text:
Addressable Television: The Holy Grail of Personalization
But addressable changes that. Suddenly, TV isn’t just upper-funnel awareness. Now it can be used to target desirable buyers. That’s going to change the way marketers have been doing business since the dawn of television. Verizon Media is active in addressable television, reaching 4.6 million U.S. homes directly over its Fios network. And partnerships with Hulu, Roku, and other platforms give Verizon addressable access to 80 million more.
“I think as we see more and more television being viewed in ways that addressable advertising can be delivered to those televisions, the more we’re going to see the way marketers use television evolve. Because historically television as an upper funnel tactic made sense because you couldn’t measure it, you couldn’t precisely target it. It had to be upper funnel just by definition of what it was capable of doing,” Hurwitz says. “Now addressable is capable of performing some mid-funnel functions that digital media has been serving. So I think going forward, marketers are going to begin experimenting with new upper funnel tactics and moving TV to mid-funnel and really jostling around the order in which they’re exposing their target customers to their messaging. TV doesn’t just have to be this top of the funnel anymore.”
Taking that one step further, addressable provides data that traditional TV exposure doesn’t, and that data is useful for more than just campaign reporting. Advertisers are using addressable ads as a sort of large-scale A/B test. They run promising spots over connected platforms and survey the results, seeing which ads gave the biggest boost to whatever metric they’re focusing on. Then they take what they have learned to their linear campaigns. It’s an innovation no one saw coming, but that naturally grew out of addressable adoption.
“It didn’t start with the packaged good advertisers saying, ‘Hey, let’s try this to see if we can get some data insights,’” Hurwitz says. “It was the folks who were already focused on precision who started this trend and now, I suppose in part because of communication within agencies and maybe in part because of our communication, we’re seeing a real rise in that use of addressable TV.”
For customers interested in that type of reporting, Verizon Media likes to hype the value of its Fios network. Satellite platforms delivering to set-top boxes can’t return performance data as quickly as fiber can, Hurwitz notes, so he boasts that he can get data back to clients faster.
Project OAR Prepares to Go Live
Addressable is usually associated with OTT services and on-demand playback, but live linear is getting addressable ads as well. But first, the area needs a broadly supported industry standard, and that’s where Project OAR comes in. OAR stands for “open addressable ready,” and the project was started in early 2019 by TV maker Vizio and Inscape, a subsidiary Vizio acquired and renamed in 2015 that provides automatic content recognition (ACR) services.
Prior to Project OAR, multiple companies had tried and failed at creating streaming-like addressable advertising for linear because they didn’t understand the market, explains Zeev Neumeier (right), SVP of product at Inscape. His company sells data to the TV industry, so it had a front-row seat on the attempts and could see that the companies failed because they tried to impose a way of working on broadcasters and TV ad sales.
Project OAR will let the networks sell their addressable inventory directly. It started as a way to bring scale to the process of buying ads on connected TVs while simplifying transactions: Would it be possible to create a technology that worked across TVs from a variety of original equipment makers (OEMs)? And could it create a flexible system that didn’t force all the various stakeholders into one rigid way of working? Once Vizio started talking the idea up, it found that getting buy-in was surprisingly easy. The time was right, and the industry saw that having an open standard would help drive the area.
Project OAR made its debut announcement in March 2019, with nine companies on board: Disney, NBCUniversal, CBS, Discovery, Turner, Hearst, AMC, FreeWheel, and Xandr. Fox Corp. signed on in June. Note that Vizio is the only OEM in the group, a large omission, but perhaps one that won’t last for long. Once the OAR standard is launched, Neumeier expects others to jump on. It will be an open spec, and anyone will be allowed to freely use it. Project OAR is made up of two groups: a steering committee that focuses on the technical specs for the actual requirements and an agency advisory committee that focuses on what the measurement specs should look like and what measurement solutions it should offer. Publicis, Omnicom Group, GroupM, IPG/Magna, Dentsu Aegis Network, Havas, and Horizon Media are all part of the agency advisory committee.
Project OAR will bring addressable advertising to over-the-air broadcasters, as well as cable and satellite TV, but it requires an internet-connected TV to operate. It its workflow, advertisers select one version of their creative as the default that goes out to all viewers, but they can designate other versions that go out to selected households. So a carmaker might have one ad for a sedan that goes out to everyone, but households that are in the market for a pickup will see a different version. In that case, the internet-connected TV downloads the alternate ad ahead of time and runs it instead of the default ad at the appropriate break. Advertisers can have as many creatives as they want running in the same slot. They could even specify different ads for different regions, keeping pickup ads out of New York City, for example, where pickups rarely sell. ACR technology ensures that ads download ahead of time and play when they’re supposed to. The standard doesn’t require Inscape ACR, Neumeier points out.
Project OAR will also bring household-level frequency capping to linear. If a household has seen an ad the maximum number of times designated by the advertiser, the operator can put that ad slot on the market and show a different ad in the next commercial break. If an ad gets shown too many times, it starts to have negative value, Neumeier notes.
Sometime after its launch—likely 3–5 years after—the standard will grow to include a new option called “split avails.” This means that a 30-second spot could be sold as two 15-second spots, for example. Neumeier sees no rush to add this feature, as he wants the industry to have plenty of time to get used to the standard before it builds on it. Because the standard needs to be flexible, software installed on supported TVs will be able to be updated.
With this solution, TV isn’t quite the lower-funnel medium that it is with addressable streamed ads. The advertiser still reaches a broad national audience, but the creative can be tailored for greater relevancy.
The engineers behind Project OAR demoed a prototype of the offering to the full group in April 2019, and they’re on target to have a live linear offering ready to go by early 2020. At the start, it will only work with Vizio’s base of 10–12 million connected TVs in the U.S.
The Future of TV Advertising
Industry sources suggest that addressable is poised for hockey stick growth, meaning it’s about to take off in a big way, and Comscore’s Worthem says we’re nearly at that point. Besides the rise in activity his company sees in the area, he notes strong growth across addressable and premium video advertising products.
One reason for addressable’s growth is that the ability to run campaigns at scale is becoming greater, and scale is key. “There are more companies building device graphs to be able to identify connections more reliably to help ensure accuracy,” Worthem says. “More commonly, buyers want to see a source of truth such as a subscriber base behind a platform. Although PII [personally identifiable information] data is never revealed or used, a subscriber base allows for third-party data matching through trusted sources such as Experian or Neustar.”
The challenges are big but not insurmountable, and the rewards are worth it. As viewers stream more of their video, as standards take shape, and as new features bring flexibility and trust to the area, addressable TV’s growth is inevitable. The only question is how much of the TV ad market it will take over.
[This article appears in the September 2019 issue of Streaming Media Magazine as "Addressable Television: The Holy Grail of Personalization."]
Football season is a rare chance for advertisers to reach audiences all at once as they spend more time than usual watching live television across any number of devices. Marketers should take the time to review how they're making the most of this moment, to find new engagement with viewers and to execute cross-device strategies to make the most of addressable TV, from the household to the individual.
Advertising Week starts today in New York City, and YouTube has a message for all those attending: Let artificial intelligence make your job simpler.
Addressable advertising will be coming to pay TV services in a big way, and Comcast Advertising is leading the charge.
NBCU, CBS, ABC, Turner, Hearst, FreeWheel, Xandr, Vizio, and others are working on an addressable CTV ad standard that will create a global marketplace of engaged viewers.
Following its purchase of Time Warner, AT&T buys a company that will help it sell and serve ads on its digital video platforms.


text:
In-game monetization has been an ongoing controversy over the last few years. While the firestorm really started with Star Wars Battlefront 2, which suffered major backlash for its online competent’s monetization, it’s been an on-again off-again debate for years, as more monetization methods have entered gaming. We know the UK has investigated it, and the US is about to have a big FTC workshop about it. Now, Germany seems to be looking at it, too, with new legislation.
Put forward by the State of Bavaria, the new legislation could have a big impact on gaming in Germany. It looks to update the Interstate Treaty for the Protection of Minors (JMStV), something largely aimed at companies targeting children with exploitative practices. The current draft would prohibit direct purchasing appeals towards minors.
While the legislation may have children and mobile games in mind, it would have an impact on gaming as a whole. As laid out by Sebastian Schwiddessen, associate at law firm Baker McKenzie, under the current wording, “An explicit appeal and a specific direction towards children and adolescents is not required.” Which means even a game marketed at adults would still be under these rules and could be judged on a case-by-case basis. And the German Commission is known to take these rules very seriously.
“The greatest risk therefore lies with Germany’s consumer protection associations such as the VZBV which have the benefit of extensive financial means and which have already repeatedly targeted the video gaming industry for youth protection and e-commerce matters,” wrote Schwiddessen further. “The new guideline provides a strong argument in court on how the JMStV advertisement restrictions must be interpreted and therefore a strong basis for potential cease and desist claims/injunctions.”
Nothing has been passed as of now, and what the final draft will look like is anyone’s guess, if it does eventually come into law. Germany is also a major player in the EU governing body, so whatever happens here is sure to have some degree of impact on the continent as a whole. It looks to be, as of now, the harshest stance towards video game monetization yet. We’ll keep you updated.

domain: news


text:
The Age of Robotization is Upon Us
Growing Number of Products Will Have Perception, Insight, Intelligence
By Shaoshan Liu and Zhe Zhang, PerceptIn, Co-Founders
In 1969, in The Graduate, Mr. McGuire told Dustin Hoffman’s character “just one word: Plastics.” In 1982, Microsoft’s Bill Gates might have said “software.” Several years ago, venture capitalist Marc Andreessen took it a little further, and said that “every company is a software company,” a nod to the fact that digital disruption was a competitive advantage in most enterprises.
Flash forward to 2017 and beyond. We believe every product will be a robot, or at least have a robotic element to it. We call it robotization, the act of integrating robotic features into previously “dumb” inanimate products. Look at where we are today. It’s commonly accepted that basic service machines — vacuums and many of the machines used in various manufacturing processes — are robots. The pace of this robotization has increased quickly as innovative companies race to provide solutions for indoor tracking, mapping, VR/AR tracking, and even early stage unmanned vehicles. Commonly referred to as self-driving or autonomous cars, these vehicles are really just big, four-wheeled robots.
This shouldn’t come as a surprise. In 2007 Bill Gates wrote an article entitled “A Robot in Every Home,” in which in envisioned a future in which robotic devices would become a nearly ubiquitous part of our day-to-day lives. There’s plenty of hype in the technology business — but this prediction is very well on its way to becoming reality.
Everyone In the (Robotics) Pool
A growing number of companies are working on this. The list includes major Silicon Valley firms, including Intel and Google, as well as car manufacturers and innovative startups such as our firm, PerceptIn. Like most quickly evolving markets, it’s fragmented as we all collaborate, partner and compete to create the best path forward. The market is large, with almost limitless robotic applications, so there will be many winners and many companies required in order for this eco-system to thrive. We believe we’ve just scratched the surface of Visual Intelligence’s capabilities, we can expect this trend to be a major disruptor in the coming years; in fact, there’s no end in sight for this technology as it is set to transform nearly every sector of the economy.
Even what we consider existing, low-end robots can improve significantly. Household-based, indoor robotics products will get better at performing their own mapping and tracking within a home, and be truly autonomous, unlike current versions where LiDAR solutions work best on specific 2D planes. As these robotics products become more sophisticated, safety considerations and obstacle avoidance will be more important. At PerceptIn, our visual camera-based solution can map, track and perform obstacle avoidance. We’re working to overcome low-light conditions by fusing visual with other information (sonar, wheel, bumper, or even depth sensor), which will benefit next-generation outdoor robots as well.
The advancement in robotization has its foundation in improved AI, computer vision and sensor technology, as well as reductions in cost; so much so where it’s now feasible to integrate full stack visual intelligence systems into just about anything. The major advancement in creating truly autonomous products has been the ability to give them “perception,” or the ability to understand the environment from sensing data, in a manner that is similar to the way humans use their senses to relate to the world around them. So you could say the new “plastics” or the new “software” is now “Perception Technology.”
This ability to improve a machine’s understanding of its environment is the basis for improving its reactions and enabling new forms of action. The industry doesn’t move forward without it.
Solving the Challenges of Perception, Performance, Power
At PerceptIn, we believe we’ve solved for the perception challenge via a low-cost, vision-based, multi-sensor, fusion-based perception system that considers and uses a combination of computer vision technologies, without relying on LiDAR. Part of this solution entails the ability to create high performance with limited computing power, especially in embedded systems. It’s made possible because of the proprietary algorithms developed to run on low-power devices which allow for the performance of tasks which usually can only run on mid-end or high-end computing resources.
So what are the possibilities once the high-performance, low-power challenge has been solved? At PerceptIn, we are working with a range of companies, from robot makers, to smartphone OEMs and chip makers, but are fielding inquiries from auto makers, service robot manufacturers and healthcare equipment manufacturers which want to disrupt their industries not with software, but with robotics. Applications typically fall into two types: functional and entertainment. Mobile gaming and AR applications are viewed by many smart phone manufacturers as the next big thing to differentiate themselves from their competition.
With all the different applications for robotizing products, we are experiencing the emergence of a variety of technology providers. It includes companies like PerceptIn, which will work with product makers and their engineers to customize the software and algorithms and provide the hardware and software development kit that allows applications to be built off this foundational technology. Others will merely provide the SDKs, and allow the product engineers to explore and create solutions on their own. We believe greater customized integration — such as well-calibrated and synchronized sensor module — is needed, along with collaboration to integrate the robotic vision into products to realize specific functions.
Applications As Far As the Eye Can See
A 2016 article in Nature said the robotics industry will grow from $25 billion in 2015 to $42 billion in 2020, and then jump to $77 billion by 2025. While it’s near impossible to quantify the number of robots we will encounter on a daily basis (at home and at work), our mission over the next five years is to robotically power — robotize — as many products as possible, from low-end IoT-grade robots to mid-range service robots to higher-end autonomous vehicles.
Although most of the talk of robotics and autonomous machines revolve around self-driving cars, we believe:
1.) Other types of autonomous products will outnumber and evolve more quickly than self-driving vehicles; and
2.) Autonomous vehicle technology has the potentially revolutionize the way we think about transportation; so much so that we envision a future in which traditional cars don’t exist.
We also see the future of cities being driver-less and believe we can help deliver the vehicles for a cost-effective price — at around $10,000 per vehicle. We know this would be seen as a radical step… but in a place like New York City, where CitiBikes have become super popular, and sections of the city are closed to traffic, the trend is to create a city less dependent on traditional manned vehicles.
There will be a time — perhaps in 15–20 years — where people will look back and chuckle when told that decades earlier people called their primitive phones “smart.” The advancement of several different technologies — including AI and computer vision — is quickly ushering in the age of robotization, and exploding what was formerly a small subsection of the technology industry. The burgeoning robotics industry — leveraging the combined efforts of established firms, along with innovative early-stage firms, such as PerceptIn — will be the force that affects the way we live more than any other industry.


text:
According to the results of a survey commissioned by the National Charity Partnership - an initiative backed by Diabetes UK, the British Heart Foundation and Tesco – while UK consumers are aware of the “five-a-day” message there is widespread confusion over how big a serving actually is.
The survey, which polled 2,000 people, found only 23% of respondents were correctly able to identify a portion of fruit or veg as a cupped handful. Over half, 51%, responded with a different amount and 26% simply said they did not know.
Eighty grams of fruit or vegetable counts as one portion of your five a day. This is equivalent to 30g of dried fruit and veg or 150ml of juice or smoothie.
The National Charity Partnership is launching the ‘Hands on Healthy Eating’ project to boost awareness of fruit and vegetable consumption through a series of roadshows and educational activities.
The activities aim to raise awareness of correct portion sizes and provide inspiration on different ways for people to include more fruit and vegetables into their diets.
Katherine Hale, the prevention programme manager for the National Charity Partnership, said: “We all know that we should aim for five portions of fruit and veg a day, but if we don’t know what a portion really is, it’s difficult to achieve.
“Fruit and vegetables are rich in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants and a diet rich in fruit and vegetables can reduce your risk of developing serious long-term conditions such as Type 2 diabetes and heart and circulatory disease. We should aim to include at least one portion of fruit and veg in every meal and make them the first choice when it comes to snacking in between meals.”
UK government recommendations suggest that people should eat at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each day. According to the Eat Well Guide, published by Public Health England, people should combine this with starchy carbohydrates – preferably whole grains – and reduced sugar consumption.
“The evidence shows that we should continue to base our meals on starchy carbohydrates, especially wholegrain, and eat at least five portions of a variety of fruit and vegetables each day,” Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at PHE, explained when the Guide was published.
“On the whole, cutting back on foods and drinks that are high in saturated fat, salt, sugar and calories would improve our diets, helping to reduce obesity and the risk of serious illnesses such as heart disease and some cancers.”


text:
Welcome to a new week. Here’s what you need to know today.
1. CareerOne is hosting Australia’s first online career fair dedicated to women. “Women at Work” will run online from June 22 to July 2 and allow attendees to learn from and engage with some of Australia’s biggest companies. Aimed at addressing gender inequality in the Australian workplace, CareerOne CEO Ben Foote said the fair will provide women with the skills and support they need to find work or progress their careers.
2. Fintech guru says Australia has the potential to become a global leader. Claire Cockerton, founder of British fintech industry body Innovate Finance, has told The Australian: “The world doesn’t really know what the strengths of Australia are… it’s very exciting. [It] offers a really interesting sandboxing opportunity for fintech to then take really interesting innovations to the global marketplace.” The Australian has more.
3. Pureprofile has filed prospectus for an IPO. Online market research provider Pureprofile will try for an IPO following a successful round of capital raising late last year. After raising $2.5 million through advisory and stockbroking firm Blue Ocean Equities founder Paul Chan said: “We prefer to go public than go down the venture capital route. You can’t have a long view and you’ll be diluted to nothing.”
4. Facebook ate the $140 billion hardware market. What started out as a controversial idea inside Facebook, four years later turned the data center computer hardware industry on its head. Facebook’s Open Compute Project is now doing for hardware what Linux, Android, and many other popular products – and it’s all for free!
5. Winter is coming for Apple, Spotify, and Google. The world’s biggest tech brands are preparing for a gruesome music war over who will be the leader in the subscription-based music era. Read more on why “we’re not even at early days yet”.
Business Insider Emails & Alerts
Site highlights each day to your inbox.


text:
What’s up, eGamers, it’s time for the weekly Blockchain Gaming Digest. Every week, we share some of the most important NFT gaming news and other interesting facts.
Let’s start with the most popular games this week based on on-chain data. (7 Days)
Vulcan Forged $LAVA Migrates to Elysium – Everything You Need to Know
Pooky App Launches Genesis NFT Collection
The Gardens of Arcadia 1 – VulcanVerse Lore
We are so excited to announce that Vulcan Forged, the leading blockchain gaming and ecosystem, has revealed the next part of the VulcanVerse lore. After the Mountains of Boreas, we are going to witness the Gardens of Arcadia and its beautiful land of forests and fields!
Get Paid For Being an Axie Streamer!
NFT-based single-player video game Axie Infinity announced a few days ago, on February 21, the start of the Axie Infinity Streamer Rewards Program, finally rewarding 50 creators/streamers with a share from a 300 AXS Bounty.
Test Drive Metarush – The First Myria Studios Game
Blockchain game development studio and Ethereum L2 solution Myria announced today the start of some exclusive Metarush demos to receive essential feedback that will help improve the overall gaming experience.
Pokemon-Style Game Chainmonsters Switches to IMX
Chainmonsters, a blockchain-based pokemon-style game, happily announced earlier this week the launch of a new partnership with Immutable X.
More News This Week:
- Gateway.fm Raises $4.6M in a Seed Funding Round Led by Lemniscap
- Azra Games Raises $10M From A16z For NFT-themed Legions & Legends
- Powerbridge Technologies Launches Blockchain Crypto ETF Platform
- The Gardens of Arcadia 2 – VulcanVerse Lore


text:
Google is promoting a browser add-on tool designed to block data collection from its own Analytics platform.
“We created Google Analytics to help website owners aggregate and analyze their traffic so they can improve and update their sites,” Will DeVries, a policy counsel for the Mountain View-based company, explained in an official blog post.
However, it remains unclear how many users will actually choose to take advantage of the new add-on.
Indeed, Google spokesperson Brian Richardson told SearchEngineLand he “wasn’t sure” what to expect.
“[Still], it may be helpful to compare [the opt-out] to similar tools that provide users with more power and control over data,” said Richardson.
“For example, with the Ads Preferences Manager, we’ve seen that of the tens of thousands of who people visit the site every week (out of the millions and millions of users), only 1 person our of every 15 opts out, 4 edit their categories and 10 do nothing.”


text:
Albemarle Corp. has completed the previously announced sale of its minerals business, which includes mineral flame retardants and specialty chemicals, to Huber Engineered Materials.
The deal for Albemarle’s Martinswerk mineral flame retardants and specialty chemicals businesses included a manufacturing facility in Bergheim, Germany and Albemarle’s half of Magnifin, a joint-venture with RHI AG at Breitenau, Austria, that produces magnesium hydroxide.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. However, the minerals segment generated annual revenue of about $250 million. The segment’s EBITDA margin — earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization divided by total revenue — was about 10 percent. Higher EBITDA margins indicate a more profitable operation.


text:
Deep discount retailer 99 Cents Only Stores has named Jack Sinclair CEO upon the retirement of President and CEO Geoffrey Covert. Sinclair joined the company in 2015 as Chief Merchandising and Marketing Officer.
As part of the executive shuffle, Jason Kidd, Senior VP of Store Operations, has been appointed COO.
Sinclair served more than seven years as EVP of the U.S. Grocery Division at Walmart and previously spent 14 years at Safeway PLC in London, where he managed store operations, merchandising and marketing asGroup Marketing and Trading Director.
The retailer also unveiled changes to its Board of Directors. Norman Axelrod, a Director since 2012, has been named Chair of the Board, succeeding Andrew Giancamilli, who will continue to serve as a Director. Felicia Thornton has been named Vice Chair of the Board and will continue to serve in her current capacity as the company’s CFO.
99 Cents Only expects preliminary annual fiscal 2018 revenue to be between $2.26 and 2.27 billion — a potential 12% sales increase from the $2.02 billion achieved in 2017 — with an estimated annual same-store sales increase of 8.0% to 8.5%. Preliminary Q4 same-store sales are expected to increase by 6.0% to 7.0%, representing same-store sales growth of more than 12% on a two-year stack basis.
The retailer unveiled a new web site In January designed to improve the user experience and create a “treasure hunt style shopping experience” through consumer-generated social content feed.


text:
Bolloré Logistics has completed its 100% acquisition of Lynair Logistics to expand its offering in Australia.
Adelaide-based Lynair Logistics will retain its brand name temporarily and continue its business operations as usual following the acquisition by Bolloré Logistics Australia.
Established in South Australia since 2002, Lynair Logistics specialises in air freight, ocean freight, customs clearance, global shipping, and general logistics operations.
Thibault Janssens, Chief Executive of Bolloré Logistics Pacific Region said: “The acquisition of Lynair Logistics further strengthens our presence in Australia, and we are pleased to welcome our new, experienced and highly capable team members into the Bolloré Logistics Australia team.”
The news follows the recent acquisition by Bolloré Logistics of shipping giant MCS in April.


text:
A budget is the cornerstone of responsible financial planning. It shows exactly how much money you have and where it’s being spent.
Boston, MA (PRWEB)
July 31, 2017
It is easy to spend money today without thinking about what you may need tomorrow. Most people find budgeting annoying, overwhelming, and daunting. It is important to remember, however, that budgeting is one of the key aspects to financial success. To help consumers with the process, American Consumer Credit Counseling has provided several tips on how to create a budget that fits your life.
“A budget is the cornerstone of responsible financial planning. It shows exactly how much money you have and where it’s being spent,” said Steve Trumble, President and CEO of American Consumer Credit Counseling, which is based in Newton, MA. “By creating a budget, you can find ways to save money and plan for whatever you may need in the future.”
Although there are many kinds of budgets, funds allocated for emergencies are often neglected, and cause the most worry. If a consumer is concerned about their lack of an emergency fund they are not alone: more than 69 percent of Americans have less than $1,000 saved for emergency expenses according to a GoBankingRates survey. Only 15 percent of respondents reported that they had more than $10,000 in their savings accounts.
American Consumer Credit Counseling offers advice for building a budget:
1. Create a budgeting worksheet – A budgeting worksheet helps consumers outline their budget and customize a spending plan based on their income and needs. By putting a budget together on a worksheet, it’ll be easier for consumers to make the right financial decisions.
2. Maintain good spending habits – Consumers should determine how much they spend in each category, such…
Read the full article from the Source…


text:
SoapBoxSample’s Antibody Study Gets Featured
In an article published on May 22, 2020, Business Insider highlighted the COVID-19 antibody research conducted by Los Angeles-based insights firm SoapBoxSample. Business Insider is a well-respected business news media outlet focusing on tech, finance and American industries.
“In mid-April, Los Angeles tried to understand the scope of the COVID-19 pandemic by asking hundreds of residents to get drive-through blood tests. The results found that estimated infection rates were “28 to 55 times higher” than the number of officially reported cases, but that the virus was also probably much less fatal than previously thought. These tests were the product of an unusual collaboration between the LA County Department of Public Health, the University of Southern California, and 50-year-old consulting firm LRW Group.
LRW Group is best known for consumer sentiment research that clients like Google, Facebook, Disney, and Starbucks never publicize. For example, when an auto company wants to let people test drive a new model and weigh in, or a household goods company needs to see how consumers respond to the smell of a new fabric softener, they often hire LRW Group’s consumer research division SoapBoxSample, according to president Jeff Reynolds.”
[button open_new_tab=”true” color=”accent-color” hover_text_color_override=”#fff” size=”large” url=”https://www.soapboxsample.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Business-Insider_How-a-consulting-firm-thats-done-research-for-Disney-and-Google-helped-Los-Angeles-develop-a-COVID-19-testing-strategy_5.19.20.pdf” text=”Read the Full Article” color_override=””]


text:
Tuesday, 31 Mar 2015
Jerry Shen, CEO of ASUS revealed at a press conference last week that the company will be bringing fingerprint recognition technology to their smartphones later this year.
Monday, 30 Mar 2015
Samsung has revealed the pricing and availability of the Galaxy S6 and S6 Edge smartphones in Singapore. Pricing and availability of accessories for both phones were also announced. Full details inside.
The European Commission has just announced that they’re looking into a digital single market strategy, with the aim of letting businesses better expand within the European Union.
AMD has used Futuremark's new 3DMark API Overhead feature test to demonstrate the performance gains of the next-generation DirectX 12 API on its own hardware. The results show a significant increase in CPU draw calls over DirectX 11, improved performance-per-watt, and better utilization of multi-core CPUs, which should be welcome news to both gamers and developers.
Intel and Micron have announced a new 3D NAND technology that will enable higher capacity drives in smaller form factors, lower costs and power consumption, and improved performance. Drives based on the new technology will be suited to both mobile consumer devices and demanding enterprise applications.
YouTube has began experimenting with gorgeous new 4K videos running at 60 frames per second. Obviously, they look great, but unfortunately, you will need a powerful system to run them smoothly.
HTC China just published the One E9+ on its website which reveals some flagship worthy specs such as a 5.5-inch Quad-HD display, a 64-bit octa-core processor and a 13-megapixel rear camera. Read on to find out more.
It is rumored that NVIDIA will launch the GeForce GTX 980 Ti graphics card by mid-year. Read on to uncover more details.
Friday, 27 Mar 2015
Following the leaked press images earlier this month, new leaked photos of what appears to be an actual LG G4 have appeared online courtesy of an XDA Developer user called s3rv1cet3ch. Pictures and details inside.
Facebook has introduced its new Messenger as a platform that will integrate third-party content and apps from developers. The new Messenger Platform will provide a richer chatting experience for Messenger users, and will also provide a streamlined and intuitive channel for businesses and customers to communicate.


text:
Among Mumbai’s top restaurants, Yauatcha Mumbai – a Cantonese restaurant in the Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) – on Sunday said its central kitchen has been closed indefinitely after a team member tested positive for Covid-19.
While the leading fine-dining restaurant was shut amid the nationwide lockdown, it continued home delivery of food all over the city.
“Inspite of taking all precautionary measures and ensuring the utmost level of hygiene, we are saddened to announce that a team member has tested positive for Covid-19 on 16th May, 2020,” a statement issued on behalf of the restaurant by K A Hospitality, said.
It added: “We are personally reaching out to everyone who has ordered from us in the last 14 days to let them know of the same, so they can take necessary medical advice should they indicate any symptoms (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and/or self-quarantine.”
“The central kitchen is closed indefinitely for deep sanitisation and the full team is in self-isolation and being tested. At the moment, no other team members are experiencing symptoms but as soon we have more information, we will will share it here,” the statement posted on social media read.
The restaurant, which had started delivery service in April, had made daily temperature checks of team members; use of three-ply face masks; sanitisation of appliances, including chopping boards and knives, as well as tabletops and door handles every two hours, a norm.
Yauatcha was available for takeaways, short and long-distance home deliveries up to Colaba, Chembur, Andheri as well as other areas in Mumbai.
A civic official said that they will seek details of all the customers and the delivery persons. “We will collect details from the restaurant and reach out to all customers. Deliveries were made not just in BKC… it could have been any part of the city,” said Ashok Khairnar, ward officer of H East.
In response to the queries from The Indian Express about how many customers the restaurant had served till May 16, the company said that it would respond at a later stage.
📣 The Indian Express is now on Telegram. Click here to join our channel (@indianexpress) and stay updated with the latest headlines


text:
The chairman, CEO and founder of CKx Inc., the media company behind hit show "American Idol," resigned on Friday and said he is considering buying the company.
Robert F.X. Sillerman has stepped down, effective immediately. He will continue to consult for the company and plans to look into the possibility of buying CKx as well. Sillerman wants the board to be able to evaluate its strategic options, the company said.
Sillerman founded CKx and has served as chairman and CEO since it began in 2005. He is also CKx's largest shareholder.


text:
The Japanese government’s proposed tax increase is widely seen at best as the necessary, but bitter, medicine the country needs to swallow to get back into fiscal health. But one clever European company sees a golden opportunity to turn a profit.
Swiss-based Global Blue, a leader in tax-free shopping services, has started providing three Tokyo department stores operated by Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings its digital tax refund system. The collaboration, which began Thursday, is aimed at simplifying the often-cumbersome process travelers visiting Japan face when applying for tax refunds on products purchased here.
Japan has long been known as the mecca for luxury goods, as evidenced from the huge stores -– and correspondingly huge price tags -– peppering the main streets in the country’s tony shopping districts.
But Japanese consumers — pinched by an economic downturn, shifting tastes and a super-strong yen — have started to eschew traditional flagship shops and department stores. Along with a surge in online shopping for luxury goods, an interesting development is taking root: shopping at U.S.-style outlet malls in Japan is soaring.
Premium outlets in Japan today account for 23 per cent to 29 per cent of purchase frequency in luxury fashion apparel and leather goods/accessories, according to a recent survey by McKinsey & Company. Steep cuts in highway tolls have helped fuel the boom. But mostly, it’s consumers who are tired of paying retail for goods that can be bought at a discount – even more so in today’s economic climate.
A recap of the most-read posts on Japan Real Time this week.
1. The U.S. military hopes Japan’s avid comic-reading youth will click through the military’s first online publication of its manga series –- and learn a thing or two about the history of the U.S.-Japan security alliance. Called “Our Alliance – A Lasting Partnership” and released online on August 4, the cartoon chronicles the budding friendship between a wide-eyed American boy and a Japanese girl. The conversations between the soon-to-be military history buffs center around the importance of the U.S. military’s presence in Japan, an educational message the U.S. forces hope to spread in Japan in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the security alliance between the two countries.
2. Whereas many people may see just a space ship, others see a place they could call home – or at least that’s what Japanese real estate agencies that specialize in unique property listings are banking on. An emerging niche market offers a menu of properties rich with quirky and bizarre potential homes, a colorful option that makes more traditional floor plans look so, well, square.
3. Japan may be down, but the world’s second-biggest economy is not out of the game yet. But good luck trying to convince the country’s thrifty Debbie downers: Japanese shoppers ranked miserably low on a recent consumer confidence survey and a look at other research suggests the Japanese have been in a bad mood for a lot longer.
The Japanese love technology, and they love fashion. Put the two together, and one would think leading Japanese retailers would have created world-class Internet e-commerce sites.
Strangely, this isn’t the case in Japan, which has been relatively late in joining the global e-commerce boom. Though Uniqlo, one of Japan’s leading retailers and a subsidiary of Fast Retailing Co., has a comprehensive and easy-to-navigate site where men can indulge in calorie-burning underpants, many of the country’s more upscale chains – including United Arrows, Beams and Tomorrowland – don’t have their own, proprietary established e-commerce platforms.
Zozotown, a growing popular online fashion portal in Japan and cyber retail storefront for Start Today Co. Ltd., was only founded in 2004 by entrepreneur Yusaku Maezawa. But despite its late entry into the market, it has been successful: there have been over two million registered users this year (up from 120,000 in 2006), who can digitally stroll through 162 shops and over 1,200 brands, an assortment that is much more vast compared to its competitors like megaseek.com, which lists 300 brands and fashionwalker.com, which has about 350.
The Fukushima Daiichi nuclear accident in 2011 sparked broad debate on radiation, health and safety. Fukushima Watch contributes to that debate, with sharp, easy-to-understand commentary on things nuclear and energy-related in Japan.
Japan Real Time is a newsy, concise guide to what works, what doesn’t and why in the one-time poster child for Asian development, as it struggles to keep pace with faster-growing neighbors while competing with Europe for Michelin-rated restaurants. Drawing on the expertise of The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires, the site provides an inside track on business, politics and lifestyle in Japan as it comes to terms with being overtaken by China as the world’s second-biggest economy. You can contact the editors at firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
A critical question concerning gold is whether the high of $1,925 last autumn was the peak of the bull market that began more than a decade ago at approximately $250 an ounce. I don't think so, and I would suggest accumulating gold at current price levels.
The most compelling argument for owning gold is as an alternative form of money that represents a store of value during periods of monetary debasement. A sign of such periods is when short-term interest rates are less than the rate of inflation. This condition has existed in the U.S. for some time and seems likely to continue indefinitely.
As with any market, the gold price is set between the intersection of supply and demand. Demand conditions have changed considerably in recent years as investors have purchased billions of dollars of physical gold and instruments linked to the price of gold, specifically exchange-traded funds (ETFs). But also important, India and China have become the largest buyers of gold in the world.
This may be one fundamental reason for gold's recent weakness. Demand from India over the last month has plummeted, as gold imports may have plunged 81% in March. As a protest against a recently enacted excise tax on gold sales in India, jewelers have closed their businesses for 19 consecutive days. Indian jewelers sell more gold than Australian and U.S. mines produce in a year.
With the indian wedding season coming soon, gold demand from India should resume. This should improve the supply/demand balance. Remember, the gold market is very small and prices can move sharply when demand increases.


text:
Small business groups are backing a push by industry to have temporary industrial relations changes reinstated in a bid to support employers through the country’s latest wave of coronavirus lockdowns.
Alexi Boyd, interim chief executive of the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia (COSBOA), says bringing back temporary flexibilities in the Fair Work Act would bring clarity to small business owners facing tough decisions.
“It’s about making the laws fit the strange environment that we’re operating in right now,” Boyd tells SmartCompany.
Boyd says any amendments to the Fair Work Act need to keep up with business support measures that federal and state governments have introduced in response to lockdowns across different states.
Get daily business news.
The latest stories, funding information, and expert advice. Free to sign up.
“We don’t want small business advisors scrambling to make sure business owners know what they should or shouldn’t do,” she says.
Chief executives from seven industry groups released a joint statement this week, saying federal and state government support is incomplete without temporary industrial relations flexibilities in the Fair Work Act.
Among the chief executives who signed on to the statement are Jenny Lambert, acting chief executive of the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Paul Zahra of the Australian Retailers Association, and Wes Lambert of Restaurant and Catering.
“Businesses will be able to more readily maintain existing staffing levels if they are supported with the necessary workplace relations flexibilities,” they said in the joint statement.
Last year, the federal government amended the Fair Work Act in response to the pandemic, allowing employers to reduce staff hours, partially stand down workers, vary duties and locations, as well as request staff take annual leave.
Business groups said those provisions were essential in allowing employers to “maintain a connection to their employees” through a period when many businesses would have become unviable.
According to an independent review, the temporary changes to the Fair Work Act slowed the loss of jobs and decline in wages during the initial COVID-19 economic shock.
The review found close to 94% of businesses found the temporary changes important or essential to maintaining their business operations.
“We need these flexibilities urgently reinstated alongside government financial support in order to ensure businesses have the necessary tools available to keep as many employees in jobs as possible,” the business groups said in their joint statement.
“Being able to kickstart a business after partial shutdown or hibernation with the same employees on board will make all the difference.”
The seven business groups are calling on the federal government to reintroduce similar flexibilities into the Fair Work Act when Parliament resumes in a fortnight.


text:
A 22-year-old man has denied possessing cannabis with intent to supply.
Appearing on a video link from HMP Nottingham, Abdullah Khan entered a not guilty plea at Nottingham Crown Court on Tuesday (January 2).
He allegedly had cannabis with intent to supply on December 2 last year.
Jon Fountain, prosecuting, asked for his case to be adjourned for a trial in the week of May 21.
A pre-trial review will be on April 25, with Khan, of Pearmain Drive, St Ann's, required to attend.
Judge James Sampson remanded him custody.
The Nottingham Post has a new app and it’s available to download now on Android and iPhone. Simply go to the Google Play store or the App store and search for the Nottingham Post. The app can be tailored to show only the content you are interested in - and you'll receive alerts based on those interests too.


text:
Those in range of Gannett's community newspapers will be sad to learn the publisher will soon erect a paywall around the websites of its 80 small-town titles, while keeping USA Today free online.
"We will begin to restrict some access to non-subscribers," Bob Dickey, Gannett's president of community publishing told Forbes' Jeff Bercovici on Wednesday. "The model is similar to the metered system adopted by The New York Times a year ago, in which online readers are able to view a limited number of pages for free each month." The company expects to gain 25 percent boost more revenue -- or, $100 million per year -- thanks to the new payment system, but might expect to see a drop in profits at first though, if The Times is any model.
This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.


text:
British companies need to show that their products and supply networks are free from illegal deforestation under government policy. The proposed bill would require larger companies based in the United Kingdom to demonstrate where resources such as cotton, soya, rubber and palm oil originated.
Consumers have been increasingly dissatisfied with products linked to illegal deforestation, particularly in the Amazon. According to a recent poll by the environmental organization, WWF, 67% of British customers want the government to do more to tackle the problem.
Around 81 per cent of respondents to the survey said that there should be greater transparency about the source of goods imported into the United Kingdom. Tree felling and land clearing, usually for agriculture, account for 11 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. The vast amount of that is illegal.
Companies would have to ensure that commodities such as palm and soy were produced in line with local laws protecting forests and other natural ecosystems. The UK Government has argued that large companies whose supply chains are linked to commodities derived from illegal deforestation should face substantial fines under the newly proposed legislation – but, surprisingly, viscose and lyocell fibres currently appear to be off the target list of commodities.
The proposed draft law, unveiled in a consultation paper, is intended to deter forests and other significant natural resources from being unlawfully turned into farm property and is aimed at major UK companies dealing in forest risk products.
However, given that the forest NGO Canopy estimates that 50 million trees are logged every year and turned into cellulose textiles made from viscose and lyocells, it is surprising that these fibres have not been identified as ‘forest risk’ commodities by the UK Government in the new consultation document.
There is direct correlation between the goods we consume and their broader environmental impact, which is why the government is today working on proposed laws that will make it unlawful for UK companies to purchase materials that are not produced in compliance with local laws.
Evidence that links deforestation with climate change, biodiversity loss and the spread of zoonotic diseases is compelling. In June, officials pledged £ 16 million in funds to help scale up environmentally sustainable planting and forest conservation in the Amazon.


text:
Texworld USA returned to the Javits Convention Center this month alongside Apparel Sourcing USA with the largest group of exhibitors in show history. The show featured six international pavilions including Turkey, Korea, Taiwan, Pakistan, and more.
The show had a record-breaking attendance in January and has confirmed that the summer show surpassed its last record by 25 percent. With 540 international exhibitors representing 13 countries, Texworld USA showed off in-demand textiles, trims, and accessories.
“Over the last 10 years, Texworld USA has become the premier textile event in North America because we consistently deliver a curated group of international exhibitors that specialize in what our buyers want and need," said Dennis Smith, President, Messe Frankfurt North America. “We deliver the trifecta season after season: quality products from trusted suppliers at a great price point."
The show also added Avanprint USA* as a new addition. Overall, the digital textile exhibition plans to be a comprehensive textile and innovative trade show for fashion industry goers.
Photos: Messe Frankfurt / Texworld USA / Apparel Sourcing USA


text:
A tablespoon of news. A cup of the latest dairy technology insights. A dash of innovation. We hope the dairy flavor insights and information we’ve collected here, from our team and other sources, serve a plateful of knowledge and success.
Solving The Biggest Plant-Based Food Manufacturing Challenges As Demand For Plant-Based Continues Growing Consumers are increasingly turning to plant-based diets. For some, it’s for health advantages like to lose weight, avoid allergens, or to lessen the risk of other illnesses. For others, it may be due to concern for the environment and meat production’s toll […]
Plant-based foods may be all the rage, but formulators must remember that “plant-based” is not a synonym for “vegan.” There’s no regulation around the term plant-based. In fact, there’s nothing preventing a plant-based food from containing cheese; after all, cheese makes everything taste better. A shift towards plant-based non-vegan foods just might be the perfect […]
Solving Plant-Based Food Challenges No matter what reason draws people to increase their consumption of plants and decrease — if not eliminate — eating meats and other animal-based products, food manufacturers are taking the lead in creating more plant-based options to meet growing consumer demand. For food manufacturers and their food scientists, the key to […]
The bottom line is, your bottom line is important. Commodity reduction is key to saving on product cost from shipping and storage of ingredients to commodity costs. However, with Mintel reporting that “nearly 75% of consumers use taste as the primary guide in food choice,” it is more important now than ever to ensure that […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the global food and beverage industry on an unprecedented scale, mostly driven by changing consumer behaviors and demand. Keeping a pulse on industry trends is more important than ever for food producers, especially those in rapidly growing markets like plant-based and organics. According to the International Food Information Council’s (IFIC) 2020 […]
Trending Concepts in Dairy-Based Condiments Like Dressings, Dips, and Sauces What came first, the Buffalo wing or the blue cheese sauce, the tortilla chip or the queso, the chip or the dip? It’s not important; what matters is that dairy-based condiments add a delicious layer of flavor to their carrier, turning the ordinary into memorable […]
WARNING: Don’t watch this video hungry! Click and enjoy a delicious desert recipe for Summer Pavlovas come to life from our recent Kitchenside Talk episode, featuring the new #Edlong Organic Butter Vanilla and Organic Cheesecake flavors. Big thanks to our own Anne Druschitz and Ashley Sabo for sharing…even if we won’t! Recipe: Summer Pavlovas with […]
Edlong delivers Cheddar and Italian authentic-tasting cheese flavors that are predicted to be preferred by consumers over several real cheese benchmarks, validated by AI technology. Read our case study to see how we create authentic-tasting cheese flavors.


text:
Costco Wholesale Corp. saw comparable sales growth of 11.1% year-on-year in March for the five weeks that ended on April 4, excluding gasoline prices and exchange rate fluctuations. Comparable sales growth for thirty-one weeks ending on April 4 was 13.9%.
However, Costco’s (COST) e-commerce platforms saw a comparable sales jump of 54.5% and 75.9% for five and thirty-one weeks, respectively.
The company saw a rise in sales of 17.6% year-on-year to $18.21 billion in the month of March for the five weeks that ended on April 4. For the thirty-one weeks that ended on April 4, Costco had sales of $111.4 billion, up by 15.7% year-on-year.
In fiscal 2Q, Costco reported 2Q earnings of $2.14 per share, which grew 1.9% year-over-year but fell short of the Street’s estimates of $2.45 per share. 2Q earnings included “$246 million pretax, or $0.41 per diluted share, in costs incurred primarily from COVID-19 premium wages,” the company said. (See Costco Wholesale Corp. stock analysis on TipRanks)
Following the March sales results, Oppenheimer analyst Rupesh Parikh raised the price target from $370 to $400 and assigned a Buy rating on the stock. Parikh said, “Two-year global comp trends remained steady at an adjusted 25.2% in March vs. 24.0% in February. US-stacked comp trends also accelerated to an adjusted +25.4% in March from +21.9% in February. We suspect US trends, similar to others, likely benefited somewhat from recent government stimulus, but it is difficult to quantify precisely.”
Overall, the rest of the Street has a bullish outlook on the stock, with a Strong Buy consensus rating based on 14 Buys and 4 Holds. The average analyst price target of $384.13 implies upside potential of approximately 7% to current levels. Shares have gained about 9.2% over the past month.
Furthermore, COST scores a “Perfect 10” from TipRanks’ Smart Score rating system, indicating that the stock has strong potential to outperform market expectations.


text:
Mark Blackwell. AMA Hall of Famer and longtime industry executive Mark Blackwell is joining Zero Motorcycles board of directors. Mark started racing while in his teens and was one of the very first American Motocross superstars. He was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2000. After his racing career,.Mark has held positions of increasing responsibilities in the motorcycle industry, initially at Suzuki, then at Husqvarna, at Suzuki again and finally at Victory Motorcycles where he was VP and general manager through a critical growth period for the brand. Mark remains an executive of Polaris Industries.
Updated US Motorcycle Statistics. There are 7.7 million motorcycles in the U.S., compared to 248 million cars and trucks. That lopsided ratio is one of the reasons May is Motorcycle Safety Month, with programs teaching riders that many accidents are caused when car drivers don’t see them or see them too late. Accidents result in the deaths of nearly 5,300 motorcycle riders yearly, approaching twice the number of fatalities in 2000. You can find these and more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau.
138 Million Electric Motorcycles By 2017. Electric motorcycles and scooters have strong appeal for many consumers. They are relatively low cost to own, do not take a lot of space, and are easy to maintain, therefore making them attractive for city dwellers. According to the market research and consulting company Piker Research , by the year 2017 there should be some 138 million electric motorcycles and scooters riding around our globe. With high fuel prices and interesting government incentives, many people will be looking at purchasing an electric PTW. The more people who buy one, the cheaper they get. Asia at this moment has the lion share of electric bikes, but that is going to change. With the government incentives in North America and Europe, and the rising fuel price, many people will leave their car at home and use electronic scooters to get to work. Electric scooters are seen to outsell electric motorcycle six to one. This year, there are an estimated 17 million electric motorcycles and scooters out there, but over the next few years, the number will increase dramatically.
BMW Sales. For the 4th consecutive month, BMW reports positive motorcycle-sales figures. In April,global sales of BMW motorcycles rose by 5 percent to 13,072 units. For the first for months of 2011, BMW has delivered 36,181 motorcycles worldwide, an 8.7-percent increase over the same period in 2010. At the start of the 2011 season, Bavarian motorcycle customers benefited from the revised flat-twin engine roadster BMW R 1200 R that for the first time will also be available as a classical variant. Moreover, the motorcycle manufacturer presented the new G 650 GS, yet another particularly appealing GS model with a single cylinder engine. The first half of the year will see the launch of the K 1600 GT and the K 1600 GTL, innovative, de luxe touring motorcycles with six cylinder inline engines, the first of their kind in the history of BMW Motorrad. Featuring the most compact six cylinder inline engines in series motorcycle production, these two top models in the BMW Motorrad range will be unlocking new dimensions for riding, long distance, and comfort characteristics.


text:
PERTH residents will get a chance to engage face to face with farmers on Friday, January 25 when the Green Shirts Movement of WA dons it colours and take to the streets to promote agriculture.
The ‘Green Shirts in Perth’ event is about “introducing consumers to primary producers, our families and our beautiful industry” a promotional message said.
Green Shirts Movement of WA spokesperson and Beverley grain producer Alan Sattler said the purpose of the event would be a “meet and greet”.
“It is a way to show that we are not the bad people we are painted by some to be on social media,” Mr Sattler said.
“It’s not about supporting the live export trade.
“It’s about agriculture in general.
“It’s also a way for us to thank people who are involved in agriculture.”
Mr Sattler said the group would take buckets of grains including, wheat, barley, lupins and oats, as well as samples of wool to explain to people what is grown in WA and what products could be consumed or produced from them.
He said meat products would not be part of the display.
While the number of Green Shirts members to participate in the first of its kind event is unclear, Mr Sattler said “10 would be great, 50 would be better, 100 would be awesome, 500 would be fantastic and 1000 would be incredible”.
The event has been more than a month in the making after Mr Sattler came up with the idea in early December.
He said it had taken three weeks to get a permit from the City of Perth, but they had been “absolutely brilliant” in making sure that they did everything correctly to qualify for approval.
The event will run from 10am - 2pm.
Mr Sattler said anyone interested in joining the team could contact him on 0429 461 569.
The Green Shirts Movement of WA came into being as a result of the WAFarmers live export meeting at Katanning in July last year.
Since then it has attracted more than 1060 followers on Facebook and 400 followers on Twitter.
New members get a green shirt with a logo and #UnitingAg ear tags.
Green Shirts recently posted on Twitter that its ear tags were “rather well travelled”.
“They’ve made their way all over Australia... and now they’ve achieved an international reach,” the post said.
“Yesterday we received an email request from a ‘UK stock farmer supporting our mates in WA’.
“Just a little bit of totally uncool excitement between Green Shirts WA admin may have occurred.
“A trip to the local post office with ear tags to post became high priority.”
So far between 400-500 ear tags have been mailed out, Mr Sattler said.


text:
Super Bowl Commercial Teasers Released
We're less than two weeks away from the Super Bowl and teasers for some of the commercials that will be airing during the big game are starting to be released. In this just-released teaser for the Amazon Echo ad, Alec Baldwin and Dan Marino are discussing plans for a Super Bowl party. You can check that one out here:
Earlier this week, another teaser was released for this year's Bud Light commercials. Those commercials feature Seth Rogen and Amy Schumber. If you haven't seen that one yet, here it is:
I'm gonna be honest...neither of these impressed me very much...just sayin'...
• Listen to Banana Don & Stephanie McCoy weekday mornings from 5:30a-10a on 100.7 WITL.
• Follow Stephanie on Facebook at facebook.com/bananastephanie and facebook.com/WITLFM on Twitter @WITLMcCoy.
• Email Stephanie at email@example.com


text:
Frontier Airlines has launched its new all-you-can-fly GoWild! Pass, With the GoWild! Pass, Frontier Airlines travelers will be able to book unlimited flights, domestic and international flights for one cent in addition to taxes, fees and charges.
Frontier’s GoWild! Pass is on sale now for $599 for the first year and will auto-renew at $1,999 the second year unless you cancel in time. Frontier is advertising that the $599 rate is only valid through Nov. 18, 2022.
Only U.S. residents 18 and older are eligible for the pass and they will only be allowed to book a domestic flight the day before it departs. For international travel, people will be allowed to start booking 10 days prior to the flight’s departure. Having a pass does not guarantee a seat, so if a flight is already full, it won’t be available to book.
Frontier’s international flight network is limited to Mexico, the Caribbean and Latin America.
There are also a number of blackout dates during which passes won’t work and travelers will have to pay full price for the flight. Mainly occurring around holidays, the dates include July 1-5, Nov. 24-27 and Dec. 22-24.


text:
There’s a new restaurant taking Golden by storm, providing authentic Mexican food with a western twist.
Named Reposados after the second tier of tequila, owners Mel Pollock and Jenna Kluz wanted to create an environment where people could feel comfortable coming to chill and enjoy good food after a long day of skiing. The inspiration for the restaurant came from other taco restaurants in small mountain towns, who have nailed down this particular niche.
“It’s something different, because we don’t have anything like this already here,” said Kluz. “Who doesn’t love tacos?”
The food is all based on traditional Latin American recipes, with a chef that Kluz brought in from central America specifically for this position.
Some adaptations have been made to the recipes to better suit the fresh ingredients that can be sourced in western Canada. According to Kluz, it can be difficult to directly recreate a recipe due to limitations of fresh produce and the different meats that are available.
There is also a heavy vegetarian and vegan influence on the menu, inspired by Pollock who is a vegetarian herself.
“There’s a pretty big vegetarian and vegan option on the menu because of the way the town is going,” said Pollock. “It’s the way the whole world is going, so people are pretty stoked about that.”
Reposados has been a work in progress for almost six months now, with Pollock and Kluz building their restaurant almost entirely from scratch, with nothing but a shell of a building to work with. While there were many easy going mornings working on computers from home to get everything set up on time, there were also lots of late nights at the restaurant, tiling until 3 a.m.
“It was an emotional roller coaster, it was huge highs and huge lows,” said Pollock. “And being told we couldn’t do things, and then doing them anyways. We made it work.”
Despite all the hard work, Pollock said seeing the restaurant finally become reality made it all worthwhile.
“The craziest part of it all was when our shelves went in last week. We had already been open for a couple of weeks so soon as those shelves came in it pulled everything together,” said Kluz. “It’s actually done and there are people here and they love it. Seeing it all come together was just wow. We did it.”
While the restaurant is complete and open to the public now, Pollock and Kluz are still looking for ways to grow and develop their business. For the summer, they’re thinking about introducing a patio for outdoor seating and dining.
Reposados is open every day but Mondays at noon, and offers everything from burritos, to nachos, to tacos and home made hot sauces. Reposados is located just next to the Rockwater in the downtown area at 427 9th Ave N. For more information on their menu and on the restaurant, you can visit their website here.


text:
The Samsung Galaxy S2 is being released in AT&T stores nationwide Sunday October 2. The greatly anticipated launch is sure to have AT&T customers lining up to get their hands on the already globally-popular smartphone.
The launch also comes just days prior to the unveiling of the next generation iPhone, rumored to be the new iPhone 5 Apple is holding an event Oct. 4, which analysts are claiming will see the unveiling of either the iPhone 5 or an upgraded iPhone 4.
Samsung releasing its latest device so close to the rumored launch date of Apple’s next iPhone product shows how the Korean technology giant is not afraid of its technology giant rival.
Samsung’s fastest selling new smartphone will reportedly sell for $199.99 with a two-year contract on AT&T.
The Samsung Galaxy S2 has already launched in other regions throughout the world to rave reviews, with many analysts boasting how the smartphone is not a competitor for the hugely popular iPhone 4, but is ready to compete and even beat the as-yet-unreleased iPhone 5.
PCMag’s mobile analyst Sascha Segan said the phone was the “finest Android smartphone available today,” and has AT&T customers waiting in great expectation for the “iPhone killer’s” release.
In his review he wrote, "The Galaxy S II is the fastest Android device I've ever used, with the best screen, the best camera, and the latest version of Android software. It easily makes the cut for our lists of The Best Android Phones and The Best Unlocked Phones."
The device has already been released on the Sprint network on Sept. 16.
It features Samsung's Exynos 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 16GB of internal memory, a rear-facing 8-megapixel camera with 1080p HD video capture, and a 10 percent larger battery than the first-generation model. It also runs Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread OS along with the latest version of TouchWiz.
AT&T's version of the Galaxy S2 features a smaller 4.3 Super AMOLED Plus touch screen than the Sprint’s 4.5 inch version.


text:
Chando's named Small Business of the Year
On May 25th of this year, I joined my colleagues in recognizing exemplary small businesses from around the state in honor of California Small Business Day. This year I had the privilege of honoring Chando's Tacos as District 7's small business of the year.
Chando's is a magnet for foodies with three food trucks, three taquerias, and over 70 employees. For Chando, owning a successful business also allows him to pursue his other passion for giving back to his community and is establishing a community-based organization dedicated to mentoring at-risk youth.
Small businesses are the backbone of our state's economy, and Small Business Day was created by House Resolution 57 in 2000 to highlight the people and stories behind those small businesses. I was proud to honor Chando's and their contribution to our community by naming them Small Business of the Year for the 7th Assembly District.
Assemblymember, 7th District


text:
Farmers and farmworkers should be paid more for their efforts.
But both producers and consumers should value the ‘true costs’ of food production.
We don’t have enough people who want to work on the land – and with the pool of foreign workers drying up, we are facing a real dilemma – but it’s been a problem brewing for some time now:
How to plug the migrant labour gap in farming
It’s been very difficult to recruit locals to do farm work – but not because they are ‘lazy’:
‘Just not true’ we’re too lazy for farm work, say frustrated UK applicants | theguardian.com
A major issue is that much farm work is seasonal – and for that you need a burst of work from a dedicated workforce – which is not attractive to anyone looking for a long-term, permanent job.
It’s now ten years ago since this issue was considered in a provocative BBC documentary:
The Day the Immigrants Left | bbc.co.uk
Unemployed take on immigrants’ jobs for Evan Davis documentary | theguardian.com
Evan Davis on what would happen if all immigrant workers left … | telegraph.co.uk
The day immigrants left 2010 FULL | youtube.com
If we want people to pick crops or even grow their own to sell, then working on a farm does need to become more attractive – and that includes better conditions and better pay.
But, as noted in a recent post from East Devon Watch, the pay is not attractive because we are not prepared to pay for our food. Perhaps if we paid less for housing proportionately, as this graph from the BBC shows:
Why the UK has such cheap food | bbc.co.uk
But if we are to produce more food locally, we will need to address these questions:
Local food: local resilience to global risk
Local community support through food
How is food produced and where?
A piece from Nature last week looked at the issue of cheap food and measuring value:
The true cost of food
Prices that better reflect the environmental costs of food can promote more sustainable production and consumption practices.
Most environmental impacts of food production and consumption are not economically valued and are not, therefore, felt ‘in the pocket’. They are what economists call hidden costs — the difference between the market price of food and its comprehensive cost to society.
Not balancing the books with regard to the true cost of food propagates failures within the food system, the most pressing of which are poor production practices and the promotion of a convenience and throwaway culture that encourages waste, aggravates pollution and further dissociates consumption from production. This is even more problematic in a world of severe socioeconomic disparities, where the consequences of excessive production and consumption patterns are felt by everyone, both across and within countries.
However, an effort to price food based on the principle of true cost could help minimize the mismatch between who causes pollution and who pays for it. By reflecting, at least in part, the environmental impact of food, true pricing could promote more sustainable means of production, signalling to consumers the footprint of different food items and encouraging them to make choices in line with Sustainable Development Goal 12 on responsible production and consumption.
In fact, those at the end of the supply chain are arguably in the best position to drive positive change along its entirety — from retailers to distributors, processers and right back to the farm — although they should not bear the cost alone…
The true cost of food | nature.com
And if we’re going to have to pay more for our food, then we need to address the issue of low pay across the board – and not just for farmworkers:
One-third of key workers earn £10 an hour or less, study finds
One-third of key workers earn £10 an hour or less, with food and social care employees paid the lowest paid, according to a new study. Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) suggests that the hourly wages of key workers are 8 percent lower on average than other workers.


text:
Gampaha pineapple growers seek Govt assistance
Although legend has it that the ancient city of Nawala in Kotte was
famous for pineapples during the period of kings, the popularity
gradually decreased with the arrival of colonial rulers.
Due to the construction of several buildings, factories and highways
during the colonial era, many pineapple cultivators at Nawala had to
abandon their traditional cultivation. They found various other
employment in the construction field which helped them even to start
Nawala, which is located in close proximity to Sri Lanka's
administrative capital, Sri Jayawardanapura has now become a thickly
populated area and no one can see a single pineapple cultivation plot in
This traditional cultivation, which has a history of over six
centuries, has now become the livelihood of nearly 500 families in the
areas of Gampaha, Kotugoda, Giriulla, Udugampola Meerigama, Kirindiwela,
Kuliyapitiya, Radawana, Nittambuwa and Pasyala.
The Sunday Observer last week visited several pineapple cultivations
at Gampaha and Meerigama to see the progress of the cultivations. Some
cultivators were very happy as both retail traders and wholesale traders
visit their plots very often to buy pineapple.
Fifty-six-year old M.R. Piyasena, a father of three at Gampaha said
he started pineapple cultivation at the age of 16. He had studied up to
grade five and helped his late father's pineapple cultivation.
According to Piyasena, one of his sons had joined the Sri Lanka Army
as a soldier and his other son and the daughter helps his pineapple
He said he had a two-acre pineapple cultivation. He cultivates
pineapple as an inter-crop within pepper and banana.
Sumanwathi Peris of Meerigama said she earns about Rs. 30,000 from
pineapple cultivation. She said the price of pineapple had dropped these
days due to the good harvest.
Asked whether she needed the Government's help to expand her
cultivation, she said the Government should provide them with fertilizer
at reduced price.
She doesn't like to have bank loans to expand the cultivation since
she was not in a position to pay high interests as they earn little
money from their business.
A large scale pineapple cultivator Martin Gunadasa of Kirindiwela
said he had five acres of pineapple cultivation. "I plant pineapple
along with bananas, coconuts and vegetables to have more income during
He too did not need any help from the Government to expand his
pineapple cultivation, but requested authorities to send hoteliers from
Colombo to purchase their harvest.
"There are lot of pineapple gardens in the area, but all of us are
selling our harvest to private businessmen who come to our doorstep to
purchase the harvest at cheap rates".
He said if hoteliers visit our plantation, they will be able to sell
them at higher prices.
Although pineapple plantations are located in the Gampaha and
surrounding areas, pineapple traders are doing their business
cultivation at Imbulgoda, Balummahara and Mudungoda areas which are
along the Kandy Road.
A middle aged pineapple businessman M.A Ranjith of Imbulgoda said he
couldn't survive with only the income from pineapple business.
He said unlike in the past many vehicles coming from Kandy turn from
Balummahara Junction and only a few vehicles pass in front of their
He said over 400 families depend on pineapple business and the
Government's assistance is highly needed to expand their business
His proposal is that the Sri Lanka Tourist Board and other private
company tour groups stop at their stalls to enable tourists to buy
A large scale pineapple exporter, H.G.S Pushpakaumara of Rammuthugala
said he visits pineapple plantations and purchase them from cultivators.
"In addition to my local business, I also export pineapple to Dubai
and earn a sufficient income.
A pineapple trader S. P. Premadasa said he too sold pineapple at a
stall in Imbulgoda and now cut them into pieces and sell them at the
village fair and nearby schools.
He said almost all pineapple traders are very poor and need money to
construct their houses and the Government must help them protect this
Pix: Vipula Amarasinghe


text:
Don't-Miss Virus Stories
The flaw could allow attackers to fully compromise systems via websites, email, USB drives and other methods.
Several independent testing firms claim the accused companies submitted programs specially tuned to ace the benchmarks.
Its new owners hope to repair MacKeeper's reputation, while its previous owner is close to a $2 million class-action settlement.
What's the best antivirus software to buy right now? In February 2015, the list includes BitDefender, Kaspersky, and Avira.
An anti-virus firm was left scrambling for a solution after it locks some users out of their own PCs.
VirusTotal is gathering file metadata from trusted software makers to integrate in its online scanning engine


text:
The year 2022 has been difficult for Pakistan’s automobile sector because of rises in freight costs, dollar exchange rates, and resultant car price increases.
Pak Suzuki Motor Company (PSMC) has recorded high sales this year despite this. According to a recent source, the company broke its previous record of over 15,500 automobiles sold in December 2021 by selling more than 16,000 cars in June 2022.
Reports indicate that the new Suzuki Swift has significantly impacted the total increase in sales, despite the fact that the split of sales is unknown.
Additionally, PSMC is a strong competitor in Pakistan’s small-car industry thanks to its extensive product selection of city automobiles. The firm dominates the automobile industry with a market share of more than 60%.
However, predictions state that by late 2022 or early 2023, sales of all automakers, including PSMC, will likely drop as a result of rising gasoline and vehicle prices. Due to the accumulation of backlogged orders, the sales will continue to be steady for the time being.


text:
GREENWICH, Conn. -- Humans are invited to accompany their furry companions to the opening of Raleigh & Co., a store that sells treats, toys and togs for pets.
The grand opening is from 3-5 p.m. Saturday at 209 Bruce Park Ave.
Later this month, the online site will provide more information about the available items.
Local businesses will provide light refreshments for both dogs and people, a cake only for humans and a raffle.
Click here to sign up for Daily Voice's free daily emails and news alerts.


text: Net Neutrality’s demise set for December 14th – lawsuits to follow. Black Friday breaks mobile records. Time’s top 10 gadgets of the year. Jeff Bezos, now worth $100 billion, credits his grandpa’s hairy thumb as inspiration. How to tell if you liked a Russia-sponsored Facebook page. Elon Musk tests the bounds of credibility with his latest battery claims. Uber confesses to hiding a 2016 data breach and paying off the hackers.


text:
Like tobacco, state may control alcohol sales
Following the Hungarian government’s introduction of national tobacco stores, Parliament is now planning to introduce national beverage stores, reducing the number of places where alcoholic beverages can be purchased and controlling those sales, Hungarian online daily napi.hu reported today.
Unanimous sources confirmed that the concept of national alcoholic beverages stores has been finalized, the daily reported. The whole system of distribution is expected to be similar to the national tobacco stores; thus all sales of alcoholic beverages would be centrally controlled. The daily added that, according to rumors, alcoholic beverages would only be sold in special, government licensed stores.
When tobacco was controlled this way, beginning last year, the number of legal outlets for tobacco was reduced from around 40,000 to around 7,000, according to the World Health Organization. There has been a subsequent rise in illegal cigarette sales reported.
SUPPORT THE BUDAPEST BUSINESS JOURNAL
Producing journalism that is worthy of the name is a costly business. For 27 years, the publishers, editors and reporters of the Budapest Business Journal have striven to bring you business news that works, information that you can trust, that is factual, accurate and presented without fear or favor.
Newspaper organizations across the globe have struggled to find a business model that allows them to continue to excel, without compromising their ability to perform. Most recently, some have experimented with the idea of involving their most important stakeholders, their readers.
We would like to offer that same opportunity to our readers. We would like to invite you to help us deliver the quality business journalism you require. Hit our Support the BBJ button and you can choose the how much and how often you send us your contributions.


text:
18-02-2016 My Mobile
The arrival of streaming giant Netflix in India has been hailed by many pundits as a game changer, with some even claiming that it will pose a threat to conventional television. But is it going to be that revolutionary, given the unique conditions of the Indian market and the habits of its consumers? We take a closer look.
For most Indians, television viewing-habits have been more or less the same for years. Yes, we now own a big screen HDTV and an access to a cable TV subscription is what we need to entertain ourselves in the maddening world of 24X7 broadcasting. Now imagine yourself enjoying on-demand television content across multiple screens, without flipping through the TV channels (again and again). Oh yes, you can watch your favorite TV show through the Internet on a smartphone or a tablet—the choice is yours. For the past few months, Indian consumers have been anxiously waiting for U.S-based TV and streaming service Netflix to launch in India. And after years of speculation Netflix confirmed its plans to enter the Indian market, alongside 129 other global markets. So what does the Netflix launch mean for India?
What is Netflix?
U.S-based Netflix is the leading on-demand subscription-based video streaming service. The service is extremely popular with 69.17 million subscribers worldwide, including more than 43 million in the U.S. Through the use of internet, Netflix subscribers can stream and watch a selection of popular TV shows and unlimited movies on a number of supported devices. It is available on PC and Mac through the browser,Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, smart TVs and select Blu-ray players from Samsung and Sony, Apple TV (old and new), media streaming set-top boxes such as Google Chromecast and Amazon Fire TV, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Windows Phone devices and Android smartphones and tablets.
How much is it going to cost?
Indians are currently offered a one-month free trial, which then moves to three main monthly subscription fees, based on how many screens you wish to watch on Netflix simultaneously. For Rs. 500 a month, you can stream unlimited movies and TV shows in standard definition across a maximum of one device. At Rs. 650 per month, you can stream content in high definition across two devices. And a premium plan (Rs. 800 per month ), allowing consumers to watch unlimited shows in 4K UHD format, to up to 4 screens. Netflix’s pricing in India is not over the top, particularly in comparison to its US pricing, where the basic monthly subscription plan is the cheapest at $7.99 (approximately Rs. 535). Netflix gives you the freedom to cancel your subscription any time within one month and will also send a reminder two days before the free trial expires.
And what about content…
Does a Netflix subscription mean you have an access to the entire Netflix library? Unfortunately not—Netflix’s most popular shows, as part of its original content, such as House of Cards are still not available in India. House of Cards was licensed to Zee Cafe and is not streaming in India as a result. Many people seem utterly disappointed looking at Netflix’s current lineup of content but it will certainly improve once the service itself gets more popular in the coming days. Nevertheless, at the moment, Netflix still offers a huge library of popular TV shows ( including the likes of Orange Is The New Black, Bloodline, Daredevil and Grace and Frankie, to name a few) and movies from different genres,. To cater to the wide and diverse Indian consumer base, Netflix has added movies in Hindi language. But again, the local content seems limited at the moment. We just hope Netflix will add more local content in the future.
The challenge Netflix faces…
Put simply, Netflix needs to overcome territorial issues and distribution rights, only then can it bring most of its catalogue to India. And of course, the service also needs to focus on creating original content in diverse regional languages, something it lacks at the moment. Poor Internet connectivity could also be a deal breaker for over-the-top (OTT) players, and their ambitions to popularise streaming over internet in India. And then there is the biggest roadblock in Netflix adoption in India: piracy. The prevalence of online piracy discourages the consumer from paying for content. Indians are not used to paying for entertainment services, and in the absence of compelling content, are unlikely to change their ways. All of which of course brings us back to the necessity of Netflix bringing its best content to India.
Netflix has been credited for changing the way we consume television content— and most importantly it opened the door for independent and indie filmmakers to showcase their content to a larger section of population without battling with censorship laws and distribution models. But will it able to replicate its success in India? With competition coming from other over-the-top (OTT) providers and traditional Direct-to-home (DTH) players, and the shadow of piracy looming large, the streaming behemoth has its task well and truly cut out.


text:
South African retailer Woolworths is making a $213 million takeover bid for Australian clothing chain, Country Road.
Woolworths said the bid was for all the remaining shares in Country Road that it does not already own.
Woolworths, which already owns 88 per cent of Country Road, is offering $17 a share as part of its cash offer.
The expected bid comes as Woolworths tries to overcome hurdles with its $2.2 billion takeover of David Jones after retail billionaire Solomon Lew bought a blocking stake in the department store chain.
Lew confirmed last week that he now holds a 9.89 per cent stake in David Jones, after paying about $200 million for more than 53 million shares in recent weeks.
Analysts believe that the retail veteran had been threatening to block the David Jones acquisition unless Woolworths acquired his Country Road stake, which is now worth about $170 million.
Analysts believe he may have been trying to block Woolworths’ takeover of David Jones in order to get the South African retailer to buy his 12 per cent stake in Country Road.
A previous attempt by Woolworths to buy Country Road in 1997 failed after Lew bought a stake in the clothing retailer.
“In light of the proposed acquisition of David Jones, this is a commonsense and timely opportunity to seek to reach full ownership of Country Road,” Woolworths CEO, Ian Moir, said on Tuesday.
“If successful, the offer will allow Woolworths to delist Country Road, allowing Woolworths to simplify its group structure and fully integrate the businesses.”
Woolworths’ offer of $17 a share is a 21.4 per cent premium to Country Road’s closing price of $14 on Monday.
One of the conditions for the takeover offer is that Woolworths’ takeover of David Jones goes ahead.
David Jones said in a statement that it noted Woolworths’ bid for Country Road and was continuing to assess the implications of Lew’s 9.89 per cent stake in the department store chain.
It also flagged that a planned meeting of David Jones shareholders to vote on the Woolworths takeover offer on July 14 could be postponed again.
Meanwhile, David Jones continues to recommend shareholders accept the Woolworths offer for their shares.
“As at the date of this announcement, no superior proposal has emerged, accordingly the David Jones directors intend to vote all the David Jones shares held or controlled by them in favour of the Woolworths proposal,” David Jones said.
Country Road said its directors will consider the details of Woolworths’ takeover offer and update shareholders in due course.
“Shareholders do not need to take any action at this time in respect of the proposed takeover offer,” Country Road said.


text:
Smashburger is launching its first major branding campaign after growing to 160 restaurants in just five years, marketing itself mostly through social media, local marketing and word of mouth. The fast-casual chain will make its broadcast debut with radio spots in several markets starring a new brand character, the Smashburger Burger Smasher. The campaign also incorporates the Denver-based brand’s new logo and new tagline: “Smashed fresh. Served ...
Register to view this article
It’s free but we need to know a little about you to continually improve our content.
Registering allows you to unlock a portion of our premium online content. You can access more in-depth stories and analysis, as well as news not found on any other website or any other media outlet. You also get free eNewsletters, blogs, real-time polls, archives and more.
Attention Print Subscribers: While you have already been granted free access to NRN we ask that you register now. We promise it will only take a few minutes!
Questions about your account or how to access content?
Contact: Desiree Torres Desiree.Torres@penton.com


text:
Showing 973 - 981 of 1749 results
The countdown to Christmas has truly begun. What better opportunity to start a family tradition of giving what is good for our loved ones, the producers and the planet? With some inspirational top tips from Fairtrade friends, and sustainability practitioners, now is the perfect time to step up your shopping game.
Who'd be a farmer in 2016? This question is even more pertinent for the children of farmers in developing countries as it is for those of struggling farmers in the UK.
One of the UK's leading contemporary jewellers, Erica Sharpe, knows how to make every conversation count. She’s now proving Fairtrade gold can become the norm in the jewellery industry – and it’s what shoppers expect.
Ian Bretman has worked with the Fair Trade movement for more than 30 years. Here he shares his thoughts on what the vote to leave the EU might be telling us and why we need trade and business which works for everyone.
Farming communities, especially in developing nations, are increasingly feeling the brunt of climate change. Indeed,
suggests that 2015 was the warmest on record. Catalina Jaramillo, climate officer from CLAC, Latin American and Caribbean Network of Fair Trade Small Producers, reflects on the UN climate change talks in Paris he attended, as part of the Fairtrade International delegation.
Visiting Fairtrade certified co-operatives is one of the most tangible ways to connect with farmers and see first-hand the impact of Fairtrade. Visiting farmers can also provide invaluable insights into what our future work will look like. Justin Avern, Head of Media at the Fairtrade Foundation, reflects on his first visit to Fairtrade cocoa co-operatives in Cote D’Ivoire.
2015 was a year of sustainable development, with the UN approving the long-awaited Global Goals to guide national and global policies for the next fifteen years. On the eve of 2016, Fairtrade reflects on what the new Goals could mean and proposes a few resolutions for governments and companies.
This year, Divine is celebrating the people who grow the ingredients and the people who enjoy the chocolate from all over the world. With the new Advent calendar, open each window to reveal ‘Merry Christmas’ in languages from 24 different countries where Divine chocolate is sold, made or where the Fairtrade ingredients are sourced. So if you would like to learn how to say Merry Christmas in Twi from Ghana – read on!
Chocolate. Milk or dark with Cornish sea salt? Behind every luscious chocolate bar and treat we devour throughout the year, there are six million people globally who depend on growing cocoa for their livelihoods. Fairtrade has breathed a new lease of life into entire cocoa farming communities in the poorest parts of the world.
Find answers to some of the questions that are frequently asked about Fairtrade.
Ever wondered how many farmers and workers are involved with Fairtrade? Or how the Fairtrade Premium is used? Here's a snapshot from our latest data.
Fairtrade is about better prices, decent working conditions, local sustainability, and fair terms of trade for farmers and workers in the developing world.


text:
With Windows Phone Mango showing up in new smartphones and rolling out to old ones, it’s time to look ahead to the next big update to Microsoft’s mobile operating system, code-named Apollo.
Even though we don’t know much about Windows Phone Apollo, hints and teasers are fueling plenty of speculation. Most recently, Michael Halbherr, Nokia’s executive vice president for location and commerce, told Engadget to expect the update in mid-2012. Although Microsoft quickly clarified that Halbherr’s timing is inaccurate, the company didn’t confirm or deny any other details that have slipped out so far.
Here’s what we’ve heard so far about Windows Phone Apollo:
The Grand Convergence
It’s no secret that Microsoft wants all of its devices to be part of a single ecosystem. “We won’t have an ecosystem for PCs, and one for phones, and one for tablets — they’ll all come together,” Andy Lees, president of Microsoft’s Windows Division, said in July. According to some reports, this convergence could happen with Windows Phone 8, “Apollo.”
In September, Nvidia CEO Jen-Hsun Huang said he expects Windows 8 to eventually run Windows Phone apps. It’s easy to imagine how this would work, with the desktop simply showing simultaneous panels from Microsoft’s Metro interface, whereas phones would show only one panel of information at a time.
What Nokia Knows
Halbherr told Engadget that Windows Phone Apollo is a “very different game” from Mango, suggesting that the update could also be known as Windows Phone 8. He also said Nokia is pushing Microsoft to add near-field communications support and “positioning framework” to Windows Phone Apollo, which would improve Nokia’s navigation and location services.
NFC is the technology that will let people swipe their phones like credit cards at retail stores. Google is pushing ahead with NFC in Android phones, and Apple is rumored to be eying the technology as well, so the idea of Microsoft working on NFC for future Windows Phones seems plausible.
What’s Really Next
Apollo isn’t going to be the next version of Windows Phone. First, Microsoft plans to release “Tango,” a minor update akin to the “NoDo” update that added copy-and-paste and other tweaks last spring. Apollo will be the next major update, as confirmed at an MSDN seminar in August. Although Halbherr’s mid-2012 timeframe seems a bit early, a fall or winter 2012 launch seems like a safe bet.