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Is anyone buying Windows 7? Microsoft says Windows 7 is selling out and more than 10% of all PCs worldwide are running Windows 7 making it the fastest-selling operating system in history!
Microsoft reported its record third quarter revenues of $14.50 billion for the quarter ended Mar. 31, 2010, a 6% increase from the same period of the prior year.
“Windows 7 continues to be a growth engine, but we also saw strong growth in other areas like Bing search, Xbox LIVE and our emerging cloud services,” said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Our record third-quarter revenue along with continued rigor on cost management resulted in exceptional EPS growth.”
Windows revenue was up 28%, compared with the same quarter a year earlier, driven by strong demand for Windows 7. More than 10% of all PCs worldwide are running Windows 7 today, making Windows 7 by far the fastest-selling operating system in history.
“Business customers are beginning to refresh their desktops and the momentum of Windows 7 continues to be strong,” said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer.
The Windows Team confirms that “Exactly 6 months after the launch on October 22, 2009, we’ve sold well over 100 million licenses of Windows 7. To put that in context, more than 10% of all PCs worldwide are already running Windows 7 today.”
Last year you could download the Window 7 release candidate free to test and try. Now you can download the upgrade advisor and see if you can upgrade your Windows Vista to Windows 7. And if you are already on Windows 7, download the Microsoft TouchPack for Windows 7 for touch enabled devices. I guess all those Windows 7 parties worked in selling out Windows 7.
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KamAZ can go to a shorter working week due to problems with the supply of components from China. To make such a decision automaker made epidemic of coronavirus, according to the Telegram-channel “Rise” with a link to the photo of the order.
In the period from 20 to 24 April introduced four-day working week, and from April 27 to may 1 — three days. Additional output will be 24 and 30 April.
The deadly coronavirus has hit the Chinese economy. Now under the threat the whole world
Informed about the possibility of introducing a shorter working week announced a corporate publishing company. The press service stressed that the order issued in case of supply disruption and later may be revoked.
“Similar orders about the possible announcement of downtime traditionally available in complex for the company moments”, — said the representative of “KAMAZ”. The company quickly promised to inform, if the situation changes.
The number of cases worldwide has exceeded 80 thousand people. As of the morning of February 25 died 2 707, recovered 27 795 from among those who have diagnosed disease. Amid concerns about the spread of mers outside of China, and more serious effects of the epidemic on the global economy Monday, February 24, world stock indexes fell. Because of this, 500 of the wealthiest people in the world per day is poorer to 139 billion dollars.
© 2020, paradox. All rights reserved.

domain: news


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Baird's Colin Sebastian predicted that Rockstar Games' anticipated sequel will not arrive this year despite persistent rumours to the contrary, MCV reports.
The game was tipped for launch this October following reports that a member of its development team let the date slip via his online CV and LinkedIn page.
BioShock Infinite's recent delay was attributed to a potential Grand Theft Auto 5 release that month, according to some analysts.
Grand Theft Auto 5 takes place in the city of Los Santos and its surrounding hills, countryside and beaches. Its lead character is thought to be a man named Albert De Silva, played by Ned Luke.
Rockstar is expected to announce an official release date for Grand Theft Auto 5 at E3 in June.
Watch the Grand Theft Auto V announcement trailer below:


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ISSAQUAH, Wash. — Costco Wholesale Corp. reported net sales of $16.18 billion for the five weeks ended July 5, an increase of 11.1% from the $14.57 billion recorded in the comparable period last year.
For the 44-week year-to-date period, Costco reported net sales of $136.37 billion, up 8.1% versus the $126.13 billion during the similar period last year.
Comparable sales for the five-week June period were up 11% in the U.S., 8.4% in Canada and 18% in other international markets. For the company as a whole the comp store increase was 11.5%, and e-commerce comp sales increased 85.8%.
When the impact of gasoline prices and foreign exchange impacts are excluded, comp store sales advanced 13.8% in the U.S., 12.2% in Canada, and 22.1% in other international markets. E-commerce sales were up 86.7% and comp sales for the company as a whole were up 14.4%.
Costco finished the June period with 788 warehouse clubs, including 548 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 100 in Canada, 39 in Mexico, 29 in the United Kingdom, 26 in Japan, 16 in Korea, 13 in Taiwan, 12 in Australia, two in Spain, and one each in Iceland, France, and China. Costco also has e-commerce sites in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, Mexico, Korea, Taiwan, Japan, and Australia.


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Dane County residents aren’t alone. A Marquette Law School poll from October found 64% of Wisconsinites support legalization, continuing a six-year streak of broad support for marijuana legalization in Wisconsin.
Yet, marijuana remains criminalized in Wisconsin with no clear plan for legalization. Not only are Wisconsinites missing out on the marijuana market, but Wisconsin's economy lacks the benefits of an increasingly profitable industry, according to Democratic Gov. Tony Evers’ office.
Evers has called for support of marijuana legalization and pro-medical legislation. His office estimates cannabis sales would generate $165 million in revenue in Wisconsin in the industry’s first year based on tax revenue data from bordering states with legal marijuana.
Evers said he would reinvest tax revenue from legal marijuana into public schools in a press release last year.
“Legalizing and taxing marijuana in Wisconsin — just like we do already with alcohol — ensures a controlled market and safe product are available for both recreational and medicinal users and can open the door for countless opportunities for us to reinvest in our communities and create a more equitable state,” Evers said.
Evers’ plan would require cooperation from Wisconsin Republicans, who control the Legislature. However, Republican support for legal marijuana is sparse.
Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) told the Associated Press he supports medical marijuana legalization in 2019 but that the process is ”going to take a while.”
Vos has supported a limited legalization of medical marijuana available only in non-smokable forms for chronic medical conditions since then but continues to oppose legalizing recreational marijuana.
Senate Majority Leader Devin LeMahieu has said he doesn’t back legalization without FDA approval.
“If the federal government delists it and it goes through FDA testing, then it should be treated like any other drug,” LeMahieu said at a WisPolitics luncheon in April 2021. “If there’s advantages to it, if it helps out people, I have no problem with it as long as a doctor’s prescribing it.”
“I think that discussion needs to be done at the federal level and not have some rogue state doing it without actual science behind it,” he added.
The costs of prohibition
With marijuana illegal in Wisconsin, state residents satisfy their cannabis fix across state lines.
The drug is popular among young people nationwide despite still being criminalized. More than four in 10 young adults ages 19 to 30 used marijuana during the past 12 months, according to a 2021 study from the National Institute on Drug Abuse.
That means neighboring states like Michigan, which legalized recreational marijuana use in 2019, are raking in the green from sales tax revenues.
Last year alone, Michigan recorded $1.3 billion in marijuana sales for recreational use and over $480 million for medical, according to Michigan's Cannabis Regulatory Agency.
Those sales generated more than $111 million in marijuana sales tax revenues during the 2021 fiscal year, according to the Michigan Treasury Department. Approximately $42 million of that money was redistributed to municipal governments in March 2022.
Some of that tax revenue comes from Wisconsinites who travel across state lines, including University of Wisconsin-Madison students. A Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article even described a Michigan dispensary parking lot filled with cars bearing Wisconsin license plates.
“It’s honestly very beneficial since I can get medical marijuana,” said a UW student who wished to remain anonymous. “It's better for me and plus, it's way more efficient and safer instead of getting it off the street.”
Evers lamented about missed tax revenue from cannabis sales going to neighboring states in a Twitter video last year, where he recalled a conversation with Illinois Gov. J. B. Pritzker.
"We talk about this often because he's really glad that we have not legalized marijuana because the taxes that are made in Illinois from legal sales of marijuana helps them out a hell of a lot," Evers said.
Wisconsin would not only benefit from the tax revenue on marijuana, but if decriminalization laws are implemented, the state could save money on yearly arrests.
Marijuana possession arrests accounted for 57% of all Wisconsin drug arrests in 2018, according to the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). Arrest rates are disproportionately high for Black residents, who are 4.2 times more likely than white residents to be arrested for marijuana possession in Wisconsin.
The ACLU also estimated Wisconsin taxpayers could save approximately $3.5 million if marijuana possession arrests were cut in half in a 2012 report. That number rises to nearly $4.5 million when adjusted for inflation using the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ inflation calculator.
The ACLU’s estimate does not include the costs of jailing the arrested or court costs for prosecuting and incarcerating arrests that lead to a jail or prison sentence.
“We have to make sure that the use of marijuana is not something that gets you into the criminal justice system,” Evers said. ”We need to legalize it."
The Delta-8 loophole
Despite the lack of legalization, Wisconsin is not completely without marijuana products. Wisconsin legalized non-intoxicating cannabidiol, or CBD, products from the plant in 2017, and in late 2019, Gov. Evers signed a bipartisan law permitting Wisconsin growers to cultivate hemp.
This loophole allows the selling of certain cannabis strains, namely Delta-8, in Wisconsin.
Knuckleheads, a store that sells Delta-8 products, has a location in downtown Madison. Knuckleheads employees believe their business success demonstrates Wisconsinites’ demand for marijuana products.
"The shop is highly profitable, and the health and wellness items are bestsellers, one employee said. “I definitely don’t think the shop would be the success that it is without a demand for marijuana in Wisconsin.”
Though their sales are legal, the employee remarked that FDA regulations would help make products safer.
"We stock stuff from out of state, [coming] from a dispensary that's legal,” they said. “But legalization would mean regulations — a higher being and oversight. This would be an extra safety net for what people are using."
The employee added that some individuals turn to street vendors to get marijuana products, further increasing product safety concerns. Providing access to regulated marijuana subjected to safety standards could help mitigate some safety concerns held by those in the community, the employee said.
"What if they get a bad batch?" the employee said. They recalled an illegal THC cart scare a few years back and described it as "terrifying."
A good place to start might be legalizing medical marijuana, which the Knuckleheads employee said would be "such a help," especially for people who struggle with mental illness and other physically-limiting conditions like arthritis.
Medical marijuana is overwhelmingly popular among Wisconsinites. More than 80% support the idea of legalizing marijuana for medical purposes, according to 2019 Marquette University Law School polling.
Gov. Evers also voiced his support for medical marijuana in a 2019 tweet.
"For many Wisconsinites, things like medical marijuana or other products like CBD oil can help alleviate chronic pain from debilitating medical conditions, reduce symptoms for things like anxiety and even help folks cope with things like PTSD," Evers said.
Wisconsin remains an island in terms of legalization, with surrounding states such as Michigan, Illinois, Minnesota and Iowa all having legalized medical or recreational marijuana use.
"Everybody around us has [legalized],” Evers said in a September roundtable discussion. “It's likely time that we can finally do that here in the state of Wisconsin."
Zoe Kukla is a Graphics Editor, state news reporter, and photographer for The Daily Cardinal. Follow her on Twitter at @ZoeKukla.


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Minneapolis-based testing instruments maker Mocon Inc. has announced a global network of Mocon-certified permeation testing laboratories to provide independent verification of material and package performance.
For the past several years, Mocon has pursued strategic partnerships with laboratories in key industrial regions around the world. The goal is to offer affordable permeation testing services at company-certified labs.
The network targets a broad variety of companies, ranging from multinational corporations to smaller firm that may only need a few validation tests per year.
Certification means that state-of-the-art instrumentation has been installed, inspected and is maintained by a Mocon-authorized service technician. Laboratory employees have been trained on Mocon test lab methods, protocols and record keeping
Mocon makes testing instruments for packaging, pharmaceutical and other markets.
In addition to Mocon's own headquarters lab, the company has certified labs in Germany, China, India, Canada, the United Kingdom and Switzerland.
Tel. 763-493-7228, fax 763-493-6358, email [email protected].


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Indian Android users to get 'Paid Apps' support in Android Market soon?
Many countries including India have been waiting to get the paid applications support in Android market for quiet sometime. It seems the situation is soon going to change for at least India, as Google is testing paid apps support in India on select users. One of the lucky ones is AndroidOS.in reader “Arnab Datta“, whose Android phone – ‘HTC Wildfire’ starting showing paid applications in Android Market from today. The payment method in same as other countries, you would need Google Checkout account to pay for the apps. Check out more in pictures below.
While, we could not confirm this news from Google, as the mail sent to the company has gone un-answered till now, we expect an official announcement in this regard soon.
Thanks Arnab for tip as well as pictures 🙂


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In the second quarter of 2018, Huntsman's MDI business's EBITDA was nearly 50% higher than the second quarter of 2017. EBITDA for the second quarter of 2018 was $246 million, compared to $165 million for the second quarter of 2017.
Peter Huntsman said at the meeting that MDI business grew by 9% year-on-year. Except for the spray foam business Demilec, which grew by 10% year-on-year, other differentiated investment businesses grew by 13% year-on-year.
The largest growth in the Americas, compared with the same quarter in 2017, sales in the region increased by 21%.
Part of the growth was attributed to the Demilec business. In the first quarter of this year, Huntsman announced the acquisition of Demilec, a new business that increased sales of basic business by 5%.
The growth in the United States also benefited from the company's driving with BASF's joint venture MDI plant in Shanghai. He added that this means that raw materials from the company's US plants are free to use locally. Now North America's demand is made of composite wood products, insulated. Driven by materials and adhesives.
In Asia, sales in 2018 increased by 8%, and demand for large-scale infrastructure projects such as automotive projects and district heating is driving the region's growth. He added that the new Chinese plant is starting production and will be at the end of this year. Before the full operation.
In Europe, sales of third parties have hit sales, reducing sales by about $20 million. Peter Huntsman explains: 'The fundamentals of demand in Europe remain optimistic and the market is growing.'
According to Peter Huntsman, 75% of the company's MDI business comes from a higher-margin differentiated system business.
The company's sales in the first half of 2018 were $4.6 billion, an increase of 18% from $3.9 billion in the first half of 2017. The company's total profit for the first half of 2018 was $1.1 billion. By comparison, 2017 The income for the first half of the year was $895 million.


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As with most things in life, hindsight is beautiful when pondering disruption and technological change.
Even Lawrence Levy, a Silicon Valley stalwart and associate of the late Steve Jobs, struggles to predict which emerging technology or company will be the next to change people’s lives.
Virtual reality and augmented reality are two still “looking for a market”, he says. In contrast, he has more conviction on artificial intelligence, labelling it “the most obvious candidate for widespread disruption”, and also the power of commerce giant Amazon – an “efficiency machine” worthy of competitors’ concern -- ahead of its launch of full operations in Australia.
“It’s really hard to know. Most…things become disruptive when we look back at it,” Levy, the former chief financial officer of Pixar, told Westpac Wire in an interview last month ahead of his first trip to Australia.
“Search proved to be one of the most disruptive things. But I remember in 1995 when Pixar went public, Netscape, which was the original search company, also went public and people didn’t even understand what it was.
“(And) In 2002-03, we could have been chatting about all these new kind of blogging sites that were being set up, it didn’t look like a big deal. And then this other one comes along called Facebook.”
Levy is no stranger to the challenges of making a business out of innovative technology. Joining Pixar in 1994 at the request of Apple co-founder Jobs, he discovered that even though it had taken the next steps toward 3D computer animation and had masses of talented people, the company was burning cash and struggling to find a market.
Levy, who teaches meditation and has a passion for eastern philosophy, says one of the biggest issues was solving the tensions between the creative sides of Pixar’s operations and business realities, a problem he sees as still the greatest struggle start-ups face and why so many fail.
“You can have the greatest 3D animation software in the world but there’s like 20 companies that will use it,” he recalled of Pixar, which was a loss-making graphics company when he joined. “But when you’re a small company you have to sort of take big bets. You can’t hedge your bets and the only shot that I could see was to try to make something work in animation because at least there was an upside if you could make a hit film.
“That first film needed to be a (hit).”
Luckily, it was.
In late 1995, Pixar and Disney released Toy Story, one of the most successful animated box office hits of all time that spawned multiple sequels and ongoing merchandise sales. “If that (Toy Story) hadn’t happened, the rest would have been history and it wouldn’t have been a good history,” Levy quips.
As is often the case in many industries, Pixar’s rise after Toy Story proved painful for leader The Walt Disney Company, which had for decades delighted viewers with 2D hand drawn cell animation and characters such as Mickey Mouse and Bambi. Disney ultimately bought Pixar for $US7.4 billion a decade later in 2006.
“It was inconceivable to the Walt Disney Company that another company might unseat them in animation. Yet in the course of five or seven years, two companies unseated them (Pixar and Dreamworks),” recalled Levy.
“And that was on the strength of that technology so within the film industry it proved to be very disruptive.”
At a time when the Australian government is aiming to make the nation a “hub” for fintech and innovation in the region, Levy says his strong collaboration with Jobs meant where Pixar was located wasn’t critical to its success.
But these days he says it can be a factor, noting that start-ups benefit in tech meccas like Silicon Valley from the established “infrastructure”, such as access to capital, talent and experts well versed that enable a handful to succeed, but many more to fail.
“I know there are many parts of the world that really are interested in start-up culture and what it takes to do that and I believe its about putting all this pieces in place to make the environment rich,” says Levy, who is based in Palo Alto, California.
“You can’t legislate a successful start-up. You have to create an environment, start 1000 companies and see which one makes it. And I used to say the same in the film business. You can’t legislate a hit film.
“Start-ups are the same and so the richer the environment you have for fermenting these sort of seedlings then the more likely some of them are going to grow up into tall trees and that’s what you have in Silicon Valley.”
Several tech titans have emerged out of Silicon Valley in the past decade, many of which have grown into some of the largest publicly listed companies by market value known as the “FAANG” stocks (Facebook, Apple, Amazon, Netflix, and Google) that has spurred talk of another tech bubble.
Having worked through the “dot.com” bubble of the late 1990s-early 2000s and observing the rampant mortgage lending in the lead up to the global financial crisis, Levy says some pricey stocks are far different.
“Just mere overpriced stocks themselves I think isn’t a bubble per se, it’s what’s the underlying thing is that’s a bubble,” he says.
“So you look at the health of the main companies, Apple, Google, Facebook, a bunch of others -- they’re actually thriving, doing really well. So there may be a correction but I don’t know if that’s a dynamic bubble.”
After expanding abroad to the UK and Canada, Amazon has Australia in its sights for an on-the-ground operation that experts believe could prove painful for incumbent retailers and shopping centre landlords. Macquarie’s equity analysts last week predicted Amazon could build a roughly $14bn business in Australia by 2025, assuming it snares 25 per cent of total online sales, similar to other foreign markets.
Levy says the key to Amazon achieving the difficult task of succeeding in new industries is its efficiency. He agrees with predictions of potential serious disruption to the retail sector similar to Walmart’s impact in the US decades ago, noting there’s been immediate improvement at his local Whole Foods store since Amazon’s recent purchase of the bricks and mortar food retailer.
“The thing about Amazon which is kind of like both amazing and worrying at the same time, they are like an efficiency machine. I don’t know how well they’ll execute on this of course in Australia, but they bring a daunting amount of efficiency to the markets they enter,” he says.
“Some might say it’s a good thing in terms of making products more readily available at lower prices but it’s also a daunting thing to compete with.
“You go back 40 or 50 years and look at Walmart and its impact on American retail industry was also enormous and Amazon is kind of a goliath like that and they’re really good at what they do.”
In Australia to promote his first book and speak at events, Levy says one of the biggest learnings from his roughly seven years in Pixar’s executive team was the power of collaboration from working with Jobs.
Another was the challenge in the corporate world of people being “imbalanced” and “one dimensional” in their lives. After leaving Pixar, he co-founded the Juniper Foundation, a Silicon Valley not for profit focused on bringing Buddhist teachings and meditation into contemporary life.
He says corporates can benefit from the “middle way”, a philosophy aiming to find a balance between people’s “bureaucratic” and artistic or free spirit selves.
And his biggest learning from Jobs?
“What I discovered with Steve was…the power of collaboration,” he says.
“When you can really unabashedly have two people or a group of people that can really air with each other and iron out and examine something with the intent of just sort of trying to get to the right answer rather than trying to win or be correct or something like that, then it’s very powerful.
“And I think this is one of the less understood things about Steve which is that even though he has this reputation as being this sort of hard charging, mercurial kind of businessman and he had characteristics like that, he understood what it meant to put aside personal agenda in order to analyse something and try to get to the best answer.”


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The drop-top gorgeous convertibles
Convertibles were never better built or more practical but the choice is confusing. We pick the year’s most desirable
Published: 20 May 2007
Watch Andrew Frankel and Nicholas Rufford in a clash of the convertibles head to head at Brands Hatch here
In television commercials convertible drivers are forever breezing through a sunlit Tuscan landscape, wind in their hair, sun reflecting off their aviator sunglasses. But the reality is more likely to be played out in Southwold than Siena.
Britons now buy twice as many convertibles per head as Italians and 10 times more than the Spanish. Warmer summers have combined with cheap retractable metal roofs to give convertibles unprecedented appeal among British car buyers.
If you want proof, consider that in 1996 just over 30,000 convertibles were sold in the UK. Last year that number was more than 100,000, and even though the total market has grown in that time, convertibles have still nearly tripled their market share in the past decade.
But with so many on sale at almost all points


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Jump to navigation
Brooks Koepka has changed back to the TaylorMade M5 driver this week in Brookline, the same club he used to win the US PGA in 2019.
"We are thrilled to announce a monumental addition to the Srixon family."
American Golf have some fantastic and high-quality wedges for you to cash in on for the autumn.
The launch of the innovative new facility comes in a year that Srixon Sports Europe celebrates its 20th Anniversary
The new Huntington Beach SOFT Premier putters will be available in stores from March 20.
Frontline putters from Cleveland deliver a superior fit to suit any putting stroke and player preference.
Cleveland Golf haws announced its new Smart Sole 4 wedges, aiming to make short game easier.
Cleveland Golf has introduced the Frontline and Huntington Beach putter ranges.
Cleveland RTX 4 wedge review: more control and improved feel in Tour-inspired head.
Jamie Sadlowski as you've never seen him before...
Cleveland TFI 2135 Satin putter review: new insert and face milling for 2018.
Three new flat sticks designed for soft feel and true roll


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Apple iPhone 8 Allegedly Adopting 3D Facial Scanning To Replace Touch ID
Citing people who are supposedly familiar with the iPhone 8's design
Apple may replace its Touch ID fingerprint scanner with 3D facial recognition in the iPhone 8
Apple's decision will be largely based on how well the 3D sensor works. Speed and accuracy are key metrics here—it needs to be responsive and reliably able to work as intended. In its current form, the 3D sensor is capable of scanning a user's face and unlocking an iPhone device within a few hundred milliseconds. It also works even when the handset is laying flat on a table, as opposed to holding the phone up close to a user's face.
This sort of thing is tricky to implement. There are more data points for a 3D scanner to capture and process versus a fingerprint scanner. The upshot there is that the additional data collection makes it a more security technology (potentially, anyway), but getting it to work right is a bigger technical challenge.
Whether or not the iPhone 8 includes a face scanning feature, it seems clear that biometric security is where smartphone development is headed. Apple is not alone in this regard. Samsung, for example, implemented iris scanners in the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ so that users can unlock their phones and authenticate payments with their eyes. It is easily tricked, however, so it will be interesting to see if how well Apple's 3D scanning technology works if it makes a debut with the iPhone 8.


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- Nest Labs has revealed the third generation of its "Learning Thermostat," but it is unclear if the new suite of features will help customers find additional bill savings over previous versions of the device.
- The thermostat includes a new design and a feature alerting customers to possible problems with their heating and forced air furncaes, based on shutoff pattterns.
- The Google-owned company is also bolstering its distribution channels and is working with more than 40 energy and enterprise partners on offers and rebates for Nest products.
Nest Lab has unveiled the newest iteration of its smart thermostat, but as Greentech Media points out the company now faces pressure from competitors offering their own in-home displays and devices. And the market is growing — by the end of the year, most thermostat sales will be "smart" devices.
“The Nest Learning Thermostat has been proven by third-party researchers to save people, on average, about 10 to 12 percent on their heating bills and about 15 percent on their cooling bills,” Maxime Veron, head of hardware product marketing for Nest, said in a statement.
In all, Nest thermostats have helped save approximately four billion KWh, Veron said. The newest generation of the device will not only be available at 7,000 retail locations and from 25,000 Nest Pro installers, but energy companies Nest has partnered with: Southern Company, Direct Energy, SunEdison, Infinite Energy, Reliant, and ADT.
The new device has a slimmer designed and a high-resolution screen that’s 40% larger in diameter, as well as an updated user interface to make it easier to read. Nest said new software features include "Farsight," which automatically displays the target temperature or time when it senses movement in the room, and "Furnace Heads-Up," which uses diagnostics to give advance notice about possible problems with a customer’s heating system.
Nest launched a new line of products in June, largely focused on home security and protection rather than energy and efficiency. The company has been expanding its offerings in the home management market, in hopes of competing with a bevy of companies beginning to offer similar products. Apple recently stopped selling the Nest thermostat as it prepares its own suite of energy management products.
“Nest started out in 2011 with a single product offering - the Nest Learning Thermostat - and then added the Nest energy partnership program in 2013,” said Ben Bixby, head of energy and enterprise partnerships. “Today, we can count the largest regulated utilities, deregulated energy providers, and solar energy companies among our partners. We’ve also added enterprise partners like ADT. We’re looking forward to working closely with all of our partners to make the new 3rd generation Nest Thermostat and other products accessible to customers everywhere.”


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A new pizza takeaway has been given permission to open in a Derby suburb where there are already several fast-food outlets.
The meeting was conducted virtually and Chaddesden councillor Rob Cooper praised residents for their attempts to stop the development which will give the Nottingham Road shopping precinct its fourth pizza takeaway.
He said: "A lot of residents are concerned on health grounds and obesity and the fact that Derby has the highest density of fast food outlets to the population.
"As well as four pizza outlets, the precinct has seven other hot food outlets. Also having another food outlet is detrimental to this area being used for retail shopping.
"I urge the planning committee not to vote for this application and to think of the views of the people of Chaddesden."
But a council planning officer told the committee that the application could not be rejected on health grounds, as nothing on the subject had previously been built into the local plan.
Planning control committee members were told that if permission was given, 15% of the 47 retail units would be given over to hot food takeaways "which could not be considered to have an adverse effect on the centre".
A previous application in 2013-14 for the former William Hill bookmakers shop in the shopping precinct, in Nottingham Road, was turned down by the planning committee but later allowed on appeal.
However, the work has never taken place and permission had lapsed.
The fact that this had happened also swayed the councillors' decision because they feared that they would be hit with another appeal if they turned the application down and indicated it would be expensive for the Derby taxpayer.
The council planning officer said: "On appeal, the application was allowed in 2014 even though there would have been 25% of the retail units given over to fast food outlets and there are less now."
Councillor Mike Carr said he couldn't believe that the councillors were considering rejecting something which has been appealed before.
He added: "It would be a complete waste of money to reject this application."
Councillor voted seven votes to three to allow the pizza chain planning permission for a change of use and also for the building of a flat-roofed single-storey extension and the demolition of an existing lean-to extension.
Papa John's has other two takeaway stores in Derby, one on Osmaston Road and the other at Park Farm Shopping Centre, in Allestree.
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A condition reducing the hours the company wanted, will be imposed as part of the planning consent.
This will mean that it can only open from 8.30am to 11.30pm, Monday to Saturday, and 8.30am to 11pm on Sundays and bank and public holidays.


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South Korean mobile phone maker Samsung is readying the release of a platform upgrade for the Galaxy S owners on the US market, the company confirmed several hours ago via Twitter.
We're referring here to the Android 2.2 Froyo OS update that was expected to land on handsets ever since the end of the third quarter of the last year, and which is still missing from the Galaxy S units sold in the United States.
However, it seems that there shouldn't be too long before US customers would have the chance to install the new Android flavor on their devices, as the company confirmed.
“We are working to make the Android 2.2/Froyo upgrade available to all U.S. Galaxy S owners as soon as possible,” the handset vendor announced via Twitter.
“We want Galaxy S owners to have simple/reliable upgrade. We r running tests due to complexity/unique functionality,” a second tweet from the company reads.
Of course, no specific release window for the Android 2.2 upgrade for Galaxy S units in the United States was provided, but we'll keep our fingers crossed for the software to arrive sooner rather than later.
Until more info on this is made available, we should have a look at another update that Samsung reportedly delivered to its users, namely a new version of Samsung Kies Air.
For those who might have not encountered the software before, we should note that it was meant to offer users the possibility to access the smartphone over WiFi straight from their PCs (the Samsung Kies desktop app should be installed).
This way, one would be able to access view call logs, videos, photos, bookmarks, and Ims from the PS, while also having the possibility to send SMS messages from the computer’s browser.
The best news is that one would be able to sync the handset with the PC without a USB cable as before. The Samsung Kies application is compatible with Windows PCs, and can be downloaded from Softpedia too, via this link.


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Tanger Outlets, which owns the Jeffersonville outlet mall in Ohio, and many others around the country, has just released its Black Friday ad online.
While it is just a simple one page ad, without listing specific store deals, it has a great printable coupon that will save money on every store in the mall on Black Friday.
Save at Any Store
The coupon will get you:
-20% off any purchase from 10 p.m. Thanksgiving night (opening time) until 3 a.m. Friday.
-30% off any purchase from 3 a.m. until 6 a.m. Friday.
Obviously, the best deal is after 3 a.m., but if you just want to go out for some after Thanksgiving dinner shopping, you can score some nice savings starting at 10 p.m.
Cincinnati Premium Outlets in Monroe has not yet released its Black Friday ad, but is advertising that it will hold a Midnight Madness sale starting at midnight Black Friday.
One caution with all outlet malls: Plan for traffic jams getting in at opening hours.
As always, don't waste your money.
Don't Waste Your Money is a registered trademark of the EW Scripps Co.
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The cyberattack that stalled some operations at the world’s largest meat processor this week was the work of REvil, a ransomware franchise known for its constantly escalating cutthroat tactics aimed at extorting the highest price.
The FBI made the attribution on Wednesday, the day after it became known that Brazil-based JBS SA had experienced a ransomware attack that resulted in the closure of at least five US plants, as well as facilities in Canada and Australia.
High pressure ransom
REvil and its subsidiaries account for approximately 4 percent of attacks in the public and private sectors. In many ways, REvil is a pretty average ransomware company. What makes it stand out is the cruelty of its tactics, designed to put maximum pressure on the victims.
“In some ways, REvil is a ‘pioneer’ … as one of the early adopters of public blogging victims and a strong propensity for ‘double blackmail’,” said Jim Walter, senior threat researcher at security firm SentinelOne, in a text message. “They were also early experimenters with auctioning stolen data. Some auctions were successful, some were not, but potential data stolen from selected victims would have been available to the highest bidder.”
In one case, REvil’s dark website posted a screenshot allegedly showing that pornography was in a folder of temporary files on a computer belonging to the IT director of a large company that the group recently fell victim to.
“While he was jerking his cock, we were downloading hundreds of gigabytes of private information about the company’s customers,” the post said. “God bless his hairy palms. Amen!”
REvil is also the group that hacked Grubman, Shire, Meiselas & Sacks, the prominent law firm that represented Lady Gaga, Madonna, U2 and other high profile entertainers. When REvil asked for $ 21 million in exchange for not disclosing the data, the law firm allegedly offered $ 365,000. REvil responded by increasing its demand to $ 42 million and later releasing a 2.4 GB archive that contained some of Lady Gaga’s legal documents.
Other REvil victims include Kenneth Copeland, SoftwareOne, Quest, and Travelex.
Last year, REvil began auctioning confidential information from victims who refuse to pay. In March, the group announced a new service that would contact the media and victims’ partners to notify them of a violation. REvil can also threaten victims with DDoS attacks.
REvil first appeared in April 2019 and quickly built a reputation for technical proficiency when it used legitimate CPU functions to bypass security systems. In April of this year, Kaspersky ranked REvil number three in the ransomware group.
Supply chains at risk
In April, REvil stole data from manufacturer Quanta Computer and then claimed $ 50 million from Apple in exchange for non-disclosure of technical data it received for unreleased Apple products. The group released circuit diagrams for two Apple products on the day it was announced. The data has since been removed for reasons unknown.
This week’s incident occurred three weeks after ransomware shut down the Colonial Pipeline, an event that resulted in gasoline and kerosene shortages on the east coast of the United States.
Production at the U.S. JBS beef factories resumed Wednesday, despite thousands of JBS employees in the U.S., Canada and Australia adjusting or canceling shifts earlier this week.
Such ransomware attacks continue to expose the fragility of the country’s supply chains as leaders in the private and public sectors struggle largely in vain to contain the threat.


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Higher tax on coffee could cost jobs
VAT to jump to 10% on coffee sold in vending machines04 September, 18:44
An increase to 10% in the value-added tax on coffee products sold in vending machines. up from the current 4% VAT, will be noticed, says the association representing operators of the machines.
It says that the higher tax will hurt consumption and possibly jobs in the industry.


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A Tradition of Value, and the Challenge of New Markets
Founded in Asakusa as a glass-tableware wholesaler, Kimoto Glass Tokyo has stood at the forefront of the market for over 80 years. Making use of its unique perspective as a wholesaler, it continually creates new products that fit today’s lifestyles and attract notice. Kimoto Glass is now turning its efforts toward overseas development. We asked Seiichi Kimoto, the third-generation president and CEO, about how the company is doing in this respect.
Last year, Mr. Kimoto visited over 10 countries in North America, Europe, and Asia. It is not only his own company’s glass products that Mr. Kimoto sells in each country. “Today, if I took only glass, nobody would buy it. That’s why we offer sake that goes well with food, and glasses that go with the sake. The point is to also talk about Japan’s view of history and the culture of crafting.”
Mr. Kimoto’s business talks are with high-end businesses such as three-star restaurants and five-star hotels. “Japanese sake, food, and tableware all have high value. Naturally, that value doesn’t exist unless people know about it. Customers who visit high-end establishments eat excellent food from all over the world, know good drink, and touch good tableware. That’s why we have to communicate the value of good things.”
Mr. Kimoto adds that most of the restaurants and hotels in the countries he visited last year have adopted Kimoto Glass. Behind Mr. Kimoto’s commitment to the higher classes is an awareness of the low wages of craftsmen and the lack of successors. “If you convey the value properly and sell at prices commensurate with that value, the work of the craftsmen will be appropriately rewarded. I hope to connect this idea toward eliminating the lack of successors.”
Asked about his future prospects, Mr. Kimoto says, “I want to go to South America this summer. I’ll then have conquered six continents.” As a wholesaler, Kimoto Glass will continue to pioneer new markets while paying respect to the traditional technologies of Japan.


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Relative Strength Indicator (RSI) Back to Extreme Oversold Condition – C.J. Lawrence Market Commentary – 9/23/2022
It has been a tough couple of weeks for the bulls. The S&P500 is back to the June low at 3693, wiping out the strong momentum we saw in August and back to extreme oversold conditions as measured by the relative strength indicator (RSI). The culprit is core inflation or what is often called PCE (personal consumption expenditures), a cleaner reading of inflation as compared to CPI, excluding food and energy prices. Prices paid by consumers for goods and services remain stubbornly high despite headline inflation (CPI) coming down sequentially for the last three months.
Jay Powell’s Fed continued to raise rates aggressively with the latest 3rd consecutive increase of 0.75%. The Fed Funds rate now stands at 3.25%, which was not surprising. The Fed’s dot-plot for Fed Funds showed a much higher terminal rate at 4.5%, which spooked the market and set off another round of selling in stocks and bonds. By the end of the week, the 2-yr Treasury yield surged to 4.2%, a level not seen in a decade, see chart below. The interest rate for 30-year fixed mortgages is now near 7%, and housing, including rents, is rising from very high levels. Higher short-term interest rates are now offering savers some relief if you are looking to hide in cash.
We continue to stick to our view that inflation will trend down in the coming months, perhaps even significantly. We look to our former colleague and top-ranked economist, Ed Hyman who noted that the recent reading of core inflation may be an outlier and that lower commodity prices will continue to bleed into a lower PCE. Our more constructive view on equities near-term is highly dependent on inflation coming down. So far, we have been wrong on the speed of that decline. The Fed’s more hawkish stance regarding raising interest rates raises the risk of financial dislocations, i.e. something may break in the global economy. The probability of a soft landing is now more unlikely. With that in mind, we are watching currencies very closely. The US Dollar is breaking out, and we are effectively exporting inflation to the rest of the world. A breaking point is more likely to come from abroad, given our domestic banking system is well capitalized and consumer balance sheets still look healthy. Europe is one of the areas to watch, given parts are already in a recession.
One of my close friends in the business recently asked me, “What would make you bearish?” A fair question for a portfolio manager who believes investing, by definition, is a positive endeavor. I would become bearish if I did not believe inflation could get back to a level closer to 3-4%. That may seem optimistic from current levels, but businesses are reacting rapidly to changing conditions. A key driver of that change is technology, which drives about 40% of our economic growth today.
The problem with inflation is that it is on the supply side. Destroying demand by increasing interest rates won’t be enough. The good news is we are seeing global supply chains easing, and business managers are adapting to a post-pandemic economy where labor is structurally scarce. It may take a bit more time for markets to price in these changes and the uncertainty associated with them, but we may be getting closer to that point. We, therefore, remain optimistic that the current oversold conditions may offer another interesting entry point for patient investors.


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This article is more than 1 year old
Intel boss: Expect chip shortages into mid-2019, stumbling server processor sales this year
Chipzilla laments weak IoT, looming server gloom, still promises 10nm proper by Q4
Intel saw some of the shine wiped off its 2018 fiscal year as the chip giant closed out the year with a disappointing fourth quarter and warnings of lean times to come.
Chipzilla said for the final quarter [PDF] of last year, ending December 29:
- Revenues of $18.7bn were up 9 per cent from the year-ago quarter, but short of the $19.02bn bar analysts had set.
- Net income of $5.2bn can't really be compared to Q4 2017's $700m, as Intel took a one-time $5.4bn tax hit in that year-ago quarter. Non-GAAP net income was $5.9bn, a 14 per cent increase from $5.2bn in 2017.
- Non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.28 topped analyst estimates of $1.22
- PC revenues of $9.8bn were up 10 per cent from Q4 2017.
- Datacenter revenues of $6.1bn were a 9 per cent jump from last year's quarter.
- IoT revenues were $816m, down 7 per cent year-over-year. Intel blamed this on the since-divested Wind River.
- Memory revenues were $1.1bn, a 25 per cent jump. Programmable solutions (FPGA) revenue was $612m, up 8 per cent.
For the full year:
- Revenues of $70.8bn were a 13 per cent gain from $62.8bn last year.
- Net income of $21.1bn was more than double the previous year's $9.6bn, due to the aforementioned tax write-off. The non-GAAP income of $21.5bn in 2018 was up 28 per cent from $16.8bn in 2017.
- Non-GAAP earnings per share of $4.58 compared to $3.46 last year
- PC revenues were $37bn, a 9 per cent increase from 2017.
- Datacenter revenues on the year hit $23bn, a 21 per cent boost.
- IoT revenues topped out at $3.5bn (up 9 per cent), memory revenue was $4.3bn (up 22 per cent) and FPGAs netted Chipzilla a $2.1bn haul (up 12 per cent).
Despite the strong overall numbers for fiscal 2018, the year closed on a down note for Intel. The chip giant fell short of its revenue targets for the fourth quarter, with modem sales, and revenues in China in particular, a disappointment.
Intel's long-running chip shortage also looked to have an impact on Chipzilla's book balancing: desktop platform volumes were down 8 per cent, year on year, while average selling price rose 13 per cent, and notebook volumes were up 1 per cent as prices climbed 6 per cent. Data center processor volumes were up 9 per cent, while the average selling price was flat, up 1 per cent.
In other words, Intel focused on fabricating expensive server chips, protecting that cash cow to the detriment of consumer-grade CPUs, and upped prices of those lower-end parts to compensate for a dip in shipments. Which it can do, because it has a virtual monopoly on the data center compute market. It's good to be king.
To be clear, the shortages are caused by growing demand for Intel's 14nm Xeon server chips – it cannot make them fast enough for hungry cloud giants – amid its struggle to bring its years-late 10nm factories up to speed. (Its only 10nm processor available to date is a sop.)
All of this has forced Chipzilla to prioritize $$$$-priced data center parts, and the shortages are due to last into the middle of the 2019.
"Supply remained constrained particularly at the value end of our product range," interim CEO, and long-term CFO, Bob Swan told financial analysts on a conference call of the shortages. "We are working closely with our customers to align demand with available supply while we add capacity and we expect supply-demand balance to improve by mid-year."
Execs on the call also warned that the data center business would likely see a decline in the upcoming quarters as many companies have purchased more than enough chips by now, and are now "absorbing" the CPUs they stockpiled in the first three quarters of last year. Intel doesn't expect things to pick up again until the back half of 2019.
Intel boots countries where its men and women workers aren't paid the sameREAD MORE
Those hoping for big news on the CEO front were disappointed. Swan told analysts that Chipzilla continues its search for a permanent replacement to the departed Brian Krzanich with no big announcements on the horizon.
Similarly, Intel was tight-lipped on the earnings call about its ongoing quest to get anything actually substantial and useful fabricated using its beleaguered 10nm process node. Execs declined to talk about yields for the planned 10nm Ice Lake CPUs, other than to repeat their earlier prediction that desktop and notebook computers using Intel's 10nm chips will hit the market at the end of 2019, and 10nm Xeon server processors will be available in early 2020.
This is the 10nm node that was supposed to have been on the market five years ago. After going down a design dead-end – it suffered from hopelessly low yields due to its metalization and multi-patterning choices – Chipzilla has started over with a more viable approach.
As tends to happen when a company fails to deliver on its forecast, Intel took a beating on Wall Street, with shares down 7 per cent in after-hours trading. ®


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Thailand, Indonesia stand as Vietnam’s major auto exporters in July
Thailand and Indonesia continued to be Vietnam’s major car exporters, making up over 76 percent of combined imported cars, according to the General Department of Vietnam Customs.
The trend began in June, when cars from Thailand and Indonesia accounted for over 67 percent of Vietnam’s total imports of 3552 units worth US$97.9 million.
A total of 1743 cars were imported from Thailand for $2464 million and 638 cars worth $6.6 million were shipped from Indonesia in June.
In July, Vietnam imported 4761 cars at a cost of nearly $108 million, up 34 percent month-over-month in volume and over ten percent in value.
Of the total, 2324 cars, or 48.8 percent, came from Thailand, totalling $37.9 million.
Meanwhile, 1302 cars were imported from Indonesia, or 27.3 percent of the total, for $14.1 million.
On average, cars from Thailand cost $16308 apiece, while each car imported from Indonesia fetched less than $10900 in July.
Notably, Vietnam spent more than $96 million importing 4078 cars in the first half of August alone.
Vietnamese customs also reported that the country spent $347 million importing auto components and spare parts — mostly from South Korea, Japan, Thailand, and China — in July, up 24.4 percent from June.
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Well-prepared supermarkets in Ho Chi Minh City have managed to keep their shelves filled to the brim with goods as the nation implements social distancing to curb the spread of the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Markets, supermarkets, and shops selling essentials are allowed to maintain normal operations after 0:00 Wednesday, April 1, when Vietnam entered 15 days of nationwide social distancing as per a directive issued by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc the day before.
The Ho Chi Minh City Department of Industry and Trade affirmed the information in a document sent to its information and communications counterpart and the administrations of 24 districts in the city on Tuesday afternoon.
Along with that, the department also stated that supermarket chains and stores in the city had reserved enough supply of essentials to serve the needs of the local people.
Residents are advised to refrain from gathering at the points of sale in order to reduce the risk of COVID-19 infection.
Online purchases and doorstep delivery are recommended while hoarding and panic buying are not, the trade department said.
It also asked the municipal information and communications department and the administrations of 24 districts to widely propagate this information among the city’s residents.
In separate discussions with Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper, representatives of supermarket chains MM Mega Market, Saigon Co.op, and VinMart all affirmed they currently have abundant inventories of rice, instant noodles, canned food, drinking water, eggs, meat, and toilet paper.
At a Co.op Mart supermarket on Nguyen Dinh Chieu Street in District 3 on Tuesday afternoon, Le Thi An was shopping for essentials to keep her family fed and comfortable over the next two weeks.
“Everything we need is here [and] nothing’s out of stock,” An told Tuoi Tre, glancing at a grocery list she had made beforehand.
Another shopper, Huynh Thi Le Thi from Binh Chanh District, said she was only looking to buy some vegetables for dinner as she did not feel the need to stock up on food.
“It’s only 15 days. You cannot eat so much,” Thi said, adding that being stress-free is more important to stay healthy during the epidemic.
Supermarkets said they allow purchases made via phone calls and instant messaging applications such as Viber and Zalo for the convenience of customers.
Vietnam’s Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc on Wednesday declared COVID-19 a nationwide infectious disease pandemic.
The government is doing its best to control the epidemic as the country has confirmed 222 cases of COVID-19 infection so far.
No death related to the disease has been reported while 63 patients have recovered and been discharged from the hospital to date.


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Pasadena announced Tuesday the city will change how it recovers unpaid parking fines.
PayLock LLC, a Somerville, New Jersey-based company, will provide “SmartBoots” to the city, which will allow Pasadena to boot cars that have been illegally parked and cited at least five times.
What makes them “smart” is that car owners can make payments over the phone 24/7 and will then receive a six-digit code to unlock the boot. According to the city, most drivers will have access to their car in less than 10 minutes.
“While the California Vehicle Code allows us to impound vehicles with five or more unpaid parking citations, we wanted to find a way to collect these unpaid citations that was less punitive,” City Parking Manager Jon Hamblen said in a statement.
“Instead of having to come to our office and then to a tow yard, motorists can now simply call Paylock, make a payment and have access to their vehicle in minutes.”


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The government has commenced the review of the National ICT Act 2009 with a core technical working group (TWG) established to undertake the program.
Communication and Information Technology Minister Timothy Masiu said the ministry has initiated the process to review the National Information and Communication Technology Act 2009, jointly led and resourced by the Department of ICT and the National ICT Authority.
He said since the passing of the National ICT Act 14 years ago, the ICT sector has transformed drastically and there is an urgent need to take into consideration sectoral developments including critical digital infrastructure, data governance, cyber security, fintech, artificial intelligence, digital skills, and cloud technology.
“I have instructed for a core technical working group (TWG) to be established and jointly led and resourced by the Department of ICT and the National ICT Authority. I have instructed for a comprehensive review of the National ICT Act 2009 to be undertaken by the technical working group within two months before we start giving options to government.
“Our telecommunications and broadcasting market and industry has grown such that there is also a need to review our approach and options for regulating spectrum management, market structure, internet governance, just to name a few.
“With respect to internet prices, within the last three years, I have consistently taken different approaches under the current legislation to commence inquiries and try to trigger reduction of both wholesale and retail prices, but with minimal results.
I am of the view that the National ICT Act 2009, including the fundamental policies to which it is drafted upon, requires a comprehensive review.
“The government is triggering economic growth through Special Economic Zones and our efforts are seen through the passing of the Special Economic Zone legislation in 2019 and the forthcoming inaugural PNGSEZ Summit.
“The recent amendment to the Investment Promotion Act consolidates our efforts to streamline process and appetite for foreign direct investments while our 2023 National Budget has put a strong emphasis on the SME sector.
“The onus is now on other economic and non-economic sectors to support these economic policies. My Ministry is focused and tracking the digital transformation agenda.
“However, we are still under the National ICT Act 2009 that is fast getting out of touch, given the emerging policy issues that have accumulated over the past 14 years.
“We must take stock and update the existing legal framework to give our economy and people a chance at growing new investment opportunities.
“In the case of my ministry, we are interested in growing the telecommunication sector and slashing internet prices so that we support both foreign direct investment and SME growth,” Mr Masiu said.


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Not all fraud increases in an economic downturn.
Some make the case that internal fraud increases in times of recession, but when times are tough companies pay closer attention to the books making it more difficult for employees to get away with fraud or theft.
Press Release:Will Economic Downturn lead to increased Fraud?
Red Bank, March 2, 2009 /Internal Release/ - There have been a number of recent articles outlining how the economic downturn will result in increased fraud, which I believe have inaccurately portrayed the real fraud risks in an economic downturn. I am currently compiling a definitive article on the topic for broader release (internal fraud, friendly fraud, first and third party fraud, organized fraud) but would offer some counter arguments for feedback to some of the assumptions and predictions that are being presented in the press today.
What we are seeing in the press is how these fraud cases tend to be more exposed in bust times. Consider the recent investment ponzi scams that have come to light with Madoff and Stanford, these are not fraud scams that were perpetrated in a bust economy, they happened in the boom, and came to light in the bust. In times of economic downturns businesses are sharpening their pencils and digging into costs, expenses and cash flow and this tends to uncover internal fraud that may have been overlooked.
In another article found on Security Watch and written by Fortify Software the author theorizes that online fraud will increase by 33% in 2009 because fraudsters are being impacted by the ongoing economic credit crunch and will be selling card data for less money. In short their premise is that the fraudsters in the card reselling segment are experiencing higher competition for card data and are having to push more inventory to get the same financial yield. They cite the economic recession for the reduction in average cost for a stolen identity(card, cvv and expriration date). These identities have dropped from $15.00 18 months ago to $2.00 last October. While I can understand making a correlation to increased fraud due to increased and cheaper supplies of card data, I don't really buy the idea that this correlates to the economic rescission. The card data reselling market has become competitive, and the availability of compromised data is high, which means there is higher supply than demand today. I am not an economist, but I would be more inclined to believe that price points on compromised cards are falling due to simple supply and demand over the idea that the downturn in the economy is hurting the sales of card resellers.
About The Fraud Practice
The Fraud Practice, http://www.fraudpractice.com, is a privately held US LLC based in Sarasota, Florida. The Fraud Practice provides consulting services on eCommerce payments, fraud prevention and credit granting as well as prepared research and online training for payment and fraud professionals. Businesses throughout the world rely on The Fraud Practice to help them build and manage their payment, fraud and risk prevention strategies.
Introduction to Ecommerce Fraud Fundamentals.
Provides participants foundation level knowledge about the theories, best practices and terminology surrounding electronic payment fraud. Presented in a standard format covering the history of eCommerce Fraud, consumer fraud, merchant fraud, fraudster motivation, fraud trends, identity verification and phishing.
International Payment Service Provider Buyer's Guide.
This 81 page document provides an overview of the many types of features and services PSPs can offer while discussing many of the vendors servicing the market in terms of the functionalities and payment methods they offer as well as regional coverage.
Ecommerce Fraud Moving from Tools to Solutions.
This session covers what constitutes a fraud solution and categorizes the many types of third party fraud tools. The course outlines the common terminology of fraud solutions and describes the capabilities needed to implement a fraud solution.


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Ferro considering sale of solar pastes business; guidance cut by 42%
15:28 PM | October 10, 2012 | Vincent Valk
Ferro says it is considering the sale of its solar pastes business “in an effort to eliminate its drag on ... earnings and cash flow,” says CEO James Kirsch. “The market for conductive pastes used in...
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Rad Power Bikes has not yet announced any new models for 2021. We are keeping a close eye on the Rad Power Bikes website. Particularly, whether certain electric bike models are going out of stock (with no anticipated shipping date). This is usually an early indicator that new Rad Power Bikes models are coming. In past years Rad Power Bikes has announced models early in the … [Read more...] about Will Rad Power Bikes Offer 2021 Models?
I wouldn't call it the most obvious partnership, but who am I to judge? I like Rad Power Bikes and I do enjoy beer. I've even enjoyed a PBR from time to time. Today Rad Power Bikes announced a gear partnership with Pabst Blue Ribbon. Perhaps even more interesting to readers is the custom RadRunner they are giving away to kick off the Pabst partnership. The RadRunner is … [Read more...] about Rad Power Bikes Partners with Pabst on New Gear (Win a RadRunner!)
Rad Power Bikes has been known to experiment as of late with limited editions and new colors. It started with the RadRunner Plus which was originally released as a limited edition ebike. According to Rad the RadRunner Plus is here to stay. When Rad Power Bikes announced the RadWagon 4 it too released with a limited edition black (check out my RadWagon 4 review video). As of … [Read more...] about Rad Power Bikes Releases Limited Edition Forest Green RadRover
Pedego Electric Bikes already set themselves apart from the ebike market by having stores — yep, actual standalone stores. That came with a price though - Pedego’s bikes ranged from $1,995 to nearly $5,000 for some of its top of the line models. But Pedego’s latest is an offering in the class of ebike offerings from value-priced ebike brands such as Rad Power Bikes and … [Read more...] about The New Pedego Element Ebike | Low Cost Fat Tire Ebike
Rad Power Bikes historically has offered a majority of their electric bikes at $1,499. Now, it seems their pricing strategy has changed with three recent price changes. It started earlier this year when Rad Power Bikes announced the RadRunner Plus at $1,699 (my review). Until today, this was their highest priced electric bike with the majority of the remaining models priced at … [Read more...] about Rad Power Bikes Increases Prices on 3 Models


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Foreign investors put their money to work overseas for several reasons. Diversification, after all, is the mark of a successful investor. However, one pressing concern is safety for the investor. Is Thailand truly a safe and stable country for businessmen to invest in? The answer is: Yes, absolutely
Ongoing Infrastructure Development
Thailand’s economy is one of the most stable in the Asia-Pacific region. It is rapidly developing. In fact, the current government has already started a major infrastructure upgrade particularly in the rail networks that the country uses as a main form of inter-city transportation. Within the next eight years, Thailand will step up its role as a major ASEAN hub with international railways connecting the country to China, Myanmar and Singapore.
This means that investment in Thailand is going to flow in. With an international railway system in place, this will also open up several new opportunities for businessmen who are already operating a venture in the country as demand will increase for products and services in the hospitality and tourism sectors of the nation.
Treaty Agreements with Multiple Countries
As we have mentioned in our previous article, Thailand has economic agreements with the United States, Japan and Australia, among others. Nationals of these countries who decide to invest in the Thai economy get to enjoy benefits that businessmen from other non-treaty nations don’t have.
For instance, American, Japanese and Australian business entities are treated as Thai nationals as far as the law for businesses are concerned. They enjoy majority ownership of their own businesses, whose board members can comprise of a lesser number of Thai nationals than in companies whose countries don’t have economic agreements with Thailand.
Another benefit brought about by these agreements is the reduction of tariffs and import duties on specific imports between Thailand and these three countries. By the end of these agreements, imports between Thailand, and the three signatory countries will be reduced to a bare minimum or will even become duty free.
Government Support for Foreign Investment
The Thai government itself lends its support to foreign investors. In fact, businesses whose majority stockholders are foreigners can get incentives like tax breaks and import duty exemptions from the Board of Investment. One of the sectors that provide incentives to foreign businesses is the manufacturing sector, but the number of sectors in which foreign investors can invest in and enjoy incentives is numerous. It would be a good idea to check with the Board of Investment on the list of specific businesses where foreigners can enjoy tax incentives and exemptions.
The quality and the cost of labor in Thailand is highly competitive especially in the manufacturing sector, which has become the major contributor to the local economy. In other words, it is less expensive for foreigners to invest in and maintain a business in Thailand as early as now.
Thailand is rapidly growing, and its economy becoming more stable every year. Combined with ongoing infrastructure developments and competitive labor, Thailand is one of the best places for foreigners to make an investment in.
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The two agencies that regulate Oregon’s marijuana industry approved rules to allow retailers to keep products on their store shelves that don’t meet new testing, packaging and labeling standards that take effect Saturday, the first day recreational marijuana stores can open for business.
Products that didn’t meet the new standards could have been removed from stores, but the Oregon Liquor Control Commission and the Oregon Health Authority agreed that if licensees don’t yet have preapproved packaging and labels, they may use generic packaging and labeling until their packages and labels are approved by the OLCC.
There are 26 recreational marijuana retailers licensed by the state, and some could be open for business as early as Saturday, said Steve Marks, executive director of the OLCC. “We’re right on time. It’s Oct. 1 and we’re ready,” he said.
Retailers had complained of a backlog in getting approvals for labels and packages and said there were only a few laboratories capable of testing to the new, more stringent standards. Mr. Marks said in a conference call with reporters on Friday that the state is caught up with testing, and that four of the 10 laboratories presently licensed by the state are capable of conducting pesticide testing as required under the updated rules. More labs will be accredited in the coming weeks, he said.
To remain on shelves, products produced before Oct. 1 must clearly state they were tested under the old regime and must leave stores in childproof packaging.
By allowing retailers to sell products produced before the Oct. 1 rules changes, the state will provide a smooth transition for retailers to sell existing product and for those medical dispensaries that want to transition into a recreational license, said Nathan Rix, a senior policy analyst at the commission. To date, the OLCC has approved a total of 326 licenses in the following categories: producers, processors, wholesalers, retailers and labs.
While recreational retails sales officially begin Saturday, medical marijuana stores had received waivers to sell recreational products temporarily until retailers could be licensed. Oregon voters approved medical marijuana in 1998 and recreational marijuana in 2014.


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Soothsayers at the analyst group Piper Jaffray have consulted their tarot cards and have come to the conclusion that corporate IT spending will increase by four or five percent this year.
Of course, they claim that it is based on a survey of 69 small- and mid-cap company chief financial and chief information officers in 13 industries, but we all know that it just shuffled the cards and cut them with their left hands.
The prophets report that the results of the survey are “overall positive for the IT hardware sector,” with most respondents expecting to increase their IT spending this year.
The four to five percent figure is about the same as what Gartner reckoned and is slightly above the forecast of four percent global GDP growth. However, it is a lot less than the projected 7.6 percent growth in 2011.
In 2010, IT spending ended up increasing 5.9 percent while GDP rose 5.1 percent, which was much better than a forecast at the start of that year for just 1.3 percent IT spending growth.
There must have been some bad cards in the spread because the readers said as 2012 begins the “global economy stands at a crossroads of going from bad to worse”.
Even in a low growth environment, a technology driven world will “continue to spend to support the rapid proliferation of both data and mobile devices”.
It predicts that Intel’s Romley server chip should see a pretty broad, eager audience, with 39 percent of companies wanting to “refresh” their servers with it.
But only 15 percent of respondents said their personal computers need a refresh. In fact it looks like the corporate PC refresh business is running out of gas. Intel will do well from Romley but badly from the slow PC market.
It seems that the corporate PC upgrade cycle clocked off of Windows 7 launch in late CY09 has run out and demand for corporate PCs purchase is likely to slow in 2012.
The cards claimed that Windows 8 may be late and buggy as it is a major upgrade much like Windows Vista.


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Retail fundamentals showing signs of distress
- Henrico County has approved plans and has proceeded with next steps for an indoor sports complex at Virginia Center Commons. The county sanctioned $8.3 million to purchase 25 acres of land to develop the 4,500-seat center containing 12 basketball courts. Final approvals are slated for June of 2021.
- JC Penney closed their store in Regency Mall and sold the building to the developers, Rebkee and Thalhimer Realty Partners for $3 million. Although plans have not yet been made for the space, the mall has made strides to adapt to the shift in consumer preferences for experiential retail, as the mall introduced its first new anchor in October - an indoor trampoline park.
- Burlington and Hobby Lobby have signed on to anchor Bermuda Square Shopping Center in Chesterfield. Both stores opened at the end of the year. These moves highlight the increase in activity of discount retailers in the market. Brands such as TJ Maxx, Marshalls, and Ross have become increasingly popular during the pandemic as the economic uncertainty has increased the price sensitivity of shoppers.


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With both consumer brands and retailers scrambling to create marketing that works across all channels, a new survey reveals sweeping changes in marketing spending.
research, from the Brand Activation Association and Booz & Co., reports that while both TV and trade promotions budgets are flat (and print is declining), content marketing is gaining in
importance. Not only has it been the most important initiative in the past two years, but 68% of those in the survey (which included 26 brand marketers and retailers as well as in-depth interviews
with 60 execs) intend to invest more in the next two years.
In addition, 100% of consumer brand manufacturers say they intend to up mobile marketing spending (with 44% predicting increases
of more than 10%); 96% plan to increase social media spending (with 67% increasing it by more than 5%), and 96% have plans to raise shopper marketing budgets (with 45% increasing by more than 5%.)
But “breaking free from the gravitational pull of trade promotions will be hard work for brand manufacturers and retailers,” the report says. “It requires taking a strategic
view of how shopper marketing fits into the new marketing model. It also requires executive sponsorship and a sustained commitment to overcome historically siloed behavior in the organization as well
as across the broad set of vendors with which brands and retailers work.”
For example, marketers are increasingly “investing in custom content syndicated across
retailers’ digital assets to jointly engage shoppers and create higher-quality experiences that build the brand and drive conversion.”
The report says brands may eventually act
as “digital captain” on these efforts, much in the same way that they spearheaded leadership in category management.
But doing so requires developing the ability to act less
like the large companies they are, with distinct silos of responsibility, and to move more nimbly among the many different players required to build omnichannel success, including retailers, agencies,
media, and technology providers. “They also need to pay sufficient attention to informal organizational change levers,” the report continues, “such as fostering networks across key
talent pools and identifying and rewarding desired behaviors to help the culture evolve.”"Woman
shopping vegetables while man using cellphone in supermarket" photo from Shutterstock.


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The UK‘s largest bakery chain Greggs, has seen a 4.2% rise in like-for-likes and anticipates its full-year profits will surpass expectations.
The total sales growth of 3.6% for the year to date has been attributed to Greggs‘ increased focus on healthy food and 2014‘s weather.
“The other big category is drink, particularly coffee, which has been our fastest growing area for five or six years now,” said Chief Executive Roger Whiteside, referencing their ‘smoother‘ coffee blends which have been included in the popular lunchtime sandwich deals.
Whiteside noted that the milder weather of 2014 has brought in more customer footfall compared to 2013 which saw like-for-likes down by 1.1%, adding that, “Trading conditions have remained helpful but there is no doubt that customers are also responding to improvements in our product and service offer and to the investment we are making in the shop environment.”
The food retailer has almost 1,700 stores nationwide and has implemented more breakfast and lunch deals to rival food-on-the-go competitors such as Pret A Manger. A push for health-conscious foods and the launch of its balanced choice sandwiches, which are 400 calories or less, are reported to average over £1m each week, according to Whiteside, but the baker still features its famous pastries and pasties.
Following an unfortunate ‘hack‘ of the Greggs‘ Google logo earlier this year which saw share prices drop, the company has made up for lost sales in the six months leading up to 13th December, with a reported 5.2% sales increase. The full-year profits for Greggs was forecast at £54m, but Whiteside stated that, “Whilst there is still much to play for over the final few weeks of the year we currently anticipate that full year profits will be ahead of analysts‘ expectations.”
Adding to a successful year, Greggs has also seen a reported increase in how much customers spend since the launch of Greggs Rewards, a mobile payment and loyalty app, and “thousands” of consumers had signed up to the app, according to Whiteside. Built by independent digital agency, ‘putitout‘, the app allows customers to add money to the ‘Greggs Wallet‘, purchase items in store by scanning them and earn rewards on each purchase.
Chief executive Whiteside has an optimistic outlook for Greggs and said, “We expect to make a further update on trading over the Christmas period in early January.”


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The rumors are true: Nintendo is releasing the SNES Classic this fall. The mini console will come with two controllers and will be loaded with 21 games.
Nex Machina, the latest from Housemarque Studios, looks, sounds and feels like a love child borne of two of its earlier games, RESOGUN and Alienation. With fast-paced twin-stick action, a thumping soundtrack, and beautiful neon visuals, it’s exactly what one would expect from the developers. And thanks to a collaboration with arcade legend Eugene Jarvis, it’s infused with just enough mechanics and...[Read More]
Nex Machina, the latest from developer Housemarque, released this Tuesday, so we spoke to the studio about it and its upcoming game, Matterfall.
Perception is a game with a unique concept. “What would it be like to play a horror game where you’re blind?” While the idea is interesting, the execution is unfortunately awful. The game, or at least its PlayStation 4 version, is a buggy mess that may make the game unfinishable for players, as it did for me. Bugs aside, the game itself isn’t very scary, and bad checkpointing makes the experience ...[Read More]
We’re nearing the finish line: the eighth episode in our nine-part Statik walkthrough series is here, and it explains “An Unwanted Sense of Statik.”
Pokémon GO is getting what claims to be the game’s biggest update soon, which will add features to gyms and include a new Raid Battle feature.
RiME is a mixed bag. Certain elements of it, like the music and art style, are magnificent. But the core pieces of the game—the puzzles, controls and story—are irritating at best and awful at worst. While RiME looks and sounds inviting, it’s not nearly as enjoyable as it initially appears. In RiME, the player wakes up on a beach a little dazed and confused. Shortly thereafter, the player meets a f...[Read More]
E3 threw a lot at us the past few days, so if you missed the new story trailer for Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, we’ve got you covered.
Farpoint, one of the most highly anticipated PS VR titles, quite simply shatters expectations. It can be tough to imagine how a game will feel in VR before actually playing it, and Farpoint thankfully feels like the best-designed high-intensity VR game yet. It’s imperfect, as all VR games still are, but it proves that there is a huge open space with plenty of opportunities for full-fledged shooter...[Read More]
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim VR is coming to PlayStation, according to a video premiered during Sony’s E3 press conference.
Sony announced a remastered edition of Shadow of the Colossus during its E3 press conference today, and it’s set to launch in 2018.
One of the first announcements of Sony’s E3 press conference is that Horizon Zero Dawn will be getting DLC sometime this year.


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The UK’s Swedish whisky market is about to get a new player with the news that Fields, Morris & Verdin (FMV) is to add High Coast to its spirits portfolio.
High Coast is one of a handful of Swedish distilleries to be founded in recent years and it is also one of the world’s most northerly distilleries.
The company was rebranded in 2018 to be named after its location in Adalen on the High Coast of north-eastern Sweden. The distillery is located on the banks of the Angermanalven River in a building that once housed the power plant for a wooden box factory, where the distillery’s initial name ‘Box’ originated.
Spirits buyer, Doug McIvor, said: “I have been following the emergence of High Coast over the past few years after tasting new make spirit from the distillery a while back. My thoughts on tasting the spirit back then were that this was a world-beating whisky for the future. Everything I have tasted from High Coast since then has confirmed this to be true.”
Spirits director, Johnny Roberts, said: “We are thrilled to be working with the team from High Coast. At 63degrees North it is one of the world’s most northerly distilleries; amazingly the Arctic circle passes through their maturing whisky! High Coast is a fantastic whisky that complements our existing range from Berry Bros. & Rudd, Glenrothes and Daftmill.”


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ANLAM, Germany – Continental is experimenting with Russian dandelion rubber as a potential replacement raw material in truck tires to rubber from tropical regions.
The work is being done at the new Taraxagum Lab in Anklam, Germany, which opened Dec. 6. The company is investing 35 million Euros and employs about 20 people at the 323,000 sq.-ft. lab.
If initial tests prove viability, Continental says it will introduce the raw material into serial production within 10 years.
“We are proud to inaugurate this lighthouse project today,” said Nikolai Setzer, head of Continental’s tire division. “We are the first tire manufacturer in the world to invest such a significant amount in industrializing dandelion rubber. We see Russian dandelion as an important alternative and complementary to conventional natural rubber from hevea brasiliensis allowing us to meet rising global demand in an environmentally compatible and reliable way.”
Continental has been looking for ways to replace natural rubber with plants that can be grown in moderate climates since 2011. It showcased its first truck tire made of dandelion rubber at the IAA show in 2016. More information on the project can be found at www.taraxagum.com.
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Getting behind the wheels of an economy in a slide is a tough task at the best of times. Doing so when various growth engines are either sputtering or grinding to a halt, makes it even tougher.
That is exactly the situation that South Korea's new President Park Geun-hye faces as she takes charge of Asia's fourth-largest economy.
Admired and envied for years of economic expansion and the way it emerged from the Asian financial crisis of 1997-98, South Korea's growth seems to be running out of fuel.
The fact that in her first policy agenda for the next five years, unveiled last week, Ms Park did not set any specific growth target for the economy highlights just how complicated the task of reviving growth is likely to be.
Amongst her biggest concerns - and one that she arguably has little control over - is the slowdown in exports, which accounts for more than half of South Korea's overall economic output. Contraction in key markets such as the US and the eurozone has hurt.
Although there was a pick up in exports in January, analysts warn that global economic conditions continue to remain fragile and that shipments may be hit if the situation in any of the key markets deteriorates.
There are now concerns that exports may also be undermined by the recent currency movements.
The Japanese yen has weakened nearly 15% against the US since November, making Japanese goods cheaper for foreign buyers.
Meanwhile, the Korean won has risen nearly 10% against the US dollar since May, making Korean goods more expensive.
And with Korean and Japanese firms competing against each other in the same markets, there are fears that Korean goods may lose out due to affordability.
'Longer term strategy'
However, there are some positive signs as well, not least from demand from within Asia, especially China.
China has been trying to spur domestic consumption in an attempt to rebalance its own export-led economy.
Some analysts say that rising demand from China in the coming years is likely to help drive up South Korean exports.
"As demand from China rises, a part of that is going to be for South Korean products," says James Rooney chief executive of Market Force Company, a Seoul-based consultancy firm.
"South Korea has engaged its economy quite well with China to take advantage of that."
But others warn that China is facing its own set of challenges on both the domestic and global front, and that South Korea should not pin all its hopes on Chinese demand to sustain its exports sector.
Some analysts say that the new government needs to introduce policies that encourage research and development, so that firms develop new products and create a niche market.
"This could be in the green energy sector or even the services sector," says Kwon Young-sun, an economist with Nomura.
However, Mr Kwon warns that such moves are unlikely to provide an immediate boost to exports.
"It is more a longer term strategy and the results will take some time to seep through," he explains.
The other big challenge for Ms Park is how to spur domestic demand in the country, where her policies are likely to be constrained by the ballooning household debt.
Ironically, the problem has its roots in the way South Korea emerged from the Asian Financial Crisis in the 1990s - by boosting lending to families and individuals.
Since the crisis, household debt in South Korea has grown by an average of 13% a year, almost twice as fast as the country's gross domestic product (GDP).
It reached a record 959.4tn won ($880bn; £580bn) last quarter. That is equivalent to 164% of disposable income.
That combined with the fact that the real estate market, where a lot of South Koreans have invested this debt, has almost stagnated has got policymakers worried.
While so far there are no real fears of a property market crash, policymakers want to avoid reaching a situation where those fears becomes real.
What that essentially means is that the new government cannot afford to lend its way to growth.
Analysts say that with many households already having high levels of debt, any further borrowing may see a rise in defaults in the long run, especially when interest rates go up.
"At some time in the near future, the economy will start to grow, demand will rise and we will see the inflation rates go up," says Nomura's Mr Kwon.
"As a result, if interest rates need to be raised, the burden on South Korean's households will increase," he adds.
According to some estimates, nearly 90% of loans in the country have a variable interest rate, which means that any rise in the cost of borrowing will impact majority of South Korean households.
"As they pay more to service their debt, households are likely to cut back on spending which in turn will hurt the economy," Mr Kwon explains.
However, the most sensitive challenge she faces is the call for reform in the way South Korea's big family owned businesses, also know as chaebols, are run.
These businesses, which include names such as Samsung, LG and Hyundai, have been a key driver of the country's economic rise in the past years.
They generate about half the country's gross domestic product
But they are facing increased criticism over allegations that they have hurt the growth of smaller and medium sized firms in the country.
The criticism is centred around various parts.
To begin with, some analysts allege that the big business houses get favoured access to capital.
"The chaebols may not always have the best ideas, or the best use of money, but it always comes to them first," says Mr Rooney of Market Force Company.
At the same time, many of the smaller firms in South Korea supply goods to these big business groups.
There are allegations that given their size and importance as a customer, these groups squeeze the smaller firms and hurt their growth and profits and some cases even cause job losses.
"The smaller businesses do not have much cash left at the end of the day to invest towards expanding their business or give wage growth to their employees," says Mr Rooney.
With a widening income gap, rising prices and slowing economic growth, calls for reforming the chaebols have also become a key political issue.
During her election election campaign Ms Park had talked about so-called 'economic democracy'.
"We haven't paid enough attention to fairness," she had remarked.
"[Big companies] can invest and create jobs, but they also have some bad practices - they concentrate their business among their own groups, they snatch technology from small companies, and they enforce prices."
But there are fears that a sharp slowdown in economic growth may see her hold back on any reforms on this front, to ensure that the big growth engines keep tugging along smoothly.


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- Private placement closed at $1.8 million, higher than the initial target of $1.75 million
- Proceeds will be used to develop and enhance Wildflower’s manufacturing capability in Washington State; this development will give the company a better chance to address the growing market demand for its products
- Over the years, Wildflower has established a solid distribution network across the U.S., and the company also registered significant growth through its direct-to-consumer online store
Vancouver-based cannabis company Wildflower Brands Inc. (CSE: SUN) (OTCQB: WLDFF) recently announced that it has closed a previously detailed placement of units at a price of C$0.54 per unit. A unit consists of one common share and a half of one share purchase warrant. The placement was closed with aggregate proceeds of up to $1,882,000 – higher than the initially announced target of $1.75 million (http://nnw.fm/shK9B).
All the proceeds of the financing will be used to build and enhance the company’s manufacturing capability in Washington State so as to meet an increasing demand for Wildflower products, as well as offering general working capital.
Wildflower Brands Inc. is a public cannabis company that develops plant-based wellness and health products. The company markets its full spectrum CBD oil developments to retailers throughout the U.S. and in other legal cannabis markets.
Currently, the U.S. Wildflower distribution network consists of over 200 retailers in Washington State and over 20 retailers in New York City. In addition, the company has partnered up with Retail Worx for the setting up of shop-in-shop retail locations in the heart of NYC and San Francisco. The distribution model also includes over 80 wellness and health care practitioners throughout the U.S.
The Wildflower product development and business growth model is holistic. The company’s operational model encompasses nearly every stage of product creation – research, development, manufacturing, distribution, marketing and retail.
Some of the most prominent brands under the Wildflower umbrella include:
- Wildflower Wellness – provides CBD vaporizers, capsules, tinctures, soaps and topical products
- King Extracts – a California-based company that focuses on cannabis technology and delivery systems
- Exclusive – a high-quality cannabis product dispensary in Los Angeles, California
Wildflower holds 14 cannabis licenses that cover both medicinal and recreational cultivation and manufacturing in California and Los Angeles. Upon activation of these licenses, Wildflower will have an opportunity to drive significant additional revenue with very little risk.
In December 2018, the company started an on-demand cannabis delivery service to adult consumers in the Los Angeles area. To ensure effective deliveries, Wildflower partnered up with Eaze.com. The partnership also facilitates effective inventory management and compliance with all California laws pertaining to legal and licensed cannabis delivery.
A final noteworthy development is the growth of the direct-to-consumer Windflower online store. In 2018, the store registered notable growth in organic demand. Recently, Wildflower announced an increase in online sales of 300 percent and annualized revenues exceeding $1 million for online sales since January 2018. These figures coincide with the platform’s ninth consecutive quarter of growth.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.WildflowerBrands.co
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to WLDFF are available in the company’s newsroom at http://nnw.fm/WLDFF
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