text:
A California dealers group has filed a formal complaint with the state seeking to prevent Carjojo Corp., which the group calls a car broker, from using unauthorized data to advertise dealership vehicles at false prices.
The grievance comes after the California New Car Dealers Association discovered the company uses software to copy inventory data from dealership websites and then posts the vehicles to its own site at prices far below sticker prices.
Carjojo finds vehicles and effectively negotiates a price on behalf of consumers.
The association, which represents 1,110 new-car dealers in California, submitted a formal report Tuesday to the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles, citing several violations of both state and federal consumer-protection statutes.
The complaint, for example, said Carjojo had advertised a 2017 Toyota Corolla LE sedan in stock at City Toyota in Daly City for $15,478. In fact, the car had been sold months earlier, the association said.
“This isn’t the dealer’s ad, this is Carjojo’s ad,” Brian Maas, the association president, told Automotive News on Thursday. “But still, people come in expecting those prices to be honored.”
Vehicles on the broker’s website include vehicle identification numbers, which is prohibited under state law unless the seller owns the car. As an authorized broker, Carjojo doesn’t own the vehicles, Maas said.
He added that some vehicles are listed on Carjojo for several thousands of dollars less than the sticker price and are often linked to dealerships that don’t exist. “In certain cases, not even the vehicles existed,” Maas said. “And the price was nothing the dealer had ever advertised.”
Peter Levy, CEO of Carjojo, said, “Since I just received [the complaint], I can’t directly comment on it until we fully digest it.”
He said the Silicon Valley start-up provides car data to customers, but the exchange is ultimately up to the dealership.
“We’ve provided thousands of free leads to dealers,” Levy said. “Of course it is their job to make the sale.”
He added that Carjojo has received an influx of positive feedback in the several months it has been operating, with some customers claiming the company negotiated less-than-sticker prices for them.
“I believe what we do — deep analytics to predict prices based on a complex proprietary database and analysis, with an Internet portal — will ultimately be the prevailing way that new vehicles are purchased,” Levy said.
How Carjojo works
Levy previously founded IntelliChoice, which he said in the 1990s was one of the companies that made “factory invoice” available to consumers, which was “Controversial then, standard now.”
Here is how he explained Carjojo’s operation to Automotive News in January during the National Automobile Dealers Association’s annual convention.
Carjojo’s software tracks the roughly 3.7 million unsold new cars and light trucks on U.S. dealership lots at any given time, while also analyzing transaction prices and available incentives. “We know the lowest price a given car will be sold for,” Levy said in January, which allows the website to effectively tell the shopper, “You should be able to buy this car for this price.”
The shopper picks three specific vehicles, say Honda Civics, which can be at three different dealerships, and enters their credit card and other information. Carjojo then emails or texts each dealership in turn, asking if it is willing to sell that Civic at that price. If the first dealership says no but the second says yes, the consumer is alerted and advised to contact that dealership within 24 hours. The car is not held. The shopper pays Carjojo a fee of $199, but Carjojo does not buy the car itself or have any formal relationship with that or other dealerships.
Levy said the process allows consumers to avoid haggling over price, while sending customers to dealerships for cars at a price the dealerships agree to.
According to California state law, an auto broker must inform customers that they do not posses the vehicles and that they can only arrange, negotiate and assist with car sales. But, Maas said, the association found the website mislead buyers for multiple pages before disclosing that information.
“They can tell folks ‘We can get you a Honda Accord,’ but they can’t say they have the actual cars or the VINs,” Maas said.
On its site, Carjojo offers this explanation of how it differs from typical auto brokers: “Carjojo is data driven, does not take a penny from any dealer, and treats all dealers the same. The broker is not data driven but is relationship driven, and works to protect and promote his relationship with his set of ‘in’ dealers. You get a lower price and a larger vehicle selection with Carjojo.”
It added, “Carjojo is an auto broker like an orchestra is a barbershop quartet.”
Cease and desist
Along with the letter sent to the DMV, the association also delivered a cease and desist notice to Carjojo, in which the company is asked to stop “all unauthorized and/or illegal advertisement of our dealership’s vehicles.”
A copy of the letter was mailed to every dealer member of the association, with a request that they forward it to Carjojo on behalf of their dealership.
“There’s no disclosure that Carjojo got the information [on vehicles] in the way that they did,” Maas said. “And they certainly did it without the dealer’s permission.”
James B. Treece contributed to this report.


text:
Disney fans have had a lot of patience, but now the time has finally come: Disney + is available in our country! Disney’s streaming service already appeared in November last year, including in the Netherlands. It was then expected that the platform would also come to Belgium soon, but nothing could be further from the truth.
Good news for everyone who has been impatiently waiting for the release of Disney + in Belgium for almost a year, because today is the day! Anyone who subscribes can enjoy unlimited access to existing and new content from Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic.
8 new countries
“We have surpassed 60.5 million paid subscribers worldwide and today we continue our international expansion with the launch of Disney + in eight countries,” said Disney. The eight countries in question are Portugal, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, Belgium and Luxembourg.
(Streamz, Disney + or Netflix: which one do you get at home?)
Profiles and downloads
In one subscription 7 profiles (including custom kidsprofiles) can be created, of which 4 can stream at the same time. Moreover, unlimited series and films can be downloaded on 10 different devices.
From the beginning, Disney + offered existing and exclusive content. The showpiece was The Mandalorian. The series, which takes place in the Star Warsworld, was available from the moment Disney + was released.
The series was such a huge success that it now got its own documentary series: Disney Gallery: The Mandalorian. This series consists of eight episodes, in which viewers get to see interviews with the makers, a look behind the scenes and funny anecdotes.
Second and third season
And to celebrate the new wave of Disney + launches, the platform will soon be releasing the second season of The Mandalorian. The second season will pick up where the first season ended and will still take place between the films Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens from the Star Warsfilm series. The third season of the series has already been confirmed, although it is still unclear when the shooting will start.

domain: news


text:
According to a blog post written by reputable outlet Consumer Reports, the inconsistent battery life of Apple‘s newest Macbook Pro has made it the first of the company’s devices to miss their recommendation. After performing multiple tests on the laptop’s 13-inch, 15-inch and Touch Bar-less models, the site confirmed that the computers’ battery lives often varied on a scale of more than 12 hours.
“The MacBook Pro battery life results were highly inconsistent from one trial to the next.
“For instance, in a series of three consecutive tests, the 13-inch model with the Touch Bar ran for 16 hours in the first trial, 12.75 hours in the second, and just 3.75 hours in the third. The 13-inch model without the Touch Bar worked for 19.5 hours in one trial but only 4.5 hours in the next. And the numbers for the 15-inch laptop ranged from 18.5 down to 8 hours.
“Those were just a few of the results; we tested battery life on these laptops repeatedly.”
Consumer Reports battery life tests are conducted by turning on the computer at full power, then continually surfs 10 Safari webpages until the laptop turns off. The outlet said that even after installment newer software updates, the inconsistencies remained.
Doubts have been raised in regards to Consumer Report’s testing procedures, some pointing out Google Chrome’s more reliable battery saving and Apple’s lack of promise regarding battery life times of 19 hours. According to a source familiar with the matter, Apple has not yet received the logs it needs to determine the source of the problem.
One Apple spokesperson told Business Insider the reason the company removed the remaining battery time indicator on their computers in the latest Sierra update was because of the wildly varying ways consumers use their laptops.
“When combined with the differing ways people use their Mac throughout the day, the calculation of remaining battery life displayed as a measure of time has become less accurate.”
Source: Business Insider


text:
If you have one of the red and white health cards still, you have just over five months left to get it replaced with the photo ID card. The Canadian Press has learned the government has set July 1 as the date the cards will no longer be accepted. The “phase out” of the cards started more than 25 years ago.
Data reveals that there are still about 300,000 red-and-white health cards in circulation, representing about two per cent of all Ontario health cards. Health Minister Christine Elliott says those cards are more susceptible to fraud than the newer cards, which feature a photo and a signature.
She says people who still have the old health cards will get notices this month, and after that they will get monthly reminders to get a new card.


text:
The last twelve months have been absolutely phenomenal for semiconductor companies, which just enjoyed their best year in over a decade.
Bloomberg reports that the huge numbers were driven by the insatiable demand of artificial intelligence (AI) chips, with the site reporting the Philadelphia Stock Exchange Semiconductor Index rising 65% in 2023, which represents the biggest single-year gain for the index since 2009.
All of the stocks except for a single one in the 30-member index skyrocketed in 2023, with a single massive standout on the index: NVIDIA. The company had amazing sales throughout 2023, mostly driven by their extensive AI GPUs. Shares more than tripled, giving NVIDIA the title of the first chipmaker to hit a market capitalization of over $1 trillion.
- Read more: NVIDIA splashes huge money on securing HBM3e for H200 and B100 AI GPUs
- Read more: NVIDIA AI GPU shipments expected to surge 150% year-over-year in 2024
NVIDIA might be first, but AMD is second because of their movements in AI as well, with their stock jumping by nearly 130% in the last year. NVIDIA has been shipping its advanced H100 AI GPU like candy in 2023, with the company reportedly shipping 3.5 million units in 2023 alone.
But... that's 2023... what about this year? NVIDIA is expecting to generate an insane $300 billion in AI-based sales by 2027, so we should expect non-stop celebrations by Team Green in 2024 and beyond. NVIDIA has its beefed-up H200 AI GPU coming soon, and its next-gen B100 AI GPU powered by the next-gen Blackwell GPU architecture this year, too.
AMD just announced its new Instinct MI300X AI GPU, which will see AMD enter the AI GPU race in big way. Intel is another big player in the AI business, but they've got a LOT of work ahead of them to catch up to AMD... let alone NVIDIA.


text:
Recently, Nidec Corporation announced that it will establish a new joint venture for producing drive motor with GAC Components, a subsidiary of GAC, which will be based in Guangzhou China. The drive motor will be first installed on GAC’s electric vehicles, and it is expected to supply other auto manufacturers in the future.
The joint venture company is called Guangzhou Nidec Auto Drive System, the headquarter will be located in Guangzhou with a registered capital of 600 million yuan (~US$85 million), Nidec holds 51%, and GAC Components holds 49%, the joint venture company will be officially registered in September or October 2019.
Nidec Corporation is an electromechanical supplier that started in the motor business. At present, the company’s business covers communications, IT, home appliances and automobiles, and has always attached great importance to the Chinese market. In recent years, Nidec is trying to promote the expansion of the “three-in-one (integrated motor, gearbox and inverter)” electric drive system E-Axle in China, and the newly released GAC Aion S and the Aion LX, which is going be listed, will be equipped with the E-Axle electric drive system.
Nidec is expected to the demand of this product will exceed 4 billion yuan in the Chinese market by 2020. The cooperation with GAC will integrate the knowledge of vehicle technology of GAC and the electric drive technology of Nidec, it can not only promote the localization of the electric drive electric drive products, further reduce the cost, but also lay the foundation for the research, development and promotion of new electric drive products in the future.


text:
KATHMANDU: Economic Digest, a daily morning email digest, is basically a relatable summation of important business news from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.
Implementation of national pride projects will not face obstruction: FM Khatiwada
Finance Minister Dr Yubraj Khatiwada has said that the government would not allow any obstruction in implementing the national pride projects despite adverse impact of COVID-19 on the economy.
Budget head change will be used if needed to ensure availability of funds for such projects. During the meeting today of National Concern Committee under the National Assembly, Finance Minister Dr Khatiwada shared the government would not allow budget scarcity on these projects through transferring of funds and fulfilling from donor agencies.
He further said that it would be easier in implementation of national pride projects if a separate law in this regard is formulated. Minister Khatiwada had presented the bill in this regard in the parliament two years ago.
Hotels, restaurants in Sauraha resuming from today
Hotels and restaurants that remained shut since the Nepal government imposed lockdown on March 24 opened from Thursday.
A meeting of the Regional Hotel Association (HAN) held in Sauraha on Tuesday had decided to open hotels and restaurants from Thursday with some precautionary measures.
All the restaurants and hotels based in Sauraha including tourism activities had remained closed from March 24 due to coronavirus pandemic.
“The government has also decided to allow hotels and restaurants to resume their operations from July 30. We have also decided to open hotels and restaurants from today,” Deepak Bhattarai, HAN Chairman of Chitwan chapter said.
Meanwhile, HAN has directed hoteliers to ensure tourists take their temperature, use sanitizers, masks and wash hands frequently. Hoteliers and restaurants have to record their details their guests.
Hotels and restaurants resume services
Hotels and restaurants closed for the past four months due to lockdown have resumed their business from today.
The government had decided to resume the hotel business from July 30 after the four-month lockdown. Offices related to trekking, travel and mountaineering are coming into operation in view of tourism season.
The tourism entrepreneurs plan to take the business ahead by following the health protocol with new enthusiasm after the end of lockdown.
First Vice-Chairperson of Hotel Association of Nepal (HAN), Binayak Shah, said that there is still dilemma about the different matters whether the foreign tourists visiting Nepal has to stay in quarantine.
There is still slim chance of foreign tourists visiting Nepal any time soon. Tourism entrepreneurs said that they are ready to welcome tourists.
They said that they would be able to uplift their business to some extent, pinning their hopes on domestic tourists though it would take some time to return the business in its previous situation.
Hotel entrepreneurs are making plan to bring only 10 per cent service of the full capacity of their business into operation in the initial phase.
(Compiled and prepared by Nitish Lal Shrestha)
Nepal Economic Digest is a daily morning email digest, basically relatable summations of the most important business news, happenings from Nepal into easy-to-understand summaries.


text:
New Xbox 360 model now available; free games coming to Xbox Live Gold members
From its E3 press conference, Microsoft announced that a new Xbox 360 model has been developed, one that is smaller and quieter than the previous “slim” model. Better yet, it’s now available.
In addition, Microsoft announced that two games will be made available to Xbox LIVE Gold members every month for free. Assassin’s Creed II and Halo 3 will be the first games out of the gate.
More on this as it develops.
A writer, journalist, and aspiring storyteller, Peter Grimm has been gaming since the days of the Nintendo 64, and reporting on the goings-on in the World of Gaming since late 2011. His base of writing operations is located within the void between Here and There, or so he would have you think.
[Other Gaming News +]
MORE FROM GAMEDYNAMO


text:
I have long advocated the following formula.
Invest in the most inexpensive PC equipment you can get that fits a need.
Invest in the best monitor you can afford [min. 17", 19" if you can swing it, flat screen].
Rotate PC boxes out every two years, monitors every three or four.
For laptops spend no more than $800/unit.
Everyone thinks I'm demented. School procurement policy is to by the best, most bulletproof item they can. They want it to last for years. That's all wrong.
As Kurtzweil points out in The Singularity Is Near, technology [especially PCs] is advancing at exponential rates. Actually faster. By 2009 or 10, the PC in the classroom will be smarter than any teacher in the school, equivalent to a humanoid tutor per student. Why invest long term in PCs that today are no smarter than a mouse?
The answer is to not invest heavily. Invest inexpensively and turn over older units to needy kids, as fund-raisers, or as donations. Every year from now on will mean profoundly improved machine intelligence that must not be confused with today's primitive products.
Also note that this article indicates schools can shop wisely and save big dollar amounts.
Look and learn from this snippet [click the link for the full story];
Timing the Electronics Market for the Best Deal on a New PC
By DAMON DARLIN
Published: May 27, 2006
Some analysts had expected coming into the year that prices would actually go up slightly. Instead, the average price of a notebook computer dropped to $963 in April, an 18.5 percent decrease from a year ago, according to Current Analysis, which is based in Sterling, Va.
When an electronic device breaks through the $1,000 psychological barrier, sales take off. Samir Bhavnani, director for research at Current Analysis, said 37 percent more notebooks have been sold so far this year. About 60 percent of all notebook computers sold last month were priced below $1,000. He credits Dell, saying, "They love getting down in the mud."
Dell is running a promotion, which it bills as a celebration of its 22nd anniversary, with a $400 discount on PC's, plus a free monitor and free shipping.
Another statistic will tell you just how good consumers have it. While the number of notebooks sold is up 37 percent, revenue growth in the period is up only 15.5 percent, Mr. Bhavnani said. Companies are making less money on each notebook. Desktop computers are literally being given away. Retailers sold 14.8 percent more of them in the first five months of the year, but revenue declined 4 percent, Mr. Bhavnani said. Half of the computers sold for less than $500.
Consider the Hewlett-Packard Compaq Presario desktop offered this week at Office Depot. For $300 you get a PC with 512 megabytes of RAM and a 100-gigabyte hard drive. Office Depot tossed in a 17-inch CRT monitor and a printer.
"The material cost, before the printer, was around $400," estimated Mark Hill, Acer's vice president for sales in the United States. "It's crazy." Not that he's complaining. Acer has gained one point of market share this year by artful pricing.
So how does a consumer play this? As always with electronics, it is worth waiting. Expect even better deals around the Christmas season. But if you need to get one now, you certainly won't suffer. Deals will abound during the back-to-school season, which starts in June just as the school year ends.


text:
Vitamin C can kill a virulent form of tuberculosis, researchers in New York have found.
Actavis will acquire Warner Chilcott for $8.5 billion, the drug maker said.
Kerr Drug has introduced a new prescription-synchronization service, the retail pharmacy chain said Monday.
The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy has appointed the leader of a cancer-focused specialty pharmacy to its board of directors.
A California health executive has been appointed to Rite Aid's board of directors, the retail pharmacy chain said.
A recent survey commissioned on behalf of a pharmacy benefit manager trade group found a high degree of satisfaction among Medicare Part D beneficiaries with preferred pharmacy plans.
Target is hoping to tap Silicon Valley talent in developing its omnichannel business, the company said.
Regional chain Bartell Drugs will sponsor a food drive starting on Sunday, the company said.
Long Island University's Brooklyn, N.Y., campus has given C.O. Bigelow Apothecaries owner Ian Ginsberg its Distinguished Alumnus Award, the university said.
A Food and Drug Administration panel will consider whether to recommend approval for an experimental painkiller in July, the drug's developer said Friday.
Hospira has reappointed its chief scientific officer after he briefly left the country earlier this year, the generic drug maker said.
Mylan has launched a generic drug for treating cholesterol, the company said.
Target is looking to compete with the likes of Netflix and Hulu with a video-streaming service it is beta testing with employees, according to published reports.
The mayor of the nation's capital announced Thursday plans to include calorie information on vending machines in municipal buildings.
"Numerous" physicians in Pennsylvania are supporting a bill that would expand the range of immunizations that pharmacists can provide, a state pharmacy group said Thursday.
Meijer will sell cupcake stands customized in local school colors under a partnership with the stands' Michigan-based manufacturer.
The National Association of Specialty Pharmacy has launched an online resource with clinical and business-related content in more than 20 therapeutic categories, the group said Thursday.
Food Lion has revamped 178 of its stores and hired 800 new employees, the Delhaize Group-owned supermarket chain said.
The Senate voted overwhelmingly to confirm a former Virginia Health and Human Services secretary as administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Target has launched the fall 2013 collection of Sonia Kashuk beauty products at its stores, the mass merchandise chain said.
Walmart opened a new small-format store on the campus of Arizona State University as part of a pilot program, the mass merchandise retailer said.
The makers of a pill bottle that uses wireless technology to keep patients adherent won the grand prize at a recent healthcare innovation contest.
Acosta Sales and Marketing has appointed two new executives, the company said.
A federal drug track-and-trace bill has made it out of a congressional committee.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a drug for a type of lung cancer.


text:
Boarded-up windows outside flagship branches of department stores Galeries Lafayette and Printemps bore testimony on Saturday to the impact of a COVID-19 lockdown in Paris.
On what would usually be a busy weekend for Christmas shopping, only handfuls of people were out on Boulevard Haussmann, where the stores are located.
For more coronavirus news, visit our dedicated page.
“It’s sad. We are outside Galeries Lafayette and everything is closed,” said one would-be shopper, Emmanuelle Tiger. “They’ve put up (shop window) lights. That’s great, but we don’t feel the Christmas spirit at all.”
Under the lockdown, in force since the end of October in the capital and other large cities, people must stay indoors apart from trips to buy food or other essential goods, or for a brief hour of exercise.
France has the seventh-highest COVID-19 toll in the world, with almost 44,000 fatalities, and the government has said it may extend the lockdown beyond Dec. 1, when it is due to end, if infection rates do not fall.
“Our fight against the epidemic involves all of us and the next few days will be decisive,” wrote President Emmanuel Macron on Twitter on Saturday.
Some on the Boulevard were hopeful the measures would be eased in time for Christmas.
“I think they will open one or two weeks before... and we’ll do our Christmas shopping then,” said Aymeric Lenain.
France proposes delaying regional elections following uncertainties over coronavirusThe French government will propose delaying regional and departmental elections from March to June next year given uncertainties caused by the ... Coronavirus
Coronavirus: France’s new COVID-19 deaths up by 472; 31,477 hospitalized patientsThe number of people in France who have died from COVID-19 infections rose by 472 over 24 hours, versus 551 on Monday, BFM TV said on Tuesday, citing ... Coronavirus
France’s Macron says terrorism threat requires re-think of open-border SchengenThe threat of terrorism is a European reality that needs a coordinated and quick answer, French President Emmanuel Macron said on Tuesday.For all the ... World News


text:
It was midmorning Friday at Starbucks in Lawndale and insurance agent Kimberly Brown, her papers spread out on a round table by the window, talked quietly with a client.
Fred Cager stopped in to order his usual -- his first grande decaf of the day -- and savor the edgy jazz. Out back, behind Starbucks' drive-through lane, David Garner strode by on his way to buy birthday presents for his brother and sister. The 20-year-old sometimes stops in Starbucks to read or talk with friends.
"It's like the only really peaceful place around," Garner said.
Starbucks confirmed Thursday what they already had heard: This bright oasis inside a spanking new brick building is on the coffee chain's shutdown list.
In its years of heady expansion, the Seattle-based company came to stand for many ideas: the go-to place for coffee and a Wi-Fi connection; a faceless corporation crowding out local businesses; an affordable luxury.
For communities such as Lawndale, where vacant lots alternate with graystones, Starbucks became shorthand for the promise of better days, a neighborhood on its way up. The cafe's closing underscores the difficulty of sustaining that momentum when hard times hit. Three of the five Starbucks closing in Chicago -- part of the chain's plan to close 600 nationwide -- are in minority areas. Besides Lawndale, two are located on 95th Street.
"In Chicago we've begun to see some really strong investment that's lifted neighborhood economies throughout the city," said Joel Bookman, programs director at non-profit Local Initiative Support Corp. "That makes this downturn particularly troublesome. Retailers and developers look to minimize risk. When lending is so tight, projects go slower if they go at all."
Seventy percent of the stores closing nationally have been open less than two years, rolled out during what the company now acknowledges was an overexpansion. They include me-too locations in more-affluent communities and outposts in developing areas such as Lawndale, where the nearest Starbucks is more than 21/2 miles away.
The Lawndale cafe is an Urban Coffee Opportunity, built as part of a joint venture between Starbucks and Magic Johnson Enterprises, a company founded by the basketball star that undertakes urban development and other projects. The Starbucks closing at East 95th Street and Stony Island Avenue also is a Magic Johnson cafe.
"The decision to close the stores was Starbucks' decision," said Eric Holoman, president of Magic Johnson Enterprises. "Magic Johnson Enterprises ... is disappointed in the decision."
So are many community members.
Concerns in communities
"I'm very upset about it closing, very disappointed really," said Brown, the insurance agent. "It looked as if it was thriving. I see so many other suburban neighborhoods where they have one on every corner. I'm just not understanding why when we have only have one in our neighborhood, why is it closing?"
Kimberley Thompson, Starbucks' store development manager who oversees the partnership with Magic Johnson Enterprises, said the same criteria for profitability and growth are applied to all cafes. In different economic circumstances, all new stores would have gotten more breathing room, she said.
"If you were looking at a more healthy economic climate and if times were so much different ... you have more time," she said. "You have more time for a store to ramp up and flourish and to be successful and to sustain the life that it needs."
Thompson said the company might re-enter the communities later. "We certainly aren't trying to abandon communities. That was never our intention."
But just as the current economic climate brought out the vulnerabilities in Starbucks' zealous expansion, it is also making it tough for entrepreneurial alternatives to succeed.
Homegrown small businesses are often "likely to stay because they're anchored in the neighborhood, whereas when you get big chains, someone off in Seattle or New York makes a decision literally looking at a spreadsheet," said Philip Nyden, director of the Center for Urban Research and Learning at Loyola University Chicago.
Time not on their side
Some neighborhoods are in a "very sensitive position and they're looking for economic engines, which right now is very difficult," said Atanacio Gonzalez, associate director of the Neighborhoods Initiative at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "Usually for something where you've got to build the clientele, you have to invest for two to three years. ... Right now isn't the time to do it because people aren't spending money on things."
Some residents were suspicious when Starbucks opened that it was part of a gentrification scheme that would push residents out, said Garner, the 20-year-old.
"A lot of people thought they were trying to up the value of the neighborhood so they could get other people, non-minority people, to move in," he said. "[But] there wasn't too much buzz after a while."
Cager, the regular, said the place became a gathering spot.
"It's a shame it's being closed," he said. "People are friendly when you come here. You feel like you belong. We have coffee places, neighborhood restaurants, but the ambience, the nature of the place is so nice."


text:
We recently published the first estimated worldwide ranking of revenue losses due to adblocking.
The losses are affecting all the websites and lines of business
The ranking, based on the million websites hosting the strongest monthly audiences worldwide and per country, lists the top 100 websites losing the most advertising revenue.
First lesson: everyone’s concerned. E-commerce or online video giants, media or adult websites, the haemorrhaging is global.
Among the world’s top 100, we find websites like Youtube losing more than 1 billion dollars per year or Yahoo losing more than 674 million dollars per year.
Here is the top 10 websites in the US and in the UK:
A phenomenon that keeps growing
Over the past few years, the number of adblocker users has increased, the main reasons of this raise being the ads too intrusive and the protection of the data, as shown in the latest sudy of IAB-IPSOS in march 2016.
In the US, we count 18% of adblocker users among web users and 419 million users worldwide. Their motivations are mainly due security (30%) and interruption in what they’re doing (29%).
Antoine FERRIER-BATTNER, founder and CEO of AdBack, has analyzed the topic for several years. He says:
“We identify advertising revenue losses due to adblockers between 15 and 20% for the content publishers. For the publishers who are forced to publish free content because of their size or the economic model of their industry, it represents a cut of 15% to 20% of their global income.”
A ranking that aims to raise awareness that if solutions exist, it is urgent to put them in place
Antoine FERRIER-BATTNER, CEO of AdBack explains:
“The objective is to raise awareness about the scale of the adblocking phenomenon. The estimated revenue loss could reach 92 million dollars per year in the US for big websites like YouTube, even more for certain website categories whose audience blocks more ads than the average.”
The phenomenon concerns as much publishers as advertisers. The publishers’ revenue are affected, which endangers the funding of their activities. From an advertiser point of view, there is also a major stake since the effectiveness of their advertising campaigns is reduced by adblocking.
In this context, AdBack’s mission is to propose alternative solutions to advertising to access the content and also to adapt these propositions to every user profile. This is what the start-up put in place in fall 2016 with the GESTE as part of an awareness campaign about adblocking that brought together all the french media.
“With AdBack, explains Antoine FERRIER-BATTNER, we’re developing tools to re-engage dialogue between users and publishers and offer everyone the chance to benefit from this operating method. For that purpose, we have a tailored consulting approach for every publisher: the needs of a small and a big publisher are different. This is also true if you’re in the information, in online sales or entertainment. Our solutions allow to win back 28 to 60% of these revenues that are the primary source of remuneration for publishers. We can reach three times more web users thanks to the display of targeted messages offering alternative solutions to a simple deactivation. These solutions can be video ads, mini-surveys, subscriptions to newsletters… All sorts of advertising engagement to offer users the choice.”
The ranking methodology
On our website, we allow to visualize the worldwide ranking of the websites, to filter by country, to search for a particular website or to submit a website that is not appearing in the list in order to know its lost revenue.
We used the list of the million websites of Alexa based on the audiences and then calculated for that list the estimated advertising revenue loss.
Here is the calculation method:
Number of blocked elements x $0.42 CPM x adblocker rate of the country x page views x 12
Following this ranking, we created an interactive infographic of the losses per country. Check it out!


text:
After weeks of teasing, OnePlus has finally announced the new OnePlus 6T, which improves upon the OnePlus 6 that was released about six months ago and introduces some new technologies. You can check out our full review for all of the details on how the 6T works and where it slots in this crazy season of smartphone launches.
But as good as the OnePlus 6T hardware is, it’s only half the story for the company. The 6T represents two significant steps for OnePlus in the US: it’s the first OnePlus device to be compatible with Verizon’s network, and it’s the first OnePlus phone to be sold directly by a US carrier. Prior to the 6T, OnePlus phones could only be purchased directly from the company, and they would only work on AT&T or T-Mobile’s networks (and their derivatives). With the 6T, OnePlus is finally able to reach customers on the largest wireless network in the US, and at the same time, attract new phone shoppers walking into T-Mobile stores across the country.
OnePlus has been selling its phones to US customers for years, but as successful as it has been with direct online sales so far, the opportunity for growth is far greater now that it has a carrier pushing its devices as well. The smartphone market may be more crowded than ever, but OnePlus has carved out a niche for itself by providing a high-end experience for a much lower price than the competition. OnePlus also has ideal timing for its push: traditional players like HTC and LG have faded away in the US as Samsung and Apple have run away with the market and global leaders like Huawei have been locked out.
With Verizon compatibility and T-Mobile marketing now on its side, OnePlus has the opportunity to move from the niche to a mainstream audience.


text:
Market News & Headlines >> U.S. Feedlot Inventory Smaller Than Expected
The monthly Cattle-on-Feed report released by USDA last Wednesday held friendly news for the cattle market as it pegged both October feedlot placements and the Nov. 1 feedlot inventory below trade expectations.
USDA pegged October feedlot placements at only 93.9% of a year earlier versus trade estimates that averaged 99.1% in a range from 94.0%-104.3%. In actual numbers, October placements totaled 2.248 million head, 145,000 below a year earlier.
USDA put the Nov. 1 feedlot inventory at 103.2% of a year earlier compared with trade estimated that averaged 104.4% in a range from 103.3%-105.6%. In actual numbers, the feedlot inventory totaled 11.692 million head, 360,000 head larger than a year earlier and 292,000 head larger than a month earlier.
October feedlot marketings were pegged by USDA at 104.8% of a year earlier compared with trade estimates that averaged 104.2% in a range from 103.2%-104.9%. In actual numbers, October marketing ran 1.887 million head, 86,000 head above a year earlier. Marketings were larger than a year earlier in part because October contained one more marketing day this year than it did last year.
October feedlot placements were below a year earlier in all weight classes with placements of cattle weighing 700-799 pounds running only 88.2% of a year earlier, while placements weighing 600-699 pounds were 89.0% of a year earlier.


text:
Internet giant Yahoo Inc.s latest endeavor, a cell phone service, will use the network of Cingular Wireless, a source said Monday.
Its choice of cell phone network operator is a significant one, though to some degree expected.
When well-known brands ranging from "Ma Bell" AT&T to the Virgin retailing empire of Sir Richard Branson wanted to launch a cell phone operation, they would usually deal with Sprint Nextel, the No. 3 U.S. cell phone operator. Just last week, a partnership consisting of cable operators Comcast, Time Warner, Cox Communications and Advance/Newhouse Communications chose Sprint for just such a task.
In a way, Sprint Nextel may be suffering from its success in pioneering the MVNO (mobile virtual network operator) market. By racking up so many deals, some analysts are worried that its network may not be able to handle more of the MVNO load.
This stress on the network may have been one reason why Yahoo is instead working with SBC Communications, the traditional telephone company, which is also part-owner of Cingular Wireless, the nations No. 1 cell phone service provider, some have suggested.
The Yahoo cell phone service debuts in a couple of months, according to the source.
A Yahoo spokesman, reached for comment when details of the cell phone service first emerged in Mondays Wall Street Journal, said "Yahoo doesnt comment on future product plans" and wouldnt comment further.
A Sprint spokesman couldnt immediately be reached for comment.
Yahoos cell phone plans emerged alongside new cell phone mapping services from Google Inc. —the search giant emerging as a big threat to Yahoo and other Internet stalwarts. On Monday, a limited number of cell phones were able to use a more advanced version of Googles mapping feature.


text:
As revealing statistics show, the United States and UK lack BAME business leaders. But Dorothy Musariri looks at how some of the world's largest companies, including Yahoo!, PepsiCo and Starbucks, have role models with CEOs and senior bosses from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds
From Yahoo! to PepsiCo, and Microsoft to Starbucks – some of the world’s biggest companies are run by black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) business leaders.
They are key role models for younger people from similar backgrounds to show what can be achieved in the face of social barriers.
Despite major advances in western attitudes towards race over the past century, BAME groups are still hugely underrepresented in corporate America and the UK.
According to analysis by The Colour of Power, about 97% of the UK’s most powerful people are white.
Fewer than one in ten senior positions in the UK are currently held by BAME members, and only half of FTSE 100 leaders are regarded as “actively championing” diversity, according to a study by the Chartered Management Institute.
In the United States, racial diversity could also be improved significantly – particularly in executive roles.
There have only ever been 15 BAME CEOs in the history of the Fortune 500 and only five are still in their roles.
Black men and women account for 4.7% of executive board members in the Fortune 100.
In smaller companies, they hold an estimated 6.7% of the US’s 16.2 million senior jobs, according to figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
While these numbers don’t paint the best picture of corporate America and Britain, these 15 BAME business leaders show that anything is possible, for anyone.
BAME business leaders: Ursula Burns
Ursula Burns is the chairwoman of multinational telecommunications service VEON and senior advisor to Teneo Holdings, an investment banking platform and international C-suite advisory firm.
In 2009, she became the CEO of global printing corporation Xerox, making her the first black female CEO to head a Fortune 500 company and the first woman to succeed another woman as head of a Fortune 500 company.
The 59-year-old was also the leader of the STEM programme at the White House from 2009 to 2016, after she was appointed by former US President Barack Obama.
BAME business leaders: Satya Nadella
He joined the company in 1992 and has held numerous roles, including executive vice-president of Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise Group.
He also holds a master’s degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, US.
BAME business leaders: John Wendell Thompson
John Thompson is the chairman of Microsoft.
He was previously CEO at technology company Virtual Instruments, a vice president at IBM and the former CEO of software company Symantec.
He later became an independent director on the board of Microsoft and, in February 2014, was named the chairman of the board, succeeding Bill Gates.
John led the search for Microsoft’s next CEO, Satya Nadella.
In 2010, he was recognised for his commitment to education in Silicon Valley at the Silicon Valley Education Foundation’s 2010 Pioneers & Purpose event.
BAME business leaders: Rosalind Brewer
Rosalind Brewer is the COO of Starbucks and former president and CEO of Sam’s Club – a division of Walmart.
Rosalind was the first woman and the first African-American to fill the role of CEO at one of Walmart divisions, before she stepped down last year.
The law graduate previously had a 22-year career at personal care firm Kimberly-Clark Corporation, starting as a scientist.
She advanced to president of the hygiene and medical segments company Global Nonwovens Sector in 2004, before her move to Walmart.
BAME business leaders: Josh Rathour
Josh Rathor is the founder and executive of Nottingham-based student discount platform UNiDAYS.
It is one of the UK’s fastest-growing tech companies and, as of February, had more than ten million users and four million app downloads across 114 countries.
The company has offices across the world, including New York and Sydney.
In 2017, Josh was named the UK’s “rising star” in business at the EY Entrepreneur of the Year Awards.
BAME business leaders: Bianca Miller-Cole
The former Apprentice contestant Bianca Miller-Cole has gone on to become an award-winning entrepreneur.
After finishing runner-up on BBC’s The Apprentice in 2014, she went on to set up her diverse hosiery product line named Bianca Miller London, which launched in 2015.
In 2016, she was awarded the prestigious “Power Profile” by LinkedIn as one of the top 10 most powerful leaders on the website – a list chosen from 20 million members in the UK and made up of names such as Richard Branson, James Caan and David Cameron.
She also founded The Be Group, a consultancy specialing in personal branding, image consultancy and employability skills training.
The company has worked on several campaigns, including for Microsoft and EY.
BAME business leaders: Indra Nooyi
When she first began her career in India, she held a product manager position at pharmaceuticals giant Johnson & Johnson and textiles firm Mettur Beardsell.
In 2015, the 62-year-old ranked second in Fortune’s Most Powerful Women list.
She reportedly took home $46m (£35m) in 2016.
BAME business leaders: Jerry Yang
Jerry Chih-Yuan Yang is the co-founder and former CEO of Yahoo! Inc.
He has always had an entrepreneurial mindset from a young age.
While at university, Jerry and his friend David Filo started a company called Jerry and David’s Guide to the World Wide Web – which consisted of a directory of other websites.
As the company grew popular, the pair renamed it Yahoo! Inc.
In 2005, the Stanford University graduate persuaded Yahoo! to buy two-fifths of Alibaba in 2005, leaving him with a fortune of $1bn (£760m).
He is currently a board member for the likes of Yahoo!, Cisco, Alibaba Group and Stanford University, and has a net worth of $2.7bn (£1.59bn)
BAME business leaders: Janice Bryant Howroyd
An educator, ambassador, businesswoman, entrepreneur and author – Janice Bryant Howroyd is well known for building her own billion-dollar company.
She is the CEO of The ACT-1 Group – one of the largest privately-held, woman-owned workforce solutions companies in the US – and had an estimated net worth of $420m (£322m) in 2016.
In 2011, she was given the National Association of Women Business Owners Hall of Fame honouree.
She also received the BET Honours Entrepreneur award in 2008 and Black Enterprise AG Gaston Award in 2016.
BAME business leaders: Torrence Boone
Torrence is a Harvard Business School and Stanford University graduate.
He is currently the vice-president at Google’s Global Agency Sales and Services arm – where he is in charge of marketing and advertising.
Prior to working at the tech giant, Torrence held a senior agency leadership positions with public relations companies WPP and Publicis, and marketing and tech agency Digitas.
He has received awards from organisations including the Financial Times, UPstating Power List, Top 100 Most Influential Black in Corporate America.
BAME business leaders: Kenneth Chenault
Kenneth is an American business executive. He was CEO and chairman of American Express from 2001 until 2018, a role that made him just the third black CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
Kenneth began his career as an associate at a law firm in New York City.
He joined American Express in 1981, working in the strategic planning group and, after being appointed CEO 20 years later, was said to be taking home around $22m (£16m).
BAME business leaders: Carla Harris
Carla is the vice-chairwoman and managing director of global wealth management and senior client advice at investment banking company Morgan Stanley.
She was previously chairwoan of the Morgan Stanley Foundation for a few years.
In her current role, Carla is responsible for increasing client connectivity and penetration to enhance revenue generation across the firm.
Before joining Morgan Stanley, she received an MBA from Harvard Business School.
BAME business leaders: Herman Bulls
Herman is the vice-chairman of property firm JLL’s Americas region.
He has worked for the company for 29 years and has held different roles within the firm.
Herman founded its public institutions business unit, which specialises in delivering real estate solutions to the federal, state and local governments, as well as economic development and non-profit organisations and higher education institutions.
Away from JLL, he also co-founded, and served as president and CEO, of Bulls Capital Partners, a multi-family financing company.
Additionally, he founded Bulls Advisory Group, LCC, a management and real estate advisory firm.
Herman has a Bachelors of Science in engineering from West Point and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
BAME business leaders: Marvin Ellison
Marvin is the president and CEO of American hardware store Lowe’s after joining the company in July 2018.
Prior to this, he was CEO of American department store JC Penney – a role he took on in August 2015.
During his time there, he helped the company make progress in recovering lost profitability.
He was one of five black CEOs on the 2016 Fortune 500’s greatest leaders list.
BAME business leaders: Susan Somersille Johnson
Susan is a corporate executive vice-president and chief marketing officer for SunTrust Banks.
She oversees the company’s strategies for branding, digital marketing and corporate.
Before moving to the American bank in August 2014, she was in several senior positions at several giants of the technology world, including Nokia, Apple, Fujitsu and NCR Corporation.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering sciences from Harvard University and an MBA in finance from The Wharton School.


text:
Shares of Home Depot (HD 5.40%) surged today as the company edged out estimates in its third-quarter earnings report and reassured investors that the business was performing well under difficult macro conditions.
Additionally, the stock seemed to benefit from a cooler-than-expected inflation report. That makes it less likely that the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates again, which benefits Home Depot.
As a result, the stock finished today’s session up 5.4%.
Home Depot delivers rock-solid results
The home improvement retail giant continues to struggle with the broader slowdown in the housing market. Same-store sales were down 3.1%, and revenue fell 3% to $37.71 billion, which was slightly better than the analyst consensus of $37.63 billion.
On the bottom line, earnings per share slipped from $4.24 to $3.81 as it lost leverage from lower sales and took a hit from lower commodity prices in some categories like lumber. However, that result was also better than estimates at $3.77.
CEO Ted Decker said the quarter was in line with the company’s expectations, and it continues to experience “pressure in certain big-ticket discretionary categories,” a sign that homeowners are being more cautious with interest rates up.
Guidance is clearer
For the full year, the company now sees a comparable sales decline of 3% to 4%, compared to a previous range of 2% to 5%. On the bottom line, it called for EPS to decline by 9% to 11%, compared to its earlier range of 7%-13%.
Investors seemed to applaud the results as the company hit its targets, and the October inflation report lifted the broader market and sparked a surge in real estate stocks.
Home Depot is directly exposed to interest rates because higher mortgage rates have cooled off home sales and made it harder to take out a home equity loan. As a result, sales have fallen this year. However, signs are increasing that the Fed could be done raising interest rates, which would be a big step toward a rebound in the housing market and for Home Depot’s business as well.
Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Home Depot. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


text:
HP last week announced it was officially changing the name of EDS, which it acquired last year, to HP Enterprise Services. According to an HP announcement, it "marks the next major step in a year-long integration of EDS into HP and emphasizes the growing global role of enterprise technology services in HP's portfolio."
There seems little doubt as to the overall "growing global role of enterprise technology services," based on two deals that bookended HP's announcement. A few days beforehand, Dell said it was buying Perot Systems. Now this week, Xerox revealed its plans to purchase Affiliated Computer Services.
Hardware traditionally has tighter margins than services, and in a down economy, the hardware business tends to suffer more quickly and in larger measures than services. So these purchases should help protect the acquirers from economic bumps by diversifying their businesses. As IT Business Edge's Mike Vizard noted last week, HP and Dell (and now Xerox) are trying to follow the lead of IBM, which effectively transitioned itself from being a hardware company to a services company. If a company like IBM or HP helps IT organizations revamp their processes, chances are good that they'll sell some hardware and software as well. Writes Vizard:
What's really happening here is that technology vendors have collectively become tired of waiting for customers to figure out how to become more efficient using IT. Instead, they are investing massive amounts of money in services organizations whose primary mission is to drive IT-enabled change that in turn will drive more product sales.
The consolidation is a sign of an intensely competitive industry and one that has undergone a major shift in the past decade, said Mark Mayo, an analyst at outsourcing advisory company TPI, when I spoke with him on Friday. Before Y2K, competition for services deals was largely confined to IBM, EDS, ACS and CSC, he told me. Following Y2K, services providers from Europe (T-Systems and Capgemini) and Asia (Wipro, Infosys, Tata Consultancy Services) emerged, effectively transforming what had been mostly a North American services market into a global one. In fairly short order, the Indian companiesbegan taking market share from the so-called Big Six: HP, Accenture, IBM, EDS, ACS and CSC.
More acquisitions are coming in the services industry, predicts Mayo. He's not the only one. Plenty of other observers (including me) thought HP's purchase of EDS would trigger similar buys. Mayo thinks both multinationals and up-and-comers like the Indian companies will be shopping for services firms that serve attractive verticals. Few verticals are more attractive right now than health care, which may help explain the Dell and Xerox acquisitions. Both Perot Systems and ACS possess deep health care expertise, and health care is a bright spot in otherwise sluggish IT spending forecasts.


text:
It’s official, Jamberry is in foreclosure and is shutting down. Here is the email sent out to consultants today:
We’re so grateful to each of you for your patience during this transitional time for Jamberry. Following are some updates:
Jamberry, LLC, recently announced that we are in foreclosure, and we regret to inform you that any product, gift cards, swag, marketing or event purchases made prior to 11:59 p.m. MT on June 28, 2018, are ineligible for refund from Jamberry.
Due to the entity’s present status, Jamberry is unable to fulfill the contract with the Gaylord Resort for International Conference 2018 in Nashville, TN. To cancel your room reservation at the Gaylord Resort, you can reach them at 615-889-1000.
Additionally, as Jamberry is unable to fulfill other contracts, the 2019 Incentive Trips to Costa Rica and Thailand are cancelled.
To secure a future for you and your businesses moving forward, M.Network has agreed to purchase certain Jamberry assets, and they’ll be communicating with you soon.
Your Consultant Dashboard will have all of the most current information, including frequently asked questions (FAQs), updates, etc.
Thank you for all you’ve meant to Jamberry. We wish you success.
According to multiple sources within Jamberry, MNetwork’s purchase of the company has fallen through. We are hearing reports that product is no longer shipping outside of the U.S. and executives (including the CEO) are not showing up to the office. In addition, Jamberry’s social media pages have not been updated in multiple weeks. Due to Jamberry’s precarious financial state (thus the proposed MNetwork purchase), it appears that the company’s days are numbered.
About 50 Elite Jamberry consultants released a video on Tuesday in the wake of the executive team ceasing communications. They revealed that commission checks are no longer being sent out and that Jamberry has essentially ceased all day-to-day operations.
In a cryptic YouTube video on Monday, Jamberry and M.Network announced a “strategic alliance” that sounds a lot like an acquisition. While MNetwork CEO Ryan Anderson and Jamberry President of Global Sales Stacy Sova stressed that this was not an entity purchase, it was announced separately that Anderson will be the global CEO over the combined company. It’s unclear how many of Jamberry’s estimated 100 support staff and executive team will be carried over in the larger organization including Elizabeth Thibaudeau, Jamberry’s CEO since 2016. Her LinkedIn profile now reads “Former CEO and Marketing Executive.”
What Does The Partnership Mean For Distributors and Employees?
In a separate video, MNetwork’s Richard O’Brien and Dave Webb (SVP Marketing & Communications) answered a series of questions from distributors. The main takeaways from the
acquisition partnership are:
- Each company can access each other’s product lines
- Ryan Anderson will be CEO over both companies
- There will be a new global bonus pool
- The partnership will be finalized within 4-6 months (coincidentally the length of time that most acquisitions take to get finalized)
- The Jamberry and M.Network offices will combine at some point to a central office in Utah
- All of M.Network support staff will stay, but there are “interviews” occurring for 100 Jamberry support staff (read: layoffs)
- Jamberry will be restructuring its compensation plan to match M.Network’s
Jamberry started in 2010 as a multi-level marketing company selling nail wraps but recently expanded to sell a range of beauty and haircare products. They currently boast 65,000 distributors across 6 international markets.
Did M.Network Buy Jamberry?
It’s unclear what the new partnership means from a financial and legal standpoint. What we do know is that the Jamberry brand will likely be all that remains once the two corporate entities combine. If you are a member of Jamberry’s support staff, you may want to start looking for another job.
We will update this post as we gather more information.
Have a tip? Let us know at email@example.com


text:
European states should work together to streamline the currently cumbersome and slow process of issuing tourist visas to non-EU cruise passengers, thereby unlocking potentially huge demand for European cruises, said Manfredi Lefebvre d’Ovidio, the chairman of the Europe Cruise Council.
Mr Lefebvre d’Ovidio said: “The opportunities to attract cruise tourists from other parts of the world to Europe - with its unique and rich cultural heritage - are enormous. We are concerned, however, that this huge potential is being hampered by unnecessarily bureaucratic procedures for the issuing of tourist visas into Europe.
“Unlocking this potential would be greatly assisted by international action to facilitate and simplify the process of issuing tourist visas to cruise passengers from around the world wishing to experience a European cruise,” he said.
Mr Lefebvre d’Ovidio said he was encouraged that EU institutions, notably commission vice president Antonio Tajani, have recognised the urgent need for action to encourage in-bound tourism but he said political will was now needed to make progress on simplifying the process of issuing tourist visas.
The number of people who chose a cruise holiday in Europe has more than doubled in the past decade to over 5.6 million passengers in 2011, of whom about one million are non-European nationals. In total, passengers and crew spent an estimated total €3.5 billion during visits to the 250 port cities that welcomed cruise ships last year in Europe, according to ECC data. Including port-of-embarkation visits, each passenger spent on average over €99 every time he or she visited a European port, the ECC said in its June 2012 report on the contribution of cruise tourism to the economies of Europe.


text:
Fever-Tree toasts buoyant 2014 with sales and profits rising as company strengthens market share
Fever-Tree toasted a buoyant 2014 with sales and profits rising as the company strengthened its market share.
The drinks firm, which raised around £4m when it floated on the London Stock Exchange’s junior AIM market at the end of last year, reported annual revenues of £34.7m, up 49 per cent from £23.3m a year earlier.
Drinking to success: Adjusted earnings jumped 48 per cent to £10m and the group announced a final dividend of 0.30p per share
Adjusted earnings jumped 48 per cent to £10m and the group announced a final dividend of 0.30p per share.
Fever-Tree, best known for its premium tonic water, has continued its rapid expansion overseas, with a launch into India during the year representing the 50th market for the drinks.
Charles Rolls, Fever-Tree’s executive deputy chairman, said he was confident the business could continue to grow as consumers’ taste for expensive spirits meant they were keen to mix their favourite tipples with equally upmarket soft drinks.
Sohil Chotai, analyst at Edison Investment Research, agrees, saying: ‘With the fastest growing categories of spirits being the premium and super premium categories there is demand for high quality mixers which Fevertree can satisfy.’
Shares lost their fizz, falling 2p to 214p.
Most watched Money videos
- Age UK explains what is Pension Credit and how it can help you
- Fiat Panda spectacularly fails Euro NCAP test with zero stars
- Analyst explains why Fiat Panda received zero stars on NCAP test
- Top tips to add value to your home with a renovation
- A UK guide to buying a used car
- 'It's time to be picky': Where to invest in tricky times
- Philip Hammond announces new relief for first time buyers
- Was the stock market sell-off overdone?
- Ruffer profited in 2008 crash: Where is it investing now?
- A quick tour of the VW California Ocean campervan
- Peugeot UK introduces new Rifter in TV advert
- Is the Santa rally a genuine stock market trend?


text:
Linux, the computer operating system developed in the 1990s by a college student in Finland, is unlikely to dethrone Microsoft’s Windows as the ubiquitous operating system on desktop PCs anytime soon. But Wharton faculty and a Linux supporter say that Linux will gradually become more attractive to consumers as more applications are developed for it.
The real growth of Linux, though, is expected to take place elsewhere, these people say. Linux will continue to strengthen its position in its chief market – as an operating system for servers – as it is embraced by an increasing number of companies and government agencies who like Linux’s features and low cost.
In the consumer market even the Linux aficionados who make up the so-called open-source software community say that Linux faces at least three big hurdles: Most PC users know almost nothing about Linux; Linux devotees do not make much effort to market the system; and Windows is still easier to use.
“Microsoft is well entrenched [in the desktop market],” says Chuck Murcko, a programmer and member of the Apache Software Foundation, an organization that provides support for open-source software projects. “The track record of Apple Computer shows us that a technical solution that’s better is not enough to dethrone Windows from the desktop. You may get a fanatic cadre using it, but it’s simply not enough. I haven’t seen the compelling reason yet for people to change from using Windows to using anything else because the state of the art really hasn’t given us a user interface paradigm that’s so much better than Windows that people just flock to it.”
Murcko adds that consumers “don’t know a whole lot about Linux, just the way the whole Internet world was unknown until the mid 1990s, even though we had been using it decades longer than that. Open-source doesn’t do a lot of public relations for itself. I may be as close to a marketer as you’ll find. We have an aversion to marketing ourselves. As a community, we feel if the product is good enough it will stand on its own and the market will hear about it eventually.”
Wharton management professor Gerald R. Faulhaber says ease of use is critical if Linux is ever to mount a serious challenge to Windows on the desktop. “Linux people have to make it easy to go from Windows to Linux, just like Microsoft made it easy to go from DOS to Windows,” Faulhaber says. “You have to help people get used to a new operating system. You have to get people to leave Windows and go to Linux without great pain.”
Another key issue: making it possible for consumers to readily use existing Windows applications on the Linux system. “If I have Word and Excel documents, can I use them with Linux? If not, Linux will never replace Windows,” says Faulhaber. “Linux would remain the system for tecchies but it won’t be a mass-market product. The genius of [Microsoft Chairman] Bill Gates is that he understands that.”
Linux was developed in 1991 by Linus Torvalds, a student at the University of Helsinki. Torvalds based his new Linux system on an already existing operating system called Unix, which was developed at Bell Labs in 1969. The name Linux is shorthand for Linus’s Unix. Some people, including Torvalds, pronounce the word lee’-nux; others prefer lyn’-nux.
Linux may still be a mystery to average folks who use their PCs for word processing and spreadsheets. But Linux is well known among the computer cognoscenti, including those responsible for overseeing servers, which are computers that provide data to other computers that are networked together.
Unlike the source code of the Windows operating system, which is proprietary, the Linux code is available to anyone. Any computer user can download Linux off the web for free if they feel technically competent enough to try it out. But a number of companies, such as The SCO Group (formerly Caldera), Red Hat and SuSE have made a business out of tweaking the basic Linux system with their own proprietary software to make Linux easier to install and use. Companies and developers can charge money for Linux as long as the source code remains freely available.
Linux proponents who want to see the system used more widely received a shot in the arm on Sept. 16 when IBM and Red Hat announced a multi-year alliance to market Linux. The two companies said they would join forces to provide Linux support to IBM enterprise customers around the world. Among other things, Red Hat agreed to deliver support for the Red Hat Linux Advanced Server on IBM’s zSeries, iSeries and pSeries of eServers.
Red Hat also said recently that its next version of Linux is to feature an easier interface to make the software friendlier to PC users at home and in schools. In addition, Sun Microsystems reportedly plans to offer customers package deals that include Linux, desktop and server hardware and application programs.
“IBM and Red Hat is a perfect alliance,” says Bruce Kogut, professor of international management and co-director of the Reginald H. Jones Center for Management Policy, Strategy and Organization at Wharton. “IBM has been one of the major supporters of the open-source community.”
“Linux has support from major players like IBM, who now ship Linux as the default operating system,” says Kendall Whitehouse, Wharton’s director of advanced technology development. “From a practical standpoint, Linux solves a real problem for IBM. IBM has a lot of different hardware, and one of the challenges historically in computing has been not having fragmented software across different hardware systems. Linux gives IBM one system to maintain across a broad range of hardware platforms.”
According to a recent report by IDC, a Framingham, Mass.-based research firm, revenue spent on Linux declined by almost 5% in 2001, compared with 2000. But Linux fared better than most when compared to other platforms, with the exception of Microsoft’s Windows, which was the only operating environment to experience positive revenue growth in 2001, IDC said, adding that spending on Linux could increase from $80 million in 2001 to $280 million in 2006, a compound annual growth rate of 28%.
“Despite the unconventional way Linux is bought and sold, it has become a mainstream choice for many infrastructure workloads particularly because the software is available either freely on the network or as a low-cost packaged product that can be deployed on low-cost, high-volume systems,” according to IDC.
Much of Linux’s appeal arises from the passionate belief in the concept of open-source software on the part of computer programmers. Gerry McCartney, Wharton’s chief information officer, says a lot of the support for Linux “is a protest vote against Microsoft on the part of computer programmers, who believe system code should be available for free. It’s like a religion. There is a rich heritage of protest in the computer sciences field. Unix itself began as a protest against the large operating systems in existence years ago.”
In the corporate world of information technology, McCartney says, Linux has found a sympathetic audience. “In large organizations you have tech-savvy people who enjoy it,” he notes. “It’s sexy for them. These people don’t want a shrink-wrapped product like Windows. They want a product they can get their hands on and reconfigure.”
At Wharton itself, Linux is not in widespread use. A number of faculty members use it in their research. The main systems in use at Wharton are Windows XP and NT, Sun Microsystem’s Solaris and Hewlett-Packard’s HP/UX. Still, Wharton recognizes that Linux “is a force in the market, so we have to understand its possibilities,” McCartney says. “It’s being used by large vendors, so we have to take it seriously.”
Wharton’s Kogut, who has written extensively on Linux, says he believes that Linux will slowly make inroads into the PC market, but that Linux’s real impact will be in large organizations that use servers. “As for the consumer market, let’s see how many more applications they can run on Linux” before making a judgment about how widespread Linux use will be, Kogut says. “We’ll see more applications to run on Linux, and that’s what consumers want. But there’s something else going on that’s interesting. Some governments around the world are saying they’re tired of paying fees to Microsoft and are considering moving to Linux. I also think we’ll see Linux being used in areas we don’t normally think of, such as mobile telephones, smart cards and personal digital assistants, or PDAs.”
Murcko – the Apache Software Foundation member, who also has done work for IBM – says Linux may become more of a household name in the desktop market in two to five years. “It’s only a matter of time. Dell and Gateway two or three years ago started offering Linux as alternative installs. I suspect if you went to Dell or Gateway and asked for the percentage of people ordering Linux, it may be 1% or 2%. But the crack is there. It’s the hole in the dyke. It’s a matter of waiting for Linux to be easy to use on the desktop.”


text:
(AP) -- How much would you pay for an amazing, state-of-the-art light bulb? Shoppers will be asking themselves that very question at Home Depot and other outlets starting Sunday - Earth Day - when the bulb that won a $10 ...
Talk by automakers attending the CES tech show this week in Vegas was nothing short of electric.
A growing chorus of complaints about the U.S. government’s “unfunded” debts may be unsettling, but no cause to become unnerved, a University of Illinois tax expert says.
Toyota has two important vehicles coming in 2015: the next-generation Prius hybrid and the company's first hydrogen fuel cell car.
Amazon is buying the videogame platform Twitch for $1 billion, bringing it access to millions of people who watch games being played on the site, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday.
India's Tata Nano, billed as the world's cheapest car, will go on sale in Bangladesh on Saturday -- but with a price tag nearly triple what it is at home.
It may seem like a stretch to envision a 3D printer in every home. However, a Michigan Technological University researcher is predicting that personal manufacturing, like personal computing before it, is about to enter the ...
South Korea's LG Electronics on Wednesday began sales of what it claims is the world's largest ultra-definition television, with a view to expanding its share of the premium TV market.
(PhysOrg.com) -- A new Cornell study finds that while higher prices may generate a more positive view of products, a higher price tag doesn't mean consumers will necessarily buy them.
The more your knees quiver, the more the 90 pound board you're perched on, floating above a pillow of air, seems about to shoot out from under your feet. A high-pitched engine scream bounces from the sheet of copper as you ...


text:
There’s certainly no shortage of so-called mobility robots, but major Japanese robot maker tmsuk‘s offering seems to be quite cool. In fact, the RODEM (short for “Robot De Enjoy Mobility”) is being pitched as a mix between robot, wheelchair and ultra-small vehicle (or “Universal Vehicle” [JP, PDF], in tmsuk’s marketing language).
The RODEM has been around for a couple of months, but tmsuk recently let a member of Japan’s Lower House in Tokyo (pictured above) drive around in the newest version (finding ways to cope with the nation’s rapidly graying population is one of the hottest topics in Japanese politics today, which means advances in medical technology are sure to get attention even from high-profile politicians).
The vehicle is designed to be used indoors, mainly by older or physically handicapped people. Much like the Segway, the RODEM can be controlled by body movement (but there’s also joystick control).
Sized at 1220×690×1170mm, the robot, which is powered by a lead storage battery, weighs just 100kg. It can reach a top speed of 6km/h, features a turning cycle of just 850mm, and it can be equipped with GPS, voice recognition, vital data sensors and other extras.
tmsuk hopes to commercialize the RODEM with a price tag between $5,500 and $7,800 (depending on the number of extras).
Here’s a video showing RODEM in action:
This video shows how riders can sit in the vehicle:
Via Robonable [JP]


text: The business next door to where we work has been closed for about six months. A few weeks ago I heard a rumor that the business on our other side is shutting down. And this morning I heard (from our boss, who heard it from one of the principals involved) that the business across the street from us is considering closing. They're a computer reseller that focuses on equipping school systems and so far this year they've signed one contract. All of their employees have already taken pay cuts. If sales haven't picked up come July, they too will go out of business.


text:
This holiday season, despite persistently high inflation and rising family prices, a record number of temporary jobs are projected to be created as businesses across sectors are looking to scale up their workforce to meet post-pandemic demand and projected seasonal sales growth. increase the number.
Staffing firm Manpowergroup India estimates an all-time high of 500,000-550,00 new temporary jobs created between August and November, according to data shared exclusively with ET.
The information is based on employment demand from businesses in various industries including banking and financial services (BFSI), retail, e-commerce, logistics and warehousing.
“Companies are in a rush to strengthen the manpower as they expect a huge increase in their sales both online and offline as this festive season will be the first in the last three years where most of the population has been vaccinated, lifting the Covid-induced restrictions. Given that, mobility has improved and the pandemic scare has subsided,” said Alok Kumar, senior director of sales, account management and global accounts at ManpowerGroup India. This is an increase of around 20-25% jobs as compared to the festive months of last year.
The distribution, logistics and warehousing industries are predicted to account for more than 70% of demand or 350,000 additional jobs.
Companies such as Flipkart, Ecom Express, Shadowfax Technologies and Amazon are strengthening their last mile teams. In the coming three months, Shadowfax Technologies—which partners with online marketplaces including Flipkart, Ajio, Zepto, Swiggy, Zomato and Domino’s—plans to hire 105,000 delivery agents, up from two years a year ago. Points increase.
“We are seeing good traction from various categories including fashion, consumer electronics/mobile phones, books, groceries, food, home goods and baby products,” said Praharsh Chandra, Co-Founder and Head of Operations, Shadowfax.
Ahead of the holiday season, Ecom Express plans to add around 55,000 persons for delivery positions and at its sorting centers, up from 35,000 a year ago.
Ashish Sikka, Chief Strategy Officer, Ecom Express said, “Our hiring will be focused across sectors, and we see heavy offtake from Tier III/IV cities and remote parts of the country.”
An Amazon India spokesperson said: “In 2021, we created over 110,000 seasonal work opportunities… this year also, we will welcome seasonal associates”.
In addition to last-mile delivery, other business sectors require temporary workers with experience in customer care, billing, financing and debt management and back-end support.
Raksha Bandhan, Janmashtami and Ganesh Chaturthi mark the beginning of the Indian holiday season, lasting till Durga Puja/Navratri, Diwali and Christmas.
Apple is opening a new Mac chip development facility in Israel
The chip maker is happy to celebrate the imminent closing of the Arizona factory today, however.


text:
Bitwala Launches Bitcoin Banking on Smartphones
Mobile users can open a German bank account with an integrated bitcoin wallet and trading on their smartphone. Bitwala, Germany’s cryptocurrency flagship, makes this possible with the launch of its new Bitcoin banking app for iOS and Android.
Berlin-based Bitwala enables customers in more than 30 European countries to buy, sell, and store bitcoin. Bitwala is the only banking service presently active in the European Economic Area offering a free current account with a built-in bitcoin wallet and trading. The current accounts are hosted by solarisBank, the Berlin-based tech platform and are supervised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin).
“Our developers have been working hard for months to provide our users with the best app experience possible. We are particularly proud, to have reduced the onboarding time for new customers. Onboarding is now directly integrated into the app. Once you have an account, you can seamlessly integrate your daily banking activities – whether in bitcoin or Euro – into your everyday life,” said Benjamin Jones, Co-founder and Chief Technical Officer of Bitwala.
With the integrated Bitcoin wallet, users can buy and sell bitcoin directly from their bank account. Additionally, the Bitwala wallet features functionalities such as transferring bitcoin between friends and family: users can easily send and receive bitcoin, or request a specific amount of bitcoin via QR code. Transactions in the wallet can be authorised by using biometrics.
“With Bitwala your bitcoin are booked directly on the Blockchain via a multi-signature wallet. This is another way of saying that hacking Bitwala is as useless as breaking the Blockchain itself and that our customers are fully in control of their Bitcoin wallets at all times. Therefore, we are the safest way to buy, sell, and store bitcoin – now even on your smartphone,” said Christoph Iwaniez, Chief Financial Officer at Bitwala.


text:
Energy eSports reunites with MSI
Clint 'Zombie Dredd' O'Shea
Energy eSports and MSI have reunited their partnership after some time apart.
The announcement was made via Facebook by Energy eSports and sees the Taiwanese company back to sponsor team members with “a variety of its latest premium products to use at upcoming tournaments and for players to make use of at their gaming set-ups at home.”
MSI are no strangers to sponsoring international esports teams and events. The reunited partnership sees Energy eSports as MSI’s “official esports team in Southern Africa.”
Regional Manager for MSI NB, John Hung, commented: “We are honoured to partner with Energy Esport as they represent MSI’s DNA as TRUE GAMING and it is perfect timing to celebrate the launch of latest Intel 8th Gen solutions.
As one of the official sponsors of Energy, MSI will arm the Energy team members with a variety of its latest premium products to use at upcoming tournaments and for players to make use of at their gaming set-ups at home.”
Kas Ahmad, Founder & Managing Director of Energy eSports had the following to say about the sponsorship: “Absolutely delighted and humbled to be back with our long-time partner in MSI. To achieve the best results, you need to be able to use the best and MSI is certainly that. Looking forward to a very fruitful relationship.”
MSI offer an extensive range of gaming laptops, gaming graphics cards, gaming motherboards, gaming desktops, components and accessories.


text:
Subscribe To World Of Warcraft Avoided Another Huge Subscriber Drop Updates
I've already subscribed
Activision-Blizzard announced in their latest earnings report that World of Warcraft sank to 5.5 million subscribers in the past three months. That's the game's lowest population in years but in a way this is good news for Blizzard.
World of Warcraft had 5.6 million subscribers as of June so the game's total loss over the summer was around 100,000. That's a much smaller loss than the game has suffered in previous quarters. Between December 2014 and March 2015, WoW lost around 3 million. Another 1.5 million left between March and June.
Why did the game's population begin to level out this summer? The new content updates for WoW likely helped. Patch 6.2, released in June, introduced several new features to the game. It added a new zone called Tanaan Jungle complete with new quests and rewards. Raiders received a new challenge, Hellfire Citadel. Blizzard also rolled out special weekend events and Mythic level dungeons in the same patch.
Blizzard then followed up on that update with Patch 6.2.2. This patch was smaller in scope but added a long-awaited feature: flying mounts for Warlords of Draenor. Players are now able to earn the right to fly in the latest expansion's zones by completing a multi-step Achievement. Players generally unsubscribe when they're bored by WoW so the new activities that these patches introduced help to stop the bleeding.
In their earnings report, Activision-Blizzard suggested that excitement over upcoming expansion pack Legion could be another reason that the player population for WoW has stabilized. I can buy that reasoning. The expansion adds a number of features players have been waiting years for, including the Demon Hunter class, separate abilities for player-versus player and class strongholds. Plus, the news of a new expansion gets players to look forward to the future. They try to finish every bit of the current expansion that they can and also prepare their characters for the grind to the new level cap.
Still, anticipation only gets you so far. Some players will simply let their subscription lapse until the new expansion arrives if they have nothing else to do. There's still pressure on Blizzard to keep producing new content for Warlords of Draenor. They don't want to lose paying players for the year (or more?) between now and Legion's release.
To keep their remaining players, Blizzard has another content patch on the way. Patch 6.2.3 adds new mounts and higher-level loot to many existing activities in the game. It also brings back the Valor Points currency, which players can spend to upgrade their existing gear.
Blizzard has yet to announce a release window for Legion. All we know so far is that they plan to launch the beta test by the end of the year.


text:
A popular outdoor store is planning to open up in Portland.
Evo announced it will open a store in the Rose City by this fall.
For now, anyone in Portland trying to shop at Evo, has had to either drive to the main store in Seattle, or use the store's website.
The old Salvation Army building at Martin Luther King Junior Blvd and Southeast Pine will be home to the new Evo store in Portland.
The company said it felt Portland was the natural place for its second location.
The historic building will be transformed into the new store that will offer two floors of retail and a floor for services.
Evo sells skis, snowboards and skate wear, but the company says it wants the store to be more than just a retail experience.
"We're more than just a ski and snowboard shop. We try to integrate culture and community arts, and music is a big part of our whole philosophy," said Chris Dickerson, who works with Evo.
The building will also provide a space for an art gallery that will switch out every month.
While the southern wall on the inside store, will be transformed into a mural. The company says that mural will be changed out every six months.
They're also working with historians to be able to tell the history of the 120-year-old building.
Construction on the building is set to begin in about two weeks.
It'll then take about six months to refurbish the inside of the building so it can be ready to open later this year.
The company is updating its shoppers via its web site; www.evo.com
Copyright 2014 KPTV-KPDX Broadcasting Corporation. All rights reserved.


text:
Congrats! If you’re reading this, you have almost made it through 2016–and that means you survived a seemingly never-ending election and an overall rough year for many around the globe.
Things weren’t all bad, though. Often the most uplifting messages came from brands, which provided some hope and levity. At this point, the savviest marketers know that the best way to connect to consumers is to break through to the wider culture. In doing so, they also redefine advertising’s role from intrusive to helpful. That, of course, is tremendously hard to do, which is why we salute the following 10 brands for finding those moments in 2016.
It’s hard to think of a more unlikely comeback. Pokémon, a property whose name and yellow-and-blue logo reeked of 1995, suddenly became the hottest commercial phenomenon thanks to an AR-enhanced mobile game, Pokémon Go. Teens and millennials all over the world took to the app, swarming public places in search of PokéStops; downloads eclipsed 100 million. For marketers, it was a wakeup call about the possibilities of mobile AR. The next time a phenomenon like this arrives, they’ll be ready.
The video that put Facebook Live on the branding map was as charming as it was unexpected. Dallas mom Candace Payne’s joie de vivre was palpable in this video, which has received more than 161 million views at this counting. It wasn’t a plant by Kohl’s, but since Payne name-dropped the retailer, it gave her $2,500 worth of Kohl’s gift cards. Kohl’s also shrewdly capitalized on the phenomenon by filming a post-Chewie encounter with Payne that it distributed with the hashtag #AlltheGoodStuff.
While many brands danced around the election issue, Hefty had a clever response. In early November, the brand bought space on sites like The Huffington Post, CNN, and Fox News to block banner ads from pols. Instead of a nasty message from either side of the aisle, readers saw a message saying, “This political ad has been trashed thanks to Hefty.” The idea was based on a Marist poll that showed 80% of the public was frustrated by the increasingly negative tone of political ads.
Who says advertising never does any good? Well, OK, a lot of people, but Brazilian advertising agency NBS and out-of-home agency Posterscope sought to prove them wrong with an outdoor ad that lured and killed the Aedes Aegypti mosquito by mimicking human breath and sweat. The ads, which could attract mosquitos from as far as 1.6 miles away, were placed in areas where Zika outbreaks were the highest. The agencies open-sourced the technology so anyone else could copy the design for free.
Apple proved in 2016 that it can still deliver a great ad, this time showing how Dillan Barmache, a 16-year-old with autism, uses the iPad to communicate. “So many people can’t understand that I have a mind,” his iPad translates at one point. “But now you can hear me.” What a ringing endorsement for the iPad–and technology, in general.
Who better to talk up Sweden than the Swedes themselves? That apparently was the logic behind a campaign this year from Visit Sweden, which let Americans dial a number that connected to an actual, random citizen of that country. Reporters, of course, had a field day dialing the number and then using Google Street View to see where those various Swedes lived. In a year of a major backlash to globalism, here was an effective counterargument.
BuzzFeed showed the power of Facebook Live with its exploding watermelon experiment. Some 800,000 people tuned in to watch the 45-minute stunt, which consisted of two millennials wrapping 680 or so rubber bands around a big ol’ melon. Hilarity ensued, and the idea of Facebook Live as a competitor to broadcast TV emerged. BuzzFeed wasn’t the only one to try it out, but no one brand got a bigger buzz, at least until Chewbacca Mom (No. 2) came along and shamed the video’s puny 11 million views.
As Budweiser traded its beloved Golden Retriever for Helen Mirren, Hyundai’s “First Date,” won USAToday’s Ad Meter thanks to a clever ad featuring Kevin Hart as a suspicious dad using the automaker’s Car Finder feature to track his daughter’s date. With 26 million views, another Hyundai ad, “The Chase,” was also most-viewed Super Bowl ad this year. Both ads managed to tell a compelling story, show off new vehicle features, and helped Hyundai to break one sales record after another this year.
In a similarly high-stakes venue, Under Armour produced the most-viewed ad of this year’s Olympics with “Rule Yourself,” an artful portrait of champion Michael Phelps in what may be his last time at the Games. Set to the Kills’ “Last Goodbye,” the ad conveys the complexity and drive of Phelps, whose compelling back story of alcohol abuse and rehab added poignancy to what could have been a by-the-numbers tribute.
AI has become the hottest buzzword in ad tech. On the business side, robotic-process automation is already taking white-collar jobs. On the consumer side, there’s Alexa, Amazon’s cylinder device, which acts as a virtual butler. By April, Amazon had sold 3 million Alexa units, following up with the smaller, cheaper Echo Dot in October. There was so much interest that a 13-second ad for Alexa received 13 million views in September. Hey, Alexa, what can we expect in 2017?


text:
Moorcroft is reopening on the 20th of June after a big scare that they may not open again due to the Covid and economic stress. So this is great news indeed! This means when things get back to normal we can hopefully expect a visit from Mr. Hugh Edwards all being well. He intended to come here this year but the Covid outbreak killed off that idea, so they are trying to lock in a visit for next year once the virus has dissipated.
We have managed to get a red-tailed Black-Cockatoo back into stock along with the original Kookaburra vase by Philip Gibson, so lots of nice pieces to view for our collectors.
The Shire has begun sprucing up the town and we were lucky enough to get a grant to erect the image of the Red-Tailed Black Cockatoo in front of our store. This is a piece of original artwork for the Red Tail vase by Moorcroft. They gave us permission to trial the idea of art around the town, for a beautification project and we will now put it to good use. The garden in front of the shop has been updated to a mostly native garden now which will brighten up the place even more. Our new Shire CEO has really got stuck into making our town more attractive! Can’t wait to see it all finished!


text:
"Halal" online sex shop set up by Turkish businessman
Now, this is interesting.
Reuters (via ABS-CBNNews.com) reports that Turkish entrepreneur Haluk Murat Demirel, 38, "has opened what he says is the country’s first online sex shop for Muslims, selling everything from lubricants to herbal aphrodisiacs and offering advice on how to have ’halal’ sex."
The report noted: "Demirel said he had been inspired to launch the site by friends who wanted sex advice and products but found the content on other websites and in specialist stores too explicit." He explained, "Online sex shops usually have pornographic pictures, which makes Muslims uncomfortable. We don’t sell vibrators for example, because they are not approved by Islam."
The report also revealed that "the website, which offers advice on which sexual practices are banned by Islam and which are not, had proved unexpectedly popular since launching last Tuesday, October 16, with 33,000 visitors on Sunday alone."
For more on this story, log on to ABS-CBNNews.com.


text:
|FTLComm - Tisdale - April 30, 2000|
|Having raised a family of three active sons who devoured sports activities, organised
or individual, voraciously, it is a great thing to have a place to get the products
you need for your family's sports needs that will do the job and keep safety as the
number one priority.
Over the years, Tisdale has had its ups and down with sporting goods stores as the fierce competition from the massive chains and mail order outlets, made it hard to keep a viable business operating in town. In the seventies Tisdale had two well equipped and knowledgeably staffed businesses but four years ago the single store downtown closed its doors with a sports clothing vendor opening in the Mall.
Tisdale's Beeland Coop has always carried sports equipment, especially a good line of fishing gear, but it is only this year that we now have an outstanding sports department in the Coop mall. The QuickTime Panorama VR below gives you a look around that department and shows what a wide range of equipment is available and there is another whole section of fishing and camping gear. Tisdale and surrounding shoppers now have a first rate sports department to get their family sports equipment without a costly trip to the city.
to go to Ensign Front page
If you accessed this page directly from an alien search engine you can see North Central Internet News by clicking here.
Ensign, North Central Internet News, published daily by Faster Than Light Communications, FTLComm