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Singapore Post will hike domestic postage rates by 65% next month as it grapples with escalating costs of maintaining the postal service and declining mail volumes.
(Bloomberg) — Singapore Post will hike domestic postage rates by 65% next month as it grapples with escalating costs of maintaining the postal service and declining mail volumes.
The standard regular mail rate will be increased to S$0.51 ($0.37) from S$0.31 effective Oct. 9, the company said in a stock exchange filing Tuesday.
The company’s shares jumped as much as 5.2% on Tuesday in Singapore, the biggest intraday gain since July 17, while the Straits Times Index fell 0.4%.
SingPost raised rates to S$.031 this year, and had previously announced plans for another single-cent increase in 2024. The company said its last significant rate rise was in 2014 when postage went up to S$0.30 from S$0.22.
A decline in mail volumes over the last decade due to the digital disruption has impacted the commercial viability of postal firms globally, SingPost said. “This rate adjustment will help address the loss caused by the persistent decline in postal volumes coupled with costlier labor, utilities, fuel, and higher conveyance expenses,” it added.
SingPost earlier said its weighing a potential sale of some assets as part of an ongoing review to transition the group to a logistics business over time.
(Updates with share price reaction in third paragraph)
More stories like this are available on bloomberg.com
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.


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The problem of the use of antibiotics and growth promoters in animal farming has been of concern for quite some time now. Nowadays, more experts point out that the abuse of these drugs leads to serious health problems in consumers, writes “Agro-Center”.
Recently, a roundtable discussion of the European Business Association “Antimicrobial Resistance System in Animal Husbandry” was held in Kyiv. During the event, David John, an expert of the European Association of Veterinary Manufacturers “AnimalHealthEurope”, said that in 2022, the EU might ban the import of meat and other products of animal origin manufactured with the use of antibiotics.
“The new regulation on veterinary medicine suggests that the EU will be able to restrict the import of animals or animal products from the Third World countries if they do not comply with rules that are same or similar to the rules established in the EU. For example, the use growth promoters is prohibited,”
said David John.
According to the expert, the new regulation has already been approved by the European Parliament and will come into force next week.
“We do not know how strictly this legislation will be applied. Perhaps, it will only concern the use of antibiotics and growth promoters. Some countries, for example, Brazil, are already raising this issue in the WTO,”
said David John.
According to the expert, the new rules will be applied in three years. Therefore, manufacturers have time to reformat their work in accordance with the new regulations.
Let’s recall that this year Ukraine succeeded in becoming one of the top three world leaders in the export of poultry meat to the EU. More countries are opening their markets for Ukrainian chicken meat. In January-August 2018, Ukraine made 290 million dollars on chicken meat exports. This, is by 22% more than last year.
Previously, we posted about the fact that they plan to abandon the use of antibiotics in animal breeding in Ukraine.

domain: news


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Where to Buy the latest Wales Bonner x adidas Collection
News on this release was first published March 17, 2023.
Update May 10, 2023: Select retailers have started to announce they’ll be carrying the next Wales Bonner x adidas collection. Peruse them all down below.
Update May 3, 2023: In-hand looks at the upcoming silver Wales Bonner x adidas Sambas has surfaced via @testarossadreams and @lenfantpeule. Check them out here, and keep it locked to SF for further updates.
Renowned British designer Grace Wales Bonner has continued her on-going adidas collaboration since 2020, crafting tasteful iterations of everyone’s favourite models. The duo’s collaborative silhouettes deeply resonate with sneakerheads across the globe, thanks to thoughtful design and the signature injection of Wales Bonner DNA. Now, following the reveal of Jamaican football Kits, Bonner and Team Trefoil are set to release three more colabs to kick off 2023. So far, a Samba and two SL 72s have surfaced!
The highlight of this trio is the metallic silver Samba, with a similar pair originally shown as part of the designer’s Spring/Summer fashion week presentation. While the initial pair was not the Samba, this pair exudes a similar DNA, with full-metallic silver upper, crochet detailing, specialised branding and dark-hued brown rubber outsole. The SL 72s rock a knit-like mesh base later with added contrasting stitched detailing and signature Bonner touches.
Official imagery has been revealed for the latest Wales Bonner x adidas Samba and SL 72s, meaning a release date shouldn’t be far away. Stay locked to Sneaker Freaker for further details!


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Ashley Global Retail celebrates e-commerce HQ Grand Opening in Ybor City
March 14, 2016
Against a backdrop of blue skies and a tractor trailer emblazoned with the Ashley Furniture Industries logo and an American eagle, the nation’s largest furniture manufacturer and retailer held a grand opening ceremony in front of its new e-commerce headquarters in Ybor City last month. Nestled in the heart of the historic district in Centro Ybor, the 73,000 square foot facility blends contemporary design with the rich flavor of its neighborhood.
Festivities kicked off at 9 a.m. with guided tours of the facility before the ribbon-cutting ceremony began. Ken Jones, CEO of Third Lake Capital, served as the master of ceremonies, introducing six speakers, including the CEO of Ashley Global Retail, Mark Dufresne, the founder and chairman of Ashley Furniture Industries, Ron Wanek, and the President and CEO of Ashley Furniture Industries, Todd Wanek.
Tampa Bay Lightning chairman Jeff Vinik, Tampa Mayor Bob Buckhorn, and Governor Rick Scott welcomed the Ashley team to Tampa and praised them for the role they are playing in the exciting evolution of Ybor City.
Ashley Furniture Industries announced plans for the e-commerce headquarters in May of 2015. The project created 100 new jobs and $16 million in capital investment for Tampa and Hillsborough County.
“This is a time of strong growth for Ashley Furniture, and we’re proud to partner with the City of Tampa, Hillsborough County, and the Ybor City business community to build our future in this exciting and historic location,” Todd Wanek said in May 2015. “We found everything we were looking for here: a rich supply of local e-commerce professionals, the perfect building to house our e-commerce headquarters as well as other retail operations, and the opportunity to contribute to the revitalization of Ybor City.”


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With so much excitement surrounding the recent release of Monster Hunter World, mobile and portable fans might be interested in picking up another title from the series' storied past. Fortunately for them, Capcom is currently running a sale on the iOS version of Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, a full-featured and surprisingly expansive Monster Hunter title that originally released for the Sony PlayStation Portable back in 2008.
For those who might have missed the game the first time around, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite is the follow up to Monster Hunter Freedom 2, another PSP title that released back in 2007. Unite is seen as kind of an expansion of Freedom 2, albeit with a fair amount of added missions and monsters. It was a big hit at the time, earning generally favorable reviews from critics and managing to sell over 3.5 million copies, securing its position as the third best-selling PSP game to ever release for the handheld.
Needless to say, Freedom Unite was a big title for the PSP, so one can imagine how big the game felt when it released for iOS around the middle of 2014. It was sold for just $14.99 too, which seems like a lot for a mobile game, but really isn't much of a price at all considering how much content it contained. Now, and for what looks to be only a limited time, Monster Hunter fans can pick up Monster Hunter Freedom United for iOS at a special sale price of just $3.99. Any interested users could and most definitely should check it out by heading over to the Apple App Store.
Kevin Tucker posted a new article, Capcom Slashes Price On Monster Hunter Freedom Unite for iOS
I uh... apparently own this already. Huh.


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TOKYO — Fast Retailing Co. Ltd. has big plans for China.
“We’re aiming to open 100 stores a year in China, with the goal of reaching 1,000 stores there,” Fast Retailing’s chairman, president and chief executive officer Tadashi Yanai said at a press briefing at the Tokyo Stock Exchange Thursday.
The group recently revealed plans to open its largest global Uniqlo flagship in Shanghai in the fall. The new store will cover an area of more than 70,000 square feet.
China is key to Fast Retailing’s ongoing growth as the company continues its push to be the world’s largest apparel retailer by 2020. Yanai said Thursday that by the year 2020 he is targeting total sales of 5 trillion yen, or $50.32 billion at current exchange rates.
The China openings form only part of Fast Retailing’s global expansion plan. The company will open its first store in Indonesia in June, as well as a store in Melbourne, Australia, sometime next year. Yanai said Fast Retailing is also looking to enter the Indian market, and in Europe it is targeting Berlin, Barcelona and Milan.
In the six months ended Feb. 28, Fast Retailing added 67 Uniqlo stores outside of Japan, including 37 in China. At the end of the period, the retailer operated 847 Uniqlo stores in Japan and 359 elsewhere in the world.
Yanai revealed Fast Retailing’s plans as the retailer reported first-half net profits grew 13.2 percent and raised its net profit and sales forecasts for the full year, citing the benefits of a weak yen.
The company said that net profit for the six months ended Feb. 28 rose to 65.45 billion yen, or $785.40 million at average exchange rates for the period.
Operating profit for the period increased 5.3 percent to 96.66 billion yen, or $1.16 billion.
First-half sales rose 17 percent to 614.84 billion yen, or $7.38 billion.
Fast Retailing raised its full-year net profit forecast to 91.5 billion yen, or $920.86 million. This would represent year-on-year growth of 27.7 percent. In January, when releasing its first-quarter numbers, the retailer said that it expected net profits to come in at 87 billion yen, or $875.57 million.
The company left unchanged its operating profit guidance, predicting they will grow 16.6 percent to 146.5 billion yen, or $1.47 billion.
The retailer upped the sales forecast to 1.1 trillion yen, or $11.1 billion, an increase of 18.8 percent over the previous fiscal year. It previously predicted sales would come in at 1.07 trillion yen, or $10.77 billion.
Fast Retailing said each of its main business sectors registered growth in the first half of the year.
Uniqlo’s sales in Japan, still its biggest market, rose 6.2 percent to 387.25 billion yen, or $4.54 billion, in the first half of the year.
Uniqlo’s international sales clocked a much bigger jump, rising 54 percent to 130.66 billion yen, or $1.57 billion, helped by aggressive overseas expansion and the weakening of the yen.
Sales of Fast Retailing’s global brands business, which includes Theory, Princesse Tam Tam, Comptoir des Cotonniers, G.U. and J Brand, grew by 27.8 percent to 95.73 billion yen, or $1.15 billion.
Fast Retailing’s shares have been performing strongly on the Tokyo Stock Exchange recently. On Thursday, they rose 3.1 percent to end the session at 34,500 yen, or $347.21.
@kith is moving into children’s. The men’s and women’s streetwear brand has launched Kidset, a Kith kids line located in New York at 64 Bleecker Street. The line includes mini versions of staple Kith pieces like the Astor bomber jacket and the Kith box logo sweatshirts, along with a wall that can display up to 120 pairs of shoes from @adidas, @newbalance, @timberland and more. #wwdfashion
“I just wanted to create this fully rounded character, but I do think what excited me most was just the opportunity to give a group of people representation that I feel needs it. I like to do characters in projects that stand for something and Karolina definitely does, so that was really exciting to me,” @ginnygardner says of her new role in @hulu’s “The Runaways.” Gardner plays Karolina Dean, a queer superhero, which is a rarity for @marvel. Read more about Gardner’s character on WWD.com #wwdeye (📷: @dandoperalski)
@heriethpaul and @gracebol have a moment on the @victoriassecret fashion show 2017. See every look from the runway on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: @giovanni_giannoni_photo) #wwdfashion #victoriassecret #VSFashionShow
“Azzedine has been one of the biggest influences in my life. He has always been such a strong, loving, fatherly figure to me. I call him Papa. His designs are indescribably unique, they are pieces of art. He knew how to make the female form look its loveliest. I have so many memories of him; my favorite might be during my first show with him in Paris. He liked me and he wanted to help me get more work. He called all his friends at Kenzo and Comme des Garcons, and asked them to book me. They said, ‘But she can’t walk!’ And he said, ‘but she has such a great ass!' His friendship and support has been the great privilege of my career. I can't imagine life without him. Repose en paix mon Papa.” - @stephanieseymour tells @wwd. #wwdfashion (📷: @steveeichner) #alaia #azzedinealaia
Azzedine Alaïa, flanked by two of his closest friends, models Stephanie Seymour and Naomi Campbell.
He designed Seymour’s dress for her 1995 wedding to Peter Brant, and treated Campbell (who famously called him Papa), like a daughter. For more on the legendary designer, tap the link in bio. #wwdfashion #alaia #azzedinealaia


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The stock market collapse in China is worth worrying about, but it is not a reason to panic, economists said Wednesday. Most coverage of the global stock sell-off has pointed towards concerns over China's equities market as the main driver of panic, but in recent days the blame has shifted to concerns over the health of the country’s economy, according to a CNN Money report.
The mistake most investors are making is they are looking at the stock market and worrying about the economy, said Mark Williams, chief Asia economist at Capital Economics. "Investors are overreacting about economic risks in China," said Williams. "The collapse of the equity bubble tells us next to nothing about the state of China's economy."
Even though the Shanghai Composite Index has dropped by more than 40 percent from a mid-June peak, it is still up 35 percent compared to this time last year. That free fall may not be good news for the markets, but it doesn't mean the economy is necessarily suffering.
In fact, China’s economy is doing far better than the fluctuating stock market suggests.
While China’s August manufacturing data showed a 77-month low and disappointing exports in recent months, which are both signs of a slowing economy, other indicators suggest the economy is still performing well. For example, wage growth is strong and consumption is forecast to improve, according to the CNN Money report. "Recent data have been more positive than the headlines might suggest, with large parts of the economy still looking strong," Williams said.
UBS economists echoed that sentiment. Aside from the manufacturing report, there "hasn't been much new information" that would be worthy of a panic, said UBS in a note. An expected GDP growth of 6.8 percent in 2015 and a recent recovery in property sales should reduce the risks on the economy.
The fact that China’s economy would start to slow has been known for a while. Beijing purposefully shifted away from relying on building houses, roads and railways to create growth to an economy fueled by consumer spending, according to the CNN Money report.
To account for that slowing in overall growth, Beijing targeted 7 percent growth in 2015, which it met in the first six months of the year. While it's lower than the 10 percent China regularly grew by in years gone by, it’s still strong and will be enough to maintain employment levels, according to the CNN report.


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Mumbai: Several e-commerce portals are selling medicines without permission in Maharashtra, state Food and Drug Administration Minister Jaykumar Rawal told the Legislative Council Thursday.
The government is taking action against such companies, he said. Rawal was responding to a written question asked by Congress' Satej Patil and others.
"E-commerce companies are offering huge discounts and selling medicines without any legal permission. Some of these companies have also set up their (brick and mortar) outlets in some areas," the minister said.
The FDA has already cancelled the license of Family Pharmacy which runs PharmEasy.in and Medlife International Pvt Ltd, while action has been initiated against Planet Pharma Ware House which runs the website Netmeds.com, Rawal said in his written reply.


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Kate Spade, fashion designer and founder of the iconic eponymous handbag brand, has died of an apparent suicide. She was 55.
According to the Associated Press, law enforcement officials found the designer inside her Park Avenue apartment in New York at about 10:20 a.m. Officials said she left a note at the scene.
Kate Spade and husband Andy Spade launched their design house in 1993. It grew into a full-scale clothing, shoes and accessories line and global lifestyle brand. Now owned by Tapestry Inc., the label boasts more than 140 retail shops and outlet stores across the U.S. and more than 175 boutiques around the world.
A decade after selling their stake in the namesake brand, the Spades in 2016 founded Frances Valentine, a luxury brand of women’s shoes and accessories that maintains a similar aesthetic and message. They named it after their now-13-year-old daughter, Frances. Kate Spade also changed her surname to Valentine, partly as a nod to the line.
Kate Spade & Stuart Weitzman Have Female CEOs — Inside Tapestry’s Women in Power Push
Veteran Michael Kors Executive Anna Bakst Tapped to Lead Kate Spade
Kate Spade New York Is the Latest Brand to Jump on the Western Boot Bandwagon


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"...in a Europe in crisis, entrepreneurs are finally getting more respect.
While not all Americans love Europe, many do. Quite a few people in San Francisco or New York City dream of spending part of their life in Italy, France, the UK, Spain and other European countries, and some do make it over."Continue
Added by Flavio Notari on December 23, 2012 at 3:51am — No Comments
Today indoona launched its latest version, indoona 2.2, featuring a new live video streaming function.
Download indoona 2.2 directly on your Apple or Android smartphone and click on ‘Live’ to install your indoonacam app. You can now share your streaming live videos any time, wherever you are.
Added by Valentina Medda on December 21, 2012 at 7:30am — No Comments
The world of social media might be crowded, but that’s certainly not stopping new players entering the market.
Added by Valentina Medda on December 13, 2012 at 10:00am — No Comments
"researchers believe the concept can be traced back to the 16th and 17th centuries as part of the Italian Academies, where scholars created nicknames for themselves, developed emblems and mottos to form groups for information exchange."
more at: http://ning.it/RYsd9B
Added by Valentina Medda on December 10, 2012 at 12:00pm — No Comments
December 3 was the International Day of Persons with Disabilities (note: not "of the disabled" but "of people, with", just like there are people who are short, tall, with long hair, etc, attributes that make us who we are).
La Stampa reports on four concrete examples of organizations and individuals who do their part to…Continue


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Phat Burger fryer up in flames at Food and Wine show
The Insel Fehmarn Hotel Food and Wine Festival got off to an unexpectedly intense start on Saturday morning when a deep fryer caught ablaze for several minutes.
The destruction of the fryer belonging to Phat Burger, will now temporarily force the closure of the popular burger joint just weeks away from the first anniversary of its opening.
The restaurant's co-founder, Kelly Walker, was nearly finished setting up for the festival when her deep fryer caught on fire.
It took several minutes before a fire extinguisher could be found and the blaze was put out.
Ms. Walker and her partner and co-founder, Kylie Fauchelle, were unable to deliver the ‘kiwi’ menu they had prepared for the day and so packed up their stall.
“Everything we’ve got has got fried stuff with it, there is no way we could recoup our costs just doing burgers," she said.
Phat Burger had spent about $1200 on the Food and Wine Festival stall, Ms. Walker said, and was expecting to make $2000 from the Festival.
“It’s $300 to just be here, we got a sign especially made which was $450, and then all the extra stock," the co-founder said.
“We were going to do a special cocktail today so we bought a new drinks dispenser for that.”
Posting on Facebook, the team wrote that their fryer is now “in the kitchen in the sky.”
A new deep fryer will have to be imported from New Zealand, she said, and could cost up to $10,000.
Locally available options in Samoa are not high quality, according to Ms. Walker.
“We’ve had had problems with that fryer ever since we first bought it, we’ve had it repaired a few times,” she said.
“It’s probably just a bad fryer.”
Phat Burger will have to adjust their menu and close temporarily while they wait for a new machine. In the meantime, they are appealing to their fans to help them get back on their feet.
“We’ll fix something together but we’re not going to be able to do as much as we normally do or as fast as we normally do it until we get a replacement fryer," she said.
Anyone who wants to support Phat Burger can contact them through their Facebook Page or call the business line, 722 4260.


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The company's Mobile Devices group contributed $2.4 billion toward overall revenues, shipping 11.6 million mobile devices, 4.8 million of which were Android smartphones. But that group itself lost $41 million in the quarter.
Compared to its year ago quarter, Motorola's Mobile Devices group sold 2.5 million more phones (up from 9.1 million total) but only 1 million additional smartphones (up from 3.8 million). Over the last three quarters of 2011, Mobile Devices has lost $215 million.
Earlier in the year, Motorola had shipped 250,000 Xoom tablets in the first quarter and then 400,000 in the second quarter, making this quarter's trickle of 100,000 evidence that the Android 3.0 Honeycomb flagship has sunk.
Motorola's Home segment, which builds set top boxes and video equipment, brought in just $825 million but its earnings contributed $54 million.
Google announced plans in August to acquire Motorola Mobility, ostensibly to use its patents to "protect" Android from intellectual property infringement cases. However, Motorola's stated objectives indicate that Google was really trying to prevent Motorola from suing other Android licensees itself. Motorola had also threatened to build its own mobile OS or join Microsoft in making Windows Phone 7 devices.
Motorola stated that its acquisition by Google "is expected to close by the end of 2011 or early 2012," and that the company "will hold a special meeting of stockholders on Nov. 17, 2011, to seek stockholder approval of the proposed merger with Google."


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Samsung has posted a video of Galaxy S5 taking #ALSicebucketchallenge. The premier model of the South Korean gadget giant, just hopped on the #icebucketchallenge bandwagon, and nominated some other phones to do the same. Watch the video below:
Actually, ALS is a fund-raising campaign aiming to raise awareness and funds for research for the disease “amyotrophic lateral sclerosis” (ALS). The latest video posted to Samsung’s Mobile UK YouTube channel shows its flagship Galaxy S5 smartphone taking the Ice Bucket Challenge. Samsung Galaxy S5 has nominated the iPhone 5s to take the challenge next. Here’s what it said:
“I am the Samsung Galaxy S5. This is my ice bucket challenge. Gosh, that’s freezing. I nominate the iPhone 5s, the HTC One (M8), and Nokia Lumia 930.”
Did Samsung did a right thing of marketing their device in a campaign launched for charitable cause? Share your views via comments below?


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Today, extracts are more popular than ever. Dispensaries that use the cannabis database Leafly to organize their inventories have added 300,000 concentrate items to their offerings since the beginning of the year—an almost 600 percent increase over the same period last year. To keep up with demand, extraction labs and equipment manufacturers have developed increasingly sophisticated apparatuses to produce the stuff, and safer, higher-volume production methods.
These advances have afforded cannabis extracts—the intense highs of which have drawn misgivings from researchers and policymakers—a measure of legitimacy; last December, when California issued its initial round of business licenses for its legal marijuana market, the state gave its first temporary license to Moxie, a company known for its cannabis extracts. [Read more @ Wired]


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Oi coppers! Leave our phones alone
More than a dozen high technology companies and have asked the US Supreme Court to make it harder for government officials to access individuals' sensitive mobile data.
Claims it has an assurance from Redmond
While Windows roadmaps show a rather big hole where mobile should be, HP insists that it has been assured by Redmond there are no plans to drop Continuum.
Intel will make it on 10nm + if it does not slip up
Intel has confirmed the existence of a new processor family called Ice Lake that will be made on Intel's 10nm+ process.
Self-driving alliance formed
BMW Group, Intel and Mobileye announced today that they have signed a memorandum of understanding with Fiat Chrysler to be the first automaker to join them in developing a world-leading, state-of-the-art autonomous driving platform for global deployment.
Bong, bong, bong satellite of cash
Blockstream announced the availability of Blockstream Satellite, a new service that broadcasts real time Bitcoin blockchain data from a group of communication satellites in space to almost everyone on the planet to anyone who wants it.
Online, mobile, digital console and computer games will be three quarters of revenue
Beancounters at Research and Markets' have just released a report claiming that digital gaming will see double digit growth in the next few years.
Warrants issued for most of America
The US government wants the IP addresses of anyone who visited an anti-Trump website.
The future is not bright and it is not orange
After a few months of trying to butter up Donald (Prince of Orange) Trump, Intel has decided to cut its losses.
Cutting off the blood supply
Server DRAM revenue from Samsung Electronics, SK Hynix and Micron Technology rose by 30 percent sequentially in the second quarter as the tight supply of DRAM chips continued to lift average selling prices, according to market watcher DRAMeXchange. The firm expects server DRAM supply to remain tight throughout the remainder of 2017.


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According to the latest market research, the availability of Apple’s cooperation in China after the onset of the pandemic COVID-19. The company managed to sell about 3.8 million units in the month of April note that about 24 percent of those sales went to the phone iPhone SE 2020 new.
Increased sales for the month of April increased by 160 percent compared to march of this year, but still lower by 60 percent compared with the month of April of the year 2019. This increase in sales is not surprising because the state is softened by the action and because the market as a whole is showing signs of recovery. Increased overall sales of smart phones increased by 94 percent compared to March sales reached a total of 40.8 million units.
It is interesting to note that some of the retail stores benefit from the closure. For example, the store sold Tmall Chinese phones iPhone more by about 40 percent last April compared with the month of April of the year 2019, the identity of the iPhone is more by about 33 percent compared with last March.
Using the services of Apple in growth also, it has been spent 1.53 billion USD on the Apple Music and Apple’s iCloud by millions of iPhone in the month of April, representing an increase of 7 percent compared with the month of March. According to analysts at CINNO, it has been the launch of the iPhone SE 2020 in mid-April, but he managed to stand behind the 24 percent of the total sales of the iPhone in that month.


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Ford has been marketing its fuel-efficient cars in a most assertive way, and its Fusion and C-MAX Hybrid have now been respectively recognized as one publication’s Car of the Year and Alternative Fuel Car of the Year.
“The 2013 Ford Fusion has arrived just in time to do battle with the best that Japan, Korea, and its U.S. counterparts have to offer,” said Jeff Glucker in his first drive piece on the car, “The problem for everyone else? The 2013 Fusion might the best of a really good bunch.”
Glucker noted also “It’s the Mondeo for the rest of the world, and now we [in the U.S.] get it.” The Fusion was also noted as being “the right amount of car for the right price,” by Autobytel’s T.J. Keon and overall, while acknowledging there are other worthwhile choices in the category, the Fusion was said to be the best the editors had seen.
Among even greener offerings, the editors also liked Ford’s C-MAX Hybrid which also happens to be facing allegations of exaggerated fuel efficiency in other quarters. Among the publication’s editors, the C-MAX managed to edge out three other finalists as the winner of Alternative Fuel Car of the Year.
Reasons cited for the new five-seater hybrid hatchback include its estimated 47 mpg from its 1.4-liter engine plus electrics which delivers a Prius-beating 188 horsepower. The C-MAX rides on Ford’s global C platform also used by the Focus and Escape. The design, it was noted, provides up to 52.6 cubic feet or interior space.
Finalists beaten by the C-MAX in the COTY competition are other highly regarded cars, the Tesla Model S, VW Jetta Hybrid, and Chevrolet Volt.


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India self-reliant in cereals; should halve oil import: NITI Aayog's Ramesh Chand
In an interview with The Federal, NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand weighs in on export bans, whether they are compatible with free trade and if they would force countries to adopt inefficient import substitution strategies
On the May 13, India banned the export of wheat despite asserting earlier that 10 million tonnes would be exported this year against a little over 7 million tonnes last year. The ban came even as the military conflict in Ukraine choked Russian and Ukrainian wheat exports.
Earlier, on April 13, Indonesia banned the export of palm oil in all forms – crude, refined and used – to quell domestic prices which had doubled to $2/litre.
In a Zoom interview, The Federal asked NITI Aayog Member Ramesh Chand whether export bans were compatible with free trade and whether they would not have a chilling effect and force countries to adopt inefficient import substitution strategies.
Sand in the wheels of international food trade does not affect India much because it is self-sufficient in cereals, said Chand. He addded that India depends on imports to meet about 7-8 per cent of its pulses requirement.
It’s only in the case of cooking oil that it is vulnerable because India imports about two-thirds of the quantity it needs.
Free trade is based on comparative advantage – that every country produces what it is best at, maximising consumer welfare, Chand pointed out. But if countries cannot depend on trade in crunch situations, they will have to take countervailing measures which may not be the most efficient, he added.
Chand further said that he had proposed that India insulate itself for 90 per cent of its requirement of staples. Hundred per cent self-sufficiency would be costly. For cooking oil, Chand said, India must strive to reduce its import dependence by half to about 35 per cent. This could be achieved with high import duties, as it happened when Rajiv Gandhi was Prime Minister. Import duties then were as high as 85 per cent. High domestic prices encouraged farmers to bring more area, including irrigated land, under oilseeds. But when import duties were reduced, the output of oilseeds shrank, he recalled.
India’s high import dependence for cooking oil was also because of a more than doubling of oil consumption in the past two decades, which again was on the back of cheap oil imports, said Chand. He said reduced import dependence would have to be achieved through yield increases and technological breakthroughs.
When reminded that the government had not allowed the cultivation of genetically-modified Dhara Mustard Hybrid 11 (DMH-11) despite a recommendation by the Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC) in May 2017, Chand said there was consumer sensitivity around genetically-modified food. He said he had read the paper on DMH-11 and was convinced that it was high-yielding, but people’s sensitivities could not be ignored.
Chand further said the government had taken a middle path and approved guidelines for genome editing, where the biosafety requirements were much less onerous when foreign genes were not involved.
As Chand has more than 30 years of experience as an agricultural economics researcher, teacher, administrator, and policy advisor, The Federal asked him a range of questions – from buffer stocking norms to cash transfers in lieu of subsidised food grains for the poor.
He said high buffer stocks had helped India tide over the crisis created by the COVID pandemic. During the lockdown of 2020 and restricted mobility thereafter, grains stocked in government warehouses helped feed the poor who had lost jobs and income. During 2019-20, an additional 103 lakh tonnes of grain was distributed to the poor. The next year, 119 lakh tonnes more was distributed, noted the NITI Aayog member.
When asked whether buffer stocking norms should be revised in light of the experience during the pandemic, he said they were revised every seven years, and a revision was due.
The pandemic had also shown that payment of food subsidy in cash was no substitute for delivery of food aid in kind. Markets in India are not uniformly efficient, he said. During the pandemic, supplies were choked, and people would not have been able to buy grain or in sufficient quantities if they had been given food subsidy in cash.


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The Omicron outbreak in Hong Kong is a double whammy for businesses.
Not only will the new social distancing restrictions reduce income for retailers and restaurants, a reduction in the thefts they rely on to transport everything from Australian cherries to Wagyu beef in the financial center is expected to raise costs and spur inflation. .
Cathay Pacific Airways Ltd., the city’s most connected airline, has canceled hundreds of flights. Cargo capacity could drop below a fifth of pre-pandemic levels. Logistics costs can increase by 40% in three weeks. Importers expect the price of fruit to increase by 10%.
Plane at Hong Kong International Airport as Hong Kong terminates flights amid Omicron
A plane operated by Cathay Pacific takes off from Hong Kong International Airport on January 6.
In pursuit of a “Covid Zero” strategy, Hong Kong has closed bars, gyms and cinemas. At the same time, an already fractured supply chain for a city that imports most of its goods has reached a breaking point, with businesses experiencing delays in deliveries of staples like berries and yogurt, as well. than top quality seafood and cheeses.
The threat of an omicron wave has scared Hong Kong, where the vaccination rate is among the lowest in developed economies. Although authorities have so far found only dozens of cases in the community, they are following at least three separate chains of transmission.
Amid fears of the omicron variant, the government has removed the quarantine exemptions for aircrew it previously granted, forcing Cathay to cut back on cargo flights. The airline will only operate about 20% of its pre-pandemic capacity this month due to a lack of manpower. Passenger flights have also been banned from eight countries, including the US, UK and Australia, further reducing cargo capacity.
These two separate moves create “a serious shortage of freight space,” said Gary Lau, chairman of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding & Logistics.
Firms heavily dependent on imports bear the brunt of the disruption. Suppliers expect shortages of everything from eggplant to lobster. Flowers from Europe for the upcoming Lunar New Year might also be scarce, as well as fruits and vegetables from places like the UK and the Netherlands.
Hong Kong’s retail and restaurant sectors, which had just started to recover from months of earlier restrictions, could now miss a peak spending window during the Chinese holiday season. Sales from both sectors hit HK $ 326 billion ($ 42 billion) for the first three quarters of last year after the city eased social distancing rules. That figure was almost 30% lower than in the same period in 2018, last year before a series of protests hit Hong Kong, causing further economic damage.
Many businesses go through logistical nightmares. Richard Poon, managing director of On Kee Dry Seafood, said orders for canned abalone and conch were stuck in Australia. His team now depends on air freight for more than 30% of their supply, he said, adding that the store had increased orders delivered by air around November to prepare for the holiday.
“The offer will now be even tighter,” he said. “We are concerned that we will run out of certain products to sell to customers. “
Jacques Derreumaux, co-founder of Cheese Club and WHAT’sIN, delivery services that offer French cheeses and fresh fruits and vegetables, said he has resorted to re-routing shipments via limited freight flights now that passenger flights from France have been banned. The continued disruption to air travel “would become very problematic for all importers” if it continued, he said.
“The logistics chain is collapsing”
Hong Kong’s strict virus rules are largely aligned with those of mainland China, which still maintains zero infections as a goal, even as most countries around the world are adjusting to life with the virus. Yet the city of 7.4 million people depends on imported goods for its survival, unlike the vast continent, raising fears that a virus strategy that requires isolation is unsustainable.
Travel restrictions will ultimately result in soaring retail prices, said Michael Li, honorary deputy secretary of the Hong Kong Chinese Importers and Exporters Association. Li predicted longer delivery times and a possible increase in transportation costs of around 30%.
Consumers may see the prices of fresh flowers soar by 20 to 30 percent, for example, because they are typically flown to Hong Kong from Europe, Li said. Prices may also rise in Japanese restaurants, that use premium seafood ingredients, as well as in Chinese restaurants that offer seafood feasts during festivals.
Lau, of the Hong Kong Association of Freight Forwarding & Logistics, said there were already signs that “the airline supply chain is collapsing.”
“Until the government relaxes its pandemic control measures, we believe the situation will not change in the short term,” he said.


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Have you heard that BSNL is offering 20GB of 3G data at just Rs. 50? If your answer is yes then you should consider it as April Fool Joke. The state owned company has no such offer.
Earlier several reports said that BSNL has launched a new scheme under which the company will offer 20GB of 3G Data for Rs. 50. The reports also said that the data can be shared among 4 users.
It turns out that it was just plain hoax. BSNL said that it has not any scheme like and it doesn’t any scheme in the pipeline too. So users searching for ways to activate the offer should calm down and search for same costly data packs.
BSNL has also cleared that it has no intention to launch this type of offer in future as well. Earlier reports suggested that the offers was launched under Digital India scheme but it turns out that it was also hoax.


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A team of economists at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors track noncash payment trends in the U.S. Since 2001, they have measured the number and value of transactions across all major payment methods. Based on their December 2021 update to the Payments Study, Visa estimates there were 2.9 billion B2B checks for an estimated $11.8 trillion. This represents 26% of all checks paid by U.S. depository institutions and 57 percent of paid check dollar value.1
Despite decades of decline in check use, check displacement remains a massive growth opportunity for electronic payments, particularly for commercial card. For context, commercial card rails process an estimated $0.5 trillion in business spend, equivalent to just four percent of the value of B2B checks.2
Likely you are familiar with the traditional challenges to commercial card acceptance by suppliers, e.g., card processing fees, manual processing of virtual card payments, AR reconciliation. These challenges are real, but Visa innovators and our partners are making strides daily. For example, the Business Payments Network – a Visa partnership with Billtrust – radically simplifies payment processing and reconciliation for card-accepting suppliers.
These low-value transactions should be “cardable,” right? Unfortunately, few buyers feel motivated to pursue these opportunities. Often the ROI feels too low to track down all the data about where these checks are going and then convince suppliers to accept card. In the end, fewer than half the company’s suppliers are likely to accept commercial cards. No wonder decision makers don’t jump when bank salespeople ask for a spend file simply to see if there’s an opportunity.
But what if a card salesperson showed up with a credible opportunity in hand? That’s the model Visa Consulting & Analytics is helping our client banks embrace.
A new operating model
Each of the 2.9 billion B2B checks paid every year is paid by a financial institution. Most FIs use optical character recognition (OCR) to process those checks. By repurposing OCR data from checks, banks can identify which suppliers their corporate customers are paying. In partnership with Visa’s Supplier Matching Service, market leading banks are identifying which of those suppliers accept commercial cards and pinpointing which business customers at the bank have the greatest opportunity to shift check spend with those suppliers to card. These banks’ salespeople no longer begin a client conversation by asking for a spend file. Instead, they present a credible analysis based on the client’s payments volume processed by the bank.
What used to be a data mining project becomes a simple, data-driven decision about how to move forward. Clients love it. Salespeople love it. And – good news for depository institutions – you are in a unique position to approach your business customers about these opportunities. Without the DDA relationship, commercial card salespeople must use the old model.
If it sounds too good to be true, it’s not. But it does take work. See the complete article for four tips for FIs that want to adopt this new method of accelerating growth in their commercial card portfolio.
2 McKinsey & Company’s U.S. Payments Map estimates 2020 U.S. commercial card spend at $485B.


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Engineering company founded 125 years ago, Varley provides products and services in the transportation industry, including a range of electric utility vehicles.
This year, in cooperation with Tritium and Ultramotive, they decided to tackle a new market. Proving that they also know to transport people in a different way, while highlighting their technological know-how.
They developed the EVR450, an electric sports-car that will be revealed in world premiere at the Australian conference on electric vehicles AEVC on October 26th in Brisbane.
It specs sheet announce a 0 to 100kph in 3.8 seconds and a top speed limited to 200kph, its range is 150km in the basic version, but it can be extended to 300km with an extra battery pack.
Its launch is planned for 2012 for a price below $ 200,000
"You Could expect to see it on Queensland roads as early as January 2012" John Bettini, Varley Electric Vehicles divisionmanager.
For more information, we will have to wait a few days
To get real time updates follow us on &


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Watch a report by ITV News Anglia's Hannah Pettifer
A restaurant owner has warned businesses are still feeling the impact of higher import costs after Brexit - and says it could force him to the wall.
Over the past year, the costs of running the Taste Of Italy restaurant in Chelmsford have risen exponentially. Owner Sergio Teacu is now paying up to 30% more for the food he imports from Italy - and that, he says, is due to Brexit.
ITV News Anglia has been catching up with small businesses across the region to find out more about what the end of the UK's membership of the European Union has meant for their fortunes.
Mr Teacu takes pride in his restaurant's authenticity but it has come at a cost, which the business is now struggling to withstand.
"Just this bag of flour last year was £19.89 - now it's £28 per bag," he told ITV News Anglia.
"On the parma ham, prosciutto crudo, the price went from £16 to £19 per kilo. All the prices on all the salamis, cheeses, olives went up between 10% and 30% on average."
Mr Teacu said the situation further worsened when, at the start of this year, import controls and checks were fully introduced on goods coming into the UK from the EU.
For his business it has meant increased paperwork, delays at the border, additional costs and wasted food.
He has tried to substitute some of the ingredients with British equivalents but said he could not create the same quality of food.
"If you change the products, if you try to take different products that are cheaper, suddenly the quality goes down," he said.
"If you want to do something properly and you want to do a quality pizza you need those ingredients. With the prices increasing it will be much harder to sustain a good quality product and still go forward with the pizzeria."
According to the Federation of Small Businesses half of all small businesses are still experiencing significant negative impacts following Brexit. Unlike larger businesses who may have the financial reserves and manpower to cover the increase in bureaucracy and logistical issues post-Brexit, smaller businesses seem to be suffering disproportionately.
It is not just the import and export of goods affecting them, but also access to the European workforce.
Colin Stracey runs the sailing school Premier Sailing in Maldon in Essex. His business relies on sailing instructors who, up until a year ago, came over from the Netherlands to work for him.
But now, he said, they have to pay £1,200 to get a visa to work in the UK. He is finding the instructors are now choosing to work for larger operations who can afford to pay for their visas, or they are just staying in the EU to work.
"We've looked at getting work permits but I'm a sailing instructor," says Mr Stracey.
"I'm not necessarily good at the paperwork side of things, it's very confusing and appears expensive. It is a serious problem because we have very small margins and without multiple boats going out we just won't survive."
Mr Stracey has advertised for British instructors and even started a training scheme but has not had enough interest. He is now having to turn business away.
The Federation of Small Businesses is calling for more support from the government.
"We're seeing the negative impact of the pandemic, inflation rises, a huge surge in energy costs and for these international businesses Brexit really does play its part," said Lauren Dovey, the FSB's development manager.
"And that's why we need to see that extra support for them now. We've already seen one in five cease trading temporarily. If government don't do something now then a lot of those will stop trading permanently."
But the government said it had worked closely with businesses in providing support throughout the transition and that it had always been clear that being outside the single market and the customs union would mean changes and businesses needing to adapt to new processes.
A UK government spokesperson said: "Traders have adapted well to the introduction of import controls at the start of the year, with minimal disruption at the border and inbound freight flowing effectively through ports."
But that is far from the reality experienced by Sergio Teacu.
In his work to create a little slice of Italy in Chelmsford, Brexit has now become an extra cost his already small margins are struggling to withstand.


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A team of researchers led by Virginia Tech’s Michael Bartlett have developed an octopus-inspired glove capable of securely gripping objects underwater. Their research was selected for the July 13 cover of Science Advances.This article was […]
A new self-powered, wristwatch-style health monitor invented by researchers at the University of California, Irvine can keep track of a wearer’s pulse and wirelessly communicate with a nearby smartphone or tablet—without needing an external power […]
Researchers at Case Western Reserve University have created a simple prototype device that enables users to control “smart home” technology by changing their breathing patterns.This article was originally published on this website.
A decade ago, Elon Musk proposed a new form of transport that would shoot passengers through vacuum tunnels in levitating pods at almost the speed of sound—he called it “hyperloop”.This article was originally published on […]
Using a novel fabrication process, MIT researchers have produced smart textiles that snugly conform to the body so they can sense the wearer’s posture and motions.This article was originally published on this website.
Early detection and identification of pathogenic bacteria in food and water samples are essential to public health. Bacterial infections cause millions of deaths worldwide and bring a heavy economic burden, costing more than 4 billion […]
“Hey, Siri, how’s the weather today?” Voice recognition technology is increasingly prevalent. It is a convenient technology with broad applications. However, to get the most of its intended functions, users must stand near the device […]
A camera system developed by Carnegie Mellon University researchers can see sound vibrations with such precision and detail that it can reconstruct the music of a single instrument in a band or orchestra.This article was […]
Sarah Aguasvivas Manzano and her team’s latest work has real-world, practical use. Wearable technology is being explored in the space industry for astronauts and big tech companies are eager for improvements to the inter-connected watches […]
Some dehydrated “cochayuyo” seaweed, some instant mashed potatoes and hot water: these are the ingredients for a nutritious menu of 3D printed food that nutritional experts in Chile hope will revolutionize the food market, particularly […]


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Yesterday Facebook announced the launch of their new android OS wrapper “Facebook home”. It will be available to download from the 12th April on the Google play store and the Home device (HTC one) will be released in the US on the same day.
What, who, why, when?
Facebook identified 25% of all of their traffic comes from mobile and saw that as a 25% loss in advertising revenue so decided to make an operating system to make up for it. It is a great example of how data influences global strategic decisions and also gives Facebook an even better chance of capturing the audiences of emerging markets. Through creating a device they could just give it away and allow audiences to connect whilst constantly capturing data and using this to create incredibly targeted advertising based on phone behaviour. Watch this space.
Anyway, its big noise. Everyone will hate and then embrace. Check out these pics, videos and reviews below.
Great summary but also designers check out how they showed the large images, good no? Link
User interface: Link
Video “hands on”: Link
Could facebook connect the world?: Link
I’m a massive kid, 6’5” in fact, and I do wish these were around when I were a lad. The mobile device is quickly taking over the TV as the surrogate parent at home, rather than putting on Cbeebies parents are turning to their devices. These are two great examples of child engagement, one Video Game Help Treat Kids With Chronic Pain and the other is taking story telling from the dad to the tablet… StorEbook: reads kids stories and does the voices too!
What next, an app that tucks you in?!
Everyone loves data, even big kids like me, the two articles below show us some stats that could influence the next decisions we make for ours, and your, online strategies. Android topping the US phone market by 52% could get a lot more once the new Facebook phone comes out and 80 per cent of mobile time spent in apps is another great stat from Flurry.
It’s a big week for women in Gaming as the GDC held some specific talks and events on women in the gaming industry. Sony have requested more female developers to work on the PS4 and several thought leaders held a debate on gender equality in gaming which is an interesting read.
Finally this is a great read for anyone that is pro gaming (is that a thing?) arguing that “violent games don’t make violent people” and “gaming are a valid form of media” this ten point blog post summarises each point and may help you in any argument situation with your peers, colleagues, clients and bosses! Check it out.
Featured article: Thanks to Alastair Hodgson for bringing this article to my attention. As mobile usage grows its obvious that accessibility is going to become more and more important and this article gives great insight into what its like being blind and using an Android Device. Link


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AT&T and Comcast failed to unseat Verizon Communications as the top U.S. brand in the cable/satellite TV sector, according to Satmetrix’s 2013 Net Promoter Industry Benchmarks report, a study that ranks customer loyalty for more than 200 brands across 22 industry sectors.
Despite “significant gains” by those service providers in the pay TV category, Verizon’s FiOS TV topped Satmetrix’s survey of more than 24,000 U.S. consumers with a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 32 percent, a calculation of customer loyalty based on customers who would recommend a product or service, minus those who would not.
Bright House Networks topped the Internet-services sector with an NPS of 29%, getting kudos for the key loyalty driver of “savings from packaged deals,” Satmetrix noted. Among the Internet-service providers ranked in the category, Mediacom Communications was the lowest-ranked, with an NPS score of -27%.
And they could all do better. The broader telecommunications category they’re all part of received an NPS score of just 16%, the lowest average among the industry groups studied.
Netflix’s NPS of 50% gave the streaming giant a commanding lead over Google Play, Amazon Prime/Amazon Instant Video, Apple iTunes and Microsoft Xbox Music/ Xbox Video in the online-services category. Blockbuster On Demand, now part of Dish Network, earned the lowest sector NPS, with a score of 2%.
In the Technology category, Apple was tops in tablets (iPad, 65%), smartphones (iPhone, 70%) and laptops (76%).
The smarter way to stay on top of the multichannel video marketplace. Sign up below.


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The Indian foods industry is at an inflection point, believe major fast moving consumer goods companies. While Hindustan Unilever has already worked out a 10-year turnover road map, others like ITC and PepsiCo are scaling up their businesses to cater to the rapid growth.
HUL, which has completed 75 years of operations in India, is confident that its foods business alone will reach a top line of more than Rs 20,000 crore (Rs 200 billion) almost its current turnover) over the next decade. If it achieves this target, the figure will be at least eight times more than the current turnover of its food and beverages division.
For the 12 months ending December 2008, the division's turnover stood at Rs 2,642 crore (Rs 26.42 billion), of which beverages (Brooke Bond and Lipton) accounted for Rs 1,805 crore (Rs 18.05 billion), processed food (Knorr and Kissan) for Rs 647 crore (Rs 6.47 billion) and ice creams (Kwality Walls) raked in Rs 190 crore (Rs 1.9 billion).
"Processed foods contribute to less than 5 per cent of India's food consumption. However, by 2012 the market will grow by 44 per cent to be a $90 billion market. And packaged foods will grow even faster, at 68 per cent, to be a $22 billion industry. Moreover, the per capita packaged food spending will increase by 57 per cent to $18 by 2012," asserts HUL executive director (foods), Shrijeet Mishra. For instance, in the 1930s, Indians did not drink tea. Today, the consumption of tea is seven million tonnes and is largely driven by brands like Brook Bond and Lipton.
Says Abheek Singhi, partner at The Boston Consulting Group: "If the company adds Rs 1,500-2,000 crore (Rs 15-20 billion) to its topline every year, then the target of Rs 20,000 crore in 10 years is surely possible."
However, he qualifies, "Considering Indian consumption habits will not change that much over the next 10 years, the company would need to focus on oils - a Rs 15,000 crore market - and staples like dals and atta (HUL has Annapurna atta) to achieve this growth and also strengthen its back-end supply chain to achieve the scale."
Additionally, the foods business requires large risk appetite and HUL is not particularly known to have one, say other analysts. For instance, after seven years in the foods business, ITC's food division is still in investment mode, with certain segments yet to turn profitable even though it has become one of the top three players in the segments it operates in. "To achieve a revenue of Rs 20,000 crore, the company will require investments of Rs 5,000 crore (Rs 50 billion) and their ability to stay put for a long period of time will determine their ability to penetrate this segment," says Nikhil Vora, MD, IDFC SSKI.
Meanwhile, FMCG players like PepsiCo and ITC are also gunning in this high-growth market. For instance, Frito-Lay India has planned a $150 million investment for the next three years in the food market.
Earlier this year, the maker of salty snacks like Kurkure and Desi Beats had diversified into the biscuits category with Aliva. "The aim is to address new consumer needs and thereby grow our portfolio in the near future," says Deepika Warrier, marketing director, Frito-Lay.
The company had driven growth and conversion of a predominantly unbranded salty snacks' market to a branded snacks market now estimated at Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) with its entry in the segment in 1989.
Likewise for ITC, maker of Classic and Wills cigarettes to Fiama di Wills shampoo, Bingo chips, Sunfeast biscuits and Aashirwad atta, the foods business is a high-growth area. For, the industry, despite the slowdown, is garnering a 15 to 16 per cent growth rate. "Our objective is to grow at a higher rate than the market rate," says Chitranjan Dar, chief operating officer, foods division, ITC.
ITC's e-Choupal, for instance, gives the company tremendous synergies in its spices business. "We are exploring new segments and new product extensions and also for synergistic growth to harness our e-Choupal capabilities as we grow our foods business," says Dar.


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Farming Simulator 15
New screenshots added
Farming Simulator 15 release date revealed
Hopeful homesteaders haven't long to wait
Torment: Tides of Numenera video footage
Stare into the mouth of madness
Ghost Song wants to say a lot with little
Dark Souls inspired Metroidvania
Metal Gear Solid V Stream from TGS Tonight
8pm PST/11pm EST/4am GMT
Borderlands rises from the dead
Multiplayer is back online after a successful GameSpy-ectomy
Dormant names to be freed up in WoW pre-patch purge
Are Blizzard coming for YOUR name?
Divinity: Original Sin Gets Two New Characters
Good news and bad news.


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ALL THE WAY UP
Forty Five Ten announces the start of Spring
Forever our source of fashion inspiration, Forty Five Ten just announced the launch of its spring campaign. All The Way Up celebrates the eccentric, colorful mood of the season, in a dialed-to-11 kind of way.
Shot by New York street photographer Daniel Arnold, the images are imbued with his sense of whimsy and humor. There’s a lot of whimsy in the styling, too. Wear hot pink plaid with blue shoes. Go sheer. Mix tie-dye and floral prints. These are risks worth taking! And it’s all in the name of self-expression.
“Approach your wardrobe joyfully and feel the confidence of expressing yourself—bigger and louder than before,” says Forty Five Ten President and Chief Creative Officer, Kristen Cole.
Challenge accepted. See and shop the full campaign here.
The details: Forty Five Ten, 1615 Main Street.


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The European Broadcaster Exchange (EBX) is a joint venture founded by Mediaset (Italy and Spain), ProSiebenSat.1 Media (Germany), TF1 Group (France) and Channel 4 (United Kingdom) to address the demand for brand-safe environments and high-quality pan-European online video campaigns at scale.
EBX will focus on programmatic video campaigns, which involves the automated and data-driven management of digital advertising purchases and sales.
The new company, headquartered in London, designs a joint innovation strategy to create new ways for advertisers to reach their customers. The joint venture will leverage technology, research and premium content effectively to maintain the highest standard of quality and innovation for its digital media offerings.
The leading European broadcasters will make video advertising inventories available from their respective countries of origin in order to allow advertising customers to programmatically buy pan-European campaigns in premium and brand-safe advertising environments of the TV companies. The partners are also establishing an open model aimed at involving other European media companies and making their advertising inventories available.
At the same time, the joint venture marks the start of a deeper strategic collaboration to drive forward the technological development of online video advertising.
Channel 4 is the UK’s only publicly-owned, commercially-funded public service broadcaster, with a state defined remit to be innovative, experimental and distinctive across its television, film and digital channel portfolio.
As a self-sustaining social enterprise, Channel 4 raises commercial revenues from the market and reinvests its profits back into British public service content and programmes from UK independent producers.
One of the biggest media companies in Europe, the Mediaset Group is Italy’s leading commercial broadcaster.
Its TV offer includes free-to-air general interest and thematic channels, as well as DTT pay-TV service “Mediaset Premium”.
The portfolio is complemented by RadioMediaset – the strongest radio group in Italy, and digital media.
Mediaset España is the first broadcaster in Spain in terms of audience results and advertising revenues.
It operates general entertainment channels Telecinco (Spain’s most watched TV station) and Cuatro plus free-to-air thematic stations.
Thanks to its reach web offer, Mediaset España is also the first media group in terms of online video consumption.
The ProSiebenSat.1 Group is one of the most successful independent media companies in Europe with a strong lead in the TV and the digital market. Advertising-financed free TV is the Group’s core business: the station family is the number one in the German audience and TV advertising markets.
ProSiebenSat.1 is also Germany’s leading video marketer on the Internet and one of the most successful providers of digital entertainment.
The TF1 Groupe’s businesses cover the entire audiovisual value chain.
As an integrated media group, it has developed activities in high-growth segments for a number of years.
It operates TF1 – the leading mainstream TV channel in France, free-to-air stations, special-interest pay-TV channels and their digital offshoots.
Chris Le May
Chief Executive Officer, EBX
Digital Commercial Director, Mediaset Spain
Head of Digital & Partnership Innovation, Channel 4
Executive Vice President (EVP) International, ProSiebenSat.1
Chief Digital Officer, TF1 Group
General Manager AdTech & Business Development, Publitalia ‘80
Head of Finance – Content, Channel 4
Dr. Jens Mittnacht
MD SevenOne Media & Advertising Platform Solutions, ProSiebenSat.1 Media AG
Sylvia Tassan Toffola
Deputy Chief Executive Officer, TF1 Publicité
EBX offers an extraordinary brand safe and viewable inventory of 800 MILLION PREMIUM VIDEO VIEWS to international companies where they can communicate with consumers at scale.
The market for programmatic video advertising is growing dynamically, currently at an annual rate of 45 % in Western Europe, our joint venture will offer to international media buyers the opportunity to book pan-European campaigns in the premium video environment of an economic area with a population of over 250 million in an automated, user-friendly manner.
The alliance allows broadcasters to compete strategically in a digital market that is becoming more and more global by creating a joint development roadmap to address the change in the digital space and anticipating the switch of digital investment to Programmatic.
EBX is determined to offer attractive cross-border data-driven targeting products by:
European Broadcast Exchange (EBX) Limited.
37-41 Mortimer Street


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Electric Vehicles - 138M electric motorcycles and scooters projected worldwide by 2017
Quite an outlook from Pike Research on the two wheeled electric vehicle market, they project 138 milion electric motor cycles and electric scooters to be on the road worldwide by 2017.
I'm not sure how many there are at the moment, but there is a fortune to be made selling electric two wheelers for sure!
They are clean, sustainable, produce less noise and provide excellent mobility in urban areas. With their acceleration they should also appeal to the sportier drivers out there. Who can I get one?
[pic] : Vectrix electric motorcycle - Link
Pike Research projects 138M electric motorcycles and scooters to be on the road worldwide by 2017
According to a new report from Pike Research, the number of e-motorcycles and e-scooters on the road will increase from 17 million in 2011 to 138 million by 2017, the majority of which will be powered by lead-acid batteries.


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China in the last week made several large purchases of American grain, sparking hope in the farming sector that the nation intends to make good on its promise to buy billions of dollars worth of U.S. agricultural products this year, industry groups say.
“It is great to see China back in the market,” said Ryan LeGrand, the president and CEO of the Washington, D.C.-based U.S. Grains Council, a trade group that represents corn, sorghum, barely, distillers grain and ethanol. “We hope it is the start of many more purchases.”
Chinese buyers ordered more than 750,000 metric tons of American corn Thursday and about 1 million metric tons of sorghum earlier in the week, LeGrand said.
On Friday, the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced China also bought about 340,000 metric tons of wheat.
These are the largest single purchases of wheat and sorghum China has made since imposing high retaliatory tariffs on U.S. farm goods in summer 2018, the groups say.
“The market has been waiting for this,” said Steve Mercer, a spokesman for U.S. Wheat Associates, a trade organization for the wheat industry based in Arlington, Va. “We’ll see where it goes.”
Following the purchase, the price for wheat spiked from under $5 per bushel to more than $5.50, according to Chicago Mercantile Exchange figures.
The three crops are grown across the United States.
Wheat is grown in several regions, including North Dakota, Kansas and Oklahoma, and Washington state. Sorghum is grown mostly in Kansas, with fields appearing in many other states. And corn — America’s largest crop according to USDA — is grown across the Midwest and Great Plains.
Concern arose earlier in the year that the coronavirus pandemic in China would hamper the nation’s ability to buy an agreed-to $80 billion in agricultural products over the next two years, according to phase one of the trade deal with the United States.
In an effort to halt the virus spread, China closed businesses and quarantined individuals. Shipping ports backed up as workers stayed home.
In the last weeks, as the number of new coronavirus cases dropped in China, officials have eased travel and quarantine restrictions, and people are returning to work.
“Our team on the ground in China is kind of getting back to normal,” said Jim Sutter, CEO of the U.S. Soybean Export Council, a trade group based in Chesterfield, Mo. “People there are going back to work. They are ramping up production again. Demand is pretty good in China.”
China has not yet made any large purchases of American soybeans, Sutter said. That most likely is because Brazil, China’s other main soybean supplier, is in the middle of its harvest. The market is flush with Brazilian soybeans, which are cheaper than American soybeans.
“We just have to wait for Brazil to sell all of its beans,” Sutter said. “Then the U.S. will get our turn.”
Copyright 2020 United Press International, Inc. (UPI). Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI’s prior written consent.
This content is published through a licensing agreement with Acquire Media using its NewsEdge technology.


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AMERICAN PLAN: Irish 'fast fashion' chain Primark will open its first U.S. store in the former Filene's building in Downtown Crossing next year.
Factory orders are growing at their fastest rate for nearly two decades, figures showed, as Bank of England policymakers said the UK's economic recovery was �building momentum�.
Two women take a selfie in Lerwick, a town closer to Oslo than London. Photograph: Cathal Mcnaughton/Reuters. An independent Scotland would need the support of the UK Treasury and the Bank of England to prevent savers in its banks being as ...
SPORTS Direct International has criticised its large shareholders for failing to back a bonus scheme which could have handed Mike Ashley �70 million in shares.
ENTREPRENEUR Luke Johnson is making a return to the public markets for the first time in over 20 years with the �170m flotation of his cafe chain Patisserie Holdings.


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THE decision by Sony Australia to close its World Square store in Sydney's George Street and open smaller kiosks is another signal of the fast-moving and highly competitive world of smart devices and communication technology.
A company spokesperson said Sony Australia remained committed to pursuing direct retail avenues and locations that would meet the needs of its customers.
In response to the changes in consumer behaviour, Sony said it would focus on an extension of the kiosk- style store that operates in Westfield Chatswood in Sydney.
''This retail model offers shoppers the opportunity to get hands-on with Sony products in a flexible, high-traffic location,'' the company said. Its peers, Apple and Samsung, are also looking to expand. The two operate stores at the opposite end of George Street and are busy at all times during the day, reflecting the high demand for technology.
The move also shows the changing face of Sydney's main shopping thoroughfares - George, Pitt and Castlereagh streets - from traditional clothing and electronic retailers to more food and coffee shops and restaurants.
The director of retail leasing at Knight Frank, Alex Alamsyah, said Samsung was understood to be planning to open 12 demonstration stores in Australia.
Mr Alamsyah said that when the international retailers (Samsung, Microsoft, H&M, Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren, YSL, among others) made inquiries regarding their first flagship stores in Sydney's CBD, the choice of location came down to the big three locations: George Street, which is ideal for technology, fast fashion and luxury; Pitt Street Mall, ideal for fast fashion, and Castlereagh Street, which is suited to luxury goods.
''From time to time, these three major streets are competing against each other for the top spot. As a result, we have seen the rise and fall of George Street, Pitt Street Mall and Castlereagh Street in the past 10 to 15 years,'' Mr Alamsyah said. ''George Street used to be the poor cousin to the Pitt Street Mall, but that is changing with the opening of Apple, Louis Vuitton, Topshop and the newest, Tommy Bahama, the US retailer that took over the ex-Seduce site at Ivy, George Street.''
George Street is also undergoing a $180 million transformation by the City of Sydney, which could take some of the competition from Pitt Street Mall in coming years.
There is also a review being undertaken by the Dymocks family, which owns the building and the Dymocks bookshop, which occupies 3500 square metres over three levels. Given the weaker state of the book industry, the bookshop may be reduced, with some of the ground floor and basement being leased to another international retailer.
Mr Alamsyah said Castlereagh Street still held the title of the heart of the luxury precinct, home to major luxury brands such as Christian Dior, Chanel, Gucci and Prada.
The owner of the Country State building at 74 Castlereagh Street, Country State Group, has recently lodged a redevelopment application for the site. The regional director of retail services, Australia and New Zealand, at CBRE, Josh Loudoun, said the new international brands were performing well and fuelling demand for prime CBD locations.
He said there was ''significant interest from international groups looking to capitalise on the proposed changes to George Street''.
''Australia continues to rank highly on the world stage for rent levels, which is supported by the shortage of prime locations and Australian retailers achieving some of the highest profit margins in the world,'' Mr Loudoun said. ''We forecast this will continue despite the pressure of online retailing.''


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While Fools should generally take the opinion of Wall Street with a grain of salt, it's not a bad idea to take a closer look at particularly stock-shaking analyst upgrades and downgrades -- just in case their reasoning behind the call makes sense.
What: Shares of HomeAway (UNKNOWN:AWAY.DL) slumped about 2% today after J.P. Morgan downgraded the online vacation rental marketplace from overweight to neutral.
So what: Along with the downgrade, analyst Doug Anmuth lowered his price target to $38 (from $49), representing about 22% worth of upside to yesterday's close. So while contrarian traders might be attracted to HomeAway's sharp pullback in recent months, Anmuth's call could reflect a sense on Wall Street that the company's current marketing costs are just too high to trigger a near-term rebound.
Now what: According to J.P. Morgan, HomeAway's risk/reward trade-off is pretty balanced at this point. "We believe increasing marketing spend is appropriate to grow the PPB business and we are also encouraged by healthy renewal rates and strong subscription pricing growth," said Anmuth, "but we believe visibility will be limited in the near-term and return on marketing spend could take some time." With HomeAway shares now off about 40% from their 52-week high, however, those short-term concerns might provide patient Fools with a juicy long-term growth opportunity.
Brian Pacampara has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends HomeAway. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Home devices may see integration with the At a Glance app.
The beta program is still expected to end in October with the public release.
It's not a very often talked about phone, but one that sells incredibly well nevertheless.
The rebranding game continues.
Demand for Samsung chips rose enough to offset the decline in demand for consumer electronics, which will bring higher sales and operating profits than Q2 2021.
Xiaomi has a new $80 million smartphone plant in North Vietnam.
The module makes full use of the 1" sensor, unlike certain previous efforts. But it is a rather large and thick module.
The difference between the Pro and the regular Bip 3 that launched last month is that the Pro has a built-in GPS receiver.
It appears to be a new title rather than a mobile port of Destiny 2. Also, NetEase is helping with development, the studio that helped Blizzard with Diablo: Immortal.
The first two launched in 2020 with Android 10, the third one launched last year with Android 11.
The Indian Reno8 Pro is likely a rebadged Reno8 Pro+ available in China.
This is likely Samsung’s 200MP ISOCELL HP1 module.
The lineup will include BMW versions like previous iQOO smartphones.
Looks like Samsung's idea to merge the Note and S lines through this phone has paid off.


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Cleveland, Ohio – May, 14 2018 – Dan Portik, owner of BVS Film Productions, LLC in Cleveland, Ohio, has been adding new business and clients for years selling with social media. His cyber-prowess even caught the attention of world-renowned selling guru Tom Hopkins who responded to one of Dan’s LinkedIn messages.
Tom, the author of “How to Master the Art of Selling Anything™,” which has sold over 1.6 million copies worldwide, was so intrigued by the contents of Dan’s sales message and concept that he wanted to learn more about this proven online selling strategy. This led to further discussions and an agreement to co-author a new book dedicated to helping others learn how to effectively manage online selling. The book Fill Your Funnel was completed in April of 2018 and was pick up by national publisher, Made For Success Publishing, and recently launched on-line with worldwide distribution.
According to BVS Film Productions’ owner, Dan Portik, the power of online selling became more evident as he saw growing use of online videos and targeted messaging by companies that incorporate “business” social media channels like LinkedIn, YouTube and Facebook into their marketing efforts. “In fact, our unique online selling system has led to an number of new projects with several out-of-the-area clients where we have never met face-to-face, conducting all communications through email and online tools,” states Mr. Portik.
“When Dan demonstrated to me the innovative ways he was reaching out to people and getting immediate response, I knew it was something we should share with sales professionals worldwide.,” adds Tom Hopkins. “I’m always eager to develop new ways for sales professionals to get better results. I’m excited about what Dan Portik brings to this collaboration based on his own success in selling via social media.”
“Email, skype and text are quickly becoming the main channels of business-to-business selling and communications as they are replacing in many cases phone calls and personal visits,” states Portik. “I’m confident this new book will become the new guide for helping young and veteran sales people learn how to turn these modes of communication into powerful and responsive selling tools.”
Order the book “Fill Your Funnel” Here


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Saturday Mar 29
3,556 kilometres for the Porsche 919 Hybrid at the Prologue in Paul Ricard
Mark Webber: "This test here was a big milestone. To enter two cars for the first time was a tremendous amount of hard work for the crew on the operational side."
Season preparations in final stages: Porsche 919 Hybrid in Paul Ricard
For the Porsche Team the final stages of preparation for the 2014 World Endurance Championship have begun.
Kiwi Hartley teams with Webber for Le Mans
PORSCHE POWER: The Porsche 919 Hybrid that will be driven by Brendon Hartley, Mark Webber and Timo Bernhard in the world endurance championship.
Porsche Unveils 919 Livery For 2014 LeMans
At the Geneva International Motor Show, the new Porsche 919 Hybrid is celebrating its world premiere for the top category of the 2014 World Endurance Championships .
Porsche 919 Hybrid and 911 RSR going to Geneva
The German based automaker Porsche has recently announced its plans to introduce the 919 Hybrid and the 911 RSR tomorrow, during the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.


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EXCLUSIVE: Fashion label hires THREE private jets for models to leave South Australia after a runway show was abruptly cancelled due to the statewide lockdown
Fashion giant Pretty Little Thing was forced to postpone its first Southern Hemisphere runway in Adelaide after the state of South Australia went into complete lockdown on Wednesday in response to a growing Covid cluster.
And Daily Mail Australia can now reveal the drastic lengths the creative agency responsible for the cancelled event went to in order to get the 75 models and crew safely out of state before the borders closed.
Nick Seymour, the co-founder of PR agency We Are Komodo, revealed they had to charter three private planes to make sure everyone on location got home before it was too late.
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EXCLUSIVE: A fashion label hired THREE private jets for models to leave South Australia after a runway show in Adelaide was abruptly cancelled due to the statewide lockdown
The #PrettyLittleRunway event was supposed to happen on Thursday, and had originally been planned as Australia’s largest runway with hundreds of spectators.
As the date neared, Pretty Little Thing scaled back its ambitions, turning the event into a ‘virtual runway’ by stripping away the physical audience, tightening the crew members on site, and limiting the number of runway models.
It was then promoted instead as ‘the world’s longest socially distanced runway’.
When South Australian Premier Steven Marshall announced on Wednesday afternoon there would be a six-day, state-wide lockdown from midnight, Pretty Little Thing was forced to abandon the runway show entirely.
We Are Komodo’s co-founder Nick said at that point they already had 75 people on the ground in South Australia: 20 models, 20 glam squad members and a further 25 crew and staff.
Acting fast, models such as Sam Harris, DJ Tigerlily and Georgia Fowler – who had flown in hours before Premier Marshall’s announcement – were put on the next flights out of the state.
However, Nick explains that due to some of the models already being at the runway location of Lake Bumbunga, which is a two-hour drive from Adelaide Airport, they had to charter three private planes in order ‘to get them out safe’.
Postponed – not cancelled: When South Australian Premier Steven Marshall made his announcement regarding its six-day, state-wide lockdown on Wednesday afternoon, Pretty Little Thing were forced to abandon the runway show entirely… for the time being
‘Best interest to get them out safe’: Nick explains that due to some of the models being out at the runway location of Lake Bumbunga (a two-hour drive from Adelaide airport), they made the split decision to charter three private planes to secure their safe exit from the state
It was then the task of staff members to return to some of the models’ hotel rooms to pack up their belongings and return to Sydney with their suitcases.
‘It was frustrating, devastating, and a stressful situation,’ Nick said, but praised his team on acting fast ahead of the midnight curfew in South Australia beginning.
He said while the models were gutted the show was cancelled, they are looking forward to joining Pretty Little Thing again when the runway show is reinstated.
Nick claims the fashion retailer are on the hunt for another location in Australia where a show will likely take place in early 2021 with a safe crowd and a ‘bigger and better lineup’.
‘We can’t thank everybody involved enough for all their hard work over the past few months, who worked tirelessly to bring this concept to life! We couldn’t have picked a better destination in the world to shoot this campaign, and we are incredibly grateful to @southaustralia Tourism Board for the incredible experience,’ the PR firm wrote on Instagram on Thursday.
‘We can’t thank everybody involved enough for all their hard work over the past few months’: Komodo thanked the large team behind the PLT campaign and runway show, and for the South Australia Tourism Board for helping make it possible
Stay tuned! The fashion retailer are on the hunt for another location in Australia where a show will likely take place in early 2021 with a safe crowd and a ‘bigger and better lineup’
Models Georgia Fowler, Bambi Northwood-Blyth and Samantha Harris jetting into Adelaide on Wednesday for the Pretty Little Thing fashion show.
But just hours after touching down in South Australia, the models were spotted flying back to Sydney after the virtual runway – which was scheduled for the next day- was cancelled due to the state’s impending lockdown.
Sarah, 30, looked downcast as she strolled through Sydney Airport in a face mask, and was likely still reeling from South Australian Premier Steven Marshall’s announcement that afternoon.
The party’s over: Model Samantha Harris returned to Sydney on Wednesday afternoon, just hours after flying to Adelaide for a fashion show – which was called off due to SA’s lockdown
Model life: Earlier on Wednesday, Samantha and several other models – including Georgia Fowler (pictured) – flew into Adelaide ahead of a virtual runway event for the retailer Pretty Little Thing, but learned within hours they were all dressed up with nowhere to go
Earlier on Wednesday, Samantha and several other models flew into Adelaide ahead of a virtual runway event for the retailer Pretty Little Thing, but learned within hours they were all dressed up with nowhere to go.
That afternoon, Premier Marshall announced a six-day, state-wide lockdown effective from midnight after two new coronavirus cases were recorded, taking the cluster in Adelaide to 22 infections.
The runway was scheduled for Thursday at Adelaide’s famous Lake Bumbunga, and was to be streamed worldwide on YouTube and Instagram as ‘the world’s longest socially distanced runway’.
In South Australia, residents are not even allowed to exercise outdoors as the state desperately tries to control a new supercharged strain of coronavirus.
Plans: The runway was scheduled for Thursday at Adelaide’s famous Lake Bumbunga, and was to be streamed worldwide on YouTube and Instagram as ‘the world’s longest socially distanced runway’. Pictured: Bambi Northwood-Blyth
Masks will be mandatory, with only one person per household allowed to leave their home for groceries or medical treatment.
Schools will shut, while restaurants, cafés and pubs will close and even be banned from selling takeaway food.
Weddings will be halted and funerals stopped, while factories and the construction industry will stop work.
Elective surgery except for urgent operations and cancer treatment will be halted and aged care and disability residents will go into lockdown.
Regional travel is not allowed and all outdoor sport and physical activity is banned.
Premier Marshall said the restrictions will be ‘challenging’ for South Australians, but are necessary to stop the spread of coronavirus.
‘We are at a critical point but we will get through this,’ he said.
‘We may be physically distanced but South Australians have never been more united. Together, we will get through this because South Australians are strong, resilient and united.’
The lockdown was enforced in South Australia from midnight Wednesday.
Lockdown: On Wednesday afternoon, South Australian Premier Steven Marshall (pictured) announced a six-day, state-wide lockdown effective from midnight after two new coronavirus cases were recorded, taking the cluster in Adelaide to 22 infections


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- 19-year-old Erik Finman became a bitcoin millionaire last year, and now holds multiple millions worth of cryptocurrency.
- He's grown disappointed with the current state of cryptocurrency, saying that there are too many scams and too much politics for bitcoin or other current currencies to replace traditional money.
- That's why Finman has gathered a bunch of other bitcoin millionaires to kickstart a new cryptocurrency that aims to fix the biggest problems with current cryptocurrencies.
19-year-old Erik Finman made headlines last year when the value of his bitcoin holdings hit the $1 million mark — meaning he won a bet with his parents and didn't have to go to college.
Now, thanks to the recent surge in the cryptocurrency markets, Finman's personal bitcoin hoard is worth about $4 million, even after the slump of the last few weeks. And he's diversified into other cryptocurrencies, as well as more traditional investment vehicles — he's even started a 401(k) retirement account.
And yet, Finman is disappointed with the state of cryptocurrency, he tells Business Insider. The cryptocurrency boom has brought with it an upswing in scams and dirty dealings. And the bitcoin community, in particular, is too caught up in its own self-interests to modernize the underlying technology so that it can deal with the increasing crush of users, he says.
He refers to the larger cryptocurrency market as "corrupt," and says that it's led to most cryptocurrencies serving more as an asset, like gold, rather than a politics-free replacement for money, which was the original idea. He suggests that the first wave of digital tokens might be about to buckle under its own weight — paving the way for something new.
"You're seeing the first generation [of cryptocurrency] live and probably die," says Finman.
Here come the 'crypto whales'
Finman's next project is bringing on that next generation. He tells us that he's been flying around the world, recruiting a "consortium" of fellow bitcoin millionaires around the world (he says that they call themselves '"bitcoin whales"), from Dubai to San Francisco. And within the next few months, Finman says, they're going to debut their master plan for a new cryptocurrency.
The technical details will be revealed down the line, says Finman. The big idea, though, is that Finman says this new cryptocurrency will be everything bitcoin currently is not:
- Bitcoin's price volatility makes it too unpredictable to be a reasonable a way to pay for goods, so Finman says his project will be designed to increase in value on a gentler, kinder slope that makes it a more predictable store of value.
- Bitcoin carries transaction fees of as high as $37 for sending or receiving bitcoin, caused by congestion on the network from the huge swell of interest in the currency. So the consortium has conceived a way to keep fees small, even as the currency (ideally) gathers users and gets bigger. Plus, Finman promises shorter turnaround times than the days it can currently take to close a bitcoin transaction.
- It takes massive amounts of electricity to "mine," or generate, bitcoin, and more besides to send or receive it. By some estimations, it's enough to accelerate climate change. Finman says that his consortium has some promising ideas on cutting down the electricity usage of cryptocurrency.
- Bitcoin is difficult to use, requiring users to download often-complicated wallet software just to make it possible to send currency to stores or other users. This new project will be more user-friendly from the get-go, Finman says.
These solutions are easier said than done, according to cryptocurrency experts. These problems are well-recognized in the cryptocurrency world, but many view them as inherent limitations of blockchain, the technology underpinning bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
The problems are solvable, but require middlemen like banks to centralize pieces of the underlying infrastructure, streamlining the process. That, in turn, undercuts what Finman sees as the "beauty of cryptocurrency": It's decentralized, not under the control of banks or governments, theoretically freeing it from political interference.
There have been efforts to thread that needle. Notably, bitcoin cash, a cryptocurrency that split from the main bitcoin community late last year, has hyped itself as offering low-cost, high-speed transactions. But Finman is skeptical of their approach, fearing that the currency is too beholden to the past (and past grudges) to make a real difference.
"I just don't know they're the people to do it," says Finman.
And yet, Finman says, "cryptocurrency is here to stay." Which is why Finman's consortium of whales wants to step back and rethink the whole thing.
Don't sell those bitcoins yet
They were early adopters to bitcoin — Finman met many of them on message boards after buying his first bitcoin at age 12, when it was $12 a coin and they were very much alone in their faith in cryptocurrency. Finman says that those other investors prefer to maintain their privacy; his high profile in the press made him the natural face of the project, he says.
That long experience gives the consortium both an acute sense of the shortcomings of bitcoin, as well as lots of ideas for how it can improve, Finman says. Similarly, Finman says that he has a certain degree of credibility as an early believer in cryptocurrency.
Finman is maintaining his considerable investments in existing cryptocurrency, out of his belief in the concept, if not the execution. But he predicts that amid all the drama, there will be a better cryptocurrency out there, built either by his consortium or someone else. And he says that the benefits of that new cryptocurrency will be so obvious, it won't even require consideration.
"As soon as there's something better, I'll move over," says Finman.


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In an open letter published as a full-page ad in Sunday's New York Times, Washington Post and Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, Tyson's chairman John H. Tyson outlined the company response to the ongoing COVI-19 crisis. He hinted that further closures, not only of Tyson Foods facilities but competitors' facilities as well, would put stress on the nation's food supply. Tyson's letter came a week after the company was forced to suspend operation in its largest pork plant in Waterloo, Iowa. The company also temporarily shuttered plants in Indiana, Washington, and another in Iowa. Other companies have also temporary closures of as many as 15 beef and pork plants across the country after as many as 3,300 industry employees were infected with COVID-19, resulting in as many as 17 deaths. And the three big beef and pork production companies are under fire from various union and activist groups, mostly about face masks. About a quarter of the country's U.S. pork production and 10% of its beef output has now been shuttered. In the letter, the chairman said "As pork, beef and chicken plants are being forced to close, even for short periods of time, millions of pounds of meat will disappear from the supply chain,". "As a result, there will be limited supply of our products available in grocery stores until we are able to reopen our facilities that are currently closed." "Farmers across the nation simply will not have anywhere to sell their livestock to be processed, when they could have fed the nation," the executive wrote. "Millions of animals —chickens, pigs, and cattle— will be depopulated because of the closure of our processing facilities," he added. "The food supply chain is breaking." "In addition to meat shortages, this is a serious food waste issue," Tyson claimed. "The closure of this facility, combined with a growing list of other protein plants that have shuttered across our industry, is pushing our country perilously close to the edge in terms of our meat supply," Kenneth M. Sullivan, of Smithfield, said in a media release. @ https://www.foxnews.com/food-drink/food-supply-chain-breaking-tyson-foods-chairman-claims-plant-coronavirus-closures
The food supply chain is breaking said Tyson’s Chairman
'Food supply chain is breaking,' Tyson Foods chairman says as processing plants continue to close
The chairman of Tyson Foods has issued a stark warning.


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International fresh produce distributor-marketer SunMoon Food Company has announced that it will apply blockchain technology to its global supply chain platform, as it aims to reap the benefits of food safety, data transparency through product traceability, the tracking of movement product flow and movement of goods.
Blockchain is in essence a distributed digital ledger to allow for transparent sharing of data, recording transactions among multiple parties and improving the traceability of goods.
According to the Singapore-based group, the benefits derived for SunMoon B2B stakeholders mean that the blockchain technology will potentially bring more distributors around the region to join SunMoon’s network, expanding its 'Network x Geography x Product' (NxGxP) business model which currently has 15,000 points of sales serving over 100m households in 13 countries across three continents, with over 100 product types under the SunMoon and Ecofresh brands.
This will also encourage B2C consumers to buy more SunMoon fruits and products as customers are better assured of their origins and quality, the group noted.
“We are pleased to take the lead in efforts to improve food safety," explained SunMoon deputy chairman and CEO Gary Loh. "Blockchain addresses consumer concern over food safety as it enables real-time tracking of a fruit’s origin from farm to fork.
"With blockchain, we also strengthen our ability at the B2B level to buy and sell any fruit from and to anyone, anywhere, with no trust issues," Loh added. "This technology adds another building block to our technology platform and integrates seamlessly with our NetSuite ERP system.”


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A Mega Millions ticket worth $1 million was sold at a Lancaster County convenience store, the Pennsylvania Lottery said Wednesday.
The winning ticket from the December 11 drawing was sold at A Jay's Mini Mart, at 300 East Main Street in Terre Hill.
The ticket correctly matched all five white balls, 39-44-51-52-54, but not the yellow Mega Ball 13. It was purchased with the $1 Megaplier option, which awards a $1 million match-five prize, less 25 percent federal withholding.
The retailer will receive a $5,000 bonus for selling a winning ticket.
Lottery officials cannot confirm the identity of the winner until the prize is claimed and the ticket is validated. Pennsylvania Lottery Mega Millions winners have one year from the drawing date to claim prizes.