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Bodypack Transmitters: The Digital Category Expands
Imagine expecting a piece of technology to get smaller, add more complex features, and be able to withstand the equivalent of a train wreck 25 times an hour. These are the kinds of performance parameters routinely demanded of electronic systems for NASA and the Pentagon. Oh, yeah, and the NFL.
As viewers have shown an appetite for more-intimate audio from sports broadcasts, the bodypack transmitter has become a must-have piece of equipment on the field, the court, and, particularly, the gridiron, where, for two years, the NFL has been experimenting with on-field microphone placement as it seeks to bolster its on-field audio. Key to that initiative is the bodypack transmitter, which has to be small, robust, and reliable in sports’ most demanding environment.
A Digital Future
The transmitter also has to be discreet, as in circumspect, a trick that until recently has been hard to perform. Only a single manufacturer, Zaxcom, has had a fully digital and encryptable wireless system, its TRX900, on the market for any significant length of time.
In the past year, however, two more such systems have come to market: Shure introduced its ULX-D digital, encryptable wireless system capable of 24-bit audio and single-, dual-, and quad-channel receivers in January, and competitor Sennheiser debuted its SK 9000, a lightweight, encryptable transmitter that uses infrared synchronization and exchangeable lithium-ion battery packs, at the AES Show in October.
Zaxcom, a relatively small manufacturer in an industry sector dominated by large international companies, had its digital solution in place at a propitious moment, as the NFL sought a way to replace sound from the mic previously worn by the umpire, who in 2011 was moved out of harm’s way, farther back from the line of scrimmage. The NFL has been deploying Zaxcom’s TRX900 LAS version, which uses two lavaliere microphones to create a stereo signal with a single transmitter. The mono version is also used by NBA coaches.
However, the arrival of larger systems from Shure and Sennheiser, offering high-resolution audio and larger frame sizes to accommodate more channels, will put this nascent category into play.
Neither Shure’s nor Sennheiser’s new digital systems have been used by any major-league teams yet. Sennheiser’s became available after the start of the NFL and NBA seasons this year, and hockey is a non-starter this year. According to Shure Category Director for Wireless Products Erik Vaveris, that company’s system only recently was expanded to a full rack in September, a configuration that will make it more desirable at the major-league level.
“We’ve made a lot of progress in regards issues like power management: the ULX-D has outstanding battery life and can run on alkaline AA batteries or rechargeable,” he says. “Digital wireless has tremendous potential, and it will be exciting to see how it evolves.”
Joe Ciaudelli, director of advanced projects engineering at Sennheiser, says the SK 9000, which took the better part of a decade to develop and offers very low latency and both compressed or uncompressed audio, has been demonstrated to ESPN and other broadcasters since it was introduced. He expects it to be evaluated by the NFL and other leagues in the near future. “We think this is now the benchmark for bodypack transmitters.”
However, new and larger digital systems come with higher price tags. According to Colleen Goodsir, who directs Zaxcom’s marketing, the TRZ900’s basic system costs about $2,000, a fraction of the cost of one of the larger-frame systems. What the company doesn’t have, she acknowledges, is the marketing clout of its larger competitors, and it will have to work to leverage its early successes in the rapidly expanding category. Sennheiser’s Ciaudelli tips his hat to Zaxcom, calling the manufacturer “nimble,” but adds, “This is going to be a more competitive [category] now.”
Analog Dog, New Tricks
This won’t put the kibosh on analog systems, however. Several key performance features make analog bodypacks valuable for sports in general and football in particular: they can be very small, thanks to being able to be sufficiently powered by a single AA battery; analog’s more efficient power management also lets them handle heat dissipation better; and analog has inherently low transmission latency. For instance, Quantum5X Systems’ Player Mic has been used extensively by various baseball, basketball, and football teams, including the NFL’s St. Louis Rams for the team’s self-produced television programming.
Quantum5X CEO Paul Johnson notes that the design has evolved over several years based on feedback from players and teams, producing a very small and flexible — the outer casing is made from rubber — transmitter that is designed to not injure players when they fall on them but still performs in a rough environment and offers battery life that lasts into overtime.
And the analog transmitter has been learning some new tricks. A relatively recent development has been more remote parameter control, such as the ability to vary signal strength remotely, allowing those who manage the wireless RF to lower signal intensity to conserve battery power in the course of a game that’s beginning to run long.
Also, says Karl Winkler, director of business development at Lectrosonics, whose dual-battery SMQV analog bodypack transmitters are being used by the NFL, “Analog offers better spectrum efficiency, because it’s better able to concentrate the energy into a narrower range of spectrum than digital can.” He adds further that analog also enables higher channel counts and longer range than most digital systems can, while also being able to withstand the pummeling of an NFL scrimmage. “Digital systems can be very good — wideband digital offers a good-quality signal — but they can’t compete with analog when it comes to channel count.”
Bodypack technology has reached a turning point now that more encryptable digital systems have come to market. Pro sports leagues, teams, and broadcasters tend to be cautious when it comes to implementing new technologies, and there’s no reason to think that they’ll behave any differently when it comes to embracing fully digital bodypack transmitters. But it’s also fair to say that, as far as these new products go, it’s now game on.


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Fraud in a new way on the German authorities 😁
Hackers defraud the German authorities with a fake mask deal
Businessinsider reported that a group of fraudsters of multiple nationalities tried to deceive German authorities with fake email addresses and a cloned website to deliver more than $ 16 million to receive medical masks that did not exist during the past month.
Interpol announced this week that two suspects had been arrested in connection with the fraud, and investigations are now underway across Europe.
Initially, the German health authorities allocated 16 million dollars to two suppliers in mid-March to buy millions of medical masks, as the country entered a lockdown period to slow the spread of the Corona virus.
The buyers identified a Spain-based company selling the masks, and contacted using the company's email addresses.
And it turned out the company was real, but the site was a fake clone created by phishers, and the German buyers were in contact with email addresses that had been hacked by the cyber fraudsters.
Interpol Secretary General Juergen Stock said in a statement: “Those arrested in this case have no connection to the medical equipment industry, they were simply fraudsters who saw an opportunity with the outbreak of Covid-1919.
The suspects allegedly demanded that German buyers pay $ 1.6 million in down payment for shipping 1.5 million masks, and the victims of this fraud paid that amount, but realized that they were being deceived when they received a letter on the day of the supposed delivery, as the fraudsters demanded another urgent payment of more than 950 one thousand dollars.
After the buyers alerted the authorities, the $ 1.6 million transaction was frozen and Interpol tracked down recipients, who were intending to direct payments through the UK to a bank account in Nigeria.
"They have adjusted their sales plans to take advantage of the tense supply chains and generate huge profits," Stock added. "Interpol will continue to work on this issue and many others of this nature."
The incident is a prime example of the growing trend of fraudsters using fake emails and misleading websites related to the Corona-virus to capitalize on health agencies' desperation.
According to Microsoft, every country on Earth has been hit by a cyber attack related to the corona-virus, and the majority of frauds take the form of phishing attacks; Fraudsters use fake emails or websites to trick victims.

domain: news


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Officially launching today is the latest addition to the Zynga roster, Mafia Wars Las Vegas. Up in beta since July 21st, the mobster-themed game has exploded within the past week, and Zynga’s internal metrics are currently at the 3.3 million player mark. The meter has also registered 7 million Vegas gifts per day, 8.5 million casino properties being upgraded, and 1.5 billion jobs being done in the newest Mafia Wars city.
To celebrate crossing over into the 10 million player mark, which it expects to do next week, Zynga (in a marketing/advertising push devised byDavis Elen) has promised to blow up a 4 ton armored truck in actual Las Vegas, in homage to the “Get the Hills Brothers Attention” job done in the game. Further incorporating real life with social game mechanics, Zynga will also enter any player who visits or who has anyone in their mafia visit actual Las Vegas in a drawing to win $25,000.
For the uninitiated, the Mafia Wars games, highly derived from Mob Wars, involves running a virtual mafia family with other members, earning virtual currency to buy vehicles, armors, and weapons, and performing in game ‘jobs’ such as the armored truck heist. While not particularly innovative, the games are addictive and the current number of players is being tracked live at www.mafiawarslv.com where the armored truck explosion will also be webcast. Stay tuned, Mafia Wars fans. In the meantime we’re holding out for the realtime farming.
What’s changed in the Sin City iteration?
While you do start from scratch money-wise, obviously because this is Vegas you’re now dealing with poker chips instead of cold hard cash. And the chips will come in handy considering you’ll have 100 new items to collect in this latest edition.
While fighting and robbing are still the same, you can finally run Fight Club tournaments, with a poker chip betting function and “lightweight” and “heavyweight” categories.
Instead of run of the mill Mafia Wars buildings you can now build your own customized casino. You can also look inside the casinos and purchase items
You now can choose an energy path or a fighting path which leads to a boss battle that unlocks the next district. Six districts in all, with 60 new “choose your path” jobs launched.
Photo: Free Republic


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SAN FRANCISCO — May 16, 2013 — Demandbase, Inc., the targeting and personalization platform for businesses that sell to other businesses, today announced it has been named a winner of the San Francisco Business Times’ Tech and Innovation Award. The prestigious Bay Area award honors the most innovative technology-based companies in the region, with winners who are chosen by a number of factors, including companies that attract venture funding and growth capital, add jobs and transform every area of technology.
Demandbase was selected from 200 nominations and join two dozen other winners this year, including Ask.com, Dropbox, Eventbrite, Glassdoor, Lithium Technologies, Marin Software, Uber, and more.
“The year 2012 was a big shift for our company; we experienced overall employee, customer and revenue growth, as well as expanded our technology solutions to help business marketers and advertisers achieve better results. This success was due to the innovative and hard work done by our Demandbase family – the staff, managers, customers, investors and partners,” said Chris Golec, founder and CEO of Demandbase. “We are proud to be recognized with these other technology leaders, who in so many fascinating and dynamic ways, drive technology forward and change the way businesses and consumers live their daily working and personal lives.”
The news comes on the heels of Demandbase’s announcement of a $15 million round of financing, led by Scale Venture Partners, with existing investors Sigma Partners, Altos Ventures, Costanoa Ventures, Sutter Hill Ventures and Adobe Systems(NASDAQ:ADBE). This recent funding supports the company’s continued growth – having more than doubled its revenue year over year in 2012 and growth of its customer base by 70 percent – to support an increase of its online ad targeting and website optimization platform that improves both B2B marketing and sales effectiveness. Demandbase customers include leading companies Adobe, HP, Dell and Informatica.
“In the Bay Area, innovative companies rise to the top – Demandbase’s win in the San Francisco Business Times’ award is a true reflection of this,” said Bob Spinner, managing director at Sigma West and an investor in Demandbase. “Because Demandbase pushes the innovation envelope in delivering its promise to business marketers, we expect the company will continue to be recognized for its success.”
Demandbase is a company that helps drive the job economy in San Francisco, having seen 103 percent growth in employees in the past year, and expects to increase its employee base by 20-25 percent by the end of 2013.
To learn more about Demandbase and career options at the company, go to https://www.demandbase.com/who-is-demandbase/demandbase-careers/.


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Stand up for the facts!
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The Agriculture Department has said the avian flu outbreak in the U.S. is the main contributor to low inventory and high prices. Other factors are pandemic-related supply chain issues and holiday demand.
Over the last decade, Bill Gates has invested in multiple companies, including Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods, that develop plant-based meat alternatives. He has also been a proponent of chicken farming.
Since 2020, Gates has held the title of the nation’s largest private farmland owner, per The Land Report. As of 2022, he owned 248,000 acres of farmland across more than a dozen states, but this accounts for less than 1% of the total farmland in the U.S.
Billionaire philanthropist and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates has found himself at the center of yet another online conspiracy theory. Some social media users are claiming recent national chicken and egg supply shortages are the culmination of a decadelong plot by Gates.
"2013: Bill Gates invests (in) plant-based eggs, poultry, and meat"
"2021: Bill Gates becomes the largest private farmland owner in the U.S."
"2021-2023: Mass chicken and egg shortages hit American farms"
The Gateway Pundit, a conservative website, shared a similar claim. These posts were flagged as part of Instagram’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.)
In the past, Gates has invested in companies developing artificial or plant-based alternatives to meat, and he is currently the country’s largest private farmland owner, according to The Land Report, a magazine that surveys the country’s largest landowners annually.
But there is no evidence these investments are linked to a nationwide shortage in chicken and egg products. Gates’ private office, Gates Ventures, told PolitiFact this claim is false.
Eggs have become expensive and scarce in some parts of the country. The Bureau of Labor Statistics’ latest update shows egg prices rose 60% over the last year.
The cost of chicken has also gone up, although not as drastically. The Consumer Price Index shows chicken prices, including fresh whole chicken and fresh or frozen chicken parts, have increased 11% over the last year.
The main factor driving the nationwide price hikes and supply shortages, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, is a U.S. avian influenza, or bird flu, outbreak. This, combined with holiday demand and continued coronavirus pandemic-related supply-chain pressures, have affected the market.
More than 58 million birds in hundreds of commercial and backyard flocks have been affected since the bird flu outbreak began in February 2022, the Agriculture Department estimated.
Avian flu is highly infectious, can spread rapidly from flock to flock, and can often kill chickens. Infected flocks are culled to prevent the flu from spreading. By Dec. 31, 2022, the Agriculture Department reported 43 million egg-laying hens had died because of the disease or depopulation.
Lower-than-usual egg inventories near the end of the year, when demand is up from holiday baking, resulted in several successive weeks of record-high egg prices, the department said. Costs are expected to fall in the coming weeks as egg-laying flocks are restored.
News reports from the last several years suggest that Gates has at different times invested in start-ups focused on developing artificial or plant-based alternatives to meat, such as Nature’s Fynd, Hampton Creek, Memphis Meats, Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
Alongside his investments, Gates has also purchased farmland in at least 19 states, according to The Land Report. It reported that as of 2022, Gates owned about 248,000 acres of farmland. The publication named Gates the country’s largest private farmland owner in 2020, 2021 and 2022. But these land holdings account for only a tiny share of the country’s total farmland. The Agriculture Department estimates there are more than 895 million acres of farmland in the U.S., making Gates’ share 0.028%.
In a March 2021 "Ask Me Anything" session on Reddit, Gates was asked why he had purchased so much farmland. He responded that it was a decision his investment group made.
"It is not connected to climate. The agriculture sector is important," Gates wrote. "With more productive seeds we can avoid deforestation and help Africa deal with the climate difficulty they already face. It is unclear how cheap biofuels can be but if they are cheap it can solve the aviation and truck emissions."
Gates appears to be pro-chicken farming. In 2016, he wrote on his blog about the benefits of raising chickens, particularly for people living in poverty. He’s also written about the need for more ways to produce meat without depleting environmental resources.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is focused partly on agricultural development to support farmers in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. And many of the American farms Gates owns specialize in produce, such as onions, carrots and potatoes, NBC News reported in 2021.
Social media posts blame Gates’ investments in plant-based meat alternatives and his status as the nation’s largest private farmland owner for triggering the country’s current chicken and egg shortages.
Gates owns less than 1% of the nation’s farmland. He has invested in multiple companies developing artificial or plant-based alternatives to meat, but he supports chicken farming and agricultural development.
The current chicken and egg shortages trace mainly to an avian flu outbreak in the U.S. that began in early 2022 and was exacerbated by holiday demand and supply chain problems, the Agriculture Department reported.
We rate this claim False.
Instagram post, Jan. 22, 2023
Instagram post, Jan. 22, 2023
Gateway Pundit, "Bill Gates Invested In Artificial Eggs a Decade Before Egg Shortage," Jan. 24, 2023
PolitiFact, "What Bill Gates has to do with livestock, lab-grown meat," May 18, 2020
PolitiFact, "Eggflation? Social media post scrambles the facts on high egg prices," Jan. 13, 2023
Various searches on Google and Nexis, accessed Jan. 24, 2023
The Land Report, "Farmer Bill," Jan. 11, 2021
The Land Report, "Bill Gates is About to Change the Way America Farms," Winter 2020 magazine issue
The Land Report 100, Winter 2021 magazine issue
The Land Report 100, Winter 2022 magazine issue
Email exchange, Eric O’Keefe, editor, The Land Report, Jan. 23, 2023
Email exchange, Gates Ventures, Jan. 24, 2023
GatesNotes, "Future of food," March 18, 2013
GatesNotes, "What the plow and lab-grown meat tell us about innovation," Feb. 27, 2019
GatesNotes, "Is there enough meat for everyone?," April 21, 2015
GatesNotes, "Why I would raise chickens," June 7, 2016
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Consumer Price Index," Jan. 12, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Avian influenza outbreaks reduced egg production, driving prices to record highs in 2022," Jan. 11, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "2022-2023 Confirmations of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in Commercial and Backyard Flocks," Jan. 18, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Avian Influenza," Jan. 18, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture, "Farms and Land in Farms, 2021 Summary," February 2022
Reddit, Bill Gates Ask Me Anything, March 19, 2021
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, "Agricultural Development," accessed Jan. 24, 2023
Associated Press, "Bill Gates owns a lot of American farmland, but not the majority," May 2, 2022
Vox, "The controversy over Bill Gates becoming the largest private farmland owner in the US," June 11, 2021
NBC News, "McDonald's french fries, carrots, onions: all of the foods that come from Bill Gates farmland," June 8, 2021
Reuters, "Fact Check-Bill Gates doesn’t own most U.S. farmland; BlackRock doesn’t own most houses," May 5, 2022
CNBC, "Bill Gates and Richard Branson are betting lab-grown meat might be the food of the future," March 23, 2018
CNBC, "Bill Gates bets on growing demand for sustainable foods," May 14, 2015
Bloomberg News, "Lab-Grown Meat Backed by Gates, Tyson Foods Faces U.S. Oversight," June 15, 2018
The Chicago Tribune, "‘Chicken’ nuggets and cream ‘cheese’ grow in trays in a South Side lab. Are you ready for alternative proteins made from a volcanic microbe?," March 24, 2020
NPR, "Why Bill Gates Is Investing In Chicken-Less Eggs," June 13, 2013
CNN, "Memphis Meats raised $161 million to grow meat from cells," Jan. 22, 2020
Insider, "Bill Gates and Richard Branson backed a food startup which grows meat in labs," Aug. 23, 2017
Quartz, "Bill Gates headlines an all-star list of investors pumping $75 million into meatless burgers," Aug. 2, 2017
The Washington Post, "Egg prices haven’t come down with inflation. Here’s why.," Jan. 10, 2023
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China Latest News - Inside Retail Asia
Consumers will spend more than US$3.3 trillion this year on remote payments for purchases, says Juniper Research.
Fosun International has acquired a controlling stake in French fashion house Lanvin.
Hong Kong luxury watch imports posted their highest monthly increase for more than five years last month.
Sweet Fashion House has announced it will open a confectionery flagship in Hong Kong.
Following another strong quarter, Jumbo Group aims to expand its dining brands to other major Asian cities.
With a record 91 per cent profit growth, BreadTalk Group says it is ready to soar in a challenging market.
Retail toy giant FAO Schwarz has set its sights on China.
The Sa Sa Taiwan business is to be closed down by March 31.
Bossini International Holdings is optimistic despite a slip in revenue and profit turning to loss for its first half.
Koda’s in-house brand Commune plans to open more than 100 outlets in China by 2020.
Nadim Xavier Salhani aims to expand the Greyhound Cafe brand abroad.
Jab Holding has sold its controlling stake in Bally to China’s Shandong Ruyi Group.


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Patch 5.23 will be the penultimate patch in Smite Season 5 and features a new mini adventure, the final Odyssey items and the reveal of the Godslayer Ares T5 skin as the final Odyssey reward! This patch should be released on Monday 17th December for PC and later in the week for console although there have been no official announcements.
*Edit: Patch 5.23 has been delayed until later in the week. A date hasn’t been set, but I imagine it will be available within the next couple of days.
The final patch, 5.24, of Smite Season 5 will be coming in January with the announcement of Season 6 soon to follow. These patches will be fairly small in terms of balance with the run up to the start of a new Season.
Continue reading “Smite: 5.23 Patch Notes”
It’s been a month now since we saw patch 5.21 introduced to Smite. Due to the Smite tournaments, this patch was delayed an extra two weeks but as PTS was released on Wednesday so I’ve already had a peek at the skins. The new Nox skin is incredible!
Patch 5.22 will be available to play on Monday 3rd November for PC and should later in the week for console.
Continue reading “Smite: 5.22 Patch Notes”
HRX happened this weekend, claiming Splyce as the Smite World Champions. Due to this huge tournament, there was no patch notes but there was plenty of announcements for upcoming content! This post will include information on new God’s announced for Season 6, the reveal of the T5 Godslayer Ares skin and other exciting additions.
Continue reading “Smite: HRX Announcements”
Patch 5.19 is here! This is a very small patch in terms of balance, but it does contain the next batch of Odyssey skins, the release of more Hallowe’en skins and of course the anticipated release of Hera! This patch should be released on Monday 15th October on PC and later in the week for console.
Continue reading “Smite: 5.19 Patch Notes”
We’re only one patch away from introducing Hera to the battleground! This patch will see the next instalment of Odyssey items, the first Hallowe’en skin of the year and the usual balance changes. Patch 5.18 should be released for PC on Tuesday 2nd October and later that week for console.
Continue reading “Smite: 5.18 Patch Notes”
The update notes for patch 5.17 have been released! This is another fairly small update with some new skins, a new item and changes to loading screen stats! Hera has also been announced for release in patch 5.19 and we were also informed on what to expect from the upcoming Odyssey 2019 event which will be released in a few patches time.
Patch 5.17 should be released on Tuesday 18th September for PC and later in the week for console.
Continue reading “Smite: 5.17 Patch Notes”
The winner has been announced for the Odyssey 2019 T5 Skin! This skin, as voted for by the community, will be the ultimate reward for the Odyssey coming to Smite in a few months time.
Continue reading “Smite: Odyssey 2019 T5 Skin WINNER!”


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(WIVB) – The Niagara County SPCA is asking you to submit pictures of your pet in the Halloween spirit for a photo contest.
The grand prize for the first-ever “Spooktacular Howl-O-Ween Photo Contest” is a year of free Netflix AND a year of free pizza from Just Pizza in Amherst.
Other prizes include a free year of Amazon Prime, a $100 gift card to Chewy, a 3-month membership to BarkBox and a $50 gift card to Pet Supplies Plus.
Each vote at $1 a vote will help raise money for the no-kill animal shelter.
All pets are welcome to enter.
To enter your pet and vote for your favorites, click here.


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Internet of Things platform myDevices has announced the launch of Cayenne, a simple to use online service and mobile app for building and managing IoT projects, that’s free to use. The platform is a continuation of myDevices connected device platform launched at the end of 2015, and is aimed at developers and makers.
Kevin Bromber, myDevices CEO, said:
“We are very excited to introduce the IoT community to Cayenne, our versatile developer and maker solution, first designed for the Raspberry Pi maker. There are a lot of IoT platforms on the market, yet there are few IoT platforms that actually let the developer build a project without having to dig deep into SDKs and APIs just to get a simple proof of concept created.”
Cayenne brings the build-a-website simplicity to the world if IoT projects
Describing it as, “an easy-to-use website builder, but for IoT projects,” that’s primarily based around the Raspberry Pi, Cayenne comes with the following features:
- Fast setup. Quickly connect to the Internet, sensors, extensions and actuators.
- Mobile app. Used to control, monitor, and initially set up devices and sensors
- Dashboard. Easy to use with drag-and-drop widgets
- Remote access. Make changes from a phone or a computer
The idea behind Cayenne was to help engineers make their IoT projects reality in hours, and not months. You can learn more about the platform by visiting the company’s dedicated website here.


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In the second webinar of 2018, the North American Trailer Dealers Association, in partnership with LotVantage, will discuss a consistently utilized digital platforms for trailer consumers: Craigslist.
LotVantage’s Vice President of Sales, Jim Jabaay, will guide attendees through why Craigslist is an effective way to reach local buyers, build a company’s brand, and increase web traffic.
“Craigslist is still utilized every day in our industry, especially in this market,” said Andy Ackerman, NATDA President. “It’s important to keep up to date on digital marketing efforts and Craigslist is a major one.”
The webinar will be held at 2 p.m. EST on Feb. 20. To register for the webinar, click here.


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“It is our contention that slowdown, if any, is limited to certain sectors with negligible near-term impact on low-income rural households,” ICICI Securities said.
Rural households with less than Rs 1 lakh annual income form a major portion of MFIs’ customer-base. About half the MFI lending is for vital income generating activities with the finances being used for producing basic consumption goods.
“Against this backdrop, we don’t foresee any major obstacle to growth for MFI players as the market they operate in has huge potential and is underpenetrated,” the report said.
Captains at MFI firms believe that said that the slowdown is not felt in their sector as they finance making of goods for conspicuous consumption.
Rural households generate about 40% of their income through non-agricultural means. As per latest industry data, rural households are increasingly diversifying their income sources with wages and salaries contributing a 22% share.
“We maintain that large MFI players such as Bandhan Bank and CreditAccess Grameen would continue to outpace market growth and sustain industry-leading return ratios. Industry leaders remain confident of growth in underpenetrated rural markets,” ICICI Securities said, adding that liquidity challenges to NBFCs including NBFC-MFIs would enable industry-leaders to gain market share. Bajaj Finance’s rural portfolio has been growing at 60% year-0n-year over the past three quarters.
India’s MFI sector has grown at a CAGR of 23% over the past 10 years to reach Rs 2.63 lakh crore at the end of March 2019, despite disruptions such as demonetization, and events like floods in various states and elections. “Looking at lead-economy (rural) indicators, we remain confident of MFIs sustaining the growth trajectory at its current high going forward,” the report said.
Reserve Bank of India has raised the household income limit for availing micro loans while enhanced the lending limit to Rs 1.25 lakh per eligible borrower from Rs 1 lakh earlier, creating more opportunity for MFIs to grow.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- ET Markets
- Apple: Need Solid Reason to Take Down Betting Apps
Apple has told Indian officials that it needs a "concrete reason or a legal requirement" to fully comply with the Centre’s directive to take down betting apps from its App Store, according to people directly aware of the matter.Political Stability Helping Drive Investments to India
Chip Bergh, the global chief executive of denim maker Levi Strauss & Co., said political stability has helped Indians stay optimistic about the future, driving consumer demand as well as investment by multinationals.FAME Electric 2-wheeler Beneficiary Tally Slashed
Nearly every second electric two-wheeler sold under the Centre’s ambitious ₹10,000-crore electric vehicle promotion scheme was based on false localisation claims, an investigation has found, said people with knowledge of the matter. This has prompted the government to slash its official sales tally, they said.
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- Pilot project for electronics repair starts tomorrow
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The IPO of the largest trading platform for cryptocurrencies in the USA, Coinbase, has further stimulated investors’ appetite for Bitcoin & Co. Shortly before the crypto platform debuted on the Nasdaq, Bitcoin hit a fresh record high. More information you can get at this link.
The world’s best-known and largest cyber-currency increased in price by up to 2.7 percent to a record value of 64,899 dollars. Ethereum, the second most crucial cryptocurrency, also hit a new all-time high at $2,400. Experts believe that the Coinbase IPO will give cyber currencies broader adoption. In addition, the courses for the money created by computers have been rising for months. A year ago, the bitcoin cost was meager.
Meanwhile, Coinbase’s trading launch is causing a sensation on Wall Street. Nasdaq set the reference price at $250 per share, giving the platform a total valuation of around $50 billion. But already, at the beginning of trading, they rose to more than 380 dollars; at times, they even reached a price of 424 dollars. As a result, Coinbase has been valued at almost $100 billion. NYSE’s holding company, Intercontinental Exchange, is worth $66 billion. In addition, Coinbase’s goodwill was still valued at eight billion dollars in the last round of financing by private financiers.
Coinbase went public on Wednesday via a direct offering to Nasdaq’s US technology exchange. In this type of IPO, which the music streaming service Spotify also chose, shares are issued without the support of investment banks. In addition, existing titles will be issued.
With the IPO, Bitcoin and Co. finally gained a foothold in the classic stock world, said expert Timo Emden from Emden Research. “Wall Street can no longer ignore Bitcoin and Co. as of today at the latest.” However, investors should remain cautious despite the euphoria, as stricter regulation is increasingly likely given the rapid price increases.
In addition, electric car pioneer Elon Musk stocked up on Bitcoin for $1.5 billion in February. The Tesla founder also accepts bitcoin for payment.
China suggests worldwide rules for banks’ digital currency.
The Chinese central bank has communicated these proposals to other central banks and monetary authorities. The director of its Institute for digital currencies, Mu Changchun, said this at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) event on Thursday. Among other things, regulations are planned to use digital central bank money (CBDC). But sensitive issues such as surveillance and information sharing are also addressed.
Information flows and money should be synchronized to enable supervisors to monitor transactions for compliance. In addition, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are becoming more and more critical. Digital central bank money also offers the opportunity to make domestic and cross-border payment transactions more effective. Last but not least, the central banks are also concerned with not losing sovereignty over currencies to the private sector.
Fair supply to support financial stability
According to Mu, a central global rule should include that there is a “fair offer of digital currencies” from the central banks. Moreover, it should support healthy development. A “digital currency issued by one central bank should not affect the ability of another central bank to fulfill its monetary and financial stability mandate,” Mu said. In China, large-scale trials of a digital yuan have already been launched in several metropolitan areas.
Last year, the island state of Bahamas became the first country to introduce a digital version of its national currency, the “Sand Dollar”. In Europe, the development is not that far. The European Central Bank (ECB) wants to decide whether a project should be started that prepares for the introduction of a digital euro in the middle of the year. However, there are also voices in the currency community that argue favor a cautious approach like the Bundesbank. In contrast, countries like the Netherlands are more adventurous.
Earlier at the BIS conference, Mu had also commented that CBDC could play an essential role in supporting smartphone payments in China. However, in the meantime, mobile payment using digital services such as WeChat Pay or Alipay has become an integral part of everyday life for many Chinese.
Hype stocks are falling — but a crash is unlikely.
Rise and fall are often close together on the stock market. The electric car manufacturers Rivian and Lucid Motors recently showed this in the USA. Rivian, which mainly builds pick-ups and SUVs with electric drives, went public. Shortly after the highly successful IPO, the company, which had delivered just 156 cars by the end of October, reached almost $130 billion in market value. In the summer, competitor Lucid Motors slipped under a stock market shell and went public on Nasdaq’s US stock exchange. For those interested in exploring the intersection of technology and sustainability, particularly in the context of such financial innovations, a visit to solarblox.co can be enlightening. This website delves into solar energy and green technology, offering perspectives that are increasingly relevant in our technologically advancing and environmentally conscious world.


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HIGH-street coffee shops could pose a risk to pregnant women due to large variations in caffeine content, according to new research.
Analysis of espresso coffees from 20 shops found one with a caffeine content six times higher than another.
Researchers said customers were completely unaware of the caffeine levels in cups of coffee.
Health experts advise that pregnant women should restrict their average daily caffeine content to 200mg.
But while a cup of coffee from Starbucks was found to have 51mg of caffeine, a Costa coffee had 157mg.
The highest amount of caffeine found by the researchers was a cup containing 322mg of caffeine.
Experts warn that too much caffeine could result in miscarriage or a baby having a lower birth weight, which can increase the risk of some health conditions in later life.
Dr Alan Crozier, from the research team, said: "Despite the increasing number of coffee shops on the high street and in airports, there appears to be no recent publications on the caffeine contents of the various types of commercially prepared coffees.
"This snap-shot of high-street espresso coffees suggests the published assumption that a cup of strong coffee contains 50mg of caffeine may be misleading."
Dr Crozier added that the size of the coffee was the most important influence to the amount of caffeine.
He said: "The main factor is that some places use a lot more coffee than other outlets to make an espresso, which is fine for some people but pregnant women could unwittingly consume more caffeine than is good for them while thinking they are well within their recommended limit."


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April 25, 2012 -
Whole Foods, the Texas-based natural foods supermarket, no longer carries fish considered to be unsustainable. The Whole Foods ban includes fish that is either overfished or caught in a harmful way, according to their website. The popular Atlantic Halibut made the list, though the company will still sell Atlantic cod that is caught by hook and line or gillnets. "Stewardship of the ocean is so important to our customers and to us," David Pilat, the global seafood buyer for Whole Foods told the New York Times. "We're not necessarily here to tell fishermen how to fish, but on a species like Atlantic cod, we are out there actively saying, 'For Whole Foods Market to buy your cod, the rating has to be favorable.'" Here's a look at the list of fish that the superstore no longer sells and why.
Octopus Whole Foods uses ratings set by the Blue Ocean Institute, a conservation group, and the Monterey Bay Aquarium in California. The ratings are based on factors including how abundant a species is, how quickly it reproduces and whether the catch method damages its habitat.
Imported Wild Shrimp "At Whole Foods Market, we've been saying that our mission is to sell only wild-caught fish that has been responsibly caught. For a few years now, we've used color-coded sustainability ratings, from green (best choice) to red (avoid), to help you make an informed choice. Now we're putting our mackerel where our mouth is: To support greater abundance in our oceans, we're no longer carrying red-rated wild-caught seafood!" the company wrote on its blog.
Tuna (from specific areas and catch methods rated "red") On their website, Whole Foods says that they stopped selling "species that were extremely depleted in the oceans, such as orange roughy, shark and bluefin tuna" years ago. The company uses the sustainability ratings of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC).
Rockfish According to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, "In recent years, reduced fishing has allowed many rockfish populations to recover from low levels. Gear concerns remain, however -- trawl-caught rockfish should still be avoided."
Swordfish Some of the gear used to fish swordfish "accidentally catches sea turtles, seabirds and sharks," according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium.
Skate Wing Skates are in the overfished category. Most are also caught with bottom trawls, which result in high levels of accidental catch.
Sturgeon According to Monterey Bay Aquarium, "Sturgeon farmed in the U.S. is a good alternative to most wild sturgeon, whose populations have seriously declined due to overfishing for sturgeon eggs (caviar)."
Tautog Also known as black fish, Tautog are considered a "vulnerable" species. They are found close to shore on hard-bottom habitats, occasionally entering brackish water.
Trawl-Caught Atlantic Cod Fishermen often catch cod with bottom trawl, large nets that skim across the seafloor. Trawling, according to the Monterey Bay Aquarium, "damages marine habitats and produces bycatch."
NEWS: Can We Save the Tastiest Fish in the Sea?
Turbot A cousin of Pacific halibut, turbot are a right-eyed flatfish -- as they develop, their left eye migrates across the top of the skull toward the other eye on the right side. Turbot are yellowish or grayish-brown on top and paler on their underside.
NEWS: Oceans’ Fish Could Disappear by 2050
Conservation group Oceana recently issued a report that named nine fisheries responsible for more than half of the U.S. bycatch. Bycatch is the wasted edible fish and drowned animals thrown back into the sea by fishing crews. Oceana claimed that 17-22 percent of the U.S.’s fishing fleets’ catch may be thrown away, totaling up to 2 billion tons per year.
“Anything can be bycatch,” said Dominique Cano-Stocco, campaign director at Oceana in a press release. “Whether it’s the thousands of sea turtles that are caught to bring you shrimp or the millions of pounds of cod and halibut that are thrown overboard after fishermen have reached their quota, bycatch is a waste of our ocean’s resources. Bycatch also represents a real economic loss when one fisherman trashes another fisherman’s catch.”
Oceana used National Marine Fisheries Service records to create their report and list of the nine fisheries, which provide only 7 percent of the total fish haul for the U.S. market, yet account for more than half of the total wasted bycatch. Fishing vessels in some of these regions actually throw away more than they take in.
These are the Nine fisheries:
Southeast Snapper-Grouper Longline Fishery: 66 Percent Discarded – In one year, more than 400,000 sharks were snagged on the baited hooks attached to the longlines, which can stretch 50 miles.
California Set Gillnet Fishery: 65 Percent Discarded – More than 30,000 sharks and rays along with mackerel and other edible fish were wasted over three years.
Southeast Shrimp Trawl Fishery: 64 Percent Discarded – Thousands of sea turtle drown in shrimp nets each year. Mechanisms known as “Turtle Excluder Devices” could have allowed many of these reptiles to escape. However, the use of these devices is not required. Also in this fishery, every pound of shrimp landed results in 1 pound of billfish discarded
California Drift Gillnet Fishery: 63 Percent Discarded – Over five years, almost 550 marine mammals, such as whales, dolphins, seals and sea lions, were entangled in nets or killed.
Gulf of Alaska Flatfish Trawl Fishery: 35 Percent Discarded – More than 34 million pounds of fish were thrown overboard in one year, mostly arrowtooth flounder, as well as 2 million pounds of halibut and 5 million pounds of cod.
Northeast Bottom Trawl: 35 Percent Discarded – More than 50 million pounds of fish, such as flounder and skates, are thrown overboard per year.
Mid-Atlantic Bottom Trawl Fishery: 33 Percent Discarded – In one year, almost 200 marine mammals and 350 sea turtles were trapped or killed
Atlantic Highly Migratory Species Longline Fishery: 23 Percent Discarded – More than 75 percent of the wasted fish are valuable tuna, swordfish and other billfish, but too small for commercial sale.
New England and Mid-Atlantic Gillnet Fishery: 16 Percent Discarded – More than 750 dolphins and porpoises died in gill nets each years in the 2000s.
Photo: Dolphin trapped in gillnet Credit: Oceana


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Toronto, ON. As of January 25, Arctic Beverages LP has entered into a share purchase agreement with Oscardo Inc, a leading souvenir and gift supplier based in Toronto whose products feature artwork by Indigenous artists. As part of the transition, Oscardo Inc. will now be Oscardo LP.
“This is definitely a new area for us in terms of products, but Oscardo is a great fit for Arctic Beverages,” says Sean Post, CEO of Arctic Beverages. “Oscardo’s products are high quality items with designs that feature amazing Indigenous artwork. As a distributor with a significant territory across the country, we are well positioned to help grow Oscardo from its already impressive reach across Canada.”
Arctic Beverages services over 2500 customers across 45% of Canada, providing a one-stop shop for grocery, convenience, and wholesale retailers for a wide variety of premium consumer packaged goods. The company is entirely owned by Indigenous-owned entities representing ownership by 13 First Nations and four remote northern communities.
“When I started thinking about retirement, I wanted to make sure the company we spent so long building would always be in good hands,” says Oscar Lulka, President and former owner of Oscardo. “It was also important to me to look for Indigenous owners in the spirit of reconciliation and to help carry on the strong relationships Oscardo has established with 23 Indigenous artists and our valued clients. I am very excited to have found Arctic Beverages. They are a solid Indigenous-owned company with a long history and a strong balance sheet, and they are highly experienced and successful in distributing a wide range of products. I am confident that this new ownership will strengthen the company and ensure its legacy continues and provides benefits to Indigenous communities."
Oscardo employs 10 people at its Toronto location and has 8 sales reps across the country. Lulka will stay on with the company during the transition. “Oscar has agreed to stay on and continue to operate the business as usual. We will eventually transition to a new CEO so that Oscar can enjoy retirement,” says Post. “The focus for all of us is taking care of employees, customers and artists and continuing the spirit and legacy that has been established that grew the company to where it is today.”
For more information, please contact:
Oscar Lulka | President Oscardo
Ph: 416.785.8619 ext. 235


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Honda lays out its plansIan Rowley
Honda CEO Takeo Fukui fleshed out details of Honda’s strategy at a midyear speech at Honda’s head office in Tokyo this morning. Attendees weren’t left disappointed. Fukui gave details on reports in the Japanese press about plans for North America (see my blog entry yesterday) and much more. Honda will spend $1.46 billion building three plants—in the U.S., Canada, and Japan. The location of the U.S. plant is still to be decided but will employ 1,500 and build 200,000 vehicles a year from 2008. Fukui said the location would be announced soon and help meet rising demand for more fuel efficient vehicles. In Canada, Honda will spend $140 on an engine plant and another $125 million will go on expanding components factories in Ohio and Georgia. Back home, a new 200,000 capacity plant will open in Saitama in 2010.
Honda also revealed details of its hybrid strategy, confirming plans to develop a new family hybrid from 2009, which will be cheaper than the current Civic Hybrid. Production of this new, more affordable hybrid will be in Japan with plans for sales of 200,000 worldwide—half of which will be in the U.S. That development follows speculation Honda is planning a Fit compact hybrid back in March.
Also of note is the prospect of clean diesel for the U.S., based on the engine currently on sale in Europe, within three years and a V6 clean diesel. Toyota might grab more headlines, but these are exciting times at Honda.


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Amazon owns almost half of German e-commerce: In 2017, amazon.de marketplace had a 25% and amazon.de a 21% share of total e-commerce sales.
Amazon increases sales in first quarter by 42%: Sales in Q1 at USD 51 billion with USD 1.63 billion in profit. But increase in e-commerce „only“ at 13%.
Number of orders per customers in 2017 twice as high as 5 years ago: Amazon customers ordered 41 times on average in 2017. Prime members even ordered 61 times in 2017 compared to 27 in 2013.
More than half of the units sold on Amazon worldwide from third-party sellers:
In his letter to shareholders, Jeff Bezos was quite transparent and revealed this interesting fact. The marketplace is of huge importance for Amazon.
Amazon now sells more than 70 of its own private-label brands: Since the start of 2017, Amazon has gone on a private-label rampage, releasing at least 60 of its own brands.
Amazon Marketing Essentials
These three factors play a role for the „Amazon’s Choice“ badge:
Apparently percentages vary, as you can see in the examples below.
Amazon Ad Platform
Big brands drive Amazon’s ad business: Of the top-ten brands with the greatest ownership of Amazon ads, traditional brands account for 76% of Headline Search Ads and 63% of Sponsored Product ads.
Amazon's advertising play pays off with $2 billion in the first quarter: Amazon more than doubled its advertising revenue, demonstrating that the e-commerce giant is making an aggressive shift into programmatic digital ad technology.
Echo Kids launched in the US: Now Alexa is a kid-friendly DJ, comedian, and storyteller — and she’s always getting smarter. Just ask and Alexa will play music, answer questions, read stories, tell jokes, and more — all with younger ears in mind.
In the US and Canada, customers can now send voice messages to every Echo device within one household: "Dinner's ready!" is about as common an exclamation as you'll hear in the average family household. Now, families that use Alexa devices won't need to shout because a new "Announcements" feature will let you ask Alexa to spread the word to every Echo device under your roof.
The articles of this blog only show a small part of our Amazon marketing experience.
Request your free case study now or feel free to contact us right away!


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Healthequity Now Covered by Raymond James (HQY)
Shares of Healthequity (NYSE:HQY) opened at 20.46 on Monday. Healthequity has a 52-week low of $16.11 and a 52-week high of $21.48. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $18.75 and its 200-day moving average is $18.75. The company has a market cap of $1.015 billion and a price-to-earnings ratio of 137.14.
HealthEquity, Inc is technology-enabled services platforms that enables consumers to make healthcare saving and spending decisions.
Receive News & Ratings for Healthequity Inc Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for Healthequity Inc and related companies with Analyst Ratings Network's FREE daily email newsletter.


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Odd war of words erupts in the messy world of Star Control
"This is where we got really, really angry…"
Things are not at all well in the world of Star Control, with a public war of words erupting between two parties who claim the rights to sell the classic PC space games.
The story began with a 1st December blog post from Fred Ford and Paul Reiche, the original creators of the Star Control universe. In it the pair, who recently announced a new Star Control game, said there was a "growing legal conflict" between them and publisher Stardock, which is working on a Star Control game of its own.
The conflict appears to revolve around the sale of the classic Star Control games. Ford and Reiche contend Stardock isn't allowed to sell Star Control 1, 2 or 3 without their permission. "That permission has not been given," they insisted.
In 2013, Stardock bought the rights to Star Control as part of an Atari bankruptcy auction. But Ford and Reiche dispute this, saying: "It's our opinion that Atari's rights to publish our earlier games terminated over a decade before the auction and we contend that Stardock has zero rights to our games, including any code and other IP we created."
There's more. Ford and Reiche said Stardock reckons it can use "our aliens, ships and narrative without our permission, but thinks that we cannot make a sequel to The Ur-Quan Masters without their permission".
"This is where we got really, really angry," the post continues.
It's worth explaining the two new Star Control games at this point. Ford and Reiche are working on Ghosts of the Precursors, which is intended to be a direct sequel to Star Control 2. Stardock, on the other hand, is working on a game called Star Control: Origins. They have nothing to do with each other, apparently.
Ford and Reiche's blog post concludes: "We've been waiting 25 years to make Ghosts of the Precursors for our fans and we certainly won't let this stop us. Go! Go! Go!"
This sparked a response from Stardock's Brad Wardell, who in a forum post took issue with various points raised by the original creators.
Wardell said the classic Star Control games have been available for sale long before Stardock acquired the rights from Atari four years ago, and for the entirety of the time Stardock has held the rights, Ford and Reiche have been getting paid for those sales.
"If they had an objection to the games being sold this is something that could and should have been addressed before we were ever involved," Wardell said.
Wardell then insisted Stardock is not using any of the aliens from the classic series. "As we have stated, our position is that, to the best of our knowledge, the classic alien IP is owned by them," he said.
Wardell said, however, that the classic Star Control IP is "messy". "We understand that this makes them 'really really angry' but we weren't a party to that agreement," he continued.
Here's where things get a bit more serious. Wardell again:
"All we can do is try to put something together that releases them from the restrictions placed on their IP that they agreed to and transfer any and all rights and responsibilities to them. We want them to make Ghosts but we don't want any liability or association with it.
"Given the disturbing and unanticipated post by Paul and Fred, we are persuaded more than ever that a clear and irrefutable document that makes it clear that we are not associated or involved with their new game is needed.
"We have nothing but respect and admiration for Paul and Fred and wish them well in their new project."
Things did not end there. Yesterday, 4th December, Ford and Reiche published another blog post, saying they were hauling Star Control 1, 2 and 3 off of GOG.
"We think it's necessary to 'clear the decks' to help resolve our definitely-not-harmonious, until-recently-private, months-long conflict with Brad Wardell and his lawyers at Stardock," the pair wrote.
Ford and Reiche said they've had their own distribution agreement with GOG since 2011, but no agreement with Stardock or Steam (Stardock still sells the Star Control games on Steam).
They also said that in October this year, "Stardock began selling our games on Steam and elsewhere (even bundled with theirs), again without getting our permission".
"This time we couldn't come to an agreement, so we asked that Stardock stop bundling and selling the games. They refused, so we've decided to end our 2011 distribution agreement with GOG as a first step to having the games pulled down."
This follow-up blog post sparked a follow-up forum post from Wardell, who accused Ford and Reiche of continuing to make "unsubstantiated claims".
"Stardock... possesses a perpetual, exclusive, worldwide licensing and sales agreement that was explicitly transferred to us by Atari who in turn acquired it from Accolade that has Paul Reiche's signature along with a signed distribution agreement between Atari and GOG for the DOS Accolade Star Control games," he said.
Then there's a bit of needle:
"The tone of their blog posts is similar to the kind of correspondence they had with us since the announcement of their Ur-Quan Masters successor, vague, full of demands and without any documentation," Wardell said.
"With all due respect to Paul and Fred, they really should talk to competent legal counsel instead of making blog posts."
That's where we're at. It seems that the next step will be for Ford and Reiche to get lawyers involved, if they're serious about preventing Stardock from selling the original Star Control games. Meanwhile, the games remain available to buy, and we're no closer to a new Star Control game.


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The first steps of open-toed freedom into the warm weather across South Africa need not be shaming for fingers and toes that have spent too long under the covers of lockdown and winter.
Shannon te Roller, GM of Mundipharma SA, distributors of Betadine® products in Southern Africa, says unsightly nails on feet and hands are a real part of the social anxiety of stepping out into summer weather. “But feet can now be prepared to put their best selves forward with our exciting new Betadine™ Emtrix™ Fungal Nail Solution. The product is clinically proven to improve nail appearance in one week1A – and it’s the number one nail solution in the USA, Sweden and Taiwan.”2,3,4
Betadine™ Emtrix™ Fungal Nail Solution is used to treat discoloured and deformed nails resulting from fungal infection or psoriasis1B – and within eight weeks, it improves nail thickening, discolouration, brittleness and softness. Results are noticeable after one week of treatment.5
Fungal nail infections affect 19% of adults across the world6, 50% of the elderly7, as well as children8. Psoriasis affects 2-3%9B of the population, 80% of whom could have nail psoriasis9A. Betadine™ Emtrix™ Fungal Nail Solution is applied directly to the site of infection and changes the nail itself, improving the surface and keeping it in good condition.1B,C
“Fungal infections and nail psoriasis can be painful and far more than a cosmetic nuisance,” adds Te Roller. “Betadine™ Emtrix™ Fungal Nail Solution is another innovative product from Mundipharma which keeps putting its best feet forward in its efforts to meet medical needs in South Africa.”
BETADINE™ EMTRIX™ Fungal Nail Solution is currently available at selected Clicks stores and leading pharmacies across South Africa.
About MUNDIPHARMA SOUTH AFRICA
Mundipharma South Africa is a prime example of an organization that consistently delivers high-quality healthcare products while standing by the values it represents. Its mission is to alleviate the suffering of patients and to substantially improve their quality of life. Mundipharma South Africa is dedicated to bringing to patients the benefit of novel treatment options in fields such as pain, ophthalmology and consumer healthcare.
For more information please visit: mundipharma.co.za
BETADINE® is an important and well-established consumer healthcare brand in the Mundipharma South Africa portfolio with a wide range of products used by healthcare professionals and consumers around the world for over 60 years. Its product range have redefined feminine intimate health, antiseptic care for wounds, scalp and oral health and now also nail care.
For more information please visit: www.betadine.co.za


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Android 6.0 Marshmallow today is official. Or, rather, it's the start of being official, as these things don't actually happen all at once. In fact, the M era started back at the Google I/O developer conference in late May. And we don't yet have it all.
So here's what you need to know about the next major version of our favorite operating system. This is Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
This is great! Where can I download Android 6.0 Marshmallow?!?!?
You can't! Sort of. While we have a name and a new version number and a new SDK, Google hasn't yet made the source code available. And technically that's what both manufacturers and the custom-ROM crowd need to make proper builds for our phones. That said, we'll definitely start to see ROMs cobbled together from SDK parts. That's par for the course.
More official is that we've got a third and final developer preview that can be flashed to the Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 9 and Nexus Player. It's not 100 percent of what you'll get when the finished version of Marshmallow is released, but it's closer than anything we've had before.
OK, fine. So when will I get Marshmallow? (And will my phone get it?)
Depends on which phone you have. Google's Nexus phones should be the first to be updated. In addition to the devices that have been a part of the developer preview, expect at least the Nexus 7 (2013) to see an update, and possibly the 2012 model as well. Throw the Nexus 10 tablet and Nexus 4 phone into the "maybe" list, too.
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As for when we'll see source code drop and updates begin? We don't actually know. Remember that we're expecting at least one (and very likely two) new Nexus phone this year. And if we had to guess, we'd be willing to put a little money on it being a little sooner than last year. Before October wouldn't surprise us at all at this point, but that's still just a guess.
Have some other phone? It'll take longer. Exactly how long is a big of a mystery. Some manufacturers like to impose 90-day deadlines on themselves, which probably will mean something toward the end of the year, if not later. Updates are hard, and it's a slow process. And there's upwards of a billion Android devices out there. Put it this way — only 18 percent of all active devices are on Android 5.x Lollipop, which was released about 10 months ago.
Jeez. OK. So what is it, exactly, that I'll have to look forward to in Marshmallow?
That depends! (Welcome to the wonderful world of Android!) If you didn't get the gist by now, Android manufacturers still do whatever the hell they want (more or less — and Google's been reining them in a little bit) with their phones. And they also go above and beyond what's in the base Android code. But Google itself has also adopted a good number of features that have until now been custom jobs, so we'll see more features on more phones.
Here's the short version, though:
- Permissions are getting a huge revamp. The technical term is "runtime permissions," and it means that instead of just accepting every permission an app declares at the time you install it you'll now be able to pick and choose what things an application has access to. Don't want, say, Facebook to see your internal contacts? Just turn that permission off! That's oversimplified, of course. You can learn more about it here.
- Google Now on Tap will give Google — with your permission, of course — even more insight into your life. If you're, say, texting someone about dinner plans at some hot new restaurant, a quick press of the home button will bring up more information about that restaurant. No more having to hop out of one app and into another to look up information. This is going to be big.
- Android Pay will finally become a thing, bringing the same sort of contactless payments you know from Apple Pay and the newer Samsung Pay. This will be built into the system and will also make use of ...
- Native fingerprint authorization will now be built into the Android source code. That'll allow more manufacturers to make use of it — and hopefully will make it even better than it's already become. Samsung and Huawei are the longtime fingerprint users for Android, but HTC, OnePlus and, soon, LG have or will make use of it.
- Automatic app data backups will occur by default. That means no more losing your spot in a game if you switch devices. They'll happen once a day, when you're not using your phone and only when you're connected to Wifi.
- Smarter app links so you won't have to deal with that clunky "do you want to open this thing in this other app* dialog as much.
- Plus, more tweaks for better battery life, tons of stuff for developers, and a more consistent user experience. (Again, that last one is subject to being blown up by the manufacturers.)
Stay tuned for a lot more, of course. For more, be sure to check out our Android Marshmallow forums!


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NEWPORT- Several fire crews are on scene of a fire at Moody's Body shop in Newport.
Several fire departments were called to the shop around 7:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The shop is located at 457 Creek Road.
Crews are currently on scene. NEWSChannel 2 also has a camera crew there.
We're working to get more information.


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Oystertec moves into the black
ENGINEER Oystertec, founded by multi-millionaire Paul 'The Plumber' Davidson, made a maiden pre-tax profit of £124,000 in the first half year, up from a £754,000 loss.
'We have turned this around and I will do the same with Brown & Jackson within 18 months,' said boss Angus Monro, who has joined B&J as chief executive. He has had no contact with Davidson since the two fell out earlier this year.
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By Paula Goodyer
When meat companies buy into veggie burgers you know things are changing. Tyson, the largest meat processor in the US is investing in Beyond Meat, a company that creates burgers not from beef, but plants the New York Times reported in October.
Meanwhile in Germany one meat producer is planning to have at least 30 per cent of its sales as vegetarian products by 2019, according to food industry journal Food Navigator.
It's a sign that more of us want our protein to come from plants but it's also something else: a sign of a collaboration between two opposite sides of the fence - an industry that kills animals for profit and one that caters for consumers who'd rather not eat food produced in a slaughterhouse.
That's not such a bad idea, says Marta Zaraska, author of Meathooked, a new book looking at our hard-to-break love affair with meat. If our goal is to improve health, boost our chances of combating climate change and reduce animal suffering, then a purist vegetarian approach may not be the best way, she argues.
"If you are an ethical vegetarian, think about it," she writes. "Which saves more lives - one person stopping eating meat altogether or millions cutting out just one meat meal a month?"
In Meathooked, Zaraska, a Polish-Canadian science writer, investigates why humans persist in devouring so much meat despite the evidence that it's not good for our health or the planet. The reasons are a complex mix of evolution, history, culture - and marketing.
Meat is marinated in symbolism, she says.
"We humans like power and that's precisely what meat stands for. It stands for wealth, for masculinity and for power over the poor and over nature.
"As children, we observe the people around us and see the pleasure of consuming animals reflected in their faces and we learn that meat is good, really, really good. Acquired early and reinforced daily by the culture in which we live, that's a difficult lesson to unlearn."
But unless we can find another planet somewhere on which to grow more pigs, cows and sheep, the world can't afford our addiction to so much animal protein, Zaraska writes. It can't afford the water and the antibiotic use it takes to produce meat and it can't afford the global warming that high meat diets are linked to.
So where to from here? In Meathooked, she tracks the worldwide hunt for animal food alternatives: there's lab grown meat, there are tomato-and- pepper grasshoppers creeping into upmarket French delis and food companies doing clever things with plants to replicate meat's smells, tastes and textures - including a former meat-loving farmer now making plant-based sausages in the Netherlands.
Another idea comes from Australian philosopher Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton University in the US. He might be the author of books like Animal Liberation and The Ethics of What We Eat but his argument is for a less ideological approach to avoiding meat.
"We should stop abusing people if they are not completely vegan or vegetarian," he says. "If we want the majority to reduce meat consumption I don't think insisting on dietary purity is the way to get there."
That's also the message from the Reducetarian movement - which encourages people to eat less meat but without demanding they avoid it entirely - and it's flexible enough to include people who are taking just small steps like one meatless meal a week.
"It's likely that making a plant based diet less of an all or nothing proposition and less attached to a set of lifestyle choices will encourage people to try it," says Zaraska.
Her prediction is that 'veggie meat' will sneak up on us and replace more meat meals - but putting the planet on a more plant-based diet won't be easy. To do it we have to change the script.
"We should emphasise that plant based diets are convenient and economical and not just healthy - because that's what changes people's buying choices. We should try to change the image of a vegetarian diet by showing athletic, masculine men eating a plant-based diet, emphasising that 'veg' can make you strong and beautiful. That is, after all, how meat has been sold to us for years."
Keen to try a greener diet? Here comes The Climatarian Challenge, a free app that challenges you to eat in a more sustainable way for 30 days. Available from November 12 on Android and iOS.


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The malware that caused a major breach for Target has struck again.
Dairy Queen appears to be the latest victim of a malware breach that would affect as many as 1,000 U.S. businesses.
Authorities are investigating the malware, known as “Backoff” that my have been found on the computer systems of some Dairy Queen restaurants.
The fast food and ice cream chain based in Edina, Minnesota, told the Star Tribune that it found out about a possible hack when the website Krebs on Security reported on a pattern of fraud dating back to June.
Dairy Queen operates about 6,300 restaurants around the country, but franchise owners are not required by headquarters to reports fraud to a centralized location, company spokesman Dean peters told the Business Journal.
The Dairy Queen chain confirmed Thursday it had been in contact with the U.S. Secret Service about “suspicious activity” related to Backoff, a strain of malware that attacks point-of –service machines discovered last October. Dairy Queen said it was investigating the breach and did not yet know how many stores or customers had been affected.
“We are gathering information from a number of sources, including law enforcement, credit card companies and processors,” Dairy Queen said in a statement. “The protection of customer data is a top priority for us and our franchisees, and we take it seriously.”
The Department of Homeland Security says Backoff is a point of sale malware that exploits “businesses’ administrator accounts remotely” and exfiltrates “consumer payment data. “The department says the malware was released last October, but was undectable to current anti-malware software. It’s believed to have infected more than 1,000 U.S. businesses, and DHS is urging firms to check for infection.
Backoff most recently hit Eden Prairie, Minnesota-based supermarket chain Supervalu and United Parcel Service earlier this month.
Cybersleuth Brian Krebs, who also broke the news of last fall’s massive Target breach , began reporting on the apparent Dairy Queen hack on August 14, after he was contacted by a Midwestern credit union complaining of a rash of more than 50 customers who had been victimized by card fraud.
More links on Technological Disasters


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If you visit Google today, you may notice the home page is a bit different. About a week ago, Google began letting users to upload their own background images on Google.com, to help them customize the Google home page.
To drive more awareness to this feature and to inspire users to change their home page, Google teamed up with “several well-known artists, sculptors and photographers to create a gallery of background images you can use to personalize your Google homepage.” Over the next 24 hours, when you visit Google.com, the home page will feature one of those custom backgrounds.
The artists and pictures come from Dale Chihuly, Jeff Koons, Tom Otterness, Polly Apfelbaum, Kengo Kuma (隈研吾), Kwon, Ki-soo (권기수) and Tord Boontje, as well as some incredible photos from Yann Arthus-Bertrand and National Geographic.
Also, this feature of changing the home page is now available internationally.
Postscript From Danny Sullivan: This is a remarkable move by Google. When they launched the background image feature last week, it already appeared as if they were copying Bing, though they denied that:
“The real motivation for this had to do with iGoogle,” said Marissa Mayer, Google’s vice president of search products and user experience. “Some users really prefer the classic look but want a small amount of personalization, so this is a happy medium in between.” She added, “We think it has the same type of appeal that wallpaper does on your desktop or your phone.”
Of course, Bing automatically shows a picture on its home page while Google, even with its new feature, did not. But now, Google’s doing a direct copy, even if only for a day. The company that claims it never wants to copy someone else is, well, copying Bing.
Personally, I suspect this will be a way for Google to gather data on whether its users like the background images. If so, then I can see down the line that they continue to be shown for everyone, with Google claiming it’s due to user demand.
Regardless, Bing’s 1-year anniversary is today, and Google’s move is probably making a lot of people smile over there.
There’s also lots of reaction on Techmeme.


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Brand also set to launch online with House of Fraser this month.
Carat* is set to open seven new stores spaces in the coming weeks, including concessions in Harrods at Gatwick airport and Fenwicks in Brent Cross.
The brand said it was delighted at the new openings and that it had cemented a successful partnership with Harrods in London with the opening of the concession in Harrods at Gatwick’s South Terminal. The news follows a successful H1 in which Carat* signed with more than 50 independent retailers in the UK.
The Harrods space will be the company’s first location targeting the travel retail sector with a focus on shoppers wishing to take jewellery on holiday but without the risk and expense of losing fine diamond jewellery.
The brand is also set to open a new concession at Fenwick’s in Brent Cross and will launch online with House of Fraser from mid August.
Carat* is also expanding in Asia with four new boutiques planned for China, including spaces at Lane Crawford in Shanghai and Galleries Lafayette in Beijing.
Carat* chief executive Scott Thompson said; "Our continued worldwide success is a credit to the entire team around the world. I am delighted to see Carat*’s popularity growing from strength to strength, year on year.”


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just-auto.com home page >
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Daily headlines listing >
just-auto.com daily news: FREE TO READ - Global pandemic recovery briefing; Taking the long view on hydrogen vehicles - 21 October 2020
Discover it now >>
COVID-19 hits the auto industry
The Wuhan coronavirus outbreak is causing disruption in China (especially Hubei province) with knock-on impacts on economic activity, including automotive, in China and beyond.
Go to store >>


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While all of the world's major automakers are continuing to develop alternative fuels
and drivetrains, the current economic situation very likely means that a massive move toward non-liquid fueled cars is likely a lot further out that many of you many hope. One look at September auto sales
will tell you that the entire industry is in trouble including the seemingly all powerful Toyota
. As the financial system continues to struggle and unemployment climbs, people are having a harder time getting car loans
as well as mortgages. If people can't afford the cars that are available today, it's hard to imagine how they will be able to afford some of the alternatives that will be much more expensive to build for some time to come. Given the current financial position of many automakers, it's hard to see how they will be able to subsidize the cost of new technologies in any significant volumes. At the Paris Motor Show
last week BMW
Chief Executive Officer Norbert Reithofer said, "There's too much hype about the electric car
." Electric vehicles may make up 5 to 10 percent of new car
sales in 2020, "but not more," he said.
If the U.S. economic meltdown hadn't spread to Europe the situation might have been different. With sales dropping in Europe, even companies like Volkswagen
and BMW are joining Ford
and others in focusing more on shifting to smaller more efficient vehicles that will be affordable rather than building alternatives. It's a vicious circle because until alternatives gain some volume, costs will not come down. But in the current climate few will be able to afford to be the leaders. Thanks to Jonathan for the tip!


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100,000+ Americans Want The White House To Make Smartphone Unlocking Legal
A petition against a phone unlocking ban that was introduced last month has now received more than 100,000 online signatures, the threshold petitions must reach to get an official response from the Obama Administration. The petition calls for the White House to make cellphone unlocking legal again, without having to go through a carrier.
Back in October 2012, the Librarian of Congress decided that the process of unlocking a cellphone via a third-party should be removed from the exceptions to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, thereby making it illegal for owners to perform the process themselves.
The rule came into affect on January 26. Cellphone owners can ask their carrier to do it for them, but if they say no, there’s little the owner can do about it anymore. As you might expect, this has left a large number of cellphone owners upset.
It took less than a month for 100,000 people to sign the petition against the new rule, which argues that “customers will be forced to pay exorbitant roaming fees to make calls while traveling abroad. It reduces consumer choice, and decreases the resale value of devices that consumers have paid for in full.”
Now that the petition has reached that 100,000 milestone, the Obama Administration must respond to it. If we’re lucky, the new law will be overturned, and we can go back to unlocking our devices however we choose to — as we could prior to January 26. Unfortunately, all we can do now, however, is wait.


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Scotch is our largest category, representing 23% of our total net sales for the fiscal year ending 30 June 2020.
Scotch whisky contributes nearly £5 billion to the UK economy every year as well as 40,000 jobs – many of which are in the growing scotch tourism industry*.
Scotch distillery tourism
In the 12 months between June 2017 and June 2018, more than 460,000 people have visited Diageo’s Scotch distilleries.
Blair Athol, Talisker, Oban, Dalwhinnie and Glenkinchie are the top five most visited Diageo distilleries in fiscal Year 2018.
Germany, the USA and France are our top three tourist markets while the fastest-growing number of visitors come from China and Russia. Visitor figures from those countries are up 154% and 146% respectively in the last eight years. Chinese and Russian visitors also have a spend per head nearly a third higher than visitors from Germany, the USA and France**.
visitors to Diageo’s distilleries in fiscal Year 2018
Investing in the future
In April 2018 we announced our £150 million investment program to transform our Scotch whisky visitor experiences in the biggest concerted programme ever seen in Scotland’s whisky tourism sector. As the centre-piece of the investment and the future global brand flagship for Johnnie Walker, the visitor experience in central Edinburgh will bring to life the story of the brand and its makers and create a unique welcome for millions of whisky fans around the world. This investment follows our recent announcement to invest £35 million to bring back the ‘lost distilleries’ of Brora and Port Ellen on Islay.
* Figures from the Scotch Whisky Association
**Distillery visitor numbers based on the period between June 2017 and June 2018


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On Friday, India's limited-overs skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni
was forced to step down as the brand ambassador of real estate
firm Amrapali after homebuyers trolled him on Twitter about the delay in completion of the housing project.
In a move that could set a precedent for celebrity brand endorsers in the country, Dhoni who earns around Rs 8 crore per brand endorsement, said that the builder should deliver on the promises made to buyers. Dhoni's decision to step down comes on the back of a recommendation by a parliamentary committee to hold brand endorsers in the country accountable for products they commend for a fee. The proposal includes a five-year jail term or Rs 50-lakh penalty. This has got celebrities endorsers worried.
“If this rule comes in, overall brand endorsements will come down,“ says Atul Srivastava, MD of Games Unlimited, a talent management firm that handles cricketers such as Ajinkya Rahane and Ravichandran Ashwin among others.
“There are two dicey industries that we as talent managers are wary of-NBFC and real estate,“ says Srivastava.However, he felt it was harsh to hold celebrities responsible for the brands they endorse although he agrees that their role comes with moral responsibility . “We try our best to do background checks and due diligence. But to be absolutely sure, we need to hire an external agency like a PwC, which may not be feasible,“ he says.
In February , Australian pacer Brett Lee's endorsement of Pearls Infrastructure came under the scanner. The company allegedly duped millions of Indian investors by siphoning off funds to bankroll some companies in Australia. Lee, 39, became the Australian brand ambassador for Pearls Group in 2010 with an advertisement showing him building sandcastles alongside children.
“Celebrities do have a responsibility,“ says 90s Bollywood star Raveena TandonThadani, who endorses several brands.“I can't understand how some celebrities are endorsing alcohol or paan-masala.Just for a few more crores they set a wrong example. Surely, as a celebrity, there is a certain moral responsibility .“
Last November, FMCG company Emami was asked by a district consumer court to pay a fine of Rs 15 lakh after a Delhi-based executive challenged the advertised claim of one its products, Fair & Lovely, that it can lighten the consumer's skin tone within four weeks. The young man complained that the product made no difference to his complexion. Shah Rukh Khan was endorsing the product when the complaint was filed. The company was asked by the court to withdraw the advertisement.
“The only thing a celebrity can do if the brand comes under fire is to move away from it or step down as brand ambassador,“ says Vinita Bangad, founder of Krossover Entertainment that manages Priyanka Chopra and SRK. “How can he be held responsible when a brand fails to keep its promise? He wouldn't have the know-how about the manufacturing process. It's like blaming a brand endorser of a soft drinks brand for a fault in the manufacturing line six months after the contract is signed.“
Interestingly, to curb dishonest brand endorsements, China has drafted an ad vertisement law, which states celebri ties who endorse products should try them before presenting them to the public. Several celebrities have been sued after it was discovered that the brands they were endorsing contained harmful chemicals.
“Anybody, who uses his or her charm to sell a product or service actually entices a consumer with personal brand equity ,“ says brand expert Harish Bijoor. “And when you do that, I think you should be held liable if something goes wrong. A celebrity must not only have the up side of the business but also suffer its downside.“
The responsibility is not just moral but also legal, argues Bijoor. “If say Dhoni is adver tising for a builder, he should be 100% convinced that the builder is reliable. Dhoni can't simply say, `I'm getting my fee; that is all I am concerned about.He must do due diligence.“
Other advertising experts are less convinced about the celebrity's liability .“I think there should be some level of accountability but I don't think you should be putting them behind bars,“ says ad filmmaker Vinil Mathew. “One should do a preliminary check on products but it's not possible to really get into the details.Take for instance, the Maggi controversy .No one would have known there was a problem with the product -one would assume that tests had been done and that is why it could be sold.“
Prasoon Joshi, chairman of McCann Worldgroup, says that most celebrities are responsible when it comes to choosing endorsements. “They ask questions and they are very careful about what they are saying,“ he says. He adds that the decision of whether or not a celebrity should be held legally accountable should be up to the consumer. “If people feel that there is need for a legal provision, the government should take measures in that direction,“ he says.Inputs by Nergish Sunavala


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The third quarter Commodity Intelligence Quarterly (CIQ), presented by Supplyframe, revealed a 77% growth of “red” dimensions in the supply and demand market dynamics heat map, which was previously a mix of yellows and reds, indicating that significant shortages will continue through the first quarter of 2023 at a minimum.
“Supplyframe CIQ provides an unmatched level of market intelligence for an industry that is deep into shortages and risks coming from every angle,” says Steve Flagg, CEO and founder of Supplyframe. “CIQ is critical for navigating the numerous obstacles in the present as well as future opportunities.”
- This CIQ also highlighted that there has been an increase in component prices of up to 40% as compared to last quarter. For instance, microchip analog device lead times are becoming longer, between 25 and beyond 52 weeks, and in some cases, up to 60 weeks.
- Measures also indicate that the percentage of chips out of stock by the Top 4 automotive manufacturers worsened by 14 points quarter over quarter and by 22 points vs. the baseline (2020 Q2-2020 Q4).


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Accused of Collecting More Than Web Info.. The all-to-familiar mega-master-mind of the web, Google Inc., was ordered by Oregon District Court to hand over data related to information they have been collecting on more than just websites.
Google Inc. uses cars, bikes and about any kind of vehicle they need to go around the planet collecting information. Houses, businesses, buildings and landscape are not the only things of interest to this mega-rich, powerful information sourcing company.
Turns out they have been caught not only locating Wi-Fi locations, but even monitoring what is going over the connections. Or at least, that is the charges being brought before the court on behalf of the people of Oregon.
Google Inc. has been ordered to turn over to an Oregon district court by next week data it collected with people’s e-mails, files and digital phone records, according to court documents.
House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers today also requested that Google preserve any information related to its data gathering.
Google sends out cars to photograph streets and houses that people can see with the Street View feature in Google Maps. The vehicles also scanned for Wi-Fi networks used for Internet access and collected private data from the wireless networks of some homes, according to a complaint filed by two people who may have been affected. Google said in a blog earlier this month it mistakenly collected the Wi-Fi data.
Oregon District Court Judge Michael Mosman issued a restraining order this week to stop Google from destroying the data it gathered and to turn over copies of the information, after Google deleted similar data from other countries. Vicki Van Valin and Neil Mertz, who sued Google for invasion of privacy, said that destroying the data would hurt their ability to prove Google’s wrongdoing and assess damages, according to a complaint filed on May 17.
Google, based in Mountain View, California, argued in a filing the district court’s order is unnecessary since it had taken steps to secure the data.
The Oregon case brings to Google’s home turf a debate over its privacy practices that has been fought primarily overseas, said Marc Rotenberg, president of the Electronic Privacy Information Center. Van Valin and Mertz said in their case that Google used customized snowmobiles and even tricycles to photograph pedestrian walkways, ski resorts and other areas inaccessible by car. The plaintiffs filed their suit on behalf of people in Oregon and Washington.
Google also appeared to be creating maps of Wi-Fi networks, or hot spots, around the world, which could have given the company a powerful advantage over rivals, Rotenberg said.
“It was basically mapping the wireless Internet, but it wasn’t telling anyone it was doing that,” Rotenberg said. “There’s been a lot of privacy discussion around Street View, but most of it was around the collection of images. The much bigger story will be that Google was mapping the wireless Internet.”