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How TV networks can benefit from eSports' NFL-like viewership numbers
The gaming industry is doing better than ever before: Electronic Arts’ stock was up nearly 50 per cent in 2015 while Activision Blizzard’s was up 96 per cent.
Demand is extremely strong on major platforms like PlayStation and Xbox and mobile game development are better designed and more engaging than ever. But what will really drive the industry in the coming years is eSports – an industry that SuperData forecasts will generate $1.8 billion in revenue by 2018 (Activision last week acquired eSports giant Major League Gaming).
What will drive these revenues is growing viewership numbers, and as described in an ESPN the Magazine article last June, this shouldn't be an issue: “Today, eSports' biggest tournaments rival practically any sporting event. The League of Legends Championship sold out Staples Center in 2013, then sold out the 40,000-seat World Cup Stadium in Seoul a year later while drawing an online audience of 27 million -- more than the TV viewership for the final round of the Masters.”
With viewership numbers already so high, and continuing to grow, there is a tremendous opportunity for TV networks (and, of course, brands and advertisers) to capitalize.
One company leading the eSports charge is Skillz, which focuses on the niche of mobile eSports. Skillz has hosted more than 40 million mobile tournaments and its platform allows developers to integrate these tournaments easily into any mobile game.
For more on eSports, its viewer base, and how TV networks and over the top services can benefit from its growth, we spoke with Andrew Paradise, CEO and Founder, Skillz:
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Found Remote: How will eSports continue to benefit from over the top services like Apple TV, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV?
Andrew Paradise: In 2016, eSports growth will be explosive, including major consumer adoption using services like Apple TV, Roku, Amazon Fire TV and even the Apple Watch. Through expanding compatibility and optimizing the user experience for each unique service, the industry will have the opportunity to interact with existing users on each platform and convert them into eSports fans.
FR: How can TV networks capitalize on the growing popularity of eSports?
Paradise: In the coming year, I predict that the largest eSports event will be second only to the Super Bowl in terms of total viewers. Therefore, it’s in the best interest of TV networks to start laying the groundwork now so they’ll be in the position to broadcast major 2016 eSports events and capitalize on the growing viewership numbers.
FR: What will it take to convert traditional sports fans and viewers into eSports ones?
Paradise: Honestly, it shouldn’t take much if the eSports industry continues to lower the barrier for entry. The increase in the eSports fan base will be aided in part by the growth of mobile and the accessibility it provides to people around the world. As the popularity and awareness surrounding eSports continue to rise, I know that traditional sports fans and viewers will grow to enjoy and root for their favorite eSports as well.
FR: Skillz is focused on mobile eSports. How can this translate to larger screens and events?
Paradise: Right now we are dedicated to optimizing mobile to effectively bring eSports to the masses, but in the long run that’s not our only plan. Eventually we see Skillz powering tournaments in massive stadiums and other venues, as part of our overall mission of making eSports for everyone. We are building the future of eSports, which will definitely include large screens and events.
FR: What are some interesting ways you've seen brands and advertisers reach eSports viewers?
Paradise: I’ve been impressed with the consumer engagement generated by brands advertising on Twitch and YouTube. Both platforms have become popular among eSports fans for viewing live matches and replays, so it’s been interesting to see advertising focused specifically on those fans by utilizing the mediums most familiar to them.


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DAY IN COURT
NY State has had enough of Juul’s alleged funny business. New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a suit against the e-cig maker just one day after a similar suit was filed by prosecutors in California ... and piles on to the accusations made by North Carolina, parents, and schools in other states across the country. Read: the only person who still loves Juul is your 14-year-old cousin, Blake.
Can’t do that
Prosecutors in NY allege that Juul borrowed from parent company Altria’s bag of tricks, promoting its products to youths despite that being very much against the law. According to the suit, Juul used “images of attractive, young models” to appeal to the state’s teens. Local teens had this to say: “Ok, boomer.”
The state is also accusing Juul of direct outreach to children. According to reports, Juul held presentations at high schools around the state claiming to be safer than traditional cigarettes. Remember, the safest form of sex is no sex.
What’s in it for NY?
The suit seeks restitution from Juul along with penalties and disgorgement (sounds painful) of profits from the company. Altria will not be happy, considering it already wrote down its stake in the e-cig maker by $4.5B in Q3.
They’ve got a point
In theory, New York has reason to be upset. Teen nicotine use in the US is on the rise. Around 4.1M high schoolers and 1.2M middle schoolers currently admit to using electronic cigarettes. And if this study is anything like the doctor asking if you smoke, you can bet your ass that number is a lot higher.
Compound that with the 42 deaths tied to vaping, and the 2,172 reports of vaping related lung illness, and you can see why people are worried. Even though many of those illnesses are tied to vaping marijuana, a noted gateway drug.
The bottom line ...
Juul is facing quite the uphill battle. With the active lawsuits, the Altria write down, and the recent decision to stop selling its mint-flavored products, they’ll need to ramp up efforts to reach their target audience. According to the firm, that includes the more than 1B adult smokers worldwide. Good luck getting Europeans to switch to vaping.
As for the rest of us, we’ll either have to stick to vaping sh*tty flavors or switch back to old school, analog cancer sticks.
Juul Sued by N.Y. State Over Marketing Vape Products to Kids [Bloomberg]
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By Taylor Boyd
The Christian-based organization works to provide clothing and toys to those in need during normal operating hours of Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The program is operated entirely off donations, according to Belinda Barnes, who runs the organization.
Since its opening in 2013, The Jesus House has given away more than 187,000 articles of clothing to members of the community, she said.
Typically, between 12-25 people are seen each day at the agency, located on Via Avenue in Stuart, Barnes said, adding that “less than a dozen is being a slow day.”
Her goal is “making sure that everyone is able to get a reasonable amount of everything.”
The Jesus House accepts “what people wear every day,” such as men’s and women’s clothing for all ages and sizes, children’s toys, purses, backpacks, disposable diapers, female sanitary items, and other items. Barnes said that the organization is always in need of bras for women and young girls, men’s jeans, sanitary items, and shoes for all ages.
Barnes said that the agency often saves some items for big events such as Christmas and back to school. This way, “we can make sure that children are able to get things that they need and make them happy,” she said.
The Jesus House is currently full of summer clothes, and Barnes said she is hopeful people will be able to use them before summer ends. The house is expected to switch its focus to coats and other winter wear in the upcoming months, as the weather turns colder, Barnes added.
The Jesus House began seven years ago, organized by Barnes and Van Rowe.
Barnes, who has a history of volunteer work, said she was drawn to the organization because, “when people need help, I like to help them.”
Noting the purpose of the Jesus House is to help those that need it, Barnes the agency is a big help for the community and has grown since it began.
“In the beginning, the only clothes we gave away were those belonging to me, my daughter, and my husband, but now we get donations from second-hand stores and stores that are closing like K-mart,” she said
For information about donations or volunteering, contact Barnes at (276) 692-6993.


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Samsung will once again delight us with its foldable smartphones in 2021. This seemed to be a foregone conclusion, but thanks to the Korean supplier S-Connect, the facts about the foldable smartphones Galaxy Z Flip 2 and Galaxy Z Fold 3, for which S-Connect will supply the hinges, are becoming clearer.
- S-Connect has been contracted by Samsung to manufacture the hinges for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 2.
- Mass production to begin in second quarter
- The foldable market is expected to grow to 5.5 million devices this year
As far as the still fairly young and relatively sparsely populated foldables market is concerned, Samsung has been ahead of the game so far. Last year, the Koreans impressed with the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy Z Flip, and it looks like they'll follow suit this summer with the successors; Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 2.
Order already placed with supplier
According to ZDNet Korea, Samsung's Korean supplier S-Connect has already received an order from Samsung to supply the required hinges for the foldables again this year. According to this, the company was already commissioned in January to prepare the hinge production for the horizontally foldable Galaxy Z Flip 2, and will also produce the hinges for the vertically foldable Galaxy Z Fold 3.
According to S-Connect, mass production is expected to start no later than June this year, which coincides with previous rumours that Samsung will start production in the second quarter and could unveil its new foldables by mid-year at the latest.
The foldable market is growing
At the same time, supplier S-Connect, which not only specializes in hinges and also makes cases for smartphones and components for Samsung's watches, for example, is also giving us a glimpse into the near future of foldables. ZDNet Korea quotes the company as follows:
The global foldable smartphone market is expected to grow to 5.5 million units this year due to the restructuring of the customer's smartphone lineup.
If that number comes even close, it further underscores that Samsung is clearly the top dog when it comes to foldables, despite competition like the Huawei Mate Xs. With the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 2, they will want to reinforce or even expand this position. Of course, we will keep you up to date on this when there is news to report.


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Where Is The Wayfair Headquarters?
Our 18 fulfillment and 38 delivery centers represent millions of square feet across the US, Germany, and the UK. Our locations are near major metro markets and transportation hubs enabling us to meet our customers' delivery expectations.
Wayfair Careers | Locations
Wayfair, LLC Marketing Contacts
Wayfair, LLC Corporate Profile | Brands, Media Spend ...
Wayfair offices are located globally, though our headquarters are in Boston, MA.
Wayfair LLC. says it's opening its first Canadian delivery and warehouse facility in Mississauga, Ont. The home goods e-commerce retailer says the centre will bring 200 jobs to the region and it is currently looking to fill positions including some in management, industrial engineering and customer service.
Wayfair to open its first Canadian warehouse in Ontario | CTV News


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Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said the world's biggest software company will thrive in the exploding world of laptops, tablets and new applications.
It's Windows, Windows, Windows the 55-year-old Microsoft CEO said in his farewell appearance at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, where his usual rough-shod manner was smoothed in an 80-minute session moderated by American Idol host Ryan Seacrest.
Promising the new Windows 8 OS may ship as early as late February, Ballmer devoted much of his CES keynote -- more an extended commercial for Microsoft products than an address on the merits of technology - largely conceding that Apple has won the war for consumer hearts and minds.
For example, Ballmer lavished praise on the forthcoming Metro User Interface, which uses large picture-like icons on the screen, rather than the tiny little pictures PC users have become accustomed to for nearly 30 years; use of touch to begin applications and even gestures to begin applications.
The plain, intuitive opening screen is reminiscent of Apple interfaces in use for decades.
Not long after Steve Jobs returned to Apple, Microsoft acquired a small stake in the Cupertino, Calif.-based company and the Redmond, Wash.-based software giant said it would try to make its Windows-based PCs more friendly to the Macintosh OS.
At CES, though, Ballmer had subordinates demonstrate new Windows Phones that use large, easy-to-use applications that resemble Apple's iOS for the iPhone; as well, Tami Reller, chief marketing officer for Windows, said her staff was working tirelessly to bring Windows applications to products that use chips from ARM Holdings of the UK, whose chips power every iPhone.
Still, Ballmer hailed Microsoft's long partnership with Intel, whose computing customers including Asus, Lenovo Group, Samsung Electronics and Hewlett-Packard all formally introduced laptops based on Intel's new 22-nanometer chips on Monday.
The laptops now run Windows 7 but Ballmer and his lieutenants promised they would instantly run Windows 8.
Ballmer also hailed its new partner, Finland's Nokia, run by former Microsoft VP Stephen Elop, for introducing its new Lumia 710 phones in the U.S. and Canada this week; both run Microsoft's Windows Phone OS. As well, Nokia said it will soon sell the Lumia 900 LTE phone through AT&T, another Windows Phone.
In the pure consumer electronics sector, Ballmer said Microsoft has shipped more than 66 million Xbox units for gaming and entertainment and claims 40 million online subscribers. The related Kinect product will continue to get an easier to use interface based on the Metro concept, he said.
Craig Davison, Microsoft's Xbox chief, announced the company has just completed new agreements to show programs from News Corp. units including Fox and the Wall Street Journal and plans to add programs from Comcast and its NBCUniversal unit soon.
Xbox already offers programs from Verizon Communications' FiOS entertainment arm.
Ballmer also said Microsoft's $8.5 billion acquisition of Skype completed in the fourth quarter has started to pay off. The Internet voice service now has 200 million users, he said.
Before he spoke, Ballmer was introduced by Consumer Electronics Association President Gary Shapiro, who recalled that Microsoft's founding CEO, Bill Gates, first spoke to the CES in 1998. In subsequent appearances, Gates discussed convergence of computing, communications and social media, which Shapiro said made him a visionary.
Shapiro termed Microsoft's decision not to participate in the 2013 CES a break and said there was no rancor. He invited Ballmer back .
The Microsoft CEO spoke before about 3,000 people crowded into a ballroom in the Venetian casino hotel.


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Another set of magazine scans is still making the rounds tonight and we’ve got a couple of more figure confirmations.
First up is the next release in the Kikaider series of Figuarts. It’s Jiro’s brother Ichiro, S.H. Figuarts Kikaider 01! Kikaider 01 looks to be a pretty standard release much like the recently released Kikaider. Like his brother, Kikaider 01 will also be a Tamashii Web Exclusive set for April 2015 for 5184 yen.
Next up is an odd one that’s sure to please Kamen Rider Blade fans. The elusive and popular S.H. Figuarts Kamen Rider Blade is getting a reissue, with a twist! This Blade will be released as a battle damaged Broken Head Version! It will include a damaged helmet with a partially revealed face of our hero Kazuma Kenzaki! A Tamashii Web Exclusive S.H. Figuarts Blade Broken Version will be out in April 2015 for 4320 yen.


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The announcement comes after a 90-day consultation with the 319 employees at Bridgnorth.
“Despite significant effort by the Bridgnorth team, unfortunately a viable alternative to closure did not emerge for most of the operation,” said Tadeu Nardocci, president of Novelis Europe and senior vice-president of Novelis Inc.
It is possible that part of the packaging operation at Bridgnorth may be sold as a going concern. Novelis is in discussions with potential buyers for the printed confectionery packaging business on the site.
The closure and subsequent consolidation of the business into other plants in Novelis’ European system aims to improve the competitiveness of the company's overall foil and packaging production system in response to over-capacity in the European foil market and increasing competition from manufacturers in low-cost countries.


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According to a new study done by the Texas Real Estate Research Center (TRERC) at Texas A&M University, the volume of rural land sales has fallen 26.5% from mid-2021 to mid-2022.
“Clearly activity appears to be slowing,” TRERC Research Economist Dr. Charles Gilliland said. “Demand for land, as reported by rural brokers, remains strong but has noticeably cooled from last year’s frenzied contest.”
Below-asking-price offers have returned in some markets, which haven't been seen since the third quarter of 2020. While there are fewer properties for sale now in the second quarter of 2022, prices have increased by 24.5% to $4,286 per acre statewide.
The volume of total second-quarter dollar sales has hit $3.6 billion, up 28%. In the first quarter of 2022, the rise was 76.7%, followed by a 97.6% increase in the fourth quarter of 2021.
“A total of 850,469 acres changed hands, up only 3.67% over 2021, suggesting market activity has fallen to a more normal level at high prices," said Gilliland. The typical transaction expanded 9.4% to 1,293 acres.”
Prices have increased by more than 21% statewide, except in Far West Texas where prices dropped substantially. While the total acres transferred has declined in several regions, and sales have fallen everywhere, Far West Texas still has a high amount of sales.
“This trend toward rising prices and declining activity suggests demand is dropping,” said
Gilliland. “If so, brokers may begin to find ebbing enthusiasm among potential buyers.”


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Optimistic Mood Prevails As Hotel, Tourism Officials Gather At Caribbean Investment Conference In Bermuda
Speakers and Delegates Discuss Potential Growth for the Caribbean Market
De Marchena Kaluche also noted “there are a lot of solid and sound business opportunities in the Caribbean despite the lagging global economy.”
The Hon. Ewart Brown, Premier of Bermuda, keynoted the conference and lauded the timeshare industry, in particular fractional resort complexes, for stimulating the Bermudian tourism economy.
CTO Chairman John Maginley, also Minister of Tourism for Antigua and Barbuda, challenged governments and hoteliers to work together to both maintain the quality of the tourism product as well as find creative marketing solutions to drive visitors to the Caribbean.
Avery Shenfeld, Managing Director and Senior Economist for CIBC World Markets, said “there is some light at the end of the tunnel as new capital and the freezing of the capital markets appear to be easing off. The ultimate weapon is government spending and that all of the current spending will hit the global market in the second half of the year. By 2011 we expect to see all of the green lights flashing.”
However, he also noted that while the U.S. and Canadian economic downfall is slowing, as indicated by some of the recent activity, we are not at the bottom yet.
In looking at the impact of the global economic slide on tourism, Duane T. Vinson, Vice President of Smith Travel Research, said that “the decline in demand has not been that significant, but the room rates and revenue decline has been great and that is the real concern. The Caribbean, in comparison to other warm weather destinations around the world, is down in demand by 6.5 percent compared to double digit declines in other destinations.”
He pointed out that high-end luxury properties are discounting more and that business and corporate travel as well as meetings and conventions are off significantly, which also has a greater impact on the larger hotels.
Enrique De Marchena Kaluche, CHTA president, opened the conference with a note of cautious optimism. “This is a very perilous time in the history of global economics. A time when the investment community is being challenged every day to produce and succeed, to keep as much of its work force in order not to cause more stress in the economies, and all of that with very little possibility of obtaining any assistance from lending institutions.”
He also noted that “we know that there are solid and sound business opportunities in the Caribbean and it is true that there are a lot of challenges. We need to understand the importance of airlift, the ultimate importance of better public infrastructure, security, health and the relevance of diversifying our markets and taking advantage of that diversification. For example, Canada had a growth of 14% in the number of its citizens that traveled to the Caribbean last year for a total of 2.5 million Canadian visitors.”
De Marchena Kaluche pointed out that “last year, this conference concluded with optimism at an all-time high. We had a record of more than 500 attendees and the projected investments that were being generated and planned for the Caribbean were totaling hundreds of millions of dollars. Today, we have gathered a little more than half of the number that attended last year. And many of the investors that were so truly optimistic a year ago are cautious today.
“But that only makes me more determined to bring everyone together to work in unison to raise the awareness of the importance of tourism to the economies of the Caribbean, and the opportunities that the Caribbean brings to existing and potential investors. And, with this focus we can continue to move forward and grow the tourism and hospitality sector in the region and successfully expand the development and investment outlook for all interested parties.”
He concluded “We are a vibrant industry that will turn around and flourish again as the economy stabilizes. That's why it is so important that you are here today to look beyond the problems and find new solutions to the future success of Caribbean tourism.”
Premier Dr. the Hon. Ewart Brown, Minister of Tourism and Transport for Bermuda, keynoted the conference focusing on the importance of the timeshare industry to the tourism stability of Bermuda.
He announced a “public-private partnership that will bring a new hotel to our vibrant Atlantic-facing south shore. It has been decades since we have built a new hotel on the south shore in Bermuda.”
He also announced that Bazarian International will break ground at the former Club Med site in the fall of this year. A Park Hyatt Resort will stand where the Club Med once did.
He talked about the “significant progress” in the area of mixed-use resorts, in particular fractional timeshare resorts. “Increasingly more and more of our visitors choose fractional units. Since you were last here in 2006, more than 200 fractional units have sold in Bermuda, according to the Cabinet Minister responsible for Housing. And that excludes our biggest selling year of 2005. In that year we sold 115 fractional units.
“It has also resulted in significant revenue for the Government. More than $10 million [was] collected in fees related to fractional units since the start of the 2005/2006 fiscal year. That can pay for a lot of important social programs in a progressive agenda.
“We believe fractional units also play an important part in stimulating our overall tourism product. A fractional unit owner will come to Bermuda at least once a year in some cases and more than once a year in most cases. The thinking here is simple: if I paid for it, I'm going to use it. And when a fractional owner can not use her unit, she is more likely to send a friend or family member.
“We think fractional units also increase the likelihood of visits during the cooler months when our tourism business is at its softest. More importantly perhaps, fractional units help us keep more of the tourism workforce employed year-round – an especially critical point in times like these.
“Overall, we've seen our annual air visitor spending on-island skyrocket more than $100 million between 2005 and 2007—from $341 million to $444 million. We think the increased number of fractional owners played a role in that increase.
“So it should be no surprise that our recently opened hotels – Newstead-Belmont Hills and Tucker's Point – have significant fractional ownership components. Additionally, the Park Hyatt in St. George and the Reef's Hotel – both currently under expansion – also have fractional ownership in their business models.
The Hon. John Maginley, Minister of Tourism for Antigua and Barbuda and Chairman of the Council of Ministers and Commisioners of the Caribbean Tourism Organization, said: “There is no doubt that this conference comes at a very difficult time for Caribbean and world tourism, and for the global economy on the whole. This poses several key challenges for our tourism sector. With less revenue, we have less to spend on marketing, yet we have to ensure that we remain visible in the marketplace, and to identify those who will still travel and encourage them to take their vacations in our member countries.
“This calls for creativity, innovation, and, of equal importance, cooperation between the public and private sectors. It calls for everyone involved – governments and hoteliers, airlines and tour operators – to come together as a matter of urgency to devise ways to survive this situation and to be ready when the economies of the world turn around and people are travelling in large numbers again.
“A reduction in tourism revenue also means we have less to spend on product development, yet we must ensure that the total experience that we offer our visitors, including accommodations and tours, is at a level that we can boast about and, more importantly, they will boast about. Again, the answer must lie in public and private sector cooperation, including those we are seeking to encourage to invest in our region.”
David Larone, Director of PKF Consulting, said that “there are a significant number of broken deals spread around the Caribbean,” however, he added “any new projects have a lot less baggage and are much more likely to proceed. But it's not going to be easy. The destination must be a ‘can't miss' and a new deal is going to happen in a destination that is a home run with good infrastructure, air lift, employees that embrace quality service and attractions.”
He also noted that “developers will need very deep pockets and the resort has to exist first with residential units coming afterwards.” But he added “there are those with equity that still believe in the Caribbean.”
Simon Townend, Partner with KPMG Corporate Finance, said that “the banks are lending, yes.” He added that the “fundamentals of the Caribbean are good, it's very resilient. You can't create a beach where there is none. There is a robust level of confidence in the Caribbean and destinations with good air lift will succeed.”
And finally, an optimistic outlook was provided by Jean-Claude Baumgarten, President and CEO of the World Travel & Tourism Council (WTTC), as he presented the Global Travel & Tourism Outlook with a focus on the Caribbean.
He noted the historical resilience of the North American markets with a high priority for travel, but added that shorter and multiple trips and domestic staycations were the new form of travel.
He said: “The Caribbean is the region in the world most dependent on travel and tourism. Long-term travel and tourism prospects in the Caribbean remain healthy, with real GDP growth for the travel and tourism economy expected to average 3.3 percent per annum over the coming 10 years. Meanwhile, [the] travel and tourism economy is expected to contract by a staggering minus 7.9 percent in 2009.
“WTTC suggests that industry leaders diversify their target markets. The region is currently overly dependent on North American tourists. Long-term prospects in the travel and tourism industry are supported thanks to the continued rapid expansion of emerging destinations along with the global increase in per capita income.”
Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association | The Caribbean Hotel & Tourism Association (CHTA) aims to facilitate the full potential of the Caribbean hotel and tourism industry by serving members' needs and building partnerships in a socially responsible and sustainable manner. CHTA was founded in 1962; it is the voice of the Caribbean hospitality industry for the development of the region in the highly competitive and sophisticated environment of international tourism. Today, tourism is widely recognized as a pivotal industry in the economy of the region – and CHTA functions as the common denominator for this industry in a region of diverse nationalities, languages and styles, identifying mutual problems and marshalling the resources of the active and allied members to devise solutions. CHTA represents all facets of the hospitality industry with more than 750 member hotels and 525 allied members. For more information, visit .
Theresa Oakes/Josh Kahn


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Duncan Hamilton & Co. will be unveiling on February 2 a new collection of stunning racing cars, courtesy of Chairman Adrian Hamilton. The display, entitled the ROFGO Gulf Collection by Duncan Hamilton, includes 14 of the most prominent cars that competed in the colors of Gulf Oil.
Twelve of these cars are being displayed on February 2-6 at Retromobile, which is considered an annual festival of classic road and competition cars at Porte de Versailles, Paris. Parading 45 years of experience handling the purchase and sale of some of the finest historic road and competition cars in the world, Adrian Hamilton was able to locate and acquire these cars in just two years.
These cars – produced between 1967 and 2010 – include examples of iconic racing cars, many of which were piloted by racing legends. Interestingly, all of these 14 iconic cars were sponsored by Gulf Oil, as evidenced by their unmistakable livery that relives memories the challenges and wins at Le Mans, Spa Francorchamps and other competitions.
Adrian Hamilton remarked that his career had involved dealing several remarkable cars like the Mercedes-Benz 196 Grand Prix car, nine Ferrari 250 GT0s, 20 GT40s, seven Porsche 917s and a number of Jaguar C and D-Types.
He, however, noted that only a few projects – like the Retromobile collection – have been enjoyable and satisfying. He added that it was a huge privilege to be able to build a unique and lasting tribute to Gulf Oil, which he described as one of the greatest names in motor sport.


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Folks, I have some great news. Blind Bear has rolled back its prices on some of your favorite beverages.
For some reason, last month mimosas and Bloody Marys went up to nine dollars during weekend brunch hours. That was an astronomical eighty percent increase. And you couldn’t avoid the price increase by ordering a champagne bottle with mimosa setup – that underwent a fifty percent price increase to thirty dollars.
I am pleased to announce those increases have been REVERSED. Catch Chico behind the bar 11 AM to 7 PM on Saturday and Sunday for
- $5 mimosas
- $5 Bloody Marys
- $5 white peach sangria
- $5 Ole Smoky moonshine shots
- $20 mimosa bottles
In addition, one more price issue has been reversed. Last month, the price of Pabst Blue Ribbon cans shot up to five dollars, a sixty-seven percent hike.
Yesterday Jeannette told me the PBR price has been reset to $3.
A full Sunday update is coming, but I wanted to go ahead and get this news item out quickly since it’s time-sensitive. News on football, butt sluts, and more to come.
By the way, I’m at the Blind Bear now. Come hang out!


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'SPAMERICANTOUR' 2015: A Revolutionary Way to Introduce New Spam Menus
Sep 10, 2015 08:30 PM EDT | By abbie uychiat
The Spamerican Food Truck is creating a buzz as it visits various stated to introduce the canned goodness. As Per PR Newswire, the Spam themed dishes made the headlines as the ordinary pork, water, salt, sugar and cornstarch mixture was turned into a heavenly gourmet dish by each city's chef. Chefs across the US infused their menus with the classic flavored Spam.
The Spamerican Tour visits 12 cities around the United States. Per stop over Spam would team up with a local chef who will then create a dish that would feature Spam's "history, versatility, and cultural impact." One of the crowd,s favorite is the "Kimchi Spam Musubi Croissant" which was created in LA. [ Independent UK]
Nicole L. Behne, Marketing Director, Grocery Products Division released a statement regards to the Spamerican Tour.
"We discovered love for the brand popping up all over the U.S., from diners in the midwest serving SPAM® and eggs, to trendy Manhattan hot spots featuring SPAM® Musubi, with the SPAMERICANTM Tour, we have set out to share these delicious SPAM® recipes with America and celebrate the chefs who serve them."
Sunny Anderson a renowned chef then added:
"For many years now, I have been a fan of the SPAM® brand; its flavor and versatility lends itself to so many different cooking styles and recipes, The SPAMERICANTM Tour brings together such a unique curation of SPAM® dishes and is a celebration of the iconic taste that Americans and chefs, like myself, have grown to love."
The tour truck can usually be spotted on famous events such as Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach, Denver's Cinco De Mayo Festival and the Atlanta Jazz Festival. Aside from exhibiting new dishes that can be made out of Spam, the crowd will get a chance to learn different trivia regarding the product. Spam themed art and music performances with instruments made with recycled SPAM cans are also the highlight of the event.
Fans can get their SPAMERICAN TOUR update on their website www.spam.com.


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SAMSUNG’S next smartphone could have a screen that lets you hear phone calls by vibrating against your skull.
It sounds wacky but the bone conduction technology already exists – and could revolutionise smartphone design forever.
Samsung wants to get rid of the bezel, the bit of plastic that borders its phone screens
Right now, phone companies are desperately trying to fill the front of their handsets with screen.
But the speaker is getting in the way: that’s why Apple’s £999 iPhone X has a “notch” at the top, to house a speaker for phone calls.
Samsung’s hope is that by making a “sound emitting” screen, it would be possible to get rid of the phone call speaker entirely.
Then, you could put music speakers on the bottom of the phone, and simply rely on a bone-conduction display for your phone calls.
Alamy The iPhone X has a nearly-all-screen front, but the speaker and camera forced a notched design at the top
Samsung already showed off a 6.2-inch prototype version of this – dubbed the “Sound Display” at the recent 2018 Display Week exhibition.
Now local news site ETNews reports that Samsung is teaming up fellow Korean phone maker LG to make working phone screens that use this tech.
The screens would use bone conduction technology, vibrating gently to create noise.
But you’d only hear the noise when you press your ear up against the display, because the vibrations need to impact your skull.
This technology actually already exists (and is fairly common) in headphones.
Amazon / AfterShokz The AfterShokz Trekz headphones, which sit outside the ear and play music using bone conduction
You can buy bone conduction headphones that vibrate your skull, sitting near – but not inside – your ear.
This makes them a great choice for cyclists, who want to listen to music but can’t afford to block out ambient noise – like nearby vehicles.
For instance, you can bag a pair of AfterShokz Trekz for £93.90 on Amazon right now.


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TOKYO — Toyota’s radical electrical automobile overhaul will ship a enough quantity of knock-on advantages past the next-generation of Tesla-fighting Toyotas that get started rolling off the order from 2026.
Leap forward production processes will probably be implemented to factories making extra standard automobiles as smartly. In the meantime, the brandnew all-electric platform being engineered from scratch will even be shared with spouse automakers, serving to Toyota amplify scale and extra slash prices.
All of Toyota’s international operations will money in at the EV shift, now not simply its nascent EV industry.
Manage brass on the international’s greatest automaker defined the multiplier results on Tuesday within the unedited briefing on their plan soar forward within the international electrical automobile race in only a few decrease years.
The street map, pioneered by means of brandnew CEO Koji Sato, requires brandnew engineering of Toyota’s merchandise in addition to its factories. At the production facet, Toyota plans to halve the choice of manufacturing processes, halve the volume of plant funding and halve the volume of manufacturing govern pace.
In product, Toyota will roll out a brandnew EV platform, a brandnew instrument working machine and a current of complicated batteries that would ship EV using levels as much as 1,500 kilometers (930 miles).
The ones extra aggressive next-generation EVs will collision the marketplace in 2026. And by means of 2030, Toyota expects to promote 3.5 million EVs yearly, together with 1.7 million using in this newly engineered EV structure created within Toyota’s so-called BEV Manufacturing facility industry unit.
Toyota expects wider positive factors by means of the usage of the brandnew toolbox of applied sciences around the corporate.
“Those technologies should not be applied only to battery electric vehicles,” BEV Manufacturing facility President Takero Kato stated. “It’s about increasing our quality and flexibility. We will be able to streamline all our manufacturing and production activities through this activity.”


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Arun Sudhaman 30 Aug 2012 // 11:00PM GMT
PARIS--Carrefour comms chief Florence Baranes-Cohen is departing the retail group to take charge of Edelman France.
Baranes-Cohen leaves Carrefour after more than a decade with the group, including almost eight years as group communications director, one of the country's highest-profile comms roles.
She will become director-general of Edelman France next week, replacing Isabelle Rahé-Journet, who has led the firm since 2008. Rahé-Journet will leave Edelman later this month.
Under Rahé-Journet, Edelman France effectively doubled in size to around $10m in fee income. Edelman EMEA CEO Robert Phillips, however, believes that the hire of Baranes-Cohen will help take the firm to the next level.
"Our clients will benefit from her broad experience, particularly in the consumer, corporate and digital space," said Phillips. "The reputation and respect she commands will ensure France continues the double-digit growth we have enjoyed over the past few years.
"It’s time for Edelman to be seen as a genuine reference point in France for corporate, digital, technology, health and consumer PR."
Baranes-Cohen began her career in the communications department of Sopexa, where she spent seven years spent promoting French agri-food expertise across the world.
In 2001, she joined the Carrefour group to manage comms for its convenience business unit, before taking on the wider group role and joining the company's management committee.
In 2010, Baranes-Cohen was named Communications Person of the Year by a peer jury from Communications et Entreprise, France’s Corporate Communications Association.
In recent months, Edelman has aimed to build a broader profile for its French operation, basing its new global executive positioning offering in the country, and expanding its digital and corporate practices.


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Ultimate Ears have detonated released the MEGABLAST and BLAST. True to their heritage they are portable, IP67 waterproof, with the distinctive Ultimate Ears 360° sound,
What’s a network audio player, and why would you want one? Let’s dive into one of the best on the market to see what it’s
If you have never seen a speaker with colours called Concrete, Avocado and Unicorn then pop into a major retailer and have a look at
Braven (pronounced Brave N) was founded 2011 – its focus is on Bluetooth outdoor, active, and premium audio solutions.
Sony went overboard releasing more than 20 new consumer electronic devices and sending nine press releases to prove it.
The WD My Cloud Home review was done over a week or so – sometimes the less obvious quirks don’t show up.
Telstra has announced details of its latest video streaming box, the Telstra TV, which will be available for purchase from October 31. As Australians shift
That had me scratching my head. I went to use Google Play Music on my phone to play some audio test tracks … and they
Let’s say that you have a TV that isn’t quite as smart as you’d like it to be. That’s often the case, even with newer
A lot has happened since September 9, 2015, when the 4th Generation Apple TV was announced. Since then, 4K, or ‘Ultra HD’ televisions have become the
Music streaming service Pandora has ceased operations in Australia and New Zealand, as of yesterday. Previously we were the only nations outside of the US
I am still awaiting formal confirmation from Apple, but it seems that the iPod is dead. (UPDATE: Now confirmed by Apple Australia with the following
I think the word is “synergy”. It was popular a few years ago when companies felt they could bring together different, but complementary, ideas and
Over the last couple of days I’ve kept stumbling across reports claiming that MP3 is no more. That, says Gizmodo, “it’s dead”. The piece title
People who like high resolution music, and like to use a computer to deliver it, have been irritated for years by the failure of Windows
My, hasn’t the Walkman come a long way? The original chunky portable cassette player from 37 years ago has shrunk, become more robust, delivers far


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ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - One of the last dairies delivering milk in Albuquerque is calling it quits.
Mickey’s Dairy has just put its farm on the market, saying New Mexico's drought and economy are two big problems they just can't overcome.
While its business owners have 41 years of history in the Albuquerque area, they say their drive-in and door-side milk delivery service will soon be gone.
“Right now I am totally broke,” said Danny McMahon, co-owner of Mickey’s Dairy.
Judy McMahon, who also co-owns Mickey’s Dairy, said they've laid off so many employees, they're "down to the bare bones."
The South Valley dairy farm off Coors Boulevard says the past five years of business has been bad for a few reasons, including the weather. The farm used to have about 300 head of cattle. Now, there are only about 50 head. The farm says many have been sold to slaughter because they're too expensive to maintain.
“It's more the cost of the feed. That’s the number one problems right now,” said Judy McMahon.
Danny McMahon added, “With drought after drought after drought, borrowed money to stay in business and it's just no longer feasible.”
The McMahon’s say hay and corn have tripled in price. Meanwhile, they say they can't even buy cotton feed anymore because those prices have quintupled.
To make up for the cost of feed and care, the dairy has higher milk prices than the big supermarkets. However, government regulation prevents them from charging too much.
For many customers, Mickey’s pending closure is not something they want hear. Oliver Palmer is one of those customers who drives in from Belen to pick up the milk.
“You know, it's more fresh and it’s just unreal,” said Palmer. “It’s sad. We've enjoyed having them.”
The owners say they tried to hold on for the sake of their customers, but just can’t do it anymore.
“I don't know what I'm going to do ... if I do get lucky enough to sell to pay my bills, then I really don't know what I'm going to do,” said Danny. “It's just a sad day for me.”
The McMahon’s say they’re not sure how much longer they’ll be able to stay in business, but hope to sell the property within the next year.
An Albuquerque Police officer involved shooting over the weekend marks the fifth since late October and city officials are taking notice.
A woman was stolen from her daughter's car, a woman who died more than five years ago.
Albuquerque police shot and killed a man Sunday night after responding to an assault call near UNM.
Deputies were led on a chase around 4 p.m. Monday after a person called 911 to report their vehicle had been stolen and was being driven recklessly around Albuquerque.
New Mexico could have hundreds of millions of dollars more to spend as legislators get ready to put together next year's budget in the upcoming legislative session.
Organizers of the Gildan New Mexico Bowl are hoping to shed the disappointing attendance numbers that weighed down the event last year when the Colorado State Rams and the Washington State Cougars face off Dec. 21.


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Eddie Van Halen’s Dog Kody Gets His Own Facebook Page by: Amy Sciarretto
Eddie Van Halen‘s pup Kody Van Halen is a rock star in his own right. Forget his bipedal owner being the most famous member of the Van Halen clan. This four-legged creature has his own Facebook page and he’s been snapped in public repeatedly. He’s a rock ‘ ...
Tommy Lee Urges Fans to Adopt Pets Rather Than Purchase Them by: Amy Sciarretto
Motley Crue drummer Tommy Lee is urging fans to adopt pets as opposed to purchasing them at pet stores, which get their canines from puppy mills. Those mills are facilities that provide substandard care for the breeding animals. Lee and his lady love Sofia are proud parents ...
What started out as a typical holiday weekend ended in mourning for Kelly Osbourne, as one of her family's canine companions passed away on Christmas Eve (December 24).
The 27-year-old was spotted out in West Hollywood prior to the sad news as she tended to last minute shopping needs at Fred Segal while tweeting, "Christmas is F**KING expensive!!!! How ever the happiness a good ...
The Commander-in-Chief and his faithful friend hit Petsmart in Alexandria, Va., for a little last-minute shopping on Wednesday, where Bo greeted another furry shopper, a standard poodle named Cinnamon. "Okay, Bo, don't get too personal here," the President said.
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Apple hopes to bring Apple Pay to the world's second largest economy - and the most populated country - by February 8, 2016. Considering that Google's mobile apps and services aren't really welcome in China, the move could gain large traction for Apple's digital payment services.
However, there's more work to do with the country's banking regulatory groups. And not all of the details are nailed down yet, sources say; particularly in how much Apple will charge for each transaction. According to the Journal, Apple earns 0.15% of a credit card transaction value and $0.05 per debit card transaction.
An Apple push to bring Apple Pay to China sooner rather than later is one of good timing.
That means there are plenty of iPhones already seeded in China that can support Apple Pay. And even better for Apple: It doesn't yet have to contend with Google's Android Pay, a similar digital payment system.
China has generally shunned Google's Android apps, Play Store and services for the last several years, making it tougher for Android Pay to be a contender in the country; a problem Google is surely working to address. It's unlikely the company will have done so prior to February 8, however.
What's the significance of that date and why would Apple be pushing to launch Apple Pay in China by then?


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Bankrupt retailer J.C. Penney Co. will close 154 stores in the next 10-16 weeks, including two in the Inland Empire as it restructures its finances in the middle of long-running challenges and a pandemic-cooled economy.
“We will continue to operate the majority of our stores and our flagship store, jcp.com, to ensure our valued customers continue to have access to the products and brands they need and want,” a company press release stated Thursday.
Among the closures are stores at the Rancho Del Chino Shopping Center in Chino and the Inland Center in San Bernardino.
J.C. Penney, which filed for protection from creditors last month, expects closing sales to begin after approval by a bankruptcy judge on June 11.
The company also said it “expects additional phases of store closing sales will begin in the coming weeks. Store closing sales for the first round of store closures are expected to take 10-16 weeks to complete.”
Like many old-line merchants, J.C. Penney has battled both long-running challenges to traditional department stores as well as business limitations and economic weakness due to the coronavirus.
“I am incredibly grateful to our talented associates for their ongoing dedication and their passion for meeting and exceeding our customers’ expectations during this difficult and uncertain time. All impacted associates will be treated with the utmost consideration and respect,” said CEO Jill Soltau.
The Plano, Texas-based retailer said it could take about 10 to 16 weeks to complete the closures. J.C. Penney is the biggest retailer to file bankruptcy since the coronavirus pandemic forced non-essential stores to be shut down temporarily. J.Crew and Neiman Marcus sought bankruptcy protection days before J.C. Penney. All three were laden with debt and had trouble connecting with shoppers.
As part of its bankruptcy reorganization, Penney said it planned to permanently close nearly a third of its 846 stores in the next two years. That would leave it with just over 600 locations.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Covers copyright, DMCA and internet regulation. By Kevin Heller.
Provides summaries of patent-related opinions and orders by the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia. By Coby Nixon.
Covers search engines and copyright issues.
Covers internet marketing and online media. By Looper Reeed.
Covers media law, ethics and intellectual property law. By Ed Forbes.
Answers questions about basic legal and business issues, concepts, trends, problems, and practices important to the arts and entertainment field. By Goldstein & Guilliams PLC.
Covers European patent law (in French).
Covers copyright, design, patent, software, trade secret, trade mark and IP transactions. By RatnerPrestia.
News & Views on Trademark Registration and Litigation. By Morris Turek.
From the US Patent and Trademark Office.
Profiles athletes, business professionals and celebrities and discusses current events and entertainment news.
Covers intellectual property, data security, online marketing and online commerce. By Proskauer.
Provides news, analysis of important case law, summaries of pending litigation, statistical information, and commentary relating to intellectual property issues affecting Maryland businesses and individuals. By Brian Wm. Higgins.
News and comment on intellectual property, technology, media, entertainment and competition law from the UK, EC and around the world. By John Lambert.
Covers issues concerning libraries and the law. By Peter Hirtle, Raizel Liebler, Mary Minow and Susan Nevelow Mart.
By Michael White.
Discusses important legal developments in the areas of business, employment, intellectual property, litigation, real estate, and estate planning. By Thoits, Love, Hershberger & McLean.
By Cardozo Law School professor Susan Crawford.
Covers patent litigation, infringement, licensing and registration. By Mandour & Associates.
Covers cases, verdicts and tools for patent infringement investigation, case management and damages.
Highlights recent appellate court decisions involving trademark, trade dress, copyright, and related issues. By Tom Casagrande.
Discuss current copyright/internet law issues. By Derek Slater.
Covers patent and intellectual property law.
Offers daily tidbits on intellectual property law. By Mark Reichel.
Covers intellectual property in the chemical, biotech, and pharmaceutical fields. By Foley & Lardner LLP.
Offers insights on current developments in the intellectual property space, and discusses patent, trademark, trade secret and copyright information and news.
Covers emerging legal issues in IP, technology, commerce, and the arts. From the Washington Journal of Law, Technology & Arts.
Offers news and information from the intersection of intellectual property and business law. By Jim Singer.
Covers legal, business and regulatory developments in the personalized medical industry. By Foley & Lardner LLP.
Covers fashion intellectual property, licensing, and the Design Piracy Prohibition Act (DPPA). By Fox Rothschild LLP.
Covers intellectual property and technology law. By Picadio Sneath Miller & Norton, P.C.
Covers recent developments and noteworthy happenings in the area of Intellectual Property with a focus on the gaming, entertainment or hospitality industries.
Covers trademark law, including trademark litigation, infringement, registration and application issues. By Mandour & Associates, APC.
Covers intellectual property, defamation, consumer protection and other legal issues regarding social media. By Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP.
Covers intellectual property and business law issues for companies doing business in Asia. By Asia Law.
Covers intellectual property developments. By Woodrow Pollack.
Covers online branding and the law.
Covers patent infringement and litigation.
Discusses trademarks and copyrights in Mexico.
Covers veterans affairs, consumer law, and other legal topics catering to U.S. military veterans. By the Law Offices of Robert B. Goss, P.C.
Up to date information on intellectual property law. Published by Sheppard Mullin.
Covers trademark law, right of publicity and branding strategies. By Daniel Corbett.
Covers the intellectual property needs of individuals and small- to medium-sized companies. By J. Douglas Miller.
Covers video games, gambling and other legal discussions. By Mark Methenitis.
Covers patent prosecution strategies and techniques. By Michael E. Kondoudis.


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After loads of spy shots and teasers, Porsche has finally officially revealed full details and specifications of the new 2012 991 Porsche 911 Carrera and the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S ahead of the 2011 IAA Frankfurt Motor Show debut. As reported, the new Porsche 911 Carrera and Carrera S will get 257kW and 294kW, respectively, and an all-new seven-speed manual transmission.
Images of the new 2012 Porsche 911 were leaked onto the net last week, showing the new 911 in all its glory, without any camouflaging or disguise. The company has decided now that all is revealed, it might as well release all the details. Or maybe this was Porsche’s marketing plan all along? Anyway. Let’s get to the juicy stuff that has been revealed about the new 911, we’ll get to the specific model details later on.
First up, Porsche has confirmed the new 911 features a longer wheelbase by 100mm compared with the outgoing Porsche 911. Additionally, the new 911 features a lower roof height, as earlier reports indicated, as well as a wider front track. Even though the body has grown in length, Porsche has shaved 45kg from the outgoing Porsche 911’s body weight, with help from extensive use of aluminium-steel composite materials.
The shape of the 2012 Porsche 911 may look very similar to the outgoing model, but Porsche has managed to retain the overall aerodynamics of the body, which sits with a 0.29Cd rating. The company has reduced front and rear lift considerably though, to a point where there is almost zero lift. Apart of this advance in aerodynamics is helped by the addition of new rear spoiler which is not only wider than the outgoing 997 911 but it is also variably adjustable. The new 911 body is also said to offer increased structural stiffness and integrity compared with the outgoing 911.
Other highlights that only a true 911 connoisseur would notice on the exterior is the new placement of the side mirrors. On the 2012 Porsche 911 these are placed on the upper door skin, along the top shoulder of the door, whereas on the existing 997 911, the side mirrors are placed in a separate mount in the corner of the side windows, like most cars on the market. Apart from the rather obvious revised rear end layout, the new Porsche 911 also gets a three-tier engine cover vent rather than the existing four-fin vent.
As for the 2012 Porsche 911 interior, we already know there are vast changes to its layout and design. It now features a raised centre console that houses the transmission lever and a completely new fascia with a central LCD infotainment screen, a five-gauge instrument cluster with the traditional tacho mounted in the middle (the cluster also includes a multifunction LCD display), and new door trims with a higher quality look and silver trimming highlights. Porsche says the overall design of the cockpit, particularly elements centered around the driver, were inspired by the Porsche Carrera GT supercar.
On to the new Porsche 911 trim levels, beginning with the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera. The new base model Carrera will come with a 3.4-litre flat-six engine developing 257kW of power. The all-new engine will be available with either a seven-speed manual transmission or a PDK dual-clutch sports automatic transmission. Porsche says the new 911 Carrera will come with a fuel consumption rating of just 8.2L/100km (in PDK guise), making it 1.6L/100km more economical than the existing Porsche 911 Carrera. The new 991 911 Carrera is also capable of doing 0-100km/h in 4.4 seconds with the PDK transmission, and 4.2 seconds when optioned with the Sport Chrono Package with Launch Control.
Next up in the trim levels is the new 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera S. As previously speculated, the new S will come with a revised version of the 3.8-litre flat-six engine developing 294kW. The 911 Carrera S is capable of doing 0-100km/h in just 4.1 seconds (with the PDK), and 3.9 seconds with the optional Sport Chrono Package with Launch Control. Remarkably, the new Porsche 911 Carrera S has a fuel consumption average of 8.7L/100km, making it almost as fuel efficient as some four-cylinder hatch backs.
Porsche Australia is yet to reveal pricing details for the new 2012 Porsche 911, but US prices will kick off at $82,100 for the 911 Carrera and $96,400 for the 911 Carrera S. Look forward to our comprehensive coverage of the 2011 IAA Frankfurt Motor show for more details. We’ll keep you posted on Australian specifications and pricing as soon as possible as well.
UPDATE: Australia pricing will start at $229,900 for the 2012 Porsche 911 Carrera and $263,100 for the Porsche 911 Carrera S. The new 911 will hit local showrooms in March 2012, after European sales commence in December this year.


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Thirty years is a good run.
Especially considering the last 10 years endured competition that killed off the big boys of the video-renting world.
Videoscope, the final video rental store in Mountain View, is closing after three decades in business, according to the Palo Alto Daily News.
The store opened in an 800-square foot space in Palo Alto with 15 movies. It expanded, moved, and finally ended up with about 40,000 titles.
But thanks to Netflix, Redbox, and other competitors that drove Blockbuster and Hollywood Video out of business, the store was making small margins, according to founder and co-owner Odon Sy, who with his wife Nona have run the place for 31 years.
So when the rent went up, the move to close was made easier.
"The big thing is the overhead," Nona told the newspaper. "It doesn't add up anymore."


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Roger Hardy of Vancouver, B.C. said he's bought OnlineShoes.com of Seattle for an undisclosed price.
Hardy is the founder of Coastal Contacts Inc. and owns Hardy Capital Partners. OnlineShoes.com was founded by Dan Gerler in 1996 and reported $140 million in revenues last year.
Hardy also said he bought ShoeMe.ca, a Vancouver-based online footwear company, and plans to consolidate it with OnlineShoes.com to create "the largest online footwear operation headquartered in Canada."
"The footwear category in North America is estimated at more than $50 billion and there are large segments of the population being grossly underserved," said Hardy in a statement.


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UK – UK supermarket retailer, Morrisons has joined the Arla UK 360 farm standards program as part of the initiative to enhance sustainable practices across its entire supply chain.
As a result of the commitment, Morrison will directly support 200 Arla farmer owners to deliver across the eight farm business areas identified in the 360 programs as key to help driving a supply chain that works for everyone.
Arla owners aligned to Morrisons will also transition to the Arla UK 360 standards in the coming months with a target to have reached these by October 2019.
The program spells out best practices in animal welfare, people development, environmental and natural resources, community engagement as well as economic reinvestment among farmers.
“It is hugely significant that Morrisons is supporting the Arla UK 360 programme across all of its Arla supplied milk,” said Graham Wilkinson, Agriculture Director at Arla Foods UK.
“This level of support for our farmer owners creates real scale to the to the Arla UK 360 programme and its continued development.”
It also involves best standards in grazing, recycling of farm waste and use of artificial intelligence in animal care.
Arla UK 360 farm standards program was recently recognized at leading industry awards as an innovative farming approach that benefits everyone.
It not only brings together best practice and standards but also establishes a platform to partner with retailers and foodservice companies on R&D projects.
“The more support we can secure for the Arla UK 360 programme, the greater the number of Arla’s farmer owners that can participate,” said Morrisons aligned owner and member of Arla’s Board of Directors.
“Creating one standard for our customers that leads the UK industry, provides increased financial return for farmers and flexibility for research and development to continuously improve our industry.
“We are delighted that Morrisons will be investing in Arla UK 360 across its entire Arla milk supply meaning around 200 farmers will benefit from their additional support.”
The move comes after Arla Foods announced a commitment to achieve carbon net zero dairy by 2050 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 30% per kilo of milk over the next decade.


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Verizon HTC One’s KitKat Update Coming ‘Shortly’
HTC’s Android 4.4 KitKat update for its flagship One has already rolled out in many markets all around the world — including the U.S. — but in typical Verizon fashion, the carrier is keeping its customers waiting. If you’re one of them, you’ll be pleased to know that it will be arriving “shortly.”
“We have received technical approval for the OS 4.4 + Sense 5.5 update today,” announced HTC’s Executive Director of Product Management, Mo Versi, on Twitter this morning. “Expect the OTA out shortly.”
Those with an HTC One on Verizon, then, should get a notification soon to say KitKat is finally ready to download. Versi didn’t provide us with a timescale, but if HTC has now received approval from Verizon — which is the bit that typically delays the update process — it should be just a matter of days.
The update will be identical to that which reached Sprint’s HTC One last week, so users can expect the latest Sense 5.5 user interface — which includes the ability to disable BlinkFeed — as well as updated Gallery, Music, and Camera apps.
- SourceMo Versi


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Courtesy of Gematsu, we’ve learned that Square-Enix is working on a new unannounced IP that’s strictly for next-gen consoles. The game is supposedly being worked on by a team of international creators around the world. Now, this would normally fall under the “obviously” banner of things, but a few things stand out.
One, it’s specifically noting Square Enix’s “First Development Division”, meaning this presumably isn’t just them stealthily discussing how they’re working on Guardians of the Galaxy with Eidos Montreal.
This also isn’t the project that’s being worked on by Luminous Production either, but rather something else entirely new. If we had to guess, it would have something to do with the fact that Square hired Yuji Naka, one of the creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, and we know he’s working on a new action game. Whatever it is, it sounds like Square is taking it very seriously.
At this point, it’s worth discussing some of the games Square-Enix is supposedly working on:
– We know Luminous Productions is still developing a new next-gen game, even in the aftermath of Hajime Tabata‘s departure.
– The former Business Division 5 is rumored to be working on the next Final Fantasy, with Final Fantasy XIV head Naoki Yoshida and some staff from Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood. We’ve even seen concept art from it, and have confirmation they’ve moved out of pre-production and into full development.
– There’s Babylon’s Fall, a project with Platinum Games, but it’s anyone’s guess what happened to this game if it hasn’t turned into a next-gen project.
– Supposedly a new Nier is in the works.
– And finally, as recently as late last year the plan was to create a game from the people responsible for Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default every year. Octopath Traveler: Conquerors of the Continent was released for iOS/Android this year.
It appears for Square fans, things have come up well as the company is constantly busy these days.


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For Microsoft, 2006 was a year of new product introductions: the Windows Vista operating system, a new version of Office, and the Zune music player, to name a few.
Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s job: Convince customers that Microsoft’s latest products are ground-breaking enough to purchase, transform a company with $44 billion in sales into an agile innovator, compete against new business models that challenge Microsoft’s traditional approach to software development and recruit enough talent to keep the software giant relevant 25 years from now.
Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980, five years after its inception. He has witnessed the company grow from 30 employees to almost 80,000. In 1998, he was named president of Microsoft, responsible for day-to-day operations, and two years later was named CEO. With a management style that he characterizes as “more bubbly” than most, Ballmer says leadership “requires a heavy degree of personalization” and the ability to adapt to new conditions.
The day before Microsoft’s Vista launch for business customers in New York City, Ballmer spoke at Wharton as part of the school’s Leadership Lecture series. During his talk, Ballmer emphasized that Microsoft’s style is to focus on the long term: His troops target a market and work until their products are competitive — an ethos that has been apparent in nearly every Microsoft product from Windows to Xbox and, most recently, Zune.
“We’re going to bet on our long term. We don’t do things for the short term. And if we don’t at first succeed, we keep trying,” he says. “If we don’t get what the customers really want, we keep going. It took us three attempts to get Windows right and if we had given up after attempt one or attempt two, Microsoft wouldn’t look anything like” it does today. “Leaders have to set the tone that says, ‘We’ll be patient.'”
Leaders Must Continuously Adapt
Ballmer’s patience will be crucial as Microsoft targets new growth areas. The company has two primary cash cows — its Windows and Office franchises — and has been spending heavily to expand into new markets. Microsoft’s Zune is designed to compete with Apple’s hugely successful iPod. Despite a third-place market share in search (behind Google and Yahoo), Microsoft is trying to close the gap. In addition, the company is facing the rise of entirely new ways of developing and distributing software that, according to Ballmer, present a challenge greater than that posed by any individual company.
To make a dent in these new markets, Microsoft has to instill the agility typically associated with startups into a massive company with $32 billion in cash and equivalents. Ballmer’s challenge is to adapt to the different markets that Microsoft is targeting. “I believe that good leaders will … adapt themselves to whatever the situation is that they face,” says Ballmer, adding that there is no single blueprint for leadership. “Leadership requires a heavy degree of personalization. A lot of lessons are valuable, but what’s probably more valuable is hearing people talk about their experiences and then developing your own model,” he says. The one characteristic, however, that he believes is “universally applicable to anybody who wants to be a leader” is passion. “You’ve got to love what you are doing.”
Ballmer readily admits that when he joined Microsoft he was not a computer expert, but he developed a passion about Bill Gates’ vision to put a computer on every desk and in every home. The company “spoke to this notion [that] most people [want] to have some kind of grander purpose about what they are doing,” Ballmer says. “And, yes, it’s about a career and, yes, it’s about taking care of family, and, yes, it’s about winning…. But, generally, people want to know that there is some bigger, more important thing out there [worth] really striving for. Leaders must set the tone about what the real purpose of any organization is. If you really want to inspire people and inspire their passions, you have to appeal to them in some way that is a little less generic than, ‘Hey, it’s good for the company. The company can earn a lot of money.'”
Developing passion is particularly critical in the markets where innovation is essential. “Because our business is software and software doesn’t wear out, we have to be about innovation,” says Ballmer. “If our new release isn’t any good, people will not upgrade to it.” He disputes the notion that Microsoft doesn’t innovate, adding that the company’s overall culture is about innovation. “No matter how you will judge … [what] … we have done or will do in the future, the culture, the leadership tone has got to be about innovation.”
According to Ballmer, Microsoft has maintained a position of leadership throughout a number of transformations in its business. The company helped to create the PC industry, transitioned from text-based interfaces to the era of graphical computing and evolved again when the Internet transformed information technology. “Unless you are really committed to building a culture of continuous change and innovation and transformation, you are not in good shape,” says Ballmer, who makes a distinction between personal adaptability and adaptability in response to evolving competitive threats. Indeed, Ballmer sees his job as assuring that Microsoft adapts to these new ways of doing business.
Competing Against New Business Models
“You know, everybody likes to have someone, a competitor, who is more interesting,” stated Ballmer. “We have many competitors. We have had very good competitors for years. We competed with IBM when nobody gave us a chance of succeeding — and we did [succeed] with Windows. We competed with guys like Lotus and WordPerfect and Novell, who started out ahead of us.”
Today Ballmer sees two major competitors for Microsoft — the open source software movement and advertising-supported software. According to Ballmer, the threat comes not from specific companies, but from the business models represented by these two trends. “Right now, the emblem of the first one is Linux and the emblem of the second one is Google. But it’s not the companies, it’s the phenomena” that present the greatest challenge to Microsoft.
The question surrounding open source software like Linux is whether this approach to software development can surpass that of commercial companies. “Will open source do a better job than a proprietary software company — any software company?” asks Ballmer. “It’s an interesting question — not just for us, but for anybody who is interested in business. The question is, can paid, commercial people do a better job than unpaid volunteers? The answer, I think, will be yes, but we’re going to have to push ourselves.”
The other threat facing Microsoft is what Ballmer characterizes as “ad funding” –software, such as that provided by Google, which is delivered for free over the web and monetized through advertising. Ballmer’s take on the rise of Google is that “getting search right was actually not the hardest part of the issue. They got ad funding — they really figured that out. And now the rest of us are going to have to learn that game.” Advertising is a new model for software and the question is, “Will we be as good at ad-funded software as we were at paid software?”
Squaring off against Google and figuring out an advertising-funded model for Microsoft software excites Ballmer more than other competitive challenges because it requires the software giant to be “extra agile, extra clever. I get extra fired up about that possibility. And yet, I’m confident in how we’ll do in that game. Certainly I’m confident in the long run.”
Why Innovation and Agility Matter
Microsoft’s confidence largely comes from a history of entering markets where it wasn’t top dog and yet eventually becoming a strong competitor. For example, Ballmer says that Microsoft is up to the challenge of being a late comer to a market like digital music players. “When you are not the first guy in the market, you have two choices at the beginning of the day: Get in or don’t get in. You just have to decide. Are you a company that is afraid to get into something where there is a clear market leader? We put our hands up and said, ‘No, we’re not going to be afraid of that.'”
To Ballmer, these new markets are marathons. “It’s going to take … patience and long-term innovation to win. It’s what it took us with Windows and, frankly, what it has taken most companies in our business.” Google, for example, “didn’t invent search. They weren’t the first guy to the party.” Ballmer points out that Google spent “six, seven, eight years before it established a position [in search] and beat AltaVista and Yahoo. It took Apple a while to come in on top of MP3 and music Players. SAP was at it for almost 20 years before they really got to critical mass with the SAP R/3 product.” For Ballmer, the issue is simple: “If you’re not the first with an innovation, do you shy away or not?”
And search is an area that Ballmer believes is ripe for innovation. Realizing that the company is playing catch-up to Google, Ballmer says Microsoft had to get in the game, but he also acknowledges that advancing search will be a long-term project. “We’re getting the basics right. We think that we have some clever ideas coming, but you know we’re going to be in there battling for years and years and years.”
Meanwhile, Microsoft is betting that there is opportunity for additional players to improve search. “Fifty percent of all searches still don’t ever result in an answer that answers the person’s question. And of the other 50%, most people will tell you that it took them longer than they thought it should have. That’s got to be a world where innovation matters.”
Innovating is one thing. Being agile enough to turn on a dime and take advantage of innovation is quite another. Ballmer acknowledges the challenge. “It’s not easy to change cultures…. We have almost 80,000 people working for us these days…. [What we] are working hardest on now is agility. What does it mean to be agile in the marketplace? Agility means that you are able to turn things around, that you can invent new things and yet you can still do things that require scale, discipline and execution.”
For a company the size of Microsoft, Ballmer says he’s trying to cultivate pockets of agile groups, some of which are “incredibly fast, but shallow,” and others that are slower, but “incredibly deep.” “How you knit [together] and enable people to get the best of all the cultural aspects in the organization is a challenge right now.” He insists that Microsoft can become more agile. While there is one overall Microsoft culture, beneath that is a wide range of sub-cultures which operate at different paces.
For instance, the Windows group, which is responsible for creating an operating system that needs to satisfy multiple requirements, will move slower than the Zune unit, which is targeting a specific niche. “What it means to be agile in the Windows product is quite different than what it will mean to be agile in delivering Zune. Windows shouldn’t update itself every three months…. Windows needs to be more things to more people than any other product I can name on the planet … so Windows has to try to be more encompassing.” Zune, on the other hand, is in a very different position, according to Ballmer. “Zune is nowhere in the market. So hit, run, work, find your niche — go, go, go, go! This is a whole different agility profile than what you need in Windows.”
The key “isn’t trying to put everybody on the same treadmill. The key is to strike the theme, set the tone, set the priorities among all of the leaders and then let them interpret what makes sense relative to what we are trying to get done in a given context,” says Ballmer.
Breaking with the Past to Compete in the Future
Sustaining this level of agility often involves making difficult choices. With the launch of Zune, for example, Microsoft introduced a product that was incompatible with the “PlaysForSure” digital rights management (DRM) scheme the company had been previously encouraging all its partners to use. Following the model that made Microsoft’s Windows so successful, Microsoft licensed PlaysForSure to multiple hardware vendors of digital music players. “We thought that was a brilliant strategy — [develop] an open ecosystem, get a lot of people [to support it].” What happened? As Ballmer puts it, “In this particular case, the whole was not bigger than the sum of the parts.” And, as a result, “Apple — with one model that was simple and consistent — wound up taking 75%-80% of the market.”
Microsoft believed it needed to move quickly to change its strategy. “So we said, ‘Okay, what do we have to do here?’…. We had to make the market, not just let our partners make the market…. We needed to get an absolutely consistent…user experience [and] retailer experience…. We said, ‘Look, we’ve got to take a different approach, build a new ecosystem and, by the way, we better do something that Apple hasn’t done.'”
Microsoft saw an opportunity in music sharing. “We believe in community; community means sharing…. How do I share my music with you? I want to be able to do that legally. So we said, ‘We’ll go out and negotiate for the rights.’ If I share a song with you, you can listen to it three times, or for three days, whichever comes first, then you can mark it and buy. That’s one of the features of Zune. But, as soon as you say that, it is inconsistent with PlaysForSure. The DRM information doesn’t know anything about that.”
The change in strategy was, in Ballmer’s words, a “very hard call.” But his conclusion was: “We could be consistent with what is out there, which hasn’t succeeded. Or, we can try a new approach, which we think has … merit and can succeed.”
As for the impact on Microsoft’s partners as a result of this change of strategy, Ballmer states, “Some of our partners will say ‘This wasn’t partner-friendly.’ But having our partners only have 20% of a market share between them is also not very partner-friendly. One of the key things … that I have learned about business partners is that business partners are your partners because they make money with you, they succeed with you. And if you don’t succeed, eventually you don’t have any partners.”
Attracting, Retaining Talent
Ballmer believes that the key to all of these goals is talent. Can Microsoft effectively recruit and retain the brainpower to expand its traditional markets while also tackling the challenges of the new business models introduced by the growth of the web? The task is even more crucial as rivals like Yahoo and Google are increasingly competing for talent.
Throughout Microsoft’s evolution during his tenure, Ballmer says the “number-one thing that has consumed my time is attracting great people, retaining great people and enabling people.” In the end, Ballmer says he’s recruiting for Microsoft’s next generation, trying to find people willing to continually reinvent the company. “If I were to do surveys with Microsoft right now [asking], ‘How many of our folks were around before Windows was a success?’ [The answer would be] it’s a low percentage. As a leader, then, my job has got to be to connect the dots for people who have had all different kinds of experiences.”
Ballmer recalls a question once posed to him by an intern: Where will Microsoft be 25 years from now? After some thought, Ballmer says, the only thing he could predict is that “we’re going to have great people…. And if we have great people and we have a leadership position today, then everything will take care of itself,” says Ballmer. “We’ll be driving the leading edge of technology. We’ll be making good money. We’ll be earning good returns for shareholders and all of that kind of stuff. But at the end of the day, the only thing that could be the magnetic north compass for the place over the next 25 years has got to be this notion of prioritization of people.”


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NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Mar. 1, 2022--
Revlon, Inc. (NYSE: REV) today announced that on Thursday, March 3, 2022, the Company intends to release its results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2021, and host a conference call at 8:30 A.M. NYC time.
Revlon’s earnings call can be accessed from the U.S. and Canada by dialing 1-866-342-8591, using the passcode “Revlon.” Callers from outside the U.S. and Canada may access the call by dialing 1-203-518-9713, using the passcode “Revlon.” Alternatively, the call can be monitored via webcast by going to “Webcasts and Presentations” on Revlon’s Investor Relations website at www.revloninc.com.
About Revlon, Inc.
Revlon has developed a long-standing reputation as a color authority and beauty trendsetter in the world of color cosmetics and hair care. Since its breakthrough launch of the first opaque nail enamel in 1932, Revlon has provided consumers with high quality product innovation, performance and sophisticated glamour. In 2016, Revlon acquired the iconic Elizabeth Arden company and its portfolio of brands, including its leading designer, heritage and celebrity fragrances. Today, Revlon's diversified portfolio of brands is sold in approximately 150 countries around the world in most retail distribution channels, including prestige, salon, mass, and online. Revlon is among the leading global beauty companies, with some of the world’s most iconic and desired brands and product offerings in color cosmetics, skin care, hair color, hair care and fragrances under brands such as Revlon, Revlon Professional, Elizabeth Arden, Almay, Mitchum, CND, American Crew, Creme of Nature, Cutex, Juicy Couture, Elizabeth Taylor, Britney Spears, Curve, John Varvatos, Christina Aguilera and AllSaints.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220301005982/en/
212-527-4040 or email@example.com


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The company's S-1 lays the groundwork for what is widely expected to be one of the largest initial public offerings of the year, second only to Uber's IPO in May. It's also...Technologyread more
Fraud investigator Harry Markopolos' accusations extended beyond GE's management to actuaries, auditors and analysts who he claims overlooked billions in liabilities.Marketsread more
Trump's tweet comes a day after Apple put out a press release describing the money it spends on U.S.-based suppliers and vendors.Technologyread more
CNBC combed through Wall Street research to see which stocks are still a buy after their earnings reports.Marketsread more
President Donald Trump held a call on Wednesday with the CEOs of three major U.S. banks, according to people with knowledge of the situation.Marketsread more
Despite aggressive strides, Waymo needs one thing before their self-driving cars become a seriously useful transportation system: people. We talked to the ones closest to it.Technologyread more
Scientists say the smoke plumes, filled with megatons of tiny, harmful particles, could travel to other areas of the world and cause serious respiratory problems for people.Weather & Natural Disastersread more
Some Weight Watchers loyalists applaud Kurbo by WW. But nutritionists worry Kurbo promotes an unhealthy relationship with food during an especially impressionable time.Health and Scienceread more
Benefits from what President Trump called "the biggest reform of all time" to the tax code have dwindled to a faint breeze just 20 months after its enactment, writes John...Politicsread more
Epstein, 66, was found in his cell in Manhattan federal lockup Saturday morning and transferred to a nearby hospital, where he was subsequently pronounced dead.Politicsread more
Air travelers faced delays at U.S. airports on Friday afternoon after a computer issue snarled processing of international arrivals.Airlinesread more
The latest escalation signaled a return to the way Trump negotiated with China — by trying to build more leverage over Beijing amid ongoing talks — before both sides agreed to a ceasefire in late June, Michael Hirson, Paul Triolo and Jeffrey Wright wrote in a Thursday note.
"The threat is a serious gamble for Trump," they said. "It likely signals that he would prefer to reach a deal on his terms before the 2020 election, and is willing to use the tools at his disposal to build pressure on China to that end."
Trump said Thursday that the U.S. will put 10% tariffs on another $300 billion worth of Chinese goods starting Sept. 1. In a series of tweets, the president complained that China did not buy "large quantities" of agricultural products from the U.S. like it had agreed to do, and that it did not stop the sale of Fentanyl, a synthetic opioid, to the United States.
China, however, insisted millions of tons of U.S. soybeans have been shipped to the country since July 19, and many companies have made orders for American soybeans, cotton, pork and sorghum, Chinese state media Xinhua said.
The announcement came just a day after both sides wrapped up a round of trade talks in Shanghai, with plans to continue the negotiations in Washington in September.
The Eurasia Group analysts said it is possible that Thursday's tariff threat is meant to spur China into buying more American agricultural products but, they added, Beijing is unlikely to respond the way Trump hopes. It would be "extremely embarrassing for China to step up imports from the U.S. under the threat of blackmail," they wrote.
Tapas Strickland, director of economics and markets at National Australia Bank, also said that it was impossible for China to concede without losing face.
"It goes against China's core demands of sincerity and the removal of existing tariffs," he wrote in a Friday morning note, adding it is possible that Beijing "will retaliate with an intensification of non-tariff barriers, as well as further Chinese stimulus to ward off headwinds."
A senior Chinese diplomat, Wang Yi, said on Friday that the U.S. move was not the correct or constructive way to resolve the trade dispute, Reuters reported.
Some of the core complaints from the U.S. in its dispute with China include companies being forced to handover technologies to Chinese parties in exchange for equal market access, intellectual property violations, a lack of fair market access and Beijing's system of subsidies to domestic businesses.
Trump's gambit is unlikely to work as far as those issues are concerned, the Eurasia Group analysts said. For his part, Chinese President Xi Jinping "cannot afford the perception that he has been blackmailed into a deal by Trump, and these threats — coming the day after talks concluded in Shanghai — likely compound Chinese leaders' skepticism that Trump will ever be a viable partner for a trade deal."
If China does not step up its agricultural purchases from the U.S., it could complicate matters around Huawei.
Since first placing the Chinese tech giant on the Bureau of Industry and Security Entity List in May, which effectively halted its ability to do business with American firms, Washington has since softened its stance. It agreed to give timely licensing decisions to U.S. companies that would allow them to sell to the telecommunications juggernaut.
Beijing, for its part, wants the U.S. to fully lift restrictions on Huawei, but many U.S. lawmakers still strongly oppose any relief for the company, seeing it as a major risk to national security.
"Unless China restarts agricultural purchases soon, (Trump) will have little to show for a move that is deeply unpopular with China hawks," Eurasia Group analysts said, referring to some American lawmakers. "If Trump backs away from promises to issue licenses to Huawei's U.S. suppliers, the odds of negotiations breaking down and tariffs being imposed rises."


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Lake Tahoe Books and Art was conceived as a pop-up store designed to service our community for the winter holiday season. It is not yet altogether clear how long it will be able to renew its month-to-month lease options.
With the goal of exploring what it would take to develop a more permanent community bookstore on the South Shore, there will a meeting Feb. 22 from 5-6:30pm to gather input about such an endeavor. It will be at the store in the Village Center, next to Sports Ltd. in South Lake Tahoe.
For more information, call (530) 600.2020 or (530) 542.3245.


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Web giant Google has overtaken Microsoft and become the UK's top brand for the first time, according to a consumer survey.
The 2008 Superbrand survey of 2,200 consumers puts Google top for the first time, beating Microsoft at second place and Mercedes Benz at third.
Other technology companies also performed strongly. Sony took tenth place and Apple came eleventh.
Supermarkets, and the retail sector in general, had a slide in popularity. Asda plummeted 253 places, Tesco dropped 230 places and Sainsbury's fell 194 places compared to the 2007 survey.
Stephen Cheliotis, chairman of the Superbrands Council which commissioned the research, said: "Lifestyle brands, particularly those in the technology sector, have considerably more sway with the public than everyday staples such as the supermarkets, which now seem further than ever from the affections of the British people.
The Superbrands Council is a group of marketing, advertising and media experts.
Members compiled a list of more than 1,000 brands according to quality, reliability and distinctiveness and this was then passed on for consumers to rate.
The list for the Top 10 brands is:
5. British Airways
6. Royal Doulton
Download the full Superbrands Top 500 (pdf)


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U.S.D.A. Approves Modified Potato. Next Up: French Fry Fans.
The so-called Innate potato, which produces less of a cancer-causing chemical when it is fried, was developed by a major McDonald’s supplier.
Revised Food Labels Still Won’t Tell Whole Story
Proposed changes will do some good things, like mention added sugars separately. But they won’t make it quick and easy for consumers to choose healthier foods.
Food Scores, a New Web Service, Ranks Grocery Items on Ingredients and Nutrition
The database assigns a score to 80,000 products based on factors like how nutritious and processed they are.


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The original Samsung Galaxy Note that started it all was released in the the fall of 2011, the same year the Galaxy S II came to life. Ever since, Samsung's phablet lineup has been trailing its regular-sized flagship brethren in numbering, but that's about to change this year.
The Galaxy Note7 will succeed the Note5 and now Notes and S's will walk hand in hand. The rumor about Samsung's marketing move started floating around almost precisely a month ago, and the naming change has now been (sort of) confirmed by popular leakster Evan Blass (@evleaks).
Confirmed. pic.twitter.com/jo1EF3Mp3J— Evan Blass (@evleaks) June 25, 2016
Sure, that image is a lot easier to fabricate than a paper airplane that actually flies well, but we gather there's some insider information behind it. Either way the smartphone is expected to arrive on August 2, putting an end to speculations on naming, screen types, iris recognition, and whatnot.
People don't get pulled into this long over stated Note 7 hype. When it's realised it's realised that's what matters. All this false advertising, false leaks is just a waste of timeach. At the end of the day the performance of the Note 7 ...
They throwing out phones like there's know tomorrow. May as well wait in next one lol


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IKEA has revealed further growth in global sales across its sustainable products range last year, as the Swedish furniture giant today reported progress on renewable energy generation as part of its latest sustainability update.
Published today, IKEA’s annual global sustainability report covers the year ending 31 August 2017, and shows that sales of its Sustainable Life at Home range – items which enable customers to save energy, water, waste and money – have grown to €1.7bn.
The range now encompasses more than 500 products, including recycling bins, low energy lightbulbs, efficient kitchen taps and induction hobs which are designed to avoid the air pollution produced by traditional gas cookers.
It also includes its in-store solar panel and battery storage range, which after launching last year is now available in five countries – the UK, Netherlands, Poland, Belgium and Switzerland. The firm said it wanted to become the “first global solar retailer”.
The reportalso confirms the proportion of renewable electricity used by IKEA globally rose from 71 per cent in 2016 to 73 per cent last year, with 750,000 solar panels now installed on IKEA buildings and the firm having invested in 416 wind turbines.
In total, IKEA’s wind and solar sites generated more than 2,300GWh of renewable electricity over the period, the report confirmed, as the company moves closer to its target of generating as much clean energy as it consumes by 2020.
LED lightbulb sales, meanwhile, surged from 79 million bulbs in 2016 to 85 million last year, with IKEA setting its sights on selling 500 million ultra-efficient bulbs between 2015 and 2020.
Scope 1 and 2 emissions from within the retailer’s operations also fell 2.3 per cent, as the company reported slight improvements in energy efficiency across its retail and distribution centre buildings.
However, challenges remain for the company regarding its overall climate impact, with the report showing its scope 3 emissions from across its value chain – by far its bigger source of CO2 – increased from around 22.6 million tonnes to 23.5 million tonnes last year.
Moreover, while IKEA said it diverted 91 per cent waste from its operations away from landfill and instead towards energy recovery, recycling or reuse, the overall amount of waste generated by the company rose fractionally due to business growth and “other factors” IKEA said it was currently investigating.
Waste and resources are set to be a priority for 2018, IKEA said, with a new waste reduction strategy on its way later this year.
Elsewhere, the report signals IKEA is considering “alternatives to our current out of town locations” with a view to improving access for walkers and cyclists, as well as trialling more small ‘pick up and order points’ in city centres for customers.
In addition, the company said it was looking at adding more plant-based protein alternatives to meat in its rapidly growing food business, as well as researching ‘urban farming’ projects in Sweden.
Pia Heidenmark-Cook, chief sustainability officer at IKEA, said she was “excited by the year ahead when we will introduce our updated sustainability strategy with ambitions and commitments leading to 2030”.
The Swedish retailer is poised to launch a new set of global, science-based sustainability targets as part of its People and Planet Positive strategy. The previous strategy, which set targets for 2020, was first launched in 2012 and updated in 2014.
“Since we decided to go all-in for people and the planet, we’ve demonstrated how sustainability can be a driver of innovation and renewal – contributing to the success of our business,” Heidenmark-Cook added. “These steps are not just critical for the future-proofing of our business, they are also what the world needs today.”
The global sustainability results follow a year in which IKEA’s UK stores sent zero waste to landfill and generated 41 per cent of the electricity it uses from renewables.
It has also recently teamed up with the Big Clean Switch campaign to encourage staff and customers to switch their energy supplier to those that source 100 per cent renewables.


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An Osceola woman has received a nearly three-year prison term for embezzling from her employer.
Roxanna Brown, 34, a long-trusted employee of Mishawaka-based Steinhoffer Scale Co. Inc., handled the company's finances. U.S. District Judge Jon DeGuilio ordered her to serve 33 months in prison and pay more than $481,000 in restitution.
Brown admitted to using several methods to steal the money, according to her federal guilty plea. She used company credit cards and wrote company checks to herself, falsely logging them on company books as legitimate payments to distributors and business partners.
According to a police report filed with the state charge, Brown used a company credit card to make charges at grocery stores, an online nutrition company, a tanning salon, a toy store and a nail salon, and for buying fitness equipment.