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In the month of October, 110 Ann Arbor homes were listed for sale and this is a 15.8% increase compared to the 95 homes sold last year. The average listing price declined slightly from $483,085 to $458,760, a 5% drop. A total of 83 homes were sold in the past month, and this is a minimal decline compared to October 2018. The average sale price for Ann Arbor homes increased by 14.9% from $416,435 to $478,428. Unfortunately for sellers, the average days on the market for homes has raised a significant 47% from 38 to 54 days presently.
Looking at the year-to-date statistics, we can see that both listing and selling prices have only somewhat increased. The ALP so far is $506,066 and this is 3.6% higher than before which was $488,423. There has been only a slight decline in the amount of listings entered, from 1381 to 1387 homes. Similarly, there has been little difference in the amount of sold homes as 934 have been sold thus far compared 940 previously. The ASP cumulatively sits at $461,552, which is 5% increase compared to $439,512 at this last year.
Imagine, after weeks of searching, that you’ve finally found your dream home. It’s in the perfect location with the right features and exactly the amount of space you need. But after requesting more information, your agent informs you that there are already several offers made on the house. How do you stand out in a busy market and snag your dream home?
When buyers are looking to make a lasting impression on sellers, they often opt to submit a letter to the seller. In fact, a recent study found that buyers who submitted letters were 9% more likely to have their offer accepted.
A Buyer’s Letter can work both with you and against you, so it’s important to understand what they are and when you should use one. Continue reading →
So, if you’re planning on selling your home soon, it’s important to keep the average millennial home buyer in mind. This generation is unlike any that’s come before it, and the way they buy everything (from laundry detergent to life insurance) is unique.
When it comes to catching the eye of the discerning millennial home buyer, here’s what you need to do:
Create a Strong Internet Presence
It goes without saying that millennials rely on the Internet for, well, everything. This isn’t unusual: the Internet makes every kind of shopping easier and more accessible.
As such, giving your home an effective online presence is key. It needs to be easy to find via the most popular home-buying networks, and it has to look great no matter the screen size. After all, more home buyers than ever before are using their smartphones to find their dream home. Continue reading →
There are currently 2 homes listed for sale at the upscale Polo Fields subdivision and so far this year, 0 have sold. 4 homes sold in 2018.
Homes for Sale:
$699,900. 4943 Birdie Lane, Ann Arbor. 3021 sq. ft., +1250 in finished lower level, 5 bedrooms and 3.1 baths. Sale Pending
$510,000. 4861 Polo Fields Drive, Ann Arbor. 2514 sq. ft., +2250 in finished lower level, 5 bedroom and 3.2 baths. Sale Pending
Homes Sold 2018:
$715,000. 794 Bogey Court, Ann Arbor. 2855 sq. ft., +1254 in finished lower level, 5 bedrooms and 3.1 baths.
$670,000. 853 Chipshot Court, Ann Arbor. 3197 sq. ft., +1200 in finished lower level, 4 bedrooms and 3.1 baths.
$593,000. 4957 Gullane Drive, Ann Arbor. 3031 sq. ft., + 1100 in finished lower level, 4 bedrooms and 4.1 baths.
$402,000. 918 Fairway Park Drive, Ann Arbor. 2375 square feet with 3 bedrooms and 2.1 baths.
In 2017, 4 homes sold with an average sale price of $491,875 and an average price per square foot of $175.00. The 4 homes sold in 2018 had an ASP of $595,000, up 21%, and an A$/SF of $206.00, up 18%. To learn more about this golf and country club community, contact the real estate specialists with The Bouma Group at 734-761-3060 or email firstname.lastname@example.org. View photos and more market statistics for the Polo Fields here!
More Ann Arbor Homes Sold Than Listed in December to Finish Off the Year
Here is your final real estate report for 2018 for Ann Arbor homes! Both this past month’s prices and year-to-date prices have increased. Unfortunately, both the average sale and listing prices have increased on all fronts as well. Like November, 39 homes were sold this December, which is a 12.8% decrease compared to the 44 homes sold the prior December. There is minimal increase in the average listing price last month, from $451,784 to $452,492 now. A total of 57 homes have been sold in December, and although this is a 17.4% decrease from December 2017; it is good for sellers because more homes were sold than listed (in December) meaning that some homes that were entered into the multiple listings service before December were able to be sold. The average sale price is $436,533 versus $417,239 in December 2017, which is a 4.6% increase. Luckily for sellers, there has been a decrease in the average days on the market, from 56 to 45 days, a 19.6% difference. Continue reading →
Ann Arbor Homes See an Increase in Both Inventory and Listing Prices
There has been growth in inventory for Ann Arbor homes comparative to last year’s statistics. With listing prices rising, sale prices have too; however, sale prices are still below the asking. This September, 137 listings were entered into the multiple listings service, this is an increase of 15.5% compared to the 110 listings entered last September. The average listing price saw a rise of 8.9%, from $488,176 to $530,567 currently. Unfortunately, only 71 homes were sold in September, which is a 22.8% decline in comparison to the 923 homes sold the previous September. Sale prices have seen an increase of 6.9%, $408,967 versus $437,082 this month. Luckily for home buyers, the average days on the market has lowered slightly to 26 days, from 28 days last September. So far this year, more listings have been entered into the multiple listings services compared to this time last year; but there has been a decline in the amount of sold homes. A total of 1286 homes have been listed for sale thus far, which is an increase of 5.7% compared to the 1217 homes sold at this time last year. There has only been a small rise for the average listing price of homes, from $476,195 to $489,791 which is approximately 3%. Like the increase of ALP, average sale prices have experienced the same growth. The ASP is $441,322 thus far, versus $428,494 last year at this time.
Compared to last month and last July, inventory has increased for Ann Arbor homes. As well, average sale prices have also risen for both this month and so far this year. This July, 7% more listings have been entered compared to the prior July, 146 homes versus 136. The average listing price saw a minimal decline compared to last July, from $491,264 to $490,390. Compared to July 2017, there has been a 5.6% increase in the amount of homes sold this month from 124 units to 131. Although prices usually decrease with more available inventory, prices have actually risen for July. This month the average sale price is $443,944, which is an increase of 11.6% compared to the ASP of $397,721 in the previous year. Luckily for home sellers, the average days on the market has decreased to 21 days. So far this year, 1018 homes have been entered into the MLS; this is a 4.3% growth compared to the amount of listings entered at this time last year. Unfortunately, only 655 homes have sold this year which is a slight decrease compared to 2017 which had 663 units sold. The average sale price for homes sold thus far in 2018 is $438,859, this is a slight increase in comparison to the ASP of $428,564 last year. It is still a seller’s market for Ann Arbor single family homes, with a month supply of 4.3. Homes priced from $500k to $800k are considered to be a balanced market. Like always, higher end homes, those above $800k, are a part of a buyer’s market. Continue reading →
Although only slightly less, Ann Arbor homes saw a decrease in both listings and sales entered this June compared to the previous. The amount of new listings entered only differed by 1.5%, from 194 homes to 197 homes last June. Listing prices saw an increase of 5.9% though, with the average LP being $449,417 in 2017 and $475,710 currently. Properties sold in June declined by 4.3%, 139 versus 133 sold homes. However, the average sale price rose by 3.4% from $434,142 last June to $449,116 this year. Houses are being sold faster, with the average amount of days on the market being 18; this is great for sellers. So far this year, there is a 3.8% increase in homes listed from 840 in the year prior to 872 now. With the small increase of homes added to the market, prices have done the same, $477,729 versus 488,286; an increase of 2.2%. The amount of properties sold to date has decreased 3.3% from 540 to 522 sold homes. There has been minimal discrepancy between the average sale price so far this year compared to the previous year, $435,573 versus $437,914 currently. Overall, it is a seller’s market for Ann Arbor residential homes; especially for homes priced under $600k. Higher end homes, in the $600k to $1m range, are considered to be a part of a balanced market. As per usual, luxury homes that are over $1m are a buyer’s market. Continue reading →
With stately executive homes in a beautiful, mature setting, Newport Creek is one of Ann Arbor’s most desired neighborhoods. There are currently 2 homes listed for sale, and so far this year 0 have sold.
Homes for Sale:
$1,025,000. 1715 Newport Creek, Ann Arbor. 4061 sq. ft., +1226 in finished walk-out, 5 bedrooms and 4.1 baths. Listed by The Bouma Group
$1,020,000. 1721 Newport Creek, Ann Arbor. 4359 sq. ft., +1098 in finished walk-out, 4 bedrooms and 5 baths. Listed by The Bouma Group
Home Sold in 2017:
$935,000. 1542 Newport Creek, Ann Arbor. 4016 sq. ft., +1300 in finished walk-out, 4 bedrooms and 4.1 baths. Listed by The Bouma Group
In 2016 at Newport Creek, 2 homes sold with an average sale price of $1,085,000 and an average price per square foot of $209.00. In 2017, 1 home sold with a sale price of $935,000, down from the previous year, and price per square foot of $233.00, up 11%. To learn more about home values at this Ann Arbor subdivision, contact the real estate specialists with The Bouma Group today at 734-761-3060 or email email@example.com.
Ann Arbor Neighborhoods
Ann Arbor Condos
564 South Main Street, Suite 100, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 | Office: 734-761-3060 | Toll-Free: 877-761-3060 | Fax: 734-761-1824 | firstname.lastname@example.org


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John Krafcik has been promoted to Acting President and Chief Executive Officer of the company. Krafcik sat down with me at the 2009 Chicago auto show.
I asked all the executives the same questions:
1. Are we looking at a fundamental downsizing of the industry?
2. What is the one thing that will capture the imagination and wallet of tomorrows buyer?
3. The car used to be a symbol of freedom and status. Has the car become a burden around the consumers neck?
Krafcik also talked about the assurance program and how it was doing.

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Hapag-Lloyd opens new office in Tema, Ghana
Hapag-Lloyd celebrated the official opening of its new office in Tema, the most important port city in Ghana. Beginning immediately, Hapag-Lloyd will manage all its activities in West Africa from this location, the company said in its press release.
The GDP of West Africa has grown significantly in the last two years, rising by an average of 6 percent. Ghana numbers among the fastest-growing economies in the region. This growth is primarily driven by the trade in gold, but also in oil and gas products. Among Ghana’s most important export goods are cocoa, timber products and cashew nuts.
Hapag-Lloyd has massively expanded its presence in Africa over the last two years and established a fast connection from West Africa to Europe via what are now two services: the West Africa Express (WAX, Hamburg – Casablanca – Tangier – Dakar – Tema – Abidjan – Tangier – Antwerp – Hamburg) and the Mediterranean West Africa Express (MWX, Tangier – Algeciras – Cotonou – Lagos (Apapa & Pipan) – Tema – Tangier).
Both services will call at the port city of Tema, which is not far from Ghana’s capital, Accra. Plans call for the port’s annual handling capacity to be tripled by mid-2019, from 1 million to 3 million TEU. Hapag-Lloyd is expecting additional growth opportunities from this capacity expansion.


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The steady expansion of the Drake Trailers portfolio over the last half-decade has prompted the company to relaunch as The Drake Group this year, bringing a number of brands under the one banner.
Over the years, it’s search for improvements has found the company both looking internally and externally, bringing in knowledge from a number of experts in specialist markets to bolster its own. Now, the company has brought the Drake Trailers, O’Phee Trailers, Drake Collectibles, BoXLoader, Cometto and Sunseeker East Coast Australia brands under the one banner, launching as The Drake Group in 2017.
“The launch of The Drake Group is a definite advantage for clients as a whole, merging engineering expertise and capability from all the brands under the one banner. We have had great success with bringing all these companies’ products on board which will continue to strengthen under The Drake Group.”


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11 Nov Wolverine Trims Full-Year Earnings Outlook On Supply Chain Woes
Wolverine World Wide, Inc. reported strong sales and underlying earnings gains for the third quarter ended October 2, 2021, but slightly reduced its earnings guidance to reflect recent supply chain challenges.
“The Company delivered strong double-digit revenue growth and exceptional earnings leverage, despite the increased supply chain disruption caused by Vietnam factory closures and global logistics delays,” said Blake W. Krueger, Wolverine Worldwide’s Chairman and CEO. “Merrell was hit hardest by Vietnam factory closures but still delivered mid-single-digit growth. Saucony and Sperry both drove over 40 percent revenue growth. The unplanned supply chain disruptions resulted in at least a $60 million negative revenue impact in Q3. Demand for our brands remains very strong as evidenced by continued strength in sell-through trends at retail and a robust order book that extends into Q3 2022. We remain bullish on our outlook for the future in light of these trends and the composition of our portfolio which over-indexes on performance categories like hiking, running, and work. We are also excited about the addition of Sweaty Betty to our portfolio, a fast-growing brand that enhances the digital and apparel capabilities of the Company.”
Third-Quarter 2021 Performance
On August 2, 2021, Wolverine Worldwide acquired women’s activewear brand Sweaty Betty, a digitally-native, premium global apparel brand, which is expected to fuel growth and enhance the company’s eCommerce business. The following third-quarter results include Sweaty Betty during the period from August 2, 2021 until the end of the quarter.
- Reported revenue was $636.7 million, up 29.1 percent versus the prior year. On a constant-currency basis, revenue was up 28.2 percent versus the prior year;
- eCommerce reported revenue was up 45 percent versus the prior year and up 126 percent versus 2019;
- Reported gross margin was 43.2 percent, compared to 41.0 percent in the prior year. The adjusted gross margin was 44.6 percent, compared to 41.3 percent in the prior year;
- Reported operating margin was 6.7 percent, compared to 8.6 percent in the prior year. The adjusted operating margin was 12.0 percent, compared to 10.6 percent in the prior year;
- Reported diluted earnings per share were $0.00, compared to reported diluted earnings per share of $0.27 in the prior year;
- Current year reported earnings to include costs related to the acquisition of Sweaty Betty, debt refinancing costs, certain litigation-related costs, and air freight charges related to production and shipping delays caused by the pandemic.
- Adjusted diluted earnings per share were $0.62, and, on a constant-currency basis, were $0.61, compared to $0.35 in the prior year;
- Inventory at the end of the quarter was $412.0 million, up 26.5 percent versus the prior year. Sweaty Betty contributed 16.1 percent to the increase versus the prior year; and
- Total debt at the end of the quarter was $1,024.4 million, or $147.8 million more than in the prior year. Total liquidity considering the October credit facility transaction was approximately $800 million.
Third-Quarter 2021 Underlying Performance
(excludes Sweaty Betty)
- Underlying revenue was $597.6 million, up 21.2 percent versus the prior year and 4.0 percent versus 2019.
- eCommerce underlying revenue was up 13.3 percent versus the prior year and up 77.3 percent versus 2019.
- Adjusted underlying gross margin was 43.2 percent, compared to 41.3 percent in the prior year.
- Adjusted underlying operating margin was 12.5 percent, compared to 10.6 percent in the prior year.
- Adjusted underlying diluted earnings per share were $0.60, compared to $0.35 in the prior year.
“We are pleased with the third quarter’s strong double-digit revenue growth and even stronger adjusted earnings growth versus 2020,” said Mike Stornant, Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “Operating margin was stronger than expected and benefited from healthy gross margin performance across the portfolio. In addition, our nimble operating model and diverse portfolio allowed us to navigate the short-term disruption caused by Vietnam factory closures. We are encouraged to see factories re-open but the recent closures will impact our ability to fully service the incredibly strong demand we are seeing in Q4. As a result, we adjusted our full-year outlook for fiscal 2021.”
Full-Year 2021 Outlook
For the full 2021 fiscal year, the Company now expects revenue of approximately $2.4 billion resulting in nearly 35 percent growth versus the prior year. This revenue outlook represents mid-single-digit growth over 2019 (including Sweaty Betty), and low-single-digit growth excluding Sweaty Betty. Reported diluted earnings per share are now expected to be in the range of $1.16 to $1.21, and adjusted diluted earnings per share are now expected to be in the range of $2.05 to $2.10.
Previously, Wolverine expected full-year sales in the range of $2,340 million to $2,400 million, representing growth of 5.6 percent over 2019 at the high end of the range. Reported diluted earnings per share were expected to be in the range of $1.85 to $1.95, and adjusted diluted earnings per share were expected to be in the range of $2.20 to $2.30.


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Two top regulatory agencies in the country, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Standards organisation of Nigeria (SON), have commended the La Casera Company Plc for maintaining high quality standard in the production of its beverages, while describing the allegation of quality compromise, leveled against the company, as spurious.
Speaking during a tour of the company’s plant in Lagos recently, the Director General NAFDAC, Mrs Yetunde Oni, stated that the company had always complied fully with the agency’s regulations regarding food and beverage manufacturing processes since opening its door for business one and a half decades ago.
The DG, who was represented by a Special Assistant in the agency, Mr William Effiok, stated that when the agency got wind of the quality compromise allegation against the company, it embarked on a thorough investigation of some of the products, which involved taking samples from the markets, and those on the company’s production line, with a view to ascertaining the authenticity of the claim.
“After some period of investigation, which involved visits to the company’s plants and taking samples of the products from the open markets for tests in our laboratory, we discovered that the allegation was not only false, but baseless,” Effiok stated.
The DG expressed delight at the level of compliance and strict adherence to modern food and beverage production guidelines, while commending the company for investing in ultra-modern production line that operates under very hygienic conditions, with minimal human interference.
The Director, Product Certification, Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Mr Bayo Adigun, commended the company for having the courage to throw its gate open to the public for inspection.
“We appreciate the management team of the La Casera Company for hosting us on this visit and would like to state that this kind of partnership between regulators and manufacturers are aimed at supporting companies in making sure that they maintain their standard,” he added.
Expressing the company’s delight at the visit, the company’s Chief Executive, Mr Roland Ebelt, stated that such visit would give the company the platform to showcase its upgraded production lines, as well as assure the public of the company’s commitment to quality.


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Apple iPhone brings Nokia stock to its knees
Nokia stock began on a steep slope this morning prompting the phone makers to decide to eliminate 10,000 jobs, or 19 percent of Nokia employment. The removal of these 10,000 jobs will occur by the end of 2013.
The objective of the phone company now is to redeem Nokia stock by saving $2 billion amidst its cuts. According to Wyatt Research, Nokia’s share value fell 15 percent to $2.37 – the steepest Nokia stock drop in 11 years. Nokia stock has undergone the same lack of success for the last four quarters.
Since this morning, Nokia stock has fallen 52 percent, $2.37 now the per-share value. Nokia stock initially began to suffer at the release of Apple’s iPhone in June 2007, leaving Nokia stiff in competition. Struggling to compete with Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android, Nokia created the Microsoft smartphone, but did not attain the results they expected, and issued a warning that second quarter would bring about greater losses than expected. Losses are predicted to leak into third quarter.
The Nokia stock drop was a reaction to the closing of Nokia offices in Finland, Germany and Canada, along with the executive resignations of Niklas Savander, Mary McDowell and Jerri DeVard. Nokia will also sell its prestigious phone brand, Veritu. More than one-third of Nokia employees reside in Finland, so with closing Finland offices, more than one-third of Nokia staff will be eliminated.
“These planned reductions are a difficult consequence of the intended actions we believe we must take to ensure Nokia’s long-term competitive strength,” Nokia CEO Stephen Elop says, “We do not make plans that may impact our employees lightly, and as a company we will work tirelessly to ensure that those at risk are offered the support, options and advice necessary to find new opportunities.”
“When you make such drastic cuts you have to abandon a lot of things,” Nordea analyst in Helsinki, Sami Sarkamies said. “It may be that they just can’t anymore afford to come up with innovative, new things.”
The company strives to redeem its creative facet and Nokia stock, as innovation is what Nokia prided itself on before falling to its knees. In pairing with Microsoft Corp. in 2011, According to Associated Press, Nokia aimed to do just that, in creating the Lumia phone model. But two-thirds of the employees working on the creation of Lumia reside in Finland.
CFO Timo Ihamuotila said, “Nokia intends to maintain its strong financial position while proceeding aggressively with actions aimed at creating shareholder value.”


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Entrepreneur and indigenous Australian Josie Alec has a message for policymakers and business groups - stop viewing Indigenous business owners as "ticker boxes".
Ms Alec, who was part of the stolen generation, was taken from her family when she was young and sent to live with a white family, was inspired to start The Jummi Factory (which makes skin care products from indigenous bush remedies) after returning to Karatha in Western Australia and spending 12 years with her real mum.
Having returned to the community as a school teacher, she quit her job in 2016 and started The Jummi Factory after realising there was a gap in the market for natural skin care remedies, which she had already been making for seven years.
She started selling her products through Facebook but felt she did not know much about running a business. When Ms Alec started attending business seminars run by local established companies to support the indigenous population, she felt like her attendance simply ticked a box, without receiving any ongoing support.
"Being around mining areas like we are, a lot of mining companies will put money into some sort of company that aims to help indigenous people. I went to a dinner and two breakfasts with one of these groups, but that's all you get out of it," she said.
"They take your ideas, and then you get nothing back. Accountability is an issue. There is often a lot of funding poured in, but sometimes there is no accountability, someone is just ticking a box. That's how it feels."
To help support indigenous entrepreneurs, Indigenous Business Australia and Creel Price and Trevor Folsom's Investible have teamed up to launch an accelerator program targeted at helping these entrepreneurs.
Virtual accelerator for the regions
Having already run an eight-week pilot program in which selected Indigenous entrepreneurs moved to Sydney for the program, they are now making it more accessible in regional areas for those who can't leave their communities, by starting a virtual accelerator.
"What this program and its connections are inspiring is for our indigenous entrepreneurs to be more confident, to take feedback well and to look for resources in their sectors that they wouldn't have even had a starting point to look at before," IBA senior manager for startup development Stella DeCos said.
IBA covers the cost of the program for all participants. Outside of the accelerator, IBA also provides Indigenous entrepreneurs with $100,000 start-up packages, which are a mix of grant and debt funding and chief executive Rajiv Viswanathan said it hopes to also be able to start making larger equity investments within the next few months.
The virtual program connects entrepreneurs to program mentors via video conferencing technology, but also involves numerous multi-day trips to Sydney for intensive sessions.
Ms Alec participated in the pilot Indigenous accelerator program last year and has returned this year as a mentor. She is now in the process of developing a new nursery in the Pilbara for The Jummi Factory which utilises aquaculture techniques, to develop the next version of her products. Her goal is to get her first product to market within the next two months and also wants to start exporting to China.
"I got to delve inside of the business and have a deep look at how the wheels turn and how I can keep them turning in the future," she said.
Ms Alec's business is one of around 12,000 Indigenous businesses in the country, according to IBA, but she said she expects these numbers to rise quickly.
"There is a big shift in indigenous businesses nationally and in how we're going to keep ourselves economically sustainable and people are coming out of the woodwork and starting businesses," she said.
"People are doing it without even realising it. We're going to change a generation."
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Singapore has expanded its borders. Following the trial of Vaccinated Travel Lanes with Germany and Brunei, passengers from 9 countries including the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, France, West, and South Korea will be allowed to enter without quarantine. Only need to carry out PCR test before boarding and after arrival
Singapore’s Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong said in a national television speech today, that as part of coexisting with COVID-19, Singapore must reconnect with the world and reopen its borders safely.
He said that Singapore has launched Vaccinated Travel Lanes with Brunei and Germany. The results of the trial show that it is possible for the vaccinated persons to travel safely with few cases of overseas immigration. Singapore will promote more Vaccinated Travel Lanes, especially in countries where the epidemic is stable. This will allow Singapore to stay connected to the global supply chain and help maintain Singapore’s hub status.
Singapore’s Minister of Transport, S Iswaran, announced that Vaccinated Travel Lanes will be extended to travelers from Denmark, France, Italy, Netherlands, Spain, United Kingdom, United States, and Canada. These 8 countries have all opened the entry of Singaporean passengers. The implementation of Vaccinated Travel Lanes will resume two-way, quarantine-free travel between Singapore and these countries. Starting from the 19th, permitted passengers can enter Singapore through this passage.
In addition to the above-mentioned eight European and American countries, Singapore and South Korea will jointly launch Vaccinated Travel Lanes. S Iswaran pointed out that South Korea currently prohibits the entry of general travelers from almost all countries. The two sides decided to implement this new measure after discussion.
He said that from November 15th, passengers departing from Singapore and South Korea can use Vaccinated Travel Lanes to enter each other’s countries after obtaining permission from the authorities.
In addition, Singapore currently divides all countries and regions into 4 categories according to the degree of risk, and unilaterally opens them to the first category of countries and regions with the lowest risk level. Currently, passengers from Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and Macau do not need to be isolated after entry. The airport accepts the PCR test, if the result is negative, the passengers can move around freely.


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COLUMBIA – True/False Film Fest is back in Columbia this weekend. While for attendees it means a weekend to relax and expand cultural knowledge, downtown business owner are extending their services and multiplying their resources to make sure every resident and visitor is well served.
On Thursday, business owners opened up ready for the expected large crowds: some with doubled staff at the forefront, some with extra stock, some with extended hours and some with all of the above.
The fest runs from March 2 to March 5, bringing documentary filmmakers and thousands of this genre’s fans to Columbia.
This year, attendees can count on being exposed to more diversity, since 59% of the selected film’s directors are women and 55% of the documentaries were directed by people of color.
Those statistics are receiving praise from the community, and among them is Sare Schuh, a downtown Columbia barista who says they are happy to see any minority group having more exposure, in any field, but in media especially.
Around 10 Latinx films will be exhibited this weekend. A downtown Latin employee, who only wanted to be quoted, said seeing this representation makes her feel even more proud of her heritage.
To her, the upcoming weekend is expected to be particularly stressful, since sometimes costumers may not want to leave the premises, even when it is time to close doors.
Whereas for Schuh, this is their first True/False Fest working behind the counter. They expect the coffee shop to be crowded, perhaps even more than last year.
“True/False is definitely always a lot busier, and it’s a lot crazier downtown, so it’s definitely more chaotic, and we are usually extra staffed up and extra stocked up, because we get a huge rush in business this weekend,” Schuh said.


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African container shipping portal releases first half report
A report from portoverview.com examined African port incidents and trends, as well as carrier shipping performance statistics on the main African trades with Asia and Europe.
The African container shipping information portal portoverview.com has released an analytical report on port congestion, carrier reliability, and dwell times in the region.
The report examines African port incidents and analyzes trends, new developments and carrier shipping performance statistics on the main African trades with Asia and Europe. Portoverview.com plans to release the report every six months as a tool for shippers, traders, logistics and terminal operators, as well as port authorities, investment institutions and non-governmental bodies.
“As we observed since we started back in October 2012, African ports have experienced extreme highs and lows and will continue to do so for the rest of this decade,” said Victor Shieh, editor of the report.
Portoverview.com said there is a misperception that container lines or terminal operators are entirely to blame for poor timely container delivery.
“If we analyze SeaIntel Maritime Analysis’ vessel reliability for the first half of 2015, many lines in trades such as Asia-Africa have recorded their best performances for the last three-and-a-half years in terms of scheduled arrivals,” Shieh said. “Productivity at the quayside and at the stacks have improved at many terminals. However, actual container deliveries perform poorly with less than a one-in-two chance that your cargo will arrive on time at the customer.”
The report notes the typical hurdles facing container movement in Africa - structural congestion in African ports located in extended urban areas, limited road and rail infrastructure, poor customs procedures, security concerns, poor dredging programs and industrial labor actions.
“If you contrast the remarkable progress achieved in the construction of the second canal at Suez or the new rail link between Addis Ababa and Djibouti with reduced draft in Durban, the traffic gridlock on the Apapa-Oshodi expressway (in Lagos, Nigeria) and a constant two-week wait to berth at Douala (Cameroon), we believe there is a need to provide shippers with true information to facilitate trade to and from Africa,” Shieh said.
We’ll send it to you!
Register now and get the free AS Daily.


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Iceland’s border opens June 15, but Americans aren’t welcome
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Update 6/10/20: Icelandair has added four round-trip flights between Boston and Iceland during the second half of June — on June 17, 20, 24 and 27 — however, tourists from countries outside of Europe’s Schengen zone, including the United States, will not be permitted entry in June. Connecting passengers can book these four Boston flights, assuming they’re eligible to enter their destination of choice in Europe. As of now, Iceland is planning to welcome a broader group of visitors beginning July 1, but that plan remains subject to change.
This time next week, I thought I’d be exploring an unthinkably quiet Iceland.
The island nation, which has grown incredibly popular with summer tourists over the years, is still closed to visitors until June 15. And on that date, anyone entering the country will either need to undergo a COVID-19 test at the airport, or self-quarantine for 14 days. But I was happy — eager, even — to submit to the test.
Sadly, as it turns out, my trip is off the table. While some visitors will indeed be welcome to visit Iceland, Americans don’t fall into that fortunate group.
On Monday, just one week before my planned arrival date, Icelandair released its updated flight schedule. My flight from Boston is still available to book, but it won’t operate as expected, likely leading to even more confusion among Iceland-bound hopefuls in the U.S. Instead, for the second half of June, the carrier will only operate service between Keflavík Airport (KEF) and the European cities below, including London Heathrow (LHR), Amsterdam (AMS) and Munich (MUC), among others:
According to an Icelandair spokesperson, the border will remain closed to any tourists from outside Europe’s Schengen Area, including visitors from the United States. As of now, the country plans to accept a broader group of visitors beginning July 1, but my previous advice still stands: Don’t book flights or nonrefundable hotel stays until you know you’ll be able to take the trip.
Ultimately, I’m disappointed I won’t get to experience Iceland with relatively few tourists, but considering that the United States has by far the greatest number of COVID-19 cases of any country in the world, I can’t say I’m terribly surprised we’re not yet welcome.
For now, I’m staying at home. While some countries will accept Americans, including destinations in the Caribbean, Iceland — which hasn’t reported any new coronavirus cases — seemed like an especially safe bet.
Featured photo by ronnybas/Getty Images.
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New legislation introduced Wednesday on the floor of the U.S. Senate by Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., targets small businesses needing an extra boost to commercialize products.
The Small Business Innovation to Job Creation Act of 2010 would provide a grant to businesses that have already received research and development funds from the U.S. Small Business Administration and other government agencies, giving the companies money so that they can bring their technology to market.
Schumer said around 250 businesses in New York state would be eligible for funding, including Schenectady’s TransTech Systems.
“We have lots of companies that have well-developed ideas. These companies have done their research and their prototypes are promising,” said Schumer.
Small Business Innovative Research grants are competitive and administered by federal agencies. The grants provide up to $100,000 for six months of research exploration for businesses in phase one and up to $750,000 for up to two years of more research funds in phase two. Currently the grants do not stretch beyond phase two into phase three, when businesses seek to commercialize the technology they have developed.
“The government does a lot to support business research, but not enough on development,” Schumer said. “So many entrepreneurs close their doors when they are about to launch. It’s very hard to get financing at this level. To take a small company to make it bigger you have venture capital and bank loans but before a company has sold its product it’s too small and untested to get any kind of financing.”
The funding would bridge the gap between the “Valley of Death” for promising start-up businesses that commonly fail between the point of research and development and product commercialization.
The legislation was written and first introduced by U.S. Rep. Paul Tonko, D-Amsterdam, in March. The bill will be part of an overall small business jobs bill set to be debated on the U.S. Senate floor within the next month and could be enacted as early as summer, according to Schumer’s office.
The program would mean TransTech Systems would hire nearly a dozen employees, as projects that were previously shelved because of financing issues could be relaunched, according to TransTech Systems President and Chief Executive Officer David Apkarian.
The company, which utilizes a platform technology for sensing and measuring for mostly construction and biomedical fields, currently has 45 employees.
“This is a jobs bill that not only will create jobs for a time period, it will create jobs that will continue to give jobs,” Apkarian said. “It’s a narrow sector that can pay back big dividends.”
David Gibson, president of X-Ray Optical Systems in East Greenbush, said his company would also benefit from the legislation. The company uses X-ray technology to measure environmental and product contaminants in products.
“We would start hiring engineers and other individuals within a couple of weeks. We would use it to finish the development work and do field testing and demonstrations. We would hire people immediately to finish that,” Gibson said.
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Bryden Wood has successfully won a BIM Award 2018 in the ‘Doing it: M&E Engineer’ category– here is a link to the awards.
Nick Brown, Intermediate Electrical Engineer at Bryden Wood, commenting said: “We are delighted to have won the award and it’s great that the innovative work of the team has been recognised. We were up against some tough competition, which makes our award even more meaningful. There is a huge focus on Building Information Modelling (BIM) at Bryden Wood. It’s a collaborative way of working, powered by digital technology and has been intrinsic to Bryden Wood’s work, even before it had a name.“
Because of their pioneering use of automotive software to produce design detail across all disciplines, Bryden Wood was invited by the government to join the Core BIM Team in 2011. As a result, Bryden Wood helped shape BIM as an approach for the construction industry, extending it beyond design to data, people, processes and the use of buildings. BIM is increasingly accepted across the industry with a body of case studies demonstrating the significant efficiencies it can offer in design and delivery. For the government to reach their 2025 targets of 33% lower cost, 50% lower emissions, 50% faster delivery and a 50% improvement in exports, BIM needs to be used beyond individual projects. Which is why Bryden Wood has developed a unique approach to BIM – called ‘Digital Delivery’ – going beyond Level 2 and provides real-world benefits to clients.
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BAY AREA REPORT -- SOUTH BAY / Sports Memorabilia Stolen in Store Burglary
San Jose -- A shopkeeper lost thousands of dollars worth of sports memorabilia in a late night burglary when thieves smashed a front window and broke into the store, investigators said.
The robbers broke into the California Stationers store owned by Gene Oberhauser at 5203 Prospect Road in west San Jose, smashed display cases and stole more than $10,000 in merchandise.
Police spokesman Louis Quezada said burglars made off with a valuable baseball signed by Joe DiMaggio as well as jerseys signed by Joe Montana and Steve Young. Others items taken included a helmet signed by Dallas Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman and baseballs autographed by Barry Bonds and Matt Williams.
The thieves smashed Oberhauser's front window sometime late Tuesday night or early Wednesday morning, Quezada said. "We want to inform people who may be thinking about buying these items that they may be stolen and to call our burglary unit," he said.
Police are asking anyone with information about the burglary to call (408) 277-4401 or the anonymous hotline at (408) 947-STOP.


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In its latest white paper, “Substance behind the Hype: 5G Smartphones Primed and Ready for Fast Rollout,” IHS Markit analyst Wayne Lam predicts that the global 5G transition is poised to take place at a faster pace than any previous wireless generation transition.
“It is easy to paint the current momentum behind 5G as the usual pre-launch hype drummed up by vested stakeholders,” said Lam, principal analyst for IHS Markit and lead author of the white paper. “However, the mobile industry is fundamentally better prepared and more aligned with a common standard than at any previous technology transition.”
In his study, Lam said industry uncertainty adds friction to development and discourages firms from making big bets when the outcome is less than certain. While past wireless technology upgrades had competing standards vying for industry attention, there is no doubt about the air interface standard that will be used for 5G, he said.
“The 5G electronic ecosystem is significantly more mature, at this point, compared to the same time during the LTE transition,” said Lam. “Key 5G chipsets have been tested, proven and designed into devices, and the industry is now poised to deliver their first 5G smartphone in early 2019.
5G is the term used to describe the next-generation of mobile networks beyond the 4G LTE mobile networks of today. Some U.S. carriers such as Verizon and AT&T started rolling out 5G pilots in select markets last year, but 5G networks are not expected to be widely available until the 2020 timeframe, industry analysts say.
In the executive summary of his report, Lam highlights these trends for the upcoming rollout of 5G smartphones:
– The industry has been moving in lock-step as a common technology standard drives carrier adoption and capital investment in 5G network technology.
– Parallel to global carrier investment in the 5G transition, governments such as China and the U.S. are increasingly viewing 5G technology as critical to their respective global technological and economic prospects and are incentivized to drive for and claim 5G leadership.
– Supply chain readiness, especially those of the modem and RF front end, providing momentum for 5G handset designs and availability.
– Lessons from 4G LTE demonstrate that wireless technology serves as the platform for which new advancements, business models and services will flourish. 5G will be no different as it promises improvements in multiple aspects of network capability.


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Too Hot to Handle narrator Desiree Burch has revealed to Digital Spy that she is keen to join the line-up on Taskmaster.
The Netflix star has all of the qualifications of an excellent Taskmaster player – she’s one of the funniest people alive, has plenty of panel show experience on Mock the Week and Have I Got News for You, and is UK-based!
When Digital Spy chatted to Desiree prior to the Taskmaster cast being announced this past summer, we asked if she’d be keen to join Greg Davies and Alex H…
So long, “gay Bowser” – fans lament the loss of Mario 64’s most famous line in Super Mario 3D All-Stars – Eurogamer.net
Mario’s famous “gay Bowser” line isn’t in Super Mario 3D All-Stars’ version of Super Mario 64 – and fans are waving a sad goodbye.
In the original N64 masterpiece, Mario shouts “so long, gay Bowser!” as he chucks Bowser in the final boss fight. Here’s how it sounds:
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Fans spent years trying to work out what the dialogue was going for -…
Cyberpunk 2077’s campaign won’t be as long as The Witcher 3’s – VG247
Cyberpunk 2077’s main campaign won’t be as long as The Witcher 3’s, according to CD Projekt Red.Speaking in a Twitch stream, with CohhCarnage…
Cyberpunk 2077’s main campaign won’t be as long as The Witcher 3’s, according to CD Projekt Red.
Speaking in a Twitch stream, with CohhCarnage (via resetera), Cyberpunk 2077’s senior quest designer Patrick K. Mills said the campaign will be slightly shorter than The Witcher 3’s because many people didn’t complete it.
“The difference between a completionist run and the main story run… we do know that the main story run in Cyberpunk 2077 is slightly shorter than The Witcher 3 because we got a lo…
Massive ‘Marvel’s Avengers’ patch fixes over 1,000 bugs – Engadget
Square Enix has rolled out a huge update for Marvel’s Avengers that focus on fixing issues affecting the game on consoles and PC. The lengthy changelog include…
Square Enix has rolled out a huge update for Marvel’s Avengers that focus on fixing issues affecting the game on consoles and PC. It’s the title’s first major update since it launched earlier this month, and it’s meant to address over a thousand bugs that players had come across over the past two weeks. The lengthy changelog includes fixes for serious issues that prevent progression, as well as small graphical and animation tweaks.
The developer officially unveiled the game in mid—2019, two yea…
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The average amount of money spent per cardholder was up this year, and in some cases, significantly. Credit cardholders spent an average of $323 over the five-day period, up more than 10 percent (+10.6%) over last year’s average of $292. For their part, debit cardholders spent an average of $264 from Thanksgiving Day through Cyber Monday. That’s an increase of nearly 17 percent (+16.8%) over the same period in 2018. CO-OP’s data shows analyst predictions for 2019 holiday shopping increases as high as 19.7 percent were fairly on target.
Data-driven payment strategy is particularly important for credit unions looking to capture and retain the business of online shoppers. CO-OP’s data shows cardholders tend to spend more per transaction when shopping online. In 2019, the average electronic transaction made with a credit card was $101.19. In-person credit transactions, on the other hand, averaged $83.46. Debit displayed similar differences with electronic transaction averages at $64.79 and in-person averages at $43.37.
Credit union cardholders continued to rely on digital channels to check off their holiday shopping lists. This year, 27.9 percent of credit card transactions processed by CO-OP came from electronic environments, compared to 27.5 percent in 2018. Debit transactions that came from electronic environments decreased, but only slightly, from 16.6 percent in 2018 to 15.7 percent this year. By day, the percentage of transactions processed in electronic environments was much larger on Cyber Monday. ShopperTrak reported that the number of consumers who actually entered a brick-and-mortar store was down 6.2 percent on Black Friday this year.
“Running frequent analytics on CO-OP’s transaction data gives our team rich insights that allow us to advise credit unions on highly effective and member-centric payment strategies,” said Todd Clark, President/CEO of CO-OP. “Because credit unions are driven by what’s best for their members, this level of intelligence is incredibly valuable.”
CO-OP’s 2019 holiday shopping data insights match a Business Insider report revealing nearly 60 percent of consumers prefer to shop during online retail events, like Cyber Monday. That may be due in part to the growing BOPIS trend (buy online, pickup in store), which grew a whopping 40.9 percent over 2018, according to Adobe Analytics.
Black Friday was the biggest shopping day across both card types in terms of total spend. Small Business Saturday was the runner-up.
As for the winners and losers among merchant categories, there were several notable differences among retailers. Credit union credit cardholders spent quite a bit less on clothing and appliances this year as compared to last. Clothing store transactions were down nearly 5 (-4.60%) percent; appliances down more than 20 percent (-22.06%). Car rental and travel were down considerably, as well, at more than 20 (-20.67%) and 15 percent (-15.76%), respectively. Interior furnishings and recreation (i.e., movie theaters, bowling alleys), on the other hand, increased sales significantly at nearly 10 percent (+9.9%) and 17 percent (+16.72%).


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One of the greatest draws of titles like Grand Theft Auto is the ability to create random scenes of massive destruction and carnage. Surprisingly, few titles have capitalized on that and included instant replay features -- Rockstar did implement repl...
With Apple recently marketing their iPhone and iPod Touch portable devices as gaming platforms, casual gaming on the go has seen a bit of a twilight. Independent developers have been enjoying increased exposure thanks to low prices and easy availabil...
Combinations of space- and ground-based telescopes may be the most economically palpable defenses NASA can mount against asteroids and comets heading toward Earth, but there are more advanced defenses involving spacecraft and nuclear explosions that ...
China on Friday slammed remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton promoting Internet freedom worldwide, saying her words harmed U.S.-China relations.
EA is standing by its troubled man in a big way, as the company announced today that Tiger Woods PGA Tour 2011 will be releasing on multiple platforms this June, including the iPhone, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii. Noticeably absent is a PC version -- inste...
Square Enix announced via their Facebook page today that Final Fantasy I and II would be make their way to the iPhone sometime in the near future.
Who among us hasn't played Tetris?
A Siemens research project has recently broken the record for wirelessly transmitting data, by making use of white LEDs light-emitting diodes instead of radio waves.
Corporations and government agencies must IPv6-enable their public-facing Web sites in the next 24 months or risk upsetting a growing number of visitors with lower-grade connectivity.
Hewlett-Packard, reigning inkjet giant, has partnered with Stratasys, a leading manufacturer of rapid prototyping machines, to bring 3D "printing" of solid objects to the desktop.The HP-Stratasys models have been described as small enough to sit on a...
Don't you hate the smudges you get on your phone, or iPod whenever you touch the screen? Would you pay $100,000 to make them go away? HP thinks you might, if you're a large company or organization. That's why they've created the Wall of Touch, a giga...
Android phones aren't the only handsets that have access to a free, full-featured GPS application. Nokia on Thursday announced that it will make the premium version of Ovi Maps, which includes turn-by-turn directions and traffic alerts, available on ...
Rambus' agreement to settle legal claims with Samsung Electronics could accelerate deals that could help new memory technology being developed by Rambus get to market faster, analysts said.
Sony Ericsson has launched another Symbian-based smartphone, the Vivaz, which supports video recording at 720p and comes with an 8-megapixel camera.
Alcatel-Lucent will try to tackle the growing volume of traffic on carrier networks with an optical switch that can handle 4T bits per second (bps) while consuming less power per bit than today's equipment.
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GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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Jeremy Scott has gained a lot of recognition over the years for his wacky and playful taste. As part of his ongoing relationship with sportswear giant adidas, the creative fashion designer has made over one of their newer silhouettes – the Tubular Runner. As expected, it features a colorful print on the bootie, along with snakeskin overlays in slime green. Finishing off the look is the usual EVA sole unit and a pair of spotted laces. You can expect to see the adidas Originals Tubular Runner by Jeremy Scott release later this year. Take another look below.
A photo posted by Polkadot Magazine (@polkadot_mag) on Apr 20, 2015 at 2:34am PDT


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Microsoft is expanding its test of Dolby Vision HDR gaming on Xbox Series X/S. The feature is making its way to the Xbox Insider Alpha ring. The company is looking for feedback before it rolls out the Dolby Vision HDR.
It previously promised to do so sometime this year. Dolby Vision brings more vibrant colors, sharper contrast, and up to 40 times brighter highlights to games. It automatically adjusts the picture settings on your display.
The companies are working with TV manufacturers to optimize the Dolby Vision experience. On as many displays as they can before they roll it out to everyone. If you’re enrolled in the Insider Alpha program and want to play games with Dolby Vision.
You should make sure you have the latest firmware installed on your TV. That way, you might be able to take advantage of features like automatic low-latency mode and variable refresh rate as well.
More from Games
Microsoft announced that it is working with TV manufacturers to allow the Xbox app to work on the TVs themselves. …
Google's Stadia is heading to new devices. The search giant announced that it will begin rolling out the cloud-based video …


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Barely 48 hours after coinbase announced the opening of it NFT waitlist. More than a million people have signed up, it was revealed.
Sanchan Saxena, the Vice President of product at Coinbase said yesterday that the “insane” amount of traffic from signing up to waitlist temporarily broke the site.
Coinbase NFT will first support the Ethereum-based ERC-721 and ERC-1155 token standards, there are plans to extend support to other blockchains in the future.
“Thanks for your patience everybody – for the last few hours, we have ramped up and scaled things for you to be able to sign up for the NFT marketplace.
— Sanchan S Saxena (@sanchans) October 13, 2021
There are almost 1.1 million people waiting for early access to the NFT platform.
Coinbase’s decision to go into the NFT market comes after competitors like FTX and Binance both launched their own NFT marketplaces.
Binance NFT opened in June, with a clear objective to provide low transaction costs, while FTX and FTX.US launched their NFT platforms with limited functionality last month.


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Street Fighter celebrated its 30th anniversary in August 2017. And dedicated fans of the Street Fighter games likely still remember quarter-circling their way to victory at Chuck E. Cheese arcades years ago. While the legendary gaming franchise suffered some bumps in its past, it still delivers. From Street Fighter II to Street Fighter V, the series has a jaw-dropping cast of fighters. There are many amazing newcomers like Juri and Menat. Plus, classic fighters like Chun-Li, Ryu, and Dan still pack a punch.
It's no wonder many Street Fighter fans want to immortalize the series on their skin. These Street Fighter tattoos are not only impressive, but they're also among the best video game tattoos ever inked.


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Fabienne Serriere, founder of Seattle-based KnitYak, combined her hardware-hacking and hand-knitting hobbies to develop something truly unique: custom knit scarves that show mathematical algorithms.
Talk about geek fashion.
“If you love mathematics, or computer science, or if you love textile design, a KnitYak scarf is for you,” says Serriere in a Kickstarter campaign that’s hit about half of its goal to date.
She adds: “Your scarf is a wearable piece of unique code art.”
After eight years in Berlin, Germany, Serriere travelled to the U.S. for 11 months before choosing Seattle as the home for KnitYak.
She picked Seattle not for its natural beauty, but another unique reason: humidity.
“Seattle is fairly humid, usually, and that is actually really good for knitting machines,” Serriere tells GeekWire. “Knitting machines drop stitches if it is too dry so you have to do a lot more humidity control if you are not in a humid place.”
But there’s more to Seattle than the weather patterns. She also loved the geeky culture of the Northwest.
“We have a massive amount of geeks that live here which is my core customer base,” she said. “Sales locally have been largely from people who work in tech here. The geeks are strong here.”
The Merino-wool scarves, which will be produced in Seattle, are unique in their design. No two scarves are alike. Customers personalize scarves by picking the exact rule from an algorithm and specifying a width.
“KnitYak scarves ship with the specific code and generating key used to make the pattern on your scarf,” said Serriere in the Kickstarter pitch. “There is something powerful about knowing the mathematics and code behind the pattern you are wearing.”
Serriere said she especially likes a pattern called Elementary Cellular Automaton because it is something that a lot of people have seen before.
“It is something that you learn in basic computer science classes and as a mathematician,” she said. “It is a really easy way to explain how algorithms work and generate a design. They are deceptively simple and make really complex patterns.”
In the future you will be able to submit your own code and request knit products beyond scarves.
Serriere is attempting to raise $100,000 via the Kickstarter campaign, and she’s brought in just over $56,000 with seven days remaining.
The entrepreneur also looking to open-source an entire ecosystem around the knitting machine. She wants to add a climate control system, as well as monitoring system to notify the user of jams.
She also wants to expand into an area known as “fully fashioned knitting” — a technique that can be used to make shaped, flat pieces.
“It can spit out the whole front of a sweater with the shape of the collar and shape of the arm holes and then the whole back of the sweater and each sleeve shaped,” she said. “You would have a fully custom knit sweater wrapped in algorithms, wrapped in coded patterns that are scripted out of computer code.”


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Is nothing sacred anymore?
Any thrift store lover typically cut their teeth in a Goodwill, sifting through racks of donated goods, looking for an overlooked gem to buy or even resell. And as experienced thrifters know, depending on the Goodwill, the goods can be abundant—this writer has been known to score many a designer or vintage find in Goodwills in lesser-known markets.
But as Business of Fashion reports, the secondhand stalwart has gotten hip to the digital retail game—or should we say the digital resale game. After decades of watching folks clean up on eBay or Etsy with their donated finds, Goodwill has decided to partner with mobile marketplace OfferUP to offload some of their most covetable items to the highest bidder.
We can’t say we blame them; as BoF reports, the resale industry is currently a $24 billion market. Goodwill’s 3,300 stores alone generated $4.29 billion in sales in 2017.
But given the success of sites like the RealReal (which recently filed for IPO), Poshmark and more, Goodwill apparently isn’t leveraging its 117-year-old assets as well as it could, and a long-overdue image overhaul may be the result.
“We sell all of the same brands as those platforms do, like Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Givenchy, and Gucci,” said Joseph Jarroush, Goodwill’s vice president of retail operations in New York and New Jersey. “We compete with the RealReal every day and have been looking at different avenues to make consumers aware. The partnership with OfferUP will give our listings a national audience.”
Though Goodwill has long had an identity on eBay, by utilizing OfferUP’s ability to amplify local sales, the app also provides a draw to customers in a given area, a benefit apparently tapped into by Goodwill employees, who inspired this partnership by using the app to promote and move product in their respective stores. According to OfferUp’s vice president of community Natalie Angelillo, most Goodwill items on the app sold within 72 hours.
Now, 100 of Goodwill’s locations will be working with OfferUp, including in major hubs like New York, San Francisco and Detroit, where associates will focus on marketing luxury or prime vintage goods that come through the stores to OfferUp’s 44 million, primarily millennial, monthly active users. Additionally, Goodwill is implementing inventory control through Upright Labs and using authentication company Entrupy to verify its luxury items. It’s all an effort to elevate one of America’s most established secondhand resellers to a leader in the resale game ... but gee, will we hate having to compete with the rest of the internet for the pennies-on-the-dollar finds we used to score in-store.
“The RealReal and Poshmark have come out of the gates hot, but we’ve been around for 100 years,” said Jarroush. “Plus, as other companies grab a piece of the pie, the pie only gets bigger for us.”
Correction: 6/12/19 at 5:45 p.m., ET: An earlier version of this article incorrectly stated that “Goodwill’s 3,300 stores alone generated $4.29 billion in sales in 2017, which primarily goes toward maintaining its vast network of stores and workforce (whose jobs are often part of the “goodwill” the nonprofit provides).” The Glow Up has since received the following statement from Goodwill, and the article has been amended to reflect their clarification. Additionally, Goodwill Industries’ annual report is attached:
Goodwill is comprised of 159 Goodwill organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Each has its own president and CEO and is governed by a local board of directors. Each also operates the stores and donation centers in their territories and the revenue is funneled right back into communities to provide employment placement, job training, credentials and certifications, and digital skills training for anyone facing challenges to finding employment including, people with disabilities, older workers, youth, veterans and military families, and people with criminal backgrounds. Additionally, we offer support services such as financial education, youth mentoring, child care, and health care. The revenue is not used to maintain the stores.


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Steve Jobs to Kick Off Apple's Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 with Keynote Address on Monday, June 7
CUPERTINO, California-May 24, 2010-Apple® will kick off its annual Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC) with a keynote address by CEO Steve Jobs on Monday, June 7 at 10:00 a.m. This year's WWDC sold out in a record eight days to over 5,000 developers.
The five-day event running from June 7 to June 11, is focused on providing advanced content for skilled developers across five key technology tracks: Application Frameworks; Internet & Web; Graphics & Media; Developer Tools; and Core OS. Apple engineers will deliver over 100 solutions-oriented technical sessions and labs. WWDC 2010 gives an incredibly diverse community the opportunity to connect with thousands of fellow iPhone®, iPad and Mac® developers from around the world.
Apple ignited the personal computer revolution with the Apple II, then reinvented the personal computer with the Macintosh. Apple continues to lead the industry with its award-winning computers, OS X operating system, and iLife, iWork and professional applications. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store, has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and has recently introduced its magical iPad which is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices.
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- Hear the difference feel the beat of the DRUM


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It’s finally happening: the Washington Post reports that at midnight on February 18th, wireless networks across the country will start shutting down the old analog networks that launched the cellphone business 25 years ago.
Currently, there are over 250 million cell phone subscribers in the U.S. But only about 1 million of them still use analog networks. As early as seven years ago, cell phone carriers began offering deep discounts to anyone who traded in their old analog-compatible cell phones for digital versions, whose networks are much cheaper to support and maintain and allow for more data based services.
But anyone who hasn’t upgraded their phones in several years could be affected. Not only that, but cars with older versions of OnStar could also be affected, according to the report.
Fading Out [WP]


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Arrowsight, a third-party company, will independently monitor video streams from 33 Tyson Foods poultry plants to prevent animal abuse. Data analytics will play a part too, with livestock handling practices analysed and regularly fed back to factory managers to improve company-wide animal welfare standards.
Controlled atmosphere stunning (CAS) will be trailed at two Tyson Foods factories within the next 12 months. CAS is a form of humane slaughter that uses carbon dioxide to knock chickens out before they are killed.
Tyson Foods will also hire animal wellbeing specialists across beef, pork and poultry operations – a first for a US meat business, according to the company. Research on house lighting and how enrichment objects, such as perches, can be used to improve bird welfare are also underway.
Animal welfare ‘top priority’
Justin Whitmore, the recently-appointed chief sustainability officer at Arkansas-based Tyson Foods, said animal welfare was core to its “broader sustainability journey” to deliver healthier food, healthier animals and reduce environmental impact.
The National Chicken Council told this site the wider industry was committed to animal welfare. “Animal welfare is a top priority for all of our members,” a spokesperson said. “Without proper animal care and healthy birds, our members wouldn’t be in business. In addition, farmers’ pay cheques depend on the wellbeing of the birds, so they want to do everything possible to make sure the chickens are healthy and thriving.”
However, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) – which has called for the meat industry to adopt CAS – was short on praise for Tyson Foods.
“Controlled-atmosphere stunning, video cameras and human monitors have the potential to eliminate some of the worst abuses that chickens endure, but it’s clear that today’s consumers want more than a reduction in suffering—they don’t want to support cruelty to animals at all,” it said in a statement. “A wiser step than attempting to film atrocities would be for Tyson to focus on investing in Beyond Meat and other innovative vegan companies.”


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Reports say Albertsons bidding on former Ashland Safeway store
Albertsons is bidding to take over 36 stores previously operated by Haggen Foods, including the former Safeway store in Ashland.
Earlier this year, Haggen purchased 146 Safeway and Albertsons grocery stores in five states, including many in Oregon and Washington, following a Safeway-Albertsons merger and a federal order that they sell off 168 stores to avoid creating monopoly situations.
ButHaggen, which had previously operated only 18 stores in two states, struggled to operate its new stores, and in September filed for bankruptcy. Since then it has closed most of its stores and is putting them up for auction.
Albertsons has submitted bids on three dozen stores that are up for auction this week, including some that were Albertsons stores previously. According to reports, the former Safeway/Haggen store at585 Siskiyou Blvd., Ashland, is one of those. Albertsons is also bidding for store sites in Eugene, Springfield and Baker City. No bidders were listed for two stores in Klamath Falls or one in Grants Pass.
Albertsons already has a store in Ashland. Questions remain to be answered about whether operating a second store would run afoul of the Federal Trade Commission's orders that the combined Albertsons-Safeway group sell off stores in markets where it could have an unfair competitive advantage.
The Ashland Food Co-op had also indicated interest in acquiring the former Haggen site on Siskiyou Boulevard, but Co-op General ManagerEmile Amarotico said Wednesday that the Co-op would not participate in the bidding for the site, which he said would be leased to the winning bidder.
According to Jackson County property records,Safeway sold the 2.1-acre property and its 24,000 square-foot grocery market building on April 30, for $4.5 million on April 30 to a Haggen Holdings company based in Bellingham, Wash.
The auction, which reportedly is for leasing, not purchasing, the property, was scheduled to conclude today. Haggen indicated it would present the winning bidders' names to the bankruptcy court on Friday.


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2. Jennifer Piepszak
Chief Financial Officer,
JP Morgan Chase & Co
2018 REVENUE $52 billion (consumer and community banking, including credit cards)
NYC IMPACT Board member, United Way of New York City
Editor's note: All eyes are on three women executives at JPMorgan who may become the next CEO of the nation's biggest bank. For that reason, Mary Callahan Erdoes, Marianne Lake and Jennifer Piepszak together share the No. 2 spot on this list.
Jennifer Piepszak's high-profile new job as JPMorgan’s finance chief, reporting to CEO Jamie Dimon, lands her a spot on Crain’s Most Powerful Women list for the first time.
The position, which became effective May 1, also comes with a spot on JPMorgan’s 11-member operating committee.
During her two and a half decades at the bank, Piepszak, 49, has proved herself in a variety of roles, from investment banking to consumer banking. After running Chase Business Bank, she became CEO of Card Services in February 2017, shortly after the Sapphire Reserve card debuted; she is credited with the card’s success. Piepszak extended the Sapphire brand with new products, including a perk-packed bank account aimed at the same affluent millennial market. Last year JPMorgan added 8 million credit card accounts, for a total of roughly 40 million cardholders.
Piepszak assumes the CFO role formerly held by Marianne Lake as the bank generates record earnings and revenue: $32.5 billion on revenue of $111.5 billion last year. But she’ll have to shepherd it through what looks like an increasingly volatile climate.


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After weeks of rumors and speculation, eegee’s has finally confirmed five new locations opening throughout the Valley next year, including one in Scottsdale.
Beginning in the second quarter of 2021, the Tucson-based fast-food favorite with a cult following will open a restaurant near Odysea Aquarium and Salt River Fields at Talking Stick.
“It’s the hottest part of town,” Eegee’s CEO Ron Petty said.
“It’s very central; it has everything going on,” Petty continued. “If you look at the total plans and the growth over the next two to three years, it’s going to be huge.”
Others include one in Phoenix and Mesa and two in Gilbert.
According to Petty, eegee’s has had plans to expand north for five years.
“By the end of next year, I’ve pretty much tapped out in terms of growth in Tucson. I’ll have 33 stores by the end of the next year in Tucson. Passed that, it’s going to be more and more difficult to grow anymore in Tucson,” Petty said.
Petty has plans for a Phoenix takeover, but said, “We’ve got a lot of work to do.”
“You have one million people in Tucson; we’ll have 33 to 35 stores here. And you’ve got five and a half million in Maricopa County. So, there’s a lot of growth to be done in the Phoenix metroplex area.”
Up until now, eegee’s presence in Phoenix has been limited to selling the famous fruit drinks at other brick and mortar stores, including Blimpie restaurants.
“They’re not part of eegee’s,” Petty explained. “They’re simply a wholesale customer that we sell product to and they sell it within their facilities. We did it first with Blimpie and their stores, and then several other individual wholesale accounts have gotten it. It’s a minor, very minor piece of business.”
And while eegee’s frozen fruit drink is the award-winning fast-food chain’s No. 1, best-selling item, it also is known for its grinders and ranch fries, which are discussed at length online, including and especially on Reddit.
“We use a crinkle cut fry… it’s probably the best fry on the market,” Petty said.
“And then we manufacture our own ranch dressing, which is a proprietary recipe. Anybody that’s had it say they’ve never had a better ranch dressing. We don’t hardly use any ketchup for the restaurants. Everybody dips their fries in ranch dressing.”
But nothing beats eegee’s frozen drinks, available in fruity flavors such as cherry cider, lemon, Piña Colada, lucky lime, orange dream, watermelon – their most popular flavor – and many more.
“We’re constantly doing R&D [research and development] for new flavors,” Petty said.
After eegee’s 1971 launch, Tucson Weekly reported that the fast-food chain served 2,500 gallons of eegee’s drinks yearly.
That number has exponentially increased. “We do over one million gallons a year,” Petty said.
Petty’s favorite menu items? The strawberry eegee’s and the hot pastrami on rye. “It’s just a really, really good sandwich,” he said.
The eegee’s menu continues to evolve, too.
Its Casa Grande store is currently testing new products and improving upon their staple products, including their fresh-baked bread.
“We just made a decision to continue with improving particularly the bread. So, we made some changes that’s going to substantially enhance the bread. We’re constantly looking at proteins,” Petty said.
“And coming out of that test will give us direction on where we go with the Phoenix menu,” he continued.
Over the past 15 years, eegee’s has donated more than $3 million to local charities.
“We’re very much known in Tucson for giving back to our community, and we’ve done a great job in building a relationship with the community, and we’ll continue to emphasize that in Tucson,” Petty said. “We’ll have a separate emphasis on community involvement up in the Phoenix area.”
“It’ll take a while up there to get to that level, but once we have 20, 30 stores, it’ll be a significant number,” he continued.
In the meantime, eegee’s will open stores on South Crismon Road near U.S. 60 in Mesa, on the southwest corner of Baseline Road and Val Vista Drive in Gilbert, and reportedly in near 35th and Peoria avenues in Phoenix.
Visit eegees.com/phx for updates on next year’s Phoenix openings.
“We look forward to becoming a part of the Phoenix metroplex, through job creation at our five new restaurants, charitable giving, and of course, our trademark frozen eegees,” Petty said.


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Windows Phone 7 recently passed the 11,500 apps mark.
Some additional landmarks:
- 1.5 Million downloads of our Windows Phone Developer Tools
- 36,000 members of the AppHub community who have become members of the Windows Phone developer community.
- 7,500 apps that are paid in our Marketplace.
- 1,200 newly registered developers we are adding every week
- 1,100 apps that are generating developer revenue using the Microsoft Advertising Ad Control.
- 12 apps that Windows Phone customers download on average every month.
- 1.8 days that it takes an app to get certified in the Windows Phone 7 Marketplace.
- 44% of the paid apps that include access to a Trial version.
- 40% of the fully registered developer population that have published an app or game.
For more details see this blog post from the Windows 7hone Developer Blog.


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United Technologies signs up with Microsoft Azure for Pratt & Whitney, Otis, and more
United Technologies (UTC), a conglomerate which builds and services products including aerospace engines and elevators, is going to leverage Microsoft Dynamics 365 and Azure in a strategic partnership.
The company says one of its core tenets is ‘giving employees the digital tools and capabilities to work in new and different ways at market speed.’ As a result, Microsoft technologies are set to be used in a variety of UTC businesses.
Pratt & Whitney, an aerospace manufacturer under the UTC umbrella, will be using Azure and Dynamics for cloud-based field service, sales and marketing to improve the customer experience, while Otis, a manufacturer of ‘people-moving products’, as the company puts it – elevators, escalators and walkways – will use Dynamics 365 CRM for its service technicians and sales teams.
“At UTC, we build products and services that are vital to business and impact lives everywhere. Through digital transformation, we are raising the bar on our capabilities to predict, prevent and respond to our customers’ needs,” said Vince Campisi, UTC chief digital officer and CIO. “Collaborating with Microsoft, and leveraging its intelligent cloud, we are changing how we define the customer experience.”
“United Technologies is a global leader in the aerospace and building industries and has a deep commitment to innovation,” said Judson Althoff, Microsoft EVP worldwide commercial business. “The combination of UTC’s customer service expertise together with Microsoft’s intelligent cloud will provide a digital business model for UTC businesses across multiple industries.”
This is not the only major customer deal Microsoft has inked in recent times. Earlier this week, energy giant Chevron signed a seven year partnership with the Redmond company, making Azure its primary cloud provider. The company added the move will accelerate the application of technologies such as analytics and the Internet of Things to drive performance and improve efficiencies.
Interested in hearing industry leaders discuss subjects like this and sharing their experiences and use-cases? Attend the Cyber Security & Cloud Expo World Series with upcoming events in Silicon Valley, London and Amsterdam to learn more.
- » VMware Cloud on AWS implementation best practice: How to accelerate benefits with upfront planning
- » Get ready for a seismic shift in business structure for 2020 – underpinned by cloud
- » What will drive 2020 in cloud governance? In a hybrid world, a solid strategy is key
- » Why attaining hybrid IT nirvana means a mix of digital growth and 'digital trust'
- » Goodbye 2019, hello 2020: The year in cloud reviewed – and what is on the horizon


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Tesla Purchases $1.5 Billion USD in Bitcoin, With Plans To Accept Cryptocurrency Payment
Elon Musk boosts the digital currency to a record high once again.
Bitcoin, one of the most-talked-about cryptocurrencies alongside Dogecoin, has now reached an all-time high, thanks to Elon Musk once again. The entrepreneur’s electric car company Tesla has purchased $1.5 billion USD in Bitcoin, leading to a sharp increase.
In addition to the purchase, Musk also revealed that he is considering accepting Bitcoin as payment. A filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission reveals that Tesla has “updated [its] investment policy to provide more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns.” The company added: “We expect to begin accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for our products in the near future, subject to applicable laws and initially on a limited basis, which we may or may not liquidate upon receipt.”
Over the past few months, Bitcoin has seen multiple boosts with support via Musk’s tweets and an interview on Clubhouse. “I do think at this point bitcoin is a good thing, and, so, I am a supporter of Bitcoin,” he commented in an audio chat on the invite-only app. “Like I said, I was late to the party, but I am a supporter of Bitcoin. And I think, Bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people.”
Following Tesla’s purchase, the popular cryptocurrency reached more than $47,000 USD, which is 300 percent higher than the price this time last year.


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Consumer Internet use will increase 12 percent globally this year, helping drive average individual media consumption to more than eight hours a day, according to a new Media Consumption Forecasts report from ZenithOptimedia. As that trend continues, in 2017 the Internet will account for 29 percent of the time people spend with media.
"The average person already spends half their waking life consuming media," said Jonathan Barnard, ZO's head of forecasting. "But people around the world are clearly hungry for even more opportunities to discover information, enjoy entertainment and communicate with each other, and new technology is supplying these opportunities."
ZO's forecast covers the changing patterns of media consumption in 65 countries from 2014 to 2017.
The amount of time people spent using the internet has nearly doubled since 2010, from a daily average of almost 60 minutes to one hour, 49 minutes today. Mobile technology is accelerating that trend, providing consumers new opportunities to consume media outside of home and work.
While that growth has come at the expense of traditional media in the last five years—ZO found that time allocated to traditional media dropped nearly 30 minutes to a daily average of 6 hours, 15 minutes—television still dominates global media use. It's losing share, however, dropping from 42 percent of global media consumption in 2010 to 38 percent last year. It is expected to account for 35 percent by 2017. (Such ZO data refers to the use of traditional media like TV in their original format; the same applies to other traditional media cited in the report.)
With the exception of outdoor, all traditional media, including newspapers, magazines, radio and cinema, saw their usage slip in the last four years—declines ZO expects to continue into 2017. Newspapers continue to get hit hardest, with average reading time down 26 percent, followed by magazines, showing a decline of 19 percent. From 2014 and 2017, ZO expects newspaper readership to shrink by an average of 5 percent a year, while magazine and TV consumption will decline at average rates of 4 percent and 2 percent, respectively.
Exposure to outdoor advertising has grown 1 percent since 2010, thanks to an increase in outdoor displays in public spaces, urban migration in emerging markets, and consumers' greater out-of-home leisure time and disposable income since the financial recovery. That growth is slowing, though: ZO predicts virtually no increase in outdoor exposure in the next few years.
Latin Americans spend the most time with media, taking in over 12 hours on average every day, while those in the Asia-Pacific region consume the least, at five hours. But time spent with media in that region is growing well ahead of the global average as economic development allows consumers greater access to media and more leisure time. Media consumption in the Asia-Pacific region grew by 7 percent in 2014, and ZO predicts annual growth of 3 percent to 2017.


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In Origins, a movie released last year, appears a worldwide biometric signature file different to the fingerprint’s one; an iris readings record. Although this disturbing reality is still unthinkable, there have been many steps in incorporating eye scanners as a method of personal identification.
This technology is already being used in some companies to control their employees’ entrance and exit, as well as in corporations with strict security measures. But, its daily use is getting closer. Mobile phones manufacturers like Samsung, Nokia and Fujitsu have announced that their upcoming models will have an iris scanner among its features.
Maybe in the future it would be enough to peer at the screen to unlock your mobile phone or access some of its features. If so, you’d better check the pictures you upload on the Internet. Jan Krissler, expert in computer security for Telekom Innovation Laboratories, proved that some of these biometric systems can be evaded simply using snapshots taken from Google Images.
Krissler had previously exposed the vulnerabilities of fingerprint readers. In December he copied none other than the German’s defense minister, Ursula Von der Leyen
On that occasion he used the Verifinger recognition program to read Von der Leyen’s fingerprint, that he had photographed himself in a public event. Then he printed the result on a transparent surface, applied latex and there it was a fingerprint clone! However, he wasn’t been able to do further verification or testing.
This time, Krissler claimed he can do something similar with eye scanners without using his own camera. As we mentioned, you just need to search with certain premises in Google Images. The first one is that the target’s eyes must have enough brightness, as the researcher used a system based on infrared light, Panasonic’s Authenticam BM-ET200 which is one of the most extended technologies.
You also need a high quality image; size and clarity are important, to a certain point. In his tests he succeeded to use iris with diameters that did not exceed 75 pixels. It’s easier to deceive an eye scanner than a fingerprint reader, you don’t even have to make a clone, just print the picture and show it to the device, and it will mix it up with the real one.
Surely we all have a picture with these qualities, but it will never surpass the amount there is of any famous person, including politicians. Just type Barack Obama or François Hollande on Google and thousands of snapshots will emerge, of all sizes and shapes.
Krissler searched the faces of Vladimir Putin, Hillary Clinton, and David Cameron among others, before choosing Angela’s Merkel to carry out his verification. He chose an iris with a 175 diameter of the German Chancellor which Panasonic’s scanner recognize without a problem.
However, in an actual attack, the process wouldn’t end here, and the remaining steps are complicated. Accessing the biometric readers which Merkel or other politicians would use is not as simple as getting their picture.
Furthermore, although Fujitsu’s technology is also based on infrared light there are other methods, and there is the possibility to apply protection filters to the pictures. Despite these obstacles and reservations, Krissler wants his findings to be a warning to manufactures so they implement safety measures to future developments and to future users so they watch what they post, never better said!


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SanDisk doubles sales in Kuwait
Kuwait, May 10, 2011
SanDisk Middle East and Africa (MEA), the global leader in flash memory cards, has doubled its unit sales in Kuwait year on year for 2009 and 2010.
SanDisk has tied up with distribution partner Future Communications Company for its presence in major retailers across Kuwait, a statement said.
“Kuwait has always been a vibrant market for us with a young population that is very technology savvy and trend conscious,” said Tareq Husseini, SanDisk MEA sales director.
“We have been cooperating with global and regional retailers such as Virgin Megastore and Eureka who have had a significant impact on making SanDisk the leading flash memory brand,” he added. – TradeArabia News Service


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- Netflix (NASDAQ:NFLX) is — once again — tapping the debt market.
- The FANG stocks are down for the latest one and three-month period.
- Today’s action was mixed; the markets are still trying to find a bottom.
Netflix is one of the FANG stocks — four of the largest and most influential tech issues that are primary drivers of the current rally. Today, the company announced yet another venture into the bond market to raise cash to fund the development of original content. This further exacerbates the company’s primary problem, which is its inability to generate positive cash flow, which has been negative since 2015. EBITDA was a paltry 11% of gross revenue for the trailing 12 months. While the debt/asset ratio is still a very conservative 35%, I have reservations about the value of the company’s digital assets. Although the company is still in the middle of its growth “glory days,” it isn’t making any kind of financial pivot to a sustainable growth model.
And speaking of the FANGs, they haven’t been doing well lately:


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Sony recently announced Sony Bend’s new game, Days Gone This is the newest IP we have seen since 2011, when they released Uncharted: Golden Abyss. It is a post-apocalypse game featuring zombies. A third person action adventure game featuring some brutal combat. Our main character is a biker, and other than that we don’t know very much about it.
Days Gone received no release date yet, but we can hope to see it soon since it’s been in development for such a long time. It is a seemingly open world game, featuring some beautiful graphics. With information scarce, stay tuned to GameTyrant for more information!


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Hummer now available in Nepal
Shaakha & Co has joined hands with Hummer International Automotive which owns the stocks of Hummer brand of trucks sold by General Motors. Under the agreement reached between the two parties, Saakha will import Hummer in Nepal, which is only available in a small stock.
The company on Thursday handed key to the first owner of Hummer in Nepal amidst a function.
GM has stopped the production of the Hummer. By April 2010, any sale of the brand became unlikely as inventory depleted and dealerships began shutting down. After filling a rental car fleet order, the last Hummer H3 rolled off line at Shreveport on 24 May 2010.


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InXile Entertainment’s post-apocalyptic role-playing game Wasteland 2 — the sequel to the 1998 original — is coming to Xbox One, Microsoft announced at GDC this week.
Wasteland 2 is “coming soon” to Xbox One as part of the ID@Xbox program, according to a new trailer for the game. The trailer, which you can watch below, says the Xbox One version of the turn-based role-playing game will feature a new quirks and perks system; a new precision strike system; a “complete art and lighting overhaul including use of Unity 5’s new physically based rendering”; updated character models; and new voiceover work.
InXile’s Wasteland 2 was crowdfunded through Kickstarter in 2012, raising close to $3 million from more than 60,000 backers. The game was released this past September and is available for Linux, Mac and Windows PC.


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Deas Tire Co., based in Gulfport, Miss., bought Laurel, Miss.-based Richard's Tire Center, a combination retail/commercial/retread shop, April 27, according to Jim White, Deas Tire general manager. That Laurel store is the eighth outlet and fourth Bandag retread shop Deas Tire operates in Mississippi and Alabama.
Former Richard's Tire owner, Richard Hodges is working for Deas Tire as a salesman.
In October, Deas Tire opened a truck tire center and Bandag shop it constructed in Gulfport, moving its commercial operation out of a combination retail/commercial outlet in that city. The retail store remains at its location, Mr. White said.
The truck tire center, which includes a warehouse, has two drive-through bays and one alignment bay. The Bandag shop produces about 88 retread a day.
Bloomsburg. Pa.-based Steve Shannon Tire Co. Inc. celebrated the opening of its third outlet with an Aug. 1 cookout, owner Steve Shannon said.
The 10,500-sq.-ft., six-bay retail outlet is located in Danville, Pa., giving the six-year-old dealership coverage in a 100-mile radius around Bloomsburg, Mr. Shannon said.
Steve Shannon Tire, a retail, commercial and wholesale operation, carries Kumho, BFGoodrich, Firestone, Michelin and Laramie brand tires and derives about 50 percent of its sales from automotive service.
Passenger and light truck tires account for about 75 percent of the operation's tire sales, he said.
EW Tire & Service Centers Inc. opened its ninth combination retail/commercial outlet in Pennsylvania on May 1.
The eight-bay facility, located in Castle Shannon, offers Goodyear and Hallmark tires and provides some automotive service, according to store manager Craig Black.
The nine EW Tire outlets are located in the southwestern portion of Pennsylvania.