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News: Analysis & Commentary: AIRLINES
COFFEE, TEA--AND ON-TIME ARRIVAL
Customer satisfaction is a top priority at airlines again
To many American travelers, airline quality is an oxymoron. Ted J. Kreder, director of hobby sales for Dallas-based trading-card company Pinnacle Brands Inc., complains of frequent flight cancellations, late arrivals, and lousy food. "It's a function of some of the downsizing," he says. "Service suffers."
To the surprise of skeptical passengers, the gripes aren't falling on deaf ears. After years of focusing on paring expenses, such major airlines as American, Delta, and Continental are stepping up their quality efforts. Cost-cutting "diverted our attention from the nuts and bolts of our business," concedes American Airlines Inc. Chief Executive Robert L. Crandall. "Our customers have noticed."
American, which once dubbed itself the "on-time machine," placed a dismal No.9 among 10 carriers in on-time rankings for the third quarter of 1996. So, Crandall told managers at a recent meeting that leading all industry-quality rankings is their job No.1 for 1997. An American spokesman won't provide specifics, but says: "We're talking about a lot of operational things, like customer comfort on board airplanes."
At Delta Air Lines Inc., customer complaints have nearly doubled since 1994--and CEO Ronald W. Allen blames the pursuit of lower costs. "In some cases, we did cut too deeply," he says. Trans World Airlines Inc., now in the cellar for on-time and customer complaint rankings by the Transportation Dept., is getting the message, too. After on-time arrivals dropped under 50% during the holidays, and cancellations climbed, managers warned workers to get back to basics.
With record profits of $3.5 billion last year and even better results expected in 1997, the industry can afford to give quality more attention. And with airfares rising, "they have to show customers they're getting more for those dollars, even if it's lip service," says Michael D. Boult, a manager at Rosenbluth International Inc., a travel agency. The airlines also are finding out that poor quality can be costly: American's expenses for lost and damaged bags jumped 25% last year, to $30 million. And because of slipping on-time performance, overtime rose 50% from 1994, costing an extra $27 million.
Fueling the quality drive is the stunning turnaround at Continental Airlines Inc., where for two years CEO Gordon M. Bethune has hammered away at the theme. Once near the bottom of Transportation rankings, Continental is now one of the best in on-time performance, baggage handling, and customer complaints. And last year it won the prestigious J.D. Power & Associates Inc. award for highest customer satisfaction on long-haul flights. Bethune claims to be grabbing market share among business travelers from American and others. "We've been kicking their butts," boasts Bethune.
Of course, the airlines won't return to the service wars that raged in pre-deregulation days, when carriers featured piano players on jumbo jets and free Chivas Regal. Instead, they are targeting such fundamentals as safety, reliability, and cleanliness. "Corporate clients are not only demanding [discounts], they're also demanding that the basics be done right," says travel consultant John W. Nelson.
CLEANER LAVS. In response to passenger surveys that linked cleanliness to quality and safety perceptions, Northwest Airlines Inc. recently beefed up its cleaning regimen. It now gives a steam cleaning and deodorizing to lavatories on its DC-10s every nine days instead of every 14. America West, which suffered service problems this summer due to rapid growth, has added 60 mechanics to speed repairs, upgraded food, and installed in-flight phones and entertainment systems at every seat. Delta says it wants to polish its image by restoring meals on some flights and by rehiring hundreds of baggage handlers, gate agents, and customer service reps.
Jaded coach passengers aren't expecting first-class treatment anytime soon. "The product is bad, and it's going to stay that way, as near as I can tell," says Ed Perkins, editor of Consumer Reports Travel Letter. It's up to the airlines to prove such doubters wrong.By Wendy Zellner in Dallas, with bureau reportsReturn to top


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Earlier this year, Critical Role raised millions of dollars on Kickstarter to create The Legend of Vox Machina animated special produced by Titmouse (see "'CriticalRole' Raises Millions"). The campaign funding total ballooned to over $11.3 million, enough to fund a 10-episode season, and it became the most-funded TV, film, or animated project in Kickstarter history. Amazon Prime then stepped in and ordered an additional 14 episodes, bringing the total to 24 episodes to be streamed over the course of two seasons.
“Critical Role blazed a new trail for original digital content, with fresh new voices and humor that earned devoted fans around the world, as evidenced by their wildly successful Kickstarter campaign,” Amazon Studios Head Jennifer Salke said. “We’re thrilled to work with the whole team to bring The Legend of Vox Machina, and new Critical Role series, to our Prime Video customers.”
Critical Role: The Legend of Vox Machina is an adult animated series about a group of second-rate adventurers as they battle monsters and dark magical forces to save the realm. The series will star the original characters from Critical Role.
“Teaming with Prime Video to deliver the series to fans across the globe is exciting and surreal -- and we’re psyched to be able to tell even more stories with not just one, but two 12-episode seasons!” said Sam Riegel and Travis Willingham, the executive producers and cast members of the series.

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For most of us, Christmas feels a long way off. For online retailers, the festive season is approaching like an out-of-control freight train. It’s no secret that retail brands have been hurting in recent years. The global financial crisis quickly changed consumers’ spending habits at the same time as digital communications was changing the marketing and product discovery landscape. The result: brand loyalty has been eroded, and consumers have been flocking to online shopping to quickly and easily compare prices and offers.Many brands realise the world will not return to the way it was and have responded by investing heavily in e-commerce and online marketing. It can be confusing to know the right formula for your customers, so let’s explore three key principles e-commerce sites need to master.
Device optimisation. Making your site look great and function well on mobile devices is no longer optional. A recent e-consultancy report said “62 per cent of companies that designed a website specifically for mobile had increased sales". And a Margin Media report stated, “48 per cent of users say that if they arrive on a business site that isn’t working well on mobile, they take it as an indication of the business simply not caring". You can go down the responsive design path, meaning your site will adjust to suit the available screen space, or you can build specifically for mobile devices. Either way, your customers will visit your site on their mobile phones so the investment will be worth it.
Communication automation. When it comes to converting potential customer interest to sales, communication is vitally important. When the shopper is in control of how and when they shop, automating the points of communication is essential. Spend time mapping out points where sending a helpful message to the customer could make a difference. For example:if someone signs up to your site; if a customer puts items in a cart but doesn’t complete the purchase; letting a customer know how shipping is progressing; and following up after a customer makes a purchase are all moments that can boost your brand. And it makes a difference. A recent study from Gartner noted that “companies that automate lead management see a 10 per cent or greater increase in revenue in six to nine months".
Social media integration. According to Nielsen, “approximately 46 per cent of online users count on social media when making a purchase decision". Social media should be integrated deeply into your e-commerce website and considered an essential tool, not an afterthought. Levi’s increased web referral traffic by 40 per cent after integrating social media to its site. Adding social integration gives your customers a chance to talk about you and refer your brand easily. Who wouldn’t want that?
Getting an e-commerce site to work well takes time and effort, but will produce a great return. And you have time to get it all running before Christmas.
Mark Cameron is the chief executive of customer experience agency Working Three.


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In the US and across the globe, there might be no news source more iconic and historic than The New York Times (NYSE:NYT). Made famous for its long-running newspaper, some investors may view the company as a relic of the past. But the fact of the matter is that while the legacy operations of the company are slowly in decline, it does have a large and rapidly growing side to it that should create value for investors in the long run. Previously, I had been bullish on the company. Long term, I remain that way. But in light of slowing growth and rising costs, I do think it would be wise for investors to take a more cautious approach to the business for now. Once these pressures ease up, if they do, then upside might still be material moving forward. But in the meantime, it may make sense to look elsewhere for attractive upside.
Read all about it
The last time I wrote an article about The New York Times was back in April of this year. In that article, I talked about the company’s continued attractive growth on the digital side of the business. This is the digital subscription that individuals and companies pay for in order to access the company’s content. I was particularly impressed with the robust cash flows of the enterprise. Even so, I did acknowledge that shares were pricey at the time and that near-term upside might be limited. But even with that being the case, I felt as though the long-term trajectory of the company was worth paying that lofty price for. This led me to reiterate my ‘buy’ rating on its stock, reflecting my belief at the time that it should generate performance that is greater than what the broader market could achieve for the foreseeable future. Since then, however, the business has under-delivered. While the S&P 500 is down 9.5%, shares of The New York Times are down double that at 19%.
Normally, when you see a return disparity of this size, it’s because the fundamental condition of the company in question is worsening. To some degree, this is the case. But in addition to that, it also relates to the fact that shares are looking rather lofty at this time. To see what I mean, we should first touch on how the company has performed during its 2022 fiscal year. After all, when I last wrote about the company, we only had data covering through the end of 2021. We now have data covering through the third quarter of 2022. According to management, revenue with the company so far this year has been $1.64 billion . That’s 10.8% higher than the $1.48 billion reported the same time last year.
There are many working parts that make up this number. For instance, the first thing we should look at would be the total number of paid subscribers to the company’s products. As of the end of the latest quarter, this number came in at 9.33 million. This represents a significant improvement over the 7.35 million that the company reported the same time last year. Even with this number, though, we can dig deeper. It really is comprised of both digital-only and print subscribers. Over this window of time, the number of print subscribers has declined from 806,000 to 740,000. However, the number of paid digital-only subscribers shot up from 6.55 million to 8.59 million. The dark side to this increase though is that ARPU for digital-only subscribers fell from $9.64 to $8.87. It is worth noting that there’s a difference between subscribers and subscriptions. One subscriber can actually have more than one subscription. For instance, as of the end of the latest quarter, the company actually had 10.75 million subscriptions, up from the 8.43 million that it had one year earlier. On the digital-only side, this number rose from 7.63 million in the third quarter of last year to 10.02 million the same time this year. Meanwhile, the number for print subscriptions dropped from 795,000 to 730,000. Advertising revenue for the company also improved, climbing from $320.78 million to $344.12 million. Actual print advertising revenue for the company shockingly increased during this time, rising from $123.31 million to $137.53 million. Meanwhile, digital-only advertising rose more modestly from $197.47 million to $206.59 million.
Although the revenue and subscription data for The New York Times looks impressive, there was some weakness on the bottom line. Net income fell from $150.1 million in the first three quarters of 2021 to $103.1 million the same time this year. This was driven by multiple factors. For instance, the cost of revenue for the company grew from 51.3% of sales in the first nine months of last year to 53.4% this year. This was largely due to higher journalism costs, higher subscriber servicing costs, higher print production and distribution costs, an increase in digital content delivery costs, and higher advertising servicing costs. A good portion of this increase, approximately $45.9 million, or 39.1% of the rise, was attributable to the company’s acquisition of The Atlantic. Over the same window of time, other costs for the company increased. The biggest involved a 24.7% surge in product development expenses. This increase, management said, was mostly due to growth in the number of digital product development employees that the company has in connection with its digital subscription strategic initiatives. The inclusion of product development costs from The Atlantic also contributed to this. Other profitability metrics followed a similar trajectory. Operating cash flow fell from $209.6 million to $85 million. If we adjust for changes in working capital, it still would have fallen, declining from $178 million to $136.9 million. Meanwhile, even EBITDA dropped, falling from $207.2 million to $191.7 million.
Interestingly, management has been less focused on the near term than they have been on what they call the midterm. Their current goal is to grow the number of subscribers on their platform to roughly 15 million by the end of 2027. That would imply roughly 270,000 additional subscribers each quarter, on average, between now and then. For most of the past two years, the company has easily achieved this target. But during the past two quarters, it has experienced some weakness. In the latest quarter alone, for instance, the company just had additions of only 180,000. This isn’t all that surprising when you consider the economic uncertainty that is transpiring. And it’s also true that the company is trying to accomplish this while the print portion of the firm is almost certain to continue declining until, someday, management shuts it down.
When it comes to the 2022 fiscal year and its entirety, we don’t really know what to expect. But if we annualize results experienced so far this year, we should anticipate net income of $151.1 million, adjusted operating cash flow of $202.7 million, and EBITDA of $334.1 million. Given these figures, we can see that the company is trading at a forward price-to-earnings multiple of 38.7. The forward price to adjusted operating cash flow multiple would be 28.9. And the EV to EBITDA multiple would come in at 16.1, this latter multiple is aided by the fact that the company has no debt and has cash and investments of $468.62 million on its books. By comparison, using data from 2021, these multiples would be 26.6, 22.2, and 14.9, respectively. As part of my analysis, I also compared the company to five similar firms. On a price-to-earnings basis, these companies ranged from a low of 22.6 to a high of 42.7. In this case, three of the five that had positive earnings were cheaper than The New York Times. Using the price to operating cash flow approach, the range was between 7.9 and 870.1. Four of the five companies were cheaper than our prospect. And finally, using the EV to EBITDA approach, the range was between 6 and 15.9. In this scenario, our prospect was the most expensive of the group.
|Company||Price / Earnings||Price / Operating Cash Flow||EV / EBITDA|
|The New York Times||38.7||28.9||16.1|
|News Corporation (NWS)||22.9||8.6||9.3|
|Pearson plc (PSO)||23.5||16.8||8.9|
|John Wilsey & Sons (WLY)||22.6||7.9||9.0|
Based on all the data we have at our disposal, I still remain bullish about The New York Times from a long-term perspective. The company has plenty of excess cash on hand, it continues to grow, and management remains optimistic about the future of the firm. But at the moment, I am more neutral on the company. Higher costs, a slowdown in growth, and an elevation of its trading multiples, have led me to be this way. Because of this, I have decided to decrease my rating on the company from a ‘buy’ to a ‘hold’.


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TSM Extends Its Partnership With Logitech G for Three More Years
— TSM (@TSM) July 10, 2019
According to a press release shared with us, the official announcement was made at the RISE Conference in Hong Kong, where the two organizations detailed their plan to come together around esports teams, gaming influencers, digital products and content creation.
“Esports is one of the most captivating and exciting fields of professional competition in the world and is changing how people combine athleticism, cognition, and technology,” said Ujesh Desai, Logitech G’s VP and general manager. “We are excited and honored to continue our global partnership with TSM, combining our efforts to grow the world of esports.”
TSM plans to create custom content to support Logitech’s various product lines while Logitech G will gather data and feedback to further improve their gaming equipment.
“TSM’s collaboration with Logitech G is a partnership that touches all areas of our organization,” added TSM founder and CEO, Andy Dinh. “Logitech G has been a huge supporter of TSM’s goals since the start of our organization, and this multi-year renewal will advance our shared long term visions. Logitech G’s innovation has truly improved the performance of TSM players, which helps our platform evolve and thrive. There is no better long term partner to have than Logitech G as TSM plays to win.”


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Petrochemical PET CircularEconomy Textile 10-12-2020
Petrochemical PET CircularEconomy Textile
Crude Oil Prices Trend
SIBUR Holding has launched the production of new raffia polypropylene (PP) grades – PP H043FF / 3 and PP H063FF / 3, increasing equipment productivity and processing stability, the company said.
It is noted that these brands are intended for high-speed production of flat film yarn, which is used in the manufacture of fabric and flexible packaging: bags, big bags, waterproofing under-roofing sheets, as well as twine.
Thanks to improved melt flow rates, new grades of polypropylene allow for faster processing rates – customers see productivity increases of up to 15% on heavy yarns and up to 23% on light yarns. By reducing the temperature in the extruder zones by 5%, reducing the pressure on the head and the extruder filter by 10 bar, improving the distribution of chalk concentrate, the processors’ energy costs are reduced.
A special package of additives, developed by the Recipe-Making Unit of the SIBUR PolyLab Research Center, reduces the share of possible rejects of film threads to 0 breaks per shift. The narrow range of controlled parameters of polypropylene batches guarantees the stability of the processing process, reducing the frequency of adjustments to the technological regime, increasing the stability of the quality of finished products. The effectiveness of new brands is also noted by equipment manufacturers.
Dow Packaging and Specialty Plastics, a business unit of Dow announces the commercial availability of a wide range of tenter frame, biaxially-oriented polyethylene (TF-BOPE) for linear low, medium and high density packaging films, said the company.
This offering has been developed through a joint value chain effort, combining Dow’s INNATETM TF80 technology with the production know-how and experience of Plastchim-T and Ticinoplast, leading producers in PE and BOPP, and the processing knowledge of machine manufacturer Bruckner Maschinenbau. These solutions enable customers to use printable, tough, stiff and visually appealing BOPE films to produce resource-efficient, mono-material packaging that is designed for recyclability.
Dow’s TF-BOPE-based solutions for oriented films are already commercially available in Asia-Pacific and appreciated for their remarkable appearance, and puncture and impact resistance. Applications range from downgauged frozen food films, to triplex laminates without BOPA, and duplex PE-based laminates used for home and personal care pre-made pouches.
The base contract price of styrene monomer for consumers in the European market has been agreed at EUR918 per tonne for December shipments, up EUR139 per tonne from the previous month, ICIS reported.
The December base contract price for buyers was agreed upon on the FCA terms of delivery Rotterdam, The Netherlands.
As noted earlier, the contract price for styrene in Europe for the current month was also increased in early December by EUR139 per tonne to EUR918 per tonne. The contract price was negotiated free on board (FOB) Amsterdam-Rotterdam-Antwerp (ARA).
Styrene is the main raw material for the production of polystyrene (PS).
According to the China customs, in Oct 2020, China’s uncombed polyester staple fiber exports were 74,300 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 9.4%, and a month-on-month fall of 3.9 %, and imports were 13,500 tons, a year-on-year decrease of 25.9% and a fall of 7.2% from Sep.
Exports have increased in July, Aug and Sep for three consecutive months, and in Oct, the exports also maintained above 70kt. Currently, the delivery of foreign orders is drawing to a close. In Hangzhou, export offers of siliconized HC re-PSF are at $920-930/mt recently, FOB. However, affected by volatile exchange rate, some previous orders that are concluded see deficits, especially in Guangdong market. Product inventory in plants is relatively low, so some plants control the foreign orders.
In addition, the medium-grade re-PSF from Southeast Asia is offered at 5,000yuan/mt, after-tax ex-works, and its quality is close to that from Jiangyin and Wujiang district.
Neste RE makes it possible to use bio-based waste and residues and waste plastic in the manufacture of high-quality products
Neste is launching a new product, Neste RE, a 100% renewable and recycled raw material for plastics and chemicals production. It is a product for tackling climate change through reducing the need to use virgin fossil resources, while it also provides a new solution to the end-of-life related challenges the polymers and chemicals industries are facing today. Neste RE can be used in a wide range of plastics applications, from sports gear to toys, even in sensitive applications such as high-performing medical equipment. Neste RE makes it possible to use bio-based waste and residues and waste plastic in the manufacture of high-quality products.
World’s economy is only 8.6% circular today (source: Circular bioeconomy study, 2020, WBCSD & BCG).
DSM has revealed a new range of plant-based resins for the packaging market that can be used in the creation of adhesives, primers, inks and topcoats.
The first iteration of the range, Decovery SP-6400XP, is a low-NoAH alkali-soluble acrylic copolymer dispersion with high clarity and flexibility. DSM says that it is particularly suited to adhesive applications, such as removable paper labels for bottles and domestic adhesives.
The company also says that its new solution has a “significantly lower” carbon footprint than conventional, oil-based alternatives, while also being highly flexible, meaning it can be deployed to adhere to a wide range of substrates.
The former Mercedes-Benz site, which currently builds smart EQ fortwo electric vehicles, will also start manufacturing Ineos’ Grenadier 4×4.
Ineos Automotive, a subsidiary of UK-based chemical supplier Ineos, has acquired the manufacturing facility at Hambach, France from Mercedes-Benz and will start to build its Grenadier 4×4 there in late 2021.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed.
In a Dec. 8 news release, Ineos officials described the Hambach facility as being “ideal” for production of the Grenadier. “One of Europe’s most modern automotive manufacturing sites, it is home to a highly experienced and capable workforce, has an excellent track record amongst Mercedes plants for the quality of its output, and recently benefited from a major investment to enable the production of larger vehicles,” Ineos said. “Additionally, the site’s location on the French-German border, only 200 km from Stuttgart, gives excellent access to supply chains, automotive talent, and target markets.”
Japan will aim to make hydrogen a power source viable enough to produce the output of more than 30 nuclear reactors by 2030, the Nikkei newspaper reported. To achieve that goal in its bid to reduce carbon emissions Japan will have to make a technology now in its infancy commercially viable at scale, as the world accelerates an energy transition to prevent the worst impacts of climate change, reported Reuters.
The government will provide 2 trillion yen (USD19 billion) of funds to support efforts to make hydrogen viable as a fuel for electricity generators that burn without emissions, the Nikkei reported, without citing the source of its information.
Costs will have to be cut drastically to achieve a target of burning 10 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030, with costs around 10 times higher for combustion of the fuel that only emits water vapour, the Nikkei said.
The industry ministry could not immediately comment on the report when contacted by Reuters.
The threshold has added urgency after Japan shifted its position recently and officially adopted a target of 2050 to achieve net-zero emissions.
Promising global market is predicted to grow by 36 percent over the next 5 years
The results of the European Bioplastics’ (EUBP) annual market data update, presented today at the 15th EUBP Conference, confirm the continued dynamic growth of the global bioplastics industry. “Our industry has successfully weathered the challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic. And the outlook for bioplastics is also promising as the global market is predicted to grow by 36 percent over the next 5 years”, says François de Bie, Chairman of European Bioplastics.
The global bioplastics production capacity is set to increase from around 2.1 million tonnes in 2020 to 2.8 million tonnes in 2025. Innovative biopolymers, such as bio-based PP (polypropylene) and especially PHAs (polyhydroxyalkanoates) continue to drive this growth. Since PHAs entered the market, the share of this important polymer family continued to grow. Production capacities are set to increase successfully almost sevenfold in the next 5 years. The production of polylactic acid (PLA) will also continue to grow due to new investments in PLA production sites in China, the US, and in Europe. Currently, biodegradable plastics account for almost 60 percent of the global bioplastics production capacities. PHA and PLA are bio-based, biodegradable, and feature a wide array of physical and mechanical properties.
Total Petrochemicals and Refining USA announced a 10 cents / lb (USD220 / t) increase in December prices for polystyrene (PS) in the US, the company said in a letter to customers.
The increase in PS prices came into effect on December 1. PS prices are under upward pressure due to significant increases in spot prices for benzene and styrene in recent weeks. Petrochemical Automotive Recycling textile
Asia has been actively buying styrene spot shipments since the end of China’s national holidays, pushing U.S. spot prices for styrene to its highest level since October 2019.
Rising styrene prices and stronger performance at styrene factories have boosted demand for benzene and pushed benzene spot prices to their highest levels since the start of the pandemic.
On the demand side, PS consumption has steadily increased over the past few months as manufacturing activity in the US expanded, although demand has yet to reach 2019 levels.
Petrochemical PET CircularEconomy Textile


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Photonic quantum processor provider Quix Quantum BV has secured €5.5 million (about US$5.6 million) in seed round investment.
The funding follows the Stefan Hengesbach as CEO and was made by PhotonDelta, Forward.one and Oost NL.
Quix Quantum was founded as Quix in 2019 to develop an optical processor for quantum computing capable of room temperature operation. It has developed silicon-nitride wavequide base platform and systems with 12- and 20-qumodes. The qumode is the optical equivalent of the qubit and Quix has succeeded in producing a processor that has both low optical losses and the largest number of qumodes.
Quix said it expects to launch a photonic quantum computer based on its 20-qumode processor in early 2023 and launch a 50-qumode processor in 2023.
“Quix Quantum’s processors are already world leading and ideally suited to create the most powerful photonic quantum computer we have yet seen. This round brings us a huge leap forward towards this goal and will enable us to start production of a game-changing 50-qumode processor,” said Hengesbach in a statement.
Related links and articles:


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COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Hexion Specialty Chemicals Inc. said Thursday it received antitrust approval to proceed with its planned $6.5 billion acquisition of chemicals maker Huntsman Corp.
The Federal Trade Commission approval required Hexion to sell part of its specialty epoxy resin production and development business to Spolek Pro Chemickou a Hutni Vyrobu AS. The European Union approved that deal, which it had previously made a contingency for its approval of the Hexion-Huntsman tie-up.
Hexion, based in Columbus, Ohio, is a unit of private equity firm Apollo Management LP. The company agreed to buy Huntsman in 2007, but recently had sought to abandon the deal because of what it called Huntsman's deteriorating finances.
"We are pleased to obtain the necessary antitrust approvals to complete the merger, as required in our merger agreement with Huntsman," Hexion Chief Executive Craig Morrison said in a statement.
Huntsman shares fell $1.26, or 10.4 percent, to $10.90 Thursday.


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Recently, Etsy, our favorite online marketplace to buy and sell handcrafted and vintage goods, released a statement confirming that the company has updated its prohibited items list, adding new things that can longer be sold to ensure the safety of its community.
New additions to the list? Tobacco and other smokeable products, human bones or body parts (which excludes hair and teeth), hazardous materials (anything flammable, poisonous or explosive), motor vehicles, and drugs, including medical drug claims about an item and drug paraphernalia. These seemingly obvious do-not-sell items are added to the already existing list which includes alcohol, real estate, live animals and pornography, among other things.
Maybe it's just us, but when we think of Etsy, we picture cute handmade mittens and intricate jewelry, not weaponry and body parts. But, regardless, we thank the minds behind this policy for ensuring that during our almost daily perusing on Etsy we will not stumble upon a random human hand or eyeball. And we can now surf safely knowing there isn't a used car salesmen on the site somewhere waiting to rip off innocent vehicle buyers. Phew.
The updates to the prohibited items list went into effect as of August 8th, 2012. The company reminds its community that each person is responsible for making the right moral and ethical decisions regarding what they buy and sell on the site. For more information about this updated policy, visit Etsy.
Correction: A previous version of this story indicated that Etsy's new policy bans the sale of bones. To clarify, the ban is on human bones--apparently animal bones are still allowed.


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It's a wrap: our best stories of the year
As another year comes to an end and we all get ready to eat, drink and be merry, we take a look back at 2015 in all its glory.
As we shut down for the holidays we wanted to say a big thank you to all our Techday readers. 2015 was a big year with a Kiwi sex scandal, Netflix and Windows 10 finally dropping on our shores, and controversy over TPP, Uber and Google.
Here’s a look back on some of our favourite stories of the year:
Apple made some big announcements, with the iPhone 6s and iPhone 6s Plus being released, a new version of Apple TV, iOS9 and updates to the Apple Watch.
Kiwis went a bit pervy this year after scandalous footage of two office workers going at it was released via social media.
Following a big marketing push and a lot of hype, Windows 10 officially dropped in New Zealand.
We reviewed the iPad Pro, and it’s the only review you’ll ever have to read.
We argued that Microsoft should consider killing off Windows altogether, with desktop PCs and laptops being replaced by new devices like tablets and hybrids.
The tech industry weighed in on the debates and controversy surrounding the TPPA.
In a digital world consumers are increasingly powerful – we looked at what this means for content creation.
We took a closer look at Uber amid all its controversy.
Netflix finally came to Kiwi TV screens.
Kiwi businesses looked to suffer following Google’s Mobile-friendly label to search results.
And we all went rainbow in support of marriage equality.


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There’s momentum building for Bitcoins. The price for the digital currency jumped from a record $32 last week to it now trading at over $40 Tuesday morning (ET).
And Namecheap, a domain hosting service, is now accepting the digital currency.
On Tuesday, MT Gox reported that Bitcoins were trading for $40.19 as of 9:30 a.m. (ET).
Namecheap will also now let customers pay with Bitcoins for getting domain names, Web hosting services, SSL certificates and security programs.
The acceptance of Bitcoins is important since it has had more than one million customers. It is the first major domain registrar to decide to accept payment with Bitcoins. “For months, Bitcoin has been requested of Namecheap among the tech audience,” the company added on its website.
Last week, the Internet Archive agreed to pay employees in Bitcoins. It is also accepted by Kim Dotcom’s Mega service and WordPress.com, according to The Next Web.
Reddit accepts it as well, and Dotcom wants to see a Bitcoin credit card.
In another key event, the price increase for Bitcoins came at the same time Japan’s MT Gox exchange partnered with CoinLab to bring its operations to the United States.
Bitcoin is not connected to a central bank or government agency, like dollars or pounds. But its proponents see that as advantage. Bitcoins increase in value as time passes, advocates say.
“The whole idea of a currency that increases in value is so foreign to us, so it is exciting to be a part of this movement,” Dan Charbonneau, CEO at CBT Nuggets, told TechWeekEurope. “We accept dollars and then we just can’t wait to get rid of them, because we know that tomorrow those dollars are going to be worth less. So we have to get them into some vehicle that is not going to be worth less, to protect ourselves.”
In another important event for the Bitcoin sector, BitcoinStore, an online electronics store which trades exclusively in Bitcoins, began operating this week, according to IEEE Spectrum. Since there will be no credit card fees, prices can be kept lower. Similarly, BitElectronics opened a few weeks ago.
The BitcoinStore would like to see Amazon, Newegg, Buy.com and similar operations eventually accept Bitcoins as well.
However, Amazon just announced its own virtual currency, called Amazon Coins, which will launch in May in the United States. They will be used to pay for apps, games and in-app items on Kindle Fire.
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Sixteen of Pittsburgh’s largest public companies are potentially poised to top the earnings per share they posted a year ago, as corporate earnings season kicks off July 9.
The Pittsburgh Business Times looked at the average EPS estimates for 25 locally based companies, according to financial analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters. Of the region’s 20 largest publicly held companies and five largest locally based financial institutions, all but three report earnings for the quarter ended June 30. The exceptions are H.J. Heinz Co., Dick’s Sporting Goods and American Eagle Outfitters Inc. because they don’t follow a traditional calendar year.
But many financial professionals believe earnings nationwide for the recently completed quarter likely will lag behind the strong first quarter’s results.
“The weaknesses in the European and Chinese markets and the sustainability of record-high profit margins are the issues that will be front and center for the second quarter,” said Hefren-Tillotson Inc. Director of Research Brian Koble.
“Companies have consistently found ways to cut costs and wring more earnings out of modest increases in sales. That trend also seems to be nearing an end.”
Some 67 percent of the S&P 500 companies that reported earnings for the quarter ended March 31 beat Wall Street’s expectations, and 44 percent of them showed double-digit growth, according to S&P Capital IQ consensus estimates released June 22. But S&P Capital IQ anticipates that these companies will take a collective 0.30 percent loss for the second quarter. It expects growth from only three quarters — industrials, up 9.29 percent; information technology, up 5.31 percent; and consumer staples, up 2.38 percent.
“Industrial/manufacturing companies are more economically sensitive, and, in the second quarter, many of these companies’ stocks had negative performance,” said Henry Beukema III, Guyasuta Investment Advisors’ president and co-director of equity research.
Bruce Miller, chief investment officer at CooksonPeirce Investment Management, said consumer staples have been “very strong” and expects the sector to continue to show “decent” earnings growth, as well as those in basic materials.
“The domestic economy is doing better than what individuals are seeing out there, but it’s a global economy, so the materials companies may face a little headwind in the next quarter, and it may not be as strong as the second one,” Miller said.
Financial companies experienced a difficult second quarter as European fears and a slowing U.S. economy impacted their stock prices, Beukema said.
“(They’re) facing an environment of increased regulation, higher capital requirements, a flat yield curve and a lower demand for credit,” he said. “The key for banks will be to manage their expense base efficiently, appropriately price their credit products relative to risk and continue to build their fee-based businesses.”
Miller believes “banks are still under the gun” and said PNC Financial Services Group Inc., Pittsburgh’s largest bank, is an example of a good performer that winds up blanketed by the less-than-stellar prospects for its sector.
Energy stocks may also have a dicey quarter. “You’ve had the drop in the price of oil, and the price of gas is sitting at punky levels,” Miller said.
Among local energy firms, Consol Energy Inc. earned 76 cents per share during the second quarter of 2011, but analysts’ average estimate a year later is less than half that at 33 cents. EQT Corp.’s EPS average estimate is 33 cents, down from earnings of 51 cents per share for second quarter 2011.


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We hang on every word Valve says. When you're the company behind Half-Life, Left 4 Dead and Portal, you earn that kind of attention. Well, in a recent interview, Valve head Gabe Newell said we can expect at least three big surprises in the coming year.
"I can guarantee you people are going to be surprised at stuff we do. That isn't going to stop any time soon. I'm just laughing because... people will be shocked again," Valve boss Gabe Newell told PC Gamer. "We have three pretty big surprises in the next 12 months at least."
I wouldn't be at all surprised at the announcement of Half-Life 2: Episode 3 this year. In fact, I'd be surprised if it wasn't announced... does this mean the non-announcement itself is one of the three surprises? No one can say, but whatever Valve ends up revealing, you can bet we'll tell you about it the second we hear anything!
As always, feel free to speculate in our comment section.
Source: Computer And Video Games


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Sega has released new screenshots from Rez, its upcoming rhythm and shooting game for the PlayStation 2. Formerly called K-Project, Rez is an interesting game where the player flies through surreal environments while killing enemies and, presumably, making music--as each enemy is defeated, it emits a sound. Rez was shown only on video at E3 last May, and very little is currently known about the game. Look for a new video of Rez tomorrow.
Rez is scheduled for release on both the PlayStation 2 and Dreamcast in Japan later this year. Sega has not announced any plans to bring Rez to the US market.


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GlobalShop 2019 @ RetailX is just a few months away and Super Color Digital will be returning to McCormick Place in Chicago to showcase some of our latest innovations in visual communication.
For over 25 years GlobalShop has been the retail industry’s largest design and merchandising trade show and this year looks to be the biggest show yet. GlobalShop, RFID Journal Live Retail, and IRCE will become three co-located shows under the name RetailX to bring you the most comprehensive experience in the retail industry!
This year we at Super Color Digital are pulling out all the stops as we have designed our most ambitious and experiential trade show booth ever! Join us at booth #5333 to see how we are utilizing the latest technologies and materials to bring state-of-the-art visuals to the world of retail.


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In the buildup to its launch, more and more information on the Xiaomi 12 series is surfacing on the Internet. A new one allegedly hints at the charging capabilities on the vanilla model in the series. It seems like the Xiaomi 12, unlike its Pro model, will come with a 67W fast charging support.
Previous reports had only hinted at the charging speeds to expect on the Xiaomi 12 Pro and as per these, the new flagship by the company would carry a 120W fast charging support. The information on Xiaomi 12 now comes from a recent listing on the 3C certification website.
A new phone by Xiaomi has received its 3C certification and it is being expected that the device is the vanilla model in the upcoming Xiaomi 12 series. As spotted by GSM Arena, the listing mentions a maximum charging speed of 67W on the phone, so we know what to expect from the Xiaomi device once it is in the market.
Not much has been revealed in the 3C certification listing as of now, though it does mention a 5G support on the phone. Other than this, previous speculations have suggested that the Xiaomi 12 will come with a 4500 mAh battery. The combination of this battery with a 67W charging speed should be decent enough for most users.
Other than this, we can expect top-notch components on the yet-to-launch device. It is likely to come with an OLED panel that will support a 120Hz refresh rate and a punch-hole for the selfie camera. It is sure to run MIUI 13 out of the box and thanks to Xiaomi, we know that the phone will be backed by Qualcomm’s latest flagship processor, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
Now that the phone has received its 3C certification, we can expect its launch to take place anytime soon. Several reports have hinted at a December 12 date for the Xiaomi 12 series launch. Though yet another speculation mentioned December 28 as the likely launch date.
In either case, Xiaomi is no longer the first to get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 tag in its portfolio. While it was expected to lead the race, Motorola and Realme beat Xiaomi to it, with the recent launch of the Moto Edge x30 and the Realme GT 2 Pro.
Not that it matters, as the race to the flagship processor’s use is not something that the buyers care about. Even if Xiaomi launches its phones a tad bit later, it will be interesting to see how the new-age devices compete against each other, and, of course, how early they arrive in the global markets.


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[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJbpDPWIpto width:600 align:center autoplay:0]
A few weeks ago, two startups converged in an unexpected way to demonstrate the impact of community. The story involves an app, a Tesla and Carpool Karaoke.
For nearly a year, Matt Holmes of marketing consulting startup Handshakin’ Growth Network has interviewed entrepreneurs from Colorado and across the country for his personal branding video series. He’s put more than 100 videos up on YouTube so far, featuring interviews with everyone from GoSpotCheck’s Matt Talbot to Colorado’s former Lt. Governor, Joe Garcia.
But the videos are often filmed in conference rooms, limiting the amount of creativity Holmes could add to the videos. As he was trying to think of ways to spice up the series, Holmes came home to a surprise from his girlfriend, launchPACK’s Beatrice Leung.
Leung told Holmes that, for a few hours the next day, he'd have the chance to drive around Denver in a Tesla Model X rigged with GoPros, interviewing as many entrepreneurs as he could in the style of James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke.
Leung had orchestrated the surprise with help from a new Denver startup, Fluid Market. Fluid lets users list items they have but aren’t using, giving people in their neighborhood the opportunity to borrow them in exchange for a fee.
Leung had seen the Tesla on the app, requested to borrow it and got to work organizing everything.
But for an app meant to give neighbors access to things like power tools and casserole dishes, how did a Tesla — of all things — end up in the marketplace?
As it turns out, Fluid Market’s co-founder, Jimmy Eberhard, owns the Tesla. He had bought it as a way to test out the business case for listing a high-end item on the platform. He did the math and found that he’d need five transactions on the Tesla every month in order to make his payments.
“And then I’d get to drive an essentially free Tesla the rest of the month,” Eberhard said.
He expected it would take six months to get to a point where he was getting six requests every month, but he ended up meeting those numbers in the first 30 days it had been listed on the app.
On the day Holmes had the car, he didn’t know Eberhard had listed it himself. As he reached out to his network and organized interviews with people like bestselling author Joel Comm and Impact Founder’s Kristin Darga, Holmes also scheduled an interview with Eberhard.
“He’s very impressive,” said Holmes. “He’s done some incredible things with his career. It was the best day ever.”
Eberhard loved the experience, too.
“I think the concept’s genius,” he said. “It was awesome to cruise around and have an informal, cool conversation.”
Even though Holmes took good care of the Tesla, what would happen if someone else were to crash or lose it? Eberhard said Fluid manages insurance, disputes and retribution for its users.
“I know people whose lifetime friendships have been ruined over borrowing something that gets broken or lost,” he said. “But usually, whenever you lend someone else your things, they’ll take better care of it than they do their own stuff.”
Ultimately, the purpose of Fluid is to connect communities and reduce waste.
“We’ve come so far as a society, we have just about everything you need within 1000 feet of your house, but nobody knows where it’s at,” said Eberhard. “So you go out and buy it instead... If we’re really able to accomplish our mission we’ll allow massive reductions in waste, open up business opportunities and put everything you need at your fingertips.”
Eberhard said he was excited the Tesla gave Holmes an opportunity to do something so unique as part of his business. Other business owners have been using Fluid as well, from an engineering company borrowing a drone to a moving company borrowing box trucks. And as the company positions itself as an “Airbnb for stuff,” the people lending items have an opportunity to make a few bucks, too.
Eberhard plans on buying another Tesla soon so he can continue sharing the experience with the Denver community.
Video via Handshakin’ Growth Network.
Have a tip or know of a company worth covering? Email us.


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- Japan is installing vending machines that unlock in the case of a disaster, per local reports.
- Machines are being trialed that give out free food and supplies in the event of a severe earthquake.
- The rest of the time, they'll sell soda and snacks like normal.
A Japanese city has installed vending machines that will unlock in the event of earthquakes and other natural disasters, distributing free food and supplies, according to local media.
The coastal city of Ako, in Hyogo Prefecture, is trialing the scheme with two machines installed at the end of March, according to The Mainichi.
The machines ordinarily sell snacks and drinks, but can distribute items for free when a major earthquake or typhoon strikes the city.
As well as containing around 300 bottles of soda and 150 emergency food items, attached lockers also contain emergency sanitary items like portable toilets and masks, the outlet said.
It added that when an evacuation order is issued due to a level-5 or higher warning on Japan's shindo seismic scale, or for conditions such as heavy rain, the machines will unlock.
The emergency vending machine scheme is a partnership between the municipality and Tokyo-based pharmaceutical firm Earth Corp., which has research and production facilities in Ako.


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PUBG 2 Is In Development, In Case You Were Wondering
PUBG may have been overshadowed by Fortnite and Call of Duty: Warzone, but it still has a diehard core of fans that keep the game alive and well. At least, here in the West. In the East, PUBG is still a force to be reckoned with, which makes the most recent news coming out of South Korea a bit of a bombshell.
According to renowned PUBG leaker PlayerIGN, PUBG 2 is on the way.
The news comes from what appears to be a South Korea business newspaper. Krafton, the holding company that owns Bluehole/PUBG Corp, “is in full swing development of its next works utilizing [the] Battleground IP.” It looks like the news story is from last November, with Google providing a translation from Korean to English.
PlayerIGN notes that internal development was codenamed “ProjectXTRM” and that the developers went to great lengths to conceal the fact it was a sequel to PUBG. He goes on to say that PUBG 2 will likely be for PC and next-gen consoles, while simultaneous development of PUBG Mobile 2 might have crossplay with other platforms.
Krafton will handle the development of PUBG 2, while Chinese developer Tencent will handle PUBG Mobile 2. The two companies have already partnered on the successful mobile port of PUBG.
It’s been a long time since PUBG was pulling down a million concurrent players on Steam, but the battle royale format has proven to be a very resilient genre. Apex Legends, Warzone, and Fortnite may have snapped up most of PUBG’s playerbase, however, there are still those diehard PUBsters that just can’t step outside of the PUBG universe.
I’d be interested to see how PUBG 2 sets itself apart from the rest of the pack. PUBG’s creative director indicated last year that he’d like PUBG to retain it’s survival elements over what he sees as the greater shooter-focus of Warzone and Fortnite. We might even a PUBG story mode.
Expect an official announcement for PUBG 2 later in March ahead of Krafton’s IPO.
Source: Read Full Article


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It is a rare moment when balance occurs in the produce industry. While 2020 has brought more than its fair share of challenges, Freska Produce International is making mangos out of the blessings.
“The season this year out of Mexico has had lower volumes than the last few years due to a number of factors related to weather along the way, which has been very good in relation to pricing as with lower volumes returns have been stronger,” Gary Clevenger, Managing Member, tells me. “Demand has been strong for all mangos over the past few months, since COVID-19 set in, and I would bet that we are going to see more of the same going forward as this fruit becomes more popular in every household across the States.”
As the company prepares to completely transition to Los Mochis, with Brazil and Ecuador right around the corner, the market is experiencing a promotable surge in volume before tightening into September as the South American countries get started.
“Weather has been working in our favor for our mangos out of Mexico so far—even a couple of interruptions due to rain helped the fruit at an opportune time,” Gary observes. “You can taste this as quality has been very good; Kents have been as good as they have ever been out of Mexico and now we’re into the Keitts with the big sizes of 4s, 5s, 6s, and 7s seeing rich creamy-textured interiors that are great for eating on those hot summer days.”
The good news spreads beyond the crop as well, as Gary tells me that Freska has also been setting company records for Fair Trade ROI that is funneling directly to growers and packing house employees.
“This is something we set out to achieve a couple of years ago that just keeps building. More retailers should be looking at the benefits of this program and buying from those that participate—it’s a good deal for everybody involved, not to mention the social aspects of how this is administered. We are very proud to be a part of the Fair Trade program,” Gary assures.
The only thing that isn’t sure, he points out, is what is next.
“One thing you can never predict is weather in this business. I would only hope that it lasts into the next few weeks and next few months for our growers’ sake, but from where we stand now we are optimistic,” he concludes.
With all the assurance we can possibly have in something as mercurial as the produce industry, balance and a few blessings from Mother Nature must be enjoyed.


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John Bernal, creator of AI Addict at YouTube.
Courtesy: AI Addict
Tesla has fired a former Autopilot employee named John Bernal after he shared candid video reviews on his YouTube channel, AI Addict, showing how the company’s Full Self Driving Beta system works in various locations around Silicon Valley.
After Bernal’s firing, Tesla also cut off his access to the FSD Beta system in the car he personally owns, the 2021 Tesla Model 3, although there are no safety “strikes” in the software. It still has FSD, Tesla’s premium driver assistance program. Tesla’s technology isn’t making its cars self-driving today.
The FSD Beta option can best be summed up as a suite of new driver assistance features that have not been fully finalized or patched. Chief among them is “automatic city street steering”, which allows the car to navigate complex urban environments without the driver having to move the steering wheel. Customers must first obtain the FSD, which costs $12,000 up front or $199 per month in the US, and then obtain and maintain a high degree of driver safety, as determined by Tesla’s program that monitors their driving habits.
Although Tesla did not put forth written details explaining why he was fired, Tesla and other companies in Silicon Valley often foster a culture of loyalty. Internal criticism may be tolerated, but criticism in public is seen as disloyal.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Bernal’s situation.
The origins of his channel
Bernal started working for Electric car maker Elon Musk as a data annotation specialist in August 2020 in an office in San Mateo, California. He was fired in the second week of February this year, after transitioning into the role of an advanced driver assistance systems test operator, according to records he shared with CNBC.
As a lifelong car enthusiast proud to work at Tesla, Bernal placed an order for a 2021 Model 3 with a long-range battery a few months after starting work there. Received the car on December 26, 2020.
He says he bought the car in part because Tesla offered employees free access to the FSD — which was worth $8,000 at the time — as a perk. The employees had to agree to give the company the right to collect internal and external vehicle data in return.
Surprised by what he saw as “Tesla’s life-saving technology,” he launched the AI Addict YouTube channel in February 2021 to show what the public version of the FSD Beta could do.
Most of the videos show AI junkie Bernal driving around Silicon Valley with a friend in his Tesla, using the latest released versions of the FSD Beta.
Bernal wasn’t alone in posting his experiences with Tesla’s beta program. Tesla FSD Beta users like Dirty Tesla, Chuck Cook, Kim Paquette and many others rush to check out each new release on their channels.
‘I still care about Tesla’
When the company fired Bernal last month, the written notice of dismissal did not include the reason for his dismissal. This came after one of his videos filmed a car trip in San Jose where his car is Columns knocked while FSD Beta was engaged.
Just before his dismissal, Bernal says, managers verbally told him that he had “violated Tesla policy” and that his YouTube channel was a “conflict of interest.” They also advised him to sell merchandise marked “fully self-driving (Beta)”, and to use the FSD Beta in an unsafe manner.
Bernal said he has always been transparent about his YouTube channel, both with his Tesla managers and with the public. His online resume on LinkedIn, for example, has always listed his job at Tesla along with his YouTube channel name. Bernal said he’s never seen a policy that prevents him from creating tech reviews for the car while using his own property.
A copy of Tesla’s social media policy, which was provided by a current employee, does not directly refer to criticism of the company’s products in public. The policy states that “Tesla relies on the common sense and good judgment of its employees to engage in responsible social media activity.” It lists social networks including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Reddit, Snapchat, LinkedIn, WeChat, and personal blogs, but does not specifically mention YouTube.
Bernal said he never disclosed anything in his videos that Tesla did not release to the public. “The FSD Beta versions I was showing off were end-user consumer products,” he said.
But his videos occasionally showed problems with Tesla’s FSD Beta system.
In March 2021, for example, AI Addict posted a video titled “FSD Beta 8.2 Oakland – Shut down calls, pedestrians and bikes!” Which showed his car was going through several “disengagements”. This is where the FSD Beta asks Bernal to take over the steering manually to avoid danger. At 11 minutes 58 seconds into the video starting, the Tesla FSD Beta system starts rolling into an intersection as the car was crossing in front of Bernal’s Model 3. It narrowly avoided hitting the other car.
Since then, this video has garnered nearly a quarter of a million views.
After turning it on for the first time, Bernal told CNBC, “A manager from my Autopilot team tried to dissuade me from posting any negative or critical content in the future involving the FSD Beta. They had a video conference with me but didn’t write anything.”
According to an analysis of his channel by CNBC, nearly ten of the 60 videos he posted revealed flaws in the FSD Beta. Three of the videos focused on other Tesla topics and did not discuss the FSD Beta, while three other videos focused on electric vehicles from other automakers and were not related to Tesla at all.
Bernal shared screenshots and photos indicating that his access to the FSD Beta was revoked by the company after his employment was terminated, although he did not receive any “strikes” due to unsafe driving or improper use of the system. Generally, FSD Beta users are allowed several alarms before access is revoked.
Losing access to the FSD Beta in his vehicle limited his ability to generate system reviews. However, he has gained access to other compounds with FSD Beta enabled, and plans to continue his independent research and reviews.
Bernal knew he might get attention by posting honest reviews of the FSD Beta. But as long as he was honest, he said, and given his generally positive views of technology, he thought Tesla would allow it or at least officially tell him if he needed to stop before he lost his dream job.
“I still care about Tesla, vehicle safety, and troubleshooting,” he told CNBC.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently described himself as a Absolute freedom of expression. But his auto company has a long history of asking customers and employees not to talk publicly about issues with their cars or business.
For example, like many large companies, Tesla requires its employees to sign an arbitration agreement that commits to resolving disputes with the company without public lawsuits. Employees or temporary employees can legally appeal and sometimes be released from mandatory arbitration and continue to spend their day in court, but such cases were rare.
Tesla also used to require customers to sign nondisclosure agreements in exchange for service.
When the FSD Beta was first rolled out, as CNBC previously reported, the company asked drivers who entered the Early Access program to be selective or refrain from posting on social media.
Federal vehicle safety regulators are concerned that the practice could have a chilling effect and hide critical safety complaints from the agency. They launched an investigation into the FSD Beta program as a result.
By September 2021, Musk said at a conference that the company should have no such restrictions whatsoever. He said at the Code conference during an interview with Kara Swisher that the FSD Beta testers “didn’t really follow it anyway.”
Clarification: After this story was initially published, Bernal said his Tesla managers verbally confronted him about two other issues at the time they fired him, including selling merchandise and improper use of the FSD Beta on his YouTube channel.


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Call of Duty®: Black Ops III – Days of the Undead Trailer for Xbox
Celebrate the launch of Call of Duty®: Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles with the return of “Days of the Undead”, our special community event for all Black Ops III Zombies players. Gear up with new rewards and free giveaways through June 22! Squad up and start slaying.
Call of Duty: Black Ops III Zombies Chronicles arrives on Xbox on June 15th.


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Own-label healthy snack manufacturer Savoury & Sweet (S&S) is planning to invest heavily in equipment and research & development to take advantage of rising consumer demand for popcorn.
The Leicester business, which works with brands and major retailers, has secured a multimillion-pound investment package from a fund advised by a division of private equity group Permira.
S&S said it would use the money to fund state-of-the-art popcorn manufacturing equipment and NPD, including new flavours of popcorn, for its customers.
“The demand for popcorn and other health-related snacking products is rapidly increasing,” CEO Tinku Durrani added. “This investment enables S&S to support its customers in driving innovation in the rapidly expanding popcorn market. Popcorn is no longer restricted to the cinema market. We are seeing consumers really take to popcorn in their daily eating routine as it is both healthy and there are lots of new flavours coming to market.”
S&S, which also has an in-house popcorn brand called Lord Poppington’s, relocated to a 135,000 sq ft purpose-built manufacturing facility in Leicester earlier in the year to keep up with growing demand for its products. It now has plans grow its footprint beyond the UK into Europe and other international markets.
MD John Harrison said: “This investment [from Permira] now enables us to accelerate innovation in the health-snacking market, notably in popcorn. We will be expanding our R&D team, investing in new popcorn manufacturing equipment and providing our customers with world-class product. The demand for popcorn is going through the roof and we are seeing increased shelf-space devoted to popcorn as retailers react to consumers demanding healthier snacking products.”
Permira Credit Solutions II, a fund advised by Permira Debt Managers, which is Permira’s independent debt management and advisory business, provided the undisclosed multimillion-pound funding package.
The investment represents the 15th from the 2014 vintage fund, which has now provided close to €450m of capital to mid-sized businesses across Europe.
“We see a real uplift in the demand for popcorn and other related healthy snacking products, with this funding enabling S&S to continue its investment into product innovation and delivering outstanding service to the multinational brands it partners with,” added Dan Hatcher, investment director at Permira Debt Managers. “We think this will be the best invested popcorn business in the market and as such the opportunity is hugely exciting.”


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There's Only One Three-Star Restaurant in Singapore's Debut Michelin Guideby and
Singapore, the city notorious for its fanatical devotion to food, has joined the Michelin fold.
The tiremaker and publisher handed out its top accolade to just one establishment on Thursday — French celebrity chef Joël Robuchon’s eponymous restaurant. It was the first time that the Southeast Asian city’s dining scene faced the anonymous scrutiny of Michelin’s inspectors, who rank their meals using a three-star system. Wolfgang Puck’s steak restaurant Cut in the Marina Bay Sands complex was among 22 eateries awarded one star, as were two hawker stalls. Six restaurants received two stars.
“It’s a very competitive landscape,” Lionel Yeo, chief executive officer for the Singapore Tourism Board, said at an awards ceremony on Thursday, where restaurant owners and holders of the S$450 ($332) tickets ate a five-course dinner while watching dancers decked out in checked pants and chef hats covered in glitter. “This is a nice boost for Singapore tourism.”
If the Michelin marketing machine attracts visitors or encourages them to shell out on fancy meals while they’re in town, the financial hub’s restaurateurs may find it easier to weather layoffs at investment banks and in the oil and gas industry. Sales at restaurants in the city-state dropped 3.6 percent in May from a year earlier, government statistics show. Malcolm Lee, the 32-year-old owner and head chef at popular one-star winner Candlenut, which serves a contemporary version of Singapore’s local Peranakan food, said the economy’s ups and downs have been a challenge.
“It’s been very tough,” he said on Thursday. On being the first Peranakan restaurant to win a Michelin ranking, he said: “we’re just happy this cuisine is being recognized.”
Michelin grades restaurants in five categories: quality of the products, mastery of flavour and cooking techniques, the personality of the chef in his or her cuisine, consistency and value for money. Most of the inspectors have studied at hotel or cooking school. They are all full-time salaried Michelin staffers, and always pick up their own check.
The first Asian guide was a Tokyo edition in 2008, followed by Hong Kong and Macau versions. The latter two cities had one three-star restaurant each in their first guide, and now have a combined eight. Michelin is planning publications for Shanghai and Seoul.
At the three-star Joël Robuchon Restaurant in the Sentosa resort complex, the degustation menu is S$438, plus taxes. At the one-star Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle in Chinatown — menu self-explanatory — an entire chicken costs S$14. Chan Hon Meng, the 51-year-old proprietor, said even before the award the hawker stall had an hour-long queue, and he’s not planning to put the prices up.
“The consumer is the judge,” he said.
Hong Kong Soya Sauce Chicken Rice & Noodle


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Video: Trading Standards Officer Sharon May warns against scammers.
An elderly Nottingham woman was conned out of £4,000 by a telephone fraudster who tricked her into travelling to different supermarkets to buy iTunes vouchers.
Police and Trading Standards are investigating the lengthy scam, which has been used several times locally.
The 85-year-old victim from Carlton was contacted on Wednesday, May 10, by someone claiming to be from HMRC telling her she owed £4,000 in tax dating back to 1969.
The scammer claimed that if she did not pay the police would arrest her immediately, they then demanded her mobile number and kept her on the phone for most of the day.
First they convinced her to go to a supermarket in Arnold and buy iTunes vouchers – but the shop only had £2,000 worth of cards available in the store.
When staff asked why she was buying so many she was instructed by the scammers to tell them they were a present for a relative abroad.
The 85-year-old was then told to travel to a supermarket in Castle Marina for the other £2,000 worth of iTunes vouchers, and gave staff the same answer when asked about her purchase.
The scammers instructed her to read the voucher card numbers out to them.
After eventually starting to feel wary of the conman, the elderly women took a taxi home and told a neighbour, who called the police.
She was again contacted by the suspects yesterday, who said they would be sending someone round to pick up the vouchers.
Officers have put measures in place to protect the woman but believe the con was run from abroad.
Detective Sergeant Nikki Smith of Nottinghamshire Police said: “We’ve had several incidents like this where the suspects claim to be from HMRC and demand the purchase of iTunes vouchers to settle the bill, it’s believed to be a national scam.
“iTunes have a warning on their website but not many elderly people will see this.
“Although on both occasions this victim was challenged by supermarket staff, this is unusual and we would ask retailers to be even more robust in their questioning of people purchasing large amounts of vouchers in these circumstances, particularly the elderly.”
A HMRC spokesperson said: “HMRC takes security extremely seriously, we are aware that some people have received telephone calls from individuals claiming to be from HMRC.
“We are a well-known brand, which criminals abuse, to add credibility to their scams. HMRC will never request tax debts to be paid in payment vouchers and we are clear that they cannot be used to pay tax.
“We recommend that if you cannot verify the identity of a caller that you do not speak to them – we encourage you to check GOV.UK for information on how to avoid and report scams, recognise genuine HMRC contact and make payments to HMRC.”


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INDIANAPOLIS (Inside INdiana Business) – The Heritage Group, based in Indianapolis, says it is merging its Heritage Battery Recycling business with Retrieve Technologies Inc. of Ohio. Although no financial details were released, Heritage says it has acquired a controlling interest in Retriever and the merger will create the largest lithium-ion battery recycler in North America.
California-based Kinsbursky Bros. International will continue to be an active equity partner of Retrieve. Heritage says the combined company will operate under the Retriev Technologies brand under the direction of Shane Thompson, who previously served as President of Heritage Battery Recycling.
“With my 20 year career in battery recycling, no other company is better placed to be successful in this industry,” Thompson said in a press release. “Retriev has processed more lithium-ion batteries than any other player in the market. The combined knowledge and experience in the fields of battery recycling and reuse, collection and transport, safety and environmental sustainability serve as an unmatched platform to responsibly support the rapidly growing battery room. We have extensive plans to continue investing in and expanding the company’s suite of products and capabilities. “
Retriever has battery recycling and sorting facilities in Ohio and British Columbia. According to Heritage, the deal also includes KBI’s California xEV Strategies division, which provides testing, refurbishment, storage and logistics for large format electric vehicle batteries.
“With this merger, our mission to create a sustainable closed loop recycling model for critical materials necessary for the North American supply chain has come one step closer to reality. With over 30 years of commercial activity, Retriever is the only long-term North American lithium-ion battery recycling company, ”said Steve Kinsbursky, KBI’s chief executive officer. “With the addition of HBR and its affiliation with Heritages’ expertise in environmental services and a network of fully approved collection facilities and transport facilities, we can further differentiate retrievers as a single solution for all battery management needs.”
Heritage says the acquisition will help the manufacturing sector, particularly OEMs in the US, who continue to invest in the move to electric vehicles.
Comments are closed.


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BBC publishes Freeview HD timetable
London and Manchester top tune-in list
London and Manchester will pip Liverpool to the post by becoming Blighty’s first cities able to receive Freeview HD, according to the BBC’s regional rollout timetable for the next-generation digital TV service.
Graham Plumb, Head of Distribution Technology at BBC Operations, told Register Hardware back in June that Liverpool would receive Freeview HD on 2 December 2009.
However, a month-by-month rollout for the service published today by the BBC reveals that Liverpool now won’t receive Freeview HD until March 2010 – the same time as it beams into parts of Lancashire and Staffordshire.
There’s good news in store for Manchester and London, though. The BBC’s Freeview HD roadmap also revealed that both cities will get the service from 2 December 2009.
Fifty per cent of the UK population will be able to receive Freeview HD in time for the World Cup in June 2010, but it will be another three years before all – well, 98.5 per cent – of the UK can receive Freeview HD.
Wales’ Freeview HD rollout will be complete by the end of July 2010, the BBC added, while Scotland will be able to receive the service by Q2 2010.
Telly fans in Northern Ireland, Sussex, Tyneside, North Yorkshire and Kent won’t receive Freeview HD until 2012, the BBC added.
HD TVs that don’t sport a 'Freeview HD' logo won't receive the service, though. Most existing Freeview-ready HD TVs use a DVB-T tuner, but Freeview HD requires sets to have a DVB-T2 tuner. To receive the service you should either buy a Freeview HD set-top box or buy a new telly. Sorry! ®


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Just Plain Mean
- May 18, 1997
MacBook and MacBook Pro models have come under heavy scrutiny lately for being a huge dumpster fire when it comes to the keyboard. Apparently these hipster ghoombahs using these Macs are getting gluten free crumbs all under the keys on the keyboard rendering them useless. Maybe they should ask mommy to come clean it for them? JK! However, this is not a laughing matter as the second class action lawsuit has been filed over this issue.
Like the first lawsuit last week, this complaint alleges that small amounts of dust or debris accumulating on 2015-and-later MacBook and 2016-and-later MacBook Pro keyboards can render the butterfly switch mechanism underneath individual keys non-functional, according to court documents obtained by MacRumors.


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On April 11 in Beijing, Lenovo held its fiscal 2012 pep rally with the title "Wow! Begins Now". At the ceremony, Lenovo's president and CEO Yang Yuanqing
revealed their objective in the coming fiscal year, "Our goal is to be No.1 in global PC market. It's the first time we've ever been so close to the top."
April 1 was the first day of Lenovo's fiscal 2012. According to a April 11 Gartner report, in the first season of 2012, HP's shipments were 15,305,413 with a 17.2% share.
Meanwhile, Lenovo's market share was 13.1%
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Worldwide Tablet Sales Seen Doubling This Year
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Lenovo has announced the IdeaPad U1 Hybrid, a new computer that is both a laptop and a detachable hybrid device.


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Ticketmaster may soon implement digital COVID vaccine verification system for concerts
The proposed system would also accept a recently negative COVID test.
Ticketmaster may soon implement a system in which customers could be required to provide either a negative COVID-19 test result or proof that they have obtained a COVID-19 vaccination prior to attending a concert or event through the platform.
The company, founded in 1976 and a pioneer in digital ticket sales, is considering implementing third-party reporting software that would confirm a customer's vaccinated status before they would be permitted to purchase certain tickets through the service.
Ticketmaster confirmed in a statement that it is currently exploring that technology, and that any vaccination or test requirements would be set by concert organizers and not the ticket company itself.
The system could also allow users to present a negative COVID-19 test, via a digital "health pass," in order to gain access to concerts.
Public health officials say a COVID-19 vaccine is likely to start distribution early next year.
Update: Earlier reports indicated that Ticketmaster would be implementing a vaccine verification system and making it mandatory. The company has clarified that the system is still in development and that any such requirements would be set by event vendors, not Ticketmaster itself.


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Rat Poison Manufacturers Flout Government Safety Rules – Act Now!
Three companies have refused to comply with a government order to stop selling certain super-toxic rat poisons in formulations that can harm children, birds, other wildlife, dogs, and cats. The recalcitrant companies include the world’s largest producer of household cleaning products, Reckitt Benckiser, and the pet-care products manufacturer, Spectrum Brands. Will you help us tell these companies that their behavior is not acceptable?
Most pest-control product manufacturers have made the required safety improvements, encasing their rat poisons in bait stations that prevent access by children and pets, and restricting the sale of “second generation” rodenticides that can cause fatal hemorrhaging in owls, Bald Eagles and other wildlife. Most recently, a Red-tailed Hawk, the mate of the renowned and beloved Pale Male, was killed in New York City.
These three companies have spurned government directives, continuing to market their poisons as loose pellets and pastes rather than in bait stations, and to peddle to residential consumers the most toxic formulations.
UPDATE: Reckitt Benckiser has responded to the citizen pressure with a letter to ABC trying to justify their actions. Join us in telling Reckitt Benckiser that we don’t buy their excuses!
Red-tailed Hawk, Pale Male by Jeremy Seto
Please enter your information and send your comments. We have drafted a letter for you, but your additional thoughts will really make an impact.


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Many states across India are doing their best to attract the textile and garment industry. And few of the states are already succeeding in getting big apparel exporters and textile companies.
Madhya Pradesh (MP) is one such state. It is having well-known apparel manufacturing hubs like Indore (for majorly the domestic market) and a few of the top companies like Pratibha Syntex, Pithampur; Maral Overseas of LNJP Bhilwara Group (spinning and knitting operations near Indore); Grasim Ltd. (spun-dyed speciality fibre at Nagda); Century Yarn And Denim, Khargone; Trident Ltd. (spinning operations) and Vardhman Fabrics (both in Budhni); Vardhman Yarns, Satlapur; Sagar Manufacturers (yarn giant) at Tamot (Goharganj) and Goodwill Fabrics, Gwalior.
The state is again in the limelight from the textile and apparel industry’s point of view.The companies are investing there since few of the companies are coming up with big investments.
Ludhiana-based Vardhman Group is investing Rs. 800 crore in spinning and this project is expected to complete in the next one-and-a-half years. Tirupur-based Best Corporation has started construction of its unit near Ujjain which is its first-ever in MP. The company is investing Rs. 60 crore in the garment factory which will be having initially 1,000 stitching machines.
Another textile company that has also announced to invest more in the state is Sagar Group, which is also the leading group of MP. The company’s top management recently disclosed this information in a meeting with the state’s Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan. Sudhir Kumar Agrawal, Chairman of the Group told that the company is establishing textiles and food processing units at Tamot in Raisen district. There will be an investment of Rs. 600 crore in the projects and 2,500 people would get jobs in the two units.
Though the company refused to disclose more details about the expansion programme,it is being said that investment in the textile division will be ‘reasonable’.
The main reasons for the fresh investment are easy and very cost-effective availability of land and availability of labour as well. For example, Best Corporation has been allotted 15 acres of land on 75 per cent subsidy compared to the market price of land. On the ground level, the State Government is highly supportive of the industry.
S. Pal, Director, Vardhman Group shared with Apparel Resources, “Along with polices, the major positive aspect is the supportive attitude of the State Government. Policies related to textile industry in the state are like a complete package for the companies.”
आज मंत्रालय में प्रतिभा सिंटेक्स के एमडी श्री सुरेश चौधरी व श्रेयस्कर चौधरी, सागर ग्रुप के चेयरमैन श्री सुधीर अग्रवाल और गोल्डी सोलर प्रा.लि. के एमडी कैप्टन ईश्वर ढोलकिया ने भेंट की। समस्त उद्योगपतियों से प्रदेश में निवेश की संभावनाओं व उद्योगों को बढ़ावा देने को लेकर चर्चा हुई। pic.twitter.com/ai4CJoHdc4
— Shivraj Singh Chouhan (@ChouhanShivraj) March 1, 2021
“Our first factory in MP is at Nagziri, very near to Ujjain city, which is not only well-connected but also has good labour availability. As Tirupur is facing labour saturation, MP was the best option for us to start a new unit,” said A. Rajkumar, MD, Best Corporation.
Though it is also an accepted fact that as of now the mid-level management professionals (specific to the garment industry) will be arranged from outside and over the years, the number will grow organically.
Ashok Juneja, President, The Textile Association (India) was recently in MP for a textile industry-related event. He shared his observations, “As far as major investments in the state are concerned, existing players of the state are more aggressive. The companies like Vardhman and Trident have enough land pool in the state, so it is viable for them to invest in MP compared to making a fresh start in any other state.”
Sources confirmed Apparel Resources that one more big company is also coming up with a new plant. They requested not to disclose the company name as approvals and allied things are under process.
The state also has some strong availability of resources for the textile industry like it is amongst the top 10 states of India producing cotton. Since 2008, NIFT is also operational at Bhopal with UG and PG courses. Similarly is NID, Bhopal.
It is also pertinent to mention here that as far as incentives or subsidies are concerned for the textile and apparel industry in the state, it has almost all common schemes which other states too have like land premium related rebate, tax delinked investment assistance which is offered to large scale industries ranging from 40 per cent to 10 per cent of investment in plant and machinery with a minimum investment of Rs. 1 crore, reimbursement of stamp duty and registration fee on the execution of land lease documents, infrastructure development subsidy at 50 per cent with a maximum limit of Rs. 1 crore each for developing water, power and road infrastructure for private or undeveloped Government land.
Similarly, it also offers skill development and training expenses reimbursement assistance of Rs.13,000 per new employee which shall be provided for 5 years for MP domicile employees. Power supply at a fixed rate of Rs. 5 per unit on new electrical connection, for 5 years from the date of commercial production is also available.
Another hub in the making
Jabalpur, a big city of MP,has been selected for garment industry under the One District One Product (ODOP) scheme and around 80 SME units have been started in recent months. The city has an old but unorganised garment industry; now local administration is trying to give an organised structure and Government is coming up with a Garment and Fashion Design Cluster at Lema Garden, Gohalpur. Though the cluster is totally producing garments for domestic market but training of marketing as well as export is also being provided to the local manufacturers.
IIM and State working together on policies and ease of doing business
Another good thing is that the State Government is making corporates part of policymaking. Just two months back, the State Government associated with the Indian Institute of Management (IIM), Indore for reviewing its industrial policy and developing ‘Brand Madhya Pradesh’. IIM will also help the state in evaluating parameters of ease of doing business and perform impact analysis and third-party verification of various schemes of the states.
Last year, in February, the State Government announced to come up with a new textile policy and it will be interesting to see how both companies and Government, enthusiastically and aggressively shape the future of the industry.


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Pay, which saw the service expanding into personal finance, the company is rolling out a new set of features to make it more a part of its users’ everyday lives. With an update, Google Pay will now include new options for grocery savings, paying for public transit, and categorizing their spending.
Safeway brings more than 500 stores to the Google Pay platform, and Target stores nationwide will offer a similar feature. Through partnerships with Safeway and Target,can browse their store’s weekly circulars showcasing the latest deals. Google Pay users can favorite the recommended values for later access. And soon, Google Pay will notify you of the weekly deals when you’re near a participating store if a location is enabled.
Soon, the Google Pay app will also allow Android users to access transit tickets from the app’sthrough a “Ride Transit” shortcut. They can then purchase, add, or transit card balances. Once purchased, you can hold up your transit card to a reader — or show a visual ticket if there’s no reader.
The final feature is designed for those using Google Pay to manage their finances. With last year’s revamp, a new Plex account. A competitor to the of mobile-only digital banks, Google’s app serves as the front end to the funds hosted by partner banks, like Citi and Stanford Federal Credit Union.
As a part of that experience,to their spending behavior, balances, bills, and more via an “Insights” tab. Here, you’ll be able to see your credit and accounts due, get alerts about more significant transactions, and track spending by either category or business. As Google is now automatically categorizing transactions, that means you’ll be able to search for general terms (like “food”) as well as by specific business names (like “Burger King”), Google explains.
When the redesigned brands get consumers through Google Pay could be a valuable service if it can grow its user base and encourage more to opt into the personalization features. To make that happen, you can expect Google Pay to roll out more useful or “must-have” elements in the coming weeks., users were asked to opt into personalization features, which could help show users better, more relevant deals. While it’s not providing your data directly to these third-party brands and retailers, the app offers a conduit for those businesses to reach potential customers when the trucking industry is upheaval over Apple’s privacy changes. Google’s ability to help


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SAF-West opens anodizing line, adds capacity
With the start-up of its batch anodizing line, SAF-West, Redding, Calif., now has the same capabilities as the SAF plant in Atlanta.
The Redding plant operations now include distribution of aluminum extrusions and sheet, fabrication, and anodizing for customers up and down the West Coast, with next-day delivery throughout California. The company reports it can custom-anodize and ship sheet and extrusions for customers in 24 hours or less.
The 75,000-sq.-ft. facility currently operates with 15 employees and expects to add 20 to 25 more this year.


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Anyone who thought Netflix's recent slowdown in subscriber growth could open up a path for Disney to make some headway in the streaming war should think again. All eyes were on Disney Plus during Thursday's earnings call, and the streaming service badly underperformed Wall Street estimates for quarterly subscriber growth.
Disney Plus now counts 103.6 million subscribers as of April 3, about 5 million fewer than consensus analyst expectations.
The service surpassed the 100-million-subscriber mark in March, just 16 months after its November 2019 launch – a milestone that took Netflix ten years to achieve. With Disney's lucrative Parks division continuing to suffer from the pandemic, so far results from the company's big bet on streaming have kept its business outlook buoyed. Yet with rapid growth comes great expectations, and in the immediate aftermath of Disney's reported shortfall on Thursday, the company's stock fell as much as 4.5% in after-hours trading.
Nevertheless, chief executive Bob Chapek said the service remains on track to reach between 230 and 260 million subscribers by 2024, as the company forecasted in March.
Analysts had been bullish that the two Marvel series debuting this quarter – "WandaVision" and "Falcon and the Winter Soldier" – would boost demand. Evidently the appeal of Marvel's expansive foray into streaming television did not quite materialize.
Disney also missed consensus revenue expectations, coming about $300 million below the consensus $15.6 billion.
Despite the misses, Chapek said he was "extremely pleased" with how customers responded to Disney Plus's price increase. Hikes in March in the U.S. did not significantly increase churn, he added.
Brett Feldman of Goldman Sachs said in his most recent investor note that a positive consumer response to the service's first-ever price increase would bode well for its long-term growth and profitability prospects. Disney has said it hopes Disney Plus will begin turning a profit in 2024.
And Brandon Nispel, equity research analyst at KeyBanc Capital Markets, wrote in his earnings preview that "profits in streaming will be dominated by a select few," and suggested that Disney is well positioned to be one of those winners. That the service — especially in such a competitive market — can retain customers despite hiking prices is a strong sign of durability.
Disney shares have been trading relatively flat of late, following an extended recovery from its pandemic plummet. By the first Monday after lockdown in March 2020, the stock had fallen over 40% to $86 from its November 2019 then all-time high of $150. It reached a new all-time high by March 2021, surpassing $200, before settling into a stagnant hover between $180 and $190 over the last month, closing at $178 on Thursday.
Investors were hoping for a positive earnings report to help break through that inertia, but instead saw the ticker going the wrong direction, at least for now.
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