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BDO Unibank’s Senior Vice-President and Head of Cash Management Services Carlo Nazareno spoke at the European-PH Business Summit and shared his insights and experiences in how digital and online technology developed and transformed the Philippine banking industry.
Nazareno discussed the topic in light of major factors like global trends in banking and finance, customer preferences, the impact of COVID-19 in the past two years, and how these, in turn, will further shape the future of banking.
Nazareno said that the push for digital solutions is mainly driven by the demand for convenience.
As lifestyles become even more fast-paced and people’s short attention spans demand immediate gratification provided by the internet, they now want the same near-instantaneous fulfillment and completion of online tasks—whether these are bills payments or banking transactions.
This type of fast-paced, instantaneous demand has changed banking into an even more customer-centric activity than ever.
This customer-centric environment leads to other related developments in digital banking. A commonly highlighted feature is getting digital banking services at a fair price.
“Fair price, of course, can mean different things depending on which country a person lives, how open a country or culture is when it comes to digital technology, and even that income bracket customers belong to,” Nazareno said.
Concerns about security have always been a pain point and a big source of hesitancy for both the clients and the institutions themselves.
This is why banks all over the world have been investing heavily in security measures and infrastructure that can give adequate protection against hacking and other forms of cyberattack.
According to Nazareno, cybersecurity is already a given in today’s digital banking environment and the future of digital banking heavily relies on the level of assurance that banks and clients feel about the safety of their transactions.
The smooth flow and security of transactions in the digital age are dependent on the availability of all sorts of data.
From account numbers to account names, to passwords, and all types of digital switches and codes, only the sustained availability and access to real-time streaming of data can keep digital banking running all over the world.
“Nowadays, with digital banking, long waiting times are no longer good enough. Having to wait three days for a check to clear, even having to wait one day or a few hours, seems too long already. Customers, clients, and entrepreneurs all want their money and their products available and in their hands in real-time, as fast as we can click on our touchscreens,” Nazareno explained.
Open Finance and Open Banking
The need for real-time exchanges of information is tightly interwoven with security concerns and openness to information. Nazareno explained that digital transactions around the globe make it necessary for individual customers and their banks to share personal, sensitive information with various third parties.
“This means that we need free and open channels of communication to pass on a massive amount of data every minute, every hour, and every day. Individual persons, banks, and third parties need to allow the free sharing of data—while simultaneously putting up safeguards so that these data don’t get stolen and used for nefarious purposes.”
“That is the challenge as well as the amazing reality that is digital banking today. It requires pooling together expertise in the fields of communication, IT, and cybersecurity across countries. It can be mind-boggling when we consider what’s at stake and all the complex minutiae that need to work together in sync,” said Nazareno.
He added that for digital banking to work today and in the future, restrictions on the flow of data have to be managed well—with more openness as the main goal balanced with the need for security.
Nazareno also said that banks and financial institutions around the world are working towards leveling up the capabilities of digital payments and other transactions, to the point where these can happen not only between buyers, sellers, and banks inside one country but eventually throughout a region like Southeast Asia, and finally, across the world.
“Ordering and paying for a product being sold at a village store in Norway, for example, would be as easy as having a meal delivered from a fast-food outlet in Manila to a barangay in the same city. That’s the ultimate convenience—but we are all still working on that. There are still limitations in technology, in regulations, in the banking system, etc. that need to be overcome for that to happen,” said Nazareno.
Smart ecosystems and cities
All of these realities and trends in digital transactions will eventually be merged with smart technologies that will connect data from mobile devices, vehicles, gas pumps, and all manner of digital-enabled devices.
This means that when someone pays for gas using an e-wallet in his smartphone, for example, data will be collected that will then be passed on to retailers.
The retailers, in turn, will be able to crunch data and find out how much inventory they would need to stock up on each month—that will make it more efficient and cost-effective for their retail operations. Less wastage and a more accurate projection of what products customers want and how much.
“Digital banking is transforming not only the way we spend and save money but is also turning our cities into smart ecosystems where the free exchange and analysis of data give rise to better products and services, better cybersecurity, and hopefully, safer environments for our families to live in,” said Nazareno.
The previous discussions on the massive amounts of data being exchanged in digital banking beg the question: with so much information being shared, who does all that information belong to now? The individual? The bank? Private corporations? The government?
Even as naysayers have been raising the specter of a Big Brother scenario, Nazareno believes that ultimately, the ownership of information always goes back to individuals and their banks. In other words, the free exchange of data does not necessarily result in a transfer of ownership of that data.
Digital is the way forward
For Nazareno, the COVID-19 pandemic forced banks, customers, the private sector, and the government to take digital technology more seriously and grapple with both its benefits and risks. In the end, Nazareno believes the net benefit has been proven to be worth the risk.
“The naysayers were telling us that digital technology would not be embraced right away because customers were fearful about security concerns, or that the technology was inadequate, or that people would be resistant to a digital shift simply because it was too new and unfamiliar. The past two years of the pandemic have shown us that the naysayers were right in some respects. Yes, there were those that remained hesitant to embrace digital banking and payments. And yes, the cyber security threat will always remain at the top of the agenda for banks and other institutions. But they were also wrong.”
“Overall, the shift to digital banking and payments has been unprecedented and even overwhelming. The pandemic forced us to adapt—many, if not most, of us, would no longer wish to go back to a pre-pandemic way of life. The world changed because people had to, they needed to, in order to survive and even thrive. This gives us reassurance that moving forward with digital banking is the only way to go,” said Nazareno.
For more information on BDO’s online banking services and cash management services, go to www.bdo.com.ph. You may also call or visit your nearest BDO Unibank branch.
This is a press release.


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Ouya finally gets an exclusive, guys!
Ouya today announced what might be the first big exclusive for their console, and it’s a pretty different title to kick things off with- Thralled, which has been announced for Ouya for Fall of 2014, will be a pretty different and bold kind of game, telling the story of a runaway slave in 18th century Brazil.
The game was originally created as a student project from Miguel Oliveira and his team;,it went on to be listed as a finalist in the Serious Games Showcase & Challenge in 2012. Ouya has confirmed that an early demo of Thralled will be shown at the Ouya booth at GDC, giving members of the press their first chance to experience the game first hand.
At the very least, it looks like the makers of Ouya are realizing they can’t just release a console and expect the games to come unless they show some initiative, so that’s good. Maybe Ouya will now give the Wii U some support at the bottom end of this console generation, sales wise.

domain: news


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Adam Turner Curved might be the new black, but it's OLED that catches my eye.
Adam Turner The G Flex is a feature-packed Android powerhouse, but the jury's still out on curved displays.
Hayley Tsukayama It would have been so easy for the LG G Flex to be just a collection of gimmicks. And while it's not a phone suited for a majority of people it is a surprisingly good option for the growing number...
Adam Turner Once you get past the unorthodox design, LG's G2 packs quite a punch.
Adam Turner It offers a great picture and surprisingly good sound, but LG's 55LA9700 still doesn't convince me to jump on the Ultra HD TV bandwagon.
Samantha Kelly LG's new G Flex smartphone comes with a self-healing exterior and the results after testing are astonishing.
Salvador Rodriguez LG pledged durability when it announced its curved-screen device, the G Flex, and a new video shows the company may be able to keep its promise.
Adam Turner Coming in from the cold once again, the long-suffering webOS has re-emerged as the new face of LG smart TVs.
LG plans to launch a smartphone with a curved screen next month to catch rival Samsung.
Christina Warren LG has unveiled its latest flagship smartphone, the LG G2, the first smartphone to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 800 processor.
James W Manning LG might want to consider making its next smartphone bulletproof after 20 people were reportedly injured by BB guns in a publicity stunt for its latest handset.
LG has unveiled its highly anticipated top-end smartphone, the Optimus G - just days before consumer electronics fair IFA in Berlin.
Miyoung Kim LG has unveiled its latest high-end smartphone packed with powerful hardware upgrades.
Adam Turner An Android superphone with a budget price tag, LG's Nexus 4 could be a smartphone game changer.
YOUKYUNG LEE LG Electronics started taking pre-orders on Wednesday for the world's first big TVs that use an advanced display technology promising startlingly clear images on wafer-thin screens.
Stan Schroeder LG has announced it has started mass production of its electronic paper display (EPD) product, with a planned launch in Europe next month.
Reiji Murai Apple suppliers will begin mass producing displays as early as May for the next iPhone, sources say.
Apple will release its newest iPhone in September, with higher resolution and bigger screens, according to a report.
Adam Turner If you own a PS3 you can now watch Foxtel on it - but will it stop you pirating Game of Thrones?
Youkyung Lee The global launch of Samsung's latest smartphone has been upstaged by South Korean telcos.


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Uganda joins the CBDC Race with other African Countries Many African countries are looking at adopting digital currencies for central banks (CDBCs) due to the possibility of a more efficient financial system than Bitcoins and other cryptocurrency. Uganda is the latest African nation to embark on a journey towards establishing its own CDBC.
According to reports, the Ugandan central bank (BOU), has begun looking at the possibility of issuing a CBDC that can be used by both individuals and businesses. Furthermore, the BOU is rumored to be revising the country’s financial legislation. The BOU can legally adopt the CBDC. According to a report, advocates of CBDCs support the central bank’s stance, claiming that such a digital currency will allow Ugandans to move money more cheaply and quickly. Nonetheless, Charles Abuka, the bank’s executive director of operations, said in a new interview that the BOU must be precise about why it wants to launch the CBDC in the first place. The first step in determining the reason for the CBDC’s existence, its purpose, and the difficulties it will help Uganda overcome is the most important. Abuka believes that CBDC’s issuance will have significant technological implications. According to him, the technology architecture of such a digital currency will come at a price, and the central bank must comprehend the charges’ ramifications. He also discussed the possibility that cyber-attacks could be made on digital currencies. Notwithstanding the BOU’s reservations, Noah Baalessanv, a blockchain expert and one of Uganda’s digital currency supporters, believes that a CBDC will help the central bank to obtain a feel of the actual economy. Baalessanv said that unlike a cash-based economy, which is equally costly to run and transparent to the public, a CBDC allows a central bank to track transactions. The blockchain analyst warned that issuing a CBDC could result in financial institutions being excluded from the banking system. While releasing digital currency directly to users is more effective, Baalessanv believes it is also the CBDC’s most harmful feature. Many countries around the globe are now exploring the economic benefits of CBCDs. Nigeria and South Africa have already developed it, and countries such as Ghana, Tunisia, Rwanda, Morocco, Egypt, and Kenya are investigating the technology’s viability. Financial inclusion is one of the major focal points of Nigeria’s eNaira.


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Several years ago, Google launched the Nexus Player which was basically Google’s attempt at their own set-top box to rival the competition like the Apple TV. Safe to say that it was not the resounding success that Google had hoped for as the company has pretty much stopped bothering with it since.
However for some reason, it appears that quite a few Nexus Player owners are now reporting that their devices are “mysteriously” dying. It is more than normal that over time as devices get old that they run into issues. However as Android Police points out, the number of reports that have been surfacing are too many and too close to each other to be coincidence.
In some instances the booting of the device gets stuck at the Google logo, or displaying an error message that reads, “Can’t load Android system. Your data may be corrupt. If you continue to get this message, perform a factory data reset and erase all user data stored on this device.” For more advanced users, flashing a new system image has had some success, but this is not something we expect everyone to know how to do.
There are users who also claim that a factory reset did nothing to fix their device. It is unclear as to what might be the issue and if it is really just a coincidence. However with Google officially ending support for the Nexus Player back in 2017, it seems unlikely that Google will be doing much about it.


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Vietnamese street food received 2.84 million tags on Instagram, which was the world's ninth most popular food. It analysed Instagram tags to reveal what cuisines and foods were trending around the world as shared by millions of foodies via the online platform.
A banh mi stall Banh Mi Huynh Hoa on Le Thi Rieng Street in HCM City. (Photo: VNA)Research showed Japanese food ranked highest with about 15.5 million related tags, followed by Italian dishes with 14.7 million tags and Indian cuisine with 8.5 million.
Vietnamese cuisine has become better known in the world over the past few years, with international chefs and prestigious food magazines praising several national dishes.
Some of the dishes found on street corners have made it to all corners of the world, like banh mi which was listed among the world's top 20 street foods by Fodor Travel, a US travel site.


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Falcon’s Beyond Global, LLC has revealed details of the first of its new signature destinations merging retail, dining, and entertainment.
The first Falcon’s Central located in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic will consist of four brick-and-mortar, location-based entertainment (LBE) venues featuring both iconic and original IPs from Falcon’s Beyond:
An experiential edutainment destination engaging guests with popular IPs in interactive environments, with seamlessly integrated media, and hands-on exploration for the entire family. Upon entering the venue, guests encounter four portals offering immersive experiences and attractions based on Falcon’s Curiosity Spectrum – science, technology, arts, and nature. Beyond each portal, guests begin a self-guided journey of exploration, interaction, and learning with beloved characters and enriching environments.
Curiosity Playground will feature several IPs that air on PBS KIDS, including Dinosaur Train, Odd Squad, Wild Kratts and Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum. Integration of IPs from other notable children’s brands will be announced soon.
Enter the world of popular video game properties in this immersive experience that includes a high-energy gastropub, an arcade of the future, multi-platform games and state-of-the-art gaming bays where visitors can eat, drink and play together. Guests will have the opportunity to enjoy these gaming IPs beyond their visit through availability of consumer products, including apparel, merchandise, electronics and NFTs.
Become fully immersed in the worlds of popular media properties in the StoryHub, featuring interactive media experiences, a multi-game platform, exclusive merchandise and apparel.
Discovery, edutainment and conservation come together through this original virtual adventure. With the assistance of an intelligent submersible, a team of young scientists is guided through learning about our planet in ways never thought possible. The experience expands across entertainment, educational and consumer products.
Cecil D. Magpuri, CEO of Falcon’s Beyond, said: “Falcon’s Central will be a unique entertainment destination in popular resort markets that enables guests – especially families — to connect with the brands they love while traveling.”
“In addition to location-based entertainment that brings to life countless beloved IPs through activities, merchandise and more, this new complex will offer a complete array of retail and dining, completely transforming the vacation experience.”


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I hope you have had your lunch. Because this story is an appetite destroyer:
Via Gateway Pundit:
Man Beheads 15 Month-Old In Grocer’s Fruit & Veggie Section
Early morning shoppers at a supermarket in Jeddah were left reeling yesterday, with some falling unconscious, after a well-built Syrian man clinched a knife and decapitated his 15-month-old nephew in front of his mother in the store’s fruit and vegetable section.
In a brutal murder that has shocked the city, the 25-year-old man beheaded the boy, who was out shopping with his mother — in full glare of shoppers and staff at Al-Marhaba supermarket on Sari Street around 9.30 a.m. The man, who is the boy’s maternal uncle, apparently killed the boy following a dispute with his sister and brother-in-law.
Eyewitnesses said that the man picked up a knife from inside the store and severed the boy’s head. The mother and a shopper standing close by fainted, while several other stood in shock and disbelief over what had happened.
A police officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Arab News, “The murderer was in a dispute with the boy’s mother and her husband. He chopped off the boy’s head in front of the mother to get back at her.” He added that the mother has been left traumatized and is in hospital. The boy’s father was at work at the time of the incident.
That poor mother…I can’t even imagine!


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ATLANTA, Jan. 22, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Supply Chain Commerce Solutions Provider Manhattan Associates, Inc. (Nasdaq:MANH) today announced it has named Kurt Salmon, Deloitte, enVista, Fortna, and Vocollect to the Manhattan Partner Performance Club, in recognition of their 2013 contributions to customer engagements. The announcement was made at Manhattan's annual Global Kickoff in Atlanta at the Georgia Tech Hotel & Convention Center.
"Our customers recognize the competitive differentiation and value that Manhattan and its partners deliver," said Jeff Cashman, senior vice president, business development, Manhattan Associates. "Working closely with these star performers enables us to better address the fast-moving spectrum of Supply Chain Commerce challenges and opportunities our customers are experiencing."
The Manhattan Value Partner (MVP) program is an ecosystem of third-party integrators/consultants, complementary software providers and hardware providers, whose combined expertise and products ensure delivery of world-class supply chain solutions to joint customers.
Each of the five Partner Performance Club winners will be recognized throughout the coming year and will have two exclusive opportunities to interact with the Manhattan Associates executive management team and the other winners—the first during Manhattan's annual Global Kickoff meeting this week and again during Manhattan's Momentum 2014 conference, held May 5-8 at the Westin Diplomat in Hollywood, FL. At each of these events, the partners will have a chance to get first-hand insights from the Manhattan Associates executive management team, share best practices with each other, and celebrate their success.
About Manhattan Associates, Inc.
Manhattan Associates brings companies closer to their customers. We design, build and deliver market-leading Supply Chain Commerce Solutions that drive top line growth by converging front-end sales with back-end supply chain execution and efficiency. Our software, platform technology and unmatched experience help our customers around the world adapt to the challenges of the omni-channel marketplace. For more information, please visit www.manh.com.
CONTACT: Amber Rigsby Manhattan Associates (678) 597.6820 email@example.comSource:Manhattan Associates


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Spectrum Brands is showcasing its Black + Decker kitchen appliances, placing renewed emphasis on the coffee category as well as augmenting its assortment of air fryers, toaster ovens and slow cookers.
Cuisinart is focusing on smart appliance solutions, multi-functional items and feature-packed products that address major consumer cooking trends, including its new T Series line of touch screen appliances.
The NPD Group’s Home division presented its seventh annual industry performance awards virtually during a webinar March 17.
Newell Brands brings a focus on new technologies and products with smart capabilities among its brand portfolio’s kitchen electric introductions.
Lasko Products is spotlighting an array of new portable fans utilizing new technology, including smart home models with Bluetooth capabilities and units featuring fresh air ionizer functionality.
Hamilton Beach is highlighting a broad range of new kitchen appliances with multi-functional, connected and wellness motifs, as well as an expanded range of breakfast and coffee offerings.
Zojirushi America Corp. is appealing to consumer preferences for smart home appliances with its kitchen electrics introductions, including the company’s first smart toaster oven for the U.S. market.
The Jura ENA 8 automatic coffee machine in Nordic White has won a Red Dot Design Award. The one-cup machine features a small footprint, simple operation, and a design that includes a patterned cylindrical water tank inspired by premium crystal carafes.
DeLonghi America is capitalizing on the continuing coffee craze with a high-end assortment of new machines created especially for the passionate espresso and coffee drinker.
Created in 2003 as Sensio, the company behind such brands as Bella Housewares, Crux Kitchen and Brim Coffee has unleashed a new corporate identity: Made by Gather.
Kalorik is capitalizing on its technological and manufacturing expertise, offering an array of new multi-functional appliances including air fryers and beverage makers. The company has also partnered with a renowned artist to launch a new kitchen electrics collection.
Whirlpool Corporation has opened a new state-of-the-art factory distribution center adjacent to its existing manufacturing plant in Tulsa, Oklahoma. The existing plant produces freestanding and slide-in ranges under the Whirlpool, Amana, Maytag, KitchenAid and JennAir brands.


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By Staff Reporter / Inc. Arabia - Image Credit: Inc. Arabia
SOURCE: Inc. Arabia - UAE-based Incubator Hunts For Drone Tech Startups With New Competition
UAE-based Krypto Labs has launched a worldwide search for the best unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) innovators through a drone technology startup competition.
Krypto Labs is currently forming a high-profile jury committee comprising international UAV experts and specialists, who will be judging based on hardware and/or software and/or services quality.
The competition covers all sectors of the UAV industry including transportation, services, healthcare, defense, security, medicine, humanitarian aid, media, archeology, agriculture, industry, internet and global information systems.
Krypto Labs has set out a list of criteria to be considered in this global competition.


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Today is National Lamb Day marking the 135th anniversary of the day the first frozen New Zealand sheepmeat carcase left these shores bound for the UK.
Industry pioneers William Davidson and Thomas Brydone pulled off putting together a shipment of frozen sheepmeat carcases for the Steam Ship Dunedin to take from Port Chalmers in Otago to London.
The 5,000 sheep carcases on the Dunedin arrived in London 98 days later in excellent condition. This was a testament to Kiwi innovation (although not without incident with all the challenges of refrigeration in those days).
The first voyage was an important step in establishing New Zealand’s international trading links from our sheep and beef industry, which now contributes $9.6 billion a year to the New Zealand economy. The industry hopes Kiwis here and around the world will recognise this achievement and celebrate by enjoying lamb today.
Beef + Lamb NZ Ltd chief executive Sam McIvor says New Zealand has enjoyed a long and successful trading relationship with the UK and the New Zealand sheep and beef industry is looking for a Brexit outcome that will maintain those historic links.
“New Zealand lamb continues to play an important part with the counter season supply that keeps lamb on UK retail shelves all year round,” says McIvor.
“Both we and British farmers want more British lamb eating more lamb, more often.”
This year, to celebrate National Lamb Day, the British High Commissioner to NZ, His Excellency Jonathan Sinclair welcomes a select group of industry heavyweights – farmers, industry leaders, government representatives to his residence in Wellington in celebration of National Lamb Day.
The event provides a unique opportunity for discussions around current issues facing the industry, opportunities for improvements and to acknowledge how far the industry has come.
Guests will be treated to a delicious New Zealand lamb dinner served by four Beef + Lamb Ambassador Chefs: Rex Morgan, Boulcott Bistro, Wellington; Mat McLean, Palate Restaurant, Hamilton; Stephen Barry, Mount Bistro, Mt Maunganui; and Darren Wright, Chillingworth Road, Christchurch.
So … you’ll be in esteemed company, how are you cooking your lamb this evening?


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After completing a so-called due diligence review, the company Unilever has confirmed its interest in the acquisition of Centroproizvod and negotiations on the sale of that Serbian company are now underway, Press newspaper reports.
Unilever was formed in 1890 and it is one of the world’s largest food production companies. Its portfolio includes over 400 brands such as Dove, Rexona, Knorr, Lipton. The company’s annual turnover in 2010 amounted to EUR 44.3 billion. It operates in 180 countries and has 167,000 employees. Last year they launched over 100 brands in new markets.
As Press learns from its sources in business circles, the fact that such big company is interested in expanding to and investing in Serbia is of exceptional importance for the economy of Serbia.
Centroproizvod is one of the most successful domestic companies and the market leader in almost all segments it operates in.


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Tractor Supply raises funds for 4-H
Tractor Supply Company, the largest retail farm and ranch supply chain in the United States, and the National 4-H Council announced the fundraising results of their Paper Clover Campaign, which raised $763,283 Oct. 9-8.
The Carson City store raised $915 and the Minden store raised $1,838.
Seventy percent of funds raised benefit state and local 4-H youth development program activities in communities where Tractor Supply stores are located. Thirty percent of the total funds are donated to the National 4-H Council to support its national 4-H initiatives.
With the more than $1.5 million raised this year, Tractor Supply has contributed almost $6.5 million in four years to 4-H programs across the country.
The next Paper Clover Campaign will run from April 23 to May 3. For more information, go to www.TractorSupply.com or www.4-H.org.
Infrared yoga studio open in Carson
HotSpot Yoga Studio and Fitness Defined opened at 195 E. Winnie Lane.
The center offers private and small-group training, massages and more.
For more information, call Monica at 775-250-6343.


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Lidl is recalling hundreds of wooden grasping toys that may pose a choking hazard to small children.
Parents beware. Earlier this week Lidl US Trading of Arlington, Va. Recalled an estimated 300 Playtive Junior Wooden Grasping Toys over concerns the wooden wheels may “detach and release small parts, posing a choking hazard.” The specific product included in the recall is the Playtive Junior Wooden Grasping Toy. It’s carved in the shape of an elephant and has “four blue wheels on the bottom.”
To better identify whether you have one of the recalled toys in your home, check the model number underneath the toy. According to the recall notice, the model number on the affected products is HG04414.
The recalled toys were manufactured in China and sold in Lidl stores throughout Maryland, Delaware, Virginia, Pennsylvania, New York, and New Jersey between March 2019 and May 2019. They retailed for about $4.
Fortunately, no injuries or illnesses have been reported. If you have the affected toys, though, you should stop using them immediately and return them to a Lidl store for a refund. If you have additional questions or concerns about the recall, contact Lidl at (844) 747-5435 from 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. (ET) or online at www.lidl.com.


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Scarsdale dietitian's ‘weight loss challenge’ empowers women
A Scarsdale dietitian's believes she has found a way to sweeten the dreaded task of dieting.
Ilanit Blumenfeld, a mother of four, started her own nutrition consulting company a few years ago called IBG Nutrition and created the The IBG Weight Loss Challenge.
MORE: IBG Nutrition
It involves a 23-day meal plan with recipes, a private Facebook community, and partnerships with local restaurants.
The proceeds from signing up for the challenge go directly to a newly created nonprofit – The Woman’s Empowerment Institute.
“There is a big gap in our society, and any time we empower women together, it’s something close to my heart,” Blumenfeld told News 12.
Anyone interested in signing up for the challenge can visit the IBG Nutrition website.


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San Jose, CA (PRWEB) February 05, 2015
This year marks the 50th anniversary for Mountz Inc. in business. Mountz is truly honored to have reached such a major milestone with the help from all of our customers as well as current and former employees. Mountz is based in San Jose, California and provides innovative torque tool solutions and metric fasteners to a variety of industries like aerospace, automotive, electronics, semiconductor, chemical, petrochemical, renewable energy, medical, packaging and more.
Mountz was founded by Donald Mountz in 1965, a native Californian, with a passion to provide the highest quality torque tool products and customer service to world class manufacturing companies. Mountz began its business before the metalloid element - the silicon wafer was in production and certainly before the name Silicon Valley became a descriptor for the technology valley that was once filled with fruit orchards. As such, Mountz is located in the Enterprise Zone of San Jose, which is a stone throw from the old fruit packing and cannery plants of San Jose's original economy.
Don Mountz began his career in industrial sales in San Francisco. He excelled at selling, understanding buyer needs from his early training at General Foods Company. Having worked for international companies and in Europe, Don made the decision in 1965 to start his own business in his home state. With more good ideas than money, he settled in the South Bay, which is part of San Francisco Bay Area. DG Mountz Associates was formed in small bedroom of a new home in Cupertino, California a mile or so from the current Apple Computer World headquarters.
A study in Bloomberg Business Week magazine claims that one-third of all Fortune 500 companies active in 1970 had vanished by 1983. In the fast-paced world of Silicon Valley, flush with IPO's angel investing, mergers and acquisitions, corporate existence is measured on an entirely different scale than longevity. The average lifespan of a company listed in the S&P 500 index of leading US companies has decreased by more than 50 years in the last century, from 67 years in the 1920s to just 15 years today, according to Professor Richard Foster from Yale University.
Mountz is a pioneer in developing torque testers and torque sensors. In 1971, Mountz developed the ETA 1 electronic torque tester setting a new standard for measuring torque. Since then, Mountz has engineered and manufactured 17 generations of innovative torque testers and will continue develop the next standard in torque testing instruments.
In 2013, Mountz won a coveted award from the Wonderlic company – one of only 10 companies in the USA selected for high employee engagement; 1% of total applicants won this award. In 2014, Mountz was named one of the "Top Workplaces in 2014" by Bay Area News Group. Only 100 companies were recognized. Both awards are generated from comprehensive employee feedback surveys. Mountz is an ISO 9001 registered and ISO 17025 accredited company.
Today, Mountz, Inc. remains a privately owned business, with Brad Mountz serving as President & CEO. The company continues to specialize in fastening control products (assembly, test equipment and fasteners). Without quality and torque control, our daily lives would not be the same. For 50 years, the core purpose of Mountz has been and will continue to be, "Making a safer world through accuracy and precision".
To honor 50 years, Mountz will be sharing a look back at the company history once a week with blog posts and social media platforms. Be sure to check out our weekly 50th anniversary posts.


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Ankorstore news and archive
Pierre-Louis Lacoste, co-founder of Ankorstore: “We want to reinvent the way wholesale is done”
At a mere two years old, Ankorstore is taking Europe by storm. Established by four French industry veterans, Ankorstore is an online B2B-platform that connects brands to retailers across the continent. The premises? A wide offer of brands, greater flexibility for retailers, and carefree processes for brands and retailers alike. Recently,...
15 Sep 2021


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SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Microsoft Corp.
said over the weekend that a flaw in Internet Explorer could open up the Web browser to what the company called "limited, targeted attacks". Microsoft disclosed it was aware of the flaw, which could impact Internet Explorer versions 6 through 11. The security flaw could make a targeted computer run unwanted software following a successful hacking attack. Microsoft shares were up by 1% at $40.38 after trading began Monday.


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Britain’s economy rebounded in August after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, but unexpectedly shrank the previous month, official data showed Wednesday
London, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 13th Oct, 2021 ) :Britain’s economy rebounded in August after the lifting of coronavirus restrictions, but unexpectedly shrank the previous month, official data showed Wednesday.
Gross domestic product grew 0.4 percent in August, the first full month since the lifting of Covid curbs, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said in a statement.
“Accommodation and food service activities, and arts, entertainment and recreation contributed most positively to services growth in August 2021, partially offset by falls in health output and retail trade,” the ONS added.
The UK economy remains 0.8 percent smaller than its pre-coronavirus level.
“The economy picked up in August as bars, restaurants and festivals benefited from the first full month without Covid-19 restrictions in England,” noted ONS economics statistics director Darren Morgan.
“This was offset by falls in health activity with fewer people visiting GPs and less testing and tracing.” The ONS also revealed that the economy shrank by 0.1 percent in July, revising down an initial estimate of 0.1 percent growth.
July was downgraded owing to downwardly revised data for the automobile and energy sectors, and improvements to how health output is measured.
“The recent broadening in shortages and the fuel crisis may mean that growth has come to a near-standstill since August,” warned economist Paul Dales, chief UK economist at research consultancy Capital Economics.


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Dalston’s Soda Co, the East London independent drinks company, is making a move into alcohol and announcing the launch of their new Hard Seltzer range – becoming the first drinks brand in the UK to offer a portfolio of healthier soft and hard (alcoholic) seltzers.
Following their no-added-sugar seltzer range launch in Jan 2019, Dalston’s are making their latest announcement at a time when the global trend for lower calorie options are extending into alcohol, as the emergence of the new Hard Seltzer trend hits the UK.
“With a range of award-winning real fruit seltzers in our current line-up, we felt it would be rude not to join the party” says co-founder, Dan Broughton
Unlike most US Hard seltzer brands who use a fermentation process, Dalston’s have taken direction from their existing fan base, who enjoy mixing their current range of seltzers with premium spirits such as gin and / or vodka at home.
“By adding a quality triple distilled pure malt vodka base to our existing award winning seltzer recipes, we’ve found we can make a delicious, low calorie, no added sugar alcoholic option for our fans to enjoy whilst in weekend mode,” says founder, Duncan.
Already a rip roaring success in the US (over $2 billion in sales), this new category is meeting the consumer need state for booze with balance and transparency of nutritional values.
The company will be launching a hard seltzer duo, consisting of Rhubarb and Grapefruit real squeezed fruit flavours. Just like their current range of seltzers, their hard variety contains no added sugar or artificial sweeteners and both fall under 99 calories per can.
“The lack of basic nutritional content information on alcohol packaging is a contentious subject and is something that has always troubled me. Consumers deserve full transparency of the products that they buy – especially in these times when we’re even more sedentary than usual,” says Duncan O’Brien.
The Hard seltzer category has seen tremendous growth in the UK with many new brand entrants. Over the next five years, IWSR predicts that hard seltzers will likely witness the highest growth rate within the UK’s RTD category, with a forecast volume growth of 71.7% from 2019 to 2024*. Dalston’s plan to help support this emerging category with a more complex flavour profile, appealing to young adults who are decidedly more choosy when it comes to taste.
What’s more, Dalston’s premium positioning and brand reputation for making great tasting crafted drinks, sees an opportunity for the brand to appeal to a broader, more discerning audience.
“Our goal is to build up the groundswell for a better tasting Hard Seltzer alternatives, which is critical to driving repeat purchase and building a long term successful category” Says Dan Broughton, Co Founder.
With freshers week fast approaching and social gathering restrictions in place, Dalston’s will be inspiring party deprived young people with alternative ways to enjoy their weekends with their housemates. To coincide, Dalston’s have committed to giving away 100 party packs for lucky winners to enjoy whilst stuck indoors.
Dalston’s Hard Seltzers are launching in October 2020, initially online via their Web shop and Amazon, as well as in fine independents nationally. RRP £2.49 per 330ml can.
*The Spirit Business, 8th June, 2020


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Uber and Lyft rides in California will be electric by 2030
Both companies had already made pledges to do this, but now the state is getting involved.
The state of California is making it so that ridesharing companies like Uber and Lyft have to transition to a majority of electric vehicles (EVs) in their fleets before the end of the decade. The Clean Miles Standard means that 90-percent of ride-hailing miles driven in the state need to be in EVs by 2030.
The state’s mandate also means that they need to start the electrification of their fleets by 2023, with at least 2-percent of ridesharing miles by that date.
Other milestones include 50-percent EV miles by 2027 and a 90-percent total by 2030. Expect other states to follow suit with similar EV mandates, as California is often the first to adopt new EV measures.
Both Lyft and Uber have previously said they’re aiming to be all-EV by 2030, so this mandate from the California Air Resources Board (CARB) seems more like holding the ridesharing companies to account to me.
Both ridesharing companies have initiatives to help drivers with the transition, whether that’s affording the EVs or making rentals available if they don’t want to own their own EVs. Service fees are also lowered for those making the switch, as an added sweetener. Both Uber and Lyft have called for the government to increase aid for those low- and middle-income drivers to make the switch in time.
This news is good news for EV fans, and for the environment, naturally. Lyft and Uber rides create 69-percent more toxins than the other transportation options that they supplant.
- This video shows a Tesla driver being pulled over for driving 82 mph while asleep with Autopilot on
- Joe Biden drove the new all-electric Ford F-150 and wants everyone to know that it is ‘quick’
- Some California colleges are offering credits for playing video games
- California’s DMV is investigating Tesla for misrepresenting its self-driving capabilities


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Coty boosts beauty tech capabilities through partnership with Perfect Corp
American cosmetics conglomerate Coty, Inc. has signed a long-term agreement with beauty tech solutions provider Perfect Corp that will lead to augmented reality (AR) and artificial intelligence (AI) experiences being incorporated into the digital marketing toolkits of its brands.
Examples of the digital beauty tools that the deal will bring to Coty include virtual makeup try-ons, online skin diagnostics and data-driven personalization services. These will be rolled out across the company’s beauty brand portfolio, which includes the likes of CoverGirl, Sally Hansen and Philosophy.
As well as being used to enhance the e-commerce experience, the tools offered by Perfect Corp will also be brought into stores to create touchless product interactions that respond to heightened consumer concerns about hygiene and safety raised by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“This partnership adds a new dimension to Coty’s digital journey, incorporating some of the best augmented and virtual reality technologies that will help the full portfolio of our brands unlock the best digital user experience and, as a result, help advance social selling,” explained Coty chief digital officer Jean-Denis Mariani in a release.
“Imagine opening a livestreaming session with your favorite makeup brand, and during it discovering a new lipstick through your preferred influencer, trying the product on virtually from your sofa, and seamlessly going to check out – all without ever clicking out of the livestream,” added the executive, outlining the kind of customer experience that the company hopes to create with Perfect Corp’s tools.
As part of the partnership, Coty and Perfect Corp have also drawn up a development roadmap for the co-creation of exclusive beauty tech for the New York-based cosmetics group.
The deal is part of Coty’s wider “Digital-First Omnichannel” strategy, which has seen the company invest in e-commerce and direct-to-consumer selling initiatives that aim to drive digital storytelling and discovery. Coty reported a net loss of $166.3 million on revenues of $4.63 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30, 2021.
Best known for its YouCam makeup try-on app, Perfect Corp recently announced the launch of its AI Face Analyzer technology, which aims to help brands deliver improved product recommendations to consumers by detecting more than 70 facial characteristics.
Copyright © 2023 FashionNetwork.com All rights reserved.


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In an effort to broaden its reach across platforms, Yahoo has launched Axis, a new web browser for Apple's mobile devices. According to the Washington Post, Axis was designed to allow users to move between devices and look at the same searches. Users can sync up to other devices by logging into their Yahoo accounts.
Yahoo says this new browser will allow users to search for "answers, not links" to search inquiries. Axis is available now.


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GM CEO Mary Barra Outlines EV Push, “Admires” Norway
Models such as the Cadillac Celestiq flagship are not just fanciful concepts.
General Motors is planning to spend $27 billion from 2020 to 2025 on electric and autonomous vehicles and technology. This includes launching 30 EVs globally, with two-thirds of these models set to be available in North America.
During a call with investors to report fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings, chief executive officer Mary Barra hammered the message home again that GM's EV push is very real.
If You're Not First, You're Last
Barra said GM's success means taking the top spot in EV market share in North America—in other words, kicking Tesla's butt. By mid-decade, GM aims to sell more than a million electric vehicles per year in North America and China.
Success also means GM's battery-powered vehicles will be as—or more—profitable than vehicles with combustion engines. GM's new Ultium battery system has made great strides in reducing costs and engineers are already working on the next generation setup, which will cut costs even further, Barra said.
Cadillac Leads the EV Charge
The 2023 Cadillac Celestiq is not a fanciful concept. The limo-like sedan with a sumptuous interior is a bona fide part of the brand's future portfolio. It will come sometime after the 2023 Cadillac Lyriq midsize electric crossover, which goes into production in early 2022 in Spring Hill, Tennessee.
GMC has the 2022 Hummer EV full-size electric pickup coming this fall, followed by the 2023 Hummer EV full-size SUV, and a full-size pickup (think an electric version of the Sierra). Hummer prototypes are undergoing cold-weather testing in Michigan, hot-weather testing in Arizona, and off-road testing in Moab, Utah.
2022 Bolt EUV Ushers in New Chevy EVs
On Sunday, Chevrolet will show the updated 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EV and the newcomer to the family, the 2022 Chevrolet Bolt EUV crossover SUV, which offers three more inches of legroom and goes on sale this summer. The Bolt EUV will be the first vehicle outside of Cadillac to offer Super Cruise, a hands-free highway driver-assist system. Barra added that Super Cruise will be available on 22 vehicles by 2023.
Still to come for the Chevy brand are a full-size electric pickup truck, more crossover SUVs, and "low roof entries", the latter of which we assume will wear a Corvette badge.
Put Up or Shut Up
GM plans to spend $9-$10 billion on new vehicles this year. About two-thirds of that capital expenditure will go to electric and autonomous vehicles, Barra said. By comparison, Toyota spends about 40 percent of its research and development budget on EVs.
A joint venture with LG Chem, called Ultium Cells LLC, is resulting in the building of a nearly 3,000,000-square-foot plant in Lordstown, Ohio. It will make millions of battery cells each year for these future GM vehicles.
GM Hydrotec is the latest iteration of the work that has never ceased on fuel-cell vehicles. GM partnered with Honda to develop fuel-cell vehicles and is also working with Navistar to have fuel-cell vehicles on the road in 2024.
No Way, Norway
GM's latest ad campaign promotes the company's commitment to EVs. One of the ads features actor Will Ferrell hating on Norway for its EV leadership. Barra, laughing, explained she does not hate Norway, she admires its efforts.
Don't fret, because GM will continue to leverage its conventional platforms, including the trucks and SUVs that generate healthy profits today, Barra assured callers. Going forward, however, the automaker will spend more on battery-powered vehicles, an area that Barra sees future growth and partnership opportunities.
GM reported a net income of $2.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020, contributing to the full year's $6.4 billion net income. North America accounted for $9.1 billion (excluding interest and taxes) of that, with an impressive profit margin of 9.4 percent, despite the pandemic. Cruise provided $900 million in income.
One headwind in 2021 is the industry-wide semiconductor chip shortage. GM has stopped production at three North American plants that make less popular vehicles and expects to make up lost production in the second half of the year. Where necessary, vehicles will be built with missing components and will be finished when the necessary parts are available. The shortage is expected to be temporary but will cost the company as much as $2 billion in lost production in the interim, chief financial officer Paul Jacobson said.
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With its fast-expanding economies and business-friendly governments, the East African region is becoming an Eldorado for French companies in search of expansion.
For decades, French commercial interest in Africa has been characterised by a special relationship known as ‘la Françafrique’ between Paris and its former colonies.
French firms are beginning to venture out of their comfort zone in search of new growth stories. East Africa – especially Kenya and Rwanda – has recently seen an influx of French commercial activity and interest.
There are clear signs that French companies are on the move throughout the East African region. In Kenya, Air France made a return to Jomo Kenyatta International Airport earlier this year after an 18-year hiatus.
The airline’s senior vice president Frank Legré attributed the comeback to increased business between Kenya and France, and told reporters that some French companies “have made Kenya their regional hub”.
Since 2012, the number of French companies in Kenya has increased dramatically from 30 to 110, according to the French Chamber of Commerce Kenya, an organisation which helps private enterprise establish operations in the country.
Justine de Guerre, executive director of the Chamber, reveals how Kenya has overtaken South Africa as the prime location for French companies looking to tackle Anglophone markets
A similar story has been unfolding in nearby Rwanda, where the resolution of a diplomatic impasse could presage an uptick in increased trade and investment, which has already been growing steadily for a number of years.
“In 2010 we had only as little as $469,000 investment from France,” discloses Clare Akamanzi, the chief executive of Rwanda Development Board. “By 2015 that figure had grown to almost $13m, so the growth was big.”
This figure is expected to grow and Akamanzi is confident that French businesses are beginning to take notice of Rwanda’s investment environment, which scores highly for ease of doing business and access to nearby markets.
The fact that much of the population speaks both French and English is an added bonus, she says.
Akamanzi expects collaboration in the ICT, hospitality and agriculture sectors, while French companies Canal Plus and Golden Tulip Hotels have already moved in.
The arrival of French enterprises reflects an ever-globalised world in which business decisions are based less on historic and linguistic ties than by simple opportunity.
The region recorded the continent’s best economic performance last year at an average of 5.9 per cent – compared to the continental average of 3.6 per cent.
Ethiopia, Tanzania and Rwanda were forecast by the World Bank to be among the top 10 best performers in 2018, making a compelling case for French companies looking to tap into emerging market growth.
As well as growth, countries in East Africa are generally lauded in comparison to West Africa for their ease of doing business, market access, diversified economies and bulging middle classes.
In contrast, East Africa’s markets are viewed by the French private sector as relatively stable. Rwanda and Kenya were ranked second and fourth respectively throughout Africa in the World Bank’s 2018 Doing Business index, whereas not one West African country made the top 10.
Additionally, many investors argue that East African countries are far better connected to neighbouring markets, citing the East African Community (EAC) regional bloc and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern African (COMESA), which links markets from Cairo to Maputo along the east coast.
This provides access to a great diversity of markets, many of which are becoming known for an ever-growing and affluent middle class.
These positive indicators are attracting interest from French companies who are beginning to take notice of opportunities which fall outside their Francophone strongholds.
Besides the private sector’s natural search for greener pastures, interest in East Africa is being spurred on by the French government.
France, along with other major European players like the UK and Germany, have begun to rejig their relationship with Africa from aid to investment.
Amid the backdrop of disruption to global trade, France is encouraging its private sector to deepen and expand commercial links with non-traditional partners.
In January 2018, former president Sarkozy led a business delegation to Kigali, including Cyril Bolloré, deputy CEO of French conglomerate Bolloré Group, and discussed opportunities in hospitality, transport, logistics, music and conference tourism.
In 2018, the Compagnie Française de l’Afrique Occidentale (CFAO), a French multinational specialising in the goods distribution business whose name reflects its origins in shipping between France and West Africa, entered the market.
The company has been contracted to work with German automobile maker Volkswagen in the country, following a similar tie-up between the firms in Kenya. They will manage the shipping of car parts used to assemble the vehicles, and handle sales and distribution.
Nevertheless, as colonial and linguistic links gradually assume less importance and Macron continues his push, many of East Africa’s fast-reforming markets will naturally begin to attract a new generation of French companies and executives with wider horizons than their predecessors.
This article was first run by African Business Magazine


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Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre (MCEC) has thrown its support behind charity Bright Sparqe in their quest to simplify the process of redistributing goods to charities, whilst assisting vulnerable communities and facilitating the reduction of waste.
MCEC has donated goods such as fresh milk, coffee plungers, serving spoons, consumables and cups and lids by creating an account and adding the details of products and unused food they wish to donate.
Once an item is submitted, charities can browse, claim and collect from MCEC in real-time.
“The event industry can be a wasteful one, and while we are doing our best to avoid waste in the first place, it’s great to be able to donate leftover and unwanted items to the local community, particularly when it can go to people in need,” said MCEC sustainability manager Sam Ferrier.
“MCEC started utilising the Bright Sparqe platform in March this year and made our first donations in April, which were all accepted rapidly by charities including Ronald McDonald House North Fitzroy, BK 2 Basics Melbourne, Theodora House INC and Souper Kitchen.”
Bright Sparqe founder and executive director Charbel Yamouni welcomed MCEC’s support.
“With support from MCEC, Bright Sparqe can continue the journey to provide for our partner charities with fast access to brand new products and unused food, that will genuinely assist the communities most vulnerable,” Yamouni said.


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Developers give their first thumbs up to the console
For almost a week, the studios have already received the dev-kit of the long-awaited Steam Deck and some developers have already released their first impressions through their social networks.
These opinions have been delivered specifically by Twitter, one of them being Mike Rose, who indicates that his Descenders video game works “incredibly” well, obtaining around 50-60 fps with full Ultra gfx activated.
In addition, he left a video showing how the Steam Deck works with the game, which needs a mouse + keyboard, indicating that “the touch screen works, so they can still be played!”
And Cliff Harris goes further, commenting that his game Democracy 4 seems to work right out of the box and that “this is really cool.”
The developers of the X-Plane flight simulator also published an image on their Twitter profile, where they show the support for controls and something that many hope to take advantage of and that is portability, showing the game running on the Steam Deck on a beach.


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- News tagged "samsung"
Thursday, 5 Jun 2014
Intel's senior VP and GM, Kirk Skaugen, told us today that the company is collaborating with display partners like Samsung to make 4K displays more affordable for consumers. We can expect to see quality yet affordable 4K displays by this year end's holiday shopping season.
Monday, 2 Jun 2014
Samsung Electronics today announced the world's first Tizen-powered smartphone, the Samsung Z. It will be available in Q3 in Russia and is expected to be rolled out to other markets.
Samsung Galaxy Gear owners now have one less reason to upgrade to the Gear 2. A new software update is now available to switch the smart watch's OS from Android to Tizen, which brings several new features and improvements.
Monday, 26 May 2014
The Wall Street Journal reports that Samsung is developing a smart watch that can make calls and send email without being tethered to a smartphone. It is expected to be launched between June and July.
Thursday, 22 May 2014
Seagate Technology has announced that its Samsung HDD business unit is shipping its new Samsung Wireless media device for mobile users.
Wednesday, 21 May 2014
Samsung is preparing to launch a video-on-demand service with a feature specially for their customers - Gift. More details within.
TK Tech News uploaded a short hands-on video of the Samsung Galaxy S5 Active on YouTube. The leaker claims that the Galaxy S5 Active has a "much more crisp display" than the Galaxy S5. Hit the link to find out more.
Monday, 19 May 2014
The Samsung Galaxy S5 Prime is more than just a mere rumor; photos and videos of the alleged device have surfaced on the Internet, which shows a Galaxy S5 model clad in an aluminium finish.
Friday, 16 May 2014
Samsung today announced that pre-orders for the Galaxy K Zoom has started today for all three telcos, selected consumer electronics, IT stores, photo dealers and Samsung Experience Stores. It will be available for purchase from 31 May.
Thursday, 15 May 2014
Hong Kong telco HKT, in partnership with Huawei, today launched the world's first seamless VoLTE (Voice over LTE) service utilizing the latest VoLTE 3GPP standard Release 10 technology. The service is only available with Samsung's Galaxy Note 3 LTE smartphone and is the first to enable totally seamless handover of voice calls from 4G to 3G coverage.


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Block.One, the developer of the EOS blockchain platform, has raised more than $4 billion through a yearlong sale of EOS tokens, which makes it the largest fundraising of its kind, as The Wallstreet Journal reports.
This is more than twice the size of the next largest coin offering ever of Telegram, which raised $1.7 billion, and larger than all but two of the world’s initial public offerings on stock exchanges so far in 2018. Block.One still owns 10% of all EOS tokens, adding approx. $2 billion to its balance sheet, making it one of the most well-capitalized blockchain companies worldwide.
EOS is a so-called platform token, which represents an operating system – comparable with Microsoft’s Windows OS for computers or Google’s Android for mobile phones – for the blockchain. The best known platform-token so far is Ether, the token for the Ethereum platform. The rivalry between the two systems is also a fundamental discussion between “Proof of work” (PoW) and “proof of stake” (PoS), which are two algorithms by which a cryptocurrency blockchain network aims to achieve distributed consensus.
PoW-based cryptocurrencies use computationally intensive puzzles in order to validate transactions and create new blocks. New tokens are created by “mining”, which equals use of energy. It makes those networks slow and expensive. There are ideas discussed at the moment how to mitigate those problems, but the general problem – that new tokens are created by mining, which imposes costs and limitations – cannot be changed…
Read Full: Block.One Starts Mainnet – EOS Tokens Rise


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- 1 min read
India’s growth positive for world economy: IMF’s Gita Gopinath
Strong economic growth in India has positive implications for the global economy and the country stands out for its vaccine policy, which is playing a key role in helping the world deal with the Covid-19 crisis, International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief economist Gita Gopinath said on Monday.
“India makes up about 7% of world GDP based on purchasing power parity terms. So, when you are that large, what happens in India has implications for many other countries in the world, especially countries in the region,” Gopinath said.
Gopinath said India, which typically grows 6%, was hit very hard by the pandemic and it is forecast to contract 8% in the current financial year that ends in March. But now recovery was under way as economic activities have restarted.
“So, we have indeed projected a growth of 11.5% this year (2021-22). Now, because of its size when you have India growing, it increases demand for goods from other parts of the world and that’s a big positive,” Gopinath said.
Gopinath said better economic opportunities and equal pay for women not only lowers gender inequality but also lowers income inequality.
“Moving from a situation of perfect gender inequality to perfect gender equality is estimated to be equivalent to lowering income inequality from levels prevailing in Venezuela to those in Sweden. As we have shown, lower income inequality in turn brings with it higher and more durable growth.”


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Edinburgh parks: Dilapidated tennis pavilion transformed into cafe on Leith Links after £1 million makeover
and live on Freeview channel 276
A dilapidated former tennis pavilion at the corner of Leith Links has been transformed into a new cafe, farm shop and space for a food market.
The building has been brought back to life by Earth in Common, formerly Crops in Pots, as part of their booming urban croft where locals share space on the two-acre land growing fruit, vegetables and flowers.
Now, following the reopening of the new Pavilion, Hingabootery Café, Farm Shop The Hearty Bùth! the charity behind the croft initiative also plans to bring back the farmers market and stock it with produce from the market garden, as well as hosting other events, including birthday parties.
Local mum Evie Murray started a movement ten years ago when she took her kids to the neglected corner of the Links to show them where food came from. Ms Murray had grown up in tenement flats. Her aim was to reclaim common good land to make healthy food and nature accessible to the community.
After setting up Crops in Pots, the initiative took root and the charity saw a boom in popularity of the croft during the pandemic when green spaces proved a lifeline for many in the city.
Varied groups use the community space, which is thriving with forest gardens, edible flowers, kale and a variety of vegetables and fruits including apples that taste like champagne. The charity also runs a programme of nature play for children at the market garden called ‘minecroft’,
Ms Murray also started the garden project at Dr Bells family centre. She told the Evening News: “I used to take the kids to school in a wheelbarrow and other kids would say they wanted to go in one too. We first turned up at this space with watering cans and a few crops in pots. We created a group and built it up from there. I remember at the time talk about the tattie blight and different natural remedies. It’s a small bit of land but people really have made it their own.”
Food grown in the market gardens will be sold in the cafe, including salads with edible flowers. The aim is to help make healthy, locally grown produce affordable as people grapple with rising food costs and soaring bills. There's also hopes to create a bandstand from old shipping containers and bring back ‘fix your bike’ workshops.
Following the revamp the charity also has their sights set on expanding outside of Edinburgh, to Fife and East Ayrshire.
Ms Murray added: “It’s amazing to see it all coming together. Most people grow in groups, we also have families and older people too. It’s a community growing space so we don’t gate it off like allotments. It’s open and accessible to all. We saw more and more people coming during the pandemic. The goal is to make enough from events to be able to keep the cost of food low and help people during the cost of living crisis. We want to invite people down to get a coffee and check out the space. There’s loads on and something here for everyone.”


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Earlier this year, in July 2019, Vietnam’s new Law on Competition took effect. This is the second version of the Law on Competition, originally enacted in 2004 and without amendment from then until now. The new Law on Competition is Vietnam’s fundamental anti-monopoly statute.
On 8 December 2015, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) – one of China’s three antitrust authorities – published a decision of its local office in Guangdong holding a trade association in breach of the Anti-Monopoly Law (AML). The trade association was found to have organized a “collective boycott” for its members, and
On 13 April 2015, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce (SAIC) – one of the three antitrust authorities in China – published the long-awaited regulation on how China’s Anti-Monopoly Law (AML) applies to the exercise of intellectual property rights (IPRs). In this one-hour lunch seminar, our Beijing office partner Adrian Emch will address these


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TK Maxx is now officially my favourite shop for Christmas shopping. How's this for the latest stash: a beautiful Osprey wallet, apple green and real leather, which cost £20. As far as you can tell it's the real deal, certainly smells real, and, if bought from Osprey direct online or from the shop, costs around £90.
Then there's a high-fashion black Moah fur-lined ski-jacket which was £49.99, the recommended retail price is £229, and men's socks from Calvin Klein at about £2 each – beats even a market stall.
Why would you shop anywhere else? How TK Maxx keeps its prices down is a mystery, and a story for another time. But I'm not the only one who is enjoying turning austerity into an art form. All the latest figures for Christmas shopping show most of the British public is either hunting bargains from the discounters such as the US giant or waiting for the high street retailers to crack.
The British Retail Consortium says sales in real-terms up until last week showed a like for like growth of just 0.4 per cent, and that footfall is down on a year ago. Part of the reason why sales are so slow, it says, is because there are three weekends still to go before the big day so people are spreading the pain. But retailers are still hoping for a late minute rush.
After George Osborne's Autumn Statement last week, which will squeeze spending even further, a late rally is doubtful. From what I hear and see on the streets, it's war out there between shoppers and retailers; with shoppers hanging on hoping the shops will start the sales before Christmas: who's going to give in first?
But the big question for retailers – apart from the wonderful John Lewis – is whether sales will be up in real terms. In cash terms, some £38bn was spent last December – an eighth of the whole year's spending – although only a third of that is down to Christmas. Online shopping is still rising – it's now 10 per cent of all buying – and a recent survey showed that nearly half of UK shoppers have bought Christmas gifts online.
So which are the retailers will benefit from how we shop today? Here are three companies – let's call them the triple As – which look interesting to invest in with the spare money saved by sharper shopping. They are Asos, the online fashion retailer, Argos, part of Home Retail then, as a backstop, Apple; which last week saw its shares crash to below 2008 levels and briefly below its $500bn price tag. By Friday, shares – which were $700 in September – had crept up a little to $551.
Shares in Asos look pricey at 2463p but could still have far to go as it's quickly turning out to be the Amazon of fashion. Overseas sales are now 60 per cent of its total sales: and its moving swiftly into the US and Australia and across Europe. As Amazon and eBay have shown, these classy internet brands have no borders.
Argos is another one to watch as it sheds those awful catalogues to push three-quarters of orders online and double sales of own brands to get margins up. Home Retail's shares have already shot up to 121p on the new strategy, but Merrill Lynch reckons they could double.
And then there is the mighty Apple; one with $120bn cash at its core. It always does well at Christmas and its new iPhone, iPad4 and iPad Mini have all been launched with the season in mind – in the US on Black Friday shoppers were buying an average of 11 iPads an hour.
But its shares have been falling like a stone and now trade at a 20 per cent discount to its tech peers on the S&P500. That can't be right. Definitely time for some more canny shopping.
Starbucks' £20m does not allay bitter taste of UK tax regime
Let's get this straight: tax is not a moral issue. Even John Maynard Keynes, hero of the big-spenders out there, once remarked: "The avoidance of taxes is the only intellectual pursuit that carries any reward."
It's also why this pious cant about the immorality of multi-national companies such as Starbucks and Amazon who do not pay their fair share of corporation tax completely misses the point about how the UK should be running its tax affairs.
And it's this piety – mainly from the tub-thumping politicians – which has led to the ludicrous decision by Starbucks to pay a £20m voluntary lump sum to Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs in "blood money". By offering the payment, the US coffee chain has, de facto, admitted it's guilt and that it hasn't paid what might have been due in tax over the past 14 years. That's a terrible admission to make.
Yet until now Starbucks has been adamant that it has stuck to the letter of the UK tax law; that it has not paid corporation tax because under our system it was able to make deductions for royalties through its Amsterdam office and other avoidance mechanisms such as inter-company loans and on coffee purchases.
So, by offering this money is Starbucks now saying that it was wrong before? Or is it really saying that the UK's tax policy is a joke? It must be one or the other.
Even the fair tax campaigners, like UK Uncut, have seen through this payment as a PR stunt; one that has magnificently backfired despite bringing in expensive PR experts from Finsbury. What Starbucks should have done if it wanted to sweeten the public was to have offered the money either to a charity or even increased the hourly rate of its workers. With a nice flourish, it could then have said it will review its tax affairs for future years.
The much bigger lesson from all this is that the Treasury and HMRC need to work out how to reform our horribly complex tax system so that it doesn't favour overseas companies; we need a simpler, flatter, fairer code which is transparent. That's probably too hard; so much easier to spew cant.


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By Margarita Snegireva. The largest U.S. tax preparer H&R Block Inc reported that it will cut about 325 filled and 180 open positions, representing about 23 percent of its corporate support staffing, by April 30.
None of the positions affected are involved in field tax services or business services, H&R Block said in a statement.
H&R Block is the leading tax preparation company in the United States, and claims more than 22 million customers worldwide, with offices in Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. The Kansas City, Mo.-based company also offers banking, personal finance and business consulting services.
Founded in 1955 by brothers Henry W. and Richard Bloch in Kansas City, Block today operates 12,500 retail tax offices in the U.S., plus another 1,400 abroad. Block also has operations in 1,500 shared locations at Wal-Mart, Sears and other stores.
The Bloch brothers, who started the current USD 4 billion annual business from one newspaper ad, chose the spelling “Block” for their company name to avoid mispronunciations. The company's headquarters occupies an entire block at Main and 13th Streets in Kansas City.
In fiscal year 2007, Block reported revenue of USD 4 billion and net income of US$374.3 million. The company was ranked 467 in the Forbes 500 list of top U.S. companies in 2006. In mid-2007, Block had market capitalization of $6.45 billion.
Besides its walk-in tax preparation offices, Block provides its own consumer tax software called TaxCut, as well as online tax preparation and electronic filing from the H&R Block web site. The site also offers tax tips and calculators.
In addition, Block offers public tax preparation courses for basic and advanced students.


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Malware that infects Seagate's NAS and secretly uncovers the virtual currency will be discovered
Manufactured by Seagate, a major hard disk manufacturerNASThe vulnerability was infected, malware was discovered that secretly connects the machine power of the connected PC and uses it as a resource for discovering the virtual currency. It is estimated that virtual currencies of more than $ 88,000 (about 9 million yen) have already been discovered at market price.
Thousands of infected FTP servers net attackers $ 88k in cryptocurrency | Ars Technica
Anti-malware serviceSophosVia the Seagate made NAS, sneak out the machine power of the PC connected to the NAS "virtual currency"MoneroWe reported that we found malware to use for mining.
BitcoinMonero is said to be easier to mining than it is, the market price is rising.
The malware in questionSeagate CentralIt is confirmed that it is infected by using the vulnerability existing in Seagate's NAS program. According to Sophos, Seagate Central has a vulnerability that allows malicious users to access files remotely, and if users mistakenly click on a file uploaded by an attacker, it infects malware and infects malware The PC will start mining the Monero in the background.
Among the infected PCs, the biggest "earnings" per power consumption seems to be the model with GeForce GTX 750Ti on the graphic board.
Infected terminals are spreading all over the world including Japan, and infection has already been confirmed with more than 3000 terminals.
Researcher Attora Marosil of Sophos said the infected PC mined Monero for 481 dollars a day (about 49,000 yen), and total about 80,000 dollar (about 9 million yen) virtual currency I guess the attacker got it.
Malware found this time has no self-diffusion capability and only infects via Seagate Central. Also, damage caused by actually increasing the amount of damage to machinery resources by electricity bills is not large. Sophos, however, points out the possibility that this type of cybercrime damage will expand in the future due to negligence of NAS security measures, since the majority of NAS users validate external data writing.


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On the middle finger of her left hand, Lim Qing Ru sports a ring with “April 10 2014” engraved on it.
That was the day news broke that Zopim, the tech company she joined as a co-founder in 2008, had been acquired by an American software company for a reported US$29.8 million (roughly S$37 million).
The payout was split between herself and four other co-founders, making her a multimillionaire overnight. She was then two weeks shy of her 29th birthday.
“We went from being nameless entrepreneurs to instant role models for the tech industry,” says Qing Ru, who turns 30 this April. “All of a sudden, everyone was paying attention to us.”
Journalists spun a blithe tale about how a group of scrappy entrepreneurs finally made good after years of surviving on meagre salaries: They created a winning product – a chat widget that allows business owners to send instant messages to customers and provide real-time customer service – after which the company was wooed by US-based customer support firm Zendesk. The co-founders then signed an acquisition deal that gave each of them multimillion-dollar payouts. It was the perfect rags-to-riches tale. Or so it seemed.
Like giving up a child
The truth was, it wasn’t quite the happily-ever-after that most people imagined it to be.
“[The acquisition] wasn’t an easy decision,” admits Qing Ru. “I spent seven years building the company with my blood, sweat and tears. Then, I had to let it go.” After signing the agreement, she sobbed uncontrollably. Till this day, she hasn’t spent a cent of her millions – she can’t bear to. All of it is sitting in a bank.
Click on the link below to read more.


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Serenity Better Days #1 San Diego Comic-Con Exclusive California Browncoats Variant
UPDATED 6/10/08 - I replaced the picture with the updated version of the cover. The changes were the price field was replaced, and the 5000 copies text was added there and at the bottom.
This is the CABC exclusive variant cover to Serenity Better Days #1. It will be available only from the California Browncoats at San Diego Comic-Con, July 23-27, 2008. It will sell for $10 and 100% of the proceeds will be donated to Kids Need to Read.
You can find out all the details at the California Browncoats site.
You can find the first news story about this cover at Serenity Stuff.


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Anyone who thought Toshiba got off lightly in terms of face saved and avoiding throwing good money after bad when it pulled the plug on its HD DVD business last month will probably want to think again when looking at the scale of the financial loss it caused.
Rock-solid rumours coming from Japan say that the Tokyo firm is set to warn investors that it will write off a loss of ¥100 billion, or almost half a billion pounds, on HD DVD this financial year.
Toshiba still expects full-year profits of ¥250 billion (£1.2 billion). But the fact that it's a public company with shareholders expecting far better numbers makes the larger-than-forecast HD DVD loss significant.
Thursday trading in Tokyo currently has Toshiba stock down almost 3 per cent compared to yesterday. The company had expected to lose ¥50 billion on HD DVD this year even if it had stayed in the market.


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HARRISBURG―Attorney General Josh Shapiro today announced that the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General has filed two requests with Pennsylvania courts to require businesses to turn over documents related to their alleged price gouging efforts. The actions were filed after Jenkintown Pharmacy of Montgomery County, and Jane Sutter, a Chambersburg eBay seller, refused to comply with subpoenas.
“Businesses cannot price gouge Pennsylvanians, full stop. Any seller, big or small, who is given the opportunity to comply with consumer law, and anyone who doesn’t, could have to face me in court,” said Attorney General Shapiro. “When millions are out of work and millions more are struggling to pay for basic necessities, price gouging consumers—and then trying to hide your actions when asked to stop—is unethical and illegal.”
The Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General filed the enforcement actions after Ms. Sutter and Jenkintown Pharmacy both failed to comply with subpoenas issued and served in recent months. The subpoena was served to Ms. Sutter after the Office received tips alleging that she was selling numerous household products, ranging from cleaning supplies to thermometers, on eBay at excessive prices.
Jenkintown Pharmacy, similarly, was the subject of tips alleging the sale of excessively priced PPE, such as disinfectants and face masks.
Under the Price Gouging Act, a price increase of more than 20 percent during a declared state of emergency is considered price gouging. The enforcement actions require that Ms. Sutter and Jenkintown Pharmacy, respectively, fully comply with the requests for information and documents contained in the previously-issued subpoenas.
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October 4, 2018
Nintendo is working on a new version of the Switch console, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal citing anonymous sources.
The new console could be released as soon as next summer, according to the report.
In a statement provided to USA Today Nintendo said it had “nothing to announce on this topic.”
The Switch debuted in March of last year.
Competitors Sony and Microsoft have each released multiple versions of the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.


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In Memoriam: Henry Cherner
This slideshow contains 3 slides that will change every 8 seconds. The first button is to play and pause the slideshow, followed by buttons to go to the previous slide, next slide, or choose individual slides.
Published Date: Jul 25, 2017 3:00:00 PM
Henry Cherner, a Los Angeles fashion industry pioneer and a long-time supporter of the Department of Apparel Merchandising & Management, died on Sunday, July 16.
He was 66.
Mr. Cherner was a managing partner of AIMS360, a company based in Los Angeles’ Fashion District that created business software for fashion companies. He served on the AMM advisory board since the department was founded in 1997. He also joined the Dean’s Council for the Huntley College of Agriculture in 2014.
“Henry’s enthusiasm for education was immense, especially in supporting students and faculty in linking learning to the technology needs of the industry and its careers. He will be greatly missed,” says Professor Peter Kilduff, AMM chair and the Huntley College of Agriculture’s interim associate dean.
For the past eight years, Mr. Cherner generously donated his company’s Enterprise Resource Planning software to Cal Poly Pomona for students to use in their advanced apparel production lab and senior capstone courses.
Earlier this year, Mr. Cherner expanded the number of students who could use the software from 25 to 50. He also extended its availability to students for the next 10 years.
The software allows users to enter information about a product line, such as style, raw materials, purchase orders, vendors, and sales representatives. The system generates invoices, picking tickets, packing slips, order confirmations, and other documents to run the wholesale manufacturing operation. More than 5,000 companies use the software.
“AIMS360 is a very important part of our organization,” says Teresa Becker (’07, apparel merchandising and management), founder of San Dimas-based Heart of Haute apparel company.
The software gives AMM students the opportunity to have competitive careers, Mr. Cherner said earlier this year. Although some students might focus on a particular area like marketing, the software allows them to understand the entire business process, including design, production, manufacturing, shipping and logistics, accounts receivable and accounts payable, he said.
“A lot of manufacturers are becoming retailers too,” he said. “They sell directly to the consumer.”
Mr. Cherner was born in Sweden as the son of Holocaust survivors. His family moved to St. Louis when he was 3 and then to Los Angeles a year later. A graduate of Fairfax High School and Cal State Northridge, he got into the fashion industry by starting his own leather goods company called Casablanca.
From the mid 1970s to the late 1980s, he was managing director of import/export for the Condor sportswear company and owner of the Zephyr Group, which made accessories licensed for Disney Products, according to California Apparel News. Mr. Cherner later became operations manager for OK SAM, which imported women’s rayon clothing from Indonesia.
He then joined AIMS Technology Solutions Inc. as president and subsequently as one of four managing partners at AIMS360, the successor company. He was a founding board member of Fashion Business Inc., a Los Angeles nonprofit founded in 1999 to help incubate startups and new apparel companies.
Mr. Cherner was passionate about educating students, according to his daughter Ariella Schrader. In addition to his involvement at Cal Poly Pomona, Mr. Cherner was a senior adjunct instructor at Los Angeles Trade Technical College and UCLA Extension, teaching “Fashion Merchandising Math and Understanding Apparel and Technology Principles with AIMS” since 1998.
“Whether it was a small phone call with a student or an important meeting with a big client, he took great pleasure in helping other people succeed,” Schrader told the California Apparel News.
Mr. Cherner served on advisory boards with the Art Institute of California – San Diego and Inland Empire, Los Angeles Trade Technical College, Saddleback College, the Textile Association of Los Angeles, and the California Fashion Association.
He is survived by his wife, Miriam Scharf Cherner; sons Dac and Noah; daughters Ariella Schrader and Leanna Cherner; and granddaughter Presley Schrader.
A funeral was held on Tuesday, July 18, at Mount Sinai Cemetery in Los Angeles.California Apparel News contributed to this report.


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Wii | Nintendo
The best work of the week
Nintendo has announced a Dragon Quest X bundle that includes a black Wii console, a copy of the game, a Classic Controller Pro, and a 16GB USB stick for ¥25,000. It'll be out on August 2nd in Japan.
Here's something interesting from Nintendo Wii U Developer Discussion: asked if Wii owners will be able to transfer their downloaded Wii and Virtual Console games over to the new console, a Nintendo producer answered rather positively: "we are readying the system to be able to transfer saves and everything you've bought."
According to an Adweek report, Nintendo is currently courting major media companies for content distribution deals for its next generation console, with the company specifically looking to follow the lead of the Xbox 360 in this space.
The Hulu Plus app for the Nintendo Wii was released today. It's available as a free download from the Wii Shop Channel, and if you don't have a Hulu Plus subscription you'll get a two-week trial when you install the app.
An Ohio gamer named Ryan Sullivan has broken the record for the number of games played in 60 seconds. Hey played on 13 consoles in that time period, breaking Jimmy Fallon's previous record of nine games.
Alongside Satoru Iwata's pronouncement that the Wii U will be on sale by the holiday season this year, Nintendo has had to report some ignominious news about its financial situation: the company expects to generate a loss of ¥65 billion (about $834 million) for the full 2011 fiscal year.
According to NPD's latest data, 2011 was a down year for the video game industry, with total retail sales coming in at $17.02 billion. That's an eight percent decline from 2010, but Microsoft hasn't been hurt by the downturn -- the Xbox 360 was the top selling console every month in 2011 and outsold the 2nd-place console by 2.7 million units.
Nielson has just released numbers showing that a very large number of consumers have use their Xbox, PS3, or Wii to stream video. up a combined seven percent over last year. On the Xbox 360, users are streaming video about 14 percent of the time the console is on, 15 percent for the PS3, and a whopping 33 percent on the Wii.
Nintendo's overhauling its loyalty program, Club Nintendo, offering users downloadable games for the 3DS and Wii in addition to previously-offered swag like notebooks and posters.
The Club Nintendo loyalty program, which gives virtual coins in exchange for taking surveys and registering purchases, will soon offer downloadable games for Wii and 3DS in its rewards store.
Nintendo's new flagship titles, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Super Mario 3D Land, have both set franchise records for early sales, with 3D Land's 500,000 sales in two weeks making it the "fastest selling portable Mario game," and Zelda's 535,000 in first week sales giving it the title of "fastest-selling Zelda game ever."


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Google Glass fans get ready. Today and only today, you can pick up a pair online at Google.com. Any adult in the U.S. has a shot at getting their hands on Glass for $1500 starting at 6am our time. Google says the move is a way to get more consumer feedback on how it can make Glass better.
Hmmm… do you really want to be that guy? Are you the type who wants to record his or her every move and show it to the world immediately? There are a lot of you out there. But remember, you may be targeted.
According to CNN, Google Glass, which can discreetly shoot photos or video, has been found by some people as invasive. That’s caused unease for some folks and, in some cases has led to arguments, altercations and even attacks against people wearing the technology.


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The government’s GREAT campaign to promote the UK overseas has been hailed by the National Audit Office (NAO).
According to a report by the body, the initiative has enabled state bodies to adopt “consistent and effective brand management” and work towards clear objectives.
This, it said, marks a change from the days when there was “no consistent approach to country branding”.
The NAO also praised the Cabinet Office for supporting the GREAT campaign with strong marketing and communication tools and materials, as well as improving how it has been delivered over time by using evidence to inform its actions.
Government estimates suggest £113.5 million worth of investment in the GREAT campaign will yield £1.2 billion worth of returns, although it should be stressed this is based on projected as well as actual spending by tourists, businesses and students.
Amyas Morse, Head of the NAO, therefore believes achieving the full return depends on whether people’s intentions to spend does translate to real transactions.
“To optimise value for money in future, the campaign needs to allocate resources based on a clear analysis of which partners are likely to generate economic activity of proven benefit to the UK economy,” she commented.
The GREAT campaign was launched three years ago ahead of the London Olympics to showcase the country’s various attributes, such as its cultural heritage and suitability as a place for businesses to invest in.
Exploiting the UK brand overseas, National Audit Office
Posted by Robin McCrink


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Food safety is the responsibility of everyone in the beef supply chain, says Josh White, executive director of producer education and sustainability for the Denver-based National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, a contractor to the Beef Checkoff.
PSSI, the largest contract sanitation provider across the USDA, FDA and CFIA food processing industries, and its sister chemical company, Packers Chemical, Inc., have launched a new unified brand identity.
While it’s likely that uniforms, garments and other apparel are not a weak spot for a production facility when it comes to food safety, it is important the understand the risks of substandard care, cleaning and handling.
Let Bake’n Joy show you how to save time and money with our just-like-scratch premium baking products. A wide array of scoop batters and premeasured, predeposited batters for muffins, loaf cakes and cornbread and more are available to make you a baking star.


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To create the new C9.3B industrial engine, Caterpillar used a customer approach to development, allowing the company to address the diverse requirements of the global off-highway emissions landscape.
The 6 cylinder, 9.3 litre engine combines a new high-pressure, common rail fuel system and simplified air, electrical and aftertreatment systems to produce up to 456 hp and 2,088 Nm of torque out of a package that is nearly 140 kg lighter than its predecessor.
“It’s really the result of hundreds of team members in Peoria focused on developing the next generation of engines,” said Christopher Massey, commercial manager for Cat’s industrial engine group. “The engine is really our next generation engine that’s designed to meet these growing demands of our customers.”
When designing the engine, Caterpillar’s customers requested four key elements be included in the new model. The first request was for a simpler, lighter engine system.
“It makes it easier for them to integrate them into their products, and it makes it easier for their customers to use the product,” Massey said.
The second request was for increased power. The C9.3B delivers about 18 per cent more power than its predecessor.
“Their machines are constantly growing and trying to be more productive and more efficient,” Massey said.
Cat’s customers also requested the engine is designed to include modular technology.
“The more common and modular they are, helps reduce the amount of R&D our customers need,” Massey said.
The significant system upgrades build on the core engine, which has been in production since 2011 with more than 46,000 engines, logging more than 150 million hours in real world off-highway applications.
“All of these enhancements have to come at no sacrifice to engine life reliability or durability,” Massey said. “Our customers expect constant improvements on that, which we invest in and work very heavily to deliver.”
With a reliable core engine and diesel particulate filter solution already in place, Caterpillar’s focus for EU Stage V construction customers has been on simplifying design and improving performance.
“One of the key influences for our customers is the global emissions regulations,” Massey said.
“As we looked forward into 2020 and beyond, we realized the diversification of regulations around the world, which really drives complexity into our customers business as well as our products.”
Along with taking 39 per cent of the aftertreatment packaging size out of the previous design, customers can opt for engine-mounted aftertreatment and full industrial power units straight from the factory.
For the more challenging installations, a remote-mounted aftertreatment is available that only requires wiring, coolant and diesel exhaust fluid effects added to the system.
With full engine production planned in the first quarter of 2018, Caterpillar says it is prepared to meet the needs of Stage V customers.
“We’re investing heavily into our Caterpillar industrial engine product line,” said David Nicoll, Caterpillar’s global marketing director.