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Zillow data suggests more people are considering new construction homes now, compared to before the pandemic hit. Page views for paid new construction listings on Zillow increased dramatically during the spring and summer, with greater than 34% year-over-year growth over the last for 4 months, and were up 81% in July as shoppers continue to show an interest in designing a new home.
But buying a home in a new subdivision or hiring someone to build custom involves a lot of trust, because much of the time, the house is just a concrete slab and a floorplan. That’s one reason why 76% of new construction buyers say a builder’s reputation plays a very or extremely important role in their selection. Zillow’s new Builder Ratings and Reviews feature gives potential buyers the insights they need to select a builder that’s a good fit for their needs.
“Zillow was founded on the core value of ‘turning on the lights,’ arming consumers with the information they need to make what will likely be the biggest purchase decision of their life” says Lucy Wohltman, Vice President of Zillow New Construction. “Builder Ratings and Reviews provides our customers with the confidence to pursue the home of their dreams, and gives our partners the tools they need to manage their reputation.”
Home shoppers can find Builder Ratings and Reviews on all participating builders’ paid new construction listings on Zillow. The information comes from home buyers who are surveyed by Avid Ratings after they move into the home they purchased from the builder. The buyers are asked, among other things, to rate the home’s quality, the confidence they have in the builder and the builder’s responsiveness. Avid Ratings already works with more than 25% of the top home builders in the U.S. and Canada
The buyer feedback cannot be edited or deleted. Builders are encouraged to respond publicly to any reviews directly in the listing. Stanley Martin Homes, which builds communities in six South Atlantic states has collected buyer feedback through the new tool. Ashely Hoyt, Director of Market and Consumer Research at Stanley Martin Homes, says it’s been valuable information. “The surveys provide us with insightful data, helping us work toward delivering the best possible home buyer experience.”


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UPS announced this week it will add 1,000 propane-powered trucks to its delivery fleet within a year. The parcel delivery service has been steadily working to adopt clean transportation technology and this new fleet of trucks will join the 900 or so propane-powered vehicles already in use.
The trucks will be used largely in rural areas, with locations in Oklahoma and Louisiana being the first to receive vehicles. UPS’ director of fleet procurement, Mike Casteel, says the company chose those locations because of incentive programs for alternative fuel fleet vehicles and the above-average mileage delivering along rural routes.
State incentives, fleet composition, and route characteristics will largely determine where the remaining trucks will be placed, aiming for 20-25 vehicles per site. The first trucks should be in use by mid-year with full deployment anticipated by mid-2015.

domain: news


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Posted by Dale Buss on November 4, 2013 09:02 AM
BlackBerry sale to Fairfax falls apart as $1 billion in funding is secured, CEO Thorsten Heins steps down and shares plunge.
Kellogg plans to trim 7% of workforce by 2017 as part of global restructuring.
American Airlines and US Airways merger cleared in US, but only with broad divestitures.
AB InBev sees strong growth for Budweiser in Russia.
Alcatel-Lucent seeks to raise $2 billion for turnaround plan.
Apple's gold iPhone 5s continues flying off shelves, while Apple CEO Tim Cook backs LGBT anti-discrimination bill.
Billabong sells Canadian retail chain West 49.
Chevron pumps up spending to boost production.
Dr Pepper finds formula to Facebook success.Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on October 22, 2013 04:11 PM
Confirming rumors, Apple today unveiled an updated line of iPad tablets and Mac computers and laptops, capitalizing on the market's renewed interest since its record-breaking iPhone launch last month.
But the tablet market is becoming nearly as saturated as the smartphone market, with new entries from Amazon's Kindle line, Nokia, Microsoft, Samsung and more, so Apple is hoping improved displays and more agile devices are enough to lock-in its market share.
Apple, which counts iPad sales as its second-greatest source of revenue behind its iPhone line, unveiled a slimmer, faster tablet, the iPad Air, which features the same 7.9-inch form as its predecessor but sports an improved processor, lighter (1lb!) design and Retina display. The $499 device, which is pricey compared to Amazon's line of Kindles, including its new HDX, will also come with Mac's operating and work software free of charge.
Apple also unveiled a faster, lighter MacBook Pro with new desktop operating system Mavericks (which upgrades Mac OS X), as well as as the new cylindrical Mac Pro, whose futuristic look promises "screaming speed" and functionality.
In a major shift in strategy, by giving away Mavericks for free, along with free downloads of iWork and iLife, it's a tacit acknowledgment by Apple that software is a means to sell hardware—and that it's now in the shareware business.Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on October 22, 2013 11:15 AM
Apple will soon begin building Steve Job’s visionary "spaceship" campus as the Cupertino, Calif. City Council unanimously approved building plans last week.
"Steve transformed Apple into one of the most innovative companies in the world and we understand the responsibilities that come from carrying his legacy forward with this project," Dan Whisenhunt, Apple's head of real estate and facilities told the Council. "We've designed it with the same care and attention to detail as we do with all Apple products."
The 2.8 million-square-foot circular headquarters, due to be completed by 2016, will have four floors, an exterior made almost entirely of curved glass, and enough space for 14,200 employees, close to three times the number previously working on the site.Continue reading...
Posted by Barry Silverstein on October 18, 2013 02:58 PM
Maybe Steve Jobs was even more of a seer than people think. It was Jobs who had the vision to shape Apple into an upscale consumer brand that, in many ways, set the standard for both technology and design. In fact, Apple has become truly fashionable and a luxury/premium brand in its own right. Witness the apparent rejection of Apple's lower-end iPhone 5c by consumers.
The just-announced addition of Angela Ahrendts, the American CEO of British luxury brand Burberry, to Apple's senior management team in a move that will occur next year, may well be the exclamation point on Apple's evolution. Ahrendts will bring a deep understanding of the marriage between fashion and technology to her role. She also will bring the shine of a luxury brand that has been a fashion and digital innovator under her guidance, and another invaluable asset: her ability to turn around Burberry's business in Asia and particularly China, a market Apple craves.
For Ahrendts, who as the new SVP of retail and online stores becomes the first woman in Apple's upper echelon, it's an intriguing career move. Could it be that she stepped down to eventually step up? Business Insider speculates that "if Ahrendts fits into Apple's culture and does an excellent job running its retail business, she probably has a good chance to become the company's next CEO."
From Apple's perspective, says Gartner Research analyst Carolina Milanesi in a Computerworld interview, it's all about the brand: "I think Apple looked at Burberry and the challenges they had in the market, and saw her as the one that brought back that aspirational brand, and then grew it in places like China, Korea, and elsewhere. Those speak to the challenges Apple is having. Like Burberry, Apple has to deal with the fact that its brand is everywhere because of the iPhone, but they cannot run the risk that the brand is seen as cheap."Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on August 27, 2013 05:12 PM
The near-saturation of the handheld smartphone market is ushering in a new era of wearable devices, with top tech companies neck-and-neck in the race to debut the latest and greatest personal mobile product. Doing so could potentially lock-in customers to the brands' range of smartphones, tablets and TV platforms. Unfortunately for struggling Apple, it looks like Samsung is going to beat it to the finish line.
Samsung's executive vice president of mobile, Younghee Lee, confirmed that the company would be "introducing a new wearable device concept called Galaxy Gear" at the IFA Consumer Electronics Fair in Berlin on Sept. 4.
The "Gear," arguably a smartwatch powered by Android, has a 2.5-inch non-flexible display, 320x320 resolution, a dual core processor and is designed to complement the mobile experience.Continue reading...
Posted by Ben Berkon on July 24, 2013 12:43 PM
Apple’s comparatively diminutive third quarter earnings might have exceeded market expectations, but the announcement also solidified Samsung’s place as the worldwide smartphone king. Apple reported sales of $35.3 billion and a profit of $6.9 billion, down 35 percent and 46 percent, respectively, since the first quarter. In fact, Samsung earned $1.43 billion more in profit last quarter than Apple.
The mounting issue in Apple-land is that the company has failed to truly release a new, innovative product since the iPad. While iPhone sales jumped 20 percent to 31.2 million, the company's most popular product continues to be one of the most expensive smartphones on the market—posing a great opportunity for competitors like Samsung, BlackBerry and Nokia to tout their similar products and more cost-efficient models.
To Apple’s credit, the company has attempted to expand its brand into new realms. The debut of iTunes Radio, for instance, could give cornerstones Spotify and Pandora a run for their money. But perhaps the most interesting addition was hiring fashion guru Paul Deneve as a chief-level “special projects” officer. The assumption is that Deneve will lead Apple’s charge into wearable technology, most notably with the rumored iWatch
But radio and a watch might not be enough to save the once indestructible brand.Continue reading...
Posted by Barry Silverstein on July 3, 2013 12:56 PM
The next step in the remarkable evolution of the Apple brand may be just around the corner. In a move that "caught the fashion industry by surprise," Apple has announced it is adding Paul Deneve, CEO of fashion giant Yves St Laurent (YSL), as a vice president of "special projects," reporting to Apple CEO Tim Cook.
While heads are still spinning in the fashion sector, it isn't as strange as it sounds. Deneve, after all, was with Apple's European operation on the marketing side from 1990 to 1997, so he is hardly an unknown. Not to mention that YSL's revenues just about doubled under his leadership.
While some see this move as directly related to Apple's anticipated launch of an iWatch, others believe it has broader implications. "More likely it is to explore the extension of the Apple brand, or its platform technology into clothing and fashion," notes Forbes. "Digital technology is in fact extending its reach to every aspect of life, including clothing and other wearables like glasses." After all, the computer wearables market "is perfect for Apple to mainstream. It advances contextual computing. And it has the added virtue of being a bigger potential market than smartphones..."Continue reading...
Posted by Dale Buss on May 29, 2013 09:12 AM
Nike drops Livestrong lines after 2013 holidays.
Netflix sees stock tank as poor reviews of new Arrested Development come in.
Walmart pleads guilty to illegal dumping.
Airbus tackles flaws in superjumbo jet.
Amazon launches men's grooming platform.
Apple hints at producing wearable devices as CEO Tim Cook insists company's innovation streak hasn't run out.
Chevrolet unveils social media effort for L.A. Galaxy sponsorship and says its new Corvette is the most powerful ever.
Comedy Central gets temporary lifting of ban in India.
Coty files for IPO of up to $1 billion.
Dell approaches heated phase of buyout battle.
GoDaddy gets ready for new domains.Continue reading...


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Go to Reviews.org US Edition
Exclusive to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the new silicon chipset boasts all the usual performance upgrades you would expect: its CPU is 10% faster, the Neural Engine doubles in speed and the GPU is 20% faster. You know the drill.
However, unlike most years, Apple dropped a bombshell announcement about four major AAA games that are coming to the iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max: Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Village, Death Stranding and even the yet-to-be-released Assassin’s Creed Mirage.
- How to pre-order the iPhone 15 in Australia: Does it pay to be patient?
- How much will the iPhone 15 cost in Australia? Spoiler alert: It's a lot.
- iPhone 15 vs iPhone 12:Should you trade up?
- iPhone 15 vs iPhone 13: Should you upgrade yet?
- iPhone 15 vs iPhone 11: Time to upgrade?
- iPhone 15 vs iPhone 15 Pro: vs iPhone 15 Plus vs iPhone 15 Pro
Ubisoft also demoed The Division: Resurgence during the keynote, and while it appeared to run like a dream on iPhone 15 Pro, it was already scheduled to be released as a mobile game.
The other four games listed have only ever been released on PC and video game consoles, like the Sony PlayStation and Xbox. Never on handheld, and certainly never on mobile devices.
Of course, we won’t know just how well these games perform on iPhone 15 Pro until we get the chance to review both the handsets themself and the games as they are released. But Apple used the games to demonstrate the A17 Pro’s “hardware-accelerated ray tracing,” a technology used in modern video games to render more realistic lighting and shadows.
Different games use ray tracing in different ways. Some games use the technology to highlight subtle improvements to shadows in-game, while others like Spider-Man on PlayStation 5 use ray tracing to create incredibly realistic reflections on water and reflective surfaces. Ray tracing is best demonstrated with a side-by-side video comparison. Check out the video below for an example of how the game Cyberpunk 2077 uses ray tracing to create more realistic lighting:
Resident Evil 4, Resident Evil Village and Death Stranding will be released on iPhone 15 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro Max later this year, while Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be released on iPhone 15 Pro and 15 Pro Max in 2024.
Ubisoft is currently taking sign-ups for the closed beta of The Division Resurgence with the game officially releasing later this year.


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Black Friday 2020 is getting closer and closer, with just days to go until the main event.
It falls on 27 November and as England is still in its second national lockdown, the sales will all be online this year.
Retailers have responded to this online transition by starting their sales earlier than ever before.
Amazon kicked off its early bird Black Friday deals a whole month ahead of the event, while others including John Lewis & Partners, Debenhams, Virgin Media and Very have all started too.
Although Amazon’s sale has been running since the end of October (crazy, we know) it’s definitely still got some great deals left up its sleeve, as it has finally launched discounts on the hugely popular Echo smart speakers.
The Echo Dot is always a huge hit on Black Friday, as the online giant slashes prices for the sale. Today it has revealed a huge saving on the third generation device, and given it’s a best-seller, we’d suggest adding it to your basket quickly.
Read on for everything you need to know about this huge deal with an expert review of the device itself.
Our IndyBest team hand-picks every deal we feature. We may earn some commission from the links in this article, but our selections have been made independently and without bias. This revenue helps to fund journalism across The Independent.
Amazon Echo Dot Third Generation: Was £39.99, now £18.99 – Buy now
Amazon has slashed the price of its popular Echo Dot by 53 per cent, and at just under £20, it’s now a total steal.
The Independent’s technology critic, David Phelan, awarded this particular model a spot in our review of the best smart speakers, praising its impressive performance at such a reasonable price.
He said: “It can do all the Alexa-related tasks that the most advanced speakers do, such as answering questions, turning smart home gadgets on or off, and so on.”
While the sound quality is more basic than other Echo speakers, Phelan was still impressed: “Radio, podcasts and audio books all sound good, with clear vocals. Echo devices can make audio calls to one another and these work well, too. However, if you want to make music sound good, you’ll need to connect it to regular speakers.”
Amazon Echo Dot Fourth Generation: Was £49.99, now £28.99 – Buy now
If you’re looking for the latest model of the Echo Dot, the new fourth generation model is also on sale, reduced from £49.99 to £28.99. It has a sleek, rounder design and promises improved sound quality and multiple layers of privacy protection built in.
For more deals, visit our round-up of the best Black Friday Amazon offers available now
Best early Amazon Black Friday 2020 deals available now
The best deals in the Currys early Black Friday sale
Best Black Friday UK early deals from Debenhams, Virgin Media and Very
Best Argos Black Friday deals: Early offers live now


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CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Wendy's International Inc. turned in weak December sales results Friday, but unveiled more plans to drive sales and shareholder value, as investor groups pressured the restaurant operator.
Plans include a test to serve breakfast items at Wendy's fast-food restaurants - a first for the nation's third-largest hamburger chain in two decades - as well as the return of the super-value menu.
In addition, Chief Executive Jack Schuessler said he would spin off the entire Tim Hortons chain no later than the end of 2007. Wendy's International is selling 15% to 18% of the doughnut and coffee chain in an initial public offering that is slated to price in March.
Investors, led by Nelson Peltz' Trian fund and Pershing Capital's William Ackman, have been pressing for a total spinoff quickly that would separate the successful fast-dining chain from the struggling Wendy's hamburger stores and the Baja Fresh Mexican restaurants. That would force management to focus on improving the Wendy's chain.
"We are committed to a seamless transition for Tim's to become a stand-alone company while preserving a tax-efficient transaction, which is in the best interest of Wendy's shareholders," he said on a conference call. The call was short and questions were not allowed.
"Assuming the spinoff occurs, we all recognize that Wendy's will be a far different company that will be smaller (and) will be more focused," Schuessler said.
Schuessler said that Wendy's will begin market-testing breakfast items in the spring, but didn't offer any details. Wendy's also will introduce new salads, such as spinach-chicken and chicken-Caesar salads, this spring.
This month, Wendy's put a 10-piece chicken nugget combination meal on the menu and in February will add a jalapeno double-melt hamburger to the bill. This spring, the restaurant chain will roll out the Frescata cold, deli-meat sandwiches nationwide.
As for the super-value menu, a lineup of popular items sold for 99 cents, Schuessler said a national ad campaign began late last year to reintroduce it.
"As you remember earlier last year, we moved off the super value menu with our value choice program and we saw traffic declining that we were not happy with," he said. "Research showed consumers really believe 99 cents is a magical price point."
The super-value menu includes a junior bacon-cheeseburger and a junior barbeque-bacon chicken burger as well as chili, fries, side salads and the Frosty milkshake drink.
Earlier Wendy's said sales at stores open longer than a year in the U.S. fell by 2.9% at company-owned Wendy's and were off 1.9% at the franchised sites - the fifth straight quarter of declining sales. At the Tim Hortons, same-store sales rose 5.8% in Canada and 6.7% in the U.S. The Baja Fresh same-store sales declined 2.9%.
Schuessler also said that though he expects to franchise 250 to 400 company-owned restaurants by 2009, he won't do it anytime soon because they're not successful enough.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization "for most stores does not reflect their true potential and wound not merit a sale today," Schuessler said.
In the quarter, the company shuttered 40 underperforming Wendy's restaurants that were "negatively impacting profits and returns," he said. Four Baja Fresh stores were also closed.
Wendy's sold 175 real estate properties to franchisees and third parties during the quarter, resulting in a pre-tax gain of about $64 million and about $169 million in cash proceeds. There are another 25 left to be sold, but Schuessler isn't looking for "significant gains" from those, he said.
Analysts were mixed about the results and the news. "Management offered a strategic update with no real surprises," Prudential Securities analyst Lawrence Miller said in a note.
Miller has a $50 target price on the shares with an underweight rating.
"Upside in the shares depends upon improvement in the Wendy's business," he said. "Tim's valuation is already baked into Wendy's stock price and sales at the core Wendy's business may continue to struggle as it lacks sufficient differentiation in our view."
Piper Jaffray's Peter Oakes said the disappointing sales results at Wendy's left it in a vulnerable position. The drop, he said, makes "2005 effectively a throwaway year for the brand."


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With more than 56 million subscribers, Cingular has a popular thing going, but not everyone likes the service they get from the company. A group of disgruntled customers has now slapped the mobile phone giant with a class action lawsuit over claims that they’ve been ripped off.
The story goes like this: back when AT&T Wireless was still a going concern and its customers were still gruntled, everything was great. Then Cingular came along and bought out AT&T Wireless. AT&T customers thought that they would simply keep their current plans, phones, and quality of service, and everything would be hunky-dory. And then the disgruntlefication set in.
AT&T Wireless customers allege that after the acquisition, Cingular began to make their lives difficult. According to the lawsuit (PDF), Cingular pressed them to move to more expensive plans, began degrading their service, and often charged them an US$18 “transfer fee” to become Cingular customers. Those who were upset at the new arrangement found that quitting their contract early came with a hefty termination fee. The Foundation for Taxpayer & Consumer Rights (FTCR) heard the cries of the suffering masses and got involved in the issue.
“Cingular promised AT&T customers it would ‘raise the bar’; instead, it lowered service quality, forced AT&T customers to move to Cingular, and then raised prices,” said Harvey Rosenfield, a lawyer for FTCR. Pam Pressley, FTCR’s Director of Litigation, said, “AT&T customers all over the country have complained about Cingular’s conduct. But Cingular gave people no choice: put up with the problems, pay to transfer to Cingular, or pay $175 to get out. Too bad it takes a lawsuit to protect people. Hey, Cingular: ‘can you hear us now?'”
Cingular recently lost another high-profile case against it, this one involving the claim that it intentionally signed up more customers than it could handle. The company is on the hook for millions in fines and refunds in that case, an example sure to comfort the newest round of litigants.


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If you’ve been following tech news over the last few years, odds are you’ve encountered some news that came from Evan Blass… also known by his Twitter handle @evleaks. Blass used to blog for Engadget and PocketNow, but for the past two years he’s been best known for breaking news by reporting on leaks about upcoming phones and tablets… and I can’t think of any single person who’s got a better track record of leaking news days, weeks, or even months ahead of official product announcements.
Now Evan’s retiring from the leaking business. He says it’s been tough to make a living from from Twitter or his recently-launched website and he’s looking for something more stable to help pay his expenses… which include medical bills due to his ongoing battle with multiple sclerosis.
He’s had a big impact on the tech news world in the past few years, and things won’t be quite the same without him.
Here are some of the latest tech news stories from around the web. You can keep up on the latest headlines by following Liliputing on Twitter, Google+ and Facebook.
- Why @Evleaks is giving up reporting phone scoops
Evan announced his retirement from the phone leaking business on Sunday morning, and explained the move in an interview with [TNW]
- Crowdfunding campaign to help Evan Blass pay his medical bills
Want to say thank you to Evan for all the news he’s brought you over the past few years? Here’s a crowdfunding campaign to raise money to help him out. [Indiegogo] Update: Well this is all turning unpleasant.
- Amazon Fire TV now supports https://MLB.TV , A&E, Watch Disney, and more
There’s probably no perfect set-top-box for folks who want to watch content from *every* online video service (except maybe for a home-made home theater PC), but the Amazon Fire TV is playing catch-up with Roku and other leaders in the space. [Amazon]
- CyanogenMod 11.0 M9 release fixes bugs, adds features, now supports more devices
New devices include the Sony Xperia Z2 and HTC One M8, while a number of features have been tweaked and improved for all devices. [CyanogenMod]
- Help the Kodi (formerly XBMC) team come up with a new logo
XBMC media center is changing its name. As part of the new brand, the team wants to come up with a new logo. [XBMC]
- Ugoos S85 TV stick with Amlogic S805 CPU, Android 4.4 on the way
The stick has a quad-core ARM Cortex-A5 processor, support for H.265 video, 1GB of RAM, and 8GB of storage. [CNX Software]
- Android apps bought at the Google Play Store can officially be refunded within 15 minutes. Unoffocially… 2 hours
For the past few years Google has imposed a 15 minute refund window on app purchases. Don’t like an app you paid for? Just return it… quickly. But it’s hard to really test some apps that quickly. While the official refund policy is still stuck at 15 minutes, it looks like many apps can be “returned” up to 2 hours after you buy them… but that may change at any time and may not necessarily apply to *all* apps — so proceed with caution. [Android Police]


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Recently the news media recorded overdoses from sleep gummies, that’s why the warning: don’t buy gummies sold as sleep-aids. When a customer with sleep problems hears of a sleep-aid that is available over the counter, he or she may think that this sleep-aid likely is safe. However, this is not what a recent study discovered. The sleep gummies contained mostly a mixture of cannabidiol (CBD) and melatonin with wildly varied doses. The JAMA medical journal published the original study of gummies that contained CBD.
Unsafe doses of melatonin in children’s sleep gummies
Study coauthor Dr. Pieter Cohen is an associate professor from Cambridge Health Alliance in Somerville, Massachusetts. He said: “One product contained 347% more melatonin than what was actually listed on the label of the gummies.” In the study researchers sent 25 different brand names of sleep gummies to outside labs. They wanted to determine the content of melatonin and CBD. 88% of the gummies had inaccurate labels, and only three contained a quantity of melatonin within 10% of what was listed on the label.
High doses of melatonin in children can lead to drowsiness, headaches, agitation, and increased bed-wetting. The National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health, a department of the National Institutes of Health, describes safety concerns with high doses of melatonin in children. The accepted dose for children at bedtime is only 0.5 to 1 mg of melatonin.
Melatonin is a hormone
The pineal gland deep in the brain produces melatonin and the brain releases only small amounts before we fall asleep every night. Children develop side effects when parents administer higher melatonin doses. Melatonin can also interact with medications and cause allergic reactions to the melatonin as the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health points out. At the same time, the agency warns, melatonin supplement in children can affect hormonal development. This includes puberty, menstrual cycles, and the overproduction of the hormone prolactin. Prolactin causes breast and milk development in women.
Is CBD safe for children?
The FDA sent warning letters to 15 companies that were selling cannabidiol products including for use in children. There is currently no indication for the use of CBD in children. The only exception are intractable seizures in children over the age of 1. In this case the FDA allows the use of CBD. But the FDA prohibits all other applications of CBD including sleep gummies for children. Nevertheless, many companies advertised sleep gummies containing melatonin and CBD as “safe” for children, when they were not.
Many parents think that sleep gummies are safe for their children. But a study published in the JAMA journal examined 25 brands of sleep gummies. They found that the concentration of melatonin exceeded the limit in 88% of the sleep gummies. Also, the sleep gummies contained various amounts of CBD, although the FDA had previously stated that CBD use in children is prohibited. Parents who want to occasionally supplement their children with melatonin should do so with melatonin oral solution. This is easy to dosage and avoids CBD contamination. The labeling of sleep gummies is misleading and they have inconsistent concentration of melatonin between various manufacturers. Parents who are concerned about the well- being of their kids best avoid sleep gummies!


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RECALL: Over 21,000 Pounds Of Marketside Pizzas Pulled From Walmart Over Listeria Scare
Sad news for frozen pizza lovers!
More than 21,200 pounds of Marketside brand frozen pizza have been recalled due to possible listeria contamination, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service recently announced.
RBR Meat Company Inc. recalled its Marketside supreme pizza, which may have been “adulterated with Listeria monocytogenes,” per FSIS. The frozen goods (made Feb. 23, 2017 by the California-based meat company) were sold at select Walmart stores in a 50.6-oz. box containing single shrink-wrapped 16-inch pizzas labeled as “Marketside Extra Large Supreme Pizza,” with lot code 20547.
Multiple outlets report that the pizzas were distributed in select Walmart stores in California, Colorado, Nevada, Washington state, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Utah, Wyoming, Alaska and Hawaii.
This recall is a Class I recall, which means it is “a health hazard situation where there is a reasonable probability that the use of the product will cause serious, adverse health consequences or death,” the USDA reports.
No illnesses tied to the recall had been reported as of March 15, according to FSIS.


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The lockdown in Tamil Nadu has triggered a thriving illegal liquor trade. In the three days from June 2, the police have arrested six people in three cases for allegedly purchasing alcohol in Bengaluru with the intention of selling it at a huge profit in the neighbouring State.
The Electronics City police on Friday evening intercepted a goods vehicle heading to Tamil Nadu and seized 23 cartons of liquor concealed among fruit boxes. Around 198.8 litres of various brands of liquor worth ₹89,630 was seized.
The accused, Velu Goundar, 27, who was driving the vehicle, allegedly confessed to purchasing the liquor from a bar at Doddanekkundi. “He lives in Dharmapuri, Tamil Nadu, and was planning to sell the liquor in his home town for a profit,” said a police officer.
According to senior police officials, this is not an isolated case. “Since the lockdown was imposed not just in Bengaluru but in other States as well, people from neighbouring districts are driving to the city, buying liquor and taking it back to their home towns where they sell it for a higher price. For instance, the sale of liquor has been restricted in the Tamli Nadu during the lockdown,” the police officer added.
On June 3, the Begur police arrested three people for transporting liquor bottles worth ₹35,355 which they had concealed in their car. They came to Bengaluru from Tamil Nadu to buy alcohol. They hid the bottles in the boot space and also under the seats of the car. The previous day, the Begur police arrested three people for allegedly transporting 576 bottles of liquor in 12 boxes concealed in a goods van to Tamil Nadu. The total value of the seized liquor was worth ₹40,468, the police said.
Source: Read Full Article


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Gluten-Free Glutton: Students with allergies get campus options
As I've said before, being stuck on a gluten-free diet is bad enough for an adult, but at least I didn't have to go through this when I was a kid.
I imagine how awful it must be to see other children eating all kinds of tasty treats that you can't eat because you have celiac disease, which requires a gluten-free diet for life. I have great admiration for the youngsters I've met with celiac disease because they seem to be real troupers about it, sticking to their gluten-free diets without complaint.
I also sympathize with the parents who go to great pains to see that their kids stick to the gluten-free diet.
But what happens to young celiacs when they go off to college and have to find gluten-free meals outside the comforts of home?
I remember my own unhealthy eating habits from my college years and I can't imagine how I could have survived without gluten. Actually, the dorm food was unappetizing enough even when filled with gluten. I wouldn't have wanted them to attempt to cook up gluten-free meals for me.
But things are looking up for college students with celiac disease.
I decided to check out Northeast Florida's universities and I was pleased to find that both Jacksonville University and the University of North Florida have programs in place to accommodate students who must eat gluten-free or have other food allergies.
"It's a really hot topic with Chartwells. It's at the top of the list," said Dave Jordan, resident district manager for Chartwells, which provides food service at UNF.
UNF requires all incoming freshmen to live on campus and sign up for a meal plan. Jordan said students with food allergies have been allowed to opt out of the meal plan.
"In most cases - I think in every case - they're exempted from the meal plan," he said.
But for students who stick with a meal plan, UNF and JU have found ways to provide gluten-free options.
Ashley Curry, general manager of Sodexo, which provides food service at JU, said she first encountered a student with gluten-free needs four years ago.
"At the time, her parents just wanted to reduce the meal plan to a lesser plan," Curry said.
Instead, Curry got a grocery list of gluten-free products from the student and went off to buy them.
"We would do a weekly run to Publix," she said.
JU's gluten-free program has grown since then. Curry makes an effort to find out about students with food allergies when they enroll.
"We just make sure we have a conference with them and their parents before the semester begins," she said.
JU has four retail food locations on campus and one main dining hall, she said. In the main dining hall, students will find two gluten-free entrees on the menu that are identified with stickers, and there is also a salad bar option.
Sodexo also stocks gluten-free options at the other four locations if students find those spots more convenient.
"I try to identify where you're going to eat," Curry said.
Chartwells also encourages UNF students and their parents to discuss their allergy concerns.
"Our business is serving people," said Jordan. "We do our best to provide for and satisfy their needs."
Jordan said the student dining halls have icons on the menu to indicate gluten-free selections, and gluten-free bread is available for students. Chartwells also separates items with gluten from the gluten-free items at the salad bar, he said.
UNF also has several retail food stores on campus that have prepackaged gluten-free items available. Actually, I should say it has items without gluten.
"Our company won't say gluten-free. We say 'made without gluten,' " Jordan said.
Like a lot of restaurants, Chartwells can't guarantee that gluten-free food is free of contamination from gluten that might slip off other food prepared in the kitchen.
But it's good to know that UNF and JU are trying to take care of their students. That's not necessarily true elsewhere across the country.
In December, the U.S. Justice Department announced a settlement with Lesley University in Cambridge, Mass., that ensures students with celiac disease and other food allergies can eat safely in the university's facilities.
The government got involved after at least one Lesley student complained that the university would not exempt students from a mandatory meal plan, even if they could not eat the food.
Among other things, Lesley agreed not only to provide gluten-free meal options, but also have a dedicated space in the kitchen to prepare gluten-free meals away from other food.
Celiac advocates are touting the Lesley agreement as a precedent that will force colleges across the country to be more gluten-free friendly.
The settlement was reached under the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Justice Department said. I really wouldn't call celiac disease a disability, but I'm glad the law was used to help make college life easier for celiacs. As I said, I don't think I could have survived college on a gluten-free diet.
Of course, a lot has changed in the three decades since I went to college. So I decided to check with my alma mater, Northwestern University, to see what it has to offer to the gluten-free community.
Northwestern is located just outside Chicago, and I imagine students have no problem finding stores and restaurants with gluten-free items in a major city. But it sounds like the school is also doing a good job taking care of them.
The university has a dietitian on campus who will meet with students with food allergies if they are interested, said Chris Gargiulo, general manager of resident and retail operations.
Students can also meet with or email the chefs at the school's six dining halls to discuss a menu for the week, and the chefs will provide specially prepared meals for them, he said.
Northwestern also started a program in January to make sure gluten-free meals are not contaminated by other food in the dining halls.
"We're starting to introduce gluten-free zones," Cargiulo said. There will be a gluten-free food section separated from the other food service areas in the dining halls.
It has to be comforting for parents to know they can send their celiac children off to college confident that their dietary needs will be handled. With the programs in place these days, I think I may have been able to handle college myself.
Mark Basch's column appears the second Thursday of the month. He also writes a blog about gluten-free eating in Jacksonville at jaxglutenfreeglutton.blogspot.com/. You can reach him at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Keenan Harduth, CEO, Mirror Mirror Africa
In April 2015 Nike launched a social media campaign as a conduit to get its plan to reach $11 billion in revenue from its women’s division by 2020 underway. The company missed that ambitious target, but managed to grow the segment by 40 percent to become a regular $7 billion-per-year business since 2018 – even reaching that revenue mark during a Covid-affected 2020 that saw gyms closed and sporting events cancelled.
Like most businesses, Nike was not immune to a pandemic-related stall in activity caused by the global lockdown and that could make the 2019 $7.5 billion revenue seem like an outlier. If we pull social media data from that successful year, Nike was tagged over 1 292 times a month by influencers on Instagram.
Chief of the Portland brand’s reach building army is the darling of tennis, Naomi Osaka. Nike snatched 2019’s most marketable sports personality from Adidas when her contract was due for renewal at the close of a winning 2018 that brought the US and Australian Open trophies and the infamous showdown with longtime Nike athlete Serena Williams.
When she penned her 2019 deal, Osaka wrote that “Nike has a legendary track record of writing history, and I look forward to being a part of those moments for many years to come.”
One of her first historic moments came at her successful US Open title defence in a tumultuous 2020. Each match was preceded by an Osaka entrance wearing a mask bearing the name of a martyr of the Black Lives Matter movement. Then came the 2021 French Open and Osaka’s withdrawal from the competition after being issued a hefty fine for not participating in press conferences for mental health reasons. Nike stuck with her through it all because of the commitment to making women feel seen, heard and respected.
This case study is important given competitors challenging Nike’s dominance by building on strong influencer campaigns. Gymshark went straight to social media to build a billion-dollar brand and capture an impressive share of the hardcore female fitness market. Leggings alone are a billion-dollar business for premium tights players Nike and Lululemon, with the latter’s move into dominance in yoga and pilates apparel the biggest factor to Nike’s hard pivot to softening its brand.
A scroll through the @nike Instagram account shows the company embracing a wider variety of women body shapes and lending support to the social causes their athletes are getting behind. Reviewing the brand extension account, @nikerunning reveals a nano influencer campaign that represents an authentic female experience and spreads the reach of Nike’s running focus to niche interest groups.
South Africa’s Caster Semenya has benefitted from this approach with a global groundswell of support propelling her ongoing case against World Athletics. Highlighting the gender classification practices the Olympic champion is being subjected to further entrenches the idea that the brand is not scared of standing up against injustice.
If the challenges of 2020 taught brands and influencers one lesson, it’s that these platforms have the power to effect change and challenge stereotypes. The likes of Maps Maponyane and Siya Kolisi have also brought their star power and the mechanisms of their respective foundations to feed families in need, alongside the Nelson Mandela Foundation. The brands who associate with them also pulled together to help wherever they could.
The influencer marketing game has changed as the sector has matured and savvy consumers expect more creativity from the brands, both individual and professional, that they follow. Placing brands in the hands of individuals is a big risk, but the reward of welcoming new audiences outside of the assumed consumer profile is worth it.
How do brands play by the new rules?
- Let the storytellers tell your story. An influencer campaign is only as strong as the selection criteria. If you’ve gone through the effort of choosing the correct influencers, the content they create should speak for itself.
- Have a clear strategy. Nike’s story is a prime example of committing to a strategy and the journey it takes to reach the end goal. The company wanted to be an ally to women and stand by their ambassadors through their growth and the challenges that come with it.
- Your brand is a powerful tool. It can change lives when you empower people to use it. Solve a specific problem and use nano influencers to communicate those solutions, don’t simply sell a product to mass audiences.
What’s the deal with the influencer game?
- Be authentic. Your followers are interested in your unique perspective, it’s your super power and you should never betray it. Be real in everything.
- Keep the partnerships organic. Evaluate every deal and see the value you can add to the conversation. Does the product have a place in your life? Does the brand align with your values?
- Have a “why.” Your content should have a purpose and you should use your platform to get behind movements you believe in. [ends]
Keenan Harduth is the founding CEO of Mirror Mirror Africa, an insights agency seeking to empower clients to make data-driven decisions through its mastery of industry-leading digital tools. Get crisis reporting, daily updates, weekly competitor reviews, campaign comparisons and comprehensive, KPI driven monthly reports from seasoned professional data analysts who love to solve problems.
Book a session or find out more at mirrormirror.africa


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It’s time for your Daily Struck of cannabis economic information for February 9, 2021.
On the Website
Cover Development Company (NASDAQ: CGC) revealed its economic outcomes for the 3rd quarter monetary 2021 finishing December 31, 2020, with internet earnings of $153 million in Q3 2021, a boost of 23% versus Q3 2020. Cover Development claimed that $99 countless that earnings was driven by a boost in Canadian entertainment as well as Worldwide clinical cannabis earnings. Regardless of the rise in earnings, the business additionally taped an eye-popping bottom line of $829 million.
Cover claimed that this was a $720 million bigger loss than the previous quarter as well as criticized the loss on problems as well as restructuring costs as well as various other associated costs of $416 million. $382 countless those associated costs were as an outcome of the statement on December 9, 2020. Cover surprised capitalists at the time when it revealed it would certainly stop procedures at a number of websites, plus its exterior cannabis expand procedures in Saskatchewan. The business claimed those choices were the partial result of a recurring end-to-end testimonial developed to enhance its margins. At the time, Cover claimed it anticipated to tape approximated overall pre-tax costs of around $350 -400 million in the 3rd as well as 4th quarters of Financial 2021.
The Eco-friendly Organic Dutchman Holdings Ltd. ( TGOD) (OTC: TGODF) revealed initial unaudited earnings for the 4th quarter of 2020 as well as gave an upgrade to the formerly given twelve-month Canadian earnings projection through of November 1, 2020, to October 31, 2021.
TGOD claimed that the unaudited combined gross earnings for the 4th quarter of 2020 is anticipated to be around $10.9 million, showing development of 235% over the previous year, as well as a boost of 91% over the 3rd quarter of 2020. The business claimed it mirrored the substantial progression as well as development attained in Canadian procedures as well as sales, which made up $8.6 countless the 4th quarter 2020 gross earnings total amount.
In Various Other Information
cbdMD, Inc. (NYSE: YCBD) revealed its economic outcomes for its initial quarter finished December 31, 2020. Internet sales for the initial quarter of monetary 2021 boosted by 22% year-over-year to a document of $12.3 million from $10.1 million from the previous year’s quarter. The bottom line attributable to typical investors for the quarter was around $9.5 million, or ($ 0.18) per share, as contrasted to take-home pay of around $12.9 million, or $0.45 per share from the previous year’s quarter. The bottom line attributable to typical investors was mostly attributable to a boost of around $8.5 million in the non-cash contingent responsibility which is connected with earnout shares which might be released under the regards to the December 2018 procurement of Remedy Based Advancement (which had the cbdMD brand name).
Tilray Inc. (NASDAQ: TLRY), an international leader in cannabis research study, farming, manufacturing, as well as circulation, today revealed it has actually developed a contract with Grow Pharma to import as well as disperse Tilray’s clinical cannabis items right into the UK (UK). This arrangement enables Tilray to supply certified UK individuals in demand with an in your area kept supply of clinical cannabis services. Tilray anticipates to have a variety of GMP-certified, clinical cannabis items readily available for individuals in the UK by March 2021. Clients aiming to make use of clinical cannabis will certainly have accessibility to Tilray items in the UK by acquiring prescriptions with personal technique or the National Health And Wellness Solution (NHS).
Day Trip Health And Wellness Ltd. (OTCQX: FTRPF) revealed the main opening of the Sightseeing tour Natural Products Limited R & D Research Laboratory for Psychedelic Fungi in Mona, Jamaica. The research study center, which is opening up as component of Sightseeing tour’s formerly revealed calculated collaboration with the College of West Indies, is the globe’s initial lawful research study as well as farming center devoted specifically to psilocybin-producing mushrooms as well as various other plant-based psychedelics.
” Medical research studies on psilocybin as well as various other plant-based psychedelic substances have actually revealed that they have wonderful prospective to create greatly favorable adjustments in people, specifically those battling from significant psychological wellness problems like anorexia nervosa, anxiety as well as PTSD,” claimed Dr. Nathan Bryson, Sightseeing tour’s Principal Scientific research Police officer. “With the opening of this center, Sightseeing tour as well as UWI will certainly be leaders in the understanding of psilocybin-producing fungis as well as exactly how they can be ideal made use of in a therapy setup.”
The declarations made worrying these items have not been assessed by the Foods as well as Medication Management. The efficiency of those goods has actually not been validated by FDA-approved evaluation. These goods are normally not suggested to detect, handle, solution, or avert any kind of health problem. All information located right below will certainly not be suggested as an alternate selection to or various from information from health treatment professionals. Please look for the guidance of your health treatment competent regarding prospective communications or various achievable problems previously than using any kind of item. The Federal Foods, Medication as well as Appeal Act needs this exploration.


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Amazon Studios has acquired worldwide rights to the sequel to the long-lasting comedy “Coming to America,” which will likely be obtainable on Prime Video on March 5, 2021.
The sequel is about within the royal nation of Zamunda, the place newly-crowned King Akeem (Eddie Murphy) and his finest good friend, Semmi (Arsenio Corridor) return to after residing in Queens, New York.
Many authentic forged will even return, together with King Jaffe Joffer (James Earl Jones), Queen Lisa (Shari Headley), Cleo McDowell (John Amos), Maurice (Louie Anderson) and the barbershop crew.
New characters will likely be performed by Wesley Snipes, Leslie Jones, Tracy Morgan, Jermaine Fowler, Bella Murphy, Rotimi, KiKi Layne, Nomzamo Mbatha and Teyana Taylor.
“Coming to America was a cultural phenomenon that is likely one of the most beloved and celebrated comedies of all time,” Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, stated in a press release. “Because of Eddie Murphy’s comedic genius together with the good filmmakers, writers and fabulous forged, we could not be extra excited to rejoice this new journey. We all know audiences around the globe will fall in love with this hilarious, joyful film that can absolutely change into a timeless favourite.”
Paramount Footage closed the take care of Amazon bypassing a theatrical launch due to Covid-19.


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Fujifilm X-T4 mirrorless digital camera
Fujifilm has announced its latest Flagship X-Series body. The Fujifilm X-T4 is a compact mirrorless camera body with a 26.1 megapixel, APS-C sensor.
New Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G
Sony has launched a new, small and lightweight, wide-angle prime lens. Meet the Sony FE 20mm f1.8 G.


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Seagrasses are flowering plants that live submerged in salty water and perform vital ecosystem services that help us and the food-webs that rely on them. For example, seagrasses capture and store more atmospheric carbon (per unit area) than many terrestrial plants, they act as nursery areas for important fishery species, and provide coastal protection against things like erosion and storm surges. We used artificial intelligence to help manage things that can impact seagrasses, and it works very well!
In February 2016, a female loggerhead sea turtle dubbed ‘Marloo’ had a satellite transmitter attached to her shell on a beach south of Exmouth, Western Australia by the Gnaraloo wilderness foundation. Many months, and more than 4000 km’s, later she was recovered and sampled...
The effects of COVID-19 on the world has been profound. It’s had us re-evaluating intergovernmental, trade and personal relationships, and forced a rethink of consumer needs. Environmental groups have been encouraging people to eat more fish in response to this pandemic. Consumer surveys during the pandemic have also highlighted greater apprehension about receiving goods from certain countries, alongside increases in online purchases and groceries as people find need to cook more meals at home. So, it’s already changed many parts of our lives, maybe forever, but how will this pandemic affect the world’s biodiversity?


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- The tablet is coming with the power of the Snapdragon 870 processor.
- It is supporting a 44W fast charging solution.
- The tablet is also supporting a 144Hz refresh rate.
The popular Chinese smartphone brand Vivo has made a soft announcement of the latest Vivo Pad Air tablet for the market of China. The device is coming with the power of the Snapdragon 870 processor at its heart and the company has also confirmed that the device is supporting a fast charging solution as well. Vivo is yet to confirm the storage options and many other important details of the tablet. So without making any further delay let’s get into the article to check out the complete details of the new tablet of Vivo.
Everything about Vivo Pad Air
The newly announced Vivo Pad Air tablet features an 11.5-inch display along with a 2.8K resolution and the device is also coming with a 3:2 aspect ratio. Vivo is also offering the device with a 144Hz refresh rate and a P3 wide colour gamut. The device is powered by the Snapdragon 870 processor but the company did not reveal the RAM and storage options of the tablet.
It is also confirmed that the latest Vivo Pad Air tablet is running on Android 13 with the OriginOS 3 out of the box. The device is also coming with an 8,500mAh battery that supports 44W fast charging solution.
We don’t have any other information about the device at the moment of time but we believe that Vivo will be revealing more details about the tablet in the coming days.
Read interesting news, reviews as well as tips & tricks on TechnoBugg website, and stay updated with the latest happenings of the tech world on the go with Technobugg App. Also follow on Google News and join our Telegram channel for the latest updates.


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Students of culinary schools in Texas might do well to take a page out of Whataburger’s book. The popular fast food restaurant is proving its dedication to helping the less fortunate during the holidays through a new partnership with the East Texas Food Bank. According to the Tyler Morning Telegraph, the fast food franchise ran a promotion in November 2014 aimed at driving revenue up for the nonprofit establishment.
While Whataburger is certainly not the only restaurant or professional establishment in the area to do something for a local food bank, the company took a far more direct approach to boosting the institutions revenue than is traditional. Though most partnerships with food banks operate under the pretense of using other businesses as collection site for donations of nonperishable food, this effort was differently orchestrated. According to the Longview News-Journal, the restaurant offered a direct percentage of its revenue from that day to the East Texas Food Bank to use as they please. Specifically, 20 percent of all money raised at several predetermined Whataburger franchise locations between five and eight P.M. on Monday, Nov. 17, 2014 was donated directly to the food bank. The event was publicized and advertised locally in the days leading up to the event, allowing for residents to plan ahead of time to go to Whataburger in order to help the needy.
In an added bonus for philanthropists in the region, this promotion didn’t only benefit the East Texas Food Bank. Multiple news outlets have reported that while the food bank, one of the largest in the state, will use many of the proceeds themselves, they will also be distributing donations to several other area food pantries. Among the recipients will be a depository in neighboring Longview, the Highway 80 Rescue Mission.


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Philip Clarke, chief executive, said the results "are natural consequences of the strategic changes we first began over a year ago and which conclude today".
Mr Clarke launched a strategic review of Tesco's US venture Fresh & Easy last year and has now confirmed that the company will exit the business.
Sir Terry Leahy, Mr Clarke's predecessor, launched Fresh & Easy in 2007 but it is yet to make a profit.
In order to exit Fresh & Easy, Mr Clarke has been forced to book a £1bn writedown on the value of Tesco's assets in the US. On top of £169m of trading losses in the last year, this means the US venture has wiped £1.2bn from profits.
In the UK, Tesco has also written off £804m after deciding not to build stores on more than 100 sites that it controls.
The company said: "We have reviewed all of the schemes included in the pipeline individually, assessing their viability and potential to deliver an appropriate level of return on capital employed if built out.
"As a result, we have identified more than 100 sites - the majority of which were bought between five and ten years ago, at a higher point in the property cycle - which we no longer plan to develop and have therefore written their values down."
Last year, Mr Clarke launched a £1bn investment plan to revitalise Tesco in the UK after it was forced to warn that profits would be lower than expected.
This plan included hiring more staff, revamping stores, and relaunching food ranges, such as converting Tesco Value into Everyday Value.
Mr Clarke said Tesco is making "real progress" in the UK.
However, trading profits in the 52 weeks to February 23 fell 8.3pc to £2.3bn.
In total, Tesco reported pre-tax profits of £1.96bn, a 52pc drop on last year. However, this does not include the US writedown, which has been accounted for as a discontinued operation. When this is included, Tesco made just £120m after tax, compared to £2.8bn last year.
The company held its final dividend at 10.13p.
Mr Clarke said: "The announcements made today are natural consequences of the strategic changes we first began over a year ago and which conclude today.
"With profound and rapid change in the way consumers live their lives, our objective is to be the best multichannel retailer for customers.
"Our plan to 'Build a Better Tesco' is on track and I am pleased with the real progress in the UK. We have already made substantial improvements to our customers' shopping experience, which are starting to be reflected in a better performance.
"We have set the business on the right track to deliver realistic, sustainable and attractive returns and long-term growth for shareholders. The consequences are non-cash write-offs relating to the United States, from which we today confirm our decision to exit, and for UK property investments which we will not pursue because of our fundamentally different approach to space.
"We have also faced external challenges which have affected our performance, notably in Europe and Korea.
"Our focus now is on disciplined and targeted investment in those markets with significant growth potential and the opportunity to deliver strong returns."


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Apple starts iPhone 7 production in Pegatron factory according to a report
According to a new report by a journalist and leaker Steve Hemmerstoffer, the final manufacturing of iPhone 7 has started at the Pegatron factory. Steve is better known as @Onleaks on Twitter. Pegatron is Apple's manufacturing partner alongside Foxconn but right now, its only reported to manufacture the 4.7 inch iPhone 7 and not the larger 5.5 inch iPhone 7 Plus.
Though the journalist has a good track record in reporting smartphone leaks, yet we can't be too certain if what he just reported is true as well.
Apple's iPhone 7 launch is largely expected to launch in September this year and loads of speculations and rumors have started making rounds. These rumors include omission of 3.5 mm audio headphone port, a dual lens camera for the larger iPhone 7 Plus as well as replacement of Space Grey variant with Deep Blue one, the concept images of which, done by Martin Hajek, look absolutely gorgeous. We would have to wait till September now to see what rumors do come out to be true and Aple always has this uncanny ability to surprise the consumers at the last moment. This year would be no exception hopefully.
Anant is a technology blogger and a software engineer. He loves playing with gadgets. Right from earphones to smartphones to laptops, anything and everything that's tech keeps him motivated. He is also an ardent fan of Apple products. You can contact him at his email address email@example.com


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Online retailers have a problem. Search is broken, and much of the available inventory is never found by consumers. In fact, 70 percent of the top 50 grossing US ecommerce sites still require “exact matching” to ensure a product appears in the results.
Today Qubit — the marketing personalization company — has announced at MobileBeat (MB 2017) in San Francisco an exclusive beta program for Aura, an AI-powered solution that is changing how consumers discover the product catalog on mobile devices.
Here’s the problem.
Most mcommerce sites attempt to solve product discovery through search. The intention here is smart: emulate Amazon, which currently owns more than 50 percent of first product searches online. But many consumers don’t know what they are looking for, and inadequate search systems don’t make the problem any easier to solve.
An exclusive invite-only evening of insights and networking, designed for senior enterprise executives overseeing data stacks and strategies.
Instead, Qubit Aura is designed to create an app-like experience that changes the way visitors discover and browse mobile websites. Qubit is demonstrating the product at MB 2017. Felipe Araujo, director of ecommerce at fashion brand Diane von Furstenberg, and Graham Cooke, CEO at Qubit, will be on stage to talk about the challenges and opportunities of product discovery in mobile commerce.
“People are spending more time than ever before discovering products on social networks, but they’re mostly browsing, and not buying,” Cooke said. “Conversely, people go to a mobile store to find a specific product, but they only discover a fraction of the catalog due to the limitations of the screen, site navigation, and search.”
Aura has been designed with a mobile-first approach. AI assists the consumer by presenting predicted category preferences, discovery-led feeds, context messaging on each product, and the capability to surface goods and categories that adapt as the customer engages further.
Aura also pays attention to social messaging and understands the importance of emotional triggers such as urgency. Qubit recently released the results of analyzing two billion user stories, and the results showed clearly that emotional triggers far outperform user interface changes when optimizing the retail experience.
“We have over 30,000 products on our site. Therefore discoverability is a challenge we’re constantly working to improve,” Alex Crawley, chief technology officer at Wolf & Badger, said. “With this mobile personalization solution, Qubit directly addresses the problem, by giving users a personalized selection of products and categories from across our entire product catalog, tailored exactly to the user. We’re already seeing that increases in engagement can impact revenue.”
Qubit Aura will be widely available in the fall of 2017. MB 2017 visitors can see it in action at the event, and access to register interest in the exclusive beta is now open. During the beta period, Qubit will focus on recruiting forward-thinking retail brands.


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Rolls-Royce stalls in China drive
MORE Rolls-Royce cars were sold in Tokyo showrooms last year than anywhere except star-studded Beverly Hills.
It is now pinning future growth hopes on Asia, but while Japanese buyers have returned in a recovering domestic economy, the brand counts for little in China - a market in which it needs to do big business in coming years.
Owner BMW, which generated 14% of Rolls-Royce sales made in the region last year by selling 796 Phantoms, says developing the brand in China is now a priority.
Consultants Ernst & Young forecast that, within a decade, China may pip the US to become the world's second-largest luxury goods market behind Japan.
Colin Kelly, Rolls-Royce's regional director, says well-heeled Chinese consumers do recognise the familiar double-R logo, but may remain puzzled as to what it might convey. As each car produced at the Goodwood factory in West Sussex sells for about £185,000 plus local taxes, that needs to be addressed.
'Our work in China is to make people aware of what the brand stands for today,' he told the Evening Standard.
'It is not only showing the car to people who can afford it but also showing it to the masses in China so they can understand what it is.'
Rolls-Royce has showrooms in Beijing, booming Shanghai and the major southern provincial centre of Guangzhou. More may be added.
There are also growing hopes for the luxury car market in India, where the government last year ditched a long-standing ban on imported cars and allowed Rolls-Royce to return after a 50-year absence.
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The Senate Judiciary Committee voted unanimously to pass the Combating Online Infringement and Counterfeits Act (COICA), moving the legislation one step closer to reality, reports ReadWriteWeb. The law would give the U.S. Attorney General's office the right to shut down websites that it deems are participating in piracy and "infringing activities" without due process or proof that a copyright "crime" has been committed. The law would allow the government to blacklist a website that had "no demonstrable, commercially significant purpose or use other than" sharing unauthorized copyrighted material. Sites would be blacklisted from the Domain Name System, credit card companies...
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ABILENE, Texas - For those who don't want to strap on an apron and spend hours of Thanksgiving in the kitchen, there are several alternatives in Abilene.
"We'll have traditionally ham and turkey sides will be stuffing, giblet gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green beans and then we'll have some desserts," said Al Callaway, owner of Al's Mesquite Grill.
In addition to the food they offer those who want to dine-in, Al's will be selling precooked hams and turkeys from 10 am-2 pm for people who want to spend the holiday at home, but not in the kitchen. Some other options include Golden Corral's Thanksgiving buffet from 10 a.m.- 8 p.m. Cracker Barrel's Thanksgiving menu and regular menu, 11 a.m.- 6 p.m., Denny's and IHOP will be open all night, Buffalo Wild Wings will be open from 3 p.m.- 12 a.m., Pizza Hut on S. 14th is open 4 p.m. - 9 p.m. and Grandy's on Buffalo Gap is open 7 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Restaurant owners said because of all the closures in town they picked up some extra customers during last year's Thanksgiving holiday.
"It was standing room only. It was fun. One of the busiest times of the year, but we enjoy it," said Anthony Peoples, manager of Denny's in Abilene.
"We were pretty busy. I was surprised. I expect an even bigger rush this year," Callaway agreed.
- Updated Thief climbs in through roof at Abilene High, steals electronics
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- Sweetwater ISD makes choice for new head football coach/athletic director
Copyright 2016 by KTXS All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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Swiss watchmaker Swatch is working on its own operating system for smartwatches, built in conjunction with research and technology provider CSEM. “It will be designed especially for the needs of small connected objects and, naturally, first and foremost for watches,” Swatch says. “We are aiming to launch the first products by the end of 2018.”
- Contactless transit payments go live in Miami
- Telia tests 5G face recognition payments
- Lojas Americanas opens checkout-free automated convenience stores in Brazil
- Apple rolls out Apple Card, extends 3% cashback offer to third party merchants
- Facebook to partner with banks for WhatsApp payments rollout?


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With China closing its borders to imports of recyclable plastic in 2017, the worldwide market for the commodity has shifted and complicated the choices for businesses and consumers wanting to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in the nation’s landfills.
According to Clemson University clinical professor of economics Brad Hobbs, this market shift has turned municipal recycling programs from income earners to income losers.
The city of Simpsonville decided in April to end its curbside recycling program as it has been costing the city about $5,000 a month to send its recycling to Pratt Industries for sorting and processing.
The city of Greer has gone from not paying anything for the sorting of its recyclables to a cost of about $6,000 per month, said Steve Grant, director of the city’s public services department. He added that while the city is monitoring the situation, there are no plans to end its recycling program.
The increasing cost is only part of the broader challenge of plastic recycling, according to Ron Sobczak, a chemist who is also chairman of the Upstate chapter of the Sierra Club.
The reality is, the plastics used in most of today’s items are single-use, meaning they cannot be recycled at all, Sobczack said, and those that are can only be recycled two or three times before becoming unusable.
“We don’t want to give up on recycling but it has to be done carefully,” Sobczak said.
“If it’s not being recycled then it’s just a joke. Until we know what can truly be recycled, we’re just guessing as consumers.” – Kathleen Kemp, Sierra Club, Upstate chapter
Sobczack’s wife, Kathleen Kempe, is chair of conservation for the Upstate chapter of the Sierra Club. She said consumers have a voice in the matter.
For example, while shopping for cherry tomatoes at a local grocery store, Kempe noticed that one option was packaged in a plastic clamshell while another was contained in a cardboard box with only a plastic lid.
She said choosing the more sustainable – and recyclable – option can signal to manufacturers there might be a higher demand for products that come in recyclable, sustainable packaging.
“It takes a while, but if Americans want to reduce packaging, producers will respond,” he said. “Corporations don’t want to be seen as the bad guy. I guarantee you they’re paying attention to this and if they’re not they won’t be in business very long.”
Sobczak said most municipal recycling programs list all seven types of plastic as acceptable but the reality is most plastics won’t be recycled. Kempe said recyclers need to tell consumers exactly which plastics are being recycled and which ones end up in the landfill.
“If it’s not being recycled then it’s just a joke,” Kempe said. “Until we know what can truly be recycled, we’re just guessing as consumers.”


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Didi Kuaidi believes its taxi-hailing apps, which are logging in 3 million daily rides, have 99% market share, according to an e-mail from CEO Cheng Wei to the company’s investors. 1.5 million taxi drivers, three quarters of the total in China, in about 360 Chinese cities have signed up.
Its private car-hailing service has also reached 3 million daily orders, up from 1 million from one month ago. The company estimates that it has an 80% market share in this category. Uber, which currently only offers private car-hailing service in China, said earlier this month that its daily orders had reached one million.
It is believed both Didi Kuaidi and Uber have fake orders problem as they offer high driver subsidies that there are even fake driver accounts sold on Taobao marketplace.
Didi Kuaidi has recently launched ride-sharing services Didi Shunfengche (car-pooling) and Didi Kuaiche (real-time ridesharing) and will roll out commuter bus and on-demand chauffeur services soon.
Tencent-backed online travel service LY.com (a.k.a. Tongcheng or 17U.com) is preparing for IPO on a domestic stock market, the company disclosed yesterday.
LY.com is raising US$300 million to US$400 million in a new funding round with participation from Tencent and real estate giant Wanda Group, according to the company. (via Jiemian)
Apart from Tencent, LY.com’s investors also include Ctrip, a leading online travel service.
ZhenFund, an early stage venture capital firm, is launching an equity crowdfunding platform “Zhengu”.
JD.com announces to establish a joint venture with ZestFinance, a US-based developer of big data underwriting models.
The JV, named JD-ZestFinance Gaia, will provide credit risk evaluation services, based on consumer data generated on JD’s e-commerce platform, to Chinese companies.


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By Harren Lee on Sep 21, 2011
Operators of Indian Maharaja-Deccan Odyssey Train, Travel Corporation India Ltd (TCI) have come up with the new tariff for the Indian Maharaja Train to target domestic travelers. On the launch of the new season of the Indian Maharaja-Deccan Odyssey the managing director Mr. Madhavan Menon said "This is a key initiative in the hugely potential Indian domestic market; in sync with TCI's considerable equity in luxury leisure travel segment."
The Indian Maharaja- Deccan Odyssey, a luxury train in India is a perfect blend of heritage, opulence and hospitality which makes for a truly exotic experience for the discerning travelers. The journey spanning over 8 days and 7 nights traverses some enchanting destinations in India which include Jaipur, Ranthambore, Ajanta-Ellora, Fatehpur Sikri and Agra among others.
The Golden Chariot train will again start its journey from March next year. This announcement...View full story
In a positive way, it seems Sir Trevor McDonald is one of the...View full story
Indian Railways’ Buddhist circuit train start operations....View full story
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JENNIE-O® Team Members and Carla Hall Visit Mandarin Immersion Magnet School This Week
WILLMAR, Minn., Feb. 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — The makers of the Jennie-O® turkey brand – one of the most beloved turkey brands in the country – announced a partnership in October with esteemed chef, cookbook author and beloved TV personality Carla Hall. As part of this partnership, the Jennie-O team and Hall visit schools across the nation to honor school cafeteria staff by hosting School Cafeteria Takeovers. The campaign kicked off in Knoxville, Tenn., at Blue Grass Elementary School in October, then headed to Panorama High School in Los Angeles, Calif., in November. This week, the team recognizes the unsung heroes of the school cafeteria staff at Houston’s Mandarin Immersion Magnet School (MIMS), which is part of the Houston Independent School District.
“I have been having an incredible time with Jennie-O, together honoring cafeteria staff across the nation — first in Knoxville, then Los Angeles, and now in lovely Houston,” said Hall. “Cafeteria staff are truly the unsung heroes of our schools. They do so much for our kids – from feeding them to putting smiles on their faces. And we know how vital it is for our kids to have proper nutrition and good protein to help sustain them through their studies, sports, activities and more.”
Hall and the Jennie-O® culinary team worked together to develop a grazing table featuring Jennie-O® turkey for the school cafeteria staff to enjoy. During the event, Hall will lead a baking tutorial of her famous biscuits with school cafeteria staff. She will also learn a few phrases in Mandarin – taught by MIMS students. Additionally, Jennie-O® will bring in local businesses to offer refreshments and relaxing amenities for school cafeteria heroes, including chair massages. Finally, staff will receive heartfelt notes of gratitude from the student body.
As part of the School Cafeteria Takeovers program with Hall, the makers of the Jennie-O® brand will provide $25,000 in kitchen equipment to four additional schools throughout the Spring to help fulfill wish lists for cafeterias in need of new equipment and supplies.
“In the short time I have been at MIMS, I have seen how hard our cafeteria staff works each and every day to make sure our students are fed with nutritional food, so they are ready to learn,” said Principal Cindy Tiet of the Mandarin Immersion Magnet School. “They serve our students with smiles on their faces and love through their cooking! We are so thankful to Chef Carla Hall and Jennie-O® brand for the opportunity to show our gratitude and appreciation by being able to serve and pamper them!”
“It has been incredible to see how touched the cafeteria staff have been through our School Cafeteria Takeover programs,” said Renee Cool, brand manager at Jennie-O Turkey Store. “Working with Chef Carla to honor them by letting them kick up their feet, being served a delicious Jennie-O® turkey meal and feeling gratitude from the students has been so special.”
In addition to Blue Grass Elementary School in Knoxville in October 2022, Panorama High School in Los Angeles in November 2022, this week’s Mandarin Immersion Magnet School Houston visit, the Jennie-O® brand team and Hall will commence the tour in Detroit in May.
Jennie-O® is the leading turkey provider to school districts in the United States.
- Jennie-O is the leading turkey provider in 9 of the top 10 school districts in the nation.
- Jennie-O serves more than 5,000 school districts in the U.S.
- Jennie-O has the largest variety of K-12 turkey products in America.
- The Jennie-O sales team has more than 100 years of combined experience in servicing K-12.
- 90 percent of USDA-donated turkey is processed by Jennie-O.
For more information about Jennie-O® turkey products, including recipes, nutritional information and where to buy, visit JennieO.com or follow the brand on social media at Facebook.com/JennieOTurkey, Instagram.com/JennieO, TikTok.com/@jennieobrand and Twitter.com/JennieO.
ABOUT JENNIE-O TURKEY STORE
For over 80 years, the Jennie-O® brand has been helping consumers live well by eating well. As the category leader, Jennie-O® turkey is the trusted brand for quality turkey and a source of expertise. We provide a full portfolio of delicious, nutritious turkey proteins and inspiration for everyday meals or special occasions. Known for our bright green awning evoking the nostalgia of a local farmer stand, our round logo with a touch of yellow and our distinct name from our founders’ daughter Jennifer, the Jennie-O® turkey brand has the right amount of small-town friendliness paired with leading company expertise and quality. For more information, visit JennieO.com.
ABOUT HORMEL FOODS – INSPIRED PEOPLE. INSPIRED FOOD.™
Hormel Foods Corporation, based in Austin, Minn., is a global branded food company with over $12 billion in annual revenue across more than 80 countries worldwide. Its brands include Planters®, SKIPPY®, SPAM®, Hormel® Natural Choice®, Applegate®, Justin’s®, WHOLLY®, Hormel® Black Label®, Columbus®, Jennie-O® and more than 30 other beloved brands. The company is a member of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats, was named on the “Global 2000 World’s Best Employers” list by Forbes magazine for three years, is one of Fortune magazine’s most admired companies, has appeared on the “100 Best Corporate Citizens” list by 3BL Media 13 times, and has received numerous other awards and accolades for its corporate responsibility and community service efforts. The company lives by its purpose statement — Inspired People. Inspired Food.™ — to bring some of the world’s most trusted and iconic brands to tables across the globe. For more information, visit www.hormelfoods.com and http://csr.hormelfoods.com/.
SOURCE Jennie-O Turkey Store
Originally published at https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/jennie-o-turkey-store-and-celebrity-chef-carla-hall-honor-houston-cafeteria-staff-through-national-partnership-school-cafeteria-takeovers-301751774.html
Images courtesy of https://pixabay.com


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Photos by Andrew Biraj for Reuters
As the number of confirmed deaths from the deadly Rana Plaza building collapse in Bangladesh pushes past 1,000, a more-heartening number is emerging. More than 1 million people have signed petitions calling for brands and retailers sourcing from the South Asian nation to commit to the legally binding, first-of-its-kind Bangladesh Building and Fire Safety Agreement, according to the Clean Clothes Campaign, an alliance of organizations in 15 European countries dedicated to improving working conditions in the global garment and sportswear industries.
PREVIOUSLY ON ECOUTERRE: Read Our Ongoing Coverage of the Bangladesh Building Disaster
“Global citizens have sent a clear message to international brands sourcing from Bangladesh, such as H&M, Mango, Primark, Gap, C&A, KiK, Benetton, JCPenney, and Walmart,” says Tessel Pauli from Clean Clothes Campaign. “We are calling on brands to take immediate action in implementing sustainable safety measures in their supplier factories in order to prevent another tragedy such as Rana Plaza.”
Labor-rights activists worldwide have banded together to persuade Western companies to sign the Bangladesh safety accord by May 15.
Trade unions and labor-rights groups worldwide, including the Clean Clothes Campaign, International Labor Rights Forum, Avaaz, United Students Against Sweatshops, War on Want, Causes, IndustriAll Global Union, SumOfUs.org, Change.org, and Maquila Solidarity Network, have banded together in a unified campaign to persuade Western companies to sign the safety accord by May 15. Developed by Bangladeshi and global stakeholders, the contract requires independent building inspections, public disclosure of audit results, mandatory building renovations to address hazards, and union access to factories to educate workers on how they can protect their rights and their safety.
“The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is the only credible program that brands can sign,” says Jyrki Raina, general secretary of IndustriAll Global Union. “The requirements of this program are straightforward, commonsense measures which will have a vital impact on worker safety in factories in Bangladesh. It is now time for all other brands to commit to sustainable safety in Bangladesh.”


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Huawei, a leading global information and communications technology (ICT) solutions provider,was ranked third in global smartphone shipments in 2013, according to the leading market research and analysts firms International Data Corporation (IDC), Strategy Analyticsand Canalys. According to IDC’s Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker, Huawei retained its number three position worldwide in 2013, with the highest year-on-year increase among the leading vendors at 67.5 percent.Huawei captured 4.9 percent market share in 2013with smartphone shipments of 48.8 million units, up from 4 percent in 2012.
In the report, global smartphone shipments increasedby 38 percent in 2013, with over one billion smartphones sold in 2013. Huawei attained a year-on-year increase of 56.5 percent in Q4 2013 with smartphone shipments of 16.4 million units, up from 10.5 million units in Q4 2012. Huawei shipped 55.5 million mobile phone units in 2013, ranking number five with 3.0 percent global market share.
IDC commented, “Huawei maintained its number three position worldwide, attained the highest year-on-year increase among the leading vendors, and raised its brand profile with a higher proportion of self-branded units compared to the ODM work it had done for other companies.”
The ranking demonstrates the success of Huawei’s strategy to focus on flagship products to build its brand globally. According to Huawei, 52 million smartphone units were shipped in 2013, more than a 60 percent year-on-year increase from 2012 witha total sales revenue increase of 18 percent to US$9 billion for the year. To date, it has launched its products in over 140 markets via more than 600 channel vendors globally, resulting in its smartphone business reaching more than 80 percent of retail markets in China, Russia, Italy, Saudi Arabia, the Philippines and South Africa.
In 2013, Huawei’s smartphones accounted for 87 percent of its phone product line in 2013, of which 12 percentwere mid-to-high class phones priced over US$250, such as the flagshiphigh-end smartphone HUAWEI Ascend P6, which is now on sale in over 100 countries and has surpassed three million unit shipments since it was launched on June 18, 2013.
In addition, Huawei launched a series of promotional campaigns worldwide to build its ‘Make it Possible’ brand which included sponsorship activities with leading football organizations, such as Liga de Fútbol Professional (LFP) in Spain, AC Milan in Italy andBorussia Dortmund in Germany.
The third place global ranking reinforces Huawei’scommitment to become one of the leading mobile phone brands within the next five years by bringing quality, innovative and fashionable products within reach for more people.At the 2014 Consumer Electronics Show (CES), Huawei launchedHUAWEI Ascend Mate2 4G and showcased its full range of 4G LTE devices. With a 6.1-inch IPS screen, 4050 mAh battery and 5-megapixel front-facing camera, HUAWEI Ascend Mate2 4G will ‘Make it Possible’ for more people to live a faster, more connected life.
About Huawei Consumer Business Group
As at the end of 2013, Huawei’s products and services are deployed in over 140 countries, serving more than one third of the world’s population. Huawei ranked third in global smartphone shipments in 2013, according to International Data Corporation (IDC). Huawei has also established more than 16 R&D centers around the world in countries such as the United States, Germany, Sweden, Russia, India, and China. One of Huawei’s three business groups, Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) provides a range of products including mobile phones, mobile broadband (MBB) devices, home devices and cloud services. With more than 20 years of rich business expertise in the information and communications technology (ICT) sector, an extensive global network, vast global business operations and partners, experience in the telecommunications, Huawei has established a globalized network, operation ability and working partners, Huawei Consumer BG is dedicated to bringing the latest technology to consumers, offering a world of possibilities and creating extraordinary experiences for people everywhere.


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This week, 19 Indian startups raised about $233 million. Zepto alone raised $200 million in its Series E round. Last week, eight Indian startups raised funding worth about $20 million only.
Meanwhile, the details of two startups remained undisclosed.
Details of the 19 funding rounds can be found here.
This week, quick commerce startup Zepto alone raised a $200 million Series E round and entered the coveted club of unicorns.
Out of the total, 17 early-stage startups have raised funds, including two undisclosed rounds. Edtech focused fintech startup GradRight was on the top with its $6 million round. The list also features SupperBottoms, Kombai and Wootz.work among others.
City and segment-wise deals
This week, Bengaluru-based startups dominated the funding chart. According to Fintrackr’s data, 10 Bengaluru-based startups raised funds this week amounting to $10 million or 4.35% of the total funding. However, Mumbai based startups raised over $200 million. Pune and Jaipur-based startups saw two deals each.
The complete breakdown of deals across cities and segments in the first half can be seen below:
Fintech startups were on top in terms of the number of deals. Quick commerce and edtech startups were next on the list.
This week, Veda VC launched a $30 million fund to back Indian startups.
Layoffs and shutdowns
Apart from fundraising, this week saw CoinDCX laying off 70 employees while Fantok and One World Nation (OWN) halted their operations temporarily.
*Back next week with another deal roundup


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Uber India Unlocks a Surprise This Motherâ€™s Day
Uber, the ridesharing app that is redefining urban mobility across the world, recently concluded a first of its kind social media campaign for Mother’s Day in India. What started as a tweet from a homesick rider soon turned into a full-fledged campaign that received an overwhelming response from hundreds of participants, generating 9 million impressions and 25,000 engagements over a short span of 5 days. The campaign trended nationally for over 16 hours on Twitter and led to hundreds of Facebook and Twitter posts that celebrated mothers.
Susan Pinto, a rider from Bangalore tweeted a heartfelt message to Uber India wishing to visit her mom on Mother’s Day. Little did she know her hashtag - #Homeiswheremomis would lead to a campaign that trended on Twitter. This escalated when Uber led the bandwagon and she also received support from several other twitteratis. Based on the overwhelming response to #GetPintoHome, Uber made Susan Pinto’s simple wish come true by flying her to Ahmedabad to surprise her mom.
When most people were looking for thoughtful gifts and treats for their moms, Uber India decided to take the #Homeiswheremomis campaign to riders across the country, encouraging them to share stories and videos of their moms on social media. The number of likes it garnered and the traction it got determined 4 lucky riders who won an all-expense paid trip to visit their moms over the Mother’s Day weekend.
Commenting on the success of this campaign, Sanjay Gupta, newly appointed Head of Marketing, Uber India said, “Uber has always strived to build campaigns which ‘surprise and delight’ riders. We all know that a day well spent with mom is one of the best Mother’s Day gifts. When we saw our response to Susan go viral, we decided to launch a campaign for all our riders who wanted to pay a surprise visit home over the Mother’s Day weekend. We are elated with the success of this campaign and the phenomenal response it received. It was also very heartening to see the mothers’ reactions to this surprise. We will continue to engage with our riders through more such meaningful campaigns in the future.”
Along with Susan Pinto, four more riders won an all-expense paid trip through Uber India’s campaign #Homeiswheremomis.


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Bob Dylan Opens Pop-Up Shops Ahead of 'Tempest' Release
Shortly before releasing his thirty fifth studio album "Tempest", Bob Dylan opened three stores that gave a chance for his fans to grab his latest record a day early. The veteran musician opened the "Bob Dylan Pop-Up Shop" in Los Angeles, New York City and London, where a host of fans were spotted lining up to get the anticipated album.
According to Ultimate Classic Rock, there were hundreds of fans standing in line in front of the shop in the Meatpacking District, NY, waiting for the doors to open at 4 P.M. on Monday, September 10. However, the shop didn't open as scheduled and fans must had to wait for around an hour before they could get into the store.
There were reportedly only 15 signed copies of "Tempest" sold in the pop-up shops. The rare items were sold within minutes at the same price as the unsigned copy of the album. In addition to Dylan's new album, the stores offered various kinds of merchandise, such as CDs, vinyl, t-shirts, posters and books among others.
For fans who missed the grand opening of "Bob Dylan Pop-Up Shops" in the three cities, they could still hit the stores from 11 A.M. to 8 P.M. through Sunday, September 16. More details about the shops can be obtained on Dylan's Facebook page.
"Tempest" made its way out in the U.S. on Tuesday, September 11. The album has received positive early reviews from various critics so far. Rolling Stone gave the album five out of five stars, calling it "musically varied and full of curveballs," while The Guardian gave it four out of five stars. The Telegraph called it "among his best ever," while Chicago Tribune gave it three and a half out of four stars, branding it "an inspired mix of blood and bawdiness."
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BLOOMIN’ BASH: The invitation said “Flower Obsession Ball,” and the party Monday night in Paris lived up to the theme.
MAC Cosmetics and Giambattista Valli hosted the event at the Opéra Garnier, where flowers literally bloomed everywhere. The majestic building was bathed in projected blossoms, a great wall of flowers greeted attendees in the main sweeping stairwell and petals popped up on many a partygoer’s attire.
“Look how floral I am,” said Alber Elbaz coquettishly, dressed in black and white. “I like flowers. I like everything that starts with an F — flowers. Fashion. Food.”
Noor Fares noted her favorite flower is jasmine “because of the smell and it reminds me of where I am from — Lebanon,” she said. “It also reminds me of my grandmother.”
The jewelry designer is presenting in Paris her first collection of one-off pieces, with rare stones and diamonds, called Atelier Mystique.
Bianca Brandolini d’Adda’s favorite flower is the peony. She was one of Valli’s five BFFs who had a lipstick created in her honor for the capsule collection done with MAC that’s due out starting Thursday for six weeks in the brand’s stores worldwide.
“For a girl to have a lipstick named after you — it’s just a dream come true,” laughed Brandolini, adding she had no hand in picking the pink color, but “Giamba knows me enough to know what I like.”
The other lipsticks in the line — all created in colors that recur in Valli’s fashion — were named after Charlotte Casiraghi, Eugénie Niarchos, Margherita Missoni and Tatiana Santo Domingo (many of whom were there). There is also a lip gloss.
“I got inspired looking at real women around me,” said Valli.
“The idea was dress your lips in Giambattista Valli,” added the designer, above the thumping music emanating from the main party room upstairs, where Mark Ronson and 2ManyDJs spun the tunes. “There is nothing more revolutionary in a woman’s wardrobe than changing the color of your lips. It changes totally your look and the look of your clothes.”
In a first for MAC, the lipstick tubes reflect the color of the product inside (what Valli calls his “fetish colors”).
“When it’s in your bag, you can [easily] get right away one that you want,” said Valli.
“MAC has known Giambattista back to when he first began working at Ungaro,” said John Demsey, group president of the Estée Lauder Cos. Inc. “We were there from the very beginning, when he began his prêt-à-porter collections 10 years ago and worked with him backstage. And then for couture.”
Demsey said the party was to honor Valli’s decade as a standalone designer.
“It’s the first time MAC has ever collaborated with a couturier,” continued the executive, referring to the lipstick collection. “And certainly not the last.”
Other guests at the packed affair included Naomi Campbell, Roxane Mesquida, Caroline Vreeland, Delfina Delettrez and a bevy of models.
Ian Bohen said he will start filming this fall some more episodes of the TV series “Teen Wolf” and had just wrapped a movie, called “The Tow,” with JR Bourne. It was filmed in downtown Los Angeles.
Olivia Palermo just launched her first nail polish collection with Ciaté.
“We’re selling at Sephora, which is fantastic,” she related. “It’s three nail polish colors — a coral, a red and a nude. In the fall, we’ll have more to go.”