text:
Liebherr’s mobile harbour crane (MHC) segment recorded a market share of 65% last year with 83 sales in 40 countries.
The LHM 800 model received six sales as demand grew for the world’s largest MHC unit.
Andreas Müller, sales drector for Liebherr MHCs said: “Demand for our state-of-the-art handling solution was very stable at a high level during the course of the year.
“In addition, we have succeeded in reviving countries and even entire regions that have shown almost no turnover development in recent years.”
This included a record year in the UK and an “impressive” result in Africa.
Sales included an order for a LHM 420 for Qube Ports in Australia. While the crane was on its way to Bell Bay, Tasmania Qube ordered a second MHC type LHM 550.
The new machine will start operation in a couple of weeks and represents the ninth LHM Qube ordered from Liebherr in the past five years.
In March, Liebherr delivered a MHC type LHM 120 to the Belgium port worker-training centre OCHA.
In April, Liebherr Maritime Cranes launched the first purely electrical port crane, the LPS 420 E at the Transrussia exhibition in Moscow, Russia.
The newly designed machine is a purely electric driven portal crane. All crane movements like luffing, hoisting, slewing and travelling are done by electric motors.
The machine is designed for ports and terminals with an electrical infrastructure, providing a maximum load capacity of up to 124 tonnes.
The first unit has already been sold and will be delivered in the course of the year.
In the second half of the year, Karmsund Havn IKS purchased the biggest MHC in Norway, an LHM 550.
At the beginning of October, two Liebherr MHCs type LHM 600 were delivered from Liebherr’s maritime production facility in Rostock, Germany to Yilport’s newly acquired terminal in Guatemala.
The machines are equipped with a tower extension of 12 m, which ensures a maximum cabin height of more than 37 m.
OCUPA received an LHM 800 in container handling configuration for its terminal in Manzanillo, Mexico.
Salerno Container Terminal (SCT), owned by the Gallozzi SpA Group, received an LHM 600 and an LHM 800.
With the order for the third LHM 800, Montecon is now the world’s largest operator of the LHM 800 in terms of numbers.
Juan Olascoaga, general manager of Montecon, said: “Our MHCs are doubtlessly our main fixed asset, and they determine the service level that we provide to our customers.”
In addition to the LHM 420, which is popular in Africa, an LHM 280 and several large machines with a maximum capacity of up to 154 tonnes were sold.
Liebherr also sold the largest MHC for container handling in North America to the Canaveral Port Authority in 2018. The device was recently delivered.
Leopold Berthold, managing director sales for Liebherr Maritime Cranes, stated: “Despite unstable political and economic conditions, some of which are difficult to predict, the outlook for 2019 is positive.
“The existing order backlog is promising and indicates that the Liebherr MHC will continue on its successful course.”
You need a free subscription to read the entire article.


text:
According to the company, its “Double Boost” earnings promo allows the program’s affiliates to take their earnings to a whole new level, by for the first time receiving not only a 35 percent lifetime revenue share but a $25 per signup payouts as well, for each new unique member that an affiliate refers, from the first cent earned.
There are no limits and no minimums, and the “Double Boost” promo is valid on all platforms, including PC, mobile and tablet and across the 13 major languages that the WebcamWiz white label is available in.
The WebcamWiz.com “Double Boost” earnings promo is in effect until September 30, 2015.
Chat traffic or traffic generated by promoting the site’s brand names and misspellings thereof, through PPC search campaigns, is not eligible for the promo payouts.
For more information, contact your representative or click here.

domain: news


text:
Kiwi credit card debt on the rise
Consumers are increasingly pulling out their credit cards to pay for purchases, eftpos company Paymark says.
Total spending through the Paymark network in July was up 6.1 per cent compared to the same month last year, according to figures released today.
However, spending growth through the bank-owned network has slowed since July last year, when the growth rate was 9.2 per cent.
The Paymark figures also indicate more people are making purchases on credit rather than from their bank accounts.
Credit-card spending through Paymark grew by 15.8 per cent over the year while spending on debit cards grew by 4.9 per cent.
The latest statistics from the Reserve Bank showed total personal credit-card debt stood at $5.8 billion in May, up by a seasonally adjusted 4.9 per cent compared with the previous May.
Paymark's data showed a marked increase in spending in the Otago region during the July school holidays.
While spending usually increases during the school holidays, this year saw an increase of 9.4 per cent in Otago during the two-week period, well above previous years, Paymark said.
Paymark head of customer relations Mark Spicer said it was likely that visiting Aucklanders and Wellingtonians had had a hand in Otago's spending growth.
"During the same two weeks of trading when Otago experienced this significant jump, Auckland/Northland and Wellington saw a significant decrease in spending compared to previous years," Spicer said.
"While this doesn't explain the entire picture it's safe to assume that many North Islanders ventured south to Queenstown and scenic Otago."
Spending in the Bay of Plenty and Southland was also strong in July, with an annual increase of 6.7 per cent and 11 per cent respectively, Paymark said.
Regions that experienced weak trading during July included Wellington, with annual growth of 2.7 per cent, Palmerston North, with an increase of 2.8 per cent and South Canterbury, down 0.3 per cent.
Across the country, the sectors showing the highest annual growth were food and liquor stores, up 11.6 per cent, followed by cafes and restaurants at 11.2 per cent and accommodation providers with a 9.7 per cent increase.
Spending also increased in clothing outlets, footwear stores, appliance outlets and department stores, most likely a result of the late onset of winter, Paymark said.


text:
New Sony Ericsson phone, probably the Anzu, leaks via CES poster
Looks like Sony Ericsson just couldn’t wait for CES to officially begin, and they decided to leak one of their own upcoming handsets via a poster set up on the premises.
And unless Sony Ericsson has some big surprises up its sleeves, what you see in the picture below is most certainly the Sony Ericsson Anzu, a beast of an Android-powered device that has leaked before.
What can undoubtedly be seen from the photos is that this device is going to be very slim. And that’s exactly what people who have seen the Anzu claim it will be.
Here’s a quick recap of the previously-leaked specs for the Anzu: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 4.2-inch 854×480 touchscreen, 8.1 MP camera with 720p HD video recording and stereo audio recording, Wi-Fi b/g/n, 3.5 mm headset jack (that can be seen in the picture above), HDMI, 1500 mAh battery and a thickness varying from 8.7 to 10.9 mm.
If Sony Ericsson do plan to unveil this phone during CES, and not just tease us with it, it may just be a matter of hours before we find out all there is to know about it, and, naturally, report back to you.


text:
On Wednesday, model Janaye Furman made history by becoming the first black model to open a Louis Vuitton show in the 163 years since the fashion house was founded. This is a huge accomplishment for Janaye, a SoCal drama student who is slaying the runway after she was scouted just last year at a school performance (in the audience, no less) and rapidly rose through the ranks to becoming a Louis Vuitton regular, according to Vogue. For models, opening a show is a major milestone that can change their careers forever, and Janaye did so during a collection that closed Paris Fashion Week.
After the show, she wrote an Instagram post expressing how honored she was to be in this prestigious position while also highlighting the need for more women of color in the fashion industry.
"What a blessing!! Wow! This is such an incredible and unbelievable moment! Not only for my first opening show to be Louis Vuitton but to make history as the first African American girl to open LV?!! Thank you @nicolasghesquiere @louisvuitton, @marieameliesauve, @paulhanlonhair, @patmcgrathreal, @ashleybrokaw and thank you to absolutely every person involved. Thank you God and everyone for all of the amazing support! I'm so glad more women of color are rocking the runways. It's so important that we stand up for ourselves and make a difference in this world. I'm so happy I was able to tell this beautiful story. I mean look at that coat! #louisvuitton is always #major."
While it's incredibly exciting to celebrate Janaye's achievement, Louis Vuitton's decision should have taken a lot less time than 163 years. Seeing black models opening shows as unusual headlines is a depressing reminder of how behind the times the fashion industry is when it comes to diversity and inclusion. It's also problematic that all the credit is going to brands who are rectifying casting choices they should have made a long time ago, instead of pioneers who have been working to effect those changes.
The increased presence of women of color on runways may not be possible, for example, without the efforts of people like former model and activist Bethann Hardison and Brandice Daniel, the founder of Harlem's Fashion Row, who work hard to push for increased diversity in fashion.
Meanwhile, as Janaye was celebrating her breakthrough, another model was sharing her experiences with racism at the same Paris Fashion Week. Last week, model Londone Myers, who is black, shared an Instagram video showing hairstylists promptly doing white models' hairdos while Londone sits ignored. So while it's encouraging that more women of color like Janaye are breaking barriers and getting recognition, the fight for more diverse runways is far from over.


text:
9th Feb 2024 08:49
(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London lacked direction on Friday, after Barclays announced plans to buy the retail banking business of Tesco Bank.
The FTSE 100 index opened up 5.17 points, 0.1%, at 7,600.65. The FTSE 250 was marginally up 2.72 points at 19,105.44, and the AIM All-Share was up 0.52 of a point, 0.1%, at 751.62.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.1% at 760.08, the Cboe UK 250 was down slightly at 16,532.89, and the Cboe Small Companies was up slightly at 14,581.40.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was up 0.1%.
Consumer price inflation in Germany cooled to 2.9% in January, numbers from Destatis confirmed on Friday.
According to a Destatis, the consumer price index rose by 2.9% in January from a year before, slowing from a 3.7% annual rise in December. This came in line with a previous estimate.
On a monthly basis, consumer prices rose 0.2% in January from December, picking up speed from a 0.1% rise in December from November and also in line with preliminary data.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2626 early on Friday in London, higher compared to USD1.2609 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood at USD1.0779, up against USD1.0763. Against the yen, the dollar was trading at JPY149.56, higher compared to JPY149.39.
In the FTSE 100, Tesco rose 1.4%, whilst Barclays fell 0.2%.
The companies announced an agreement for Barclays to buy the retail banking business of Tesco Bank, as the big UK supermarkets scale back their forays into financial services.
London-based Barclays and Welwyn Garden City, England-based Tesco also announced a 10-year exclusive partnership that will see Barclays market Tesco-branded credit cards, unsecured personal loans and deposits to customers through Tesco's distribution channels as well as on the open market.
Tesco said it will sell to Barclays all of its banking operations in credit cards, loans and savings to Barclays, while retaining other activities of Tesco Bank including insurance, automatic teller machines, travel money and gift cards. The supermarket noted that these businesses are capital-light, profitable, and have a strong connect to its core retail offer.
Barclays will pay about GBP600 million for the business, which has been in operation for more than 25 years. Tesco noted it will receive about GBP1 billion in cash in total, including a special dividend of GBP250 million paid by Tesco Bank back in August.
Rival UK supermarket chain J Sainsbury last month announced a phased withdrawal from its core banking business. This followed a review of its Financial Services division as part of its 'Food First' strategy.
Shares in Sainsbury were down 0.4% early Friday.
In the FTSE 250 index, Victrex lost 7.2% in early trade.
The Lancashire, England-based polymer solutions company noted a "soft start" to its financial year, as it updated markets on its first quarter, ended December 31.
Quarterly revenue fell 22% to GBP61.2 million from GBP78.8 million a year earlier. Volumes fell 21% to 751 tonnes from 948 tonnes.
Looking ahead, Victrex noted an improvement seen in January, the start of its second quarter, but warned that "visibility remains limited."
Elsewhere, Air Astana on Friday announced the price for its "multiply oversubscribed" initial public offering in London and on two local exchanges in Kazakhstan.
The Almaty, Kazakhstan-based airline group operating in the Central Asia and the Caucasus region said the offer price has been set at USD9.50 per global depositary receipt, within its previously announced range of USD8.50 to USD11.00.
The share price is set at KZT1,073.83 per share, about USD2.40 and within its previously posted range of KZT956 to KZT1,237.
This will give Air Astana a market capitalisation at the IPO price of USD847 million, within its previously announced range of USD770 million to USD996 million. Aerospace firm BAE Systems PLC will sell 7.5 million GDRs in the domestic offering and 14.2 million in the global offering.
BAE shares were up 1.1%.
On Friday, financial markets in Shanghai are closed for the Chinese New Year. Markets in Hong Kong will have an abbreviated session.
The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo closed up 0.1%. In China, the Hang Seng index in Hong Kong closed down 0.8%. The S&P/ASX 200 in Sydney closed up 0.1%.
In the US on Thursday, Wall Street ended higher, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 were both up 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.2%.
Brent oil was quoted at USD81.72 a barrel early in London on Friday, up from USD81.02 late Thursday.
"Crude oil leapt higher as Israel took hope for a ceasefire agreement off the table, triggering a wave of buying as geopolitical risk went on the boil again. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that he sees no other solution than total victory following a counteroffer from Hamas for a ceasefire. This comes amid a military escalation against Iranian-backed 'terrorist' factions by the US and UK concerns," said SPI Asset Management's Stephen Innes.
Gold was quoted at USD2,033.11 an ounce against USD2,029.31.
Still to come on Friday's economic calendar, there is Irish industrial production data at 1100 GMT.
By Sophie Rose, Alliance News senior reporter
Comments and questions to [email protected]
Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.


text:
Surprise! Another iOS update accused of causing battery drain
It has been assumed that the purpose of iOS 6.0.2 was to fix a bug reported by iPhone 5 users who say their devices aren't staying connected to WiFi, and fall back to cellular data networks, using large amounts of data. Now, the guess is that the fix to this bug is the cause behind various reports from users seeing their batteries drain faster than normal.
Not a lot of people have been reporting battery drain issues, so it's unclear how widespread the problem is. No statement from Apple about the claims. iOS isn't alone though. Word has it that Android 4.2 is causing battery drain, and Google hasn't made a statement about that either.
source: Ars Technica


text:
From the Cheapskate: Get Rayman Origins for free, a color laser printer for $69.99 and -- well, come see the rest for yourself! Also: Microsoft revamps Bing Rewards because reasons?
Formerly known as Osram Sylvania, Ledvance's Lightify smart bulbs join the list of connected lights you can control by talking to Alexa..
The healthcare company has announced a new ecosystem of products to help you lose weight, stay active and live a healthy life.
The iDevices Socket can dim, schedule and voice-control lights. But so can everything else, for less.
The new Philips SceneSwitch LED changes between three brightness settings each time you flip the switch.
iLumi's going to Kickstarter again, this time for an outdoor light strip.
If Philips' Contactless Monitoring project comes to fruition, a camera paired with a computer will be able to deliver an accurate reading of your heart and breathing rates.
Hue's new White Ambiance LEDs can change from a warm, candle-like glow to bluish-white daylight tones -- and they'll work with Siri, too.
They don't change colors like other Hue bulbs, but these LEDs can shift between daylight tones and a warm, candlelight glow -- and they work with Siri, too.
You can't change these LED bulbs to pink or green, but if you like to shift between soft white and daylight tones, you're in luck. Plus, they work with Siri.
Forget apps and voice control gadgets, Knocki wants you to control your smart home with a simple tap.
Here's a look at CNET's current top picks for top budget Bluetooth speakers.
Need a new phone?
Enter to win* a OnePlus 3 phone with Dash Charge technology, a June winner of our Editor's' Choice award.


text:
Part of the 2004 "Cycle of Death" series.
By Tara Young
Corey Davis saw the demand and set out to meet it: His hip-hop clothing store would specialize in memorial T-shirts and bandannas customized with the names and pictures of people killed on the streets of New Orleans.
Davis, 24, had applied for city permits to launch 2 Young Apparel at Dumaine and North Broad streets, and he had hired a local artist to paint urban street scenes on the building's exterior. But the store's first T-shirt order was for Davis himself, killed instantly in June when a gunman walked up to his late-model Lexus sedan and opened fire.
"Words can't describe it right now," Benjamin Brown said days later as he prepared for his business partner's funeral. "I never thought I would be putting him on a T-shirt."
Cashing in on trend
Memorial T-shirts have become almost as ubiquitous as flowers at services for the city's murder victims. Families, often struggling to plan and pay for a funeral, feel pressure to provide the T-shirts, and merchants who cater to the fad have become inadvertent chroniclers of the cycle of retribution playing out in the streets.
The owner of It's Marvelous, a printing and communications store above a barbershop on Elysian Fields Avenue, keeps a spiral notebook to show customers the designs others have chosen. The shop's business began to boom when it started doing memorial T-shirts.
Lloyd McMaster said it's not unusual for a person to be killed in the morning and for the family to bring photos to his shop a few hours later to request T-shirts. Requests often come before funeral arrangements have been made and before the body has been released from the coroner's office, he said.
"It's like a challenge," said McMaster, adding that memorial dog tags are catching on too. "They want to be the first to have that shirt. They want them to look good. They just don't wear them that day. They wear them the next day and next week."
At Fashion Quarters in the 9th Ward, Chris Taylor frequently finds himself customizing T-shirts that honor murdered men who, just weeks before, were ordering shirts for others killed by violence.
"It happens so often now," Taylor said. "Just about all of them are connected in some way."
One customer wanted photographs of all his friends who had been murdered over the years transferred onto a T-shirt. There were 50 men, Taylor said. The cost was $100.
Initially, Taylor balked at the idea of printing memorial T-shirts.
"I believed that it was best to let the dead go," Taylor said.
But the demand was so great that he decided to experiment with designs and styles. Before he knew it, memorial T-shirts made up 50 percent of his revenue.
McMaster said funeral homes have contacted him, asking whether It's Marvelous would be interested in becoming part of a package deal that would include the funeral, burial and T-shirts.
Bearing a message
Shirts refer to the murder victim's neighborhood, ward or gang affiliation. The words "Soldier," "Posse" and "Hardhead" can be references to specific groups or a more general description of the victim's street-hardened background.
"Another Young Soldier Gone Home" topped the shirt for Hillard "Head" Smith IV. Police think Smith's murder in April led to the fatal shooting of a student a week later at John McDonogh Senior High School. Indeed, the teens booked in the high school killing were wearing Smith's memorial shirt, which also labeled him a "Hardhead."
Le'Devin "Big Dude" Pearson's shirt combined street sentiment and updated gravestone markings: "Real Soldiers Don't Die," it read. "Dude Rise 04-17-81. Dude Set 07-26-03."
At a repast after Larvell "Bogil" Burham's funeral in July, relatives wore shirts with the man's likeness and "Bogil FREE" across the top.
A group of young men came to Marc Jackson's wake wearing T-shirts in his honor that read: "A coward dies a thousand deaths. A soldier dies but once. I'll see you on the otherside."
Jackson, who had been convicted on drug charges, was killed in September in the 2000 block of Martin Luther King Boulevard, not far from the 6th District police station.
Audrey Jackson said she wanted to hold a private, graveside ceremony for her son because she couldn't bear to see some of the youngsters whom she held partly responsible for leading him down the road to his death. But she relented after his friends begged her to let them glimpse Jackson one last time and held a wake so they could attend.
"There were so many of them, and they all had on T-shirts," Jackson said.
The trend is so embedded in contemporary New Orleans' funeral culture that Sylvester Francis has amassed a collection of memorial T-shirts. He is curator of the Backstreet Cultural Museum on St. Claude Avenue, a collection of death-related artifacts housed in a former funeral home.
Dealing with demand
Some clothiers are unsettled by the mix of commerce and commemoration and decline to be involved.
Kim Santiago, the owner of EmbroidMe, a clothing franchise that makes personalized T-shirts and does logo embroidery, said people asked him to print up shirts to commemorate James Tapp, a rapper known as Soulja Slim, who was gunned down the night before Thanksgiving in front of a house he bought for his mother. Santiago turned them down.
"In the Soulja Slim case, we had requests for it," he said. "But I stayed away from it. I just couldn't see capitalizing on it without the people he cared about benefiting from it."
McMaster said Tapp's mother came to his shop the day after her son was killed and authorized him to print shirts with the rapper's image.
Other shops, he said, printed shirts without the family's authorization and sold them to the public at a premium.
Outside Rhodes Funeral Home on Washington Avenue, street vendors were in force on the day of Tapp's service, hawking Soulja Slim memorabilia.
"I'm the one who put 'I'll Pay For It' on some thongs for him," said clothing designer Gregory O'Conner, mentioning one of the rapper's hits. On the day of Tapp's funeral, O'Conner was selling large buttons and headbands bearing the rapper's name and likeness.
He had just about run out of inventory when the jazz funeral started.


text:
|By PR Newswire||
|December 9, 2012 07:02 PM EST||
LONDON, December 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --
Local Businesses Can Now Use Online Dashboard to Help Them Manage the Performance of their Groupon Experience in Real-Time
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) today announced that Merchant Centre is now available in the UK. Merchant Centre provides local businesses with analytics that will help them track the ROI from partnering with Groupon in real time, including a complete understanding of the performance across featured deals, customer acquisition and feedback, and redemptions.
"It is fantastic to have all the information regarding redeemed vouchers as it takes away a lot of stress. I can now be prepared when the end of a deal is coming as to how many clients to expect." - Bel Viso Beauty, Brighton:
"Groupon is taking steps to really keep the merchant in mind as we become the platform for local commerce," said Roy Blanga, UK Managing Director. "In the UK, merchants are constantly telling us they want more data about their Groupon features. We're excited to be able to give them more information to show the progress of their deals."
A highlight of the online dashboard is customer feedback. Groupon recently began surveying its consumers about their Groupon experiences immediately after redemption. With Merchant Centre, direct quotes and overall recommendation ratings from customers who have recently redeemed Groupons are updated in real time, further helping merchants understand how they're performing with customers and how to think about repeat business potential and incremental customer expenditure.
Groupon (NASDAQ: GRPN) is a global leader in local commerce, making it easy for people around the world to search and discover great businesses at unbeatable prices. Groupon is reinventing the traditional small business world by providing merchants with a suite of products and services, including customizable deal campaigns, credit card payments processing capabilities and point-of-sale solutions to help them attract more customers and run their operations more effectively. By leveraging the company's global relationships and scale, Groupon offers consumers incredible deals on the best stuff to eat, see, do, and buy in 48 countries. With Groupon, shoppers discover the best a city has to offer with Groupon Local, enjoy vacations with Groupon Getaways, and find a curated selection of electronics, fashion, home furnishings and more with Groupon Goods. To subscribe to Groupon emails, visit http://www.Groupon.com. To learn more about the company's merchant solutions and how to work with Groupon, visit http://www.GrouponWorks.com.
New competitors, disruptive technologies, and growing expectations are pushing every business to both adopt and deliver new digital services. This ‘Digital Transformation’ demands rapid delivery and continuous iteration of new competitive services via multiple channels, which in turn demands new service delivery techniques – including DevOps. In this power panel at @DevOpsSummit 20th Cloud Expo, moderated by DevOps Conference Co-Chair Andi Mann, panelists will examine how DevOps helps to meet th...
Apr. 24, 2017 06:45 PM EDT Reads: 519
The 20th International Cloud Expo has announced that its Call for Papers is open. Cloud Expo, to be held June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, brings together Cloud Computing, Big Data, Internet of Things, DevOps, Containers, Microservices and WebRTC to one location. With cloud computing driving a higher percentage of enterprise IT budgets every year, it becomes increasingly important to plant your flag in this fast-expanding business opportunity. Submit your speaking proposal ...
Apr. 24, 2017 06:45 PM EDT Reads: 643
@GonzalezCarmen has been ranked the Number One Influencer and @ThingsExpo has been named the Number One Brand in the “M2M 2016: Top 100 Influencers and Brands” by Analytic. Onalytica analyzed tweets over the last 6 months mentioning the keywords M2M OR “Machine to Machine.” They then identified the top 100 most influential brands and individuals leading the discussion on Twitter.
Apr. 24, 2017 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 560
Translating agile methodology into real-world best practices within the modern software factory has driven widespread DevOps adoption, yet much work remains to expand workflows and tooling across the enterprise. As models evolve from pockets of experimentation into wholescale organizational reinvention, practitioners find themselves challenged to incorporate the culture and architecture necessary to support DevOps at scale. In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 20th Cloud Expo, Anand Akela, Senior...
Apr. 24, 2017 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,636
SYS-CON Events announced today that Twistlock, the leading provider of cloud container security solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Twistlock is the industry's first enterprise security suite for container security. Twistlock's technology addresses risks on the host and within the application of the container, enabling enterprises to consistently enforce security policies, monitor...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:45 PM EDT Reads: 3,403
The Internet of Things is clearly many things: data collection and analytics, wearables, Smart Grids and Smart Cities, the Industrial Internet, and more. Cool platforms like Arduino, Raspberry Pi, Intel's Galileo and Edison, and a diverse world of sensors are making the IoT a great toy box for developers in all these areas. In this Power Panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists discussed what things are the most important, which will have the most profound e...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,063
Quickly find the root cause of complex database problems slowing down your applications. Up to 88% of all application performance issues are related to the database. DPA’s unique response time analysis shows you exactly what needs fixing - in four clicks or less. Optimize performance anywhere. Database Performance Analyzer monitors on-premises, on VMware®, and in the Cloud, including Amazon® AWS and Azure™ virtual machines.
Apr. 24, 2017 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,628
Automation is enabling enterprises to design, deploy, and manage more complex, hybrid cloud environments. Yet the people who manage these environments must be trained in and understanding these environments better than ever before. A new era of analytics and cognitive computing is adding intelligence, but also more complexity, to these cloud environments. How smart is your cloud? How smart should it be? In this power panel at 20th Cloud Expo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, pane...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,977
Five years ago development was seen as a dead-end career, now it’s anything but – with an explosion in mobile and IoT initiatives increasing the demand for skilled engineers. But apart from having a ready supply of great coders, what constitutes true ‘DevOps Royalty’? It’ll be the ability to craft resilient architectures, supportability, security everywhere across the software lifecycle. In his keynote at @DevOpsSummit at 20th Cloud Expo, Jeffrey Scheaffer, GM and SVP, Continuous Delivery Busin...
Apr. 24, 2017 04:15 PM EDT Reads: 284
In his keynote at 19th Cloud Expo, Sheng Liang, co-founder and CEO of Rancher Labs, discussed the technological advances and new business opportunities created by the rapid adoption of containers. With the success of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and various open source technologies used to build private clouds, cloud computing has become an essential component of IT strategy. However, users continue to face challenges in implementing clouds, as older technologies evolve and newer ones like Docker c...
Apr. 24, 2017 03:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,514
SYS-CON Events announced today that T-Mobile will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc., is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. The Company's advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to 67.4 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on ...
Apr. 24, 2017 03:45 PM EDT Reads: 555
@ThingsExpo has been named the Most Influential ‘Smart Cities - IIoT' Account and @BigDataExpo has been named fourteenth by Right Relevance (RR), which provides curated information and intelligence on approximately 50,000 topics. In addition, Right Relevance provides an Insights offering that combines the above Topics and Influencers information with real time conversations to provide actionable intelligence with visualizations to enable decision making. The Insights service is applicable to eve...
Apr. 24, 2017 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,528
In his keynote at @ThingsExpo, Chris Matthieu, Director of IoT Engineering at Citrix and co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, focused on building an IoT platform and company. He provided a behind-the-scenes look at Octoblu’s platform, business, and pivots along the way (including the Citrix acquisition of Octoblu).
Apr. 24, 2017 03:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,053
SYS-CON Events announced today that Grape Up will exhibit at SYS-CON's 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on Oct. 31 – Nov 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Grape Up is a software company specializing in cloud native application development and professional services related to Cloud Foundry PaaS. With five expert teams that operate in various sectors of the market across the U.S. and Europe, Grape Up works with a variety of customers from emergi...
Apr. 24, 2017 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,869
With major technology companies and startups seriously embracing IoT strategies, now is the perfect time to attend @ThingsExpo 2016 in New York. Learn what is going on, contribute to the discussions, and ensure that your enterprise is as "IoT-Ready" as it can be! Internet of @ThingsExpo, taking place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York, is co-located with 20th Cloud Expo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry p...
Apr. 24, 2017 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 583


text:
Destination Inspection: Screening Machines Inherited By Customs Rot At Ports, Border Posts
OVER $120 million goods inspection equipment inherited by the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), about three years ago, are now malfunctioning, making it mandatory for goods to be inspected manually at the ports and border posts in the country.
The scanning machines were inherited from Cotecna Destination Inspection limited, Global Scan Systems and SGS scanning Nigeria Ltd, which carried out destination inspection operations at the gateways, on contract basis for about eight years, before the service was transferred to the Nigeria Customs Service.
Each of the service providers (the contractors), who operated in different location nationwide were allowed to put in place basic infrastructure and manage them for seven years before handing them over to the Federal Government, through the NCS.
Before the termination of the inspection contract by the Federal Government about three years ago, Cotecna, which operated in the Lagos ports, said it was bequeathing $70 million worth of equipment for scanning of goods arriving at port to facilitate the process of clearing.
The scanning machines were installed at Tin-can Island, Apapa, Port Harcourt Ports, Banki and Seme land borders, the Kano, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Abuja Airports. Some of these locations had fixed or mobile scanners.
But investigations revealed during the week that many of these scanning machines have stopped functioning, compelling the Nigeria Customs to resort to physical examination of all containers, the process, which many described as ‘‘cumbersome and time wasting.”
Stakeholders are already agitating, and have called on the Federal Government to act now before a total system collapse at the ports.
Lucky Amiwero, the Managing Director of Licensed Customs Agents said the Nigeria Customs Service lacks the capacity to handle Destination Inspection.
According to him, goods clearing processes are now being carried out with impunity as official procedures had since been jettisoned because of the situation with the scanning machines.
“Scanning machines are tools introduced by the Federal Government to facilitate trade. They are to complement non-Intrusive inspection, that is cargo inspection without opening containers in order to speed up operations at the gateways. The scanning procedure is under selective principle of Inspection that allocate rick according to the nature and origin of consignments. The risk assessment determines whether a particular consignment should be physically inspected, allowed to leave without inspection or go through scanning machines. The scanning process was introduced to facilitate trade through non-intrusive inspection. The Scanning Contain Risk Procedure connected to ICT that accommodate the allocated risk, which is the core of destination Inspection operated for eight years, by the service providers, without any problem. Just one year and Five months after the take over, almost all the scanners have packed up to completely impede the risk management process, which is the core of selectivity approach for trade facilitation. The implication is total breakdown of the destination Inspection (DI), as they are using manual application with impunity,” he lamented. Another Port user said
“some people deliberately allowed the scanning machines to be dead. ‘‘They know what happened to the scanning machines.
The one at Apapa is not working, so is the one at Tin- Can Island and some land borders. They are now doing 100 per cent physical examination, which is very slow, but they are all benefiting from it. We are the ones suffering because to get the customs and officials from other agencies to carry out physical examination on your container, you will pay them through your nose. Corruption is now endemic here because the machines are down. How many containers can they examine in a day, using this physical method? You will pay customs, you will pay NDLEA, Plant Quarantine, name them, and about seven agencies and they will all collect gratification before the commencement of examination. It is too much and this has pushed upward the cost of clearing at the Lagos Ports,” he lamented.
The Terminal operators are also feeling the pain as a result of breakdown of the machines. Many of them said it was already causing congestion because containers can no longer be cleared as soon as they are discharged.
Investigations also revealed that many of the Terminal operators are now planning to acquire their own scanning machines to facilitate operations relating to evacuation of goods from their domain.
An authoritative source at one of the Terminals in Lagos confirmed that the scanner in his terminal had since stopped functioning. He said the company was already planning to procure its own, in order to facilitate operations at the terminal. According to him, the Nigeria Customs Service was aware of the plan.
“None of the scanners are working and so every container has to be physically examined. This is putting pressure on our equipment, which we now repair very often and put in more manpower for a simple operation that can be done by the machine. But we are planning to intervene, by acquiring more modern scanners in large number. We know it is not our responsibility to do that. We want to do it to assist the customs service, although at a very high cost,” he said. Another source close to the Customs in Lagos confirmed the bad state of the scanning devices at the gateways, saying, “they are obsolete”.
“You will remember that during the time of the service providers (contractors) these machines were always faulty. So then, we raised alarm that the machines are old and obsolete. But people thought we were just out to castigate the service providers, who installed them. Now the reality is down on all of us. I am sure it is old age that is telling on them. I learnt that our headquarters is trying to raise fund to buy something better. You cannot hide old age. That is exactly the case with these machines,” he said.


text:
Love Culture, a new concept aimed squarely at the fickle teen demographic, has embarked on an ambitious retail plan, including opening 200 to 300 U.S. stores in less than a decade.
Love Culture expects to open 10 stores — each 7,000 square feet — in its first year, starting in September with a unit at Plaza Bonita in National City, Calif., south of San Diego. A store at the Willowbrook Mall in Houston will be unveiled in October, followed by a unit at Pembroke Gardens in Pembroke Pines, Fla., in November.
Issa Rae stopped by WWD's NYC headquarters to talk about season two of "Insecure," which premieres this Sunday on HBO. Click link in bio for all the details. #wwdeye (📷: @jgreenery; Styled by @mayteallende)
A Stella McCartney sketch of a custom dress made from protein-based silk in partnership with biotech lab Bolt Threads. The dress will be displayed at The Museum of Modern Art's upcoming design exhibition, "Items: Is Fashion Modern?"


text:
// The UK economy drops 20.4%, heading towards recession
// This could result in mass job losses, the ONS warns
The UK economy has suffered record slump with GDP plunging by 20.4 per cent during April’s coronavirus lockdown, when high street stores endured their first full month of being temporarily closed.
The fall is the biggest the UK has ever seen – worse than anything during the financial crash, highlighting the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The economy was around 25 per cent smaller in April than it was in February and puts the nation on course for an anticipated recession, the ONS said.
- Retailers claim £3.3bn in furlough cash since start of lockdown
- BRC warns “challenge is not over” as UK retail prepares to exit lockdown
Although during the three months to April, accommodation and food services plummeted by 40.1 per cent, retail was one of the worst-affected sectors during the lockdown, with businesses claiming £3.3 billion to fund their furloughed staff salaries.
Wholesale and retail businesses were the worst hit, claiming £3.3 billion for 1.6 million workers.
The UK Government launched its jobs retention scheme in March to allow companies to retain their workers during the Covid-19 pandemic, with the Treasury paying up to 80 per cent of their salaries to a maximum of £2500 per month.
The ONS will not reveal what happened to the economy in May until next month, but it is likely to show another dramatic drop, coming before restrictions started to ease in some parts of the economy.
“In line with many other economies around the world, coronavirus is having a severe impact on our economy,” Chancellor Rishi Sunak said.
“The lifelines we’ve provided with our furlough scheme, grants, loans and tax cuts have protected thousands of businesses and millions of jobs – giving us the best chance of recovering quickly as the economy reopens.
“We’ve set out our plan to gradually and safely reopen the economy. Next week, more shops on the high street will be able to open again as we start to get our lives a little bit more back to normal.”
The ONS said: “April’s fall in GDP is the biggest the UK has ever seen, more than three times larger than last month and almost ten times larger than the steepest pre-Covid-19 fall.”


text:
A sign displayed at a Woolworths self-service checkout area has ruffled feathers among a group of vegans who have made no secret of their disapproval.
The sign, erected on several plastic dividers at a Sydney Woolworths, advertised extra Everyday Rewards points to customers who spent at least $20 on fresh meat.
"Collect five times [the] points on your total shop when you spend $20 or more on fresh meat," the bright orange sign, a photograph of which was uploaded to Facebook last month, read.
The photo received a frosty reception after it was shared to a vegan group, where the person behind the post proposed the supermarket not advertise such promotions.
"Ew, can you not though Woolworths," their post read.
Some also questioned whether plant-based meat products would be included in the promotion, but Yahoo News Australia understands that this wasn't the case.
A Woolworths spokesperson said the sign was advertising a short-term promotion over Easter and the supermarket often has similar Everyday Rewards cards deals on various products.
The supermarket giant has had "hundreds of plant-based products on promotion over the past two months", the spokesperson said.
Post sparks 'disgusted' response from vegans
Dozens of people responded to the post many describing the promotion as "desperate marketing".
"Great so now people are getting rewards for buying flesh," one person wrote in response.
"Bit of an oxymoron. How can dead flesh be 'fresh'," another said.
Others in the vegan group labelled the sign "disgusting" and "revolting", while one said it was enough to turn them off shopping at Woolworths all together.
Woolworths promotion popular with shoppers
Despite the outcry in the vegan group, a Woolworths spokesperson said the promotion had been a popular one with shoppers.
"This short-term promotion was available to Everyday Rewards members over Easter, which is a time many families like to enjoy a roast lunch," a spokesperson said.
"This year was no different and the offer proved to be very popular with many of our members.
"Separately for our vegan customers, we’ve had hundreds of plant-based products on promotion over the past two months, with some items being discounted by up to 50 per cent during catalogue periods."
Do you have a story tip? Email: firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries ($TEVA) CEO Jeremy Levin has been very frank about the need to cut costs by cutting jobs--about 5,000 jobs. But that does not mean the world leader in generic drug sales will not invest and hire in those places where it will pay returns. One of those places is Croatia, where it has opened a $100 million plant and hired 200 workers.
The plant in Zagreb is slated to make drugs for the U.S. and Europe and will start production once the company gets approvals from regulators in those markets, according to dalje. The new facility boosts the tablet and capsule capacity at Teva's Pliva subsidiary by 25%, allowing it to produce up to 2 billion units a year. It also has added capacity in sterile manufacturing, according to dalje.
Levin this month said the company would hasten its cost-cutting after a U.S. court ruling shortened by a year and a half the time that its best-selling drug, Copaxone, will be patent-protected. The multiple sclerosis drug, which brought in nearly $4 billion last year, accounts for about 40% of Teva's sales. Its patent will now expire in May. Levin has said most of the cost reductions will come by the end of next year and the majority will flow from making its production network and supply chain more efficient.
Shifting production to lower-cost countries has always been an important piece of that strategy, and Croatia is one of those areas. Teva picked up Pliva in its 2008, $7.5 billion buyout of Barr Pharmaceuticals. Barr had acquired Pliva, Croatia's largest drugmaker, in a 2006 deal for $2.2 billion that overbid an offer from Actavis ($ACT). The new plant was also reason for Croatia to celebrate, and the opening drew Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović. According to dalje, Milanović said the new facility was an indication of Croatia's new place in the world.
Croatia, however, is not the only place the drugmaker is expanding production. Last year it opened a $110 million sterile injectables plant in Hungary. It also is reportedly investing more than $200 million to double capacity in Japan.
Special Report: Top 10 generics makers by 2012 revenue - Teva


text:
A new campaign created for FIAT has been released by Leo Burnett, comprising of a series of short films that fall under the ‘UnoLab’ concept crafted by the agency. A total of eight short films were run online throughout December.
The signature tagline, “A whole lotta car in a single UNO”, the campaign presents the model’s new features; the 2017 UNO was the first car by the automaker to receive the highly awaited three-cylinder Firefly Flex engine.
The model is more economical, more powerful and has a higher torque. In addition, the UNO comes with exclusive features such as Hill Holder, a technology that prevents the car from rolling backwards on a hill, Dualogic® Plus Transmission and electric steering with CITY function, which when activated, requires less effort from drivers when steering during maneuvers.
With the challenge of presenting all this technology in the UNO, Leo Burnett Tailor Made developed the concept of the UNOLab. A place dedicated to innovation and discoveries, the UNOLab uses the most diverse objects and experiments to test the main features of the car in an unusual and playful way; for example, using a walnut to attest to the efficiency of the Hill Holder, and a rubber duck to show how the anti-crushing power windows work.
“The 2017 UNO brings many new features that make it stand out in its category. More than just saying this, we needed to demonstrate this reinvention in an entertaining way,” said João Caetano Brasil, creative director for Leo Burnett Tailor Made.
“That’s why we created the UNOlab and a series of experiments that generated content in the most diverse formats for the campaign.”
“The objective of the campaign is to show the UNO’s evolution through the reinvention of its standard equipment. In other words, the UNO has become an increasingly technological and comfortable car, while remaining economical and practical,” added João Ciaco, head of brand marketing and communication for FCA.
On the air starting November, the campaign also boasts a video teaser – available on Fiat’s social media accounts and channels – a 45-second video in the digital environment, seven digital short films dedicated to the car’s features and a 30′ film for pay TV, which also takes place in the UNOLab universe.
Check out all the short films here:
Cat And Mouse
Product: UNO 2017
Advertiser: FCA Fiat Chrysler Automóveis Brasil LTDA.
Agency: Leo Burnett Tailor Made
Co-president and Chief Creative Officer: Marcelo Reis
Creative Director: Alexandre Pagano, João Caetano Brasil
Copywriter: Tomas Correa
Art Director: Andre Kirkelis, Jota Marin
Agency Producers: Celso Groba, Maria Fernanda Moura, Dudi Ciampolini Bourroul
Account Team: Denise Millan, Cintia Mourão, Katia Simonato, Denis Gustavo, Mariah Costa, Giovanna Rodrigues, Luis Alves, Manuela Ceragioli
Media Team: Andrea Hirata, Leonardo Gomes, Heloisa Lima, Solon Anjos, Carolina Andrade, Odair Mozzer, Aquiles Borges, Thalita Feba, Mariza Akemi, Thiago Perozzi, Gustavo Ribeiro
Planners: Tiago Lara, Gustavo Zilles, Leandro Peralta
Art buyer: Mauro Moura
Client Approval: João Ciaco, Malú Antônio, Adriana Girão, Ana Brant, Sarah Albuquerque, Karin Betz. (FIAT)
Production Company: Vetor Zero
Directors: Gabriel Nóbrega, Ricardo Carelli
Executive Producers: Alberto Lopes, Sergio Salles, André Rosa
Editors: Kaue Kabrera, Bruno Carelli
Coordinator of Post Production: Tatiana Caparelli
Post Art Direction: Marcio Mattos
3D Coordinator: Danilo Enoki
Post production Company: Vetor Zero
Production Account Executives: Thaís Lopes, Rubia Elias
Illustration / 3D Studio: Vetor Zero
Sound Production studio: Antfood
Maestros: Lou Schmidt, Pedro Botsaris, Wilson Brown
Postproduction: Pablo Mello, Tiago Mago
Production Account Executives: Christiane Rachel, Lou Schmidt, Sean McGovern
Here we have it: all the winners for this year’s 2021 Snapchat Young Lions Competition. The Misfits Media Company, proud official representatives of the Cannes Lions Festival in Australia, is delighted to share the winners for this prestigious award. After presenting their second-round pitches, all the shortlisted candidates were evaluated by 50 esteemed industry judges. […]
IAB Australia has announced that the MeasureUp conference will return for its fifth year on 27th October and is seeking submissions for smart and engaging speakers, sessions or workshops from Australia’s media and marketing industry. As investment in digital advertising continues to outpace the rest of the media sector representing two-thirds of the paid advertising market, […]
In-Play advertising platform Admix has announced a new partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS). This integration with IAS makes Admix the only In-Play advertising company to offer ad inventory that is measured and verified by a trusted, independent partner. This ground-breaking news means that the quality of Admix’ In-Play advertising is independently assessed and verified […]
The Children’s Tumour Foundation (CTF) has teamed up with international fashion photographer and industry veteran Scott Ehler, to develop a striking campaign that aims to shine a light on a lifelong, genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis (NF). Progressive and unpredictable, NF causes tumours to form on nerves in the body, including the brain and spine. In […]


text:
Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) plans to join Netflix and Disney in preventing Max users from sharing their passwords with friends and family who don't live in the primary household. According to The Wrap, the company's CEO and president of global streaming and games JB Perrette said at a conference that the account sharing crackdown will start later this year ahead of a more widespread effort in 2025.
The aim, of course, is to improve Max's bottom line. WBD doesn't make any money when a user lets someone else use their Max account. As of the end of 2023, WBD had 97.7 million subscribers across Max, Discovery+ and HBO on cable. That was an increase of 1.8 million from the previous quarter.
It's unclear how WBD plans to implement the password sharing crackdown. Last year, Netflix started making users who shared their account with people outside of the main household pay extra to do so. The initiative had a positive impact on Netflix's financial results. Disney+ then followed suit with its own password restrictions, which it first introduced in Canada. Disney says users in the US will have to stop sharing passwords by March 14.


text:
We are very pleased at SOZO to announce we are now officially recognised as a certified Google Partner.
Christian is head of front-end development. He can take a design concept and bring it to life online. Christian has reached 'guru' status in search engine optimisation! There’s not much Christian doesn’t know about the world of SEO, and he has achieved some incredible first page Google listings for our clients.
recent blog articles
In spring 2013, Google released yet another change to the way in which websites are ranked in the search results, with the release of Penguin 2.0.
Christian & Shaun discuss SEO, is it as dead as many SEO bloggers and writers say it is?
Ignoring the over 50s in your digital marketing plan could cost your business dearly.
Christian & Shaun discuss SEO, is it as dead as many say it is?
Christian is sick and tired of so called experts claiming the death of SEO every time Google makes a change.
Christian talks about the recent Google EMD update and what that means for SEO.
Christian from SOZO Design discusses what you should expect from an SEO expert.


text:
The South Carolina Department of Agriculture is planning on doubling the amount of licenses given out to farmers in the state. This will allow the propagation of industrial hemp in their state and will doubling its pilot programs from 20 licensed hemp farms to 40 licensed hemp farms.
South Carolina hopes to make industrial hemp the states new cash crop. Farmers will be able to grow up to 40 acres of plants under regulations framed by the 2014 Farm Bill.
Normal crops in South Carolina go for $600 dollars per acre but, industrial hemp rises that price to $1,000 per acre which is motivating farmers to venture into unfamiliar territory.
Industrial hemp can be used to manufacture a number of good such as food in the form of edible seeds and oil, textiles, bio-composites, and lately as medicine in the form of Cannabidiol oil which is the plants most profitable industry.
Janel Ralph is one of the hemp farmers in Horry County, South Carolina. She is the owner of Palmetto Harmony, a company that makes products from CBD oil. She was one of 20 farmers selected in the industrial hemp pilot program last year. She said, “The 40 permits now that opened up according to the legislation is exactly what needs to happen, but realistically what needs to happen next year is that anyone should be able to grow this if the ag department deems they’re fit to grow it.”
You may be interested
Green Growth Brands Debuts on CSE Under Symbol “GGB”Editor - November 13, 2018
Green Growth Brands has announced this morning that their company has debuted on the Canadian Securities Exchange (CSE) under the ticker symbol “GGB.” The company is financially…
Green Thumbs Industries to Acquire Integral Associates Assets for $290MEditor - November 13, 2018
Green Thumbs Industries (CSE: GTII) (OTCQX: GTBIF) has announced this morning that the company has signed an agreement to acquire Integral Associates. The company’s assets are being…
MariMed Enters Strategic Partnership with Hemp CBD Producer GenCannaEditor - November 12, 2018
MariMed Inc. (OTCQB: MRMD) has announced this morning that the company has created a strategic partnership with GenCannaGlobal Inc. Under the terms of the agreement the two companies…


text:
Nissan X-Trail Highlights
Known as the Rogue in the USA, made its world premiere in USA in September last year. Nissan showcased the pre-facelift model at the Indian Auto Expo 2016, and in all probability, we will be getting the updated third-generation X-Trail hybrid in India. After the triumph of Terrano in domestic market, Nissan is planning to bring crossover third generation X-Trail SUV to India in order to win over the hearts of the Indian with a four-wheeler with excellent performance. The SUV’s platform remains same as its sibling Qashqai which is reportedly being built for the local market it operates in initially. The platform in talked here as 'CMF C-D'. Inspired by the global markets, Nissan will follow the luxury design language. Appearance styling will be plusher featuring a couple of new elements making it look niche and premium. Moreover, the SUV is likely to be slimmer than before shedding off the heavy stance. Thorough changes are expected to be made to the cabin donning a modish avatar unlike previous and older generation model which featured sophisticated styling. The third generation X-Trail will receive seven-seat layout allowing seven tenants to be seated inside the cabin. Initially, Nissan was expected to launch X-Trail in a diesel engine option only, but the company will reportedly roll out a petrol hybrid version of the SUV in India as well. Still under the hood, the engine could be a 2.0 litre petrol engine along with an electric motor generating a combined output of 179 Bhp. An electric motor will also be installed inside. CVT gearbox will conduct the transmission duties. Additionally, the SUV will also house Nissan’s electric all-wheel drive system. In the premium SUV crossover segment, Nissan X-Trail will face direct rivalry from Hyundai Santa Fe and Honda CR-V. Pricing is expected to be on a higher side but very lucrative keeping in mind the features it offers as Nissan could import the car to India, therefore heavy duties levied on the SUV will add incremental charges substantially. Being a CBU unit, the SUV will be priced higher at around 32 lakh to Rs 35 lakh.


text:
Aaron's Revenue Up 8.5%, but Lawsuit Cuts Profit
August 16, 2011-- Furniture Today,
ATLANTA- Rent-to-own giant Aaron's said its second quarter revenues rose 8.5% but charges related to damages from a sexual harassment lawsuit led to a 55.8% drop in profit.
It also noted that its new concept HomeSmart stores are off to a strong start.
Revenues for the period ended June 30 increased to $482.7 million from $445 million in the second quarter a year ago. Net earnings were $10.8 million or 13 cents per share, vs. $24.4 million or 30 cents per share last year.
Excluding the lawsuit-related charge, second quarter earnings would have been $33.3 million or 41 cents per share, said the Atlantabased company, which has a blend of company-owned and franchised stores selling and leasing furniture, electronics, appliances, tire rims and other goods.
For the first six months of this year, revenues increased 8% to $1.015 billion and net earnings were $55.2 million or 68 cents per share, down 10.1% from $61.4 million or 75 cents per share last year.
In June, a jury in the U.S. District Court in southern Illinois awarded $93.5 million in damages to a former employee who alleged she was sexually harassed by her supervising manager. Because the award exceeded the maximum permitted under federal laws, the judge subsequently reduced the damages to $39.8 million.
Aaron's recorded a $36.5 million charge in the second quarter related to the judgment and related expenses.
"We are, needless to say, disappointed in the jury verdict in the lawsuit and plan to appeal the decision," Aaron's President and CEO Robin Loudermilk said in the earnings release. "Even though we believe the damages awarded are outrageously high and without merit, and we have a strong case for appeal, the charge to earnings this quarter is our best estimate at this time of our maximum dollar amount of exposure."
Loudermilk said the quarterly results were as expected and the company was pleased with the performance, "especially in the current economic environment. We believe that business will continue to be strong throughout the remainder of the year."
Same-store revenues at all company-operated stores increased 5% during the second quarter.
Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership division increased second quarter revenue 9% to $479.9 million and 8% to $1.01 billion in the first half.
The company's franchisees had combined revenues of $218 million in the second quarter and $459.4 million for the first six months, up 8% and 9%, respectively. Samestore revenues and customer counts for franchised stores increased 2% and 3.9%, respectively, in the second quarter.
Aaron's Sales & Lease Ownership division opened 17 company-owned stores, 12 franchised stores, 10 HomeSmart stores, and one Rimco store during the quarter. It also acquired the accounts of one third party store, sold five company-operated stores to an Aaron's franchisee and one to an independent operator. Eight company- operated stores and two franchised stores were closed.
It ended the period with 1,143 company-operated stores, 681 franchised stores, 15 HomeSmart stores, 12 company-owned Rimco stores, and six franchised Rimcos in its Sales & Lease Ownership division and one Aaron's Office Furniture store, for a total count of 1,858.
The company is looking for third quarter company-owned revenues of $480 million and earning per share in the range of 35 cents to 39 cents.
Earnings per share are fully diluted, and all figures in parentheses are losses or declines.
Quarter ended 6/30
Net income (a)
Earnings per share
6 months ended 6/30
Net income (a)
Earnings per share
|(a) Includes a $36.5 million pretax charge for lawsuit expense in the 2011 quarter and six
Related Content By Author
Most Viewed Articles
Design Today to be Launched as Digital Publication


text:
As you diehard readers of the PiercingMetal website are well aware, we have been helping to laud the awesome 25th Anniversary of the fine folks at Image Comics a lot over the past year and we are continuing the process with this announcement about their latest batch of variant covers. Check it out.
The Press Release:
Image Comics is pleased to reveal the six of 30 variants planned for the final month of 25th anniversary variants—October covers in homage of iconic THE WALKING DEAD cover designs. This final month of variants will pay tribute to some of the hottest, most jaw-dropping moments from Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard’s long-running, and industry-changing series that went on to become a pop culture phenomenon.
Available in stores on Wednesday, October 4th:
ELSEWHERE #3 by Jay Faerber & Sumeyye Kesgin, cover by Kesgin & Riley
EXTREMITY #7 by Daniel Warren Johnson, cover by Johnson
I’ve been sharing these “variant covers” items for several months now and a LOT of them have been coming from the Image Comics/Skybound Entertainment side of the fence in honor of the companies 25th Anniversary. This batch seems to be a different celebration entirely and the different covers on these eight issues can be learned about via the press release that is provided below. As usual I’m posting this a couple of weeks before they hit the stands so they remain in your memory and can be inquired about when you hit your local retailer on New Comic Book Day. Dig in.
The Press Release:
Image/Skybound Entertainment introduces Italian comic artist Lorenzo De Felici to the United States market in a big way with Skybound’s line-wide variant covers which will hit stores this September. De Felici is the artist of a new, soon-to-be-announced, ongoing Skybound series sure to be a major hit with fans and critics alike upon its launch.
THE WALKING DEAD #171 by Robert Kirkman, Charlie Adlard & Cliff Rathburn, Cover B by De Felici.
Continuing the broadcast about the Image Comics 25th Anniversary, here is a bit of combined press that showcases the May 2017 “Spawn” variant covers that are heading our way. I’ve culled all of the covers together for you to shop a little more easily and will comment at the close. Enjoy.
The Press Release:
The SPAWN legacy spreads in Image Comics’ May variants for 25th anniversary. Image Comics is pleased to reveal the variants planned for May’s 25th anniversary theme month—SPAWN. Image Comics’ creators bring their interpretation of the iconic antihero by Todd McFarlane to life all month long. Black and white versions of a selection of the covers will also be available. Each month of Image’s 25th year will boast a theme for special anniversary variants.
Available in stores on Wednesday, May 10th:
BLACK CLOUD #2 by Ivan Brandon and Jason Latour, cover by Greg Hinkle
REGRESSION #1 by Cullen Bunn and Danny Luckert, cover by Danny Luckert
I’ve been raising a glass in honor of the 2017 25th Anniversary of Image Comics and it wasn’t too long ago that I shared the press release about their special homage variant covers that will be happening in February. Yesterday they unveiled the final four covers that are coming next month and since the copy refreshed the memory on the first bunch I am adding those images back in as well for good measure. The ”Final Four” will be down towards the end of this posting. Check it out.
The Press Copy:
THE FINAL FOUR! Image Comics reveals remaining 25th anniversary tribute variants. Image Comics is thrilled to reveal the final 4 of 15 tribute variants planned for February’s 25th anniversary theme month to round out the full list of “tribute covers” celebrating the legendary cover images from throughout the Image’s history. The newly revealed tribute variants include: Sean Lewis & Hayden Sherman’s THE FEW #2 commemorating Jonathan Hickman & Nick Dragotta’s EAST OF WEST #1, Chris Dingess, Matthew Roberts, Owen Gieni’s MANIFEST DESTINY #26 commemorating Jonathan Layman & Rob Guillory’s CHEW #1, Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda’s MONSTRESS #10 commemorating Todd McFarlane’s SPAWN #1, and OUTCAST BY ROBERT KIRKMAN & PAUL AZACETA #25 commemorating Rob Liefeld’s BRIGADE #1. Each month of Image’s 25th year will announce a list of special themed anniversary variants, which will begin to hit shelves on Wednesday, February 1st—the exact date of Image Comics’ founding in 1992, and the date of this year’s “Image Comics Day.”
Full List of February’s Tribute Variants:
Available in stores on Wednesday, February 1st:
Rick Remender and Wes Craig’s DEADLY CLASS #26 commemorating Marc Silvestri’s CYBER FORCE
Available in stores on Wednesday, February 8th:
Jonathan Hickman and Nick Dragotta’s EAST OF WEST #31 commemorating Rob Liefeld’s TEAM YOUNGBLOOD #19


text:
A second wave of coronavirus has triggered a second wave of product shortages in grocery stores, though not as severe as the panic-driven hoarding that cleared shelves of everything from soup to sanitizer in March. This time around, many retailers have once again imposed limits on purchases of the humblest of household products — toilet paper.
The Chester plant produces 2 million rolls of tissue a day — that’s 1,389 rolls per minute, or 23,000 little squares of toilet paper every second. The annual production would wrap around the planet about a thousand times.
Since the pandemic hit, the Chester mill has been operating full-tilt to keep up with demand. The company immediately imposed strict work rules to keep employees socially distanced and masked. It also reduced the number of packaging options for retailers, requiring fewer production line stoppages to reconfigure equipment for bundling the tissue.
The Chester mill stepped up output during the pandemic at the same time as it was completing a major $150 million upgrade at the mill: construction of a new natural gas-fired cogeneration plant. The production of paper requires enormous quantities of energy, both to run machinery and to dry paper. The 24-megawatt cogeneration plant, supported by a $6 million state grant, supplies the plant with all the electricity and steam it needs.
The new power plant, which went online earlier this year, allowed Kimberly-Clark to retire its coal-fired power plant. Demolition of the old plant is underway now. The conversion reduces the mill’s greenhouse gas emissions by 50%, which helps Kimberly-Clark get a step closer to its goal of cutting its carbon footprint in half by 2030.
1800 West Park Drive, Suite 350
Westborough, MA 01581 USA
Phone +1 (508) 366-9339
Fax +1 (508) 366-0019
Join UsMission & VisionMember BenefitsMember Directory
© 2023 International District Energy Association, All Rights Reserved. Site by eConverse Media


text:
Marriott International president Stephanie Linnartz is leaving the company to become president and CEO of athletic apparel company Under Armour.
Linnartz has been with Marriott for 25 years. Her departure is effective Feb. 24.
Prior to being appointed Marriott president in 2021, Linnartz served as the company’s group president for consumer operations, technology and emerging businesses.
She held a variety of other leadership roles during her tenure at Marriott, including senior vice president for sales and marketing, planning and support from 2005 to 2008; senior vice president of global sales in 2008 and 2009; global officer for sales and revenue management between 2009 and 2013; and global chief commercial officer from 2013 to 2019.
Linnartz played a pivotal role in Marriott’s acquisition of Starwood Hotels & Resorts. She helped spearhead the integration of the Starwood business into Marriott, overseeing the merging of their loyalty programs and the creation of Marriott Bonvoy in 2019. The Bonvoy loyalty program has 173 million members.
In a statement, Marriott CEO Anthony Capuano called Linnartz “an exceptional leader,” adding that news of her departure had brought forth “very mixed emotions.”
“On the one hand, I am excited for this next chapter in Stephanie’s career,” said Capuano. “On the other, I am saddened by the departure of such an incredible executive.”
Kevin Plank, Under Armour’s executive chair and brand chief, said Linnartz was “responsible for leading Marriott’s multibillion-dollar digital transformation, driving scale through continuous brand innovation across the portfolio, developing premier sports league and team partnerships, while architecting the extraordinary growth of its loyalty program.”
“The board is confident that Stephanie — along with our leadership team and all of our key stakeholders — will accelerate our ability to realize the substantial opportunities for Under Armour as both an operating company and aspirational brand,” said Plank.
Linnartz replaces Under Armour interim president and CEO Colin Browne, who will return to his previous role of COO. Browne had served as Under Armour’s interim CEO since June 2022, following the departure of Patrik Frisk earlier this year.
Source: Read Full Article


text:
Dow stocks at 52 week highs include Dupont (DD), Home Depot (HD), Pfizer (PFE), United Technologies (UTX) and Walt Disney (DIS). There are no Dow stock 52 week lows.
Premarket today, the Dow was indicated to open down -4 points.
Tuesday, the Dow closed up +227.85 (+1.41%) at 16,395.88. Today, DJIA closed down -35.70 (-0.22%) at 16,360.18.
Year-to-date the Dow is down -1.31%.
The ADP National Employment Report released today said private sector employment increased by 139,000 jobs from January to February. This falls below the consensus estimate and well below the average over the last 12 months.â€ The report said that goods producing employment rose by 19,000 jobs in February, up from a downwardly-revised figure of 12,000 in January. Nearly all of the growth came from the construction industry which added 14,000 jobs over the month. This also followed downwardly revised increases of 17,000 in the prior two months.
Goldman Sachs (+1.86%) and JPMorgan (+1.57%) were today’s biggest Dow stock gainers.
European stocks and Asian stocks ended lower.
The national average price of gasoline is up four-tenths of a cent to $3.464 per gallon.
There are no Dow stocks scheduled to report earnings in the near term.
Notable earnings reports from yesterday include:
AutoZone Inc. (AZO) reported second quarter EPS of $5.63 on revenue of $2.00 billion, compared to last yearâ€™s EPS of $4.78 on revenue of $1.86 billion.
Bob Evans Farms Inc. (BOBE) reported third quarter EPS of $0.30, compared to last yearâ€™s EPS of $0.56 on revenue of $434.44 million.
Radioshack Corporation (RSH) reported a fourth quarter loss of $1.29 per share on revenue of $935.40 million, compared to last yearâ€™s EPS of $0.04 on revenue of $1.30 billion.
Stocks reporting earnings today include:
PetSmart (PETM) reported its fourth quarter results with EPS of $1.28, beating the consensus estimate of $1.21. Revenue of $1.81 billion missed the consensus estimate of $1.83 billion. Gross profit for the quarter fell to $565.99 million from $593.44 million in the same quarter last year, partially due to the current quarter consisting of 13 weeks versus last year’s quarter which included 14 weeks. Gross margin improved 40 bps to 31.4 percent in the quarter and comparable store sales grew 1.2 percent in the quarter. PetSmart issued guidance and sees its full year 2014 EPS to be $4.42 to $4.54 versus a consensus estimate of $4.45. Net sales are expected to grow four percent to six percent in the quarter on comparable sales growth of two percent to four percent. Shares closed down.
Navistar (NAV) reported its first quarter results with EPS of -$3.05 which may not compare to the consensus estimate of -$1.77. Revenue of $2.2 billion missed the consensus estimate of $2.61 billion. Net loss for the quarter rose to $248 million from a net loss of $123 million in the same quarter last year. The company noted that its first quarter’s poor performance is due to lower military sales and a $67 million in reduced structural costs. An unfavorable impact of $21 million due to foreign exchange fluctuations also hurt the bottom line. Shares closed lower.
Today’s Featured Dow Stock
3M Co. (MMM) is down -4.56% year-to-date.


text:
The government was responding to an advertorial published on Monday, where BUA Foods Plc had accused Flour Mills of Nigeria and Dangote Sugar of sabotaging the FG efforts to achieve sugar sufficiency in domestic production, a claim Flour Mills of Nigeria denied.
BUA Foods also accused Dangote Sugar of creating an artificial scarcity of the product so that it could not only raise the price but arm-twist the government into giving the suspended license back to Flour Mills of Nigeria Plc.
In response, the Executive Secretary of the National Sugar Development Council, Zacch Adedeji, advised operators not to raise false alarms at the public presentation of the approved presidential raw sugar quota allocations for 2022 to representatives of the sector's refineries in Abuja.
He said, "Only yesterday, the attention of the council was drawn to a publication in some sections of the media credited to BUA Foods on the suspension of sugar sales."
"Given the strategic importance of the sugar value chain to the Nigerian economy, the council wishes to state that there is no known stoppage in sugar production by any of the operators as a result of compliance issues or on council's mandate."


text:
Hong Kong-based hardware news site HKEPC, said that in April Intel will launch new motherboards with the Z490 chipset designed for the 10th-gen desktop CPUs (which remain based on a 14nm process, albeit seriously refined).
The Z490 family will be the high-end boards, B460 in the midrange, and H410 the entry-level motherboards.
All these motherboards reportedly come with a new LGA 1200 socket. In other words, these boards won’t be backwards-compatible, and if you want to upgrade to Comet Lake-S, you’ll need to buy a new motherboard. In fact, the only thing is safe is your existing CPU cooler.
We’ve been expecting Comet Lake-S to debut next year, although the previous speculation indicated a first quarter of 2020 launch, so April is just outside that timeframe – which might be a slight disappointment for Intel fans awaiting the next chips to take the fight to Ryzen 3000.
However, Ryzen 4000 (Zen 3, on 7nm+) desktop processors is expected a few months later in 2020 which should outclass Intel considerably. Intel might also find it tripped up by some supply issues.
The rumour highlighted a specific chip from the Comet Lake-S range, namely the Core i5-10400, which is purportedly a 6-core (12-thread) offering that’s clocked at 3.5GHz with Turbo up to 4.1GHz.


text:
Filipino designers Neil Capistrano and Mark Boni Marter of fashion brand Neil & Marter have made another history as the first Filipinos to win the International Design-A-Bag (DAB) Competition held at the Dubai World Trade Center in the United Arab Emirates, on March 31.
The Amara Bag, Capistrano and Marter’s winning piece, is a circular bag that can be folded into a semi-circle bag using a design inspired by the critically endangered species of Mindoro dwarf buffalo known as Tamaraw which is endemic only to the Philippines.
Declared as the overall winner during the final judging event of the 2022 edition of the only global bag design competition for freelance designers and designs students, the world-class creations of the Quezon City-based fashion brand Neil & Marter Amara Circular bag is made out of leather oddments and other material which aims to make a statement through sustainable fashion.
Perfectly styled, the part with the color blue in the Amara Handbag represents the feeling of security and creativity while optimism and positivity is what the yellow color represents. Merged together, the creative piece with two colors symbolizes “Our hopes for the Tamaraws to strive and survive.”
On Neil & Marter’s official Facebook page, the team shared the inspiration behind their victory of winning the prestigious competition saying “our vision for this concept is to be an eye-opener. Fashion, design, and the arts can be used to spread message and awareness, especially in environmental issues.”
They also added that “Along with the inspiration is our sustainability in fashion advocacy. The Fashion & Textile industry is one of the biggest contributors to waste. That is why we used remnants and off-cuts of genuine leathers to create this bag, to honor these leathers for they also once had life, and making this bag completely out of it… We are giving life and meaning again to the leathers that were left out.”
The 15-year-old Design-A-Bag (DAB) Competition is part of a collaboration between Fashion Access and the APLF. The annual Fashion Access trade expo brings together a global design community, this time with a unique edition in Dubai. Designers may show off their work to the public and exchange design ideas with people from all over the world.
Photo Credit: https://www.facebook.com/neilmarter/photos/pcb.1386645705130920/1386633428465481


text:
The recent Virtual Ocean Dialogues conference confirmed that while the sector has made strong progress, some important obstacles still need to be overcome, writes Jason Holland.
As a means of food production, aquaculture has come a long way in a relatively short space of time, but if it’s to realise its full potential as a global nutritional security solution – providing healthy, sustainable and affordable protein and meeting shifting consumer expectations – then the sector must rapidly accelerate its progress. This was a key message that rang loud and clear from the Virtual Ocean Dialogues conference, recently hosted by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and Friends of the Ocean.
Convening leaders and communities from across the global ocean space, the special session “Nourishing Billions” estimated that already around 1 billion people rely on fish as their main source of animal protein, while many more gain nutritional benefit from other aquatic foods such as shellfish, seaweed and algae. Meanwhile 10-12% of the world’s population rely on fish for their livelihoods.
While the strains on ocean food systems will increase as demand continues to grow, and there remains much ground to cover with regards to tackling socio-economic challenges within aquatic food value chains, the event also identified that a healthy and regenerative ocean, incorporating carefully managed fishing and sustainable aquaculture, could potentially produce six times as much food as it does today, while at the same time creating sustainable economic growth and employment.
Setting the scene in his keynote address, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Director-General Qu Dongyu, stated thatwell before the coronavirus pandemic, providing nutritional food for billions of people was an enormous challenge.
“Covid-19 has inflicted terrible losses – both in terms of lives and economies – and poses new global challenges, but there are also lessons to be learned on how to make food systems more robust and resilient in the future,” he said. “We are heading towards a new normal – the time after the pandemic. In this way, as the Chinese proverb says, ‘there may be fortune in misfortune’.”
Because fish and other aquatic foods are “truly natural superfoods”, fulfilling essential nutritional needs, and are often much more accessible and affordable than many other animal proteins, Qu Dongyu emphasised the essential role that oceans have in feeding future generations. At the same time, he acknowledged that the deployment of new, evolving innovations are changing the way that fisheries are managed and operated. They are also revolutionising the way that trade and sales are conducted, and ensuring food safety and the legality of origin.
Last but not least, and already providing more than half of all the aquatic produced consumed by human beings, aquaculture is “fundamental” to the future food supply, he said.
“Marine aquaculture, including seaweed, represents huge potential and a real hope for the future. The progress in a number of areas could be a real gamechanger, including genetic selection, breeding and feed technology, the farming of new species, and the development of advanced equipment and logistics.”
Rosamond Naylor, Founding Director of the Center on Food Security and the Environment at Stanford University, said that she believes the aquaculture sector is already awash with innovations, particularly in regards to the types of systems now being used globally and also the work that’s going into alternative feed ingredients and the progression of circular economies. However, she accepts that there’s a lot of ground still to cover commercially.
“Aquaculture has become the dominant form of fish production,” she said. “And while a lot [of the species] are sustainable – clams, oysters etc. – many also have sustainability challenges. They depend on wild fish for inputs into feeds, or they use antibiotics, or they make habitat changes in the oceans. There’s a lot of attention that needs to be directed towards sustainability in both fisheries and aquaculture.”
Giles Bolton, Responsible Sourcing Director at Tesco, told the conference that he believes aquaculture “has the greatest potential”, but that it needs to dramatically step up its efforts, particularly on the feed ingredient side.
He said that the UK retailer has recognised “the whole of the food industry has to change rapidly”, because it is already the second biggest contributor to climate change, and because of the advances of renewable energy, will become the biggest contributor by 2040.
It’s also the main contributor to global biodiversity loss, he said, adding that these problems are likely to be exacerbated by a global population that’s set to reach 10 billion by 2050.
“That’s why things have to change. Aquaculture is extraordinarily interesting because while plant-based protein has to be one solution to feeding the world’s people, aquaculture is the key solution for animal-based protein.
“With the greenhouse gas emissions coming from so much meat production, and deforestation linked to so much poultry production, it’s very difficult to see how you can scale up. In fact, some of those may need to scale down. But with aquaculture, if we can get it right, it’s potential is fantastic.
“Although there is positive momentum, we’re some way off from getting this to the right place. So while many of us have focused for a number of years in supermarkets like mine that the wild fish we sell is from a sustainable source, still too much of the feed that goes into aquaculture is not from a sustainable source – it’s coming from the same wild fisheries as other products. So we have to go harder and faster with innovation.”
Bolton explained that some of Tesco’s suppliers are doing “very exciting things” with insect protein instead of fishmeal, and also substituting conventional fish oil with algal oil that’s extracted from farmed micro-algae that has naturally high levels of the omega-3 oils eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA).
“We’ll certainly need to see diversification of the feed sector. Also, at the moment, insect feed works on paper, but the challenge is getting it to the scale where it can replace the current efficient systems. Creating omega-3 from seaweed – that could be easily scalable, but at the moment it’s more expensive. So how do we move from a great idea to economic reality?”
With the FAO’s newly-published 2020 edition of its biennial publication, “The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture” (SOFIA) report, finding that global aquaculture production reached a record level of 82.1 million tonnes in 2018 and is forecast to reach 109 million tonnes by 2030, Audun Lem, Deputy Director, Fisheries and Aquaculture Department of the FAO, agreed that the sector has“tremendous growth potential” over the next few decades – underpinned by increased consumption.
“SOFIA mostly brings good news,” Audun Lem said. “Good news in the sense that the world’s production is increasing both from capture fisheries and aquaculture to almost 180 million tonnes, the human consumption of these products is increasing and has reached almost 20.5kg. But there are very large regional differences, with some places, like the Maldives, having a very large consumption – more than 100kg per person per year – whereas some landlocked countries have a much lower average. What’s encouraging is that in developing countries, consumption is increasing.”
Bucking this trend, though, Africa’s per capita consumption of just 10kg is a strong cause for concern, said Lem.
“This is worrying in itself, but it’s also worrying because it’s declining through population growth. Africa does, however, have very large potential for aquaculture production, and we have a number of programmes supporting that development.
“Overall, this shows that fish is part of the solution and cannot be ignored, and so there are many reasons to be optimistic for the future,” he said.


text:
Rose PowellFollow on Google+
Home delivery alcohol start-up emerges from beta and begins to grow
Liquorun, a start-up that delivers alcohol to metropolitan Melbourne homes within two hours, has emerged victorious from their beta testing phase and just passed their first weekend of trading.
Launched in July by Melbourne Football Club players Joel Macdonald, James Strauss and Rohan Bail, the Blue Chilli-backed company will be focusing on growing their customer network and online community in Melbourne with a view to launch in Sydney and Brisbane in early 2014.
Macdonald told StartupSmart their fundamental partnerships are functioning well and they’re learning a lot.
“We got probably more orders than we expected. The bottle shops are really happy, and that partnership is crucial to our growth as they’re pumping our brand in store and we’re leveraging each other’s databases, so the long term prospects are looking good,” Macdonald says.
He adds the most challenging part of their launch so far has been making sure the agreements with the bottle shops were up to scratch.
“Most challenging has been making sure that the agreement is tight with the bottle shop and our own licensing documents, because they’re putting huge faith in us,” Macdonald says.
The first weekend involved 300 customers and three drivers. The Liquorun team are focusing on tightening the processes and systems they rely on.
“The learning has been great, and we’re trying to implement everything we hear that makes sense straight away,” Macdonald says. “Now we’re in the validation through growth phase. We need to tighten up the model and boost our distribution and delivery reach.”
They’ll be focusing on customer acquisition and developing their online communities in the coming months with Facebook advertising, Google AdWords campaigns and editorials in hyper-local news sites.
Macdonald adds one of the best bits of the business so far is how delighted people are when the delivery team turns up.
“We’re working on protocols for our drivers as we grow, because everyone wants you to come in and have a beer with them when you rock up,” Macdonald says. “But we’re going to keep it really professional and hopefully soon the drivers will have too many orders to hang around at any spot.”


text:
Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:43:08 GMT
AKQA last week announced the winners of Future Lions, the official student awards at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity in France. AKQA has led the Future Lions program since its inception in 2005.
This year, more than 1,800 students from an unprecedented 60 countries participated in the competition.
The five teams that were crowned are:
· chromebook_type for Google by Elton Rhee, Ludvig Pehrson and Louis Meyer (Miami Ad School, San Francisco and Europe)
· SafeStamp for Heineken International by Divya Seshadri and Meghan D. O’Neill (Miami Ad School, San Francisco)
· UberFIRST-AID for Uber by Andrea Raia, Andrea Zanino, Pierpaolo Bivio and Francesco Sguinzi (Fondazione Accademia di Comunicazione, Italy)
· Snaphelp for Snapchat by Yusol Shim (KyungHee University, Bigant Academy, South Korea)
· Treeprint for World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) by Cheryl Seah Su Yin (LASALLE College of the Arts, Singapore)
Berghs School of Communication was named Future Lions “School of the Year” with more shortlisted finalists than any other school in the world. This is the second year in a row that Berghs achieved this honor.
The Future Lions ceremony was hosted by Rei Inamoto, AKQA Chief Creative Officer, who presented each winning team with the limited 10th Anniversary edition of the prestigious Future Lions trophy.
“The up-and-coming generation has unprecedented power to shape the future, as this year’s Future Lions winners demonstrate,” said Rei. “These students boldly made their move with ideas that have limitless potential for both brands and the public.”
In celebration of the competition’s focus on creativity and innovation, AKQA’s official partner is Google.
“Future Lions provides a platform for innovative, unexpected ideas by encouraging students to create without boundaries,” said Torsten Schuppe, Google’s Director, Brand and Consumer Marketing EMEA. “Google is honored to be part of Future Lions, and we’re eager to watch as these winners make their next move.”
Now in its tenth year, the annual Future Lions competition challenges students to connect an audience of their choosing to a product or service from a global brand in a way that wasn’t possible three years ago. There are no rules in terms of media or technology, and no specifics around product, service, or target audience. The 2015 theme, ‘Make Your Move’, encouraged students to think ahead and create ideas that shape the future.view more - CreativeAKQA UK, Mon, 29 Jun 2015 11:43:08 GMT


text:
Displaying 41 - 50 of 778
Lingering COVID restrictions and a patchwork approach to reopening across the country will prevent the economically crucial business travel segment from recovering until at least 2024.
U.S. Travel's Roger Dow issued a statement on the announcement that President Biden and U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson have agreed to reopen travel between their two countries as soon as possible.
"International travel can be safely restarted by applying a risk-based and science-driven approach."
The CEOs of all airlines that offer UK-US passenger services joined today with Heathrow Airport and other industry-leading CEOs in calling for the re-opening of transatlantic travel, a move that will be essential to igniting economic recovery.
The U.S. Travel Association’s Educational Seminar for Tourism Organizations (ESTO) announced today that registration is open for attendance at its live event, to be held in Los Angeles August 15-17.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement:
Leaders of 23 global travel companies sent a letter to President Biden Tuesday urging greater progress toward reopening international travel.
The Leisure & Hospitality industry gained 331,000 jobs in April—outperforming the overall U.S. jobs increase of 266,000, and offsetting jobs losses in other sectors.
U.S. Travel Association President and CEO Roger Dow issued the following statement on today’s release of the U.K.’s “traffic light system” for international travel:
The U.S. Travel Association has announced the hiring of Nicole Porter as vice president, political affairs - PAC and grassroots, a newly created position.
Interested in joining U.S. Travel? Learn more about membership benefits and how to apply.
U.S. Travel Association is transitioning to a new system to manage logins. You will likely need to reset your password in order to successfully login. Please contact firstname.lastname@example.org with any questions.


text:
Players hankering for a return to Greenvale can start packing their bags now. The Deadly Premonition: The Board Game Kickstarter campaign, which only just launched, has already reached its $50,000 goal—and has checked off a few stretch goals to boot.
As of this writing, over 1,300 backers have pledged over $80,000, meeting stretch goals that will bring more cards and unique artwork to the game.
Now that the project is funded, publisher Rising Star Games will “be giving the green flag to our artist to begin work on the visual redesign of the cards,” according to an update on the campaign page.
While Deadly Premonition game director Hidetaka “Swery” Suehiro has noted that he is not “deeply involved in making the board game,” if the Kickstarter meets its $125,000 stretch goal, Swery will create a new agent character. And if his past character designs are any indication, this new agent is going to be interesting.


text:
Number of people in the developing world with access to antiretroviral drugs for HIV/AIDS treatment in 2006. Three years ago, there were fewer than 300,000
Number of people who are newly infected with the disease for every individual put on antiretroviral treatment. Patient need still far exceeds drug access
Approximate increase in the price of Apple stock, now more than $140 a share, since plans for the iPhone were unveiled in early January
Number of songs that fit on the not-yet-released Walkman W960i, Sony Ericsson's touchscreen answer to the iPhone, which holds hundreds...


text:
Benefit Add New Hoola Shades
Benefit is extending its popular bronzer powder family by two! From this month you can now get Hoola in two new shades.
The UK’s No.1 Prestige Bronzer now comes in Caramel and Toasted, as well as the Original and Lite.
Caramel is a medium-deep powder bronzer, and Toasted is a deep powder bronzer, making it the darkest of the four Hoolas.
So, the full Hoola line-up now has Hoola, the original, and the perfect bronzer for light to medium skin tones, Hoola Lite, a cool-toned powder for a flush of colour on fair complexions, and Hoola Caramel, the medium deep shade perfect for olive complexions, and Hoola Toasted, a rich, chestnut hue for deep skin tones.
It’s a good move from Benefit, as the brand has been criticised in the past for not having enough shades in its foundation range, Hello Happy.
When it launched last year it came in just 12 shades, which is not a lot in the base market these days. Fenty Beauty, for example, has 40 shades to choose from, and brands like Bobbi Brown and MAC also have huge arrays to suit all skintones.
Hoola was launched way back in 2000 (and I remember writing about it for the newspaper I worked for!) and Hoola Lite didn’t follow until 2017. It’s taken another two years, but the darker shades are finally here.
The four shades are available to buy now, £26 each, from Benefit locations, and benefitcosmetics.co.uk