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‘Password overload’ is leading to some lax security habits, but there’s a growing appetite for better security solutions, according to new findings from Digital Guardian’s Data Insider blog.
According to the company’s recent survey of a thousand randomly selected Google users over the age of 18, 61 percent said they use the same password across multiple accounts. What’s worse, that attitudes of presumably more tech-savvy generations aren’t any better than those of older users: 62 percent of respondents aged 65 or older reported re-using passwords, while that number went as high as 76 percent among millennials aged 18 to 24. No wonder one in five reported having had an online account compromised.
A significant part of the problem seems to be simply the number of online accounts requiring password credentials. Seventy percent of respondents reported using ten or more password-protected online accounts, and 29 percent said they weren’t even sure how many such accounts they use because there are too many to count.
This points to a ripe opportunity for password alternatives to come into play. Biometric authentication, for example, would seem to offer an easy solution for many, and indeed major consumer-facing companies like Samsung envision a future in which biometric authentication plays a central role across a range of digital transactions. Meanwhile, almost half of Data Insider’s respondents – 48 percent – said they use two-factor authentication when it’s available. It seems that while password-based security is still a serious issue, there’s an appetite for stronger security mechanisms that could actually make life easier for most users.
Source: Digital Guardian’s Data Insider


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Phenova, Inc., a proficiency testing products and reference materials provider based in Golden, Colorado, works with labs and regulatory bodies to develop proficiency testing (PT) programs. According to a press release sent out by the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA), Phenova is A2LA’s first ISO/IEC 17043 accredited PT provider for the cannabis marketplace.
According to Ty Garber, director of new business development for the cannabis and food and beverage markets at Phenova, they have been working with A2LA for over a decade in other industries, but the cannabis testing industry is a huge new market for them. “Our Cannabis Proficiency Testing products and services are experiencing high demand across North America and we are fortunate to offer our expertise in proficiency testing to client laboratories and regulatory agencies in their joint efforts to ensure cannabis product quality and safety,” says Garber. “By working with the laboratories and stakeholder agencies, we have been able to develop and operate Proficiency Testing Programs based on real marijuana matrices, especially where the matrix creates specific analytical challenges. This approach has proven to be very beneficial for everyone involved, and we are working diligently to expand these efforts.”
Trace McInturff, senior director of accreditation services at A2LA, says this could help fill a serious need for conformity assessments in accredited cannabis labs. “A2LA is excited to announce the expansion of Phenova’s existing ISO/IEC 17043 Proficiency Testing Provider scope of accreditation to become the first A2LA accredited Proficiency Testing Provider for cannabis,” says McInturff. “This milestone adds to the positive historical relationship between Phenova and A2LA that dates back to 2005 when A2LA implemented a new TNI SSAS program for Proficiency Testing Providers and A2LA performed one of the first assessments of its kind at Phenova.” McInturff also says that A2LA has been instrumental in establishing the initial ILAC Proficiency Testing Provider accreditation requirements which ultimately became the basis for ISO/IEC 17043.
In addition to the “real marijuana matrix PT programs” that Phenova offers in certain states and countries where legal, they also offer alternative PT standards for labs that have obtained or are working on obtaining ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation.
At this year’s Food Safety Consortium a couple weeks ago, the newly launched Cannabis Quality Track featured a number of panels and presentations that highlighted the many intersections between food safety and cannabis. One particular topic of interest was measuring the quality and safety of cannabis products through laboratory testing. At the event this year, representatives from the leading laboratory accreditation bodies in the country sat together on a panel titled Accreditation, Regulation & Certification: Cannabis Labs and Production.
Chris Gunning, life sciences accreditation manager with A2LA
The new ISO 17025:2017 standard was a topic addressed pretty early in the panel. Tracy Szerszen introduced the topic with a recap of the 2005 standard. “With 17025, for those that are familiar with the older version, 2005, there are really two sections of the standard for that one,” says Szerszen. “The newer standard is a little bit different, but there is a quality management system review that we do and we look at the laboratory to ensure that they are testing appropriately based on what they applied for. So, for cannabis labs, they typically have the same scope in types of methods with respect to microbiology and chemistry, and we are making sure they are following the standard from a technical standpoint, meaning they have the right equipment, the appropriate personnel and also have a quality management system.”
Chris Gunning followed that up with a closer look at the changes coming to the new 2017 standard. “If you are familiar with the 2005 version, you know that a lot of the clauses started out with a ‘you shall have a policy and procedure for doing X,’” says Gunning. “One of the major changes to the 2017 version is it gives laboratories more latitude on whether they need to have a policy/procedure to do certain things.” Gunning says the 2017 version is much more of an outcome-based standard. “As far as assessing to it, it becomes a little harder from our side because we can’t say you have to have this quality manual or you have to have this procedure that were going to assess you to. We are more open to looking at the outcomes.”
The most interesting change to the ISO standard comes with addressing the idea of risk. “One of the newest concepts in this standard is risk and how you assess your risk to your organization how you assess risk of impartiality, how you assess your measurement uncertainty when you are creating decision rules,” says Gunning. “Those are the big concepts that have changed in the 2017 standard in that it is more outcome-based and introducing the concept of risk more.”
After discussing some of the broader changes coming to the 2017 version, the panelists began delving into some common pitfalls and issues labs face when trying to get accredited. “From our experience, in Michigan, the new standard was written into the regulations, but a lot of labs were already accredited to 2005,” says Szerszen. “So, we actually contacted the state and explained to them that they have three years to transition. And some states will say ‘too bad, we want the 2017 ISO,’ so some of the cannabis labs are asking us to quickly come back so they can get appropriate licensing in the state and do a transition audit quickly.” She says most states seem to be comfortable with the current transition period everyone has, but it certainly requires some discussion and explanation to get on the same page with state regulators. “November 29, 2020 is the deadline for moving to the new 2017 standard.”
In addition to state requirements like traceability and security on top of an ISO 17025 accreditation, labs can run into issues not typically encountered in other testing markets, as Gunning mentioned during the panel. “One of the hardest parts of getting accredited is the need for properly validated methods, for all the different matrices in samples,” says Gunning. “Some of the biggest hurdles for new labs getting assessed are validation and the availability of reference materials and proficiency testing samples that meet their state requirements.” Those are just a handful of hurdles that labs aren’t usually anticipating when getting accredited.
Another big topic that generated a lot of dialogue during the panel was the need for a national accreditation standard for cannabis testing labs, one that Natalia Larrimer is advocating for. “Many laboratories are operating facilities in more than one state and what they are facing is a different set of criteria for laboratory recognition in each state, says Larrimer. “One initiative that we would love to see more support for, is a set of uniform requirements nationally. ACIL is currently working on developing these type of requirements which would be in addition to the ISO/IEC 17025 standard and specific for cannabis industry…” Larrimer says she’d like to see these requirements recognized nationally to get labs on the same page across multiple states. “This includes requirements for things like security, traceability, proficiency testing, sampling and personnel competence. The industry would greatly benefit from a uniform cannabis testing program across the US, so that testing facilities in Oregon are operating to the same criteria as facilities in California or Colorado, etc.”
The panelists went into greater detail on issues facing the cannabis lab testing industry, but also delved into certifications for food safety and quality, an important new development as the infused products market grows tremendously. Stay tuned for more highlights from this panel and other talks from the Food Safety Consortium. We will be following up this article with another that’ll shed some light on food safety certifications. Stay tuned for more!
According to a press release sent out this morning, the American Association for Laboratory Accreditation (A2LA) accredited their first Pennsylvania cannabis-testing laboratory. Located in Harrisburg, PA, Keystone State Testing finalized their accreditation for ISO/IEC 17025 on February 21, 2018.
A2LA also accredited the laboratory to two cannabis-testing-specific programs, ISO/IEC 17025 – General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories and A2LA R243 – Specific Requirements – Cannabis Testing Laboratory Accreditation Program. The R243 program is a collaboration with Americans for Safe Access (ASA) that takes some recommendation for regulators from the American Herbal Products Association (AHPA).
Keystone State Testing is now able to perform all of the tests for cannabis products under the state of Pennsylvania’s regulations. According to Dr. Kelly Greenland, owner and operator of Keystone State Testing, getting accredited is about safeguarding patient safety. “Keystone State Testing is proud to be the first Pennsylvania laboratory to earn A2LA ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation as well as ASA’s Patient Focused Certification,” says Dr. Greenland. “We regard these accreditations and certifications as the first steps in ensuring patient safety and will continue to do everything within our power to ensure medical marijuana patient safety.”
A2LA General Manager Adam Gouker says he wants to see more accreditations include the ASA requirements in R243. “A2LA is pleased to see the growing adoption of the combined assessment to include the ASA requirements,” says Gouker. “Our staff has worked tirelessly in conjunction with ASA staff to create this combined program and offer something that no other accreditation body in the world offers. We congratulate Keystone State Testing Labs on leading the charge in the state of Pennsylvania and laying the groundwork for future laboratories to follow.”
The lab was accredited to ISO/IEC 17025 – General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories, so they are now able to test for pesticides in cannabis and other matrices, according to the press release published today. “WSDA sought this accreditation to ensure our clients can have absolute confidence in our testing methods and lab results. The information we produce drives enforcement cases and policy decisions,” says Mike Firman, manager of the WSDA Chemical and Hop Laboratory. “We want to do everything that can be done to make sure our data is reliable.”
The A2LA Cannabis Accreditation Program is essentially a set of standards for quality in testing cannabis and cannabis-based products, such as infused products, tinctures and concentrates. ISO 17025 accreditation is quickly become a desirable certification for laboratories. Many states strongly encourage or even require ISO 17025 accreditation for cannabis laboratories. California recently released a set of proposed lab testing regulations for the cannabis industry that specifically requires an ISO 17025 accreditation in order for laboratories to issue certificates of analysis.
Because each state’s requirements for laboratories testing cannabis varies so greatly, A2LA works with state regulators to craft their accreditation program to meet each state’s specific requirements. “A2LA is excited to play such an important role in the accreditation of cannabis testing laboratories and is pleased to see ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation expanding into additional states,” says A2LA General Manager Adam Gouker. “Priority must be placed on ensuring that cannabis products are tested by competent laboratories to convey confidence in the results – a cornerstone which underpins the safety to all end-users.” A2LA is currently accepting applications for cannabis laboratories working to receive accreditation. Labs that already have ISO 17025 accreditation and are in a state with legal cannabis, have the ability to expand their scope of accreditation if they are looking to get into cannabis testing.
Formerly named the Bureau of Medical Cannabis Regulation under the state’s Department of Consumer Affairs, the Bureau of Marijuana Control is tasked with overseeing the development, implementation and enforcement of the regulations for the state’s cannabis industry. In their statement of reasons for the lab testing regulations, the bureau says they are designed with public health and safety at top of mind. At first glance, much of these laboratory rules seem loosely modeled off of Colorado and Oregon’s already implemented testing regulations.
The regulations lay out requirements for testing cannabis products prior to bringing them to market. That includes testing for residual solvents and processing chemicals, microbiological contaminants, mycotoxins, foreign materials, heavy metals, pesticides, homogeneity as well as potency in quantifying cannabinoids.
The microbiological impurities section lays out some testing requirements designed to prevent food-borne illness. Labs are required to test for E. coli, Salmonella and multiple species of the pathogenic Aspergillus. If a lab detects any of those contaminants, that batch of cannabis or cannabis products would then fail the test and could not be sold to consumers. A lab must report all of that information on a certificate of analysis, according to the text of the regulations.
The proposed regulations stipulate requirements for sampling, including requiring labs to develop sampling plans with standard operating procedures (SOPs) and requiring a lab-approved sampler to follow chain-of-custody protocols. The rules also propose requiring SOPs for analytical methodology. That includes some method development parameters like the list of analytes and applicable matrices. It also says all testing methods need to be validated and labs need to incorporate guidelines from the FDA’s Bacterial Analytical Manual, the U.S. Pharmacopeia and AOAC’s Official Methods of Analysis for Contaminant Testing, or other scientifically valid testing methodology.
Labs will be required to be ISO 17025-accredited in order to perform routine cannabis testing. Laboratories also need to participate in proficiency testing (PT) program “provided by an ISO 17043 accredited proficiency-test provider.” If a laboratory fails to participate in the PT program or fails to pass to receive a passing grade, that lab may be subject to disciplinary action against the lab’s license. Labs need to have corrective action plans in place if they fail to get a passing grade for any portion of the PT program.
On December 7th, 374 Labs received ISO 17025 accreditation, becoming the first in Nevada to do so. The laboratory, based in Sparks, Nevada, is state-certified and now the only ISO 17025 accredited lab in the state, according to a press release. The laboratory is a member in both the Association of Commercial Cannabis Laboratories (ACCL) and the Nevada Cannabis Laboratory Association (NVCLA).
According to the release, 374 Labs was a driving force behind Nevada’s round robin cannabis lab testing program. That program, administered by the Nevada Division of Public and Behavioral Health (DPBH) and the Nevada Department of Agriculture (NDA), sends cannabis samples to each state-certified cannabis lab for a full analysis, measuring the consistency in test results across labs. “In other states proficiency involves testing pre-prepared, purified samples and neglects the challenges of coaxing out delicate analytes from the complex array of compounds found in actual marijuana,” says Laboratory Director Jason Strull. “I commend the DPBH and NDA for facilitating such an advanced quality program.”
Also notable is the announcing of their partnership with Clean Green Certified, a third-party certification (based on USDA organic certification) for sustainable, organically based cannabis cultivation. “Nevada allows certain levels of pesticides like Myclobutanil on its certified marijuana, so we wanted a way for patients and consumers to able to distinguish marijuana that is grown using organic methods,” said Laboratory Director Jason Strull. According to Michael Seibert, managing member of 374 Labs, they have already started performing inspections for the third-party certification and the first facility inspected was Silver State Trading in Sparks, Nevada (certified for both production and cultivation).
“By achieving ISO/IEC 17025 accreditation, TEQ Analytical Labs believes that we can address the concerns throughout the cannabis industry regarding insufficient and unreliable scientific analysis by providing our clients with state-required tests that are accredited by an international standard,” says Seth Wong, president of TEQ Analytical Laboratories. According to a TEQ Analytical press release, accreditation to this standard confirms that laboratories have the management, quality, and technical systems in place to ensure accurate and reliable analyses, as well as proper administrative processes to confirm that all aspects related to the sample, analysis and reporting are standardized, measured and monitored.
By implementing ISO 17025 accreditation, the laboratory monitors systems and processes central to analyses in an effort to minimize discrepancies and variability in test results. According to Roger Brauninger, biosafety program manager at A2LA, this type of accreditation demonstrates their competence and commitment to rigorous science. “It is encouraging to have testing laboratories taking ownership of the quality of the work performed,” says Brauninger. “Reliable testing will be imperative to insure safety of the products out on the market as this industry continues to expand.” As the first accreditation of its kind in North America, Brauninger hopes this will open the doors for more cannabis laboratories to acknowledge their role in demonstrating scientific competency for the industry.
Tripp Keber, president and chief executive officer of Dixie Brands, Inc., commends the achievement. “At Dixie Brands, we believe that cannabis is powerful, that quality is important, and that accurate dosing is of supreme importance,” says Keber. “Because Dixie is committed to delivering a safe, consistent, and accurately dosed product, lab testing is a vital component to our manufacturing processes.”
“TEQ’s achievement of ISO 17025 accreditation instills great confidence to Dixie Brands that our consumers’ health and safety is ensured and that they will enjoy a reliable and predictable experience with our product each and every time,” adds Keber. “Dixie’s strategic relationship with TEQ continues to build long-term brand value.” This kind of accreditation helps build trust in laboratories’ clients knowing they can provide accurate results repeatedly.
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domain: news


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NEW YORK - Dish Network Corp.'s agreement to buy Blockbuster Inc.'s assets out of bankruptcy could keep the movie-rental chain and its blue-and-gold logo from disappearing.
But whether the No. 3 pay TV company can use Blockbuster’s brand, stores and streaming-video capabilities to create services more relevant to the age of Netflix and Hulu remains to be seen.
Dish, headed by billionaire Charles Ergen, won a two-day bankruptcy auction for Blockbuster that stretched into the early hours of Wednesday morning with a bid valued at $228 million.
Dish has so far been mum about specific plans for Blockbuster, but in its announcement, the company highlighted the 1,700 stores that will remain and “multiple methods of delivery.”
Dish spokeswoman Francie Bauer said the Englewood, Colo.-based company would not comment further since the deal must receive bankruptcy court approval.
A hearing for approval is set for today. Dish expects the deal to close in the second quarter.
Satellite TV providers have been losing new subscribers as cheaper alternatives such as Hulu and Netflix become more popular.
Acquiring Blockbuster will make Dish a more viable competitor in streaming video online. It’s doing so at a price easily affordable for Dish, which had nearly $3 billion in cash as of Dec. 31.
“Ergen continues to look for distressed assets selling at bargain prices,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Ryan Vineyard. Blockbuster “could transform Dish into a much more viable online competitor than it is now.”
Dish beat out billionaire investor Carl Icahn and a group of debt holders for the Dallas movie-rental chain, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in September.
Icahn had teamed with a group of liquidators. Analysts say it was likely he would have liquidated the company. Dish has more of a vested interest in keeping Blockbuster going, but analysts are split about whether it will keep the stores themselves open.


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The Motor Vehicle Administration (MVA) will close its full-service and express offices on Monday, November 12, 2012 in observance of Veterans Day. All Vehicle Emissions Inspection Program (VEIP) stations will also be closed. Offices will reopen for business Tuesday, November 13, 2012.
Customers are advised that the days before and after a holiday are especially busy, and they should check out wait times on the MVA website. For convenience and to save time, MVA also encourages customers to complete their MVA transaction online. Online registration renewals and many other time saving alternative service options are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week by logging on to the MVA website at www.mva.maryland.gov .


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EVE The Scope – Dread Guristas Steal Supercarrier in Daring Raid
The latest SCOPE reports on the hijacking and theft on a Wyvern class supercarrier from the Wirykomi corporation.
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Steve Jobs' claims that his overpriced keyboardless netbook is not a PC have been dismissed as dafted by the shy and retiring Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer.
In an interview at the D: All Things Digital conference in California this week, Ballmer dumped on the iPad. Ballmer said the iPad was just a new PC form factor and not a revolutionary new category. He said it was impossible to do notes with it in a meeting.
The famous ChatGPT application for Apple Watch, Petey, became available for iPhone a couple of months ago.
Apple’s next operating system for its Mac models is called macOS 14 Sonoma, in this article, we will give you some details about the tech giant’s next version of macOS.


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July 21, 2011
The Legend of Swordman’s TV play, produced by KingSoft’s Xishan studio and Hairun Media, will be on show tonight. Bojun Qiu, KingSoft’s CEO, said the ￥40 million TV play is a goal they have dreamed of for years.
According to the statistics of the Entgroup, the movie industry in China is growing quickly, which is why gaming companies also want to make movies; the other reason is that though gaming business brings a lot of income, it is still hardly accepted by the mainstream. Combining games and movies together will make them easier to be accepted.
In China, few online games had anything to do with movies or TV plays. But in this year, Netease’s Ghost has succeeded with the launching of A Chinese Fairy Tale (movie); Perfect World will launch a new film this month; and the movie Saier invested by Taomee will be released on July 28.
Shanda has already made Legend of Immortals into a movie and Tencent is catching up.


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Updated: Apr 26
Robert Branch is wearing his Second Harvest Food Bank cap and driving his truck east on I-40, classic rock playing quietly on the radio as he rolls along. His destination is the Walmart Distribution Center in Mebane, a massive 450,000-square-foot center that distributes perishable food to more than 55 Walmart stores in North Carolina and Virginia. “It’s basically the biggest refrigerator you will ever see,” says Branch.
Once there, Branch skillfully backs the Second Harvest truck up to the loading bay. He does this effortlessly, showing his years of experience as a truck driver, and then heads inside.
Large pallets of fresh vegetables and meats are stacked near the bay where the Second Harvest truck sits. Quickly, Walmart employees, wearing winter-wear inside, even though it is warm outside, use forklifts to load up the truck with pallets of lettuce, tomatoes, onions, yellow squash, yogurt, meats, and more. Branch watches, making hash marks on his clipboard.
Finally, a large pallet of grapes is added to the back. The trailer is so full that the door will only just close.
“This partnership has made a huge difference in the quantity of healthy, fresh produce items we can distribute,” says Eric Aft, Second Harvest’s CEO. “The problem of hunger in our communities is not so much a shortage of calories as it is a shortage of resources to secure more nutrient-rich options. People who are struggling financially are, understandably, often more concerned with quantity than quality.”
The food bank team loads the food from Walmart into large walk-in coolers. Soon, volunteers and staff from Second Harvest’s large network of food pantries are coming through the pick up line to pick up fresh produce, milk and dairy items, frozen meats and shelf-stable staple items for their programs. Others will receive these same items through Second Harvest's Rural Delivery program.
“It’s neat to think of how far these items will travel,” remarks Jenny Moore, Second Harvest’s Director of Communications and PR . “From the donor to the food bank to a food pantry to someone’s home and table. It takes a lot of work and a lot of people who care to make it happen.”
The produce the Second Harvest team picks up from the Walmart Distribution Center in Mebane, North Carolina reaches families from Boone to Burlington, and everywhere in between. More 430 food assistance programs rely on Second Harvest for the food they provide to local children, families, and seniors. In fact, more than 80 percent of the food being distributed by our partner network comes from Second Harvest.
Second Harvest has been moving food across Northwest North Carolina for nearly 40 years. It is important work, as food insecurity and poverty remain consistent problems for the region.
“At Second Harvest, we believe not only that everyone deserves to eat, but that everyone deserves to be able to access fresh, healthy foods to support a well-balanced diet and good health,” says Aft.
From having nutrition professionals on staff, to working with health care professionals focusing in on food security as a major component of community health, to advocating for food and anti-poverty policies that will help Northwest North Carolina families who are struggling to make ends meet, Second Harvest takes nutrition very seriously.
The partnerships that Second Harvest has with grocery retailers like Walmart and others ensure that we have high-quality and nutritionally dense food, and right now, these partners are inviting you to...FIGHT HUNGER. SPARK CHANGE. Learn how here.


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Fidelity’s crypto-centric venture will offers institutional players trading and custody services.
Sony says that blockchain’s unique features like transparency and tamper-proof will help to over data infringement issues in the content management industry.
BlockShow Asia 2018 will return to Singapore in November 2018 to the Asia Blockchain Week bringing with it another chance to network, showcase and share the best that Blockchain world has to offer.
Cryptocurrency payment processor BitPay has added support for Gemini Dollars (GUSD) and Circle USD Coin (USDC). With the addition, merchants can now choose to accept payments pegged on the two Stablecoin in addition to other Altcoins.
Unicorn’s crypto ATM will support buying/selling of five cryptocurrencies: Bitcoin, Ripple’s XRP, Ethereum, Bitcoin Cash, and Litecoin.
The regulator noted that they would be developing a new framework with a careful approach to deal with the “new technology”.
Tether credentials as a reliable dollar substitute in the cryptocurrency marketplace, is in jeopardy. For the longest time, the altcoin has billed itself as a Stablecoin, pegged on the dollar.
The crypto market is still full of potential in the last quarter of 2018. However, the number of initial coin offerings (ICOs) has seen a decline over the past months.
By next month, South Korean lawmakers and regulatory agencies are likely to unveil the country’s official stand on fundraising through ICOs.
The chairman said that his agency believes the “do no harm” approach and is willing to see more innovation in the country’s blockchain sector.


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Jul 12, 2019
In this week's episode of The Cassandra Daily Podcast I recap on-demand petcare services, social shopping platforms, startups pioneering alternatives sources of fish, and gender-fluid fashion lines. Plus, this week we feature a special guest star! Melanie Shreffler, Cassandra's Senior Director of Insights, chats with me about our recent Retail Report and gets us pumped for our upcoming Q3 report on Burnout. For more information on this week's topics, visit https://www.cassandra.co/daily.


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While Wi-Fi has increasingly become the primary choice for office worker connectivity, it may be some time before it replaces wired networks altogether, according to panelists at the Interop conference, held last week in New York.
Polycom announced Wednesday that its room and desktop videoconferencing systems have been integrated with IBM Lotus Sametime to offer business customers a fuller range of unified communications tools.
The U.S. Federal Trade Commission has closed an investigation into Google Street View cars snooping into open Wi-Fi networks, with the agency declining to take action.
Is AT&T behind on IPv6 deployment?
File-sharing program LimeWire has been permanently shut down after a federal judge found it guilty of assisting users in committing copyright infringement "on a massive scale."
Mozilla today announced that it will delay the release of Firefox 4 until 2011.
Verizon Wireless kicks off sales of Apple's iPad bundled either with a MiFi mobile hotspot or as Wi-Fi-only units in 2,000 stores on Thursday.
Security experts today suggested ways Firefox users can protect themselves against Firesheep, the new browser add-on that lets amateurs hijack users' access to Facebook, Twitter and other popular services.
Smartphone sales are exploding, which poses long-term questions about wireless network capacity as users show a willingness to pay for ever-bigger data plans.
With still two weeks before Windows Phone handsets go on sale, the Windows Phone Marketplace has already reached 1,000 applications and games, according to some brief blog reports.
DSL vendors are using a variety of methods such as bonding several copper lines, creating virtual ones and using advanced noise cancellation to increase broadband over copper to several hundred megabits per second.
Juniper this week unveiled software, based on its recent purchase of sMobile, to protect mobile devices from security threats.
The fight is on for wireless device-to-device networking supremacy between a refreshed incumbent, Bluetooth 4.0, and a newcomer, Wi-Fi Direct. Both specifications are promising to make it easier for you to quickly transfer pictures, files and other ...
Being online is making Americans feel more connected but they're actually seeing friends face-to-face less often.
The arrival of a giant Gingerbread man statue on Google’s Mountain View campus signals that the next version of the Android operating system is probably just around the corner.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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Guiding is hard work. While I have never gone out with a hunting guide, I have gone out with a fishing guide during the summer. One of my most memorable trips started at 8am and didn’t end until we got off the river at 11pm. I know it was hard for me but it was harder for the guide.
The pandemic has impacted and will continue to impact hunting guides and outfitters worldwide. I know people who have had to cancel trips to Africa and undoubtedly the pandemic will impact guided hunting here in the Northern Hemisphere.
To help mitigate the impact, Safari Club International is holding an online benefit that starts on Saturday, August 1st, and runs until August 22nd.
More about these event in their release below:
Washington, DC (July 27, 2020) – To support professional hunters and outfitters negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis, Safari Club International (SCI) is launching the Share the Impact Outfitter Benefit, a multi-day online charity event that runs from August 1-22.
SCI is painfully aware of the terrible toll the current pandemic, and related restrictions continue to have on the professional hunting industry. These unprecedented challenges facing outfitters affect the entire hunting world and wildlife conservation worldwide, which is why it’s vital that we “share the impact.”
In response to this need, SCI will host the Share the Impact Outfitter Benefit, representing one of the largest-if not the largest-fundraising effort from the organization in recent memory. The online charity event is dedicated to assisting the industry and will begin on Aug. 1 and runs to SCI’s Summer Board Meeting on August 22nd.
“The challenges being faced by outfitters affect us all, and without our support, there will be devastating effects for the wildlife conservation movement worldwide,” SCI CEO W. Laird Hamberlin said. “It’s vital that we come together now to share the impact of the pandemic and support our guides and outfitters.”
The program will include an online auction of donated items and unique experiences, with 100% of the net proceeds going directly to industry relief through outfitter associations. These associations can provide direct assistance to guides and outfitters, making the most of fundraising contributions for those negatively impacted by the COVID-19 crisis.
Bidding opens on August 1st. For more more information about the Share the Impact Outfitter Benefit, visit safariclub.org/sharetheimpact.
Outfitter associations include those in Canada, the US, South Africa, New Zealand, Spain, and more.


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CONCORD, N.C. -- A fire at Concord Mills Wednesday morning caused the mall to evacuate employees and shoppers for a brief time.
Officials say the fire began inside an exhaust fan in the bathroom of the FYE store around 9:15 a.m.
Concord Fire Chief Ray Allen says the sprinkler system kicked on and was able to help put out the fire.
While the fire was not huge, crews are grateful it happened so early in the morning when the mall was not more crowded.
Most of the stores reopened inside the mall around 11 a.m.
No one was injured.


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$6.55m raised from sale of outstanding THQ assets.
Expects process to be completed by mid-May.
One night only on May 23, with tickets available from Monday, January 14 at 10am.
CEO would 'love to see' TimeSplitters in HD, but current amount of signatures 'isn't that convincing'.
Konami has launched a website dedicated to the 25th anniversary of the Metal Gear Solid franchise.
Platinum Games Director Hideki Kamiya has said he would prefer to make a third entry in the Viewtiful Joe series than a Bayonetta sequel.
The 'Beatiful Girls' singer paid LA artist Peter Koskela a cool $1250 to ink his arm – the job took five hours to complete.
Studio will be involved in all future Need for Speed titles - dev hasn't forgotten about Burnout. Is EA Gothenburg involved?
The fan campaign to gather 100,000 Facebook likes for Timesplitters 4 has gathered 13,000 likes since it was started at the weekend.


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Today the NZ Herald published an article, based on an interview with our Business Coach & Principal, Debra Chantry, about Digital Strategy:
It talks about one of the clients, Baby Sleep Consultant that Debra works with as a Business Coach. Debra has worked with Baby Sleep Consultant to develop their Business Strategy as well as their Digital Strategy.
A Digital Strategy has 6 components:
The article explores the Social Business Strategy that Baby Sleep Consultants have undertaken & the results that they have got from that.
Spark: Social media wakes up a sleeping business
When Emma Purdue started her business, Baby Sleep Consultant, just over three years ago she found Facebook a natural place to connect with potential customers.
“In years past, mums were mostly talking to each other on the phone but these days we’re socialising on social media – and with mums that’s particularly on Facebook,” says Purdue. “It’s important for us we’re engaging with them there so, when they are ready, they’ll end up coming to our website for more information or booking a consultation.”
In the early days, the business – which focuses on baby (and parent) sleep problems – found it easy to reach and grow its community on Facebook for free. However, when changes on the social media platform meant it was no longer getting the same organic reach from its posts (and they were increasingly being pointed towards paid advertising to increase reach) they needed a new strategy.
The business began developing VIP customer Facebook groups in some of the different geographic locations where its consultants operate.
Clients are invited to join the groups, members gain immediate online access to their local consultant (who manages the group), other sleep-related information and special discounts on baby and child products in their area.
Purdue reports the groups have grown organically as members – who feel they have an ‘exclusive’ relationship with the business – invite their friends, bringing more business the company’s way.
“In those VIP groups, our customers actively promote us; they’ll advocate we’re really good at what we do and they recommend us – which ends up in bookings.”
The company now has VIP Facebook groups operating for communities in Adelaide, Brisbane, Tauranga and Dunedin and has plans to roll them out across New Zealand.
Demand for Baby Sleep Consultant’s services in Adelaide, where the first VIP group was launched, has increased so much, Purdue says the company’s consultant there has given up her part-time job to focus on sleep consulting full time.
Purdue says her business coach Debra Chantry – a coach with The Icehouse business growth centre, who also runs her own business Ventell – pointed out Purdue needed to stop working so much in the business and start working more on strategies for growth.
“At the time I thought, ‘I can’t stop working with clients’, but actually about six months ago I did; from that point on, there’s been a massive change in the business – sales figures have tripled.”
Chantry describes what Purdue has achieved with the social side of her digital business strategy as ‘nirvana’ – hitting a sweet spot where customers are so engaged, they’re creating their own community to help each other as they’re helping the business.
More broadly, digital strategy is described as the activities, vision, goals and opportunities spanning everything in a business covering the IT, online and mobile spaces.
Given the increasingly digital nature of all our interactions, Chantry says it’s a broad remit: “If you really look at it, the list of things that come under that digital strategy banner can seem endless.
“In a small business context I think people can forget just how many of these digital tools we use these days – your accounting software, all the apps on your phone, marketing communications tools, social media and even internal tools for things like chat and messaging.”
However, to sharpen the focus, Chantry outlines six key areas that digital strategy generally encompasses.
The first, she says, is human resources – who’s responsible for digital, who’s leading it and who could benefit from it; then there are tech resources – the technology that’s actually being used; and data strategy – where and how data is stored and used.
The remainder include content strategy – what content is produced, where it’s kept and how it’s kept up to date; channel strategy – how digital drives relationships in the channel; and social business strategy – encompassing how social media is used within a business, as well as to grow external communities.
Chantry admits most small businesses have yet to find the bandwidth to come up with strategies spanning all six aspects. Many, she says, will instead tend to carve off a specific project within one of those areas.
“As a starting point though, the best approach is to get the key players in the organisation together and literally map out every single piece of software, data, and hardware they have – because that highlights how much ‘stuff’ a business already has, who’s responsible for it, whether it’s up to date and whether it integrates with other tools the business is using.
“Then it’s important to look at the customer journey, what the digital touchpoints are from start to finish, and how any of those could be enhanced.”
If you would like to talk to Debra Chantry or one of our Business Coaches about your businesses Digital Strategy, then please contact us – email@example.com.


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Tech Mahindra is currently trading at Rs. 976.50, up by 13.20 points or 1.37% from its previous closing of Rs. 963.30 on the BSE.
The scrip opened at Rs. 962.20 and has touched a high and low of Rs. 982.50 and Rs. 955.00 respectively. So far 26,000 shares were traded on the counter.
The BSE group 'A' stock of face value Rs. 10 has touched a 52 week high of Rs. 1123.80 on 04-Mar-2013 and a 52 week low of Rs. 591.05 on 18-May-2012.
Last one week high and low of the scrip stood at Rs. 979.00 and Rs. 922.85 respectively. The current market cap of the company is Rs. 12,495 crore.
The promoters holding in the company stood at 47.41% while Institutions and Non-Institutions held 43.34% and 9.26% respectively.
Mahindra Satyam and Tech Mahindra’s arm 'CanvasM Technologies' have jointly launch platform for Context Aware Mobile Commerce. The companies has created this aggregation gateway to change the way organizations ensure relevant experience for customers. This will create entire new business model for information exchange that the current technology and infrastructure do not allow.The platform is one of the first offering as a digital Enterprise powered by NMACS. It leverages the expertise in Telecom and Networks, leadership position in Analytics and security powered by its capability in the Mobility and Social space.
Further, the current version of the gateway allows enterprise customers to use components such as Analytics Engine, location enabler for creating geo-fences, Messaging enabler for creating dialogues , privacy modulation of mobile customers.
Moreover, the platform which was in beta production for the last 12 months was conceptualized as part of a collaboration program with Singapore Government. It is currently being evaluated by a global payment card company and one of the ministries in Singapore.


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Meriva concept car revealed
* Meriva concept car sketch released * Car to be revealed at Geneva motor show * Inspiration from previous GM concepts...
Vauxhall has released a teaser image of its Meriva Concept car, which we will see in the metal at next month's Geneva motor show.
The sketch, Vauxhall says, take styling cues from previous concept cars from parent company GM, including the GTC Coupe and Flextreme, to show how the next Meriva could look.
GM will have a further two concept cars at Geneva motor show, which kicks off on March 4.
A new Vauxhall Meriva is due in late summer 2010, but there's no word on whether it will bear any resemblance to this concept car.


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Uber, the ride sharing service provider has opened its first Asian engineering center in Bengaluru highlighting the focus on India to solve the localized challenges of Uber users in the country. The center will focus on software engineers, product developers and others working initially on problems specific to users in India. The center will eventually play a role in improving Uber’s customer-facing technologies worldwide. Worldwide, Uber has about a 1,000 engineers spread over nine engineering centers.
The engineering center in Bangalore is different from the Center of Excellence the company opened in Hyderabad which deals with operations and provides multi-channel support via email, phone and social media to ensure seamless experience before, during and after a ride.
The company is investing over $1 billion in India to build its network of cabs and has pumped in $50 million to open an operations-support center in Hyderabad last month. Uber engineering center currently has 8 engineers and plans to increase the head count to over 100 employees this year. The center, temporarily headed by Jaikumar Ganesh, is looking to hire more people in the near future, including a permanent India engineering head.
India’s importance for Uber, as the only other market that can rival China in scale, is also underscored by the company introducing the more-innovative services very quickly. For instance, a motorcycle and scooter service for short-distance trips was introduced in Bengaluru within days of its pilot launch pilot in Bangkok. The company has three engineering centers in the US, three in Europe and one in India.
Extra Info :
CEO: Travis Kalanick
Headquarter : San Francisco, California, United State
Founders : Travis Kalanick, Garrett Camp
So lets discuss some questions related to this post which can be asked in the upcoming exams :
1. Name the place where Uber is going to make Asia’s 1st engineering hub ?
2. Who is the CEO of Uber ?
3. Uber is related to which field ?
Courtesy : Asia News


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Not that long ago, Sprint in the Twin Cities was known for its continually dropped calls, subpar data performance and poor customer service, among other problems. Customers responded: They dropped Sprint.
But you’d never get the carrier to admit that, right?
A new Sprint has embarked on a mea-culpa campaign and brought in a freshly minted regional executive to lure back the customers he acknowledges the company burned badly — and lost — between 2011 and 2014.
That time period saw critical network-infrastructure upgrades with serious side effects, such as the dropped-call epidemic, said Michael McMahon, president of Sprint’s Edina-based Great Plains Region. With those upgrades now complete, the carrier is operating smoothly and is roughly competitive with its rivals, he claims.
“It was rough going for some people while we were going through our transition,” McMahon said. “Now, with all those investments in place, we are reaching out to those (old) customers. We’d love to have you back.”
Sprint in the Twin Cities is now about on par with At&T, T-Mobile and Verizon in dropped-call frequency, according to independent testing by RootMetrics. As for data performance, Sprint ranks second after Verizon, according to RootMetrics tests conducted during the second half of 2015.
Sprint’s median download speed in the Twin Cities increased from 11.6 megabits per second in the first half of 2015 to 19.2 megabits a second in the second half, RootMetrics found.
Informal Pioneer Press testing in St. Paul shows Sprint on par with Verizon in data-download speeds, but much slower than Verizon in data-upload speeds.
Sprint also now ranks second after Verizon in overall performance, including voice calling and texting, RootMetrics found.
Still, Sprint remains an underdog with many issues, including a decade of red ink, limited LTE coverage compared to competitors, and dependence on a wireless spectrum that has a restricted range. LTE is short for “long term evolution,” the high-speed technology used by all four big carriers for data service.
Coverage “has always been Sprint’s LTE weakness because their fastest (technology) uses a kind of radio spectrum that only goes relatively short distances from the tower,” said Sascha Segan, a PC Magazine wireless expert who runs a yearly Internet speed drive-test project called Fastest Mobile Networks.
In the Twin Cities, however, McMahon said Sprint is taking major steps to ensure seamless coverage and optimal performance.
This, according to McMahon, includes complementing the carrier’s big towers with about 1,000 “small cells” mounted on light poles and other structures in denser portions of the Twin Cities. Other carriers, like Verizon, have taken similar steps to boost data performance.
Sprint already has installed about 30 small cells in Minneapolis in a test capacity, McMahon said, and the rest of the small cells will be in place by summer.
Sprint has invested about a quarter of a billion dollars in network upgrades in the Twin Cities during the last three years, he said.
The carrier is also making major operational changes intended to make it more consumer-friendly, he added. The company, based in the Kansas City area, recently divvied up the nation into 18 regions, each with its own chief.
McMahon, as president of the new Great Plains Region, oversees Iowa, Nebraska and the Dakotas in addition to Minnesota. He said he is responsible for virtually everything within this region, including sales and customer service.
“Prior to this change in January, we were a siloed organization,” McMahon said.
The carrier also has added 120 jobs in the Twin Cities, mostly in retail stores. It has 19 corporate stores in Minnesota, all but four in the Twin Cities. Roughly an equal number of franchisee-owned stores operate in the state.
Sprint now faces the daunting chore of convincing those skeptical, jilted onetime customers that they should give the carrier a fresh look, which McMahon acknowledges will take time.
Sprint is offering a few sweeteners, such as a no-risk 30-day trial along with a 50-percent discount on any wireless plan from a competitor through April 21.
“We should be charging a premium for our service, but we want to get the word out that we’re a great choice,” McMahon said.


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Facebook has announced it plans to make it easier for marketers to run promotions on the site by abandoning the need for third party apps to run competitions, signalling a potentially huge increase in participation levels.
Facebook’s promotion policy has been updated to allow brands to run competitions directly from their timeline, meaning companies can now collect entries through fan posts as well as ‘Likes’. This is in stark contrast to Facebook’s previous policy, which prevented brands from using the ‘Like’, ‘Share’ and ‘Comment’ functions in competitions. This forced them to use third party apps – something which has drawn privacy concerns.
Privacy issues are not the only criticism third party apps have had to face – they’ve also caused a number of huge mistakes.The most obvious example of this is when a third party app used by Boots mistakenly informed all 9,000 competition entrants that they had won the prize – a mistake that cost Boots £90,000 in Advantage Card points.
The removal of the barrier of third party apps is great news for businesses on Facebook. The costs of running a competition will fall considerably, and the design is more intuitive. Many brands and consumers already participate in this form of Facebook competition (although, up to this point, it had been against their terms of service) and the change in terms plays into this use. Ruth Hobbs, a consultant at the Institute of Promotional Marketing, also claims that consumers have previously “been wary about inputting their data into such apps” and that the new rules will therefore encourage more engagement.
What do you think? Will you be entering, or designing, more competitions now Facebook has changed its rules?


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SHANGHAI — The number of fashion brands caught in the crossfires of a heavy political storm in China over Xinjiang cotton is ballooning quickly.
Shares of Chinese domestic sportswear groups surged, benefiting from the strong nationalistic rhetoric. On the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, Li Ning jumped 10.74 percent to 50 Hong Kong dollars, while Anta rose 8.4 percent to 121.30 Hong Kong dollars and Xtep International increased 2.72 percent to 4.53 Hong Kong dollars. Trending tags on Weibo have been praising the groups for specifically using Xinjiang cotton and particularly Li Ning for listing on its clothing tags that it does so.
In contrast, foreign firms that have previously stated their concerns about cotton imports from the region — where multiple investigations found mass detention camps that the Chinese government contends are education camps — have taken steps to remove the cotton from their supply chains. And now their goods are being dragged down from online marketplaces in China because of it.
On Wednesday, H&M was the first to be targeted. The Swedish fast-fashion brand was suddenly removed from all major Chinese e-commerce platforms including Tmall, Taobao, JD.com, and Pinduoduo. Later, its mobile application was banned on Huawei, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Tencent’s China app stores, and Chinese navigation providers such as Baidu, Dianping and AutoNavi also removed H&M’s physical store information from their platforms. Ride-hailing platform Didi, China’s version of Uber, also has blocked H&M — riders are not able to request H&M physical stores as their destination. However, brick-and-mortar stores for the brand and sister label Cos are operating normally.
The next day Nike, Uniqlo and Adidas slid into the hot seat as new targets; however, these brands have not been blocked on major platforms. The Shanghai-based sneaker and streetwear resale platform Poizon, or Dewu in Chinese, said it has removed all Nike products indefinitely as of midnight Thursday, but the brand is still available on mainstream e-commerce platforms.
New Balance, Burberry and all members of the Better Cotton Initiative have also been mentioned in online posts by People’s Daily.
The publicly traded Western companies that have been named specifically have felt the reverberations in their stock prices. Among those losing ground Thursday were Adidas AG, down 5.7 percent to 263.30 euros; Burberry Group, 4.6 percent to 19.02 pounds; Nike Inc., 3.4 percent to $128.64, and H&M Hennes & Mauritz, 1.8 percent to 202.70 kronor.
On Thursday morning, Weibo’s trending news ranking was dominated by Xinjiang cotton-related topics.
Nike topped the list, as the brand’s ambassador Wang Yibo’s studio said he is terminating his collaboration with the American sportswear giant, and said: “Our company and Wang resolutely resist any speech and behavior that tarnishes China, the dignity of the country cannot be violated, and we resolutely protect the interests of the motherland.” Actress Tan Songyun later also distanced herself from Nike.
In an undated statement, Nike said it “does not source products from the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region and we have confirmed with our contract suppliers that they are not using textiles or spun yarn from the region.”
“Nike takes very seriously any reports about forced labor and we have been engaging with multistakeholder working groups to assess collective solutions that will help preserve the integrity of our global supply chains,” the brand added.
Adidas replaced Nike as the most trending topic on Weibo around 10:30 a.m. Beijing time. The brand has deals with far more celebrities than Nike in China, including Eason Chan, Angelababy, Jackson Yee, Yang Mi, Jackson Wang, Liu Yifei, Peng Yuyan, Deng Lun, Chang Chunning, Dilraba Dilmurat, Chen Linong and Xiang Zuo. All of them have terminated their working relationship with the brand.
Uniqlo drew fewer criticisms online, in comparison, but the brand’s local ambassadors including Jing Boran, Ni Ni, Lei Jiayin and Roy Wang publicly denounced the brand by Thursday at noon.
A slew of sportswear and fast-fashion brands were soon met with the same fate over their public comments regarding alleged forced labor in Xinjiang. Converse lost endorsements from Nana Ouyang, Lay Zhang and Bai Jingting. Liu Wen, Li Xian, Greg Hsu, Yang Yang, Gülnezer Bextiyar and Liu Haoran dropped Puma. Calvin Klein was ditched by Liu Yuxin, Lay Zhang and Greg Hsu. Tommy Hilfiger lost Li Zhenning and William Chan. Meng Meiqi, Zhang Zifeng distanced themselves from New Balance.
For the same reason, Tencent’s video game “Honor of Kings” said it has decided to cancel its virtual costume collaboration with Burberry. The brand’s China ambassadors Zhou Dongyu and Song Weilong soon terminated their endorsement deals with the brand. Burberry is the first luxury brand to get caught up in this political storm.
While the brands under attack now addressed their stance on Xinjiang cotton some time ago, the sudden targeting seems to be in retaliation for the ratcheting up of tensions over the issue. At the start of the year, the U.S. government stated that Beijing’s repression of Uighur and other Muslims in the region constituted a “genocide” and banned the import of the material into the U.S. unless it can be traced otherwise.
The U.S., Canada, the U.K. and the European Union coordinated this week for the first time to condemn the country’s alleged human rights violations toward Xinjiang’s Uighur minority and launched sanctions on some Chinese government-affiliated individuals. On Monday, the American Apparel & Footwear Association, Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America, National Retail Federation, Retail Industry Leaders Association and the United States Fashion Industry Association called “to end the campaign of oppression against Uyghurs and other ethnic Muslim minorities” in China.
Meanwhile, pro-Xinjiang cotton hashtags — Xinjiang’s snow [pure] white cotton, Xinjiang cotton can barely meet China’s demand alone, and Chinese sportswear brand Li Ning puts cotton made in Xinjiang on its labels as proof for premium quality — were also trending.
At the same time, Chinese sportswear group Anta announced it is withdrawing from the Better Cotton Initiative, saying the organization’s recent statement is “seriously concerning.”
“We have always sourced and used cotton from China’s cotton-producing regions, including Xinjiang cotton, and will continue to source and use Chinese cotton in the future,” the brand added.
Japanese slow-living retailer Muji added Xinjiang cotton as a keyword in its product descriptions across its e-commerce channels on Wednesday evening in response to the recent furor.
Hugo Boss put out a statement on Thursday night, saying the company “upholds its insistence on producing and manufacturing high-quality products, using fabrics from all over the world, including raw materials from major production areas in China,” including Xinjiang cotton.
“Over the years, we have always respected the one-China principle and firmly defended the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the country. We have established long-term cooperation with many outstanding Chinese companies and will continue to do so. Xinjiang long-staple cotton is one of the best in the world and we believe that quality raw materials will realize value. We will continue to purchase and support Xinjiang cotton,” it added.
Hu Xijing, editor in chief of the Chinese Communist Party-affiliated newspaper Global Times, wrote on Weibo that: “When you enter a country, follow the customs. Their rules and habits over in the west need to adhere to the principles of Chinese society. The statements made by H&M and Nike to the Western society are now colliding with the attitudes of the Chinese public.”
Unlike boycotts in Western countries which tend to be consumer-led, i.e. shoppers buy from elsewhere and put pressure on retailers to drop brands, in China, boycotts mostly are directives from the government in which authorities essentially turn off the tap. While the general public’s opinion of these brands is sure to have taken a hit, channel checks on Nanjing Road in Shanghai revealed that there was an average level of traffic at all the mentioned brand stores — and Nike and Adidas, in particular, are known to be well-loved by Chinese shoppers. However, Chinese authorities can swiftly cut off a firm’s ability to do business to compel them to fall in line with party policy.
This all comes at a delicate time for fashion companies, which more than ever have devoted themselves to operating with purpose that strives for the broader good and not just the betterment of shareholders. At the same time, most companies are laser-focused on developing their businesses in China, which is not only huge and growing, but has been the first to rebound from the coronavirus crisis and is therefore a key source of revenues.
And perception is a keystone of branding.
John Donahoe, Nike’s chief executive officer, emphasized the company’s growing business in China on a conference call with analysts last week while also acknowledging the port-driven supply problems that have hurt business in the U.S.
“Our brand continues to deeply connect all over the world,” Donahoe said. “We remain consumers’ number-one favorite brand in all 12 of our key cities in both men’s and women’s businesses. We’re also seeing particularly strong connections in Greater China, where our strong portfolio of brands, including Jordan and Converse, is helping to extend our leadership position. All over the world, the relationships we have with consumers cannot easily be replicated. Our brand differentiates us, driven by the unique competitive advantages that we enjoy.”
Nike’s fiscal third-quarter revenues were down 1 percent on a currency-neutral basis, with growth of 51 percent in Greater China.
It’s a moment that highlights the emergent difficulties of being a truly global player.
Caught somewhere in between Washington and Beijing, which have had frosty relationships lately under the new administration of President Joseph Biden, companies find themselves trying to sell both in the U.S., where goods from Xinjiang are banned, and into China, where the official line is very different.
Brands need to stay in the good graces of the governments where they operate, but they also need to stay on the right side of consumers, who are becoming increasingly vocal when it comes to social issues they care about.
This is a bind that more and more companies could start to feel as activists and others increase pressure surrounding the issue.
The Coalition to End Forced Labour in the Uyghur Region said: “The Chinese government is threatening commercial consequences against apparel brands that have taken a public stance against Uyghur forced labor. As reported by media, one brand, Inditex (owner of Zara), has responded by removing its policy on forced labor from its own website.”
The story the group pointed to, by NPR, links to a cached version of Inditex’s policy that notes: “We take a zero-tolerance approach toward forced labor of any kind and have stringent policies and actions in place to ensure that it does not take place anywhere in our supply chain.” That statement is no longer live on the company’s website and Inditex did not immediately respond to a query on the matter.
“Inditex’s behavior — like that of the numerous other brands that have remained silent on the issue of Uyghur forced labor, such as Amazon, Target and Walmart — emboldens the Chinese government in its crimes against humanity in the Uyghur Region,” the coalition said. “Placing human rights over profits carries a price. Millions of consumers worldwide who do not want to be made complicit in Uyghur forced labor are going to be watching to see how companies react to this bullying. Will they reaffirm their opposition to forced labor and crimes against humanity or will they follow Inditex’s footsteps and cave to pressure? This is a moral test for the world’s apparel brands. We will see who passes and who fails.”
Representatives for Amazon, Target and Walmart could not immediately be reached for comment.


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- Legal States
Stoyan Todorov January 26, 2021 2 min read
Playtech in Advanced Talks to Sell Finalto for $200M
Finalto, Playtech’s financial arm, may soon find a new home as the company is in advanced talks to sell what it considers a non-core asset for at least $200 million.
Playtech Confirms Intention to Sell Finalto
Starting the week, Playtech confirmed that it has entered into exclusive talks with a consortium to sell its financial arm, Finalto. With rumors swirling for a while now, this is the first time the company confirmed that the deal was a possibility.
Playtech explained that the company is discussing the potential sale of what it considers a non-core asset for $200 million. Regardless of the focus or lack of on the business, Finalto has performed well during the pandemic, pulling in good results.
In pure numbers, Finalto generated €87.3 million in revenue during the first half of 2020, or a 123% increase year-over-year.
The consortium initiating the talks consists of four established companies, including Barinboim Group, Leumi Partners, The Phoenix Insurance Company and Menora Mivtachim Insurance.
Selling the subsidiary right away would guarantee a quick cash injection as $170 million will be paid on the spot. Playtech did say, though, that in the event of a sale, an estimated $110 million of capital that is needed to keep Finalto operational would be transferred as well.
Not a Sealed Deal
Playtech did caution, though, not to interpret the announcement as a confirmation of a sale, as the talks were still ongoing and Playtech retained its right to withdraw from the negotiations if it deemed the conditions unfavorable:
“Whilst discussions are progressing, there can be no certainty that any transaction will be forthcoming nor on what terms it would occur.”-Playtech
The potential sale of Finalto is motivated simply by Playtech’s desire to streamline its business offer and shed non-core assets, allowing the company to remain focused on what it considers key verticals for its further growth and success.
Playtech is reportedly approaching other parties to discuss opportunities for the sale of Finalto, which has shown resilience and remains in a good position to be sold to the benefit of the FTSE250 technology group.
Playtech’s own performance has been strong of late. The company’s trading update earlier this month revealed that its market performance for 2020 is ahead of market consensus. The company is also one of the few to choose the United Kingdom as a tax residency despite the uncertainties surrounding Brexit.


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Behold, the iPad.
In a presentation today that bred more anticipation than tonight’s State of the Union speech, Apple CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the company’s new tablet computer, the touch-screen iPad.
In making the announcement today in San Francisco, Jobs noted that there are two main mobile computing devices now, laptops and smartphones. He dismissed netbooks as “cheap laptops” and then said, “We think we’ve got something that is better. We call it the iPad.”
The tablet looks in many ways like a bigger version of the iPhone, which quickly made Apple a serious player in the smartphone market.
It comes with 6, 32 or 64 GB of flash storage and features Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and an accelerometer and compass. The battery is billed as lasting 10 hours. It starts at $499 and the top model with 3G will cost $829.
The iPad has Wi-Fi and there are two wireless plans. For 250MB a month, you pay $14.99. For unlimited use, you pay $29.99. AT&T will provide the service. There’s no contract.
The first models will ship in 60 days.
The iPad will run applications from the iPhone store and developers will get new tools to build apps for the bigger device.
Browsing a newspaper site, he pointed out that the “whole Web site is in your hand,” according to the Journal. A newspaper app looks more like an actual newspaper than it does on the iPhone.
The iPad’s e-book functionality builds on what the Kindle and other readers began, Jobs said. “We are going to stand on their shoulders and go a little bit further,” he said.
The iPad has an iBookstore with five partners: Penguin, Harper Collins, Simon Schuster, Macmillan and Hachette.
Browsing through a book mimics turning the pages of a book. Books can use video and photos.
Electronics Arts showed off its “Need for Speed” game. With the additional screen space, the company added a shifter and rearview mirrors, Travis Boatman from EA said.
Apple has a challenge with the iPad. It’ll have to show why consumers ought to pay for yet another Internet-connected screen, on top of the TVs, computers and smart phones they already have. Tablet computers have existed for a decade, with little success.
The device was introduced after weeks of rumors.
The best report came from The Onion under the headline “Frantic Steve Jobs stays up all night designing the tablet.”
Jobs finally “glued nine separate iPhones to the back of a plastic cafeteria tray. ‘OK, yeah, this will work. This will definitely work. Just need to write ‘tablet’ on this little strip of masking tape here and I’m golden.'”


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There's a major threat to US retailers that no one in the industry is talking about
All three reported sales declines, and they aren't alone. Dozens of other department stores and apparel retailers including Sears, Kmart, Nordstrom, J. Crew, and JCPenney have reported declines this year.Industry executives have blamed the slowdown on a warmer-than-expected winter and a pullback in consumer spending on apparel and accessories.
But there's an even bigger threat that none of the executives has directly named: Amazon.Amazon is taking an increasing share of the US apparel market, according to Morgan Stanley.
"Internet retailers (led by Amazon) have added $27.8 billion to their apparel revenue since 2005, while dept stores have lost $29.6 billion," analysts at the bank wrote in a note on Thursday. "This share loss appears at risk of accelerating given 1) Amazon's bigger push into fashion, and 2) consumer willingness/acceptance to shop fashion through Amazon."The following chart illustrates department stores' loss of market share. Note that total sales are ticking higher.
Morgan Stanley Research
So things are looking pretty bad for department stores, but they are about to get even worse.
Morgan Stanley expects total department store revenue declines to accelerate from a rate of -6.5% annually to a rate of -8.5% annually through 2020.The result? Department stores will eventually comprise just 7% of the total US apparel market in 2020 versus 11% today and 26% in 2005.
If this prediction is accurate, we should be hearing about a lot more department store closures in the near term.
The company that stands the most to benefit from this shift is Amazon, the analysts said. It' is already the second largest apparel retailer in the US, trailing only Walmart, with 7% of the overall apparel market, according to Morgan Stanley.
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Vivo Energy Kenya (VEK), the company that distributes and markets Shell-branded fuels and lubricants in the country, has officially opened its 250th Shell service Station – Shell Kamakis service station located on the Eastern Bypass and unveiled a national consumer promotion to reward and appreciate consumers.
The twelve-week promotion, dubbed ‘Jaza Raha Na Shell, Shinda Nyumba,’ will see consumers win various prizes daily, weekly, and monthly. The participating brands in this promotion are Shell FuelSave Unleaded, Shell FuelSave Diesel, Shell V-Power, and all Shell Lubricants available at Shell services stations and spare-parts shops countrywide.
“The Jaza Raha Na Shell, Shinda Nyumba promotion affirms our commitment to our customers, who are the key drivers of the transport industry. We want to give them a head start getting into the festive spirit by appreciating and rewarding them with prizes that will boost their economic livelihoods,” said Hans Paulsen, Vivo Energy Executive Vice President East and South regions.
To participate, consumers will receive a scratch card to reveal an alphanumeric code upon purchasing Shell Fuels or Shell Lubricants. The Consumers will then dial *384*300#, text the code to follow the prompts, and input the code. Consumers will be notified of their entry to the promotion.
For eligibility to participate, motorcyclists will be required to spend a minimum of Ksh300, while motor vehicle drivers will be required to spend a minimum of Ksh1000.
The grand prize winner for the ‘Jaza Raha Na Shell, Shinda Nyumba’ will receive a three-bedroomed house, and the second biggest winner will drive off with an Isuzu NMR Truck.
In addition to the festivities connected to the promotion, Vivo Energy Kenya is celebrating the opening of Shell Kamakis service station, the 250th service station in its retail network.
The fully-fledged service station, which has a capacity to pump 450,000 litres of fuel per month, is strategically positioned to capitalize on the Eastlands and Eastern bypass traffic market.
“Convenience Retailing (CR) is a key growth pillar for Vivo Energy Kenya. With a focus on the growing number of consumers in Kenya who have an affinity for quality brands, Shell Kamakis will house several reputable entities in the financial, health, and quick service restaurants sectors, providing both motorists and shoppers the opportunity to experience all round quality services at the service station,” the company said in a statement.
Speaking on the official service station opening, Vivo Energy Executive Vice-President East and South Regions, Hans Paulsen said that the company is always looking to implement new avenues to ensure our customers’ convenience is addressed, whenever they visit Shell service stations.
“We are excited by this opportunity to open this new location. The availability of several complementary functions including restaurants, banking facilities, a satellite hospital, drycleaner and a convenience store at this outlet provides a holistic and improved customer experience. The establishment is a prime example of like-minded companies coming together with the primary objective of providing customer-centric solutions for their customers,” said Mr Paulsen.


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Sober Grid CEO and Founder, Beau Mann, has been accepted into the Forbes Technology Council
Sober Grid has announced that CEO and Founder, Beau Mann, has been accepted into the Forbes Technology Council, an invitation-only community for world-class CIOs, CTOs, and technology executives.
Mann joins other Forbes Technology Council members, who are hand-selected, to become part of a curated network of successful peers and get access to a variety of exclusive benefits and resources, including the opportunity to submit thought leadership articles and short tips on industry-related topics for publishing on Forbes.com.
Forbes Councils combines an innovative, high-touch approach to community management perfected by the team behind Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC) with the extensive resources and global reach of Forbes. As a result, Forbes Council members get access to the people, benefits and expertise they need to grow their businesses — and a dedicated member concierge who acts as an extension of their own team, providing personalized one-on-one support.
“I’m honored to be selected to join the Forbes Technology Council,” says Mann. “It’s an amazing opportunity to share what I have learned as an executive and entrepreneur with others. I am excited to share my experience with leadership, social innovation, and artificial intelligence in the digital health field.”
Scott Gerber, founder of Forbes Councils, says, “We are honored to welcome Beau Mann into the community. Our mission with Forbes Councils is to curate successful professionals from every industry, creating a vetted, social capital-driven network that helps every member make an even greater impact on the business world.”


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Zhang Yiming has built a $44.5 billion fortune since cofounding ByteDance, the Chinese tech giant behind TikTok. Despite being one of the wealthiest people in China, Zhang is extremely private and little is known about his personal life.
Accordingly, Who is the richest person in the world?
Jeff Bezos is the founder of both Amazon, the world’s largest retailer, and Blue Origin. With an estimated net worth of $177 billion, he is the richest person in the world.
Moreover, Who is the CEO of TikTok?
Shou Zi Chew is TikTok’s CEO and the CFO of its parent company, Bytedance.
Also Who is TikTok owner?
ByteDance, the Chinese company behind the smash-hit video app TikTok, saw its earnings double last year.
What is Tom Cruise worth?
Tom Cruise Net Worth
Tom Cruise’s estimated net worth is $600 million.
25 Related Question Answers Found
Who is the poorest person in the world?
1. Who is the poorest person in the world? Jerome Kerviel is the poorest person on the planet.
Who is the wealthiest family in the world?
According to a report, the fortune of the world’s richest families grew over 22 per cent in the past year with the Waltons who head the retail giant Walmart in the US topping the list for the fourth consecutive year. The Waltons witnessed their fortune zoom $23 billion in the last year.
Why was TikTok banned?
Saturday will mark a year since Donald Trump said he would ban the wildly popular and annoyingly addictive short-video app TikTok from millions of US smartphones, citing threats to users’ privacy and security posed by its Chinese ownership.
Which country banned TikTok?
TikTok was banned completely in India by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology on 29 June 2020, along with 223 other Chinese apps, with a statement saying they were “prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defense of India, security of state and public order”.
Which countries have banned TikTok?
The Chinese video sharing app has been blocked in Pakistan. TikTok has been banned in Pakistan for “immoral/indecent content.”
Is China the owner of TikTok?
In another sign of China’s tightening grip on the country’s growing technology sector, the government has taken an ownership stake in a subsidiary that controls the domestic Chinese social media and information platforms of ByteDance, the Beijing-based company that owns TikTok.
Who is a trillionaire?
A trillionaire is an individual with a net worth equal to at least one trillion in U.S. dollars or a similarly valued currency, such as the euro or the British pound. Currently, no one has yet claimed trillionaire status, although some of the world’s richest individuals may only be a few years away from this milestone.
Who is the poorest celebrity?
List of poorest celebrities
- 50 Cent – $30 million. 50 Cent. …
- Nicolas Cage – $25 million. Nicolas Cage. …
- Pamela Anderson – $12 million. Pamela. …
- Charlie Sheen – $10 million. Charlie Sheen. …
- Toni Braxton – $10 million. Celebrities with low net worths. …
- Mel B – $6 million. Mel B. …
- Tyga – $5 million. Tyga. …
- Sinbad – $4 million. Sinbad.
How much is Justin Bieber worth?
At the young age of 27, pop singer Justin Bieber is one of the world’s wealthiest performers, with a net worth of $285 million. Celebrity Net Worth estimates his annual salary to be in the neighborhood of $80 million, with most of his money coming from music and related merchandise sales.
Who is the richest kid in America?
According to the US Sun, Blue Ivy Carter tops the list of the richest kids in America. The daughter of Shawn “Jay Z” Carter and Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has an estimated net worth of $500 million.
Who is a zillionaire?
The definition of a zillionaire is a person who is extremely rich. A person with seemingly endless amounts of money, a penthouse in Manhattan, a private jet and a ten million dollar house in California is an example of a zillionaire. … One having an immense, incalculable amount of wealth.
What’s bad about TikTok?
Long-Term Repercussions of TikTok. Using TikTok regularly, either as a consumer or content creator, increases your digital footprint. On its own, this poses great risks such as being more prone to phishing attacks and stalking. But in the future, using TikTok could stand in the way of you working in your chosen field.
Why is TikTok banned in China?
The ban was in response to a military clash between Indian and Chinese troops in a disputed territory along their shared border between Ladakh and western China.
Who is the most famous Tik Toker in the world?
Charli D’Amelio is now the most-followed TikTok user, being the first TikTok user to reach 100 million followers.
What country uses TikTok the most?
As of 2020, TikTok counted an estimated 65.9 million monthly active users in the United States. Indonesia had the second largest user base during this period, with over 22 million monthly active users. Russia and Japan followed, with 16.4 million and 12.6 million monthly active users, respectively.
Is TikTok banned in Kuwait?
TikTok and WeChat banned in the United State : Kuwait offerings. … After nearly 2 months it has been banned in the USA.
Why does Walmart want TikTok?
Walmart is one of many retailers that have looked to the popular app as a way to follow trends, create shoppable content, and strengthen its brand among teens and 20-somethings. Walmart buyers consulted TikTok as they decided which toys to order for the holiday season.
Is TikTok banned in USA?
Trump had said that if Bytedance fails to sell the business will be blocked in America along with other apps. However, in December a Judge had stopped the TikTok ban in the US by granting a preliminary injunction in December 2020.
Is TikTok banned in USA?
The high bar for taking down a communications platform makes a complete ban unlikely in the US. But TikTok is currently banned in India and Pakistan, and has been heavily scrutinized by governments around the world.
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