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A week after she signed up for a new online-payment service from TD Bank, Linda Asencio emailed money to a niece for her birthday. She used it again a few days later to pay money she owed her mother.
"It was really simple," said Asencio, 40, manager of a dental office in Orlando. "I can see myself using it for a lot of things, like paying the baby sitter, sending money instead of gift cards and splitting the bill with a friend at lunch."
Asencio is among a growing number of Central Floridians who are making "person to person" electronic payments, bankers say. Not only are more banks offering "P2P" payments, but those who have had the service for a while are making it more convenient by extending it to smartphones and tablets.
Regions Bank, for example, introduced its mobile version in February, drawing a flurry of new transactions in Florida, bank officials said. Nationwide, the number of financial institutions offering mobile P2P has increased 33 percent during the past year, according to Popmoney, a leading vendor.
Here's a guide to using the services:
How do I find a P2P service?
Big national banks such as Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Chase Bank offer the service under their own brand names. Others, such as SunTrust, Regions, TD Bank, Fifth Third and Ally, offer it through Popmoney. A growing number of credit unions and community banks also use Popmoney and other P2P vendors.
To get started, sign up for online banking at your financial institution's website if you haven't already done so. If your institution offers a P2P service, click on the link and follow the registration instructions. If your bank offers mobile banking, download the app and look for the personal-payment link on your smartphone.
Even if your financial institution doesn't offer P2P, you can use Popmoney at http://www.popmoney.com. Other P2P services available to the general public include Google Wallet and PayPal.
How do I use P2P?
You can set up an electronic payment that will deposit money into another person's account. Recipients get an email or text message that directs them to a secure link, where they can accept the money by entering their bank account number. You can also use the service to request money from another person.
While many customers find the service useful for things such as sending gifts to family members and paying baby sitters, it is most frequently used by parents to send money to their grown children, bankers say. Total transactions in Orlando alone have doubled over the past year through Popmoney, said Ann Cave, a spokeswoman for the company.
In most cases, the money will be available within three business days. Some services offer a same-day transfer or next-day guarantee, but there's usually a charge for speedier service.
What are the fees?
Some banks or credit unions offer the services at no charge to be more competitive and attract customers. Many banks charge $1 per transaction, while others charge an extra $3 to $7 for expedited delivery.
Consumers should do their homework on fees, advised Stanley A. Smith, finance professor at the University of Central Florida. "People just need to use common sense and shop around. Get all the details before you click and commit."
Is using P2P safe?
Experts say making P2P payments is at least as safe as banking online in general. But high-profile data breaches at Target and other major companies have made some people wary of using something like P2P, which requires them to input their account information.
"Privacy and security concerns are one of the biggest hurdles to P2P adoption," said Ron Shevlin, senior analyst for the Aite Group, a financial analysis firm in Boston. "The banks have tried hard to resolve that, but there's no question a lot of people balk at giving out their account information — especially to a third-party provider."
Security experts suggest taking these precautions:
•Use good password practices — change them frequently for email accounts and mobile devices.
•Beware of suspicious emails or text alerts that claim to be from a financial institution but don't fit the bank's format.
•Before clicking a P2P link in an email or text, call the sender and verify.
•Use your bank's app — not a Web browser — to connect to mobile banking.
•When possible, use your home wireless network rather than a Wi-Fi hot spot. Beware of logging in over an unfamiliar public Wi-Fi network.
email@example.com or 407-420-5256407-420-5256


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Digital payments company Payoneer announced on Thursday it has joined forces with TrueLayer to launch its open banking service for customers in the UK and Europe. Payoneer reported that its customers in these regions will now benefit from lower fees, faster payments and increased security. The transactions will also be managed entirely through the Payoneer platform with users able to track transactions at every stage.
While sharing more details about the collaboration, James Allum, VP and Head of Europe at Payoneer, stated:
“Our partnership with TrueLayer is an incredibly exciting development for our UK and European clients. We’ve already seen a huge appetite for new payment methods in the United States; we want to empower our customers across the UK and Europe to conduct business without hindrance or friction so they can reach their full potential. This is the future of international business; Payoneer is committed to working at the cutting edge of technological innovation to provide our customer base with the tools they need to excel.”
Francesco Simoneschi, CEO and Co-Founder of TrueLayer, further commented:
“Payoneer’s commitment to equipping their client base with the latest technological advances makes them a natural partner for us. Our payments API and Payoneer’s platform complement each other perfectly. We’re looking forward to growing and innovating together for businesses across the UK and Europe.”
Founded in 2005, Payoneer enables any business of any size from anywhere to access new economic opportunities by making it possible to transact as easily globally as they do locally.
“Payoneer’s digital platform streamlines global commerce for millions of small businesses, marketplaces and enterprises from 200 countries and territories. Leveraging its robust technology, compliance, operations and banking infrastructure, Payoneer delivers a suite of services that includes cross-border payments, working capital, tax solutions and risk management. Powering growth for customers ranging from aspiring entrepreneurs in emerging markets to the world’s leading digital brands like Airbnb, Amazon, Google and Upwork, Payoneer makes global commerce easy and secure.”

domain: news


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Consumer concerns over data security grows
Recent research has found that almost three quarters (72%) of consumers are more aware of data breaches than five years ago.
According to the survey commissioned by computer and network security company RSA, the general public are much more alert to the risk of cybercrime, with 90% of respondents expressing concern about their private information being stolen, lost or manipulated.
At 74%, the most significant worry regarding data security was monetary theft – something which the legal sector is unfortunately all too familiar with.
Whilst the statistics in this global study are not exclusive to law firms, they do reflect an emerging trend among all consumers: the importance of trust.
During recent years, the importance of being able to trust a business has grown significantly, something which can largely be put down to the increased utilisation of technology.
Whilst digitisation has, of course, transformed the way firms do business, it has also increased exposure to risk; naturally, consumers want reassurance that their data is in safe hands. Even the slightest suspicion otherwise could result in damaging consequences for the firm, for example, over three-quarters of respondents (78%) stated that a company’s reputation relating to its handling of consumer data made an impact on their buying decisions.
As well as ensuring transactions are properly protected, using a service such as Lawyer Checker can help ensure that clients place trust in your services.
Stated in the SRA’s Risk Outlook, it’s vital that firms ‘confirm the identity of other firms that they deal with,’ and take prevention strategies taken seriously. This is even more important when the risk of fraud is at an all-time high.
As well helping to create a proactive approach towards risk prevention, the use of a service such as Lawyer Checker ensures that transactions are protected at a consistently high level.
Click the link below to find out how Lawyer Checker can help protect your client’s money.
This article was submitted to be published by Lawyer Checker as part of their advertising agreement with Today’s Conveyancer. The views expressed in this article are those of the submitter and not those of Today’s Conveyancer.


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Leveraging Social and Mobile Media, Corporations Pledge Commitments That Positively Impact the World
Submitted by: PepsiCo
Posted: May 20, 2010 – 09:34 AM EST
NEW YORK, May 20 /CSRwire/ - ThinkSocial at the Paley Center for Media, in conjunction with PepsiCo, is thrilled to announce the #Promise, an initiative that explores how social and mobile media are empowering corporate citizenship and creating social and environmental change. To debut the #Promise, ThinkSocial, together with PepsiCo, are hosting a one-day summit on June 10th as part of New York's annual Internet Week and is issuing a call for companies, and consumers alike, to submit their own #Promises.
At the conference, executives from many of the world's most recognized brands and other business, technology and civic leaders will make #Promises, in the form of a corporate commitment to improve the world around them and support their efforts with innovative social media solutions. Beginning May 19th, any company leaders and consumers can submit their #Promise online at http://think-social.org/thepromise for a chance to attend the June 10th #Promise event in New York.
In addition to presenting their respective #Promises, business leaders will join other experts on panels to discuss how companies are using social and mobile media to create value for consumers, society and the planet. Helping to curate these panels are some of the most vital media and intellectual platforms - including the TED Conference and Good Inc.
"Our mission is to identify and recognize individual and organizations that are leveraging social and mobile media to address real world problems," said Toby Daniels executive director of ThinkSocial. "The #Promise and our partnership with PepsiCo represent such an exciting opportunity for us to showcase how major brands are transforming their corporate practices to more positively impact society and the planet."
The lead corporate partner for the #Promise, PepsiCo was chosen by ThinkSocial because of its consistent commitment to sustainability and overall social responsibility." The company's vision for sustainability, Performance with Purpose means delivering sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet. By providing a portfolio of wholesome foods and beverages, striving to use natural resources more efficiently, and working with employees to develop skills and maintain these promises, PepsiCo is already beginning to deliver on its pledge. Earlier this year, the company launched "The Dream Machine," the first interactive recycling system that brings together online and on street technologies and rewards people for recycling their beverage containers in kiosks, and the Pepsi Refresh Project, which gives millions of dollars in grant money to "refreshing" ideas each month. Each of these initiatives demonstrates a realization of the "Promise of PepsiCo".
"The Promise of PepsiCo, our company's dedication to Performance with Purpose, is based on two ideas: that we can achieve our business goals while making the world a better place and that our impact is only made bigger and better through collaboration with other companies, organizations and individuals," said Bonin Bough, director of digital and social media at PepsiCo. "We see this conference as the first step in building an ongoing dialogue about these important topics with like-minded leaders."
ThinkSocial and PepsiCo are inviting individuals and organizations to participate in the #Promise. If you or your company has leveraged social and mobile media, or plan to, toward socially responsible goals, in innovative ways, we want to hear from you. To be featured at the #Promise or to join us as a participant, please email firstname.lastname@example.org or apply through the site at http://think-social.org/thepromise
About ThinkSocial: ThinkSocial at the Paley Center for Media is a non-profit initiative dedicated to advancing the use of social and mobile media for public purposes. ThinkSocial connects a broad cross-section of people, businesses, and civic organizations through content, gatherings, and public recognition efforts focused on the use of social and mobile media to address society's most pressing challenges.
About The Paley Center for Media: The Paley Center for Media leads the discussion about the cultural, creative, and social significance of television, radio, and emerging platforms for the professional community and media-interested public. Drawing upon its curators, collection, and relationships with the media community, The Paley Center for Media examines the intersections between media and society.
About PepsiCo: PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that each generates more than $1 billion in annual retail sales. Our main businesses - Frito-Lay, Quaker, Pepsi-Cola, Tropicana and Gatorade - also make hundreds of other nourishing, tasty foods and drinks that bring joy to our consumers in more than 200 countries. With annualized revenues of nearly $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth, called Performance with Purpose. By dedicating ourselves to offering a broad array of choices for healthy, convenient and fun nourishment, reducing our environmental impact, and fostering a diverse and inclusive workplace culture, PepsiCo balances strong financial returns with giving back to our communities worldwide. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.
Click here to read more about the #Promise: http://thinksocial.presslift.com/pepsico-invites-innovative-companies-and-consumers-to-join-the-promise
For more from this organization:PepsiCo


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AutoZone (AZO) PT Raised to $0.00
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) had its price objective increased by investment analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada in a research report issued on Wednesday. The brokerage presently has a “sector perform” rating on the stock.
Several other brokerages also recently commented on AZO. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of AutoZone to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Guggenheim downgraded shares of AutoZone from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. UBS restated a “buy” rating and set a $750.00 target price (down from $810.00) on shares of AutoZone in a report on Wednesday. Raymond James Financial restated a “hold” rating on shares of AutoZone in a report on Saturday. Finally, Moffett Nathanson began coverage on shares of AutoZone in a report on Monday. They set a “neutral” rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. The stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $735.20.
Shares of AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) traded up $2.99 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $712.76. 1,225,400 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 464,087. The company has a quick ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of -3.56. The firm has a market cap of $19,350.00, a P/E ratio of 16.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 0.71. AutoZone has a 52-week low of $491.13 and a 52-week high of $813.70.
AutoZone (NYSE:AZO) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, December 5th. The company reported $10.00 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $9.90 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $2.59 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.54 billion. AutoZone had a net margin of 11.76% and a negative return on equity of 74.48%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $9.36 EPS. sell-side analysts forecast that AutoZone will post 46.78 earnings per share for the current year.
In related news, Director William Andrew Mckenna sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $584.96, for a total transaction of $1,754,880.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 8,131 shares in the company, valued at $4,756,309.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of AZO. Fieldpoint Private Securities LLC acquired a new position in AutoZone during the second quarter worth $114,000. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its holdings in AutoZone by 3.5% during the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 264 shares of the company’s stock worth $151,000 after buying an additional 9 shares during the last quarter. Fuller & Thaler Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth $179,000. Global X Management Co. LLC increased its holdings in AutoZone by 12.9% during the second quarter. Global X Management Co. LLC now owns 323 shares of the company’s stock worth $184,000 after buying an additional 37 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jarislowsky Fraser Ltd acquired a new position in AutoZone during the third quarter worth $202,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.89% of the company’s stock.
Autozone, Inc is a retailer and distributor of automotive replacement parts and accessories in the United States. The Company operates through the Auto Parts Locations segment. The Auto Parts Locations segment is a retailer and distributor of automotive parts and accessories. As of August 27, 2016, the Company operated through 5,814 locations in the United States, Puerto Rico, Mexico and Brazil.
Receive News & Ratings for AutoZone Inc. Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for AutoZone Inc. and related companies with Analyst Ratings Network's FREE daily email newsletter.


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"So God Made a Farmer," the popular Dodge truck TV piece that captured so much attention a year ago, has inspired a new effort by the company to highlight ag. A 300-page book, "The Farmer in All of Us: An American Portrait" has been published with the help of National Geographic.'
Available for $45, the publication offers a photo essay available at www.ramtrucks.com/outfitter.
While Western Farmer-Stockman isn't in the habit of promoting commercial products in website news articles, we made an exception thinking the announcement would be of interest to our farmer readers who might find this a good Christmas gift.
Look for new about the new book during the Super Bowl next year, which will tell you the book won't be available in stores until later in the year.
Buying the book will help out the Future Farmers of America, with Dodge promising to donate a $25,000 check to the youth club based on book sales.
"Supporting farmers isn't just about those who till the soil, it's about reminding America who we are and where our greatness comes from," says Olivier Francois, chief marketing officer at Chrysler.
"This book truly brings the 'farmer' story to life, and continues to give back in support of the amazing students of the FFA, who embody this spirit every day."
Ten world-class photographers were enlisted to create the photos in the publication, traveling through the nation's farm areas over the course of three weeks to capture their images.
Paul Harvey's "So God Made a Farmer" narrative inspired their effort.
Their pictures will backdrop the Super Bowl spot celebrating the Year of the Farmer.
The new book builds images from the Harvey video, which aired for two minutes during last year's Super Bowl game.
About 240 pictures in the book focus on the life and hard work of American producers.


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The sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria developed by Citadel Studios announced that the game’s upcoming ‘New Dawn‘ update will be released next month on December 5th. The update will add brand new content, features, and the much awaited free-to-play option to the game. Free players will have access to almost all of the game’s content, “but will need to purchase a Citizen’s Pass to build a home, launch a player-run shop, unlock your bank’s full capacity, play on Community Servers, and more”.
Citadel Studios has announced that Legends of Aria has been updated with a Dungeon Expansion update that doubles the size of wilderness dungeons. On top of this, PVE players will find a new skill that will help prevent unscrupulous ganking. The spell is called Ward Evil. A glowing ball of energy, visible only to the caster will notify the caster when an outcast enemy is in range. The developers hope that “this will encourage those afraid to leave the guarded zones to check out the new dungeons.”
Citadel Studios has announced the upcoming release schedule for the moddable sandbox MMORPG Legends of Aria. A small update focused on bug fixes and quality life changes will come today on January 17th, and a Dungeon expansion update will come on January 30th. The game is now scheduled to launch on Steam early into Spring 2019. For more details on the dungeon expansion and Steam launch, visit the official Legends of Aria site.
Legends of Aria is a “moddable sandbox” MMORPG or ‘massively multiplayer online role-playing game’ that gives the community ultimate power over the world they live in with player-generated content. Stories emerge naturally as players explore the game’s worlds. The game offers hardcore PvP battle-royale, permanent character death and classic story-based leveling progression. Some say that it is Ultima Online‘s spiritual successor.


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Amazon made a huge leap into 3D printing by announcing the launch of the 3D Printed Products Store. Much like the wearables marketplace the e-commerce giant launched in April, the 3D Printed Products store offers shoppers a centralized shopping destination for products created with the emerging technology. The storefront offers pretty basic products, like jewelry, knickknacks and bobble heads, but the draw is that shoppers can personalize item details via a product preview widget.
Based on a news published in techcrunch.com Amazon is touting this as the debut of a new way for the ecommerce giant to offer even more specialized inventory that can better cater to specific customer tastes. “The introduction of our 3D Printed Products store suggests the beginnings of a shift in online retail – that manufacturing can be more nimble to provide an immersive customer experience,” said Amazon Marketplace Sales director Petra Schindler-Carter, in a press release announcing the new storefront.
Along with the launch of the store, Amazon is introducing a new personalization tool for customizing some of the 3D-printed designs, which opens up a widget that lets you choose from a number of basic designs, pick the color and finish of your plastic/metal material, and preview what it will look like with a 360-degree 3D preview. You can also tweak individual aspects of the design with some items, including thickness and other dimensions.
Prices on items vary, but the most affordable tend to fall into the $30 range, and they go upwards from there depending on size and material.
The introduction of the store does indeed mark a potential turning point in the sale of online goods – it means the largest online retailer in the English-speaking world is endorsing a means of direct production and selling that could change how future products are conceived and planned. One-offs and small runs are much more affordable via 3D printing, so theoretically the sky’s the limit on the range of things customers could order, provided 3D printing technology keeps evolving.


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|Title：||2017 APEC Electronic Commerce Steering Group (ECSG) Officially Agrees Chinese Taipei's Proposal to Host "IDEAS Show at APEC Innovation"|
Department of Commerce, Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) has promoted the development of social e-commerce for nearly 10 years. In recent years, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) has supported Micro, Small, and Medium-Size Enterprises (MSMEs) to develop innovative-related topics. According to the 2016 LEADERS’ DECLARATION of APEC, innovation is a key driver of quality growth. This is to respond to the APEC 2017 Vietnam priorities that strengthen MSMEs’ competitiveness and innovation in the digital age. Hence, to continue the experience of hosting “IDEAS Show @ APEC” in 2016, MOEA proposed to host 2017 “IDEAS Show @ APEC Innovation” in Taipei this July.
On behalf of Chinese Taipei, the representative of Department of Commerce, MOEA, attended the ECSG meeting of APEC in Vietnam today(24th), proposed to host 2017 “IDEAS Show @ APEC Innovation” in Taipei this July. This proposal was successfully gained collective support from three member economies, including Vietnam, Peru, and Russia, and was endorsed at ECSG. Department of Commerce of MOEA hopes help innovative ideas from startups to move into the global market, and innovation ecosystem to be even perfect with the exchanging among APEC member economies.
The “2017 IDEAS Show @ APEC innovation” event will be gathering startups from APEC member economies to exchange opinions with field experts and startups on the topic of Asia-Pacific social e-commerce. Through holding conferences and campaigns, we aim at facilitating cooperation of commercial technology applications and connecting APEC member economies, entrepreneurs, and international venture capitals to promote the development in APEC region.
It was the first year that IDEAS Show started the cooperation with APEC in 2016. The two-day event gathered startups from APEC member economies, including India, Hong Kong, South Korea, Philippine, Israel, Singapore, United States, Vietnam, and Japan. There were 16 startups from 15 countries, in which 9 countries are from APEC member economies. This Campaign attracted more than 3,000 people to attend. With APEC connection, the participating startups would have attracted more international venture capitals’ attention, and moved into the global market.
IDEAS Show meets its first decade this year. In the past nine years, we have incubated 301 startups in the country to publicize on the IDEAS Show publication platform, and led over 300 startups to international contests and exhibitions. With resulting in total merger cases of five and a total investment of at least 8.2 Billion NTD, the outcome has been remarkable. IDEAS Show will actively gather more domestic and the world’s industry experts and startups, in the hope of creating a better entrepreneurial ecosystem for digital economy in the future.


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The EA triplets of FIFA 12, FIFA Street and Mass Effect 3 find themselves in second, third and fifth place, respectively. Nudging in there for some cuddle time in fourth is Prototype 2.
Sony's Starhawk is the only new title to crack the top 40, flying in at spot 17 for its debut. March on past the break for the UK top ten.
Top 10 UK Software Sales (All Formats); week ending May 12:
- Sniper Elite V2
- FIFA Street
- FIFA 12
- Prototype 2
- Mass Effect 3
- Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13
- Kinect Star Wars
- Mario and Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games
- Battlefield 3
- Assassin's Creed: Revelations


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FBC-ABC is pleased to be part of a Canadian manufacturing group led by CMC that has united on a number of recommendations for the Prime Minister that will assist businesses and the economy emerge from COVID-19. Food and beverage manufacturers make up a key sector in the broader Canadian manufacturing industry. The following letter and strategy provides strategic guidance to the Prime Minister on supporting manufacturers and the Canadian economy emerge from difficult times.
Canadian Manufacturing Strategy Needed to Help Canadian Economy Emerge from COVID-19
Manufacturing Our Future – Leveraging Manufacturing for Long-Term Canadian Prosperity


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This is quite interesting. According to Business Insider, they claim Nintendo of America’s Kit Ellis told them that the Switch won’t have many multimedia functions at launch, using Netflix as an example of something that won’t be there.
This is a bit shocking, given Wii U had Netflix at launch and even 3DS supports it. It’s possible the Wii U may have a web browser capable of running videos off sites like Netflix, but that’s obviously not the same experience.
It can’t be emphasized enough that Kit Ellis specifically said “at launch”, which suggests they would probably have all these multimedia features at some point in the future. My guess? When they launch the paid online account system, which they will likely lock all these multimedia applications behind.
Source: Business Insider


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Although Verizon has yet to announce the Droid 4 officially, almost everything related to the the phone has been leaked and now new spyshots from a leaked demo unit have given a solid idea on what the phone’s body would be.
The back of the phone has the soft touch feel we’re seeing on more and more phones, but also of interest here if the obvious 4G LTE logo that resides there. While not a huge surprise, it’s nice to see some form of confirmation that this phone will be rocking the higher speed connectivity.
Currently it’s looking more and more likely that the earlier reported specs are correct and that we should see the phone announced and released around mid-January. Possibly at CES 2012?
Droid 4 Specs
- Android 2.3
- 1.2GHz dual-core processor
- 1GB of RAM
- 4-inch qHD screen
- 16GB of built-in storage
- microSD expansion
- 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording capabilities
- HD Front-facing camera for high quality video calls
- 1785 mAh battery


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Alaska Airlines is trying to make the process of checking a bag a bit easier by launching reusable, electronic bag tags, the airline said Tuesday. Instead of printing and attaching paper tags to their checked bags at the airport, Alaska customers will be able to use the Alaska Airlines mobile app to load and display their destination on the electronic tag with a simple tap of their phone.
"This technology allows our guests to tag their own bags in just seconds and makes the entire check-in process almost all off-airport," Charu Jain, Alaska Airlines' senior vice-president of merchandising and innovation, said in a press release about the tags.
The tag devices don't rely on batteries, which means they could "potentially last a lifetime," Jain said. They'll be attached to bags with "industrial strength" zip ties.
About 2,500 Alaska frequent fliers will be given the tags at no cost and will be able to start using them later this year. Members of Alaska's Mileage Plan will be able to purchase them early in 2023. Alaska said it's still working on the cost of the bag tags but that they'll fall somewhere between $60 and $70.


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Strong increase in the export of pork at the end of the year, according to the EU
The EU Commission has recently published the summer edition of its short-term outlook for agricultural markets. The Commission believes that EU pork production will show slight growth in 2020 of 0.5%. This increase in production is expected to be supported by strong prices that encourage the expansion and return of domestic demand, particularly within the food service sector.
Anafric highlights the effort and professionalism of the sheep, cattle, pig and goat sectors to guarantee a quality service and product during the state of alarm
Despite the economic, service and transport stoppage, the threat of Covid-19 has further strengthened the meat sector. From Anafric, the Spanish meat business association, wants to send a message of tranquility to the Spanish population and, above all, to highlight the «enormous effort and professionalism» that the sheep, cattle, pig and goat sector are carrying out to comply with the safety regulations established by decree 463/2020 (link to all updates to the royal decree), on the one hand, and to have their products taken to distribution points through the road transport network. ”
Carne y Salud platform elaborates a guide for operators in the meat sector to deal with Covid 19
Carne y Salud, in front of the different information related to the so-called coronavirus, has decided to order and expose in a clear and concise manner the most relevant aspects of this virus, officially called Covid 19


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RUSSIA: Magnit H1 profits up after Q2 recovery
Russian grocery retailer Magnit has seen its profits increase in the first half of 2011 after a recovery in the second quarter.
Magnit, which saw its first-quarter net income fall 7.5%, reported a 1.8% increase in half-year profits to RUB4.02bn. EBITDA increased by 35.7% to RUB10.2bn.
Sergey Galitskiy, Magnit’s CEO, said: "In the second quarter, the company was focused on efficiency. Negative trends that were outlined at the beginning of the year and led to the decrease of profitability in the first quarter of 2011 were overcome, which is reflected in the growth of EBITDA margin in the second quarter."
He added: "In the second half year the company will continue to develop in two key directions – increasing of market share and improving of operating efficiency."
The retailer reported in July that its revenue for the six months to the end of June was up by 51% to RUB156.5bn. The top-line growth was due to the number of stores increasing to 405, taking their total up to 4,460, as well as an 18.6% increase in like-for-like sales.
Despite the results, shares in Magnit dropped 2.8% as of 2pm (BST)
An analyst for Credit Suisse said Magnit's EBITDA came in line with consensus but added that, if a one-off payment is deducted from the results, the result missed forecasts.
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|By Business Wire||
|July 23, 2014 10:01 AM EDT||
littleBits Electronics, the company making hardware limitless, today announced the launch of the cloudBit. First previewed at TED 2014, the cloudBit adds a new dimension to the littleBits library, letting you “snap the internet to anything.” Mapping to littleBits’ mission of putting the power of electronics in the hands of everyone, the company is aiming to democratize the Internet of Things (IoT).
The littleBits cloudBit gives people the power to turn any object into an internet-connected device in a snap - no soldering, wiring or programming required. It differs from any other IoT device in that it’s not a device, but a powerful building block living within the larger littleBits library, which is open, modular, and interoperable. Now you can add the internet on top of the existing littleBits platform.
“Until now building for the Internet of Things has been reserved for large companies and experts, limiting the power of what’s possible and the rate of innovation,” said Ayah Bdeir, founder and CEO of littleBits. “With the cloudBit, we’re doing for connected devices what Android did for mobile - making an open, accessible and instantaneous platform to enable anyone to prototype, test ideas, and participate in a field that is changing society. With the cloudBit, people can now recreate the most popular connected devices, prototype the next billion dollar idea, or solve their own unique problem, all within minutes, and genuinely push the boundaries of the Internet of Things.”
Through the littleBits web app, people can engage in three types of interactions: “BitsTM to Web” (such as an SMS Doorbell), “Web to Bits” (such as a Remote Pet Feeder) or “Bits to Bits” (such as a Cloud Controlled Camera). To extend the power and functionality of the cloudBit, littleBits has partnered with IFTTT - a service that lets you create powerful connections with one simple statement - allowing people to integrate their inventions with web services such as Facebook, Gmail, Google Drive, Instagram, Twitter and hundreds of others. Combining IFTTT and littleBits, makers can create any number of projects unique to their lifestyle, from a Remote Crib Communicator and an Insta Ego Head to a DIY Smart Thermostat.
The cloudBit and the limited edition Cloud Starter Bundle - which comes with six electronic modules, an insert card with five tutorials and 100 more available online, and two accessories to easily start connecting everyday objects to the internet - are available for purchase starting today at littlebits.cc/cloud.
Any module included in the Cloud Starter Bundle can be paired with other modules from the littleBits library to create trillions of combinations and ideas. The cloudBit is available for $59, or included in the Cloud Bundle for $99.
"If we were to do this without littleBits it would take at least a full day of somebody’s time to get to anything resembling a working prototyping, as opposed to twenty minutes with littleBits and the cloudBit,” said a cloudBit beta tester from Incredible Machines.
Today, littleBits announced a second important collaboration. The company is partnering with RadioShack to launch into retail. littleBits will be available in select markets by August 2014 and in 2,000 retail locations beginning in Fall 2014. This launch is the first to result from the collaboration between PCH and RadioShack Labs.
“We're thrilled to announce RadioShack as our first-ever retail partner as they truly represent the origins of the maker movement,” said Bdeir. “All over the world makers, engineers, developers, and tinkerers remember their first RadioShack kits and how it inspired them to become who they are. By partnering with RadioShack, we can together reach an even broader community of novice and expert makers who can take advantage of the power of the littleBits hardware platform to prototype, build and create anything they can imagine.”
littleBits (www.littleBits.cc) is the New York-based startup that is making hardware limitless. The company makes a library of electronic modules that snap together with magnets to let anyone build, invent, and prototype with electronics -- no soldering, wiring, or programming required. littleBits breaks down powerful technology - from music with the littleBits Synth Kit, to space exploration with the littleBits Space Kit, and now the Internet of Things - and makes them accessible and easy to understand. The company was founded in 2011 by MIT graduate, TED Senior Fellow and cofounder of the Open Hardware Summit, Ayah Bdeir, and has grown to be a global leader in hardware. littleBits has one mission: To put the power of electronics into everyone’s hands. The littleBits library includes more than five kits and 50 interoperable modules with products sold in 70 countries around the world.
Cloud Expo 2014 TV commercials will feature @ThingsExpo, which was launched in June, 2014 at New York City's Javits Center as the largest 'Internet of Things' event in the world.
Jan. 31, 2015 03:00 PM EST Reads: 5,256
"People are a lot more knowledgeable about APIs now. There are two types of people who work with APIs - IT people who want to use APIs for something internal and the product managers who want to do something outside APIs for people to connect to them," explained Roberto Medrano, Executive Vice President at SOA Software, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at Cloud Expo, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Jan. 31, 2015 02:30 PM EST Reads: 4,606
SYS-CON Media announced that Splunk, a provider of the leading software platform for real-time Operational Intelligence, has launched an ad campaign on Big Data Journal. Splunk software and cloud services enable organizations to search, monitor, analyze and visualize machine-generated big data coming from websites, applications, servers, networks, sensors and mobile devices. The ads focus on delivering ROI - how improved uptime delivered $6M in annual ROI, improving customer operations by mining large volumes of unstructured data, and how data tracking delivers uptime when it matters most.
Jan. 31, 2015 02:00 PM EST Reads: 5,972
DevOps Summit 2015 New York, co-located with the 16th International Cloud Expo - to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY - announces that it is now accepting Keynote Proposals. The widespread success of cloud computing is driving the DevOps revolution in enterprise IT. Now as never before, development teams must communicate and collaborate in a dynamic, 24/7/365 environment. There is no time to wait for long development cycles that produce software that is obsolete at launch. DevOps may be disruptive, but it is essential.
Jan. 31, 2015 01:15 PM EST Reads: 4,521
Wearable devices have come of age. The primary applications of wearables so far have been "the Quantified Self" or the tracking of one's fitness and health status. We propose the evolution of wearables into social and emotional communication devices. Our BE(tm) sensor uses light to visualize the skin conductance response. Our sensors are very inexpensive and can be massively distributed to audiences or groups of any size, in order to gauge reactions to performances, video, or any kind of presentation. In her session at @ThingsExpo, Jocelyn Scheirer, CEO & Founder of Bionolux, will discuss ho...
Jan. 31, 2015 01:00 PM EST Reads: 3,150
We’re no longer looking to the future for the IoT wave. It’s no longer a distant dream but a reality that has arrived. It’s now time to make sure the industry is in alignment to meet the IoT growing pains – cooperate and collaborate as well as innovate. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jim Hunter, Chief Scientist & Technology Evangelist at Greenwave Systems, will examine the key ingredients to IoT success and identify solutions to challenges the industry is facing. The deep industry expertise behind this presentation will provide attendees with a leading edge view of rapidly emerging IoT oppor...
Jan. 31, 2015 12:45 PM EST Reads: 2,959
“With easy-to-use SDKs for Atmel’s platforms, IoT developers can now reap the benefits of realtime communication, and bypass the security pitfalls and configuration complexities that put IoT deployments at risk,” said Todd Greene, founder & CEO of PubNub. PubNub will team with Atmel at CES 2015 to launch full SDK support for Atmel’s MCU, MPU, and Wireless SoC platforms. Atmel developers now have access to PubNub’s secure Publish/Subscribe messaging with guaranteed ¼ second latencies across PubNub’s 14 global points-of-presence. PubNub delivers secure communication through firewalls, proxy ser...
Jan. 31, 2015 12:45 PM EST Reads: 2,677
The 3rd International Internet of @ThingsExpo, co-located with the 16th International Cloud Expo - to be held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY - announces that its Call for Papers is now open. The Internet of Things (IoT) is the biggest idea since the creation of the Worldwide Web more than 20 years ago.
Jan. 31, 2015 12:00 PM EST Reads: 10,795
Connected devices and the Internet of Things are getting significant momentum in 2014. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Jim Hunter, Chief Scientist & Technology Evangelist at Greenwave Systems, examined three key elements that together will drive mass adoption of the IoT before the end of 2015. The first element is the recent advent of robust open source protocols (like AllJoyn and WebRTC) that facilitate M2M communication. The second is broad availability of flexible, cost-effective storage designed to handle the massive surge in back-end data in a world where timely analytics is e...
Jan. 31, 2015 12:00 PM EST Reads: 4,756
"There is a natural synchronization between the business models, the IoT is there to support ,” explained Brendan O'Brien, Co-founder and Chief Architect of Aria Systems, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at the 15th International Cloud Expo®, held Nov 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Jan. 31, 2015 11:45 AM EST Reads: 5,063
The Internet of Things will put IT to its ultimate test by creating infinite new opportunities to digitize products and services, generate and analyze new data to improve customer satisfaction, and discover new ways to gain a competitive advantage across nearly every industry. In order to help corporate business units to capitalize on the rapidly evolving IoT opportunities, IT must stand up to a new set of challenges. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jeff Kaplan, Managing Director of THINKstrategies, will examine why IT must finally fulfill its role in support of its SBUs or face a new round of...
Jan. 31, 2015 11:45 AM EST Reads: 4,768
The BPM world is going through some evolution or changes where traditional business process management solutions really have nowhere to go in terms of development of the road map. In this demo at 15th Cloud Expo, Kyle Hansen, Director of Professional Services at AgilePoint, shows AgilePoint’s unique approach to dealing with this market circumstance by developing a rapid application composition or development framework.
Jan. 31, 2015 11:30 AM EST Reads: 3,828
ARMONK, N.Y., Nov. 20, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that it is bringing a greater level of control, security and flexibility to cloud-based application development and delivery with a single-tenant version of Bluemix, IBM's platform-as-a-service. The new platform enables developers to build ap...
Jan. 31, 2015 11:15 AM EST Reads: 5,420
Building low-cost wearable devices can enhance the quality of our lives. In his session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Sai Yamanoor, Embedded Software Engineer at Altschool, provided an example of putting together a small keychain within a $50 budget that educates the user about the air quality in their surroundings. He also provided examples such as building a wearable device that provides transit or recreational information. He then reviewed the resources available to build wearable devices at home including open source hardware, the raw materials required and the options available to power s...
Jan. 31, 2015 11:00 AM EST Reads: 4,096
An entirely new security model is needed for the Internet of Things, or is it? Can we save some old and tested controls for this new and different environment? In his session at @ThingsExpo, New York's at the Javits Center, Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, reviewed hands-on lessons with IoT devices and reveal a new risk balance you might not expect. Davi Ottenheimer, EMC Senior Director of Trust, has more than nineteen years' experience managing global security operations and assessments, including a decade of leading incident response and digital forensics. He is co-author of t...
Jan. 31, 2015 11:00 AM EST Reads: 4,912
The Internet of Things promises to transform businesses (and lives), but navigating the business and technical path to success can be difficult to understand. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Sean Lorenz, Technical Product Manager for Xively at LogMeIn, demonstrated how to approach creating broadly successful connected customer solutions using real world business transformation studies including New England BioLabs and more.
Jan. 31, 2015 10:45 AM EST Reads: 4,831
The Internet of Things is not new. Historically, smart businesses have used its basic concept of leveraging data to drive better decision making and have capitalized on those insights to realize additional revenue opportunities. So, what has changed to make the Internet of Things one of the hottest topics in tech? In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Gray, Director, Embedded and Internet of Things, discussed the underlying factors that are driving the economics of intelligent systems. Discover how hardware commoditization, the ubiquitous nature of connectivity, and the emergence of Big Data a...
Jan. 31, 2015 10:45 AM EST Reads: 4,553
We certainly live in interesting technological times. And no more interesting than the current competing IoT standards for connectivity. Various standards bodies, approaches, and ecosystems are vying for mindshare and positioning for a competitive edge. It is clear that when the dust settles, we will have new protocols, evolved protocols, that will change the way we interact with devices and infrastructure. We will also have evolved web protocols, like HTTP/2, that will be changing the very core of our infrastructures. At the same time, we have old approaches made new again like micro-services...
Jan. 31, 2015 10:30 AM EST Reads: 4,197
Today’s enterprise is being driven by disruptive competitive and human capital requirements to provide enterprise application access through not only desktops, but also mobile devices. To retrofit existing programs across all these devices using traditional programming methods is very costly and time consuming – often prohibitively so. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jesse Shiah, CEO, President, and Co-Founder of AgilePoint Inc., discussed how you can create applications that run on all mobile devices as well as laptops and desktops using a visual drag-and-drop application – and eForms-buildi...
Jan. 31, 2015 10:00 AM EST Reads: 4,583
Enthusiasm for the Internet of Things has reached an all-time high. In 2013 alone, venture capitalists spent more than $1 billion dollars investing in the IoT space. With "smart" appliances and devices, IoT covers wearable smart devices, cloud services to hardware companies. Nest, a Google company, detects temperatures inside homes and automatically adjusts it by tracking its user's habit. These technologies are quickly developing and with it come challenges such as bridging infrastructure gaps, abiding by privacy concerns and making the concept a reality. These challenges can't be addressed w...
Jan. 31, 2015 10:00 AM EST Reads: 4,769


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A pedestrian wearing a protective mask walks past a Wells Fargo & Co. bank branch in New York, U.S., on Thursday, July 9, 2020.
Peter Foley | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Wells Fargo is ending a popular consumer lending product, angering some of its customers, CNBC has learned.
The bank is shutting down all existing personal lines of credit in coming weeks and no longer offers the product, according to customer letters reviewed by CNBC.
The revolving credit lines, which typically let users borrow $3,000 to $100,000, were pitched as a way to consolidate higher-interest credit card debt, pay for home renovations or avoid overdraft fees on linked checking accounts.
“Wells Fargo recently reviewed its…


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Jordan Cohen’s resume has a clear theme: data-driven marketing. In April, Cohen joined Ladders, a job board for positions that pay $100,000 or more. But before going brand-side, he spent most of his career in the performance space, with recent stints at email content marketing platform Movable Ink and performance marketing company Fluent. Cohen plans
The post New Ladders CMO To Data-Driven Marketing: You’re Hired. appeared first on AdExchanger.


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Report takes aim at lax Swiss tobacco rules
Switzerland is doing far too little to rein in tobacco and nicotine use, and is especially lax on vaping rules, according to a commission report, which blamed hefty industry lobbying.
Several of the world’s biggest tobacco companies, including Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco, have their global or regional headquarters in Switzerland.
“For decades, the tobacco industry has downplayed the harmful effects of its activity and has blocked Swiss public health policies,” the Federal Commission for the Prevention of Tobacco Use said in a report published Thursday.
The commission warned that industry pressure had left the country with watered-down regulations, especially for new electronic cigarettes, heated tobacco sticks and other and vaping products.
“We need a far more restrictive approach,” commission president Lucrezia Meier-Schatz told AFP Friday.
There is no age limit for purchasing such products, although several cantons are considering banning their sale to minors.
Their use is also permitted in closed public spaces, and they are not subjected to the same taxes and advertising restrictions as conventional cigarettes.
“These products need to be regulated exactly the same way as regular cigarettes,” Meier-Schatz said, insisting that industry claims that the new products are far safer than cigarettes were far from proven.
Switzerland, which also happens to be home to the World Health Organization, is meanwhile one of few countries that have yet to ratify the UN agency’s global Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC).
Meier-Schatz insisted industry lobbying was to blame.
“The tobacco industry pressure on the political sphere is enormous, and has until now managed to prevent the ratification of this convention,” she said.
The industry contributes about 6.3 billion Swiss francs ($6.4 billion, 5.8 billion euros) to the Swiss economy, or one percent of its gross domestic product, according to the Le Temps daily.


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SoftBank Group is taking over Google parent Alphabet's robot dreams, buying Boston Dynamics to pursue a future when more machines intermingle with humans. As part of the transaction with Alphabet, SoftBank also agreed to buy Japanese bipedal robotics company Schaft. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Boston Dynamics, bought by Google in 2013 as part of a robotics acquisitions spree, made its name with a series of two- and four-legged machines that are able to stay upright even when pushed or traversing rocky terrain. Videos of the robots, known for their ...
SoftBank to buy robot maker Boston Dynamics from Alphabet
SoftBank Group also agreed to buy Japanese bipedal robotics company Schaft
Bloomberg Last Updated at June 10, 2017 01:47 IST


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Ubisoft has released a new NVIDIA technologies trailer for Watch Dogs.
Take a look at the Watch Dogs NVIDIA technologies video below:
Take a look as Team Evil streams the PayDay 2: Gage Mod Courier DLC before release on Twitch.
You can take a look at the PayDay 2 The Gage Mod Courier DLC details here.
Zen Studios announced that the R2-D2 and C-3PO Droid Tables are heading to Star Wars Pinball on May the 4th.
Here is how the developer describes the new Droids Table,
Ubisoft has released its mobile racer, Trials Frontier, today for iPhone, iPad & iPod Touch.
Here is what the developer had to say about Trials Frontier:


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Sprint will offer unlimited data for the iPhone
Sprint may not have gotten itself an exclusive on the iPhone 5 (and with that particular model turning out not to exist, that would’ve been hard to do anyway), as we once thought, but the Now Network does get to sell the newly announced iPhone 4S. And it may very well have guaranteed to Apple that it will buy more than 30 million iPhones over the course of the next four years.
Because it agreed to that, Sprint obviously needs some kind of unique selling point for its iPhones, to incentivize people not to go to either AT&T or Verizon for their new iPhone fix. Last month we told you that the carrier may offer unlimited data for the iPhone, something that neither AT&T nor Verizon provide their customers right now.
And it turns out that Sprint will do just that. The carrier apparently confirmed the news for AllThingsD today. So if you’re what is referred to as a data hog, Sprint may be your new best friend. Actually, scratch that. If you’d like to not worry about hitting overages for your iPhone data consumption, Sprint is basically your only choice, although the hotspot feature will be limited to 5 GB per month according to Phone Scoop.
You’ll be able to pick a $79.99 per month plan that includes unlimited data, unlimited mobile-to-mobile calling, and 450 minutes, or a $109.99 per month plan that features unlimited calling and data. Not cheap, but hey, unlimited is unlimited, right?
One of the caveats here is that the iPhone won’t be using Sprint’s WiMax network, so it won’t be a 4G device and thus will be stuck on 3G EVDO speeds. Whether or not that really matters remains to be seen. As will whether this move by Sprint will be enough to persuade many Americans to switch networks and join the country’s third biggest carrier.


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In this week's New York Times column, Nobel-winning economist Paul Krugman debunks the idea of heavy government cuts as a way to economic recovery:
The key point is that while the advocates of austerity pose as hardheaded realists, doing what has to be done, they can't and won't justify their stance with actual numbers -- because the numbers do not, in fact, support their position. Nor can they claim that markets are demanding austerity. On the contrary, the German government remains able to borrow at rock-bottom interest rates.
So the real motivations for their obsession with austerity lie somewhere else.
In America, many self-described deficit hawks are hypocrites, pure and simple: They're eager to slash benefits for those in need, but their concerns about red ink vanish when it comes to tax breaks for the wealthy. Thus, Senator Ben Nelson, who sanctimoniously declared that we can't afford $77 billion in aid to the unemployed, was instrumental in passing the first Bush tax cut, which cost a cool $1.3 trillion.
Vox parsed out the Bureau of Justice Statistics’ numbers on incarceration in prisons (excluding jails) and produced this ghastly visualization tracking the transformaiton of America into the country with the highest rate of incarceration in the history of the world.
The McClatchy Company, a chain of more than 30 U.S. newspapers, is expected to close its foreign bureaus by the end of the year. The media giant’s chief executive denies the rumors, but it kind of sounds like the closures are likely anyway.
Online retail giant Amazon just launched a marketplace for handcrafted goods: Handmade at Amazon. It’s “an arts-and-crafts bazaar online that squarely takes aim at a niche but growing market dominated by the Brooklyn-based Etsy,” as the New York Times puts it. Handmade at Amazon went live early Thursday more than 80,000 items from roughly 5,000 […]
This Smartphone Photo Lens Kit arms you with six unique smartphone photography accessories, so you can take high-quality and well-composed photos of any subject from small insects to expansive landscapes.6 unique lensesRolls up neatly for transportTripod for stabilitySmall lenses attach seamlessly with magnetMicroscope and 8x telephoto lenses attach with a case (case attaches to phone)Lens wallet […]
Inspired by the universality of symbols, the founders of Noun Project began to collect thousands of hand-drawn icons. The concept has since transformed into a massive digital collection of 150,000+ unique icons that fuel the work of designers every day. Spend less time crafting icons and more time putting amazing designs out into the world with […]
You won’t need to think twice about going hands-free on the road with Exomount’s easy-to-use car mount. It mounts your smartphone so easily, you literally only need one hand to quickly secure your phone in the perfect position and get driving. Don’t risk a ticket, use the world’s best suction technology to effortlessly mount and […]


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Despite an increase in Black and Latinx women-led businesses, women of color continue to be left out of critical venture funding opportunities. Since 2009, Black women-led startups have raised $289 million in venture funding, but that represents less than 1 percent of the total venture funding raised for tech companies in that time period. Finney designed digitalundivided’s (DID) programming to close that gap by eliminating the barriers that have historically made it more difficult for Black and Latinx women to fundraise and start their own businesses. DID’s strategy is backed by data and insights from its data initiative, #ProjectDiane, which consists of exhaustive research covering the experiences of Black and Latinx female entrepreneurs.
DID serves as an incubator and accelerator, leading Black and Latinx women entrepreneurs in the tech space through the startup pipeline, providing the training, networking opportunities and capital resources that women of color need to build and scale their businesses.
Through its BIG incubator, DID helps women of color launch their companies by offering in-depth training to help participants grow their ideas into a business concept, identify and understand the appropriate market and customer base, and test and strengthen their product. DID then serves as an accelerator, providing direct access for entrepreneurs to funding and investors.
About the Organization
Kathryn Finney founded “digitalundivided” (DID) in 2013 with the goal of providing economic security to Black and Latinx women by helping them start their own businesses; from the beginning of the startup funnel (idea) into the innovation ecosystem.
Finney’s business model draws on her own experience as an entrepreneur. Her journey began as a social media pioneer with the launch of Budget Fashionista, one of the first lifestyle blogs. As Budget Fashionista grew in success, Finney eventually sold it. Experiencing the economic transformation of starting, growing and selling her own company inspired Finney to make her dream a reality for other Black and Latinx women.
In addition to eliminating the economic barriers that disproportionately burden women of color, Finney is also working to transform society’s idea of where leaders and entrepreneurs come from and what they look like. “Women of color have always been visionaries. They’ve had to be,” Finney explained. But she is also acutely aware of the fact that 50 years ago, she “likely wouldn’t have even been allowed to enter the building” where she now leads a company.
It’s also why Surdna’s investment in DID felt revolutionary to Finney. “As a Black woman in a space where very few people look like or care about someone like me,” Finney explained, “Surdna’s support gave me validation.” Just as Finney instills confidence in so many women, Surdna’s support instilled confidence in her vision for Black and Latinx entrepreneurs.
Though DID already has helped founders raise more than $25 million, its story is far from complete. Finney continues to feel the success of digitalundivided when women tech founders complete DID’s programming with “a newfound confidence and knowledge of their brilliance.” She recently got to see the impact of her work when Vanity Fair used DID’s ProjectDiane data to celebrate women-of-color founders and CEOs who broke barriers and shattered glass ceilings to raise more than $1 million. The outcome, she said, is that “more women of color gain confidence that they, too, can be innovators.”


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Energy-to-telecom conglomerate Reliance Industries Ltd said on Monday private equity firm Silver Lake will invest Rs 5,655.75 crore ($747 million) in its digital arm Jio Platforms Ltd.
The deal values Jio Platforms at Rs 4.9 trillion, Reliance said in a statement. The investment represents a 12.5% premium to the equity valuation of the Facebook investment announced on April 22, the Indian company said.
Facebook had agreed to invest Rs 43,574 crore ($5.7 billion) to buy a 9.99% stake in Jio Platforms.
Jio Platforms is RIL’s digital services arm that houses its telecom unit, Reliance Jio Infocomm Ltd, as well as its news, movie and music apps.
Egon Durban, Silver Lake co-CEO and managing partner, said that the market potential of Jio Platforms is enormous and that it had brought low-cost digital services to consumers and small businesses.
SilverLake is invested in some of the world’s best-known technology firms such as Twitter, Airbnb, Alibaba Group, Ant Financial, Didi Chuxing and Motorola Solutions. Menlo Park-based Silver Lake also helped take Dell Technologies private in 2013 and was invested in Skype before Microsoft acquired the video communications company in 2011.
Reliance Industries chairman and managing director Mukesh Ambani said Silver Lake’s investment would help the company use insights from the PE firms “global technology relationships”.
Reliance Industries had created Jio Platforms late last year to house all its digital business while absorbing the entire $13.5-billion debt of its telecom business, Reliance Jio Infocomm.
This was seen as a precursor to monetise the telecom business that requires more capital investments to move to a next-generation ecosystem.
Previously, Reliance had spliced out its telecom infrastructure assets including towers and roped in Canadian investor Brookfield to seal the biggest private equity deal ever in India worth some $3.7 billion.
Reliance also plans to sell a 20% stake in its oil-to-chemicals business to Saudi Aramco for around $15 billion. This deal is yet to close amidst the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.
These stake sales are part of Reliance Industries’ plan to reduce its net debt to zero by March 2021. Reliance also said last week that it was going for a rights issue — its first in three decades — to raise Rs 53,000 crores from existing investors.
For Silver Lake’s investment, Morgan Stanley acted as the financial adviser to Reliance Industries. AZB & Partners and Davis Polk & Wardwell acted as legal counsels.


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Over the last decade, advertising has changed dramatically, with social media platforms gaining in importance compared to traditional outlets. In particular, brands have sought to market to younger demographics via platforms such as Facebook and Instagram in order to reach potential customers that typically consume far less traditional media than older generations.
Regulatory bodies have had to move rapidly to adapt to this fast-changing area, issuing new regulations, creating guidance documents, and investigating influencers for compliance. The latest example of this comes from the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA), which has obtained several voluntary undertakings from Facebook Ireland Ltd on behalf of Instagram, following an investigation into hidden advertising on Instagram. The aim of the commitments is to make it easier for influencers and businesses to comply with the law and ensure that advertising is clearly identifiable.
The CMA has previously issued guidance aimed at influencers on how to comply with consumer law, as well as a guide produced jointly with the Advertising Standards Agency (‘An Influencer’s Guide to making clear that ads are ads’). The CMA has also obtained commitments from several celebrities to make it clear when they have been paid or incentivised in any way in relation to a post. The new undertakings regarding Instagram, announced on 16 October, recognise that as well as the influencers and brands that actually post or sponsor the incentivised content, social media platforms bear some responsibility for ensuring that consumer protection law and advertising regulations are complied with and can help encourage brands and influencers to comply.
The new measures
Consumer protection law requires that marketing communications should be clearly identifiable as such and should not mislead consumers. In the context of social media, this includes formal sponsorship and ambassador contracts as well as more spontaneous instances of incentivised content, such as where a company sends their product to an influencer for free in the hope that they will post about it. Instagram, the second largest social media platform in the world with an estimated 850 million regular users, has committed to introduce several new features to promote compliance with UK law in this area, including:
- where a post links to a brand or product or uses a trigger word (from a list compiled by Facebook), prompting users to confirm if they have been incentivised in any way to promote a product or service in their post;
- automatically identifying marketing that has not been labelled correctly and passing details to the businesses responsible;
- partnering with a non-profit education programme to raise user awareness of hidden advertising; and
- reporting regularly to the CMA.
What does this mean for advertisers?
Rulings from the Advertising Standards Agency (ASA) already indicate that the businesses which sponsor influencers to promote their products and services are responsible for posts in a wide array of situations, not just when they have directly paid for a post or have some level of control over it. For example, where an influencer has a sponsorship contract with a brand but then posts outside of their obligations under that contract, not at the request of the brand (“organically”), the ASA has ruled that such posts fall within the CAP Code and that businesses are responsible alongside the influencer.
The new undertakings should make it easier for businesses to monitor how their products are being advertised on Instagram, as they will be notified if their brand is mentioned in an incentivised post that Instagram has flagged as incorrectly labelled. Instagram has also committed to educating brands on how they can request that posts which contain hidden advertising are removed.
Importantly, the CMA has stated that the commitments apply to all UK-based Instagram users, and any users globally that direct their posts to UK users. Many other countries have also taken action to address influencer marketing – you can read our articles here.
For more information, see our global influencer marketing guide. We are also hosting a webinar on influencer marketing across jurisdictions on Thursday 19 November and Friday 27 November – sign up here.


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RISK AND COMPLIANCE, PRODUCTS AND TECHNOLOGIES
PRnewswire | May 26, 2023
Quantix, North America's leading supply chain services company to the chemical industry, announced today it has joined the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (the Alliance), a global non-profit organization that brings together government, companies and communities to end plastic waste in the environment.
Quantix is the 31st member in North America to join the Alliance, which has over 70 members including founding member companies such as BASF, Chevron Phillips Chemical, ExxonMobil, Dow Chemical, Mitsubishi Chemical Holdings, Procter & Gamble and Shell.
"We understand that no viable solution to ending plastic waste can come from any individual company alone, but rather a combination of all of us working together," said Chris Ball, President and Chief Executive Officer of Quantix. "Solving the challenges of reducing plastic waste and redefining how it can be used and repurposed is complex, and we are committed to working with the Alliance and its members to take action toward these goals and more."
As a member company, Quantix will participate in projects with other Alliance members to brainstorm and push initiatives forward to create opportunities within the circular economy. Those initiatives will focus on plastic collection, sorting, processing and recycling. Quantix is uniquely positioned to support these efforts with its vast infrastructure of supply chain assets located where plastics are both made and produced.
"The Alliance has been a catalyst for more than 50 projects across 30 countries," said Natalie Stirling-Sanders, Chief Advisor, Head of Americas, Alliance to End Plastic Waste. "The solutions that are being supported are often ground-breaking and enabled by strong collaboration amongst all players across the plastic value chain. We are delighted to welcome Quantix to the Alliance, and are pleased we now have a logistics company in North America helping to end plastic waste in the environment."
Quantix is committed to being a sustainability leader in the supply chain and logistics industry including helping build the new circular supply chain. The company has several active sustainability initiatives including multi-year environmental goals such as converting 25% of its last mile and drayage fleet to alternative fuel by 2030. To learn more about the company's commitment to sustainability, visit https://quantixscs.com/about/sustainability/.
Quantix is the leading supply chain services company to the chemical industry. It provides the world's largest chemical providers with end-to-end support through a nationwide network and comprehensive suite of services including transportation, 3PL solutions, distribution centers, export/import and Eco-Recovery. Headquartered in The Woodlands, TX with over 80 locations across the U.S., Quantix is committed to providing the highest level of safety, quality, compliance and integrity across its entire operation. Learn more at www.quantixscs.com.
Globenewswire | May 23, 2023
LanzaTech Global, Inc. an innovative carbon capture and transformation company that converts waste carbon into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging, and other products that people use in their daily lives, and Plastipak Packaging, Inc. (“Plastipak”), a global leader in the design, manufacture, and recycling of plastic containers, announce they have successfully produced PPKNatura, the world’s first polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin made from captured carbon emissions. The resin is suitable for food, personal care, and pharmaceutical packaging, as well as other non-packaging applications.
PET is a polymer that is molded into plastic bottles and containers for packaging foods and beverages, personal care products, and many other consumer goods. PET resin comprises 30% monoethylene glycol (MEG) traditionally derived from petroleum. PPKNatura leverages CarbonSmart™ MEG from LanzaTech’s CCT process. It retains the technical properties of virgin fossil PET while carrying a lower carbon footprint. Thus, PPKNatura can be a used for traditional food and pharmaceutical grade packaging and other sensitive applications such as hot-fill, refillables, and applications where a low crystallinity is required. Non-packaging PET applications can also take advantage of this ground-breaking resin.
PPKNatura resin reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and its production process does not require land or food resources. In addition, packaging made out of this material can be fully recycled at the end of its life, keeping the carbon in a circular material cycle.
Leading Swiss retailer Migros and its subsidiary Mibelle Group were the first to use this PET in in-house brand packaging, including in creating PET bottles for smoothies and the containers of household cleaners that also contained LanzaTech ethanol as a key ingredient.
“LanzaTech’s commercial technology is designed to enable our partners in diverse industries to reduce their carbon footprint and overall environmental impact,” said Jennifer Holmgren, Chief Executive Officer of LanzaTech. “Our partnership with Plastipak is critical to demonstrating what is possible today. Today we are producing food- and pharmaceutical-grade packaging and are well on our way to creating a more sustainable future for all.”
LanzaTech’s CCT technology works like a brewery in which proprietary bacteria consume pollution and convert it into CarbonSmart chemicals. Those chemicals are then turned into products ranging from clothing and laundry detergent to sustainable aviation fuel. Using a variety of waste feedstocks, LanzaTech’s technology platform is creating a future where consumers are not dependent on virgin fossil inputs for everything in their daily lives.
“We are delighted to partner with LanzaTech to achieve early progress in our ambition to produce PET with lower environmental impacts. The use of CarbonSmart MEG is a first and important milestone in our journey toward this goal, and combined with use of renewable electricity in the production process, has contributed to significant progress in indicators such as carbon reduction and use of fossil resources. PPKNatura resin is one element of Plastipak’s ESG program, which among other initiatives, targets the extension of our product circularity with the intent of supporting customers in reducing their Scope 3 emissions. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial partnership with LanzaTech as we work together to achieve our long-term goals,” said Pedro Martins, Executive Managing Director Europe of Plastipak.
Headquartered in Skokie, IL, LanzaTech Global, Inc. captures waste carbon and transforms it into materials such as sustainable fuels, fabrics, packaging, and other products. Using a variety of waste feedstocks, LanzaTech’s technology platform is contributing to a future where consumers are not dependent on virgin fossil feedstocks for everything in their daily lives. LanzaTech’s goal is to challenge and change the way the world uses carbon, enabling a new circular carbon economy where carbon is reused rather than wasted, skies and oceans are kept clean, and pollution becomes a thing of the past.
CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY, CHEMICAL MANAGEMENT
Danimer Scientific | March 09, 2023
Danimer Scientific, Inc. commends the City of Jacksonville for its newly launched pilot program offering organic recycling solutions to restaurants in the Riverside and Avondale areas. Sunshine Organics and Compost, also known as Compost Jax, is partnering with the city to execute the six-month program.
After receiving training on proper diversion procedures, restaurants will have their food waste collected and delivered to the Sunshine Organics and Compost facility by the city every week for six months as part of the program launched on March 1. The accumulated food residues will be transformed into nutrient-rich compost that can be used to replenish soils and support the growth of more food.
Most of Northeast Florida's food waste is in landfills, making up a considerable portion of solid waste. As organic waste decomposes in landfills, it produces hazardous methane that can contribute to climate change. Industrial composting, on the other hand, provides an eco-friendly way to treat organic waste, such as food waste, yard waste, and other organic matter, potentially lengthening the lifespan of landfills by years.
Sunshine Organics and Compost is authorized to process food and yard waste and can accept certified industrially compostable products, including Danimer Scientific's Nodax® PHA. This makes it different from other composting operations in the Jacksonville region. The Nodax® PHA created by Danimer Scientific is appropriate for food packaging applications because it has FDA approval for food contact and can decompose without generating any pollution.
About Danimer Scientific
Danimer Scientific is a biopolymer manufacturer that creates sustainable and eco-friendly materials. The company uses natural resources like canola, corn, and other plant-based oils to develop compostable, biodegradable products that replace traditional plastic materials. Its products are designed to reduce waste and promote sustainability, and its technology has applications in various industries, including food packaging, textiles, and more. Danimer Scientific is headquartered in Bainbridge, Georgia, and is committed to reducing the negative impact of plastics on the environment and creating a cleaner, more sustainable future.


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**Editor’s note: Sony’s press release announcing full details has been distributed, and you can find out additional product details here.**
On Sunday, Sony will be pushing out a press release announcing a new accessory for its 2013 BRAVIA® television line. But, I hate keeping secrets, so if you keep it under your hat, I’ve got something to show you.
Check […] Read MoreRead More


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I don’t know about you, but I feel cheated. I got my Covid vaccine when I was supposed to and I was pretty happy about it. But now a bunch of states — including California as of last week — are offering prizes for getting shots.
In California, the first 2 million people getting shots after May 27 get paid! You show up for a shot and you get a $50 gift card.
I understand why this is happening — we need to end the pandemic — but you have to realize that the people being rewarded are all the goofballs who avoided getting shots when they were supposed to.
Where are the rewards for the good behavior of all us goodie-two-shoe types? (We’re still eligible for prize drawings, but the odds of winning aren’t great.)
At the very least, those of us who got shots before, say, the end of March should be awarded certificates of merit from our states.
Then we can be insufferable.
Spot the differences. Examine the two photos below and see if you can tell if they’re different.
Are they different? This isn’t one of those Internet optical illusion tricks. There’s also a blue version of the first photo.
The answer is: Of course they’re different! If you don’t believe me, we now have a federal court ruling to that effect: “There is one glaringly obvious difference between the Pink Sky Horse and the Blue Sky Horse copyrighted works, on the one hand, and Wei’s design, on the other hand: Wei’s design is not pink, nor is it blue. Wei’s design is … patterned with colors in a rainbow order.”
So why was the case opened in the first place? My guess is that someone was colorblind.
We also learn from this ruling that there are generic elements of a unicorn. Apparently, they’re not unique.
Sad but true.
Selling your soul? If judges can’t sell non-fungible tokens, that doesn’t mean you can’t.
In case you missed it, The Judicial Ethics Committee of the Administrative Office of the Courts in Tennessee issued an advisory opinion saying that judges should not let their likenesses be used by a for-profit company to make NFTs even though most of the money raised by selling them would go to charity.
It seems that a company called DASH4LAW Inc., run by an imaginative Nashville lawyer, had asked to use some judge images for NFTs to be auctioned off for charity. Among the pretty obvious problems with this was that DASH4LAW would get to keep part of the money for its efforts and the fact that someone would own a judge’s mug.
Picture the local drug cartel’s chief executive officer owning a judge’s NFT jumping up in court and screaming, “I own you!”
Yeah, that’s a bit extreme but I like to imagine stuff like that.
It turns out that DASH is a company that claims to be “the collaboration platform for the ecosystem of law.”
Don’t you just hate it when your firm’s ecosystem is out of whack? Office warming is real. It’s science.
DASH, as part of its environmental plan, offers NFTs for lawyers and law firms. On a website with some interesting typos, DASH offers NFT litigation funding as part of the “ecosystem.”
You can sell the rights to a picture of your injured client? A copy of the lawsuit?
What if the other side buys your lawsuit’s NFT? Would that be like a summary judgment or a settlement?
(Side note: My favorite typo on the website is “anticipated budget scope crep.” I think it’s supposed to be “crap.”)
I have my doubts as to how well a law firm’s NFTs would sell — but then stuff that is selling these days seems pretty doubtful too.
Since I’m nothing if not fashionable, I am now offering my first FFT (fully fungible token): a Catcoin.
Enjoy and copy this as often as you like.


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Coronavirus Causing Switch Delays and Shortages? It's Possible
The coronavirus outbreak in China may lead to manufacturing delays for the Nintendo Switch, Switch controllers, and other accessories. The news comes from a CNBC report.
It would seem Nintendo wasn't able to move too much production out of China following the tariff kerfuffle from last year. Niko Partners senior games market researcher Daniel Ahmad told CNBC that 96% of consoles imported to the U.S. were made in China.
So even though Nintendo says the delays will only impact the domestic Japanese market, they could very well cause a ripple effect elsewhere.
However, Serkan Toto of Kantan Games also said the delays probably won't harm Nintendo in the long term. Speaking of shortages in 2017, Toto said
Nintendo already had a similar supply problem domestically that lasted for months, albeit for different reasons. It didn’t hurt demand later.
I think you will see the same with the Switch, the Animal Crossing special edition and Ring Fit Adventure. People will buy these later.
That last bit is particularly good news for those of us who missed out on snagging those lovely Animal Crossing Switch systems before they sold out. Still, situations like these are probably one factor in why Nintendo started expanding its IP presence outside the gaming and tech world.
We'll be keeping an eye on the situation, so stay tuned to GameSkinny for more Nintendo Switch news as it develops.


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March 4, 2009
For the last two weeks, people roaming the streets could have seen the wide spread of outdoor ads promoting Pelephone’s new “High Speed GSM” network.
The ad features some sort of creature painting a sign announcing the new “high speed” network, an announcement that refers to the new HSPA network launched by Pelephone a month ago, the most advanced network in the world.
the only HSPA network in Israel so far.Along came the TV ad today available in this post for all of you viewers.
Another interesting activity Pelephone has carried out is establishing a temporary pop-up concept store. The temporary store spreads on 1,200 meters showcasing the new HSPA network handsets allowing customers to explore enjoying a unique customer experience.
This launch is a big one, especially for Pelephone. Pelephone was established in 1986 as the first mobile operator in Israel, but ever since then it was known as the last one to arrive to all the other parties… A significant factor which contributed to that notion was Pelephone’s persistent hold on its CDMA network.
At last Pelephone has a brilliant chance to get rid of the “last one in” syndrome it has been suffering from since Cellcom joined Orange and launched it GSM network a few years ago.
But… before I let you go back to your affairs, its time for some criticism- The outdoor ads? not so attractive at all. No sense of innovation in the outdoor campaign unfortunately, and I also really don’t like the new HSPA network logo that is so conservative and boring..
The TV ad is much nicer and communicates the innovation though I don’t really get whats that thing about the wedding… and what’s the message (I mean except from a new world).
Actually, the biggest problem Pelephone has with the key promotional message is that they actually have the same network as their competitors- so they can’t claim for any unique sales proposition.
So CHEERS to Pelephone and good luck with the new network!
January 2, 2009
Partner VOB and ISP launch
Partner Israel (Orange brand) is finally moving from being a mobile phone operator to a full telecoms company with the launch of Internet and land-line telephony services.
After the “Orange Time” launch a week ago offering content on-line, Partner is starting today to offer land-line calling through Voice over Broadband (VoB) while also becoming an Internet service provider (ISP).
Partner is the first mobile company joining the multi-play circle, shaking up telcom market which up until now consisted of three ISP’s and three mobile operators dominating the map.
Partner’s brand strategy has always based itself on driving innovation and reflecting simplicity to customers. In accordance, at an interview for “Globes“, Israeli business magazine, Alon Berman VP internet and landline telephony services said: “Our strategy is not to raise a price competition… we are going for value offers”.
Some how I believe him it will work for Partner…
So all of you looking for the cheap alternative and a telecoms price war, don’t be looking forward to it too much, it might not happen after all.
A Few words about Orange Time
When it was first launched a week and a half ago I must admit I was a bit excited that Israel is finally going through a minor technological change attempting to change our limited concept of how communication and content feels and acts; But unfortunately after the first buzz it seems that the interface Partner chose to use is clumsy and the content on the site is not as updated. I would expect that if a company is to build an Internet content platform, it would invest more in valuable partnerships with content providers to bring the best and most updated content, instead of bringing things everyone can watch on regular TV….
What do you think?
November 24, 2008
Mobile operator Partner Communications has recently reportedthird-quarter net profit of ILS 296 million, up 38.4 percent from a year earlier. The Israeli company, which operates under the brand name Orange, posted revenues of ILS 1.636 billion, up 2.2 percent year-on-year, while EBITDA grew 15.7 percent to ILS 624 million.
According to an interview with David Avner Partner IL CEO, Partner, he said that Partner is set to launch a host of new services in early 2009, such as ISP, Wi-Fi and fixed-line telephony via voice-over-broadband, that are expected to boost revenue.
He also noted about the worldwide financial crisis, that he believes: ‘the cellular market may be the last sector to be damaged from this crisis.’
Taking all that into account, it is now clear why Partner does not delay its expansion into fixed voice and broadband services, since the infrastructure is nearly ready.
It is quite new for me though, as an Orange (Partner IL) customer to receive such a prominent marketing push to my mailbox.
And why push new services through BTL? well, my guesses are that at first only Orange (Partner IL) customers will be able to sign up for the new services.
And here is the mesage I got through my mail:
Written in hebrew: come forward with us, to the future, soon you could enjoy the Internet and fixed phone from Orange. sign up now and we will let you know of the launch personally, fill your details here (link to: http://www.orange.co.il/isp_contacts/).
November 22, 2008
It was on June 2008, when Pelephone has launched its 4M ILS (1.6M $) campaign to promote it’s new mobile broadband+ laptop bundle.
The offer was considered innovative at the time, since operators only started offering a free lap-top in Europe after Orage UK‘s successful launch in July 2008. Read the rest of this entry »
September 25, 2008
A few weeks ago, I was unexpectedly washed away by a wave of nostalgia – I recalled a first mobile phone in my family – the Big Black Monster from Motorola – back in the mid 90’s. I tried to remember some details and was very surprised to realize that this was a pre-paid plan device!
For those who don’t know, today there’s is almost no such thing in Israel as pre-paid mobile plan. One can hardly see any ads or promotions of such plans and they are never being offered by sales-persons of the MNO’s.
So I decided to make a little investigation Read the rest of this entry »


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Ferret feces join the war on drugs
Adding Premier League soccer content has tripled BT Vision's customer base, but restructuring costs hit the carrier's Q2 profits
Funding that could total $120M sets up TTM for an assault on the North American wireless backhaul market
Cisco beats expectations for another quarter, although the stock is sliding after hours
Santa and his murderous elf sell calendars
Shares in Acme Packet fell more than 15 percent Wednesday, despite strong third-quarter results
Wall Street 'needs to grow up,' analyst says
Bananas at night, Monkeys' delight
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's the Network Neutrality Squad!
China is nothing to Yahoo about
Vodafone partners with Nokia to combine their Internet services on Nokia handsets
Lingering issues in Los Angeles and Dallas contributed to the bulk of a larger than expected loss of 83,000 basic video subs in the period
5 interactive services I'd want from FiOS or U-verse
Spectrum availability will be a barrier for LTE deployment, finds a new Unstrung Insider report
That video thing over DSL isn't so easy, apparently
The 3GPP's Long-Term Evolution (LTE) standard has emerged as the leading candidate technology for next-generation wireless networks.
Norway kicks off 2.6 GHz mobile broadband auction
Industry analysts are not yet sure what to make of Google's Android open software initiative
A year after commercial launch Swisscom's IPTV service is still experiencing technical difficulties
Swisscom adds another 10,000 subs
Serbia Broadband ups its optical capacity
Streaming media, in multiple formats, gives Level 3 another service for its CDN
Bad day for telco stocks
With some Websites reportedly down for four days, hosting provider NaviSite is feeling customers' wrath
Google's carrier partners are betting that Google will give them an iPhone-like boost
A deployment in which all homes are passed
AT&T says it will spend $500M more on U-Verse, passing 1 million fewer homes by the end of 2008 than expected earlier
MSO's 'basic family' tier to offer 30 to 40 hi-def nets in time for the 2007 holiday season – offering one reason for a rise in Q3 capex
Mike Zavirovski says Nortel's annual revenues are set to grow in 2008, helping to send the stock up 12%
Breaking up, on the Web, isn't so hard to do
Big changes may be in store when new Time Warner CEO takes the helm in January
Shares stumble more than 12 percent Tuesday morning after MSO lowers revenue projections for 2007 and posts wider-than-expected net loss
The Femto Forum grows its membership to more than 40 companies including major operators and equipment suppliers
It's not feminine hygiene, it's a home base station
Q3 falls short of expectations, but Nortel still manages a small profit and a gross margin of 43% on sales of $2.7 billion
Fifteen vendors join 'interop' as FCC mulls whether to rule in favor of OpenCable, the CEA's 'DCR Plus' proposal, or a combo of the two
Eric Schmidt, performance artist?
Strategic review identifies further cost cuts but decides against an exit from the service assurance market
Google is thinking big with Android, but it's not talking much about ad revenues or Apple yet
Top 5 services I wish my wireless carrier offered
The Czechs like IPTV, too
'In my day we had to pick an Internet from a tree'
Unisys teams with AppTrigger as it aims to build on its installed base of carrier messaging systems
There's no Gphone yet, but Google is moving into cellphones with an OS and middleware platform called Android
With visual aids
Beware: I have a customized writing utensil. I shall use it to smite the enemy and take over the world!
MSO posted a solid quarter, but firm answers about Insight's future likely won't be answered until tomorrow morning
Gisele Bündchen, leading economic indicator
The day when Google reveals all
Microsoft's long-standing IPTV collaborator Reliance Communications is to launch its telco TV services in India early next year
Send us your tired masses of PR pitches
Vodafone to buy share of Telekom Malaysia's mobile business unit
Start queuing now for the iPhone
When you wish upon a donut...
Our slideshow from Digital Hollywood
Vyatta says thanks for the memory prices
Petition calls on FCC to investigate, suggests MSO should be fined $195,000 for each sub affected by 'degraded' Internet service
By Halloween, VON was a ghost town
European carriers are adding tens of thousands of IPTV subs each month as the Old Continent leads the way in telco TV growth
Shareholder sends an offer letter of $3.40 a share to CACS, saying the company is undervalued
Cisco promises to invest $16 billion in China over the next five years
Consumer protection 1432
Still mired in losses, Conexant discontinues standalone wireless LAN chips and lays off 140
Euro regulators are in tit-for-tat mode
For God's sake, stay home!!!
MetroPCS pulls out but Leap says it is open to talks
Many offers, little prices
Who needs hi-def when you've got ASCII-Vision?
Verizon is gearing up for 100 Mbit/s to be a common offering for most homes. Will AT&T follow suit?
The talking is over
The FCC wouldn't grant Comcast a waiver, and, as promised, Comcast is taking the fight to appeals court
VP says bandwidth is a non-issue
Tutarus, SecureRF encrypt RFID data on the chip
Verizon first with a CDMA Pearl?
Stems market and retail store expansion of a wireless service offered in tandem with cable MSOs, citing mounting provisioning issues
Third-ranked US wireless operator reports subscriber numbers down by 60,000 for the third quarter
JDSU's reasons to turn thumbs down on copper
Top cable analyst suggests FCC's ban on exclusive cable MDU contracts is much ado about less than what many investors might think
Significant jobs cuts expected at BT
A new partnership with TiVo might help Windstream fight off cable competition
Sitting in a tree...
Reshuffle leaves two senior execs in limbo
The company's optical sales bounce back, but not all the way
Telcos are finally offering TV services in a real way, but are any of them making money? And, now that they've figured out the technical hurdles, what should they be doing to really stand out in this competitive business?


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You need not be a fan of Donald Trump to say that trade has had a big impact on manufacturing jobs, you really just need to be someone in the reality-based community. Unfortunately, a lot of people who should, and probably do, know better are insisting that trade is not a big deal. The story is that we lost the jobs due to productivity growth, not trade.
There are three points worth making here. The first is a simple logical one, we have a trade deficit of around $500 billion a year, a bit less than 3.0 percent of GDP. This is basically all due to a deficit in manufactured goods (we have a surplus on services). Does anyone believe that the extra imports associated with the trade deficit are not associated with jobs? Can $500 billion worth of manufactured goods be produced without hiring people? (This matters much more in a context where we face secular stagnation, meaning there is not enough overall demand in the economy.)
The second point is that our trade deficit has not always been this large. Our deficits had been around 1.0 percent of GDP through most of the period from the late 1970s until the East Asian crisis in 1997. Following the crisis, the value of the dollar soared and the trade deficit did also. It eventually peaked at almost 6.0 percent of GDP in 2005–2006. (I should be giving the non-oil deficit, but I'm too lazy to look that up just now.)
Anyhow, this explosion in the trade deficit coincided with a sharp decline in manufacturing employment.