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MÎNÎ THNÎ, Alta — Wathtech, Îyethka îam, Mînî Thnî – these are some of the Stoney expressions a clothing company started by Morley Community School students aims to share and celebrate as points of cultural pride.
The Îyethka Trading Co. is a result of five students’ efforts in a project for the school’s entrepreneurial academy that aims to represent the three bands, the language, and the culture of Stoney Nakoda First Nation through locally crafted hoodies and T-shirts.
“We wanted to create designs that are positive and affirming to the language and the community,” said teacher Renette Kurz. “So, the expressions and the designs we chose for the shirts are uniquely Stoney Nakoda.”
Mînî Thnî (mee-nee th-nee), which translates to ‘cold water’ in Stoney and is also the name of the Morley townsite, is proudly scribed onto the clothing company’s grey hoodies.
Wathtech! (wah-stitch) and Îyethka îam! (Eee-yith-ka ee-am) meaning ‘it is good’ and ‘speak Stoney,’ are printed on T-shirts of red and sage green.
“There were a lot of really rich discussions that came from this project,” said Kurz. “We discovered through our conversations with elders and language keepers that these are expressions not used in other First Nations with Nakota, Dakota or Lakota dialects.”
The Stoney language is a member of the Dakota subgroup of Siouan languages and while no official language survey has been undertaken to determine where all its speakers live, most of them are believed to be concentrated around the community of Mînî Thnî.
“We learned so much from our conversations with language keepers,” said Kurz. “The Stoney language has only been in print for about 50 years – so it’s very young in a written form.”
The five students leading the project were able to gain a new understanding and appreciation for the resiliency of their ancestors in preserving the Stoney language solely through speaking it, she added.
“I think it makes them really want to become more fluent,” said Kurz.
Aiding the students with their project also helped Kurz to become more familiar with the language and confident in the use of the Stoney words she’s learned after four years of working in the community, she explained.
“We really studied the language and this became like a whole research project,” said the teacher. “We learned that the circumflex – the little hat over the i’s in Mînî Thnî – makes the double e sound, for example. It makes this sound in every instance that it’s used in Stoney.”
The clothing company project initially began with a rebranding of the Morley Community School store to become known as Mînî Thnî Mini Mart after several discussions with elders, teachers and Stoney language instructors. The proceeds students raised from sales at the store were then used to help fund the clothing company project.
At the centrepiece of each Îyethka Trading Co. T-shirt or hoody is a logo designed by local artist and former Morley Community School language instructor Tysen Crawler, whose artwork is on display in other forms around the community – including banners along the roads that illustrate the seven sacred teachings of love, respect, courage, honesty, wisdom, humility and truth.
“The students agreed that his work around the community and in the school really speaks to them, so we asked him and paid him to design the logo for us,” Kurz said.
Crawler’s design depicts a traditional medicine wheel bordered by jagged mountains, with three arrows and a feather separating the four quarters of the wheel.
The mountains are representative of the Stoney people and the arrows represent the three bands of Chiniki, Bearspaw and Wesley/Goodstoney, Kurz explained.
The designs are printed onto the clothing by Defending Awesome, which is a custom T-shirt, stick, and signage company based in Banff.
News of the Indigenous pride-centered clothing company has been spreading fast around the community, Kurz added. At the National Indigenous Peoples Day powwow at the Morley Hockey Arena and Gymnasium June 21, students sold about $1,500 worth of hoodies and shirts in two hours.
“It was so nice for the kids to see people going out to their vehicle putting their own hoodies in there and then putting on their new ones to come back to the powwow,” said the teacher.
“Now we’re able to put all the funds we made back into the school to create student scholarships and something else that will bring pride to the community. Plus, these students can also say on their resumes that they co-founded a clothing company.”
The T-shirts and hoodies are available to order through the Îyethka Trading Co. website. Meanwhile, Kurz is looking into other events and opportunities to continue selling them for the school after the project has run its course. She is currently in talks with the Chiniki Gas Bar and the Esso gas station near the Stoney Nakoda Resort and Casino to become potential retailers.


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Mandarake Shoplifter Finally Turns Himself In
posted on by Bamboo Dong
The Mandarake shoplifting saga that has kept Japanese netizens on the hook since August 4 has finally drawn to a close. A man from Chiba Prefecture turned himself in on August 18, and is currently under arrest on suspicion of theft.
The incident grabbed the attention of the public when Mandarake threatened to publish a photo of an alleged shoplifter on their website, as captured by security camera footage, unless he turned himself in within a week. The man in question supposedly walked away with a wind-up Tetsujin 28-Go toy worth 250,000 yen (about US$2,448).
As the deadline drew near, however, there were reports that the store was surrounded by reporters, making it difficult for the man to go to the store. In the end, the Metropolitan Police Department asked Mandarake to not publish the photo, saying it might interfere with the investigation.
The original incident occurred on the fourth floor of the main Mandarake Nakano store around 5PM JST on August 4.

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Meet Dr. Terence Lester, A Father and Activist Making a Difference
(Black PR Wire) Miami, FL – Thrivin’ in Color, the acclaimed podcast for Black leaders to share their stories, is celebrating Black fathers and father figures in its latest episode featuring the brilliant community activist and speaker Dr. Terence Lester. In this eye-opening episode, Dr. Lester provides a positive perspective on Black fatherhood while sharing his personal experiences.
The founder and executive director of the nonprofit organization Love Beyond Walls which raises awareness about poverty and homelessness, Dr. Lester spoke with Thrivin’ in Color host Camry Brown about the significance of Black fathers being present and vulnerable. Additionally, he provided powerful insight into the mental battle Black fathers may face when trying to navigate life while raising children. “This conversation gets deep within the first few minutes of the show,” said Camry. “Dr. Lester’s relatable story and incredible insights will resonate with Black fathers and father figures everywhere.”
Black PR Wire’s Thrivin’ in Color podcast commemorates Black and Brown fathers and father figures who are setting the tone as positive male role models for our youth. Stream Thrivin’ in Color on all major platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
About Thrivin’ in Color
Thrivin’ In Color is a podcast produced by Black PR Wire, featuring interviews with remarkable sistas and brothas from across the country who are doing extraordinary things in today’s society. Thrivin’ In Color takes us behind the scenes of their world, where we meet with them and pick up some golden nuggets for success. Thrivin’ In Color podcast is available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all of your favorite podcast services.
About Black PR Wire
Black PR Wire is the nation’s first and largest online Black newswire distribution company and is a powerful leader in effective news delivery services. With a comprehensive database and listing of over 1,200 Black (African American, Caribbean and Haitian) organizations and media, Black PR Wire posts and distributes print, audio, video, and creative news and information to Black media, influencers, faith-based groups and prominent community organizations throughout the U.S. and the Caribbean. Services can be purchased online anytime, anywhere 24/7; or by simply calling our newsroom at 1-877-BLACKPR. Have some news to share? Or want to know what’s happening in your community? Then connect with Black PR Wire, like, share and visit us @BlackPRWire, and make Black PR Wire your online source for Black News! For more information on Black PR Wire and Thrivin’ in Color, call 1-877-BLACKPR or visit the website at blackprwire.com.
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PEUGEOT, a French car brand owned by Stellantis, has announced a new range of 3D printed car accessories, including a sunglasses holder, a can holder, and a phone/card holder, developed in collaboration with HP. All of these new accessories were created specifically for the PEUGEOT 308.
PEUGEOT is reinventing car accessories, and it’s using 3D printing and HP’s MJF technology to do so. PEUGEOT’s Design, Product, and Research & Development teams worked together with HP Inc., Mäder, and ERPRO to create these 3D printed car accessories. They’re 3D printed with HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) technology, with the goal of creating innovative products that are pleasant to the touch, light, solid, and simple to use, and that complement the 308’s new PEUGEOT i-interior Cockpit’s comfort.
3D Printed Car Accessories
The overall goal of the project was to make car accessories more visible and appealing by innovating and incorporating modern materials. The 3D printed car accessories from PEUGEOT are made of a jointly developed polymer that provides flexibility, speed, and quality. BASF’s Ultrasint thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU), developed in collaboration with HP Inc., is the flexible material used.
It’s ideal for impact-absorbing parts that need a lot of elasticity, as well as flexible mesh-like structures. The material can be used to make parts with a high level of detail and a high surface quality.
A sunglasses holder, a can holder, and a phone/card holder are among the PEUGEOT 3D printed car accessories. This was just the beginning, and it was more of a test and exploration of the 3D printing technology’s possibilities and capabilities. PEUGEOT, or more accurately, the STELLANTIS Group, has decided to patent the use of TPU in car interiors, indicating that the company plans to invest more in this new approach.
Similar 3D printed car accessories in more of its automotive brands, such as Abarth, Dodge, Citroen, Masserati, and others, would not be an exaggeration.
In the automotive industry, 3D printing is still in its infancy, especially at PEUGEOT. This technology will be developed in series, not only for the accessory line, but also for the more technical components of future PEUGEOT models.
About Manufactur3D Magazine: Manufactur3D is an online magazine on 3D Printing. Visit our Global News page for more updates on Global 3D Printing News. To stay up-to-date about the latest happenings in the 3D printing world, like us on Facebook or follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter.


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Best Google Pixel and Pixel XL Deals: Where to buy
Google’s new handsets, the Google Pixel and Pixel XL are now official, and if you’re looking to buy either new phone, this is the place to be.
‘Nexus’ is out the window; the Pixel and Pixel XL are Google’s flagship smartphones for the next 12 months, and they’re seriously impressive. The handsets feature powerful Snapdragon 821 chips, and run on Google’s latest Android 7.0 Nougat mobile operating system.
Now the phones are officially available, here’s where to buy the Google Pixel…
Buy Google Pixel SIM-free
Google is selling both phones on SIM-free in a range of colours. You can get your hands on the handsets as of right now, with pricing as follows:
Google Pixel – £599 (32GB) | £699 (128GB)
Google Pixel XL – £719 (32GB) | £819 (128GB)
Buy Google Pixel on EE: Best Deals and Tariffs
EE has landed an ‘exclusive network’ partnership with Google that means no other operator will be able to sell the Pixel or Pixel XL in the UK. It’s not yet clear whether the deal is permanent, or for a limited time only, however.
You can buy the Google Pixel and Pixel XL in both black and silver with EE right now, with the network also selling the Daydream View VR headset in early November.
The Google Pixel is £9.99 with EE on a 24-month plan for £50.99 per month. That gets you unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 10GB of data.
Meanwhile, the Google Pixel XL is also £9.99 on a 24-month plan, but for a loftier £55.99 per month. That’ll net you the same unlimited minutes, unlimited texts, and 10GB of data.
If you pick up the phones on one of these 4GEE plans, you’ll also receive unlimited minutes, texts, and 500MB of data to use abroad in the European Union. And for a further £5 each month, you can upgrade to a 4GEE Max plan, which gives you access to EE’s fastest 4G speeds, as well as a free subscription to the BT Sport app.
“Pixel and Pixel XL are typical of a new generation of smartphones we’re seeing emerge that are built to take maximum advantage of advancements in 4G connectivity,” said Marc Allera, CEO of EE. “Google has long been known as an innovative tech brand and consumers can expect them to now become a new and exciting player within mobile following this move.”
Unfortunately, EE has confirmed to TrustedReviews that it won’t be selling the handsets on a SIM-free basis.
Buy Google Pixel at Carphone Warehouse: Best Deals and Tariffs
Carphone Warehouse is stocking the new phones on a range of networks.
You can get the Google Pixel for £79.99 (or the Pixel XL for £159.99) for £42 per month on Vodafone, with a 6GB of data allowance. And you can grab the phone SIM-free for £599.99.
Jeremy Fennell, Managing Director of Carphone Warehouse said: “Pixel encompasses everything we love about Google and brings more of our favourite Google tools to life than ever before in one device. This is a significant event in the history of mobile and we’re delighted to be the exclusive retail partner offering the best deals across all the major networks.”
Related: Google Pixel XL vs Pixel
What do you think of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL? Let us know in the comments.


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In his statement to Health & Life Magazine, Dr. Mohammed bin Saif Al Kuwari, Assistant Undersecretary for Laboratories and Standardization at the Ministry of Environment, discusses the risks of energy drinks on human health. He also highlights the efforts of the State of Qatar to raise public awareness of their risks, as well as the possibility of rendering them out of circulation in the market.
Dr. Al Kuwari raises the alarm about excessive intake of such drinks, warning that they contain high levels of caffeine and that “international companies have gradually increased content to reach 300 mg.” He is also concerned that abuse of these drinks is becoming more prevalent among athletes.
Dr. Al Kuwari stressed on the existence of long-term programs to raise public awareness among the youths about the dangers of these drinks, and added that market entry is being monitored to ensure all products are compatible with the standard specifications approved by the State.
Following are the details of the interview:
A daily intake in excess of 200 mg of caffeine causes health problems such as insomnia, tachycardia, nervousness, headaches, and others. Some energy drinks contain a proportion of caffeine higher than 200 mg per drink. How aware are the general public about the serious side effects of excessive caffeine intake?
Energy drinks are a highly controversial subject in the scientific community because they contain caffeine, a substance also found in tea and coffee as well as other beverages.
Interestingly, the proportion of caffeine in energy drinks has changed. Companies initially added relatively small amounts, but these have risen significantly and now represent a serious health risk. Moreover, some international companies raised the amount from 100 mg to 200 mg and now even 300 mg of caffeine. These amounts are not applicable in Qatar due to our control on the market, which provides products compatible with the GCC standard specifications. The approved amount of allowable caffeine is very low.
It is noteworthy that companies increase the amounts of caffeine in some energy drinks to generate in the body a sense of energy by stimulating the nervous system. However, if we look more closely, we find that this energy is not real but false, and that it only gives the person a feeling of vitality and happiness without the real presence of energy.
Energy drinks companies market their products as supplements that enhance athletic performance in individuals. For example, some domestic companies use extreme sports to market their products. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) put caffeine on the list of prohibited substances. What do you think about energy drink companies hosting sporting events?
The fact is that abuse of energy drinks unfortunately moved from youths to athletes under the pretext that such drinks give them energy and vitality instead of doping. Strangely enough, those people may overdose on such drinks and suffer from frequent urination, which results in dehydration, which in turn causes emaciation and asthenia.
Thus, we have seen that European countries imposed a ban on such drinks due to health risks, while natural drinks can give the body real strength and power.
In another context, there is a relationship between high levels of sugar in energy drinks and increased risk of Type 2 diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular diseases. What can the State of Qatar do to raise public awareness about the risks of excessive consumption of energy drinks?
The problem is not necessarily in the sugar found in some energy drinks, but in the caffeine. Studies showed that whenever a person has an intake of caffeine, he becomes more addicted to it, leaving him more vulnerable to the substance.
As tea and coffee contain a proportion of caffeine, continuing to ingest them at high rates will lead to risky results that many people fear. This forced many countries to adopt some measures.
However, such measures collided with the principles of the World Trade Organization (WTO), though the WTO has nothing to do with the consumers’ behavior and uses of the product. Perhaps this brings us to the prevailing controversy between the standards officials and their counterparts from among the traders.
Some European countries — such as France, Norway, and Denmark — imposed a ban on the sale of energy drinks. Moreover, Arab and Gulf countries placed restrictions on places that sell these drinks. What do you think about these measures? Do you think that the State of Qatar should impose restrictions on the sale of energy drinks?
It is true that some European countries banned such drinks on the basis that each country has the right to take all necessary measures to maintain the health of its population. However, any given country cannot take any action without referring to scientific studies that prove the harmful effects of the product.
When international organizations give an indication that these drinks have harmful effects, we in Qatar abide by them based on our commitment to all international obligations and conventions.
Some countries affix health warnings to packs of energy drinks. Will Qatar seek to apply such an approach? Do you think that affixing health warning labels will contribute to guide consumers towards healthier options?
I stress that we have awareness programs, albeit weak, in Qatar. Furthermore, we affix health-warning labels to packs of energy drinks. The consumer is advised to inform us immediately if he notices otherwise.
Is there any legislation to outlaw such drinks?
There is no legislation against energy drinks. However, all necessary measures are being taken based on an international authority. We are committed to doing so according to Qatar’s pledges to respect its commitments. In general, when the World Health Organization (WHO) warns against the health risk of any product, issues a warning, or gives any indication, we do not hesitate to adhere to such rules.
Lithuania imposed restrictions on the sale of energy drinks to those who are under 21 years old. In light of studies that have shown the negative effects of energy drinks on youths, how possible is it the State of Qatar will introduce a similar restriction?
As I previously mentioned, we are moving in light of the awareness-raising efforts, in addition to the standard specifications and commitment to them. I remember that we had previously conducted a survey to monitor the extent of energy drinks intake by youths. When we asked those taking part in the survey, we found that there is a demand for energy drinks on the pretext that they give them energy, especially at times of examinations. Afterward, the energy fades away, they lose appetite and suffer from insomnia and sleep disorders. These are the implications of the caffeine found in such drinks.
Therefore, we focus on setting up outreach programs for the youths through many means such as the media and participation in various events and activities. We are serious about increasing such awareness.
Some countries have already banned the promotion of these drinks in various media. What are Qatar’s plans regarding advertisements for energy drinks?
Our role is not to block advertisements. It comes within the competence of other state bodies. Generally, I am against putting a block. What is needed is to raise public awareness among the youths and make sure that they do not have an excessive intake of such drinks, in addition to building long-term awareness with a variety of programs.
We can make people aware of the risks of these drinks and make sure that they do not have an excessive intake of them. I think this is the custom of international organizations to raise public awareness among the youths.
Do such organizations highlight the special case of each country, as it deems appropriate for the benefit of the health of its population?
The WTO already protects the special case of each country. Nevertheless, when countries discover a possible abuse of a product or an excessive intake that could cause health damage, such countries can take action according to the WTO standards. Otherwise, they will incur demerit points from the WTO.
Does this explain why energy drinks companies have the upper hand?
We cannot say so for sure. However, we say that we are working according to international organizations, not only at the national level but also at the GCC, Arab, and international levels. This means that our resolutions have major repercussions for the international community, especially considering the controversy surrounding the drinks.
Nevertheless, some countries applied standards to ban energy drinks without referring to the organizations concerned.
It has already happened. However, the international organizations recorded irregularities against such countries. In any case, these organizations require their prior consent before any country can take any action, which must be according to scientific proof.
I am a member of the WTO’s Committee in Qatar. We inform the WTO about any action that the Committee takes, such as issuing health warnings. The WTO then circulates the warning to all countries in the world. If it receives no objection to the warning, the WTO can issue an announcement about it according to its principles and standards.


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Washington, District of Columbia 2021-10-28 16:03:24 –
October 28, 2021
Public health messages such as the image below are designed to reduce parents’ purchases of fruit drinks and sugared beverages sold as children, so that a significant proportion of parents avoid those drinks. I persuaded him. study According to researchers at the University of Washington and the University of Pennsylvania.
A study led by the University of Washington aims to assess the impact of culturally coordinated countermarketing messages on drink choices, as well as tough smoking cessation campaigns, with more than 1,600 people joining and participating in Facebook groups. Latin parents participated.Latin children High consumption rate of sweet drinks, And the beverage industry Intentionally targeting the Latin communitySaid the doctor. James Krieger, Lead author and clinical professor of medical systems and artificial health at UW Public Health School.
“The negative health effects associated with eating sweet drinks, such as tooth decay and later diabetes, are affecting the community disproportionately,” Krieger said. “We want to prevent these children and other children from developing strong taste preferences for products that ultimately harm them.”
To design their study Published in the American Journal of Public Health on Thursday, Researchers nationwide to gain awareness of how marketing works, what they are buying for their children, and how to culturally coordinate messages that resonate with the community. We consulted with a focus group involving ten Latin parents.
“They know that targeted marketing is always happening in the digital age, but they feel that what they actually got is leading them to make unhealthy choices on behalf of their children. It was the fact that it was given deceptive information, “says Krieger.
Krieger added that marketing in the industry made parents believe that fruit drinks are healthy drinks by creating “healthy halos” around the product. Advertisements, labels, and even online games and cartoons often contain claims about nutrients such as vitamin C and images of healthy children drinking the product while participating in sports. ..
With information from these focus groups and the support of Latin marketing companies, researchers are designed to elicit anger, fear of adverse effects on children, and other negative emotions in Spanish and English. Created counter marketing graphics and messages for. The message explained the negative effects of these products and evoked a particular brand and image.
“We looked at the anti-tobacco message and the types of words and images they used,” Krieger said. “We wanted a message that appealed to people not only at the emotional level, but also at the cognitive level, because research encourages people to make choices.”
The researchers then enrolled 1,628 Latin parents (mainly female, low-income households) in the Facebook group for six weeks to investigate the impact of counterarguments on their drink choices and perceptions of fruit drinks. ..
Message text: Your body turns the sugar you drink into fat, which can cause diabetes.
Message text: WARNING: Calling it nature doesn’t make it good for your child.
Message text: It rejuvenates the health of children by giving them thirst-quenching water instead of sweet fruit drinks. The choice is clear.
In this study, parents were divided into three groups. The two “intervention” groups were those who received only fruit drink counter messages and those who received a combination of counter messages and water promotion messages. The third group, the control group, saw a safety message about the child seat. Using a simulated online store offering fruit drinks, sodas, water, milk, or 100% fruit juice, parents in all three groups choose drinks for their children and buy drinks in real stores I received money that I could use to do.
Researchers have found that parents who see the countermarketing message alone or in combination with a professional water message are less likely to buy fruit drinks and more likely to buy water. Specifically, parents of the Fruit Drink Counter Marketing Group reduced virtual purchases of these drinks by 31% compared to the Control Group and 43% in the group that received the combined message. Parents of the combination group chose water more often than the first group.
Based on these choices, the authors estimated that children in the combination group consumed 22% less sugar than the average for children aged 2-5 years. In an exit poll, the authors write that parents in both intervention groups are also unlikely to “significantly” trust the fruit drink brand.
Researchers are “the first to demonstrate the effectiveness of counter messages delivered only through social media, and the first to specifically target infant consumption of sweet drinks. “.As a result of this study, the researchers also created Social media counter marketing toolkit It can be used by anyone to campaign against the purchase of fruit drinks for children.
As Executive Director of Health food usa Krieger has a broad background in the development and evaluation of community-based chronic disease prevention programs, including activities in public health-Seattle and King County, to help curb the consumption of sweet fruit drinks. I hope it will be widely used.
“For me, there is no point in doing research unless it applies to changes in the world, so we formed an advisory group and created a plan to reach out and encourage toolkits and national organizations. To use, “said Krieger.
Co-authors include Tehun Kwon, who worked on his research as a graduate student in economics at the University of Washington. Rudy Ruiz of Interlex, a multicultural advocacy marketing agency in San Antonio. Lina Pinero Walkinshaw Show, UW School of Public Health Clinical Instructor. Jiali Yan and Christina Roberto of the University of Pennsylvania. This study was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Healthy Eating Research Program. The Arcola Foundation, the Delta Dental Foundation in Washington.
For more information, see Dr. Please contact Krieger. email@example.com..
Countermarketing based on anti-smoking campaigns reduces buying of sugary ‘fruit’ drinks for children Source link Countermarketing based on anti-smoking campaigns reduces buying of sugary ‘fruit’ drinks for children


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iPCS Shareholder Group Opposes Sprint Acquisition
Greywolf Capital Management, which owns about 8% of Sprint affiliate iPCS, thinks the $24-per-share price offered by Sprint to buy iPCS is too low. The group sent a letter to the iPCS board of directors indicating that it will not vote in favor of the acquisition. Greywolf, which approves of the acquisition in theory, believes Sprint has undervalued iPCS and should pay an amount closer to $47 per share.
Qualcomm Rejects Broadcom's Latest Acquisition Offer, But Leaves Door Open
Qualcomm's board of directors today unanimously rejected Broadcom's revised bid to acquire the company for $121 billion. Qualcomm's board continues to insist that Broadcom is undervaluing Qualcomm's overall worth.
SoftBank Sinks More Money Into Sprint
SoftBank has been snapping up shares of Sprint, increasing its stake recently by as much as $87 million. Despite SoftBank CEO Masayoshi Son's misgivings about the overall acquisition of Sprint, SoftBank said it "is enthusiastic about Sprint's prospects.
Qualcomm Says It Met with Broadcom to Discuss Acquisition
Qualcomm today said members of its board of directors and senior management met with Broadcom to talk about the latter's acquisition offer. Broadcom offered to buy Qualcomm for $121 billion, but Qualcomm shot the deal down.
Japan's SoftBank to Buy UK's ARM for $32 Billion
SoftBank today announced plans to buy ARM Holdings for $32 billion. SoftBank runs one of Japan's largest wireless networks and is the parent company of Sprint in the U.S., while ARM designs and licenses the Cortex-branded mobile processors often found in today's smartphones and tablets.
Sprint Offering 10GB to 4-Line Family Plans for $100
Sprint today introduced the Sprint Family Share Pack, a plan that includes unlimited talk and text and 10 GB of shared data for four lines for $100 per month. Sprint Family Share Pack subscribers can quadruple their shared data to 40 GB for $20 more (total of $120 before taxes and fees).
Shentel is the only one left and ipcs needs to give up
Greywolf Capital needs to be shot from a helicopter..
T-Mobile is loosing its customers data and has no 4g future.
damn is prepaid the only light in this dark royal rumble?


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Along with the Windows 10, Microsoft also announced something called Windows Insider Program (WIP) on Tuesday night. Meant for early adopters and computer geeks, this is the company’s attempt to solicit feedback on its software that is under the works and to give consumers a taste of what it is cooking.
The technical preview of Windows 10 will be made available to anyone who wants to try it under the WIP from Wednesday night.
“We hope to involve tech enthusiasts like you in our software development process over the next several months so that your feedback becomes part of the next version of Windows,” Joe Belfiore, VP Operating Systems Groups at Microsoft, said in a video posted on the company website immediately after the Windows 10 announcement.
He explained that the tech preview of Windows 10 is not the finished and polished version of the OS. “The tech preview is meant for PC experts who are comfortable downloading unfinished software,” said Belfiore. “As a Windows Insider, you will get two benefits. You will get more frequent updates with the earlier but less polished software and you will have access to the windows feedback app through which you can send us comments directly.”
While in the past Microsoft has distributed the early versions of its software within MSDN or Technet subscribers, the WIP looks more mainstream and will give even non-developers or less tech-savvy consumers a chance to try Windows 10.
It also looks more comprehensive compared to how the company rolled out the technical previews for Windows 8. In the QA session after the Windows event, according to the technology news site Verge, Microsoft detailed the WIP. In response to a question, Belfiore said, “We’ve never done this before. Hopefully you become an Insider, you’ll see things you haven’t seen before. There will be forums available for discussions amongst the Insiders, and our engineering team will be available.”
When Microsoft released Windows 8 to poor reviews and tepid response from consumers, one of the criticism it faced was that the company did not take into account the feedback early users of Windows 8 gave it. It looks like that with Windows 10, Microsoft doesn’t want to repeat the same mistake.
For more news from India Today, follow us on Twitter @indiatoday and on Facebook at facebook.com/IndiaToday
For news and videos in Hindi, go to AajTak.in. ताज़ातरीन ख़बरों और वीडियो के लिएआजतक.इन पर आएं.
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Duke University is about to expand access to free electronic books to include thousands of titles that are not yet available from the world's most ambitious e-book project: the gargantuan online library compiled by Google Books.
This fall Duke will be among the nation's first institutions to offer free online access to books that are still protected by copyright and not in the public domain. Those books, published between 1923 and 1963, will be offered to the public because the owners of the copyrights can't be contacted - either the publishers went out of business or the authors are deceased.
The e-books are stored by HathiTrust, a digital partnership of some 60 universities and research institutions. Google Books digitized many of the copyrighted books in the HathiTrust database, but so far Google hasn't received legal clearance to offer public access to those titles.
Duke announced the project this week with other universities - Cornell, Emory and Johns Hopkins. They were able to do what Google hasn't been able to because their library systems own print editions of the books.
"The reason the four of us are collaborating is we had to make the case to our general counsels and our provosts that this is legal," said Kevin Smith, a Duke librarian and lawyer who handles intellectual property issues. "We collaborated to produce memos, and we made the arguments together."
For legal cover, each participating university will provide online access only to titles that are available in print in its library system. Under this reasoning, the universities already paid for the rights to electronically disseminate the books.
However, it's possible someone might disagree with that legal reasoning. So as a hedge, the universities will post notices about the books they plan to offer for 90 days. If no one claims copyright ownership, the full text will remain online.
"If we're legally wrong - if the publishing firm that bought the rights or the granddaughter of the author comes forward - we will suspend access until the issue is resolved," Smith said.
Once online access is cleared, the online books will be available to students, faculty, staff and visiting scholars. Duke also allows the public to use its library for $50 a year, so the e-book database would also be open to visitors.
To date, 17 campus libraries have signed on to participate in the project, said HathiTrust executive director John Wilkin, who is also IT director for the University of Michigan Library System.
HathiTrust holds more than 9.5 million digitized volumes, and as many as half could be copyrighted without surviving copyright owners. HathiTrust only in recent weeks began researching which titles lack copyright owners and could be offered online by Duke and the other universities.
The organization's list of potential books numbers 148 but will eventually grow into the thousands, Wilkin said.
Many of the titles are obscure and of scholarly interest only. They include such books as "Confusion," a 1924 novel by James Gould Cozzens; "Lecture On Bees," a 1925 title by E.R. Root; "A Reconstruction of Uto-Aztekan History," a 1937 work by Robert Mowry Zingg; "The Ethical Aftermath of Automation," a 1962 monograph by Francis X. Quinn; and Walter Lippman's 1959 study, "The Communist World and Ours."
Offering copyrighted e-books to the public is legal as long as the database operator pays licensing fees to publishers. Public libraries and university collections today offer copyrighted books for downloading, but negotiate terms.
Google Books has been unable to negotiate terms because it's not clear who represents the defunct publishers and dead writers. In March, a federal judge rejected Google's offer to pay $125 million to publishing and writers' guilds for the right to expand its digital library, saying the deal doesn't represent the interests of long-gone publishers and writers.
The settlement offer stemmed from a 2005 lawsuit by authors and publishers who said Google was infringing on their copyrights by digitizing books.
As a result, Google Books currently offers only several lines of copyrighted books on its online library.
Like Google Books, HathiTrust also offers public access to non-copyrighted books, those published before 1923, at www.hathitrust.org.
email@example.com or 919-829-8932


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Etihad, Kanoo sign retail tie-up
Abu Dhabi, April 12, 2012
Etihad Airways, the national airline of the United Arab Emirates, has signed a strategic partnership with Kanoo Travel to open four joint retail locations in Dubai.
The new partnership will allow Etihad Airways to better serve the needs of travellers in its growing Dubai market, throughout the GCC and in the UK, and augment its ability to promote travel to leisure markets, including a broader distribution of Etihad Holidays packages.
Kanoo Travel is the largest travel company in the Middle East with more than 200 offices in the region. Four Kanoo retail locations in Dubai will be rebranded as Etihad/Kanoo outlets to mark the partnership.
Etihad Airways chief commercial officer Peter Baumgartner said: “The strategic partnership with Kanoo Travel marks a major milestone for Etihad Airways’ distribution strategy.”
“Kanoo Travel is a long established travel group with a strong position in both the Middle East and United Kingdom. They have considerable reach and expertise in servicing the corporate and consumer segments in many of our important growth markets, which Etihad Airways will now be able to leverage.”
“The co-branding of four retail locations in Dubai is only the beginning of an ambitious joint vision for our partnership, which will see Etihad Airways increase its share of various GCC markets,” he added.
Mishal Kanoo, deputy chairman of The Kanoo Group said: “It is truly an honour for us to work with such a wonderful airline. Etihad symbolizes all that an airline should be and to be able to offer their clients a way to extend that wonderful experience will be a joy for us at Kanoo.
“From the day Etihad set out to join the airline industry, it made its goal quite clear—to be the best. We are honored at Kanoo to be able to play a part in helping Etihad Airways achieve that goal; a task made easy by the superior product and service they offer.” – TradeArabia News Service
More Travel, Tourism & Hospitality Stories
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- Sharq Doha unveils Al Dana Garden
- Beacon technology 'ideal' to aviation industry
- Emergency drill to take place at Amman airport
- JA Resorts to launch high-end resort In Maldives
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- Hilton appoints new GM for Alexandria hotel
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- Lufthansa aims high with 'First Class' service
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- $40bn investment in Gulf airports likely
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- Malaysia Airlines jet presumed crashed, 239 onboard


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‘Their life is in your hands’
The campaign, which will feature on buses, roadsides, and a digital billboard in East London, showcases three separate messages: “Why love one but eat the other?” – “Their life is in your hands,” – and “Which is more important, taste or life?”
Vegan YouTube Sensation and co-founder of Surge, Ed Winters, commonly known as Earthling Ed, said: “We’re so happy to have released our first round of advertising campaigns in London.
“We’ve been wanting to do this for such a long time, so it feels amazing to be able to get the vegan message out there to the public and ask them the same thought-provoking questions that have already inspired so many people to become vegan.
“The campaign has been partly funded by Unity Diner, the non-profit vegan establishment that we opened at the end of last year, and so we want to thank everyone who has eaten at the diner and contributed towards making these campaigns a reality, as well as everyone else who has supported our work so far.”


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When a resident of Whitehaven is in pursuit of a gourmet cup of coffee or a coffee house atmosphere, their best bet is to head to Midtown, the University District, or even across the state line to Southhaven or Olive Branch.
But the days of across-town or out-of-state coffee commutes may be numbered. The brew-centric startup, Muggin’ Coffeehouse, is slated to open next month at 1139 Brownlee Road.
On opening day, Muggin' Coffeehouse will become the only locally-owned coffee shop in Whitehaven. It will also be one of the few coffee shops in the city that is black-owned and operated.
“We were shocked to find out that Whitehaven did not have a coffee shop, given its demographics in terms of some of the incomes that are in that community,” said Eric Robertson, president of the nonprofit Community LIFT and its economic development arm, River City Capital.
Community LIFT and RCC support community development with nontraditional small-business loans, grants to individuals and community development corporations, and other resources.
received startup capital from RCC through its Enterprise Loan program.
“We are a neighborhood coffee shop, a place where regulars and newcomers alike can go to have great coffee and conversation,” said Mary Olds, co-owner of Muggin' Coffeehouse.
Olds said they will sell premium coffee that meets specific standards of quality. Customers can expect a range of options including espresso drinks, lattes, frozen coffee beverages, iced coffee, and nitro coffee. Muggin' Coffeehouse also wants to be a place where people can gather. Olds said that too is in short supply in Whitehaven.
Plans include plenty of seating, a lounge, and a separate to-go register and pick-up counter for a tasty jolt of caffeine when speed is of the essence.
“We thought [a coffee shop] is something that could improve the quality of life for residents," said Robertson. "[Our Enterprise Loan] is a product we have, either for existing businesses or startups, that need less than $100,000. The sweet spot for us is really around $50,000,” said Robertson.
Muggin' Coffehouse may be the first but it may not be the only coffee shop in Whitehaven for much longer. Local small-batch coffee seller Memphis Grindhouse Coffee also tried to open a coffee shop in Whitehaven. It didn't pan out, but they haven't given up on the dream.
Ken and Mary Olds co-own Muggin' Coffeehouse, which is slated to open in Whitehaven in April 2020. The Olds both grew up in Whitehaven, which was one of the reasons they wanted to open a business in the area. (Ziggy Mack)
SERVING COFFEE, SERVING NEEDS
“Ken and I are coffee lovers. We started drinking it in college," said Olds of herself and her husband. "As we matured, so did our palettes as it relates to coffee. We started off drinking instant coffee and eventually transitioned to specialty and premium coffees."
The couple now co-owns Muggin’ Coffeehouse.
The Olds moved back to Memphis in 2017 and noticed there were no coffee shops in Whitehaven, where they both grew up. They saw friends and family driving to DeSoto County in Mississippi to get what they considered to be a premium cup of coffee.
The idea for a Muggin' Coffeehouse was born.
The Olds first approached a coffee franchise, but they were slow to respond. They decided to plot their own course, but as is the case with most startups, financing was a major concern.
They approached RCC with their business plan and drew strong interest. RCC connected the Olds with local startup incubator Epicenter, as well as other coffee shop owners to seek their advice and learn from their experience.
Muggin' Coffeehouse has since partnered with J. Brooks Coffee Roasters as their supplier.
Why doesn't whitehaven have a coffee shop?
Whitehaven residents involved in the Memphis 3.0 planning process expressed a strong desire for more sit-down restaurants, upscale entertainment and shopping, national retailers, and higher-value home construction. They specifically listed coffee shops as a much needed amenity.
Related: "Whitehaven Plaza is first look at Memphis 3.0 in action"
While its residents are certainly not a monolith, Whitehaven as a whole is big, suburban, and middle class. It's stable but growing and has solid resident interest and engagement in its development and other affairs.
According to the Greater Whitehaven Economic Redevelopment Corporation, Whitehaven has more than 30,000 residents with 4,000 moving to Whitehaven each year. If it were its own city, it’d be in the top 25 largest in the state of Tennessee.
As of January 2019, their data showed Whitehaven's average annual income was $45,000 to $54,000. Shelby County’s average is $48,415.
It's the kind of place you'd expect to see several Starbucks and a few local shops.
But Whitehaven is majority-Black.
During the Memphis 3.0 process, some residents pointed directly to pervasive structural racism as the sole reason Whitehaven has lacked the public and private investment given to majority-white suburbs that are similar in virtually every way except racial makeup.
Related: Seeing Red: "Mapping 90 years of redlining in Memphis"
Many expressed frustration that most of the investment in their community to-date focused on tourist and Graceland instead of residents' needs.
RCC provides access to capital for entrepreneurs, small businesses, and neighborhoods like Whitehaven that are considered too risky for traditional lenders.
Ken and Mary Olds look at building schematics of their future coffee shop, Muggin' Coffeehouse, in Whitehaven. The space is currently under renovation. The Olds both grew up in Whitehaven, which was one of the reasons they wanted to open a business in the area. (Ziggy Mack)
The GRIT OF GRINDHOUSE
When its business plan was drafted, the owners of Memphis Grindhouse
were set on opening a brick-and-mortar location in Whitehaven. They shopped their idea to several banks and lending institutions but were unsuccessful in securing the necessary startup capital.
“The first thing they asked us was, ‘What do you bring to the table financially with this business?’” said Dwayne Chaffen, who co-owns Memphis Grindhouse with Rick Askew.
In general, the hurdles for borrowing money for a food service startup are generally high. Eateries and drink purveyors, including coffee shops, have a reputation for failure. While 40% make it
through the first year, nearly 80% close by year five.
The cost of opening a new restaurant varies, but it's not uncommon for the tab to run upwards of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
“We only asked the bank for $100,000," said Chaffen. "They said, ‘You show us a check for $50,000, a deposit in the bank or whatever, and we’ll do a line of credit up to $100,000 ... We talked to several banks across the city, small and large, and we kept hearing the same answer."
Muggin' Coffeeshop may well have to prove that coffee is a profitable investment in Whitehaven before the lending landscape improves for others like Grindhouse.
Chaffen and Askew decided to pivot their business model and sell 12 oz. bags of coffee online. They launched in December of last year.
Their beans are sustainably sourced and imported from locations like Peru, Guatemala, and Africa. They're locally roasted in small batches by J. Brooks Coffee Roasters and packaged in Memphis to give customers the freshest product possible.
Grindhouse coffee is sustainably sourced, roasted and packaged locally, and available online. Grindhouse's co-owners, Dwayne Chaffen and Rick Askew, hope to open a brick-and-mortar coffee shop in Whitehaven. (Ziggy Mack)
To get the word out locally and build their brand, Memphis Grindhouse frequently makes their coffee available to the community.
On March 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. they'll have a public tasting at the Landmark Event Center located at 2810 Bartlett Road. The event is free but guests can RSVP here
“We are going to have soft music ... we’ll have light things to pair with the coffee like desserts," said Chaffen. "Something that complements coffee."
In addition to a gourmet experience, the startup’s brand includes a mission to fight illiteracy in Shelby County. Twenty-five percent of proceeds will be donated to literacy programs for students in third grade and below on a quarterly basis.
Since opening, Grindhouse has cultivated a customer base that extends to both coasts. They're using their website and social media to build their online brand, but they still have their sights set on seeing a physical shop in Whitehaven.
“We have people from everywhere in the U.S. that like our brand, that follow our brand. We are excited about it,” said Chaffen. “We’ll just keep working it online until we make enough money to open a brick-and-mortar. That’s the goal.”


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Brand owners must tap into regional environmental concerns, survey shows
- Filed in:
- Green marketing
Although their top environmental concerns may vary, consumers around the world express interest in purchasing green, but cost and education remain key hurdles.
One of the largest global surveys to date on consumer perceptions of green brands and corporate environmental behavior reveals global differences about the top environmental concerns among consumers. While climate change is important across most countries, 30% of Brazilians and 26% of Indians cite deforestation as the top issue, and in Australia, 68% of consumers say it’s important that companies manage water efficiently.
The fifth annual ImagePower® Green Brands Survey polled more than 9,000 people in eight countries and was conducted by WPP agencies Cohn & Wolfe, Landor Associates, and Penn Schoen Berland (PSB), as well as independent strategy consulting firm Esty Environmental Partners. The Green Brands Survey identifies emerging trends related to consumer perception and purchasing behavior of “green” products.
The 2010 data indicates that the majority of consumers plan to spend the same or more money on green products in the coming year, with more than 70% of consumers in China, India, and Brazil saying they will spend more.
The majority of consumers—more than 60%—in all countries want to buy from environmentally responsible companies, but the cost of green products continues to be a hurdle in developed countries. Selection and labeling are the biggest challenges in developing economies.
“The 2010 Green Brands Survey demonstrates the growing importance of consumer concerns and eco-literacy to companies. It is striking that interest in the environment and sustainability appears to be on the rise in markets all across the world, but the specific issues on which consumers are focused varies from country to country,” says Dan Esty, chairman of Esty Environmental Partners. “The message is that companies must not only develop environmental strategies to address their most important global impacts, but they also need to be able to connect with consumers in a compelling and relevant way on a market-by-market basis.”
More than two-thirds of respondents in each country polled cite reducing toxins and dangerous substances as the most important activity a company can do to be green, followed by water conservation or recycling. In addition, consumers say environmental consciousness is an important corporate priority, ranking in importance behind ‘good value,’ ‘trustworthy,’ and ‘caring about customers.’
“For the last few years we’ve seen interest in green brands increase in every country surveyed. Being seen as environmentally conscious continues to be an important brand attribute with all consumers; in fact, it ranks fourth behind ‘good value,’ ‘trustworthy,’ and ‘cares about customers,’” says Russ Meyer, Landor’s chief strategy officer. “Although still a differentiator in many categories, brand managers must remember that being seen as green is becoming a fundamental attribute for all brands.”
In the U.S., energy use is considered to be the biggest green issue or problem today. The data also show that economic concerns continue to take precedence over environmental ones, with 79% of those polled expressing greater distress about the economy. Yet, 35% of consumers say they will spend more on green in the coming year (down slightly from last year).
”In the United States, 75% of consumers say that it is somewhat or very important to them that the brands they buy come from green companies, although more people said that this was ‘very important’ in 2009,” observes Scott Siff, executive vice president of Penn Schoen Berland. “While the economy has driven down the priority of green for consumers, we can expect that as the recovery continues, the importance of green will come roaring back.”


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A day after Vodafone confirmed that it is in talks with the Aditya Birla Group for the merger of its Indian entity and Idea Cellular, the country’s largest telecom player Bharti Airtel on Tuesday welcomed the move, but said such consolidations should not be an outcome of a forced situation.
“We welcome the news of the proposed alliance between Vodafone and Idea Cellular. Consolidation is always good, especially for any capital-intensive sector with multiple players,” said Gopal Vittal, MD and CEO, Bharti Airtel (India and South Asia).
“A few solid and profitable players are always better for an industry, as they can make substantial investments and offer quality products and services to customers in a sustainable fashion,” he said.
“However, it is important to ensure that such consolidations are not an outcome of a forced situation created by offering an ‘unfair playing field’ to any particular company while completely destroying the viability of the others,” he added, without naming Reliance Jio, the new entrant in the Indian telecom space.
“That would be an unfavourable situation, which is not only bad for the sector, customers and the employees, but will also adversely impact the overall investment climate and above all revenues to government,” Vittal added.
The merger will create an entity with a subscriber base of more than 400 million to emerge as the largest player in India, displacing the current dominant player Bharti Airtel, which currently has over 260 million users on its network.
“The merger confirms the trend towards consolidation. It shows that companies recognise the nature and size of the challenge posed to their businesses by Jio. This will help both companies improve their competitiveness,” Mahesh Uppal, Director, telecom consultancy firm Com First, told IANS earlier.
Also read: Reliance Jio’s free services are unfair competition: Sunil Mittal


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Thanksgiving is quickly approaching and that means people are thinking about the three Ts: turkey, trimmings and travel.
Not only will it be a busy time in the kitchen, it will also be busy on the roads and at the airports. But according to the AAA Thanksgiving 2012 Travel Forecast, this year will be busier than last, but not by much.
According to the report, AAA estimates 43.6 million Americans will travel more than 50 miles from home between Nov. 21 and 25, up 0.7 percent from last year.
Some 90 percent of this year's travelers will be hitting the roads, 39.1 million of them traveling by automobile. And as Thanksgiving approaches, gas prices are expected to continue on a downward trend into the holiday.
In their report, AAA also breaks down their predictions by regions. Here is how they see New England holiday travel this year.
Travel originating from the New England region is expected to increase a modest 0.6 percent over the 2011 Thanksgiving holiday period, an increase that slightly trails the national holiday travel forecast (0.7 percent).
Automobile travel from the New England region is projected to rise 0.7 percent compared to the holiday last year, and the forecast also calls for a decline in air travel of 1.6 percent. The forecast indicates that 13.3 percent of the New England population will travel this upcoming Thanksgiving holiday period, which is lower than the national frequency (13.8 percent).
However, a slightly higher percentage of the regional population will travel by air than the broader nation (1.3 percent compared to 1 percent).


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While many continue fretting over whether and when Spotify will open up Stateside, another digital music company from Sweden is going ahead there – and may even become a beachhead for its better-known compatriot.
X5 Music Group, which licenses music rights for re-sale through digital retailers like Spotify and iTunes themselves, has raised €7 ($9.16/£5.91) million to open up shop in America.
It continues: “The new funding will first and foremost be used to facilitate signing of American artists and to increase X5 Music’s current catalogue.” X5 is taking an office in the Empire State Building.
Says X5 CEO Johan Lagerlof: “With Northzone’s strengths and front edge competence within the streaming music department, we can now truly be the best alternative for major American artists.”
“Front edge streaming music competence?” Could he be talking about Spotify itself? Venture investors often have their portfolio companies assist each other, and signing American artists is exactly what Spotify needs. With its U.S. struggle apparently due to major labels’ reluctance to license a free unlimited service, Spotify could perhaps use an X5-shaped helper in its negotiations…
X5’s catalogue is mostly second-division and archive fare, though at least this would be something should Spotify opt to launch without U.S. majors.
X5 already licenses tracks to Spotify, as well as to all the other main digital music providers, so any new licenses X5 wins in New York could benefit Spotify’s rivals as well as Spotify.
Gaining music distribution licenses is complex and painful in any country. Spotify says: “The American music market is the biggest and most complex in the world. It took us 18 months before we were able to launch in Europe, it’s taken us longer than expected in the U.S. but we’re working hard to ensure we launch with the best service possible.”
Northzone specialises in taking Nordic internet companies in to bigger world markets.


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tZERO andHong Kong-based GRS Capital’s partnership is focused on developing an ecosystem inAsiafor tokenized commodity purchase contracts that would purportedly improve the supply chain process of rare metals. Additionally, the parties are looking to launch a securitytoken platform in the region, following compliance with relevant regulatory requirements.
Per the release, the token will be used for a sale of cobalt, and is expected to launch in 2019. The “first-of-its-kind cobalt offering” will include recurring tranches of electric vehicle battery-grade cobalt, with up to $200 million of the material to be available for sale.
Patrick Byrne, the Overstock CEO and tZERO executive chairman:
“smart contract automation of these transactions will significantly reduce overall costs while effectively improving transparency in rare earth metals purchases.”
However, in order to complete the project the companies are delaying apreviously announced equity investment until the end of February, 2019.
Fluidity Engineer Deepa Sathaye outlined the need for compliant security tokens and the automated compliance featured in many ERC-20 token standards on Ethereum. Many protocols exist, which is great for the security token industry. Yet […]
This summer Malta’s parliament gave unanimous approval to legislation that provides crypto sector businesses and investors the regulatory certainty necessary to launch projects related to security tokens. The legislation consists of three bills. Their provisions […]
Security token trading platform tZERO, a portfolio company of digital retailer Overstock, has begun the process of giving investors control of tokens bought during a sale the firm completed last August. In a letter sent […]


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Starbucks lets people buy a friend coffee on Facebook
- Eric Engleman
- Staff Writer
Starbucks has tapped social networks to help revive its brand. Now the coffee chain is hoping to stir up some business through Facebook. Under a new Give a Gift feature on the Starbucks Card Facebook app, people can load cash directly onto a friend's Starbucks card — anything between $5 and $500 — sort of a digital stocking stuffer.
Starbucks has a large and growing fan base on Facebook —15 million and counting — and it will be interesting to see if the Give a Gift feature spurs significant sales for the coffee giant.
It's another addition to Starbucks' evolving digital strategy. The company recently introduced free unlimited Wi-Fi in company-owned stores and is developing a digital network for customers, due to roll out sometime this fall.
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Phil: Talking about the opposite of reckless, Generation Z is giving up drinking, and one of the reasons that they're giving up drinking is, you know, according to this new report that would came out in media posts, people are very concerned that now with iPhones and all kinds of mobile devices that you get drunk, somebody takes, you know, a video, video of you drunk puts it up and it's there forever. And maybe you got drunk when you were 16 or 17, but now you're looking for a job when you're 30 and all of a sudden this video comes up there. But there's a lot more to it that this demographic is also more concerned about health and wellness, which is why they're, you know, giving up drinking, a lot of declines. The only thing that's up are distilled beverages, but beer and wine and hard seltzers are down. But what are they doing, Sally, instead of drinking?
Sally: Well, it's interesting, Phil, Gen Z, you know, and we're also talking about millennials, but we're talking about Gen Z mostly. They drink less than any generation that we've ever had. And one of the things that we're seeing is that they're moving, they're moving towards cannabis products that are becoming legal in so many states. So they're drinking CBD drinks that don't have the carbs, the calories and come from something natural. So they feel better about that. They feel that that's better for their health and safer for them. They're drinking energy drinks, you know they're just a healthier more mindful generation it seems like. And alcohol is not their first choice.
Phil: So bottom line is Cheech & Chong were right.


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June 1, 2020
Senate Democrats offer privacy framework as work continues on comprehensive legislation
Senate Democrats from several key committees have released a framework of data and consumer protections for drafting comprehensive privacy legislation, as work on the landmark legislative proposal continues likely into next year.
“We have developed a set of core principles that should be included in any comprehensive data protection legislation,” the senators said in the framework issued last week. “Under our framework, consumers would control their personal information, and corporations, non-profits, and political entities would be held to higher...


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- RSI is at a high level of 75. A high level of RSI indicates the stock is overbought.
- MACD is crossing MACD signal line at 0.8. MACD crossing signal line is bullish signal.
Short Volume Ratio = Short Volume / All Volume. Source of Short Volume data comes fromFinra
Moving Average Convergence/Divergence oscillator (MACD) is one of the simplest and most effective momentum indicators available.
Relative Strength Index (RSI) is a momentum oscillator that measures the speed and change of price movements. RSI oscillates between zero and 100. According to Wilder, RSI is considered overbought when above 70 and oversold when below 30.
The most you can lose on any stock (assuming you don't use leverage) is 100% of your money. But on the bright side, if...
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) has an impressive earnings surprise history and currently possesses the right combination of the two key ingredients for a likely beat in its next quarterly report.
Cirrus Logic, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRUS) today announced that the company will post its third quarter fiscal year 2021 financial results and business outlook on the investor relations area of its website on Monday, Feb. 1, at approximately 4 p.m. EST.
The Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: Apple, Qorvo, Cirrus Logic, Skyworks and Synaptics
The tech-heavy NASDAQ is trading at all-time high, tempting investors to keep moving into the tech sector. Semiconductor stocks are natural plays, since chip technology underlies pretty much every aspect of the modern digital world. The optimism on semiconductor stocks is also fueled by the transition to 5G wireless networks. Telecom providers have started to shift from 4G to 5G – and that switch will require new chips. Control systems, modems, smartphone devices – companies and customers will s...
The Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) has been on top of the world for much of 2020, but at least on Friday, it wasn't able to duplicate its strong performance. The news was enough to send Skyworks Solutions (NASDAQ: SWKS) and some other Apple-reliant companies lower as well.
If we want to find a potential multi-bagger, often there are underlying trends that can provide clues. Amongst other...
While there are no official numbers, it appears that Apple's (NASDAQ: AAPL) latest iPhone 12 lineup is breaking records as far as sales are concerned. Wedbush Securities analyst Daniel Ives had pointed out last month that iPhone 12 preorders were tracking at double the rate of the iPhone 11. What's more, he also stated that Apple could ship close to 90 million units of the device by the end of the year given the initial sales response.
Cirrus Logic (CRUS) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.


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Disqus for Windows 10 snags many new features in latest update
Official Disqus app updated with new features and improvements
Popular blog comment platform Disqus has rolled out a major update to its official Windows 10 app for PCs, tablets and phones. Version 4.2.0 brings many new features and enhancements to Windows 10 devices including phones. According to the official changelog, Disqus 4.2.0 supports Shadow and timeout banning, which should make fighting with internet spammers a lot easier.
Website moderators can now see flag labels next to comments, and remove banned users. Other improvements include a fixed bug that may prevent inserting links, design and performance optimizations to comment rendering.
Along with this update, Disqus Beta has been removed from the Store. You can download [link] the main Disqus app from the Windows Store (only for Windows 10 devices).


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Beiersdorf Forecasts Higher Sales on Nivea Brand Strengthby
Skincare maker sees revenue rising 3%-4% on organic basis
Company forecasts slight improvement on record 14.4% margin
Beiersdorf AG forecast a further increase in sales and improved profitability this year as its brand-name skincare products help the Nivea cream maker outpace the market.
Revenue will increase 3 percent to 4 percent from last year on a so-called organic basis, Hamburg-based Beiersdorf said Wednesday, compared with last year’s 3 percent growth. That’s in line with Sanford C. Bernstein’s estimates. Operating margin will be slightly higher than 2015’s record level of 14.4 percent, the company forecast.
Chief Executive Officer Stefan Heidenreich is benefiting from increased demand for “trusted” beauty brands including its Nivea, Eucerin and La Prairie lines, said Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Duncan Fox. Its ability to extend those brands to new consumer groups will help it outpace the global skincare market, which has grown 2.2 percent on average over the past four years, he said. Nivea is also raising prices as it competes with products from Procter & Gamble Co. and L’Oreal SA.
“We have made Beiersdorf more resilient,” Heidenreich said.
Earnings before interest and taxes, excluding some items, rose 12 percent to 962 million euros ($1.1 billion) last year, compared with the average 963.4 million-euro estimate of analysts compiled by Bloomberg. Beiersdorf said on Jan. 14 that last year’s sales grew 3 percent on an organic basis, or 6.4 percent as reported in euros, to 6.69 billion euros, in line with estimates.
The stock fell 1.4 percent as of 9:04 a.m. in Frankfurt. The shares have dropped 4.8 percent this year, compared with a 15 percent drop in the DAX Index.
Its consumer sales rose 3.6 percent last year on that basis, though its Tesa adhesives business, a much smaller unit, barely grew. For this year, Beiersdorf expects its consumer business to grow by 3 percent to 4 percent and Tesa sales to rise 2 percent to 4 percent. Robert Waldschmidt, an analyst at Liberum, said he expected 4.3 percent consumer-division growth.
“The margin guidance for the group and the consumer unit is conservative,” said Waldschmidt, who recommends buying the shares.
Beiersdorf is using strong sales in the U.S., Latin America and eastern Europe to compensate for sluggish demand in western Europe, where sales fell 0.3 percent last year. Revenue in eastern Europe by contrast was up 7.9 percent and North and Latin American sales rose by 3.9 percent and 10.9 percent respectively.


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Paducah dinner features Kentucky Proud and benefits local interfaith ministry
For Immediate Release
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
For more information contact:
PADUCAH, Ky. — Kentucky Proud was on the menu at the Farm to Table Dinner on July 30 at Cynthia’s California Tuscan Ristorante in Paducah. A sellout crowd of 55 people enjoyed a bounty of foods grown, raised or processed in Kentucky by Kentuckians and prepared by one of Paducah’s leading chefs.
“The Farm to Table Dinner was a great opportunity to show off our outstanding Kentucky Proud foods,” Agriculture Commissioner James Comer said. “It was a joy to experience the delicious dishes from Bill and Cynthia Gardner and their staff. And the dinner helped a very deserving cause.”
Proceeds from the Farm to Table Dinner benefited Paducah Cooperative Ministry, which provides emergency food aid, emergency assistance for rent and utilities, a homeless shelter, support for women transitioning from incarceration, and other services to the less fortunate in the Paducah community. PCM anticipates spending more than $650,000 on its services in 2013. The interfaith organization is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year.
The dinner spotlighted a cross-section of Kentucky Proud producers, including:
Bourbon Barrel Foods, Louisville
Colonel Bill Newsom’s Aged Kentucky Country Ham, Princeton
JD Country Milk, Russellville
Kenny’s Farmhouse Cheese, Austin
Kentucky Hydro Farm, Benton
Kights Pecans, Kevil
Marksbury Farm Market, Lancaster
Paducah Farmers’ Market
Purple Toad Winery, Paducah
Townsend Sorghum Mill, Jeffersonville
Twin Willow Farm, Bardwell
Angel’s Envy Bourbon of Louisville offered a bourbon tasting during the event.
Commissioner Comer said the greater Paducah area is one of the fastest-growing markets for Kentucky Proud products in the state. He said he and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s marketing staff will work with local officials, business leaders, and producers to expand the program in the area.
“More and more restaurants are serving Kentucky Proud foods because of their quality and freshness,” Commissioner Comer said. “But families also can enjoy Kentucky Proud foods at home. I hope this event will raise awareness about the wonderful Kentucky Proud foods that are available in this area and all over the commonwealth.”
Kentucky Proud is the official state farm marketing program. Thousands of producers, processors, retailers, restaurants, farmers’ markets, school districts, Kentucky state parks, and Kentucky Farm Bureau roadside markets are members of Kentucky Proud. The program is supported through grants from the Kentucky Agricultural Development Fund and administered by the Kentucky Department of Agriculture.
For more information about Kentucky Proud, including a directory of members, go to www.kyproud.com. For information about Kentucky’s more than 65 wineries, go to www.kentuckywine.com or download the free Kentucky Wine Trails app for iOS or Android.
Agriculture Commissioner James Comer presents Cynthia Gardner, co-owner of Cynthia's California Tuscan Ristorante in Paducah, with a Louisville Stoneware bowl for hosting the Kentucky Proud Farm to Table Dinner July 30 in Paducah. (Kentucky Department of Agriculture photo)


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The Swift programming language is becoming more popular and, in time, may find a home on corporate servers. The Swift Playgrounds iPad app will play a major role in that.
Thomas Claburn, Editor at Large, Enterprise Mobility
June 14, 2016
5 Min Read

(Image: Apple)

iOS 10, MacOS, WatchOS Updates: WWDC Up Close
iOS 10, MacOS, WatchOS Updates: WWDC Up Close (Click image for larger view and slideshow.)
Apple's Swift programming language is becoming more popular, but its future outside of Apple's ecosystem isn't yet assured.
At Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference, CEO Tim Cook celebrated Swift's progress since Apple released it as an open source project last year. More than 100,000 apps have integrated Swift code, and Swift has become the number one language project on GitHub, Cook said.
To encourage more people to learn and use Swift, Apple announced an iPad app called Swift Playgrounds that the company plans to release this fall when iOS 10 debuts. Swift Playgrounds, written in Swift, takes the concept of Xcode Playgrounds -- a form of read-eval-print loop, or REPL -- and expands it by adding graphics and specific challenges designed by Apple to teach important language concepts.
"Because Swift is so easy to learn, it has the potential to bring many more people into coding," said Cook, who noted that over 100 WWDC attendees this year were under 18, with the youngest being age 9.
Apple made a preview release of Swift Playgrounds available to Apple Developer Program members through the iOS 10 developer preview. The app is expected to be available to Apple beta testers in conjunction with the iOS 10 public beta in July.
"We believe it's crucial that we provide the best tools, so you can create the best apps," said Cook. "That's why we created Swift. Swift is a powerful and intuitive programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS, and tvOS."
Forrester analyst Michael Facemire, in a phone interview with InformationWeek, said it was noteworthy that Cook mentioned Swift only in the context of Apple's platforms. Despite efforts by IBM and PerfectlySoft to promote Swift as a full-stack language, he said, Swift is still seen mainly as a front-end language for Apple platform apps.
Swift has been welcomed by Apple developers because "the bar was set so low with Objective-C in terms of usability and developer enjoyment," said Facemire.
The big question is whether Google will encourage Android developers to develop Android apps in Swift and provide the necessary support.
"IBM keeps telling us people will start developing Android apps using Swift between now and the end of the year," said Baker. "I'm a little skeptical until I see it."
John Ponzo, IBM Fellow and CTO for Mobile, in a phone interview with InformationWeek, said Swift has a variety of benefits like type safety, which makes code less prone to errors. "We think there are a lot of advantages to a language like Swift," he said, noting that developers have run code in IBM's Swift Sandbox more than 1.5 million times since last December.
There aren't a lot of companies using Swift for backend services outside of pilot tests. One, said Ponzo, was City Furniture in Florida. But as Apple continues to work with partners like IBM and SAP, experiments can be expected to turn into internal or customer-facing deployments before long.
Google did not immediately respond to a request to say whether it intends to support Swift as a first-class language for developing Android apps.
Asked whether he believes Google will adopt Swift, Ponzo said only that IBM is encouraging the open source community to make Swift more broadly useful.
Sean Stephens, CEO of PerfectlySoft, insisted in a phone interview, "Swift is inevitable. There's no stopping it. You can understand it easily. It writes almost like English. There are all sorts of natural benefits."
Swift can save enterprises money, Stephens said, because Swift apps are compiled code. With an app written in a language like PHP, the server has to compile the code on the fly, which requires computing resources every time.
"Swift takes that away because everything is done up front," said Stephens. "That means less hardware, less memory, more safety, more scalability." For a company that has a PHP backend, Swift can potentially save tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in hardware costs, he said.
While Stephens acknowledged that Google might push its open-source Go programming language for Android, he believes the company will eventually support a Swift compiler for Android.
"The key is going to be saving money," said Stephens. "There's a whole bunch of places where Swift will save enterprises a lot of cash."
There's also the issue of talent. Stephens said Apple's effort to encourage Swift education will pay dividends in the long run. Swift conferences, he said, are full of young, passionate developers, the sort of tech talent companies want. "I think that ultimately will drive enterprise usage more than anything."
[Editor's note: This article has been updated to remove a reference to an August 2015 GitHub post showing programming language popularity over time on the site. We noted the absence of Swift. In fact, Swift was not included because it was not made open source until four months later.]
About the Author(s)
Editor at Large, Enterprise Mobility
Thomas Claburn has been writing about business and technology since 1996, for publications such as New Architect, PC Computing, InformationWeek, Salon, Wired, and Ziff Davis Smart Business. Before that, he worked in film and television, having earned a not particularly useful master's degree in film production. He wrote the original treatment for 3DO's Killing Time, a short story that appeared in On Spec, and the screenplay for an independent film called The Hanged Man, which he would later direct. He's the author of a science fiction novel, Reflecting Fires, and a sadly neglected blog, Lot 49. His iPhone game, Blocfall, is available through the iTunes App Store. His wife is a talented jazz singer; he does not sing, which is for the best.
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India needs to triple exports to Argentina, eyeing an extra $1.5 billion price of shipments, and is finding market access for attire, textiles, folding bicycles and residential furnishing products in the South American country.
India is additionally keen to push ethnic products like as Alphonso mangoes and Fabric.
Argentine President Mauricio Macri’s possible visit to India this month.
Advanced high-end bicycles and bicycle components alone have the potential to supply a $1-billion export chance to Indian exporters with another $300-350 million coming from the attire and textiles business. There could be collaborations with firms from each countries.
India’s exports to Argentina were $708.7 million in 2017-18, consisting chiefly of organic chemicals, vehicles and automotive vehicle elements, lubricants, machinery, sound and image devices and garments.
Imports from Argentina were $2.2 billion, chiefly soybean oil, petroleum, copper, sunflower oil, leather, wool and ferroalloys.
Mohit Singla, chairman of the Trade Promotion Council of India, associate degree organisation underneath the Department of Commerce, said, “Our trade deficit with Argentina is because of import of agricultural products. We can export low worth supplemental product and construction material like PVC pipes and roof tiles. Our ceramic exports were doing well there, however Argentina has applied protective tariff on Indian ceramic and vitreous tiles.”
Singla aforesai, India can also invest in fixing hospitals and diagnostic labs in Argentina.


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It’s not a secret that Facebook is planning to move into the mobile payment business as soon as possible. Its mobile advertising has grown better than expected, but they are still eager for more. Facebook’s Messenger app may soon have a new payment feature.
Facebook’s eggs seem to be in one basket i.e. it makes 92% of its revenue from ads and a new mobile payment feature could help it diversify its income. Facebook’s move in the online payment business certainly doesn’t come as a surprise ever since they hired former PayPal CEO David Marcus to manage the messaging team.
The news comes from Andrew Aude, a student at Stanford who managed to take a snapshot of the new feature by using a hacking tool called Cycript. While testing, Aude was only able to use the system with debit cards, whereas bank accounts and credit cards didn’t work.
With its present abilities, the payment feature of Messenger only allows users to send payments to one another, which works much like sending pictures through Messenger. According to a 2012 survey by Cisco, 30% of people are willing to use Facebook as a banking service one day, but 55% said the opposite, because of the controversies surrounding Facebook user data.


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SYDNEY: Restrictions to prevent the latest panic buying spree sparked by the coronavirus pandemic have been slammed by one of the nation’s largest consumer groups.
The respected AAA [Tipple A] has come out strongly against new item limits that its members “will find it impossible to comply with”.
Australasian Alcoholics Association national secretary Jess Maxsip said he couldn’t think of one of his members who could restrain themselves to a new daily bottle-shop limit of three bottles of wine, a slab of beer, and one bottle of spirits.
“Many of our members go through a full bottle of Bundy rum and that’s just instead of milk on their morning cereal,” Mr Maxsip slurred.
“Most of our members enjoy at least a slab of the mean soup watching footie on the TV in the arvo so you can imagine how much they’ll drink being depressed because there’s nothing to watch.
“And three bottles of wine, for goodness sake. Surely anyone’s entitled to a reasonable pre-evening meal sip after a long day.”
MELBOURNE: The forced closure of gyms around the nation may not have the dramatic adverse effects as at first feared.
Industry sources say specifically designed algorithms have shown that while about 89 per cent of all gyms will probably never reopen, roughly that number would have gone bankrupt and permanently closed their doors over the next few months anyway even if the virus hadn’t eventuated.
CANBERRA: Education experts here have provided the answer as to why Prime Minister Scott Morrison has fought so hard to keep schools open as the coronvirus situation worsens.
The experts claim that if Australian kids lose most of this year’s schooling, by year’s end they’ll be roughly four years behind comparable students in Europe and lag a good six years behind similar aged pupils across Asian countries.


text: SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- Research In Motion Ltd. rimm ca:rim shares were down almost 3% in midday trade Monday, changing hands for $74.39. Earlier, Redwood Shores, Calif.-based mobile email technology company Visto Corp. said it has sued RIM for patent infringement. The suit seeks an injunction and monetary damages and comes two months after RIM settled a long-running patent lawsuit with NTP Inc. that had threatened to shut down its BlackBerry service in the U.S. Visto said its case against RIM is based on similar technology, law and patents at issue in the case it won Monday in federal court against Seven Networks. A jury found Seven's mobile email service infringes on the system that Visto created over the past decade. NTP holds a minority stake in Visto.


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The Los Angeles and New York-based venture firm M13 has managed to nab former Techstars LA managing director, Anna Barber, as its newest partner and the head of its internal venture studio, Launchpad.
Designed to be a collaborative startup company incubator alongside corporate partners, Launchpad focuses on developing new consumer tech businesses focused on M13’s main investment areas: health, food, transportation and housing.
For Barber, the new position is the latest step in a professional career spent working both inside and outside the tech industry.
Barber got her first taste of the startup world when she was poached from McKinsey to join one of the several online pet supply stores that cropped up in 1999. From her position as the vice president of product at Petstore.com, Barber got her taste of the startup world… and left it to become a talent manager and the co-founder of the National Air Guitar Championships (no word if she managed air guitar talent).
Prior to launching the Techstars LA incubator program, Barber founded ScribblePress, a retail and digital publishing app, which was sold to Fingerprint Digital.
At M13, Barber will be working to recruit entrepreneurs to work collaboratively on developing startup consumer businesses that align with the strategic interests of M13’s corporate partners, like Procter & Gamble.
“We will be bringing in founders in residence who will come in without an idea,” Barber said of the program. “We’re starting with a blank sheet of paper and building teams in partnership with entrepreneurs and in partnership with corporate partners who will bring their perspective and their IP. “
The EIRs will receive a small stipend and equity in the business, Barber said.
The starting gun for M13’s Launchpad program was in 2019 and the program currently has managed to spin up three startups. There’s Rae, a developer of affordable women’s wellness products; the beauty tech company OPTE; Kindra menopause products; and Bodewell for sensitive skin care, which were all developed alongside Procter & Gamble Ventures.
M13, for its part, is developing a strong team of women partners who are investing at the firm. Barber will join Lizzie Francis and Christine Choi on the investment team, something that Barber said was especially exciting.
“There is no better place for M13’s Launchpad than Los Angeles and no better person to lead it than Anna. M13 is home to a creative, diverse community of entrepreneurs and operators who want to make the world better by applying innovation in everything from media to biotech, prop tech to food,” said M13 co-founder Carter Reum. “We are excited for Anna to continue to lead LA’s center of entrepreneurs, mentors and investors with a rigorous Launchpad program and more exceptional partners and cohorts.”


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Hatchbacks are king in Europe where compact saloons have struggled, particularly in the more prosperous northern and western markets, but Volkswagen group premium brand Audi believes there is a niche to be opened up, and it now has the ammunition to do so.
Said ammunition is the new A3 saloon which goes into UK showrooms at the end of this week.
Product manager Rob Morris said: "This is a car which we already sell in big numbers in the US and China so we already have the volumes. The market in Europe is not big but one which we think will open up, particularly in the premium compact segment."
Audi claimed the A3 sedan is the first car of its type and size in the UK and hopes demand will grow quickly.
Along with the launch of the S3 Sportback [five-door hatch], the A3 range now extends to four models including the three-door hatchback and cabriolet/convertible. Morris noted the sedan has a full set of unique body panels.
"This is not a case of a boot [trunk] just being added on, this has been specifically designed as a compact saloon with which we will challenge the traditional barriers in this segment."
The car is 11mm wider, 146mm longer and 9mm lower.
The range is priced from GBP24,275 and kicks off with a choice of two petrol engines - 1.4- and 1.8-litre - and a twp-litre diesel. A 1.6 diesel, which emits just 99g/km of CO2, will follow towards the end of the year with quattro 4WD versions arriving from the first quarter of 2014.


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Google has announced its acquisition of the French company FlexyCore, best known for its performance enhancing software, DroidBooster.
Droidbooster was an app (it’s already been removed from Google Play) that gave slower and older smart phones more power and much-needed acceleration. The company said that it could enhance the performance of “any Android embedded code” and make it “ten times faster,” a claim which many felt to be a bit of an exaggeration. Apparently not Google, though, which paid $23.1 million for the company.
Online demos of a very slow phone running the DroidBooster software do indeed seem to show a significant performance enhancement, particularly when interacting with animated menus and other dynamic content. In this demo, you can see the value of DroidBooster to the consumer right away.
The value of the software to Google should be obvious: With FlexyCore under its belt, it may need to devote considerably fewer resources to optimizing the Android code base. While the general consensus is that the acquisition means we’ll see better and better performance as FlexyCore’s code is folded into the core of Android, at least one observer has hopes that this will also mean decreased fragmentation among Android devices down the line.
Fragmentation is the phenomenon of multiple versions of an operating system existing side by side in the marketplace. As time goes on and more and more versions of an OS are released, fragmentation tends to get worse and worse. This has been especially problematic with Android, which undergoes very regular updates, but which are rarely rolled out to older hardware in a timely fashion. In fact, even when older devices are updated, they often aren’t updated to the latest version of Android, but merely to a “less old” version. It’s a reflection of the emphasis many manufacturers put on caring for their most recent – and upcoming – hardware releases.
Why don’t older phones get upgraded to the latest version of Android? Compatibility can be an issue, but it’s less of a big deal than you might think. Performance is likely the bigger culprit, as more recent versions of Android are designed to take advantage of the latest hardware, particularly the latest capabilities of advanced processors like the Qualcomm Snapdragon. If the FlexyCore acquisition and inclusion of its code into Android improves performance on older handsets, the road is cleared for more phones to get on the same page and all run the latest version of the OS.
This story, "Google acquires Android optimization firm FlexyCore" was originally published by BrandPost.


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"BBG&G has been working hard to develop cohesive marketing material and an integrated campaign that ensures consistent branding. It is great to work with a team that is so focused on our success."
CAMPBELL HALL, NY, June 23, 2014 /24-7PressRelease/ -- BBG&G Advertising, Inc. has been awarded two Gold and one Bronze award at the 11th Annual Service Industry Advertising Awards (SIA Awards), recognizing advertising excellence for the work they produced with clients Dutchess County Tourism and Orange County Trust Company.
More than 500 advertising agencies and 1,000 institutions participated in the SIA Awards, recognizing advertising excellence for the service industry. A national panel of judges reviewed 1,700 entries for execution, creativity, quality, consumer appeal, and overall breakthrough advertising content, and presented 152 Gold Awards, 111 Silver Awards, and 82 Bronze Awards.
BBG&G was honored with Gold Awards for the Dutchess County Tourism Television Series and their Integrated Campaign. Dutchess County Executive, Marcus J. Molinaro, stated, "The tourism industry continues to thrive in Dutchess County, generating important revenue for our local economy. The Service Industry Advertising GOLD awards are a testament to the hard work and dedication of the talented Dutchess County Tourism team. We are grateful for all they do to showcase all Dutchess County has to offer, bringing more visitors each and every year."
"We spent almost a year shooting various tourist hotspots in Dutchess County for an integrated TV, digital, and print marketing campaign. We had a blast visiting all the sites, and capturing so much culture, great food, and pure fun! We're very proud and grateful for these awards, of course, and believe it really reflects the success of our strategic approach to tourism marketing and the excellent team dynamic between BBG&G and Dutchess County Tourism," observed Deborah Garry, a principal in BBG&G Advertising.
BBG&G was also honored with the Bronze Award for their work on their Integrated Marketing Campaign with Orange County Trust. The campaign consisted of print advertising, direct mail, and two television spots, one of which already won a 2013 Telly Award.
"BBG&G has been working hard to develop cohesive marketing material and an integrated campaign that ensures consistent branding. It is great to work with a team that is both focused on our success and talented," states Tim McCausland, SVP Chief Strategy Officer at Orange County Trust.
"We partnered with this client just two years ago and have been working tirelessly together towards achieving their strategic goals. We are so grateful to be acknowledged for the work we have done, but realize that the success and outcomes of these campaigns are what is most important. We are excited to be working with Orange County Trust's new President and CEO, Michael Gilfeather, and to further developing the brand of this prospering community bank, " said June Musollino, principal at BBG&G Advertising.
In addition to these recent awards, BBG&G also has recently signed on with three new clients, including McGrath Realty; the Law Firm of Catania, Mahon, Milligram & Rider; and Kinetics Cosmetics.
BBG&G is a full service advertising, marketing, and public relations agency serving a wide range of local and regional clients within a broad range of industries. They are known for their successful integrated marketing strategies that leverage both traditional and new media to reach consumers at varying phases of the buying process. For more information, visit bbggadv.com or call 845-615- 9084.
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