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Business-to-business e-commerce is set to soar to staggering levels in the next few years due to the emergence of new kinds of online marketplaces, according to a new report by Forrester Research.
Forrester has more than doubled its previous predictions for e-commerce growth, now saying the business-to-business e-commerce market in the US alone will be worth $2.7tr (£1.67tr) by 2004. Forrester previously predicted the market, currently valued at $55bn, would hit $1.3tr in four years.
The optimism is fuelled by the growth of new kinds of online marketplaces, including auctions, aggregators, bid systems, and exchanges, which have become immensely popular in the last year or two. These new commerce strategies will capture 53 percent of all online business trade by 2004, the research firm believes.
"US businesses are universally preparing to buy and sell online, leveraging the Net to build deeper relationships with their business partners," said Steven J. Kafka, eBusiness trade research analyst at Forrester, in a statement. "But the rampant growth of online trade through these one-to-one business connections will taper off after 2001, as firms more actively participate in eMarketplaces to connect with a wider universe of buyers and sellers."
What do you think? Tell the Mailroom. And read what others have said.
See also: the e-commerce special.


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Visitors to the 2014 Washington Auto Show can check out new makes and models from more than 42 manufacturers at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center — running now through Feb. 2, Super Bowl Sunday. Organizers say this year “marks a new era for Washington, D.C.‘s largest public show. With its doubled time frame, from five to ten days, it’s an even bigger bonanza for area residents to enjoy the fully stocked, two-story convention center with an automotive showcase many describe as ‘new-car heaven.’ ”
Highlights of the auto show include Mercedes-Benz, which is showcasing a prototype S-Class which drives via simulator through highways and towns, featuring its latest safety technology. Toyota had two concept cars, including a three-wheeled commuter called the iRoad. Other eye-catching cars included the new Chevy Corvette and the Jaguar F Type convertible. Other new stylings to see are the Ford F-150 Series re-do, the BMW XDrive Wagon, Corvette Stingray and Mini Paceman.
Adult tickets for the show are $13; with seniors, $10; children (6 to 12), $5; and under 6, free.

domain: news


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PUBG Mobile fans are in for a treat as the new PUBG Mobile 4th Anniversary variety show will be premiering on 3 April 2022 at Sunway Pyramid, as part of the celebration. Marking the grand finale of the 12-day roadshow, visitors who drop by the PUBG Mobile event at LG2 Blue Concourse, Sunway Pryramid, will get first-class tickets to watch the pilot episode of the show starring their favourite PUBG Mobile icons, right at the event venue.
Shot in Sunway Pyramid from 26 March 2022, the show features 12 PUBG Mobile icons; Master Ramen, J Hunter, OTG, Yakuza, EmiMohamad, Soultann, FattahZie, Raa Suzuran, MissRose, Fiera Fendi, MunaXmoci and XNunaa taking part in wacky challenges around the mall.
The PUBG Mobile icons were divided into three teams of four members, the Black Team led by Master Ramen, FattahZie as the Blue Team’s leader and MissRose leading the Green Team. All three teams battled it out in exciting challenges before reaching the final stage – the Battle Royale Mode. The winning team takes it all with special prizes including a Redmi Note 11 Pro for each member.
Organised in collaboration between Tencent Games, PUBG Mobile and Xiaomi, the third largest global smartphone brand as its official sponsor, the PUBG Mobile 4th Anniversary event is still ongoing at Sunway Pyramid until 3 April 2022.
Fans are encouraged to drop by to experience PUBG Mobile in person with the PUBG Mobile sculptures, special decorated photo locations and onground cosplayers as part of the event. Visitors can also stand a chance to win attractive prizes by playing games such as the Claw Machine and Spin to Win. Exclusive prizes include PUBG Mobile 4th Anniversary caps and face masks, in-game skins, as well as Redmi Note 11 smartphones sponsored by Xiaomi in addition to other prizes.
For fans who are not able to visit the roadshow, fret not as the 3-episode variety show will be aired on PUBG Mobile’s official Youtube and Facebook platforms.
For more information, visit PUBG MOBILE’s official social media pages:
- Facebook: PUBG MOBILE Malaysia
- Facebook: PUBG MOBILE Esports Malaysia
- YouTube: PUBG MOBILE Malaysia
- Instagram: @pubgmobilemyofficial


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Due to the dollar price going up, prices of daily essentials have gone up in many countries and the prices of imported goods have also seen a rise in Bangladesh, he said.
Keeping this in mind, the government has started selling edible oil, sugar, dates, chickpeas and lentils through state-owned Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) at low prices for one crore low-income families, he added.
From Thursday, TCB started selling daily essentials ahead of Ramadan.
The card holders can buy goods at subsidized rates from specific TCB sales points and dealers’ outlets.
A card holder can buy 2 litres of soybean oil, 2 kg lentils, sugar, chickpea and 1 kg dates at a time.
The card holders can buy sugar at TK 60 per kg, date at Tk 100 per kg, lentils at Tk 70, chickpeas at Tk 50 and soybean oil at Tk 110 per litre.


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East Carolina University interior design students are competing to create a new showroom design in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart.
The showroom design contest is sponsored by furniture manufacturer Knoll, where alumna Scarlett Salter is an account manager in Raleigh. She recently visited the student teams in ECU’s design studio to provide feedback on their work before the contest ends April 12.
Salter came up with the idea to give ECU students the opportunity to redesign a Knoll showroom at NeoCon, a 50-year-old show that connects 500 companies with an estimated 50,000 design professionals each June in Chicago.
“I really wanted to bring Knoll to ECU,” Salter said. “I wanted something really interactive. I’m so excited to see the phenomenal ideas that have come out of this contest.”
Once all student work is submitted, Salter and colleagues will pick the top two or three teams to present final designs. While the winning team will not actually have its design at NeoCon, the work will be shared with Knoll, which is celebrating its 80th year in the business.
Orginally published March 29, 2018. Written by Crystal Baity. Photos by Cliff Hollis.


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Domingo H. Kim spent $40,000 to open the Poppleton Food Market near the Lexington Terrace apartments, but he will lose his business because of a mistake by Baltimore's zoning office.
Mr. Kim opened the store in May at 805 W. Lexington St. after the zoning office mistakenly told him that the neighborhood's zoning did not prohibit groceries. In August, he learned that the area is zoned for residential use and a grocery cannot operate there without a special exception from the zoning board.
Yesterday, the Board of Municipal and Zoning Appeals voted 3-2 in favor of Mr. Kim's request for a special exception. But a majority vote was not enough -- four votes are needed to approve most zoning appeals.
Before the vote, Charles J. Purnell, a competing grocer at 19 N. Fremont St., dropped his opposition to Mr. Kim's store.
Mr. Purnell, the owner of the Last Stop Confectionary, complained in October that the Poppleton Food Market violated zoning regulations.
He said that his receipts were cut in half after Mr. Kim's store opened and that the continued loss of revenue would drive him out of business.
A financial settlement prompted Mr. Purnell to withdraw his opposition, his lawyer, John Denick, said yesterday.
Mr. Purnell and Mr. Denick declined further comment. They left the hearing before the board's vote.
"I don't know what's going on," Mr. Kim said after the vote. "My mind is blank."
Zoning board Chairman Lalit H. Gadhia, Herbert Brown and Barbara Green voted for the special exception, but M. Scott Smith and Giavonna A. Blattermann voted against it.
Mr. Gadhia tried, without success, to persuade Mr. Smith and Ms. Blattermann to change their votes.
A lawyer for Mr. Kim, Daniel W. Quasney, told the board that his client should be allowed to operate because his investment was made on the basis of erroneous information from city zoning officials.
"This is an extremely special circumstance," said Mr. Quasney, He said his client may appeal the matter to the Baltimore Circuit Court.
Mr. Quasney said Mr. Kim has been an outstanding resident in the West Baltimore neighborhood where the store is located.
He said the grocer had donated rat poison that enabled residents to fight the rodent problem and he restored a building that had been an eyesore.
Residents testified that the store was convenient and well-kept, and that Mr. Kim's presence has helped the area.
"Anything that will help us to be a little more worry-free is a plus," said Felicia Cooper, one resident. "That's the way I feel about the Poppleton Food Market."


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IDG Connect. The “iPad for Business Survey 2012″
- 12 percent of workers indicated that the iPad has “completely replaced” their traditional laptop
- 54 percent said the iPad has “partly” replaced their laptop, and instead complements it on the go
- Nearly three-quarters of respondents say that they ‘carry their laptop around less’ now that they own an iPad
- The iPad has had less of an effect on desktop PCs, where just 6 percent of respondents said the iPad has “completely” replaced their desktop, while 33 percent said the iPad has “partly” replaced their desktop
- The most common use of the iPad among professionals is Web browsing, which 79 percent said they “always” use the device for. Reading followed closely with 76 percent, news consumption had 73 percent, and work communication earned 54 percent.
- In all, 91 percent of professionals who own an iPad said they use the device at work — 51 percent “always” use their iPad at work, while 40 percent said it is used there “sometimes.” And the iPad has quickly become IT professionals’ go-to device for computing on the go, as 79 percent said they “always” use their iPads outside of their home.
So it would seem that the web is augmenting our daily existence. But is it the web or is it the delivery method?
For thousands of years humans have been seeking a smarter way, whatever that might be. And it would appear that we have one.
Our overwhelming urge to learn, engage, cherish and nurture, within a daily existence have come together in one format – a digital tablet. The ‘always on’ connection to the web, with apps that defragment our daily existence and give us what we what when we want it.
This, it would seem, is the new norm and yet it still never ceases to amaze me how business users still don’t see the digital world for what it is. Moreover, what it can do for them as well as their customers.
It’s not what is being delivered that is important but how it’s delivered. The wrapper, it seems, has more value than the sweetie!


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Kasada founder and CEO Sam Crowther.
Cybersecurity startup Kasada has closed its $7 million Series A raise with the CIA’s 20-year-old venture capital fund, In-Q-Tel (IQT) joining the round.
The Sydney tech venture previously announced the first $6.5 million in the Series A from the CSIRO’s innovation fund, Main Sequence Ventures, and Westpac’s Reinventure Group, having first raised $2.5m in 2018.
The IQT backing is a major coup for the four-year-old startup launched by CEO Sam Crowther when he was a teenager.
Kasada’s cloud-based tech product, Polyform, is a bot detection and mitigation system for websites, mobile apps, and APIs. It stops malicious attacks such as credential stuffing, fraud, account takeover and data-scraping. It also protects against the dark web’s inventory of stolen user credentials and automated fraud tools.
IQT’s remit is to work with US allies to back startups with potential for high impact on national security protection. It’s not-for-profit, and independent of the CIA and opened an Australian office earlier this year. This is its first local investment. Among more than 200 ventures it’s backed over two decades, one was a satellite mapping venture, Keyhole, that Google went on to buy. It’s now better known as Google Earth.


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Due to increased demand, trade show specialist Messe Frankfurt has announced that two additional halls will be added to the Automechanika 2013 exhibition in Dubai, bringing it to a total of 11 halls.
According to Messe Frankfurt, the original plan of expanding the show by one hall was re-evaluated to accommodate more exhibitors. “The high demand for exhibition space reflects the positive development of the industry and the value of Automechanika Dubai,” the company said in a statement.
The additional hall space will accommodate two new country pavilions, The Netherlands and Indonesia, who will use the stands to showcase the countries’ local manufacturers and brands. Automechanika Dubai 2013 will also see first time exhibitors from Macedonia, Malta and Armenia.
The exhibition will be held on June 11-13 at the Dubai International Convention and Exhibition Centre, United Arab Emirates.


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More juicy news fodder is floating to the surface after yesterday’s announcement that Facebook plans to buy Oculus VR. In a story about the deal, the New York Times quotes a source who claims Facebook will eventually redesign and rebrand the Oculus headset:
According to a person involved in the deal who was not allowed to speak publicly because he was not authorized by either company, Facebook eventually plans to redesign the Oculus hardware and rebrand it with a Facebook interface and logo.
Update: In a statement to TechCrunch, Facebook has denied the allegation by the Times’ source. The rumored redesign is "not true and not in the spirit of our relationship [with Oculus]," Facebook says.
As the Times points out, news of the acquisition has also given one developer cold feet. Minecraft creator Markus Persson tweeted this yesterday:
We were in talks about maybe bringing a version of Minecraft to Oculus. I just cancelled that deal. Facebook creeps me out.
Still, the deal’s architects maintain that it makes sense. In a blog post on the company’s website, Oculus VR founder Palmer Luckey says that he, too, had his reservations at first—but was eventually convinced:
When Facebook first approached us about partnering, I was skeptical. As I learned more about the company and its vision and spoke with Mark, the partnership not only made sense, but became the clear and obvious path to delivering virtual reality to everyone. Facebook was founded with the vision of making the world a more connected place. Virtual reality is a medium that allows us to share experiences with others in ways that were never before possible.
Luckey goes on to promise "[v]ery little changes day-to-day at Oculus," although he says the company will have "substantially more resources to build the right team." And speaking of resources, Luckey had some interesting things to add on Reddit:
We have not gotten into all the details yet, but a lot of the news is coming. The key points:
1) We can make custom hardware, not rely on the scraps of the mobile phone industry. That is insanely expensive, think hundreds of millions of dollars. More news soon.
2) We can afford to hire everyone we need, the best people that fit into our culture of excellence in all aspects.
3) We can make huge investments in content. More news soon.
Luckey went on to note, "This deal specifically lets us greatly lower the price of the Rift." That jibes with a related InfoWorld story that quotes Mark Zuckerberg as saying, "We’re not going to try to make a profit selling the devices, long-term. We view this as a software and services thing." It sounds like Facebook could follow in the footsteps of console vendors with a razor-and-blades business model for the Oculus Rift.
I suppose that sounds pretty good. Then again, I can’t help but notice that Luckey looks a little conflicted in the mugshot at the bottom of his blog post. Maybe he just got a call from Zuck about a FarmVille-branded Oculus headset…


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Press Release Distribution
Multi-Visions Press Releases+ XML/RSS
By Lamantine Software, Multi-Visions
Press Release Multi-Visions Announces Partnership with Lamantine Software. LAVAL, Canada, November 1st, 2013 - Today, Multi-Visions Canada Inc. announced a partnership with Lamantine Software.
Emsisoft is teaming up with Surfright Hitman Pro: Buy Emsisoft Anti-Malware and get Sufright Hitman Pro Free! LAVAL, Canada, May 2nd 2013 - Multi-Visions Canada Inc.
ACRBO Welcomes Multi-Visions as a preferred vendor. LAVAL, Canada, March 14th, 2012 - Today, ACRBO, The Association of Computer Repair Business Owners introduced Multi-Visions Canada Inc. as a preferred vendor to all members of the association.
Multi-Visions Canada Inc Announces Holiday Special- Buy 1, Get 2 Free
Today, Multi-Visions Canada Inc announced a partnership with Emsisoft GmbH.


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KEARNEY — The owner of the newest Thunderhead Brewing Co. taproom in Omaha said the popularity of the Kearney brand is spreading so rapidly he’s planning additional locations in Lincoln and West Point in northeast Nebraska.
“The first location hit our expectations in two years. We were expecting five,” said Beau Starkel, who this week announced his plans to open a second Thunderhead taproom in Omaha just south of the Old Market district.
Starkel’s first Thunderhead taproom is at 13304 W. Center Road in west Omaha.
He said his business relationship with Thunderhead Brewing Co. owner Trevor Schaben formed about six years ago when Starkel’s girlfriend was attending the University of Nebraska at Kearney.
“It all started with a girl. I was cruising out there on the weekends, and, you know, a man likes to find a nice watering hole,” he explained.
Starkel teaches at the University of Nebraska at Omaha and owns several businesses, including a social media company and wine business. He scouted for about two years to find the location for Omaha’s first Thunderhead taproom. He said he’s using Thunderhead logos and brands in marketing the taprooms. “You’ll swear it’s no different than Kearney’s.”
Schaben opened Thunderhead Brewing in Kearney 20 years ago. He said he’s pleased that his beer is being enjoyed across Nebraska.
“It’s been fantastic. We have a presence in Omaha and that’s where the bulk of the people are,” Schaben said.
Schaben said the volume of Thunderhead beer being sold in Omaha is about equal to what he’s selling at his original location at 18 E. 21st St. in downtown Kearney.
Schaben is surprised to find Thunderhead beer on sale at so many places in Nebraska. He’s uncertain how many outlets there are because much of his product is sold through distributors, in accordance with state liquor laws.
Schaben said he’s planning to open a tap room in Axtell in the same building where he’s been brewing for the past several years.
He arrived in Kearney 20 years ago, about one year after his military career ended. He said during his service he sampled many varieties of beer overseas, and took up home brewing.
“When I got back to Nebraska I noticed there really wasn’t very much interesting beer,” he said, so he decided to begin brewing in Kearney and opened the first Thunderhead Brewery.


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"Un-carrier" T-Mobile (NASDAQ:TMUS) has kicked off a war with upgrade policies, and Verizon (NYSE:VZ) Wireless and AT&T (NYSE:T) have now responded in kind with new upgrade programs of their own. Carriers are now encouraging consumers to upgrade smartphones more often, a stark contrast to how they've behaved historically. The key reason is that it's because they're not paying for those upgrades anymore through these new programs.
Big Red and Ma Bell, in particular, still charge higher service prices and just want consumers to pay full retail cost, even if that price is spread out through a financing program. T-Mobile, on the other hand, is transparently separating the device cost from the service cost.
In the following video, Fool contributor Evan Niu, CFA, and Eric Bleeker, CFA, discuss how some of these new carrier upgrade policies aren't so good for consumers.


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ALBANY — Environmental activists descended on the state Capitol on Friday to emphasize their concerns with the proposed regulations on the plastic bag ban.
Scheduled to take effect March 1, the law places a ban on single-use plastic bags and gives municipalities the option of putting a 5-cent tax on paper bags. Spearheaded by Environmental Advocates of New York, New York Public Interest Research Group and former EPA Regional Administrator Judith Enck, a group of more than 60 environmental organizations called for the regulations proposed by the state Department of Environmental Conservation to follow the intent of the law, in a letter delivered to the Capitol on Friday afternoon.
Riverkeeper Legislative Advocacy Manager Jeremy Cherson said there are about a dozen issues with the regulations, ranging in minor language discrepancies to more serious concerns.
Cherson identified four major concerns that Riverkeeper has with the proposed regulations.
“The law allows for plastic bags 10 mil or thicker,” Cherson said. A mil is a unit that represents one-thousandth of an inch.
“There is a big difference between that and 4 mil or 2 mil, which is what other jurisdictions, other states, counties and cities, have set as their threshold,” he said.
Additionally, 10 mil is just above the threshold for what most machinery can make, which makes the regulation costly for manufacturers, Cherson said.
Riverkeeper is calling for a no-film plastic standard, Cherson said.
“It makes it a lot easier for everybody,” he said.
The section regarding bag thickness is regarding requirements for reusable bags. The requirement for non-plastic reusable bags is a minimum fabric weight of 80 grams per square meter, according to the law.
Enck described the 10 mil regulation as a “monumental mistake.”
“The DEC thankfully has time to change [this] before the law takes effect in March,” Enck said.
NYPIRG Environmental Policy Director Liz Moran agreed.
“Plastic bags are plastic bags,” she said. “To maintain New York’s status as a climate champion, DEC must ensure regulations follow the intent of the law and won’t allow the distribution of plastic bags, regardless of thickness, starting March 1.”
Environmental Advocates of New York Deputy Director Kate Kurera echoed similar remarks.
“Unfortunately, DEC has proposed regulations that undermine the intent of the law, which is to ban plastic carry-out bags, by opening the door to plastic bags of a certain thickness,” she said.
These thicker plastic bags could potentially end up sharing a fate similar to the single-use plastic bags that are being banned, the activists wrote in their letter to DEC.
“This change would allow stores to distribute for free or sell thicker plastic bags that are nearly identical to single-use plastic carry-out style bags that consumers are already familiar with and accustomed to disposing of after one use,” according to the letter. “Most consumers will not use these thicker plastic reusable bags. The thicker bags will simply end up in all the same problematic places as their thinner counterparts.”
Riverkeeper also has reservations regarding proposed exemptions.
“The law would enable DEC, on a case-by-case basis, to exempt stores where there was no reasonable or practical alternative to plastic bags,” Cherson said. “We don’t believe there should be an exemption for stores.”
If DEC is going to have such discretion over granting exemptions, Riverkeeper wants to see public notices issued and a period for public comment before such an exemption is granted, Cherson said.
Because restaurants are exempt from the law, another concern is that corner stores, food marts, convenience stores, bodegas and other places that serve hot food may not be covered under the law, Cherson said.
“It appeared to us that there could be a loophole that would allow [these stores] to not comply because they could be interpreted as restaurants, which are exempt,” he said. “Our main goal is to see as many stores and as many plastic bags covered by the law [as possible].”
Other exemptions under the law include bags to wrap uncooked meats and seafood; package items from bulk containers such as fruits and vegetables; package food sliced to order; package newspapers for delivery; bags that are sold in prepackaged pre-sealed boxes; sold as trash bags; sold as food storage bags; used as garment bags by dry cleaners or laundry services; provided by a restaurant for takeout food; provided by a pharmacy for prescriptions; a reusable bag as defined by the regulations; or a film plastic bag for which there is no other alternative for storing the items, according to the regulations.
The plastic bag ban in Ulster County, which began in July, has been effective, Scenic Hudson Director of Public Policy Andy Bicking said.
“Reality has proven that folks have adapted to it and it has been effective at reducing litter in our communities,” he said.
Ulster County opted to add the 5 cent paper bag tax, while Greene County lawmakers opposed the idea.
Retailers can also choose to set fees of their own. Hannaford and Price Chopper are among the chains to announce that they will be charging 5 cents for paper bags.
After the law takes effect, Riverkeeper will continue to advocate against plastic pollution.
Each year, Riverkeeper does cleanup events along the Hudson River, Cherson said.
“The amount of plastic we find from New York City to the Adirondacks is staggering,” he said. “We will still be advocating for even greater coverage of more plastic items, to aid the transition to biodegradeable and reusable items.”
New Yorkers use an estimated 23 billion plastic bags each year, according to a release from the environmental advocates.
The New York City Department of Sanitation estimates that it collects about 1,700 tons of plastic bags per week, which cost $12.5 million per year, according to the release.
Single-use plastic bags are used for an average of 12 minutes, according to the letter.
“Before being discarded to be buried in a landfill, burned in an incinerator — which pollutes our air and harms public health — or littered on land or in water where they will break into smaller and smaller pieces over hundreds of years,” according to the letter.
Nine million tons of plastic enter the ocean each year, according to the letter.
The public comment period for the regulations ends Feb. 3.
The proposed regulations can be viewed at https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/materials_minerals_pdf/part351propexterms.pdf
Comments can be sent to firstname.lastname@example.org or Kayla Montanye, NYSDEC, 625 Broadway, Albany, NY 12233.


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Welcome to the future of mobile storytelling.
Ever since Snapchat first introduced its Stories feature in late 2013, we’ve seen countless companies try and mimic the same formula with their own services. Following in the footsteps of Instagram, Facebook, and more, Google is the latest company to dip its toes in these waters.
Before you grab your torches and pitchforks, this doesn’t mean that Google is trying to launch its own social network where you share stories of yourself. Instead, Google’s AMP Stories is being created specifically for content publishers like CNN, The Washington Post, and others so they can share news and articles in a style that’s more interactive and mobile-friendly.
As the name of AMP Stories suggests, the technology is based on Google’s AMP platform that’s dedicated to making your mobile web-browsing experience as fast as possible. AMP Stories can be linked to main websites for these publishers, and they’ll slowly start to show up in your Google Search results along with traditional URLs.
Anyone can start creating AMP Stories for their website today, and right now you can view a variety of different ones from CNN, Mic, Cosmopolitan, and others. AMP Stories are currently only viewable on smartphones, but Google wants to expand them to desktops and laptops in the near future.
The Stories format is one that’s picked up a lot of steam over the past couple years, and it’ll be immensely interesting to see how people take to them showing up in their online searches. I personally enjoy watching them from time to time, but Google’s going to need to walk a fine line with their promotion to ensure that they’re visible without overtaking regular search results.
Are you excited for the launch of Stories within Google Search?
February 13, 2018 at 04:48AM


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Google is launching a new ‘cheap shoes’ section in the Amazon official website
Google is finally releasing the official ‘cheaper shoes’ feature on Amazon’s official site, and it’s bringing in all kinds of low-end footwear brands.
According to a report from Forbes, Google is expanding the list of ‘cheapest shoes’ brands, adding brands such as Saks Fifth Avenue and the Nike x Men.
In the same report, the website mentions that this feature will be available on the official Amazon site for a few weeks, but is expected to be rolled out soon.
The feature will only be available to shoppers with Amazon Prime membership, which means it will be limited to users who can afford to pay $100/month.
In addition to these new brands, Google has also added several more to the ‘cheapskates’ list, including the likes of Levi’s, Adidas, and Nike.
Google is hoping to bring the ‘cost-conscious’ to the shopping cart, but the brand also plans to introduce more brands to the list in the future.
Google has also updated its ‘cheaseless’ feature to allow users to order from an assortment of stores without the need to go into their Amazon account.
If you want to find out more about the new ‘cost saving’ features, check out Forbes.


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SOUTHINGTON — A portion of Center Street remains closed to vehicles, a boost to some local businesses that use the sidewalk and street for outdoor dining.
Town officials approved the closure of lower Center Street to vehicles in late May. Last month, the town’s Long-Term Recovery Committee voted to keep a portion of the street closed until Gov. Ned Lamont allows restaurants to go back to full capacity indoors.
Restaurants are restricted to half-capacity indoors, can’t open their bars and have to maintain six feet between diners outdoors.
Police put up barricades blocking off Center Street between Liberty and High streets. That still allows traffic up and down Center Street between Main Street and Center Court, the municipal parking lot driveway.
With more space for tables and a pedestrian-friendly space, Paul Gregory’s owner Theresa Malloy said she’s been able to serve a lot more customers.
“During the day, my Saturdays and Sundays have been good,” she said. “It’s been like pre-COVID business.”
Malloy joined with the owners of three other lower Center Street businesses, The Groggy Frogg, Ideal Tavern and Nonna Artemisia’s Pizza, to ask the town to close the road. Other businesses further up Center Street wanted to leave the road open to allow for curbside pickup.
Cheryl Moran, owner of Anthony Jack’s, said the closure of a portion of the street hasn’t affected her business at all.
“If that’s doing well for them, and it’s something that’s working for them, I wish them the best,” she said. “I hope that it is able to help them out.”
Moran said the curbside business is crucial in making up for the losses due to other restrictions, such as reduced capacity and no bar. She’s had to turn customers away on busy nights since there isn’t enough room.
“On a normal Saturday night, we would have very single seat filled, inside, outside and the 18 bar stools,” Moran said.
Nancy Brummett, manager of The Groggy Frogg, said they’ve been able to continue curbside service and also have more space for outdoor dining. Customers gravitate to the pub’s two patios, and some customers are more comfortable outside.
“There’s a couple people who prefer to sit outside,” Brummett said. “It’s going to take a little bit of time for things to go back to normal. Everyone has their own comfort zone.”
The town allows outdoor dining from April until the end of October. Malloy hopes that lower Center Street will be closed during that time in future years.
“It’s working out,” she said.
Michael DelSanto, a town councilor and recovery committee chairman, said he was glad the closure was working for many restaurants, but that a recurring closure was a larger undertaking. This year’s closure was a response to the pandemic and an attempt to help struggling restaurants.
“It’s definitely up for discussion, but it’s not an overnight process,” he said.


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Companies have embarked on a gradual but massive adoption of "Internet of things" (IoT) technology, investing in sensors to collect data, which is then wirelessly sent for further analysis or alerts, according to a survey.
A bug in an e-voting application halted the release of European, federal and regional election results in Belgium, the country's interior ministry said Monday.
Confidence in software-as-a-service, mobile and cloud technology is spurring tech mergers and acquisitions, despite lingering economic worries, according to market watchers.
The tech IPO market is coming back, just don't call it a bubble.
Facebook's acquisition of WhatsApp may end up being just one milestone in a strong year for tech mergers and acquisitions.
Social networking and cloud computing threats abound, our annual Global Information Security Survey finds, making information security important once again to business leaders.
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Welcome back, Devil Dogs: Drake's cakes return
This week marks the sweet return of treats that have been absent for almost a year: Drake's cakes.
When Hostess shut its plants last fall, thousands of consumers were horrified. In the Northeast, that meant beloved Drake's cakes — including Ring Dings and Devil Dogs — were now impossible to find.
Drake's just announced that four of its popular varieties are back in supermarkets, convenience stores and other locations. If you live in the region, step outside to claim your own Devil Dogs, Ring Dings, Yodels and coffee cakes.
The company, which celebrates its 125th anniversary this year, has always been based in the Northeast. However, it gained national attention after it was referenced in a popular Seinfeld episode:
I know this sounds crazy, but I don't think I've ever eaten a Drake's cake! Please let me know which I should try first (I'm leaning toward a Yodel) ...


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white label payment gateway for retailers
In the summer of 2018, the eComCharge team has enhanced its SaaS white label payment platform beGateway with another functionality. We have added BIN-routing – automatic routing of card transactions to the desired acquiring bank depending on the card BIN (Bank Identification Number). This functionality is part of SMART-routing which the team is planning to implement in the near future.
Thanks to the new functionality, the cost of Internet acquiring for the tenants of the white label payment gateway has decreased on average by 0.6%. It is because processing companies can now direct payment card transactions for processing to the acquiring banks for which these transactions are Intraregional, Domestic or even On-us.
White label payment gateway solution. Receiving Internet payments for a traditional retailer. Not a traditional approach.
Why does a traditional retailer need a white label payment gateway solution? Traditional trade has been experiencing increasing pressure from electronic trade competition for years. Simplicity and convenience of online shopping causes the fact that more and more goods which were previously purchased by an average buyer during an obligatory daily trip to a supermarket, are now bought via the Internet.
Traditional retailers, who have for decades felt secure and confident, now feel threatened by a new generation of Internet traders and certainly do not want to passively watch the latter bite off more and more from their pie.


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UK pig farmers person welcomed a determination by Tesco, their biggest customer, to wage an other £6.6m to pork producers.
It follows a National Pig Association (NPA) letter to Tesco urging it to "do the close thing" and wage much oregon hazard losing its British pork proviso base.
The NPA's chairman, Norfolk husbandman Rob Mutimer, said the organisation was "very, precise pleased" with the supermarket giant's offer.
Tesco said its enactment betwixt March and August would magnitude to £10m.
The NPA warned 4 retired of 5 pig producers could spell retired of concern wrong a twelvemonth unless Tesco paid more.
Tesco, whose office is successful Welwyn Garden City successful Hertfordshire, said it had already fixed the manufacture £3.4m since March.
Dominic Morrey, Tesco Fresh commercialized director, said: "We cognize determination is much to do, and we volition beryllium moving with suppliers, farmers and the wider manufacture to thrust much transparency and sustainability crossed our proviso chains and enactment the aboriginal of the British pig industry."
Mr Mutimer, who farms astatine Swannington adjacent Aylsham, said: "This is simply a precise invited boost for beleaguered pig farmers, who are presently facing unprecedented costs of accumulation and request a tangible summation successful the terms they are being paid successful bid to enactment successful business.
"We look guardant to seeing the pig terms rising precise soon arsenic a effect of this action, and hopefully we tin statesman to stem the travel of producers exiting the industry."
It said Waitrose had pledged a caller £16m enactment bundle and Sainsbury's had offered £2.8m successful further short-term support.
The NPA said the eastbound of England was the UK's largest portion successful presumption of pork production.
Related Internet Links
The BBC is not liable for the contented of outer sites.


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Plant-Based Meat is In Trouble
The pandemic created a bubble that fake meat may not be able to survive
Here’s a piece of news that’s curiously absent from the news cycle: one of the two darlings of the plant-based meat world, Beyond Meat, is streaking toward bankruptcy.
It’s hard to believe. Beyond Meat went public just three years ago, securing partnerships with Taco Bell, Subway, KFC, and Dunkin Brands, among…


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Huawei is preparing: 40 to 60 percent drop in international smartphone shipments?
|Huawei is preparing: 40 to 60 percent drop in international smartphone shipments?|
Chinese technology giant Huawei is preparing for a drop in international shipments of smartphones from 40 to 60 percent, Bloomberg writes.
Referring to people familiar with the situation, Bloomberg writes that the company is considering options that include withdrawing from foreign markets the latest model of its Honor 20 smartphone.
Sales of the phone will begin on June 21 in parts of Europe and executives will oversee the launch and may suspend deliveries if sales go badly.
Huawei’s marketing and sales managers internally estimate that the company could deliver between 40 and 60 million fewer smartphones this year, and they plan to compensate for that decline to some extent in China, according to Bloomberg.
At the height of the US-China trade war, President Donald Trump’s administration put Huawei on a list of suspicious companies that are banned from selling technological equipment that threatens Huawei’s very survival.
Huawei largely depends on parts manufactured in the United States for its phones.
The group has been targeted by Washington since 2018.
The United States suspects that the company allows Chinese intelligence services to use their equipment to spy on communications via mobile networks in the world.


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Hotel industry leaders from across the Middle East will gather in Dubai for talks on how to shape the industry in 2020 and beyond.
Under the umbrella of the Hospitality Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI), it has been announced that the Revenue Optimisation Conference (ROC) 2019 will take place on December 4 at the Intercontinental Dubai Festival City.
HSMAI provides practical tools, insights and expertise to enable knowledge sharing and enhance professional development, as well as increase sales, inspire marketing, transform businesses digitally and take the lead in revenue strategy.
Up for discussion at ROC 2019 will be key topics such as how to better deliver the most compelling and comprehensive commercial strategy for the hospitality industry from all angles, including revenue, distribution, sales and marketing.
Key stakeholders will be coming together to address the most critical trends affecting the region and revenue strategy in hotels today.
The event is being organised in partnership with key organisations including platinum partners Avero, Cvent and Livingroom, and gold partners Cendyn, Illusion, RateGain and WEGO.


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Sega Corp. this week released a new content update to Alien: Isolation for Sony Corp.’s Playstation 4, Playstation 3, Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox One, Xbox 360 and the PC.
The free update adds a new Nightmare difficulty mode that includes a broken motion tracker with unreliable information, limited resources, deadlier androids and survivors, and offline map systems.
In addition, the Alien AI is upgraded and more adaptive to learn player tactics faster and no second chance encounters.
Finally, the update includes a new Novice Mode to offer more resources, weaker enemies, and less aggressive Alien AI.
The title takes place 15 years after the first Alien film with Amanda in a mission to uncover the truth about her mother’s disappearance.
The final game allows users to scavenge resources and improvise to survive the Xenomorph.


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The Oregon wine industry made its mark among preeminent wine influencers this year at the TEXSOM International Wine Awards (TEXSOM IWA). The producers of the annual TEXSOM conference, considered by many to be the most influential wine trade education conference in the U.S., are the force behind TEXSOM IWA. In 2018, the TEXSOM IWA received the most diverse selection of […]
Program recognizes restaurants that feature a diversity of Oregon wines, varieties and regions
The votes have been cast, the results have been tallied, and City Winery Restaurant Group has emerged the winner of the 2018 Oregon Wine A-List Wine Program of the Year.
The Wine Program of the Year winner sets a standard of excellence for an […]


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Abbott Laboratories posts surprise third-quarter net loss
Shortfall comes after the value of its stake in EpiPen maker Mylan slumped recently
Abbott Laboratories made a net loss in Q3 after the value of its stake Mylan NV slumped as the stock dropped in recent months. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters
Abbott became Mylan’s biggest shareholder last year after selling its generic drugs unit in Europe and developed markets to the drugmaker, and still holds a 13 per cent stake.
As Mylan became embroiled in public outrage over the rising price of its EpiPens, the stock slumped 10 per cent in September alone, causing a $947 million writedown in Abbott’s third quarter.
Abbott’s shares declined 1.5 per cent to $40.54 in morning trading in New York on Wednesday. The medical-device maker has also been grappling with problems that cropped up at two companies – Alere and St Jude Medical – that it has agreed to acquire.
Excluding the Mylan writedown, Abbott’s earnings of 59 cents a share beat analysts’ predictions of 58 cents, on average, helped by rising demand for its generic drugs and medical devices.
The company also said in a statement that it narrowed its profit forecast for the year to $2.19 to $2.21 per share – in line with the $2.20 anticipated by analysts.


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For the world’s top pro athletes, excellence on the field of battle helps them become the highest-paid figures in their respective arenas. However, when it comes to those dominating on the hardwood of the National Basketball Association, the money doesn’t just come from an individual’s ability to put the ball in the basket; it comes from the star power that enables these players to sell a product off the court. According to those fine folks at Forbes, the 10 players in the NBA who make the most money from their off-the-court ventures will make an estimated $189 million combined.
Clearly Peter Laatz, an executive at research firm Repucom, was right when he said: “The NBA is very good at producing endorsable icons that transcend what happens on the court.” Of course, as you probably suspect, some players pull in more endorsement money than others. Which is why Forbes decided to create a list of “The NBA’s Endorsement All-Stars 2016.” With that in mind, here’s a look at the five NBA players who are making the most money from endorsements this season.
5. Derrick Rose
Off-court earnings: $14 million
There was a time when Derrick Rose was among the most exciting young players in the NBA. The Chicago Bulls point guard electrified fans with his incredible burst, nabbed an MVP award, and looked like the future face of the league. Injuries have derailed that dream since then. However, thanks to sponsorship deals with big brands like Adidas, Powerade, and Giordano’s, Rose is pulling in $14 million in endorsement money this season, making him No. 5 on Forbes’ NBA endorsement All-Star list. Not bad for a guy who only averaged 16.4 points, 3.4 rebounds, and 4.7 assists per game in 2015-16.
4. James Harden
Off-court earnings: $17 million
While some believe that the Houston Rockets could’ve improved their team by trading away James Harden, the same cannot be said from an endorsement standpoint. Simply put: The Beard plays. Because of deals with big-time companies like Adidas, BBVA, Beats By Dre, Foot Locker, KT Tape, and NBA 2K, Harden made $17 million in endorsement money last season. With a portfolio like this, we not surprised that the Rockets superstar is doing some “trolling” of his own.
3. Kobe Bryant
Off-court earnings: $25 million
Watching Kobe Bryant’s farewell tour last season only further reinforced what has become impossible to deny: The Black Mamba is one of the greatest players to ever step onto a basketball court. Which is why major companies — such as Nike, Hublot, Alibaba, and Panini — continue to associate themselves with the Lakers superstar. According to Forbes, deals with these brands will help Bryant earn $25 million in endorsement money this year. Of course, something tells us that even when the surefire Hall of Famer officially hangs up his kicks, these companies will still look to play ball.
2. Kevin Durant
Off-court earnings: $36 million
While Kevin Durant is still chasing that elusive first NBA championship (something that he wants more than anything), that hasn’t prevented companies from hitching themselves to his star power. According to Forbes, partnerships with Nike, Beats By Dre, BBVA, American Family Insurance, Panini, and Sonic will help the Durantula pull in $36 million in off-the-court earnings this season. Will that number be greater now that he’s left Oklahoma City for San Francisco? We’ll just have to wait and see.
1. LeBron James
Off-court earnings: $48 million
The NBA’s endorsement king continues to reside in Cleveland. Not only did LeBron James make history with his “lifetime” deal with Nike, but thanks to his partnerships with companies like Samsung Electronics, Tencent, Coca-Cola, Kia Motors, and Beats By Dre, James made $48 million in endorsement money during the 2015-16 NBA season. We’ve said it before, but we’ll say it again: It’s good to be the King.


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Elon Musk sells $8.5 billion of Tesla shares after deal to buy Twitter. The Tesla chief executive reported selling a total of more than 9.6 million shares Tuesday through Thursday, at prices between around $820 and $1,000 a share, the filings show. That left him with around 163 million shares in the electric-vehicle maker or nearly 16% of the company. He is on the hook to come up with $21 billion in cash to finance the Twitter deal.
U.S. economy shrank in the first quarter. The decline in U.S. GDP at a 1.4% annual rate marked a sharp reversal from a 6.9% annual growth rate in the fourth quarter. The first quarter was the weakest since spring 2020. The drop stemmed from a widening trade deficit. Imports to the U.S. surged and exports fell, dynamics reflecting pandemic-related supply-chain constraints. There was also a slower pace of inventory investment by businesses.
U.S. inflation rate surges to 6.6%, PCE index shows. The Federal Reserve’s preferred measure of inflation rose a sharp 0.9% in March, but the increase largely stemmed from a surge in the cost of gas and there were some signs that intense price pressures could be starting to ease. Over the past 12 months, the personal consumption price index has climbed 6.6%, up from 6.4% in February. Read more here.
Apple’s big quarter shows that smartphones aren’t hit by weakening macro conditions. Apple sold more than $50 billion in iPhones in the quarter, and the ceiling for the company remains on how many devices it can make. The results suggest that the premium smartphone market could be resilient if macroeconomic conditions deteriorate and consumers start watching their expenses. Read more here.
Amazon projects slower growth, raising fear of consumer letdown. Overcapacity, inflation and supply issues drive costs higher. Revenue from main e-commerce business declines 3% in the quarter. A hiring and warehouse-building binge during the pandemic are catching up with the company. That reality will weigh on revenue and profit going forward as consumers return to their pre-pandemic habits and inflation may cool their spending.
Exxon triples buybacks and Chevron posts best profits since 2012. ExxonMobil said it would triple its share buyback programme to $30bn and Chevron reported its most profitable quarter since 2012 of $6.3 billion as surging crude and natural gas prices after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine delivered a windfall for American Big Oil. High commodity prices, combined with relatively low capital spending, have delivered an influx of free cash flow for the oil majors.
Demand doubles for ARMs. The share of mortgage applications with adjustable-rate mortgages doubled last week when compared to three months ago. ARMs, which start at one rate and then fluctuate after a set period, comprised more than 9% of loans and 17% of the dollar volume. The latest lower introductory rates from ARMs may grow more enticing as home buyers watch other rates quickly climb. Read more here.
Seller profit margins dip. The profit margins on median-priced single-family home sales across the U.S. fell to 47.2% in the first quarter. It was the first quarterly decline since late 2019 and the largest in a decade. The first-quarter profit margin was down from 51.6% in the fourth quarter of 2021. Ultimately, as affordability worsens, price appreciation should slow down.
Dollar surges to highest level in 20 years. Currency traders are betting that the Fed will continue raising rates well ahead of other central banks. They piled into the dollar and sent the greenback to a 20-year high. his has been a big move since the start of the year against the other major currencies. A lot of this is about the Gulf in monetary policy that’s expected to open up between the US and the rest. Source(2:57)
WHAT TO WATCH
Consumer spending should still be a positive for Q2 but not in Q3 and Q4. The risks are rising that we start to see negative numbers again that is the bottom line with the US economy. We're approaching a breaking point of the consumer saying no with these price increases relative to wage gains. We're progressing towards that breaking point in either Q3 or Q4. Source(10:10)
Intel CEO sees chip shortage lasting into 2024. CEO Pat Gelsinger said the global chip shortage he had previously forecast would stretch into 2023 is now likely to last even longer as chip-makers struggle to buy enough manufacturing equipment and to boost production to meet demand. That’s a supply statement because equipment shortages are really impinging the ability of the industry overall to ramp supply.
World’s biggest property investors plan to buy into life sciences. Some of the world’s biggest property investors are planning to spend billions of dollars on labs and offices for the booming life sciences sector. Property developer and investor Tishman Speyer and biotechnology investment firm Bellco Capital have raised $3 billion to develop and buy buildings for life sciences. After the US, their main target will be property in the UK.
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Attendees at last year’s Expo Real commercial property exhibition were treated to a veritable marketing-fest by new arrival on the German scene, the US online property auction specialist auction.com. The enormous (at least for the European real estate industry) fanfare was followed shortly thereafter by the company’s first online German auction, on which we reported in REFIRE at the time.
Following a hiatus of several months, the company has just completed its second auction of German commercial property at the end of June. The online event lasted three days, during which 31 properties were offered on behalf of nine institutional sellers. The properties included office, retail and logistics assets.
According to Ken Rivkin, auction.com’s US-based managing director in a statement, the company was ‘pleased’ with the results of the second auction. “Bidder registration and auction bidding activity both increased by over 20% compared to our first event in December, which highlights the increasing interest in our transaction model. We remain confident that Europe is ready to accept our innovative and transparent marketplace.”
The properties in the June auction had a combined value of more than $98 million (€75M) and were located across Germany, with a focus on North Rhine-Westphalia, Hesse, and Saxony. Starting bids ranged from $130,000 (€100,000) to $4.6 million (€3.5M), and included office, supermarket, retail, and distribution sectors. The highest bid in the auction was $6.7 million (€5.1M), although the company was being coy as to how much overall revenue was generated from the sales.
“In line with our first auction, most of the asset-specific interest was from local investors and regional developers; however our geographical reach was broader in June,” said Rivkin. “Most of the registered site visits and bidders were from Germany, but we also had investor activity from the UK, Italy, France, the Netherlands, Switzerland as well as the United States.”
Auction.com also said that it had so far had 79,180 overall website visits, a total of 71,705 unique visitors, and 396 NDA’s signed.
Rivkin added that Auction.com was planning to extend its offering with broader asset classes by conducting back-to-back residential (multi-family) and commercial auctions in November, with a new marketing campaign kicking off in September.
“We fully expect the trend of increased bidding activity to continue in our upcoming auctions as more market participants recognize the efficiency and effectiveness of our unique platform. We will increase our auction frequency to the point of having several a month in the long term as we become a major source of investment opportunities for German real estate sellers and buyers.”
REFIRE: Reading between the lines, it certainly does seem as if the European - and particularly the German – mentality will have given the bosses at Auction.com plenty of food for thought. As the leading online property auction business in the US, the owners might have expected a warmer welcome on European soil, where after all buyers could be expected to be just as keen on snapping up bargains as across the pond…
With only about one in four assets being offered finding a buyer, it looks like there’s more work to be done by auction.com before the next pair of auctions coming up in November. Like all good ideas, of course, whose time may have come, the competition doesn’t sleep. There is now new competition on the German market this year in the shape of propertybid.de, a subsidiary of well-established Auktion & Markt AG, a specialist in second-hand car sales which is now using its auctioning know-how to reach out to new markets.


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Unanimis achieves highest comScore ranking to date
London, 17 December 2013
The latest comScore UK ad network league table numbers reveal that premium network Unanimis rose to third place, with its highest ranking on reach and unique visitors to date.
Confident in its targeting, Unanimis offers Nielsen OCR on all campaigns
London, 5th December 2013
Confident in its ability to deliver the target audience an advertiser demands, digital sales house Unanimis have signed a deal with Nielsen to offer their Online Campaigns Ratings (OCR) audience verification tool as added value on all campaigns booked with a value of £5k+.
MEC Gave Unanimis a Stuffing
London, 27th November 2013
Back in August 2013, Unanimis set out to find the most prolific footballers in the media industry. The advertising network recruited ten teams of Premier League wannabes to play in a 5-a-side football competition #GiveUnanimisAStuffing.
Unanimis broadens portfolio with kids’ media win
London, Nov 2013
Unanimis, the UK’s market-leading premium ad network, has been appointed by Turner Broadcasting to sell advertising on its Cartoon Network, Boomerang and Cartoonito websites.
MediaCom has their Unanimis cake and tweets it
London, Nov 2013
MediaCom has been announced as the winners of the Unanimis Halloween cake design competition. Plain orange coloured cakes and decorating kits were delivered to leading media agencies who were invited to design a ghoulish cake and tweet their best efforts – and they really got into the ‘spirit’ of things, with @Unanimis playing host to some truly creative #HalloCake designs.
Unanimis consolidates its place in the ad network elite
London, Oct 2013
Unanimis is fourth in the latest UK ad network league table. According to comScore figures, it remains in touching distance of the top two – Google and Real Media – and is just behind a new entrant, Criteo. Unanimis stays ahead of Yahoo!, which it leapfrogged for the first time last month. It also remains ahead of AOL’s Advertising.com, which is now in 6th place.
During September, the Unanimis network racked up 36.2 million unique visitors, representing 81 per cent of the total UK internet audience. 3.6 billion pages were viewed on the sites it represents. 63 per cent of the network’s audience was ABC1.
Unanimis now the UKs third largest ad network
London, Sept 2013
Unanimis, the Orange owned digital sales house has leapt to third in the August 2013 comScore rankings for UK Advertising Networks. Third represents Unanimis’s highest ever position on the industry standard for digital measurement, following 15 months of steady growth since May 2012 when Unanimis was the 14th largest.
Havas Media enjoy the spoils of their Urban Golf Success at Gleneagles
London, 27 Aug 2013
Back in September 2012, trudging through the wet and windy Soho streets, the first teams holding the golfing hopes of their respective agencies gathered to compete in the Unanimis Urban Golf Agency League. Read more…
EE helps Unanimis become more agile
London, 16 Aug 2013
Unanimis partners with EE to provide its employees with 4GEE-enabled smartphones. With the option to share internet access these devices can be transformed into powerful mobile data hotspots, to which staff can wirelessly tether their laptops. Read more…
Unanimis strengthens Sales team after securing new business wins
London, 02 Aug 2013
Having recently announced new business wins, including women’s lifestyle properties iVillage and GossipCenter, Unanimis have strengthened their Sales team with four key hires. The Orange-owned ad sales house has been trusted by leading global female lifestyle sites iVillage and GossipCenter to represent their respective display media opportunities in the UK and International advertising markets.


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Farm Software Pioneer FarmLogs Acquired by Bushel
Many ag technology companies have come and gone over the past decade, and only a few have endured to build widespread adoption. One of those that has persisted is farm software provider, FarmLogs. The Michigan-based company recently announced they were being acquired by Bushel. Co-founder and CEO Jesse Vollmar says their understanding of farmer customers has been instrumental in their success.
Vollmar... “What are the farmers' problems? Well, a farmer needs to digitize information about their business. They need to understand their cost of production. They want to make optimizations to the logistical kind of execution of getting the farming work done. And so we found a number of different ways to apply data and help them organize data about their farm business that would allow them to make those more strategic decisions. And we did it with a focus on user experience. This actually worked really well because at that time it was just something that every farmer was looking for was software that was their friend, not their enemy. And we ended up signing up today we have over 110 million acres of land being managed on FarmLogs. That's over 50,000 active farms on the platform using our product throughout the day to run their farm business and get information about the conditions of their fields. And so it's been a pretty exciting journey.”
Vollmar says he’s excited to join forces with Bushel to offer customers even more tools to help with marketing and p&l management.


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CREATED A NEW BRAND:
Young and dynamic Chef CIHAN, who has been serving in the food and beverage industry for about 12 years, has created a new brand called Lou Lou. CIHAN Chef plans to open 5 branches with this brand in the medium term. Chef plans to set up a team soon to franchise and quickly roll out this new concept across all countries. It plans to make an investment of 10 million dollars in 2023. 5 NEW RESTAURANTS WITH $15 MILLION INVESTMENT. :CIHAN Chef, who opened its first branch in a 5-star hotel in the city of Sulaimani, Iraq, announced that they are planning 5 more restaurants in different cities and countries in line with the demand from customers.


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DID YOU KNOW
Islam is projected to be the fastest-growing major religion in the world. A research published by PEW Research Center reveals that the number of Muslims is forecasted to achieve a 32% growth rate in overall global population from 1.8 billion in 2015 to nearly 3 billion by 2060. The increase in rate can be attributed to the demographic fact that Muslim women have more children than those from the other major religions. Alongside their existence is the attached misconception—one of the biggest misconceptions actually-that they are terrorists, when in fact, Islam consistently condemns terrorism. In an article published on Taylor & Francis Online, one of the pressing issues of our time is terrorism and consequently, previous research reveals a heavy prejudice against Muslims are prevalent in Western societies—a taint to their religion and an insult to their existence. On a lighter side, Islam has a lot more to offer—from their humanistic ideals, food, and to the realm of fashion! Kaye Estrella wrote top 5 trends for Muslim market in 2018. First on the list is the projected worth of halal food—it is forecasted to hit 1.6 trillion US dollars and is expected to grow faster than the conventional food market taking up 17% of the world food market by 2018. Second is the booming fashion industry among Muslims. Global brands such as Uniqlo and Shiseido are now producing clothing that caters Muslims alongside the different Hijab styles posted on Pinterest today.


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Littlejohn Said to Consider Sale of Prepared-Foods Maker CTIShruti Date Singh and David Welch
CTI Foods Holding Co.’s owner, private-equity firm Littlejohn & Co., is exploring a sale of the prepared-foods supplier that may fetch about $500 million, two people familiar with the matter said.
Littlejohn is working with Morgan Stanley on the potential sale of Wilder, Idaho-based CTI, which makes fajita meat, burgers, soups and sauces for restaurants, said the people, who asked not to be named because the discussions are private.
Littlejohn declined to comment on a potential sale or the value of a deal. Akhilesh Raina, a Morgan Stanley spokesman, declined to comment. CTI Chief Executive Officer Bobby Horowitz didn’t return calls and declined to comment through an assistant.
CTI has expanded in the U.S. after Littlejohn, based in Greenwich, Connecticut, recapitalized the company in 2010. Last year, CTI acquired a ground-beef plant in Pennsylvania and bought Custom Food Products LLC to add plants in California and Kentucky, according to the company’s website. CTI also runs facilities in Texas.
CTI generated more than $700 million in sales in the year through Sept. 8, according to a Dec. 14 report from Moody’s Investors Service.
Moody’s in December maintained its rating for CTI at B2, five levels below investment grade, while boosting the outlook to positive from stable partly because CTI’s volumes are rising and the new products and distribution it has gained from recent acquisitions will help it expand on the U.S. East Coast.
U.S. meat processors such as Smithfield Foods Inc. and Tyson Foods Inc. have made deals to expand their packaged-meat and prepared-foods businesses to smooth out volatility from livestock and feed costs.
In February Smithfield, the world’s largest hog producer, announced a joint venture with Kansas City Sausage Co., and Tyson, the largest U.S. meat processor, said it would buy tortilla maker Don Julio Foods.
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Kyiv, Ukraine, January 25, 2021 - Credit Dnepr Bank provided its customers, Mastercard cardholders, with the ability to contactlessly pay for purchases using Mi Smart Band 4 NFC, a modification of the popular fitness bracelet with a contactless payment function. The innovative product is a joint development of global technology companies Xiaomi and Mastercard, and is available exclusively for cardholders of this payment system. The launch of the product took place in partnership with one of the largest marketplaces in Ukraine, ALLO.
Credit Dnipro Bank is included in the list of 20 banks that in the 1st quarter of 2021 may become participants in the currency intervention of the NBU at the best rate.
On January 14, 2021, Bank Credit Dnipro launches the 3D Secure 2.0 service for Mastercard cards, which is designed as an additional level of security for card transactions on the Internet. To confirm the purchase, special OTP passwords will be used, which will be sent to the customer's phone. Thus, after entering the Mastercard card data, the online store will redirect the client's browser to the Credit Dnipro Bank website to enter this personal OTP password.
3D Secure 2.0 technology will be connected automatically for all Mastercard cards of Credit Dnipro Bank.


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By Dana Yamashita
In today’s world, many of us are accustomed to having our needs met relatively quickly — if we want cash, we go to an ATM; we stream movies instead of driving to a theater; we have complete meals delivered to our homes; and there are countless mobile apps covering everything from banking to games. Now, in many places, you can also get your groceries in 15 minutes or less.
Ultrafast grocers are emerging in densely populated cities — a new player in the e-commerce game. They operate out of “dark stores,” or hubs, which are local retail stores that have been converted to fulfillment centers. They typically have a delivery radius of about one mile, allowing their workers to use bicycles and scooters, or even travel by foot, for rapid delivery. But with the good, can come the bad. Ultrafast grocery services encourage people to place smaller and more frequent orders, resulting in more delivery trips. These delivery trips, notwithstanding how they are made, increase traffic congestion and the emissions produced by the traffic stream.
In addition, the advent of ultrafast grocers will bring more trucks to residential areas to restock the hubs, thus worsening traffic congestion and pollution, according to José Holguín-Veras, director of the Center for Infrastructure, Transportation, and the Environment at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. “It’s the price of convenience,” he told The New York Times, “but I feel like I’m going against a tsunami because once you get used to that, why do you want to walk to the local store or plan ahead to buy groceries for the week?”
According to a survey conducted by a team at Rensselaer, at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of monthly grocery store trips decreased by 41.6%. Conversely, the number of monthly delivery of groceries increased by 132.2%. The survey was led by Cara Wang, associate professor of civil and environmental engineering, and Holguín-Veras.
But what about the toll all these deliveries take on the environment? In another research project, Holguín-Veras collected data from trucks making deliveries in and around New York City to examine the freight demand patterns, with the goal of reducing traffic congestion and pollution. By adjusting deliveries made and accepted to the hours between 7 p.m. and 6 a.m., he found the total amount of travel saved for commuters in the city was 10 days. He also found that a truck’s emissions reduced by an estimated factor of 65% since vehicles were not idling in traffic jams.
While ultrafast grocers are very convenient for people, sometimes the negative consequences of such services are overlooked. The research conducted by Holguín-Veras could help inform policies to combat such effects.


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TELUS PureFibre Internet Launches Officially in BC and Alberta
TELUS has announced in a company blog post PureFibre Internet has officially arrived for customers in BC and Alberta. The Internet service offers download speeds of up to 150 Mbps and same for upload.
The company is touting PureFibre as a way for families to watch multiple Netflix in 4K streams, from Optik TV 4K set top boxes, with Netflix Premium subscription. The Internet 150/150 plan comes with 1 terabyte of monthly data usage and costs $80 per month, or $42 per month for six months for new customers on a two-year term.
The plan will compete against Shaw’s Internet 150/15 plan priced at $79 for a two-year plan, or $100 off term.
TELUS PureFibre was made available last fall to select communities in BC and Alberta, but now it appears the rollout has made its way to more cities and towns in western Canada.


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PLAINFIELD, Ind. — Ilene Stevenson couldn't believe her eyes. She's worked at the Walmart Fulfillment Center for nearly five years. Then Wednesday's massive fire broke out, destroying the facility.
Although Walmart said it will pay employees for 40 hours, plus overtime, and place them at nearby stores and warehouses, Stevenson told 13News it's the uncertainty of it all that makes her uneasy.
"I don't know what's really next. I really don't. They're going to pay us for a minute but I want to know what's down the road," Stevenson said.
No matter what lies ahead, Stevenson is thankful
"I'm blessed and I'm grateful," Stevenson said. "I'm grateful no one was hurt in there and they got everyone out. That's God."
Both Stevenson and Walmart executives thanked first responders for their quick response and associates who took emergency drills seriously.
"When that alarm goes off, they want us out. We go out and then they count us and the managers to make sure everyone is out," Stevenson said. "Then you have to scan your badge when you come back in. They are on it with that.
As Stevenson drove by the building one last time, she said it’s hard not to look back.
"I'm going to miss my co-workers. I really am. I hope to see them soon at other facilities, wherever they put us," Stevenson said.
The Walmart Fulfillment Center supplies online orders. A Walmart spokesperson said they do not see the fire impacting supplies in stores. They don't have any information yet on any impact to online customers.


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Supermarkets are competing in a new petrol pump price war which has seen them cut the cost of petrol and diesel by 2p, following a fall in wholesale prices.
Yesterday Asda lowered its price cap on fuel by up to 2p per litre, meaning motorists are now paying no more than 111.7p per litre at its filling stations.
The move was quickly followed by similar price cuts at Sainsbury's, Tesco and Morrisons pumps.
Motoring experts described the reduction in pump prices as "excellent news" for consumers, who will be grateful for the saving at a time when prices are beginning to go up in shops.
It comes after motoring groups had accused retailers of failing to pass on savings following a slump in the market cost of oil.
Last week the RAC claimed forecourt prices for diesel could be slashed by about 4p per litre while 2p could be taken off unleaded due to a fall in wholesale costs.
Oil prices dropped to £36 a barrel on Thursday, down 13 per cent from May 23.
The price fell to a seven-month low on Wednesday as data from the Energy Information Administration showed gasoline stockpiles rose by over 2 million barrels last week.
In recent months OPEC countries have been trying to limit oil production in order to bolster the price of oil. However non OPEC countries have continued to pump out large quantities, bringing the price down.
Simon Williams, a spokesman at the RAC, described the reduction in pump prices as "excellent news" for motorists.
He said: "The supermarkets have led the way and we now hope for a much-needed price cut chain reaction across the country, with other retailers quickly following suit.
"While the value of the pound has fallen since the election, the price of oil has also reduced, bringing down wholesale fuel costs which should rightly be passed on to motorists at the pumps.
"Unfortunately, a cut to the price of diesel is long overdue as its wholesale price has been lower than petrol's for weeks with little reflection of this on the forecourt. "Hopefully, this will be the start of greater diesel price transparency." AA spokesman
Luke Bosdet added: "Cheaper fuel at 4p a litre below than the national average has paid dividends for the supermarkets by maintaining their sales volumes while others' have dropped.
"This may pull back the customers who have been going to non-supermarket forecourts for top-up shopping combined with a fuel stop. "Non-supermarket petrol stations are going to have to react, as will the rural small town forecourts still charging an astonishing 120p a litre."
Asda's head of petrol trading Dave Tyrer said: "Our new national price cap of 111.7p per litre on both unleaded and diesel will be welcomed by the millions of drivers who will be starting to plan their summer holidays."


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- The Independent Television Commission has appointed Stephen Locke as its new director of advertising and sponsorship.
Locke, who joins from Andersen Consulting, replaces Frank Willis who retired from the ITC last November on the grounds of ill health. He subsequently died of cancer in mid-March.
Locke was global director of strategic research at Andersen, a post he had held since 1997. Before joining Andersen's he spent 15 years at the Consumer Association where his last role was that of director of research and policy.
Peter Rogers, chief executive at the ITC, said: "We are delighted to welcome Stephen to the ITC. His experience gives him both a consumer and a business perspective, which will be extremely valuable in addressing the complex issues of advertising regulation."


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Anthem of the Seas and 5 other colossal cruise ships
Cruise liner has capacity of 4,900 passengers and weighs whopping 152,194 tonnes
The Anthem of the Seas arrived in downtown Halifax Thursday morning under grey skies, casting an impressive figure on the historic waterfront. Scroll down to take a look at the massive cruise liner, along with five other enormous ships that can be more like small towns on water.
Ship expected to set port record in Halifax.
Officials say the Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines ship has a capacity of 4,900 passengers and weighs more than 152,194 tonnes, making it the fifth largest cruise liner in the world. It's expected that the capacity, along with crew, will set a new port record for the highest number of cruise guests on a single vessel.
More than 2,000 staterooms.
The quantum class ship has everything from bumper cars and roller skating to a circus school and four swimming pools, along with more than 2,000 staterooms.
Crystal Serenity brings new era of tourism to Canada's Arctic.
Earlier this week, the 280-metre long Crystal Serenity entered the fabled but dangerous Northwest Passage and arrived at the hamlet of Cambridge Bay, Nunavut. While not among the world's largest cruise ships, the Crystal Serenity is the largest vessel to ever attempt to go through the passage and has a capacity of about 1,600 passengers and crew, more than the entire population of Cambridge Bay.
The world's largest cruise ship.
Harmony of the Seas is 361 metres long and weighs more than 205,000 tonnes, making it the biggest cruise liner in the world. Launched earlier this year, the ship can hold 5,479 passengers and 2,100 crew and contains everything from rock climbing walls to a skating rink to huge water slides.
Allure of the Seas.
Prior to the 2016 launch of Harmony, the Allure of the Seas took the title of the world's largest cruise ship, weighing in at more than 204,330 tonnes with a capacity for 5,492 passengers and 2,384 crew.
The atrium on the Allure of the Seas shows row upon row of rooms. Every cabin has an iPod dock.
An ocean oasis.
Oasis of the Seas has been bumped from second place to third on the list of world's largest cruise ships. Oasis was reportedly the first vessel of its kind to offer zip-lining when it was launched in the fall of 2009.
World's first 'smart ship.'
Quantum of the Seas, launched in November 2014, was billed as the world's first smart ship and the most high-tech cruise liner in the world.
Rooms that are windowless have "virtual balconies." The ship has an observation pod attached to a mechanical arm that carries passengers over the edge of the vessel, 100 metres above the sea.
With files from The Canadian Press and CBC News


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Fusion has become Ford’s bestselling car since it went on sale in 2005
The remaining $1 billion would be used as part of the “debt for aid” program
Benoit Poirier of Desjardins Capital Markets outlines numerous big-money projects that CN is uniquely positioned to benefit from.
Device maker held a 4.8 per cent share, selling 7.4 million units; 11.5 per cent share a year earlier
New forecast estimates growth has slowed to about one per cent
Dole has been looking sell those parts of its business following a strategic review
Survey found percentage of CFOs accountable for sustainability issues nearly doubled in past year
Tied Australia to rank fifth out of 144 nations, territories in 2012 Fraser Institute report
Shipping giant’s forecasts closely watched for signals of future economic health
Nuclear chief says they want atomic power, not atomic weapons.


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BOSTON - E-commerce furniture and home goods giant Wayfair has seen profits dip nearly $1 billion over the year of 2019.
The company's stock was down more than 18 percent last week after a report on its fourth-quarter performance was posted. The Q4 loss amounted to $330 million. Shares have fallen significantly in recent months - dropping $3.54 per share in the fourth quarter alone.
On February 13, Wayfair announced a layoff of 550 employees, or 3 percent of its total workforce. 350 of those employees worked at the company's headquarters in Boston.
Sales for the year hit $2.5 billion. That number is a 26 percent increase, but still shows its weakest growth in a while.
Wayfair is hopeful though. The company says the number of active customers in its direct retail business reached more than 20 million by the end of Q4 - a 34 percent increase over the previous year. Wayfair also said it will not see the benefits of the layoffs until Q2.
Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah says he sees plenty of opportunities for growth in U.S. and Europe and have "barely scrated the surface of our total addressable market."
Have something to say? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below.


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Fortnite streamer Ninja told media outlets on New Year's Eve how much he made from streaming and gaming in 2018. A cool $10 million.
It can be hard to admit, but a great many people do not like their jobs. For most, working eight hours a day, five days a week, is merely a way to earn money and make ends meet. Yes, the dream is to find a way in which we can monetize something we enjoy doing but sadly, more often than not that is a lot more easier said than done.
Those of you who have desperately tried to discover that elusive formula but have failed time and time again might want to look away now. That's because Fortnite streamer Ninja has cracked the code when it comes to his job being his hobby, and he is doing it incredibly well. During a massive streaming event at Times Square on New Year's Eve, Ninja revealed how much money he made doing what he loves in 2018.
No less than $10 million. At least that's what Ninja told CNN. Back in March, it was estimated that Ninja was raking in around $500,000 a month for letting people watch him play Fortnite, so it is very likely he is telling the truth. It has been a pretty incredible 12 months for the increasingly popular streamer, and not just on the money front.
CNN also reported a few other interesting stats and records from Ninja's 2018. Not only did he make $10 million, but his YouTube channel also has just as many subscribers. 667,000 of those fans tuned in to watch his Ninja Vegas Event back in April, the most watched Twitch stream for a single streamer ever. As if all of that wasn't enough, at last count, Ninja had eliminated an almost unfathomable 94,958 rivals on Fortnite.
So all in all, a so-so 2018 for Ninja, wouldn't you say? What a huge year for the streamer, and Fortnite's developers Epic Games are likely big fans of him too. Thanks to players like Ninja and others carrying the Fortnite torch, Epic made $3 billion worth of profit over the last 12 months. Here's to an even bigger year for both parties in 2019. Now excuse us while we go and get good enough at Fortnite so that we too can become millionaires.


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Today everyone wants to buy Smart TV. While some can afford it, some have to curb their passion due to lack of money.However, now Xiaomi has taken the lead in making your dream a reality. On February 14 ie 'Valentine's Day', Xiaomi is bringing a small device to convert your ordinary TV into a smart TV.
Xiaomi will launch a new 4K TV stick on February 14. The company has tweeted about this.
In this tweet, the company said that Xiaomi's new and advanced Xiaomi TV Stick 4K will be launched on February 14, and the greatest entertainment experience will now be at the click of your fingers.
Xiaomi already has the Mi TV Stick in its portfolio. Its price is Rs 2999.
The company has not yet disclosed the exact price of this newly launched stick. However, the new Xiaomi TV Stick 4K may cost more than the previous stick.
Source by Xiaomi India
--Posted By : santosh


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Dallas residents now have a new tool to protect their mobile devices from threats, just in time for the holiday shopping season.
In partnership with Dallas-based Zimperium, the City of Dallas has announced the launch and public availability of “Dallas Secure,” a free mobile security application for Apple iOS and Android platforms. The app will help protect Dallas County residents and visitors from the growing number of cybersecurity threats targeting the immense amount of data and information people house on their mobile devices through financial, health, business, shopping and messaging apps, and so much more, according to Mayor Eric Johnson.
Dallas Secure was developed by Dallas-based Zimperium, a specialist in mobile security. It’s designed to secure devices against even the most advanced threats. Dallas Secure is available now and free to download in the Apple App Store or the Google Play Store.


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P2E Game Illuvium Preps Auction of 20,000 Virtual Plots
Founder Kieran Warwick Says Sponsors Are Poised for Esports Events
By: Samuel Haig •DeFi News
Illuvium, the highly anticipated play-to-earn game, plans to sell 20,000 virtual plots on June 2, the venture said Thursday.
The sale is part of a push to sell 100,000 lots in the game. Land plots are used to generate in-game fuel and elements. The team writes that “once all land sells, it will never be minted again.”
Illuvium’s token, ILV, has a market capitalization of $293M and it’s the 10th largest P2E platform, according to CoinGecko.
While Illuvium’s sale has generally been well-received on social media, some onlookers have expressed skepticism.
ArdonLukas commented that “dumping $1000s into land of an unplayed game is [a red flag]. Anyone who did Kickstarter games knows to avoid this stuff. Best case[,] these games turn into a decade-long hype machine like Star Citizen.”
The plots will be distributed via a dutch auction on the Ethereum mainnet with a lengthy duration to prevent a land rush triggering a gas war. Land will then be minted on Immutable’s L2. Plots are divided into five tiers, with the more valuable parcels hosting rare landmarks that will significantly boost fuel output. Roughly 5% of all in-game revenues will also be distributed to landholders.
Kieran Warwick, the game’s Australian co-founder and reputed billionaire, told The Defiant that the project has already received inquiries signaling a sale totalling $10M for tier 5 land plots. Tier 5 plots boast a 900% fuel production boost and also come with a stadium that is used to host Illuvium’s esports tournaments.
Breakdown of Illuvium’s land tiers. Source: Illuvium.
Warwick is ambitious. He said he wants to best Dota, a strategy video game, when it comes to prize pool money in esports. “We already have sponsors lined up for the stadiums, and that’s straight revenue for [tier 5] landowners,” he said.
Roughly 90% of the e-sports industry’s revenues are estimated to be derived from sponsorships and advertising. While these typically take the form of branded jerseys worn by players and ad banners displayed at physical events, Illuvium plans to lure sponsors to advertise within its virtual world.
He noted that one of the largest gaming guilds in the industry will be among the tournament’s sponsors. Stadium owners can sell naming rights, secure sponsorship deals, and collect tournament fees.
Only two tier 5 plots will be able for purchase during the sale, suggesting bidding may be fierce. Tier 4 plots offer a 300% boost to the sum of in-game fuel its owners can produce compared to tier 1 plots, while tier 3 offers 100% increase in fuel output, and 2 offers a 33.33% increase.
The starting price for tier 1 plots of land will be 2 ETH, with tier 2 beginning at 6 ETH, tier 3 will be 20 ETH, and tier 4 will be 80 ETH. Prices will be reduced by 2.5% each minute as the sale progresses. Pricing for the tier 5 plots will be entirely determined through auction.
The project will also release a companion game for landowners dubbed Illuvium Zero where landowners can manage and develop their plots of land.


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Klatch Coffee owner Bo Thiara holds a cup of Elida Natural Geisha coffee at his shop in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 15, 2019. The California cafe is brewing up what it calls the world’s most expensive coffee - at $75 a cup. Klatch Coffee Roasters is serving the exclusive brew, the Elida Natural Geisha 803, at its branches in Southern California and San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
SAN FRANCISCO A California cafe is brewing up what it calls the worlds most expensive coffee at $75 a cup.


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The best diet for health & weight loss
Most of us will want to go on a diet at some stage. Trouble is, these days there are so many different types – keto, paleo, fasting, detox, carb-cycling, gluten-free, blood type, Dukan, Atkins, Zone, South Beach – it can be about as hard to pick a diet as it is to stick to one.
In the age of social media, it’s become even more confusing, as influencers of all shapes and sizes claim their diet philosophy is the best thing ever, and can do everything from getting you back into your skinny jeans to bringing about world peace.
Well, what does science have to say about it? First off, new research in the medical journal BMJ has revealed that most diets will lead to “modest” weight loss and lower blood pressure, but these affects usually disappear after a year.
But there was one diet that continued to deliver health benefits: the study found that those on the Mediterranean diet saw continued improvement in “bad” LDL cholesterol levels.
Another study from the University of Otago, New Zealand, found that among overweight adults who followed the Mediterranean, intermittent fasting (IF) and paleo diets for a period of 12 months, there were some weight loss and health benefits, but adherence to the diets dropped off “considerably” during the course of the year.
Med, IF, paleo: what’s the difference between them?
• The paleo diet consists of mostly less-processed foods with an emphasis on eating fruit and veg, animal proteins, nuts, coconut products, and extra virgin olive oil.
• With IF, people limit their energy intake to about 25% of their usual diet (an average of only 500 calories for women and 600 calories for men) on two days per week.
• The Mediterranean diet encourages the consumption of fruit, vegetables, wholegrain bread and cereals, legumes, nuts, seeds, and olive oil with moderate amounts of fish, chicken, eggs, and dairy and red meat once a week or less.
During the study, while there was more reported weight loss with IF dieting, this loss was still “modest”. The Mediterranean diet, on the other hand, not only led to some weight loss, it also improved blood sugar levels and blood pressure. After the year-long study, more people on the Mediterranean diet had also stuck with their program.
“If you want to try a diet, you want it to be a tasty one,” says nutritionist Rick Hay. “The Mediterranean diet is definitely tasty, and it’s also quite a colourful diet – the more colour that you can get from your fruits and veg, the bigger the antioxidant boost.”
The Mediterranean diet also includes a moderate amount of red wine, which is not just good for relaxing you at the end of a long day. It’s also a source of a compound called resveratrol, which has been found to prolong lifespan.
“The only downside here is that you would need a lot more than just a glass of red to get a therapeutic dose,” Hay says. “However, you are getting a lot of synergistic phytonutrients together with the resveratrol in the wine, so there are lots of benefits to be had from it.”
Hay’s top tip to lose weight? Just do a couple of vegetarian or vegan days each week.
“It’s easy and you’re getting all the good stuff from the Mediterranean diet – all the fruit, vegies and legumes,” he says. “Plus, you’ll get more fibre, which helps you to feel full.
“Just make sure to avoid processed vegan foods or too much cheese if you’re doing vegetarian. If you do that a few days a week, I think you can lose a lot of weight.”
Some of the many (many) benefits of a Mediterranean diet
• A study in BMJ found that eating a Mediterranean diet for a year can boost the types of gut bacteria linked to “healthy” ageing, while reducing those associated with harmful inflammation.
• Researchers at the University of Minnesota, US, found that olive oil in the Mediterranean diet may hold the key to improving lifespan and alleviating ageing-related diseases.
• A study in the Archives of General Psychiatry found that people who follow the Mediterranean diet appear less likely to develop depression.
• Research from Greece found that adults who closely followed the Mediterranean diet were 47% less likely to develop heart disease over a 10-year period compared to adults who didn’t follow the diet.
• Research from the University of East Anglia, UK, found that sticking to a diet rich in fruit, veg, nuts, olive oil and fish could slow down bone loss in people with osteoporosis.
• A study in Frontiers in Nutrition revealed that people eating a Mediterranean diet experienced slowed rates of cognitive decline and improved cognitive function.


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Costco warns of Facebook scam
No, Costco is not giving away coupons or Costco Cash Cards on Facebook.
Posts making their way around social media recently say the company is giving away $150 vouchers, but Costco says the offer is a scam.
A message on Costco's Facebook page says the fake offer is neither 'sponsored nor endorsed' by the company.
Costco's New Brunswick locations include Fredericton, Saint John, and Moncton.


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A recall for pig ear pet treats that was issued last week over fears of Salmonella contamination has been expanded after human cases related to its product were reported. Lennox International was the second company this month to issue such a recall and it comes amid a Salmonella outbreak linked to pig ears that has sickened at least 93 people in 27 states.
New Jersey-based Lennox initially announced Friday a nationwide recall for its Premium Natural Pig Ears because it could be contaminated with Salmonella. On Tuesday, the company expanded the recall to include products shipped as far back as November 1, 2018 to July 3, 2019. The original recall put the start date as May 1, 2019.
Lennox now says in an advisory that it "is aware of cases of human illness related to an ongoing Salmonella outbreak in which several people identified Lennox pig eat treats as the brand they purchased." At least two pets have also reportedly gotten sick from the treats.
The recalled pig ears come in an 8-pack pouch with UPC 742174 995163 or 742174994166. It also comes individually shrink-wrapped with UPC 0385384810 and 742174P35107.
A previous recall issued on July 3 is for Pet Supplies Plus bulk pig ears. That recall spanned 33 states.
People who have these treats are advised to throw them out in a secure container to prevent further contamination, even if neither they nor their pet have gotten sick. Make sure to thoroughly wash hands and wipe down all surfaces that may have been in contact with the pig ears.
Here's what to know about Salmonella infections (from CDC):
- Most people infected with Salmonella develop diarrhea, fever, and stomach cramps 12 to 72 hours after being exposed to the bacteria.
- The illness usually lasts 4 to 7 days, and most people recover without treatment.
- In some people, the illness may be so severe that the patient needs to be hospitalized. Salmonella infection may spread from the intestines to the bloodstream and then to other places in the body.
- Children younger than 5 years, adults 65 years and older, and people with weakened immune systems are more likely to have a severe illness.
The following is a list of all the states where people have reported illnesses as part of the salmonella outbreak.
- New York
- North Carolina
- North Dakota
- South Carolina


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Amazon plans to hire more than 15,500 temporary workers to fulfill orders this holiday season, the company said Friday. New hires will staff fulfillment centers across the country. Centers in Arizona and Pennsylvania will have the largest numbers of seasonal staff. U.S. retailers are expected to add as many as 650,000 workers for the holiday season, according to a national outsourcing firm.
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