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The Apple Macintosh, born at the hands of renegade engineers in the early 1980s, changed the relationship between human and keyboard.
The Mac, which turns 25 this week, has consistently been an industry pioneer of new technology, including the graphical user interface, speech, Wi-Fi and video.
“Apple redefined the computer beyond crunching ones and zeros. It made a technology lifestyle a reality,” said Jupiter Research analyst Michael Gartenberg.
More than two decades after the original Mac engineers toiled away in buildings flying pirate flags under the direction of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, the Macintosh now sits at the center of Apple’s digital universe.
The company’s ability to seamlessly match hardware with software, such as its popular iLife photo and video programs, is unparalleled in the industry. As a result, Macs are gaining market share again. Last quarter, it garnered about 8 percent of the U.S. market, according to Gartner. Part of its growing popularity is tied to the re-engineering of its operating system to accommodate the trendsetting iPhone and Apple TV.
From the beginning, the Mac had a larger-than-life personality.
The company announced the Macintosh’s arrival in Ridley Scott’s watershed commercial that featured a lone runner defeating Big Brother — also known as IBM. It aired Jan. 22, 1984, during the third quarter of Super Bowl XVIII.
Two days later, Jobs, wearing a suit and bow tie, strode onto the stage at the Flint Center at De Anza College in Cupertino, recited a few verses from Bob Dylan’s “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” and then pulled the first Macintosh out of its canvass carrying case.
Jobs inserted a floppy disk, and the small computer began to speak: “Hello, I am Macintosh. It sure is great to get out of that bag! Unaccustomed as I am to public speaking, I’d like to share with you a maxim I thought of the first time I met an IBM mainframe: Never trust a computer that you can’t lift!”
“There wasn’t a person in the room who didn’t think this was history happening,” recalled Richard Doherty, analyst with the Envisioneering Group, who was there.
The Mac’s graphical user interface, or GUI, set the computer apart from everything else. Jobs discovered the GUI, developed at Xerox’s Palo Alto Research Center, in the late 1970s. The breakthrough made the computer much easier to master for the average person, who could simply click on a file to view it, rather than memorizing text-based commands. It was first used with the company’s 1983 Lisa personal computer, whose $9,995 price tag doomed its success.
The 1984 Macintosh, priced at $2,495, was the first computer to popularize the revolutionary new interface. It came with a mouse — one of the first computers to have one — a built-in monitor and a more durable hard-case floppy disk. Two applications, MacPaint, which allowed users to draw, and MacWrite, a basic word processing program, were bundled with the computer. Its compact design was a stark contrast to the big and boxy competing systems sold by IBM and others.
“The Macintosh was like this string hanging down from the future,” recalled longtime Silicon Valley technology forecaster Paul Saffo.
In a click of a mouse, the Mac opened up the world of personal computing to hundreds of millions of people.
“We had a feeling this new style of computer would be the way of the world,” said Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, who at the time oversaw the Apple II, the company’s first mass-produced computer.
Jobs adopted Adobe’s Postscript, which enabled printers to replicate a computer screen’s text or graphics, into the Macintosh environment. A year later, Apple introduced the LaserWriter, one of the first laser printers. PageMaker software, created by Seattle-based Aldus, which eventually merged with Adobe, was released in July 1985.
“It was the birth of desktop publishing,” said Tim Bajarin, president of Creative Strategies.
The Mac’s creation occurred amid company turf wars and chaotic working conditions. In May 1985, Jobs was stripped of his day-to-day duties at Apple, and he resigned his position as chairman several months later. Soon after that, he founded NeXT, a new computer company in Redwood City.
For a time during Jobs’ 12-year absence, the Macintosh lost its innovative edge.
During the mid-1990s, the un-Microsoft computer teetered on irrelevancy, barely capturing 3 percent of the market. For a short time, Apple even licensed its operating system for Mac clones, something Jobs had rejected years earlier.
In 1996, Apple acquired NeXT to use its software to replace the Mac OS operating system. Jobs returned to Apple the following year. Shortly after the Second Coming of Jobs, the Mac revived the company from its near-death experience with the 1998 launch of the sleek all-in-one iMac desktop. Four years later, Jobs laid out a 10-year vision in which the Mac would be the center of a new digital lifestyle — music, video, networking.
Jobs always envisioned the computer as something more than a slab of technology.
During the spring of 1982, he took his entire team to see a collection of Louis Comfort Tiffany because, Jobs said at the time, he was an artist who learned how to mass produce his work, recalled Andy Hertzfeld, one of the main authors of the original Macintosh software whose reminiscences are at www.folklore.org.
When the first Macs rolled off the production line, each team member’s signature was engraved on the inside of the machine’s plastic case.
“I never thought the Mac would last even half as long as it has,” said Hertzfeld, who will gather privately this week with other original Macintosh creators to celebrate the computer’s birth.
“It did not evolve steadily — it was more like Stephen Jay Gould’s notion of ‘punctuated equilibrium’ where there are sudden great lurches forward, like switching processors or operating systems, followed by relatively calm periods,” said Hertzfeld, who now works at Google. “But even after all the major changes, the system somehow managed to retain its distinct personality.”


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A new service for fast delivery of purchases is currently being created on the Dame Jidlo platform. With Dame Market, people will have their goods at home within 30 minutes.
Dame Market can deliver goods to the door within only 30 minutes. Thanks to the minimum order amount set at CZK 99, even very small purchases can be delivered to customers’ homes.
Online shopping in the Czech Republic will accelerate significantly. While with standard food delivery services, people wait at least two hours for their order, even in the case of express deliveries, the new Dame Market service on the Dame Jidlo platform will offer customers deliveries up to 30 minutes.
With the Dame Market service, it will now enter the market itself thanks to using its own warehouses. “Experience from abroad clearly shows that the future of online shopping lies in very fast delivery of orders. Dame Jidlo has the best prerequisites to be a leader in the quick commerce segment in the Czech Republic, and the launch of the Dame Market service represents another step on our way to fulfilling this ambition,” says Filip Fingl, CEO of Dame Jidlo.
The Dame Market service will first be available to customers in the vicinity of its first own warehouse, which has already been established in Bohdalec in Prague 10. The delivery zone will be set up so that it is feasible to guarantee delivery of the purchase within the declared 30 minutes.
With the growing number of newly emerging warehouses, the service will gradually expand to other parts of Prague and other cities in the Czech Republic. By the end of this year, Dame Market plans to use up to six of its own warehouses.
Customers will initially have a choice of about 700 items of food and other goods, however, the variety of offers will grow over time. “Our goal is to reach up to five thousand items and thus include all popular brands of food and non-food assortment,” describes the director of the Dame Market service, Mikolaj Komorowski.
In addition to significantly faster delivery, Dame Market will also differ from other food delivery services by setting the minimum order value to only 99 CZK. Hence, people will be able to use the new service to deliver even the smallest purchases.
The delivery itself will be free at Dame market until the end of March and the service will be available every day between 10am and 10pm. However, the basic parameters may change after the pilot operation ends. “Given that this is a completely unique concept in the Czech Republic, we will carefully analyse all the data and listen to customers’ opinions from the very beginning. Based on the feedback, we may make adjustments so that the service best meets their needs,” describes Komorowski.
However, the launch of the Dame Market service does not end the development of quick commerce on the Dame Jidlo platform. It is already possible to order flowers, medication and dietary supplements through here. In the future, in cooperation with partners, it plans on expanding the range of goods for very fast delivery with additional items.

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October Consumer Confidence Increases
The Conference Board, New York, said its October Consumer Confidence Index increased for the first time in four months.
The Index now stands at 113.8, up from 109.8 in September. The Present Situation Index—based on consumers’ assessment of current business and labor market conditions—rose to 147.4 from 144.3 last month. The Expectations Index—based on consumers’ short-term outlook for income, business, and labor market conditions—improved to 91.3 from 86.7.
Lynn Franco, Senior Director of Economic Indicators with The Conference Board, said consumer confidence improved as concerns about the spread of the Delta variant eased. “While short-term inflation concerns rose to a 13-year high, the impact on confidence was muted,” she said. “The proportion of consumers planning to purchase homes, automobiles and major appliances all increased in October—a sign that consumer spending will continue to support economic growth through the final months of 2021.”
The report said consumers’ appraisal of current business conditions was mixed in October, with 18.6% of consumers saying business conditions are “good,” down from 19.1%. On the other hand, 24.9% of consumers said business conditions are “bad,” down from 25.3%. Consumers’ assessment of the labor market was moderately more favorable; 55.6% of consumers said jobs are “plentiful,” down from 56.5%. Conversely, 10.6% of consumers said jobs are “hard to get,” down from 13.0%.
The report said consumers’ optimism about the short-term business conditions outlook was mixed in October, with 24.3% of consumers expecting business conditions will improve, up from 21.7%. On the other hand, 21.1% expect business conditions to worsen, up from 17.6%. Consumers were more optimistic about the short-term labor market outlook; 25.4% of consumers expect more jobs to be available in the months ahead, up from 21.3%. 18.3% anticipate fewer jobs, down from 19.9%.
Consumers were more positive about their short-term financial prospects; 18.7% of consumers expect their incomes to increase, up from 16.9%; 11.3% expect their incomes will decrease, virtually unchanged from 11.4%.
“A pickup in buying intentions suggests consumers are willing to spend despite rising inflation, or perhaps, because they believe prices will be even higher in the future,” said Tim Quinlan, Senior Economist with Wells Fargo Economics, Charlotte, N.C. “While intentions do not always lead actual spending patterns, at face value consumer goods demand appears to remain robust. Buying intentions suggest consumers are willing to spend despite rising inflation or perhaps because of it.”


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Apple loses graphics chip designer Raja Koduri to
AMD. Koduri worked on Apple's custom mobile chips.
Apple loses graphics chip designer Raja Koduri...
Here's what cities could look like in 10 years
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Brothers share what it was like quitting their corporate jobs to sell ties on the beach and cofound Vineyard Vines, a company worth nearly $1 billion
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Cost of cheese cuts into pizza profit: Many pizzerias raise prices
About three weeks ago, Athanasios Gikas did something he hates to do. In the face of a recent run-up in wholesale cheese prices, the owner of Crow Point Pizzeria in Hingham raised the price of a large cheese pizza by 75 cents and a small by 25 cents.
``The last thing we want to do is increase prices, but we have no choice,'' Gikas said. ``Our profit margins get smaller and smaller over time, (so) we're working for less and less.''
Gikas is one of thousands of pizza makers around the country who are growing increasingly concerned as they watch skyrocketing cheese prices cut into their bottom line.
Block cheddar cheese was selling at $1.97 per pound on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange on Friday, an increase of nearly 70 percent from this time last year. Cheddar, which is the benchmark for pricing other cheeses, peaked at $2.10 on June 25 before receding slightly. The price is still high, however, considering that this time last year it hovered around $1.17 per pound.
Industry observers attribute the price surge to strong demand coupled with higher milk prices. That formula is spelling trouble for big national pizza chains, such as Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza and Papa John's Pizza. Pizza Hut and Papa John's have recently raised prices on plain cheese pizza to the cost of a regular one-topping pizza. Domino's Pizza, while so far able to stave off a price increase, has warned that it may follow suit if the cheese trend continues.
Massachusetts-based pizza chains are also feeling the heat.
Rick Hendrie, senior vice president for marketing at the West Roxbury-based Uno Chicago Grill chain, said it's too early to tell how the cost increase will affect the company's pricing. For now, he said, the company's diverse menu is helping minimize the impact and it has not yet raised prices because of the cheese market.
``We're famous for our deep dish and the cheese is part of that, but it represents only a portion of our menu options,'' Hendrie said. ``It's not the whole world for us.''
Dedham-based Papa Gino's raised its pizza prices in April - up 50 cents on a small pizza and $1 on a large - in response to cheese prices and the state's minimum wage increase that took place in January, said Mike McManama, the company's vice president for marketing.
McManama would not divulge how much cheese Papa Gino's, with its nearly 170 company-owned restaurants, purchases a year. But he said the company's ability to buy cheese in bulk allows it to minimize the impact of the wholesale price increase.
Many smaller pizzerias are unable to lock in cheaper rates by buying in bulk.
Billy Botsari, manager of Yianni's Pizza in Rockland, said he has never seen a rise in prices of this size in his 12 years in the pizza business. Yet, so far, Yianni's hasn't raised its prices and continues to put 8 ounces of cheese on large pizzas and 5 ounces on small pizzas.
But Botsari, whose restaurant typically spends more than $650 a week on cheese, said the cost increase is becoming difficult to endure.
``We're just taking a beating,'' Botsari said. ``They said it's supposed to last at least until September, the whole summer long.''
A market analyst with Downes-O'Neill, a dairy brokerage firm in Chicago, said continued strong demand, along with a typical summer decline in milk production, could keep cheese prices high for a while.
``There's some definite room to the upside,'' said analyst David Zaslavsky, projecting that block cheddar cheese prices could reach $2.15 to $2.20 a pound in late summer. He said prices could level off or retreat slightly in the fall.
A price retreat is exactly what Gikas' Crow Point Pizzeria needs. So far, Gikas said his customers have been understanding of the price increase. But he worries that demand for his staple product may begin to decline as his operating costs continue to rise.
``It's not cheap anymore,'' Gikas said. ``It becomes almost like a luxury (to order) pizza nowadays.''
The Associated Press contributed to this report. A.J. Bauer of The Patriot Ledger (Quincy, Mass.) may be reached


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It's no secret that Tesla has a tough competitor in China known as NIO and the company just unveiled an impressive electric sedan in the NIO ET7. The newly revealed EV easily catches the eyes thanks to its stunning engineering and the technology features that promise a unique driving experience similar to that of Tesla.
The ingenuity of the ET7 bodywork is nothing short of incredible. NIO sprinkled the modern car with numerous sensors and cameras to support its range of smart and safety features but the automaker swears the hardware for this will be hardly noticeable.
That's because the sensors are seamlessly integrated into the ET7 body, which is NIO declaring they too can assemble a beautiful beast of the future.
Setting aside the ET7's deliberate gorgeous design for now, NIO wants to draw attention to the electric car's powerful features and functionalities. The EV's dual-motor drivetrain will source its power juice from a 150kWh battery pack (for the most expensive version), which is estimated to deliver a driving range of over 500 miles per charge, according to Electrek.
The Chinese automaker said in a statement: "The ET7 has inherited NIO's high-performance DNA with a 180kW permanent magnet motor in the front and a 300kW induction motor in the rear. Maximum power is rated at 480kW with peak torque at 850N·m. The ET7 accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.9 seconds, and has a braking distance from 100 km/h of 33.5 m."
It can be said that the powerful NIO ET7 is a notable upgrade, in terms of range coverage, when compared with the Tesla Model S and Lucid Air.
And there is a reason the NIO ET7 is deployed with 33 sensors and 11 smart cameras. The package is all about autonomous driving, meaning the NIO sedan is a platform designed for users to experience hands-free car navigation. However, how exactly this ET7 feature, dubbed by NIO as NAD (NIO Autonomous Driving) covers the whole range of self-driving remains to be seen.
Going by NIO's projections, the ET7 delivery will start in the first quarter of 2022 for the Chinese market and then in select European nations. There is no indication yet if the EV will reach the United States but that is likely to happen for the future iterations of the electric sedan.
The starting price for the NIO ET7 is roughly $81,000 and CNET said it's quite reasonable considering the impressive range and modern functionalities packed with the car. It should be noted that advertised pricing has yet to factor in government incentives, which points to a significant discount.
The NIO ET7 will be made available too bundled with a subscription for battery services and autonomous driving, which the automaker said will further reduce the initial cost of owning the electric vehicle.


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Nielsen has released a new quarterly Global AdView Pulse report, which shows that although global ad spend continues to rebound, it has only increased by 1.9 percent from Q1 2012.
The report shows that ad spend has dropped in Europe, remained stagnant in North America, and marginally increased in the Middle East, Africa, Latin America, and Asia-Pacific. In the Middle East and Africa spending grew by 2.9 percent during the first quarter of 2013, continuing the recovery from the advertising decline early last year. But the region has also been affected by the political unrest in Egypt, which has always been one of the largest markets for the region. Ad spend has declined by 20 percent in the country.
Latin America saw growth of 11.9 percent during Q1, and spending grew in all countries in the region.
Asia-Pacific also saw growth in ad expenditures, with 5.8 percent in Q1. The top performers in the region were China, Indonesia, and the Philippines, which all saw around 20 percent growth. Japan was the only country in the region where ad spend decreased.
With the ongoing economic troubles in Europe, ad spend continues to decline. The report speculates that it is unlikely that Europe will recover from its economic challenges any time soon.
While ad fraud has become part of every marketer’s vocabulary, attribution fraud—the practice of gaming outdated attribution models to justify self-serving means—has ... read more
Video content is popular on social media and it is among the most effective formats for advertising. Time to go beyond Facebook ... read more
The technology industry is lagging behind many other sectors when it comes to the proportion of women taking up entry level positions. ... read more
Programmatic is taking over the digital advertising world, and at an even faster rate than expected, according to eMarketer, which raised its forecast for programmatic ad spending in the U.S. on the back of growth in mobile and video programmatic buys.


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Apple losses Samsung patent case in Japan. A Japanese court on Friday dismissed patent infringement claims that Apple leveled against Samsung. The court found that Samsung had not infringed on patents covering music-syncing technology.
The decision comes after Apple won a major and a crucial matter in court with Samsung on patents covering several designs and technological aspects of both companies smartphones and Tablets.
It seems like there is stiff competition going on between these two companies. It would be interesting to know that who would win this crucial battle in the end.


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The world of NFTs is always exciting, as long as there is a constant stream of money flowing in. Despite a decrease in the rate of investment, investors are still injecting billions into the sector. Additionally, more cryptocurrency buyers are creating funds to support NFT platforms, projects, and the non-fungible tokens themselves.
Although there are now some specialized funds exclusively focused on NFTs, larger institutional firms still consider it a risky area. Nevertheless, this is not preventing these investors from becoming Limited Partners (LPs) in NFT funds. Recently, a new NFT fund led by Andrew Jiang and Todd Goldberg has gained support from several notable Silicon Valley crypto venture capitalists.
Curated, a fund worth $30 million, is dedicated to purchasing and retaining NFT artwork. It has received support from an impressive group of crypto investors, including significant participation from a16z’s investment team (Marc Andreessen, Chris Dixon, Andrew Chen, Arianna Simpson, and Jon Lai are among the supporters). Other investors and founders in the industry, such as Alexis Ohanian, Justin Kan, Avichal Garg from Electric Capital, and Curtis Spencer, have also backed the fund.
The fund intends to allocate approximately 50% of its resources into “blue-chip NFTs,” which comprise sought-after projects such as CryptoPunks, Art Blocks, and Bored Apes, as well as NFT works from popular artists. The remaining 50% of the fund will be invested in “high potential collections” by artists with smaller existing markets, as determined by Jiang and Goldberg.
Goldberg, in an interview with TechCrunch, explained that he believes NFT assets will be a significant development over the next ten years, growing orders of magnitude larger than they are today. This is because NFTs provide a digitally native approach to investing in culture on an internet scale. “We aspire to be a discerning collector who acquires the best assets while also being supportive of creators and builders,” he said.
According to Goldberg, the company may consider collaborating with some of the artists in its portfolio to conduct its own NFT drops.
Although the NFT market is still generating billions of dollars, the rate of investment appears to be tapering off in recent weeks. According to blockchain analysis tool DappRadar, in the past 30 days, the OpenSea platform recorded $2.3 billion in transaction volume, which represents a 40% drop compared to the previous 30-day period.
Goldberg notes that although the market has been volatile, they are now entering a bear market, which is favorable for the fund as they possess patient capital. He adds that they will wait for the most exceptional opportunities to enter positions and will hold onto these investments in the long run. While long-term, patient capital may not seem significant, Goldberg believes that it is a strategic advantage in a market where everyone is primarily focused on the short-term.
The fund’s primary manager, Jiang, has founded the hardware startup Soda Labs and the YC-backed nonprofit Bayes Impact. Meanwhile, Goldberg, who co-founded the ticketing startup Eventjoy, is already running a separate fund that invests in startup equity, which he manages with Superhuman founder Rahul Vohra. Several founders in that fund’s portfolio, such as Dapper Labs and the founders of NFT startup Manifold, are also supporters of Curated.
Who is Chris Dixon?
Chris Dixon is a venture capitalist and entrepreneur based in the United States. He is currently a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), a Silicon Valley venture capital firm that invests in startups across various industries.
What is Chris Dixon known for?
Chris Dixon is known for his investments in numerous successful startups, including Coinbase, BuzzFeed, Oculus, and Github. He is also known for his work in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space, as well as his contributions to the development of the decentralized web.
What companies has Chris Dixon invested in?
In addition to the companies mentioned above, Chris Dixon has invested in several other notable startups, such as Airbnb, Warby Parker, Stripe, and Pinterest.
What is Chris Dixon’s background?
Chris Dixon graduated from Columbia University with a degree in computer science. Prior to his career in venture capital, he co-founded and served as CEO of SiteAdvisor, which was acquired by McAfee in 2006. He also founded Hunch, a personalized recommendation engine that was acquired by eBay in 2011.
Does Chris Dixon have any public speaking experience?
Yes, Chris Dixon is a frequent speaker at conferences and events related to technology, entrepreneurship, and venture capital. He has also given talks at universities such as Stanford, MIT, and Harvard.


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Many people spend extra money on number plates. Its trend is increasing day by day in the country too. Many people spend up to crores of rupees to keep a VIP number plate car. Recently, a fancy person has spent Rs 340 crore to install a VIP number plate.
The first person to spend hundreds of millions of dollars on expensive car number plates 14 years ago was Afzal Kan, who lives in Britain. He spent Rs 4 crore in 2006 to keep his car number plate ‘F1’. Since then, its price has been increasing exponentially.
This number plate is listed in Motoring Exposure Magazine as the most expensive motor plate in the history of vehicles. The person got an offer of lakhs of rupees for this number plate. But he has not sold that number plate yet. Let me tell you, it is forbidden to sell number plates in India. But it can be sold in the United States.
He says he will not sell this number plate until he gets a big offer. The Regtransfer website, which carries the number plate, has a value of Rs 342 crore. Afzal has the number ‘F1’ in his Bugatti Veyron. The second most expensive number plate in the world is ‘1’. This number was bought for around Tk 109 crore. The car was bought by a man named Saeed Abdul Gaffar Khauri.


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Cook County prosecutor accused of biting cigar shop manager
September 25, 2012 (CHICAGO) (WLS) -- A Cook County prosecutor is not being allowed to litigate any cases because she faces charges related to a confrontation outside a lingerie store on Chicago's North Side.
Part of her arrest was captured on video.
Thirty-one-year-old Sarah Naughton allegedly bit a store manager in the leg Saturday night, forcing him to seek treatment at a hospital for treatment.
Naughton has been charged with misdemeanor battery and trespassing. The county prosecutor was off-duty at the time of a bizarre incident that began inside a lingerie store on Belmont just west of Clark. The store's owner says Naughton's behavior was hysterical and out of control.
The woman seen on the video in handcuffs, crying on a curb, is a prosecutor with the Cook County state's attorney's office. The video was taken while police were waiting for a vehicle to pick Naughton up after she was arrested for battery and trespassing.
It began as an uneventful Saturday night inside the Taboo Tabou lingerie shop until employees saw what they describe as a very intoxicated man and woman stumbling their way inside.
Taboo Tabou owner Mark Thomas says Naughton could hardly open the door.
"My staff asked, 'Have you folks been drinking? And 'Maybe you should come back when you're sober.' At that point they became very irate and angry," said Thomas. "They kinda pushed further into the store. The staff kinda gathered to kinda move them out."
Instead of leaving, Thomas says Naughton started to mouth off as she identified her profession:
"At one point the woman pulled out a badge, and said, 'You can't do this to me...I'm a state's attorney.'"
Naughton has worked for the state's attorney's office since she graduated from law school in 2008.
Thomas says Naughton and her male friend took their anger outside and started pounding on the windows. At that point, the lingerie shop manager asked for help from the manager of the cigar shop next door.
Thomas, who owns both stores, says Naughton then bit the cigar shop manager in the leg.
"His skin was broken," Thomas said.
The cigar shop manager was treated and released from the hospital.
The Cook County state's attorney's office could not comment on any toxicology tests.
While Naughton has been a prosecutor for the past four years, she is known for winning a conviction on a case that made news earlier this month. It was the prosecution of the owner of a southwest suburban animal rescue facility.
ABC7 could not reach Naughton for comment.
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Toyota leads US gross sales for GM, anticipated to turn into America’s top-selling automaker
Toyota Motor outperformed General Motors in the US for the first quarter and is expected to be America’s best-selling automaker.
The Japanese automaker reported sales of 688,813 vehicles in the US from April through June on Thursday. That compares to GM at 688,236 vehicles during the second quarter. Toyota exceeded analysts’ expectations, while GM slightly missed forecasts.
The shock was caused by a global chip shortage that has significantly hampered vehicle production. Japanese automakers, especially Toyota, weathered the crisis better than their American competitors.
“You’ve been defying gravity for the past few months,” said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist at Cox Automotive. “We see that they have very low inventory levels and yet their sales have held up pretty well. … We are really surprised at Toyota’s strength and have had a decent quarter compared to some of the competition.”
The only way Toyota won’t take on the cloak as the best-selling automaker is if Ford Motor, reporting Friday morning sales, significantly beats analyst’s sales expectations of 645,000 vehicles during the quarter. Ford previously said it expects to lose half of its production in the second quarter due to the chip problem.
The last time GM wasn’t the best-selling automaker for a quarter in the US was when Ford outperformed them during the Great Recession in the third quarter of 1998, Edmunds reports.
According to Jessica Caldwell, Edmunds Executive Director of Insights, Toyota is known for looking far into its supply chain and having more experience managing lower inventory levels. She assumes that there could be major fluctuations in the US market share this year due to the shortage of parts.
“I would definitely expect a small change in market share,” she said. “Toyota has done really well, the Asian brands have done pretty well overall.”
In May, Reuters reported that Toyota was stockpiling semiconductor chips, which are vital to modern vehicles, and that chip scarcity had no major short-term impact.
Toyota declined to comment specifically on sales successes, but released the following statement: “We are grateful to our loyal customers for showing their safety and trust in Toyota and Lexus vehicles, the best brand in terms of safety and quality in the Minds of our customers. And as part of our continuous improvement philosophy, we keep finding better ways to do things and ultimately make better products that our customers love and trust. “


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A strict lockdown in Shanghai was lifted on June 1, allowing millions of residents who had been confined to their homes for more than two months to finally venture out, while shops were able to reopen.
To celebrate, Eric Young, founder of the elegant Shanghai boutique Le Monde de SHC, organized a meeting of friends and acquaintances in the store. “We felt good and wanted to buy some new clothes,” he says, speaking to WeChat a week after the reopening. “The business is doing quite well due to the declines. But is it really? Lockdowns are still ongoing in some areas. For example, last night downtown they blocked two blocks. It’s not really back to normal. “
Young and his friends weren’t the only ones in the mood for sketches: on the day of the reopening, luxury shoppers were spotted queuing outside Hermès, Celine and Dior in a “spend for revenge” bout, in which consumers buy more. it would normally be a reaction to having endured restrictions and limitations. Jessie, a 23-year-old Shanghai games specialist, bought a £ 320 Acne Studios bag on a whim. “I really wanted to take revenge, so I bought it on impulse,” she says.
But Jessie has no plans to splurge on luxury again anytime soon. “I have a lower threshold for what makes me happy now. Just going out in the sun, buying some delicious snacks, satisfies me. I’d rather spend a lot of money on experiences, like traveling, instead of buying a bag, “she says.” Right now I think we don’t need luxury, because when you can’t even have the security of basic human rights, there isn’t. petty bourgeois consumption is needed “.
The mixed sentiment of Jessie and Young reflects the uncertainty created by the Chinese government’s determination to stick to its “zero Covid” policy and the swift and unpredictable nature of its restrictions. Just over a week after the release of the blockade in Shanghai, mass tests and localized blockades were reintroduced, while entertainment venues in Beijing were closed and thousands of people were placed in home isolation after an outbreak in a bar in the Chaoyang district. This year’s lockdowns have been tough, hitting major financial and economic centers such as Shanghai and Shenzhen, as well as the capital Beijing, and impacting food provisions, online shopping and internal travel.
“I am 70% happy, 20% traumatized and 10% alert,” says Andrew, a 28-year-old scientific researcher from Shanghai in his post-blockade state. His salary was unaffected by the lockdown, but he became stricter in spending, buying less overall and focusing more on higher quality goods, including luxury goods. “I’m glad life is getting better. I can go to work, buy things and live more or less like a modern city dweller. Yet it is difficult not to be traumatized for those who have experienced what happened in Shanghai. I am pessimistic about the “return of life to normal”. I’ll never go back to the old normal again and I’d rather be alert and prepared. ”
This sense of uncertainty is related to analysts’ suggestions that the recovery in Chinese luxury spending will take longer than in 2020, when it quickly recovered in the second half of the year. The recent restrictions in Shanghai, which in some cases mean brands have closed up to 40% of their Chinese store network, were duly noted in the latest financial results of luxury conglomerates Kering, LVMH and Richemont.
Despite a widespread belief in the resilience of Chinese luxury consumers, executives sounded a note of caution. “We have to expect that China’s re-emergence after the blockade will not be so dramatic,” Richemont president Johann Rupert said in a phone call with analysts in May. “China’s growth rate has slowed. I’m not sure any company under that block will be able to grow by six, seven or five percent. So yes, it will take some time before they come back. “
Veronique Yang, chief executive and senior partner of Boston Consulting Group, believes consumers will begin to feel optimistic about their finances and the economy again in the next three to four months, with luxury spending picking up in the final quarter. of the year pending resolution of supply chain problems, which are currently disrupting store deliveries.
“The growth of affluent consumers in China remains intact and the government’s determination to further encourage consumption has also not changed,” he says. “The fundamental perspective remains the same, but it is very clear that there is further polarization in the luxury sector, with the big luxury brands doing really well despite the challenges of Covid and the accessible and premium luxury sector in difficulty”.
Blondie Tsang, president of the Lane Crawford luxury department store, also believes that China is an “irreducible luxury market. . . The biggest challenge will not be slowing down customer sentiment, but quickly obtaining exclusive and exciting products for Covid-fatigued and travel deprived consumers who are desperate for novelty, “he tells me in an email. Lane Crawford’s mainland China store is located in Shanghai.
The store did not do business during the two-month lockdown, and when it reopened, shoppers were eager to return. But the enthusiasm quickly subsided. “For the first weekend our shop was open, all of our VIP suites were fully booked and sales exceeded a normal weekend,” says Tsang. However, “overall, the traffic is declining. . . People are still cautious, so for us it was a higher conversion than a lower traffic rate. ”
The economic consequences of China’s zero-Covid policy have understandably been perceived differently by Chinese shoppers, with the middle class feeling the squeeze. Affe, a 39-year-old entrepreneur from Shanghai, says she had to endure three months of cost with no earnings, which she expects will affect her spending power for at least the next six months. Liying Zhao, a 28-year-old music teacher from Shenzhen, was not impressed at all, splurging on a new Hermès bag after the lockdown was lifted.
And Plusplus, a 28-year-old shopper from Shanghai, was not affected economically, but her spending shifted from clothes to household items. “I don’t have much desire for luxury goods,” she says. “Now I spend most of my time at home, so it’s more important to improve the quality of my life there.”
“Wealthy groups may not be deeply affected, but for some normal people it will take some time to recover. The epidemic has led to difficulties for a large number of small and medium-sized enterprises and layoffs in many large enterprises, “says Wenyan Jiao, co-founder of the Mushion fashion boutique based in Shanghai and Wuxi.” Sooner or later, everything will finally come back to normality. However, it will certainly be a major challenge for the retail market in general. “
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After Little Caesars recently announced it would donate 1 million pizzas to healthcare workers and first responders dealing with the coronavirus crisis, customers stepped forward to boost the effort. So far, they’ve donated an additional 125,000 pizzas to the effort via the global chain’s ordering app and at LittleCaesars.com.
Customer contributions will go toward pizza servings at hospitals, police department, and fire departments around the nation over the coming weeks, Little Caesars said in a statement.
Related: As robotics improve, how will they affect the pizza industry?
Delivery of the customer-donated pizzas will be coordinated by Little Caesars and its thousands of independent franchisees. “As a family company, we wanted to thank our healthcare heroes in the best way we know how—by delivering millions of wholesome meals to them around the country,” says Little Caesars President and CEO Dave Scrivano. “The fact that so many of our customers have jumped on board to contribute even more shows that the spirit of kindness and generosity is alive and well, even during times of crisis. ”
Little Caesars recently announced contactless options for both delivery and carry-out through the Little Caesars app. Pizzas are baked in 475°F ovens to ensure food safety and never touched after baking.
Prior to the pandemic, Little Caesars also rolled out the contactless Pizza Portal, an order pickup method where customers can scan their phones and retrieve their orders from heated compartments. The chain says it has also reinforced cleanliness and sanitization procedures, increasing the frequency of cleaning commonly touched surfaces including door handles, glass, countertops, Pizza Portal surfaces, phones and cash registers.


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Thanks to a nationwide search, America has a new doughnut that Dunkin’ Donuts thinks people are going to go bananas over.
In February, the company held its second annual “Create Dunkin’s Next Donut” contest, and on June 4 it announced the winner: A bananas-Foster-filled model with chocolate icing, topped with Reese’s Peanut Butter shavings.
The “Monkey-see Monkey-donut” beat out more than 90,000 entries—including the “Cop Cake” (cake doughnut with chocolate icing, white sprinkles and chopped Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups), the “Mornin’ Paper” (chocolate buttercream-filled doughnut with white icing and chocolate sprinkles), the “S’morgasbord” (marshmallow-filled doughnut with chocolate icing and graham cracker crunch) and the “Snack-o-Lantern” (pumpkin cake doughnut with maple icing, and cinnamon-flavored chocolate chips).
The playful pastry fetched its creator, 23-year-old Rachel Davis of Sharon, Mass., $13,200 in prize money and a year’s supply of doughnuts. Eleven other finalists also got the doughnuts, along with checks for $1,200 each.
Monkey-see Monkey-donuts will be available at Dunkin’ Donuts stores nationwide, including all 13 Las Vegas locations, for a limited time this fall.
According to Dunkin’ Donuts’ website, the company sells 2.5 million doughnuts and doughnut holes every day. Founded in 1950, the franchise now has more than 9,000 locations in 31 countries, and last year had global sales topping $5.6 billion.


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The Brennan JB7 music player - a hard disk-powered device that stores up to 5,000 CDs - was advertised as a way to “save space and clutter” and get “near immediate access to an entire music collection”.
However, a complaint to the ASA argued that the advert was inciting customers to break the law because it is illegal to copy music without the permission of the copyright law.
Though many countries have a ‘fair use’ provision in copyright law that allows the copying of copyrighted material for personal use, Britain has no such rights. Ripping a CD to a digital format, known as format shifting, is prohibited under British copyright law.
3GA, the company that makes the Brennan JB7, told the ASA that it was “not aware of any owners of the product being charged for, or convicted of, infringing copyright and therefore there was no evidence that the ad incited customers to break the law”.
The company also argued that “the fact there was an electronic copy was incidental and had no independent economic significance”.
The ASA rejected 3GA’s defence and said that because the advert “misleadingly implied it was acceptable to copy CDs, vinyl and cassettes without the permission of the copyright owner”. The ASA added: “We also considered that the ad encouraged people to use the advertised product in this way and that, therefore, it incited customers to break the law.”


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Romaine Lettuce Recall 2010 Affects 23 States
That salad may not be as healthy as you thought. According to The Associated Press, a food company is recalling lettuce sold in 23 states and the District of Columbia because of an E. coli outbreak that has made at least 19 people sick, three of them with potentially fatal symptoms from an outbreak of E. coli.
The Food and Drug Administration said Thursday that 12 people had been hospitalized, and the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said it was looking at 10 other cases probably linked to the outbreak.
The FDA is focusing its investigation on lettuce grown in Arizona as a possible source for the outbreak. E. coli infection is quite serious; it can cause mild diarrhea or more severe complications, including kidney damage. The three patients with life-threatening symptoms were diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome, which can cause bleeding in the brain or kidneys.
The recalled lettuce has a “best if used by” date of May 12 or earlier. The recall also affects “grab and go” salads sold at Kroger, Giant Eagle, Ingles Markets and Marsh grocery stores. The lettuce was sold in Alabama, Connecticut, the District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
Donna Rosenbaum, director of the food safety advocacy group Safe Tables Our Priority, and other public health advocates have long been pushing for stronger food safety laws. The House passed a bill last year that would give the FDA much more authority to police food production, but the Senate has not done anything about it.


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In a sea of Jobs biographies, it's a nice change to read about the British-born Jonathan Ive. Who would've thought that designing a toilet would lead him to Cupertino and to Apple's basement where he spent years toiling away unnoticed before Jobs scooped him up and gave him the opportunity he deserved? This biography on his early years is worth a read for anyone who's ever stuck those white earbuds in their ears. [Daily Mail]
Jony Ive: High School Drummer, To Apple Superstar
Trending Stories Right Now
There’s no shortage of data breaches these days, but this one should make you sit up and pay attention. The newly discovered “Collection #1" is the largest public data breach by volume, with 772,904,991 unique emails and 21,222,975 unique passwords exposed.
One of the purported benefits of modern day app stores is to make it easier for companies to review and ensure that the software you download isn’t harmful or malicious. But with upwards of 2.1 million apps on Google Play, sometimes things slip through the cracks, which seems precisely how at least 19 different free navigation apps were found to actually be knock-offs based on Google Maps saddled with an extra layer of ads.


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For more information about the new Alaska Fortified Powdered Milk Drink, visit www.alaskamilk.com.
Employees of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco) come together to bring joy to thousands of public school students in the Meralco franchise area.
Since July, volunteers from various offices of the Philippines’ largest electric company have been visiting public schools in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Quezon, Rizal and Batangas to distribute “Power Pack” kits donated by more than 2,000 employees through a campaign launched by the company’s corporate social responsibility arm, One Meralco Foundation. This is part of the foundation’s annual Makabayan Volunteerism Program (MVP) and in celebration of the birthday of Meralco Chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan.
Meralco President and CEO Oscar S. Reyes hands over a One Meralco Foundation “Power Pack” kit to a kindergarten student of Cubao Elementary School in Quezon City.
Each kit consists of a lunch box, a spoon-and-fork set, a tumbler and a nutrition guide — all contained in a specially designed thermal bag.
OMF launched the campaign in May to help address the need of students, especially in underserved communities, for a safe and sanitary way of storing their take-out lunch. Many school children in poor villages simply pack their food in plastic bags, increasing the risk of spoilage and contamination.
The Foundation hopes to benefit at least 5,500 students in 50 public schools. ■
What’s the worst thing that can happen when you are wearing your nicest OOTD? For showbiz stars like Alex Gonzaga and Melai Cantiveros, it’s bumping into each other, wearing exactly the same outfit and wondering who actually wore it better. But since these two ladies are not going to settle the score just like that, they both asked the bigger, more interesting question—are the outfits bagong bili or bagong laba?
The question confused the minds of everyone, going viral on social media as fellow momshies weighed in and argued whether their idol’s outfits was bagong bili or bagong laba. But even as the arguments rocked social media, no one could figure out the answer as both the outfits of Alex Gonzaga and Melai Cantiveros looked like new.
To solve the great mystery once and for all, Tide hosted “Bagong Bili o Bagong Laba Fashion Walk-Off”, an interactive fashion show last July 31 at White Space, Makati. Excited guests took part in a game that proved how brand new whites look no different from clothes washed with Tide.
Kicking off the fashion show were Luis Manzano and the Solomon brothers, and celebrity kids Awra Briguela, and Mela Francisco. After all the models strutted to confuse the crowd even more. Alex and Melai graced the stage with a grand walk off and cheered on the audience to make their best guess — “Bagong Bili or Bagong Laba?”.
Ending the show was a grand reveal of the models removing their tags to see who wore the bagong laba and the bagong bili outfits – astounding everyone in the audience because there was no difference in the whiteness of the clothes that the models wore!
“Sobrang nagulat ako sa fact na ako pala may suot ng bagong laba! As in wow, nakakagulat talaga kasi for me, feeling ko bagong bili suot ko! Totoo talaga na sa isang laba, mukhang bago, kapag Tide,” said Alex, whose bagong laba clothes definitely look brand new.
Melai, who turns out to have been wearing the brand new outfit, added that “Amazing ang whitening powers ng Tide. From now on, hindi na talaga kailangan bumili parati ng bagong damit para mag mukhang bongga ang outfits mo. With Tide, para ka na ring nakasuot ng bago.”
Just like everyone in the audience, it’s hard to tell the difference between bagong bili and bagong laba with Tide.
“We know how important it is for Filipinos to have the best-looking uniforms and everyday wear, but we also know that with repeated use, clothes usually look dingy. That’s why we’re delighted to present Tide, which in one wash, keeps clothes looking like new.” ends Procter & Gamble’s Country Marketing Manager for Laundry, Jonn Terence Dy.
With its great cleaning power that removes dirt while brightening whites, your OOTDs can still have that “looks like new” look even after repeated usage, getting that surprising wow from everyone.
Sa Tide, sa isang laba, mukhang bago!
About Procter & Gamble
P&G serves consumers around the world with one of the strongest portfolios of trusted, quality, leadership brands, including Always®, Ambi Pur®, Ariel®, Bounty®, Charmin®, Crest®, Dawn®, Downy®, Fairy®, Febreze®, Gain®, Gillette®, Head & Shoulders®, Lenor®, Olay®, Oral-B®, Pampers®, Pantene®,
SK-II®, Tide®, Vicks®, and Whisper®. The P&G community includes operations in approximately 70 countries worldwide. Please visit http://www.pg.com for the latest news and information about P&G and its brands.
A Celebration of Smiles by AOK at Solaire Resort.
Creating a brighter future for children with clefts – through art.
Visit The Artway at Solaire until September 2. Artwork sold will benefit Smile Train programs in the Philippines. Featured artists include Jon Ray Fernandez, Danger Sanchez, Camy Francisco Cabral, Albrecht Behmel and artists from Noordhoff Craniofacial Foundation Philippines, Inc..
Acts of Kindness Hosts Art Exhibit Benefitting Smile Train, the World’s Leading Cleft Charity
On July 19, Acts of Kindness and Solaire Resorts and Casino unveiled, “A Celebration of Smiles: Creating smiles and second chances at life through art,” an art exhibit benefitting, the world’s leading cleft charity. The exhibit is being held at Solaire’s The Shoppes Artway.
The exhibit features artwork by local and international artists, and some of Smile Train’s former cleft patients. The artwork will be available for sale until September 2 and will help raise funds and awareness for children with clefts in the Philippines.
“We are grateful that Acts of Kindness is hosting this art exhibit to help raise awareness for Smile Train and our local programs here in the Philippines. Through this initiative, not only is Acts of Kindness able to showcase local and international talent, they are also able to help create a brighter future for children born with clefts,” said Kimmy Coseteng-Flaviano, Area Director for Smile Train in Southeast Asia.
A portion of the proceeds will be donated to Smile Train to help fund various local programs to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care for Filipinos.
Celebrating Smiles Through Art
The art exhibit showcases pieces from Roberto Sanchez, a DJ and entrepreneur by trade, but creatively a self-taught artist; Jon Ray Fernandez, an airline professional turned mixed-media artist; Camy Cabral, a full-time artist with a background in design and advertising; and Albrecht Behmel, an award-winning artist and best-selling writer whose works have been shown in Paris, Beijing, New York, Moscow and London. Despite coming from different backgrounds with different styles of artwork, these artists came together to offer their pieces all for a good cause.
Apart from the seasoned artists, some of the artwork is from Smile Train’s former cleft patients including: Julia Robert Capili, Angel Ibo, Pearl Angeli Miranda, Jervy Hobo and Nickson Cabote. Having interacted with the guests, these individuals have shown how far they’ve come since their initial cleft surgery.
“We hope that we can continue to raise awareness for children with clefts in the Philippines and all over the world through these small acts of kindness,” says Flaviano. “We want to continue to spread smiles and encourage others to do the same.”
For more information about Smile Train’s global efforts and to make a donation, please visit smiletrain.org. Follow Smile Train Philippines on Twitter and Instagram @SmileTrainPh, and like us on Facebook at @SmileTrainPhilippines.
About Smile Train
Smile Train empowers local medical professionals with training, funding, and resources to provide free cleft surgery and comprehensive cleft care to children globally. We advance a sustainable solution and scalable global health model for cleft treatment, drastically improving children’s lives, including their ability to eat, breathe, speak, and ultimately thrive. To learn more about how Smile Train’s sustainable approach means donations have both an immediate and long-term impact, please visit smiletrain.org.
About Acts of Kindness
About Acts of Kindness is an initiative that supports various causes and charities through art. They are able to establish brand awareness, social consciousness, and human interaction to drive trust, civic responsibility and humanity to today’s busy world by engaging in online and on-ground initiatives. The exhibit will be open for public viewing until September 2, 2018 at The Shoppes Artway, Solaire, Entertainment City, Parañaque City.
SJCAM in partnership with Lucky HR launched the SJ8 Series officially at the Bonifacio Hall, Shangrila at the Fort and was hosted by Ms. Philippines 2012 Stephanie Stefanowitz.
Mr. Edward Anthony Pineda, Lucky HR Manager gave his opening remarks, announced the start of SJCAM launch, and brief the audience to the history and how Lucky HR has started and rise in the online shopping industry.
DId you know? Lucky HR received the “King of Electronics” Award
Lucky HR company’s hard work and dedication has led it to become SJCAM’s official online distributor nationwide. He also unveiled the latest SJCAM Series, the SJ8.
SJCAM Regional Director, Mr. Victor Wang graced the stage and delivered an inspirational speech on what has brought upon the achievements of the company and its plan for future expansion.
Photo (C): SJCAM Philippines
Lucky HR also announced to be the Official Online Distributor of SJCAM here in the Philippines – Lazada and Shoppee.
Arnold Balao of Lazada and Vajpayee Akshay of Shoppee gave recognition to Lucky HR as Official Online Store of SJCAM. Mr. Edward Pineda handed out token of appreciation for the partnerships, followed by the official wine toasting. The guests were invited to the exhibit of the SJ8 series, and to be familiarize with the specifications of each.
SJ8 Php 9,989.00
SJ8 Plus Php 15,999.00
Sj8 Air Php 4,999.00
Follow LuckyHR Philippines on Facebook for more info: https://www.facebook.com/LuckyHrPH/
Learn more about SJCAM on Facebook:https://www.facebook.com/OfficialSJCAMPhilippines/


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Colgate-Palmolive becomes first company to fund navigation of five‑step gated recyclability process
BENTONVILLE, ARK. (Nov. 6, 2019) – The Recycling Partnership officially launched its new Pathway to Recyclability initiative to help packaging suppliers outline, address, and successfully navigate current and future packaging and recycling system challenges that limit the recycling of packaging materials today at the Walmart Sustainability Innovation Summit. A key component of the initiative will be the creation of material and packaging-specific collaboratives to solve these packaging challenges. This new initiative was identified as a critical need to build the circular economy in the U.S. in the recently released Bridge to Circularity Report published by The Partnership on Oct. 22, 2019, which called for investments and partnerships to improve the current recycling system and to lay the groundwork for a circular economy in the U.S.
“The end of life for a package is determined at the beginning when it’s designed,” said Sarah Dearman, VP of Circular Ventures, The Recycling Partnership. “Companies and citizens want to see a better future for items not currently recyclable. The Pathway to Recyclability will provide a stage-gate analysis of what changes must be addressed at each step along the recycling supply chain – from the packaging engineer to the consumer purchasing the package, to the end market buying post-consumer recycled material, and back again.”
While this initiative is new, it builds upon a five-step-gated methodology highlighted in the ASTRX (Applying Systems Thinking to Recycling) Navigating the Recycling System tool. ASTRX is a collaboration between The Recycling Partnership and the Sustainable Packaging Coalition (SPC) – a membership-based collaborative that believes in the power of industry to make packaging more sustainable. ASTRX will support this new initiative. The Association of Plastic Recyclers will also be a critical partner.
This important work received initial financial support from Colgate-Palmolive. The Pathway to Recyclability will kick off this new initiative with Tom’s of Maine® toothpaste tubes teed up to be the first packaging material to work its way through the Pathway to Recyclability. Tools for the Pathway to Recyclability will be published in early 2020. This will pave the way to drive action through collaboratives for specific materials and packaging formats.
“Colgate-Palmolive is dedicated to bringing safe, effective products to our consumers that are also good for the planet,” said Jean Luc Fischer, President, North America & Global Sustainability for Colgate-Palmolive. “We’re excited to soon be taking our new Tom’s of Maine® toothpaste tubes through this new Pathway to Recyclability and use it as a model for other innovative recyclable package designs across product categories.”
“The Pathway to Recyclability is a roadmap to help producers ensure their packaging is recyclable and really gets recycled,” Dearman said. “By working collaboratively to connect existing tools and fill critical gaps, we will develop a clear and concise process. This will result in an honest and real assessment by recycling realists of what it takes, what it costs, and what the environmental, economic and societal benefits are when we design for recyclability. Let the journey begin.”
For more information on the Pathway to Recyclability or becoming a funding partner, contact Sarah Dearman, VP of Circular Ventures at email@example.com.
About The Recycling Partnership
The Recycling Partnership (recyclingpartnership.org) is a national nonprofit organization that leverages corporate partner funding to transform recycling for good in states, cities, and communities all across America. As the only organization in the country that engages the full recycling supply chain from the corporations that manufacture products and packaging to local governments charged with recycling, to industry end markets, haulers, material recovery facilities, and converters; The Recycling Partnership positively impacts recycling at every step in the process. By the end of 2019, The Recycling Partnership expects to have served more than 1,300 communities with tools, resources, and technical support, placed nearly 600,000 recycling carts, reached 60 million households, and helped companies and communities invest more than $55 million in recycling infrastructure. In doing so, The Recycling Partnership has created meaningful social, environmental, and economic change, including diverting 230 million pounds of new recyclables, saving 465 million gallons of water, avoiding 250,000 metric tons of Greenhouse Gases and driving significant reductions in targeted contamination rates.


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BGSU study analyzes digital natives’ use of YouTube videos and its business implications
Based on information gleaned from nearly 700 individuals who answered questionnaires or participated in interviews and an analysis of most-watched YouTube channels, a Bowling Green State University professor and seven graduate students have written a book that analyzes the power of YouTube and online videos for businesses. The book describes how YouTube cultivates an entrepreneurial and promotional culture.
Dr. Louisa Ha, a professor in the School of Media and Communication and editor of “The Audience and Business of YouTube and Online Videos,” believes people need to realize the global importance of YouTube and that businesses must learn how audiences use online videos.
The research was born out of a service-learning class project with Google three years ago.
“They wanted to know what video device was more attractive to college students,” Ha said. “My ambition was to make it a bigger, broader project.”
With the help of 45 of her students, she and the graduate students conducted 294 computer-aided, self-administered interviews in the student union and received 353 responses to the online survey, as well as 23 in-depth follow-up interviews, all from BGSU students who are considered digital natives.
“It was a rich data set” that gave advertisers and researchers a glimpse about why this audience behaves the way it does, Ha said.
The study confirmed that most students use videos to learn about products, which potentially drives them to purchase. Eighty-three percent watch YouTube’s recommended videos. About 13 percent of the BGSU students who participated the study are also creators of online videos, in addition to being the audiences of YouTube.
“YouTube is a relatively recent phenomenon,” Ha said. “When the idea of webcasting worldwide was discussed in (my book) in 2006-2007, YouTube was not yet developed; there was no truly globally successful web platform to broadcast videos.”
Today, however, that has changed.
“YouTube is fun. It is a large platform that has grown — especially since Google purchased it — and is now larger outside of the U.S., in countries like India and Brazil, making YouTube a success as a global medium.”
Google plays an important role for YouTube, Ha said. Its search engine power makes YouTube the most-used video platform on the web. The book also looks at the coexistence of user-generated and professional content, which Ha said makes “YouTube a unique platform in the ever-expanding online video industry.”
In addition, the book explores the under-studied business side of YouTube, from product review videos, comments on videos, brand videos, sponsored videos, online video advertising and sharing to other social media. It also compares YouTube with other online video services such as Netflix and Hulu.
The number of channels on which to watch the videos is growing exponentially as well.
“It’s not just on computers and our phones, but on digital TV and gaming consoles. There are millions of channels to watch,” Ha said.
According to a September 2018 article on Forbes.com, “500 million hours of video are watched on YouTube every day and over half a billion internet users watch online videos every day on Facebook. And a large portion of them are looking to buy products or services, as 90 percent of online shoppers state that they find videos important as they are making purchasing decisions.”
Doctoral students and alumni who contributed chapters to the book are Mohammad Abuljadail (“Users and Non-users of YouTube and Online Video Services”), Alyssa Fisher (“What Do Digital Natives Watch on YouTube?” with Ha), Nicky Chang Bi (“YouTube Product Review Videos as eWOM”), Xiaoli Wen (“Comments on YouTube Product Review Videos”), Fiouna Ruonan Zhang (“YouTube and Other Social Media,” with Bi), and Kisun Kim and Claire Youngnyo Joa (“Online Video Advertising Viewership and Avoidance on YouTube”).
Ha’s chapters include “YouTube as a Global Online Video Portal and an Alternative to TV,” “How Digital Natives Watch Online Videos: Digital Divide and Media Devices,” “Most Popular YouTube Channels,” and “Is YouTube Red the Ultimate Viewing Experience and What Is the Future of Online Video Audience Research?”
The book is available through Lexington Books.


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UCWeb ties up with Twitter and Microsoft Bing to deliver extensive cricket coverage
UCWeb has announced its partnership with Twitter and Microsoft Bing. The new development is aimed to deliver extensive cricket coverage through an upgraded UC Cricket that the Alibaba-backed company developed in 2013.
As per the new strategy set by UCWeb, Twitter will provide content related to cricket matches directly on UC Cricket. Microsoft Bing will also contribute to the real-time coverage by offering predictions via Bing Predicts. Additionally, the company has updated its cricket-centric service with a floating widget UC Express and some customisable notification to deliver updates on cricket scores and commentary in an advanced manner.
“Our cooperation with Twitter and Bing is going to reshape the digital cricket content landscape, considering the modalities of our cooperation and scale of our combined user base,” says Kenny Ye, GM of global markets, Alibaba Mobile Business Group, in a statement. “This partnership is going to offer the right mix of content for all cricket lovers in India ahead of the upcoming cricket season.”
Cricket is undoubtedly a hot topic in India. But the makers of UC Browser is in plans to take cricket just as a primary move to enter the world of digital content in the future.
Citing a report by Ernst & Young, UCWeb shows that 50 percent of all the digital content that consumed in India is expected to be served through the small screen in less than five years from now. This perhaps evokes the idea of shifting focus from merely offering a web browsing product to a digital content distributor.
“There is likely to be an overhaul in the way content providers distribute their content across digital platforms as UC Browser adapts itself for such role to meet the expectations of the industry,” Ye added.
UCWeb aims to offer discovery and navigation of content to its Indian users through UC Browser. Also, the company is set to help publishers and partners distribute their content to the masses in the country.
Twitter integration within UC Cricket is already live, but content through Bing Predicts will be available starting March 14. You just need to download and install the latest UC Browser version on your mobile device to receive the updates.
The new developments will not only make UC Browser a strong competitor against Opera and Chrome browsers but would also give a tough competition to some cricket-focused apps like Cricbuzz and Cricinfo.


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Dole and Future Food collaborate on a study to understand food inequality.
People. Planet. Prosperity
If you are looking for expert insights on the future of food, for people, planet, and prosperity, the Future Food team is available to assist.
Our international team of thought leaders, design experts, gastronomists, researchers, and entrepreneurs have a wealth of experience and knowledge on food sustainability developments and trends.
Contact us today for more information.
Areas of expertise
Future Food has identified eight Initiatives as the main challenges that we, as humanity, need to face for shared prosperity.
These thematic Initiatives serve as the FF training ground, the vehicle by which we move from intention to the realization of our objectives.
Browse through our collection of publications for in-depth insights and reflections on the latest themes and challenges within our global food systems.
Future Food in the media
FoodTank Podcast episode interviewing Sara Roversi, President and Founder of the Future Food Institute, about the organization’s use of technology and research to promote a sustainable agri-food system.
Food Navigator: Future Food accelerating ‘impactful innovations’ to transform nutrition and sustainability
Future Food, an Italian-based organization focused on developing “innovative collaborations” to “revolutionize the food ecosystem” has secured the financial backing of food industry veterans Valerio Nannini and Mauro Piloni.
Future Food Press Releases
SUSTAINABILITY AND PROSPERITY THINKING: CERTIFIED ORIGINS COMPANY-WIDE WORKSHOP WITH THE FUTURE FOOD INSTITUTE NEW YORK, Jan. 31, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — Certified Origins (CO), a European based company specializing in traceable extra virgin olive oil
Future Food Institute partners with the NNEdPro Global Centre for Nutrition and Health to promote nutrition that is healthy for humans and sustainable for the Planet.
Together on July 23, at the Virtual Summit “Empowering Global Nutrition with Digital Technology” The annual event brings together industry experts, researchers, and influencers worldwide on food and public health issues. 10
The Future Food Institute, a global nonprofit transforming food systems through education and innovation, expands presence in Japan through the launch of an award-winning platform. (24 May 2022, Tokyo Japan).


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Advanced manufacturing will get a $1B boost from Apple
Apple CEO Tim Cook said the company will create a $1 billion fund to support advanced manufacturing in the U.S. He said Apple will announce its first investment later this month.
“We asked ourselves ‘How can we get more people to do advanced manufacturing in the United States?'” Cook said on CNBC’s “Mad Money” program. “We’ve talked to a company that we’re going to invest in.”
Cook did not name the company, or say whether it was an American firm. Earlier this year, Taiwan’s Hon Hai Precision Industry, better known as Foxconn, discussed possible plans to build a U.S. manufacturing facility in partnership with Apple. Apple reportedly wants to invest because the facility will make smartphone displays. Last year Foxconn acquired Sharp, a leading maker of smartphone and TV display panels.
Japan’s SoftBank is also expected to be an investor in Foxconn’s potential U.S. factory. SoftBank Chairman Masayoshi Son is creating a $50 billion technology investment fund, in which Apple is an investor. According to Japan’s Nikkei news service, Son proposed the Foxconn factory in the United States.
Smartphone displays are probably not the only reason Apple decided to invest in advanced manufacturing. Factory automation is a big potential market for Apple, which now develops its own processors and is investing in other chip manufacturers.
Automation is a growth area for Apple as smartphone sales level off. Last month Apple agreed to buy a startup that specializes in software for task automation. Apple’s Workflow purchase was seen by some as confirmation that the company remains focused on automation despite the departure of Sal Saghoian, the executive who formerly led Apple’s efforts in this area.
Image source: Ideanco


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© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The logo of fashion retailer Zalando is pictured at the new headquarters in Berlin, Germany, April 10, 2019. REUTERS/Hannibal Hanschke
BERLIN (Reuters) -German online fashion retailer Zalando posted a quarterly profit dip on Wednesday as the pandemic-fuelled e-commerce boom slowed down, as customers shopped more at physical stores that offered deep discounts after the easing of lockdowns.
Europe’s biggest fashion e-commerce player said adjusted operating profit fell to 9.8 million euros ($11.35 million) from 118 million a year ago, while sales rose 23% to 2.3 billion euros, slightly ahead of analysts’ average estimate of 2.24 billion.
Zalando said its operating profit was in line with the number it posted in the third quarter of 2019, before the pandemic helped the company post exceptional results.
“Despite growing inflation and supply chain uncertainties, we remain confident to achieve our upgraded full-year outlook,” finance chief David Schroeder said in a statement.
Zalando reiterated it expects full-year sales to grow 26%-31% to 10.1 billion-10.5 billion euros and forecast adjusted earnings before interest and taxation to reach the upper half of its guided 400 million-475 million euros range.
British rival ASOS (LON:) warned last month that supply chain pressures and consumers returning to pre-pandemic behaviour could reduce 2022 profit by over 40%.
($1 = 0.8636 euros)
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Huawei is banned in the US: the US has banned the import of equipment from Huawei and several other companies from China
Huawei is banned in the US. The Federal Communications Commission for the first time recognized products of a lot of Chinese companies banned for import and sale because of national security risks. Commission member Carr said that China threatens U.S. interests through espionage.
Telecommunications and surveillance equipment manufactured by Huawei, ZTE, Hytera and several other Chinese companies are banned from importation and sale in the United States because of “unacceptable risks” to national security. This was announced by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on its website.
Huawei banned in the U.S. – what is banned?
The products of the subsidiaries and affiliates mentioned in the list of companies fall under the ban. Brendan Carr, a member of the Federal Communications Commission, called the decision unprecedented and unanimously adopted with the support of both parties in Congress. This is the first time in the history of the agency, he noted, that the distribution of communications and electronic equipment has been banned because of national security reasons.
Carr pointed out that “Communist China and other malevolent actors” are too eager to use loopholes in U.S. electronic systems to obtain sensitive information, they are trying to “compromise American interests through espionage, intellectual property theft, blackmail, foreign influence campaigns and other nefarious activities.”
Two years ago, the commission had already banned using government subsidies to buy equipment from Huawei and other Chinese companies, he recalled, and as a result many operators had refused to cooperate with such firms. But that decision left a loophole for buying equipment with private funds, and it’s time to close it, Carr said.
Huawei was put on U.S. sanctions lists more than three years ago, in May 2019. Washington accused the company of industrial espionage, stealing technology and threatening the U.S. economy. In February 2020, The Wall Street Journal, citing statements from U.S. officials, reported that Huawei had covert access to cell phone networks around the world.
The CIA believes Huawei was funded by Chinese intelligence, the Chinese Armed Forces and the Republic’s National Security Central Committee, sources told The Times. At the same time, the FBI believes that Huawei equipment installed on cellular towers near US military bases can jam and intercept Defense Department communications, including those used by the US Strategic Command, which is responsible for nuclear weapons.
Earlier, we reported that Bloomberg named the most profitable stock market in 2022.
What is the most profitable stock market? Bloomberg called it the most profitable stock market in 2022
What is the most profitable stock market? The stock market of Turkey, which is the most profitable stock market in the world, has become the growth leader this year, ahead of U.S., European and Asian platforms, Bloomberg wrote. The benchmark index Borsa Istanbul 100 (BIST 100) since the beginning of the year rose 78% in dollar terms.
In lira terms, the index, which includes shares of the 100 largest Turkish companies listed on the Istanbul Stock Exchange, has risen by more than 150% since January. This was the best result since 1999, the publication calculated. Most European financial markets have shown negative dynamics this year.
What is the most profitable stock market?
Turkey’s stock market hit an all-time high in November 2022 as private investors invested in Turkish assets to protect against high inflation. The Borsa Istanbul 100 index rose to a new record high of 4,784 points in trading on Nov. 16. During trading on Tuesday, Nov. 22, the BIST 100 index gained 3.6 percent to trade at 4,734 points.
Domestic investors are investing in stocks as Turkey’s central bank pursues a policy of lowering interest rates to spur economic growth, even as the country’s inflation rate exceeds 80 percent. Despite high inflation, the country’s regulator has conducted monetary policy easing cycles in 2021, which goes against current monetary policy. The rate cut has helped weaken the Turkish lira and turned equities into one of the few income-generating havens for investors.
Inflation in Turkey surpassed 85% in October for the first time in 25 years, and while the country’s central bank predicts it could fall to 65.2% by year’s end, price growth remains among the highest in the world.
Stocks have become favorites of Turkish investors. The number of stock trading accounts opened by private investors rose 32% this year to 3.1 million as of Nov. 18, according to Turkey’s Central Securities Depository.
According to Evren Kirikoglu, founder of Istanbul-based Sardis Research Consultancy, Turkish stocks are likely to remain attractive to investors for at least the first half of next year, even as inflation in the country begins to decline.
Earlier we reported that the U.S. stock market was up more than 1% for the day.
US stock market news today: U.S. stock market closed with more than a percent gain
US stock market news today. U.S. stock indices closed Tuesday, trading up more than 1 percent in anticipation of the Federal Reserve’s (Fed) November meeting minutes.
US stock market analysis
The Dow Jones Industrial Average gained 397.82 points (1.18 per cent) and was up 34098.1 points. Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) and Salesforce (NYSE:CRM) Inc (+3%) were the top gainers among the index components. Only three of the 30 companies in the index’s calculation finished with losses, including shares of Walt Disney Co (NYSE:DIS), which fell 1.4 percent.
Standard & Poor’s 500 rose 53.64 points (1.36%) to 4,003.58 points. The Nasdaq Composite added 149.9 points (1.36%) to 11174.41 points.
The Fed minutes will be released tonight. At its last meeting, the Fed once again raised the rate by 75 basis points and hinted at the possibility of a slowdown in rate hikes at later meetings.
On Monday, Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland and San Francisco governors Loretta Mester and Mary Daly signaled that the Fed would slow the pace of interest rate hikes next month, while stressing that the need for further policy tightening remains.
Senior strategist at B. Riley Wealth Management Art Hogan recalled that the U.S. market will be closed Thursday due to the Thanksgiving holiday, and many traders will take Friday off, so trading volumes this week will be lower than usual.
“Under such conditions, moves in both directions are often particularly pronounced,” he said.
Market participants were also assessing corporate news.
Earlier we reported that stock markets in Europe are changing in different directions.
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January 8, 2017 By Hassan Gbassay Koroma
Africa’s largest philanthropy supporting entrepreneurship, the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF), has since January 1 started accepting applications for business ideas that can transform Africa.
According to the press release, prospective applicants should complete the online application at www.application.tonyelumelufoundation.org with the deadline for the application being midnight (WAT) on 1 March 2018.
The release stated that the programme provides critical tools for business success, including 12 weeks of intensive online training which guides creating and managing a business, a world-class mentor to guide during the early transformation stages of the business.
It furthered that funding of five thousand United States Dollars ($5,000) would be provided in seed capital to prove the concept, plus access to further funding and Network Access to the largest network of African start-ups and TEF’s own global contacts.
The release stated that the Programme, in its 4th cycle, is TEF’s 10-year, $100 million commitment to identify, train, mentor and fund 10,000 African entrepreneurs by 2024.
According to founder of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, serial entrepreneur and philanthropist, Tony O. Elumelu, when they launched the TEF Programme and committed $100 million to empowering Africa’s entrepreneurs, he knew they would create impact but he never imagined it would be impact of this magnitude.
He said they have unleashed a movement of African entrepreneurs a force so strong, so inspiring, that he is confident they would collectively transform Africa, and called on Africa’s best and brightest entrepreneurs to come learn, grow their businesses and build the Africa continent.
The release stated that 1,000 entrepreneurs would be selected based on the viability of their idea, including: market opportunity; financial understanding; scalability; and leadership and entrepreneurial skills demonstrated in the application.
It says for someone to be eligible to apply the individual business must be based in Africa, must be for profit, must be 0-3 years old and applicants must be at least 18 and a legal resident or citizen of an African country.
In her statement, Chief Executive Officer of the Tony Elumelu Foundation, Parminder Vir OBE said they are encouraging women, French and Portuguese speakers to apply.
She said their 3,000 alumni are already growing their businesses and improving lives, adding that if anyone had a transformational business or an idea, they have an opportunity for that person.
Established in 2010, The Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) is the leading philanthropy in Africa championing entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs across the continent.
The Foundation’s long-term investment in empowering African entrepreneurs is emblematic of Tony Elumelu’s philosophy of Africapitalism, which positions Africa’s private sector, and most importantly entrepreneurs, as the catalyst for the social and economic development of the continent.
It could be recalled that in 2017 six Sierra Leoneans benefited from the Tony Elumelu Foundation, including Abdulsalam Kamara, manufacturer Bockarie Sama Banya, commercial and retail Bridgetta Audrey Modupeh Amoateng, agriculture (agri-business, farming) Dominic Andrew Boima, agriculture (Agri-business, farming) Henry Orlando Joseph Tucker, agriculture (agri-business, farming) Martin Kailie, energy and power generation.
The Foundation’s flagship initiative, the TEF Entrepreneurship Programme, is a 10-year $100 million commitment to identify, train mentor and fund 10,000 entrepreneurs capable of changing the face of business across Africa.


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Shares of D.R. Horton Inc. (NYSE: DHI) surged more than 7% this morning after the company reported stronger-than-expected earnings on rising home deliveries. The company said earnings for the quarter ending Dec. 31 hit $142.5 million or $0.39 per share. DHI significantly surpassed expected per-share earnings of $0.34 for the quarter.


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According to reports that were posted this week, Lenovo is going to reveal a new range of hybrid tablets soon.
One of these new additions is the Lenovo Miix 720, which was leaked this week with a new hybrid tablet design, a higher resolution display and a new keyboard cover that comes with backlit keys.
According to reports, it will also come with up to a Core i7 Kaby Lake processor, with a 12-inch display that features a 2,880 x 1,920-pixel resolution.
Reportedly, it will also feature up to 16GB of DDR4 RAM, 1TB of PCIe SSD storage, a USB Type-C port, a USB 3.0 port, a USB 2.0 port, a headphone jack, a 41Wh battery, and a microSD card slot.
It also has 802.11ac WiFi, Bluetooth 4.1, a 1-megapixel front-facing camera, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera.
No pricing or official details have been revealed about the Lenovo Miix 720 yet, however, as soon as we hear it we will let you know.


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What you need to know:
Experts say that despite the few single commodity trade wars, Uganda still exports a lot more of other products to Kenya.
Uganda’s exports to neighboring Kenya have increased despite the continued trade impasse between the two countries.
Latest statistics from Bank of Uganda for the cumulative period December 2020 to November 2021 show that the country exported goods worth $544.5m (Shs1.9trillion) to Kenya.
This was a 17 percent increase from $447.8m (Shs1.5 trillion) the country registered during the 2019-2020 period. This too was higher than the $428.8m (Shs1.5 trillion) the country earned in 2018-2019.
The BoU report further shows that on a monthly performance, Uganda’s exports to Kenya, have too recovered from a three-month decline.
In November 2021, Uganda exported goods to Kenya worth $56m (Shs198bn) up from $40m, $39m and $36m earned in August, September and October respectively. Experts say that despite the few single commodity trade wars, Uganda still exports a lot more of other products to Kenya.
Dr Fred Muhumuza an economist and lecturer at the School of economics, Makerere University in an interview said: “People do exaggerate the quarrels Uganda has with Kenya. These quarrels are usually over one item, which don’t last for long.”
Adding: “These quarrels do not mean that other items are not being exported to Kenya. I am not surprised that our export volumes are continuing to grow.”
Uganda’s exports to Kenya mainly include milk and cream, tobacco, cane, maize, Poultry, electrical energy and plywood among others.
The BoU report shows however that in terms of the trade balance, Uganda’s imports from Kenya still outweigh exports. by about 31 percent.
In the period 2018-2019, 2019-2020 and 2020-2021, Uganda’s import bill to Kenya has hovered at $784m, $800.5m and $800.7m respectively.
Muhumuza adds that it is impossible that Ugandans are importing more from other source markets products that they used to access from Kenya.
“Uganda might be importing goods from other countries like China and this is done by the Chinese bringing items directly into the country,” Muhumuza observed.
Uganda’s imports from Kenya are mainly palm oil and its fractions, iron or non-alloy steel, petroleum oils and salt among other goods.
Regionally, Kenya remains Uganda’s leading trading partner, followed by South Sudan, DR Congo, Tanzania, Burundi and Rwanda.
The BoU report shows that in November Uganda exported goods worth $56m (Shs198bn).
South Sudan which is troubled by instability, is gradually increasing its trade with Uganda. In the period in review (December 2020 to November 2021), Uganda exported goods worth $44.3m (Shs157bn).
This was followed by DR Congo with export trade worth $32.6m (Shs115bn).Tanzania and Burundi followed at a distant $11.5m and $5m respectively.
Uganda’s exports to Rwanda have remained negligible at $50,000 (Shs177m) down from the average of $17m (Shs60.3bn) the country used to earn from her exports.
This has been going on since February 28 2019 when Rwanda closed off her major border with Uganda.
The main products that Uganda exported to Rwanda are Cement ($5.16m), Corn ($3.45m), and Soap ($2.48m). During the last 24 years the exports of Uganda to Rwanda have increased at an annualised rate of 1.74%, from $25m in 1995 to $37.8m in 2019.


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Threat actors have been impersonating more than 100 apparel, clothing, and footwear brands such as Nike, New Balance, and Vans to lure customers as part of a malicious phishing scam since June 2022.
The threat research team from Bolster.ai identified more than 3,000 registered domains and around 6,000 sites carried out by threat actors with the intent to target the customers of these popular brands to steal account credentials and financial information. Other brands that have been affected include Doc Martens, Miu Miu, Converse, and Etsy, an American e-commerce company that hosts countless small businesses on its site.
As the height of its campaign activity between November 2022 and February 2023, the malicious actors were adding around 300 new fraudulent sites on a monthly basis, the researchers said. The attackers followed a simple naming convention for these domains: combining the brand name with a city or country, followed by a generic top-level domain such as .com.
Many of the domains were old, some even two years old, which helped boost the success of this scam. The older a domain name, the less likely they are to be flagged by security tools as being malicious. Old domains also help boost global malvertising campaigns because those sites have time to be indexed by Google, tend to rank higher in search terms, and can lure in users who assume that a page ranking high in search must be credible.
Notable for Fraud Risk
These domains were traced back to Autonomous System number AS48950, (which refers to IP prefixes run by network operators) — and the domains' IP addresses are hosted by Packet Exchange Limited and Global Colocation Limited. Both Internet service providers are known for fraud risk, according to Bolster.ai.
Companies can mitigate these risks by training employees to be aware and take note of the signs for impersonation attempts and phishing scams, using cybersecurity software to block attempts to begin with, and even using artificial intelligence (AI) to automate these processes.


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Nokia: Lumia 900 Set to Launch on May 14th in UK – Trying To Keep Up With US DemandApril 25, 2012 2 Comments
Nokia has announced via a conversation with TheVerge that the Lumia 900 will launch in the UK on May 14th. The Lumia 900 has been very popular here in the US as it has been sold out various times on AT&T. With AT&T stating that Demand the phone has “exceeded expectations”and Nokia is doing everything it can to produce more units to satisfy it. The White Lumia 900 just became available on AT&T and it quickly sold out. There are also rumors that a magenta colored device will be making its way into stores for Mothers Day.
The Lumia 900 looks to be arriving in the UK with two color options to begin with (black, white) and will be spreading throughout Europe shortly after it launches in the UK.


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Recently Uber, the wildly popular and innovative transportation network app, came under attack in New York. Mayor Bill de Blasio was attempting to push through “Uber Cap” legislation, regulation which would have capped Uber’s growth. In reality, it would have saved the New York taxi cartel, a government created and protected monopoly threatened by Uber’s explosive growth.
Remember, a license for a yellow taxi medallion in New York can cost over 1 million dollars and is almost a guaranteed government protected investment for those who can afford it. Uber on the other hand, destroys this model by providing better service and lower prices. Additionally, it empowers its drivers to make as much or as little income as they desire as owners of their own business.
In evaluating fairness, New York’s taxi drivers are subject to regulation that Uber is not. But, those regulations are asinine and unfair, generally created again to enrich owners at the expense of workers and consumers. If New York really cared about their transportation woes, they should eliminate most if not all of their useless taxi regulations.
But, with history as our guide, that will likely not take place. Taxi companies invested almost a quarter-million dollars in getting de Blasio elected and it was not because they cherished the value of citizenship. Uber represents the end of traditional taxi regulations and organizations, archaic structures of a forgotten, and coincidentally corrupt, past.
When Uber and Lyft are truly free, who would choose a more expensive and less comfortable yellow cab experience? In the end, the taxi cartel is fighting for their lives, the battle becoming their Napoleon defeat at Waterloo. When it is over, if Uber and Lyft are allowed to innovate, the medallions and government bestowed licenses will be worth nothing.
We should be Uber-grateful that innovators decided New York was a good place to flex their muscles and fight. Whether it was publishing letters, engaging celebrities like Kate Upton and Neil Patrick Harris, promoting viral videos, or having Uber drivers protest on the street, it was all out war for innovation.
New York has been here before. In 1808, the legislature of New York granted Robert R. Livingston and Robert Fulton a monopoly to provide transportation on all waters within the state. It was plucky entrepreneurial upstarts like Cornelius Vanderbilt who aggressively fought these monopolies defiantly against the law. Ultimately, the battle lead to the Supreme Court where a unanimous decision found that New York’s navigational licensing scheme was unconstitutional, breaking Livingstone’s and Fulton’s monopoly.
The breaking of these established aristocracies in New York lead to America’s explosive growth, not only for the steamboat industry but the railroad industry as well. This entrepreneurial monopoly-free driven economy has defined America to this day.
When we innovate, we always battle entrenched interests. It is also always about money, cloaked in public safety and jobs. Whether it is Edison against the natural gas industry or more recently on a micro level, the licensure of African Hair Braiding, the fight is the same.
Uber’s recent victory over de Blasio was a benefit for all New Yorkers, which will lead to less expensive transportation, more choice, and entrepreneurial opportunities for thousands. Uber and Lyft are trailblazing a new economy, just as railroads and steamboats did before, where people are empowered and not just the politically connected few.
We should all be grateful that Uber has decided to give Mayor Bill de Blasio a black eye on the matter. He had it coming.