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By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
In addition to reading Braille documents, people with visual impairment have many technological choices for accessing written words, from apps and software that read aloud text online to scanners that can read menus, signs and more.
“Having the ability to read information is a tremendous breakthrough for those who are visually impaired,” said Ann K. Parsons, owner of Portal Tutoring in Rochester. “It’s incredible.”
Parsons is visually impaired. When she was growing up, she owned very few books, since she had to either obtain Braille books or obtain a reader to help.
The volume of audio book titles now on CD or stored on thumb drives makes it much easier to get audible materials. But more recent innovations have help make more written words accessible.
Parsons mentioned Be My Eyes. It’s a free app on the iOS (the Android version is coming) that connects people with sight to those who need help in seeing. Using a real-time video chat, volunteers read whatever is put in front of the screen. Users find it helpful for sorting through cans in the pantry, reading websites that screen readers can’t, or finding a dropped object. The app selects volunteers only during their daytime hours; however, users may use it whenever they would like for as long as they would like at no charge.
Parsons said that KNFB Reader is quite popular on the Android and iOS platforms. Users take a picture with a smartphone and it reads text aloud. Parsons uses that herself, and also uses a traditional reader on her computer that works with a scanner.
Built-in phone apps that read books aloud have found a niche with commuters, fitness buffs and people with visual impairment.
“I’ve spent my whole life hearing books read aloud and now people who are sighted are enjoying them as well,” Parsons said.
Since apps like these are common on smartphones, it makes accessibility ubiquitous.
Parsons thinks that electronic Braille readers will continue to advance. These readers create Braille text of what’s on the screen by raising and lowering pins electronically.
Chelsea Hale, teacher for the visually impaired and orientation and mobility instructor with the NYS Association for the Educations and Rehabilitation of the Blind and Visually Impaired (NYSAER) in Darien Center, said that JAWS screen reading software is pretty popular.
While technology helps in some ways, it can have its drawbacks. Recent developments in web design feature graphics-heavy sites that require users to scroll down before they find text. Sites designed like this make it more difficult for people to navigate with screen readers. Displaying important information such as phone numbers and names in a graphic usually makes it impossible for a screen reader to relate that information verbally.
National Federation of the Blind states that 2.3 percent of the US population is visually impaired. That amounts to 387,900 New Yorkers, according to NFB. Businesses that make it hard to read text through screen readers miss a sizable market share that will only grow as the baby boomers age and experience age-related vision loss.
Lisa Helen Hoffman of Rochester owns LHH Consulting, which provides consulting and training for people with visual impairment. Hoffman, who has visual impairment, prefers Braille to many of the phone apps offered now because smartphones have few tactile buttons, unlike flip phones that offered buttons.
“I have a scanner app for my phone, but I really don’t use it,” she said. “It was a waste of money. My problem is I need to learn it. If there was a Braille manual, I could read it and understand.”
She said that many people easily pick up on adaptive technology and others, like herself, don’t.
“There are no guideposts, just swiping,” she said.
Hoffman said that she has the BlindSquare app, which was designed to help people with visual impairment navigate using GPS technology.
“I haven’t figured out how to get really specific with it, but it has a look around feature that will tell you addresses you’re going by and the next street you’re coming to,” she said.
She uses Voiceover, an iOS app that verbalizes what appears on the screen, but she would prefer buttons. They allow her to follow a phone tree, which is next to impossible since she can’t use the dial-by-voice feature.
She does like to use the voice-to-text feature on her phone. And the fact that she can call the Apple help desk if she loses track of where she is on her phone.


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While Apple may see choppy trading in the near term, the stock should snap back in 2013, says one analyst.
"Take a look at the fundamentals. Let's not get stuck in the data points coming in right now, from the fundamentals. It's still the leading smartphone vendor and there is still is strong growth in the category," Abhey Lamba, Mizuho Securities analyst, told CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" on Friday.
related investing news
He attributed much of the negative sentiment around the stock to supply chain checks showing orders being cut for the December and March quarters.
But Lamba said taking a step back, the iPhone remains one of the leading phones out there and the iPad is still the leading tablet in the market. The iPad Mini may be eating into some sales of higher-end iPads, but Lamba said there's still momentum for the whole tablet category.
Demand for the iPhone 5, which launched in September and entered the Chinese market on Friday, should also be strong, Lamba said. He attributed some of the weaker initial sales to weather-related issues and the fact that consumers had to prebook their orders.
A potential partnership with China Mobile could also provide a catalyst for the stock.
Apple's gross margin, which is being depressed by all the product launches this quarter, should also snap back "as they move toward the later life cycle of these products," he said.
With a "buy" rating on the stock and a $750 price target, Lamba said, "the selling is overdone. It is going to come back as we go into the next year."
Disclosures: Mizuho Securities makes a market in Apple securities.

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Take the show Shark Tank, throw in 3D printing and Printbot‘s Brook Drumm, and you’ve got 3DPI’s new favorite reality TV show, “All-American Makers”. Tonight on Science Channel at 10 PM ET/PT, you’ll get to watch the first of six episodes (so far) for a show that sees four makers from across the US pitch their latest inventions to focus groups and a panel of experts, including the founder of Printrbot, Brook Drumm.
Every week, inventors present their new ideas to Drumm, alongside mechanical designer and robotics expert Brian Roe and venture capitalist Marc Portney, in an attempt to launch a new start-up devoted to their products. Products are first tested by Drumm and Roe to see how they work and whether or not they deliver what they promise. Once they’ve passed these preliminary trials, the inventions are then presented to consumer focus groups. With all of this combined information, Portney determines whether or not he’ll invest his own money to help see the product get into retail shops.
Rita Mullin, General Manager of Science Channel, says of the show, “This series is something brilliantly new for Science Channel. ALL-AMERICAN MAKERS is our twist on celebrating dreamers, doers and disrupters – those people who are innovating and pushing to make their incredible visions reality. In the way only Science Channel can, we’re focusing on the science behind the inventions using Brook’s and Brian’s expertise, but also making sure there is a tangible business opportunity for the products. The stakes are high on each decision as Marc is writing a personal check.”
Most of our readers will immediately recognize the lovable Brook Drumm as the face of Printrbot, the first manufacturer of low-cost 3D printers to blow up on Kickstarter, earning $800,000 in one month. Roe has developed advanced 3D camera systems for such movies as Avatar and animatronics for such films as A.I.: Artificial Intelligence. Outside of this new show, Roe is a mechanical designer on the 10,000 Year Clock for the Jeff Bezos-funded Long Now Foundation. Portney is the president Chelsea Home Imports, as well as the director of new business development and a special advisor to the Board of directors for Red Cardinal Holding Corp. He is also the head of a venture capitalist group “who will participate in any size deal that he feels is worthy.”
You might guess that I’m already stoked! Brook is a super charismatic guy and will make a great host, but I’m even more excited by the idea that TV-watchers all over the country will be exposed to the Maker community, hopefully inspiring them to move from being consumers to prosumers, too. The six episodes prepared so far cover everything from personal robots, hybrid vehicles, and thermal radars to dog toys and stain repellent. If you plan on watching any one of the six episodes (described below), let us know how you like it by commenting on this article or, heck, even writing a review for 3DPI. Just shoot me an email at [email protected]
“Heat Is On”
Wednesday, January 21 at 10 PM
Brook, Brian, and investor Marc Portney test out motorized roller skates users can strap to their shoes, a water filter that works like a French press, a 360º infrared surveillance device, and a gun that lets people shoot flies with table salt.
Wednesday, January 28 at 10 PM
Marc, Book and Brian scrutinize four big claims: a bike that can ride on the water; robots with programmable personalities; a device claiming to improve the speed of boxers; and a product claiming to give that user a healthy amount of sun without getting burned.
“Off The Leash”
Wednesday, February 4 at 10 PM
Experts Brook and Brian help Marc decide if he should invest in a brain-controlled toy helicopter; a non-toxic, liquid stain repellant; a fetch toy that dogs can control by themselves; or an airbag vest for motorcyclists.
Wednesday, February 11 at 10 PM
Brook and Brian help Mark vet four innovative products: a remote controlled lawn mower; a revolutionary digital guitar; an indestructible flashlight that can power your electronics; and a bike helmet that records brainwaves while you ride.
“Blood, Sweat and Tears”
Wednesday, February 18 at 10 PM
Brook and Brian help Marc vet the claims of four new products: as shirt that claims to change colors as muscles heat up; a non-glue that dries at your command; a robot that clears disaster areas for first responders; and a product that hopes to revolutionize prosthetics.
“Up In Flames”
Wednesday, February 25 at 10 PM
Brook and Brian help Marc vet four new products: a vehicle that allows cyclists to reach highway speeds; a robot that automatically helps its owner; an electric fan that promises scorching charcoal in minutes; and shoe laces that might be the first-ever indestructible shoelace.


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Friday, 18 April, 2008 | 18:53 WIB
TEMPO Interactive, Jakarta: The government is currently preparing incentives to revitalize sugar factories in order to be self-sufficient.
“The government has promised to build transportation infrastructure to and from sugar factories,” said Naswir Kawi, an expert from Indonesian Sugar Association (AGI) in Jakarta, yesterday (17/4).
The matter of providing incentives emerged during a meeting with Vice President Jusuf Kalla at the State Palace, Jakarta, yesterday.
However, the government has not yet announced the details of these incentives.
Naswir said that the incentives would attract producers to revitalizing sugar factories.
The government is encouraging more investment and production for sugar factories.
Currently, Indonesia has 58 sugar factories.
According to Naswir, the government is targeting production of sugar to be 3.3 million tons by 2010.
During 2007, sugar production amounted to 2.4 million tons, while total sugar consumption for household and industry was four million tons.


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Despite the strictures on American companies doing business with Chinese telecommunications equipment vendor Huawei Technologies, Washington appears to have given the green light for the sale of semiconductors for Huawei's growing automotive technology business.
Augmented Reality is allowing Australian car buyers to "try on" a new Volkswagen T-Roc or T-Cross in great detail, inside and out, and visualise it in their driveway, garage or elsewhere, at different sizes, as COVIDsafe buying of big ticket items online takes off in a big way! iTWire talks to CCMO Jason Bradshaw on video to find out more.
Self-proclaimed eco-conscious car-sharing platform Evee has launched in Australia offering electric vehicles (EVs) to rent, connecting “community-conscious car owners with eco-conscious drivers”.
BlackBerry is expanding its partner program, but with an emphasis on quality rather than quantity.
A Finland-based tyre company is offering a system that automatically measures your tyres' tread depth.
In around six years, BMW, Intel and Mobileye are promising self-driving vehicles that are "highly and fully automated" thanks to computer vision, machine learning and more.
While most IT people know Nvidia as a graphics card and GPU vendor, the company's products are increasingly being adopted by the automotive industry.
Consumer advocacy group CHOICE says that consumers affected by Volkswagen’s emissions scandal should be made aware of their rights under Australian law to a refund or replacement vehicle.
Navman has released a range of crash sensitive GPS enabled drive recorders. The aim is to provide clarity and evidence when it comes to insurance claims for motor accidents. And with any luck, Australians will be contributing to the oft disturbing, sometimes hilarious pool of YouTube videos along with our Russian driving friends.
The automotive, LED lighting and home consumer segments are predicted to drive a large part of growth of 30% in the semiconductor device portion of the global Internet of Things semi-conductor market over the next five years.
Researchers at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) say they have taken the first step towards creating a self-driving car by fitting sensors and other technology to a vehicle owned by car sharing service GoGet.
Whose fault was that bingle anyway? Well now you have evidence.
Codemasters will release the next generation of its popular F1 video game franchise for Australian PS3, Xbox 360 and PC users on 3 October and we sat down with our own legend of the sport, 1980 world champion Alan Jones MBE, to sample a pre-review version of the game.
GPS brand Navman has commissioned an independent survey of drivers, aiming to characterise driving confidence by gender.
Manufacturers of standalone SatNav devices need to deliver features at an excellent bang-for-buck ratio to compete with in-car factory fitted as well as the many other GPS enabled devices on hand today.
The local organisation Commercial Radio Australia is well aware of the importance embracing the digital age of radio broadcasting. This is particularly significant for radios on the road; commercial radio listening figures for 2012 show 34% of radio listening is in the car and the radio industry is keen for those listeners to experience digital radio.
Aimed at providing forensic evidence in the unfortunate event of an accident or for protective parents wishing to monitor their teenage children’s driving habits Navman has released two digital drive recorders.
Self-drive cars may be the future, but that doesn’t mean the death of grid-lock or the general drag of slow city traffic. Why do we even fork out for high performance vehicles when much of the time is spent travelling slower than a senior citizen on a mobility scooter?
Not a pure electric vehicle, yet not a hybrid, the Holden Volt is looking like it will shake up the languishing Australian automobile industry.
HondaLink joins other - mostly German – vehicle manufacturer’s attempts at bringing the online world into our cars. Social media, cloud based services and other applications streaming directly to the infotainment system.
I would love to know if it has the equivalent of the HP E-print. That was such a great feature[…]
I wonder what ACMA is going to do to help those people who are disadvantaged? Send out inspirational messages to[…]
The link to Vodafone in the article links to the Vodafone group website in the UK, not the Australian site.[…]
Just for a start the removal of copper from the system will mean that the NBN will be a better[…]
Linux is becoming worse than Windows. :-(


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Airbnb is in hot water over its clumsy treatment of Native American culture.
The housing rental service hastily scrubbed an ad from its social media profiles on Tuesday after Native American scholars and activists slammed it for racial insensitivity.
The post featured a listing for an "off-the-grid" teepee, where visitors are promised a "true Sioux style" experience.
Never mind that the Joshua Tree, California dwelling is thousands of miles away from the historic territory of the Great Plains-based Sioux.
"Airbnb is profiting off of racist stereotypes and that is unacceptable in a democratic society," Judith Le Blanc, director of the Native Organizers Alliance and a member of the Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma, told BuzzFeed.
Other critics, like Brown University American Studies professor Adrienne Keene, drew comparisons to the brutal crackdown on Native pipeline protests at Standing Rock earlier this year.
In their eyes, the ad is an example of how mass media commoditizes a stereotypical, glamorized version of Native American culture while ignoring the people themselves.
Airbnb removed the ad from its Facebook and Instagram channels on Tuesday after Buzzfeed broke the story.
"We should not have used this language and we want to apologise to everyone for our poor judgement," an Airbnb spokesperson said in an email. "We have deleted these posts."
The misstep comes as Airbnb is still reeling from widespread accusations of racism on the platform that came to a head last year.
The company has sought to address that ongoing controversy with a host of service policy changes and damage-control advertising that stresses diversity.
Airbnb chief marketing officer Jonathan Mildenhall has doubled down on calls for diversity in the advertising industry in recent weeks.
Airbnb's ill-conceived ad underscores his point.
Read the full article here.


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When Melissa Haffeman temporarily closed the independent Islander Bookshop in March as restrictions mounted to prevent the spread of COVID-19, she thought it might spell the end of her small business.
However, she now realizes that the temporary closure might have offered the pause she needed to push through her fears and make the shop into the successful community bookstore she had dreamed of opening.
Haffeman had left her career in education and the nonprofit world to become a businessperson. When the coronavirus pandemic hit, the bookstore had only been open for four months. During that time, she had been focused on growing her business as much as possible.
“Prior to COVID, in February, I was trying to grow the business so much and analyzing so much, and it just felt like grow, grow, grow,” Haffeman said.
But as the pandemic loomed, public-facing businesses were required to close their doors, and Kodiak residents were ordered to “hunker down” and avoid places where people gathered. Concern spread through the business community: Employees were laid off, revenue stopped coming in, and many businesses were not sure if they would make it through the summer.
“All of a sudden, everything was on pause for an indefinite amount of time, and I didn’t know honestly if I could keep the bookstore open,” Haffeman said.
In a business impact survey conducted by the Kodiak Chamber of Commerce and released in April, 95% of business owners said they were negatively impacted by COVID-19, while 30% said they were likely to go out of business if the disruptions were not resolved by May 15.
Haffeman felt that concern. She did not know if there would be a recession or how much the pandemic would affect the island community.
Haffeman grew up in Kodiak and graduated from Kodiak High School. She later lived in Washington state and Colorado, but it wasn’t until she was traveling through New Zealand with her family that she decided to move back home.
“New Zealand reminded me so much of Kodiak,” she said. One day, she sat her husband down in a small coffee shop and told him she wanted to go home.
“I want to raise our kids in Kodiak. I miss it,” she recalled telling him. She thought he would be a hard sell on the idea, but he agreed wholeheartedly. In 2016, they moved back to the island.
Having worked in education her entire life, Haffeman took a position as principal of Kodiak Middle School. But when her father began suffering paralysis in both of his legs, she stepped down to help him.
But it wasn’t long before she started to miss working. She had received help from the resources available in Kodiak, so she began to think of a way to work while giving back to the community — the original inspiration behind her career in education.
She had always wondered about successfully running a business that gives back to the community. That business, she decided, was an independent bookstore.
After the pandemic hit, she thought her dream of growing her bookstore into a reflection of the community’s reading interests was over. For a while.
But fate — and the community — had other ideas.
Many community members approached Haffeman to compliment her on the shop and tell her how much the bookstore meant to them and their families. This outpouring of love and support helped give her the courage to push past doubts about her own abilities to run a business that resonated with people.
One person thanked her for inspiring her son to read because he could hold the books instead of merely browsing online. Another told her she loved the shop and offered to help in any way possible to keep it open.
This newfound courage was the force Haffeman needed to begin pivoting her business and finding tools to market and improve her inventory. She signed up for her first marketing class in June and has since accumulated an arsenal of business and marketing coaches, as well as online courses, to build what she calls her “own personal MBA.”
“The more that I learn, the more I can find what fits the bookshop, myself and the town,” Haffeman said.
She also found financial help to keep her business afloat through the federal Paycheck Protection Program, Kodiak’s small business grant program and the American Booksellers Association, where she received a percentage of books sold from her store via the ABA website.
She has also seen sales steadily increase since August.
“The summer was very slow. But now that it’s fall, (sales are) starting to return,” she said.
Haffeman has also started creating a new website, and has changed some of the non-book items in her shop. The latter change came about when she started considering ways she could make people feel better with more than a book. She took the idea of self-care and has adapted her inventory to that idea with items like scented candles, journals, plants and lanterns.
After having been in business now for almost one year, Haffeman has found a few of her niches, including books for homeschool and special orders. Her children’s book section is growing by the day, and in August she received 144 special order requests, her most ever.
Haffeman is like an investigator for hard-to-find books.
“Some (books) are really hard to find,” she said. “It’s a lot of fun to track it down.”
Once, she found a physics book that was requested from a professor in India. Another time, a chef asked her to find a special book about carb replacement but with other requirements. Some request out-of-print books, while others ask for books from a certain author, press and date.
“I’m pretty good at research,” she said, adding that finding the book from India took her several hours. “Because of those kinds of obscure requests, I have built up accounts on different platforms so I can find those hard-to-find or out-of-print books.”
Some people who are looking for self-help books or books on grief might slip her a piece of paper and silently request a book that they want to keep to themselves.
“In my previous career, confidentiality was huge,” she said. “I never realized that a bookshop would be haven that way also for many people.”
Through her ever increasing selection of books, curated around the community’s interest — cookbooks are up and romance books are down — she continues to build the community bookstore that Kodiakans had been missing for many years.
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American burger chain Carl's Jr looks certain to open in Tauranga - but obesity and nutrition experts say there are already too many fast food outlets in the area.
Carl's Jr could not yet confirm a site for Tauranga but, with its intentions to open a burger restaurant in every major centre in New Zealand - 30 in total - it seems inevitable.
The chain's Asia-Pacific vice-president was in Tauranga last weekend searching for suitable properties.
"The roll-out will depend on the availability of good site locations. Nothing is confirmed in the Tauranga area at this stage, but rest assured Bay of Plenty residents will be the first to know," a Restaurant Brands spokesman told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend.
The burger chain has already drawn criticism in Auckland for serving high-calorie meals but hit back, saying it provided low-calorie options and targeted "young, hungry guys".
The news comes just a week after Otago University researchers published a blacklist of 49 "needn't" foods as part of a treatment research programme for obesity.
On the blacklist were fried food, hot chips and mayonnaise - staples at fast food chains.
Anna Rolleston, director of the Cardiac Clinic and a nutritionist, believed it was a "cop-out" for fast food chains to say it was the individual's choice whether to eat there or not.
"There's a greater social problem than that. The problem is that we need services so we can teach people how easy it is to eat well [on a budget]."
While many chains offer "healthy choices" menus, Dr Rolleston said people did not go there for that reason.
"You don't go to McDonald's because you want to eat well.
"The thing about places like McDonald's and KFC is they are big, non-New Zealand corporates.
"What really annoys me is we could have some really high-quality food outlets that provide healthy food, New Zealand owned and operated, yet we have all these American takeaway joints ruining the health of our people."
Dr Rolleston believed such fast food outlets "played on the poor", who believed it was a cheaper way to eat than eating healthily.
That was not the case, but many low-income families did not know how to cook and buy cheap, healthy items.
Fight the Obesity Epidemic spokeswoman Robyn Toomath told the Bay of Plenty Times Weekend she did not blame the fast food companies for operating their business. Instead, she wanted to see legislation put in place to control how many outlets operated in a community.
Local body authorities did not have the ability to limit permits for fast food outlets.
"New Zealand isn't really equipped to start dealing with reshaping the environment in a way to assist people to keep healthy. We don't have the right legislation.
"I don't really blame [the likes of] Burger King, because they are a business. That's their business, they have got to make money and return money to their shareholders.
"I don't have a beef with fast food outlets setting up, I have a beef that ... so far no government has been prepared to look at legislation around this."
Registered dietitian Rachel Scrivin, of FoodFX, said the density of fast food outlets was driven by consumer demand - but that didn't make it right.
"[Carl's Jnr] is obviously coming down here because there's the need for it, they have done their market research and will make money from it, which is a shame."
Mrs Scrivin said it was up to the individual to make a better choice.
"If you have health issues you need to consider: is that the best option?
"It's like smoking - you can't make people not smoke, they have highlighted the dangers and people still smoke even though they put the price up and up."
More fast food outlets meant increased temptation for those who were struggling to improve their diets, Mrs Scrivin said.
Her biggest concern was the high fat content of fast food, especially animal fat.
"I don't think the healthy options are all they are made out to be. They market them as flame grilled and healthy options but they usually have high calorie dressing and plenty of salt.
"[Healthy options] still entice people in there. Often they might buy one healthy option but have a side of soft drink or fries.
"Why would you go there [for a salad or wrap]. That's not their forte."
The cost of fast food was also a concern - it was quicker, cheaper and more nutritious to make a pizza at home than to order one.
Tauranga registered dietitian Fiona Boyle, of Food Solutions, said fried food, hot chips and mayonnaise were on the "needn't list" because they did not have much nutritional value.
"A lot of this fast food from takeaway places is going to be exceptionally high in fat and saturated fat, and really high in sodium. It's not a good choice."
A McDonald's Double Quarter Pounder, for example, has 50g of fat in one serving.
"That's close to three-quarters of what a person might be aiming to eat in fat in a day, and chances are you are going to add chips to that as well."
And at KFC, say no to the chips and instead choose potato and gravy or a bread roll - you could have 10 bread rolls for the same fat content as a large chips.
Customers have choice, say chains
Fast food chains say they are reacting to customer demands for healthy options.
Burger King marketing director Rachael Allison said customers needed balanced menu choices, so the chain provided a "lite options" menu featuring lower fat options.
The lite options menu was prominently displayed and promoted meals without fries and with water or low calorie beverages.
"Ultimately it is the customer who decides what and where to order from."
A swap to a blend of sunflower and canola cooking oil had resulted in an 80 per cent reduction in the saturated fat content of their oil.
A McDonald's spokeswoman said the chain was "constantly" evolving its menu to provide healthier options, due to customer demand.
Examples included the Weight Watchers-approved menu, healthy Happy Meal options for children, reducing sugar in buns by 40 per cent and changing to a low-saturated fat canola-based cooking oil.
McDonald's this week launched a new healthy choice option of choosing salad instead of fries with all combo meals, at no extra cost.
Carl's Jr Asia-Pacific vice-president Ian Letele said last week the chain provided low-calorie healthy options.
These included a low carbohydrate burger sold without the buns and encasing the burger in lettuce.
KFC and Pizza Hut did not respond in time for publication.


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Summary:To help change the world, have a look inside your fridge — this is one of the messages contained in a new article. Food waste has attained monumental proportions in both the developed and developing worlds, and the sum of individual consumer’s actions can have major impacts on a global scale, according to the article’s author.
The article, titled “Waste not, want not, emit less,” points out that overall, one third of the world’s food is lost or wasted, and that food waste has serious environmental implications while contributing directly to global warming. Carbon is emitted to no avail in the production of the food, while disposal and decomposition in landfills of discarded food cause additional impacts to the environment. But something can be done, both at the societal and individual levels. This is where social science comes in.
“We know more or less the extent of the problem, and what are the causes of food waste — the next step is action, and here research is needed to help identify what is most effective, so that policy makers know what to focus on,” said Aschemann-Witzel, who works at Aarhus BSS’ MAPP Centre, which conducts research on value creation in the food sector.
Food waste has different causes in different parts of the world. In relatively poor countries, it is an upstream problem, and most waste takes place in the production phase due to, for example, sup-optimal methods of harvesting and transportation. The solution in these cases includes building better infrastructure through transfer of knowledge and technology.
In the developed countries, downstream factors are more relevant, and consumer choices are much more important. Up to 30 percent of household food ends in the bin, often due to factors such as cultural norms that prescribe offering plenty of food to guests, misperceptions about food safety and exaggerated disgust. At the same time, however, there is a widespread feeling that throwing away food is wrong, giving cause for hope.
“The fact that consumers and stakeholders alike perceive food waste as obviously unethical makes it a good starting point for individual consumers to become engaged in sustainability,” Aschemann-Witzel argues in her article for Science.
There is no single solution to the problem of food waste in the developed world, but a variety of practically feasible steps at the micro-level can go a long way towards ensuring greater sustainability. For example, something as simple as checking the fridge prior to shopping can have a large impact in the aggregate.
In addition, governments can contribute by changing overly strict food safety laws, while producers can introduce innovative packaging solutions that allow the withdrawal of small amounts of food while the rest remains fresh. Retailers should refine their pricing policies, such as “pay 1 for 2” offers, in order to discourage consumers from buying products they don’t really need.
Changes designed for the developed world are likely to have an even bigger impact in future, as countries such as Brazil, India and China become more urbanized and dietary preferences change. In such countries, the article argues, food waste volumes are likely to increasingly shift to the consumption stage.
“A broad range of efforts are needed to move towards sustainable food security for all,” Aschemann-Witzel writes, “and each individual consumer contributes both to the problem and the solution.”


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After kicking around in invite-only mode since the summer at the price of $9.99/month, Hulu’s premium service Hulu Plus went live for all interested parties today — and at two dollars per month less.
The new $7.99/month price puts Hulu Plus more in line with Netflix’s pricing. The big difference still remains that, in spite of paying a premium for the larger content selection, Hulu Plus subscribers still have to watch commercials at regular intervals, while Netflix has said they have no intention of adding ads to their streaming content.
So does the lower price tag make Hulu Plus more attractive to you? Or is it still too much to pay for the service?


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BOULDER, COLO. — The Pet Sustainability Coalition (PSC) announced earlier this month its latest partnership with UK Pet Food, formerly known as the Pet Food Manufacturers Association, to bring the coalition’s Packaging Pledge to pet industry brands and distributors throughout the United Kingdom.
The PSC introduced its Packaging Pledge at SUPERZOO 2022, where five North American pet food companies — Canidae, Earth Animal, Instinct, Petcurean and Primal Pet Foods — were the first to sign on. The pledge binds pet industry players to the commitment of transitioning their packaging to recyclable, refillable or compostable materials by 2025. This includes making measurable strides toward more environmentally friendly packaging.
In return, pledged companies gain access to several resources from the PSC, including:
- Peer working groups, where signatories meet bi-monthly to collaborate on their initiatives and resources;
- Business case support to help communicate the value of the pledge to stakeholders;
- Access to the PSC’s Packaging Supplier Marketplace, in which brands can search for sustainable packaging solutions from a curated list of pre-vetted packaging suppliers;
- Bi-annual legislative updates to stay informed about global packaging laws and regulations;
- A signatory badge and digital assets to help brands promote their participation in the pledge;
- And access to benchmarking and reporting tools, as well as strategy consulting and workshops provided by PSC.
UK Pet Food is the latest to join the PSC Packaging Pledge, and is urging its pet food industry members to make the commitment toward more sustainable packaging. According to the association, its membership accounts for more than 90% of pet food producers across the United Kingdom.
“We would love to see a cohort of our members added to this list of signatories,” said Nicole Paley, deputy chief executive officer and sustainability lead at UK Pet Food. “When a company commits to the PSC Packaging Pledge, they are immediately provided with a variety of tools and resources to assist them in their sustainable packaging journey.”
Interested members can contact Ali Boden, PSC’s senior packaging program manager, at firstname.lastname@example.org to learn more about how to take the Packaging Pledge.
“More than 300 million lbs of flexible plastic packaging is created in North America by the pet industry each year, with 99% of it ending up in landfills due to the commonly used multilayer, multi-material nature of pet food and treat packaging,” Boden said. “The Packaging Pledge aims to provide the resources and guidance for the pet industry to advance their packaging toward scalable, sustainable solutions and reduce landfill-bound pet packaging waste.”
Since it was established in 2022, 10 additional signatories have joined the pledge, including Austin and Kat, Baja Naturals, Boxiecat, Fera Pet Organics, H&H Group’s Solid Gold and Zesty Paws brands, MPM Products, Phillips Pet Food & Supplies, Bausch & Lomb’s Project Watson brand, Stella & Chewy’s, and ZIWI.
“Being a committed member of the Packaging Pledge has significantly transformed MPM Products’ approach to sustainability,” said Joy Stevenson, B Corp project manager at MPM Products. “Engaging in this initiative has allowed MPM to forge valuable connections with like-minded businesses globally. As part of this collaborative effort, we relish the opportunity to exchange innovative ideas, share experiences and address common challenges. The Packaging Pledge has created a platform for us to navigate the complexities of enhancing our environmental impact collectively.”
Read more about sustainability efforts across the pet food and treat industry.


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... Toys, dolls, and clothes have always been a big part of strategy at Disney, the world’s largest licensing company. Even so, it’s hit an unexpected merchandise jackpot with Elsa, the Snow Queen of Arendelle, and her ice gown. “It took everyone by surprise worldwide,” says Stephen Berman, chief executive officer at Jakks Pacific (JAKK), a manufacturer that sells to chains such as Wal-Mart Stores (WMT) and Target (TGT). “This is a new Disney princess franchise. It happens maybe once or twice in a business career.” In January, stores sold out of Jakks’s version—price, $20—and some retailers are ponying up to airlift reinforcements from Chinese factories.
Buyers stocked only about as many of the ice gowns as they did Rapunzel outfits from Disney’s 2010 Tangled. But since its Nov. 22 opening, Frozen has become the top-grossing animated film of all time, with worldwide theater receipts of $1.1 billion When shipments do come in, Disney stores limit customers to two dresses to curb black market sales.
Tasia Filippatos, a Disney spokesperson, declined to comment on the size of the Frozen merchandise market. ...
The market is BIG, but retailers initially got faked out.
Early on, Elsa dress sales were slow and stores thought they’d over-ordered. “There was big uh-oh moment at the beginning,” O’Loughlin said.
Then kids fell in love with the movie princess, who has a kingdom trapped in ice and a sister, Anna, who searches for her across the tundra.
As sales began to climb and orders poured in after the Christmas holiday, Jakks had trouble restocking because of Chinese New Year, which shut down manufacturing in that country for a month until mid-February. Much of the “Frozen” merchandise is made in China. ...
So Diz Co. has played catch up with the merchandise thingie ... and shy about saying how lucrative it is. However, we know one thing for certain sure. If all those people inside the Hat Building hadn't made the movie, then the dresses wouldn't be flying off the shelves.


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Standard Operating Procedure
Okay, just for the record, let it be known that there are white people who don’t care for black people. Then again, there are black people who don’t care much for other black people as well. That shouldn’t be a shocking revelation to anyone. Despite what people like to claim, racism and racial prejudice are doing very well in America. There is no such thing as a post racial era. This really is not all that newsworthy. Acts of racism happen each and every day.
Earlier this week, people at the Wal-Mart store in Washington Township in southern New Jersey were given a fresh reminder that some people are not participating in the all accepting, kumbaya singing, belief in the racial homogeny. A male voice on the public address system ordered all black people to leave the store now. A manager in the store quickly got on the system and apologized for the remark. It is unclear whether the first announcement was made by a customer or by an employee. Nevertheless, many customers expressed their anger to store management. It was pretty much standard procedure after the public act of racism.
In the article I read about the incident, store patron Sheila Ellington had been interviewed. The woman wanted to know why such statements are being made, because they fly in the face of what we supposedly teach our children about tolerance for all. The woman was shopping in the store with her friend, Patricia Covington, at the time of the announcement. She went on to say that if the event was meant to be a prank, neither she nor her friend was laughing. The two women plan to boycott the retailer until they are assured that the issue has been addressed so it doesn’t happen again. The pair said they were stunned when they first heard the announcement and believed they had misheard what was said. But once the words sank in, they grew angry. That is more standard procedure to a racially motivated incident.
Ms. Covington said that she depended on Wal-Mart for all her needs because the store pretty much has everything she could want. But until this issue is addressed to her satisfaction, until she is made comfortable as a black person in a Wal-Mart store, she refuses to patronize the store again. In a perverse kind of way, she will be doing exactly what the phantom announcer told her to.
Officials with Wal-Mart Stores said that the announcement was unacceptable and that the store is sparing no effort to determine who is responsible for the announcement and how it happened. This is standard operating procedure as well. The officials have made public statements saying that they were just as appalled by the incident as any one of their customers. The statement went on to say that whoever made the announcement acted in an inappropriate manner. Now that is some seriously tough talk.
This whole rigmarole is standard procedure for responding to blatant racism. Black customers are angry or saddened and want reassurance that they matter. Officials are appalled and incensed and promise to get to the bottom of things. And given a week or two the whole affair will simply blend back into our consciousness as we move on with all of our lives. Even Ms. Covington will get over her indignation and go back to supporting Wal-Mart Stores without her guarantee that black people will be made comfortable. As far as Wal-Mart is concerned, finding the culprit will take time and the Wal-Mart bottom line is that time is money. They know that their black customers will be back. This whole affair is nothing new. This isn’t the first time somebody said something ignorant about black people and it certainly won’t be the last.
In America, it is standard operating procedure is to take the black community for granted. Despite what Ms. Ellington said in her interview we don’t teach our children tolerance. In fact, we very much teach our children the exact opposite. Over and over again, in the way that we respond to social issues and social values, we teach our children that black people are not the equal of white people. If we did, we wouldn’t hear rogue announcements from anybody in a Wal-Mart store or anywhere else. We wouldn’t see anybody setting nooses in public as an unsubtle reminder of black people’s place on our social ladder. If we truly strove to teach our children that this kind of thing was something that happened in our past, it wouldn’t be happening today. Somebody is keeping racial hatred alive and well.
Black people need to stop walking around as if acts of racial discrimination would never happen to them. Racism is not something new. Racism is not all that shocking. Somebody got on the public address system and told black people to leave. Black people should. Why continue to patronize a store that has a history of racial discrimination? What I find shocking is the fact that black people who walk around as if we live in racially enlightened communities. They didn’t stop going to Wal-Mart when Wal-Mart was kicking somebody else’s ass. Nobody is going to stop going to Wal-Mart because of what happened to you. Wal-Mart really has nothing to worry about. That’s standard operating procedure as well.


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Lowell-based carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services is expected to report third-quarter profit to rise 56% to $1.42 per share, based on a consensus of 22 analysts, but that estimate was before the company announced legal payments would affect earnings for the period by 26 cents per share.
The company plans to report earnings, for the period ending Sept. 30, after the markets close Monday (Oct. 15). Also, the company will host a conference call to discuss the financial report. It usually reports before markets open in a press release and without a conference call to discuss the results.
Based on average estimates from 15 analysts, revenue is expected to rise $20.3% to $2.22 billion.
The carrier announced Wednesday (Oct. 10) it would pay several pre-tax charges totaling $39 million and would affect earnings by $28.9 million, or 26 cents per share, in the third quarter and for 2018. The charges relate to an arbitration between the company and Fort Worth, Texas-based BNSF Railway Co., lawsuit settlements with regard to driver pay and rest breaks and a customer bankruptcy.
In a third-quarter earnings preview, analysts Brad Delco and Justin Long and associates Scott Schoenhaus and Brian Colley, all of Little Rock-based Stephens Inc., lowered third-quarter earnings estimates by 6 cents to $1.35 per share before J.B. Hunt released the financial guidance.
“In short, we believe (J.B. Hunt) has had a lot of success winning multiple large dedicated service awards and as a result will experience some ‘startup’ costs in the quarter,” according to Delco, Long, Schoenhaus and Colley. “Importantly, we believe this should only be viewed as a temporary issue, which ultimately should strengthen (J.B. Hunt’s) growth outlook for 2019.”
Stephens gives a buy rating to the carrier’s stock and a 12-month target of $138 per share.
Shares of J.B. Hunt (NASDAQ: JBHT) closed Wednesday at $113.93, down $4.24 or 3.59%. In the past 52 weeks, the stock has ranged between $131.74 and $100.25.
Volumes in the intermodal segment, which is the carrier’s largest by revenue and operating income, were impacted by rail service that deteriorated from the second quarter, and volume growth for the third quarter was revised to 2.5%, from 3%, according to Delco, Long, Schoenhaus and Colley. Recently, West Coast inbound container data showed a pull forward in demand ahead of tariffs and concerns of whether there will be enough capacity to move freight later this year. The analysts increased their estimate for revenue per load to 14%, from 12%, as they believed pricing was better than previously expected.
Dedicated Contract Services
The dedicated segment has been successful in landing new business in the third quarter, and this will impact its operating ratio as it hires staff and purchases equipment, said Delco, Long, Schoenhaus and Colley. From the second quarter, the ratio is expected to degrade 200 basis points to 91%. Operating ratio is a company’s operating expenses as a percentage of revenue.
Integrated Capacity Solutions
The carrier’s brokerage or logistics segment saw robust growth in the third quarter, with top-line revenue expected to rise 42.5% after increasing revenue estimates for the period, according to Delco, Long, Schoenhaus and Colley. Gross margins will be flat at 14.8%, compared to the previous estimate of 13.8%, as spot rates moderated and capacity loosened, which is normal for the period. Operating ratio should be 96.7%, and it degraded 40 basis points from the previous estimate as a result of continued investment into staff.
The truckload segment continues to benefit from a strong freight market with pricing up 13%, from the same period in 2017, and flat from the second quarter, according to Delco, Long, Schoenhaus and Colley. Truck usage is expected to decline 0.5%, from the same period in 2017, and compared to a 4.4% decline in the second quarter. The biggest challenge has been finding drivers for trucks, but the segment’s operating ratio should be 91.5%, and improvement of 110 basis points from the previous quarter.


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The Indian Diamond & Colorstone Association (IDCA), a New York-based association of jewelers, diamantaires and colored stone dealers hosted its 38th Annual Awards Night on June 11th, 2022 at the Venetian Hotel during the JCK Las Vegas Show.
IDCA President, Rajeev Pandya opened the evening saying it was a distinct pleasure to honor the finest from our industry for their exceptional contribution to the jewelry industry. IDCA is a premier industry organization that plays an active and vital role within the industry and with other trade organizations, he added.
IDCA members and their affiliated companies generate over $10 billion in diamond, color stone, and jewelry sales globally, contributing to the success of the jewelry industry in the United States and around the world. It is IDCA’s mission to raise awareness of how their members contribute to this success.
Mr. Pandya congratulated IDCA members on their outstanding achievements over the decades and urged the next generation to support IDCA and other industry organizations, saying a rising tide lifts all boats.
The IDCA awarded Ben Bridge Jewelers, Lisa Bridge, President & CEO, with the Retailer of the Year Award for their outstanding service and commitment to excellence in jewelry retailing. Lisa thanked IDCA and said it is an honor to receive this award on behalf of the entire team of Ben Bridge for their hard work and dedication. She said she was proud of how they had created, innovated and stayed focused on the customer throughout the years and also gave special thanks to all the vendor partners working with Ben Bridge.
Savji Dholakia, Founder & Chairman, Hari Krishna Exports Pvt. Ltd. was awarded with the Industry Leadership Award. In his heartwarming acceptance speech, which he delivered in Hindi, he said he was blessed and humbled that a simple person from a village in India is receiving this award, in Las Vegas in the midst of the biggest industry event in the US. He acknowledged the tremendous contribution of his team that allowed him to focus on his passion for social endeavors and said there were 5 things which he believed in and followed that allowed him and his company to be where it is today: To be the best at what you do, to believe in yourself, God is always with you, you are always a winner no matter what and today is a new day and forget what has happened in the past.
Sharon Dziesietnik, SVP Operations & Sales accepted the E-Tailer Award for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility and Ethical Jewelry Retailing on behalf of Brilliant Earth. In her acceptance she said she was profoundly honored to receive this award and thanked the Brilliant Earth team for their hard work and dedication to their mission and also thanked the IDCA community. She also acknowledged the partnerships that enabled Brilliant Earth to cater to the shopping preferences of tech savvy next generation customers through their digital jewelry platform.
Kushal Sacheti, CEO, Galaxy USA, Inc. received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Education & Philanthropy. In his acceptance speech, Mr. Sacheti said that education can change the future, not just yours but your community. Whatever else you do affects your life today, but education will affect your future. His passion and commitment for education comes from his personal experience of how an idea and a curiosity about something can change your life and lead to great achievements.
Haridas Kotahwala, Founder & President, Royal India USA, Inc., was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for Excellence in Community Service. Accepting the award, Mr. Kotahwala said it gave him great pleasure to be in the midst of the honored guests, dignitaries and IDCA members. As a founding member of IDCA he said he accepts the Lifetime Achievement award with due humility, not in appreciation but to inspire the young generation. He strongly believes that community service is our moral obligation to each other. As a past president of IDCA and being involved in many events, he said he must acknowledge the efforts of Mr. Pandya and the IDCA board in organizing this event after the break of the pandemic.
The evening was hosted by comedian/emcee Cash Levy.
To view videos and a photo album of the IDCA Gala, click here.
Learn more about IDCA at idcany.org.


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Lesley Rea, 73, finds it hard to fund her weekly food shop after paying for power, bills and life insurance.
"It does trim my pension right down to where it is crucial that I have to watch my pennies when I'm looking at food," the Zillmere pensioners said.
But she has found a way to fill her shopping bags without emptying her wallet.
She uses Project Pantry's monthly market.
For just $10, pensioners can purchase a food hamper worth around $100.
It includes fresh fruits and vegetables, eggs, bread and toiletries.
"That will feed me for easily a week, up to two weeks."
A meat pack is $2 extra.
"To do a shop locally, it's so expensive. But the price that we pay for the pantry here, and the products we receive it's golden" Ms Rea said.
Burnie Brae is celebrating a decade of helping people, like Lesley, on disability or aged pensions.
"Over the last 10 years, we've been able to assist 55,000 pensioners on our monthly market day and hundreds of emergency food hampers distributed each month," Jodie Goddard said.
The service depends on donations from charities like Foodbank and OzHarvest and community organisations.
It also relies on the hard work of volunteers, so it can continue to deliver the hampers to those in need.
"We wouldn't be here and running for 10 years if it wasn't for our generous supporters" Ms Goddard said.
The next monthly market will be on the October 6 between 8:30am and 10:30am at 60 Kuran Street, Chermside.
For more information, head to the Burnie Brae website, call (07) 3624 2125 or email: mailto:email@example.com.


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The sample size is small, but it appears traders are bullish on the biotech stock.
The technical signs of the fast food giant indicate a minor rally could propel its shares much higher.
Force yourselves to buy when others are panicking and temper your enthusiasm when markets are going wild to the upside.
There are a handful of technical question marks surrounding the packaged foods company right now.
This market action may seem irrational and unjustified, but our job is to navigate the price action, not judge it.
In Japan investors have priced in earnings a full six months too soon, while in China the coronavirus stages a bit of a comeback.
Hong Kong will have its own tech quartet as of next Thursday; Asian shares don't have the same euphoria as U.S. stocks (yet), and that's a good thing.
Beijing demands support from companies in Hong Kong for its treason law if they want to keep doing business there and some big names are complying.
The technical signals for the stock of the online apparel service are not strong and indicate it may not be the time to go long.
Fossil Group, Michaels Companies and GameStop surged higher on Monday, likely for their own unique reasons.


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PlayPhone's Social Gaming Network Adds More Hit Titles as Multiple Developers Announce New Games for Platform
San Francisco, CA, Jan 31, 2013 (PRWeb.com via COMTEX) --
PlayPhone(R), Inc., a global leader in mobile social gaming, announced today that it continues to see strong developer commitment for its state-of-the-art social gaming network. The PlayPhone Social Gaming Network is available on mobile devices and supports Android, iOS and HTML5 platforms. PlayPhone is the first truly integrated social gaming network and continues to be the publishing destination for the industry's top developers. The following developers are debuting games for the PlayPhone Social Gaming Network:
Glu Mobile (GLUU)
After a strong fourth quarter, PlayPhone will see exciting titles added from both new and existing game developers to PlayPhone's already robust game catalog. Exciting games launching on the PlayPhone network include:
Contract Killer: Zombies (Glu Mobile)
Magic Sword (China Wireless Arts)
Blast Points (Pub Games)
Hearts & Spades (Ambush Games)
Crossword (Ambush Games)
The Dark Man (7Seas)
Governor of Poker 2 (Youda Games)
Max & Mia: Ice Cave Adventures (Smuttlewerk)
Rapid Glide (Hui Games)
"After wrapping up a fantastic 2012, we're thrilled that PlayPhone continues to be the go-to platform for game developers to distribute and monetize their games on smartphones and tablets" said Anders Evju, EVP, business development and strategic partnerships, PlayPhone, Inc. "The addition of so many major developers puts PlayPhone on pace for a record 2013 and reinforces our commitment to continuing to be the most developer-friendly social gaming platform."
The PlayPhone Social Gaming Network is the premier destination for mobile gamers and provides developers access to millions of users regardless of their smartphone or tablet choice. Recently recognized by Red Herring as a Global Top 100 Company and innovation leader for its social gaming technology, Playphone is the first true cross-platform social gaming network on the market today that gives developers a complete publishing solution and full control of their IP. The PlayPhone Social Gaming Network supports all leading and yet-to-be released development platforms, including Android, iOS, HTML5, with full support for Unity.
For more information on how to join the PlayPhone developers program, visit http://developer.playphone.com/. For PlayPhone, visit http://www.playphone.com , on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/playphonegames, or follow us on Twitter @playphone.
About PlayPhone, Inc.
PlayPhone(R) is a global leader in delivering mobile social gaming via smartphones and tablets through its cross-platform PlayPhone Social Gaming Network (PSGN). With a presence in more than 25 countries throughout North America, Europe, Asia, and Latin America, PlayPhone's mobile gaming platform provides developers with the ability to launch and monetize social games around the globe. The PlayPhone developers program includes support for all leading platforms: Android, iOS, HTML5, with full support for Unity. Based in San Francisco, Calif., PlayPhone is funded by top venture firms Menlo Ventures, Cardinal Venture Capital, Coral Group, and Scale Venture Partners.
Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2013/1/prweb10378682.htm
[ Back To Cisco News 's Homepage ]


text: Security and low-voltage distributor ADI, now ADI Global, named Michael Flink president of the newly expanded international business, overseeing operations in the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and India. ADI operations chief Rob Aarnes succeeds him as North America president ... Jeannine Ghaleb, COO of Nationwide Marketing Group’s Canadian Cantrex division, promoted to president/COO … Ralf Engelbrecht has joined Innovative Technology as sales VP. A 25-year CE veteran, previous positions included senior VP sales of Clarion, VP sales for Taser International, senior director of sales for Magellan GPS, and most recently VP sales for Curtis International … Former Paul’s TV & Appliance VP Daniel Kenny named U.S. brand marketing director for BSH’s Bosch appliances … RadioShack senior VP/chief marketing officer Jennifer Warren leaves after less than two years for a new position … Rick Albuck joins sales and marketing agency 2020 Companies as VP of business development. Albuck is charged with helping the company achieve its long-term goals in the consumer electronics channel, according to president Steve Peters. Albuck spent 20 years in sales at NAPCO Media ... Jeff Pung has joined Harman, Lifestyle Americas Organization as associate director, national accounts. A 20-year veteran of audio and CE industries, he joins Harman from Klipsch where he served in numerous roles, most recently as regional VP.


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SAMANTHA ENSLIN-PAYNE: Massmart's new man faces odds stacked against foreign CEOs
It's a bit of an indictment of top business talent in SA that Walmart is parachuting in a new CEO for its local business, Massmart. It also puts an entirely different spin on the resignation earlier this month of CEO Guy Hayward. Massmart's share price nose-dived on Thursday, but this likely had little to do with the news of the new CEO and more to do with a trading update in which the company warned that headline earnings for the six months to June might be at least 50% lower than the prior period.
The new CEO, Mitchell Slape, has worked for Walmart since 1995 and held senior positions in the US, India, Mexico and, most recently, Japan, where he heads Walmart's operations.
Slape will know what a grim business retail has become in SA. The growth that retailers are eking out is anaemic, and businesses that supply retailers aren't doing well either. It's not clear how he will do much better: unemployment is high, and those who are earning are being squeezed from every angle, with the rising cost of fuel, medical aid, school fees and administered prices.
Perhaps there is one area where Massmart could finally deliver. When Walmart bought Massmart in 2011, among the benefits of the deal touted by the two companies was that Massmart would be able to plug into Walmart's huge global supply chain and by doing so would offer low prices to consumers in SA.
Even the competition authorities at the time seemed sceptical, with the tribunal saying 'the extent of this consumer benefit is by no means clear - Walmart itself has not been able to put a number to this claim [of lower prices], only that it is likely'.
Lower prices have not materialised. It may be due to import duties. If so, Slape can cut costs, which usually comes with staff cuts.
Massmart, with its Makro, Game and Builders brands, was meant to be the springboard for Walmart to expand into other countries in Africa. The expansion plans have perhaps not been as aggressive as its US parent would have liked. Massmart, according to its 2018 annual report, has 47 stores outside SA, up from 27 stores in 2012.
For all Slape's obvious credentials, few foreign CEOs have cracked it in SA, especially when it comes to retail. Bernie Brookes, who had experience at big-name Australian retailers, was at the helm of Edcon from September 2015 until January 2018. He took over from Jurgen Schreiber, who headed Edcon for four years. Neither managed to right that sinking ship, and it is now up to Grant Pattison (a former Massmart CEO who oversaw the Walmart deal) to keep Edcon afloat.
At Truworths, Jean-Christophe Garbino was appointed CEO-designate to succeed long-serving CEO Michael Mark. He lasted about five minutes, leaving the business before he took up the position. Then there is Ian Moir at Woolworths who, until the acquisition of Australian retailer David Jones, did lift Woolworths's performance. But as the company struggles to fix David Jones and its local fashion division, Moir's time is almost up.Steve Ross, who had a long innings as CEO of Edcon, can be credited with significantly boosting sales. He did, however, support Bain's buyout of Edcon, which is where all the trouble started. It's taken a while but Richard Brasher, Pick n Pay CEO, is now delivering.Some analysts expect Slape to focus on assessing the merits of Walmart taking full control of Massmart at the current low share price. But his tenure in SA may be Walmart's last bid to extract value from the deal that cost it R148 a Massmart share (Massmart shares are now trading at around R66). If that doesn't work, Massmart may be up for sale. Ultimately for Walmart, a small market such as SA, with limited growth prospects, would at some point just not be worth the effort.• Enslin-Payne is acting editor of Business Times


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The connected car is one of the current hallmarks of the Internet of Things. Automakers, carriers and software providers are all joining in to create the next generation of vehicles, and today, that means machine to machine (M2M) connectivity. Audi is one of the latest companies integrating M2M technology into its vehicles, and is now providing LTE connectivity in the 2015 A3 sedan via AT&T (News - Alert), making it the first automobile in the U.S. to offer 4G data.
With LTE connectivity, Audi owners can stream more than 7,0000 Internet radio stations, navigation, text-to-speech headlines, social network alerts, personalized RSS news feeds and more.
The LTE (News - Alert) connectivity offers customers two plans:
- 5GB over six months: $99
- 30GB over 30 months: $499
Users can opt in for email alerts notifying them when their data limit is close.
"Having the choice of two data plans gives the consumer the opportunity to choose a contract that works best for their lifestyle and allows them to maintain connectivity in the vehicle for an extended period of time," said Scott Keogh, president, Audi of America (News - Alert), in a statement. "The new AT&T data plans with 4G LTE connectivity will allow Audi drivers to enjoy seamless navigation, streaming and high-speed access to the Internet."
Audi also offers Audi connect, which features Google (News - Alert) Earth satellite imagery for GPS, weather reports, fuel prices, travel information, voice-activated controls and more. The Audi S3 was the automaker’s first model to integrate a 4G-capable infotainment system in 2013. All A3 sedans equipped with Audi connect will receive a free six-month LTE trial period.
In addition to the two plans, users will be able to add a car to their existing AT&T Mobile Share plan starting this summer – bridging the gap between smartphones and tablets and cars.
AT&T envisions a connected car that features telematics, advanced diagnostics, remote services, family tracker, voice recognition, automotive app store, vehicle updates, connected media, rear seat infotainment and more. In addition to providing the network backbone for automakers, it also provides the AT&T Drive Studio, a connected car center that brings together automakers and software companies to collaborate on new connected car technologies.
Edited by Blaise McNamee


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WhatsApp has launched a cryptocurrency payment feature for a small number of users in the United States, thanks to Novi integration, a digital wallet owned by Facebook (now Meta), according to a report on MacRumours.
The pilot programme lets users of the encrypted messaging app send and receive money “instantly, securely, and with no fees” using the Paxos Dollar (USPD) stablecoin, whose value is linked to the US dollar.
The way the payments work in WhatsApp is similar to sending regular attachments in a conversation. Users tap the plus (+) icon and then select Payment from the menu that appears. Users who are paid this way receive USDP, which can be withdrawn to a bank account in its equivalent value in US dollars.
There’s no cap on the number of times the Novi system can be used to send and receive money through WhatsApp.
Regardless of frequency of use, there are no fees associated with keeping a balance in a Novi account or withdrawing it to a bank account. In addition, the inclusion of Novi in the chat platform has no effect on the end-to-end encryption of personal messages.
The small pilot program is available to some users in the US from today.
The pilot is one outcome of Meta’s cryptocurrency plans, which have changed since they were officially announced in 2019. Back then, the plan was to develop a cryptocurrency called Libra that would be linked to a Facebook digital wallet called Calibra.
However, Libra has since become Diem, and Calibra has become Novi, and instead of using Diem, Novi has adopted the Paxos stablecoin in partnership with Coinbase, which is the custody partner that holds the funds for the pilot. WhatsApp already offers payment systems in India and Brazil, but these used traditional fiat currencies rather than crypto.


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Elon Musk claims that Tesla would continue to thrive even if he was abducted by aliens or returned to my home planet.’
However, he stated at Tesla’s 2022 Cyber Roundup that he intends to stay as long as he can be useful. Musk was responding to a stockholder’s question about the company’s succession plans. Elon Musk has no plans to leave Tesla but believes the company will continue to thrive without him.
“We have a very talented team here. So I think Tesla, you know, would continue to do very well even if I was kidnapped by aliens, or went back to my home planet,” the Tesla CEO said at the firm’s.
He was responding to a question from Future Fund managing partner Gary Black, a stockholder, about how Tesla’s board might handle his succession.
Musk is embroiled in a legal battle over his decision to withdraw from a $44 billion deal to buy Twitter, and Black wanted to know how he would divide his time if a judge ordered him to take over the social media giant.
Musk stated that Tesla is gaining traction and has a “very exciting” product roadmap that will last a long time.
“I intend to stay with Tesla as long as I can be useful,” Musk said, adding that he thought he could be most useful with the company’s product design and manufacturing parts. During the nearly two-hour presentation, Musk revealed that the company had produced its three millionth car.
He stated that thanks to the Tesla team’s efforts, the company had already reached a production run rate of 1.5 million vehicles this year, and was on track to reach 2 million by the end of 2022. Musk hopes to build 20 million cars per year by 2030.
“I’m very excited about the future of the company and I think it’s got a very bright future, even without me,” Musk said. “I’m not leaving, to be clear.”
The world’s richest man has previously joked that Mars is his home planet. He’s frequently expressed his desire for humanity to become a multi-planetary species.
And, he expects SpaceX, the rocket company he founded, to play a significant role in this.


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August 28, 2007
just-drinks.com editor's weekly highlights
Learn more about functional soft drinks with just-drinks’ special offer bundle.
The sorry demise of Evans & Tate last week looked like the final nail in the Australian company's coffin.
While the troubled situation down under for wine makers is well-documented, the long-running saga of E&T's hunt for help has been the most physical sign of just how tough things are in the country.
Having made the move into voluntary receivership last week, quite what the future holds for E&T is difficult to predict. The receivers themselves are quite confident they can find a buyer, with a spokesperson for McGrath Nichol telling just-drinks that the company will "internationally advertise both in Australia and off-shore, including the west coast of America".
One bright ray of sunshine for E&T came at the end of last week, when McWilliam's Wines confirmed that they will be handling distribution of E&T's branded wines in Australia. Also, with Pendulum Capital , who was part of a consortium whose rescue package for E&T failed last week, saying it is still interested in buying the firm, the future for E&T may still not be as bleak for the company as initially feared.
Quite how the future looks for some of the Australian wine grape growers, who are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars by E&T may be more of a worry, however...
We certainly hope not.
Until next time...
Olly Wehring, Managing Editor
Anti-social behaviour linked to alcohol abuse has once again grabbed the headlines in the UK. But Chris Losh believes that while the industry has made great strides with regard to social responsibility, the Government has been more focused on courting public opinion than on finding long-term solutions to serious health and social problems.
Offering a whole report for download as a briefing naturally proved popular last August, so we thought we'd offer our subscribers another opportunity to sample one of just-drinks' global market research reports. This month we are providing the 2005 edition of our Global market review of functional soft drinks - forecasts to 2010. This takes the place of a management briefing - we hope you find it interesting and informative. If you like what you read and would like to find out more about just-drinks' latest reports, feel free to drop Holly an email at email@example.com
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text: But now that Apple and Alphabet Inc's Google have a “duopoly” on cellular app shops, Fischer stated, charges ought to be a lot decrease – possibly the same as the single-digit fees payment processors charge. Schiller mentioned Apple executives believed customers would feel more confident buying apps if they felt their fee data was in trusted hands. With the App Retailer, “Apple took that to an entire other degree. And at 30%, they had been a better value,” Bajarin mentioned. In August, the better Collectively update will land and unify the game throughout nearly each platform, from iOS and Android to Xbox One and Nintendo Switch. One of the memorable photographs in your entire collection occurs when Simon slowly turns from his handhold on Serenity's hull and appears behind him, staring right into the face of incomprehensible dimension and distance. VR can represent totally different objects, objects and even entire events. The primary recreation within the sequence was launched in 2005, and the sequence in all has sold over 10 million copies as of 2015. The gaming company, Rebellion Developments, has even launched a novel based mostly on the game, entitled Sniper Elite: The Spear of Destiny. Based mostly on the DC comics Batman, the Arkham Sequence of video video games we developed in London by Rocksteady Studios, with the first released in 2009. The series success landed it a place within the Guinness guide for world records, for the “Most Critically Acclaimed Superhero Recreation Ever”, for both Arkham Asylum and Arkham Metropolis.


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The MYOB biannual Business Monitor just published revealed a downward trend for SMEs who previously saw technology as a painpoint, with the cost of online technologies viewed as a painpoint by nearly one fifth of SMEs (19%) in February 2015 – but now dropping to 16%.
The survey covered more than 1000 businesses, with many SME owners found to have had the most difficult time in their businesses between October 2010 and August 2013, while the end of 2016 showed a more positive outlook.
Upgrading hardware or other equipment has also fallen from 16% to 15% between February 2015 and today, along with upgrading IT software, systems or processes (14% to 13%).
“Traditionally, small businesses have been slower with technology uptake, so we’re pleased to see that more accessible, simple and cost-effective technology is changing the attitude around technology adoption.”
But, in contrast to the top concerns about attracting new customers, managing cashflows and late payments, other concerns are at an all-time low, including upgrading IT software, interest rates, tax obligations and fuel prices when reviewed in the context of the past seven years of data.
Reed said he believes that the results are indicative of a resilient and flexible sector.
“We aren’t talking about small, incremental changes here. The Business Monitor results show us that SMEs go through a plethora of issues year-on-year.
“In August 2013, nearly half of SMEs (46%) told us that fuel prices were causing either quite a lot to or an extreme amount of business pressure, yet today less than a quarter (23%) feel this way.
“With such great ebbs and flows to the economic world around us, it’s our small and medium business owners who have always beared the brunt of this change. It shows that the sector is extremely resilient to this, which is really uplifting to see, from the group that is accountable for employing roughly 45% of the private sector.”
But, Reed says that while business owners have demonstrated their resilience through the changing economic and political climate of the past seven years, a few issues continue to present “pain points moving into 2017”.
Pain points around attracting new customers jumped from 24% to 27% this quarter, which Reed says highlighted the pressure on owners to be growing their business.
And, this issue was more prevalent for Western Australian operators (45%), small businesses (44%) and operators who reported a revenue fall in the previous 12 months (43%).
Reed says more than a quarter of SMEs (26%) identified their struggle with cashflow, and a “staggering jump” from 19% to 26% of SMEs said that late payments from customers were putting them under undue pressure, up seven points from the last quarter. The report found that these issues are having the biggest impact on franchisors and the construction and trades businesses.
“The RBA tells us that on average, an invoice will take 45 days to be paid. For a small business owner, who is managing professional and personal bills while also trying to invest in their business, this is too long – and part of the reason why we are pushing for a prompt payment,” Reed said.


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Bioware’s much anticipated potential “WoW killer” MMO, The Old Republic, is apparently facing potential delays. Much to the fear (and potentially rightly so) of fans of the upcoming game, no official release date has yet been given, essentially giving them that much more room to move the date around. Until now, all that’s been said is that it would be released late in 2011 – this means they could move it months and months away and never have to rescind their statement. But now it looks like even a 2011 launch date might not prove true. And we won’t know for more than another month. While speaking to investors in the company, Eric Brown said this:
“In terms of timing we haven’t given a street date yet. We won’t do so for some time, possibly at our next upcoming earnings call towards the end of October.”
This means that for upward of a month, we’ll have no new information on the official release date, leaving fans to sit in silence and worry over whether they’re going to be see The Old Republic as something to while away the dreary winter months, or something to keep them inside for yet another spring and summer. But apparently this is nothing that wasn’t expected. Read on for more of what Brown said:
“We did hold out a slight possibility that it could slip to our March quarter,” he said, “and the factors that would cause a slip is, for example, us not being completely satisfied with the scalability testing, and wanting to tune it for several extra weeks.”
Whether to avoid backlash from the fans when they heard this news or because of more legitimate reasons, though, these statements were apparently never supposed to have been heard outside of the investor conference. Bioware and its employees have been quick to say that nothing is certain yet. Stephen Reid of Bioware said this:
“Investor calls and conferences are for investors. They are not meant for the general public. It’s important to also note the word ‘possibly’ was used in Eric’s statement above. Just as he didn’t promise that you would get a release date announcement in September, he isn’t promising a release date before the next earnings call. It could happen, but it’s not a promise.
Unfortunately, it’s the lack of promises and certainty that seem to create the fear and worry in the gaming community. Until the official release date is announced it’s likely that many gamers are going to be on the fence about what to buy this holiday season, amid all the other amazing titles such as Dark Souls, RAGE, Gears of War 3, Halo: Anniversary, Battlefield 3, and Modern Warfare 3.
The usual holiday rush of titles that you “have to play”, in addition to many lesser titles, means that from September until December, and lately even into January and February, the wallets of gamers everywhere are going to be getting lighter and lighter. It’s possible that waiting to announce the game means that gamers – suspecting the title won’t be released until next year – may not save money for it and spend what they usually allow themselves on the games I mentioned above, plus others. And most of those titles are coming out before the end of October; long before the supposed announcement date.
If Bioware does move it to 2012, it’s also possible that the lack of a holiday season early in the MMOs lifespan may create a lackluster momentum. When an MMO is new, people are much more likely to buy it, suspecting that there will be hundreds of thousands of others like themselves and that the game will have plenty of other players to enjoy it with. But if the game doesn’t get that rush of holiday buys, there is always the increased risk of players buying the game, playing it for a month, and getting tired of seeing nothing but barren fields with perhaps a single other player among them.
When those players start to leave, then more will leave because of a further decreased player base. One of the reasons World of Warcraft is so powerful in the MMO market is likely because anyone, at any time, can join in and know that there will be many, many others like themselves playing the game. An otherwise ingenius MMO that fails to get that critical momentum may fall short regardless of its gameplay or graphics.
But The Old Republic has reached out to everyone; even Star Wars fans that otherwise wouldn’t play video games. The game’s trailers, gameplay footage, and other information given out through various media all look astounding. Hopefully the game won’t be delayed, and hopefully it will be a resounding success and make its mark on the gaming community in a similar way to the massive footprint World of Warcraft leaves every time the new expansion comes out.


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Lyft has been struggling with one very important question: Can they make money?
On Wednesday, January 29, 2020, Lyft announced it is in the process of a corporate restructuring, which means job cuts.
Lyft employs over 5,500 people throughout the company and their various departments. The layoff will affect 90 people in the marketing and enterprise sales departments. The marketing department is being restructured. They currently market on a city to city basis. The restructuring will see the creation of marketing teams dedicated to regions instead of individual cities. The enterprise departments are reorganizing and reevaluating which markets are their top priorities going forward.
Though the company is letting 90 employees go in certain departments, they are still a growing company. Lyft plans on hiring up to 1,000 employees across several departments throughout 2020 to meet demands and grow in an efficient and profitable manner. 2020 has an increased need for the company to start making a profit, or at least, turn towards making a profit. The restructuring will help the company gear itself towards fulfilling its goals in a more efficient way.
Profits are at the heart of every company’s raison d’être. Lyft began as a highly acclaimed start up, and the profitability seemed endless. The reality has been less than promising. The company went public in March 2019 to a disappointing turn out. The company’s stock prices dropped below their offering price on day two, and they have never climbed back to the originating price. Currently, the prices sit at around 30% less than where they began. Lyft is not the only tech start up to have problems; Uber has had similar struggles. Unlike Uber, Lyft has not laid off any employees since their public opening. Uber laid off more than 1,000 employees after their IPO during several rounds of company cuts.
Currently, Lyft has yet to be profitable. The restructuring and job cuts should help the company attain their profit goals. If everything goes perfectly, they should turn a profit by the end of 2021. The goal is to see Lyft in the black by the beginning of 2023.


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Tuesday, May 1, 2007
One Pound Equals Two Dollars
It's finally happen (again). The British pound passed the $2 mark last week, the first time since 1992 and has been fluctuating around there since. Maybe that's why there's a hint of a smile on the Queen's face on British currency. What does this mean to the U.S. traveler? This means a hamburger costs $8; to have a beer with that, you'll have to cough up another $5. A one-way ticket on the London subway (okay, tube) is $8; the meter in a taxi starts running at $4.40; and then the ride from Heathrow Airport to central London is at least $110.
At this exchange rate, just the enjoyment of having a Starbucks coffee and pastry can set you back $15. Still, this probably won't stop another 3.7 million U.S. visitors to the United Kindom from spending another 2.7 billion pounds. Count the Hopeful Traveler among them. Oh yeah, 2.7 billion pounds is more than $5 billion.
Just to put Americans in their place, the joke about the lack of value of Canadian money is on us now. The Canadian dollar is almost worth as much as a U.S. dollar.


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Zen Studios’ latest title KickBeat has arrived on the PlayStation 4 and the Wii U this week in Special Edition form. How does it fare in a world of gaming that has largely moved away from the genre of rhythm games? Well, there’s kung fu.
N4G is a community of gamers posting and discussing the latest game news. It’s part of NewsBoiler, a network of social news sites covering today’s pop culture.


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Ford invests $500 million in Rivian to create an 'all-new' EV
It'll use Rivian's platform for the new electric model.
Chrome update stops websites from tracking you in Incognito Mode
But you'll have to enable the feature yourself.
YouTube will label videos to help European users avoid fake news
The aim is to limit misinformation during the EU elections.
Twitter makes it easier to report election tweets that deliberately mislead people
The platform is doubling down against fake election news.
Traeger Ironwood 650 review: WiFi is the ultimate pitmaster
Convenient connectivity is nice, but a few new grill features can be inconsistent.
'Planet Zoo’ is the modern ‘Zoo Tycoon’ we’ve been waiting for
Create a zoo that both visitors and animals will enjoy.
The Morning After: Tesla's Long Range Model S drives farther than ever
And Pixel 3a pictures leaked out.
Zipline expands medical drone deliveries to Ghana
Vaccines for polio, tetanus and diptheria will be airdropped to remote locations within 30 minutes.
Pixel 3a leak shows Google's mid-range phone in full
It's rocking a notch-free display like it's 2017.
Verizon will offer YouTube TV to 5G and broadband customers
The partnership will give Verizon subscribers 'simple and seamless' access to YouTube TV.
UK to allow Huawei tech in 'non core' parts of 5G
The decision leaked ahead of its chancellor's visit to China later this week.
Michael Kors' updated Sofie smartwatch is now available for $325
The new version has a heart-rate sensor and a whole lot more.
Tesla's Model S and Model X get new motors with more range
Buyers upgrading from older cars can get Ludicrous Mode for free.
'Sea of Thieves' update adds a swashbuckling adventure on April 30th
Shores of Gold adds a healthy dose of variety -- and skeletons.
'Anthem' update adds a dungeon crawl, but delays Cataclysm
You'll have to wait a while for a major event.
NASA's InSight lander may have recorded a marsquake
It caught trembing that appears to have come from below.
Watch the trailer for Ang Lee's 120 fps film 'Gemini Man'
Will Smith battles... young Will Smith.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey met with Donald Trump today
Per a leaked internal email, it's about "the health of the public conversation."
Snapchat’s user base is growing again
The company had 190 million active users in Q1, four million more than the quarter before.
ASUS ROG Strix 2019 Hands-On
These gaming laptops pack the latest Intel and NVIDIA hardware
It's a good time to be a gamer on the go.
Intel's 9th-gen laptop CPUs also reach up to 5GHz
They'll power the next generation of gaming laptops.
NVIDIA's GTX 1650 GPU delivers modern gaming for $149
It promises a major leap over earlier budget GPUs.


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Later this year Ebay is going to start testing a new music download service.
On its website the company announced to conduct a 180-day trial in music category, complete with pre-approved sellers of downloadable digital music files.
Only pre-approved sellers will be allowed to list in eBay's "Digital Downloads"-category to avoid copyright issues.
Ebay to open music download service
Posted on Sunday, July 18 2004 @ 9:39 CEST by Thomas De Maesschalck


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iPhone 5 ban over 4G/LTE standard-essential patents
Many readers will have followed the recent U.S. patent litigation court battle between Apple and Samsung that resulted in an Apple victory. Samsung was ordered to pay Apple over one billion dollars and Apple also moved to try to ban sales of some Samsung products. Samsung is set to appeal the verdict and in the meantime Apple begun attempts to ban sales of even more Samsung products including its flagship Samsung Galaxy S3 and Galaxy Note. However we recently told how Samsung is planning to fight back against Apple with action if Apple comes up with a 4G LTE iPhone 5 as expected and today we want to look at the possibility of an iPhone 5 ban over 4G LTE standard-essential patents.
Just a few days ago we told readers of the planned intensification of the current legal wrangles between Samsung and Apple as Samsung seems determined to stand its ground and even step up the battle. We told how Samsung currently holds 10% of 4G LTE connectivity patents and is now planning a counterstrike against Apple if the company ‘dares’ to introduce 4G LTE to the next iPhone, expected to be announced this month. It plans to be an intriguing next few weeks ahead then until the iPhone 5 is unveiled and Samsung knows whether it will move on the offensive. In the meantime an article on Foss Patents looks into areas where Samsung could possibly succeed in getting the iPhone 5 banned over 4G LTE patents and points out that it would seem like a truly uphill battle to satisfy every requirement necessary to do this.
The article points out that it will not be enough for Samsung to continue on the defensive against Apple as this merely “delays the inevitable” and that Samsung needs to come up with an offensive such as “enforceable injunctions over impactful non-standard-essential patents.” So far Samsung has been fighting its case/cases with standard-essential patents and has had no success with this, a case in point being last year when it tried to hit Apple with 3G patent assertions against the iPhone 4S. Foss Patents therefore advises against Samsung attempting the use of 4G LTE-essential patents against the iPhone 5 as antitrust regulators could take a dim view of this and instead advises that rather than injunctions Samsung could more reasonably fight for FRAND royalties over SEP’s.
However if Samsung really goes ahead with trying to get the iPhone 5 banned with 4G LTE standard-essential patents, does it stand any chance? Foss Patents details the requirements that this would entail and says Samsung “will have to find at least one jurisdiction of economic relevance in which it can surmount all of the following hurdles.” Those hurdles include patent exhaustion issues, contractual implications of its FRAND pledge and antitrust issues. On top of this the usual requirements for patent enforcement would also need to be established such as validity and infringement plus considering “potential claims that it failed to disclose its patents and patent applications on a timely basis.”
Foss Patents then goes on to look at the likelihood of Samsung winning such a victory in various jurisdictions and concludes that the only country where success might be likely would be in Korea but for other countries it would be a much bigger gamble. If you want to see the breakdown for various countries around the world and the likelihood of Samsung success then check out the original Foss Patent article at the earlier link. It looks into the possibilities in countries such as the U.S., Canada, France, the U.K., Spain and other European countries as well as other countries further afield such as China and Australia and basically the chances of Samsung achieving any success with an iPhone 5 ban seem slim to say the least.
Therefore if you’re looking forward to the Apple iPhone 5 becoming available then it sounds as though you should be able to sleep at night without worrying unnecessarily about the phone becoming the subject of a ban from Samsung. It will certainly be hugely interesting to watch the developments unfold over the next few weeks and see what happens if the iPhone 5 appears with 4G LTE connectivity. While you can’t really blame Samsung for attempting a counterstrike against Apple, it remains to be seen whether it will go ahead or decide to cut its losses so far.
We’re really interested to hear your thoughts on this. Maybe you’re an iPhone and Apple fan, relieved to hear that Samsung seems to have little chance of an iPhone 5 ban? Alternatively you may admire Samsung for continuing to take on Apple in the courts, seemingly against the odds? Send your comments to let us know where you stand on this controversial topic.


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The advocacy group Farm Action recently released an open letter calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate increasing egg prices.
Data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics show that the price of a dozen large grade A eggs has skyrocketed from US$1.788 in December of 2021 to US$4.250 one year later. Culling of poultry populations due to the outbreak of avian flu—which hit flocks particularly hard in the spring of 2022 and again in the fall—is partly to blame for the increase.
But Farm Action alleges that price gouging and collusion are the main drivers. And at the heart of the problem, the organization argues, is the fact that power lies in the hands of a few industry actors.
While the egg sector is less consolidated than the pork and beef industries, Cal-Maine Foods controls 20 percent of the egg market in the United States. The top 10 largest companies are responsible for more than half of all egg production in the country. According to advocates at Farm Action, this power has allowed companies to engage in price coordination, price gouging, and other unfair practices, pushing egg prices higher.
To read more about rising egg prices, avian flu, and corporate consolidation check out this Forbes op-ed.
Articles like the one you just read are made possible through the generosity of Food Tank members. Can we please count on you to be part of our growing movement? Become a member today by clicking here.
Photo courtesy of Damon Lam, Unsplash


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Celebplus is going to develop a NFT Marketplace exclusively for celebrities and influencers.
Celebplus announced on the 9th that it will launch the NFT Marketplace Platform with the aim of creating an ecosystem where the public can interact and communicate within the platform by creating various contents through collaboration with influencer, celebrities and various artists.
According to the company, the NFT Market Place, which will be released by Celebplus, will release various NFTs through collaboration with artists in various arts fields as well as influencer and celebrities.
They will make their Marketplace an opportunity for anyone to easily own works of art and digital content of favorite celebrities and influencers, and their marketplace will be organized to allow the public to purchase and participate in NFT auction through Celeb Coin.
A Celebplus official said “The Celebplus Project Team will launch the NFT Market Place in collaboration with domestic and foreign celebrities and artists in various fields to enter the growing NFT market around the world, and will introduce various NFT works to the public”
Celebplus is stepping up their NFT Marketplace development with the aim of launching it in December and some NFT works by artist ZiBEZI, inspired by their exclusive model Kim sarang, Lee Jae-hoon and Celphy(their mascot) will be also provided through Celebplus NFT Marketplace.


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As PCs are figuratively dead in the water as a market driver and smartphone sales slow, the market shows that the more things change, the more they st...
3-6 percent price drops in SSDs leads to SSDs inching closer to mainstream portable PCs
DRAM sales grew by 76.8 percent, NAND 47.5 percent in 2017.
Sequential as well as annual growth sees 2017 go down in history as a year with record revenue.
Semiconductor sales topped $100 billion for the first time in the second quarter, breaking an all time high.
With suppliers planning only limited capacity and demand on the rise, DRAMeXchange says price declines unlikely.
Rambus has working chips in the lab for DDR5, the next-generation DRAM bus while the industry debates the road ahead for memory in servers.
The issue of increasing memory prices is more complicated than many people think.