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Branding, marketing and creative agencies give their verdict
Prospects for the Thomas Cook revival as an OTA
This week’s news of the imminent revival of the Thomas Cook brand as a new OTA wasn’t unexpected, but has promoted debates about its prospects.
Plans to bring the brand back under its new Chinese owner Fosun, which bought what remained of the failed operator for £11 million last November, predate COVID-19.
In January Fosun put together a team of 15 travel industry professionals, including Cook’s former strategy and technology officer Alan French, former head sales, e-commerce and marketing Phil Gardner and former finance officer Raj Sharma.
Since, the brand is understood to have been preparing for a relaunch and is close to finalising regulatory arrangement with the UK regulator the CAA.
The timing of the launch was reported this week by Sky News to hinge on the outcome of the regulatory process and the UK government’s evolving approach to travel quarantines.
In anticipation of the re-emergence of one of travel’s heritage brands as an OTA, experts in digital, online branding and creatives give their views on the prospects for the brand:
Chris Moody, global chief design officer at brand consultancy Wolff Olins, said:
“Like other heritage institutions in the banking, energy and telco sectors, Thomas Cook was slow to realise that fussy customer service and legacy wasn’t what travellers wanted from them, and this ultimately lead to its downfall last year.
“In the changed landscape of last-minute deals and Airbnb, the brand felt dusty and outdated. In order to succeed, Thomas Cook will need to radically reinvent itself, and work hard for its new employees.
“The pandemic has been the catalyst for a completely new kind of brand – the ‘conscious’ brand. The ‘conscious’ brand isn’t just responsible, it’s also responsive.
“Conscious beings are alive, awake, aware and self-aware. They’ll adapt instantly to changing needs and moods among their customers and employees.
“Thomas Cook will need to become flexible, agile, imaginative and truly exciting to lure people still apprehensive about travelling. Coupling this with a name people have known for 180 years, the sky could be the limit.”
Laura Green, digital account director at global digital marketing agency, Croud, said:
“Thomas Cook relaunching as a digital-only brand in a post-COVID world will undoubtedly run into its fair share of hurdles; the main one being consumer trust.
“Thomas Cook may still have many disillusioned ex-customers that were stranded overseas this time last year after they collapsed, who will be difficult to re-engage to book through the provider again.
“This, combined with the travel climate currently with consumers risk-averse on travel with COVID, means there is a tricky market landscape for Thomas Cook to penetrate.
“For both health reasons, and with new travel restrictions being announced regularly; it’s a risk many people aren’t willing to take right now. It’s a nervous time for consumers to book, so there’s going to be a lot of work that’s needed to recapture that trust.
“Having said this, Thomas Cook do have a promising foundation to work on. From an SEO perspective, keeping its domain live has protected some level of visibility across upper funnel content such as destination guides.
“This is a smart move from a brand equity point of view, as there is likely to be a steady amount of traffic coming through to the site, albeit far reduced from the levels before the collapse when you could transact on the site.
“The profile of Thomas Cook is still strong, and if its new owner were to change the brand name they could still redirect and almost have a jumpstart in getting organic visibility fairly quickly.
“In terms of what Thomas Cook will be able to achieve with conversions, this is questionable. The main issue will be recapturing a lot of that transactional content if they do want to be an online provider.
“There’s going to have to be a lot of taking back traffic from the likes of Skyscanner and Google, which now owns a lot of this real estate for flight information.
“They will also have to do a lot of upper funnel activity, not just in terms of SEO, but across digital activation touchpoints alongside a wider ATL marketing push to bridge the gap in consumer trust.”
Keith Jo, head of digital at digital marketing and advertising agency Cheil UK, said:
The decision to relaunch the Thomas Cook brand as an online-only travel agent is an advantageous, albeit ironic, one.
“A time when travel and international tourism has come to almost a complete stop, COVID-19 has put immense pressure on existing travel companies to survive and adapt, and equally presented an opportunity for Thomas Cook to plan its comeback.
“With the advantage of time and starting from scratch, Thomas Cook has a real opportunity to rebuild the brand and business that fully recognises the value of customers and their need of best in class experience online.
“Obvious challenges will be the current environment, such as the constantly changing travel restrictions between countries. But these are factors outside Thomas Cook’s control.
“What the business does have control over, however, is its new offering and taking complete control of its new business transformation.
“A large reason for Thomas Cook’s collapse 12 months ago was because it was still seen as an analogue business, with 555 high street stores open at the time, which seems ludicrous considering the way travel booking was migrating online and had been for the good part of two decades.
“But when the news broke that Thomas Cook was no more, there was a level of sympathy for the brand and many Britons had sentiment and nostalgia associated with the name.
“With proper funding and a fully agile business that takes into account and is best equipped to current challenges, Thomas Cook has a good chance to bounce back.
“Consumers are working and shopping from home more often, and online sales have continued to grow despite shops re-opening in June.
“Thomas Cook must take advantage of online this time around and utilise its access to customer data and shopping habits and have adequate rewards and incentives set up for repeat purchases.
“Online is where Thomas Cook can start ahead of their competitors without the operating costs of brick and mortar high street shops.”
Charles Gadsdon, global director of growth at international creative music agency MassiveMusic, said:
Despite the spectacular collapse of the travel giant last year, Thomas Cook’s 179-year history still holds value as a brand we’ve known our whole lives.
“At this time, where we are feeling worried and navigating uncertain circumstances, familiarity and nostalgia can be extremely powerful. Music and sound can play a key role here.
“Consistent research has shown that companies which invest in their brands will propel with accelerated growth out of a recession and the effectiveness of audio assets has been proven to work better than some visual ones.
“Thomas Cook had a history of using music in a powerful way in its advertising – for example, the dreamy intro of Albatross by Fleetwood Mac for its 1990 campaign, or the more recent playful ads, such as this 2015 advert with a young boy dancing at the side of a pool.
“As a brand it doesn’t have a signature jingle or theme but this could now be in its favour – a time to develop something new that symbolises the future with its positive heritage and expertise at its core.
“A rebrand for Thomas Cook that shouldn’t just look revamped but has the sound of positive change.”


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Apple managed to become the only supplier with positive growth dynamics in the third quarter
According to research firm Counterpoint, the smartphone market remains under high pressure due to
deteriorating economic conditions, politicaltensions and rising inflation. The positions of the premium segment of smartphones are less subject to this pressure, which is demonstrated by the successful sales of smartphones from the iPhone line and Samsung flexible smartphones. With the successful sales of the iPhone 14, Apple managed to become the only supplier with a positive growth rate of 2%, which helped Apple increase its market share by 2% to 16%. Global smartphone shipments totaled 301 million units, down 12% from last year, the lowest third-quarter sales since 2014. The result of sales of the last quarter also turned out to be lower than the results of the second quarter by 2%, continuing the negative trend.

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Marks & Spencer has defended Vogue Williams after she received cruel body shaming comments.
Earlier this week, the retailer shared a post to social media, which was recently filmed by Vogue herself.
In the video clip, the 37-year-old model showed off some of M&S’s swimwear pieces while on holiday, including a black swimsuit and a blue bikini.
Vogue’s video also featured her three children – Theodore (4), Gigi (3), and one-year-old Otto – with Gigi choosing to don an adorable yellow swimsuit for the occasion.
After Marks & Spencer uploaded the video, their Instagram comments section began to be flooded by critical comments, with many viewers choosing to accuse the mum-of-three of being ‘too thin’.
After receiving an onslaught of comments, M&S has since taken to their own comments section to defend Vogue.
“A kind reminder to our followers that we use our platform in a positive way. We’re proud to represent and celebrate people of all shapes and sizes,” M&S detailed in their statement.
“We won’t tolerate any unkind or negative comments and anything unacceptable will be deleted. Let’s all continue to uplift one another. Love M&S x,” the retailer’s social media team added.
Many have since gone on to support M&S’s defence, praising Vogue for her content.
“Why are women being attacked for being fit and healthy now?! Body positivity is for everyone and NOONE should be criticized whether you’re a size 6 or 16,” one follower exclaimed.
“She looks great. Women come in shapes and sizes and all women are ‘real’ and ‘normal’ no matter their size,” another noted.
The trolling comments came after Vogue recently expressed her opinion on the rumour mill. The presenter, who is married to Made In Chelsea’s Spencer Matthews, opened up on her My Therapist Ghosted Me podcast about the entertainment industry.
"Rumours, just take them with a pinch of salt because that’s usually what they are: Bullsh*t. They usually come from nothing. If someone usually doesn’t say something about a rumour… It’s bullsh*t,” she stated.


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The counterfeit luxury retail market in India is likely to double to Rs 5,600 crore by 2015.
The passage of Lokpal Bill and the expected clampdown on graft may slow down sale of luxury products like watches, wines & expensive holidays.
BMW sold 7,327 vehicles in 2013, the company told ET, revealing a yawing gap with Audi and Mercedes-Benz.
Oberoi Hotels & Resorts has been voted as 'World's Leading Luxury Hotel Brand 2013' at the World Travel Awards (WTA).
The entry could be a boost for the country's luxury retail sector, which represents a tiny fraction of global luxury brands' sales.
Hartmann will be launched in India this year with the first store expected to be opened at Mumbai airport in March.
ET-Travel offers you events in Luxury, Entertainment, Food, Sports, Music and Nightlife to experience around the world.
There were Australian and African ostriches, stretching their legs. There were hares darting around people's feet - clearly unused to large numbers.
Growing at a compounded annual growth rate of almost 40-45 per cent, the counterfeit luxury products market in India is likely to more than double to Rs 5,600 crore from the current level of about Rs 2,500 crore: Assocham


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Want to watch a Boeing 787 Dreamliner being built? Haven't got 12 days to spare?
Worry not, ahead of taking delivery of its first 'jet-lag busting' passenger plane this week, QatarAirways has released a time-lapse video which shows the aircraft being built atBoeing's Seattle factory in just three amazing minutes.
The 787 Dreamliner is made up of composite materials making it a lighter and more fuel efficient than any comparable aircraft of its size and range. Key features include larger windows, lower cabin pressure at higher altitude ensuring less fatigue, mood lighting throughout the aircraft and more passenger space and comfort.
The first commercial Qatar Airways Dreamliner flight is rumoured to be taking off from a UK airport on December 1st, so watch this space...
Read more about the Dreamliner here: Where Dreamliners are made: Inside Boeing’s Everett passenger plane plant - video
First-time visitors tackling Orlando’s awesome array of attractions are getting a little help with planning their perfect trip.
Tourist board VisitOrlando has launched a go-to online tool which ensures holidaymakers get the best out of their break to the Sunshine State’s entertainment capital.
The microsite – set up in conjunction with SeaWorld, Universal and Disney – aims to simplify the planning process so newcomers who are a little daunted by the amount of attractions and accommodation on offer can create a seamless, personalised itinerary. It’s full of tips and helpful hints, too.
The information can then be either emailed to you or printed out. Areas covered include travel options from the UK to Orlando and, once in the area, what to do, when to go, where to stay and how to bag extra savings and deals along the way.
Mirror Travel verdict: If you’re an Orlando newbie, this easy-to-use planning tool is a must for a great getaway. It’s handy for frequent visitors, too.
Transformers: The Ride opens on Orlando
Buckle up for a blockbuster battle with giant robots next year when Transformers: The Ride – 3D officially opens in Orlando.
The attraction based on the hit movie trilogy is already drawing visitors to Universal’s Hollywood and Singapore parks.
Now a third version is under construction at the film company’s Florida resort.
Riders are catapulted into a special effects-driven experience with hero Optimus Prime battling evil Megatron.
Michael Bay, director of all three Transformers films and attraction consultant for the new ride, said: “We broke the mould and have taken it to a new technological level.”
Thanks to a short build time, the ride is due to open next summer.
See Derek Momodu's review of the ride: Road testing the new 3D Transformers ride at Hollywood’s Universal Studios
Gangnam-style holidays in Korea
Grab some Gangnam in style when British Airways launches its route to South Korea next month - you'll be dancing around like these chaps, spotted at the South Korea stand of World Travel Market last week:
To mark the new service from Heathrow to the capital Seoul – and the fact that seven is a lucky number over there – BA is slashing fares so business class tickets cost £777, a saving of more than 70%.
Economy fares are reduced too, starting at £377. Book by next Friday for travel between December 2-13.
BA is also is cutting premium leisure fares to 120 destinations by up to 50% until Tuesday. Deals include business class flights to Dubrovnik from £129 (save 48%); and to Geneva from £149 (save 50%).
Virgin Atlantic says the best day to travel to the Caribbean this year is Sunday, November 18.
Sir Richard Branson’s airline reckons it’s the ideal date to bag a low fare to Barbados, St Lucia or Tobago on its newly refurbished jumbo jet fleet from Gatwick and Manchester.
Fares cost from £600.
Singapore Airlines has launched a fourth daily service from Heathrow to its Changi hub. Tickets start at £820.
Economy passengers are getting an increased luggage allowance of 30kg with Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Airways.
Travellers can also take up to 15kg of diving equipment or golf bags for free. Sale fares to Abu Dhabi start at £425 from Heathrow and £455 from Manchester, book by November 26.
DialAFlight is offering an eight-night Disney cruise and hotel package from £999pp (saving 10 per cent), based on four sharing. Departing January 16, price includes four nights’ full-board on Disney Dream, four nights at Disney’s four-star Port Orleans French Quarter Hotel, flights from London and five days’ car hire. Calls: 0844 556 6060.
To mark Michael Palin’s return to our TV screens with his new series, Brazil, Voyages of Discovery are offering an 18-day South America’s Discovery Coast cruise, departing February 24, Spend the night in Rio and venture up the Corcovado and Sugar Loaf mountains. Costing from £1,999pp, price includes flights, transfers and full- board. Call: 0844 822 0820.
Guests on AmaWaterways’ river cruiser AmaLyra will have the opportunity to mingle with former MP and Strictly star Ann Widdecombe for a cruise along the Rhine departing next October 15. The seven-night trip costs from £1,975pp, including flights, transfers, seven meals, drinks and excursions. Book by November 30 to get a £50pp discount. Call: 0808 223 5009.
Alamo is introducing automated payment for road tolls inside its fleet of cars in Portugal. It costs €1.50 plus VAT a day.
Holiday Autos has daily deals with 25% off car hire across Europe, Australia and New Zealand.
Thomas Cook’s annual European Rail Timetable is out now and has been updated to include night trains and a Beyond Europe section for routes across the US and Canada. The guide, first published in 1873, is £14.99.
Shrugging off the effects of the Costa Concordia tragedy, the Euro crisis and the Arab Spring, cruising continues to grow in popularity.
The Passenger Shipping Association predicts a 20,000 increase in 2012 to reach a record 1.72 million. A further 2% rise is expected next year.
Growth has slowed since the days of double-digit annual increases, but cruising continues to be one of the healthiest sectors of the travel industry. This is partly due to continued investment in new and refurbished ships and the growing popularity of no-fly cruises.
The PSA says about $5billion was invested in seven ships in 2012, with $3.2billion to be spent next year.
Two more ships could be on order if plans by British businessmen to establish a 25-day service to Australia bear fruit. Project Orient is looking to build two 100,000-tonne vessels, each capable of carrying 2,200 passengers. The voyages, costing about £3,000, would include stops at ports such as Dubai, Mumbai and Singapore.
Stephen Payne, who designed Cunard’s Queen Mary 2, has been recruited to draw up blueprints.


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Blog: Fancy a bottle of Sven Goran-Erikss-eau-n?
Chris Brook-Carter | 19 July 2004
England’s football manager last week found a gap in his busy schedule as the world's best-paid soccer boss to go to Sweden for the launch of a bottled mineral water, according to the Times.
Sven Goran-Eriksson was given 1.9 m shares in Aqua Terrena as part of the deal. And his head appears on the label, … which is nice.
Aqua Terrena water doesn't appear to be available in England, but, according to the paper, a contact in Sweden describes it as “thoroughly unmemorable”.
The perfect figurehead, then?
Heineken is gearing up for a product launch in Australia this month. But exactly what the product is, the brewer is not saying....
It's Summer in the northern hemisphere and the beer festivals are in full swing. Even the famously secluded North Korea is letting its regulation-cut hair down with the Taedonggang Beer Festival, name...
Drinks companies that use celebrities and influencers to endorse products via social media could be in line for some rule changes....
A couple of months ago, US-based Saltwater Brewery developed 'edible six-pack rings' in an effort to curb threats to wildlife....
- Job cuts not the whole story at AB InBev - Comment
- The decline of the flagship beer brand - Comment
- Craft spirits shake-out will be just the beginning
- Interview- Veltins export manager Udo Bruns
- Concha y Toro's Q2 by region, brand - Focus
- Diageo revamps Gordon's gin bottle in UK
- Craft Brew Alliance poised for AB InBev takeover?
- Pernod deal rescues Corby's FY
- Diageo's Guinness Rye Pale Ale - NPD
- AB InBev to cull 5,500 jobs after SABMiller buy
- The Next Seven Big Beverage Markets
- Global rum insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Global RTD insights - market forecasts, product innovation and consumer trends
- Carlsberg AS (CARL B) - Financial and Strategic SWOT Analysis Review
- Adultifying Soft Drinks; Capitalizing on rising adult demand for non-alcoholic beverages


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Spotify and the makers of Fortnite and Tinder are taking over Apple and Google as a part of a newly fashioned coalition calling for “fair treatment” in the plan the tech giants run their app shops.
The Coalition for App Fairness, a Washington-based nonprofit, launched Thursday and can advocate for authorized and regulatory modifications, akin to measures that would block Apple and Google from favouring their very own apps within the iPhone and Android working programs they management. The activism from smaller rivals provides to scrutiny the tech giants are going through from US and European regulators and lawmakers.
The group goals to be the “voice of app and game builders within the effort to guard client option and create a stage enjoying field for all,” mentioned a press release from Horacio Gutierrez, head of worldwide affairs and chief authorized officer for music-streaming pioneer Spotify.
Apple is the group’s foremost goal, although Google’s app store insurance policies are additionally on its radar. Both corporations this summer season dropped the favored game Fortnite from their app shops after the sport’s developer launched a direct fee plan that bypasses their platforms.
Apple and Google each take a 30 % minimize from in-app income purchases, which has lengthy been a sore spot with builders.
Fortnite’s developer, Epic Games, responded by suing the businesses over what it sees as anti-competitive behaviour. Epic is backing the brand new coalition together with Spotify, on-line relationship app maker Match Group, and different members together with Tile, Basecamp, ProtonMail and European media business associations.
In addition to the app shops, Big Tech is going through contemporary scrutiny from antitrust regulators. As the Trump administration strikes towards antitrust motion in opposition to search large Google, it is campaigning to enlist help from sympathetic state attorneys common throughout the nation.
The anticipated lawsuit in opposition to Google by the Justice Department could possibly be the govt’s largest authorized offensive to guard competition for the reason that ground-breaking case in opposition to Microsoft nearly 20 years in the past.
Lawmakers and client advocates accuse Google of abusing its dominance in on-line search and promoting to stifle competition and enhance its earnings.
Are Apple Watch SE, iPad eighth Gen the Perfect ‘Affordable’ Products for India? Comment below
[Attribution Gadgets 360]


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Consumers would pay dramatically more to lease digital set-top boxes under a federal rule that is scheduled to take effect in 2005, according to the cable industry's main trade association.
If the rule goes into effect, a digital set-top that leases today for around $3 or $4 a month could cost an additional $3.36 a month, said the National Cable & Telecommunications Association, which is seeking elimination of the rule.
Consumer-electronics retailers, including Circuit City Stores Inc., are challenging the NCTA's position. They claim set-top costs would decline if a retail set-top market were flourishing.
In 1996, Congress ordered the Federal Communications Commission to adopt rules designed to establish a competitive set-top market to give consumers a means of acquisition separate from the cable operator.
The FCC responded in part by banning cable operators from deploying integrated digital set-tops after Jan. 1, 2005. Integrated boxes combine signal security and channel-surfing functions.
Under FCC rules, the security function is be separated and controlled by a removable point-of-deployment (POD) module that looks like the PCM/CIA Ethernet card that slides into laptop computers.
Last month, the NCTA filed a letter with the FCC claiming that if cable is forced to deploy only POD-enabled boxes to new customers, the per-month lease charge is going to skyrocket within two years. According to the NCTA, the PODs will add $93 to the price of a box.
The NCTA called on the FCC to eliminate the Jan. 1, 2005 sunset on integrated boxes — not only in light of the cost concerns but also due to other market developments, including cable's effort to allow retailers to sell integrated boxes in their stores.
A source for consumer-electronics retailers complained that the cable operators have frustrated the emergence of a retail set-top market by denying their set-top suppliers access to the specifications to build boxes equal in quality to the units MSOs obtain from their suppliers.
In its letter to the FCC, the NCTA denied those allegations and accused retailers of attempting to manipulate the regulatory process so that they could make more money in the sale of set-tops.
FCC sources said the agency has the NCTA's set-top rule change request under review and would likely rule on the issue this summer.
In a related issue, the FCC is examining whether some cable operators are complying with federal law if they do not give a price break to high-speed cable modem subscribers that have purchased their cable modems.
Zoom Telephonics Inc., based in Boston, Mass., raised the issue with the FCC in April. The firm, which markets cable modems, claims that discounts for modem owners are necessary in order to comply with federal law designed to promote the retail availability of cable modems.
Zoom did not name cable operators it said were violating the law.


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- Trump's trade wars have been an "abject failure", private-equity expert Weijan Shan, arguing that it has only worsened America's trade deficit as US consumers pick up the price of tariffs.
- Whereas China's economy is opening up to foreign investment, the US is making it harder, Shan says.
- To invest in Asia, foreigners must know their audience, meaning they should strive to build trust and understand the macro trends of each nation, he said. Find businesses with a sufficient "moat" to protect you from competition, he says, with the technology sector seen as a clear winner. Companies must have scale, not just profitability, he adds.
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For Weijan Shan, chairman and CEO of Asia's largest private equity firm PAG, US president Donald Trump's trade tactics have been an "abject failure".
Pointing to China's booming economy and the 40% increase in America's trade deficit since Trump took office, Shan argues Trump's trade wars simply don't work.
"He [Trump] pulled TPP when he first became president, pulled out the Paris accord, the Iran nuclear deal, the WHO, he basically paralyzed the appellate court of the WTO, and has launched a trade war against not only China, Canada, Europe, Mexico, all outside of the WTO system," Weijan said. "Therefore, it has not really opened the door for American products. It has not really increased American production. I think that's just wrong policy".
Shan is chairman and CEO of PAG, a Hong Kong-based private equity firm with $40 billion in AUM. Born under Mao Zedung's China, Shan grew up a farm laborer in China's Gobi Desert. But after studying in Beijing, Shan was one of the first students from the People's Republic of China to attend university in the US, earning his MBA, masters and doctorate in business. Shan worked at the World Bank, before joining JP Morgan and then the American private equity firm TPG Asia as co-managing partner, prior to moving to PAG.
One of the biggest questions for investors once the outcome of the presidential election is confirmed is the future of trade relations between the US and China. Trump has imposed billions of dollars in tariffs on Chinese goods and services and targeted some of the country's biggest technology groups, on the grounds that they pose a threat to both security and competition.
Democratic opponent Joe Biden is seen as being more moderate. But fixing America's trade balance, and repairing some of the diplomatic relations that have been damaged by nearly three years of tariff wars with a number of counterparts, won't happen overnight.
So how do you fix a trade deficit, if not by protectionism?
"We have to realize that the trade deficit is a result of domestic consumption exceeding domestic production. It's very simple: if you don't produce as much as you consume, of course it will help exports and that is the fundamental cause of a trade deficit," says Shan, therefore economies must "increase production".
Since Trump launched his trade war on China in May 2018, US imports from China haven't really fallen, which means American consumers are picking up the cost of added tariffs, but exports have fallen with China's retaliation, hitting farmers and manufacturers hard and adding to the size of the deficit.
The total US trade deficit reached a 14-year high in August, in the face of struggling exports.
One of Trump's major complaints is China gets an unfair advantage thanks to its policy of allegedly controlling its exchange rate and keeping its currency weak. And it isn't just Republicans that hold this view.
"The reservation about China has bipartisan support. There's a weariness about China, and therefore I don't expect drastic changes when it comes to economic policies towards China," Shan said. "The fact of the matter is, that in the past few years, the American market for investments has become more and more closed… The United States has tightened its scrutiny of foreign investment in general, regardless of where the capital comes from."
China's answer has been the opposite.
"China has countered this move by opening its market to foreign investments, especially American investments… JP Morgan and Goldman [Sachs] have converted their joint ventures into wholly owned ventures in China. Vanguard and BlackRock have been allowed to operate mutual bonds in the country," he said.
"I think its leaders get that opening up the market is good for you, and closing the market is bad for you. I think I can predict what China will do and the rest of Asia will probably step up trade with China and they will remain rather open," he said.
Know your audience
Shan has seen his fair share of financial crises. His most famous PE-buyout,was the acquisition of the Korea First Bank following the Asian financial crisis in 1997-98, which is also the subject of his new book, "MONEY GAMES: The Inside Story of How American Dealmakers Saved Korea's Most Iconic Bank".
The deal took a winning of hearts and minds among government, regulators and the public. Therefore, trust is essential to investing in Asia and to do that foreigners must understand a country's culture, Shan said.
"Without understanding the culture, the history, and without making an effort to build trust, I think it makes getting a deal done very difficult. That's the lesson we learned in Korea, but I think that applies probably universally," he said.
But a "one-size-fits-all" approach won't work in Asia.
"In different countries, our strategies are different. In China, for example, we invest in businesses which cater to primary consumption because China is shifting… its growth model away from investment-led growth to consumption-driven growth," Shan said.
Chinese private consumption represents only about 39% of GDP, he explained, a steady increase from 35% five years ago, but not close to the world average of about 62%.
In 2009, China's retail goods market was worth $1.8 trillion, whereas the American retail goods market in the same year was about $4 trillion, he added.
Last year China's retail goods market exceeded $6 trillion. "From less than half of the United States 10 years ago, to more than the United States, shows how rapidly private consumption is growing in China. Therefore, we invest in businesses which cater to private consumption," Shan said.
"But in India we do the opposite," he said. With its higher inflation rate and the weaker rupee – which, unlike the yuan, trades freely – investing in businesses that cater to the domestic market can prove unprofitable if the currency falls and the cost of hedging that exposure is pricey too.
An investor in export-focussed, or outsourcing businesses will see their foreign-currency income rise if the rupee falls, while costs are in the domestic currency.
"You have to have a conversation on the macroeconomic conditions," he said.
One company's barrier is another company's moat
In light of the coronavirus crisis, some sectors are "probably permanently impaired" across the world, including brick-and-mortar retail, Shan said.
But where there are losers, there are always winners, which makes "all the surviving companies – almost by definition – pretty good targets," he said.
There's more to it; as the dust from the pandemic settles, one sector looks to be a clear winner.
"You have to invest in businesses which have identifiable, but also sustainable, entry barriers, or a moat as we call it. Whether it is technology, market share or intellectual property; there has to be something that protects you from the competition," he said.
"If you just look at the growth, that's a trap," he said adding that others will merely follow where money can be made. "You have to be able to identify companies which can sustain competitive advantage. I think that is critically important." he added
"Technology companies, if you pick the right targets, by definition, have sustainable competitive advantage – if the technology works," he said, adding that "the Warren Buffet style of investing – that is value investing – certainly has not paid… but technology and growth stocks have outperformed the index."
"I think the driving force going forward is really the technology, or technology-enabled business sectors," he said.
To be successful in private equity investment, just targeting a profitable business isn't the answer. It has to be scalable too, he said.
With its 800 million active monthly users, China's Tencent Music is a case study in scale that taps into a vast and growing consumer market, Shan said, noting that PAG are a major shareholder.
Tencent Music (NYSE: TME) is China's leading music streaming service, using four mobile apps: QQ Music, Kugou Music, Kuwo Music and WeSing. In 2017, the company did a share swap with Spotify.
"Where on earth do you find so many users in one single market?" he asks, "again like the United States, it [China] has the same language, same culture and the same market. That really gives you the scale that you can achieve by investing in a solid business model."
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IBM is implementing a new user interface for Kenexa. The new user interface is designed to be responsive to the screen size of the device being used; which means processes and approvals can be managed from any mobile device, such as, phones and tablets more easily. IBM has created a video to show the basic navigation of the new view. The video can be found: https://ibm.box.com/s/plooof1wc8kahmmoeleb0u2xgu4vumd1
The power point presentation to go with the video can be found: https://ibm.box.com/s/pbstcaawvoeb2qcmg0nrh6d7z3kwqfh9
IBM is anticipating the release of the new user interface for August 19, 2019.
Human Resources will be providing updated documentation on the HR website under Talent Acquisition as we get closer to the release date.


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New York – A new program is offering New York City residents on food stamps a first in the country monetary reward for purchasing healthy food.
The de Blasio administration announced Thursday the Get the Good Stuff program, which gives SNAP users a dollar-for-dollar match of eligible fruits, vegetables and beans. For every $1 spent in SNAP benefits at participating supermarkets on eligible fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruits, vegetables and beans, shoppers get $1 added to a program loyalty card to spend on eligible foods on their next purchase.
Shoppers can earn up to $50 in incentives on their Get the Good Stuff card per day. The program is launching with three supermarkets in Queens and the Bronx, with a fourth being added in early 2020. The fourth, in Brooklyn, is the Three Guys supermarket located at 6502 Fort Hamilton Parkway.
There are 1.5 million, or nearly one in five, New York City resident on SNAP. A 2017 study found that low-income adults consumed one serving less of fruits and vegetables each day compared to high-income adults (two servings instead of three).
“Get the Good Stuff can double the produce budget of New York’s SNAP participants,” said Health Commissioner Dr. Oxiris Barbot. “This program makes it easier for New Yorkers to put nutritious food on the table. And, by using federal dollars and digitizing rewards on eligible SNAP purchases, New York City has created a model for the nation.”


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One of the pillars of the presentations of large companies has been the fifth generation of wireless technology. Known simply as 5GAside from being another step in smartphone connectivity, it will also help in the development of new advancements, such as non-driver vehicles.
Innovation and communication companies are betting that 5G plays a fundamental role in the interaction of users with their daily objects. In this line, during CES 2019 in Las Vegas, televisions and equipment equipped with this technology were presented.
In addition, intelligent vehicles, which do not need drivers, work with artificial intelligence and will be connected to 5G. In this way, users can receive information about the route in an efficient and immediate way.
For example, with the arrival of this new technology, expected to be operational in the next few months in the United States, the speed of data download to watch high-definition smart TV movies can be up to 20 times faster.
The bet of the companies
During Samsung's presentation, the company's CEO, HS Kim, explained the importance for the company to achieve full connectivity. "By 2019, we will take things to the next level, and we will leverage our industry leadership to make our connected-life vision a reality.
In turn, Intel also announced that it will continue working during 2019 to expand the capacity of the 5G network and announced the increase of the investment of ten years in infrastructure with the presentation of a new system in Chip. "The next era of computing requires innovation on a completely different level: one that encompasses the entire ecosystem and encompasses all facets of computing, connectivity, and more … Let's not settle for anything less," said CEO Gregory Bryant.
The Ford auto company announced on Monday that all of its new vehicles will be equipped with the technology to "talk" and "listen" to other vehicles connected through 5G.
China wants leadership in 5G
In the global race to arrive as soon as possible 5G technology has a strong competitor, China. The Asian giant proposed to be the pioneer and leader of this technology that has already been tested in some cities such as Beijing and Chengdu, in the latter was presented last Saturday "the first subway station equipped with 5G." Thanks to the implementation of this new technology, users of the Taipingyuan station will be able to obtain a better signal distribution and better coverage.
The Chinese government, with the help of China Mobile, the country's largest telephone operator, hopes to lead the next process of modernizing global networks.


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Rockridge-style "market hall" could flower in Castro
The Castro could get a food emporium similar to Oakland’s Rockridge Market Hall under a revised plan that developer Forest City Enterprises has submitted to the San Francisco Planning Department.
The proposed 88-unit project at 2175 Market St, which will replace a gas station on the corner of Market and 15th streets, calls for a 6,300 square foot on the ground floor. But Forest City is seeking to convert the straight retail into a mix of retail and eating and drinking establishments, according to public documents.
The plan calls for the building’s ground floor to be chopped up into small mom and pop vendors — meats and veggies and wine and coffee. The purveyors would share an open space filled with tables and chairs. Van Meter Williams Pollack LLP is the project architect.
J.K. Dineen covers real estate for the San Francisco Business Times.
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Social Networks News & Analysis
| Monday Apr 27, 2015
Dell just announced the release of Migration Manager for Enterprise Social (MMES), which it describes as the market’s first enterprise social migration solution. It's designed to help organizations move content from Jive to Yammer.
Not that there’s anything wrong with Jive, Randy Rempel, senior product manager at Dell told us. "No one I have ever spoken to has said anything negative about Jive," he added.
But Microsoft is trying to get all its client enterprises moved into Yammer and Dell saw a business opportunity.
| Tuesday Apr 14, 2015
Feeling overwhelmed by all that email?
Think fast, short and selective: When email piles up, most people send short responses to a small number of incoming messages as quickly as possible.
If you're the one sending the email, you have better odds of getting a response if you send your messages on weekdays, during regular business hours — especially if you can resist the urge to add an attachment.
These are some of the not-so-surprising findings of a large scale study by researchers at Yahoo Labs in Barcelona and the University of Southern California. The researchers analyzed the behavior of more than 2 million users exchanging 16 billion separate emails over several months, which they describe as the largest single study of email behavior to date.
| Wednesday Dec 31, 2014
You've all heard of Ground Hog Day, right? Well, how about Ground Hog Year? Looking back at the SharePoint landscape over the past 12 months, that’s certainly what it looks like.
In 2013, the conversation was dominated by 1) SharePoint Online 2) SharePoint and Yammer and 3) SharePoint in Office 365. In 2014, the conversation was dominated by … well, you guessed it: 1) SharePoint Online 2) SharePoint and Yammer and 3) SharePoint in Office 365.
| Thursday Nov 6, 2014
Enterprises are using social and mobile to improve customer engagement, but not using them to improve productivity. At least that is the conclusion of new research from UK-based Advanced Business Solutions (ABS).
The findings are somewhat surprising given that the uses of enterprise social networks are largely associated with internal collaboration. But that is a myth, at least in the mid-sized enterprises segment.
| Wednesday Nov 5, 2014
In its recently published Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portals, Gartner identified a number of trends.
Among the most important: the convergence of web content management (WCM) customer demands with lean portal functionality and social technologies. The concept of lean (as opposed to bloated) portals has gained traction recently, with lean portal vendors starting to work their way further up the Magic Quadrant.
Large vendors claim they can offer all the functionality an enterprise could want and more — what smaller vendors describe as "bloat." Lean vendors claim they can respond rapidly to changing business conditions and have enough functionality for any office or mobile worker.
| Tuesday Oct 21, 2014
Gartner cited six trends in its Magic Quadrant for Horizontal Portals, including a convergence of portal and Web Content Management (Web CMS) needs across enterprises. In addition, long-time traditional, portal vendors and their bloated, unwieldy architectures are losing ground to smaller, lighter portal vendors.
As evidence of both trends, just look at the companies who made it into this year's MQ: Ektron, Jahia, Sitecore, Squiz and WordPress.
| Friday Oct 17, 2014
In recent weeks we have spent a lot of time talking about data search and discovery. While there are many ways of finding content, access through portals is still one of the major pathways. This week, Gartner has published what it believes are the top horizontal portal vendors in a market that is changing rapidly.
While there are many trends in play, one of the most notable, Gartner noted, is convergence of Web Content Management (WCM) demands through lean portals that are also incorporating social technologies in the enterprise.
| Tuesday Sep 23, 2014
There's no mourning in cyberspace, no overt sentimental ramblings on social media — despite yet another move by Google to put its struggling social network out of its misery.
This time, Google is dropping the requirement for all new users to create a Plus account when signing up for a Google network.
Typically when Google chops a product, it triggers a storm of protests. With Plus, though, the blogosphere has been largely silent — a sure reflection of how few people care whether the network fades away.
| Wednesday Aug 27, 2014
I’m not sure how to use LinkedIn anymore. I’m on LinkedIn all the time as a social marketer, and over the last year or so I’ve noticed some big changes to two basic aspects of how I think about LinkedIn … and they've left me scratching my head about my own approach.
| Tuesday Jul 8, 2014
Microsoft is pushing Yammer ... again. The focus now is on small and midsize businesses (SMBs).
Microsoft underlined its enterprise ambitions for Yammer in November by making it available with all Office 365 enterprise plans. Now it's also added Yammer to Office 365 Midsize Business and Office 365 Education plans.
| Monday May 26, 2014
Since Lithium acquired Klout in late March, there's been considerable speculation about just what it would do with it. Now we know.
The San Francisco-based social customer experience platform announced two new products at its LiNC conference — Pop-up Communities and Klout for Products.
Whether the products will have the "disruptive" impact predicted by CEO Rob Tarkoff remains to be seen. Perhaps more important is how they reflect a maturing role of social networks in building relationships between companies, products and customers.
CMSWire interviewed Lithium CMO Katy Keim on the third and final day of the conference to get her perspective on the new products and other topics.
| Tuesday Mar 25, 2014
We're still very much living in the age of the customer. So what can businesses do to increase engagement between employees and customers? Here are some suggestions from Gartner.
Engaged customers are generally better brand advocates. They are more loyal and spend more on that brand. In a report titled "The Four Attributes of Customer Engagement," Gartner researchers stress that it is important to understand the foundation of customer engagement. It defines that as "attracting and influencing of customers" to hold their attention and induce them to participate in a long-term relationship.
| Thursday Mar 20, 2014
Still need evidence that Customer Relationship Management (CRM) technology is hot? Then take a quick look at recent research from Gartner, which shows CRM spending in Europe remains strong despite continuing economic problems.
Half of the 102 businesses surveyed in 30 countries and 20 industries in the fourth quarter last year plan to increase spending an average of 2.5 percent on CRM projects this year.
| Wednesday Feb 19, 2014
Just two weeks away from its 2014 Convergence Conference, Microsoft has started releasing details of the forthcoming upgrades to its customer relationship management (CRM) offerings. This year’s upgrades include smarter marketing capabilities, acute social listening and enhanced customer care based on the recent Parature acquisition.
| Thursday Feb 13, 2014
If Microsoft’s strategy for Yammer and its integration into the wider portfolio got off to a shaky start after the acquisition in 2012, it now appears rock solid. Over the past few months, the company has announced tight integration with a number of apps, with special Yammer love for Office 365.
This week, Microsoft officials noted that Yammer Enterprise will ship with all Office 365 Education plans for no additional cost, as of April 1. Currently, education customers can use free Yammer Basic.


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The transition to high-speed 10-gigabit per second networking adapters has spawned a lot of broadband communications companies. One of them, Chelsio, has raised $17 million to expand its business of making 10 gigabit Ethernet network adapters, chips and storage solutions.
Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Chelsio designs a family of custom chips dubbed the Terminator (T3) ASIC. It uses those chips in network adapter cards for enterprise computers and storage devices. The storage devices include high-speed network-attached storage devices, computing clusters, server adapters, storage area network, video servers and other devices aimed at making supercomputers and high-end servers faster. These sorts of devices are the reason that corporate web sites can feed web pages to users in a responsive manner. It also allows employees in corporations to quickly access huge databases of information stored on corporate networks.
The funding comes from existing investors New Enterprise Associates, Invesco Private Capital, Investor Growth Capital, LSI, NTT Finance, Vendanta Capital, Abacus Capital Group, Pacesetter Capital Group, Horizon Ventures, and one new participant, Mobile Internet Capital.
Chelsio chief executive Kianoosh Naghshineh, who was an architect of one of Silicon Graphics’ most successful supercomputers, said the new funding will be used for continued development of Chelsio’s 10GbE adapter products and expansion into new markets. The company has more than 150 customers developing products based on its technology, including EMC, HP, IBM and NEC. Revenues have been increasing 25 percent each quarter for the past few quarters. Naghshineh said he expects this new round of financing to take the company to profitability.
Other companies in the 10-gigabit Ethernet chip or hardware markets include Intel and Broadcom. The company was founded in 2001 and has 130 employees. It has raised $111 million to date.
Don’t miss MobileBeat 2010, VentureBeat’s conference on the future of mobile. The theme: “The year of the superphone and who will profit.” Now expanded to two days, MobileBeat 2010 will take place on July 12-13 at The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. Early-bird pricing is available until May 15. For complete conference details, or to apply for the MobileBeat Startup Competition, click here.


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Soon after 9/11, American troops came to Kabul, Afghanistan, hoping to stop terrorists cells before they could strike again. Kabul has had an American military presence since, and, for the last eight years, some residents there have felt the economic effect of the troops’ presence.
Which is why, according to the Washington Post, some welcome the troops — and hope they stay longer.
American troops come with guns, tanks, and all sorts of other weaponry, but they also come with other stuff, like snacks and toiletries and various other sundries not typically found in Afghanistan. About eight years ago, a black market of sorts opened up in the capital city of this war-torn country, named the “Bush Market,” after George W. Bush, the president who ordered the troops to Afghanistan originally. The Bush Market has an estimated 600 shops and booths, selling everything from hair dye and acne medicine to Pop-Tarts and other goodies.
While those items are intended to be used by American servicemen, they often find themselves in the hands of Afghan vendors — sometimes via trade, but most often via theft. As the Post explains, while most of the items are stolen property, Afghan authorities leave the market alone unless the Americans ask — and that is rare. The U.S. tends to leave the Bush Market be unless something sensitive is believed to have ended up there. That hasn’t happened in roughly two years.
Despite the presence of armed men loyal to another nation, many of the vendors want the American troops to remain. The vendors figure that when the soldiers leave, so goes their shops’ inventory. One vendor interviewed by the Post even believes that reports of a troop pullout have a negative effect on the marketplace’s economy, given the uncertainty around the supply of available goods.
Until then? As one anonymous merchant told the Post, a lot of Afghan merchants, are, by Afghanistan’s standards, getting “very rich doing this.”
From the Archives: The Last Jew in Afghanistan: Self-explanatory.
Related: 96 blueberry-flavored Pop-Tarts.


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MINI recently launched a global marketing campaign, using virtual-reality (VR) to show fans an entirely different perspective. With two 360-degree short films, MINI has become one of the select few brands to take advantage of VR – can you say trendsetter?
In line with the recent rebrand, MINI has taken a completely new approach to marketing the brand. It’s about giving followers and fans something engaging and unexpected – and that’s exactly what the MINI 360-degree experience delivers.
With two 6-minute short films, entitled “Real Memories” and “Backwater”, MINI brings to life a visual, hyper-real style of storytelling that’s nothing short of an immersive experience.
The films were shot in Barcelona using a custom stereo rig with nine RED Dragon cameras offering a combined resolution of 14k. A custom 7 GoPro camera rig was developed specially for scenes inside the car. For more about the filmmaking, you can view the MINI how to video.
To get the full experience though, MINI fans and followers across more than 20 countries are invited to order their complimentary MINI Cardboard Viewers. You can order yours by visiting www.mini.co.za/360.
The MINI Cardboard viewers are based on the new version of Google Cardboard and MINI plans to distribute more than 140,000 of them, free of charge, for the campaign.
Once you’ve ordered and picked up your viewer from a participating MINI dealer, all you have to do is navigate to the videos on YouTube, click the VR icon that appears onscreen, and pop your smartphone in the viewer.
Even if not for the MINI Cardboard Viewer, you can visit the campaign website for exclusive behind-the-scenes videos, trailers and more about the new MINI Connected features.
If you’ve had a chance to experience the films in 360-degree virtual reality, let us know how it was in the comments below:


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A picture speaks a thousand words…or, if you're Gigi Hadid, thousands (and thousands) of dollars.
Frank Spadafora—founder of D'Marie Archive, an analytics group that recently introduced an app that evaluates the social power of different celebrities—tells CR Fashion Book that the three most highly ranked supermodels on social media are Kendall Jenner, Cara Delevigne and Gigi Hadid.
They "are currently valued between $125,000 and $300,000 for a single post across their portfolio," he says, adding, "If you want to reach a model's audience, you're going to have to pay a hefty additional fee for that."
To put that in perspective, the average millennial woman makes somewhere around $31,069 a year, according to Business Insider. Thus, Gigi makes a little over nine times as much per single Instagram post.
Now, to put things into even greater perspective, we came up with a generic list of a few things millennial women might be buying right now and how many of them they could purchase with just one of Gigi's $300,000 paychecks from an Instagram post:
"Some of our models listed on D'Marie actually have the potential to earn more per post than their normal day rate,"Spadafora adds. "The social queens are just another breed of models."
And with that, we quote one of our all-time favorite movies (Anchorman): "I'm not even mad. I'm impressed!"


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Motorola has just announced at their Mobile World Congress press conference that it's going to release the Moto X in more countries, beginning with India and Australia in just a few weeks.
Unfortunately they haven't disclosed any more information, except for the release date. So we don't know what retail model they will follow in any of the countries and we have no pricing information either.
We expect the company to offer more details about the Moto X's release soon, but unfortunately we don't think it will come with Motomaker. Motorola has disclosed information about Motomaker availability too and it seems like it will be available in Western Europe and Mexico in Q2, this year, but there's no word on India or Australia.
The Motorola Moto X has been announced in August 2013 and it's one of the best phones for its price, featuring Motorola's X8 mobile computing platform, which is composed of a dual-core 1.7Ghz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, four GPU cores, a contextual computing core and a natural language processor.
The Moto X also sports a 4.7-inch 720p display, 16GB of internal storage, 2GB of RAM, a 10MP primary camera, along with a 2MP frontal one and it comes with Android 4.4.2 KitKat.
The company has also disclosed the 2014 Moto X's release date, which will be by the end of the summer. We don't have any other details about it, but we tried to guess what it's going to come with and you can read our article here.
Are you planning to buy the Moto X once it's available in your country ?


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Attorney Takes on Chocolate Makers Over Toxin Traces
By AMANDA BRONSTAD
The attorney who sued the nation’s top chocolate manufacturers earlier this year claiming their confections pose a potential health risk is leaving a bitter taste among state regulators.
Roger Carrick filed a petition on Aug. 14 requesting that the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) make more stringent its allowable levels of cadmium, a known toxin.
Carrick made headlines in May when he filed suit against the nation’s top chocolate makers, including Hershey Foods Corp. and Mars Inc., claiming their products expose consumers to unhealthy amounts of lead and cadmium. That case is pending.
According to Carrick, OEHHA’s cadmium regulation, which became effective Aug. 19, is based on inferior scientific studies.
The suit was filed in L.A. County Superior Court on behalf of two California groups, The American Environmental Safety Institute and The Center for Ethics and Toxics.
“The Institute has been on record since the beginning as saying the (state) government’s initial proposal was wrong,” Carrick said. In the suit, Carrick adds: “If the cadmium regulation becomes effective as adopted by OEHHA, residents of California will be exposed to over 17 times the actual safe level of cadmium.”
Cadmium is a metal that may cause choking, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or death if it is ingested, according to the Material Safety Data Sheet, a government-mandated safety tip sheet for hazardous chemicals. Naturally occurring in groundwater and in some vegetables, it is also used in metal plating, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.
The EPA began regulating cadmium in 1992 and considers a safe level of cadmium to be less than five parts per billion.
Carrick’s claims are based on the state’s Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act, commonly referred to as Proposition 65.
Prop 65, passed in 1986, was designed to inform consumers of the health risks caused by various carcinogens and toxins. Where an unhealthy amount of these chemicals is present, a business must post warnings notifying consumers of the potential health risks.
Private attorneys often enforce Prop 65, which now covers about 750 chemicals. For many businesses, the costs and complexities of defending themselves against Prop 65 suits have become unmanageable, said Allan Hirsch, spokesman for OEHHA.
One attorney who represents several businesses accused of Prop 65 violations said the dispute over allowable levels of cadmium is over two very conservative numbers and has a negligible impact.
“The person who’s filing this challenge to the state has a track record of filing Prop 65 enforcement cases against businesses,” said Robert Falk, an attorney at Morrison & Foerster LLP in San Francisco. “He’s trying to get leverage for his lawsuit.”
To ease the burden on businesses having to define risk levels, the state began to create “safe harbor numbers” that clarify the amount of a Prop 65 chemical considered safe, he said.
The safe harbor numbers also curb unnecessary warnings posted by businesses that opt to settle with Prop 65 attorneys simply to avoid lengthy and expensive trials, Hirsch said.
Last year, OEHHA proposed a cadmium safe harbor number of 4.1 micrograms per day. Carrick claims OEHHA should be using a separate and more accurate study that calculates the safe level of cadmium at .232 micrograms per day.


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Pasta Chef of the Year
Southampton-based Cookery School owner Katarina Broadribb from The Lemon and Soul Cookery School has won a prestigious PAPA Award recognising her as Pasta Chef of the Year 2017.
Katarina picked up the award at The PAPA Awards Gala Dinner which took place at the Royal Lancaster London Hotel in November. Hosted by Comedian Dominic Holland and Celebrity Chef, Theo Randall the Awards recognised excellence and innovation in the important pizza, pasta and Italian food industry in the UK and Katarina was a worthy winner of The Pasta Chef of the Year title.
Run by the Pizza, Pasta and Italian Food Association, the Pasta Chef of the Year competition brought together the finest pasta chefs from across the UK. Katarina took part in the regional heats of The Pasta Chef of The Year competition which then saw her competing in the Live Grand Final at the European Pizza and Pasta Show (EPPS) at London Olympia. Katarina went on to win the final being named The Pasta Chef of the Year 2017.
The PAPA Awards, judged by panels of professionals from the industry, highlighted those involved in the sector who are pioneering and leading the market, whether in the development of new products or the creation of excellence in the high street. Katarina wowed the judges with her Brisket and Wild Mushroom Ragu Pappardelle which the judges described as “just perfect”.
Katarina is the owner of Hampshire based Lemon & Soul Cookery school. Katarina has been cooking since a small girl in her home town of Bratislava and after years of cooking for family and friends she bravely decided to make it her business. She has since successfully launched several classes in Southampton and has recently won the Café Life Awards with her Croll of the New York Style Bagel Company in the UK 2017, her daughter has won the World Bread Awards twice and her middle daughter has been in the finals over the last three years.
Katarina commented: “This competition is a fantastic way of inspiring new ideas. I am absolutely delighted to be named Pasta Chef of the Year. I feel like I am dreaming. It is such an honour to win such a big award and I feel very proud. I am so passionate about food and to be recognised by PAPA as The Pasta Chef of the Year is the most incredible achievement.”
Samantha Day from the competition organisers, PAPA said: “The quest to find the country’s best pasta chef takes us on an amazing journey across the UK. Katarina was a clear winner and the judges were really impressed with the flavours in her pasta dish, making her a clear winner as The Pasta Chef of the Year 2017. Katarina has a huge passion for food and this is evident in her dish created for the competition.”


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In a piece about Mom and Pop stores in our fine borough, the New York Times gives prominent placement to Brooklyn Heights’ own Holler and Squall:
NYT: GILLETTE AND ZAK WING vividly remember the day in 2009 when they were walking down Atlantic Avenue on the cusp of Brooklyn Heights, peering into an abandoned store front and casually fantasizing about opening an antiques business. A local real estate agent was walking by and noticed the couple. “He basically said, ‘You want it? It’s yours.’ ” Mrs. Wing said.
Three years and two babies later, they are now the proprietors of Holler & Squall, a meticulously edited furniture and oddities shop capitalizing on the neighborhood’s old-is-cutting-edge aesthetic (the store’s name is from a Jimmy Martin bluegrass song).
Mr. and Mrs. Wing are part of a new generation of mom and pops that has thrived in regentrified Brooklyn, doling out attainable indulgences (freshly baked vegan cookies, American-made chinos, really good cheese) to customers who prefer to know their proprietors by name. On the surface, these “co-preneurials” seem to be living a new American dream.
Photo of Gillette, Zak and Paul Wing in 2011 by Julie Kanfer.


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Ralph Lauren quietly shuttered its two-year-old 20,000-square-foot store last week. Other brands are expected to close boutiques in a city that has lost its luster for cash-rich mainland Chinese tourists.
The 15th-annual awards ceremony recognized the accomplishments of a cross section of beauty executives.
Speakers said information sharing is needed in CRS programs and green claims.
Efforts to find survivors continued through Monday as officials said 386 people have been declared dead and about 900 were still counted as missing.
Baz Luhrmann and costume designer Catherine Martin sought her collaboration on the film.
The American designer booked photographer Steven Klein and cult model Kristen McMenamy.


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A recent NASSCOM report said that the Indian SaaS market is estimated to hit $3.3-3.4 billion by 2022. This will be largely on the back of talent availability, a lower cost workforce and adoption of emerging technologies like AI.
“The Indian CIAM market is growing as Internet penetration accelerates and more businesses start offering their services online. We already have 460 million users on the Internet with an average of 12 identities per person. That’s a total of over 5.5 billion in digital identities. We have customers like Conde Nast, Viacom, Weather Network, 21st Century Fox and more”, Rakesh Soni, Co-founder & CEO, LoginRadius said in an interview with ETCIO.
Trend Micro Apex One offers automated detection and response, provides actionable insights that maximize security for customers and offers growth opportunities for the channel.
According to the McAfee's 'Cloud Adoption and Risk' report, sensitive information stored in the cloud, SaaS collaboration and IaaS/PaaS configuration mistakes, along with cloud threats, are at all-time highs—creating significant risks to enterprise data.
After the country’s largest SaaS company restored its services, chief executive Shridhar Vembu apologised to customers for the outage and assured in a blog post that “nothing like this will ever happen again”.
Jay Chaudhry, CEO, Chairman and Founder, Zscaler shares his views on how the company has redefined security, why adopting security for a non-appliance cloud-driven model is essential and critical security threats facing enterprises.
With this partnership, Netmagic and McAfee will provide customized security services to help customers in monitoring malicious activities across servers and hosts with a proactive protection from threat actors – both opportunistic and targeted.
The solution addresses the most critical enterprise security requirements for Microsoft Azure and empowers customers to build applications, underlying cloud infrastructure and enterprise data are protected.
Patch Manager Plus on cloud enables admins to automate the entire patch management process, from patch detection to deployment and secure devices from multiple vulnerabilities and cyberattacks at less than a dollar per computer per month.
In 2018, we expect the trend of increasing technical proficiency to break through cyber defences to become more pronounced as these attackers will use machine learning and artificial intelligence to launch even more potent attacks, says Tarun Kaura, Director - Product Management, APJ, Symantec
Security startup Indus launched a SaaS based continuous hack prevention solution AppTrana for protecting online applications.
Increasing business impact of security incidents and evolving regulations is driving the Information security spending globally, according to Gartner’s latest forecast
Randstad has selected Trend Micro as its cloud infrastructure security solution partner for the next five years
Fortinet launches CASB offering and expands on-demand cloud security solutions with unmatched performance for enterprises and service providers


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HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- Across Houston, businesses sit empty and employees who relied on pay day are getting nothing.
It's a grim picture that spurred Jon Silberman to create the Houston Coronavirus Business Group and a petition to re-open small businesses in Houston.
"Most small business people don't have huge savings," said Silberman. "They don't have a lot of extra cushion. They've got debts, they've got all kinds of obligations. When their income goes to zero, it's a massive, massive problem."
He said the financial crisis is here and the dire need for money is playing out.
The commercial real estate broker and part owner of NAI Partners said only 30 percent of his tenants were able to pay April's rent. He knew they needed an advocate.
"We need to get back to business essentially by May 1st or sooner," said Silberman. "We feel like the draconian lockdown needs to be lifted and certain things can be implemented to manage the risk, but you don't have to shut everything down."
Silberman said an online petition to lift the 'stay-at-home' order after April 30 now has 300 signatures from small to medium sized business owners, representing more than 20,000 out-of-work Houstonians.
The petition will be attached to a letter addressed to Mayor Sylvester Turner, Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo and Gov. Greg Abbott.
"Most people who are suffering feel like there's a balance in there, and they are willing to take the risk, the health care risk, to be able to support themselves and their family at some level."
The letter includes 10 recommendations to responsibly re-open small businesses, including limiting occupancy inside a store, taking temperatures before entering a business and restrictions for vulnerable populations.
Silberman and his group said they understand this is a no-win situation, and that re-opening business during the pandemic comes with risk. But he said someone must advocate for small business owners and their employees who face financial ruin if the shutdown continues through May.
Follow Shelley Childers on Facebook and Twitter.
Petition to open small businesses by May 1 gaining traction
More TOP STORIES News


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The European Union is a bit even worse off with technology firms in its territory than the United States or China and is taking actions therefore.
The European Commission and the European Investment Fund (EIF) are releasing a joint project to set up 2 billion euros. They will certainly be invested in fundamental modern technologies in the area of artificial intelligence as well as blockchain innovation. Investments come versus the backdrop of international competition. Thus, this would be the strategy of the European Union which looks for not to lag behind the United States of America and also China in regards to the technology sector.
In 2020, the European Union and also EIF will certainly spend 100 million euros in companies that are associated with the advancement of the two innovations. According to price quotes, this amount will certainly bring in one more 300 – 400 million euros from private investors.
In the longer term, financial investments will enhance. From 2021, investments will certainly enhance to one billion euros as well as will reach, throughout 2 billion euros, within the InvestEU Programs.
The European Union intends to compete with the United States and also China
“The new Investment Fund for Artificial Intelligence and Blockchain was released previously this year and will money the advancement of companies that handle very ingenious artificial intelligence and also blockchain, as part of a larger movement to develop a vibrant development community at the degree of the whole EU “, states the European Commission’s site.
The distinctions in between the European bloc as well as both states, the United States and China, are rather huge in terms of investments. AI companies in the United States received concerning 2 thirds of the overall personal investment in expert system in between 2011 and 2018. Chinese companies obtained, on standard, 21% of the global overall. In Europe, investments were listed below 10% in that duration.
In the blockchain, the issue is also bigger. American companies obtained 33% of the financial investments, European firms 22% as well as Chinese business 21%.


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CONCORD, N.C. -- Cabarrus County's gut-wrenching loss of the Philip Morris cigarette plant likely signals a deal to spin-off the Marlboro maker's international tobacco business as a separate company.
The behemoth factory is part of Philip Morris USA, but about 20 percent of the cigarettes it made last year went abroad for sister company Philip Morris International. Both units are part of Altria Group.
On Tuesday, Altria said it would close the Concord plant and move production for U.S. sales to its headquarters plant in Richmond, Va. Foreign production from both factories will move overseas.
Two trends -- dwindling U.S. consumption and exports -- are snuffing the high-tech, efficient Concord plant that opened in 1983.
The shutdown follows 25 years of declining U.S. cigarette sales, amid growing concerns about deadly side effects, sharply higher taxes and smoking bans. The nation's cigarette exports also have plummeted as competition from foreign manufacturers increased and the quality of tobacco and overseas production improved. And sales are growing abroad.
Those factors make a case for letting the foreign unit stand alone, and that's how Wall Street analysts interpreted Tuesday's news.
"This is pretty much the first step," said Herb Achey, a senior equity analyst at U.S. Trust Co. in New York. "It's kind of like taking your family photos out of the beach house before you sell it."
The Concord plant is scheduled to close by the end of 2010, leaving Richmond as the company's only U.S. plant. North Carolina still will be home to the No. 2 U.S. cigarette maker, Winston-Salem's Reynolds American. The company, owner of R.J. Reynolds Tobacco, also has struggled with declining sales and layoffs.
Altria expects the consolidation will generate annual savings of $335 million by 2011. Upfront, the company will take a charge this quarter of $325 million, mostly for layoff costs.
Philip Morris still dominant
U.S. cigarette sales peaked in 1981 and have fallen since. Last year, Americans bought about 371 billion cigarettes. That's a little less than in 1950 when the nation's population was about half today's level.
Philip Morris USA dominates this declining market, accounting for half the smokes sold in America with Marlboro its runaway bestseller. The company's other main brands are Parliament, Virginia Slims and Basic, a discount brand.
In total, Philip Morris sold more than 183 billion cigarettes in the U.S. last year, a decline of about 1.1 percent.
Philip Morris International estimates it has about 15 percent of the foreign market, estimated at more than 5 trillion cigarettes a year. The company sells more than four times as many cigarettes overseas as it does in the U.S., and that volume grew last year.
Growing exports briefly helped offset declining domestic sales. In the 1990s, foreign sales even drove big expansions at the Concord plant. But foreign production has shifted abroad.
Total U.S. exports, which helped offset domestic declines, have dropped by more than half from a 1996 peak.
The Concord and Richmond plants supplied about 80 billion cigarettes last year to Philip Morris International. By the third quarter of next year, cigarettes for foreign sales will be made overseas. The company says it hasn't decided where.
Through subsidiaries and affiliates Switzerland-based PMI owns, leases or has an interest in 71 factories in 34 countries, according to a March filing with securities regulators. That includes cigarette plants in the Netherlands, Germany and Russia.
Altria stocks rise
Wall Street liked Altria's Tuesday announcement, which propelled the stock to close at $69.63, up 88 cents, or 1.3 percent.
The company wouldn't comment on whether a spin-off is in the works. In April, Altria CEO Louis Camilleri told investors the company is "carefully and diligently" exploring a potential spin-off of its foreign business.
A move to separate PMI reflects its growth, acquisitions and progress in improving quality and production at foreign factories.
"The international business now has the size, scope, manufacturing facilities and leaf production," said Achey with US Trust, which owns Altria shares.
Analysts expect an independent PMI, free of U.S. litigation and regulations, to be more aggressive in doing deals and seeking growth globally. Smoking is declining in some developed countries, as it is the U.S., but is on the rise in some poorer nations. Population growth also can add to the number of smokers, even if overall smoking rates declines.
"If the market was looking for a definitive signal that Altria intends to spin off international tobacco, today's announced plant closuresall but gives away the ending," Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to investors.


text: To create flexible electronics, researchers often have to make compromises. Boosting a device’s elasticity can mean incorporating materials that sap its conductivity. Nanostructured electronics can provide both flexibility and conductivity, but they tend to be difficult to fabricate and can be incompatible with certain soft substrates, such as textiles. A team of researchers led by Takao Someya of the University of Tokyo has now developed an ink that can be used to print highly conductive and elastic structures such as transistor arrays directly on a variety of materials (Nat. Commun. 2015, DOI: 10.1038/ncomms8461). Key to the ink’s versatility is a well-balanced chemical composition, which includes silver flakes, a fluorinated elastomer, a fluorinated surfactant, and an organic solvent. As the Tokyo team prints the mixture, water and the surfactant begin to separate from the organic solvent, forcing silver flakes to congregate into a conductive network at the ink’s surface. The surfactant also improves the silver’s affinity for the fluorinated polymer, allowing the ink to stay stretchy as it cures.


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Microsoft just unveiled their latest version of the new Windows 8 operating system at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. Even though its called a consumer preview, its actually more of a beta version. Within the first hour, Microsoft already had downloads from over 70 different countries.
Microsoft said there are more than 100,000 changes to the operating system since the last Developers Preview that came out last September. There are also a lot of new apps that were not available in the last release of the OS.
Windows 8 is geared towards PCs as well as tablets and smartphones. It offers the standard Windows desktop along with the Metro user interface designed for touch screens. Steven Sinofsky, president of Microsoft's Windows Division said that "We challenged ourselves to bring [together] the best of mobility and the best of PCs, without compromise."
It's still too early to have details about availability, pricing. The free Consumer Preview is now available in English, German, French, Japanese, and Standard Chinese. Microsoft says there will be ongoing updates to the OS and Preview apps along the way as it marches toward final release.
Download Windows 8 Consumer Preview


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Apparently, some Tempe men did the math and thought stealing five prized French bulldog puppies, each worth $6,300, would add up to a pretty remarkable payday.
ABC15 first reported the theft at Arizona Mills, a large indoor shopping mall in Tempe.
Marketing director Linda Nofer, who works for Companion Pets, the company that owns the Tempe pet store, explained that based on some grainy surveillance-camera footage, they have a few clues about how it happened.
"Shortly after 10 p.m., the guys were seen in the back corridor, which leads to the back door of our store," she said. "And they apparently jimmied their way in the back door."
After foiling the back door in less than 10 seconds, thieves made a beeline for the cute French bulldog puppies, known as "Frenchies," which are an extremely expensive breed.
"They clearly knew what they were going for, because they were only in the store for a minute and four seconds, and they stole five French bulldogs worth $6,300 apiece," Nofer said. "And gone they were."
“There’s only two things they’re going to do," Nofer added. "They’re either going to sell them, or they’re going to breed them."
To make matters worse, several families had already bought three of the dogs before they were stolen on Wednesday night.
"You’ve got three heartbroken families," Nofer said. "They had already purchased the puppies, they were just waiting to come pick them up."
All five puppies have microchips, so it's possible that if someone ends up with one of the stolen bulldogs, they could plug the microchip code into the American Kennel Club's website and find out if it was an Animal Kingdom dog. Or it's possible that a veterinarian might do the same when the dogs are brought in for a check-up.
So if your neighbor comes home tonight with five French bulldogs, take note, Nofer said.
"No one goes and buys $31,000 worth of dogs," she said.
The company also has pet stores in Tucson, Scottsdale, Paradise Valley, San Tan Valley, and Glendale. They're offering a $1,000 reward for the safe return of the dogs. "We just want these puppies back safely," Nofer said.


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In our modern “instant” economy where many formerly stable jobs are now crowd-sourced, few services have drawn the scrutiny of substitute taxi services Uber and Lyft. While rider safety also lies at the center of the debate, a less flashy issue is also under consideration – whether drivers are employees or independent contractors. In two lawsuits filed in California, federal judges have decided to leave that question to juries to decide at trial. While its eventual impact is limited to that area of the country for now, the decision could ripple across the country. If the companies win, businesses will likely be able to carry on as usual, continuing the push for more and more independent contractor relationships. If they lose, it could begin to reshape the legal definition of an employee, potentially leading to more rights for workers across the country and more obligations for the businesses that hire them.
Business Formation, Shareholder & Operating Agreements, Commercial Contracts, Employment Contracts, Company Policies & Handbooks, Business & Contract Disputes, Acquisition and Transfer of Assets, Financing Agreements, Protection of Trade Secrets and Trademark Infringement.GWAO Business August 10, 2014


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Iconic op-shop's half price sale
SINCE opening its doors in 1963, Royal Far West is one of the longest running opportunity shops in Coffs Harbour.
Until the end of the month, locals can grab a bargain from the store as it holds its 50-per-cent-off sale.
Royal Far West is a not-for-profit organisation that connects rural and remote Australian children with health care, offering a range of health, education and disability services to communities across Australia.
The Coffs Harbour branch was formed at a public meeting in 1949. Local volunteers raised money by selling used clothing from the garage of the home of a volunteer before establishing the first shop in Moonee St in 1972.
Today it's a modern shop with shelves stocked with all sorts of goods, from clothing to kitchenware, toys and other treasures.
However, life member Jill Gill, who has been volunteering for almost 22years, says there's a dire need for more volunteers.
"The shop is run by unpaid volunteers who not only serve the customers but accept and sort those precious donations of goods from the local community,” she said.
"At the moment we are really lacking volunteers and need more help.”
Shifts are about three and a half hours long.
Visit the shop on the corner of Moonee St and West High St or phone 66516747 if you are interested.


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By: Emily Johnson
December 15, 2013
Tallahassee, FL - The Tallahassee Professional Firefighters IAFF local 2339 gave the shopping spree of a lifetime to children. It was the annual Shop With A Firefighter event held at the Walmart on Thomasville Road. "We partner with the Children's Home Society and that gives us a chance to put some gifts underneath these kids trees this Christmas and really give them some, cheer them up," said Lt. Mike Bellamy of Tallahassee Professional Firefighters.
The hottest items on the childrens' Christmas list were definitely the toys. "Uh a Barbie house and a barbie toy," said one of the children.
This will be the second year Walmart has hosted the event and they can see many more years in the future. "Absolutely I believe that we will continue to be a partner with the firemen and to be able to continue to do this for the foreseeable future," said Greg Coggins, Walmart Store Manager.
The shopping spree was made possible through organizations like Walmart and Paul Davis Restoration. Tallahassee Professional Firefighters also holds fund raising events year-round. "We have one coming up in April a fishing tournament down at the coast a hook and ladder fishing tournament, we do a golf tournament and different things to raise money," said Lt. Bellamy.
More than a dozen firefighters helped with picking out the gifts with the children.


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Another day, another online game launching with widespread server issues. This time it’s the PlayStation 4s Drive Clubwhose servers apparently cause so much trouble for customers on launch day that Sony and developer Evolution Studios have indefinitely postponed a planned “PlayStation Plus” edition that would have given limited access to millions more.
“We are currently seeing a lot of activity and new social behaviors, but unfortunately this is pushing the servers to their limits,” Paul Rustchynsky, director of Evolution Studios, wrote in a Facebook post Wednesday morning. “To help everyone Drive Club players who already own the game, we are temporarily holding back the PS Plus edition and the My DriveClub app to ease the load and traffic to the servers. This should give players a better chance to connect to the game servers and once the servers are up and running we’ll be sure to let you know when the PS Plus Edition and My DriveClub app will be available to download.”
While Drive Club does have a limited single player mode, operating servers is necessary to join clubs with other players and take part in the online challenges and time trials that make up the bulk of the game. The PS Plus edition, which would be released alongside the full game, gives PlayStation Plus subscribers free access to 11 tracks and a limited selection of cars.
Evolution first acknowledged the server issues Tuesday afternoon, following the game’s North American launch that morning. “However, we are aware that many players are receiving an error message stating ‘there is an error with your internet connection’ and we are investigating what appears to be a broader server issue behind this issue,” the note reads in part. Sony also posted on its online support page, “We are aware of issues players are experiencing with some of our titles on the PlayStation Network. Technicians are working to resolve these issues as soon as possible.”
There are nearly 800 mostly negative comments to this morning’s Facebook update about the situation, and the developers have also responded to some angry tweets about the situation on the game’s Twitter page. A complaint thread on the official PlayStation forums is approaching 100 posts at the time of writing. “I’ve been waiting a year for this game so I would think this issue was foreseen,” writes one forum visitor.
Originally planned as a PS4 launch title, Drive Club was delayed nearly a year to give the development team time to deliver a “truly innovative, socially connected racing game,” as Shuhei Yoshida, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide, said at the time.


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The European battle between LG and Sony over the PlayStation 3 has taken a new turn. Sony has reportedly won, and the earlier seizure of PS3s in Holland has been stopped. To give you some context: LG and Sony are in a dispute concerning Blu-Ray patents (and royalties, of course). LG claims that because the PS3 ships with a Blu-Ray player it infringes on some LG patents, and successfully asked a court to stop the sales in Europe. It worked for a while, until now.
The larger issue is still not over, but it looks like LG won’t be able to pressure Sony by stalling PS3 sales. Shipment and sales of PS3 in Europe should come back to normal with the next 12 hours. To be continued…
Next Story: Sprint Kyocera Echo Android phone passes the FCC


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Superlab Suisse heading to Basel
Superlab Suisse is bringing its Lab-as-a-Service business concept to Basel. The company will open a new location with lab and research space in the beginning of 2024 at the city’s Stücki Park.
Superlab Suisse will offer laboratories in Basel (img: Superlab Suisse)
Superlab Suisse is establishing a presence in Basel. Founded in 2019, the Zurich-based firm will be offering its laboratory services from Stücki Park in Basel. Superlab Suisse will have one high rise building with lab and research space covering an area of 6,200 square meters at the Innovation Center for Life Sciences in Stuecki Park Basel North.
The Superlab Suisse business concept is directed towards biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medtech companies, and encompasses lab facilities, state-of-the-art equipment, professional and concierge services as well as financing support. “These companies should have to worry as little as possible about infrastructure, allowing them instead to focus their investments entirely on research and innovation”, comments CEO Zhang Xi.
Entire life sciences value chain available
Superlab Suisse already has laboratories based in Lausanne and in 2024 also in Schlieren in the canton of Zurich. The company now also has its sights set on tapping into one of the most important life sciences clusters in Europe and around the world. As the company explains, the entire life sciences value chain can be found in the Basel Area. This ranges from research and startups all the way through to manufacturing, commercialization and distribution activities. Therefore, there is a “large talent pool of experienced specialists, suppliers and service providers at every stage and for every function of your company”.
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A rare Olympic fifty pence piece found on a beach has sold for a whopping £10,000 on eBay 10 days after being listed on the selling site by the owner.
The seller listed the coin as a "very rare 2011 Olympic 50p coin with waterlines on swimmer face not Kew Gardens" and explained they found it with their metal detector on a beach.
"I don't understand much about coins," the seller wrote, "but I believe this coin is genuine. Do not bid if you don't feel confident."
In 2010 and 2011, 29 new 50p designs were released into circulation to mark the 2012 Olympics.
This included an Olympics Swimmer coin featuring wavy lines across the swimmer’s face, however, only 600 were ever produced before the design was amended to show the athlete's full face.
Six-hundred is a tiny, tiny amount in the world of coin collecting. To put this into context, there are around 6.7million Battle of Hastings 50p coins in circulation and 2,179,000 Olympic Triathlon 50p coins out there right now.
And that's what makes it so valuable.
Experts at coin specialists ChangeChecker predict that these coins could be worth between £1,000 and £1,500, but the most we've seen one sell for was £600 last August.
The seller found it on the beach using a metal detector and said they believed that the coin was in fact one of the rare editions.
If you've got one at home, check to see if the water lines cross over the swimmer's face - if they do, you could be on to a winner.
Of course, a coin is only worth what someone will pay for it so there's no guarantee that yours will sell for as much.
Coin Hunter has a new tool that reveals how much your rare 50p coin is really worth on eBay.
It's not the only coin tracker available - ChangeChecker.org launched a similar eBay league table this time last year.
Have you spotted a rare coin in your spare change? Get in touch: email@example.com.
You might also like to read about the 37 rarest and most valuable £2 coins in circulation, which you can do so by clicking here.


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On Nov. 17, 2017, NPR’s Bill Chappell reported “Tesla Unveils Its Electric ‘Semi’ Truck, And Adds A Roadster”. The tractor trailer truck is streamlined and can haul 800,000 gross vehicle weight (GVW) up a five percent grade at 65 miles an hour up to 500 miles before charging. This is a big deal. Most people can barely afford to buy or lease an electric car, but lots of companies can write off a fleet of trucks as a business expense. They might even get an environmental benefit. There is a freeway down in Long Beach California that is bumper to bumper around the clock. Replacing diesel with electric would clear the air quite a bit. Cross country hauling would mean slipping in a new truck every 500 miles. It is possible that means drivers would get a chance to rest and have fewer accidents. One interesting detail. There is only one seat and it is in the center of the cab. It means you can sell it around the world no matter what side of the road people drive on. Frankly I think the extra room is for the technology that drives the truck without a human driver.
Copyright 2017 DJ Cline All rights reserved.


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The results from Creighton University professor William Duckworth's study shows large savings for mobile phone users however the viewpoint is too optimistic
The kill switch defintiely offers a lot of personal benefits for the kill switch and it is pretty obvious why it has become a need for many mobile owners. From the viewpoint of having increased protection, it seems a pretty daunting task for the mobile snatchers to steal something which is likely to turn into a brick. However, there is a whole new point to this and a theory has been presented by Creighton University professor William Duckworth who carried out a study and the results found out that a remote shutdown feature could also save phone users a lot of money.
Don't Miss: Today's Electronics Bargains at Woot.com
This study has a sample of 1,200 people who were used for the survey and this concluded that mobile phone users can save up to a whopping total of $2.5 billion per year as they no longer need to buy new phones after theft and also go for new insurance plans. Almost a $500 million sum is used up to buy new phones after theft and consumers can spend up to $2 billion for the insurance that covers up the phone. Where this saving of money is good for the customers, it might not be such a loved idea by the carriers and the insurers because theft means an increase in their sales and hence an increase in their revenues.
But this study is being perceived as being too optimistic and Asurion, which has been in the business of phone insurance for a long time, states that about 60 percent of the missing phones are merely lost and not stolen hence there is a higher possibility that you will end up paying insurance for a phone that you probably forgot at the bar rather than paying for a phone that got stolen. And having this kill switch does not entirely ensure that the phone will not get stolen, after all how many theives would know that the phone has that kill switch or some might not even care because they might be interested in other parts of the phone. But we are not entirely ruling out the survey because some people will end up spending lesser money due to this kill switch.