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Recent research from Norton by Symantec reveals that more than eight in ten UAE parents (85 percent) are concerned about their children’s safety on the internet. Half of UAE parents worry their children will be bullied or harassed (49 percent), or will be lured away by a stranger (54 percent), and two in three (67 percent) believe children today are more exposed to online dangers than children five years ago.
According to the Norton Cyber Security Insights Report, a survey of nearly 21,000 consumers globally, two in five parents in the UAE believe their children are more likely to be bullied online than at school in the playground. In addition to cyberbullying, parents’ chief concerns are that their children might:
- Download malicious programs or apps (60 percent)
- Disclose too much personal information to strangers (51 percent)
- Say or do something online that makes the whole family vulnerable (52 percent)
- Post something that will haunt them in the future with job or university prospects (48 percent)
While nearly three in ten UAE parents allow their children under six years to access the internet, a majority of parents implement proactive measures to keep their children safe online, such as limiting access to certain websites and apps (48 percent) or allowing Internet access only under parental supervision (47 percent).
“Parents play a critical role in educating their children on the boundaries for acceptable and safe internet behaviours. An open dialogue about online experiences is the first step in protecting children online,” said Tamim Taufiq, Head of Norton Middle East. “The internet is a valuable resource for children’s development, and our children today don’t know a world without it. Preventing children from going online is not necessarily the answer, we encourage parents to establish house rules on internet usage based on their age and talk to their children about their online experiences.”
Talking about online etiquette, online boundaries, safe internet habits, online experiences and cyberbullying doesn’t have to be challenging. This year, as part of Safer Internet Day, Norton wants to help parents identify the signs of cyberbullying, empower them to start a conversation with their children and establish “netiquette” when the time is right.
Some notable signs of cyberbullying amongst children include:
- Appearing nervous when receiving a text/online message or email or begin avoiding their devices or using them excessively
- Making excuses to avoid going to school, grades beginning to decline or acting up
- Becoming defensive or secretive about online activity or delete social media accounts
- Withdrawing from friends and family
- Physical symptoms such as trouble sleeping, stomach aches, headaches, and weight loss or gain
- Appearing particularly angry, frustrated or sad, especially after going online/checking devices
Tips on how parents can keep their children safe online:
- Establish a set of guidelines for how your children use technology, also known as online etiquette. These guidelines may include how much time can be spent online, which websites are safe to use or what language is appropriate when chatting.
- Create a set of House Rules for children’s online communication, downloading, websites that are safe to visit, and cyber harassment. A decrease in negative online experiences is closely linked to households where there is an open dialogue with children about online safety.
- Teach young children to use strong and unique passwords across all their accounts and never to share passwords, even with their friends.
- Discuss the risks of posting and sharing private information, videos, and photographs, especially on social media websites – everything posted online is a digital footprint for children and can be challenging to completely erase. Parents should help ensure their children are not posting content that will compromise their security or which they may regret when they are older.
- Children are likely to imitate their parents’ behaviour, so parents are encouraged to lead by example and show their children how to safely surf online
- Encourage kids to think before they click; whether they’re looking at online video sites, receiving an unknown link in an email or even browsing the web and seeing banners or pop-ups, remind your children not to click links which may take them to dangerous or inappropriate sites. Clicking unknown links is a common way devices are infected with malware and also can reveal private and valuable information to criminals.
- Use a robust and trusted security software solution, such as Norton Security, for all household devices – from tablets to smartphones, laptops and desktops.
- Most importantly, encourage and maintain an open and ongoing dialogue with your children on Internet use and experiences.
RYSE Launches SmartShade
RYSE has launched its SmartShades – a motorised shade. The company claims that it is the only retrofit solution, meaning it can be set up on any window shade already installed in your home, office, hotel room, or anywhere. The device involves a Chain-Drive system, in which the motor is mounted on the window frame and controls the chains or cords of your window shade. The idea is surprisingly simple – the motor essentially acts as a pulley system for your window shade.
Installation takes a matter of minutes. In 3 easy steps, you can transform your cord-controlled shades into motorised ones. All you have to do is install the mounting bracket on the window frame, loop the chain/cords through the cogwheel, and snap the device onto the bracket to tighten the chain/cord – that’s it. You can then program the SmartShade to lock the top and bottom positions into memory.
This motor is guaranteed to lift your window shade, regardless of its size or weight. How is this possible? This is because the clutch that already comes with your window shade helps reduce the required force needed to pull. While you can power the RYSE SmartShade with an AC Plug into the wall outlet, many of the company’s partners, including hotels and commercial office space, wanted a sleek clean look that is wire-free.
So the company created a removable, rechargeable battery pack that can last up to a staggering 9 months on a single charge, and you can simply recharge the pack via USB.
Control your shades via the buttons on the device or with our mobile app, where you can even create schedules – you can have them set up to rise at 7 am to help me wake up to natural sunlight, and close at 8 pm to give you privacy. Or integrate with Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or Apple HomeKit and control your shades by saying a few simple words. “Hey Google, open my window shades!”
Forget paying thousands of dollars per window just to have Smart Shades. RYSE SmartShade retails for only $149 – a fraction of the cost of competing solutions in the marketplace today.
TEAMGROUP Launches the Upgraded SIREN GD240E AIO ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler with LGA 1700 Compatibility
TEAMGROUP has announced the new SIREN GD240E All-In-One ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler, which comes with a mounting bracket for the latest LGA 1700 socket and fully supports 12th Generation Intel processors and Z690 motherboards, making it a must-have cooling solution for gamers. Launched alongside the CPU cooling system is the M200 Portable SSD, winner of Japan’s 2021 GOOD DESIGN Award. Hardcore gamers around the world can look forward to both products when they are released globally this December.
The newly upgraded SIREN GD240E AIO ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler not only supports various older Intel and AMD sockets but also provides a mounting kit for the latest LGA 1700 socket. The specially selected base plate, support screws, and mounting brackets enable the water block to fit snugly with the processor. The full and even contact between the surfaces aids heat transfer swiftly to the high-density jet fin heat sink, greatly increasing the heat dissipation area and quickly removing heat from the CPU.
To optimise efficiency and the path of heat transfer, the SIREN GD240E is equipped with an ultra-fast 4000RPM water pump that’s installed on the radiator to reduce wear and noise on the CPU caused by water pump vibrations. These features allow the system to deliver 1.5 times higher cooling performance than typical liquid-cooled products while also providing the best protection for the next-gen Intel processors. The SIREN GD240E is an all-in-one liquid cooler system with top-notch heat dissipation and visual flair thanks to the water block’s elegant mirror finish and high-speed ARGB fans that support all major motherboard lighting software.
The M200 Portable SSD has a USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface, which delivers a blazing fast speed of 2,000MB/s, four times that of USB 3.2 Gen 1 external SSDs. It also features USB Type A and Type C OTG capabilities and supports a wide range of platforms, including tablets, smartphones, and PlayStation and Xbox consoles. With a total weight of only 83 grams and a maximum capacity of 8TB, the M200 Portable SSD is lightweight and portable, giving you easy access to fast drive speeds and massive storage at any time.
The upgraded SIREN GD240E AIO ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler provides a new CPU cooling option for the latest Intel platform, and the high-speed M200 Portable SSD offers two different transmission interfaces, so consumers with large capacity storage needs can buy with confidence. These two new products will be available worldwide in December 2021.
Milestone Releases the Batman Expansion for Hot Wheels Unleashed
The amazing post-launch plan for Hot Wheels Unleashed is moving forward. Milestone released the Batman Expansion, a brand new themed DLC with content coming from the DC Universe, dedicated in specific to the Dark Knight legacy. The Batman Expansion brings a huge amount of new playable content with a brand-new Career map to complete, inspired by Gotham, and a breathtaking new environment with many new tracks, the Batcave. The Expansion also includes 5 themed vehicles, The Penguin, Robin™ 2.0T, Armored Batman™, Batman™ Rebirth, The Joker™ GT, a new Track Builder Module, the Joker Funhouse Split, and many themed customization items. The Batman Expansion is included in the HOT WHEELS™ Pass Vol. 1 or can be purchased separately.
Hot Wheels Unleashed offers players the opportunity to drive the cars as if they were playing with the die-cast toys. The gameplay includes adrenaline-filled races, an extended choice of Hot Wheels vehicles with different attributes and rarity levels that players can customize with different skins, and jaw-dropping tracks set in everyday-life locations with special track modules and interactive items. The game also features a revolutionary Track Builder enabling players to customize tracks in any game environment and share them with the game’s community.
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Venezuela: Inflation continues to moderate in June
July 4, 2012
In June, the consumer price index for the Caracas Metropolitan Region rose 1.54% over the previous month, which was broadly unchanged from the 1.57% increase seen in May, but below Consensus Forecast expectations that had prices adding 1.83%. The print mainly reflected higher prices in the transport as well as in the restaurants and hotels categories. Annual headline inflation moderated further from 22.0% in May to 21.2% in June, thus falling to its lowest rate since November 2007. Meanwhile, the core inflation index, which excludes volatile items such as fresh food, oil and other goods subject to government price controls, rose in June 2.00% over the previous month, which was slightly up from the 1.92% increase seen in May. As a result, annual core inflation edged up from 23.2% in May to 23.5%. According to the 2012 budget, the Venezuelan government expects that inflation will fall to between 20% and 22% this year.

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THE Scottish salmon farming industry could make better use of by-products, adding 5.5 per cent value to the sector, researchers have found.
Though generally well utilised, total by-product value output could be improved by 803 per cent (£23.7 million), based on 2015 figures, according to a recent study.
Led by Julien Stevens, researchers from the University of Stirling’s Institute of Aquaculture and University of Massachusetts, Boston, have published research funded by IFFO, the Marine Ingredients Organisation.
The research investigated how value could be added to aquaculture through better utilisation of by-products, by maximising edible yields and better separation at the processing stage, looking at the Scottish salmon farming industry as a case study.
The terrestrial livestock processing industry has long been able to separate by-products to maximise value and efficient utilisation, and this research sought to identify the best markets for salmon processing by-products in the same way.
For finfish, by-products typically include trimmings, skins, heads, frames (bones with attached flesh), viscera (guts) and blood.
Far from being ‘waste’, marine by-products are a potentially important resource, being known to contain valuable nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, protein and lipid fractions (especially important long chain omega-3 fatty acids) which can support further processing into a range of products and markets.
By exploiting all high value by-product types (heads, frames, trimmings and belly flaps) for existing domestic and export food markets, the authors demonstrated the potential to add 5.5 per cent value to the salmon industry.
Directing 77 per cent of the annual whole fish production towards human consumption results in 132,171 tonnes of food.
The remaining by-products can then be utilised in the production of fishmeal and fish oil, and subsequently used in aquafeed for farm raised marine species.
The authors also commented on how current Fish in: Fish out (FI:FO) models do not adequately take into account how finfish are utilised.
IFFO’s Dr Neil Auchterlonie (pictured) noted that ‘current research highlights that FI:FO calculations tend to be simplistic, nether taking into account the nutritional contributions from fishmeal and fish oil beyond protein and energy, nor do they account for the end product other than the edible portion.
‘FI:FO ratios have therefore tended to underestimate the contributions from fishmeal and fish oil.’
Stevens said: ‘We hope this research facilitates improvements; there is a need for further infrastructure investment and policy support to incentivise resource efficiency, along with greater transparency on the current uses of by-products within the sector.’
Read the full paper here: The rise of aquaculture by-products: Increasing food production, value, and sustainability through strategic utilisation


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While the freight cycle remains weak there are brighter days ahead, according to the latest release of the ACT Freight Forecast, U.S. Rate and Volume OUTLOOK report, as the tightly intertwined supply and demand dynamics in the freight market begin to recover with demand fundamentals improving and capacity starting to tighten.
“May will be pivotal for shippers, brokers and carriers,” said Ken Adamo, DAT’s chief of analytics. “After a challenging first four months of the year, we expect to see the effects of seasonality on freight volumes and rates. The question is how sustainable those effects will be.”
The for-hire trucking ton-mile index (TTMI), a report co-authored by Yemisi Bolumole, a Ryder endowed professor of Supply Chain Management at the University of Tennessee, and Jason Miller, associate professor of supply chain management and interim chair of the Department of Supply Chain Management at Michigan State University, shows there wasn't an expected seasonal bounce in freight volume in March, and TTMI shows no signs of an exit from the current freight recession on the horizon. "Though, hopefully, we won’t go back to the even lower levels that we saw in December 2022," Miller added. "In terms of macro-level planning, I would suggest carriers should expect aggregate demand for trucking to be 2% to 3% below levels this time in 2022 until we reach the back half of the year when comps become easier."
With a later than normal produce season this year, and the freight market likely passing the peak of the destock, freight demand is near the bottom, but Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s vice president and senior analyst, added that easing inflation and improving real income trends will allow for a bit more holiday spending this year, "when even less destocking will mean more freight volume."
Data from Truckstop and FTR Transportation Intelligence for the week ending May 12 show a continued softening of broker-posted spot rates in the dry van and refrigerated segments that gave back roughly half the spot rate gains it had achieved in the prior two weeks. Dry van rates have declined in nine of the past 10 weeks, although the rate of decreases in recent weeks has been less recently. Flatbed saw a second straight week of declining rates, which had not occurred since January.
National average rates in April for contracted freight were lower compared to March, according to DAT, and the spread between contract and spot rates rose to near all-time highs: 62 cents for van freight, 60 cents reefer and 66 cents for flatbed.
Adamo called the gap between spot and contract rates “an indicator of where we’re at in the freight cycle — the balance of bargaining power among shippers, brokers and carriers," and for the gap to close, he said two things need to happen.
“One, the supply of trucks on the spot market needs to diminish, which unfortunately means more carriers exiting the market. Two, there needs to be higher demand for trucks — in other words, shippers with more loads than they planned for," he said.
Long-distance trucking employment is also contracting, as long-haul trucking jobs dropped by 8,700 jobs (1%) in the first quarter of the year. While still up 3.0% year-over-year in that latest March data point, the series will be down on a year-over-year basis by June on its current level, Denoyer said. "Since trends in employment follow trends in freight rates, long-haul jobs are set to decline this year," he added.
Interstate operating authorities are contracting at a record rate, with about 11,000 net revocations since last October, including about 1,600 net revocations in April, Denoyer said. "Total revocations were about 10,800 in April, near record levels," he added, "though grants and reinstatements are also elevated. This is beginning to tighten capacity, which will also help spot rates find the bottom and begin to rise.”
All trucking segments are virtually certain to see rate increases this week owing to the capacity disruption invariably caused by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's International Roadcheck event. The three-day period of intense roadside inspections runs May 16-18, and many truck drivers stay off the road during this time. With a decline in load postings and an increase in truck postings, the Market Demand Index fell to 55.6, which is its lowest level in several weeks, according to Truckstop and FTR.
"The intersection of additional volume and tightening capacity underpins our forecast for a near-term bottom in spot truckload rates," Denoyer said. "We’ve been expecting the bottom roughly around this month since we introduced 2023 spot rate forecasts 16 months ago, and we still think Roadcheck this week will help usher in a new freight cycle.”
Adamo noted that in 2016 and 2019, it was precisely the third week in May when the spot market entered a recovery phase after prolonged declines and stagnation. "Seasonality kicked in and shippers needed more trucks to move fresh produce, construction materials, imports and summer and back-to-school retail goods," he said. "If we see an uptick in demand before Memorial Day, it will be a welcome sign for owner-operators and small carriers as we head into the summer and fall.”


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2018 seems like a big year for SNK. For starters, the company will celebrating their 40th birthday with a number of products like the recently started The King Of Fighters a New Beginning Manga, an update to KOFXIV, and new titles to be announced and released in the next few months.
Now a new rumor has surfaced online stating that SNK is working on a Nintendo Switch title. The rumor also claims that the title is not KOFXIV, Metal Slug 5, or Samurai Shodown 7.
Is this an exclusive title or is it the same fighting game the company is currently working on and will be announced this year? Could this be a revival of the Fatal Fury franchise? Or could it be the rumored Neogeo battle Coliseum sequel? Only time will tell.
The Nintendo Switch is no stranger to SNK games, a number of the ACA Neo Geo titles have been released on the console like KOF98, 99, 2000, and others. It is worth mentioning that Nintendo will be having their famous Nintendo direct show sometimes this month, so an announcement of this rumored SNK game could be very close.


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Related News and Notes
GM used heat shields that don't curve under the starters in the 5th and 6th generation Camaro, according to a new lawsuit. That leaves them exposed to heat and makes them completely unreliable.
The plaintiff says the problem is particularly … continue reading
TBD … continue reading
The federal case against GM’s handling of their ignition switch recall might be over, but a judge has left the door open for owners to sue the automaker for economic losses if they want.
Judge Jesse Furman ruled on claims of "manifest … continue reading
A lawsuit says the 2.4L Ecotec engine in the 2010-2017 Equinox burns too much oil, knocks incessantly, has defective spark plugs, and is pre-disposed to timing chain issues that can lead to complete engine failure.
But wait, there’s more…
A … continue reading
A lawsuit says defective piston rings have been causing overheating and oil consumption issues in Equinox and Terrain vehicles since 2010.
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It's no secret that the Equinox's 2.4-liter EcoTech engine has problems with excessive oil consumption. Now there's a lawsuit that wants Chevy to do something about it.
In the end, the plaintiffs claim the EcoTec 2.4-liter piston rings can … continue reading
A proposed settlement will award certain GM owners in Arizona about $200 each for owning cars with ignition switch problems.
The $6.28 million will be paid to about 33,000 GM owners in Arizona, as long as they purchased the vehicles betwee … continue reading
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Here's a fun thought --- your Chevy Cruze turbo diesel might be illegal in the USA. A new lawsuit claims GM is using "defeat devices" to hide emissions output similar to the ones VW just got raked over the coals for.
"Attorn … continue reading
Equinox owners, put down those quarts of oil. General Motors' Technical Service Bulletin (TSB 15285C) could be the answer you've been looking for regarding excessive oil consumption.
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GM is recalling every single current-generation Camaro -- all 511,528 of them -- because of an ignition switch issue similar to the one that already killed 13 people ... or 74 or more depending on who you ask.
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Opera TV is helping SVOD service Claro video expand its presence in Latin America’s growing market, helping Claro streamline its app development and deployment efforts.
Claro’s app will be available to consumers from the Opera TV Store across multiple regions, devices and ecosystems without needing to work with each device manufacturer and ecosystem individually. This will enable Claro video to speed up time-to-market and begin distributing content to consumers more quickly in the 16 countries of LatAm where the service will be available.
The Opera TV Certification Program unites HTML5-based devices into a single ecosystem that is market-ready at the silicon level, making it easier to bring (OTT) services to multiple platform and device ecosystems. It provides app developers access to specifications and documentation for connected TV platforms, along with developer tools like emulators and code snippets, and access to a global support team.
OTT service revenues in Latin America are on track to more than double their subscribers by 2021, Digital TV Research recently reported, with nearly one-in-five households subscribing to an OTT service.
“Latin America is a strategic and important region for Opera TV and our partnership with Claro video enables us to bring top content to consumers enjoying the Opera TV experience,” said Aneesh Rajaram, CEO of Opera TV.
Certified apps are distributed through Opera TV partners, which include consumer electronic device manufacturers as well as pay-TV and free-to-air operators.
Claro video includes a range of content, including movies and TV series on demand, and LAO HAS an extensive catalog with concerts, sports and children’s programs.
It’s available on connected TVs, tablets or smartphones and works with any browser, or by using the app on Android, iOS and Windows tablets and phones, Xbox One and 360 game consoles, Smart TVs, Claro player, Apple TV and Chromecast.
Follow me on Twitter @JimONeillMedia and on LinkedIn


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Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba said Sunday it is pursuing an initial public offering in the U.S., setting the stage for a highly anticipated IPO that could raise more than $15 billion.
The announcement follows a series of press reports stating that the company was preparing for a New York stock market listing, although a source familiar with the offering said Alibaba has not yet made a final decision on an exchange. The IPO is slated for the third quarter, the source added.
“This will make us a more global company and enhance the company’s transparency, as well as allow the company to continue to pursue our long-term vision and ideals.Should circumstances permit in the future, we will be constructive toward extending our public status in the China capital market in order to share our growth with the people of China,” Alibaba said.
Last week, Alibaba executive vice chairman Joe Tsai told Reuters the company would not change its ownership structure in order to meet Hong Kong Stock Exchange requirements. The source familiar with the offering said the company might consider a secondary listing in Mainland China at some stage.
Alibaba operates Taobao.com, China’s largest consumer-to-consumer e-commerce site, and Tmall.com, a business-to-consumer site with more than 70,000 international and Chinese brands available from more than 50,000 merchants.
The company has been hot on the acquisitions trail. Just last week, it bought a 60 percent stake in Chinese television and film production firm ChinaVision Media Group for 6.24 billion Hong Kong dollars, or $804 million at current exchange.
China’s Internet retail market is growing rapidly. Euromonitor valued the market at 607.4 billion yuan, or $98.8 billion, last year and said it is projected to reach 1.85 trillion yuan, or $301 billion, by 2018.
Still, Alibaba is facing increasing competition within China, specifically from Internet giant Tencent Holdings Ltd., which owns social networking service WeChat. Last week Tencentsaid it would buy a 15 percent stake in JD.com, China’s second largest e-commerce company, behind Alibaba. The deal helps strengthen Tencent’s presence in the e-commerce market while giving JD access to Tencent’s considerable mobile and Internet user base.
Alibaba is not the only Chinese tech company seeking a U.S. listing at the moment. On Friday, Weibo Corp., owner of the microblogging service considered China’s answer to Twitter, filed for a U.S. stock offering. It is seeking to raise up to $500 million. Alibaba has a minority stake in Weibo.
As for Alibaba’s plans, Torsten Stocker, a Hong Kong-based partner at consulting firm A.T. Kearney, said, “I thought they would have preferred Hong Kong. It is closer to their headquarters in China. It doesn’t have some of the litigious aspects that listing in the U.S. brings. Their e-commerce platforms may still have a lot of pirated stuff for sale, and I think that is probably more of a risk in the U.S. than in Hong Kong. I think they ultimately would have preferred Hong Kong but decided it is ultimately more important for them to maintain control.”
Franklin Yao, chief executive officer of the Shanghai-based consultancy Smith Street Solutions, said he thinks Alibaba’s massive expansion is not “window dressing” for its upcoming IPO but rather an indication that the company remains “bullish” about the Chinese internet. “I think that is why they are making all of these investments and acquisitions. That is why they are doing an IPO,” Yao said. “They want to have better infrastructure and the IPO as a showcase to continue their expansion. The cynic would say that it is window dressing, but I don’t think that is what they believe. They want to get their hands on every piece of China’s e-commerce and internet infrastructure right now so they are buying low on everything. They still believe that the e-commerce market in China is nascent and are very optimistic about where e-commerce is going to go.”
Yao believes Alibaba may also have very aggressive plans to enter the U.S. market.In February, Alibaba said it would launch a new e-commerce site, called 11Main.com, in the U.S. via Vendio Services Inc. and Auctiva, two of the company’s subsidiaries.
@zacposen's go-to holiday gift? Cookies! "I'll usually bake cookies and send them as a gift," said the designer, who recently released his cookbook "Cooking With Zac: Recipes from Rustic to Refined." Get the recipe for his Brown Butter-Chocolate Chip Cookies via link in bio 🍪🍪🍪 #wwdeye #cookingwithzac
For @monsemaison’s pre-fall 2018 collection, Fernando Garcia and Laura Kim honed in on the brand’s many signatures — men’s wear, which was tweaked and feminized through deconstruction, proportion play and lots of bare shoulders. See the rest of the photos on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: George Chinese)
On Friday night, @yohjiyamamotoofficial received the Design for Asia Lifetime Achievement Award in Hong Kong. The 75-year-old designer has been celebrated for many years and is best known for his dark and avant-garde tailoring. “In my long career, in design, architecture, [I’ve been to] so many parties, this is the very first time that I have such a warm feeling, I really appreciate this,” Yamamoto said. #wwdfashion (📷: @dominiquemaitre)
Discovery is collaborating with British pop artist @philipcolbert on a new line of clothing and accessories called Discovery Shark. The collection, which will launch next summer for Shark Week’s 30th anniversary, features a whimsical line of women’s and men’s bomber jackets, sweatshirts, bags and more. #wwdfashion
“I’m always a big champion of a female rapper, and I’m glad to see a new voice that feels unique and authentic that’s coming up, and I think we’re going to see more great things from her,” said @itsjeremyscott about @iamcardib, who performed at @moschino’s Art Basel Miami Beach party last night. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
@janellemonae’s “What’s Your Frequency?” room in @refinery29's #29Rooms made its debut this week at the opening of the Los Angeles art exhibit. “It’s about the ongoing conversation around mass surveillance, the weaponization of technology and cultural uniformity. My space was created so that we can come together and talk about the complexities of our humanity,” said Monáe. #wwdeye (📷: @bucknerphoto)
@pantone announced their Color of the Year 2018: Ultra Violet. Nearly 20 months after the musician Prince’s death, fashion is having a purple moment. Varying shades of purple appeared on spring or fall runways, from @christopherkane to @calvinklein. @gucci’s Alessandro Michele bathed his fall runway in ultra violet-colored light at one point. Pantone 18-3838 is meant to “push the boundaries of what inspires us to look upward and outward to the future.” #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: @kukukuba)


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The media matters
The closure of the Independent’s print edition at the end of March and the decision of its publishers to make it an online only news brand feels like yet another step in the inexorable decline of print journalism.
And yet this Monday sees the launch of The New Day, the first new standalone newspaper in 30 years. The New Day will be a mid-market title, 40 pages long, containing a restricted number of ads and will settle at a cover price of 50p. Importantly there will be no website or online version of the paper but it will use social media to drive momentum.
This seemly insane decision is based on a hunch. But it’s a pretty interesting hunch. It holds that the problem with print journalism is not the print, it’s the journalism. The New Day’s publisher Trinity Mirror maintain that a substantial number of people in the UK don’t buy a newspaper because there isn’t a product for them rather than because they don’t like the print format. Where others have sought to use more ‘modern’ channels in which to deliver their journalism, The New Day have chosen to use more ‘modern’ journalism.
I find this fascinating because in all the constant bleating about the difficultly of getting people to pay for quality journalism I have once never heard a news title suggest they may have got the product wrong. All of a sudden the decision of the Independent seems the old fashioned one and that of The New Day seems rather enlightened, appropriate given its name.
I suspect that advertisers will lap up the new title. The key audience they are targeting are highly lucrative and difficult to reach women that are hyper connected to digital media but underserved by news brands in any format. Here is a way of reaching them with no fear of ad blocking and in an editorial context perfect for brand building.
Ah yes context. Do you remember when we thought that the context was an essential component of advertising success? It spawned a whole discipline of qualitative media planning that shriveled up on the vine as soon as programmatic moved its tanks onto the media lawn.
The old argument was that the medium was as important as the message and so the context in which advertising was delivered mattered when it came to brand image, audience receptivity and likelihood to take action. It was a moment in time when media was seen as more than simply a pipe to deliver advertising to a target and seek a low cost response, it was a time in which media mattered.
These days clients have ceased to care in what media their advertising appears, they don’t care and they don’t know. They buy media by weight from massive ad networks that dump their advertising into digital media willy-nilly with little care to the potency of media context. Dumb ass behavioural targeting has won the day over a more sensitive appreciation of media brand, audience relationship, media experience and advertising consent.
And it’s not like anyone is winning. Consumers are in revolt over irritation, intrusion and questionable morality of bottom feeding advertising. Advertisers are being screwed by fraud and by the hollow promises of the ad tech industry. And publishers are seeing the great hope of digital advertising revenue disappear down a toilet of their own making.
Now The New Day may prove to be an absolute crock of shit but it may serve a purpose. And that is to suggest a new way forward for news brands.
And for me that’s all about context, about saying that we still belive that the media matters.
Quality news brands should be quality advertising environments. When they were the only newsworthy and timely media it was fine to use them for tactical and newsworthy communication but that boat sailed two decades ago. Advertising in news brands should be about longer-term brand building that offers premium real estate to advertisers that understand and seek the audience mindset, consumer experience and brand values delivered by the host medium. This requires wholesale changes in the relationship between editorial and advertising, not to blur the line between the two but to exploit the mutually reinforcing relationship that they should be building.
Either that or we continue down a path in which news brands provide a commodity product that delivers a commodity audience to be bought and sold at commodity rates. And that doesn’t seem good news for any of us.
3 Replies to “The media matters”
I think this is a quite an interesting development. It’s quite typical of online communities to suggest mainly big winners and big losers in the game. So since the demise of the Indie, it’s either been because print is dead, or because of the inevitable rise of digital media and nothing in between. In the case of the Indie, it has been noted by people much cleverer than me, that the i magazine probably did for the Independent as much as anything else.
Newspapers have probably grappled with how to tackle the web for a while. For them, the nightmare is that it can deliver the crux of a story to millions very quickly, and for minimal cost. To top that, it’s probably not even a newspaper that tells the story. So in some cases, the papers have a choice. Do they stay as a record of, or an opinion on the days’ news?
But one of the biggest problems for publishers is probably outside their control. Unlike paper, PDF’s or other controlled production media the web within a browser is still not a great experience. And that’s a real problem when you want people to pay for it. I’m sure people have made money from items sold on a website, or via software that runs in a browser. But I’m less sure when the website itself is the product. This is probably as much down to the glacial progress of web browsers as much as anything else. As a result, well designed apps and platforms seem to be a very interesting option for publishers.
A lot of folk have called for a more pragmatic approach to media instead of a blanket “do it all” approach. And maybe this is the start of a twist in the tale. Maybe businesses are starting to get cute, and acting on knowing what will and what won’t work. So you might see more firms with no social media, or some with no websites. Maybe a couple of the papers will go free? But for lets face it, if you can only get a paper in the shops, and not online, well that’s a zig rather than a zag. But the emergence of a new printed paper is quite interesting (and the timing feels somehow spot on.) Let’s see if it works….


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If there is any indication of the cultural import and effect of the “millennials” – a term I dislike for reasons I will explain later – look no further than America’s malls. The Baby Boomer hubris and NIMBYism that sent malls into further and further orbits from city centers has come home to roost and it promises to change the face of retail in a big way. First,… Read More
NYS Entity Status
NYS Filing Date
AUGUST 25, 2014
NYS DOS ID#
NYS Entity Type
DOMESTIC LIMITED LIABILITY COMPANY
2014 - 111 COMMERCE DRIVE, LLC
AROUND THE WEB
- Welcome to the softer side of gutted Sears stores
By John Biggs - Monday Jun 12, 2017
- Ask the NY Giants: Socks with Sandals?
Tuesday Sep 15, 2015
Professional athletes like members of the New York Giants are the inspiration for the latest (counterintuitive) high-fashion trend: wearing socks with sandals. Photo: Stu Woo/The Wall Street Journal
- And It Is So Decreed...
Monday Feb 13, 2017
The media, the intelligence agencies, the judiciary and next...Nordstrom?
- America Has Too Many Malls, Not Enough E-Commerce Warehouses
By Laura Northrup - Friday Jun 23, 2017
There are many to blame for the demise of malls, but there’s one important factor that’s easy to fforget: There are just too dang many of them. The U.S. has more retail square footage per person than other industrialized countries, and we keep adding newer and bigger malls without humanely putting enough of the old ones out of their misery. …
- 'NY Times' Finally Joins Snapchat Discover
Monday Apr 24, 2017
Does The New York Times joining Snapchat Discover lend an air of respectability to a new platform, and breathe new life into an aging publisher? That's obviously what the partners are planning -- but only time will tell.
- In the Huddle With NY Jets Owner Woody Johnson
Friday Oct 15, 2010
Woody Johnson, owner of the New York Jets NFL franchise, joins WSJ's Lee Hawkins for the "WSJ Weekend Conversations" series to talk about the Jets' Super Bowl prospects, co-chairing the 2014 Super Bowl host committee, and his charitable interests.
- Much Adieu About Nothing
Monday May 22, 2017
So this is my swan song. Naturally, I have gone back to review what has gone on in this space over the course of 200 columns.
- A Modest Proposal
Monday May 15, 2017
Amid steep audience declines, prime-time shows that were deemed ratings failures a few years ago suddenly look like going propositions. Meh is the new wow.


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SHANGHAI China's Singles Day festival on Nov. 11 generated a record 168.3 billion yuan ($25.3 billion) in sales on Alibaba's online platforms, up 39% from a year earlier, the e-commerce conglomerate said.
"More than $25 billion of [gross merchandise volume] in one day is not just a sales figure," Alibaba Group Holding CEO Daniel Zhang Yong said on Nov. 12, adding that the figure represents "the aspiration for quality consumption of the Chinese consumer, and it reflects how merchants and consumers alike have now fully embraced the integration of online and offline retail."
Gross merchandise volume, or GMV, is used to indicate sales value in online retail.
The event, called the 11.11 Global Shopping Festival, has grown beyond Alibaba, and its scale is similar to the U.S. holiday shopping season. JD.com, the second-largest Chinese e-commerce company, said on Nov. 11 that its sales for a similar event that began Nov. 1 topped 100 billion yuan.
Jack Ma Yun, the founder and chairman of Alibaba, launched the event in 2009 to help stimulate online shopping. The event's so-called Alibaba effect has changed consumers' shopping patterns and extended its reach around the world.
It began with 27 merchants. This year, more than 140,000 brands and merchants took part. About 60,000 of those were non-Chinese from more than 200 countries and territories. Aside from mainland China companies, merchants from Japan, the U.S., Germany and South Korea were top sellers, Alibaba said.
For Alibaba, which handles 10 billion yuan in transactions on a typical day, handling sales 16 times that, such as on Nov. 11, is costly. "We are just making preparations, as daily transactions of more than 150 billion yuan will become part of our business in the near future," an Alibaba executive said.
According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, online commerce markets for individual consumers in China totaled $617 billion in 2015, surpassing the $609 billion in the U.S.
E-commerce accounts for roughly 15% of total consumption in China, up from 4% in 2011, and compared with 7% in the U.S. and 5% in Japan. While Amazon.com's presence is growing, online commerce markets are increasing faster in China than in the U.S. It is also changing employment and payment practices. In China, there are 3 million to 4 million people engaged in "last mile" delivery. Workers earn around 5,000 yuan a month, and most come from rural areas. Creation of these new jobs secures employment opportunities for less-skilled workers from rural areas.
Alibaba and its major competitor Tencent Holdings have a total of 1.2 billion registered payment users. Payments via smartphones soared to 39 trillion yuan in 2016 from 200 billion in 2012.
DIGITAL CONCIERGE Nikkei Inc.'s Shanghai bureau placed 230 yuan worth of orders for such items as Shanghai hairy crab, cigarettes and Starbucks coffee. Thirty minutes later, a driver delivered a pack of cigarettes he purchased at a convenience store and a hot cup of coffee he picked up at Starbucks.
Ten minutes later, a driver from Hema Xiansheng, a fresh-food venture partly owned by Alibaba, brought a live crab. The payments were made through Alibaba's Alipay online platform. Hema Xiansheng shouldered the delivery charge for the crab, while those for the cigarettes and coffee were 16 yuan ($2.40).
Smartphone-based systems of payment collection are an important part of monetizing entrepreneurs' business ideas. They have helped to create an environment for launching businesses such as sharing bicycles, umbrellas and other items. Investment in venture businesses rose to 130 billion yuan in 2016 from 46 billion yuan in 2012.
All of Alibaba's GMV on Singles Day was settled through Alipay, 90% on mobile devices. In Japan, the U.S. and Germany, only 2-6% of consumers use mobile payments, according to a report from the Bank of Japan. In China, 98% of respondents to its survey said they had used mobile payments in the prior three months.
The Alibaba effect is driving business away from brick-and-mortar stores with a vengeance. Some 60% of e-commerce sales in China used to take place in stores. In 2016, at least 70 department stores and big retailers closed. The number of people employed by retail chains stood at 2.45 million last year, down 80,000 from 2012.
Nikkei Asian Review Business and Market News Editor Kenji Kawase contributed to this story.


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A thrift store staff member was threatened by a woman during a shoplifting incident on Nov. 22, Langley RCMP say.
The woman entered the Salvation Army store and took a number of clothing items without paying for them, said Cpl. Holly Marks, a spokesperson for the Langley RCMP.
A staff member followed the suspect and cornered her. The woman then claimed she was carrying infected needles and would stab the staffer. The woman ran off and no needles were seen.
She was last seen heading toward the Langley Bypass towards Willowbrook Shopping Centre.
The suspect is a Caucasian woman who had burgundy hair and acne. She is 5â€™7â€ with a slim build, and was wearing jeans and a red hoodie.
This was one of several shoplifting incidents in recent weeks.
On Nov. 7 and 15, police believe the same man was responsible for making off with Playstation consoles from the Langley Best Buy.
In the first incident, the man took two Playstation 3s and walked out of the store, before getting into a gold Nissan Pathfinder with no license plates.
A week later on Nov. 15 the man was back, this time taking two more expensive Playstation 4s and again trying to simply walk out. Two employees tried to stop the man and managed to grab one of the consoles. The man escaped again.
The suspect is a Caucasian man in his early 20s, with a very thin beard lining his chin and a moustache. In the first incident he wore a bright orange ballcap and a black Under Armour sweatshirt. In the second incident he wore a black jacket, a green and white striped shirt, and dark pants.
Another unrelated shoplifting took place on Nov. 15 when a man swiped several items from the Save-On-Foods in the 20100 block of Fraser Highway without paying. He is described as Caucasian, 28-35 years old, with brown receding hair, a dark moustache, and was wearing a dark hoodie with blue jeans.
On Nov. 17, a woman walked into the Reitmanâ€™s outlet in the Willowbrook Shopping Centre, folded up a pair of pants and dropped them into a shopping bag, and walked out. She is described as a heavyset Caucasian woman.


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Google Stadia Game Design Director Joins Microsoft’s Xbox Game Studios Publishing Team
Microsoft today revealed that it has hired a new top-tier team to bolster its Xbox Game Studios publishing team. Kim Swift, a video game veteran who worked on Portal and Left 4 Dead, left her role as Game Design Director at Google Stadia to become Senior Director of Cloud Gaming at Xbox Game Studios Publishing.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Swift previously worked for the publishing department overseeing the design of second-party projects at Google Stadia, and she also led a team working on experimental first-party projects. Peter Wyse, director of Xbox Game Studios Publishing, said in an interview with Polygon that “Kim is going to build a team focused on new experiences in the cloud, something that will support our mission to bring our Xbox games to connect 3 billion of players to play our games.
All in all, this is an attractive hire for Microsoft, and it follows Google’s announcement that it is shutting down all of its in-house studios creating proprietary games for the cloud-based gaming platform Stadia. the company. Many Stadia executives have since left the company, including Jade Raymond, vice president and head of games and entertainment at Stadia, who has opened a new studio to develop exclusive games for PlayStation.
Our team focuses on three pillars in our games: community, innovation and inclusiveness. Today, @ K2TheSwift joins us in XGS Publishing to accelerate our innovation and collaborate with independent studios to create games for the cloud.
Welcome to the team, Kim! pic.twitter.com/pM3E5Xxyrt
– Xbox Game Studios Edition (@XboxPublishing) June 21, 2021
Microsoft is in the process of helping developers create cloud native games, and the Xbox Game Studios Publishing team today also shared its three foundational pillars for second-party projects – community, innovation. and inclusiveness. “You can see that focus in a game like Tell me why“Wyse told Playserver.” We’re very proud of this game. It reflects our values around LGBTQIA + representation, mental health awareness, and more. “
Last year, the Xbox Game Studios Publishing team also brought us some critically acclaimed games with Microsoft Flight Simulator and Ori and the Will of the Wisps, both of which were created by small external studios far above. of their weight. Upcoming second-part projects include Contraband, a co-op experience developed by Avalanche Studios (Just Cause), and there’s also As Dusk Falls, the new INTERIOR / NIGHT interactive adventure that Microsoft unveiled last year.
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Can Muji Win Americans Over?
Japan Today reports how the Japanese stationary, furniture and houseware retailer Muji, will be opening 30-40 stores across the States in the next few years. For a brand that’s been popular with New York City-based MOMA goers for years, Muji introduced it’s first store to NYC’s Soho this past November, and will open its flagship store in Times Square in less than a month.
So far in New York City, Muji has enjoyed a good start. The MoMa Design Store has lent prestige to Muji’s name by carrying its products alongside those of world-class artists and designers, such as Charles Eames and Isamu Noguchi. Thanks to the design-conscious consumers of New York, Muji’s SoHo store has quickly become profitable.


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Around the world, Michelin stars give locals and visitors recommendations on where and what they should eat. And this month, a new city will join the ranks of the planet’s top-rated foodie hotspots: Dubai.
During the month of June, the Michelin Guide will reveal which Dubai-based restaurants and chefs it has decided to bestow its coveted honours. The city in the United Arab Emirates is already well known as a business and travel destination, and now it should also top the must-see list for foodies.
“We will present the best of Dubai’s gastronomy, to reflect not only the sophistication for which the city is famous, but also the great diversity of cuisines that the city’s location and history offer”, Gwendal Poullennec, international director of the Michelin Guides, said in a statement.
Dubai’s restaurants draw inspiration from a wide variety of global cuisines while showcasing the region’s Arab, Emirati and Middle Eastern specialties. The city is home to over 200 nationalities, Issam Kazim, the CEO of the Dubai Corporation for Tourism and Commerce Marketing, Told from pakistan company registrar last year, so it’s no surprise that the local food scene combines many disparate influences. And in addition to local spots, Dubai has also attracted outposts of high-end international chains such as Nobu.
Although it’s not yet clear which restaurants will make the difference, the Michelin Guide has rigorous standards for the establishments it honours. The company uses a common set of five criteria in each city where it publishes a list: quality of ingredients, mastery of cooking, harmony of flavors, expression of the chef’s personality through cooking and Consistency of the menu across dishes and time.
“With Dubai home to thousands of restaurants serving a variety of cuisines from fine dining to street food, and talented chefs, The Michelin Guide Dubai will provide fresh perspective and perspectives on diversity, creativity and nature. multicultural aspect of Dubai’s culinary offerings,” Kazim said in a statement.
Apart from the world famous Michelin stars, the company will also name the Bib Gourmand restaurants in Dubai. These places are usually budget restaurants that offer a three-course meal at great value.
Michelin guides exist for 36 other culinary destinations around the world, so it will certainly be exciting to see how Dubai fares when the city’s winners are announced soon.


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NOANK, Conn. (WTNH) — Abbott’s Lobster in the Rough in Noank is known for its hot lobster rolls, but hot coffee has also been included in quite a few orders. Rainy weather has been rough on the shoreline business. The heat is on and the doors are closed.
“Had to warm up,” said Nancy Golden, who hails from Santa Barbara, Calif. “Even though the car was warm, I just got cold thinking about all the rain.”
She and Sibyl McCormac Groff always stop at Abbott’s during their annual trip to Newport, rain or shine. They say it’s usually warmer than it was Tuesday.
“Yes, but I’ve seen it when it’s been bucketing rain too,” adds McCormac Groff.
“The sad thing is so we have to call off employees,” said owner Deirdre Mears. “There’s obviously no customers, no work.”
On the brighter side, Mears says workers can catch up on folding bibs and stocking up. As for the lobster lovers, there is little wait and plenty of seats available inside and out.
“I’m from Minnesota so I’m used to it, but I was kind of thinking it would be a little warmer here,” said customer Lori Katz with a laugh.
The rain did shut down Abbott’s other half, Costello’s Clam Shack in the Noank Shipyard, and apparently halted work on a nearby house under construction.
“If you have too many of these there’s just no recovering,” said Mears.
Fortunately the sun is expected to return tomorrow ending the first rainy streak of the season.
“It started out great this year and I’m sure it will get great again,” says Mears.
The weather also delayed the release of an 18 pound lobster they had on Memorial Day weekend when people could take pictures with it.
That huge lobster will now be released back into the wild tomorrow.


text: Welcome to Switched On!, the new Nintendo-themed podcast from Gamnesia. If you were a fan of our old show, Nintendo Week, you'll love Switched On! too. In our inaugural episode, Ben, Alex, and Jeff break down all the exciting news from the recent Nintendo Direct, including updates on games like Super Mario Party and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and thrilling reveals like Luigi's Mansion 3 and Animal Crossing for Switch. Stick around after the show for an update on the future of this podcast and Gamnesia podcasting in general!


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Facebook's flotation is the big news story this week - but there's plenty more to talk about, including two new UK virtual networks, the launch of a new mobile payment service and mobile WiFi arriving on cross-channel trains.
Google has completed its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, having first announced its plans in August 2011.
Motorola Mobility CEO Sanjay Jha, who has run the Motorola mobile business since 2008, has stepped down and been replaced by Google’s Dennis Woodside.
Vodafone has announced its financial results for the year until 31st March 2012, describing it as “robust financial performance in a difficult environment”.
Revenue was up 1.2% on last year to £46.4 billion, although profit for the financial year was down 11% to £7.87 billion. The company sold its share of French network SFR last year.
Earlier this year we reported that China Telecom’s European subsidiary planned to launch an MVNO on the Everything Everywhere network, targeting Chinese residents and businesses in the UK.
The deal would be the first MVNO outside China launched by a Chinese telecom operator.
The network, which is called CTExcelbiz, is being officially launched today in London. It’s a ‘pay as you go’ service and will will offer Chinese language voicemail services along with bilingual Chinese/English customer service. Calls between CTExcelbiz users will be free.


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New Safari Seeds Continue Performance Improvements, Bug Fixes
According to sources Apple has released a Safari seed to developers that promises a "significant" amount of bug and performance fixes regarding the following areas:
- large plaintext pastes
- photo uploading to auction websites
- Writing direction shortcuts
The seed build numbers are 9B4021 for Leopard, 8S4021 for Tiger, and 31A15 for Windows.
Evidence has recently been surfacing that Apple is planning to bring a host of performance improvements to Safari. An earlier Safari beta appears to have incorporated recent rendering improvements to WebKit.


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If you had a 5G Internet connection, by the time you read this sentence, you could have downloaded every Harry Potter movie ever made. UK Prime Minister David Cameron wants you to remember that fact because he announced a deal with Germany to develop and roll out 5G Internet across the two nations.
Announced during Cameron’s keynote speech at the CeBIT 2014 trade fair in Hanover, Germany, the deal is a collaborative effort between the University of Dresden, King’s College University in London, and the University of Surrey.
According to Cameron, he wants the UK to be the most digital nation in the G8, with 5G a stepping stone in that direction. “This is a world on fast forward. A world of permanent technological revolution,” said Cameron. “And in this world, countries like the UK and Germany will only succeed if we have a relentless drive for new ideas and innovations.”
On 5G, you can download an 800MB, DVD-quality movie in one second. How’s that for innovation?
The British government will invest £73 million (roughly $121 million) to develop 5G, and the “Internet of Things (IoT).” And what is the Internet of Things? It’s the ever-expanding number of devices outside your phone and computer that are now connecting to the Net. Dish washers, fitness bands, car dashboards, cameras, refrigerators – you name it and someone is trying to make it “smart” or Internet enabled.
For example, say that it’s a warm day and you are returning home from your running routine. Your thermostat will know that it’s hot outside and, once it knows you’re in proximity by using information from your smartwatch, it will automatically turn on the air conditioning.
For Cameron, the IoT is worth investing due to its impact on daily life. “I see the Internet of Things as a huge transformative development – a way of boosting productivity, of keeping us healthier, making transport more efficient, reducing energy needs, tackling climate change.”
No exact time frame was given as to when the UK and Germany will roll out 5G, but Cameron is confident in the partnership: “Take British ingenuity in software, services and design, add German excellence in engineering and industrial manufacturing and together we can lead in this new revolution.”
- What is 5G UW? The real meaning behind the icon on your phone
- The Galaxy Z Flip 5 may get a feature we’ve never seen before
- I love the Galaxy S23 — here are 5 things the iPhone still does better
- Bixby vs. Google Assistant: Which AI is better for you?
- I’ve used Android phones for 10 years, and I hate these ones the most


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The sales reports are in. Amazon had its best season yet. Five times better than last year. The online retailer shipped over 1 billion items for the holidays. Echo devices were the most popular. Prime customers dominated the sales records .
Amazon claims they couldn’t keep Echo devices in stock. Americans will be yelling “Alexa” more than “mommy” or “daddy” over the next year or so, according to Amazon. December 23 was the biggest day for Prime customers. Amazon also figured out that Americans were purchasing approximately 46 electronics per second on their mobile device on Cyber Monday. Woohoo!
Retail is surely changing.


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Aldi Plastic Fruit and Veggie Bags to Cost a 'Symbolic' Cent
By Wesley Rahn
Thin plastic produce bags are often used only once to carry fruits and vegetables home from the supermarket, and are then thrown away without a second thought.
Supermarket chain Aldi on Tuesday said that it would begin charging 1 cent for single-use plastic produce bags, starting this summer. It didn't offer an exact date. The company said it wanted its customers to "rethink" using smaller plastic bags.
The produce bags on offer will now be composed of biodegradable natural plastic made with raw material leftover from sugar production. Aldi supermarkets will also start offering a reusable alternative, nets to hold fresh fruit and vegetables, later in the year.
According to the German Environment Ministry, more than 3 billion of the thin plastic produce bags were used in 2018. That equates to roughly 40 per person, per year.
German Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told Germany's dpa press agency that the move by Aldi was a positive sign that her policy to get German retailers to use less plastic was working.
"I have asked retailers to present me with concrete ideas by autumn on how supermarkets could clearly reduce the amount of plastic packaging in an ecologically sensible manner," said Schulze.
Symbolic Cents Against Plastic
Around three years ago, Aldi — like many other German supermarkets — decided to charge customers for larger plastic grocery bags at the register. According to the company, the use of the plastic bags in Germany has dropped since by two-thirds. Aldi cited this as evidence for the payment system bearing fruit.
"We are following a similar principle with the symbolic cent for our disposable plastic fruit and vegetable bags," said Kristina Bell, an Aldi corporate responsibility director, in a press release.
German environmental activists, however, said Aldi's initiative didn't go far enough.
Environmental Action Germany (DUH), a German environmental activism group, said in a statement released Tuesday, that Aldi's move was "purely a symbolic policy" and would not be effective in getting consumers to stop using the bags.
"If Aldi is serious about protecting the environment, then the single-use produce bags should cost at least 22 cents," said DUH's acting director, Barbara Metz, in a press release. "This amount would actually mean the end for this particularly short-lived product."
DUH cited Ireland as an example, where a fee of 22 cents for larger shopping bags drastically reduced their usage. The group argued that if a fee of more than 20 cents worked with normal-sized bags, it would be especially effective with the smaller produce bags.
Reposted with permission from our media associate Deutsche Welle.
EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Editor's note: The coronavirus that started in Wuhan has sickened more than 4,000 people and killed at least 100 in China as of Jan. 27, 2020. Thailand and Hong Kong each have reported eight confirmed cases, and five people in the U.S. have been diagnosed with the illness. People are hoping for a vaccine to slow the spread of the disease.
By Nancy Schimelpfening
- Nutrition experts say healthy eating is about making good choices most of the time.
- Treats like cookies can be eaten in moderation.
- Information like total calories, saturated fat, and added sugars can be used to compare which foods are relatively healthier.
- However, it's also important to savor and enjoy what you're eating so you don't feel deprived.
Yes, we know. Cookies aren't considered a "healthy" food by any stretch of the imagination.
When you see an actor in handcuffs, they're usually filming a movie. But when Jane Fonda, Ted Danson, Sally Field, and other celebrities were arrested in Washington, D.C., last fall, the only cameras rolling were from the news media.
As the Pacific Ocean becomes more acidic, Dungeness crabs, which live in coastal areas, are seeing their shells eaten away, according to a new study commissioned by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).


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Danish fintech startup Lunar Way has raised €13 million in funding for the purpose of scaling up its business in Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
This funding has happened after the startup achieved a major milestone of being the first company to acquire licenses such as PISP license in Denmark and AISP license which will further help in distinguishing the fintech startup as a payment institute.
The funding round was led by SEED Capital with Greyhound Capital, Socii Capital and many other individual investors belonging to the financial market.
Know everything about Lunar Way
Popularly known as a bank challenger, Lunar Way has expanded itself in Sweden in December 2018 and is preparing itself to launch in the Norway market by February 2019.
The fintech company made a great start in 2019 by introducing new deposit model where the users are rewarded up to 2% in returns.
Found in 2015, the fintech company is known for breaking the monopoly market on payment services. The company attained the title of payment institute, which allows users to pay their bills, transfer money and analyze their consumption through Lunar Way’s app, while the user’s money stays in his or her regular bank account.
Previously in 2016, the fintech company raised €4.2 million in a round led by SEED Capital, which also included participation by unnamed angel investors.
Where will be funds utilised?
Regarding the usage of funds, Klausen stated that the €13M investment will be utilised in the streamlining of its current products and development of its new products which will be designed according to the suitability of users living in different countries.
This funding will also be utilised in exceeding the fintech startup’s growth as well as the expansion of its banking app in countries such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland.
Why is there a need to expand?
Regarding the need for expansion of the startup in the Nordic countries, Villum Klausen stated, “The Nordic economies are some of the strongest in the world and have some of the most stable markets. The Danes, Swedes and Norwegians are digitally native, 90% already have a mobile banking solution, and are used to handling their finances online”.
He further added, “The Nordic clearing system has a monopoly, and even though the countries share many similarities the payment infrastructures are highly fragmented along the national borders – which in turn sets high demands for security and individual and local solutions. That combined with the fact that every citizen must have a national bank account makes it difficult for other challenger banks to penetrate the Nordic market with anything else than a € account for travelling”.
He ended his statement mentioning, “Our solution sets itself apart – both in terms of design and usability – and in terms of our Nordic foundation and our understanding of the different payment infrastructures and demands for security in the Nordic nations”.
Stay tuned to Silicon Canals for more updates in the tech startup world.


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Apple shares have slipped today during premarket and early market trading by nearly $17, bringing the overall value of Apple stock close to $500.
There are reports surfacing that Apple may have cut iPhone 5 component orders by half, in light of lower-than-expected demand.
Although the stock price briefly went below $500 today (the lowest point it reached was $498.51) it now bounced back to near $503 a share.
Over the past few months, Apple shares have been gradually sliding, with the price currently being closer to its 52-week low of $418.66 than its high of $705.07. In the past three months, Apple stock has gone down by 17%, despite the release of the heralded iPhone 5.


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Jessica Simpson feels her clothing line works because she's been every size
Jessica Simpson recently said that her clothing line works because she has been every size on the planet, and thinks beyond LA and NYC.
The 33-year-old singer told Steve Forbes during Forbes Women's Summit in New York that her brand had surpassed her name and her celebrity status, People Magazine reported.
Simpson, who is engaged to retired NFL tight end, Eric Johnson, said that according to her she understood women.
(Posted on 17-05-2014)
Free Yearly Horoscope: Select your zodiac sign


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- Trxade Group is actively working to reverse a negative phenomenon known as ‘pharmacy deserts’ that is affecting many parts of the U.S.
- Trxade is providing a solution that empowers small, independent pharmacies by giving them access to competitive pricing and reliable supply options
- Due to the demand, Trxade Group is also working on new product offerings that will expand the predictive analytical capabilities of community-based and independent pharmacies
As independent pharmacy businesses struggle to overcome various challenges, the U.S. is facing a growing problem with the so-called ‘pharmacy deserts’ phenomenon, which results in entire areas left without pharmacy services. One of the main reasons that so many smaller, independent industry players close down shop is that they cannot successfully compete against large pharmaceutical chains. Companies like Trxade Group Inc. (OTCQB: TRXD) are working to reverse the trend.
Trxade Group is an integrated pharmaceutical services company that has developed a web-based purchasing platform for transactions between independent pharmacies and drug distributors. The system is characterized by an optimum buyer/seller pricing algorithm, information about product availability and predictive data analytics.
Of more than 65,000 pharmacy facilities operating in the U.S., 24,000 are independent. The aim of the Trxade’s platform is to support local, independent pharmacies through the identification of the best sourcing and pricing opportunities for prescription drugs.
Independent pharmacies struggle due to the large capacity of national and international drugstore chains. These chains acquire products in bulk, which means that their supplies are available at a reduced cost in comparison to what a smaller, independent pharmacy would get as a price quote.
Additionally, problems arise from the work of the pharmacy benefit managers (PMBs) who process claims. Currently, PMBs work for Medicare, Medicaid and commercial health plans with the intent to reduce benefits for the pharmacies to bring down expenses for insurers. The situation with state Medicaid patient coverage has become so troublesome that numerous independent pharmacies across the U.S. have had to discontinue operations.
Reports suggest that the absence of independent community pharmacies is harming patients. Local businesses are perceived as members of the community, and the pharmacists working at independent enterprises often go the extra mile to ensure the availability of important medications for elderly or disabled patients.
Trxade Group is constantly working to empower independent and community-based small pharmacies. Apart from its already established platform, TRXD is also planning the launch of new products in the near future.
New product offerings have been developed to address customer demand, offering increased data analytics capability and better inventory/cost management, as TRXD Chairman and CEO Suren Ajjarapu detailed in a news release.
TRXD’s network of independent pharmacies is also growing rapidly. By the end of June 2019, the company had registered the addition of 390 new independent pharmacies to its platform. This number represents an increase of 24 percent on a quarterly basis and of 137 percent on an annual basis.
The company’s current trading software membership has reached the impressive 10,500 pharmacies milestone. This massive number and the growth registered so far in 2019 have TRXD optimistic about the future.
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.TrxadeGroup.com
NOTE TO INVESTORS: The latest news and updates relating to TRXD are available in the company’s newsroom at http://nnw.fm/TRXD
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Ex-GameWorks COO in Foland Group partnership
Cory Haynes, former president and COO of GameWorks and Dave & Buster's VP of amusement operations, is teaming up with The Foland Group to help expand its presence in the US FEC market.
The Foland Group is a major player in the amusement industry, supplying prizes, novelty apparel and high end goods to the redemption and souvenir sector. Haynes, who has more than 30 years in the industry, will act as a consultant for its existing clients.
"Haynes’ long-tenured experience in the amusement industry will bring an additional facet to our business and gives us a new avenue to expand our current business model,” says Dennis Foland, CEO of The Foland Group. “In this ever changing market, at no time are experience and energetic leadership indispensible assets to have within our company.”
Cory Haynes, now president of Restaurant 180, added: “The industry as a whole is experiencing unprecedented challenges in today’s economic climate; I aim to bring my experience in the amusement, food and beverage industry to The Foland Group and support its continued future growth.”
FEC operator TimeZone, part of the Leisure and Allied Industries group, is rolling out a new concept of carnival-inspired games at a number of its locations.
A group of 93 councils in the UK is calling on the government to reduce the maximum stakes on B2 gaming machines, also known as FOBTs, from £100 to £2.
India’s Semnox Solutions has added a new Kitchen Display System for kitchen management at restaurants and food courts to its suite of products for the amusement park and FEC industry.
InterGame is the only monthly magazine covering the international coin-op amusements and gaming industry.Learn more
InterGaming is the leading monthly magazine covering the international land-based casino and gaming industry.Learn more
Published bimonthly, iNTERGAMINGi is the leading publication for the growing international online gaming industry.Learn more
An extensive annual review of the industry covering all three gaming sectors and including a global directory of suppliers.Learn more
All the latest innovations for children in the indoor play, edutainment, outdoor adventure and simulation sectors.Learn more


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We bring a list of what crackers to look out for this Diwali.
While environmentalists and green activists have been advocating not bursting crackers on Diwali because of the increase in air and noise pollution that it causes, patakha lovers continue to look for the latest variants in the market of the traditional anar, chakri and rocket. While there are a whole lot of new crackers in the market this Diwali, eco-friendly fireworks are the most promising. Here’s what to look for in the markets this season. 3D adds a new dimension to patakhas:
The next-gen fire crackers are here – the 3D patakhas, which are the hottest-selling crackers in town this Diwali. Gulsher Azad, a wholesaler, says, “This is the first time ever that 3D firecrackers have been launched in India. They are based on pyro technique. A packet of 3D fireworks comes with a 3D glass. There are 18 varieties of 3D crackers available in the market like flower pots, Roman candles, sparklers and aerial shells.”
“The light effect of these 3D firecrackers can be seen through 3D glasses,” adds Ravi Agarwal another seller. He goes on to claim, “And they don’t produce any kind of sound and are also pollution-free.” A 3D cracker starts at `500 and goes up to `1,500. Electrifying!
Ishan Khan, who has an electric goods shop, is also selling crackers this Diwali, apart from the fancy lights. “Sunne mein thoda ajeeb lagega that an electric goods shop is selling patakhas, but what we have are electric crackers,” says Khan, adding, “The sale of these crackers is slow, for the simple reason that they cost `1,800 a piece.”
But how does an electric cracker work? “These crackers produce a loud sound, and can be reused umpteen number of times.They have an electronic circuit which produces a high decibel sound when switched on. They are also pollution-free. It’s mostly people who have kids at home are buying these crackers, because they don’t involve any fire.” Mohd Shadab, owner of a firecrackers shop, adds, “In fact, electric firecrackers were launched last year, but we had minimal stock. This year, the stock is not a problem.” Green patakhas:
With so much talk about a green Diwali, it’s no surprise that we finally have what are called eco-friendly crackers, which can be burst inside the house! “People have become conscious about the damage firecrackers cause to the environment by emitting pollution. So, eco-friendly fireworks are getting a lot of buyers this year. They are very safe to handle,” says Azad. The icing on the cake is that they are pocket-friendly too, and cost anything from `35 to `350. Eco-friendly crackers are made of recycled paper and do not contain chemicals, unlike the conventional fire crackers. They emit less smoke and noise, and produce colourful sparks.
Adds Shadab, “We are noticing an increase in demand of eco-friendly crackers with each passing year and therefore, we have increased its stock this year by 50% from the last year.” Bomb Bombed:
Fireworks dealers in the city say that these new age crackers have made a lot of popular patakhas of the past lose their sparkle. One of them are the bombs, or other loud crackers. “Due to a decrease in demand of such crackers, we have slashed the stock of bombs and other sound-producing firecrackers by half this year. Even then, not even 50% of that stock is expected to be sold this Diwali,” shares Ravi. SONAKSHI TOPS CELEB SPARKLES
Bollywood beauties have been the popular choice of image for patakha manufacturers. And for some, who’s on the most patakha packets is also an index of the stars’ popularity. “Sonakshi Sinha is seen on maximum covers of firecrackers,” says Mohd Shadab, “She has left other actresses behind this Diwali.”
Fireworks dealers also say that owing to the Modi wave in the country this year, they are expecting Modi crackers as well. “Every year popular personalities from the country get a space in the firework market and we were expecting PM Narendra Modi to be leading that list this year, but that hasn’t happened so far,” says Gulsher.


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Apple had high expectations to fulfil ahead of the launch of the iPhone X, and one thing’s for certain: it didn’t back away from them, James Titcomb writes.
Tim Cook called it the biggest leap forward since the original iPhone, and nothing less than “the future of the smartphone”.
It’s a bold statement, but one Apple had to make. Samsung’s Galaxy S8, released earlier this year, attempted to position the company as the industry’s new flag bearer when it comes to design, and though Apple will insist it doesn’t matter what rivals say, it wasn’t going to take that lying down.
So the iPhone X (the X is a “ten”, not an “x”) comes with fighting talk.


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Just two years after entering Europe, Verve is shutting down its European operations rather than tangle with the General Data Protection Regulation.
The company, which runs a mobile marketing platform powered by location data, confirmed to AdExchanger that it is closing its London and Munich offices and laying off around 15 employees on May 11. The news was first reported by The Drum.
Although a “variety of factors played into our decision,” Verve CMO Julie Bernard told AdExchanger in an email, GDPR is a biggie.
“We have decided that the regulatory environment is not favorable to our particular business model,” she wrote. “We are focusing efforts on the strength of our US business at this time.”
Verve isn’t the only ad tech company to roll up its carpet in Europe. In March, AdExchanger learned that cross-device platform Drawbridge is putting the kibosh on its EU ad business rather than face the compliance headache.
When GDPR takes effect on May 25, companies will need consent or a legitimate interest to process a European citizen’s data. But informed and affirmative opt-in consent is something most location companies don’t have.
The challenge for location data companies is that under GDPR, anything that can be used to identify a person is considered personal data, including location data and mobile device IDs.
Verve derives most its location data through a software development kit (SDK) integrated into its publisher partners. All the data collected is associated with a device ID. The SDK allows publishers to monetize their apps through Verve’s network of advertisers.
The company claims to have robust permissions due to its direct connection to the publisher. “Our business model has always prioritized quality, first-party data secured with consumer consent,” Bernard said.
Even so, it’s a major question for location data companies whether consumers realize what they’re opting in to when they tap “allow” or “OK” after downloading an app or are aware that third parties are collecting their information.
Verve clearly doesn’t want to risk it in Europe.
Bernard said the company is experiencing growth in its enterprise platform business, which it plans to “continue to fuel” with “various investments.” Mark Fruehan, a former Opera Mediaworks (now AdColony) exec, joined Verve this month to lead that part of the business, including drumming up demand for Verve’s programmatic and indoor location products.
But Verve has had a turbulent few years of ups and downs.
The company cycled through a number of top executives, including Nada Stirratt, who left two years ago to join Facebook as a VP. The following year, Verve quietly cut 7% of its US employees. Verve has raised $35 million in direct funding since 2007, plus a $30 million debt financing package in 2016.


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Scoring Big With DR1 Jan, 2009 By: Doug McPherson Response
Handing Off the Ball
Turns out colleges have a couple of lessons they can share with business folks. The first: realize when you have something hot. Schools have understood for many years that college football is hotter than fresh lava — and getting hotter.
The second lesson: hand off the heat to the pros, or you can get burned — or, at minimum, leave a chunk of money on the table. School administrators realize selling isn't their strength, so most stick to what they do best and partner with those who can help them reach their goals.
Footballfanatics.com is a sports apparel and merchandise online store, with more than 100,000 products.
Case in point: the University of Florida. Hill says UF has an "aggressive licensing program" and works with Footballfanatics.com, a Jacksonville, Fla.-based collegiate online retailer with more than 100,000 college products. The company handles all the "behind-the-screen" sales and fulfillment of orders from UF's Web site, Gatorzone.com.
Brian Lemmey, marketing director for Footballfanatics.com, says his company typically creates large increases in sales from what the schools were doing on their own — "Anywhere from 50 to 300 percent," he contends, adding, "Plus, it cuts their [the colleges'] expenses and takes a lot of work off their plate."
Lemmey says he uses some radio, TV and print ads in college newspapers and alumni magazines but says his best return on investment is online. "We can market directly to past customers with targeted E-mails usually a couple times a month."
NCAA Football Home Attendance — 2007
The key, he says, is keeping the site fresh with new products and seasonality — t-shirts in summer, sweatshirts in the fall. The biggest sellers are t-shirts, hats and jerseys. And, not surprisingly, he sees spikes in winning seasons. "It's true, the better they play, the better the sales," Lemmey says. Footballfanatics.com also runs 30-second spots on UF's in-stadium video screen during games.
Hill says UF also recently partnered with Ticketmaster to create "some efficiencies we just didn't have." UF is using Ticketmaster's program called Archtics, which handles season-and single-game ticket sales and is connected in real-time to Ticketmaster's host system and distribution channels for inventory control. Archtics supports common databases that organizations can use for reporting and marketing. It also offers views of seats that can be personalized for clients.


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Trade professionals planning to visit can pre-register online for a complimentary visitor badge at bit.ly/PCHi2020Reg, before 2359hrs (GMT+8) on 21 February.
Into its 13th edition now, PCHi is an annual gathering for ingredient suppliers, manufacturers, distributors, formulators, researchers, and academics to meet and discover state-of-the-art technologies, conduct business deals, network with peers from across the globe, and to glean deep insights from industry experts at the various knowledge platforms.
At PCHi 2020, attendees will see the latest innovations and services for the beauty and personal care market, put forth by more than 600 exhibitors hailing from 30 countries and regions.
According to a Euromonitor report, the global retail value of the skin care market registered US$134.6 billion in 2018 — of which the Asia Pacific region accounted for 50.7% (US$69.9 billion). The market is set to grow another estimated 3.4% to reach US$159.5


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There is a good reason why car manufacturers are rolling out low volume electric vehicles and that is to lure in customers to showrooms which most likely they will not visit. This marketing strategy might be doing some good for Chevrolet that produces Volt plug-in and Nissan which makes the all electric vehicle Leaf.
From January thru September this year, Chevrolet has delivered 3,895 units of Volt and Japanese automaker Nissan was able to sell 7,199 units of Leaf.
A private firm which look into the buying habits of car buyers said that the car manufacturers benefit a lot when vehicle launches generate buzz on social media networks and the press in general.
Another significant figure to look at is that around 78% of people who bought Volt did not have a Chevrolet at the time they bought the plug-in vehicle. This means that the Chevrolet Volt helps bring customers which buy other brands into Chevy showrooms. The plug-in bring in new buyers more than twice than the other cars of the brand.
General Motors also shared some information about the profile of their market. According to GM, about 37% of consumers who buy the Volt are residents of the state of California. It also shows that about 7% of the trade-ins to buy a Volt is a the hybrid car of Toyota, the Prius.
There are also German branded vehicles being traded in for the Chevrolet Volt. Combining for 6% of trade ins are the Audi A4, Volkswagen Jetta, and the 3 Series of BMW.
The trend for the Nissan Leaf is also the same. Ninety percent of the buyers of the Leaf did not own a Nissan at the time of the purchase. About 18% of consumers trade in their Toyota Prius and another 38% trades in another model of Toyota.
The survey spotlights the way the Nissan Leaf and Chevrolet Volt are bringing in new customers for their respective brands after they are officially launched to the market.


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A spirited and self-motivated group of York University students helped to raise over $10,000 for breast cancer research by organizing the Pink Positive on the Catwalk fashion show. The event, which was attended by 600 people, took place on May 10 at the Julius Roman Empire Banquet Hall on Finch Avenue near the Keele campus.
“We wanted to bring the community together to raise money for breast cancer, and the event exceeded all the goals that we made for ourselves,” says York University undergraduate Nicole Marin, who was one of three York students on the five-member Pink Positive organizing committee.
Right: York University student Nicole Marin (left) and Ryerson University student Patrizia Cornacchia, two of the five organizers of the fashion show
Marin, who is studying political science and law & society, and fellow York undergrads, Kassia Da Silva and Mary Russo, along with two other friends, Seneca College graduate Josie Russo and Ryerson University student Patrizia Cornacchia, galvanized a group of 50 people, many of them York students, to get involved.
Marin says the idea to host a fundraiser for breast cancer arose after she and her friends participated in the Gift of Life Walk for Leukemia earlier this year. “We decided that we wanted to do something bigger that could raise more money to find a cure for cancer.
They chose to donate the proceeds from Pink Positive on the Catwalk to the Princess Margaret Hospital’s Weekend to End Breast Cancer Fund because “we figured that being five girls…it [breast cancer] can affect guys, but mainly affects women, and if we don’t want to have the disease, we should take the initiative to stop it,” says Marin.
No one in the group had any experience organizing such a fundraiser before, but they put their collective thinking caps on. Each of the five committee members shared her suggestions on what, in her opinion, would make the event a success, and they prepared an action plan.
Left: Models Emma Marin and Josie Russo (one of the show organizers) performing on the catwalk
“We sold pink cancer ribbons for one dollar each to help in our initial fund-raising initiatives. This campaign allowed us to raise money in the beginning to help offset the costs of the Pink Positive on the Catwalk fashion show,” says Marin.
They approached local retailers Vesta Me, Per Lui, Nike, Old Navy, Jean Machine, i Optika, Denim 101 and Joanne by Design, who agreed to let them use their clothes and products for the show in exchange for advertising.
The event was heavily advertised on Humber College Radio, through 120 radio spots that the station provided free of charge, and was largely marketed to York students, says Marin. “We sold tickets at tutorials and lectures,” she says.
The $20 ticket price ($15 for children) included a free dessert bar and the main attraction, a seven-scene fashion show with an intermission.
In the hall where the show took place, 10 different vendors sold a variety of products geared to fashionistas, such as handbags and shoes. This element of the event was well received and generated $600 of the total raised, says Marin.
Right: Fashion show models wearing Pink Positive on the Catwalk t-shirts
Attendees also received free gift bags with donated products.
The success of the Pink Positive on the Catwalk fashion show has gotten Marin thinking about organizing a similar event next year. “I think this will be an annual way of fundraising," she says.
Story by Olena Wawryshyn, York communications officer


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The Surprise Threat That Could Kill Your Mobile Phone
There are certain risks we’re all aware of when it comes to our mobile phones… dropping them, cracking them, getting them wet.
But here’s one we bet you never considered!
We’re being warned that the hot weather is proving fatal for our mobiles with the heat being blamed for causing permanent damage, according to Newscorp.
Sitting directly in the sun, being left in a hot car or in a stuffy room can cause smartphones to overheat resulting in things like the motherboard quite literally frying.
It’s recommended that iPhones be kept at below 45C by Apple – although many people are unaware of the risk associated.
An iPhone will display a warning on screen when it gets too hot.
Let’s just hope you notice in time!