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Still, even supporters acknowledge that that glorious future is going to use a lot of electricity. It’s true that many of the more alarming claims—for example, that by 2020, bitcoin mining will consume “as much electricity as the entire world does today,” as the environmental website Grist recently suggested—are ridiculous: Even if the current bitcoin load grew a hundredfold, it would still represent less than 2 percent of total global power consumption. (And for comparison, even the high-end estimates of bitcoin’s total current power consumption are still less than 6 percent of the power consumed by the world’s banking sector.) But the fact remains that bitcoin takes an astonishing amount of power. By one estimate, the power now needed to mine a single coin would run the average household for 10 days.
If the random number generator is not random enough, that means someone else can recreate the private key of the hardware wallet easier. This attack has happened in the past with blockchain.info, a web wallet. Over 300 BTC were lost because blockchain.info did not use good RNG, so a hacker was able to generate the private keys again and steal coins.
Bitcoin mining is the process by which the transaction information distributed within the Bitcoin network is validated and stored on the blockchain. Bitcoin mining serves to both add transactions to the block chain and to release new Bitcoin. The concept of Bitcoin mining is simply the process of generating additional Bitcoins until the supply cap of 21 million coins has been reached. What makes the validation process for Bitcoin different from traditional electronic payment networks is the absence of middle man in the architecture. The process of validating transactions and committing them to the blockchain involves solving a series of specialized math puzzles. In the process of adding transactions to the network and securing them into the blockchain, each set of transactions that are processed is called block, and multiple chains of blocks is referred to as the blockchain.
That constraint is what makes the problem more or less difficult. More leading zeroes means fewer possible solutions, and more time required to solve the problem. Every 2,016 blocks (roughly two weeks), that difficulty is reset. If it took miners less than 10 minutes on average to solve those 2,016 blocks, then the difficulty is automatically increased. If it took longer, then the difficulty is decreased.
Bitcoin mining is the process of updating the ledger of Bitcoin transactions known as the blockchain. Mining is done by running extremely powerful computers (known as ASICs) that race against other miners in an attempt to guess a specific number. The first miner to guess the number gets to update the ledger of transactions and also receives a reward of newly minted Bitcoins (currently the reward is 12.5 Bitcoins).
Electrum gets high marks for its ease of use and user interface, which is always nice, but the real reason it's the best bitcoin wallet for desktop is its safety and reliability. Like any desktop wallet that's worth its salt, users get to control their private key; Electrum doesn't know what it is. Since your private key, a long string of letters and numbers, gives you access to your bitcoin, you need to keep that, you know, private.
If fewer people begin to accept Bitcoin as a currency, these digital units may lose value and could become worthless. There is already plenty of competition, and though Bitcoin has a huge lead over the other 100-odd digital currencies that have sprung up, thanks to its brand recognition and venture capital money, a technological break-through in the form of a better virtual coin is always a threat.
Bitcoin mining is the process by which transactions are verified and added to the public ledger, known as the block chain, and also the means through which new bitcoin are released. Anyone with access to the internet and suitable hardware can participate in mining. The mining process involves compiling recent transactions into blocks and trying to solve a computationally difficult puzzle. The participant who first solves the puzzle gets to place the next block on the block chain and claim the rewards. The rewards, which incentivize mining, are both the transaction fees associated with the transactions compiled in the block as well as newly released bitcoin. (Related: How Does Bitcoin Mining Work?)
Bitcoin wallet addresses are case sensitive, usually have 34 characters of numbers and lowercase letters, start with either a 1 or a 3, and never use 0, O, l and I to make every character in the address as clear as possible. That’s a lot to take in. But don’t worry. What they consist of is largely irrelevant to you. Just know they’re a string of characters that denote a destination on the Bitcoin Blockchain.
Gradually, people moved to GPU mining. A GPU (graphics processing unit) is a special component added to computers to carry out more complex calculations. GPUs were originally intended to allow gamers to run computer games with intense graphics requirements. Because of their architecture, they became popular in the field of cryptography, and around 2011, people also started using them to mine bitcoins. For reference, the mining power of one GPU equals that of around 30 CPUs.
Bloomberg reported that the largest 17 crypto merchant-processing services handled $69 million in June 2018, down from $411 million in September 2017. Bitcoin is "not actually usable" for retail transactions because of high costs and the inability to process chargebacks, according to Nicholas Weaver, a researcher quoted by Bloomberg. High price volatility and transaction fees make paying for small retail purchases with bitcoin impractical, according to economist Kim Grauer. However, bitcoin continues to be used for large-item purchases on sites such as Overstock.com, and for cross-border payments to freelancers and other vendors.
“It’s a real testament to Bitmain that they’ve been able to fend off the competition they have fended off. But still, you haven’t seen an Intel and a Nvidia go full hog into this sector, and it would be interesting to see what would happen if they did,” says Garrick Hileman, an economic historian at the London School of Economics who compiled a miner survey with the University of Cambridge.
Zhang walks up to a door between two shelves full of mining rigs, and we step through. “This is the hot side,” he tells me. We’re standing in an empty, brightly lit space that serves as the heat dump for the facility. The exhaust fans from all the mining machines on the other side are poking out through little holes in a metal wall, blasting hot air into the space, where it gets purged to the outside by another wall full of giant metal fans.
Bitcoin mining is intentionally designed to be resource-intensive and difficult so that the number of blocks found each day by miners remains steady. Individual blocks must contain a proof of work to be considered valid. This proof of work is verified by other Bitcoin nodes each time they receive a block. Bitcoin uses the hashcash proof-of-work function.
Many also fear that the new mines will suck up so much of the power surplus that is currently exported that local rates will have to rise. In fact, miners’ appetite for power is growing so rapidly that the three counties have instituted surcharges for extra infrastructure, and there is talk of moratoriums on new mines. There is also talk of something that would have been inconceivable just a few years ago: buying power from outside suppliers. That could mean the end of decades of ultracheap power—all for a new, highly volatile sector that some worry may not be around long anyway. Indeed, one big fear, says Dennis Bolz, a Chelan County Public Utility commissioner, is that a prolonged price collapse will cause miners to abandon the basin—and leave ratepayers with “an infrastructure that may or may not have a use.”


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(CapitalWatch, June 14, New York) China's Nano Labs Ltd., led by the former co-chairman of rival mining chip designer Canaan Inc. (Nasdaq: CAN), has filed for an initial public offering on the Nasdaq.
Based in Hangzhou, Nano Labs designs integrated circuits for mining using a comprehensive flow processing unit (FPU) architecture that integrates the features of both high throughput computing (HTC) and high performance computing (HPC). Nano Labs develops several chip series and is now working on the third generation of the "Cuckoo" chip, expected to be completed next year.
In 2021, Nano Labs booked $6.2 million in revenue on a net loss of $27.4 million, according to the prospectus. For the four months through April 2022, Nano Labs reported significant revenue growth to $27.5 million, plus $130.7 million in pre-sale orders.
The company noted that the results of its operations will be affected by the prices of cryptocurrencies. Primarily, Nano Labs provides chip solutions for the mining of Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ethereum Classic, Grin, and Filecoin. The prices of these have declined significantly over the past few weeks, with Bitcoin plunging sharply since last Thursday, down 26% to under $23,000. Overall, Bitcoin is down 53% year-to-date.
Heading Nano Labs is Jianping Kong. From May 2018 to July 2020, Kong served as the co-chairman of U.S.-listed Chinese stock Canaan, a company specializing on integrated circuits and bitcoin mining. A former sales and marketing director of Canaan, Qifeng Sun, serves as Nano Labs' vice chairman. Several other top managers also served with Canaan, according to the prospectus.
Founded in 2019, Nano Labs operates a subsidiary in Singapore as part of its overseas expansion strategy. The company has also delved into the metaverse market and plans to set foot in the U.S. market.
In its filing with the U.S. SEC, Nano Labs said it plans to use the proceeds of its offering for the R&D of more advanced ASIC chips, smart-NICs, vision computing chips, and its metaverse computing network platform, "Ipolloverse." In addition, the company plans to set up its own manufacturing plant, as well as a headquarters in the United States for the iPollo brand.
The company hopes to become publicly traded on the Nasdaq Global Market under the ticker "NA."
Nano Labs has attracted AMTD, Maxim Group, and Tiger Brokers to underwrite the offering.
The stock in Canaan tumbled nearly 13% Monday amid a broad plunge of the markets and the crypto prices. Canaan completed its U.S. IPO worth $90 million in November 2019.

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Postergully, an online store for custom posters and other art works has been acquired by Sumit Gandhi and Manish Gandhi, the promoters of Asian Business Exhibitions and Conferences (ABEC), the company said in a statement. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.
PosterGully is an online merchandise shop which offers products like posters, vinyl stickers, notepads, laptop skins, magnets, key chains and bumper stickers among others, across various genres like music, movies, television, quotes and comics and others. It also allows artists and designers submit designs and provides them with 15% to 30% share of the revenue, based on net sales amount in the transaction. Artists & designers can contribute to merchandise across a variety of products including home decor, furnishings, apparels and mobile accessories.
The company currently claims to have over 5000 artists selling on the platform with over 1.5 million unique visitors in 2016. In the last two years Postergully claims to have shipped out over 600,000 SKUs.
The company raised funding from individual investors like Dinesh Agarwal, Natarajan Iyer, Nish Bhutani, Anupam Mittal, among others and raised $160K in June last year. Postergully was also a part of GSF Accelerator that graduated 12 startups in the second batch of its accelerator program in 2013. Prior to this, the company received an undisclosed funding and mentorship from startup accelerator and incubator The Hatch in 2012.
Change in leadership: PosterGully, as a platform, will continue to operate under a new leadership with ABEC, while its founder and CEO Bharat Sethi, will move out of day-to-day operations but continue as an advisor and join the board of the company. Sethi will move on to of iDecorama, a digital engineering, design and modelling company as its Executive Director and CEO
Rocket Internet-backed online printing solutions provider Printvenue had secured $4.5 million funding from the Asia Pacific Internet Group in January last year. The company hasd earlier expanded operations into Australia and Singapore, and joined the Asia Pacific Internet Group post funding.
Other companies in this segment include Printo Document Services which was backed by investors like Sequoia Capital, SeedFund and Blume Ventures. Printland is another company in the same category that raised Rs 5 crore from Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) in partnership with existing investors Evista Venture Capital and Sanjeev Kakar in 2013. Printbindaas received angel funding from Manoj Kumar Swain and Rajesh Garg in August 2012.
Vistaprint had also launched Vistaprint India shortly after acquiring PrintBell while Alma Mater, an online brand for customized merchandise printing, received funding from Indian Angel Network in November 2012.


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It's a well-known story by now: Europe, the US, and plenty of other countries have made it generally illegal to circumvent DRM, even when users want to do something legal with the content. Sure, it sounds bad and Ars complains about it all the time, but come on—do anticircumvention laws really prevent real people in the real world from doing real things with their content? Or are the complaints largely dreamed up by copyleft activists who would like nothing more than to see the term "intellectual property" disappear into the tentacled maw of Cthulhu?
According to the first empirical study of its kind in the UK, by Cambridge law professor Patricia Akester, it's the former. DRM is so rage-inducing, even to ordinary, legal users of content, that it can even drive the blind to download illegal electronic Bibles.
Problems, problems everywhere
Akester's new paper, "Technological accommodation of conflicts between freedom of expression and DRM: the first empirical assessment," does pretty much what its title implies. Akester spent the last few years interviewing dozens of lecturers, end users, government officials, rightsholders, and DRM developers to find how DRM and anticircumvention laws affected actual use.
Problems were not hard to find. When Akester spoke with the UK's Royal National Institute of Blind People, Head of Accessibility Richard Orme told her that those with sight problem have the right "to create accessible copies of works" by using screen reading software, for instance, but these rights can be blocked be restrictive e-book DRM.
Analog "equivalents" aren't often equivalent in any meaningful sense of the word
"The RNIB is very watchful of the issues around DRM," said Orme, "because it can see evidence of DRM preventing access to content in a world where digital technology actually makes information more accessible rather than less."
As an example, take the case of Lynn Holdsworth, who bought an electronic copy of the Bible from Amazon. It refused to allow text-to-speech, which Holdsworth required. She contacted Amazon, which has a policy of not refunding e-books after a successful download.
"On Amazon’s advice, Lynn Holdsworth contacted the publisher, but the publisher referred her back to Amazon," writes Akester. "Neither Amazon nor the publisher were able to assist her and she ended up obtaining an illegal copy of the work (which her screen reader application could access)."
Rightsholders will always point out that fair use and other exemptions to copyright don't necessarily allow access to any format the user wants. Professors who need film clips can just camcord off the screen! The blind can use Braille versions!
But analog "equivalents" aren't often equivalent in any meaningful sense of the word. Holdsworth noted that "it is not always possible to resort to non-digital [books] because of their size. She supplied an example: the standard version of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince contains about 600 pages, the large print version is only slightly bigger (at 998 pages), but the Braille version actually entails ten large volumes of text."
Libraries and lecturers
The British Library runs into issues with DRM on a daily basis—especially when it needs to transfer materials to new formats for storage or preservation.
Everybody that Akester spoke with had some problem of their own. Film lecturers, who are allowed to put together clip compilations under UK law, still can't (legally) bypass the CSS encryption on DVDs.
Lecturers who don't know how to bypass the DRM are faced with an unappealing choice: those "unable to extract a clip from a commercial DVD lodged in their library collection are forced to tailor the content of their lectures to the VHS materials at their disposal. They contend that this happens frequently, given that most commercial DVDs are DRM protected."
End users are allowed to time-shift programs, but Jill Johnstone of the National Consumer Council notes that "the way DRM is being used is causing serious problems for consumers, including unreasonable limitations on the use of digital products and infringement of consumer rights. "
And the British Library runs into issues with DRM on a daily basis—especially when it needs to transfer materials to new formats for storage or preservation.
Akester interviewed Ars Technica's own Peter Bright, a British Library specialist on digital archiving, who pointed out just how ridiculous the whole situation has become, especially involving DVDs. "For these duplicates and migrations to be useful, the DRM protection must necessarily be defeated. The reality is that this is generally easy to do—for all the time and money spent on trying to protect optical discs, software workarounds are cheap, abundant and fairly reliable.”
To DRM developers and rightsholders, though, these are just edge cases, not worth coding into DRM schemes. Creating DRM that has any sort of security while still accommodating every legal use in every possible market is simply infeasible—though this does lead rightsholders to question the wisdom of DRM.
Shira Perlmutter of global music trade group IFPI told Akester in an interview, "You are not going to get a one size fits all DRM that will deal both with the consumer and the special interests exceptions and, in any case, you do not want to give up a system that works for 99 percent of cases because there is a particular issue with a particular kind of user when you can let the system work and then deal with that user."
Are rightsholders willing to "deal with users" who experience problems? Some are, but Akester found that many require a legislative prod before taking any action.
The study confirms what anyone who has ever wanted to rip a DVD to their computer or iPod could have told you: DRM, coupled with anticircumvention laws, makes pirates of us all.
Akester offers some possible solutions to the problem. They are worth reading, but they are also unlikely to be implemented for years. In the meantime, copyright exceptions for the blind, libraries, teachers, and for fair use will continue to be limited by a crafty mixture of code and law.
Of course, as Bright points out, the massive lobbying, legislative, legal, and technical effort that underlies all these DRM regimes does so little to stop piracy that we'd be tempted to laugh at the folly of it all if we weren't already weeping.


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A new set of features are now available for Call Forwarding on both the desktop and mobile apps to give users more granularity in which calls are forwarded and how they are forwarded.
Let this sink in: the costs of ransomware attacks nearly tripled from $12,762 to $36,295 last year. And that’s just the ransomware payment.
Whether it’s a question about a product or service, a new order, a support issue, or simply trying to pay a bill, customers still want to pick up a phone and talk to someone at your company.
Don’t let your legacy phones put business on hold. What’s the common thread that affects both customer satisfaction and employee productivity Your business phone system.


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Home Tags 61 New Food and Beverage Industry Planned Projects for November 2023 Holds Firm with October
Tag: 61 New Food and Beverage Industry Planned Projects for November 2023 Holds Firm with October
JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla., Jan. 16, 2024 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) -- Industrial SalesLeads announced today the November 2023 results for the new planned capital project spending report for the Food and Beverage industry. The Firm tracks North American planned industrial capital project activity; including facility expansions, new plant construction and significant equipment modernization projects. Research confirms 61 new projects in the Food and Beverage sector for both November and October.


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Gone in 6 seconds: Credit cards can be hacked in a flash, researchers reveal (VIDEO)
The study, carried out by researchers from the University of Newcastle and published in the IEEE Security & Privacy journal, shows how a so-called ‘Distributed Guessing Attack’ can bypass every security feature put in place to protect online users in a matter of seconds.
The guessing technique works by automatically generating different variations of the card security data across multiple websites until hackers are able to land on a ‘hit’ for each required piece of information.
The team found that by spreading the guesses across multiple websites, neither the network nor the banks were able to detect all of the invalid attempts.
“The current online payment system does not detect multiple invalid payment requests from different websites. This allows unlimited guesses on each card data field, using up to the allowed number of attempts – typically 10 or 20 guesses – on each website,” said Mohammed Ali, computer science PhD student in Newcastle University and lead author of the paper.
Additionally, while websites seek to bolster online shopping security by asking for different variations of card info, this actually works to the hackers’ advantage, according to the researchers, because it makes it “quite easy to build up the information and piece it together like a jigsaw.”
“The unlimited guesses, when combined with the variations in the payment data fields make it frighteningly easy for attackers to generate all the card details one field at a time,” Ali explained.
For anyone concerned about how to keep their credit and debit cards safe, the fact is “there is no magic bullet” according the paper’s co-author Dr. Martin Emms.
However, he added that there are some steps consumers can take to minimize their risk of becoming a victim of credit card fraud.
“Use just one card for online payments and keep the spending limit on that account as low as possible. If it’s a bank card then keep ready funds to a minimum and transfer over money as you need it,” Emms advises.


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Signs for commercial real estate appear mixed but a Sacramento real estate investor is continuing to snap up distressed property.
Ethan Conrad Properties Inc. has added more than 75,000 square feet in the past two weeks with the purchase of several retail buildings. The company has purchased 14 buildings in five transactions since October, bringing the total held by the company to about 2.3 million square feet.
The purchases all were all distressed property, with four transactions into foreclosures and one short sale. Ethan Conrad said his model is to buy property that’s profitable under today’s conditions, rather than buying with the hope that property values improve or leasing activity picks up. He generally buys underperforming assets, improves them, cuts deals and moves tenants in. He said he has been targeting transactions less than $5 million, which avoids bidding wars with institutional investors seeking larger properties.
He doesn’t claim to be a soothsayer, however. He said he mistimed the market with a foray into residential land hoping to flip property to builders or developers. It appeared to be paying off until last year, when tax credits for homebuyers expired. Buyers went away, and builders stopped buying land.
But he said the commercial real estate market appears stronger than housing.
— Michael Shaw, June 7
In-N-Out going to Macaroni Grill site
In-N-Out Burger is getting permits to build its 17th location in the Sacramento region, at Ethan Way and Alta Arden Expressway.
The new store will take over the site of a now-shuttered Romano’s Macaroni Grill at 2001 Alta Arden Expressway.
Macaroni Grill, which was open for only six years, will be razed, and a new restaurant will be built in its place.
In-N-Out builds its locations from scratch. The burger company needs a drive-through lane, so it must reconfigure the site, said Jerry Fat, of the Fat Family Properties, which owns the land.
Started in 1948, In-N-Out has pretty much the same menu now as when it started. It sells freshly made burgers, just-cut fries, ice cream shakes and sodas. The chain is still privately owned, and it has more than 282 locations.
Most of the company’s stores locally are next to freeway offramps. The Alta Arden site is a bit farther away from a highway, but it still has high traffic counts. The location is across Ethan Way, near Arden Fair mall.
Romano’s Macaroni Grill opened in 2002. The company-owned location at Alta Arden closed suddenly during summer 2008.
— Mark Anderson, June 6
“People on the Move” moves online
One of our most popular features in the print edition is “People on the Move,” a column at the back of the book reporting selected personnel moves at companies in the Sacramento region.
Beginning this month, the Business Journal is expanding the feature to the online edition and adding a web tool that will allow companies to more efficiently share their news about who they’ve hired and promoted.
Look for “Submit People on the Move” on the menu bar of our home page to report your news.
The more detail you provide, the more likely your item is to be selected for the print edition. All items, once approved, will appear daily in the online edition.
We’re still tweaking the system, so companies are free to continue using email to submit announcements.
— Jack Robinson, June 6
New Tuesday Morning planned
Closeout retailer Tuesday Morning is opening at the Laguna Pavilion shopping center in Elk Grove.
The Dallas-based chain (Nasdaq: TUES) signed a 10-year lease for 8,698 square feet at the center, at Laguna Boulevard and Bruceville Road, according to brokerage Terranomics.
Founded in 1974, Tuesday Morning operates 840 stores in 41 states, including eight stores locally.
— Kelly Johnson, June 6
Pointe West gets new owners
The Kohl’s-anchored shopping center across from Arden Fair mall has new owners who are going to pump several million into improvements and finding new tenants.
Pointe West Plaza — minus the Kohl’s and Room Source buildings — changed hands recently for an undisclosed price, said Dean Copans, a Retail West Inc. broker who represented the sellers and buyers. He’s been working on the deal for two years. The difficult economy slowed the transaction, he said.
Sansome Pacific Properties of San Francisco and Browman Development Group of Walnut Creek teamed up to buy about 70,000 square feet of the center.
The Kohl’s and Room Source buildings are owned separately. The whole center measures about 170,000 square feet.
The deal is noteworthy, Copans said, because the center is well located, but in need of attention after falling into disrepair.
Multiple national and regional retailers have offered to take space within the center, he said.
— Kelly Johnson, June 3
Service debuts to drive for drinkers
BeMyDD just opened shop in the Sacramento area offering to drive people in their own cars for nights out drinking — and then drive them home.
The assignment could be a night on the town — or a wine tasting tour. The driver then sits in the car and waits until the clients and friends return.
Cleveland-based chauffeur company launched its service in Sacramento over Memorial Day weekend. It has 40 drivers locally, and the company operates in 16 states.
Drivers are dispatched through a call center in Cleveland; the website for more information is BeMyDD.com.
— Mark Anderson, June 3


text: Bermudan mobile operator Digicel today launched a new 3G+ wireless modem which will enable its cell phone and laptop users to access the World Wide Web via a mobile broadband connection from almost anywhere on the Island using HSPA+ technology. The new device is available in a range of different flavours to suit the user’s demands. Entry level prices start at BMD79 (USD79) per month for a plan with a 2GB download cap, rising to BMD89 per month (3.5GB) and BMD99 a month for 6GB of traffic. Moreover, 3G+ for smartphones costs BMD9 per month for the 2MB plan it said, BMD20 for 10MB, BMD35 for 20MB and BMD45 for the premium data plan (350MB) which is controlled through a ‘fair usage’ policy to prevent network congestion. The operator’s single user modem costs BMD99 and the multi-user modem BMD199.


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WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) updated its FY17 earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided EPS guidance of 3.75-3.95 for the period, compared to the Thomson Reuters consensus EPS estimate of $3.87. WESCO International also updated its FY18 guidance to 4.05-4.55 EPS.
A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. ValuEngine upgraded WESCO International from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, December 1st. Zacks Investment Research cut WESCO International from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report on Tuesday. UBS raised their target price on WESCO International from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a neutral rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on WESCO International from $67.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an outperform rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut WESCO International from an outperform rating to a market perform rating in a report on Friday, October 27th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have issued a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. WESCO International presently has an average rating of Hold and an average price target of $68.38.
Shares of WESCO International (NYSE WCC) opened at $63.70 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3,012.83, a PE ratio of 16.61, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.95. The company has a current ratio of 2.31, a quick ratio of 1.42 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65. WESCO International has a 1 year low of $48.95 and a 1 year high of $76.15.
WESCO International (NYSE:WCC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 26th. The technology company reported $1.12 EPS for the quarter, topping the Zacks’ consensus estimate of $1.03 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $2 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.93 billion. WESCO International had a return on equity of 9.11% and a net margin of 2.52%. WESCO International’s revenue was up 7.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. research analysts forecast that WESCO International will post 3.87 EPS for the current year.
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WESCO International Company Profile
WESCO International, Inc is a distributor of products and provider of supply chain management and logistics services used in industrial, construction, utility and commercial, institutional and government (CIG) markets. The Company is a provider of electrical, industrial and communications maintenance, repair and operating (MRO) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) products, construction materials, and supply chain management and logistics services.
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President Billy Milam explains to Convenience Store Decisions why the Volunteer State holds a strategic place in the c-store’s growth plans.
With potential store locations being assessed, RaceTrac Inc. is targeting Tennessee as a natural fit for the chain’s future expansion.
As Nashville and surrounding areas in the state spur an economic transformation with an influx of new residents and businesses, that same vitality track is seen as solid foundation for the convenience retailer’s continued growth.
RaceTrac President Billy Milam said as much during a call with Convenience Store Decisions. Tennessee isn’t new ground for the Atlanta-based retailer, which now boasts more than 450 RaceTrac locations. He said the company is looking at real estate in Nashville and the surrounding areas with a plan to open 50 new locations in the next few years.
“We’ve been in the market for decades,” said Milam. “We’ve had RaceTrac stores there in the past. Today, we have three Raceway stores in Nashville. So we’re familiar with the market and thought it was a natural niche for us.”
There seems to be plenty of opportunity for RaceTrac to succeed, based on middle Tennessee’s burgeoning economy. This past April, for instance, General Motors Co. announced it will start a third shift at its Spring Hill assembly plant to meet strong demand for its GMC Acadia midsize SUV and the Cadillac XT5 crossover, adding around 700 jobs.
As the growth crow flies, I-75 today is a main route from Atlanta to Middle Tennessee, continuing into Florida. That’s the corridor the company has set its sights.
“There’s tremendous opportunity all the way up 75 to Chattanooga and then from Chattanooga on I-24 through and including Nashville ,” said Milam. “Nashville is great southern city neighbor of ours.”
Milam was named president of RaceTrac at the beginning of 2015, following the retirement of Max Lenker.
The first Middle Tennessee store is set to open either at the end of 2019 or the first quarter of 2020—probably in Murfreesboro.
The planned Tennessee stores will be based on RaceTrac’s 5,500-square-foot model, which has proven a popular blueprint in various communities that the chain already operates.
The new Nashville-area stores will offer food and beverage options, free Wi-Fi and indoor/outdoor seating. There will be grab-and-go breakfast items, sandwiches, fruit and salads; a Swirl World frozen treat station with ice cream, yogurts, sorbets and Italian ice; and fresh brewed coffee.


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Benita.ir is a female online portal service designed to deliver the latest news on lifestyle, beauty and fashion. Founded in 2016, Benita’s mission is to offer the finest articles in Farsi and aims to be the ultimate source of information for Iranian women’s everyday life.
According to the latest statistics, there are over 77.6 million active sim cards in Iran with an active mobile subscription penetration rate of 97.48 percent. Last year the penetration rate for mobile sim cards was 96.58 percent. The statistics also show that there are 73 million inactive sim cards in Iran.
It all started in the spring of 2014 in Tehran. A bunch of kids who studied in one of the best high schools in Iran, just took Konkoor exam (a standardized test widely used for college admissions in Iran) and instead of playing around or just studying their courses, they wanted to start a project and do something real not just studying.


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Falling prices for dairy products and higher fuel costs have nudged producer input and output prices up, Stats NZ said today.
Overall, producer input prices (the costs producers pay) rose 0.6 percent in the March 2018 quarter. Producer output prices (the prices producers get for their goods and services) rose 0.2 percent in the same period.
In the March 2018 quarter, output prices for dairy cattle farmers rose 2.3 percent, while the price for dairy product manufacturing fell 7.0 percent.
Input prices for dairy product manufacturing rose 1.7 percent, mainly influenced by a rise in the farm-gate milk price.
“An increase in the forecast farm-gate milk price from $6.40 to $6.55 pushed up prices received by dairy cattle farmers,” business prices manager Geoffrey Wong said. “At the same time, dairy product manufacturers received less as whole milk powder and butter prices fell.”
In the March 2018 quarter, rising fuel costs affected both petroleum and coal product manufacturers, and farmers.
Input prices for petroleum and coal product manufacturers rose 7.2 percent due to higher crude oil prices.
However, the prices these manufacturers received (output prices) rose only 4.3 percent, reflecting higher diesel, petrol, and other non-crude petroleum oil prices. Fuel prices in the farm expenses price index (FEPI) rose 3.4 percent, influenced by a rise in diesel prices for farmers.
In the year ended March 2018, producer output and input prices increased 3.5 percent and 4.2 percent, respectively. The FEPI increased 3.1 percent, while the capital goods price index (CGPI) increased 2.6 percent.


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Top international skincare influencer with mission to spark social change one product at a time
WARRENTON, Va., June 2, 2021—Hyram Yarbro, “the Gen Z Whisperer” who has built a 12 million-plus following through his honest and informed reviews of skincare products, has launched a skincare brand, Selfless by Hyram, powered by The INKEY List. The brand has partnered with Rainforest Trust to make a direct, positive impact on the planet—protecting forests and fighting climate change.
Together, Selfless by Hyram and Rainforest Trust will channel the power of social change to establish new protected area across the tropics starting in Bolivia. Targeting high impact forests, rich in biodiversity and for the carbon they store, the collaboration with Rainforest Trust will help protect two million acres of Bajo Paragua forest on the edge of the Amazon basin in Bolivia from logging, fire and conversion to agriculture.
The Bajo Paragua forest in Eastern Bolivia is ground zero in the fight to save the Amazon Rainforest. Intact through 2019, some 5-10% of the forest burned during the fire season of 2020, spilling over from the deforestation frontier just to the south. The entire forest is about one-and-a-half times the size of Delaware. Rainforest Trust and its on-site partner Fundacion Natura Bolivia are working with local governments to create the San Ignacio and Concepcion Municipal Protected Areas, safeguarding over two million acres of rich, lowland rainforest.
“The Amazon, home to indigenous peoples and more plants and animals than anywhere else on Earth, is burning, threatening our hopes for a safe climate. But it’s not too late to draw the line. Through this extraordinary partnership between Selfless by Hyram, Rainforest Trust and Nature Bolivia, Selfless by Hyram customers can help save two million acres of critical rainforest,” said James C. Deutsch, Ph.D. CEO of Rainforest Trust. “We are grateful for this partnership and commitment.” To date, Rainforest Trust has safeguarded more than 36 million acres around the globe.
Selfless by Hyram identified Rainforest Trust as a partner that shares its vision of a future where every person can have impact through their choices. Beyond Yarbro’s extensive skincare knowledge lies a passion for commitment to use his platform and voice to raise awareness of issues that have affected him personally as well as those that are having the greatest impact on the planet. It’s this passion and ability to speak to these issues candidly and with compassion that has allowed him to connect and engage with his audience in a way that transcends skincare.


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Razer is a well-known name in the gaming community, with its green glowing snake logo stamped on all manner of mice, keyboards, and other specialized peripherals. But Razer's newest toy—the Razer Edge Pro gaming tablet—is way more than a mere plaything.
First announced as “Project Fiona” back at CES 2012, this unique device has been designed to bethe tablet for PC gamers. It has been tweaked and polished over months and months of refinement with feedback from pro gamers and enthusiasts alike.
Read why PC Magazine gave the Edge its “Editor's Choice” award by clicking here!


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Jamesway becomes member of International Poultry Council
Canadian company Jamesway Incubator has become an associate member of the International Poultry Council.
Founded in 1890 as the James Manufacturing Company, the company marketed its first incubator in 1915, and in 1959 introduced the world's first multi-stage incubation system. Company President Ian MacKinnon is Jamesway's IPC representative.
"With the addition of Jamesway, the IPC now has a total of 38 associate members from around the globe," said IPC President Jim Sumner. "We welcome this addition from Canada to our growing international base of associates."
Poultry associations in 23 countries are also members of the IPC, which was formed in 2005. The IPC represents about 85% of the world's poultry production and nearly 95% of global trade in poultry meat.
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Xiaomi’s Mi Air Charge can recharge a phone from across the room
Xiaomi demonstrates its new Mi Air Charge system, which transmits wireless power through the air to devices like smartphones, up to several metres away
By Alex Walker-Todd
While the term “wireless charging” is already ubiquitous within the world of smartphones, Xiaomi’s new Mi Air Charge tech demo paints a near-future of true cable-free charging, across distances never previously possible.
a new post published to Xiaomi’s official blog on 29 January, the company showcased its new Mi Air Charge system, which sees a smartphone recharge by receiving power from a charging base station several feet away, all without the need for cables or charging pads; as current charging solutions necessitate.
How does Xiaomi’s Mi Air Charge work?
As the video above demonstrates, Xiaomi’s Mi Air Charge system uses beamforming – a technology most will be familiar with from their wireless router – to effectively aim millimetre-wide waves of energy from an array of 144 antennas at a phone “within a radius of several meters,” resulting in the device charging without any additional action on the user’s part.
In its current form, Xiaomi states that its self-developed ‘charging pile’ can wirelessly supply a compatible device with up to 5W of power and can even charge through obstacles, without a reduction in efficiency. The system can also accommodate multiple devices simultaneously.
As for the devices designed to support charging via Mi Air Charge, the modified
Mi 11 seen in the demo video employs a dedicated antenna array which features a “beacon antenna” and a “receiving antenna array.” The beacon broadcasts the phone’s position relative to the charging pile, while the array is what converts the pile’s millimetre wave signal back into electric energy, charging the phone’s battery.
While Xiaomi hasn’t stamped a release date on when exactly Mi Air Charge will be ready for consumer use, the company does promise that the technology will feature in “the near future,” referencing support for everything from smartwatches to desk lamps, speakers and smart home appliances.
The concept of true wireless charging by having some form of induction system embedded into the walls of your house isn’t exactly new but this is one of the first consumer-facing examples that looks as though it could actually make it to market within the next year or so.
Motorola’s Mi Air Charge alternative
At almost precisely the same time as Xiaomi’s announcement, footage (originally posted to Chinese social media site
Weibo) of a long-distance wireless charging system, developed by Motorola, emerged, showing two devices – one at 80cm and one at 100cm from the charging plate – each receiving power wirelessly.
While the video isn’t as polished as Xiaomi’s, it demonstrates a more realistic, real-world depiction of these types of wireless charging solutions.
The system can apparently support the charging of up to seven equivalent devices simultaneously, but on the downside, contrary to the claims Xiaomi makes about its system, all it takes is for someone to place their hand in front of the charging plate to block the signal to the phones in the video.


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Shipping giant invests $2.8m in Australian start-up
Friday 4 Sep 2020
Formerly known as Loadsmile, Ofload was launched in February and offers cost-effective and improved shipping efficiencies by using vacant spaces in delivery vehicles. The round of funding was secured at the height of the coronavirus pandemic between March and July. Co-founded by Geoffroy Henry, former Head of Operations of HelloFresh, Ofload plans on using the funding to hire strong talent in its tech and operations department to help drive company growth.
Maersk Growth and Founders Capital join pre-seed investor Flash Ventures at Ofload's capitalisation table the start-up confirmed. At present Ofload provides services for over 800 carriers. This gives it a nationwide fleet estimated over 15,000 trucks that shippers can access by placing their goods on trailers that would otherwise have operated considerably below their capacity.
The intention of the company, according to Henry, is to find a way to use technology to improve and disrupt the road freight efficiency by tackling three key areas of deficiency in which 30 per cent of trucks are empty with another 50 per cent under-utilised.
“Fundamental issues, such as incredible amounts of waste, increased overheads and a legacy power imbalance, are holding back Australia’s road freight and shipping industries at a time where efficiency is absolutely key," he said. “Ultimately, transport companies want to reduce these inefficiencies and create a more sustainable industry.”
Copyright 2004-2020 © Innovatek Ltd. All rights reserved.


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Narborough shop back in business five-years after closing down
Residents have been celebrating the return of a village shop this week due to new owners taking over the premises.
Narborough’s village shop on Meadow Close Road is back in business having been closed for the last five-years.
The shop will now be run by Paul and Robert Ellis, who are welcoming new and old shoppers to the refurbished store.
More by this authorBen Hardy


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There’s a new Nissan supercar coming, eventually. However, that’s about the only news that’s been confirmed at this point. Everything else is little more than speculation, bits and pieces of information gleaned off news reports, remarks by company executives and from the fact that surely, the R35 can’t remain in production forever.
See also: our guide to the latest and greatest GT-R, the 2020 Nissan GT-R Nismo.
Early Beginnings: The GT-R as a Standalone Model
The current-generation Nissan GT-R started out as a concept vehicle way back in 2001. Then the production of the R34 Skyline GT-R was coming to an end and Nissan were looking for a worthy replacement that could be made available in international markets.
An enhancement of the 2001 concept, dubbed the GT-R Proto, was displayed at the 2005 Tokyo Auto Show before the production-ready GT-R was finally unveiled in 2007 at the same event. There was no denying the tsunami effect its launch had on the car community back then. Nissan dropped ‘Skyline’ from its name and positioned it as a standalone flagship model.
It became the first GT-R made available in other markets outside of Japan and it showcased the best of Japanese automotive brilliance to the rest of the world. Among other things, the car featured an independent transaxle 4WD system, the first one developed completely independently by Nissan, paired with a dual-clutch transmission, operated by paddle shifters.
Takumi & the GT-R
Then who can forget Takumi? A Japanese term that ordinarily refers to a master craftsman who has perfected his skill over several years of hard work and dedication at the highest levels.
At Nissan’s Yokohama plant, the Takumi is a designation shared by 4 individuals of almost mythical status – the engineers who bear the enormous responsibility of handcrafting every Nissan GT-R engine, making sure that all the individual components work together in complete harmony. These men possess more than a century’s worth of experience between them and together, they are able to create a mechanical masterpiece that powers every GT-R.
Power, Torque, & More… For Days
The first Nissan GT-R was fitted with a hand-built 3.8-litre twin-turbo V6 engine that generated 480-hp at 6,400 rpm and 430 lb-ft of torque from 3,200 rpm to 5,200 rpm. It is essentially the same power plant in today’s GT-Rs but continuous tweaks and enhancements have boosted that power output to a thumping 565-hp and 467 lb-ft of torque.
That power output, complemented by Nissan’s incredible Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain (ATTESA), made for some truly impressive performances, especially when it came to speed and acceleration.
For example, the 2007 GT-R could rocket off the line and hit 60 mph in as little as 3.2 seconds before going on to complete the quarter mile run 8.4 seconds later at 120 mph.
It was potent enough to take down more established rivals like the Ferrari California, 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera and even the 2009 Gallardo LP560-4; cars that were significantly more expensive than the $69,000 GT-R. It was not long before people started referring to the GT-R as ‘Supercar killer’ or the more ominous-sounding one – Godzilla. It’s a nickname that’s stuck to this day.
How is the Nissan GT-R Faring Now?
The Nissan GT-R is now in its 14th year and the Japanese carmaker, to its credit, has made constant improvements to the car, mostly under the skin to create an even more formidable supercar.
The latest iteration of the car can hit 60 mph in just 2.7 seconds and fly past the quarter mile marker in 10.9 seconds at 128 mph. These are still impressive numbers but there’s no denying that the once imperious GT-R is rapidly losing its mojo. It is becoming much harder to justify its hefty price tag too that can reach north of $200,000 depending on the model trim and specifications.
Available market data lends further credence to this statement. Being a supercar, volume production was never a priority but even then, GT-R sales numbers have not been particularly encouraging, especially in recent years.
The Nissan GT-R first hit the American market in 2008 and in that year, a record high 1,730 units were sold. The second peak came in 2014 when 1, 436 units of the car found new owners. However, that number has steadily trended downward since then.
In 2020, only 301 GT-Rs were sold. The story is not much different in Europe where numbers have mimicked the downward slope of GT-R sales in America.
To be fair, Nissan have tried their hardest to keep the GT-R alive and kicking. The supercar’s performance has been offered in several packages that include the base model and variants like the Track Edition, Black Edition and of course, there’s the NISMO GT-R and the NISMO GT-R N Attack.
Then, you have the limited edition specs like the Midnight Opal Edition, 45th Anniversary Edition and the GT-R Naomi Osaka Edition, of which 50 units were planned to celebrate the brand’s partnership with the Tennis star.
To top it all off, there’s the exclusive GT-R 50, designed in partnership with renowned coachbuilder, ItalDesign, to celebrate the nameplate’s 50th anniversary. A total of 50 units will be produced, with each one priced at a cool $1.1 million.
Apart from the Nissan GT-R 50 by ItalDesign, very little has changed with regards to the GT-R’s external design and it is an area where the carmaker has, deservedly so, received some knocks.
The interior has also been criticized for its liberal use of cheap-looking plastic. Initially, it was not that big a deal when the car cost less than $70,000, especially with the level of performance offered. However, the complaints started to mount as the price increased steadily over the years and the interior layout remained stuck in the ‘dark ages’.
Overall, it’s gotten to the point where it almost looks like the same car is being offered year after year no matter how much Nissan tries to ‘differentiate’ each new release. The market can be quite unforgiving and the legend of the almighty GT-R risks being ridiculed if Nissan doesn’t not step up its game with a complete redesign or replacement.
What’s Next for the GT-R?
As mentioned at the beginning of this piece, it does looks like the ‘big change’ is indeed coming and all hope may not be lost yet for the GT-R. Various automotive news sources from Japan have confirmed that there will be a new Nissan supercar but there’s little to indicate that a firm decision has been made by the company executives regarding exactly how to approach its development.
Earlier this year, Top Gear reached out to Philip Klein, Nissan’s product planning executive, to ask about the next-generation R36 GT-R. He confirmed that a new GT-R was indeed in the works but also added, ‘yes, you guys have to be patient because we will meet your expectations.’
How patient? You might wonder. Well, I’m afraid you’ll have to be in for the long haul. In May 2020, Nissan produced a promo video that detailed the future of the company’s product lineup and the GT-R was noticeably absent. That indicates that a new GT-R could still be up to 3 years out, and that’s me being quite the optimist.
There are quite a few issues that need to be addressed by the carmaker even as it mulls over a possible path for its next-gen supercar. Emission regulations are stricter than ever and this, coupled with the recent shift towards electrification in the automobile industry does pose an interesting question. Will the new Nissan GT-R be all-electric or will there be some sort of hybrid powertrain? These options are again challenging prospects as going this route will no doubt add extra bulk in the form of batteries and electric motors, to a supercar that’s no lightweight in the first place.
The Issue of Cost
In September 2020, Ivan Espinosa, senior vice president in charge of global product planning had an interview at Nissan’s Japan Headquarters. He was worried about the implications of deploying an electrified drivetrain for the GT-R.
According to him, ‘The GT-R is a supercar, but at the same time it’s a supercar that’s attainable and that’s accessible to many people.’ That statement about affordability may raise some eyebrows especially when you look at how the prices of GT-Rs have been trending upwards over the years.
However, he does make a good point regardless. Just look at the insane price tags of all-electric supercars like the Rimac Nevera, Lotus Evija and the Pininfarina Battista. It’s doubtful that the company would find many customers willing to pay anything that’s even remotely close to the prices of these cars, for a new GT-R.
The financial position of the carmaker is also another valid consideration here, one that could very well influence the timeline of a new Nissan supercar. Nissan is going through some really challenging times.
For the 2020 fiscal year, the company reported an astounding loss of 448.7 billion yen ($4.09 billion) and free cash flow of negative 391 billion yen ($3.56 billion). The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and global chip shortage is most likely not going to make 2021 financial figures any more pleasant to read. There is the very real possibility that Nissan may just be too financially strained to invest significantly in the development of a new GT-R, at least for the foreseeable future.
My Two Cents…
Whichever way you look at it, the journey ahead for the upcoming GT-R is filled with potholes that the carmaker will need to carefully navigate. The current-gen GT-R has run its course and is long overdue for a change. However, all the signs point to the fact that Nissan is not quite ready, or financially capable, to let go of the current-generation GT-R.
As I write this, plans have already been completed to unveil yet another iteration of the supercar – the 2022 GT-R NISMO Special Edition in October 2021 in Japan. It will follow the same formula as all the other variants before it; a few extra horsepower, some mechanical tweaks beneath the skin, the same external appearance and dreary interior.
It’s almost depressing. At this point, one can only hope the company recovers soon enough from its travails and delivers on a completely new, next-gen GT-R, sooner than later, both for the company’s sake and for people like us that still have a strong fondness for the fabled Japanese supercar.


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W3C rejects industry's Do-Not-Track proposal
The Digital Advertising Alliance (DAA) Do-Not-Track proposal has been rejected by the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) that is seeking to design a solution that would let users block online "tracking" at browser level. DAA, an US industry self-regulatory body, suggested a Do-Not-Track option which would have prohibited ad networks from retaining the URLs of the sites an individual has visited. However, DAA wanted to allow the scoring of users based on their browsing.
The W3C Working Group said: "Based on the comments received, the current DAA proposal is less protective of privacy and user choice than their earlier initiatives." According to DAA, the W3C proposal, put forward in June, was too stringent.
While some web browsers already operate a Do-Not-Track feature, this does not have much relevance before websites specifically change their practices. DAA has previously said that setting Do-Not Track as a default option i.e. to automatically make choices for consumers does not increase transparency.


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Obama's former assistant plunged into the Bitcoin world
Jamie Elizabeth Smith, formerly worked with Barack Obama, was appointed Head of Liaison BitFury.
To start work at BitFury, Smith left a "fantastic job" in Edelman, «the greatest and largest public relations firm in the world." Why?
"I believe in the chain bloc and transformative power of this technology," - says Smith. This innovation, she said, "can make a difference - and change."
The germ of a better world, in her view, has been already existed. Thanks block chain people can 'to send money as easily as we send emails, "the websites of e-commerce is not cracked (it cites the example of BitFury), criminal transaction" recorded forever ", there is no need to pay excessive money to banks and companies that issue credit cards and property rights in third world countries will soon become reliable. "And this is just the beginning," because the blochain today - that's what the Internet was in 1994.
Interestingly, in his post Head of Public Relations company, the main activity of which is bitcoin mining, says the word "bitcoin" only once, giving a definition of the block chain - "constant public registry, which records every bitcoin transaction. She believes that the chain bloc is a revolutionary innovation that will open countless doors to people all over the world. " It lists the different ways to use digital currency, but carefully avoided calling it by name.
In the past, Smith has been deputy press secretary of the White House and a special assistant to President Obama. In addition, she worked at various positions, doing public relations and external communications for the Senate committee, and several major figures of the US Democratic Party.
The bitcoin community news was greeted ambiguously. While most rejoiced the decision of Smith and her words, some forum users Reddit were surprised that BitFury, the company, "which is so little contact with the outside world" needs Relations Manager. Others expressed their dissatisfaction that comes from government circles will play such an important role in the ecosystem of Bitcoin. According to commentator Tom Mornini:
"This is the worst news in the world. Bitcoin was created to avoid government intervention, and for this purpose he used. The last thing needed bitcoin is parasites that feed at our expense throughout our lives, to join us in order to "help" us. "


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The kind of foods you eat and even the order in which you eat them can affect your odds of developing Type 2 diabetes, three new studies suggest.
The studies, being presented to the American Society for Nutrition, found:
- Switching to a mostly plant-based diet—but one that could still include meat and dairy—could reduce the risk of Type 2 diabetes by as much as 60%.
- Eating greater amounts of vitamins B2 and B6 was linked to a lower risk of Type 2 diabetes, while getting more B12 in the diet seemed to be associated with a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes.
- The order that you eat your foods appears to matter. People who ate vegetables before having meat or rice had lower blood sugar levels, along with positive changes in their hunger hormones.
Dr. Rekha Kumar, an endocrinologist at NewYork-Presbyterian and Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, reviewed the findings.
“Emphasizing fruits and vegetables and whole foods is a very practical and easy way to manage Type 2 diabetes,” she said. “Half your plate should be green, even at breakfast, when you could have an egg white omelet with spinach for example.”
As for the sequence of eating, Kumar said vegetables, high-fiber foods and even protein take longer to leave the stomach, which slows down the rise in blood sugar levels.
“Theoretically, changing the order you eat foods could have implications on weight and appetite control,” she said.
The first study included more than 2,700 people recruited at an average age of 25. Forty percent were black and nearly 60% were women. Their health and diets were followed over 30 years.
People who made the greatest improvement in dietary quality from early to middle adulthood cut their odds of diabetes by almost two-thirds compared to those whose diet quality declined slightly, the study found.
What constitutes a quality diet? Researchers said it’s one that contains more “nutritionally rich, plant-centered” foods.
The study’s lead author, Yuni Choi, a doctoral candidate at the University of Minnesota-Twin Cities in St. Paul, said a plant-centered diet is high “in natural plant foods, low in highly processed plant foods and generally low in animal-based foods.”
So, vegetables, fruits and whole grains get a thumbs-up, but white bread and white rice get low-quality scores.
Choi said this type of diet can include some lean meat and low-fat dairy.
On average, those who improved their diets the most ate four or more servings of vegetables daily, two servings of fruit, 1 1/2 servings of nuts or seeds, nearly two servings of whole grains, less than one serving of processed meat and about one serving of red meat, Choi said.
Choi and her advisor and co-author, David Jacobs, think the diverse nutrients found in plant foods help to prevent diabetes.
‘B’ gets an A for health
The second study looked at dietary data from about 200,000 American adults over 15 years.
People who had the most vitamin B2 and B6 had a roughly 10% reduction in their diabetes risk.
B2 is found in eggs, lean meat, green vegetables and fortified grain products such as cereals and bread, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. B6 is found in fish, lean meat, fruits (other than citrus) and potatoes and other non-starchy veggies.
Though total vitamin B12 intake wasn’t linked to a higher risk of Type 2 diabetes, the odds rose 11% when researchers looked solely at B12 from food sources.
They found no similar increase in diabetes risk from B12 in diet supplements. They said this may be because B12 in foods often comes from animal products.
The third study found that the order in which you eat can affect your blood sugar levels.
Researchers asked 16 Chinese adults, mostly men, to eat five experimental meals in a set order. The meals contained a vegetable, meat and rice. Portion sizes stayed the same.
Overall, the smallest spike in blood sugar levels resulted when vegetables or meat were eaten first.
The meal with vegetables, meat and rice eaten separately, in that order, led to a lower increase in blood sugar and a favorable response in appetite hormones.
“The way we eat and present food to our mouth may have significant physiological effects,” said study author Christiani Henry, director of the Clinical Nutrition Research Center at Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences.
Henry said fiber and other nutrients in vegetables appear to slow the transit time of food, which may also slow the rise in blood sugar levels after eating.
Eating vegetables first is “a simple, practical way to reduce blood glucose rise when eating rice,” he said. Henry added that more research is necessary to see if similar changes would help control blood sugar spikes for foods eaten in places like the United States.
The three studies were scheduled to be presented at the American Society for Nutrition meeting in Baltimore. Research presented at meetings is typically seen as preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed journal.


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Genting Hong Kong signs Master Services Agreement with Lim Kok Thay firm for provision of information technology services
Genting Hong Kong has announced the signing of a Master Services Agreement with Resorts World Inc Pte. Ltd (RWI) that will see the latter provide a range of information technology services to Genting HK’s fleet of cruise ships.
Under the terms of the agreement, RWI will for a period of two years from 1 January 2020 to 31 December 2021 provide related services and products across a range of areas, including information technology consulting and advisory services; software and hardware design, development and customization services; implementation, installation, configuration, enhancement, system integration, testing, support and maintenance, training and ancillary services; and supply, license and/or sub-license of electronic equipment and software.
RWI is 50% owned by Genting HK parent Genting Berhad and 50% by the company’s Chairman and CEO, Lim Kok Thay.
In a filing, Genting HK said the annual cap for provision of services – which will be paid on a “man hours worked” basis, will be US$5 million, however a similar agreement in recent years saw the company pay just US$110,000, US$215,000 and US$211,000 in 2017, 2018 and 2019 respectively.
Explaining the reasons for the Master Services Agreement, Genting HK said it acts as “an umbrella arrangement to regulate the ongoing connected transactions between the parties, rather than requiring the Company to continue to consider each such transaction as a connected transaction requiring aggregation and disclosure consideration, as has been the case for the past transactions with RWI Group.
“It is expected that with the aid of the Services, the Group may reduce manpower, broaden the target age range of the customers of the Group and maintain the competitiveness of the cruise lines operated by the Group by introducing digital technologies to cruise operation to meet the advanced digital requirements of the cruise market.”No tags for this post.


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This weeks news includes; Brexit Bill defeated by House of Lords, Snap floats on NYSE, Ford announces over 1,000 job cuts, Dyson announces UK investment.
Below are our top 10 stories that you need to know about. Be sure to check our twitter page and Facebook page for regular posts of important headlines. Click on the links for full stories.
Get all the important stories and insights straight into your inbox by subscribing to our mailing list here.
Opinion articles of the week:
- CNN questions why nobody wants to host the Olympics?
- Business Insider looks at JPMorgan’s claim that ‘cutting corporation tax is ‘no silver bullet for a hard Brexit’.
- CNBC looks at an analysts claim that Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs should ‘hang heads in shame’ over Snap IPO.
- Bloomberg claims Economists May be underestimating how fast the robots are coming
- Sky News explores former Chancellor Lord Lawson’s claim that the UK should adopt Trump-style border tax.
1. BREXIT BILL REJECTED BY HOUSE OF LORDS
The House of Lords rejected the Brexit bill put forward by Parliament, by 358 to 256 votes. The bill was rejected on the basis that there was no guarantee of EU nationals’ right to remain in the UK post-Brexit. This is the first defeat for the governments Brexit bill.
The Lords amended the Bill to include these rights, but this bill will go back to MP’s who retain the right to remove the amendments if they see fit. MP’s argue that the rights of EU nationals in the UK must form part of Brexit deal with EU where UK expats in the EU are also protected.
The government is expected to reject the amendments when the legislation returns to the Commons. (BBC News)
2. SNAP OFFICIALLY FLOATS ON NYSE
Snapchat’s parent company Snap was valued at more than $30bn (£24bn) at its IPO and saw a 41% rise in share price. The founder Evan Spiegel is now worth over $5 billion as a result.
Snap’s IPO was the largest listing on the New York Stock Exchange for three years despite the scepticism of many investors. Regardless of Snaps substantial losses ($515m in 2016) and stagnant user growth, investors optimism shined through as it raised $3.4 billion at $17 a share. Snapchat has over 160 million daily users and user growth has been declining. (The Telegraph)
3. FORD TO CUT 1,160 JOBS
Car manufacturer Ford announced that it would be cutting 1,160 jobs at its Bridgend plant by 2021, according to the BBC. Meetings are due to be held between executives and trade unions. Ford declined to comment on the leak but stated that it ” fully understands” the related concerns.
Ford’s Bridgend plant produces around 1/3 of the total number of engines manufacturer in the UK according to Reuters. (The Independent)
4. UK MANUFACTURING FIGURES
The UK manufacturing sector grew less than expected but showed it is still set for the strongest performance in 3 years.
The Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index showed a reading of 54.6, down from 55.7 in January and below the City of London consensus prediction of 55.6. This was significantly higher than the 50 mark that separates growth from contraction.
Manufacturing output grew by 1.2 per cent in the final quarter of 2016. This accounts for roughly 10% of UK output, according to the Office for National Statistics. (The Independent)
5. UBER LOSES LEGAL TEST CASE
Uber lost a key court case, where it has now failed to prevent its drivers taking a compulsory English language test that Transport for London seeks to impose. TFL claims that all drivers should prove their ability to communicate in English. This test would also apply to minicab firms as well.
Uber argued that the requirements for the test were exceptionally high and “unfair” and will seek to appeal the decision. Uber’s lawyer estimated that the test would prevent 70,000 applicants from obtaining a licence in three years. He also claimed that the tests would have a disproportionate impact on foreign drivers.
Read more about the court case here… (BBC News)
6. DYSON ANNOUNCES NEW UK INVESTMENT DESPITE BREXIT
UK home technology company Dyson has announced substantial UK investment, opening a new site Hullavington site near its headquarters in Malmsebury. The firm follows the steps of other tech firms like Amazon and Facebook, defiant in the face of Brexit uncertainty.
Dyson, renowned for its hoovers, currently employs over 3500 people in the UK and it plans to double its workforce in the long term. Sir James Dyson was a vocal advocate of Brexit during the campaign and claimed it would liberate the UK’s economy.(The Independent)
7. RECORD NUMBER OF WORKERS ON 0 HOUR CONTRACTS
The number of UK workers on zero-hours contracts reached a record high of 910,000. In the last 3 months of 2016 the figure rose by over 100,000 compared with the same period in 2015, according to Resolution Foundation.
Zero hour contracts have become significantly more common, particularly in the retail sector. Companies such as Sports Direct and McDonald’s have come under scrutiny for using them. Workers are not guaranteed a minimum number of working hours but employers have been known to abuse this system.
Read more about the statistics here… (The Guardian)
8. TESCO TO REPLACE OVER 1,000 DEPUTY MANAGERS
Tesco has announced plans to replace 1,700 deputy managers in their Express stores with managerial tasks being adopted by 3,300 “shift leaders” who will be paid less. This move is to create 1,600 jobs and is part of its general restructuring. In January, it announced that it would cut 1,000 jobs in a move to reduce the number of distribution centres. Despite this, Tesco posted a rise in UK like-for-like sales of 0.7% in the 6 weeks to 7 January. In addition, last month, Tesco acquired wholesale group Booker for £3.7bn.
The big four supermarkets have faced significantly increased competition from budget rivals Aldi and Lidl as consumer spending habits continue to change. Elsewhere in the market, Waitrose announced earlier in the month that it would be cutting 700 jobs and shutting six stores. (BBC News)
9. WALKERS JOB CUTS
It was announced that 380 jobs at a Walkers crisps factory are at risk after the company stated that it needed to find “crucial savings” to remain financial sustainable .
The production plant in Peterlee, County Durham is planned to moved in other UK sites. Walkers was bought by PepsiCo in 1989 by one of its subsidiaries, Lays. (BBC News)
10. ASDA IMPOSES HARSHER TERMS ON SUPPLIERS DUE TO BREXIT
Asda, the UK’s third largest supermarket chain, announced the imposition of harsher terms on its suppliers of clothing. A letter sent by Asda to its international suppliers stated they would now wait 30 days longer than the current period to receive, an extension from 60 to 90 days.
Asda is owned by the American company Walmart and is one of the first retailers to tighten the screw on manufacturers following the Brexit vote. Its clothing business, George has suffered as a result of the falling pound as it buys most of its fashion lines in dollars.
Delaying payment is a common financial planning method for businesses as it allows them to retain more cash in the business. For suppliers it can be damaging and can cause severe cash flow issues because they rely on the payment for general expenditure such as staff salaries so are forced to borrow to fund this. (The Guardian)


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The iPad has proven a tablet can be a powerful tool for music. It’s also been mostly alone. Android-powered tablets have suffered from lackluster audio performance. Compound that with low popularity in the marketplace and fragmented OS updates, and the platform has largely scared music developers away. Android devices also lack the richness of the […]Read more
brings together the latest breaking news on music, technology, gear, and live visuals. Got a project, found a news tip, or want to share your product? Submit to us directly.


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Melbourne's suburb of Sydenham is experiencing growth in house prices that have seen the area become one of the strongest performers in Melbourne's real estate market.
That's according to the findings of the latest House Price Report from the Domain Group, which shows Sydenham house prices soaring by 15.3 per cent over the past six months and 19.5 per cent annually.
The suburb is a relatively affordable one that has often been seen as something of an outpost.
However, it offers a good train line and a big shopping centre - two of the most important features a neighbourhood can have in terms of real estate value.
Thanks to this, Sydenham is brushing off its former reputation and enjoying a spike in price growth that comes from enjoying such convenient amenities in an ever-expanding and expensive city.
Situated 25 km north-west of the central business district, the image of Sydenham as being on the fringes of the city started to be challenged by the north-western expansion of the metropolis during the 1990s.
Indeed, in the Melbourne 2030 city planning blueprint published in 2002, Sydenham featured prominently as an important activity centre.
The train station was upgraded that year and the Watergardens Town Centre shopping centre was expanded and redeveloped in 2007, making the area more attractive to homeowners and renters alike.
Domain Group chief economist Andrew Wilson said the upward trend in property prices has rippled throughout the north-west of Melbourne.
"You can almost see it like a heat map that's pushed up through areas like St Albans and Keilor," he commented.
"There's no doubt the affordability equation is pushing Melbourne buyers towards these value areas. They were once seen as fringe areas, but prices are catching up."


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The Federal Government’s decision to introduce plain packaging and a new tax hike on cigarettes is a mistake that will hurt small businesses in Australia says the Council of Small Business of Australia (COSBOA).
“COSBOA supports strong tobacco control measures to reduce the prevalence of smoking and disease in Australia, but prohibitive pricing and identical packages are not solutions to this problem,” said CEO Jaye Radisich.
“As long as tobacco remains legal to sell, purchase and consume, small businesses should not be inadvertently punished for selling it.
“There is simply no need for these extreme measures in order for the Government to pursue the health outcomes it desires. This has serious ramifications for hardworking small businesses that sell and make an income from a legal product.
“This tax hike means that customers will have less money available to spend in retail outlets on non-tobacco products, so the Government tax take will increase but sales will drop in small retail shops.
“Small businesses are already being hit hard from tobacco display bans implemented in some jurisdictions, which have imposed high costs on small businesses having to adjust their fixtures and storage areas as a result of the new regulations.
“Increasingly the tax on cigarettes will dramatically increase the price, and consumers will be driven to large national chain stores like Coles and Woolworths who can afford to wind back their profit margins to get customers through their doors.
“Of concern from a health and community perspective is the massive potential for the illegal tobacco market to expand in Australia. If the Government goes through with its plans to introduce plain packaging as well this would have serious and detrimental impacts across the community.”
Australian Governments have been extremely successful at driving down the number of people who smoke in this country and gradual, biannual tobacco tax increases, along with other tobacco control initiatives, have contributed to that success.
Every Government around the world that has considered mandating plain packaging has rejected the idea. These Governments recognised that identical packs would have huge potential to increase tobacco smuggling.
COSBOA urges the Government to look at tobacco control outcomes in countries like Ireland, Canada and the UK.
“These countries have introduced similarly tough tobacco control policies and they now have huge problems with illegal tobacco coming across their borders. Given the international evidence, it is unfair of the Government to put Australian businesses in a situation that threatens their livelihood without clear public health gains,” said Jaye Radisich.


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A new brand of boat has docked at the Crystalbrook Superyacht Marina with the Sahana taking up residence in Port Douglas for the next eight months.
The luxurious vessel has made the journey from Sydney and the Gold Coast to offer clients a new and opulent way to enjoy the reef.
Sahana Skipper, Paul Busk, said he is excited to showcase the region from the decks of the superyacht. “I absolutely love it being in Port Douglas,” he said. “We mostly target short term charters and take people out to the reef.
Captain Busk has a long history of boating with his great grandfather, grandfather and father all making a living from fishing. He is also an ex-commercial fisherman, learning the ropes when he was just five years old and says the Sahana is a long way from where he began. “It’s definitely different but I love it and love being out on the ocean; it’s part of what I do,” he said.
The 36.5 metre Sahana boasts room for 70 guests on a day trip with room for eight to sleep on board. It had a major refurbishment in 2014 and the sleek minimalist design is more reminiscent of a penthouse apartment than a seafaring vessel.
The Sahana also caters for those who are not as comfortable on the water with state-of-the-art stabilisation technology. “She is a long-range boat and very comfortable,” Captain Busk said. “She is dual stabilised; so, we have big track fins underneath and gyros so she will stay stabilised and be comfortable even for guests who might not be used to the ocean.”
Captain Busk said every detail, from the yacht and the crew, is perfectly curated to give guests a memorable and flawless experience on board. “We’ve been in charter since 2015 and we’ve quickly worked our way to the top of the Australian market,” he said. “We have worked hard to be as professional we can be which is particularly good for international guests because they know they can get the same product here they can get overseas.”
The Sahana will be in Port Douglas for this season with a view to make winters up here a regular occurrence.


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The United States Department of Transportation (DOT) has issued an emergency order to ban all Samsung Galaxy Note7 smartphone devices from all air transportation in the United States. This order is being done for safety reasons.
Individuals who own or possess a Samsung Galaxy Note7 device may not transport the device on their person, in carry-on baggage or in checked baggage on flights to, from, or within the United States. This prohibition includes all Samsung Galaxy Note7 devices. The phones also cannot be shipped as air cargo.
The ban became effective on October 15, 2016. The reason for this ban is probably obvious to those who have been following the news. On October 11, 2016, Samsung suspended the manufacture and sale of the Samsung Galaxy Note7 device after several incidents where the device has overheated and caught fire. Samsung has issued a voluntary recall on all Galaxy Note7 Devices.
This is something to keep in mind as we head into the holiday season. There could be people out there who are unaware that they cannot bring their Samsung Galaxy Note7 device onto the plane. One could reasonably assume that this would lead to delays.
The DOT states that passengers who attempt to travel by air with their Samsung Galaxy Note7 device will be denied boarding. Passengers who try to evade the ban by packing their phone in checked luggage are violating the ban and may be subject to criminal prosecution in addition to fines.
Interestingly, the DOT emergency order says: The Samsung Galaxy Note7 device is considered a forbidden hazardous material under the Federal Hazardous Material Regulations which forbid airline passengers or crew from traveling with lithium cells or batteries or portable electronic devices that are likely to generate a dangerous evolution of heat.


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Lottery – AI-generated numbers provide an edge
Players Edge Lottery Picks has been accurately predicting winning lottery numbers.
April 11, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ — Players Edge Lottery Picks™ app is now available in the Apple and Google stores – making it easy to access for lottery fans. The app uses AI-generated numbers for both Mega Millions® and Powerball®, giving customers the chance to generate personalized picks.
By employing advanced scientific techniques such as AI, machine learning, and advanced pattern recognition, Players Edge mathematicians have created a tool with predictive capability when playing the major lotteries. To prove its effectiveness, the technology was tested against actual lottery results over a two-year period – with remarkable success.
John Giaimo, CEO of Bring it Home®, remarked: “Our first quarter results for 2023 were incredible. Our AI predicted 8 Powerball jackpots, and 4 Mega Millions jackpot-winning combinations – which greatly exceeded the Powerball and Mega Million first quarter lottery results!”
The app provides unrestricted access to participating lottery retailer customers, and to make things even better, it is currently offering free access to everyone who downloads it and creates a user account.
The app is free to registered users, increase your chances of winning; download the app from the Apple or Google Play stores today!


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With no acceptable bid found by a deadline of Tuesday, EdgeStone Capital Partners portfolio company New Food Classics has ended up in receivership.
EdgeStone bought the hamburger patty maker about six years ago. The deal ran into trouble last year as beef prices soared and New Food Classics was unable to pass on price increases.
The company, which had received court protection from creditors, was seeking a buyer who would operate its food plants, as reported Tuesday. The hope was at least the banks could get some of their money back. (You can read that post here.)
However, the process failed to drum up a bid that was satisfactory to New Food Classics' main lender, Bank of Montreal , by a deadline of Tuesday. The decision was made instead to put the company into receivership, according to a report by the bankruptcy monitor.
Three bidders said last week that they planned to submit final offers, according to the filings. Two were chosen to go ahead.
Meantime, a big customer was threatening to defect, and the company faced a recall of some meat it had sold.
One of the bidders withdrew, the monitor said. The remaining bidder's offer was at the low end of what the monitor said BMO could expect from a liquidation, and exposed BMO to more risk. After final talks failed, the decision was made to put the company into receivership.
According to the monitor's latest report, the board and management of New Food Classics resigned on Monday night.
"In light of the delivery of the Default Notice by BMO, the resignation of the NFCBoard of Directors and management, the lack of funding for NFC's business and the perishable nature of NFC's inventory, the Monitor is of the view that it is vital to have an immediate and orderly shut-down of the NFC manufacturing operations and a swift transition to a court-appointed receivership of the assets of NFC."Report Typo/Error


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Culturally, Japan is very risk-averse, which is not ideal for entrepreneurs. But things are changing here.
Coming of age in the age of social media, Hiro Maeda '09 (computer science and economics) has long been fascinated by the intersection of technology, commerce and social interaction in which online businesses operate. Inspired by the success of Facebook and YouTube, Maeda, a Tokyo native, began building social media websites and mobile applications in his Bucknell dorm room.
Maeda's passion for tinkering with technology and creating enterprises makes him well suited to his current goal: spurring a new wave of Internet entrepreneurship in Japan. "Culturally, Japan is very risk-averse, which is not ideal for entrepreneurs," he says. "But things are changing here. The recent success of Silicon Valley companies has had a huge impact in Japan, and our entrepreneurial community is growing."
Forgoing more stable opportunities at U.S. tech companies, Maeda headed back to Japan after graduation in 2009 to help launch Tokyo-based startup incubator Open Network Lab, which provides office space, mentoring and funding to Japanese Internet startup companies. To date, 18 companies have graduated from Open Network Lab, including successful enterprises like Giftee.com, which allows users to send gifts via Twitter; and Qlippy, a social media platform for e-readers. Maeda anticipates working with an additional 10 to 14 ventures in the next year.
"At our first event for entrepreneurs, only 10 people showed up. Six months later we drew crowds of more than 200 people," he says, noting that several other Tokyo incubators have popped up since Open Network's inception.
To encourage transparency within the incubator, companies must share important business details like revenues, marketing tactics and strategies for attracting new users. "We are trying to seed the type of open culture that has served Silicon Valley so well, and I think it's working. I'm confident that in the next few years we'll have developed a few entrepreneurs that will really influence the economy in Japan," Maeda notes.
Paradoxically, the devastating earthquake that hit Japan in 2011, as well as the dismal employment rates for recent college grads, have helped to encourage entrepreneurship by "helping Japanese people to become more comfortable with uncertainty," Maeda says. "And uncertainty, of course, is what building a startup company is all about."
Posted March 2013


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» Foto Tante Semok Nungging Bulu Lebat
Foto Tante Semok Nungging Bulu Lebat
Foto Tante Semok Nungging Bulu Lebat on Technology News and Updates AdmaTechnology.com at Thursday, April 17, 2014
Will spend 140 days in the mission.
A Russian rocket carrying two cosmonauts and a U.S. astronaut blasted off into space on Tuesday (10/23). The three astronauts will be on duty on the International Space Station (ISS).
Oleg Novitskiy and Evgeny Tarelkin [...]
Three of the four phones sold in the world-system Android
Every day the number and types of smartphones is increasing. Choose the one that suits the needs of each person, require adequate information about the technology, features, and operating system. [...]
Jakarta – Plastic may be a major culprit in the garbage problem in some countries. However, Japan had already found a solution for reducing plastic waste. A Non-Government Organization (NGO) from Japan named Ecoparty come to Indonesia to introduce [...]
The presence of the iPhone 5 is certainly making the selling price of the underlying series has decreased slightly. For those of you who want to taste the iPhone but the funds are limited, buy second hand or used iPhone can be an option.
But be careful, [...]
This service there will be in January next year.
Applications in the console Nintendo Wii U will be more complete. After YouTube, now the Wii U scheduled to get other superior service.
When Nintendo Direct presentation Wednesday (12/05), Satoru Iwata [...]
BlackBerry Live event held in Orlando, USA, Tuesday (14/5), BlackBerry announced their new hero on the BlackBerry 10 platform, the BlackBerry Q5.
Quoted from Ubergizmo, Wednesday (15/5), according to a recent leak outstanding, the Q5 is a cheap version [...]
With a price of $159 U.S. dollars.
If you are lovers of the underwater world and the music, then you need to have a digital music player Finis SwiMP3.
Finis SwiMP3 is a digital music player or MP3 player waterproof which has 2GB of memory capacity or [...]
Fujitsu, Japan’s IT development company today announced the newest technology in the field of health is to know the pulse of a person through face image as reported by Cnet.com (18/03).
This technology uses a camera that has been embedded in a [...]
Human skull intentionally shaped like alien heads were found in a 1000 year-old tomb in Mexico, according to the researchers reported as quoted by LiveScience.
Practice changing the shape of the skull has become common practice in Central America. But [...]
Cover story this week will discuss the new smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4.
One thing that most attracted the attention of the successor to the Galaxy S3 is the availability of Octa-core processors (8-core), which is believed to provide exceptional performance.
Sony finally officially announced their latest generation console, the PlayStation 4, at an event in New York, USA, some time ago.
Here are some things You gamers need to know about the PS4.
PS4 using the x86 AMD 8-core CPU and GPU with [...]


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Newsom Wants Butts Out Of Pharmacies
POSTED on KTVU.com: 10:09 pm PDT May 2, 2008
SAN FRANCISCO -- San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom wants to make it harder for smokers to buy cigarettes.
In his effort to make San Francisco a healthy city, Newsom is proposing legislation to ban pharmacies from selling
cigarettes and other tobacco products, including pipes.
The owner of Reliable Pharmacy in the Sunset District has been selling cigarettes for 35 years. Owner Sam
Ching said he plans to stop sales whether the legislation passes or not.
But another pharmacy owner in the Fillmore District opposes Newsom's plan. He points out that cigarette smokers
purchase more than just tobacco. Nick Shoman of Charlie's Pharmacy put it this way: "That is where it is going to
hurt. That will effect my business. And if this does pass maybe the mayor can find one of my unemployed workers
The city's Health Department says people need to look at the bigger picture. Dr. Rajiv Bhatia says: "Pharmacies
have a special responsibilty not to be selling products that are harmful. Certainly not profitting from the sale of
products that are harmful."
Under the proposed legislation, pharmacies that get caught selling tobacco products could faces fine between
$100 and $1000.
Dear Editor: The US stands pretty much alone in the world in allowing pharmacy chains to sell tobacco. While
only 15% of independent pharmacies in San Francisco currently sell cigarettes, 75 out of 76 of the chain
locations sell and advertise the stuff.
To me, it's just another example of tobacco interests in bed with the out-of-town corporations: Rite Aid,
Walgreens, Safeway and Costco.
These chains laugh all the way to the bank while our families suffer and die. Who out there hasn't lost someone
to tobacco-related heart disease, stroke, cancer or lung disease?
For a list of independent pharmacies in San Francisco that do not sell tobacco products, go to
Bob Gordon, San Francisco
California LGBT Tobacco Education Partnership
Ban on tobacco at drug stores sought
- Marisa Lagos
Saturday, May 3, 2008 in the SF Chronicle
The sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products at drug stores would be illegal in San Francisco if an ordinance
introduced this week by Mayor Gavin Newsom wins approval.
The proposed law is designed to curb tobacco sales at stores where pharmacists work, but would not apply to big
box businesses such as Costco or to grocery stores. The ordinance is just one of a series of measures supported by
the mayor intended to promote healthy living among San Francisco residents, said Newsom spokeswoman Giselle
"The spirit of this is that pharmacies are places people go to get better," she said. "They shouldn't be selling
products that cause cancer."
The legislation, introduced Tuesday, would take effect on Oct. 1 if the Board of Supervisors approves it. The
Department of Public Health, which already regulates tobacco sales in San Francisco, would enforce the law.
Violators would face fines of $100 to $1,000.
Retail chains starting to put out smokes
By Wendy Koch, USA TODAY
Cigarettes are getting harder to find. More retail chains are dropping them, and for the first time, officials in a few
states want to ban pharmacies from selling them.
This month, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom proposed an unprecedented city ban on drugstores selling
tobacco products, including cigars, pipes and smokeless tobacco.
"This will be the beginning of a national movement," Newson predicts. He says he's "absolutely confident" the San
Francisco Board of Supervisors will approve the ban this month or early in June. It would take effect Oct. 1.
Others are on the same track. Bills are pending in New Hampshire, Illinois and Tennessee to bar pharmacies with
walk-in clinics from selling tobacco, and a bill in New York would apply to all pharmacies, including those in big stores
such as Wal-Mart.
"Pharmacies are places we go to get healthy," says Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, author of the New York proposal. "It just
seems inappropriate that on the other hand, they sell something that kills." His state borders Canada, where most
provinces don't let pharmacies sell tobacco.
Most independent pharmacies in the USA no longer sell tobacco, but the drugstore market is dominated by big
chains such as Walgreens, CVS and Rite Aid that do. Target stopped selling tobacco products in 1996.
Bill Phelps, spokesman for Philip Morris USA, the nation's No. 1 cigarette maker, says the government should not
impose bans. "We think retailers should be able to decide," he says.
More retailers are deciding not to sell tobacco products. A wave of grocery stores, some with pharmacies and some
without, have taken tobacco off their shelves. Wegmans, which has 70 stores in five states, did so in February, the
same month as two smaller New York-based chains, Budwey's and DeCicco Family Markets. San Francisco-based
Andronico's also quit in February, and some ShopRites followed in March.
"We're seeing a real trend in which fewer and fewer stores want to be associated with the harm caused by
cigarettes," says Matt Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. As fewer stores sell cigarettes, he
says, "the cultural norm becomes not smoking."
That doesn't necessarily happen, says Gary Nolan, national spokesman for Citizens Freedom Alliance, a group that
defends smokers rights and the free market.
Smokers won't stop but will be driven to a black market run by smugglers, he says.
Wegmans found cigarettes profitable and expected negative reaction from customers when it dropped them,
spokeswoman Jo Natale says. She says there were a few complaints but far more support.