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BBB warns new ‘ransomware’ scam targets smartphones
Are you the proud owner of a smartphone? As of 2015, nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone. If you fall into this category, Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin is warning of the latest twist on computer hacking: the “ransomware” scam that targets smartphones.
As of March 2016, BBB has received reports of 123 cases of this scam throughout the country. This scam occurs when a hacker gains access to your mobile device — or computer — and sends a pop-up window that says your device has been compromised or something similar. Hackers use this technique because it freezes your device and demands you to pay a ransom to have the restriction removed.
Similarly, the “iScam” affected some iPhone users last year by sending an “iOS crashed” pop-up window. This scam locked iPhones and demanded money to fix the problem. News reports indicate that Apple has released a patch to fix the issue.
Unfortunately, it appears the hackers are back at it again. Your BBB recently received a report from a consumer that was affected by a variation of the iOS scam. Like the iScam, this consumer received a malicious pop-up that appeared on their iPhone masquerading as an iOS virus alert, locking the browser and urging the user to call a number to resolve the issue. The consumer was told to pay $50 and did before realizing it was a scam.
BBB offers the following advice for protecting your smartphone against a ransomware scam:
- Install anti-virus software. To remove ransomware off your computer, use your anti-virus software’s ransom tool, which should scan for and remove any ransomware attempts found on your computer. If you have an iPhone, turn on the anti-phishing feature for your Safari browser, “Fraudulent Website Warning,” which is located in your phone’s settings. When turned on, you will be alerted if you visit a suspected phishing website. Also, enable the pop-up blocker feature in settings.
- Keep your devices updated. Make sure all anti-virus software and firewall protection on your computer is up-to-date. Also, update your phone every time a new software update is available. Although it can be time consuming, it really is for your safety!
- Be cautious when giving control of your device to a third party. Allowing a business to take remote control of your device can open you up to fraud or various malware. Be cautious of third-party apps or clone apps that look legitimate but are really designed to infect your device with malware and steal personal and financial information. Be sure to ask questions and don’t feel pressured into allowing a third party access to your phone.
- Protect your personal information. Think twice before providing your credit card or financial information, especially if you are cold called by a company claiming to be affiliated with an anti-virus company. Also, try not to store personal information in your phone, such as credit card numbers, account log-ins or passwords.
- Don’t click on suspicious-looking links. If you do receive a text from an unknown number, don’t click on any links or follow any instructions provided. If the text asks you to respond yes, no or stop, don’t respond as this only confirms to scammers that the phone is active and in use. You can forward suspicious texts to 7726, or “SPAM.” It’s then recommended that you delete the texts.
- If you are hit by ransomware, try force quitting the browser. If that doesn’t work, put the phone in airplane mode, then clear the browser history and cookies. If it still doesn’t work, contact tech support for your device’s manufacturer directly.
Heather Massey is the Regional Director for the Permian Basin office of Better Business Bureau serving Central, Coastal, Southwest Texas and the Permian Basin. Heather is available for media interviews and speaking engagements. You can reach her by phone: (432) 741-2592 or email: firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Nintendo will ship the Revolution console in June of 2006, it was revealed to SPOnG overnight, with technology and manufacturing partners letting slip Nintendo?s plans for a shock global launch.
It was thought that Nintendo would keep with tradition and deliver a staggered home console launch, with the US following Japan, and Europe keeping up the rear, as it were. This will not be the case. Rising to the challenge set by Microsoft?s Xbox 360, all territories will see launch within a month. A global roll-out with Japan, the US and Europe seeing hardware in the same day is thought highly unlikely.
?As of early October this year, we had agreed with all key partners that a global ship date of June 2006 was achievable,? said one of SPOnG 's several sources associated with the Revolution manufacturing process. ?Nintendo will get the launch in Japan and America and Europe as close as possible. It will be like the Xbox 360 launch, only tighter.?
?Everyone at Nintendo in all territories is now focusing on a global launch in June of next year,? another highly-placed source told us yesterday afternoon, under terms of anonymity. ?The European launch might slip into July, but that?s it. Everyone at Nintendo has been briefed for this date and the official release schedule everyone is working to shows Revolution down for June 2006; this is simply a matter of fact.?
A mid-2006 release had been hinted at as early as May this year, when memory supplier MoSys inadvertantly revealed the launch window of the Nintendo's next generation system. However, this is the first time other sources have corroborated the faux pas.
In related news, pricing speculation for Revolution has quietened down, with the magic 200 number now seated firmly in the minds of analysts. Although SPOnG has been unable to clarify the Revolution launch price point with anything near the same accuracy as we have its launch date, a tag of $200 for the US, ?300 in mainland Europe, and £200 in the UK is a near certainty.
We?ll update this piece with official comment from Nintendo as soon as we are able. Stay tuned.

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Necklace Named in Honor of Avon Executive Recently Diagnosed with Lou Gehrig's Disease
CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Nov. 1, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) and the Avon Products, Inc. (Avon) announced today a fundraising campaign to fund research into effective treatments for ALS (Lou Gehrig's disease). The campaign includes the production of a new item called the "Sophia Smith Yellow Rose Necklace" being added to its catalog and with all proceeds going to support research at ALS TDI.
Sophia Smith of Victoria, Texas, started part-time with Avon in 1986 and quickly excelled as a sales Representative, becoming a senior executive and member of the Avon sales leadership team in 1992. She is a mother of three and an avid motorcyclist. In November 2010, Sophia was diagnosed with ALS. Currently, there are no effective treatments or cure for the disease.
"Sophia has always been an inspiring member of the Avon family and it was heartbreaking for all of us to learn of her ALS diagnosis. Tragically, a cure for this debilitating disease may not come in time to help Sophia, but she wants to ensure that others have a fighting chance. We are taking a stand with her and are supporting Sophia through this fundraising campaign," said Andrea Jung, chairman & CEO of Avon.
"With the help of Avon, we hope to build awareness and accelerate the pace of research to find an effective treatment for ALS patients. Sophia is an inspiration, her strength and courage is admired by those around her," said Steve Perrin, Ph.D., president, CEO and CSO of the ALS Therapy Development Institute.
Each necklace costs $9.99 and can be purchased through an Avon Representative or online by clicking "fundraising" at www.avon.com starting today. The necklaces will be available for a limited time only.
About ALS Therapy Development Institute
The mission of the ALS Therapy Development Institute (ALS TDI) is to develop effective therapeutics that slow or stop amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, Lou Gehrig's disease), as soon as possible. Focused on meeting this urgent unmet medical need, ALS TDI executes a robust target discovery program, while simultaneously operating the world's largest efforts to preclinically validate potential therapeutics; including a pipeline of dozens of small molecules, protein biologics, gene therapies and cell-based constructs. The world's first nonprofit biotech, ALS TDI has developed an industrial-scale platform that allows for the development and testing of dozens of potential therapeutics each year. Built by and for patients, the Institute is the world's only nonprofit biotechnology company with more than 30 professional scientists. In addition, the Cambridge, Massachusetts based research Institute collaborates with leaders in both academia and industry to accelerate ALS therapeutic development. For more information, please visit us online at www.als.net.
About Avon Products, Inc.
Avon, the company for women, is a leading global beauty company, with over $10 billion in annual revenue. As the world's largest direct seller, Avon markets to women in more than 100 countries through approximately 6.5 million active independent Avon Sales Representatives. Avon's product line includes beauty products, as well as fashion and home products, and features such well-recognized brand names as Avon Color, ANEW, Skin-So-Soft, Advance Techniques, Avon Naturals, and mark. Learn more about Avon and its products at www.avoncompany.com.
Avon global philanthropy has donated more than $800 million in more than 50 countries for causes most important to women. Today, Avon philanthropy focuses its funding on breast cancer research and access to care through the Avon Breast Cancer Crusade – which has donated more than $700 million globally – and efforts to reduce domestic and gender violence through its Speak Out Against Domestic Violence program. Avon also responds generously to provide support for relief and recovery efforts in times of major natural disasters and emergencies.
SOURCE ALS Therapy Development Foundation


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This is what would happen if "Pacific Rim" was set inside a 7-Eleven.
Two major convenience store franchises in Japan are testing out robots capable of stocking shelves using two creepy hands with three "fingers" each, CNN reports.
The seven-foot is called Model-T, named after the Ford automobile that triggered a car revolution in the early 1900s, and was developed by Japanese startup Telexistence. During a pilot program, it was controlled by a "pilot" in an office miles away.
"It is able to grasp, or pick and place, objects of several different shapes and sizes into different locations," Matt Komatsu, head of business development and operations at Telexistence, told CNN.
That makes it more nimble and mobile than the robots used by Walmart to scan shelves for inventory, according to its inventors.
The goal is to allow a single human to work at multiple stores, a solution for possible labor shortages. Japan also has a rapidly aging population with fewer able-bodied people ready to take on such jobs.
The Model T is controlled by a human wearing a virtual reality headset and special gloves. A microphone and headphones even allow for communication with nearby shoppers.
The ongoing coronavirus pandemic ended up accelerating development of the Model T as such a technology could end up reducing human-to-human contact. According to CNN, Telexistence saw an uptick in interest over the last couple of months.
READ MORE: Seven-foot robots are stacking shelves in Tokyo convenience stores [CNN]
More on robotic workers: Walmart Employees Hate Their New Robot Coworkers
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The NBA is investing in a social media hub for the youngest generation.
The league was part of a $17 million funding round in TikTok-like social media company Zigazoo, which targets kids aged three to 12 and has more than 1 million users.
- The funding round, which valued Zigazoo at around $100 million, was led by Liberty City Ventures.
- NBA Top Shot-creator Dapper Labs, German soccer company OneFootball, and gaming company and venture fund Animoca Brands also participated in the round.
- Previous investors include Serena Williams’s Serena Ventures and Jimmy Kimmel.
The NBA worked with Zigazoo around its All-Star weekend this year, encouraging kids to create basketball-related content.
The investment pairs the NBA with a company looking to provide a kid-friendly environment while exploring cultural trends.
“We’re planning on using the new capital to become the biggest kids company in the world by expanding our Web3 offerings while building towards becoming the leading social network for kids to interact directly with creators and brands in the kids’ media space,” Zigazoo founder and CEO Zak Ringelstein told CoinDesk.
The company plans to grow into “emerging tech sectors” such as augmented reality and the metaverse — and also seeks partnerships with musicians and music labels.


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Kidde smoke alarm recall issued for nearly 500,000 that could fail
Fire safety product maker Kidde is recalling nearly 500,000 smoke alarms that could be faulty.
The company issued a recall for about 452,000 alarms in the U.S. and 40,000 in Canada after discovering that a yellow cap potentially left on during production could cover a sensor and prevent it from detecting smoke.
Kidde said it had identified one report of a yellow cap on an alarm before it was installed in the buyer's home. The company said it was not aware of any incidents or injuries connected to the defect.
The recall affects the Kidde dual-sensor smoke alarm models PI2010 and PI9010. If the date code printed on the back of the alarm falls between Sept. 10, 2016, and Oct. 13, 2017, the model is affected.
"Consumers should remove the alarm from the wall/ceiling and visually inspect it through the opening on the side of the alarm for the presence of a yellow cap," Kidde warned in an alert through the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.
But the company warned consumers not to take apart the alarm, open the casing or remove the yellow cap.
"If a yellow cap is present, the consumer should immediately contact Kidde to receive instructions and request a free replacement smoke alarm," the company said. "They should remove and discard the recalled smoke alarm only after they receive and install the replacement alarm."
Kidde said that if there's no yellow cap, "consumers should reinstall the smoke alarm and no further action is needed."
The device was sold in stores throughout the country, including Walmart, Home Depot and Menards, as well as online through Amazon.com and other sellers.
It was made by Fyrnetics Limited in China.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.


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NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Commscope Inc. CTV, +0.36% said early Wednesday that it expects sales for the first quarter to come in near the top of its outlook of $280 million to $300 million. The Hickory, N.C., maker of telecommunications cable products said its performance in February was stronger than anticipated and that its previously announced price increases have "somewhat offset" rising material costs. The stock closed Tuesday at $14.33, up 11 cents.
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Rideshare service Uber rolls out new safety features
Columbia,SC (WOLO)—- Tuesday Uber announced the nationwide rollout of its RideCheck safety feature.
This new addition will allow Uber to check in with riders and drivers by harnessing the power of GPS, along with other sensors in the driver’s smartphone.
For example, if Uber detects that something may have gone wrong during a trip, like a car accident, or annune pected prolonged stop they can now initiate a RideCheck by reaching out to both rider and driver-partner to offer assistance.
Uber has been piloting and refining this feature for the past year and say it is the only feature of its kind currently available in the ridesharing industry in the U.S.
This is how it works. When a RideCheck is initiated, both a rider and driver will receive a notification asking if everything is OK and surfacing options for assistance. The rider, or driver can let Uber know through the app that everything is ok, or take other actions like contacting 911 through the emergency button or reporting the issue to Uber’s Safety Line.
The safety team may also follow up by phone to inquire about the RideCheck. In the event of a crash, Uber can also help expedite the insurance claims process.


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Avid down 14 percent since postponing 2012 financials
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Stock in Avid Technologies Inc. (Nasdaq: AVID) has continued to slide ever since the company unexpectedly delayed its full-year earnings report scheduled for last week due to give it time to conduct what it’s calling a “technical accounting evaluation.”
The Burlington, Mass.-based video editing software firm’s stock has lost more than 14 percent of its value since Monday, Feb. 25, when the company announced that its fourth-quarter and full-year financials, scheduled for Feb. 26, would be postponed indefinitely. In the same time, the Nasdaq as a whole has climbed more than 1 percent.
Two weeks before the announcement, the company’s chairman and CEO since 2007, Gary Greenfield, abruptly resigned those roles, but remained in his positions as a member of the board of directors. Greenfield was given more than $2.1 million in salary and bonuses, plus other benefits. Louis Hernandez Jr., a director since 2008, has taken over as chairman and CEO.
Lisa Kilborn, spokeswoman for the company, said in an email that as of Tuesday, March 5, there was no update regarding when the company will file its annual report. She did send a statement from the company, however, reiterating that “We want to assure our customers, employees, business partners, and investors that this delay is due to a technical accounting evaluation, as stated in our press release. We continue to invest in product innovation and execute on our growth strategy, and have significant cash and liquidity, and no debt. We are well-positioned to support our customers’ ongoing success.”
The original announcement of the postponement said the delay was “to evaluate its current and historical accounting treatment related to bug fixes, upgrades and enhancements to certain products which the Company has provided to certain customers.”
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Munich, 5 November 2019. Based on preliminary results for the first nine months in fiscal year 2019 both Ticketing and especially Live Entertainment report strong business performances in the third quarter 2019.
Third quarter group revenue increased by 19.7 percent to EUR 378.0 million and normalised EBITDA by 42.3 percent to EUR 65.2 million. The Ticketing segment saw revenue growth of 14.5 percent to EUR 106.6 million and normalised EBITDA growth of 22.8 percent to EUR 44.8 million in the third quarter. Especially the Live Entertainment segment generated a strong business performance in the third quarter. Live Entertainment revenue grew by 21.7 percent to EUR 276.9 million and normalised EBITDA increased by 118.4 percent to EUR 20.4 million.
Based on preliminary results for the first nine months of fiscal year 2019, group revenue increased by 16.5 percent to EUR 1,074.6 million. Normalised EBITDA for the group rose by 26.5 percent to EUR 177.0 million. The Ticketing segment generated revenue growth of 11.0 percent to EUR 306.9 million while normalised EBITDA grew disproportionately by 16.7 percent to EUR 119.2 million. Live Entertainment revenue rose by 19.0 percent to EUR 781.4 million and normalised EBITDA by 52.7 percent to EUR 57.8 million.
The company expects unchanged growth in revenues and earnings for fiscal year 2019.
The Group quarterly statement as at 30 September 2019 will be published on 21 November 2019 on corporate.eventim.de.
About CTS EVENTIM
CTS EVENTIM is one of the leading international providers of Ticketing and Live Entertainment. In 2018, approx. 250 million tickets were marketed using the company’s systems – through stationary box offices, online or mobile. Its online portals operate under brands such as eventim.de, oeticket.com, ticketcorner.ch, ticketone.it, and entradas.com. The EVENTIM Group also includes many concert, tour and festival promoter companies for events like ‘Rock am Ring’, ‘Rock im Park’, ‘Hurricane’, ‘Southside’, and ‘Lucca Summer’. In addition, some of Europe’s most renowned venues are operated by CTS EVENTIM, for example the LANXESS arena in Cologne, the Waldbühne in Berlin and the EVENTIM Apollo in London. CTS EVENTIM AG & Co. KGaA (ISIN DE 0005470306) has been listed on the stock exchange since 2000 and is currently a member of the MDAX segment. In 2018, its 3,141-strong workforce generated more than 1.2 billion Euros in revenue in 21 countries.


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KIDZ BOP fans, get ready for some awesome news! The #1 music brand for kids is hitting the road with the ALL-NEW ‘Best Time Ever’ tour! The brand new live show, sponsored by Juicy Juice® Splashers®, stops at H-E-B Center at Cedar Park on Friday, October 13th and features the best pop songs of the year.
Kids and parents will be sure to sing and dance along during this ultimate family-friendly live concert, which includes brand new choreography and an eye-popping new set design. It’s the perfect family experience that you won’t want to miss!
The KIDZ BOP Kids have been named Billboard Magazine’s “#1 Kids’ Artists” for the seventh consecutive year. Since the brand debuted in 2001, KIDZ BOP has sold over 17 million albums and generated over 1 Billion streams. The newest group of kids released their first album, KIDZ BOP 34 on January 20th.
For more information about KIDZ BOP and the “Best Time Ever” tour, visit www.kidzbop.com/tour
Tickets go on sale Friday, June 23.


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Google is the one-stop-shop for all web services. From Gmail to Google Docs, the company offers all type of services, all for free. Do you ever wonder with all these services being free, how is Google earning revenue? Well, the simple answer to this: Advertisements. Google is fundamentally an ad-driven company, earning most of its revenue from ads of several websites and products.
Last year, Google tweaked its search engine for mobile browsers to add “Favicons” or preferred icons to the search results. These are small icons representing the logo of the sites that are being displayed in the search results.
On January 13, Google started rolling out this feature for desktop users. Now if you search for something on Google, you can see the tiny logos of the websites at the left-hand side of the respective website names. Google says that this feature is the “part of a plan” that will enable users to understand where the information is coming from.
I don’t quite understand how is this going to make a difference for the users. People do not need to check tiny icons to differentiate between a reliable source from a fake one.
Whether this feature helps the users or not, it is surely helping Google to earn more revenue. Let me tell you how.
How Google Is Making People Click On Ads More
See, with the “Favicons” feature, Google smartly redesigned their way of showing ads in the search results. Previously, when we searched for something on Google, we could easily differentiate the ads from the actual organic search results. The ads were shown at the top of the page in a box with differentiating colours. This way we could identify which results were ads and which results were organic, without the need for a “Favicon”.
With this update, along with the tiny icons, Google is showing the ads with a black bold “Ad” icon. But there is no differentiating line or section which divide the organic search results from the ads.
This change already proved to be gainful for the tech giant. It is driving more people to click on ads instead of the actual search results. According to a digital marketing agency, the click-through rates of the ads have already increased for the desktop sites. When Google rolled out this update to the mobile platform last year, the click-through rates of some of its clients increased from 17% to 18%.
In a Twitter post last week, Google said that this format “will put the brand of a website on the front and center helping searchers better understand where the information is coming from and more easily scan the results”. On this post, many users showed their disapproval for this format, putting up comments like, “Revert this visual garbage” and “Everything looks like an Ad”.
Google has not responded to these criticisms as of now and we don’t know if they will revert this format or not. But what we do know is that Google is being a sly fox, poaching on users and making them click on more ads instead of actual search results and gaining more revenue than before.
What do you all think of this new format? Let us know down in the comments.


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Microsoft | Jan 17, 2017 | Master3395
Because Windows 10, like Windows 8, asks you to sign in with a Microsoft account, skipping the log-in screen isn't as simple as simply deleting your password. Instead, you'll need to dig into the User Accounts settings to get rid of this extra step.
For obvious reasons, you should only disable the log-in screen if you are using a nonshared computer that is unlikely to end up in someone else's hands (e.g., a desktop).
Keywords: microsoft, windows, 8, 8.1, 10, auto login
Jul 21, 2019 | Category: General | Comments
The new display standard can take over HDMI
Last month, we wrote that a new version of the display connection standard DisplayPort is on its way. Now, all specifications are officially launched, although we probably have to wait at least another year before we start seeing products that support it.read more…
Jul 20, 2019 | Category: General | Comments
"All" gets better thanks to new Microsoft Edge.
With its entry into the Chromium world, Microsoft has been a great provider to the browser platform we are well acquainted with, including Google Chrome. The latest news means that all Chromium-based browsers are now getting closer to Windows 10.read more…


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"Minion Yellow" is now an official Pantone color, according to their website. In a statement, Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, said, "Just as the sun's rays enliven us, PANTONE Minion Yellow is a color that heightens awareness and creates clarity, lighting the way to the intelligence, originality and the resourcefulness of an open mind — this is the color of hope, joy, and optimism."
And you'll never guess who was involved in the shade-making process! Pharrell, who also wrote and sang the theme song "Happy" for the franchise's sequel, was heavily involved. According to the site, "... Pharrell... came up with the idea..." Well, that's one creative idea that makes us super happy, Pharrell! ;)
Click through the gallery for 10 outrageous minion-themed products you had no idea you needed. Then make sure to comment below: Which other animated characters do YOU think deserve their own Pantone color? Sound off below!


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Milwaukee area Kia dealership offers competitive lease options Palmen Kia of Kenosha, Wis. encourages auto shoppers to consider leasing
KENOSHA, Wis., May 23, 2014 /PRNewswire-iReach/ -- Leasing may not be right for all of those seeking a new vehicle to drive, but for many it ends up being a viable option. Auto shoppers who, for instance, want to secure a low monthly payment and don't necessarily want the long-term commitment and repair costs of vehicle ownership, will find that leasing is one way to mitigate those concerns. Palmen Kia, a dealership located in Kenosha, Wis. and serving local consumers in nearby Racine and Milwaukee, has made a special effort to reach out to those customers considering a lease agreement rather than traditional financing.
Through its comprehensive website, Palmen Kia suggests a number of benefits to entering into a lease on a new Kia vehicle. Because Kia vehicles in particular are already known for their affordability, value, and highly competitive warranties, these automobiles lend themselves nicely to the leasing arrangement for those auto shoppers who want to minimize their commitment and keep overall costs low in the long term.
Palmen Kia stresses the importance of customer awareness of the terms and conditions of any lease, and the sales team is well-trained to assist those who have not leased a vehicle before. The dealership has several informational pages on its website, including a lease page and a recent blog posts outlining some of the pros and cons of leasing vs. buying.
Interested parties are encouraged to visit the dealership's website at www.palmenkia.com, or to call the sales department directly at 888-694-7971.
Media Contact: Jack Borissenkov, Palmen Kia, 888-694-7971, email@example.com
News distributed by PR Newswire iReach: https://ireach.prnewswire.com
SOURCE Palmen Kia


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Dusseldorf Sandwiches on the way to work have been less popular since the lockdown. In the city centers in particular, many providers have suffered, including the Back-Factory snack chain. The Swiss Valora Group is now taking over the subsidiary of the Harry Brot bakery. The company announced this on Tuesday.
Valora is taking over all of the more than 80 branches of Back-Factory. The takeover is to take place on November 1st, provided that the Federal Cartel Office gives its approval. The parties have agreed not to disclose the modalities.
Valora wants to make the purchase “from existing financial resources”. The Swiss employ around 15,000 people and most recently had external sales of 2.2 billion Swiss francs.
The Backwerk snack chain is already part of Valora, which operates the K Kiosk kiosk chain and Press & Books station bookshops, among other things. Backwerk had put pressure on the German baker’s guild with its self-service concept.
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Backwerk was taken over in 2017 for around 190 million euros. Valora has increasingly expanded the self-service bakery into a bakery restaurateur. The pretzel chain Ditsch also belongs to the listed Swiss.
“Back-Factory complements our German store portfolio of the Backwerk and Ditsch brands with currently around 500 sales outlets with complementary locations, and we are continuing to move into inner-city locations,” said Thomas Eisele, head of Valora Food Service. With the takeover of the Back-Factory, Valora has risen to the top five of the top-selling system restaurateurs in Germany. The pandemic has thus accelerated consolidation in the industry.
Major baker Harry Brot opened the first bakery factory in Bielefeld in 2002. The self-service bakery thus developed into a snack provider. In 2019, the Back-Factory generated external sales of around 80 million euros and an Ebitda of over five million euros. Most branches are franchised.
Harry Brot recently suffered a loss of sales
In the lockdown, the business with sandwiches and snacks was worse. As a result, Harry Bread’s sales fell by around two percent in 2020. Harry Brot from Schenefeld near Hamburg has more than 4,500 employees and a turnover of over one billion euros. According to market researcher Nielsen, the family company with 333 years of history is the German market leader for bread.
“We at Harry see our core competencies in the baking and distribution of bread and rolls, less so in system catering,” said Frank Kleiner, Managing Director at Harry Brot. That is why Back-Factory is being sold to a “sustainable company”. This should pave the way for the long-term further development of the chain.
More: From baker to snacker – how baked goods are repositioning themselves


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Another next generation iPhone 'found in Vietnam'
Friday 14 May 2010
A video of what is believed to be a prototype of Apple's next generation iPhone that was found in Vietnam was whizzing around the Internet on Thursday.
The gadget, which several tech websites have identified as similar to a version found in a bar last month in California, was shown to a mobile phone accessory dealer in Ho Chi Minh City.
"It's a real Apple product," the dealer, Tran Manh Hiep, told AFP. "I plugged it into iTunes and it recognised it as an Apple device."
He said the prototype 4th generation iPhone was not his but was shown to him by a customer on Wednesday. He then filmed it, he said, and posted the video on a forum, Tinh Te, for which he is a moderator.
He did not explain how the device, which has a front facing camera, arrived in Vietnam.
He added that the iPhone he saw was very similar to the one published on technology blog Gizmodo but still seemed "newer", with small changes such as the absence of two screws on the underside.
Details of the first "leaked" device were published on technology blog Gizmodo after it was left on a barstool in California by an Apple engineer.
Gizmodo bought it from the man who found it, Brian Hogan, tech magazine Wired said last month. Hogan was later interviewed by law enforcement but not charged with any crime.
That iPhone had been disguised to resemble the previous model iPhone, the iPhone 3GS.
California police later raided the home of Jason Chen, the editor for Gizmodo who published details of the iPhone prototype, which the technology blog has said it purchased for 5,000 dollars.
Gizmodo has since returned the iPhone prototype to Apple after the notoriously secretive company asked for its return.
According to Gizmodo, features of the new phone, expected to be unveiled later this year, include a front-facing video camera for video chat, a flash and an improved regular camera with a larger lens.
It also has a flat back instead of curved back, is thinner than the 3GS, is three grams heavier and has a battery that is 16 percent larger.
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Receive all Cointelegraph news immediately in Telegram.
Microsoft and Bank of America announced a new landmark partnership to use Bitcoin’s Blockchain technology to improve financial transactions between consumers, business, and the banking industry.
In addition to the previous 15 blockchain patents filed, Bank of America is now trying to patent some of the uses of Bitcoin technology.
Recent filings with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) revealed a dossier of applications from Coinbase as well as a cryptocurrency filing from Bank of America.
CitiBank, JPMorgan Chase & Co, HSBC Holdings PLC and Bank of America Corp. are deeply involved in the bribes, kickbacks and laundering money schemes of some top FIFA officials and sports executives.
Bank of America, one of the world’s largest banks, is bemoaning that it will suffer a loss of US$232 million for the third quarter.
The first official publication from bank analysts. Bank of America Merrill Lynch issued the first research report on bitcoin.
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Egyptian Ambassador to Rome, Hisham Badr discussed measures taken by the Egyptian government to ensure that tourist destinations are free from the coronavirus during a meeting with the Italian Minister of Tourism Massimo Garavaglia, attended by the director of the EgyptAir office in Rome Hatem Mahmoud,
Badr stressed the importance of continuing all efforts to resume tourism movement between Egypt and Italy, for the benefit of the two countries.
He also conveyed an invitation from the Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Khaled Anany to his Italian counterpart to visit Egypt, at the head of a delegation of major Italian tourism companies, with the aim of inspecting the precautionary measures taken by the government at tourist destinations in Sharm el-Sheikh.
The main Egyptian tourist destinations, such as the Red Sea and South Sinai governorates have become safe, he assured, and all preventive health measures have been taken to protect tourists including proper anticipation of mutated strains of the coronavirus.
Following the meeting, the Italian Ministry of Tourism issued a press release addressing the discussions that took place with Badr to push for the safe resumption of tourism for both Italian and Egyptian travelers, with the aim of increasing the tourist flow, especially to the Red Sea resorts.


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Looking for the best mini drone or micro drone? Read our 2018 guide 25 best micro & mini drones you can buy right now, including specs, features and their specialties.
Researchers from MIT CSAIL and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions are working on a project called the RoBoat which will free up road traffic in cities with a network of canals. The boats are autonomous and can even come together to create floating structures, such as bridges.
Color on Demand is a new service coming soon from ColorFabb which will enable you to have the color you want matched and produced. With more choice than ever, you can either order from the dozens of RAL colors or match your own.
Researchers from UCLA have developed a SLA-based bioprinter that is able to create therapeutic biomaterials from multiple materials. This advancement could potentially be used for on-demand printing of complex artificial tissues for use in transplants and other surgeries.
HP showcased its growth at its Innovation Summit in Barcelona this week. Highlights include multiple companies, including Protolabs, IAM 3D Hub, Materialise and ZiggZagg, upgrading to HP Multi Jet Fusion. While others are using the technology to improve their products and designs.
Maker and Instructables regular Greg Zumwalt has created the 3D printed Marblevator Mini, a marble machine with a high speed loop mechanism that can handle over 324,000 marble runs per day. Check out how you can build this jaw-dropping project yourself!
BMW and MIT's Self-Assembly Lab have collaborated to develop "liquid printed pneumatics", the first reported 3D printed inflatable material that can morph from one state to another and expand into any shape or function.
We recently had the pleasure of paying a visit to the Massachusetts-based headquarters of Desktop Metal, the pioneering 3D printing company that is making affordable metal 3D printing a reality. Check out our in-depth tour of the facilities and exclusive interview with co-founder Jonah Myerberg.
At the recently held Maker Faire 2018 event, the veteran 3D printer manufacturer Printrbot unveiled a range of new products, including the new Printrbot Play v2, a unique conveyor belt-style 3D printer kit for long prints and rapid single-object reproduction, as well as the Printrbot CNC v2 KIT.
The crash test dummy manufacturer Humanetics is using Markforged's 3D printing technology and Onyx carbon-composite material to produce dummies the resemble elderly drivers, helping them accurately reflect injuries that could occur in a real car accident.
MatterHackers is knocking 15% off virtually every nozzle it carries, including the bejeweled Olsson Ruby, E3Ds of every size and other specialty nozzles.
Before you buy a Mingda MD-6C 3D Printer, survey the fundamental specs and facts. Learn about the maximum print size, resolution, connectivity options, and more.
Volkswagen, the German automotive manufacturing company, has unveiled its supercar, the I.D. R Pikes Peak electric, which will compete in the Pikes Peak International Hill climb in Colorado Springs next month. With only a short time-frame to develop the car, the team used 3D printing to prototype components.
Engineers from MIT have built a virtual reality system for drones which they hope will reduce the frequency that the pilotless aircraft crash during training. The VR training system is called "Flight Goggles".
The latest public artshow by Icelandic artist, Steinunn Thorarinsdottir features lifelike statues of armor that were only possible using 3D scanning and printing. The show, called ARMORS, runs all summer at Fort Tryon Park, Margaret Corbin Drive in New York.


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It’s coming out next year!
At the Tokyo Game Show 2019, Bandai Namco announced that the upcoming action RPG Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is all set to release on January 16, 2020. It will be available on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One.
Dragon Ball Z Kakarot
Release : 16th January,2020
Pre-order Reservation Starts : 12th September,2019
— GovetaXV🐉 (Pretty Sarcastic) (@GovetaXV) September 11, 2019
In a press release, Bandai Namco mentioned that “Buu’s narrative arc will be included in the game. Fans will then be able to experience the whole Dragon Ball Z story from launch and take control of characters from each saga, including Goku, Gohan, Vegeta, Piccolo, and many others – in addition to the many supporting characters.”
Talking of Goku, we must tell you that his birth name from before he arrived on Earth is Kakarot. Prince of Saiyan – Vegeta, on the other hand, prefers to use his proper name instead of his Earth name.
Here’s a latest trailer featuring some new gameplay on Earth, starring Vegeta. Though the video is in Japanese for now, you won’t complain much after having a look at it since the gameplay speaks for itself. Watch it right here –
Also check out the Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot trailer released at the Tokya Game Show 2019, featuring Vegeta, Goku and Gohan.
You must watch the Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot gameplay demo from E3 2019 too –
The Gamescom 2019 trailer for Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is also a must-watch –
Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot is expected to be priced at $70 upon release. Pre-orders for the game are currently live on Amazon with an enticing discount of 17%.


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a leading athletic apparel brand for men and women,
recently announced the launch of a
national ad campaign featuring a new tagline, "How You Play."
The campaign, which includes print, out-of-home, online and
viral components, is designed to capture the everyday moments of
fun and sport in a series of cool and hip lifestyle images.
"The new ad campaign for Champion represents an
exciting new chapter in the history of this iconic brand," said
Claire Edgar, Director Champion Brand Marketing. "While
we have always played off our strength as the authentic athletic
brand for the real athletes everywhere, we also wanted to show
off our stylish side especially to younger consumers, those in
"It's about injecting fitness and fun into the many vignettes
of our lives. For most of us, we enjoy sports and fitness,
especially as a time to engage with our friends, but working out
is not our entire life. The new "How You Play" campaign reflects
Champion's approachable, energetic spirit outside of
the traditional gym environment - you see men and women running
on the beach, playing touch football or enjoying time together
The new campaign, created by The Kaplan Thaler Group, is the
company's first work since winning the account.
"The focus of the campaign is about all of the people in our
lives and how we integrate sports into the big picture," said
Linda Kaplan Thaler, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of The
Kaplan Thaler Group.
"Together with photographer Miko Lim, we were able to capture
some very compelling and breakthrough images which we then
executed across a variety of media to communicate our messages
in new and very creative ways."
As part of the out-of-home
campaign, an unusual outdoor execution will feature two adjacent
billboards showing a man and woman in separate ads at New York
City's Penn Station and in Los Angeles. The man appears to be
checking out the woman who is looking over her shoulder at him.
They soon "move in together" into one billboard, while the other
billboard displays the Champion logo.
The print campaign will launch in November with gatefolds,
spreads and full-page ads running in Details, Maxim,
Blender, Vogue, US Weekly, Lucky, Cosmopolitan and other
magazines through January 2008.
Out-of-home bulletins and out-of-home street kiosks will run
in cities such as New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas and
Miami until spring 2008.
The "How You Play" campaign is the first for the Champion
brand since 2003. The Champion brand is owned by Hanesbrands,
Inc., which has increased investment behind its largest and
strongest brands since its spinoff as an independent company in
September 2006. Hanesbrands announced on October 31 that is has
entered into a multifaceted 10-year marketing alliance with Walt
Disney Parks and Resorts, including naming rights, product
co-branding and category exclusivity for apparel sales involving
the Champion and Hanes brands.
Hanesbrands acquired the naming rights for Champion
for the stadium at Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex in Lake
Buena Vista, Fla. Champion Stadium will be home for the Atlanta
Braves spring training and is part of the nation's premier
amateur sports venue, attracting more than 1.1 million visitors
and 240,000 athletes each year.
In addition to being the official activewear apparel for the
sports complex, Champion has category exclusivity,
along with Hanes, for select apparel, including
T-shirts and fleece wear, at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim,
Calif., Walt Disney World Resort, and all eight ESPN Zone
restaurants and stores across the country. Much of the apparel
at the venues will be co-labeled ESPN Zone by Champion
and Disney's Wide World of Sports Complex by Champion.
The alliance also includes in-store promotional and brand
building opportunities at the ESPN Zone restaurants in Anaheim,
Atlanta, Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas, New York City
and Washington, D.C. The alliance was announced Oct. 31. Terms
were not disclosed.
Champion offers a full line of
innovative athletic apparel for men and women including sport
bras, activewear, team uniforms, sweats and accessories.
Champion can be purchased at most sporting goods and
department stores. For more information about Champion
for men and women visit
www.championusa.com. Champion is a brand of
About Hanesbrands Inc.
Hanesbrands Inc. is a leading marketer of innerwear,
outerwear and hosiery apparel under strong consumer brands,
including Hanes, Champion, Playtex, Bali, Just My Size,
barely there and Wonderbra. The company designs,
manufactures, sources and sells T-shirts, bras, panties, men's
underwear, children's underwear, socks, hosiery, casual wear and
active wear. Hanesbrands has approximately 50,000 employees in
more than 25 countries.
About The Kaplan Thaler Group
Kaplan Thaler Group has been ranked by industry publications
as the one of the fastest-growing advertising agencies in the
U.S. and is touted for its breakthrough creative and immediate
results. KTG's blue-chip client roster includes Aflac,
Continental Airlines, Outback Steakhouse, Pfizer, Procter &
Gamble (Dawn and Swiffer, among other brands), Revlon, Trojan,
U.S. Bank and Wyeth (Centrum and Caltrate). The Kaplan Thaler
Group is part of the Publicis Groupe, one of the world's largest
communications holding companies.


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3G Media has announced that the Chief Executive Officer of Ahomka Beverages Limited, Mr. Victor Kodjo Ademang will be honoured at the 7th Edition of the 3G Awards 2017 in New York, MediafillasGh.com can authoritative state.
Mr. Ademang and his company are the proud producers of the famous Bie Gya Bitters which is currently the leading herb based alcoholic beverage on the Ghanaian market. Bie Gya Bitters has now become the toast for every Ghanaian living everywhere due to its unique herbal based natural ingredients.
As an entrepreneur and a very innovative businessman, he kept researching, exploring and experimenting on various products that will satisfy his numerous consumers until he recently veered into the production of alcoholic beverages. His company’s current flagship product has so far taken over the alcoholic beverage industry in Ghana with the introduction of the latest high brand, quality and healthy afro-root non-chemical alcoholic beverage.
Some of the Ghanaian celebrities who will be honoured at the event include, Vivienne Achor, gospel duo Willie & Mike, among others.
The 3G Media Awards 2017 is in recognition of exceptional leaders and their contributions to the Ghanaian and global communities. The event will be held on Saturday, November 11, 2017 at Pak Banquet Hall, 4229 Park Avenue Bronx, New York.
The event will be co-hosted by Bernard Aduse Poku of Kumawood Fam and Ageorgia. DJs expected who are expected to grace the event include DJ Jeff, DJ Prince, DJ Prekese and Naasei. There will be a live musical performance from Akrofi and a host of others.
This year’s event is being sponsored by KTA Moblie, Investigroup, Royal Olives, Royal Estates Group, 1st Family Home Care, MayJay Property Management etc. Supported by the Permanent Missions of Ghana in New York, the National Council of Ghanaian Associations, Ghana Chamber of Commerce USA, Vitalghradio, Highlife Radio, Golden FM, Worcester, Anokyekrom and Club Noamesco.
Source: Evans Ofori/MediafillasGH.com


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It is normal for consumers to take a shopping break after the winter holidays, leading to lower retail volumes during the first quarter of the new year. This year, however, shoppers are weathering more than just the typical post-Christmas budget crunch.
Folks have been hit hard by inflation, and the rising cost of everyday necessities — coupled with fears surrounding a potential recession — has led to higher-than-expected levels of hesitation around spending.
“We are seeing an expected steady decline in last-mile shipments from the peak month of December,” project44 data analyst Jenna Slagle said. “A volume drop is typical to see after the peak holiday season, however the Federal Reserve is reporting lower overall consumer spending, which can be contributing to this decrease.”
Typically, volumes follow a familiar pattern that includes spiking during the holiday season and plummeting in the new year. While current trends are following the same basic pattern, it is worth noting that this past peak season didn’t really “peak” the way previous seasons have.
Despite this lower summit — which can be attributed to falling consumer demand — volumes have nosedived in the first months of 2023. project44 visualized this shift by graphing last-mile volume fluctuations compared to peak season.
Most of the time, March brings some reprieve from the post-holiday demand slump. This year, consumers appear to be less apt to resume their normal spending habits.
“Generally, February is the lowest volume month of the year, but with recent mass layoffs, bank failures, high inflation rates and a low consumer confidence level in the current economy, I expect to continue seeing lower volume for the next few months until confidence is restored,” Slagle said.
Retailers need to understand how consumers operate in order to succeed in any market. In a stressed economic environment, shoppers are less likely to pick up optional finds or invest in big ticket items.
“There’s a complex set of shifts in consumer behavior: people choosing food and essentials over durable goods, higher income customers shopping more at less expensive grocery stores and grocery customers in general buying more private label than name-brand food,” FreightWaves’ JP Hampstead reported earlier this month. “Each of those three trends, it seems, is being driven by inflationary pressures on consumer wallets: Their dollars just aren’t going as far, so they’re making thriftier choices.”
This does not mean that people stop shopping, but it does mean that companies should invest more time and effort into making profits from the things people tend to purchase in any economy, like basic household staples.
“Consumers are starting to shop the way they shop in a recession environment in the retail sector,” Slagle said. “As a result, many retailers are exploring subscription models to promote customer loyalty, as well as shifting focus to everyday inventory rather than inventory considered discretionary.”
Subscription models have become popular across a variety of different stores, including household names like Walmart and Kroger. Specialty stores that do not sell many everyday items — including Lululemon and Best Buy — have also rolled out robust loyalty programs to keep shoppers engaged. While these companies primarily focus on “discretionary” goods, they tend to have enthusiastic customer bases, and these programs may persuade those folks to keep shopping.
Retailers will benefit from getting creative, but most companies are still feeling the sting of falling consumer demand and high inventory prices. When sales revenue falls, retailers start looking to recoup lost money elsewhere. Optimizing transit costs via the use of visibility software is a natural place to start.
Recent FreightWaves research found that, on average, a retailer with a 25% gross margin may have freight costs that are the equivalent of 2.25% of revenue. This research was focused on large companies with a strong brick-and-mortar presence. For retailers that primarily operate in the e-commerce space, this burden can be even higher.
Companies garnering 50% or more of their revenue from an online channel end up paying twice as much in logistics costs as companies with a heavier emphasis on in-store sales, according to research from Gartner.
It is time for retailers, especially those with a strong e-commerce presence, to turn their attention toward optimizing current transportation operations, with an emphasis on last-mile delivery due to its outsized effect on the overall budget.
“A 1% reduction in freight cost could save $225 for every $1 million in sales. That scales quickly when putting that in the context of retailers that do many billions of dollars in sales annually,” FreightWaves noted in a recent white paper.
It is clear that reducing freight cost pays off, but some shippers may feel stuck in their current situations due to the sheer number of solutions on the market promising to drive down costs. There are a lot of products to wade through, but at the end of the day, shippers really only need two things to up their operational efficiency: good data and proactive partners.
project44 provides a suite of products tailored specifically toward retailers, helping them get costs under control, reduce excess inventory and exceed customer expectations.
The company’s API-first approach allows retailers to fully automate shipments across various transportation types and connect with carriers seamlessly. Thanks to this innovative approach, project44 is able to provide customers with accurate, real-time transportation data — including delivery ETAs — in a single dashboard.
project44’s Last Mile solution intelligently combines predictive supply chain data with real-time visibility to power exceptional customer experiences and uphold brand expectations. That’s why retailers like Walmart, Neiman Marcus, Helix and thousands more trust project44 to power exceptional experiences for their customers.
Many retailers find themselves cobbling together multiple solutions to accommodate different functions — from creating branded tracking experiences to exception resolution and carrier performance analysis — but project44 offers everything companies need to manage their transportation network, including last mile, in one spot.
The post Retail sector grapples with shifting consumer behavior appeared first on FreightWaves.


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By Danny Wicentowski
By Lindsay Toler
By RFT Staff
By Lindsay Toler
By Allison Babka
By Lindsay Toler
By Lindsay Toler
By Ray Downs
When it comes to the building of "big box" stores -- Kmart, Wal-Mart, Sam's Club, Home Depot -- with their acres of parking lots out front, it's a developer's market these days. They pick the location, and they demand millions in public subsidies from the municipality. And unless you're a Ladue or a Clayton, you bend over and assume the position.
Nothing illustrates this better than the latest proposed development in Maplewood. Like so many other cities, Maplewood (population 9,228) lives and dies by the fate of large retailers because they generate millions in sales-tax revenue. Sales taxes pump about $1.4 million into Maplewood's coffers, more than twice the revenue from property taxes. And so, like many other cities, Maplewood needs the big-box stores like a junkie needs his fix.
Marty Corcoran, a friendly, fast-talking fatherly type, knows this better than anyone else, having served as Maplewood's city manager since 1983. He has seen the city's coffers swell and shrink with the opening and closing of big-box stores, but the city's leaders have always managed "to keep our heads above water," he says. In '91, he worked with developer THF to put a Wal-Mart and Sam's Club near the intersection of Manchester Road and Big Bend Boulevard, only to see the deal fall apart when Wal-Mart bought out the Pace chain, which already had a store farther east on Manchester, inside the St. Louis city limits. In the late '90s, he put together a tax-subsidized deal to move the 36,000-square foot Shop 'n Save grocery store into a 67,000-square-foot space at 7355 Manchester Rd. That deal, he says, "was a break-even project at best," but it helped preserve Maplewood's downtown, such as it is.
In 1997, the Venture department store in Deer Creek Plaza closed after the company went bankrupt, and Corcoran scrambled to help a Kmart move into that space in November 1998. The Kmart alone pumped $400,000 a year into the city's budget, which hovered around $5.5 million. Two years later, in December 2000, Kmart closed up shop, citing lower-than-expected profits.
The closing prompted a renewed hunt for another development. Corcoran and other city officials held informal conversations with developers, went on a retreat to brainstorm, hired consultants and then made their move. "We had a severe financial crunch, and we needed to do something about it," says Corcoran. "We discussed this with the City Council. We were frank with them: We didn't have any fish on the line."
On May 23, they put out the customary request for proposals, seeking developers -- except this RFP had an unusual feature: Any chunk of the fully occupied 1.5-square-mile city was up for grabs, as long as the development brought in big bucks. Not surprisingly, two developers -- Pace Properties and THF -- proposed big-box stores in the same area: along Hanley Road, between West Bruno and Folk avenues. It's the closest Maplewood gets to Highway 40.
On July 3, the City Council picked Pace Properties' proposal -- a $60 million development that would yield a mammoth 148,000-square-foot Costco store and a 105,000-square-foot Home Depot Expo store, along with a restaurant or two, a bank and a gas station. The deal called for a $19.5 million public subsidy under the state's tax-increment-financing statute, perhaps the most abused state law in Missouri history. Crafted to cure blighted areas in inner cities by offering tax incentives, it has primarily been used to subsidize malls and other retail projects in high-rent areas in the 'burbs.
The trouble with the Pace proposal is that the 30-acre morsel in Maplewood the developer wants to chew up isn't vacant land; it contains an established working-class neighborhood of about 130 homes, along with a handful of commercial plots.
And so the predictable battle began.
Two things upset Dawn McCoy. The first was the manner in which the city gave her the bad news. "You can't just send a person a letter in the mail and say, 'We're taking your home and it's a done deal,'" she says. "You can't do that to people; it's not fair. A lousy letter in the mail?" McCoy and her husband, Ron, live in the 7800 block of quiet, tree-lined Alicia Street, where kids aren't likely to be run over by fast-moving cars.
The second thing that irked her was when Pace made its offer to buy their house for $107,000. The McCoys have five years left on their mortgage and, if forced to move, want to buy a new home outright. After several contentious meetings and exchanges, Pace has upped its offers to most property owners, saying it will pay about 2.6 times each home's appraised value on St. Louis County books. That amounts to between $150,000 and $200,000 for most homes, along with $3,000 in moving costs. The higher offers also increased the public subsidy to $25.5 million from $19.5 million.
(To complicate matters, the losing developer, THF, has been handing out sales contracts offering between $180,000 and $225,000. Some residents are apparently working with THF and its lawyer, but their purpose is unclear, given that Maplewood has designated Pace the developer. Neither THF nor the few residents are eager to talk about their plans.)
The story in the McCoys' neighborhood is playing out as it has in dozens of other St. Louis County neighborhoods erased to make way for retail projects: anger, sadness, confusion and, of course, in-fighting among the neighbors. A lot of the street talk centers around how to get the best price for a house: Sign a sales contract now for the offer on the table, or wait it out and possibly take on a court fight later? Like the sword of Damocles, the threat of the city's invoking its eminent-domain rights and taking their property hangs over the homeowners' heads.


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Dow trades close to flat Friday as markets conclude the risky week with Nike and crypto shares falling
The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average were nearly flat on Friday, ending a volatile week on Wall Street. A move by China to ban cryptocurrencies weighed on the tech sector, and Nike shares fell as supply chain problems due to the pandemic hit the sneaker giant.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9 points, or 0.03%. The S&P 500 was down 0.03% and the Nasdaq Composite was down about 0.3%.
A tough crackdown on Bitcoin by China hurt market sentiment overnight, particularly in technology stocks that depend on crypto-related revenues. China’s central bank on Friday declared all activities related to cryptocurrencies to be illegal. Overseas crypto exchanges offering services in mainland China are also illegal, the PBOC said.
Bitcoin fell 5% and ether lost nearly 8% in response. The crypto exchange Coinbase, which generates most of its revenue from retail, lost more than 1.7%. Robinhood, which made more than half of its transactional revenue from crypto last quarter, lost more than 2%.
Meanwhile, Nike confirmed the fears of investors, worried about the pandemic, devastating supply chains and increasing costs for businesses, especially multinational corporations. Nike shares fell over 6% after the sneaker giant cut its outlook for fiscal 2022 due to a prolonged production shutdown in Vietnam, labor shortages, and long run times. Nike expects full-year sales to grow in the mid-single-digit range, compared to the previously forecast low double-digit growth.
The company also reported quarterly revenue that fell short of analysts’ expectations due to declining demand in North America due to the flare-up of the Delta variant. Other apparel manufacturers and retailers gave way. Under Armor lost about 2%.
Within the S&P, Nike’s decline was offset by gains on the reopening of stocks. Carnival Corp topped the index, up 4% after posting quarterly earnings, while other cruise lines and airlines rose about 3%. Energy and industrial stocks were also leaders. Mosaic and Nucorp added about 3%. Diamondback Energy was up 3% and Cabot Oil & Gas was up 2.5%.
It’s been a bad week for the markets. Stocks began a two-day recovery rally on Wednesday after the Federal Reserve signaled that there was no impending lift to its ultra-loose monetary policy. Investors are also betting that Chinese real estate giant Evergrande’s debt crisis will have no impact on global markets.
The blue-chip Dow rose 500 points on Thursday for its best daily performance since July 20. The S&P 500 was up 1.2% while the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite was up 1%.
Investors were waiting to see if Evergrande, the failing developer at the center of the country’s housing crisis, would pay $ 83 million in interest on a US dollar bond due Thursday. The company has been silent so far and has 30 days before it fails technically.
Evergrande worries hit global markets earlier in the week, with the Dow dropping more than 600 points on Monday.
“If Evergrande fails, exposure outside of China seems limited and as the government will do whatever it takes to contain it,” said Edward Moya, senior market analyst at Oanda. “If China is successful, global risk-taking may not be affected as much.”
The Nasdaq underperformed the week’s major averages through Friday, after each of them ended on Green Thursday and recouped their losses from the beginning of the week. The Nasdaq is down 0.4% over the course of the week, while the Dow and S&P are up 0.5% and 0.3%, respectively.
Chinese stocks like Pinduoduo, JD.com, and Baidu were among the Nasdaq’s biggest falls.


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Overhaul At Bmw
Billionaire Johanna Quandt, 72, abhors publicity. The matriarch of the German family that owns 46% of luxury auto maker BMW rarely ventures from her fortified villa near Frankfurt and socializes only in exclusive circles. Her two children, Susanne, 36, and Stefan, 32, are equally keen to stay out of the public eye. Fear of kidnapping and blackmail is a key reason.
But the Quandts are finding it hard to avoid the limelight these days. The younger generation, both with business-school degrees, replaced their mother on BMW's supervisory board in May, 1997. They kept a low profile at first. On Feb. 5, they held a special board meeting to discuss why British carmaker Rover Group Ltd., which BMW bought in 1994, is still hemorrhaging money. Eight hours later, Chief Executive Officer Bernd Pischetsrieder had resigned, and so had his heir apparent, Wolfgang Reitzle. A virtual unknown, Joachim Milberg, was unexpectedly named CEO.
The Quandts' loss of patience after pouring capital into Rover for five years puts BMW on notice. Milberg has just a few weeks to come up with a strategy for stemming losses at the beleaguered British company, which is estimated to have lost at least $1 billion last year. By the time BMW reports its results on Mar. 30, Milberg and his team must decide what to do about Rover's aging midsize passenger-car models, which are still based on technology from former owner Honda Motor Co. The choices: Ditch the line, design a replacement, or cut costs by sharing Rover's platform technology with a partner.
That decision will be critical to BMW's future. Although the carmaker saw estimated profits of $668 million in 1998 on sales of $36.5 billion, Rover has been a drag on earnings from the beginning. And the younger Quandts may be less tolerant than their mother. If Milberg can't succeed where Pischetsrieder failed, they could even put BMW on the block. They have already received offers, including one for a stake of 25% from Volkswagen last year, which they declined via a terse media statement.
TOUGH JOB. The Quandts still insist they want to keep BMW independent. "BMW is not for sale," declares family spokesman Thomas Gauly. Yet the ouster of Pischetsrieder signals that the young Quandts are closely scrutinizing the return on their investment. Stephen Reitman, auto analyst with Merrill Lynch & Co. in London, calculates that BMW could fetch at least $28 billion. The No. 13 carmaker worldwide in terms of unit production, BMW has sales in 130 countries and would be a jewel in any rival's portfolio. And BMW's stock has surged since the boardroom upheaval, as if investors believed the company were in play.
Saving BMW from a buyout would be a daunting task for any new CEO. Many wonder whether Milberg has a deadline for turning Rover around. And company policy dictates he will have to retire in four years, at age 60. Yet investors and insiders have given their vote of confidence. An unassuming former academic who has been with BMW only since 1993, Milberg was on the management board in charge of production, like Pischetsrieder before him. Under his watch, productivity has risen 60%, and last year, BMW's three German plants were ranked as Europe's top three for quality.
If nothing else, Milberg's appointment puts an end to a long spate of bickering over Rover strategy. Pischetsrieder favored an arm's-length approach, while his No. 2, Reitzle, argued that BMW should take tighter control, concentrate on Rover's profitable lines, such as the Land Rover and Mini, and ditch the midsize Rover in favor of putting the BMW brand name on smaller, less luxurious cars. The management board backed the CEO, but many welcome the clean slate at the top. "Now that they have removed the personality warfare, they will be able to take rational decisions," says Kumar Bhattacharyya, professor of manufacturing at the University of Warwick.
None of Milberg's options is risk-free. One would be to shut the decrepit 93-year-old Longbridge plant near Birmingham, England, and discontinue the Rover 200 and Rover 400 midsize cars made there. John K. Lawson, analyst with Salomon Smith Barney in London, says such a move could add 15% to BMW group profits. But with 14,000 employees on the plant's payroll and 50,000 additional jobs depending on it, this would create a political uproar in Britain. BMW is said to be asking for $330 million to $500 million in aid from the British government to keep Longbridge open.
An alternative would be replacing the 400 with a new Rover. The trouble is, Rover's design capabilities were weakened during the four years Honda was in charge. But auto analyst Peter Schmidt, editor of Automotive Industry Data newsletter, thinks Rover could take greater advantage of BMW's development experience and find synergies with the BMW brand in replacing the 400.
ANGRY HONDA. Or, BMW could find a partner and share the Rover platform in exchange for licensing fees and production capacity. "There is a long list of people who could help with Rover," says a London-based investment banker who represents an interested carmaker. Honda makes sense, but it is still too angry at BMW for buying from British Aerospace the 80% of Rover that Honda didn't own. Volkswagen could license its Golf platform, perhaps in exchange for the rights to the Rolls Royce name that BMW owns and that VW Chief Executive Officer Ferdinand Piech so desperately wants.
A U.S. partner could step up, too. Ford Motor Co., for one, has ample auto-making capacity in Europe, and CEO Jacques Nasser is willing to make it available for platform-sharing with BMW. "We like partnerships on components and systems," he says. "So we would not be averse to that."
The Quandts, Gauly says, are leaving that decision to management. Although they hold large stakes in a food and drug maker, an auto-parts company, and a battery maker, their attention to BMW suggests the carmaker is closest to their hearts. After supplying engines to the Luftwaffe, BMW tried to regain its prewar pizzazz as a sporty carmaker but nearly went bankrupt in 1959. To avert a bid from Daimler, which wanted to turn it into a truckmaker, the Quandts boosted their small stake to 26%, gained control, and backed the BMW 1500, which debuted in 1961 and pointed the company in the luxury-car direction.
Yet if the Quandts ever do put BMW in play, there are plenty of eager suitors. Besides Volkswagen, Ford is interested, and it still has a $17.4 billion cash hoard after beating Fiat to acquire Volvo's car business. Says Ford CEO Nasser: "We never say never. But when a company the stature of BMW says it wants to be independent, you have to respect that."
The upheaval has certainly put two of Europe's best auto executives on the market. "If you don't win the whole company, go buy Pischetsrieder," advises Maryann N. Keller, analyst with ING Baring Furman Selz. But the world auto industry is deep in the grip of merger mania. The spotlight that turned on Milberg during the boardroom marathon and the takeover buzz from industry watchers won't fade unless he delivers.


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With the international event industry still seriously affected by the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, London-based Full Circle’s close-knit team of directors is excited to announce the appointment of Steve Comar in the newly created position of group managing director. He is responsible for delivering the company’s new action strategy and is tasked with placing the U.K.’s only end-to-end agency into a leading position as the industry resurfaces.
“The opening will take different shapes, with different regions and business sectors opening up in different ways and at differing speeds,” says Comar. “Certain new event elements will be ubiquitous, but with no guarantee that any relaxation of restrictions won’t be reversed, this makes the gradual start-up of the economy particularly difficult to navigate for businesses, who have a great many issues to consider.”
Comar is very well known as a former director of both GES and Freeman. Recognized as a talented and passionate figure, he comes to Full Circle with a vast knowledge of commercial event tactics across many sectors and has been brought on to ensure all organizers and planners can readily access a high-level of expertise as the industry feels its way back.
“Full Circle represents the people who really care about steering the industry towards greater viability and growth,” says CEO Steve Barratt. “I want people to understand what a difference it can make to your bottom line when you pick up the phone to your contractor and get 30 minutes of the CEO or MD’s time.”
Full Circle is the U.K.’s largest end-to-end exhibition and event supplier. Principally run by Steve Barratt and Helenya Jones, it has bases in London, Manchester and Scotland and serves event organizers and planners with a full range of in-house services, giving maximum accountability and control over every aspect of your event. The pair launched Early Action Group in the 1980s before a period of consolidation and outside investment saw the U.K. industry change dramatically. Early Action Group sold to Opex in 2011, was bought by venture capitalists and renamed The SO Group in 2012 and finally became part of U.S. giant Freeman Group in 2013. Recognizing the decline of some of the U.K.’s best-loved events, Full Circle is on a mission to repair the broken links between organizers and contractors and ensure vital knowledge stays in the industry and can be passed on. For more info, visit www.fullcircleeventsltd.co.uk


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Apple To Open First R&D Center In China By The End Of 2016
Apple Chief Executive Tim Cook said on Tuesday, August 16, that the company plans to boost its investment in China and build its first Asia-Pacific research and development center in the country.
According to CNBC, China is one of Apple's largest but increasingly challenging markets. In order to survive a tough market, as it steps up mainland investments, Apple has decided to build this new research center in China by the end of the year.
Cook had its second trip to China in four months and made the pledge during his trip. Apple needs to pay increasing attention to China as the Chinese government remains wary about foreign technology and demand for Apple's iPhones has dropped in the world's second-largest economy.
Apple's Reasons To Build R&D Center In China
Citing a statement by the official Chinese state broadcaster, Reuters reports that the Apple will build its first research and development center in the country. Stating that the center will be built by the end of 2016, Apple CEO Tim Cook reportedly made the commitment to Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli, one of China's most senior officials.
In May, the head of China's industry and technology regulator told Cook that hopes the American tech giant could deepen its cooperation with China in information security and in research and development fields. The pledge from the Apple CEO answers the invitation of the Chinese authorities.
According to 9To5Mac, Apple likely has two main reasons for opening its first R&D in China. First, Apple has established several R&D centers in a number of locations around the world already, including Sweden, Israel, France, Japan and the UK. The reason for spreading its research and development centers worldwide is that not all the research staff is willing to relocate in the U.S.
The second reason might be the fact that Apple needs to protect its interests in its second-largest market and for this the American company needs to establish closer ties with Chinese authorities. China has in the past banned government purchases of Apple products as it questioned the security of iPhones.
Historically, Apple does not have a running good relationship with the Chinese government. More recently, Chinese authorities have announced that Apple will be subjected to greater security scrutiny. A patent office in Beijing has ruled that the iPhone 6 is a copy of a Chinese smartphone and Apple's iTune Movies and iBook services were shut down by a Chinese government agency.
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The willingness to lash out on DLC and other virtual goods has reached about one third market penetration according to a recent study.
The study, as reported by Develop, was conducted by PlaySpan and VG Market and surveyed 1,000 gamers. No mention was made of how this sample was selected, but of those surveyed who played freemium titles, 30 percent had lashed out actual cash on in-game purchases.
It looks like console networks still lead the way, with 51 percent of all virtual goods purchases tied to online console games.
Social sites lagged behind at 30 percent and MMO’s, surprisingly, even further behind with 28 percent.
Almost half of the players quizzed by the study reported making purchases in the last year, with 45 percent saying they made purchases once a month. An eye-opening 72 percent said they expected to maintain their virtual good spend for the next year, suggesting most are not tied to a single title.
Of those who made virtual item purchases, 47 percent bought maps or levels, and 29 percent picked up equipment.
The usual gender split reared its head, with 37 percent of female respondents indicating willingness to purchases cosmetic virtual goods like premium avatars or decorations, but just 19 per cent of men.


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Pima varieties remain the most popular among growers at nearly 146,000 acres statewide, compared to 25,645 acres of Upland. Still, this is down 28 percent from the previous year, according to the California Cotton Ginners and Growers Association. Overall cotton acreage is also down 28 percent to just over 187,000 acres.
Kings County remains the most popular location to grow cotton in the state, with nearly 87,000 total acres. Of this, just over 77,000 is in extra-long staple varieties.
ELS cotton has long been a popular type for California growers as the weather favors the longer-season varieties and soil conditions on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley can push Pima yields nearly as high as those of Upland varieties. Growers who can achieve such yields tend to do better under pricing that can favor the ELS varieties.
The soil types and climate conditions that tend to favor Pima production include Kern at 9,215 acres this year, Kings at 77,170 acres, Fresno at 31,905 and Merced at 26,305 acres.
Most of California’s cotton production remains in the San Joaquin Valley. Just over 171,000 acres of cotton is grown there this year. The Sacramento Valley has just over 3,000 acres of Upland varieties while the low deserts of Riverside and Imperial counties have just under 13,000 acres of Upland cotton this season.
Cotton harvest in the low desert regions of the state will begin soon as growers there prepare to plant winter vegetable crops as the seasonal transition of produce moves south from the Salinas Valley.
Source: Todd Fitchette, Western Farm Press
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The Chevrolet bowtie is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, with the American automaker launching 25 products to sport the iconic emblem.
The bowtie has been outfitted on 215-million Chevrolets over the last century, despite that, its origin is unknown. All that’s in the history books is that Chevrolet co-founder William C. Durant introduced the signature bowtie on the 1914 Chevrolet H-2 Royal Mail and the H-4 Baby Grand in 1913. Stories on its origin range from Durant being inspired by the wallpaper design found in a Parisian hotel to a newspaper ad he saw while taking a vacation in Virginia.
But according to his daughter Margery Durant, her father often times doodled nameplate designs on pieces of paper at the dinner table. In her 1929 book titled My Father, Durant believed the bowtie’s origin came about “between the soup and the fried chicken one night that he sketched out the design that is used on the Chevrolet car to this day.”
On the other hand, Durant’s widow, Catherine, said in a 1968 interview that the bowtie design originated from a Hot Springs vacation in 1912.
Regardless, the Chevy bowtie has become an iconic symbol for automotive enthusiasts worldwide and the American automaker looks to build on that tradition for decades to come.
“The Chevrolet bowtie is recognized around the world and has become synonymous with American ingenuity,” said Chevrolet Chief Marketing Officer Tim Mahoney. “Whether you’re pulling thousands of pounds through rocky terrain in a Silverado pickup or commuting in a Spark EV, Chevrolet’s bowtie will always be at the very front of your travels.”
GALLERY: Chevrolet Bowtie History
Discuss this story at GMInsideNews.com


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LOOT: It will be fall before Big Data company SpaceCurve has a product. But it's already lined up $16 million in funding and potential customers like the U.S. military. Read more »
Links that got us thinking on Tuesday, June 18:
Good news for ambitious upstarts: increasingly, the world's wealthiest people are entrepreneurs.
According to a study by Barclays (NYSE: BCS), more high net worth individuals than ever are making their fortunes through starting and running businesses rather than inheriting wealth.
The banking and financial services company surveyed 2,000 people in 17 different countries worth at least $1.5 ...12 hours ago
Darby Smart debuted today a downright crafty business model designed to help designers cash in on viral creations that they posted on Pinterest: do-it-yourself craft kits.
How it works: Darby Smart partners with both leading and burgeoning designers who have posted their items on Pinterest and across the Web and then creates DIY kits so that crafters viewing the items on the digital pinboard site ...13 hours ago
The founders of Duvamis, a new anonymous social network that launched today, refused our request for an interview because they “have chosen to remain anonymous,” a representative of the company told us via email. After we got over our initial hurt feelings we realized, heck, this is still a pretty interesting story. Especially considering other news today that Facebook has blocked Tor, the ...13 hours ago
It’s not every day you hear about a video game-device company that is creating a system to let gamers “move naturally” in a virtual reality game.
When Robert Brackenridge, founder of Houston gaming startup Game Factor-e, first told me about a new Houston company called Virtuix, which has created a device to allow gamers to play their favorite computer games in virtual reality—meaning they ...14 hours ago
Classroom learning around the news of the day seems like a good idea to us. So does a marketplace for students to offer their skills to alumni.
These and eight other education technology businesses will soon be built within the new Kaplan EdTech Accelerator in New York City, according to a story today by Gigaom.
TechStars joined up with the company in February to announce its third corporate ...15 hours ago
Austin-based RetailMeNot Inc. registered Monday to complete a $230 million initial public offering of its stock.
The online coupon supplier is the second Austin company to register for an IPO in as many months. In May, Jones Energy Inc. registered for a $250 million public offering.
RetailMeNot, which was founded in 2007 as Smallponds Inc., then took the name WhaleShark Media Inc. It employs 330 ...16 hours ago
Is the government following the Patriot Act law by collecting Verizon data?
|5%||The government is following the law.|
|20%||The government is bending the law.|
|37%||The government is breaking the law.|
|38%||The law shouldn't even exist.|
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The Road to EPR ‘Taxes’ Is Paved with Good Intentions
Rounding out Tuesday’s conference program at the 2023 ePS Connect was a keynote by Flexible Packaging Association president and CEO Alison Keane, who leveraged her quarter of century of experience as an environmental attorney in both the private and government sectors to bring clarity to the myriad of extended producer responsibility laws being implemented at a quick pace by states.
Keane, despite being a lawyer, left the legalese behind and spoke frankly to the audience about how U.S. policy, legislation, and regulations around sustainability are changing and why the industry should look deeper than the face value of these government initiatives.
First, Keane addressed the misconception that sustainability doesn’t matter to packaging converters and printers — noting that whenever FPA surveyed its membership that sustainability has always ranked in the five concerns and that the packaging printing and converting industry has a long history of working toward making both the packaging and the products being packaged (via using packaging to ensure less product is damaged and diverted to landfills) more sustainable. Given that history, one might reasonably expect that the industry and policymakers are on the same page.
Unfortunately, this isn’t the case. Describing how many policymakers view packaging, Keane doesn’t mince words. “They see packaging as an add-on, as garbage, as the problem,” she said. This is even though food waste has been identified by the U.S. government — for years —as the top contributor to landfills. Additionally, Keane explained, food waste is the biggest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions.
Yet, four states — California, Colorado, Maine, and Oregon — have questionable EPR legislation on the books. “Starting with Maine — the first one to pass — it’s not EPR, it’s a tax,” Keane told the audience. “It’s a straight tax.”
EPR legislation is often promoted to voters as a method both to discourage environmentally damaging behavior but also as a potential revenue pipeline for innovating new and better sustainability practices. Keane explained that Maine’s legislation would be dedicated to financing the status quo versus investments in recycling, sortation, and processing infrastructure.
Furthermore, there are no exceptions made — no matter which market is served by the packaging. This legislation will directly affect packaging manufacturing for markets as essential as pharmaceutical and medical devices.
Other legislation is so lengthy and complex that it becomes ineffective. “Oregon’s, it was 151 pages,” Keane said. She explained to the audience that when a piece of legislation is more than 25 pages long that it no longer has the clarity to become a guideline for future behavior. “I used to say 10,” Keane quipped.
Colorado, Keane conceded, is “probably the best one that we’ve seen as far as a pure EPR system.” Yet, the legislation was the victim of politics. “It’s not thoughtful because it was literally put in about six weeks before sessions ended and rammed through and then onto the governor’s office,” Keane said. She explains that there isn’t much recycling infrastructure in Colorado — outside of Denver and Boulder — so there’s little ability for the EPR-generated revenue to effect positive change across statewide recycling programs.
Finally, Keane addressed California’s legislation, which Packaging Impressions has covered before, and again, explained that it’s “a straight tax — a tax on all plastic packaging or any portion thereof.” Some of the goals and timelines outlined in this legislation are beyond realistic. “They want to see pretty significant recycle rates — not recyclable but actually getting recycled,” Keane explained to the Connect audience. “They threw out some numbers that are pretty scary to us, especially 30% by 2028.” Keane emphasized that this recycled rate requirement again requires producers to comply with legislation when much of that recycled rate number depends on factors outside the producers’ control such as municipal collection, sorting, and processing of recyclable materials.
Keane emphasized that while better solutions for these EPR initiatives might not exist today that it is imperative that the packaging and printing professionals continue to watch and question sustainability initiatives as they move through state governments, work with associations such as the FPA to help develop better policies, and read beyond the description on a ballot when voting on their own state’s programs.


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Sri Lanka’s United Motors December net profit down 44-pct
ECONOMYNEXT – Profits at United Motors Plc, agents for Mitsubishi automobiles in Sri Lanka, fell 44 percent to 60 million rupees in the December 2018 quarter as sales slowed after government import controls were implemented to defend the rupee.
Interim accounts filed with the stock exchange showed quarterly sales fell 7.2 percent to 3.2 billion rupees.
The firm reported earnings of 59 cents per share for the quarter.
In the nine months to December, United Motors reported earnings of 1.97 rupees per share on total profits of 198 million rupees, down 56 percent.
Nine month revenues fell 10.6 percent to 10 billion rupees.
The fall in sales and profits at United Motors came after credit restrictions and tax hikes that have slowed car imports.
(Colombo/February 06/2019 – SB)


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Everybody Stay Calm: MAC Is Launching At Boots
| Last updated
Featured Image Credit: MAC / Instagram
The big date to mark in your diaries is Wednesday 29th July; anyone else sense a big old beauty spree coming over the horizon?
Launching in selected Boots stores and online, shoppers will soon be able to use their Boots Advantage Card points towards cult products from the professional-grade makeup brand.
Clearly, we aren't the only ones getting majorly excited about this news, as an incredible 48,000 people are already on the wait list.
For context, that's the largest number of sign-ups in one day on a premium beauty brand waiting list on Boots.com... ever.
So, what can we expect from the MAC's launch at Boots? Well, the brand is giving away a load of its iconic lipsticks, for one.
Customers who join MAC's waiting list on Boots.com will have the chance to win one of 500 full-size lipsticks from the cult beauty brand, as well as a virtual 1-2-1 session with a MAC artist along with £250 worth of makeup to boot.
Joanna Rogers, Trading Director and VP of Beauty at Boots UK, said: "2020 has been another big year for beauty at Boots, and we're so excited for MAC to join the Boots Beauty family.
"As one of the leading premium makeup brands, offering such a diverse range of colours, formulas and textures, we're pleased to be making yet another iconic brand more accessible for beauty lovers across the UK."
If you don't want to miss out, there's still time to sign up below.
Customers who join the waiting list over on Boots.com, are still in with a chance of receiving complimentary MAC products to celebrate the launch


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Gopalganj Cyber criminals have become active as soon as the festival comes after the Corona period. In Gopalganj, Bihar, around 62 people have become victims of cyber fraud within 12 days. He did not get a call, nor did he tell the password to anyone, even after this, millions of online purchases were done in installments from the account.
Actually, the trend of cheating cyber criminals has also changed. Earlier, on the pretext of Aadhar link, sometimes on the pretext of expiring ATM card, they were calling and taking information from common people. After that they used to siphon money from those accounts. At the same time, in recent days, cybercriminals are neither getting calls, nor asking for passwords, yet online purchases of lakhs are being made in installments from the account.
62 bank customers fell victim in 12 days
It is said that in the last 12 days, online purchases worth lakhs of rupees have been done from the accounts of other banks including SBI, Axis Bank, Bank of India, Central Bank, PNB without any call and information. There are about 62 such bank customers, from whose account online purchases have been made. In most cases of cybercrime, the police are also shying away from registering complaints.
Never share these things: Bank’s account number, ATM PIN, One Time Password (OTP), CVV number (three digits on the back of the ATM), Aadhaar number should never be given to anyone.
Case-A: 69 thousand 828 rupees were purchased from the credit card of Atul Shahi, brother of senior JDU leader cum district chief spokesperson Aditya Shankar Shahi. The victim has lodged an FIR in the city police station. According to Atul Shahi, purchases were made from Gurgaon with Axis Bank’s credit card without OTP and message.
case two: Daroga Singh, a resident of Pathara village in Manjha, took a credit card from SBI ADB. Online purchases were made by cyber criminals on September 7 last month in two installments of Rs 76 thousand and 25 thousand. A total of one lakh two thousand rupees were withdrawn. An FIR has been lodged in the city police station on Sunday.
Case-Three: Babita Devi, a resident of Bhathwa Parashuram village of Kuchaykot, is a customer of Bank of India. Online purchases of Rs 67 thousand were made from his account. When information was received about missing money from the account, he complained to the police station but the police did not register an FIR in the matter. The bank also did not take any action to recover the money.
In this case, Gopalganj SP Anand Kumar said that the cases related to cyber crime are under investigation. The network of cyber criminals is huge. Bank does not ask any confidential information from any customer. Common people also have to be aware to avoid cybercrime.
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