text:
While users will still have the ability to opt-out of Google’s 2FA if they change their minds, the objective is to push both users and the more comprehensive tech industry towards two-factor requirements.
Two-factor authentication (2FA) guarantees that your password isn’t the only defence against unauthorized access to your accounts, e-mail, and online profiles. Mountain View, California-based giant Google is now taking its primary steps towards enabling two-factor authentication by default for all its users. In an article last week, the business said it would start asking users who currently have made it possible for two-step verification to verify by tapping a prompt on their smartphones whenever they sign into their Google account or Gmail. When Google analyses how much effort it considers existing 2FA users to engage with these mobile prompts, the company will immediately choosing other users for its two-step confirmation.
” Today, we ask people who have registered in two-step confirmation (2SV) to verify it’s them with an easy tap utilizing a Google trigger on their phone whenever they check-in. Quickly we’ll begin instantly registering users in 2SV if their accounts are appropriately set up,” Google said in the article. The company said that utilizing a mobile phone to check in provides individuals with a safer and more safe and secure authentication experience than passwords alone. Google also stated that it is constructing advanced security technologies into machines to make multi-factor authentication smooth and safer than a password. “For example, we’ve developed our security secrets directly into Android devices and launched our Google Smart Lock app for iOS, so now individuals can use their phones as their second form of authentication.”
In an interview with WIRED, Google’s director for item management for identity and user security said that, traditionally, 2FA was thought about as complex and laborious to set up. For numerous users, that is no longer the case. He informed the website.
Multi-factor authentication adds a layer of security to a login process beyond the basic username and password. And while multi-factor authentication is a safer alternative to opt for, it has been something that business has hesitated to place on their systems. It is thought that 2FA may dissuade users from trying or utilizing their services. Google making it default, however, is excellent news given that what Google performs in web security is considered severe company, and typically, companies follow the tech giant’s steps.


text:
At approximately 12,400 kilometers, UPS’ new Louisville-Dubai route is the longest regularly-scheduled flight UPS has ever operated, thanks to its fleet of new long-range 747-8 freighters. The daily nonstop flight, from UPS’ global air hub in Louisville, U.S., to Dubai, in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), will cut time-in-transit from North and South America to key destinations in the Middle East by a full business day.
“The UAE trades with all 50 U.S. states and has grown to become the U.S.’s largest export destination in the Middle East. Dubai’s importance as a global trade hub increases every day – and we’re now getting there a day faster from North and South America, with our small-package express carrier and cargo offerings,” said Jim Barber, president of UPS International.
The new flight is currently operating on a weekly basis and will become a daily flight on Feb. 27, operating Tuesday through Saturday.
Above: UPS’ 747-8F unloading in Dubai’s DXB Airport last night.
The new flight is part of plans to expand UPS’ presence in Dubai, the headquarters of UPS’s Indian Subcontinent Middle East & Africa (ISMEA) region, by establishing capacity, technology and staff capabilities to serve customers shipping to – and through – Dubai.
“Our customers are demanding more capacity, and we’re providing it with this nonstop connection to Dubai,” said UPS Airlines President, Brendan Canavan. “UPS has made a strategic investment in 747-8 jumbo jets, the largest aircraft we have ever flown, to offer sustainable lift on long-range international routes like this.”
While UPS couldn’t specify the nature of rising demand for North America-Middle East airfreight, market shifts underway in the latter region point to growing demand for time-sensitive deliveries. Amazon.com’s recently acquired Souq.com “Amazon Global Store” offers customers in the UAE the ability to shop for over one million products from Amazon.com in the United States. Souq.com offers two delivery options for Amazon Global Store: priority (two to five business days) and expedited (six to ten business days).
While one can assume most e-commerce items would be forward stocked closer to markets, UPS’ recently launched route offers more options.
Those interested in learning more about how emerging technologies will impact the airfreight industry are invited to join us at Cargo Facts Asia 2018 in Shanghai 23-25 April at the Mandarin Oriental Pudong, where a round table panel will be dedicated to the topic. For more information, or to register, visit www.cargofactsasia.com

domain: news


text:
Robert Wagner, CPA has released his quarterly report on Atlanta restaurant sales and the news is good once again. His survey shows that same-store sales increased 6.8% over the same time period measured in 2011.
The NetFinancials survey of 79 independent Atlanta restaurants has been compiling comparative data for five straight quarters and the trends continue to improve. Last year this time, Wagner reported that Q1 2011 sales were positive but at a lower rate, increasing 5.3% compared to this year’s 6.8% gain.
As restaurant brokers, we are constantly sifting through news and information from multiple sources including food and alcohol distributors, equipment suppliers, along with restaurant sellers and owners. We find the NetFinancials data to be right on target with the feedback we are receiving. Our clients tell these Atlanta restaurant brokers that sales are trending upward especially in the fast-casual and casual segments.
One of the most powerful call outs from the survey is the percentage of restaurants reporting gains. As seasoned restaurant brokers, we see this as the strongest overall indicator that the market is thriving. Last year Wagner states that less than one in five (19%) of the restaurants surveyed for first quarter had increases. This year, in an amazing change of events, 81% or more than 8 out of 10 says they are trending in positive territory. That means the tide is rising for all operators and signals overall growth in the market.
What do restaurant owners attribute the growth to? Wagner states, “Restaurateurs tell us there are three reasons for the impressive Q1 sales gains: customer counts were up, check averages were up and more businesses and groups were dining out.”
He also says that warmer early weather is prompting restaurants to open their patios and capitalize on customers. We have heard the same thing from many of our operators with outdoor spaces on a wait as early as February and March with unusually warm temperatures.
May is a huge month for the industry with both Cinco de Mayo and Mother’s day in the mix. With warm weather forecast for both, clients are looking for record results this month.
Robert Wagner, CPA is president of NetFinancials, Inc. which provides a full range of tax and accounting services for restaurant companies. Email: firstname.lastname@example.org. www.netfinancials.com Direct: 404-874-7002


text:
Memecoin MOOKY raises $900,000 ahead of its final presale stage
New York, New York, June 30th, 2023, Chainwire — Memecoin Mooky is gearing up for its final presale phase, having raised $900,000 to date. More than just a novel crypto token, Mooky aims to support the environment through a major tree-planting campaign. Mooky will be a community-driven platform whose governance lies in the hands of […]...
- Memecoin Mooky has raised $900,000 in its final presale phase.
- Mooky aims to support the environment through a tree-planting campaign and raise awareness of global environmental challenges.
- The project features zero tax and low slippage for traders.
- Mooky has created 1,000 NFTs linked to real-world tree-planting initiatives.
- The NFT holders gain access to the exclusive Mooky Ventures Club.
The article has a positive sentiment, highlighting the positive impact of Mooky's tree-planting campaign and its community-driven approach.


text:
Russ Solomon, Founder Of Tower Records, Dies At 92
Russ Solomon, the founder of Tower Records, passed away on March 4 at the age of 92.
As The Sacramento Bee reports, Solomon died in between glasses of whisky: While watching the Oscars, his son Michael Solomon told the Bee, Solomon asked his wife to replenish his glass. According to the Bee, she returned with the drink to find her husband dead.
Michael Solomon said that his father had suffered a heart attack.
Tower Records, which Solomon founded in 1941, was an industry-dominating force in music retail for six decades. The company went out of business in 2006. Following its closure, Solomon, who had left Tower Records as C.E.O. in 1998 but stayed on a chairman of the board, opened a new, short-lived record shop in Sacramento. After selling that shop off in 2010 he turned his focus to portrait photography, according to his son.
“He was sort of a Pied Piper,” Michael Solomon told the Bee. “People followed him and adored him… They wanted to do what he wanted.”


text:
Genting Quarterly Net Slides 53% With Lower Gaming Revenue
Genting Bhd. (GENT), the Malaysian company which controls casino operators in Southeast Asia, the U.S. and the U.K., said third-quarter profit fell 53 percent as gaming revenue and palm oil prices declined.
Net income dropped to 279.4 million ringgit ($92 million) in the three months ended Sept. 30, or 7.6 sen a share, from 597.2 million ringgit, or 16.2 sen, a year earlier, the company said in a filing to the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange yesterday. Revenue declined 14 percent to 4.2 billion ringgit.
The company posted its third consecutive quarterly drop in profit after its Singapore unit, which runs one of the island- state’s two gaming resorts, reported a 47 percent slump in net income. Genting Singapore Plc plans to open new attractions, including Marine Life Park, on Dec. 7 at its Resorts World Sentosa casino resort in the city-state to boost sales.
“The full opening of Resorts World Sentosa will allow the company to capitalize on sales and marketing initiatives that appeal to a wider base of affluent travelers and new markets,” Genting said in its exchange filing.
Genting Singapore, which opened its casino resort in the city-state at the start of 2010, reported gaming revenue dropped 20 percent in the third quarter as slower economic growth and tighter rules curbed spending by gamblers.
Shares of Genting have declined 18 percent in Kuala Lumpur this year, compared with a 5.2 percent advance in the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index. The stock climbed 2 percent to close at 9 ringgit in Kuala Lumpur, its biggest daily gain since Oct. 1.
Genting Malaysia Bhd. (GENM), a unit operating the only casino resort in the Southeast Asia nation, fell 2.3 percent to 3.42 ringgit. Genting Singapore advanced 2.4 percent to S$1.28 in Singapore trading.
“Genting’s dependency on the volatile Singapore market, which is currently facing some headwinds with the ever-changing government regulations, would be an obstacle to its share price performance in the medium term,” Hoe Lee Leng, an analyst at RHB Capital Bhd., wrote in a report today.
Genting last year got 40 percent of its total revenue from Singapore and another 40 percent from Malaysia, while the U.S. contributed 10 percent and the U.K. accounted for 6 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The group said it lost money in the U.K during the quarter, while profit from its gaming business in Malaysia rose 2 percent, according to the statement.
Genting’s plantation division saw profit contributions drop 21 percent to 122.3 million ringgit, it said yesterday. Pretax profit from power generation more than doubled to 73.6 million ringgit.
To contact the reporter on this story: Chong Pooi Koon in Kuala Lumpur at firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
Sezzle, Openpay and Splitit's numbers surge in pay-later blitz
Buy now, pay later minnows have joined Afterpay, Zip and Humm in reporting record customer numbers in a year in which Sezzle moved to expand in India, Openpay acquired customers faster in Britain than Australia and Splitit worked with credit card companies to speed up global acceptance.
The three – which have all seen share price surges in recent months – announced higher customer numbers on Monday as more sales were pumped through their services. Like their bigger rivals, each is focused on global opportunity.
The companies said more people were repeat customers and were buying more frequently, while bad debts were relatively low despite the pressures of the pandemic.
Like Afterpay and Zip last week – which have their eyes firmly on offshore markets – Sezzle on Monday said it was testing the market in India, exploring opportunities in Europe and had already launched in Canada.
CEO Charlie Youakim told investors on a conference call there were no other companies providing similar instalment products in India, where Sezzle has spent two months testing with a dozen retailers. It will make a decision on whether to expand there in the next few months.
Sezzle's market cap has surged above $1 billion as underlying sales in the US (it does not operate in Australia) increased by 338 per cent over the half year to $US307 million ($418 million). It expects to hit a $US1 billion annualised rate by the end of the year.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tim Piper said lower losses were a highlight and spending on the service was tracking ahead of forecasts. Sezzle shares, however, cooled on Monday, and fell 9.4 per cent to $10.27. Investors are considering the costs of investment in new markets and higher marketing spending as it chases new merchants in the battle with formidable competitors, Afterpay, Klarna and Affirm.
Openpay, which has a market capitalisation of $500 million after floating in December, said it was exploring markets in addition to the UK, where it had a third of its 319,000 active customers. Total customers rose 141 per cent, and the UK grew at 223 per cent over the year to June 30. Overall merchant numbers were up 52 per cent over the year.
CEO Michael Eidel told investors on a call it will consider following merchants from the UK into parts of Europe over the next few years. He said the company might consider growth via acquisitions and could consider growth in Asia given it has an "ambition to become a global provider".
But the costs of expansion sent Openpay deeper into the red: its net loss for the year more than doubled to $35.4 million, driven by higher impairments and hefty staff costs. It fell 8.1 per cent to $4.32.
Openpay offers instalments over longer terms than Afterpay. It is seeking to distinguish itself by moving into larger segments, such as healthcare (it has integrated with 1st Group a popular practice management software for dentists), and funding education and memberships. For example, it announced earlier in August a deal with MSL to provide instalments for high-end golf club memberships.
It has also developed a new software-as-a-service product for businesses to manage trade accounts, including credit checks, approvals and account management. Woolworths is an early customer.
Splitit, which operates a different business model that allows existing credit card payments to be split into instalment payments, said its volume of sales rose 133 per cent to $US89.1 million for the first half, helping its shares rise 1.6 per cent to $1.86.
Like Afterpay and Zip, it is also focusing on the US and Britain as key growth markets, and CEO Brad Paterson said momentum is continuing in its second half and "rapid growth" is expected to continue.
Amid a global recession, investors are scrutinising the results for signs of credit stress. For now, the quality of the short-term loans appears strong, propped up by stimulus measures supporting economies through the crisis.
Openpay increased its provisions for expected credit losses by 23 per cent to cover for larger expected COVID-19 bad debts. Its net bad debts for the year were $5.8 million, representing 3 per cent of transaction value. But – like Afterpay – its arrears fell, to 0.8 per cent of net receivables, down from 1.2 per cent in 2019.
Sezzle's net transaction loss of $US2.2 million represented just 0.73 per cent of underlying sales. Sezzle said it was hard to forecast the precise impact of government stimulus measures and said these could continue in the US with a further package. But Sezzle, like Afterpay, also pointed to a tightening of lending during the pandemic and more use by existing customers, who are lower risk than new customers.
Afterpay and Zip last week also pointed to customers using the products more often over time to explain lower-than-expected bad debts. Sezzle said on Monday purchase frequency stood at 15 transactions per year for the 2018 cohort, nine times for the 2019 cohort, and five times for the most recent 2020 cohort.
Valuations being ascribed to the buy now, pay later sector are high given market penetration remains low – but investors also see this as part of the growth opportunity. Sezzle pointed to estimates from Worldpay showing instalments are being used for 8 per cent of e-commerce in Australia, but only 1 per cent in the US.
Investors have been willing to provide fresh capital to support the growth of smaller operators. Sezzle raised $US58 million in July, while Splitit raised $16 million via a placement in April and a further $90 million in August. Openpay also raised new equity this year a via an oversubscribed $34 million placement in June to strengthen the balance sheet.
Introducing your Newsfeed
Follow the topics, people and companies that matter to you.Find out more
Latest In Technology
Fetching latest articles


text:
Coinbase, one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, has recently announced its registration to provide cryptocurrency services in France. The company received approval from France’s Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to operate within the country. This registration, known as Prestataire de Services sur Actifs Numériques (PSAN), allows Coinbase to offer a range of services including crypto custody, crypto-to-crypto trading, and buying and selling crypto for both retail and institutional investors.
Daniel Seifert, Coinbase’s Vice President and Regional Managing Director for EMEA, expressed his excitement about achieving VASP status in France. He highlighted the importance of onboarding the next billion people into the world of crypto while ensuring the security of consumers’ assets and prioritizing compliance. Seifert also emphasized the thriving web3 ecosystem in France and Coinbase’s eagerness to contribute to its development.
Endorsement of EU Regulations
Coinbase also acknowledged the significance of the EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation (MiCA) rules in its announcement. By endorsing MiCA rules, which apply to France as a member nation, Coinbase emphasized the clarity these regulations provide and the recognition by the EU of the potential of emerging technologies, including cryptocurrencies.
A Global Expansion Strategy
In recent months, Coinbase has been actively expanding its presence in various regions. The company extended its services to Canada, obtained an AML license in Spain, and selected Ireland as its MiCA hub. These strategic moves demonstrate Coinbase’s commitment to offering its services globally and positioning itself as a leading player in the cryptocurrency industry.
Phase II Expansion Efforts
Coinbase has broadly described its Phase II expansion efforts, indicating a strong focus on growth and innovation. With its international arm, Coinbase International, the company recently launched spot trading services after initially providing futures trading. This expansion allows Coinbase to cater to a wider range of traders and investors, providing them with more options and opportunities within the crypto market.
Coinbase’s continuous growth and expansion efforts have solidified its position as one of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges globally. According to CoinGecko data, the platform handled an impressive $2.6 billion in trading volume over the past 24 hours. This demonstrates the trust and confidence that traders and investors place in Coinbase’s platform, further bolstering its reputation in the industry.
The Future of Coinbase
As Coinbase continues to expand its services globally, its presence in France and endorsement of EU regulations further establish its credibility and commitment to providing secure and compliant cryptocurrency services. With its innovative offerings and commitment to growing the crypto ecosystem, Coinbase is well-positioned to shape the future of the cryptocurrency industry and contribute to the mainstream adoption of digital assets.
Coinbase’s registration to provide cryptocurrency services in France marks another milestone in the company’s global expansion efforts. With approval from France’s financial regulator and endorsement of EU regulations, Coinbase is now able to offer a comprehensive range of services to retail and institutional investors. As Coinbase positions itself as a leading player in the industry, its continued growth and commitment to innovation will significantly contribute to shaping the future of cryptocurrencies.


text:
Honda does not want to take a breather until it takes the major share of pie of every single segment in the world of biking have announced yet another bike today. Based on the recently announced CBR500R, Honda has unveiled a new 400cc engine which has been developed keeping in mind the Indian market as well as the emerging South Asian markets where people are slowly developing a liking for performance biking.
The CBR400R’s engine will be based on the 470cc engine of the CBR500R and is almost a similar unit, save for the displacement. The bore will remain the same as the elder sibling at 67 mm and the stroke will be lowered down to 56.6 mm. Rest, almost every part is expected to remain the same will the new 400cc engine expected to belt out around 40-42 horses and torque figure which would suit the horses on offer.
Honda has stated that the engine has been tuned for a smooth and linear power delivery like the CBR250R which has gained a lot of popularity off late. Honda intends to launch the bike in a lot of body styles, pretty much like the bike’s bigger brother CBR500R came in a lot of body styles. This makes the bike well suited to different people and helps the company expand its target audience as more people can be catered to with a similar product in different styles.
A naked version is the one which will set the sales charts on fire according to us and will lock horns with the upcoming Duke 390. The company has not announced the details regarding the availability and launch of the sportsbike but we expect the Japanese market to be the first home to the bike with the markets like India and Thailand to follow thereafter. We expect that Honda will price it below thee Rs.3 lakh mark to give it a good chance of becoming a success.
(Note – Honda CBR500R image used for representational purpose, the actual bike might differ from the model shown here.)
Also see – Will Honda CBR400R come to India?
Source – Overdrive


text:
Scott Bader, a global manufacturer with headquarters in the UK, recognise the significant opportunities in India and is committed to bringing industry leading composite and adhesive technology to its Indian customers for wind energy, electric vehicle battery technologies and light weighting in transport such as rail and infrastructure projects.
It anticipates investing more than £20m (200 crores INR) over the next 5 years into India and expect to generate over 150 skilled manufacturing jobs in India with annual revenues of at least £30m (300 crores INR). In addition to its ‘Made in India’ strategy, Scott Bader hopes to use its investments in India to supply into the broader ASEAN region. It will continue to provide technical support services and supply specialist products from its UK and Dubai manufacturing sites which will continue to support employment in these areas.
Scott Bader is focused on developing sustainable products for sustainable markets. It currently supplies some of the world’s largest wind blade manufacturers and electric vehicle OEMs. It has put sustainability at the heart of everything it does. In September 2021, it offset its Scope 1 and 2 emissions for 2020 and committed to offsetting its carbon emissions every year, whilst setting a target of a 60% reduction in its carbon emissions by 2025.


text:
13 July 2016 Hits: 5673
Destination specialist offering bespoke self-drive road trips to roll out Dolphin sales and management system Read More
30 June 2016 Hits: 6119
CSI Media have created a new booking platform for caravan parks and campsites and have recently implemented it on www.woodyhyde.co.uk. Read More
04 June 2016 Hits: 7217
Dolphin extended to international offices and online concierge platform launched in the UK Read More
24 May 2016 Hits: 8908
eNett International, a leading provider of dedicated B2B payment solutions, today called on travel companies to reassess their 'true' cost of payments. Read More
The following companies are members of PressZone - select one to view recent press releases from that company.
For information on posting your own press releases direct to this page join the Press Zone.
The recent insolvency of Low Cost Travel Group, one of the large players in the travel industry had a big impact on the travelers, hotels and all related players from both wholesale & retail arms. There were about 27,000 people on a holiday who had booked through the company comprised of a €200 million wholesale arm and €500 million OTA / retail arm.


text:
26 African nations sign deal to form trade bloc
| Jun 11th 2015 | 2 min read
Africa’s largest free-trade zone is to be created covering 26 countries in an area from Cape Town in the south to Cairo in the north.
The deal, signed in Egypt, is intended to ease the movement of goods across member countries that represent more than half the continent’s GDP.
Since the end of colonial rule, governments have been discussing ways to boost intra-African trade. The poor state of roads, railways and airlines have made it difficult.
Three existing trade blocs - the Southern African Development Community (SADC); the East African Community (EAC) and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) - are to be united into a single new zone. The pact - known as the Tripartite Free Trade Area (TFTA) - will then be officially unveiled at the upcoming summit of the African Union in South Africa this weekend.
BBC Africa Business Report’s Lerato Mbele says the idea behind it is to remove trade barriers on most goods, making them cheaper, and stimulating $1 trillion (Sh97 trillion) worth of economic activity across the region of more than 600 million people.
However, concluding the deal in Egypt will merely be the first step and it will need to be approved by each country’s parliament before the wheels are set in motion, she says. It is hoped that this will happen by 2017.
Analysts says countries within a free-trade zone agree to reduce or do away with certain trade barriers within that area, but still pursue their own trade policies when it comes to outside countries.
Kenyan academic Calestous Juma said the move was ‘extremely exciting’ for the continent as, once implemented, trade within Africa would increase to 30 per cent from 12 per cent.
“The comparison with Europe is 70 per cent of their trade is within Europe,” he told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.
“By having larger markets, it signals the possibility of being able to manufacture products at a scale that is cost-effective.”
“For example, where you need large-scale investments like $200 million to create a pharmaceutical factory, you couldn’t do that if you were only selling the products in one country.”
He said the consolidation of financing would be another benefit of the TFTA. “As soon as banks notice that they can lend to larger investors, say in manufacturing, that will lead to the liberalisation of the financing sector, greater access to finance and more investors coming to Africa.”
Kenya to import 540,000 tonnes of maize to avert looming shortage
- Toyota Probox: What this workhorse offers, but also a look at its problems
By Mate Tongola
- CBK fees waiver pushes M-Pesa daily deals with banks to Sh15b
- Ex-Britam bosses to face trial over Sh1.1b 'theft'
By Paul Ogemba
- Twelve per cent of Kenyans default on loans, says CRB
- Suppliers could sue State in Sh134b pending bills row


text:
Day two of Web Summit began with a discussion around NFTs and the future of the metaverse, with major discussions lined up around Web3 throughout the day.
Welcome back to day two of Web Summit, one of the world’s leading tech conferences, with over 71,000 attendees on the second day. The summit is live and in-person in Lisbon, Portugal after two years. The summit is known to bring together some of the most prolific personalities from the tech world together, and in 2022, it’s no different.
Web3 has increasingly become the most talked about topic in the tech world, and Web Summit is no different, as leading tech giants such as Apple or Microsoft continue to explore ways to integrate and transition to the Web3 ecosystem.
After an eventful first day that saw some major Web3-related announcements, including the Web3 Domain Alliance, which intends to prevent malicious phishing attacks, bad actors and Web3 domain collisions. Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao talked about the importance of building during a bear market.
Cointelegraph’s editor-in-chief, Kristina Lucrezia Cornèr, sat down with crypto executives to discuss the emergence of Web3 tech hubs around the world. Check everything that happened on the first day vi our live article, brought to you directly from our ground team.
The Cointelegraph team is back on the ground to bring you some of the latest and exclusive insights from the event.


text:
Appliance Depot is seeking donations of used appliances from Whatcom County residents. In recent months, the demand for inexpensive refurbished appliances has been outstripping the depot’s supply of donations.
The nonprofit appliance salvage and job-training store, located at 802 Marine Drive in Bellingham, provided training and jobs to more than 40 low-income residents in 2011.
“When you buy a new appliance and your installer takes away your old machine to be recycled, we are losing a local resource. Your appliance will be destroyed, crushed and shipped out of our community, most likely to China,” depot director Thoren Rogers said, in a Jan. 26 press release. “If we could collect even half of the replaced machines, it would be a big boost for employing low-income residents.”
Rogers said it is better for both the local economy and the environment for consumers to try and reuse appliances rather than have them recycled.
Appliance Depot is open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. It is online at www.reuseworks.org.
Rogers can be reached at 527-2646 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
Washington, DC – The casino gaming industry supports 350,000 small business jobs nationwide and nearly 3,000 of them are in Maryland, the American Gaming Association (AGA) announced today at Eastern Food Services, Inc., a local food provider in Prince George’s County, Maryland.
Today’s event, part of the AGA’s American Gaming Small Business Jobs Tour, highlights the direct role MGM National Harbor plays in supporting Eastern Food Services, Inc., a company that provides M life water bottles and other food services to the recently opened Maryland casino. Eastern Food Services is one of many companies nationwide that benefits from partnering with a local casino.
“Casino gaming is and always has been a strong community partner in Maryland and across the country where hundreds of thousands of small business jobs are supported,” said Geoff Freeman, president and CEO of AGA. “The industry exemplifies the American entrepreneurial spirit with a special emphasis on creating good local jobs for American workers both inside and outside our casinos in nearly every state.”
The casino industry is a $240 billion-a-year industry that supports 1.7 million jobs nationwide. In Maryland, gaming employs roughly 15,000 people, supports $446 million in wages and generates $1.7 billion in economic impact.
“The gaming industry is a critical source of opportunity and growth for small businesses like Eastern Food Services,” said Congressman Anthony Brown. “Partnering local businesses through the Community Benefits Agreement with MGM National Harbor has proved to be a highly successful venture, and has assisted in the creation of more than 4,000 new jobs, with nearly half of those hires coming from within Prince George’s County itself. I applaud the gaming industry’s willingness to give back to the community, and look forward to furthering our relationship that will generate jobs and sustainable growth for years to come.”
This week, AGA released a report, The Gaming Industry’s Impact on Small Business Development in the United States, that examined nearly a dozen U.S. gaming markets and assessed casino gaming’s direct and indirect impact on local, small businesses. Researchers from Spectrum Gaming Group concluded that gaming’s widespread impact is felt in markets across the country, but has larger impacts in small to mid-sized communities where local businesses work to integrate into gaming operations.
The report concluded that “the State of Maryland has been proactive in ensuring that a broad range of businesses share in the benefits of gaming by directing 1.5 percent of all casinos’ slot proceeds go to the Maryland Casino Business Investment Fund (MCBIF).”
This fund provides capital for small, minority-, women- and veteran-owned businesses in Maryland and 50 percent of the funds are directed to target areas that surround the state’s six casinos. In addition, nearly 80 Prince George’s County-based businesses were involved with the construction of MGM National Harbor that totaled $214.3 million for the local businesses.
Nationwide, the report concluded that the casino gaming industry generates $52 billion in annual revenues for American small businesses and supports $13 billion in small business employee wages. In addition, $52 billion in annual small business revenues go toward real estate, finance, health care, STEM, manufacturing, information technology and other industries.
“Since we arrived in Maryland, MGM National Harbor has placed a tremendous emphasis on engaging locally owned small businesses,” said Bill Boasberg, General Manager of MGM National Harbor. “During our construction and now in our regular operations we strive to serve as a champion for local business engagement. We were able to identify and award 32 percent of our construction contracts to qualified Prince George’s County enterprises.”
“Choosing Prince George’s County for MGM’s property confirmed that the area is filled with first-class talent and is a world-class destination,” said Chris Umstot, General Manager of Eastern Food Services, Inc. “Under the guidance of our owner we look forward to doing our part to make sure MGM National Harbor is successful and Prince George’s County prospers.”
Eastern Food Services, Inc. is the first stop on AGA’s American Gaming Small Business Jobs Tour. The tour is part of AGA’s Get to Know Gaming (G2KG) campaign, a multiyear, integrated public affairs campaign rooted in authoritative research which touts the value of gaming nationwide. To date, through its Gaming Votes initiative and broader G2KG campaign, AGA has visited Iowa, Ohio, Colorado, Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri and Pennsylvania.
About AGA: The American Gaming Association is the premier national trade group representing the $240 billion U.S. casino industry, which supports 1.7 million jobs in 40 states. AGA members include commercial and tribal casino operators, suppliers and other entities affiliated with the gaming industry. It is the mission of the AGA to be the single most effective champion of the industry, relentlessly protecting against harmful and often misinformed public policies, and paving a path for growth, innovation and reinvestment.


text:
Wake Technical Community College said it will become one of just a handful of institutions to offer a new robotics apprenticeship with e-commerce giant Amazon.
As part of the partnership, Wake Tech is launching a Mechatronics and Robotics Apprenticeship program that will train people how to perform maintenance on the high-tech robotics that dominate Amazon’s fulfillment center across the country.
Since the program is an apprenticeship, students who go through the program will be paid by Amazon and move immediately from the classroom to on-the-job training.
Scott Ralls, president of Wake Tech, said in an interview that the Amazon-backed program shows how valuable community colleges are becoming as companies attempt to fill the thousands of technology-focused jobs being created.
There’s a huge competition for talent, Ralls said, and community colleges increasingly are seen as a critical way to fill those job openings.
“If everyone fishing for tech talent is always fishing in the same part of the lake, they are going to miss some incredible talent,” Ralls said, “particularly students who are veterans, working adults and students who are from working- and lower-income families.”
Wake joins Vincennes University in Indiana, Lehigh Carbon Community College in Pennsylvania and Dallas College in Texas in offering the program, though Amazon says it will likely be expanded to other places.
Ralls said Wake Tech was able to land the program because of the college’s strong focus on high-tech education. The community college has plans to build a new tech-focused campus in Wendell, and offers computer programming classes.
The college is also near Amazon’s massive fulfillment center in Garner, which the company has invested in heavily over the past two years.
Additionally, it helped that Ralls has experience working with Amazon. Before becoming president at Wake Tech, Ralls was president of Northern Virginia Community College from 2015 to 2019. His time there overlapped with Amazon’s decision to place part of its HQ2 expansion in Northern Virginia, and during that search he struck up relationships with people at the company.
That led to him creating a cloud computing program at Northern Virginia Community College that was similarly backed by Amazon.
How Amazon apprenticeship program works
The Wake Tech program is part of Amazon’s $700 million toward its Upskilling 2025 initiative, which offers training in high-demand skills.
The first cohort for the program will include 18 students, Ralls said, though that is a smaller number than normal because of COVID-19. Eventually, each cohort will be around 20 to 25 students with three cohorts running at the same time.
The in-class portion of the robotics course will last for 12 weeks and is followed by a year of on-the-job training at Amazon’s fulfillment centers.
Amazon will pay the students during the coursework, and the company says there will be pay bumps for every stage of the apprenticeship completed.
Amazon has a minimum wage of $15 per hour, though it did not say what these positions can expect. It did note, however, that employees in the program can expect wages to increase nearly 40% at the end of the classroom phase, and then another 48% increase after the second on-the-job training is completed.
The positions will be needed as Amazon is rapidly expanding its footprint across the country. The company projected it would expand its available square footage by 50% in 2020, Fintech Zoom reported.
The new fulfillment centers that will make up that expansion are full of automated robots that work with humans to move millions of items. However, those machines require fine-tuned maintenance and engineering to keep the Amazon system running continuously.
The company’s growth in the past year has been fueled by a huge boost in demand for online shopping during the pandemic. Amazon has hired hundreds of thousands of new employees this year to match that demand, and it now employs 1.2 million people worldwide.
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate


text:
Cuba has joined the Chinese New Year celebration with a new cigar that acknowledges 2022 as the zodiacal Year of the Tiger. The H. Upmann Magnum 52, a 5 7/8-inch-by-52-ring toro, goes on sale tomorrow in Hong Kong and will be available to the rest of the world in the coming months.
Red is a symbol of prosperity in Chinese culture, and just like last year’s Hoyo de Monterreys that celebrated the Year of the Ox, the H. Upmann cigars come in glossy red, decorative boxes. The six-sided boxes hold 18 of the H. Upmann Magnum 52s, all of which are fitted with a footband depicting a tiger. In Hong Kong, these smokes are set to retail for HK$852 each (about $109), but prices will vary from country to country as the cigars reach other markets.
Habanos S.A., the worldwide distributor of Cuban cigars, is far from alone in releasing special smokes for the lunar new year. Other non-Cuban cigar companies have already launched their limited-edition Year of the Tiger cigars, all in creative packaging.
The Magnum 52 is the newest addition to H. Upmann’s Magnum series of heavy ring gauge cigars, which includes the Magnum 46, Magnum 48 Edición Limitada, Magnum 50, Magnum 54 and special editions such as the Magnum 56 (presented in jars for duty-free) and the Super Magnum, created for the 2020 Colección Habanos presentation.


text:
Climate, Space Create Challenges For Local Food
Local food is no longer just a novelty. Farmers markets are growing nationwide and farms that sell directly to consumers brought in $1.3 billion in 2012, up eight percent from just five years earlier. Despite the demand, making local food work in some places is decidedly more difficult than others. Steamboat Springs, Colo., is one of those places.
Problem number one is infrastructure.
The Yampa River Valley in Colorado is known for its meat. You can find a slice of that rich ranching heritage at Josh Kilbane’s Yampa Valley Farms about 20 miles outside Steamboat Springs. You hear lots of moo-ing and oinking at the ranch. His herd of Scottish highland cattle, the kind with long, shaggy bangs and curved horns, munch on tall, green grasses behind an electric fence.
The one thing you won’t hear much of anymore is the clucks of chickens. He has a few egg-laying hens left, but he liquidated his flock in 2013.
“What spawned it was the idea of creating really, really healthy good chicken,” Kilbane said.
Kilbane bought thousands of chickens and processing equipment, and explored whether local restaurants would buy local chicken for a premium price.
“We could sell these birds, and it sounds ridiculous, but for $15 to $18 a bird,” Kilbane said.
The demand was there. But after crunching the numbers, and losing a bunch of birds to the elements, the project was scrapped.
“It would cost somewhere between $250,000 to $350,000 to build a plant to process birds to the specifications of the federal government,” Kilbane said. “And that pushes us out as a small farm right off the bat.”
There’s really no other place in Northwest Colorado where a small, local farmer could drop off chickens for processing. There are places to take cattle, hogs and lambs, but no chickens. It's a familiar story all over the Midwest: there are huge chicken processing plants but you can't get in there if you're not contracted with a company. That left Kilbane unable to process whole birds into restaurant-friendly cuts and unable to find the capital for his own facility.
Problem number two is the abridged growing season.
“Our challenge in Colorado and particularly in the Steamboat area is that our growing season is about 59 days from frost to frost,” said Karen Massey, Colorado State University extension agent for Routt County. “And so it is a real challenge for people growing their own food or growing food commercially for sale in restaurants.”
That number, 59 days, is something you hear oft-repeated in Steamboat Springs. It’s even on the cover of a gardening guide the extension office hands out. The shortened season is a big reason why the city’s farmers market feels more like a flea market, Massey said.
“There have been very creative businesses started with season extenders,” Massey said. “But it’s a long haul. We sometimes get 400 inches of snow [in a year].”
Season extenders, like greenhouses and hoop houses can be expensive and tough to maintain. If they get too big they can bring up another impediment to local food production.
Problem number three is government regulation.
Steamboat Springs, like many cities and towns with local foodies, functions under a master plan that discourages sprawl into the open space that surrounds the town. Most plans attempt to preserve some kind of the town’s ruralness, and Steamboat’s is no exception.
“We want to keep those commercial uses in the growth centers or near the growth centers,” said Alan Goldich with Routt County’s planning department. “And when you start to expand those commercial uses outside those growth centers then you start to lose that Western rural character, the open agricultural feel.”
Goldich’s office has started passing along worksheets created by a county advisory committee to aspiring local food growers as a bit of a reality check about the uphill battle they can face. There are lots of permits to file and specifications to meet in order to get a business off the ground.
Even with all the roadblocks, Routt County planning director Chad Phillips says it’s not stopping all prospective farmers.
“What we’re seeing is some of the newer people to the county or just with a different perspective, that they want to make this work,” Phillips said. “And they’re not doing it because it’s easy money. They’re doing it because their hearts are into it.”
That passion can be clearly seen by the success of a lively online bartering community of residents. If your garden produces a surplus of lettuce, for example, you can sell it to your neighbor on the side. More than a handful of people in town have taken advantage of the state’s cottage food law that allows cooks to sell foods prepared in the home.
Josh Kilbane of Yampa Valley Farms says yes, the climate in Steamboat can be harsh, but that’s no reason to throw your hands in the air and give up. When ten feet of snow drops on the ranch, his shaggy Scottish cattle and wooly, dreadlocked hogs barely realize it.
“I’m not going to stop it from being 40 below and 60 mile an hour wind storms, but I can match that animal to that storm,” Kilbane said.
It’s that kind of adaptation farmers across the Midwest have been doing for more than century, Kilbane said. It’ll be matter of adapting even further to meet the demand of a new market that increasingly wants local food.
More: The local food challenge


text:
- Just Announced
Monday, 3 Jun 2013
Gigabyte has launched its Intel 8 series range of motherboards which support the Intel Haswell processors. These motherboards come equipped with a range of new features and technologies including digital power delivery, advanced network and device charging, gold plated hardware, new designed UEFI DualBIOS, and Gigabyte App Center.
MSI has announced its three-pronged approach to reach out to its customers at the company's press conference in Computex 2013. In addition, it also showcased new products like high-end Z87 motherboards, new Lightning and Gaming series graphics cards, as well as its updated S20 Slidebook.
Available either in black or white, the latest member of the NZXT's H series of chassis, H230, comes in a smaller, more accessible size as compared to its predecessors.
Gigabyte will be displaying its Aivia Neon Touch-charge Air Presenter Mouse, Aivia Uranium Wireless Gaming Mouse with GHOST Macro Station, FLY Lightweight On-Ear Headset, and S3000 USB 3.0 Extraordinary Power Speakers at the Computex 2013.
ASUS today announced the Fonepad Note FHD 6 tablet-phone hybrid which is powered by Intel Atom Z2560 dual-core 1.6GHz processor.
Besides the new MeMO Pad tablets, ASUS today also announced the new Transformer Pad Infinity which is powered by NVIDIA Tegra 4 quad-core 1.9GHz processor.
Cougar will be unleashing a new line of gaming peripherals at Computex 2013. In addition to keyboards and mice, a chassis, PSUs, and other gaming products are set to be showcased as well.
ASUS today announced two new Android tablets - the MeMo Pad HD 7 and the MeMo Pad FHD 10.
Supporting the Intel socket LGA 1150, the haswell-based Hi-Fi Z87X 3D motherboard comes loaded with proprietary technologies, and houses regular USB 3.0, HDMI, and PCIe slots.
Acer today announced the world's first 8-inch Windows 8 tablet, the Iconia W3. It comes in two storage capacities (32 and 64GB).


text:
At that time, the Santa Clara, Calif., semiconductor maker's presence in the smartphone market was essentially nonexistent. Today, Intel has 10 phones shipping in 20 countries (though not the U.S.), and it keeps improving its power consumption and performance.
Intel is turning up the bravado in a new video that boasts "superiority" over ARM in phones.
Intel may be engaging in a bit of ad copy puffery with this caption penned by Francois Piednoel: "A little demo of x86 superiority over ARM."
Intel's first dual-core phone chip, Clover Trail+, isn't shipping in products yet, so it's by no means clear if it can out-benchmark and outlast phones based on the newest ARM chips from Qualcomm, Nvidia, and Samsung.
That said, the phone that the Clover Trail+ processor will debut in is worth … Read more
LAS VEGAS--Lenovo's big-screen K900 smartphone is one of the first to integrate Intel's first dual-core Atom chip for phones. And includes an impressive camera too.
By smartphone standards, the K900 has a massive 5.5-inch screen 1080p IPS display. So, no better time to tap Intel's new chip to manhandle all the pixels in that giant display.
The Atom Z2580 roughly doubles the central processing unit (CPU) performance of Intel's single-core Medfield processor used in Lenovo's K800 phone. The new Atom silicon also boasts an improved graphics chip.
A few more deets on Intel's … Read more
BARCELONA, Spain--When we first saw the Lenovo K900 at CES early last month, the Chinese company wasn't quite ready for journalists to try out the handset, but it has finally taken off the bubble wrap here at the MobileFocus Global fringe event at MWC.
Upside The 5.5-inch Intel Atom-powered (Clover Trail+) smartphone runs at a speedy clock speed of 2GHz, and we hardly noticed any lag while we were playing with it. While it's certainly a long handset, the 6.9mm barely weighed anything in my hand. Of course, it's worth noting that the K900 strikes … Read more


text:
The Ministry of Economy and Commerce (MEC), in collaboration with Alfardan Automobiles, has announced the recall of BMW Series 7 Saloon model of 2016-2017 because the engine oil cooler line (radiator feed) could be released from the connecting sleeve.
The MEC said the recall campaign comes within the framework of its ongoing efforts to protect consumers and ensure that car dealers follow up on vehicles' defects and repair them.
The MEC said that it will co-ordinate with the dealer to follow up on the maintenance and repair works and will communicate with customers to ensure that the necessary repairs are carried out.
The MEC has urged all customers to report any violations to its Consumer Protection and Anti-Commercial Fraud Department through the following channels: Call centre: 16001, e-mail: [email protected], Twitter: @MEC_Qatar, Instagram: MEC_Qatar, MEC mobile app for Android and IOS: MEC_Qatar
LEAVE A COMMENT Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked*
MME to organise first annual planning forum tomorrow
6 arrested for flouting home quarantine rules
Doha Institute launches Executive Master of Diplomatic Studies programme
‘Social awareness key to sustainable development goals’
Shura Council in EPIC meet
Security Council thanks Qatar for facilitating Afghan peace talks
Defence Minister meets Italian counterpart
Saudi channel distorts US official's remarks to make false claims
VCUarts Qatar professor's book focuses on science fiction in Islam


text:
The launch of 3G/4G services in Pakistan has spurred the usage of data services among local consumers. Users of high speed data (3G/4G) now constitute 15% of total mobile subscribers in the country as of Sep 2015 compared to barely 9% six months ago. Launch of high-speed data services has invigorated competition among mobile operators with every operator trying to attract maximum consumers by offering attractive data packages and claiming best data services quality.
Mobilink, the leading mobile operator in Pakistan, announced 3Q2015 financial results recently with a positive YOY revenue growth of 7% in two years primarily driven by data and mobile financial services revenue. Quality data services, attractive packages, and a widespread network not only enabled Mobilink to add the largest number of new subscribers (1,732,282) but post largest increase in 3G subscriber base among all 3G/4G network operators in the most recent quarter (Jul – Sep 2015).
Mobilink maintained market share in the market despite rising competition and managed to increase both data utilization (MBOU) and revenue among users (ARPU) while reducing churn rate (% of users leaving a network). All of these factors contributed to positive performance of Mobilink in an increasingly competitive market.
PTA recently published results of QoS Survey which included the 3G/4G performance of all mobile operators. According to the survey, Mobilink stood out with the best 3G download speeds followed by ZONG. The top scores of Mobilink came as no surprise because it bought a 10 MHz 3G band in 3G spectrum auction compared to 5 MHz band by Telenor and Ufone from PTA earlier this year.
In future, we expect Mobilink to financially outperform peers due to fastest growth in 3G/4G services, quality data services, extensive network coverage, and rapidly growing subscriber base.


text:
It’s overall marketing plan for this year calls for the revival of the Haywood County Film Commission. The county had a commission at one time, but it fell by the way side. However, as part of an effort to create entertaining and educational videos about Haywood County to attract tourists, the TDA’s Video Marketing Manager Becky Seymour began working with AdvantageWest, a regional economic development agency, to connect with filmmakers who want to shoot movies in Western North Carolina.
But the fate of AdvantageWest is unknown. The N.C. legislature may eliminate the entity and bring all economic development under the state Department of Commerce, so as a preemptive measure, the TDA decided to bring back the Haywood County Film Commission. Should AdvantageWest shut down, Seymour would become the liaison between the county and filmmakers.
Along with heading the commission, Seymour will be gathering a list of local professionals (builders, makeup artist, caterers, etc.), creating digital profiles of Haywood County locales, and crafting film and television press kits. If the county can snag a movie, it could boost tourism to the area.
Another new push for the tourism agency this year is to increase foot traffic in its visitor centers. The hope is to get people in the door then “wow” them with all the great things to see and do in the area. That could lead to longer visits, and repeat visits in future years.
The TDA began taking a more active role in running visitor centers in the past year —namely bringing the Waynesville and Maggie Valley visitor centers in-house instead of contracting with the chambers of commerce to run them. Now, TDA employees want to revamp the visitor centers to act more like concierge services and include more retail.
The authority wants to turn inquiring phone calls into actual visits by telling people, “Do you want to plan part of your trip now?” said Jason Dailey, who oversees visitor center operations. Visitor center volunteers would be trained to use the itinerary planning software on visitncsmokies.com.
Currently, whoever is working the front desk at a hotel is the first person visitors ask about where they should go and what they should see. But the TDA wants to reach out to lodging owners and encourage them to send tourists to the visitor centers.
“We have definitely been trying to push that a little more,” Dailey said.
The visitor centers will also start offering clothing, plush animals, books on the outdoors and Haywood County, and specially marked “Homegrown in Haywood” products included in the TDA’s new ad campaign by the same name.
One niche tourism segment being targeted this year is road biking. A new brochure highlighting Haywood as a cycling destination was released this year.
As has been the trend for the last several years, the authority is continuing to concentrate on digital marketing and expanding its online presence.
The TDA uses behavioral targeting such as Google’s Pay Per Click program to advertise different attractions in Haywood County to people based on their interests. If someone is often searching bicycling websites or receiving newsletters about biking clubs, an ad showcasing the picturesque road bike routes in the county may pop up and pique the person’s interest.
“It’s doing stuff like that where we can stalk people online,” said Ashley Rice, the TDA’s marketing manager.


text:
The Xbox Store and Windows Store are on the way to convergence, HERE ditches Windows users, Twitter changes looks on mobile, and we rounded up several new and updated apps and games.
All our coverage of the Windows 11 2022 update which is rolling out worldwide
windows 11 2022 update
Windows 11 Beta Channel includes fix for Dual SIM calling, and more
windows 11 insider preview


text:
CoinMarketCap has recently announced the launch of its new metric to compare exchanges and token pairs based on liquidity.
Also, it offers investors information on trading volumes, prices, and market caps. It is a crypto market tracking and analysis website. The company provides data on up to 2000 digital currencies. However, the new metric system will reportedly integrate data from 3000 crypto assets. The announcement comes from The Capital, CoinMarketCap’s inaugural conference in Singapore on November 12, 2019. CoinMarketCap, with this project, plans to provide crypto investors with data on liquidity.
Volume has lost its value as a metric
The company plans to base the new liquidity metric on adaptive data. CoinMarketCap’s chief strategy officer, Carylyne Chan, has explained that their latest project aims to make the metric safer and harder to manipulate. This is a new way of escaping dependence on volume reports, which is often a subject of a different kind of scam trading. Also, Carylyne Chan highlighted the fact that the company plans to encourage the provision of liquidity, instead of the inflation of volumes as the amount has lost its value as a metric. CoinMarketCap has enormous plans for its new project. However, the exact details are unknown.
CoinMarketCap: offers new tools for traders
In August 2019, the CoinMarketCap announced that on November 12, it would launch a new liquidity metric.
However, in July, CoinMarketCap, in partnership with Crypto Briefing, has launched its new institutional analysis product Simetri. Besides, the program is designed to ensure order book transparency and provide in-depth fundamental insight into the crypto market.
Moreover, CoinMarketCap has pressed many of its partner crypto exchanges to disclose correct and accurate data. All for the sake of improving the transparency of digital information available on the platform.


text:
NXP tops auto semiconductor vendor rankings, says Strategy Analytics
Press release; Jessie Shen, DIGITIMES
NXP Semiconductors achieved a 14.2% share of the US$27.4 billion automotive semiconductor market in 2015, four-percentage points ahead of its nearest rivals Infineon and Renesas, according to Strategy Analytics.
The article you are trying to open requires News database subscription. Please sign in if you wish to continue.


text:
Though the term 3G (third-generation) wasn't quite the buzz word at CeBIT this year that it was last year, a number of mobile-handset makers have said at the show they will have 3G handsets ready for the European mass market by the end of this year.
Early in the show, Nokia Corp. announced a Sept. 26 launch date for its first mass-market 3G mobile-phone service and handsets. The Espoo, Finland-based company stressed that when commercial 3G services and handsets from Nokia and its partners hit the market, it would not be a "techno launch" but a true mass-market launch. Motorola Inc. sounded a much more cautious note when it came to its upcoming 3G handsets. Mike Zafirovski, president of Motorola's personal communication sector said that the Schaumburg, Illinois-based company would be releasing 3G handsets by the end of the year, but wouldn't give a specific date and cautioned that he wasn't expecting the 3G market to really start expanding until 2003.
"We are very confident that we will have a 3G dual-mode handset before the year is out," Zafirovski said in a press conference here on Wednesday. The first Motorola 3G handset to hit stores in the U.K., Germany and Italy should be the 2820 model, he said.
Motorola is partnering with Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd. and two German operators that Zafirovski said could not yet be announced. "Handsets will be available in the third quarter with Hutchison and we expect to have 300,000 to 400,000 3G units out with Hutchison by the year's end," he added.
Siemens AG said it expects its first 3G handsets for the European market to be available by the fourth quarter, according to Siemens spokesman Michael Leyer.
Meanwhile, Sony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is aiming for some sort of 3G product launch in Europe by the end of the year, though as with Motorola, the company is more focused on 2003 in terms of a wider product launch.
"We are about to ship the first 3G test units to operators and will have a commercial product by the end of the year, with volume ramping up next year," said Sony Ericsson spokesman Peter Bodor.
Samsung Electronics Co. Ltd. plans to be a bit behind the competition in an effort to make sure that its handsets work well, rather than rushing to market, said Samsung spokeswoman Denise Clark.
"We plan to have a product for trial at the end of this year, or the beginning of next year. We want to have good talks with operators in order to make phones that can support the services they intend to offer," Clark said.
Mobile operating system vendor Symbian Ltd. declined to comment on whether the first round of 3G handsets to hit the market in Europe would carry its OS.
"It's really difficult to predict how many vendors will launch 3G with a proprietary OS, but some of the vendors that do that will then move over to Symbian. For example, Nokia is using its own OS now but we are working to replace Nokia OS with Symbian OS and Nokia has said that it will work with us to do so," said Paul Cockerton, Symbian's spokesman.
According the Cockerton, it is simply standard practice for companies to introduce early products to market and to then follow up with improved versions later.
"While 3G has certainly come a lot farther than last year, due to a number of factors -- not the least of which is an uncertain economic climate -- the vendors and mobile-phone operators are much more focused on getting GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) or 2.5G handsets out there and making sure that killer applications for the new technologies like MMS (Multimedia Messaging Service) receive widespread acceptability," Cockerton said.
"But of course, it's important to keep up some sort of buzz on 3G," he added.
(Joris Evers, Amsterdam Correspondent, contributed to this report.)


text:
Big brands, corporations and industry leaders have called for a more representative view of engineers, rejecting the “narrow” depiction of the profession typically portrayed in online search results.
Are you a manufacturer that sells, or is thinking about selling, digital goods? If so, there are some common monetisation pitfalls and critical success factors you need to be aware of. Peter Colman, Xi Bing Ang and Saagar Mehta offer advice on getting the most from your digital offering.
When it comes to keeping up with the pace of change, the race Team’s infrastructure has to be able to move at the speed of the sport.
The Manufacturer is building the world’s best manufacturing show – and you’re invited, says show director James Smith.
The government has pledged to help small and medium-sized businesses to enhance their leadership and management skills, and to steer more graduates into “complex” areas of business.
Cyber-threats associated with industry's digital revolution could potentially become major barriers in future business growth, according to new research.
An overwhelming number of UK SMEs have said that ongoing uncertainty surrounding Brexit has cost them around £1m in lost revenue, with almost half blaming a lack of preparation on the government.
University engineers have developed a novel, cost-effective method to batch produce high volumes of manufactured polymer components, as against traditional manufacturing techniques.
French cosmetics giant, L'Oréal is leveraging big data and artificial intelligence to enable cosmetic development and "power new product innovation".
For The Manufacturer’s latest podcast, our editorial director, Nick Peters, spoke to Juergen Maier, the Siemens UK CEO and figurehead for the government-backed, industry-led Made Smarter initiative.


text:
Wisconsinites go to court for their Irish butter
MADISON – Wisconsinites demanded their Irish butter this St. Patrick’s Day.
A specialty grocery store and frustrated consumers, backed by a conservative legal group, sued the state this week over a law that bars the sale of Kerrygold butter and other European brands.
Wisconsin bars the sale of Irish butter from grass-fed cows — a product widely used in the Bulletproof Diet — because it does not bear a label that grades its quality. Wisconsin law requires butter to be marked as “Grade A” or another grade as determined by the state or federal government.
Every other state allows the sale of Kerrygold and other ungraded butter brands.
“Wisconsin businesses and consumers are more than capable of determining whether butter is sufficiently creamy, properly salted, or too crumbly,” attorney Rick Esenberg wrote in the lawsuit. “To require a government taste test simply serves no rational public purpose.”
The lawsuit was brought Thursday in Ozaukee County Circuit Court by Slow Pokes Local Food of Grafton, along with four people from around the state who want to buy Kerrygold butter. They are being represented by Esenberg and other attorneys from the Wisconsin Institute for Law & Liberty.
Kerrygold is not bankrolling the lawsuit, Esenberg said Friday.
He acknowledged that the ability to buy a particular type of butter may not be the most pressing issue of the day, but said the case embodies important principles about limits on the government’s ability to decide what people can buy.
“While you might not think of economic liberties as a civil rights issue, I would disagree with that,” he said. “It is a civil rights issue.”
He likened the grading law to one repealed in 1967 that for decades barred the sale of margarine that was colored to look like butter. That led to Wisconsinites going on “oleo runs” to Illinois or Minnesota to stock up on margarine.
The law affecting Kerrygold butter is overseen by the state Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection.
“This is the law of the state of Wisconsin and we have an obligation to administer the law," said department spokesman Bill Cosh. "DATCP enforcement action has been limited to notifying retailers of what the law says.”


text:
Viewers who watched Telemundo's telenovela "Mi Corazón Insiste" saw a new type of cliffhanger last week. It directed them to a Web site with exclusive content sponsored by JPMorgan Chase. Both
Telemundo and Univision, are lining up more ad opportunities to incorporate products into their telenovelas. The twist is the campaigns take the products from the telenovela to the Web and mobile
devices. In the Corazón campaign, viewers can watch "webvelas" featuring parallel story lines with original content.
The mini-Web series, which will be called "Y Vuelvo a Ti,"
features the characters paying for a meal using a Chase debit card or using a Chase ATM. Then viewers can visit a Chase microsite, follow the series on Facebook and download music from the Chase
Because of the partnership with Televisa, Univision can now work on product placement in Televisa-produced content. At the upfront, Univision reported commercial sales between
$1.7 billion and $1.8 billion.
Read the whole story at The New York Times »


text:
With Kae Capital, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal on board, Shopsense goes bullish on its B2C app platform Fynd
Retail technology company Shopsense on Thursday raised an undisclosed amount of pre-Series A funding from Kae Capital, Kunal Bahl, Rohit Bansal, and others. This funding will be used for market expansion. The team of IIT Bombay graduates has also launched Fynd, the B2C segment of its business. The team had earlier raised seed funding from Kae Capital and Powai Lake Ventures.
With this app, users can discover and follow their favourite brands, browse through the latest collections, try multiple sizes for the perfect fit, and get their shopping delivered home. Fynd will be able to procure products from local and branded stores. The idea, according to Co-founder Harsh Shah, is to redefine convenience for online shoppers.
While Shopsense has been a B2B player, and devices were available at different outlets for in-store engagement, Harsh says that over the past six months, they've seen a steady increase of traction from the end-consumer. "Many were looking for a similar model for their phones," says Harsh.
Offline stores, Harsh says, need to take part in the online shopping boom and Fynd helps them do that. Following both an offline and online models, this app helps stores participate India’s online shopping boom. "With Fynd, everything from billing to inventory happens at the store. So, for a technically online experience, the store still plays a major role," adds Harsh.
Being deeply integrated with their partner brands in terms of live and real-time inventory management, Harsh adds that Fynd brings a truly omni-channel experience to the consumer.
The company has some marquee clients like Lee, Satya Paul, Anita Dongre, Flying Machine, Arrow, and US Polo Association. The solution has also been deployed at Salman Khan’s Being Human chain of stores.
Their key in-store products include:
- Match– An in-store engagement platform: Built on large capacitive touchscreens, customers can easily browse products, search/discover new ones, and share the experience with friends for feedback via email or social networks.
- React– Engages and educates customers in-store: Prop an item on React and it comes alive with a product description. It is a great tool to empower customer representatives.
- LemurTM– A semantic search, discovery, and recommendation engine: It seeds new products to the product inventory. Recommendations are based on a user’s shopping journey, and Lemur helps customers navigate across the depth and breadth of the product inventory.
With the B2C angle in play, the team believes that they now have to gear up their operations and marketing teams.
There seems to be a keen interest in omni-channel retail by e-commerce biggies, especially Snapdeal. After funding from Shopo, FindMyStle, and Peppertap, it launched its omni-channel platform. There has also been a rise in online product discovery sites ever since e-commerce picked up.
A lot of activitives have been seen in the O2O (research online, buy offline space), mainly in the devices segment. When it comes to fashion, Doozton was an online discovery platform that was nabbed by Snapdeal. Wooplr is another venture-funded startup in a similar space, but its focus is more on helping shoppers discover fashion products in the stores around themselves


text:
Bain Expert Vice President Gerry Mattios joined a panel of other experts at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting for a discussion of how global trade depends on transparency and trust, and how both are undermined by fragmentation in commerce. "When small enterprises are cut off from digital networks, they have no transaction history and are effectively invisible. That means banks won’t lend them money and large buyers won’t do business with them," Tradeshift explained in its recap of the discussion. Mattios and the panel discussed how distributed ledger technologies can address this challenge, creating visibility in supply chains without the need to agree on a central authority.
Our latest insights from the World Economic Forum's annual meeting.


text:
Toronto – the president of tim hortons says a plan to conquer a crowded chinese coffee market hinges on tailoring its menu to local habits and tastes – including offering congee and matcha alongside signature items like double doubles. Tim hortons® hong kong market expansion managing international projects – scs2236-028 2017-01-041. Restaurant brands international inc announces agreement with restaurant development partners to grow the tim hortons® brand in minnesota the agreement marks the first entry into the minneapolis market for the brand oakville, on – june 9th, 2016 — restaurant brands international inc (“rbi”) and restaurant. As one of the fastest growing franchise opportunities in the united states, the tim hortons brand continues to grow stronger each day through innovative programs, quality products and a proven business model. In line with its gcc expansion strategy, tim hortons has opened a new branch in mall all of the emirates, embodying a refreshed look of the canadian chain.
Ron joyce's very fast expansion of the tim hortons business brought about two major changes in the coffee and doughnut restaurant market:. Tim hortons, the canadian coffee and doughnut chain, plans to open more than 1,500 restaurants in china amid a growing global trade war. The hobart-based company that's bringing canadian institution tim hortons to the indianapolis area also has plans to introduce its own brands to the market the firm luke family of brands said wednesday that it will open units across multiple formats, including luke liquor stores, convenience stores and car washes, in addition to the tim.
Restaurant brands international inc (usa) (nyse:qsr) is trading at more than seven times its book price will its expansion into china help tim hortons's pr. Tim hortons, the country's largest quick serve coffee chain, says it sees 'significant room for growth' in canada. Le projet d'expansion internationale de la chaîne de cafés tim hortons prendra au moins un an avant de se concrétiser. The tim hortons brand is struggling to grow, and the popular coffee shop has been looking for opportunities across the globe in an effort to. Fourteen months ago, tim hortons’ ohio franchisee appeared to launch a doughnut war of sorts a.
Miami — the fight for the coffee and breakfast crowd is heating up, both at home and abroad burger king said tuesday it will buy tim hortons in an $11 billion deal that would create the world's third largest fast-food chain. A strategic analysis for tim hortons print reference this published: the expansion of tim hortons should happen gradually with accuracy and precision. Toronto, may 14 (reuters) - tim hortons thito thin said on friday it is developing a strategy for opening its coffee-and-snacks shops outside of canada and the united states the canadian company will outline its international expansion plans in the third or fourth quarter, tim hortons president. Burger king struck an $11 billion deal to buy tim hortons that would create the world's third largest fast-food company and could make the canadian coffee-and-doughnut chain more of a household name around the world.
Tim hortons inc brewed up a stronger blend of profit and sales in the third quarter but still fell short of analyst expectations. Forbes 400 america's richest and appears likely to do the same with tim hortons the company’s expansion strategy depends on its relationship with. The fight for the coffee and breakfast crowd is heating up, both at home and abroad.
Iconic canadian coffee chain tim hortons is to expand across the uk with the opening of three new shops. Restaurant brands international reports same-store sales growth at burger king, tim hortons.
Restaurant brands international iis trading at more than seven times its book price will its expansion into china help tim hortons's pr. Tim hortons is massive in canada and has been trying to expand into the united states for some time now this video takes a look at the restaurant chain, the. Tim hortons has signed a franchise joint venture agreement in china that will see 1,500 restaurants in china in the next 10 years.Download the expansion of tim hortons`


text:
Facebook's privacy settings have faced scrutiny from users for years, and the world's largest social network has often reassured them that their personal information would remain private.
But on Tuesday, Facebook agreed to settle charges by the Federal Trade Commission, which said that reassurances regarding privacy tweaks in 2009 were "unfair and deceptive, and violated federal law."
As the FTC announced the proposed settlement, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg published a statement in which he promised to work hard to remedy any wrongdoings. "I'm the first to admit that we've made a bunch of mistakes," he wrote. "We can also always do better. I'm committed to making Facebook the leader in transparency and control around privacy."
Do you believe Zuck? Is Facebook doing enough, or is the FTC settlement only the beginning? Take our poll and let us know.
Below the poll, you'll find a list detailing what FTC wants Facebook to do and another list explaining Facebook's next steps. Both lists should help you make an informed decision when casting your vote.
What the FTC Wants Facebook to Do Now
According to FTC's statement, Facebook is:
barred from making misrepresentations about the privacy or security of consumers' personal information;
required to obtain consumers' affirmative express consent before enacting changes that override their privacy preferences;
required to prevent anyone from accessing a user's material no more than 30 days after the user has deleted his or her account;
required to establish and maintain a comprehensive privacy program designed to address privacy risks associated with the development and management of new and existing products and services, and to protect the privacy and confidentiality of consumers' information; and
required, within 180 days, and every two years after that for the next 20 years, to obtain independent, third-party audits certifying that it has a privacy program in place that meets or exceeds the requirements of the FTC order, and to ensure that the privacy of consumers' information is protected.
How Facebook Will Handle the Situation
Zuckerberg says Facebook has proactively addressed many of FTC's concerns prior to Tuesday's announcement, and that the settlement provides a framework for how Facebook and other companies should approach privacy.
Facebook plans to continue making product changes to meet FTC's requirements. Zuckerberg says Facebook also will:
improve and formalize the way we do privacy review as part of our ongoing product development process. As part of this, we will establish a biannual independent audit of our privacy practices to ensure we're living up to the commitments we make;
create two new corporate officer roles to make sure our commitments will be reflected in what we do internally — in the development of our products and the security of our systems — and externally — in the way we work collaboratively with regulators, government agencies and privacy groups from around the world;
serve you as best we can and work every day to provide you with the best tools for you to share with each other and the world. We will continue to improve the service, build new ways for you to share and offer new ways to protect you and your information better than any other company in the world.
In August, Facebook unveiled a privacy overhaul, which involved changes to profiles, status updates, locations and tags (see gallery below for details).


text:
Virgin Orbit has secured an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its ventilator, which the small satellite launch company designed and prototyped within the past few weeks in response to growing need for ventilator hardware to address the most severe cases of COVID-19 infection. Virgin Orbit anticipates deliveries of the ventilator hardware to start “within the next few days” now that it has secured the agency’s authorization.
Virgin Orbit designed its ventilator, which is a take on an automated version of the manual resuscitators used most frequently in ambulances by paramedics responding to calls where a person has lost the ability to breath on their own, based on guidance form a group of experts and doctors called ‘The Bridge Ventilator Consortium.” It’s designed mostly as a stop-gap and supplement to free up use of proper ventilator hardware to treat the most severe respiratory symptoms in COVID-19 patients, but should still free up a valuable medical resources that are in short supply as the pandemic continues.
Already, Vrigin says it’s manufacturing the ventilators, and is making “over 100 per week” in terms of its ongoing production rate. The initial delivery set to go out this week will be 100 units that will be shipped to California’s Emergency Medial Services Authority, for distribution depending on need in that sate.
While it has done a lot to quickly ramp up this production line and start shipping ventilators, Virgin Orbit says that it’s been continuing to build out its own small satellite launch system. In fact, it just recently flew a key final test of its LauncherOne vehicle and the carrier aircraft that brings it to its launch altitude – the last big step before it runs a full demonstration of its system, including an orbital flight, later this year.


text:
Verizon seems to have caught the startup competition bug.
Last year, the company launched its first-ever Powerful Answers award, which awarded $1 million prizes to innovative startups working on education, healthcare, and sustainability solutions. Now the contest is back for 2014, and it’s adding a new startup category: transportation.
If you’ve got a startup that’s focused on those four categories, you can submit an entry in the competition here. The winners in each category will once again receive $1 million, while two runner-ups in each category will receive $250,000.
“Last year was just us beginning from a standing start,” said John Doherty, senior vice president of corporate development at Verizon, in an interview with VentureBeat.
“It was just absolutely phenomenal; we expected wonderful things; but we really didn’t know what would come out of it.”
The original contest was announced by Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam at last year’s CES as proof that the company was getting serious about using LTE for social good. And with the winners for last year’s competition, Verizon seems to have proved his point: Smartvision Labs is developing a way to conduct eye exams using smartphones; Lavamind developed the fantasy business simulation game Zapitalism; and BridgingApps is developing ways to use technology to help people with disabilities.
“One of the things we absolutely learned is that if you do something like [put on a competition like Powerful Answers], amazing things happen,” Doherty said.
As for the new focus on transportation, Doherty noted, “It made the most sense to us at this point in time. This contest is very much about innovation. We are a commercial institution; we want to make sure there’s also some relation to our business as well.”
“In transportation, we also have some use from companies that offer machine-to-machine products, and there are some things that connect back to our core business.”
Of course, while Verizon’s focus on social good is praiseworthy, the contest is also clearly a way for the company to ingratiate itself with the startup community. The company’s court case against the FCC ultimately led an appeals court to decide that the FCC couldn’t impose net neutrality restrictions on businesses. That’s a move that could have far-reaching implications for the way the internet works in the future.
The Powerful Answers Award also gives Verizon a way to promote its Innovation Centers. Located in San Francisco and Waltham, Mass., the centers feature tools for companies to test their technology on its network. Technology from Powerful Answers Award winners will also be featured in Verizon’s Innovation Centers.


text:
Researchers at Saint Louis University in Missouri have developed a battery that runs on virtually any sugar source and could operate three to four times longer on a single charge than conventional lithium-ion batteries. The new battery, which is biodegradable, could eventually replace lithiumion batteries in portable electronics, including computers, the scientists say.
As proof of concept, Shelley Minteer, an electrochemist at Saint Louis University, has used a small prototype of the battery (about the size of a postage stamp) to run a handheld calculator. If the battery continues to show promise, it could be commercialized in three to five years, she estimates.
The military is interested in using the sugar battery in electronic equipment on the battlefield and in emergency situations where access to electricity is limited. Virtually any convenient sugar source could instantly recharge devices such as remote sensors for detecting biological and chemical weapons.
The sugar battery contains enzymes that convert sugar into electricity, leaving water as the main by-product. So far, Minteer has run batteries on glucose, flat sodas, sweetened drink mixes, and tree sap, with promising results. The best fuel source tested so far is ordinary table sugar (sucrose) dissolved in water, she says.


text:
Ladbrokes optimistic as World Cup proves a winner
Gambling company Ladbrokes said on Monday that it is expecting to meet its full-year targets after a strong performance in the third quarter.
The bookmaker announced that in the three months to September 30 operating profits came in at £51.1million in, up from 2009's £22.4million, as the company enjoyed a stronger start to the English football season.
It also benefited from a profitable run in the latter stages of South Africa's World Cup and a robust gaming machine performance.
Buoyant: The bookmaker is on track to meet full-year expectations
UK shop revenues increased by 12 per cent in the period, despite a 5 per cent drop in the amount of money staked by punters in the bookmaker's estate of more than 2,000 shops.
Chief executive Richard Glynn said: 'Ladbrokes has a great brand and a strengthened management team determined to drive operational improvements going forward.'
In Ireland, the company blamed the country's troubled economic situation for a 9 per cent fall in the amount of money staked by over-the-counter customers.
Most watched Money videos
- Land Rover Defender 90 in the British woodlands
- We've had the vaccine rally, so what next for shares?
- The Shelby SuperCar Tuatara is the world's fastest road car
- Bugatti shows off its new Bolide track car in impressive footage
- Torsus Praetorian: The 4x4 all-terrain off-road bus
- Kar-go Delivery Bot: UK's first autonomous electric delivery vehicle
- Renault reinvent The Lollipop Man to test for air pollution
- SF90 Spider: Ferrari's first hybrid-powered convertible supercar
- The all new Toyota Mirai 2021 hydrogen fuel cell car
- An introduction to the online pensions dashboards
- Capabilities of Mini Urbanaut demonstrated in promo clip
- UK's first autonomous electric delivery vehicle revealed


text:
Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) stock has imploded today after reporting earnings, with HPQ stock dropping by double-digits intraday on news that it might not grow sales at all in 2014 and that management was being shaken up … again.
Some who invest in Hewlett-Packard stock might not be worried, since HPQ has been very kind to investors in 2013. Even after the sharp correction, shares of the PC-maker are up more than 50% year-to-date as of this writing.
But don’t expect those remaining gains to stick. Partially because of pressures in a post-PC age and partially thanks to poor management decisions, Hewlett-Packard stock is dead money for a while.
Here are the details worth noting from HP’s earnings report:
Terrible Turnaround: A tenuous five-year turnaround plan revealed in late 2012 has already hit a major stumbling block, with revenue forecast to be flat at best next year. It’s bad enough that Meg Whitman expected HPQ stock investors to be patient until 2017 … but now that glacial pace isn’t even enough to allow Hewlett-Packard stock to get on track.
Enterprise Pains: More on the revenue forecast … Despite plans to move beyond selling PCs and printers, Hewlett-Packard stock hasn’t been able to follow through on that promise. Soft margins and a meager 1% uptick in software sales mean serious headwinds to that part of the business. HP might blame this on weak business spending broadly, but that excuse won’t stick for long if the enterprise segment doesn’t find footing in a hurry.
Management Missteps: The Hewlett-Packard earnings call touted a focus on multi-OS, multiform operations to move beyond PCs. As a result, they were shuffling the deck for yet another painful reorg. Not only is HP painfully late to the game, this “new focus” is a hilarious about-about-face from the 2010 acquisition of Palm for $1.2 billion and then a 2011 decision to kill HP’s webOS operations. Meg Whitman seriously needs to get her company’s act together instead of giving “special assignments” like this.
Sure, Hewlett-Packard stock bulls will point to the fact that the company made $1.4 billion in profits, beating expectations handily despite an 8% decline in revenue year-over-year. But the top-line troubles this quarter — and the future outlook for sales being grim — is a much more important measure of where HPQ stock is headed.
Hewlett-Packard and Other PC Stocks Feel the Pain
Some of this big-picture trouble is, admittedly, not the fault of Hewlett-Packard. Many businesses that rely on laptop and desktop sales have been upended by the move to mobile, including Intel (INTC), Microsoft (MSFT) and Dell (DELL).
But HPQ stock investors who have been left holding the bag have nobody to blame but themselves. The same goes for those who got bullish on Microsoft … and then were punished as Surface sales disappointed and its PC-related businesses continued to drag.
There is assuredly room for other tech players at the table beyond Apple (AAPL) and Google (GOOG) with their mobile dominance. And I remain convinced that laptops and desktops remain valuable tools even in 2013, especially for those of us who work with words or numbers for a living.
But whether HP can remain dominant or whether it needs to “right-size” for the new world of electronics remains to be seen.
I have been a long-term bear on Hewlett-Packard for a long time. And while I wasn’t surprised to see the stock doubling from late 2012 through this summer on turnaround hopes, a 4%-plus dividend and a super-low valuation, I also wasn’t surprised by this recent flop.
It might be premature to call the turnaround plan of Meg Whitman & Co. a failure. But you can bet that investors are now going to entertain the possibility that Hewlett-Packard is going nowhere — and HPQ stock will go nowhere as a result, too.
Related Reading on Hewlett-Packard Stock
- HPQ stock and its earnings details. (Mercury News)
- Whitman shuffles executives around in the HP HQ. (CNBC)
- An oldie but a goodie — HP embodies what’s worst in corporate America. (InvestorPlace.com)
Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com and the author of The Frugal Investor’s Guide to Finding Great Stocks. As of this writing, he was long P. Write him at firstname.lastname@example.org or follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP.


text:
Beanie Baby Burglars Hit A Woodland Hills Store
Saturday, July 15th 2000, 12:00 am
By: News On 6
Last night marked a beanie baby burglary of huge proportions.
Someone stole up to 50-thousand dollars worth of the collectible cuties from a store in Woodland Hills Mall Friday night.
These were no flash in the pan crooks. They knew exactly what to look for.
Police officers looked at the damage someone did to the lock and gate on the front of the Beanie Baby and More store.
Whoever broke in, did so between 10 p.m. Friday night and 10 a.m. Saturday morning.
"They had taken all the old ones with tags, the very rarest of the rare, the most valuable beanies," says Kent Cornwell, store owner.
The thieves were so selective out front, that you can still see pockets of empty places where they took all of one kind of beanie, and left others on either side.
In the back of the store, it was a different story.
"They had just wiped out the shelves in the back. Hundreds and hundreds of beanies," says Cornwell.
The thieves were resourceful enough to use something they found inside the store to carry out all their loot.
"Looks like they loaded them in trash cans and took them out," says Cpl. Steve Han, Tulsa Police.
The rare ones taken will be hard to sell or pawn in this area. Cornwell believes the burglars might have better luck unloading them on the east or west coast.
"Devastated, we feel invaded. It's a huge loss and we've been so proud of our store. A lot of it will never be replaced," says Cornwell.
Cornwell did have insurance, but, say the company will likely want to pay them what they paid for the beanie babies years ago, and many of them are worth 10 even 20 times that now.
The case will be turned over to the burglary squad.
A detective did take fingerprints today.
Police must determine how the thieves were able to get past mall security and make off with between 30 and 50-thousand dollars worth of merchandise.


text:
A white Nairobi-based startup founder is facing backlash in Kenya, in a drama that is highlighting longstanding concerns about who wields power in Africa’s tech scene.
Robin Reecht’s interview with Techcrunch could easily have gone down into the annals of obscurity, if it weren’t for some unfortunate comments about something Kenyans are deeply passionate about: local cuisine.
“After three days of coming into Kenya, I asked where I can get great food at a cheap price, and everybody tell me (sic) it’s impossible,” Reecht, who is French, told Techcrunch in a June 17 interview. “It’s impossible because either you go to the street and you eat street food, which is really cheap but with not-so-good quality, or you order on Uber Eats, Glovo or Jumia, where you get quality but you have to pay at least $10.”
Reecht said this experience led him to found Kune in Nairobi six months ago. The startup produces ready-to-eat meals at affordable prices and distributes them to individuals and companies.
Kune revealed in the interview that it has already managed to raise $1 million in pre-seed funding, a fact that further aggrieved some.
Kenyans took to Twitter to share their frustrations on what they perceive as a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist, and the belief that Reecht’s white privilege is what got him funded so quickly, even when the business isn’t yet operational.
In a statement to Quartz, Reecht apologized for his comments, expressing regrets about how his message came out, and enthusiasm for Kune and the funding it had received. “This is an industry that is very operations heavy and labor intensive,” Reecht said. “We will use funding to build an entire factory, hire 30 people in production, 100 delivery drivers, 10-15 marketers, 10-15 user experience people, among others.”
#KenyansonTwitter, or KOT, as concerned citizens on the platform are often called, are a formidable force. In the past, their trending tweets have led to an apology from a senior CNN official for describing Kenya as “a hotbed of terror,” and a successful online campaign against Proctor & Gamble for “the burning pads saga,” among other wins.
White privilege in the African startup scene
To understand why this particular story struck a nerve with Kenyans—beyond sensitivities about food—one has only to look at the numbers. Last year, only 6% of Kenyan startups that received more than $1 million were led by locals, according to an analysis by Kenyan firm Viktoria Ventures. Even though startup funding to the continent has been on the rise, those with white founders are still attracting a chunk of the funding.
“I completely understand where the backlash is coming from,” Reecht told Quartz. “When I look at African startups that get huge amounts of funding, I see more white founders than black founders. I don’t want my comments to jeopardize the work of the rest of the team. Our Kenyan team worked very hard for us to secure this funding and one of our largest investors is Nigerian,” he said.
The drama also inspired some humor. A Nairobi-based German national created a satirical website on the occasion, where he offers his services as a Mzungu—white person—for hire by local startups who need to attract funding. The website, Hire a Mzungu, states, “Africa is not very widely recognized as an investment opportunity…until another white nose comes into the picture. The minute an ‘African’ startup is founded, or at least co-founded by a Mzungu, money pours in.
Sometimes Often Normally even without proper due diligence.”
It is unlikely that this dust up will permanently harm either Reecht or Kune. But the discussion of power and privilege in the African startup scene is unlikely to go away soon.
Sign up to the Quartz Africa Weekly Brief here for news and analysis on African business, tech, and innovation in your inbox