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a UCLA Anderson forecast says the nation and state will be saved by some apparent weak spots in the economy.
Real estate crash or not, the U.S. economy and California will escape recession in 2008, a UCLA study released today predicts.
Despite rising oil prices, sinking housing prices and a turbulent stock market, the national economy will be saved by some of its apparent weak spots, the quarterly UCLA Anderson forecast stated.
What's the good news?
* The loss of 3 million manufacturing jobs early this decade means there is little room to cut more positions.
* Most of the damage to the economy from the housing slump will be over by the end of next year.
* The weak dollar will help U.S. exports, aiding manufacturers in Southern California.
* Consumer spending will drop, but much of the effect will be felt by other countries as U.S. imports of their products decline.


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WILLIAMSBURG — The shop owners in Merchants Square say they don't want to see a bunch of new stores - particularly large chain stores - built on one of the city's last large tracts of public land. That would only hurt the very downtown that Williamsburg worked so hard to build, they say.
"We really are a local retail center, even more than a tourist center. And we think that this should continue to be the center of town," said Tom Power, former president of the Merchants Square Association and member of the group's advertising committee. Power co-owns the Cheese Shop in Merchants Square with his wife and daughter.
"You've been to San Francisco, Baltimore, even Omaha, and you can sort of stand in the middle of the street and look around, and there's a sameness to all those stores. We think we're unique. We don't want to take away from that flavor by putting in a lot of chain stores."
At issue is a proposal to build a large retail and entertainment area on the Torsion tract, a 43- acre plot off the 1400 block of Richmond Road. The plan, by the real estate investment firm Starwood Ceruzzi LLC, would include a movie theater complex and 35 restaurants and stores - possibly some big national names like Barnes & Noble Booksellers, Ann Taylor and Crate & Barrel.
The five-member Williamsburg City Council is considering a sales agreement for the land. The agreement states that the center would contain shops and restaurants not available in the Williamsburg area. One or more large outdoor areas for gathering also would be built, according to the agreement.
The council is considering selling the land to Starwood Ceruzzi for $6.6 million. The city acquired the property three years ago for $3.2 million in order to control its development after rejecting permission to build a Wal-Mart there.
Conceptual drawings and architects' drawings of the proposed building should be released next week and are now available at the Williamsburg Regional Library. The council has scheduled a special meeting at 7 p.m. Aug. 3 to hear public comment about the agreement. The council may vote on the sales agreement during an Aug. 12 meeting.
Power said officers from the Merchants Square Association and its past five presidents voted unanimously Tuesday to oppose the project. They are worried about the lack of parking, the character of the area and the additional traffic, he said.
If the city wants more stores to make more tax money, Power said it could get this by letting more local retailers move into Merchants Square. He outlined several ways to add onto square shops:
* Expand into the vacant lot next to Binn's of Williamsburg.
* Add shops in the grassy area in front of Berret's Restaurant.
* Divide the Casey's building that housed Casey's Department Store - which is going out of business - into several shops.
* Turn Colonial Williamsburg's administrative offices in the Goodwin building into shops.
Ralph Youngs, member of the Merchants Square Association Board and owner of the Baskin-Robbins there, said the group has ideas for parking as well. Colonial Williamsburg owns the vacant property behind the building that houses the Campus Shop on Prince George Street, he said. A tiered parking structure would work well there, he said.
Youngs said the city has worked hard on its center of town, investing in the library, a community center and in the Northington Block. It would be a shame, he said, to create a new shopping area that takes away from that focus. The businesses in Merchants Square give back to the community, he said.
"We're in it for the long haul," said Youngs, "whereas the corporate entities coming in from the outside are going to send their dollars to their headquarters."
Vice Mayor Channing M. Hall III said he wants to delay the Aug. 12 vote on the sales agreement in order to hear more public opinions if the council is leaning toward approving the agreement. He said he hasn't decided yet whether to approve it.
"There are very good arguments for it and very good arguments against it,'' he said.
Hall said he has met with members of the Merchants Square Association to hear their concerns.
"Our friends in Merchants Square are indeed valuable to our society and to the business community of the city,'' he said.
Councilman Gilbert L. Granger is ready to vote down the Starwood Ceruzzi proposal because he says the land should stay as it is - a wooded area - for at least the next 10 to 15 years.
"I continue to feel it is not in the best interest of Williamsburg to sell it,'' Granger said. "Holding onto the land doesn't mean it will go down in value. It will only go up.''
Councilman Wright B. "Chips" Houghland said he has not decided to vote for or against the sales agreement. Mayor Jeanne Zeidler was out of town and couldn't be reached for a comment. Councilman George S. Genakos also could not be reached.
- Deborah Straszheim can be reached at 221-7220 or by e-mail at dstraszheim@ dailypress.com Kara Vick can be reached at 229-3784 or by e-mail at firstname.lastname@example.org

domain: news


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China’s accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 came after lengthy negotiations. A key clause in China’s agreement for joining the World Trade Organization (WTO) expired on Sunday and Beijing’s hopes of being upgraded to market economic system status have been overshadowed as a variety of major Chinese export markets usually are not honoring their WTO promises to Beijing.
China faces a protracted legal battle at the WTO in opposition to its trade partners to be able to get market economic system status which would make it tougher for other international locations to launch anti-dumping circumstances in opposition to it. Beijing is anticipated to enchantment to the WTO’s dispute settlement body.
Government companies also monitor and control activities that lead to externalities, unintended social consequences of economic activities corresponding to groundwater contamination or climate change, and it is crucial that they accomplish that. There will, after all, at all times be debate as to what is the appropriate steadiness of free market and government influence.
To refuse China the ‘MES’, India has taken sides with the U.S. and European Union in stating that not like in ‘market economies’ where prices of items are market determined (primarily based on demand & supply situations), there may be still a major government influence in the Chinese market.
There is a clause in the 2001 Protocol, in accordance with which international locations must grant the MES only after China has established that it is a ‘market economic system’ underneath the national legislation of the importing WTO Member” — something that enables a country to contend that China would possibly have the ability to establish itself as a market economic system only in the case of some goods, and not all, sources mentioned.


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7 septembre 2023
In August, the OPSS published a consultation as part of its on-going UK product safety review. This review focusses on assessing whether the UK product safety framework needs to be modernised in light of emerging technologies and new models of supply.
The consultation closes on 24 October 2023.
We have published a detailed article which explains each of the OPSS' proposals which are being consulted on in turn.
If they were to become law, the OPSS' proposals would have a significant impact on online marketplaces and fulfilment centres.
The consultation places emphasis on the notion that consumers can be at greater risk when purchasing products online as opposed to in high street stores. The OPSS has also vocalised its intention to reform elements of the current system, which it argues put bricks and mortar retailers at a disadvantage compared with online sellers. It refers to feedback from contributors to its previous consultation that non-compliance with existing safety requirements can be more prevalent among online sellers.
The OPSS refers to online marketplaces having little control over the third party products sold on their platforms and not completing safety checks on the products sold. It highlights that online marketplaces often take a reactive approach to safety, ie only taking action once instructed to do so by the authorities.
It also suggests that there is a problem of online marketplaces withdrawing unsafe products only for them to be re-listed several days later.
In light of this, the OPSS is consulting on reforms to the current framework, including requiring online marketplaces to do the following:
The OPSS is also consulting on new rules to require product safety information to be provided online at the point of sale and not just on products/packaging as under the current rules (eg UKCA/CE marking on electricals). The UK Government argues that, at present, this creates inequality between high street and online sales.
The proposal is for the introduction of new rules which would require the below information to be provided to customers online:
The OPSS is also proposing changes to the enforcement of product safety rules. Firstly, the OPSS is seeking to have a more centralised role, in which it is given new powers to issue statutory guidance for local authorities to follow and the power to take over investigations from local authorities if needed.
Secondly, the OPSS wants to simplify the existing regime in which penalties for non-compliance are spread across different regulations in a way that can be inconsistent and confusing. For example, some regulations allows the authorities to take measures like compliance notices and others do not. The OPSS is suggesting a more consolidated approach in which product safety penalties are recorded in one place and, so far as possible, apply to all products within the OPSS' remit.
The OPSS also wants to introduce new powers including improvement notices and greater powers to inspect businesses operated within the home, which could have an impact on small scale third party sellers.
The EU has taken the lead on reforming product liability and safety legislation, as it has already introduced a new General Product Safety Regulation ("GPSR") which will replace the existing General Product Safety Directive.
This introduced specific obligations for online marketplaces, which are now required to cooperate with authorities and to register with the EU's Safety Gate portal. Online marketplaces must also designate a single point of contact for the authorities if they wish to sell goods in the EU.
The GPSR will take effect from 13 December 2024, demonstrating that the EU has a considerable head start over the UK in introducing its reforms.
The EU is also currently revising the existing Product Liability Directive (which dates from 1985).
In September 2022, the EU Commission published its proposal for a new Directive which includes some important provisions relating to online marketplaces. Both the current and the proposed directive provide for a strict liability regime for damages caused by defective products.
The proposal expands the list of economic operators liable for defective products to include online marketplaces if they are acting as manufacturers, importers or distributors or if several criteria are met.
These criteria include:
In such cases, the online marketplace could be held liable for defective products under the new Directive.
If your business is likely to be affected by the OPSS' UK proposals and you would like some advice or assistance with responding to the consultation by 24 October 2023, please contact our Product Liability and Safety team.
If you would like advice on the reforms in the EU, please contact our EU team.
par plusieurs auteurs


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By: Jeremy Mulvihill
on October 11, 2018
It is a bedrock principle of capitalism that as competition erodes profits on established products, enterprises will invest in innovation to earn higher profits from new products. US law governing prescription pharmaceutical markets abandons that principle and gives every new drug a long-term monopoly that prohibits competition. It also discourages competition between medicines based on comparative price or effectiveness. High prices and slow innovation cycles are the inevitable result and will remain so unless Congress makes fundamental changes in existing law.
According to the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, it takes at least 10 years to develop a new drug. It is no surprise that the typical monopoly period on an existing drug is also 10-12 years. Why rush to bring a new product to market when a monopoly makes it possible to raise the price of the old one with impunity? Continue reading


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|By Marketwired .||
|February 18, 2014 08:15 AM EST||
ORLANDO, FL -- (Marketwired) -- 02/18/14 -- Engage Mobility, Inc. (OTCQB: ENGA), an emerging leader in mobile technology, marketing and data solutions, announced its quarterly results through the filing of its 10-Q on February 14, 2014. The Company had revenues of $326,220 in its first quarter as an operating entity. Engage launched its mobile marketing platform, the Mobile Engagement System during the quarter, and commenced the sales of the system during that time.
Jim Byrd, Engage CEO, stated: "We are obviously pleased that we have emerged from a development company and are now an operating entity. We experienced some significant initial revenue, both from domestic and international development fees, but also from recurring monthly revenues resulting from sales of our platform to businesses. This is a great first step for us as we look to roll out our system nationwide, and in China, in the coming weeks and months. Our team has worked so hard to bring this amazing technology to market, and to see the initial fruits of this labor, in the form of businesses paying for our platform, is very rewarding."
Engage has announced plans for a full roll out of its Mobile Engagement System both domestically, and in the People's Republic of China through JV partners in China.
Engage Mobility, Inc. (ENGA) is a provider of mobile marketing technologies and solutions that help businesses acquire new customers and keep existing customers engaged. Augmented reality content, mobile coupons, push notifications, geo-targeting and loyalty rewards programs are all used to build brand loyalty. The Company's pricing model enables businesses of every size to realize a superior return on their mobile marketing dollar. Gartner Group forecasts $21 billion will be spent on mobile ads by 2015. The Mobile Engagement System is a proprietary technology that delivers a value-added service to the consumer and corporate customers. The system integrates a cutting-edge augmented reality app with a proprietary cloud- based video delivery system, a mobile CRM, Dynamic Data delivery system, and access to Engages substantial database of over 40 million consumers and businesses. Engage operates from offices in Orlando and Kansas City.
Forward looking statements:
Any statements contained herein that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are made subject to certain risks and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those presented. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only to the date such information, was released. The Company undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that arise after release of this information.
How will your company move to the cloud while ensuring a solid security posture? Organizations from small to large are increasingly adopting cloud solutions to deliver essential business services at a much lower cost. According to cyber security experts, the frequency and severity of cyber-attacks are on the rise, causing alarm to businesses and customers across a variety of industries. To defend against exploits like these, a company must adopt a comprehensive security defense strategy that is ...
May. 31, 2016 09:45 AM EDT Reads: 886
As organizations shift towards IT-as-a-service models, the need for managing and protecting data residing across physical, virtual, and now cloud environments grows with it. Commvault can ensure protection, access and E-Discovery of your data – whether in a private cloud, a Service Provider delivered public cloud, or a hybrid cloud environment – across the heterogeneous enterprise. In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Randy De Meno, Chief Technologist - Windows Products and Microsoft Part...
May. 31, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 867
We’ve been doing it for years, decades for some. How many websites have you created accounts on? Your bank, your credit card companies, social media sites, hotels and travel sites, online shopping sites, and that’s just the start. We do it often without even thinking about it, quickly entering our personal information, our data, in a plethora of systems. Sometimes we’re not even aware of the information we are providing. It could be very personal information (think of the security questions you ...
May. 31, 2016 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 1,030
SYS-CON Events announced today that Super Micro Computer, Inc., a global leader in Embedded and IoT solutions, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Supermicro (NASDAQ: SMCI), the leading innovator in high-performance, high-efficiency server technology, is a premier provider of advanced server Building Block Solutions® for Data Center, Cloud Computing, Enterprise IT, Hadoop/Big Data, HPC and ...
May. 31, 2016 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 881
The cloud era has reached the stage where it is no longer a question of whether a company should migrate, but when. Enterprises have embraced the outsourcing of where their various applications are stored and who manages them, saving significant investment along the way. Plus, the cloud has become a defining competitive edge. Companies that fail to successfully adapt risk failure. The media, of course, continues to extol the virtues of the cloud, including how easy it is to get there. Migrating...
May. 31, 2016 09:15 AM EDT Reads: 820
SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. With a global footprint of data centers and network points of presence, SoftLayer provides infrastructure as a service to leading-edge customers ranging from Web startups to global enterprises. SoftLayer's modular architecture, full-featured API, and sophisticated automation provide unparalleled performance and control. Its flexible unified platform seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices linked via a world...
May. 31, 2016 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,436
18th Cloud Expo, taking place June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some...
May. 31, 2016 09:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,260
SYS-CON Events announced today that BMC Software has been named "Siver Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2015 at the Javits Center in New York, New York. BMC is a global leader in innovative software solutions that help businesses transform into digital enterprises for the ultimate competitive advantage. BMC Digital Enterprise Management is a set of innovative IT solutions designed to make digital business fast, seamless, and optimized from mainframe to mo...
May. 31, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 2,418
@DevOpsSummit taking place June 7-9, 2016 at Javits Center, New York City, and Nov 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, is co-located with the 18th International @CloudExpo and will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world.
May. 31, 2016 08:45 AM EDT Reads: 3,063
SYS-CON Events announced today that Catchpoint Systems, Inc., a provider of innovative web and infrastructure monitoring solutions, has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's DevOps Summit at 18th Cloud Expo New York, which will take place June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Catchpoint is a leading Digital Performance Analytics company that provides unparalleled insight into customer-critical services to help consistently deliver an amazing customer experience. Designed...
May. 31, 2016 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,122
"What we see what happens when you have a completely networked society and the potential to now drive the value creation and the collaboration and the ecosystems that are possible when you start to be able to connect people and industries together in ways that have never been possible before," explained Esmeralda Swartz, VP of Marketing Enterprise & Cloud at Ericsson, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held November 3-5, 2015, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
May. 31, 2016 08:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,823
Companies can harness IoT and predictive analytics to sustain business continuity; predict and manage site performance during emergencies; minimize expensive reactive maintenance; and forecast equipment and maintenance budgets and expenditures. Providing cost-effective, uninterrupted service is challenging, particularly for organizations with geographically dispersed operations.
May. 31, 2016 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 2,345
Cloud computing delivers on-demand resources that provide businesses with flexibility and cost-savings. The challenge in moving workloads to the cloud has been the cost and complexity of ensuring the initial and ongoing security and regulatory (PCI, HIPAA, FFIEC) compliance across private and public clouds. Manual security compliance is slow, prone to human error, and represents over 50% of the cost of managing cloud applications. Determining how to automate cloud security compliance is critical...
May. 31, 2016 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 1,882
In today's enterprise, digital transformation represents organizational change even more so than technology change, as customer preferences and behavior drive end-to-end transformation across lines of business as well as IT. To capitalize on the ubiquitous disruption driving this transformation, companies must be able to innovate at an increasingly rapid pace. Traditional approaches for driving innovation are now woefully inadequate for keeping up with the breadth of disruption and change facin...
May. 31, 2016 07:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,696
The Internet of Things (IoT) is growing rapidly by extending current technologies, products and networks. By 2020, Cisco estimates there will be 50 billion connected devices. Gartner has forecast revenues of over $300 billion, just to IoT suppliers. Now is the time to figure out how you’ll make money – not just create innovative products. With hundreds of new products and companies jumping into the IoT fray every month, there’s no shortage of innovation. Despite this, McKinsey/VisionMobile data...
May. 31, 2016 07:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,827


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Of the many fixes and enhancements to iPhone software that Apple announced Tuesday, push notification has the potential to completely change the way people use the company’s mobile devices to communicate with one another.
A half-dozen mobile VoIP applications today make outgoing iPhone calls over WiFi possible but none of them can offer incoming calls due to development limitations imposed by the iPhone Software Development Kit. Apps can’t run in the background, nor can a network-aware application send notification to a user that they have a call coming in. The only way for an iPhone user to receive a telephone call today is through the cellular network the phone is registered to.
This could radically change the economics of cellular phone service.
Whether such a sea change is really on the horizon remains a mystery, however, because iPhone software developers say the beta release of iPhone 3.0, though containing many of the fixes Apple boasted of on Tuesday, still lacks the push notification the company has been promising for more than a year.
Scott Forstall, Apple’s Senior VP of iPhone software alluded to the nature of the problem during Tuesday’s launch event, describing the problem as one of scale. “We had to completely re-architect the server infrastructure for push notification” in response to the huge number of developers who intend to use push “in volumes we hadn’t considered.”
Because push notification, Apple contends, is itself something of a compromise between the desire for apps that can run in the background and the need for a battery that doesn’t have to be recharged every couple of hours, “how” it works will determine whether communications are going to be transformed in the next phase of iPhone development.
In theory, incoming VoIP calls will announce their presence to Apple’s revamped server infrastructure and an alarm, or a visual indicator will be “pushed” to the iPhone, letting users know they have a call coming in.
Will the latency between the event requiring push notification and the time it arrives on a user’s device be predictable? Will it be manageable? Will it perform similar to SMS, which can take anywhere from seconds to many minutes depending on a variety of factors?
It’s one thing to find out your ESPN sports score notifications five minutes after the game is over, or your SIM City game partner’s activity a few seconds after the fact, but for push notification to help foster the growth of mobile VoIP, the time between a call being placed and an iPhone user being notified needs to be measured in fractions of seconds.
VoIP app developers are going to need dependable, low-latency push notification baked-in to leverage the potential for iPhone 3.0 to truly bring low-cost and free voice calling to the mobile environment.
Until Apple puts the push framework into the OS however, no one knows how that possibility is going to play out.


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President Uhuru Kenyatta has had to come out to make difficult but potentially very unpopular decisions. The other day, he came out openly to oppose the MPs who were agitating for higher salaries.
On the issue of who between the Senate and National Assembly should have the last word on the size of the budget for county governments, he has taken sides with the National Assembly.
Last week, Finance Cabinet Secretary Henry Rotich announced that the government intended to push through with the highly unpopular Value Added Tax.
The Capital Gains Tax is also going to be politically unpopular. Then there is the new green tax on all goods imported into Kenya which will be used to fund the proposed railway levy.
I don’t agree with those who argue that the new administration is committing political suicide by taking unpopular decisions. There is a very big difference between what is popular and what makes economic sense.
Isn’t it time the country’s leadership started taking decisions which, although painful right now, will gradually shift this economy so that consumption can be paid for by production?
When you compare the size of the budget presented by Mr Rotich last week with previous ones, the impression is that the size is much bigger.
The truth is that government spending has not increased substantially over the years. It’s just that more has to be spent on wages, interest and pensions.
I support the idea of tweaking Value Added Tax. The current VAT regime is dysfunctional. That is why we have ended up with a huge backlog of refunds.
By all means, let us make sure that we cushion consumers from the impact of eliminating exemptions. But we must reduce the list of exemptions and zero-rated goods to the barest minimum.
On the new railway levy, my views are the following. As a society, we have developed a huge appetite for luxury goods as never before. We bring in luxury cars from and Europe and suits, shirts and bedding material from Turkey and India.
In most offices in Nairobi, most of the furniture we use is imported from Turkey and Dubai. Looking at Nairobi from the air today, the whole place looks like one huge and expansive construction site.
We import furniture and kitchen fittings from Dubai and Turkey and curtains from Singapore. We even import apples, oranges and canned food from South Africa.
The new tax should serve to tame some of the appetite for consuming imported luxury goods.
President Kenyatta must expect stiff opposition against Capital Gains Tax especially from property developers and those who mint billions from investing in capital and money markets.
It is an open secret that these two sectors have recently emerged as the major tax shelters for the super-rich in Kenya.
The joke within high society is that when you make big money these days and you want to hide from the taxman, you stash it away in trusts and other vehicles offering undisclosed beneficial ownership services in places like Mauritius and Dubai.
From that safe location, you can bring the money back to Kenya and speculate with it in either property, capital markets or foreign exchange markets by posing as a foreign investor.
The super-rich will be the first to grumble about Capital Gains Tax. They will advance self-serving arguments that the new tax is likely to drive foreign investors from our “thriving” capital markets, and how it is going to kill the booming property industry.
I like the fact that we are gradually moving away from reliance on direct taxes. Salaried workers, especially the low- and middle-income classes, are overtaxed.
But not so the super-rich who earn various forms of investment income, prepare their own tax returns and take advantage of the many loopholes and shelters in our tax system, the salaried worker in this country has to give up his income to the taxman whether he likes it or not.


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LONDON: Britain’s Thomas Cook is in talks with the government and potential investors about a last-minute rescue deal to fend off a corporate collapse that would send shockwaves well beyond the travel sector.
The world’s oldest travel company was fighting for its survival over the weekend after its lenders threatened to pull the plug on a rescue deal that has been months in the making.
Hurt by high levels of debt, online competition and geopolitical uncertainty, Thomas Cook needs to find another 200 million pounds ($250 million) on top of a 900 million pound package it had already agreed, to see it through the winter months when it needs to pay hotels for their summer services.
A person familiar with the situation said the company was in talks with the government and a number of potential investors about bridging the funding gap. It will hold a board meeting on Saturday and Sunday to evaluate its position.
Were Thomas Cook to fail to find the funds it requires, it could be put into administration, a form of creditor protection that often precedes bankruptcy.
Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2019


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- Code within the TikTok app indicates that TikTok is testing an ad-free monthly subscription plan.
During this testing phase, the current subscription fee for the plan in the US is $4.99 per month. However, the pricing may be subject to change once the feature is made available to a larger audience.
TikTok is widely recognized for its influence in making short-form video content popular on social media. The growing competition from TikTok has prompted other social media platforms to also include short video formats and editing features for content creators. Therefore, it is fair to say that TikTok has set a trend in this regard. However, it appears that TikTok is now following the lead of other social media apps by introducing a paid monthly subscription option for users to access ad-free content.
In the most recent version of the TikTok app, we discovered new phrases that suggest the short-form video platform will soon introduce a monthly subscription plan without ads for its users.


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Vivid will charge $19.95 a piece to burn the films onto a DVD and then be able to watch them on the TV. This marks a first in Hollywood.
Earlier this month, CinemaNow and another online movie service, Movielink, said they will begin selling major films such as "Memoirs of a Geisha" on the same day DVDs are sold at stores.
Movielink said it signed download-to-own deals with six major studios, and CinemaNow unveiled similar pacts with two big players as well as independent LionsGate Entertainment, the studio behind this year's Oscar winner "Crash" (see CDRinfo's previous news).
Both sites allow consumers to copy digital movies for backup use. Those copies will be software protected so they can not be burned onto DVD discs and replayed on DVD players.


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Vote to Know What’s in Our Food
By Mary Budinger
On November 6, California voters could shake up things big time in grocery stores. Ballot item Prop 37 would require that GMOs—genetically modified organisms—be labeled. According to polls, about 90 percent of people asked say they want labels to tell them if there are GMOs in food, in addition to the existing nutrition information about calories, fats, carbs and sodium.
The California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act would require GMO labeling on packaged food sold in grocery stores and other retail outlets; require that when foods are not packaged, such as sweet corn or fresh fish, store shelves must post a label; and prohibit the advertising and labeling of genetically engineered (GE) foods as “natural.”
The labeling requirement would kick in July of 2014. It would not apply to what is served in restaurants, at salad bars or at the neighborhood bake sale. And it would not apply to food from animals fed genetically engineered feed.
Stacy Malkan, media director of the California Right to Know initiative to label GE foods, says Prop 37 is about transparency. “There is no proof that GMOs are safe because long-term human health studies have not been done. Yet this isn’t a referendum on good or bad, but about the right to know and giving people a choice whether they want to eat it.”
The opposition group, “Stop Costly Food Labeling,” is funded primarily by the Biotechnology Industry Organization and Grocery Manufacturers Association. They argue that labeling is extreme, costly and unnecessary. Karen Batra of the Biotechnology Industry Organization said, “This isn’t even about labeling. It is about disparaging mainstream agriculture, scaring consumers into paying a premium price for organic products.”
A “yes” vote is expected to reverberate throughout the agricultural industry because companies may not want to initiate separate labeling for food sold just in California. GMOs now lurk in an estimated 70 percent of what is on grocery store shelves nationwide.
Roughly 50 other counties already require labeling of GMOS, including all the nations in the European Union, Japan, China, Brazil and Australia.
Mary Budinger is an Emmy award-winning journalist who writes about integrative medicine.
❋❋ If you liked this story you might also enjoy . . . ❋❋Food, GMO, grocery, label, organic


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In a bid to enhance portfolio of flow-based detection, Luminex Corporation (LMNX - Free Report) recently announced the acquisition of MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio. The deal, announced earlier in October 2018, has a net worth of $75 million in combined stock, asset and inventory purchases.
However, share prices of Luminex plummeted 21.3% to close at $22.69 since the announcement of the deal. In fact, shares of Luminex declined 21% in three months’ time compared with the industry’s fall of 14.4%. Luminex has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
What is Flow Cytometry?
Flow cytometry is an exclusive laser-based technology in life sciences that is used to detect and measure physical and chemical characteristics of a population of cells or particles. Per Markets And Markets, the global flow cytometry market is expected to reach $4.79 billion by 2022, at a CAGR of 7.8%. MedTech behemoth Bio-Rad Laboratories (BIO - Free Report) offers the high-sensitivity S3e Cell Sorter to support flow cytometric experiments.
Strong prospects in the broader market are expected to enhance Luminex’s customer base and boost the top line in the long haul.
How Will The Deal Benefit Luminex?
The buyout is expected to contribute $40-$50 million to revenues in 2019. Further, this will expand Luminex’s direct interactions with researchers conducting cellular analysis.
Luminex will also leverage on MilliporeSigma's flow cytometry portfolio’s exclusive solutions like Amnis and the Guava. For investors’ notice, Amnis is the market-leading solution for imaging flow cytometry products for cell-based analysis. The Guava portfolio of products includes economical and high-performance systems based on microcapillary technologies.
The Amnis unit is a significant contributor to MilliporeSigma's top line, growing in double digit numbers year over year. Reports suggest that MilliporeSigma is also planning to launch a new product and revamp the Guava product line. All these developments are likely to boost Luminex’s product portfolio.
Other Major Acquisitions at a Glance
Recently, Luminex acquired Nanosphere Inc that is likely to enable Luminex to utilize Nanosphere’s high-end protein testing technology and expand customer base. A diverse product portfolio will help Luminex combat industry challenges and enable penetration in the molecular microbiology and diagnostic markets. Furthermore, the company also entered into collaboration with Sutter Health, a non-profit health system in California.
Previously, the company announced the signing of a new supply and distribution agreement with Bio-Techne Corp through 2020. The partnership deal involves immunoassay development and commercialization of Bio-Techne biological content using the Luminex testing platform. Further, under the agreement, Bio-Techne will distribute Luminex multiplexing instrumentation, including the Luminex 200, FLEXMAP 3D and MAGPIX platforms in major global markets.
Stocks to Consider
Some better-ranked stocks in the broader medical space are Veeva Systems Inc (VEEV - Free Report) and OPKO Health, Inc (OPK - Free Report) .
Veeva Systems’ long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 19.5%. The stock currently sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
OPKO Health’s long-term earnings growth rate is projected at 12%. The stock presently sports a Zacks Rank of 1.
More Stock News: This Is Bigger than the iPhone!
It could become the mother of all technological revolutions. Apple sold a mere 1 billion iPhones in 10 years but a new breakthrough is expected to generate more than 27 billion devices in just 3 years, creating a $1.7 trillion market.
Zacks has just released a Special Report that spotlights this fast-emerging phenomenon and 6 tickers for taking advantage of it. If you don't buy now, you may kick yourself in 2020.
Click here for the 6 trades >>


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Gamescom 2018 officially gets underway today with trade visitors and the media being allowed access to the event, and then it will opening to everyone from tomorrow.
Events today include the Gamescom awards and first glimpses at some of the exclusive previews that are available at the event.
The 5-day video game event will be celebrating its 10th anniversary and it is expected to be bigger than ever with exhibitors expected from more than 50 countries.
If you’re not able to make it there this year, here is how you can still watch it live and not miss a thing.
When is Gamescom 2018?
This year Gamescom will be running from Tuesday 21 August until Saturday 25 August and it will be held at the Koelnmesse convention centre in Cologne, Germany.
Tuesday will mainly be just for trade visitors and the media, but it will then be open to all members of the public between Wednesday and Saturday.
The main entertainment area will be open from 10am until 8pm on Tuesday and Wednesday, then 9am until 8pm on Thursday and Friday.
How to watch Gamescom 2018 live
Gamescom is streaming constant highlights of the event through its official Twitch channel which you can watch below.
Many game publishers and companies such as Sony and Microsoft are also expected to stream some of their own live content throughout the event.


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Private equity backed New Look takes £64m one-off charge for French clothing brand Mim and is looking at possible sale of chain
Private equity backed New Look has taken a £64m one-off charge for its French clothing brand Mim and is looking at a possible sale of the chain.
New Look chief executive Anders Kristiansen, who has turned the business around, said the exceptional charge dragged the firm into the red with a £55m loss for the 52 weeks to March 29, down from a £3.1m profit.
Taking a hit: New Look chief executive Anders Kristiansen said the exceptional charge dragged the firm into the red with a £55m loss
Sales rose 3 per cent to £1.5bn as the Dane said he had stocked more upmarket ranges and was considering a standalone mens shop.
During the period Kristiansen opened 10 stores in China and he is embarking on an international push launching a German website in the summer.
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State Attorney General Letitia James sued e-cigarette giant Juul Tuesday for allegedly engaging in deceptive marketing and sales tactics that targeted young people and contributed significantly to the rising national vaping crisis.
Juul “took a page from Big Tobacco’s playbook” by engaging in deceptive business practices through marketing and advertising tactics and illegally selling products over the internet to minors, according to the suit, filed in Manhattan Supreme Court.
The suit also charges Juul’s ad campaign misrepresented its products by hiring young, attractive models to portray “juuling” as a safer alternative to smoking regular cigarettes.
“There can be no doubt that Juul’s aggressive advertising has significantly contributed to the public health crisis that has left youth in New York and across the country addicted to its products,” James said in a statement.
“By glamorizing vaping, while at the same time downplaying the nicotine found in vaping products, Juul is putting countless New Yorkers at risk. I am prepared to use every legal tool in our arsenal to protect the health and safety of our youth.”
Juul knowingly violated a recent change in state law that now prohibits nicotine product sales to individuals under the age of 21 — before the law applied to consumers under 18, the suit claims.
Juul did not immediately return a request for comment.
New York State Department of Health officials recently admitted they still cannot pinpoint the cause behind the epidemic of lung-related illnesses connected to vaping.
DOH experts are examining 182 reported cases statewide that are related to severe pulmonary illnesses.
A National Youth Tobacco Survey found 4.1 million high schoolers and 1.2 million middle school kids use e-cigarettes.


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Coralville Marriott hosts thousands at 2015 BrrrFest
It was Saturday afternoon, but the Coralville Marriott Hotel & Conference Center was packed like a bar on Friday night for the 2015 BrrrFest.
With about 50 brewers serving a about a combined 300 different beers, there was many a drink to attract 2,500 beer lovers from all over Iowa to the winter beer festival.
"This event is not about a person coming for a specific beer, it's about people trying beer they've never had before," Jake Simmons, founder of the nearby BackPocket Brewing.
Simmons was one of the area brewers that originally "got the ball rolling" in the creation of BrrrFest.
"There weren't any winter beer festivals. There were a lot of summer ones, and absolutely nothing to do in the winter, so it seemed like a perfect fit," Simmons said. "And there's a serious demand for it."
According Paula Bakey, committee member for the festival, they have to cap the amount of tickets sold to 2,200 to accommodate the exhibit hall and the roughly 300 brewery employees inside.
To get into the packed exhibit hall, one had to get past Kelly Hayworth, who was checking admission wristbands while wearing a necklace made up of pretzels. The necklaces, sported by hundreds at the fest, were a to-go carbohydrate load so the small but numerous glasses of beer didn't rock an empty stomach.
"I've already eaten most of mine," Hayworth said as attendees walked by as they showed off their bright green wristbands.
Inside were long lines made up of mostly happily guzzling beer lovers. Most showed off their admiration for the fermented beverage by taking a list of the brewers at the fest, crossing off the ones they sampled and marking which ones they liked the best. Amanda Bird of Delta did just that, but also sported a hat made up of hundreds of beer bottle caps.
"It took me about two hours," Bird said.
Bird made the hour drive from Delta to Coralville not just to show off her hat, but also to satiate her love of beer. Her drink of choice was Blue Cat Brewpub's Cranberry Ale.
Some couldn't find a favorite easily, but were there more to appreciate the craft of the brewers.
"Up until recently, many brewers had been held back by the state government," John Klimek of Cedar Rapids said as he sampled a beer called Mellow Drama Collaboration.
Klimek was referring to the Iowa Beer Quality Bill, passed in 2010. Before then, Iowa breweries were only allowed to produce beer with about six percent alcohol by volume.
"They didn't want people drinking till they couldn't spell the color blue," Klimek said.
Almost five years since the bill was passed, Klimek thinks brewers are brewing up to their full potential and that the BrrrFest is the only way many will experience the unhindered craft of so many brewers.
"They're brewing the way they want to brew now," Klimek said. "Now we all get to see what they've been brewing in their basements for 10 years."
Reach Zach Berg at 319-887-5412, firstname.lastname@example.org, or follow him on Twitter at @ZacharyBerg.


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Google is working to fix the Wi-Fi issues that are currently plaguing some Pixel 6 devices. Following the release of the February software update, some Pixel 6 users have been unable to turn on Wi-Fi on their device or had the wireless connection automatically shut off once the screen is locked.
As reported by 9to5Google, the company has acknowledged today the Wi-Fi problems on Reddit and confirmed that a fix will be released next month. “After some investigation, we identified the root cause and determined that it impacts a very small number of devices. Of course, we realize this is a poor experience and immediately developed a software fix that will be available in the next Google Pixel Update, rolling out in March,” the company explained.
If you really can’t deal with these Wi-Fi issues on your Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro, Google recommends contacting the support team to explore other options before the March update is released. In the meantime, 9to5Google is reporting that installing the Android 12L Beta 3 also fixes these Wi-Fi issues.
The latest Pixel phones have been generally well-received, though it’s not the first time that Google’s software updates have shipped with some quality problems. There’s really a lot to like about the Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro, so let’s hope the upcoming March software update will finally get things right.


text: A few days ago we received news that shocked the public opinion and the private sector of the meat industry. Thirty Brazilian meat companies are being investigated for fraud, allegedly, in insecurity adulterated meat intended both local and export consumption. Three plants were closed down. And out of the 4,000 in the country, there are 21 under suspicion. The European Union and the United States have requested explanations as major importers of Brazilian beef they are. A police operation has uncovered a network that introduced expired or spoiled meat into the market. Chemicals were used to makeup the meat so that they had better look, other unsuitable additives were also used and even falsified expiry dates. Explains Mauricio Moscardi, Federal Police in this investigation, "sometimes they used carcinogenic products to hide the ugly aspect or stink of the rotten products, or even to disguise its deterioration." The police have arrested the managers of the two largest companies in the sector, which are also among the largest worldwide exporters. Bear in mind that Brazil is a major world exporter in the meat sector, the most important in beef and chicken and fourth in pork. Consequently, the President of Brazil Michel Temer, met urgently with around 20 ambassadors of 150 countries of meat importers. This concern would be unlikely to happened in Spain, due to controls on the traceability of its products; a tool for exploring the elements involved in producing a product (raw materials, additives, packaging, etc. ) and all the phases through which it passes (collectors, producers, processors, distributors, etc.).


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updated 02:35 pm EDT, Mon April 14, 2014
Irish regulatory approval could be granted to Facebook within weeks
Facebook is working to provide financial services, such as allowing users to send money to each other, according to a report. The social network is said to be applying to regulators in Ireland to begin offering money storage and transmissions, something which could receive approval within weeks, and would directly place Facebook in competition with PayPal, Google Wallet, and other similar services.
The electronic money or "e-money" approval request would allow Facebook to provide such services across Europe, reports the Financial Times. The license from the Central Bank of Ireland would let Facebook issue e-money to users, and through a process called "passporting," the value would be held throughout the continent. This would in effect let users pay for goods or services, or directly send payments to each other.
Facebook CEO and founder Mark Zuckerberg
It is claimed that Facebook has already spoken to at least three international money transfer providers based in London for a partnership deal, with the list including Moni Technologies, TransferWise, and Azimo. In at least one case, Facebook has made considerable offers, with the Financial Times claiming Azimo was offered $10 million to recruit one of its co-founders.
It is believed by report sources that the plans could allow Facebook to provide mobile payments, with a view to becoming dominant in the field in emerging markets. One source familiar with the plans claimed "Remittances are a gateway drug to financial inclusion," and by vying to be the first major mobile payments service a customer uses, it is likely that the customer will continue to use it.
While not directly a money transfer service, Facebook has worked on its own financial systems in the past. Facebook Credits, introduced in 2009, allowed users to buy credit allocations and use the currency to pay for items within games on the service. It was phased out in 2012 in favor of payments in individual currencies for in-app purchases. Facebook currently receives a 30-percent cut of transactions made on the social network itself, and is believed to make up approximately ten percent of the company's revenues.


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In the United States, January 28 is National Data Privacy Day, making it an ideal time to review 2021’s state of privacy and look ahead to what we can expect throughout the remainder of 2022.
Where Data Privacy in the United States Stands Today
The United States currently does not have a national data privacy law. With legislators facing other major priorities, this is unlikely to change in 2022. As a result, data privacy in the US will likely continue to be governed by a patchwork of laws. At the federal level, these include industry-specific regulations such as the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS) and the Health Insurance Portability and Accessibility Act (HIPAA). More general data privacy laws have also been passed at the state level as well.
At this state level, 2021 saw a few new privacy laws. California updated the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) with the California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA). Other states joined it in passing broad privacy protections, including Colorado with the Colorado Privacy Act (CPA) and Virginia with the Virginia Consumer Data Privacy Act (VCDPA).
Outside of the US, legislative and regulatory action has and will continue to have significant impacts on U.S. multinational businesses. GDPR regulators continue to take action, and the 2020 Schrems II ruling led to the creation of new Standard Contractual Clauses governing EU-US data transfers. In August 2021, Brazil’s Lei Geral de Proteção de Dados (LGPD) went into effect as part of its phased rollout. Also, China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) regulation went into effect in November 2021, providing additional privacy protections for Chinese citizens. In September 2021, lawmakers enacted Bill 64, which aims to modernize crucial aspects of the various laws governing individuals’ privacy in Quebec, amending provisions involving consent, data protection officers, notice, individuals’ rights, and more.
What To Expect Throughout 2022
We’re nearly a month into 2022, and there have already been signs of significant activity on the data privacy front.
California, Colorado, and Virginia passed data privacy laws in 2021 that go into effect in 2023. In 2022, these states are expected to pass regulations implementing the requirements outlined by their new privacy laws.
New State-Level Regulations
Many state-level privacy laws failed to pass in 2021. A common sticking point is the private right of action, which is being pushed by privacy advocates against stiff opposition.
However, some of these bills carried over to 2022, and state legislatures have reintroduced old bills or filed new ones for consideration during 2022 legislative sessions. To date, sixteen states are currently considering state-level privacy laws, and it is likely that at least some of these efforts will succeed. In some cases, state legislators are considering multiple competing bills, adding to the complexity and uncertainty of US privacy regulation.
The Executive Branch Takes Action
While the legislative branch of the U.S. government is unlikely to act on data privacy in 2022, the same cannot be said of the executive branch. President Biden has picked strong privacy advocates for leadership of the FTC and CFPB, and other federal agencies have demonstrated a focus on data security and privacy. The FTC has enforcement authority over many data privacy laws, and it and the CFPB can use their authority to act against unfair and deceptive business practices to pursue privacy goals.
Technological Evolution Influences the Privacy Landscape
The tech sector is the primary reason why data privacy laws are needed but can also be one of its biggest proponents. As technology evolves, it creates new data privacy challenges but also offers potential solutions.
In 2022, technologies like artificial intelligence and the metaverse will continue to grow and evolve, creating new data privacy questions and challenges. However, other technological advances are also working to improve data privacy. For example, the emergence of Web3 and blockchain technology are offering decentralized alternatives to the traditional systems whose centralization enables the widespread collection of personal data.
How MorganFranklin Can Help
The data privacy landscape is constantly evolving. New laws are being proposed and passed in various jurisdictions, and, in some cases, action is being taken to expand and update laws that were deemed inadequate, such as the replacement of CCPA by CPRA. As a result, consumer rights and permissions expand, and businesses must evolve to maintain compliance with applicable regulations.
The complexity of the data privacy regulatory landscape can make it difficult to ensure that an organization’s business practices comply with relevant regulations. MorganFranklin’s experts have a deep understanding of the regulatory landscape and can help businesses to develop sustainable and scalable strategies to properly protect and secure customer data while aligning with business needs.


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Watch HP's Elite X3 Windows Phone simulate a desktop
It's still not ideal, but it's a glimpse into the future.
HP's Elite X3 gets closer to the dream of a Windows Phone as a PC
It builds on Windows 10's Continuum feature, but it still has plenty of problems.
HP will cut up to 4,000 jobs over the next 3 years
Lowered profit expectations might have prompted the cost-cutting.
HP's new laptops and all-in-one are slimmer than ever
The notebooks will go from zero to ninety percent charged in ninety minutes.
HP says it should've better explained blocking third-party ink
Despite another update to remove the feature, it will still issue security changes as it sees fit.
Google and other tech titans pledge to help refugees
The companies plan to help them develop their skills.
HP buying Samsung's printer business for $1.05 billion
Samsung's printer division employs 6,000 people globally.
AMD ships its extra-efficient 7th-generation processors in PCs
Desktops running A-series chips promise more performance for less power.
HP's Elite Slice is a modular PC that actually looks good
Yes, Lenovo did it first. But this looks better, and the stackable add-ons connect via a USB C-like port.


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If it can be said that sneakers have a “culture,” and the fastest growing segment of the apparel market is a new fusion of casual styles called “athleisure,” it should come as little surprise that the Design Exchange museum’s new satellite show for the Pan Am Games turns out to be a fashion exhibition.
Indeed, Smarter.Faster.Tougher., as the show (which opened just last week and runs until October at the Distillery) is called, intends to give us a look behind the seams at how much of a part design plays in athletic performance. And then, in turn, how new, high-tech developments in athletic wear come to influence fashion trends.
“All the research and development that has gone into creating high-tech, performance wear for athletes in competition eventually comes to affect all of us and what we wear on a daily basis, even if we are not involved in sport,” says the show’s curator, OCAD’s professor of advanced fashion and textiles, Marie O’Mahony, who describes the relationship between fashion and sport as “cyclical.”
Adidas, for instance, was first founded by Adi Dassler, who registered a patent in 1949 for a running shoe with the now-iconic three stripes. It’s a shoe that has now been stylishly reimagined for the street perhaps as many times and in as many ways as the Absolut bottle by fashion designers and celebrities from Yohji Yamamoto to Raf Simons, Rick Owens, Jeremy Scott, and most recently, Pharell Williams and Mary Katrantzou.
Alongside Karantzou’s new offerings are items from Adidas’ new mi Coach line of wearable fitness devices that can track the intensity of a workout like the fashion equivalent of a personal trainer.
The mi Coach sports bra, for instance, conceals sensors to monitor the body’s performance under its fast-drying wicking fabric technology.
Climate-controlling Supernova leggings and the Adizero ghost jacket keep the wearer cool, while he or she consults Adidas’ FitSmart watch. Even the soccer ball here is smart, with embedded sensors that give instant feedback on a kick’s power, spin, strike and trajectory.
Whether this much Intel will become fashion’s next big thing is hard to imagine, even in this Information Age.
And yet, as an inventive line of bathing suits reveals, innovation can be just as pretty as it is clever. Blue Glue’s Lingot bikini, for instance, features a delicate ruffle of seaworthy gold foil that is handcrafted through a 3D printing process.
The Sea Zen bikini by Jay Alders is made from a new weave crafted out of discarded fishing nets called Econyl, which is both soft to the touch and offers UV protection of 50+, while being environmentally sustainable.
Gesturing to a crew of mannequins in seamless, ultralight wetsuits, including a lovely shark-preventive one from Elude designed to dazzle the predators with a disruptive, Hockney-like watery camouflage, O’Mahony notes how much of the innovation in athletic wear has come from the refinement of new fabrics and materials.
“Twenty years ago, we didn’t have anything like the kind of lightweight and flexible fabrications designers are able to work with today.”
Ultimately, the smartest of the inclusions in the exhibition are the ones that consider this play back and forth between fashion and sport: the fabulous, futurist gowns by Swedish designer Ann-Sofie Back, for instance, which utilize such elements as tagging, chevrons and knit trims, and effectively reimagine them as high fashion.
Or the lovely camouflage parkas from U.K.-based Maharishi, which reconsider a military motif as a pleasingly pastoral print.
As Hollywood understands, it is really the romance of sport that moves us. Says O’Mahony, “the whole thing that launched sport into fashion was Esther Williams in a bathing suit.”
Karen von Hahn is a Toronto-based writer, trend observer and style commentator. Contact her at email@example.com .


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FARMINGTON — On Friday March 12, Tuesday March 16, and Friday March 26, Healthy Community Coalition of Greater Franklin County will distribute food boxes containing fresh produce, meat, dairy products, and a gallon of milk to families throughout Franklin County through the Farmers to Families Food Box program.
Farmers to Families is a government sponsored program in which the USDA awards vendors to procure, pack, and deliver combination food boxes to non-profits in states across the country. The opportunity benefits farmers, growers and consumers who have all been impacted financially by COVID-19.
Distribution will take place starting at 8:30 a.m. while supplies last in the HCC parking lot located at 105 Mt. Blue Circle, which is approximately ¼ mile west of Franklin Memorial Hospital. Masks are required.
All are welcome to receive a free box. Businesses who would like to receive boxes for their employees who may be working during the distribution days can make arrangements in advance.
For more information please contact Janis Walker at 779-2750 or firstname.lastname@example.org.


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This time of year, a lot of companies are issuing their “top predictions for 2012,” and most of the trends they forecast are hopelessly obvious: Smartphone sales will skyrocket! or Apple (s aapl) will launch a new iPhone! But Sandvine’s top 5 projections for the new year are always worth a glance; its status as one of the telecom industry’s biggest packet sniffers gives it unique insight into how consumers use their mobile and wireline broadband connections.
This year, Sandvine had a lot of interesting things to say about how tablets will intersect with the wacky world of mobile broadband as well as the continued deterioration of carrier services and the advent of live streamed video. Without further
adieu ado, let’s drill into what Sandvine thinks is in store for us in 2012:
Mobile data pooling plans will become popular
Our own Kevin Tofel has been predicting this trend for some time, and Verizon Wireless (s Vz)(s vod) has confirmed it will launch its first family data plan next year, so this hardly a breathtaking suggestion. But what makes Sandvine’s prediction more interesting is that it posits pooled plans will be the critical first step to luring tablet and other emerging device users onto mobile broadband. That brings us to Sandvine’s next prediction:
95 percent of tablet traffic will be on fixed access networks
That’s a shockingly high number, since tablets are first and foremost mobile computing devices, but as the emergence of new WiFi-only tablets such as the Kindle Fire(s AMZN) show, consumers are much less interested than carriers had hoped in the “mobile” half of mobile broadband. Part of the reason is the higher cost of 3G and 4G connected tablets, as well as the higher fees and data caps associated with a mobile connection. But Sandvine said a primary factor is the lack of pooled data options: Consumers simply don’t want to buy separate plans from their tablets and smartphones.
You would think Sandvine’s prediction on the adoption of pooled plans would reverse this trend, but Sandvine thinks most tablet users will continue to look at Wi-Fi rather than expensive mobile broadband services. Consumers may take advantage of these shared data buckets to buy more 3G and 4G tablet and connect them to their operators’ networks, but that doesn’t mean they will use those connections extensively. Consumers may choose to self-police which networks they use to due to the high per-megabyte cost of mobile broadband. A tablet loaded down with video applications can eat through a 2 GB or 5 GB plan in a matter of days, if not hours.
This is good news and bad news for carriers. Pooled plans will encourage more consumers to hook their tablets into their HSPA and LTE networks, but they won’t make money off consumers closely monitoring their data meters. Carriers will get incremental data revenue from tablets, but they won’t suddenly start seeing customers paying $100 a month for data.
The potential for bill shock will increase
Then again, there will be those customers who accidentally spend $100, or even $1,000, in any given month precisely because they aren’t monitoring their data use closely. Tablets can suck down an enormous amount of bandwidth, so as more of those devices make it onto the wireless network, the greater chance more customers are going to complain to their operators about exorbitant bills.
Messaging apps will take a bigger bite of operator revenues
When AT&T(s T) removed all remaining tiers in its messaging plans, it practically started begging its customers to look for SMS alternatives. Faced with either committing $20 a month for an unlimited messaging plan or paying the astronomically high rate of 20 cents a message, many consumers have turned to smartphone services like WhatsApp, GroupMe and Beluga, as well as the proprietary platform texting systems iMessage and BlackBerry Messenger(s RIMM). They all use the phone’s data connection rather than the SMS signaling channel, and since a text message uses only the minutest amount of bandwidth, consumers can send thousands of them without making the smallest dent on even the most restrictive data plan.
Operators make bank off of SMS and so any threat to their messaging services is bound to have impact on revenues and profits. That tide has already shifted, according to Sandvine. Its latest study of IP messaging trends in Asia-Pacific markets shows a full 8 percent of consumers in that region are using WhatsApp to bypass operator SMS fees.
Live video will explode
Saying video will be a critical application in 2012 is obvious, but Sandvine believes next year will be the breakout year for live video, seeing it penetrate beyond the broadcast airwaves and cable boxes to Internet-connected TVs, game consoles, smartphones and tablets. Sandvine pointed toward Bell Canada and Rogers, (s rci) which jointly bought controlling interest in the NBA’s Toronto Raptors and NHL’s Toronto Maple Leafs. The barriers between live sports content and live IP streaming are rapidly deteriorating.
Of course, live streaming places a whole new set of expectations on operators, who can no longer even out the bumps in a stream through extensive buffering. The problem will become particularly acute on mobile networks, which are already cantankerous beasts when it comes to streaming. Solving problems with latency, packet loss and jitter will become all the more crucial.


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The gambling industry has experienced unprecedented growth in recent years. While the sheer increase in the number of online gamers across India has been a key driver, the fact that gamers are using their PCs to stay connected has continued to support the growth of the industry. Furthermore, with changing consumer demands driving the use of innovative technologies in gaming devices, the next few years will undoubtedly be the golden age of Indian gambling. Let’s dive deeper to understand what to expect in Indian games:
Career and Business Opportunities
According to Lumikai FY21-22 report, Indian gambling market will reach $8.6 billion in FY27. According to a recent report by TeamLease Digital, the industry is expected to add 1,000 new jobs by the end of FY23. Combine this with the industry’s push into Tier 2/3 cities and you see a range of opportunities, not just for professional gamers, but holistically as developers, illustrators, designers, etc. In addition, streaming platforms like Twitch, YouTube and India’s own Loco represent huge economic potential for the community. With streaming advertising revenue estimated at $6.5 billion in 2025, the rapid growth of streamers and gaming influencers across all platforms is bound to increase.
integration of new technologies
While emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI), augmented reality (AR), and virtual reality (VR) have transformed gaming, we expect much more innovation in the years to come. 5G and edge computing enable a synchronized gaming experience without interruptions. Imagine a simple app that loads onto any device and provides instant access to all your games for a more seamless gaming experience across all devices at home.
More diverse player profiles
Multiple studies have shown that gamers today are dynamic, social, successful, and proud to call themselves gamers. Their demographics today have evolved as dynamically as video games and technology have evolved. There are no age or gender barriers to being a gamer and this trend is expected to increase.
Many platforms to showcase talent
Individuals and private organizations enable optimal sports experiences. From grassroots engagement programs in schools/colleges to opportunities in the workplace, sports and tech brands do everything they can to give them a platform. The recognition of esports at the Asian Games 2022 is further evidence of this.
To sum up, the Indian gambling industry is climbing to new heights. Combined efforts from all these areas are now showing signs that India is becoming a potential global leader in this area. As the new year begins, it will be exciting to see various innovations emerge, especially in terms of graphics, design, and other features that allow for better gameplay and portability.
The author is Director – Product Marketing, India Consumer, Dell Technologies
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More than 70 British business groups representing greater than 7m staff have made a last-ditch try to steer politicians to return to the desk subsequent week to strike a commerce deal between the EU and UK.
Organisations from throughout British business in automotive, aviation, chemical compounds, farming, prescribed drugs, tech and monetary providers sectors have united to induce either side to discover a compromise over commerce phrases.
Bosses have been alarmed by Boris Johnson’s transfer to finish talks with EU negotiators on Friday and worry that what they see as a transparent want for a deal to guard jobs and funding will probably be sacrificed for political motives.
The groups — starting from the CBI, TheCityUK and techUK to the National Farmers’ Union, British Retail Consortium and the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders — stated that securing a fast settlement “matters greatly for jobs and livelihoods”.
In a press release they stated: “With compromise and tenacity, a deal can be done. Businesses call on leaders on both sides to find a route through.”
Executives have warned that many firms are usually not ready for the disruption, purple tape and expense of getting to commerce with EU counterparts subsequent 12 months.
Smaller firms specifically are struggling to organize for a no-deal consequence as they search to outlive the financial downturn attributable to Covid-19.
A ballot of members by the Institute of Directors this week confirmed that just about 1 / 4 of firms is probably not prepared for the top of the transition interval. Nearly half stated they weren’t absolutely ready.
The group of commerce organisations — which represents about 190,000 firms — stated that an formidable deal would have an immediate influence on efforts to organize for the top of the Brexit transition interval in December.
“It will help investment by removing the threat of tariffs and quotas. And it will catalyse confidence through enhanced customs co-operation while making a precious data agreement possible, vital for services industries which make up 80 per cent of the UK economy.”
More than three-quarters of UK corporations say they want a deal shortly, based on the groups.
“With each day that passes, business resilience is chipped away.”
“It is absolutely clear that it’s in nobody’s interest — and certainly not patients — to face the future with uncertainty around how medicines will be regulated, tested and moved throughout Europe and the UK,” stated Richard Torbett, chief government of the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry.
Paul Everitt, chief government of ADS, warned that the UK’s aerospace, defence, house and safety industries would face main disruption with no deal “through delays to cross-border trade, costly administrative requirements and a new regulatory system”.
He added: “Businesses in our sectors are facing a daily struggle to survive as a result of the Covid-19 crisis, which has put 30,000 aerospace jobs at risk.”
Steve Elliott, chief government of the Chemical Industries Association, which represents companies accountable for half 1,000,000 jobs, stated the business wanted a deal.
“In regions and areas such as the north-east, the Humber Bank and the north-west of England, plus central Scotland and South Wales, the chemical sector is critical to the local economies in terms of highly skilled, productive and well-rewarded jobs.”
Terry Jones, director-general of the NFU of England & Wales, stated: “The EU, as a single trading bloc, is the most important international market for UK agri-food products, and given its size and proximity will continue to be so in the future. That is why it’s critically important that a tariff-free, quota-free deal is struck as soon as possible.”


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Gear making and heat treating pair
together like a fine cabernet and filet
mignon. Now for the first time, the two
industries are embracing this symbiotic
relationship by co-locating their industry events this fall in Indianapolis. ASM International’s 2009 Heat Treating Society Conference and Exposition and Gear Technology’s favorite trade show, Gear Expo, are teaming up September 14–17 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.


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The health of America’s children is important to restaurant operators as well as to parents. With the help of National Restaurant Association initiatives, today’s operators are bringing more delicious, nutritious kids’ items to menus.
Healthy eating is kids’ stuff
The restaurant industry is taking the lead in improving the variety and appeal of healthful menu items for kids. A variety of popular, innovative restaurant programs and partnerships are making sure that nutritious options are widely available and, of course, irresistibly fun to eat.
Healthful kids’ meals are the No. 3 restaurant food trend in 2013 – in both the fullservice and limited-service restaurant segments, according to NRA research. Whole-grain items in kids’ meals ranked as the #10 trend in the fullservice segment, with fruit/vegetable sides for children coming in at #15. Limited-service operators also report growing popularity of fruit/vegetable sides and low-fat milk.
Our Kids LiveWell program promotes innovative kids’ meals and helps parents and children select healthful options at restaurants. Participating restaurants that agree to offer menu items that meet specific nutritional guidelines, verified by a third party, qualify to use the Kids LiveWell logo and apple icons on their marketing collateral. At a glance, parents and kids can recognize healthier choice menu options. Launched in mid-2011, the program already has 30,000 restaurant locations participating.
Our Kids Recipe Challenge, created in cooperation with McCormick for Chefs, challenges restaurants and foodservice operators to submit their proudest culinary creations from their kids menus. Winners in each of four restaurant operation categories are determined with the input of elementary school children. The NRA also has introduced the “Healthful Kids Fare” pavilion at the annual NRA Show in Chicago to showcase nutritious products for kids.


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Blog: Scotland's retail space tax may cost jobs
Petah Marian | 12 January 2011
Sainsbury's may have emerged as the 'winner' at Christmas, but amid the retailer's satisfaction over its performance CEO Justin King warned Scotland that potential supermarket taxes would cost jobs.
King warned that the proposed tax, which will seek an additional GBP30m (US$47.3m) in business rates from large retailers, may prevent retailers from opening stores in the country.
King said that at the jobs summit held yesterday with Prime Minister David Cameron, concerns were raised that the tax, which he said would rase rates on the average outlet from GBP1m a year to GBP1.5m, would hamper growth and job creation.
While he did not go as far to say that the retailer would not cancel the 5-10% of Sainsbury's total new store openings which are planned for the country, he did say he would need to "deliver best value for our shareholders" and that it "was not clever taxation".
He also issued a warning to suppliers, saying that they would have to "work very hard" to justify price rises as commodity costs continue to rise.
Danone completed its US$12.5bn acquisition of WhiteWave Foods this week. The move will roughly double Danone's presence in North America, where WhiteWave is a top four dairy player. ...
Premier Foods plc revealed today (28 March) it has secured a deal with its pension scheme trustees that will see the UK food maker reduce its pension burden....
Hain Celestial, under the scrutiny of the investment community in recent months and facing some challenges in its domestic market, has announced another shuffling of its management pack....
FrieslandCampina, which today served up higher profits but lower sales for 2016, is ready to offload the last non-dairy business owned by the Dutch cooperative giant....
- Interview: Sir Kensington's on sale to Unilever
- Interview: "Disruptive" snack brand Hippeas
- Column: Why snacking is the new meal
- Analysis: Post discusses rationale for Weetabix
- Nestle Q1 update: four things to learn
- Tyson shops Sara Lee bakery, Kettle and Van's
- Unilever buys US condiments maker Sir Kensington's
- Icelandic to sell Saucy Fish Co. owner Seachill
- Tyson to buy burger-to-entree firm AdvancePierre
- Nestle to cut UK confectionery jobs


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All about how it happens and how you can keep it from happening to you.
June 2010 - Posts
The Federal Trade Commission has succeeded in getting a federal court to put a stop to an online scam that used identity theft to place more than $10 million fraudulent charges on consumer credit and debit cards.
More than a million consumers were hit with one-time charges of $10 or less, and their payments were routed through dummy corporations in the U.S. to bank accounts in Eastern Europe and Central Asia.
The defendants had used fake company names, similar to legitimate businesses, along with information taken from identity theft victims all over the country. They used the information to open more than 100 merchant accounts with companies that process charges to consumer credit and debit card accounts, according to the FTC complaint. The FTC complaint states that they believe the defendants ran credit checks on the victims to be sure they were credit-worthy.
The thieves also cloaked each fake merchant with an office address near a real merchant's location, along with a phone number, home phone number for the "owner," a Web site pretending to sell product, a toll-free number for consumer use, and a real company tax number found on the Internet.
The FTC said that with spam e-mail, the defendants recruited at least 14 "money mules" in the U.S., which are people paid to form 16 dummy corporations, open bank accounts to receive the payments, and transfer the money overseas. They used debit cards linked to these accounts to set up telephone service, virtual addresses and Web sites.
None of the affected consumers had any contact with the defendants. Most didn't even notice the charge on their bills or didn't seek restitution because it was such a small amount. Consumers who did call the numbers that appeared on their bills found the numbers to be disconnected or got an answering machine instructing them to leave a message. No calls were returned.
The fake companies included API Trade LLC, ARA Auto Parts Trading LLC, Bend Transfer Services LLC, B-Texas European LLC, CBTC LLC, CMG Global LLC, Confident Incorporation, HDPL Trade LLC, Hometown Homebuyers LLC, IAS Group LLC, IHC Trade LLC, MZ Services LLC, New World Enterprizes LLC, Parts Imports LLC, SMI Imports LLC and SVT Services LLC.
The defendants have been charged with making unauthorized charges to consumer credit cards in violation of Section 5 of the FTC Act. The courts have frozen the defendants' assets and ordered them to cease operations.
A U.S. Federal Trade Commission representative said June 21 that current privacy laws fail to protect American consumers and place too much of a burden on them.
Kathryn Ratte, senior attorney for the FTC, said existing privacy laws, which rely heavily on disclosure of data collection and use practices and on informed consumer choice, just don't work.
The agency will be releasing a report later this year that will reflect that very sentiment. The report is expected to make recommendations to Congress regarding new laws, and it may state that the FTC intends to expand its current authority around policing deceptive practices to address more Internet-related business practices.
One of the biggest issues, the FTC found, is getting companies to adopt better "data hygiene" through implementing policies such as minimization and retention limits.
One law that has worked is data breach notification, which makes sure that if there is a data breach, the organization is to notify all affected parties.
In 2009, the U.S. House of Representatives approved a data breach notification bill, but the Senate has yet to act on the bill. The measure states that anyone who "possesses data in electronic form containing personal information shall...notify each individual" affected by the breach.
Implementing sound information security policies and practices that minimize the likelihood of data exposures is more important than dealing with the aftermath of breaches. Better data security should be the first priority of any organization handling personal data.
Organizations that have experienced a breach will certainly agree with the old adage that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. The cost of responding to a breach, in terms of staff and energy, legal assistance, credit monitoring and related services for affected persons, bad press, adverse employee relations and potential legal exposure, can be profound. Rather than assuming it "won't happen to us," companies must recognize that a security breach is highly likely unless preventative measures are taken.
• Don't collect or store data elements specified in breach notification laws.
• If you must collect and store covered data elements, segregate such data from other data sets.
• Avoid using covered data fields as employee identifiers, on files and systems, parts of user IDs, on badges or in mailings.
• Don't store covered data elements any longer than needed, and destroy them in a secure manner when they are no longer needed.
• Scrutinize the entire life cycle of covered data elements to identify any security vulnerabilities requiring remediation.
• Make sure your current policies, training and confidentiality agreements address the risks and legal obligations involved in handling data elements covered by data breach laws.
A Louisiana woman used a man's stolen identity for almost two years in order to keep her housekeeping job at a Marriott hotel in Montgomery Township
Of all the odd twists in the way people use (or more properly, misuse) identity-related information, this one has to be one of the weirdest!
Julia Perez, a 37-year-old suspected illegal immigrant from Mexico, used the name, Social Security number and birth date of a Louisiana man in order to get a housekeeping job at the Courtyard Marriott Hotel in Montgomery Township.
Perez began working at the hotel in August 2008, and apparently worked in the position for nearly two years before she was arrested at the hotel on June 9th. It seems that someone would have noticed that Julia, who wore a name tag showing “Tomie,” as her name (a shortened version of the identity theft victim's first name – Thomas) was decidedly female, while her employment documents all contained the information of a male.
Perez has admitted to using the Louisiana man's name to gain employment, records said. How exactly she obtained the identity was not clear from Police and court records.
The deception began to unravel after the Internal Revenue Service informed the Louisiana man that his identity was being used by someone else – he then contacted the St. Tammany Parish Sheriff's Department, which launched an investigation and traced the identity theft to an employee that was ultimately identified as Perez.
Perez is currently being held in a Montgomery County Prison on a first-degree misdemeanor charge of identity theft. U.S. Immigration Customs & Enforcement has also placed a detainer on her, meaning federal authorities suspect she is in the United States illegally. Once she is released, whether after serving a sentence for identity theft or after an acquittal, she will be turned over to the I.N.S., who will then determine if she is here illegally. If she is, she will most likely then be deported.
Cemeteries and funeral homes have collected millions of dollars over the years from customers who have chosen to prepay for their burials. The money is to be held in trust, protected from theft and mismanagement.
In some cases, criminals have targeted the elderly, stealing millions and swindling them out of the security of knowing their final requests will be fulfilled. Often times, the victim is left to foot the bill for a new burial plot without any reimbursement from the first attempt to purchase one.
This has been happening all over the country. In Knoxville, Tenn., cemetery owners sold the same plots several times over and defrauded people who had prepaid for funeral services. In Indiana, hundreds of people contributed to a cemetery's trust fund and to their loved one's perpetual care, learning later that they were part of a $27 million securities scam. In Colorado, a funeral home owner stole more than $140,000 from mostly elderly people who had prepaid for funerals. The services were not provided, and the victims were not reimbursed. A former Ohio funeral home director was charged with 43 counts of stealing up to $200,000 from clients who paid ahead for their funerals.
Thieves have also used this type of scam to gain access to personal information such as Social Security numbers, bank and credit card numbers, names and address information.
The list goes on and on. Given that these types of scams are becoming more and more frequent, it's easy to understand that people may be hesitant to proceed with making funeral and burial plans. No one wants to lose thousands of dollars on any type of scam, but it's particularly difficult when dealing with final plans.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation has offered the following tips to help you avoid fraud and theft as you finalize your plans.
• Be an informed consumer, particularly if you are prepaying. Shop around, and call the Better Business Bureau to get a report about a funeral home or privately-owned cemetery. Make sure the business is licensed.
• Get a detailed price list. Funeral homes are required to provide these. It's a good idea to get this in writing.
• Educate yourself about caskets before you try to purchase one.
• Understand the difference between funeral home basic fees for professional services and any fees for additional services.
• Know your state's embalming laws. Embalming is not legally required for direct cremations.
• Carefully read all contracts and purchasing agreements before signing, and make certain that all of your requirements are put in writing. Make sure you fully understand all cancellation and refund terms, as well as you portability options for transferring your contract to another funeral home.
• Do not give your personal information to anyone unless you are sure they are with a legitimate company and you know that the person is trustworthy.
Last of all, make sure your loved ones are aware of your plans. Don't allow yourself to be pressured into making any decisions, signing any contracts or surrendering your personal information. These decisions are yours alone to make and you should be able to take your time in making them – and rest assured that you can trust the people you're dealing with.
Identity thieves have already begun to exploit provisions in the health care reform bill aimed at closing the Medicare “donut hole”
One provision of the health care reform bill is to start closing the Medicare “donut hole” - the coverage gap that many seniors have in their prescription drug coverage.
What exactly is the “donut hole?”
For seniors who must take expensive prescription drugs, or a combination of many drugs that add up to a large expense, Medicare rules state that they must pay the first $310 worth of drugs (the deductible), and then Medicare pays for the next $2,520 with only a small copay paid by the consumer. Once the total cost of $2,830 (the deductible plus the $2,520) is reached, they become responsible for 100% of the cost of their drugs until their total drug cost reaches $4,550. Once that total is reached, Medicare picks up the cost of the drugs they need for the rest of the year, minus the co-pay.
The $1,720 coverage gap is called the Medicare “donut hole.”
As part of the health care reform legislation passed in March of this year, $250 checks have begun going out to those who have already begun paying the total cost of their drugs due to this coverage gap. The amount of the Federal payments will increase each year – until 2020, when the gap will cease to exist.
The government keeps track through its drug usage database of how much Medicare beneficiaries have already spent on their drugs, and as such, it knows exactly the point when the senior has reached the coverage gap. Once a senior has reached the gap in coverage, a check is sent without the consumer having to do anything at all.
Unfortunately, seniors have long been the target of crooks and frauds. Here are some of the ways criminals are mis-using this program, as well as some suggestions about how to prevent the crime:
Phone calls: Someone pretending to work for the government or an aid agency calls with an offer to help the consumer “apply” for the $250 check.
Home visits: Someone comes to your door asking for information in order to "verify that you are eligible" to receive the reimbursement check. You may be asked to provide your social security number, bank account numbers or other personal data - which can result in fraudulent bank transactions or identity theft.
Internet pop up ads: Ads inviting you to fill out an application for your rebate check may “pop up” on some websites.
No doubt there are additional ways that criminals will think of to steal the money. If you are a senior or receive Medicaid drug coverage, you will automatically receive your check at the right time, and there is no information you need to provide, and nothing you need to do to get it.
If you know someone who is likely to get a check – advise them to ignore such scams.
If you or someone you know is contacted by scammers attempting to gain your personal information, report this fraud by calling 1-800-MEDICARE or by going on line to www.stopmedicarefraud.gov.
VISA has compiled a list of applications used by retailers that store sensitive data – and may leave you vulnerable to hackers and identity thieves
Buried in the networks of many major retailers are computer applications, often obsolete or unused, that store the personal and financial data of customers. VISA apparently compiles a list of applications that may store sensitive customer authentication data after a payment has been authorized. Many application versions on the “bad-apps” list are outdated versions or programs or programs that are no longer being sold.
While these programs are not deemed an immediate identity theft threat by VISA - cyberthieves would have to expend a great deal of effort sifting through a retailer's network looking for possible sources of data, with no guarantee that such programs are there (this is called the “ effort-to-benefit ratio”), they are a concern as a possible security breach source – either through the disposal process of old network and server equipment or by data-mining software.
The list is not one that Visa wants to be too easy to get – in fact, the the list is not directly shared with retailers. Yes, there is a slight risk of cyber-thieves searching for the riskier versions in retail systems. It turns out that there is not much of an immediate concern, however, because of the effort-to-benefit ratio. But if that’s a real security issue, then Visa’s publishing an approved list that says “version 5.2 and above is compliant” pretty much telegraphs to the bad buys what they need to seek. In short, it’s a problem regardless of whether the Bad Apps list is disclosed.
Not making cyber-thieves job easier is one reason why VISA is not releasing the full list of “bad-apps” to retailers and purchasers of new software. If criminals know in advance what applications to search for, then VISA will have made their task of stealing data much, much easier!
(See the full list of applications


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CPGs can take advantage of Prime Day by making marketing pushes that encourage carting — knowing that conversions will be right around the corner.
Retailers that wish to be successful online must ensure that all digital channels offer simple, convenient paths to purchase.
SmartCommerce’s CEO, Jennifer Silverberg, is included on Retail Leader’s distinguished roster of women leaders for “winning the online CPG war.”
SmartCommerce’s Click2Cart solution was featured in Shopper Marketing Magazine.
Haley Rubin, VP of Client Success at SmartCommerce, was mentioned in Shopper Marketing Institute’s ‘Comings and Goings’ for April 2018!
The following is a short list of additional solutions providers delivering unique value to the consumer goods industry.
The online model for CPG products works only if it mirrors brick-and-mortar: toss it into your existing online shopping cart and move on with life.
SmartCommerce enables a technology that lies under online ads for CPG brands and shortens the buyer’s path to purchase.
The NRF says consumers will spend an average of $967 this holiday season. With a tight budget to divvy up between all of the fun and necessary party needs, brands should consider boosting all digital holiday content with a simple one-click-to-cart solution.
Jennifer Silverberg, SmartCommerce CEO, asks, If a brand makes a you want something online, why wouldn’t they create an easy path to purchase it?
Read our selection of CPG Brand marketing news below. Make sure to follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn as well!
Although e-commerce only accounted for $74 billion worth of CPG sales out of the total $845 billion in 2017, it’s this channel that’s growing the fastest.
Digital grocery sales are reaching a tipping point, an unavoidable fact given at the inaugural Groceryshop conference held this week.
Through 2023, grocery ecommerce sales are anticipated to more than quadruple as online options become more available and consumers become more open.
Traditional grocery has been taking hits, not just from newer ecommerce options but also warehouse clubs and big box multichannel retailers.
As online shopping gains mainstream acceptance, Big Food can no longer rely on a captive in-store audience — and brands are racing to find ways to capture these spontaneous buys in the digital space.