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YORK COUNTY, SC (FOX 46) - To raise awareness and money in the fight against breast cancer, the York County Sheriff's Office announced Thursday they will wear pink bands on their badges through the month of October.
To have the opportunity to wear the pink bands, employees must donate $5.
This awareness event will lead into No-Shave November for the sheriff's office, where staff members donate $20 for the opportunity to not shave for the month of November to bring awareness for male cancers.
Female employees will be allowed to continue to wear the pink bands through November and wear pink shirts with their uniforms.
In 2015 Sheriff’s Office employees raised $2,260 in No-Shave November. The hope in 2016 is to surpass that goal. The money raised will go to help local people fighting breast cancer.


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As per the latest development, the Indian Railways Catering and Tourism Corporation (IRCTC) has launched an international budget-friendly tourism package from India to Nepal.
This package will benefit people who are keen to visit a place for a long time and that too at an affordable cost. As per the reports, the six-day-five-night package will start on June 19, while the trip will end on June 24.
Referring to this, Ajit Kumar Sinha, IRCTC Regional Manager, Lucknow said that as part of the programme people will fly from Amusi Airport to Kathmandu and when in Nepal they will explore popular places, such as the Pashupatinath temple, Durbar Square, Boudhanath Stupa, along with several other prominent locations in Pokhara.
Revealing about the package, the manager said for a single person the package costs INR 48500, for two people it will be reduced to INR 39000 and lower if the number of people will be more.
The package will include Indian food and accommodation at a 3* hotel.
Those interested in this package can book the same at the IRCTC website or IRCTC Gomtinagar office, Sinha stated.

domain: news


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As trade trumps most market news today, Andy Shissler of S&W Trading said juggling all these trade deals at once can be viewed as a game of dominos. China will be the last domino to fall, but it will take time.
Beef producing countries like Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Mexico are gaining greater access into Japan thanks to lowered tariffs, giving those exporters a significant advantage over U.S. beef producers.
School time now comes with some shop time for Indiana farmer Charlie Houin and his sons. While great-grandma, grandma and grandpa help homeschool due to the COVID-19, Houin works to get equipment ready for planting.


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PHOTO: Documents submitted to Spring Hill show the design of the proposed Chili’s restaurant. / Photo courtesy of the city of Spring Hill
BY ALEXANDER WILLIS
Plans to construct a Chili’s Grill & Bar restaurant in the Crossings shopping district have been submitted to the city of Spring Hill, and will be discussed Monday by the city’s Planning Commission during their regular work session meeting at City Hall.
At a proposed 5,125 square feet, the restaurant is planned to be constructed at 2000 Crossing Circle, where the now-closed O’Charley’s restaurant currently sits. The plans call for the existing building to be demolished — the Chili’s will be constructed on the site.
The submitted documents say the restaurant will sit 194 people and be constructed from a mix of brick, stucco, stone and hardiboard. The expected date the restaurant will be open for business is currently unknown.
Founded in Dallas, Texas in 1975, Chili’s has over 1,606 locations worldwide, and is one of the most successful restaurant chains today, helping to bring its parent company Brinker International nearly $3 billion in revenue in 2015. Each year, the chain sells more than 60 million pounds of fajita meat, and more than 135,000 gallons — or, roughly 13 swimming pools — worth of margaritas.


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Chancellor Rishi Sunak has a tricky balancing act with tomorrow’s Budget. Supporting the UK economy out of a year of Covid lockdowns vs raising tax revenues to pay the bill.
Here are the top 10 things we thought might come up in the 2021 Budget and a quick response straight after the Chancellor’s speech.
1. Extending the furlough scheme
Furlough is set to end on 30 April 2021, but with so many businesses still forced to remain closed or operating under restrictions, jobs will have to be protected, possibly to 30 June?
Furlough extended until September 2021
2. Another VAT deferral
Last year businesses were able to defer their VAT liabilities due in the quarter to June 2020. That comes to an end on 31 March 2021 with the portal now open to agree repayment plans. However, the core problem remains and maybe a further deferral scheme will be needed?
No, this isn’t happening
3. More bank loans
We have has CBILS and Bounce Back, but that money will have come, gone and been spent. Watch out for a further supported funding scheme…
New “Recovery Loans” with 80% government backed security available until 31 December 2021
4. Sector support – business rates and grants
We have already seen grants pushed our through local authorities to support retail, entertainment, hospitality and non essential businesses – more will be needed and hopefully available to a wider range of businesses in need.
Yes, more grants will be available
5. EV infrastructure support
With the clock ticking until many car manufacturers stop selling petrol and diesel cars, the electric vehicle charging infrastructure in most of the UK is largely non existent – something dramatic has to change. Charging cables draped across public footpaths and car parks are just not realistic, range anxiety and taking a couple of hours to recharge a car to get home is just not workable.
Nothing on EV cars or infrastructure
6. Petrol and diesel duty
Massive amounts of VAT and duty are raised on vehicle fuel. If we are all going to have to plug in, in a few years, how will this tax be replaced? In the short term, a hike in fuel duty may be on the cards to part pay for the Covid funding.
No real changes here
7. Freezing personal allowances
The Government made a manifesto pledge not to change the rates of income tax or VAT – so if you can’t change the rate of tax, change or freeze the tax free allowances and change the rate thresholds…?
Yes, the basic rate £12,500 and 40% £50,000 thresholds will be frozen from April 2022 to April 2026
8. Increased corporation tax
Most tax commentators seem to think an increase in the small company rate of corporation tax, up from the current 19% is perhaps inevitable. Expect a 4% or even 5% increase… but from when, possibly from 1 April 2021?
Yes, corporation tax rates will be going up to 25% from April 2023, but only for profits above £250,000 with a new £50,000 small CT rate and the return of tapering of marginal rates in between
9. Stamp duty extension
The UK housing market is very active, fuelled to a degree by the zero stamp duty on transactions up to £500,000 completed by 31/03/2021. This really needs to be extended – but by how long… 3 months, 6 months?
Good news, NIL rate SDLT will remain £500,000 until the end of June 2021 and then will be £250,000 until September 2021
10. CGT in line with IT
Capital gains tax is not a great revenue raiser for HM Revenue and the favourably low rates of CGT impact only a relatively small number of taxpayers. Aligning CGT rates with an individual’s marginal income tax rate will happen at some point, but is this the right time?
No, this isn’t happening
So… it looks like 6 out of 10 and we were spot on with most of the big changes.
Check out our 2021 Budget summary and other articles exploring the 2021 budget in greater detail.


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iPhone cases recalled worldwide after causing chemical burns
(Web Desk) – According to The Independent thousands of iPhone cases sold by MixBin Electronics were recalled after reports emerged that a skin burning chemical was found in them. The cases were sold at places like Victoria’s Secret, Henri Bendel, Tory Burch and Amazon.com etc. with prices ranging from $15 up to $65.
Specially designed for iPhone 6, 6s and 7, these products had been on sale since October 2015, until at least 24 people reported receiving chemical burns or skin irritation due to leaked fluid from these cases.
According to The United States Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), at least 19 of these reports were from United States of America.
The respective phone covers, though attractive and trendy, contain a liquid that gives snowball-like effect with floating glitter. Reports say that this liquid leaked out of the phone case and caused chemical burns on the consumers’ skin.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has advised the consumers to stop using these covers which may otherwise cause skin irritation or worse and contact MixBin Electronics for refund. “One consumer reported permanent scarring from a chemical burn and another consumer reported chemical burns and swelling to her leg, face, neck, chest, upper body and hands,” according to a statement issued by CPSC.
It is unclear what the chemical liquid contained in the case was, however Amazon’s description stated “safe food grade snow globe liquid”.
The manufacturer of this product, MixBin has recalled over 275,000 phone cases. Anyone who believes they have an affected case should visit the company’s website.
MixBin recalls Liquid Glitter iPhone Cases. Leak could cause skin irritation. Visit https://t.co/DnIRKINXA9 or call 855-215-4935.
— MixBin (@getmixbin) August 1, 2017


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Business consultant, serial entrepreneur and published author, Brent Spilkin (@Spillly), in partnership with Digitlab Academy, has turned his book, “What the Freelance,” into a 12-week course at Vega School, a brand of The Independent Institute of Education (The IIE), launching in March this year.
“There is a lot of information packed into those 313 pages and that’s why I’ve turned it into the book you can’t buy,” says Spilkin.
Instead, anyone who is freelancing in the digital or creative space, or contemplating freelancing, or who is looking to improve their efficiency in managing freelancers, can now access valuable information in bite-size, digestible and easily implementable pieces.“We know the gig economy is growing,” says Spilkin. “Now is the time to upskill yourself and learn the tools to make your freelance career lucrative and sustainable. It’s not just about freedom and flexibility, but about being profitable and successful.”
The 12-week short course, which has been dubbed as the mini MBA for digital and creative freelancers, is available at Vega campuses in Jo’burg, Pretoria, Cape Town and Durban. Sessions will take place on Thursday evenings from 17h30 to 20h30, facilitated by experienced Vega Navigators.
The course will be repeated in July and September. Total cost is R14,200.00 and payment terms are available. It’s also the only way you get the book.
“We are proud to be able to deliver the WTF short course in partnership with Spillly, which we believe aligns perfectly with Vega’s aim of nurturing well-rounded, conceptually and strategically minded future leaders of industry, capable of finding solutions to the world’s challenges,” says Shevon Lurie, MD of Vega.


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California-based pizza chain Mountain Mike's
is opening its first Arizona storefront in the Mesa Riverview Shopping Center, 849 North Dobson Road, in Mesa. The franchise is tentatively scheduled to open on December 30 for dine-in, carryout, and delivery, according to Kristyna Otto of Powerhouse Communications, the brand's marketing team.
“Everyone should have the chance to experience Mountain Mike’s iconic pizza, and we’re thrilled to bring the legacy concept and its legendary pizzas to Arizona for the first time,” said Donte’ Andry of Pelican Food Concepts, which will own and operate the Mesa location.
Jim Metevier, president and COO of Mountain Mike’s, said restaurant features, such as an arcade area and big-screen TVs, should appeal to families and sports fans. The menu presents a variety of fan-favorite specialty pizzas, along with bone-in wings, mozzarella sticks, garlic bread, salads, and a selection of wine and beer.
“Mountain Mike’s continues to capture loyal fans throughout the West, and we’re ready to become a fixture for families and pizza fans in communities throughout Arizona, beginning with Mesa,” Metevier said in a press release.
Mountain Mike's has operated in California since 1978, and has nearly 250 franchises in the Golden State, mostly in the vicinity of Los Angeles and San Diego. There are four franchises in Oregon. The Mesa storefront will mark the first of many Arizona locations to come, with several expected to open during the first half of 2022.
Beyond Arizona, a state identified as a prime market, Otto said, the brand recently announced plans to expand into Idaho, Utah, Colorado and Texas.
"There is a tremendous opportunity in Arizona to grow the Mountain Mike’s brand," according to the press release. "The past two years have shown that the time for qualified franchisees to pursue a successful, resilient and sought-after pizza concept like Mountain Mike’s pizza has never been better."
For updates, follow Mountain Mike's on Facebook


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Thanksgiving marks the unofficial kick-off of the holiday movie season, but for die-hard fans, it started weeks ago. Lifetime and Hallmark began premiering Christmas movies in October. Between those two networks, there will be 70 new holiday movies out by New Year's Day.
If you want to be the envy of thousands of women, just walk through "ChristmasCon" with this year's holiday movie heartthrob, Jonathan Bennett.
And if Bennett is the king, Lacey Chabert is the queen. Bennett and Chabert both starred in the 2004 hit movie, "Mean Girls," but these days they've found a home in holiday movies. Their festive fans came to Edison, New Jersey, for the first ever ChristmasCon, to see them and more than a dozen other stars.
The 9,000 tickets for the Hallmark-sponsored event sold out in a flash. Passes for all three days cost $75, but that doesn't include the price of a photo with a celebrity.
Jim Deangelo said watching the movies is part of his holiday season routine.
"They're entertaining, and you know, no violence. It's good," Deangelo said.
There is no denying the growing popularity of Christmas movies. Since its holiday season launch on October 25, Hallmark says it has reached more than 40 million total viewers, making it the highest-rated and most-watched channel on cable. Hallmark is putting out a record 40 movies this year. Lifetime is also premiering 30 new holiday movies, and Netflix is creating six.
The merry movies seem to fit a formula; a woman falls in love with a handsome small town man, and even with some bumps along the way, they end up together. But fans we spoke to said it's not about the plot.
"We enjoy the good feel that they give you, the joy and the happiness that it brings," Kathryn Bedingfield said.
Bedingfield and Jane Cullen, a mother-daughter duo, came from Kentucky and said they watch around 100 Christmas movies a year. They even traveled to a town in Georgia where one of the movies was filmed and retraced the steps of the couple in one film.
Lifetime said four of its movies this year feature LGBTQ couples in prominent roles. Hallmark declined to provide CBS News with a specific number. Six Hallmark movies this year feature lead characters of color, compared to nearly half of the new Lifetime and Netflix movies. Holly Robinson Peete has two Hallmark Christmas movies coming out this season.
"We all celebrate Christmas, we come in different shapes, colors, sizes, so it's very important for the movies and the content to reflect the people that are watching," Peete said.
Lifetime told CBS News that, "diversity and inclusion are of the utmost importance." Hallmark said it was "committed to telling stories and developing characters from a diverse range of lifestyles and backgrounds."
Variety senior film writer Matt Donnelly said as diversity behind the camera increases, he expects it to be reflected on screen as well.
"Christmas is not just about religion. It's… an American pastime," Donnelly said. "There's something really irresistible about a happy ending and a Christmas tree."
Melissa Joan Hart is the lead in several Christmas movies.
"I think the Christmas movies do what sort of Shirley Temple did in days of the Depression, like give you an escapism, a place to go," Hart said.
The ChristmasCon founders said they'll be back next year, and in Los Angeles next summer.
for more features.


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|By PR Newswire||
|November 6, 2012 11:48 AM EST||
McLEAN, Va., Nov. 6, 2012 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Used-vehicle prices are expected to increase in the near term after Hurricane Sandy destroyed thousands of vehicles.
The National Automobile Dealers Association is predicting that prices of used vehicles up to 8-years-old will increase from 0.5% to 1.5% as a result of Hurricane Sandy.
"The loss of used-vehicle supply and the increase in replacement demand after Hurricane Sandy will have the greatest impact on used-vehicle prices in December," said Jonathan Banks, executive automotive analyst with the NADA Used Car Guide.
While no two storms are alike, NADA points out that the flood damage caused by Hurricane Katrina, which cut a devastating swath across the Gulf region in late August 2005, offers insight into the impact that Hurricane Sandy could have on used-vehicle prices.
The reduction in the supply of used vehicles and increase in demand resulting from Hurricane Katrina led to used-vehicle prices increasing by as much as 3% or $309 over the four month period following the storm's landfall.
"Although Sandy's reach encompassed an area with a greater population density than Katrina, the number of vehicles damaged by flooding doesn't appear to be as high as the number lost to Katrina," Banks stated.
This is supported by initial damage estimates for Hurricane Sandy, which place insured losses for the storm between $10 and 20 billion, according to EQECAT, Inc., a catastrophe risk analytics company based in Oakland, Calif. The total loss is projected to be between $30 to 50 billion, according to EQECAT.
By comparison, the insured loss cost of Hurricane Katrina was $46.5 billion, and the total cost was $145 billion (both in 2011 dollars), according to AIR Worldwide and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.
"Current estimates for insured and total losses place Hurricane Sandy on average at about one-third of the cost of Hurricane Katrina," Banks added. "The destruction wrought by Hurricane Sandy was most severe in New York and New Jersey, and supply and demand disruptions will be especially severe in these states."
New York and New Jersey rank in the top 15 U.S. states in terms of overall vehicles in operation and new-vehicle dealerships. In addition, both states have large populations and high population-density ratios. Each state also has a larger population of cars than trucks and import brands comprise a significant share of overall vehicle sales.
"Regionally, the concentrated damage that occurred in New Jersey and New York mean that used-vehicle prices, particularly for import and luxury cars, will most likely increase beyond NADA's national level expectations," Banks said.
Banks added that prices for large pickup trucks should also increase towards the high end of NADA's predicted range as contractors and other service-related professionals will need to replace vehicles required to support their livelihoods and because supply for the segment is already constrained.
NADA Donates $1 Million to Jump-Start Fundraising for Emergency Relief Following Hurricane Sandy
NADA has pledged $1 million to jump-start a national fund-raising campaign for the Emergency Relief Fund of the National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation.
"This is the time for dealers across the country to step up and help those in the Northeast most affected by Hurricane Sandy," said Bill Underriner, NADA chairman and a dealer from Montana.
The fund provides financial assistance to dealership employees affected by natural disasters.
"It's wonderful that NADA is leading by example," said Bob Mallon, chairman of the NADA Foundation. "We want to be in a strong position to provide timely assistance to dealership employees as they work through the long process of recovery. We now need to reach out to dealers everywhere to join in the relief campaign."
Damages are still being assessed in the parts of New York and New Jersey hit hardest by the hurricane.
"Widespread power outages and downed phone lines are hampering communications between dealers and their employees," said David Hyatt, NADA vice president of public affairs. "It will be a long time before we know the extent of the damages but from what we're hearing the impact on dealerships and their employees is expected to be severe."
The NADA Foundation is working closely with Mark Schienberg, president of the Greater New York Automobile Dealers Association, and Jim Appleton, president of the New Jersey Coalition of Automotive Retailers.
About the NADA Used Car Guide
Over a 79-year history, the NADA Used Car Guide has earned its reputation as the leading provider of accurate vehicle valuations and auction data. NADA offers a wide range of vehicle values, including those for used passenger car, light-duty and commercial truck, motorcycle, classic car and many more specialty vehicles. Available in a variety of delivery methods, NADA's products and services are used daily throughout the auto, finance, fleet-lease, government and insurance industries. For more information, visit www.nada.com/b2b. Follow the NADA Used Car Guide on Facebook.
The NADA Story
The NADA story began in 1917 when 30 auto dealers traveled to the nation's capital to convince Congress not to impose a luxury tax on the automobile. They successfully argued that the automobile is a necessity of American life, not a luxury. From that experience was born the National Automobile Dealers Association. Today, NADA represents nearly 16,000 new-car and -truck dealers, with 32,500 franchises, both domestic and international. For more information, visit www.nada.org. Follow NADA on Facebook and Twitter.
SOURCE National Automobile Dealers Association
For IoT to grow as quickly as analyst firms’ project, a lot is going to fall on developers to quickly bring applications to market. But the lack of a standard development platform threatens to slow growth and make application development more time consuming and costly, much like we’ve seen in the mobile space. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mike Weiner, Product Manager of the Omega DevCloud with KORE Telematics Inc., discussed the evolving requirements for developers as IoT matures and conducted a live demonstration of how quickly application development can happen when the need to comply wit...
Jul. 29, 2015 07:30 AM EDT Reads: 232
Explosive growth in connected devices. Enormous amounts of data for collection and analysis. Critical use of data for split-second decision making and actionable information. All three are factors in making the Internet of Things a reality. Yet, any one factor would have an IT organization pondering its infrastructure strategy. How should your organization enhance its IT framework to enable an Internet of Things implementation? In his session at @ThingsExpo, James Kirkland, Red Hat's Chief Architect for the Internet of Things and Intelligent Systems, described how to revolutionize your archit...
Jul. 28, 2015 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,372
It is one thing to build single industrial IoT applications, but what will it take to build the Smart Cities and truly society-changing applications of the future? The technology won’t be the problem, it will be the number of parties that need to work together and be aligned in their motivation to succeed. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Jason Mondanaro, Director, Product Management at Metanga, discussed how you can plan to cooperate, partner, and form lasting all-star teams to change the world and it starts with business models and monetization strategies.
Jul. 28, 2015 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,752
The Internet of Everything (IoE) brings together people, process, data and things to make networked connections more relevant and valuable than ever before – transforming information into knowledge and knowledge into wisdom. IoE creates new capabilities, richer experiences, and unprecedented opportunities to improve business and government operations, decision making and mission support capabilities.
Jul. 28, 2015 04:00 PM EDT Reads: 221
The Internet of Things is not only adding billions of sensors and billions of terabytes to the Internet. It is also forcing a fundamental change in the way we envision Information Technology. For the first time, more data is being created by devices at the edge of the Internet rather than from centralized systems. What does this mean for today's IT professional? In this Power Panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists addressed this very serious issue of profound change in the industry.
Jul. 28, 2015 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,247
Discussions about cloud computing are evolving into discussions about enterprise IT in general. As enterprises increasingly migrate toward their own unique clouds, new issues such as the use of containers and microservices emerge to keep things interesting. In this Power Panel at 16th Cloud Expo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists addressed the state of cloud computing today, and what enterprise IT professionals need to know about how the latest topics and trends affect their organization.
Jul. 28, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,157
SYS-CON Events announced today that HPM Networks will exhibit at the 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For 20 years, HPM Networks has been integrating technology solutions that solve complex business challenges. HPM Networks has designed solutions for both SMB and enterprise customers throughout the San Francisco Bay Area.
Jul. 28, 2015 11:45 AM EDT Reads: 410
Converging digital disruptions is creating a major sea change - Cisco calls this the Internet of Everything (IoE). IoE is the network connection of People, Process, Data and Things, fueled by Cloud, Mobile, Social, Analytics and Security, and it represents a $19Trillion value-at-stake over the next 10 years. In her keynote at @ThingsExpo, Manjula Talreja, VP of Cisco Consulting Services, discussed IoE and the enormous opportunities it provides to public and private firms alike. She will share what businesses must do to thrive in the IoE economy, citing examples from several industry sectors.
Jul. 28, 2015 11:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,029
Growth hacking is common for startups to make unheard-of progress in building their business. Career Hacks can help Geek Girls and those who support them (yes, that's you too, Dad!) to excel in this typically male-dominated world. Get ready to learn the facts: Is there a bias against women in the tech / developer communities? Why are women 50% of the workforce, but hold only 24% of the STEM or IT positions? Some beginnings of what to do about it! In her Opening Keynote at 16th Cloud Expo, Sandy Carter, IBM General Manager Cloud Ecosystem and Developers, and a Social Business Evangelist, d...
Jul. 27, 2015 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,038
There will be 150 billion connected devices by 2020. New digital businesses have already disrupted value chains across every industry. APIs are at the center of the digital business. You need to understand what assets you have that can be exposed digitally, what their digital value chain is, and how to create an effective business model around that value chain to compete in this economy. No enterprise can be complacent and not engage in the digital economy. Learn how to be the disruptor and not the disruptee.
Jul. 27, 2015 10:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,019
Akana has released Envision, an enhanced API analytics platform that helps enterprises mine critical insights across their digital eco-systems, understand their customers and partners and offer value-added personalized services. “In today’s digital economy, data-driven insights are proving to be a key differentiator for businesses. Understanding the data that is being tunneled through their APIs and how it can be used to optimize their business and operations is of paramount importance,” said Alistair Farquharson, CTO of Akana.
Jul. 27, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 310
Business as usual for IT is evolving into a "Make or Buy" decision on a service-by-service conversation with input from the LOBs. How does your organization move forward with cloud? In his general session at 16th Cloud Expo, Paul Maravei, Regional Sales Manager, Hybrid Cloud and Managed Services at Cisco, discusses how Cisco and its partners offer a market-leading portfolio and ecosystem of cloud infrastructure and application services that allow you to uniquely and securely combine cloud business applications and services across multiple cloud delivery models.
Jul. 27, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,891
The enterprise market will drive IoT device adoption over the next five years. In his session at @ThingsExpo, John Greenough, an analyst at BI Intelligence, division of Business Insider, analyzed how companies will adopt IoT products and the associated cost of adopting those products. John Greenough is the lead analyst covering the Internet of Things for BI Intelligence- Business Insider’s paid research service. Numerous IoT companies have cited his analysis of the IoT. Prior to joining BI Intelligence, he worked analyzing bank technology for Corporate Insight and The Clearing House Payment...
Jul. 26, 2015 09:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,558
In his keynote at 16th Cloud Expo, Rodney Rogers, CEO of Virtustream, discussed the evolution of the company from inception to its recent acquisition by EMC – including personal insights, lessons learned (and some WTF moments) along the way. Learn how Virtustream’s unique approach of combining the economics and elasticity of the consumer cloud model with proper performance, application automation and security into a platform became a breakout success with enterprise customers and a natural fit for the EMC Federation.
Jul. 26, 2015 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,140
"Optimal Design is a technology integration and product development firm that specializes in connecting devices to the cloud," stated Joe Wascow, Co-Founder & CMO of Optimal Design, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 25, 2015 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 380
SYS-CON Events announced today that CommVault has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3–5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. A singular vision – a belief in a better way to address current and future data management needs – guides CommVault in the development of Singular Information Management® solutions for high-performance data protection, universal availability and simplified management of data on complex storage networks. CommVault's exclusive single-platform architecture gives companies unp...
Jul. 25, 2015 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,943
Electric Cloud and Arynga have announced a product integration partnership that will bring Continuous Delivery solutions to the automotive Internet-of-Things (IoT) market. The joint solution will help automotive manufacturers, OEMs and system integrators adopt DevOps automation and Continuous Delivery practices that reduce software build and release cycle times within the complex and specific parameters of embedded and IoT software systems.
Jul. 25, 2015 12:15 PM EDT Reads: 443
"ciqada is a combined platform of hardware modules and server products that lets people take their existing devices or new devices and lets them be accessible over the Internet for their users," noted Geoff Engelstein of ciqada, a division of Mars International, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held June 9-11, 2015, at the Javits Center in New York City.
Jul. 25, 2015 12:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,521
Internet of Things is moving from being a hype to a reality. Experts estimate that internet connected cars will grow to 152 million, while over 100 million internet connected wireless light bulbs and lamps will be operational by 2020. These and many other intriguing statistics highlight the importance of Internet powered devices and how market penetration is going to multiply many times over in the next few years.
Jul. 25, 2015 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,480
SYS-CON Events announced today that Dyn, the worldwide leader in Internet Performance, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 17th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Dyn is a cloud-based Internet Performance company. Dyn helps companies monitor, control, and optimize online infrastructure for an exceptional end-user experience. Through a world-class network and unrivaled, objective intelligence into Internet conditions, Dyn ensures traffic gets delivered faster, safer, and more reliably than ever.
Jul. 24, 2015 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,044


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Both ICSC-Goldman and now Redbook are reporting the slowest rates of sales growth since mid-November. Redbook reports a plus 1.6 percent year-on-year rate for same-store sales last week. The report says the week's unusually cold weather did boost sales of winter goods but also kept traffic down. It also notes that the presidential election held down traffic. Redbook's month-to-month comparison with December shows a sizable 0.5 percent decline which points to weakness for the government's ex-auto ex-gas reading of the retail sales report.
A weekly measure of comparable store sales at chain stores, discounters, and department stores. Redbook tracks week-to-week change, month-to-date change, and year-on-year change with the latter the most closely watched reading. The report offers early indications on ex-auto ex-gas retail sales.
Why Investors Care


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Amid fallout from the Facebook Papers showing that the social media giant sometimes ignored the adverse effects of its platform on users, the company on Monday reported sharply higher quarterly profits, buoyed by strong advertising revenue.
Facebook said its net income grew 17% between July and September to $9.2 billion, up from $7.8 billion, a year earlier. Revenue rose 35% to $29 billion, beating analyst expectations of $24.5 billion. Facebook shares added 1% on Wall Street Monday and rose another 1% to $332.43 in after-hours trading.
The company already predicted uncertainty for 2021 back in January, saying its revenue in the latter half of the year could face significant pressure. Because revenue grew so quickly in the second half of 2020, Facebook said at the time that it could have trouble keeping up that pace. But as the company’s stock price shows, investors were not surprised by Monday’s results.
At the same time, Facebook said it continued to face “headwinds” from Apple, whose newest operating system requires apps to get permission from users in order to track them. Facebook has fought the changes, claiming that they would cause small businesses to lose a majority of their revenue.
So far, the change hasn’t had a significant effect on Facebook, although its most profitable users — those in the U.S., Canada and Europe — became slightly less so. The company’s average revenue per user dropped by about 65 cents in North America, to $52.34 per user, and by about 70 cents in Europe, to $16.50.
Facebook is reportedly considering a rebranding, according to a report from The Verge, but the company has declined to comment on what it called “rumors and speculation.”
The company also said it will break out Facebook Reality Labs as a separate segment beginning in the fourth quarter. This segment will include its products on augmented and virtual reality and related hardware, software and content. Facebook expects to spend roughly $100 billion on the segment this fiscal year, it said.
CBS News’ Irina Ivanova contributed reporting.
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Two major challenges abound in the mobile app world; flat-rate data and handset incompatibility.
While roll-out flat-rate plans is slowly gathering speed across most of the world (go figure why the US will overtake the #2 position soon if European carriers don’t get their act together), device incompatability is still the single-biggest problem of the mobile app hacker. Symbian (including incompatible S60 versions 1, 2, and 3), Brew, J2ME, Flash Lite; lots of fancy attempts to get at a more universal mobile app development stack.
Even the most wide-spread of these, J2ME, has widely different implementations across manufacturers with regards to core functionality and access to phone APIs like data, SMS, bluetooth or camera. The result is that the lowest common denominators across carriers and handsets, sound (calls and ringtones) and text (SMS), abound.
While newly relaunched DeviceAnywhere hasn’t solved the compatibility issues, they have taken a formidable stab at providing an easy and cost-effective way to test across a wide number of devices. In short, they provide an online interface for testing different live phones across multiple networks (demo here).
One company I know currently spends thousands of dollars each month on buying new phones simply for testing — DeviceAnywhere should cut that to a fraction, and hopefully allow for a wider rollout of real mobile services that go beyond the current cacophony. Were it not for the Windows-only environment this would be my clear vote for late-’06 mobile revelation.


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BERLIN: The long-awaited launch of Axel Springer's new French tabloid daily newspaper holds "more risks than opportunities" according to Andreas Wiele, head of the publisher's international division. Hence Friday's decision to cancel the launch of the €120 million ($163.5m; £81.3m) project.
In an interview with FT Deutschland, Wiele claimed the main reason for the retreat is the limited number of outlets for newspaper sales in the French market - a statement some observers regard with scepticism as Springer will have been well aware of that fact before contemplating the venture.
The project would have seen the launch of a French version of Springer's German title Bild, Europe's top-selling newspaper with 3.5 million daily sales.
In Germany, Bild retails through 120,000 sales points, whereas in France, there are only 30,000 outlets, according to German publishing industry specialists. Such a fundamantal fact cannot have come as a surprise to the publishing giant - second only in Europe to the Bertelsmann Group.
Says Wiele: "After today's decision, our growth efforts will concentrate mainly on digital media and the development of our existing print titles." The group, however, is "actively looking at" online projects in other nations including China.
Meantime, Springer intends to maintain its existing presence in France where its portfolio includes four magazines: Télé Magazine, Vie Pratique Gourmand, Vie Pratique Madame and Vie Pratique Santé.
The Teutonic titan last week also revealed its intention to buy a 41.4% stake in Paris-listed women's internet portal auFeminin.com. The deal is worth an estimated €288m.
Data sourced from Financial Times; additional content by WARC staff


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Man charged with stealing prescription drugs from pharmacy
Westerly — Police arrested a Westerly man who they say stole a large amount of prescription drugs from the CVS pharmacy on Granite Street.
Police said at about 2:57 this morning Officer Jed Giguere was on patrol on Granite Street when he saw a man running through the CVS parking lot towards John Street.
The man was wearing a knit hat, sunglasses and appeared to have clothing covering his face. The man refused to obey Giguere's commands to stop. Giguere saw a large plastic bag drop from under his sweatshirt.
After a brief chase, Giguere apprehended the suspect. While placing the man under arrest, a female employee ran out of the CVS and reported that the store had just been robbed. The bag was found to contain a large amount of prescription narcotics.
Patrick S. Marr, 25, was charged with robbery, crimes against pharmacies and resisting arrest.
CVS employees said that Marr walked into store, went to the pharmacy counter and demanded that employees fill a plastic bag with narcotics. No weapons were shown and there were no injuries.
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text: Leonard "Mike" D. Kobielus, 67, a longtime Itasca resident and former owner of Mill Lake Tropics pet store in Addison who would take in unwanted pets and find them good homes, died of a brain hemorrhage Wednesday, Sept. 18, at Alexian Brothers Hospice Center in Elk Grove Village. Born in the Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, Mr. Kobielus graduated from St. Philip High School. He then went to work for Prelar Electric as an office manager until 3M purchased the company. He worked in the downtown Chicago headquarters of Harris Bank as a computer operator on some of the bank's first computers. Ten years later, he decided he needed a career change, said his wife, Rosemary, and the couple purchased Mill Lake Tropics. "We had 132 fish tanks that he was in charge of. ... We never sold a pedigree dog in the store. It was all animals that people brought in wanting us to find them a good home," his wife said. If an animal was sick, Mr. Kobielus would take it home, nurse it and bring it back to the store. One year during a particularly bad snowstorm, he brought home six puppies from the store so they would not be left alone, his wife said. "He was such a good-hearted man," she said. The couple owned the store for 10 years. He then became a sales representative for a packaging company but branched out on his own a few years later. Mr. Kobielus ran Wess Products, which sold packaging and warehouse equipment, out of his home. Three years ago he suffered a stroke, which limited his access to the majority of his clients, however, he still kept in contact with a few, his wife said. In addition to his wife, he is survived by a daughter, Kristine Eisenmann; a son, Paul; two sisters, Martha Todd and Marie Mosinski; and two grandchildren. Funeral services will begin at 9 a.m. Saturday at the Oaks Funeral Home, 1201 E. Irving Park Rd., Itasca, with a 9:30 a.m. mass at St. Peter the Apostle Catholic Church, 524 N. Rush St., Itasca.


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A Good Night’s Sleep
In today’s fast-paced, time-stressed world, getting a good night’s sleep – so vital to one’s health and well-being – can be a challenge. With this in mind, all 11 Hyatt hotels in Australia and New Zealand have rolled out a holistic sleep experience and exclusive offers designed to help guests wind down, stress less, and enjoy a refreshing night’s sleep.
Caring for people so they can be their best is ingrained in Hyatt’s DNA. Beyond a great night’s stay, Hyatt hotels aim to help guests live happy, healthy and fulfilling lives with unique offerings created across every touchpoint.
“At Hyatt, we place well-being at the heart of our business and our guest experiences. The new sleep experience offered by Hyatt hotels in Australia and New Zealand is a prime example of how Hyatt hotels are dedicated to providing guests a great night’s stay while also supporting them on their personal well-being journeys,” said Carina Chorengel, Senior Vice President – Commercial, Asia Pacific, Hyatt.
Curated in collaboration with multi-award winning organic spa brand iKOU to foster a relaxing sleep ritual and enhance tranquility, the Sleep at Hyatt Ritual Pack contains 100% natural iKOU products proudly Australian-made in the pristine UNESCO World Heritage Listed Blue Mountains.
The custom-designed pack contains thoughtful touches to prepare for a night of restful slumber, including a breathable linen sleep mask, calming herbal tea, de-stress linen mist, relaxing bath salts and Sleepyhead Aromatherapy Pulse Points Roll-on. Guests can purchase the pack at participating hotels or experience it as part of a Sleep at Hyatt stay package, kickstarting their journey to sounder sleep at the hotel and at home.
In an exclusive collaboration with Dreamers International LLC, Dreamers Sleep Glasses will be available for purchase at participating hotels, while supplies last. This is the first time Dreamers is teaming up with a hotel brand to retail its patented and fashionable eyewear that aims to help the wearer achieve a good night’s sleep.
“Dreamers is very excited to be a key contributor in the Sleep at Hyatt programme. Dreamers glasses are designed to mitigate the effects of artificial blue and green light at night from devices and LED light,” said Jordan Stenmark, co-founder of Dreamers.
With the new Hyatt website, guests and World of Hyatt members can enjoy 24/7 access to exclusive resources specifically designed to foster better sleep. World of Hyatt members get access to a one month’s free trial of Headspace when they download the World of Hyatt App, offering mindfulness exercises, guided meditations and new premium coloured noise content made available as part of the recently expanded collaboration between Hyatt and Headspace.
Also featured are sleep tips from Nancy H. Rothstein, a.k.a. The Sleep Ambassador, a renowned sleep expert who is on a global quest to empower people to optimise their sleep so they can live at their best.
Source: Petrie PR.


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The Model S will cost $49,900 after a $7,500 federal tax credit. It weigh about 4,000 pounds in full production trim when it hits the U.S. market in late 2011. It will also rip off 0-60 runs in 5.6 seconds, and be able to carry a 50-inch plasma TV with the rear seats folded down.
Inside, a 17-inch touchscreen LCD dominates the center console with Pandora Radio, Google Maps, and 3G cellular broadband. All-wheel-drive will be available as an option.
In an interesting twist, the Model S seats seven: five regular passengers, plus two rear-facing child seats. Tesla plans to sell the car with three separate battery configurations, offering 160, 230, and 300-mile ranges. Tesla CEO and owner Elon Musk didn’t specify pricing for the two longer-range packs, the report said, although he did say that they could be rented or leased “if you wanted to go on a long trip, or something.”
Assuming Tesla, GM, and Fisker all stick around through 2011, the market for plug-in electric sedans will certainly hit the ground running.


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Barnes & Noble soars as going private could mean faster changes
By Matt Townsend, Bloomberg - Oct 5th 2018, 08:19
Barnes & Noble, facing management upheaval and shrinking revenue, buoyed shareholders’ spirits with news it’s weighing acquisition interest from several parties, including chairperson Len Riggio.
Shares of the struggling bookseller soared as much as 27% before the start of regular trading in New York last week. If the stock opens at that level, it would reverse all of the year-to-date declines.
The company said late on Wednesday that it had created a special board committee to consider its strategic alternatives. The book retailer also enacted a takeover defence plan, after observing "rapid material purchases of its stock by an unidentified investor.
The retailer didn’t name the other interested parties.
David Schick, director of research for Consumer Edge Research, said taking the company private could allow more rapid improvements at the book and gift chain, which has posted six years of revenue declines as it tries new formats and strategies to compete with the likes of Amazon.com.
The company "should and could work to more aggressively update cafe offerings, modernise the membership and improve the digital elements of the omnichannel business". It could also evolve toward a more "independent bookstore" feel, he said.
One of the knocks against Barnes & Noble for years has been that it wasn’t leveraging its assets enough. While many retailers are just now trying to make their locations more experiential, the company already had loads of that with its cafes, reading nooks and play areas for kids. That pushes customers to spend more time in its stores, so there should be a way to get them to spend more.
The company has tried to placate investors’ frustration with its sagging sales by expanding into other categories. Nearly a decade ago, it invested heavily in creating its own e-readers and tablets under the Nook brand to capture the growing market for electronic books. But that endeavour didn’t turn out well, with the company writing off millions in assets.
It has since reduced the cost of this division by partnering with electronics-maker Samsung.
Another critique is that the company’s website and other technologies lag far behind competitors like Amazon, which began as a bookseller itself. A mainstay of the retail industry is offering customers the ability to pick up online purchases in a store. Barnes & Noble rolled that out just earlier this year.
There have also been personnel issues. Earlier this year, the company fired former chief executive officer Demos Parneros without severance pay for violating company policies, including alleged sexual harassment - a claim that Parneros denies, and he sued as a result. Meanwhile, continued sales erosion has caused the stock to lose almost 19% of its value this year through last week Wednesday’s close.
Riggio, also the company’s founder, largest shareholder and acting chief executive officer, has previously expressed interest in buying, only to back off. Because of the stock’s declines, market capitalisation for the company is now short of $400m. A one-time mall stalwart, Barnes & Noble’s market cap is now about one-tenth the size of shoe brand Skechers USA. Fin 24
Woolworths bedeviled by declining sales
18/01/2019 - 10:35
As Woolworths tries to recover from the impairments of A$712.5 million (R7.02 billion) it suffered last year in its Australian subsidiary David Jones, the retailer continued to experience declining sales in the 26 weeks to end December trading period in South Africa.
TFG bucks retail trend over festive season
18/01/2019 - 08:00
Apparel group TFG, which operates the Foschini, American Swiss and Markham chains, has bucked the retail trend and produced solid growth numbers for the festive season.
Connect the data and the dots to deliver exceptional experiences for customers
17/01/2019 - 14:30
It takes months to find a customer and only seconds to lose one, or so the saying goes. These days, however, it might be more like milliseconds.
Edcon gets some breathing space
17/01/2019 - 10:34
Edcon is at a turning point yet again. The retailer — which operates the Edgars, Jet and CNA chain stores — has just wrapped up a deal with 250 stakeholders, including its shareholders and landlords, in a bid to keep its doors open.
M&S confirms more store closures
17/01/2019 - 08:41
Marks & Spencer confirmed the location of the next batch of stores it plans to close as part of its restructuring plans.


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In 2018, Skift released a blog titled ‘why everybody now wants a piece of the tours and activities sector’. Well, industry projections of the sector are now valued at around $150 billion annually and this is expected to continue to grow by nine percent annually over the coming years.
The sector is now one of the largest opportunities in travel. And in 2018, we seen some big industry shake ups as two booking systems were acquired by industry giants within one week.
April 2018 - FareHarbor is acquired by Bookings Holdings
Announced as the biggest deal yet in the tour & activities industry, Booking Holdings acquired U.S. based booking software provider FareHarbor in April 2018.
FareHarbor, founded in 2013, claims to have more than 5,000 tours and activity providers using its software in the United States. It was long-speculated that Booking Holdings would purchase GetYourGuide, an existing activities marketplace, but the purchase of FareHarbor showed that the business is building market entry from the booking technology side instead.
Booking.com CEO Gillian Tans said, "Today travel is fueled by technology, yet the local experiences and attractions marketplace is still largely offline. FareHarbor's technology allows local tours and attractions to easily bring their businesses online. We see an immense opportunity to leverage this technology to bring more local experiences online, benefiting the entire global travel ecosystem for both consumers and local businesses by allowing them to connect instantly through a seamless digital experience."
April 2018 - Bokun is acquired by TripAdvisor
A day after the Booking Holdings announcement, TripAdvisor announced their acquisition of Iceland based booking software provider Bokun. It was interesting timing, as TripAdvisor has also placed an offer for FareHarbor earlier in the year that was declined.
Founded in 2012, Bokun is the dominant booking software provider to tour & activity operators in Iceland. At acquisition, TripAdvisor announced a change the Bokun business model where pricing would change from subscription plans to a per-booking model. It is now offering a free three-month trial and 0.1 percent commission per booking in a bid to take market share.
Dermot Halpin, President of TripAdvisor Experiences and Rentals, said, “As the industry leader, our opportunity in this space is enormous, We’re committed to taking the experiences sector far beyond its current online penetration of just 20 percent, and Bokun will play a critical role in this mission.”
In 2017, TripAdvisor also acquired leading marketplace Viator.
Could joining one of these acquired booking systems limit your future distribution?
That's the question that was being asked by tour and activity companies at key events Arival and WTM London.
Here is a quote from a recent interview with Peter Syme, Owner of 1000 Mile Jouneys, at Arival 2018. You can watch the full interview here.
“Reservation systems have been about more of less longer than most OTAs… If the trend goes the way we think it’s going to go, by the OTAs getting better and better at their job and the distribution shifting from direct at the moment to OTAs, they gain more and more over the industry. That’s not necessarily a bad thing depending on what the split is, but it does present the supplier with multiple challenges.”
“If they also own the technology that runs your business, you’ve not just given your distribution to an OTA that can not just make your business or break your business in the switch of an algorithm. You’ve given the technology that is running your business to a company that is global… and on the whole, we are tiny suppliers with no negotiating power with that."
We'd like to hear what tour and activity companies have to say. Comment below with your feedback!


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Apple is racing to hire former Texas Instruments employees in Israel in an effort to staff a planned R&D center. Not wanting to be outdone, Intel has decided to ramp up their efforts to hire the same former Texas Instruments employees before Apple can grab them first.
A new report claims that Intel is offering the employees “healthy compensation packages” above the standard salary rates in an effort to keep the employees from slipping into Apple’s hands.
According to The Next Web, sources close to both companies say Intel is urgently approaching individuals in order to boost its operations at its R&D centers in Haifa, Jerusalem, Petah-Tkva and Kiryat Gat.
Apple plans to open a new R&D center in the city of Ra’anana, but only if it gets enough engineers on board. If Intel is successful in luring the former Texas Instruments engineers over to their side, then Apple might not be able to open the R&D center as planned in the second half of 2013.
Texas Instruments recently cut about 250 jobs from it’s Ra’anana development center where the engineers were focused on development of TI’s OMAP and radio chips. Apple also purchased the Israeli flash memory firm, Anobit, in January of 2012, so some of the new hires could be used at other locations as well.
TNW reports that Apple may soon conduct an interview day targeted specifically at Texas Instruments employees, but there is no word on whether or not Intel will do the same.


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Hunter Mode brings online multiplayer to Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon
Whilst Nintendo of America recently revealed the existence of a local multiplayer mode within Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon, today they’ve gone one step further.
“Hunter Mode” will see up to four players worldwide team up to tackle individual floors of ghosts whilst climbing the ScareScraper. Players will be able to communicate with each other using preset messages, and you can see it in action below.
Each floor must be cleared before the clock strikes zero, with bonuses and upgrades able to be earned depending on how well your team performs. Boss battles will also greet you at the top of each tower, with players able to choose between the number of floors, which range from five, 10 or 25.
Luigi’s Mansion: Dark Moon was recently confirmed for release on March 24th across North America, and March in Europe.


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While much of the attention during Miami Art Week may go to the Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) fair, with its celebrity visitors and millions of dollars' worth of sales, other fairs and nonprofits are drawing crowds and offering various art experiences.
During the early hours of the VIP preview at Art Basel Miami Beach today, rapper Sean Combs, dressed in all black and wearing shades, was seen browsing the aisles with his entourage. Most art-fair purchases are not cash and carry. But Combs was...
The December issue of A.i.A. hosts the Rob Pruitt Art Awards, a partly tongue-in-cheek celebration of artists, exhibitions and curators, founded by the New York-based artist in 2009.
One of the art world's biggest commercial roundups, the Art Basel Miami Beach (ABMB) fair, has its 12th edition this week (Dec. 5-8). Last year, the fair brought 50,000 attendees. This year, ABMB comes on the heels of record-setting auctions in New...
The exhibitor list has been announced for the 16th edition of the Armory Show art fair, to be held on Piers 92 and 94 on Manhattan's West Side (Mar. 6-9).
German-born auctioneer Tobias Meyer is resigning from his position as head of Sotheby's contemporary art department worldwide after 20 years with the company.
New York's Whitney Museum of American Art has announced the list of 103 artists to be included in its 2014 biennial (Mar. 7-May 25).
Sotheby's New York achieved its highest auction total ever last night, selling $380.6 million worth of postwar and contemporary art, led by a $105.4 million Warhol.
Christie's New York achieved the highest total in auction history Tuesday at its postwar and contemporary art sale, which totaled $691.6 million, near the high estimate for the night.
A lawsuit by two founders of New York's Dia Art Foundation aims to block the sale of 27 works of art worth as much as $20 million at an auction at Sotheby's on Wednesday.
Museum watchers scratched their heads in July, when Bonnie Clearwater announced that, after 18 years, she would leave the Museum of Contemporary Art North Miami, where she was director and chief curator.
"A billion-dollar contemporary art sale will happen soon enough," Christie's specialist Koji Inoue told A.i.A. at a press preview.
A group of 14 modernist works by artists including Moholy-Nagy, Picabia and Giacomo Balla buoyed Sotheby's Impressionist and modern art evening sale last night after two nights of doldrums at Christie's.
Despite the presence of big names like Picasso and van Gogh, and notwithstanding a record set for an Alberto Giacometti oil, Christie's New York got the fall auction season off to a lackluster start last night.
This fall will see some new projects in New York and the closing of one Lower East Side gallery.
He replaces Colin B. Bailey, who left in March to become director of the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco.
A group of 14 rare modernist works by artists including Picabia, Moholy-Nagy and Mondrian is expected to ring up for as much as $92 million at auction next week at Sotheby's New York. These paintings, coming from an unnamed European seller, will be...
A New York State Supreme Court judge has ruled in favor of New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art in a pair of lawsuits, allowing it to charge admission, as it has done for decades.


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Fantasy Life, the Nintendo 3DS life simulation RPG from Level 5, will be released in North America on October 24th.
Meanwhile, Professor Layton vs. Ace Attorney will be released on August 29th.
Update: Fantasy Life has been confirmed for release in Europe this October as well.
Update 2: Release date for Layton corrected.


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Jones: Exploring export markets
We are witnessing a dramatic shift in the balance of consumer demand and purchasing power in markets across the world. Throughout emerging economies, spending power has increased as a result of the continued expansion of middle class consumers and sustained population growth.
A recent report released by Business Monitor International predicted that spending power in Brazil, China, India and Russia would nearly triple by 2018. In stark contrast, Western consumers are spending more cautiously and beginning to lay aside more in savings. Conspicuous consumption has lost its verve, private label brands are seeing wider acceptance, and lifestyles have changed with a higher percentage of meals being eaten in the home.
Many experts agree that this cautious behavior will continue well into the future as consumers in the developed world make lasting shifts in consumption choices.
If you have any technical difficulties, either with your username and password or with the payment options, please contact us by e-mail at email@example.com


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2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar has for many years conducted the position of the best cars that you can buy, and its redesign delivers a sharp and also modern look to ensure it is more appealing. However the indicate is old, and currently it’s its time to change the others. We hope 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar promises a nice look, powertrain, or others.
Visually, there is not any total details available, although you can get attractive spy photos. We hope to see the corporation change the current fascia dense feel and produce a circular 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar fascia which includes updated headlights and a shorter hood. Spying pictures also prove added glass right behind the A-pillar, created to help boost visibility going forward, will probably continue. We also suspect the taillights to take a horizontal orientation, reducing the current vertical taillights.
Despite the fact there is very little recognized from the Company about 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar powertrain, we hope to expertise important changes. The significant replace will remove the previous powerplant that supports a 1 liter turbocharged system. In their current shape, this engine produces considerable horsepower, however this can adjust before the 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar launch.
While this car in an exact category sometimes competes in accident tests. Nowadays, this auto has done well in many testing IIHS has done four crash tests and front crash prevention tests, and this automobile is already obtaining the greatest ranking in everything. We will not guess 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar to accept a step back in safety devices or even rankings.
The producers has not announced information regarding 2019 Ford Powered Tvr Griffith Sportscar, so there is no info about when it could possibly come out. With the upcoming year’s model coming instantly, we don’t wait around long for official news concerning this.
Although hopefully that everything should be new for next yr, we do not hope a significant prices change from the used cost range including destination costs.


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A little eco-friendly rivalry
Embry-Riddle students turn gas-guzzlers into electric cars
A white Chevrolet Malibu pulled into a garage three years ago and a transformation began.
About 80 Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University students turned the traditional gas-guzzling vehicle into an electric car powered by batteries.
“It’s a lot of trial and error,” said Patrick Currier, the assistant professor of engineering who leads the EcoEagles club that converted the vehicle into an EcoCar electric car.
The finished product, with the words “Be Clean, Go Green” on the bumper, was one of several electric cars parked on a grassy portion of the university’s Daytona Beach campus Friday for an event to raise awareness about alternative fuel-powered vehicles.
The event, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, General Motors and the Central Florida Clean Cities Coalition, failed to energize a big turnout.
Seats in the conference room at Embry-Riddle where the event was to take place remained empty and as minutes ticked by, organizers of the national initiative called Odyssey Day decided to cancel the local event before presentations even began.
While organizers pondered what went wrong, there was no escaping the fact that electric cars haven’t fired up the marketplace the way automakers have hoped.
“We have an uninterested consumer base who aren’t paying attention,” said Britta Gross, director of advanced vehicle commercialization policy with General Motors. “This is a struggle. Why doesn’t everyone feel compelled? Did people forget about environmental concerns?”
For Embry-Riddle students in the EcoEagles club, who took fifth place last year, taking part in the EcoCAR competition is not just about the chance to win a trophy — it’s also a way to gain hands-on experience that could translate into careers.
“Through GM’s sponsorship of the EcoCAR challenge, GM is helping to train the next generation of automotive engineers and scientists,” Gross said.
“The EcoCAR challenge provides the students and faculty with an enormous technology challenge, motivated by a competition with other universities, and all guided by mentors from GM. At the end of these multiyear competitions, these students have hands-on automotive skills well beyond those of their peers.”
EcoEagles members spent a lot of time under the hood of the Malibu for the EcoCAR 2 challenge, taking out parts, and adding new ones here and there.
If they messed up, no big deal, it was only a teaching tool. To pay for parts, they stuck a few sponsorship decals to the exterior because, after all, it was a competition.
They were competing with 15 other schools across North America on a mission to reduce the car’s environmental impact, while maintaining the muscle and performance.
The EcoCAR 2 competition was sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy and General Motors.
EcoEagles members will try to perform the same feat on a Camaro for next year’s planned EcoCAR 3 competition.
Embry-Riddle has been involved in the program since the beginning, when it was called EcoCAR 1.
The project’s communications manager Calvin Baker said a lot of the students find successful jobs once they graduate. Some have gone on to work at places such as General Motors, Tesla, d-Space, etc.
Nationally, sales of electric and hybrid vehicles, which include the Chevy Volt, Nissan Leaf, Toyota Prius and others, have been declining of late.
Sales of General Motors’ Chevrolet Volt extended-range electric vehicles fell nearly 29 percent in October compared with the same month last year. Sales of Toyota’s Prius hybrids were off nearly 14 percent.
As for hybrid sales overall, a total of 31,385 units sold in the U.S. in September, a decrease of 35 percent from August, and a decline of 6.5 percent from September 2013.
Troy Lerdo, Internet sales director at Gary Yeomans Ford Lincoln at the Daytona International Auto Mall, said the dealership hasn’t been selling as many electric cars lately as it had been, possibly because of falling gas prices. According to AAA auto club, the average price for regular unleaded gasoline in the Volusia-Flagler area Friday was $2.94 a gallon, down from $3.35 a month ago.
“What happens is when the gas prices go up they become popular, when the prices go down nobody knows they are there,” Lerdo said.
The Odyssey Day event Friday was supposed to include demonstrations of vehicles that use alternative fuels, rides and drives, and presentations by faculty members and alternative fuel stakeholders. The poor turnout left organizers scratching their heads.
“It was disappointing,” said Glenn Scorza, chairman of the Central Florida Clean Cities Coalition, adding that they were expecting between 30 and 60 people. “When things like this happen to your organization, it’s not good. You waste people’s time. Today just wasn’t what it was supposed to be.”
But the poor turnout or the recent decline in sales should not be an indication of where electric cars are heading, according to Maj Mirmirani, Embry-Riddle’s dean of engineering.
The future for alternative fuel-powered vehicles is bright and is expected to gain momentum over time, he said.
“I do really think that electric cars will capture a larger and larger segment of the automobile market in years ahead,” he said.
The key elements, Mirmirani said, will be improving battery technology to make them lighter and to last longer and creating the infrastructure to support greater usage of electric vehicles, “including supercharging stations everywhere just like gas stations of today.”


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Zeiss lens lovers have something to look forward to for next week—actually, they have three somethings to look forward to. According to a fresh teaser posted to Facebook and Twitter, ZEISS will be releasing three new lenses in a weeks’ time.
UPDATE: A “solid source” has informed sonyalpharumors that the teaser above is not for new lenses. Sadly, it seems no new ZEISS glass is coming next week.
The teaser (seen above) doesn’t give much away. An image with the outlines of three new lenses of various sizes is accompanied by the caption:
Well, well! We have prepared something very special for you. Stay tuned! More to come next week. #enterZEISS


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It’s about time something like this has happened…
EA has announced that the UEFA Euro 2012 game will not be a standalone release, instead it will be launched as DLC for . Screenshots for the content can be found below.
This is the first time EA has taken such a step, previous editions of UEFA European Championship tie-ins coming to us as boxed retail games in their own right – all of which were overpriced considering the quantity of content.
The UEFA Euro 2012 DLC will be downloadable from June on PC, PS3 and 360.
Read our , it’s as good as Messi (our review, that is).
Founder and Editor of PC Invasion. Veteran PC gamer of over 22 years.


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Don’t anticipate 30% stock returns each year. That’s where dividends enter into play.
2019 ended up being advisable that you investors. U.S. shares had been up 29% (as calculated because of the S&P 500 index), making the marketplace’s negative return in 2018 — the very first calendar-year negative return in ten years — a remote memory and overcoming worries over slow international financial development hastened by the U.S.-China trade war.
While about two out of each and every 36 months are good for the stock exchange, massive comes back with nary a hiccup on the way are not the norm. Purchasing shares is oftentimes a roller-coaster r >(NASDAQ:CMCSA) , Hasbro (NASDAQ:HAS) , and Seagate tech (NASDAQ:STX) .
Bridging the canyon between streaming and cable
A whole lot happens to be stated in regards to the troublesome force this is the television streaming industry. Millions of households around the world are parting means realmailorderbrides.com with high priced cable television plans and deciding on internet-based activity alternatively. Many legacy cable businesses have actually believed the pinch because of this.
Maybe Not resistant from the trend happens to be Comcast, but cable cutting is just area of the tale. While satellite tv has weighed on outcomes — the organization reported it destroyed a web 732,000 members in 2019 — customers going just how of streaming still want high-speed internet making it take place. And that is where Comcast’s outcomes have actually shined, as web high-speed internet additions do have more than offset losses in its older lines of company. Web domestic improvements had been 1.32 million and web company adds were 89,000 a year ago, correspondingly.
Plus, it is not just as if Comcast is going to get put aside into the television market totally. It really is launching its very own television streaming solution, Peacock, in springtime 2020; while an earlier appearance does not appear Peacock can make huge waves on the web television industry, its addition of real time activities just like the 2020 Summer Olympics and live news means it’s going to be in a position to carve down a niche for it self when you look at the fast-growing electronic activity area.
Comcast is definitely an oft-overlooked news company, however it really should not be. Income keeps growing at a healthier single-digit speed for a company of its size (when excluding the Sky broadcasting acquisition in 2018), and free cashflow (income less fundamental operating and money costs) are up almost 50% throughout the last 36 months. Centered on trailing 12-month free cashflow, the stock trades for the mere 15.3 several, and a recently available 10% dividend hike sets the present yield at a decent 2.1%. Comcast thus looks like an excellent value play if you ask me.
Image supply: Getty Images.
Playtime for the twenty-first century
The way in which young ones play is changing. The electronic globe we currently are now living in means television and video gaming are a more substantial section of kids’ lives than in the past. Entertainment can also be undergoing fast modification, with franchises planning to capture customer attention across numerous mediums — through the display screen to product to reside in-person experiences.
Enter Hasbro, a number one doll manufacturer in charge of all kinds of >(NASDAQ:NFLX) series centered on Magic: The Gathering, and its particular newest $3.8 billion takeover of Peppa Pig creator Entertainment One.
Image source: Hasbro.
That second move is significant because it yields Hasbro a k >(NYSE:DIS) has along with its fans. In reality, Hasbro’s toy-making partnership with Disney aided its “partner brands” section surge 40% greater throughout the 4th quarter of 2019. It is apparent that mega-franchises that period the big screen to toys are a robust company, and Hasbro could be significantly more than happy to fully capture also a small amount of that Disney secret.
As you go along, Hasbro has additionally been upgrading its selling model when it comes to chronilogical age of ecommerce. Which has had produced some variability in quarterly profits outcomes. However, regardless of its change on numerous fronts, the stock trades just for 18.1 times trailing 12-month free cashflow, therefore the business will pay a dividend of 2.7per cent per year. I am a customer for the evolving yet still very lucrative doll manufacturer at those costs.
Riding the memory chip rebound
As it is the truth with production as a whole, semiconductors are really a cyclical company. That is on display the very last 12 months within the electronic memory chip industry. A time period of surging need and never quite sufficient supply — hastened by information center construction and brand new customer technology items like autos with driver help features, smart phones, and wearables — ended up being followed closely by a slump in 2019. Rates on memory potato chips dropped, and lots of manufacturers got burned.
It is a cycle that repeats every couple of years, but one business that is in a position to ride out the ebbs and flows and continue maintaining healthier earnings throughout happens to be Seagate tech. Throughout the 2nd quarter of the 2020 financial 12 months (three months finished Jan. 3, 2020), revenues stabilized and had been down 7% after dropping by dual digits for some quarters in a row. Its perspective can be increasing, with management forecasting a come back to development for the total amount of 2020 — including a 17% year-over-year product product product sales escalation in Q3.
It really is frequently the most readily useful timing to get cyclical shares like Seagate as they are down in the dumps, additionally the 54% rally in season 2019 is proof of that. While perfect timing ‘s almost impossible, there nevertheless could possibly be plenty more left within the tank if sales continue steadily to edge greater as new need for the business’s hard disk drives for information centers, PCs, and laptop computers rebounds. Plus, even with the major gain in share cost this past year, Seagate’s dividend presently yields 4.4% per year — an amazing payout that is effortlessly included in the business’s free cashflow generation.
To put it differently, with all the cyclical semiconductor industry showing indications of positive need coming online into the coming year, Seagate tech is certainly one of my personal favorite dividend shares to start out 2020.


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Semiconductor sales climbed 15 per cent to $1.3 billion for operating earnings of $18 million, compared to a net loss of $798 million last year.
Motorola CEO Christopher Galvin stressed: "We will continue to make investments in research and development."
Galvin sounded an optimistic note when he said: "The world economies are showing some underlying signs of a rebound, which - if not significantly disrupted by world events - could have a favorable impact on our markets."
Mike Zafirovski, president and chief operating officer, said: "Sales and profitability in the fourth quarter improved. The restructuring actions we have taken in all aspects of Motorola during this multi-year turnaround effort are continuing to achieve positive results."
Motorola reported full-year 2002 sales of $26.7 billion, compared to sales of $29.9 billion in 2001. This meant a net loss of $2.5 billion - $1.4 billion less than that suffered in 2001.
The company returned 3 per cent more sales in its fourth quarter year-on-year ($7.5 billion). It also returned earnings of $174 million, or eight cents per share - it lost $1.2 billion in last year's fourth quarter.
Looking forward to the coming quarter, the company expects sales to remain fairly flat, though it predicts sales will rise three per cent during 2003.


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Consumers of non-alcoholic beverages made by Carlsberg Malawi Limited will have to pay more to have a sip following a price hike confirmed by the company.
The company has not given any reason for the hike of the beverages.
According to the new price structure, non-alcoholic beverages such as Fanta, Coca-Cola and Sprite will be selling at K250 per 300ml returnable glass bottle.
Cocopina and Cerryplum is now at K220.
Coca Cola in cans is now pegged at K400 and a 500ml bottle Sobo squash has been increased to K600 ( with a two-litre bottle now ayt K1, 700.
Consumer Assocition of Malawi (CAMA) boss John Kapito decribed the price hike as “unfair”.
Kapito attributed the price hike due to lack of competition since Frozzy drink from Mozambique was banned.Follow and Subscribe Nyasa TV :


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LivePerson, Inc.: AI Stock Soars on Q2 Earnings Beat, Up 323% Over March Low
LivePerson, Inc. Raises Guidance, Stock Poised to Double Again
LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ:LPSN) stock took a hit along with the broader market back in March, when uncertainty around the coronavirus pandemic hobbled Wall Street.
Eventually though, investors realized that people will still spend money from the comfort of their own homes. This optimism has helped LPSN stock trounce the broader market.
LivePerson stock has advanced a respectable 52% year-over-year and 53% year-to-date. That far outpaces the S&P 500, which went up 14.5% year-over-year and 2.5% year-to-date. Meanwhile, the tech-heavy Nasdaq advanced 40.5% year-over-year and 22% year-to-date.
Most impressively though, LivePerson, Inc.’s share price has soared 323% since hitting a low of $14.08 in March. In the opening hours of August 5, LPSN stock surged more than 20%, hitting a new 52-week high of $59.66.
The leading provider of artificial intelligence (AI)-powered conversation cloud technology announced very strong second-quarter results after the markets closed on August 4, with both its revenue and net loss beating Wall Street expectations.
LivePerson, Inc. also provided a solid outlook. In fact, it’s one of the few companies that is actually raising its full-year revenue and profitability guidance.
Why? Because of the coronavirus pandemic, working from home and social distancing is the new norm. That means the traditional voice call center is becoming, or has become, an obsolete relic.
And businesses have been rushing to invest in AI-cloud technology. During the second quarter, the first full quarter that included COVID-19-related lockdowns, social distancing, and other restrictions, spending on cloud technology surged 30% year-over-year and 11% sequentially to a record $34.6 billion. (Source: “Cloud Spending Hits Record Amid Economic Fallout From Covid-19,” The Wall Street Journal, August 3, 2020.)
Those who are already operating in the cloud have been increasing their spending while those who are late to the game have been busy trying to catch up.
LPSN Stock Overview
With LivePerson’s cloud-based conversation technology, sometimes you’re talking to a live person, but most of the time you’re not. LivePerson provides conversational AI customer service support tech to more than 18,000 customers. (Source: “Corporate Profile,” LivePerson, Inc., last accessed August 6, 2020.)
The New York City-based company’s real-time messaging platform (AI-powered bots, call-to-message, and live) for social media networks and web sites make it easier for businesses to answer questions and sell their products.
Since its inception, LivePerson’s technology has powered over one billion brand-to-consumer conversations.
LivePerson, Inc.’s customers include Home Depot Inc (NYSE:HD), HSBC Holdings PLC, (NYSE:HSBC), and Orange SA (NASDAQ:ORAN).
Chart courtesy of StockCharts.com
One of LivePerson’s Strongest Quarters in History
On August 4, LivePerson announced that its revenue for the second quarter (ended June 30) increased 29% year-over-year to $91.6 million. (Source: “LivePerson Announces Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results,” LivePerson, Inc., August 4, 2020.)
Of that, business operations revenue advanced 30% to $84.0 million while consumer operations revenue increased 24% to $7.6 million.
LPSN reported a second-quarter net loss of $18.6 million, or $0.28 per share, an improvement from the second-quarter 2019 net loss of $24.0 million, or $0.38 per share.
Adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) was $9.3 million, or $0.14 per share. In the second quarter of 2019, LPSN reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $5.3 million, or $0.08 per share.
LivePerson, Inc. ended the second quarter with cash and cash equivalents of $173.2 million, up from $171.5 million at the end of the first quarter.
During the quarter, the company inked 134 deals, including seven seven-figure deals. That includes 47 new contracts and expanded business with 87 existing customers.
New customers include a multi-billion-dollar global beauty company, a top 10 global automaker, one of the largest exercise equipment manufacturers, a Fortune 500 consumer goods company, and a top 10 U.S. bank.
“LivePerson delivered one of the best quarters in its history as it helped leading brands navigate one of the most challenging events in history,” said CEO and founder Rob LoCascio.
John Collins, CFO added, “LivePerson’s solid execution during one of the worst macro environments in modern history demonstrated the strength and agility of our business model. … With these favorable operating tailwinds, our outlook is strengthening, and we are raising guidance for 2020.”
For fiscal 2020, LivePerson, Inc. expects to report total revenue in the range of $357.0 to $361.0 million, up from previous guidance of $340.0 to $355.0 million. This new guidance represents full-year growth of 22% to 24%.
The company also expects to report adjusted EBITDA of $16.0 to $19.0 million, up from previous guidance of $3.5 million to $10.5 million. In 2019, LivePerson reported an adjusted EBITDA loss of $13.6 million.
As mentioned earlier, LivePerson, Inc. recently announced one of the best quarters in its history, as pandemic-fueled demand for the company’s AI platform increased significantly. With traditional voice call centers almost a thing of the past, LivePerson expects to continue to report exceptionally strong financial results.
The company enters the second half of 2020 with strong tailwinds from robust year-to-date contract signings, better-than-expected conversation volumes, and a strong sales pipeline.
That signals a bright future for LivePerson stock.


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Etiko is a Fairtrade fashion company intent on creating social change for the people who make their clothing, while also demonstrating the possibilities of ethical fashion. The brand ensures their products are ethically produced, from the way the cotton is grown to the final product you see in-store. The cotton used for their products is organic and Fairtrade certified, their fabric scraps are recycled to produce paper, and all their workers are paid a living wage instead of a government-sanctioned minimum wage. It is fair to say that Etiko is an industry leader when it comes to ethical fashion.
On Monday the 14th of June, we had the pleasure of interviewing the founder of Etiko, Nick Savaidis. He told us that when he was young, ethical fashion was virtually non-existent. He talked about how his mum used to work very hard, for a very small amount of money, and the company she worked for would make a large profit from paying their workers so little. This drove him to learn more about fast-fashion, and from that eagerness, Etiko was born.
When asked about the next steps fashion brands need to take to create a more sustainable future, Mr Savaidis said clothing brands need to start taking responsibility for their products at the end of its lifecycle. “I think any manufacturer should consider what happens to their product when it is no longer needed,” Mr Savaidis explained. “At Etiko, we have implemented a take-back program for our rubber thongs and sneakers where we reward customers for returning their old shoes and we then send those shoes to a local company that recycles the rubber.” Etiko will soon implement a similar recycling program for their clothing range, with the exception of underwear.
We then asked Mr. Savaidis how his company offsets their carbon emissions. He said that brands should be minimising their co2 emissions firstly, then offsetting the emissions which can’t be avoided. To minimise emissions he said clothing brands should avoid using plastic packaging and prioritise the use of natural textiles like cotton and hemp over polyester and other synthetics. To offset their emissions, Etiko partners with a Timor Leste social enterprise called Carbon Social.
We talked about why school uniforms should be made from natural textiles instead of polyester.
“In recent years, many schools have transitioned to polyester school shirts. But when polyester is washed, it sheds microfibres which are tiny pieces of plastic that enter our waterways,” explained Mr Savaidis. “Microfibres are the largest source of human-made debris found on our shorelines, and it’s a form of pollution that easily enters our food chain via fish and drinking water. Considering about 3.65 million Australian children wear and wash multiple synthetic uniforms every week, this is an area with substantial environmental impact.”
Talking to Nick was very interesting and the whole team who was there for the interview found it very rewarding and learnt a lot about the ethical fashion industry. Etiko is a truly incredible fashion brand, and is very serious about its intentions in being ethical and sustainable. If you want to learn more, or are interested in buying from them you can check their website out here.
Article and Interview by Bronte Wolfe


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BMW chief says plant to build sport vehicle
BMW's chairman was quoted in a recent issue of one of Great Britain's largest newspapers as saying the Spartanburg County BMW plant will build a sport utility vehicle ''by the end of the decade.''
Bernd Pischetsrieder told the Financial Times in its Jan. 9, 1997 issue that BMW is currently developing a type of sport utility vehicle for production at the 1.2 million-square-foot plant in Spartanburg He said the vehicle would not compete with Land Rover, a subsidiary of BMW that produces several types of off-road vehicles. Rich Brooks, a spokesman for BMW's North American headquarters in New Jersey, said the company would not acknowledge that a BMW sport utility exists, despite Pischetrieder's published comments. He said he was ''surprised'' by the Times article. Asked whether Pischetrieder was misquoted, Brooks said, ''I'm not saying whether it was a misquote or not.'' Susan Jacobs, an automotive industry analyst with Jacobs and Associates, said that it makes sense for BMW to produce sport utility vehicles in the United States - the largest market in the world or sport utility vehicles. The market for premium sport utilities - the Lexus LX450, the Jeep Grand Cherokee, the Ford Explorer Limited and the Mercedes AAV - stands at 270,000, she said. Mercedes is expected to start production of the All Activity Vehicle at its new plant in Tuscaloosa, Ala., this quarter. Jacobs said she would expect a BMW sport utility to occupy a completely different market than Land Rover. She said a BMW vehicle would be for on-road driving pleasure while Land Rovers are generally off-road vehicles. ''Land Rover's forte is in off-road driving capabilities, it's not so much the driving aspect,'' she said. ''It makes sense for BMW to add it. It serves to retain BMW owners who might leave the brand.'' Pischetrieder's statements run contrary to several published comments over the past two years denying that BMW would begin building a sport utility vehicle. Currently, the BMW plant is undergoing a $200 million, 300-job expansion that is scheduled to be running by the beginning of 1998. Company officials haven't specified what the added capacity will be used for. The plant is now making about 250 Z3 roadsters per day. Jacobs said it makes sense for BMW to use the added capacity making the sport utility vehicle.


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USA Rice President and CEO Betsy Ward attended a press conference in Washington D.C. on Tuesday where the Obama Administration announced plans to launch a trade enforcement action against China at the World Trade Organization (WTO) challenging trade-distorting domestic supports for three key crops: corn, wheat, and rice.
In announcing the complaint, U.S. Trade Representative Michael Froman highlighted that in 2015 China’s “market price support” for these products was estimated to be nearly $100 billion in excess of the levels China committed to when it joined the WTO.
“We will aggressively pursue this challenge on behalf of American farmers and hold the Chinese government accountable to the standards of fair global trade,” said Ambassador Froman.
Ward said this latest action is just the first step in what could be a year-and-half long endeavor, but that the news is welcome for the signals it sends.
“We compete with China in some important regional markets, and there’s no question that an economy as large as China’s can have major trade-distorting impacts in the global agricultural sector,” said Ward. “Despite years of work by USA Rice and USDA to open the Chinese market, we still have no access for U.S. grown rice. This enforcement action also sends a clear signal to other countries with whom we compete and who are not living up to their WTO obligations with regard to rice, such as Viet Nam, Thailand, and India.”
“USA Rice has asked our government for years to challenge countries who don’t play by the rules, and we’ve provided them concrete evidence of harm being done by these countries to America’s rice industry,” she said. “It’s gratifying to finally see some action.”
Ward pointed to a 2016 Texas A&M study that showed if rice subsidies were removed in China and other advanced developing counties, production in China would drop by as much as four percent and imports would increase nearly four-fold as their prices came more in line with world rice prices.
“Under those models, U.S. rice exports rose 18 percent and farm gate prices rose nine percent,” Ward added. “That’s real money.”
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There is no indication yet how China will react to the case. USA Rice and USDA have been pressing for years for a phytosanitary deal to open the Chinese market to U.S. rice. “The phytosanitary deal is purely technical in nature and it has been completed on the U.S. side for months. We will continue to work with USDA and believe the agreement can and should be signed despite today’s action,” Ward said.
During today’s press conference, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack stated, “This case is an important message to all WTO members that they must take their WTO obligations seriously.”
Bipartisan support for the Administration’s action demonstrates the importance of enforcing current and future trade deals. “We see this as a first step to bringing offending countries into compliance,” said Ward.
The official USDA release on WTO challenge can be found here.