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Recreational cannabis will become legal in Illinois on Jan. 1, 2020, and in the days leading up to the big day, Illinois residents will hear a lot about equity, justice, freedom, and just about every other description of the societal change the new law represents.
Oh, and there’s one other thing: money.
People are literally lining up to get a piece of the Illinois pot pie. That includes not only the growers and dispensary licensees who stand to make millions on the state’s newest cash crop, but also thousands who hope to land jobs at dozens of new businesses statewide.
“Horticulture background is nice,” says Ashley Peterson, the CEO of the cannabis firm Justice Grown. “But whatever your desire is, we can train and teach.”
Indeed, at a recent job fair at Oakton Community College, hundreds were heeding that call.
“I thought it would be a good idea to get into another industry that is expanding,” said Oakton student Courtney Hoppman. “That way I can have a wide variety of what I can do and where I can work.”
Oakton is one of the Illinois junior colleges offering cannabis courses, and even Dean Bob Sompolski seems surprised at the response.
“I haven’t seen this type of response since the days of I.T.,” he said. “Classes are filled---and that comes at a time when community colleges in Illinois are seeing drops in enrollment!”
Antoine Hudson was among those lining up for an opportunity. He said he hopes to one day open a cannabis dispensary, but understands he needs to set his sights on a realistic beginning.
“I’m willing to start as a budtender,” he said. “And work my way up through the ranks, just to learn any type of information.”
Southern Illinois University is also planning courses in the area of cultivation. And with the anticipated need for employees, industry representatives say they welcome the training.
“It closes some opportunity gaps that exist,” Peterson told NBC5. “And it’s the wave of the future.”
That future is now in states like Colorado, which has seen over $7 billion in sales since marijuana became legal five years ago. The state offers a case-study in the secondary industries which sprout up around legal pot.
“I try to bring fine-dining to the cannabis industry,” says Denver chef Jarod Farina. “My typical clientele is the average person who’s in love with cannabis, and wants to see different uses for it.”
Farina, who goes by the moniker Chef Roilty, offers cannabis cooking classes, with preparations for everything from pastas, to spring rolls and souffles. THC has no flavor in his dishes, but it can have an effect.
“Whether or not you can get a buzz off of this depends on each individual person,” he told NBC5, as he prepared THC-infused shrimp alfredo. “It depends on the individual, and I think, learning your tolerance, and building from there.”
Colorado is also home to a significant industry in what has become known as “canna-tourism”. One company, 420 Tours, offers everything from all-inclusive vacations, to a sushi-and-joint-rolling class, and even a couples cannabis getaway with an available “marijuana massage”.
Back in Illinois, would-be budtenders packed a suburban hotel last weekend, as a company called HempStaff offered foot-in-the-door training for what is expected to be an exploding industry.
“It is a very competitive market right now,” says Farrah Vorhauer, HempStaff’s senior director of training. “And we want reliable people.”
Dozens of would-be reliables listened Saturday, as instructors walked them through the products which will go on sale in January, potential effects and benefits, even the do’s and don’ts of the hiring process.
“Most of these business owners have spent a lot of money to open up their shops,” Vice-President Rosie Yayielo told NBC5. “The last thing that they want to know is that the people who are working for them think this is a game.”
Far from a game, she warned, marijuana is a business, and candidates might not want to mention a background in illegal pot during the hiring process.
“Because what do they actually know about the plant?” she asked. “Even if they know how to grow it, do they know what’s in it?”
Bonnie Campbell travelled for the training from LaSalle-Peru.
“I’m a nurse and I love the idea of helping people and I’m getting close to retirement, trying to figure out what I’m going to do next,” she said. “And this might be it!”
Another student, Ivona Gal, told NBC5 she sees a big future for the industry.
“I just see all the medical benefits now and I’ve completely done a 180,” she said. “I just think it’s going to be everywhere.”


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Latest Google IO 2015 news and predictions
We’re expecting big things from Google IO 2015, set to invade San Francisco’s Moscone Center May 28 – May 29. It will be a well-attended affair, and TechRadar will be a front row and center for all the proceedings.
Google revealed it’s hosting a two-and-a-half hour long keynote on Day 1 (9:30am PT/5:30pm GMT to 12pm PT/8pm GMT on May 28). Like years previous, we expect a smorgousborg of Android, Chrome OS, Android Wear, Google Glass, self-driving cars and everything in between.
For those unable to attend, Google is broadcasting the keynote and livestreams, and you can find streamed sessions right here. Of course, you can also follow along with your friends at TechRadar.
What to expect from Google IO 2015
In the months since the IO 2014, Google has teased us with a number of tantalizing products and intriguing concepts, including the Project Ara modular phone, Project Tango tablet, and more Android Wear smartwatches than we can count, that have us looking forward it its 2015 conference.
But there’s something else making us extra excited for the upcoming show: competition. Microsoft’s latest Surface 3 and the ever-closer release of Windows 10, not to mention is new Microsoft Edge browser and HoloLens AR viewer, should have Google on alert.
Then there’s Apple, which is seeing record iPhone sales and the generally positive reception of its first wearable, the Apple Watch. Plus, it’s got its own WWDC conference coming on the heals of IO.
Even Google’s more far-flung projects, like its self-driving car, are seeing alternatives arise, such as Mercedes and its F 015 Luxury in Motion pod-car of the future.
Where Google balked from making a big splash at Google IO 2014, we think IO 2015 needs to reinvigorate developer, press and consumer imaginations with the company’s classic panache. Read on for our predictions for Google IO 2015, along with the latest news and rumors.
If you’re still waiting for Android Lollipop to land on your device, you may want to turn away.
An Android at Work session description that’s since been pulled from the Google IO website reveals Google plans to announce Android M, the next version of its mobile OS, during the 2015 conference. The Verge spotted the session before it disappeared, and Android Police also managed to get a screen grab of the description.
The description offered few details on the upcoming OS specifically, expect to say it “brings power of Android to all kinds of workplaces.” We expect it will do much more than bring more functionality to the workplace, of course.
Lollipop, which debuted at IO 2014, may still be making its way to users, but Google is clearly not pumping the breaks on discussing – and even releasing – the next version of Android.
Project Ara and Project Tango
The intrigue around Project Ara, Google’s modular phone, is palpable. The biggest question surrounds whether this thing will actually work with so many options for parts, which we’ll get to find out in the second half of 2015 when a pilot program launches in Puerto Rico.
It looks like we’re in for some Project Ara discussion during a Day 2 session focused on Google’s Advanced Technology and Projects team (ATAP), featuring ATAP head Regina Dugan. This may be the session to attend: Justin Lin of Fast & Furious 6 directorial fame will also debut a live action short to showcase for Spotlight Story.
Project Tango, Google’s tablet that combines VR, AR and 3D mapping into one, also has a dedicated session at IO. It’s been almost a year since Project Tango was unveiled, the description notes, and now it’s time for developers to learn how to create location-aware and spatial experiences using the device. The session will offer a “sneak peak at how Project Tango will help users connect the virtual world with the real world.” Sounds fun.
ATAP also plans to unveil some new wearables during Google IO. The wearables will come during a same session entitled “Badass and beautiful. Tech and human. Love and work. ATAP.”
According to the session description, the team will debut “wearables that we hope will blow your socks off. (We mean this more literally than you might think…).
“Our goal: break the tension between the ever-shrinking screen sizes necessary to make electronics wearable and our ability to have rich interactions with them,” it continued. “Why can’t you have both? We like to build new things. Sometimes seemingly impossible things. We can build them faster together.”
What could these be? Holograph-projecting smartwatches? A re-imagined Google Glass? A modular smartwatch? A device we haven’t imagined yet? We’ll find out on May 29.
Android 5.0 Lollipop and Chrome
Android 5 is pretty sweet, but it’s having a hell of a time getting to flagship phones. Will Google IO ring in the release of Lollipop onto more smartphones? We sure hope so.
If we won’t see more phones join up with Lollipop, we will for sure see some improvements at IO. According to the description for a session entitled Notifications, Interruptions and Volumes: Coming Attractions, Google has worked to refine notifications and other alerts on Lollipop. Lollipop has already done work to transform these “unwelcome interruptions,” as Google puts it, into something useful, but we should see even more improvements at IO.
Chrome also seems likely for lots of IO love. While we haven’t heard anything specific to IO, we do have a sense of things to come. Google announced in mid-January Chrome Remote Desktop for iOS, letting users access their PC on their iPhone or iPad. The concept is nothing new, but the fact Google released this specifically for iOS gives us a clue that more cross-OS functionality is top of Google’s mind.
Cardboard (or other virtual reality)
Oculus Rift may rule the VR roost, but don’t count Google Cardboard out before it gets a chance to shine.
In December 2014, Google announced some choice updates for its VR viewer, including a dedicated page for apps on Google Play and a number of places to purchase Cardboard so users don’t have to make their own. Developers (the target IO audience) were also given access to Cardboard SDKs for Android and Unity. New viewer specs and a wave of VR-related hiring rounded out the year-end announcements.
Google has several sessions dealing with VR during IO. One May 28 session is called “Make Believe” and it’s here developers will “explore virtual reality and how it may change our lives.” The session will go over how VR works and how to create VR experiences. The session description never mentions Google Cardboard by name however, so perhaps Google is changing the name or showcasing a new device entirely?
Besides wearables, there’s really no hotter space for companies to get into than cars right now. Google, as you know, has been very active on the auto front.
Let’s start with a no-big-deal project (not) – its self-driving car. Google followed up the buzz around its initial mock-up by revealing in December 2014 it has a self-driving prototype that, you know, actually drives its self. Google is currently testing this version and plans to put functioning vehicles on Northern California roads sometime this year. A Google IO 2015 demo feels very plausible.
In addition to its self-driving car, car companies are signing up for Android Auto left and right. Several Android Auto-related announcements were made during CES 2015, including ones from Pioneer, Volkswagen and Parrot. Following Android Auto’s debut at IO 2014, you can bet your left blinker Google has more car talk planned for this year’s gathering.
Google has a two Android Auto sessions planned for each day of IO, focusing on helping developers create apps for the road. We may not see anything radically new come out of the conference in regards to cars, though Google will want to keep pace with Apple CarPlay.
Say hello to the new king of Google’s TV OS ambitions. Google TV is dead, the company announced in early January, usurped by the burgeoning Android TV platform.
With support ending for Google TV and the one-year anniversary of Android TV’s emergence approaching at IO, Google is sure to spend plenty of time talking about the smart TV system this year. Sony plans to put Android TV in all its 2015 models, and developers are now encouraged to create Android TV and Cast-enabled apps.
Google Cast looks to be a big focus for Google at this year’s IO, with several sessions dedicated to the music and video streaming platform. Gaming via Android TV and the smart home also look to be important parts of Google’s IO plans.
- These are all the products that work with Google Cast
Google IO: What we want to see
Read on for what we want to see during the annual developer confab, and tell us know in the comments what showstoppers – or showsleepers – you think Google will whip out.
Pull out your Google Wallet
Now that Apple has gotten serious about mobile payments with Apple Pay, we anticipate Google Wallet getting some love during IO 2015.
Mountain View’s mobile payment platform has bounced like a bad check, but as Apple gets into the game in a big way (have you been to a McDonald’s in the US lately?), Google can’t sit idly by as its biggest rival gobbles up NFC payment-dom.
The world is still wary of mobile payments, especially in the wake of massive credit card hacks, so it’s yet to be proven if Apple Pay (or any service) is the silver bullet to the anti-credit card conundrum. Despite that – or maybe because of it – we want Google to swing for the fences with a revamped Google Wallet.
The timing may be tricky as some US retailers are shunning Apple Pay in favor of their own mobile payment system, but we wouldn’t put it past Google to corral some big names into its tap-to-pay service circle.
Where the heck is Google Glass?
OK, Google. The Explorer program is several years old, more apps have found their way onto your loved/loathed wearable and you’ve allowed US consumers to have their hand at Glass, but when are we going to see the final consumer version and its (hopefully) cheaper price?
Yes, Google Glass is part of completely new device category and there’s want to get it right, but there’s a feeling we can’t shake that now that Android Wear has shown its face, Google has relegated its first wearable to the basement.
Not helping matters is the fact the consumer edition release date has reportedly been pushed until 2015, and app makers, including Twitter, are distancing themselves from the Glass.
To top it off, the Glass poster child, Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin, left his company-made headset behind in the car while he attended a November Silicon Valley event, not exactly sending a singing message that Glass is something you can’t leave home without.
That sets the stage for a pretty telling IO 2015. Google has two choices, really: either try to re-capture the public’s imagination with Glass (or, more fittingly, show it has real-world applications), or keep quiet and let Glass slide quietly out of sight.
We think Google will go for the former, otherwise all those years of pushing Glass on developers and executives sporting them on their brows will be for naught. More critically, with other head-worn wearables like Oculus Rift gaining greater visibility, Google can’t afford to let Glass’ future get any foggier.
We expect Google to place lots of emphasis on apps made for Glass, especially since its Glass Development Kit will be around a year old by then, plus show us hardware that’s vastly improved and/or vastly cheaper than what one sees bobbing on heads around the Valley these days.
When Google met VR
Speaking of things you put on your face, Google’s DIY Cardboard VR headset was a fun yet potentially conspicuous surprise during last year’s IO.
Google handed out the headset as a little something extra at the end of its Day 1 keynote, but you didn’t need to be in attendance to get one because anyone can build the “no frills” viewer with a few acquired materials.
Could Google flush out the concept during IO 2015? We think so, especially since Samsung’s Gear VR does virtually the same thing with more premium materials.
Whether this means Google delivers a more durable headset, reveals apps and games developed for Cardboard as-is, or introduces some virtual reality features somehow tied Glass, we don’t know, but we can say the VR market is too hot for Google to pass up.
Update December 10, 2014: Google showed how serious it is about Cardboard by filling us in on the work it’s been doing since the viewer was revealed. The company added a dedicated collection page on Google Play for Google apps. There are now more places to pick up a Cardboard viewer, developers have access to SDKs for Android and Unity and makers scored some new building specs. Finally, Google said it’s hiring for positions in Cardboard and VR, signaling this is far from the last we’ve heard about the DIY VR viewer.
Focus on your Fit
Another carryover from IO 2014 we’d like to see at the 2015 run is Google Fit. The Apple HealthKit rival officially launched as a Google Play app in late October, while developers were given full access to the platform’s APIs.
As developers create health-enhancing programs for Android users and devices become better equipped to use Google Fit’s feature set, there should be plenty to relay come dev con time. We’d like to see just how far Fit has come in a year’s time and what the future holds for Google and health. What’s more, who’s to say Google won’t have a fitness tracking wearable to show that puts Fit front and center?
The living room, Google watch and other stuff
Coming to your living room … again!
Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but Google will make a play for your living room during IO 2015.
What we hope is different this time around is Google coming at your favorite four walls with some kind of cohesive plan in place.
The company recently announced Nexus Player, perhaps its most robust and practical entertainment offering to date, but don’t expect it to stop there. Even if it should.
Google struck gold with Chromecast, the dirt cheap dongle some people own more than one of, so no one would be surprised if the firm returned to the formula with Chromecast 2 or another bargain bin-priced device. In fact, Google is reportedly already working on Chromecast 2, making an IO reveal seem all the more likely.
Whatever Google does, we want it to, you know, make cohesive sense. So far, this “scatter gun approach” (hat tip James Rivington) is only creating a series of half-baked products that no one is buying into. That is, except Chromecast.
It might be time for Google to put its money on the winning horse, if you catch our drift.
‘Android Wear, where you at?’
“In watches like the Moto 360, LG G Watch and Samsung Gear Live, that’s where, TechRadar!”
Yes, Google’s wearable OS has taken hold in a surprisingly quick turnaround from announcement to market. The only thing missing? Google’s own smartwatch running its home-grown Android Wear OS. No biggie, right?
Like the Apple Watch before it, the Google watch has been the stuff of legend for what feels like ions. Unlike the Apple Watch, the Google watch is still unannounced. Even more unlike the Apple Watch, the Google watch probably won’t be on sale by the time IO 2015 rolls around (the Apple Watch release is slated for early 2015).
This leaves Google out of a growing hardware product category while others grab hold. One could argue Google has more than enough of a stranglehold on the smartwatch market with Android Wear, and it’s certainly a valid point.
However, in order for Google to truly be in the wearable conversation, we need to see its own branded hardware serve as the hallmark for what Android Wear can really do.
So, Google, give us the Nexus Watch, or whatever you want to call it. Give us something we can point to and say, “Hey, Apple, you see what Google came up with?” Give us something to strap on our wrists so we can complete the look with our Nexus phone, Nexus tablet and Google Glass.
Give us the wearable we’ve been waiting for.
YouTube : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQHVfNSVmH4
Update December 10, 2014: With the release of Android Lollipop for Android Wear, Google introduced a bevy of custom watch faces for the wearable. The firm also released its Watch Face API, letting developers take a crack at creating their own watch faces. We have an inkling the many faces of Android Wear (plus a whole lot more) are due for some major airtime at IO 2015.
And the other stuff
Just like ice cream flavors, everyone seems to like the idea of vanilla Android, so don’t drop your jaw if Google announces another Google Play Edition flagship phone.
Google seems to be spacing its hardware reveals further and further apart, making a new Nexus phone or tablet reveal at IO 2015 feel unlikely.
Like last year, the company will probably focus most on its software platforms, stressing the ease of developing for Chrome and Android over OSes-that-shall-not-be-named. Another Android iteration after 5.0 could definitely come (Android 5.5, for example), as could improvements to Google Now and the other services Google offers.
- Is the Galaxy S5 the best Android phone around?
Source:: phones revews

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Effects of the Internet on Your Brain
Nicholas Carr’s new book The Shallows has sparked a lively debate over how the Internet affects our brains. Carr believes that twitter feeds and blog posts have rendered us less able to concentrate on involved intellectual tasks like reading novels or watching opera.
In fact, many notable thinkers have voiced this concern in recent months. Playwright Tom Stoppard recently lamented that, as a result of our “world of technology . . . the printed word is no longer as in demand” as it has been in the past. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama has warned that, in the Internet age, “information becomes a distraction, a diversion, a form of entertainment, rather than a tool of empowerment.”
Certainly the content explosion that the Internet has ignited can erode our ability to concentrate. But only if we let it. What makes the Internet such a liberating medium is that individuals can decide for themselves how they use it. If you’re looking to procrastinate, there’s plenty of content to divert your attention (I’m partial to Youtube.)
But the internet can just as easily be a tool for strengthening our minds by enabling us to sample from billions of sources and compile our own unique vision of the world.
For instance, I no longer rely solely on the New York Times for my morning serving of news and analysis. Instead, I read The Times, the NZ Herald, Arts and Letters Daily, The Huffington Post and a half dozen other publications and blogs before breakfast. I can weigh a variety of facts and opinions and use my judgment to decide for myself what to think about the BP oil spill and the Elena Kagan nomination.
In other words, the Internet is the perfect medium for the and/and world that we live in. We all crave substance as well as frivolity, and the Internet is a superb delivery system for both.
Overall, it’s hard to deny that, thanks to the Internet, consumers are now more empowered, informed and free than at any other time in the history of capitalism. Consumers don’t have to trust the potentially inflated claims of marketers and sales representatives. Now, anyone can instantly query a sea of people on Facebook or read product reviews on Amazon.com before making a purchase. They can gather information from company websites, consult message boards and read product review blogs.
It’s this wave of consumer empowerment that has made Lovemarks necessary. With all of this information at their disposal, consumers are no longer interested in the empty hyperbole that characterizes most brand marketing. What they are interested in is emotional experience. And, no matter how much content the Internet makes available to us, real emotional connection will always be in demand.
Image source: Neuronarrative
Kevin Roberts is the CEO worldwide of The Lovemarks Company, Saatchi & Saatchi. For more information on Kevin, please go to www.saatchikevin.com. To see this blog at its original source, please go to www.krconnect.blogspot.com.
NEVER MISS ANOTHER NEWSLETTER!
Photo by Jenny Ueberberg on Unsplash In the last few years, electric vehicles (EVs) have become more and more…Read More


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SAN JOSE, CA -- (Marketwired) -- 07/23/13 --
Compass Labs, the leading social marketing platform powering ads and audience intelligence, has been selected by AlwaysOn as one of the AlwaysOn Global 250 winners. Inclusion in the AlwaysOn Global 250 signifies leadership amongst its peers and game-changing approaches and technologies that are likely to disrupt existing markets and entrenched players in the Global Silicon Valley. Compass Labs was specially selected by the AlwaysOn editorial team and industry experts spanning the globe based on a set of five criteria: innovation, market potential, commercialization, stakeholder value, and media buzz.
Compass Labs and the AlwaysOn Global 250 companies will be honored at AlwaysOn's 11th annual Silicon Valley Innovation Summit at the Computer History Museum in Mountain View, CA on July 23rd and 24th. This two-day executive gathering that highlights the significant economic, political, and commercial trends affecting the global technology industries. Innovation Summit's goal is to identify the most promising entrepreneurial opportunities and investments in the global tech industry.
"This year's AlwaysOn Global 250 is seeing an unprecedented shift from desktop to mobile. Concurrently, innovators in the cloud are making it possible for an entirely new generation of application and software solutions to enter the technology marketplace. The enterprise world has endured a long ramp-up to the cloud as well as finally accepting that mobile is here to stay. Now, businesses are demanding even more robust, secure applications with which to run their operations -- anytime, anywhere," says Tony Perkins, founder and editor of AlwaysOn. "The Global Silicon Valley is rising to this challenge with unfettered enthusiasm, providing business management solutions, IT infrastructure, and elegant, stable applications. Coupled with bleeding-edge consumer adoption of the latest and most powerful media applications, the companies on this year's AlwaysOn Global 250 represent the highest-growth opportunities in today's private company marketplace."
The AlwaysOn editorial team conducted a rigorous three-month selection process to finalize the 2013 list. Compass Labs applies science to social media advertising with CLIQ (Compass Labs IQ), a self-service or fully managed social media advertising platform that makes scalable, targeted social advertising campaigns easy to execute and measure for agencies and their brands.
Compass Labs offers a powerful social media advertising and audience intelligence platform that provides brands and agencies with sophisticated campaign management tools, analytics and insights, and rich audience and content intelligence to guide owned, earned and paid media.
A full list of all the AlwaysOn Global 250 winners can be found on the AlwaysOn website at: http://aonetwork.com/Announcing-the-2013-AlwaysOn-Global-250-Top-Private-Companies
"Compass Labs is extremely pleased to be selected for the AlwaysOn Global 250 award," said Dilip Venkatachari, CEO at Compass Labs. "We are very proud of this honor. This award reflects the confidence and support that our customers and partners have placed in our technology and team."
About Compass Labs
Compass Labs applies science to social media marketing with two platform solutions for brands and agencies: CLIQ Ads Manager and CLIQ Social Intelligence. CLIQ Ads Manager takes the guesswork out of social media advertising and replaces it with sophisticated campaign management tools, analytics and insights. CLIQ Social Intelligence enables marketers to monitor and measure their social presence, while gaining rich audience and content intelligence to guide owned, earned and paid media strategies. Headquartered in San Jose, CA, Compass Labs was founded in 2009 by industry veterans and scientists. Investors include New Enterprise Associates (NEA), Presidio Ventures, Triple Point Capital, Jim Clark and others. For more information, please visit www.compasslabs.com, follow @compasslabs on Twitter or like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/CompassLabs.
Blast PR on behalf of Compass Labs
Source: Compass Labs


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The 3rd Asia Golf Tourism Convention (AGTC) will take place at Mission Hills Haikou on Hainan Island, China’s most exciting golf destination, from 24-27 March 2014. AGTC is firmly established as the golf tourism industry’s premier event in the Asia-Pacific region. You can register now to attend by selecting the Registration option above.
More than 500 delegates from 33 countries attended IAGTO’s 2nd AGTC and more than 4000 meetings took place between golf tour operators and golf resorts, golf clubs, hotels, inbound operators and tourist boards.
Over 150 golf tour operators, all selling Asia Pacific golf destinations, are expected to attend AGTC 2014 in China. To view the list of buyers and sellers who attended AGTC 2013 click here.
At the unveiling of the 2014 venue, IAGTO’s President, Peter Walton, said “Taking the 3rd AGTC to China is an incredibly exciting step for IAGTO because in one fell swoop we will be able to showcase the fastest developing golf and tourism destination in the Asia-Pacific region while simultaneously introducing sellers from across the region to the largest-ever gathering of golf travel buyers from the world’s fastest-growing outbound tourism market - China.”
Suppliers have the opportunity to introduce themselves to all buyers during 2 hours of speed-dating at the beginning of the first business day.
This is followed 9.5 hours of meetings over two days where golf resorts, golf clubs, hotels and other suppliers can have up to 38 appointments of 15 minutes with golf tour operators from 35 countries.
Host Destination Sponsors  - Host Destination Sponsors  - Host Destination Sponsors  - Host Destination Sponsors
AGTC International Sponsors  - AGTC International Sponsors  - AGTC International Sponsors  - AGTC International Sponsors


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Murray Goulburn has apologised for the burden on farmers caused by the dairy processor's surprise cut to its farmgate milk price, and will review its board structure and the way its milk prices are set.
The weeks and months after the April's shock price cut, and accompanying profit downgrade by Murray Goulburn, had been tough, chairman Philip Tracy told the company's annual general meeting on Friday.
"Every member of the co-op has been affected and everyone has had to make adjustments, sit at kitchen tables and run figures, look for savings, put off staff, cull herds - it's been extremely challenging," he said.
"I want to take this opportunity to again express how deeply sorry I am that MG suppliers have had to endure such a heavy burden."
Mr Tracy said he was ultimately accountable for Murray Goulburn's performance, and it was time for the co-operative to transition to a new chairman.
He said he would remain in the role for as long as needed to make an orderly transition, and then retire.
Murray Goulburn's board will also review its structure and composition, with the help of four new directors elected on Friday, to determine the best way of serving the co-operative of farmers.
The company is still searching for a new managing director, Mr Tracy said, after former boss Gary Helou lost his job due to the farmgate milk price cut and profit forecast downgrade.
There has been significant interest in the position, and interim chief executive David Mallinson is a very strong candidate, Mr Tracy said.
In addition to board changes, Murray Goulburn will review its process of determining the price it pays farmers for milk, and look at ways to improve Australia's pricing transparency, he said.
Dairy processors in Australia, New Zealand and Europe have different mechanisms for setting the farmgate milk price.
"It is important that MG takes the opportunity to review the best approach, so that we can ensure that the business sends the right market signals, while also balancing farmers' need for cash against what the market is paying," Mr Tracy said.
An independently-managed commodity milk price index is one option for improving pricing transparency, he added.
There are signs the imbalance between global dairy demand and supply may be correcting, but it was too early to be definitive, Mr Tracy said.
International dairy commodity prices were also looking positive and seasonal conditions looked favourable.
Murray Goulburn's listed entity, the MG Unit Trust, was seven cents higher, or 6.6 per cent, at $1.135 at 1340 AEDT.


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A lack of inventory has pushed U.S. home buyers to purchase new homes, prompting a surge in sales in March.
The strength in new home sales was also driven by a massive jump in sales in the Northeast. And overall, new home sales are trending higher as buyers have a low number of options with previously owned homes.
U.S. new home sales rose…
This article was originally published by Marketwatch.com. Read the original article here.


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VAN NUYS, Calif. — Airerose Entertainment has announced a Sept. 25 release date for “Pure,” the premiere volume of the high-end gonzo studio’s “teen dream” series.
The directorial debut for Airerose from industry newcomer Derek Dozer, “Pure” is comprised of four scenes featuring up-and-comers Dakota Skye, Cali Carter, Kacy Lane and Peyton Simmons.
Petite pixie (and covergirl) Dakota Skye giggles through a revealing interview followed by a “stunningly nasty performance.” Exuding that special brand of youthful enthusiasm, Cali Carter, Kacy Lane and Peyton Simmons round out the cast.
“The formula for the perfect movie is simple: hot girls, hot girls and hot girls,” Airerose Vice President Adam H. said. “’Pure Volume 1’ is the first of a series dedicated to today’s most-wanted industry starlets, each new enough to entice and experienced enough to confound.” He noted that “Social media buzz is only a slight indication of this title’s demand.”
“Pure Volume 1” includes bonus features like hard and soft photo galleries, and trailers for Airerose’s other gonzo titles.
For more information, visit Airerose.com.


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The mobile market in Latin America has grown 56% year-on-year and generates $1.4 billion in revenues from the segment for video games.
The data comes from Newzoo's latest Gamer Consumer Insights, which found that Latin America, consisting of Argentina, Brazil and Mexico, is the second-fastest growing region in the world after Southeast Asia.
It also found that while PC and console gaming currently take up the majority of the market, console gamers still play mobile games.
77% of paying console players in Argentina and 64% in Mexico also spend money on mobile games.
Mobile is set to overtake other consoles dramatically in the region, however. Newzoo predicts that by 2019, mobile revenues in Latin America will be at $3 billion, accounting for 48% of the gaming market in the region.
That said, this prediction is based on revenues continuing to grow exactly as they are now. Newzoo's own data suggests that Latin America's revenues go through periods of slow growth after a period of rapid growth.


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The executive producer of Doom Eternal has revealed that the team behind the first-person shooter spent months in crunch before deciding to push back the game's release.
In an interview with VG247, Marty Stratton said the studio attempted to balance the extra hours so that some members of staff were given a break, but admits the working schedule was intense.
"We were crunching pretty hard most of last year," he said. "It goes in phases... We'll have one group of people crunching so the next group of people are teed up properly. As they get done, they may need to crunch a little bit.
"We really truly do try and be very respectful of peoples' time and lives. We have very dedicated people that just choose to work a lot in many cases. It was nice because we want the game to be perfect. We want it to live up to our expectations and consumer expectations."
Doom Eternal was originally due for release in November, but was pushed back to March 20, 2020. Stratton says this "takes a little bit of the steam and pressure out", but added that the some of the team opted to "push it even harder to get even more just as tight as it possibly can be."
Stratton emphasises that the four-month delay was ultimately beneficial, declaring Doom Eternal to be "the best game we've ever made."
"I don't think I'd say that if we didn't have that extra time," he said.
Crunch is an ongoing issue in games development, with several high-profile examples emerging in the past few years. Last year, Epic Games developers spoke out about intense working conditions on Fortnite, while NetherRealm staff told GamesIndustry.biz about the studio's self-sustaining culture of crunch.


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chajamp - stock.adobe.com
Arrow Electronics has inked a global agreement with Lenovo to become a provider of the vendor’s TruScale infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering.
The relationship means that the distie will be able to offer resellers, managed service providers (MSPs) and telcos access to TruScale, which is a consumption-based subscription offering users access to datacentre capability, both on-premises or at a user picked location.
Arrow will be adding TruScale to its cloud management platform, emphasising the flexibility the solution can deliver to fit to user needs, with security and management in mind.
Lenovo introduced the TruScale everything-as-a-service brand in September 2021 with the aim of bringing together its range of services based on the belief that subscription-based sales were growing faster than traditional finance options.
Eric Nowak, president of Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in EMEA, said that its cloud platform was already offering a wide range of services to the channel.
“ArrowSphere now provides global access to customers wanting TruScale offerings. With simplicity, security and control, customers can now scale without any incremental capital investments. Together, we are delivering a flexible, scalable, and secure cloud offering globally,” he said.
In response, Giovanni Di Filippo, EMEA president of infrastructure solutions group at Lenovo, said that it expected the distributor to tap into a service that would appeal to the channel.
“We empower them to seize every customer opportunity with access to a breadth of scalable, fully integrated solutions, which they can offer through a flexible, pay-as-you-grow model. As a result, they can generate more sustainable revenue streams as they accelerate business growth by offering their customers innovation without limits,” he said.
Arrow started the year by signing a handful of strategic relationship with vendors to put it into a position anywhere it can provide more security depth, which will sit alongside options such as TruScale.
Earlier this month, the firm added Synopsys Software Integrity Group’s extensive portfolio of application security testing solutions to the portfolio across EMEA and Devo’s AI cloud security solutions to channel partners in the UK.
Nick Bannister, vice-president sales for Arrow’s enterprise computing solutions business in the UK and Ireland, said that it was continuing to deepen data protection options for partners.
“As organisations face increasingly more security threats, Arrow aims to provide more customers with the best security solutions the market has to offer,” he said.


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ALEX BRUMMER: Vodafone loses the plot by choosing Frankfurt flotation over London
- Vodafone is a serial disappointment to investors
- It has an unimpressive board, headed by a sub-octane chairman Gerard Kleisterlee
Vodafone is a serial disappointment to investors, in spite of its habit of tossing out a big cash bone as when it sold its hugely valuable stake in Verizon Wireless.
An unimpressive board, headed by a sub-octane chairman Gerard Kleisterlee, is choosing to float what it describes as ‘Europe’s leading tower company’ in Frankfurt rather than the UK.
Its rationale for doing so is that it has established a corporate headquarters for Vantage Towers in Düsseldorf, and a large part of the enterprise will be on the Continent. This ignores facts on the ground which are that more than 14,000 major mast sites are in the UK and Vodafone, from its earliest days, has been a wholly British creation.
Signing off: Vodafone has an unimpressive board, headed by a sub-octane chairman Gerard Kleisterlee
As a spin-off from the late Ernest Harrison’s Racal, Vodafone used its London-quoted equity and the City’s global debt market capacity to conquer the world.
This included what, at the time, was the world’s biggest takeover when it bought Mannesmann of Germany for £125billion in 2000. UK investors placed their faith in the then chief executive Sir Christopher Gent to create the first global mobile telecoms provider of the digital era. There have many moments of tension between Voda and long-term investors. Generally they have been supportive and Vodafone has used the flexibility of a London quote to become among the most renowned dealmakers in Britain. It was only a year ago that it landed control of Liberty Global.
Under the proposed arrangements, Vantage Towers will be partially floated in Frankfurt with Vodafone retaining a majority stake. As the initial public offering is likely to be the largest in Europe next year, the decision to choose Germany is a major snub to the City. Contrast this with the dowager of British insurance, the Prudential. When it split its international operations in Asia and the US from its domestic operations in Britain, it made a deliberate decision to keep the global side, bearing the Prudential name, in London, which allowed it to bridge different time zones and to have access to the financial skills of the City.
If Vodafone were better advised, and had a board which better understood UK investment culture, it would have looked at the precedents. Unilever received a bloody nose when its weighted Dutch board sought to switch domicile from London to Rotterdam. Plumbing group Ferguson and medical devices champion Smith & Nephew both reversed course on switching domicile to the US after the intervention of UK long investors unable to hold overseas shares.
A Frankfurt quote for Vantage Towers would create significant problems and punish loyalty. Chief executive Nick Read should think again rather than risk a bitter struggle with the company’s reputation and share price the losers.
Ownership of the world’s largest pharmacy and medicine supply chain in a pandemic might appear a licence to print money. It hasn’t worked like that for Stefano Pessina, the 79-year-old chief executive and biggest shareholder in Walgreens Boots who is stepping down as chief executive without naming a successor.
Pessina achieved much of his ambition to be a global leader in pharma, starting with wholesale pharmacy and distribution in Continental Europe before capturing the imagination with a series of audacious retail takeovers including Boots in the UK and Walgreens in the US. There was no shortage of ambition, with Pessina promising to bring the magic of Boots Number 7 to the Americans via Walgreens. It hasn’t quite worked like that.
American retail is very different from Europe, and firing up Walgreens has been a Herculean task. Saddled with a debt mountain in lockdown, neither Walgreens or Boots were able to cash in as consumers chose to buy their beauty products and Panadol online rather than on the High Street. Pessina now takes on the title of executive chairman and plans to think strategically.
Among the more obvious moves would be to break up the empire he created, re-floating Boots and the Continental enterprises – but not in Frankfurt!
Travel quarantines have a direct impact on consumers, travel firms and airlines. In Britain’s case, the indirect consequences on the aerospace supply chain are potentially catastrophic. Bonds issued by Rolls-Royce, the most impeccable name in British engineering, have been consigned junk status. Rishi Sunak may yet be required to borrow from the late Ted Heath’s playbook and come to the rescue.


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Listen to Article
This past week in a major report, Reuters detailed proof that Amazon has been using privileged data gathered from sellers using its platform, to unfairly sell and market against them with competing products of its own.
According to the news service:
“But the internal documents seen by Reuters show for the first time that, at least in India, manipulating search results to favor Amazon’s own products, as well as copying other sellers’ goods, were part of a formal, clandestine strategy at Amazon – and that high-level executives were told about it.”
According to Reuters, Russell Grandinetti, who currently oversees Amazon’s international consumer business, was among those who saw strategy documents about the company’s illegal activities. Another high level executive who knew what was going on, senior vice president Diego Piacentini, has since left Amazon.
But the Reuters story isn’t news to Trends Journal readers. A full seven months ago, our in depth article “AMAZON USING DIGITAL BOOK DOMINANCE TO CENSOR” (16 Mar 2021) laid out the likelihood that Amazon was abusing data it collected from sellers to criminally advantage themselves in competing against those same sellers with its own Amazon line of products.
Specifically, our reporting noted:
“Amazon’s model of ‘publishing’ has operated much like its system of product selling. On the front end, it developed an ultra-easy platform for consumers to find and compare low-cost products and content, complete with user reviews about quality and satisfaction. On the back end, Amazon created a vendor system that made it easier to sell, with Amazon taking its cut.
“But at the same time Amazon was ‘helping’ consumers and vendors, it was gradually offering a wider selection of its products, competing with vendors. The company’s privileged access to its own data gave them a competitive edge in sourcing, pricing, and analytics, allowing them to win a rigged game of ‘competition.’”
Amazon’s Games Have Led to Unprecedented Pandemic Profits
Sellers using Amazon have previously voiced suspicions about Amazon’s game.
Employees who worked on Amazon’s private-brand products have accused the company of exploiting proprietary data from individual sellers to launch competing products. Amazon has also been called out for manipulating search results to increase sales of its own goods.
In sworn testimony before the U.S. Congress in 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos asserted that the e-commerce giant prohibits its employees from using the data on individual sellers to help its private-label business. And, in 2019, another Amazon executive testified that the company does not use such data to create its own private-label products or alter its search results to favor them.
But it turns out that it was a huge lie.
Reuters noted that the info now documented concerning Amazon’s shady business practices will likely energize current investigations into the company in the U.S., Europe, India and elsewhere.
Antitrust attorney Jonas Koponen said about the Reuters findings:
“When any one competition authority is looking into aspects of one of these globally present organizations’ behavior, they will certainly be interested in understanding what evidence there is in other parts of the world and the extent to which that evidence relates to the practices that they themselves are investigating.”
In “NEW COALITION WILL PRESS FOR STRICTER ANTITRUST MEASURES” (13 Apr 2021), the Trends Journal reported on efforts in Congress to reign in Amazon’s growing online monopoly.
As significant as the confirmation of Amazon’s illegal exploitation of data to advantage itself is, it doesn’t fully explain the explosive growth the company experienced during the COVID War in 2020.
For that, the efforts of the company to push lockdowns of brick and mortar businesses, and other measures that forced consumers to turn to online sources more than ever for supplies, has to be factored into the equation.
Amazon, along with a handful of de facto big tech monopoly powers, experienced obscene surges in profit that directly coincided and resulted from COVID policies they relentlessly backed and promoted.
The Trends Journal has reported extensively on the issue, in articles including:
- “INCOME INEQUALITY: OFF WITH THEIR HEADS 2.0” (22 Sep 2020)
- “TECHNOCRATS WIDEN WEALTH GAP THANKS TO PANDEMIC” (13 Apr 2021)
- “TECH GIANTS BIG WINNERS IN PANDEMIC ECONOMY” (4 May 2021)
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In a reshuffle, KCB Group has sent home almost the entire former board of National Bank of Kenya (NBK)
Consequently, KCB tapped NSSF board of trustees chairman and
The board shakeup means Central Organisation of Trade Unions (Cotu) secretary-general Francis Atwoli becomes the latest highest-ranking victim of the takeover after serving on the NBK board for 16 years. Atwoli joined the banks’ board in 2003 representing workers’ interests in the bank.
Also axed from the board is former NBK Board chairman Mohamed Abdirahman Hassan while those retained at the new board include Linnet Mirehane and Jones Makau Nzomo. Former NBK MD Wilfred Musau was
KCB Group is shaking up its board of directors in the latest effort to regain the loss-making NBK shareholders’ trust and revamp its business following successive years of troubles.
The acquisition was promoted as a rescue deal aimed at pulling NBK out of its perennial low liquidity troubles.
Kenyan Business Feed is the top Kenyan Business Blog. We share news from Kenya and across the region. To contact us with any alert, please email us to [email protected]


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Walmart stock (NYSE:WMT) has been going through a bit of a rough patch lately, with earnings concerns worrying investors. The company’s revenue growth has struggled to keep pace with the rate at which costs have increased. As a result, the company’s margins have shrunk and revenues have declined. Therefore, Walmart’s stock appears to have flipped on the expensive side, especially as there are no promising prospects for earnings growth in the foreseeable future.
That said, it’s not all doom and gloom for Walmart. The company has announced its 50th consecutive annual dividend increase, which is music to the ears of income-oriented investors. As dividend investors continue to collect shares, it’s possible that Walmart’s current valuation will remain high, causing the stock to continue trading flat.
Overall, I feel pretty neutral about Walmart stocks. While the recent dividend news is certainly exciting for some investors, the company’s lack of earnings growth potential makes me hesitant to strongly support it.
Lack of profit growth leads to concerns
Recently, Walmart faced a major hurdle in terms of earnings growth. While management’s efforts to navigate challenging market conditions are commendable, the company has struggled to keep up with the relentless escalation of labor and product costs.
It’s not that Walmart’s management has been incompetent. In fact, given the circumstances, I’d say they did a great job. Due to the need to provide higher wages to retain and satisfy workers in a tight labor market while keeping prices affordable for consumers, it has become increasingly difficult to make a profit. This was illustrated in the company’s fiscal Q4 and full-year results, which were mixed.
Sales growth is commendable…
In terms of turnover, the figures were strong. For the quarter, the company posted revenue of $164 billion, up 7.3% year-over-year or 7.9% in constant currency. Specifically, comparable store sales in the US increased by 8.2%, easily beating the consensus estimate of 6.9%. In fact, it’s worth noting that December was the biggest sales month in Walmart history in the US, indicating strong consumer purchasing power.
The company’s E-Commerce segment also experienced significant growth, with sales up 17% and the company continued to gain market share in online grocery sales. Sam’s Club also performed well, with comparable store sales growth of 12.2% or 22.6% over a two-year stack, with membership reaching a new all-time high.
….But growing expenses are difficult to control
Despite Walmart’s strong sales, controlling costs in the current market environment has been a real challenge. The two main drivers of higher costs are labor costs and more expensive product sourcing.
In terms of labor costs, workers’ wages averaged nearly $17.00 per hour in 2022, which is the result of five rounds of wage increases that began in 2015. Then, in January, Walmart announced another increase in its minimum wages as the company continues to struggle in a tight retail job market.
So the company’s average wages for employees will continue to rise this year, and given the labor-intensive nature of the business model, this could have a significant effect on Walmart’s earnings. For context, Walmart is the largest employer in the world, with 2.3 million employees. A company-wide wage increase can therefore have an immense effect on margins.
And then there’s inflation, which has declined in recent months but remains quite high historically. Walmart has strived to maintain low prices to attract foot traffic, and it has succeeded in that regard, as evidenced by its sales.
However, as the cost of goods has risen disproportionately compared to shelf prices, margins have softened. In fact, fourth quarter gross margins were 23.5%, the lowest for Walmart in 16 years, while EBITDA margins were 5.1%, the lowest in the past two decades (as far as data goes back).
Dividend enthusiasm to hold valuation
Walmart’s valuation seems pretty high given the lack of earnings growth. Particularly due to a decline in margins, as previously mentioned, full-year adjusted earnings per share came in at $6.29, down from last year’s $6.46. Consensus earnings per share estimates for FY 2024 point to a further decline to $6.15, implying that shares are currently trading at an expected P/E of 22.8. That’s a very rich multiple with interest rates rising and no visibility on when earnings growth will resume.
However, Walmart’s valuation is likely to be bolstered by income-oriented investors and funds, with the company achieving new stature in the space. Specifically, along with its Q4 results, Walmart announced its 50th consecutive annual increase, entering the elite class of Dividend Kings (companies with more than 50 years of consecutive dividend increases).
While the stock’s return at 1.7% may be very low in the interest rate landscape, the upcoming headlines about the company’s new dividend status should prompt dividend investors and related funds to continue collecting shares.
Is WMT Stock a Buy, According to Analysts?
As for Wall Street, Walmart has assigned a Strong Buy consensus score based on 21 Buys and four Holds in the past three months. At $162.79, WMT’s average price target implies upside potential of 15.7%.
The takeaway meals
In conclusion, Walmart’s recent sales growth has been remarkable. Still, the company’s struggle to contain rising costs and lack of earnings growth visibility make it difficult, in my opinion, to give a positive review.
However, Walmart’s new status as dividend king, with 50 consecutive annual dividend increases, may maintain its high rating among income-oriented investors and income-oriented funds.


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Ricky waves the wand for Harry Potter trick
As Harry Potter fans all over the world prepare for the release of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, some lucky British fans will be getting a magical glimpse behind the scenes.
It's part of a special promotional Potter tour that's travelling around the UK and we sent Ricky to check it out...
"Just like a wizard's potion, the hype around the latest Harry Potter film has been bubbling away.
It's not long before Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is released in cinemas across the world, so I went along to a special tour to get a taste for it.
Earlier this week, right in the heart of London, a large trailer truck parked up in Leicester Square.
It's there to promote the movie and inside there are lots of genuine props and bits of memorabilia from the film.
The truck has been specially designed to look like Hogwarts castle inside and features some of the costumes worn in the film, including a pair of trainers and a hoodie worn by Daniel Radcliffe.
At the end of the trailer the tour organisers recreated Dumbledore's Hogwarts office.
I even got to sit in the huge chair and have to admit, for a couple of minutes, I pretended I was actually in the film!
Over the past couple of days, competition winners have been lucky enough to check it all out and play the latest Potter video games before they've even been released.
But don't worry, the trailer is open to everyone this weekend and will be touring other parts of the UK over the next few weeks."


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Drake is spreading the love this Valentine’s Day. After reading about a Haitian mother-of-five named Odelie Paret in the Miami Herald, the rapper teamed up with Pittsburgh Steelers star Antonio Brown to give her a special day of relaxation and fun.
The 65-year-old woman, who works at Fontainebleau Miami Beach, was treated to a massage at the hotel’s spa before going to a fancy dinner at the Miami steakhouse StripSteak by Michael Mina. Then, she was driven to Saks Fifth Avenue, where she met Drizzy and Brown.
Antonio and Aubrey documented their charitable shopping spree, which included two other women, on social media. “You see what we’re doing, man,” said the 6 God. “Took the ladies out for a nice little shopping spree tonight. Giving back. That’s what we do.”
Paret walked out with an $800 pair of flats, a $2,000 Valentino handbag, four perfumes, and a $6,000 18K white gold necklace with diamonds in it.
Antonio Brown of the Steelers with Drake pic.twitter.com/zrQWGQKELG
— OVO SOUND (@OVOWithMyWoes) February 7, 2018
The shopping spree is set to appear in the upcoming “God’s Plan” music video. The clip will also likely include Drizzy’s experience at a local high school, where he donated $25,000, a local supermarket, where he paid for peoples’ groceries, University of Miami, where he donated $50,000 to a lucky student, and a women’s shelter, where he donated $50,000.
“God’s Plan” topped the Billboard Hot 100 and became the first song ever to surpass 75 million U.S. streams in three weeks.


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The reality of the present economic crunch continues to hit the worldwide market, as Microsoft has just announced that they intend to lay off yet another group of employees. This move will be part of the planned cuts of 18,000 jobs which was first announced in July earlier this year, helping the company realigning its worldwide workforce.
Motorola has started to get back in the good books of many with their recent forays into the smartphone world, ranging from the two versions of the Moto G, not to mention a similar thing happening with the Moto X. In fact, Motorola has delivered a near stock Android experience that can be further enhanced through other apps which will be downloaded via the Play Store. This in turn would allow operating system software updates to be pushed out at a faster rate, and the same has applied to the Moto X (2014). While the Moto X (2014) is up for pre-order, Motorola has already introduced a quartet of apps for the handset in the Play Store.


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Lenovo’s International Services Supply Chain (ISSC) is the winner of the 2023 Award of Excellence for Making an Impact from the Association for Supply Chain Management (ASCM). The award recognizes that Lenovo ISSC is working to create a better world through social responsibility, proven business integrity, and a strong focus on sustainability.
“We firmly believe that authentic sustainability leadership extends far beyond symbolic actions like curbing travel or planting trees. It is an urgent imperative that holds the potential to become a decisive driver of success, and sustainability offers a unique opportunity to gain a competitive edge,” said Steven JX Chen, Executive Director of Lenovo International Services Supply Chain.
“The Services Supply Chain aspect of sustainability is sometimes overlooked, but embracing sustainability as a core mission means integrating seamlessly throughout the entire value chain, including critical areas like product design, sourcing, manufacturing, and service.”
ASCM awarded Lenovo’s International Services Supply Chain for its efforts to work toward zero waste, greenhouse gas reduction, and shipping optimization. A sharpened focus on forecasting, parts harvesting, and extending lifecycles have all contributed to improving PC parts recycling. In addition, logistics initiatives have had a significant positive impact on operations, including exceeding ocean shipment targets and reducing logistics carbon footprint.
The ISSC team’s commitment to sustainability mirrors Lenovo’s larger corporate vision to provide a smarter, more sustainable future for all. As a global technology leader with 77,000 employees around the world and serving millions of customers each day in 180 markets, Lenovo is transitioning to a circular economy through supply chain, product design, and services innovations such as those recognized through the ASCM Award of Excellence. To this end, Lenovo is making it easier for customers to participate in the circular economy and meet their own environmental goals through Lenovo initiatives like:
- Deploying technology on a consumption basis
- Optimizing energy efficiency of customers’ data centers
- Offsetting CO2 emissions across the average lifecycle of the device
- Innovating for more sustainability in logistics
Read more about how Lenovo sustainability objectives benefit customers here.
As the largest association for supply chain, ASCM principles help guide global supply chains towards better supplier partnerships through innovation measured alongside typical supplier appraisals like cost, quality, and delivery. Lenovo ISSC was recognized during a live presentation at the ASCM CONNECT Annual Conference in September. To learn more about ASCM, visit ascm.org.


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The Ford Mondeo is the most used model of car in the country, according to the latest research.
Statistics based on 50,000 cars across a ten-year period collated by Warranty Direct have shown that a Ford Mondeo does on average 15,483 miles each year.
Drivers, including car insurance customers, drive Saab 9-5s an average of 14,774 miles each year, while Renault Lagunas travel 14,571 on average over a 12-month period.
The Daewoo Matiz was the least driven car in the UK, according to the research, with an average mileage per year figure of less than 7,000.
Warranty Direct’s Duncan McClure Fisher said: “This kind of information could prove invaluable when buying a used car. For example, you may find a four-year-old Nissan Micra with 30,000 miles on the clock and think it’s a low mileage machine but in reality it’s just the average.”
Nissan Micras were found to be second on the list of least used cars, with a yearly average of 7,384 miles.
Earlier this month, Carcraft placed the 2007 Ford Mondeo top of its used car bargains table, due to a 51 per cent depreciation in value.


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By Jon Newton 4/1/05
Sony wants to create an "iTunes" for movies, says CNET News in a story quoting a comment Michael Arrieta, senior vp of Sony Pictures, made at a digital media conference.
"We want to set business models, pricing models, distribution models like (Apple Computer CEO Steve) Jobs did for music, but for the film industry," Arrieta said.
With that in mind, Sony plans to digitize Sony Pictures' top 500 films, and make them available for the first time in various digital environments within the next year, he said, going on:
For example, Sony plans to sell and make films available in flash memory for mobile phones in the next year, Arrieta said. It also will further develop its digital stores for downloading and owning films on the PC."
At the Digital Hollywood conference - a three-day event that began Wednesday - media executives including Arrieta ruminated on ongoing hurdles to giving consumers access to unlimited films, TV shows and multimedia on a range of devices, anywhere at anytime, says CNET, adding, "They agreed that issues surrounding digital rights management, consumer adoption, and simple and compatible consumer electronics remained bottlenecks in the industry."
Jon Newton is the editor of p2pnet.net and is a regular contributer to MP3 Newswire. Jon's site is devoted to the politics of digital music and his insights as well as those of his co-writers can be read there. We urge you to explore it.
iRiver H10 5GB Audio Jukebox is available on Amazon
Other MP3 stories:
Pew Internet Study on File Sharing and the Press
What Makes a Journalist? Thoughts on Apple and Think Secret
Can Free Broadcast TV Really Be Napsterized?


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Every year since Oculus pushed out its prototype Rift, industry experts have hailed the coming 12 months ‘as the year VR will take off’. However, four years later and the world is still waiting for VR to live up to the hype. But 2018 really could be the year that VR (and AR) finally fulfils its much-awaited potential.
Both VR and AR are starting to see positive growth within the consumer market, but the use of both in business is set to have an even greater impact across a wide range of industries. Enterprise services will help lead growth over the next 12 months, with IDC predicting global spend on products and services related to AR and VR to grow by more than 100 per cent annually, going from $11.4 billion last year to $214 billion by 2021.
Education, hospitality and healthcare are just a few areas where VR and AR are set to boom over the course of the next year. As Simon Woodman, Exertis Mobile director, says ‘VR and AR technology can provide many benefits’ for business and correspondingly for the Channel. “There is no question that VR can benefit business,” he states. “There’s no shortage of opportunities in terms of applications and vertical markets. However, cost and content still remain an issue in deployment of these technologies. Hardware costs are decreasing and there is new content being developed all the time. The difficulty is monetising the opportunity and providing a commercial proposition that can be taken to market.”
And while Woodman believes both VR and AR will be deployed successfully in a variety of industries, he doesn’t see it as a one-size-fits-all solution. “Some vertical industries will be better suited to one or other of the technologies,” he adds. “VR typically requires a headset connected to a high-end PC, or a headset plus mobile device, however AR does not necessarily require any hardware beyond a tablet or smartphone. Therefore, AR is perhaps better suited to certain jobs and roles as it can be experienced without obstructing the user’s vision. Instead of maintenance workers having to consult a manual before undertaking a repair, they could follow the latest technical drawing or even a video, hands-free, while working, thereby improving efficiency and safety. AR is likely to become more common because there are so many devices available.”
One area which is already seeing AR/ VR being rolled out is within retail. It is already being used increasingly by pop-up stores in shopping malls and supermarkets have been experimenting with augmented labels that provide information on a product’s nutritional value. In some instances, retailers have rolled out consumer-facing applications that let them virtually try on clothing, makeup, and accessories. The travel and tourism market is another area that has started dabbling with VR and AR as a means to sell holiday packages to consumers.
However, the Home market is the area which has arguably seen the best use of AR/ VR so far. With the Dulux app, users can digitally test out colours on their walls without having to physically paint. Likewise, IKEA’s AR-powered app lets shoppers visualise furniture in their homes before they buy.
As Tom Murray, IT Manager at UXG, elaborates: “The new IKEA application is one of the first to utilise new AR capabilities of the latest generation devices without the need for ‘markers’. This allows them to make informed decisions and more confident purchases. It also showcases a company adopting and adapting technology smartly to benefit their customers. With VR becoming more commonplace, its uses to drive growth are becoming more creative. With apps as wide-ranging in scope as producers of large-scale machinery being able to show off at exhibitions, to McDonald’s trialling its own version of Google Cardboard. VR is being used to creatively solve problems and immerse customers into brands.
“Before, AR was a bit fiddly to get into the end-users hands. Normally it would require a real-world marker which would then allow the application to interpret what should be shown on the device, whether it’s a 3D model, video or image. With the introduction of ARKit and ARCore in 2017 I believe we’ll start to see user adoption grow. These don’t require external markers to produce AR experiences and brings accessibility for end users and developers.”
The possibilities are literally endless for the adoption of AR and VR in business. Retailers look likely to be among the earliest adopters with the education sector not far behind. This is a technology not to be ignored or seen as a fad. Seeing some of the largest tech giants in the world throw their weight behind it is testimony enough to its seriousness.


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Italy's fashion industry, one of the top three in the world along with Paris and New York, yesterday signed a "manifesto" with the government, pledging to take a new line on skinny models. The head of the industry's governing body, Mario Boselli, said it was an approach that could be imitated by other fashion producers around the world.
But the agreement left the door open to designers who insist that their new lines should continue to be worn by ultra-thin models.
All models will be required to produce a medical certificate declaring that they are healthy and do not suffer from eating disorders. The certificate will also make reference to Body Mass Index (BMI), the key index in determining whether or not someone is underweight. Models under the age of 16 will not be allowed to work.
But the industry has managed to avoid embracing an outright ban on underweight models.
The move follows the decision by Madrid's fashion show in September to bar models with a BMI under 18 from the catwalks.
Mr Boselli, president of Italy's Camera della Moda, said: "The 'Madrid model' could not be applied [in Italy]. But the 'Milan model' can become an example for all the world." The key to the "Milan model" is self-regulation by fashion houses rather than imposition by the government.
"Italian fashion is the first in the world," boasted Mr Boselli, "and with this initiative we are assuming an attitude of constructive leadership which could be followed by others."
The manifesto has the ambitious goal of sending the fashion business in a new direction. The principal object is to "creatively and constructively transmit positive aesthetic models as an instrument of prevention" of eating disorders.
The task, it continues, is "to give value to a healthy, sunny, generous, Mediterranean model of beauty which historically, Italy has diffused internationally."
The words are impressive, but whether they produce the required revolution in Milan's ateliers remains to be seen. Milan's designers may see Mr Boselli's evasion of tough rules on BMI as a nod and a wink to carry on as before.
In the wake of the Spanish ban, Milan's reaction was to deny the problem. Mr Boselli declared that "maybe one girl in a hundred" could be defined as skinny. The Mayor of Milan, Letizia Moratti, the first Italian politician to raise the issue, said: "None of us ever considered working in an oppositional manner" to bring about an agreement.Reuse content


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Amanda Anderson of Escalon was among a small number of Plexus Worldwide Ambassadors (independent resellers) flown all expenses paid to Scottsdale, Arizona, to participate in a recent three-day leadership training session at the company’s headquarters. Her invitation to the program was based on her recent advancements as a Plexus Ambassador, having achieved one of the company’s highest rankings.
Since its inception, Scottsdale, Arizona-based Plexus Worldwide has been helping people transform their lives with exceptional, science-based health and wellness products and an exciting home-based entrepreneurial opportunity. Plexus has been featured on the Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing companies, and was named the 46th largest direct selling company in the world in 2016, according to Direct Selling News (DSN). Plexus’ core beliefs are simple: Be Trustworthy, Be Honest, Be Reliable, and Be Responsible. For more information about Plexus Worldwide visit www.plexusworldwide.com.


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Shares of Aeropostale Inc. fell on Friday, a day after the mall-based teen retailer reported an 18% decline in quarterly profit.
Aeropostales stock has lost a quarter of its value this year as the Manhattan retailer struggles to catch up with the fickle tastes of teenagers. Sales at the companys 600 stores were flat during the first half of the year, while rivals Abercrombie & Fitch and American Eagle Outfitters both saw sales rise more than 20%.
Today Aeropostales stock declined as much as 3.3%, to $22.01, during intraday trading.
After the market closed on Thursday, the retailer posted third-quarter earnings of $26.1 million, or 47 cents a share, down from a year-ago profit of $31.7 million, or 55 cents a share. Sales rose 18.2% to $324.7 million. Sales at stores open for at least a year slipped 1.5% in the quarter.
Wall Street had expected a profit of 46 cents a share on sales of $320.3 million.
Aeropostale hopes its new JimmyZ stores, aimed at 18 to 25 year olds, will help revive sales. Still, it expects a decline in same-store sales in the low- to mid-single digits and earnings of between 55 cents and 61 cents a share in the fourth quarter, down from its prior forecast of 67 cents to 70 cents a share. Analysts estimates call for a profit of 61 cents a share.


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To celebrate the launch of its crowdfunding efforts, Breaking Walls has released a new trailer showing off an expansion of the earlier gameplay for Away: The Survival Series.
While much of the new footage focuses on the sugar glider, some of the new playable animals featured are a lizard, spider, wolf, and crab.
The studio’s head of growth, André-Paul Johnson, also suggested that more than just the animals in the trailer will be playable. He added that “from tiny insects to large mammals, each animal has its own unique traits and attributes.”
The new footage comes alongside the game’s Kickstarter campaign, which aims to raise CAD$60,000 across the next 30 days. At the time of writing, the team had raised almost half that goal after only a few hours. Day one backers will also gain access to three other animal-focused games, Shelter 2, The First Tree, and Niche.
Away: The Survival Series first came to the attention of many during one of Sony’s State of Play presentations earlier this year, it will also be available on PC. Breaking Walls is currently targeting a Q1 2020 release for the project.
For anyone unfamiliar, the game casts players as a sugar glider in what appears to be a post-apocalyptic future. The goal is to save the small creature’s family, though the path to doing so is strewn with predators and myriad other threats.
For all the latest on the game and much more from the world of single-player gaming, be sure to bookmark OnlySP and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube. You can also join the discussion in our community Discord server.


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Following news that Sears (NASDAQ:SHLD) will be booted from the S&P 500, shares of the ailing retailer sank more than 7% on Thursday.
The Hoffman Estates-based operator of Sears and Kmart stores’ replacement on the index, LyondellBasell (NYSE:LYB), traded up about 4% to $48.75.
The index operated by parent McGraw Hill (NYSE:MHP) said that it was replacing the veteran retailer because its public float has for some time been “well below the 50% threshold for inclusion” and is therefore “no longer considered representative of the index.”
That means that Sears has too few shares available for trading to be representative of one of the world's top 500 companies.
"While we’re disappointed in Standard & Poor’s decision, we would point out that the action is rules based and solely a function of the public float of our shares, and not the valuation or performance of the company,” Sears spokesman Chris Brathwaite said.
Netherlands-based LyondellBasell, which makes chemicals and polymers, refines crude oil and produces gasoline blending components, will join the index on Sept. 4, the first day of trading following the Labor Day Weekend. The Dutch company emerged from bankruptcy in 2010.
Despite the low trading volume, Sears’ credit rating outlook was recently boosted to stable from negative by the S&P. The index had attributed the upbeat view to an improvement in the retailer’s liquidity, among other things.
The retailer operated by hedge fund billionaire Ed Lampert has been selling off assets in an effort to streamline its business. In August, Sears reported a narrower loss from the second-quarter of 2011 of $132 million on softer sales.


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(Reuters) - Mastercard Inc MA.N on Tuesday posted a record profit and trounced Wall Street expectations, as it battled for consumers and global market share over other payment channels including its bigger rival Visa Inc V.N.
More people used credit, debit and commercial prepaid cards across Mastercard’s global network - pushing the value of transactions processed - known as ‘gross dollar volume’, up 11 percent to $1.35 trillion.
“In the U.S., we continue to see steady economic growth, low unemployment and inflation,” said Ajay Banga, chief executive officer of Mastercard, on a post-earnings call.
“Consumer sentiment is favourable.”
Last month, consumer spending in the United States had its largest increase in eight years, aiding payment processors such as Mastercard and Visa, which generate revenue by facilitating credit- and debit-card transactions.
Visa also beat market expectations last week, posting an 11 percent rise in quarterly profit on healthy consumer spending.
Mastercard shares hit a record earlier but lost ground and were down 1.3 percent at $147.02 mid-day. The drop was attributed to profit taking after a 20 percent rise from the previous quarter, according to Thomas McCrohan, managing director of Americas Research at Mizuho.
Mastercard has risen nearly 44 percent this year, as of Monday’s close, outpacing Visa, which was up 41 percent over the same period.
Mastercard's net income rose 21 percent to $1.43 billion or $1.34 per share in the third quarter ended Sept 30. Analysts on average were looking for $1.23, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S. mstr.cd/2gYxlhy
Cowen analyst George Mihalos called the results “very strong” and said the company has “exceeded our expectations every quarter this year.”
Mastercard is taking measures to bolster security on its network and said safety remains a key priority. Many American companies are investing heavily in securing their systems against hackers.
“Our investments in technologies like biometrics, tokens, encryption and artificial intelligence are redefining the way both consumers and transactions are protected,” Banga said.
Mastercard has already started the process when it announced this month it would forgo signatures after purchases.
Total operating expenses rose 20.4 percent to $1.46 billion in the quarter, partly from costs related to buying digital payments company Vocalink.
Net revenue rose 18 percent to $3.40 billion and topped estimates of $3.28 billion.
Reporting By Aparajita Saxena in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard Orr
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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Murad was appointed last week, succeeding founding CEO Stephanie TileniusRead more...
A growing number of bloggers and other topic-specific Web publishers are discovering the benefits of combining algorithmic-based search with the wisdom of the crowd and other social networking attributes.
More than 23,000 of these publishers are using customized social search widgets supplied by Eurekster to improve the search experience for their site users, according to Steven Marder, co-founder and CEO of the San Francisco-based startup.
Marder says more than 100,000 of these "swickis" are in use. That's double the number Eurekster reported in March, when it said it had raised a $5.5 million Series B round.
While it's hard to pull off social search for general-interest consumer searches -- which is why the algorithm-based searches provided by Google, Yahoo and Microsoft will continue to dominate that market -- swickis are a good fit for vertical or localized search.
"We help our publishers generate a better user experience in the form of more relevant results," Marder tells Vator.tv's Bambi Francisco in this interview. That translates into more paid clicks, which Eurekster gets a share of.
Founded in 2004, Eurekster now provides 20 million searches per month and expects to reach a break-even financial status next year, Marder says.
Support VatorNews by Donating
Read more from our "Interviews" series
Noah Medical, which has developed a robotics system for detecting lung cancer, recently raised $150MRead more...
The company just announced a $22.5 million round, bringing its total funding to over $43 millionRead more...


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Return of the Super heroes: After years of being sidelined, are models making a comeback?
It was Anna Wintour who first decided to put Hollywood stars on the cover of Vogue and since then, the fashion world has never looked back.
From designer collaborations to high-end campaigns, celebrities have dominated the industry as models - bar a precious few - took a back seat.
But with a sluggish economy and over-exposed actors, it seems 'the Supers' are finally making a comeback.
Old-school: Eva Herzigova, Helena Christenson and Claudia Schiffer feature on the cover of Vogue Espana, left, Kate Moss on the cover of Vogue US
Model behaviour: Natalia Vodianova, left, and Freja Beha Erichsen, right, on the cover of Vogue's Fashion Issue
Vogue UK, Harper's Bazaar Russia, Vogue Espana and Vogue Deutch all broke with current trend to feature a model on the cover.
And Vogue US put Kate Moss on the cover of their September issue.
As budgets shrink, it appears it makes more financial sense to hire a model rather than a star.
Heidi Klum, left, and Cindy Crawford, right on the covers of Harper's Singapore and Russia
And a model will have the professional experience, time and flexibility that an actress might not.
A fashion source told the MailOnline: 'It's a not a very well kept secret that the industry has never been keen on using celebrities.
'There is definitely a determined movement to elevate models back to the their rightful place on the cover of magazines.
'I've noticed a distinct drop in the number of celebrity lead shoots over the last few months.
'Models feel fresh compared to celebrities right now, and they are often much cheaper to use.'
It certainly is a change to see a variety in editorials - while Linda Evangelista once claimed she never got out of bed for less than $10,0000, her colleague Cindy Crawford has admitted the industry has changed over the years.
Cindy said: 'I just saw the CoverGirl commercial with Taylor Swift and I thought, "Wow, it is so hard for models to get a job these days.
'You have to sing and act, too.
'There doesn't seem to be as much work specifically just for models.'
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Daemon X Machina is set to release for the Nintendo Switch on 13 September 2019, as announced by Nintendo at E3 2019. The game developers have also stated that a competitive multiplayer will also be coming for the game after launch.
After the announcement, Nintendo hosted a Treehouse presentation that featured gameplay of many of the announced games. At some point during the discussion of Daemon X Machina, Nintendo revealed that a competitive multiplayer will also be coming after launch that will allow players to fight against each other online.
When it was announced with a short trailer, we saw a team of fighters in mechs and on foot fighting against drones, other combatants and various other enemies. The fast-paced action with battleships in the sky firing away with cannons sets the tone for what is to come.
Daemon X Machina is being directed by Kenichiro Tsukuda, who is known for Armored Core and Super Dimension Fortress Macross games. Both of these titles are mech heavy franchises. Players will be able to customize their arsenal with several weapons and defend against corrupted AI controlled bots.
Nintendo also gave out some information from the director, stating that the game will allow players to move freely on the ground and in the air and that players can also steal equipment from opponents and equip it on the spot as their own.
Meanwhile, Japanese accessory maker Hori has also planned something quite eye-catching for Daemon X Machina on the Switch. Hori has announced that it will be releasing a special set of Joy-Con controllers, specially made for Daemon X Machina.
The controllers are huge and unlike the small Joy-Con controllers that come with the Switch. Hori plans to bring the controllers out in September for 4,780 Yen ($44) and will lack features like gyro sensors, IR, HD Rumble, NFC, and no internal batteries. This means that they will only work in handheld mode. However, the large controllers will come with a special button on the back which can be programmed to fire rapidly for 5, 10, or 20 seconds.
What do you think of the competitive mode planned for the game? What is your opinion on the controllers that Hori plans to bring out later this year? Post your comments below.


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Latest Microsoft patch prompts DHS warning ... Linspire releases Freespire 1.0 early
- Latest Microsoft patch prompts DHS warning
- Former Comverse execs charged with stock-options fraud
- Linspire releases Freespire 1.0 early
- Sun signs up support for PostgreSQL
- AOL partners with Blinkx for K-12 search engine
- Windows smartphones get grown-up encryption
- Apple grows Leopard as Vista delays persist
- AOL offers free personalized e-mail domains
IN THE NEWS
Latest Microsoft patch prompts DHS warning
The U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) warned Wednesday that a recently patched Microsoft Corp. Windows vulnerability could put the nation's critical infrastructure at risk.
Former Comverse execs charged with stock-options fraud
Three former executives of software vendor Comverse Technology Inc. have been charged in connection with backdating millions of the company's stock options, federal officials said.
Linspire releases Freespire 1.0 early
Linspire Inc. has released Freespire 1.0, an open-source Debian version of the Linux OS, one month early, the company said Wednesday.
Sun signs up support for PostgreSQL
Sun has formed a deal with EnterpriseDB, an open source database vendor, to provide support services around Sun's PostgreSQL offering.
AOL partners with Blinkx for K-12 search engine
AOL LLC is hoping to attract schoolchildren and their parents to a new search engine designed to be a tool for helping with homework.
Apple grows Leopard as Vista delays persist
Apple seems set to add more unique features to its new Leopard OS, exploiting the delay until Microsoft ships Windows Vista, an analyst believes.
AOL offers free personalized e-mail domains
AOL LLC will offer personalized e-mail domains free to all Web users starting in September, the company announced Wednesday.


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Kitty Café in Nottingham City Centre is holding a special Christmas event in December for families to interact with cats.
The event will have festive food and drink specials, board games and competitions whilst guests can play with cats to Christmas music.
James Metcalfe, 25, the General Manager of the café originally from Yorkshire, said: “The cats love it, they’re up past their bedtime and go a little bit crazy – but it’s the interaction that they really love.”
A usual visit to the cat café offers customers the opportunity to eat and drink whilst cats roam freely for adults and children to interact with. The Christmas party will be no different.
“We want kids to come in here to teach them compassion to cats and to animals in general. It also gives us a perfect opportunity to see whether cats would be able to be rehomed to a family with kids.”
Giving Cats a Home for Christmas
Rescuing and rehoming cats is one of the café’s aims. They have 3 branches across the UK (Nottingham, Leeds and Birmingham) and provide a platform for adoption on their website for rescue centres. They also rehome cats from the cafés themselves.
Kitty Café holds regular special events, previously hosting Kitty Yoga classes, and all the money raised goes towards the well-being of the cats.
“It brings in extra revenue. Every single penny that comes through our doors goes towards the cats”
The welfare of the cats is their top priority. Nearly 30 cats of different breeds and ages living in the building full time, including Popcorn the Persian and Heathcliffe the main coon cross.
Christmas at the Kitty Café will be taking place on Friday, December 20th at 6pm. Tickets can be bought by visiting the café on Friar Lane or calling 0115 924 2214.


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UPMARKET online supermarket Ocado today delivered a 25% jump in annual sales and beefed up its board ahead of an expected float later this year.
Sales for the year to November 29 surged to £427.3 million, while operating losses narrowed by 33% to £14.4 million despite a "highly competitive" backdrop.
Ocado, which was founded 10 years ago and began trading in 2002, has drafted in two new directors as the company weighs up plans for an initial public offering.
David Grigson - a board veteran of major companies including Reuters, Emap, Carphone Warehouse and Standard Life - will be the firm’s senior independent director.
Ruth Anderson, who spent more than 30 years at financial services firm KPMG, will chair Ocado’s audit committee.


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(Pocket-lint) - Motorola has announced when it will hold its next press event.
The company is currently teasing an August event in Chicago, where it plans to make "a big announcement". The mystery event will be held at Motorola’s HQ on 2 August at 2pm local time. It is indicating journalists should mark there calendars now, and that they will be able to: "Say 'hello' to a whole new way to connect, stream, download, video chat, and more". It added, "Are you ready?"
- Motorola One Power leaks shows a notch and Android One in force
- What is Android One, what does it feature, and which devices run it?
This event is likely for an all-new flagship smartphone or new additions to its existing smartphone lines. Details are thin, but we could learn more about the Moto Z3 and the Motorola One Power. Keep in mind last year’s Moto Z2 Force was announced in July. As for the Android One-powered One Power, it recently leaked out in hands-on images and seems to be a mid-range handset with alright specs.
- Upcoming phones: The future smartphones coming soon
- The best Android phone: which is the top Android phone to buy today?
It might feature a Snapdragon 636 processor with 4GB RAM, a 6.2-inch display, and 3,780mAh battery. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.


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It’s almost the beginning of summer which means school is coming to a close and the graduation ceremonies will commence! We have rounded up the perfect gifts that scream hello new beginnings, perfect for the grads’ new chapter in life.
Don’t miss a personal appearance by A.L.C. designer Andrea Lieberman this Saturday at Neiman Marcus at Fashion Island! Known for her minimalist but edgy silhouettes and impeccably tailored pieces, Lieberman – who can count celebs such as Miranda Kerr, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Lopez and Ellen Pompeo as fans – will meet with customers from noon to 4 p.m. at […]
Love… (OMG, we can’t believe we just typed that! How Carrie Bradshaw circa 2008 are we?) Anyway, the day that Cupid made to celebrate the one thing that there’s just too little of is just around the corner. Here’s what some of the restaurants at Irvine Spectrum Center have put together to help make February […]


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Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Posted: 12/5/2012 1:00 AM | Comments: 0
Winnipeg isn't always the first place U.S. retail chains land when they jump into Manitoba.
Qdoba Mexican Grill, a chain with 630 outlets in the U.S., opened its first Manitoba outlet on Monday -- in Brandon. In fact, it's the first franchise in Canada.
The same thing happened in 2010 when the Five Guys Burgers and Fries chain made its Manitoba debut with a franchise outlet in Brandon. It was more than 18 months later before the first Five Guys eatery opened in Winnipeg.
The owners of the Qdoba franchise -- Brandon's Laird Lidster and his wife, Tracy -- and Qdoba spokesman Bill Nelsen said timing is the reason Brandon landed the first outlet in Canada.
Nelsen, who oversees Qdoba's franchise operations in Canada and the western U.S., said the Colorado-based chain was negotiating with potential franchisees in Winnipeg and in Ontario when Lidster approached them last fall about opening an outlet.
"Laird was the last guy (to approach the firm), but he was the one that moved the quickest," Nelsen said. "So Laird is our first (franchisee) in Canada."
"It was good timing," Lidster said. "We were ready to discuss it with them and they were ready to move."
Lidster said it also helped that he only wanted to open one outlet, while others were looking at multiple locations. So that complicated negotiations for the others.
And he didn't have to look far to find a suitable location. He leased a former Roger's Video store next door to one of the two Dairy Queen franchises he and his wife, Tracy, own in Brandon.
Timing was also a factor in Brandon beating Winnipeg to the punch for Manitoba's first Five Guys restaurant. Brandon restaurateur Ben Hernandez was a member of a group that had acquired the Five Guys franchise rights for Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Hernandez said Tuesday they were looking to open outlets in Winnipeg, Brandon and Regina, and Brandon was the first city where a suitable location was found.
Also, the group wanted to set up a training centre to train workers from both provinces, and Brandon is located between Winnipeg and Regina.
Hernandez and the other members of the group later sold the Manitoba and Saskatchewan franchise rights to another group of investors, who have since opened two Five Guys outlets in Winnipeg.
Franchisee Brett Hansen said a third outlet is slated to open in February with three or four more to follow over the next three or four years.
A Qdoba spokeswoman said it's also in an expansion mode, with plans to open 70 to 85 more outlets in 2013 in Canada and the United States.
Public relations manager Lauren Preston couldn't say where the new outlets will be located, but said there is a lot of interest from potential franchisees in Canada, including Winnipeg. But nothing has been finalized.
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition December 5, 2012 B3
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