text:
TINA.org joined other consumer advocates including UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice and Consumer Action in filing an amici curiae brief in a case against Sony Music alleging it misleadingly represented that all songs on the 2010 posthumous Michael Jackson album entitled Michael were sung by Jackson himself when three of the songs were not.
- Joined amici brief in support of consumers
- CA Supreme Court sides with consumers holding that Sony's statements are commercial speech
The California Supreme Court issues an opinion holding that Sony’s “album-back promise and video are commercial advertising making claims about a product” and not protected speech.
The parties in the case file a notice of settlement, the terms of which are not publicly disclosed.
The California Supreme Court hears oral argument in this case.
TINA.org joins other consumer advocates including UC Berkeley Center for Consumer Law & Economic Justice in filing a friend of the court brief with the California Supreme Court explaining, among other things, the significant consequences of allowing a sophisticated corporation like Sony Music to shield itself from liability for promotional statements made to consumers about one of its music albums.
The California Supreme Court grants consumers’ petition to review the case.
A California appellate court determines that because Sony lacked “personal knowledge” of the songs’ origins, the statements it made on the album cover and in the video amounted to the music company’s opinion and not actionable commercial speech.
The California Superior Court where the case was filed allows allegations concerning Sony’s statements made on the album cover and in a promotional video to move forward.
A lawsuit is filed in California state court against Sony Music Entertainment for allegedly misleadingly representing that all of the songs on the 2010 posthumous Michael Jackson album entitled Michael were sung by Jackson when, according to plaintiffs, three of the songs were sung by someone else.
Michael Jackson Album Lawsuit Comes to An End
The case may be resolved but what will deceived consumers get out of the deal?
TINA.org Joins Fight over Michael Jackson Album
Legal battle over Michael Jackson’s posthumous album may create “dangerous” precedent.
PlayStation 4 Not the Only Game in Town
Reader says commercial falsely advertises Grand Theft Auto Five as a game exclusive to PS4.
Sony’s #Gamechanger Misled Consumers, FTC Says
Handheld gaming console failed to deliver the “game changing” technologies promised in advertising.
Sony High-Resolution Audio
The The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) is a self-regulatory body that monitors advertising in the United Kingdom. recently upheld a complaint that Sony deceptively advertised its high-resolution audio products on…
Sony Xperia SP
The ASA has found Sony’s advertising for the Xperia SP phone to be misleading.
Allegations: Misleadingly representing that the Dash would be “always on, always fresh and available at a glance” when a forced firmware update made the device useless in 2017
Fortnite Battle Royale
In March 2020, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment for allegedly not taking effective measures to prevent children from creating accounts on PlayStation Network and using their…
Sony’s Marketing of Fortnite and other Games
In January 2019, a class-action lawsuit was filed against Sony Interactive Entertainment for allegedly deceptively marketing games, including the popular video game Fortnite. According to the complaint, the company markets…
November 2017: A federal judge granted preliminary approval of a new settlement agreement. According to the revised terms, Sony agreed to pay class members $65 for each valid claim. A…
Sony Xperia Devices
In August 2017, a federal judge preliminarily approved a settlement agreement that would resolve a class-action lawsuit filed against Sony earlier in 2017. The April 2017 complaint alleges that the…
Sony PS4 “Killzone: Shadow Fall” Game Graphics
May 2015: The parties agreed to dismiss the plaintiff’s individual claims in this lawsuit with prejudice, meaning that the plaintiff cannot refile the claims. The reasons for the dismissal have…


text:
India can become trusted partner in global supply chains, says Goyal
New Delhi: The world is looking for trusted partners where there is rule of law, transparency in systems, strong judiciary and democratic traditions, and India can become a key player in global supply chains as it provides all of these, Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal said on Saturday.
He said India has to engage with the world with competitive prices, high quality products, large scale economies of manufacturing, high productivity levels, but "not on the crutches" of government subsidies.
The world is "looking for trusted partners...who have a rule of law, who have transparency in the system, who have a court of appeal, which have vibrant media, strong judiciary and democratic traditions. These are the type of partners the world is looking for and India provides all of these and can become a trusted partner in global supply chains," the minister said in a CII webinar.
Talking about the performance of the country's exports, Goyal said the current numbers of outbound shipments are reflecting signs of significant improvement. He said exports last month reached about 91 per cent level as compared to July 2019. "In fact, in the last 10 days of August, we are at over 95 per cent export level. If you remove oil based and gem and jewellery exports, , we have actually grown in July and in the last 10 days of July, we have grown by above 10 per cent and I think that should be the music to ears for all the analysts who are worried about whether it will be 'U' shape or a 'V' shape recovery.
"But at the same time, we cannot rest on our laurels. This is a short term phenomenon, we all need to work harder to institutionalise this," he added. Goyal also said that for the last 11 days, Indian railways have been running the freight trains at twice the speed of what they were running one year ago.

domain: news


text:
Samsung recently tipped that it plans to enter the connected smart watch market, but the company has twice in the past also attempted and failed to pioneer with such a device.
The Samsung SPH-WP10 launched in 1999.
Earlier this week, a Samsung executive revealed the Korean company is working on an entry into the mobile computing arena. Nothing about the device has been disclosed, but the reveal comes on the heels of rumors that Apple is planning to offer its own so-called "iWatch," and as devices like the Pebble, MetaWatch and I'm Watch have been earning buzz.
But well before the smart watches of today, Samsung also attempted to pioneer the market on two occasions, as highlighted by Josh Lowensohn of CNet this week. The first attempt came in 1999 when Samsung introduced the SPH-WP10, which was essentially an entire cell phone worn on the wrist.
When the product was unveiled, Samsung expressed the believe that the phone market was "nearly saturated." Its strategy at the time was to create a product that would appeal to "specific generations of mobile telecommunications service users," in particular the youth market.
The SPH-WP10 came with an advertised 90-minutes of talk time with an integrated speaker and microphone. As was common with phones at the time, it had a protruding antenna, as well as a monochrome LCD screen.
Samsung's second attempt was in 2009, when the company launched the S9110 Watch Phone. It also was a full-featured phone that included the ability to make calls from your wrist.
More in line with modern smartphones and not unlike Apple's previous-generation clip-on iPod nano, the Samsung S9110 featured a 1.76-inch color LCD display and was 11.98 millimeters thin.
While Samsung's first two wrist watch attempts sought to be devices that would do it all, more recent smart watch efforts like the Pebble and MetaWatch have instead opted to be smartphone accessories. The newer watches rely on a Bluetooth connection to a separate handset for data and connectivity, providing information such as weather updates, GPS data, and notifications of phone calls or text messages.


text:
Oneonta Police Department Warns of New Phone Scams
The Oneonta Police Department wants residents to be aware of several phone scams that have been reported recently. If you receive calls from someone saying they are from social security and need your number, someone calling as an attorney of a relative who has been arrested and needs bail, or someone calls and states they’re a relative, but have a cold and that's why they sound different, you’re probably being scammed.
Police advise to never give out personal information, like credit card numbers, never agree to purchase gift cards to send off, and be sure and notify local law enforcement about what you experienced.
LOOK: See the iconic cars that debuted the year you were born


text:
Gum and confectionery group Wrigley has entered into a sponsorship deal with the National Basketball Association (NBA) in the US.
The company said that NBA-themed marketing platforms would be developed for the five brands, Big Red, Juicy Fruit, Winterfresh, Doublemint and Wrigley’s Spearmint, as part of the partnership which includes exclusive category rights.
The partnership officially kicks off this summer through the NBA’s Jam Van mobile tour through 12 markets nationwide. Wrigley will be a presenting partner on the tour, with the company’s programme including interactive basketball-themed activities for fans of all ages.
“Fans are loyal to the NBA because of their love for the players, teams and the competition that make the game exciting,” said Paul Chibe, Wrigley’s vice president of US marketing. “Many NBA fans love chewing our iconic Wrigley’s brands, so the partnership is a great way to bring together these modern American favourites.”
In addition, Wrigley and the NBA will launch a marketing programme for the 2007-2008 season to reach the NBA’s fan base.


text: Opera Ltd. filed documents late Friday signalling its plans to list its initial public offering on the Nasdaq under the ticker OPRA. The Oslo, Norway-based company primarily known for its Opera web browser logged first-quarter net income of $6.6 million on sales of $39.4 million, up from sales of $25.5 million in the year-earlier period. In the IPO documents, Opera said that it has 182 million monthly active smartphone users, and 57 million monthly active PC users. In the Securities and Exchange Commission filing, the company said it plans to raise $115 million, but that number is often a placeholder which it will update as it gets closer to listing. China International Capital Corp. and Citibank are listed as underwriters.


text:
The supermarket chain ASDA, based in Leeds, has been at the centre of a storm of condemnation today for selling a fancy dress costume called 'mental patient'.
Charities say it's "staggeringly offensive" and ASDA now admits it was an "unacceptable error". It's taken the costume off sale and donated 25 thousand pounds to a mental health charity.
Tesco's now been drawn into the controversy because of an outfit called pyscho ward and other stores are checking their shelves as Jon Hill reports.
More top news
Was the government ignorant to Carillion's financial peril? Or were they using public procurement to delay it’s day of reckoning?
Here's the latest
Detectives in North Yorkshire have begun reinvestigating the mysterious death of a York schoolgirl almost eighteen years ago.


text:
Canonical published a new Linux kernel live patch security update for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS to address a single security vulnerability. Users are urged to update their systems immediately.
New Linux kernel security updates are available for Ubuntu 18.04 LTS (Bionic Beaver) and Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) systems running the Linux 4.15 and 4.4 kernel series to address several security vulnerabilities. Update now!
Canonical and AWS announced the public availability of the Amazon EC2 Hibernation support for the Ubuntu 16.04 LTS (Xenial Xerus) operating system series.
A new kernel live patch is available for all long-term support (LTS) versions of Ubuntu Linux to address several security vulnerabilities.


text:
Visit USA is hoping to drive sales through travel agents with the introduction of a new facility on its visitusa.org.uk website.
Chief operating officer Alan Waddell hopes the new Travel Agent Partner feature will be ready in time for the peak January market.
Once it is launched, agents will be able to sign up and be listed in a public directory, which consumers can use to find their local agent.
The directory will even highlight the amount of training an agent has on the US, allowing consumers to choose the most knowledgeable sales consultant.
Waddell said Visit USA is hoping to sign 1,000 agents up to the scheme, adding: “Any travel agent interested in the US market will be able to benefit.
“It is a no-brainer: agents have got everything to gain and there’s no cost involved.”


text:
Earlier this month, Neil Young announced on Facebook his intent to remove his catalog from streaming services. “I don’t need my music to be devalued by the worst quality in the history of broadcasting or any other form of distribution,” the post reads. “I don’t feel right allowing this to be sold to my fans. It’s bad for my music.” Today, it appears that threat has been fulfilled, according to a report from Variety. Almost all of Young’s albums have been removed from Spotify, Tidal, Apple Music and Rdio. Drag.
Not everything is gone, however; the albums that Neil Young recorded for Geffen in the 1980s—1982’s Trans, 1983’s Everybody’s Rockin’, 1985’s Old Ways, 1986’s Landing on Water and 1987’s Life—are still there. But if you wanted to stream your way from After the Gold Rush to Harvest to On the Beach? That’s not going to happen.
In the past, Young indicated that a rise in sound quality might get him to put his catalog back on streaming services, but for now, you’ll have to just rely on MP3s or, um, Pono.
Read our list of 10 Albums Not on Apple Music, which now, apparently, should be amended to feature Neil Young.
Jeff Terich is the founder and editor of Treble. He's been writing about music for 20 years and has been published at American Songwriter, Bandcamp Daily, Reverb, Spin, Stereogum, uDiscoverMusic, VinylMePlease and some others that he's forgetting right now. He's still not tired of it.


text:
It’s been almost an year since Windows Phone 8 launched, but the growth has seen a spike only recently, with the Nokia Lumia 520 becoming the most popular Windows Phone, not just in India, but the world. India has definitely been a tough market to crack for anything other than Android. Even with the huge marketing and retail push by Nokia, the most trusted brand in India for quite a number of years, Windows Phone is just at 5.4% of the whole Smartphone market. With iOS and BlackBerry contributed even lesser, Android rules the market with more than 84% marketshare at least.
The second place has been maintained for the past three quarters but the only thing that is new, is the marketshare value which has increased 60% QoQ. The Windows Phone platform has actually outgrown the market at 60% which is an increase above the ~55% growth the Indian market boasts. Nokia now has a wide portfolio of Lumia devices in India, right from Lumia 520 to Lumia 925 and soon the Lumia 1020, but even with this portfolio, the company has struggled to gain marketshare in double digits. We expect that Microsoft will be putting its marketing muscle behind the Lumia, promoting like how it does with Windows 8, because we have rarely seen a marketing push from them around Windows Phone yet, it’s been Lumia all along.
But the question is, will it ever work? With the current momentum and new software updates coming along the way, it might, but lets see, nothing is sure until the numbers are being spoken of. I have told what I think of this situation, now it’s your turn. Let us know what you think in the comments section below.


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Place: The Triple Door, Seattle
FreedomPop partners with Clearwire to offer free mobile data access
Free data for iPhone users
Send this to a friend
A new company wants to provide wireless internet access for mobile phone customers for free.
Skype co-founder Niklas Zennstrom has backed Los Angeles-based FreedomPop, which has created a device that uses Clearwire Communication’s 4G network to provide wireless internet service to anyone who buys the device.
Skype, which was purchased by Microsoft last year for $8.5 billion, disrupted traditional telephone provider models in 2003 when it released a service that allowed people to talk to each other over the internet, thus bypassing landline and cellular phone services.
Now, FreedomPop has made an iPhone case, which it will begin selling this year, that enables users to get free data on their iPhones. Once a person buys the case, there is no monthly fee for service.
FreedomPop’s vice president of marketing, Tony Miller, said in a press release that the company wants to allow people to “circumvent the oligopolistic mobile services providers,” and disrupt the current way mobile phone companies charge for data plans. The release didn't explain how the technology would work, saying only, "The case circumvents primary network carriers including AT&T and Verizon and gives its users access to FreedomPop’s mobile broadband service."
AT&T announced recently it will throttle, or slow down, customers’ phones if they use too much data. Recently, an AT&T customer whose phone was throttled after heavy use sued the company in small claims court and won.
Both AT&T and Verizon charge monthly fees for data plans that limit users to a certain number of gigabytes of data use. T-Mobile may also increase the cost of data plans, according to the T-Mobile rumor website TmoNews.
Emily Parkhurst oversees all digital content for the Puget Sound Business Journal.
- Most popular
- $42 million in 3 years: Big data startup explodes, plans to hire 1,000
- In a nod to Seahawks, new $180M Renton hotel has 12 stories
- Vulcan converts dark alley to work of art on Amazon campus
- Boeing to move 2,000 defense jobs out of Washington state
- Seattle son Jim Sabey's work with Beyoncé profiled
- Construction begins Tuesday on 40-story apartment near Pike Place
- Airberlin cancels $5 billion deal with Boeing
- Unions vow legislative action after Boeing slashes jobs
- Vulcan seeks permits for two more office towers and a 'woonerf'
- Introducing Windows 10: The last version of Microsoft's OS
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Work For: ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor | Seattle, WA
Allen Awardee Program Officer Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Seattle, WA
Regional Director of Sales 360° Hotel Group, Lynnwood WA 360 Hotel Group | Lynnwood, WA
Real Estate Project Manager Antioch University | Seattle, WA
Account Executive Puget Sound Business Journal | Seattle, WA


text:
By Miriam Raftery
June 22, 2014 (San Diego) – Caltrans will hold a public workshop July 24 from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Caltrans office complex in San Diego (Garcia Room), 4050 Taylor Street. The transportation agency seeks public comments on a draft California Freight Mobility Plan that aims to improve freight movement and reduce environmental impacts on the state’s highways, seaports and railways.
While the hearing aims to shape a new freight plan focused on sustainability and trade improvements, it will also provide an opportunity for residents locally to weigh in with concerns on issues such as congestion caused by trucking along State Route 94 and deteriorating roadway conditions on I-8 in East County, as local community newspaper editors have recently observed.
“To maintain and improve California’s status as the eighth-largest economy in the world, we must create a multimodal freight plan that sustains freight jobs, improves transportation, protects the environment and our communities,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty.
The U.S. Department of Transportation will rely on the California Freight Mobility Plan and other state freight plans as it shapes a national freight plan. Projects identified in California’s plan will be eligible to apply for a higher percentage of federal funding.
This plan is especially important because California is a national and global trade leader. Of the country’s internationally traded consumer products, about 40 percent is transported through California’s seaports
California has set aggressive goals to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve a sustainable environment. The freight plan’s goal is to transition the freight industry to zero or near zero emissions by 2050. California has already made progress in reducing freight’s effects through better engines, cleaner fuels, infrastructure changes, and improved operations.
Recent Caltrans projects to improve freight shipping include the Otay Mesa East Port of Entry, a tolled land port of entry designed to significantly reduce border wait times and expedite the flow of goods between California and Mexico. Caltrans broke ground on the project last year.
Other notable recente projects include fast-track truck scales in Cordelia, the Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach designed to allow the world’s largest ships to pass under, and the Colton crossing, a rail project with elevated overpass estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 34,000 tons each year.
Caltrans is developing the freight mobility plan in partnership with the California State Transportation Agency, the freight industry, public agencies, Native American tribal governments, and advocacy groups.
The plan will be finalized by the end of this year. To view the draft plan, informational materials, and to receive more details on the public workshops, please visit: www.cfmp.dot.ca.gov.
Those unable to attend a meeting in person, can comment by email (email@example.com.) or send a letter or a completed comment card to: California Department of Transportation, Division of Transportation Planning, Office of System, Freight, and Rail Planning, 1120 N Street, MS 32, Sacramento, CA 95814. Comments must be submitted by July 31, 2014.


text:
Sold out 2013 Volvo V60 Plug-in Hybrid rockets towards finals of 2013 World Green Car Award
The 2013 Volvo V60 Plug-in hybrid (PIH) electric vehicle is one of three remaining candidates for the “2013 World Green Car of the Year Award.” This award is presented at the New York Auto Show. The panelists that select the car are 66 automotive journalists from 23 countries. The Volvo has a couple of unique aspects that will make it a very interesting winner, should it take first prize.
What makes the 2013 Volvo V60 Plug in Hybrid so unique is that it is a diesel hybrid. A quick glance at any news story or opinion piece on the topic shows that many (who should know better) ask why there are not more diesel-hybrid cars. The answer in short-form is that the beneficial aspects of a diesel motor, and the beneficial aspects of a hybrid drive system, generally overlap one another. The overlap is not perfect, meaning there is more to gain from a combination of both than either one individually in terms of energy efficiency. However, diesel and hybrid drive systems come with a significant cost penalty in comparison to a gasoline powered car. In other words, car companies can build a diesel hybrid, but the result is a very expensive vehicle that does not get much better mileage than a gas hybrid.
That said, the 2013 Volvo V60 Plug In hybrid has found a marketing niche. This is a wise move by Volvo, and its partner on the project, Swedish Electricity supplier Vattenfall. Doug Speck, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Sales and Customer Service at Volvo Car Group sums up the intended buyer for this unusual green car saying "The ingenious on-demand possibility makes the V60 Plug-in Hybrid superior to all other hybrids on the market. Thanks to the Pure, Hybrid and Power modes, the car is the perfect choice for the uncompromising customer who wants to minimize his or her carbon dioxide emissions but maximize driving pleasure.” Mr. Speck is referring to a power mode selector switch that allows the driver to decide if he is driving on “Power,” “Hybrid,” or “Pure.” Pure means electric. Although we will continue to explain why this is a good idea, and Mr. Speck is not wrong about the car in general, the idea that this type of switch is unique to Volvo is laughable. I have tested a lot of hybrids and every single one had a switch similar to this. Second, in the US, the EPA mandates that all fuel efficiency testing be done with any such switch in the most powerful, least efficient position. The whole point is to prevent a car maker from putting a 1 mile EV system in a Mustang GT to boost fuel economy ratings, which the driver can then switch to "off" and ignore completely. So the cars sold in the US have to disable the “Power” button after a while so the car reverts to hybrid.
The niche the V60 plug in hybrid has is it's as fast as a normal Volvo V60 with the top gasoline engine. It can sprint from 0-60 mph in about 5.1 seconds according to the manufacturer. That is about the same performance as Volvo's turbocharged “R” wagons this size. So the car is fast, fuel efficient, has a great EV-only system that can move the car a respectable 31 miles or so on battery alone. However, this press release and others say the car is sold out. Those press releases also don’t mention the car’s price, which readers of TN have written in saying was the equivalent of about $110,000.00 US dollars. Thus we have a mid-sized wagon-body Tesla Model S competitor on our hands. The cars sold out a long time ago. Would it be a conspiracy theory to suggest Volvo and the Swedish power company took a bath on each on built and therefore limited production to the minimum possible as a promotional project? It has been sold out for six months. Why not make more?
Just this week an esteemed auto writer at Torque News predicted the coming of a powerful performance car with an on-board PIH system to make the car also a green car. He was thinking of a Camaro SS and a future, less expensive electric drive system, but it seems Volvo decided not to wait for the cost to come down. Cool.


text:
Googling Wall Street?
The hot parlor game in Silicon Valley these days is guessing which new business the fast-growing Internet search engine company Google will extend its tentacles into next.
The hot parlor game in Silicon Valley these days is guessing which new business the fast-growing Internet search engine company Google will extend its tentacles into next. After wireless Internet service, which the company is developing for the city of San Francisco, the best answer just might be financial information.
Google, say sources, is seriously considering launching a portal to rival the likes of Yahoo! Finance. Rumors about such a move have been swirling since a late-August report on the San Jose Mercury News’ Web site raised the possibility.
The Mountain View, California, company is in talks with several data and content providers that could be partners in the venture. One of these, Revere Data, maintains a database of some 8,000 public and private companies that allows investors not only to view financial information about each company but also to generate lists of its suppliers and customers.
Glen Wolyner, Revere’s CEO, won’t comment on any talks with Google. “We have nothing to announce at this time,” says a Google spokeswoman, noting that the company never talks about its plans in advance of a formal announcement. One thing, however, is crystal clear: Google has plenty of cash to spend on a finance portal. The company raised $4.4 billion in a secondary stock offering last month. Its shares are up an astounding 274 percent, to $318 each, since its August 2004 IPO. That’s sure to make Google one of the most-queried companies on any Google finance site.


text:
Honey sales are booming for the first time in decades, driven by its growing use by celebrity chefs and by health-conscious diners keen to avoid sugar. Britons are now eating 25,000 tons of honey every year - an increase of 11 per cent in the past 12 months, according to the AC Nielsen research company.
The trend has reversed a 20-year decline in sales and has left British beekeepers struggling to cope with demand. The rise is being attributed to parents worried about giving their children sugar and by shoppers concerned about the burgeoning obesity epidemic.
Another factor is the popularity of the GI diet, which favours low- glycaemic foods that release energy slowly. There may also be a culinary reason - people are increasingly exploring the different varieties of honey and becoming honey connoisseurs.
Honey sales stabilised three years ago, shortly before the discovery of antibiotics in cheap Chinese honey, which was later banned by the European Union. People were forced to try other, finer honeys, such as Tasmanian leatherwood and Spanish rosemary, and they liked the taste. For the first time earlier this year, sales of honey passed those of marmalade, which has a higher sugar content, making it less suitable to dieters. Research suggests that marmalade, once a staple of the breakfast table, is used less and less by younger consumers.
Brian Butcher, chairman of the Honey Association, which represents British honey importers and packers, said: "Over the past 20 years honey sales have been declining, then four or five years ago they stabilised and over the last few years sales have been showing signs of growth, and this year there has been significant growth."
British beekeepers make about 10 per cent of the total consumed in the UK, with the remainder imported from across the world. The more exotic imported varieties of honey include Tasmanian meadow, Sicilian mountain, Italian eucalyptus, Polish silver fir, French chestnut, Jamaican logwood and even Brazilian rainforest.
Stuart Bailey, managing director of Rowse, the biggest British honey packer with 28 per cent market share, said: "I think people are discovering honey in the same way that people discovered wine a few years ago. People are getting interested in the varieties just like people did when they decided they didn't just want to drink plonk.
"Honey is not just for putting on toast; it's being used increasingly as a sugar substitute. You watch Ready, Steady Cook and almost every week a chef seems to be using honey."
Two other factors have helped popularise honey. The honey companies have introduced squeezy plastic bottles that removed one of consumers' surprising objections to honey - its stickiness. And publicity about the anti-bacterial properties of manuka honey from New Zealand, which is reputed to protect against stomach ulcers, has added to its appeal.
Despite its growing nutritional reputation, though, the dietary benefits of honey are far from clear cut. Although a tablespoon of sugar has 77 calories, a tablespoon of honey has a still substantial 64 calories.
Sue Baic, a spokeswoman for the British Dietetic Association, said: "Honey has got a few extra antioxidants and minerals so it's not completely empty calories like sugar. But it doesn't have a huge benefit.
"It has the same sugars as sugar - fructose and glucose - and it still has the same tooth-decay effects as sugar."
Hives of activity
* Bees have been making honey for at least 100 million years, since the Cretaceous period.
* Honey has been eaten by humans for at least five thousand years. The Ancient Egyptians used honey as a sweetening agent.
* Three types of bees are responsible for a honey-producing hive: one queen bee, worker bees and drones.
* Female worker bees collect pollen and nectar to make honey to feed the bees. The male drones are there to mate with the queen bee.Reuse content


text:
New Marvel Heroes Trailer Showcases Destructible Environments
Gazillion Entertainment have just released a new trailer for their upcoming superhero MMO, Marvel Heroes. The new trailer showcases some of the games most iconic heroes in all their destructive glory. Watch the Hulk tear through enemies like butter, watch the Punisher destroy enemies in a 180 degree arc and of course, watch everything around them explode as they do.
A free-to-play MMO game experience alongside some of the most famous characters from the Marvel universe. What more could you want in an MMO game? For more information on Marvel Heroes, including playable characters, launch date and news articles, check out our Marvel Heroes page.


text:
Instagram has launched its lighter version called Lite. 2MB Instagram has been expanded to more than 170 countries from its few initially tested countries. People living in remote areas can experience full features of the lighter version of Instagram because it consumes less data. The lighter version of the photo and video-sharing app will be available for Android users. IOS users will wait for Instagram Lite.
Facebook owns most of the social media apps that are at the top of the download podium. Currently, opening Facebook and Instagram in your phone means a handsome amount of data and resources. Facebook introduced lighter versions of the apps like Facebook Lite, Messenger Lite, and Instagram Lite. The purpose to design these lighter versions was to target the markets where the internet service is not reliable. These Apps useless data, less processing power, and less storage in mobiles. Now Facebook is expanding them worldwide. Few data-rich features of the main app like Reels, IGTV, and shopping are not included in Instagram lite so that you experience a faster and cleaner app.
Facebook Tests Instagram Lite:
Facebook announced the lighter 2MB Instagram at an event in India. World’s 2nd most populated country with over 300Million Facebook users will be the first in getting Instagram Lite. It is available in many Indian Local languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Marathi, Telugu, and Tamil. Facebook announces that it will expand 2Mb Instagram up to 170 countries after the successful test in India.
If You want to access lighter Instagram then make sure that App is available on Android Playstore. But if you are in a hurry to use it then you can always access it through APK installation. Because Facebook has now removed the geographical limitations in the play store, so you can use it almost anywhere in the world. But now it is just available just in India for the test.


text:
Roger Federer signs mega-deal with Uniqlo, ending Nike partnership.
Alibaba debuts an AI copywriting tool.
Amazon makes Prime Day 2018 a 36-hour event from July 16-17.
Beijing on track to overtake Silicon Valley as startup hub.
HTC is laying off one-quarter of its workforce.
Jaguar Land Rover tests smart cars that ‘talk’ to each other.
Lyft acquires Citi Bike parent company, Motivate.
USPS owes artist $3.5M for using his Statue of Liberty image.


text:
5LINX Enterprises announced it’s acquired Kancharla Corp.’s Wholesale Services Group. That includes business, residential, E911, DID Services, and the A-Z Origination/Termination portion of the group.
5LINX says it will immediately begin offering these services through GLOBALINX, its wholly owned subsidiary. Kancharla will continue to offer the standalone and branded versions of its LeftSeat Billing/OSS software solution.
GLOBALINX will gain a multitude of synergies, geographic diversity as well as additional redundancy with the acquisition of Kancharla’s wholesale and origination/termination services.
“With the acquisition of Kancharla’s wholesale services, GLOBALINX is further demonstrating our commitment to provide our GLOBALINX customers, agents and resellers with the most robust portfolio of products and services available on the market today,” said Mike Machonkin, GLOBALINX vice president of Sales & Marketing.
GLOBALINX claims to be a one-stop shop for telecommunications products and services including digital home and business phone services, including Hosted PBX and SIP Trunking solutions, the company’s exclusive VideoPhone that enables callers to see each other as they speak, Wi-Fi phones and broadband internet service to customers throughout the U.S. and abroad.


text:
China’s GEM Co. Ltd and Glencore extend their long-term strategic cobalt partnership
3 December 2020
Following the issued in October 2019, Glencore and GEM are pleased to announce that they have extended their partnership for the supply of cobalt hydroxide by another five years and have formally embedded responsible sourcing and sustainability into the contractual relationship.
Under the terms of the agreement, Glencore will provide around 150,000 tonnes of cobalt contained in hydroxide for GEM between 2020 and 2029.
Glencore and GEM are committing each other to annual audits under OECD-aligned standards, specifically, the Cobalt Refiner Supply Chain Due Diligence Standard developed by the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI), Responsible Cobalt Initiative (RCI) and Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Metals, Minerals & Chemicals Importers & Exporters (CCCMC). This shared commitment will help to demonstrate strong responsible sourcing practices and transparency across multiple points along the supply chain.
The Cobalt Institute, which counts Glencore as one of its members, has developed the Cobalt Industry Responsible Assessment Framework (CIRAF), an industry-wide risk management tool that helps cobalt supply chain players identify production and sourcing related risks. This long-term strategic cobalt partnership includes a commitment to use CIRAF when communicating publicly on environmental and social issues specific to the cobalt supply chain.
Mr Xu, Kai Hua, Chairman of GEM, commented:
“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the adoption of new energy vehicles is accelerating, and there is no doubt that they are revolutionizing the world's automobile industry. As a result, cobalt, as one of the key raw materials for EV batteries, will become a global strategic resource of extreme importance for the rapidly growing new energy vehicles market in China and the rest of the world.
“Glencore, the world's largest producer of responsible cobalt, has maintained strong cooperation with GEM for many years. This 10-year cobalt supply agreement reflects a deepening of the strategic cooperation between cobalt resources and the market in the face of the changing competitive landscape and the booming trend of new energy in the world and will fundamentally stabilize the development of GEM cobalt products. There is a huge demand for cobalt resources in the global market.
“There is no doubt that this agreement provides a long-term guarantee for the supply of responsibly mined cobalt to help stabilize the global share of GEM cobalt products. This agreement will also help address the demand for cobalt in China’s new energy market. After the signing of this agreement GEM will no longer worry about the supply of responsible cobalt. GEM can focus on the manufacturing of cobalt products to meet the global demand for quality and technological innovation.
“The partnership between Glencore and GEM sets an excellent example of focusing on responsible sourcing and sustainability across the supply chain.
“GEM highly value the foresight and strategic vision of Glencore. The cooperation between GEM and Glencore is a happy one, the world of cobalt is very beautiful!”
Nico Paraskevas, Head of Marketing, Copper and Cobalt, Glencore, commented:
“We are pleased to extend our partnership with GEM. Cobalt provides thermal stability and longevity of performance in batteries and therefore has a key role to play in enabling the transition to a low carbon economy.
“Long term security of cobalt supply and cobalt demand visibility are critical to prevent supply shortages that could impede the energy transition and, ultimately, the world’s ability to meet climate change targets. As the cobalt supply chain matures with greater emphasis on long term partnerships, this contract is just one example of Glencore and its customers working together towards the adoption of industry leading standards on responsible sourcing and environmental and social corporate governance.”
For further information please contact:
t: +41 41 709 2880
m: +41 79 737 5642
t: +41 41 709 3269
m: +41 79 197 4202
t: +41 41 709 24 62
m: +41 79 904 33 20
Glencore LEI: 2138002658CPO9NBH955
Notes for Editors
Glencore is one of the world’s largest global diversified natural resource companies and a major producer and marketer of more than 60 commodities. The Group's operations comprise around 150 mining and metallurgical sites and oil production assets.
With a strong footprint in over 35 countries in both established and emerging regions for natural resources, Glencore's industrial activities are supported by its global marketing network.
Glencore's customers are industrial consumers, such as those in the automotive, steel, power generation, battery manufacturing and oil sectors. We also provide financing, logistics and other services to producers and consumers of commodities. Glencore's companies employ around 160,000 people, including contractors.
Glencore is proud to be a member of the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights and the International Council on Mining and Metals. We are an active participant in the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative.


text:
Bitsquid game engine licensing coming to PS4
Bitsquid has announced that their signature game engine, appropriately called Bitsquid, will soon be available for licensing on Sony's recently announced PlayStation 4. The high-end game engine aims to curb development costs through lean code base -- estimated to be 10 times smaller -- and fast work flows, as well as sub second iteration on multiple devices simultaneously.
"We are proud to be a part of this important event and welcome this powerful new console on which we will see many amazing new games." said Bitsquid CEO Johan Strömberg.
Some notable games powered by Bitsquid include War of the Roses for PC and Hamilton's Great Adventure for PS3, PC, and Android. These two games alone highlight the engine's flexibility "for a large variety of games and platforms."


text:
Long considered one of the most beautiful designs mired by a substandard chassis, the Brera went out of production over a year ago. But to give it one last swan song, Romeo Ferraris has teamed up with venerable Alfa tuning firm Autodelta. Together, they've given the Brera's 3.2-liter V6 a supercharger, intercooler, custom exhaust and remapped ECU to boost power up by 97 horsepower for a more substantial 353 hp. That's tipped to drop the 0-62 time down to five seconds and the top end up to 162 mph.
Naturally a full body kit is also part of the package, as is an adjustable suspension and (we would hope) upgraded brakes as well. A fitting goodbye to one of the best-looking cars ever to grace the roads – and one that will hopefully keep it on them for years to come.


text:
WITH consumers still wary of genetically modified produce, traditional
farmers whose crops become laced with GM varieties risk losing their markets. So
here’s an important legal question: who is liable when GM seeds drift across the
landscape and take root in an unsuspecting farmer’s field?
Common sense suggests that if anyone is to blame it should be the company
that produced the GM seed. To have it the other way round, and make farmers pay
the seed companies, would be perverse, right? Yet that is what a landmark legal
ruling in Canada has now decided
(see p 13).


text:
We are pleased to announce that Novexpert have chosen our network to launch their affiliate program on. Novexpert offers a range of award winning anti-ageing cream which has been created by a team of dermatological experts.
Beauty and fashion affiliates will welcome this new merchant as they are offering a very attractive commission level of 5% on a 14 day cookie. With a high average basket and a well laid out site with clear calls to action we expect that Novexpert will be popular with affiliates.
To join and for more information on Novexpert Affiliate Programme


text:
Manchester online fashion giant Boohoo has announced the appointment of ESG expert Kirsty Britz to its board as non-executive director.
Britz is currently the director of sustainable banking at NatWest Group plc.
She will become a member of Boohoo’s audit and risk committees.
“The appointment of Kirsty brings additional expertise to the board, particularly in areas of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) matters,” said Boohoo.
“Over the last twelve months the group has significantly strengthened its board with three non-executive director appointments, resulting in a board that comprises a majority of independent directors.”
Boohoo has had to address allegations in recent years of poor working conditions and wages at some of its suppliers.
The company added: “Kirsty is currently the Director of Sustainable Banking at NatWest Group plc and an independent member of the Professional Standards Committee at HMRC.
“Prior to joining NatWest Group, she held the role of Director of Citizenship at Barclays.
“Kirsty has served as a member of UKRI sustainability advisory group and as a member of NERC independent research panel and she has held various sustainability, brand strategy and marketing roles in the retail, telecommunications and advertising sectors.”
Boohoo Group executive chairman Mahmud Kamani said: “I am delighted to welcome Kirsty to the board and look forward to the contribution she will bring.
“Her extensive ESG experience will help ensure the board remains focused on making balanced and sustainable decisions that factor in the impact of our strategy on multiple stakeholder groups.”
Britz said: “I look forward to helping the group develop its sustainability approach, embedding it into strategy, governance and operations, and ensuring the board remains focused on building practices fit for a sustainable future.”


text:
US crypto-currency marketplace sees big gap in Africa
Paxful, a peer-to-peer marketplace for crypto-currencies, is looking to expand its business on the African continent.
Evolution of smart buildings into smart workplaces
The future moves beyond smart buildings into smart spaces, and true integration with mobile technology, says Dimension Data.
Automation will take over day-to-day IT security jobs
And that is not necessarily a bad thing for cyber security professionals, said Netskope's Neil Thacker.
'Highly unlikely that automation will replace jobs'
Business process automation should rather be viewed as a way to significantly increase business value, says expert.
Young SA students attend prestigious US science fair
The nine learners will present projects on a range of topics, from smart water systems, to alternative methods to cure bacterial infections.
Blockchain Bootcamp in partnership with The Field Institute
The Blockchain Bootcamp will take place at the AlphaCode Club, in Sandton, on 29 May.
Blockchain Week glitz features Snoop Dogg, Lamborghinis
The three-day crypto event, which attracted nearly 8 000 people, had Lamborghinis lined at the entrance for a publicity stunt.
- SPONSOR MESSAGEkeyboard_arrow_down
Tyco Security Products - American Dynamics products are the world's most widely adopted line of video-based security security and integration solutions. Most of the top 500 companies choose our products to protect their assets, information and people.
- PRODUCT SHOWCASEkeyboard_arrow_down
Tyco Security Products and it's portfolio of brands form one of the largest security portfolios in the world. Engineers specializing in Video Security, Access Control, Location Based Security and Intrusion Security provide. For more information, please visit the official about us page.


text:
At the Strategic Investment Conference 2018, Karen Harris from Bain & Company gave a thought-provoking keynote titled, “Labor 2030: The Collision of Demographics, Automation, and Inequality.”
She sees a big economic shift that began in the 1980s. Driven by demographics and automation, the world is gradually moving from a supply-constrained to a demand-constrained economy.
Harris said the combination of a demographically shrinking workforce and increasingly cost-effective automation will aggravate inequality, curb demand, and put a cap on economic growth.
This will have massive social and financial implications in the next decade.
Low-Wage Workers Will Be Hit Most
The impact of automation will be unequal.
High-wage workers will reap most of the gains and low-wage workers will bear most of the cost—at least in the short run. This is socially unstable. But in the end, it's not even helpful to the businesses that automate.
Someone has to buy the goods robots produce. As the middle and lower classes suffer, spending will decline. The result will be “demand-constrained growth.” This isn’t necessarily a contraction, but it will likely limit GDP growth.
Harris thinks that technology’s impact on demographics and life spans won’t help us. She doesn’t foresee life spans increasing fast enough to reverse or cushion the ominous trends.
This Is Just the Beginning
Harris thinks rising inequality has only just begun.
It will get much worse and not just in the U.S. Many won’t initially notice because rising productivity will mask some of the job losses. But eventually, job losses will overwhelm productivity.
She called this the “Wile E. Coyote” moment. It’s hard to pinpoint, but probably coming in the next decade.
Now is no time to follow market momentum, Harris said. It is a massive boom similar to the dot-com and housing bubbles combined. And the reversal will be tough.
Another profound implication will be declining consumer spending.
The growth of spending by Baby Boomers will begin to decline in the 2020s. Now add in the growing inequality with up to 25% of the workforce displaced by automation, and the middle-class markets seem to disappear.
Investors and businesses should be asking, "Who will be my customers a decade from now?"
Get Live Updates from the Strategic Investment Conference 2018
Learn from 25 top financial experts, best-selling authors, and investment professionals as they discuss their best investment ideas and predictions for the economy, financial markets, and geopolitical relations. Tune in to the SIC 2018 live blog now.


text:
A new day, a new conference and a new Apple device has arrived, just as expected and as we saw in the leaked pictures the all new Apple iPhone 5C has been officially unveiled by Apple in an official event today held at it’s headquarters in Cupertino, Calif.
The all new iPhone 5C is the one you’ve never seen before, or held it as stated by Apple. While it wasn’t possible to build the iPhone 5C in different colors using a steel material, to do the color justice Apple has used plastic to build the iPhone 5C with a steel reinforced frame that also acts as an antena to the device. iPhone 5C is unveiled in 5 different colors.
Under the hood this beautiful iPhone 5C has got a 4-inch Retina display(widescreen multi-touch) 1136 x 640 pixel resolution and 326 ppi. The iPhone 5C uses an A6 processing chip, iSight camera is ranged at 8 MP (1080P video recording @30fps) while the front facing camera is ranged at 1.2 MP (1280 x 960 pixel resolution, 720P video recording). The device comes up with 16/32 GB internal memory chips.
As far as the dimensions are concerned, the Height of iPhone 5C is 4.90 inches (124.4 mm), Width: 2.33 inches (59.2 mm), Depth: 0.35 inch (8.97 mm). iPhone 5C weighs at 132 grams.
iPhone 5C will leave the factory gates having iOS 7 installed inside.
iPhone 5C is expected to hit the markets in Australia, US, UK, China, Canada, Japan, France, Germany & Singapore by the 20th of September, 2013. Sadly with the release of iPhone 5S & 5C the production of iPhone 5 will be discontinued, probably to pave a way in the markets for iPhone 5C. iPhone 5C will be available in over 100 countries by the end of December, 2013.
Stay tuned with us for more updates. Thank You


text:
Last weekend, Marvel fans rejoiced, as they got a boatload of exciting news for the next phase of the MCU, including a trailer and release date for Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. Today, there’s even more interesting news floating around regarding that franchise, as it seems that Electronic Arts is working on a single-player Black Panther game.
During the stream, Grubb stated that the game will be headed by a brand new Seattle-based studio led by some ex-Monolith Productions developers, the team responsible for Shadow of Mordor and Shadow of War. The game apparently opens with the death of Black Panther, tasking the player with becoming the successor.
It’s apparently a big open-world title and has been kicked off due to the success of Jedi: Fallen Order. At the moment, it’s said to be in early development, so changes could still be made. It’s also important to take this with a grain of salt, as Grubb, while a respected journalist and insider in the industry, isn’t an official source regarding the game.
We will be sure to update you if more information on the rumored Black Panther game is released.


text:
April 21 2015 Latest news:
It’s the must-have fashion accessory for men and now the humble beard has its own awards.
Norwich fashion Week has launched two students into the catwalk spotlight by giving them a helping hand into a modelling career.
Norwich Fashion Week has celebrated the fun side of clothing with models strutting down the catwalk in quirky styles.
Norwich Fashion Week reached its climax yesterday with an explosion of music and style at OPEN.
Norwich Fashion Week has bought fashion lovers in the city treat after treat.
Shoppers received a welcome surprise when a pop-up catwalk descended on Chapelfield Plain in Norwich.


text:
Aiming to expand its India presence, US-based online women fashion retailer Samshek Inc has got on board investment facilitation firm Nair Ventures for capital and infrastructure support.
Nair Ventures said in a statement that it is looking forward to helping Samshek establish and expand its presence in markets like the UK, US and India by helping them execute business scaling processes.
Nair Ventures describes itself as an investment promotion, facilitation and execution agency with a business model focussed on contributing to the start-up success stories with the help of venture capital and private equity funds.
Samshek calls itself a fashion tech store offering digital customisation to the modern-day customer, besides ready-to-wear clothes for women. Samshek Fashion′s Co-Founder Samiksha Bajaj said the company is looking to its next phase of growth and expansion in domestic and international markets with its new collaboration with Nair Ventures.
Through the collaboration, Samshek is looking to get help on capital investment, infrastructure support, business intelligence, and operations and market research.


text:
G2A attempts to appease game publishers with royalty payments
Game maker TinyBuild claims it lost $450,000 to such auctions.
Now anybody can register a '.game' top-level domain
Almost all of the major studios already have theirs.
Cracker Jack ditches toys in favor of augmented reality
Sorry buddy, you have to settle for a "mobile experience" instead.
Nintendo's 'Miitomo' app passes 10 million users
The game company's first app is turning into a legitimate social network.
Nintendo delays new 'Zelda' to 2017, announces NX version
The title, originally due last year, has now been pushed back twice.
'Rock Band 4' for PC fails to get crowdfunded
You'll have to keep your budding music career on a console for now.
Twitter will stream Thursday night NFL games
Uber recruits engineers with coding puzzles during rides
You may be offered a "hacker challenge" in certain cities.
ICYMI: Space junk reboot, biological machine v2 and more
The biobots can now respond to visual cues and use energy from their own muscles.


text:
- Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway owns Apple shares valued at almost $90 billion.
- Berkshire's market capitalization is $440 billion, meaning its Apple stake is now worth 20% of the entire company.
- That's surprising because Apple is just one stock in Berkshire's portfolio, which was valued at $175 billion at the end of March.
- Berkshire also boasted $760 billion in assets at the end of March, and made $82 billion in net earnings last year.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
Warren Buffett's Apple stake is now worth an astounding 20% of Berkshire Hathaway's market capitalization, reflecting investors' excitement about the tech titan and concerns about the staid conglomerate.
The famed investor's company owned about 245 million Apple shares on March 31, according to the latest data available. Apple's stock price has surged by 44% since then, from about $254 to more than $366 at the close of trading on Monday. Meanwhile, Berkshire stock has slid 1% over the same period.
Assuming Buffett hasn't touched his Apple holdings, Berkshire's stake has mushroomed in value from roughly $62 billion to almost $90 billion, or more than a fifth of Berkshire's $440 billion market capitalization.
Read More: Dave Portnoy, the poster child of the day-trading boom, told us why he thinks Warren Buffett is 'past his prime' and was wrong to ditch airline stocks
The milestone was first spotted by Bespoke Investment Group on Twitter.
The 20% figure is shocking because Apple is just one stock in Berkshire's portfolio, which was valued at more than $175 billion at the end of the first quarter.
Berkshire also boasted $137 billion in cash and short-term investments at last count, valued its total assets at $760 billion, and generated about $255 billion in revenue and $82 billion in net earnings last year from its insurance firms, railroads, utilities, energy providers, manufacturers, and other businesses.
Read More: Dennis Lynch and Kristian Heugh run the best large-company stock funds of the last 10 years. The legendary investors break down the 5 principles that guide their quest for long-term growth.
Buffett has personally weathered fierce criticism for being too cautious during the coronavirus pandemic and failing to put his massive cash pile to work.
Berkshire made only $1.8 billion in net stock purchases in the first quarter, sold a net $6.1 billion in stock in April, and failed to make a major acquisition, strike any bailout deals, or buy back much of its own stock when the market crashed.
President Donald Trump, billionaire investor Ken Fisher, investor David Merkel, and the "captain of the day traders" Dave Portnoy have all taken shots at Buffett in recent weeks.
Read More: Morgan Stanley handpicks 10 stocks to buy now for the richest profits as travel and outdoor activities transform in the post-pandemic world
Here's a chart showing the decline in Berkshire's market cap this year and how its Apple stake has grown as a percentage of its market cap:


text:
Mining “Happiness Moments” at Mobile-Rewards Startup Kiip
(Page 2 of 2)
the player has achieved a new high score—an offer appears in a pop-up window. Kiip’s clients include names like 1-800-Flowers, Best Buy, Disney, Kodak, Pepsi, Sephora, Starbucks, and ticket agency ScoreBig; offers range from a free coffee to a free Xbox 360 game console. To redeem offers, players just enter their e-mail addresses.
Engagement rates are vastly higher for Kiip rewards than for traditional banner ads, Wong says. Some 10 to 13 percent of offers get redeemed, compared to banner-ad click-through rates far below 1 percent. The difference, Wong says, is that the offer is arriving at the right time, when the player feels good about finishing something. “I am not taking a piece of the screen. I am not ruining the experience. I am not changing the user interface or the user experience. I am using a particular moment and reciprocating,” Wong says.
Developers—and more importantly, gamers—seem to be responding to the model. About 300 developers have joined the startup’s network, and the number of monthly active users seeing reward offers doubled every month between November and March. Kiip earns $0.25 to $3.00 per reward redemption, and shares an undisclosed fraction of that revenue with the game developer, according to Wong. Some developers earn “five figures or more on a monthly basis,” he says.
Because it has actual revenue, Kiip has been able to expand to 27 staffers on just $4 million in Series A money (collected in early 2011). “Funding, to so many companies, is like a ticking time bomb,” Wong says. “To us it’s not even close. We started generating revenue from the day we launched.” And Kiip is building a brand that game developers are going out of their way to promote: some companies actually boast on their iTunes App Store pages that their games are Kiip-enabled. “People won’t say ‘I love AdMob,’ but they will say that they love Kiip,” Wong boasts.
Transmedia Capital general partner Chris Redlitz, a mentor to Wong and one of Kiip’s earliest investors, calls Wong’s idea an “everybody wins” scenario. “For game developers it’s incremental revenue. For game players, it’s an added bonus—beyond the good feeling of achieving something you are getting a reward. And for advertisers, it’s one of the best new opportunities for them to engage with their audience.” Redlitz says it took someone as young as Wong to “understand the demographic” and predict how mobile gamers would respond to new types of brand messages.
If achievement moments are so powerful, could they be exploited outside the realm of mobile games? And if so, is there a concomitant danger of overcommercialization—of bombarding consumers with reward offers until they’re numb?
Wong has thought about both questions. On the one hand, he’s bullish on the idea of the happiness moment. Fitness apps such as MapMyRun are already using Kiip to reward users for logging exercise sessions. And from listening to Wong talk about the company’s larger vision, it sounds like it’s only a matter of time before offers mediated by Kiip pop up in new contexts such as Web or console games or even live sports events. “We want to own every single achievement moment on the planet,” Wong says. “That will be a billion-dollar business.”
But at the same time, Wong says he views the happiness moment as a “natural resource” that has to be “mined responsibly and sustainably.”
“You don’t want to hit the bottom of the well early on,” He says. “That would just be greed.” To make sure game players don’t tire from over-exposure to offers, Kiip limits the frequency of its pop-ups, Wong says, and it employs a tracking system called a preference graph to make sure that it doesn’t show offers to people who don’t want them. “We are very good at policing ourselves,” he says.
Kiip isn’t approaching the saturation point yet, in Wong’s view. In fact, the startup set aside $100,000 in March for a “Build Fund” to encourage independent developers to come up with games that have Kiip-mediated happiness moments built in from the beginning. The startup plans to hand out the money to 20 developers in $5,000 chunks.
If you’re trying to replace traditional advertising with reward-based messages, after all, every little seed helps. “I try to drill it into everyone’s head that the minute you describe something as an ad, there are connotations and the market responds differently,” Wong tells me at the close of our interview. “You can definitely say in your piece that ‘The founder of Kiip seems very obsessed with describing this as a moment and a reward.’”
Trending on Xconomy
By posting a comment, you agree to our terms and conditions.


text:
MINSK, 23 November (BelTA) – The establishment of a joint venture in Tajikistan for the sake of assembling BelAZ haul trucks with the carrying capacity of 30-45 tonnes was discussed as a delegation of the Belarusian automobile manufacturing company BelAZ led by the company's Director General Sergei Nikiforovich visited Dushanbe, BelTA has learned.
BelAZ Chief Designer Aleksandr Naskovets made a few comments about negotiations, which had taken place in the Industry and New Technologies Ministry of Tajikistan. According to the source, due to terrain peculiarities in Tajikistan quarries over there are mostly small and are located high in the mountains. This is why Tajik mining companies are primarily interested in Belarusian trucks with the carrying capacity of up to 45 tonnes. Haul trucks with the carrying capacity of 90 tonnes may come in handy, too if the volume of extraction of mineral resources rises and new mining projects are implemented in Tajikistan.
The enterprise to assemble BelAZ trucks is supposed to be located near Dushanbe where good logistic options are available thanks to motorways and railways. The main components will be shipped from Belarus by rail taking into account a consequent increase in the localization of component manufacturing at the assembly site.
The sides also agreed that BelAZ specialists will soon be made familiar with manufacturing capabilities, the available area, and infrastructure of the partner enterprise. In turn, Tajik specialists will undergo training at BelAZ's assembly line in Zhodino.
The Belarusian company's press service noted that BelAZ has been cooperating with Tajik enterprises for a long time. In particular, BelAZ vehicles have been used to build such facilities as the Sangtuda 1 hydroelectric power plant and the Rogun hydropower plant. This cooperation has progressed recently. In October 2022 BelAZ participated in an exhibition of Belarusian products Made in Belarus in Dushanbe. A Tajik delegation led by the industry and new technologies minister visited the Belarusian company shortly after that.
The public joint-stock company (OAO) BelAZ is the managing company of the holding company BelAZ. BelAZ is the world's largest manufacturer of haul trucks and transport equipment for the mining industry and the civil engineering industry. BelAZ occupies about 30% of the world market of haul trucks with an extremely large carrying capacity. The company makes the world's largest haul truck with the carrying capacity of 450 tonnes.


text:
Sony might have given up on its Connect music download service, but the war with Apple’s iTunes is far from over: according to a report in the Wall Street Journal the Japanese electronics giant plans to launch its own video download service to compete head-on with iTunes.
Although the company has as yet released no details, it can be assumed that Sony will use its existing products with online connectivity, such as PlayStation 3 and PSP, to be part of the game plan, as will be the new new Bravia Internet Video Link (see our story here). This new device will also compete with Apple TV.
Earlier this week, NBC Universal said it would no longer sell its programmes via the iTunes store. Although the agreement would terminate at the end of this year, Apple responded by removing all NBC material from the shop. According to Apple, NBC wanted to increase its prices for individual episodes of the programmes on sale.


text:
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Future Facilities, provider of design and capacity planning software for data centers, today announced that it will showcase its virtual reality platform at DCD > Enterprise in New York May 1-2 at the Marriott Marquis.
Building off its successful 6SigmaDCX software that has helped numerous enterprise and colocation customers improve data center performance, attendees of the show will be able to experience Future Facilities’ virtual reality platform that allows users to walk through the virtual prototype of a data center. The platform also allows the user to view their IT assets, including temperature and airflow distribution within the data center.
“Future Facilities is excited to showcase a key tool of the future where data center managers can visualize potential issues in virtual reality before they occur in the actual data center,” said Akhil Docca, Corporate Marketing and Product Strategy Manager at Future Facilities. “The addition of virtual reality to our 6SigmaDCX suite of products is the first step towards embracing new technology that will increase collaboration across the entire data center ecosystem.”
About Future Facilities
For more than a decade, Future Facilities has provided engineering simulation software and consultancy services to the world’s largest data center owner-operators and the industry’s leading consultancies. With global offices, its software and services are relied on to deliver unique insight into the current and future performance of mission-critical data centers.


text:
The British Association of Landscape Industries (BALI) is returning to Ecobuild this March, where it will take up position within the Green Infrastructure and Biodiversity sector.
Established in 1972 with a combined membership of over 850 paying members, BALI will be looking to sign up new architects, consultants and contracting members, with over 33,000 attendees expected over the three-day show starting on Tuesday 7 March.
BALI’s stand F193 will feature a selection of BALI registered member products and displays, designed to promote sustainability and green infrastructure excellence.
BALI’s marketing and communications manager, Darren Taylor, said: “Ecobuild is an important event in the industry calendar, particularly for BALI as it provides an ideal platform to promote our members to a targeted audience made up of high profile specifiers and decision makers from local authority, architects and contracting firms around the London area and the rest of the UK.”
He continued: “We will be launching our new sales enquiry packs at the show, so look out for those if you plan to stop by the stand.”
BALI’s new sales enquiry pack for 2017 is sponsored by BALI Registered Affiliate Tarmac Topsport, who will be launching their new brand Topscape. Topscape is the specialist landscaping materials division of Tarmac and supplies a range of topsoil, subsoil, rootzone, fibre reinforced Loksand, drainage gravels and pathway materials for constructing and maintaining landscaping and leisure projects.


text:
The Tarrytown and Sleepy Hollow (TaSH) Farmers Market has teamed up with Sleepy Hollow High School’s new food pantry, which can be safely stored on https://www.frippwarehousing.com to help to alleviate hunger in the community.
World Food Day, on Oct. 16, was created by the United Nations to raise awareness about hunger, poverty, and food distribution issues globally. The TaSH is committed to addressing these issues in the community it serves.
All of the local farmers and one of the bakers at The TaSH donate excess food from the market to Sleepy Hollow High School’s new food pantry. These seven vendors collectively provide an average 130 pounds of fresh food, the equivalent of 108 meals, for the SHHS Food Pantry.
The pantry has grown to serve about 80 families a week feeding about 350 members between them. Nearly half of all Sleepy Hollow High School students are eligible for free and reduced-price school lunches.
“Everybody should benefit from the market and what it has to offer,” says TaSH board member Krista Barron. “The high school’s food pantry is an extension of the ethos and awareness of what it truly means to be part of a community.”
The SHHS Food Pantry began serving students and their families in April. It was started after a student asked the school’s principal for permission to take home some extra soup from a food drive the school was hosting. The student told the principal that the student’s family was hungry.
Students and their families can sign up here to pick up the fresh produce provided by The TaSH along with canned fish, meat, bread, pasta, rice, and other staples every Monday afternoon at the high school. School staff pick up food from The TaSH and students help to inventory and pack the food.
“If you’re hungry and worried about the next time you’re eating, how can you do your homework?” says Sleepy Hollow High School biology teacher and food pantry co-director Leana Peltier. “How can you pay attention in class?”
The pantry is also funded through donations from high school staffers and local organizations, including the Community Food Pantry of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown andThe Foundation for the Public Schools of the Tarrytowns.
Organizers are still seeking additional support from the community.
Donations to the food pantry can be made here. Please dedicate the donation to the SHHS Food Pantry. Shelf-stable food items, such as canned goods, pasta, and rice, can be dropped off at the main office of the high school from 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Mondays through Fridays.
Online donations can also be sent to the school addressed to the SHHS Food Pantry at 210 N. Broadway, Sleepy Hollow, NY 10591.
In addition to supporting the SHHS Food Pantry, The TaSH provides tokens that are given out at the Community Food Pantry of Sleepy Hollow and Tarrytown. Recipients can use them to shop at the market. The tokens are made possible by a grant from the Kids’ Club of Tarrytown & Sleepy Hollow.
The TaSH also fights hunger by doublingSupplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits. Typically, SNAP customers can swipe $20 on their EBT card at the market tent to purchase $40 worth of groceries. Through October, the The TaSH will match up to $40 EBT customers can receive $80 with which to shop at the market.


text:
The latest funding follows a global trend where celebrities are increasingly investing in brands instead of endorsing them. For instance, singer Madonna funded coconut water brand Vita Coco, rapper 50 Cent had minority stake in Glaceau vitamin water, while Beyonce invested lat year in watermelon-water startup WTRMLN WTR.
“While professional investors take calculated risks, celebrities are believers and users of the brand. Jacqueline has about 13 million followers just on instagram and can influence buyers. Hence, she is not an ambassador but an evangelist who can have an impact on the topline,” said Anuj Rakyan, who founded the company three years ago.
Jacqueline’s investment of Rs 3.5 crore pegs the company’s worth at about Rs 120 crore, similar to the valuation Rakyan got during last year’s investments, when the startup raised close to $4.5 million in series B funding from Sequoia Capital, Saama Capital Management and DSG Consumer Partners.
Rakyan said the company plans to raise $10 million by December this year as it looks to spruce up manufacturing and marketing. The company runs in-house logistics and manufacturing units that help control costs and quality: Unlike packed juices that have shelf lives of up to six months, Rakyan products have limited shelf life and need chillers in their supply chain.
Globally, shifting consumer tastes are prompting global beverages giants to find ways to diversify away from traditional soda and high-calorie juices. Two years ago, Coca-Cola Co acquired a minority stake in Suja Life, an organic, cold-pressed juices brand, while PepsiCo bought Naked Juice Co more than a decade ago.
In India, too, the demand for healthier drinks is increasing faster in urban centres, with consumers switching to fruit-based beverages. Over the past year, the company that makes soup, nut milk, coconut water, and smoothies, has taken its retail network to 1,100 sales points from 130 earlier.
Last month, it clocked sales of 8 lakh units. But as consumer health awareness increases, Rakyan wants to shed its premium price tag, and launch products starting atRs 50, compared with Rs 80 now.
- Front Page
- Pure Politics
- Companies & Economy
- Economy & Companies
- Adani Group Stocks Rally, Close Off Day’s Highs
Adani Group stocks rallied in early trade on Tuesday after the promoters said they had repaid ₹9,250 crore ($1.1 billion) of debt backed by shares in three companies.MHA, IT Min to Talk App Ban with RBI
The home and IT ministries, along with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), will hold discussions over the next few days to decide on the next steps after the government blocked 94 online lending apps earlier this week, multiple people aware of the developments said.Health Info-with-Price Norm likely for Ecomm
India’s food safety regulator is likely to mandate online marketplaces to prominently display key health and nutritional alerts alongside the retail price for packaged items sold on their platforms, multiple people aware of the matter told ET.
Read More News on
ETPrime stories of the day
8 mins read
3 mins read
3 mins read


text:
Pirates? Skeletons? Zombies? ... Donald Trump ?
There's a new Halloween costume in town this year, and kids are lapping it up.
Just get a blonde wig, throw on some orange make-up, find an extra-large suit and you're there.
And with the US President trumping his rivals to be named as the 'scariest celebrity face' it's no surprise kids are trick-or-treating dressed up as the American leader.
A survey of British parents conducted by classic comic beano.com has found that on a cold dark night, the sight of Trump would give their kids the biggest fright ahead of the likes of Kim Jong-Un, Ozzy Osbourne and Katie Hopkins.
Theresa May , Nigel Farage and Boris Johnson also feature in the top ten scariest celebrity faces.
Yet in spite of kids' clamour to don the Donald outfit, some of the more traditional outfits are still found to be popular with children this Halloween.
Zombies, devils and the Grim Reaper make up the top-three favourite costumes, with skeletons a close fourth.
Speaking of the survey results a Beano spokesperson said: "There’s no fake news here!
"With Trump in our Halloween Top 10 it just goes to show that when it comes to things that scare us, reality can be more frightening than fiction.
"Trump aside, we can expect to see mini Kim Jong-uns and perhaps even the occasional Theresa May out trick or treating on October 31."
Scared of 'The Donald'? Best to turn your lights out and lock your doors this Halloween.


text:
Woman throws fit after allegedly shoplifting at Black-owned business
A woman in San Francisco was seen throwing a fit on a store’s parking lot after witnesses say she was caught shoplifting in a Black-owned business.
“It’s just disappointing because these are all up and coming new businesses and they really can’t afford to have items stolen. I mean four or five items can change the trajectory of their business. It’s just unfortunate,” Richard Bougere, a popular San Francisco rapper who owns the Pop Up Shop with his wife Danielle Banks, said of the woman accused of stealing from his store.
Employees say the woman put several items, including a bathing suit, in her bag while shopping at the store.
SHOPLIFTERS HIT LOS ANGELES AREA TJ MAXX, CASUALLY LEAVE STORE CARRYING HEAP OF STOLEN GOODS
She was confronted over the theft, and video shows the woman yelling at someone who appears to be a security official on a parking lot, and flashing the middle finger to a person filming the scene.
The Pop Up Shop got the items back, and shared the incident to illustrate how shoplifting in the city hurts businesses and is spreading.
“When you’re taking from somebody, you’re really taking from what they’ve been trying to build. They’re trying to invest in their kids. Some of the brands are mother and child owned,” Danielle Banks said.
‘LAWLESSNESS’: SAN FRANCISCO’S SHOPLIFTING PROBLEM INCREASINGLY FRUSTRATES BUSINESS OWNERS, EMPLOYEES
The store opened this summer and features products from Bay Area artists, including Akeem Diaz, who also witnessed the alleged shoplifting.
“I get we’re in the middle of a pandemic, and I get that people are going through financial crises you know with the wealth gap continuing to widen. But she wasn’t in there stealing necessities. She was trying to steal to get cute,” Diaz said.
WOULD-BE ROBBERS SHOT BY ARMED SHOPPERS IN LOS ANGELES
The incident isn’t an isolated one, with business owners and security officials in San Francisco recently decrying the “lawlessness” in the city over shoplifting.
“This is really bad. I’ve been in the Bay area 20 years, I’ve never seen this,” a local security guard, J.C. Hernandez, told Fox News.
“It’s just lawlessness,” he added. “People are just openly coming in and stealing stuff.”
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Cases of shoplifting have also been witnessed near Los Angeles, where two men were seen on camera this week brazenly leaving a TJ Maxx store with their arms full of shoplifted items.
“They didn’t even run out, they walked out,” Los Angeles Police Department Sgt. Jerretta Sandoz told CBS LA of the incident. “And so, that’s sending a message that we, the criminals, are winning.”


text:
To enjoy the full Mail & Guardian online experience: please upgrade your browser
02 May 2012 11:49
South Africa’s seasonally adjusted purchasing managers’ index fell to 53.7 in April from 55.1 in March, declining for the second straight month as lack of demand from Europe weighed on new sales orders, sponsor Kagiso Asset Management said on Wednesday.
Kagiso said the leading indicator for PMI—new sales orders as a ratio of inventories—fell to 0.96, coming in below one for the first time since December and indicating that inventories were too high compared to demand.
The PMI was expected to moderate further while the employment sub-index still pointed to contracting employment in manufacturing.—Reuters
Create Account | Lost Your Password?


text:
DEMAND FOR flavoured coffees shows that the next generation of coffee consumers are after something different in their cup. While the pumpkin spiced latte from Starbucks is now infamous, flavours such as strawberry cheesecake, s’mores, twinkies, and cinnamon toast are all increasingly being added to drinks in large coffee chains around the world.
As Americans became more health-conscious, Dunkin' pivoted to become a coffee-first brand. By 2021, it was selling more than 4bn cups per year.
Offering free coffee can help attract new customers. As Luckin and Tostao discovered, it can also bring businesses to the brink of collapse.
By the age of 10, the founder of Mayorga Coffee had been through more than most people would their entire lives.
Coffee cooperatives have existed since the first half of the 20th century.
The ICO estimates that just 8-10% of the coffee produced in El Salvador stays in the country.
Only 13% of coffee roasters in the US are Latino-owned – companies like Mayorga Coffee are carving out new opportunities.
A handful of innovative coffee producers are taking a renewed approach to stem the flow and put El Salvador back on the global coffee map.
As consumption in China grows 15% per year, the state has encouraged a focus on higher quality coffee production in the region.
Between the 1960s and 1990s, the FNC spent $1.3bn on marketing Colombian coffee – then the money ran dry.
In El Salvador, where coffee farms are generally smallholder and family-run, younger generations grow up knowing that one day they will take the reins from their parents.
Cup of Excellence (CoE) was launched in Brazil in 1999 as a platform for coffee producers – but private auctions have begun to eclipse its popularity.
Starbucks recently opened its 1,500th store in Latin America & the Caribbean – but is its appeal waning?
The German government charges Kaffeesteuer on all roasted coffee imported and sold domestically – but is it at risk of stifling growth?
A number of other industries, including chocolate, have borrowed concepts from specialty coffee with varying degrees of success.
The volume of coffee consumed in China has jumped more than 44% in the last five years – but not all of it is what it claims to be.
Some call them greenwashing; others as vessels of transparency & accountability – but who are sustainability reports really for?
Gender inequality is rife on coffee farms. But it can learn from the shea butter industry.
For many, sourcing coffee from organic farms is non-negotiable – but why are there still detractors?
Women contribute around 70% of the global coffee production workforce – but less than a third of farms are female-led.


text: A recent study states that fermented foods like kimchi can offer defense from Covid. It is commonly known that a healthy gut means a healthy animal or person. I am glad that some researchers are doing studies and finally proving it. I make many fermented products from the produce grown at Singing Trees and intend to hold a fermentation workshop soon. Here is a link to the article.


text:
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — One of Knoxville's most popular mobile businesses is parking its wheels and moving into a brick-and-mortar store.
"This is an old bank that we have repurposed into a coffee and flower shop for the community," said Savannah Pannell, owner of Flourish Flowers.
You may recognize her flower trucks, which pop up all across Knoxville, from food truck parks to inside West Town Mall.
"We had one truck our first year. Last year, we added a second truck. And then this year, we're at a store," she said.
Pannell has always loved flowers and is thrilled that Knoxville also likes the concept behind a build-your-own bouquet flower shop.
"Just creating an experience, which is what we want the shop to be about, too," said Pannell. "It's just very unique in the floral world."
She's had such success that the flowers now have a third permanent home in Cultivate Coffee and Flowers, a new business in an old bank building on Broadway in Fountain City.
The flower trucks aren't gone — they're just parked for the winter.
"We wanted a space that is warm inside in the winter for our employees to be able to continue working full time to provide jobs for them, and just be able to have the community have a place where they can still find us," said Pannell.
People can find them, get some flowers, and pick up a coffee from local shop Likewise Coffee, which now has a second location with Cultivate.
"[Flourish] just reached out to us in August and were like, 'Hey, this is something we're doing, and we really appreciate Likewise and your mission and you guys, and would you be interested in joining us?' So we said yes," said Likewise owner Katie Boggs.
Likewise is a service-minded coffee shop. Its original location on Magnolia Avenue opened in November 2020.
"Both coffee shops are owned by our nonprofit Raising a Voice, and so 100% of the money goes back into that nonprofit where we're working with women being exploited or trafficked or abused," said Boggs.
Cultivate's goal is to help with that mission, as well as serve as a meeting spot for people in Fountain City.
"We felt like there wasn't [really] anywhere to just bring a friend or come work on your laptop or whatever that may be," said Pannell. "So we just wanted to create a place where people could come hang out and know that it's kind of their local community spot."
The reaction has been pretty good, officials said. They processed 500 transactions on opening day.
"Everyone's just excitement and love for us has been truly encouraging, and we couldn't be doing it without them," said Pannell.
Cultivate is open 7 days a week at 5221 North Broadway in Fountain City.
Flourish will also have another permanent location in the old Kerns Bakery spot when it's redeveloped in South Knoxville.


text:
BOTTLES OF WATER. Bottled water is not as pure as we think. In any case, this is what the microplastics found in the water bottles of the main French brands suggest. What are they ?
[Mis à jour le 21 juillet 2022 à 12h08] It is a shocking study that came out in July 2022. According to the latter, 78% of the water bottles analyzed in this survey include plastic microparticles. The NGO Acting for the environment is at the origin of these revelations. The major groups in the water sector may tremble, especially since the names of the companies concerned by this investigation have been communicated. The bad students are Vittel, Perrier, Evian, Cristaline and Badoit. Indeed, according to the study, their bottles contain microparticles, up to one to seven microparticles per litre. On the other hand, Volvic and Carrefour would be irreproachable at this level. The NGO explains this notable difference: “Each manufacturer has its own composition, it can use dozens of different substances as additives.”
The environmental association, known for its commitment against the massive production of plastic, commissioned a study from the Breton laboratory Labocéa. The aim was to count and analyze the presence of plastic fragments, known as “microplastics”, in nine of the most sold mineral water bottles in France. In total, seven of them contained these particles, which are mostly plastic fragments that make up the bottles and caps, namely polyethylene terephthalate and polypropylene. These microplastics are particles of size less than 5mm and can be up to 1 micrometer. The big question for scientists at the moment is to understand how they could have ended up in our water. As explained to Parisian Magali Ringoot, coordinator of the association’s health-environment campaigns, “contamination can come from the packaging or the bottling process”. It is therefore likely that when the cap is uncorked, “small plastic micro-debris” will come off. We take stock of the brands concerned and the dangers that these particles can present to health.
In the Labocéa laboratory study, seven out of nine water bottles were identified as containing significant doses of microplastics. What are these bottles that were purchased at the store for the study?
- Badoit (small size – 33cl)
- Badoit (large format – 1.5 liters)
The only survivors are Volvic and Montclar, from the Carrefour distributor: no trace of these particles was found there. The worst ranked is Vittel Kids, a 33cl bottle of still water intended for children, for which the analyzes reported forty microplastics for only 33 centilitres of water… Which corresponds to approximately 120 per litre. According to Magali Ringoot, campaign coordinator for Agir pour l’environnement, “it is when opening that small plastic micro-debris come off”. For the other bottles, we are between one and eight microplastics per liter.
“We buy water, we think it is pure, better for our health, better for our children. But we realize that it is not”, lamented Nathalie Gontard, specialist in the subject at INRAE. The real question raised by these first analyzes is that of the real consequences of these microplastics on human health. These figures, already alarming, could represent only a minimal part of the total microplastics present; at least that is what the environmental association fears, which, through its director general Stephen Kerckhove, recalls: “What we have found is the minimum of the minimum”. In reality, this analysis may have missed “a considerable number of particles that a consumer will ingest” since these bottles “have not been stored or exposed to heat or light, and that the caps have not been opened several times or chewed by children”, he detailed. The crux of the problem lies in the absorption of these particles in the body, insofar as it is not certain that they actually degrade. “Our body is not equipped to get rid of it. Our enzymes will absolutely not attack this plastic which will last until our death. And then it will create imbalances, such as cell destruction” advanced the scientist Nathalie Gontard, member of the Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and the Environment, during her visit to RMC.
However, for now, it appears too early to draw conclusions from these findings. On the one hand because the study has no real scientific value insofar as only one bottle of each brand was analyzed: according to Eric Laporte, the director of the laboratory commissioned by Agir pour l’environnement, to obtain figures or reliable trends, “it would be necessary to carry out at least triplicates on different batches, by comparing identical volumes”. In addition, the health and scientific aspect of these plastic microparticles is still poorly understood, because there are few certified studies on the subject, as evidenced by the declaration of the representative of the main union of French ore workers: “Our sector is working on it, but without a reference method, we cannot produce a reliable study on this subject.” (words reported by Le Parisien). Without scientific consensus or method of measuring these particles in water, the question of the impact on health remains unanswered. To qualify this uncertainty, however, we can cite the famous study conducted in 2018 by American scientists and published on the Frontiers in Chemistry website: it revealed the presence of microplastics in the bottled water of many brands around the world, with precisely 93% of the water samples from 259 different bottles being contaminated.
For its part, the NGO which launched the alert believes that these findings should already trigger the precautionary principle. Indeed, to avoid further production of these particles, which are still poorly known and potentially harmful to health, it pleads for the banning of plastic bottles within the next five years. More specifically, it asks manufacturers to replace them with glass bottles or by selling them in bulk. In addition, Agir pour l’environnement is concerned about the abundant advertising – always rewarding – made around these brands. This is particularly explained by Magali Ringoot, coordinator of the association’s health-environment campaigns for the case of the Vittel Kids bottle: “It worries us particularly, because children are targeted by the marketing of this bottle”.
But, on the side of the brands in question, we deny for the moment the potentiality of the presence of plastic particles harmful to health in these bottles: “The publication is very anxiety-provoking for the consumer when there is no of fear to have vis-à-vis our products”, defended Marie-Ange Badin, the general delegate of the Maison union of natural mineral waters. “Mineral water is one of the most controlled consumer goods today, whether internally or by laboratories approved by regional health agencies: the water must be pure, natural, and unpolluted”, added she argued.


text:
On Our Radar: Fallon’s Ecstatic Necklace-------
A great bit of accessories design can go miles and miles. Just consider for a moment how many YSL Tribute sandals have been sold over the past few years. When we spotted the second generation of Fallon’s Vieuphoria choker at the Fenton/Fallon preview earlier this week, we sensed greatness in the making. There’s just something about its universally flattering, classic, ladies-who-lunch shape with just the right doses of bling and spike. “It was such a popular style in the brass finish for fall,” explained designer Dana Lorenz. “It seems to work on most everybody.” The spring update (pictured above) comes in gunmetal. But you can still get your fall fix now at Lorenz’s store in Freeman’s Alley. (Unfortunately, the Vieuphoria is already sold out on Shopbop.com.)
The Vieuphoria, $315, available at Fenton/Fallon, End of Freeman’s Alley, on Rivington St. between Chrystie St. and the Bowery, NYC, (212) 477-1315.


text:
Rick Nease/Detroit Free Press
The average Jane and Joe consumer is back to paying the bills, which is another good sign for Michigan’s economy.
Declining default levels nationwide indicate the recession is definitely a thing of the past for many consumers, according to David M. Blitzer, managing director and chairman of the Index Committee for the S&P Dow Jones Indices.
Did the recession give many consumers a lasting reality check when it comes to taking on too much debt? Will more of us avoid jumping into some wide-eyed deal where a fast-talker pitches that you can never, ever lose money, say buying a home with nothing down but using a second mortgage for the down payment?
The hopeful answer is maybe, yes, everyone has learned something about juggling the bills a little more prudently.
For many Michigan businesses, it’s welcome news to see the bills getting paid on time again. Consumers Energy, for example, noted that the utility is generally seeing somewhat improved levels of timely bill payment.
The Jackson-based utility, which has about 3 million customer accounts in Michigan for either electric or natural gas service, has seen the level of noncollectable bills decline, said Dan Bishop, director of media relations for Consumers Energy.
Auto lenders are seeing improvements, too. The auto loan default rate, for example, peaked at 2.75% in February 2009. That rate does not include leasing.
But the auto loan default rate came in at 1.07% in April, down from its 1.11% rate in March. The level for April 2012 was at 1.07%, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.
Robert Dye, chief economist for Comerica Bank, said lower jobless rates and higher home values are helping consumers overall.
“While long-term unemployment remains elevated, most households are seeing improving economic conditions,” Dye said.
Rising home values are helping homeowners generate equity for the first time in years, he said.
Not only do consumers feel wealthier, Dye said, but also many might have more options for financing such as home equity lines of credit, enabling them to get their bill payments on a better track.
Mortgage defaults on first mortgages dropped last month, as did a national composite index, according to the S&P/Experian Consumer Credit Default Indices.
What’s key, Blitzer said, is defaults in many credit categories are at levels they were long before the deep recession.
Blitzer said fewer people appear to be taking second mortgages, perhaps as a way to cover a down payment for a new home.
“That stunt, game, whatever you want to call it, has disappeared,” Blitzer said.
To be sure, many people with troubled credit are unable to obtain mortgages or other types of loans. If those on the economic fringe cannot borrow, defaults would naturally decline for that group, too.
“With exception of student loans, credit is much tighter than in the past,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist for Mesirow Financial.
“This means fewer defaults, as many borderline buyers have been locked out of the market,” she said.
Blitzer said it’s hard to judge the impact of tighter credit conditions on these numbers, but the overall data suggests that the financial condition continues to improve for many consumers.
One not-all-that-positive sign: The default rate on bank-issued credit cards increased slightly in April to 3.61% from 3.51% in March. But the default rate on credit cards remains below the 4.49% rate of April 2012. And it’s far below the peak hit during the Great Recession when bank card default rates hit 9.15% in April 2010.
One reason credit card defaults could be nudging upward, Blitzer said, is that consumer credit card use has been expanding since late 2011 and early 2012.
Get an offer for a 0% credit card lately? Or maybe a credit card with bonus miles? Remember the lessons learned out of the recession. The only good debt is the debt that you can manage to pay on time and ultimately pay off.
Contact Susan Tompor: email@example.com or 313-222-8876.