text:
LOVE ON THE SET: Salvatore Ferragamo has tapped Wim Wenders to shoot its fall 2021 promoting marketing campaign.
The acclaimed director filmed and shot Italian actress Gaia Girace and Swedish actor and musician Felix Sandman, member of boy band FO&O, in Milan, which served because the set of a brief film and a spread of photos.
The marketing campaign, titled “A Future Together,” will hit the September problems with worldwide magazines and, because the model indicated in an announcement, will painting a love story born on the set.
Girace and Sandman will probably be wearing key seems to be from the Salvatore Ferragamo fall 2021 assortment, the final designed by former artistic director Paul Andrew.
Back in February, the gathering was offered with a video that includes fashions striding by means of a futuristic New York City earlier than getting into a tunnel that transported them into the current: on this case, the present house of Milan’s Rotonda della Besana venue.
The collaboration with Wenders marks one other milestone in Ferragamo’s sturdy relationship with the film business, courting again to the ’20s when the namesake founder opened a store in Hollywood. Most lately, for the spring 2021 promoting marketing campaign, the posh home teamed with Luca Guadagnino, who additionally created the documentary on Salvatore Ferragamo and his life, which debuted on the Venice Film Festival final yr.
Inside Tiffany & Co.’s Pride Month Campaign
Calvin Klein Recognizes Defining Moments of LGBTQ Journey With New Campaign
Stella McCartney Goes Wild in Pre-Fall 2021 Campaign by Mert & Marcus


text:
Stop Sale of ‘Deadly’ Stuff on Amazon, US Lawmakers to Bezos
San Francisco: Taking cognizance of a media report that exposed how Amazon facilitated the trade of unsafe, banned products on its platform, three lawmakers in the US have written to the e-commerce giant's CEO Jeff Bezos, urging him to take swift action to stop the wrongful sale of "deadly" products.
"Unquestionably, Amazon is falling short of its commitment to keeping safe those consumers who use its massive platform," the three Senate Democrats wrote in the letter sent to Bezos on Thursday.
The letter mentioned the recent investigation by the Wall Street Journal that found more than 4,000 items for sale on Amazon's site that "have been declared unsafe by federal agencies, are deceptively labeled or are banned by federal regulators." (IANS)
Also Read: Peru along with Colombia pledge to protect Amazon region
Also Watch:Assam NRC 2019 Final List: Mangaldai Nagarik Manch addresses media | The Sentinel News | Assam News

domain: news


text:
- Share this article on Facebook
- Share this article on Twitter
- Share this article on Email
- Show additional share options
- Share this article on Print
- Share this article on Comment
- Share this article on Whatsapp
- Share this article on Linkedin
- Share this article on Reddit
- Share this article on Pinit
- Share this article on Tumblr
A tidal wave of bad news sent shares of Pandora Media cascading 35 percent on Friday, wiping out more than a third of the value of the digital music company.
The catalyst for the decline was multifold, beginning Thursday with Pandora’s lackluster earnings report and hitting a crescendo on Friday when about a half-dozen analysts downgraded the stock.
The company reported $311.6 million in revenue in the third quarter, which was up 30 percent year-over-year but about $1 million short of Wall Street’s expectations. Then it said revenue in the fourth quarter wouldn’t be more than $330 million, which is about $22 million less than what analysts had been forecasting.
Pandora said it has about 78 million active users, but analysts were hoping for more, and many fear that the launch in June of Apple Music has not only taken a toll on Pandora, but that the competitive pressure will not let up anytime soon.
CEO Brian McAndrews addressed the concerns during a conference call after Pandora disclosed its third-quarter financials, acknowledging that Apple’s estimated $100 million promotional campaign caused Pandora’s growth to slow. “We don’t expect that to be sustained over time,” he added, though his confidence wasn’t shared by some on Wall Street.
“We expected a modest impact from the Apple Music launch,” said Barton Crockett of FBR & Co., “but it turned out to be more fundamentally challenging than we thought, prompting us to take our price target down by $1 to $10, and to retain our ‘underperform‘ rating.”
Pandora shares fell $6.80 on Friday to $12.39, leaving the company with a $2.63 billion market capitalization on Friday, more than $1 billion less than it had the day before. More than 60 million shares traded on Friday, 12 times more than usual.
The company also reported that it lost $86 million in the third quarter, though that wasn’t a surprise to most analysts, given rising costs associated with marketing the service and licensing the music.
As to the latter, Pandora said it is paying $90 million to record labels Sony Music, Universal Music, Warner Music, Capitol Records and ABKCO Music & Records to settle a dispute over royalties for pre-1972 recordings. Despite the settlement, Pandora still will not have a license to use such recordings beyond 2016.
Pandora said its quarterly results included a $57.9 million charge due to the pre-1972 settlement, with more such charges to come in the next five quarters.
Sign up for THR news straight to your inbox every day


text:
While Oculus is losing its position at the mobile market, Google is urging to put a hat under the falling dollars — nature abhors a vacuum. The ending of Oculus Connect 3 was dimmed with the lost of all Note 7 users, even though Gear VR headgear works with other Samsung smartphones. But consumers don’t really care about the details when a new potentially massive product with the Google brand approaches them. Today we are taking a look at the main Oculus Platform competitor — Daydream — and will tell you about its five main features that will allow Google to become the leader on VR market. Google’s vice president on virtual reality Clay Bavor will help us with this by sharing these thoughts at the recent presentation of Pixel and Daydream View.
The controller has no positional tracking but noone cares
As you might have noticed, the original Daydream View controller, which by default is the gold standard for other manufacturers of Daydream devices, has a lot more similarities with Wii Remote than with Oculus Touch. It has a lot of various sensors: inertia module, accelerometer, magnetometer. You can use it for hand gestures but you can’t walk around with it.
While developing the controller Google used a little trick hidden in the software. Daydream uses parallax for imitating the positional tracking.
“We do something similar with the controller,” Bavor said. “So we actually have a wrist and arm model. You can actually set your hand in the setting, left hand, right hand. And from that we can actually create a far more realistic sense of the controller moving in space about you than if we were just kind of treating it as a thing rotating independently in space.”
Social VR won’t be realistic for quite a while, but Google doesn’t care
Google did a good job on socializing VR. Although first public experiments in the field, particularly Google Expeditions, have nothing to do with social networks as we know them and don’t allow communication by itself, Daydream will have all that eventually. But should communication and environment be realistic? This is optional.
According to Bayvor, users care about feeling close to other people: seeing and hearing them, understanding that they have their own place.
“Do you look like you? No. But do I register you as you? Yes. Think about like cartoon caricatures of people. Like you can glance at a well done cartoon and know ‘Oh, that’s Ronald Reagan’ or ‘Oh that’s Marilyn Monroe’. You just know. So actually that kind of avatar representations can be very powerful but we’ve got a long way to go.”
It is not the VR team that creates VR apps, its the whole Google
As Google’s VR team gets bigger, an assumption could be made that it would be responsible for turning all company’s services like YouTube and Street View into VR. This is not true: they all are turned by their respective departments.
Bavor states that he often hears misbeliefs like «YouTube VR is a part of your team» or «Your team develops Photos». But «YouTube team makes YouTube VR, Photos team makes Photos VR, Maps team makes StreetView VR».
“And it’s been one of the really special things about doing this at Google. We had a vision for what more comfortable, friendlier, accessible VR could look like. We knew we had something at this intersection of really high quality, low latency, the tracking, the controller, the headset. And we went to our friends around the campus and said like ‘Hey, Android team? Let’s make this a thing. Hey, YouTube team? Let’s build YouTube VR.’ And just kind of mostly organically, we built this stuff”.
Headgear will be used due to accessibility and content
It is sad but true: many people have their VR headgear collecting dust on their shelves. But the truth is, there is no good content and some of them are difficult to use. Google focused it’s attention at these fields to make Daydream a constant companion of their clients.
“It’s the menu that gets you back again and again and again,” Bavor said. “And for us, literally the first project that we started after Cardboard was JUMP. Why did we do that? Because we knew that the future of VR was going to be mobile. It was going to be something you had with you. We knew that creating VR experiences is hard. Super hard if you’re trying to create a novel 3D world from scratch. But it’s also hard if you’re going to do something with real-world capture, with video. We wanted to make it easy.”
Also vice president mentioned the importance of comfort for acceptance of Daydream by mass user.
We can’t say “OK, Google!” now, but someday…
At Daydream’ presentation the main focus was made on VR, but machine learning and AI are also very importnant for it. According to Bayvor, they will be united in one product, even though it won’t happen right away. Well, maybe soon, but only partly – for example, VR interfaces will receive voice recognition.
Google believes it is possible to interact with a computer as easily as with a cup of coffee or with another person. And an intellectual computer will help us to navigate information much more effectively.
Source: Upload VR


text:
Introducing the 1NCE connectivity offering – the first of its kind in the world
Alexander Bufalino, Chief Sales Officer at 1NCE, introduces the 1NCE IoT connectivity offering – the ONLY one of its kind in the world. Their disruptive entrance to the market is already redefining everything enterprises’ previously understood about IoT connectivity.
The future of IoT connectivity is here and you won’t believe how simple and cost-effective it is – €10 for 10 years of connectivity? It’s now a reality. To find our more https://1nce.com/


text:
By Sam Sklar
Consumers might favor vehicles that accelerate a little slower, if the vehicles are also much more fuel conscious and greenhouse gas friendly. That is the conclusion of a study published in Environmental Science & Technology by researchers at Carnegie Mellon, UC-Berkeley, and University of Michigan. The research might also help transportation agencies manage local safety if cars were to accelerate more slowly.
The findings could be used as evidence to nudge auto manufacturers to think about trading off acceleration for higher fuel economy, which in turn helps these manufacturers comply with stringent Corporate Average Fuel Efficiency (CAFE) standards issued by the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency. To comply with CAFE standards, an auto manufacturer has to ensure that its entire fleet of non-truck vehicles meets a minimum miles-per-gallon ratio (currently 54.5 mpg for model year 2025). For some auto manufacturers, this data might provide enough evidence to encourage a focus on tweaking how the car accelerates, rather than spending a sizable sum on research and development for a technological fix for fuel efficiency.
An auto manufacturer can then make informed decisions based on a deep data analysis. The researchers ran two models. One model predicted to what extent varying factors like acceleration and weight of the vehicle affected fuel consumption and cost. Another looked at a driver’s willingness to pay for a certain kind of car based on individual preferences. The models took into consideration the likelihood that a potential buyer would care about these things, and would make a purchasing decision based on them. The results leave auto manufacturers three choices for this specific design consideration:
- First, the automaker might find it more profitable to sacrifice acceleration performance of its fleet in favor of costly technological installation.
- Second, the automaker might find it more beneficial to combine fuel-saving technology with better acceleration fleet-wide, so it can sell more fuel-efficient cars that also boast impressive acceleration.
- Third, the automaker might alter acceleration in some of its vehicles, but look to fuel-saving technology in other ones to balance the overall fleet goals.
An automaker’s final decision will depend on how it wants to position itself within a specific market sector for automobiles in combination with how much it is willing to spend on compliance. Either way, this research provides evidence necessary to justify a decrease in greenhouse gas emissions without sacrificing profitability.
This research might also have an additional positive, unintended consequence for local safety. If cars accelerate more slowly, there is less chance they will achieve a lethal speed on a local street. Local streets with frequent traffic controls or traffic calming elements might be safer for pedestrians, whose survival in a crash is dependent on how fast a car is moving at the moment of impact. There is an exponential relationship between how fast a car is going and a person’s chance of survival. Not only could the acceleration tradeoff be a boon for global health policy by reducing fleet-wide carbon emissions, it can also be a signal to local communities that it is safer for their seniors to cross the street and for their children to get to school in one piece.
Sam Sklar is a Program Associate at SSTI.


text:
Guangdong Releases Draft On Drug Tender Price Negotiations
This article was originally published in PharmAsia News
Guangdong province released draft regulation permitting hospitals to select drugs and manufacturers in procurement as well as negotiate prices.
You may also be interested in...
Abbott is launching a second test to detect COVID-19. The diagnostics giant announced on 27 March the release of a rapid, point-of-care test that can deliver results within five minutes.
President Trump on 27 March finally pulled the trigger on using his powers under the Defense Production Act, forcing General Motors Co. to manufacture medical ventilators. The only thing is, GM is already doing that.
Theradaptive's “paint-like” regenerative therapeutic can be applied to any device to promote bone regrowth or regenerate tissue.


text:
The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association's annual Innovation Awards honor "some of the most exciting new baby and children's products on the market today, including interactive toys, eco-friendly gear, and life-changing safety items," per a press release.
NeoHeat is one of 10 finalists in the infant/parent care category, a nod for a product that "raises the bar by offering parents breakthrough products that help safeguard and care," says JPMA executive director Lisa Trofe.
"This year's finalists have made important advancements in quality and safety for products that will help make parents' lives easier and give them added peace of mind," Trofe adds.
Voting for the "Parents Pick" award, the "Editor's Pick" award, and the "Best in Show" awardwhich goes to the product with the highest overall scoreends Friday, per the JPMA website.
A customized collection of grant news from foundations and the federal government from around the Web.
Social entrepreneur and co-founder of nonprofit Jolkona, Adnan Mahmud, discusses his definition of a successful social entrepreneur. He describes theĀ social entrepreneur as someone who has found the right balance between doing good while doing well.


text:
"Good news! We have been given the green light to start selling cheese again," the cheese maker wrote on its Facebook page Friday.
The Public Health Agency of Canada began investigating what would total 26 cases of illness due to the E. coli bacterium, believed to be linked to the consumption of products from Gort's Gouda.
Twelve of the illnesses were reported in B.C., 10 in Alberta, 2 in Saskatchewan, and 1 each in Manitoba and Quebec.
An 82-year-old Vernon, B.C., woman, Corry Van der Linde, died after she became sick, days after she and her husband visited the farm in July. Both she and her husband John became sick. When Corry was rushed to hospital, her condition only got worse and after two failed surgeries, she was taken off life support.
Soon after the investigation into the illnesses began, Gort's Gouda said on its website that the B.C. Center for Disease control had prohibited it from selling or supplying any cheese products produced or processed in the Salmon Arm facility.
It had said its products were tested regularly in an on-site laboratory, and that no problems had been uncovered during the most recent government inspection, on Aug. 28.
Following the Canadian Food Inspection Agency investigation, the company said it was able to keep its pasteurized cheese inventory but had to destroy over 500 raw milk cheeses and all its summer raw milk cheese. It said it still doesn't know where the E. coli contamination originated.
"In all the swabbing done on our farm, the CFIA were not able to find E. coli," the company said on Facebook. "Only two wheels of red pepper Gouda out of a batch of over 30 wheels were found to be with E. coli on our farm."
"Where it came from, and why only two wheels, we are baffled," it said.
Also on HuffPost


text:
Revenue at United Parcel Service was up slightly for the second quarter, but other numbers released this week were down compared with last year's second quarter.
Contract negotiations between UPS and the Teamsters union contributed to the decline, the carrier said, as customers worried about a possible strike shifted to FedEx and other carriers. UPS and the Teamsters agreed to a new contract two weeks before the current one was set to expire July 31.
UPS, Atlanta, has said that it was losing 250,000 packages a day to FedEx and other rivals in the weeks leading up to the settlement. Domestic package volume dipped 2.6 percent for the quarter, which ended June 30, but fell 4 percent in June.
Lost volume due to the threat of a strike also will affect third-quarter domestic volume, the company said.
Overall revenue for the second quarter was $7.68 billion, up 2.5 percent from last year. Consolidated operating profit declined 1.2 percent to $1.03 billion, and net income was $611 million, down from $630 million last year. Domestic revenue was $5.91 billion, down 1.2 percent from the prior year. Operating profit declined 6.9 percent to $899 million.
In the international segment, operating profit rose from $24 million last year to $62 million, and revenue increased 9 percent to $1.14 billion. Export volume continued to outperform market growth, posting an overall 8.8 percent increase with 17 percent reported in Asia and 13 percent in Europe. UPS said the opening of an Asian air hub in the Philippines increased volume 20 percent among countries using those lanes.


text:
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Cave announced the Xbox 360 game Death Smiles will be receiving a Platinum Hits rerelease in Japan on April 8th. The game will also include the DLC voice track as well as MEGA BLACK LABEL. Also Cave announced that in April MEGA BLACK LABEL version 1.01 will be released on Xbox Live Marketplace.
Here are a few videos of me running Death Smiles on my Sega Naomi USA cabinet.
Taito announced they will be releasing a port of the Arcade game Raystorm on Xbox Live Arcade and PSN. The game will feature Updated HD visuals , Online replay upload, and online score rankings. The game will be released later in the Spring.
Video Trailer below:
Cave announced at the Shooting FESTA that the Arcade game Guwange will be coming home to Xbox Live Arcade. It will include 3 modes: Arcade, Cave Festival "Blue" Version (only playable once at a Cave festival a few years back), and a new Arrange mode that uses dual stick control.
5pb announced that the Arcade shooter Ketsui EX will be released on the Japanese 360 April 22nd in Japan. The game will feature original arcade mode as well as a EXTRA mode. It was announced that the game will be a accurate port and will be as close to arcade original as possible. Get your Arcade sticks ready!
Video trailer below:
G Revolution announced that its hybrid fighter / shooter Type X game Senko No Ronde Duo will be receive a port on Xbox 360 April 28th. The game will feature upgraded graphics and a NETWORK mode for onlike versus battles. It was also feature online leaderboards. The game is set for release April 28th in Japan.
Video Trailer Below:
DeathSmiles 2 X Cover art was released over the weekend. The game will be released on Japanese Xbox 360 May 27th. The game features -7 stages total (2 more than the arcade version) , 2 new characters (Follett and Rosa) ,Updated graphics (16:9 mode), New bosses,There will be a LE with a remixed soundtrack!


text:
Kingfisher's share price was down 5.4 per cent by mid-afternoon after the B&Q-owner gave a gloomy economic forecast this morning.
The retail group also announced today that its chairman, Daniel Bernard, will retire. He will be replaced by Andy Cosslett, former chief executive of InterContinental Hotels Group and Fitness First.
For the year ending 31 January, sales were up 2.3 per cent on a like-for-like basis, up from £10.3bn to £11.2bn. Underlying pre-tax profit increased 14.7 per cent from £686m to £787m.
In the UK and Ireland, like-for-like sales grew 5.9 per cent to £4.98bn. However, sales in France lagged, down by 2.7 per cent to £4.25bn. Total sales in B&Q fell by 3.3 per cent to £3.68m due to store closures, a drop which was "partly offset by sales transference". Like-for-like sales at the homeware store were up 3.5 per cent.
Kingfisher upped its full-year dividend three per cent from 10.1p to10.4p.
Why it's interesting
Kingfisher's sales performance in different countries have been varying substantially for some time. The French business was hit by strike action last year, and this morning the company said it had a "cautious" outlook for the region due to the upcoming elections.
Political upset in the UK has not been a problem for Kingfisher, however. Sales in the UK remained strong despite the outcome of the EU referendum and B&Q store closures.
Véronique Laury, chief executive, said: "It has been a very productive and important year, a year which has again delivered sales and profit growth.
"Looking forward, the EU referendum has created uncertainty for the UK economic outlook and we remain cautious on the outlook for France, especially in light of the forthcoming presidential elections."


text:
Home Connect your laptop, tablet, gaming consoles and smartphones effortlessly over in-home wireless. Our award winning customer service is available to assist. NO CONTRACT RESIDENTIAL PHONE AND INTERNET SERVICE offering no contract Phone and Internet service so you can try something different and better with.
The Odessa File Business of Schuyler According to the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), Sudan is home to more internally displaced persons than any other country in the world, with nearly 4.3 million people displaced after many years of conflict. The latest breaking news on Odessa NY and Schuyler County, including sports, business, government, and people, with calendar of events and classified ads.
Agriculture and Consumer Protection The [...] The cal Workshop “Remediation of Radioactive Contamination in Agriculture” will be held at IAEA Headquarters from 17 – 18 October 2016. [...] From 7 – 18 November, FAO hosted a training-of-trainers on its Pesticide Registration Toolkit. According to the United Nations Children's Fund UNICEF, Sudan is home to more internally displaced persons than any other country in the world, with nearly 4.3.
Rolled Steel Products - Stainless Steel This Workshop aims to promote and share knowledge and experience related to remediation of... The toolkit is a web based handbook to support countries with limited resources in evaluating pesticides rorously before they can be... Rolled Steel Products Corporation is a unique steel service center among west coast distributors, and a leader in the steel service industry. Our basic philosophy; to.


text:
The growing COVID-19 crisis threatens to disproportionately hit developing countries, not only as a health crisis in the short term but also as a devastating social, economic and political crisis. At present the bigger challenge for the world and for the developing countries is to keep economic wheel moving to ensure food security and wellbeing of the society during the various barriers of physical distancing and lock downs. With calls for social distancing, service sector jobs that depend on customer-provider interactions or involve the congregation of large numbers of people are likely to take a huge hit. Workers in industries such as restaurants, hotels, child care services, retail trade, transportation services, tourism and education are at a higher risk of losing their jobs but the measures taken to put in place to contain diffusion of pandemic are taking a heavy toll on the tourism sector. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), the COVID-19 pandemic will result in a contraction of the tourism sector by 20 to 30 percent in 2020. This estimate is likely to be conservative for countries relying on foreign tourists, as the recent data on daily air traffic indicate a drop of almost 80 percent since January 2020.
Tourism industry is facing deep disruptions due to the outbreak of COVID-19. According to a report fall in global international tourist arrivals will translate into a loss of US$30 to 50 billion. Pakistan’s tourism and transportation sectors are also affected poorly as public transportation including local and international flights closed, markets closed, public places closed, restaurants and hotels closed, as well as economic crisis is going on especially for poor, daily wagers, or who involved in low salary employments. In major cities, hotels are transformed into quarantine centers. Due to coronavirus pandemic, thousands of international tourists cancelled their reservations and bookings that have negative impact on tourism community even porters, tour guides, street vendors and all those who rely on tourist spending are suffering and affecting now. Hospitality Industry has borne significant losses due to the cancellation of hotel booking and drop in the number of travelers. The industry witnessed the loss of Rs one hundred million only in February 2020 due to decline visits of foreign tourists.
At the turn of this decade, Pakistan saw the return of British Airways, previously red travel advisories turn green, visits from various dignitaries including the British royal couple, and press-authorities on tourism boast of Pakistan’s attractiveness for tourists. The rusting mechanism, once employed by tour operators, was being cleaned and readied for the season. Pakistan boasts beautiful mountains, pristine lakes and rivers, historically vibrant cities, and unparalleled tales. For years, the plague of terrorism had walled these wonders from the rest of the world, and the walls were beginning to crumble. Pakistan was ready to open itself up to the rest of the world. China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) further catalyzed growth in the sector with the construction of much-needed motorways, and exclusive economic zones. YouTubers from different countries also provided a soft image bump, which proved to be a powerful form of marketing.
According to the ‘Economic Revitalization of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and (erstwhile) FATA’ project (World Bank and Multi-Donor Trust Fund-sponsored) conducted a tourism sector analysis. It showed that the four most visited destinations of the KP province recorded five million tourists in 2018 and these sites support 8,665 direct jobs in tourism value chain and contribute $5 million to the local economy through tourism receipts and the numbers swelled during the summer when KP’s destinations received more than 2 million tourists during the four Eid holidays in June 2019. The scenic valley of Hunza (located along the ancient trade route of Karakoram Highway) registered a phenomenal year on year increase in the tourist numbers between 2018 and 2019 but unexpected arrival of COVID-19 will ruin all plans and startups including home stays and tour operators are suffering due to cancellations of group bookings.
Pakistan’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) has reported losses of around $18 million in March 2020 and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) could be sending its workforce on paid leaves on a rotational basis. Concerning Pakistan’s tourism as one of the most productive sector of the economy grabbed government attention due to its real potential. This sector contributes around 3% in the GDP. The disruption of the tourism industry will not only affect the traveling but also affect the transport, restaurants, handicrafts, and hotel industry. Generally, June-August is the peak season of the hoteling industry as most of the people travel in these months to the northern areas of Pakistan. Given the present situation, it is expected that the hospitality industry will face a severe decline in revenue generation due to the pandemic and suspended flight operations. The initial assessment fears that KP’s tourism sector alone will face a loss of $20 million in revenues and could slash around 260,000 formal jobs and It is difficult to put a number on the losses of the informal sector at this stage perhaps the only unintended positive consequence of the pandemic is that nature and wildlife will be able to take a break from the burden of over-tourism. In order to boost this sector it is important to jump start through domestic tourism after the ease of lockdown. As we all know that due to COVID-19 airlines activities are banned by most of the countries and after covering all travel regularities and risk premiums cost of international tourism will rise.
But now, there is a need of collaboration of public and private sector, to support the industry cope with the aftereffects of COVID-19 while preparing it for the responsible tourism when travel restrictions are lifted by a clean environment will be at the minimum expected, whether that be airlines, cruise ships, coaches, restaurants, or hotels. This will become the new minimum global standard. Everyone in hospitality services will have to participate and up their game. There will be no exception to the rule, as this will be part and parcel of the increased comfort level demand by the guests. This will also include personal grooming of the staff, disinfection hygiene, and sanitization of all products, services, and venues. Standards companies will have to devise ratings and monitoring around this measure. There will be a lot of behind the scenes change of ownerships of hotel brands. Still, operational things will become much more efficient with hygiene and technology standards being applied even more diligently. The segment will sustain and survive. Develop standard operating procedures (SOPs) for the workers, firms, and travelers, Design and direct financial support towards the tourism value chains including the microenterprises, guide and support players including restaurants, hotels, homestays, and transporters to disinfect, upgrade facilities and train workers to adopt improved hygiene and safety practices, use technology to introduce virtual tours of museums, heritage sites and ski resorts as a substitute for actual visits and plan and enforce on-site measures for better waste collection, plastics recycling, and traffic management. The KP province is taking the lead in this situation by using the resources available through the IDA-financed KP Integrated Tourism Development (KITE) project to:
- immediately respond to the pandemic by providing medical equipment and supplies
- Support disinfection of the sites; and
- Conduct a COVID-19 socioeconomic impact assessment, using project’s contingent emergency response component.
Post COVID-19, the tourism operations in Punjab and KP will continue supporting the planning and upgrading of tourist infrastructure and facilities (roads, museums, rest areas), and overall policy and regulatory overhaul to enable private investment mobilization for the tourism zones, with a focus on restoring the livelihoods. We may also benefit from the relations of USA, Germany and many other countries with China. Now Chinese will search for new destinations like Malaysia and Pakistan but advance measures needed to prepare ourselves to take advantage from exploitation of tourism industry when the travel restrictions are relaxed and with multiple iterations of handling seasonal inbound tourists, there is bound to be an evolution of tourist-friendly policies and social impediments, availability of flights to the northern areas are often difficult to find during peak season with no alternatives. Perhaps it may be a good idea to follow in Nepal’s footsteps and incentivize private flight operators who can give aerial tours of the northern areas. Local small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) need to be empowered, complementary industries, like souvenirs, need to be spawned, hotels and resorts need to be constructed, and a compelling narrative needs to be unilaterally produced that projects the splendors of this country to the rest of the world. It is perhaps too soon to comment on how the next few months will unravel, but it is a matter of fact rather than speculation that the tourism industry in this country needs work to achieve its true potential. Pakistan is joining the race late, and it would be unwise to remain idle when given a chance to catch up to the rest of the world during this break of COVID-19.


text:
Based on the 2014 Porsche Cayman S, Italian coachbuilder StudioTorino will soon unveil its latest project, the Moncenisio.
In 2006, StudioTorino built the RK Coupe, a sports car that was based on the previous-generation Porsche Cayman and packed 440 hp. This time around, on the way to the 2012 Detroit Auto Show, the team at StudioTorino began thinking of a project to replace the RK Coupe, and the Moncenisio was born.
SEE ALSO: 2014 Porsche Cayman S Review
Though details are light, it will make its official debut on March 21 at the National Automobile Museum of Turin and production will be limited to just 19 units. The Cayman S will go through an extensive overhaul inside and out including an aerodynamic body kit with several components made from carbon fiber, a new set of 20-inch wheels and will be offered in seven different shades. StudioTorino also announced that the Moncenisio will be priced at around $180,000.
For that price tag, look for some added performance as well.
GALLERY: StudioTorino Moncenisio
Discuss this story at our luxury lifestyle forum.


text:
Fiat Chrysler and Renault talk of linking businesses is heating up, report says
Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and French automaker Renault are in talks that could result in a tie-up of their operations.
The Wall Street Journal reported Saturday that discussions involve a "wide-ranging tie-up that could include joining large portions of their businesses."
FCA is declining comment.
A source familiar with the talks confirmed them to the Free Press and indicated they had "ratcheted up" recently.
The Journal, noting that FCA is worth $20 billion and Renault $17 billion,indicated that a deal could come soon, but that talks could also fall apart. Renault has been involved in a partnership with Nissan and Mitsubishi, but the drama involving the ouster of and charges of financial misdeeds against the former head, Carlos Ghosn, has left its future uncertain.Ghosn has denied wrongdoing.
It's unclear how any arrangement with Renault would affect U.S. operations, including those in Detroit where FCA is planning a massive expansion to retool Jefferson North Assembly and turn the idled Mack Engine complex into an assembly plant for SUVs.
Fiat's small car fail: Fiat hoped to spark America's small-car revival. Instead, it lost out to SUVs
Holiday deals: Free food and Memorial Day deals for active military and veterans Monday
FCA has long been the subject of speculation for a potential merger or acquisition and the company has partnerships with companies including Waymo related to autonomous vehicles.
FCA CEO Mike Manley has said the company can stand on its own, but thathe is open toarrangements that would strengthen it.
Prior to the heightened Renault talks, PSA Grouphad been the subject of numerous reports about a possible tie-up. Manley's predecessor, the late Sergio Marchionne, had made a case for industry consolidation in 2015 with his"Confessions of a Capital Junkie."
Automakers are facing a challenging time as they pour resources into developing electric and autonomous vehicle technology while the market in the United States is in a post-peak period. The shift away from small cars in the United States toward SUVs and trucks and a down market in China have also had repercussions.
Contact Eric D. Lawrence: firstname.lastname@example.org. Follow him on Twitter: @_ericdlawrence
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Fiat Chrysler and Renault talk of linking businesses is heating up, report says


text:
Thermal Conductivity Easily and Efficiently Drains Device Heat email@example.com
Mona Zebarjadi, assistant professor with UVA’s School of Engineering, has found a way to help computers and other electronic devices keep their cool. She applied her knowledge of electric circuits and materials to design an all-solid-state active cooler that quickly returns an overheating device to a normal temperature. Zebarjadi holds joint appointments in the Charles L. Brown Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.
Zebarjadi joined co-authors at Ohio State’s Scott Laboratory to design an active cooler that incorporates metals that are naturally conductive and can carry more heat, such as cobalt and a cerium-palladium alloy. This process, which they call enhancing thermal conductivity, more easily and efficiently drains a device’s heat sinks that pull and store heat away from metal components.
The team’s active cooler can be self-regulating, if combined with a feedback loop. This helps electronic devices easily adapt to changes in the environment - going from indoors to outdoors for example - and to the level of activity, from texting to video game play. Their method also achieves an order-of-magnitude gain in the amount of heat that is depleted, increasing both the durability and longevity of devices.
The team published the discovery May 3, 2019, in Physical Review Applied. Nature Electronics summarized their findings in a research highlight in Thermoelectrics, “Going with the flow (of heat),” published June 17, 2019.


text:
NEW DELHI: The Government will invest Rs 1,500 crore to develop five cruise terminals in the Country, Shipping and Road Minister Nitin Gadkari said recently.
Gadkari said these terminals will be built in Mumbai, Goa, Chennai, Cochin and near Kandla Port by the world’s best cruise tourism and terminal operation companies.
The Shipping and Tourism Ministries have jointly engaged EY to draw up an action plan for the development of cruise tourism in the Country to realise the immense potential of the sector. The Government also wants to ease the security, immigration, customs and health clearances for foreign tourists arriving in India through cruises.
The Minister said Government-owned Major Ports will be investing heavily in this new vertical as he’s anticipating almost 700 cruises to come to India in the coming years. Last year, over 100 cruise liners brought foreign tourists to India, mainly to Mumbai. “Almost 10 lakh Indians book cruises and most of them go to Singapore to board it. We could develop the same facilities here,” he said. The Minister said various Singaporean companies operating the cruise lines business have shown interest to start operations in India.


text:
Hasbro has expanded their portfolio buy reportedly purchasing Death Row Records - the record company started by Suge Knight.
Hasbro reached an agreement to buy Entertainment One for $4 billion. The entertainment company, which also owns the animated brands, PJ Masks, Peppa Pig, and Ricky Zoom.
Hasbro are famous for their current brans My Little Pony, Transformers, Play-Doh, Monopoly and Power Rangers. The Game, Joe Budden, Black Label Society, High on Fire, and DJ Khaled have all released records on eOne Music, efforts that now belong to Hasbro, per Consequence of Sound.
"Hasbro will leverage eOne's immersive entertainment capabilities to bring our portfolio of brands that have appeal to gamers, fans and families to all screens globally," Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner said in a statement.
Death Row Records was founded in 1991 by Suge Knight, The D.O.C., and Dr. Dre.
The label became a sensation by releasing multi-platinum hip-hop albums by West Coast-based artists such as Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and Tupac Shakur during the 1990s. At its peak, Death Row Records was making over $150,000,000 a year.


text:
Unveiling of Apple's new iPhones for this year is just two months away. We are already aware that Apple will be releasing three iphone's this year; 7s, 7s Plus, and the iPhone 8.
For a long time, we have been hearing about the extraordinary 10th anniversary smartphone that Apple will be releasing this year. Apparently, the anticipated iPhone 8 might not be coming out along with 7s and 7s Plus, due to production issues. This means that there could be a delay in getting your hands on it.
According to an analyst's report seen by AppleInsider in an to investors, Robert Cihra from Guggenheim states that, even though iPhone 8 faces delays in releasing, it will not be hurting the stock of the company as people are predicting it would.
Robert Cihra says that the fiscal year of 2018, and the holiday quarter for Apple will be "its biggest in three years." He expresses his belief in which he says that the demand for Apple's smartphone will not reduce even if it is launched later than expected. Though a specific pricing for the iPhone 8 was not stated in the note, Cihra claims that it could be a lot more expensive than the iPhone 7s with a difference of over $400 in starting price.
The iPhone 7 released in 2016, was priced at $649 for the cheapest model, which means that the iPhone 7s might start out at the same cost as well. If the estimation of Robert Cihra is correct, then the starting price of the iPhone 8 might be approximately $1,049.
The completely redesigned 10th anniversary iPhone of Apple is expected to come out with a bezel-less 5.1 inch OLED display, with the touch ID either included on the screen itself (with no homebutton), or placed on the power button on the side.
We have heard many variations of the iPhone 8, however we will not know for sure until the company themselves unveils the phone. But be prepared as it is believed to cost more than the previous iPhones and the 7s line that will be released along with it this year, due to the difference in how it has been made.


text:
Major oil distributor and refiner Mitsubishi Oil Co. posted a 3.8 billion yen operating loss and 2.8 billion yen pretax loss for the April-September period, suffering from decreasing oil demand in the economic slump and dwindling prices of oil products, company officials said Monday.
The company, which last week announced a merger plan with Nippon Oil Co., predicted a 6.2 yen operating loss and a 9 billion yen pretax loss for fiscal 1998. Its midterm sales of jet fuels, kerosene, light oils and coals all decreased compared with the previous year, company officials said.
Sales volume of oil products dropped 1.8 percent to 14.1 million kiloliters in the six-month period, with the sales shrinking 7.1 percent to 482.9 billion yen, the company said.
In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever.
By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.


text:
Nissan today revealed the 2025 GT-R for the Japanese market, in line with a recent rumors that also claim the R35 won't live past 2025.
For 2025, the GT-R gains an eye-catching new interior color, Blue Heaven, and other minor mechanical changes.
The 2025 Nissan GT-R's Japanese production is limited, and Nissan has yet to confirm the iconic sports car will return for 2025 in the United States.
We asked our Magic 8 ball if 2025 will be the final year of the Nissan GT-R. It told us "signs point to yes." A recent report out of Japan also claimed that the legendary R35-generation GT-R would cease to exist after the 2025 model year and that more information would arrive today, March 14. Although Nissan has yet to confirm the GT-R's demise, today it did—as predicted—reveal the 2025 GT-R for the Japanese market.
There are minimal changes to the GT-R for 2025. The Premium Edition—which serves as the base car in the United States—gains beautiful new Blue Heaven interior upholstery. The T-Spec and Track Edition engineered by NISMO—effectively the equivalent of the high-performance NISMO model sold on our shores—gain the weight-balanced piston rings, connecting rods, and crankshafts that were formerly exclusive to the NISMO Special Edition. These models also come with aluminum certification plates and gold-colored number plates in the engine bay.
Although Nissan doesn't outright say that this is the final iteration of the GT-R, the timing of the announcement lines up with the report by Japanese publication Mag X. The report also claimed that production of the 2025 GT-R would be capped at 1500 units. While there is no specific quantity quoted, Nissan's press release does mention that "production is limited."
Sales of the 2025 GT-R in Japan are due to kick off in June. It seems likely that the GT-R is living on borrowed time, but our only hope that this isn't the end is the expectation that the R35's conclusion would come with more fanfare, and, most likely, a special edition. With no announcement yet from Nissan's U.S. branch, we're holding out hope that the GT-R at least receives a proper send-off instead of quickly being ushered out the door.
You Might Also Like


text:
|Chinese State Councillor Yang Jiechi (R) meets with New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully in Beijing, capital of China, Aug. 22, 2013. (Xinhua/Li Tao)
BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Chinese State Councilor Yang Jiechi on Thursday urged New Zealand to improve food safety after toxic bacteria were found in imported dairy products from the island country's dairy giant Fonterra.
"[We] hope the New Zealand side will appropriately handle food safety issues, including the safety of dairy products, exported to China and substantially ensure Chinese consumers' interests," Yang said as he met with New Zealand Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully.
McCully is paying a formal visit to China from Tuesday to Thursday at the invitation of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
During the meeting with Yang, McCully said New Zealand will take strict measures to step up regulatory oversight of the dairy industry and regain the confidence of Chinese consumers with concrete action.
New Zealand attaches great importance to the relationship with China, McCully said.
Fonterra has been the subject of two international food safety alerts revealed this month, with the worst case being whey protein concentrate shipped to customers at home and abroad contaminated with bacteria that can cause botulism.
On Wednesday, it was revealed that a shipment of Fonterra-made lactoferrin was stopped in China in May after Chinese authorities found it contained excessive levels of nitrates. Lactoferrin made by rival New Zealand firm Westland Milk Products was also the subject of a recall in China this month for the same reason.
During Thursday's meeting, Yang hailed the development of bilateral ties in recent years.
China and New Zealand should view the bilateral relationship from a strategic and long-term perspective, and tap the immense potential for cooperation in more areas to further advance their relationship, said the Chinese state councilor.
The two sides also exchanged views on regional and international issues of mutual concern.


text:
Today is Tuesday, June 28th- It IS - CAP LOCKS DAY, Lightning Safety Day / Body Piercing Day / Paul Bunyan Day, Tapioca Day
Top Pudding Flavors:
5. Banana Creme
(Tapioca comes in at #10)
Costs 17% more to have a July fourth BBQ than it did last year! (Hamburger is the real issue... up 36%)
New study says your smartphone is making you less smart by the day!
If you are on Twitter, you use it an average of twice a month - Half NEVER use it
You can buy a Baby Shark themed vacuum that actually works, so your kid will unknowingly help with chores.


text:
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The state forest department
has launched ‘e-ticketing facility
’ for visitors to various ecotourism
centres across Kerala
. The first phase of the project will cover 28 such centres and ‘Vanasree eco-shop’ in the state capital.
Forest minister K Raju inaugurated the online booking system
, which will be implemented for sale of 20% of tickets on an experimental basis in the first phase.
“Forest produces, except timber, will be made available online for customers from across India through Vanasree eco-shops,” said the minister who also unveiled the Kerala Forest Ecotourism mobile app launched along with the online booking facility.
The minister said the online booking facility would be extended to all ecotourism centres and Vanasree units in the state within a month, besides continuing with direct sale of tickets at the centres. Tickets and produces can be purchased from department website www.forest.kerala.gov.in and ecotourism website www.keralaforestecotourism.com.
The first phase of the project will be covering ecotourism centres in Gavi and Adavi-Gavi (tour package) in Pathanamthitta district, Athirappally and Vazhachal (Thrissur), Mahogany Thottam, Bhoothathankettu and Panayeli Poru (Ernakulam), Kalvari Mount, Kainagiri and Chellar Kovil (Idukki), Palaruvi (Kollam), Paithalmala-Purathotti, Paithalmala-Manjappullu, Alakapuri and Sasipara (Kannur), Janakikkadu, Peruvannamoozhi, Kakkayam and Vanaparvam (Kozhikode), Conolly’s Plot and Nedunkayam (Malappuram), Dhoni, Minnampara and Ananganmala (Palakkad), Neyyar, Ponmudi and Peppara (Thiruvananthapuram) and Chembra Peak and Soochippara in Wayanad district.


text:
Wednesday, 12 October 2011
The skilled Bulgarians from Vilner have built a custom Saturn Sky, so if that does not make a car from a brand that is not even available on the market anymore, even more exclusive then we don't know what is / not to mention that fact that this brand was never offered in Europe anyway.The Saturn Sky customisation program from Vilner involves a ...
Latest Car News
To raise some money for charity and also offer its clients a track-ready Mustang, Ford unveiled a special edition called “Ole Yeller” Mustang, that ...
FCA Group is using this year CES Las Vegas to introduce a brand new concept, the most advanced concept ever created by the company. It is called Chrysler ...
Jaguar wanted to make an important contribution to a nobil cause and decided to create a car that can attract enough attention and enough money. This ...
One of the main actors in Dieselgate scandal, Audi will try to concentrate its efforts in the green zone. Audi is investing in new technologies, more ...
Considering that every Rolls Royce model is very expensive, charging over 300.000 euros for the least expensive model, you would think that sales are ...
Having a fully connected car has become more important than having a powerful car. Fiat-Chrysler Group understood this and asked Google to develop its ...
Ford is one of the best carmakers when it comes to small engines. And that is because it`s 1.0‑litre EcoBoost engine has been voted best in class at ...
Porsche is doing a great job ain Le Mans and this is ready to be seen these days during Los Angeles Motor Show. The Stuttgart-based company unveiled the ...
I'm not sure if you are aware of Dacia. The Romanian company produced few models back in the communism and the Dacia 1300 was a great success. For the ...
Car News by Make
- Alfa Romeo
- Aston Martin
- Range Rover
- Rolls Royce
- Land Rover


text:
WALLINGFORD — On a hillside in Wallingford, the day is overcast with a fine drizzle as winery owner Joe Gouveia walks among rows of vines that will bear grapes for chardonnay and Moscato wines this fall.
“It’s been very slow, just in the past couple of weeks,” Gouveia said recently, pointing to the growth of new shoots on the gnarled branches. “With the hot weather, this is going to take off like crazy.”
Connecticut’s farm wineries — those that grow their own grapes — are looking for a similar forecast, as the modest, but growing industry in the state looks to put COVID-19 behind it.
There were encouraging signs even last summer, said Emiliano C. Villanueva, chairman of the management and marketing business division at Eastern Connecticut State University.
“Last summer, remember when we were open a little bit more, after the first, I would say, horrible year of the pandemic?” Villanueva, an expert in the global wine industry, said. “I wouldn’t say it was thriving, but it was working.”
Across Connecticut, many of the state’s licensed farm wineries — now numbering about 45 — depend on the tourist and event business that sharply declined during the early days of lockdowns and subsequent surges in coronavirus variants.
On top of that, sales to restaurants that were closed slid and tastings at wineries that often lead to sales thinned out, said Hilary Hopkins Criollo, president of the Connecticut Vineyard and Winery Association.
“It really negatively disrupted everyone’s — all the wineries — business,” said Criollo, who runs the family-owned Hopkins Vineyard in Warren.
Hopkins, thought to be the oldest licensed farm winery in the state, dating back 40 years, saw a dramatic decline in visitors during times when infections surged, at 50%, if not more, Criollo said.
A few wineries in the state were forced to close, Criollo said, including Miranda Vineyard in Goshen, which opened in 2007, according to its website. Miranda couldn’t be reached for comment, but a post on its Facebook page says it has closed permanently.
In Colchester, Priam Vineyard went on the market last year. The 22-year-old winery and vineyard survived — even thrived — in the pandemic as tents were pitched on the grounds. But the owners decided to sell, the effort to make every use of outdoor space exhausting after six years of robust expansion.
One advantage that farm wineries had throughout the pandemic was access to outside open-air spaces.
“Anyone that could, as a winery, moved outside as much as we could,” Criollo said. “It did help. It didn’t make up for the losses, but it certainly did help, thank goodness.”
At Wallingford’s Gouveia Vineyards, Gouveia transformed a 140-acre, vegetable farm he bought in 1999 into a vineyard now planted with nearly 25,000 vines on 25 acres.
Annually, the winery produces about 7,000 cases, or nearly 85,000 bottles, Gouveia said.
“By having a huge deck — we built it at the perfect time — we did it the year before Covid,” Gouveia said. “And we have so many open fields that you can see, we have so many acres. People were a little more comfortable than if you were indoors.”
Gouveia said he’s upbeat about the prospects of the industry, as the state emerges from the pandemic.
“We’re hoping this goes away once and for all because it’s tough on everybody,” Gouveia said. “We’ve been supported in the past, and I don’t see any reason not to be supported in the future.”
Passport to CT Wine Country
The state’s winery and vineyard industry, by all accounts, came into the pandemic strong. The number of farm wineries was slowly increasing as wine consumption spread to a wider cross-section of the drinking public, beyond its more high-brow roots.
As the number of wineries grew, many banded together to form the Connecticut Wine Trail, promoting not only their products but wineries as visitor destinations with concerts and other events.
Although the recent COVID surge of an omicron subvariant remains a concern, the state Department of Agriculture will soon launch a rebranded “passport” program to promote visits to participating farm wineries.
The program, now more than a decade old, will be called “Passport to CT Wine Country,” a change from the original “Passport to CT Farm Wineries.”
“It’s a very slight change but the thinking is when you travel to another country, you get a passport, so we’re trying to tie all that together,” Rebecca Eddy, a spokeswoman for the state agriculture department.
The program also is dropping the printed passport and moving solely to a mobile phone app. Visits to participating wineries will be electronically “stamped,” earning points for prize drawings.
The app also will allow wineries to update information about events or, say, the release of a new wine, Eddy said. (More information on the app and how to receive a newsletter is available at ctwinecountry.com)
“This is meant to encourage folks to get out there,” Eddy said. “Our farm wineries have continued to grow, plant and cultivate their vines throughout the pandemic,” Eddy said. “This is an opportunity to go visit them, show your support and enjoy a taste of award-winning wines as you travel around the state.”
‘Changed the marketplace for us’
Connecticut’s wine and vineyard industry is relatively new, the first licenses issued in the 1970s. The biggest growth has come since the 2000s, and estimates of annual sales are up to $150 million.
While growing, Connecticut’s winery and vineyard industry is still dwarfed by other, geographically larger states.
Neighboring New York has nearly 10 times the number of wineries, at 400. And New York is outpaced by the wine-producing powerhouses of California, Washington State and Oregon, industry statistics show.
California, alone has 4,000 wineries, nearly half of the 8,000 across the country.
Villanueva, at Eastern Connecticut State University, said the wine-making in Connecticut is tied closely with wine tourism.
“The business model of the industry in Connecticut is small farm wineries,” Villanueva said. “They sell at the door and they sell you not only the bottle of wine but the experience, and that is something we can work on.”
Villanueva said the stories behind why wine-makers are growing grapes and producing wines in Connecticut also are attractive.
Hopkins Vineyard in Warren is located on a former dairy farm that had operated for 200 years. In the 1970s, Criollo’s parents made the decision to become a vineyard, choosing not to add more cattle as competition demanded that dairy farms grow in size.
In Wallingford, Gouveia tells the story of how he immigrated with his parents to Connecticut as a teenager from a small village in Portugal. He later became an entrepreneur and restaurant owner, before embarking on his vineyard.
Gouveia said he always remembered the small vineyard his parents had in Portugal, making wine for his family.
As the pandemic eases, there are still headwinds for local wineries: staff shortages; inflation increasing the cost of everything from diesel fuel to bottle labels; and competition from “non-farm” wineries that don’t grow grapes.
Wineries also have been unsuccessful in pushing legislation that would allow them to place their products on grocery store shelves in Connecticut.
“Covid, in general, changed the marketplace for us,” Criollo said. “More people are spending time eating and entertaining at home. For us, our biggest issue right now is to be able to sell our wine in grocery stores, which is where most people are shopping.”
Contact Kenneth R. Gosselin at firstname.lastname@example.org.


text:
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Jan 8, 2018
Computer security researchers at Google discovered two design flaws in processor chips used in the vast majority of today’s tablets, smart phones and personal computers, including devices using both Apple and Microsoft operating systems. Hackers could potentially exploit the flaws to gather passwords and personal information from the devices.
The flaws, which have been named Meltdown and Spectre, affect any device containing processors made by Intel since 1995. The Spectre flaw also affects devices with chips made by AMD and ARM. Together, the three companies produce the chips used in almost all electronic devices.
Manufacturers who used the chips are not about to recall all the devices to replace the flawed chips, so Apple and Microsoft, makers of the most commonly used operating systems on affected devices, are left to create software patches to “fix” the flaws. They have come up with patches for the Meltdown flaw, but once installed, the patches could potentially slow down devices by up to 20 to 30 percent. So far, however, no one has come up with a complete fix to address the Spectre flaw, only partial ones.
Computers and the internet can make life and work easier, in many ways, including speeding up communication and allowing access to loads of information to people around the world.
These newly discovered design flaws, however, show the limits of technology under capitalism. Engineering of systems is left in the hands of corporations seeking short-term profits, with no central planning to prevent or solve problems that might arise.
No one should believe their personal information is safe under these conditions, or that computers and the internet are immune to the problems that plague every other aspect of society under capitalism.


text:
- The Hagerty Power List investigates the impact celebrity ownership and association have on the market value of a vehicle, in some cases rising as much as 16,000 percent
- Power List looks at a variety of sectors including Art Cars, Racing Drivers, Movie and TV, Musicians, Royalty, Celebrities, and Athletes
- Movie cars appear from the likes of Smokey and the Bandit, Wayne’s World, Herbie, and Ghostbusters
- Cars of music stars such as Freddie Mercury, Justin Bieber, and Frank Sinatra are featured, along with celebrity cars owned by the likes of Simon Cowell, Bruce Willis, and Sean Connery
- Power List also features the cars of Princess Diana, David Beckham, Shaquille O’Neal, and Carroll Shelby, reflecting the impact their ownership has on sales value
- 400 sales of important vehicles were analyzed by Hagerty data experts to deliver the definitive list – which can be read here
TRAVERSE CITY, Mich., Aug. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Hagerty announced today its 2023 Power List which tracks celebrity car influence by analyzing the increase (and sometimes decrease) in value by comparing stars’ cars with their standard equivalent at the time. Launched in 2022, the Power List was created to explore how celebrity ownership can affect the value of a car.
Using Hagerty’s vast amounts of market data, the sold price of selected vehicles were compared with the values of a standard car at that time. When faced with a unique car such as the Batmobile, Hagerty valued the standard equivalent of the vehicle on which it was based on. The end result was a list of famous people and films and the difference, or ‘delta’, between the value of their cars compared to a normal one.
This year, the Hagerty Power List has grown, analyzing nearly 400 sales of celebrity cars and bikes from around the world, each with their own story to tell. The list comprises seven categories, including Racing Drivers, Movies and TV, Musicians, Royalty, and Celebrities. Art Cars and Athletes have also been added for 2023. Category highlights include:
Art Cars highlights – read the full category here
Given BMW’s long standing links with the art car scene, it is no surprise that two of its models are featured in Hagerty’s top five – the Jeff Koons 8 X, and the M1 Pro Car with a Frank Stella Polar Coordinates design. The highest value increase in this category went to the Astro Cumulo Uber Express 1960 Cadillac by Kenny Scharf.
The elephant in the room is that the most famous art cars have not been sold in public. The most valuable of them all is probably the 1979 BMW M1 racer painted by Andy Warhol. If it ever sold, the top spot on the entire Power List may have to change.
Racing Drivers highlights – read the full category here
Hagerty does not include pure racing cars in the Power List calculations as there’s rarely a ‘standard’ equivalent to compare against, and comparison with a road-going version is often meaningless. Hagerty also ignores sealed-bid auctions, which means Juan Manuel Fangio’s 1958 Mercedes-Benz 300SL, sold last year for a reported $5.5M, is also out.
This year’s winner is a 1976 Ford Bronco, bought new by legendary Canadian F1 driver Gilles Villeneuve and untouched since his death. It sold for $147,155, a huge 210 percent increase over the $46,800 that Hagerty would value a regular example in the same condition. That sale took the top spot away from Carroll Shelby, who moves into second place.
Movies and TV highlights – read the full category here
Pixar worked together with Porsche to create a road-going version of Sally Carrera from the 2006 Cars movie, based on the current Carrera GTS. The resulting car sold for $3.6M at a charity auction. That’s an increase of 2,500 percent over the value of a standard new GTS, a result that placed the Cars star in third spot in the 2023 list.
There was no budging the two heavyweights at the top of this particular list, though: the Bullitt Mustang with watertight provenance, awesome lost-and-then-found story, and McQueen connection, is likely to be unassailable with its nearly 16,000 percent increase over a standard Mustang. The Risky Business Porsche 928 hero car is also in a very strong second place.
Musicians highlights – read the full category here
A 1974 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow owned by Freddie Mercury sold for $325,667 last year against a standard Hagerty value of just $9,600, and it’s no surprise that Mercury’s car now dominates the Musicians category in the 2023 Hagerty Power List.
That wasn’t the only new entry this year, however, with six additions to the top ten. John Lennon’s 1956 Austin Princess, Johnny Hallyday’s modified 1979 Porsche 911SC, George Harrison’s Porsche 928, and Dean Martin’s Rolls-Royce are all listed amongst the newcomers. One notable figure absent from the top ten this year was Elton John, who slipped down to 11th spot despite having the largest number of cars tracked by the Power List analysts.
Royalty highlights – read the full category here
During a year that was undoubtedly the most important for the Royal Family in living memory, including the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, the most fascinating element of the Hagerty Royal Power List for 2023 is just how little change there was.
A 2012 Bentley Mulsanne, reportedly used exclusively by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, went on sale for a shade under $251,948, 150 percent of its Hagerty value. A 1993 Rover Sterling 2.7, with the owner’s name on the order sheet showing simply as ‘Buckingham Palace,’ was auctioned at $7,936, a 78 percent mark-up on the non-royal variety, and a 2010 Land Rover Defender 110 County, built for the Duke of Edinburgh, sold for $147,820, a massive 236 percent mark-up over the standard value.
But the most notable royal car sale of the year just re-established the automotive dominance of Diana, Princess of Wales, who leads the Royal Power List for the second year in succession. Her 1985 Ford Escort RS Turbo sold for an astonishing $847,700, setting not just a record for the Power List but also a marque record for a road-going Ford Escort.
Screen Stars highlights – read the full category here
Burt Reynolds is straight in at number two thanks to the Bandit Pontiac Firebird Trans Am, given to Reynolds by the production company to thank him for the success of the 1977 hit movie Smokey and the Bandit. Sold last year, the Pontiac raised $495,000, a huge 771 percent over the standard Hagerty Price Guide value for the model.
Simon Cowell sold his 1970 Triumph Spitfire for nearly six times its non-celebrity equivalent, and his 1965 MGB for $68,200, nearly twice its current Hagerty Price Guide value. Jay Leno was also new to this list, with four of his previously owned cars showing a combined 706 percent uplift from the norm.
Bruce Willis and Sean Connery also both entered the top ten this year, the latter thanks to his own Aston Martin DB5, which sold for an impressive $2.425M, 155 percent over the top Hagerty Price Guide value for the model. Paul Newman remained at the top of our list for a second year running, thanks to his 1988 Volvo 740 estate, which sold for $84,777 including premium, a huge increase over its current Hagerty value of just $4,923.
Sporting Icons highlights – read the full category here
David Beckham’s Aston Martin V8 Volante caused a stir at $560,584 and Michael Jordan’s Mercedes-Benz S600 Lorinser described as the ‘Holy Grail of Michael Jordan memorabilia’ was valued at $135,000 back in 2020, when a non-celebrity car was worth around half that.
Muhammad Ali’s 1970 Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow convertible sold for $152,500, and his 1976 Alfa Romeo Spider for $23,100, a combination of which put him in a strong third place. Second was Tiger Woods, with a TGR EXP customized golf buggy that sold for $16,500, double its standard price.
Out in front, however, is Diego Maradona, who sold his 1992 Porsche 911 Carrera 2 ‘Turbo Look’ cabriolet back in 2021 for $575,000, more than four times Hagerty’s normal value. Add in the sale of his 1980 Mercedes-Benz 450SLC, which bid to $162,127, and Maradona gains an unassailable lead.
Power List creator and Hagerty UK Price Guide editor, John Mayhead, said, “Hagerty monitors a huge amount of enthusiast car market data every week, and often we see record prices achieved throughout the year. Of course, the rarity and condition of the car counts for a lot, but The Power List shows just how much celebrity ownership can add to the value of a car and can push the values way beyond what a standard car might achieve.”
As mentioned above, pure racing cars were exempt from the list, as the added value created by the driver can be differentiated by its racing success, and advertised values of cars are no longer accepted as a true value, unless Hagerty knows for certain what it sold for. This new ruling resulted in a few big hitters from last year slipping off the ranking.
The full 2023 Power List can be read here
About Hagerty, Inc. (NYSE: HGTY)
Hagerty is an automotive lifestyle brand committed to saving driving and fueling car culture for future generations. The company is a leading provider of specialty vehicle insurance, expert car valuation data and insights, live and digital car auction services, immersive events and automotive entertainment custom made for the 67 million Americans who self-describe as car enthusiasts. Hagerty also operates in Canada and the UK and is home to Hagerty Drivers Club, a community of nearly 800,000 who can’t get enough of cars. As a purpose-driven organization, Hagerty Impact aims to be a catalyst for positive change across the issues that matter most to our teams, our members, the broader automotive community, our shareholders and the planet at large. For more information, please visit www.hagerty.com or connect with us on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and LinkedIn.
Originally published at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hagerty-launches-2023-power-list-highlights-the-dramatic-effect-celebrity-ownership-has-on-enthusiast-car-values-301914298.html
Images courtesy of https://pixabay.com


text:
Here's a bit of stuff for you:
Bonddad - New Deal Democrat vs Calculated Risk: deathmatch! They have totally divergent opinions about housing in 2014. Personally, I'd take Bill McBride's side of the bet. The US economy certainly can handle 1% higher mortgage rates; in fact, rates rising off the zero bound might be a tremendous boost to the US economy, as Rosenberg has noted.
FT Alphaville - mountain of maturing loans in China. If there is a severe market correction in 2014, it'll be because of this. After which you'd expect US manufacturing to take off, as it all gets reshored.
Toronto Star - end of the gold rush. Quotes:
Investors dumped as much gold from exchange-traded products in 2013 as had been purchased in the previous three years, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. They sold 789.3 metric tons since the start of January, pushing holdings to the lowest level since March 2010 and wiping $67.5 billion from the value of the funds.So the people who drove the gold bubble have basically all sold by now, eh?
Speculation now is that a U.S. recovery will curb demand for the metal as a safety net. “The economy is picking up and everyone is very bullish on the U.S. dollar, which is not a great backdrop for gold,” adds Hartnett.Let me know when Indian and Chinese people start holding US dollars instead of gold.
Ah... I see. Carry on.The good news for the industry is that metals-hungry China still has a voracious appetite for gold.
China’s net imports of gold from Hong Kong reached 129.9 tons in October, the second highest total on record, Bloomberg reports.
Chinese consumer demand for the metal rose 30 per cent in the 12 months through September, according to the World Gold Council. That puts it on track to overtake the world’s top consumer, India, where purchases gained at a slower rate of 24 per cent amid government import restrictions.
Yahoo Finacne - Indian iron ore companies throw in the towel. And this is a country that's supposed to be able to start up a gold mining industry? Chidambaram and friends really are well-insulated from the coldness of reality, no?


text:
MORRIS PLAINS, N.J. — Honeywell announced Zhejiang DunAn Artificial Environment Co. Ltd (DunAn Environment), a global manufacturer of refrigeration equipment and components, will assist in driving the HVAC industry transition to Solstice® N41 (R-466A) by developing their product line of HVAC components as compatible.
Solstice N41 is an A1, non-flammable, lower-global-warming-potential (GWP) refrigerant replacement for R-410A in stationary air conditioning systems that reduces global warming impact by 65%.
Multiple worldwide regulations require the phasedown of hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) solutions under the Kigali Amendment to the Montreal Protocol. With regulations under Kigali officially taking effect in China in September and China’s aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, HVAC component manufacturers are increasingly seeking alternative low-GWP solutions.
“The nonflammability and reduced-GWP properties of Solstice N41 provide real breakthroughs for the HVAC industry," said Shan Yukuan, deputy director of technology center, DunAn Environment. "DunAn is glad to partner with Honeywell to carry out evaluation and certification of key HVAC components for Solstice N41 use and promote the widespread application of this innovative technology. We believe this partnership with Honeywell will provide safer, more energy-efficient, and more sustainable products for the HVAC industry.”
Solstice N41 provides the same level of safety to contractors and customers as R-410A.
To date, Solstice N41 has undergone extensive analysis by more than 15 original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and compressor manufacturers. The product has accumulated more than 100,000 reliable hours in different applications like commercial air conditioning (variable refrigerant flow, rooftops) and residential air conditioning (unitary ducted equipment in the U.S.).
"Solstice N41 is a revolutionary, sustainable solution for the HVAC industry,” said Ken West, vice president and general manager, Honeywell Fluorine Products. “It was specifically designed to address industry challenges and meet regulatory requirements thanks to its safety, energy efficiency, and reduced global warming potential. By working with air conditioning and refrigeration manufacturers and component suppliers, such as DunAn, we can move toward industry adoption and help customers meet overall sustainability goals.”For more information, visitwww.dunan.netorwww.honeywell.com.


text: Two years after launching her own skincare brand, 1212 Gateway, it appears that Catherine McBroom has been dropped by the brand after removing her likeness from the website. \n\n\n\nAustin and Catherine McBroom are among the biggest vloggers on YouTube with over 18.8m fans subscribed to their channel. \n\n\n\nCatherine launched her own skincare brand in 2020 called: 1212 Gateway. Just a few months later it was met with backlash throughout social media for broken and damaged orders.\n\n\n\nNow, McBroom’s likeness has been removed from the company’s website. \n\n\n\nCatherine McBroom’s name removed from skincare website\n\n\n\nWhen Catherine McBroom first started 1212 Gateway, the website’s “Who are we?” page featured a photo of McBroom beside a paragraph of text describing her. \n\n\n\nUnder a “Meet the Founder” heading, the website described why Catherine McBroom decided to start the company. \n\n\n1212 GatewayCatherine McBroom founded 1212 Gateway skincare in 2020. \n\n\nOn August 18, the 1212 Gateway website was updated and McBroom’s section of the website was removed. \n\n\n\nNow, it says “Meet the Brand” with an excerpt from the company’s CEO. \n\n\n\nIt reads: “Our mission is to provide eco-focused cosmetics and a lifestyle that embodies health and wellness. We love transparency, we love to communicate, and we sure love making things! I am proud to work with a talented team of experienced professionals who are dedicated to the 1212 gateway experience. – Ian Rice, CEO”\n\n\n1212 Gateway’s website now has a “Meet the Brand” section instead of Catherine’s feature. \n\n\nIt’s unknown whether Catherine has been fully removed from the company, or if it’s a simple redesign choice, but it’s clear that someone decided to remove her from the website after two years. \n\n\n\nFor more entertainment news, head over to our hub.


text:
Farmers seeking more sales clout A new produce marketing group, consolidating the crops from six coastal farms, has passed its first summer successfully in what may be a trend in the industry: small to medium-size growers setting up a single marketing arm to create marketplace clout.
They figure if the supermarkets can consolidate and more closely control purchasing prices, they could do the same thing to control selling prices.
"We felt it would be better to have a bigger produce base," says Steve Church, who with brother Tom, are the general managers of Fresh Kist Produce. They are Fresh Kist co-owners with five other producers in Santa Maria, Calif.
Fresh Kist, an LLC company is the sales representative for growers with a combined 20,000-plus acres of vegetables. Is it the sole sales outlet for these individual farms which have disbanded their own sales forces and in most cases sent their salesmen to work for the common marketer.
"There's been a huge consolidation of buyers on the chain store and food service side," says Church, whose office is in Salinas and is the only Salinas-based grower in Fresh Kist.
Joining Church Brothers in the alliance are Santa Maria-based producers Teixeira Farms; George Adams' A & A Farming; Joe Jorge and Chad Smith of Byrd Produce; Ron Burke and Bon Espinola of Gold Coast Produce; and Dick and Jim Donati of Pack Fresh Produce.
"Fresh Kist was designed to get the most money back to the ranch," says Glenn Teixeira, sales manager for
Growers all neighbors Teixeira Farms. He noted that although other growers were contacted and invited to join, the ones who ultimately made the decision were all old acquaintances and neighbors.
Teixeira Farms, a company that last year had a sales force of five, joined Fresh Kist because of the recent history of produce marketing for Teixeira and other growers in Santa Maria.
"In the `70s and `80s we sold a lot to the brokers and the Los Angeles market," he recalled. Those included both national supermarket chains and small local chains such as Williams Brothers Markets. Williams and many other retailers like it no longer exist.
"They got bought out by Vons. Vons got bought out by Safeway." It was worse for the small wholesalers who used to buy a lot of Santa Maria veggies, Teixeira notes. "The little wholesalers around in the 70s have gone out of business."
In addition, Teixeira says, the market has changed. "If you had a field that was a bit off-quality, you could sell it to somebody who was looking for a bargain. Not any more.
"It all has to be No. 1 quality now," he says.
"We were beating ourselves up competing with each other," Teixeira says. Buyers, who would play them against each other, forcing prices down even in strong markets would batter all the Santa Maria growers.
"With the consolidations on the store side, we thought it would be nice to join with other entities and get a broader shipping base," Teixeira says.
Church says discussions had been in the works informally between some growers for months, but the deal finally coalesced last spring. Church Brothers was the only Salinas grower to join the group.
"I would say Glenn Teixeira and my brother Tom have had a good relationship for a long time," Church says in explaining how the idea came to pass. "It came from those roots."
A major reason that Fresh Kist was formed was that growers felt that Santa Maria produce was getting generally lower prices-in competition with Salinas and other large summer production regions.
"They felt that was pretty much unfair, because they felt they had as good a quality or better than Salinas," Church points out. He adds that because of Santa Maria's long history of shipping to Los Angeles, which generally provides lower prices than for vegetables shipped to eastern markets, it had suffered from lower prices. Fresh Kist will probably ship more east now.
Church says the food service industry is a huge fresh produce market, and that too has become consolidated. About six major players now control the bulk of the market, and growers need volume and clout when they deal with them.
Shipper consolidation Tom Oliveri, manager of marketing services for the Western Growers Association, confirmed Church's and Teixeira's analyses of recent marketing history. He says Fresh Kist may be the start of a trend to consolidate produce shippers.
"We've seen some of that, and we're going to see a lot more," Oliveri says. It is a step taken for survival in a difficult marketplace.
"They've taken a big step forward," he says, and other growers around the west are watching to see how it works.
Church said Fresh Kist's primary focus since it was formed was on quality.
"We're a bigger company, but we feel people are going to buy better produce from us," Church says. The company, which has over 50 employees in Santa Maria and Salinas offices, has 19 sales people.
The quality specs outlined to Fresh Kist growers are still in the evolution stage, but already the company is insisting on growing, harvest and packing standards for each crop. For head lettuce, for example, there are specs on weight, color and number of wrapper leaves. And company inspectors check it. A former grower, Gary Anthony, is the head of quality control.
"He goes around and makes sure the produce is done right," Church says. In addition, there is a manager for each of the five major crops that Fresh Kist is focused on-head and leaf lettuce, celery, broccoli and cauliflower. Those managers follow their crops from acreage planning to shipment.
"We're shipping around 100,000 packages a day," and crop managers work very closely with each grower/owner to ensure quality. Jim Storm in Salinas is head of production, and John LaGrandeur is chief financial officer.


text:
What we eat, and the way we eat is changing. Veganism is on the rise and food to go has become a lifeline for consumers and producers. Sustainability is becoming increasingly important for everyone in their food choices and this is playing out in buying behaviour.
Events like COP26 have catapulted the topic of sustainability on to a much bigger platform, forcing corporations to outline what they’re doing to tackle environmental issues. Consumers are using their pounds as power to drive the change they want to see in the world.
Satisfying this appetite for change is key to attracting and retaining customers in 2022 and beyond.
Grow your menu
300,000 people – and counting – have signed up to Veganuary 2022 – a month-long pledge to “go vegan”. Last year, the campaign was so successful that over 80% stated that while they weren’t vegan before taking part in Veganuary, they maintained a dramatic reduction in their animal product consumption afterwards (Veganuary, 2021).
The movement is being largely driven by young people with 70% of school children stating they’d like to see more vegetarian and vegan options on menus (LACA) and another study showing that 50% of 16 to 24-year-olds no longer eat meat (KBK).
Veganuary asks participants why they’ve signed up with the top reason being animal welfare (46%), followed by health (22%) and environment (21%). But what ever the reasons are for more people adopting a vegan diet, the outcome is the same – increased demand for vegan options.
This movement is showing no signs of slowing so make sure your menus are well-equipped with vegan options to stay on trend in 2022 and beyond.
The pandemic has intensified interest in “conscientious consumption” – the consideration of environmental and societal impacts associated with shopping habits. People are portraying their values through their purchasing choices.
A 2020 study showed that 40% of European consumers are influenced by the environmental impact of their food and drink and are actively looking for extra product information like the brand’s story and certifications such as Fairtrade, B Corp and Rainforest Alliance (Foresight Factory, 2020). On-pack messages related to the packaging itself are the number one thing that shoppers are looking for with 63% of shoppers looking for packaging that can be recycled, 51% looking for packaging is made of recycled material and 41% looking for instructions on how to recycle (Kantar, 2021).
The term “Eco Active” refers to shoppers who are highly concerned about the environment and are taking actions to reduce their impact. This group of shoppers feel an intrinsic responsibility to be more sustainable and they currently represent 29% of the Great British population (up to 8% since 2019) which is worth £37bn to the Great British grocery market. If the number of Eco Actives continues to grow at the current rate, 62% of the Great British population will be an Eco Active by 2030 (Kantar, 2021).
Ocado is one of the only supermarkets to currently win over the Eco Active community because they’re making it easier for shoppers to identify responsible brands with its Eco Shop. The highlighted area on its website puts a spotlight on brands using low plastic or recycled packaging, more eco-friendly options and brands that are certified B Corp.
It’s no longer about solely price and quality – it’s much more than this. Where have the raw materials been sourced from? What type of packaging has been used? Are the people who produced this product being treated with dignity and respect? What environmental impact has this product had to get it on to the shop shelf? And what happens to it after the product comes to the end of its useful life?
Thinking about where you’re sourcing your ingredients, and from whom, could help you gain the trust of customers – old and new. Locally sourced produce shows you care about your local community and reducing plastic packaging proves you’re doing your bit for the environment. Look around you. What small changes could you make in your kitchen or bakery that could make a big difference to the world?
More taste, less waste
It’s a given that the mark of truly delicious food is that not a morsel goes to waste. But the mark of a responsible food operator is a waste-free kitchen or bakery behind the scenes.
We’re seeing big brands across the food industry making big commitments to tackle food waste. Greggs launched its first sustainability plan in March 2021, committing to cut food waste and source more sustainably by 2025 while Marks & Spencer has announced the rollout of its refillable programme – Fill Your Own – to a total of 11 stores, encouraging people to take only what they need and reduce the need for single-use plastic packaging.
In spite of a huge rise in awareness of the impact of food production and waste on the ever-growing threat of climate change, the UK is still falling behind in sustainability responsibilities. A new poll has revealed that, although half of people surveyed said that sustainability has become more important to them, one in two Brits bin food as they can’t use fresh produce fast enough.
However, the pandemic and changing restrictions and guidance within hospitality has made it particularly difficult to avoid waste within this setting. The hospitality sector loses £17.6bm a year due to no-shows according to new research, with over a quarter of 18 to 34-year-olds, failing to show for reservations. Since the sector reopened in 2021, 14% of people have not turned up to their reservation, with 12% saying they are more likely to no-show than they were before the pandemic (H2O Publishing, 2021).
Considering food waste and getting clever about product rationalisation for businesses is more important than ever and Macphie is here to help with versatile ranges that can be used across a number of applications.


text:
Apple is expected to launch the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8 models tomorrow.
The new iPhone will be available in 16 different colors and in four different models, which will be sold by Apple.
The models will include the iPhone SE, iPhone SE Plus, iPhone XS, iPhone XL, and iPhone XR.
The 16 new models will come in two sizes, the iPhone 8 and iPhone 9, and the iPhone 9 Plus.iPhone 7 and 8 models will be offered in 16 colors and two models, both of which are 16GB and 64GB in capacities.
The 64GB iPhone SE will be released tomorrow, and will be priced at $699.
The 32GB iPhone 8 will be out on October 23, while the 32GB model will be announced tomorrow.iPhone 8 and 8 Plus models will offer 32GB of storage and will cost $999, with a two-year contract for $1,299.
Apple will also release a 64GB model of the iPhone.
The 64GB and 128GB models will launch on October 30, but the 128GB iPhone 9 will not be available until November 15.iPhone SE and iPhone SEPlus models will go on sale tomorrow.
iPhone SE models will also have an unlocked bootloader, which means they can be unlocked without unlocking your device.
Apple will also unveil new products including the iPhone X, iPhone Pro, and new models for the Apple Watch.


text:
American Express and MasterCard have each posted strong
third-quarter results in the face of a possible deterioration of
the US economy. International markets accounted for a growing
proportion of revenue growth.
American Express beat analyst expectations with its announcement
that the company’s third-quarter earnings rose by 10 percent.
Quarterly profit rose to $1.07 billion from $967 million in the
year-ago period, while revenue rose 11 percent to $6.95 billion
from $6.27 billion. Earnings growth reflected a 16 percent rise in
combined spending by consumers, small businesses and corporate
cardmembers, and boosted purchases to $162.5 billion, while
international billed business increased 23 percent from a year ago.
American Express added 2.5 million net new cards during the quarter
worldwide, an 11 percent rise.
American Express, which is known for its high net worth client
base, said its delinquencies had increased. The company said it had
padded reserves for loan losses, along with other financial
services companies, in order to face the worsening financial
fallout from the US subprime meltdown and its effect on the wider
It is almost certainly its focus on wealthier customers that has
helped American Express avoid the pitfalls that have ensnared other
major US financial institutions. Investors have been keeping a keen
eye on American Express for signs that the subprime turmoil may be
bleeding into other areas of consumer finance such as credit cards.
American Express had total managed loans of $72 billion at the end
of the quarter, up 23 percent from the same quarter last
However, according to Sanjay Sakhrani, equity analyst with analysis
company Keefe, Bruyette & Woods (KBW), the company’s credit
quality remains robust in light of the industry downturn. “We
believe these results demonstrate the strength and sustainable
competitive advantage of American Express’s premium business
model,” he told CI. “We believe the company has the ability to
sustain its growth in billed business volume in the near term
through its push into higher spending segments of the market (ie,
small business, global middle market and recurring payments), the
continued growth of the [global network and merchant services] segment and the company’s focus on the premium consumer.”
Growth for MasterCard outside US
How well do you really know your competitors?
Access the most comprehensive Company Profiles on the market, powered by GlobalData. Save hours of research. Gain competitive edge.
Your download email will arrive shortly
Not ready to buy yet? Download a free sample
We are confident about the unique quality of our Company Profiles. However, we want you to make the most beneficial decision for your business, so we offer a free sample that you can download by submitting the below formBy GlobalData
MasterCard’s profits jumped 63 percent from the previous quarter to
$314 million in the third quarter of 2007, driven by increased
cardholder spending and the sale of a stake in Brazilian card
processor Redecard. The results confirm that MasterCard is growing
strongly outside the US, with especially strong results posted for
South Asia, Middle East, Africa and Latin America. However, growth
remained sluggish in the US.
MasterCard net revenues reached a record $1.08 billion, a 20
percent increase on the same period in 2006, helped slightly by the
dollar weakening against the euro. The currency fluctuations
contributed 2.3 percent to the increase in revenues. Revenues were
boosted by a gross dollar volume (GDV) increase in credit and debit
card programmes to $577 billion worldwide, an increase of 16.6
percent compared to the third quarter in 2006.
MasterCard’s customers issued 878 million cards worldwide in the
year to September 2007, an 11 percent increase compared to last
year. On the downside, total operating costs increased 16.3 percent
to $730 million in the third quarter, driven by a 24 percent
increase in higher marketing and advertising costs. MasterCard card
use was 26 percent higher compared with the second quarter in
Europe, 24 percent in Latin America and 22 percent in the
Asia-Pacific region, but increased just 8 percent in the US. Growth
was slow in the US because of a saturated market, and the company’s
best growth prospects continue to come from abroad. The company
took about half its revenue from outside the US.
MasterCard card use increased most in the South Asia, Middle East
and Africa region, up 41 percent in the third quarter from the
previous quarter. Around 30 million MasterCard cards have been
issued in the region so far this year, compared to 24 million in
the same period in 2006.
Sakhrani noted: “We think two words describe MasterCard’s
third-quarter earnings results – solid and strong.” However, he
warned that there could be challenges to growth, saying: “We
believe GDV growth could be further impaired if the US economy were
to slow down even further – MasterCard said it has seen some
slowdown in US consumer spending. The US segment represents about
50 percent of revenue.”