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Kona coffee jabs at pretenders
By Sean Hao
Advertiser Staff Writer
By Sean Hao
The Hawai'i County Council yesterday passed a resolution asking the state Legislature to require that any coffee labeled "Kona Coffee Blend" include at least 75 percent Kona coffee. The current law only requires 10 percent Kona coffee in Kona-coffee labeled java.
The resolution, which was passed by an 8-1 vote, also seeks to require prominent identification on any package of Kona coffee stating the percentage by weight of any United States- and foreign-grown coffee.
"Kona coffee farmers will now take their case to the state Legislature," said Kona Coffee Farmers Association President Cecilia Smith in a news release.
Advocates for the resolution, which included Kona coffee growers, expressed concern that use of the Kona name on blends with minimal Kona coffee content lowers the value of Kona-branded coffee.
"Farming coffee in Kona is only viable because of its high reputation and correspondingly high price," said Ken Sheppard, former education chair of the Kona Coffee Council. "The flood of cheap blends using the Kona name will cause Kona to be considered a commodity coffee instead of a specialty coffee and the price will drop."
A bumper crop and record high prices pushed Hawai'i coffee sales to an all-time high of $37.3 million during the 2005-06 season.
That's up 88 percent from the prior season and also tops a previous record of $28.2 million in farm-level sales set during the 1997-98 season, according to the National Agricultural Statistics Service.
Growers benefited from above-normal rains in late 2004 through 2005 in key areas such as Kainaliu, which is near the North and South Kona districts border. Big Island growers generated $31 million in sales, or 83 percent of state coffee sales. The combined coffee farm value of Maui, Honolulu and Kaua'i counties was $6.3 million.
Reach Sean Hao at email@example.com.


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Beer brewing dregs to be turned into sugar substitute
A Canadian scientist has discovered that the dregs from the beer brewing process can be converted into a sweetener and used as a substitute for sugar.
David Bressler, professor of fermentation & bio/food engineering at the University of Alberta, Edmonton has discovered a process that can turn the grain based brewing by-product into xylitol, a sugar substitute.
After a batch of beer is brewed the grain waste, containing wheat, barley etc, is usually sold as cheap animal feed. However with this new process available, recycling the grain by-product into sweetener is seen as a way to produce a high value product from a low base value waste product.
Permolex, an ethanol plant in Red Deer, Alberta uses wheat to create a number of products, leaving a wheat based waste. This waste is also potentially suitable for recycling into sweetener using this process. Permolex are currently investigating the potential of this new process in opening up a completely new business opportunity and increased profits.
Scientists hope that this discovery will have environmental benefits as well as financial ones.
No mention has yet been made of the potentially devastating backlash on people suffering with wheat and gluten (coeliac disease) allergies.

domain: news


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Venture capital and growth-stage investor Sequoia’s accelerator programme Surge, which was launched last year to sharpen its focus on early-stage funding, has enlisted 15 startups for its third batch.
Seven of the 15 startups selected are from India, according to a Surge blog post on Monday. Its second batch had selected 20 startups, 12 of which were from India.
The latest batch of startups come from various sectors including software-as-a-service (SaaS), developer tools, consumer, fitness, food and beverages, education and health.
Surge said that 80% startups in this batch have come on board with institutional investors, and almost half have angel co-investors. Such startups include data platform Atlan and digital procurement platform Proco.
Besides, community management platform Convosight has IvyCap as a co-investor. And VCCircle reported last week that Snapdeal co-founders, Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal, had invested smart water purifier DrinkPrime.
Online fitness app Fittr and site-reliability engineering platform Last9 are backed by Better Capital.
One of the Indian startups the accelerator has selected is in stealth mode and operates in the personal care segment.
Surge also said that one-third of the companies in this cohort have at least one female founder.
This cohort of startups has raised over $39 million in their Surge rounds. The accelerator said that the startups from its previous two batches have raised $250 million in subsequent financing rounds after completing Surge.
Some of the startups from its first two batches which have raised subsequent rounds include fintech venture Khatabook and ed-tech company Doubtnut.


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Jeddah International Trade Fair (JITF), the longest established multisector exhibition in Saudi Arabia in its 25th edition, will take place from Dec. 15-18 at Jeddah Centre for Forums & Events.
The event has developed with the tastes and demands of the Saudi market, and is claimed to have gained an unrivaled reputation as a must attend event in the Saudi business calendar.
The fair attracts businessmen from across Saudi Arabia and neighboring Gulf states eager to see the latest products and services on offer from a wide and varied exhibitor profile.
JITF also customarily has the support of a large number of overseas trade missions based in Saudi Arabia who work closely with their counterpart international trade associations, export promotion bureaus and relevant government bodies in realizing country national pavilions that take part annually with a large number of their leading national exporters.
The annual platform organized by Al-Harithy Company for Exhibitions (ACE) and held with the support of Jeddah Chamber of Commerce & Industry will gather local and international traders, manufacturers, agents, distributors, investors and entrepreneurs from India, Egypt, Indonesia, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Pakistan alongside a contingent of Saudi companies.
“Over the past 24 editions, JITF has provided global companies with an annual platform to showcase their products and services to Saudi traders and entrepreneurs. Since its launch, many of the goods now available in the marketplace were first seen at JITF,” Zahoor Siddique, VP, ACE said.
The Kingdom, he stated, has allocated $650 billion for the implementation of colossal projects in industry and infrastructure, which is proving to be a key driver of the country’s vibrant economy. “The rising Saudi franchising industry, estimated at $1.2 billion and growing at 14 percent per annum, is one of the Kingdom’s most vibrant sectors with highly promising potential,” he added.
The show timings will be 5-10 p.m.


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Time: 11:30 am - 1:30 pm
Place: Four Seasons Hotel
Colorado may explore licensing "transportation broker" companies as a way to ensure some accountability in the growing number of ride-arranging smart phone apps such as Uber.
That was the most concrete development to come out of a day-long Colorado Public Utilities Commission hearing Monday on proposed transportation rule changes that Uber says could chase it out of Denver.
Harris Adams, administrative law judge, said he’ll propose language about the definition of “transportation brokers” under state rules, language he’ll put forward ahead of an April 16 hearing.
It’s not clear whether that will solve the conundrum of Uber Technologies Inc.’s smartphone app, which taxi companies argue makes ordering town cars too much like cab service not be included in the state’s taxi regulations.
Uber’s not alone in running afoul of state rules written before apps became part of the intensely competitive hired car industry.
Earlier this year, Boulder-based Rideorama shut down after complaints its car-pooling app ran afoul of state rules and regulators.
The PUC is considering changing the rules to make luxury limousine companies charges a “specific fixed price” and avoid loitering within 200 feet of downtown bars and hotels, both of which Uber says were sought by taxi companies to drive Uber out as a competitive threat.
Adams, the administrative law judge, was tasked with taking testimony about the rules changes and making recommendations to the PUC commissioners.
Uber argues it’s software company, not a cab business — consumers can use it to order cars from the licensed, state-regulated limo companies that sign on to use Uber as a dispatch and billing service.
Greg Avery covers tech, telecom, aerospace and bioscience for the Denver Business Journal and writes for the "Boosters, Bits & Bioscience" blog. Phone: 303-803-9222.


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When Can You Expect The iOS 16 Release Date In India?
Apple is going to release its iOS 16 upgrade. Here is the iOS 16 release date & time In India & other regions. All supported iPhones will get the latest iOS update.
On September 7, Apple revealed its latest iPhone 14 series at the Far Out event. With the exception of the iPhone 14 Plus, the new iPhone 14 series will start selling in India on September 16.
Apple said at the presentation that iOS 16 will launch on September 12. All eligible smartphones in India and other countries will receive the latest iPhone software upgrade.
The corporation withheld the precise moment of the release of iOS 16. However, it is realistic to assume that Apple will issue the update for users in India late in the evening based on the prior rollout timelines.
When Will iOS 16 Release For Indian iPhone Users?
On September 12, Apple will make the latest iOS 16 upgrade available to iPhone owners. The corporation withheld the time, although it is anticipated that the next iOS version will launch at 10.30 IST.
In the past, Apple has updated the iPhone’s software in India at 10.30 p.m. The future iOS release will likely be the same, as expected.
The update has occasionally been released later than usual, despite this. In contrast to customers in India, who received the update at 1.30 am on September 17, 2020, iOS 14 was launched at 1 pm PT on September 16, 2020.
This is 3 hours later than the regular release time. But every year at 10.30 IST, iOS 15 and some of the most current iOS updates were made available to consumers.
Even while one can predict, there is no guarantee that the new iOS update will launch at 10.30 IST because there has been no official announcement on the timing.
Users can start getting ready to download and update iOS 16 by creating a backup of their iPhone data.
As many customers are expected to be updating their iPhones to the newest software on the evening of the rollout, it is also important to keep in mind that the update may take some time to download and install at first.
Which iPhone Versions Will Get The Latest iOS Update?
The list of gadgets receiving the newest iOS 16 upgrade has already been confirmed by Apple. The new update will be preinstalled on all models of the iPhone 14 series.
The new iOS version will also be available for the iPhone 13 series as well as the iPhone 12 series, as planned.
This indicates that the forthcoming iOS upgrade will be available for the iPhone 13, iPhone 13 mini, iPhone 13 Pro, iPhone 13 Pro Max, iPhone 12, iPhone 12 Pro, iPhone 12 mini, and iPhone 12 Pro Max.
The new iOS version will also be available for the iPhone 8 series, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone 11 series, and a few additional devices.


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Personal computer manufacturer Dell, the world’s biggest seller of PCs over the phone, has poached two new marketing directors from its rivals.
Compaq marketing services group manager Roger Berry becomes marketing director for the Dell Direct division.
Nigel Batterton joins from Hewlett-Packard to take up the post of marketing director
for Dell Corporate.
Batterton was at rival PC manufacturer Hewlett-Packard for 11 years, most recently as the company’s UK industry marketing manager.
Berry and Batterson take on new roles at Dell. The positions have been created as a result
of the company’s decision to split its business into two divisions.
Berry’s role involves marketing and advertising Dell’s core business of selling computers over the phone. Batterton’s will focus more on building the Dell brand and developing the relationship between the PC maker and its resellers.
Berry, who will be based in Dell’s Bray facility in Ireland, will report to managing director Maurice Cowey. Batterton will be based at Dell’s UK Bracknell offices and report to Nick Pike, managing director of Dell Corporate.


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Tackling Tobacco: September 2023 Legislative & Regulatory Roundup
A circuit court in Oregon lets stand Multnomah County's ban on flavored tobacco and nicotine products.
Renée M. Covino
NATIONAL REPORT — Tobacco legislation and regulation is constantly under review at the local, state and federal levels. In this monthly roundup, Convenience Store News highlights the latest proposals and approved changes happening across the United States.
Temecula — Temecula City Council tentatively approved an updated tobacco ordinance that includes restricting the number of smoke shops that can open in the city to one per 10,000 Temecula residents; keeping smoke shops out of local neighborhoods and away from sensitive areas like schools; and banning neon signs that promote tobacco products. It also opted to further discuss a ban on smoking in public spaces.
Honolulu — A bill aimed at banning the sale of flavored vaping products on Oʻahu is seeing strong support — but some councilmembers believe the language of the bill should be reworded because it could additionally limit the marketing of cigars and hookah.
Boston — The Massachusetts Joint Committee on Revenue heard proposed legislation to raise tobacco taxes. Under the bill, the levy on a pack of cigarettes would increase to $4.51. The levy on cigars and smoking tobacco would increase to 80 percent of the wholesale price.
St. Paul — Member of the St. Paul City Council approved a measure prohibiting smoking in several public areas, including near buildings and in public parks. The ordinance sets smokef-ree zones within 25 feet of the entrances, exits, windows and ventilation intakes of businesses and applies to tobacco products, marijuana and vapor products. It includes an exemption for existing designated area in parks.
Syracuse — A new law that went into effect Oct. 1 restricts the placement of new tobacco retail locations near schools and parks. The ordinance also caps the number of available tobacco retail licenses and sets a licensing approval policy that will reduce tobacco retail locations in the city in the future. The restriction does not impact current locations that follow city permit requirements.
Raleigh — State legislators approved a measure to change the tax rate on snuff from 12.8 percent of the cost price to 40 cents per ounce and tax alternative nicotine products at 10 cents per container, up to 20 units per container and one-half cent per unit after 20 units. Gov. Roy Cooper indicated he will let the tax changes go into effect.
Portland — Multnomah County's ban on flavored tobacco and nicotine products will go into effect in January 2024, according to a ruling from the Multnomah County Circuit Court. The ruling came after the judge disagreed with a recent lawsuit filed by the 21+ Tobacco and Vapor Retail Association of Oregon that alleged the ordinance, which passed unanimously in December 2022, was "unlawful and unenforceable."


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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil – Brookfield Asset Management (TSX: BAM) says a subsidiary has bought a portfolio of shopping centres in Brazil for US$965 million.
The purchase, through Brascan Brazil Real Estate Partners (BBREP), a retail property fund managed by Brookfield, includes investments in five properties, four in the Sao Paulo area and one in Rio de Janeiro.
"All are among the shopping centres with the highest sales per square foot in Brazil and are at levels comparable to the best retail properties in North America," the company said in a release Monday.
The acquisition is BBREP's eighth this year and brings its total shopping centre investments to 15 in Brazil since its inception in September 2006, the company said.
"This acquisition expands the retail property fund's presence in the largest markets in Brazil," Bayard Lucas de Lima, chief executive of BBREP, said in the statement.


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bioMASON has plans to sell their eco-friendly ‘own-grown’ bricks made of a bacteria and sand combination. The sustainable construction project could be sold as early as next year. With the building industry, architects and distributors constantly under pressure to be environmentally friendly the grown bricks could be the latest revolutionary material.
“bioMASON has developed a technology using microorganisms to grow biocement™ based construction materials” – bioMASON
Grown from bacteria and sand opposed to the traditional fired bricks could cut emissions dramatically. Fired bricks take 3-5 days to bake and it is estimated contribute 800 million tons of carbon pollution annually.
In contrast, each bioMASON brick takes 2-3 days to grow, releases no emissions but even claims to absorb pollution which, could be the forefront against climate change. The North-Carolina start-up already has a prototype plant in Durham, NC producing around 1500 bricks a week.
bioMASON was founded in 2012 and since then has been creating innovational green building materials. CEO Ginger Krieg Dosier has been promoting and perfecting zero emission implementation from the beginning as she realises the changes which need to be made.
Around 40% of global emissions comes from the construction industry; bioMASON hopes in the future to drastically reduce this figure.
Find out more, bioMASON


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Follow real-time updates on Union Budget 2023Catch exclusive videos on Union Budget 2023 from CNBC-TV18
Here is a lowdown of all the top deals locked in startup universe.
Vahdam bags Rs 174 crore in funding
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D2C teas, spices and superfoods startup Vahdam has raised Rs 174 crore in its Series D funding round, led by IIFL AMC’s private equity fund. Existing investors Sixth Sense Ventures, the Mankind Group Family Office, Infosys co-founder Kris (S) Gopalakrishnan’s Family Office, Urmin Group and White Whale Ventures also participated in the round. To date, the company has raised over Rs 290 crore, including the latest round.
The D2C brand said it will use the funding to increase online and offline penetration, enter new geographies and develop new product categories. "With the current fundraising, we plan to continue deepening our distribution in key markets, both online and offline. We will also look at entering new categories, new markets, invest heavily in R&D, and further strengthen our management team," founder Bala Sarda said.
The startup also claims to have crossed Rs 160 crore in net revenue for FY21 from Rs 75 crore in FY20. Vahdam is also growing 110 percent year-on-year and also claims to be net profitable. The tea brand, which is recommended by personalities including Oprah Winfrey and Mariah Carey, is targeting Rs 500 crore in revenue in the next three years. Founded in 2015, Vahdam India procures teas directly from plantations and manufactures in-house. The startup operates in the wellness space with turmeric, matcha, and immunity-boosting teas, among other categories.
Edtech startup Leap raises $55 million from Owl Ventures
Overseas education company Leap, which runs LeapFinance and LeapScholar has raised $55 million in Series C funding led by Owl Ventures. The round also saw participation from Harvard Management Company, Inc, along with returning investors Jungle Ventures and Sequoia Capital India. The round comes less than 6 months after Leap raised its Series B which was led by Jungle Ventures, bringing the total equity capital raised by the startup to date, over $75 million.
Leap will utilise the new capital infusion for multi-dimensional growth. The company intends to extend its service suite to students across SE Asia and MENA regions and enable them to pursue their global education aspirations across more than 20 destination countries. Further, Leap intends to broaden its product portfolio to offer more innovative solutions to international students. Some of the products in the pipeline include an international student credit card and insurance products. The company is also building a suite of offerings to help international students succeed on campus once they have made the move abroad.
Commenting on the company’s plans, co-founder Arnav Kumar stated -” We are building the rails for global student mobility. Over the past year, we have built the product suite to cover an international students’ lifecycle. We have also put in place a scalable playbook that is replicable across geographies. This shows in our rapid growth across product lines. We will continue to build new product lines and deepen the existing ones to offer delightful experiences to international students across the globe."
Founded in 2019, Leap runs a million-member strong community of international study aspirants in South Asia and has helped over 60,000 students in their study abroad journey over the last 18 months. Leap’s product suite caters to the end-to-end needs of the community right from international test preparation, professional admissions counselling, student loans, international student bank accounts, foreign currency remittance, and international career guidance.
CollegeDekho secures $26.5 million in Series B round
CollegeDekho, a college admissions and education services platform, has raised $26.5 million in an ongoing Series B funding round, led by Winter Capital Partners, ETS Strategic Capital and Calega. Existing investors, Man Capital and Rajeev Chaba also participated in the funding round. This series B funding round has been advised by IBIS Capital and Cilix Capital.
The startup plans to use the funding to further improve its offerings for students and colleges, increase its investment in product and technology, expand internationally, and grow new verticals like Ed-Fin-Tech and student accommodation. "With this fundraise, we plan to invest in making our products and services even more lovable for our students and colleges, as well as expand into new geographies and business verticals," Ruchir Arora, founder and CEO, CollegeDekho said.
The startup had earlier raised $8 million in May 2019 led by existing investors GirnarSoft, London-based Man Capital, and others. Both the investors had also led a $2 million Series A round in CollegeDekho in 2018. CollegeDekho operates a Common Application Form (CAF) platform that enables students to apply to multiple colleges with a single click. For studying abroad, CollegeDekho offers a range of services across profile building, test preparation, application assistance, university selection and visa assistance.
Financial services startup WeRize raises $8 million
Full-stack financial services provider, WeRize, on Wednesday said it has raised $8 million as a part of its Series A funding round, led by 3one4 Capital, Picus Capital, Kalaari Capital, and Orios Ventures. The startup has raised $10.25 million so far, including the latest round.
WeRize will use the fresh capital to ramp up investments in technology, data science, product development and grow its partner network to over 50,000 in the next two years. "The full-stack approach of owning both the product and the distribution gives us unique insights about our customer segment that becomes an unbeatable competitive advantage," Chopra and Gupta said.
Launched by former Lendingkart executives, the firm claims to be a full-stack provider, both developing and distributing a wide portfolio of customised credit, group insurance and savings products. The company says it has acquired more than 500,000 families since launch and registered a revenue growth of 10x in the last year. At present, WeRize has 10,000 social partners who sell financial products to customers in tier-II cities.
Agritech startup Intello Labs scores new round led by Avaana: Report
Artificial intelligence-focused agricultural technology startup Intello Labs has raised Rs 37.3 crore or $5 million in a round led by Avaana Capital which takes the company’s valuation to around Rs 246 crore or close to $34 million, as per Entrackr. The round also saw participation from existing backers Saama Capital along with Nexus Ventures and Omnivore Partners.
The company has also passed a special resolution in its memorandum of association which says that it will carry on the business of trade, assembly, re-assembly, packing, purchase, leasing, renting of all kinds of hardware, machines used for packing and sorting of various commodities through the use of AI, in India and abroad, the report added. In May last year, the company had raised $5.9 million in its Series A funding round led by Saama Capital.
(Edited by : Jomy Jos Pullokaran)


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MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – It was this time in 2013 when we first found out about a data breach at Target stores nationwide.
Target stated hackers took the individual data of 70 million customers, in addition to credit and debit card numbers from 40 million consumers.
However one year later on, there have been no arrests in the case and experts alert that establishments and consumers are still susceptible.
In the previous year, Target had done everything from shooting its CEO to accelerating a prepared 2015 roll-out of a safer chip design innovation at its stores.
However the retailer alerted in a statement that the world of advanced cybercrime stands for a constantly advancing threat.
That admission is the brand-new retail truth.
University of St. Thomas advertising professor Jon Seltzer said whatever steps sellers take, sophisticated cyber burglar networks will certainly no doubt develop.
I can virtually guarantee that it will certainly happen again, Seltzer stated. “As merchants develop one system, wrongdoers will certainly establish a 2nd system to thwart that.
The Target security breach, in addition to other massive breaches in stores varying from Michaels to House Depot, are extensively thought to have been managed by networks operating in Eastern Europe or Russiaout of the reach of US police.
Specialists warn that every American who makes use of charge card will one day be a victim of some type of identity theft.
Eden Meadow mom Amy Holt had her info stolen a year before the breach and remains to take preventative measures.
Its a huge concern, she stated. I have had my credit scores checked several times, and I had my charge card changed in 2013 in response.
In addition to monitoring your accounts and credit guides, specialists suggest utilizing a credit card rather of a debit card when shopping.
Debit cards offer direct access to your checking account and most monetary organizations supply less defense for examining account losses.
Bank of America
Basic 30 year loan interest ratesat Bank of America (NYSE: BAC) have actually been noted at 3.750 % carrying an APR of 3.863 %. The short term 15 year FRMsat the bank are 3.125 % carrying an APR of 3.304 %.
In the ARM arena, 5 year loansat BoA are available starting at 3.000 % with a beginning APR of 3.004 % which will change as interest rates adjust.


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For those of us who have been wondering what’s going on with Del Rey Manga, this press release just sent from Kodansha USA provides some answers at long last. The upshot seems to be that Kodansha USA will be publishing titles on their own (with distribution and sales support from Random House) beginning in December, with current Del Rey titles being shifted to the Kodansha USA imprint on a per-title basis. Here’s the full press release:
New York, NY – October 4, 2010 – Kodansha Ltd. and Random House Inc. have announced their plans to change and expand their manga publishing relationship in North America. The companies are shifting from a licensing relationship to a sales and distribution arrangement as of December 1, 2010.
The current relationship between Kodansha and Random House began in 2003, with the first titles debuting in 2004 under the latter’s Del Rey Manga imprint. Since then, more 500 volumes have been published, including many bestselling manga series.
Under the new arrangement, Kodansha’s subsidiary, Kodansha USA Publishing, LLC, established in 2008 and led by Yoshio Irie, will be publishing Kodansha-originated manga themselves directly in the U.S. English-language market with strong support from Random House Publisher Services (RHPS), Random House’s third-party distribution division. Del Rey Manga associate publisher Dallas Middaugh will remain with the program, transferring to RHPS.
“We are very excited to extend our relationship with Random House,” said Yoshio Irie, president and CEO of Kodansha USA Publishing. “Both companies see opportunity in the American manga market, and we look forward to working together to further the distribution and exposure of manga in the United States.”
“We are thrilled to have a publisher as distinctive as Kodansha USA Publishing join the Random House Publisher Services portfolio,” said Jeff Abraham, the division’s president. “Kodansha is one of the great worldwide publishing brands for the manga category, and we will do everything to support their efforts with our many booksellers and distributors who love selling manga titles.”
Del Rey’s ongoing manga titles which were licensed by Kodansha will be gradually taken over by Kodansha USA Publishing on a per-title basis.
Tokyo-based Kodansha established Kodansha USA Inc. on the occasion of their company’s 100th anniversary. Kodansha USA Publishing began by publishing Akira and The Ghost in the Shell in 2009 under the Kodansha Comics imprint. They plan to expand their strong line-up of manga under this exciting new collaboration with Random House Publisher Services.
For those of us wondering about favorite titles like xxxHolic, Nodame Cantabile, and Shugo Chara!, we can now pin our hopes on Kodansha USA.


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GM Korea prepares for next quntum leap forward
By Kim Tae-jong
GM Korea has introduced its new strategy for further growth in the domestic market under the Chevrolet brand, as it unveiled a range of innovative new concept cars and production vehicles at the 2012 Busan Motor Show, which kicked off last week.
“2011 was a year to remember for GM Korea, as we made a successful transition with the launch of our new brand and new company name,” Sergio Rocha, president and CEO of GM Korea, said on May 24 during a news conference at the auto show in BEXCO. “We are presenting Chevrolet’s new care strategies for carrying on the momentum and making a second leap forward.”
Celebrating the second year of the Chevrolet brand in the domestic market, GM Korea is now showing a total of 19 vehicles at the auto show including the Korean premiere of the Youth concept cars, the Code 130R and Tru 140S, and the upgraded version of its best-selling global passenger car, the 2013 Cruze.
GM Korea said it will strengthen its customer services with a set of care strategies and new products and technologies.
The automaker has been already praised for its representative customer service program, called “Chevy Care 3-5-7,” one of the primary factors behind the brand’s successful launch in the Korean market last year.
The automaker also said another new strategy is sustainable growth dubbed “Ecologic,” which involves fuel-saving technologies, end-of-life recyclability and responsible manufacturing.
GM Korea vowed to produce environmentally-friendly vehicles with good fuel efficiency, saying it will continue developing a variety of fuel-saving powertrains and technologies and its diesel lineup will be further strengthened in the coming years.
It has already introduced clean diesel engines in the Cruze and Orlando models, and also launched the Alpheon eAssist, the first hybrid car in the large sedan segment in Korea.
Additionally, it is now applying environmentally-friendly technology across its entire product lineup with its vehicles designed and engineered to have 85 percent recyclability and 95 percent recoverability. GM Korea is also engaged in environmentally-friendly manufacturing as its facilities send less than 1 percent of their manufacturing by-product to landfills, conserving resources.
“While the Chevrolet Youth Concepts and our new Ecologic strategy represent Chevrolet’s long-term commitment to growing with our customers and protecting our environment,” Rocha said.
He also said the upcoming 2013 Cruze, making its domestic debut at the Busan Motor Show, will be the first vehicle in Korea to feature the Chevrolet MyLink infotainment system. It showcases Chevrolet’s strategy for leading in the Korean market by continuously launching innovative products and technologies.
Chevrolet MyLink is an innovative, next-generation infotainment system that comes at an affordable price. It will be available in the firm’s global mini, small and compact vehicles.
“The decision to apply Chevrolet MyLink technology to smaller vehicles such as the Cruze, Aveo and Spark at a reasonable price demonstrates that Chevrolet cares about all of its customers,” said Ankush Arora, vice president of vehicle sales, service and marketing for GM Korea. “Chevrolet is offering customers true value by making its innovative products and technology affordable.”


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MongoDB, a leading database platform provider, has added support for multi-document ACID transactions to its version 4.0.
The MongoDB database platform, designed for modern and general-purpose database workloads, has always been preferred by developers for the software and applications they build due to the power and flexibility of its document model.
However, it supported ACID transactions only for the single database documents. The multi-document ACID transactions are considered critical to finalize deal terms and commerce processing. ACID (atomicity, consistency, isolation, and durability) transactions are actually a set of properties of database transactions which enable validity even in the events of power failures, errors, etc.
“Adding ACID transactions support to MongoDB removes any hesitation for developers when selecting a database. They no longer need to sacrifice speed of development over concerns that they might need transactions in a future application,” said Eliot Horowitz, CTO and cofounder, MongoDB. “Thousands of customers have shown how easy it is to use MongoDB to build applications for a wide range of mission-critical use cases. We’re excited to continue to deliver on our commitment to developer productivity by making it easier than ever to build any kind of application on MongoDB.”
Earlier, the developers who needed multi-document transactions, had to work with transactions in traditional relational databases. The support for ACID transactions will eliminate the need for organizations to go for a traditional relational database.
“MongoDB disrupted the database industry by introducing the document model, a more intuitive, flexible and performant way for developers to work with data, designed from the ground up for scalability and resiliency. As a result, MongoDB was widely adopted by developers worldwide and became the most popular modern database,” said Dev Ittycheria, President and CEO, MongoDB. “With this announcement, developers have the peace of mind of using a modern general-purpose database that can literally address any use case, and do it faster and cheaper than a traditional database.”
The database company had been working to add multi-document support for more than three years. It acquired WiredTiger storage engine, unveiled a global logical clock, refactored cluster metadata management, etc. to build consistent and durable transaction option.
MongoDB currently has around 5000 customers in 85 countries. The company claimed that its platform has been downloaded over 30 million times.
The MongoDB version 4.0 will be shipped in summer of 2018. As of now, it’s beta program is available.


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New Petersburg Thrift Store Opens Big
While the community of Petersburg, Alaska, celebrated its annual Little Norway Festival recently, advisory board members, friends, officers and soldiers of the Petersburg Corps also celebrated the opening of their new thrift store.
On a rare sunny afternoon, more than 100 people witnessed the dedication service. Some were dressed in traditional attire suitable for the Little Norway Festival. The crowd was greeted by the commanding officers Majors Daniel and Verna Hughes, Divisional Commander Lt. Colonel Terry W. Griffin and Divisional Secretary Major C. Joe Murray.
Mayor Jeff Meucci gave words of greeting “This store is a fine addition to our community,” Meucci said. Advisory board member John Johnson outlined the project’s history and made reference to many who had helped with it. “After many years we finally have a new store that we can be proud of,” Johnson said. “And it is paid for,” he added.
Major Daniel Hughes shared words of appreciation. “The people of Petersburg are caring people who work together to complete worthy projects. This store is the result of many who have worked together towards one goal.” During the dedication, Griffin emphasized the vital role thrift stores play in the ministry of The Salvation Army.
“This store will be instrumental in meeting the needs of people and it will help to change lives,” Griffin said.


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Resident Evil is one of gaming’s most beloved franchises, even if the recent entries haven’t been doing so well. Many fans that have been with the series for a long time have been calling for a return to the series’ survival/horror roots, something that has been increasingly lost as the series has developed.
The last main entry in the series, Resident Evil 6, attempted to appeal to many people by having three different stories that allowed three different styles of gameplay, with one being primarily survival/horror, another being primarily action based, and so on. While good in intent, this strategy ended up falling short and caused the game to garner mediocre reviews and to fall two million sales below Capcom’s original expectations. It did still sell well, with five million units being sold worldwide, but it did not get the attention that Capcom wanted.
Capcom believes that they have found the solution, though, by listening to their fans. They believe that the next Resident Evil game should return to the series’ survival/horror roots in order to give fans the game that they yearn for, and they say that the next game will “likely be more targeted at our core fanbase.” This move echoes the direction seen in Resident Evil: Revelations, which was well-received on the Nintendo 3DS and has seen multi-console release since then.
The news of the future of Resident Evil comes to us via MCV talking to former Capcom marketing boss Michael Pattison, and everything he said on the topic can be seen below.
“We have obviously seen the consumer response and the PR response [to Resident Evil 6]. There was some great positives out of that, but it was a mixed bag, as we saw from the review scores. We have got to take that on-board, we can’t ignore that, and we have to take that onto the next game when we make the next Resident Evil.”
“With Resident Evil 6 specifically, we probably put too much content in there, there were comments from consumers that said it felt bloated. The Leon missions went down very well, and because we did Resident Evil Revelations on 3DS, there was a cry out for us to focus our attention on survival horror, rather than be too many things to all people. You’ll find where we go next will likely be more targeted at our core fanbase.”
“A lot is said about the saturation of this zombie, post-apocalyptic survival horror. But it is still alive and well. The Last of Us shows a good direction of what the consumers want. Tomb Raider as well, we spoke to R&D and they looked at that and they enjoyed that experience. I think that proves there is still a strong market for that sort of content.” — Michael Pattison
So Capcom has been inspired by the successes of the The Last of Us and Tomb Raider to return to the Resident Evil series’ roots, a move which many fans will be excited about. Here’s hoping that this plan works out and that Resident Evil does return to its basics and capitalizes off the successes of games like The Last of Us.


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Accounting software provider MYOB has given the 2016 Federal Budget a near perfect score for its commitment to SMEs, rating it 9 out 10.
“This is the second year in a row where small and medium businesses have been recognised and put front and centre in the budget,” says MYOB CEO Tim Reed.
“I have no doubt they will respond in the way the government hopes – by investing more in innovation and creating high quality jobs.”
However, MYOB believes the Budget could have gone further to assist the sector.
While MYOB supports the company tax rate being reduced to 25% in the future, as well as the increase in the tax discount for unincorporated businesses from 5% to 8%, Reed says SMEs need the changes now – not in 10 years time.
“The plan to cut the company tax rate to 25% is an excellent one however the timeline could and should be shortened,” Reed says. “It’s like SMEs have been given a terrific present but told it is coming in pieces and they can’t open it up for a decade.”
He adds: “MYOB also welcomes the move to widen eligibility for the $20,000 tax write off for small businesses however the Government should consider making this a permanent feature to better support the economy.”
The company also welcomes the Government’s move to simplify Business Activity Statements (BAS). Reed says reducing the ‘G-Codes’ or ‘tags’ from seven to three as part of the trial simplification measures is a welcome step.
“Simplifying GST compliance has been a high priority for businesses for over a decade now so we heartily congratulate the Government for announcing a trial to streamline the process,” Reed says.
“This is something we’ve been lobbying the government about for years, it is great to see this is a government that listens to and responds to requests from small business.”
On the topic of the GST, MYOB highlights business costs could be halved if the GST was revamped to a simpler model, such as in New Zealand.
According to MYOB research, GST compliance costs Australian SMEs more than $13.7 billion a year, or $6,778 a year for each of Australia’s two million SMEs.
“If the Government had the conviction to fully address the GST issue once for all in this Budget, MYOB would have given it a 10/10, but we knew some time ago the government had no appetite to broaden the base of the GST – that is the only way to truly make it simpler for small business owners,” Reed concludes.


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Dog groomers were once viewed as dilettantes who couldn’t get into Beauty School.
The Midwest’s oldest, largest canine grooming show — in Rosemont this weekend — demonstrated how the business has changed since the event was first held in 1973.
It’s a billion-dollar industry. The demand for trained groomers is high. One booth at the All American Grooming Show was selling $1,000 scissors.


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SAVANNAH, Ga. (WSAV) – Georgia’s official state travel guide has a brand new look.
Earlier this week, Gov. Brian Kemp and Explore Georgia unveiled the 2023 edition featuring four different covers, including one of the Hostess City. It’s the first time in more than a decade that the free guide has been published with multiple covers.
The covers feature Savannah’s Waterfront, Driftwood Beach on Jekyll Island, Providence Canyon State Park in Lumpkin and Amicalola Falls State Park in Dawsonville.
“This year’s travel guide does an excellent job highlighting the sights and people that make the Peach State such a welcoming place,” said Kemp.
There are a few ways to grab one of the 750,000 copies available:
- Visit ExploreGeorgia.org to view the guide or request a copy
- Call 1-800-VISIT-GA
- Visit one of the nine Georgia Visitor Information Centers across Georgia
- Keep an eye out for copies from tourism partners across the state
“Many thanks to our Explore Georgia team for their dedication to promoting our state’s tourism offerings through visitor-driven strategies, including the travel guide,” said Pat Wilson, commissioner of the Georgia Department of Economic Development. “It plays a key role in marketing Georgia as a top travel destination and driving economic impact into local communities in every corner of the state.”
Officials said in 2021, the Peach State welcomed nearly 160 million visitors, resulting in $34.4 billion in direct visitor spending.


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LANSING – A CNBC story last week led with this headline: “Coinbase slammed for what users say is terrible customer service after hackers drain their accounts.”
Here’s an excerpt: “For Tanja Vidovic, it was a moment of panic: She had received a series of alerts about someone changing access to her cryptocurrency account. And she realized, as she stared at her computer screen, that nearly all of her $168,000 in holdings was gone — vanished before her eyes. …
“In a response to his frantic email, Coinbase told Ben his computer had been hacked and there wasn’t anything the company could do. …
“Experts say SIM swapping, where fraudsters seize control of a victim’s phone number and SIM card through their phone company, is to blame for many of the cryptocurrency thefts.”
You can watch a video segment on the same topic here:
Another recent example comes from Forbes, which highlighted an FBI bitcoin and cryptocurrency alert:
“The FBI advised financial and crypto companies to check the origin of emails and keep an eye on recently created accounts while those buying bitcoin and cryptocurrencies were encouraged to use multi-factor authentication — meaning they must have access to at least two devices or accounts linked to the platform—avoid download requests, remote access applications and any unofficial company communication channels.
One more headline, from earlier this year, read “Europe SIM swapping: 10 arrested in Europe over €82.4m scam to hijack celebrities’ phones“: “European police have arrested 10 people for allegedly hijacking mobile phones belonging to high-profile celebrities in the United States. …
“Europol said that “sim swapping” can be done either by fooling the phone company with “social engineering techniques” or by using a “corrupt insider.”
WHAT IS SIM SWAPPING?
I often get asked questions about growing cyber threats and how to keep online accounts safe — including cryptocurrencies. One area that has been getting a lot more attention is SIM-swapping fraud.
A SIM-swapping attack is also known as SIM splitting, SIMjacking, SIM hijacking and port-out scamming. This article from privacypros.io does a nice job of explaining how the fraud works:
“You might attempt access to one of your bank accounts that uses text-based two-factor authentication. This refers to when you start to access your account by typing in your user name and password.
“Then your bank sends a code to your mobile device for you to continue the login process.
“But some scammers can change the SIM card linked to your mobile number. That offers them control over the phone number, meaning they can receive access to your bank account and your finances.”
This technique defeats two-factor authentication by giving the cyber criminal access to your texts or phone calls. The bad actors need to trick your mobile phone company into believing that the request to swap SIM cards is coming from you.
WHAT TO DO IN A SIM-SWAPPING ATTACK
In case you’re wondering, no, this topic is not new, but it is a growing threat as more and more users start using two-factor authentication. This article from Norton entitled “SIM swap fraud explained and how to help protect yourself” is a few years old, but still relevant:
“Here are three other signals you may be a victim of SIM swapping.
“You’re unable to place calls or texts. The first big sign that you could be a victim of SIM swapping is when your phone calls and text messages aren’t going through. This likely means fraudsters have deactivated your SIM and are using your phone number.
“You’re notified of activity elsewhere. You’ll know you’re a victim if your phone provider notifies you that your SIM card or phone number has been activated on another device.
“You’re unable to access accounts. If your login credentials no longer work for accounts like your bank and credit card accounts, you likely have been taken over. Contact your bank and other organizations immediately.”
“You can decrease your chances of someone gaining access to and taking over your phone number by adding a PIN code or password to your wireless account. T-Mobile, Verizon and AT&T all offer the ability to add a PIN code.
“If you’re unsure if you have a PIN code or need to set one up, here’s what you need to do for each of the major U.S. carriers.
- T-Mobile: Set up T-Mobile’s Account Takeover Protection service. You need to add the feature to each individual line on your account. I also suggest changing your account PIN (if you’re not asked to while setting up Account Takeover Protection).
- AT&T: Go to your account profile, sign in, then click Sign-in info. Select your wireless account if you have multiple AT&T accounts, then go to Manage extra security under the Wireless passcode section. Make your changes, then enter your password when prompted to save.
- Verizon Wireless: Call *611 and ask for a Port Freeze on your account, and visit this webpage to learn more about enabling Enhanced Authentication on your account.”
One more example. Brian Krebs tells many SIM-swapping stories in his blog, including this story:
“In 2018, Andrew Schober was digitally mugged for approximately $1 million worth of bitcoin. After several years of working with investigators, Schober says he’s confident he has located two young men in the United Kingdom responsible for using a clever piece of digital clipboard-stealing malware to siphon his crypto holdings. Schober is now suing each of their parents in a civil case that seeks to extract what their children would not return voluntarily. … Mark Rasch, a former prosecutor with the U.S. Justice Department, said the plaintiff is claiming the parents are liable because he gave them notice of a crime committed by their kids and they failed to respond.”
SIM swapping is getting much more attention globally as these high-profile cases, often involving millions of dollars, are surfacing without clear responsibility on any one financial institution or online company.
As passwords disappear even more in the coming years in favor of multifactor authentication, we all need to be ready to build protections around those items we have, such as mobile phones.
Why? Because the bad actors want your cellphone access to get to your money. Be prepared.


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Learn more about the latest mobile marketing and trends for big data technology in the retail industry.
Marketing Charts – QR Code Scanning Isn’t Just A Young Person’s Activity, April 29, 2013
QR code scanning – once the domain of the younger crowd – is becoming more evenly distributed across various age groups, according to data released by ScanBuy.
Bar Code News – Mobile Barcode Trend Report Q1 2013, April 26, 2013
If there was ever a question that QR (Quick Response) codes were a growing trend in retail and social marketing, the most recent report from ScanLife should put that question to rest.
Telecompaper – Record 18 mln mobile barcode scans in March, April 26, 2013
Mobile users conducted over 18 million scans of QR Codes and UPC mobile barcodes in this year’s first quarter, according to a report from Scanbuy.
TechJournal – Mobile barcode scans hit record in Q1, April 26, 2013
Are you seeing more of those barcode scans intended for mobile users? We sure are – and smartphone users are pointing their devices at them in record numbers.
2D Code – ScanLife Reports 6.7 Million Scans in March, April 26, 2013
The latest Scanbuy Trend Report reveals continued rapid growth of QR Code and UPC Code scans by mobile users. March 2013 was the highest month in the reports history surpassing 6.7 miliion scans.
by Ben B.
With another groundbreaking quarter behind us, we are thrilled to release the ScanLife Mobile Barcode Trend Report for Q1 2013 - in infographic form! This report offers vital insights into the who, what, where, and why of barcode scanning over the past few months. Be sure to check out the new charts and let us know if you’d like to learn more about using the ScanLife Mobile Engagement Platform. Key takeaways include: We processed over 18 million scans in Q1 2013, and saw our highest scan…
Latest Scanbuy Trend Report Reveals Continued Rapid Growth of QR and UPC Code Scans by Mobile Users; March 2013 Is Highest Month in Report’s History, Surpassing 6.7 Million Scans.
Creative professionals working on product packaging or advertisements fight for every bit of space to articulate the brand while maintaining some artistic integrity. So when a marketing manager mandates a square inch of space devoted to a QR Code, a sigh of frustration sometimes overcomes the designer: as this Ohio University paper highlights, customizing QR Codes requires great caution to make sure its readability isn’t hampered. Disruptive technology inherently challenges the visual and…
by Ben B.
Earlier this week AT&T announced an agreement to offer enhanced mobile engagement capabilities via the ScanLife code Mobile Engagement Platform to help businesses offer their customers a richer mobile experience. Check out all the new features available from AT&T Mobile Barcode Services, now powered by Scanbuy. Read the full news release here. Below is a quick snapshot of what others are saying about the big news: AT&T helps businesses get more out of QR codes via…
RCR Wireless – Carrier Wrap: Prepaid space heats up; Vodafone, China Mobile team in Myanmar, April 11, 2013
AT&T Mobility this week announced a deal with Scanbuy to power the carrier’s Mobile Barcode Services offering.
Mobile Marketing Magazine – AT&T Joins Forces with Scanbuy to Offer Specialized QR Code Campaigns, April 11, 2013
AT&T has partnered with Scanbuy to launch AT&T Mobile Barcode Services with advanced features that enable businesses to better engage their consumers and create more customized campaigns.
HipScan QR University – AT&T Gets in on the QR Code Evolution, April 10, 2013
QR codes have become so popular that large companies are now building entire marketing campaigns around them. This can be seen in the new partnership that has been established between AT&T and Scanbuy.
2D Bar Code Strategy – AT&T and Scanbuy Partnership, What Does It Mean, April 10, 2013
If, at first, your company doesn't succeed, partner with another company. Such is the case with AT&T.
QR Code Press – QR codes partnership announced between AT&T and Scanbuy, April 10, 2013
AT&T has just announced that it is now offering new services through a partnership with Scanbuy, in which it is providing the ability for businesses to use QR codes in order to run mobile commerce campaigns that will provide a more relevant and engaging experience for their customers.
Zacks – AT&T Offers Mobile Barcode, April 9, 2013
AT&T, Inc. has introduced Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy.
Retailing Today – AT&T helps businesses get more out of QR codes, April 9, 2013
AT&T has partnered with mobile engagement solutions provider, Scanbuy to help businesses launch more engaging QR code campaigns.
ShopMart: ScanLife allows users to price compare with ease and share prices with fellow scanners. The app has a live feed that shows prices others have scanned. Works on: Android, Apple, Blackberry, and Windows.
Mobile Marketing Watch – AT&T, Scanbuy Partner for Expanded QR Code Platform, April 8, 2013
AT&T Mobility announced a new partnership on Monday with Scanbuy. The coupling will enable the freshly-minted partners to introduce new services enabling business customers of all sizes to utilize QR Code-based mobile marketing campaigns.
Wireless Week – First News Briefs for April 8, 2013, April 8, 2013
AT&T now offers AT&T Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy to aid businesses with QR code campaigns.
DestinationCRM – AT&T Releases New Mobile Barcode and QR Code Platform, April 8, 2013
AT&T today launched a series of new features for businesses of all sizes to launch relevant and engaging QR Code campaigns with AT&T Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy.
Ubergizmo – AT&T And Scanbuy Team Up For Designer Bar Code Services, April 8, 2013
AT&T and ScanBuy, which provides bar code technology, have teamed up to offer designer bar code solutions to companies that are looking to launch new marketing campaigns.
Reuters – AT&T Enhances Mobile Engagement Capabilities With New Mobile Barcode Services Platform, April 8, 2013
AT&T* now offers enhanced features that make it easier for businesses of all sizes to launch even more consumer relevant and engaging QR Code campaigns with AT&T Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy.
Media Post – AT&T Inks Scanbuy QR Deal, Aids Marketers’ Campaigns, April 8, 2013
AT&T joins the ranks of Verizon and Sprint Monday, offering white-label QR services supported by Scanbuy's automatic identification technologies.
Converge Digest – AT&T Launches Barcode Services Powered by Scanbuy, April 8, 2013
AT&T introduced a new service platform that helps businesses create mobile QR barcodes within a variety of media.
Fierce Mobile Content – AT&T, Scanbuy team on mobile barcode services platform, April 8, 2013
AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T) is partnering with Scanbuy to introduce new services enabling business customers of all sizes to roll out QR Code-based mobile marketing campaigns.
Telecompaper – AT&T announces Mobile Barcode Services, April 8, 2013
AT&T has announced new enhanced features that make it easier for businesses of all sizes to launch more consumer relevant and engaging QR Code campaigns with AT&T Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy.
cnet – AT&T partners with Scanbuy for mobile bar code services, 4/8/2013
AT&T is making it easier for businesses to launch new mobile marketing campaigns using QR code technology.
Digital Marketing Agencies Simplify Mobile Campaigns. AT&T now offers enhanced features that make it easier for businesses of all sizes to launch even more consumer relevant and engaging QR Code campaigns with AT&T Mobile Barcode Services powered by Scanbuy.
Mondato – Beyond NFC: The Next Generation Of M-Payment Technology, April 5, 2013
As NFC struggles to gain momentum in the m-payments realm, a range of new contactless technologies has begun to emerge. In our first article, we zoom in on a few of these, assessing their potential to rival NFC for the contactless m-payments throne.
by Isabel C.
Not unlike the Matrix, I sometimes experience different realities, moving parallel to one another, evolving at different speeds and with their own language. Here’s why: Reality One We live in a reality where we are constantly bombarded by advertisements. Yet when I discuss with friends and family our experiences with ads, we feel that the majority fails to have the intended impact. Why? To a large extent it has to do with the fact that 21st century consumers are more marketing savvy than…


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For some time now, Harley-Davidson has been trying to fight the stereotyped image of its customer base as being predominantly older, Caucasian males. Harley-Davidson‘s Stereotypical Harley campaign became a big part of the company’s advertising efforts in 2012, featuring real Harley-Davidson owners and showcasing the large diversity of its riders. Fighting against preconceptions can be […]
Happy Birthday Elvis!
Harley-Davidson exhibit now on display
Born on January 8th, 1935 in Tupelo, Mississippi, Elvis Aaron Presley would have been 75 years ago today if he was still alive today. As a tribute to “The King” of Rock and Roll, the Harley-Davidson Museum has created a special exhibit, expanding on the semi-permanent collection from Elvis that has been on display since the museum was opened in 2008.
The bill of sale, insurance, and registration papers for the 1956 Harley-Davidson KH pictured above will be on display along with the motorcycle that was owned by Elvis and the Graceland Museum has loaned some rare photos for the occasion.
Along with Cadillac’s, Elvis had a passion for motorcycles but especially loved his Hogs and rode Harley’s in many of his films, including Roustabout (1964), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Clambake (1967) and Stay Away Joe (1968).


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HUAWEI November 26th Conference Review: 8/HUAWEI WATCH Mate country line version
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The latest verdict from the Food and Drug Administration is that Cheerios is a drug. Parents, then, must be drug pushers.
The FDA sent a warning to Cheerios maker General Mills Inc. that it is in serious violation of federal rules.
“Based on claims made on your product’s label, we have determined that your Cheerios Toasted Whole Grain Oat Cereal is promoted for conditions that cause it to be a drug because the product is intended for use in the prevention, mitigation, and treatment of disease” the FDA letter said. “[Cheerios] may not be legally marketed with the above claims in the United States without an approved new drug application.”
If the FDA were to win its enforcement action against Cheerios, all the boxes would have to be pulled from grocery-store shelves, and children could only get their morning “fixes” with a prescription from their doctors.
Two claims on the Cheerios cereal box upset the FDA: “Cheerios is clinically proven to reduce cholesterol 4 percent in 6 weeks” and, “Cheerios can help reduce the risk of coronary heart disease, by lowering the ‘bad’ cholesterol.”
Susan Cruzan of the FDA’s press office told The Washington Times the FDA is not objecting to the fact that clinical studies do, in fact, find that Cheerios do what General Mills claims. What concerns the FDA, according to Ms. Cruzan, is, “This is a food product, and they do have a health claim.” Specifically, the agency objects to the preciseness of the claims, which she says would make the product classified as a drug. General Mills “could say ‘heart disease,’ but they are being specific and saying ‘coronary heart disease,’ ” she explains.
Bruce Silverglade, director of legal affairs at the Center for Science in the Public Interest, applauds the FDA’s determination and cautions that Cheerios is a “21st-century version of snake oil” that “could dissuade consumers from following proper medical advice on taking cholesterol-lowering drugs and proper dietary advice.” The harm supposedly is that customers will read the label as saying that if they eat Cheerios, they can eat bad things in their diet and still get the benefits Cheerios claim.
This is a prime example of the nanny state running amok. Only the government would work to classify a breakfast cereal as a drug for the offense of having correct information on its label.


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Audi aims to sell 2 million vehicles by 2020
According to the auto manufacturer, Audi may get its target of selling of 2 million by 2020. It will happen owing to the updating of all models lineups as well.
Last year, in Europe, the Audi carmaker sold about 44 percent of the total amount of selling cars. The second place as the largest auto market for Audi is China. The automaker is talking about the great prospects on the Chinese auto market.
Audi is sure in its success basing on the good potential.
As a part of the Volkswagen group, Audi is the most profitable brand in Europe. The main idea of the Volkswagen is to leave behind another largest auto manufacturer, the Japanese Toyota as well.
What about other carmakers, the BMW auto manufacturer is still keeping its “crown” of the most popular carmaker in the world. Last year, BMW was on the top as well.
In 2014, Audi sold more vehicles by 11 percent to compare with previous years. The auto manufacturer got the record of selling to reach 1.74 million.
The German carmaker Audi is going to expend its presence in the best-selling segment. There will be the sporty R8 and SUV Q7 as well.
To beef up its presence in the fast-growing SUV market, Audi will build a new Q1 from 2016 and plans to launch a range-topping Q8 model before 2020.
According to the carmaker, the new year has been started quite dynamically. However, the Audi brand is planned to increase doubly selling each month during these three-month period.
Meanwhile, the auto manufacturer is expected growing of Audi’s cars demand China. Audi is going to sell about a third of all selling vehicles in the Chinese market.
Currently, the demanding in Chins has increased by 7 percent in comparison with last year during the same period.
However, while demand for one models are coming up, the Chinese customers are not interested in big models such as Audi SUVs.
There is the big competition in China between big models.
Another largest auto market after China is the U.S. The auto manufacturer has aimed the figure of 300,000 cars.
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A destination for meatloaf, chicken croquettes and other homestyle favorites is ending its run in Lehigh County.
Santiago’s Diner & Family Restaurant, which opened in May 2018 at 125 S. Third St. in Coopersburg, will hold its last day of business on Sunday, according to a post on the restaurant’s Facebook page.
“This was not our choice but something we had to do,” the post reads. “We want to thank all of our customers for your support during these difficult times. Please continue to support local business during these tough times.”
The restaurant offers a wide array of “fresh food daily,” according to its menu, including hot specialty sandwiches such as French dip and reuben melts, pasta dishes such as manicotti and shrimp alfredo and platters such as barbecue ribs, crab cakes, chicken cordon bleu, open-faced roast turkey and a broiled seafood combo.
Santiago’s, named after co-owner Octavio Zavaleta’s son, will be open 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday.
Individuals with gift cards are advised to use them this weekend or message the owners for a refund through the restaurant’s Facebook page.
Zavaleta and his brother, Rolando, will continue to operate the year-old Limeport Deli & Cafe, offering breakfast, lunch and dinner daily, at 1463 Limeport Pike in Lower Milford Township.


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Blizzard will hold their ninth gaming convention in Southern California, Anaheim Convention Center on Friday, November 6 and Saturday, November 7, 2015!
BlizzCon 2015 tickets will go on sale in two batches on Wednesday, April 15 at 7 p.m. PT and Saturday, April 18 at 10 a.m. PT through the online event ticketing service Eventbrite, priced at $199 each (plus applicable taxes and fees).
Ofcourse there will be virtual tickets for the ppl that can´t come, or in my case (everytime tickets are sold out when it´s almoust my time in que).
Further details on the Virtual Ticket, including pricing, availability, and programming information, will be announced at a later date.
Ticket page for more information, and be sure to visit www.blizzcon2015.eventbrite.com at the dates and times above for a chance to purchase a ticket to the show.
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- Moudi´s Razer Deals April 17th


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Adoption of EdTech has dramatically increased as many companies offer their platforms for free during the pandemic, resulting in a global online learning experiment like never seen before. Growth in Online Education is a long-term trend. The COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a catalyst, resulting in an immediate expansion of the paid user base and a parallel fall in customer acquisition costs.
The IMF is projecting a 4.2% global economic contraction, considerably worse than what was felt following the Global Financial Crisis in 2008. The road to recovery, post COVID-19, may have multiple periods of social restriction with a staggered return from isolation, varying in time and geographically.
In response, education has had to move online largely with video and digital tools that enhance engagement and efficacy. The science of learning is moving EdTech beyond simple digitalisation, towards digital transformation. Reconfiguration and optimisation of delivery powered by AI is the next step.
Demand from state educational institutions to address digital resources and upskilling will be restricted due to limited government funding in a recessionary environment. Consumer behaviour is likely to be a key driver impacting supply-side business models, the demand for reskilling, and supplemental teaching and training with an increased universe of users.
The next wave will see the proving out of the most effective pedagogical solutions and the accelerated use of tools that harness AI and deep learning.
Cairneagle has co-authored the EdTechX 2020 Global Report in collaboration with EdTechX and IBIS Capital.
The full report explores a holistic view of the EdTech market drivers, including COVID-19, segmented across education phases, product types, geographies and more to highlight where the opportunities and challenges lie.
To purchase the report click here.


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In August, the Samsung Galaxy Note II will be three years old but then, don’t joke with that. Samsung is so committed with this smartphone (perhaps a very large number of people still using it) that phone maker is cooking an Android 5.0 Lollipop update for the handset.
This news was confirmed by Samsung Poland on Twitter in response to a users question on whether the device will be updated. The handle tweeted that there was no further details about the update for now (per release date and all) but says the update has been “confirmed”.
The Samsung Galaxy Note II was released almost subsequently with the iPhone 5 in September 2012. Earlier that same year, Samsung had released the Galaxy SIII. The phablet (Galaxy Note II) came with a 5.5″ 720 x 1280 pixels touchscreen, 2GB of RAM, 8MP camera and an Exynos 4 chipset.


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HMD Global already announced not one, but two of its new X-series smartphones in the last few months, jumping on the irregular display notch bandwagon. The Nokia X6 and X5 are HMD’s only phones with the display notch, though those two monikers are exclusive to China.
The Nokia X6 and Nokia X5 are just a few months old in the market and are only just arriving other markets out of China under the guise of Nokia 6.1 plus and Nokia 5.1 plus, so that makes us think its way too early to begin to hear of a possible successor to these devices. Well, latest leaks from out of China suggests HMD Global is already preparing to expand the X series of Nokia phones.
Gizchina News of the week
If rumors and leaks are on the mark, the next in the X series of Nokia phone would be the Nokia X7, and today, we have a leaked image that depicts the front panel of the alleged Nokia X7. Only a few things can be gleaned from the leaked panel: the Nokia X7 apparently would come fitted with a display larger than that of Nokia 5.1 plus and Nokia 6.1 plus, the notch, however, seems to be as large as the notch featured in the Nokia 5.1 Plus rather than the Nokia 6.1 Plus’ much smaller one.
Although nothing is certain yet, not even the Nokia X7 Moniker, but the source of the leaked image says the Nokia X7 could come powered by the Snapdragon 710 processor with 64GB and 128gb storage and could be unveiled later in Q4 2018 or even early 2019 at about RMB 2000 (around €252).


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Shop owners can analyze a customer’s shopping habits the moment he or she walks into a store by observing the products the customer picks up, how the customer interacts with the product and, of course, what products the customer decides to buy.
But thanks to technology and the internet, customer analysis that was once done through observation can now be done with quantifiable data.
Technology leaders discussed the relationship between data and retail Thursday at the University of North Texas’ 12th Annual Consumer Experience Symposium. They talked about how data can help retailers get to know their customers better and sell more products.
“It’s really Retail 101,”said John Napieralski, former vice president of site optimization and analytics at Neiman Marcus. “It’s the things you would do if you owned a little store, how you’d merchandise, how you talk to your customers at the end of the day, understanding what they did, what they bought last [and] the price points.”
Han Woo Park, a media and communication professor at Yeungnam University in South Korea, said companies can gather customer data a number of ways – one of the best ways being social media.
Millennials, especially, have a tendency to post almost everything to sites like Facebook and Twitter. By observing what gets posted to social media, retailers can track what customers buy online, what they search and the types of products a particular customer prefers, he said.
“The media changes everything,” he said. “What kind of media? Social media. Social media generates data.”
Companies can also analyze customer data by using services like Google Analytics, Omniture and Edgecase.
Edgecase founder and chief data scientist Garrett Eastham said his company is the reason why online shoppers see “related products” on the websites of some stores – when a customer buys a dessert dish, for example, the website then directs the customer to similar products like salad bowls or appetizer dishes.
Some of Edgecase’s clients include Pier 1 Imports, Urban Decay and Crate & Barrel.
“We’re seeing a lot of brick and mortar retailers that are starting to build a digital pedigree,” Eastham said. “They’re seeing a lot of success by taking what they know really well from their customer, which they’ve honed over many years, and trying to transit that online.”
Using data to analyze customers is becoming more crucial as retailers move toward personalized marketing, said Amrit Kirpalani, founder and CEO of software company nectarOM.
He said he understands that some people may be apprehensive of the fact that companies track customers’ shopping habits and personal interests, but if used properly, retailers can use that data to give customers a more personalized experience.
“If you deliver personalized experiences in a very safe manner, meaning like, ‘Hey yeah, this is information I’m willing to give you and this is an appropriate exchange between brand, retailer and consumer,’ then most customers really like the notion,” he said.
It all comes together to not only “maximize experience” for shoppers, but generate more revenue for retailers, Park said.
“Data becomes information, information becomes knowledge, knowledge becomes wisdom, so data is the source of the economic growth,” he said. “Data is the source of the revenue.”


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According to the latest report from the National Retail Federation, there’s one gift that may be hotter than all others this coming holiday season: gift cards.
More than 80 percent of respondents to the firm’s latest poll noted that they plan to purchase at least one of the cards this holiday season, illustrating the pressing need for all retailers and service providers to stock the items. The average holiday shopper will spend roughly $163 on gift cards this year, up significantly from the $156.86 recorded for such a figure during 2012. Gift card spending is expected to reach a national total of $29.8 billion this year – the highest amount recorded for the statistic in the 11-year history of the NRF’s survey.
“Shoppers today recognize gift cards as the perfect fool-proof option for friends and family,” said Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the NRF. “And traditional gift cards aren’t the only winners this holiday season, as more and more Americans are tied to their mobile devices, we expect digital gift cards to be especially popular with consumers.”
Consumers are also planning to spend more on each individual gift card they buy this season: the average shopper will spend more than $45 on each card they purchase, according to the report, up from the $43.75 average recorded during the 2012 holiday season.
Custom gift cards may also play a large role in this holiday season, according to Pam Goodfellow, consumer insights director at Prosper. She said that customized gift cards allow consumers to avoid the feeling that gift cards are an “impersonal” purchase.
“Gift givers know that many of their loved ones may have been holding back on spending on themselves all year long, and would love nothing more than to receive a gift card that allows them to purchase whatever they want,” Goodfellow said. “Shoppers hoping to add an extra touch to their gift cards will have plenty of opportunities to add audio, video or image enhancements to select retailers’ gift cards, making even the smallest gift still very personal.”
Another recent NRF report went on to suggest that consumers may be making their holiday purchases earlier this year than ever before: almost 54 percent of respondents to the latest poll noted that they have already started buying gifts for this year, which is the highest figure ever recorded for that statistic at this point in the year, according to the firm.Back To Blog


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Report: Australian consumers aren't happy with customer loyalty programs
- 14 February, 2017 10:50
Australian brands are wasting billions on customer loyalty programs that don’t work and aren’t keeping up to speed with the demands of modern consumers, a new report claims.
The report, Seeing beyond the loyalty illusion: It’s time you invest more wisely, was based on Accenture Strategy’s global pule research across more than 25,000 consumers globally including 1343 in Australia.
It found more than half of Australian consumers have switched brand or providers in the past year, while 79 per cent are retracting loyalty more quickly than they did three years ago. Globally, 71 per cent of respondents said current customer loyalty programs do not engender loyalty, and 23 per cent demonstrated a negative or non-existent reaction to loyalty efforts.
But those brands who do loyalty right are winning. For example, 58 per cent of Australian consumers spend more with the brands they love, and 49 per cent will recommend brands or organisations to which they are loyal to family and friends. As a result, 26 per cent said brands should do everything possible to earn their loyalty.
Based on the findings, the Accenture report outlines five key components to building customer loyalty in the modern age. Top of the list is ‘tokens of affection’, or providing personalised discounts, gift cards and special offers that reward a customer’s loyalty. According to the report, 56 per cent of Australian consumers feel loyal to brands that present such tokens to them.
The second tip was ‘get to know me’. The report found 38 per cent of local consumers are loyal to brands that offer the opportunity to personalise products and gain access to something bespoke, while 46 per cent gave a big tick to brands communicating with them through their preferred channel of communication. In addition, 73 per cent felt more loyal to brands that are there when they needed them.
However, by the same token, 81 per cent are more loyal to brands that safeguard and protect their privacy.
Accenture’s third tip was ‘thrill seeker’, or providing an opportunity to co-create and collaboration on products and services. More than four in 10 local consumers said they are loyal to brands that engage them to help design or co-create products or services, while 36 per cent prefer brands offering new experiences, products or services. New technologies also made an appearance here, with 27 per cent of consumers saying they are loyal to brands that offer multi-sensory experiences, using new offering such as augmented and virtual reality.
Fourth on the musts for brands was ‘If you like it, I like it’, or reflecting the consumer’s own personal preferences around celebrities, social influencers and close friends and family. For example, 17 per cent of Australian consumers said they are loyal to brands that partner with celebrities, and 34 per cent show loyalty to brands that actively support shared causes such as charities or public campaigns.
Accenture’s fifth tip was ‘hook me up’, or giving consumers the ability to connect to other providers to exchange loyalty points or rewards.
“Organisations need to understand the loyalty languages of their most profitable customers and implement the optimal mix to ensure they’re delivering the experiences that drive advocacy, retention and growth,” said Accenture Strategy managing director, Luca Martini. “An appetite for extraordinary, multi-sensory experiences, hyper-personalisation and co-creation, are changing consumer dynamics around loyalty and forcing brands and organisations to shift their approaches and programs.”
A recent report released by Nielsen also found consumers are more likely to return to a retailer if they have a strong customer loyalty program in place. More than half the Australian consumers surveyed (57 per cent) are more likely to return to a retailer with a loyalty program, and 48 per cent will spend more if they know they’re going to be rewarded.


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Families seeking to treat their sick children with medicinal cannabis are being subjected to ripoffs and misleading information, the mother of the first child to be legally allowed to use the treatment has warned.
Yvonne Cahalane, whose son Tristan was given the first licence to use medicinal cannabis for a severe form of epilepsy called Dravet Syndrome last December, said many of the people contacting her were angry about the "misinformation" they had received. Some had been supplied with bogus products.
One family had bought CBD (cannabinoid) oil which turned out to be sunflower oil when tested, she said. Another paid €300 for a bottle of hemp oil with no active ingredient.
Ms Cahalane, from Dunmanway, Co Cork, warned of the risks involved in self-medicating with medicinal cannabis. Some of those who had treated their children with products purchased online or in shops had found their children suffered more, rather than fewer, seizures.
“It’s not just the dose; it’s also the interaction with existing medicines. Doctors can’t give the go-ahead if they don’t know what is going on at home.” Gauging the right level of anaesthetic to give to a child during a severe seizure can be difficult when the amount of medication taken is unknown, she pointed out.
Ms Cahalane and her son lived in Colorado for over a year to obtain treatment for his condition, but returned home after Minister for Health Simon Harris granted Tristan's Irish consultant a licence to treat him with medicinal cannabis.
Tristan is responding well to the medication, which is sourced from continental Europe.
While a handful of further applications are being prepared, another Cork woman, Vera Twomey, is currently walking to Dublin in support of the legalisation of medicinal cannabis.
Ms Twomey claims the life of her daughter Ava, who also has Dravet's Syndrome, is at risk because Mr Harris has not approved a licence similar to that given to Tristan Cahalane.
Ms Twomey has been unable to find the necessary consultant neurologist willing to give a clinical go-ahead for treatment with medicinal cannabis.
Neurologist Orla Hardiman described the situation regarding the supply of cannabis-based products used as medicines as "fast and loose". While people are easily able to source such products, doctors cannot prescribe them under current laws.
If you had a life and death situation with your child and someone offered you the medicine you needed, wouldn't you take it?"
The exception is Sativex, used to treat multiple sclerosis, but this drug is not available free as price talks with the manufacturer came to nothing.
Dr Hardiman stressed the risks resulting from “unfettered” access to cannabis products. “Just because a product is available through a particular subculture doesn’t mean it is safe”.
Another neurologist, Dr Colin Doherty, said doctors have a "solemn duty" to adhere to the highest standards when prescribing medicines, especially to children. "You can't ask the medical profession to give up on a 100-year-old process designed to ensure products are safe."
Medicinal cannabis products have not – yet – come through medical trials, and there is no reliable information about their safety and efficacy, he pointed out.
In Northern Ireland, another mother, Charlotte Caldwell, has returned home to Castlederg, Co Tyrone, after sourcing a supply of cannabis-based medication in the Republic for her son who has epilepsy.
Just a month ago, Ms Caldwell and her 11-year-old son Billy were renting a house in Los Angeles , where he was being treated with medicinal cannabis.
At the time, Ms Caldwell feared being unable to come home, but has since obtained medication from an Irish company that is, she understands, legal.
Although there is talk of legislative change on both sides of the Border, Ms Caldwell is keen to point out families can already access cannabis-based products. “This isn’t just available for Billy, it is available legally for children with epilepsy, those undergoing chemo and others with conditions that can be treated with cannabis-based medicine.”
She says she is perplexed at the campaign for changes to the law on cannabis instead of making use of the options currently available. “If you had a life and death situation with your child and someone offered you the medicine you needed, wouldn’t you take it?”
Billy’s medication is being supplied by GreenLight Medicines, which plans to launch its own range of cannabis-based products within weeks. The company says it will have a robust process in place to identify adverse reactions, should they occur.
The Health Products Regulatory Authority said it was aware that oils containing CBD are on sale as food supplements in Irish retail outlets. “These products are not approved as medicinal products and medicinal claims cannot be made in relation to such products and they cannot be advertised or promoted for medicinal uses.”


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Tesco has been hit by another high-profile resignation, just three days before the company‘s annual AGM meeting.
According to Sky News, Neela Mukherjee, Tesco‘s UK general merchandise director chose to quit following a reshuffle of the Tesco UK management team.
Mukherjee had been in the role since November 2012 following spells in Tesco‘s online division and in Malaysia.
Like-for-like sales at Tesco fell by 3.8 per cent in the quarter to the end of May as chief executive Philip Clarke said the performance was the worst he had known in his nearly 40 years at the company. Tesco hold 29 per cent of the grocery market, say Kantar, significantly higher than Asda (17.1 per cent) Sainsbury‘s (16.5 per cent) and Morrisons (10.9 per cent.)
In a statement, Tesco said: “Neela has decided to pursue her career outside of Tesco. “She made a significant contribution in her 12 years at Tesco, both internationally and here in the UK.”
Chief executive Phillip Clarke has promoted group multichannel director Robin Terrell to take on responsibility for general merchandise, which includes electrical goods, homewares and stationery.
The news follows Tesco‘s chief financial officer Laurie McIlwee quitting in April; the company is in the process of recruiting a new CFO.


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Washington (ANI): Sir Paul McCartney's fashion designer daughter Stella McCartney has designed a necklace featuring a single leg - in order to take revenge from step mum Heather Mills. Stella created the 300 pounds pendant as part of the launch of her new jewellery collection next season. The necklace was shown to fashion industry insiders in Paris last month.
"A lot of people thought it was really edgy while others secretly thought it was out of order. It's such an obvious dig. It will cause a stir when it goes on sale," the Mirror quoted a source, as saying.
Mills, who lost her left leg in a road accident in 1993, launched a scathing TV attack on Stella, accusing her of breaking up her marriage to the former Beatle. The ex-model said: "She's done some evil, evil things. She scraped my face out of a photo." Stella was reportedly unhappy with her dad"s marriage to Heather and refused to design her wedding dress. She was unavailable for comment.


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"Ownership is great, but access is the future." That's the takeaway message from Spotify founder Daniel Ek, speaking at last week's "Brainstorm Tech" conference in Aspen. The 28-year-old digital entrepreneur went on to explain how "people just want to have access to all the world's music."
Of course, most people would like a few other things as well — including artists, who are still trying to figure out how to live off their music in this digital age. But it's hard not to be impressed by Spotify's catalogue of 15 million recordings that consumers can stream for free.
After nearly three years of providing "any track, any time, anywhere" to subscribers in the U.K. and other parts of Europe, the Swedish company made its debut in the states on July 14. According to Billboard magazine, Spotify netted 70,000 paid subscribers in its first week, while the number of free subscriptions is anyone's guess.
So what sets Spotify apart from stateside counterparts MOG and Rhapsody? In terms of musical offerings, all three services let you listen to pretty much anything you can think of on demand, with a handful of high-profile exceptions like the Beatles and Led Zeppelin.
But where Spotify trumps the competition is in the inclusion of its free basic plan, albeit one with advertising interruptions.
"The biggest turn-off for me is definitely the audio ads," notes local musician/deejay Animus Invidious. "That's why I don't listen to mainstream radio in the first place, and having some commercial interspersed into my ambiance totally kills it for me."
Kory Grow, a former Colorado Springs dweller who's now senior editor at the national rock magazine Revolver, agrees.
"Spotify just put a 'Rising Stars of Country' ad in the middle of listening to my own MP3s of Emperor," he says, referring to the Norwegian death metal band whose Prometheus: The Discipline of Fire & Demise album is rarely mistaken for country. "There is so much wrong with that."
Viewed from a recording artist's perspective, the concerns become more serious. In 2009, a Swedish paper reported that Lady Gaga had received just $167 for a million plays. Spotify disputed the figure — insisting it's a fraction of what the artist would actually have received — but even today gives no indication of what that fraction may be. "We can't reveal the details of our commercial agreements," Spotify's head of communications, Alison Bonny, told me in an e-mail earlier this week.
In addition to its contracts with larger labels, Spotify licenses indie tracks through various "artist aggregators" like CD Baby and TuneCore. According to TuneCore's Bryan Halpin, it's an all-or-nothing proposition: "You will not be able to choose if you want your release streamed or not," he explains. Then again, he adds, "you do get paid for streams, so all is not a total loss."
So will the trickle of streaming revenue — along with the possibility of wider recognition — offset potential lost sales to fans who can listen to any track, any time, anywhere?
"We just try to look at the cup being half full," says Tyler O'Malley of the locally based management agency Scott O'Malley & Associates, whose clients range from Norman Blake to the Haunted Windchimes. "For younger artists, it can help give them some visibility.
"The cup half-empty is that, with this streaming stuff, they're literally breaking apart pennies."


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High-end British department store Harvey Nichols will team up with online fashion retailer Farfetch to sell accessories and clothes through the platform as it looks to boost web sales, the companies said on Monday.
Luxury department store Harvey Nichols has seen rising conversion rates after putting an improved online merchandising strategy in place encouraging visitors to spend more time on its e-store and to explore it further.
The next London Fashion Week five-day season kicks off Friday morning; with a major drive to turns things ever more ecological; alongside a bittersweet farewell to the country’s most successful designer this century.
Selfridges had already told us that its Boxing Day clearance sale business was buoyant and at the weekend it said the Christmas season as a whole was better than ever with rising footfall and strong full-price sales.
L'Oréal's deal with David Beckham will see the debut of House 99, a 21-piece grooming line next month, with its Harvey Nichols debut showing that this is intended to be no flash-in-the-pan mass-market celebrity brand.


text: Many signs are pointing towards a rebound in the sales of electronic components. This article references an important KPMG survey of top executives at chip manufacturers, which concludes that 75% believe that their sales will be up in 2013 and 66% believe that they will be increasing their work force as well. That is good news after ending a down year in 2012. The article also notes that the US, as opposed to China will be the biggest growth market for sales, and consumer electronics is going to take over for the current top ranked wireless manufacturing consumption of chips. This is all good news for distributors in the US. Link here.