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After Google, General Motors mulls self driving cars
American multinational corporation General Motors (GM) has announced its plans to make self-driving cars.
Michigan : American multinational corporation General Motors (GM) has announced its plans to make self-driving cars.
The company would be purchasing Cruise Automation, a San Francisco-based startup making sensors that turn regular vehicles into driverless cars.
The move is part of a big bet for GM in the driverless car industry as several company's like Google are now racing to implement this type of technology, Techcrunch reported.
"The next step is to make sure we bring the full resources to the table to accelerate what Cruise is doing and integrate into the GM vehicle system," GM president Dan Ammann said.
Headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, General Motors designs, manufactures, markets and distributes vehicles and vehicle parts and sells financial services. The company produces vehicles in 37 countries under thirteen brands: Alpheon, Chevrolet, Buick, GMC, Cadillac, Holden, HSV, Opel, Vauxhall, Wuling, Baojun, Jie Fang, UzDaewoo.
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A Missouri company is benefiting big from Walmart’s effort to boost manufacturing in the United States.
Buddeez Inc., which makes milk crates, plastic storage bins and other products for Walmart and other retailers in Union, is in the midst of an expansion. Its growth is part of Walmart’s 10-year initiative to invest $250 billion in each of the 50 states.
“One of the great things about the partnership with Walmart is that we are able to expand our product base,” said Mark Horstman, senior vice president of sales at Buddeez. “We are able to expand to other retailers; we can sell more products to Walmart.

domain: news


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January 11, 2019
While the national inflation rate for November was at six percent, the year-on-year inflation for the bottom 30 percent income households slowed down to 8.2 percent in November from 9.5 percent in the previous month, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said Friday.
In November 2017, inflation was posted at 3-4 percent.
Slowdowns were noted in indices of food, beverages and tobacco at 9.3 percent and fuel, light and water at 8.1 percent.
Compared with annual increments in October, higher annual rates were registered in the indices of clothing at 3.1 percent; housing and repairs , 5.4 percent; services, 3.7 percent; and miscellaneous, 2.3 percent
The food index at the national level eased to 8.3 percent in November. Its annual change was noted at 9.8 percent in the previous month and 3.3 percent in November 2017.
Relative to their annual rates in the previous month, annual add-ons in November 2018 were slower in the indices of the following food groups: rice (9.7 percent). corn (3.4 percent), fish (11.3 percent), fruits and vegetables (10.4 percent), meat (6.2 percent) and miscellaneous foods (6 percent).
Prices for this group of consumers in the National Capitol Region (NCR) continued to move at a slower pace of 6.2 percent in November. In the previous month, inflation settled to 6.9 percent, while in November 2017, the annual rate was observed at 4.5 percent.
Inflation in areas outside NCR for the bottom 30 percent income households eased to 8.3 percent in November 2018. In the previous month, its annual rate was at 9.5 percent, while in November 2017, it was at 3.3 percent.
Year-on-year growth of the food index in areas outside NCR decelerated to 8.3 percent in November The annual rate was posted at 9.8 percent in the previous month, and 3.3 percent in November 2017 .
Lower annual increments were recorded in the indices of the following food groups: rice (9.8 percent); corn (3.4 percent); fish (11.3 percent); fruits and vegetables (10.4 percent); meat (6.2 percent); and miscellaneous foods (6 percent). DMS
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Wallingford, CT, July 21, 2008 --(PR.com
)-- As Americans struggle to cope with rising debt loads, complaints to Better Business Bureaus about some debt collection practices increased 26 percent in 2007.
Consumers’ most common complaints concern rude telephone calls, threats to have them arrested, using other forms of intimidation and violating federal law by ignoring the Do Not Call Registry. Some victims have even received repeated telephone calls on their cellular and home telephones.
According to Connecticut Better Business Bureau President Paulette Hotton, so-called third party debt collectors are going far beyond what the law permits them to do.
“Legitimate debt collection agencies know the rules and follow them, but some debt is sold to other companies which use threats and intimidation, and disregard an industry code of ethics that prohibits these kinds of behaviors.”
Under the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act, debt collection companies are prohibited from abusive tactics to frighten people in debt, and obliged to treat debtors fairly.
Some of the worst cases involve collectors calling neighbors, friends and employers in an effort to shame debtors into paying up.
A federal court recently entered an order against a Florida debt collection agency for sending misleading letters and making abusive telephone calls falsely claiming consumers would be sued, their wages garnished and property seized unless they paid up.
Consumers have a right to a written notice within five days after being contacted by a debt collector spelling out the name of the company, how much money you owe and how you can contest their claim if you believe you don’t owe the amount stated in the document.
Though such a letter does not protect you from being sued for the debt, collectors are not allowed to contact you after receiving a letter asking them to stop, though they may still inform you what action they intend to take.
The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act protects consumers from rogue debt collectors in several ways, prohibiting them from:
1.Calling you before 8:00 a.m. or after 9:00 p.m. unless you consent.
2.Misrepresenting the amount of money you owe.
3.Using vulgarity or threats, such as claiming they will put a lien on your property or file a lawsuit, unless they intend to do so through legitimate procedure.
4.Contacting you at work if they know your employer disapproves.
5.Claiming they will confiscate your federal benefits such as Social Security or retirement accounts.
Some debt has a statute of limitations. In Connecticut, it is 6 years.
The debt is still collectible but the collector loses the right to sue consumers over money owed. A cautionary note however: If you make any payment within that period, the statute of limitations is renewed for another 6 years, giving the collector the right to sue for payment once again.
If you feel you are being harassed or treated unfairly by a debt collector, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at 877-HELP (877-4357) or visit www.ftc.gov.
You should also contact the Connecticut Attorney General’s office at (860) 808-5030 or online at www.ct.gov/ag, and file a report with your Better Business Bureau so other consumers can verify if complaints have been filed about a particular debt collection company.
Keep in mind none of this protects you from collection of a legitimate debt, however it can help you recognize and protect yourself from abusive debt collection practices.


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AP reporter Jane Swift said, “Miss Devereaux, you rose from horrendous poverty to running a top 500 fashion company in just a few years. How do you explain that?”
“The usual,” said Marie Devereaux. “Hard work. Dedication.”
“Now critics are claiming you practice black arts with voodoo dolls. True?”
Devereaux scowled. This wasn’t what was promised. “How silly. Who believes such superstitious nonsense?”
“Those same critics are dying, rapidly, under bizarre circumstances. True?”
“This interview is over,” declared Devereaux.
Returning to New Orleans, Devereaux held up some cloth to her assistant. “Doesn’t this match the skin tone of that AP reporter?”
Written for the Friday Fictioneers: https://rochellewisoff.com/2019/10/23/25-october-2019/
The lyrics of Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition” were an influence this story’s title.


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Earlier this week, a Swedesboro, New Jersey-based Lakeside Refrigerated Services issued a recall of more than 120,000 pounds of frozen ground beef after routine Food and Drug Administration (FDA) inspections revealed possible contamination with a variant of E. coli virus.
So far, no illnesses or reactions have been reported, but on Wednesday the Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) issued a separate public health alert for another batch of contaminated beef and urged consumers to check their freezers.
“The issue was discovered after a consumer submitted a retail package of ground beef produced by Empire Packing with a use or freeze date of December 24, 2021 to a third-party laboratory for microbiological analysis,” the report says. FSIS statement. “Consumer reported being ill previously, but was not tested for E. coli. The third-party lab confirmed the ground beef sample was positive for E. coli O26.”
Affected brands include store brands Laura’s and Kroger.
Related: More than 30 fruit and vegetable products are recalled due to listeria concerns
Meanwhile, the FDA recall announcement indicates that the products in question were manufactured between February 1 and April 8 of this year. The product list contains dozens of different labels, under brands such as Thomas Farms, Nature’s Reserve, Tajima and Weis.
All brands included are listed here, with more information available on the official USDA website.
All products included in this recall will have an establishment number printed on the packaging; in this case, all products that have “EST. 46841” under the USDA inspection mark should be disposed of or returned to the store where they were purchased immediately.
Part of the reason this outbreak went undetected is that this form of E. coli – E. coli O103 – may be more difficult to detect through routine testing, according to the USDA press release.
However, E. coli O103 still poses health risks to anyone who might ingest it and can cause severe diarrhea and vomiting that can worsen, especially in immunocompromised people, such as children and the elderly.
Some of our most popular weeknight meals:


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Aug 25, 2017
Samsung boss Lee Jae-yong faces verdict in his bribery trial
Prosecutors alleged that the donations were made to Ms Park's confidante to win government support for a big restructuring of Samsung that would strengthen Mr Lee's control over Samsung Electronics. Mr Lee is the most high-profile figure arrested in the investigation and was charged along with four other Samsung executives. They include former Samsung Group vice-chairman Choi Gee-sung, former president Chang Choong-ki, former Samsung Electronics president Park Sang-jin and executive vice-president Hwang Sung-soo. Mr Lee became a Samsung president in 2009 and in 2013, he was made vice-chairman of Samsung Electronics, which makes smartphones, televisions, cameras and hard drives. Since Mr Lee's father suffered a heart attack in 2014, he has been considered the de facto boss of the entire Samsung group.
Make a complaint about Samsung by viewing their customer service contacts.


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Hearst Magazines UK appoints Georgina Holt publisher of Cosmopolitan
Holt returned to Hearst in 2015 as Commercial Strategy Director, before that she was Head of Strategy – Spark at Telegraph Media Group
London, UK – October 26, 2016 –– Hearst Magazines UK, the publisher of Good Housekeeping, Cosmopolitan, Harper’s Bazaar and ELLE, has appointed Georgina Holt to the position of Publisher for Cosmopolitan.
Georgina re-joined Hearst in July 2015 as Commercial Strategy Director, and has played an integral role in driving Cosmopolitan commercial partnerships with brands including Estée Lauder and Rimmel. She has over 15 years of industry experience having previously held positions including Head of Strategy at Telegraph Media Group, Head of Creative & Partnerships at Storm Digital – Clear Channel, and Group Advertising Director at Hearst.
The appointment follows the announcement of Duncan Chater as Chief Revenue Officer in September this year. Georgina starts her role with immediate effect and will report directly into Duncan.
Duncan Chater, Chief Revenue Officer at Hearst Magazines UK, says: “Georgina was the standout candidate for this role – she has strong client and agency relationship and a deep passion for the Cosmopolitan brand. Georgina has played a key role as Commercial Strategy Director in developing our offering for brands and agencies, and has the perfect skill set to continue developing the innovative strategy on Cosmopolitan, which is out-performing our expectations across every platform.”
Georgina says: “Joining Cosmopolitan during such an exciting time for the brand is a huge deal for me. I believe that that Cosmopolitan’s new dynamic marketing and distribution strategy is shaping the future of how audiences engage with magazine content. I will continue to drive our bold strategy for growth across all platforms, whilst looking for new and innovative ways to engage our millennial female audience, which will continue to fuel our market-leading agency and client partnerships.”


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CHICAGO, Sept. 16 (UPI) -- A world record was broken at the International Manufacturing Technology Show, held in Chicago last week. For the first time ever, a car was made using a 3D printer.
The small electric car is the product of countless hours of design work by engineers at Local Motors -- a small car-centric tech company based in Arizona -- but it took only two days to print and assemble.
Composed of just 50 separate components, each of them made of carbon fiber plastic, the Strati -- Italian for "layer" -- will retail for a base price of $18,000 and could be on the market as soon as 2015. Most cars have more than 5,000 different parts.
The initial design was sourced from online collaborators, and then perfected by the company's engineers. Local Motors CEO John Rogers says early models will be intended for city streets only, but that future iterations could be approved for highway use.
Rogers and his company, which began collaborating with the federally-funded Oak Ridge National Laboratory to make the Strati a reality, are hopeful they can reduce their production time as they better hone the printer and their process.
"We expect in the next couple of months to be below 24 hours and then eventually get it below 10 hours," Rogers told Scientific American. "This is in a matter of months. Today, the best Detroit or Germany can do is 10 hours on a [production] line, after hundreds of years of progress."
"Telsa made the electric drive train famous, we're changing the whole car," Rogers told Mashable.


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FTSE 100 close: Eurozone boost for shares
The London market set a new high for the year today after GDP figures for Germany and France showed them emerging from recession and signalling an end to the world slump.
The Footsie rallied 39.9 points to 4,756.7 on the news that both economies grew by 0.3% on the second quarter, as opposed to the 0.3% contraction economist had been expecting.
The US Federal Reserve last night said there were signs that economic activity was levelling out and that conditions in financial markets had improved.
Miners were buoyed by the encouraging economic signals as Xstrata lifted 5% or 45.5p to 810p and Kazakhmys cheered 46.5p to 900.5p.
Other sectors to receive a shot in the arm included housebuilding after FTSE 250 index firm Barratt Developments rose 8.2p at 228.6p and Taylor Wimpey climbed 1.75p at 40.29p, a rise of nearly 5%.
Prudential was the top flight's biggest riser, up 10% or 51.2p to 529.5p, after the insurer posted better-than-expected half-year profits and bucked the trend in the sector by improving its dividend for shareholders by 5%.
Holidays company Thomas Cook was the leading blue-chip faller after bookings for the winter season got off to a slow start and the company formally dropped its target for operating profits of £480m by 2010. Shares slumped 5% or 11.0p to 219p.
Having made similar cautious comments in a trading update yesterday, rival TUI Travel avoided another sell-off today to climb 1.8p to 246.6p.
Car parts maker Tomkins gained 7% or 12.8p to 190.1p after it slumped to a first half loss but announced plans to step up cost cutting efforts. Fellow engineering firm GKN lifted 5.5p to 115.1p.
Guinness firm Diageo shed 9.5p to 926.5p after Budweiser and Beck's brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev announced a 1.1% drop in revenues for the second quarter of the year, despite a resurgence for Stella Artois in the UK. Profits still rose 13% in the quarter.
The Council of Mortgage Lenders publishes its repossessions and arrears figures tomorrow. During the first three months of the year, the number of people evicted from their homes surged 50% to 12,800.
But the Council recently cut its estimate for the number of homeowners facing repossession this year from 75,000 to 65,000 - still the highest number since 1992. Analysts said that the pain will be milder than initially feared.
Abercrombie & Fitch, the US fashion retailer, posts second-quarter results. The chain has been hard hit by the recession, reporting a 28% slump in same-store sales when it last reported to the market.
The Ministry of Justice publishes bankruptcy petitions and winding-up statistics for the second quarter. Personal bankruptcy filings jumped by 29% in the first three months of the year as unemployment rose and house prices fell.
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Apparently, the three cars were likely stolen from a Tesla store.
According to a recent report by NBC 4 Washington, three Tesla vehicles were likely stolen from a Tesla store in Tyson’s Corner, Virginia in the middle of the night on Friday. The drivers fled and were then chased by the police. Reportedly, one driver was caught, but two were able to get away. As of the time of writing, two of the Tesla thieves are still at-large.
Fairfax Country police reported about the incident. They say the three Tesla vehicles were spotted in Virginia on “Route 7 near the Beltway.” It was about 3 AM, and the officers noticed the cars had dealer tags. When they tried to pull one of the Teslas over, the driver took off and started a pursuit.
During the chase, one of the Tesla thieves crashed the car and ran away. The report says the crash happened on Leesburg Pike near the Beltway. Meanwhile, the other two drivers kept on for a time, but eventually abandoned the Teslas near Route 236 and took off on foot.
In the end, the police were able to catch one of the car thieves. However, the other two got away. The suspect in custody is from Maryland. He lied to the police about his age, trying to claim he was a juvenile. The police also noted that they aren’t positive about how many people were in at least two of the cars.
This is an ongoing investigation and a developing story. If you have any information, contact the Fairfax Country police. We’ll update this article if and when more information becomes available.
Source: Read Full Article


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SAN FRANCISCO and LOS ANGELES, Jan. 07, 2016 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zynga (Nasdaq:ZNGA), a leading social game developer, and Rubicon Project (NYSE:RUBI), which operates one of the largest advertising marketplaces in the world, today announced that the two companies will bring new SponsoredPLAY immersive ad units to political advertisers in time for the 2016 elections via Rubicon Project’s leading Guaranteed Orders platform.
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/2c77b4bd-4a62-42df-b322-017f48461172
Today’s announcement was made during a session on the future of digital political engagement at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The political advertising collaboration follows an earlier announcement that Zynga has selected Rubicon Project for an exclusive launch relationship for programmatic direct advertising via automated guaranteed buying.
Rubicon Project launched its Washington, D.C. political and advocacy team in 2015 to bring the power and scale of automation to the more than $11 billion projected to be spent on political advertising in 2016, more than one billion of which is expected to be spent on digital advertising. The joint effort announced today will focus on Zynga’s innovative gamified SponsoredPLAY ad units developed by Zynga’s in-house design and development team, Studio E, which offers advertisers a native ad experience that delivers among the highest engagement rates in mobile advertising. SponsoredPLAY provides candidates and campaigns the ability to interact with voters on a far deeper level, driving greater consideration and engagement.
“Zynga’s highly immersive SponsoredPLAY ads completely break the traditional political advertising mold. To date, campaigns have not harnessed the full power of mobile advertising, and this election cycle mobile will be a critically important channel for political campaigns looking for new ways to capture and hold voters’ attention,” said Dr. Amy Gershkoff, Chief Data Officer of Zynga and former Head of Media Planning for Obama for America. “SponsoredPLAY delivers engagement rates six times those of traditional mobile ads, and together with Rubicon Project we are able to offer these ads at scale to political campaigns, enabling campaigns to reach the right voter with the right message at the right time with an experience that’s both fun and educational for Zynga players.”
SponsoredPLAY political ads will appear as mini-games that mirror the content and fiction of the game being played to create an engaging, authentic experience for the player. Many SponsoredPLAY ads will also be designed with a Twitter integration so voters can help spread the word about candidates or political issues they find compelling.
“Mobile is not just a smaller screen,” Gershkoff said. “It’s a conversation in real-time with voters about the issues that matter to them most. The SponsoredPLAY ad experience offers campaigns a way to have an organic dialogue with voters by integrating the ad experience directly into the game.”
“We are thrilled to extend our exclusive programmatic launch relationship with Zynga to include SponsoredPLAY political campaign advertising in 2016, as digital advertising is projected to become the second-largest area of spending for political campaigns this year,” said Theresa Mueller, Director of Political and Advocacy, Rubicon Project. “Political buyers will be tested to see who can find the most impactful strategies in this quickly changing landscape. High impact ad executions like SponsoredPLAY offer campaigns the most personalized and deeply engaging experience available today.”
About Zynga Inc.
Zynga Inc. is a leading developer of the world's most popular social games that are played by millions of monthly consumers. The company has created evergreen franchises such as FarmVille, Zynga Casino and Words With Friends. Zynga's NaturalMotion, an Oxford-based mobile game and technology developer, is the creator of hit mobile games in popular entertainment categories, including CSR Racing, CSR Classics and Clumsy Ninja. Zynga games have been played by more than 1 billion people around the world and are available on a number of global platforms including Apple iOS, Google Android, Facebook and Zynga.com. The company is headquartered in San Francisco, Calif. Learn more about Zynga at http://blog.zynga.com or follow us on Twitter and Facebook.
About Rubicon Project
Founded in 2007, Rubicon Project’s mission is to keep the Internet free and open and fuel its growth by making it easy and safe to buy and sell advertising. Rubicon Project pioneered advertising automation technology to enable the world’s leading brands, content creators and application developers to trade and protect trillions of advertising requests each month and to improve the advertising experiences of consumers. Rubicon Project is a publicly traded company (NYSE:RUBI) headquartered in Los Angeles, California.
Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward looking statements relating to, among other things, Zynga’s selection and success of Rubicon Project to bring automated guaranteed advertising buying at scale (including for SponsoredPLAY ads for political campaigns), the expected amount of 2016 political advertising and the portion thereof spent on digital advertising, Zynga’s and its Studio E’s ability to deliver mobile advertising engagement via its SponsoredPLAY ad units, the ability of SponsoredPLAY ads to allow political campaigns to interact with voters on a deep level to drive consideration and engagement, the immersive nature of Zynga’s SponsoredPLAY ads, SponsoredPLAY ads’ engagement rate as compared to traditional mobile advertising, and the ability of SponsoredPLAY ads to reach desired voters with a political campaign’s message at a desired time in a fun and educational way. The success of the matters covered by such forward looking statements involves risks. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, among other things political campaign advertising buyers interest in purchasing Zynga’s SponsoredPLAY ad offerings through automated guaranteed advertising buying on the Guaranteed Orders marketplace, players interests in the purchased SponsoredPLAY ads, Zynga’s relationship and agreement with Rubicon Project, Zynga’s ability to offer SponsoredPLAY ads in a timely manner, Zynga’s ability to monetize its advertising options effectively, the effectiveness of Zynga’s marketing program, Zynga’s ability to anticipate and address technical challenges that may arise and competition. More information about the risks Zynga faces is included in Zynga’s quarterly and annual reports filed with the SEC, copies of which may be obtained at http://investor.zynga.com or the SEC's web site at www.sec.gov. Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this release. We assume no obligation to update such statements.
Contact For Zynga Kelly Pakula 415-254-4462 email@example.com For Rubicon Project Eric Bonach 310-207-0272 firstname.lastname@example.org


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TRANSCRIPT OF SENATOR RICHARD COLBECK ADDRESS TO AGRIBUSINESS OUTLOOK CONFERENCE, MELBOURNE
27 MAY, 2015
Free trade agreements, CSIRO megatrends, 2015 Budget
Thank you very much and it's a pleasure to be here, particularly a couple of weeks after the delivery of the 2015 Budget by the Government.
The influence of Prime Minister Modi in India was really quite interesting where he had said India should look towards Australia. Traditionally they tend to look more to the northern hemisphere than they do to the southern hemisphere but because they were looking at a free trade agreement and Prime Minister Modi had said look to Australia that's what they're doing. I've received a letter from a chef in India who's been crowned India's best chef by one of the organisations over there, saying that Australian lamb is the best lamb in India. So these are the sorts of things that are starting to come through in that market and it is a very different market to our other traditional markets and I think that's one of the things that business, industry and agriculture in this country need to consider when looking at those markets.
So going back to Japan, it is a relatively mature market but there are further opportunities because of the free trade agreement. The ambassador over there hosted a dinner while I was there with a range of product providers and they were all experiencing an increase in discussion and opportunity based around their products. Shellfish and seafood in particular is quite popular and obviously the key products that you put into those markets such as lamb, beef and some opportunities for growth in dairy. There are a whole range of businesses and industries that were there looking at the changes and the growth opportunities in that market.
When I was in China I addressed a breakfast in Beijing and the interest from that market was very good. It ranged from people who wanted to buy product to people who wanted to invest in Australia and people who were very interested in the development of the supply chains.
The interesting thing from my perspective was the change in the supply chains. The growth in the e-commerce market was really quite extraordinary and I saw that both in Beijing and also in Shanghai. I met a small e-commerce business that was selling Australian fruit into the Chinese market and they have five million subscribers in over 30 cities and they were considered a small player in that market. The provider in Australia is selling grapes out of Victoria, so not a huge player in the market.
One of the key questions that I've had over a period of time about accessing some of those large scale markets is how do small providers get into those markets, and I was quite interested in the fact that these e-commerce businesses providing Australian product into those markets were providing a platform for those smaller providers to access that significant market with quite a boutique product.
One of the other providers in that market was an apple grower out of Tasmania who had their own variety of apple that they'd development on their own property. It was very unique and really boutique and they were launching that into the Shanghai market while we were there. We gave them some promotion to assist them to do that but again that e-commerce platform is providing that supply chain into the market. I don't think largely that a lot of Australian businesses have actually become alert to that. It is a significant supply line into the Asian markets and talking to the provider in Shanghai, they had small vans all over the country and they had delivery vans delivering to homes in those cities that they provide into. That's the key part of the business and I think the grapes were selling for something like $20 a kilo in that market.
So, the growers here were obviously pretty happy because they were getting a reasonable price and in some cases they were getting paid for the product before it left Australia which is a very different circumstance, so customers pay for product on order through that supply chain. That's very different to what a lot of businesses are used to and a new opportunity and I think something that industry here in this country needs to come to terms with because it's obviously going to be a significant supply chain into those countries and into those big markets.
In India it's something completely different. My perception of that market at the moment is probably that there's an opportunity for a service offering. There are obviously some opportunities to provide product into that market, probably into top-end restaurants and food service at this time in proceedings. But there are very few operators that are proving a service of putting product into that market, so at this point in time and we were talking for example in the context of wine I think there's something like a dozen providers into the entire Indian market of wine. Now it's a different market because their tariffs are extremely high, about 150 per cent, so you're talking about a very low end wine in Australian terms being the common wine in that market.
But in the context of how do you actually access the market, the simplest thing that came through to me through the visit was you can probably bring their entire industry out here for a couple of weeks and get them to understand the Australian market and show them what is available. That will develop those relationships.
The other thing about India is that nearly everything that's sold is sold with a story. Even television advertisements had a story to them whereas in Australia you see a TV ad and its sell, sell, sell, sell. In India the television advertisements were story, story, story, sell. I had a discussion at one of the premium food and beverage events with a young guy who's parents brought him out to Australia when he was 8 or 9 and he lived here until his early 20s when he said 'Dad, I'm going back to India'. His dad asked him what for and he said for opportunity. He's now heading up one of the major hotel chains for food and beverage procurement in India and he said the story behind a product is very important. I think we've got a great story to share around our food and our agriculture in this country and that's a really good selling point into that market.
The other thing is services and the delegation that Andrew Robb took to Australian Business Week in India recently had about 450 people, which was a huge delegation and made a significant impact in that country. The British trade minister was sitting with Andrew Robb at the beginning of an event and was boasting that he had 100 people with him and what an important delegation they'd brought to India. Andrew is sitting opposite thinking this is pretty good, will he be prepared to ask me how many Australia have. He did and Andrew's response was that it'd been a bit tough across Christmas and New Year as people like being on holidays but we've got 450 people. That had a huge impact in India.
There was a brilliant delegation of Australian people from the dairy industry as part of our delegation. The Indian dairy industry is in a situation where they've had a significant growth in their industry over a period of time and they call it the 'white revolution' and they build the dairy industry based on dairy farmers with one of two cows. They are the biggest producers of dairy in the world and the biggest consumers of diary in the world and yet their productivity is about five litres per cow per day - Australia's is 25 litres per day. They're looking to lift their productivity and so what can we do to assist them with that?
It was really quite interesting that the breadth of knowledge, understanding and skills with the dairy delegation actually alerted the Indian national development dairy board of the skills that we have. They're now engaging with the Australian dairy industry and there's a strong possibility of them coming out to Australia very soon to look at the skills that we have. There are things that we do on our dairy farms every day that aren't naturally thought about by the Indian dairy farmers. Simple things like choosing your genetics for breeding your herd are managed by the veterinary people in the National Dairy Development Board. Basic farm management and animal husbandry skills and a whole range of things like dairy technologies and all those service offerings provide us the opportunity to develop a relationship with the agriculture sector in India and then as that relationship develops and grows, to then build into much more of a trade relationship in a number of commodities.
They're also looking very much to build a competitive manufacturing sector and they have a 'Made in India' campaign. The conversation then comes around to the products that we have, particularly wool and cotton which go into their clothing sector. So the discussion that we had with their minister in that portfolio was if you want that industry to be competitive, one of the ways to deal with that is to remove the cost impediments coming into your country. So a tariff that you apply to a product form Australia such as wool or cotton coming in to India is an expense to your industry leaving the country. So removing that and enabling us to be a strong trading partner in that business also helps us to reduce our reliance on other markets which we are very reliant on at the moment and that actually makes them a more competitive industry. It's a difficult conversation for them to grasp and a difficult conversation to have but I think they're staring to understand the process of opening up their markets to product coming in, particularly when you're dealing with manufacturing.
Andrew Robb had a very interesting statistic that he put on the table as part of his opening to the Australian Business Week in India and that was going back to 1990. Only 20 percent of global trade was through traded through a country on a global basis, so product coming into a country was transformed in that country and traded back out again, only 20 per cent of global trade. That number is now 70 percent.
A cost of supply coming into the country is an expense and a cost going out of the country. So Australia, which is obviously a very open economy, doesn't have a lot of those expenses coming in and then going out but a lot of countries have very high tariff barriers going in to the country and actually are imposing cost on their own businesses that are through trading a product.
There are a whole range of opportunities that I think can start to open up through the negotiations that we're having with all of these countries, but particularly in India through the service offering and obviously in China with the commodity discussions there.
The opportunities in China are around picking markets and I came back from China on my first visit talking niche markets and the people here didn't really understand what I was talking about because a niche in China might be one city and that city might be 11 million people, which is Sydney and Melbourne combined. That's a niche in China. So again the language that we're talking about in those markets is really very important. Also our place in those markets is something that we need to look very carefully about how we can discuss.
A lot of the discussion for a period of time in Australia has been about Australia as a food bowl of Asia. Now we know and I've had some research done in my office in recent years that indicates that if we double our productivity by 2050 we'll feed ourselves plus 1.3 per cent of all of Asia and that's it. We're nobody's food bowl but we are recognised throughout these markets as providers of a high quality and safe food product. In China, food safety is probably our key attribute and I know that there have been some discussions here around food safety and systems, but at the moment I think one of the things that we need to do is ensure that our food safety systems are maintained.
I've spoken to people in China and had conversations with people re making those purchasing decisions and I can recall talking to one woman in her mid-30s running a store something the size of David Jones saying to me that she was buying Bellamy's baby food from Australia for her daughter because she knew that it was safe. That was the key reason for her purchasing that product because she knew it was safe.
We are quite clearly recognised through all these markets for a high quality and safe food product. That was reinforced to me again when I was in Beijing and Shanghai a few weeks ago and that was the context of a lot of the conversation that was being out back to me as part of the discussion that we had there. It's a really important part of our offering and we need to make sure that we maintain it.
That sort of goes to some of the challenges that I think agriculture is facing in the next 20 or so years. I've had the opportunity to read a draft of the document that's being prepared by the CSIRO in conjunction with some of our research agencies and it's what they call the Mega Trends document and they've identified five key megatrends as part of their projections of what might be happening over the next 20 years. The first one is relatively obvious and that's a hungrier world and so that goes to how we actually meet the food task. I've talked about the opportunities for Australia to double our production by 2050 and it's interesting the National Farmers Federation now talking about doubling it by 2030. Now that's a huge task given the broad agricultural constraints that we have in this country and I'm happy to stick with 2050 because that's a pretty big task in itself. But there is a lot of work to do there. That's obviously going to drive a whole range of issues for the agricultural sector.
The next one is a wealthier world and obviously we've seen the growth in middle classes and increasing incomes as the world develops, with China being one of those that's developing very quickly. With the issues that are coming with that including increasing goods consumption and changes in diets, we're seeing demand for different products, higher demands for proteins obviously and that's starting to reflect in our market now when you look at the demand that's coming into our markets.
The third one is called a bumpier ride and there's a whole range of things in there, globalisation, climate change, environmental change and how that changes the risk profile for agriculture. And it's obviously a really important thing that we need to consider as part of how we grow our agriculture in the future.
The fourth one is transformative technologies, now I know that you've had some discussions around things like infrastructure and those sorts of things and they're all very important in having high quality and efficient supply chains. So in transport links, road and rail shipping, all of those things are really important and it's obviously something the government's focussing on from a range of perspectives. The Prime Minister's got a very strong focus on the development of infrastructure, Minister Joyce is talking about infrastructure services and particularly in the agriculture sector and then Minister Truss has recently announced some changes proposed for coastal shipping which all go to making our supply chains more cost effective. We can have the most efficient and cost effective farmers and manufacturers in the world, but if it costs too much to get our product to market that is a cost in the supply chain that we need to work on.
The other thing I think is probably one of the biggest transforming changes coming in respect of agriculture is the use of data. So we're very close to having the first satellite for the NBN that will be up I think in August this year from my conversations with Minister Turnbull and operational in April. So we're now having conversations with him about how we utilise those services and utilise the opportunities for data to actually assist with the growth in productivity in agriculture, because I think that's going to be extremely important. It works from a whole range of perspectives, the opportunity for chemical companies to provide agricultural chemicals into the industry that effectively have a live testing for example. In the application of agricultural chemicals and the testing regimes and matching those things up to improve the efficiency of operation and information that flows out around food safety, these are really important things that are occurring.
The growth in precision agriculture and the opportunity to use that data, the operation of equipment and monitoring data is something that's growing significantly and there's a major project in my home state of Tasmania through the University of Tasmania's Sense-T, and they're doing significant work in that space.
The last part of the five megatrends is choosey customers and I think that's something that we're starting to see now and the conversations that we're having now around food and where it comes from, what the supply chains are like and again issues about food safety which we've seen quite prominently in recent times are all the things that we're going to have to manage in the next 20 years according to the research that CSIRO is doing. Of course those things need to be built into our vision for agriculture which becomes the White Paper.
So, reducing red tape, we've seen the supermarkets saying to us that they want to take the cost out of the supply chains. Our message and my message to them has been that's very well you want to take cost out of the supply chain and you want to shorten the supply chain, but with all of your quality assurance systems which each one of you have how about you stop applying cost into the supply chain yourselves? So there's some work being done around that.
Of course the other thing that I think's going to be felt in a period of time is as we open these new markets up we will see some of the service product that currently exists in Australian markets going to export markets which is going to do a couple of things. One, it's going to take pressure off the price and so the focus that we have as a government on increasing returns to farmers will be affected in a positive way. But it also potentially means some changes in prices of food here in Australia.
We had quite a bit of discussion around it yesterday at Senate estimates around growth and the potential for reduced trade into China, the size of the Australian herd for example. But in Australia we have something like 25 per cent more vegetables than we can consume or need in the Australian market and yet we try to sell it on the Australian market. Now that's only going to have one impact on prices and that's a negative one because it's an oversupply.
So the opportunity for Australian farmers is with the opening of these new markets in particularly South Korea, China and Japan is to sell their product on to those new export markets and reduce supply and cost pressure into the market and there's already evidence of that occurring. A company in Tasmania, Reid Fruits, is a high quality cherry grower and last year before the signing of the Korea Australia Free Trade Agreements they sold 5 tonnes of cherries into South Korea, this year they sold 183 tonnes of cherries into South Korea. They did not sell one single cherry to Coles or Woolworths, so not only did they get a pretty good price for the product in South Korea but they took 183 tonnes of pressure off the Australian market and competition with other growers around the country and that has an obvious impact on pricing.
The impact of the work that Andrew Robb's done in the free trade agreements I think is really important. There's obviously some work to do around supply chains and potentially shortening them. Coles and Woolworth own supply chains for one reason and that's to get a return out of them so the shorter supply chain is and the further you can reach down the supply chain yourself as a farmer, the better opportunity there is for return.
Then we come to some of the transformative things that we need to manage as part of what we're doing in agriculture. In the Budget a couple of weeks ago we saw a number of measures that start to put agriculture on the path towards being able to deal with some of the issues that we're coming to talk about. So issues around accelerated depreciation for irrigation infrastructure for example, fencing and stock feed. There's a number of measures that we're starting to bring through, the accelerated depreciation for small business has been very supported by the agriculture sector and of course we have the bigger picture to come in a relatively short period of time with the White Paper, that really needs to address all of these megatrend type issues and the transformative things that are going to face agriculture in the future. That document is going through its final phases of discussion at the moment.
So in agriculture I think we're at a really interesting point in time. A lot of people in my position get up and say it's a very important point in time, but I think given that we've just been through a cycle where we've signed these free trade agreements and we're actively negotiation a number of others, we're seeing this change in demand in food and a renewed focus internationally on food investment in the agricultural sector, particularly in places like Australia. I think it is a very transformative time for agriculture in this country, which makes the work that we're doing around the announcement of the White Paper very important, but also I think really does underpin a very strong and positive future for agriculture in this country.
Thanks for the opportunity to be here and I look forward to catching up with some of you and having some further conversations. Thanks very much.


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STB wins WTM World Responsible Tourism Award
KUCHING – The Rainforest World Music Festival (RWMF) and Borneo Jazz Festival (BJF) virtual experiences organised by Sarawak Tourism Board (STB), was recently named as the ‘One to Watch’ by WTM Responsible Tourism Awards 2021.
Open to four regions (Africa, India, Latin America and the Rest of the World), the awards recognise excellence in responsible tourism, and selected RWMF and BJF in the Destinations Building Back Better Post-Covid category.
These first-of-their-kind events in the region were streamed live on multiple online platforms and on TV channels, providing a platform for local performers to showcase their culture and heritage.
STB also partnered with Shopee and GrabFood to provide retailers an opportunity to market and sell authentic Sarawakian food and tourism products such as handicrafts and souvenirs, to local audiences. Viewers were able to watch the performances, interviews and flashbacks and engage in conversation with other online users throughout the 90-minute event as well as watch workshops from previous years from the virtual Bidayuh, Iban, Chinese and Malay houses at the Sarawak Cultural Village.
Upon the completion of the shows, a total of 402,865 people from 79 countries had tuned in for the RWMF and 244,637 from 43 different countries had tuned in for BJF. Leveraging on this global audience to promote responsible tourism, STB launched two responsible tourism videos during the virtual experience to educate viewers on the importance of responsible and sustainable tourism.


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Faxion Online wasn't the only UTV True Games project to be axed following the company's acquisition by Disney. It turns out that Mytheon, too, is in the process of closing down for good.
In the sole announcement on the Mytheon forums, the team posted a note that the game would be spinning down starting this past July 27th in preparation for a final shutdown at an undisclosed date in the near future. Players can no longer register for the game nor download it. Mytheon planned to launch in 2010 but was kept in beta testing far past the projected release date.
This announcement ends on a bittersweet note: "Finally, we'd like to send out a huge thank you to all our players who've joined us on this journey. Keep challenging fate, The Mytheon Team."
[Thanks to Paul for the tip!]
Mytheon closing up shop
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According to insider Tom Henderson, EA may have reconsidered its plans for the next part of Battlefield and not turn it into a heroic mercenary shooter. Henderson noted that his sources are also announcing a new Battlefield setting — this will be the modern world/near future. Participants in recent Battlefield 2042 class system playtests shared their opinion that the new game could see changes that would closely link the roles of specialists with classes — something that the community has long wanted.
was supposed to be the basis for the future series, but after the failure of the game, EA seems to have learned valuable lessons. Apparently, the developers of the new installment are planning to get rid of a number of changes that have taken place in Battlefield 2042 and that have been criticized by players.
Battlefield is in preparation for production. More at Gambling, Unity announced Gigaya – a game that will teach you how to create other games Xbox Game Pass subscribers try more genres and stream more often on Twitch Square Enix postponed a new Avengers indefinite patch.


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(Image credit: Adobe Stock.)
Avanta Ventures (Mountain View, Calif.), the venture capital arm of CSAA Insurance Group, has announced a $225M early-stage Fund II, bringing its assets under management to over $300M.
Avanta Ventures’ primary investment sectors are InsurTech, mobility, and risk-adjacent sectors such as fintech, cybersecurity, smart home, and applied artificial intelligence. Avanta Ventures says it prioritizes innovative business models that attract emerging customer segments and invests $1M-$10M in early-stage companies at the Seed, Series A and Series B stages, with the ability to lead deals, while also reserving significant capital for follow-on investment to continue to support its portfolio.
“We’re looking to connect with new and aspiring companies that have built a differentiated product,” comments Sanjiv Parikh, managing partner, Avanta Ventures. “We’re ready to talk with promising startups where we can add value and help them progress to their next stages, driving growth for the portfolio company and for CSAA.”
Avanta Ventures reports that its investment team has over 50 years of combined venture capital and entrepreneurial operating experience. Parikh, as well as Avanta Ventures Partner Steve Bernardez, have been repeatedly included on the annual Global Corporate Venturing Powerlist of the top 100 corporate venture groups worldwide. Additionally, Avanta Ventures team members David Li and Pooja Shah have been named two of this year’s Global Corporate Venturing Top 50 Rising Stars, selected from almost 20,000 industry professionals.
Unique Value via Partnership Engagement
“When we founded Avanta Ventures in 2017, I envisioned a venture arm that would leverage the external startup ecosystem to amplify CSAA’s innovation strategy and capabilities,” says Debbie Brackeen, chief strategy and innovation officer, CSAA Insurance Group. “Avanta Ventures has allowed us to invest in companies where we add unique value via partnership engagement with CSAA’s product, operations, marketing and distribution units.”
Avanta Ventures is part of Brackeen’s strategy to bring all of CSAA’s innovation functions under one roof, enabling accelerated growth for CSAA, according to a statement from the venture entity.
Avanta Ventures’ Fund I was a $75M fund in 2017 focusing on early-stage companies in the Seed and Series A stages. The Fund I portfolio includes companies such as:
Cowbell, which delivers standalone, state-admitted cyber insurance. Its AI-powered continuous underwriting platform maps threats and risk exposure to coverages and enables agents to deliver policies tailored to the unique needs of each customer in less than five minutes.
Kin Insurance: an insurtech startup that uses public data and machine learning to simplify homeowners insurance, leveraging thousands of data points to recommend the appropriate coverage for every home.
RapidSOS provides an emergency platform connecting IoT devices to first responders and 911 dispatch centers across the United States. RapidSOS’s delivery of accurate location and other data to 911 dispatchers enables faster emergency responses to save lives, according to Avanta Ventures.
In addition to its venture fund investments, Avanta Ventures operates an accelerator called Avanta Studios. The accelerator works with pre-seed companies to help them achieve key milestones, such as product market fit, customer and partner engagement, and initial institutional venture financing. Numerous Avanta Studios participants have gone on to raise venture capital, including Delos Insurance, which received seed investment from Avanta Ventures.


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Tanzania: Mobile Money Transactions Hit 50tri/-
16 June 2017
Mobile money transactions in 10 months ending April this year reached 1,444.6 million worth 49.99tri/-, thanks to interoperability among the four major mobile payment services providers.
According to the Bank of Tanzania (BoT) Monetary Policy Statement (MPS), the transactions and their value are much higher than 1,217.70 million transactions valued 43.86tri/- that took place during a similar period of the preceding year.
Source: Tanzania Daily News


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Recent reports claim that the former Senior Vice President of Technologies at Apple, Bob Mansfield, has been appointed to lead and oversee the electric vehicle venture codenamed “Project Titan.”
The inside rumors follow other unofficial reports earlier this week, which suggested a delayed launching of the Apple Car estimated for a 2021 release instead of the initial goal in the year 2020.
Moreover, Project Titan had lost its leader back in January when Steve Zadesky, former Apple executive and head of the automobile project, stepped down from his position and left the company.
Zadesky, who had worked as a Ford engineer back in the day, cited personal reasons as the basis of its retirement after sixteen years of work at Apple. The tech giant has not shed any light neither on the leadership of the project nor on the project itself, although there have been plenty of rumors.
Comments in the past suggest that Project Titan has had some issues in its development process, defining objectives and working towards them. If this is not mere hearsay, it would explain Apple’s choice of bringing back a seasoned veteran to lead the ambitious enterprise.
A Man with a Plan
Bob Mansfield is a hardware engineer and executive with a long trajectory at the American tech company, joining the lines of the California-based organization back in the late nineties.
Before serving as Senior VP of Technologies, Mansfield supervised the teams and development process of Apple’s new generation of computers as Senior Vice President of Mac Hardware Engineering. After developing iconic pieces of technology like the MacBook and the iMac for over ten years, Mansfield became the Senior VP of Devices Hardware Engineering in 2010.
At this new division responsible for the development of premium devices like the iPad and following Steve Jobs’ death, Mansfield would fulfill his duties until his apparent retirement in mid-2012.
However, the renowned executive came back a couple of months later to fill the role of Senior VP of Tech, in which he would retire definitely from Apple in July 2013.
But even from retirement, he did not stop, as Mansfield stepped down from his official position, but would reportedly continue to work on special assignments for the company.
Under the supervision of new CEO Tim Cook, the hardware engineer was rumored to be involved in the development of the Apple Watch and the Apple TV devices.
Bob Mansfield’s track record shows a leadership capable of productive work and successful product delivery in almost every development area of the revolutionary company.
Apple's electric car "Project Titan" is expected to be delayed until 2021.https://t.co/yGOIcthKKr pic.twitter.com/u5g3sM5001
— HYPEBEAST (@HYPEBEAST) July 22, 2016
Apple: at the forefront of mobile devices
The origins of the Apple Car project reportedly date back to as early as 2008, at which time Steve Jobs unveiled to the world his latest creation: the iPhone.
Tony Fadell, who was substituted by Mansfield as Senior VP of Devices Software Engineering back in 2010, claimed in an interview earlier this year that Steve Jobs entertained the idea of developing a much bigger mobile device.
The idea of a car made by Apple was in the mind of the late CEO by the time electrical cars started to make the rounds slowly around the world. With the dawn of a new age in transportation technology, alternative energy pioneer Elon Musk, and his automotive company Tesla Motors introduced to the market their first electric vehicle around the same time in 2008.
The Tesla Roadster was not nearly as impactful as Apple’s flagship smartphone, but now almost ten years down the road the company looks at Tesla, Google, and other electric car manufacturers as significant competition.
Pressure rises even more for Apple as reports informed that the American tech company was looking into charging station technologies for electric cars earlier this year.
Apple Taps Bob Mansfield to Oversee Car Project – Wall Street Journal… https://t.co/RoX7RdVfHL #GeeksUnion #Apple
— Geeks Union (@geeksunion) July 26, 2016
Competitors like Tesla are way ahead of the mobile giant, as they have already a functioning network of charging stations across the United States and several other locations around the globe.
Moreover, Apple’s automobile project not only has competition on the alternative energy front but also in the latest developments in automotive technology: autonomous vehicles.
Despite safety concerns and regulation drawbacks, autonomous cars are already traveling on our roads, with Tesla once again being a prominent name in the race. It is unclear even whether Project Titan is only an electric car project since Apple has been anything but open about the ambitious initiative.
A statement given by Apple CEO Tim Cook in late 2015 pointed out the significant changes that the car industry would undergo in the upcoming years, fueling the wild speculations about the company’s car project.
Recent rumors claim that an official Apple event will take place on September, in which the latest generation of iPhones and other signature mobile devices are expected to be revealed.
Meanwhile, the product developed by the Project Titan team, now reportedly led by Bob Mansfield, is yet to be addressed by the tech mogul.
Source: The Wall Street Journal


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Fred LeFranc was thirsty. The founding partner of Results Thru Strategy asked for water while onstage at the Restaurant Finance & Development Conference this week, and out came a small, white robot with a bottle of water atop a tray on its head.
Penny has made appearances at other events, notably the National Restaurant Association Show. So has Sally, a salad-making robot, and Flippy, a burger flipping robot.
Over the years, efforts to automate the back of the restaurant house have come and gone. But this time, such efforts appear more serious. As labor costs skyrocket, more companies find labor difficult to come by even when they can pay higher rates, and consumer tastes evolve and change, robots begin to look awfully attractive.
“We have a $15 minimum wage and a robot costs $30,000,” LeFranc said. “Do the math.”
Industry events have increasingly focused on the changing reality of the restaurant business, that as sales remain weak, labor and other costs rise and consumer tastes change, operators and investors have to consider how the restaurant of the future should operate.
At the same time, however, many wonder whether these changes are necessary or even worth it. Many question the profitability or growth potential of delivery. And many also consider robotics to be the antithesis of what the industry is all about: people.
“If that ever happens at a Black Bear just lock me in a closet,” said Bruce Dean, CEO of California-based family-dining chain Black Bear Diner, speaking of robotics. “I believe we’re in the people business. People come in to sit down and enjoy their meal.”
Yet technology, whether it’s through robotics or through digital orders or kiosks or delivery, is a growing reality in many restaurants.
Consider some recent investments. Zume, the robotic pizza maker that promises logistics designed to make the industry more efficient, recently raised $375 million.
Spyce, which developed a robotic, back-of-house system to make its bowls, raised $21 million with just one location.
Bankers apparently looking at Uber’s valuation value the delivery service, Uber Eats, at $20 billion on its own. Other delivery companies are also receiving millions in investment as investors bet on their rapid future growth.
But even some tech-savvy restaurants are getting big numbers. Fidelity Investments recently led a funding round of the salad chain Sweetgreen, valuing it at $1 billion.
Sweetgreen has 90 locations, all leased.
Do the math and that’s $11 million per existing location.
Many people privately speculated that one of the drivers of the chain’s valuation was its tech-forward business model.
Old guard chains have helped lead the industry in this direction. Chains such as Wendy’s and McDonald’s have made significant investments in kiosks, following the lead of chains like Taco Bell.
Many operators view technology as a way to boost efficiency as they face mounting labor costs, easily the industry’s biggest concern. Numerous speakers mentioned labor as the primary challenge facing operators today.
Even a session on the impact of legal cannabis by Bloomberg Intelligence Consumer Analyst Mike Halen mentioned labor—he noted, for instance, that the biggest potential impact of legal weed will be on labor costs, as marijuana dispensaries provide another major competitor for restaurant workers.
“In the 12 years that I covered the industry, this is the toughest labor environment I’ve seen,” Baird analyst David Tarantino said at the conference. “It’s tough to find good talent in the restaurants. And it’s tough to keep restaurants staffed.”
But it’s not just labor costs pushing this evolution into technology. The industry has struggled with weak traffic and sales for years. Many operators are turning to technology to market themselves to existing customers and gather data on them to get any edge they can.
And they are instituting delivery at a breakneck pace.
“It’s not just an offensive investment,” Gunther Plosch, CFO of The Wendy’s Co., said during the conference. “It’s a defensive investment. Everybody is doing it. This is the new table stakes.”
The sense among operators attending the conference is that delivery is a necessary evil. While some operators say they can generate a profit with the orders, others say that the economics of the delivery fee make that difficult. And many question the service’s long-term growth, wondering whether it will work in suburban or rural areas.
The economics of delivery and the cost of these investments only add to the concern the industry has. Stress on the restaurant industry is arguably at a post-recession high: 10 restaurant companies, including two last week alone, have filed for bankruptcy protection.
Franchisees at several chains, meanwhile, are organizing and becoming increasingly aggressive advocates. That includes Jack in the Box franchisees that have called for the removal of that chain’s CEO, Lenny Comma.
And it includes McDonald’s, one of the most aggressive chains at adding kiosks and delivery and mobile ordering. Franchisees have formed the first independent association in that company’s long and storied history.
“Franchisees are becoming internal advocates,” Allan Hickok, senior advisor with the Boston Consulting Group, said at the conference.


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New at National Savings
National Savings has launched its new two year savings certificates. They pay 4.2% a year tax free for the fixed interest certificate, and 2.5% plus inflation for the index-linked version. This is equivalent to a return of 5.25% and 3.13 plus inflation for a higher rate taxpayer, and with no risk attached.
At the same time, rates have increased on five year products. The fixed interest 53rd issue of National Savings certificates will pay 4.3% (worth 5.38% to a higher rate taxpayer) while the index linked variant pays 1.8% plus inflation (worth 2.25% plus for a higher rate taxpayer)
But savers should not automatically rush into these products but shop around instead.
For example, the Chelsea Building Society has just launched the fourth issue of its two year fixed rate bond, and this pays 7.05% gross, which equals 5.64% for basic rate taxpayers. This is thus a better deal that the National Savings product. However you do have to have a minimum of £5,000 to qualify for this.
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Rare, indeed is the $20,000 car that incites as much controversy as the 2011 Volkswagen Jetta. It is just another indication of the depth and duration of feeling evoked by the VW brand — especially when you consider that it stems from some clever advertising from 40 years ago, and a car model, the Beetle, which had a 68-year production run.
VW better hope it can channel that emotion and use it to positive use as it attempts the all-but-impossible feat of quadrupling its U.S. sales by 2018.
The betting here is that the Jetta will give the automaker a decent head-start toward meeting that goal but won’t do much to win more adherents to the VW brand.
First, some background: In its drive to pass Toyota and become the world’s largest automaker by 2018, VW has penciled in a contribution of 800,000 sales for the VW brand in the U.S.
That’s going to be a stretch, considering that through November, VW had sold just 232,963 vehicles in the U.S. It didn’t help that hard-driving U.S. boss Stefan Jacoby decamped to China to run Volvo for its new owners.
Jacoby was replaced by a seasoned GM and Ford executive named Jonathan Browning, who makes up in polish what he lacks in push.
Browning addressed the Jetta controversy at a meeting of the International Motor Press Association in New York last week.
“Sometimes I think we are penalized for making changes simply because people like how things had been done in the past,” Browning said. “I would simply urge you to compare us against what our customers are looking for and what our competitors do, rather than against a narrower, car enthusiast’s ideal.”
What those car enthusiasts are complaining about is the Americanization — read “cheapening” — of the Jetta.
In seeking to post bigger sales numbers, VW brought the all-new 2011 Jetta to market at a base of $15,995 — $1,740 less than the 2011 model — allowing it to compete with the Honda Civic, Toyota Corolla, and Chevy Cruze.
To do so, VW made some changes to save money — and the enthusiasts erupted.
Wrote Dan Neil in the Wall Street Journal: “Our Jetta SEL with Sport package was saddled with some of the cruelest, cheapest plastic dash and door materials I’ve seen in years. What an awful way for petrochemicals to die! The innards of this thing make a Chevy Cruze look like a Maybach.”
The Detroit News weighed in with another pan. “All of that ultra cool V-Dub mojo has been replaced with a washing machine,” said Scott Burgess. “Germans, whose culture is known for its appreciation of excellent engineering and pounded pork chops, wouldn’t give two schnitzels for this particular sedan.”
Tough talk. But it overlooks two salient facts.
VW’s ability to hit its U.S. sales targets depends as much on the quality and reliability of its products and the competence of its dealers as it does customers’ perceptions of its vehicles.
And on both those points, VW has been failing for years. On product quality, it has repeatedly been one of the worst performers, and currently ranks third from the bottom in J.D. Power’s 2010 Initial Quality Survey.
In Power’s less well-known Sales Satisfaction Study, which measures customer reaction to the salesperson, the dealership, and the deal, VW ranks as one of the worst as well.
In his IMPA speech, Browning promised to address both those areas with faster analysis of customer complaints and tougher standards for dealers.
As for the products themselves, Browning vowed to deliver both on the science of the auto business — quality and value — as well as the art — style and performance.
On the quality and value side of the equation, Jetta gets an incomplete until Power’s 2011 IQS study is published.
On style and performance, the car is only average. The shape of the body and the contours of the sheet metal are generic. Opportunities to show some flair in the treatment of the headlamps, where manufacturers like Nissan are experimenting with new shapes and lighting, were ignored, and the rear facia is unrecognizable as a VW.
The Jetta’s interior does deserve better press. The instrument panel is neat, well-arranged, and pleasing to the eye. It avoids the chrome-colored plastic with which designers at General Motors and Ford have become so enamored. And if the plastic on the dashboard isn’t as soft to the touch as it used to be, well, how often do you touch the dashboard?
Under way, the new Jetta drives like the old Jetta. Changes to the suspension and the brakes haven’t impacted the ride and handling, which remains best in class.
Performance is on the mild side. The engine is a carryover 2.5 liter that produces 170 horsepower. Acceleration to 60 miles per hour has been measured at 8.5 seconds. Fuel economy is a respectable 24 miles per gallon city/31 mpg highway.
VW did get the price right. My Reflex Silver Metallic test car with sunroof stickered at $24,165.
Volkswagen’s new slogan is “Great. For the price of good.” It understands the importance of affordability in the compact segment. But price is not the same as value, and until VW learns that lesson, its ability to hit its 2018 sales targets will be in question.


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I thank the Member for the question. The Assembly Commission monitors the traceability of all food and produce sold in Parliament Buildings through its current support services contract. That specifies that the service provider, Compass Eurest, shall ensure that all food supplied under the contract meet current UK laws governing the sale and consumption of food. Food standards mirror standards laid down in assurance schemes that encompass food safety, environmental considerations and animal welfare, provide for independent third-party inspection and are accredited to the European product certification standard EN45011.
As a result of the recent mislabelling of meat products in the European food chain, the Assembly Commission recently sought and received further assurances that Compass Eurest’s Ireland and UK suppliers comply with our required traceability testing and hygiene processes for this contract. It has also verified that all meat products sold in Parliament Buildings adhere to the required standards and specifications.


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Credit Card Fraud Leads to Arrests in Red Bank
Red Bank Police arrested two New York women Wednesday.
Red Bank Police arrested two Brooklyn, NY women on allegations they attempted to purchase $11,000 worth of merchandise from a Broad Street retailer with a phony credit card Wednesday.
According to police, Shanierah Aaron, 21, and Urika Tucker, 25, tried to purchase goods using a credit card. When the card would not process, police said store personnel became suspicious and called police.
An investigation into the card revealed that the card was phony and that no credit account existed. One of the women, working in connection with the first, attempted to leave the scene in a vehicle but was stopped by police. Police later found the women to be in possession of numerous other fraudulent credit cards, according to a report.
Both women were arrested and charged with credit card theft and fraudulent use of a credit card and transported to Monmouth County Correction Institution in lieu of $40,000 cash bail.
The investigation is being conducted by Inv. Robert Campanella and Det. Wendy Samis.


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Apple rolls out iAd Producer 4.2 with full-screen iPhone banner ads, bug fixesApple on Thursday issued an update to its iAd Producer tool, bringing support for the creation of full-screen banner ads for iPhone and the ability to upload Producer projects to iAd workbench, among other minor improvements.
In addition to full-screen iPhone banner ads, iAd Producer version 4.2 includes support for uploading existing iAd Producer projects to the iAd Workbench, folder reorganization in the Assets sidebar and the usual bug fixes and performance improvements.
The latest update comes nearly two months after Apple expanded Workbench access to include anyone with an Apple ID. Previously, the mobile ad creation tool was restricted to registered developers.
Thursday's minor update looks to be another small step toward wooing a more diverse set of advertisers to the iOS-only platform, which now deals in streaming music spots. In December, Apple reshuffled its iAd team to cover advertisements for iTunes Radio, which included the hiring of former radio executive Michael Pallad.
On Topic: General
- Google, Johnson & Johnson to partner on surgical robot technology
- Apple's Tim Cook plans to give away all of his money
- Tim Cook 'deeply disappointed' by new Indiana anti-gay law
- Apple's $848M solar power deal better on back end, says environmental VP Lisa Jackson
- Google loses UK appeal in Safari cookie tracking case, could face trial


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In American ads, Colonel Sanders tends to be a jolly old fellow with a spring in his step—especially impressive given that he’s been dead for almost 40 years. But KFC advertising in the U.K. and Ireland is forging an entirely new kind of a Colonel. He’s not here to talk. He’s here to fry chicken and kick ass. (So you’d better hope he doesn’t run out of chicken.)
Agency Mother London first brought the Colonel to America in May of last year, portraying him as a knuckle-cracking heavy brought in to clean up the mess left by the chain’s high-profile chicken shortage.
Now he’s back and perhaps even more intimidating. Mother’s new spot shows him driving around London, giving the eye to every knockoff chicken restaurant with names like “QFC” or “LFC.” Just to drive home the image of Sanders as the Vito Corleone of crispy poultry, the agency’s announcement of the spot calls Sanders “the original chicken Don,” and the ad is set to Nino Rota’s eerily melodic “Love Theme from The Godfather.”
“There’s only one colonel in Chicken Town,” says Hermeti Balarin, partner at Mother. “And his name is Harland Sanders. Capisce?”
The brand is also debuting out-of-home ads mocking the imitator restaurants that can be found in cities across the U.K. The restaurants in the ads aren’t real, but the agency says they’re accurately reflective of the kinds of knockoff names you’ll find all over.
“It’s flattering to have this entire legion of imitators, and we wish every chicken shop out there the best of luck,” says Meghan Farren, CMO of KFC U.K. and Ireland. “But there’s nowhere else you can get the Colonel’s Original Recipe. We invest time, effort and skill into freshly hand-breading Kentucky Fried Chicken in our kitchens—all day, every day – and that’s why you can only get KFC at KFC.”
Production Company: Pulse
Director: Sam Pilling
Production Company Producer: Jane Lloyd
Production Company Executive Producer: Lucy Kelly
Director of Photography: Pat Scola
Editing: Ellie Johnson at TenThree
VFX Producer: Tamara Mennell
Creative Director and Shoot Supervisor: Marcus Dryden
VFX Supervisor: Marcus Dryden & George Brunt
Colorist: Jean-Clément Soret
Sound: Sam Robson @ 750mph
Music: ‘Love Theme’ by Nino Rota performed by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra through Universal Music & Decca Records
Conductor: James Morgan
Published: by Sascha Darroch-Davies at DLMDD for Sony ATV Harmony UK
Media: Blue 449
Don't miss the Brandweek Sports Marketing Summit and Upfronts, a live virtual experience Nov. 16-19. Gain insights from leading sports figures on how they navigated a year of upsets and transformation and what's in store for the coming year. Register.


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One of the largest cryptocurrency exchanges in the world, the Huobi Group is the latest to deep-dive into the ever-growing non-fungible token (NFT) pool.
The official press release read as,
“Huobi Group today announced the launch of a trial for Huobi NFT, a non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace, enabling users to purchase NFT artwork, collectibles, and other digital items. “
This development marks a significant step in the extension of Huobi’s metaverse strategy, a concept combining multiple technologies such as virtual reality to bring a 3D virtual environment featuring activities like online gaming and others.
Needless to say, the NFT marketplace will play a crucial role in Huobi’s global expansion strategy. Consider this, NFTs accounted for $2.5 billion in sales by July 2021, up from just $13.7 million in the first half of 2020. This number continues to rise with the demanding hike.
There’s more to it
Capitalizing on this “nascent, yet rapidly growing market,” Huobi’s NFT marketplace will focus on three main aspects. These are:
- Numerous sectors and partners. Huobi’s NFT marketplace will be home to a variety of NFTs, including games, art, animation, and music. The marketplace will also partner with top celebrities, artists, singers, and other intellectual property for special collaborations.
- Tailored for local markets. While many NFTs markets are designed to attract users from around the world, the Huobi NFT marketplace will tailor the user experience and curate offerings based on the trends and preferences of each market.
- Support of Huobi Group ecosystem. Backed by Huobi Group’s unparalleled ecosystem and support, the Huobi NFT marketplace will have substantial support and resources to meet the needs of its partners and users.
Huobi Group Director of Strategy Jeff Mei expressed his optimistic narrative following this step.
“Huobi has been working on projects in the GameFi and NFT markets, so the launch of the Huobi NFT marketplace has been in the works for some time. We look forward to introducing this project to our global community, Mei noted.”
The aforementioned news is in-line with their strategy. Earlier in September, it launched a $10-million fund to invest in early-stage projects involved in GameFi, a mix of gaming-focused NFTs and decentralized finance.
However, it’s not been all smooth sail throughout for the said platform. Just recently, it discontinued trading its cryptocurrency futures and other derivatives products in China.
According to previous announcements, Huobi, China’s largest exchange, will today completely shut down futures, contracts and other derivatives functions for all Chinese users. https://t.co/TNx4CvrzJ7
— Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) October 29, 2021
Huobi had also issued an initial statement assuring its users that their assets will remain safe with the platform. Nevertheless, uncertainty concerning its future still sustains as “there’s no going home.”


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This is a CTAS notification alert from CCR Technology Partners.
CCR’s Security team has received reports of spam emails claiming to originate from Amazon that requested targeted users to confirm their address by clicking on an external link. In actuality, this link is then used to phish personal information and may also spread malware. It’s important to note that Amazon requests a shipping address prior to placing an order and will not send an email confirming an address.
CCR advises that these emails be deleted immediately without opening. It is also recommended that users activate the new Amazon Two-Factor Authentication feature using a mobile phone to provide additional account security.CCR advises that these emails be deleted immediately without opening.
The CCR CTAS Notification System was created to keep you informed of possible threats to your corporate network environment.
Call the CCR Helpdesk at (317) 842-1754 or visit www.GoCCR.com if you need further information or believe you may have been affected by this malware.


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WSJ: China's authorities needs homegrown, backdoor-free telephones
The Wall Road Journal is reporting that China’s authorities has now leant on ZTE to supply a smartphone utilizing predominantly native hardware that’ll run COS, a homegrown working system that is designed to be resistant to US-based mostly hacking makes an attempt. The paper goes on to say that Alibaba is now working with the nation’s ministry of public safety to develop one other working system that is safe sufficient for cops to make use of. It is all a part of the nation’s makes an attempt to place water between itself and the US in a submit-Snowden world after backdoors have been present in quite a few American-designed merchandise.
It is in all probability not value getting too labored up over, because it’s possible that the one individuals utilizing these units shall be pressured to by their employers. In any case, the ZTE system reportedly will not ship with a digital camera, GPS, WiFi or Bluetooth connections, so we’re unsure what jobs it’s going to do higher than a secondhand Nokia one hundred and one. As well as, the journal factors out that a variety of units nonetheless depend on (American firm) Qualcomm’s internals, with few true home options able to simply changing it. Then once more, the transfer is not a lot about know-how as it’s appearances, since China’s decided to speak about distancing itself from the US each time its personal sordid historical past of hacking is introduced to the fore.
There’s, in fact, one other justification for the creation of homegrown smartphones and software program that goes past international politics. Korean economist Ha-Joon Chang has repeatedly identified that financial protectionism — that’s, favoring merchandise made by your personal individuals as an alternative of shopping for in from different nations — helps to create a dynamic and quick-rising financial system. China’s buying and selling companions, just like the US, have efficiently pushed for the nation to desert official quotas. If, nevertheless, politicians can recommend that American merchandise are a safety danger then the locals shall be much more predisposed to spending their money with ZTE and Huawei as an alternative of Apple and Samsung.
[Image Credit: Getty]
Tags: alibaba china cos hacking politics prism report safety smartphone snowden software program zte


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We'll admit, we weren't entirely sure what to expect when we agreed to judge the annual Best of CES Awards without an in-person show. How many companies would show up to an online-only show? What would we lose without being able to wander the halls of a massive convention center and see the products up close? As it turns out, we needn't have worried. More than 1,900 brands, big and small, turned up this year, according to the Consumer Technology Association, the industry group that organizes the show each year. What's more, many companies found socially distant ways to show us their latest and greatest in person, ahead of the show. In the end, we had enough fodder for 14 categories covering hardware and services in every sector from home theater to transportation to accessibility tech. We'll announce the winners tomorrow at 4:30pm ET during a ceremony on our virtual stage, which we'll livestream to Engadget.com We're also continuing tradition and opening up voting for our People's Choice Award -- our reader poll is live now and closes tomorrow, ahead of the ceremony. Please be sure to vote, and congrats to all of the finalists! The technology underpinning the Mudra Band might seem fanciful: sensors capture neural electrical impulses in the wrist and map them onto specific movements like a swipe or a tap, essentially letting you control an Apple Watch with subtle finger movements on one hand. There's no doubt the benefit of convenience -- you can operate your watch when your hands are wet or dirty, for instance.
Jan-12-2021, 21:00:53 GMT


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Newlat has signed an agreement to buy 46 per cent stake in dairy group Centrale del Latte d’Italia, creating the third biggest domestic operator in the sector.
According to reporting from Reuters, the owner of the Delverde pasta brand said it would buy the CLI stake from a group of shareholders. This includes top investor Finanziaria Centrale del Latte di Torino, at a price of 1 euro and 0.33 Newlatordinary shares for each CLI share.
Newlat will then launch a mandatory takeover bid on the remaining CLI shares at the same price. The CLI shareholders selling their stake will reinvest in Newlat by buying a 5.3 per cent shareholding.
Newlat, which produces pasta, bakery products and baby food, said that the acquisition will boost its revenue to 500 million euros ($533 million).
CLI produces and sells about 120 products including milk and its derivatives, with brands such as TappoRosso, Mukki, Tigullio and Vicenza. CLI recorded revenues of 180 million euros ($198.04 million) last year and core earnings of around 6 million euros.
Newlat said its revenues rose 5 per cent to 320 million last year driven by pasta and dairy products.
The company said on 19 March that in the first two weeks of that month, when Italians stocked up food products in response to concerns about coronavirus, it recorded a 35 per cent rise in sales compared with the same period last year.


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Over the last two months, several companies in both Australia and New Zealand have looked to wean away from permeate, a natural waste product from the ultra-filtration of milk, which is banned in some countries.
However, Fonterra is unmoved. A spokesperson for the dairy giant told FoodNavigator-Asia that permeate is used as an additive in Fonterra milk, but not at excessive levels.
“We use milk permeate to standardise protein levels in our milk throughout the year. The Food Standards Australia New Zealand [FSANZ] code specifies that milk must contain a minimum of three per cent protein,” he said.
NZ milk protein levels vary during the year because of seasonal dairy production, he said.
“Permeate, a lactose-rich stream produced from the ultra-filtration of milk, is added to our range of Blue milks to ensure that the milk protein composition is consistent throughout the year,” he revealed.
When asked if Fonterra would follow the lead of Australian brands that dropped permeate citing customer preference for farm-like milk, the spokesperson said that they had not got the same feedback from their customers.
“We continually monitor market and consumer trends but at this stage have no plans to change our approach,” he said.
The first blow against permeate was dealt in June by Australian beverage heavyweight Lion Beverages, which announced that that beginning 1 July, the country’s two largest brands, Pura Milk and Dairy Farmers would be offered without permeate.
Lion said that in omitting permeate, it had responded to consumer demand for purer, simpler and less processed food that comes from local sources in Australia’s western and southern states.
Lion was quickly followed by supermarket giants, Woolworths and Coles, who announced their private label milk will no longer contain permeate.
The cuts came after many local media reports through April this year in Australia, which said that milk producers were adding permeate to their milk to offset costs of production in a market reeling under a brutal price war.


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Optus has announced it will release a smartwatch that will enable consumers to pay for goods via its Cash By Optus app by the end of the this year. It's also looking at releasing smart wristbands.
Alana Schetzer Consumers buying products marked "green" or "natural" may think they are doing the right thing for the environment, but scientists have discovered a link between many common ingredients and risks to human health.
Nicky Phillips Forget all the images you've seen in adult films and the 'lifelike' drawings scrawled on public bathrooms, there is now a scientific guide as to what constitutes an average penis size - and hopefully it will put some men at ease.
Ben Grubb Internet service provider iiNet has paid a $204,000 fine following the issue of two infringement notices by the competition watchdog in relation to recent broadband advertisements.
David Ellery Every child, young and old, who has ever stared at the Australian War Memorial’s G For George Lancaster bomber and wondered what would be like to see inside can now live the dream.
Annabel Ross Want to wander around Bondi's Sculptures By The Sea or jump into the cockpit of a Lancaster bomber from the handset of your smartphone?
Hannah Francis LG's standalone, 4G-capable smartwatch is full of great functionality, but it's super-bulky and its less-smart basic variant is a touch prettier.
Bridie Smith, Science Editor A protein which has a key role to play in the body’s immune system has now been found to be critical for sustaining milk production in the breast, a function essential for the survival of mammalian species.
Chris Zappone Much of a modern economy relies on the peaceful, almost routine nature of the business of satellite launches and communication. What happens if space becomes contested?
Hannah Francis Microsoft launches two new affordable Windows phones and Windows 10.


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MICROSOFT has recently revealed that the price of Xbox Series X|S consoles will likely rise following the holiday period.
PlayStation recently raised the price of PlayStation 5 consoles in almost all regions outside of the US, due to global high inflation rates.
The price of both consoles will apparently rise.
Following PlayStation’s announcement, Xbox released a statement saying that there would be no price increase for its consoles.
It read: “We are constantly evaluating our business to offer our fans great gaming options.
“Our Xbox Series S suggested retail price remains at $299 (£250, €300), the Xbox Series X is $499 (£450, €500).”
The company has long prided itself as the affordable option for gamers.
Not only is the Xbox Series S one of the cheapest high-end consoles on the market, but Xbox Game Pass allows people to access a wide library of games cheaply.
Head of Xbox Gaming Phil Spencer also teased the release of an even cheaper streaming-only console.
Speaking on Wednesday at the WSJ Tech conference, Spencer conceded that the price of Xbox consoles may rise in 2023.
He said: “Going into this holiday, we thought it was really important that we maintain the prices that we have.
“Consumers right now are more uncertain than they have been in a long time, and I want our medium of video games to be something that they find attractive.”
Despite these reassurances that console prices won’t rise before the busy holiday season, he couldn’t be certain about the future.
“We have to look at the return on our business, the cost of the business.
“We’ve held [the] price on our console, we’ve held [the] price on games for us and our subscription.
“I don’t think we’ll be able to do that forever.”
This comment not only threw into doubt whether the price of the Xbox Series consoles will rise, but also Xbox games, and Xbox Game Pass prices.
As prices rise globally, gaming is becoming an even more difficult hobby for people to enjoy.
Written by Georgina Young on behalf of GLHF.