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On Tuesday 1st October, over 550 international e-commerce players came together for the 7th edition of Lengow Day at the 3 Mazarine in Paris. Conferences, workshops and networking events punctuated this day full of meetings and exchanges on the future of (e)commerce. Many thanks to our speakers, partners and participants for contributing to the success of this year’s sold-out edition of Lengow Day!
Dedicated to the future of (e)commerce, the event began with a keynote hosted by our CEO Mickael Froger. It was an opportunity to review the evolution of the market, to retrace Lengow’s progress over the past 10 years, but also to unveil the latest projects on our platform, in particular the launch of INSIGHTS, a major innovation aimed at facilitating the analysis and automation of (e)commerce for brands and distributors.
The discussion then continued with conferences and roundtables moderated by industry experts such as Michelle Beeson (Forrester), Amy Vener (Pinterest), Ilya Shirokov (JOOM), Albert Simsensonh (Facebook), Laura Pho Duc (Alibaba), Theodore Hettich (Fruugo), Michal Iwanciw (Allegro) and Thomas Métivier (Cdiscount). Many topics were covered, such as the future of retail, visual discovery and inspired shopping, the evolution of consumer expectations, “New Retail”, and the future of marketplaces within the e-commerce ecosystem. A huge thanks to all of our speakers from this year’s event.
Every year, Lengow Day provides an opportunity for retailers and partners from all over the world to meet. For this new year, we wanted to go further by offering brands and distributors a unique partner space in Europe. More than 40 marketplaces and international marketing channels, including our major partners Pinterest, JOOM, Fruugo and Payoneer, came together to answer questions from merchants wishing to develop their e-commerce activity.
Speakers also held practical workshops in the afternoon. Participants listened to tips from Nick Lenten (Google), Skender Berisha (Rakuten), Florian Le Clerc (Smartly) and Nicolas Thomas (Darty) who demonstrated how to successfully use their respective platforms.
Throughout the day, partners and participants had the opportunity to meet each other through our networking application. We are pleased to see that there were many exchanges as 700 1-1 appointments were organized and 3300 messages were exchanged between participants. It was an opportunity to compare the international strategies put in place by these actors since some 30% travelled to France to attend the event. We hope you met some interesting people and look forward to seeing you in 2020 for new conversations about e-commerce!
In the meantime, check out the photos from this year’s event:
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Amazon is the uncontested world leader in e-commerce. Nevertheless, standing out on Amazon is not easy. Many sellers are present…
A well-thought-out marketplace strategy that has been put through its paces is urgently needed in this increasingly complex environment.
The pandemic has had a profound impact on the way consumers shop, with the trend towards Buy Online, Pick Up…
Inflation has been affecting global economies at an accelerating speed as prices are higher than in the previous decades in…
Running an e-commerce business can feel overwhelming as it requires being agile and having an eye on the recent trends…


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- Priority Pass Members will be able to access No1 Lounges when they reopen later this year
- Announcement follows news that Priority Pass is expanding lounge portfolio by 20%
Collinson has announced that all Priority Pass Members will regain access to No1 Lounges in the UK. The lounges will be accessible to Members on a walk-in basis, without the need to pre-book.
Nine No1 Lounges will be joining Priority Pass across London Heathrow, London Gatwick and Birmingham airports. The UK No1 Lounges will re-join the network later this year as travel increases, and upon re-opening, customers can expect the full and unrivalled luxury lounge experience they have come to expect from Priority Pass, which includes premium food and beverage offerings plus spaces for socially distanced relaxing pre-flight.
The return of the No1 Lounges to the Priority Pass network is another key milestone in our expansion plans for this year. This development offers Members more lounges in the UK, where we are seeing travel bookings increase, but it also ensures that we will have full control over the premium experience offered to our Members.
"As the world’s largest global lounge network, we understand the importance of offering safe and exclusive experiences to our Members, and we look forward to welcoming them to the No1 Lounges when they reopen later in the year.”
This news follows the announcement from Priority Pass that its network will grow by 20% during this year, including the addition of more than 150 new luxury airport lounges across the globe in 2021 - as well as 100 new premium dining and relaxation experiences. To date, Priority Pass has already added 40 new airport lounges this year – including Lufthansa Business lounges in New York Airport (JFK), Newark International Airport (EWR) and Washington Dulles Airport (IAD), and 14 lounges in China alone.

domain: news


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Financial services is the most impersonated industry in phishing attacks
Threat protection company Vade has released its latest Phishers' Favorites report for 2022 which finds that financial services is the most impersonated industry, accounting for 34 percent of phishing pages as attackers continue to follow the money.
There are also seven finance brands in the top 20, with PayPal, MTB, Crédit Agricole, and La Banaque Postale all securing a spot in the top 10.
For the second consecutive year, Facebook is the top impersonated brand, edging out Microsoft. With more than 25,000 unique branded phishing websites Facebook represents nine percent of total phishing from this year's list. Microsoft finished as runner-up for the second year in row, also representing nine percent of all phishing websites but accounting for nearly 2,000 fewer sites than Facebook. Meta brands combined account for 15 percent of all phishing pages.
Google takes the third spot with 1,560 percent year-on-year growth in phishing pages, the second biggest leap among brands to make the top 20 in this year's report. The cloud leader accounts for nearly 20,000 unique phishing pages, or seven percent of all phishing websites. PayPal moves into fourth place with a six percent share of the total, up from 10th in 2021.
Overall there has been a significant increase in phishing pages in 2022, passing 2021's total by 89,991 unique phishing URLs. The internet/telco sector saw the largest increase (111 percent), followed by cloud (77 percent), eCommerce/logistics (59 percent), financial services (46 percent), and government (26 percent).
You can get the full report from the Vade site.


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(But, they’re only CHILDREN!))
By Jared Jones
“Robots are the Illegal Immigrants of the Future,” Says One University of Oxford Study
As you might’ve heard, some of America’s biggest fast-food chains and their, how do I put this, “non-essential personnel” aren’t exactly on solid ground with one another right now. In fact, they’ve been in something of a two year-long Civil War of sorts, with the proletariat wage-workers demanding a $15/hr minimum wage hike (*spit take*) among other things in a seemingly endless series of nationwide protests and strikes. These protests have resulted in hundreds, if not thousands of arrests, and almost certainly, someone not getting their cheeseburger on time and completely freaking their sh*t because of it.
Even worse for the twice pregnant tween moms, high school stoners, and illegal immigrants fighting for their own slice of the Americone Dream™ is that it appears the chain restaurant bourgeoisie are calling their bluff in the most insulting way possible: By replacing them with robots. Emotionless, soulless, no-good stinkin’ robots (via CNN):
“Faced with a $15 wage mandate, restaurants have to reduce the cost of service,” blared an ad in The Wall Street Journal last year from the Employment Policies Institute, which supports corporate interests. “That means fewer entry-level jobs and more automated alternatives — even in the kitchen.”
Panera Bread is the latest chain to introduce automated service, announcing last month that it plans to bring self-service ordering kiosks as well as a mobile ordering option to all its locations within the next three years. The news follows moves from Chili’s and Applebee’s to place tablets on their tables, allowing diners to order and pay without interacting with human wait staff at all.
If I’m not able to interact with anyone at Applebees, then who am I suppose to complain to about my still frozen french fries or rapidly-approaching bowel movement? The woman I forced to have dinner with me at gunpoint?! Pfft.
According to a paper released by the University of Oxford last year, “47 per cent of total US employment is at risk” of being automated, with the fast-food industry leading the charge at 92%. This means self-driving delivery cars, noodle-slicing death machines like the monstrosities featured above, and even robot bartenders that are damn near impossible to sexually harass are headed our way in the near future. While it’s certainly not the first defeat a lifelong fast food employee has suffered in their life, it’s degrading nonetheless.
If you’re as concerned about the very real possibility of a service-industry robot uprising as I am, then you probably don’t take to kindly to the idea of seeing the bright-eyed, eternally cheery members of our fast food community being exchanged for EMP-shooting sentient beings lightly. The thought of this nightmare scenario has probably woken you up in a cold sweat many a night, and made sex with your $7,000, fully-programmable sexbot nearly impossible. Nearly.
I mean, sure, they’re just replacing fast-food workers with robots for now, but what happens when they start coming after those of us with actual jobs. Jobs like…
“No, DocBot, I *don’t* think an oil change will help ease my date rape psychosis, and I’m starting to question your listening skills, to be completely honest.”
We probably should have seen this coming the day that Rocky decided it was cool for a sensually-voiced robot to babysit his kid. WAY TO GO, ROCK.
No emotions = no more encores, no more song requests, and most importantly, no more Tit E. Cam.
Wait…what?! You say that there is a company called Narrative Science that has been teaching computers to write everything from original news stories to snarky, half-hearted farces like this since 2010? And at a quarter of my payrate? CURSE YOU, (Narrative) SCIENCE.
So you think you can just replace my witty insight with the mundane musings of some clinking, clanking, clattering collection of collagenous junk, do you?! Well, Holy Taco overlords, observe the following and know that this is what awaits you…
Not a Unicorn


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Microsoft's Kim: 'Our Competitors Don’t Recognize The Importance Of Relationships'
As part of a wide-ranging opening keynote at the ongoing Vancouver International Games Summit, Microsoft Game Studios head Shane Kim contended that the company had an advantage with third parties because "our competitors don’t recognize the importance of
May 21, 2008
7 Min Read
Author: by Beth A. Dillon, Staff
At the Vancouver Game Summit, Microsoft executive Shane Kim delivered the keynote - in interview form. The Microsoft Game Studios boss was quizzed by The Electric Playground co-creator Victor Lucas. Reaching A Bigger Audience "It’s great to see the momentum continue after the holiday season," said Kim as the interview kicked off. He pointed to various figures of Xbox 360's success, such as its recently-announced 10 million unit sales mark in the U.S., 19 million units sold worldwide, and 12 million Xbox Live users. Kim noted that the "vast majority" of that 12 million are Gold subscribers, but could not quote specific figures. Lucas followed up by asking whether the industry is moving away from its traditional holiday focus, pointing to Grand Theft Auto IV's spring success. Responded Kim, "The industry has to believe that as possible. The power of Grand Theft Auto resonates that really great content can succeed any time of the year. Clearly, the big hits will still stand out during the holiday season, but there are lots of opportunity for people to think about the rest of the year." On whether games are becoming more mainstream, he said, "We still have a ways to go, but the fact that the launch of Halo 3 or Grand Theft Auto IV has raised the awareness of this industry means [we’re coming up] on appealing to a broader audience. "There are people that don’t understand games and feel it’s still the domain of men aged 18-25," he went on. "But the more we focus on games outside of the boy’s room, the more we'll [grow]. We’re training a generation that will not stop, and people will just assume this is a part of the way their lives should be." Speaking on whether video games represent just one more way to tell stories, Kim indicated developers should concentrate on that direction. "I think interactive storytelling needs to be more a part of our industry," he said. "I think we’re still working to tell stories through games. We’re fortunate enough to be working with Peter Jackson. What we really want to do is marry world class storytellers with interactivity.” Lucas brought up recent statements by Rockstar Games' Dan Houser, who voiced his distaste for casual gaming, and suggested that those unfamiliar with more hardcore games could enjoy them if they gave them a shot. Kim didn't entirely agree, but echoed parts of the sentiment. "I don’t have much patience for trying to categorize people. People in general will enjoy interactive entertainment," he said. "We still have to be realistic. Even though BioShock is beautiful, it’s not going to appeal to all people. There are amazing elements that are a part of those titles that can be used in other games." Lucas asked whether creative authorship is important in games, and Kim indicated he believes it is. "There is an awareness of company identity behind games. BioWare, for example," he pointed out. "I do think that the studio as a whole represents the property. Games are all about the art of creating art. You need to rely on the creative leaders." The First Party Mandate On Microsoft Game Studios' role, Kim explained, "Our job, for the last four or five years, has been to become a first party that drives a successful platform. It’s very expensive to develop the high-end multiplayer HD content. It’s very difficult to rely on third party for these reasons - GTA is an exception. It’s not a matter of quantity, but a matter of quality. We really try to do things we believe in." Kim indicated that acquiring external developers is not something "to look at lightly," but it is on the table. "That's always an option for us," he said. Lucas brought up Rare, which many have seen as an investment that has yet to justify its record-setting $300 million price tag. "Investment is a great way to put it," answered Kim. "One thing that’s always characterized Microsoft is that we invest long-term. Usually by the third version we get things right. Rare has an extremely powerful and valuable pedigree. We’re very excited about [Banjo-Kazooie:] Nuts & Bolts and some other things we haven’t announced yet. Victor then brought up Bungie, which undertook a high-profile move to independence after being a subsidiary of Microsoft for several years. Said Kim, "We still have a strong working relationship with Bungie - you could even say stronger than it was before. In this industry, independence is a strong motivating factor. The good news for us and for Halo fans is that we’re still working with them. They love Xbox 360, they love Xbox Live, so it’s really not about publishing on other platforms. There are trade-offs on the creative and development side when you go multi-platform." Online: "Richer And More Evergreen" Kim spoke on the financial and community opportunities of downloadable and online platforms, Microsoft's stated focus this generation. "We’re really giving people more content through Xbox Live," he said. "Downloadable content does create a really rich experience to extend the relationship between developer and player. We feel pretty confident that most of [Rock Band's] downloadable revenue is coming from Xbox Live. "I believe that Xbox Live is the most important platform we’re developing," he went on. "As a company, I think we’re in a unique position where we’ll be able to expand on content. It’s really interesting when you look at other developers - Sony is banking on Blu-ray, Nintendo is more on physical play, and we focused our efforts on online play. We want to create unique experiences that are richer and more evergreen, if you will." Kim was sure to note, however, that retail purchases aren't going to be supplanted any time soon. "Digital distribution is nothing new, but I do believe what we can provide is an amazing service," he said. "The success of Xbox Live Arcade really demonstrates our ability to distribute digitally. I don’t personally believe that retail is going to go away. The more interesting way to view this is that this expands the market. People still like a retail shopping experiences. It’s more important for us to build up the experience." Dealing With Developers The exec painted Xbox Live Arcade as an area ripe for experimentation and creativity. "These types of games are hitting a cord with developers who want to work in a smaller studio," he said. "Larger scale games cost a lot, and for some people, they prefer to be one of fifteen people working on a project, especially for creative people. We’re providing a platform, a service, where people will be able to stretch and scratch their different itches to explore the capabilities of Xbox Live. We’re getting less retro, more new ideas, which is really great for the industry." He was unwilling, however, to address when that system would scale up to offering larger, retail-sized games. "That’s a really complicated issue," he admitted. "It’s a little more complicated to download full content. We are developing resources to manage storage, bandwidth, and all that, so it is inevitable, but I’m not sure of when that will be." On dealing with third parties in general, Kim said simply, "Microsoft people are just nice people. There are some important constituencies out there. When we began, we were the new kids on the block, and we needed to work hard to earn trust. We’re fortunate in that some of our competitors don’t recognize the importance of relationships. Our communication becomes a huge advantage during launch and marketing with retailers." The Japanese Market Victor pointed out that Microsoft has famously seen a steep uphill climb in Japanese territories. Kim agreed, citing "cultural differences," but also pointed to a silver lining in development partnerships. "It’s the evolution and maturing of the industry," he said. "While there are classic and beloved Japanese developers, there’s a slide in cultural barriers." "It’s a very big undertaking to develop more content that crosses cultures, he continued. "We’ve all said that we’re not going to win in Japan, but our success is to have Japanese publishers [come to us]." "We just don’t have that install base in Japan, so it’s easier to just focus on the West market," Kim concluded. "Creating hits is hard enough. Personally I think it’s all about your creative energy and the studio’s focus on that particular agenda."
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Justin Sun Claim’s TRON’s Latest Update Will Make It ‘200x Faster’ Than Ethereum, ‘100x Cheaper’ Than EOS
Justin Sun, CEO of eleventh-ranked cryptocurrency TRON, took to Twitter this week to lay down some big claims for his platform’s latest ‘Odyssey 3.1′ update. The new upgrade has been promised to drastically reduce transaction costs to 1 percent of EOS’ current fees, while ramping up TRON’s network speeds to 200 times faster than leading dApp development platform Ethereum.
Based on community consensus, #TRON will be upgrading to Odyssey 3.1 at 8pm SGT. The TRON Committee function & TVM will go live, marking the start of the Smart Contract Era. TRON will be 200x faster vs. ETH, 100x cheaper vs. EOS. dApp developers & users, this one is for you! $TRX
— Justin Sun (@justinsuntron) October 8, 2018
TRON’s price surged 8 percent following Justin Sun’s announcement on Sunday; the token is up nearly 17 percent in the last week.
Based out of Vancouver, TRON has managed to garner a great deal of buzz from cryptocurrency enthusiasts over the last 3 months. In July, the TRON Foundation announced that it had officially acquired the popular peer-to-peer (P2P) file sharing platform BitTorrent. Sun wrote in a press release that, “BitTorrent is the genesis of the decentralization movement,” further stating that the acquisition would play a pivotal role in “making TRON the largest decentralized Internet ecosystem in the world.” BitTorrent is estimated to have more than 100,000,000 active users, which Sun hopes to rope in through the platform’s integration into the TRON blockchain.
TRON’s acquisition of BitTorrent was quickly followed by an announcement that the platform would also be launching a new social media dApp called TRONChat, which will offer users token rewards for posting and reviewing content. Social media is a multi-billion dollar industry, but there’s a consensus that a lack of user control on matters of user privacy in addition to invasive advertising schemes require a complete overhaul of the traditional business models established by big companies like Facebook. In this respect, TRONChat’s publicly stated attempts to address these concerns through protected user data and tokenized rewards could pose a threat to current social media platforms.
However, with Ethereum having established dominance in the domain of dApp development, followed by the launch the highly anticipated EOS network earlier this year, TRON still faces an uphill battle in truly becoming an industry leader. Despite recent bumps in TRON’s price, the token is still attempting to recover from its approximately 777 percent price drop from the beginning of the year.
The post Justin Sun Claim’s TRON’s Latest Update Will Make It ‘200x Faster’ Than Ethereum, ‘100x Cheaper’ Than EOS appeared first on BitcoinLinux.


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Update: Last week it was merely a rumor. Today it's so close we can touch it: Starbucks is indeed releasing the storied Unicorn Frappuccino this week.
The company confirmed the news Tuesday in a press release, after baristas claimed the drink is on the way, and the founder of trusty food blog Snacktaku, Mike Fahey, got an early taste, and posted a full review on YouTube.
The company describes the drink as a "shimmering purple and blue coffee drink that turns pink when you stir it."
As for how it tastes (which, who cares as long as it's Instagrammable), the release describes it as being “made with a sweet dusting of pink powder, blended into a crème Frappuccino with mango syrup and layered with a pleasantly sour blue drizzle,” then finished with “vanilla whipped cream and a sprinkle of sweet pink and sour blue powder topping.”
The drink will launch nationwide on April 19 through the 23rd.
The Internet just outdid itself: There's a theory kicking around Reddit that Starbucks is about to release a Unicorn Frappuccino. (Yes, people are now writing Starbucks fan theories because, apparently, musing endlessly about Pretty Little Liars and Grey's Anatomy isn't enough.)
It appears the Unicorn Frap speculation began when a Reddit user named hellabummed posted a photo of some random blue powder labeled "Unicorn Dust." Hellabummed captioned the picture, "Unicorn frapp topping," which led people to believe this magical substance was Starbucks related.
Things started to snowball when another user, outside_the_madness, posted a picture of Starbucks "Pink Powder" that had instructions on the label not to open until April 17.
This date checks out with another suspicious fan upload. An Instagram user named super_hiro_pope uploaded a photo of what the finished Unicorn Frappuccino allegedly looks like. "If you don't believe in Unicorns, it's ok, cause the #unicornfrappuccino is coming to a #Starbucks near you. Launching 4/19-4/23," super_hiro_pope wrote in the caption. (FWIW, the drinks do look amazing.)
Hellabummed also uploaded a photo of the supposed complete Unicorn Frappuccino, and it looks similar to super_hiro_pope's drink. Coincidence? Or is this drink actually happening?
The jury's still out on that. Starbucks hasn't released any info, so we'll have to wait until April 17 or April 19 to find out. Until then, you can indulge your unicorn obsession with these macarons (or this hot chocolate). And if you're not hungry, try these unicorn-themed eyeliners and sex toys. (Is it really sex if unicorns aren't involved in some capacity?)


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NEW YORK Shady Day, a maker of sun protection wipes and face sticks, has teamed up with the Aim at Melanoma Foundation to offer an exclusive organic sun protection lip balm with a portion of the proceeds from sales going to support the foundation.
The Protect Your Pout lip balm, which is 82% organic, is currently available at Ricky's NYC locations for $8.
"The numbers surrounding melanoma among young women are frightening," stated Jennifer Odell, president of Shady Day Inc. "We hope this new product and our support of the Aim at Melanoma Foundation will help fight the melanoma battle on two fronts. The fact is that more young women are putting themselves at risk everyday by not using sunscreen. And even those young women who protect their faces and bodies need to be aware of the dangers of sun damage to their lips."
According to recent research released by the National Cancer Institute, the melanoma rate among young women had doubled between 1973 and 1980, and increased by another 50% by 2004.
The foundation honors the memory of Charlie Guild, a young woman whose life was cut short by melanoma at age 26. Today, the foundation, started by her family, is dedicated to providing direction and focus on an international level to preventing, informing and finding a cure for melanoma.
The foundation is at the forefront of legislative efforts nationwide requiring access to skin cancer education and protection and for more stringent regulation of sun tanning salons, in particular, requiring in-person, parental consent for minors. In addition, the foundation and its advisors are creating the world?s first melanoma tissue bank to provide researchers with access to actual melanoma tissue samples from around the world for research and study.


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BlackBerry’s first Android smartphone codenamed Venice may feature a 5.4-inch QHD screen.
BlackBerry has been making on its first Android phone for some time and now we have full details of the phone. The latest leak from Tinhte has revealed the Smartphone from all possible angles. The new leak shows the Phone’s SIM card and SD card and also gives best look yet at the rumored slider .
The rumoured BlackBerry Venice will feature a 5.4-inch screen with a Quad-HD (1440 x 2560) resolution, powered by a 1.8 GHz hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 processor paired with 3GB RAM. The device sports a 18MP Primary camera with Optical photo stabilization.
Interestingly the photos suggest device to be running Android Lollipop with Blackberry’s gesture based multitasking screen. While BlackBerry OS 10 didn’t get huge support but some of the features like Blackberry Hub, gesture support, time shift camera and BlackBerry Link were nifty. Will BlackBerry bring these features to purported Android device?


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Coinbase inc., the leading cryptocurrency exchange, admitted Thursday that a glitch had accidentally charged some of its customers multiple times for a single purchase — with some users saying their bank accounts were drained by the error.
Outraged customers have been complaining on Reddit for days about the unauthorized charges. One user reported they were charged 17 times for a $1,000 purchase. Another said a $300 purchase of bitcoin
“My bank account went from very comfortable to negatives balance, not to mention extra $5 charges, and overdraft fees. As a result my rent check bounced, and my bank went further into negative for a NSF charge for $25. My landlord is not a nice person and is on my CASE and I have nothing to offer him. I am FREAKING OUT,” that person said on Reddit.
Other Reddit users also reported their bank accounts were drained.
In a series of statements Thursday on Reddit, San Francisco-based Coinbase said: “We have confirmed that this is an issue occurring downstream from Coinbase, and we’re working with those parties to reach a resolution.”
“We know this experience is frustrating. We are actively working with the card networks and processors to investigate these issues,” Coinbase said in a blog post. “Coinbase will ensure that each affected customer will be refunded in full for any erroneous charge. Our processor confirmed that any erroneous charges will be refunded over the next few days.”
The exchange blamed recent changes to how credit-card issuers were handling charges and fees for cryptocurreny purchases. Earlier this month, Coinbase told customers that because of the changes, payments for digital-currency transactions were now being processed as cash advances, which could result in additional fees.
Visa, though, did not say it was to blame. While Coinbase said in a tweet late Thursday that the errors were “the result of Visa reversing and recharging transactions,” Visa, in a statement reported by The Verge, denied it had made changes to transaction codes.
Coinbase said transactions between Jan. 22 and Feb. 11 may have been “refunded and reprocessed — resulting in erroneous charges.” Friday’s joint statement said “all reversal transactions have now been issued, and should appear on customers’ credit card and debit card accounts within the next few days.”
This report has been updated to include Visa’s statements.


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Aeropostale Gets Bid From Mall Group to Keep 229 Stores OpenBy
Retailer’s assets draw interest from Simon, General Growth
Chain seeks to run store-closing sales Labor Day weekend
Aeropostale Inc., the bankrupt teen clothing chain, says a group including mall operators General Growth Properties Inc. and Simon Property Group Inc. has bid for “substantially all” its assets with an eye toward keeping at least 229 stores open.
The so-called going concern bid would also cover expenses including Aeropostale’s bankruptcy financing, the company said in a filing late Tuesday in Manhattan federal court. The amount of the bid wasn’t disclosed.
Lawyers for Aeropostale updated the bankruptcy judge on the auction Wednesday afternoon, saying they were working on documentation for the group’s offer, while also evaluating other bids. The auction should conclude Thursday, attorney Ray Schrock told U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane on a conference call. He said the parties worked through the night.
“We have an energized but weary group,” Schrock said.
New York-based Aeropostale filed for Chapter 11 protection in May, joining other mall-based retailers that have struggled to compete with big-box chains, online merchants and “fast fashion” rivals.
The company, which had about 800 locations in the U.S. and Canada before filing Chapter 11, accused lead lender Sycamore Partners of using a supplier it controlled to steer the chain into bankruptcy and buy it on the cheap. Last week, Lane shot down that contention and said Sycamore could take part in the auction, bidding with about $150 million in debt it is owed in lieu of putting up cash.
A lawyer for Sycamore said Wednesday that the private equity firm hasn’t yet decided whether it will support the going concern bid, or whether it will pursue an offer of its own. It needs to figure out how the mall group’s bid will affect its recoveries before deciding what to do, the lawyer said.
The going concern bid comes with a backup plan: If it isn’t chosen as the “best and highest” offer, Hilco Merchant Resources LLC, Gordon Brothers Retail Partners LLC, both liquidators, and Authentic Brands Group, a licensing firm, will bid on the chain’s merchandise and intellectual property. All three are members of the bidding group that includes Simon and General Growth.
Aeropostale plans to proceed with going-out-of-business sales at stores that will be shuttered. To make the most of the sales, the retailer wants to start Labor Day weekend, Schrock said. Lane said the company can come back to court Thursday for permission to begin the sales.
The case is In re Aeropostale Inc., 16-11275, U.S. Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).


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Yellow Jacket stun gun iPhone case could protect you
A new iPhone case on the market is packing more than just protection for your phone. The Yellow Jacket smartphone stun gun could actually protect you.
“There are people who have concealed carry,” said co-creator Sean Simone. “There are people that have rifles, shotguns, all sorts of stuff. People that don’t carry anything, but the bottom line is you always carry your phone.”
Simone spent the last year perfecting the Yellow Jacket smartphone stun gun case. It’s already sparked interest on the Internet, and now he’s taken what was once just a sketch and introduced it to a wider audience.
“We took it to market,” he said. “That sounds that easy, but we went through various different steps, worked with people in the country, internationally to bring this to market.”
But police warn it should be used with caution. Police say you should get some training if you plan on buying one.
It’s why Yellow Jacket is introducing training videos on their website. The inventors say they’re developing iPhone 5 and Android models and are looking into creating a more robust version for police use.


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By Mike Bowden
Yuji Naka, the mastermind behind the Sonic the Hedgehog series, has joined Square Enix to work on an unannounced game.
Monster Hunter World will recieve an 815MB day one patch which opens multiplayer, fixes bugs, and adds Poogie the pet pig
After months of waiting and three beta tests, Monster Hunter World finally drops this Friday.
More than a decade after its original release on PS2, Shadow of the Colossus is back.
Golden Axe Beast Rider
Yesterday, rumors circulated that Sega Studios San Francisco wasn’t long for this world. Today, the world’s down precisely one game developer. Can you guess which one?
Play Online chief Dave Halverson has said that all those reviewers – yeah, that’s you – who gave Golden Axe: Beast Rider less than a seven [out of 10], either “don’t understand game design or just plain suck at games.” “The majority of these people (can’t call them critics) either didn’t complete a fraction of […]


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A diamond the size of a tennis ball which is the largest discovered in more than a century could sell for as much as £50m, according to Sotheby's.
The auctioneers will offer the Lesedi la Rona diamond for sale in London on June 29.
The gemstone was unearthed in November in Botswana at a mine owned by Canada's Lucara Diamond Corporation.
It measured 1,109 carats, making it the second-largest gem-quality rough diamond ever discovered.
Its name means "our light" in the Tswana language.
The auctioneer said the rough gemstone could yield the largest top-quality diamond ever cut and polished.
The largest diamond ever found was the 3,106-carat Cullinan diamond, unearthed in South Africa in 1905. It was cut into nine pieces that form part of the UK Crown Jewels.
David Bennett, chairman of Sotheby's jewellery division, called the discovery of the three billion-year-old diamond "the find of a lifetime" and the auction unprecedented.
"Not only is the rough superlative in size and quality, but no rough even remotely of this scale has ever been offered before at public auction," he said.
The Lesedi la Rona could smash the record price for a diamond of $48.5m (£33.5 million), paid at a Geneva sale last year for the 12.03-carat polished Blue Moon diamond.
Hong Kong billionaire Joseph Lau picked it up as a gift for his seven-year-old daughter.


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Facebook and the premium eyewear manufacturer Ray-Ban have collaborated to develop a set of smart glasses that come equipped with two cameras, a microphone, and a speaker all integrated into the frame.
These two businesses have been the subject of speculation for some time now about the creation of a high-tech product. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, provided confirmation of this in July. He disclosed this information on the company’s results call for the second quarter.
“Looking forward here, the next product release will be the launch of our first smart glasses from Ray-Ban in conjunction with EssilorLuxottica,” he added before stating. “Looking ahead here, the next product release will be the debut of our first smart glasses.”
“I’m thrilled to get those into people’s hands and to continue making progress on the trip toward complete augmented reality glasses in the future,” said the author. “I’m happy to get them into people’s hands.”
In addition, Zuckerburg said that the glasses would have an “iconic form factor” and be able to perform some “really cool stuff.” However, he didn’t really provide too much more than that. All of the characteristics are just becoming clear to us now that the specifications have been given their official stamp of approval.
Ray-Ban Stories augmented reality sunglasses
Ray-Ban Stories is the term given to the assortment of goods. It was anticipated that the primary focus of the specifications would be on the incorporation of smart capabilities and social media. It seemed anticipated that there would be very few health and fitness components, if any at all. And it came out that this was really the case.
In point of fact, Ray-Ban Stories are very similar to Snapchat Spectacles, which are now operating on their third iteration of hardware. They have nothing in common with the Google Glass device that was a failure.
In terms of its overall appearance, the Ray-Ban product for Facebook resembles a standard pair of Wayfarers in a significant way. which is exactly what you should strive towards. If you weigh them and compare them to the standard version, you will find that the difference in weight is just five grams, and the difference in thickness is only a few millimeters.
Therefore, the fact that the two of them have managed to hide in their frame a pair of front-facing cameras for the purposes of photographing and taking pictures is pretty astounding. Each wing has a camera, and all of the cameras collaborate to capture photographs and films that are five megapixels in resolution (that last up to 30 seconds). The capability may be triggered by either a long touch (for high-resolution photographs with a resolution of 2592 x 1944 pixels) or a short tap (for low-resolution photos) on the device’s lone physical button.
The photographs and videos are sent wirelessly using Bluetooth to an updated version of the Facebook View app. After that, this is what is utilized to transmit them over to social media sites like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Snapchat, and many more.
Concerning personal privacy, unavoidable issues are going to be raised. An LED has been included in the design of the camera in order to address these problems. When you are shooting pictures or videos, others who are around you will be alerted by the brilliant white light that comes on.
Another open topic is whether or not individuals truly detect the little light. Not to mention the fact that it is probably not difficult to block the light for people who have made the conscious decision to do so. In the end, as is the case with other goods of a similar kind, it will be up to consumers to utilize the technology in an acceptable and considerate manner.
Another technique for protecting one’s privacy is a power switch that may be used to disable all of the smart functions. which, in addition to the cameras, has an audio array with “three microphones,” as well as open-ear speakers. In addition to allowing users to conduct calls and send texts hands-free, the mics also enable users to deliver instructions to hands-free voice assistants. Using a smartphone that is linked to the speaker, one has the ability to listen to podcasts as well as music.
It’s noteworthy to note that Facebook’s name is nowhere to be seen on the product; instead, the whole thing bears the Ray-Ban logo. However, the social media behemoth has been a part of its development from the very beginning.
It sounds like the battery life is adequate. If you utilized the glasses for a total of six hours each day, you could get three full days’ worth of usage out of them. This is assuming that the case is completely loaded.
You can get a pair of Ray-Ban glasses for the price of $299 right now. There are twenty different variants of the design for you to choose from. It is essential to bear in mind that none of these are watertight; hence, you must ensure that they are protected from precipitation at all times.
Despite the fact that Snapchat Spectacles have been available for purchase for many years, the company has been unable to boost sales. The passage of time will reveal whether or not the Ray-Ban Facebook cooperation is successful.
This is not even the beginning.
It is not a secret that Facebook has ambitious intentions in regard to the development of hardware. The social media behemoth has big plans for wearable technology and has set 2022 as the target year for the launch of its first wristwatch. This smartphone will also come equipped with two cameras. One of them will be used for video chats, while the other will have a higher resolution and be used for taking photos and films of higher quality. According to reports, the watch will also include certain fitness-related capabilities and a connection with social media.
Facebook has not been coy about its plans to produce wearables capable of reading users’ brain activity. Given how much the firm currently knows about each of us, do we really want it to be able to read our thoughts? Perhaps not.
In the past, Zuckerberg has said that augmented reality would be the end goal of Facebook’s journey. There is little doubt, however, that these advances will continue in the future. Wearables that can read a person’s brainwaves will eventually become mainstream. Let’s keep our fingers crossed that the sole use for this would be to enable individuals to operate gadgets with their thoughts.


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Phnom Penh Court tries a truck driver for allegedly stealing 21 barrels of gasoline.
Cambodia imported 2.5 million tonnes of petroleum products in 2018, according to the Ministry of Mines and Energy.
The management of gasoline prices in Cambodia could serve as a good case study to replicate in the price management of other utility items, argues Sim Vireak.
One person was injured and four cars and a tuk-tuk were destroyed today after a fire sparked at a gasoline vendor’s shop near Sihanoukville’s Phsar Leu market.
The government advises gas station owners to set petrol and diesel pump prices at 4,000 riel ($1) per litre until November 15.
The price of regular gasoline in the Kingdom is 3,950 riel ($0.97) per litre, amounting to a reduction of 200 riel per litre.
Starting July 1, Cambodians will pay as much as 160 riel ($0.4) less for litre of gasoline.
The Cambodian government ear marked another $30 million per annum from the tax on gasoline to counteract the current price hike.
The government to continue capping the price of regular gasoline and diesel.
A man stole his brother’s Lexus RX 330 car and crashed it into a tuk tuk transporting gasoline, causing a large fire.
China plans for ethanol biofuel by 2020, a push for corn and to clean up smog.
Texas on Monday edges towards recovery from the devastation of Hurricane Harvey.
Tropical Storm Harvey shuts nearly a fifth of US oil-refining, triggering worries on supply.
Retail prices for gasoline are gradually increasing, up by approximately 5 percent.


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Neil A. Carousso produces and co-hosts WCBS Newsradio 880’s Small Business Spotlight series with Joe Connolly. Click here to watch the weekly video segments featuring advice for business owners on survival, recovery and growth opportunities.
High School Students Learn Valuable Lessons On Digital Business Skills At WCBS Small Business Breakfast
STAMFORD, Conn. (WCBS 880) — Amid the sea of attendees in the Stamford Hilton ballroom Wednesday at the WCBS Small Business Breakfast was a table filled with high school students furiously taking down notes.
The students from the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering from the Stamford School District gathered to hear Google Small Business Marketing Expert Wendy Gonzalez talk about how to grow their business online and sharpen social media strategy.
Business and technology teacher Brenda Zanga has brought students to these breakfasts in the past and calls it “an amazing learning experience.”
Student Jena Lombardo spoke to WCBS 880 after the breakfast and said she was walking away not only with broad and overall points, but with “actual specifics” to help her understand the needs of a small business and how to make brands stand out.
“I do like how Wendy was talking about how your business, they like if it’s personalized; if it kind of has that wholesome feel, and also not everything you put out there has to be some big bang – it’s all about like a gradual growth,” Lombardo said.
The morning was especially helpful to high school senior Marco Lima, who created his own business brand – Triple M – an apparel line that sells clothing in several states.
“I do produce clothing – it’s retail – and I don’t know, anything that you can think of, basically, and I also do custom designs for people, and so if somebody has a huge order they want to do, in terms of wholesale, I also do that as well,” he said.
Lima loved the networking at the event and even met a potential business partner who does embroidery.
Student Bryant Kozial is also working on his own business, and told us he learned about some helpful tools for the first time.
“It really was interesting, because a lot of the sources that, you know, you could use from – like Google Analytics and Express – I didn’t even know those existed prior to today,” Kozial said. “And now that I walk into this room and got such a meaningful presentation of what Google could help you with in your business, I think that it’s going to help out my business a lot more.”
Student Linsey Loraditch said she was especially intrigued with the Google My Business aspect of the presentation. She said the tools she learned about would be useful when it comes to artistic applications for promoting a business.
“I would say to be able to develop their style through art; to be able to draw traditionally and digitally, especially with this growing media presentation that we have with art in the world,” she said.
The group, including members of the school’s faculty got to talk with WCBS Business Anchor Joe Connolly following the breakfast and took some photographs with him. They’re already talking about a trip to the WCBS Newsradio 880 studios for a follow up conversation.
Neil A. Carousso produced WCBS Newsradio 880’s multi-media coverage of the Small Business Breakfast and assisted in organizing the event in Stamford, CT on March 28, 2018. All WCBS 880 videos and social media posts were written, edited and published by Neil A. Carousso.


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Right on the Money: Tips for Online Fundraising
Crowd funding. Social media. “Donate now” buttons. Online shopping for a cause. The ways for nonprofits to raise money online have proliferated, and following the trends has paid off for some charities.
Two recent studies by The Chronicle of Philanthropy found that online donations rose 14 percent between 2011 and 2012, faster than any other type of giving.
“It’s a very efficient way to get money, especially in a world where we’re all into social networking and crossing borders to connect with all different kinds of people,” says Kim Patton, training coordinator at The Foundation Center, a Washington, DC, nonprofit that promotes philanthropy.
Still, online giving only accounts for 5 to 10 percent of total donations organizations receive, says Michael Nilsen, vice president of public affairs at the Association of Fundraising Professionals.
“Even as we talk about the growth and popularity of online giving,” he says, “people now still tend to give via mail and other means.”
Especially when it comes to gifts of $1,000 and above, more traditional fundraising vehicles, like direct mail and face-to-face giving, remain important because they allow organizations to build relationships with donors.
“Online, sometimes it’s one and done,” Patton says. “To be really effective you have to build relationships so people become a part of your annual giving campaign.”
Organizations are finding the most success when they combine an online component with more traditional routes of fundraising, Nilsen says. For instance, an organization may start with a direct mail letter and then follow up with an email before using social media to announce updates and key messages.
Thinking about turning to online fundraising?
Promote the online giving option. Use your website, email, social media and direct mail to direct people to your online giving site.
“The last thing you want to do is go online and think that magically people are going to show up because you're there,” Nilsen says.
Remember to register. If you’ve only solicited gifts locally, online giving might open you up to new donors in other states. Wherever you’re going to solicit donations, it’s important to register with whatever department regulates charitable organizations and solicitations. Usually you can simply register in the state where your organization is located and any states you expect donors to come from, says Patton. Not sure where to register? Patton suggests visiting the National Association of State Charitable Officials for a detailed listing of contacts in each state.
Tell a compelling story. Many potential online givers will only get to know you from your online presence. It’s important to use your website and social media channels to clearly and effectively present the organization’s work in a way that makes people want to give.
That shouldn’t be hard for organizations that serve youth and their families, Patton says. “Most of time, people want to give from the heart. And people care about youth.”
Consider mobile. In an article for Forbes earlier this year, Sean Milliken, director of nonprofit strategy for eBay, predicted a continuing rise in mobile fundraising. Organizations are not only creating mobile versions of their fundraising campaigns, they’re also using mobile devices to swipe credit cards on site to accept donations. Both can lower costs of traditional campaigns, he said. For more information, see what we wrote about mobile websites earlier this year.


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Just 1,900 tons of the authorized 5,000 tons of imported onions have arrived as the Department of Agriculture's (DA) deadline for the importations passed on Friday.
"So far, approximately 1,900 tons [of imported onions] arrived, 1,000 metric tons are on the market and 900 tons are still for inspection," Bureau of Plant Industry (BPI) Section Officer in Charge Jose Diego Roxas said in a Friday interview. The BPI expects to release the 900 tons onions under inspection on Friday or next week, Roxas added. The DA will ban the importation of onions after January 27 "and we will be strict on that," he concluded.
The government allowed a limited number of onions to be brought in an effort to pull down the soaring prices. As of Friday, retail prices of imported white onions ranged between P250 and P300 per kilo and imported red onions, between P200 and P250 per kilo.
President Marcos in the thick of it
When Ferdinand Marcos Jr became Philippine president-elect in mid-2022, he named himself Agriculture Minister, pledging to fix the country’s food problems. Alas, the nation has reported shortages of everything from salt to sugar over the last few months even as the economy grew the fastest since the 1970s last year.
The shortages of basic food staples are being felt throughout the economy and helped propel inflation to near the highest levels since the global financial crisis in 2008.
The government and lawmakers blame greedy traders for hoarding food to create artificial shortages that allows them to jack up prices. When discussing the onion crisis earlier this month, Senator Imee Marcos, the president’s sister, said there’s “a level of treachery and manipulation involved because these prices are inexplicable.”
[ P1 = €0.017 ]


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A Palestinian worker sits on bags of flour at a U.N. food aid distribution center in the Jebaliya Refugee Camp, northern Gaza Strip, July 18, 2007. U.N. officials and Gazan businessmen appealed to Mideast negotiators to open a crucial Gaza trade crossing, warning that the Strip's economy could completely collapse within weeks. At least 68,000 Gazan workers have lost their jobs since mid-June.
Credit: AP Photo/Hatem Moussa
Youngsters jump from a bridge to cool off in the waters of the Isar river canal in Munich, southern Germany, Wednesday, July 18, 2007, as the hot weather continued across the country.
Credit: AP Photo/Diether Endlicher
Rescuers work, early 18 July, 2007, at the TAM EXPRESS building in Sao Paulo, Brazil. A Brazilian passenger jet skidded off the runway after landing and burst into flames at a Sao Paolo airport on Tuesday, leaving as many as 200 people feared dead in what would be Brazil's deadliest air disaster.
Credit: DANIEL KFOURI/AFP/Getty Images
Former South African President Nelson Mandela, center, of following the official launch of a new group, The Elders, on the occasion of Mandela's 89th birthday in Johannesburg July 18, 2007. The Elders is a group of leaders convened by Mandela and South African Archibishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu, and founded by singer Peter Gabriel and entrepreneur Richard Branson, amongst others.
Credit: AP Photo/Jerome Delay
Seals watch visitors through the port hole window in their swimming tank in the zoo of Zurich, Switzerland Wednesday, July 18, 2007.
Credit: AP Photo/Keystone, Steffen Schmidt
A two-day-old Cherry-crowned Mangabey monkey clings to its mother at Colchester Zoo, Colchester, England on Wednesday July 18, 2007. Cherry-crowned Mangabeys, also known as the Red-capped Mangabeys, are extinct throughout much of their natural habitat in southern Nigeria. They can easily be identified by their brilliant white eyelids and the patch of red hair on the top of their heads.
Credit: AP Photo/Chris Radburn/PA
Off To Market
A Kashmiri vegetable vendor rows his boat across the Dal Lake in Srinagar, India, Wednesday, July 18, 2007.
Credit: AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool
In The Bag!
Customers wait in line to purchase the "I'm Not a Plastic Bag" shopping totes by designer Anya Hindmarch at a Whole Foods Market July 18, 2007, in New York. Twenty-thousand of the environmentally-friendly bags by the London-based fashion cult-favorite designer of handbags that cost upwards of $1,500, went on sale for $15 each at 8:00 a.m. at stores in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Mario Tama
At A Glance
Russian President Vladimir Putin seen during his meeting with Health Minister Mikhail Zurabov in Moscow, Wednesday, July 18, 2007.
Credit: AP Photo
The Hawken fire is seen burning north of Virginia City, Nev., on Wednesday morning, July 18, 2007. The wildfire, which was 15 percent contained, had burned about 1,700-acres, forced evacuations, and threatened 400 homes.
Credit: AP Photo/Brad Horn, Nevada Appeal
Stuart Hill project manager at Touch Bionics holds the highly functional bionic i-Limb hand July 17, 2007 in Livingston, Scotland. The hand which has been tested by amputees, including Iraq war veterans is controlled by the patient's mind and muscles.
Credit: GETTY IMAGES/Jeff J. Mitchell
Water and steam gush out of the street after an explosion in midtown Manhattan Wednesday, July 18, 2007, during the evening rush hour in New York.
Credit: AP Photo/Seth Wenig


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The Karaage-kun Robo started working in Tokyo recently. The five-foot tall robot cooks Lawson’s Karaage-Kun bite-sized fried chicken. While you may have never heard of Karaage-Kun, the chain sells 20 billion pieces of mini chicken bites annually.
Karaage-kun Fried Chicken Robot
The Karaage-kun makes your chicken in a flash as designers claim the bot can cook the chicken in one minute where normal methods would take a painstaking six minutes. The robot is cooking up three different flavors: regular, red and cheese.
“We want to maximize efficiency and minimize food preparation time,” said Lawson President Sadanobu Takemasu. The robot lives inside a vending machine which resembles the Karaage-kun mascot. Karaage refers to Japanese fried chicken.
As of now, you’ll still have to interact with humans to get your fried chicken bites. Customers pay a human worker at the register who gives them a package of the chicken. The customer scans the barcode at the robot and inserts the package. The Karaage-kun then cooks and dispenses the delicious chicken. The company claims that since the cooking process is so quick, the chicken is always hot and fresh.
Lawson says they hope to expand the robot’s menu and have the process be completely automated. So far the Karaage-kun Robo is only at the Lawson’s TOC Osaki branch in Toyko. The company plans to eventually expand the automated service to every Lawson’s store. Along with Japan, the chain also has locations in China, Thailand, Philippines, and Hawaii.
We fully expect KFC to respond with fried chicken robots of their own.


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Despite the feelings of doom and gloom that are settling as we face up to the credit crunch, it seems we're very reluctant to let our beauty regimes suffer. According to new research, women are choosing to cut back on their food costs to pay for cosmetics and beauty products as the credit crunch rumours become reality.
Nearly one in three women, which is the equivalent to eight million nationwide, would prefer to eat less than curtail their spending on what we all seem to see as must-have essential beauty items.
In addition to what I'd describe as 'everyday items' like cleanser, show gel, face wash and moisturiser, the survey has also revealed that three-quarters of women also consider makeup and body treatments to be 'everyday essentials' as opposed to luxury items.
According to Marie Claire, the average woman spends £11.53 per week on cosmetics, which I have to admit really doesn't seem like that much (especially with my expensive body lotion habit) but actually adds up to a whopping £33,575 over an average lifetime.
The survey of 1,000 women was conducted by beauty shopping website, FeelUnique.com and while I sincerely believe you do have to take these surveys with at least a pinch of salt, it is interesting to see that the credit crunch is yet to hit the bathrooms and make-up bags of most women. Perhaps our devotion to looking good may even save the economy. Now that's a good reason for a new lipstick.


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Brick House Pizza and Grille has moved to
a new location at 54 Clifton Country Road in
The restaurant, previously located at 5 Clifton
Country Road, re-opened with an upgraded
menu and customer service. The restaurant
opened in its new location in October.
“Brick House is very different now,” said
manager Erika Schreifels. “We needed a fresh
The eatery needed several improvements,
said Schreifels, which was the motivation
behind seeking out a new location.
“Our parking at the old location was horrible.
Even at 5 p.m., our customers couldn’t
The new facility has a larger parking lot,
and has an indoor capacity of 200 people.
There is a large bar area which seats 21 people.
The bar features 14 drafts on tap, as well as a
large television wall. There are also two large
seating areas, which have a family-oriented
The restaurant also has an outside dining
area with a bar, deck and patio that will be
used extensively in the summer.
The menu was completely revamped,
Schreifels said. At the previous location, the
focus was on selling dinner entrées. The new
approach features a more pub-style menu,
including burgers, appetizers and more. The
staff tested several new dishes and had people
choose their favorites to put on the new menu.
“One of the new dishes is our eggplant
parmesan stack,” said Schreifels. “We coat
the eggplant in panko bread crumbs with a
housemade sauce. We sell 50 of those a week.
And many people are ordering our appetizers
as an entrée. So they will order the eggplant
stack with some pasta and that is their meal.”
Schreifels said one of her favorite menu
items is a sandwich named the Sweet Ana,
after her daughter. It is a turkey sandwich with
apples and cranberry mayonnaise. She also is a
big fan of their chicken wings. “Our wings are
out of this world.”
John Lee and Chuck Brady are the head
chefs. The restaurant will be hosting bands
throughout the winter, as well as featuring
various specials on the menu.
Schreifels has bachelor’s degree in marketing
and management and worked at the previous
Brick House Pizza and Grille is open from 3
p.m. to 11 p.m. Monday through Wednesday;
noon to 12 a.m. Thursday through Saturday;
and noon to 11 p.m. on Sunday. For more
information, visit brickhousepizzany.com or


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Net earnings fell to $747 million, or 64 cents on a per-share basis that was flat versus the prior year. Sales were down 2% to $14.2 billion, but a large portion of that decline was due to an extra week in the previous fiscal year’s second quarter.
Chairman and CEO Robert Niblock made no bones about the companies disappointing quarter. “Our results fell short of our overall expectations,” he said, expressing confidence the retailer can turn things around.
Monday’s results from Lowe’s came in stark contrast to a strong second quarter for its biggest rival, Home Depot. That company reported a big second quarter Aug. 14 and raised its full-year outlook, whereas Lowe's dropped its full-year earnings target to $1.64 per share, from a prior range of $$1.73-$1.83.
Investors have drawn a clear distinction between the pair this year. Home Depot shares are up 33.5%, while Lowe’s has added just 5.2% year-to-date. The former also gets a richer valuation from the market, trading at slightly more than 20 times earnings to Lowe’s 17.7 multiple.
That makes sense to NBG Productions chief equities analyst Brian Sozzi, who writes in a note Monday that the emerging housing recovery “is not strong enough to support solid sales for both home improvement chains.” The weak quarter from Lowe’s only reinforces that Home Depot will be the winner under the current scenario, Sozzi argues.
Home Depot shares were down 1.1% at $56.11 Monday morning; Lowe’s fell 4.3% to $26.68.


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The ever-popular CURLS™ Professional organic hair care collection is proud to announce the upcoming launch of the newly designed philanthropic leg of the company, CURLS in the Community-Defining Curls, Changing Lives. CURLS in the Community is all about outreach. Dellinger has always had a passion for giving back. Since her company’s inception, Dellinger has been active in the Adoptive and Foster Care community and equipping parents adopting across racial lines with the tools necessary to handle their children’s “hair challenges”. She has truly made a difference, for their hair and in their lives. CURLS will now extend that reach to hit a number of different areas each year. It started last year with their Sustainability Campaign, encouraging their customers to “think green” and become Environistas-a term created by CURLS to define socially aware beauty product consumers, and will continue with this month’s “Care & Share” Campaign.
Dellinger is using her professional platform/voice as well as the CURLS extremely engaged social networking audience to encouraging their Salons, Vendors and Customers to get involved and work together with them to help those in need. On December 11th, from 11-1pm, CURLS team members led by Dellinger will go into the Downtown Sacramento community and distribute hot lunches and coats to those in need.


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With great fanfare, FCC Chairman Thomas Wheeler is calling for sweeping changes to the way cable TV set-top boxes work.
In an essay published Jan. 27 by Re/Code, Wheeler began by citing the high prices consumers pay for set-top box rentals, and bemoans the fact that alternatives are not easily available. Yet for all the talk and tweets about pricing and consumer lock-in, Wheeler did not propose an inquiry into set-top box profit margins, nor whether the supply chain is unduly controlled by the cable companies. Neither did Wheeler propose an investigation into the complaints consumers have made about cable companies’ hassles around CableCards, which under FCC mandate cable companies must provide to customers who buy their own set-top boxes.
In fact, he dropped the pricing issue halfway through and began discussing access to streaming content:
To receive streaming Internet video, it is necessary to have a smart TV, or to watch it on a tablet or laptop computer that, similarly, do not have access to the channels and content that pay-TV subscribers pay for. The result is multiple devices and controllers, constrained program choice and higher costs.
This statement seems intentionally misleading. Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire sell boxes that connect to TVs and allow a huge amount of streaming content to play. True, the devices are still independent of the set-top cable box but there is no evidence that this lack of integration is a competitive barrier.


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Keeping the C6 fresh all those years had as much to do with special models like the ZR1 and Grand Sport as it has with constantly tweaking smaller things like the options, accessories and colors that have been offered.
For its final model year, the 2013 C6 will reportedly get a last new color called Night Race Blue. The Corvette is already offered in two blue hues: one called Supersonic Blue Metallic (an option that costs an extra $300 on the standard Vette) and a lighter blue introduced for the 2012 model year called Carlisle Blue Metallic. The latter debuted at last year's SEMA Show to celebrate the Corvettes at Carlisle event in Pennsylvania that claims to attract more privately owned Vettes in one place at one time than anywhere else in the world.
CorvetteBlogger also reports that Chevrolet will be deleting Competition Gray wheels from the options sheet and replacing them with the Black Painted Aluminum wheels you see above.


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Once launched in October, BMW G310R will be the smallest capacity motorcycle in the BMW Motorrad lineup. Set to take on the KTM Duke 390 and Mahindra Mojo in India, new BMW G310R is a global motorcyle, which will first be launched in India.
Post Indian launch, it will be launched in many countries across the globe. In order to promote their new bike, BMW will be launching a comic novel in which the G310R will play a central role. A teaser has been released.
Designed jointly by Indo-German alliance BMW Motorrad and TVS Motor Company, G310R for Europe and Asia will be manufactured at TVS plant in Bangalore. This will allow the company to keep launch price aggressive.
BMW G310R measures 1,988mm in length, 896mm in width, 1,227mm in height and has a wheelbase of 1,374mm. It is powere by a 313 cc liquid cooled single cylinder engine offering 34 bhp power at 9,500 rpm and 28 Nm peak torque at 7,500 rpm mated to a 6 speed gearbox. It is seen with a 300mm disc brake at the front and 240mm at the rear while it also sports front upside down forks and mono shock suspension at the rear. Dual channel ABS will also be on offer.
Ready to roll into showrooms by October, just ahead of the festive season in the country, BMW G310R is the first ‘Made in India’ BMW motorcycle. It will be the first product to be sold through BMW Motorrad dealerships in India which are being set up at major metros across the country.


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Google has rebooted their Chromebook series within the past few months with two new models for us to get our hands on, but rumor has it that they aren’t stopping there. According to DigiTimes, there is evidence pointing towards a new 12.85″ Chromebook coming out next year that will feature a screen that is touch sensitive. This all brings back memories of the Chrome OS tablet that was supposedly going to be launched, but Google seems to have found a better idea. (more…)
Moments ago, Google unveiled their newest partnership with Acer to introduce the all new Acer C7 Chromebook. Having a new Chromebook is awesome, but what’s even more insane is the price tag. Priced at just $199, the device sports a 11.6″ display, capable of up to 3.5 hours of battery life. Sure, you’ll need to bring your charger with you everywhere you go, but that is still pretty great for those who are in the market for an ultra-portable computing device.
The C7 goes on sale starting tomorrow directly on Google Play and at Best Buy.
So, $199 for a Chromebook that stays alive for 3.5 hours. Picking one up?
Google’s Chrome OS and Chromebook have had a bumpy life so far, but their latest announcement today might increase sales in the right direction. Samsung and Google have gotten together for another Chromebook, but kept the price to a low $250. The 11.6″ laptop is only .8″ thick and has a 6.5-hour battery life. A dual-core Samsung Exynos processor powers the device which can muster up 1080p playback as well. (more…)
Today, Google unveiled the next generation of Chrome OS-based devices they have built with their partner Samsung. The new 550 series of Chromebooks are faster and built with portability in mind, while on the other hand, the Chromebox is exactly what a wired-in Chrome-lover would use as a permanent fixture either at the home or office. With Google’s new Chrome UI, accessing the web, applications/games , and Drive files has never been easier. (more…)


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By Kabeer Yousuf — MUSCAT — The total number of vehicles in Oman has jumped by more than 20 per cent, disproportionate to the number of new roads and the expanded ones, which according to experts is one of the root causes of rise in accidents. These facts and figures emerged in a survey by a leading player in the auto finance sector in the Sultanate which said the auto finance in the country has grown by 20 per cent in the Q2 over the same period last year as is witnessed by leading auto agencies.
Experts say the unprecedented traffic snarls and chaotic traffic movement at various parts of the country, with special focus on the capital city, is the by-product of the disproportionate growth in the number of vehicles. However, latest figures of total number of vehicles in the country was not accessible. Invariably the increased sales of both new and pre-owned cars, increased purchasing power of the youth triggered by minimum salary stipulation and additional jobs generated both in the private and public sectors have collectively contributed to the sudden rise in the number of vehicles on road, according to a chief executive of Suhail Bahwan Automobiles LLC.
“The volume of our auto finance or in other words the instalment credit has jumped by 20 to 25 per cent in the first half of this year compared to the same period last year,” Tom Cyriac, Vice-President, Credit and Collections, Suhail Bahwan Automobiles said, adding, “This scenario is undoubtedly owing to the minimum salary hike, increased number of job opportunities, rise in number of people opting for own cars and finally inadequate public transport system which have collectively contributed to the increased purchasing power of the youth translating into a surge in auto sales."
He said the youth prefer both sedan and SUVs alike but majority of new drivers prefer sedan while the experienced ones opt for the latter. Sale of pre-owned cars also increased. As to the repayment scheme, a ceiling of 50 per cent is kept as the maximum deductible instalment as per the CBO norms. “As per the norms of the CBO, we maintain the maximum deductible instalment or EMI to be 50 per cent of the total earnings or the net disposable income (NDI) of the customer. This income is what is routed through the bank as his salary.
"However, we don’t give into the request of the customer when he wants us to deduct half or more than the allowed percentage but we consider his or her living expenses and decline to do so." Cyriac added that no other income such as sponsorship fee is included in the total earning category. If the spouse is also employed, his or her income will be liable to pay the company in case the borrower defaults.
A maximum of 80 per cent of the value of the car can be financed because we follow CBO rule of 20 per cent down payment. The maximum repayment period is set as five years.
“Although the maximum period is five years, it can go up to six in some cases, depending upon the market conditions. However, the only condition is that we can only finance the cars that Suhail Automobiles and Al Jenaibi are selling."
“The advantage of such auto instalment credit is that we can close the deal with any customer walking into our office in a short time. Our offer of instalment credit helps the customer in such a way that he doesn’t have to run around looking for a bank for auto finance and others for various vehicle related needs. It’s like this: you buy the car and we finance you in the instalment mode of finance”, he concluded.
The fact that a number of bridges and new roads, along with the expansion of the existing ones are expected to ease the heavy traffic rush as experienced in some parts of the city. Several dual carriageways, overbridges, round abouts which are currently under way will help smooth movement of vehicles during the peak hours is a reason to heave a sigh especially during the Iftar times.


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A note to those in iT: iPhones require less support than Androids and BlackBerrys, according to ClickFox (http://www.clickfox.com), a company that analyzes customer experience data to identify problems.
ClickFox analyzed the support calls related to smartphones received by the North American carriers, and after factoring out the questions related to billing and carriers’ various plans, it found that iPhones cost less to support than Android devices and BlackBerrys, according to “Infoworld” (http://macte.ch/ELLEq).
ClickFox analytics director Lauren Smith told “InfoWorld” that BlackBerry users cost North American carriers in aggregate US$46 million more a year to support than iPhone users, and Android users costing $97 million more a year.
Why? It more often takes multiple agents to solve a BlackBerry or Android user’s problem, which means calls must be transferred, or the issue ends up taking multiple discussions to resolve. By contrast, iPhone users’ problems are typically handled in just one session. At an average cost of $4 per user for the extra help, that means about 11.5 million BlackBerry incidents needed additional assistance — and 24 million Android incidents, notes “InfoWorld.”


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A Washington Post editorial praised Ohio's decision to sue pharmaceutical companies for promoting opioid pain medication. The claim being made in the suit is that the companies minimized the risk of addiction in order to increase their market.
Incredibly, the piece does not mention the protectionism that gives these drug companies the incentive to push their drugs for improper uses. Government-granted patent monopolies allow the companies to sell their drugs for twenty, thirty, or forty times the free market price. When a government granted monopoly allows a drug company to raise its price by a factor of forty over the free market price it has the same distortionary effects as a trade tariff of 4,000 percent.
While the Post would be very quick to condemn anyone who proposed placing a 10 or 20 percent tariffs on shoes or steel to protect the domestic industry, it is apparently unconcerned about the much larger distortions that result from market barriers that are hundreds of times larger in the case of prescription drugs.
As a result of this protectionism, the country will spend more than $440 billion (around $1,300 per person) for drugs that would likely sell for less than $80 billion in a free market. In addition, this protectionism gives drug companies incentive to lie about the effectiveness and safety of their drugs, as we clearly see in the case of opiod painkillers.
Unfortunately, the Post is so committed to protectionism in this case that it does not want to even talk about the root cause of the problem.


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BUTLER TOWNSHIP, Ohio (WDTN) – A fire at a Butler Township video game store caused an evacuation Wednesday.
Several stores at the York Commons Shopping Center off Benchwood Road were evacuated around 1:30 Wednesday afternoon after a small fire started in the back of the Game Stop store.
Stores surrounding the Game Stop, Petland and Spring were also evacuated as a safety precaution. The smoke was contained to the Game Stop.
Fire officials told 2 NEWS the fire was put out with a fire extinguisher before crews arrived.
There were no injuries. Fire officials said the businesss were able to remain open.


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Pennsylvania is seeing a rise in Lyme disease. The state already leads the nation for the number of cases, but officials say new cases have increased by the thousands over the last two years. Physician General Dr. Rachel Levine released the information yesterday at Gifford Pinchot State Park. Levine says people should use insect repellent that contains deet and wear long sleeve clothing when spending time outdoors.
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For B Corp Month 2024 the team at GoodFX has decided to interview a different B Corp every working day of March. We want to understand what their businesses do, how they think about impact and sustainability, why they went down the B Corp route, and how it relates to their business and vision.
Next up, Andy from Kid-A...
Andy introduces Kid-A as a consultancy business working with mobile network operators and retailers in the UK, managing categories of their business in an innovative way. The decision to become a B Corp was driven by a desire to create a business environment free from the stress and pressures of traditional corporate structures.
Despite initial skepticism, Kid-A views B Corp certification as the best framework for businesses to demonstrate their commitment to social and environmental responsibility.
Andy expresses optimism about the future of B Corp, emphasising the importance of evolving the framework to maintain its integrity and authenticity.
Andy concludes by discussing the challenges and rewards of becoming a B Corp, emphasising the importance of genuine intention and meaningful action. Kid-A's journey as a B Corp reflects their dedication to making a positive impact on the world while maintaining a successful business model.


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【看英文中國郵報學英文】出國旅遊最怕什麼事？旅遊業者公布最惱人的 5 大類型旅客調查，發現放任孩童吵鬧的父母最不受歡迎，台灣旅客抱怨方式則是較其他國家旅客低調， 83% 會打電話與飯店櫃台反映，超過 8 成的香港人與墨西哥人則是會當面抗議。
What is the most terrifying thing that could happen during your holidays? Expedia, an online travel agency, has recently released a surveyed on the most annoying types of travelers. The report indicates that parents who don’t discipline their fuss-making kids are considered the most annoying travelers. Taiwan travelers tend to complain in a lower-key manner compared to travelers from other countries — eight in ten Taiwanese travelers said they would report the situation to the hotel front desk — while more than 80 percent of Hong Kongers and Mexicans would choose to confront the troublemakers directly.
Expedia 針對 23 國的 18,237 名受訪者進行調查，列出最惱人的 5 大類型旅客， 43% 的受訪者認為過度放任小孩吵鬧的父母，是最惱人的飯店房客；第二名 ( 40% ) 則是在房間內或附近吵鬧的旅客；第三名 ( 37% ) 是在走廊上吵鬧的房客；第四名 ( 29% ) 為對飯店人員過度抱怨的房客；第五名 ( 28% ) 是在飯店酒吧喝到爛醉的旅客。
Expedia surveyed 18,237 travelers from 23 countries, listing five types of annoying travelers in the report. Without a doubt, 43 percent consider parents who give their naughty kids too much leniency as the most annoying type of travelers. Noisy travelers in hotels come in second, with 40 percent of the interviewees finding their behavior unacceptable. The third place goes to travelers making noises in the hallway, standing at 37 percent. The fourth and fifth types of annoying travelers are those who often complain too much to hotel staffs and who love spending time in hotel bars, coming in at 29 and 28 percent respectively.
至於抱怨方式，台灣旅客傾向低調解決，約有 83% 最常向飯店櫃檯求助， 82% 香港人與 82% 墨西哥人會當面對在飯店泳池嬉鬧的旅客提出意見， 30% 印度人最傾向於直接發出噪音向對方抗議，而 44% 紐西蘭人與 40% 澳洲人則比較怡然自得，選擇忽略這些噪音。
Another question is how they would choose to complain about such troublemakers. Taiwanese travelers are inclined to solve the problem without making a scene. In fact, 83 percent of them choose to seek help from the hotel front desk. On the contrary, 82 percent of Hong Kongers and Mexicans would express their dissatisfaction directly at other travelers. Interestingly, around 30 percent of Indians would make noises back to show their discontent. On the other hand, 44 percent of New Zealanders and 40 percent of Australians interviewed are rather relaxed, choosing to ignore the unpleasant noises.
另外分析旅客在預訂飯店時的喜好與行為，在 23 個國家中，德國旅客的住房時間最長，總計每年平均為 17.2 個晚上，台灣旅客則每年平均入住 11.4 個晚上。當被問及選擇飯店會考量的因素時， 90% 以上的受訪者都指出， Wi-fi 、價格以及地點非常重要， 66% 的台灣旅客認為免費 Wi-fi 是最重要的因素，其重要性甚至大於價格 ( 59% ) 和地點 ( 49% )。
Travelers from different countries also show different preferences when booking hotels. Among the 23 countries surveyed, on average, German travelers stay 17.2 nights at hotels per year, which is longer than all the other countries. Taiwanese travelers, on the other hand, stay 11.4 nights every year. When asked about the determining factors of choosing a hotel, 90 percent of the travelers stressed the importance of Wi-fi, price and location. 66 percent of the Taiwanese travelers interviewed even regard Wi-fi as the most important factor, even more important than price and location, standing at 59 and 49 percent respectively.


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Retailers, consumers and prices
Check out who’s making a bet on Borders, the struggling bookseller.
Financier Bennett LeBow, chairman of tobacco holding company Vector Group Ltd, is buying 11.1 million Borders shares through a company he controls — making him Borders’ single largest shareholder.
Borders CEO Mike Edwards praised LeBow’s turnaround prowess- fair enough. If you can help tabacco companies, you can probably help any ailing company.
Borders said it would use some of the money from LeBow to raise its profile in the fast-growing electronic books market. The No. 2 specialty bookstore chain expects to debut its e-bookstore, powered by Kobo in June. Kobo’s reader which will prominently feature Borders’ ebookstore, faces fierce competition from the likes of Amazon’s Kindle, Apple’s iPad and Sony’s Reader.
LeBow stepped in a few weeks after the bookseller repaid a $42.5 million loan to Bill Ackman’s Pershing Square Capital Management, which owns 10.6 million shares and had been Borders biggest investor prior to LeBow’s invesment.
Check out Nestle’s waiting game.
It could take years, but analysts in Europe think that Nestle is waiting for the pressure of competing with two confectionery giants on its home turf to eventually melt Hershey’s resolve, letting Nestle buy the Pennsylvania-based chocolate maker.
While Pennsylvania law says the state’s attorney general would have to approve any deal that dilutes the Hershey Trust’s control over the candy maker, analysts think that eventually the trust will have to look at a Nestle bid.
U.S. chocolate maker Hershey and Italy’s privately owned Ferrero both said separately they were evaluating their options over a possible bid for Cadbury, the world’s No. 2 confectioner, but analysts still see hostile bidder Kraft’s $16.2 billion offer as the front runner.
Reuters and other media have reported Hershey, known for its namesake chocolates and Reese’s peanut butter cups, and Ferrero were discussing a joint bid and the UK Takeover panel asked the companies to clarify their intentions. They gave no hint whether they may be working together on a joint bid.
Check out Kraft’s cash hoard. ******Kraft had almost $3 billion of cash on its books at the end of the third quarter, roughly four times what it had a year ago.******The world’s second-largest food maker might have disappointed***analysts with its third quarter sales and a profit outlook that implied a weaker-than-expected fourth quarter. But when it comes to its battle to win Cadbury, at least the company is generating cash – expenses cuts helped Kraft generate $2.7 billion in cash in the first 9 months of 2009.******Also, Reuters Loan Pricing Corp reported on Tuesday that Kraft has arranged $9 billion in financing for a bid.******Sources have told Reuters that Kraft is not likely to raise its initial bid for Cadbury if it makes a formal offer by the Nov. 9 deadline. But analysts do think that shifting the offer to more cash and less Kraft stock — which is down 3 percent on Wednesday after the company posted lackluster third-quarter sales — could be a step in the right direction.******Also in the basket: ******Warnaco beats estimates; Liz Claiborne misses ******Molson Coors higher profit tops view, shares rise ******M&S sees no repeat of blanket pre-Christmas promotions ******Talking shop with Isaac Mizrahi (WWD)******(Reuters photo)
Check out who’s in charge at Aeropostale.
No, seriously, who is in charge?
The company announced today that Julian Geiger was leaving the teen apparel retailer. (The press release was apparently written under the auspices of the Lawyers Full Employment Act.)
But instead of appointing one leader, Aeropostale went with co-CEOs. President and Chief Merchandising Officer Mindy Meads and Chief Operating Officer Thomas Johnson were named to share the top spot.
The news release does not detail how Meads and Johnson will divide the CEO duties.
What we do know is that the history of corporate America is punctuated with co-CEO arrangements that have gone awry.
When Kraft was spun out from Altria in 2001, Roger Deromedi and Betsy Holden were named co-CEOs. The relationship ended with Holden being demoted in late 2003, and eventually leaving the company. Kraft continued to struggle with lackluster innovation and seemingly ever-present restructuring, and Deromedi was out by 2006.
John Reed and Sanford Weill ran Citigroup together for a while before falling out. Reed even left the corporate world for a time.
A deep executive bench is always a plus, but in the end, one person at the top seems to be the final answer.
Also in the basket:
Rite Aid cuts view after latest loss; shares skid
H&M August sales disappoint as shoppers hunt for bargains
Buffett sings praises of a Chinese suit (WSJ)
Check out Kraft slashing its supplier base.
Yes, Kraft is doing more than just trying to buy Cadbury. The company is still operating its business and part of that is the process of looking to improve its margins.
Kraft told Reuters it plans to cut its supplier base to less than half of its 70,000 companies.
“We’re essentially taking a white sheet of paper and saying ‘what is the right number of suppliers to support this particular category, who are they, what is the capability we need for now and in the future, and does the current supplier base have that,’ ” Julia Brown, senior vice president of procurement at Kraft, said.
Suppliers have been under pressure in recent years as companies look to work with fewer vendors that operate more as partners.
The recovery is actually expected to make things worse for some suppliers as they find out they cannot get financing to ramp up operations as their customers start looking to buy from them again.
The winners will likely find even more business as they work closer with companies.
For the loser, it could be “supply-side wreckonomics.”
Also in the basket:
McDonald’s same-store sales up 2.2 percent
Talbots loss narrower than expected
Jewelry retailer Signet profit tops estimates
Speedo extends sponsor deal with Michael Phelps
Kraft offered $16.7 billion for the world’s No. 2 candy and chocolate maker on Monday. Cadbury shares soared after it rejected the initial bid as investors bet Kraft or another company will sweeten the offer.
Analysts said Cadbury has few options but to look for a higher bid or more cash after the Kraft offer. Investors like the logic of the combination and few, if any, counterbids are seen likely to emerge.
Ahead of the recession, dollar stores thought it would be a good idea to try to lure shoppers into their stores more frequently by stocking an increased selection of food. Many of them began installing refrigerated coolers in their stores so they could sell things like eggs, milk and dairy.
Check out the latest earnings reports, which give a hint of hope that things could be looking up, if it weren’t for that pesky stronger U.S. dollar.
Avon‘s revenue fell 13 percent to $2.18 billion as the stronger U.S. dollar decreased the value of overseas sales by 16 percentage points. On a local currency basis, sales rose 3 percent.
“Foreign exchange significantly pressured first-quarter profit, as expected,” Avon Chief Executive Andrea Jung said in a statement. “We are taking aggressive action to lessen the foreign-exchange impact … the benefits of which should be stronger in the second half of 2009.”
Kraft Foods posted a higher-than-expected first-quarter profit helped by price increases and cost-cutting. While profit rose, the maker of Oreo cookies said sales fell 6.5 percent to $9.4 billion, hurt in part by — you guessed it — the stronger dollar, which lessens the dollar-value of sales made overseas. Organic revenue, or sales excluding currency fluctuations, acquisitions and divestitures, rose 2.3 percent.
Over at MillerCoors, the combined U.S. operations of SABMiller Plc and Molson Coors Brewing Co, net sales rose 3.8 percent to $1.72 billion. Sales from wholesalers to retailers, a good gauge of consumer demand, rose 0.4 percent. Molson Coors said its overall profit rose, as increased prices and cost cuts helped offset steeper commodity costs, lower sales volume and, of course — the stronger U.S. dollar.
One company that couldn’t put any blame on forex is CVS Caremark, which operates solely in the United States. Even if people are cutting back, net revenue still jumped 9.7 percent, to $23.4 billion. CVS profit was better than expected.


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Woolies launch online travel service
Woolworths is to compete with websites such as lastminute.com with a new online travel service.
The high street chain's website will take bookings for package holidays, flights and hotels.
Woolworths said its move into the 'booming' online travel sector was part of its online services expansion.
The launch of woolworths.co.uk/travel comes after the chain last week reported a 4.6% fall in like-for-like sales in the six weeks to January 13.
Woolworths marketing director Stephen Robertson said: 'People may not expect to find Woolies selling holidays, but our web offer is expanding at a rapid pace and offering many non-traditional Woolworths products at market-beating prices.'
The retailer has teamed up with travel specialist the PPA Group to create the new service.
Retailer John Lewis launched a financial services arm called Greenbee in October which is expected to move into travel services later this year.
Commenting on the Woolworths announcement, lastminute.com's travel director John Bevan said: 'We welcome any competition. However, we're not too worried as our target audiences are miles apart.
'As one of the original online travel companies with a proven brand presence in this arena, it'll be interesting to see whether people will want to buy a holiday from the people they buy their pick 'n' mix from.'
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Dell and other PC vendors will stop shipping systems with Windows XP Professional or Windows XP Home installed, beginning Oct. 22. Dell customers will no longer have Windows XP as an option starting in late September, although the manufacturer plans to continue Windows XP driver support through December 2012.
"After the Oct. 22 date, qualified customers will still be able to get systems with Windows XP ... through Dell's Custom Factory Integration service," said a Sept. 7 post on Direct2Dell, the company's corporate blog. "Otherwise, customers who order new machines with Windows 7 Professional or higher can run XP applications in Windows XP mode."
Microsoft had previously announced in April 2008 that OEMs would no longer be able to preinstall Windows XP Home on new netbook PCs starting Oct. 22. That follows the company's announcement of the end of Windows XP Service Pack 2 support on July 13. Extended support for Windows XP SP3 is scheduled to end in April 2014, with no new updates or patches after that point.
"For a majority of our customers, they may not notice much change," Microsoft spokesperson Brandon LeBlanc posted June 9 on The Windows Blog. "Many PC makers have already been actively manufacturing and selling a broad set of Windows 7 notebooks since Windows 7 released in October 2009. In fact, according to NPD's Retail Tracking Service, by April 2010, 81 [percent] of netbook units sold at retail in the U.S. came with Windows 7 preinstalled."
Windows 7's market share finally passed that of the much-maligned Windows Vista in July, although it continues to lag behind the nearly decade-old XP. Microsoft has been issuing a series of discounts and promotional offers for individual customers and businesses in an attempt to increase adoption of the newest version of Windows.
Microsoft's discount offers may also be a reflection of slowing PC shipments due to a soft economy. Gartner recently reduced its forecast for PC sales growth in the second half of 2010 to 15.3 percent, reflecting wariness on the part of consumers and businesses about whether the economy will slide back into recession.
Windows' traditional bastion of laptops and desktops also faces a rising challenge from tablets such as the Apple iPad and Samsung Galaxy Tab. Although Microsoft executives have indicated that Windows 7-loaded tablets are indeed in the works, these devices have so far not materialized in the marketplace.
If consumer tablets continue to gain market share, and if Microsoft delays in porting Windows 7 to the mobile device category, the company could find itself battling fiercely against Google Android and Apple iOS for traditional operating system market share in addition to competing in the area of smartphones.


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Makers, artists, shoppers unite! Made Cleveland announces pop-up markets in Solon, Van Aken District
SOLON, Ohio (WOIO) - It was at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic. Ash O’Connor could already see that it would have a huge effect on Northeast Ohio’s makers and artists.
That’s where the inspiration for Made Cleveland - an online marketplace for nearly 100 area makers and creators - came from, according to a Made Cleveland media release.
Visitors can shop for handmade local goods: jewelry, art, apparel, and more, online.
The organization launched a retail pop-up shop in Coventry, which has now moved to Solon.
The Solon location opened Saturday at 33361 Aurora Road. Going forward, its regular hours will be Wednesday through Sunday noon to 6 p.m.
The organization will also hold monthly pop-up markets at Van Aken District throughout the summer.
These markets will be open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on the following dates:
- Saturday, June 12th
- Saturday, July 10th
- Saturday, August 14th
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