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Model walks the ramp for Fendi.
Kim Jones is to join Italian fashion house Fendi as its lead designer for womenswear while retaining his job as artistic director for Dior, Fendi announced on Wednesday.
Jones, 46, will succeed the late Karl Lagerfeld who was responsible for Fendi womenswear until his death in 2019.
Silvia Venturini Fendi, from the Fendi family, will continue with responsibility for menswear and accessories, the statement from Fendi and parent company LVMH said.
"Kim Jones is a great talent and since joining, he has continuously proven his ability to adapt to the codes and heritage of the LVMH houses while revisiting them with great modernity and audacity," LVMH chief Bernard Arnault said.
Jones, who has already worked on menswear at Louis Vuitton, has been chief designer at Dior since March 2018.
Jason Wu did what few designers dare during New York fashion Week: He put on a live show Sunday with a tiny audience present in the middle of a pandemic.
Christian Siriano, who turned his atelier into a mask-making machine, took to his Connecticut backyard Thursday for a cozy fashion show complete with picnic baskets for his small in-person crowd, masks on the faces of his models and a dip in his pool for pregnant muse Coco Rocha.
Many people struggled with the coronavirus lockdown but for designers Victoria Beckham and Emilio de la Morena, showing at London fashion Week on Monday, it was a source of inspiration.
Jawaher Al Suwaidi, a designer, gives us an insight into how the creative process and the Emirati culture has shaped her work. It is vital to note that culture, and to whatever one feels belonging to becomes an influence on various spheres.
Overall, 4,368 children and adolescents up to the age of 19 died from firearm-caused injuries in 2020, a rate of 5.4 per 100,000 a dashboard by the CDC showed. Homicides made up nearly two-thirds of the gun deaths.
The man named Toko asked a professional art and sculpting agency named Zeppet to design him like a "collie", a breed of dog.
Seema lost one leg as it came under the wheels of a tractor in her native village Fatehpur two years ago. During the treatment doctors suggested that she may die if her injured leg would not be cut. Her parents agreed on it and the doctors chopped her left leg.


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MINDEN, IOWA (
) -- Business was booming for Dennis Fett, owner of the
in Minden, Iowa.
"Then everything went away," he says. "It was like somebody flicked a switch, turned the lights off and said, 'You're done.'"
Fett has been featured in numerous newspapers, magazines and on
The Tonight Show
. His expertise in peafowl translated to brisk business for the books, DVDs, feathers and eggs he sells from his farm.
Fett might be stuck with 10,000 unsold peacock feathers.
Fett, like many in the world of exotic animals, has seen the economy take a bite out of a once-thriving niche. Those who buy, sell, breed and process rarities of the animal kingdom are finding it increasingly difficult to stay profitable now that consumers have scaled back luxury spending.
The eggs, which hatch baby peacocks with the aid of an incubator, once sold hundreds a year. This year, his flock produced more than 800 eggs, but only 50 have sold. The colorful feathers are also not moving and Fett may be stuck with an inventory of nearly 10,000.
"I saw this coming on and no one listened to me," he says. "The people with higher disposable incomes had stopped buying from us. I don't see it getting any better."
A decrease in the demand for luxury goods has also meant tough times for those who work in the Gulf Coast's alligator industry.
Wallets, bags and boots made from alligator skins were once high-priced status symbols. Today, few are buying them.
purchased the tanneries and now they're not paying this year what they had been paying in previous years," says Brian C. Wood, who runs
in Hallandale, Fla.
In a good year, hides sold for more than $56 a foot. Today, they're fetching a mere $10 to $15.
"A lot of the farmers are going to put very few eggs on the farm this year and we'll probably see, between Florida and Louisiana, 25,000 fewer wild alligators captured than what you would see in any given year," he says.
In response, Wood plans to open his own retail shops and has launched two Web sites. By raising, tanning and making his own products, he hopes to grab back some of his lost market share.
Lean times haven't meant an end to the brokering of exotic creatures, even if there's no government bailout for peacocks and gators like there was for
American International Group
Bank of America
Exotic Animals for Sale
still offer opportunities for those looking to buy and sell creatures
wouldn't dare to. Have an extra $1,200 and want a wallaby? This is the site for you, with sellers offering camels, kangaroos, elk and bobcats.
Problems arise when the unusual needs of these animals become too much for owners, some of whom end up releasing them into the wild.
In response to this growing problem, Connecticut's Department of Environmental Protection recently offered an "exotic animal amnesty day" at the Beardsley Zoo in Bridgeport, inviting people to leave their unwanted exotic pets without fear of penalty.
-- Reported by Joe Mont in Boston. Feedback can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.org.

domain: news


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Artware, Inc. announced today that their popular multilayer photo editing app, Layrs - has reached and surpassed 1 million downloads in the six months since the app's launch in July, 2013.
iPhone and iPad apps tagged "photo editing."
InStatus 3.2 - A photo editor helping you make your photos artistic
Are you someone who loves sharing photos on social network? You should have inStatus app, one of the best photo editing apps out there, to make your photos artistic and surprise your friends with your creativity.
Almighty PHOTO 2.1 Features Super-Fast Frame Creation and Square View
JeongYoon Kim, CEO of nrusoft, announced the release of the latest incarnation of its popular iOS application, Almighty PHOTO 2.1. Now available at the iTunes Store, the app features a smart album, automatic frames and the ability to share with friends and family through social media.
Instant Curves with a Tap of A Finger
Instant Perfect Body Shape and Appeal Now Achievable With iPhone App
Instacurves is proud to announce that their team has created an effective and remarkable iPhone app that will allow users to improve their bodies shape and appeal.
Add new life to your photos with Alayer for iPad
Loran Dyrmishi today is pleased to announce the release of Alayer 1.0 for iPad, an essential tool that will give anyone unprecedented control over the aesthetics of their photos. With Alayer, you can elevate your simple snapshots while enjoying the benefits of a streamlined photo editing workflow.
Transform any digital photo into stunning artwork using LoryStripes
The photo app development team at Pixite LLC, the makers of the Editor's Choice photo effects app Tangent, in partnership with Italian architect and designer Laurent Rosset, today are proud to announce the next must-have photo effects app, LoryStripes for iPhone.
Ambitious Mobile Photo Editing App Launches: PicsPlayPro
PicsPlayPro from JellyBus, Inc. is an ambitious, powerful photo editing application for iOS devices. The new launch is intended to herald a new era in mobile photo editing. JellyBus aims to equip mobile users with the same robust functionality they've come to expect from PC software, now in a mobile format for smartphones and tablets.
Lightricks Releases Facetune for iPad: Chosen #1 Best New App by Apple
Lightricks Ltd. today is thrilled to announce the release of Facetune for iPad, an app that gives every user the ability to create high-end portraits from everyday photos, with intuitive and powerful tools previously reserved for the pros.
The Fastest Photo Editor for iPad has been finally released
The new startup company headed by the lead iOS developer, George Kharchenko, announced the release of their first project - Photoristic HD for iPad - the fastest iOS photo editor so far.
Pho.to Lab PRO for iPhone is Getting Free - For 36 Hours
"App Store offers plenty of photo editing apps ranging from simple editors to complicated apps with multiple tools, filters and effects. However, not many of them are able to include such a wide range of effects and filters as Pho.to Lab PRO does," stated a VicMan spokesperson." Pho.to Lab PRO is designed for all users who do not have any specific skills in collaging and montaging.
Pic N Frame is the Most Comprehensive, All-in-One Photo App
iPhone, iPad, iPad mini and iPod touch fans who are looking to get much more out of their device's camera functionality can now download Pic N' Frame, and enjoy the App Store's most comprehensive, all-in-one photo app.
inStatus 2.0 - A creative photo editing app bringing your photos to life
Your dream of having a lite version of photoshop on your mobile device should have come true now. LunacatStudios just released an awesome version 2.0 of inStatus, the most creative photo editing app allowing you to add beautiful captions making your photos artistic.
Bring Dull Photos to Life with PhotoNova 2 on iOS
Enhance photos and transform simple pictures into stunning images with the latest update to PhotoNova 2 on iOS. An essential tool for both amature and professional iPhoneographers, the PhotoNova 2 update features a collection of exciting new editing tools that give users unprecedented control over the aesthetics of their mobile photos.
ProCamera Drops Price for this Weekend Only
ProCamera merged into Cocologics and will have a price-drop from $4.99 to $2.99 this coming weekend. ProCamera is shifting its focus from mostly professional users to mass users. "Shoot like a Pro", "ProCamera is simple, yet deep when you need it" are the new principles.
Pixel Blockout is a Kid-Friendly Photo App for Hiding Faces
If you want a goofy photo app that can cover up part of an image, then check out Pixel Blockout. It's simple to use and fun for kids.


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James Bond Will Also Drive a Fiat 500 in Spectre
James Bond’s fascination with Aston Martins will continue in the next Bond film, Spectre, after EON Productions, the producers of the Bond movie franchise, unveiled the Aston Martin DB10. The stunning two-door sports car concept will be Bond’s ride of choice in the movie, but a report from Sky News suggests that it won’t be the only car he’ll use in the movie. For the first time in the Bond movie franchise, 007 will also man the wheel of a Fiat 500.
Seeing Bond in a Fiat 500 might be a little jarring to the senses, but its not like Britain’s Secret Weapon hasn’t found himself driving some nondescript rides over the years. In Quantum of Solace, he drove a Ford Bronco II and in the most recent film, Skyfall, he spent some time on a Honda CRF250R motorcycle. That doesn’t even count the number of moribund modes of transportation he’s hijacked over the years.
According to Sky News, the 500 will be used in a number of scenes in the movie, including a high-speed car chase through the streets of Rome that will reportedly end with the 500 getting smashed up. If the reports are true, it would be a cruel way to use the Fiat 500 in what is its first time in a Bond movie.
But let’s be real here, too. If Bond has the Aston Martin DB10 at his disposal, there’s no way he’d trade that for a 500. The small Italian hatchback will have its moments in the movie, but it would still pale in comparison to the amount of exposure the DB10 will have.
Click past the jump to read more about the Fiat 500.
Why it matters
More importantly, this is the first time Fiat will be linked to a Bond movie, which in itself is a tremendous opportunity for the Italian hatchback to sneak in a little publicity before the car is crushed in a chase scene, as Sky News reported.
For a car like the 500 to make it to a James Bond movie is an accomplishment in its own right. It probably would’ve liked to have its involvement end in a less gruesome manner, but at least 007 himself got behind the wheel of a Fiat. That’s more than what other established automakers can say.
Fiat first introduced the 500 in 1957 under the name Nuova 500, The car quickly established itself as a popular city car for almost two decades. Once sales of the 500 started to plummet in 1975, the Italian automaker decided to retire the name. The 500 would stay under the covers until 2007 — the 50th anniversary of the Nuova 500 — when Fiat revived the 500 to take its rightful place as the company’s resident compact hatchback.
The revived 500 has been around for eight years now with the 2015 model serving as the most recent iteration of the Italian city car. The new 2015 Fiat 500 didn’t get a lot of exterior changes compared to its 2014 predecessor, but it did receive a host of new goodies in its cabin, including a new seven-inch, high-definition TFT cluster display, a redesigned center console, a new USB port, and a new cup holder, just in case customers need a place to put their Starbucks lattes.
Under its hood, the base 500 is powered by a 1.4-liter, inline-four engine that develops 101 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque. No one’s going to mistake the 500 as a fast car, but it does have enough power to sprint from 0 to 60 mph in 10.5 seconds to go with a relatively nice top speed of 120 mph.
Pricing for the Fiat 500 starts at $17,145 for the coupe version in the US while the cabrio version comes with a base price of $20,245.


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OCT 17, 2013
2013 NISSAN PATHFINDER
Nissan is recalling certain model year 2013-2014 Nissan Pathfinder vehicles manufactured April 18, 2012, through September 20, 2013; model year 2013 Infiniti JX35 vehicles manufactured September 15, 2011, through January 16, 2013; and model year 2014 Infiniti QX60 vehicles manufactured January 17, 2013, through September 20, 2013. In the affected vehicles, during light braking on rough roads, the antilock brake system (ABS) brake pressure output software may lead to an increase in stopping distance.
The increased stopping distance may increase the risk of a crash.
Nissan will notify owners, and dealers will reprogram the ABS, free of charge. The recall began on November 18, 2013. Owners may contact Nissan at 1-800-647-7261.
Potential Units Affected
Nissan North America, Inc.


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Realme GT Master Explorer Edition Skips Indian Market; Realme GT Neo2 Gets Mint Green Color Option
Realme GT series has been running quite well in India, including the Realme GT Master Edition. Now, the company is gearing up to launch the Realme GT Neo2 in India, which was tipped to debut alongside the Realme GT Master Explorer Edition. However, the latest news reveals that Realme GT Master Explorer Edition won’t be making it to the Indian market.
In fact, Realme India CEO Madhav Sheth himself confirmed that Realme GT Master Explorer Edition won’t be arriving in India. On the other hand, the Realme GT Neo2 will be getting an official India launch. The CEO has revealed a couple more key information regarding the upcoming Realme GT Master Explorer Edition and the Realme GT Neo2 phones.
Realme GT Master Explorer Edition Skips India Launch
The new piece of information popped up at the AskMadhav episode. When asked about the Realme GT Master Explorer Edition, Madhav confirmed that the phone won’t be making it to the Indian market. He also confirmed that the Realme GT Neo2 would be launching with a Mint Green color option.
The next episode of AskMadhav would reveal more information about the Realme GT Neo2 launch, he said. Additionally, the Realme Buds Air 2 would also be debuting in a green color model. When asked about the Realme Pad 5G model, the CEO said the company has no plans of releasing a tablet with 5G support for now and would consider it after receiving feedback.
Apart from this, Sheth confirmed that the Realme X phones would continue to get two years of security patches and other updates. The company has also confirmed the Realme 9 series launch has been pushed to 2022.
Realme GT Neo2 India Launch Soon
To note, the Realme GT Neo2 has already debuted in the global market and will be arriving in India shortly. The phone flaunts a 6,62-inch Samsung E4 display with a 120Hz refresh rate. Under the hood, it draws power from the Snapdragon 870 chipset paired with up to 12GB RAM and 256GB default storage.
The cameras on the Realme GT Neo2 include triple cameras with a 64MP primary shooter. Plus, there’s a 5,000 mAh battery with 65W SuperDart charging support. The Realme GT Neo2 will be debuting with an attractive price tag for the Indian market to go up against phones like OnePlus Nord 2, the Samsung Galaxy F series, and more.
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Story first published: Friday, October 1, 2021, 13:10 [IST]


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" So far from God ….but so close to Trump", is the cry of the Mexicans these days to their patron saint, Virgin of Guadalupe, affronted by Trump's racist comments and accusation of Mexican immigrants as 'criminals, rapists and drug dealers'. They feel insulted by his demand for Mexican money to build the border wall. Not since the American annexation of Mexican territories and the US-Mexico war in the 19th century that the Mexicans are so outraged with the Big Brother. Trump has called NAFTA as the 'worst trade deal in human history' and has threatened to impose tariffs on imports from Mexico, which depends on US for 81 percent of exports and close to 50% of its imports. In 2016, Mexico's exports to US were 294 billion dollars and imports 231 billion. Traumatised by Trump, Mexico has started pursuing diversification of trade partnership focussing on large markets like India.
Like Mexico, Central America also fears deportation of large numbers of their citizens from US and loss of remittances. Cuba, which began normalization of relations with US, is back to the wall again by Trump's reversal of some of the policies of Obama administration. Colombia, Chile, Peru, Dominican Republic and the five Central American countries which have signed Free Trade Agreements with the US are apprehensive expecting the worst fromTrump. The Latin Americans cannot believe that the US, which preached and forced Latin American governments to open up their markets and liberalize imports in the name of "Washington Consensus", is doing exactly the opposite by resorting to protectionism.
During the annual CELAC (Community of Latin American and Caribbean States) summit in January this year, the leaders of the region were unanimous in their condemnation of the Wall and solidarity with Mexico. The outgoing Secretary General of UNASUR (South American Community) Ernesto Samper had said, "U.S. President Donald Trump's migration policy and trade protectionism are threats to South America and the region must take a stand against them instead of appeasing him". Mario Vargas Llosa, the celebrated Peruvian writer and Nobel Prize winner, whose latest novel is about the Fujimori dictatorship in Peru, has called Trump as an ' uncouth, populistic and nationalistic demagogue dangerous for Latin America'. The Latin Americans who had suffered long in the past from dictatorships are shocked that the Caudillo (typical Latino authoritarian strong man) has reappeared in North America in the form of Trump reviving their bad old memories of the 'arrogant Yankee'
While Trump is alienating the Latin Americans, the Chinese have steadily expanded their presence in the region. China has overtaken US to become the largest export destination for Brazil, Chile and Peru among others. It has replaced European Union as the second largest trade partner of the region. The Chinese target is 500 billion dollars of trade and 250 billion investment by 2025. China has given a credit of 21 billion dollars to Latin America in 2016 alone and their cumulative credit is an impressive 141 billion dollars, since 2005. They have captured the imagination of Latin Americans with announcement of mega infrastructure projects such as the Bi-Oceanic Railway between the ports of Santos in Brazil and Callao in Peru as well as the Nicaragua Canal project. But the Latin Americans have become conscious of the risks and perils of over dependence on China which has used its leverage to bully some countries in the region. In any case, the Latin Americans, who have come out of dictatorships just three decades back, are uncomfortable with the Chinese communist dictatorship and its non-transparent policies and intentions. Not surprisingly, the US think tanks and NGOs are stoking the fires of distrust of China by maligning Chinese projects and exaggerating the damage to region's industry and environment by the flooding of cheap Chinese products and extractive ventures.
The Latin Americans are disillusioned equally with Europe, with its rising nationalism, anti-immigrant agenda and trade barriers.
Caught between the bullying Trump, indifferent Europe and the suspect Chinese, the Latin Americans have started looking more seriously at India, attracted by its huge and growing market as well as its vibrant and diverse democracy. They have taken note that India has already overtaken China in growth rate and the Indian population is set to exceed that of the Chinese in the coming years.They do not feel threatened by the Indian exports or investment unlike in the case of Chinese. The Indian IT and pharma companies are perceived as having contributed positively to the region. India has already become the second largest market (after US) for crude oil, the largest export of Latin America. Since US is reducing imports of crude oil (thanks to the shale discoveries), India will become even more important a market for Latin American crude exports. In 2014, India was the third largest destination for Latin America's exports. The region had exported more to India than to Germany, France, UK, Italy, Spain and Japan.
Trump's withdrawal from TransPacific Partnership (TPP) is good for India. The TPP had extra protection for patents (pushed in by multinational corporations) which would have caused problems for the pharmaceutical exports of India to Mexico, Colombia and Chile, the Latin American members of TPP. If TPP had become successful, it would have inspired more such second generation trade agreements adversely impacting some of India's exports.
The Latin American economy has recovered from the recession of the last two years and has resumed growth in 2017. Except for Venezuela, the macroeconomic fundamentals of the region are generally stronger and growth prospects better. The region offers a large market of 614 million people with a combined GDP of 5.2 trillion dollars and per capita income of 8500 dollars. The region's imports are close to a trillion dollars.
Distance is no longer a deterrent. Fresh fruits from Chile, Peru and Argentina are available in Indian markets. India exports more to the distant Guatemala than to the nearby Cambodia.India's exports to Brazil in 2014-15 were more than its exports to Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, France, Italy and Spain. India's exports to Mexio exceeded its exports to Russia, Canada and Australia.
Latin America is the largest destination for India's car and motor cycle exports. Indian pharmaceutical exports to the region are around a billion dollars. Over twenty Indian IT and BPO companies have established operations in the region employing more than 25,000 local staff. Latin America, with a 15-20 percent share of India's crude oil imports, has come to stay as an important contributor to India's energy security helping India's strategic policy of diversification and reduction of over dependence on the Middle East. Besides large reserves of oil, the region is well endowed with minerals and agricultural potential which are useful for 'Make in India' and food security.The India- Latin America trade which was 30 billion dollars in 2015-16 has the potential to reach 100 billion in the near future.
This is, therefore, the right time and an unmissable opportunity for India to intensify its win-win economic partnership with Latin America. One of the immediate measures to take is to increase the credit to the region to facilitate trade and investment. The cumulative Indian credit to the region is very much below one hundred million dollars while the Chinese credit is 141 billion. The negotiations for widening and deepening the PTA with Mercosur ( which has been going on indifferently for the last ten years) needs to be concluded without further delay. Trade Agreements could be signed with Mexico (the largest destination of India's exports to the region in the last two years) as well as with Colombia and Peru the other major markets. Prime Minister Modi should undertake annual visits to the region, like the Chinese President does.The Commerce and External Affairs Ministers of India need to engage their Latin American counter parts with a new message of serious partnership.The annual India-Latin America and Caribbean Business Conclave needs to be organized in a larger scale with more funds and high-level participation. Opportunities for Indian exporters and business in the region need to be disseminated regularly with the latest information on the economies and markets through trade and industry bodies and export promotion councils.
Edited version of this appeared in The Wire


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Kardashian & Jenner Sisters Are Going Dark! 😱
Yes, you read that right. Kourtney Kardashian, Kim Kardashian West, Khloe Kardashian and Kylie Jenner are shutting down their online websites and apps, in the coming year. 😭According to E! News, the sisters revealed that though they enjoyed connecting with their fans through the apps, they have decided to discontinue their updates.
It was also revealed that this decision has been in the making since their sister, Kendall Jenner, decided to close her app last year, and also Kim’s decision to close the DASH boutiques.
However, the family does not seem worried as they cut some major ties, as we assume they may have some bigger projects in the future.
You know what they say, “Sometimes you got to lose money to make money.” 💰 😉Can’t wait to see what 2019 holds!


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Mintel report predicts that Cosmetics companies will pursue ethical strategies in 2009
Cosmetics companies are expected to increasingly pursue ethical strategies in the coming months, as recently reported by Mintel. According to the research firm, ‘extreme ethical’ trends are expected to be on the rise in 2009 as the cosmetics industry works to reposition itself as advocates and leaders of social change. Through implementing sustainable production processes, along with reducing waste and carbon footprints, these companies are looking to meet rising consumer demands for ethical products. And it’s not just niche natural or organic beauty brands anymore, says Mintel; larger companies, like Clarins and The Body Shop, are now part of the trend as well. This latest study echoes the findings of a Union for Ethical BioTrade-commissioned survey, conducted by IPSOS, which revealed that 87% of respondents would favor ethically sourced products when shopping for cosmetics. This striking majority is just one example among many that speaks to a distinct emerging pattern: consumers want to know more about the issues and companies in the sector are now looking to respond to this demand, or risk losing customers. For many in the industry, the choice is clear.
For more coverage on the issue, visit Cosmetics Design-Europe.


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The problem of computer and electronic waste is bad and getting worse. In addition to the unquantifiable amount of such waste that has already accumulated in countless landfill sites, the pipeline of future waste is increasing all the time.
Where once the television or stereo was about as high tech as our homes got, we now fill them with all kinds of gadgetry and electronics devices, from DVD players to MP3 players, plasma TVs to digital cameras.
Taking just one type of product as an example, the number of PCs shipped across the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region totalled 61.7 million units in 2004, a 14pc increase from 2003 (Gartner data).
While consumers may put a lot of thought into their buying decision, they usually pay scant attention to how you dispose of a piece of equipment if it breaks or when it reaches the end of its useful life. A recent Dell-sponsored study of public attitudes towards computer recycling found that only 9pc of Irish consumers plan to recycle their home computer when they are finished with it and that awareness of recycling and reuse was still very low.
The near invisibility of the problem to the public contrasts sharply with the frantic preparations being made by governments across Europe to comply with the WEEE Directive.
The latest legal instrument from the EU — the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Directive — is due to come into force on 13 August. Under the directive, producers will be responsible for financing the collection, treatment, recovery and disposal of electronic and electrical waste and member states will be expected to achieve an annual collection target of 4kg of recycled waste per citizen.
The new law is intended to curb the tide of computer and electronic waste going to landfill across the region.
For the new directive preparations are some way behind schedule. The directive actually came into force across Europe on 13 February 2003 but member countries were given until the 13 August 2004 to transpose the legislation into national law, with arrangements for the actual operation of the directive to be put in place by 13 August 2005.
No member state made the August 2004 deadline and the race is now under way in each one both to draft legislation and to put the appropriate collection and recycling facilities in place.
Preparations in Ireland are being spearheaded by the WEEE Taskforce within the Department of the Environment, whose members are drawn from IBEC, the ICT industry, the Environmental Protection Agency, the waste management industry, local authorities and the department itself.
“We’re on course to implement it by August and although the timing is tight we’re confident that we’ll make it happen,” reports taskforce chairman Pat Macken, head of waste prevention and recovery section within the department.
Macken also says that he hopes that draft legislation will be published next month. The challenge then will be to ensure that the necessary collection and recycling facilities are ready for the 13 August lift-off.
This will be far from easy. The directive has set a target that every member state is required to collect at least 4kg of household waste per inhabitant per year (about 16,000 tonnes per annum). The existence of a national network of take back or collection centres will play a crucial role in deciding whether this target is met. In the taskforce’s report, it was stressed that civic amenity sites would be “fundamental” to the collection effort. However, while the report estimated that 80 such sites would be available come August, Macken concedes that only 61 have been set up so far and not all of these will be able to collect WEEE waste.
“We accept that there won’t be full complement of civic amenity sites. We accept that we don’t have sufficiently large network. There’s the NIMBY [not in my back yard] factor and the cost of land to consider. Also, we’re trying to be pragmatic and realistic in terms of what we can do,” says Macken. He is hopeful, however, that Rehab-run and privately managed sites can make up some, if not all, of the shortfall.
While the taskforce wrestles with the nitty-gritty of devising a workable collection system, the real burden of compliance falls on the scores of firms that comprise the global computer and electronics industry. Kirstie McIntyre, UK WEEE manager for computer maker Hewlett-Packard (HP), complains that the delays in drafting legislation at the national level has made the WEEE Directive something of a guessing game for producers. “HP intends to be compliant but it’s our best guess as to what we’ll be compliant with,” she says.
Similarly, Jean Cox-Kearns, senior take back and recycling manager at DELL EMEA, accuses the Government of dithering on the issue. “The Irish Government said before it transposed the directive it wanted to see how it would work but we in industry have been saying that we don’t know how it’s going to work until the legislation is transposed.”
She feels, moreover, that “there are still tonnes of unanswered questions” and says the fact that Ireland (and other countries) have yet to transpose the directive into law gives producers very little time to prepare in detail for the new law.
In other ways, producers have been preparing the directive for years. Even before WEEE came into law, producers, particularly larger ones, will say that they have been taking a close look at the environmental impact of their products, not only for corporate responsibility reasons but because it made economic sense to do so.
As McIntyre explains: “Our scanners, for example, used to have mercury backlights but we found mercury was difficult and expensive to deal with. Scanners now have LED arrays. This makes them less expensive to manufacture and less expensive to dispose of at the end of life.”
Producers accept that implementing the directive will be costly but precisely how costly will depend on several factors, such as the type of collection scheme set up in each country. In some countries such as here in Ireland, producers have banded together to jointly fund a third-party organisation responsible for co-ordinating collection and recycling initiatives. Other countries however, such as Belgium, The Netherlands and Switzerland, have mandated producers to join a government-backed compliance scheme. While these systems tend to be simpler for the producer they are also a lot more expensive.
McIntyre notes that for the WEEE Directive to be successful, not only will the appropriate infrastructure and systems need to be created, but also a culture change will need to take place among ordinary people. “It’s partly a communication issue for us. The WEEE Directive puts responsibility on producers to tell people that they can’t put products in the bin.
“One of the big challenges is small products. If a product fits in your bin it will be a certain type of person who won’t throw it away. You can’t put a TV in your bin but you can an electrical toothbrush.”
By Brian Skelly


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Major Auto Brand Increases Broadcaster spend by 15%
Auto brand was unwilling to advertise during local news against segments due to risks of automobile crash or unsafe road reporting that would lead to poor brand affiliation.
Broadcaster implemented Netra’s live streaming solution to flag any segments containing auto crash or highway safety in real time to insure that the advertiser was blocked from advertising in that segment..
With the guarantee of brand safety during news coverage, the broadcaster was able to increase its revenues by 16% from the auto advertiser for one campaign for offering brand safety in real time.
15% Increase in spend


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Hyundai Motor Company has recently received many complaints about the Palisade SUV. Customers of these complaints said that when the vehicle has traveled a certain distance, it will emit a smell.
The developer is already investigating, investigating customer complaints about odor.
There is an article stating that the developer is not yet sure about the cause of the odor, but is already actively investigating.
The owner of the complaint suspected that the cause of the malodor might be the material of the seat. The suspected material is Nappa. However, some car owners believe that the source of the stench may be the headrest, because the first complaint was that the headrest had a bad smell.
The developer stated that they are aware of the seriousness of this problem, are actively investigating, and actively seek a solution once the cause is found, and tell the public about the news.
Before the developer finds out the reasons and solutions, those affected car owners only need to open the windows for ventilation.
Select the fields to be shown. Others will be hidden. Drag and drop to rearrange the order.


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Into the future
Written by Ellie Robinson
Twenty years ago making purchases without cold hard cash in your hand would be unthinkable. With the rapidly progressing mobile phone technology and the development of NFC, how long will it be before our debit and credit cards are consigned to the history books?
PayPal has already moved offline and in-store with their PizzaExpress payment app, and they say they have more plans for multi-channel in 2012. John Sullivan, IT director atPizza Express’ owners Gondola Group believes that paying for goods via mobile phones will become more prevalent but the revolution will be a slow one.
He said: “A couple of years ago I don’t think the general public would have been comfortable with paying for something via their mobile phone. Paying for goods on your mobile will become more prevalent as the years go by, but I do disagree with the experts who believe this will be a quick change."
He added that when mobile phone become the payment method of choice over credit cards and cash, it would mean ATMs would have to update mobiles with credit, we will need a mobile device that only works for the owner by using afinger print on top of other technologies to secure the way we pay for our goods.
Mr Sullivan warned this would come at a cost. He said: “I can see banks implementing more standardisation with data and payment processing, which I understand is already being considered. To deliver this the banks will also have to improve their infrastructure so this will come at a cost. I am also sure that the banks are watching what companies like PayPal are doing as Internet payments merge with high street payment systems.
“I can see the use of NFC growing but the problem I have with it, is the cost of implementation”, he added. “High capital costs for hardware and software will limit adoption until the transaction levels increase, which creates a catch 22 situation. What's making adoption more difficult is you need to have both NFC and the standard payment options.”
Barclaycard is already offering its customers the option of using contactless technology to make purchases. Last year it teamed up with Orange to launch the UK’s first contactless mobile phone. It is currently conducting a marketing campaign to let people with contactless enabled cards know what the technology is, how it works, how it makes life more straightforward for them and reassure them that the technology is tried, tested and secure.
It believes is confident that mobile payments will be the biggest revolution in payments since credit cards were first introduced in the UK over 45 years ago and before long, it will be commonplace to see people pulling out their phones at the till, and making faster and easier payments.
Richard Armstrong, head of UK payment acceptance, explained: “Awareness is growing rapidly, with recent research in the latter half of 2011, suggesting that almost half of consumers (44 per cent) now recognise the contactless logo at the point of sale compared toonly a quarter (28 per cent) of people in 2010.
“Additionally, more and more large retailers have begun rolling out contactless throughout their stores, as they have embraced the fact that contactless transactions provide a more convenient and faster means of payment for their customers.”
“Barclaycard has seen huge demand for contactless payments in general, with the number of transactions made by Barclaycard retailers increasing by over 132 per cent year on year (2010-2011), indicating growing acceptance of the technology.
Alan Moss, WEMEA marketing director at secure electronic payments provider VeriFone, argued that, where image, promotions, seasonal pull and loyalty are important, NFC and mobile services will drive footfall with smart apps and engaging new services.
He said: “As we look to the future, payments infrastructure will be less about closing the sale and more about providing tools that touch every part of the consumer’s in-store journey. More than just a queue-buster, mobile payment platforms will deliver added value services to attract custom and boost revenue. Technology such as augmented reality, where you can walk by a shop window and see yourself in an outfit from the store and then go in-store and buy it via your mobile phone - is a great example of how payments and retail technology can progress.
Salman Malik, chief executive officer at Brightpearl,foresees the biggest challenge in the implementation of this technology as beingthe conflict between the banks, mobile networks and handset manufacturers who all want to “own” the customer and gain their share of the transaction fees.
He said: “Customers will ultimately find it safe enough - consumers haven't ever been the barrier in adopting new payment systems: payments over the Internet, through PayPal, even the first credit cards grew quickly because consumers accepted them quickly. Security is something that banks and card companies worry about more-- they are the ones driving chip and PIN, 3D secure and other security technology, not consumers.”
David Britton, vp of Industry Solutions at 41st Parameter, which providers online fraud detection systems agrees that customers would not be put off making payments through fear of crime as the liability for that would remain with their bank.
But there are technologies to detect trends of fraud methods that can be monitored and blocked. “For example in Germany we have seen an increase in fraud routes for things like direct debit transactions of 2 per cent. In the UK the increase in fraud has been 1.2 to 1.3 per cent”, he said.
“I think there is going to be a couple of different directions but I think mobile wallets will be a significant direction as banks offer their own mobile wallet compatibility.”
Meeting customers’ technological demands while deploying new and, in some cases, unproven systems in a secure and reliable environment will the largest hurdle for retailers to jump, according to Mike Bielinski, chief executive officer at Vodat International. He argues that the real challenge will come with NFC in mobiles - already accepted practice in the Asian continent where credit cards have been passed by as a method of payment.
He said: “There are many technology start-ups who see this market as a huge opportunity but not many who have experience of working within a retail enterprise where protecting the brand is of paramount importance- security breaches, inconsistent reliability and financial settlement failures will very quickly damage a brand.”
The UK will be catching up with Asia in making NFC a popular payment choice in the next three to five years, predicts Peter Gough, founding partner of digital agency ORM London.
He said: “There is going to be a race to be the leading mobile wallet providers and it will be an interesting development as the payment gateways and financial institutions will also want to be more involved when it becomes transactional with NFC. That's why the likes of Visa are in an acquisition mode at the moment to make sure they are just as heavily involved and invested in the process.
“I'm interested to see what Apple does. If they suddenly announce that they are to have an NFC chip they will want a big slice of every transaction. They have the funds to acquire a bank, so it’s quite possible that they may do so.”


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Analysts: ETP Should and Will Sell Off Sunoco's Retail Sites
PHILADELPHIA -- As Sunoco shareholders get set to vote on its proposed sale to Energy Transfer Partners LP (ETP) on Oct. 4, one very important question remains up in the air: what will happen to Sunoco's gas stations?
While no one has the answer just yet -- or if ETP does, it's not saying -- analysts seem to agree that Dallas-based ETP will most likely sell the Sunoco-branded network of 4,900 retail gas stations spread across 23 states in the Northeast, Southeast and Midwest. Sunoco owns approximately one-third of the sites with the independent operators running the remaining sites.
According to a report on Minyanville.com, gas stations are an odd fit for ETP and lay outside its management's core focus. Also, ETP is structured as a master limited partnership (MLP), but merchandise from gas station/convenience stores do not qualify for MLP treatment -- which could subject ETP to additional taxes.
And then there is the challenge of operating a profit-making gas station.
"Recent declines in gasoline consumption coupled with higher overhead costs and greater competition from warehouse clubs, such as Costco, have resulted in declining profits for energy company-owned gas stations and those [that are] independently owned and operated," Alan Herbst, a principal at New York-based energy consultancy Utilis Advisory Group, told Minyanville.com. "With the retail markup for gasoline only about $0.15 per gallon, station owners had been relying on their convenience store sales to generate income, but now those sales are also declining."
All these add up to reasons why analysts believe ETP should -- and will -- sell Sunoco's retail network, which is valued at $1.8 billion, the report added.
"I don't think the Sunoco stations would be that profitable as a stand-alone business, but they could be acquired by another retail operator who is looking to expand their network," Herbst explained. "Firms that might have an interest might include Wawa and even the recently spun-off Marathon Petroleum."
Various media reports have also pointed to possible interest from The Pantry Inc., operator of Kangaroo Express, Alimentation Couche-Tard, operator of Circle K stores in the United States, and Global Partners, which runs 800 fuel stops in the Northeast under different brands.
Regardless of ETP's decision, the stations could still use the Sunoco brand, leaving any change fairly unnoticed by customers, the news outlet added. Sunoco is still committed to sponsorship deals with NASCAR and IndyCar through to 2019 and 2014 respectively.
ETP said it has received many calls expressing interest in the Sunoco gas stations, but in the mean time, CEO Kelcy Warren has said that he is "very comfortable" with owning Sunoco's retail division, Minyanville.com added.


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Now it has an in-state challenger, at least in the chicken department.
Fu-Hung Hsieh, a professor of biological engineering and food science at the University of Missouri's School of Agriculture, has invented his own soy poultry. According to a news release from Mizzou, "Hsieh has developed a process that makes the soy product simulate the fibrous quality of a chicken breast."
Match merely simulates ground chicken. Point: Mizzou. (Though the verdict could also depend on one's feelings about ground chicken.)
The production and composition of the two products differs as well. Match is composed of a combination of soy and wheat gluten. The components simulate different parts of the animal, such as blood and muscle, and are mixed together.
The Mizzou "chicken" is exclusively soy, which, again according to the press release, "goes through an extrusion cooking process that uses water, heat and pressure while pushing the mixture through a cylinder with two augurs."
The Mizzou product, as yet nameless, is not available for purchase anywhere. So far Hsieh has published his research in a trio of scholarly journals while he continues to conduct taste tests and refine his formula.
Gut Check is, however, looking forward to a taste test. We've got a request in to Hsieh for a sample. Stay tuned.


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Gigi Hadid and Tommy Hilfiger’s fashionable friendship can’t be broken! The model recently renewed her contract to continue her role as global brand ambassador for the brand. The 22-year-old model has already launched two Tommy x Gigi collections, which she helped design herself, and on Tuesday the brand confirmed she will remain in her position for another two seasons.
So far her collections have been shown as part of Hilfiger's runway presentations in New York and Los Angeles, but the label's representatives are staying quiet on where the next line will be unveiled. “Gigi is a force in the fashion industry and the ultimate Tommy Girl,” Hilfiger told WWD. “Her positive, down-to-earth energy and cool, effortless style continue to captivate her audiences around the world. I have loved designing the Tommy x Gigi collections with her and I look forward to continuing our partnership for another year.”
Hadid returned the praise, describing her job with the fashion house as a “dream come true” and the perfect introduction to the world of design. Following each of her collections the blonde beauty made sure to meet fans around the world while sharing and promoting her pieces, stopping by cities including Berlin, London and Paris. “We've loved presenting our collections directly to our fans on the runway each season - it has been such a memorable experience that has been exciting to share with my followers,” Hadid added.
Daniel Grieder, chief executive officer of Tommy Hilfiger Global and PVH Europe, noted that Hadid's contributions – along with the company's see-now buy-now initiative TommyNow – is helping boost the label's “strong momentum”. These areas have also increased the brand's social media presence and given sales a double-digit growth, Grieder revealed.
“The halo effect across the brand has positively impacted all divisions globally, and we're excited to continue building on this success in our upcoming seasons,” he said.


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For The Union, one of Carson City’s newest eateries, joining the Taste of Downtown was a great way to become incorporated in the community.
The restaurant will only have been open for about two months before the event, but is eager to show off their eats and craft beers for a good cause.
“It is a good cause. We love these kinds of events, we are all about it,” said General Manager Nick Meyer.
“We want to be able to help (the advocates) and give back. There are so many places around here trying to make Carson City better and better each day and we are happy to be a part of that.”
In June, Reno-based chefs Mark Estees and Mark Trujillo brought their vision to Carson to open a new taphouse and coffee shop. The Union specializes in pizzas, pastas and craft beers for now, and will soon add a coffee house element to the restaurant.
“We get more excited every day, we saw great things in this community and people like Glen Eagles and Adele’s working hard for years to keep the food scene alive, so it is always exciting to be a part of a community that is open to that,” Meyer said.
As of now, the restaurant has been the only part to open, but in the coming months, they will open an on-site brewery, a private dining area, back patio and coffee lounge.
“Everything has been great. The community has been welcoming to us,” Meyer said. “We are taking all the feedback we get to heart because we want to get better, but 90 percent of the feedback has been positive which is good.”
One of the elements The Union prides itself on is the local ingredients, staff and beers they utilize. Everything they serve was made or grown in Northern Nevada or within 100 miles of Carson City.
“Local is better and it is always good,” Meyer said. “So we source as many fresh, local and seasonal as possible. We even hire local staff, contractors, third party repairmen, everything. It doesn’t do us any good to do business somewhere else.”
And they will be bringing their local flair to the Taste of Downtown.
“It is good for us on the business side (to be a part of it) but we don’t look at it that way,” Meyer said. “We want to do our part to make the event more fun and help make it successful.”
The Union will run three different booths at the Taste: a food stop, a coffee stop and an outdoor bar for brew, all to display the variety they serve their customers.
“We think a coffee or a cold beverage would be best,” Meyer said. “We want to appeal to the crowd but keep to something on our menu.”
By joining one of the biggest community events, it allows The Union to mingle and show Carson what they have to bring to the city.
“It is good to come and be a part of a community,” Meyer said.
For more information on The Union, visit www.theunioncarson.com.


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- AstraZeneca (AZN +0.9%) inks a collaboration deal to develop an oral anemia drug with privately held U.S. biotechnology company FibroGen that could potentially be worth more than $815M.
- The collaboration includes the development and commercialization of FG-4592, a drug that mimics the body's response to being at high altitude, which stimulates production of red blood cells and would be used to treat anemia.
- AZN's is making an initial $350M payment to FibroGen, will could rise to as much as $815M if development milestones are reached, and possibly even exceed that with royalty payments on future sales in the low 20% range.
- AZN has made $2.8B worth of acquisition and collaboration deals in the last six months alone in a bid to counteract the revenue-sapping effect of generic competition.
- The deal is limited to the U.S., China and a few other markets, but excludes Europe, Japan and other markets where FibroGen already has an agreement with Astellas Pharma (ALPMY.PK).


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Chinese Sportswear Brand Anta Reports First-Half Net Profit Of $130M, Up 28% From '13
Shanghai-based China Business News reported Chinese sportswear brand Anta Sports on Thursday unveiled its first-half net profit at 803M yuan ($130.5M), up 28.3% from the "same period a year earlier, after it closed more than 1,000 shops over the past two years as part of restructuring efforts," according to the WANT CHINA TIMES. Anta Chair & CEO Ding Shizhong attributed rising profits to its "efficiency in upgrading and reorganizing its shops." First-half revenues grew 22.4% from a year earlier to 4.12B yuan ($670M), posting a "gross profit margin of 45.1%, up 4 percentage points from a year earlier." Currently, Anta totals 7,701 shops, "down 56 from last year," of which its children sports brand shops "grew 106 from end-2013 to 987," and FILA shops rose from 25 to 441 since the end of '13 (WANT CHINA TIMES, 8/15).


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Latest forecast: 2013 looks like a bummer
Ad spending will dip 1.4 percent in first quarter and be flat for the year
January 11, 2013
Ad spending will be down in first quarter of this year, which will lead to a slight decline in revenue for the year.
That’s according to a new forecast from Pivotal Research Group senior analyst Brian Wieser, who predicts that ad spending will slide 1.4 percent during first quarter, hurt by a 2.4 percent dip in local revenue. (Note, this forecast excludes political and Olympic spending.)
Though spending will be up very slightly during the second half of the year, Wieser still calls for a 0.2 percent dip in total spending for the year, to $126.4 billion.
“We feel that this year may feature an enhanced bias among advertisers towards making decisions on a just-in-time basis (where possible) in order to maintain flexibility in the event that sudden and long-lasting shocks hit the economy,” notes Wieser in the report.
The predictions come after an unimpressive 2012, when Pivotal says that total local and national advertising was flat to 2011, at $126.6 billion
Fourth quarter was particularly weak, down 1.4 percent, reflecting a worse-than-expected holiday season.
Holiday sales were up only 2.5 percent, according to ShopperTrak, much less than many analysts had anticipated. Retailers were forced to slash prices drastically and offer other incentives to lure in shoppers.
Already taking a hit on sales, and convinced shoppers were unmotivated to hit stores, some advertisers pulled back on their ad spending. Spot TV, which usually sees fourth-quarter gains, was down 4.9 percent, according to Pivotal.
The malaise will creep into 2013 as well. Buyers tell Media Life that advertisers, worried about the impact of the fiscal cliff on consumer confidence, have been holding back in first quarter.
“Consumers aren’t confident,” says one New York City media buyer.
“Advertisers don’t know how [consumers] are going to feel when they get their first paychecks this month and they see the new taxes being taken out. They could spend less, and then advertisers could potentially spend less on TV and other media.”
Wieser predicts national broadcast spending will fall 4.7 percent in first quarter, while syndication will be down 3.9 percent.
Print will continue to struggle. Magazines will fall 8.3 percent, and local newspapers will be down 10.1 percent, the biggest hit for any category.
Local radio will dip 2.4 percent.
There will be a few bright spots. National online video will see the biggest growth, up 11.3 percent.
And Wieser projects that local cable will be up 5.6 percent, and local online will rise 4.2 percent.
Fox jumps to No. 2 with ‘Rocky Horror Picture Show’
Third debate improves to nearly 69 million viewers
Blame Millennials for the real estate advertising decline
Rachel, how do I shut my boss up about politics?
Tell us, what is the future of digital radio?
It’s here: Media Life’s new sports newsletter
Weekend TV: The zombies lurch back on the air
Cable overnights: Shows slip against dominant debates
Gobble, gobble: AT&T is eyeing Time Warner
Final debate dominates Wednesday night on social
Fun distraction on debate night: Halloween cartoons
Mixed ratings for postseason baseball
Fall’s biggest TV story: The NFL ratings free fall
- David Patton becomes global president at Y&R
- J.P. Hannan becomes CFO at Social Reality
- Princell Hair becomes SVP and GM at CSN New England
- Cyril Vanier becomes an anchor at CNN International
- John Poliquin becomes a director at Derby
This week’s broadcast ratings
This week’s cable ratings
This week’s top-rated movies, songs and books
This month’s digital traffic data: August 2016
This week’s daypart ratings
This month’s new media traffic data
Search and analytics manager job in Columbus
Stamford agency needs a mass media manager
Media traffic specialist position in Stamford
Wanted: Cross channel media reporting analyst
Media research analyst opening in Stamford


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Professor Jan Fransoo receives Salzberg Medallion for supply chain management
It was announced last week that Professor Jan Fransoo will be the first non-American to receive the Salzberg Medallion from Syracuse University on October 13. Jan Fransoo is Professor of Operations and Logistics Management at the Tilburg School of Economics and Management, Tilburg University. He receives the medallion not only in recognition of his research in the field of supply chain management, but also for the influence that this research has had on the field as a whole, including companies and professionals active in this sector.
The Salzberg Medallion is one of the most prestigious awards in the field of transportation and supply chain management — because of the caliber of past honorees, as well as the program's rigorous selection process. Each year, former Salzberg Medallion recipients and other distinguished practitioners active in the transportation and supply chain management fields are invited to nominate individuals and companies for consideration for the award.
A screening committee of Syracuse University faculty and active professionals deliberates and selects the honorees. The award has been in existence for more than 75 years.
Lex Meijdam, Dean of the Tilburg School of Economics and Management: "We are extremely proud that our colleague Jan Fransoo has been awarded this prestigious medal in recognition of his groundbreaking research and its impact on the entire field. It is so special that he is the first non-American to receive this award."
Jan Fransoo has conducted research across a wide variety of domains and methodologies, all related to supply chain and operations management. He has published extensively in many journals in operations management, operations research, industrial engineering, and transportation. He currently serves as an Associate Editor of Operations Research and Production and Operations Management. In recent years, his research has mainly focused on retail operations in developing countries and other emerging markets. Much of this research is conducted in collaboration with Consumer Packaged Goods companies, technology startups, and intergovernmental agencies such as the World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank. Apart from this line of research, he also has active research lines in omnichannel retail, intermodal transportation, and urban logistics.
See also the press release from the Whitman School of Management at Syracuse University.


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CBC 2018 Recap We’re excited to have had another successful week at the Craft Brewers Conference in Nashville. Here are some of the highlights of our time in the Music City. A Strong Presence on the BrewExpo Floor For the second consecutive year, the OrchestratedBEER booth had a larger 20’ x 30’ footprint which was readily easy to find via [...]
We'll be at CBC 2016 again this year in Philly. Here's a quick list of can't-miss events, from our booth to our customer panel, to the pre welcome reception happy hour. Be sure to add these events to your calendar.
The 2013 Craft Brewer's Conference was a huge success for us and we want to thank everyone who stopped by our booth to talk about our software and watch a demo. 5 Breweries Signup for OnDemand FIVE breweries joined the growing OrchestratedBEER community by signing up with our OnDemand cloud-based offering. We sweetened the deal even more by giving away a free [...]
A few weeks back the OrchestratedBEER team attended the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego and came back tired but optimistic about the future of OrchestratedBEER and the blossoming relationship between business management software and the craft beer industry. Every member of the team that attended CBC spent hours talking to hundreds of industry representatives about the pain points of running a [...]
Our Brewery Software solution called OrchestratedBEER will be at the Craft Brewers Conference in San Diego May 2-5. OrchestratedBEER is an all-in-one ERP software solution built on the SAP Business One platform and customized specifically for craft breweries. Learn how you can consolidate multiple systems into one centralized solution. Large breweries like Heineken, Sam Adams, Carlsberg and Anheuser Busch run SAP and [...]


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Bid to find buyer for council's HQ
Leicester City Council's condemned headquarters site could become a hotel or conference centre once it has been vacated, officials have said.
The council has announced it intends to have quit the crumbling 1970s New Walk Centre concrete tower blocks by the end of the year and is trying to find a buyer the 1.6-acre site when the buildings are demolished.
Yesterday, it revealed a design brief for developers suggesting possible uses and said it has started actively marketing the site.
It says the site would be suitable for large-scale office development, leisure, hotel or conference facilities, potentially with shops, bars or restaurants on the ground floor.
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The brief says there is also scope for limited residential use.
The council has not put a guide value on the site but said the highest offer may not be the one it accepts.
It wants any new development to attract high numbers of people to the site to help nearby businesses, heavily reliant on custom of the 1,200 council staff working there.
City mayor Peter Soulsby said: "New Walk Centre is in a prime city centre site, and its staff bring in a huge amount of trade to the surrounding shops, restaurants and businesses.
"I expect the city council to be an important part of the mix of new users to the site.
"It is vital to that part of the city that when we leave, the site is redeveloped as soon as is practically possible with the types of businesses which will continue to help the area thrive. We are beginning the process of marketing the site to potential developers."
The development opportunity has been advertised in property developers trade publications.
It also featured prominently at the recent four-day MIPIM property investors event, which took place in Cannes, France, attended by the city mayor.
Sir Peter has previously indicated there has been promising interest in the site from one high-profile firm, but he did not say which one.
The demolition of the concrete towers will cost about £2 million and will start in 2014.
Council staff will be relocated to a refurbished Attenborough House, in Charles Street, and other city centre properties.
Expressions of interest in the site are being sought by May 17. Details are on the council's website at:


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Women's technology group to discuss nanotech
Nanotechnology will be the subject of a discussion hosted by the Tech Valley Chapter of Alliance of Technology and Women on Tuesday night.
The discussion, which will be held at the Capital Region Arts Center in Troy, N.Y., will be lead by JoAnne Feeney, the senior business strategist and an economist at Albany Nanotech. Denise Zieske, the vice president for economic development at the Center for Economic Growth will also lead discussion.
The event will begin at 6 p.m.
Call 852-4882 for more information.
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“We spoke to over 2,000 people around the country and looked at their attitudes to technology, how they use the internet and other technologies currently, and their plans for buying new gadgets and gizmos in the future.
We then worked with an anthropologist from the University of Kent to analyse the results, draw some conclusions and make a few predictions about how things will develop in the years to come.
What we found was that the UK can be broken into six very different tribes â€“ from “Digital Extroverts” at one end of the spectrum to “Timid Technophobes” at the other.
And based on current trends, weâ€™ve predicted that peopleâ€™s willingness to embrace digital technology will become increasingly important in determining their economic and social wellbeing in the next decade â€“ more important than traditional markers such as what university they went to or their parentsâ€™ economic status. In other words, social networking appears to be replacing social class.”
Yesterday TalkTalk, the UK broadband division of Carphone Warehouse, launched the Digital Anthropology Report â€“ a comprehensive insight into how British people use the internet.


text: The Beer Institute's Lester Jones issued their state-by-state shipment figures through June 2005. June itself was dead flat, so the industry at large YTD through June is down 1.3% or about 1.4 million barrels. Convert that to case equivs, and we have moved about 19 million less cases this year than last year. Where do 19 million cases disappear to? That great beer warehouse in the sky?


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Ever heard of the smart Nest security camera? Perhaps not, but if you’re one of the 11 million owners of Nest smart devices which connect to the home Wi-Fi network, it might be a good idea to take note of the following, if not for its curiosity value at least its implications.
- A California family were doing their usual Sunday afternoon things when a loud squawk came blasting out of the living room.
- This was followed immediately by a detailed warning about three North Korean intercontinental ballistic missiles headed to Los Angeles, Chicago and Ohio.
- The warning added that the United States had retaliated against Pyongyang and that people in the affected areas had three hours to evacuate.
It was sinister, scary and completely believable, according to Laura Lyons
who received the warning.
Lyons and her husband were scared and confused while their terrified 8-year-old son crawled underneath the rug. Then the couple realised the dire warning was coming from their Nest security camera perched above the television.
After a few panicked phone calls the family realised their Nest camera had been hacked and the miscreants who sent the message of doom were also probably watching them, and most likely rolling around in fits of laughter too.
It later emerged that Nest was aware of these spoofs with a number of other security camera incidents also recorded, though none threatening a nuclear winter.
Nest platform is secure
Last year, an independent test of the Nest platform revealed it is actually quite secure.
It would appear reports of devices being hacked were the result of how the devices were configured and used in the smart home, especially in terms of setting the account password.
It appears those affected used passwords that had been compromised as the result of breaches on other websites and online services. Hackers got hold of these passwords and applied them to other services such as connected Nest security cameras.
There is a larger issue here:
Many people use the same password for multiple online services.
- The dangers of doing this are exacerbated further when the same passwords are used for Wi-Fi-enabled devices in the home.
- They provide a hacker with inside access to someone’s property.
Importance of two-factor authentication
- Password reuse is one of the most common mistakes people make and also one of the riskiest things you can do on the internet.
- You should have unique passwords for each account. Of course it’s difficult to remember them all but a good password manager will do the trick.
For owners of Nest smart devices the simplest thing to do is enable two-factor authentication.
So even if a password is breached in a hack a miscreant wouldn’t get very far with it.


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Wal-Mart suspends some Indian workers amid bribery investigation
Posted: November 23, 2012 at 7:14 a.m.
Wal-Mart Stores Inc., the world’s largest retailer, said some workers at its joint venture in India have been suspended as it conducts inquiries into potential violations of U.S. anti-bribery laws.
The retailer is conducting a “complete and thorough investigation,” it said in an e-mailed statement Friday. The Indian venture, Bharti Walmart Pvt., has suspended planned store openings until the probe is completed, the Economic Times reported Friday, citing two unidentified people.
Wal-Mart, based in Bentonville, on Nov. 15 said it started inquiries into potential violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act in India, Brazil and China.
The U.S. Department of Justice and the Securities and Exchange Commission are looking into allegations that Wal-Mart systematically bribed Mexican officials so it could more quickly open stores.
An anti-corruption team summoned some employees and told them two weeks ago not to enter Bharti Wal-Mart’s office until after the investigation, the Economic Times reported.
Wal-Mart didn’t provide any details of the people suspended or about the probe it is conducting, saying it would be “inappropriate” to comment before the investigation is complete.


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Philly Grocery Co-op Day — Tuesday, Oct. 19, 2021
A day to discover — and celebrate — the good that our Philly-area grocery co-ops do for our local food system and communities.
Celebrate with us!
Vendors * Raffles * Specials * Co-op Swag
For news coverage of prior Philly Grocery Co-op Day, see the links below.
Commemorating the day, Kensington Community Food Co-op, Mariposa Food Co-op, South Philly Food Co-op, Swarthmore Co-op, and Weavers Way Co-op will host a day of showcasing local vendors, hosting raffles, and other special deals. Kensington Community Food Co-op will host a food truck and more!
Every October, National Co-op Month celebrates the community contributions and positive global impact of co-ops everywhere. The five co-ops in and around Philadelphia have more than 16,000 co-op members, support more than 400 employees, and source products from more than 500 local businesses. Mayor Jim Kenney has recognized Philadelphia as having one of the most thriving grocery co-op marketplaces in the country.
In the News
“Local produce thrives at grocery co-ops,” 6abc, Oct. 20, 2019
“Philly Grocery Co-op Day promises community focus, support of small businesses,” KYW Newsradio, Oct. 18, 2019
“Shop Locally During Philly’s Grocery Co-Op Day,” NBC10, Oct. 18, 2019
“Community co-ops are the only truly local grocers,” The Philadelphia Inquirer, Oct. 16, 2019
“IN FOCUS: Grocery Co-Op Day, Domestic Violence Awareness, REC Philly, Play on Philly,” PHIL 17, Oct. 12, 2019
“Cooperative businesses foster human connection in an increasingly isolated world,” Grid Magazine, Oct. 8, 2019


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Could Lab Grown Meat Be on the Menu31 December 2012
In the context of the debate on battling to feed an increasing global population in a sustainable way, the consequences of current agricultural practices and conventional livestock production are being examined and alternatives sought. A report ppublished by Teagasc in Ireland examines Irish consumers’ reactions towards the concept of a novel meat production system, ‘in vitro’ meat, which is currently being put forward by some international scientists as a way of satisfying the population’s growing hunger for meat.
By 2050 the world’s population is projected to reach 9.1 billion, with signifi cant growth projected to take place in developing countries. Alongside this, urbanisation and income levels will continue to rise, which will result in an increased demand for food, particularly meat. Consequently, the FAO (2009) suggest that food production needs to increase by 70% and annual meat production needs to reach 470 million tonnes, up over 200 million tonnes on current levels (FAO, 2009). Based on such forecasts, global food production must become more sustainable, while concurrently facing obstacles including increased competition for natural resources, competition between food, feed and biofuel, and operating in a carbon-constrained economy. In light of such obstacles to increasing global food supply, some scientists are exploring and researching the possibility of growing meat in vitro in a laboratory. The technology involved is currently used mainly to grow cells for pharmaceutical applications. However, several international research groups have been experimenting over the past decade in the production of in vitro meat.
What is in Vitro Meat?
An in vitro meat production system (IMPS) would involve culturing muscle tissue from a donor animal in a liquid medium on a large scale. The technical challenges of growing tissue in vitro to resemble a meat-based product are many. Cells would be grown in a growth medium containing amino acids, glucose and a variety of growth factors (which may be provided by foetal bovine serum or plant extracts). Force would then be applied, causing the cells to fuse and form muscle fi bres. According to scientists, the utilisation of in vitro meat in ground, processed meats such as hamburgers and sausages is, at present, more technically feasible than its presentation in a form resembling traditional meat cuts (Datar and Betti, 2010).
The ‘Yuck Factor’
Aside from potential environmental benefi ts, those in favour argue that an IMPS would result in reduced waste, as unwanted skeletal tissue and offal would not be produced. In addition, ethical concerns with regard to animal welfare, disease and intensive rearing practises could be addressed. Proponents also argue that meat produced in vitro could be cultured in sterile, controllable conditions, potentially minimising the risk of foodborne illness (Thornton, 2010); however, this is open to debate. Furthermore, they say that its nutritional composition could be altered. Aside from the implications for conventional farming, the rural landscape and wider society, the commercial implementation of such a system would undoubtedly pose challenges given its perceived unnaturalness and what some have termed the ‘yuck factor’ for consumers. On the supply side, scientists recognise that the process would be expensive and resource intensive, with the scaling-up of production undoubtedly creating challenges. The question therefore arises, could such a system ever become a commercial reality?
From Petri Dish to Dinner Plate?
The development of an alternative meat production system in the tissue engineering of skeletal muscle remains hard to grasp and, indeed, somewhat unrealistic. However, the concept has courted some media coverage of late. Further evidence of its apparent nearness to reality is refl ected in the fact that in 2008 the animal rights body PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) announced a $1 million prize for the first commercially viable in vitro chicken product to be produced by June of this year. This deadline has now passed without success and the contest has been extended until January 2013. However, a team of tissue engineers at Maastricht University claim to be very close to unveiling an in vitro hamburger. IMPS is currently in the developmental stage, and while its commercial feasibility is not yet clear, it is gaining increasing media attention (Irish Independent, New York Times). Therefore, it is useful to gain insights into consumer acceptance of this evolving and potentially controversial technology at this early stage. Irish consumer insights and reactions towards in vitro meat were therefore examined in research undertaken by Teagasc and UCC as part of a wider research project examining consumer acceptance of a range of novel food technologies.
Will Consumers Swallow in Vitro Meat?
A qualitative research approach was taken, involving observations
of a one-to-one deliberative discourse (conversation) between
a meat scientist and consumers from different socio-economic
backgrounds. Given the abstract nature of the technology,
consumers were presented with pre-defined scenarios,
illustrating the benefits and risks (from an individual, societal and
environmental perspective) of a number of hypothetical in vitro
meat applications across animal types. These were futuristic in
nature and were set in the context of a rising world population
and increasing demand for food. The aim was to elicit consumers’
responses to information about in vitro meat products presented as
a viable alternative to potentially scarce, conventionally produced
meat products in the year 2050. The first hypothetical application
illustrated how in vitro meat could be used as an alternative to
conventionally produced minced meat (this could be cooked by
consumers or used as an ingredient by food processors). The
second outlined how more structured cuts of meat could in theory
be produced; e.g., in vitro produced substitutes for traditional beef
steak, chicken and fish fillets. Consumers also participated in preand
post-discourse interviews (n = 5; 15 observations in total).
Participants initially reacted negatively towards the concept of in vitro meat, perceiving it to be unnatural. Their overall evaluations of such products were based on trade-offs between perceived benefits and costs. One interesting aspect in terms of acceptance was the issue of perceived personal relevance versus societal relevance. Particular product characteristics and personal demands from food (e.g., taste and texture) appeared more important to individuals than the wider societal issues of the environment, greenhouse gas reduction and global food supply. The suggestion that the taste and texture of in vitro meat products might be sub-optimal presented a potential ‘tipping point’ in consumer acceptance. This was particularly evident when in vitro steak was discussed.
Participants generally felt that any sensory shortcomings arising with a minced product could be more easily overcome by using sauces in cooking, etc. However, they were receptive towards the possibility of producing tailor-made in vitro meat products for specific medical or dietary needs. Overall, consumers tended to be supportive of the technology on animal welfare grounds. That said, this was influenced by the type of meat (i.e., participants were more favourable towards in vitro chicken than beef). Indeed, most were willing to pay extra for an in vitro alternative to intensively reared chicken or farmed fish. Thereby indicating that consumers displayed a ‘hierarchy of approval’; such a hierarchy has also previously emerged regarding acceptance of different genetically modified food applications Hallman (2000).
Individual perspectives and values (e.g., attitudes towards nature and the environment) also framed participants’ overall attitudes. In particular, most questioned the potential impact of this technology on farming practices within Ireland and the rural landscape.
Farming for the Future
Within the broader sustainability debate the environmental impact of agriculture and conventional livestock production is currently the focus of much attention. Despite consumers recognising the potential advantages of an IMPS, the main barriers to acceptance identified in this research related to texture, quality and the perceived unnaturalness of the process. In general, specific product and individual characteristics and broader societal issues (particularly those relating to sustainability) arose as important factors influencing consumer receptivity towards in vitro meat. Consumers recognised the need for more sustainable animal production approaches but whether the production of in vitro meat is a viable alternative remains to be seen.
This research was funded by the Food Institutional Research Measure of the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. The authors wish to acknowledge the contribution of Dr Ruth Hamill, Teagasc Food Research Centre, Ashtown, to this research.
References and Further Reading
Datar, I. and Betti, M. (2010). ‘Possibilities for an In Vitro Meat
Production System.’ Innovative Food Science & Emerging Technologies 11:
Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the United Nations (2009). ‘How to Feed the World in 2050”’. Report from the High-Level Expert Forum, Rome, Italy, 12th-13th October 2009.
Hallman, W.K. (2000). ‘Consumer Concerns About Biotechnology: International Perspectives.’ Food Policy Institute Publication No. RR-0602-003.
Jason White (12/11/11). ‘Meat even vegetarians can eat’, Irish Independent available at www.independent.ie/world-news/meat-even-vegetarians-caneat- 2933076.html
‘Who’s afraid of fake meat?’ The New York Times (13/07/10). available at http://ideas.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/13/whos-afraidof- fake-meat/
Thornton, P.K. (2010). ‘Livestock Production: Recent Trends, Future Prospects.’ Philosophical Transactions of The Royal Society, Biological Sciences 365: 2853-2867.


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Bingo giant tombola is continuing to record massive growth in the online market, with profits from 2017 showing an increase of more than 50%.
Located in the north-east of England, the big tech employer is not just a success in the UK, but also in Europe.
As the biggest online bingo site in the UK, it is also credited as the number one outlet in both Italy and Spain, boasting more players than any other bingo site.
But although it robustly batted away Brexit concerns after the 2016 referendum, recently the firm has adjusted its five-year plan to cater for negotiations.
The company has been in the bingo business for 50 years, and most of its technicians, software developers and chat moderators are based at its headquarters.
‘Growth of market share’
The firm’s recent results, for the year ending 30 April 2017, show a 24% lift in turnover. Operating profit increased 17% to £13.5m, and profit for the financial year was £15.3m, a 54% increase on the previous year’s £9.9m.
The company’s founder and chief executive Phil Cronin said tombola “continues to thrive and grow its market share across the UK and Europe”.
He added: “The group’s net profit before tax also increased during the year to £13.8m from £11.9m, which is also a result of the introduction of tombola arcade.
“The group is focused on the continual research and development of its products and invests much time and resource to ensure the highest quality of its product.”
Mr Cronin told BQLive: “The principal risk and uncertainty the company faces is Brexit. There are still a number of Brexit scenarios which may cause issues with trade in Spain and Italy.
However, the management team is currently in the process of reviewing options to ensure the company has contingency plans for business continuity.”
Brexit creating additional costs
But as tombola outlets in Europe take payment in euros, managing director Murray Chisholm cautioned after the 2016 referendum that he had seen a decrease in income streams, thanks to currency fluctuations.
Speaking to PoundSterlingLive shortly after the referendum, he said: “As we generate revenue in euros in both the Spanish and Italian markets and convert this back to GBP, the decrease in the value of the pound hasn’t been beneficial in the short-term.
“However – as we have been live in these markets for over five years, we have found that currency fluctuations tend to even themselves out.”
It is worth noting that the company’s marketing budgets have not been affected by Brexit and they are still firmly committed to their UK and European markets and are regulated via Gibralter.
With such a loyal player base across Europe, pricing for customers remains a critical sticking point for Mr Chisholm.
He said: “Pricing and margins stay as they were before Brexit, despite an increased cost of marketing and advertising through social media bought in euros.
“We remain committed to our long-term strategy, and at this stage in the Brexit journey, we have no intention to change our long-term view. In the short-term, it’s very much business as usual.”
Indeed, it has been for the growing firm. The company, which was the sponsor of the most recent series of ITV’s I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out of Here, continues to adapt its latest plan to tackle the thorny issues of trading in Europe while the UK is currently trying to detangle itself from European Union regulations.
Three months before it moves into a new £7m headquarters, tombola also plans to work with local colleges and universities to attract talent to the region.
Mr Cronin said expansion into new territories is on the cards.
He added: “tombola has continued to grow at an outstanding rate while consistently delivering an innovative and original portfolio of online entertainment for our customers and exceptional technical performance, support and customer service.
“We are nearly three years into our five-year 2020 strategy and ahead of our own projections for the forthcoming year.
“The opening of our new HQ in Sunderland is a crucial element of our future development, expansion and growth plans. It will also assist us to achieve our aim to significantly increase the size of our north east tech team by 2020.”
Recent accounts show the company paid dividends of £7m during 2017, and it awarded charitable donations of more than £140,000 to local charities. There was also an increase in shareholder funds, from £19.9m to £28.3m.
The UK Gambling Commission estimates bingo draws in as much as £1.6bn for the economy.


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Austrian dairy Nom recently announced plans to launch its Nom Naturally yoghurt into the UK market. The range is being promoted as containing “100% natural ingredients” and follows the completion of the company’s GBP60m (US$93m) “state-of-the-art” Shropshire dairy. In this month’s just the answer, Michelle Russell caught up with David Potts, Nom’s UK managing director, to find out more about the group’s plans for the market.
just-food: What was the reason behind Nom entering the UK market?
Potts: It’s mainly because half of the yoghurt market is imported at the moment. If you look at the market place and you look at what we consume in the UK, it is around six billion units. That’s a combination of yoghurt and yoghurt drinks and of the six billion consumed each year, three billion comes in from abroad. So it’s a great opportunity for a UK-based manufacturer to close down some of that or soak up some of that market.
just-food: Why has Nom not entered the UK before now?
Potts: Because consumption is increasing, the importing of products is increasing so at some point you’ve just got to make a decision. The decision was actually made a couple of years ago to build a plant here. It’s taken 12 months to build it but it takes a number of months to plan …but now it’s up and running.
just-food: Your role must be relatively new. What is your background?
Potts: I worked at Muller from 1989 so I was one of the original few people that started the Muller business and I stayed with them for 18 years or so. I was commercial director at Muller for a long time and then I came here in November.
just-food: What was your reason for leaving Muller?
Potts: Personal reasons really but the guy that runs the Nom business from Austria [David Roehrig], he was also the president of Muller until 1996. So him and I knew each other for a number of years and then he left Muller to start this business, to work at Nom in Austria and then obviously I followed and the time was right for me really.
just-food: You launched the Nom Naturally yoghurt into the UK market in May. Why choose that product in particular?
Potts: It’s not the first product because we are actually producing private-label products as well for Tesco, Asda and Aldi, and we have actually been importing products from our plant in Austria as well for the last two years. What we want to do in the UK is not be just a private-label manufacturer but also a branded manufacturer. And it’s more prominent for consumers if you launch a product that is made in the UK, a brand of product that is well understood, so you know where it comes from, what it’s made from and it’s authenticity.
just-food: Following the Nom Naturally launch, have you plans to roll out any others in the near future?
Potts: We do. It’s too early to say because we don’t want to let the cat out of the bag with our competitors but we will be launching other products. The first priority for us is to extend the distribution out into other outlets, so to get other retailers to take our product.
just-food: Which would you say is Nom’s biggest market?
Potts: The Nom business in Europe will turnover around GBP400m (US$656m) in Europe and all of that production is out of Austria. Half of that is exported outside Austria. They service most of the European countries; places like Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland.
just-food: Do you see potential for entering further markets?
Potts: No because we need to do one thing at a time and do it really well. What we’re concentrating on right now is the UK and to make sure the factory is up and running, that we’ve got the best quality products, that we’ve put systems in place, we have the right people and to get our service levels as high as we possibly can and become a really credible supplier to our customers in the UK.
For Austria it’s more up and down for them. Because Austria only has about nine million people in population it’s always going to be a relatively small market compared to the UK. Having said that, for them, what they do well is on export, so they’ve found other consumers by exporting their product.
just-food: Upon launching of Nom Naturally, the company said it wanted “to add value for customers by supplying locally”. By this do you mean it’s an opportunity to offer retail customers (supermarkets) better prices?
Potts: It’s a combination of the whole thing really. So if you think about retail prices, because we’re local, we don’t have those huge distribution costs and transport costs. So if three billion pots of yoghurt are coming in from abroad, there’s a massive cost attached to getting that product in. There are also the carbon footprint issues and environment issues to think about. And actually consumers are now much more looking to buy, if they can, more locally produced products.
just-food: What are your thoughts on the dairy market in the UK and Europe at the present time?
Potts: The price of milk is always going to be a very emotive issue because obviously farmers want more and it’s difficult for manufacturers because the retailers are trying to keep prices down as well. I think you have to pay a fair price for the milk because it’s ok manufacturing yoghurt or products in the UK but when you bring milk in from abroad, that seems like a crazy thing to do. We’ve got to make sure that we keep the dairy farming industry alive in the UK. What we don’t want to see is farmers packing up and a lot of them are doing that so we’ve got to find a way somehow of ensuring that our farmers get the right price for their milk and I don’t think anybody really knows what the answer is to be perfectly honest.
What we don’t want to do is to bring milk in from abroad, so it’s in everybody’s interests that we keep the payment to the farmer as sensible as we can. Right now I don’t think anybody really knows what the true value of milk is. There are lots of influential people out there in dairy, like the NFU, and they should really be getting to grips with all of this somehow.
just-food: What are Nom UK’s future ambitions?
Potts: It depends how far ahead you look but certainly in the short-term it’s all about making sure that we do all the simple things right. Looking ahead, this plant here, by the end of the year, will be capable of producing over half a billion units of yoghurt and yoghurt drinks. So, obviously the number one priority for us is to utilise that capacity as much as we possibly can.


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Previously we have seen Nvidia unveiled a new graphic card Geforce GTX 1080 Ti which they called “fastest gaming CPU” ever made. Now, the company is back again with Titan Xp. Nvidia Titan Xp is the world’s most powerful graphics card.
Nvidia Just Launched The World’s Most Powerful Graphics Card
Well, if you love to play games on your computer then you will know NVIDIA is an unbeaten competitor in the gaming section. Nvidia is always known for developing graphics card which is cost efficient and high in performance.
Well, previously we have seen Nvidia unveiled a new graphic card Geforce GTX 1080 Ti which they claimed as the “fastest gaming CPU” ever made. Now, the company is back again with Titan Xp.
Nvidia Titan XP is based on Nvidia’s pascal architecture and features full-fat Pascal GP102 GPU, with all 3,840 CUDA cores running at 1.6Ghz, which is higher compared to previously released GTX 1080 Ti.
As reported by Ars Technica “The amount of memory stays the same at 12GB of GDDR5X RAM; the 384-bit memory bus width returns, too. Thanks to the memory speed increase, though, max bandwidth is a monstrous 547.7GB/sec—higher even than original HBM.”
Well, there is one thing to note here, Nvidia has dropped the “GTX” prefix for the Titan XP, which indicates that the card isn’t aimed at gamers. Here are the specification of Nvidia Titan Xp GPU
- Memory Specs: Memory Speed 11.4 Gbps
- Standard Memory Config: 12 GB GDDR5X
- NVIDIA CUDA® Cores 3840 Base Clock (MHz)1582
- Memory Bandwidth (GB/sec): 547.7 GB/s
- Memory Interface Width: 384-Bit
The latest graphic card from NVIDIA is available directly from Nvidia site. The price starts from $1,200. So, what do you think about this? Share your views in the comment box below.


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JAPANESE food lovers can celebrate the full moon with a taste of home at sushi restaurants across the country.
Sushi lovers in Osaka and Fukuoka will have their first taste of the seasonal Japanese cuisine at their favorite places during the Japanese New Year.
Sake bar owners are encouraging diners to sample sushi from the Japanese island nation.
It’s a big celebration in Japan, with the first sushi-themed street party in the nation, called Tokyo-Sushi, taking place from January 5-8.
Some of the venues are also selling special sushi items.
The country’s most popular sushi restaurant, Sushi Sokyo, is celebrating the new year with a special edition of their famous dish.
They’re calling it the Sushi Tokyo and the chef says that it’s a celebration of life.
They are offering customers a special sampler for the occasion, and you can get it for free from January 4-8, or if you want to try it, you can buy it online or at Sushi Sushi Shop, which is located in Shibuya.
Customers can also get special samplers at Sashimi Sokyo.
The special edition comes with a box of sushi rice and rice-dumplings, and it will cost around 1,500 yen ($115).
Some of those who order the special samplings at the restaurant will get a free meal at the sushi restaurant in addition to the special item.