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Restaurants and food retailers that have received shipments of oysters harvested from NS 10, an oyster harvest area in Nova Scotia, Canada on June 9, 2023, and were distributed by Bill and Stanley Oyster Co. of Nova Scotia, Canada through U.S. distributors to 17 states and the District of Columbia: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, and WI. The FDA is working to obtain additional information on distribution of the oysters and will continue to monitor the investigation, provide assistance to state authorities, and update our communications to the public as needed.
Consumers, especially those who are or could become pregnant, the elderly, and persons with weakened immune systems, who have recently consumed raw oysters and suspect they have food poisoning should seek medical care immediately.
• Fortune brand oysters harvested from harvest location NS 10 in Nova Scotia, Canada on June 9, 2023 that were distributed to 17 states and the District of Columbia: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, and WI.
• Oyster containers include the harvest area information and original shipper certification number NS 6024 SS WS on the attached product tag.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is advising consumers not to eat, and restaurants and food retailers not to sell, and to dispose of raw oysters that were harvested from harvest location NS 10 in Nova Scotia, Canada on June 9, 2023 and were distributed to 17 states and the District of Columbia: CA, CO, CT, DC, DE, FL, GA, IN, MA, MD, MI, MN, NJ, NY, OH, PA, TX, and WI. Consumers who purchased oysters after June 9, 2023 should check the packaging to see if they were harvested from location NS 10 on June 9, 2023. Contaminated shellfish can cause illness if eaten raw, particularly in people with compromised immune systems. Food contaminated with norovirus may look, smell, and taste normal. Consumers of these products who are experiencing symptoms of norovirus illness should contact their healthcare provider, who should report their symptoms to their local Health Department.
On June 30, 2023, the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) reported to CDC an outbreak consisting of 9 cases of norovirus illness associated with the consumption of oysters from Nova Scotia. The oysters harvested from Nova Scotia were sold in both Canada and the U.S. FDA is working with federal, state, and local officials, and with Canadian public health authorities to investigate this outbreak, obtain additional information on distribution of the oysters, and determine if additional illnesses have occurred.
Retailers should not sell or serve raw oysters from harvest location NS 10 with a harvest date of June 9, 2023, which will be printed on product tags.


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The creators of the world’s first non-fungible token are back with a new collection, and they’re ready to talk about the future of Web3. These tokens have taken the world by storm, and now the team behind the concept is ready to unveil their latest project. Designed in collaboration with a range of artists and designers, the new collection promises to be just as revolutionary as the first. But the team is also keen to discuss the broader implications of Web3 technology and what it means for the world of art, collectibles, and beyond. So if you’re eager to learn more about NFTs and the future of the decentralized web, don’t miss this fascinating interview with the creators of the original NFT concept.
Jennifer and Kevin McCoy are renowned artists who made history by minting the very first art NFT, Quantum, on the Namecoin blockchain in 2014. By establishing the provenance of the digital image, Quantum solved the problem of ownership in the digital age, showcasing how blockchain technology could play a crucial role in documenting the history of digital art. The million-dollar sale of Quantum at Sotheby’s auction in 2021 cemented its position as a historic landmark in the NFT world.
Ten years after Quantum, the McCoys are releasing their first NFT collection, Land Sea and Sky, on Artwrld, a collection of 310 collages that combine elements of AI-generated landscapes. The collages are created by analyzing the body of work of Ansel Adams, the famous photographer, and using AI art tool, Stable Diffusion, to create recombinant landscapes.
As individuals who have been creating art for decades, the McCoys appreciate the value of historical developments in art and technology. They advocate for people to learn and honor these developments and not forget them every time a new development occurs. In their opinion, forgetting history slows down the market, and the recent Sotheby’s auction showed how vital it is to recognize historic landmarks in the NFT space.
Despite the recent fraud and controversy surrounding NFTs, the McCoys believe that Web3’s egalitarian potential is still finding its way. Decentralization is the core argument for crypto, and the idea of digital scarcity, uniqueness, and property is here to stay. While traditional art institutions provide some clarity in separating signal from noise, the idea of direct peer-to-peer disintermediation is exciting.
The McCoys utilize AI art tools in their creations, and they acknowledge that there are ethical quandaries associated with their use. However, they appreciate how these tools evoke the idea of a visual statistical average and are fascinated by visual and cultural preferences expressed collectively by people. They highlight the work of Vitaly Komar and Aleksandr Melamid’s 1994 work, The People’s Choice, as a parallel, which shows how artistic expression should not be an elitist endeavor.
In conclusion, the McCoys’ upcoming NFT collection, Land Sea and Sky, is a fusion of 20th-century landscapes as filtered through 21st-century technology. The McCoys’ unique position in the annals of Web3 provides a bird’s-eye-view of how the crypto and NFT space has evolved since they minted Quantum in 2014. Their experienced eye on the NFT space is valuable, and their belief in Web3’s potential is unwavering.

domain: news


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Today,CSR announced a conditional agreement to transfer development operations in handset connectivity and location to Samsung for $310 million, with a further $34.4 million invested in CSR.
"Under the terms of the agreement, Samsung will gain full access to CSR’s mobile connectivity and location technology and transfer certain relevant patents, as well as employ over 300 CSR employees in the selected field for the cash consideration of $310 million. In addition, Samsung will receive perpetual rights to CSR’s intellectual property related to connectivity and location technology such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and GPS reinforcing Samsung’s leadership in mobile component solutions". This suggests it has as much to do with patent wars as acquiring new technology capabilities.
From alocation point of view, CSR has stated that it plans to focus on 5 core areas, one of which is indoor location. Note, this is not location or GPS but simplyindoor location. It will discontinue investment in its handset connectivity and location technology. Earlier this year, it announcedplans to offer indoor Location as a Service (Laas). This highlights the importance of indoor (http://www.abiresearch.com/research/1012544) and suggests CSR might have something pretty special planned in this area.
On Samsung's side, GPS/connectivity was a hole in itshandset platform business that has now been filled nicely by CSR.
CSR plans toissue $285 million as dividend to its shareholders, which should help to boost its lagging share price.


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Many businesses have been forced to shift to online platforms during the COVID-19 pandemic. Commercial enterprises that have been obstinate to digital trends and insisted on traditional models of accessing the market are steadily losing their share market. Digital transition necessitates knowledge and awareness of online security standards. Loss of funds continues to be a persistent issue affecting online transactions, and it undermines the credibility of e-commerce. This is where modern FinTech solutions come into the picture.
The indispensable contribution of proactive new technology companies has redefined the security of online payments. Rati Tchelidze, the founder of Axios Holding, has built up a number of financial companies by recognizing the competitive advantages of the FinTech industry. This is achieved by formulating futuristic concepts and working with other like-minded tech companies to innovate realistic digital solutions tailored to the complex existence of modern lifestyles. It’s not coincidental that a handful of the world’s leading companies that develop custom-built platforms for online payments belong to Axios Holding.
Digital e-payments channels have experienced a dramatic turning point in the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, which led to the implementation of radical containment measures. The government imposed lockdown has instigated a drastic shift in consumer patterns, increasing the demand on e-commerce platforms and, consequently, improving digital transactions. Recent statistics reveal that an additional 50% of global consumers now prefer transacting online, and a substantial percentage will continue with digital payments even after the pandemic is curbed.
Online payment methods existed long before the COVID-19 pandemic, although they assumed a secondary role in the business world. Most people had inhibitions against e-payments, fearing online fraud, and exposing their banking data to potential scammers. Even though e-commerce operators actively implemented data protection protocols, consumers were still hesitant to venture into digital payments up until the pandemic forced them to. What’s even more interesting is that first-time digital consumers are taking to the convenience offered by e-commerce platforms.
Cash flow is always the “lifeline of all companies” but during the Covid-19 pandemic, there has been a surge in online engagement by users seeking alternatives to traditional financial institutions. Leading companies within the European FinTech industry offer a diversity of money services ranging from investment management to transaction processing. Trusted companies offer alternative money and investment services to provide an all-in-one money management platform with optimized security protocols. From such engagement, the European companies stay ahead with cutting-edge digital solutions integrating artificial intelligence with human resources, complementing life during the pandemic with safety and privacy in online platforms, offering top-notch workplace technology, and so much more!
Seamless Business Transactions
Digital businesses are characterized by massive and frequent transactions. That said, a lot of attention and commitment is required to sustain a secure online transaction channel. Using traditional payment methods as a primary mode of transacting limits an enterprise’s potential. BigWallet Payment is one of the most successful companies within the FinTech vertical of Financial Transactions. The brand prioritizes customers’ ease of making both local and global payments. A modern payment platform must be able to facilitate customers’ payments to or from any part of the world and deliver fast reports on transactions regardless of any unprecedented factor. Moreover, they must also allow for numerous payment options, including credit cards, prepaid vouchers, and local bank transfers.
Personal Finance For Everyone
Not many online platforms have the credibility to offer simple and secure ways of making money available for everyone and that’s why some FinTech companies focus on closing this gap. By providing a concise online application and processing methods, these companies stand as a better option than traditional banks. A major downside of banking institutions is the cumbersome procedures. Companies with custom-built financial platforms use simple yet understandable terms in line with the new era of personal finance. Services like this have come in handy, especially during the pandemic, as people refrain from socialization as well as exchanging physical materials such as documents. The ability to use relatable methods to effectively manage financial issues through smart devices such as smartphones, PCs, tablets, etc. has successfully eliminated impromptu visits to the bank!
Investments and Project Creation/Management
Modern investment platforms must be able to serve different users and their specific needs, from start-up investments to global, large-scale projects. During the pandemic, it’s become even more difficult to hold meetings especially since large projects often involve investors from different countries. An investment platform must be able to connect project managers with investors globally and across industries. One example is the Global Innovation Fund, established with the core objective of facilitating teamwork between investors and project owners. The platform offers project owners the strategic tools to manage submitted projects by providing critical support. Additionally, the organization offers options to either take action on behalf of the project owners or guide them accordingly to make informed decisions.
Brokerage and White Label Services
In addition to the business obligations discussed above, investors may require white label and brokerage services. This need has created another FinTech vertical, an industry with the most favorable conditions to facilitate these services. Besides improving sales by associating investors’ products with prestigious names in the market, the versatility of technology by the recognized brands facilitates a quick responsive customer support system that further contributes to the success of e-commerce. With the timely provision of critical market information, traders have strategically positioned steps ahead of competitors in the market. For investors seeking to start a white label, they need to develop a product that adequately covers the basic necessities and offers reporting tools, among other critical requirements.
Safety precautions are paramount in the uncertain times posed by Coronavirus induced recession. Nonetheless, the crisis shouldn’t hinder digital businesses from thriving. Smart decisions and exercising caution are key factors when choosing an online service provider for business or personal use since not all are equally reliable.
In truth, the companies within FinTech verticals mentioned in this article provide the major financial services needed to start and even manage a modern business brand successfully. What’s more, all these can be achieved in the comfort of your home!
FINTECH Investment Financial Internet Technology -DepositPhotos


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SoftTalk Messenger to raise $1m via GoFundMe to sustain sudden surge of new users, network growth
Nigeria’s Messaging app, SoftTalk Messenger is raising one million dollars to sustain exponential surge in user base as several other chat applications go through a new revolution of privacy change and technical difficulties.
According to the Founder of the company, Simple Azenabor, the current surge in traffic has a financial obligation and there is an urgent need to scale its system to handle the traffic as well as increase the team members and continue to make the African people proud by innovating and creating something more impactful.
Azenabor, in a statement noted: “Many chat applications are going through a new revolution and more people are being conscious of the recently announced privacy change by facebook, owners of Whatsapp messaging app. Another US app called Signal faced similar huge technical difficulties as it struggles amidst spike in traffic. With this development, many people are searching for alternatives and have systematically migrated to similar apps such as signal and telegram.
“The innovative App That is Trending Among Nigerians and Africans is SoftTalk Messenger and it’s about the closest that they can think of that offers even more features such as the ability to call both online and offline contacts. It’s reportedly the most advanced in Africa with support for encrypted chat, HD audio/ video calls and an online store amongst other features.
“The sudden spike in new user acquisition and daily active users running into thousands, a GofundMe campaign has been organized for SoftTalk Messenger for Africans and indeed anyone that is passionate about African technology and wishes to support the initiative to donate any amount.”
Donors are urged to support via the GoFundMe donation link on: https://bit.ly/3irkAHm


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Uniqlo will be selling official League of Legends merchApril 20, 2021
- Riot Games and fashion brand Uniqlo announced that they will be partnering for a League of Legends and Uniqlo collaboration.
- Riot Games has announced the teaser on their official League of Legends Twitter and Uniqlo on their official Instagram.
- Both brands that the collaboration will be “Coming Soon” and no other details were discussed.
League of Legends has recently teased on their Twitter while Uniqlo announced it on their Instagram that they will be doing a collaboration with fashion brand Uniqlo. There’s not much information about it but the post says “Coming soon” so we can be sure to have more details regarding this collaboration in the future.
Both Riot Games and Uniqlo posted a photo of K/DA Ahri wearing a casual K/DA top featuring “The Baddest” while sipping on a beverage.
The tees could be priced at around US$20 based on past Uniqlo UT collections.
This shirt itself could most likely be one of the designs of the brand partnership. We might even see other non-K/DA related merch as well.
But considering the popularity of K/DA it is understandable that they opt to choose them for the teaser poster.
Uniqlo has been recently been collaborating with various video game developers. They have just partnered with Nintendo for their Animal Crossing: New Horizons merch.
- ESGS reaches 10th year milestone of celebrating esports, games, and tech - November 1, 2023
- VCT Challengers 2024 Roadmap - October 23, 2023
- Empyrean Cup Ignites Fierce Competition in the Philippine League of Legends Community - August 31, 2023


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Google Voice finds back door into iPhone
Google Voice found a way into the iPhone.
Still not accepted by Apple's closely held applications store, Google made a Web-based version of its call forwarding and phone number aggregation service that allows iPhone and Palm Pre users to access the service through a mobile Web browser. So instead of tapping on an application icon for Google Voice, a user can get the service by accessing it through a Web site.
Last summer, the Federal Communications Commission asked Apple and exclusive iPhone carrier, AT&T, to explain why Google's voice application was being blocked from the applications store. AT&T said it was Apple's decision. Apple, meanwhile, said it was studying the application to make sure it didn't interfere with other software on the phone.
Regulators are looking into competition and practices in the wireless industry, studying whether the blocking of certian applications violate competition and open-Internet policies.
As of Wednesday morning, Apple said the native Google Voice application still isn't in its apps store but declined to comment further.
"From our perspective, we built this app to answer requests from iPhone and Palm WebOS devices users who want to access Google Voice on their devices. We're always looking for ways to provide access to our mobile services across various platforms and devices, and this web app allows us to easily do so," Google spokeswoman Sara Jew-Lim wrote in an e-mail.
The FCC hasn't acted on AT&T and Apple's replies. Chairman Julius Genachowski mentioned at the Consumer Electronics Show that he noted it wasn't on the iPhone and that Skype wasn't permitted on the iPhone for 3G connections.
January 27, 2010; 8:00 AM ET
Categories: AT&T , Apple , FCC , Google
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Walmart begins testing drone deliveries
Walmart has launched a pilot program in North Carolina to deliver household goods and groceries by drone. The program will take place in Fayetteville and the packages will be delivered by drones operated by a company called Flytrex.
Each of the drones can fly at speeds of 32 mph, travel distances of 6.2 miles in a round trip, and carry up to 6.6 pounds Upon arrival at the delivery location, packages will be lowered to the ground from 80 feet up. Flytrex received approval from the FAA to test food deliveries in North Carolina last year, with caveats that its drones only fly predetermined routes in the daytime over unpopulated areas.
“We know that it will be some time before we see millions of packages delivered via drone,” said Walmart senior vice president Tom Ward, in a news post. “That still feels like a bit of science fiction, but we’re at a point where we’re learning more and more about the technology that is available and how we can use it to make our customers’ lives easier.”


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LONE OAK, Ga. – South Korean automotive supplier KB Autosys announced it will build its first U.S. plant in Lone Oak, Ga. to produce brake products for its North American customers.
Headquartered in Chungcheongnam-do, Korea, KB Autosys has grown into a global supplier of brake pads and linings. By opening a brand-new 108,000-square-foot advanced manufacturing facility in Lone Oak, KB Autosys will be able to better serve their customers throughout the region, including several located within miles of the plant.
The facility, scheduled to employ 180, will manufacture components for customers in the region like General Motors, Hyundai and Kia Motors.
Rick Kaatz | KB Autosys
“We are very excited to be locating our first U.S. manufacturing operation in Meriwether County. In our search for a U.S. location, we visited several communities across the Southeast and met many good people. We learned a lot about each community and especially appreciated the southern hospitality that welcomed us,” said Richard A. Kaatz, vice president of KB Autosys America. “In the end, we believe Meriwether County is the best fit for KB Autosys, and we would like to thank the county officials and the State of Georgia for their extraordinary support. We hope to be a good and upstanding member of the business community in Meriwether County.”
In 2020, the State of Georgia’s strong international relationships helped facilitate more than $1.3 billion in investment and more than 2,700 jobs from South Korean companies. Georgia remains a national leader in advanced manufacturing and continues to attract business from all over the world.
About KB Autosys
Established in 1985, KB Autosys has strived to set the standard in quality and performance of brake pad manufacturers for the automotive industry. With leading technology and employee engagement, the company has emerged as Korea’s brake pad specialist. With years of accumulated knowledge in brake pad development and manufacturing, the company has become a leader in knowledge-based management and plant operation. The company is focused on customer satisfaction and safety. The company is dedicated to grow globally and compete with the most advanced companies in the world.


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There are some people who consider an occupation in the restaurant business just to find out it has its share of nightmares: out of order equipments, client complaints, employee turnover. And lastly over all of these, the financial necessities can
Start-up dining establishments are well-known yet really expensive businesses. Start-up expenses differ substantially from situation to situation; however usually vary from the countless amounts of dollars. The majority of potential entrepreneurs don’t have the full amount of cash available. Even
There’s no greater moment compared to give increase your restaurant. The economy is puttering along and you will find severe offers on leasing area and restaurant loan, equipment and machinery, actually carpet could be had in a great value. Companies
Living the dream of owning and running a restaurant business seems like a dream today, even though restaurant business is getting hype and is running so miraculously which nobody ever dreamt of even.
In a survey conducted on restaurant loans, it was concluded that almost 50 per cent American adults have worked in restaurants at some point in their professional career. And out of this percentage about 40 per cent wish to own
Fast food giant McDonald’s has reported better-than-expected profits for the first quarter of 2011, with sales up in the US, Europe and Asia. According to a scrutinizing figures, First quarter profits were $1.2bn), up 10.9% from a year ago, with revenues rising 9% to $6.1bn. McDonald’s global analogous sales were 4.2% higher.


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Great news for fans of dirty burgers and even dirtier fries! The legendary Oowee Diner, which has made a name for itself since opening on Picton Street, is now making its way south of the river to North Street.
Opening in the former Bagel Boy premises, the team announced on Facebook that the paperwork has all been signed, and the restaurant is set to open five weeks from the announcement made on September 19th – which, by our calculations, makes late October.
It’s a bigger premises than their current home on Picton Street – which means the ability to eat in as well as to take away – and the guys at Oowee have promised that they’ll be serving the most popular items from their existing menu, as well as some brand new creations which, based on previous innovations, look set to be seriously exciting indeed.
Popular favourites on their existing menu include burgers such as the Saucy Bird (with crispy southern chicken thigh, American and Swiss cheese and Oowee baconnaise), Cluckin’ Fries (with fried chicken, grilled cheese and gravy) and a range of regularly changing specials. In recent weeks, we’ve seen the launch of treats such as chicken kiev fries, the chicken and waffle burger and the Sloppy Joe beef patty – Southville burger fans are in for a treat.
We’ll keep you posted as soon as we hear more about an official opening date!


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Audrey Haynes has been a loyal customer at Frontier, buying homemade jewelry and French soaps that she can’t find elsewhere. Haynes, an associate professor at the University of Georgia’s School of Public and International Affairs, has also sold her own artwork including suncatchers made of wire and glass beads and donated her profits to a local animal shelter.
As reported in The Red & Black, after 30 years of offering local gifts to customers, Frontier, located on East Clayton Street in downtown, is closing.
Having opened in 1989, Frontier sells one of a kind merchandise from local artists and independent companies. Although the store does not have an actual date for its last day, owner Devin Clower said they will close sometime in May.
Although Frontier’s physical location will be gone, the store will begin selling online.
Clower, the fourth owner of Frontier, is a UGA alumna who took over the gift shop in 2010. Although she graduated with a degree in interior design, she always had an interest in downtown’s historic structures just off campus.
She has decided to follow the footsteps of the previous owners in finding something different to do.
“It’s been such an enriching experience,” Clower said. “Running a small business is a challenge, and a marriage, and all of the above but in the best kind of way.”
She takes pride in Frontier and all the connections she formed with other local small businesses and artists.
Athens resident Cecile Paige Riker appreciates how local and different all of the items are that Frontier offers, and will also miss being greeted by Clower’s shop dogs.
“We wouldn’t have been doing it if it weren’t for our loyal customers,” Clower said. “It’s a bittersweet transition that hopefully will open up a new opportunity for me.”
Haynes shopped at the gift shop before and after Clower took over, and said Clower made it feel inviting for all customers to come in.
“Everything is so warm and comfortable and just interesting, that’s how the store always felt to me,” Haynes said. “And I can always find something, whatever price point … and they would always gift wrap it to make it extra special.”
Haynes said she will miss Frontier, but she is also worried about what it will mean for the future of small businesses downtown. She is concerned that Frontier leaving is an indicator of less local businesses with more corporate stores moving in on the downtown scene.
“If it becomes all just corporate franchises, it’ll lose a lot of what makes Athens sort of the cool place to hang out,” Haynes said.
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“It’s about much more than checking a box”: How brands can genuinely commemorate Juneteenth
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Juneteenth is a powerful day in history that celebrates emancipation of enslaved African Americans. But recently, big companies have been criticized for commercializing the holiday.
Companies that want to recognize Juneteenth in a meaningful way need to first audit their internal practices, said Jeanine Poggi, editor of Ad Age. “It’s about much more than just checking a box. It’s where are you placing your investment? Are you investing in these communities outside of the campaign that you’re creating to sell products? Are you thinking about your media spend?” she said.
For Thursday’s Economic Pulse, Marketplace’s David Brancaccio spoke with Poggi about how brands can best honor the holiday. The following is an edited transcript of their conversation.
David Brancaccio: All right. Sunday marks Juneteenth, and this is a national holiday like no other, where more than two years after the Emancipation Proclamation, enslaved people in Texas were informed of their new freedom. And some companies are getting this right. Some companies, high-profile ones, are off in their response to this, and you’ve been watching some of this.
Jeanine Poggi: Yeah. You know, it’s interesting right now, we saw Walmart a few weeks ago attempt to celebrate Juneteenth with a special-edition, private-label ice cream that received a ton of backlash on social media. The retailer, you know, was really facing criticism for trivializing and trying to cash in on an event that commemorates Black people’s emancipation from centuries of slavery. And this commercialization of the holiday really came back to bite them. Essentially because it’s really looking at the strategy in which brands are trying to commemorate something like Juneteenth, and it being more than just a time to, you know, put a logo on a packaged good or come out with a commercial, but really about looking at the brand’s internal practices and how much they are supporting the communities that they’re looking to reach with their marketing.
Brancaccio: Yeah I mean, a key thing with the Walmart issue is that the Juneteenth ice cream seems to have been chosen without consideration of whether it was made by Black-owned suppliers.
Poggi: Exactly. Really thinking about the supply chain and who you’re working with. And who on your team is creating these campaigns? Do you have people of diverse backgrounds who are actually sitting in the rooms thinking about strategizing and planning these campaigns? All of these things factor into whether or not a Juneteenth … or we are at, you know, the middle of June. It is also Pride Month. We see a lot of brands coming out and showing support for the LGBTQ+ community, how they are doing that and in what way they are actually showing support, beyond putting a rainbow logo on packaging or things like that, is really important right now.
Brancaccio: I mean, the advertising that you monitor, I mean, it’s a bit of threading the needle. I mean, companies, I suppose, want to honor these social movements, really, and honor history. But they are also making a buck at some level off of this. And they perhaps don’t want to come off as just making a buck.
Poggi: Absolutely. It’s about much more than just checking a box. It’s where are you placing your investment? Are you investing in these communities outside of the campaign that you’re creating to sell products? Are you thinking about your media spend? Are you investing with diverse-owned and -operated media channels? Where are you reaching these communities? Is it just on, you know, the big TV networks? Or are you thinking about being more strategic and actually shifting some of your ad dollars to diverse-owned media channels? So it’s all of the thinking that goes on behind the scenes that perhaps a consumer might not even see at the end of the day, when you just have a, you know, 15- or 30-second commercial. That’s where the real work lies.
Brancaccio: Yeah, and who’s on staff, who you’ve employed, how diverse your people are. Because if people from a variety of perspectives are in the chain of decision making on something like Juneteenth ice cream, maybe when it’s wrong, the problems will surface rather earlier.
Poggi: Absolutely. And we’re at the two-year mark of when Madison Avenue really started making pledges to help diversify the internal rankings of, like, the ad world, you know, following the murder of George Floyd. We are hitting that time to really see what came of those pledges. At Ad Age, we are spending a lot of time looking at the initial pledges and seeing what has come to fruition and what is still a work in progress. You see, brands like Verizon and McDonald’s recently put out statements about where they are in this progress. McDonald’s is hiring an outside firm to come in and do an audit on its practices. Verizon provided an update on how it’s thinking about media spend. So it is at this point in time, two years in, that we’re beyond the commitment stage and just making the commitment and actually seeing what’s come of them.
Brancaccio: What do you make of that arc of history there? I mean, two years is 24 months, and we’re starting to see some movement. Is that what you’re telling me?
Poggi: I’m saying that it’s time for brands to start showing if there is any movement. I think, you know, some have been a little bit more transparent in the work that they’ve done over the past 24 months, and others maybe have made pledges but haven’t actually said if they were able to uphold those promises that they made two years ago. And now enough time has passed where we need to start seeing those numbers. Seeing who they’re hiring internally. Seeing the supply chain and the suppliers that they’re working with, and it’s, you know, time to see results.
Correction (June 16, 2022): Juneteenth celebrates emancipation, not the formal end of slavery in the United States.
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Source: MIL-OSI Submissions
Dairy exports overtake travel as
COVID-19 hits – Media release
3 June 2020
Spending by international students and visitors
in New Zealand fell $239 million in the year to March 2020, compared with
the December 2019 year, Stats NZ said today.
“This fall is an early sign of the impact
of COVID-19 on travel service exports,” international statistics senior
manager Peter Dolan said.
“International students and visitors faced
travel restrictions in the first three months of 2020, especially those
coming from China in February, before the border closed to almost all but
returning New Zealanders in late March.
“We will see the full impact of the border
closure on tourism and travel services in the coming quarters. We already
know that many students didn’t get to New Zealand for the start of the
academic year and all visitor arrivals stopped in late March.
“That will see exports of travel services
drop sharply, until the border is reopened.”
In contrast, dairy exports were up $396 million
in the year to March 2020, boosting New Zealand’s trade surplus to $3.5
billion in the March 2020 year, up $1 billion on the surplus in the December
“As the impacts of COVID-19 measures took
effect in late March, dairy products have held up total exports and overtook
travel exports in revenue for the first time in almost five years,” Mr
Dairy products were New Zealand’s top goods
export in the March 2020 year at $16.2 billion.
Travel services was New Zealand’s top services
export in the March 2020 year at $15.9 billion.
“Both dairy and travel services are key
export earners for the New Zealand economy, making up over a third of our
total exports,” Mr Dolan said.
Through the 1990s and 2000s, holidaymakers
and international students earned more export revenue than dairy products.
In the September 2010 year, dairy export earnings took over and became
New Zealand’s top export earner through the dairy boom of 2014. As dairy
prices and export earnings fell near the end of 2014, travel took off,
as annual visitor arrivals continued to rise.
“The popularity of New Zealand as both a
tourist destination and a place to study has meant travel services have
been our top export earner since the June 2015 year, but that ended in
the March 2020 year,” Mr Dolan said.
Travel service exports are made up of spending
by international holidaymakers (other personal travel services), people
travelling for business (business travel services) and the tuition fees
and living expenses of international students studying in New Zealand (education
The fall in travel service exports in the
March 2020 year was mainly due to a fall in education travel services,
down $148 million compared with the December 2019 year. This was followed
by a fall in other personal travel, down $106 million.


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Pride of Muskoka West in Gravenhurst, ON has designated itself a flagship store for Chaparral boats. The dealership plans to display all of the brand's models except for wide-body cruisers.
Pride of Muskoka West, which opened in September 2007, is just one of five dealerships operated by Ontario-based Pride Marine Group.
“Chaparral is a great brand with a wide offering of product that hits several different marketplaces,” explains Jeff Barnes, Director of Marketing for Pride Marine Group. “Pride of Muskoka West is one of our newer locations and this arrangement allows us to get a strong foothold on the Muskoka marketplace on that side of the lake with a really well-known brand.”
Barnes believes the Pride of Muskoka West location is perfect for promoting the Chaparral brand in the area because it has both highway and water exposure. “Through transient traffic and brand recognition the Chaparral will allow us to elevate Pride of Muskoka West,” he says.
Gary Beck, Mid-West Regional Manager for Chaparral Boats agrees with Barnes' assessment. “Pride of Muskoka West's outstanding location on the water and highway exposure will be a real benefit for growing the Chaparral brand in the Muskoka market,” says Beck.
Pride of Muskoka West will continue to carry select models from Pride Marine Group's seven other brands, including Chris Craft, Nautique, Crownline, Edgewater, Tiara Yachts, Pursuit and South Bay, but will specialize in Chaparral boats sales. “We wanted to have one dealership that became the lightning rod for Chaparral customers,” explains Barnes.
Steve Davidson, Pride of Muskoka West's Manager, says his dealership currently has 23 different models and styles of Chaparral boats in stock. “The brand sells very well and we saw an opportunity in the 19- to 20-foot market,” says Davidson. “We also see in an opportunity with the brand's bigger boats in our area. This year we'll be displaying Chaparral models on both sides of Highway 169, which is right next to our dealership. We've also ordered some new signage that will help to identify us as a Chaparral flagship store.”
Barnes says currently there are no plans to turn Pride Marine Group's other locations into flagship stores.


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Fortnite Baby Yoda 'Back Bling' Aim-Blocking Bug Has Gamers Screaming For A Fix
Early in December last year, Epic Games added the Mandalorian
in the form of a skin. You cannot go without Grogu (Baby Yoda) when you have The Mandalorian, though, so he was added as a “back bling” at level 100. Now that players are finally starting to hit that level, they are noticing an issue with Grogu where they cannot see when they shoot. Either Grogu is a staunch pacifist and is stopping aiming, or this is a disappointing glitch
for fans of The Mandalorian and Fortnite.
Whatever is happening with Grogu is quite problematic for players. The bug appears when users reportedly crouch or exit vehicles. After that happens, Grogu’s floating egg seems to be attached to the player’s right shoulder over which they would typically aim. Reddit user /u/SweggyBoi posted a video of this bug happening after he crouched down, showing how intrusive this issue is.
It seems that u/SweggyBoi was not the first to notice the issue, as u/dackAllah mentioned it over a month ago, but u/SweggyBoi’s post was the first to get many upvotes. As of writing, it has 10.3k upvotes and has even garnered a response from an Epic Games
employee who says that he reported the issue to the team.
Hopefully, Epic Games will fix this bug soon if it has not been already, and people can get back to collecting the Victory Royales with Baby Yoda. In any case, have you been affected by this bug or one similar in Fortnite? Let us know in the comments below.


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Volkswagen Goes Full Throttle with Vignette for Customer-Driven Web Sites
Updated · Mar 27, 2001
by Jennifer MacAdam
Vignette Corp. today announced that Volkswagen AG will deploy Vignette(R) V/Series applications on its new and existing Web sites.
Volkswagen’s deployment of Vignette Internet applications began at the popular Autostadt (“Auto City”), which went live with an intranet and extranet in April 2000. The car distribution center will use Vignette applications as a notification tool for customers. Whenever a dealer sells a vehicle, they will give the buyer a customer card, much like an encoded credit card. Buyers then use their customer code online to find out when their car will be ready and arrange a pick-up date.
“Vignette’s applications were clearly the best fit for meeting our e-business objectives,” said Rolf Kloss of Volkswagen. “Based on the recommendation of our subsidiary, Gedas, which functions as VW’s IT company, we chose Vignette’s applications because they have the flexibility to accommodate our intranet, extranet and external Web site needs.”
Following the successful Autostadt deployment, Volkswagen consolidated its Web activities and decided to standardize on Vignette applications. As a result, all new Web sites, including those of the 42 VW centers in Germany, will be based on Vignette technology. Existing Web sites, such as http://www.volkswagen.de/, will move to Vignette applications over time.
“VW’s corporate commitment to Vignette is a strategic investment in building long-term, online customer relationships,” said Kasper Rorsted, EMEA general manager and senior vice president at Vignette. “Through our corporate wide agreement with Volkswagen AG, any of its 350-plus subsidiary locations– from Delaware to Singapore to Sao Paulo — can now step in and license Vignette customer-driven Internet applications.”
Reprinted from Intranet Design Magazine


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Over the past few weeks, there have been many reports surfacing that Google is looking to get back into the Chinese market and has been building a censored search engine that could be used in the country. Now, according to The New York Times, many employees are pushing back against this censored search engine for the People's Republic of China. There's approximately around 1,400 employees that are protesting this search engine, according to the New York Times.
There's currently a letter circulating internally at Google, which argues that employees need more transparency, and an ethics review. The letter states "we urgently need more transparency, a seat at the table and a commitment to clear and open processes: Google employees need to know what we're building." The letter continued to state that this willingness to work with China brings up many ethical issues. This is because Google is going to be working with China, and abiding by the censorship laws in the country. This all falls under Google's motto which was and is "don't be evil", and its employees want more transparency on what exactly is going on here, so that they aren't left in the dark.
Google left China in 2010, over the many censorship laws that the country has. The search giant has been looking to get back into the country, with many different products, including a Google Play Store that only housed approved apps and games. Though, Google quickly realized that there is way too much competition in China, for that to be a good idea. When Google left the country, hundreds of app stores popped up in the country to fill the gap. Google wants to get back into China and at least grab a portion of the market, since it is the largest country in the world right now, and it's missing out on over a billion users.


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Rumours the Samsung Galaxy Watch 4 will jump back into bed with Google would be a boost for both parties as they seek to challenge the almighty Apple Watch, argues Chris Smith.
Both the Samsung Galaxy Watch range and Google’s Wear OS need each other. Google hasn’t done a particularly fine job of making Wear OS feel like a big deal, but the fact is, it houses the key Google services and many of the important third-party apps any true Apple Watch rival should have.
If Samsung decides to drop its homemade Tizen OS for the Galaxy Watch 4, due this summer, it would be a prudent move that could make the wearable the go-to best smartwatch for those outside of the Apple ecosystem.
Last year, we afforded the Samsung Galaxy Watch 3 4.5 out of 5 stars. Perfection was simply better battery life and a greater selection of apps away. Our reviewer wrote: “To be clear, app support is nowhere near Apple Watch levels.” A reinvigorated Wear OS could bring the might of the Play Store to Android phone owners.
“The Galaxy Watch 3 isn’t the Apple Watch-killer Android fans have been waiting for,” our own Alastair Stevenson wrote. But the Galaxy Watch 4 could be if that premium build, gorgeous design, surprisingly impressive health and fitness tracking and solid smartwatch features has an app store housing the best the Play Store has to offer. Ironically, Al doesn’t agree.
I can kind of see his point. Wear OS isn’t perfect right now. Changing this will take effort from Google’s part. Like some actual effort. To call Wear OS an afterthought would be an understatement. The company has continually overlooked its wearable platform and now only a few manufacturers really place their faith in Wear OS – TicWatch, Fossil and Misfit among them.
The Apple Watch continues to be the standard-bearer for smartwatches, but it’s not like the chasing pack makes life particularly hard. It seems most other smartwatches do one or two things particularly well, but struggle to match the full package Apple has put together.
For example, there are better fitness-focused watches, like the Garmin Fenix range but they aren’t quite as effective as smartwatches. There are good options for Android users like the TicWatch Pro 3, which offers the best of Google services, but the hardware isn’t quite as premium. The Fitbit Sense offers all of Fitbit’s consumer-focused activity tracking and has Alexa integration, but the FitbitOS lacks a fully-packed suite of apps.
We can go on. The Huawei Watch GT 2 Pro offers two weeks of battery life, besting almost every other high-end smartwatch out there. However, because Google is now banned from offering its apps and services to Huawei under US trade law, the Chinese firm is now likely to substitute its own Harmony OS in, leaving it with the same problem suffered by Samsung’s Tizen watches now: not enough apps.
Wear OS (nee Android Wear) is due a huge overhaul and this could be the perfect year. There’s long been rumours of a Pixel Watch that never play out when it comes to product releases. This year it may be different, with Google reportedly planning its first own-branded Pixel Watch to accompany the Pixel 6. If this is the case, Wear OS will surely get the love and attention it has needed all this time. Maybe we’ll see the integration of the Fitbit OS, which Google now controls following its Fitbit purchase?
Friends with benefits
It could be a catalyst for Google-powered wearables that Samsung would be wise to jump on board with. Afterall, there are few tech giants that have done more for each other’s prominence than Samsung and Google (Ok, maybe Intel and Microsoft).
Samsung was among the first companies to release a sexy Android phone. The Galaxy S2, alongside the HTC Hero, was perhaps the first “wow!” device to really capture the imagination at the dawn of the touchscreen era. Samsung helped to put Android on the map and, through the years the Galaxy range has consistently featured among the best Android phones out there.
There’s no reason why this partnership can’t be replicated in the smartwatch realm, dominated in similar fashion Apple’s one-two punch of homegrown hardware and a near-perfect software and app ecosystem.
The Galaxy Watch 4 could finally be the smartwatch Android users – effectively shut out from owning an Apple Watch – have dreamed of. Samsung and Google have needed each other since smartphones were a thing. We could be about to see further fruits of what has been a profitable partnership for both.


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Bankwest cash report
09 November 2009
The inaugural Bankwest Cash Report is the latest research to be released in the Bankwest Financial Indicator Series.
The report has debunked the common myth that Australia is getting closer to a cashless society. It found Australians have a whopping $2092 in cash (on average) stashed in their pockets or floating around their homes and cars.
The Bankwest Cash Report uses data from the Reserve Bank of Australia, the Australian Bureau of Statistics and the Australian payments Clearing Association, and is the latest in Bankwest's Financial and Social Indicator Series.
Download a copy of the full report below:


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Articles About wireless
April 14, 2014
Spotify is rumored to be pursuing a partnership with Sprint that would offer the carrier's customers a discount to the music streaming service.
April 03, 2014
Verizon is copying AT&T with its latest discount to the More Everything plan.
March 27, 2014
Yahoo Japan is paying 324 billion yen or about $3.2 billion to acquire eAccess, a mobile Internet service provider.
March 25, 2014
Sprint has shut down more than 55 under-performing retail stores and axed more than 1,400 jobs in its latest restructuring effort.
March 11, 2014
SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son went on the Charlie Rose show on Monday and spoke about the "massive price war" he'd like to start in the U.S. wireless industry.
March 07, 2014
Sprint Chairman Masayoshi Son is growing impatient with the company's slow turnaround.
February 28, 2014
AT&T plans to test its new network in two small communities in Alabama and Florida; if approved by the FCC, the project would phase out copper-wired services.
February 21, 2014
More subscribers generating more revenue -- this is what Dish Network Corp. delivered when it reported full-year results on Friday morning.
February 19, 2014
Apple gained a bit in China's smartphone market share during the final quarter of last year, according to IDC.


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Safety garment maker Lakeland Industries Inc., of Ronkonkoma, broke through to profitability in its most recent quarter, the company reports.
For the quarter ending April 30, Lakeland had $1.16 million income on revenue of $25.75 million. That’s up from a loss of $1.34 million on revenue of $25.36 million in the year-ago quarter.
Earnings per share increased to $0.22 for the quarter, up from a loss of $0.25 a share in the comparable 2010 quarter.
Lakeland’s high-performance uniforms and gloves, sold worldwide, are used in heavy industry, government agencies, firefighting, hospitals and other settings.
The company’s financial results would have been even better if not for the lingering effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill – the petroleum industry’s stall meant Lakeland sold fewer products in the United States., the company said.
However international sales made up for the domestic sales slump, especially in Brazil, Russia, India and China.
International sales increased 13.4 percent in the quarter. And international sales made up 42.9 percent of total sales, compared to 38.4 percent in the year-ago quarter.
The slump in sales in the U.S. affected Lakeland’s manufacturing division in China -- which exports its goods to the U.S., the company said. “External sales from China were flat with the year ago period due in large part to a decline in direct container shipments to the U.S. resulting from high stock levels at larger customers in the U.S. after the Gulf of Mexico oil spill,” Lakeland said.


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Statesville apparel firm cuts ties to Chinese company
An N.C. supplier of Tshirts and other team apparel to college bookstores cut its ties last week with a Chinese company that drew workers from an internment camp holding targeted members of ethnic minority groups.
In recent years, authorities in the far west Chinese region of Xinjiang have detained an estimated 1 million Uighurs and Kazakhs in heavily-secured facilities where detainees say they are ordered to renounce their language and religion while pledging loyalty to the China’s ruling Communist Party.
Last month an Associated Press investigation found the Chinese government had also started forcing some detainees to work in manufacturing and food industries. The investigation tracked recent shipments from one such factory, the privately owned Hetian Taida Appa- rel, located inside an internment camp, to Badger Sportswear, a leading supplier in Statesville.
In a statement posted to its website, Badger said Wednesday it will no longer do business with Hetian Taida, nor import any goods from the same region “given the controversy around doing business” there.
“Furthermore, we will not ship any product sourced from Hetian Taida currently in our possession,” the company said, adding that the supplier accounted for about 1 percent of Badger’s total annual sales.
Repeated calls to Hetian Taida’s chairman, Wu Hongbo, rang unanswered Wednesday. In a previous conversation, Wu said while Hetian Taida was located in the same compound as one camp that the government calls a “vocational skills education and training center,” Hetian Taida was not involved in the camp’s activities.
However, Wu said his company employed 20 to 30 “trainees” from the center as part of the region’s efforts to alleviate poverty.
Asked about the case, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Thursday that while the ministry doesn’t generally comment on individual business decisions, Badger appeared to have been acting on “misinformation.”
The vocational training centers in Xinjiang are “totally different from so-called forced labor,” Lu said, referring further questions on the camps to statements made by the regional government, which maintains that the centers help poor Uighurs gain employable skills.
“It’s a tragedy for that business,” Lu said.
Universities stocking Badger clothing began pulling items from their shelves and websites after the report appeared in December.
Hetian Taida was certified as complying with good business practices by Worldwide Responsible Accredited Production, which sent an auditor to a different Hetian Taida facility, not the one inside the internment camp. That factory “is not engaged in the use of forced labor,” WRAP and Badger concluded.


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ID: MRFR/AM/2576-HCR | December 2022 | Region: Global | 110 pages
Impact of COVID-19 on the Car Wash System Market
The car wash system market has been negatively impacted in recent months owing to the lockdowns imposed globally to curb the spread of COVID-19. Car washing systems are utilized for easy cleaning and washing of the exterior and interior portions of cars. However, the growing demand for automobiles around the globe, owing to continuous innovation and increasing disposable income levels, is anticipated to boost the demand for car wash systems in the coming years. Also, several countries have granted permission to restart manufacturing plants and car service centers while observing precautions set by the governments. The other factors that are likely to drive the demand for car wash systems include the increasing production and sales of cars in the recent years and a decrease in consumer preference towards domestic car washing owing to water wastage and the time consumed. Moreover, car washing systems are gaining traction owing to numerous benefits including easy management, higher safety, reliability, better efficacy, and time efficiency.
In an attempt to restore economic conditions, several governments have granted permission to car manufacturers to resume their manufacturing plants and service centers. For instance, Tata Motors Limited resumed the operation of its manufacturing plants in May 2020. According to Business Standard, around 59% of the company’s showrooms for passenger vehicles have resumed operations. These showrooms account for around 69% of the retail market for the company. In another instance, Ford, Volkswagen, and General Motors have released long lists of guidelines to restart operations in the US. Several other manufacturers located in Europe and Asia are preparing to restart their operations as the lockdown norms are eased. Though car manufacturing companies are struggling to resume operations immediately owing to synchronization issues and lack of availability of workforce, the automobile industry is anticipated to grow in the long run, which is likely to increase the demand for car washing systems in the next five years. Furthermore, car wash systems are widely utilized in developed countries such as the US, China, Germany, Italy, and the UK. The lockdown regulations have been eased in these countries, which is anticipated to boost product demand, particularly in the countries mentioned above, thus driving the global demand for car wash systems.
Global Car Production, by Country (Million)
Source: International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA)


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Doesn’t matter how many new fulfillment centers Amazon opens up, they can’t avoid paying the tax man.
In November of 2012, Amazon received a notice of unpaid international taxes in the amount of $234 million from 2005-2006. While unpaid taxes is nothing new to Amazon, the online marketplace believes the IRS is overestimating the balance and will contend it in court.
The Internal Tax Revenue says tax payments made from Amazon’s units in Europe to the parent US Company were too low and the agency is also contesting tax deductions Amazon claimed on its net operating losses. According to the court filing, Amazon is arguing the IRS is overestimating the value of Amazon’s “tangible property,” which includes computer software, trademarks and marketing assets. Amazon also faces $1.5 billion in additional federal taxes over a seven-year period beginning in 2005.


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Global dairy commodity prices presented a mixed bag in April 2022, as weaker demand has begun to appear.
The monthly value of goods exports in October 2021 rose $552 million (12%) from October 2020, to $5.3 billion, according to Statistics NZ.
The leading export commodity group movement was milk powder, butter, and cheese up $223 million (18%) to $1.5 billion.
Milk powder rose $134 million (19%) due to an 18% rise in price per kilogram.
Meat exports were up $116 million (25%), to $584 million.
The increase in exports to China accounted for 43% of this rise.
Total sheep meat exports rose $62 million (25%), and the price per kilogram increased 26%.
“Total goods exports in October 2021 were up on the same month of 2020, led by dairy products, beef, and sheep meat,” says international trade manager Alasdair Allen.
“The rises in primary commodities were all led by higher export prices.”
Food preparations (a commodity group that includes infant formula) also decreases, down $66 million.
Annual exports of food preparations in the year ended October 2021 have fallen $308 million (13%) from the year ended October 2020, to $2.1 billion.


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Milwaukee's The Tandem restaurant gives away hundreds of free meals daily during COVID-19 pandemic
MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- Many restaurants are suffering during the Coronavirus outbreak - some having to shut their doors completely while others scaling back their operations drastically just to survive, but The Tandem is choosing to thrive through the goodness of a free meal.
"It will be good to look back at this time to say we did what we thought was right,” said Caitlin Cullen, chef and owner at The Tandem.
At a time when time to ourselves is becoming the temporary norm, finding strength in numbers can be hard.
“It's just strange,” Cullen said. “It's a place that's usually bustling with folks and today there's only like six of us here.”
Cullen opened The Tandem on Milwaukee's Northwest side about three years ago. It's now one of the many restaurants forced to change their plans because of the Coronavirus outbreak.
“Business stopped last week,” she said.
They like others tried to stay afloat with just the few customers for carry-out and delivery, but still had a lot of food left.
“So we decided to just cook through what we had in the basement and turn it into free meals,” Cullen said.
They’re making free meals for people in need especially right now. They prepared 85 meals that first day to give away.
“I thought those would last like a week or so and those were gone within three hours,” she said.
Then they made more the next day and more people showed up.
“We made 150 meals and those were gone in two hours,” she said. “So then we did 300.”
That was when they realized there was a desperate craving that needed to be satisfied.
“…For people who had been laid off folks who weren't prepared to be locked up at home or hadn't been to the grocery store or were waiting on a paycheck,” she said.
She and the staff decided to stop the delivery and carry-out and just focus on the community meal pantry they created.
The Tandem is also teaming up with area restaurants and restaurant workers who have been laid off and is using the donations they're getting to make even more meals.
“It's possible we could do 500 meals someday,” Cullen said.
Because like their name, working in tandem with the community creates a movement that she said provides hope in a time of uncertainty.
“Everyone stands to lose everything right now so I think as long as we are doing what feels right then I'm ok with that,” she said.
If you'd like to donate, click here.


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According to Reuters, global payment giant Mastercard hopes to expand its cryptocurrency payment card program by seeking more partnerships with crypto firms.
"We have dozens of partners around the world who offer crypto card programs, and they continue to expand," Raj Dhamodharan, Mastercard's head of crypto and blockchain, told Reuters.
This is even as the crypto sector comes under closer scrutiny from regulators, and banks are becoming more cautious.
After several major cryptocurrency businesses failed last year, including the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, banks have grown wary of dealing with cryptocurrency clients. In the meantime, U.S. regulators are stepping up enforcement action in the crypto market.
Mastercard has already partnered with crypto exchanges, including Binance, Nexo and Gemini to offer cryptocurrency-linked payment cards in select nations.
Last year, Mastercard and Binance crypto exchange teamed up to launch prepaid cards in Latin American countries. In March, Binance announced the launch of its prepaid card in Colombia, the third country in Latin America to support the product, following its debut in Argentina last year and Brazil in January.
Binance Card holders will be able to pay by using different currencies such as BNB, BUSD, USDT, BTC, ETH, SANTOS, ADA, DOT, SOL, SHIB, XRP, MATIC and LINK.
Mastercard has inked remarkable partnership deals with crypto firms in the past. Among these is its partnership with Coinbase on NFTs and Bakkt to let banks and merchants in its network offer crypto-related services.
In the past year, Mastercard launched a program to let financial institutions offer cryptocurrency trading to their clients.


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Inside the plant, a fiber cable runs directly from the street to the factory floor and into the servers. It’s a direct link between Netflix and the machines storing its content, so Netflix controls what media winds up on its servers.
“That was part of the reason we moved there, to get the fiber uplink,” Pollock said.
Robert Kleinhenz, chief economist at the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corp., said the fiber cabling makes the Industry move valuable as Netflix expands.
“It positions that company to grow as the market grows going forward for several years to come, as opposed to hitting upper bounds of capacity through other delivery means,” Kleinhenz said.
Equus builds computer hardware for resellers and independent software vendors. It was founded in 1989 and has about 200 employees. Intequus, the cloud computing division of Equus, provides the new hardware design for Netflix.
The need for the servers has been driven by Netflix’s growth. The company’s subscribers increased from about 5.6 million in 2006 to 20 million in 2011. Streaming video has been growing dramatically, too: In 2009, Netflix subscribers downloaded 10.6 million movies; by 2011, that rose to 23.6 million.
A Netflix representative declined to comment for this article.
Alex Dudley, vice president of public relations for Time Warner Cable, said the move gives Netflix a better connection to its network.
Dudley said companies such as Time Warner Cable aren’t worried about how they get content and neither are customers. There won’t be any difference in picture quality.
“I think they’re factoring that the best way to enjoy Netflix is with a broadband connection,” Dudley said.
Stephen Condon, vice president of marketing for Tempe, Ariz.’s Limelight Networks Inc., one of the companies Netflix has been using to stream its content, said it’s not uncommon for high-traffic websites to use content delivery networks such as the servers Equus is making for Netflix.
“It’s not new technology that they’re deploying,” Condon said. “It’s a service for Netflix to work directly with the ISP to have this content delivered.”


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Could big business be finding a heart? According to business consultant Ryan Honeyman, the world’s biggest consultants, including Goldman Sachs and McKinsey & Company, are trying to persuade corporations be more socially and environmentally mindful, and not just because it serves their financial goals.
Honeyman made his case in an article for Fast Company, citing a report by Goldman Sachs that said businesses should “provide rewards beyond financial gain,” demonstrate “a visible and authentic commitment to sustainability,” and help their employees “align personal and corporate values.” The report suggests doing that by incorporating making their mission more value-based, fostering healthy work-life balance, and encouraging volunteerism.
Of course, digging deep enough, we still find that sustainable business has a bottom line. Honeyman says there’s ample evidence that responsible business equates to financial gains, including “if nothing else the chance to “open up new business opportunities while creating value for society.”
In an interview in the Shambhala Sun’s January issue, Thich Nhat Hanh argued that there’s nothing wrong with businesses profiting off of the mindfulness brand – so long as they walk the talk. “We don’t have to worry whether meditation is being misused to make money. Meditation can only do good. When you experience the wisdom brought about by meditation, then naturally you want to conduct your business in a way that will make the world suffer less.”


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Too Faced founder Jerrod Blandino is known for posting some of the most tantalizing sneak peeks on Instagram, from the holographic glitter face mask he teased recently to every single unicorn beauty product you could possibly think of — all months before they launch. So, it's a rare day when someone beats him to a preview, but it happened recently when blogger Jackie Aina accidentally leaked swatches and a video of the upcoming Too Faced Chocolate Gold Palette (which Jerrod then reposted on his own account, naturally). And although you might have believed that Jackie has already revealed all there is to know about the glimmering palette, it looks like Jerrod has even more to share. Last night, he took to Instagram to post a video of dazzling gold flakes that we can't stop watching on repeat. At first, we thought Too Faced was set to launch a line of metallic loose pigments (TBH, we still want this). But, upon closer inspection, we realized it wasn't what it seemed.
"#tfsneakypeek 👑Pure Gold loose star pigment ✨#toofaced #tfchocolategold," Jerrod captioned the clip. Fans instantly picked up on that last hashtag, concluding that the tiny bowl of gold was the loose pigment base for the pressed eyeshadows in the palette. Jerrod previously revealed that every single shade would be infused with real gold and cocoa powder (meaning they'll shine bright and smell good at the same time), so we're guessing we just saw the first part of that formula. While we could already tell the palette was going to be full of metallics, this video shows just how reflective you can expect the shadows to be. We didn't think it was possible for us to get even more excited for this launch, but Jerrod just provided a very convincing reason while we wait to find out exactly when this drops. Oh, and in the meantime, we definitely wouldn't mind a line of Too Faced gold powders...just saying.


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Wilmar gain dips in 'difficult' Q1
NET profit for Wilmar International fell 48.7 per cent to US$161.8 million (S$202 million), in what the group described as a "difficult" first quarter. This translated into 2.5 US cents per share, down from 4.9 cents a year ago.
Revenue for the three months ended March 31 was 0.7 per cent higher at US$10.3 billion.
The largest palm oil processor in the world had been hit by lower palm refining margins and negative crush margins in China.
The lower refining margins will continue to be alleviated by improved plantation earnings, as well as continually strong contributions from high-margin palm and lauric products, it said.
In China, such conditions will not be sustainable in the long term, and eventual consolidation will benefit the group, it added.
"In the meantime, we are encouraged by continual growth in our consumer-product sales volume, especially in rice and flour, and in emerging markets like Vietnam and Indonesia," said Wilmar.
THE BUSINESS TIMES


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Researchers managed to sneak a harmful application past Apple’s App Store review process earlier this year, the MIT Technology Review reports. The malware, which is being called “Jekyll”, was capable of sending messages, stealing information and exposing the device to even more exploits.
The test app, which was uploaded by researchers at Georgia Tech, posed as an open source Hacker News app, but it contained intentional vulnerabilities that could be activated remotely. An Apple spokesperson told the Technology Review that the company had addressed the issues in question in iOS.
While the study isn’t a major cause for alarm, it should remind users to be cautious and not automatically trust apps on the App Store simply because Apple has signed off on them. For a detailed explanation of how the malware works, see Nick Arnott’s article over at iMore.
Image credit: JEAN-SEBASTIEN EVRARD / AFP / Getty Images


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The eastern states medium cow indicator has fallen to almost 30 cents a kilogram below the same time last year, and the price dip is even more obvious for those sold as stores.
As a quick year-on-year comparison, Angus cows and calves sold to $2440 a unit at the late February Wodonga store sale last year, with Poll Herefords with Black Baldy calves, rejoined, sold at $1880.
At the latest Wodonga store sale, cows with calves sold at $890-$1310, while pregnant females made $600-$1095.
And the trend is obviously as widespread as the drought, with the latest Bairnsdale store sale averaging $1046 for cow and calf packages, according to the National Livestock Reporting Service.
At Yass, NSW, the most recent sales topped at $820 for pregnancy-tested-in-calf cows and $1340 for cows with calves.
It isn’t just cows ready to breed that are lacking restocker demand because of the sheer lack of grass in the east, but also potential breeders.
At Sale, heifers were selling between 200-270c/kg, but anything with any weight was being snapped up to be put onto grain, as a way for backgrounders or lotfeeders to cut costs.
On AuctionsPlus last week, clearance of cows and calves was described as “reflecting lack of buyer confidence”, with prices ranging from $1100-$1190.
The weather causing increased turnoff of breeders is not news to anyone in the industry, with female slaughter making up 50.3 per cent of the total cattle kill for the 12 months to November.
The destocking continues, with total cattle slaughter in the east up 11pc year-on-year last week, while female slaughter in Queensland increased 37pc compared to the same time last year, and it was up 22pc in NSW.
The medium cow indicator in the east closed Monday at 172.60c/kg, and Angus Gidley-Baird, Rabobank, said processors need to keep volumes rolling through.
Mr Gidley-Baird said there were plenty of reports of processors purchasing cattle from two states away, and there was a very short supply of replacement females available, whether that was older cows or heifers.
“Any widespread rain across the country that sees people have the confidence to say they are set to winter will see cow the price jump; in late 2016-17 we saw those restocker cattle increase much faster than all the other categories,” he said.
“The $60 million question is are they going to buy trade cattle and put a bit of weight on them and generate a bit of cash flow; are they going to pick up some sheep as it will be cheaper to buy sheep than cattle; do they invest in those breeding cattle; or do they sit it out?"
“If you have any grass at all, trying to hold onto any breeding stock now is going to repay you in spades, whether that is selling into a trade market or breeding, but the question is how long are you going to have to hold them and how much will it cost for feed?”
Mr Gidley-Baird also noted that the diminished fodder supply available may remove some options for those confronted with continuing to feed stock after the autumn break – if it breaks at all.


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Experts say there are large differences in cost depending on the system, the size of the store and the amount of merchandise to be protected. By using state-of-the-art equipment such as digital signal processing and customized locks that can't be released by common detachers, theft can be reduced by about 60 percent. Considering that store personnel will have more time for assisting shoppers (instead of watching for potential thieves), a reliable EAS system can pay for itself in 1 1/2 to 2 years.
You may have heard news accounts a couple of years ago of research that claimed entry/exit sensors could be harmful to people wearing internal medical devices such as pacemakers and defibrillators. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration acknowledges that internal medical devices might be slightly affected by some EAS systems. However, officials there don't consider this a public health problem. Many Americans were alarmed when the Heart Institute of St. Petersburg, Fla., released results of a two-year study of EAS systems and their possible effects on people wearing pacemakers and defibrillators. Researchers said they found that the electromagnetic fields of anti-shoplifting systems can interfere with cardiac devices if users linger in the magnetic zone between the pedestals or gates. Soon after, the FDA announced that, of the 1 million Americans with internal medical devices such as pacemakers, there had been only 44 reported reactions over the past 10 years related to anti-theft system magnetic fields. Heart Institute researchers encourage people with internal medical devices to avoid any potential problems by moving quickly through these systems as well as metal detectors.
Now that you know more about the kinds of anti-shoplifting devices being used in stores, take a look at this article on reducing shrinkage (an industry term for lost merchandise) by Roger Schmedlen for some additional ideas about security in your imaginary -- or real -- department store.
And if you're someone who needs help conquering a pattern of shoplifting, please contact Shoplifters Anonymous. They can help!


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Sergey Nivens - stock.adobe.com
Amazon Web Services (AWS) remains the supplier to beat in the global infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market, but its growth has started to slow, Gartner research shows.
According to the IT analyst house’s worldwide IaaS market tracker, just more than half ($12.2bn) of the $23.5bn in revenue generated by suppliers in this sector during 2017 came from AWS, with the cloud giant achieving an annual growth rate of 25%.
In terms of what is driving the growth of Amazon’s cloud, Gartner said the firm continues to benefit from enterprises looking to exit private datacentres, as well as organisations embarking on “transformational digital business projects” using its ever-growing service portfolio.
Sid Nag, research director at Gartner, said: “The top four providers have strong IaaS offerings and saw healthy growth as IaaS adoption is being fully embraced by mainstream organisations and as cloud availability expands into new regions and countries.
“Cloud-directed IT spending now constitutes more than 20% of the total IT budget for organisations using cloud. Many of these organisations are now using cloud to support production environments and business-critical operations,” he added.
Even so, the firm’s annual revenue growth rate was the lowest of the top five IaaS suppliers tracked by Gartner, with its nearest competitor – Microsoft – achieving revenue growth rate of 98.2%, having brought in $3.1bn over the course of 2017.
In third place is Chinese cloud supplier Alibaba. Its revenue grew by 62.7% between 2016 and 2017, rising from $670m to $1.09bn during that time frame.
Google and IBM round out the top five, with the former reporting revenue in the region of $780m, up 56% on the previous year, while the latter accrued $457m in 2017, which equates to a rise of 53.9%.
Collectively, these five suppliers account for around 73% of the overall IaaS market, which serves to highlight how the competitive landscape appears to be consolidating around the big five, said Gartner.
“This reflects a fundamental change in what and how organisations are consuming technology,” Nag added. “Additionally, a groundswell of demand for cloud-skilled personnel is forcing technology providers to change how they compete to meet this exploding demand.”
Read more about the cloud infrastructure market
- At this year’s Google Cloud Next conference in San Francisco, the search giant gave an update on how its effort to win over enterprise IT decision-makers is progressing.
- Amazon, Google and Microsoft have all posted favourable financial results this week, as enterprise appetites for cloud services show no signs of slowing, but what does this mean for suppliers outside of the big three?


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Second Samsung Pay vulnerability discovered
A couple of months ago security researcher Salvador Mendoza claimed to have discovered a vulnerability in Samsung Pay which enabled hackers to steal credit cards wirelessly. Samsung did come out with a detailed response to his claims in order to reassure users that Samsung Pay was completely safe. Mendoza now claims to have discovered a second vulnerability in Samsung Pay which he will demonstrate at the Ekoparty security conference in Argentina next week. The first vulnerability exploited a flaw in MST and the second exploits a flaw in NFC which is actually supposed to be more secure. Samsung Pay is the only mobile payments service that has support for both MST and NFC technologies.
Mendoza says that all a thief needs to do in order to steal a Samsung Pay user’s credit card is to stand near the checkout terminal with a smartphone that’s running the interception app. This app eavesdrops on the NFC transmission and it steals the authentication token after the customer approves the purchase with a PIN code or fingerprint but before payment is actually processed. This brings up an error message on the customer’s phone so they try to make the payment again.
This generates a second token which is then good for up to 24 hours. The thief can, in theory, use the stolen token anywhere in the world where it’s possible to pay by NFC. Mendoza claims to have tested out this vulnerability at a grocery store. He adds that Samsung has been notified of this vulnerability, it’s unclear whether it has been patched because Samsung hasn’t commented on this matter as yet.


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Citigroup rocked with fines, questions about Apple Watch sales and a shake-up at Toshiba top our roundup of the day's top business news stories.
Citigroup Hit with $70 Million in Fines
Under its agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Citigroup will refund $700 million to consumers and pay $70 million in fines for illegal and deceptive credit card practices, the Associated Press reports. Under its agreement with the CFPB, Citi will issue refunds to 8.8 million affected consumers who paid for add-on products such as credit score monitoring or “rush” processing of payments, and will pay two separate $35 million fines to the CFPB and to the federal bank regulator the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. Bank of America reached a similar, slightly larger settlement with regulators in 2014 and JPMorgan Chase was fined in 2013. The CFPB was created five years ago through passage of the Dodd-Frank law that overhauled the financial industry following the 2008 economic collapse.
U.S. Existing Home Sales Near 8-1.2-Year High
The National Association of Realtors Wednesday reports that U.S. existing home sales increased 3.2 percent to an annual rate of 5.59 million units, the highest level since February 2007. Sales are up 9.6 percent from a year ago.
Falling Apple Stock One to Watch
Apple's stock fell 8 percent in after-hours trading Tuesday after the company’s latest financial report charted iPhone sales beneath Wall Street expectations and the company offered a weaker revenue forecast for the current quarter. The iPhone is still the key driver of the company's success with more than 47.5 million iPhones sold during the three months ending in June, or 59 percent more than a year ago. But the company did not disclose results for the Apple Watch. Many analysts and investors see the watch as an important indicator of the company's ability to produce successful new products, CNN reports.
June Unemployment Rates Fell in Nearly Half of U.S. States
Unemployment rates fell last month in 21 U.S. states and were unchanged in 17, the Labor Department said Tuesday. Employers added jobs in 31 states and cut them in 17, with little change in the remaining two states. Nebraska has the lowest unemployment rate, at 2.6 percent, while West Virginia has the highest, at 7.4 percent. New York gained 25,500 jobs last month, the most of any state, followed by 23,000 in California and 16,000 in Texas, the Associated Press reports. Regionally, the unemployment rate fell to 5 percent in the Midwest, from 5.1 percent in May, and 5.3 percent in the South, from 5.4 percent. Unemployment in the Northeast declined to 5.4 percent from 5.6 percent. Only the West reported an unchanged rate, at 5.8 percent.
Toshiba CEO Resigns Following Cover-Up Scandal
Toshiba CEO Hisao Tanaka and eight other executives resigned Tuesday to take responsibility for doctored books that inflated profits at the Japanese technology manufacturer by 152 billion yen ($1.2 billion) over several years, the Associated Press reports. Toshiba Corp. acknowledged a systematic cover-up, which began in 2008. Subordinates faked results after failing to meet earnings targets for the various parts of the financially struggling company's sprawling business, including computer chips and personal computers.
LifeLock Drop 49 Percent Following FTC Action
Tempe, Ariz.-based Lifelock sells a variety of services to help customers protect their personal information. But who will protect Lifelock from the Federal Trade Commission? On Tuesday, the FTC announced that LifeLock violated a 2010 settlement with the agency and 35 state attorneys general by continutng to make deceptive claims about its services, and by failing to take steps required to protect its users’ data. The agency asked the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona to impose an order requiring LifeLock to provide full redress to all consumers affected by the company’s order violations. Following the announcement, LifeLock shares plummeted 49 percent.


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BENTONVILLE, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) — Walmart will be extending hours beginning on November 14.
According to Walmart’s Twitter page, Walmart stores and Neighborhood Markets will be open from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. until further notice. The hours will give customers more time to shop and help disperse traffic throughout the day, according to the post.
Stores with more reduced hours will keep current hours of operation.
Walmart will continue hosting a special shopping hour every Tuesday for customers age 60 and older and those most vulnerable. This starts one hour before the store opens.
Pharmacies and vision centers are also open during this time.
- High court blocks NY virus limits on houses of worship
- NEW South Franklin Catfish Festival set for May 1, 2021, in Wisner
- 19 Thanksgiving foods that are not safe for your pets
- Dr. Anthony Fauci, essential workers among list of Time Person of the Year reader poll nominees
- Michael Jordan donates $2M from ‘The Last Dance’ proceeds to Feeding America


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Santo Domingo.- The President of the Round Table of Commonwealth Countries in the Dominican Republic on Monday said it’s preferable that the Industry and Commerce Ministry coordinate and direct international trade negotiations.
Fernando Gonzalez Nicolas said by Industry and Commerce’s very nature is closer to business and industry, which at the end of the day are the ones that free trade agreements benefit or jeopardize.
“Today we discuss where to concentrate trade negotiations, since the Foreign Affairs Ministry is responsible for the process of negotiation and Industry is responsible for managing the agreement,” the business leader said.
Gonzalez Nicolas noted that in Industry and Commerce Ministry’s accumulated experience in managing free trade agreements can be well capitalized to improve negotiations toward new agreements. “That’s the reason why Industry and Commerce Ministry should handle negotiations and agreements.”
He urged the continued training of negotiators and prioritizing caution and planning in negotiated future agreements so that free trade pacts ensure the creation of new export opportunities and sources of raw material but never hurting the local productive sector.
He proposed that the new authorities consider the success in his view small countries have achieved have, becoming economic powers by daring to bolster their exports and attracting foreign investment.
Citing small Commonwealth countries such as Singapore and Mauritius, Gonzalez Nicolas called their respective investment and promotion institutes strong and efficient. “They’ve contributed decisively to develop their economies and improve their populations’ welfare.”


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Desjardins Capital supports an innovative Saguenay business
A3 Surfaces recently received a significant injection of funds from Desjardins Capital to commercialize a one‑of‑a‑kind technology. This Chicoutimi-based business has developed an anodized aluminum that makes surfaces antimicrobial. Their product, which was patented in 2020, reduces the risk of bacterial transmission via metallic surfaces.
Thanks to this new funding, A3 Surfaces will be able to continue their certification process for North America and strengthen their commercialization structure in Europe. The market for their product is huge and includes healthcare, construction and public transit sectors.
"Desjardins Capital is proud to support this innovation from a Quebec business that's also bolstering the reputation of the Saguenay–Lac-St-Jean region in the aluminum industry," said Jean-Yves Bourgeois, Executive Vice-President, Business Services at Desjardins Group. "The $1 million of financial support we're providing will help A3 Surfaces develop their self-cleaning aluminum technology to make surfaces safer. That's more important than ever in a pandemic."
On top of this investment by Desjardins Capital, Desjardins Group as a whole has supported this company from the beginning with business and personal services.


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The African Business Travel Association (ABTA) has announced its new Familiaristion trip initiative. Known as the Corporate Travel thought leaders within the African continent, ABTA’s new initiative aims to assist travel professionals to elevate their level of expertise by gaining authentic ‘on the ground’ knowledge of the destinations that they are sending travellers to.
Jeanette Moloto, ABTA’s Regional Manager: Africa, said “We are really excited to be creating this platform where we are able to inform and connect travel buyers within the African Continent, thereby giving them a higher level of travel management expertise.”
The first two fam trips are for Travel Buyers only and will take place to Lagos, Nigeria from 8-12 March and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia from 22-26 March.
Fam Trips will see South African travel buyers exploring the city, experiencing new travel products and services, meeting potential new travel partners and networking with local industry professionals at ABTA’s Lagos Forum during the trip, whilst also gaining a keener understandng of the regions’ corporate travel trends, challenges and opportunities.
ABTA’s decision to kick off this initiative in Lagos comes as no surprise given Nigeria’s economic growth and the focus on this region by many South African organisations who currently operate in Nigeria or plan to be doing so soon. Local travel brands in Lagos and Addis Ababa have also extended fantastic support and Fam Trip delegates will be hosted by hotels including The Wheatbaker, Bon Hotels Ikeja and the new Marriott Renaissance property. Ethiopian Airlines will be the carrier of choice for the duration of the fam trips. Additional fam trips are being planned for Travel Management Companies (TMC’s) later in 2017.


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The 2015 Goodwood Festival of Speed sees Mazda celebrating its Challenger Spirit with both the racing legends of its illustrious sporting past and the stylish cars of its current range. With the launch of three all-new models, 2015 is one of the busiest and most important years in Mazda’s history.
Throughout its history Mazda has defied convention with its innovative approach to car making. From being the only Japanese manufacturer to win the Le Mans 24 Hour Race, to its development of the rotary engine and its reinvention of the affordable sports car with the MX-5 – Mazda has never stopped challenging in its quest to produce great cars, something that’s highlighted today by Mazda’s innovative SKYACTIV technology.
All-new Mazda models
With the launch of the all-new Mazda2, the introduction of the all-new Mazda CX-3 small SUV and the debut of the all-new MkIV MX-5, Mazda’s stylish, spirited and innovative range will take a starring role at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Moving Motor Show.
In line with the ‘Flat-out and Fearless: Racing on the Edge’ theme of this year’s Festival of Speed, enthusiasts will be treated to the unique sound of Mazda’s 1991 Le Mans winning 787B Group C car and many other classics from Mazda’s competition past.
With a proud and long heritage in racing, Mazda has since its first foray into international competition in 1968 demonstrated its engineering challenger spirit through the development of the rotary engine. Outright victories in the Le Mans 24 Hours and Spa 24 Hours, plus numerous class wins in touring car and sports car racing have been taken by rotary powered Mazdas.
A winner in the World Rally Championship with the Group A Mazda 323, Mazda’s success extends to the piston engine, too, while today, the LMP2 SKYACTIV diesel prototype currently racing in the Tudor Sports Car Series in the United States highlights Mazda’s continued challenge convention approach in motorsport.
This spirit is also found in Mazda’s road cars both old and new. Mazda are the only manufacturer to perfect the rotary engine, the only manufacturer to use the Millar Cycle engine, and the manufacturer who developed the world’s smallest V6 engine.
Mazda are also the manufacturer who defied convention by bringing an affordable two seat sports car to market when all other manufacturers were deserting that market segment, and today the MX-5 remains the world’s best -selling two-seater sports car, something that will be celebrated at the Goodwood Festival of Speed with the UK debut of the all-new MkIV MX-5.
Music and art
Mazda will also bring live music to Goodwood’s Stable Yard with a unique MX-5 themed experience area that’s open to everyone attending the Festival of Speed and Moving Motor Show. And to celebrate the striking KODO: Soul of Motion design on the all-new Mazda MX-5, Mazda is inviting artists and designers from across the UK to create a show-stopping car wrap design.
The chosen design will be displayed on an MX-5 in the Stable Yard throughout the Goodwood weekend so click on the link above to enter and get designing.


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New York Fashion Week to SwampButt Underwear: Drop Dead
Style Magazine Newswire | 9/11/2018, 2:07 p.m.
Lake Jackson, Texas – September 11, 2018 – SwampButt Underwear (www.swampbutt.com) owners, enthusiasts, hangers-on and even casual acquaintances were again stunned to learn that the company was not invited to participate in New York Fashion Week 2018 for the second year in a row. The 2018 NYFW takes place this week in New York City. According to on line sources the NYFW 2018 features “bold designs.” The NYFW also features “celebrities” with IMDB entries as thin as most of the models. “This is the greatest injustice in the history of everything,” said corporate spokesperson Nick Heraldson. When told that the week for men was in June and not September, Heraldson replied, “Really?”
Days Weeks Months Years
His inability to work a calendar notwithstanding, Heraldson and other SwampButt Underwear leaders were excited about the chance to participate NYFW. “We’re not really sure what goes on there, but it’s all the rage among the vapid societal climbers on social media that my niece follows,” said Heraldson. “So, we figured why not? But we’re in the underwear business and apparently the folks at New York Fashion Week don’t want to be associated with us.” When again reminded that this week was devoted to women’s’ fashion, he replied; “How come no one told me?”
But This Week Is For Women!
Heraldson said despite the fact his company makes men’s performance underwear to fight the grim affliction of a “sweaty butt,” he thinks SwampButt Underwear (www.swampbutt.com) would fit right in during the festivities. “At least three of our board members have seen some of The Devil Wears Prada and I once had a mixtape with David Bowie’s Fashion on it,” said Heraldson. “And the New York Fashion Week Wikipedia page is pretty informative, so I’d say we’re pretty knowledgeable overall, our inability to distinguish the men’s and women’s week does not diminish that knowledgeableness.”
The photos already published from the events signal that a lot of those people wished they had some underwear to wick away excess moisture. After all, SwampButt Underwear is underwear for hot people. Whether on hot runway or duking it out with a rival, SwampButt Underwear is the perfect complement to any designer fare. When told women at NYFW 2018 would not wear underwear made for men, Heraldson stated emphatically, “I don’t see why not. Most of the women I know can and do wear SwampButt Underwear performance brand for men. What the hell?”
Fashion – Turn to the Right
The SwampButt Underwear research and development department recently confirmed that almost everyone has a butt. And a lot of those same people with butts wear underwear. And on hot days those butts sweat. “SwampButt Underwear can help you with uncomfortable sweat,” said Heraldson. “We can keep you from being seen for all the wrong reasons unless that’s what you’re going for. We’re not really sure how public relations for fashionistas or calendars work. But we are willing to learn. So let’s do lunch.”
SwampButt Underwear is specifically formulated to help fight butt sweat commonly known as swampbutt. The specially formulated undies work through the magic of wicking, which is the way moisture travels across a large area of fabric. The further the sweat disperses across the surface the faster it can evaporate. And that’s pretty handy on a hot day.


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There was a fire Tuesday at the Unilever ice cream plant in Covington, TN, that forced multiple fire departments to respond, officials said.
As part of the company’s safety plan, employees evacuated from the plant Tuesday afternoon and no one suffered an injury.
There was concern about flammable chemicals at the plant, but they did not catch fire.
An air handling unit on the roof did catch fire, spreading to roofing materials. But fire crews from several surrounding communities had the fire under control in a little more than an hour.
“We can confirm everyone is safe and evacuated,” said a Unilever spokesperson Tuesday afternoon. “We are looking into the situation. We have no further details at this time.”
The Covington plant was billed as the world’s largest ice cream plant.
Unilever expanded its Covington plant in 2013 and added 428 jobs over a four-year time frame. As a part of the expansion, the invest $110 million in the facility.
The plant specializes in the production of ice cream and frozen novelty items for brands such as Breyers, Fruttare, Good Humor, Klondike and Popsicle.