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- Crowdfunding from unaccredited investors has been restricted in the U.S., but under the JOBS Act more individuals will be able to invest in startups without triggering public listing.
- Still, rewards-based sites such as Kickstarter may be more good at providing market validation than actually raising money for a startup.
In 2010, websites like Kickstarter began to gain traction with consumers, as quirky petitions for help funding CDs, events, and films began to show up routinely on Facebook and Twitter and in email inboxes. By 2012, a variety of these kinds of sites were popping up and helping to generate relatively small sums, usually in the thousands or tens of thousands. Then in May 2012, startup Pebble Technology shattered the ceiling by raising more than $10 million in a Kickstarter campaign to pre-sell its “smart watch.”
That same month, new research about “crowdfunding” — this new type of crowdsourcing in which an individual, group, or company raises money from multiple sources online — was released by Massolution (the consulting arm of crowdsourcing.org).
The report, Crowdfunding Industry Report: Market Trends, Composition, and Crowdfunding Platforms, which made a big splash in the startup funding world, revealed that crowdfunding has found a huge market — $1.5 billion was raised worldwide through one million campaigns in 2011, a figure that’s projected to double in 2012, and explode in 2013.
In addition to sizing the current market and predicting future market size, the report describes four types of crowdfunding, depending on the business model:
- Equity-based: funders receive an interest in the form of equity in the venture they fund or, alternatively, revenue or profit-share arrangements.
- Lending-based: funders often receive fixed periodic income and expect repayment of the original principal investment.
- Reward-based: funders gain a non-financial benefit in return for financial contributions. Non-monetary rewards often take the form of a token of appreciation or the pre-purchasing of products or services.
- Donation-based: funders donate to causes that they want to support, with no expected compensation (i.e., philanthropic or sponsorship-based incentive).
According to the report, the main source of the growth in 2012 will be driven by reward-based crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter. Equity-based crowdfunding is already strong in Europe, although crowdfunding from unaccredited investors has been restricted in this country.
But starting in 2013, equity-based crowdfunding is expected to increase in the U.S. due to the JOBS Act. Passed in April with bipartisan support, the JOBS Act is intended to create jobs by dramatically reshaping the financing landscape of American business.
Under the JOBS Act, individuals will be able to invest in startups in return for shares of the company. Companies will also be able to amass a larger total number of investors before triggering public disclosure regulations that now require companies to list their shares publicly. The SEC is still working on the specific regulations that will govern crowdfunding activity under the act.
“The passing of the JOBS Act will have a profound effect on the growth of crowdfunding in the U.S. In 2013, we expect securities-based crowdfunding to bring new sources of funding to many startups and early stage businesses,” said Massolution chief executive Carl Esposti in a statement.
Will Crowdsourcing Supplant Venture Capital?
The Massolution report contained research conducted last spring by Gerrit Ahlers and Matthias Knoche, when they were dual-degree MBA exchange students at the McCombs School of Business. Their other degree is from Wissenschaftliche Hochschule für Unternehmensführung (WHU) in Germany.
Ahlers, who came to McCombs to focus on entrepreneurship and finance, began to research crowdfunding as part of his thesis on finance and the Internet under the direction of John Doggett, senior lecturer in the Management Department. While researching, Ahlers connected with crowdsourcing.org and learned they had research underway, so they joined forces.
Though the report is largely based on Ahlers’ research, he doesn’t necessarily agree with Esposti on the conclusion that equity-based crowdfunding will take off.
“I have a finance background and got interested in crowdfunding because it is a new way of financing,” said Ahlers, who is now a consultant in A.T. Kearney’s Berlin office. “My take on crowdfunding is that it is an amazing way to finance the development of new products, foundations, etc. That said, I think that it will be difficult to make money from equity crowdfunding, and that it will take considerable time to build an online venture capital industry.”
Doggett shares Ahlers’ view. “Crowdfunding is a phenomenon that is taking off, so I am very comfortable with the projections [in the report]. I expect that crowdfunding will become a significant additional source of funding for startups, but I don’t expect it to supplant any existing sources,” he said.
He continued, “Traditional investors would be concerned that crowdfunding would create a large number of individual ‘investors’ who would have to agree to any additional funding. That concern can be addressed by giving one ‘mutual fund-like’ investment manager the power to make decisions that commit all crowdfunding ‘investors’.
“If this approach to investment management is included in the initial offering statement, the problem goes away. Given the growth of crowdfunding in the U.S., the ability to raise money this way will give a project even more credibility.”
Crowdfunding Gains Momentum: See Rally.org
Another crowdfunding coup came in June when Rally.org, a startup designed to facilitate crowdfunding, raised $8 million in series A funding. That’s right, Rally, the brainchild of Tom Serres, itself provides a platform for individuals and groups to raise funds for causes through donation-based crowdfunding.
This space is not new to Serres, who founded Piryx.com as an undergraduate at McCombs in 2008. The first use of Piryx was by politicians to solicit donations online, a form of political fundraising that came into its own during the last presidential election. For Rally, Serres raised most of the funds from AngelList, an online platform that connects seed investors and entrepreneurs, making it the largest series A round ever raised online. Some in Silicon Valley saw the deal as a confirmation that crowdfunding is here to stay, though others still voiced concerns similar to those of Doggett and Ahlers’.
Serres believes that those who are patterning equity-based crowdfunding after reward-based platforms such as Kickstarter are missing the point about fundraising for startups. For him, fundraising is more of a process than a rewards-based event — more storytelling and relationship-building — with solicitation a complementary process that’s no less important.
“Four years ago crowdfunding was nonexistent, but in one sense you were always funding from a crowd,” he said. “Communicating ideas to people who might be interested in helping to make them a reality has been going on for centuries, but now it’s on a new medium that’s breaking down barriers to that communication.”
Crowdfunding’s Real Value for Startups
Serres agrees with Doggett and Ahlers that it’s unlikely crowdfunding would replace venture capital for startups. “From the venture equity point of view, crowdfunding isn’t optimal, because it’s better to raise money from investors who know you,” he says, rather than expecting investors to commit on the basis of an online presentation.
“The problem from a crowdfunding perspective is that [rewards-based sites such as] Kickstarter are simply a way to pre-sell a product or a project. You need a stronger reason to seek VC funding — you still have to build the business environment around it.”
To Serres, the value provided by Kickstarter and many other crowdfunding sites is more market validation than access to capital. “It’s a good way to raise money in small amounts, usually less than $1 million.” But more importantly, Serres believes that where crowdfunding adds value is in bringing customers. “Crowdfunding brings the product and the market together for investors to see.
“The issue is more about giving innovators a better mechanism to share their ideas,” he said. “The $7.9 million I received from Angellist now provides me a mechanism to get the Rally story out” to potential customers and to more investors.


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UK Search market sees an increasing growth
Marketers in the UK are spending more money on Search Engine Marketing. Numbers measured by E-Frontier show that in the last Quarter of 2008 compared to the same in 2007 UK marketers spent 11% more of their budgets on search.
The last Quarter of 2008 already showed an increase of search spend compared to Q3 by 14%. Those numbers aren’t that surprising because of the holiday season which always shows a growth in spending.
We noticed before that Yahoo’s market share dropped big time in the UK. E-Frontiers numbers confirm the drop of Yahoo in favor of Google. Google’s content Network saw a growth of 294% to a market share of 6,4%. Microsoft Live Search has still got a steady (3,4%) market share.
Microsoft Live Search was the only search engine which saw an increase of click through rates in the final Quarter. Where all the others stayed stable or decreased (Yahoo) Microsoft saw an uplift of 0,79%.
Tagcloudsearchcowboys social realtime sea a4uexpo seo apple youtube video google tools google sem matt cutts search engine strategies ads funny search engines interview adwords ppc facebook streetview iphone advertising linkbuilding google wave app twitter russia website search engine news indonesia microsoft street view marketing search analytics baidu china

domain: news


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The Baby Boomer generation, the largest group in our workforce, is retiring in droves, taking with them decades of senior-level experience and knowledge across every industry. Alongside them, more of the people inheriting their 30-70 trillion dollars in wealth are also retiring early. Behind them, fewer immigrants are entering the workforce at all levels and hourly workers are moving to the gig economy, further reducing the number of W-2 workers in the U.S. All of this has created a tight labor market in which companies have to pay employees more money in order to attract and retain them. Those expenses eventually get passed on to customers.
According to Tim Schumm, President of Lucas James Talent Partners, these trends have led to massive inflation and rising interest rates from the Federal Reserve. Add to that the global supply chain instability and widespread CEO uncertainty in the economy and you have all the makings of a recession.
The good news and the bad news is that no one tactic will solve your talent acquisition woes. That’s good for companies who can’t compete when it comes to salary increases. Schumm recommends taking a holistic approach, investing in your talent brand and of course, focusing on treating employees better. Based on industry research, it takes three times longer for a company with an average Glassdoor review under 3.5 stars to fill a role than it does for companies with average reviews of 4.0 or higher. Reviews matter.
The lack of a single talent acquisition silver bullet is also bad news for companies that aren’t equipped to strengthen their employer brand. For many manufacturers and distributors, in particular, even raising hourly wages for entry-level employees to $18 per hour hasn’t produced enough viable candidates to fill necessary positions.
So, what should you do–invest in the future, confident in a rebuild–or tighten your belt so your company makes it to the other side?
- Now is the time for leaders to lock arms and build trust with transparency and confidence in a long-term plan.
- Job seekers are acting more like consumers by researching companies before and during the hiring process. Make sure your employer brand is modern and compelling.
- Unemployment may remain low and the labor market may be tight for the foreseeable future, but a recession won’t last forever. Focus on acquisition and retention strategies now and make sure you’re ready when the economy rebounds.


text: Here at Casey Kia, we've found that drivers have certain preconceived notions about the minivan segment. And to be quite honest, most of the time it's warranted. But, the 2015 Kia Sedona has arrived just in time to change the negative belief about the minivan. Of course, it's not going to be easy, but the Sedona is the ideal model to pull it off with its heightened style and dynamic performance. Now?


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Looks like some recent rumors about Samsung ditching the Snapdragon 810 in the Samsung galaxy S6 are starting to grow some strong legs. Qualcomm today announced that more than 60 devices with the latest Snapdragon 810 chipset are in the works in a move likely made to combat murmurings that manufacturers are having overheating problems with the chip.
They name-dropped some of the devices we already know about such as the LG G Flex 2 and the Xiaomi Mi Note, so no surprise there. But they even confirmed forthcoming Snapdragon 810 devices from companies who haven’t made formal announcements yet.
Sony Mobile senior vice president Gen Tsuchikawa, Motorola Mobility president Rick Osterloh and Oppo vice president Sky Li all submitted their typical feel-good words for inclusion in the press release and noted their intention to stuff Snapdragon 810 inside at least one of their smartphones this year.
Notice one big name not on this list? Samsung — the biggest Android manufacturer — doesn’t have a single mention here. We can’t say for sure that this confirms the aforementioned rumors (in fact, another report suggested Samsung was getting a special version of the chipset), but it sure doesn’t help.
It should be mentioned that HTC is also notably missing from the press release, and they’re rumored to be using Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 810 for the upcoming HTC One M9 (Hima). They also don’t have the luxury of using their own chipset so it’s unlikely HTC will be going with anything else.
Either Samsung’s really looking to ditch Qualcomm for the Samsung Galaxy S6 (Qualcomm confirmed that they lost the business of a huge partner, which in turn made their stock take an epic nose dive) or we’re all being thrown for a loop. Good thing the company just scheduled a March 1st press event to put all the uncertainty to rest.


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The Samsung Wearable app shows three new devices that are yet to be officially announced. This is the same app found on the Play Store used to pair your Android phone with Samsung’s wearable accessories like the Galaxy Watch and the Icon X earbuds.
The three devices are the Galaxy Watch Active, Galaxy Fit/Fit e, and the Galaxy Buds. The Galaxy Watch Active looks like it will only come in a single 40mm size. The Galaxy Fit e is another device that Samsung is going to announce. Whether or not they’ll leave out support for call audio similar to other Gear Fits is still a question.
Samsung Galaxy Buds are the last unannounced product listed in the app. These are totally-wireless Samsung earbuds with a Qi wireless charging case.
With the Samsung Galaxy Unpacked taking place tomorrow morning, it looks like we’ll see the three Samsung Galaxy S10 phones, a foldable smartphone, the two wearable watches, and the new Galaxy Buds.


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Following from the launch by the Daily Mirror of the prepaid Maestro payment card “Quidity” News International is launching a prepaid card linked to the Times.
The Evening Standard has a reward card called Eros which can be used for purchasing the Standard at a discount.
Eros card details.
NI Sun prepaid payment card
Times Payment Card


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New Windows Azure licensing terms (PUR) allow the use of Remote Desktop Services (RDS) on Azure Virtual Machines (WMs).
New Windows Embedded 8 Volume licensing option allows enterprises to buy directly and unlock additional features in their existing industry devices.
Xbox One connectivity, licensing requirements updates. Microsoft 'bounty program' cash for finding vulnerabilities. Setting up Client Hyper-V in Windows 8. June 2013 Windows Phone Toolkit.
Microsoft, Foxconn sign patent for Android/Chrome devices. Outlook.com Android app--new UI, Exchange ActiveSync support. "Mañana Mail" Outlook add-in. LinkedIn Windows Phone app--Live Tiles, Speech, and more. Visual Studio 2012 CTP1 Update 3.
Office 2013 retail license agreement updates now allow customers transfer Office 2013 to a different computer if their device fails or they get a new one. Windows 8 "Trade up to touch" at staple. New discount plans leaks.
Microsoft Office Home and Student 2013, Office Home and Business 2013 and Office Professional 2013 support "only single installation" on a computer and is non-transferable.
Microsoft has sold 60 million licenses of Windows 8 as well as the number of Windows Store apps has quadrupled now "passed the 100 million app download mark." Fixes Surface RT Sound and other critical flaws in Windows and other products.
Right on the one month anniversary of the general availability of Windows 8, Microsoft announced that "40 million Windows 8 licenses has been sold to-date."Tami Reller, the Chief Marketing and Financial Officer for Windows at the Credit Suisse Annual Tech Conference on November 27 said, "The journey is just beginning, but I am pleased to […]
A new Windows 8 tv advertisement for the Surface RT, bring the Touch Cover and the kickstand in the spotlight.Microsoft's previous Windows 8 ads focused Windows Start Screen and the Picture Password option.According to a report, Windows Store apps protection has now been cracked, allowing anyone to download paid application at no cost.The cracking tool […]
Windows Store available across devices on all Windows 8 platforms, grow to more than 20,000 apps worldwide, according to latest numbers, "there are now total 20,610 apps available in the Windows Store, with 17,958 of them are offered under a freeware license.""20,610 apps worldwide in the Windows Store (broke 20,000 on Tuesday, I believe). 17,958 […]


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FuzeX and XTOCK launch a new enterprise custody cold wallet service.
FuzeX, a cryptocurrency payment platform company, has announce it will launch a new enterprise custody cold wallet and payment service with XTOCK, a global over-the-counter stock blockchain company.
FuzeX is a card-type cryptocurrency payment service that provides real-time conversion of stored digital asset into fiat at making payment, and has high security technology for payment, storage, and conversion of cryptocurrency. XTOCK is a global over-the-counter stock blockchain company that provides STO, Custodian, Exchange, and Wallet services based on its outstanding blockchain technology of digital asset management and trading.
XTOCK, based in Hong Kong, maintains an alliance network by signing STO Alliance partnerships with a number of companies including Polymath, BitForex and Legacy Trust.
The two companies will launch a new innovative enterprise custody cold wallet which goes beyond the limits of services and products offered by existing competitors according to combine their business know-how and technologies from digital asset payment, store, and exchange, and real-time AML solution of STO and STO custody wallet. The two companies will secure a leading position in the global custodian market through the enterprise custody cold wallet service (tentative FuzeVault).
It will be added the payment, storage and exchange functions which are supported by FuzeX into the enterprise custody cold wallet to provide a new custody and payment experience to 4 million users from XTOCK’s existing partners; BitForex, Coinbene and Cashierest. The two companies will exchange each of their certain amount of tokens at one-on-one ratio, and will proceed cross-airdrop and buyback to stabilize the prices.
According to the event, XTOCK will secure the enough liquidity to support a payment and real-time exchange from the its custody service, while FuzeX secure the enough funds to carry out its long-term project by securing a high-priced CUST token at a one-on-one ratio.
The XTOCK custodian token, CUST, has been listed on Coinbene on the 5th June and is now five times higher than its initial public offering.
CEO of FuzeX, JAEHUN BAE, said, “Our security skills of payment, storage and exchange have been proven by lauching the enterprise payment and custodian service with XTOCK,.” He added, “The future value of the FXT is expected to increase through the 1on1 exchange between CUST and FXT.”
XTOCK CEO, JIN HONG PARK, said ``Through the strategic investment and technology assurance in FuzeX, we are able to position ourselves as a technology leader in STO and Custodian market”. He added, “We are very proud to offer our new custodian services to our XTOCK and FuzeX customers.”


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New Middle Eastern restaurant opens downtown
Flames Mediterranean and American Grill opened this week on Daniel Street in downtown Milford.
Walied Hanaif said his new restaurant offers seating inside and out. The restaurant’s menu includes falafels, shawarma and other items.
Hanaif lives in Ansonia with his family. He’s been a New York businessman — a number of years ago he owned a deli in Brooklyn — and he sees Flames as a Manhattan-style café.
Hanaif said he’d been looking for an ideal location when he came across the vacant Daniel Street shop.
“You have to look for the location,” he said. “And I love Milford.”
“When I saw this place, I said, ‘This is it,’” Hanaif added.
Julie Nash, Milford’s economic development director, said the restaurant will add to the flavors of downtown Milford.
“We are excited to have Flames join the ever-evolving downtown Milford,” Nash said. “It offers another element to the eclectic food offerings, great shopping and entertainment making Downtown Milford a real destination.”


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Projects our customers, distributors or we are working on.
With SEMA deadline rapidly approaching the engineering team at BDS Suspension is hard at work to overhaul the new company test mule, a 2017 Ford F250 Super Duty to turn it into a head turning overloader ready for backcountry exploration or the local truck meet. This truck is slated to be in the BDS Booth […]
We’ve had a lot inquiry from customers and follows asking about the full build plans for Project Ascension, our new 2017 Ford Super Duty diesel truck. Along with being used as the test mule for the new BDS suspension systems to fit the 2017 F250/F350 platform, this truck is getting overhauled in a matter of a few […]
The countdown is on, just a few short weeks until the 2016 SEMA Show in Las Vegas and we’ve got a long wayto go building Project Ascension, our new 2017 Ford Super Duty. With tons of aftermarket components still in route to the shop the focus this week was prototyping the new suspension, after all […]
With last week’s announcement of BDS Project Ascension, our 2017 Ford F250 Super Duty expedition truck the build got underway with a visit to Image First Graphics in Fort Wayne, IN to get the truck wrapped. The plan here was to promote the truck’s new aluminum body with a 2-tone metallic vinyl wrap using 3M’s brushed […]
After months of anticipation the 2017 Ford Super Duty trucks are rolling out and starting to hit the dealership lots for mass consumption. Redesigned from the ground up, the new Super Duty features a stronger chassis, lighter weight, and increased payload. Following suit with the 2015 release of the F150, the Super Duty now touts an aluminum […]
Someday Adventure F350: If you’ve kept an eye on the BDS social media outlets, chances are you’ve seen some of our reposts of the @somedayadventure Super Duty. Nate Day lives for the great outdoors and has become pretty handy with a camera to document their overlanding excursions. Nate and his family are constantly on the […]


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Telefónica’s Movistar has reportedly reached an agreement with Apple to sell the iPhone in Spain. According to a report by technology blog Sevenclick, Telefónica executive José Santos Esteras confirmed at the Professional Communications Congress that the company has an exclusive contract to offer the iPhone in Spain. Daniel Pujol of Orange added that the exclusivity is limited to three or six months. Telefónica Europe CEO Matthew Key recently stated the Telefónica Group would make a joint announcement with Apple in the “coming weeks.” [via AppleInsider]
Movistar to offer iPhone in Spain?
Charles Starrett was a senior editor at iLounge. He's been covering the iPod, iPhone, and iPad since their inception. He has written numerous articles and reviews, and his work has been featured in multiple publications.


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Inflation has come down from multi-year highs but remains elevated, which hurts Main Street.
According to a recent Gallup survey, inflation is currently causing financial hardship to 55% of U.S. households, the same as last August. In addition, 13% of Americans say inflation is causing severe difficulties for their families.
The persistently high percentage of Americans still suffering from inflation confirms that the old villain’s impact on families is widespread. It expands to middle- and higher-income households, who are compelled to shop in everyday discount retailers like Walmart.
Consumers who used to shop at the retail giant intermittently are now shopping there regularly, according to statements made by CEO Doug McMillon in the company’s recent earnings reports.
“The combination of a looming recession and stubbornly high inflation is hitting consumers’ wallets hard and impacting their purchasing decisions,” said Sean Turner, co-founder and CTO of Swiftly. “So it’s not surprising that an increasing number of shoppers are evaluating the retailers they shop at more carefully and prioritizing those offering discounts and savings that meet their shrinking budgets.”
Turner points to a recent Swiftly survey, which provides further evidence of families’ difficult situation these days. Nearly 69% of consumers struggle to pay their grocery bill, and almost 83% of consumers now rely on some form of coupon, rewards app, or loyalty program to offset higher costs.
“Today’s budget-friendly stores are catering to shoppers and winning their dollars by offering a wide variety of products, including brand name products and private-label brands, at extremely competitive prices, as well as delivering personalized coupons and rewards through loyalty programs,” Turner said.
Dennis Shirshikov, head of content at the real estate investment site Awning, said there are also other reasons luring customers to Walmart.
“While inflation and low prices can appeal to middle-class Americans, other factors, such as competition and consumer preferences, can also affect Walmart’s position as a shopping destination,” he said.
Levon Galstyan, an accountant at Oak View Law Group, noted the many factors that drive middle and high-income Americans to Walmart stores.
First, Walmart has been able to keep food and other everyday items as cheap as possible. “Walmart was able to do this because, as the biggest food store in the US, it has a significant influence over its suppliers, which helps it get the best deals,” Galstyan said.
Second is a shift in consumer preferences, from name brands to cheaper private label brands, with Walmart leading the way.
Third, there’s Walmart’s scale. “During the supply-chain crisis, Walmart’s scale helped them keep critical items in stock and thus retain their customer base,” Galstyan said.
Fourth, Walmart has benefited from merging traditional retail commerce with e-commerce. Customers can order online and pick up the merchandise from Walmart’s stores.
Fifth is Sam’s Clubs, which offers discounted fuel on the premises, enticing customers.
“In short, Walmart has done an excellent job of positioning itself as a one-stop shop with lower prices on essentials and all the features that customers want from a retailer,” Galstyan notes. “Walmart has turned into a shopping destination of middle-class America for everyday household essentials and food. “


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The keynote presentation is over and all of Google’s new products and services have been revealed, but for the developers in San Francisco, Google I/O 2015 has only just begun. You might not have a chance to come down and see it for yourself, but I took a few minutes to walk through the show floor and photograph some of the most impressive displays. More →
In just a few short hours, Google will take the stage at the Moscone Center for its Google I/O 2015 keynote presentation. Although Google I/O is primarily for developers, there’s sure to be plenty of news relevant to end users as well, including the reveal of the highly anticipated Android M update. More →
Apple fans, it’s time to strap in and get ready for the ride you’ve been waiting for. Apple gave the world its first glimpse at the Apple Watch during this past September’s iPhone 6 event, and we knew that this new product represented big changes afoot at Apple. What we didn’t know, however, was the device’s full scope of capabilities, its price tags or when it would finally find its way to consumers’ wrists.
Today, Apple will answer all those questions and more during its huge “Spring Forward” press conference in California. More →
The 2015 edition of the Mobile World Congress show that is about to kick off in Barcelona, Spain will likely be one of the best in recent years when it comes to new hardware announcements, as at least two hot mobile devices will be unveiled during the show — the HTC One M9 and Samsung Galaxy S6 each have their own special events on Sunday.
But that’s not all that’s happening at MWC, as there will be plenty of interesting products on display coming from much smaller players. More →
The annual Mobile World Congress trade show has been a bit stale in recent years, since most big smartphone vendors have been hosting their own dedicated press conferences to make key announcements. This year, however, that is most certainly not the case. Three of the biggest smartphones of the year — the Galaxy S6, Galaxy S6 edge and HTC One M9 — will all be unveiled tomorrow, and BGR will be on hand reporting live as news breaks from Barcelona, Spain. More →
The moment you’ve been waiting for is almost here, Android developers. Google on Tuesday announced that Google I/O 2015 will kick off on May 28th this year and will run through to May 29th at Moscone Center West in San Francisco. Registration for the conference will start on March 17th at 9 a.m. PDT (12 p.m. EDT), so you have more than a month before you’ll be able to sign up to attend the big event. More →
The first major Windows 10 event of 2015 has finally arrived. In just a few short minutes, you’ll be able to watch Terry Myerson, Joe Belfiore, Phil Spencer and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella discuss the future of the Windows operating system and how it will affect everything in the company’s arsenal going forward. More →
At CES 2015, I saw the future. And the future looks absolutely amazing. Everything in our homes, offices, schools, cars and elsewhere will have the potential to be connected to the Internet, and that network of devices — the “Internet of Things” — will change our lives. The functionality offered by these devices will be automated, and devices will communicate so that performance is improved over time. More →


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Buddy’s Home Furnishings, a retailer specializing in the sales and rental ownership of furniture, electronics, appliances and home accessories, has awarded two locations in Washington. The deal brings the rent-to-own retailers’ footprint to 338 locations operating nationwide.
Business partners Myles McNeal and Jacob Bocook of J&M Franchising will develop the two locations. Bocook said, “Buddy’s has a strong presence in the eastern United States. For us, this is an exciting opportunity to piggyback on a proven concept and pioneer new markets out west—starting with Washington.”
Both McNeal and Bocook are under the age of 35, making them the youngest franchise owners at Buddy’s. McNeal has a blended background in manufacturing and rent-to-own, while Bocook’s prior experience is in construction and general contracting.
“In addition to the earning potential and scalability of the business, we were both attracted to the fundamental benefits of rent-to-own,” said McNeal. “It is a business based on relationships, and there is demand for it in every community. Everyone needs an affordable way to get home necessities, so we need to be there to provide it.”
Since adopting the franchising model in 2009, Buddy’s has established a strong history of multi-unit success, which is why 88% of Buddy’s franchisees own multiple units.
“We’re excited to partner with Myles and Jacob on these two locations,” said Mitchell Lee, Director of Franchise Development at Buddy’s. “They share in Buddy’s goal of growth and service to their respective communities, and I look forward to witnessing their inevitable success.”


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FORTUNE — When citizens have input on intellectual-property laws, they tend to favor looser restrictions over tighter ones. That’s what happened with the Stop Online Piracy Act and the Protect IP Act, which were both killed by U.S. Congress after a loud public outcry. That would explain why corporations with financial stakes in various intellectual property, abetted by governments, prefer to work in secret to get more restrictive policies enacted through international treaties.
This week, Wikileaks published a draft of one section of the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement — the one that deals with intellectual property. It was published only to negotiators in August. At 96 pages and 30,000 words, the document “confirms the worst” fears of advocates for Internet freedom and looser copyright restrictions, according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation. “It’s not a pretty picture.”
Whether or not you agree with that sentiment depends on whether you’re a copyright holder.
The proposal includes language for extending copyrights to the life of the author plus 100 years — much longer than what is now U.S. law, which is life of the author plus 70 years. Critics of such lengthy terms note that copyright law exists to provide economic incentives to create, rather than ensure that revenues flow to copyright owners for decade after decade while restricting the public’s use of created works.
One notable area of pushback is on a highly controversial section of the proposed treaty that would put Internet service providers in a position to enforce copyright laws lest they be held liable. Canada and some other countries want individual countries to have flexibility as to how strict that liability should be. But the U.S. and Australia want what the EFF calls “draconian” measures that would force ISPs to filter and block Internet destinations that are alleged to traffic in pirated materials, and to enforce a “three-strikes” rule that boots customers who have been accused three times of illicitly downloading copyrighted materials.
The draft also includes new language regarding “temporary copies,” an aspect of the talks that had been leaked earlier. Previous drafts of the treaty counted temporary copies as protected works, even though such copies are absolutely necessary for the basic functioning of the Internet. (For instance, when you watch a streamed video, a temporary file is created on your computer.) According to the draft, a large number of countries have now signed on to new language that would eliminate such restrictions. So far, the U.S. is not among them.
As the EFF states, the treaty is “an agreement negotiated in near-total secrecy, including corporations but excluding the public.” The secrecy of the talks is similar to the secrecy surrounding trade talks across another ocean, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, or ACTA. Whether the TPP remains “an anti-user wish list of industry-friendly policies” will be known only when it is completed and made public for country-by-country ratification.


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#EnergyConservation #SustainableEntrepreneurship #InnovationInEnergy
On December 14th, as the nation observes National Energy Conservation Day. The spotlight turns not just on the imperative of preserving energy, but also on entrepreneurs leading the charge towards sustainable practices. In the context of dynamic economic landscapes, entrepreneurs, especially women, play a pivotal role in shaping businesses that are not only profitable, but also environmentally conscious.
National energy conservation awards & beyond
The heart of the celebration lies in the National Energy Conservation Awards – a platform orchestrated by the Bureau of Energy Efficiency (BEE). This annual recognition honours the relentless efforts of industrial units, institutions & establishments committed to curbing energy consumption. A newer addition, the National Energy Efficiency Innovation Awards (NEEIA), propels innovation in energy efficiency; and this invites contributions from both professionals and the aspiring students.
Why energy efficiency matters for entrepreneurs?
Beyond accolades, energy efficiency is becoming a central focus for entrepreneurs for multifaceted reasons. At the forefront is the economic advantage – a direct impact on the bottomline. By integrating energy-efficient practices, businesses cut costs – a move that aligns with both fiscal prudence and environmental responsibility.
> Lowering costs and carbon footprint
Energy-efficient practices translate to financial savings. The declining costs of energy – efficient installations empower businesses of all sizes to adopt greener alternatives, not only reduces recurrent energy expenditures but also shrinks their carbon footprint.
> Reduction of energy consumption
Entrepreneurs drive efforts to reduce energy consumption by enhancing efficiency. This not only aligns with sustainability goals, but also resonates with consumers who are increasingly making purchasing decisions based on a company’s commitment to environmental responsibility.
> Enhancing brand image and consumer loyalty
In a world today, where consumers scrutinize a company’s environmental impact, energy-efficient businesses stand out. Beyond mere adherence to regulations, sustainability becomes a tool for enhancing brand image and fostering consumer loyalty. A commitment to energy conservation is a pledge towards a cleaner, greener future.
So, National Energy Conservation Day is not just a day on the calendar. It’s a call to action for entrepreneurs – to innovate, integrate & lead in the realm of sustainable business practices. As the nation marks this day, it also cheers the entrepreneurs championing the cause – steering businesses towards a future where profitability coexists harmoniously with environmental responsibility.


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The “green” movement is all the rage these days. And yet, if you’re a retailer or consumer of potatoes, green is the last thing you want.
Courtesy NNZ Inc.
The Spud Shade bag is designed so that the front of the bag is covered with an opaque poly plastic that inhibits light, while the back side of the bag remains a ventilated clear poly so that consumers can visually inspect product before purchase.
Steve Greenfield, director of sales and marketing for NNZ, said Spud Shade made for a win-win for all parties. No longer will retailers have to throw blankets over bags of potatoes at night in hopes of not having to throw the product out because the skin had turned green.
“It’s cost-effective for the packer since it’s a poly bag,” Greenfield said. “And it saves the retailer money by reducing shrink.”
Greenfield added that the opaque front of the bag also “allows a nice marketing real estate” for packers and retailers, allowing for graphics and other print materials.
“And, it allows consumers to see the quality of the product on the back of the bag,” Greenfield said. “All that while preventing greening, too.”
Greenfield said Huntsinger Farms, Hegins, Pa., has been selling the Spud Shade bags to its retailers the last two years, but NNZ and Walnut Packaging intend on marketing the bags wide in the coming weeks. Spud Shade has been nominated as one of five finalists in the supply chain efficiencies category of the Produce Marketing Association Impact Awards, which will be awarded at the PMA’s Fresh Summit Oct. 5 in Anaheim, Calif.
“One of Huntsinger Farms’ retailers said he’d kept larger packers out because he only wants potatoes in this bag,” Greenfield said.
(Note on correction: The location of Huntsinger Farms was incorrect in earlier versions of this story.)


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Despite Tax Shortfall, Indonesia’s 2017 Customs & Excise Target Met
indonesia-investments.com, Jakarta – What caused this positive performance? Firstly,
both the domestic and global economy strengthening in 2017, hence import and export activities
rose. This encourages the accumulation of more import and export taxes.
Regarding export taxes, the relaxation of strict export rules in the mining sector contributed
sharply to rising export tax revenue, specifically in the minerals and coal mining sector. For
example, Freeport Indonesia, the local unit of mining giant Freeport McMoran Inc, was
granted a permit to export 1.11 million wet metric tons of copper concentrate until February
2018. Earlier, these exports had ceased due to the strict 2009 Mining Law (that includes a
ban on exports of unprocessed minerals).
Secondly, Indonesia’s cigarette manufacturers were quicker to fulfill their excise obligations
this year. This has a big impact on excise revenue because these cigarette companies are
the biggest contributors to excise revenue (followed by alcoholic beverages and ethyl alcohol).
In 2016 a total of IDR 178.7 trillion was collected in customs and excise revenue, equal to
97.2 percent of the government’s target last year.
Tax Revenue Shortfall in 2017
Meanwhile, up to 29 December 2017, Indonesia only managed to collect IDR 1,132.1 trillion
(approx. USD $84 billion), or 88.2 percent of the full-year target, hence it is basically impossible
to achieve the target (set at IDR 1,283.6 trillion in the Revised 2017 state budget). On
Tuesday 2 January 2018 the Finance Ministry is scheduled to release the final figures.


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Retail investors’ influence in China’s stock market is fading as institutional dominance grows, standing in contrast to a global surge in amateur trading that has grabbed headlines from New York to Seoul.
Professional investors’ holdings of freely floating shares in Shanghai and Shenzhen climbed to more than 70 per cent between a stock market crash in 2015 and June 2020, according to China Renaissance, an investment bank. Those held by amateur traders have dropped from about 50 to 23 per cent in the same period.
That is at odds with the US, observers say, where the rise of fee-free trading platforms such as Robinhood has prompted an increase in retail investor participation and wild swings in some stocks. It has also raised questions about what the world’s largest stock market can learn from China, where regulators have crimped retail traders’ capacity to induce huge bouts of volatility.
“The Chinese market is becoming more institutional and the US market may be getting a fair bit less so,” said Andrew Sinclair, an assistant professor of finance at the University of Hong Kong.
From late 2014 to mid-2015, retail investors in China borrowed huge amounts of cash from brokers to buy stocks in a trading frenzy that pushed the CSI 300 index of Shanghai- and Shenzhen-listed stocks up more than 120 per cent. The market imploded after regulators clamped down on margin financing, obliterating more than $5tn in value.
The gut-wrenching volatility recently seen in trading of US stocks including retailer GameStop and cinema chain AMC prompted déjà vu for Cameron Peng, an assistant professor of finance at the London School of Economics.
“The Chinese stock market is a more dramatic version of this,” said Peng, who dabbled in day trading during the country’s 2014-15 equity bubble.
At that time, the rise of mobile brokerage apps allowed hundreds of millions of novice investors to trade on leverage with minimal fees. They were also encouraged to pile into the market by online stock tips, internet forums and even government propaganda.
Analysts point to echoes in the US in recent months with the popularity of apps such as Robinhood and the online forum r/WallStreetBets.
Sinclair and Peng believe that such an influx of retail investors — in the US as in China — can cause shares to become divorced from their underlying values. Unlike long-term institutional investors, retail traders often bid up stock prices with little regard for fundamental attributes such as a company’s earnings.
While Chinese and foreign institutional investors did jump into the country’s 2014-2015 bubble, many managed to sell out before the market plunged, Peng points out.
The Chinese market collapse in 2015 inflicted lasting trauma on many retail investors that has discouraged them from trading again, according to Alex Wolf, head of Asia investment strategy at JPMorgan Private Bank.
It was also “quite scarring for regulators the way they saw that bubble pop”, he added. “They’re [now] very keen to try and prevent that by controlling liquidity as needed.”
For Beijing, that has included greater scrutiny of margin lending by brokers to retail traders. Total margin lending in China remains well below 2015 levels, while only about 1m new margin financing accounts were opened in 2020, compared with 2m-3m during the bubble years.
Bruce Pang, head of research at China Renaissance, said a relative decrease in the Chinese stock market’s volatility during more recent crises — such as the Covid-19 meltdown a year ago — suggested the fall in retail holdings had boosted stability. But institutional participation in Chinese equities still lags behind badly in some ways.
At the end of 2019, retail investors accounted for more than 80 per cent of turnover in Shanghai and Shenzhen, compared with just 16 per cent in institutional investor-dominated Hong Kong, according to a Goldman Sachs report. Goldman estimated that China made up more than a quarter of global equity turnover but just 12 per cent of worldwide market capitalisation.
Chinese policymakers “want to institutionalise the market, and up to this stage it’s an endeavour that has not come anywhere close to meeting what I suspect would be [policymakers’ goals]”, said Peter Alexander, managing director of Z-Ben Advisors, a Shanghai-based consultancy.
While retail traders in both China and the US have turned to different forms of leverage during their respective rallies, analysts see little difference in how they behave.
While China’s amateur traders deployed margin financing to magnify their bets in 2014-2015, America’s retail investors have in recent months used options to double down on both bullish and bearish trades at the risk of correspondingly greater losses.
“For retail investors or households, it’s not like [the US and China are] drastically different in their trading behaviour,” said the LSE’s Peng.
One aspect that was the same in both China and the US, he added, was the pain of the losses when a bubble finally did burst.
“People saw their [shareholdings’] value shrink 50 per cent overnight” in 2015, Peng said. That hit “pensioners, grandparents, parents and college students, who knew very little about these [investment] products.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Hale in Hong Kong


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The 5.3% abv Thatchers Gold, first introduced on draught two years ago, will be released in a 500ml bottle (rsp: £1.49), a can format as well as a two-litre PET bottle (rsp: £2.99).
Sales director Colin Todd said: “We decided the amber mainstream cider market needed refreshing. Gold’s packaging, with a see-through label, highlights its premium image and Thatchers’ trend for innovation.” Todd added that Gold had a strong taste of apple which had proved popular with customers in the on-trade, where sales have doubled year on year. “We are
seeing considerable change in the cider market, with consumers becoming ever more discerning and demanding a point of difference,” said Todd.
“Gold brings a premium angle to the amber sector, providing all the attributes of draught cider in a bottle, and will offer consumers a clear choice against other major brands on the shelf.”
Earlier this year the company branched into the perry market with its Thatchers Perry and also launched its single orchard range, Thatchers Single Varietal.


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Theo Albrecht, secretive co-owner of Trader Joe’s,
dies at 88
Theo Albrecht, the secretive co-founder of Germany’s worldwide discount supermarket chain Aldi, a co-owner of Trader Joe’s in the United States and one of Europe’s richest men, has died at age 88.
The retail machine that Albrecht built with his brother Karl has won over German consumers with their no-thrills but super-cheap offer, making billionaires of the two and spawning imitation “hard-discount” stores across Europe.
The company’s Aldi Nord division said in a statement Wednesday that Albrecht was the driving force behind Aldi’s internationalization, expanding stores to France, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the United States, among other nations.
The company said he died Saturday in his home city of Essen, but gave no cause of death.
When Forbes featured the brothers in 1992 as two of the world’s richest men, the magazine had to uses silhouettes rather than photographs to illustrate the article since no pictures of them had been published in many years.
The German Retail Federation said the country had lost one of its greatest entrepreneurs.
“There are only a few people who have stamped their mark on an entire business sector of the economy. Theo Albrecht achieved just that,” the federation’s managing director, Stefan Genth, said in a statement.
Albrecht and his elder brother Karl both served as German soldiers in World War II then returned home to Essen and took over a grocery store their parents owned.
They flourished as the German economy, in shambles after the war, came back to life in what is often called the “economic miracle.”
By 1950, they were already running 13 stores and five years later, they had expanded throughout Germany’s western industrial Ruhr basin.
The first Aldi stores — an acronym standing for “Albrecht Discount” — opened in the early 1960s under the motto: “concentrating on the basics: a limited selection of goods for daily needs.”
It was a formula that sold well: Aldi carries a limited selection of fastest-selling, nonperishable consumer items, a strategy that allowed them to increase order volume, cut handling costs and waste, and buy their goods cheap â€” savings passed on to the consumer.
Aldi now has more than 4,000 outlets in Germany alone, where it is known for its no-frills shopping environment, streamlined processes and a limited range of discount products.
The two brothers in the 1960s decided to divide up what was then West Germany, with Theo running stores in the north. However, they used their combined bargaining power to lower purchasing prices, enabling them to garner higher profit margins while keeping prices low.
As their concept proved successful, Aldi started to expand around the world. In the U.S. alone, the company says it now has about 1,000 shops.
Aldi does not publish sales or profit figures. Aldi Nord says it employs more than 50,000 people around the world but will not reveal how many stores the company has worldwide.
In 1979, a family trust established by Theo Albrecht bought the U.S. specialty grocery chain Trader Joe’s. In keeping with Aldi’s culture of secrecy, Trader Joe’s refused Wednesday to comment on Albrecht or Aldi, even refusing to confirm that the chain is owned by the Albrecht family. The business information provider Hoover’s confirms that billionaire brothers bought the U.S. company in 1979.
Albrecht quietly managed Aldi Nord until 1993, when he stepped back from its day-to-day operations. But he still wielded huge influence as chairman of a foundation that holds the biggest stake in the company.
The publicity-shy Albrecht â€” of whom barely any photos exist â€” kept a very low profile. In 1971, he was kidnapped in Germany and released after 17 days after paying a ransom of 7 million German marks.
The Albrecht brothers have regularly led lists of Germany’s richest people.
Forbes magazine’s 2010 list of the world’s richest people estimated Theo Albrecht’s fortune at $16.7 billion, making him one of the wealthiest people in Europe. Karl Albrecht, 90, is said to have an estimated wealth of $23.5 billion, making him number ten worldwide.
Albrecht is survived by his wife Cilli and his two sons, Theo and Berthold. German media say he was buried on Wednesday in a small family ceremony.
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Hesperia, CA (PRWEB) May 29, 2013
Googles latest release of their anti-web spam algorithm named Penguin 2.0 has caused unquiet in the online community.
The constant battle to clean up Googles results has left many smaller entrepreneurs and site owners reeling after the latest round of changes have lowered their search engine rankings and reduced their traffic.
Sean Donahoe, a industry leading authority on SEO (Search Engine Optimization) commented.
While Google has an obligation to its users to make its results more relevant and provide a better experience, it does make smaller business and site owners jobs much harder to compete with the larger companies with bigger marketing budgets.
Indeed, with the focus on Authority Signals and many quick-fix solutions and software that do more harm than good, many online entrepreneurs get a false sense of infallibility when it comes to these magic-bullet tools.
The net effect is that Googles web-spam team is quick to adapt to these tricks and methods of gaming their rankings and once the hammer is dropped, so do the rankings and reputations of the affected sites.
There used to be a huge reliance on backlinks, links from other sites that act like a vote in a popularity contest. However, it became too easy to create false votes for your own site, Sean explained.
Google is rapidly switching its focus to a sites Social Footprint as its content is shared, discussed and spread across the net via popular Social Networks. In many ways, the old ways of SEO are dead and entrepreneurs have to be adaptable, as we are in many other areas of business. If you can become an authority and influencer in your social sphere you can not only engage your audience directly and build a great deal of trust to compel action, the search engines reward that level of engagement with better rankings.
Sean added We have seen a huge shift in the last 12 months with the various animals from Googles Zoo and the online entrepreneurs who are focusing on effective social media marketing are reaping the rewards while their competitors are falling behind and dropping off the business horizon,
With Matt Cutts, the head of Googles Web Spam Department regularly tweeting out upcoming warnings and going after many online services and tools that aid entrepreneurs in manipulating their results, the move towards Social Media Marketing and the importance of Social Signals will continue to grow.
We are actually in the process of releasing some software that can help entrepreneurs manage and automate their Social Media presence without the need for costly, and in many cases, dangerous tools that risk a business owners online revenue streams. explained Sean.
Our focus has always been on finding a balance between a strong level of automation and delivering what users want. We find that when we cater to the end users needs and our clients customers needs our strategies and solutions give the search engines exactly what they want to see.
About Sean Donahoe
Sean Donahoe is the owner and creator of the IM Success Center, a site dedicated to helping online entrepreneurs elevate their online business. His company recently launched the Promote Me Pro platform for Social Media Management and Automation and it is available from http://promotemepro.com


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A mobile phone can scan a chipset embedded in a garment to access information recorded on the blockchain.
SHANGHAI — As chief information officer of Louis Vuitton China, when Sunny Lu heard about an unbreakable encrypted code used for virtual currencies such as Bitcoin, his first thought was that this kind of technology could be a key anticounterfeiting tool for the luxury goods industry.Fast forward a few years and Lu is the cofounder of BitSe, a blockchain technology research firm, and VeChain — the name is a shortening of "verification chain" — a cloud product management platform built on blockchain. He's now trying to sell a multitude of industries, from wine and spirits to car manufacturers and luxury fashion brands, on the utilities of the technology.The wider world still has a rather rudimentary understanding of blockchain outside of its fintech usage, but it essentially refers to digital building blocks of information that are stored on a cloud and secured using cryptography — making it a useful technology for all kinds of industries.For example, in the luxury sector, these digital records could be used to authenticate legitimate products, manage supply chains, track customer relationships and improve service. By putting unique IDs on the blockchain and embedding each product with a near field communication chip, radio frequency identification tag or QR code, blockchain technology provides an opportunity for enterprises to create, manage, maintain and update shared data. This data could include where a leather bag was made, by whom and from what, who now owns it and who owned it in the past."In terms of the luxury fashion industry, we have a customer who is making amazing progress, but I can’t disclose the brand name," Lu said."We put a chipset into a limited number of their bags, 1,600 for the first collection. We put the unique ID into the chipset, no other information, just the ID, and that ID is registered on our blockchain. All of the data is on the cloud and also protected by the blockchain. For the end user, you can use a smartphone with NFC [near field communications] reader and you can read the ID and verify on the VeChain."Counterfeiting and consumer trust are particularly pertinent issues in China, where an abundance of the former has led to a lack of the latter. According to a survey conducted by J. Walter Thompson, 98 percent of Chinese Millennials worry about whether their purchases may be counterfeit, showing the huge value to be unlocked by high-tech security measures.Secoo is a Chinese e-commerce platform focused on high-end merchandise, from fashion and accessories to artworks. Its products are sourced from direct brand partnerships, as well as links with "trusted Secoo suppliers," according to Eric Chan, chief executive officer of Secoo Luxe."Authenticity is crucial for us. Authenticity is a key issue for China right now, it’s all about trust. Particularly when you are talking about high-priced products, then customers always have the concern about whether they are getting an authentic product. For us it’s about trust between our customers and us," he said.Launched nine years ago, Secoo has gone about building trust with an authentication team of more than 60 people, who mainly work out of a high-tech lab in Beijing. According to Han Chao, head of Secoo's authentication department, their multistep authentication process first involves a human check by a trained appraiser, then products are run through machines that read the composite make up of the metals, for example, to see whether these line up with the composition of those used by the brand in question.Since 2015, Han Chao's lab has also been working with blockchain technologies, as brands begin to incorporate them into products."Although the blockchain technology can help a lot and is very useful in the authentication process, it will not replace all the technologies we are using now," Han said. "It's one of the most important technologies, but it won’t be the only one. Having said that, the anticounterfeit approaches we are starting to use give a signal to the market that the brand side and the manufacturers are doing more and more in the anticounterfeiting area and that will help the whole market become more pure."There are still those who are skeptical about the potential for blockchain as a game changer for anticounterfeiting in China and elsewhere. Joe Simone, director of SIPS, an intellectual-property boutique-consulting firm based in Hong Kong, is one who doesn't see that blockchain will be taken up widely enough to put a major dent in the counterfeit goods market, valued last year as a half-trillion dollar global business by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the European Union's Intellectual Property Office."There are technologies out there now that are fine, but people don’t want to be bothered to have all the components or even the finished product, have the code attached, put it into a database and have it monitored," Simone said."In terms of industry-wide adoption, it’s just going to be too hard. There’s always a chance that online trade will get much more sophisticated such that there’ll be real commercial need to track everything just because it works better for everybody. But no, I don’t see it happening because companies are operating on a rudimentary level."Lu agrees that the costs associated with blockchain technology can be prohibitive for early movers, but is adamant that the next few years will see those costs lowered as more and more companies jump on the bandwagon."Maybe over the next five or ten years blockchain will be everywhere, like the Internet. We use Internet every day, but we don’t care about the infrastructure protocol of the Internet. I think blockchain will be just like the Internet — everyone will be using it and not even thinking about it," Lu said.A recently released report from IBM, whose cloud computing division is one of the world's biggest drivers of blockchain technology, also predicts a widespread uptake in the next few years: “By 2018, we expect substantial momentum in blockchain implementations for consumer products and retail companies globally. By 2020, we expect that nearly two-thirds of the retail and consumer goods industries will have blockchains in full production," the study said.The Chinese government is so bullish on blockchain technology that it included it, alongside artificial intelligence, as technological innovations to push in the country's latest five-year economic plan, which was released in December and covers the period from 2016 to 202o. According to Lu, this outlook is not limited to China but is being seen worldwide."The world is starting to embrace this technology, the big brands are more eager than before to show they are innovative by embracing this technology and doing everything they can to protect their product and give more value to their clients," he said.
My character, Dinah Madani, is just the coolest, [most] badass woman imaginable," says @amberroserevah. The actress stars in @marvel's newest series on @netflix, @thepunisher. To prepare for her role, Revah sat down with Homeland agents to get a real sense of with Dinah's day-to-day life is really like. Read our full interview on WWD.com. #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
A scene from the 91st annual @macys Thanksgiving Day Parade. The parade, which boasts 50 million TV viewers and 3.5 million on-site spectators, is considered one of the largest and most watched parades in the world. (📷: Jason Szenes/EPA-REX)
The circus came to @bloomingdales 59th Street on Tuesday night and lit up Lexington Avenue with acrobatic dancers, death-defying knife throwing, sword swallowing and aerial acts with no net. The 45 minutes of theatrics built up to unveiling the holiday windows depicting @swarovski crystal-encrusted circus pieces and scenes from “The Greatest Showman” – songs from the soundtrack included. See the rest of the photos on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: Joshua Scott)
The psychedelic fashion that pervaded the ’60s is back with an exhibit at the @museumofcityny. “Mode New York: Fashion Takes a Trip” chronicles the changing styles from 1960 through 1973 and features designers such as @ysl, @oscardelarenta and more. The exhibition, which is on display through April 1, is organized into four periods: First Lady Fasion, Youthquake, New Bohemia and New Nonchalance. Pictured here is model Pat Bardonella during the Garvey Day Parade in 1968. (📷: @kwamebphoto) #wwdeye #wwdfashion
“People should be a lot more honest in expressing both the dark and light of themselves. We need to give each other the space to do that because it’s the only way we can grow and evolve,” says @noelwells of her new film “Mr. Roosevelt,” which is largely based on her own struggles. Unexpectedly leaving @nbcsnl in 2014 after just one season, Wells felt set back in her self-esteem and career trajectory. She quickly refocused her energy to more personal projects, which led to the completion of “Mr. Roosevelt.” Read the rest of WWD’s interview with the “Master of None” actress on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @jilliansollazzo)
@barbrastreisand is giving fans a chance to see her perform up close in a new concert series, which makes its debut on @Netflix today. From behind-the-scenes takes to her concert performance in Miami last December, the two-hour streaming special captures Streisand in her element. Pictured here is the singer/actress photographed for WWD in 1963. (📷: Palmieri Tony) #wwdeye #wwdarchive
@chanel and @pharrell dropped what’s being dubbed as the world’s most exclusive sneakers yesterday. The Adidas Originals NMD Hu, which Williams designed in collaboration with Chanel and @adidasoriginals, has a waiting list of over 120K people who pre-registered online at chanelatcolette.fr –– and only 500 pairs are on sale. The singer predicted the resale value of the shoes could reach $40K. Read the full interview on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdfashion (📷: Dominique Maître)
@imanshumpert is diving deeper into his creative endeavors and relaunching his clothing line, Post 90s, and is helping to raise money for the hurricane victims in St. Maarten with a jersey he’s designed with his brother. The Cleveland Cavaliers player talked to WWD about kneeling during the national anthem, working with fashion brands and how he wants to be more than an @nba player. Read the interview on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)


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Wednesday was a light news day, leading to pretty unremarkable day for the market. When all was said and done, the NASDAQ Composite made a tiny bit of bullish progress, while the S&P 500 basically broke even for the day with a close of 2068.53, thanks to an afternoon recovery.
That’s not to say every stock was untouched, though. AOL, Inc. (NYSE:AOL), Penske Automotive Group, Inc. (NYSE:PAG) and Aramark (NYSE:ARMK) all performed particularly bearishly today thanks to ugly earnings results and outlooks.
In the words of outspoken stock guru Jim Cramer, the fourth quarter results for web company AOL weren’t “just terrible” — they were “ridiculously bad.”
AOL managed to beat earnings estimates of 72 cents per share by posting a profit of 92 cents per share of AOL stock. Revenue of $710 million, however, was shy of the expected $721 million. Both figures were better than the year-ago revenue of $679 million and profit of 64 cents per share. Traders just couldn’t look past the revenue miss, though.
The death blow may have been the 2015 plan AOL announced along with its fourth-quarter earnings numbers. AOL reported that it’s looking to restructure itself this year, putting more focus on automated ad sales and less on human interactions … a maneuver that is expected to drive a sizable decline in display ad revenue for the first half of 2015.
Displeased investors sent AOL stock lower by more than 10% on the news.
Penske Automotive Group (PAG)
Apparently a 21% improvement in year-over-year income still wasn’t good enough for shareholders of Penske Automotive Group.
PAG stock fell more than 7% on Wednesday despite the company’s record-breaking results achieved in the fourth quarter of 2014. Penske Automotive Group posted a per-share profit of 79 cents for the final quarter of 2014, versus a year-ago bottom line of 68 cents per share. Problem: Analysts were expecting a profit of 80 cents per share of PAG stock.
Revenue of $4.41 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014 beat estimates of $4.37 billion, and just trounced the year-ago revenue figure of $3.86 billion. But, the market couldn’t get past the earnings shortfall.
Last quarter, catering and uniform company Aramark fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The company converted $3.7 billion worth of revenue into an adjusted per-share profit of 47 cents. Analysts, however, were looking for a top line of $3.84 billion and a bottom line of 49 cents per share of ARMK stock.
The latest quarter’s numbers also looked worse than the numbers achieved in the final quarter of 2013. Aramark posted a profit of 52 cents per share then, on $3.76 billion in revenue,
Things aren’t expected to get significantly better any time soon either. A strong U.S. dollar is crimping overseas sales.
All told, ARMK stock tumbled more than 3% today.
As of this writing, James Brumley did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities.
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Federal Court in Canada Upholds Pfizer's Norvasc Patent; Decision Prevents Launch of Generic Amlodipine Besylate Product by Pharmascience until 2010NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr 17, 2008 - Pfizer Inc said today that the Canadian Federal Court has upheld a Pfizer patent covering amlodipine besylate, the active ingredient in Norvasc. The court issued an order prohibiting regulatory approval of Pharmascience's proposed product in Canada until Pfizer's amlodipine besylate patent - Canadian Patent No. 1,321,393 - expires in August 2010. Pharmascience may appeal the decision to the Federal Court of Appeal of Canada.
The company noted that legal challenges to this patent in Canada by other generic manufacturers are still pending.
Chris Loder, 212-733-7897
Posted: April 2008


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Online men’s clothing retailer Bonobos has set an opening date for its new store in the North Loop: Friday, Nov. 18.
The 1,100-square-foot location, which the brand calls a guideshop, will open on Washington Avenue in Minneapolis-based Falcon Ridge Partners’ overhaul of the Sex World building and its neighbor, dubbed The Washington.
Rather than typical retail stores, Bonobos has guideshops where customers are assigned guides or personal shoppers and can try on clothes. The store then ships purchases at no cost.
The North Loop location at 125 N. Washington Ave. is the brand’s 29th store in the country. Its hours will be 11 a.m.–6 p.m. Monday and Tuesday, 10 a.m.–7 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday and 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on Sunday. Customers can also schedule appointments online.


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&l;p&g;&l;img class=&q;dam-image bloomberg size-large wp-image-42372079&q; src=&q;https://specials-images.forbesimg.com/dam/imageserve/42372079/960×0.jpg?fit=scale&q; data-height=&q;640&q; data-width=&q;960&q;&g; Jorge Paulo Lemann, co-founder of 3G Capital Inc., speaks during the Milken Institute Global Conference. Photographer: Dania Maxwell/Bloomberg
Often when dealmakers and corporate chieftains offer their&a;nbsp;insights at major conferences, all one hears is jargon and slogans. That was not the case when billionaire &l;a href=&s;http://www.forbes.com/profile/jorge-paulo-lemann/&s;&g;Jorge Paulo Lemann&l;/a&g;, co-founder of 3G Capital, joined Wells Fargo&a;rsquo;s Tim Sloan, Accenture&a;rsquo;s Julie Sweet and Principal Global Investors CEO Jim McCaughan at the 2018 Milken Institute Global Conference to confront &a;ldquo;an age of disruption.&a;rdquo;
Take it from Lemann, among the most powerful and private investors on the planet, who heads 3G Capital and is a board member of&a;nbsp;its principal large-capitalization consumer investments like brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev, foods giant Kraft Heinz, and burger and&a;nbsp;doughnut&a;nbsp;seller&a;nbsp;Restaurant Brands. &a;ldquo;I&a;rsquo;m a terrified dinosaur,&a;rdquo; he said of the craft brand-driven&a;nbsp;changes in&a;nbsp;tastes&a;nbsp;and in Amazon-driven consumer spending&a;nbsp;habits that are&a;nbsp;reshaping the world&a;rsquo;s&a;nbsp;largest consumer companies, including 3G holdings.
&a;ldquo;I&a;rsquo;ve been living in this cozy world of old brands and big volumes,&q; said Lemann. &a;ldquo;We bought brands that we thought could last forever,&a;rdquo; and borrowed cheap money to do so,&a;nbsp;he added: &a;ldquo;You could just focus on being very efficient… All of a sudden we are being disrupted.&a;rdquo;
3G Capital, founded in 2004 as Lemann and four partners were consolidating the Latin American and European beer industry, became a mainstay in the U.S. when its portfolio company InBev acquired Budweiser for $52 billion in 2008. Soon after, 3G&a;rsquo;s dealmakers dramatically improved margins at the brewer. AB InBev not only survived the crisis, it came out as the industry&a;rsquo;s big consolidator. In 2016, AB InBev bought SABMiller for $100 billion and now trades for a market value of $175 billion. Then 3G bought Burger King (now Restaurant Brands) in 2010, and a few years later, it entered a partnership with Berkshire Hathaway&a;rsquo;s &l;a href=&s;http://www.forbes.com/profile/warren-buffett/&s;&g;Warren Buffett&l;/a&g; that has added Tim Hortons and Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen to the&a;nbsp;restaurant chain&a;rsquo;s stable. Another bet was the Buffett-financed takeover of Heinz, which then acquired&a;nbsp;Kraft Foods&a;nbsp;and is publicly traded as a merged Kraft Heinz.
Once soaring on public markets, 3G and Buffett&a;rsquo;s partnerships, Restaurant Brands and Kraft Heinz, have sold off recently amid pressure from newer food concepts and the rise of small, often healthier brands. Kraft Heinz trades at $56, down 40% from year-ago highs above $90, Restaurant Brands trades below year-ago levels. Even mega-success AB InBev, likely among the most profitable &a;ldquo;private equity&a;rdquo; deals in history, is not immune to change.
The rise of craft beer and a preference among younger drinkers for wine and spirits means Bud is warding off falling volumes. &a;ldquo;Craft took us by surprise,&a;rdquo; said Lemann. But he sees upside from challenges in the U.S., which is now informing 3G&a;rsquo;s strategies in regions like Africa and Asia where&a;nbsp;shifts in&a;nbsp;consumer tastes haven&s;t yet been so pronounced. Of this change, Lemann noted, &a;ldquo;Now we have to adjust.&a;rdquo; He said companies like Starbucks, Nike and Zara (parent company Inditex) had done a better job understanding shifting tastes and evolving.
3G and its companies are investing heavily to respond. At AB InBev, Lemann&a;rsquo;s team has created Zx Ventures to invest in innovations like craft beer, ecommerce and home brewing, a venture he described as &a;ldquo;self disruption,&q; focused on younger consumers. &a;ldquo;We hope this will be a model which we can&a;nbsp;build on,&a;rdquo; he said, &q;&l;span style=&q;font-weight: 400&q;&g;I&a;rsquo;m not going to lie down and go away.&a;rdquo;&l;/span&g;
It wasn&a;rsquo;t just Lemann who spoke&a;nbsp;of an age of disruption.&a;nbsp;For instance, Julie Sweet, CEO of Accenture&a;rsquo;s North American business, said artificial intelligence could increase revenues across S&a;amp;P 2000 companies by nearly 40% by 2022, however, her consulting firm has found only a quarter of companies are presently capitalizing on the opportunity. &a;ldquo;Eventually A.I. will not be something that you put away like a proof of concept,&a;rdquo; said Sweet. &a;ldquo;It will be a tool just like computing,&a;rdquo; she added, pointing out A.I related insights could eventually be considered a shared service, just like human resources.
In finance, Principal Global&a;rsquo;s McCaughan pointed to&a;nbsp;technology and A.I. as a disruptive force for traditional business models in asset management. Managers in large, liquid markets are being undercut by lower cost passive flows, so Principal is growing its business in less liquid and efficient markets, where manager skills aren&a;rsquo;t commoditized. &a;ldquo;Those are where you have the ability to add value for clients and to get paid for it,&a;rdquo; said McCaughan.
At Wells Fargo, CEO Tim Sloan admitted the bank had been slow to adapt to a changing financial landscape but is&a;nbsp;now innovating in mobile banking, the digitization of mortgage lending, and offering robo-advisor solutions in its wealth division. &a;ldquo;Five years ago we were the most valuable financial institution in the world,&a;rdquo; said Sloan, before pointing out that the bank suffered some complacency. &a;ldquo;That will never again happen at Wells Fargo… You can&a;rsquo;t rest on your laurels as much as we did.&a;rdquo; About Wells&a;rsquo; myriad of scandals, Sloan said the bank was far along in remediation efforts.
The panel concluded&a;nbsp;with discussion on&a;nbsp;the influence of A.I. on&a;nbsp;employment&a;nbsp;and the overall economy. Principal Global&a;rsquo;s McCaughan said &a;ldquo;business has an obligation&a;rdquo; to re-train workers and invest in new skills, instead of hoping governments or universities can do all of the heavy lifting. It&a;rsquo;s a practice Sweet said is a mainstay at Accenture; some jobs get automated but workers are put in new divisions. Even 3G, known on Wall Street for its ruthless efficiency, is planning to invest heavily in retraining workers as A.I. and automation play a role at businesses like Budweiser, Kraft and Burger King.
&a;ldquo;People are the most important asset that you have in a company,&a;rdquo; said Lemann. &a;ldquo;The expense of people is not something we are cutting.&q;&l;/p&g;


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Indian e-commerce company Flipkart has unveiled its Artificial Intelligence (AI) For India program. The company is planning to pay more attention on Artificial intelligence (AI) in 2018, this has been revealed by co-founder Sachin Bansal.
Artificial intelligence (AI) refers to machines carrying out tasks that are normally associated with human intelligence.
The company is planning to do investment and acquisition to intensify its effort, informed Bansal during an interview to a business news paper.
Bansal expects Flipkart to pump in hundred of millions of dollars to build AI and machine learning (ML) solutions that will manifest in the online retailer enhancing shopper experience, shortening time taken to fulfil deliveries, and address customer complaints.
Bansal feels that “This is the next big thing for us, where we are betting big on the use of AI and machine learning to solve problems at Flipkart. India’s problems are unique and we need to apply AI in the ecosystem to solve Indian problems. We believe that some of the focus areas for AI in developed countries cannot be applied for India. At Flipkart, we will solve problems differently because the underlying problems (in India) are different.”
“Artificial Intelligence is no longer the future. It is here. To build AI For India, to make Indians realize and reap the benefits of AI, data scientists and engineers must passionately embrace the mission of solving unique problems for India. And Flipkart is the best place to make a trailblazing career doing just that,” says Bansal.


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SONY HAS LAID outs its plan to to become a player in the tablet market and succeed where it appears all others have so far failed in challenging the dominance of Apple’s iPad.
Two new touchscreen tablets, running a version of Google’s Android operating system, have been released with a combination of new features and different, unique designs, both with touchscreen capability.
The Sony Tablet S has a screen which is roughly the same shape and size as the iPad but is shaped like a wedge and has its cover folded back.
“It is meant to look and feel like a folded newspaper,” said Omar Gurnah, marketing manager for Sony Tablet who is quoted in The Times (subscription required).
He added that the device felt a lot lighter than it is as the weighting is slightly off-centre and explained that the idea is that you can read it like a book or you can lay it flat whilst having it slightly tilted towards you.
Perhaps referencing the famous words of Apple’s recently departed CEO Steve Jobs, he remarked: “It just works.”
The other device is the Sony P Tablet, much smaller than the iPad, and shaped like a clamshell which can fit into your pocket when folded in on itself:
When used for e-book reading, it can be held vertically and show one page on each screen. When composing e-mail, the upper screen can show the message while the lower one shows a keyboard.
According to the Wall Street Journal, the two tablets will be on sale in Japan from 17 September and in the US and Europe between October and November this year.
Prices range from €460 for the Tablet S with wi-fi and €545 for the Tablet P with wi-fi and 3G, both 16 GB.
One analyst told AP the prices may be too high. Macquarie Capital Securities analyst Jeff Loff also added: ”We think the … clamshell design will fail.”
- additional reporting from AP


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UMMC doctors construct ventilators from hardware store parts
Experts at the University of Mississippi Medical Center have built an in-house ventilator as a potential last resort to treat COVID-19 patients.
The ventilator is made from items commonly found at hardware stores like a garden hose and a lamp timer.
Administrators said it’s not the most sophisticated device, but they believe it could be a lifesaver if the hospital runs short of conventional ventilators.
“If you have another option, a commercially available ventilator, that should be used first. But faced with a patient in respiratory distress who's likely to die soon, this could be lifesaving,” UMMC assistant professor Dr. Charles Robertson said.
UMMC is currently treating about 20 COVID-19 patients who need ventilators. The hospital has about 80 to 90 conventional ventilators.
Researchers said they've tested the in-house machines in animal laboratories to make sure they wouldn’t cause any long-term lung damage.
The FDA still has to give approval before doctors would be able to use the homemade devices to treat a patient.


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Beauty Buzz: Givenchy Channels FKA Twigs, Kylie Jenner’s Skincare Steeze, and Do Shorter Hairstyles Stimulate the Economy?
Givenchy is one of the many shows we keep our eyes open for incredibly creative looks, and the brand didn’t disappoint. While the official inspiration was “chola goth” (do with that what you will), but it looks like Pat McGrath and Luigi Murenu channeled FKA Twigs signature styled baby hair and penchant for piercings by dangling the brand’s beautiful baubles from the models’ faces. As McGrath herself explained, “We had a five-hour test the day before to be sure the pieces, which were quite heavy, would stay on when the girls started walking. We just wanted the girls to look fierce.” [Vogue]
Kylie Jenner’s not pressed about her major makeup habit affecting her skin, as she’s now the new face of Nip + Fab. The teen’s first order of business will be a sweepstakes where the winner will get the chance to talk with her during a live interview from a secret location in London on March 14th – all it takes is a purchase of one of the brand’s skincare staples to enter. British beauty buffs, start shopping! [WWD]
We’ve seen everything on our vanities used as a gauge for economic growth, but this one wants to shear our strands. The Sunday Times, backed by salon statistics, suggests the rise of the high-maintenance nature of the lob suggests that women have money to spend maintain their manes. As celebrity stylist Stuart Phillips explained, “I meet people on a daily basis and they seem to be spending far more money on their hair. Products are flying off the shelf, more than they used to – even a few months ago.” [The Sunday Times]
Soap & Glory’s shaking up its place on the shelves as a masstige must-have. After the brand was purchase by Boots in November, the company is looking to give beauty buffs more of what they want at a lower price. While the details of where, when, and how much are currently under wraps, we’re sure Soap & Glory will rise stronger than ever with even more selections! [WWD]
While we’re searching the shelves, Radical Skincare is set to spoil their skincare savants with an appearance by the brand’s founders, Liz and Rachel Edlich at Barneys New York on March 14 from 12:00-6:00p.m. You can also score a special facial treatment when you snap up a new Radical Pineapple Enzyme Mask, exclusive to the retailer. Talk about a bright start to spring! [Glam Inbox]


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RETAILERS were hit by a slowdown in sales over Christmas after the Black Friday shopping bonanza pulled forward holiday spending into November.
Like-for-like sales dropped by 0.4 per cent compared to the same month a year ago, according to the latest data from KPMG and the British Retail Consortium (BRC).
Total sales were up one per cent, which was the slowest December growth since 2008.
“It’s now clear that Black Friday did pull festive sales forward into November, and this created a challenging lull in spending with consumers waiting for future bargains,” KPMG’s head of retail, David McCorquodale, said.
Sales nevertheless picked up again on Boxing Day as end of season sales drew customers back on to retailer’s websites and into their stores.
Non-food sales rose 2.1 per cent, in the three months to December. Food fell by 2.2 per cent, but posted its best monthly performance since Easter.


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The acquisition will expand LetsGetChecked’s ability to provide end-to-end health services to customers from the convenience of their home
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–LetsGetChecked, a leading virtual care company, announced today the acquisition of a Florida-based pharmacy. This is to be a key component of the brand’s plans to expand its pharmaceutical services to include long-term care solutions for conditions such as Cholesterol and Thyroid management.
“We are pleased to officially share news of this important acquisition as it marks a major milestone in how we provide care to those in need of long-term support and furthers our mission to help people live longer, happier lives,” said Peter Foley, Founder and CEO of LetsGetChecked.
LetsGetChecked will use the new pharmacy acquisition to expand its consumer reach and eventually provide pharmaceutical services to customers nationwide. This news comes on the heels of LetsGetChecked’s recent closure of its $150M Series D funding. The brand has also disclosed plans to launch CarePathways™, a 360-degree customer care journey that will provide remote care for patients with ailments and chronic conditions. CarePathways™ are enabled by LetsGetChecked’s core offerings–which include pharmacy capabilities–and will allow consumers to connect with LetsGetChecked-affiliated medical professionals via asynchronous chat and video to receive guidance, diagnosis, and treatment options through the company’s proprietary app and web-enabled interface.
LetsGetChecked currently provides customers access to more than 100 validated at-home tests including Sexual Health, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Thyroid, and Coronavirus (COVID-19) as well as follow-up care through its telehealth and pharmacy offering. LetsGetChecked has delivered more than two million tests and served more than 300 corporate customers with testing services and biometric screening solutions since it was founded in 2015.
To learn more about LetsGetChecked, please visit www.LetsGetChecked.com.
LetsGetChecked is a virtual care company that allows customers to manage their health from home, providing direct access to telehealth services, pharmacy, and laboratory tests with at-home sample collection kits for a wide range of health conditions including Sexual Health, Cholesterol, Diabetes, Thyroid, Coronavirus (COVID-19), and more. Founded in 2015, the company empowers people with the care they need to live longer, happier lives. Today, LetsGetChecked is a leader in healthcare innovation with an end-to-end model including manufacturing, logistics, lab analysis, affiliated physician support, and prescription fulfillment, which provides a seamless user experience and a convenient, reliable and secure healthcare experience.
LetsGetChecked is available nationwide in the United States and most EU countries. It is co-headquartered in Dublin and New York, with teammates all over the world. To learn more visit www.letsgetchecked.com.
Jill Meisner, firstname.lastname@example.org


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This week. The “dysfunctional” diamond industry. De Beers may go back to Charterhouse Street. And man runs away with woman’s ring—on a date. All below.
New Tiffany CEO: veteran of Diesel, Sephora, and Bulgari.
– Marketwatch: Tiffany “has lost its luster.”
– Bloomberg: Jewelry biz “has lost its allure.”
– My thoughts.
Amazon says Prime Day sales jumped 60 percent.
– “The new Black Friday.”
– Amazon is “eating the retail world.”
– Prime Day jewelry deals.
– Prediction: Amazon will be “broken up.” (Video.)
Lab reports lab-grown single-cut diamonds.
The new moissanite has a detector problem.
Recycled diamonds: A double-edged sword?
The diamond family is “dysfunctional.”
DGSE Companies wants to buy 27-store pawnshop chain.
Sears Holdings closing another 43 stores.
Iconic Parisian boutique Colette closing doors.
Michael Hill comps fall 13 percent.
Boutiques start to leave Madison Avenue.
Sarine claims patent infringement
Jawbone’s demise: The end of wearables?
Louis Vuitton debuts a smartwatch.
How blockchain will disrupt metals and mining.
Online jeweler said to be “shaking up” the industry.
How De Beers finds diamonds on the sea floor.
– How diamond mining is being “reshaped” in poor countries. ($)
Anglo American may return to old De Beers headquarters.
Dominion Diamond takeover talks heat up.
India to be second largest market for Forevermark.
Luminox, Mondaine brands get new North American CEO.
Graff appoints new U.S. president of sales.
New director appointed for Corum and Eterna watch brands.
J.C. Penney CFO resigns.
John Hardy CEO featured in story on gay CEOs.
Scio Diamond restructures debt.
Pandora extends Disney linkup.
Tiffany Trump makes jewelry as a hobby.
Man runs away with diamond ring on first date.
How diamonds help us understand the Earth.
Jewelry maker specializes in necklaces made of pasta.
From the Blog
Have a great weekend!
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Search Results For: Recycling
Source: Daily News | 2014-10-07
PET bottle recycling in the U.S. rose to 31.2 per cent in 2013, a very slight bump up from 30.8 per cent in 2012.
Source: Daily News | 2014-10-01
The U.S. state of California has passed the first statewide legislation in the nation banning single-use plastic bags.
Source: Daily News | 2014-09-15
Si la route qui mène au succès est souvent parsemée de difficultés, elle est ussi faite de moments charnières au cœur desquels les décisions prises par les dirigeants sont déterminantes....
Source: Daily News | 2014-08-15
Starting this fall, Japan-based consumer products giant Sony Corporation will have a new side-business: selling recycled plastics.
Source: Daily News | 2014-07-11
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association is partnering with retailer Walmart and brandmaker SC Johnson on a project to collect and recycle plastic bags and film.
Source: Daily News | 2014-07-10
Given such monumental screw-ups as the City of Toronto’s infamous flirtation with a plastic bag ban last year, we Canadians could be forgiven for thinking of these bans as our own unique problem, like snowstorms in May. Far from it....
Source: Daily News | 2014-07-04
The Canadian Plastics Industry Association (CPIA) has selected the winners of the 2014 Plastics Industry Leadership Awards, designed to recognize outstanding individuals and businesses for their commitment and dedication to the growth and...
Source: Daily News | 2014-07-01
SPI: The Plastics Industry Trade Association - one of the plastics industries biggest associations - has joined a new recycling initiative in the U.S.
Source: Daily News | 2014-06-19
Going green is red hot, and nowhere more so than with plastics recycling.
Source: Daily News | 2014-06-18
One of the largest plastic bag makers in the U.S. is acquiring a company said to be the largest paper bag manufacturer in North America.


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Connected home startup SmartThings has released a major update to its iOS app with an easier interface for managing your devices.
The new look hides the main section for device management, replacing it instead with common device actions culled from SmartThings’s initial batch of 10,000 users. An Android update with the redesigned interface is currently in the works.
SmartThings started off as a successful Kickstarter project in 2012. Last month, the company announced $12.5 million in Series A funding. Its hub device costs $99, while kits including sensors start at $199.
Pssst, hey you!
Do you want to get the sassiest daily tech newsletter every day, in your inbox, for FREE? Of course you do: sign up for Big Spam here.


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Single-use plastics at Unite
After a considerable amount of guest and volunteer feedback regarding single-use plastics and recycling at Unite, the Planning Team has been very conscious in its planning to reduce plastic use across the event. There are a number of issues outside of our control but something we can do is to remove the disposable plastic bottles provided at meal times.
in our 5th anniversary year, we have decided to give all guests and volunteers a complimentary, reusable Unite branded water bottle! The bottles are of good quality and we hope that you will reuse them at future events. Any additional bottles can be purchased from the Café and on the booking form in the future.
There will be water points available around the site for guests and volunteers to refill their water bottles.
We’re thankful for your support in helping us to reduce the plastic use across Felden Lodge at this year’s event.
11th October 2021
We’re excited to confirm that our 2022 event is planned to take place in a face-to-face setting and will be held on the Platinum Jubilee Weekend – 2nd to 5th June – at Felden Lodge! Stay tuned for more details, including prices and how to book.
14th June 2021
Unite 2021 took place from 28th to 30th May, with a programme of activities being streamed live from Felden Lodge. It was fantastic to see groups from across the country getting involved, with young people taking part via leader-led face-to-face or virtual sessions, or in home settings supported by parents/carers. The speaker for the weekend […]
24th March 2021
With Unite 2021 just around the corner, we’re offering leaders the opportunity to get a first look at the programme and how your group can get involved. Join us on Wednesday 31st March at 6:30pm where the Unite Planning Team will be explaining how the event will run, along with key programme activities which will […]


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The GLP aggregated and excerpted this blog/article to reflect the diversity of news, opinion and analysis.
As Vermont is set to become the first state in the country on July 1 to require the labeling of foods containing genetically modified ingredients, the state’s attorney general says his office will enforce the law by targeting “willful violations” by manufacturers and not products that were produced before that date that are still on store shelves.
“What we’re really going to go after is folks who are willfully noncompliant, who are just not putting labels on their products at all or otherwise trying to skirt the labeling law,” said Todd Daloz, an assistant attorney general.
Because some shelf-stable food will be produced and distributed before July 1, the state is allowing for a six-month period for those products to move through the system. The attorney general’s office says it won’t take enforcement action for those products during that time, unless there’s evidence that a manufacturer distributed a mislabeled product after July 1.
. . . .
The law requires manufacturers to label packaged foods produced with genetic engineering and stores must post a label on or near unpackaged genetically engineered foods such as produce and bulk food.
. . . .
Some foods are exempt from Vermont’s labeling law like meat, honey, plain milk or eggs . . . Also exempt are foods that require USDA approval of their labels such as those containing meat or poultry like a frozen dinner or can of SpaghettiOs. Alcohol is also exempt.
Read full, original post: Vermont to Target ‘Willful Violations’ of GMO Labeling Law