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Sign up for Insider Investing for your weekly markets analysis.
Here’s what you need to know before markets open.
1. Global stocks ease after Chinese data paints a mixed picture of recovery and inflation concerns weigh heavily. US futures were down slightly as price rises continued to concern investors.
2. Bitcoin crashes to $42,000 after Elon Musk tweet-storm – but rebounds after he clarifies Tesla hasn’t sold its holdings. Musk suggested Tesla may sell its bitcoin, but then clarified it hadn’t, causing wild price swings.
3. Billionaire Mark Cuban says he holds 3,250 dogecoin that he bought with his son – and earns added inflows from Dallas Mavericks sales. The “Shark Tank” star suggested doge could become a valid payment mechanism.
4. Inflation could spike to 20% in the next few years as US money supply explodes, says Wharton professor Jeremy Siegel. The finance professor cited the unprecedented fiscal and monetary stimulus.
5. ‘Big Short’ investor Michael Burry predicted the inflation spike a year ago – and sounded the alarm multiple times in February. Burry said in April 2020 that the reopening could cause prices to shoot up.
6. Earnings expected. Recruit Holdings and Bridgestone are on Monday’s list.
7. On the economics calendar. Federal Reserve Vice Chair Richard Clarida is due to speak.
8. ‘Wolf of All Streets’ crypto trader Scott Melker breaks down his strategy for making money using ‘HODLing’ and 100-times trade opportunities. He also shares 5 under-the-radar tokens he thinks could explode.
9. UBS is on the hunt for companies that offer both reliable profits and cheap valuations. The firm says to buy these 25 stocks that check both boxes.
10. The chief strategist at a $1.5 billion firm says stocks are staring down a period of weak returns as investors misjudge the recovery. Marko Papic also says those same traders are also mistaking how the Fed will react to inflation.


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A new Nielsen Return-on-ad-spend (ROAS) study reveals how well Radio worked for an Auto Aftermarket retailer – and how poorly, in comparison, not using Radio performed for them. Like most Return on Ad Spend (ROAS) studies, this linked Radio ad exposure with actual purchases made by those exposed – and conversely, was able to make the same comparison for those not exposed to the Radio ads.
What were the results? Radio delivered a $21 return on every $1 spent by an Auto Aftermarket client. Across the average of the 23 ROAS studies conducted by Nielsen, Radio now averages $10 in return for every $1 spent.
Click here to read and download the Radio Insights PDF.

domain: news


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SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP) – Changes are expected for the Eastfield Mall in Springfield. Mayor Domenic Sarno told 22News on Thursday night that additional retail shops are coming for that property on Boston Road as talks continue.
In a statement to 22News, the mayor said in part,
“Chief Development Officer Tim Sheehan and I have met with the future developer.Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno
It is an exciting project that will bring significant retail activities and amenities to the Boston Road corridor. We look forward to announcing more details in the near future.”
The owners of the Eastfield Mall sold about 16 acres of undeveloped property at the intersection of Kent and Fernbank roads to a Wilbraham developer for $1 million last year. Housing is expected in that area.


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Two people have been taken to hospital after a car flipped on its side in a dramatic crash at a busy north London junction this morning.
A couple described today how flash flooding in north-west London led to water pouring into their home “from every angle” leaving £15,000 worth of damage.
Published: 24 May 2012
In many ways 22-year-old Claire Barrow is like any other fashion student. She certainly looks the part. When we meet she is wearing an eye-catching A-line PVC skirt, a scarlet red crocheted poncho and a pair of suede wide-rimmed spectacles. Her hair, which she tells me “has been dyed every colour”, is currently bleached blonde and has a cropped fringe. Barrow — like the majority of her art college peers — lives in a small flat in Dalston and has given up going out in order to make it to the end of her degree with her sanity intact.
But all is not as it seems. You see, while Barrow (a student at the University of Westminster) has much in common with the thousands of fashion graduates currently preparing to set sail into the job market, there is one notable difference: she already has a superstar customer — Rihanna. The supremely stylish Barbadian singer is a huge fan of Barrow’s work, which is focused around intricate drawings which she then paints onto leather jackets. Rihanna championed the student’s designs throughout her recent Too Loud tour and, even more remarkably, on the cover of her latest album Talk That Talk.
For Barrow, who spent a year out from her course launching the eponymous label which she still runs from her bedroom, it all began with a tin of paint and a second-hand leather jacket. “We were meant to get internships but it wasn’t for me,” she explains. “I wanted to do something else. I was into my illustration and watching a lot of films starring bikers and punks with band names scratched into the back of their jackets and the two came together somehow.”
As well as falling into favour with Rihanna, she counts Jessie J as a fan. Her work has also appeared in style bibles Vogue, I-D and Dazed & Confused — and she has just completed a capsule collection of her signature leather for the luxury label Joseph. From next month it will be stocking the limited-edition made-to-order collection, set to retail for over £1,000, in its London stores. Barrow has also designed a range for edgy shoe brand Underground. All this, of course, is an outstanding list of achievements for a student from Stockton-on-Tees who has yet to graduate.
Initially, Barrow’s jackets were more a labour of love rather than a stepping stone to launching her own fashion empire. “I was pleased with the first one I did so I put some pictures of it on my Facebook page and one on Tumblr,” she says.
It was from there that everything took off. Vogue’s fashion editor Francesca Burns — an avid supporter of young talent — saw Barrow’s images online and enlisted the young designer to create a jacket for a Rockabilly-inspired story she was planning for an upcoming issue. Rihanna’s stylist Mel Ottenburg also spotted the jackets on Barrow’s Tumblr. “The call came out of the blue. He asked me to work with him on a jacket for her upcoming tour. I was like ‘What?’. It was amazing.”
While Barrow has yet to meet the star, who went on to buy another two pieces from her collection, she was invited to watch her at the O2, which she loved, and since then interest in Barrow’s work has continued to grow.
“I’m been getting emails from very interesting people,” the designer says with a grin, but she’s determined to retain as much control of her work as possible — namely by turning down requests for jackets from celebrities who she believes are not the right ambassadors for her label.
“I like Rihanna so I was happy for her to wear the jacket,” she says, “but I like to think my brand can retain its punk qualities — that’s how it’s meant to be. It would be easy to sell out.” That includes turning down a request from Little Mix.
So who would Barrow like to see wearing one of her jackets? “Elvis. Only young Elvis though. I also really like the idea of boys wearing them.”
Barrow will showcase her final year collection this evening and again at Graduate Fashion Week next month — and is desperate to get on with doing her own thing. “I haven’t had a break from education in six years,” she says, admitting that at times managing her university work alongside her own label has been a struggle. “I’d love to show my work at London Fashion Week. Possibly through some sort of installation. I also think I need to get myself a business partner of some sort. I’m not very good at that side of things.”
But it’s not Barrow’s success as a businesswoman, or even as a designer, which garners the most praise from those closest to her. “My mum’s so funny,” says Barrow with a giggle, “she’ll say she doesn’t like one of my designs and then she’ll see it on Rihanna in Grazia — then it’s the best.”
Graduate Fashion Week begins on June 10. For tickets visit gfw.org.uk
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In some really big news coming out of Providence this afternoon, Swipely, the payment system/analytics and marketing tools company, announced that in its first year it is managing over $1 billion in annual sales from merchants in twenty-nine states.
The company, founded by Angus Davis, has had quite a busy and successful first year. Swipely raised over $20.5 million in funding, including a $12M Series B round in May that included Shasta Ventures, First Round Capital, Greylock Partners and Index Ventures. Moreover, they were selected as one of Forbes "100 Most Promising Companies," named one of the best places to work in Rhode Island, and were listed as one of Boston.com's "Fastest Growing Boston Companies."
"Fastest Growing Companies?" That is actually an understatement. Swipely's growth in year one has been light-speed.
And, what's more, they continue to release new product offerings to make the Swipely platform even better. In addition to the news that they surpassed $1B in managed sales, they also unveiled the Swipely Partner Networkwhich helps small businesses grow with the help of experts from the worlds of finance, operations, IT, and human resources.
As the press release announcing the news explained, "The Swipely Partner Network is a channel partner program that enables companies serving business owners to differentiate technology offerings, increase revenue, reduce churn, and take advantage of the latest marketing and sales tools."
"More than 50 companies have already joined the Swipely Partner Network, including value-added resellers, independent software vendors, marketing consultants, and professional service providers, among others."
As CEO Davis said in the press release, "Swipely turns the big data behind payments into actionable insights that local merchants value to understand customers and increase sales, without any new costs.”
"From this foundation, we’re growing our product into an operating system for local commerce that extends our market-leading payments and analytics service into valuable additional tools that help small businesses win," he added.
Swipely has had astounding growth in it first year, including, doubling its sales under management in the last four months, expanding its platform support to more than a hundred POS systems, and a compounded quarterly growth rate that has averaged 100% over the last four quarters.
Furthermore, the company still has room to grow as it continues to make an impact for small businesses of all types. As this great New England success story continues to amaze, its crazy to imagine how much further Swipely can grow in year two.
Dennis Keohane is a staff writer for VentureFizz. You can follow Dennis on Twitter (@DBKeohane) by clicking here.


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Beer gut and tight trunks turn-offs
The most feared sight on the beach is an overweight man in a tight pair of swimming trunks, according to a new poll.
More than 60% of the 2,000 people surveyed by gym chain LA Fitness said it was the most unflattering sight of summer.
The second most feared sight on the beach was that of a man with a beer gut stripping off.
The poll found that 42% of people did not want to see "man boobs" on the shore and two-fifths were put off by the sight of excess body hair.


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Motorola is bringing Moto E40 which is quite in air these days. Moreover, the smartphone was recently on a Romanian retailer site, revealing its price and features. Now, the India launch has also been confirmed via the company. However, the exact launch date is yet to be announced.
Moto E40 India launch officially teased
The brand took to its social media handles to share a teaser that confirms the arrival of the Moto E40 in the country. The teaser does not disclose the launch date or timeline of the phone. However, we expect the launch is just around the corner as the brand has started teasing. Moreover, As per Romanian listing and previous leaks, we have the detailed features and pricing of the upcoming Moto E40. The smartphone may feature a 6.5-inch IPS display with an HD+ resolution of 1600 x 720 pixels and a refresh rate of 90Hz.
There will be a punch-hole cutout at the top center of the screen to house the 8MP selfie camera sensor. At the rear, the handset will have a triple-camera setup along with an LED flash unit. And the camera sensors will include a 48MP primary sensor, a 2MP macro lens, and a 2MP depth sensor. In addition, the processing is said to be handled by the Unisoc T700 chipset paired with 4GB RAM and 64GB onboard storage. Other features will include a 4,000 mAh battery, a rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and Android 11 OS. Furthermore, For connectivity, the device will support dual SIM support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.0, a 3.5mm headphone jack, a USB Type-C port for charging. Lastly, the phone will measure 9.14 mm in thickness and weighs 198 grams.


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Curbing shared passwords is working for Netflix. The leading streaming platform added 8.76 million new subscribers in the third quarter of the year, exceeding analysts’ expectations. The group now has a record 247.15 million paying subscribers worldwide, 10.8% more than a year ago, and is also benefiting from uptake of the advertising-supported service. After the success of this measure, Netflix is now determined to raise the subscription costs. The first hike, announced on Wednesday at the company’s quarterly results presentation, will affect the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
Netflix achieved record revenues of $8.5 billion in the third quarter of the year, 7.8% more than in the same period last year, according to figures published on Wednesday. Net income grew by 20%, to $1.68 billion. The company has been able to improve profit margins and increase cash generation. Investors have rewarded such solid results, with shares rising 12% overnight in after-hours trading.
The platform’s spike in subscribers is the largest since the second quarter of 2020, which took place in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic. After a couple of years of sluggish growth, the company adopted a dual growth strategy that coincided with a transition at the top of the company. On the one hand, it put a stop to the use of shared accounts between members of different households that paid for a single subscription. And on the other hand, it launched a low-cost, ad-supported service. Both measures have worked and have allowed Netflix to stand out in a crowded market, while its competitors struggle. The company explained on Wednesday that 30% of new subscribers opted for the ad-supported service, which is available in a dozen countries.
In countries where it has taken action to prevent the use of shared passwords, the number of subscription cancellation has been lower than the company’s expectations. In addition, many of the households that used shared passwords are signing up. “As a result, we’re revenue positive in every region when accounting for additional spin off accounts and extra members, churn and changes to our plan mix. Going forward, we’ll continue to refine and optimize our approach to convert additional borrower households into either full paying members or extra members,” the company said in its shareholder letter. Netflix claimed that more than 100 million households are sharing accounts.
The company is trusting that subscriber loyalty is strong enough for it to raise prices. “While we mostly paused price increases as we rolled out paid sharing, our overall approach remains the same — a range of prices and plans to meet a wide range of needs, and as we deliver more value to our members, we occasionally ask them to pay a bit more,” said Netflix, which has decided to raise prices with immediate effect in the United States, the United Kingdom and France.
In the United States, the ad-supported ($6.99) and standard ($15.49) plans remain the same, but the price of the basic plan will rise to $11.99, while premium will jump to $22. .99. In the United Kingdom and France, the first two plans also remain the same (£4.99 and £10.99, respectively in the United Kingdom, and €5.99 and €13.49 in France), but the basic service will rise (to £7.99 and €10.99), along with the premium (£17.99 and €19.99). “Our starting price is extremely competitive with other streamers and at $6.99 per month in the US, for example, it’s much less than the average price of a single movie ticket,” said Netflix.
In its letter to shareholders, Netflix also referred to how the actors and screenwriters strikes that have affected the industry. “The last six months have been challenging for our industry given the combined writers and actors strikes in the US. While we have reached an agreement with the WGA, negotiations with SAG-AFTRA are ongoing. We’re committed to resolving the remaining issues as quickly as possible so everyone can return to work making movies and TV shows that audiences will love,” it stated.
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Volkswagen stated on Thursday it would petition Germany’s constitutional court in an effort to reverse the consultation of a special auditor to examine the actions of management in the “Dieselgate” emissions scandal. A lower court selected the auditor in November, in a triumph for shareholder groups that wish to establish whether VW employers kept market-moving
Volkswagen will report outstanding group results this year, its CEO stated, because of the expected record vehicle sales and by spending cuts. The automaker’s popularity with drivers appears to have weathered the storm after the emissions scandal of September 2015, which has cost the automaker billions of euros in fines and charges. “It will certainly
Volkswagen has cut the wages and suspended the bonuses of 14 members of its works council, consisting the council’s head Bernd Osterloh, as public prosecutors look into alleged earlier overpayment. Osterloh, who as soon as earned 750,000 euros ($888,525) in a single year and as much as 250,000 in other years, said he would now
The Volkswagen Atlas is the biggest SUV the company builds on its flexible MQB platform, and although it’s just been on sale in the US for just seven months, the German auto giant is already preparing a whole family of models based upon it. During the last month, Volkswagen sold 5,154 units of the Atlas
Volkswagen unit Electrify America stated on Monday that it prepares to set up 2,800 electric vehicle charging stations in 17 of the largest U.S. cities by June 2019. The charging stations will be found at approximately 500 sites, with around 75 percent of them at work places and the rest at multifamily dwellings such as
Volkswagen stated on Thursday that a historian commissioned by the automaker discovered that a few of the security staff at Volkswagen do Brasil had cooperated with the nation’s former military regime. “There is no clear evidence discovered, that the cooperation was institutionalized by the company,” stated Christopher Kopper, a history professor at Germany’s Bielefeld University
Volkswagen, today announced an upward modification of the rates for its car lines effective January 2018. The increase of price would be approximately INR 20,000 will be depending on the model across the Volkswagen product range in India. Talking about the announcement, Steffen Knapp, Director, Volkswagen Passenger Cars stated, “The price boost is essential on
The financial arm of German automaker Volkswagen stated on Wednesday that it expects an increase in operating profit in this year, regardless of a diesel scandal that has impacted the market. Volkswagen Financial Services stated 2017 profit would surpass a record 2.1 billion euros ($2.47 billion) in last year. The bank also stated provisionary figures
Germany’s KBA automotive watchdog on Tuesday revealed a recall of Volkswagen’s flagship European sport-utility vehicles (SUV) with 3-litre diesel motor after discovering two illegal emissions control devices in the models. New proof of Volkswagen’s deployment of defeat gadgets continues to emerge over two years after its emissions-test dieselgate took off in the United States. Europe’s
Volkswagen anticipates money outflows of 4-5 billion euros ($4.7-5.9 billion) next year in relation to the dieselgate emissions cheating scandal, the automaker’s Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter told reporters on Monday. “I am not relaxed with regard to the diesel problem,” Witter stated. The figure is below the up to 17 billion euros in outflows
German trade union IG Metall on Monday stated a first round of wage talks at Volkswagen failed to produce a result, adding it was dissatisfied the automaker did not present a counter-offer to its need for a 6-percent wage hike. “The fact that Volkswagen is doing so well in spite of the diesel concern is,
Volkswagen executive Oliver Schmidt, convicted in the United States last week for his role in the German automaker’s emissions scandal, can ask to serve his prison sentence in Germany, German weekly Welt am Sonntag reported, pointing out sources close to Schmidt. The paper stated such a request would have to be authorized by the U.S.
Volkswagen stated on Friday it had stopped providing the T6 multivan to dealers after discovering that the diesel model released excessive nitrogen oxide levels and had reported the findings to Germany’s automotive watchdog (KBA). Previously on Friday German publication Der Spiegel, without recognizing the source of its info, reported that automaker’s tests had shown that
Russia’s standards agency Rosstandart said on Friday it had been informed about the recall of 30,777 Volkswagen Polo cars sold in Russia in 2015-2017. The vehicles were being recalled due to a defect which might prevent the engine starting, Rosstandart said.
A U.S.-based Volkswagen executive who supervised emissions issues was sentenced to seven years in jail and fined $400,000 by a judge on Wednesday for his role in a diesel emissions scandal that has actually cost the automaker about $30 billion. The prison sentence and fine for the executive, Oliver Schmidt, were the highest possible under


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Figures from the National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF) indicate there are more AR/AK-style firearms in circulation “than Ford F-Series trucks on the road.”
A NSSF press release sent to Breitbart News indicates the estimated number of AR/AK-Style firearms in circulation is 24,446,000. That is up considerably from the NSSF’s 2020 estimate of nearly 20 million.
“The estimate is derived from NSSF research, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Annual Firearms Manufacturing and Exportation Report (AFMER) and U.S. International Trade Commission (U.S. ITC) data, in cooperation with manufacturers, importers and exporters of MSRs, or AR-15 and AK-style rifles,” the press release notes. “This most recent estimate includes production figures current through 2020, when the industry estimates over 2,798,000 of these rifles were produced or imported.”
In light of the new figures, NSSF points out there are more AR/AK-style firearms “in circulation today than there are Ford F-Series trucks on the road.”
NSSF President and CEO Joe Bartozzi said, “This is a truly significant figure that demonstrates – again – the popularity of this commonly-owned style of rifle.
“The firearm industry responds to market demand and this shows that during the elevated period of firearm sales that began in 2020, this particular style of rifle is the top choice for law-abiding citizens for hunting, recreational shooting and self-defense,” he added.
Breitbart News reported on July 20 that House Judiciary Committee Democrats voted to ban AR-15s, AK-47s, and other firearms which Democrats refer to as “assault weapons.” Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee stood united in their opposition to the ban.
AWR Hawkins is an award-winning Second Amendment columnist for Breitbart News and the writer/curator of Down Range with AWR Hawkins, a weekly newsletter focused on all things Second Amendment, also for Breitbart News. He is the political analyst for Armed American Radio and a Turning Point USA Ambassador. Follow him on Instagram: @awr_hawkins. Reach him at email@example.com. You can sign up to get Down Range at breitbart.com/downrange.


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1. For co-founder Harper, a top priority for the next 12 months is shoring up Bigcommerce’s internal technical talent and creating services that help merchants build closer customer relationships. One example is offering data that helps store managers track “abandoned carts” and offer deals that help turn browsers into buyers. This can help merchants quickly add 15% to their monthly sales, he said.
4. The Bloomberg soft commodities index has gained 21 per cent, compared with 24 per cent for industrial metals and 1.5 per cent for energy.
5. So what forces will shape the questions asked next year? It depends on who (and where) you are. While buyers should brace for another year of high-stakes bidding wars, residents of the city’s far-flung neighborhoods (I’m talking about you, Grand Concourse) should be ready for an onslaught of prospective residents seeking bargains — bargains, that is, relative to the gilded ZIP codes that are out of the reach of most mortals.
6. Goldie Blox is a toy company on a mission to redefine the “pink aisle” in toy stores. Men dramatically outnumber women in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education and careers, with girls largely losing interest in these topics by age 8. Goldie Blox toys are designed to inspire future engineers by engaging girls in a way that draws on their strong verbal and storytelling skills — while still offering opportunities to build the skills that can later translate into an interest in engineering. And speaking of opportunity, how does a start-up toy company stand out against the big names that have been dominating the toy space since the beginning of time? In a savvy move, Goldie Blox recently released a video that went viral with their take on the Beastie Boys song “Girls.” Though the video was ultimately taken down, Goldie Blox did an excellent job raising awareness of the need to get more women and girls interested in STEM … and of the Goldie Blox toys.
A new MIT white paper, ominously entitled "Are You Prepared for the Supply Chain Talent Crisis?," bears that out. Supply chain managers need sophisticated tech skills, sure, but they also have to be adept at "high-order diplomacy," expert at general business strategy and problem solving, and able to "thrive in ambiguity," the study says.


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Khloe Kardashian looks so much like Rita Ora in her new Instagram photo that the KUWTK star sparked a new round of plastic surgery rumors from fans!
Khloe Kardashian, is that you? That’s what some fans are asking after seeing Khloe’s latest Instagram photo.
Khloe looks fabulous when it comes to her figure, baring her bust in a partly unzipped outfit. But her face is almost unrecognizable as she pouts her lips, sparking a new round of plastic surgery rumors.
Khloe Kardashian Instagram looks like Rita Ora
Several fans thought that the Instagram photo posted by Khloe resembled Rita Ora.
“At first glance I thought this was Rita Ora,” admitted one Kardashian follower.
Khloe earned praise from some fans, who called her “gorgeous” and “pretty.” But as one commentator pointed out to Kardashian, “Pretty but you look completely different.”
From Kylie Jenner to Kim Kardashian, the KUWTK sisters are experts in using cosmetics to make themselves look more attractive.
But did Khloe go too far for this photo, or did Kardashian have, as some fans think, plastic surgery?
Khloe Kardashian had plastic surgery, says plastic surgeon
Radar Online talked to a plastic surgeon who agreed with the fans about Khloe undergoing plastic surgery.
Dr. Anthony Youn speculated that Kardashian underwent a nose job because she looks so different now. Her nose appears “thinner and narrow,” said the doctor.
The surgeon also thought that Khloe underwent lip augmentation. Another surgeon, Dr. Tim Sayed, told the media outlet that Kardashian appeared to have had fat removal of her lower cheeks as well as procedures to tighten her jawline.
Take a look at an older Instagram image of Khloe and see what you think.
Does Khloe Kardashian’s face look different then and now?
And if it does look noticeably different, do you think that Khloe appears so different that you think she had plastic surgery? She and her sisters, such as Kim Kardashian, are dedicated dieters, so could weight loss have caused Khloe to look so different? Share your thoughts below.


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Deere & Co. on Wednesday said its third-quarter profit rose 26 percent, beating analysts' expectations, due to strong sales of its farm equipment in North and South America.
Moline-based Deere said net income for the quarter ended July 31 rose to $997 million, or $2.56 per share, from $788 million, or $1.98 per share, a year ago. Revenues rose 4 percent, to $10 billion.
Analysts expected earnings of $2.18 per share on sales of $9.26 billion, according to Bloomberg.
By sector, sales of the company's agricultural and turf equipment were up 8 percent to $7.8 billion. Sales of construction and forestry equipment fell 11 percent to 1.5 billion.
Deere said its fourth quarter sales are expected to decline 5 percent.
"Last year's fourth-quarter sales were particularly strong, in part because our factories were running at a high rate to catch up with customer orders," Samuel R. Allen, Deere's chairman and CEO, said in a statement.
Still, Deere slightly increased its full-year net income outlook to $3.45 billion from $3.3 billion and reaffirmed its full-year equipment sales forecast: up 5 percent.
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On top of that, some critics say the straightforward, one-time fee of $10 to unlock the whole game could turn off some players unwilling to spend that much, and in a more general sense, prevent Nintendo from making even more money from the game over time via smaller in-app purchases, sort of like with Pokémon Go (and many other free-to-download games, for that matter). That's right: it seems like investors are pissed that Nintendo chose a payment model that puts one clear cost up front instead of gradually forcing you to pay smaller amounts in the long run (that would likely result in you spending even more) in order to continue playing, per the report. Pretty crazy, right?
What investors think about Super Mario Run shouldn't -- and likely won't -- stop you from enjoying the shit out of stomping Goombas and building your own Mushroom Kingdom, but that won't make their reaction to the game's success any less surreal. Sure, the game is far from perfect, but it's Nintendo's first big launch on a mobile platform, and hopefully just the first of many.


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Fire causes supermarket to be evacuated
PUBLISHED: 09:45 28 September 2012 | UPDATED: 15:30 28 September 2012
(c) copyright citizenside.com
A SUPERMARKET in Weston was evacuated after a fire broke out last night (Thurs).
Avon Fire and Rescue were called to the Asda supermarket in Phillips Road at about 6.30pm yesterday after a small electrical fire broke out in the baking area of the store.
The store was evacuated while crews from Avonmouth, Weston and Winscombe used two carbon dioxide jets to put out the fire.
* This photo of a fire engine outside the store was sent in to us by reader Jo Davies through our iwitness 24 website.
All you have to do to get started is sign up at weston.iwitness24.co.uk


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Rumours about the launch of the second generation Google Nexus 10 have so far not panned out. Recent launch dates such as November 22 or even Black Friday have passed without any sign of the tablet. Now a rumour suggests that it will launch on CyberMonday.
The report by India’s International Business Times provide no clue as to where this latest information originated and describe it as a “possibility.” It does sound that those looking to get their hands on this tablet could once again be disappointed.
While both the Google Nexus 5 and Nexus 7 were the topic of fairly consistent prior to their launch, the same cannot be said for the Nexus 10. Even the who the manufacturer is seems to change regularly. Originally believed to be Samsung, the company behind the original Nexus 10, signs then emerged that it would in fact be ASUS. More recent rumours have pointed to LG.
The report goes on to suggest that the later than expected launch could be due to supply constraints. By not launching on Black Friday or earlier, Google and its partner may see less demand for the device and therefore have an easier time fulfilling it. At the same time, it goes on to indicate that launch countries will include Canada, the U.S. as well as select markets in Europe and Asia, including Japan.
The bottom line at this point: Keep your fingers crossed for tomorrow if you hope to get your hands on the Google Nexus 10 but also keep a healthy pinch of salt close at hand.


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A report from the Chunichi Shimbun daily (via Reuters) suggested that Toyota is on track to launch a new electric auto platform in 2022 with solid-state batteries powering the vehicles and enabling longer ranges and faster charging. Toyota aims to roll out the new model in Japan by the year 2022.
The report comes from Japanese daily newspaper, Chunichi Shimbun, which claims Toyota's long-range EV will ride on an all-new platform and use all-solid-state batteries, which can be recharged in just a few minutes.
Volkswagen's electrification strategy is rolling ahead, with the automaker on course to develop and bring to market a variety of EVs in different segments starting in 2020.
A Toyota spokesperson told Reuters the company is aiming to commercialize the new batteries by the early 2020s.
Will the Solar Eclipse Have an Impact on the Weather?
It may not be a complete loss of sun, but a little goes a long way, as temperatures will drop several degrees during the event. From Illinois, the shadow will pass through Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina and then SC until 2:45 p.m.
For many years, Toyota believed plug-in hybrids and hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles are the future, but last year the company chose to switch its focus on completely electric vehicles.
That's much quicker compared to current electric cars using lithium-ion batteries.
Which is bang on Toyota's target for EVs we reported on in 2011. How quickly the new EVs will catch on would also depend largely on battery costs. What makes the lithium-ion unit so special is the use of a solid electrolyte instead of a liquid one.
Other automakers such as BMW are also working on developing all-solid-state batteries, eyeing mass production in the next 10 years.


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IN THE largest criminal fine ever imposed under the Competition and Consumer Act, Japanese shipping company K-Line has been hit with a $34.5m fine for criminal cartel conduct.
The Federal Court ruled on 2 August that Kawasaki Kisen Kaisha (K-Line) engaged in price fixing as part of an illegal cartel with other shipping companies for the transportation of cars into Australia between 2009 and 2012. This involved some 106,247 new cars being transported to Australia from the United States, Asia and Europe.
“This decision is a serious warning to businesses and will deter others seeking to join or start a cartel,” Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairman Rod Sims said.
“The penalty imposed on K-Line should send a powerful message to multinational corporations that conduct business in Australia that anti-competitive conduct will not be tolerated and will be dealt with harshly,” Federal Court judge Michael Wigney wrote in his judgment.
K-Line faced a maximum fine of $100m but the Federal Court reduced the penalty because the shipping company pleaded guilty early and was cooperative.
Judge Wigney wrote that the cartel conduct of K-Line is “inimical to and destructive of the competition that underpins Australia’s free market economy”.
“It is ultimately detrimental to, or at least likely to be detrimental to, Australian businesses and consumers,” he said.
Mr Sims said that cartel conduct cheats consumers and other businesses through inflating prices and costs but also restricts healthy economic growth and discourages innovation.
The ACCC is still investigating other alleged cartel members.


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"We need to join hands to fix the current trade system not destroy it," she added on Monday.
Finance ministers and central bankers from many of the IMF's 189 member nations are meeting in Bali this week where concerns about protectionism have taken centre stage - especially the escalating trade war between the United States and China.
"It's tempting to be a bit depressed about this perspective but I'm actually hopeful because there is a clear appetite to improve and expand trade," she said.
Ahead of the Bali gathering, the IMF reviewed its global growth forecast down 0.2 per cent to 3.7 per cent for 2018 and 2019 - citing trade tensions, protectionism and rising debt levels as the main causes.
Lagarde's warnings were echoed by OECD General Secretary Angel Gurria, who said trade tensions had already begun to impact commerce since 2017.
"This year the growth doesn't look so good, what is different, is the trade, the tensions, protectionism, the tit-for-tat, the retaliations," Gurria said.
In the middle of a recovery period he added, "we started doing these things and we slowed down." The OECD has also revised down its global growth forecasts.


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The Federal Government is hopeful that what could be the world's largest trade deal will be signed early in the new year, even though last-minute demands have stalled negotiations ahead of this weekend's ASEAN summit.
- It is now almost certain leaders will not have an agreement to announce before the end of the summit
- The trade pact covers 16 countries, more than 30 per cent of global economic activity, and almost half the world's population
- Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's presence in Bangkok could be viewed as promising for those trying to coax his Government over the line
Negotiations to try to lock down the details of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) had been happening on the sidelines of ASEAN and the East Asia summits.
There was a sense of optimism that the current ASEAN meeting in Thailand's capital Bangkok would be the scene of a deal, but niggling concerns and last-minute demands from countries including India mean it is now almost certain leaders will not have an agreement to announce before the end of the summit.
"Trade agreements are always challenging in terms of the different interests of different parties," Trade Minister Simon Birmingham told reporters in Bangkok.
"Australia goes into this trying to achieve the most ambitious agreement possible, but realistic that we have, across the 16 countries, huge development differences, huge population differences, huge differences in the system of government and cultures of those countries.
"Bridging those divides is probably the biggest challenge that's ever been faced in terms of a trade agreement being signed and sealed around the world."
Against a backdrop of global trade tensions, and particularly the tit-for-tat trade war between US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping, Prime Minister Scott Morrison's first meeting once he arrives in Thailand late on Sunday will be with Chinese Premier Li Keqiang.
It could be an interesting chat between the pair, given Beijing's warning to Canberra a few days ago to effectively mind its own business after Foreign Minister Marise Payne promised Australia would not hold back in pushing China to improve its human rights record.
Australia has been in the diplomatic freezer for a number of months, but the Prime Minister did secure a fleeting photo opportunity with the Chinese Vice President at the inauguration of Indonesia's President Joko Widodo last month.
Deal would cover almost half the world's population
The scale of the trade pact is huge, covering 16 countries, more than 30 per cent of global economic activity, and almost half the world's population.
India's hesitation and anxiety over the deal has been fuelled by protectionist influences on the subcontinent, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi under pressure to avoid a deal which would undermine local manufacturing.
"The Indian economy is slowing, and it's not doing too well," said Dr Shiro Armstrong, Director of the East Asian Bureau of Economic Research at the Australian National University.
"Traditionally, India hasn't been an open economy that's embraced value chains, hasn't embraced trade and investment.
"India has been a country that has lagged behind in commitments, it looked like for a while that they were going to get over the line, but recently with some demonstrations and protests in India, it looks a bit harder."
Mr Modi's presence in Bangkok for the ASEAN and East Asia summits could be viewed as promising for those trying to coax his Government over the line, easing concerns any deal including China will harm its economy.
"India needs to bite the bullet, and realise it's a gradual transition, and it can actually benefit a lot from engaging China in this framework," Dr Armstrong said.
"It's not the first time that we've come close to a deal — at the end of last year, as well, there was talk of reaching a framework deal we could move forward from.
"But right now, it's even more urgent than before because of the uncertainty in the economy, because of the US-China trade war, because of the troubles that countries are having with protectionism and nationalism."


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Back-to-school is behind us, and by all accounts trading has been good.
There has been feedback that in some instances retailers still had stock from last year which did affect purchases.
shop-sa will run a survey shortly, in order to get a better picture of this year’s BTS.
Remember: the more participants, the better the result.
Covid seems to have reached a manageable level which bodes well for business recovery.
Finally we would like to urge members of shop-sa to make use of the advertising opportunities in our newsletters!


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Thrasio-styled UpScalio acquires fast-growing digital brands and scales up their operation.
Green Souls sells ergonomic furniture, including office chairs, gaming chairs and adjustable tables.
UpScalio had raised $42.5 Mn in Series A funding this year
UpScalio, a Gurugram-based ‘Thrasio-style’ startup, has invested in ergonomic furniture D2C brand Green Soul, marking the former’s entry into the lucrative ergonomic furniture market.
Green Souls sells office and gaming chairs, adjustable desks, leg rest stools and other accessories on Amazon, Flipkart and other platforms, including their own website. The company is highly rated on both of the mentioned platforms.
On Amazon, 96% of the 767 reviews received by Green Soul are positive, giving it a 4+ star rating. On Flipkart, Green Soul has been given a product quality seller score of 4.6. It also sold more than 100,000 chairs in the last twelve months.
“It’s time to pass on this baton of exponential growth to a world-class team with a portfolio of high-quality eCommerce experts,” said Ravi Khushwani, founder of Green Soul.
According to Inc42 Plus’s 2021 D2C report, eCommerce is expected to capture 11.4% of the Indian retail market and grow to reach $200 Bn by 2026. Green Soul will face stiff competition from D2C furniture brands like Urban Ladder and Pepperfry, both of whom offer a wide range of products.
Last year, Indian giant Reliance Retail acquired a majority stake in Urban Ladder for INR 182 Cr. Mumbai-based Pepperfry has been tweaking its product and strategy ahead of plans for an IPO.
UpScalio is one of the many Indian startups that acquire and scale fast-growing digital brands, just like Thrasio, the US-based company that pioneered the concept. Hence the moniker ‘Thrasio-style’. Other companies with a similar business model in the country include Globalbees, Mensa Brands, Evenflow, Powerhouse91 and others.
The startup had raised $42.5 Mn in Series A funding earlier this year
Thrasio-style startups are trying to tap into this eCommerce boom by providing lucrative exit strategies for the people behind successful eCommerce brands, taking over the brand and scaling up its operations. In some instances, the founders continue to receive shares of profits after their business has been acquired.
One of the biggest challenges for brands that are successful on eCommerce platforms, are the platforms themselves. According to a Reuters report, Amazon exploited its vast trove of internal data to create knock-offs of successful products and rig search results to give an unfair advantage to these products.
Another Thrasio-style platform Globalbees had raised $150 Mn in Series A funding in July this year, with plans to invest in 20-40 D2C brands. Since D2C brands control their own sales experience, they are relatively immune to the shenanigans from eCommerce platforms. While Globalbees acquired two brands this year; Mensa Brands has acquired majority stakes in 10 D2C startups.
Thrasio themselves have earmarked $500 Mn for a foray into the Indian market and has already completed its first local acquisition: Lifelong Online which offers products across the kitchen, grooming and lifestyle categories.


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German Lopinavir API Sees Alarming Supply Shortage; What's Going on and Why
- 24-Nov-2022 10:59 AM
- Journalist: Robert Hume
The price trend of Lopinavir API recently showcased an increasing behavior during November 2022 due to a supply shortage in the German domestic market. However, European production cutbacks were increasingly reflected by the poor supply situation.
Consequently, the major issue resulting in low supply started with a significant uptake in demand for Lopinavir API from the pharmaceutical and healthcare sector in the German domestic market. However, buyers started trading due to the recent surge in orders backed by the insufficient product stocks in the German domestic market increased the price of Lopinavir API.
Before this month, the price of Lopinavir API decreased by 1.3% in October 2022 due to moderate inventories among German domestic merchants. However, the ChemAnalyst team witnessed an increment of around 4.2% in the price trend of Lopinavir API in November 2022.
Germany's economy will likely slide into a recession in 2023 due to its high exposure to the current energy crisis. This quarter, Germany is accelerating public spending to boost economic growth due to accelerating inflation. Even though the continued economic conditions and geopolitical tensions between the leading countries, Europe undoubtedly maintains strong market sentiments towards Lopinavir API.
The pharmaceutical industry currently faces problems with supply chains and a lack of skilled workers, due to which they failed to make their scheduled deliveries quoting booming demand and a shortage of material in the domestic market. The Lopinavir API prices have strengthened considering all these factors.
According to ChemAnalyst, "the Lopinavir API price trend is expected to follow downward momentum in the next month because the supply issue may not last long as companies will work with manufacturers to replenish supply as quickly as possible. Also, weak demand from downstream producers on the back of increasing inventories in the German market might impact the price of Lopinavir API.


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Burger King has released a new ad, which takes a jab at the world of food-based conspiracy theories.
The spot, part of a major new campaign created by BBH and aimed at showing that there’s no secrets behind the chain’s famous Whopper burger, except fire, features a woman in a Burger King restaurant who shares with a friend her theory that the smoky flavour in the Whopper is in fact a liquid smoke.
Directed by Andrew Gaynord, the advert ends with the tagline “It’s not a secret. It’s real fire” flashing across the screen.
The campaign also includes an interactive AR experience at digital OOH sites across all major cities in the UK from May 21, and OOH crafted by Spanish illustration duo Cachetejack, in which Burger King’s juicy flame-grilled Whopper burger and its fresh ingredients take center stage.
Felipe Guimarães, creative director at BBH, said: “When I first heard about the crazy conspiracy theories about the Whopper’s flavour, I couldn’t believe it. Deciding to make those theories the basis for a campaign felt both insightful and quite funny. The result is a series of ads, with characters we can’t help but warm to”.


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The number of independent bookshops opening on high streets across the country has grown for the second year running.
According to figures from the Booksellers Association, in 2018 there were 15 new independents bringing the total number of shops to 883.
In 1995, there were 1,894 independent bookshops in the UK but in 2016 that decreased significantly to just 867.
Rise of the independents
The following year, only one more had been added to that figure but the BA said the increase of 15 more last year was “extremely encouraging”.
The association’s managing director Meryl Halls said: “It is extremely encouraging to see independent bookshops succeeding in 2018, demonstrating the creativity and entrepreneurship of booksellers in the face of difficult challenges.
“We are delighted for – and proud of – our incredibly hard-working booksellers. We do, though, also need to consider these figures in a wider context.”
The figures also show that shoppers are favouring small book shops over the larger chains.
The BA said 73 per cent of their shops saw a rise in sales at Christmas but it urged the government to keep business rates low in order for the smaller shops to keep flourishing.
It said in a statement: “Bookshops continue to experience unequal business rates, and struggle alongside wider retail with unfair competition from online retailers, as well as post-Brexit uncertainty.
“In light of this, we ask the government to take the steps needed to protect the future of bookshops and their high streets, considering the concerns of retailers and booksellers so they can both flourish.”


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School was never like this when I was in college back in the… uh… well, it really doesn’t matter when I went to college!
(Can you tell that your faithful editor is fast approaching one of those “milestone” birthdays? Which one? To quote Chelsea Clinton, “It’s none of your business.”)
Okay, re-focus, Bob. College. Never like this. Like what? Well, just read the following story from the Fresno Bee…
Fresno State’s new wine-tasting room is not in a posh, or even pastoral, setting.
The wine is poured in a corner of the rustic campus market that sells university-produced milk, ice cream and meat – a sign that campus vintages come from a different kind of winery.
California State University, Fresno, started the winery 11 years ago, calling itself the first American university licensed to produce, bottle and sell wine commercially. Over the years, it has produced about 600,000 bottles and small profits. Some vintages have won awards, but they’re a difficult sell outside the region, one official says.
Students and graduates commend the winery for giving them practical experience. But whether tax-supported Fresno State poses unfair competition to area wineries risking their own money remains a nagging question for some vintners.
In December, the Fresno State Farm Market began offering wine tastings. Wine lovers Bob and Jacque Garcia of Fresno focused on sensory details recently after sampling, then buying, a bottle of Fresno State Syrah there. “It had a big bouquet,” said Jacque Garcia, 56.
Pleasing to the palate, added Bob Garcia, 60, who observed it’s logical for Fresno State to operate a winery. “It’s the perfect setting, don’t you think?We’re in the middle of agriculture country.”
The university’s winery is one of 69 commercial wineries in the central San Joaquin Valley and one of nearly 2,700 in the state. Annual revenues have averaged $384,935 over the last decade, while profits, plowed back into the winery, averaged $26,759, officials said.
Suggested retail prices on Fresno State wines range from $7 to $22 a bottle.
The winery lost money over two years, mainly because it made more wine than it sold. The biggest loss was $38,512 in fiscal 1999-2000, with profits during the next several years covering that loss.
Running the winery is major work for university officials.
“If you’re making 20,000 gallons of wine a year, you can’t just stack it in a room, you have to sell it,” said Robert Wample, chairman of Fresno State’s viticulture and enology department. (Viticulture is the science of growing grapes; enology is the science of winemaking.)
Professors who started the commercial winery wanted students to learn the science, art and business of winemaking.
From the arrival of the first harvested grapes to the last bottles coming down the bottling line, students are involved either through class work, volunteer time or paid positions, said Ken Fugelsang, enology professor and wine master. Fugelsang and John Giannini, a staff winemaker paid with winery revenues, oversee the students’ day-to-day work.
Students say they like the wide-ranging opportunities, although they’re not equally fond of all aspects of the industry. “The romantic side of winemaking was killed the first day we shoveled out a tank,” 41-year-old Kathe Kaigas of San Diego said of the messy job.
Marc-Antony Martinez, 24, of Stockton added, “You couldn’t get a more realistic view of your career.”
Eleven undergraduates received enology degrees in the 2006-07 school year, and 100 enology students were enrolled last fall. This summer, 12 viticulture and enology students from Fresno State will participate in a four-week wine and grape education program in Europe at the invitation of a Swiss university. Swiss officials contacted Fresno State because of its international reputation, the university said.
While an enology degree is necessary for a job in the industry, experience leads to better positions, said Fresno State graduate Nichole Birdsall. She earned her degree and became a winemaker in Mendocino County before getting a job in Michigan, where she’s overseeing production of 100,000 cases a year and developing a 35,000-square-foot winery facility that will boost production.
At 35, that’s a big opportunity she wouldn’t have gotten so soon in California’s highly competitive industry, Birdsall said.
Such competition leads some wineries to specialize in three or four wines to build market share. Fresno State’s winery produces 20 or so [varieties] each year so students get experience with red, blush, white and dessert wines.
Fresno State bottled about 8,000 cases in 2007, or about 96,000 bottles. The vintages are sold mainly in several Valley grocery stores and wine shops.
California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, is constructing an experimental winery where students will gain production experience but not sell the wine. Construction is expected to be finished this summer. The state’s other major enology program, at the University of California, Davis, also runs an experimental winery, as Fresno State did before starting the commercial winery.


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ALIEN hunters have spotted a gigantic iceberg on the coast off Antarctica and claimed it’s an mysterious alien ship hidden in the ice.
The gigantic 500 metre-long object, which you can see by clicking here, looks like an ordinary chunk of ice that’s sheered off the coast of Antarctica.
But that explanation is not enough for the wilder minds of the internet, who suggested it could be an “underwater extraterrestrial base”.
“I’m not an iceberg expert but this object is really peculiar and looks like a vessel disguised as an iceberg,” wrote the website UFO Sighting Hotspot.
“It looks out of place.”
To most people, Antarctica might just appear like a grim old frozen wasteland at the bottom of the world.
Yet some conspiracy theorists believe it’s hiding evidence of ancient lost civilisations and others have even claimed to have spotted UFOs parked in some of the continent’s caves.
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The latest sighting sparked the attention of UFO hunters because of its weird shape.
Normally. icebergs come in a variety of shapes, which you can see in the graphic above.
They claimed the iceberg spotted on Google Maps does not fit into the usual categories of iceberg.
However, with the best will in the world, it’s tricky to believe that a great big bit of ice is an underwater base simply because it looks a bit strange.
So we’ll leave it up to you.
What do you think?


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CDTA announced Monday that is now has a name and sponsor for its upcoming bike share program: CDPHP Cycle! (with the exclamation mark). The system is set to launch this summer.
Planning for this two-year bike share pilot has been in the works since last year, and there are now a few more details about how it's taking shape...
The first year of the bike share will include 160 bikes distributed among 20 stations across Albany, Schenectady, Troy, and Saratoga Springs. CDTA is planning to increase that number to 300 bikes in the second year.
As previously announced, the bikes and system to operate the program are coming from a company called Social Bicycles. The company runs bike shares in a bunch of cities around the country. (Also, you might remember the short bike share test back in the 2014 -- it also used SoBi bikes.)
Where the bikes will be
CDTA is currently working to figure out the initial locations for the 20 bike stations that will be part of the bike share program.
Lauren Bailey, CDTA mobility manager, said Monday in an interview that the transit org is using mapping systems to look at factors such as population density and topography (hills). Another factor that will be folded into the selection process: the location of already-existing bike infrastructure -- Bailey pointed to the Madison Ave Road Diet as example.
CDTA is also talking with public orgs that might be have ideas about good locations or be interested in hosting stations, and it will soon be launching an online suggestion site so members of the general public can provide ideas.
Bailey said this whole process is moving forward with the knowledge the system will need adjusting after people start using it. As she said of what CDTA has learned from people involved with bike share in Buffalo: "You think you know what you know until people get on the bikes."
The way the bike share system operates will allow some flexibility. The electronic tech for renting the bikes is on the bikes themselves, and they don't have to be returned to the bike stations. They can be locked pretty much anywhere (the bikes have GPS). So CDTA will be able to learn where people are taking out, and dropping off, bikes and can adjust from there.
Bailey said the overall goal of the bike share program initially will be to extend people's transportation options from nodes in the CDTA network (example: The upcoming Uncle Sam Transit Center), and to cover short-distance trips within downtowns. The second phase of the program will focus on reaching out farther into neighborhoods with additional bikes.
Jonathan Scherzer, CDTA's director of marketing, said those initial goals are based on the experience of bike shares in other cities, which have indicated people primarily use the bikes for short trips to entertainment or recreation.
(A recent analysis of usage in NYC bike share concluded that almost half of all rides were less than 10 minutes.)
How people will pay for a bike
To use one of the bike share bikes, people will have to sign up for a Social Bicycles account. As you'd expect, you can do that online. But CDTA is also planning for that to be possible via a call-in center, and eventually via a walk-up interaction.
That account will allow people to pre-load payment for renting a bike, and then they can punch in their pin on any bike's on-board keypad. There's also a Social Bicycles mobile app, which Scherzer said has been popular with users of other bike shares. And CDTA's new Navigator cards will also be an option.
People will not need a credit card to secure the bike, but, at least initially, they will need to be able to load money into the system via a debit card or something similar.
Lauren Bailey said CDTA is sensitive to access issues for the bike share. And Scherzer said they're looking at ways of providing the service to a wide range of people, with the possibility of maybe offering access via social services orgs.
"We want this to be an affordable option for people," Bailey said.
How's this being funded?
The first-year cost of the program is in the $750k-$1 million range, Jonathan Scherzer said. That's roughly split 50/50 between the cost of acquiring the bikes and the operational costs of the program.
The money backing the bike share is coming from a variety of sources, including: CDTA capital funds, sponsorship, and membership fees. CDTA is also hoping to land funding via a federal grant.
Scherzer said CDTA was eager to get the program started: "We weren't going to wait for funding to fall in our lap."
When's the launch?
Lauren Bailey said CDTA is currently aiming to launch the program in late July, though that could change based on how details come together.
A little bit of wider perspective
Janette Sadik-Khan is a former NYC Department of Transportation commissioner (she was a big cycling proponent during that time) and the chair of National Association of City Transportation Officials:
Bike share barely existed in 2010. By 2016, it accounted for 28 million rides. The main barrier to biking is having enough bikes to keep up. pic.twitter.com/jzOya7XVNp— Janette Sadik-Khan (@JSadikKhan) March 9, 2017
Earlier on AOA:
+ CDTA's new fare smart cards are now available
+ CDTA: Bike share planned for next summer
+ Taking the Capital Region Bikeshare for a spin (2014)
+ Bike Albany Map
+ Madison Ave Road Diet, now lined up
+ When bikes weren't just something on the side
CDTA and CDPHP advertise on AOA.
We'd really like you to take part in the conversation here at All Over Albany. But we do have a few rules here. Don't worry, they're easy. The first: be kind. The second: treat everyone else with the same respect you'd like to see in return. Cool? Great, post away. Comments are moderated so it might take a little while for your comment to show up. Thanks for being patient.


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Do you really want your receptionist to plan the company party?
BreeAnn Gale, owner of Pink Blossom Events and Seattle Regional Director of Wedding Network USA, has noticed that more businesses are taking advantage of event planners to guide or completely orchestrate their corporate meetings, trade shows and parties rather than rely on the same location, the same menu and the same awards.(A mock wedding ceremony and reception were highlights of last years bridal open house at the Pan Pacific Hotel coordinated by Pink Blossom Events. Photo by Barbie Hull Photography.)
In the March 2011 issue of the Snohomish County Business Journal, Pink Blossom Events business is highlighted as a source for a coporate events! Click here to read the entire article.


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Twitter's Business ModelDavid L. Smith
Posted on Conversation Starter: October 26, 2009 2:13 PM
It has become a popular game, even among investors who should know better, to dismiss Twitter based on lack of a business model. But there is a difference between not generating income and lack of a business model. I believe that, in just a few short months, Twitter will show the world that not only do they have a business model, but that theirs is the most sophisticated around. As the founders have admitted, they did not necessarily plan out their success. But the result of their outside funding and considerable valuation is that they have been free to watch and learn what might be possible.
Most publishers talk about the two common monetization streams—advertising and subscribers—as though there are no other options. As many have seen over the last year, dependence upon advertising is a slippery slope in a downturn. Even the incredibly successful Rupert Murdoch is struggling with the model and believes that subscription is the answer.
Last week, Microsoft's Bing and Google announced "search deals" with Twitter, with Bing also making a deal with Facebook, allowing the search engines to show results related to "what is going on right now". They tried to build this and still may, but paying Twitter and Facebook is logical for now as they are rapidly becoming major referral engines to many sites.
In fact, these are traffic deals. Until now Google has been the only company on the planet to make major money by driving traffic to other sites. These deals are Twitter's first steps toward doing the same.
Twitter has a number of experiments in progress that are likely to turn into revenue streams:
Search Twitter acquired search.twitter.com in the summer of 2008. Of the many applications built on top of the Twitter API, this had shown to be incredibly popular. In fact, it had the potential to overpower Twitter's servers to such a degree that for the first year, they did not put up a search box but hid the feature at the bottom of the results page along with "about us, contact", etc. This search is very powerful, as proven during the recent Iran upheaval when Twitter was one of the only ways to get word out. While Twitter has said that they will not run ads, their users would not object to the monetization of search through an adwords-type solution.
Ecommerce First Dell and then many other companies have sold millions of dollars worth of equipment through Twitter. If Dell only has, say, 45 of a product left, it does not pay to put up an eBay page. They post it on @DellOutlet, or another of their accounts, and the product sells immediately. I'm sure that if Twitter is not asking now, they will in the future charge a small commission for such direct sales. Who could object?
BTB consumer help This summer, Twitter and Best Buy started an experiment with @TwelpForce. They have over 13,000 followers and you can ask anything and a Best Buy employee will answer. They've even promoted this through TV. This is the future of customer/vendor communications.
Twitter 101 Twitter 101, another program that launched last summer, is a comprehensive tutorial for companies to do business via the help of Twitter. The more businesses use Twitter, the more ways the company will find to monetize their traffic.
Verified accounts Twitter is in beta test with verified accounts, enterprise subscriptions that confirm that customers are really doing business with the company they are looking for rather than an imposter or squatter. Twitter will charge businesses a small subscription fee for this service.
Applications Twitter co-founder Evan Williams has said that Twitter will not have ads. What I think he means by this is that there will not be a banner ad across the top of Twitter's website. However, he has said that applications will be featured on Twitter, and an adwords-type feature currently shows one application at a time on the results page. Applications are the graphical ad unit of the future and if done correctly, will be accepted by the Twitterati.
Thousands of applications have monetization potential. According to GigaOm after "TwitterGate," when somebody hacked Twitter servers, Twitter has considered buying a number of these. And why not? They can get others to do the development and just as they did with search.twitter.com, use the high Twitter valuation to cash in on applications that have proved to be profitable and leverage them against the large Twitter user base.
Network marketing The larger Twitter grows, the more the connectivity between users benefits all. But there is gold beyond the conversations that are going on. The pure connectivity in itself is valuable. While Twitter may not run advertising, many companies would love to license the right to target people using what is called "birds of a feather" targeting: identifying a group of people with a common interest and then expanding that target by finding others with similar interests. A number of companies are doing this right now, while honoring privacy; they don't have to know who the people are.
As I mentioned at the start of this blog post, most publishers have one or two ways to monetize their efforts. I have outlined at least eight which Twitter will probably use, and there certainly will be many more. That's why I think we all have a lot to learn from this company that "has no business model".


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Home Tags Personal mobility devices
Tag: personal mobility devices
These developments will complement 4 upcoming stations on the Cross Island Line.
Scammers are posing as SP Group employees to sell fire extinguishers after spate of HDB fires this month
SP Group said it does not sell any products and its employees do not conduct door-to-door sales.
Registrants' e-scooters must not have a maximum speed of more than 25 kilometers per hour.
LTA is warning irresponsible PMD users with hashtags like #WeAreWatchingYou in its latest Facebook video
Breaking PMD rules? LTA wants you to know that #WeAreWatchingYou #OurEyesAreOnYou #WeWillFindYou
The firm will launch its service in Malaysia in December.


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The EU has rejected calls from Brexit’s chief negotiator Lord David Frost to include components as ‘local content’ if they imported from countries with which both the EU and the UK have trade deals with or are in the processing of finalizing, such as Japan and Turkey.
Under this so-called cumulation scheme – which is typical in bilateral trade agreements – UK-based OEMs exporting their vehicles to the EU will be subject to tariffs averaging at 10% on vehicles and nearly 5% on components if they fail to achieve a local content threshold that is often set at 50-55%.
More than half of the vehicles made in the UK are exported to the EU, and eight out 10 British vehicles are exported worldwide. While only around 15% of automotive components for UK-manufactured vehicles are sourced from outside of the EU, this percentage varies wildly for the different OEMs and even for the line-up of vehicles produced by a carmaker in the same facility. It could become critical for some nameplates to achieve the LCR under typical bilateral agreements. Should no agreement be achieved, the UK will trade on WTO (World Trade Organization) terms with individual countries.
Nissan and Toyota are among the OEMs more likely to be exposed to the outcome of this negotiation on rules, as they tend to rely on more non-EU parts for their UK-produced vehicles like the Nissan Leaf and Toyota Corolla. These include an array of powertrain components from their home market of Japan, as well as wiring harnesses from Morocco and HVAC control panels from Thailand, according to IHS Markit data.
Low local content rates have been a characteristic of most UK-based OEM plants, given the frictionless and vast availability of suppliers in continental Europe. Some OEMs have also built a dependency on non-EU parts over time, mostly for ease of sourcing such as the presence of supplier relationships in the source countries. Such markets were also covered under a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) or other type of bilateral trade agreement, which effectively discouraged these OEMs to seek alternative sources in the UK.
Grupo Antolin’s Ototrim subsidiary based in Turkey is one of these suppliers, manufacturing sunvisors, headliner coverings, door panels and plastic injection parts – and holds contracts for the likes of Toyota and the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance. Federal-Mogul Turkey is also a large supplier of pistons to European carmakers, including JLR in Solihull and PSA in Luton.
Nissan, for example, only sources a quarter of its components from the UK for its Qashqai and Juke – and 60% in total from the EU on average. It also manufactures the fully electric Leaf at its Sunderland facility, which has a slightly higher local content rate; however, has a significant dependency on parts sourced from Japan and other countries in Asia (see car cutaway).
The Toyota Corolla made at its plant in Burnaston also has a small UK supply base, with an estimated 10% of components sourced from the country and an overall EU-sourced content rate at around 55%.
Toyota boasts the highest levels of vertical integration of its components industry-wide, but this means that much of these parts are exported from Japan to its various vehicle production facilities worldwide, such as its e-motors. Denso – a supplier that the OEM has 25% stake in – also provides such components as inverters and battery management systems from Japan to the UK plant.
Significantly, the OEM’s battery cells are provided by its Primearth EV Energy company based in Japan. It is the single largest supplier of the component to the UK – more than all other global suppliers combined in 2019.
Of the EUR5 billion annual purchasing budget Toyota Motor Europe has at its disposal, IHS Markit estimates that around EUR800 million is assigned to its UK vehicle production. Of this, just over EUR100 million worth of components business is sourced from Japan and more than EUR350 million from outside the EU.
Nissan are less exposed in this regard as its Envision AESC supplier’s battery cell plant is based in Sunderland with the sole remit to supply the Leaf. It is currently the largest volume manufacturer of the component in the UK at around 10 million units in 2020. However, it has been reported that the EU may provide more flexibility when it comes to battery LCRs as Europe lacks self-sufficiency in cell production.
The possibility of a no-deal Brexit is estimated to be only 35% likely, according to IHS Markit’s Economics and Country Risk team; however, even if a deal is achieved for vehicles and parts, a lot of the impact will be decided by complex rules of origin regulations designed to avoid trade deflection. This is where countries not part of a bilateral trade agreement (for example, China or Malaysia) may circumvent higher tariffs of a final destination country (like Germany or any other EU country) by routing via one intermediate country (such as the UK) that has a trade agreement with the final destination country.
Matteo Fini, executive director for IHS Markit’s Automotive Supply Chain and Technology division, said: “Even if a deal is reached, convoluted value-add calculations and change in tariff classification [for goods transformation] are required in order to establish the amount of value-add content in a vehicle that can be deemed domestic.
“Without special provisions, it is clear that some vehicles are at risk, particularly electric vehicles. Even if battery packs, modules and cells are produced in the EU or the UK, raw materials are not available in the quantities and the quality required for automotive manufacturing, so it will be impossible to consider those subsystems in the local content cumulation.”
Consequently, there is a high chance of tariffs being imposed on vehicles assembled in the UK and exported to the EU should Britain not be able to secure the classification of Japan and Turkey’s components as ‘local UK content’.
Needless to say, this puts British-made vehicles at a competitive disadvantage compared to its EU counterparts and is yet another blow for UK-based OEMs that have strongly relayed their concerns regarding an unfavorable Brexit deal. Toyota has already threatened to ramp down its light vehicle production in Burnaston by 2023 in a no-deal Brexit outcome, while Honda has confirmed the closure of its Swindon plant in 2022 resulting in the loss of 3,500 jobs.
Mike Hawes, chief executive of the SMMT (Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders) said of the issue: “The UK government has repeatedly expressed support for our automotive industry as the nation’s biggest exporter of goods.
“Given its importance to the economy and livelihoods and the damaging consequences of tariffs, we need the sector prioritized in negotiations, not traded off against other industries. Any agreement must work for automotive, so we need both sides to strike a deal that safeguards the global competitiveness of the sector and consumer choice in the market.”
Fini added: “This remains a tense negotiation, and uncertainty remains on the finer details that can entirely change the red tape burden and costs for manufacturers. For example, whether value added calculations would be acceptable at nameplate level or at trim level.
“It is also unclear if a duty drawback mechanism would be allowed, which proved quite controversial for the South Korea-EU FTA. I can see even further areas of contention as the two parties go through this process.”
To counterbalance the uncertainty of the negotiation, more automotive component suppliers are considering setting up facilities in the UK to further improve just-in-time production and benefit from having a local presence. In the last three years, more than GBP2 billion of investment has been made in the country by these companies and several OEMs have revealed plans to increase local UK sourcing by over GBP3 billion (USD3.9bn).
“Several OEM purchasing departments have been trying to convince suppliers to set up shop in the UK to gain more of natural edge by increasing the share of UK-sourced parts, but this takes time and has been historically difficult given then lack of scale of UK operations before Brexit and even less so after the Brexit transition period,” said Fini. “I suspect many suppliers will be thinking twice before committing to an investment in a post-Brexit UK.”
Elisha Thakorlal, Senior Research Analyst and OEM Strategy Service lead


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salon of expensive car new luxury
Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt just got more of what he already has: gold and speed.
Bolt, the world’s fastest man and winner of 11 Olympic gold medals, has been given a customized 2014 Nissan GT-R bathed in gold paint and real gold trim after he tried one out at Nissan’s Yokohama testing track and loved it.
An article in the Daily Mail says Nissan designed one of the high-performance super coupes to be auctioned off for charity (it fetched $187,000 US on eBay) and another specifically for Bolt.
Bolt requested that his car be fitted with a white interior, a Bose audio system and 10-spoke, hyper-titanium RAYS forged alloy wheels.
Among his many plum marketing appointments, Bolt is also Nissan’s honorary “Director of Excitement.” And with a car like this to wheel around in, he shouldn’t have too much trouble living up to that title.


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Former US First Lady, Michelle Obama caused a stir on Wednesday night after she stepped out wearing a glittery thigh high heeled Balenciaga boots worth $4,000 (Sh405, 000) during a tour to promote her new autobiography Becoming.
The 54-year-old complemented the boots with a striking yellow gown during an interview with Sex and the City star Sarah Jessica Parker at Barclays Center in Brooklyn.
During the interview, the mother of two opened up about the decisions behind her fashion sense which made headlines for the eight years she was the American First Lady.
During that period Michelle was a fashion influencer whose designer outfits would sell in matters of hours.
She pointed out that no matter how she dressed, her fashion style would become the talking point even when the topic she was addressing was weighty and more pressing.
“I did know that my clothes were making a statement, I knew that was the case so we decided why we don’t use the platform to uplift some young new designers who normally wouldn’t get this kind of attention because you can change their lives,” Michelle said.
The thigh high heels caused a stir online with former White house advisor Valerie Jarret commenting on picture “Well I have never seen boots like this before. Have You?”
And there were many more online reactions.
“This is what millenials call ‘the drip’ great boots,” commented Symone D Sanders
“Lawd. This is what my life needed and I didn’t even know,” wrote one Monica.
“She is one baaad chick. I bought her book as Christmas gifts for all of my daughters and nieces,” posted Shawn Braxton
“Beautiful. However my feet would last about 10 minutes in them,” a certain Ram remarked.


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After a long wait, production of Apple’s newest handset, the iPhone 5 is finally catching up with demand. The handset registered record online sales over the first weekend of release but the Cupertino Company has struggled to keep up with the high volume of phones that have been ordered.
When the iPhone 5 first launched, those ordering from the Apple online store were subjected to a 4-week delay. This has since dropped to 1 week, and then down to a couple of business days. Now, for the first time, stores in 5 Countries are showing the handset as being in stock. Australia, Mexico, New Zealand, Canada and the USA are the lucky ones, with others still showing 1-3 business days before shipping. However, Apple are aiming to have the iPhone 5 in stock in a further 50 countries this month.
This is good going for a phone that has only been out for a couple of months. Now that Apple has now lifted their 2 per customer restriction, you can expect the iPhone 5 to be doing the rounds this Christmas. Other Apple products are still available for Christmas delivery; the iPad Mini can be ordered up to 12th December for guaranteed delivery before the big day, while others, such as the new 27” iMac are now looking at January or delivery.


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Hanover, Germany -- Continental AG will acquire the automotive products business of Siemens VDO Automotive AG for â‚¬114 million.
The transaction was approved on Wednesday 25 July by the supervisory boards of Siemens and Conti and assuming there are no delays in antitrust clearance, the transaction should close at the end of the fourth quarter and integration will be concluded by the end of 2009, said Conti, in a 25 July statement.
The statement said that the purchase price includes future tax benefits for Conti, which are estimated to be around â‚¬100 million and which do not result in any loss of revenue for the fiscal agencies.
Conti said that it expects to make synergy savings of about â‚¬170 million per year as of 2010. ss
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Press release from Conti


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CES was full of safety tech, especially focused on home and auto security. But there was also one solution aiming to create a safer kitchen environment.
Inirv React’s first product is a retrofit knob and detector system. The temperature and motion detectors communicate with the IoT-enabled knob and allow you to monitor and adjust stove temperature to prevent you from accidentally burning your dinner — or burning the house down. Inirv was actually part of our 2016 SKS Startup Showcase. As we wrote back then:
The Inirv knobs give you remote control of your burners via the smartphone app so you’ll never burn your food – but the sensor will actually remind you if it senses a lack of motion around the stove for too long and left your food unattended.
Inirv React doesn’t just alert you if there’s something burning at the stove. You can also use it to control your burners remotely, adjusting the heat in accordance with a recipe. You can even set cook times/temperatures via the app and the knobs will automatically adjust to the correct level at the right time.
The Durham, NC-based company was originally planning to ship its smart stove system in 2017 after a successful Kickstarter campaign, but clearly that didn’t happen. They ended up continuing to crowdfund, eventually raising $175K via Kickstarter by the end of 2019.
Past struggles aside, the Inirv team at CES seemed confident that it can hit its new estimated ship date of March 2020. One unit (AKA knob) will cost $99, or you can buy four for $279. An Inirv rep on the CES show floor said that it has already pre-sold 30,000 React units.
This may seem like an overly-intense solution to leaving the stove on, but house fires are a serious business. Cooking fires account for nearly half of all in-home fires. According to the U.S. Fire Administration, from 2014-16, cooking fires led to 195 deaths and $463 million in property loss in the U.S. alone. Smoke alarms can alert you once there’s already a problem, but Inirv claims it has the benefit of preventing an issue before it happens.
Since cooking fires are so common, it’s no surprise that Inirv isn’t the only company trying to get in on stove safety. iGuardStove and Innohome (two more SKS Startup Showcase finalists!) also make devices to turn off stoves and prevent cooking fires. Innohome (sold under the SmartRange brand name in North America) is the more common. Its device is cheaper than Inirv — $199 for four-burner coverage — but it doesn’t have the same nifty heat-control capabilities; it can only shut the stovetop completely off.
Innohome’s products are already shipping and Inirv is still relatively untested, so it’s too soon to say if the latter’s system will a) go to market, and b) work as planned. But it’s safe to say that we’re intrigued by the future of kitchen safety solutions.


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The U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a request by the U.S. Federal Trade Commission to resurrect an antitrust case against memory maker Rambus.
The court, without comment, turned down the FTC's request to continue the case, which the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit threw out last April. The court's decision, released Monday, effectively ends the FTC's efforts to seek antitrust sanctions against Rambus for allegedly convincing industry groups to declare a standard for the memory used in PCs, servers, printers and cameras without admitting that it owned the patents to those technologies.
The appeals court had suggested the FTC presented weak evidence against Rambus.
Several other memory makers had urged the FTC to press forward on the case in an attempt to reduce royalty fees associated with Rambus' technologies. Rambus and other memory vendors continue to have outstanding civil lawsuits against each other related to memory licensing.
The FTC brought antitrust charges against Rambus in 2002. After a trial, the full commission reversed a decision by Chief Administrative Law Judge Stephen McGuire, who ruled for Rambus in early 2004.
In mid-2006, the FTC charged Rambus with engaging in an illegal monopoly, saying the company failed to disclose its patents on DRAM (dynamic RAM) memory chip-related technology while working with standards-setting organization the Joint Electron Device Engineering Council (JEDEC) to create royalty-free or low-royalty standards for DRAM technology.
In early 2007, the FTC required Rambus to license its DRAM chips to other vendors, and it capped the royalty fees Rambus could charge.


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Last year, Michelle Obama had some bad news for nutrition-conscious shoppers and food manufacturers: We’ve all been cheating. The first lady announced a series of proposed changes to US food labelling that seek to tackle the fact that the average serving sizes used to calculate calorie intake have lost track with the reality of modern American appetites.
Believe it or not, Indonesia has more to offer than Bali. Sure, Bali is genuinely beautiful with stunning white sand beaches, killer surf and unique Balinese architecture to please the eye, but more and more it’s becoming a haven for the bogans of Australia (young hipsters trying to eat, pray and love their way to enlightenment) and an overpriced destination for honeymooners from around the globe.
Back in 2009, Hangzhou newcomer Trevor Lamb was browsing the adverts in the back pages of MORE magazine – as one might do when first arriving to Hangzhou – and stumbled across an ad for the Hangzhou Football Club. The ad read something like, “Hangzhou FC recruiting new players; current roster zero. Preferable individuals are chain-smoking, talentless hacks, although those with physical and football abilities will also be considered.” Five years later, Trevor and Felix Jones, two active members of the Hangzhou sporting community, launched the Hangzhou International Football League (HIFL).
Camping has been around as long as nomad tribes have roamed the world but it wasn’t more than a little over a century ago that recreational camping became popular as a means to escape the drudgery of modern life and those long hours of toiling in the factory. With that in mind it is not surprising why camping is beginning to catch on quickly here in China. Instead of expecting to see tents spread out on any available square meter of park space during the major holidays, China is undergoing a rapid shift towards building their own camping culture like we experienced years before.


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The slide in Amazon stock may be just getting going as concerns mount on the outlook for the tech giant’s costs and top line growth potential, one veteran tech analyst warns.
“We believe that Amazon has the most downside in our mega-cap coverage given its exposure to inflationary cost headwinds and a potential impact from slowing consumption,” Jefferies tech analyst Brent Thill wore in a note to clients. “We show that a bear case scenario of $60B in earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) at a 9 times trough multiple would yield a $51 dollar stock, or ~45% downside from current levels.”
Thill, who reiterated an Overweight (Buy equivalent) longterm rating on Amazon, citing its leading e-commerce position, added that “investors need to gain confidence that operating income estimates have bottomed before shares can begin to inflect.”
The news flow around Amazon has been on the bearish side in recent months.


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Jack McCollough and Lazaro Hernandez, the dynamic design partners behind one of the most exciting American fashion brands today, have just struck a deal with L'Oréal Luxe to create their very own fragrance — which is seriously exciting news.
The boys, better known to most as Proenza Schouler, have been delivering fierce runway style with their womenswear collections for a little over a decade now, and in 2008, launched their first shoe and handbag collections — hey, PS1! How you doin'?
Their designer style has yet to fail us, and only continues to impress peers and consumers across the globe, so this partnership with L'Oréal has us all kinds of thrilled, beyond. We can't wait for you to make us smell beautiful, boys!


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Just before Bethesda’s big E3 show was due to start, Thinkgeek sent out emails about a new product: a very expensive, somewhat functional replica of Fallout’s iconic Pip-Boy.
Artist Kari Fry has put together this exquisite Pokémon book that acts as a field guide to the region of Kanto. It’s exactly the kind of thing you’d buy if Pokémon was real. Or realise it’s not, and just want a copy anyway.
Starting Monday, BioWare’s online store will be selling this limited edition snowboard. Doesn’t matter if you live near snow or not. The fact the board features FemShep, and not ManShep, is pretty great.