milestone in Jaguar Land Rover’s journey in India,
as we gear up for an electrified future.”
first Jaguar I-Pace in India is finished in stunning Firenze Red and is a
top-of-the-line HSE variant. Equipped with a 90 kWh lithium-ion battery, the
I-PACE produces 294 kW and 696 Nm torque, helping it accelerate from 0-100 km/h
in just 4.8 s.
its debut, the I-Pace has won several accolades and over 80 global awards,
including the prestigious World Car of the Year, World Car Design of the Year,
and World Green Car in 2019. It was the first vehicle ever to win all three
World Car titles simultaneously in the 15-year history of the awards,
reinforcing its status as the best electric luxury SUV.
Designed with a unique abrasive film for higher performance, TVS Apache, a friction brand of Brakes India, launched platinum brake pads for the luxury car range which have been designed for comfort an...
Uno Minda, a leading Tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has announced the launch of its BS VI -compliant automotive engine oils for two-whe...
Vida, powered by Hero, the emerging mobility brand of Hero MotoCorp, has initiated operations of its public charging infrastructure in Bengaluru, Delhi and Jaipur. The brand has set up nearly 300 cha...


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Activision is currently in a feud with an unrelated browser game called ‘Warzone’ and it’s not hard to see why. As reported by PC Gamer, the developer of the browser game, who snagged ‘warzone.com‘ before CoD: Warzone was even a thing, sent a cease-and-desist to Activision. The latter subsequently filed a complaint at the United States District Court for the Central District of California.
Activision vs warzone.com
Warzone – obviously easily confused with Call of Duty: Warzone – is a very simple strategy game in the spirit of Risk. Players deploy troops on a world map and try to conquer the rest of the available land. Unlike CoD: Warzone, which is a high-octane shooter in the battle royale subgenre.
According to Fizzer, the man behind the simplistic browser game, people might confuse his trademark Warzone browser game with Activision’s BR-hit. It seems that warzone.com launched years before CoD: Warzone was even a thing. On the other hand, Activision claims it filed for a trademark on ‘warzone’ months before warzone.com did so.
This one isn’t as clear as some other copyright disputes. For starters because a tiny browser game-developer sent the cease-and-desist, not the multi-billion dollar company, as is usual. Additionally, given the nature of both games, it doesn’t seem to matter who owns the trademark. Or as Activision puts it bluntly:
Call of Duty: Warzone could not be more different from Defendant’s game, a low-budget, niche virtual board game like Hasbro’s Risk. (…) It is inconceivable that any member of the public could confuse the two products or believe that they are affiliated with or related to each other.
Still, it’s a bit confusing that ‘warzone.com’ isn’t home to the wildly popular battle royale game. Instead, the website invites you to play a barebones, shallow strategy game.
The court hasn’t put out a verdict as of writing. Just imagine a tiny browser game legally taking the namesake of one of the biggest games ever. That is however highly unlikely. Maybe Activision just throws Fizzer a bone for his troubles?
Who do you think should cease and desist? Let us know in the comments below. Alternatively, feel free to join our bustling Facebook group to join the discussion.


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As interest rates rise across countries, especially in the United States, and an economic downturn looms, startups have pruned hundreds of jobs in Southeast Asia over the last few months. As the focus now shifts from growing as quickly as possible to profitability, companies have been laying off professionals to cut their spending and increase bottom lines.
At least six firms, including Sea Limited – the owner of Singapore-based ecommerce company Shopee, have issued pink slips. Experts predicted that it is just the beginning, and more job cuts will come in the next few months.
They said that startups grew phenomenally last year as there was a flood of cheap capital into the region. Companies grabbed professionals from the market, and staff strength is the first to be targeted to increase profitability when there is a downturn.
A Nonstop Wave
Shopee laid off people from its food delivery and payment branches, though the company did not say how many have been asked to go. Before the layoffs, its parent Sea Ltd had 67,300 employees across regions.
Singapore-based digital assets manager, StashAway, has let go of 31 or 14% of its staff from May-end to June. Malaysian online shopping company iPrice laid off 20% of its 250 staff in June, while education tech company Zenius from Indonesia retrenched more than 200 of its employees in June.
Digital currency exchange Crypto.com, based out of Singapore, sacked 260, or 5%, of its employees. JD.ID, the Indonesian payment arm of China-based JD.com, too has retrenched staff. Another Indonesia-based startup, LinkAja – which is a fintech company, is said to have laid off over 200 employees.
The number of layoffs in Southeast Asia is said to be higher than in China, which has been reducing the number of tech jobs since July 2021 after more regulatory controls came in.
The analysts had been warning of a downturn in Southeast Asia after the interest rates went up in the United States. The capital has flown from even bluechip companies in the region. Though it is not a complete meltdown yet, the downturn could shake up the startup scene.
Despite the low sentiment, startups in Southeast Asia attracted investments of $900 million this year, which is equal to the amounts raised last year. This is because the region still has an attractive startup environment with the growing middle class and increasing digitization, venture capitalist firms said.
Because of this shakeup, they said that early startups would let go of their talented workforce, which will be grabbed by more mature companies, strengthening their operational ability and innovation. This also provides opportunities for investors to pick good companies that are available at lower valuations.
- Market Updates2022.08.05Huge Unbanked Population to Give a Boost to Fintech in SEA
- Market Updates2022.08.04Saudi Cybersecurity Fortifications is Proving to be one of the Best after Repeated Attacks
- Market Updates2022.08.02The Infra Sector Witnesses a Rise in Investments in the African Continent
- Market Updates2022.08.01Middle East Economies Need tax Reforms Immediately


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They're not just produce from California anymore. Vermont growers are taking interest in trying to grow crops not typically associated with the cool, short growing season in northern New England, reports Montpelier, Vermont's Times-Argus newspaper.
The article reports that more farmers are able to take risks with experimental produce these days because of the micro scale of many farm operations, and the growing opportunity for direct sales to farmers markets and restaurants. Plums, cherries, okra, tomatillos, and artichokes - Vermont farmers are expanding their horizons. Do you notice this trend in your area? Are you trying something new - and why? Is it a conversation starter, or do you have a demand for a specific vegetable from a certain market?


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Adweek's annual #Brandweek summit will explore the ideas behind breakthrough successes, discuss solutions to pressing challenges and explore new opportunities in the Metaverse. Join leaders from Alo Yoga, Hyundai Motor America, Frito-Lay and more, Sept. 12–16 in Miami. Sign up early to save.
Plenty of brands have released new spots and put their weight behind environmental causes to commemorate the 50th Earth Day. And with a focus on Earth Week, Danone’s low-sugar Greek yogurt brand, Two Good, has set its sights on reducing food waste by asking people to #MakeFoodGoFurther.


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Rival poised to buy Unocal
ChevronTexaco making $17 billion deal to boost energy business in Asia
Published 10:00 pm, Monday, April 4, 2005
ChevronTexaco Corp., the nation's second-largest oil company, is buying smaller rival Unocal Corp. for about $17 billion, hoping to further accelerate its already surging profits by bolstering its energy supplies in Asia.
The deal, announced yesterday, proposes to unite San Ramon, Calif.-based ChevronTexaco, which trails only Exxon Mobil Corp. in the U.S. oil business, with El Segundo, Calif.-based Unocal, the nation's ninth-biggest oil- and gas-production company.
With histories dating back to the late 19th century, the two companies once competed fiercely in the West Coast gasoline market, but that rivalry ended nearly a decade ago when Unocal sold its retailing and refining assets for $2 billion.
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ChevronTexaco initially valued its acquisition price, consisting of stock and cash, at $62 per share, nearly 4 percent below Unocal's market value before the deal was announced.
The offer disappointed investors, who had driven up Unocal's stock by 20 percent since the media reported ChevronTexaco was discussing a possible takeover a month ago.
As part of the deal, ChevronTexaco will assume $1.6 billion of Unocal's debt and sell about $2 billion in assets.
ChevronTexaco Chairman David O'Reilly told reporters yesterday that he expects the proposed takeover to receive the required regulatory approvals so it can be completed before year's end.
ChevronTexaco prizes Unocal for its natural-gas supplies in Asia. That rapidly growing part of the world could shape up as a potential gold mine for ChevronTexaco. China and India are consuming more energy to fuel their bustling economies, a phenomenon likely to drive up prices for years to come.
Unocal's oil supplies in the Gulf of Mexico also figure to give ChevronTexaco even more clout in the North American oil and gasoline markets.
The combined oil and natural-gas reserves controlled by Unocal total 1.75 billion barrels. Natural gas accounts for nearly two-thirds of that amount. Unocal expects to produce the equivalent of 411,000 barrels of natural gas and oil per day this year, while ChevronTexaco is aiming for the equivalent of 2.5 million barrels per day. After the takeover is completed, ChevronTexaco expects its production to increase by a compounded average of 6 percent annually through 2009.
With Puget Sound-area gas prices yesterday averaging just 4 cents per gallon below their all-time high -- $2.314 for regular, compared with $2.352 in May 2004 -- motorists may wonder what effect the purchase could have at the pump.
None, say both Unocal and a local expert.
"The deal won't have any effect on supplies or prices of gas or diesel," said Tim Hamilton, executive director of Automotive United Trades Organization, a McCleary-based association of gasoline marketers.
That's because Unocal hasn't manufactured or distributed any fuel or lubricants since 1997, the year it sold its refining operations to Tosco Corp. In 2001, Tosco merged with Phillips Petroleum Co. The Union 76 brand, which had belonged to Unocal, became the property of Phillips, which in 2002 merged with Conoco Inc. to become ConocoPhillips.
"When we lost Unocal into ConocoPhillips, that's when we lost a competitor," Hamilton said. "Whatever damage was done, was done back then."
A total of 4,467 locations are registered to sell gas in King, Kitsap, Pierce, Snohomish and Thurston counties, according to the state Department of Agriculture.
The deal might, however, have an impact on the region by affecting the price of what Hamilton calls "the most logical alternative" to dwindling supplies of expensive gas and diesel: natural gas.
Unocal used to compete with Chevron in natural-gas production. If those companies are united, however, there goes the competition -- and any price savings it might have produced.
Natural gas is poised to become an increasingly important fuel in this region, used both to power vehicles like intercity buses, and power plants, replacing coal. But that hasn't happened yet, said Allen Fiksdal, manager of the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council.
Since 2000, that state commission has approved three natural-gas-fired electrical generation facilities, to be built in Sumas, Wallula and near Birch Bay. But none of them has been constructed, because the price of natural gas is too high and the price of electricity has declined since the facilities were conceived, Fiksdal said.
"I would say that right now, the need is not urgent," he said.
Unocal spokesman Barry Lane said the company has no employees in the Puget Sound area.


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NEW YORK (GenomeWeb) – The China Food and Drug Administration has approved next-generation sequencing-based products developed by BGI.
According to CFDA, it has approved BGISEQ-1000, BGISEQ-100, and diagnostic kits for fetal chromosomal aneuploidy that screen for trisomy 21, 18, and 13. The CFDA said the assays use semiconductor sequencing and joint probe anchor sequencing and will screen cell-free DNA in maternal plasma at 12 weeks or later gestation.
The products are the first NGS products approved by the CFDA. In March, BGI said it had suspended clinical testing of fetal trisomy following an announcement from Chinese officials that genetic testing should be regulated.


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New Delhi: Paypal has launched its fingerprint-based authentication system app for the Galaxy S5 in 25 countries. Using the phone app, you can log in to your PayPal account with a fingerprint scan instead of a typed password and make payments online or at participating retail locations that access PayPal payments.
It was first announced at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February.
Customers can use their finger to pay with PayPal from their new Samsung Galaxy S5 because the FIDO Ready software on the device securely communicates between the fingerprint sensor on their device and PayPal's service in the cloud. The only information the device shares with PayPal is a unique encrypted key that allows PayPal to verify the identity of the customer without having to store any biometric information on PayPal's servers.
Paypal has also launched PayPay apps for Gear 2 and Gear Fit that lets users to check-in to pay with PayPal in eight countries, as it promised at the MWC 2014 earlier this year.


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COVID-19 danger continues to drive joblessness in US
Until the pandemic upended the operations of American companies, from factories to family diners, weekly jobless aid applications had never exceeded 700,000 in the U.S. They’ve topped 700,000 for 26 consecutive weeks. An extra $600 in weekly unemployment benefits ran out July 31, squeezing households that had depended on the beefed-up payments. President Donald Trump issued an executive order Aug. 8 providing a scaled-back version of the expanded jobless aid. Most states signed up for federal grants that let them increase weekly benefits by $300 or $400. The extra $600 in weekly jobless benefits didn’t replace all her lost income but helped.
Vintage photos show the stores of San Antonio’s past
SAN ANTONIO – Fashion trends come and go, but “going out of business” signs have never gone out of style in San Antonio. Handy AndyHollywood VideoJoske’sKmartMervyn’sMontgomery WardPaylessRadio ShackToys”R”UsThe VogueWolff and MarxWoolcoSurely more department stores or other retailers have left the San Antonio area. Image: UTSA Special Collections, San Antonio Express-News collection (UTSA Special Collections, San Antonio Express-News collection)Joske’s Department Store was founded in 1869 by Julius Joske, according to the City of San Antonio. Image: Courtesy UTSA Libraries Special Collections/San Antonio Express-News (Courtesy UTSA Libraries Special Collections/San Antonio Express-News)The exterior of Joske Brothers Store on Alamo Street in San Antonio, circa 1892. Image: Courtesy UTSA Libraries Special Collections (Courtesy UTSA Libraries Special Collections)The Vogue, a women’s clothing store, stood at 301 E. Houston St.
Pier 1 is officially going out of business
(CNN) -- Pier 1 is officially closing up shop after receiving approval from a bankruptcy court to cease and liquidate its retail operations. The troubled home goods retailer had its plans authorized Friday to begin liquidation sales across its 500 remaining stores once they can reopen. Pier 1 has three stores in San Antonio, one store in Selma and one store in New Braunfels, according to its site. It decided that an "orderly wind-down is the best way to maximize the value of Pier 1's assets." Pier 1 said it plans to sell its website and intellectual property in July.
Pier 1 wants to close all its stores for good
Pier 1 has three stores in San Antonio, one store in Selma and one store in New Braunfels, according to its site. Its lenders have agreed to let Pier 1 overdraw its lending facility by $40 million to help it fund the liquidation process. Once a mall staple, Pier 1 sales have slumped in recent years because of growing online competition and shifting consumer habits. It announced in February that it was closing around 450 stores, including all its locations in Canada. The company currently has more than 500 stores down from 1,000 last year.
San Antonio pizza restaurant owner marks 20th anniversary with unexpected circumstances
SAN ANTONIO Big Lous Pizza owner Brian Lujan never expected to mark the 20th anniversary of his business like this. Like many other small businesses in San Antonio, Lujan is struggling to make ends meet during the coronavirus pandemic. Were barely making it. Im barely making payroll. Lujan said even though he can soon operate his dining room at 50% capacity, he will still offer the other purchasing options.


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Gary Levinson's Blade Guitars has announced the reintroduction of its signature colored oil finishes.
Aimed at offering a decidedly retro look, these finishes are made of ecologically friendly, non-toxic, natural resin oil stains. According to Levinson, the finishes accent the natural structure of the wood by imparting an aged appearance and a silky surface to the instruments, simultaneously enhancing the inherent resonance of the wood—which results in an audible difference to the instruments’ tone.
Vintage oil finishes are currently available on the California Climax in vintage violet, rubbed red, brushed blue and totally natural.
On a side note, Blade Guitars has also announced the opening of its site on MySpace.com, featuring blurbs, blogs, multimedia and more. Anyone interested in the brand can now interact, check out the newest instruments and listen to sound samples of the company’s guitars and basses. Updates on the Blade Brigade – Blade’s endorser and advisory group –, along with their latest releases and tour dates, are easily accessible through the Friends of Blade links. The new site can be reached at www.myspace.com/bladeguitars.
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On Monday, an African rock python killed to young brothers in New Brunswick after it escaped from a reptile store and reportedly slithered through ventilation shafts.
But while that species of pythons is banned in New Brunswick, here in Ontario the laws regulating the ownership of snakes aren’t as strict.
The head of Zoocheck, a wildlife welfare organization said owning snakes should be banned altogether and likens Ontario to a "cowboy province" where "anything goes" when it comes to keeping exotic pets.
"Some provinces have some rules, some have policies, some don't have anything at all like here in Ontario," Rob Laidlaw said.
Municipalities including Toronto have passed bylaws regulating the ownership of snakes and other exotic pets. Toronto currently forbids residents from owning a snake that is venomous, or more than three metres in length.
Downtown pet shop owner Paul Collier has more than 150 serpents in his store and said even snakes that size shouldn't be underestimated.
"You've got to gauge the strength and size of the snake, and you've got to be able to contain them responsibly," he said.
The CBC’s Jeff Semple reports.


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The reformulated loaf goes on shelf in the multiple this month, and has been developed to contain less salt and a lower Glycaemic Index (GI) than the previous version.
The selenium, which is reputed to help maintain a healthy heart and immune system, is incorporated into the bread by adding it to the soil as the wheat plants grow rather than being included at the manufacturing stage.
Nutrilaw claims the process is a world technological first and makes it easier for the body to absorb selenium.
Nutrilaw managing director Mark Law said: “Nutrilaw enriched bread has developed a strong following among Waitrose customers who are convinced of the benefits of maintaining the recommended daily intake of selenium.
“Now, with our new wholemeal loaf we are offering the extra benefits of lower salt and lower GI level.”


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Consumers Still Buried In Credit Card Debt
Americans racked up $48 billion dollars in new credit card debt in 2011 according to a recent study
Remember a few years ago when millions of Americans spent beyond their means, racked up a bunch of credit card debt, and then ran into trouble when global financial markets tanked and the housing market went under?
It seems old habits die hard, according to a new study by credit card comparison website CardHub, which found that consumers are charging more on their credit cards again.
Americans racked up nearly
"Looking back two years, with the exception of a single quarter, U.S. consumer debt management has consistently worsened," the report said, noting that the recent trend of consumers paying down debt doesn't match up with the hard data. "First-quarter pay-downs have become less significant and the amount of new debt added in each subsequent quarter has grown compared to its respective counterparts in the previous two years."
But don't freak out, the U.S. isn't headed into another debt-fueled downward spiral just yet. While it's true that some Americans have had to turn to credit cards to bridge gaps in household finances, there's another reason for the apparent credit spending spree: credit card rewards.
"There's a lot of competition on rewards credit cards to attract big spending consumers," says
About 35 percent of credit card holders pay off their balance each month, according to McBride, in large part to rack up rewards such as airline miles and gas points.
And although some experts cheered numbers showing that consumer credit card debt was dropping over the past few years, the bulk of that decline actually came from charge-offs, or card issuers writing off debt they had no hope to recoup.
"Card issuers were very aggressive in writing off bad debt in 2009 and 2010," McBride says. "That's why over the last year or so they've been out actively seeking to grow their business."
As credit card companies ramp up efforts to expand their business -- and profits -- consumers should be aware of the pitfalls that come with credit card debt. According to
"It's critical that people make a budget and in doing so remember that, if their spending was at all tied to the housing market prior to the Great Recession, the fact that the bubble has burst means it cannot return to pre-recession levels no matter how much the economy recovers," Papadimitriou said in a statement.
Furthermore, even though many consumers unable to pay their credit card balances have had some of their debt erased by credit card companies, depending on where they live, that blemish on their credit record could stick around for anywhere between three and 15 years.
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Consumers Still Buried In Credit Card Debt | Politics
Copyright © 2012 Tribune Media Services


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The world's largest social media network demolished investors' expectations with a 52 percent surge in its quarterly revenue, solely thanks to an increase in its mobile and video views.
Facebook Inc. on Wednesday reported its fourth quarter and overall 2015 earnings, revealing that it now makes an average of $3.73 off of each user globally. In North and Central America, the figure is $13.54 - almost $4 dollars higher from that during third quarter.
It's largely impressive, because the consideration of mobile and video views is relatively new ventures for the internet company.
It's also because the increase in mobile and video views led to Facebook shares rising almost 12 percent in after-hours trading to $105.32. The stock closed at $94.45.
For weeks now, tech giants such as Apple, Twitter and eBay have been plagued by worries due to underwhelming tech results. Facebook jumped over that hurdle, exhibiting spectacular growth in the face of economic uncertainty around the world.
The social media site said mobile advertising now accounts for 80 percent of its revenue, and its dominance on the sector helped to dispel concerns over its heavy investment in virtual reality unit Oculus and messaging service WhatsApp. Oculus has not yet produced profits.
Analyst Rob Sanderson of MKM Partners said Facebook's core business is so strong that many people won't be scrambling for them to start monetizing other properties anytime soon.
Facebook's analysts and executives are now focusing more on how the company's other investments are working. After returning from a two-month paternity leave, CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined some of those plans. He said virtual reality signifies the next major computing platform.
"This Oculus launch is shaping up to a big moment for the gaming community," said Zuckerberg, emphasizing the fact that VR has potential to change the way people live, work and communicate.
"The launch is an important step towards the future, and we're really looking forward to seeing how people use it," he said.
Zuckerberg also noted the company is going strong with its messaging space, Messenger and WhatsApp. The company also has Instagram, which has become an important second advertising platform for the company. Instagram also continues to add users.
As of Dec. 31, 2015, Facebook has 1.59 billion monthly active users, where 1.44 billion use the social media site on their mobile devices, according to market news analyst FactSet StreetAccount.


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The European Commission is considering a levy on Internet platform services, like streaming videos and music, as part of its plans to reform copyright laws and compensate authors and artists, according to four people familiar with the matter.
The so-called value gap proposal, which would hit services like YouTube and Deezer, was received positively by Commissioner Günther Oettinger, said one person with first-hand knowledge of the meetings. Whether the concept will be included in the wide-reaching overhaul of the European Union's copyright laws this summer has not been decided.
"It's part of the discussions. It is also part of the discussions on the role of platforms, we had a consultation, and we expect to issue a communication in June on platforms to give more details," Commission spokesperson Nathalie Vandystadt said.
Vice President Andrus Ansip previously told POLITICO he opposed a YouTube tax.
It’s unclear how exactly the artists and performers would be compensated for their work being streamed. There could be a fee attached to a digital subscription service, or there could be royalty paid each time a song or clip was streamed.
Plans to update copyright legislation will have a profound impact on consumers and businesses across the EU. The Commission wants to revolutionize how authors and performers are paid for their work, including private copy levies, which are imposed on tablets and smartphones. The flagship policy will explore ways to allow consumers to access their digital subscriptions, like Netflix, while traveling within the bloc.
However, Paul Meller, spokesman for Digital Europe, said, "We would argue that there is no market failure downstream. Services like Spotify don't define the price it pays, that's the result of negotiations with record labels."


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Canadian fertiliser firms Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc agree to mega-merger
Canada's Potash Corp of Saskatchewan and Agrium Inc are set to merge in a deal that will create one of the world's largest crop fertiliser companies with an enterprise value of around $36bn (£27bn).
The combination entity of Potash, which is the world's biggest crop nutrient company by capacity, and Agrium, the largest farm retailer in North America, will have nearly 20,000 employees and annual revenue of $20.6bn.
Potash investors will own around 52 per cent of the new company's stock, while Agrium's shareholders will own around 48 per cent.
Read more: You can't be Sirius? Shares sink on Potash mine costs
The merged group's new name will be announced before the deal closes, which is forecast for the middle of next year, and the company will be based in Potash's headquarters in Saskawatchen.
Agrium's head Chuck Magro will become chief executive of the new company and Potash chief exec Jochen Tilk will be executive chairman.


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By Glenn Somerville
Mon Aug 4, 11:37 AM ET
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Consumer prices jumped at the sharpest rate in more than a quarter century during June, and consumers coping with soaring costs received their smallest income gain in a year, the government said on Monday.
The Commerce Department said personal incomes edged up 0.1 percent after rising 1.8 percent in May. June's rise was the smallest since April 2007, when income was flat.
On a year-over-year basis, prices rose 4.1 percent in June, up from 3.5 percent in May, for the biggest annual gain since May 1991.
This link is broken, either the page no longer exists or there is some other issue like a typo.Yup.......Vote for McCain to keep GW Bush's economic policies going!


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LEGO Super Mario meets his Princess Peach
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Area sectioning according to product kinds in the three public markets of Bacolod City may soon be fully enforced as required by a newly-approved resolution.
A resolution asking the City Administrator's, Engineers and Planning and Development Offices to strictly implement market section or segmentation of similar goods and commodities at the Burgos, Central and Libertad Public Markets was filed byCouncilor BartolomeOrola.
And it was approved by the SangguniangPanlunsod Wednesday.
According to the Market Code of Bacolod City, market sections are the stalls, booths, spaces in the market classified according to the kind of merchandise offered for sale.
Market section categories identified in the market ordinance are fish, meat, dry goods, groceries, rice and corn, vegetable and fruit, eatery, poultry products, flowershop, cold storage services, and miscellaneous sections.
The resolution also said strictly implementing the market sectioning will boost the economic growth of the city as it will create easier links between producers and consumers, will equally distribute incomes to different industry sectors, utilize the public market's resources and assure food security monitoring.
An ocular visit was conducted in line with the implementation of the ordinance and the resolution stated similar goods or commodities were not grouped properly in sections or zones, and this calls for the government to take action.
If the problems in market operations like location, construction, sanitation, security, market fee collection, improper sectionalization of goods and stall occupancyand not addressed, this may result in deterioration of these public infrastructures, the resolution said. *MLG
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