text:
Manchester, NH — Comcast is increasing download speeds for some of its most popular Xfinity Internet packages for residential customers in the Northeast Division, which includes 14 northeastern states from Maine through Virginia and the District of Columbia. Download speeds for the Northeast
Division’s most popular speed tiers— including Performance, Performance Pro and Blast!— have increased by as much as 60-plus percent, helping to power the rapidly-growing number of connected devices in consumers’ homes. The speed boosts include:
•Extreme tier download speeds increasing 50 percent from 400 Mbps to 600 Mbps
•Blast tier download speeds increasing 20 percent from 250 Mbps to 300 Mbps
•Performance Pro tier download speeds increasing more than 30 percent from 150 Mbps to 200 Mbps
•Performance tier download speeds increasing more than 60 percent from 60 Mbps to 100 Mbps
•Performance Starter tier download speeds increasing more than 60 percent from 15 Mbps to 25 Mbps
About 85 percent of Internet customers in the Northeast Division subscribe to one of these tiers and will have their download speeds upgraded, whether they purchase Xfinity Internet on a stand-alone basis or as part of a package.
Last year, Comcast boosted download speeds for Blast!, Performance Pro, Performance and Performance Starter customers, and today’s speed increases are just the latest in a series of moves by Comcast to support growing consumer demand for super-fast, high-capacity
Internet connections that can handle not only the explosion of connected devices that are powering the smart home, but also offer a single platform to manage and protect them.
“Modern homes require fast Internet, wall-to-wall Wi-Fi, and a way to manage the connectivity needs of the entire household,” said Kevin Casey, President of Comcast’s Northeast Division. “Faster speeds, combined with Xfinity xFi’s advanced Wi-Fi coverage and controls, give our Internet customers an unmatched experience along with the tools to manage an expanding number of connected devices, apps and constantly-evolving technologies.”
Xfinity xFi is Comcast’s differentiated Internet experience, giving customers more speed, the best in-home Wi-Fi coverage, and easy-to-use controls over their home Wi-Fi networks. With xFi, customers also can manage their children’s screen time and pause Internet access, as well as protect all their IoT and home automation devices from unwelcome security threats. XFi customers receive powerful all-in-one modems and Wi-Fi routers, that, when combined with xFi pods, can extend Wi-Fi coverage to hard-to-reach rooms of virtually any home. Additionally, xFi customers receive complimentary access to the nation’s largest network of Wi-Fi hotspots and five lines of Xfinity Mobile service to extend their Internet experience outside of the home.
Over the next several weeks, customers who lease a gateway will automatically receive the new speeds. Other customers who purchased their own modems should check online to see if they need a new device that is capable of handling these faster speeds.


text:
- American Media, Inc., former owner of the National Enquirer and current owner of at least a dozen celebrity and fitness magazines, laid off at least 23 editorial staffers, according to former employees and documents obtained by Business Insider.
- The cuts come a week after the entire editorial staff of American Media property Men's Journal was cut.
- American Media became notorious for its ownership of National Enquirer, which is sold in 2019 following a series of major scandals.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
American Media, Inc., owner of at least a dozen fitness and celebrity magazines, continued a wave of layoffs Monday, cutting at least 23 positions, according to former employees and documents obtained by Business Insider.
Editorial staffers at nearly all levels were affected, including associate editors, digital writers, an executive editor, a video producer and reporter, and other staff. The decision was part of a larger reorganization of the company's Celebrity Digital Group, which includes publications US Weekly, InTouch, OK! Magazine, Closer, and Star. One source said digital teams for OK! and Star magazines were particularly hard hit.
The layoffs come a week after The New York Post reported that American Media publication Men's Journal was laying off its entire editorial staff, estimated to be around 20 employees, and moving to Carlsbad, California. Weeks earlier, in February, American Media sold off three fitness publications and the Mr. Olympia bodybuilding competition for $70 million, according to The Post.
Layoffs have continued to plague the media industry, with many print publications struggling to adjust to the digital age, and with many digital publications failing to reach profitability after years of experimentation under venture capital.
In 2019, a wave of layoffs hit the industry, with Business Insider tallying at least 7,800 jobs lost.
In a statement provided to Business Insider, a representative for American Media said, "Like many in the industry who have been negatively impacted by algorithm changes at Google, Facebook and others, American Media is right-sizing the cost base to the revenue base with strategic decisions that improve efficiencies and profitability."

domain: news


text:
"This move should make patent trolls think twice before sending out another round of mass demand letters attempting to extort money from business owners.
“While the bill is a step in the right direction, NRF will continue to work to refine the measure to address the grievances of Main Street merchants, online retailers and others, who suffer at the hands of patent trolls’ frivolous claims and costly lawsuits.
"We would like to see a patent reform bill that requires further transparency in demand letters, effective customer stay language to protect end users, and an expansion of the program that currently allows financial services patents to be reviewed without going to court so that all industries can benefit.
“The Innovation Act received broad bipartisanship support in committee because it attempts to strike the proper balance of the rights of inventors and customers while protecting and strengthening America’s patent system. NRF remains encouraged by the progress on patent reform, and will continue our efforts to ensure that legislation addresses the concerns of retailers.”
NRF is the world’s largest retail trade association, representing discount and department stores, home goods and specialty stores, Main Street merchants, grocers, wholesalers, chain restaurants and Internet retailers from the United States and more than 45 countries.
Retail is the nation’s largest private sector employer, supporting one in four U.S. jobs – 42 million working Americans. Contributing $2.5 trillion to annual GDP, retail is a daily barometer for the nation’s economy.
National Retail Federation
Apparel/Garments | On 24th Feb 2017
SigNatureT DNA is forensic molecular tag by Applied DNA Sciences...
Textiles | On 24th Feb 2017
The value of textile and garment exports made by Pakistan decreased...
Fashion | On 24th Feb 2017
Google has partnered with British fashion designer Christian Cowan to ...
Fashion industry likely to remain labour-intensive in coming years
Hindoostan Innovation Centre
‘Modern technical textile is an indispensable tool for science and...
Maa Tex Speciality
‘We suggest reducing dosage of sizing chemicals to reduce sludge...
Sidwin Fabric is a manufacturer and exporter of polypropylene textiles and ...
The Indian market has huge potential in technical textiles, and by far,...
Urs Stalder, CEO, Sanitized AG, talks about the increasing use of hygiene...
Label Ritu Kumar
‘Classics will return’ "There are a lot of people wearing western clothes ...
Bridal couture created with rich Indian heritage, exquisite craftsmanship...
She grew up in the walled city of Old Delhi, completed her studies, and...


text:
Weetabix top marketer Bill Humes has suddenly left the cereal company without a job to go to. His departure coincides with the arrival of new chief executive Ken Wood, the former managing director of MÃÂ¼ller Dairies, who joined the company last month.
It is understood that Humes’ role as commercial director has been scrapped as part of a review of the marketing department. The brand’s head of marketing, Tony Corp, and head of international brand development, Andy Harris, have not been affected by the changes. They will now report to Wood.
It is not known if there will be further restructuring in the marketing department. Humes was commercial director at Weetabix for about five years and was previously sales director at rival company Kellogg. He left Kellogg without a job to go to in 1998.
Weetabix is the best-selling cereal ahead of Kellogg’s Corn Flakes, although the Kellogg’s brand has the biggest market share overall.
Changes have been expected at the cereal company, which also owns Alpen, since it was acquired by Texan venture capitalist Hicks, Muse, Tate & Furst late last year. The venture capitalist also owns Premier Foods, but it is not thought that there are any plans to assimilate the two food companies.


text:
Online and mobile restaurant discovery service Zomato
announced the launch of its Order app for Windows Phone
platform, along with the news that the service is being extended to 14 cities in India.
Zomato Order, which branched out its delivery service into a separate app in May this year, enables people to order food online from over 10,000 restaurant partners. The app is already available
via the Windows Store. The 14 Indian cities covered are Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Chennai, Pune, Kolkata, Lucknow, Ahmedabad, Indore, Chandigarh, Kochi, Jaipur, and Coimbatore. The service had been piloted in Delhi/NCR region in April this year, charging commissions between 7.5 to 15 percent from the restaurants based on ratings.
: Why Restaurants Are Looking to Sidestep Aggregators Like Foodpanda and Zomato Order
The app lets users look at digitised menus of restaurants, search by name and location, track order status, and make quick re-orders. Additional features such as online payments, search filters, and promo codes will be pushed out in the next update, an emailed statement said.
"For restaurant businesses, we're focused on building products that connect restaurants to consumers and we believe that this feature is a key building block for the seamless, one-stop experience", said Deepinder Goyal, Founder and CEO, Zomato.
Founded in 2008, Zomato has raised $163.8 million in 7 funding rounds. The service lists over a million restaurants across 22 countries, and has made a series of high-profile acquisitions including Urbanspoon, Mekanist, and NexTable this year.
Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.


text:
Security firm Zscaler discovered a malicious campaign based on a new strain of the Spy Banker banking malware.
FireEye says it has discovered a type of malware designed to steal payment card data that can be very difficult to detect and remove.
The cybercriminal group behind the malware, which FireEye nicknamed "FIN1," is suspected of being in Russia and has been known to target financial institutions.
The malware, which FIN1 calls Nemesis, infected an organization that processes financial transactions, which FireEye did not identify.
A criminal named Hacker Buba after asking UAE bank for $3 million ransom started leaking customer data online.
A new strain of PoS malware dubbed Pro PoS Solution is available for sale in the underground forums.
ModPOS is new POS malware discovered in systems of US retailers after the rush of Thanksgiving and experts speculate it is the most complex POS malware ever seen.
The biggest financial institutions in the U.S. are under renewed pressure to mandate the use of PINs with new chip-based payment cards.
Central Shop is a web portal dedicated to the sale of stolen credit card data that captures the attention of the experts due to its amazing interface.


text:
Face it, the Nintendo Wii is a souped-up GameCube. It's not HD. And that's okay! The console has been incredibly successful. But nothing lasts forever, not even the Nintendo Wii.
One day, Nintendo will release a new console. "If we have an opportunity to make a new console, it will probably support HD because it is now common throughout the world," Nintendo president Satoru Iwata told website VentureBeat. "However, as far as the Wii is concerned, we have not found a significant reason to make it HD-compatible at this time."
We take it that it-looks-better-on-our-TVs doesn't count?
"What is the significant meaning to the users?" Iwata continued. (See above.) "I don't think we should do it unless we find that reason." (See above.) "If we decide for other reasons to make new hardware, then HD is one of the things we would naturally add." (Thank you.)
When can we expect new hardware? When Nintendo developers start asking for new hardware so they can "developer meaningful surprises to the users." Iwata even gives a launch window — a vague one: "As for timing, it may be three years from now, five years from now or eight years from now."
Let's see, Japanese analog broadcasts stop in 2011, so we're betting sometime before then.


text:
The British Association of Dermatologists (ABD) blamed the surge in cases of skin cancer on people taking more holidays to hot countries and tanning as a "fashion statement".
ABD spokesman Johnathon Major said more needed to be done to communicate the risks of "unmediated sun exposure".
"As holidays to sunny locations become cheaper and tanned skin remains a desirable fashion statement, we have seen an inevitable increase in skin cancer incidence rates and the associated health and financial burden they place on the nation.
More top news
Weather conditions remain wet and windy through the weekend
US-backed Iraqi forces pushed deeper into western Mosul as they continue their fight to re-capture the city from so-called Islamic State.
British director David Mackenzie warned against the "politicising" of award ceremonies ahead of Sunday's event.


text:
The iPhone 6 is an incredible device capable of wonderful feats, like shooting 4K video as long as you have the right app. Sadly you can't watch 4K video on the iPhone 6, right? It turns out that's not actually the case. The iPhone 6 and 6 Plus can play 4K video right out of the box thanks to its A8 chip.
The discovery was made by the developers of WALTR, a great Mac app that allows users to quickly upload video files to their iPhone which aren't supported by iTunes, such as FLAC and MKV files. While testing the app developers found it is possible to playback 4K videos on the iPhone 6. Even if Apple hasn't announced it, the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus are ready to play 4K videos.
Given the company's recent launch of the Retina 5K iMac it's obvious Apple has its sights on an even more high-definition future. We can't wait to see if Apple plans on unlocking the ability to view 4K footage on the device for users in the future. Although an iPhone 6 with 16GB won't store much 4K video, it's quite possible that a future Apple TV using the A8 chip would handle footage flawlessly.
In the mean time the WALTR app just earned itself a big new selling point for video fans. Thanks to contributor Brett Terpstra for the tip.
The company has posted a video with proof, which you can view here.
You can view a video from WALTR below.


text:
From Ocean Drive to the ocean, Miami Beach Gay Pride 2010 is setting sail with the first-ever “Pride Celebration at Sea,” Monday, April 19 through Friday, April 23, 2010 on Norwegian Sky. With the 2nd Annual Pride Parade and Expo set for Saturday, April 17, along South Beach’s famed Ocean Drive, this cruise is an ideal way to extend the magic of Pride weekend for another five days at sea. The event also represents an opportunity to “cruise for a cause” as a portion of the tickets sold will be donated back to Miami Beach Gay Pride.
“More than 20,000 people came together for our first Pride celebration in 2009,” says Babak Movahedi, president of Miami Beach Gay Pride’s Board of Directors. “The addition of this cruise is an exciting continuation of the Pride festivities, extending the great feeling of PRIDE to a community at sea.”
The Pride Cruise is a four-night/five-day voyage aboard the luxurious Norwegian Sky with stops in Grand Bahama, Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay. The cruise is produced by Source Events, the premier travel company specializing in adventurous travel for the LGBT community and their friends.
“Miami is the cruise capital of the world, and we can’t think of a better place to host the first-ever official Pride Cruise,” says Craig Smith, president of Source Events. “In addition to the sparkling Caribbean and exciting ports-of-call, the Pride Cruise will feature special parties, a tea dance, entertainment, guest speakers, exclusive shore excursions and even a gay film night at sea.”
Norwegian’s signature “Freestyle Cruising” aboard Norwegian Sky features a choice of six restaurants, ten bars and lounges, a full-service Body Waves Spa, fitness center, two glimmering pools, five hot tubs, a basketball/volleyball court, golf driving net, Internet cafe and a jogging/walking track. Nightlife includes the Sky Club Casino, Stardust Theater, White Hot Party, karaoke, or just chilling out with old and new friends, admiring the view from Norwegian Sky’s beautiful glass-domed atrium.
Coming Soon! Watch for details on how to win a trip for two to Miami Beach Gay Pride, including round-trip airfare from anywhere within the continental U.S., three nights at The Shore Club and a stateroom aboard Norwegian Sky to sail away with Pride.
Photo by: Felix Becerra
Prices for the Pride Cruise begin at just $329 per person, based on double occupancy. For reservations or more information, visit www.SourceEvents.com/pridecruise or call (888) 768-7238. For details on Miami Beach Gay Pride 2010 and related events, visit www.MiamiBeachGayPride.com.


text:
By Elizabeth Lopez
When I launched a beauty care line a few years ago here in Washington State, I made a commitment not to allow our products or ingredients to be subjected to further animal testing. . I wanted the brand to be based on the principle that society should evolve cosmetic testing towards more human-relevant methods and a cruelty-free future. Right now in the US Congress there is a chance to take a big step in that direction with the passage of the Humane Cosmetics Act.
The simple premise of the HCA involves a ban on testing new cosmetics on animals in the United States as well as the sale of cosmetics that have recently been tested on animals in other countries. In addition, the bill would place limits on a manufacturer’s ability to use information from animal testing performed to meet safety requirements for ingredients also used in non-cosmetic products. It has substantial bipartisan support in the House and Senate, as well as the backing of the Personal Care Products Council, the national trade association representing 90% of the cosmetics industry.
It’s true, regulated stakeholders support the law. For decades cosmetic companies have been able to create high quality products using the thousands of ingredients available with a history of safe use. For new ingredients, cosmetics companies have also been at the forefront of developing non-animal methods, and these technologies provide better scientific information, grounded in human biology, and more accurate to predict human safety. Additionally, these methods are often less expensive and can be completed more quickly than traditional animal testing.
Either way, a nationwide ban on animal testing for cosmetics would align the United States with more than 40 countries and nine states that have passed laws to end or limit it. In some ways, it’s about staying competitive with other markets. But there is also a moral question. None of us should be happy with the routine use of animals to test such products, and we shouldn’t miss such an opportunity to show them some mercy.
With that in mind, millions of Americans, including many Washington residents, are ready to support an end to testing they consider unnecessary and inhumane, and it would be nice if Senator Patty Murray joined Senator Maria Cantwell as HCA co-sponsor. .
But Senator Murray can do more, as chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions. Recently, despite strong pressure from animal welfare advocates, the Committee refused to include HCA provisions in the FDA Safety and Landmark Advancements Act, landmark legislation that involves the five-year reauthorization of health care fee programs. FDA use for prescription drugs and biologics. , medical devices, generics and biosimilars. The case for inclusion was strong because the legislation also grants the FDA new cosmetic oversight.
In a more concerning development, the committee opted to include language that could prevent states from passing their own laws regarding the manufacture or sale of animal-tested cosmetics. It is bad policy.
Senator Murray is uniquely positioned to push for the inclusion of the HCA in any final Senate bill or push to change the highly problematic preemptive language of the current package. Whatever the path to passing a ban on cosmetic animal testing, Senator Murray has a central role to play. The same goes for Rep. Cathy McMorris-Rodgers, who, as a top member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, is also well-positioned to guide the HCA through the 117th Congress.
Elizabeth Lopez is the CEO and Founder of Rue Santé, a mindfulness-based beauty care company committed to cruelty-free and eco-friendly values.


text:
It’s been a challenging two years for the food retail sector, having to face the challenges of the pandemic, upsizing their delivery capabilities, as well as wrestling with the complex nature of supply chain disruption due to staff shortages, higher costs as well as product unavailability.
Not only that we’ve seen Aldi and Lidl continue to grow their own market share, at the expense of the big four of Tesco, Sainsbury, Asda and Morrisons. We also shouldn’t forget the contributions of the likes of Waitrose, Iceland and the Co-op to the overall picture.
In terms of share price performance 2021 has been better for both Sainsbury's and Tesco shareholders, with Tesco paying a 50.93p special dividend in February, as well as consolidating its share capital.
The sector has also been boosted by M&A speculation having seen Asda acquired by the Issa brothers for £6.8bn at the end of last year. This was followed this year by Morrisons which fell into private hands a couple of months ago after a lengthy bidding war, as it was acquired by private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier and Rice, for the sum of £10bn, and 287p, which was a 61% premium to the share price, from when the bidding war started. Old Tesco boss Sir Terry Leahy was amongst one of the advisors on the CD&R bid.
The £10bn price tag did raise a few eyebrows given that Morrison has the smallest market share of the big four supermarkets at 10%, down from 10.3% a year ago, according to Kantar World Panel.
If we look at the share price performance of Tesco and Sainsbury this year has been decent, although it’s also been long overdue given how poorly the both have performed since 2018, while they have also had to contend with a new player in the mix in the form of Marks & Spencer and their tie up with Ocado which has started to reap a significant dividend.
Sainsbury's share price performance vs M&S, Tesco (2021)
Source: CMC Markets
This year we’ve seen Sainsbury's share price hit levels last seen back in 2018, when its ill-fated Asda deal was first mooted, on reports that private equity firm Apollo was having a look at the business, as it became apparent that they were likely to miss out on the Morrisons deal. This is a significant turnaround from March 2020 when the Sainsburys share price hit a record low.
Over the years there has been intermittent interest in from other external parties who appear to see value in the business, but who have been reluctant to take it further, but who already have sizeable stakes already.
Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky is one such shareholder, increasing his stake in the business over the past few months to just shy of 10%. A few years ago, there was also speculation that the Qatar Investment Authority, might make a bid, and who are currently the biggest institutional shareholder with a 15% holding, although this is down from its peaks of just over 20% a few years ago, with Kretinsky the main buyer. The Qataris were also supportive of the failed Asda deal, and might welcome a reasonable bid from an interested third party.
Ultimately any prospective buyer will need to convince that they have a credible plan to improve the fortunes of the business. That could prove a significant hurdle to overcome, although everyone has their price, and it remains to be seen what that price might be. Given Sainsbury’s size relative to Morrison it certainly won’t be cheap, with any potential deal set to come under the same gaze of the Competition and Markets Authority that blocked the Asda deal.
Since those August peaks the shares have slowly slipped back, and while business has remained good investors seem unconvinced despite a decent set of H1 numbers back in November.
This saw grocery sales rise 0.8% versus a year ago, when comparatives were extremely tough due to the surge in sales due to lockdowns. Compared to 2019, the numbers showed a 9.1% rise.
As far as general merchandise is concerned the picture was less positive, with sales down 5.8%, but were still higher than the same period in 2019 by 1.1%.
Digital sales remained strong coming in at £5.8bn with underlying profit before tax of £371m, a rise of 23% on last year and more importantly the business remains on course for full year underlying profit before tax of £660m.
CEO Simon Roberts was slightly more cautious about the challenges facing the business going forward, pointing to the challenges over logistics, but confident that the measures were in place to navigate their way through them for best possible Christmas. Nonetheless Sainsbury has lost market share from a year ago, slipping back to 15.4%, from 15.7%, while Tesco has seen its market share rise from 27%, to 27.7%
M&S have been by far the best performer, although it can’t really be considered a food retailer in the real sense of the word due to its large general merchandise division, however they are probably more alike now given that both Tesco and Sainsbury’s have much larger general retail and clothing ranges. It has been notable that Sainsbury’s TU range has grown quite considerably from where it was a few years ago.
In terms of market share, according to Kantar Worldpanel, Tesco still remains the market leader at 27.7%. While Tesco has remained steady, in terms of market share, it is noticeable that both Sainsbury and Asda are lower than a year ago, while Morrison has consolidated its fourth position at 10%.
Aldi has remained in fifth place but has managed to gain ground this year, rising from 7.4% to 7.9%, while Lidl has improved from 6.1%, to 6.4% as both budget retailers ramped up their store opening programs.
In terms of overall sales all supermarkets have seen their sales increase this year, with frozen food in particular being a significant outperformer, with Iceland especially reaping a benefit, even though it only accounts for 2.3% of the UK grocery market.
Starting with Tesco, the UK’s number one supermarket has been able to consolidate its reputation as the UK’s biggest supermarket by a continued focus on costs, as well as scale.
Last year it announced the disposal of its Thai and Malaysia businesses for $10.8bn with £5bn of that paid out to shareholders by way of a special dividend in February. The company also announced the sale of its Polish business for £165m.
Despite rising costs and the tough comparatives from 2020 when a lot of people shopped online the company’s H1 update showed a 2.6% rise in group sales excluding fuel to £27.3bn, up from £26.7bn the year before.
Operating profits also rose by over 40% to £1.46bn, while profits before tax rose to £1.1bn, from £551m from the same period a year ago.
This is a simply stunning performance, which saw the supermarket raise its full year profit expectations kicking the shares sharply higher, although they still remain well below the levels they were pre-pandemic, though most of that is down to the special dividend payment effect.
Retail free cash flow, which fell to £ 797m in 2020, is expected to rise to between £1.4bn to £1.8bn by the end of this financial year, and continue to do so year on year, while expectations for adjusted retail operating profits were revised up to between £2.5bn and £2.6bn, even with an expectation that current sales levels fall away.
There were some weak spots, namely in the Ireland operation which saw sales drop by 2.6%, while its Booker operation showed a big improvement of 11% as restaurants, cinemas and bars reopened.
Tesco Bank also returned to profit contributing £433m in revenue and £72m in operating profits.
Over the last 12 months, the sheer scale and diversity of the Tesco business, now under the stewardship of CEO Ken Murphy, has meant that the business has cemented its position as the UK’s number one supermarket. Even the rise of the likes of Aldi and Lidl haven’t been enough to eat into its position as the market leader, with Tesco’s Aldi Price Match proposition taking the fight directly to the new kid on the block.
When looking at Ocado, we have to look at in the context of how M&S have performed, and from the respective performance of the share prices, M&S has come out this year very much as the clear winner.
After a great 2020 Ocado has seen a reversal of fortunes this year, one of the worst performers year to date on the FTSE 100, with the jury still out as to whether it can be viewed as a retailer, or a technology provider. Despite the share price weakness this year, it still has a higher valuation than both Sainsbury's and M&S combined.
Last year Ocado penned a £750m deal with M&S to deliver an initial range of 4,400 food products, along with 700 from the M&S lifestyle range from the beginning of September 2020.
We have seen the benefits of this deal in its quarterly revenue numbers, however the progress on last year has still been disappointing.
The most recent Q4 numbers saw revenues fall from last year, coming in at £547.8m, a fall of 3.9% from a year ago, which when added to the £1.8bn generated in the previous 9 months puts total revenues for 2021 at £2.36bn, a modest increase to last year’s £2.3bn.
This is despite an overall capacity improvement with average orders per week higher, however average basket size has declined falling 12% to £118, as more people go out to shop than stay at home.
Ocado has had to deal with labour shortages holding back sales growth, along with higher costs, which management said would add another £5m to its cost base. In terms of the outlook for 2022, the retailer is confident about its sales growth prospects, saying it expects it to be at the upper end of 10% to 15% of its existing guidance.
There has been talk in recent weeks that Ocado could find itself the target of a takeover bid from M&S, although this would only apply to its retail business, which it already owns a 50% stake in. This would make sense for M&S which has seen a huge turnaround in its fortunes this year, with sales through Ocado accounting for 27% of total sales.
This would allow Ocado to focus on its logistics business which is where the real growth opportunities lie, and which saw it acquiring Kindred Systems and Haddington Dynamics, two companies that specialise in robotics manufacture for a combined $287m, in 2020 as it looks to streamline the picking functions in its automated fulfilment centres, in order to improve efficiencies.
Ocado takeover stories are certainly nothing new, however this could be one to keep an eye on for 2022.
2021 has been a much better year profits wise for food retail, and with all the chatter about takeovers and acquisitions 2022, could well see further changes in a sector, which is grossly undervalued.
Morrisons and Asda have already gone into private hands, with the wider question being whether we see further interest in Sainsburys and whether someone might even feel compelled to have a nibble around Tesco.
Supply chain considerations notwithstanding costs are likely to be a key consideration for all retailers in 2022, along with increasing pressure on margins, against a backdrop of rising inflation.


text:
Keeping Tabbs: A DIY Deals Platform With No Rev Split
Currently, the main dichotomy in the world of geo-social commerce is between deals services and check-in companies. This split has, thus far, proven a smashing success for powerhouses like Groupon and quirky pioneers such as Foursquare. They ask users to either be reactive purchasers laying in wait for the next killer discount, or active participants broadcasting their whereabouts.
One major gripe about daily deals services, however, is that their deep discounts and revenue split ultimately make the offers a bad deal for participating businesses. And with the check-in services, others suggest that customers have grown weary of the whole phenomenon of broadcasting their place — or simply don’t care about the gaming thread that runs through it.
Several new players have sprung up with different twists by marrying social and commercial needs with location: Zaarly and Localmind are a couple of the latest — not to mention a certain notable company with over 600 million members that just announced plans to get in the game.
One Chicago-based entrepreneur has his own thoughts on the paradigm and is expressing them by ginning up a competing service — one that doesn’t take a cut of the retailers’ action. In the shadow of Groupon (also Windy City-based), George Tung has unveiled the freshly minted Tabblr (I know, another missing-vowel site) in an effort to find a better profit balance for local merchants who are trying to draw in potential consumers. The site is a platform where mobile users can quickly find out what’s going on around them, and its back-end allows small business owners to initiate and manage their own promotions and daily deals.
“Sites like Groupon and LivingSocial do a good job of promoting the ‘deal of the day,’ however [local] businesses are taking a big risk by selling deals,” claims Tung, who serves as Tabblr’s CEO.
“Majority of the businesses are selling deals at a loss,” he has said in written materials describing the service. “For example a deal would be offered at $20 dollars for $40 dollars worth of food, service or product. Out of the $20 dollars collected, $10 dollars is given to Groupon or LivingSocial.” (Actually LivingSocial’s model is a bit different and with both, deals are sometimes negotiable; Street Fight reached out to Groupon for comment but did not hear back.) “The idea is to take a loss on the deals sold to attract new customers and hope that people who come in will purchase over the necessary minimum. Unfortunately there have been many business owners who came out and said that their ‘daily deal’ has ruined their business.”
Tung says a lot of the people buying these deals are repeat customers and many of them have “disciplined” themselves to buy only the required minimum to use the deal. He also contends a known phenomenon is at play here that drives business owners crazy: “Once customers get used to deals, they tend to only come back when deals are offered,” he said. “Even when businesses grab new customers, many of them tend to be one-timers.”
We want to make it completely insane for any business to ignore signing up with Tabblr. Tabblr is extremely simple to use, completely free…
If you’re going to take shots you ought to be ready to back them up with facts or a better product. Right now, Tung is focusing on the product. So what exactly is it?
“Tabblr is different because there is no profit-sharing, period,” says Tung, who works alongside co-founder and CTO Milos Golubovic, a Microsoft development technologies pro. (The two worked together before on YouPlayorWePay, a novel but very controversial “insurance” program for players of World of Warcraft.) The service also targets the broadly defined “activities” rather than deals. “It allows [brick and mortar] businesses to draw in customers and keep whatever they sell. Tabblr provides an easy to use platform for businesses to create and manage their own deals and places no restriction on the type of deal offered.”
The tools allow businesses the option to end or edit a deal at any time if they feel they need to. Tung says there is “limitless flexibility” to the time and location of scheduled promotions, and businesses will be able to tune it to whatever works out best for them and their customers.
And then, I suppose, the plan is to party like it’s 1999.The company will not take a cut of anything the businesses draw. In fact the plan is to operate as a free service to both merchants and users. Yep, free: Like Groupon Stores without cost or limits. To boot, they are focusing first on growing the product and user base, with hopes of drawing VC attention (they are self-funding).
Currently Tabblr is Web-only and essentially in beta (my word) with about six activity partners; an Android app will be available before the end of the month and an iPhone version following the first half of May. The two are focusing on Chicago as they try to hone the product before looking at New York, Boston and Silicon Valley.
With the mobile apps, customers will be able to see an activity, “put it on their tab,” take it to the venue and show the clerk their phone to receive the deal. Those tabblr’d while on the desktop are in the cloud so they’ll appear instantly on the phone when logged in.
“We firmly believe that many of the businesses featured on ‘daily deal’ sites can drive in nearly the same amount of traffic if they only promoted the same deal on their own,” said Tung. “Using my $20 example above, businesses are essentially selling a food service or products at a 75% discount. Let’s take a pizza chain for example, and see what the math would equate to: If that pizza chain were to suddenly slash their pizza’s price from $12 down to $3 and the price of slices from $3 to $.75, think about how that would affect their sales. Just the word of mouth advertising would be pretty insane.”
So really, what’s the revenue plan? Tung said it includes things such as premium upgrades to help businesses, like analytics and special activity postings. They’re still under development so nothing anytime soon.
Regarding other location-based apps like Foursquare and Yelp, Tung says their primary focus is to find locations around you. Both companies implemented a gaming aspect for users which requires check-ins at the locations to become Mayor or Duke. Businesses can choose to use the check-ins to assign deals for the users to redeem.
“Tabblr does not do check-ins,” he says. “Tabblr was not made to appeal to the gamers but rather people who want to find something to do.”


text:
Microsoft on October 25 added the Poison Ivy remote access tool (RAT) to its automated malicious software removal tool for Windows machines, reflecting heightened concerns over a malware kit that has been around since 2005.
Microsoft added Poison Ivy just ahead of the London Conference on Cyberspace where Symantec announced the so-called "Nitro attacks" which used the RAT in dozens of intellectual property thefts aimed at the chemical industry between June and September this year.
The latest official version of Poison Ivy was released in 2008, according to Microsoft. While various English versions of the tool have been around for years, the one used in the Nitro attacks was developed by a Chinese speaker and, according to Symantec, was used by a "20-something" year-old hacker in China.
The latest incarnation of Poison Ivy offers users encrypted communications, the ability to browse files remotely, capture screen shots, audio and video, steal passwords, log key strokes, and run proxy services.
The malware typically employs "packers" to hide itself, a common technique used to obfuscate executable files. Packers are a problem for the security industry and due to the sheer volume of malware for Windows, the IEEE recently proposed to tackle their abuse by establishing a key-based registry that would allow security vendors to focus efforts on non-compliant packers.
Besides the chemical industry, analysts at Finnish security vendor, F-Secure believed that some version of the same tool were thought to be used in the attacks on RSA's SecurID authentication system earlier this year, although this has not been been confirmed by RSA.
There are many versions of Poison Ivy available and a healthy support community, as well as customised encryption features that suggested those responsible for selling and maintaining it treat the software as a service, according to Microsoft.
There are commercial and free versions, with some, such as version 2.3.0 purported to be "undetected, unique versions of Poison Ivy". The most recent official version is 2.3.2, said Microsoft.
The malware kit uses a client-server architecture, where the target system becomes a server, configured to the attacker's needs, while the client interface is used to control to the server remotely.
"[T]his allows the operators to utilise hardware, such as the microphone or camera to eavesdrop on conversations in the same room as the compromised device, browse the file system and steal data, enable a keylogger, modify the registry, enumerate the system in a variety of ways, and so on," Microsoft pointed out.
In recent times the tool has relied on flaws in Adobe's Flash Player, Acrobat and Reader to gain a foothold in target systems, as well as a range of vulnerabilities in Microsoft Office products such as Excel, Word, and Power Point.
One of Poison Ivy's unique features, according to Microsoft, was that much of the developer's additional features were documented over time "in a semi-public fashion", and used methods standard to the software industry to attract developers.
Version 2.3.0, for example, included a plugin that allowed other developers to create custom modules that run on infected machines.
Microsoft has removed the trojan from about 16,000 computers since it added it to its software removal tool for Windows.


text:
The Advantage travel agency consortium has urged the government to reconsider its 14-day quarantine plans to “keep travel moving”.
This week the UK government confirmed plans to impose the two-week restriction on movement for anyone who enters the country from June 8 as it battles the spread of coronavirus.
Julia Lo Bue-Said, chief executive of The Advantage Travel Partnership said the moves “places tremendous strain on tourism businesses”.
In a response to the announcement, she said the government should consult with the industry and investigate the approach of establishing air bridges between countries with low infection rates.
“Health and safety of travellers and our colleagues is our number one priority and we ask that government reconsider all available options to keep travel moving.
“We urge the government to increase consultation with the travel industry around the concept of air bridges to provide a lifeline to travel agents, airlines, hoteliers, tour operators and business travel.”
Bue-Said added: “The uncertainty that the government has created around when British travellers can travel abroad again is causing deep consequences for the tourism industry.
“Our research shows that two thirds of Brits would like to head overseas once restrictions are lifted but they will only have the confidence to if the UK government works with the travel sector to establish guidelines that protect travellers.”
Advantage leisure and business travel agents, who are part of Advantage Travel Partnership, account for £4.5 billion of travel sales each year.
The group’s survey was completed by 4,228 respondents between April 19 and May 3, with 26 UK regional airports indicated as respondents preferred aviation hubs.
This is a community-moderated forum.
All post are the individual views of the respective commenter and are not the expressed views of Travel Weekly.
By posting your comments you agree to accept our Terms & Conditions.


text:
The Jakarta Post
Governor Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo was present as more than 800 street vendors officially relocated to Pasar Minggu wet market in South Jakarta on Wednesday.
Up to 843 street vendors officially moved inside the market building ' most of the floors had been left empty ' after years occupying streets near the area, which had become notorious for its horrendous traffic.
'When I visited this market three months ago, it looked dirty and we could see garbage everywhere. I hope vendors will work together to keep the market clean so regular customers will feel comfortable,' Jokowi told the vendors.
City-owned market operator PD Pasar Jaya president director Djangga Lubis said the vendors were assigned to different kiosks according to product and operating time.
'As many as 153 vendors will move to the first floor in Block B, selling food staples, vegetables and the like and will operate in daytime. On the ground floor of Block C, 183 vendors will sell food staples and vegetables,' Djangga said.
'On the first floor of Block C, 182 vendors are selling clothing, DVDs and tableware, while 221 vendors will be selling similar items on the ground floor of Block B. In Block F, 97 vendors will operate at night from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., selling vegetables,' Djangga said.
He said the firm had waived kiosk rent for six months and promised to add facilities in the building compound, including improving parking areas and utilities.
'Vendors will sign a contract and will not be allowed to sublease the kiosks to another party,' he said.
The street vendors welcomed the relocation, while hoping that the city administration would help them attract buyers to the market.
'I've been selling here for 30 years and I thank Pak Jokowi for his hard work. However, the market building is too shabby and I hope the city will revitalize the market in the near future,' M. Rizal, a vendor, said.
Another vendor, Erlina, shared this view. 'It's more comfortable to be inside the building but I hope the city administration will help us attract more visitors,' she said. 'I'm happy now knowing that I won't be an object of raids anymore.'
Rizal also hoped Jokowi would not build housing near the market.
'I heard the city planned to build a low-cost apartment in the compound. I disagree with the plan because the area might become a bit messy,' he said.
Jakarta Transportation Agency head Udar Pristono said the relocation would be positive for traffic conditions near the market.
'They have relocated to where they belong so now the streets can function properly. Public minivans now can easily access the bus terminal [located next to the market],' Udar told The Jakarta Post.
City Council speaker Ferrial Sofyan said the city planned to allocate billions of rupiah for traditional market revitalization next year.
'We plan to allocate about Rp 45 billion for market revitalization across the capital. The City Council will fully support the city's program,' he said.
Ferrial pointed out that the city targeted market revitalization in 10 different locations next year.
The relocation in Pasar Minggu was part of the city's massive relocation and market revitalization programs this year.
In September, the city administration relocated more than 700 street vendors occupying streets in Tanah Abang, Central Jakarta, to the nearby Block G building. During a visit to Block G on the same day, Jokowi called on vendors to be more creative in attracting customers.
'Vendors are entrepreneurs. They should evaluate whether their products are not trendy or competitive enough if they feel sales aren't too good,' he said.
Your premium period will expire in 0 day(s)close x


text:
The board of BCA Marketplace has accepted a £1.9 billion offer from LeasePlan private equity owners TDR Capital, which will now be recommended to shareholders
A new survey has revealed that Brits would work during a commute in a fully autonomous car, which could raise productivity.
Fleet News offers a range of reports, whitepapers, in-depth features and manufacturer brochures to enhance fleet decision-makers' understanding of key issues and products.
Fleet News is published monthly, in print and digital formats.
Register now to see if you qualify for a free subscription.


text:
Coca-Cola revealed today that it plans to retire select underperforming products by December 31, 2020, including Tab diet soda and ZICO coconut water in the United States.
Story continues below
The move is being made as part of a “global portfolio refresh prioritizing category-leading brands with the greatest potential for growth and scale.”
Other products on the chopping block include Coca-Cola Life and Diet Coke Feisty Cherry, as well as regional offerings like Northern Neck Ginger Ale and Delaware Punch. Vegitabeta (Japan) and Kuat (Brazil) are among products leaving Coca-Cola’s international portfolio.
Initially marketed to women, Tab represented Coca-Cola’s first-ever “diet” soft drink when it was introduced back in 1963. The zero-calorie soda became a cultural icon in the 1980s and maintained a small but loyal following over the last few decades, especially among fans who grew up with the soda.
The company says retiring Tab will pave the way for additional investment in a pair of “powerhouse brands” – Diet Coke and Coca-Cola Zero Sugar.
Image – Coca-Cola


text:
The Lamborghini Urus SUV will come with more than 600bhp from its 4.0 litre twin-turbo V8 when it arrives in 2017, says Lamborghini boss.
The Lamborghini Urus is really quite late to the performance SUV party, but when it does arrive – probably not until 2018 in the hands of customers – it will be the most powerful SUV on the road.
So says Lamborghini’s R&D boss, Maurizio Reggiani, in conversation with Australia’s Motoring, declaring that the Urus will have comfortably more power than even the near 600bhp the new Bentley Bentayga offers.
Reggiani also said that the Urus will be able to sprint to 62mph in under 4.0 seconds – out gunning the Bentayga and Porsche Cayenne Turbo S, currently the quickest SUVs you can buy – thanks to the power the 4.0 litre twin turbo under the bonnet develops.
That 4.0 litre twin-turbo will be sourced from Audi (as we suspected), although it will be fettled by Lambo for power and noise.
How exactly Lamborghini are going to achieve the performance they claim – even with more than 600bhp – is hard to understand without significant weight saving measures. And with underpinnings taken from the new Audi Q7 it’s quite hard to see where they will keep weight down without using very expensive materials, which will impact on cost.
Still, a light, nimble, grunty and powerful Lamborghini SUV – whatever the price – holds some serious promise.


text:
SEO Press Release
Melbourne SEO Services is now offering a new high quality SEO Press Release service for your business. An SEO Press Release can be a great marketing tool when done correctly and we’ve had plenty of experience and success in that department. Our first press release was even picked up by the media and published over 10,000 times.
Click Here To Find Out More: http://www.melbourneSEOservices.com/seo-press-release


text:
CHENNAI: Feel apprehensive about buying a second-hand phone? Well, Chennai police's new mobile app will help set your mind at ease. The app, DIGI COP, launched on Wednesday, can tell a buyer if the mobile phone they have purchased second hand is a stolen mobile or not.
The app was launched, by the City Police Commissioner Dr. AK Viswanathan in the presence of actor Vijay Sethupathi, to cut down on mobile theft cases. “The user can also lodge mobile theft complaints using the app and can check if the user’s mobile is in the police list of retrieved mobiles. The user can also know if their stolen two-wheeler had been traced by the police,” a press release from the Commissioner's office said.
According to police, the victim of a mobile theft can register their complaint with the police mentioning IMEI number along with the phone number, so once the buyer of second-hand mobile inserts a SIM card, they will get an SMS stating that the phone had been stolen. The app will also notify the complainant that their mobile had been traced.
Through the app, the user can also know the traffic condition in the city and also information about nearby police stations. The police department is expected to add more features to the app in the future.


text:
Four Cylinders Take Largest Share of US Market
By Chris Haak
It’s not the sixties anymore, kids. Though certainly there are still high-horsepower holdouts, the days of the V8 and even V6 (or inline six)-powered family sedan are numbered.
The latest data from auto industry research firm IHS Automotive shows that four cylinder engines made up 43 percent of all new-vehicle registrations during the first half of 2011.
According to Automotive News, V8s now are under the hood of just one in six new vehicles sold in the US, or about 17 percent. That leaves about 40 percent for six cylinders, three cylinders (of which there are very few) and outliers like inline fives, V10s, and V12s.
Of course, there are a number of reasons that fours have proven more popular than sixes since 2005, when IHS found that 43 percent of buyers were opting for six cylinder vehicles.
- Today, there are new cars available with only four cylinder engines (such as the Hyundai Sonata), where a V6 was once an option.
- Four cylinders are now as powerful as V6s were just a few years ago. When equipped with a turbocharger, a modern four cylinder engine tops its V6 ancestor in power, torque, and fuel economy.
- There is enormous regulatory pressure to rachet up fuel economy numbers (or ratchet down fuel consumption, depending on which side of the pond you’re from, or whether your glass is half full or half empty). CAFE, CO2 limits/taxes, and the like.
- Volatile fuel prices have made consumers gun-shy about purchasing gas-guzzling vehicles, even in moments when prices dip. Who in their right mind would buy a (now discontinued) Ram SRT10 pickup even if gas prices were $1.50/gallon unless they really had a lot of money to feed such a thirsty beast?
If fleets were excluded from the statistics, more than half of the vehicles sold at retail through the first six months of 2011 were equipped with four cylinders. In 2006, only a third of retail sales were four bangers. V8s, of course, still hold the majority of share in the commercial market, with pickups and full-size vans too big for a four cylinder (though Ford is successfully challenging the notion that these vehicles need V8s, with more than half of F-150 sales some months having only six cylinders, between the 3.7 liter NA engine and the 3.5 liter EcoBoost V6).
What is the natural conclusion of this trend? The further marginalization of large engines, the shrinking and lightening of cars (and their engines) and cars becoming more expensive to purchase and repair – but cheaper to operate – as hybrids, electric assist, turbos, eight-speed (or more) automatics, high-tech lightweight materials, and aerodynamics take greater prominence in vehicle engineering and design.
Are you happy with this trend? Will you miss big engines? Expect the next generation full-size trucks from GM and Ford to be much smaller and more efficient than the current generation, and once automakers adjust their product plans to 35.5 MPG-plus CAFE standards in the US, expect cars to finally downsize, similar to what they did in the early 1980s (and then reversed in the subsequent three decades).


text:
FORT WORTH, Texas — Convenience-store retailer Yesway in May opened three new Allsup’s-branded outlets in Friona, Hereford and Azle, Texas. These are the latest in a series of both new-to-industry stores and major raze and rebuilds that the company is undertaking within the Yesway and Allsup’s portfolios and part of its long-term growth strategy.
- Yesway is No. 21 in CSP’s Top 40 Update to the 2021 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2022 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
Since its inception in 2015, the company has assembled a retail network made up of a long series of acquisitions of all sizes, with a goal of assembling a portfolio of more than 500 c-stores in select regions of the United States over the next several years.
Yesway acquired the Allsup’s chain of 304 c-stores in late 2019, more than doubling its store count.
In late 2020, Yesway completed the private placement of $235 million of equity. It is using the capital to fund an extensive raze-and-rebuild and store-remodel campaign across the company’s brands and to pursue more acquisitions.
In late 2021, Yesway filed a statement with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a proposed $100 million initial public offering (IPO) of stock.
- To learn more about the chain, its acquisitions strategy and the IPO, read the February 2022 CSP cover feature, Going Public? Yesway!
These three new Allsup’s stores each feature 5,630 square feet of interior merchandising space, 28 fueling positions and are open 24 hours a day. Customers visiting these new stores will find Allsup’s burritos; a full assortment of Yesway and Allsup’s private-label snacks; a new trucker and automotive section; Allsup’s bread, milk and eggs; and a beer cave along with amenities including Western Union service, ATM availability and Coin Cloud digital currency machines offering more than 30 digital currencies.
“We are so pleased to bring these new stores to our long-time, loyal Allsup’s customers in Friona, Hereford and Azle, Texas,” said Tom Trkla, chairman and CEO of Yesway. “We also believe it is essential to support the people and the communities we serve. That is why, in honor of these latest grand openings, we have made donations of $1,250 each to the Friona Volunteer Fire Department, the Friona Police Department, the Hereford Food Pantry, the Hereford Police Department, the Azle Police Department, the Azle Fire Department and EMS, and the Azle Independent School District.”
Fort Worth, Texas-based Yesway’s portfolio consists of more than 400 Yesway and Allsup’s c-stores in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Wyoming, Oklahoma and Nebraska.
The company is a multi-branded platform that acquires, transforms and enhances portfolios of convenience stores by leveraging expertise in real estate and technology. The company is an affiliate of Beverly, Mass.-based Brookwood Financial Partners, a real-estate and private-equity investment and asset management company with more than $2.6 billion in holdings. Brookwood Financial Partners LLC formed BW Gas & Convenience Holdings LLC in 2015 and announced its c-store brand, Yesway, in the summer of 2016.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.


text:
To be a football fan is one thing. But what about the stocks of your favorite club? Apparently, blockchain can make these dreams come true.
Today’s case has already been mentioned in the last Weekly update – but that’s quite interesting for a separate article. After all, not every day we can witness the situation where an institution unrelated to the blockchain industry is bought by a cryptocurrency based entity.
Our story begins with Perth Glory, an Australian football team. As we learned last week, it will be acquired by the London Football Exchange Group (LFE). The company is called a football club exchange and is strictly related to the cryptocurrency industry. LFE rose to prominence with ICO 2018 when it raised $ 70 million, which allowed it to launch its own token, LFEC, based on the Stellar blockchain.
Perth Glory plays in the Australian A-League, the country’s top professional football league. As you can see, this is not about a fringe sports club, but about the actor established on a global scale. This makes the latest disclosures an important issue for both the cryptocurrency industry and the sports world.
The club’s owner, well-known Australian businessman Tony Sage, recently confirmed the sale of 80 percent of the club to the LFE. Both sides are just waiting for confirmation from Football Federation Australia, the country’s main sport governing body. According to LFE, there will be no change in the club’s management structure, nor in operations or functionality.
But what exactly is the London Football Exchange, and why is it acquiring an Australian football club? According to the company’s website, LFE aims to use the blockchain for the benefit of football clubs and their fans. As for the former, the platform is intended as a form of alternative financing for clubs, allowing clubs to raise new capital directly from people interested in such an investment.
On the fan side, LFE will create a tokenized marketplace, offering various products related to their favorite clubs. The wide range of services started with ticket sales and merchandising, but the platform will also include football hosting, streaming and retail services. On top of that, the most dedicated fans will of course be able to invest in particular clubs.
All these functions will be supported by the LFEC token. And the business isn’t going to stop at one club – the idea of LFE involves raising money to buy more football teams. Thus, sports enthusiasts will hold shares in their favorite clubs by buying LFEC. At least in theory.
While the case is still new and we cannot know what the relationship between LFE and Perth Glory will look like in practice, the very idea of fans buying shares in companies is intriguing. In theory, he will use the blockchain to have a more significant influence on their favorite entities. But on the other hand, how will such a process differ from holding traditional stocks on the stock exchange?
The only hope remains in blockchain technology, which could eventually give these players tools of influence – for example, via voting systems. But that still leaves us with a problem: Owners who have acquired a greater number of tokens are likely to have a greater influence.
However, details of how Perth Glory will work are still unknown. And since Tone Sage assures that LFE will not influence the management of the club, then maybe owning chips will actually have no special meaning other than contributing to the favorite club. However, the idea of the community buying an entity and autonomy this via blockchain is always very interesting.
According to Tony Sage, LFE is currently to negotiate with other football clubs over a similar deal, and he believes the community-driven blockchain market will own up to seven football teams over the next two years. The businessman himself firmly believes in the success of this cooperation. And he surely has a flair for various investments, since he made a fortune in mining (physical, not blockchain).
Still, not everyone is as enthusiastic about the deal as Sage. Outside of the blockchain industry, information about the acquisition by a cryptocurrency-related company is still a fairly new thing. Many sports fans might be skeptical of such a situation rather than being satisfied with the possibility of closer integration between a sports club and its supporters. But on the other hand, if the funds to buy Perth Glory do come from their supporters, then everyone should be happy with the result.
If you want to comment on this article, visit our Blockchain24.co Forum!
The blockchain24.co site cannot be held responsible for the consequences resulting from the use of the data contained in the pages of the site.


text:
Where's the 4K? Consumers Don't Know How to Find 4K Video
Plenty of consumers have televisions that support 4K video, but viewers still don't know where to find ultra-HD content, even when they have access to it through paid services.
A report from Hub Entertainment Research finds that less than half the people with a 4K television (43%) have ever used it to watch 4K programming. The top reasons for not doing so are that they don’t' know where to find shows and movies in 4K (30%) and they don’t think they have access to any 4K content (22%).
But they likely do have access: The report points out that 4 in 5 of all consumers who own a 4K connected TV subscribe to Netflix or Amazon Prime Video.
The fault lies with content providers, the report points out. If they better communicated 4K viewing options, consumption of 4K video would likely increase.
The report finds a similar breakdown in HDR adoption. While three-quarters of consumers are interested in TVs that support HDR content, only a third of them know what the term means. Likewise, 59% of consumers are interested in 8K content, but only 17% are knowledgeable about what 8K means.
Again, the report says, better communication is needed. If viewers understand what their TVs can do, they're more likely to seek out that content.
“Consumer education came across as a key finding," says David Tice, research consultant at Hub Entertainment Research. "Whether it’s where to access 4K content for people with 4K sets, or a lack of familiarity with new TV set features like HDR, TV retailers and content distributors may be leaving a lot of money on the table simply because newer TV sets and services are outpacing consumer knowledge. And if consumers don’t understand, they are less likely to use an advanced feature, or be willing to pay a premium to get it.”
Hub's findings come from an online survey of 2,517 U.S. 16- to 74-year-olds in May and June of this year. For more findings, download an excerpt of "Evolution of the TV Set" for free (registration required).
For something that doesn't exist—and probably never will—the idea of an ad-supported Netflix tier gets a lot of attention.
Even after choosing four or more streaming services, many viewers are unsatisfied. Aggregation may be the answer, but only if viewers can customize their plans.


text:
MacPractice on Thursday announced MacPractice DR (Digital Radiography) and Imaging for dentists. The ability has been added to the
MacPractice DDS software the company offers.
MacPractice DDS enables dentists to run their practices using Macs to handle scheduling, electronic claims filing, note taking, prescription management, charting and more.
MacPractice DR will work with Visiodent’s RSV Mac, Kodak’s TrophyMac and aMac. The company said it’s also working with other developers to create Mac OS X drivers for their dental x-ray systems. MacPractice DR can capture and store intraoral and smile photos.
MacPractice DR costs $1500 plus an annual support and update fee of $200. This is in addition to MacPractice DDS.


text:
Are YOU splashing out or counting pennies on New Year's Eve? Revellers plan to spend £54 on average - and twice as much if they go to the pub
- Revellers are planning to spend an average of £54 on New Year's Eve
- Those heading out to a pub, restaurant, or nightclub will spend £107
- Londoners will spend the most - an average of £88 per person
- Those looking to throw a party will spend an additional £71 due to breakages
Britons are planning to splash out £54 on average on New Year's Eve, a new survey suggests.
However those hosting a party will spend more than twice as much at £111, while those going to a pub, restaurant, or nightclub who will spend a bit less at £107 on average.
Londoners plan to spend the most at £88 on average, the survey by Post Office Money found, while those in Southampton and Nottingham have the thriftiest intentions, with plans to spend significantly less at £34 each.
The big night in: Three out of four UK adults are celebrating at home
Across the UK regions, those in Northern Ireland are expecting to spend the most at £78 – while in the South West almost half at £37.
Over 40 million Brits are set to reject New Year's Eve nights out in favour of staying at home in the comfort of either their own home or that of friend or family member.
The study found that with 13 per cent experiencing damage to their home at a party last year, the real price of staying in could be considerably higher than hitting the tiles.
The average cost of the numerous breakages set party hosts back an additional £71 – with food or drink spillages on the carpet the most common at 44 per cent.
| Northern Ireland ||£78|
|Yorkshire & Humberside||£57|
|East of England||£39|
|Source: Post Office Money Home Insurance|
The managing director at Post Office Money Insurance, Rob Clarkson, stressed that celebrating at home isn't always the cheapest way to celebrate.
He said: 'Celebrating at home isn't without its pitfalls. Our research has shown damages can be significantly more than your average night out would cost.
'Anyone considering hosting a party should be sure that they are properly covered for accidental damage to avoid starting 2017 facing a hefty repair bill.'
The biggest spenders are the millennials aged between 18 to 34 years old, who are planning to fork out an average of £69, whilst a cautious 11 per cent of the population will not spend anything to celebrate seeing in 2017.
Those counting the pennies are possibly concerned with overspending over the seasonal period.
Vast Christmas spending is also likely to shatter party plans – with 13 per cent saying their plans are decided by what they can afford.
Young spenders: 18-34 year olds will spend the most on seeing in 2017
Consumers might be feeling the pinch over this New Year as recent figures show that retailers have been enjoying their strongest sales growth in more than a year.
Britons said they have spent £750 on Christmas festivities on average and 29 per cent said they would use at least one credit card.
Overspending: over half expect to still be paying off those debts at Christmas next year
But the majority (85 per cent) expect to carry such credit cards debts into the new year, each facing an average debt of £636.
As a result, one in three are set to borrow at the start of the New Year, in order to fund their Christmas spending spree, according to recent data from the National Debt line.
Most watched Money videos
- Take a look at clutter-free EV chargers trialled in London
- Morgan's Plus Four CX-T is a mad £204k off-road sports car
- Taking a look at the E10 fuel hoping to help the UK go net zero
- Cinematic video of Lamborghini Countach with a top speed of 221mph
- £2M 1980s Lamborghini Countach is back with a top speed of 221mph
- Britain's Garage of the Year 2021 nominee's incredible construction
- A 'mortgage-free' way for first-time buyers to own their home
- The Mini Moke: The cute utility vehicle without windows or doors
- Futuristic zero-emissions electric Ioniq 5 from Hyundai
- Dacia unveil the Jogger: the UK's least expensive seven-seat car
- Disruption is speeding up: BG US Growth Trust manager
- Taking a look at the Jaguar XJ220 from all angles on a test drive


text:
On the heels of its release for the iPad, Skype has rolled out a new version of its desktop service for the Mac. Skype 5.3 for Mac OS X includes HD video-calling -- no more grainy, pixelated images -- and a new contact list. The HD option is only available if you use a supported webcam (such as the Logitech C910 or a Mac's built-in HD camera).
Skype is only minutes away from completing its $8.5 billion merger with Microsoft, which should result in some interesting new products (and big challenges).
Seattle law firm Hagens Berman announced today that it is investigating claims that several large e-book publishers are under-reporting the number of e-books they sell, and therefore paying authors insufficient royalties.
Hagens Berman, a consumer-rights law firm, said the "Big Six" publishers, including HarperCollins, Random House and Simon & Schuster, may be using an outdated accounting system to track e-book sales. Some authors have reported accounting errors on their royalty statements, including under-reported sales of their e-books. More information on the suit can be found here.


text:
Losing track of your wedding budget amid the hubbub of getting hitched can spell disaster. Here’s how you can avoid that.
Keeping to a budget successfully is not impossible. Here’s an app made just for Malaysians to stay ahead of their financial game!
A recent report released by Canadean revealed that although Malaysian parents did not really increase the volume of baby food, the overall value has increased by over 60% over the last few years.
It’s always been a tradition to break fast with our loved ones during the month of Ramadhan. Don’t worry about breaking your budget this month with this handy list of Ramadhan buffets for under RM100!
Are you a shopaholic who just can’t afford the habit anymore? Here are tips to help curb the temptation to spend money!
How did I get into a mountain of debt? Just like anyone else -- years of living mindlessly. But here's how I got out of it.
While staying in a high rise property has multiple benefits over a landed one, you should be aware of the cons that could tag along with it too!
A wiser spending trend among consumers in Malaysia has emerged since the implementation of the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
As money lies could be standing in the way of you making progress on your finances, the first step is to bust the barrier!


text:
Kudlow told reporters outside the White House on Tuesday that the two leaders "will meet for a bit" but didn't have other details.
Any meeting between the two comes at a time of escalating tensions over trade. Most recently, the Trump administration put tariffs on some $200 billion of Chinese imports, and Beijing retaliated with tariffs on U.S. goods. The two nations have struggled to come to the negotiating table over trade, as the U.S. raises concerns about intellectual property and a widening trade deficit.
"Our asks are on the table, I'd love to see them respond," Kudlow said Tuesday. "Thus far they haven't."
Chinese government officials have indicated they aren't afraid of a trade war. CNBC reported Monday that Zhang Qingli, a leading member of the Chinese committee that forges alliances with other nations, told a group of U.S. business leaders, lobbyists and others that China refuses to be intimidated.
The G-20 summit is an annual meeting of leaders from the world's major economies.


text:
The use of artificial fertilizers and pesticides would possibly increase yields. Still, these inputs are out of reach to many small-scale farmers as they require capital and risk environmental pollution. Farmers are, therefore, being encouraged to turn to organic farming to improve their yield production. Agri Flora Organic Solutions is an early-stage company trying to promote this kind of farming.
Agriflora, which was incorporated in 2016, uses fully decomposed animal and plant waste to process organic fertilizers. The company provides clients with safe, reliable, efficient, and environmentally sound products.
“We manufacture a slow-release fortified organic fertilizer known as Asili granulated fertilizer. It has carbon-based compounds; Calcium, Zinc, Manganese, Magnesium, Iron, Molybdenum, Selenium and many others that help improve plants quality. Due to the availability of balanced nutrients, our fertilizer leads to increased productivity of plants under healthy soil and reduces toxic load by keeping chemicals out of the air, water and soil,” said Albert Kamau, the company’s director and maintenance manager.
As a company, they want to help address the problem of soil degradation, which has been on the rise and provide solutions to farmers in a country which mainly depends on agriculture to achieve food security.
“Our main objective is to encourage agro-ecosystem health among farmers in the region and the nearby counties such as Nyandarua, Baringo and Samburu, with our main target group being potato farmers. This includes biodiversity, biological cycles, and soil biological activity,” he added.
He demystifies the misconception that organic farming is not productive by pointing to evidence of increased productivity due to transitioning from the low input systems usually found in third world countries.
“We have received positive feedback from farmers who use our organic fertilizers; to them, organic agriculture has drastically contributed to protecting the natural resource and environment and has ensured sustainable food production. They are certain this kind of farming will lead to full self-reliance on food soon,” he said.
Due to the increasing demand for their organic fertilizers, Agriflora has partnered with Kenya Climate Ventures, KCV, to help them roll out large scale production of fertilizers.
“We look forward to expanding our manufacturing plant because we realized many farmers are now using our products, and this means we have to increase our productivity,” he added.
Since Kenya mainly depends on Agriculture to achieve food security, as a company, they want to help address the problem of soil degradation, which has been on the rise and provides solutions to farmers.
KCV has offered Agriflora business advisory services and supported them financially to continue producing quality organic manure.


text:
The U.S. services sector contracted for the first time in about a decade in April 2020. The coronavirus pandemic caused a lot of problems for the U.S. economy. The Institute for Supply Management released its manufacturing index, which highlights the impact of the coronavirus on the economy.
According to the ISM manufacturing index fell to 41.8 in April from 52.5 in March. As a result, the services sector dropped for the first time since December 2009. Moreover, it was the biggest contraction for the sector since March 2009. As a reminder, the previous worst result was 40.
Importantly, April’s sharp decline was the result of the lowest amount of business activity in services. Also, it was the lowest amount of business activity in services since the ISM unveiled the index 1997. Furthermore, a steep drop in new orders also had a negative impact on the ISM manufacturing index.
According to the chair of the Institute for Supply Management, supply problems connected with the coronavirus was the primary reason. Moreover, Anthony Nieves underlined the issues regarding the supply chain as well as operational capacity, human resources, etc.
States across the country implemented stay-at-home orders and made to close nonessential businesses. As a result, millions of Americans from California to New York lost their jobs. Many of them already applied for the unemployment benefits.
According to the data provided by the Labor Department, the U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) shrank by 4.8% in the first quarter of 2020.
Services sector and Federal Reserve
As can be seen from the data mentioned above it was a tough month for the U.S. services sector. The coronavirus pandemic created a lot of challenges for the economy. Nevertheless, the Vice Chairman of the Federal Reserve said that the U.S. economy can return to positive growth in the third quarter of 2020.
According to Richard Clarida, thanks to their policies the economy will get back on track. Moreover, he discussed the ongoing situation and severity of the problem.
Also, Clarida promised that the Federal Reserve will continue to provide whatever support is necessary to help markets as well as the economy. The Federal Reserve is ready to do whatever it takes to improve the situation.
It makes sense as the economy suffered the biggest losses since the Great Depression. The services sector declined for the first time since 2009. The ISM manufacturing index showed that the state of the U.S. economy is far from being ideal. As a result, private and governmental organizations should work harder to support the world’s largest economy.


text:
Baby boomers, the generation that vowed to stay forever young, are getting older, designing senior-friendly gyms and becoming their own personal trainers.
In exercise havens for the over-50 set, the cardio machines are typically low impact, the resistance training is mainly air-powered and some group fitness classes are taken sitting down.
At Welcyon gyms, founded by husband-and-wife boomers Suzy and Tom Boerboom, the average age of members is 62.
“The environment is really designed for those 50 and over,” said Suzy Boerboom.
The couple created Welcyon, which has locations in Minnesota and South Dakota, in 2009. It has no tread-mills and no free weights and workouts are customized to members’ levels of fitness. A smart card sets resistance, counts repetitions and adjusts workouts.
An important attraction for many boomers: background music is a combination of ’40s, ’50s and ’60s tunes played at a much lower volume than in traditional gyms.
“It was something I could manage,” said 66-year-old Bill Zortman, one of an estimated 78 million baby boomers, defined as the group born between 1946 and 1964, who make up about 26 percent of the U.S. population, according to U.S. Census reports.
His thrice-weekly workouts at a Welcyon in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, consists of riding a bicycle or using air-powered resistance machines to strengthen his legs, arms and back.
“They make sure I’m not overdoing it,” Zortman said of the staff, who Boerboom said are often boomers themselves.
The absence of clanging free weights also cuts down on the racket, Boerboom said, noting that many people over 50 prefer a quieter gym.
Group fitness classes for boomers are also modified.
“We’re just beginning to develop a group fitness interval training program,” Boerboom said. “It will be four to six people and low impact.”
The American Council on Exercise says many of their fitness professionals are baby boomers who specialize in working with older adults.
“People in their early 60’s are becoming personal trainers and group fitness instructors,” said Todd Galati, ACE’s director of credentialing.
But they are far from the majority, as the average age of ACE’s 50,000 certified fitness professionals is 42, and more than 37 percent are 40.
“Every year I talk to newly certified personal trainers, retired from their career in another field, who want to help people their age become more fit,” Galati said.
A recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine showed that a sample of baby boomers had higher rates of hypertension, diabetes, obesity and high cholesterol than their parents’ generation.
“There is a big bad myth about the boomer generation being more fit,” said Dr. Sheldon S. Zinberg, founder of Nifty after Fifty fitness centers for older adults. “In fact, the boomer generation is less fit than their parents were at same age.”
The chain has locations in Arizona, California, Nevada, Texas, Virginia and New York. Its programs target muscle power, muscle strength, reaction time, balance and cognitive skills, he said.
“At age 40 people lose 0.8 to 1 percent muscle mass each year. By age 60 this accelerates to 1.5 percent,” Zinberg said.
At Nifty after Fifty, group fitness classes range from yoga and Zumba to seated volleyball and cane fu, a self-defense class in which participants use a cane.
As with Welcyon, there are no tread-mills. “We used to use tread-mills, but we had people falling off,” Zinberg said. “We use recumbent stair steppers, among other exercisers.”
He advises people to get fit in their 40s and 50s, “and when you do become older, enjoy a supervised, customized program.”
Boerboom said Welcyon plans to open more gyms later this year. “There are over 70 million of us boomers,” she said, “and we have to take care of ourselves.”


text:
Google Pixel 8 Pro unboxing images turn up in latest leak
The Google Pixel 8 Pro has suffered yet another image-related leak barely days after being the star of a few hands-on photos. In a series of what could be called unboxing images but appear to be more accurately pre-boxing shots, the Pixel 8 Pro is clearly in a factory setting undergoing a last quality check and clean before being sealed inside its packaging.
It seems that at least two devices are visible here, as there is one Google Pixel 8 Pro in the Obsidian Black colorway while another appears to be dressed in Porcelain. The images, which are not especially high-quality shots, show the phone along with the expected USB-C cable, charger, and what Google calls the Quick Switch Adapter. The Pixel 8 Pro’s matt rear surface can also be made out in this latest image leak.
The Google Pixel 8 Pro, which will feature the Google Tensor G3 SoC and is expected to start at around US$899, certainly looks like a typical member of the Pixel family with its distinctive camera bar. Unfortunately, the Pixel 8 Pro unboxing images don’t really reveal too much more than what is already known, but there will likely be several more leaks before the Pixel 8 series is finally launched on October 4.


text:
In order to expand its business, popular music streaming platform Spotify has acquired two major podcast ad tech firms, Podsights and Chartable.
With the acquisition of Podsights, the Swedish company will reportedly be able to help advertisers understand how podcast ads drive actions that matter to their businesses. Podsights is a leading podcast advertising measurement service that helps advertisers better measure and scale their podcast advertising.
“We believe the opportunity for digital audio and podcast remains significant. With these acquisitions, we’re taking a big step in upleveling digital audio measurement and insights to help the entire industry scale to new heights,” the company said.
According to reports, Podsights’ team of around 40 full-time employees will join Spotify and the company says that it has no plans to adjust that team at this time.
On the other hand, Chartable is a podcast analytics platform that enables publishers to know and grow their podcast audiences through promotional attribution and audience insight tools.
Spotify has also revealed financial details related to these acquisitions. It will invest $100 million in the licensing, development and marketing of music and audio content from historically underrepresented creators, its CEO Daniel Ek said recently.
The company also reported its fourth quarter (Q4) results for 2021, taking its paid subscribers to 180 million globally. Monthly active users on the platform grew by 18 per cent (on-year) to reach 406 million.
It must be noted that advertising represented 15 per cent of Spotify’s revenue in the October-December quarter last year.
Interestingly, the development comes at a time when Spotify is facing backlash because of Joe Rogan’s podcast which critics say is spreading misinformation related to COVID-19. It has also led to several artists leaving the platform in protest.


text:
MILAN — Peter Dundas will be the new artistic director at Emilio Pucci, showing his first collection in February, WWD has learned.
Dundas will replace Matthew Williamson, who will bid adieu to the Florence-based house after its show on Sept. 25. Williamson is leaving to focus on his own collection.
An announcement of Dundas’ appointment is expected as early as today and confirms a WWD report on Aug. 27.
The Norwegian designer cut his teeth working behind the scenes at Jean Paul Gaultier, Christian Lacroix and Roberto Cavalli, where he was head designer for three years. His first major solo appointment came in 2005 when he was named artistic director at Ungaro.
His three-season tenure there was rocky, however, and surrounded by rumors that management and the designer butted heads on the creative direction of the venerable French brand.
Dundas is known for his glamour-infused designs and knack with prints. After Ungaro, the designer consulted for D&G before being appointed creative director of French furrier Revillon in January. He showed his first collection for the fur brand last February and paid tribute to his Norwegian roots by working with traditional Scandinavian embellishments and va-va-voom silhouettes. A spokesman for Revillon confirmed Dundas would continue his design role at the house. “He’s due to start working on our winter collection tomorrow,” he said.
Williamson, who succeeded Christian Lacroix at Pucci, earned mixed reviews with collections aimed at injecting the brand’s staple prints and jet-set clothes with verve and youth.
Emilio Pucci, which is a division of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, recently opened its first store in Mainland China as part of a major retail push around the world over the next four months. The Shanghai store is in the Citic Square Mall, one of the city’s premier shopping areas, and brings the total count of Pucci stores to 41.
Last year marked Pucci’s 60th anniversary and festivities were organized in Florence to celebrate its founder, Emilio Pucci, who charted a new course in fashion in 1947 when he launched printed jersey clothes.
Last summer, Pucci did a one-off denim collaboration with Seven For All Mankind with a production run of 2,000 colored jeans designed by Williamson and priced at $400. In the same period, Delphine Arnault joined the Emilio Pucci board to bring her fashion experience and knowledge of international markets to the brand.
In yet another fashion show shuffle, @elleryland is moving its show in sync with the Paris couture calendar — though the brand is still keeping one foot on the city’s ready-to-wear schedule. Their runway show in January will coincide with the launch of a new strategy: designing two main collections each year instead of four, which will then be released in four drops. “As we all know, the system needs to change. We need to show sooner to give time back to artisans and designers to do what they do best — create,” said founder Kym Ellery. #wwdnews #wwdfashion (📷: @kukukuba)
@maxmara’s classic 101801 coat was the cornerstone of its pre-fall 2018 collection. The design team expanded the traditional double-breasted, kimono-sleeved style into a trapeze coat, lean belted styles and a peacoat and presented them in monochromatic looks – like the camel one pictured here. #wwdfashion #prefall18 (📷: George Chinsee)
The @cfda has shifted the dates of #NYFW, with Men’s showing on February 5 through February 7, and Women’s will directly follow, running from February 8 through 14. The preliminary schedule will be released on the CFDA’s web site in the next few days, but Mark Beckham, VP of marketing for the CFDA, revealed that @rafsimons will be back to close the men’s-specific part of the week with a show on February 7 #wwdfashion (📷: Kelly Taub)
@ferragamo is introducing a new space dedicated to the development of women’s and men’s leather good samples. The laboratory, which is created eco-friendly materials and designed to reduce the environmental impact of the manufacturing processes, will allow the company to expand its accessories offering through traditional artisanal approaches. #wwdfashion (📷: @aitorrosasphoto)
How does a “regular, degular, schmegular” girl from the Bronx, N.Y., become a Grammy-nominated artist with a certified platinum record in less than a year? Call it the @iamcardib come up. The 25-year-old has become a musical sensation, and the fashion world is taking note. “If I could describe her style I would say drama. She’s really into the dramatics,” says Cardi B’s stylist @kollincarter. See how Carter styles her bold and out there looks with the link in bio. #wwdfashion
“There is no formula. There is no guideline. I can watch Ted Talks all day, but there is no one who can advise me on exactly what it is I should be doing,” said @ronniefieg, CEO of @kith, in an interview with WWD’s @ariahughes at the brand’s new SoHo office in Manhattan. Head to WWD.com to see how Fieg went from hanging out in shoe stockrooms at 13 to building his own business. #wwdfashion (📷: @weston.wells)
@fearofgod and @maxfieldla have teamed up on a pop-up installation. The store, located in the gallery space across from Maxfield’s Melrose Ave location, is the site of the brand’s House of God pop-up in which Fear of God founder @jerrylorenzo has created a church-inspired installation. A dozen vintage church pews sit in front of an LED screen playing 90s gospel singers in an effort to re-create an environment akin to a Southern Baptist Church, Lorenzo explained. Read more about the pop-up on WWD.com #wwdfashion (📷: Jennifer Johnson)
Known for his sleek, sophisticated American glamour, Norman Norell is the subject of an upcoming exhibition at @fitnyc. “Norell: Dean of American Fashion,” which runs from February 9 through April 14, will feature approximately 100 ensembles and accessories. His best work is exemplified by the designer’s glittering “mermaid” gowns frosted with thousands of hand-sewn sequins – like the one pictured. (📷: William Helburn) #wwdfashion
For pre-fall 2018, @balmain didn’t let go of the glitz. A crystal embroidered baseball jacket priced at around $40,000 hangs in the “couture” section of the brand’s first men’s pre-collection. Sporting the words “Balmain Army” across the back, the item took around two months to make. “When it was completed, it was like Christmas, it was like, ‘It’s done, it’s exactly what I wanted,’” said Balmain’s creative director @olivier_rousteing during a tour of the collection in a Paris showroom on Monday. #wwdfashion


text:
Fallout: New Vegas Developer Revealing A New RPG Soon
Masiv / Nov 29, 2018
We now know what one of the more than 10 game announcements coming at The Game Awards next week will be. Show organizer Geoff Keighley revealed today that Fallout: New Vegas 2 was among other games that Eternity developer Obsidian will reveal during the awards show.
As announced previously, the title will be published by Rockstar Games' parent company Take-Two Interactive's new indie publishing company Private Division. Microsoft recently acquired Obsidian, but the developer's new game will still be published by Private Division. It remains to be seen how Microsoft may be involved.
The Obsidian website now features a pop-up that displays a number of interesting teasers. According to Kotaku's Jason Schreier, the new game is being worked on by two Fallout 1's designers, Tim Cain and Leonard Boyarsky.
Nothing else is known about Obsidian's new RPG, but Keighley confirmed on Twitter that it is not a mobile game. Additionally, Obsidian already confirmed the game won't have any microtransactions.
The Game Awards 2018 takes place on Thursday, December 6 at 8:30PM EST. Airing live from Los Angeles, the 5th annual show celebrates the best video games and esports of the year, and world premieres the most anticipated games of the future. One of the other reveals could be Alien: Blackout for console and PC, but that's all we know so far.
The Game Awards aren’t available on television, but you can stream them from a variety of different services across multiple devices. Last year’s show was streamed on Twitch, YouTube, Facebook Live, Steam, and Mixer, as well as directly through Xbox One and PlayStation.