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For several years now,
has been running diesel-powered
in a variety of off-road series around the world, including the
, and in the last couple of years, they have won their classes at the Baja 500 and
Pikes Peak Hill Climb
. The versions used so far have run either a 2.5L five-cylinder engine or the 5.0L V10.
announced at last year's
show that it was building a new Touareg to compete in the SCORE Trophy Truck Open Production – Unlimited Class. During the inaugural
TDI Cup race last weekend,
of America PR boss Steve Keyes revealed that the new
would be powered by the 6.0L V12 TDI
that is going into the
TDI V12. That's also the same engine that propels the
TDI concept. The tube frame Touareg Trophy Truck will be covered with body work developed by VW that looks vaguely like a Touareg while being a foot longer. The automaker hasn't announced were it will unveil the new off-road racer this fall, but it is scheduled to run in the Baja 1000 this November.


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Treasury okays importation of over 540,000 tons of duty-free maize
The National Treasury has okayed the duty-free importation of 540,000 tons of duty-free maize to cushion local shortage.
On May 16, Kenya said it will import maize in bulk to cushion Kenyans from the rising price of maize flour
The price of 2kg maize flour has surged by 11.1 percent to Ksh.149 from Ksh.134 in February.
According to Agriculture Cabinet Secretary Peter Munya, the government will import maize from countries outside East African Communities (EAC).
“We are going to run out of maize in the next few months and to control the rising cost of flour, we need to import the produce,” said Munya.
More to follow….

domain: news


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Join us on May 23 for a program addressing how different styles of negotiating and communicating used by American and Chinese companies and government officials can impact successful business dealings and government-to-government negotiations.
Attorneys and People
Or browse by last name starting with:
Are trademarks “intellectual property” under the Bankruptcy Code? According to a recent decision from the First Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is “no,” and Section 365(n) of the Code does not offer protection to trademark licensees when the licensor files for chapter 11.
In its recent Merit Management decision, the Supreme Court narrowed the “securities” safe harbor for fraudulent transfer and other avoidance actions. Read about that case, and the impact it may have on how transactions are structured or on litigation strategy when a clawback action is commenced.


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Samsung to present the world’s first 12MP phone at MWC 2009
Samsung was the first manufacturer to release an 8MP camera phone (the Innov8, outed one month before Sony Ericsson’s C905), and it looks like it will also be the first to announce and launch a 12MP handset.
Details about the phone are basically inexistent, but it’s said that Samsung plans to begin mass production before the end of February, with the intention of releasing it in Europe first.
(this above is the Innov8, slightly photoshopped)
It will be interesting to see if the handset has a touchscreen or a regular display, as well as if it’s a smartphone or just a “dumb phone”.
Previous reports said that Samsung also wants to produce an 8MP phone with 3x optical zoom. So we might see that at MWC 2009 too, alongside the 12MP handset.


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While the coronavirus ravages great swaths of the nation, residents of the Anza Valley are making the best of the new normal designed to keep them safe. Staying at home, avoiding social events, wearing mandatory masks in public and sanitizing every surface are required health mandates in effect to protect everyone’s health.
Anza residents are rising to the challenge. From making face masks for others, collecting and distributing food and toiletries to those in need and keeping in touch with neighbors, people are still connecting and coping well.
“I have been blessed in having Anza help me,” Darla Mungar said. “The stores are open so I don’t have to go to Temecula. I had my heart repaired years ago, so I’m trying to stay home. We’ve been working on weeds and cleaning the land. We have also been calling and looking in on friends and family. I depend on Facebook for updates on all this as I watch my grandbaby so her mom can help you all at the Circle K in town. I’m very thankful for friends and I love our town.”
Some people have applied their skills for sewing to assist total strangers with the mask requirement. Many residents are puzzled as to where to purchase a face mask and what kind to buy. Social media are connecting them with those who can help.
“I’m having a friend of mine sew masks, and I’m buying them from her so she has an income and giving the masks away to people up here,” Cindy Kelly said.
“I’ve been making masks, and the ones I made today are for the sheriff’s department,” Joanne Salazar said.
Kelly Brenz and many others are also making face masks, especially since Dr. Cameron Kaiser, public health officer of Riverside County, ordered residents to wear a face covering when leaving their homes. These can be homemade face masks, bandanas, scarves, neck gaiters or other clothing without any visible holes.
“At my age of 79 and retired, I have no issue of staying home and I do, except for shopping for food and necessities,” Don Williamson said. “I recognize the dangers of COVID-19 and do believe that everyone should wear a mask out with the public so that anyone that may unknowingly be carrying the virus may not infect others.”
Preparation has been the key for many people in the Anza Valley to cope effectively with the mandatory stay at home orders.
“I think that many of us, myself included, are used to not having many of the conveniences that we would take for granted if we lived down the hill, like restaurants and stores on every corner,” Denise Squires said. “It makes us more cognizant of the need to have essentials on hand. I have a full freezer and lots of home-canned food on hand. I feel we are in good shape. The fires a couple of summers ago really drove home the need to be prepared.”
Susan Rae said, “Luckily for us, the new quarantine regulations don’t affect us too much. We are fairly self-sufficient, and we work online from home. My husband and I try to go off the hill to shop approximately once a month, so we buy dried foods, rice, beans, pasta, canned goods, as well as frozen food and stock up our freezer. We are not keen on large social gatherings. So, all in all, the restrictions are less of an impediment and more of a reinforcement of our chosen way of life. My husband is resourceful, inventive and very capable of getting whatever he needs to do accomplished.”
Resilience is one of the qualities most observed in community conversations. Making the best of a difficult situation is also a theme popping up on social media, which is serving as a sort of virtual gathering place now more than ever.
“I am taking advantage of all the overtime my work is offering – anywhere from 50 to 60 hours a week. My daughter was at my dad’s when this outbreak started and since he is high risk not only with his age but his numerous health issues, it was the safest to keep her there and for me to keep my distance, especially since my work has had a couple people positive so far,” Jayme Millslagle of Aguanga said.
Diane Sieker can be reached by email at email@example.com.


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You’ve been told this before: the Internet saturates your life., influencing what you like, what you know and mainly what you buy. The latest marketing strategy is YouTube hauling videos, which give large companies a low-investment way of promoting their merchandise.
An article from NPR defined haul videos as “the YouTube equivalent of calling a best friend and gushing about a recent shopping spree. Trivial details are accepted and overexcitement is encouraged.”
In a haul video, people show off their recent purchases (like clothes, makeup, etc.) on screen.
Haul videos generally start with a disclaimer: “I am not trying to brag in any way. I bought this with all of my own money.”
Then the hauler say something along the lines of, “I just had to put that out there because I always get so many hateful comments.”
Next, the “beauty guru” meticulously takes each item out of the countless bags surrounding her and describes the articles of clothing: “There’s so much detailing on the sleeves and crochet is just so cute! I knew I had to buy it.”
Finally, all that’s left is a giveaway, often sponsored by a company that the hauler is partnered with.
YouTube sensations are everywhere in our society and regardless of how you feel about these videos, they are giving fashion savvy moms, shopaholic teens and hyper excited kids an outlet to flaunt their possessions in a socially acceptable manner.
Although there are both female and male haulers, the media has put more attention on females, with major news outlets like the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Business Insider, Yahoo and NPR all publishing articles about this phenomenon.
Haulers attract tens of thousands of admiring fans and many major fashion retailers are also taking notice. Companies realize a huge marketing opportunity in these YouTubers and reason that giving them a few complementary pieces which then get shown to millions of viewers is a small price to pay for a noticeable increase in sales.
However, for the most successful haulers with the most views, this pastime garners lucrative incomes from sponsored videos and contracted partnerships with brands.
One company that relies on haulers is Windsor, an online retail store that turned to YouTube when it was struggling.
Evelyn Campos, Windsor’s assistant manager for online and marketing, says, “We needed a way to reach out to our customers without having a huge marketing budget and we felt this was right up our alley with our target demographic.”
The 20 haulers the company works with attracted more than 5 million views last year.
The influence wielded by YouTube haulers is so colossal that the aforementioned NPR story even outlines a “hauler totem pole.” High up on the totem pole are Elle and Blair Fowler known as allthatglitters21 and juicystar07 on YouTube, respectively. Sisters from Tennessee, they started hauling five years ago and since then, they have garnered 2,887,808 total subscribers with their perky personalities and perfectly coiffed heads. They have worked with many companies including JustFab and have even released two books, Beneath the Glitter and Where Beauty Lies. It doesn’t stop there. They have also started their own makeup line, Skylark, and phone case line with Cellairis.
Another hauler, Caitlin Ellsworth (Glamourista16), became so successful that she took hauling up as a part time job and now has relationships with over 15 companies, including the teenage girl’s coveted bible, Seventeen Magazine.
Haulers partner with companies in multiple ways, such as reviewing products, receiving commission on sales generated by the videos, and hosting contests to give away products from their corporate sponsors. Haulers often share a link with their viewers and every purchase made using that link generates income.
Ellsworth says, “You can definitely make a lot. Some girls are making six figures. So, it can definitely be a good job.”
Haulers are commonly part of YouTube’s “partners program,” which gives members a share of the profits from advertisements that appear on their videos.
Bottom line, the amount of money a hauler makes “depends on how many views you have,” says Margaret Healy, manager of strategic partnerships for YouTube.
Many haulers also join multi-channel networks, entities that affiliate with multiple YouTube channels. These networks offer partner management, digital rights management, monetization/sales and audience development, but they also keep a portion of the advertising revenue the haulers generate.
According to Lisa Green, head of industry, fashion and luxury brands at Google, “Haul videos are big and they are growing.”
There are more than 700,000 haul videos on YouTube today, up from 150,000 in 2010. There were 34,000 haul videos uploaded just in February 2013 alone and more than 6,000 were uploaded over the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend.
A Google study also indicated that 4 out of 10 people who watch a haul video end up virtually or physically visiting whatever store mentioned.
Many girls aspire to become YouTube haulers who are praised as fashion gurus. 18-year-old Bethany Mota (macbarbie07) is another YouTube celebrity famous for her hauls. She is now a millionaire with her own fanbase, who call themselves “Motavators.”
Mota has 5,770,365 YouTube subscribers, two times more than that of Lady Gaga, Katy Perry and Beyoncé combined. She also has a whopping 2,660,304 Instagram followers, a number that is still climbing, which is more than that of Vogue, Elle, Marie Claire, Glamour and Cosmopolitan combined. Mota has also worked with large companies like JCPenney and Forever 21. You can see her on billboards in New York City, in Seventeen Magazine, at your local mall doing meet and greets, and her greatest endeavor yet, in Aéropostale campaigns promoting her own clothing line.
Aéropostale, with stock near a five-year low, introduced a Bethany Mota branded clothing and jewelry line in December of 2013 in an effort to boost sales and attract the teen girls who make up Mota’s fanbase. This commercial partnership is one of the highest profile alliances between a YouTuber and a public company, outlining the mass infiltration of marketing on YouTube’s most popular channels.
Recently, Mota went on tour around the United States in a decked out bus that formerly belonged to Keith Urban. As part of her deal with Aéropostale, she is surprising fans at the retailer’s many stores around the nation, which leads us to the meet-and-greets that many other YouTubers also hold. Fans often bring gifts and small trinkets to give to the gurus and excessive screaming is encouraged.
Why are teenagers everywhere so attracted to Mota?
As one fan puts it, “She’s super famous and super pretty.”
Fans find Mota relatable, like they do other YouTube haulers. They seem happier and more exciting than normal teenagers who take the bus to school everyday, but they also seem more approachable and real than movie stars and TV celebrities.
Hauls are feel-good videos with a very interesting dynamic. On the surface, self-proclaimed shopaholic girls are showing off their clothes, but behind all that are the endorsements, the sponsorships and the six figure salaries.
I have to admit, I often catch myself watching countless haul videos. While I don’t hesitate at all to hang up on a telemarketer, I am eager to listen to haulers essentially tell me what to buy —to tell me what’s “so in right now.”
Haul videos epitomize how YouTube has not only become a job market, but also a marketplace, marking the new age of advertising and consumerism.


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Bengaluru, Dec 12 (PTI) Software giant Microsoft Indiatoday said it has launched its first full-scale CybersecurityEngagement Centre (CSEC) in the country. Situated in Delhi, the first-of-its-kind centre in India will bring together Microsoft capabilities to foster deeper cybersecurity collaborations with public and private sector organisations and build a trusted and secure computing environment, a critical enabler for Indias digital transformation, the company said in a release. It said this is Microsofts seventh Cybersecurity Centre in the world and will function as a satellite to the companys Redmond Digital Crimes Unit (DCU). The company has also rolled out a nationwide campaign to raise awareness about cybersecurity among Indian organisations. "We believe security of critical information is imperative for our corporate customers, just as it is vital to ensure security and privacy of citizen data and transactions" Microsoft India Chairman Bhaskar Pramanik said. He said, "Our first investment towards this was setting up our local datacenters in India last year and launch of the Cybersecurity Engagement Center is the second." PTI KSU RA APR MR
Microsoft launches Cybersecurity Engagement Centre in Delhi
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.
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True holograms: Making the display of the future
Reece Webb speaks to holographic pioneer, Jon Karafin, on the future of true holographic display technology and how his company’s development will alter the way media is experienced.
It’s hard to count how many products hide behind the tantalising title of ‘hologram’ to misrepresent their true nature. According to Karafin, “The main market challenge is not whether consumers want holograms, but rather educating them on the differences between real and fake holograms as commonly represented in today’s media.
Most technologies referred to as holographic fall into a 150-year-old technique called Pepper’s Ghost which today is just a 2D image reflecting off of a flat mirror.
Jon Karafin, CEO of Light Field Lab explained: “What makes something truly holographic is the fact that your eyes will focus in mid-air on the actual object through the convergence of light. You’ll have true reflections and refractions.”
Light Field Lab has broken ground with real holographic display technologies in development with backing from industry giants. Karafin has spearheaded the initiative with what he claims has been a life-long ambition and journey towards redefining how people consume media.
Karafin said: “This technology is something I've been working towards for my entire career— bringing that true merger between the real and synthetic worlds together.”
Karafin has an extensive background in light field and visual effects technology, having previously held executive roles at Lytro, RealD and Digital Domain. During his tenure, he was responsible for ushering in a new era of cinematic capture through the launch of Lytro Cinema, as well as delivering technology and content for many of the all-time highest grossing feature films, including Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit, Michael Bay’s Transformers 3, and Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland.
"The product then will be formed by combining multiple ‘bricks’ together to scale to any sized video wall display configuration which will be able to project many feet of holographic volume" - Jon Karafin, Light Field Labs
Karafin explained: “After launching Lytro Cinema, we realised we were showing the industry you can actually capture a true light field with the image quality that's required for professional cinema. But at every meeting, executives, creatives and directors asked, ‘When do we get a holographic display?’ We realised that the industry, with all the focus on VR and AR immersive technologies, was fundamentally not delivering a display that was recreating reality. That's something that we are very passionate about bringing into the market.”
The technology is currently in its prototype phase as Karafin clarified: “What you can see running in the lab today are six-in by four-in sub-modules, or what we commonly refer to as a ‘brick’. It can already run fully interactively, with the real-time projection of holographic objects within a four-inch volume.
"The product will be formed by combining multiple ‘bricks’ together to scale to any sized video wall display configuration which will be able to project many feet of holographic volume.”
Light Field Lab has recently secured a significant $28 million USD in funding from industry heavyweights including Samsung, Comcast, Verizon and Bosch to drive the development of the technology. Karafin explained that this funding will go a long way to help bring their product to market.
Karafin continued: “It's all about the growth of the team and establishing the manufacturing and supply chain. We're creating the components that are required to get into volume based production, with the goal of having our launch within the next five years.”
The company aims to target a wide array of verticals, with an initial concentration on special venues, live events, and corporate spaces. The technology is designed to integrate seamlessly into existing and future installations.
Looking forward, Karafin is convinced that this new kind of display will revolutionise the way media is consumed.
Karafin concludes: “We believe that this could be one of the most transformational technologies that the industry has seen. Imagine having a baseball game right in your living room, or video conferencing with the other person being as real as having them there— that is transformational.”


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BMW will unveil a new vehicle later this year that will be built at its plant in South Carolina, Chairman Oliver Zipse told CNBC.
The Spartanburg plant currently produces the BMW X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 as well as performance models of most of the vehicles.
“At the end of the year, we will make an announcement to build another high-end car from this manufacturing site,” Zipse told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on “Squawk Box.” “It is not a successor model, it’s a brand-new model, high-end for the American market but also for the world market.”
BMW currently exports about 70% of the vehicles it produces at the U.S. plant, Zipse said. He declined to disclose other details of the new vehicle.


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On Monday at CES, Hyundai and Uber announced their Uber Air partnership. Hyundai will manufacture electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) air taxis that carry up to four passengers. As part of a broader push for urban air mobility from UberElevate, Hyundai joins seven other aerospace companies working with Uber. Hyundai’s “Personal Air Vehicle,” the S-A1, will fly for up to 60 miles and recharge in under 10 minutes. Unlike recently announced partner Joby, however, Hyundai has not performed any flight tests.
The S-A1 — This eVTOL will fly at speeds up to 180 mph, costing about $100 per 20 miles. The 60-mile range should suffice for most metropolitan areas, and Joby has promised craft with at least a 150-mile range (Los Angeles to San Diego or Philadelphia to Washington D.C.). Definitely more expensive than an UberX, but luxury riders would likely enjoy getting across even the biggest cities in less than 20 minutes.
“We expect UAM to vitalize urban communities and provide more quality time to people,” said Jaiwon Shin, Executive Vice President and Head of Hyundai’s Urban Air Mobility Division. “We are confident that UberElevate is the right partner to make this innovative product readily available to as many customers as possible.”
The craft will fly between 1,000 and 2,000 feet above the ground and fully recharge in five to seven minutes. Considering all they had to offer at CES was a model, Uber and Hyundai have a lot of work to do to keep these spec promises. Uber has already set a deadline for itself, hoping to get commercial flights running in 2023.


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RPT-Berkshire Hathaway, 3G Capital to buy Heinz for $28 bln -CNBC
Feb 14 (Reuters) - Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc and 3G Capital will buy H.J. Heinz Co for $72.50 a share, or $28 billion in total, CNBC reported on Thursday, citing sources.
- Man called Bitcoin's father denies ties, leads LA car chase
- Apple loses bid for U.S. ban on Samsung smartphone sales
- Putin rebuffs Obama as Ukraine crisis escalates |
- Florida mayor fights backyard gun ranges in 'Gunshine State'
- UPDATE 6-Obama warns on Crimea, orders sanctions over Russian moves in Ukraine


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BBC news says that, "Workers distracted by email and phone calls suffer a fall in IQ more than twice that found in marijuana smokers,
new research has claimed. The study for computing firm Hewlett Packard warned of a rise in "infomania", with people becoming addicted to email and text messages. Researchers found 62% of people checked work messages at home or on holiday. The firm said new technology can help productivity, but users must learn to switch computers and phones off."
Stats for Infomania
Trending: Older & Chilly
Research: 3,284 clicks in 495 w
Interest: 4 minutes
Related: 66 examples / 51 photos
Segment: Neutral, 18-35
Comparison Set: 24 similar articles, including: financial wellness apps, entertainment-friendly homes, and 17 multipurpose retail spaces.
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Financial Wellness Apps
17 Multipurpose Retail Spaces
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The concept of beating the market by investing in individual stocks is easy to understand. But actually finding the best stocks at an attractive price is easier said than done. To help get you started, we asked five Motley Fool contributors to each pick a stock they believe investors would do well to purchase right now.
Read on to see why they chose Boston Beer (SAM 1.94%), Chicago Bridge & Iron (CBI), U.S. Concrete (USCR), Facebook (META 0.93%), and Dow Chemical (DOW).
Cheers to a delicious turnaround
Steve Symington (Boston Beer)
Boston Beer doesn't seem to be in the most enviable position at first glance. Given the confluence of increasing competition and a slowdown in the craft-beer industry, the company lost market share in each of its past four quarters.
But with its shares down 45% from their early 2015 highs, including a 13% decline so far in 2016 as of this writing, I think Boston Beer has suffered more than enough for the state of its still-solidly profitable business. And more importantly, there's a sense the worst is over for the leading craft brewer.
In particular, according to Boston Beer's founder and chairman, Jim Koch, retailers are actually cutting SKUs. So, Koch says, the company is finally seeing the "end of a long phase of constantly increasing shelf space. And as a result, there is a high likelihood that we will benefit as will other leading craft brands -- the stronger brands that are going to benefit from removing some of the confusion from the category."
In short, retailers are taking a less-is-more approach to stocking the beer aisle and have realized that adding even more variety isn't benefiting overall sales for the category. As such, while that doesn't mean smaller brewers are going away, more established, familiar brands such as Boston Beer should gain ground.
Speaking of which, after a comprehensive review of the its brand messaging and packaging last quarter, Boston Beer also just began shipping a "major packaging update" for its core Samuel Adams Boson Lager variety. That update should be followed by new seasonal and Rebel IPA packaging by the end of the year, which should help bolster sales as consumers receive a fresh view of this well-known brand.
In the end, for long-term investors willing to take advantage of Boston Beer's dip, I think now is a great time to buy.
Tied to Trump
Todd Campbell (Chicago Bridge & Iron)
This U.S. infrastructure company could be about to enjoy a renaissance following the election of Donald Trump as the next U.S. president.
Chicago Bridge & Iron, or CB&I, is a major energy and water engineering company that manufactures, builds, constructs, and manages projects, including energy terminals and wastewater facilities.
The company operates globally, but the U.S. accounts for about 70% of its sales. That suggests that if Trump can persuade Congress to back his infrastructure goals, CB&I's project backlog could be about to spike.
Admittedly, lower energy projects have slowed CB&I's growth lately, but the company remains nicely profitable. Last quarter, CB&I's EPS was $1.20, and next year, industry watchers think CB&I could earn $4.54. Next year's estimate means that CB&I's shares are trading at less than 7 times forward EPS. However, if rising infrastructure spending leads analysts to move their forecasts higher, then this company could be even cheaper than that.
Overall, CB&I already makes money, and it could make even more money if Trump gets his way. Since its shares are arguably underpriced, this company has become tremendously intriguing to me.
Another way to benefit from a Trump victory
Daniel Miller (U.S. Concrete)
Naturally, I would pick this stock right before it jumps 10% during Thursday trading, but even despite the pop, U.S. Concrete still trades at a modest forward price-to-earnings ratio of 15, according to estimates from Morningstar.
U.S. Concrete sells ready-mixed concrete and aggregates (materials that go into concrete) and enjoys a low-cost position among its peers. The company sells a little over half of its ready-mixed concrete volume to the nonresidential commercial sector, which stands to benefit from increased commercial construction, including highways, streets, and other public works.
Originally, I came across U.S. Concrete months ago in my attempt to uncover stocks poised to benefit from an inevitable surge in infrastructure spending -- it's only a matter of when, not if. Fast-forward to this week, and Donald Trump's surprise victory has sent a boost of optimism through stocks just like U.S. Concrete because of his promise to fix our bridges and roads, among other things.
Looking more closely at U.S. Concrete's business, we see it holds a leading market share in some very enviable and important markets, including Texas, Northern California, and the New York metro area. Additionally, U.S. Concrete has acquired nearly 20 small companies over the past two years, yet it maintains a manageable balance sheet, which could help fuel top- and bottom-line performance as the company creates synergies and takes advantage of potential commercial and public construction under a Trump presidency.
The social network is cheaper than it looks
Evan Niu, CFA (Facebook)
With shares only about 10% off from recent all-time highs, Facebook may not appear to be on sale. But trust me: It is. Investors weren't too pleased with the social network's third-quarter earnings release, but not because the company's performance was lacking. On the contrary, Facebook continues to grow its global user base (1.79 billion) as well as execute on its mobile business (84% of advertising revenue). Net income also soared by nearly 170% to $2.4 billion.
But investors were overly concerned about Facebook's guidance for the coming year, since the company said revenue growth should decelerate slightly as it hits a limit on a comfortable ad load, combined with increased spending and investment. But almost an identical storyline played out two years ago, and I think the negative reaction is overdone and will also prove to be a buying opportunity in disguise.
Additionally, a wide range of tech stocks have been under pressure following Trump's election victory because of uncertainty about how the president-elect will treat Silicon Valley, after most Silicon Valley leaders very vocally opposed Trump's candidacy. While those uncertainties and risks remain, as should some volatility, Facebook has an incredible business and continues to execute incredibly well. Investors with long time horizons know that it's precisely times like these when you can make volatility work in your favor by picking up shares of great companies at compelling prices.
This chemical stock offers a nice mix of value, growth, and income
With uncertainty reigning after Trump's surprising victory, I'd be hunting down value stocks like Dow Chemical that are not only trading cheap but also offer good growth potential in the long run. Shares of the chemical conglomerate are going for only 8 times trailing earnings and offering a strong dividend yield of 3.4% currently.


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Uber is planning to ramp up local research and development wings in their Bengaluru and Hyderabad offices in a bid to fuel growth in India, The Hindu has reported.
“We have started to push for localisation of our products and initiatives…the tech centres we have in Bangalore and Hyderabad are scaling up rapidly. There is a tremendous amount of pressure on those teams to hire, but more importantly they are building products for markets like India from those centres,” Uber’s head for India and South Asia markets Pradeep Parameswaran told The Hindu.
Further, the official said that the company’s presence will be the biggest after US, though he did not reveal any numbers. Parameswaran pointed out that the Uber Lite app was the first innovation for India as it is designed to work in areas with low connectivity. The application was recently launched in Latin America as well.
The company has also planned the two-way anonymisation feature on its app wherein the driver and the user would be able to communicate without knowing the number of the other person. The company is also planning to expand beyond the existing 31 cities in the country.
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According to a new survey published in GlobalData’s 2018 Mobile Wallet Analytics, increasing popularity of smart devices has enabled rapid adoption of mobile wallets in the region, with mobile wallets now gradually replacing cash payments.
Sowmya Kulkarni, Payments Analyst at GlobalData, says: “The availability of low-cost smartphones, rising Internet penetration, growing awareness of mobile payments and the proliferation of mobile wallets has resulted in Asian countries shifting from cash transactions to mobile wallet payments, skipping cards to a certain extent in the traditional payments value chain.”
Notably, this trend has not been seen in Western countries despite widespread smartphone and tablet adoption. This is because card-based payments are so familiar and common that there is no real reason or urgency to adopt mobile payments.
QR code payments, which avoid the higher charges associated with card payments and remove the need to set up point of sale terminals, have come to dominate in Asia Pacific. The low cost of accepting these payments and the high customer penetration of wallets such as Alipay and Paytm have driven merchants to increasingly adopt this form of payment instead of investing in card acceptance devices. For instance, the merchant service fee on QR code payments in India is around 0.3% – much lower than the 1.8% average fee on credit cards.
“The seamless payment experience offered by mobile wallets has redefined the way consumers carry out their day-to-day activities. The convenience and comfort offered by mobile wallets will further evolve to include innovative and simplified services for consumers. Cryptocurrency-based wallets are just one example, with merchants in several Asian markets now accepting payment via this method,” concludes Sowmya.
HedgeThink.com is the fund industry’s leading news, research and analysis source for individual and institutional accredited investors and professionals


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Artificial intelligence is here, and consumers want the technology to be used in a conscientious, ethical manner
by Bethan Rees
Take our Professional Refresher on Artificial Intelligence to earn one hour CPDOllie Buckley, executive director of the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation, has warned that public trust in artificial intelligence (AI) is vital for the UK to continue to develop and implement AI systems, reports Ian Hall in an article for Global Government Forum.
Speaking at the launch of AI in financial services: Impact on the customer, a report published by law firm Pinsent Masons and Innovate Finance, Buckley explained that if people think AI is working against them instead of for them, “we will have a problem”. He also discussed some of the ethical issues facing emerging technologies with an audience of finance professionals.
He said: “What new trade-offs do we make in a world where AI makes things possible that simply weren’t possible before? If banks are able to use AI to identify vulnerable customers from their transaction data, to identify gambling addicts from their pattern of spend online, should they do that, and take steps to protect those people? Do they have a responsibility to do that, or is that a gross infringement of personal privacy? If better predictive power can lower insurance premiums for some but raise the cost for others to prohibitive levels, is that okay and in what circumstances?
He adds that the UK has an opportunity to extend its foundation of good governance to the use of AI, to “set the rules of the road that can set a standard for the rest of the world”.
Global Government Forum article
Consumers believe there should be a higher level of ethics when companies are using AI, and they should include ethical strategies in their business framework, Software Testing News reports. The article refers to a report on global adoption of AI published by the China-based data company International Data Cooperation (IDC), which surveyed almost 2,500 people.
According to the article, 60% of companies surveyed report that AI has had a positive effect on their business models and 50% say they are inspired “to add ethical and trust risks into their framework of using AI”.
The vice president of AI strategies at IDC, Ritu Jyoti, is quoted: “As AI accelerates toward the mainstream, organisations will need to have an effective AI strategy aligned with business goals and innovative business models to thrive in the digital era.”
Software Testing News article
The case for ethics
While it may seem obvious why ethics are good for business, companies that cultivate an ethical approach to AI enjoy better customer trust levels, according to Sead Fadilpašić for ITProPortal.
Referring to a report by the Capgemini Research Institute, Fadilpašić says that customers would recommend companies that use AI in an ethical way, would be more loyal to them, and potentially buy more products from them. The report also says that ethical use of AI is related to how a business collects personal data and the extent to which they depend on machines for crucial decisions.
Anne-Laure Thieullent, AI and analytics group offer leader at Capgemini, is quoted: “Consumers, employees and citizens are increasingly open to interacting with the technology but are mindful of potential ethical implications. This research shows that organisations must create ethical systems and practices for the use of AI if they are to gain people’s trust. This is not just a compliance issue, but one that can create a significant benefit in terms of loyalty, endorsement and engagement.”
Thieullent explains that firms could achieve this by concentrating on having the right governance structures and informing customers on how they are using AI.
What concerns you most about AI? Leave your comments in the box below.
Seen a blog, news story or discussion online that you think might interest CISI members? Email firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Lots of things are holding back the widespread usage of virtual reality, including side effects like motion sickness and high prices for equipment. But one prickly challenge is getting rid of the wires that connect high-end headsets to video game consoles and personal computers.
Now, one company aiming to sell graphics chips for virtual reality is also diving into wireless hardware for untethering headsets. On Monday, Advanced Micro Devices said that it had bought a 13-year-old company called Nitero, whose wireless chips can stream video into premium virtual reality headsets.
Nitero's chips transmit images using a version of Wi-Fi that operates in the 60 gigahertz frequency band. The firm says that its WiGig chips combine low latency with high throughput, creating an invisible wire for the virtual reality systems. That could lessen the delay between the headset's display and the user's head movements.
“Unwieldly headset cables remain a significant barrier to drive widespread adoption of VR,” Mark Papermaster, AMD's chief technology officer, said in a statement. The deal fits into its "long-term technology investments to develop high-performance computing and graphics technologies that can create more immersive computing experiences,” he added.
To improve coverage and reliability, the chips can shape signals around obstacles using beamforming, directly shooting data into headsets and computers. This helps get around the shortfalls of millimeter wave spectrum like the 60 GHz band, which require a line of sight between devices and cannot penetrate walls.
Few chip makers are targeting wireless virtual reality, but most are turning to WiGig. Intel, for instance, is using the technology in its Project Alloy headset, while Qualcomm and Lattice Semiconductor have released products for the market. Another is the little-known Peraso Technology, a start-up making 60GHz chips for wireless displays and broadband applications.
The Austin, Texas-based Nitero started out in the market for mobile devices, but it shifted in recent years into virtual reality. Most major manufacturers like Facebook's Oculus, Sulon, and HTC are aiming to make wireless headsets that provide a more immersive experience than ones using smartphones as the display.
In the deal, AMD is acquiring patents and key engineers from Nitero, though it has not said how it would integrate the technology with its own. Pat Kelly, Nitero's chief executive of eight years, will join AMD as its vice president of wireless IP. AMD did not share the terms of the deal.


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Boosted by their star-spangled Super Bowl appearance, the Dixie Chicks returned to the top of the album sales charts this week, selling 103,940 copies of “Home,” and pushing Norah Jones, who’d been queen of the charts for four consecutive weeks, into the No. 2 slot.
A primetime appearance at the Super Bowl also helped Shania Twain, whose album “Up!” shot from No. 12 to No. 8.
Zwan, the new band from ex-Smashing Pumpkin Billy Corgan, was the only new artist in the top 10, debuting at No. 3 with “Mary Star of the Sea.”
50 Cent’s debut, “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” is being released today, five days early, to help combat piracy and bootlegging. The Queens rapper is expected to claim the charts crown next week.


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Mentioned in this articleTeams:
Counter-Strike: Global Offensive organization Astralis has announced a major partnership with car manufacturer Audi. The sponsorship deal is valued at $750,000, according to sources for Dot Esports, making this a massive investment from a non-endemic brand.
“It’s fantastic news for esports and validation of our world, that a non-endemic brand like Audis chooses to work with Astralis and Counter-Strike,” Astralis founder Frederik Byskov told Dot Esports.
We're pretty proud of our new partner, welcome to CS:GO! pic.twitter.com/jVCG5Q2gsY
— Astralis (@astralisgg) January 19, 2017
Byskov credits esports entertainment company Rfrsh for the sponsorship opportunity. “I’ve been in esports for more than 10 years and we only created Astralis a year ago,” he said. “It’s a fantastic way to celebrate the anniversary today. I’m very thankful for the work Rfresh Entertainment has put into this, making it a possibility for Astralis to enter a partnership with Audi.”
Astralis is in a favorable position heading into the ELEAGUE Major, which begins Jan. 22 in Atlanta. One million dollars is up for grabs for the winner.


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September 04, 2008
Using droning sound design, a soft-gray palette and shards of whirling, abstract patterns for a menu, U.K. firm de-construct has designed a somewhat atypical interface for Panasonics Everything Matters site.
June 19, 2006
What does the Panasonic Oxyride battery and rabbit neutering have in common? Other than a new online and word-of-mouth campaign by Renegade Marketing Group, absolutely nothing.
November 02, 2005
To generate buzz for the release of the new, more powerful Oxyride battery, Panasonic teamed up with Dentsu's Renegade Marketing to create a campaign centered around the Oxymitesfun-loving, trouble-making characters that are meant to embody the hip s


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Merchants frequently try to confuse and bulldoze foreign travelers into paying a stiff markup on credit card charges. But you can fight back.
By Vindu Goel
Their message was inspired. Their returns, not so much.
By David Gelles
Nike made an ad. Visa demanded new contract terms. Secret donated more than $500,000. Will more sponsors join the fight, and will their contributions be decisive?
By Kevin Draper
The social network is planning a new cryptocurrency, potentially inserting the company into yet another part of our lives. Our reporter wonders: What’s in it for me?
By John Schwartz
Massacres are frequently carried out by killers using military-grade equipment that’s easier to obtain when buying on credit.
By Andrew Ross Sorkin
So-called fast casual restaurants, proliferating in cities, are increasingly resistant to accept cash. Local legislators now think that’s a problem.
By Ginia Bellafante
As India develops new rules governing the data of its residents, global firms are the first target. Companies say they need more time to comply.
A recent court decision may be a first step in putting I.C.O.s within the federal securities laws.
By Peter J. Henning
The credit card company said it would “suspend its marketing” featuring Mr. Freeman’s voice after several women told CNN about inappropriate touching or comments by the actor.
By Sopan Deb
The major credit card networks are ending a requirement that people sign for most card transactions — the latest blow to the signature.
By Stacy Cowley


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- 80 Acres Farms has opened a 200,000-square-foot farm in Boone County, Kentucky, making it the company’s largest and most advanced facility.
- The new farm is expected to produce up to forty million servings annually, leveraging proprietary hardware and software solutions.
- The $95 million investment will create 125 jobs in Kentucky and expand the company’s reach to new markets, including approximately 700 new Kroger stores.
- The farm operates on the proprietary Loop platform, developed by 80 Acres Farms’ tech-focused subsidiary, Infinite Acres.
- With the completion of the Kentucky farm, the company plans to open another 200,000-square-foot farm in Georgia in 2024.
This week, 80 Acres Farms, a leader in vertical farming based in Hamilton, Ohio, announced the opening of its largest, most advanced, and most productive farm in Boone County, Kentucky. The 200,000-square-foot facility is positioned to serve customers across multiple states and markets and is expected to grow up to forty million servings of produce per year.
A Milestone for 80 Acres Farms
The new farm is a significant milestone for 80 Acres Farms, as it is about three times the size of the company’s previous largest farm and at least four times as productive. “There is nothing like this anywhere else in the world,” said Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear during a preview tour of the facility. The farm represents a $95 million investment in Kentucky and is expected to create 125 new jobs.
The farm operates on 80 Acres Farms’ proprietary Loop platform, developed by the company’s tech-focused subsidiary, Infinite Acres. The Loop platform encompasses crop management software, algorithms, environmental controls, robotics, and automation. It is supported by partnerships with leading international technology companies, including Siemens, a proud supplier of hardware and software solutions at the farm.
The new facility will enable 80 Acres Farms to reach many more restaurants and retailers, including approximately 700 new Kroger stores announced last month. “To support our expansion into new markets and products, we need more capacity,” said Mike Zelkind, CEO and co-founder of 80 Acres Farms. The farm will also support the company’s new grab-and-go salad kits, further diversifying its product offerings.
With the completion of the Kentucky farm, 80 Acres Farms’ construction team will now focus on Georgia, where the company plans to open another 200,000-square-foot facility in 2024. This move aligns with the company’s goal of achieving worldwide food security.
Image provided by 80 Acres Farms


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Wall Street was stretching for positive territory Friday after losing ground in the morning. Investors' first reaction had been to cash in on the big gains a day earlier, but optimism gradually emerged that maybe the market still has some upside.
Still, stocks were down in mid-afternoon trading, with share prices flitting in and out of the plus column. You can see that traders are all set to push higher, but are having trouble finding a reasonable excuse to go shopping.
"The mood is constructive," said Rao Chalasani, chief investment strategist at Everen Securities. "The market is holding on."
The bolder traders were actively searching for bargains left over from the market's plunge several days ago. Others were playing it more cautious while sizing up the situation in the Balkans. (And it is a bit baffling why NATO thinks centuries of stupid ethnic hatred can be solved with a few smart bombs.)
Chalasani doesn't think Kosovo will have much of an impact on the market -- unless Russia takes some action. "Russia is the key," he said, noting that Wall Street would react very poorly indeed if Moscow's opposition to the bombing of Yugoslavia resulted in a return to the economic chaos that devastated US financial institutions last year.
After two days of spectacular advances, tech stocks were running considerably slower as investors locked in some of their gains before exiting town for the weekend. Dell Computer (DELL) rose 19 cents to US$38.31, and IBM (IBM) was $3.31 higher at $174.63. But Microsoft (MSFT) slipped $1.56 to $178.38 amid uncertainty over settlement prospects in the company's antitrust trial.
However, there's very little uncertainty where the Internet's concerned; investors still can't get enough of the dot-com club. Amazon.com (AMZN) is a good case in point, advancing 13 cents to $140 on speculation that the online bookseller is planning to launch an auction service to boot. Don't see why they wouldn't -- everyone else is doing it.
Separately, Amazon has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission to boost its number of authorized common shares to 1.5 billion from 300 million. The company hopes to use all that extra cash to finance additional acquisitions -- like an established auctioneer, perhaps? -- and to make sure nobody thinks of making an unwanted play for Amazon itself.
In the meantime, online retailer CyberShop International (CYSP) jumped 26 percent to $13.75 as it unveiled its own auction service. CEO Jeffrey Tauber said the new feature will "enable us to differentiate ourselves from other off-price retailers." Sure, until they all launch auction services of their own.
An outfit called SpeedUs.com (SPDE), which provides broadband broadcasting services in the New York area, surged 128 percent to $3.34 after reporting a 1998 profit of 57 cents a diluted share, compared with a loss of 95 cents a year earlier. The company also said it has finished installing new Linux-based Internet technology, giving it the capability for digital video transmissions.
From the IPO front, Valley Media (VMIX) climbed 41 percent to $22.50 after debuting with 3.5 million shares initially priced at $16 each. And get this -- the company, which distributes music and video to retail shops, isn't even an Internet player. Go figure.


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Yesterday, everyone with a soul poured one out for the now late LucasArts. The demise of one of gaming’s most iconic development and publishing houses also brought with it the news that Star Wars 1313 was cancelled. There’s still a chance that Disney may outsource further development, but many ex-LucasArts employees who worked on the game think otherwise.
It turns out that the Star Wars 1313 that we had all been shown at E3 and Gamescom had already undergone a major alteration. At the time, LucasArts developers showing the game had said that the lead character depicted was just a placeholder for the purposes of demoing the game. What they didn’t say is that in May 2012 (a mere month before the game debuted at E3), George Lucas swung by LucasArts to see the game. Once he had seen it, he told the team that this had to be a game about Boba Fett.
This information comes from another of Kotaku’s LucasArts sources. It’s worth noting that there was a lot of speculation surrounding Boba Fett when the first bits of information on the game first leaked. In the expanded fiction of Star Wars, Boba Fett once used the alias CT-1313. It’s a real pity then that we’ll likely never see this game. Boba Fett has always been one of the most popular characters from the original trilogy and expanded universe. A game (this game) about Boba Fett and his contracts would have been such a treat. And yes, that is 1313 concept art in the header.


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Retailers can achieve a flexible store infrastructure with edge computing.
Offering curbside pickup has become a new standard for restaurants across the industry because it can increase profits.
FIs are finding new ways to complement in-person services with digital services
How retailers can adapt to record prices at the pump. Read More >
Could cryptocurrencies save brick and mortar retail?
How can you attract and retain workers at a time when employees are quitting in droves and new applicants seem to be few and far between?
A strategic approach to taking your convenience store online - fast.


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Dropcam founder Greg Duffy, who went to Apple in 2017 to work on special projects, has reportedly left the company.
Google acquired Wi-Fi home camera company Dropcam in 2014. However, Duffy fell out with ex-Apple employee and Nest co-founder Tony Fadell, who managed the Dropcam team. Duffy left Google in 2015, and later labeled Fadell a “tyrant bureaucrat.”
Your fantasy about working in Cupertino probably leads you to believe the pay is good. You would be correct, but according to more than half of the developers and supervisors at Apple, even their fat paychecks aren’t not enough to afford a house in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Some 60 percent of Apple workers, as surveyed by anonymous messaging app Blind, say home prices are too spendy even with salaries that exceed the national average by more than double.
When LynnMarie Rink and her son, James, got to the Nashville Apple Store to replace his broken iPad last week, they weren’t expecting anything unusual. Of course, for James and his mom, atypical is their way of life.
James has Down syndrome and autism, and uses his iPad to communicate. When he got to the Apple Store last Thursday, he got excited at something out in the mall and ran out of the store at top speed. Unfortunately, there was a big glass wall instead of a door in front of him, and he ran into it face first, causing a little scene with tears and a fat lip.
It was just then that an Apple Store employee came up and offered to help them get their new iPad — and did something amazingly gracious.
In a video sent out to Apple retail employees, Apple’s senior vice president of retail Angela Ahrendts clarified that the Apple Watch will be arriving for many customers this Friday, but that online ordering was still the only way the Apple Watch can be purchased right now.
Ahrendts talks directly to retail employees, reminding them that the Apple Watch isn’t the only great new product aut right now, but that it is an entirely new type of product and way of selling things for Apple.
“This is not just a new product for us, this is an entirely new category,” she says in the video, “and it is the first time we’ve ever previewed a product two weeks before the availability.”
Even with the horrible audio echoes and Ahrendts’ vocal-pause-laden and seemingly unrehearsed speech, the video is a fascinating look at the messaging all Apple retail staff will be hearing this week as they prepare for the hordes of new customers looking to buy an Apple Watch or new Macbook.
According to a newly-posted shareholder document, Apple now requires executive officers to own three times their annual salary. The CEO is still required to hold ten times his own annual salary in stock, as well.
This current move, as reported by the Wall Street Journal, comes a month after Apple’s board actually opposed a similar measure proposed by a shareholder.
Apple Retail stores were the number one retailer last year, taking in more money per square foot than any other US retailer, including number two Tiffany, which made a bit more than half of that. Sounds good, right? Then take a look at what a retail employee, Jordan Golson, has to say.
“I was earning $11.25 an hour,” he said. “Part of me was thinking, ‘This is great. I’m an Apple fan, the store is doing really well.’ But when you look at the amount of money the company is making and then you look at your paycheck, it’s kind of tough.”
The disconnect between the incredible success of the corporation and the relatively low-end pay scale of its retail employees, as well as the reasons those retail employees continue to work for Apple, is the subject of a report in the New York Times today.
Following yesterday’s leaked image of a high-resolution Sharp display purportedly making its way to the iPad 3, an Apple employee has reportedly confirmed the third-generation device will boast a “truly amazing” display and a faster processor.


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LANSING — Competing against hundreds of economic development organizations from around the world, the Michigan Economic Development Corp. (MEDC) received six awards from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC). No other economic development organization received as many awards.
“It is great to be recognized for our hard work,” said MEDC President and CEO Don Jakeway, who received the awards Tuesday in St. Louis, Mo. “We have a tremendous staff and incredible vendors who have assisted us with these marketing initiatives. These awards reinforce what we here in Michigan already know: that Michigan is home to quality and creative producers.”
The IEDC’s professional economic development awards annually recognize excellence in the economic development profession. Michigan received top honors for the following four initiatives located in an area with a population exceeding 200,000:
- Economic Development General Purpose Promotion (“In-state Postcard Campaign”): A campaign that has successfully increased awareness of the MEDC and its services and programs among Michigan businesses.
- Paid Publication Ad Campaign (“National Ad”): A national print ad campaign that has created an increased awareness and perception of the state as a high tech business location, including helping Michigan consistently rank as a top high tech business location among national business executives and site consultants.
- Technology Based Economic Development marketing (“Michigan Technology Growth Campaign”): Includes all steps taken to bring about a high tech future in the state. The steps include the Technology Tri-Corridor, Commercialization Initiative, Great Lakes Entrepreneur Quest, SmartZones, Business Accelerators and the Technology Awareness Campaign: Telling Michigan’s Story.
- Partnership Award (“Southwest Michigan Innovation Center — Stick Around Michigan/Kalamazoo Campaign”): Following the announcement of a large layoff of scientists and support staff by a major pharmaceutical company, this program has resulted in the creation of 11 new companies, hundreds of high-wage jobs and provided a renewed sense of pride in the Kalamazoo community.
Additionally, the MEDC received honorable mention awards in the following categories:
- Newsletter, for the Technology Tri-Corridor (TX3) e-newsletter.
- Paid Publication Ad Campaign, for the in-state advertising campaign that increased awareness of the MEDC and its programs and services among Michigan businesses.
“Economic development efforts have always played a vital role in shoring up the nation’s economy one locality at a time, but as the country struggles to emerge from the recent recession and war challenges, these efforts have taken on an increased importance,” said IEDC Chairman Rick Weddle. “The award honors pace-setting organizations in economic development, one of which is the Michigan Economic Development Corporation.”
The IEDC is headquartered in Washington, D.C. Its mission is to provide leadership and excellence in economic development for communities, members and partners.


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Bed Bath & Beyond, Walgreens and PetSmart are among the retailers selling through Google’s voice-activated devices.
Search engine marketing was a hot topic at the Annual Catalog Conference in Chicago in May. The underlying theme of most speakers: Be flexible. Find out what works, go with it, and cut keywords and strategies that don’t produce results.
Search engine marketing is a hot topic among retailers-and it was a hot topic among speakers and audiences at the Annual Catalog Conference in Chicago last month. The underlying theme of most speakers at the conference: Be flexible. Find out what works, go with it, and cut keywords and strategies that don’t produce results.
To attract shoppers of glass stemware, GiftCollector.com will use the term “Waterford stemware” instead of just the brand Waterford, which when used alone left shoppers wondering if the Waterford listings in search results were for stemware, pens or other items, president and founder Sara Blakewood Norment told the conference. She also buys popular misspellings of brands.
One of the more effective search strategies followed by toy company Lego.com is to analyze the keywords its shoppers use in its site search feature, then include those terms in its paid search and natural search site optimization programs, said Steve Hawco, vice president of Lego Shop at Home, the direct-to-consumer arm of the Lego Group.
The most important part of managing keywords, is quickly yanking keywords that are costing too much without leading to sales, said Garret Matthews, manager of Internet marketing for consumer electronics retailer Crutchfield. He suggests temporarily pulling out some of the hottest keywords from broad tests of multiple terms, saving on cost-per-click expenses, then researching their effectiveness separately in a follow-up test.
Choosing the right terms gets ever narrower
Retailers may be getting smarter about their keyword buys, but consumers are getting smarter about the terms they search on at Internet search sites. And that’s costing retailers more money, says David Carlson, president of search engine marketing company Go Toast. The reason: The cost of some formerly obscure or overlooked terms is going up. “Three years ago, consumers were entering broad terms like television,” says Carlson. “Now they are a lot more specific and are entering model numbers.”
The cost of so-called tertiary keywords, such as model numbers as opposed to broad terms like television or somewhat narrower terms like big-screen television, has risen. “Those terms are now 50 cents or a dollar per click, whereas a year ago they were only 25 cents,” Carlson says.
The cost may well be worth it, he argues. “Buying the word television will get you clicks, but it won’t get you conversions,” Carlson says. “The guy who enters a specific model of a big screen television is looking to do comparison shopping. He’s probably ready to buy.”


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A pair of budget supermarkets have been declared the cheapest in the UK according to the latest data.
Research from consumer choice group Which? showing that in January, a shopping basket containing 19 items - including semi-skimmed milk, free-range eggs and Hovis wholemeal bread - came to an average of £18.45 at both Aldi and Lidl.
The study checked the price of the same items every day during the month to work out the average cost of the contents of the basket.
In the previous survey, Aldi had been crowned by itself as the cheapest supermarket.
Asda had the third cheapest basked in January with the supermarket chain coming in at £20.03, which put it £1.74 ahead of Tesco.
Sainsbury's was the fifth cheapest with £22.10 ahead of Morrisons on £22.45.
Ocado's basket cost £24.15 and Waitrose's was the most expensive of the major brands, costing £24.79.
Which? also did a price comparison on a bigger shopping list containing 87 items including Branston baked beans and Andrex toilet tissue.
With a trolley averaging out at £160.08, Asda was the cheapest ahead of Sainsbury's on £169.40.
The trolley at Morrisons cost £171.99 and £176.47 at Tesco while the same items at Waitrose would set shoppers back £181.66.
Ocado had the most expensive trolley at £182.27.
Due to the greater selection of branded items in the larger shopping list, Lidl and Aldi were not included in this part of the survey.


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Thurs, July 16 at 1:00 PM ET / 10 AM PTSponsored by: TripActions
Thurs, July 23 at 11am ET / 8am PTSponsored By: American Express Global Business Travel
Thurs August 6, at 1:00 PM ETSponsored by: Cvent
Virtual Event - July 29, 2020
Virtual Event - September 9-10, 2020
Convene: 225 Liberty Street - October 22-23, 2020
Filter in or out as many as 200 cities, as well as hotel and car rental class and meals of the day and watch as the per-diem calculator automatically adjusts per diems to your program. Drill down into cost breakdowns and export the results.
A bill that includes a proposal to cut the federal
government's annual travel budget by 75 percent was introduced in the Senate
Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), the
bill's sponsors, said the government's annual travel spending currently tops
$15 billion a year, "a figure that is no longer necessary or
The provision is part of the Federal Workforce Reduction and
Reform Act of 2011, which aims to reduce federal spending by more than $600
billion over the next decade.
The bill also proposed extending the current pay freeze on
federal civilian employees' salaries by three years, freezing bonuses for three
more years and reducing the size of the federal contracted workforce by 15
percent over the next 10 years.
The legislation was proposed after President Barack Obama
signed a debt-ceiling agreement calling for $2.4 trillion in spending cuts over
the next 10 years.
While Geoff Freeman, executive vice president of the U.S.
Travel Association, said that government spending cuts "are
necessary," he added that "a 75 percent arbitrary cut in government
travel is not good for taxpayers, it's not good for the employees of these
agencies who have important work to get done, and it's certainly not good for
the millions of employees in our industry who contribute to local economies
dependent on this income coming in."
Agencies that book travel for the growing federal workforce
don't appear to be worried yet about having to scale back. A representative of
Carlson Wagonlit Travel, which operates government-travel division
CWTSatoTravel, said it was too soon to comment on the proposed legislation and
that it wasn't the first time there has been a proposed cut to the government's
Source: Travel Weekly
On the heels of an investigation into CEO Scott Solombrino for alleged workplace misconduct and just...
Thirty-two years after its founding, the Association of Corporate Travel Executives has ceased...
Industry veteran Dave Hilfman will take the reins of GBTA as interim CEO, sources independently...


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The Spitfire Audio LABS program, announced in March, has officially launched. The software is designed to be easy to use, high quality and at a low cost – in fact, it’s free!
Poor musicians rejoice: Spitfire Audio’s LABS has officially launched, featuring Soft Piano and Strings software instruments – for free!
Recorded by musicians in London, Spitfire plans to release a new software instrument every month, in what they claim will be an infinite series.
The first two releases are:
Soft piano: recorded at Air Edel Studios, by Pianist Nick Taylor, the soft tone was achieved by placing a strip of felt between hammers and the strings. Recorded with a Schoeps Mk 4 microphone.
Strings: Fourteen of London’s best string players were captured by Harry Wilson, using a variety of different microphones including a vintage BBC AXB1.
Spitfire Audio say you can expect each new release to range from traditional to experimental, working within the same streamlined VST/AU/AAX plugin developed by UsTwo, as Creativity shouldn’t be complicated.
Visit the Spitfire Audio website to sign up.


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HGV drivers now have the opportunity to do some of their Driver CPC training at home after a flexible course was launched offering a mixture of e-learning and classroom-based work. Skills for Logistics and training firm Pertemps have teamed up to offer the course after acknowledging the “huge shift” in the way people have been working and learning over the last 12 months. They said that the blended learning, JAUPT-accredited version of the Driver CPC provided a mixture of two […]
Uncertainty over the immigration system after Brexit next year will compound the industry’s driver shortage and goods and services could grind to a halt, according to an FTA report.
Whatever form Brexit takes, the skills crisis facing the logistics industry is only going to get worse and the industry will be forced to invest in more automation, the president of the FTA Leigh Pomlett told the annual FTA Logistics Awards dinner last night (December 13).
A survey by Logistics UK has revealed that 96% of UK logistics businesses are now reporting problems recruiting HGV drivers.


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Lorna Jane Launches SocialEyes Technology In Stores
Story by Katie Wegner
Lorna Jane, Australia’s premier women’s fitness clothing brand, has recently launched a social media initiative called SocialEyes, linking its in-store shoppers with the Lorna Jane Facebook community of over 250,000 women.
Lorna Jane’s 21-year history of continuous growth, sprouting more than 120 stores and $100 million in annual revenue, highlights the company’s savvy brand management in a niche market. The brand message promotes a healthy, active lifestyle – stylishly outfitted, of course, by Lorna Jane.
Besides outfitting women to be active, Lorna Jane Clarkson, the company’s founder and creative director, has also built up an enthusiastic community that supports the message of the brand as well as the clothing. The community’s enthusiasm is exemplified by the personable presence and story of Lorna Jane herself, who creates open channels of communication with shoppers through blogs, Facebook posts, YouTube videos, and now a book called “Move, Nourish, Believe.”
This SocialEyes technology, developed by Brisbane-based Five Faces, is the company’s latest attempt to communicate the bricks-and-mortar retail experience with their online community.
In November of last year, the first interactive display systems were unveiled in the Chermside, Sydney and Melbourne stores to the fitting campaign of “FOLLOW MY LEAD.”
“Lorna Jane will be the first retailer to put the SocialEyes system in their retail outlet, and we look forward to working with an inspirational and innovative brand like Lorna Jane to provide this new social experience to their customers,” said Yazz Krishna, founder and CEO of Five Faces, in a press release.
The SocialEyes interactive display system enables customers to take photos of themselves via a reflective digital mirror, which then sends the photo to the Lorna Jane Facebook page to be shared with the community.Customers tag themselves in photos taken in-store and share them in the ‘Strike A Pose’ album.
Participating customers receive a code word that give them instant in-store rewards and entrance into a drawing for a $250 Lorna Jane wardrobe. This LCD digital mirror is the first to be implemented by an Australian retailer.
Clarkson said that SocialEyes is a perfect way for customers to continue the positive Lorna Jane online experience while in the Lorna Jane store.
“[After] such an amazing response to our Facebook page, [we decided] that SocialEyes [was] the next step to ensure that our customers [could] continue enjoying the interactive experience they received online while shopping in-store,” Clarkson said in a press release.
This unique collaboration of brand promotion and innovative customer engagement may prove to be a trendsetter, prompting other brands to FOLLOW Lorna Jane’s LEAD.
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The use of mobile devices in the business world has become standard practice over the last few years. Even the U.S. government is on board with letting employees use their iPhones and iPads to conduct company business – as long as it has approved security clearance.
On Friday, the Defense Information System Agency (DISA) announced in a press release that it has approved Apple iOS 6 Security Technical Implementation Guide. What this means is that any product running the operating system will now be able to connect to the Department of Defense (DOD) network.
The DOD mobile strategy includes a combination of actively managed and defended mobile device management (MDM) systems. It also includes the handling of mobile applications and the defense infrastructure.
"All of these pieces must be in place to allow the secure use of commercial mobile devices on department networks," Mark Orndorff, DISA Information Assurance Executive & Program Executive Officer for Mission Assurance and Network Ops, said in the announcement. "DISA is running a pilot program today where we bring this all together."
According to the Washington Post, Apple joins Samsung and BlackBerry on the short list of commercial smartphones makers that have received clearance to be part of a BYOD solution in the Pentagon. This option reflects the growing business trend of mobile devices in the workplace.
As the DISA shows, implementing a BYOD strategy takes much more than just connecting a smartphone to the company wireless network. Businesses can partner with an IT consulting firm that is familiar with iPhone and iPad deployments to guarantee success.


text: The Cincinnati USA Convention & Visitors Bureau, Regional Tourism Network and meetNKY have planned a week’s worth of showcase events that celebrate our destination and the importance of our region-wide hospitality industry. You’ve seen the headlines: 26 million annual visitors spending more than $5 billion a year while they’re here. The New York Times just named us No. 8 on its list of “52 Places to Go in 2018” and Lonely Planet listed us at No. 5 on its “Best U.S. Destinations to Visit in 2018.” Positive momentum like we’ve never seen, and we’re ready to celebrate in style. Join us as we tell Cincinnati's tourism story: to our neighbors, to our community leaders, to the world. These events are part of the 35 th annual National Travel and Tourism Week, which unites communities across the country to celebrate what travel means to American jobs, economic growth and personal well-being.


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NFT Tweet Tiles, a new blockchain feature, was introduced by the Twitter team less than 24 hours after Tesla CEO Elon Musk completed his $44 billion acquisition of this social media.
According to the announcement by Twitter Dev, users of NFT Tweet Tiles will be able to display information about their digital collectibles, such as the NFT title and creator name, in a dedicated panel via tweets that link to a listing on a marketplace.
The feature is still under testing and working with four NFT platforms to try out the integration including Magic Eden, Rarible, Dapper Labs, and Jump.trade. However, as many users noted in the replies, it was interesting that the largest NFT marketplace, OpenSea, did not participate in the pilot test this time.
NFT Tweet Tiles is blockchain-agnostic; thus, all networks—including Ethereum, Polygon, Solana, etc.—are supported as long as the connections originate from a partner marketplace. The official also stated that only participants in the test group will be able to view the Tweet Tiles integration, which is "currently being tested with select Twitter users across iOS and web."
Since last year, Twitter has started embracing blockchain and cryptocurrency technologies. Twitter's "Tips" function, which enables users to tip their favorite accounts with bitcoin or actual money, was launched on September 23, 2021.
Twitter released its NFT verification function in January 2022, enabling Twitter Blue paid subscribers to upload their NFTs as profile pictures. The Web3 wallets Metamask, Argent, Coinbase Wallet, Trust Wallet, Ledger Live, and Rainbow are compatible with the NFT authentication and profile tool.


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Single sign-on can be a time-saver for those who own more than one Apple device that can display video apps, such as the iPhone, iPad and Apple TV. By signing in to a cable or satellite-TV provider once on an iOS device or Apple TV, users then gain instant access to video apps provided with a pay TV subscription. Today Apple added ten more single sign-on providers:
- Fidelity Communications
- Liberty Cablevision of Puerto Rico
- Northland Communications
- Service Electric Cablevision
- Vast Broadband
- Vyve Broadband
These ten providers join 14 others in making it easier for iOS and Apple TV viewers to watch TV anywhere at anytime. Several large national providers, including Comcast, Spectrum, Verizon and Google Fiber are absent from the list, while others -- Dish, DirectTV and Sling TV -- support the service.


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The nature of healthcare is changing. It is projected that by 2015, there will be 500 million people using mobile health applications. As people increasingly seek web-based answers to health problems and mHealth apps become more common, it is easy to wonder how people really feel about the mHealth trend. Do people find it too impersonal? Too prone to error?
One health and well-being company decided to find out. Royal Philips Electronics released the findings of their U.S. survey, offering promising insights for those who are involved with driving mHealth technology.
Among the key findings of the survey, Royal Philips Electronics found:
- 11 percent of those surveyed believe that web-based health information has saved their lives or helped them to avoid serious health consequences, noting that without it, “they might already be dead or severely incapacitated”.
- 41 percent of those surveyed responded that they were “comfortable” using websites to check their symptoms.
- 27 percent of those surveyed said that they use applications, instead of going to the doctor, when they have a health problem.
- Over 33 percent of those surveyed responded that they believe that monitoring their own health through technology is “the key to living a long life”.
According to Dr. Eric Silfen, the chief medical officer of Philips Healthcare, the willingness of the American public to embrace mHealth holds a number of benefits, including lowering the cost of care. “Ultimately, the technological undercurrents of the pos-PC world—the power of many designer gadgets, cloud ecosystems, and mobile app computing—will hasten the personalization and partnerships that will transform sustainable medical care to the highest quality,” he said.
Although trusting eVisits to the doctor is something that some people will still be reticent to embrace, industry fears about whether or not people would respond positively to mHealth can be laid to rest, thanks to the insights found in this survey. As mHealth evolves, consumer trust and usage will only continue to grow, and has already had a positive reception in a very short time period.
Edited by Amanda Ciccatelli


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Grant aid boost for business
BUSINESSES are benefitting from a new £500,000 grant scheme.
Carmarthenshire Council’s business start-up and growth schemes offer up to £10,000 funding at 50 per cent of total project costs to help them buy equipment, machinery, marketing materials and to carry out minor works to their business premises.
Award-winning Ponthenri business Ickle Bubba, which manufactures and sells children’s prams and pushchairs, was one of the first recipients of the new scheme.
Director Veronica Vaughan said: “We recently expanded, which meant we needed new equipment and fixtures.”
Those interested are asked to contact 01554 748813 or email business[email protected]marthenshire. gov.uk.


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The Olympics Could Play a Critical Role in Peacock, Discovery+ Streaming Success
In a competitive streaming market, companies have to offer something different to encourage consumers to subscribe to one service over another. As bigger names have risen to the top, some services have struggled to keep up. Now, the 2020 Summer Olympics could have a major impact on some of the streaming services that were previously running behind.
Those who want to stream the Olympics are left to use Peacock or Discovery+. As a result, the two services are drawing in more viewers during the Games.
Peacock is a subscription video streaming service from NBCUniversal that gives access to up to 15,000 hours of content including original shows, blockbuster movies, and classic television series.
Just like other streaming services, Peacock will have their own original series including reboots of Save By The Bell, Punky Brewster, and Battlestar Galactica. They also have shows like Rutherford Falls (Ed Helms), Dr. Death (Alec Baldwin), and a behind-the-scenes docs-series about Saturday Night Live.
The company has acquired the rights to many classic shows like the entire Dick Wolf library including Law & Order and Chicago Fire, Parks and Recreation, and The Office.
The service will also feature blockbusters and critically-acclaimed films from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, DreamWorks Animation, Illumination and content acquired from Hollywood’s biggest studios.
Variety notes that while the numbers for the Olympics have not been too impressive so far, they remain an important part of promoting both Discovery+ and Peacock. The exclusivity of the games can help these less popular streaming services catch up to the bigger names in the business — such as Disney+, HBO Max, Netflix, and Hulu.
Previously, Matt Strauss, Peacock’s chairman, called the Olympics a “meaningful driver” for the streaming service. Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities, predicted a 30% increase in Peacock subscribers because of Olympic coverage.
Now that Peacock and Discovery+ are gaining greater attention from consumers, the streamers will have to find new ways to keep their numbers up. It looks like Peacock has already been planning for this.
discovery+ is a video streaming service that offers more than 55,000 episodes of 2,500+ current and classic shows from several popular TV brands including Discovery, Investigation Discovery, HGTV, TLC, Food Network, A&E, Lifetime og History.
The service primarily focuses on non-fiction programming or “reality” TV shows.
discovery+ is available with limited ads for USD 4,99 / måned or ad-free for USD 6,99 / måned.
Once subscribers are in the Peacock app, they can enjoy a variety of movies and shows on-demand while they take a break from the Olympics. Later this year, Peacock will release more original content, including 60 new series.
Going forward, Peacock will be offering more sports content, which will appeal to its Olympic audiences. All IndyCar races will be streamed on Peacock next year. Peacock will also stream Premier League games throughout the 2021-22 season.
While the Olympics may not be enough to push Peacock to the top, the games can pique consumers’ interest and give them a chance to see everything that the streaming service has to offer.
2020 Summer Olympics
- Basketball 3x3
- Beach Volleyball
- Field Hockey
- Rhythmic Gymnastics
- Sport Climbing
- Table Tennis
- Track & Field
- Water Polo


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This statement seems more than unworldly!
The SPD politician and EU Vice President Katarina Barley (52) surprised everyone with a bold statement on “Hart aber fair” (ARD). On Monday evening she discussed the subject of inflation and energy prices.
Refueling, heating and groceries have become significantly more expensive – that also gave a viewer a nasty feeling. Barley offered him a bold tip: “The kilowatt-hour that I don’t use is the cheapest.”
What the politician apparently wanted to say: It is our own fault if we get bills that are too high! Just turn off the heating and switch off the lights to supposedly save money on the bottom line?
Is Barley really serious?
Apparently! Because the top politician followed suit and recommended that, among other things, new windows could be installed in order to reduce one’s own energy requirements.
To put it plainly: Consumers who are already groaning under the massive increase in the cost of living would then have to invest thousands of euros …
“Anyone who accepts this has lost touch with the ground”
Union parliamentary group Vice Thorsten Frei (48) to BILD: “People have well-founded concerns about rising energy prices. Anyone who answers these worries with a call for more thrift is treated with derogatory and contemptuous terms. Ms. Barley seems to believe that people heat out the window and still have considerable potential for savings. Anyone who accepts this has lost touch with the ground. “
Explosive: Politicians themselves are to blame for the exploding inflation – and even cash in on it. Supermarket, gas station, energy company – prices are rising everywhere. But the politicians do nothing!
“That is a great hypocrisy that we see there,” says BILD Political Director Jan Schäfer at BILD LIVE.
Background: In September, inflation reached 4.1 percent, its highest level in 28 years. And: In view of rising energy prices, Commerzbank is even anticipating a further rise in inflation in the coming months. “If energy continues to become more expensive, inflation could rise to five percent in November,” said Commerzbank chief economist Jörg Krämer to BILD.


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Turkey welcomed 230,000 Indian visitors in 2019, reflecting a growth of 57 per cent over 2018. In 2018, Turkey hosted 147,000 Indian visitors.
With such positive growth rate recorded, the Turkey Tourism is expecting a growth of approx. 35% in the Indian tourist arrivals by the end of 2020. The latest official statistics also revealed that 51.9 million foreign tourists visited Turkey within the period of January to December 2019, indicating 13.7 percent increase from the previous year.
Turkey has emerged as a popular destination for Indian Travelers across categories. It has been witnessing a significant growth in all segment from leisure to FITs and weddings to MICE and incentives.
Turkish Tourism has been constantly engaging with Indians to create awareness about their important festivals, summits & international events. Several fams and engagements are being held regularly from India market to different parts of Turkey with a focus on cuisine, culture, landscape, history and nature.


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China’s largest battery producer CATL announced that they would start a battery swap service for electric vehicles (EVs) called EVOGO.
The service will allow users to swap car batteries in under a minute.
The company announced that EVOGO would launch in ten cities around China. Users will have access to the service via an app.
The FAW Group’s Bestune NAT multi-purpose vehicle will be the first vehicle that the service will be compatible with.
In addition, CATL plans to add additional models in the feature.
CATL’s move into a battery as a service model is not a complete surprise. For instance, NIO has already built a network of 700 battery swapping stations in China and can change batteries in three minutes.
The model has proven successful, and NIO is now looking to deploy the model outside of China.
CATL and the manufacturers who use their batteries are experiencing a bit of a pinch in China. Consumers are looking for cheaper vehicles, and many in the country are experiencing “range anxiety”: with the current EVs on the market. A batter as a service model removes this anxiety and keeps the overall cost of the vehicle down.
There is no word if CATL plans to take EVOGO outside of China, nor any rumours on what other models will take on the battery as a service model with EVOGO.


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Bitcoin Cash’s launch on Coinbase was controversial. The price of the newly added asset skyrocketed to nearly $9,000 - more than $6,000 above the market price of $2,900 (at the time). The “significant volatility” caused by the influx of market demand was enough to overwhelm Coinbase and force them to freeze trading, resulting in a low liquidity situation that affected the price dramatically.
However that controversy paled in comparison to what a new class action lawsuit alleges. In a suit filed on Thursday, it is alleged that Coinbase employees directly benefited in a significant way from trading Bitcoin Cash on the nonpublic knowledge that the Bitcoin fork would soon be listed on the popular cryptocurrency exchange.
The class action suit includes “all Coinbase customers who placed purchase, sale or trade orders with Coinbase… during the period of December 19, 2017 through and including December 21, 2017... and who suffered monetary loss as a result of Defendants’ wrongdoing.”
The complaint filed by Coinbase customer Jeffrey Berk asserts that insider trades drove up the price of Bitcoin Cash in the moments leading up to its debut on Coinbase, causing the value to artificially increase by 200 percent. It claims customers were then forced to pay prices that were manipulated and artificially inflated.
Despite the claim focusing its allegations on insider trading, because Bitcoin Cash is not regulated as a security, the claim also includes common law negligence and California’s Unfair Competition Law. The suit was filed in a U.S District Court in Northern California.
After Bitcoin Cash was listed at Coinbase, senior manager Brian Armstrong published a blog post, where he stated that Coinbase would be conducting an internal investigation and that employees would be held to company trading policies:
“Given the price increase in the hours leading up the announcement, we will be conducting an investigation into this matter. If we find evidence of any employee or contractor violating our policies — directly or indirectly — I will not hesitate to terminate the employee immediately and take appropriate legal action.”
Coinbase has yet to follow up with its findings, if any, that were discovered during the investigation. Coinbase has also not yet issued a statement in response to the allegations.


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With its hybrid in-store and online box service, Trunk Club making shopping for premium denim a relatively painless process.
As ease of service and frictionless shopping become the standard for the average consumer, some companies have adapted to the evolving retail field: improving customer service, offering smart technology solutions and simplifying the overall shopping process. And Nordstrom has set out to achieve each of these benchmarks with its subsidiary Trunk Club, a hybrid in-store and online box service that has managed to make shopping for premium denim a relatively painless process.
Through Trunk Club, which Nordstrom purchased in 2014, stylists (not algorithms) curate a selection of clothing and accessories based on shoppers’ noted preferences. And for those wanting an even more hands-on approach, the brand has seven “clubhouses” around the country where in-store stylists take appointments.
“[Trunk Club] enables entry-level premium brands to gain more exposure to a larger clientele with this service and because it’s so simple, it allows customers to trade up or down from the brands they are currently buying,” said fashion and retail analyst Charcy Evers.
The company has five core denim brands: Paige, Rag & Bone, AG, Frame and DL1961, each specializing in comfort, utility, fashion and tailoring to target a range of denim shoppers looking for mid-range to premium denim styles.
Based on market data, Trunk Club may be poised for growth in its denim sector. North America, which boasts the world’s largest denim market according to research firm Prescient & Strategic Intelligence is expected to see added growth in denim “due to the growing inclination of consumers toward self-service shopping, availability of multiple brands under the same roof, and varied price points offered under different brands.” That sounds a lot like what Trunk Club is already up to.
Evers said box services like Trunk Club lend themselves well to denim shopping. “It’s something many people dread to do—like swimsuit shopping—because it’s not forgiving. So, I think to have the ability to get styling advice coupled with many styles to choose from and then to be able to try them on in the privacy and convenience of your own home is a win-win all the way around.”


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“Abenomics” will not be able to achieve the two percent inflation target in Japan, Eisuke Sakakibara, former vice finance minister of Japan told CNBC on Friday, referring to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s combination of ultra-loose monetary policy and fiscal stimulus.
But according to Sakakibara structural deflation in the world’s third largest economy is largely a result of the integration between the Japanese and Chinese economies and hence near impossible to move away from.
“Cheap Chinese goods come into Japan and push down the prices. And a lot of Japanese companies go to China to manufacture goods — so it’s not going to change,” said Sakakibara, who is currently a professor at Aoyama-Gakuin University in Tokyo.
Sakakibara, however, is more positive on the prospects for Abe’s policies to lift growth in the economy.
“We may able to get something like a 2 to 2.5 percent growth rate in real GDP [gross domestic product], this would be the year of recovery,” he added. The economy expanded 0.2 percent in the final three months of 2012, after contracting for two consecutive quarters from April through September.
This article is for general information purposes only. It is not investment advice or a solution to buy or sell securities. Opinions are the authors; not necessarily that of OANDA Corporation or any of its affiliates, subsidiaries, officers or directors. Leveraged trading is high risk and not suitable for all. You could lose all of your deposited funds.


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The campaign officially launched on 14th December 2020 runs until 31st January 2021.
Mutimura Benjamin, Chief Commercial Officer at BK explained that the campaign is aimed at increasing customers’ penetration into cashless payments.
“We recently run a campaign dubbed ‘Si Ngombwa Cash’ to drive customers into cashless payments. The prizes align with similar initiative to encourage them to go cashless and embrace our reliable and safe cards used everywhere,” he said.
Embracing cashless payment is one of key strategies to control the spread of Covid-19 pandemic which has affected the world in many aspects.
Mutimura explained that using MasterCard would contribute a lot to controlling the spread of the virus.
“We strongly encourage customers to take advantage of MasterCard to abandon cash payments for cashless. They are reliable and enable fast transactions,” he noted.
Throughout the campaign, customers who perform single transactions worth Rwf25,000 and above using their BK Mastercard debit or credit cards online or via Point of Sale (POS) will stand chance to win different prizes.
Prizes including laptops, shopping vouchers and motorbikes will be awarded on weekly basis while a Mahindra KUV 100 NXT car, which is the grand prize of the campaign, will be given out at the end of the campaign.