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Alteryx, a company that has been providing a way to build analytical apps from a variety data sources via a workflow interface, got a big boost in funding today, announcing a $60M Series B round.
The round was led by Insight Venture Partners with participation from existing investors SAP Ventures and Toba Capital. Their most recent round prior to this was $12M Series in May, 2013. The additional money brings their total funding to date to $78M and suggests that investors have confidence that this market will grow.
And apparently with good reason, Alteryx reports that it currently has 600 customers, a 200 percent year over year increase.
Interestingly enough, Alteryx president and COO George Mathew doesn’t see the company competing with the usual Business Intelligence suspects, whether that’s more modern platforms like Tableau and QlikView or more traditional enterprise players like SAP Business Objects (where Mathew came from), Oracle Hyperion or IBM Cognos. Instead, Mathew says his company can work as a layer on top of existing tools and he says, they are partners with Tableau and QlikView, so he doesn’t see them as competition at all.
“As you are seeing this market emerge, it’s not about central IT, but about how end users are enabled and empowered. We stand for that and are focused on key capabilities and experiences. That’s why the cooperation [between us and other BI vendors] works.
That’s because Alteryx is a tool for working with data once you have a set of data sources. It allows you to create a workflow by dragging in various data sources and other objects. You can then package this design into an application which you can share with others or you can use it to generate reports, pivot tables or whatever you require.
The apps are what really differentiates this company though and they have created a marketplace to share or sell them at gallery.alteryx.com and it provides a head start for less technical users or companies that a need a particular type of report and don’t want to reinvent the wheel.
One interesting outcome of this approach according to Mathew is that third parties like Deloitte, Boston Consulting Group and KPMG have been creating customized Alteryx apps and this has provided them with a growing customer base. In fact, Mathew reports that BCG has 20 percent of its workforce working on Alteryx on a daily basis and this translates into new business.
As an example, BCG just landed them Mercedes in Brazil. He said they have no presence in that country or with the company, but BCG built an Alteryx app for the car maker and this provided Alteryx with inroads into this entirely new market through an OEM like BCG.
Alteryx currently has around 200 employees focused mostly on North America, but intends to use the new funding to expand their internal research and development along with international sales and marketing efforts. The company opened a London office earlier this year, and with the additional money from this funding round they plan to add additional sales staff.
One of the reasons this space will continue to expand, even though it has existed for so long in various guises, both installed and run by IT for many years, then in the cloud more recently, is because up until now this type of data analysis has been mostly limited to specially trained analysts and data scientists.
Mathew says the market has much more room to grow because tools like Alteryx provide a way to simplify and package this type of data analysis and bring it to the more general business user, and that should naturally increase the size of the market as that happens.
Over time, it’s likely we will begin to see consolidation just as we did with the early players, but for now, Mathew says the new round of BI players are still in the early stages and it should take some time before we see that type of shakeout we saw in the earlier generation of BI tools.


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L to R: Rushern Baker III, Prince George’s County Executive; Obie Patterson, Prince George’s County Council Member; Mary Hopkins Navies, local McDonald’s Owner and Operator; Tony Knotts, Maryland State Delegate and Ronald McDonald.
Prince George’s County Executive Rushern L. Baker III, along with other county dignitaries, Crossland High School, patrons, employees and Ronald McDonald gathered on May 24 to celebrate the grand re-opening of the rebuilt McDonald’s restaurant at 7100 Allentown Road.
In 2014, the restaurant burned down, but nearly a year later, employees and customers were able to walk through the doors to an up-to-date, refurbished McDonald’s that has a broader purpose than just being another fast food facility in the area.
“It really means everything to me,” owner and operator Mary Hopkins Navies told the AFRO at the ribbon cutting. “My dream has come to fruition. I wanted this store to be a community restaurant where the community would embrace ; they would use it.”
The grand re-opening celebration of the rebuilt McDonald’s restaurant on Allentown Road in Fort Washington was held May 24.
According to Navies, the restaurant holds several meetings for county organizations such as the Home Owner’s Association and others. “Not only is it a community restaurant that is being used, exceeding my expectation for sales, but it is also created by the community,” she said.
Navies is known around the county for her community involvement. She said that she has partnered with Crossland High School to raise money for new uniforms for the band. “It’s really all coming together,” Navies said.
She also said that a mural, on the left wall of the restaurant, is another one of her favorite aspects of the building. It was created by Valerie Johnson with the Arts Department at Crossland High School.
To celebrate its re-opening, the store held a week of events, including blessing the restaurant on May 10, a Christmas in April fundraiser on May 12, coffee with Prince George’s County Council Member Obie Patterson on May 15, a DJ and raffle prizes on May 16, and a Game Truck Party on May 22.
Baker said that Navies stands as an example of what the county wants and expects from its business leaders. “They give in the business but they also give back in the community,” he said.

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Redscan criticises new Government cybersecurity statshttps://securityitsummit.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/UK-Businesses.jpg 960 640 Stuart O'Brien Stuart O'Brien https://secure.gravatar.com/avatar/81af0597d5c9bfe2231f1397b411745a?s=96&d=mm&r=g
Redscan has disputed the findings of the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey.
The firm has argued that response bias and the sample of participants makes it impossible to fully trust the data.
The DCMS report found that the cost of breaches has gone up for the third year in a row and suggests that fewer breaches are taking place (due to businesses being more secure).
Redscan has taken issue with that conclusion, with CTO Mark Nicholls stating that while the Government’s latest cybersecurity survey figures provide some interesting insights, response bias of the participants means we should avoid drawing any firm conclusions.
He said: “The finding that many businesses can identify a data breach instantly, for instance, just doesn’t ring true. Interpreting the results is also clouded by the fact that half of organisations surveyed were micro businesses with fewer than 9 employees.
“While the report suggests that cyber security is becoming a higher priority among businesses, evidenced by more senior management buy in, businesses still struggle to properly assess the risks as well as identify and respond to breaches.
“Despite an increase in the cost of breaches, the figures are still surprisingly low– likely due to businesses self-reporting, as well as the fact that these numbers don’t consider hidden costs such as reputational damage.
“Nowhere near enough businesses have undertaken cyber risk assessments and less than a third made changes because of the GDPR’s introduction. These are very worrying statistics, no matter how you look at them.
“The proportion of businesses identifying breaches or attacks (32%) is now lower than in 2018. The report suggests that this may be due to businesses being more secure, but many simply aren’t aware they’ve been breached. Attackers are getting stealthier and staying on the network undetected for longer.
“As to the statistic that two third of business businesses can identify a breach instantly, this is patently false. Real-world data from the ICO suggests it takes closer to 60 days on average.”


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Believe it or not, but Europe is currently facing some trouble with Trump. Strange, right?
Well it’s not in the political aspect you might assume, but instead the familiar mug of the US President is being pressed into super strong ecstasy pills that are currently doing the rounds this European Summer.
One website has described the pills as quite “accurate” in their make, even dropping a slightly distasteful but hilarious “Trump makes partying great again” slogan alongside them.
But comedic aspect aside, it has been reported that these orange Trump pills are actually quite potent and show high levels of MDMA. With Europe being flushed with tourists and partygoers right now, authorities are naturally issuing warnings to punters about the strong pills.
Our advice; steer clear! As funny as they might look, you really donlt want to put Trump in your mouth.


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The eco-system of startups in Pakistan has grown to a great extent in recent years. A number of startup incubation centers have been launched to enrich and nurture the mind-blowing startups in their initial stage. Considering this, Telenor has set up its plans to launch its own startup incubation center in Pakistan. All the homework is almost done and the telco will soon be announcing its launch.
Telenor’s startup incubation center will be utilizing own resources, technical solutions and support tools to help startups in building their products or services. Further details reveal that Telenor’s Incubation Lab will not be a conventional incubation center. Rather, it will play the role of collaborative facility available to various incubators across the country. Through partnership, Telenor will be inviting certain existing incubation programs to access its advanced tools and solutions.
The telco is already partnering with OPEN (Organization of Pakistani Entrepreneurs), TIE and Founders Institute to develop startups in the country. In an interview to ProPakistani, Deputy CEO of Telenor Pakistan Mr. Irfan Wahab Khan said,
In addition to giving these startups an access to our assets, such as distribution channels, retail network, Telenor Pakistan has bundled a tool-kit with payment, location and other similar APIs, that will be made available to these selected startups.
Selected startups will be able capitalize Telenor’s experience in preparing their products and leverage the reach and access of Telenor’s assets with over 220,000 retail outlets, over 1,000 exclusive service centers and franchises, variety of payment solutions and big-data analytical tools that are exclusively available with Telenor Pakistan only.
There is no exact date regarding the launch of Telenor’s startup incubation center. The startups will be able to capitalize on Telenor’s expertise, assets and reach, payment solutions and data analytical tools.


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I’m excited to visit Pubcon in Las Vegas for this must-attend event, and look forward to discussing search and social and how their futures will impact businesses.
Austin, TX (PRWEB) May 06, 2014
Pubcon, the premier social media and optimization conference, is pleased to announce that Microsoft’s Duane Forrester, senior product manager in charge of Bing Webmaster Tools, will present a keynote address during Pubcon Las Vegas 2014, the search marketing event of the year.
Forrester has over a decade of experience in direct search and online marketing, including planning ad campaigns, managing ad buys, and running e-mail programs, and is the author of two business books for digital marketers published by McGraw-Hill, including "How To Make Money With Your Blog and Turn Clicks Into Customers."
“I’m excited to visit Pubcon in Las Vegas for this must-attend event, and look forward to discussing search and social and how their futures will impact businesses,” Forrester said of his upcoming Pubcon Las Vegas 2014 keynote, which will take place during the week of October 6 – 9.
Forrester’s specialties include search optimization, effective negotiation training, and dedicated platform pay-per-click (PPC) bid management, among others.
Forrester is founding co-chair of the in-house search engine marketing (SEM) committee at Search Engine Marketing Professional Organization (SEMPO), and was formerly on the group’s board of directors.
Previously Forrester managed search engine optimization (SEO) for MSN, and prior to that he worked for Caesar’s Palace casinos in Canada, running successful marketing and on-site promotions.
Forrester is noted for his expertise in PR, direct marketing, and event planning, among other areas, and will bring his unique experience and enthusiasm to Pubcon Las Vegas 2014 attendees.
Pubcon Las Vegas 2014 will feature more keynote addresses than any event in the conference's 15 year history, as Forrester joins a keynote lineup that already includes noted serial entrepreneur Ted Murphy, founder, chief executive and chairman at IZEA, and New York Times bestselling digital marketing author Jay Baer, who are just a few of the major keynote speakers that will be announced in the coming weeks.
Registration for Pubcon Las Vegas 2014, highlighted by hundreds of the key influencers who are shaping the future of the Web and new media, all speaking in diverse multiple topic sub-conferences with hundreds of great conference panel sessions, is now open and available at early-bird rates.
Join Forrester, Murphy, Baer, and other top industry keynote speakers for Pubcon Las Vegas 2014 during the week of October 6 – 9 at the Las Vegas Convention Center in the entertainment capital of the world, including the latest Pubcon Masters Group training program, a vast expo hall, and the exclusive second annual U.S. Search Awards.
Learn more and register at http://www.pubcon.com.
Pubcon is a multi-track educational conference hosted by Pubcon Inc. Pubcon, supported by the industry’s leading businesses, speakers, exhibitors, and sponsors involved in social media, Internet marketing, search engines, and online advertising, offers an in-depth look at the future of technology presented by the world’s top speakers in provocative cutting-edge sessions.
For more information about the conference, contact Brett Tabke at 512-231-8107 or brett(at)pubcon(dot)com.
For more details about sponsorship and exhibition opportunities, contact Conference Director Jeff Randall at 512-686-1295 or jeff(at)pubcon(dot)com.


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A new corporate model with salaried GPs? It's not as wacko as it might sound
The idea of privately setting up your own health care home sounds a little wacko, at first hearing. But I kind of like it.
The government’s tenuous experiment with capping payments for a year’s worth of care has most of us very wary. Therefore, few expected the announcement that a new corporate will launch a similar model, but will fund it independently.


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The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) is testing four types of yellow and white soy-based paint on heavy-traffic asphalt and concrete highways in Missouri. The United Soybean Board and soybean checkoff support new industrial uses for soy, and soy-based paint and inks have long been a popular product.
MoDOT has been working with the Missouri Soybean Merchandising Council; Cargill, which developed the soy-based paint; and Cook Composites and Polymers out of Kansas City, which brought the product to MoDOT for testing.
The soy-based paint went through in-lab testing to confirm the compositional qualities of the paint, and it passed all of MoDOT’s lab tests. Currently, the department uses water-based traffic paint. The new paint uses a soy resin as its delivery method.
“We need durability in paint for the highway,” says Todd Bennett, MoDOT’s Chemical Laboratory Director. “Snowplows are the largest destruction method to wear down the paint, so we always test over the winter. The soy-based paint was applied in October and will be evaluated this summer and again after one year.”
The paint has been applied in test stripes on Highway 63, between Columbia and Jefferson City, on both the northbound and southbound lanes. The 12-foot test stripes run across the roadway from shoulder to center stripe.
MoDOT typically buys about 1.5 million gallons of water-based paint a year, so there may be an opportunity for more soy-based paint to make it to Missouri’s highways and byways.
“It all depends on the durability after one year,” says Bennett. “MoDOT is always interested in finding good new products. The soy-based paint definitely got a good test this winter.”
For more information on soy-based new products like the soy-based highway paint, visit www.soynewuses.org.
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One lakh rupees invested in bitcoin in 2010 would be worth a few hundred crore rupees today. That is the kind of extraordinary return the digital currency has given investors as its price has witnessed a meteoric rise, from just a few cents in 2010 to hit a lifetime high of over $11,000 last week. In 2017 alone, bitcoin price has increased by over 1000%. In fact, all it took for the currency to reach $11,000 after breaching the $10,000 mark was a single day. True to its nature, however, soon after hitting $11,000, bitcoin witnessed a sharp drop of 20% before recovering some of its losses to close the day almost flat. Other cryptocurrencies like Ethereum too have shown equally impressive gains and falls, particularly over the last year. Enthusiasts argue that cryptocurrencies like bitcoin are rapidly transforming into mainstream money that will offer serious competition to national currencies issued by central banks. Therefore they see bitcoin’s current price rise as merely a reflection of its bright future as a stateless currency. Its limited supply and the blockchain technology on which it functions, they say, have also added to its exotic appeal. Sceptics, however, have pointed to the Tulip Bubble of the 17th century and Internet stocks of the late 1990s as cautionary examples. The most notable among the critics has been J.P.Morgan chief executive officer Jamie Dimon who called bitcoin a “fraud” that will make its investors poor.
Whether bitcoin holds huge fundamental value as a medium of exchange, as many of its supporters claim, is yet to be seen. The blockchain technology may well have some merits, as shown by increasing interest in it even among central banks and other financial institutions. Many have even started offering financial products and services centred around bitcoin. Yet the fundamental value of any currency is based not on its underlying technology but on its general acceptability as money for the purpose of commerce. Bitcoin, or any other cryptocurrency, is nowhere close to widespread use as a medium that helps in the exchange of goods and services. Earlier this year, a Morgan Stanley research note concluded that bitcoin’s acceptance “is virtually zero”. In fact, it found that the acceptance of bitcoin among the top 500 online retailers actually dropped in the last year. What then explains bitcoin’s huge price rise? The fear of missing out on extraordinary gains, achievable within extremely short periods of time in the case of bitcoin, has likely pulled people from all walks of life into the digital currency. This is typical of bubbles that are driven by emotion rather than value. It is also a telling sign of the times where easy monetary policy has pushed investors starved of yield in traditional assets into highly risky assets like bitcoin.


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There has been no shortage of stress for consumers over the last year. While experts have been hard at work identifying things people can do to relieve stress, a new study conducted by researchers from the University of Birmingham shows that a simple diet change may also be helpful.
According to their findings, consuming foods and drinks high in flavanols can reduce stress. While this compound can be found in fruits and vegetables, the study focused specifically on a flavanol-rich cocoa drink that was highly effective.
“We found that drinking flavanol-rich cocoa can be an effective dietary strategy to reduce temporary impairments in endothelial function following mental stress and also improve blood flow during stressful episodes,” said researcher Dr. Catarina Rendeiro. “By utilizing the known cardiovascular benefits of these compounds during periods of acute vascular vulnerability (such as stress) we can offer improved guidance to people about how to make the most of their dietary choices during stressful periods.”
The body’s response to flavanols
For the study, the researchers had 30 healthy men drink a flavanol-rich cocoa drink an hour and a half before a stress-inducing task. To gauge how the flavanols worked to lower stress, the researchers measured the participants’ blood flow before, during, and after the stressful task.
The researchers learned that while the participants were engaged in the task, the flavanol cocoa drink was effective at improving physiological signs of stress. Participants had better overall blood flow while in a high-stress situation, and that effect remained for several hours after the task was done.
These findings are important because proper blood flow and blood vessel function is how the body protects itself against several serious conditions, like kidney failure, viral infections, and heart disease, among others. Because the body responds so strongly to stress, it’s crucial that consumers understand what resources are available to lower stress both physically and mentally.
Accessible way to reduce stress
Flavanols are so easily accessible, which makes these findings all the more applicable to consumers’ day-to-day lives. Incorporating more flavanol-rich foods and drinks can have long-term benefits for consumers’ health and wellness.
“Our findings are significant for everyday diet, given that the daily dosage administered could be achieved by consuming a variety of foods rich in flavanols -- particularly apples, black grapes, blackberries, cherries, raspberries, pears, pulses, green tea, and unprocessed cocoa,” Dr. Rendeiro said. “This has important implications for measures to protect the blood vessels of those individuals who are more vulnerable to the effects of mental stress.”


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SuperData Research, a Nielsen Company, published today its yearly free report on digital gaming, highlighting the significant growth experienced this year throughout the industry.
Compared to last year, digital gaming grew 12% to reach 126.6 billion dollars. The lion's share remains safely in the hands of the mobile market, whose yearly revenue got to $73.8 billion with a 10% year-over-year increase; one of the biggest mobile titles, Pokémon GO, saw its revenue rise 39% year-over-year despite COVID-19 travel restrictions as the developers at Niantic were quick to tweak the game so that its features would work while staying indoors, too. PC digital gaming revenue accounted for $33.1 billion in 2020, while console digital revenue accounted for $19.7 billion.
The SuperData Research report offers an in-depth look at all the various segments, though. For instance, while free to play games still dominated the scene with 78% of the digital gaming revenue (a nine percent increase over 2019), the premium segment grew far more (28%). That's because most of the lockdowns happened in North America and Europe, where the PC and console markets are stronger, accounting for 84% of all 'premium' digital gaming revenue. Total revenue for premium games was measured to be $24.5 billion ($17.8 on PC and $6.7 on consoles) this year, though next year SuperData Research is estimating it'll shrink down to $21.3 billion ($16.2 on PC, $5.1 on consoles). By contrast, free-to-play games should see another increase in 2021 across all major platforms (mobile, PC, and consoles).
This year in the premium segment, the Top 10 titles earned 34% of all revenue (whereas in the free-to-play segment the Top 10 titles only earned 19% of the total). The report puts Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, which includes Warzone revenue, at the top with almost $2 billion earned digitally in 2020.
|Call of Duty: Modern Warfare||Activision Blizzard||Shooter||$1,913M|
|FIFA 20||Electronic Arts, Inc.||Sports||$1,083M|
|Grand Theft Auto V||Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.||Action-adventure||$911M|
|NBA 2K21||Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.||Sports||$889M|
|NBA 2K20||Take Two Interactive Software, Inc.||Sports||$771M|
|Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War||Activision Blizzard||Shooter||$678M|
|Animal Crossing: New Horizons||Nintendo||Simulation||$654M|
|Cyberpunk 2077||CD Projekt||RPG||$609M|
|Sims 4||Electronic Arts, Inc.||Simulation||$462M|
|DOOM Eternal||Bethesda Softworks||Shooter||$454M|
VR gaming revenue was up 25% in 2020, reaching $589 million, even though VR headset shipments fell 15% mostly due to supply issues. Half-Life: Alyx sold 1.9 million units in its first months, according to the report, and managed to earn more revenue than all PC VR games combined in 2019.
SuperData Research projects digital gaming revenue flat to stay 'flat' for 2021, though the overall interactive entertainment sector, which also includes gaming video content and XR, should still grow by 2%.


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Samsung may show off a new, groundbreaking type of television at CES in Las Vegas next week. Samsung’s bezel-less, 8K TV is something that is completely bezel-less, 8K QLED model. According to some reports, it is named as Samsung “Zero Bezel” TV which means it has no bezels. It is reportedly carrying model numbers of Q900T and Q950T.
Is it Really Bezel-less?
The TV is believed to have bezels so tiny that the screen edge effectively disappears when it’s viewed from a distance. If you look at the image, Samsung’s Bezel-less 8K TV is not literally a zero-bezel TV, but it’s very close to that. The most you can see is a tiny chin. It will also have a sounder-friendly stand, and also there is gap-free walls mount like never before. On Tuesday 31st December, German Website 4KFilme says that it has its reach to a pair of leaked renders showing it the screen in all its “Zero Bezel” glory.
An earlier rumor states that the bezel-free TV would enter production in February 2020. Pricing is still unknown and might be revealed at the CES event. The design of Samsung’s bezel-less 8K TV might be limited to 65-inches or larger screens. This means that the manufacturing process is complex enough and is not suitable for smaller sizes of TV design. Also, it means that Samsung wants to differentiate its premium TVs as more consumers prefer larger screens.
We don’t have very much data to go on with at the moment. And of course, this being an unannounced product, there is no word yet on the pricing, release date, or any other features of the TV. But despite that, it does sound flawlessly in Samsung’s wheelhouse given the display innovations it’s pioneered on its own Galaxy smartphone line. We will know more about it next week CES event is in its full swing and Samsung will eventually announce its annual refreshed TV lineup.
Sources: The Verge


text: China alone buy 70 per cent of Bangladeshi leather and leather goods which have been stopped since February due to Coronavirus caused flight suspension and factory closure between the two countries. The second highest export earner of Bangladesh witnessed about 70 per cent fall in export earning in April, 2020. A sector-wise position paper prepared by Ministry of Commerce said the disruption may hamper export half of the leather and leather goods and leather products remain unsold for the current year. Leather Goods and Footwear Manufacturers & Exporters Association of Bangladesh (LFMEAB) prepared another report where it found collapse in export during last three months. Overall export earnings from leather products and leather footwear show downtrend in 4 months (Jan-April) of 2020 recording consecutive decrease of 6.59 per cent, 21.72 per cent and 79.30 per cent in February, March, and April respectively, the LFMEAB report said. This unprecedented fall in export is due to most retailers, chain stores and shops remain closed in China and other major export markets including: Germany, Italy, France, Md. Saiful Islam, president of LFMEAB said. Demand for footwear and leather goods has almost dwindled to zero to those markets, he said. “In such critical circumstances, LFMEAB member factories are facing huge economic impact because of declining business and current orders situation amid the coronavirus crisis. Alarmingly, businesses are unlikely to revert to usual level for at least another year if setback continues,”, said in a statement.


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Britain details plan to maintain stability in case of no-deal Brexit
The government is preparing for all scenarios if Britain leaves the European Union in seven months without a deal. The plan reveals the scope of potential disruption to the British economy and daily life.
Britain will unilaterally accept some European Union rules and give EU financial services firms continued access to Britain's market in order to maintain stability if the country crashes out of the bloc without a deal, the government said Thursday.
Details of Britain's "no-deal" plans came in a raft of documents advising people and businesses advice on how to prepare.
With seven months until Britain leaves the European Union on March 29, negotiations on divorce terms and future trade have bogged down amid infighting within British Prime Minister Theresa May's divided Conservative government about how close an economic relationship to seek with the EU.
The documents published Thursday say "people and businesses should not be alarmed" by the planning. The government insists it is still confident of getting a deal before Brexit day on March 29, but is preparing for all outcomes.
The first 25 of more than 70 papers cover everything from financial services to nuclear materials. The rest are due to be released by the end of September.
The documents say Britain will allow EU financial services firms continued "passporting" rights to operate in the United Kingdom for up to three years, even if no agreement on such services is reached with the EU – though it can't guarantee that the bloc will let UK companies operate there. That could leave British retirees in the EU unable to receive their pensions.
The UK will recognize EU standards for medicines – so drugs from the bloc won't need to be retested in the UK – and will continue to fund British research programs and academic exchanges that currently get money from the EU.
Brexit Secretary Dominic Raab said Britain was determined to "manage the risks and embrace the opportunities" of Brexit.
"We have made clear that if negotiations don't achieve the optimum outcome, we will continue to be a responsible European neighbor and partner," he said in a speech to journalists and business leaders in London.
Mr. Raab dismissed alarming headlines suggesting the UK could run out of sandwich supplies and other staples.
"You will still be able to enjoy a BLT after Brexit," he said.
Despite the upbeat tone, the documents reveal the scale of disruption to the British economy and daily life that could follow Brexit.
While the UK currently has customs-free trade with the 27 other EU countries, the documents say a no-deal Brexit would mean a much harder border.
For goods going to and coming from the EU, "an import declaration will be required, customs checks may be arrived out and any customs duties must be paid," one document said.
The papers reveal that British organic farmers won't be able to export their produce to the EU unless the bloc approves UK standards – a process that can't start until after Brexit and takes nine months. And the widely recognized organic logo plastered across everything from vegetables to beef belongs to the EU, so UK producers will no longer be able to use it.
Cigarette packaging will have to be redesigned, because the EU holds the copyright on the photos of diseased lungs and other off-putting images emblazoned on the packs.
Millions of Britons could find online shopping more expensive after Brexit, the government acknowledged. The documents note that in the event of no deal "the cost of card payments between the U.K. and the EU will likely increase" and the EU-imposed ban on firms charging extra to for credit-card payments will no longer apply.
Keir Starmer, Brexit spokesman for the opposition Labour Party, said the government's "vague papers" wouldn't reassure anybody.
"A no-deal Brexit has never been viable and would represent a complete failure of the government's negotiating strategy," he said.
This article was reported by The Associated Press.


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A new report suggests 7 million cyber crimes are committed against small to medium businesses every year. Criminals target firms likely to spend less on cyber security. Hacking into emails to gain sensitive information or sending emails within firms trying to trick staff into sending payments to the criminals own bank accounts.
It is suggested that a cyber crime attack cost small businesses up to £3000 and it can take days to get back up and running after such an attack.
Businesses can keep themselves safe by using constantly updated software protection for devices. Also ensuring that passwords are changed regularly and not easy to guess.


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The French government is pushing through a law that enables consumers to legally use software that converts digital content into any format.
This would force Apple to open its proprietary iTunes to business rivals or face the music.
Apple is expected to throw its toys out of the pram if the law is enacted and withdraw its iTunes from France. Maybe Apple hopes that this will lead to mass migration of Apple refugees out of the country and bring the French computer-based art, design and music industry to its knees.
According to Reuters, the law has some other interesting bits. It will no longer be illegal to crack digital rights management if it is to enable the conversion from one format to another.
You can read the yarn here. µ
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Deal would be the latest in a wave of acquisitions of independent podcast producers in the last year
Illustration.Photo credit Unsplash
Amazon.com Inc. has entered exclusive talks to purchase independent podcast producer Wondery, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The deal would value Wondery at more than $300 million, unnamed individuals with knowledge of the talks told the Journal, emphasizing that negotiations were ongoing and could collapse.
Reps for Amazon and Wondery did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Wondery, whose biggest hits are true-crime stories such as “Doctor Death,” “Dirty John” and “Over My Dead Body,” was the sixth most-popular podcast publisher in the U.S. in September, audio analytics firm Podtrac reported.
More to come…
Source: Read Full Article


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Matte automotive finishes are on the cutting edge, as seen this year in the Lamborghini booth at the National American International Auto Show in Detroit. The luxury Italian sports car manufacturer showed three uber-cool models with the flat paint jobs.
The matte blue Lamborghini almost looks like an artist’s rendition with the aggressively surreal paint finish. This trend to the un-shiny look heightens the current drift away from shiny chrome wheels to a tougher black rim.
Matte Automotive Finishes
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Matte is the New Glossy
Slip-Resistant Fleece-Lined Boots
Secluded Cave-Like Galleries
Air-Cushioned Technology Bags
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Lambourghini Showcases Flat Paint Jobs at NAIAS 2009
- By: Elsa BlaineFeb 12, 2009


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Volga-Dnepr guarantees airlift for heavy machinery equipment
Volga-Dnepr Airlines, the leader in the sector of air cargo transportation of oversized and super heavy shipments, has organized the delivery of a crankshaft from Apodaca, Nuevo León, Mexico, to Mumbai, India.
The flight was chartered by DHL Global Forwarding for the 38-ton shipment, which had been packaged in a 7-meter long box alongside some support equipment required for loading.
Within 12 hours of receiving the request, Volga-Dnepr’s experienced logistics specialists developed several loading and packaging options for the customer. This promptness, and Volga Dnepr’s ability to provide a bespoke cargo platform for the required weight distribution reduced the lead-time for the uplift accordingly.
“The transportation of this crankshaft is another demonstration of our commitment to our customers in the energy and heavy machinery sector. With our expertise in the transportation of oversized cargo, our specialized equipment and our experience in meeting tight schedules, we were able to operate this Apodaca to Mumbai flight efficiently. Our unique ramp-loading IL-76TD-90VD freighter is equipped with onboard cranes and winches which facilitate optimized loading. Our aircraft, equipped with modern engines and unrestricted for global operations, secure extended opportunities for us to satisfy the market demands of the energy sector,” stated Ekaterina Andreeva, Deputy Commercial Director, Volga-Dnepr Charter Cargo Operations.
Volga-Dnepr Airlines has more than 28 years of experience in addressing challenges related to the transportation of super-heavy and oversized project cargo originating from various industries, including the energy and heavy machinery sector. For the first 9 months of 2018, Volga-Dnepr has recorded an increase of 6% in cargo transportation for the energy and heavy machinery industry. The company is set to continue on this growth trajectory offering the most cost-efficient logistics solutions for its customers worldwide.


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Ontario restaurants say they need a break
Ontario's restaurants say they're looking for action on energy costs, red tape, cheese and alcohol pricing from the next provincial government.
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Ontario’s restaurant industry says rising energy costs, wages, red tape and sales tax are among biggest issues they’re facing and they want the next provincial government to stand up and take notice.
“The restaurant industry presents a huge opportunity for Ontario to create jobs, drive tourism and build vibrant communities,” says Garth Whyte, president and chief executive officer of the Canadian Restaurant and Foodservices Association.
But the provincial government could be doing more to remove obstacles to its future growth, Whyte said in an interview Tuesday.
“I’d like to see a blue ribbon group focused on our sector to develop an integrated plan for the restaurant industry,” Whyte said.
The association is encouraging its members to raise these issues during the current provincial election campaign when local candidates ask for their support.
Ontario’s restaurants have lost 10,000 jobs since 2008 and the industry’s average profitability level in Ontario, at 4.4 per cent, is below the national average of 7.1 per cent, he said.
While acknowledging the economic downturn has played a role, the association notes that restaurants in the U.S. continued to generate jobs despite weaker economic conditions south of the border.
Ontario’s restaurant industry generate $23 billion a year in sales and is the fourth largest employer with just over 400,000 people on staff, the association said.
Yet, restaurateurs are at a disadvantage in competing with grocery stores, which don’t have to charge HST on food products.
Restaurants pay 30 per cent more for cheese than frozen pizza makers who sell through supermarkets.
As well, licensed restaurants pay just as much as consumers for alcohol purchased from the Liquor Control Board of Ontario or The Beer Store as there is no wholesale pricing model for those products, the association said.
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There, he said it: “Netflix, Netflix, Netflix.” If that punchline to a joke by host Andy Samberg wasn’t quite the theme of Sunday night’s broadcast of the Golden Globe Awards, it was close enough. Netflix grabbed five awards, including two for its most serious Oscar contender ever, Alfonso Cuaron’s Roma, validating the streaming giant’s film awards ambitions at least for one night.
The genial, champagne-soaked Globes show capped quite the holiday season for Netflix, during which it unveiled a potentially groundbreaking interactive show, had its biggest-ever movie hit, and took steps to clean up its problematic bottom line.
The various steps are badly needed and well timed. This year, an already overstuffed SVOD sector is about to get a lot more crazy, with Apple’s service launching this spring, and Disney, Walmart’s Vudu and WarnerMedia following later on.
Netflix hasn’t exactly had the place to itself heretofore – with Amazon, Hulu, HBO, ESPN+, CBS All Access, DC Universe and countless lesser players – but customers will have to wade through even more compelling ways to entertain themselves. Netflix must ensure it offers a wide range of engaging programming to its worldwide audience, while finding new ways to make money. And to do that, the company has taken several major steps forward these past few weeks.
One was the investment in feature-length projects by Oscar- and Emmy-winning directors, including Cuaron (Gravity), the Coen Bros. (No Country for Old Men and this year’s The Ballad of Buster Scruggs) and Susanna Bier (In a Better World, The Night Manager and this year’s Bird Box).
Roma won both best director and best foreign-language film at the Globes. It’s a strong favorite to do that double again in Oscar voting, which begins today on nominees. As well, because of inexplicable Globes rules, the Spanish- and Mixtec-language Roma wasn’t eligible for best drama movie. It won’t face those strictures in the Oscars, where it’s a dead certain nominee for best picture and a strong candidate to win.
As Netflix did with its investment in TV contenders such as House of Cards and Orange is the New Black beginning in 2013, the company is using awards as a signaler to audiences of quality programming. The company also picked up two Golden Globes for comedy series The Kominsky Method and another for Richard Madden’s compelling work in drama series Bodyguard.
Bird Box, like Roma and Buster Scruggs, received special handling this awards season by Netflix, which actually allowed short theatrical runs ahead of the films’ online release. That was designed to both placate the directors themselves, and to grab more media (and Oscar voter) attention for the films that otherwise might not have come in the company’s typical “day-and-date” release practices.
Bird Box, an unusual horror film featuring a crackerjack cast led by Oscar winner Sandra Bullock, won’t be grabbing any major awards, it appears, but it provided something else that Netflix prizes: lots of viewers. The company broke from another of its usual practices, and actually released data about the film’s record viewership.
In its first week after a Dec. 21 online debut, Netflix said, 45 million subscribers watched the film, about a third of the company’s 137 million base. And given that each subscriber typically represents a household of people, not a single person (not to mention all those shared passwords out there ), it’s likely the film was seen by something closer to 100 million viewers during that holiday week. That’s a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year indeed for Netflix.
Clearly, the combination of a talented international director, a cast with worldwide name recognition, a genre focus and perhaps even some of that extra media attention from a short theatrical release ahead of the holidays all combined to help make a huge hit for the company. It could be a formula worth repeating in coming years.
Bird Box even jumped into the broader cultural conversation, even fueling an ill-advised Internet meme, the Bird Box Challenge, where participants perform various tasks while blindfolded. It proved so popular that Netflix had to post a cautionary tweet urging fans not to endanger themselves. The next step, no doubt, will be finding and eating Tide pods while blindfolded.
Netflix also released another unique, cultural-crossover project, an interactive feature-length episode of its hit sci-fi anthology series Black Mirror. The episode, Black Mirror: Bandersnatch, was knocked by many critics as a so-so gimmick that’s been around for decades, but it represents a crossover from the gaming world to a well-established hit TV show on a major distribution. That’s a big deal. More importantly, in the long term, it’s easy to see projects like Bandersnatch opening new opportunities in product placement, data-informed programming and even e-commerce.
You can bet Amazon is thinking about how to better connect and monetize its shows, fat online backbone and vast marketplace, and probably so are such talented merchandisers as Disney and Apple.
And that leads us to a couple of other financial moves by Netflix.
First was its decision to no longer allow in-app subscription purchases and renewals on Apple’s App Store and Google’s Android Store. SensorTower estimated the move may save Netflix as much as $500 million in Apple hosting fees alone this year. That’s cash it can spend in lots of other places.
And finally, there was the company’s hiring of Spencer Neumann, the CFO of gaming giant Activision Blizzard, and former CFO of Disney parks and resorts.
Neumann brings useful background as Netflix tries to diversify its revenue, make a profit in a bear market, and reduce its reliance on junk bonds to finance its vast content spending.
At Activision, Neumann would have seen how the dynamic game business is pushing into esports, virtual and augmented reality, merchandise, live events and more. At Disney, where he was also EVP of Global Guest Experience, Neumann would have seen the machine behind the Disney magic that extracts billions of dollars annually from its super fans.
As Netflix looks to make more money, it can’t just live off growth in its international subscriber base. It needs to do what Disney and Activision have been doing for years: providing more ways for its own super fans to further engage with its content and narrative worlds, helping keep its best customers close and engaged.
Neumann faces plenty of challenges, of course, amid a suddenly bearish stock market and all this new competition. But at least Netflix isn’t standing pat. as its very merry holiday season shows.


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European insurance tech startup Wefox has raised $400 million in a series D round of funding, giving the German company a post-money valuation of $4.5 billion. This represents a 50% increase on last year's $3 billion valuation at its Series C round.
Founded out of Berlin in 2015, Wefox sells various insurance products through a combination of in-house and external brokers, bypassing the direct-to-consumer model of insurtech competitors which include rival German startup Getsafe. This way of growing users, by getting third-party brokers to use Wefox to advise their own customers, is how CEO and founder Julian Teicke reckons helped the company double its revenues to $320 million last year. Moreover, it has already generated $200 million in the first four months of 2022, putting it on target to hit $600 million in turnover by the end of the year, and recently passed 2 million customers across the board.
To date, Wefox said it has built a network of around 3,000 independent brokers in its native Germany, while in other markets such as Switzerland, Germany and Austria, it has trained its own brokers.
"Wefox's 'secret sauce' is in its business model of indirect distribution, which has enabled the company to scale faster than any other insurtech in the world," Teicke told TechCrunch. "Our model is unique in the insurtech space, since all others go direct to consumer."
The main benefit to this model lies in the cost of acquiring customers, which becomes significantly lower given that its brokers, agents and other partners do much of the spade-work for Wefox. Moreover, this also allows Wefox to enter new markets more quickly.
"We can then focus on enabling our brokers, agents, and affinity partners to target the most profitable customers, which improves our loss ratios and customer lifetime value," Teicke added. "Our model enables Wefox to drive a superior financial profile which puts us on a clear path to profitability."
The approach is built on the basic notion that insurance is an inherently complex subject, and people would rather chat with a human and get personalized advice. And only then does the technology kick in, with all the usual mobile apps and online dashboards for registering and filing claims.
Image Cfredits: Wefox
Few industries are impervious to the economic downturn, and insurtech is no different. In the past month alone, Policygenius cut a quarter of its workforce shortly after raising $125 million, while Next Insurance is scaling back by around 17%. Elsewhere, a host of publicly traded insurtech companies are trading way down on their initial IPO price, including Root, Hippo and Lemonade, the latter also reportedly laying off a portion of its staff back in April.
On the flip-side, we have seen some bumper investments in the insurtech space, with Branch recently attracting a $147 million Series C tranche at a $1.05 billion valuation, while YuLife snagged $120 million at an $800 million valuation just last week. Throw into the mix the steady stream of smaller investments in the space and it's clear that even if 2022 doesn't follow in the footsteps of the bumper 2021, insurtech isn't exactly dead in the water.
From Wefox's perspective, it has only been a year since it raised a $650 million round of funding, so it's difficult to imagine that it could've burned through that much cash in such a short period of time. And, it seems, it hasn't -- according to Teicke, it wasn't desperate to raise again, it's simply future-proofing itself should it need the funds.
"We don't need any more cash, however, following our Series C round, investors approached us and under the current economic climate we believe it was prudent to review the situation and take advantage of the current economic downturn -- because we see this as an opportunity to grow even faster," Teicke said.
Wefox's Series D round, which is compromised of equity and debt, was led by Mubadala Investment Company, with participation from LGT, Horizons Ventures and Omers Ventures. Flush with cash, the company said that it plans to enter new European markets in 2022, with longer-term plans to expand into the U.S. and Asia in 2024.


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A lawsuit was filed against Yakima Chief Hops (YCH), the leading hop broker in America, by Bintani, a major supplier of raw materials to the Australian craft beer industry. Bintani claims that YCH canceled a supply contract with the family owned company after Bintani announced last month the partial sale of the company to Brewers Supply Group (BSG). BSG is an American company based in Shakopee, close to Minneapolis, Minnesota, which supplies like Bintani the craft beer industry in the U.S. and Canada with malt, hops, other brewing ingredients and accessories. BSG is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rahr Corporation, one of the largest and oldest family-owned malting companies in the world. (inside.beer, 10.10.2016)
Bintani claims the breach in contract to be a retaliation of YCH because BSG is a direct competitor to YCH in the American market. BSG hops, a division of BSG, has nearly 100,000 square feet (approx. 9.300 square meters) of refrigerated storage in the Yakima Valley of Washington, the heart of the US hop growing region which can hold roughly 7 million pounds (3.180 tons) of hops bales and pellets at 31°F (-0.5°C). BSG hops are distributed through the warehouse in Yakima and eight other warehouses across the United States.
71 percent of the Bintani’s hop volume and about 85 percent of its hop sale is currently done with YCH. The alleged breach will therefore result “in damages in excess of $20 million [US$14.5m] to Bintani and approximately $245 million [US$177m] to the Australian brewing market as a whole,” according to the statement of claim.
In a letter from Ryan Hopkins, YCH’s vice president of North American sales, attached to the claim, the hop broker says that he was “genuinely disappointed” to learn of Bintani’s decision to sell a portion of its business to a competitor. “Not only has confidentiality been violated, but the agreement also stipulates that there shall be no assignment of rights under the agreement without our prior written approval,” the letter goes on.
Bintani counters that “as a current owner in Bintani through certain of its subsidiaries, Rahr and these subsidiaries are entitled to receive the information disclosed,” the complaint said. “The information was not improperly disclosed and was always maintained as confidential, so there was no breach and, furthermore, no harm or prejudice to YCH.”
In addition, Bintani said it did not “assign, sell or otherwise transfer” distribution rights and would remain the legal partner in the contract with YCH.
Last year, the largest supplier of raw materials to the Australasian craft beer industry, Cryer Malt, was bought by Barret Burston Malting, a subsidiary of GrainCorp, the world’s fifth largest maltster. (inside.beer, 13.10.2017) GrainCorp owns also indirectly Country Malt Group (CMG), the second largest supplier to the U.S. craft beer industry next to BSG. YMC collaborates with CMG in the U.S. in the distribution of its hops products.


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VLC for Android 2.0 officially launched in the Google Play Store on Tuesday, and this "major update" includes everything from network sharing to support for video playlists and multiple windows.
The free, open source, cross-platform VLC multimedia player can now tap into Android N, though those who like to live in the past can still use it on devices back to Android 2.2.
The nonprofit VideoLAN organization also touted network shares browsing and playback, which it said was "one of the most requested features," as well as video playlists, subtitles downloader, pop-up video view, support for multiwindows, an optional history panel, favorite network shares and URLs, and the ability to merge between the Android TV and Android packages.
Another in-demand feature coming to VLC is popup-video view, which will be helpful on tablets. "It's now implemented and we do support Samsung MultiWindow and LG Dual Window extensions to allow 2 applications on the same screen," VideoLAN says.
Overall, VLC for Android 2.0 looks to be a major upgrade. And it's available now as a free download in the Google Play marketplace.
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Two agencies have teamed up to turn "heart sell" into hard sell.
Bozell Worldwide, New York, and Bonneville Communications, Salt Lake City, have formed Bozell/Bonneville, a joint venture that hopes to win a chunk of the estimated $2 billion spent annually on cause marketing campaigns.
Both agencies will continue to produce public service spots, dis-tributed through the Advertising Council and elsewhere, for their respective clients.
Bonneville, a 22-year-old unit of the Bonneville International Corp. media company, says 60% or more of its revenues come from sentimental campaigns that use what executives call "heart sell" to win supporters. That includes work for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Bonneville is owned by the Mormon Church.
But the joint venture will do more than that, acting as a consultant and mediator to match up charitable causes with corporate marketers that can help them while benefiting themselves. The agency will avoid seeking simple donations from corporate foundations. Instead, it will target marketing departments with business-building ideas.
"Philanthropy turns out to be an expense to corporations; cause marketing is an investment," said Bonneville President Richard Alsop, who's vice chairman of the new venture.
"It accomplishes marketing goals by enhancing a company's image and doing good for others in the process," added Chuck Peebler, CEO at Bozell, Jacobs, Kenyon & Eckhardt and chairman-CEO of Bozell/Bonneville.
The executives claimed many causes lack the resources to appeal to marketers' self-interest instead of their hearts.
"We never really approached cause marketing at the national level," said Steven Dickinson, a VP at the American Cancer Society. "We just didn't know how to do it."
And many companies that have toyed with cause marketing tended to approach it as a short-term sales promotion tool instead of a long-term strategic opportunity.
"They're expecting the charity to have cause marketing expertise, but most don't and can't demonstrate how cause marketing can help their bottom line," said Casey Jones, president-CEO of the new agency.
Bozell/Bonneville expects 1995 billings of $15 million to $25 million, based on creative and consulting fees as well as media commissions for paid public service messages. Initial clients are the American Cancer Society and Children's Miracle Network, for which Bonneville already produces spots, and Junior Achievement, a Bozell client.
The new agency is based at Bozell offices in New York, where BJK&E Media Group will handle buying. But the bulk of the unit's 20 full-time staffers, including creatives, will work in Salt Lake City.


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- DappRadar’s report outlines an 18% increase in the unique NFT trader count.
- The positive metrics denote that the NFT sector is still experiencing an influx of new people, proving that NFTs are still in great demand.
NFT analytics firm DappRadar has documented an increase of 18% in monthly unique NFT traders. The report further stated that despite the visible decline in NFT trading volumes and sales throughout October, the unique NFT trader count has risen consistently.
NFTs Are Still In Great Demand: DappRadar
A recent report shared by NFT analytics firm DappRadar states that NFTs are still in great demand despite the fact that the industry is experiencing its usual market crunch.
According to the report, the number of unique NFT traders in October reached 1.11 million, documenting an increase of 18% from September.
The increase in unique NFT traders can roughly be defined as an influx of new people entering the sector, which means that NFTs are still being purchased by new people and traders
“Even though the NFT trading volume and sales count decreased this month, the unique trader count increased by 18%, reaching 1.11 million.” “The rise in the unique trader count indicates that new people are entering the NFT market, and it is still in great demand,” the report adds.
The report later adds how Yuga Labs is still one of the leading NFT projects dominating the NFT sector, with seven of its projects trending in sales this past month.
“Looking at the top 10 sales of this month, we could observe how the Yuga Labs projects dominate the NFT market.” Yuga Labs is the company behind CryptoPunks, Bored Ape Yacht Club, Meebits, Mutant Ape Yacht Club, Kennel Club Yacht Club, and Otherside. Once again, when blue chips maintain the majority of their value and trading is concentrated on one asset class, we see a hyper-centralization of activity. The report adds
The report later outlines how the NFT market is constantly transforming and giving birth to new ventures and marketplaces. DappRadar notes that the competition in the NFT market has suddenly increased considering the new marketplaces that have recently entered the industry. Per the report, Blur, a new Ethereum-based NFT marketplace has launched its beta version. Furthermore, the existing NFT marketplaces, including Magic Eden, OpenSea, and X2Y2, are also leaving no stone unturned to launch new products and services in their bid to entice NFT proponents.
“Although all markets are experiencing heightened volatility at a time when interest rates and inflationary factors are uncertain, wars and global conflict continue, and other factors influence the markets, NFTs and their underlying marketplaces are showing strong signs of enduring regardless of fluctuations.” The report later adds


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24 March 2020
These businesses have already secured their place at our new home.
It is not only our Season Ticket Holders that continue to secure their place at our New Stadium. Businesses and fans alike have taken the step of joining us at our new home by purchasing a Premium Seat.
Whether you are looking to entertain clients, reward staff or simply support The Bees, our Premium Seating offers a hospitality option that is done in a Brentford way. It is perfect for those looking for just that bit more than the regular matchday experience. Businesses and fans have seized the opportunity of getting an affordable matchday hospitality experience in London with:
Why have Businesses purchased Premium seats at our New Stadium?
“We are pleased to support our local club who a lot of our team are very passionate about. This gives them an opportunity to support their team in person. We also have an opportunity to take some of our clients who are locally based businesses to experience the fantastic facilities and environment that the new stadium will offer.”
“AJAR Technology celebrates 15 years of business in 2020 and just like Brentford FC we are a small team with a big heart so we think this is a perfect fit for us both. The new stadium not only reflects our own vision of ambition and growth but it will shine a spotlight on the local area and attract more visitors and investors to our doorstep. We believe our staff and customers alike will take great enjoyment of our premium seats and we can’t wait to host them there.”
Take a look at some of the other companies that have joined here.
Our Red & White package is now the only remaining Premium Seat offering at our New Stadium. Don’t miss out, simply register your interest here.


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Portuguese exports registered a nominal rise of 4.6 percent in February and imports grew by 12.8 percent, local media reported on Tuesday.
In February, “goods exports registered a year-on-year nominal change of 4.6 percent, corresponding to an acceleration from the previous month (3.8 percent in January), ” according to Lusa News Agency, quoting international trade statistics released by the National Statistics Institute (INE).
This acceleration contributed in particular to “the increase in intra-EU trade (4.4 percent)”, INE said.
On the other hand, imports “increased 12.8 percent, decelerating from the previous month of 15.9 percent in January,” INE added.
The Portuguese economy has been growing steadily in recent years after the country exited in May 2014 the 78-billion-euro (88 billion U.S. dollars) bailout program with the European Union, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank following years of harsh austerity.


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Google Has Changed its Logo for the First Time Since 1999
Google has changed its logo for the first time since 1999, as the company continues to undergo massive changes following its restructuring and the creation of its parent company Alphabet.
The new logo has brought to an end its relationship with serifs, the small lines that adorned the edges of the previous logo’s lettering. While Google’s logo has changed since the company was founded in 1998, this change represents the most drastic alteration to look since ’99, and represents the first time the company has done away with the serifs since then.
The evolution of the Google logo was documented in a video uploaded by the company, highlighting how the logo has also changed for its implementation in Google’s favicon (the icon that appeared in the URL bar).
Watch the video below:
The logo change has been made due to it scaling better than the logo of old, according to Google. According to the company, its use of serifs meant that when the logo or favicons were decreased in size, they could resemble other letters or numbers, something which the company weren’t comfortable.
As such, they have now opted for a bold ‘G’ sans serif that looks like the letter G no matter its size. It’ll also be easier to load for low-bandwidth users, utilizing a Scalable Vector Graphic that is the optimal format for a logo, meaning that it will now use up less bandwidth in order for the logo to be visible by all users.
Following Google moving under its new holding company, this is the first major change to the search engine that the general public have witnessed thus far. Will we see any more changes made to it in the near future?


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Thousands of Taiwanese took to the streets of Taipei Saturday to protest the government's decision to lift a six-year ban on imports of some kinds of beef from the United States.
Activists demanded a trade pact with the United States be renegotiated to prohibit some cuts of beef believed to cause mad cow disease.
President Ma Ying-jeou said last month that his government had reached an agreement with the United States on measures to protect the health of consumers of U.S. beef. He said those included stricter U.S. quality controls at the point of origin and allowing Taiwan veterinarians to inspect U.S. slaughterhouses.
Under a deal signed on October 22, Taiwan agreed to lift a six-year ban on imports of U.S. beef-on-the-bone, minced beef and cow organs from cattle younger than 30 months.
Some critics of the agreement in Taiwan have threatened to boycott the imports, which resumed on November 10.
Taiwan banned all U.S. beef imports in 2003 after mad cow disease was found in a U.S. herd of cattle. It partially eased the ban in 2006 to permit U.S. imports of boneless beef, believed to be free of any health risk.
Mad cow disease is a brain-wasting illness in cattle that can cause a fatal condition in humans known as Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.


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Noida, Uttar Pradesh-based B2B artisan startup Lal10 on Friday (13 March) raised $1.1 million in a seed funding round led by Sorenson Impact.
- Intel acquires Israeli mobility startup Moovit for $900 Mn
- India’s Caspian Debt scoops $20 Mn funding from DFC
- CODED announces its demo-day to graduate their first group of full-stack developers
- Rsquare Technologies celebrates 10 years of innovation in Bahrain
- Japan-Bound European & MENA startups navigate COVID-19
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Windows 10 is here and everything new and changing, Microsoft old and retired browser, internet explorer is not left behind as it has changed and transformed into Edge, a super fast and sleek browser that comes as the defaults browser in Windows 10 even when you’re updating from a system that previously used Chrome or Firefox as the default.
One person not happy and very upset about this development is no one other than Mozilla CEO, Chris Beard in an open letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, complaints and blasted the company for taking away its users’ choices and ignoring Mozilla’s calls for keeping the default during the upgrade process.
“When we first saw the Windows 10 upgrade experience that strips users of their choice by effectively overriding existing user preferences for the Web browser and other apps, we reached out to your team to discuss this issue,” Beard writes. “Unfortunately, it didn’t result in any meaningful progress, hence this letter.
“Sometimes we see great progress, where consumer products respect individuals and their choices. However, with the launch of Windows 10 we are deeply disappointed to see Microsoft take such a dramatic step backwards.”
To once again make Chrome or Firefox your default, you have to open your browser of choice and go through a few steps to tell Windows 10 about your choice. You can’t just click “Use Firefox as my default browser” and that’s that. All that button will do is open up the Windows 10 default settings. For non-technical users, the procedure isn’t exactly self-explanatory.


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Netflix could take a big loss among young subscription-owners in the shift to making free password-sharing users pay for the service, a study says.
But 50% of Gen Zs and Millennials said, when polled in late March, that they would cancel if they couldn't share their accounts at no cost anymore.
Amazon Prime Video will be just 12 million behind Netflix, and 43 million ahead of Dinsey+, per Digital TV Research projections.
Sentiment about the amount of advertising on Netflix likely is affected by people's experience with ad-free streaming.
Prime Video had a 21% share to Netflix's 20% in Q1 2023, according to JustWatch user data.
The pursuit of better margins is also driving price hikes, with cutbacks on promotions, confirms a new Antenna report.
Netflix will reach 10 million ad-supported subscribers globally by the end of this year, with about 30% in the U.S./Canada, according to MoffettNathanson Research. Previously, the research company
estimated a total of 24 million global ad-supported subscribers.
A new survey shows Peacock and Apple TV+ rank low in subscriber perceptions of how "essential" various premium streamers are, while monthly consumer spend on SVODs has plateaued.
Nine out of the top 15 shows most popular with people ages 15 to 24 contained tobacco imagery.
Digital versus traditional media? It's not either or. Look for a continued synthesis of both areas.
Three-quarters of the subscriber adds initially drawn by the with-ads tier were "new" sign-ups rather than plan switchers, and two-thirds of those were returning subscribers, finds Ampere analysis.
Young media consumers' high usage of short-form video content on social media and other platforms is not breaking news. But their trend line as they get older might be, according to a recent Horowitz
In November, 9% of new Netflix sign-ups in the U.S. went to its Basic with Ads option -- the least popular Netflix plan during the month, according to research from measurement and analytics firm
Jenna Ortega is the highest-earning star from the new Netflix horror comedy hit series, potentially earning almost $79,000 per sponsored Instagram post, according to NewCasinos, which finds and
compares new casinos.
Do Kantar's survey results suggest what kind of switching rates Disney+ and Netflix might see in the U.S., as they intro their ad-supported video-on-demand offerings?
Instagram, TikTok and Spotify all joined the top 100 "most connected" U.S. brands this year, according to an annual study released by Opinium this morning.
TikTok is projected to increase its share of global online video ad revenues from 15% to 24%, and its Chinese Byte Dance-owned sibling app Douyin is projected to up its share from 7% to 14%.
Performance marketers have begun to view streaming and connected TV services as a valuable media in which to help brands expand advertising strategies.
TikTok bumps Netflix to #2, YouTube still #1.
Netflix is moving its premium brand into the ad-supported world -- and that could mean trouble, says Jeffrey Wlodarczak, principal/senior analyst of Pivotal Research Group. It could cheapen the brand.
Netflix's $23 billion in TV production commitments is based on higher levels of subscriber growth and could spell trouble for the streamer in the near term, says Pivotal Research Group.
Amazon, Netflix, Disney were most-cited among those cancelling a service in the past 12 months.
Netflix is expected to pull in $700 million in ad revenue for the U.S. and Canada, rising to $1.7 billion by 2025 from its new ad-supported service set to launch by the end of this year, according to
MoffettNathanson Research -- higher than previous estimates -- driven by 8 million U.S. and Canadian subscribers in 2023.
TV content consumers seek not only ease of operations, but perhaps just a single TV source/access point. Can streamers really be everything to everyone? Probably not.
Hispanic consumers make up 23.2% of the Millennial population in the U.S. By 2028, Claritas predicts, nearly 50% of the combined Gen Z and Millennial American population will be Hispanic.
SMI says Netflix has a clear opportunity to hit this "sweet spot" of $25-$45 CPM, which few CTV/digital media sellers have attained. Hulu is just below this mark at $24 CPM, while at the high end is
HBO Max at more than $50. YouTube is at the low end with $16, but is the current leader in median monthly impressions with around 1.7 million.
Netflix has few challengers in streaming minutes of viewing, but there is a growing list of second-tier and third-tier competitors, according to MoffettNathanson Research's analysis of Q2 2022 Nielsen
A limited-sample survey's finding could actually be a positive indicator for Netflix.
Netflix has dropped from first to fourth in overall satisfaction. Among ad-supported streamers, HBO Max gets the highest marks, and Hulu the lowest
We're in a Golden Age of agency business intelligence and GroupM's "This Week, Next Week" podcast is a big part of it. All you need is the time to listen to it. I'm doing that so you don't have to.


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Ubisoft reported €455.5 million (~$500.2 million) in net bookings for the quarter ending December 31, 2019, a figure that’s down 24.8 percent year-over-year but about €45.5 million (~$50 million) higher than Ubisoft was expecting for the three month period.
Most of the data provided in the company’s end-of-quarter report shows year-over-year decreases, something that’s not entirely surprising given the lowered targets, underperformance of Ghost Recon Breakpoint, and high-profile game delays Ubisoft announced late into 2019.
Those delays saw a number of games moved from the current fiscal 2019-20 to fiscal 2020-20, including one game originally planed for a Q3 2019-20 release, Rainbow Six Quarantine.
Due to the nuances of French accounting law, we won’t see a peek at how Ubisoft’s profits fare until after the close of the full fiscal year in March. However, the Q3 reporting notes that sales for the quarter came in at €416.2 million (~$457.1 million), down 25.9 percent year-over-year, while net bookings, as noted before, landed at €455.5 million (~$500.2 million).
Looking at the first nine months of the year all together, Ubisoft reported €1.11 billion (~$1.22 billion) in sales, down 16.2 percent year-over-year, and net bookings of €1.12 billion (~$1.23 billion), down 17.4 percent year over year. As tends to be the case, most of those net bookings, 79.6 percent, came from digital sources, though moreso this year than the 66.4 percent of the 2018-19 year. Net bookings from back catalog titles represented 68.5 percent of that 9-month sum, with €764.7 million ($839.6 million) in net bookings owed to older releases.
Interestingly, in terms of net bookings at the 9 month line, net bookings from player recurring investment was the only category (of digital, back-catalog, and net bookings as a whole) that saw a year-over-year increase. PRI accounted for €474 million (~$520.4 million) for the first three quarters of the year, up 7.4 percent YOY.
For per-game highlights, Ubisoft calls out its 2015 release Rainbow Six Siege for boosting its player recurring investment (or sales of digital items, DLC, season passes, subscriptions, and advertising) during the quarter, and says the game hit a new (but undisclosed) peak for daily average revenue per user. To date, the game has over 55 million registered players.
The comapny's own Uplay is now the 4th best earning platform for Ubisoft games, with a 73 percent growth in revenue for the first 9 months of the fiscal year. On top of that, 40 percent of net bookings now come from Uplay.
Ubisoft also calls attention to “stability” in both PC and console dealings, noting that active players, monthly active users, and player recurring investment in the quarter remained flat year-over-year. This, according to a statement from Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillermot. “clearly demonstrates the depth of our game’s portfolio and the firmer resilience of our business model” despite the year as a whole falling below its initial expectations.


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Oso’s to compete with four others in battle for business
By Brooke Bailey
Yogurt fanatics will have even more choices in the near future. The wife and daughter of Baylor’s head football coach, Art Briles, will open a frozen yogurt shop called Oso’s— that’s Spanish for “bear”— in less than two weeks, Staley Lebby, Briles’ daughter, said.
“The vibe for Oso’s will be sleek and modern,” Lebby said. “We will have indoor and outdoor seating, a dog-friendly patio and great tunes in the background. We are aiming for a hip and cozy place where people will want to come and enjoy a delicious and healthy cup of fro-yo.”
Oso’s will be located at 215 Mary Ave.
“Oso’s is going to be the self-serve style with plenty of fresh fruit and yummy toppings to choose from,” Lebby says.
Mr. Snow’s Fro-Yo, Orange Cup and 3 Spoons all serve frozen yogurt in Waco. Mr. Snow and 3 Spoons use a self-serve style. Orange Cup, located on Fifth Street, near campus, is trying a different approach than other Orange Cup franchises.
“We’re not turning from Orange Cup, but we’re kind of making it our own. We’re adding our own flavors, toppings and price specials,” manager Amanda Colwell said.
To help lulls in business, special promotions are usually offered.
“When Baylor’s gone, it’s really dead,” Colwell said of her daily flow of customers.
A lot of students, particularly young women, come to Orange Cup for their frozen yogurt fix, Colwell said. Clifton sophomore Hannah Blanton said she is a yogurt fan.
“I like to get some frozen yogurt once a week as a little pick-me-up,” Blanton said.
At Mr. Snow’s Fro-Yo, the idea is for customers to pick a cup, choose their flavors and toppings and then pay by the ounce.
“It’s healthy. It’s good for the body. Everybody knows that,” said owner Leticia Mendez.
Although TCBY, now closed, was a popular spot for frozen yogurt, the self-serve trend in Waco started with Mr. Snow, Mendez said. The locally owned shop near campus on La Salle rotates flavors roughly every week to keep the customers’ taste buds satisfied. Mendez said yellow cake is the bestselling flavor, and cheesecake bites and strawberries are the favorite toppings that she sees people piling on.
3 Spoons, located on Texas Loop 340 about 10-15 minutes away from campus, is relatively new to Waco, and employees Tomball junior Lillian Lockhart and College Station freshman Kelly Boysen said business is great. They said that the majority of customers are college-aged kids, but that they see customers of all ages.
“It’s a lot of families. I see a lot of Baylor professors in here and their kids,” Lockhart said. “I saw Dr. Isaiah Odajima, the associate director of the band. I’ve seen one of Baylor’s football coaches in here. Coach Jim Barnes, the volleyball coach comes in here. I have yet to see Scott Drew or Art Briles, but we’re getting there.”
A 3 Spoons promotion allows customers to say who they’re “spooning with,” and 15 percent of all profits in a two- to four-hour time period go to an organization’s cause.
“It’s a win-win,” Lockhart said.
Customers get frozen yogurt, organizations get money for their fundraisers and 3 Spoons gets business. Lockhart said many non-profit groups and sororities and fraternities take advantage of the “Spoon With Us” program.
Katie’s Frozen Custard located on Valley Mills Drive has been serving frozen custard for years. Employee Lindsay Mirick said she is confident that despite the new frozen yogurt trend, Katie’s success will continue.
“We’ve been voted best in Waco for several years in a row. We’ve always gotten good reviews from customers and had a pretty steady customer base. No competition,” she said.
In addition to the opening of Oso’s, another new frozen yogurt shop, Spoonful, plans to debut in late April on Valley Mills. Orange Cup also has plans to expand, looking into opening locations on Valley Mills and in Hewitt and China Springs.


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- John Mackey, co-founder of Whole Foods Market, plans to create a chain of plant-based restaurants. Mackey is listed as a partner of Healthy America LLC, reports Bloomberg, which aims to launch vegetarian restaurants nationwide.
- Healthy America, founded in Austin, Texas in 2020, raised $31 million from investors this year to support its growth plans. In addition to vegetarian restaurants, the company also plans to create a nationwide footprint of medical wellness centers.
- Growing diner demand for healthy foods is reflected in the growth of chains like Sweetgreen, Chopt and Tender Greens. Mackey’s concept, however, is a bit differentiated as it focuses on holistic wellness.
Overview of the dive:
Mackey’s past success in scaling a business promoting healthy lifestyles may attract more investor attention as vegetarian and vegan diets gain popularity. JThe retail vegan food industry is expected to maintain double-digit growth through 2028, while BLoomberg Intelligence also reports that the global market for plant-based dairy and meat alternatives could reach $162 billion by 2030, up from $29.4 billion in 2020.
Several former Whole Foods executives are joining Mackey in his new venture, serving in CEO and partner positions as well as roles in the finance, development and human resources departments. This cohort could also help make Healthy America’s restaurants competitive with incumbent health-focused chains.
The plant sector is increasingly challenged. Slutty Vegan has grown rapidly since opening its first location in 2018. The chain currently has five restaurants in Georgia, with three more coming soon in Georgia, Alabama and New York, according to its website. Its expansion was spurred by a $25 million Series A funding round in May, which the company told Forbes would be used to build 20 additional restaurants by the end of 2023. Plant Power Fast Food , which has 11 locations, reported net sales increase more than 50% from 2019 to 2020. It also raised $7.5 million in Series A funding in 2021.
According to Bloomberg, a job posting for Healthy America described him as “an evidence-based lifestyle company at the forefront of the convergence of cuisine, health and wellness. For the first time ever, we are bringing all three together under one roof to significantly transform the health and well-being of individuals.
Healthy America’s first outpost is set to open in Southern California in 2023 under the Love Life brand. The company will offer a membership program for consumers interested in accessing all three offerings, as well as individual access for those who simply want to try the restaurants.
Although the concept seems to touch major consumer trends, the company could still face challenges. SSome vegetarian and vegan restaurants have struggled to capture consumer demand. McDonald’s has just completed its burger test at the McPlant plant, for example, and although the company said the timing was on track, analysts believe sales are well below expectations. Other chains, like Dunkin’, have removed plant-based options from their menus.


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Microsoft’s Q3 revenue and profit surpassed Wall Street estimates, thanks to the growth in its cloud computing and Office productivity software businesses, with AI products stimulating sales. The Azure cloud business grew by 27%, surpassing analyst expectations, indicating that companies still see the value in cloud computing. For the most part, Microsoft’s financial results demonstrate that the vast majority of workloads can still be moved to the cloud. The software giant’s revenue rose 7% to $52.9 billion in the quarter ended March, just inching past analyst estimates of $51.02 billion.
Microsoft’s partnership with OpenAI and the improvement of the Bing search engine using AI technology have been making headlines lately. Bing now has 100 million daily users since the addition of AI features, outpacing Google. The AI technology was integrated into various products, and CEO Satya Nadella told investors that the company had over 2,500 Azure-OpenAI service customers.
Microsoft also reported less severe drops in sales of its Windows business and productivity segment, which includes Office software and advertising sales for LinkedIn. The company’s productivity segment beat analyst expectations, with revenue of $17.5 billion versus estimates of $16.99 billion. Microsoft’s latest financial results are encouraging, given the gloomy economic outlook predicted for the Windows business, which heavily relies on PC sales that have sagged in recent quarters.
In conclusion, Microsoft’s impressive financial performance is a testament to the effectiveness of its AI integration in its products and the continuing relevance of cloud computing in the tech industry. With the company’s commitment to advancing AI technology, Microsoft is well-positioned to maintain its leadership position in the market.
Source: Ghana News Agency


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Even Microsoft can’t ignore the iPhone’s success. Today Microsoft’s Bing search unit announced the “Bing App” for the iPhone and iPod Touch has been accepted and is available for free download at the iPhone App Store.
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) said in a blog post that Bing on the iPhone brings “some cool stuff” to the mobile device.
Among the features is voice-powered search, so you can say “Chicago weather” for a report on weather conditions, or speak out a full address for a map or directions to a location. Google (NASDAQ: GOOG), an early iPhone supporter, also already offers a voice search application on both the iPhone and Android devices.
Some of Bing’s new mapping features were previewed at a press event earlier this month and are included in the iPhone release, which Microsoft said features very smooth panning and zoom in/out in response to finger swipes.
With geo-location, Bing can help you find the nearest banks, theaters, restaurants and other destinations by category. You can also add virtual pushpins to save locations on a map for later recall.
An initial flurry of comments by users on Bing’s blog had some praising Bing for being better than Google Maps. “Wow, the interface is simply fantastic,” said one. But others complained the voice app either didn’t work on their iPhone or crashed it.
A user with the handle “Neilksos” using an older iPhone said “I’m on the iPhone 2G and typed search doesn’t work for anything…web, images or map. I just get a blank page and it says ‘We did not find any results for ‘. The map works perfectly just panning around but you cant [sic] search. and also why no Bird Eye? Thats [sic] the best thing about Bing Maps and what sets it apart from Google Maps and it’s not included in this app.”
Bing is already available for Windows phones, BlackBerry, the Sidekick and select BREW-based devices offered by Verizon as well as from a mobile browser.
The iPhone App Store has been a runaway success, now offering over 100,000 applications for the device. Apple also reported there have been over two billion downloads at the store since its debut less than a year and a half ago.


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The latest game in Rockstars’ smash hit franchise is not the 12th best-selling game of all time for the UK, according to Chart-Track.
The games sales pointed this way after the game sold 1.57 million units in the UK in its first day, which saw it gain massive revenue of £65 million, smashing previous holder Call of Duty: Black Ops, which sold 1.41 million back at release in 2010 which earned £58 million revenue. Plus after five days it sat at being the 24th best-selling game in the UK of all time.
Total revenue earned sees Grand Theft Auto V in fifth, behind four Call of Duty games, but has almost equalled the amount made by Black Ops, and Grand Theft Auto is still rising in this respect.
Elsewhere in the games chart, FIFA 14 held onto the top spot, despite seeing its sales drop by 68%, although this is an improvement on the 72% drop suffered by FIFA 13 last year.
Despite being a big gap in sales between the top two and the rest of the top 10 there were four new entries in the charts. F1 2013 performed well enough to get third, just beating out the HD release of Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker in fourth. The other new entries appearing in the charts were NBA 2K14, which came in at seven and Just Dance 2014 made its way into ninth position.
The UK All Formats Chart Top 10 is as follows:
- FIFA 14
- Grand Theft Auto V
- F1 2013
- The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
- Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition
- Disney Infinity
- NBA 2K14
- Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Blacklilst
- Just Dance 2014
- Pro Evolution Soccer 2014
The full Top 40 can be viewed here.
How long do you think it will take GTA V to become the biggest selling game of all time?
[Source: Chart Track]


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The new agreement sees the Hartlepool-based company taking on US stocking distributor Charkit Chemical currently has eleven warehouses across the US - to look after sales and distribution of Oxford's aroma chemicals for the flavour industry, currently being handled by Oxford's US subsidiary, Oxford Organics.
'Customers will benefit from the collaboration between the strong distribution channel and sales support offered by the experienced Charkit team along with Oxford Chemicals' technical expertise in aroma chemicals,?/i> said Charles Hinnant, president of the US company.
Although details of the agreement were not disclosed, Oxford Chemicals said that the extended distribution channels would up flexibility for existing customers.
"We are very pleased with this partnership as it enables us to further our market development activities within the US and to increase our flexibility in servicing our existing customers," said Anthony Weston, sales & marketing director at the UK company that specialises in heterocyclic, aldehyde and ester chemistries.
UK consultants IAL pitch the value of the competitive world of flavours at €4.27bn. In the US flavours and fragrance giant International Flavours and Fragrances (IFF) dominates the market.


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John de Mol is a Dutch billionaire and creator of the “Big Brother” reality program. He has been involved with several international hit programs like “Fear Factor,” “Deal or No Deal,” and “The Voice.”
He filed a case against the social network earlier this year for running fake ads on its platform. The case was filed after some fake ads were found on the social networking platform, which used his images and name for promoting fraudulent Bitcoin businesses.
Contentions Keep Increasing
The ads were soliciting investments from people for buying Bitcoin or participating in fraudulent digital currency businesses. They said that De Mol was involved in the process, was endorsing it or had his backing. In reality, he was not involved in these schemes in any way, and his images were being used to mislead investors.
However, on Monday, he said that he could not reach an agreement with Facebook over fake ads on the company’s network. In a statement, he clarified that even after spending three months negotiating with the American social networking company, he has found that “it is impossible to come to an agreement with Facebook on the misleading Bitcoin advertisements.”
Facebook Has Not Commented on His Statement Yet
Note that the misleading ads have been removed from the platform but not before some victims lost 1.7 million euros. De Mol’s lawyers also suggested that he was one of the many Dutch celebrities whom names and images were used fraudulently in these Bitcoin scam advertisements running on Facebook.
The Mark Zuckerberg-led company was the first major public platform to ban ads related to digital currencies in January last year. Twitter and Google soon followed suit and banned ads on their respective platforms as well. At the time of the ban, Facebook specifically highlighted its commitment to stopping ads that used deceptive or misleading promotional practices.
In June 2018, the ban was partially relaxed, which gave scammers a chance to promote their fraudulent schemes once again. One such company that claimed backing from De Mol Was Bitcoin Profit. Now, the billionaire wants identification data of the people who run these ads from Facebook and seek court’s intervention.


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Apple probably could have gotten away with shrugging its shoulders at the recent news that a Chinese woman died from an electrocution allegedly caused by a faulty knockoff iPhone charger, but today 9to5Mac reported that the Cupertino company is taking a far more nobler stance. Later this month, it'll allow customers to bring in their old USB power adapters and receive new, Apple-designed ones for a lower price via a "takeback program."
June is fast approaching, and that means it's time for sons and daughters to celebrate the man who helped bring them into the world on Father's Day -- and Apple.com is already gussied up for the occasion.
For some, there’s nothing cooler than the idea of controlling computer software directly with your mind. No buttons, no keyboard, no mouse—just a link from your brain straight to your computer that translates thoughts into onscreen actions. Technology isn’t there yet, but NeuroSky’s Brainwave Starter Kit is taking us in that direction. Or, at least, it’s trying to.
While some recoil at the thought, bugs and insects are just plain interesting—there’s something undeniably cool about our more-than-four-legged friends. And while you may not readily admit to owning a Starship Troopers DVD (or its priced-to-own sequels), maybe your ears always perked up a bit when the subject of insects came about in high school biology class.
Cupertino has just released its financial results for the first quarter of 2013. Despite some recent turmoil over reduced parts manufacturing and lowered stock expectations, Apple has still started the year with a record showing.
Sometimes a silicone sleeve is all you need, and Moshi's Origo is one of our favorites. It adds very little bulk, but the honeycomb pattern on the inside is raised ever so slightly to give you a bit of extra shock protection, and the pattern is visible from the outside too.


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Given the pullback in shares for cannabis companies this year, it’s not easy to find stocks in the sector with apparent explosive growth ahead, but NewLake Capital Partners (NLCP), Cronos Group (CRON) and Trulieve Cannabis (TCNNF) continue to show…
annual double-digit revenue growth.
The stocks are all in different levels of cannabis involvement. NewLake Capital is an emerging real estate investment trust (REIT) that specializes in leasebacks with cannabis companies short on capital; Trulieve is the biggest player right now in vertical integrated cannabis sellers; and Cronos is a smaller cannabis seller that is rapidly developing its cannabis brands.
NewLake Capital Partners concentrating on growth
NewLake is still small but has big plans. The company just spent $50 million on three properties, using the money raised from its initial public offering (IPO). It bought a 38,000 square-foot cultivation facility in Pennsylvania for $14.5 million and a 56,000 square-foot cultivation facility in Nevada for $13.6 million. It also agreed to spend $21 million to expand an existing cultivation facility it owns. That leaves NewLake with 31 properties, up from only five leased properties at this time in 2020.
In the first quarter, NewLake reported $7.7 million in funds from operations (FFO), up 16.2% sequentially and 206% year over year. It also said it had $8.1 million in adjusted FFO (AFFO), up 15.7% sequentially and an increase of 138% over the same period last year. Net income was $5 million, up from $4.3 in the prior quarter and $1.5 million in the first quarter of 2021. The company also reported $10.2 million in revenue in the quarter, up 13% sequentially and 104.9% over the first quarter of 2022.
The company’s guidance puts full-year revenue between $42 million and $44, compared to the $28.2 million it had in 2021.
Besides its growth, the company makes itself attractive to investors with its quarterly dividend, which it recently raised by 6% to $0.35 per share, the fifth consecutive quarter the company has increased its dividend. That works out to a yield, as of Friday’s share price, of 7.71%. The AFFO payout ratio of 92% is a bit high, but considering the company’s growth and that, as of March 31, its properties were 100% leased and had an average lease term of 14.3 years, that payout ratio is a lot safer than it looks.
Cronos Group focusing on its brands
Cronos Group is a nontraditional Canadian cannabis company in that it focuses on the sales of cannabis brands and on developing rare cannabidiols (CBDs) for scientific purposes, using fermentation. In May, the company reported first-quarter revenue of $25 million, up 99% year over year.The company sells in Canada, Australia, Germany, and Israel and is seeing particularly strong growth in Israel, with revenue of $9.1 million there, up 263% over the same period last year. The company is still losing money but is closer to making a profit. In Q1, it lost $32.6 million, down from $161.6 million in the same period last year.
Cronos has a diverse group of CBD and cannabis brands, including Spinach, PEACE Naturals, Lord Jones, Happy Dance, and PEACE+, and said it is prepared to bring those brands south of the border to the United States if and when federal legalization happens. Last year…
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