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Categories Tech News
Tesla leak reportedly shows thousands of Full Self-Driving safety complaints
May 25, 2023
A Tesla whistleblower has leaked 100GB of data to the German outlet Handelsblatt containing thousands of customer complaints that raise serious concerns about the safety of Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) features.
The complaints, which were reported across the US, Europe, and Asia, span from 2015 to March 2022. During this period, Handelsblatt says Tesla customers reported over 2,400 self-acceleration issues and 1,500 braking problems, including 139 reports of “unintentional emergency braking” and 383 reports of “phantom stops” from false collision warnings.
Some of the incidents mentioned by Handelsblatt include descriptions of how cars “suddenly brake or accelerate abruptly.” While some drivers safely gained control of their vehicle,…


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Omar writes: "Fighting game spinoffs are nothing new in the world of video games, but there eight franchises could really use the fighting game treatment."
Of all the confusing naming conventions associated with video games, fighting games are perhaps the most notorious. With most franchises receiving countless re-releases, ports, and sequels, it can be hard to know where to get started.
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.

domain: news


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AI Chips in 2024: NVIDIA, MLPerf benchmarks, Huang’s law, and competition
What we learned on AI Chips in 2024 by keeping track of NVIDIA’s latest announcements, talking to industry experts, and scanning news and analyses
Exploring AI chips has been a pastime, as a well as a popular theme in Orchestrate all the Things articles. In 2023, we felt like we fell somewhat behind on that..but then again, does that matter? Doesn’t NVIDIA still reign supreme – 1 trillion valuation, more than 80% market share, H100s selling like hot bread and breaking all records and all? Well, yes, but..not so fast.
After having the chance to pick CPO of AI at HPE Evan Sparks’ brain at the AI Chips episode of our “What’s New in AI” series with O’Reilly, sit at a couple of NVIDIA’s press conferences, and scan a ton of news and analyses so you don’t have to, we have a more nuanced view to share on AI Chips in 2024. Here’s what’s going on and how it’s likely to affect AI going forward.
NVIDIA breaks MLPerf benchmark records
Let’s start with the news. Yesterday, NVIDIA announced their results from the latest MLPerf submissions. MLPerf is the de facto standard in AI workload benchmarks, and as more AI workloads emerge MLPerf keeps adding to it suite. With Generative AI taking off over the last year, MLPerf has added Gen AI workloads to its arsenal.
Having previously added a benchmark that uses a portion of the full GPT-3 data set to train a Large Language Model (LLM), the latest addition to MLPerf is a training benchmark based on the Stable Diffusion text-to-image model. NVIDIA aced both of these, as well as a few more. Intel and Google also boast big AI training gains.
NVIDIA Eos — an AI supercomputer powered by a whopping 10,752 NVIDIA H100 Tensor Core GPUs and NVIDIA Quantum-2 InfiniBand networking — completed a training benchmark based on a GPT-3 model with 175 billion parameters trained on one billion tokens in just 3.9 minutes.
That’s a nearly 3x gain from 10.9 minutes, the record NVIDIA set when the test was introduced less than six months ago. By extrapolation, Eos could now train that LLM in just eight days, 73x faster than a prior state-of-the-art system using 512 A100 GPUs. As for the Stable Diffusion benchmark, it took 1,024 NVIDIA Hopper architecture GPUs 2.5 minutes to complete it.
But that’s not all. As NVIDIA notes, the company was the only one to run all MLPerf tests, demonstrating the fastest performance and the greatest scaling in each of the nine benchmarks. In MLPerf HPC, a separate benchmark for AI-assisted simulations on supercomputers, H100 GPUs delivered up to twice the performance of NVIDIA A100 Tensor Core GPUs in the last HPC round.
Options for training AI models
Now, let’s start unpacking these results. The first thing to note is the various dimensions of scale. When Eos was first announced, it featured 4,608 H100s. Today, it features 10,752. But NVIDIA is not the only one to leverage Eos scale and performance.
As the company notes, a full-stack platform of innovations in accelerators, systems and software was used by both Eos and Microsoft Azure in the latest round. Azure did not submit in all categories, but in the GPT-3 benchmark where both submitted, results were practically identical. And Azure’s instance is commercially available too.
What’s more, the scaling efficiency for Eos was north of 80%. Ideally, double the number of GPUs would get twice the performance. Getting 80% of that, at this scale, is quite a feat. NVIDIA attributed this to its stack – the combination of hardware, software, and networking.
One takeaway here is that “Jensen’s Law“, the moniker used to describe the performance and scale-up that NVIDIA GPUs achieve, seems to be still in effect. But perhaps the real question is who should care, and why.
That kind of scale is not something anyone but the hyperscalers could normally handle, even if they wanted to. NVIDIA H100 GPUs are in short supply despite costing around $30K each. As the State of AI in 2023 report notes, organizations are in a stockpiling race. But there are good news as well.
First off, NVIDIA chips have remarkably long lifetime value: 5 years from launch to peak popularity. NVIDIA V100, released in 2017, is still the most commonly used chip in AI research. This suggests A100s, released in 2020, could peak in 2026 when the V100 is likely to hit its trough.
Plus, it’s questionable whether training a new Gen AI model from scratch is something most organizations will need to do. The majority of organizations will probably either only use pre-trained Gen AI models packaged under the hood to power applications, or choose to use something like ChatGPT over an API. Both of these options require exactly zero GPUs.
The flip side, of course, is that both of these options also provide zero autonomy and safety. But even for organizations that choose to develop in-house Gen AI, training something from scratch is probably not what makes the most sense for most. Taking an off-the-shelf open source Gen AI model and customizing it via fine-tuning or RAG (Retrieval Augmented Generation) is way faster and easier, and only requires a fraction of the compute.
How NVIDIA competitors may catch up
Either way, the long view here is that scaling up the way NVIDIA does makes more powerful AI models possible at a shorter time. We can expect results to trickle down, whether that means more powerful GPT-like models, open source models, or derivative applications.
But there’s another set of questions to consider here. Is NVIDIA’s dominance a good thing for the industry? Can, and should, it last? What is the competition up to? And why should the rest of the world care?
As myself and others have been noting, NVIDIA’s dominance is based not just on its hardware, but on the entirety of its stack. Furthermore, as noted by analyst Dylan Patel, NVIDIA also leverages a set of business tactics with regards to supply chain management, sales strategies and bundling which few others are able to replicate. But that does not mean that the competition is idling either.
As far as supercomputers and scaling up go, NVIDIA’s Eos is definitely not the only game in town. As Sparks mentioned, Intel’s Aurora featuring 60,000 of its own Ponte Vecchio GPUs is about to go online. Plus there are many other supercomputers in the world featuring a range of chips and architectures from different makers, and they are all capable of doing high-performance floating point arithmetic.
NVIDIA has an edge due to the fact that it was the first to focus on AI workloads, but each of its aspiring competitors has a roadmap to catch up. Until recently we used to think that CUDA, NVIDIA’s software layer, was the company’s biggest moat.
As Patel notes, many machine learning frameworks have come and gone, but most have relied heavily on leveraging NVIDIA’s CUDA and performed best on NVIDIA GPUs. However, with the arrival of PyTorch 2.0 and OpenAI’s Triton, NVIDIA’s dominant position in this field, mainly due to its software moat, is being disrupted. These frameworks make it easier for NVIDIA’s competition to build their own stack.
Of course, as Patel adds in a different note outlining NVIDIA’s own plan to stay ahead of the pack, NVIDIA isn’t sitting on their hands. While NVIDIA is extremely successful, they are also one of the most paranoid firms in the industry, with CEO Jensen Huang embodying the spirit of Andy Grove. It’s no accident that NVIDIA highlighted that its team currently employs twice as many software engineers than hardware engineers.
Success breeds complacency. Complacency breeds failure. Only the paranoid survive.
Competition, scale, performance, and TCO
Patel goes as far as to question some of NVIDIA’s tactics, which is something we don’t have an opinion on. What we can say is that even though NVIDIA’s relentlessness does not let them go complacent, having any single vendor own over 80% market share for very long is not very healthy. It will probably be a good thing for everyone to see the competition catch up.
At this point, hyperscalers, incumbent competition such as AMD and Intel as well as a flock of upstarts are all working on their own custom AI chips for 2024 and beyond. It’s estimated that NVIDIA has a 1000% margin on H100s, which are also at short supply. No wonder that everyone wants to have a piece of the action and/or grow their autonomy. For consumers, more competition will mean more choice and autonomy, as well as better performance and prices.
For the time being however, NVIDIA is still the undisputed leader – albeit with a footnote or two. When asked to directly compare NVIDIA’s MLPerf results with Intel’s Gaudi, for example, director of product marketing in the Accelerated Computing Group at NVIDIA Dave Salvator pointed out two things. First, Gaudi submissions were nowhere near the 10K scale. Second, NVIDIA results were about 2X better compared on a normalized basis. Others such as analyst Karl Freund, however, consider Gaudi2 a credible alternative.
Footnote #1: MLPerf is a widely acclaimed benchmark in the industry. Like all benchmarks, however, it’s not perfect. As Sparks noted, one crucial element missing from MLPerf is pricing. While it’s understandable that incorporating pricing in any benchmark is tricky for a number of reasons, it also means that results need to be put in context. For example, as per Patrick Kennedy’s analysis, Intel’s Gaudi2 has 4x better performance per dollar than NVIDIA’s H100.
Footnote #2: Performance alone is rarely the only metric that matters to prospective buyers. More often than not, what matters most is the performance to cost ratio: how much does it cost to perform a certain operation within a certain timeframe. To arrive at that metric, the total cost of ownership (TCO) for AI chips should be factored in. That is a complex exercise that requires deep expertise.
A big part of the TCO for AI chips is inference, i.e. the use of trained AI models in production. Training an AI model is typically a costly and complex endeavor. Inference may be simpler in comparison, but it typically constitutes the bulk of a model’s lifetime and operational cost.
Training and inference workloads have different characteristics. This means that a system that does well at training does not necessarily do equally well at inference. Case in point – when Salvator was asked to comment on Eos performance on inference, he referred attendees to future briefings. Meanwhile, people are building new systems focused on inference, while others are trying to make the most of existing ones.
NVIDIA just showcased that its leadership does not show signs of waning in the immediate future. However, that’s not necessarily a good thing for the rest of the world. The competition is there, and the chance to catch up is there too, distant as it may seem at this point. AI chips in 2024 will be something to keep an eye on. In any case, how benchmark highlights translate to actual impact, usability and TCO for organizations aspiring to develop and use AI is not linear.


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What goes up usually does come down. The generic industry is in the middle of the now famous “patent cliff” being faced by the pharmaceutical industry. Many of the monster brand name drugs have lost their patent or will do so over the coming months and generic drug companies have done pretty well as had been expected. An interesting article in the New York Times a week or so ago points out that the real concern for generics will come as this patent cliff situation slows down. Note that even Teva, a company that sells one out of every six generic prescriptions in our country, has announced significant cutbacks in the near future.
It is important to consider the business model for the generic industry. They are in business to do one thing and one thing only with their generic products: cut costs. There is no innovation, no increase in patient convenience, no increased efficacy and no safety advantages but rather they must by definition be exactly the same as the branded products they replace. The only protection they have from other generic companies, making the same product and driving the price and margins even lower, is a small section in the Waxman-Hatch law that gives the first generic six months of exclusivity. For a number of reasons that advantage is less and less lucrative today due to authorized generics and other complex deals. Generic companies are struggling to find areas where they can produce drugs their competitors can’t or to secure branded products and morph more of their business into that space.
Last Friday, lost in all the publicity around the Supreme Court’s decision to rule on two significant cases about same sex marriage, came the huge announcement that they will also take up the “pay-to-delay” issue that could dramatically impact the generic drug industry. Take a look at this NYT piece and study the interesting facts behind the case. The key issue is whether these arrangements between the generic and branded companies have resulted in antitrust violations. The FTC has always felt they do, as do members of Congress. The courts have usually not agreed up until this case that the Supreme Court has agreed to hear. The simple strategy behind pay to delay, is that a generic company challenges a branded drug company’s patent before it has expired and both sides end up in court. The branded company then settles by agreeing to pay something to the generic company and the generic company agrees to wait until the patent period is over to market their drug. Depending on which side of the argument you believe this either saves or costs society huge amounts of money.
Note that the generic industry could suffer a serious blow if the court rules these payments must stop. Generic companies will have to litigate to the end rather than settle early and this means not only huge legal fees but also that they will need to be much more selective about the patents they are challenging. The branded companies will have much more muscle and will also have significant motivation to defend every patent through the longest legal struggle possible.
Even though the industry has been able to capture roughly 85% of all prescriptions and their revenue is up 19% this year, the future does not look all that positive. Their scorched earth pricing policies once their exclusivity period is up, and now the instability of the 180 day exclusivity could make the time ripe for some legislative change. With both the branded and the generic industries under significant pressure it may be time for a new “Waxman-Hatch” type agreement where both industry and society could help assure long term innovation and financial stability for all parties. This will take some creativity and careful analysis by Congress, but it now appears as though the first move may be up to the Supreme Court. It should be interesting.


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Mil-spec smartphones have come a long way over the last few years, as an increasingly competitive market has given way to higher and higher-specced offerings, with manufacturers rushing to implement the latest civilian smartphone amenities into these extremely-ruggedized packages. And the latest example of this comes from Chinese tech outfit, DOOGEE, which has just expanded its already impressive mil-spec smartphone range with the all-new S88 Pro.
IP68, IP69K, and MIL-STD 810G-rated, the phone features a metal chassis, fortified via an inner waterproof structure, reinforced corners, and a soft high-density polyethylene cover, as well as an oleophobic-coated Corning Gorilla glass cover over its 6.3” Full HD display. Running Android 10, the S88 Pro is equipped with 6GB of RAM, 128GB of ROM, and an Octa-Core processor. Sporting a unique Ironman-inspired design, other noteworthy elements on the phone include a front-facing 16MP Samsung camera, rear-facing 21MP Sony IMX230 camera, a proximity sensor, thermometer, a magnetic compass, customizable keys, fingerprint unlocking, and a massive 10,000mAh battery that can power the phone for around a week, or act as a power bank to wirelessly charge other devices. Available in green, orange, or black, the DOOGEE S88 Pro Smartphone is available now, with pricing set at $250.


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Labor groups on Thursday said they’ll end most of their demonstrations and picketing against Wal-Mart Stores Inc., as well as refrain from pressuring the retail giant’s employees to choose the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union as a representative, as part of a settlement that was reached with the National Labor Relations Board.
The settlement agreement stems from a Nov. 16 unfair labor practice charge filed by Wal-Mart against the UFCW. At the height of the Christmas shopping season and culminating on one of its busiest days, Black Friday, Wal-Mart asked the NLRB to stop demonstrations and in-store “flash mobs” that the retailer called “unlawful attempts to disrupt its business and intimidate customers and store workers.”
The settlement will stop the picketing and demonstrations against Wal-Mart for 60 days. However, the unfair labor practice charge against the union will remain in place for several months as part of the settlement to hold the UFCW accountable should it violate the agreement during that time.
Our Wal-Mart, an organization of current and former Wal-Mart employees, pressing the retailer to improve labor rights and standards for workers, filed its own complaint with the NLRB, citing attempts by Wal-Mart to discourage workers from taking part in what the group referred to as legally protected walkouts.
The definition of picketing and whether the activity was aimed at winning acceptance for the union was at issue.
According to a letter signed by the UFCW’s general counsel, the union and Our Wal-Mart agreed to the conditions “without admitting that they have engaged in any conduct that constitutes unfair labor practices.” The two organizations also agreed to “stop encouraging unlawful disruptions by nearly 30 affiliated groups,” including International Brotherhood of Teamsters, AFL-CIO, Jobs with Justice and Service Employees International Union.
The UFCW and Our Wal-Mart said they removed several documents from their Web sites, including the united demands document that outlines the groups’ demands to Wal-Mart and the Walton family, which include providing minimum pay for all Wal-Mart associates of $25,000 a year.
“This is good news for our associates, who asked us to stand up to this conduct because they understand better than anyone the opportunities Wal-Mart offers,” the retailer said.
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
Not only does #TheProfit return to CNBC tonight, but @marcuslemonis has launched @shopmarcus, a new shopping and lifestyle retail experience in Aspen and Chicago, with more locations to come. The retail stores offer in-store stylists and a variety of contemporary womenswear selections.
“It’s life, I’m going to face it,” @mingxi11 sighed. “I fell, but you know, I think the most important thing is that I get back up. I had the love, the help from my sister — the girl next to me Gizele [Oliveira] — she’s so nice. When I went backstage everybody was trying to comfort me like ‘Oh Ming, it’s OK.’ I’m really, really touched. I think it’s them who gave me the courage to go back on stage for the finale,” Xi told WWD of her fall at the @victoriassecret fashion show. (📷: David Fisher) #wwdfashion #vsfashionshow #victoriassecret
@louisvuitton tapped @therealpeterlindbergh for its latest city-centric photo book, which is part of a series called Fashion Eye. The primarily black and white book captures the spirit of Berlin in 57 images shot between 1989 and 2019. “Berlin is an inspiration for me, more than a city. I mean @millajovovich is simply Berlin!” said Lindbergh. #wwdfashion
“You know, I think audiences expect a certain performance so I have to deliver to them what they’re expecting to a certain degree. But I’m also a different actor and a different person, I have my own spin on the character,” says @noahegalvin of his takeover of the leading role in “Dear Evan Hansen” following the departure of @bensplatt, who originated the role. Read WWD’s interview with the 23-year-old actor on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
For pre-fall 2018, @etro created richly-colored wonderland, using tapestries, textiles and wallpapers from the Eastern world at large. The line featured floral and graphic prints and jacquard motifs, like this two-piece look featured here. #wwdfashion (📷: Giovanna Pavesi)
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)


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“It’s a good day,” said Tom Popper, president of insightCuba, on Nov. 8, the day the U.S. State Department handed down the new restrictions on hotels in Cuba promised by President Trump last June.
For the president of a Cuba travel specialist to call the announcement of new restrictions on travel to Cuba a good thing sounds like an attempt at humor. But Popper is serious.
“Americans can still travel to Cuba!” said Popper. “That’s the good news. When President Trump announced last summer he was going to repeal Obama’s policies of opening trade and travel relations with Cuba, we didn’t know what was going to happen.”
Ending a period of uncertainty
About a year ago when President Trump was wooing voters in Florida, he announced that he would be “canceling the last administration’s completely one-sided deal with Cuba.”
After President Trump won the election, tour operators waited apprehensively, and then in June, he announced his policy changes with respect to Cuba. But when the official changes were announced, it was not nearly as bad as tour operators had feared. The only major change was that individual travel would no longer be legal for Americans. That had been the least that tour operators had expected.
“He could have cut off people-to-people travel entirely,” said Popper. “We were afraid we might lose commercial air. But here we are in November and people can still travel on the people-to-people programs. Cruise ships can travel to Cuba, and that was not possible before Obama. We still have an embassy in Cuba. Most of Obama’s policy changes are still in place.”
Individual travel to Cuba was only legal for Americans from when the Obama administration opened it in March 2016 until 13 months later, when the Trump administration outlawed it again.
The other shoe
However, when President Trump made his announcement last summer, he left one thing hanging. He said that Americans would no longer be able to stay in hotels that are affiliated with the Cuban military, intelligence or security services. That meant that a number of hotels would be scratched off the list of hotels available to American travelers.
The travel industry was told it would have to wait 90 days for the State Department to publish the list of newly forbidden hotels. It turned into five months, but the wait ended Nov. 8 when the State Department published the details, a new hotel blacklist that includes 83 properties.
By the time the list was published, Cuba tour operators had already had months to prepare and make adjustments in their itineraries. Most of the forbidden hotels were not among those often frequented by Americans anyway. By the time the State Department announcement was made last week, it had almost no effect on the market.
But there was one clear effect, and in Popper’s estimation, it was a positive effect. That was resolution. The whole thing is resolved now, there are no more shoes waiting to drop. There are no more announcements expected on Cuba. The period of mystery is over.
Upshot: Cuba is open
Americans can still travel to Cuba, more freely than at any time in decades, except for the brief period when individual travel to Cuba was allowed.
Of course, no one can predict what President Trump will do at any given moment. But it appears he has other things on his mind for a long time to come. His original proclamation that he would repeal Obama’s Cuba policies introduced uncertainty into the marketplace and tour operators saw sluggishness set into demand. Now after a year, that uncertainty has lifted.
Tour operator roll call
Cuba operators throughout the industry reported that the recent State Department has had little to no effect on their programs.
Ya’lla Tours: “The impact on our operations is minimal. The five-star hotels we use most often in Havana, Melia Cohiba, Melia Habana and Parque Central, are not owned by the Cuban military, so we will continue to use them as normal. Most of the four-star and three-star hotels we typically use also are not affected by the new restrictions. We regret that the few properties in Baracoa all are owned by the military. Unless something changes, we will no longer be able to include that area in our programs. Many of the banned hotels are beach resorts, which does not affect Ya’lla Tours or any other U.S. operator, because beach vacations have never been allowed under U.S.-Cuba travel restrictions.”
Tauck: “Regarding Cuba, we anticipate zero impact to our operations there, and we look forward to operating 100 percent of our scheduled 2017 and 2018 departures. If anything, the prohibition on individual travel to Cuba (and the renewed requirement that U.S. citizens visit only as part of an authorized group) is likely to drive additional business our way.”
Globus: “The new rules do not have any negative effect on either Globus' or Cosmos' people-to-people programs for Cuba. For people who have booked one of three highly rated people-to-people programs with Globus or Cosmos to Cuba, there is no reason for concern. Our programs continue to be – and have always been – in complete compliance with regulations (old and new). Each of our people-to-people encounters provide travelers with once-in-a-lifetime, enriching and enlightening experiences as well as a deep understanding of Cuba and its people.”
Abercrombie & Kent: “As all our programs in Cuba were secured well before the new regulations became official, no changes are required. Since people-to-people travel is now the only way most U.S. tourists will be able to visit this island nation, we expect to see continued interest in our cultural exchanges, including our Cuba by Land & Sea, featuring A&K Chairman Phil Otterson as a special guest.”
Collette: “Collette is operating all Cuba tours as planned as of January 2018 and will continue to monitor the safety and security of the country, as we do for all tours worldwide. The new Cuba regulations announced by President Trump require all Americans to travel as part of a group with an itinerary and rules that comply with the general license requirements. Travel itineraries offered by Collette to Cuba comply with the requirements of people-to-people experiences and we will continue to operate group travel as planned. Guests will be notified should any changes affect future travel plans."


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Italy closes abuse probe due to lack of evidence
The Italian Competition Authority has closed an abuse of dominance investigation into a manufacturer of plastic moulded products and associated machinery after the agency found no evidence of anticompetitive conduct.
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Fashion Industries to ramp up rugs
August 24, 2001,
Griffin, GA — Fashion Industries, based here, is paving the way to make rugs — its most fledgling division — into more than one-third of its business.
At the upcoming New York Home Textiles Show in October, Fashion Industries will expand its rug offerings to include a broad collection of natural fiber-made rugs — including sisal, seagrass and jute constructions — from India and China, as well as some printed rugs from Egypt.
"We've just started our rug business, but we'd like it to become 30 percent to 40 percent of our entire business," said Al Whiten, senior vp. "It's a big growth area, especially when you consider all of what's going on in flooring today. Inlay rugs are having less of a function, and area rugs are becoming more prevalent in home decor."
Fashion Industries, which has been in business for more than 100 years, also produces and imports table linens, kitchen textiles, decorative pillows and handmade quilts.
"A lot of the factories we work with and import goods from were getting into rugs, and for us it seemed like a natural extension," Whiten added. "Area rugs have been a good business for years, and we see it as only getting larger."
Related Content By Author
The Countdown to the ICON Honors Continues featuring Christophe Pourny


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LINK, the network’s token, has seen a meteoric rise over the last year and is now up more than 700%, fueled by a flurry of high profile partnership announcements. Perhaps most notable being the partnership with Google, where ChainLink plans to place BigQuery data on the blockchain using a ChainLink oracle smart contract.
Given the hype around ChainLink, it comes at no surprise that investors are looking to add LINK exposure to their altcoin portfolios, even at its current valuation just over $920 million.
Due to the current regulatory pressure, investors in the United States have access to fewer and fewer places to trade altcoins. Luckily, LINK has apparently passed the initial regulatory sniff test and is available on a few major platforms:
Coinbase and Coinbase Pro: LINK hit its all-time highs on the back of the Coinbase listing announcement in June. The altcoin is now available on the retail platform as well as Coinbase Pro. In September, LINK became available to investors based out of New York.
Kraken: LINK was added to Kraken at the end of September with four trading pairs including EUR and USD.
Binance.US: LINK recently became the first altcoin addition — along with Ravencoin (RVN) — to the American Binance platform following its September launch. LINK is now available with direct USD trading.
Given that LINK is now available on three of the most reputable US crypto exchanges, it’s fair to say that it will be tradable for American investors well into the future.
Disclaimer: This article’s author has cryptocurrency holdings that can be tracked here. This article is for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. Always conduct your own due diligence before making investments.


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A strategy to build efficient value chains in the Pacific region is expected to play a critical role in improving diets and revenues for island communities.
"We are looking at leveraging priority value chains to enable communities to access nutritious and healthy food," said Judith Francis, Senior Programme Coordinator of Science and Technology Policy at CTA and leader of the project. "We want to drive innovations in the agriculture sector, especially those targeting clearly documented nutritional constraints in the region."
These Pacific Week of Agriculture (PWA) workshops, organised by the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA), together with the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Pacific Islands Private Sector Organisation (PIPSO), unveiled progress made in developing value chains based on healthy local agricultural produce, as part of the Promoting Nutritious Food Systems in the Pacific project.
Numerous nutrition issues
The Pacific islands are facing serious health problems linked to a trend towards the consumption of relatively cheap imported processed foods, the meeting heard. More than 50% – and in some cases up to 90% – of the population is overweight, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Other nutrition-related health problems include anaemia, stunting in children and a rapid increase in non-communicable diseases (NCDs)."NCDs are endemic in the Pacific. Therefore linking agriculture to nutritional issues is very important," said Ron Hartman, IFAD Country Director for Indonesia and the Pacific.The strategy to promote nutritious value chains has selected a range of agrifood products, including fruits and vegetables, coconuts, fish and cattle in the case of Vanuatu, the main producer of beef in the region.
The value chains challenges are identified
Earlier this year, an exercise to map priority nutrition sensitive value chains in Fiji, Samoa, the Solomon Islands, Tonga and Vanuatu revealed a range of challenges, including a wide preference for cheap imported food and a tendency by policy-makers and other actors to underestimate the size of domestic markets."Common problems identified for value chain players were inadequate access to finance, markets, infrastructure, training and extension, together with difficult and costly transport, especially between remote islands,'' said Patrick Polacsek, of the European Union Delegation, based in Fiji.
Despite the constraints, there were clear opportunities for drawing Pacific farmers into nutrition sensitive value chains, said speakers. Education, training and skills development would be key to the process, they added."We have introduced farmers to the value chain way of thinking, and once we did that, their mindset changed," said Lavinia Kaumaitotoya, programme manager of the Pacific Islands Farmers Organisation (PIFON), which partnered with CTA to conduct the value chain analysis.
An online platform to coordinate value chains
The PWA workshops saw the launch and testing of an online tool to facilitate networking, knowledge exchange and interactive learning among actors, so as to improve value chain efficiency and performance. The value chain coordinating/ agricultural innovation (VCC/ AI) platform will enable players with an interest in a particular value chain to access information on key issues and build synergies, communicating with each other through virtual channels to maintain dialogue and share ideas remotely. The tool will complement face-to-face interaction.
"This tool is going to be the key to networking and building relationships among value chain actors, said Pier Andrea Pirani, who presented the platform. It's an online space for information gathering, news and updates, and dialogue, where value chain actors can continue conversations on issues that are important to them, whether they be farmers, policy-makers, or people from the private sector."


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Italian clothing brand United Colors of Benetton's latest campaign ad is meant to draw attention to the productive lives of young people without jobs.
Featuring a contest the company is sponsoring to find the "Unemployee of the Year," a statement from United Colors of Benetton said it is trying to bring attention to the point "that being non-employed doesn't mean being useless, lazy or an anarchist."
In a contest organized by the company's Unhate Foundation, 100 winners will be given $6,526 each, the Los Angeles Times reported Tuesday.
Contest entrants, who must be unemployed and between the ages of 18 and 30, must submit a proposal for a project to benefit their communities.
The deadline for proposals is Oct. 14 and the winners will be chosen by voters online.
Work for youth has become a popular cause. Starbucks in June started a line of merchandise with the proceeds to go to Create Jobs for USA, a fund the company began.
Currently, the worldwide unemployment rate among those 15-24 is 12.7 percent, International Labor Organization data shows.
The U.S. recession alone erased 2.7 million jobs that generally were filled by youth, the newspaper said.
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May 9, 2018
Government of India has amended the National Tourism Policy of 2002, simplified visa procedures and taken up infrastructure and services development to help foreign travelers
In 2017, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) into India rose by nearly 16 per cent to around 10.2 million, while the same during the first three months of 2018 rose by 10 per cent to 3.1 million
Ministry of Tourism’s “Incredible India 2.0” campaign promotes the country’s ancient heritage as well as modern strengths to pitch India as a “must revisit, must experience” destination
Tourism, a crucial trade, diplomacy and culture promoter, is expected to contribute nearly US$500 billion to India's gross domestic product by 2027, compared with US$230 billion in 2017
India, backed by its vast and diverse cultural and natural treasures, has come up as a sought-after tourist destination globally. This is evident in the fact that in 2017, foreign tourist arrivals (FTAs) into India increased by nearly 16 per cent year-over-year to around 10.2 million. This increase has continued in 2018, with FTAs into India rising by 10 per cent over the first three months of the year to 3.1 million. The steady gain in foreign tourist entry indicates towards India’s improving stand across a variety of fields, including leisure tourism, medicine, education, trade and investment. Meanwhile, the Government of India has undertaken a host of initiatives to boost FTAs. These measures include amendment of National Tourism Policy of 2002, simplification of visa procedures, infrastructure development and provision of specialised amenities to ease movement of foreign travelers around the country. India is currently the seventh largest market in the global tourism industry. Thought the “Incredible India 2.0” campaign, the Ministry of Tourism has sought to promote the country’s ancient heritage as well as modern strengths in order to pitch India as a “must revisit, must experience” destination to the international audience.
Tourism forms a major part of the Indian Government’s initiative to drive indigenous entrepreneurship, attract foreign investment and strengthen the nation’s soft powers. This effort has been supported by India’s vast riches that include 36 world heritage sites, 10 bio-geographical zones and 26 biotic provinces, among many other attributes. To better promote these treasures and to create more opportunities, in the Union Budget 2018-19, the Government proposed to develop ten prominent tourist sites into Iconic Tourism Destinations by following a holistic approach involving infrastructure and skill development, development of technology, attracting private investment, branding and marketing. The measures come at a time when India’s forex earnings from tourism is being anticipated to rise to around US$110 billion by 2025, from around US$27 billion in 2017. Proactive steps have helped the nation climb 12 places to 40th position in the World Economic Forum’s Travel and Tourism Competitive Index released in April 2017. This comes amid new investments in the tourism sector, which is expected to contribute nearly US$500 billion to India’s gross domestic product by 2027, compared with over US$230 billion in 2017.
New trends in tour and travel along with growing tourist traffic has led to high-margin opportunities for foreign investors. These opportunities have been further boosted by the Government’s allowance of 100 per cent foreign direct investment in the tourism under automatic route. The same provision has been extended to tourism construction projects, including development of hotels, resorts and recreational facilities. This has encouraged a host of foreign hospitality chains, such as France’s Accor Hotels, the USA’s Hyatt Hotels, Hilton Worldwide and Marriott International and the UK’s InterContinental Hotels, to set up multiple properties across India which have recorded encouraging income growth. Buoyed by the fast-growing Indian consumer base, these chains have announced massive expansion plans in India. Similarly, an increasing number of foreign airliners such as British Airways, Lufthansa, Emirates and Singapore Airlines have increased international routes connecting India. Simultaneously, Indian airliners such as SpiceJet, IndiGo and Vistara have expanded internationally. Foreign airliners such as Qatar Airways are even considering launching domestic operations in India. Resultantly, travel companies such as USA’s Expedia and France’s Carlson Wagonlit, among others, have seen growing business from India.
Central Government-run entities such as Indian Railways as well as promotion boards related to forestry and wildlife, agriculture and fisheries, energy and resources, transportation, textile and handicrafts, healthcare and wellness, trade and commerce have encouraged tourism in their respective sectors. Additionally, separate tourism and transport bodies in India’s 29 states have invited entrepreneurs and investors to help develop the local tourism scene. Collaborations have also been established to restore heritage structures and promote cultural riches. State-run entities have tied up with private partners to set up tourism corridors to boost local heritage and resources. Instances of such corridors include Religious Corridor, Wildlife Corridor, Coastal Corridor, Ganges Corridor, Heritage Corridor, Himalayan Corridor, Food Corridor, among others. Besides leisure, India has come up as a leading destination for travel related to business, healthcare and education. This has allowed development of specialized infrastructure and services to support the rising inbound traffic of different types of visitors. Accordingly, foreign entities specific to business, healthcare and education industries have invested in India to tap the growing market. Special tourism zones have been planned to maximise income opportunities for investors.
These activities come amid India’s efforts to increase its share of foreign tourist arrivals in world’s international tourist arrivals to 1 per cent by 2020 from 0.7 per cent in 2016 and to 2 per cent by 2025. To reach this goal, Ministry of Tourism has launched two flagship schemes – Swadesh Darshan, or integrated development of theme based-tourist circuits, and PRASHAD, or pilgrimage rejuvenation and spiritual, heritage augmentation drive. These will facilitate creation of tourism infrastructure and dedicated services and products, often with financial assistance from foreign bodies such as the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and Japan Finance Corp. The initiatives are crucial as India ranks first in world in terms of direct contribution to employment by travel and tourism. As of early 2018, around 42.9 million jobs were supported by travel and tourism, or over 9 per cent of the country’s total jobs. Indian Government has also introduced social media campaigns to sensitise stakeholders in the tourism industry as well as the general public about the importance of good conduct towards tourists, reinforcing the spirit of “Atithi devo Bhava”, an ancient Indian belief which says that a guest is akin to god.
The Government has eased visa issuance for foreign visitors, which is offered across 14 categories – Tourist Visa, Business Visa, Urgent Business Visa, Employment Visa, Student Visa, Entry Visa, Film Visa, Conference Visa, Journalist Visa, Research Visa, Transit Visa, Medical Visa, Medical Escort Visa and Intern Visa. Additionally, e-Visa issuance has been encouraged by the Indian Government and resultantly in 2017 foreign tourist arrivals on e-visas jumped by 57 per cent to 1.7 million. Currently India provides e-Visa for over 160 countries. Provision of visa on arrival has been expanded to cover more than 40 countries. Alongside, help desks have been set up at the entry points into India covering air, land and waterways to provide assistance to incoming visitors. Amid increasing activities, the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC) expects India to add around 10 million jobs in the travel and tourism sector over the next decade. WTTC anticipates India to become the world’s third largest travel and tourism economy by 2028. Tourism has come up as a crucial tool to promote Brand India that is aimed at driving a holistic socio-economic development and involving private partners from India and abroad will ensure better outcome of this goal.


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(NaturalNews) The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) recently added five additional brands to its three-month boycott of "fake" organic products it says are knowingly mislabeled as "USDA organic."
In April 2006, the OCA launched a boycott against two big-name distributors of organic dairy products -- Horizon and Aurora -- claiming, "All of Aurora's and much or Horizon's 'organic' milk is coming from factory farm feedlots where the cows have been brought in from conventional farms and have little or no access to pasture." Since April, the OCA says thousands of consumers, natural food stores and co-ops have joined the boycott.
In its July 27 newsletter, the OCA announced it is expanding its boycott to include retail chains selling "bogus organic milk from Aurora." The boycott now includes Costco's "Kirkland Signature," Publix's "High Meadows," Safeway's "O" Organics, Wild Oats' organic milk and Giant's "Nature's Promise."
The OCA is also calling for a boycott of Horizon's organic soy brands -- Silk soymilk and White Wave tofu -- claiming that Horizon has "begun turning away from U.S. organic farmers and instead importing cheap organic soybeans from China and Brazil, where labor rights and environmental standards are routinely violated."
The OCA is urging the public to send emails to the seven companies it is boycotting -- dubbed the "Shameless Seven" -- urging them to use quality North American organic products produced by family farmers. More information on the boycott can be found at: http://www.organicconsumers.org/2006/article_1329.cfm.
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Brian Armstrong is the second highest paid member of Telkom’s executive committee after CEO Nombulelo Moholi. Armstrong, who heads Telkom Business, took home R10,5m in the 2012 financial year, of which R2,8m was in the form of a guaranteed package and R6,7m was in fringe and other benefits.
Armstrong’s pay was eclipsed only by Moholi’s. She took home R12,1m in 2012, of which R6,4m was in the form of a guaranteed package, R2,3m in short-term incentives and R3,4m in fringe and other benefits. Moholi’s benefits include a restraint payment of R3,4m.
Jacques Schindehütte, Telkom’s chief financial officer, earned R8,3m, of which R4,5m was in the form of a sign-on bonus.
In total, the operator’s executive committee was paid R56,3m, of which R30,7m was made up of fringe and other benefits.
The remuneration details, which are included in Telkom’s 2012 group integrated annual report released on Friday, show that Bashier Sallie, Telkom’s MD for wholesale services and networks, was the executive committee’s third highest paid member, taking home R9,8m for the period worked between 1 June 2011 and 31 March 2012. Sallie received a retention payment of R6,3m, the equivalent of two times his guaranteed package.
Other Telkom executives who raked it in in 2012 included corporate governance chief Ouma Rasethaba (R5,4m), consumer and retail services MD Manelisa Mavuso (R8,3m), deputy chief financial officer Deon Fredericks (R7,9m), former Telkom Cybernest MD Pierre Marais (R6,1m), human resources head Thami Msubo (R4,6m) and former international MD Motlatsi Nzeku (R3,8m).
Telkom’s nonexecutive directors together earned R8,2m in fees in 2012. The highest paid of these was outgoing chairman Lazarus Zim, who earned R1,5m — R1,1m in directors’ fees and R410 000 in committee and special meeting fees. — (c) 2012 NewsCentral Media


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Prime Video is back on the trail. The streaming service just announced they’ve ordered a second season of Hunters, presumably for the 2020-21 season.
A historical drama, the Hunters TV show follows a group of Nazi hunters in 1970s New York City. The cast includes Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, Jerrika Hinton, Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Tiffany Boone, Greg Austin, Louis Ozawa Changchien, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Dylan Baker, and Lena Olin.
Here’s Amazon’s press release about the renewal:
AMAZON STUDIOS ORDERS SECOND SEASON OF THE HIT THRILLER “HUNTERS”
CULVER CITY, Calif. – August 3, 2020 – Amazon Studios announced today it has ordered a second season of the Amazon Original seriesHunters, the hit conspiracy thriller created by David Weil and executive produced by Jordan Peele, to stream exclusively on Amazon Prime Video in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The acclaimed first season of Hunters, starring Al Pacino, Logan Lerman, and Jerrika Hinton, premiered February 21.
“I am beyond grateful to Jen and the Amazon family for their continued extraordinary support of Hunters,” said Weil. “Alongside our magnificent cast, incredible crew, and brilliant writers and producers, I am more eager than ever to share the next chapter of the Hunters saga with the world.”
“With Hunters, David Weil’s bold vision and fearless imagination powered a thrilling, twisty, action-packed first season that engaged Prime Video customers around the world,” said Jennifer Salke, Head of Amazon Studios, “We are thrilled that David, Jordan and theHunters will be back with us for more.”
The debut season of Hunters followed a diverse band of Nazi hunters living in 1977 New York City. The Hunters, as they’re known, have discovered that hundreds of high-ranking Nazi officials are living among us and conspiring to create a Fourth Reich in the United States. The series also stars Josh Radnor, Kate Mulvany, Tiffany Boone, Greg Austin, Louis Ozawa, Carol Kane, Saul Rubinek, Dylan Baker and Lena Olin. Season one of Hunters, produced by Amazon Studios, Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions and Sonar Entertainment, was executive produced by David Weil who served as co-showrunner alongside executive producer Nikki Toscano. Alfonso Gomez-Rejon directed the pilot and was an executive producer alongside Win Rosenfeld from Monkeypaw Productions; Nelson McCormick; and David Ellender from Sonar Entertainment.
About Amazon Studios:
Amazon Studios is the home for talent, creating and producing original films and television series for a global audience. Original series all premiere exclusively on Amazon Prime Video, which is available in over 200 countries and territories. Recent hit Amazon Original series include the Emmy Award-winning comedies Fleabag, created by and starring Emmy Award-winner Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel from Emmy Award-winners Amy Sherman-Palladino and Daniel Palladino; the action thriller drama Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan starring John Krasinski; the irreverent superhero series The Boys; Upload from Greg Daniels; Jordan Peele’s Hunters starring Al Pacino and Logan Lerman; and fantasy drama Carnival Row starring Orlando Bloom and Cara Delevingne. Amazon Originals also include culturally relevant and buzzed-about content such as Rihanna’s Savage X Fenty music and fashion event, Donald Glover’s Guava Island and Chasing Happiness, a documentary about pop superstars Jonas Brothers.
In film, Amazon Studios produces and acquires original movies for theatrical release and exclusively for Amazon Prime Video. In 2017, Amazon Studios became the first streaming service to win Oscars for Manchester by the Sea and The Salesman. Amazon Studios’ recent releases include Troop Zero starring Viola Davis, Alison Janney, and Jim Gaffigan; Tom Harper’s The Aeronauts starring Felicity Jones and Eddie Redmayne; Scott Z. Burns’ The Report starring Adam Driver and Annette Bening; Honey Boy from director Alma Har’el based on a script written by Shia LaBeouf; Benedict Andrews’ Seberg starring Kristen Stewart; and the Academy Award-nominated Les Misérables from director Ladj Ly.
What do you think? Have you seen Hunters? Will you watch season two on Amazon Prime?


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Zelda and Mario 3DS bundles coming to NA on Black Friday
REDMOND, Wash.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Thanksgiving is full of difficult decisions: Stuffing or mashed potatoes? Green beans or yams? Homemade cranberry sauce or fresh from a can?
Nintendo is adding two enticing choices to this bountiful cornucopia by introducing two limited-edition Nintendo 3DS™ bundles on Nov. 24. The toughest part will be deciding which bundle to purchase.
The first bundle includes the just-launched Super Mario 3D Land™ game and a Flame Red Nintendo 3DS system. The second bundle includes The Legend of Zelda™: Ocarina of Time™ 3D game and a special 25th anniversary limited-edition Cosmo Black Nintendo 3DS system marked with the Hyrule emblem and gold-colored embellishments. Each bundle will be available at a suggested retail price of $199.99 in the U.S.
Shoppers who want to test-drive Nintendo 3DS and these two games can pay a visit to one of two dozen malls nationwide between Nov. 21 and Dec. 18. Nintendo will have all the best video games for the holidays on display. Nintendo’s website has a complete list of malls participating in the program.
Remember that Nintendo 3DS also comes with exciting entertainment features right out of the box. Users can download and play hundreds of new and classic games from the Nintendo eShop, and the Nintendo Video service automatically delivers short 3D videos from the worlds of music, comedy, animation and Hollywood to the Nintendo 3DS system. Owners can play games in 3D without the need for special glasses and take their own 3D pictures. Netflix subscribers can stream great TV and movie content. Later this month, Nintendo 3DS owners will be able to record 3D videos or create stop-motion movies.
For more information about Nintendo 3DS, visit http://www.nintendo.com/3ds.
November 21, 2011
I’m going to have to flip a coin on this, or just get them both.


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Kenko.com Inc unit files suit against proposed ban on online drug sales
A unit of billionaire Hiroshi Mikatani's internet retailer, Kenko.com Inc announced the filing of a lawsuit against the Japanese government in its fight against restrictions on the online sale of some of the drugs in its portfolio.
The government ban, according to Rakuten Inc, is 'unconstitutional' in its lawsuit filed at the Tokyo District Court. This was confirmed by the unit's regulatory filing done yesterday, as a reaction to the Japanese government's plan to limit online pharmaceutical sales.
This comes after Mikitani, Rakuten's 48 year old head, had threatened to take legal action against the government. He also said he would resign from a position in a key government council should the Prime Minister moves ahead with the law that would prohibit the online sale of a number of pharmaceutical products.
In a press conference, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga at a press conference said that the Kenko suit and the issue on online drug sales would be handled according to the law. He said, "It will be fought in the the lawsuit."
If Mikatani resigns, this would be a blow to the image of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he pushes his agenda for growth in the current session of the Japanese Diet. Mikitani is one of the leading entrepreneurs in Japan. When asked about the possible resignation, Rakuten spokesman Daisuke Nakane declined to provide any comment on the matter.
The Japanese Pharmaceutical Association had opposed the conduct of online sales as the group said it increased the risk of users experiencing side effects and contraindications. The Association represents 100,000 licensed pharmacists throughout Japan.
Kenko.com in January had won in a lawsuit filed with the Japanese Supreme Court prohibiting the online sale of over the counter medication. Because of the government edict, Kenko lost nearly JPY500 million or USD5 million in annual sales or about 30,000 orders.


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blinkx signs Microsoft pact
YouTube is a load of laughs. Finding something specific you want to watch is another matter. For searching video on the Web, Blinkx.tv (http://www.blinkx.tv) is emerging as the way consumers on a range of Web sites and media properties find what is available.
On Monday, Blinkx will announce potentially one of its biggest deals to date, with Microsoft Corp., which has agreed to use Blinkx technology to power the video search on some parts of its MSN Internet sites and Live.com.
“We will be the single biggest video search engine on the Web,” Suranga Chandratillake, Blinkx co-founder and chief technology officer, said in an interview.
Blinkx already powers video search on sites ranging from AOL to ITN, Lycos and Times Online. It also indexes video from the likes of BCC, Fox, MTV, Sky News, Reuters and YouTube and makes and makes videos on those sites searchable on Blinkx or partner sites.
To date, the company has indexed more than six million hours of audio, video, and TV programming to make it searchable.
Instead of a cut of advertising revenue, Microsoft has agreed to pay Blinkx an outright licensing fee based on how much use visitors to Microsoft Web sites make of the Blinkx search system, Chandratillake said.
“It could mean from zero to millions of dollars,” Chandratillake said of the potential value of the Microsoft deal to Blinkx. Last month, Blinkx also signed a deal to power the video search of broadband entertainment site Lycos.
BEYOND TEXT AND TITLE
As consumer interest in watching video on the Web has exploded with the wider availability of broadband connections, Blinkx has focused on going beyond simple text-search methods to develop audio- and image-search tools.
The San Francisco-based company uses voice recognition, image and contextual analysis, which helps computers calculate whether an image may be a human face, a nature setting or some other scene.
“When a computer looks at a piece of video, for the most part, it has no idea what is going on,” Forrester Research analyst Josh Bernoff said.
Using Blinkx, a consumer can search for videos based on keywords or phrases. The results reflect not just a search of titles or text information attached to the video but also uses speech recognition to find matching words in audio tracks.
Founded in early 2004, the 27-employee company is self-funded with the help of several angel investors, Chandratillake said. It has taken $12 million to $13 million and spent three-quarters of that amount. Its costs are low and revenues are now beginning to flow.
“Becoming cash flow positive is not our biggest single goal,” Chandratillake said, adding: “I get plenty of VC (venture-capital) offers.”
Unlike YouTube or Google, Blinkx stores search information on videos, but not the videos themselves, meaning that computer costs are kept low. “It makes for cheaper legal bills,” he quips, referring to copyright issues raised by storing video.


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LAMARâ On Sunday, July 6, stores never open before on the first day of the week will have open signs out and their doors unlocked all across the state.
The Colorado legislature passed and Governor Ritter signed into law, legislation allowing for Sunday liquor sales for the first time since 1933. The law, which formally took effect July 1, has drawn the ire of several local liquor store owners who insist the law will increase overhead without increasing sales.
“I’m kind of insulted by it. We didn’t ask for it, we didn’t want it and we didn’t need it,” said Eddie Long, owner of Ed’s Liquor in Lamar.
“‘We’re not going to sell any more beer,” said Lang. “The people that need it or want it are already buying it the day before.”
Ken Roe, owner of Olive Street Station in Lamar, echoed much the same sentiment. “I don’t think it will make any difference because they buy it before right now.”
Some local merchants are taking a cautious approach to adding an additional day of sales. Long said he would be opening for a few hours on Sunday for three or four weeks to determine the viability of operating an additional day. “It costs me a lot to open this place up,” said Long, citing the costs of operating the cooling compressors as well as additional labor costs.
The new law allows for the sale of liquor from 8 a.m. to midnight on Sundays said Long, the same hours afforded for the other six days of the week. He said the only day a liquor store is required to be closed moving forward is Christmas.
Long said all of his employees are friends with full time jobs who only work part time at the store. He said being open on Sundays will likely mean having to hire and train an additionalemployee.
Both Long and Roe expressed concern over what they see as potential for the law to lead to grocery and convenience stores selling liquor in future years. Under current Colorado law, grocery and convenience stores can only sell 3.2 percent alcohol beer. The local business owners said they feared the new law would lead to decreased Sunday beer sells at big chain stores, which would lead to increased pressure on state lawmakers to allow grocery and convenience stores to sell full strength beer.
“I think big box (retailers) prompted it so they can run small town shops out of business,” said Roe.
Following the passage of the law allowing Sunday liquor sales, a push was made to allow the sale of full strength beer and wine at grocery and convenience stores but failed to be ratified prior to the end of this year’s legislative session.
“I think what’s going to happen is they’ll (grocery and convenience store owners) go back next year and say ‘look at our losses,'” said Long.
“I kind of feel bad for the convenience stores,” said Long. “It’s a calling for them on Sundays.”
Colorado’s repeal of the blue law banning Sunday liquor sales makes it the 13th state to do so since 2002 and the 35th state to allow Sunday sales overall according to the Distilled Spirits Council of the United States. The law being repealed was originally passed in 1933.


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The Walking Dead zombie franchise of popular comic books and TV shows will soon extend its undead reach to VR games. Today, as part of E3 2017, Skydance Interactive announced it will develop a series of games based on The Walking Dead, with the first due in 2018.
Skydance Interactive, a division of the well known Skydance movie production company, will work with The Walking Dead co-creator Robert Kirkman and his own Skybound Entertainment on the games. They will target high-end headsets such as the Oculus Rift, HTC Vive and PlayStation VR products. There are few details about the games themselves, but the report claims they will feature new settings and characters instead of using content from the comics or TV shows.
Skybound Entertainment’s president of interactive Dan Murray told Variety that these Walking Dead VR games will “blow people away”. Hopefully those words will be proven as more than just hype for these titles. There are certainly plenty of zombie games for VR users to choose from already, so it will be interesting to see if the Walking Dead games will bring something new to the mix. In the meantime, if you are a fan of the comics or TV shows, are you excited about the idea of an official Walking Dead VR game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!


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One of the biggest annual events on the design calendar for Hong Kong, Business of Design Week (BODW) 2016 has recently concluded after a successful week
This year’s BODW Summit gathered over 60 top design professionals and executives from around the world – including a sizable group of creative experts from Chicago, this year's partner city, to share their insights and stories, and explore new ideas and trends in design, business, technology and brands. Over 100,000 guests and visitors were in attendance at the event, and the Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) also hosted its annual Design for Asia (DFA) Awards Presentation Ceremony during the conference.
Running from 28 November – 3 December, the event hosted 13 sessions focusing on a range of themes, with over 20 major and concurrent exhibitions. Noted for its influential reputation as the heart of American architecture, the 'Windy City' starred as BODW 2016's partner city. Bringing to Hong Kong the 'ChicagoMade' theme and spirit, and their city's creativity icons, architects and speakers from Chicago enlightened the conference with innovative ideas on urban planning and public space renewal. The Summit also encouraged the design community in Asia to exchange their distinct concepts and rich visions with industry leaders and colleagues around the world.
At the conclusion of the event, organiser Hong Kong Design Centre (HKDC) announced that Italy will be next year's partner country. Renowned worldwide as a powerhouse in style and design, Italian artists and artisans have led the way in areas including décor and interior design, fashion, automobile, and architecture.
Prof. Eric Yim, Chairman of Hong Kong Design Centre and Michele Scutto, the Trade Commissioner at the Consulate General of Italy in Hong Kong, were on the stage to announce partnership between Hong Kong and Italy in 2017. Prof. Eric Yim said, "This year BODW has launched new sessions covering new upcoming themes, such as FASHION ASIA, Food and Design, Workspace and Design. BODW 2017 will continue to explore in interesting topics. So, the partner country of BODW2017, Italy, will appeal to the most amazing talents to come to Hong Kong again."


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Pokemon Black and White: Rival Destinies
Episode 1518 – Baffling the Bouffalant!!
Episode Description; As they travel to Fukiyose City, the gang comes across a herd of Buffalon that attacks anyone who passes through their forest unless the person or Pokémon is wearing an afro wig.
Windows Phone 8, rumoured codename, Apollo
With the Windows Phone conference only on Wednesday, its time for a little rumour roundup from all the news we’ve heard so far, to do this we’ve decided to make a nice little chart of things we think are likely, possibly and maybe. Check it out below. We’ve also integrated rumours with news and stories from Windows Phone blogsite WPPowerUser to make things even more clearer!
So, what do you think about the latest Windows Phone 8 rumours, would these make you consider getting a Windows Phone 8 device.
Microsoft will be holding a Windows Phone 8 keynote on Wednesday and will be offering a live stream of the keynote right here! (Requires Silverlight)


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Merino ewes sold to a top price of $295 a head at Bendigo on Friday in what one agent described as a "tough going market".
About 5800 Merino mixed-aged ewes and wethers were offered at the special spring sale as restockers from across central Victoria underpinned the market.
A small buying fraternity caused a handful of pens to be passed in at auction, as attendees who had not received at least their first coronavirus vaccination were prevented from entering the saleyards.
Nutrien Bendigo livestock manager Nick Byrne said the better end of ewes sold to reasonable prices despite the small buying gallery.
"The whole market in general, not just this sale today, has tightened up in the last eight to 10 days," he said.
"It's a little bit hard to explain given the amount of feed around our country and the prices of lamb and mutton."
Most of the sheep sold were bought by clients within a 100-kilometre radius of Bendigo, with some pens bought by clients as far as Kilmore and Kyneton.
"The better sheep sold well but the secondary sheep, and there's quite a few of them here, were hard to move," Mr Byrne said.
FP Nevins & Co livestock agent Luke Nevins, Bendigo, said buyers who invested in sheep at the sale would be rewarded in the months to follow.
"It was very tough going in places," he said.
"The better bred sheep at the top end of the market made what they should have made but were probably still under some of the better Riverina sales.
"Once you got of those better lines of sheep, things got really tough really quickly."
Another factor for the reduced yarding was due to the "exceptional" seasonal conditions across the district, leading producers to hold onto their stock for longer.
"Some of the sheep that have come out of the south look a bit washed out and need a bit of heat and sun on them but they'll do well for the people who bought them," Mr Nevins said.
"A lot of people are doing only a light cull and we're in a bit of a blue ribbon area here for feed at the moment and that looks to remain that way until at least Christmas."
The top-priced pen of the sale was consigned by JE & RL Knight, Axedale, who sold 126 Merino ewes, June/July 2020-drop, Moorundie blood, for $295.
The Knights also sold a second pen of 114 Merino ewes for $292.
Both pens were bought by Moolort cropping and sheep farmer Cam Rinald who said the ewes would be joined to White Suffolk rams in November.
The first pen of the sale, offered by Greg and Leann Holmberg, West Point, Elmore, was passed in at auction for $290.
Mr Holmberg said he had hoped for a higher price for the pen of 163 Merino ewes, April/May 2020-drop, featuring Pooginook blood, after a "ripping" season due to mild weather and regular rain.
P & T Colvin sold 92 Merino ewes, 1.5 years, Kelliston Park blood, for $286.
Travis and Lynette Fernandes, Winjallok, sold 300 Merino years, East Loddon blood, May/June 2020-drop including a pen of 243 ewes for $248 and 79 ewes for $228.
It was their pair's first time selling young ewes together at Bendigo.
WA & VJ Barlow, Wanalta, sold 80 merino ewes, September shorn, for $274.
Sunnside Ag Co sold 219 ewes, June/July 2020-drop, AMS blood, for $252.
Mark and Belinda Perryman, Panorama stud, Mysia, sold 125 Merino ewes, April/May 2020-drop, for $262.
Montrose Estate, Raywood, sold 47 Merino ewes, May/June 2020-drop, for $260.
BM Mulquiny, Wooroonook, sold 107 Merino ewes, April/May 2020-drop for $260.
In the older ewes, Leon A Holt, Wedderburn, sold 45 Merino ewes, April/May 2019-drop for $160.
The same vendor also sold 172 Merino ewes, 2017-drop, for $238.
NT Triplett, Barnadown, sold 188 Dohne ewes, April/May 2018-drop, for $252.
B & J Finnigan, Moormbool West, sold 98 merino ewes, April/May 2018-drop, for $182.
AJ Phillips, Goornong, sold 271 Merino ewes, April/May 20216-drop, for $225.
Kedleston Park, Cavivil, sold 300 Merino wethers, April/May 2020-drop, for $174 and 238 wethers for $162.
Lignum Gate, Wombotta, NSW, sold 320 Merino wethers for $178, while Holmewood, Strathallan, sold 3665 Merino wethers for $176.


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Reigns: Her Majesty is a delightfully wicked game that many have likened to a fusion of Game of Thrones and Tinder, with the player taking the role of the Queen as she manages the day-to-day operations of her kingdom by swiping right or left to make decisions. It just got a big new update.
Greenheart says at one point they lost 400 reviews, then the next day lost 430 reviews, followed by drops of 655 and “500-plus,” respectively. That’s a staggering number of reviews, an the question here is whether or not they were legitimate. Greenheart says they are, and at this time, there is no reason to suspect otherwise given the response on Twitter and general positivity surrounding the game’s Android release.
If you need a fresh infusion of games on your Android devices, look no further than the latest Humble Mobile Bundle. The 22nd iteration of the mobile bundles, there are several games that are worth your time, and we’re going to break it down by tier.
In the fall, HQ Trivia launched on iOS and took the world by storm, but Android users were left out. Finally, the app is now available on the Google Play Store in its Early Access section, meaning the app is unfinished and probably buggy.
Nintendo has officially announced that its mobile title in the Animal Crossing series will be called Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, and also confirmed that that the game will hit this calendar year.
Beat up on fascist cars and look at constellations all on your phone sometime in 2018.
Find out more on how and when to take on all of your animal house managing skills from the comfort of your phone.
The sequel to one of the most influential and beautiful puzzle games in mobile gaming is coming to Android very soon. Monument Valley 2 will hit Google Play and the Amazon App Store on November 6, developer ustwo games has announced.
Two games from the franchise, Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath and Oddworld: Munch’s Odyssey, are currently on sale on Google Play. Both are down to $0.99 from $2.99, and both are worth the price of admission.
Iron Marines, the latest game from Ironhide Game Studio, those folks best known for creating the Kingdom Rush franchise, is now out on Android.


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SANTA ANA, Calif. – A district court judge has issued a preliminary injunction stopping the use of the Duncan McIntosh Co. boat-show names by the Southern California Marine Association (SCMA) and The Dunes Resort and Marina, the Duncan McIntosh Co. reported in a statement yesterday.
Duncan McIntosh has contended that SCMA and The Dunes are trying to capitalize on the reputation and sweat equity from the boat show business he has personally built over 30 years, the company stated.
The injunction provides trademark law protection for the annual spring boat show previously held at the Dunes, but now held at Lido Marina Village, Duncan McIntosh Co. said.
The judge ruled that the SCMA and The Dunes must place disclaimers on Web sites, and in all radio, television and print advertising and marketing or promotional materials, making it clear that this year’s event at the Dunes is not in any way connected with the Duncan McIntosh Newport Boat Show, according to the company.
- For more of the latest news, click here.
- To discuss this topic with other recreational marine industry professionals, click here.


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A month and a half after the United States imposed a 63 percent tariff on the most advanced screens for laptop and notebook computers, the Japanese have begun to retaliate.
Some companies have said they will stop sending the screens to the United States, and the Toshiba Corporation, one of the largest Japanese companies to make computers in the United States, has said it is moving its operations abroad to obtain the screens without paying the tariffs.
Thus, the retaliation will hurt the many American computer makers that rely on the Japanese screens and could lead to a loss of American jobs. The tariff was intended to protect a nascent sector of the American computer industry.
Toshiba set clear terms for resuming the manufacture of its most sophisticated machines on American soil. "Our policy is manufacturing as close to our customers as possible," said Akira Ohashi, a spokesman at the company's headquarters here. "If the tariff is removed, we will produce again in the United States." Trade Politics, Divided Loyalties
The debate over protecting the American flat-panel screen industry has been rife with trade politics, and the loyalties of many companies affected are deeply divided.Continue reading the main story
Several of America's most influential computer makers -- including I.B.M., Apple Computer and Compaq -- fought the duties because they are so heavily dependent on their Japanese suppliers.
These companies argued that it was useless to place duties on imported screens because the American flat-panel screen industry does not have the financial strength or manufacturing capacity to supply them. Because they have no other choice than to buy their screens from Japan, the companies said, they must either raise prices for consumers or manufacture their machines outside the United States. (The tariff does not apply when the screen is imported to the United States as part of a larger computer system.)
Paul C. Rosenthal, a Washington lawyer representing the American flat-panel display manufacturers that brought the dumping case, said it was unfair to blame the flat-panel display tariffs for moves toward manufacturing offshore.
Mr. Rosenthal also noted that a study by the General Accounting Office released on Tuesday showed that American companies that rely on Japan for crucial components like flat-panel displays are often at a disadvantage because they cannot obtain the latest technology.
Cydney L. Louth, a spokeswoman for the Commerce Department, said American law limits flexibility in clear cases of dumping.
The leading American manufacturers of the "active matrix" screens that are at the heart of the dispute are OIS Optical Imaging Systems of Troy, Mich., and Standish Industries of Lake Mills, Wis.
The advanced flat-panel displays are a small part of the market but are widely considered the wave of the future in portable computing. The tariff applies only to the most advanced screens, the active matrix screens, which provide remarkably sharp images, often in brilliant colors, that can change quickly.
Toshiba said on Tuesday that its American subsidiary would immediately cease producing its most advanced active-matrix computers at its plant in Irvine, Calif., and move its assembly operations back to Japan. Other Japanese manufacturers, including the NEC Corporation, Japan's largest personal computer maker, will probably follow.
Earlier this year, Toshiba reduced its work force in the United States by about 200 employees, from about 2,000. But the company said today that because only one laptop model was directly affected by the move back to Japan, no additional layoffs were expected.
The largest maker of the screens affected by the tariff, the Hosiden Corporation of Osaka, said recently that it had stopped shipping its screens to American computer manufacturers. Apple Computer Inc., based in Cupertino, Calif., is one of Hosiden's largest customers.
"Our customers do not want to pay the price of manufacturing their computers in the United States." said Hiroshi Yoshimura, director of Hosiden's planning division.
Mr. Yoshimura declined to name Hosiden's customers. Apple, however, has repeatedly said it will move the manufacturing of its Macintosh portable computer from California to its plants in Singapore or Cork, Ireland. An Apple spokeswoman said today that no decision had been made.
The Compaq Computer Corporation, based in Houston, said it was also thinking of moving production overseas, perhaps to Singapore.
The 63 percent tariff on the flat-panel screens was approved by the Commerce Department and the International Trade Commission after an investigation that determined the Japanese makers were dumping screens -- selling them at unfairly low prices -- to seize most of the commercial market in the United States.
One of the companies that may be hurt the most by the tariff is America's biggest computer maker: the International Business Machines Corporation. Earlier this year, I.B.M. began making active matrix screens in Japan in a joint venture with Toshiba.
When the tariff decision was handed down, an I.B.M. spokesman called it "an eviction notice from the U.S. Government to the fastest-growing part of the U.S. computer industry." In fact, well before the tariff decision, I.B.M. turned over the development and production of its newest laptops to IBM Japan.
Several Japanese manufacturers moved the final assembly of their laptop machines to the United States in recent years, primarily as a trade gesture. However, none have moved the most sophisticated part of the manufacturing process -- making the screens -- to American operations. Moving final assembly of the computers to the United States was also hastened by a 100 percent duty on Japanese-made laptops imposed by the Reagan Administration in retaliation for Japan's slowness in opening its semiconductor market.
When a new semiconductor accord was signed several months ago, the 100 percent duty on finished computers was revoked. That made it as cheap to export laptops from Japan as it is to build them in America. Now that the United States has imposed the tariff on screens, it is now significantly cheaper to produce the machines in Japan. -------------------- Tandy-Matsushita Venture
FORT WORTH, Sept. 25 (AP) -- The Tandy Corporation and the Matsushita Electric Industrial Company of Japan said today that they had formed a joint venture to make laptop and notebook computers.
Production is scheduled to start by February at an existing Tandy site in Fort Worth that will initially employ about 100 people. The joint venture, to be called PTCC Inc., will make products to be sold under Tandy's name and Grid label, as well as by Matsushita under its Panasonic and Victor brand names.Continue reading the main story


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Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi has emerged at the head of a charm offensive that promises the infamously belligerent ride share company is “moving forward”.
There’s a micro-site full of ShinyHappy™ explaining it all. The short version is that Uber wants to be nice to drivers, riders, city authorities and any other imaginable stakeholder so they can all ride Ubers to meadows filled with flowers and live in harmony forever.
Khosrowshahi seems pretty sincere in a video that sees him say that since joining Uber “ My priority has been to listen to you.”
“I’ve seen a lot of good, but moving forward it is time to move in a new direction. This begins with new leadership and new culture.”
He even says “One of our values as a company is to always do the right thing.”
Ahem! Uber, Lyft etc: California Supremes just shook your gig economy with contractor rulingREAD MORE
The video and site would be more believable if they were more specific. But the micro-site is short on details and mentions many initiatives that are works in progress. Among those forthcoming features are access to emergency services from within Uber’s app, complete with a report of your location in case your ride goes off the rails, and an unexplained feature to make it easier to find Uber drivers.
Uber’s app will also allow users to nominate five “Trusted Contacts” who will be able to track their rides.
Stuff the company’s already done includes moving to annual checks of drivers’ criminal records and better feedback mechanisms from the app.
Other initiatives the micro-site says are signs of the New Uber sound like business as usual: a new driver app is the kind of thing a company like Uber’s gotta do, whether or not it turns out to be a wretched hive of sexism, scum and villainy.
There’s also a pledge to invest in communities and support volunteer groups like Meals on Wheels and Mothers Against Drink Driving.
Such stuff is always welcome, but also pretty much box-ticking for large organisations. And for what it’s worth, the micro-site makes no mention of giving up on belligerent market entries that see Uber just ignore local regulations until it has critical mass, hiding data breaches from authorities, lax data security, stealing Google IP or being revolting to female employees. ®


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CORRECTED-BRIEF-American Savings Bank reports Q1 net income of $15.8 mln
* American Savings Bank net income of $15.8 million for Q1 of 2017 compared to $12.7 million in Q1 of 2016
SAN FRANCISCO Feb 20 Hewlett Packard Co's quarterly revenue fell a less-than-expected 1 percent, as it grapples with rapidly slackening PC demand and battles to win business from enterprises in an uncertain economic environment.
The company, in the midst of a multi-year turnaround effort intended to revive growth, posted revenue of $28.2 billion in the fiscal first quarter, compared to Wall Street's expectations for about $27.2 billion.
* MX Gold Corp. Continues to earn interest in durango smelter project in Mexico


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Dion Bracco of Gilroy-based Bracco’s Towing and Transport will be recognized during the California Tow Truck Association’s Industry Leaders and Awards Night on Sept. 17.
The ceremony will take place during the American Towman ShowPlace in Las Vegas.
Bracco and Steve Sgarlato of Campbell-based Dick’s Automotive Transport will be inducted into the Rich Chappel Industry Leaders Hall, based on their “positive influence on the towing industry, without thought of recognition,” according to a press release from the CTTA.
“These towing professionals have spent their lives making significant contributions to the industry with unblemished and outstanding character,” the CTTA stated.
Bracco founded Bracco’s Towing and Transport Inc. in 1992. Named the 2021 Small Business of the Year by the Gilroy Chamber of Commerce, Bracco’s Towing has the equipment to transport passenger cars to large commercial vehicles.
The CTTA represents nearly 600 towing companies within California.


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Sonet Marketing Blog
By displaying the correct copyright year it shows your visitors that you are on the ball. It helps in building a good level of trust in your visitors.
Deana attended the Google Adwords Community Summit 2014 in London, a day developing PPC marketing knowledge and key marketing events.
Google announced that they will transition Google+ to a revamped service named Google Currents, starting on July 6, 2020
Discover essential PPC optimisation tips to boost your campaign’s performance. Expert insights for better ROI.
This week Google announced its Knowledge Graph can now make the research-intensive act of car shopping even easier for users.
Will PageRank disappear forever, or will it evolve into something that provides a more accurate measurement of a webpage’s quality?


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He isn’t in the Guinness Book of World Records, but Simon Doonan is one of the longer-running window dressers our country has ever seen.
For 25 years he’s been using staple guns and glue guns to work magic in the windows of Barneys New York, as the chain’s creative director.
Laura Morton/Special to the Chronicle
The store recently released word that he has been promoted to “creative director at large,” one of those vague titles that sometimes heralds a promotion and other times means the higher-ups just want to bring in new blood and move you aside politely.
Doonan told SFUnzipped that he has indeed had a career change and that it is all positive.
He is now a roving ambassador for the luxury specialty retailer, free to travel to various cities to build relationships with local customers and media alike.
Dennis Freedman, founding creative director at W magazine, was hired replace Doonan as creative director.
“A lot of things I’m doing I’ve done before, but I’ll be doing more of them,” Doonan said in a phone chat from New York. “I didn’t have so much time to travel to the stores, I was so involved in my creative director role.”
Freedman, Doonan said, has new ideas for the windows. “He’s going to adopt a curatorial approach and have different people do them. I was pretty much designing them all the time. You were seeing my vision over and over again. He’ll have different artists, designers and creative people contributing.”


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RALEIGH, N.C. (WNCN) — This week Taniya and Erin got to take a ride in a ’66 Chevy II Nova.
The car is one of the exhibits at the North Carolina International Auto Expo that’s being held this weekend at the North Carolina State Fairgrounds. This is the 32nd year for the event.
At the show, you can check out both classic cars and new cars.
The Auto Expo runs Thursday through Sunday and tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for seniors.
The event runs until 9 p.m. all days, except Sunday.
For more information on the event, click here.


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Ford is investing more than a billion dollars in South Africa as it readies its operations ahead of the launch of the next-generation Ranger pickup truck.
The £1.05 billion (£770 million) investment in the Silverton Assembly Plant is the biggest in Ford’s 97-year history in the country. It also represents one of the largest-ever investments in the South African automotive industry, and is expected to generate revenues exceeding 1.1% of South Africa’s gross domestic product.
Ramping up production capacity from 168,000 vehicles a year to 200,00 vehicles, the Silverton plant will manufacture the next-generation Ford Ranger pickup truck for over 100 global markets. As part of the joint venture between Ford and Volkswagen, it will also be the production home of the next Amarok pickup.
Produced in South Africa for Europe, the Ranger contributes significantly to the success of Ford’s commercial vehicle business unit. The leading commercial vehicle brand across the EU in 2020, for the sixth consecutive year, Ford’s Ranger was also Europe’s best-selling pickup with a 34.9% segment share.
Spending a Billion
An initial investment of $686 million (£500 million) will see extensive changes made to the Silverton plant. These include the construction of a new body shop with the latest robotic technology and a new high-tech stamping plant, both of which will be located on-site for the first time.
The new stamping plant will produce all the major sheet metal components for the new Ranger, and will incorporate a blue-light scanner system that scans surfaces for imperfections, ensuring the highest-quality final product.
Upgrades also will be made to the box line, paint shop and final assembly to improve vehicle flow within the plant, along with the expansion of the container and vehicle yards.
Ford also will build new vehicle modification and training centres – the latter developed to ensure all Ford employees are equipped with the knowledge and skills required to maximize the efficiencies of the enhanced Silverton facilities.
“This investment will further modernize our South African operations, helping them to play an even more important role in the turnaround and growth of our global automotive operations, as well as our strategic alliance with Volkswagen,” said Dianne Craig, president, Ford’s International Markets Group. “Ranger is one of our highest volume, most successful global vehicles. This investment will equip our team with the tools and facilities to deliver the best Ford Ranger ever, in higher numbers and with superior quality.”
The new investment program builds on Ford South Africa’s Project Blue Oval renewable energy programme, which commits the company to use 100% locally sourced renewable energy for all its manufacturing plants by 2035, and achieving carbon neutrality by 2050.
Siverton’s first phase is underway with the construction of solar carports for 4,200 vehicles at the plant.
“Our aim is to achieve ‘Island Mode’, taking the Silverton Assembly Plant completely off the grid, becoming entirely energy self-sufficient and carbon neutral by 2024,” Cavallaro said. “It will be one of the very first Ford plants anywhere in the world to achieve this status.”
Modernizing our supplier base
Ford also will invest $365 million (£265 million) to upgrade tooling at the company’s major supplier factories.
“Supporting our suppliers with this new tooling will ensure we modernize together to deliver world-class quality for the all-new Ranger at higher volumes for our domestic and import customers,” Cavallaro said.
The expanded production will help create 1,200 incremental Ford jobs in South Africa, increasing the local workforce to 5,500 employees, and adding an estimated 10,000 new jobs across Ford’s local supplier network, bringing the total to 60,000.
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- DEFRA Shows Confidence in Mitsubishi With Outlander PHEV Order
- New Isuzu D-Max Pickup To Start From £20,999 as Prices Revealed
- Nissan Navara To Be Axed in the UK as Facelift Cancelled
- Next-Gen Ranger Goes Electric as Ford Commits $1bn To Its EV Future


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When Chris Williamson was searching for a new car for his family and well timed ad was able to convince him to do something different. Chris chose to buy a new BMW and is able to afford the extra payments by using Turo, an app that allows consumers to rent his car when he isn't using it.
It allows his family of seven to have a nicer car, essentially for free.
“It’s great to have that little bit of extra income and not have to worry about the car payments,” said Williamson, a teacher from the Phoenix area.
But his customers and others using car-sharing apps around the United States get their rentals tax-free. That’s made them a target for rental car companies, airport authorities and local governments. They say users of the upstart apps should pay the same taxes and fees that come with traditional rental cars.
“These companies are very sophisticated, technology-savvy companies that have hundreds of millions of dollars invested in each of them,” said Ray Wagner, Senior Vice President for Government Relations at Enterprise Holdings, parent of the nation’s largest car-rental firm. “They should be expected to comply with the same rules as a small, mom and pop rental car company located in rural Arizona.”
Turo says Enterprise is trying to stifle competition.
Car-sharing companies including Turo and GetAround function like Airbnb for vehicles, allowing people to rent out their cars when they’re not using them. Founded about a decade ago, they’ve taken off recently with the help of millions of dollars from venture capital firms and other investors.
Read more here


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Speaking after Gordon Brown’s speech to the Labour Party conference today, the Freight Transport Association’s James Hookham said:
"A new national investment programme for businesses could provide a much needed boost for companies looking to expand and invest. Needless to say, the devil will be in the detail, but this, plus the increase in training opportunities, could help those areas reliant on logistics to turn the corner in these tough times.
"Of course, without continued investment in infrastructure, joining up the road and rail networks and making it easier to move goods from coast to coast, these efforts will be for nought. That’s why FTA will continue to press the Government not to scrap these programmes and to recognise the value of the logistics sector to UK plc and to give it the support it needs."


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Chisaki Watanabe of the Associated Press writes that the Walt Disney Company will partner to produce animation for Japanese television.
Disney will work with Toei Animation Co., Madhouse Co. and Jinni’s Animation Studios, said the official, speaking on condition of anonymity to comply with company rules.
The move was aimed at localizing contents of Disney products for a wider audience, she said.
“We need to make contents which fit the Japanese market to further boost the popularity of Disney in Japan,” she said.
Hmmm – Tokyo Disney Resort, Disney Stores… is the popularity lagging? In all seriousness, it can’t hurt to be even more popular.
The moves allow Disney, based in Burbank, Calif., to tap local talent and computer graphics technology to produce programs in Japan. Disney has no immediate plans to air the programs in other countries, but it is eyeing overseas markets, she said.
Disney has its own animation and movie channels in more than 100 countries, including Japan, where it launched Disney Channel in 2003. The company also started offering a cellular phone service here this month.
The Animation Guild Blog has this post on the matter.