text:
Kraft Heinz Co. was aclassic Warren Buffett bet in many ways: an easy-to-understand company stocked with iconic American brands.
“This is my kind of transaction,” the Omaha, Neb., billionaire said during the 2015 merger of H.J. Heinz Co. and Kraft Foods Group Inc., “uniting two world class organizations and delivering shareholder value.”
The abrupt decline of that value demonstrates that even Mr. Buffett’s long-successful investment philosophy is vulnerable to sudden shifts in consumer taste.
A $25.4 billion loss. Mr. Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said Saturday it swung to a $25.4 billion loss in the fourth quarter due to an unexpected write-down last week at Kraft Heinz Co. and unrealized investment losses. Berkshire owns 27% of Kraft Heinz.
Kraft Heinz’s $15.4 billion write-down was an acknowledgment that the Kraft and Oscar Mayer brands haven’t performed as well as expected. Consumer tastes are shifting toward healthier or more-natural ingredients and away from processed foods.
Berkshire’s fourth-quarter loss dragged down the conglomerate’s net earnings to $4 billion in 2018 from $44.9 billion the prior year. Berkshire’s operating earnings, which exclude impairments and unrealized investment results, rose to a record $24.8 billion in 2018, up from $14.5 billion the prior year.
Mr. Buffett has long bet that strong consumer brands will help companies maintain market share and pricing power. Some of his biggest equity holdings, including Apple Inc. and Coca-Cola Co., are household names. Berkshire also owns a number of classic American companies, including Dairy Queen, Geico, Duracell and Fruit of the Loom.
“Kraft represented the classic Berkshire company…where you buy the solid brands that have repeated and dependable cash flow, and all is great,” said Cathy Seifert, equity analyst at CFRA Research. “It’s valid to question what’s the go-forward strategy.”
Mr. Buffett didn’t discuss Kraft Heinz in his annual letter to shareholders released Saturday, but he acknowledged the challenges facing the packaged-food business on CNBC in August.
“It’s very hard to offer a significant premium for a packaged-goods company and have it make financial sense,” Mr. Buffett said. “Branded packaged goods are a very, very, very good business in terms of return on tangible assets. But they’re not a sensational business in terms of where you could be five or 10 years from now.”
Under pressure. Mr. Buffett’s big bet on the snack business started in 2013, when Berkshire teamed up with Brazilian private-equity firm 3G Capital to buy Heinz. Berkshire and 3G helped finance the merger between Kraft and Heinz in 2015.
As Berkshire has grown, Mr. Buffett has come under increasing pressure to spend its massive cash pile on acquisitions and investments. Berkshire hasn’t done a major deal in three years, and Mr. Buffett has struggled to find reasonably priced large companies to buy.
Berkshire’s cash, which is mostly invested in Treasury bills, grew to almost $112 billion at year-end, marking the sixth straight quarter above $100 billion.
Mr. Buffett offered no specific guidance in his annual letter on how he may use his growing pile of cash. He expects to move “much of our excess liquidity into businesses that Berkshire will permanently own” but prices are still too high, he wrote. “We continue, nevertheless, to hope for an elephant-sized acquisition.”
Berkshire repurchased a bit over $400 million of its stock in the fourth quarter, down from $928 million in buybacks in the third quarter. Investors were hoping Berkshire would spend a significant chunk of its cash buying back shares.
Some shareholders have questioned whether Berkshire will buy more of Kraft Heinz now or acquire the entire thing. Berkshire could also help finance future acquisitions by Kraft Heinz. Berkshire valued its Kraft Heinz stake at $13.8 billion in 2018, down from $17.6 billion the prior year. Berkshire’s cost basis for the investment was $9.8 billion.
Two Berkshire employees sit on Kraft Heinz’s board: Greg Abel, vice chairman for noninsurance business operations and one of two candidates to succeed Mr. Buffett as chief executive, and Tracy Britt Cool, CEO of Berkshire subsidiary Pampered Chef and Mr. Buffett’s former financial assistant. Mr. Buffett retired from the Kraft Heinz board in April as he cut back on travel commitments.
“I wouldn’t want Warren Buffett to be allocating more capital under the umbrella of Kraft Heinz and 3G,” said David Rolfe, chief investment officer of Wedgewood Partners Inc. in St. Louis, which holds Berkshire shares. “I would much rather see Warren spend tens of billions buying back his own stock.”


text:
After peaking in January, equity markets fell and became more volatile in the first quarter of 2018. The fall in markets can be attributed to three main areas of concern; the tech industry, trade protectionism, and slower global growth.
– The technology sector drove the equity market sell-off, as concerns about data privacy triggered increased regulatory risk globally. This weighed particularly on internet related companies such as Facebook, Amazon & Google.
– In the US, the White House announced tariffs on Chinese imported goods. So far the economic impact of the tariffs is expected to be relatively muted, but escalation could raise more significant concerns about global trade and growth. These developments added to negative sentiment in equity markets, and the US dollar continued to weaken.
– The major economies of the world continue to grow healthily, albeit at a slower rate, and the US Federal Reserve raised interest rates, suggesting confidence in the ability of the economy to ‘normalise’ after record low interest rates over the last 10 years.
Due to our investment process, we focus far more on companies than on macroeconomics. Specifically, we focus our equity investments on companies which are multi-national, who themselves find areas of growth across the globe. We prefer companies termed ‘high quality’ which means strong balance sheets, low levels of leverage, and strong cash flow. While we expect further jitters in equity markets, in the long run, the financial system will continue to reward companies that consistently generate earnings, and in that context, volatility often leads to opportunity.

domain: news


text:
America Online has begun testing a feature that lets its customers dial in directly to the Internet without launching AOL's content-heavy software, part of the company's campaign to woo back online consumers.
The feature, called AOL Dialer, is part of an overall update of the online service. Code-named Tahiti, the update will include other features such as animated instant-messaging icons as well as new service controls. A company spokeswoman said Tahiti will be an incremental step in the AOL software's evolution, rather than a giant leap.
"We haven't determined how we will roll these features out and how they will be branded," said AOL spokeswoman Anne Bentley. "These are new features that we're testing, and enhancements to the service."
Bentley did not offer a time frame for Tahiti's release and said AOL has not yet determined the actual name for the upgrade.
The Tahiti tests come during a critical time for the online service. AOL's dial-up subscriber base has declined by nearly 2 million subscribers over the past four financial quarters. Much of the drop is due to subscriber defection to broadband and the decline of promotional and free members. In the quarter ended Sept. 30, AOL reported a 688,000-member decline and a 33 percent drop in advertising revenue from the previous year.
AOL has tried to stem the tide by accelerating its product development efforts. In the past year, it has recast its service as a premium add-on for broadband users by bolstering it with streaming video and exclusive editorial content. AOL now offers its service via dial-up for $23.90 a month, via DSL (digital subscriber line) for $55 and as an add-on to customers using a third-party broadband provider for $14.95.
AOL is also testing a discount dial-up service under the Netscape brand, which will charge people $9.95 a month for unlimited dial-up access. The difference is that Netscape will not come packaged with content and features from the AOL service, but it will instead include an e-mail address, links to Google search pages and some news links.
As for enhancements to its flagship service, AOL has been trying to infuse new life into its software after years of stagnancy. The Web giant in July released the latest version of its software, dubbed AOL 9.0 Optimized. The service includes Web page caching software, flashier graphics and new features for its e-mail and IM clients, among other additions.
But the biggest transformation for AOL in recent years was its launch of AOL 8.0 which, on the surface, was a dramatic departure from its previous forms. The service included a more graphic-intensive look and feel and eliminated pop-up advertisements.
Details of Tahiti were first reported by Web site BetaNews.


text:
USA: Cookie sales up as non-fat products loose steam
Sales in the US cookie industry grew 10% in the last five years, bringing the total amount spent on cookies in the US up to about US$6.2bn. Furthermore, modern Americans aren't just eating more cookies, they are increasingly turning to rich gourmet cookies to satisfy their need for a treat, according to The US Cookies Market, a newly published Packaged Facts report.
Get full access to all content, just $1 for 30 days
A Message From The Editor
just-food gives you the widest food market coverage.
Paid just-food members have unlimited access to all our exclusive content - including 17 years of archives.
I am so confident you will love complete access to our content that today I can offer you 30 days access for $1.
It’s our best ever membership offer – just for you.
Dean Best, editor of just-food
- Comment: Meal kits in US - don't believe the hype
- Why personalisation will take-off in US food
- US food next wave on display at Winter Fancy Food
- Interview: The Soulfull Project's mission
- General Mills sales woes continue - analysis
- Post Holdings 'close to acquiring Weetabix'
- Kraft Heinz cuts jobs in US, Canada
- UK, EU food faces "more costly" trade, warns study
- Recipe-kit firm HelloFresh launches into UK retail
- UK sets 20% sugar cut guidelines for food industry


text:
International Customs Day observed in Rangpur
RANGPUR, Jan 26, 2022 (BSS) – The International Customs Day-2022 was observed with the theme ‘Scaling up customs transformations by embracing a data culture and building a data ecosystem’ here today as elsewhere in the country and globe.
The Rangpur Divisional Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate Office organized a seminar at its conference room in Kamal Kachna area of the city marking the day.
Presided over by Divisional Commissioner of Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate Suresh Chandra Biswas, President of Rangpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry Mostafa Sohrab Chowdhury Titu attended the event as the chief guest.
Tax Commissioner of Taxes Zone-Rangpur Mohammad Abul Kalam addressed the seminar as special guest.
Additional Divisional Commissioner of Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Rangpur Arun Kumar Biswas delivered a welcome speech narrating the importance of observance of the International Customs Day.
Additional Divisional Commissioner of Customs, Excise and VAT Commissionerate, Rangpur Md Jewell Ahmed presented a keynote essay in the seminar narrating various steps taken by the National Board of Revenue (NBR) in enhancing revenue collection.
The speakers said the revenue earning of the country continues increasing to strengthen the national economy and accelerate national development as a result of various time-befitting steps taken by the government through the NBR in recent years.
The chief guest said citizens are more conscious about payment of income tax, value added tax and customs duty to assist the government in smoothly implementing various mega projects like the Padma Bridge from its own resources.
“Enhancing revenue collection is crucial for building a developed Bangladesh by 2041 as envisioned by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to build a prosperous 'Sonar Bangla' as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman," he added.
Suresh Chandra Biswas stressed on comprehensive efforts of all concerned to further increase revenue earning for strengthening of the national economy to accelerate the pace of national development at own resources.


text:
UP to 4,400 Sainsbury’s staff are fearing for their jobs as the chain changes how its stores operate.
The firm is cutting the role of 400 price controllers who check shelf price labels are correct.
The night shift will also be axed at 140 supermarkets. Four thousand staff will be offered early morning or late evening shifts instead.
A 45-day consultation is under way.
Unite, which represents 12,000 Sainsburys staff, urged the firm to avoid compulsory redundancies.
MOST READ IN NEWS
MOUSES OF PARLIAMENTCommons chiefs snub Battersea’s offer of two cats to help with Parliament rat problem
ACTRESS' SPANISH TERRORHolby City star Laila Rouass 'hid in restaurant freezer' after being caught up in Barcelona attack
VAN SUSPECTBarcelona terror attack suspect who cops say rented the van 'hands himself in to police claiming his passport was stolen'
ROADBLOCK SHOOTOUTTwo cops run over as car crashes through terror roadblock before suspect is shot dead
rise to the challengeOver four decades later, the Hovis ad lad finally makes it up the hill... with the help of an electric bike
The union’s Julia Long said: “We appreciate that Sainsbury’s has a good record of redeployment of staff in these situations.
“We will be exploring every avenue to ensure continuing employment for our members.”
The firm said: “We appreciate this will be a difficult time for colleagues and will support them any way we can.”


text:
With the United States set to slap a new 10 percent tariff on billions of dollars in Chinese goods coming into the U.S. on September 1, the Chinese government officially retaliated on Friday, announcing its own new tariffs on American products, and denouncing President Donald Trump's get-tough actions on trade.
"The US measures have led to the continuous escalation of Sino-US economic and trade frictions, which have greatly harmed the interests of China, the United States and other countries," the Chinese Minstry of Finance announced.
The documents released by China today apply to over 5,000 categories of items imported from the United States, covering everything from diapers to pipes and cigarette holders, to a range of agricultural products like barley, wheat, oats, corn, sorghum, soybeans, peanuts, cotton, covering about $75 billion in U.S. goods.
Much like a 122 page list of targeted items put out by the United States earlier this month, China issued over 100 pages of products which would face new import duties.
#China decided to impose additional 25% and 5% tariffs on car and parts imports from the #US starting from Dec 15. An industry expert said the decision will cut US car imports to China by 200,000 units a year and auto makers such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW will be affected. pic.twitter.com/72pekedlcf— Global Times (@globaltimesnews) August 23, 2019
The reaction from Congress and business groups was negative.
"This trade war is not holding China accountable," said Sen. Mark Warner (D-VA). "It's hurting farmers and small business owners all over the country who are just trying to earn a living."
“The fact of the matter is that nobody wins a trade war, and the continued tit-for-tat escalation between the U.S. and China is putting significant strain on the U.S. economy, raising costs, undermining investment, and roiling markets,” the U.S. Chamber of Commerce said in a statement.
Who's feeling the pain from the trade war? North Dakota. "It will take years to get back to any semblance of what we had over in China."https://t.co/TVLD9KOfPZ— Jonathan Cheng (@JChengWSJ) August 23, 2019
As for President Trump, he has not wavered in his public statements about taking on china, tariff for tariff, as one of his Friday tweets caused some shock on the markets.
“Our great American companies are hereby ordered to immediately start looking for an alternative to China,” the President wrote.
“Here’s the thing: Somebody had to take on what China was doing to the United States economically,” the President told reporters this week.
“We’re winning big. I took it on. And it should have been done by previous Presidents,” he added.
And on Twitter Friday morning, the President expressed no concerns about the Chinese response.
Our Country has lost, stupidly, Trillions of Dollars with China over many years. They have stolen our Intellectual Property at a rate of Hundreds of Billions of Dollars a year, & they want to continue. I won’t let that happen! We don’t need China and, frankly, would be far....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
....your companies HOME and making your products in the USA. I will be responding to China’s Tariffs this afternoon. This is a GREAT opportunity for the United States. Also, I am ordering all carriers, including Fed Ex, Amazon, UPS and the Post Office, to SEARCH FOR & REFUSE,....— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
....all deliveries of Fentanyl from China (or anywhere else!). Fentanyl kills 100,000 Americans a year. President Xi said this would stop - it didn’t. Our Economy, because of our gains in the last 2 1/2 years, is MUCH larger than that of China. We will keep it that way!— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 23, 2019
Asked by reporters earlier this week about the trade war with China, Mr. Trump said he was the only President who had decided to actually confront Beijing.
“I am the chosen one,” the President said, as he looked skyward.


text:
Sony Prepping Revolutionary Motion-Sensing PS3 Controller?
We just got the Dual Shock 3, but it seems Sony isn't about to rest on their laurels. Yet another controller could be on the way, and it may be a nod to the Wii's remote motion-sensing functionality.
According to multiple sources (including Kotaku and BigFatCheats), Sony has prepared a "break-away" PS3 controller of sorts; it's a device that will break apart into two individual units, and apparently, working controllers have already been handed out to development partners. Nobody has any idea what it's called or when we might see it on store shelves, though, and Sony remains mute on the subject. The only details we have include a small device that actually attaches to the body; on the hands, for example, will let you move the character's hands on screen. There's still a lot of controversy over whether or not this thing actually comes together into one controller, as some believe it comes as a split-apart unit and stays that way.
Any other details are few and far between, and until Sony decides to make an announcement of some kind, we'll probably be in the dark. Of course, there is the possibility that this new PS3 controller might be unveiled at E3 next month, so we'll keep our eyes peeled for that.
6/16/2008 Ben Dutka


text:
A digest of the top business technology news stories from the past week, including, Ireland among world’s top digital economies.
Ireland named a ‘standout’ country among world’s fastest-moving digital economies
Ireland has been listed alongside Israel and Singapore as a ‘standout’ country by the Harvard Business Review — one of the economies where the digital economy is moving at its fastest.
The Harvard Business Review defines ‘standout’ countries as those that have shown high levels of digital development in the past and continue to remain on an upward trajectory.
Singapore tops the standout league because of its sophisticated digital infrastructure and has continued to entrench its lead position by investing in infrastructure. Other countries cited as standing out include Switzerland, Hong Kong, South Korea, New Zealand and the UAE.
Eircom to connect almost 2m homes and firms with fibre broadband by 2020
Eircom is ratcheting up its high-speed fibre broadband rollout and will increase its footprint from a targeted 1.6m homes and businesses by 2016 to 1.9m across Ireland by 2020.
The operator said the additional 300,000 homes and businesses are spread across 1,070 communities in all 26 counties, and include 300 communities not currently served with high-speed broadband.
Speeds of up to 1Gbps will be available through the use of ‘end-to-end’ fibre to the home (FTTH) technology. This expanded footprint means eircom will invest €400m in fibre over the next five years.
Cisco management reshuffle – CTO Padmasree Warrior to leave in September
Even though he is not CEO until July, the incoming CEO of Cisco, Chuck Robbins, has already reshuffled the decks at the networking giant, appointing 10 new executives to key management positions.
It has also been confirmed that Cisco’s celebrated CTO and strategy officer Padmasree Warrior will be leaving Cisco in the coming months. It is believed she intends to pursue a CEO role elsewhere or join a venture capital firm.
Robbins was announced as CEO of Cisco in recent weeks and will pick up the reins on 25 July. Former CEO John Chambers will become executive chairman of the famed Silicon Valley company.
SunGard files for IPO after being owned by private equity for a decade
Enterprise software player SunGard has filed for an IPO – 10 years after it was acquired by a private equity consortium for US$11bn.
SunGard, which acquired Irish data centre company Hosting365 in 2010 for an undisclosed sum, is targeting the US$190bn-a-year IT services market.
The company, which is being advised by JP Morgan and Goldman Sachs, is pursuing the IPO to repay debt.
Twitter’s Jessica Verrilli is leaving for Google Ventures
Jessica Verrilli, Twitter’s director of corporate development and strategy, is leaving the social network to join Google Ventures as a partner, Fortune has reported.
Verrilli has been in her current role since last summer, though she is a long-time Twitter employee, having served in a variety of business development positions since joining the company in April 2009. Over the years she has played a role in Twitter’s acquisition of more than 25 different firms, including Periscope, Vine, Crashlytics and Zipdial.
Pinterest’s Buyable Pins will bring e-commerce to a whole new level
In the coming weeks, Pinterest users in the US will be able to buy their favourite Pinterest finds directly through the app. The e-commerce breakthrough will be powered by platforms like Stripe, Braintree, Demandware and Shopify.
Instead of just pinning items of desire, users will be able to acquire products on the spot.
It emerged in February that Stripe, the Silicon Valley e-payments company founded by Limerick brothers John and Patrick Collison, was working with Pinterest to enable users to purchase goods they discovered on the online scrapbook.


text:
(Pocket-lint) - HTC is working on a new device, but it's not exactly clear what type of device it is or why you'll want it. All we know is it'll support 5G.
HTC explained in a tweet that it has partnered with Sprint, which is making the so-called "5G mobile smart hub". This upcoming device will launch in the US in the first half of next year and will presumably run on Sprint's next-gen network. Qualcomm is part of the duo's joint effort, too, as the smart hub will use the Qualcomm Snapdragon x50 5G modem with gigabit LTE and 5G capabilities.
Sprint said in a blog post that this 5G-enabled product will "allow customers on the go, at work or at home to enjoy Sprint 5G on multiple devices with incredibly fast connectivity for content sharing, mobile gaming, entertainment and so much more". Right now, many are confused about what HTC and Sprint's 5G mobile smart hub could be: A simple mobile hotspot, or something different?
We've contacted Sprint for a comment and will update you when we know more.
Just announced: We're working with @sprint on a powerful 5G mobile smart hub for U.S. customers, coming first half of 2019.— HTC (@htc) November 27, 2018
With HTC's 5G technology, we'll show customers across the U.S. the power of a 5G network and connected technology.
More details: https://t.co/71dr4Eo0Ma pic.twitter.com/xEhHlZ4RU4
Keep in mind that, in August, Sprint announced is working with LG to release a 5G smartphone, and that it too will launch in the first half of 2019. Sprint plans to go live with its 5G service around then in nine US cities, including Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, and New York City.
Motorola also plans to deliver a 5G Moto Mod for the Moto Z3 that is expected to run on Verizon’s 5G next-gen network in 2019.


text:
Pikmin 3 has been confirmed as a Wii U game by Nintendo at E3 2011.
Designer Shigeru Miyamoto said that he "really wanted " to release a third game for the franchise's tenth anniversary this year, but development will be moved to Wii U instead, according to Gamasutra.
"So we've been working on the Wii U I've gotten a look at the fancy new graphics and the new controller, I got the feeling it's the perfect game for that system, so we're going to make it on that," he revealed.
"There are two sides to me today, the corporate side that wants to follow the precedent we set for E3 of not announcing any titles, and the creative side of me that wants to tell you we're working on Pikmin."
Since Pikmin 3 has been in development on Wii for sometime, Miyamoto teased that it might be a launch window title.
Miyamoto last commented on Pikmin 3's development in early 2010, when he said work was "well under way".
GameCube titles Pikmin and Pikmin 2 were re-released with motion controls as part of the New Play Control! range on the Wii in 2009.
The Wii U will feature a touch-screen controller that can stream entire games or be used as a supplementary screen with the television.
More Wii U coverage:
> Wii U announced as new Nintendo console
> Wii U pictures: Nintendo's new controller
> Wii U technical specifications released
> Super Smash Bros. coming to Wii U, 3DS
> Assassin's Creed, Ghost Recon for Wii U
> E3 2011: Nintendo Conference live blog
Watch the Wii U reveal trailer below:


text:
Lily Kuo reports:
An open database in China contains the personal information of more than 1.8 million women, including their phone numbers, addresses, and something called “BreedReady” status, according to a researcher.
Victor Gevers, a Dutch internet expert from the non-profit group GDI.Foundation, found the insecure data cache while searching for open databases in China. He posted a series of screenshots of it over the weekend.
Read more on The Guardian.
h/t, Joe Cadillic


text:
Police allege the group made online purchases with stolen credit cards, then picked up the merchandise at stores in Lancaster and at least four neighboring counties. Ephrata police caught four of the suspects Tuesday at an Ephrata Walmart.
New Jersey woman sues to get '8THEIST' on her license plate
A New Jersey woman who says she was denied a license plate referencing atheism filed suit this week, claiming her online application was rejected because it was deemed potentially offensive. Full Story


text:
TOKYO, JAPAN, April 2, 2012 ---
The joint-venture agreement was terminated because a consensus on the details of the envisioned company could not be reached by the target deadline, the end of March.
As a result, Communication Platform Planning Co., Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary that DOCOMO had established to prepare for the formation of the joint-venture company, will be liquidated in June.
NTT DOCOMO NTT DOCOMOis a world-leading integrated-services company centered on mobility. The company serves over 60 million mobile customers in Japan via advanced wireless networks, including a nationwide 3G network and one of the world’s first commercial LTE networks. Leveraging its unique capabilities as a mobile operator, DOCOMO is a leading developer of cutting-edge technologies for NFC mobile payments, mobile GPS, mobile TV, intuitive mobile assistance, environmental monitoring, smart grids and much more. Overseas, the company provides technical and operational expertise to eight mobile operators and other partner companies. NTT DOCOMOis listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. Please visit www.docomo.ne.jp/english for more information.


text:
TOKYO Struggling Japanese TV maker Sharp Corp's plan to sell its Nanjing plant in China to Taiwan's Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd has been frozen as a result of a disagreement on price and other conditions, the Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun newspaper said on its website on Thursday.
Sharp is also having trouble sealing a deal to sell its Malaysian plant to Hon Hai, the paper said, without naming sources.
Sharp's talks with Hon Hai to renegotiate its investment in the Japanese firm have stalled in the past few months as Sharp's losses have grown.
(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Trending On Reuters
When it comes to dashboard displays that are more like smart phones, two things are clear: Customers want them, and automakers are intent on supplying them. Full Article
Insight - Car dashboards that act like smart phones raise safety issues. Full Article


text:
Shelby American Inc. and Carroll Shelby Licensing have signed agreements with GU Auto Trade to distribute vehicles, parts and licensed merchandise in Europe as part of its global expansion. Under the arrangement, current model Shelby cars and merchandise will be available through 14 dealers in 11 countries across the region.
“The demand for the Shelby brand continues to grow worldwide,” said Joe Conway, Co-CEO of Carroll Shelby International and CEO of Shelby American. “Our agreements with GU Auto Trade will significantly expand distribution in Europe, where Shelby American has a strong reputation for performance based on our tremendous racing heritage in that region. This is a major win for Shelby American, for GU Auto Trade and most of all, Shelby fans across Europe.”
GU Auto Trade will offer the Shelby line of vehicles through its dealers. The first Shelby GTE, which has 750 horsepower and a host of performance upgrades, will be delivered and shown at the Berlin dealer conference this month.
“Our dealers specialize in American performance vehicles and they are keenly aware of the tremendous hunger for cars from Shelby,” said Lili Gu, president of GU Auto Trade. “Their limited-edition vehicles appeal equally to the enthusiast and the collector. This is a tremendous opportunity for Europeans, who value Shelby American’s sports car world championship and Le Mans victories, to own something truly unique and special.”
GU Auto Trade has dealers in Germany, the Netherlands, France, Belgium, Luxemburg, Switzerland, Austria, Poland, Finland, the United Kingdom and Russia. In addition to the vehicles, they will have the opportunity to offer Shelby Performance Parts and licensed merchandise.


text:
Nearly 5 years later!
Department of Justice announced indictments against ten individuals subject of a 2007 raid targeting alleged video game console mod chip suppliers and sellers!!
Back in 2007, Federal agents carried out a series of raids against individuals and businesses in 16 US states as part of an investigation into the distribution and sale of mod chips. This one was dubbed "Operation Tangled Web". This is a little background:
Well, now, nearly five years later, Department of Justice announced indictments against ten of those alleged video game console mod chip suppliers.
Little is know about the charges and sentences, but this is what was brought up:
Of course, defenders note that console mod chips have extensive legal uses as well...
We will have to follow closely the development of these cases in the upcoming days!
NEWS SOURCE #1: http://www.justice.gov/usao/ohn/news/10april2012_2.html
NEWS SOURCE #2: http://arstechnica.com/gaming/news/...esult-in-indictments-nearly-5-years-later.ars
Our thanks to 'Gauss' for writing up this news story for us!


text:
Swiss telco Swisscom is making its TV platform blue TV available as an app on Apple TV.
Fix&Foxi TV joins Quickline in Switzerland
The customers of Swiss telecom provider Quickline can now receive German children’s and family channel Fix&Foxi TV.
AirTies wins Swiss Wi-Fi deployment
The Swiss operator Quickline is to deploy AirTies’ managed Wi-Fi in homes throughout the country.
Quickline connects TV and apps via Ultra HD box
Swiss cable operator group Quickline is now offering its customers an Ultra HD set-top-box that combines classic television with apps.
Swiss cable group offers 1 year free Netflix
Swiss cable operator association Quickline has formed a cooperation with Netflix: As a first step, new internet customers will receive the streaming service free of charge for one year.
Quickline attacks UPC and Swisscom with free OTT service
Swiss cable operator group Quickline wants to not only reach the 400,000 households within its footprint, but the whole Swiss population from September 2017.
Quickline launches IPTV/OTT service with Broadpeak
Swiss cable operator group Quickline has launched an IPTV and OTT platform using CDN solutions from French digital video service provider Broadpeak.
UPC snaps away Swiss ice-hockey rights from Swisscom
Switzerland’s largest cable operator UPC has secured the TV rights from the Swiss Ice Hockey Federation (SIHF) for the live transmission of the Swiss ice-hockey games from the 2017/18 season […]
Swiss Quickline to show Euro 2016 in Ultra HD
The Swiss cable operators associated in industry group Quickline will transmit selected games of the UEFA European Football Championship 2016 in Ultra HD.


text:
The Modern debuts in Mount Vernon
Congratulations to BCW Member MacQuesten Development on the grand opening of The Modern, a $31.5 million affordable housing development featuring 81 rental apartments and 9,300 square feet of ground-level office and community space. Located at 130 Mount Vernon Avenue in what was once a struggling commercial corridor, The Modern is the centerpiece of a transit-oriented renewal of the Mount Vernon West Transit District.
“We knew the Mount Vernon West area had great potential for residential and this is the first step towards turning that into a reality.” said Rella Fogliano, Founder and CEO of MacQuesten Development. MacQuesten is planning to renovate the Mount Vernon West Metro North Train Station which it acquired last year and create a mixed-use retail facility. The company has also proposed plans to build a 17-story, 189-unit mixed-use apartment tower next to the train station known as 22 S. West Street Tower.
The grand opening of The Modern, which was celebrated on September 28, featured state, county and city officials. Sara James, Senior Vice President of Membership & Programs, represented the Business Council at the event.
Similar News Items
More than 450 from business, not-for-profits and government were on hand Tuesday evening for the Business Council of Westchester’s Annual Hall of Fame Awards Dinner. This year’s program, which was held at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, honored business leaders and organizations who have transformed their industries and added to the economic […]
Artificial intelligence, or AI, is impacting virtually every industry, offering opportunities to transform business as usual. Understanding the technology and how best to leverage its potential in real estate was the topic of a recent in-depth forum hosted by Fordham University’s School of Professional and Continuing Studies and The Business Council of Westchester. “Revolutionizing Real […]
In a big boost for the City of Yonkers, the owners of Ridge Hill held a groundbreaking this week for the launch of a major redevelopment plan. “It’s good to see a company like North American Properties that has the ability to run shopping centers with the success they’ve had in this changing retail market,” […]
Become A Member
Join the county’s largest and most influential business organization today.JOIN NOW!


text:
Apple Park, First Published Apr 3, 2022, 12:43 PM IST
That’s itAccording to a new report from Apple, the world’s largest mobile phone maker is facing a severe chip shortage. The company reported 9% growth in iPhone sales in the first quarter of the new Apple 2022 report. But sales of other products have hit the company hard, the report said.
But it is clear that the global political health crisis has affected Apple. TechCrunch says that in the early days of the Covid epidemic, there was growing criticism that Apple had no plans for how to overcome uncertainties. But in light of all this, Apple’s iPhone SE is the latest move by Apple.
But Nikki Asia reports that Apple is cutting production of the budget iPhone SE by 20%. Although market observers have speculated that Apple’s iPhone SE may fall short of its earlier targets in the wake of the Ukraine invasion and inflation, the new revelation comes as a shock. If that happened then Apple would lose 2-3 million handsets a quarter.
Earlier this month, Apple announced that it would suspend sales in Russia following the Russian occupation of Ukraine. Apple’s move comes in the wake of the U.S. embargo.
Several major companies, including Apple’s main rival Samsung, have stopped selling in Russia. Apple and Samsung were two of the top five leading smartphone sellers in the Russian market. Therefore, Apple estimates that the repercussions will be general.
The TechCrunch report says that the global chip shortage is still hitting Apple hard. Inflation problems have affected the chip problem. Inflation As the price of phones rises. As the cost of living increases, so does the user’s need to pick up a new phone. This may lead to a drop in sales.
In addition to reducing SE production, Apple reports that orders for airpods will be reduced by more than 10 million by 2022.
Leading suppliers of chips to Apple are Micron Technology, Samsung Electronics and Kioxia Holdings. The biggest setback for Apple was the loss of a batch sent by Kioxia. The company may rely on Samsung and SK Hynix to fix this. However, the company is now trying to find new companies to ensure that they get the memory chip they need at all times without interruption.
For this, Apple is currently testing Nand Memory, manufactured by Yangtze Memory Technologies, based in Hubei, China. The company operates under the Tsinghua Unigroup, which is run with the blessing of the Chinese government. According to the report, Apple has not yet made a final decision on whether to use the chip.
There is also the possibility of considering the Yangtze company chip for the manufacture of devices such as the iPhone SE and the initial iPad. Foxconn and Pegatron are the two leading manufacturers of iPhones for Apple. Most of the Apple devices are manufactured at these plants in China.
These manufacturing plants can easily get cheap memory chips from the Yangtze company. About 5 percent of Yangtze’s memory will be used to build the iPhone SE and about 3-5 percent to build the iPhone 14. This will allow them to sell their phones a little cheaper. And the crisis can be overcome.
Last Updated Apr 3, 2022, 12:43 PM IST


text:
Jack Paparo; Manufacturer, 86
Published: June 12, 1990
Jack Paparo, a retired clothing manufacturer, died yesterday at his home in Miami. He was 86 years old and had suffered from Parkinson's disease, his son said.
He was the founder of the House of Ronnie, a New York-based manufacturer of underwear, sleepwear and sportswear. The company was started in 1943 as an underwear contractor in a storefront in the Bensonhurst section of Brooklyn and grew into a business with five factories in the South. He was a former chairman of the company.
He is survived by his son, Irving, of Manhattan; a daughter, Beatrice Rappaport of Brooklyn; a brother, Meyer, and a sister, Sophie Behar, both of Miami Beach; five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.


text:
The Key2SafeDriving device, which we mentioned last year, has gone on sale in the USA. K2SD is a Bluetooth device that automatically switches a mobile phone into ‘safe driving mode’ when the key is used. Incoming calls are diverted to voicemail and incoming text messages receive an automated response advising that the user is driving. The company points out that 21% of fatal car crashes involving 16 to 19-year-olds are the result of mobile phone usage.
With mobile-only homes now accounting for over a quarter of households in some UK cities, BT is reminding us that the curly telephone cord first appeared in the UK fifty years ago. It appeared with the iconic 700-type telephone, which was offered in a range of colours, and replaced the previous nylon-covered plaited cord.


text:
On April 13, over 350 workers at a Century 21 store in New York City joined UFCW Local 888 for a better life. The workers, who are employed as sales cashiers, stock clerks and merchandisers, joined our union family because they were well aware of UFCW Local 888’s history of representing some of their colleagues at other Century 21 stores in the area.
UFCW Local 888 has represented Century 21 workers for over 40 years. Unfortunately, the pandemic forced the company to go out of business, which resulted in about 3,000 workers losing their jobs, including 2,400 members of UFCW Local 888. However, the local’s commitment to fighting for those workers did not stop when the company closed its doors. UFCW Local 888 immediately acted and won a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) settlement for the workers affected.
After hearing Century 21 would be making a comeback in the New York City location, UFCW Local 888 demanded that former Century 21 bargaining unit members be offered job opportunities and a card check recognition to make sure former and new workers have union protection. UFCW Local 888 maintained communication with former Century 21 workers, kept them informed about every step of the WARN Act case, and sent out surveys to identify former members available and willing to go back to work at the new Century 21 store in New York City. UFCW Local 888’s long history with these workers and its commitment to fighting for them helped the local obtain the workers’ support during the card check process. Many of the former Century 21 members were appreciative of the services and benefits they received from UFCW Local 888 and were key to the success of this campaign.
“I feel awesome and it’s amazing to have you guys back representing us,” said Evelyn Rodriguez. “You guys gave us 100 percent then, and we know you will give us 100 percent now. We’re looking forward to having you here to resolve our issues.”


text:
German ministers, regional politicians and car executives have agreed a package of measures aimed at cutting inner-city air pollution and averting bans on diesel cars.
Following are some of the key points of the agreement:
As a way to take older, polluting cars off the road, carmakers have agreed to offer trade-in deals for older diesel cars if customers then switch to newer, cleaner models.
Ford announced it will pay owners of vehicles with Euro-1, Euro-2 or Euro-3 emission-standard engines a bonus of between 2,000 and 8,000 euros ($2,348 to $9,394) if they trade in their old cars by end of 2017.
BMW said it would pay up to 2,000 euros.
Mercedes-Benz said it would offer customers in Europe up to 2,000 euros for trading in older diesels equipped with engines built to meet the Euro-1 to Euro-4 emissions standards in exchange for a newer Mercedes. A trade-in discount of 1,000 euros will be offered to customers buying an electric Smart car.
Volkswagen said it would offer trade-in discounts of between 2,000 and 10,000 euros for its own-brand cars, depending on the vehicle. For older diesel versions of the VW Golf, a 5,000 euro incentive is being offered.
VW’s premium devision Audi said it would offer between 3,000 and 10,000 euros to trade in cars with Euro-4 engines for newer cars, while sister brand Porsche said it would offer up to 5,000 euros.
VW’s Seat brand will offer trade-in discounts of between 1,750 euros and 8,000 euros depending on the model.
German carmakers have committed to updating engine management software to make emissions filtering systems operate more effectively. Carmakers had previously made liberal use of a “thermal window” loophole which allowed carmakers to throttle back exhaust emissions management systems in cold weather conditions.
The move will affect 5.3 million cars at a cost of around 500 million euros, with the measures to be funded solely by industry. That includes 2.5 million VW cars that have already been recalled for software updates. The government said the software changes would cut the nitrogen oxide emissions of the affected cars by 30 percent by the end of 2018.
However, environmental group DUH and a Stuttgart regional court have dismissed software updates as being inadequate solutions for tackling pollution. DUH has called the agreement “a grandiose failure”, and said it would reduce nitrogen oxide missions by only 2 to 3 percent overall, since it affected less than 20 percent of Germany’s 15 million diesel cars. The group said it would continue lawsuits in 16 cities.
Environment minister Barbara Hendricks, from the centre-left SPD, said voluntary software updates can only be a first step, with a more thorough technical update of cars needed to avoid bans in the longer run.
The government will continue discussions with carmakers on the possible need for more fundamental retrofits – including the addition of extra exhaust-cleaning systems. Such measures are much more expensive than software updates – with the potential costs estimated by analysts as high as 10 billion euros.
Germany’s KBA vehicle certification authority, which has faced criticism it is not sufficiently independent, will tighten controls of emissions, introducing spot tests of vehicles that have already been approved. The measures were announced when the transport ministry published a report on VW last month.
The agreement does not include a proposal to divide control of certification and emissions testing on the streets, which had been sought by the environment minister.
The auto sector and the government will each contribute half to a 500 million euro fund aimed at helping local governments reduce pollution, including introducing systems to improve traffic flows and improve public transport.
Support for electric buses increased to 100 million euros a year, plus extra backing for hybrid and natural gas buses. Financial incentives to help municipalities and taxi operators fund a switch to electric vehicles are being put in place.
Goal for next legislative period is to create a nationwide network of 50,000 charging points for electric vehicles as well as changes planned to property law to make it easier to install charging points in private buildings.
Support will be provided for trains powered by hydrogen and fuel cells as well as more cash for cycle paths.
Reporting by Edward Taylor, Gernot Heller and Andrea Shalal; Editing by Keith Weir, David Evans and Georgina Prodhan


text:
Hello Games released patch 2.12 for No Man’s Sky: Beyond earlier today, adding a new community event, vanity equipment and optimizations across the entire game. Added in the patch were ‘Quicksilver Missions’, and ‘Encrypted Missions’. Quicksilver Missions reward the vanity currency they are named after, and spawn once a day. Players can hold up to three Quicksilver Missions at a time. ‘Encrypted Missions, “…offer especially interesting and lucrative rewards.” The details of what players must do will not be revealed until after the mission starts.
Atop all this, Hello Games has added a new community event to No Man’s Sky: Beyond. Players simply have to complete Nexus missions if they wish to contribute, eventually unlocking five different Vy’keen vanity pieces (which have a heavy-armor flavor to them). There is no stated end-date for the event, and progress can be tracked via The Galactic Atlas or within the game at the Quicksilver Robot.
A Little Extra Love Elsewhere
In addition to the new event and mission types, Hello Games has made VR optimizations for No Man’s Sky: Beyond for both the PC and PSVR versions, such as making the image in the PSVR version less blurry due to the TAA anti-aliasing. Hello Games state they, “[i]ntroduced a number of general PC optimisations”, but as to what those are they do not go into detail. AMD laptop users will be happy to see multiple crashes have been addressed in this patch as well. The stack multiplier for many products has been increased, and NPC language encounters were rebalanced to lead to more positive interactions. Hello Games also fixed the Blaze Javelin not working in VR, which I was starting to think was an issue on my end, but good to see addressed here. These changes and more can be found in the official 2.12 patch notes.
What’s Next for No Man’s Sky
Hello Games has been busy patching No Man’s Sky: Beyond since its launch earlier in August, and within the patch notes promise, “there is much more coming very soon.” Whether that is an update similar to The Abyss from last year, or further events in smaller patches like this one remains to be seen. Either way, Hello Games continues to impress with how far they have dragged No Man’s Sky from it’s woesome initial launch to where it stands today. Whatever the future may bring, it continues to look bright for No Man’s Sky.


text:
This has been a big month for CAFT. After a period of preparation, they have spent the last month targeting LVMH (a French luxury goods conglomerate) during their Annual General Meeting to demand that they drop fur from all their brands. This campaign has been massive and has had actions all over the world.
Over 11 days of the campaign, 137 actions took place in 22 cities across 8 countries.
One hotspot of the campaign was Paris, where local anti-fur group Collectif Sipe joined with CAFT for a day of protest on April 20th. They played images of the disgusting fur trade on a billboard truck outside LVMH’s meeting and protested outside. Then, when board members went to their hotel for the night, protesters joined them to force their message home!
Meanwhile, CAFT-USA was being very active across the Atlantic. In New York the NYC-Animal Defense League targeted LVMH brands. For some of these, such as Dior, every single location in the city was hit. Actions took place across the country – with NYC, LA, and Boston being the cities with the most activity. In total, the campaign targeted 11 corporate headquarters, 3 museums/exhibits, 1 hotel and 1 market. 28 LVMH brands were visited overall.
CAFT said that their method is ‘to dismantle the retail market, forcing one company after another to abandon fur, until the industry collapses’.
‘Success hinges on a comprehensive use of resources and a collective effort from every animal advocate. Failure is not an option.’
CAFT lists a number of different ways to get involved on their website, for those who are interested.


text:
Kick-Ass 3 plot details have been revealed by series writer Mark Millar.
The Scottish scribe confirmed that the third book will begin with Hit-Girl committed to a mental institution and title character Dave Lizewski working in a comic book store.
"Kick-Ass 3 teasers: Hit-Girl locked up in psychiatric ward, Dave working in a comic store and superheroes illegal. Plus internet dating," he wrote on Twitter.
In a previous interview with Digital Spy, Millar revealed that superheroism being outlawed will not stop the series' crimefighters from continuing their vigilante work.
"I used to love Marvel Comics where the cops were chasing superheroes, seeing them as menaces because they're not licensed in any way. So I kind of like the idea of bringing that back, because in reality there's no way a cop or a fireman is going to let a guy in a suit run into a building," he said.
"I like the idea that after they have stopped a mugging they have to run away from the police. That old-fashioned superhero thing."
Millar promised to reveal preview artwork from Kick-Ass 3 next month.


text:
Gazpromneft-Lubricants reported that it sold 319,000 metric tons of base oils and finished lubricants during the first half of 2018, a 20 percent increase from the same period of 2017. Officials attributed the improvement to sales growth in Russia and abroad.
Russian oil companies generally do not report breakdowns between base oils and finished lubricants. Moscow-based Gazpromneft-Lubricants did say that its sales of what it calls premium lubricants – generally those meeting recent performance standards – rose 10 percent to 143,000 tons for the first half.
Get alerts when new Sustainability Blog articles are available.
The key performance indicator of our activities is tremendous sale growth and primarily abroad, Alexander Trukhan, general director of Gazpromneft-Lubricants, said in an Aug. 29 press release. Expanding our overseas presence is one of the companys priorities. He added that the company aims to become one of the worlds 10 largest lube suppliers.
In Russia, Gazpromneft-Lubricants sold 210,000 tons of products in the first half of this year, up 23 percent. Our growing domestic sales have been driven by the expanding distribution network, as well as active marketing and technical support, the company stated. Trukhan said the companys participation in the import substitution program – a government-sponsored policy to replace imported products with domestic counterparts – also contributed.
In the First half of 2018 international sales grew 13 percent year on year to 110,000 tons. Gazpromneft-Lubricants entered two new markets in 2018 – Tanzania and Singapore – bringing the number of foreign markets that it sells in to 75.
The companys flagship G-Energy-branded motor oils are among its premium lubricants, and sales of them reached 24,400 tons in the first half.
Gazpromneft-Lubricants operates six production sites in Russia, Italy and Serbia.


text:
The Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) will tomorrow hear oral arguments in a cement tariff case between Barbados and Trinidad and Tobago over Barbadian cement maker Rock Hard Cement.
The CCJ, based in Port of Spain, is hearing the case in its original jurisdiction over interpreting the CARICOM Treaty in disputes between member states.
The justices are also expected to render judgment on previous rulings made by the Council for Trade and Economic Development (COTED), CARICOM’s decision-making body on trade matters, and the World Customs Organization (WCO) in favour of Rock Hard.
The court ended the taking of evidence today by hearing four cases simultaneously regarding the issue of the classification of cement imported by Rock Hard Distribution Limited/Rock Hard Cement Limited into Trinidad and Tobago and Barbados and applicable customs duties.
In mid-April, the CCJ ruled in favour of Rock Hard Cement over Arawak Cement Company, a subsidiary of Trinidad Cement Limited (TCL), that the regional tax payable on cement imported by the Barbadian company from Portugal and Turkey should be five per cent and not 60 per cent.
The amount is a far cry from the 60 per cent tariff that Rock Hard Cement had once paid on the imports.
In 2001, COTED granted Barbados an exemption, from the regional Common External Tariff (CET) of zero to five per cent, so that Barbados could apply taxes of 60 per cent to categories of cement described as ‘other hydraulic cement’ – cement used to stop water and leaks in concrete and masonry structures.
The CET is intended to offer goods produced and distributed in CARICOM an advantage over imported ones. In 2015, Barbados decided to return to the CET and apply a five per cent tax on the ‘other hydraulic cement’ imported by Rock Hard Cement Limited.
TCL and Arawak Cement Company had contended that Barbados contravened the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas by unilaterally reducing and/or altering the CET on ‘other hydraulic cement’ from the rate approved by COTED.
They also claimed that Barbados misclassified extra-regional cement imported by Rock Hard as ‘other hydraulic cement’.
The four consolidated cases heard today involved Trinidad Cement Limited versus the State of Trinidad and Tobago, Rock Hard Distribution Limited, Moonilal Ramhit and Sons Contracting Limited; Trinidad Cement Limited, Arawak Cement Company Limited versus the State of Barbados and Rock Hard Cement Limited; Rock Hard Distribution Limited versus the State of Trinidad and Tobago, the Caribbean Community; and Rock Hard Cement Limited versus the State of Barbados, the Caribbean Community.
Chief Executive Officer of Rock Hard, Mark Maloney, who was present at today’s hearing in Port of Spain and was scheduled to give evidence, was informed by the court he was no longer needed because lawyers did not want to cross-examine him. No reasons were given.
Ramhit of Moonilal Ramhit and Sons was also in the same situation.
Much of the evidence taken today was of a technical nature.
The case concludes tomorrow with the court, meeting in its original jurisdiction, cautioning the attorneys to stick to their timelines in making their submissions.
The sitting, which will be streamed live from its website, begins it session at 10 a.m.
Read our ePaper. Fast. Factual. Free.
Sign up and stay up to date with Barbados' FREE latest news.


text:
Top design award for student
A UNIVERSITY student from Emsworth has won an award for her interior design work.
Abigail Burden, 22, who attends Southampton Solent University, received the Linden Homes Interior Decoration award at the university’s art, design and fashion summer show.
This showcases the work produced by the students before they launch into their professional careers.
Abigail, who specialises in hand painted textiles, also won £100 of Amazon vouchers.


text:
Mushers are racing towards Nome. And so are the tourists. A small business owner is gearing up to capitalize on the influx.
Some say Nome’s population doubles during Iditarod. Though that’s an exaggeration, for small business owner Erin Forton, it’s kind of true.
“I try to have about double the amount of supplies on hand,” Forton said. “I know that we go through about five pounds of espresso every two or three days, and last year during Iditarod, we went through five pounds of espresso beans every day.”
Forton owns Bering Tea Company, Nome’s only coffeehouse. The shop sells organic, fair-trade foods and Alaskan roasted coffee. It has become a favorite place for people who want to step out of the cold and grab a warm drink while waiting for mushers to cross the finish line.
But preparation begins long before the race even starts, all the way back in January. Forton began placing orders after the New Year for what she calls “tourist-type items:” things like t-shirts and mugs and other paraphernalia for people to take home.
When the town swells with Iditarod fans, Forton will fly in extra help, and offer extended hours.
“Last year was our first year that we were open through Iditarod, and we ended up staying here, open an awake until 3am, because we didn’t want to close when there were customers in,” Forton said.
Across Nome, the Iditarod rush brings a short-term revenue boost to small businesses. Forton says, for Bering Tea, she’s turning it into a long-term advantage.
“Most of the added revenue from this Iditarod is going to go towards making the building more efficient and more self-sufficient,” Forton said. “Things like better insulation and lower energy use lights. Things that will make it even cheaper to run.”
But the best part of Iditarod, Forton says, is the new faces and the stories they bring.
“I love meeting all the new people and hearing their stories. And sometimes they come up on a whim and sometimes it’s been their 25-year goal to see the finish of the Iditarod,” Forton said. “It’s really cool to see the differences that people have in stories and how they came here and why they came here.”
And this constant stream of people, Forton says, carries another upside. She can run the shop while the customers keep her up on the race details.


text:
'Buy Bitcoin' Searches Skyrocket, Volumes Spike, Account Signups Swell As Coronavirus Fears Heighten
Exchange data and statistics from Google Trends, Twitter, and Baidu show that despite the recent price drop people are looking to buy bitcoin. During the week of the crypto market massacre that started on March 12, Coinbase broke traffic records and witnessed considerable trade volumes. Similarly, the trading platform Kraken saw an 83% increase in account signups during the market calamity as well.
Also read: US Real Estate in Jeopardy – Analysts Predict Housing Market Crash to 29-Year Lows
As Crypto Prices Fell, Kraken and Coinbase Noticed Increased Traffic, Trade Volume, and Signups
While crypto prices are low you would think that most people would be selling their coins for cash. However, statistics show that people are actually more interested in buying bitcoin than selling the digital asset amid the market downturn. For instance, financial columnist Michael del Castillo recently reported on how the San Francisco-based exchange Kraken saw an influx of new registrations last week. According to the report, Kraken saw an 83% increase in registrations during the week after March 12.
Kraken was not the only exchange that reaped the benefits as multiple exchanges across the globe are seeing higher trade volumes and registrations. Typically, crypto exchange volumes increase during a bull run but when the price slides trading platform volumes usually follow the falling price. The latest cryptocurrency crash has seen the opposite, as exchange volumes look like they would during a price spike.
On March 20, reporters Danny Nelson and Nikhilesh De published a report that disclosed Coinbase saw massive traffic during the week of the market fallout and the exchange processed significant trade volume. “This hard work contributed to our stability last week while many platforms, in both crypto and traditional equities, struggled with the increased volume,” Coinbase founder Brian Armstrong explained on Friday. According to the exchange, Coinbase processed a whopping $2 billion worth of crypto trades in 48 hours. Further, the traffic and volume overload came at a time when Coinbase employees are all working remotely from home. Coinbase head of engineering, Jesse Pollak, detailed that the exchange had been preparing for a busy week like this since the 2017 crypto bull run.
Searches for ‘Buy Bitcoin’ on Baidu, Google Trends, Twitter Continue to Surge
Exchange data shows that there’s been an increase in traffic and registrations and popular search engines like Baidu and Google are showing significant interest in the term “buy bitcoin.” On Saturday, the researcher from Shenliancaijing published a study that shows searches for the terms “bitcoin” and “buy bitcoin” are up 183%.
Shenliancaijing’s report notes that the Baidu index data also indicates that searches for the term “blockchain” and “ethereum” have also risen exponentially. Searches for “bitcoin” and “buy bitcoin” have also swelled on Google’s web browser, as the term “bitcoin” jumped from an interest level of around 29 to 56 on Google Trends. The level of interest between the terms “buy bitcoin” and “sell bitcoin” shows quite a difference as “buy bitcoin” has skyrocketed well above the search for “sell”.
The term “buy bitcoin” on Twitter has also been trending higher than usual as well. A significant number of crypto supporters who leverage the social media platform are tweeting that it’s the perfect time to buy. Whether it be after the Fed’s rate cut, watching gold prices tumble, observing the stock market meltdown – during all of these feverish discussions people are talking about purchasing bitcoin and various cryptocurrencies.
I feel like the Federal Reserve should just buy $1 Trillion in #Bitcoin.
Makes more sense than what’s about to happen.
— Adam Draper 🛸 🌊 (@AdamDraper) March 21, 2020
After the crypto market carnage, coins like BTC are still showing great form during the economic storm that has rattled nearly every market. If bitcoin and the 5,000+ cryptocurrency networks in existence were correlated with traditional stock and commodity values then the cryptoconomy would have likely been defeated on March 12.
Central bankers, politicians and people like Peter Schiff, Nouriel Roubini, Warren Buffet, Jamie Dimon and many others have said for years that BTC was the riskiest asset and would be the first to die.
Unfortunately for them, their opinions don’t matter and the economic hardship is making people look closely at bitcoin and the digital asset economy. The crisis might be making people understand that more than ever before, people are searching for a decentralized, permissionless electronic cash system.
What do you think about the heightened interest in bitcoin? Let us know in the comments section below.
Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.


text:
|By Shelly Palmer||
|February 27, 2013 05:04 PM EST||
The world turns to events like Mobile World Congress to see what the mobile market of the future will look like, and this year’s MWC in Barcelona Spain will be no exception. One of the technologies debuting at the event is the new WeVideo mobile app for Android, now in beta.
Unlike other “video editing apps,” the WeVideo app syncs with the cloud, which is significant because this lets people capture mobile video and pictures, and then have the choice of making a mobile edit and publishing, or simply saving it for a later, more sophisticated edit, on WeVideo’s full-featured cloud-based video editor. (The editor was recently launched as WeVideo 3.0, available at www.WeVideo.com.)
Key Features of the App Include:
- Record Video - Launch the WeVideo Android app and record videos to the phone. Trim video clips, tag friends and upload to the cloud.
- Creative Control - Arrange clips, adjust track volume, and stylize with any one of the unique WeVideo themes, with built-in music, filters, transitions and titles.
- Mobile Media Integration - Add and edit video, music and photos from your phone.
- Expansive Exporting - Export final videos to WeVideo, YouTube, and Facebook. Customers can even export to their phone.
- Mobile-To-Cloud Syncing – Content created on the WeVideo Android app syncs with the cloud and can be edited with full creative control with the WeVideo.com editor.
The WeVideo Android app is now available on the Samsung Galaxy S III, The Samsung Galaxy Note, Samsung Galaxy Note II and the Google Nexus, with more devices to be added. The beta release can be downloaded here.
Company spokesperson and Vice President of Marketing and Sales Mark Floisand said:
“Today’s customers are ready for technologies that let them share more about themselves and their lives. Right now, customers can find and download our app, but we also believe technologies like the WeVideo mobile platform will soon be integrated into handsets everywhere. A few years ago, the market wasn’t ready; networks didn’t have the bandwidth to support mobile video creation, hardware wasn’t fast enough and consumers weren’t quite committed to do more than snap a picture and share it to Facebook. Now, however, we have the perfect storm where people can capture, create and share their stories quickly, and from anywhere. We’re excited to see where the mobile video market goes in the coming years.”
With technologies like the WeVideo mobile editing app, consumers are becoming more comfortable with, not only capturing mobile video, but editing it and publishing only the parts that they care about most, in a way that is most flattering to the narrative. This type of customer-centered technology makes for more “sharable” content and after all, isn’t making something more viewable and enjoyable the entire point of media making?
Red Hat is investing in Tesora, the number one contributor to OpenStack Trove Database as a Service (DBaaS) also ranked among the top 20 companies contributing to OpenStack overall. Tesora, the company bringing OpenStack Trove Database as a Service (DBaaS) to the enterprise, has announced that Red Hat and others have invested in the company as a part of Tesora's latest funding round. The funding agreement expands on the ongoing collaboration between Tesora and Red Hat, which dates back to Febr...
Sep. 1, 2015 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 387
SYS-CON Events announced today that DataClear Inc. will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. The DataClear ‘BlackBox’ is the only solution that moves your PC, browsing and data out of the United States and away from prying (and spying) eyes. Its solution automatically builds you a clean, on-demand, virus free, new virtual cloud based PC outside of the United States, and wipes it clean...
Sep. 1, 2015 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 432
Cloud and datacenter migration innovator AppZero has joined the Microsoft Enterprise Cloud Alliance Program. AppZero is a fast, flexible way to move Windows Server applications from any source machine – physical or virtual – to any destination server, in any cloud or datacenter, using its patented container technology. AppZero’s container is also called a Virtual Application Appliance (VAA). To facilitate Microsoft Azure onboarding, AppZero has two purpose-built offerings: AppZero SP for Azure,...
Sep. 1, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 205
WSM International, the pioneer and leader in server migration services, has announced an agreement with WHOA.com, a leader in providing secure public, private and hybrid cloud computing services. Under terms of the agreement, WSM will provide migration services to WHOA.com customers to relocate some or all of their applications, digital assets, and other computing workloads to WHOA.com enterprise-class, secure cloud infrastructure. The migration services include detailed evaluation and planning...
Sep. 1, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 196
SYS-CON Events announced today that G2G3 will exhibit at SYS-CON's @DevOpsSummit Silicon Valley, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Based on a collective appreciation for user experience, design, and technology, G2G3 is uniquely qualified and motivated to redefine how organizations and people engage in an increasingly digital world.
Sep. 1, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 509
SYS-CON Events announced today that IceWarp will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. IceWarp, the leader of cloud and on-premise messaging, delivers secured email, chat, documents, conferencing and collaboration to today's mobile workforce, all in one unified interface
Sep. 1, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 439
In 2014, the market witnessed a massive migration to the cloud as enterprises finally overcame their fears of the cloud’s viability, security, etc. Over the past 18 months, AWS, Google and Microsoft have waged an ongoing battle through a wave of price cuts and new features. For IT executives, sorting through all the noise to make the best cloud investment decisions has become daunting. Enterprises can and are moving away from a "one size fits all" cloud approach. The new competitive field has ...
Sep. 1, 2015 02:45 PM EDT
With the proliferation of connected devices underpinning new Internet of Things systems, Brandon Schulz, Director of Luxoft IoT – Retail, will be looking at the transformation of the retail customer experience in brick and mortar stores in his session at @ThingsExpo. Questions he will address include: Will beacons drop to the wayside like QR codes, or be a proximity-based profit driver? How will the customer experience change in stores of all types when everything can be instrumented and a...
Sep. 1, 2015 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 476
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Sep. 1, 2015 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 912
This Enterprise Strategy Group lab validation report of the NEC Express5800/R320 server with Intel® Xeon® processor presents the benefits of 99.999% uptime NEC fault-tolerant servers that lower overall virtualized server total cost of ownership. This report also includes survey data on the significant costs associated with system outages impacting enterprise and web applications. Click Here to Download Report Now!
Sep. 1, 2015 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 258
Enterprises can achieve rigorous IT security as well as improved DevOps practices and Cloud economics by taking a new, cloud-native approach to application delivery. Because the attack surface for cloud applications is dramatically different than for highly controlled data centers, a disciplined and multi-layered approach that spans all of your processes, staff, vendors and technologies is required. This may sound expensive and time consuming to achieve as you plan how to move selected applicati...
Sep. 1, 2015 12:30 PM EDT
Organizations from small to large are increasingly adopting cloud solutions to deliver essential business services at a much lower cost. According to cyber security experts, the frequency and severity of cyber-attacks are on the rise, causing alarm to businesses and customers across a variety of industries. To defend against exploits like these, a company must adopt a comprehensive security defense strategy that is designed for their business. In 2015, organizations such as United Airlines, Sony...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 492
Through WebRTC, audio and video communications are being embedded more easily than ever into applications, helping carriers, enterprises and independent software vendors deliver greater functionality to their end users. With today’s business world increasingly focused on outcomes, users’ growing calls for ease of use, and businesses craving smarter, tighter integration, what’s the next step in delivering a richer, more immersive experience? That richer, more fully integrated experience comes ab...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 674
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pythian, a global IT services company specializing in helping companies leverage disruptive technologies to optimize revenue-generating systems, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Founded in 1997, Pythian is a global IT services company that helps companies compete by adopting disruptive technologies such as cloud, Big Data, advance...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 323
As more and more data is generated from a variety of connected devices, the need to get insights from this data and predict future behavior and trends is increasingly essential for businesses. Real-time stream processing is needed in a variety of different industries such as Manufacturing, Oil and Gas, Automobile, Finance, Online Retail, Smart Grids, and Healthcare. Azure Stream Analytics is a fully managed distributed stream computation service that provides low latency, scalable processing of ...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 290
Culture is the most important ingredient of DevOps. The challenge for most organizations is defining and communicating a vision of beneficial DevOps culture for their organizations, and then facilitating the changes needed to achieve that. Often this comes down to an ability to provide true leadership. As a CIO, are your direct reports IT managers or are they IT leaders? The hard truth is that many IT managers have risen through the ranks based on their technical skills, not their leadership ab...
Sep. 1, 2015 11:15 AM EDT Reads: 371
In today's digital world, change is the one constant. Disruptive innovations like cloud, mobility, social media, and the Internet of Things have reshaped the market and set new standards in customer expectations. To remain competitive, businesses must tap the potential of emerging technologies and markets through the rapid release of new products and services. However, the rigid and siloed structures of traditional IT platforms and processes are slowing them down – resulting in lengthy delivery ...
Sep. 1, 2015 10:45 AM EDT Reads: 606
Amazon and Google have built software-defined data centers (SDDCs) that deliver massively scalable services with great efficiency. Yet, building SDDCs has proven to be a near impossibility for ‘normal’ companies without hyper-scale resources. In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, David Cauthron, founder and chief executive officer of Nimboxx, will discuss the evolution of virtualization (hardware, application, memory, storage) and how commodity / open source hyper converged infrastructure (HCI) so...
Sep. 1, 2015 10:45 AM EDT
SYS-CON Events announced today that Micron Technology, Inc., a global leader in advanced semiconductor systems, will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Micron’s broad portfolio of high-performance memory technologies – including DRAM, NAND and NOR Flash – is the basis for solid state drives, modules, multichip packages and other system solutions. Backed by more than 35 years of tech...
Sep. 1, 2015 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 242
U.S. companies are desperately trying to recruit and hire skilled software engineers and developers, but there is simply not enough quality talent to go around. Tiempo Development is a nearshore software development company. Our headquarters are in AZ, but we are a pioneer and leader in outsourcing to Mexico, based on our three software development centers there. We have a proven process and we are experts at providing our customers with powerful solutions. We transform ideas into reality.
Sep. 1, 2015 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 553


text:
Published on the 14/09/2016 | Written by Newsdesk
Businesses in emerging markets could steal a march on developed world operators…
ERP vendor Epicor has released research which points to businesses in developed markets risk falling behind those in emerging ones. That’s because the latter are currently placing greater importance on leveraging technology to fuel growth.
The global research, conducted by MORAR Consulting, questioned some 1,800 business leaders from 12 countries around the world. It found that 54 percent of emerging market business executives cited “technology leadership” as a significant growth factor, compared to just 36 percent of those in developed countries and 37 percent in Australia, specifically.
It said executives in emerging markets also recognise the importance of flexible technology and business systems in fuelling growth, and are putting themselves in a stronger position when it comes to preparing for international expansion.
Other findings of the study include:
- Of those surveyed globally, 75 percent of businesses in emerging markets agree that flexible working practices and technologies, such as mobile working, are significant in helping retain key people, compared to just 62 percent of those in developing countries.
- Businesses in developed markets are less likely to see the value of using the latest technology to free people up from mundane tasks, such as repetitive invoice processing and manual stock counting. Some 65 percent of business leaders in developed markets said this was a significant contributor to their staff retention, compared to 75 percent of business leaders in emerging markets.
In a statement, Epicor regional VP ANZ Vince Randall said business executives in more developed markets could be in fact hindering growth, “Unless they continue to prioritise strategic investments into critical technology and working processes that can increase their agility.”
Randall said there is a necessity to invest in moving beyond aging business systems that are inadequate to meet present-day and future business requirements. “More developed markets are often considered beacons of technology innovation but they need to practice what they preach. This is also increasingly important in order to attract and empower the next-generation workforce in the workplace. Millennials, after all, expect to use the latest technologies in the most flexible ways.”
The research showed that 38 percent of business leaders in Australia said that expansion into new industries and product areas was a main priority for their business over the coming year. To support this, 61 percent of Australian business leaders recognised that ‘cutting-edge technology/IT’ was a significant factor in the retention of key staff.
In the same survey, 40 percent of all respondents identified technology leadership as a significant factor to help stimulate growth.
Yet, said Epicor, these findings suggest that unless businesses in developed markets continue to prioritise investment in technology they may struggle to meet their targets, with emerging market competition set to outstrip them with the latest technologies and processes.
Defining ‘the latest technologies and processes’, or indeed, ‘cutting edge technology’, is no mean feat; there is no ruler marked off with gradations for the ‘cutting edge’, much less one with ‘latest’ indentations along its length. It is therefore valid to wonder how the definitions of just what constitutes ‘cutting edge’ might vary from one business executive to another.
In any event, Epicor said organisations need to be flexible in order to adjust to market pressures as they grow.
Medication errors can happen anywhere, but knowledge is your best defense. So it’s no wonder that online pharmacies is becoming more popular over the last years. Viagra is one of the best treatment options of all time. Nowadays a lot of articles were published about natural viagra substitutes. Usually, when people talk about ED, they think “otc viagra substitute“. A medicinal review about “http://corpmoreinfo.com/where-to-buy-viagra-online.html” found that men’s most common sexual malfunction is erectile disfunction. Furthermore, this may turn on hardening of the arteries, anxiety, or a stress. Any preparation may cause some side effects. Sometimes side effects can be actually serious. Stop using this medicine and get medical help if you have sudden vision loss.


text:
Hyundai’s luxury brand Genesis has taken a conservative approach when rolling out its electric vehicle lineup, initially offering availability in just nine states. As it continues to prepare for its all-electric future, the brand has announced that it has expanded the availability of its electrified lineup to 15 states.
Related: What to Know Before Purchasing an Electric Vehicle: A Buying Guide
Six states have joined the roster: Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Texas, Virginia and Wisconsin; the list of existing states includes Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Nevada, Utah and Washington. The expanded availability will help Genesis reach a key milestone in its plans to prepare for a fully sustainable future as it works to electrify its entire model lineup by 2030.
The announcement also comes at a time when Genesis is preparing to launch the Electrified GV70 SUV, which joins the compact GV60 SUV and the Electrified G80 sedan in the lineup. Unlike the Electrified G80, the Electrified GV70 (and the GV60) qualifies for up to $7,500 in tax credits. Genesis is also giving buyers three years of complimentary 30-minute charging sessions at Electrify America fast-charging stations.
More From Cars.com:
- 2023 Genesis GV60 Review: Willfully Wild
- 2023 Genesis GV60 Lands IIHS Top Safety Pick Plus Award
- 2023 Genesis Electrified G80 Priced at Just Over $80,000
- 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 Up Close: Hiding in Plain Sight
- 2023 Genesis Electrified GV70 Pricing Revealed, Will Start at $66,975


text:
- Real Estate
- Food & Drink
June 30, 2020
Here’s a look at recent changes in the business landscape in the Sioux Falls area.
The Rush Bar & Grill has reopened after a top-to-bottom renovation following tornado damage last September. The bar at Plaza 41 has broadened its business model too. It’s now offering a full lunch and dinner menu with a new chef. Hours are 10 to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 to 2 a.m. Sunday.
Heirloom Creations has new owners and recently broke ground on a new event center, warehouse and sewing machine service center. Steve and Sara Snuggerud took over ownership from his parents. The new project will include two 4,000-square-foot buildings along Hawthorne Avenue, two blocks east of Heirloom’s current storefront on Western Avenue near 46th Street, where the business has been located for the past 16 years. That site will continue to be the retail shop.
Kay Jewelers in The Empire Mall is permanently closed. The store is among at least 150 locations operated by Signet Jewelers that will not reopen after being temporarily shut down in March because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Dawley Farm Village location reopened June 19.
Covert Cellars, the taproom for Covert Artisan Ales, has opened in downtown’s East Bank Depot on Eighth Street. The brewery focuses on wild ales and sours but is expanding its offerings to “appeal to a wider audience,” said Stacy Berry, who owns the business with her husband, Dan. The taproom is dog-friendly all the time and kid-friendly until 8 p.m. It doesn’t have a kitchen, but customers are welcome to bring in food.
Stensland Family Farms’ third retail store in Sioux Falls has opened. It’s in a shared space in the Roosevelt Marketplace at 41st and Sertoma with Flyboy Donuts. The doughnut and coffee shop won’t open until August. Customers can find ice cream treats from Stensland’s 16-flavor dipping case, pints of ice cream and hamburger in the freezer, and milk, cheese, butter and eggs in the refrigerated case. It’s open daily.
The new extended-stay Staybridge Suites has opened in southwest Sioux Falls. The four-story, 102-room hotel at 4210 W. 59th St. opened earlier this month and has many custom features along with the hotel’s latest prototype.
Send Comings & Goings news to Jodi@SiouxFalls.Business.
Editor’s note: The location for Stensland Family Farms has been corrected since this was first published.
Here’s a look at recent changes in the business landscape in the Sioux Falls area


text:
Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., a vertically integrated cannabis operator in the United States, announced that Joe Bayern will become President of Curaleaf Holdings, Inc., effective immediately. Bayern brings over 20 years of executive leadership experience in consumer packaged goods at a critically important moment in Curaleaf's growth trajectory. He will report to Curaleaf Chief Executive Officer Joseph Lusardi.
As President, Bayern will work closely with the senior executive team to lead the company and oversee its continued growth. Bayern will primarily be focused on driving operational excellence and executing on Curaleaf's mission. Chief Executive Officer Joseph Lusardi will continue to oversee the strategic vision and operations of the company.
In 2019, Curaleaf announced two transformational acquisitions, Select, the leading cannabis wholesale brand in the United States, and Grassroots, the largest private vertically integrated cannabis operator. Both acquisitions are expected to close in 2020, bringing together the fastest growing cannabis brands and creating a leading national platform. Joe Bayern will oversee the integrations of these acquisitions and partner with the Curaleaf management team to drive growth, synergies and operational efficiencies.
"Joe Bayern brings the expertise, track record and passion that will help take Curaleaf to the next level," said Curaleaf Chief Executive Joseph Lusardi. "His experience in senior leadership roles in consumer goods, and most recently cannabis, will greatly enhance our ability to operate and excel in our next phase of growth."
"I'm thrilled to join Curaleaf at such an exciting time in the Company's growth trajectory," said Curaleaf President Joe Bayern. "For me, Curaleaf stands out as the most dynamic business in the industry, and I'm looking forward to working with Joe Lusardi and the rest of the team to continue our leadership in this sector."
Bayern joins Curaleaf from INDUS Holdings, a vertically-integrated cannabis company, where he served as President since January 2019. Before INDUS, Joe served as chief executive officer of the global beverage leader VOSS of Norway. Prior to this, Bayern spent 15 years playing an integral role in several large-scale business transformations, with achievements that include the creation of the $6 billion Dr. Pepper Snapple Group, and the transformation of Cadbury into a singularly focused confectionary leader.


text:
American electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Rivian Automotive LLC’s upcoming delivery vans will carry straightforward names like 700 Van and 500 Van, a VIN document recently filed with the National
There is no dearth of standing electric scooters (e-scooters) in the market but only a few are able to meet commuters’ expectations.
Elon Musk-led American electric vehicle (EV) giant Tesla Motors has reportedly started delivering refreshed Model X mid-size all-electric luxury crossover to customers.
Japanese manufacturing giant Kawasaki Heavy Industries Motorcycle & Engine has reiterated its commitment to electrification of its two-wheelers in select markets by the mid of next decade (2035
Just around eleven per cent of Tesla electric cars sold during the second quarter (Q2) of 2021 had the Full Self-Driving (FSD) feature, a new survey conducted by Troy Teslike revealed.
The all-electric 2022 Pininfarina Battista hypercar is undoubtedly a worthy tribute to Italian automobile designer Battista Farina, thanks to its pleasantly striking high-tech features and specs.
© 2018-2020 EVBULLETIN.COM ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. COPYSCAPE PROTECTED. EVBULLETIN is part of TopNewsNetwork.


text:
New Research from Telesign Finds Consumers’ Fear of Digital Fraud is on the Rise and Consumers Will Punish Businesses that Don’t Protect Them
- Digital users would go to great lengths to avoid becoming a victim of digital fraud: Nearly one quarter of consumers (23%) shared that they would rather never eat chocolate again or be audited by the IRS than become a victim of digital fraud.
- Fear of digital fraud is on the rise: Half (50%) of consumers surveyed indicated their level of apprehension regarding telephone and digital fraud has increased in the last two years.
- Consumers have high expectations for digital privacy protections: 70% of consumers strongly agree that companies have a responsibility to protect the digital privacy of users, with an additional 24% stating they somewhat agree.
- Strong negative brand impact that can multiply: Nearly half of fraud victims indicate the breach was caused by a brand, resulting in a strong negative brand perception (47%) that can spread when victims tell friends and family not to associate with the brand (44%).
LOS ANGELES – May 11, 2023 – Telesign, the leading provider of customer identity and engagement solutions, today released the 2023 Telesign Trust Index, which reveals consumers are increasingly afraid of digital fraud, and for good reason. Digital fraud has significant financial and psychological repercussions on victims, according to the study. Businesses may find a new reason to fear digital fraud as well. The findings highlight the negative impacts of digital fraud on companies’ brand perception and the bottom line.
The 2023 Telesign Trust Index is a first-of-its-kind study to examine the critical role that trust plays in the digital world. Understanding consumer sentiment around this topic is critical for businesses to build and maintain lasting relationships with their customers. The findings underscore the obligation of companies to ensure privacy protections and trust in every digital interaction, while also highlighting what can happen when companies don’t live up to this expectation. Key takeaways from the study include:
Digital users would go to great lengths to avoid becoming a victim of digital fraud
- Nearly one quarter of consumers (23%) shared that they would rather never eat chocolate again or be audited by the IRS than become a victim of digital fraud.
- 30% of consumers surveyed reported they were victims of fraud in the past three years. Those who spend more time on the Internet and use more digital services are statistically more likely to be victimized.
- 61% of victims report financial losses, and one-third of victims report losses of more than $1,000.
- The impact on victims is not just financial. 40% cite mental health concerns and 44% characterize the incident as being “very impactful” on them.
Consumer fear digital fraud is on the rise
- Half (50%) of consumers polled indicated their level of apprehension regarding telephone and digital fraud has increased in the last two years.
- Strong negative brand impact can multiply, leading to losses in revenue and customer loyalty
- Data breaches, which accounted for 44% of fraud incidents in this study, have a profound, negative impact on brand perception, with almost half (44%) of data breach victims telling friends and family not to associate with the brand.
- 43% of data breach victims personally stopped associating with the brand altogether.
- 30% of data breach victims posted to social media regarding the fraud incident, further amplifying negative brand perceptions.
- 59% of victims, who were initially exposed to fraud on social media channels, indicate they are less likely to use social media altogether. Others report they are less likely to use online banking and payment services applications as a result of their experiences.
Brands are ultimately responsible for protecting their users’ digital privacy from fraud
- There is strong consensus among consumers surveyed (94% agree) that businesses bear responsibility for protecting their digital privacy. 70% strongly agree that companies have a responsibility to protect users’ digital privacy and 24% somewhat agree. Older respondents are more likely to strongly agree with these sentiments.
- A little over half (55%) of consumers polled currently use software to protect their digital privacy. Prior victims of fraud were statistically more likely to use this type of software.
“Trust profoundly impacts how customers perceive and engage with a brand. With fear of digital fraud rising amongst consumers, the value of establishing and maintaining trust in business transactions is critical,” said Kristi Melani, CMO & GTM Strategy of Telesign. “The challenge for today’s consumer is deciding who they can trust. We know they are looking for validation that the companies they engage with are trustworthy. The most trusted companies will be those that employ the latest technologies, such as the use of advanced machine learning, to create environments that we, at Telesign, characterize as having Continuous Trust.”
“Protecting digital identities and building security into daily life is a massive concern for businesses,” said Daniel Newman, founding partner and principal analyst at Futurum Research. “Doing this effectively requires the proper balance between security and user experience. Telesign continues demonstrating invaluable leadership in solving this challenge and making the digital world safer for everyone.”
As a brand built on Continuous Trust™, Telesign recognized a significant gap in the industry—a lack of leadership on what trust means to end-users and the impact it has on brands. To address this gap, Telesign recently introduced the Continuous TrustTM Authority, a collection of resources, insights, and experts working together to help the world become a more trustworthy place, offering a deeper understanding into the critical role of trust in the digital economy. The Trust Index is one of the program components being introduced over the next several months. By bringing together the best minds and technology in this space, the Continuous Trust™ Authority will be a hub for the latest information on fighting fraud.
Telesign’s full suite of Continuous Trust™ solutions help its customers prevent the transmission of 30+ million fraudulent messages each month and protects 1+ billion accounts from takeovers every year, allowing companies and customers to engage with confidence. With powerful machine learning and extensive data science that delivers identity with speed, accuracy, and global reach, Telesign is empowering companies to transact with their customers free of fear, making the promise of the digital economy possible.
This Telesign Trust Index Survey was fielded online and reached a total of n=1,000 respondents. Respondents were U.S. adults aged 18+; a subset of which have been victims of digital fraud within the past three years. The survey was fielded in January 2023 by FINN Partners. The margin of error for a sample size of 1,000 is +/- 3.10 percentage points at a 95% confidence level.
For more information and to download the Trust Index report, click here.
Telesign provides Continuous Trust™ to leading global enterprises by connecting, protecting, and defending their digital identities. Telesign verifies over five billion unique phone numbers a month, representing half of the world’s mobile users, and provides critical insight into the remaining billions. The company’s powerful machine learning and extensive data science deliver identity with a unique combination of speed, accuracy, and global reach. Telesign solutions prevent fraud, secure communications, and enable the digital economy by allowing companies and customers to engage with confidence.
Learn more at www.telesign.com and follow us on Twitter at @Telesign.
# # #
Lauren Ward, Senior Manager of PR


text:
The ongoing surge in financial innovation can only be sustained by a continued demonstration that new technology is safe — and that it can be trusted with valuable assets.
A trip though customs prompts an exploration of strong authentication, its potential and its perils.
Open banking provides an opportunity for innovation and a challenge for consumer privacy.
Only 3% of financial apps deliver a secure experience for their users. What's the real cost?