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German exports tumbled by 11.8 per cent in March, their steepest drop since current records began in 1990, as the coronavirus crisis reduced demand for goods from Europe's biggest economy, the Federal Statistics Office said on Friday.
Seasonally adjusted imports fell by 5.1 per cent and the trade surplus narrowed to €12.8 billion ($13.88 billion) from a downwardly revised €21.4 billion in the prior month, the office said.
Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports to fall by 5 per cent and saw imports down 4 per cent. The trade surplus was expected to come in at €18.9 billion.
The German government expects the economy, which has traditionally been dependent on exports, to shrink by a post-second World War record of 6.3 per cent despite a massive rescue package of €750 billion to cushion the impact of the pandemic.
Economists expect any recovery to be slow and the pace of an economic rebound will largely depend on how fast Germany’s European neighbours and other trade partners like China and the United States emerge from the crisis.
“The interdependence of the global economy will be fatal for the export sector during the coronavirus crisis,” Alexander Krueger of Bankhaus Lampe wrote in a note, adding that the worst was still to come. – Reuters


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"As of February 2012, some 15% of online adults use Twitter, and 8% do so on a typical day. Overall Twitter adoption reamins steady, as the 15% of online adults who use Twitter is similar to the 13% of such adults who did so in May 2011. At the same time, the proportion of online adults who use Twitter on a typical day has doubled since May 2011 and has quadrupled since late 2010—at that point just 2% of online adults used Twitter on a typical day. The rise of smartphones might account for some of the uptick in usage because smartphone users are particularly likely to be using Twitter". - Aaron Smith & Joanna Brenner, Twitter 2012, 5/31/12Read the overview and full report on the Pew web site.
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Pew Internet: Twitter 2012
A new report was issued by the Pew Internet & American Life Project: Twitter 2012. Twitter use on a typical day? I'm guilty (if that's appropriate) of daily use more often reading than tweeting. I agree with their supposition that smartphones may 'account for the uptick in usage,' I rarely (if ever) access Twitter via the web.

domain: news


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Lexus' flagship sedan, the LS, will get a V-8 hybrid version in spring 2007. The LS 600h L boasts an estimated 430 hp and gets 21 mpg in combined city and highway driving, Lexus says. Lexus General Manager Bob Carter unveiled the car last week at the New York auto show.
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Hyundai finally unveiled their latest sub-compact SUV to the world and North American fans will be able to get their hands on a Kona starting early next year. Initial release will start in Korea later this month before moving to North America and Europe.
Once on sale in 2018, the Hyundai Kona will be competing in the B-segment and directly rival models like the Nissan JUKE, Mazda CX-3 and Toyota C-HR. Shouldn’t be a problem for the Kona when its aggressive body styling helps the car stand out in a crowd. The automaker’s new compact SUV platform, developed for the Kona, should attract attention as well.
Created to incorporate a four-wheel-drive system while optimising interior space, Hyundai wanted to deliver a fun urban driver. Sitting on the platform are a range of small-displacement turbo-charged petrol and diesel engines.
One of them will be a 149PS 2.0-liter MPI Atkinson engine
that can hit a top speed of 194km/h. Paired with a six-speed automatic transmission, the car can sprint from 0 to100km/h in 10 seconds and deliver 179 NM torque at 4500rpm.
Then there’s the 177PS Gamma 1.6T-GDI engine
with a seven-speed dual-clutch transmission. On paper, it has a 0-100km/h time of 7.7 seconds, top speed of 210km/h and deliver 265NM torque from 1,500 to 4,500rpm.
Those in Europe can go for the 120PS 1.0 T-GDI turbocharged three-cylinder unit,
which was tuned for fuel efficiency. Combined with a six-speed manual transmission, it can accelerate from 0 to 100km/h in 12 seconds, top out at 181km/h and produce 172NM torque from 1,500 to 4000 rpm. There’s also a 1.6 diesel that will be available to those in Europe and a few other market.
After the fuel powered Kona trims are released, Auto123 is expecting to see an electric version a few months after the initial model’s release in North America.
We could see an all-electric range of around 390 km per charge.
Perhaps Hyundai will release more information when the KOan makes its first auto show debut in Frankfurt this September.


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Anyone that follows Azure closely knows that changes happen in Microsoft’s infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) cloud on a weekly basis. Typically these improvements are given a soft announcement via a blog. But every few months, Microsoft has an opportunity, either at a large in-person event or an online event, to make a large set of significant announcements. Microsoft ran an online event called AzureCon at the end of September and used this as a venue to launch a number of new Azure services. I’ll summarize the changes that are relevant to IT pros in this article.
Azure continues to grow. Some of the huge numbers that Microsoft have announced include:
This new service recognizes that those who are using the cloud know little about securing the cloud. The new Azure Security Center (ASC), which will be broadly available by the end of 2016, will provide a central console to manage the security of your deployment in Azure. You can do the usual things that you would expect in a security solution, such as policy deployment, detection, alerting and reporting, but ASC provides intelligence, too.
ASC will gather data from your Azure subscription, from the reset of Azure, and from partner virtual appliances from the likes of Barracuda, Checkpoint, Cisco, CloudFlare, F5 Networks, Imperva, Incapsula, and Trend Micro. This allows you to understand what is going on in your Azure deployment. The aggregation of data from around Microsoft and partners allows ASC to understand threats that you have not had to deal with; this means that if a new attack that has been seen elsewhere before it hits your deployment, then ASC will identify it, and you can defend your business.
Some things you can expect are identification of challenging threats:
Every now and then I am asked if Azure has virtual machines that offer graphic processing units. It’s not that they want to play games via RDP in the cloud, as GPUs are math co-processors and are tuned to crunch numbers. This makes them superb for large-scale compute operations, such as HPC, rendering, and more.
Microsoft is introducing a new series of virtual machines called the N-Series that will run on hosts with GPUs, which is in preview in the coming months. Microsoft will be using NVIDIA Tesla Accelerated Computing Platform and NVIDIA GRID 2.0 technology and is proclaiming this to be the best of its type in the cloud today.
The D-Series virtual machines were launched with Intel Xeon processors and a temporary paging drive that is kept on a host-local SSD volume. The advantage of D-Series over A-Series is a much 60 percent faster processor and the ability to page and cache on a high speed (IOPS and throughput) and low latency disk.
Microsoft reduced the price of D-Series virtual machines by around 20 percent on October 1, while also introducing a new generation of D-Series hosts that are available today. DV2-Series virtual machines runs on newer hardware and features a customized Intel Xeon E5 2.4 GHz processor that can turbo boost up to 3.2 GHz, making the DV2 virtual machine 35 percent faster than a D-Series virtual machine.
Three new Azure regions were opened in India:
Note that access to these regions is limited to volume licensing customers or partners with a local enrolment in India at this time.
Those doing DevOps in Azure with containers will be delighted to learn about Azure Container Service, which will launch in preview before the end of 2016. This will give you a single point of deployment and automation for containers, initially on Linux virtual machines and eventually on Windows Server 2016 virtual machines. Azure Container Service will unify services from Docker, Mesosphere, Marathon and Chronos.
This strikes me as being very similar to what Microsoft has done with Hadoop — using and contributing back to open source to bring an integrated but standardized service into Azure. How Microsoft has changed!
A number of other announcements were summarized:


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Those Were the Days!, a 35-year-old antique store and fixture in downtown Tempe, closed its doors today.
Vic Linoff, co-owner of Mill Avenue’s longest-operating retailer, said it was time for him and his wife to move on to the next phase of their lives.
“This was not an easy decision to come to,” he said. “You reach a point in life were you still have a lot of ideas – and my brain never stops going – but you slow down in terms of energy.”
Linoff said he and his wife, Vicki, will maintain ownership of the 101-year-old building, but will lease the store’s space to a new independent business owner.
“We would like to provide that opportunity that was provided to us,” he said.
He said he won’t lease the shop to a national chain because he wants to offer incubator space for another upstart business owner to gain a foothold in the downtown area. Nor will any restaurants open in the space, Linoff said, because he feels there area already too many eateries downtown
The couple’s plan for the building includes a new courtyard in a back alley that will link the historic structure to several future shops spaces. The duo also plan to remove additions to the building that aren’t part of the original architecture


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India Hardcopy Peripherals (HCP) market fell 6.5 percent year-over-year and rose 22.6 percent quarter-over-quarter to 1.03 million units in Q3 2019, according to IDC.
Shipment of Inkjet printers and Laser segment declined. The Inkjet segment fell 3.8 percent due to sluggish consumer demand, but grew 35.3 percent quarter-over-quarter. India’s laser segment declined 13.5 percent due to poor demand from consumers and enterprises.
There was an increase in demand from the Government and the corporate sector. The single-function printers grew significantly while its multi-function counterpart declined, a trend not observed in the last 19 quarters,” said Bani Johri, market analyst, IPDS, IDC India.
HP (excluding Samsung) maintained its leadership in HCP with market share of 38 percent. HP shipment declined 9.9 percent primarily led by the inkjet segment, which declined by 11 percent due to sluggish demand from the consumer segment and the intense competition its Ink tank portfolio.
HP retained its 2nd position in the Inkjet segment. HP maintained its number 1 position in the Laser printer business with 60 percent market share. HP’s Laser printer market share rose 3.9 percent quarter-on-quarter due to attractive partner schemes.
Epson maintained its 2nd position in the overall HCP market and declined marginally by 1.3 percent. Epson’s single-function printer’s shipment grew significantly at the back of attractive channel schemes. Epson held its leadership position in the inkjet segment with 40.8 percent market share.
Canon HCP shipment fell 5 percent. Canon maintained its third position in the HCP market with 23.5 percent share. Canon’s inkjet share grew 0.8 percent as a result of channel stocking. Canon led the copier market with 28.9 percent unit share thanks to multiple Government orders.


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The company stated a number of reasons, all relating to its consumer leasing division (Radio Rentals), namely:
- The ongoing ASIC investigation into its lending practices and associated Maurice Blackburn led class action mentioned in our earlier article
- Weakened retail conditions, which are technically the worst in 4 years in their defence
- A delay in return customers due to launching their 4-year terms 3 years ago - surely this could have been anticipated??
- Adverse publicity relating to these issues
Overall the result is the number of products installed during the past 6 months down 27% on last year. This begs the question, is this the beginning of the end for Radio Rentals? With their long-time CEO stepping down earlier this year and the CEO-elect yet to commence, it seems the once mighty company is starting to lose its direction.
Some analysts are speculating that Thorn doesn't have the capital to cover both the ASIC investigation and Maurice Blackburn class action, magnified by the slide in share price limiting their borrowing capacity.
Is this a sign of things to come in the consumer leasing industry as a whole? As ASIC continues to mount pressure on franchisors and their rogue operators by dishing out hefty fines and even closing businesses in some cases, the rental industry is waiting in the dark for what the government has promised will shake-up the industry with the new SACC Laws.
Is this the perfect storm for disruption?


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The annual shopping bonanza Black Friday is upon us tomorrow so it’s time to bag some bargains.
Sue Ryder is offering customers up to 30 per cent off selected products at its furniture shop in Downham from tomorrow (Friday) until Sunday.
Jo Panks, retail area manager, said: “Our Downham furniture shop is one of 50 shops testing this new initiative, working with some of Britain’s favourite brand names to bring our customers high quality furniture and electrical items at up to 30 per cent off.”
Products span everything from toasters and hoovers to three-piece suites, all brand new or refurbished.
Customers who cannot make it to the shop on Bridge Road can still benefit by shopping online: www.sueryder.org/shop


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BoatU.S. Angler launched the Tacklebox Newsletter, a free e-newsletter that gives anglers tips and tools on how to ensure the "big one" doesn't get away.
The newsletter is e-mailed 10 times a year and covers a range of topics, including salt- and freshwater fishing tips from experts, do-it-yourself projects, fishing destinations and conservation tips.
There's also an "Ask the Experts" box that takes questions from readers, a freshwater and a saltwater fishing guide, and a charter service that offers discounts to BoatU.S. members.


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TULSA, Okla. — Tulsa police say they arrested a woman in connection to stealing nearly $100,000 worth of cigarettes in March.
Riverside Street Crimes Unit say they started investigating serial cigarette theft suspects. The suspects were known to go into a Walgreens store and carry bags full of cigarettes out the store without paying.
Officers arrested Jessica Barnett. Who they say admitted to stealing from at least one Walgreens every night for the past 30 days. They say Barnett also admitted she was then turning around and selling the stolen cigarettes to a north Tulsa convenience store.
Numerous packs and cartons of cigarettes were recovered from the north Tulsa store and traced back to multiple area retailers where they were stolen.
They arrested Barnett on four counts of grand larceny and two counts of petit larceny. This is an arrest, not a conviction.
They are searching for another suspect, and the investigation is ongoing.


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Honda values partnership with GM and will collaborate on future low-cost electric vehicles
“The alliance with General Motors is a great weapon for us.”
Honda CEO, Chairman and Executive Director Toshihiro Mibe summed up his thoughts in this succinct sentence during a roundtable with members of the media last week. Speaking about the company’s transition to zero carbon emissions, Mibe and Senior Managing Director Shinji Aoyama extolled the virtues of Honda’s partnership with GMboth based on Ultium 2024 Prologue Electric SUV and future products based on a platform co-developed by the two automotive giants.
“We believe that holistic collaboration is mutually beneficial, not only [vehicle] platform but with purchases and purchases,” Aoyama said. “Collaboration is the future.”
But while the 2024 Honda Prologue is based largely on General Motors technologies – its Ultium platform and batteries are shared with the Cadillac Lyriq 2023 and 2024 Chevrolet Blazer Electric – the next joint project between the two will likely have a lot more Honda DNA. Coming in 2027 is an electric car with a starting price of less than $30,000, which will feature more intelligence sharing between GM and the Japanese automaker. Codenamed AEV (Affordable Electric Vehicle), the new project will feature the best of each respective brand.
“Honda and GM have enough technology to build [our own cars]”, Aoyama said. “So now engineers from both entities are disclosing what technologies we have, and then trying to discuss what technologies might be optimal for both of them.”
This could mean, in theory, that the AEV project could be an all-Honda design, although it’s much more likely that each company will contribute some components. Moreover, the collaboration is not limited to the car itself. GM and Honda are evaluating their logistics and production facilities to identify the most efficient way to acquire the materials, labor and space needed to build the entry-level electric vehicle. It’s all part of both companies’ goal to be carbon neutral, GM by 2040 and Honda by 2050.
“From now on, everything from sourcing and materials to resource circulation is a complete package,” Aoyama said. “We need to achieve everything in this area, not just battery electric vehicles.”


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Everyone in the media industry is going to be interested in today’s New York Times earnings report that features a 6.5 percent increase in circulation revenues, reflecting an important success of the company’s paywall strategy. At the same time, print advertising revenue declined 13.3 percent and digital ad revenue fell 4.0 percent. That means that overall earnings per share fell from $0.05 to $0.04 at the company as the shrinking elements continue to shrink faster than the growing elements grow.
I’ve been skeptical about digital subscription models for a long time, but I’m turning into a believer. A key change has been the development of technological means of making the paywalls actually pretty porous, which turns them into more a form of price discrimination than anything else. A well-designed paywall attracts revenue from hardcore fans of a website while still making it possible for casual fans to read the occasional article and thrifty people to sneak around it. The Times Company is announcing a “New Strategy for Growth” today that seems largely focused on developing finer-grained forms of price discrimination, such as making it possible to buy a cheap subscription to just a sub-set of the overall NYT content. It’s a promising idea. The challenge with this sort of thing is to try to create a seamless user experience, so that despite your complicated walls and loopholes and discrimination tools people feel well-tretaed.


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Facebook’s Select Tickets on its Event feature now includes a view counter showing how many people have viewed the event’s ticket page within a specific period of time. The update, though, a small one, will give the owner the opportunity to have an idea of how many visitors have visited the platform.
A Facebook spokesperson per Adweek, said: “This is one feature that is part of our overall efforts to help people spend time together in the real world.”
We are not so sure when this minor tweak or update was added, but I am sure people who use Facebook’s event feature to sell tickets online would welcome it.
Earlier in the month, Facebook added a new set of Call to Action [CTA] stickers for Pages. The stickers will allow businesses to make more effective use of stories via direct response tools.
Social media expert Matt Navarra spotted the new CTA stickers and shared same on his Twitter page. The new buttons according to Social Media Today, mirrors the existing CTA options available in the main header of business Pages. Users can now prompt Stories viewers to “Shop Now,” “Get Directions” or “Book” directly from the Stories feed as can be seen below.
The update is a big one for businesses; especially those considering the option of using Stories as a digital marketing process. Regardless of how young Facebook’s Stories still is, and considering the fact Instagram provides a better option, businesses might want to stick with the social media behemoth due to its potentials.
Facebook Stories was launched over a year ago is already gaining ground over Snapchat’s Stories. It is evident that Snapchat pioneered the feature, and made a huge success of it before other social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp launched their own versions. According to stats released by Facebook, its own version of Stories is now recording giant stride ahead of Snapchat with 300 million active daily users.
The figure as released by Facebook per The Verge, is a combination of Stories on both Messenger and Facebook. According to user experience research manager at Facebook Liz Keneski, the combined figure does not account for double dipping. What that means is that a message posted by a user on Facebook, which of course, quite naturally appears on Messenger is not counted as two—but as one.
Facebook wants to encourage as many advertizers as it possibly can to warm up to its own version of Stories. The figures were released as Facebook was opening up Stories to advertisers, which obviously explains the reason for its latest figures.
Stories lets you share ephemeral photos and videos in a slideshow that disappears 24 hours later; the same way Instagram and Snapchat Stories work. Little circles that allow you to watch Stories will appear in the main app above the feed so you won’t miss them.


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Are Investors Bullish On These Video Streaming Stocks?
There’s no question that the coronavirus pandemic has been benefiting video streaming stocks immensely. The coronavirus has all but shut down in-person forms of entertainment. This caused most consumers to switch toward streaming services, which they can enjoy in the comfort of their own home. In fact, the red hot rally among video streaming stocks has seen some challenges recently. The tech sell-off which started last Thursday dragged most tech stocks down, and streaming stocks are not spared. But if you see the coronavirus pandemic as a catalyst for meaningful long term investment in video streaming stocks, read on.
The year 2020 is a year where many new video streaming providers launched new services. All of this new competition may have some investors wondering if the streaming space is getting a little bit too crowded. And most importantly, whether investors can benefit from such intense competition at all. These companies are looking to win over viewers globally. The winners of this battle will be sure to enjoy the fruits of their labor, rewarding shareholders along the way. With that in mind, are these streaming stocks on your watchlist for the remainder of 2020?
- Are These The Top Tech Stocks To Buy Amid The Tech Rebound?
- Top 3 Consumer Staples Stocks To Watch In September 2020
Top Streaming Stocks To Buy [Or Avoid]: Netflix
Video streaming giant Netflix (NFLX Stock Report) comes to mind immediately among the list of streaming stocks to buy. Shares of NFLX have been under pressure in recent weeks along with the broader tech sector. Shortly after the broader market sell-off, the “Cancel Netflix” hashtag is putting another pressure as the streaming giant faces heavy flak for its controversial film Cuties, which made its debut on the service this week. The French film was a Sundance favorite in 2019 but has drawn heavy criticism from those saying it sexualizes young girls. While it should come as no surprise that Netflix capitalized hard during the pandemic, investors should prepare for volatility in the next few trading sessions.
Given its vast content and affordable pricing, Netflix should remain sticky for customers. It is only natural that with limited outdoor entertainment options, most consumers will turn to Netflix. If you have been eyeing this stock, would this be the perfect moment to jump in after the recent dip?
Top Streaming Stocks To Buy [Or Avoid]: Spotify Technology
Shares of Spotify Technology (SPOT Stock Report) were rebounding after Credit Suisse analysts upgraded it from “Neutral” to “Outperform” on Thursday morning. This couldn’t come at a better time as the share price has been showing some weakness in recent weeks. Further gains here would serve as an impetus to drive investors’ interest.
The main growth driver of Spotify seems to be its singular focus on music streaming. But the addition of podcasts will increase their offerings to stay at the leading spot. Of course, the new offering is unlikely to bring huge profits to the company anytime soon. We know podcasts could be big, but many think that it will be huge in the long run. This means this is a streaming stock worth watching from the medium to the long term.
[Read More] Are These Top Cloud Stocks A Buy Right Now?
Top Streaming Stocks To Buy [Or Avoid]: Roku
Shares of Roku (ROKU Stock Report) have been making big moves in recent weeks. The breakout occurred after two analysts issued bullish reports about the video streaming platform, noting increased demand as people shelter at home during the novel coronavirus pandemic and watch more videos.
The company has the highest consumer satisfaction rate when it comes to quality, with 54% of respondents rating their Roku device as six or higher on a 10-point scale. This outpaced Amazon Fire TV, with 53% satisfaction rate, and Apple TV at 38%. There is plenty of room for growth as more than two-thirds of consumers do not have a television that can connect directly to the Internet. That means they need a device like those that Roku offers. While ROKU stock has shown respectable gains this year, it is somewhat under the radar in comparison with other players in the market.


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Photo: Outdoorsy / Courtesy
Outdoorsy’s new “Vacation on a Budget” survey found that Americans are looking for affordable travel alternatives this summer in the wake of inflation.
The research was conducted to gain a real-time perspective on the travel behaviors before this summer.
The survey found that 52% of travelers turn to rental cars on vacation to save money, and 9 out of 10 prefer to rent something they can easily sleep or stay in, rather than book a hotel. And 49% prefer to rent something as luxurious or cheap as what they have at home.
“While other types of vacations have seen dramatic cost increases over the past year in line with inflation, our average RV rental trip price only increased $5 over the past year, which is an increase of 0.28%said Jeff Cavins, co-founder and CEO of Outdoorsy. “Compare this to a 40% year-over-year increase in hotel prices, and you can see why we think road trips are more protected from inflation and also remain a vacation option”.
The “Vacation on a Budget” survey found that:
– Nearly 6 out of 10 respondents (58%) said they plan to vacation closer to home this summer to beat inflation and rising gasoline prices.
– 72% are dipping into vacation savings to make ends meet somewhere else.
– More than half of the 2,000 adults surveyed (56%) don’t think they can afford a vacation this year due to inflation.
– 58% have been saving and setting aside more money to keep your vacation hopes afloat.
– Almost the 70% said they still plan to hit the road this year despite possible budget problems.
– 50% of respondents have a budget set specifically for summer vacations, with an average of $1,237 dollars.
– 4 in 5 of those with summer travel budgets said their plans were affected by inflation.
– 1 in 3 said they would prefer to reduce vacation plans to fit a smaller budget than not having a vacation at all.
– 56% said they have been successful in planning a vacation with a smaller budget than usual.
– To save money, vacationers plan spend less on attractions (40%), lodging (40%) and clothing (39%).
– For Americans go out to restaurants (30%)visiting free attractions (28%) and traveling by car (28%) are vital activities to do regardless of budget.
– Respondents say they are most excited about traveling this year because will allow them to spend time with their families (57%)see new places (55%), make memories (55%), and get much-needed time for themselves (52%).
“Inflation is an ever present variable in the travel consumer sector. Travel trends are generally reflected in people’s spending habits,” said Cavins. “Having said that, the effect of inflation on RV travel will be minimal. For families, getting outdoors not only offers a more affordable alternative to other modes of travel, but time in nature can also be a more fun and educational experience.”
You may also like:
– They show the 10 best vacation homes in the United States (photos)
– Evolve: the vacation home rental company that gives you free vacations for life
– Holidays: How to get the best price on a hotel reservation


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A cold spring is expected to delay the start of Georgia’s peach deal and could produce a gap between the ending of Florida and the start of Georgia’s watermelon deal.
The state’s blueberries escaped serious cold weather damage.
Buyers should expect strong volume and good promotable blueberry supplies.
Estero, Fla.-based Naturipe Farms LLC’s growers began harvesting April 13 as normal.
Brian Bocock, the Grand Junction, Mich.-based vice president of product management, said he expected production to enter its peak in early May.
“Quality looks good and supplies will be fairly solid,” he said in late April.
“The big difference for Georgia is it won’t be overlapping with Florida quite like we earlier thought. It should be a uniform marketplace as we moved into the early part of May and there should be opportunities for promotions.”
Though the southern highbush, the state’s first crop, declines in late May, Bocock said buyers should expect strong production through then when its second crop, the rabbit eye variety, begins.
He said bigger promotions should start the first week in June on pints in Georgia and North Carolina.
North Carolina production should begin in a small way in mid-May and, like Georgia, finish in mid-July.
In late April, the U.S. Department of Agriculture reported trading “very active for light supplies.”
The USDA reported flats of 12 1-pint cups with lids of blueberries from south Georgia selling for $32-35, and 12 6-ounce cups with lids selling for $22-25.
Wish Farms in Plant City, Fla., began light Georgia harvesting April 17.
J.C. Clinard, senior vice president, said he expects volume to increase and hit promotable volumes in early May and overlap with Florida production. Wish plans to finish Florida on May 20.
“The Georgia berry crop looks very good,” Clinard said in late April. “We have good quality. It is just a slower than usual start because of the warmer winter and colder March. We haven’t had a lot of chill hours, which slowed us down.”
In late April, Bocock characterized Florida production as strong.
That deal should finish shipping in volume by mid-May, with growers only harvesting small volumes for a few weeks after that.
This year’s Georgia peach harvest should start May 20, sources said.
That’s three weeks later than last year but close to the deal’s typical start.
Low February and March temperatures helped push the crop to a later start and caused some isolated damage but nothing that significantly affected the crop, said Duke Lane III, vice president of sales with Lane Southern Orchards, Fort Valley, Ga.
“The crop looks great,” he said in late April.
“At this point relative to last year, we feel we have a bigger and healthier crop. The fruit size and the size of the overall crop should be bigger. We feel the cool weather in February and March will really make for a sweet crop this year.”
Lane said the state’s growers should begin around May 25 and said packinghouses should begin producing strong volume in late May.
Will McGehee, sales manager for the Genuine Georgia Group and Pearson Farm in Fort Valley, said winter brought enough chill hours and a mild spring helped fruit development.
“We are really looking at a great fruit set,” he said in late April.
“The trees look healthy, and we’ve had a lot of rain. We may start a week later than normal but should also go a week later too.”
Last year, the peaches didn’t receive enough cold hours in dormancy. McGehee said the deal started well and growers enjoyed a favorable season through the middle of it, but said it ended in mid-July, a month sooner than usual.
Georgia this season is expected to pack more than 2 million 25-pound half-bushel cartons, higher than last year’s 1.4 million, McGehee said.
The USDA wasn’t reporting peach prices in early May.
South Carolina normally begins harvesting in late May and harvests through early September.
An expected later than normal start could produce a week to a 10-day gap during the normal early June start of Georgia’s watermelon harvesting.
Because of heavy rainfall during plantings, grower-shippers don’t expect production to begin until June 15-20 instead of its usual June 5 start.
The start, however, should be in time to supply Fourth of July promotions, said Greg Leger, president and partner in Leger & Son Inc., Cordele, Ga.
In late April, Leger said Georgia growers finished most of their plantings.
While some growers may start harvesting during the normal time, Leger said he doesn’t expect volume to hit until mid-June.
The USDA reported prices of 29-30 cents a pound for red-flesh seedless Florida watermelon in early May.
Georgia normally finishes after July 4.


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Egypt Offers Example How Developing Countries Can Plan For Ecommerce
Famed for its ancient souks and bazaars, Egypt is now looking to the future of commerce by backing a far-reaching strategy that aims to double the number of businesses selling products and services online by 2020.
UNCTAD’s National Ecommerce Strategy for Egypt was presented in Geneva during Ecommerce Week as a best practice example of how developing country governments can work with intergovernmental and private sector partners to plan for an ecommerce ecosystem that boosts growth, skills and jobs.
The potential for ecommerce in the Arab-speaking world’s most populous country is pyramid-sized. A government survey found that just five percent of internet users over 15 years old in Egypt shop online, and this figure drops for women, older people and people living outside cities and towns.
And very few Egyptian enterprises currently sell online—only one in 10 handicraft enterprises use the internet in any way, and only a fraction of these sell their products online.
“This strategy is not only relevant to Egypt since it could be replicated elsewhere,” UNCTAD Deputy-Secretary Isabelle Durant said. “We hope that it will be useful for Egypt to share its experiences with other countries.”
“Ecommerce offers developing countries like Egypt opportunities for inclusive growth and enhanced market access,” said Yasser El Kady, Egypt’s minister of communications and information technology. “Small and medium sized enterprises are the engine of growth, hence leveraging e-commerce can bring great benefits. Egypt hopes to be among the top 30 knowledge economies by 2030.”
El Kady said that the strategy is part of the Vision 2030, a national economic plan elaborated by the Egyptian government.
“We have been investing big time in information and communication technology infrastructure over the last three years, including, for example, in 5G networks,” he said. El Kady added that with more than 4,000 post offices, Egypt’s logistical and micro-financial infrastructure offered a competitive advantage. A similar opportunity existed in its young, well educated population and its geographical position as a global telecoms hub.
In devising the strategy, UNCTAD and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology worked with other United Nations agencies and the World Bank. Funding was provided by US multinational financial services corporation Mastercard.
“Mastercard will continue to support the execution of the strategy to further advance the payment ecosystem and showcase the benefits of digitization in the country,” said Khalid Elgibali, Mastercard’s Division President for the Middle East and North Africa region. “The National Ecommerce Strategy is a testament to our shared goals of a more inclusive, effective payments ecosystem.”
The strategy, the first such national ecommerce strategy developed by UNCTAD after a request from a member state, sets out an overarching objective and six sub-strategies, recommendations, six “mega-projects”, and an action plan. The strategy also gives guidance on implementation, monitoring and evaluation.
It focuses on bottlenecks identified by an analysis of Egypt’s e-commerce landscape, and makes recommendations in eight policy areas: technology infrastructure and telecom services; logistics and trade-easing measures; laws and regulations; electronic payments; and electronic platforms; skills development and building talent.
Research undertaken as part of the strategy found that Egypt needs to establish an authentication framework for e-payments, such as 3D secure, adopt universal banking, create new payment methods, and strengthen e-money products such as mWallet.
The strategy advises that awareness of e-payments could be raised by such measures as lucky draws and a national lottery, and that zero liability for customers in unauthorized transactions should be adopted.


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HealthCentral.com said Tuesday that it has agreed to buy several assets of ailing online drugstore More.com and a subsidiary for about $6 million.
Under the deal, HealthCentral will acquire More.com's Web site, customer lists, trademark and promotional agreement with retail drugstore Phar-Mor. It will also buy More.com's home store, Comfort Living, including its Web site, inventory, and lease on a warehouse and distribution center in Maryland.
In exchange, More.com will receive 5 million shares of HealthCentral common stock, worth approximately $5.95 million at the company's closing price Monday. More.com cannot sell the shares before March of next year. The deal is expected to close in November.
Shares of HealthCentral were trading at $1.44 Tuesday, up about 20 percent from Monday's close of $1.19. They have traded as high as $14.38 in the past 52 weeks.
Despite its sagging stock price, Emeryville, Calif.-based HealthCentral has been on a buying spree in the past six months. In June, the company bought online retailer Vitamins.com, and in September, it bought several assets of DrugEmporium.com, a subsidiary of offline drugstore Drug Emporium.
"We have picked up valuable resources that strengthen our business model through cross-selling opportunities, better buying power and improved distribution costs," Albert Greene, HealthCentral CEO, said in a statement. "Importantly, we expect no ongoing, incremental cash burn to the company because of the acquisition of these assets."
San Francisco-based More.com, which launched in August 1999, has been hit hard by the overall market decline. Like numerous other struggling e-commerce companies, other More.com is cutting costs to reach profitability. Earlier this month, it laid off a third of its staff after an earlier round of layoffs in June.
In May, More.com withdrew its filing for an initial public offering, just three months after it registered to sell shares worth about $86 million. The company was born from former health-products site Greentree.com. The site changed its name last year when it expanded to include prescription drug sales and a broader line of health and beauty products.
In February, More.com acquired Comfort Living, a 13-year-old home products distributor.
"With the continued consolidation in the e-commerce sector, we believe this sale is in the best interests of our customers and shareholders," Frank Newman, CEO of More.com, said in a statement.
HealthCentral provides health-related content, products and prescription drugs through its network of sites, including Vitamins.com, HealthCentralRx.com, HealthCentral.ca, and RxList.com.
With the acquisition, HealthCentral hopes to improve its margin by selling Comfort Living's higher-priced items. The company also will gain access to More.com's roughly 300,000 customers.
As part of the deal, employees of Comfort Living will be retained by HealthCentral. Up to 20 More.com employees will help to move the Web site over to HealthCentral's system and then will be laid off.


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The promotion is seen as a pre-emptive strike designed to secure the future of Cordiant, whose share price has come under intense pressure following a number of account losses, including Hyundai and CVS Pharmacy.
This culminated the recent loss of the £130 million account for the US hamburger chain Wendy's to Interpublic, and the share price dropping to half of what it was a year ago.
The fund management group Active Venture has led calls for a change at the top of Cordiant in a bid to turn around the fortunes of the ailing network.
Active Venture has recently upped its stake in Cordiant to a 9 per cent share and is now its second-biggest shareholder after Harris Associates, which also wants senior management changes at the company.
Observers have suggested that the two fund management companies are keen to make Cordiant more attractive for a takeover by the Havas network.
According to reports in The Mail on Sunday, Bungey's job is safe, but the job of Cordiant's chairman, Charlie Scott, is under scrutiny.
The British-born Hearn only joined Bates in March, having previously worked as the chief executive of the Australian food group Goodman Fielder.
Hearn joined the company to replace Bill Whitehead, who left following the loss of Hyundai.
A spokesman for Cordiant said there were no imminent plans to promote Hearn, but they would not rule it out.


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This man has forgotten how to shop
AMERICAN ADVERTS ARE WEIRD. There. We said it. The regulations that our friends across the pond work to are less restrictive than ours, and as a result, trashing the opposition is far fairer game than it is here.
But Microsoft has taken the technique to the next level, by demonstrating how its own new product is better than… it’s own new product.
The ‘Twins Challenge’ sees two siblings trying the same tasks, one using the latest version of Office 365 and the other the newly-released Office 2019.
What may seem a very odd move on the face of it, is actually a way for Microsoft to show its long-held belief that the future of productivity is online (hello, Google G Suite) and confirms our long-held suspicion that it only released Office 2019 because it absolutely felt it had to.
Of course, Microsoft would rather you used Office 365. The online service attracts a fixed monthly fee, whereas Office 2019 only bags them a single price, so the company is very keen to show the added value that being online brings to the party.
Having said that, a year’s subscription fees to Office 365 costs almost the same as buying Office 2019 outright over a two-year usage cycle, so the added value is really the killer key-change. Let’s just not mention the fact that it has had regular outages.
We’re not here to tell you that (though we’ve embedded one of the ads below, featuring what looks like two rejects from Haim) – we’re here to tell you about the tactic, not sound the bugle for Microsoft (goodness forbid).
What’s fascinating here is that Microsoft isn’t trying to compete with other companies, but rather itself. What it is actually advertising is Microsoft’s overarching cloud-first software-as-a-service strategy and hoping that people will buy in, so it can kill off Office 2019 once and for all. Which seems unlikely at the moment, though we suspect to see more of this type of promotion in the coming years, so maybe Office 2021 or 2023 could be the suite’s swansong. μ


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Velocity Ultra Coming To Vita
PS Minis Game Velocity Getting An Overhaul
FuturLab has announced it will be releasing Velocity Ultra, a Vita version of its PS Minis game Velocity.
Featuring a “completely overhauled” visual style, Trophies and online leaderboards, FuturLab MD James Marsden says it can be thought of “as the director’s cut; everything we would have done the first time around if we’d had the budget”.
A release date hasn’t yet been confirmed. Take a look at the original PS Mini version below:


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Hanwha Q Cells has revealed plans to expand its solar module production capacity in the United States and its PV cell capacity in its home market, South Korea.
“Our company has currently a capacity of 12 GW for both cells and modules spread across Korea, Malaysia, China and the US,” CEO Justin Lee told pv magazine at a press briefing for the Smarter E event in Munich, Germany.
It wants to invest $320 million in the expansion plan, of which $170 million will be devoted to the construction of a 1.4 GW factory at an unspecified location in the United States. Another $150 million will be used to expand cell capacity in South Korea, where the new investment will increase domestic cell capacity to 5.4 GW.
The new US factory is expected to begin production in the first half of next year. This will raise its total US panel capacity, which also includes a 1.7 GW manufacturing facility in Georgia, to more than 3 GW.
“We see strong demand for Made in America modules, especially among the residential sector,” said Lee.
He noted the importance of the polysilicon supply chain that the company is setting up in the US market, where Hanwha Solutions recently acquired a stake in REC Silicon, with the aim of supporting the company in restarting its factory in Moses Lake, Washington, in 2023.
“Currently, we are still sourcing around 95% our ingots and wafers from China, but this will change soon, as we have also recently signed a $1.2 billion deal with Korean manufacturer OCI, which is increasing its manufacturing capacity in Malaysia,” Lee said. “We are not planning, however, to restart our own polysilicon production in Korea,” he also stated.
The company also plans to improve the carbon footprint of its products, as a big portion of the power supply used for new production, or polysilicon supply, should come from hydropower or other emissions-free energy sources.
“Growing uncertainties tell us that securing reliable, sustainable energy has become more important than ever before,” Lee said. “To do this, Q Cells will increase renewable supply from diversified sources and find cleaner ways to produce energy. That way, we will contribute to both energy security and net-zero emissions.”
Lee said the company is open to building more factories in other parts of the world.
“But carbon footprint rules would not be enough and other incentives such tax credits may be necessary,” he said in response to a question about whether the company would be open to producing PV modules in Europe.
The regional diversification of the company’s production activities is also a response to the crisis triggered by the pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
“High polysilicon prices and logistics costs are becoming unsustainable,” he said, noting that shipping costs currently account for between €0.04/W and €0.06/W per module. “We expect lower polysilicon prices before the end of the year or in early 2023, but we will never go back to 2019 levels.”
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iOS 12.1.2 update will fix the eSim issue on new iPhone models
iOS 12 is the latest OS version for the iOS-enabled device and running on its success; Apple has rolled out iOS 12.1.2, which carries fixes for iPhone XR, iPhone XS, and iPhone XS Max, coupled with other security patches to take care of other bugs and issues.
Apple’s iOS 12.1.2 primarily focuses on to deal with the eSim activation issue that was reported in the new iPhone models. The eSim feature is added in the latest devices that were being unveiled by Apple last month. It enables the user to have separate numbers and even carriers.
The virtual dual-sim feature was long missing from the iPhones and with eSim into the fore, it will help those users who wish to operate two numbers at the same time and who travel internationally.
Apart from it, the new 12 updates is expected to solve other glitches as well, which are not reported yet and Apple wants to improve on that. For instance, the phone connectivity issues in Turkey issue which was noticed in Apple’s three new iPhones. So, the new iOS update should fix the cellular connectivity issue.
As suggested by AppleInsider, the update is also intended to cater to the complaints from Qualcomm that is currently battling the ban on iPhones in China.
Interestingly, Apple has come up with the new update in quick succession. A couple of weeks back, iOS 12.1.1 was out and now we a new update. Thus the haste in rolling out the update clearly suggests the urgency of fixes that were needed badly.
It was in the last quarter of 2017 that Apple released iPhone updates in quick succession. That update was to fix problems with email, audio, and the screen.
iOS 12 update has already brought a lot of changes, and with these regular updates coming out, Apple indeed intends to take its OS to an altogether different level.
With a mixture of literature, cinema, and photography, Manish is mostly traveling. When he is not, he is probably writing another tech news for you!
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J&T Express launches its first all-cargo aircraft
announced today it is ensuring next-day delivery for local consumers and enabling greater domestic connectivity by launching its first dedicated cargo-only aircraft in Indonesia. The move is part of the companies ongoing commitment to providing efficient, secure and quality express services.
Founded in 2015 in Indonesia, J&T Express is one of Southeast Asia’s fastest-growing e-commerce logistics companies. Present in eight markets across Southeast Asia and China, the company has a fleet size of over 8,000 vehicles and over 10,000 collection points and has more new services planned with the aim of providing faster delivery options to support the increase in demand for both local and cross-border shipping.
The new all-cargo aircraft is a Boeing 737-300 and holds a capacity of up to 15 tons. With at least two flights per day, the 737-300 will service the Jakarta-Medan and Jakarta-Batam-Tanjung Pinang cargo routes and will be launched at Budiarto Airport in Indonesia’s Tangerang City.
The new aircraft will allow J&T express to provide Indonesian consumers with improved delivery services, enabling faster and more reliable delivery service, including next-day delivery to all cities and islands in Indonesia. Previously the company had relied on chartering planes in order to support its growing customer base.
“At J&T Express, we are always committed to bringing the best possible delivery services to our customers. The expansion of J&T Express’ fleet to include an all-cargo aircraft in Indonesia demonstrates our commitment to constantly invest in growing our network. This new addition to our fleet will help our e-commerce players meet the needs of consumers efficiently and enable consumers to enjoy a seamless and quality delivery experience,” said Andrew Sim, CEO of J&T Express Singapore.
“On behalf of the J&T Express Singapore team, we would like to congratulate the J&T Express Indonesia team and Robin Lo, CEO of J&T Express Indonesia, on this key milestone of successful deploying our first all-cargo aircraft, and we look forward to more exciting things to come as we continue to expand our presence regionally.”
Coupa Launches US$50 Million Ventures Fund
Operational resilience and agility. Following the events of the last twelve months, companies have focused on these strategic areas like never before. Some, as we’ve noted, have started to wonder whether this trend will continue post-pandemic—or will we go back to the same old supply chain? Not if Coupa Software has its way.
Last week, the company launched Coupa Ventures, a global fund that will invest US$50mn in early- and growth-stage companies that target business spend inefficiencies. “Coupa Ventures enables us to invest in a future where businesses and their suppliers can harness the power of their spend to constantly adapt, transform, and innovate”, said Rob Bernshteyn, Coupa’s Chairman and CEO.
What’s Business Spend Management (BSM)?
Let’s be honest, it doesn’t sound particularly sexy—it sounds like a subsection of the finance department. But business spend management, together with ERP (enterprise resource planning), CRM (customer relationship management) and HCM (human capital management) make up the core operating process of any company out there. When companies spend money, sign contracts, analyse supplier costs, take inventory or budget for the future, that’s BSM. Overall, business spend management is made up of three main areas: procuring materials, managing invoice, and handling expenses. Essentially, it’s the engine of the entire operation.
Why Change It Up?
According to Coupa, the next wave of BSM is now. It wasn’t always this way: in March of 2016, advisory giant Gartner claimed that BSM was dead. At that time, the firm was partly right. Companies couldn’t handle trillions of bits of data by themselves—and they were sinking as the waves of big data swept over their heads.
But recent developments have meant that BSM isn’t fated to die just yet. “The key to optimisation is data—and not just any data”, Coupa stated. The company has supported community intelligence, in which machine learning uses anonymised data from hundreds or thousands of client companies to suggest better spend tactics. This way, companies can get better insight into their suppliers, track supply chain disruptions, and investigate procurement alternatives.
This network effect is part of what makes Coupa Ventures so exciting. Said Eric Christopher, co-founder and CEO of Zylo, “We’re excited to join an expansive ecosystem of customers, suppliers, and partners”.
First Companies in the Ventures Portfolio
- Zylo, a leading SaaS management platform that helps companies manage cloud-based applications, offers visibility into what software is being used, how much is present, and how a company can optimise its software investments.
- SourceDay, a leading supply chain performance solution, bridges the gap between a company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) and its supply chain network.
At SourceDay, Coupa’s investment is heralded as a chance for the company to really take off. “The investment from Coupa Ventures will...enable our joint customers to save money and leverage supplier performance as a competitive edge”, said Tom Kieley, SourceDay CEO. “We’re honoured to expand our relationship with the Coupa ecosystem”.
Looking ahead, Coupa will capitalise on community intelligence to help its partners make smarter spending decisions. “[Organisations will] place bets on which investments will quickly pay off to accelerate their growth and resilience in the post-pandemic economy”, said J.J. Freitag, senior vice president of Corporate Development at Coupa. “[And] we’re looking to back the best ideas across Europe and beyond to help businesses build back even stronger”.


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Visitors using the campgrounds at Lake Mendocino can no longer pay with cash or checks, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers reported this week.
According to the USACE, campers must provide a credit or debit card to pay for campgrounds at the park. Also, visitors must make reservations online through www.recreation.gov, or by calling 1-877-444-6777.
Campers can make same-day reservations, but they are strongly encouraged to make them in advance to ensure sites will be available.
Visitors who arrive at the park without a reservation can call the number or go online to pay for open campsites. Once payment is made, a confirmation letter will be e-mailed. Campers need to have paid for a site and received a confirmation letter before setting up camp.
For more information, call the Lake Mendocino office at 467-4200.


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BY D’ARCY EGAN
Local women Kassie Anderson and Jennifer Staib have opened the first Virtual Reality entertainment center in Port Clinton and all of Northwest Ohio, with their Visions VR bringing a wide variety of games, tours and educational content to its new location.
The woman have totally renovated a space at 1632 E. Perry Street in Port Clinton, in the Basset’s Market Plaza, to bring one of the hottest topics in the entertainment industry to the area. They will have a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony and Open House to celebrate their Grand Opening of Visions VR on Friday, Aug. 7 at Noon.
“It is the first Virtual Reality Entertainment Center in Northwest Ohio,” said Staib. “There are only about 100 virtual reality centers in the United States, and only about 600 in the entire world.”
In the gaming world, virtual reality has become popular for players, who use a headset to enter a completely digital world. Visions VR supplies the virtual reality headset and controls, with players testing their skills as a single player, a two-player team or creating teams of up to six players.
Visions VR provides a small environment for the gamers, but with space to move around. In team play, members have comfortable couches for watching the action, as well as watching what is appearing on each gamer’s head set.
“Port Clinton is a wonderful area for the virtual reality concept,” said Staib. “It will appeal to local residents, as well as tourists. That is the reason we decided to be open year-round. It’s affordable to play, as well.”
To assure safety, Virtual VR provides all of the equipment and uses a device called a Cleanbox to sterilize its headsets. The Cleanbox has been lab-tested to kill 99.9% of bacteria, fungi and virus, including COVID-19. Disposable covers and sanitizing wipes are also employed.
“Our experiences include virtual escape rooms and tours, immersive documentaries and short films,” said Staib. “And, of course, amazing games.”
The gaming world has exploded, and Visions VR has a wide variety of catalogs of games to play. Today’s technology is significantly better than five or 10 years ago, with the graphics more immersive and VR platforms that appeal to audiences of all ages.
“Visions VR is a fun experience for the whole family, especially young players and even local businesses. There are platforms that businesses can use to train employees.”
Visions VR will be expanding to educational training films, and expanding team building. It is more than games, according Kassie Anderson, and also a lot of fun.
“A couple of our favorites include a journey to the ocean depths, where you’ll find yourself eye-to-eye with a giant squid and a highly competitive, multi-player game similar to laser tag that takes place on platforms in a futuristic city,” said Anderson.
Visions VR is also featuring beverages and snacks from local stores, such as the Great Lakes Popcorn Company, Toft’s Ice Cream and the Catawba Island Brewing Company, the latter adding its custom root beer to the mix.


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In mid 2018, Facebook’s Onavo VPN app was skewered by critics for being nothing more than spyware in disguise. The social media giant was using the free VPN to collect extensive data on users and to monitor their rivals. After all of this was discovered, Apple booted the app from their app store.
However, a report by TechCrunch has revealed that Facebook has been using a very similar app called Facebook Research that goes even further. The app pays users $20 in e-gift cards to install it and grant it root certificate access, which means it can monitor virtually anything the user does online. It targets a variety of demographics, but one of the main targets are children ages 13-17.
If it’s not obvious why this is a problem, let us explain:
- They are exposing users to unnecessary risks. The root certificate grants Facebook’s app the right to monitor almost anything the device does online – not just on Facebook or its apps. This unprecedented level of access can expose users to extraordinary risks. What if a rogue Facebook employee accesses the system collecting people’s data? What if hackers access the system?
- They are invading your privacy on a whole new level. Root certificate access grants them unprecedented new opportunities to invade your private life. They can read your messages on other apps. They can view any files you send, whether or not you want them to be seen. They can see what your camera sends and listen to your microphone broadcasts. They can listen to calls. They can watch everything you do when using apps online. Do you trust anyone with that type of access to your phone?
- They’re taking advantage of uninformed users. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg was accused of being tone-deaf during his annual speech, but this project is even worse. In the wake of the many privacy scandals Facebook caused in 2018, they should be taking a step back to evaluate how much they intrude into people’s lives. Instead, we can see that they’ve ignored the public outcry by continuing to develop this invasive program.
- They are targeting kids. $20 will seem like a lot to many children ages 13-17 still dependent on their parents. So will the referral bonuses they get for involving their friends. These children may not yet understand how much of their privacy they’re giving up and what sort of risks they’re exposing themselves to. Fortunately, children are required to present parental consent forms to participate, but it’s possible that some will have lied about their age to make some pocket money from themselves.
- They are ignoring rules made to keep you safe. Facebook’s initial attempts were partially thwarted when Apple threw their free VPN, Onavo, out of the app store. Apple did this because the app violated its rules designed to keep users safe and private. This time, Facebook is simply asking users to side-load the app and bypass the store altogether.
- They are behaving unethically. Facebook is paying users and demanding dangerous root certificate access in part to spy on their competitors. This is ethically questionable as it is, but it’s also ethically questionable to recruit users and violate their security and privacy to do so.
- They have been trying to hide their actions. Users only discover that the app is run by Facebook once they’re signing up. Until then, it is referred to as Project Atlas. This may have helped the program evade the public eye for quite some time.
After TechCrunch published their damning report, Facebook has deactivated its iOS Facebook Research app, but there’s no word on when or if the Android version will be deactivated.
It’s clear that Facebook learned the wrong lesson from a year filled with privacy scandals. Instead of reducing their invasiveness and respecting users’ privacy, they are dialing up their monitoring powers to make even more money.
If you have agreed to use Facebook Research, we suggest discontinuing use and removing it. Ask if your children are using it, and if they are, remove it (and give them $20 so they don’t need to sign up for any sketchy apps).
As Facebook continues to ignore public concerns about privacy, it may also be worth reconsidering the social media service’s role in your own life.
Lastly, remember – if an app is free, it’s probably making money off of you. If it’s paying you to use it, you’re definitely giving up something important!
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Apple Just Became First Trillion-Dollar Company from the US
After a record financial quarter—and expectations of new iPhones in the fall—investors briefly pushed Apple’s market capitalisation over $1 trillion on Thursday, August 2nd, 2018.
Apple recorded $53.3 billion in income for the last quarter and made $11.5 billion in benefit—a 32% expansion in benefit over a similar quarter a year ago. This was amid the quarter that is viewed as “moderate,” as it falls before the season when Apple ordinarily discharges a slate of new items.
Though an American organisation had never been esteemed at $1 trillion, Apple isn’t the first on the planet to cross this development as Chinese oil organisation PetroChina hit $1 trillion in showcase top in 2007. (It has since slammed and lost 80% of its valuation.) Privately held Aramco, the Saudi oil monster, esteemed at $2 trillion by investors, isn’t yet made public.
Another way to attempt to show how massive an amount the number one trillion represents, consider that the average apple picker in the US picks about 15,500 lbs of apples per day. To pick 1 trillion pounds, it would take about 176,756 years.
Do you think Apple would stay on this level for long or they would crash like their Chinese counterpart?


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Salesforce urges EU to probe Microsoft, Linkedin antitrust issues
BRUSSELS U.S. software company Salesforce called on EU regulators on Thursday to investigate antitrust issues related to Microsoft's $26 billion bid for social network LinkedIn.
NEW YORK HTC Corp said its latest smartphone, the HTC One, will roll out in three countries next week, but sales will be delayed in North America and other countries in Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.
HTC, which originally said it would launch the phone in 80 countries in March, said in a statement on Friday that sales would not kick off before the end of April across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region.
The smartphone maker has been under pressure from bigger rivals Apple Inc and Samsung Electronics Co.
The company said it has seen "unprecedented demand for and interest in" the new smartphone.
"We appreciate our customers' patience, and believe that once they have the phone in their hands they will agree that it has been worth the wait," HTC said.
(Reporting By Sinead Carew; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)
NXP Semiconductors NV is exploring selling itself to Qualcomm Inc in a deal that could be valued at more than $30 billion, two sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.
Microsoft Corp said on Thursday it created a new artificial intelligence unit, as the company pushes deeper into the fast-growing field.


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How The Ashes 2021 has become a gateway for brands for rural outreach
A cricket series steeped in history, marking the traditional rivalry between two great cricketing nations – England and Australia – has today also become an event for brands in India to reach out to rural markets. One of the most spectacular sporting events in the history of cricket, the Ashes is regarded as the platinum standard of test cricket, and this year, both Australia and England are at almost par with each other, having won 33 and 32 series, respectively.
The Ashes 2021 got underway from December 8, 2021 and will continue till January 18, 2022. The series is being aired across Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) channels SONY SIX, SONY TEN 3, and SONY TEN 4, as well as live streamed on the network’s OTT platform, SonyLIV.
In a bid to widen the viewer base for the series, for the first time, Sony has made it easier for cricket fans across India to watch the Test series in four languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu.
The Sony network has already roped in quite a few advertisers for this elevated series, including BYJU’S, Vodafone, Policy Bazaar, Siggnature Elaichi, Bosch Appliances, Dafa News, Layer'r Shot, among others.
So, how will the series help brands especially in targeting the regional markets? The fact that a non-India series is being broadcast in many languages is expected to increase the game’s appeal in the hinterlands. Here’s how the trade community decodes the Ashes’ potential in the smaller markets of India.
While explaining how the Ashes 2021 series will benefit the TV industry, Sujata Dwibedy, Group Trading Director, Amplifi India, Dentsu, noted that the TV industry has already rebounded. Dwibedy pointed out, “IPL, World Cup, and India-New Zealand kind of accelerated it along with the other reality shows around the festive season. Ashes would be a great series to watch, but it will mainly be viewed by cricket loyalists and not the average Indian viewers. The viewing dips on all non-India matches even in A-League series and the World Cup. IPL works because it is more of family entertainment and every match has Indian players! Also, we have seen that Test formats garner much lower numbers than One Day or T20 formats. So, Ashes 2021 would do better than any other Non-India Test matches played, but not sure what more it would contribute to the TV industry. The viewing would have been better on OTT, SonyLIV, than on TV; however, we must watch out for the impressions.”
Sony Pictures Sports Network (SPSN) has worked hard to ensure that the historic series reaches a large audience base and provides them with a worthwhile experience. The channel has also brought in some seasoned commentators to cover the series, which will be broadcast in four distinct languages for the first time.
Terming it as a great move, Dwibedy said that the series will help increase the reach across markets. “This would give male-centric brands in regional markets a great opportunity to advertise. It will also attract the retail brands, considering that regional entertainment channels are also priced very high these days, but the question remains on the numbers and the delivery,” she added.
Sharing his views on how regional brands will be benefited from this series, Navin Lachandi, VP - Media Buying, Starcom, said that brands trying to establish a foothold in regional markets will undoubtedly consider ashes. “India’s telecast cricket has been played in different languages for quite some time. However, the fact that a non-India series is being broadcast in many languages may increase the game’s appeal to cricket fans. Hence, the global and national brands looking out to reach the regional part of India will be benefited a lot,” he opined.
B Sridhar, Group Director - Media Services, Innocean Worldwide Communication, while sharing his views on Sony going for a hike in its ad tariffs after the series, remarked that a tariff hike is not practical due to lack of market propensity.
According to Sridhar, “The oldest and biggest rivalry doesn’t matter. The equation of the current day in terms of viewership determines the advertising rates. Unfortunately, the Ashes doesn’t have that working in its favour. But all said and done, I’m actually a huge cricket fanatic. I will enjoy it more as a viewer than thinking too much as a media professional.”
Sridhar further said, “I don’t see the Ashes breaking its previous records, because, for a good part of the Ashes series, the South Africa versus India series would coincide with it. You would certainly expect the India event overlapping a lot with prime time, to have much greater viewership than a non-India event. And the fact that the matches are being played Down Under, which start at about 5.30 am IST, lend themselves worthy only to the cricket fanatics to watch it.”


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How Coding is Inspiring Upcoming Entrepreneurs
By Hunter Amato — Guest Writer, Inland Empire Business Journal
Where there’s demand, there’s an entrepreneur hoping to bring a product to market. This is the day and age of computers, so it should come as no surprise to know that many of those entrepreneurs are turning to code with each passing day.
This trend doesn’t currently show any signs of stopping. As technology continues to penetrate almost every market on the face of the planet, it’s likely to continue. And with good reason! This article highlights a few of the top reasons why entrepreneurs are finding code so tantalizing.
The Fastest-Growing Industries Rely on Code
Each and every one of the Bureau of Labor Statistics’s “fastest growing occupations”, which measures growth in terms of revenue, is heavily reliant on code. That includes solar photovoltaic installers (the number one on the list with a 63% growth rate) and phlebotomists (26% growth rate).
Although these growth rates are quite shocking, they’re not too out of the ordinary. Particularly in regards to tech, growth rates tend to average about 20-30% each year, creating a massive market potential for entrepreneurs to ride in pursuit of profit.
For example, from 2012 to 2017, the field of advanced manufacturing and robotics experienced a total growth rate of 189.4%. That averages out to a positive growth rate of 37.88% per year.
The Vast Majority of Consumers Use Software to Find Business
Without knowledge of code, web development is impossible. At least, without spending thousands of dollars a year on assistance from a web developer. On the other hand, entrepreneurs who know how to code have been capitalizing on that knowledge and expanding their client base.
Research shows that at least 97% of people use the Internet to find local businesses. People don’t just walk around town looking for locksmiths or restaurants like they used to. Nowadays, they go online, Google searches a key phrase, and pick their favorite results.
That means that, if an entrepreneur doesn’t have a website, they’re going to be missing out on, on average, 97% of all available consumers. This fear of loss has proven to be quite inspiring for many modern entrepreneurs.
Code Makes It Easier to Evaluate Talent
Roughly 70% of startups fail within ten years. Of that 70%, 23% cite the primary reason for failing on not having the right team. With a thorough understanding of code, that worry takes on a much less ominous presence.
When staffing a company that deals in technology–which is just about every company on the planet in this day and age–it is critically important to have employees who know what they’re doing. If an entrepreneur doesn’t know much about code, they will find it quite difficult to hire people who do.
It’s as the old saying goes, “It takes one to know one.”
On the other hand, entrepreneurs who have a firm understanding of code that includes how to read, write, and edit it, have much better chances of weeding out the good applicants from the bad.
Most Products Are Powered by Code
Whether in the fin-tech industry or in the coal-mining industry, code powers many of the tools and equipment of the trade. In technology, the reason for that is simple and self-explanatory. Unfortunately, people have long overlooked the importance of code in most other industries.
That is a flaw that many entrepreneurs have capitalized on.
Since just about every business in every industry uses software, every entrepreneur should know how to work that software. At least, that’s the prevailing economic theory among many entrepreneurs in today’s economic climate.
High Demand for Coding Has Increased Profits
Profit is the reward for taking capital from where it is less efficiently being used and reallocating it to where it will be more efficiently used. As more industries adopt code, the importance of entrepreneurs’ understanding of code increases as well.
With more than 1 million unfulfilled programming jobs sprouting up by 2020, entrepreneurs have begun looking into ways of satisfying that unfulfilled demand. This quest led to the creation of countless startups aiming to teach coding for kids through a variety of education means.
One common technique is through the formation of partnerships between existing name brands, such as Roblox, and entrepreneurial enterprises. Roblox coding, for example, has shown to be an immensely profitable allocation of capital, inspiring many entrepreneurs to follow suit.
Code is the gift that keeps on giving. As of 2019, computer scientists have found no better way of creating versatile electronics that are capable of functioning in just about any of Earth’s conditions than through the use of code.
In fact, the importance of code is only continuing to grow. That growth, in turn, causes an increase in demand. That increase in demand has shown to be one of the primary motivators inspiring countless entrepreneurs to start coding.
So, at the end of the day, entrepreneurs are doing what they always do: go where the money is. It just so happens that code is a multi-billion-dollar industry.
Hunter Amato is a guest writer for the Inland Empire Business Journal.


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Robots already perform many traditionally human tasks, from vacuuming to surgery—and they could soon help care for the sick and elderly. But until they can convincingly discern and mimic emotions, their caretaker value will be severely limited. In an effort to create “friendlier” machines, researchers are developing robotic helpers that can better read and react to social signals.
In late 2016 IBM unveiled the Multi-Purpose Eldercare Robot Assistant (MERA), a customized version of the Pepper robot developed by SoftBank. Pepper, an ivory-colored android about the height of a seven-year-old, can detect and respond to human emotions via vocal cues and facial expressions. It has already been deployed as a friendly assistant in Japanese stores and homes.
MERA, specifically designed as an at-home companion for the elderly, records and analyzes videos of a person’s face and calculates vital signs such as heart and breathing rates.
Read more: Grandma’s Little Robot


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IndiGG, the Indian subdivision of the Yield Guild Games, has announced a strategic partnership with Delysium. The IndiGG newsletter regarding the announcement reached the internet on May 23. The game is still in the development stage, so users can check it out using the test build.
Delysium is a trailblazer in the field of AAA standard open-world games in web3. This gameplay involves several modes, including PVP, PVE, and UGC editor. In the game, they are named Battle Mode, Adventure Mode, and Creative Mode, respectively.
The Battle Mode in the game comprises three different gaming experiences, namely Casual Royal, Battle Royal, and Open Battle. The developers would also create several other modes like assaults, raids, and deathmatches in the future for PVP gameplay.
As for the PVE gameplay, the Adventure Mode will bring in more plots and subplots for players to climb up the ladder. There will be specific missions, side quests, and gateways where players can encounter various characters for a thrilling experience. The PVE modes will unlock new stories as players progress through each plot.
Finally, the Creative Mode is from where user contributions to the ecosystem come. Delysium has developed a set of editors that can be used on different items and assets in the game. Users can get creative and put their skills to good use in Creative Mode.
The integration with IndiGG is one of the milestones before the game’s full release. IndiGG is not just the subdivision of Yield Guild Games but also the first sub-DAO for play-to-earn gaming in India. So, it will be an excellent opportunity for Delysium to expand to broader gaming communities from the regions of India.
As per the newsletter, IndiGG has already secured exclusive accessories and weapons from Delysium for the community members. These NFT-based assets are meant to keep the guild members in good fashion in the game. Moreover, members of IndiGG will be able to buy, sell or trade their assets with other users in the game.
Being an official partner, the sub-DAO members will get priority in the upcoming web3 developments and features. By joining the guild, players will also be able to access play-to-earn features for the game.
The roadmap of the sub-DAO confirms that the partnership with Delysium will be a long-term commitment. India will support the game on its way toward mass adoption in India. The support will mostly come from eSports events and other community-based activities. Given it is a Polygon-powered sub-DAO, Delysium could potentially reach out to other NFT and GameFi projects.
On the other hand, Delysium would be a lucrative addition to the IndiGG portfolio as it hopes to acquire India’s wider gaming market.


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WIT STUDIO has been cranking out some incredible anime over the past decade, from the first three seasons of Attack on Titan to Ranking of Kings, SPY x FAMILY and beyond. With this year marking its 10th anniversary, the studio is getting in on the celebration with the launch of an official exhibition.
WIT STUDIO 10th -Aim Higher- is set to kick off next month in Japan, and will be held at Ikebukuro PARCO Main Building 7F PARCO FACTORY. Original art and never-before-seen production materials will be on display and there will be special goods available to purchase throughout the exhibition’s run.
That run is currently planned for May 27 to June 20, offering up just a little under a month of WIT STUDIO excitement. Check out the visual for the event:


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The event, held over three weeks in September and October, attracted an audience of almost 60,000 people, with 60 per cent of ticket buyers coming from outside the Wellington region specifically to attend WOW. Those people generated 67,247 visitor nights and spending of more than $19 million.
The economic evaluation of last year’s event, undertaken by Fresh Info, found each of those visitors spent on average $646 and $287 per visitor night. In total the gross economic contribution to the region was $30,313,656.
World of WearableArt Chief Executive Meg Williams said WOW was proud of the role the event plays in Wellington and “delights in helping this special creative city show off all it has to offer”.
“Throughout the season hoteliers, retailers and restaurateurs were telling us what a buzz and boost WOW brings and it’s great to have that feedback reinforced by this fantastic economic impact result. We take great pride in delivering to this wonderful city economically as well as creatively, and know our visiting audience absolutely love their time in Wellington.”
Heidi Morton, WellingtonNZ’s General Manager of Events and Experiences, said WOW continues to enthral audiences with its breath-taking originality and remains a favourite must-see event.
“The WOW season is a highlight on Wellington’s cultural calendar – not only is it spectacular but last year attracted 600 international visitors. Together with more than 31,000 visitors from all over New Zealand, they dined in our restaurants, stayed in our hotels and shopped in our retail outlets ultimately benefiting a wide range of people.
”In addition to providing strong economic results the evaluation found 93% of Wellingtonians who went to WOW agreed or strongly agreed that hosting events like this increased their pride in the Wellington region.
“WOW underlines the value to Wellington in hosting major events,” Heidi Morton said.
“Last year’s FIFA Women’s World Cup had a net benefit to the city of $24.6 million. Over summer Wellington has an exciting line-up of major events including the Foo Fighters performing at Sky Stadium on January 27, the Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Festival opening on February 23 followed by Jim Beam Homegrown music festival on March 16 and the Australian men’s and women’s cricket teams playing at the Basin Reserve.
“And of course, WOW will be back in September.”
The 2023 WOW Show had a satisfaction rating of 96%, with 86% of ticket buyers saying they’d attend again, said Ms Williams.
“We have an incredible 2024 WOW Show in the works and can’t wait to share it with audiences later this year. Our near perfect satisfaction rating shows people are loving the creative developments we’ve made in the past few years and feel that experiencing WOW in Wellington is money well spent.”
Tickets to the 2024 WOW Show go on sale to the general public on Tuesday April 9.
About the WOW Show in Wellington
The WOW Show has been held annually in Wellington since 2005 and is the city’s most significant annual event. As an internationally recognised design competition and performance, WOW plays a critical role in enhancing Wellington’s reputation as a creative and culturally vibrant city. The event attracts entrants from more than 40 countries, with designers creating extraordinary works of wearable art that are brought to life on stage in a world class theatrical extravaganza. The 2023 Supreme Award winner was Nelson designer Gill Saunders.


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GLENVILLE, W.Va. (WDTV)- The only grocery store in Gilmer County is struggling to stock its shelves, leaving many of you frustrated and worried.
"We don't know when we go to the store whether we're going to be able to get a gallon of milk or a loaf of bread," said Linda Fisher-Brannon.
Fisher-Brannon isn't the only person who wants answers. As she's watched the store shelves become emptier her mind has gotten more full of worries, especially for her senior friends.
"A lot of them cannot travel out of the county," she said. "Some of them depend on other transportation."
"This was a major concern that I had not just for my family, but for all the seniors," added Judy Cole.
There are some smaller stores close by that aren't specifically grocery stores, but for a community Cole believes has so much, why not easy access to food? She worries the lack of selection will affect her family's diet and it's already affected her wallet.
"Some of the things that they had were just priced so high that on a limited income, fixed income, I just left with vegetables," Cole said. "I had canned goods, but I didn't have actual meat so it's a major, major concern. And I saw other seniors in there leaving with nothing as well."
This all isn't lost on Foodland's owners. The vice president of Facemire Foods Inc. says big businesses like Walmart and Kroger are killing independent companies. Vice President Corey Facemire says they've been working on logistical and inventory issues. He hopes a truckload coming Tuesday morning will be the beginning of more consistent truck deliveries.
"We greatly appreciate and value those customers and going forward we're gonna do as best we can to facilitate their needs," Facemire said. "I understand the people in Glenville want to have a local grocery store that they can be proud of and I want to give them a local grocery store that they can be proud of."
Facemire believes the truckload of food Tuesday morning will be the beginning of getting things back to normal.


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Bon-Ton Stores bid farewell to Tony Buccina by roasting him at the headquarters in Milwaukee earlier this month. Bon-Ton’s 61-year-old vice chairman and president of merchandising retired Feb. 15 after 20 years and one day with the company.
Buccina was greeted with a gladiator helmet, seated on a throne, subjected to a round of “Tony Jeopardy” with such categories as “Tonyisms” and “More Tonyisms,” and presented with Bon-Ton’s version of the Vince Lombardi trophy. Nostalgia reigned, with a steady flow of video clips of his career with tributes from executives over the years. “I’ve loved all of the characters I’ve met over the years. I couldn’t have asked for a better or more caring group of people to work with than everyone at Bon-Ton,” Buccina said.
“Tony has taught me so much in the short year that we have worked together,” said Brendan Hoffman, who became Bon-Ton’s president and chief executive officer in February 2012. Buccina joined Bon-Ton as the ready-to-wear general merchandise manager, rose to executive vice president of merchandising, then president of merchandising, and ultimately added the vice chairman title. He began his career as a trainee at Kaufmanns and also worked at Gantos, Weinstocks and Meier & Frank. All of these stores were either liquidated or folded into other retailers.


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The current £1 coin is to be replaced by a 12-sided coin from March next year, the government has announced.
The coin is being replaced for the first time in over 30 years to protect against sophisticated counterfeiters and is being labelled the most secure coin in circulation around the world by the Royal Mint.
Levels of counterfeit £1 coins have been as high as 3% in the past few years, equating to around 45 million coins. The new coin will aim to reduce the costs of counterfeits to businesses and the taxpayer.
There will be a six-month period of co-circulation of both £1 coins before the current coin is phased out. The Royal Mint has stated that it will work with key industries and businesses to assist them and raise awareness of the coin before its 2017 launch.
ACS chief executive James Lowman said: “81% of transactions in convenience stores are cash based and many retailers utilise coin operated machines for services like coffee and through self-service tills, so we expect some disruption in stores as employees and the public get used to the new £1 coin and while stores go through the process of adapting their machines. We are working with the Bank of England to communicate changes to retailers and ensure minimal disruption.”


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Koo Bon-moo, the chairman of South Korea’s fourth largest conglomerate that was the first to adopt a transparent shareholding structure among its units, has died. He was 73.
Koo died Sunday at 9:52 a.m. Seoul time as he did not seek extension of life after falling ill a year ago, according to LG Group in an emailed statement.
The patriarch will be succeeded by his adopted son, Koo Kwang-mo, 40, who was nominated to the board of LG Corp. on Thursday pending the approval of shareholders on June 29. Chairman Koo underwent multiple brain surgeries in recent years, Yonhap News Agency reported earlier.
He was the third generation of his family to run the conglomerate, known locally as the chaebol or “wealth clique,” after taking over the helm from his father in 1995. Koo adopted the holding company structure in 2003 and the group was later divided into four smaller parts, with Koo keeping the electronics, chemical and telecommunications businesses under his helm.
Under Koo’s leadership, LG Group moved into businesses such as car batteries and energy in search for new revenue. LG Chem Ltd. has grown into a leading car-battery maker, providing its products to such automakers as Ford Motor Co. and Renault SA. In 2015, LG Electronics Inc. struck a deal to co-develop General Motors Co.’s Bolt electric vehicle.
During the 23 years Koo led the group, sales at LG Group increased more than five times to 160 trillion won in 2017 from 30 trillion won in late 1994, even after the tech giant’s spin-offs of affiliates to GS and LS groups in early 2000s. The number of employees doubled to 210,000 in the same period.


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Actual economists have weighed in on whether the fast food industry could survive a $15 minimum wage, and surprise, surprise, their answer is a resounding yes. Boy, I can't wait to see how classists are going to argue with this one.
The report, from Robert Pollin and Jeanette Wicks-Lim of the Political Economy Research Institute of the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, found that if the minimum wage of $7.25 were raised to $15 over a period of four years, the fast food industry would be able to "fully absorb" the wage increase without any limit to its profit margin. The increased labor costs would be off-set by a reduction in turnover (a factor the International Franchise Association and other wage slavery apologists always seem to conveniently ignore) and slight increases in prices (specifically, the study assumes a 3% increase in prices per year, for a total increase of 12%). This leads the report to conclude that "achieving a $15 federal minimum wage within the U.S....should be seen as a realistic prospect."
These price increases are, again, pretty minimal: on a fast food meal of $7.25, they come out to roughly 22 cents per year. People have commented in the past that fast food companies couldn't raise prices on anything because they've obviously figured out that however much they charge now is how much they could possibly charge without driving business away, duh, but this is a stupid point for a couple reasons. First, it assumes there's some hard number and that fast food companies aren't ultimately guessing at the specific price that would turn people away, and more importantly, it assumes that only one fast food chain would have to raise it's prices, whereas under a minimum wage increase, all of them would do so.
People who eat fast food are going to continue eating fast food if it costs 22 cents more per year (especially if a lot of them have more money to spend thanks to a wage increase) — the only concern was that a price increase at one chain would drive them to another competing chain. But if every chain has to raise their prices by the same percentage, suddenly that point becomes entirely irrelevant, as the report itself makes a point to discuss.
This seems an opportune time to once again point out that in many other countries, fast food workers are paid living hourly wages, and the country's fast food economy has utterly failed to collapse into a post-apocalyptic mire. The International Franchise Association and those like them keep beating the drum that profits are the only thing that matter for society, when we all know they're really the only thing that matters for them. It's not surprising that they'd conflate their interests with the interests of the country as a whole, but it's either delusional, disingenuous, or some combination thereof.
The American people should matter more than the companies they work for, and it's long past time for the law to actually recognize that.
Image via a katz/Shutterstock.


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Independent retailer completes £100,000 refurb to encourage shoppers back to town centre
A destination store in Lurgan has completed a multi-storey, £100,000 refurbishment.
Owners of Alana Interiors, Carol and Ian Little invested in an overhaul of the store and café to provide a more spacious and safer store experience in the wake of the pandemic, in the hope that more people will come out and support their local town centres and small businesses.
Carol, who has run the store for the past 25 years, more recently with her daughter Libby and a team of 40 says not only did they need to invest to reflect the way people are shopping, but what they are shopping for.
Carol said: “Alana Interiors has always sold homeware, from cushions and candles to dining and sofas, alongside a huge range of some of the top fashion labels in the world, but the way we live at home has now changed forever, while open plan living surged in the past decade, we’re now considering our own needs for space and how we work, socialise and live in our homes.
“The most recent lockdown gave us the perfect opportunity to slightly pivot our business and invest in the look of our store and grow our homeware ranges. Shopper safety and trust is also forefront in our minds, so we need to create that safe space for them to shop and get back out there to support our small towns and villages and the businesses that operate in them.”
The investment includes an entirely new fit-out of the two-floor retail space and the first-floor café, adapting and refitting the space from serve-over counter to table service, fitting in with Covid restriction guidelines. There will be a small number of outdoor tables available from April 30 alongside the current takeaway service before the upstairs café reopens on May 24.
Carol continued: “We have looked at current trends and created an outdoor living area with a range of products for the garden, outdoor dining and entertaining as we know outdoor socialising is key for this summer. These changes will help future proof our business by keeping up with consumer behaviour and trends and we can further evolve throughout the summer and into winter.”
After the latest announcement by the NI Executive that non-essential retail can reopen, Carol says she hopes shoppers here will help their local towns bounce back: “This has been the most challenging four months of all the restrictions, especially when small businesses have seen bigger multiples start to move into their territory. Now is the time for us to show the resilience that the independent retail sector in Northern Ireland has and for our local shoppers to trust that we will be there to provide a safe and reliable service.
“We know our customers are excited to get back through the doors and we can’t wait to welcome them and hopefully meet some new faces too.”
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