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Michael Waltrip Racing and Maxwell House today announced a partnership which names the iconic coffee maker as primary racing sponsor for five Sprint Cup races during the 2015 season and the prestigious DAYTONA 500® in February 2016. The 10-month agreement officially kicks off on Aug. 2 with the Pennsylvania 400 at the Pocono Raceway.
“Maxwell House is a well-respected brand and on behalf of our sport, I’d like to welcome them back to NASCAR,” said Clint Bowyer, who will race Saturday evening in the Sprint Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. “We pride ourselves on taking care of our sponsors at Michael Waltrip Racing, and we’re certainly going to do our best for them – both on and off the track.”
Bowyer will drive the No. 15 Maxwell House Toyota at Watkins Glen International, Pocono Raceway, Martinsville Speedway and Texas Motor Speedway in the second half of the 2015 season. Waltrip, a two-time DAYTONA 500® champion, will carry the Maxwell House colors at Talladega Superspeedway in October and in the 2016 DAYTONA 500® at Daytona International Speedway.
Maxwell House is no stranger to the racing circuit, having partnered with some of the most well-known drivers in professional racing between 1989 and 2003, including Michael Waltrip. During a press conference this morning at Texas Motor Speedway, the companies jointly unveiled the new Maxwell House Toyota Camry car design, to be fielded by Michael Waltrip Racing.
“Racing fans share a lot of the same qualities as Maxwell House coffee drinkers, including their loyalty to and passion for their favorite brands and sporting events,” said Chris McClement, Senior Director, Maxwell House. “With its excellent reputation and powerful drivers, Michael Waltrip Racing is the perfect partner to help us rev up our brand and bring coffee that is ‘Good to the Last Drop’ to racing enthusiasts nationwide.”
Michael Waltrip Racing, co-owned by Michael Waltrip and Rob Kauffman, began fielding fulltime Sprint Cup entries as the flagship team for Toyota Racing Development in 2007. They own seven Sprint Cup victories, more than 70 top-five finishes and earned berths in NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2012 and 2013.
“It makes me proud to wear the Maxwell House colors again,” said Waltrip, who drove a Maxwell House branded car in 1989. “I am really looking forward to racing at Talladega this fall, but everyone knows how special the DAYTONA 500® is to me, and I want to thank Maxwell House for letting me compete in my 29th Great American Race. Clint and I are going to do everything we can to get the Maxwell House Toyota Camry in victory lane for them.”
Other elements of the sponsorship will include special appearances by the Michael Waltrip Racing team, exclusive behind-the-scenes access for select fans, special in-season and grocery store promotions and sampling at select races. Maxwell House is also an associate sponsor of the remaining Sprint Cup races.
Michael Waltrip Racing


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I’ve always said when shopping is tied to a charitable event that makes it less a guilty pleasure.
After all, you’re doing good, right?
Well, we’ve just heard of a new shopping opportunity that will indeed benefit one of our local organizations, and it sounds like the classic “win-win” situation.
The Junior League of Central Westchester has teamed up with Sephora in the cosmetics retailer’s Values Inside Out program. It’s an initiative that “seeks to make communities across America more beautiful.”
What does that mean for us? We can purchase the YOU + SEPHORA cosmetics collection for $20 now through the end of the year at The Westchester in White Plains and $13 from each sale will be donated to this Junior League.
The first limited-edition collection features a clutch, glitter eyeliner, lip gloss and nail polish.
The local Sephora store has chosen the theme “Take your Green and Make a Dream,” a way to boost sales further and to donate to the Junior League’s causes, which include literacy, hunger and nutrition, a diaper initiative and its “Done in a Day” projects.
If you can’t get to the shop, don’t worry as your purchase will still do good: Online sales at Sephora.com benefit the American Heart Association.
For more on the program, visit sephora.com; and for more on the Junior League and its work, visit jlcentralwestchester.org.

domain: news


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Serko to boost sales and staff after $3.6m loss
Serko has announced its results for the six months to 30 September 2014. The online travel booking and expense management for business reported revenue and losses for the period were $4.7 million and $3.6 million respectively and are in line with expectations. Cash held at 30 September 2014 was $8.3 million.
The company reported total revenue growth of 50 percent, with online transaction-based revenue up 36 percent and online transactions increased by 32 percent.
Serko says it has strong pipeline of new business commitments for FY16, and is accelerating headcount plans to support additional growth.
During the period Serko experienced growth in online bookings in line with expectations. Online transactions grew by 32% compared to the same period in FY14. Monthly run-rate growth, which is a comparison of transactions for a month against the same month last year, is accelerating and reached 59% in September 2014.
Serko chief executive officer Darrin Grafton says “Serko is currently on-track to achieve the financial forecast for the 12 months to March 2015 included in the prospective financial information (PFI) contained in the Prospectus.
“We continue to build a strong pipeline of committed new business through existing and new travel agent resellers. Engaged and motivated travel agents are key to Serko’s long-term growth in Australasia and the rest of the world.
He says a partnership between Serko’s online expense management platform, Incharge, and Discover Group (Diners) was announced in July and will help to drive the growth of that product line. “Work to integrate Serko Online, the online booking platform, and Incharge continues behind the scenes and we look forward to seeing more integrated offerings announced in the near future”.
“Operationally, we have made good progress scaling up the business since the Initial Public Offering (IPO). Total employees in Serko’s offices worldwide were 118 at the end of the period, with another 13 new starters contracted to join. Growth has been focused predominantly in our Sales, Operations and Technology teams”, he says.
Serko was awarded a further Research and Development grant worth up to $4.2 million over three years in October 2014 and we will use the funds to help boost our innovation and delivery capabilities.
“Serko Mobile, our flagship new product, has commenced commercial trial, with a full commercial launch planned for February 2015. The product has already garnered significant interest from overseas markets, with nuTravel, a leading US travel technology provider, signing a three year reseller deal for the technology”, says Grafton.
Grafton says Serko remains convinced that mobile is right at the core of our industry transformation strategy and plan to continue substantial investment in this space.
“At a macro level, the global market for travel technology remains strong and is experiencing a level of consolidation. The acquisition of our main competitor Concur by SAP in October 2014 is a clear demonstration of the value inherent in the market.
“It’s also appropriate to refer to the Ebola outbreaks in the context of the risk it could present to the travel industry in our region and to Serko’s business. At this stage we have not detected or been made aware of any material impacts to corporate travel in the Australasia and South East Asian markets. However, we are closely monitoring the situation with our Travel Agent partners.”
In respect of Serko’s outlook, Grafton says “in our Investment Statement, we also provided forecasts for the six months to September 2015. Based on our current pipeline of business alone, the outlook for this period looks promising”.
He says Serko’s sales pipleline is dependent on client and reseller readiness to on-board, making it difficult for Serko to forecast revenue growth ‘with precision’. “In other words, we are confident that we have secured the business but we cannot be certain of the exact timing of the transition of that business to our platform,” he says.
“In addition, Serko is now actively involved in a number of significant discussions concerning our mass movement “Groups” technology. These involve major global companies in the Mining, Energy & Resources sector in Australia and also the US. Our unique patented technology offers a compelling business case to these businesses. To date Serko has secured numerous clients in the Australian mining sector, but the potential to extend this product to new markets such as North America represents significant future growth potential for Serko.
“Moreover, we are seeing interest in our online and mobile technology from Travel Agents in the US market”.
Grafton says these two developments indicate that there is an opportunity to grow the business in the US. This may result in deployment of resources to North America in addition to Asia, and Grafton says Serko is currently considering how best to undertake such an expansion of the company’s footprint.
“We also expect to sign additional mobile reseller or ‘white-label’ agreements in the future”.
Grafton says Serko has made a decision to accelerate elements of its headcount plans to support these additional growth opportunities.
“The second half of this financial year promises to be an exciting and pivotal period for Serko and we believe we are positively positioned to continue to grow strongly into the future.”


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Even though occupancy appears to be rising at most metro Detroit malls, some mall managers are mindful of retail bankruptcies that have caused tenant losses and may hurt their ability to attract new tenants.
Some of the caution stems from the Winkelman's bankruptcy last year, which resulted in 41 store closings, many of them in local malls. Montgomery Ward's bankruptcy left larger vacancies in two other metro area malls.
The March bankruptcy filing of Edison Bros. Stores Inc. also could mean more vacancies. The St. Louis-based retailer has several stores that are national mall staples, including J. Riggings, 5-7-9, Wild Pair, Bakers, Coda and JW/Jeans West.
Nevertheless, most major malls in metro Detroit saw increases in occupancy in the past year, according to a market survey conducted by Key Marketing Group Inc. of Waterford.
Crain's looked at occupancy rates compiled by Key Marketing in April 1998 and compared them with rates compiled by the company this April.
Ken Smith, president of Key Marketing, said the company's monthly Mall Monitor Series counts the number of stores in malls. That differs from retail market studies that typically calculate the occupancy rate based on square footage. The survey looked at 18 malls in Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties.
Smith said a slight difference in percentages might be found in square footage surveys when compared to the number of stores.
Key's results are based on whether a store is open, closed or has a sign announcing a new tenant. Storefronts with partitions that don't reveal a new tenant are counted as a vacancy.
``What we look at is the view from the consumer,'' Smith said.
Oakland Mall Manager Joy Powell and her peers don't take recent retail bankruptcies lightly because, in part, competition among malls is fierce. The retail bankruptcies intensify that competition because malls are trying to find replacement tenants at the same time.
She said Oakland Mall isn't owned by a major mall chain, so it has to be proactive when it comes to attracting tenants. The Troy mall enjoys the second highest occupancy rate in metro Detroit.
Oakland Mall had an occupancy rate of 96.9 percent in April, compared with 94.5 percent for the same period in 1998, according to the Key study. It had 125 of 129 spaces occupied. Somerset North had the highest occupancy at 97.5 percent, with 115 of its 118 spaces occupied.
Borders Books and Music opened its first mall store in Oakland Mall last week in the space left vacant by Winkelman's. But, Powell said, the mall will be losing Wild Pair and J. Riggings, two of the five Edison Bros. stores in the mall.
Joe Tyree, general manager of Summit Place Mall in Waterford Township, said his mall also has been dealing with retail bankruptcies. He has three Edison Bros. stores, Wild Pair, JW and 5-7-9. Wild Pair is the most likely to close. The mall also lost anchor Service Merchandise, another retailer in bankruptcy, earlier this year, as did Wonderland Mall in Livonia.
Key's survey said Summit Place's occupancy rate was 80.3 percent in April, down from 87 percent in April 1998. Tyree said occupancy now is more like 92 percent, because the mall has signed new tenants. The mall plans to add six stores, including the Gap and Gap Kids clothing retailers, later this year, he said.
The various bankruptcies have had a double whammy affect on some malls, especially malls that have lost anchor stores.
Eastland Center has that problem. Montgomery Ward closed its doors at the mall in Harper Woods last year. It has yet to find a tenant.
Rita Similides, mall manager at Eastland, said she is confident a new tenant will be found for that space. Despite the vacant anchor store, Eastland's occupancy rate increased from 83.7 percent in April 1998 to 88.6 percent this year, according to Key's survey.
Similides said Eastland recently signed Guess and Guess Kids stores to replace J. Riggings and Kinney Shoes. The two Guess stores are to open in November.
Stephen Epstein, a partner at the Detroit office of PricewaterhouseCoopers L.L.C., said mall managers shouldn't fret over the recent rash of retail bankruptcies. In fact, he sees it as a good thing because it gives malls the opportunity to update their tenant mix and overall appearance.
``Generally, there's going to be bankruptcies all the time,'' Epstein said. ``Retail sales have been going up. I think you have to look at it in big picture terms. It's a good thing in the long run.''


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PRICE comparison website MoneySupermarket.com completed the £87m acquisition of consumer website MoneySavingExpert on Friday morning.
The 22,123,894 shares due to Martin Lewis, founder of MoneySavingExpert, were admitted to the official list and to trading on the London stock exchange.
Mr Lewis founded the site in 2003 and it has become one of the leading personal finance and personal finance journalism websites, with reported revenues of £15.77m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation of £12.64m in the year ended October 31, 2011.
Both companies have worked closely for a number of years with the goal of helping customers save money.
MoneySupermarket.com, based in Ewloe, says the acquisition supports its strategy through enhancing Moneysupermarket.com’s brand and user content; growing direct-to-site revenues and improving the customer experience; and utilising Moneysupermarket.com’s skills to optimise MoneySavingExpert’s website and user experience.
Mr Lewis will remain as editor-in-chief of MoneySavingExpert.
MoneySupermarket.com intends to preserve the editorial independence of MoneySavingExpert through an agreed editorial code.
The proposed deal was announced in June this year and in August the Office of Fair Trading decided not to refer the proposed takeover for investigation by the Monopolies and Mergers Commission.


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T-Pain is set to take over your television this fall with his new show T-Pain’s School of Business. The show will follow Pain through his exploration of start-up companies that will have an impact on the future and the entrepreneurs who will be behind them. Companies will range from weed startups to digital instruments and Pain will be on hand to talk with their creators an get the backstory of what provided the inspiration for their current success.
In an exclusive preview of the new series T-Pain connects with the creators of a California based weed-infused wine that is seeking to align themselves with one of the most powerful groups of people in today’s economy, millennials. The wine duo details how to make the wine and even provide a taste test.
Check out the video below and be sure to catch the premiere of T-Pain’s School of Business on October 16 at 11:00 pm ET/PT.
The post Source Exclusive: T-Pain Tests Weed Infused Wine on ‘T-Pain’s School of Business’ appeared first on The Source.


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The Crash Detection feature built into iPhone 14, iPhone 14 Pro, and new Apple Watch models is causing skiers to accidentally call emergency services, according to a Utah news site KSL.
Designed to call for help when a car crash is detected, the Crash Detection feature can be activated at ski resorts, and operators of Summit County in Utah have seen an increase in 911 calls.
“We will get calls saying that the owner of this Apple Watch or iPhone has had a serious accident or they have been involved in a car accident,” said Suzie Butterfield, supervisor of the Summit County Dispatch Center. KSL.
With so many activations, people don’t respond at first because they don’t realize that the call has been made. “They’re usually like, ‘Oh, sorry, I’m skiing. Everything’s fine,'” says Butterfield.
Three to five emergency calls from Apple devices come in per day, and so far, none have been intentionally activated. Butterfield says he doesn’t mind accidental calls because the feature can be useful in a real emergency situation.
Reddit users have confirmed that skiing can trigger the Crash Detection feature, with one user explaining that he was going down a hill at a moderate speed when his Apple Watch started dialing 911.
You may want to turn off damage detection on your iPhone 14 if you ski at any speed. I went out yesterday for the first time. I kept my phone in my pocket and coasted the Tinkerbell at moderate speed doing a few short radius turns on my second lap of the year. To give you an idea of how moderate it is, I just went through a slow sign with 3 security patrols nearby and not one of them raised an eyebrow at me! I stopped to wait on my wife and my phone immediately started screaming “Have you had an accident? We’re calling emergency services in 20 seconds! Woop! Woop!” I turned it off as fast as I could and then immediately turned off all the emergency notification functions.
In addition to Crash Detection on the iPhone 14, Apple Watch Series 8, new Apple Watch SE, and Apple Watch Ultra models, there is also a fall detection feature on various Apple devices that also has the potential to cause an emergency call. .
Butterfield says he doesn’t recommend turning off the security features of iPhone and Apple Watch. “We don’t mind taking those calls because if something does happen, we want to be able to get back to you,” he said.
The Crash Detection feature in the new iPhone and Apple Watch models has also been hit by a rollercoaster, and just today, Apple released the iOS 16.1.2 update which includes “Crash Detection Optimization”. Apple hasn’t provided any information on what this means, but it’s likely aimed at reducing accidental triggers where there haven’t been actual car accidents.
Thank you, Justin!


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From January 19-23, the entire Solina team will introduce our tailor-made dry and liquid solutions for QSR and food service: sauces, seasonings, spices, functional ingredients, coatings and other solutions in order to create trendy products of tomorrow.
We will also share our complete expertise which includes access to numerous integrated ingredient solutions, R&D capabilities, regulatory and technical advice, culinary inspiration and more.
Find us on stand 2.2 F86!
By working with Solina, a leading global partner for the food industry, companies can access the full suite of resources needed to meet changing consumer demands, from insights into local and global trends through to the spectrum of capabilities and expertise needed to deliver great-tasting products.
let’s meet, foodservice professionals From the 10th to 13th of February 2023,...read more
How to meet changing consumer demands in a dynamic market People have been eating ...read more
Inflation: Why food companies need to invest in product development amid financial ...read more
How adventurous consumers are redefining the European taste landscape Europeans wan...read more
Following our communication at the beginning of October, we are proud to announce t...read more


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Fuel prices have dropped at the pump on effective Monday, January 2nd 2022.
The prices were reduced at the last review ahead of the Christmas festivities.
However, just two days into the New Year, the Oil Marketing Companies (OMCs) have reduced their prices.
Goil announced new prices on Monday, January 2nd.
Petrol dropped from Ghc 13,40 to Ghc 12.40 whilst Diesel dropped from Gh 15.85 to Ghc 14,60.
NEW FUEL PRICES EFFECTIVE MONDAY 2ND JANUARY, 2023 .
SUPER XP RON95 – GHC 12.40
DIESEL XP – GHC 14.60 pic.twitter.com/YRfwMiwnVw
— GOIL (@GOIL_Official) January 2, 2023
COPEC Predicts Fuel Price Drop
The new lower fuel prices follow a prediction by the Chamber of Petroleum Consumers-Ghana (COPEC).
According to the Chamber, petrol is expected to be sold at a minimum price of GH¢9.30 per litre while diesel is expected to be sold between GH¢12.80 and GH¢15 per litre at various pumps.
This will be a decline of about 15 percent and 8 percent respectively in petrol and diesel prices depending on the oil marketing company.
Speaking to Citi News, the head of research at COPEC, Benjamin Nsiah, noted that, a decrease in the global prices of oil products and the recent stabilization of the cedi is responsible for the expected marginal drop.
“Petroleum users, basically motorists and other industrial users should expect a price decline of petrol of about 15 percent and that of diesel of about 18 percent. in the first pricing window of January which begins on January 1. Diesel is expected to be sold at a maximum price of GH¢14.60 per litre.”
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Time to look at What's Trending at 5:30….
If you have long hair…better watch your ponytail….
A new trend happening in Venezuela and Columbia where the thieves grab women by the hair, pull out some scissors, and cut it. They then sell it at beauty or hair salons.
One hair stylist says synthetic hair costs anywhere from 40 dollars to 160, depending on its quality. but natural hair can cost well over 500 dollars.
A puppy in Florida is recovering from surgery.
The owner thought the pup was a girl….but turns out it has both male and female parts.
The vet says its a very rare condition, but usually comes from inbreeding.
The dog is a hermaphrodite.
Doctors did corrective surgery.
A restaurant in texas says no kids allowed…..after 7pm.
Children under 8 years old cannot dine at the restaurant, co-owner says they policy comes after getting complaints from other customers.
No need to leave leftovers in your refrigerator to mold….a new company wants you to share them with others.
An online startup wants to make a refrigerator full of leftover food… a thing of the past.
The website and smartphone app “leftover swap” will be a place for you to sell leftovers like, an uneaten half of pizza.
The company says it wants to prevent food waste, while promoting eating local and building communities.


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Should've googled it first! BMW owns Alphabet.com and has no plans to sell it to Google's new parent company
- BMW owns a company called Alphabet and describes website as active
- There are 103 trademarks using the word 'alphabet' or some variation
- Google's umbrella company does not own the @alphabet twitter handle
- Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced shake-up in blog post on Monday
Google has rebranded as Alphabet, bringing its many subsidiaries under one umbrella organisation.
But it has already run into a snag with its new name, as reports emerged car manufacturer BMW owns the domain Alphabet.com - and it has no plans to sell up.
The German car maker owns a fleet services company called Alphabet and has described its website as 'very active'.
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German car manufacturer BMW owns the domain at Alphabet.com and currently has no plans to sell to Google, which on Monday announced it was rebranding as Alphabet, an umbrella company for its subsidiaries. Pictured is the website of BMW's Alphabet, which a company spokeswoman described as 'very active'
'We are not planning to sell the domain,' a BMW spokeswoman told the New York Times yesterday, and the company is looking into whether any trademark infringement has taken place.
The website Alphabet.com has been down since the New York Times report was published due to the extra traffic it is receiving.
Google's new umbrella organisation does not own the @alphabet twitter handle either, with its owner - Chris Andrikanich - tweeting: 'Well, that was an interesting way to end a Monday...' after the announcement from the search giant.
A Reuters report claims there are 103 trademarks in the US alone that use the word 'alphabet' or some variation of it.
Alphabet is currently operating at abc.xyz where it displays a holding page with a message from Google Co-founder Larry Page.
With the new name came a new logo, with one industry designer describing it as a sign that the company was 'growing up'.
Well, that was an interesting way to end a Monday...— Chris Andrikanich (@alphabet) August 10, 2015
'There’s an elegance in it that comes with maturity. And I see that elegance in the Alphabet logo,' Natasha Jen told Wired.
Larry Page and Sergey Brin announced the surprise move to rebrand in a blog post on Monday after stocks closed.
It means the firm will be able to lend more focus on risky ventures at its 'moonshot factory' Google[x] - developing robots, self-driving cars and studying life sciences - while keeping investors happy.
In the shake-up, Mr Page will become the chief executive of Alphabet, while his fellow founder of the $367.6 billion company, Sergey Brin, will become the holding company's president.
Senior vice president Sundar Pichai will receive a long-awaited promotion to become chief executive of Google, which will now solely be a search engine.
With the new name came a new logo (pictured), with one industry designer describing it as a sign that the company was 'growing up'
Moving on: Larry Page (left), Alphabet's new CEO, and Sergey Brin (right), the umbrella firm's president
'This new structure will allow us to keep tremendous focus on the extraordinary opportunities we have inside of Google,' Mr Page said in the blog post.
'Our company is operating well today, but we think we can make it cleaner and more accountable.
WHO IS GOOGLE'S NEW CEO SUNDAR PICHAI?
Google's new CEO: Rising star Sundar Pichai
Silicon Valley applauded the 'long-awaited' promotion of rising star Sundar Pichai on Monday in Google's radical shake-up.
Twitter tried to poach him in 2011, and he was slated to become Microsoft CEO in 2013, but stuck with Google - where he has ascended to the top in just over six years.
The 43-year-old married father-of-two (one son, one daughter) was born in Chennai, India.
Pichai moved to America after his bachelor's degree in engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur.
He went to Stanford for his MSc, the University of Pennsylvania for his MBA, then worked in business management and engineering before joining Google in 2004.
At Google he was one of the driving forces behind Gmail and Google Maps, and has headed up the development side of Chrome and Chrome OS.
He is widely described as 'nice', 'mild-mannered' and warm'.
'So we are creating a new company, called Alphabet. I am really excited to be running Alphabet as CEO with help from my capable partner, Sergey, as President.'
Alphabet will house the main Google businesses such as Search, Maps and YouTube, along with separately-managed firms such as Fiber and Nest, as well as investment arms Google Ventures and Capital.
The restructuring means investors will get a more detailed insight into how their money is being spent across Google's various projects.
Alphabet Inc will replace Google as the publicly-traded entity and all shares of Google will automatically convert into the same number of shares of Alphabet, with all of the same rights.
Wall Street sent up Google's shares by six per cent on Monday and stocks continued to rise after the announcement.
Mr Page said the move is, in part, an attempt to spur innovation and growth as Google nears its twentieth year.
'Sergey and I are seriously in the business of starting new things.
'Alphabet will also include our X lab, which incubates new efforts like Wing, our drone delivery effort.
'We are also stoked about growing our investment arms, Ventures and Capital, as part of this new structure.'
Speaking to Daily Mail Online, Jan Dawson, chief analyst and technology advisory firm JackDaw Research, said the announcement makes sense of Mr Page's speech on Berkshire Hathaway last month.
Mr Page told a group of shareholders in July that he saw Warren Buffett's multinational conglomerate holding company as a business model to aspire to - despite sharing barely anything in common with Google.
Now, his statement appears to make sense. But Mr Dawson remains skeptical about the transformation.
'That's a very different model, and means that although Alphabet might give the CEOs of the various subsidiaries lots of operating independence, they can't be anywhere near financially independent,' Mr Dawson said.
The move means Alphabet will be able to lend more focus on risky ventures at its 'moonshot factory' Google[x] - developing robots, self-driving cars and studying life sciences - while keeping investors happy
'But it does mean that Google could reveal the true profitability of its core business, which could be heartening to shareholders, while raising even more questions about the wisdom of investing in the moonshot businesses.'
John Simpson, Consumer Watchdog's Privacy Project director, agreed the move appears to be an attempt to 'keep investors happy' while continuing 'to have their toys like Google Glass and robot cars.'
Mr Simpson warned consumers, 'Alphabet through what will now be called its subsidiary will continue to track us around the web and build digital dossiers about us.'
He added: 'We don't know where in the new corporate structure the robot car project will end up, but you can be sure Alphabet will push the vehicles at us before the cars are ready.'
Across the board, analysts have praised Pichai's promotion.
THE EASTER EGG INSIDE THE ANNOUNCEMENT: LARRY PAGE HIDES A TREAT FOR FANS OF HBO SHOW SILICON VALLEY IN HIS STATEMENT ON ALPHABET
For fans of the HBO show Silicon Valley, Google has a treat for you.
The Alphabet announcement contained a hidden link to a micro site hooli.xyz.
It is a reference to the show's fictional company called Hooli, and its 'moonshot' division Hooli XYZ - based on Google's so-called 'moonshot factory' which tries to make the impossible possible.
The incredibly geeky in-joke was cleverly placed exactly at the point where Larry Page mentioned their moonshot factory - Google[x] - and its drone delivery service in the making.
To access the hidden site, go to abc.xyz, then click the end of the sentence after 'our drone delivery effort.'
To access the hidden site, go to abc.xyz then click the end of the sentence after 'our drone delivery effort.'
This is the landing page of the in-joke about the HBO show Silicon Valley and its fictional firm Hooli XYZ, based on Google's so-called 'moonshot factory' Google[x] where they try to make the impossible possible
It opens a slick scroll-down page with a stream of tongue-in-cheek aphorisms.
'HooliXYZ is Hooli's experimental division,' it reads, 'The dream kitchen. The moonshot factory. The laboratory of possibility. The midwife of magic. The womb of wonders.'
In real life, Google[x], led by Captain of Moonshots Astro Teller, calls itself the 'moonshot factory'.
Hooli XYZ, the site explains, is led by Sole Head Dreamer Nelson 'Big Head' Bighetti, who is 'just three credits shy of an undergraduate degree in computer science from the University of Oklahoma' and 'owns a boat'.
Unfortunately for the fictional Hooli, the only thing they have managed to make so far is a potato cannon - and that broke when they tried to use it to shoot out a Mr Potato Head (that scene is pictured here)
The site then lists a series of aspirations, from self-flying cars to a non-polluting engine that runs on the AIDS virus.
Unfortunately for the fictional Hooli, the only thing they have managed to make so far is a potato cannon - and that broke when they tried to use it to shoot out a Mr Potato Head.
No doubt the joke will delight tech and TV fans alike.
Another gem to the tale: hidden links are in fact banned by Google's official code of conduct, or 'Webmaster Guidelines', as they are deemed 'deceptive.'
Hidden links are in fact banned by Google's official code of conduct as they are deemed 'deceptive'
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Central Virginia Electric Cooperative (CVEC) will be launching its broadband service with Firefly Fiber using networking tools from Calix. The..


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E-commerce Bytes reports that Walmart is erasing the line between stores and online by inviting its Walmart.com Marketplace sellers to pitch the company on selling their items in bricks-and-mortar Walmart stores.
The invite is part of Walmart's Open Call 2023, scheduled for late October, when vendors are given the opportunity make "30-minute one-one-one" pitches to Walmart buyers, with the goal of securing "deals ranging from a handful of local stores to supplying hundreds of stores and Sam’s Clubs as well as Walmart.com and Walmart Marketplace."
The new arrangement will give Walmart Marketplace sellers priority consideration.
In its invitation, the retailer said, "“Walmart is looking for small businesses and U.S. manufacturers that have new and innovative shelf-ready items at the great value that meet the needs of our customers and members. If your product is made, grown or assembled in the U.S. and you want the chance to pitch your products at Open Call 2023. Register now through August 18, 2023. This year’s event will be hybrid, offering virtual and in-person options.”
- KC's View:
Smart move for Walmart to figure out how to bring the silos down whenever and wherever possible.


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The Texas blackouts seem to be an isolated problem that happened due to unpleasant weather, but examining the whole story reveals significant systemic racism and problems in the state’s infrastructure.
We all want some extra money in the current pandemic. Learn more about why resale apps such as Depop and Poshmark have skyrocketed in popularity since last year, and how to support these initiatives into the future!
The online education industry is expected to experience rapid growth during the COVID-19 pandemic since the majority of schools are closed. The leading online education companies such as Chegg, Coursera, and Udacity may have promising long-term growth due to the COVID-19 lockdown, but they may not be optimal investments as of now.
Zoom (NASDAQ: ZM) is a video conferencing software which has been widely adopted by businesses, schools, and other institutions as a means of communicating during the COVID-19 pandemic and quarantine. Relatively unknown prior to the pandemic, its convenience (45-minute meetings are free) and friendly user interface have led to Zoom skyrocketing in popularity from around 10 million users in December 2019 to over 200 million users in March 2020, solidifying its domain amongst competitors such as Discord, Google Hangouts, Microsoft Teams, and Skype.
UC Berkeley’s policy decisions this past spring around remote learning in response to the coronavirus pandemic elicited a wide range of reactions from my peers. One of my classmates, Dick, was ecstatic as he opted for the Passed/Not Passed grading option for all of his classes—saving his GPA from completely tanking. Many of my graduating friends, on the other hand, were despondent as their last semester at Berkeley was cut short, leaving them prematurely saying goodbye to all their friends and the place they had called home for four years.
Buying clothes secondhand was once heavily stigmatized, as many thought used goods were only bought by those who couldn’t afford anything else. Most people were repulsed by the idea of wearing clothes that someone else had worn. But throughout the past century, this stigma has essentially disappeared, due greatly in part to the emergence of thrift shops. Something that thrift shops offer that other fashion sources don’t is the experience: the whole notion of bargain hunting can make you feel as if you’re Indiana Jones, searching for the Lost Ark.


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Yesterday, President Trump signed proclamations to formally adjust the tariffs on aluminum (10%), stating national security as a major reason for their implementation under Section 232. These tariffs will go into effect 15 days from this signing. Canada and Mexico are temporarily exempt from the tariffs, depending on the outcome of NAFTA negotiations. Other countries will also have an opportunity to appeal for exemptions.
The proclamations define “aluminum articles” tariff schedule as:
- (a) unwrought aluminum (HTS 7601)
- (b) aluminum bars, rods, and profiles (HTS 7604)
- (c) aluminum wire (HTS 7605)
- (d) aluminum plate, sheet, strip, and foil (flat rolled products) (HTS 7606 and 7607)
- (e) aluminum tubes and pipes and tube and pipe fitting (HTS 7608 and 7609)
- (f) aluminum castings and forgings (HTS 7618.104.22.168 and 7622.214.171.124)
Aluminum industry organizations both in the U.S. and abroad have largely expressed concerns on the impact of broadly applied tariffs, asking the government to shift the focus to over capacity in China.
The Aluminum Association urged the administration to exempt other key trading partners and noted that a more targeted approach to the tariffs would protect vital supply chains for the 97% of U.S. aluminum mid and downstream manufacturing. “The president’s decision represents an opportunity to engage our critical trading partners on addressing persistent Chinese aluminum overcapacity,” said Heidi Brock, president and CEO of the Aluminum Association. “Now is the time to negotiate a long-term, enforceable agreement with China that tackles this perennial problem once and for all.”
Jean Simard, president and CEO of the Aluminium Association of Canada (AAC), stated, “This is a positive step from the American administration and recognizes Canada’s strategic role in the North American supply base. The goal remains to get a full exemption and we shall employ ourselves over the next weeks, together with our Canadian and Quebec governments and our U.S. allies, to find a pathway towards a full and permanent exemption.”
European Aluminium stated that it was confident the EU Commission would do everything it can to exempt European countries from the 10% U.S. tariff in the next 15 days, but requested immediate market surveillance and the implementation of safeguard measures if proven necessary. “We are deeply concerned about the U.S. decision to impose a 10% tariff on all aluminium products from Europe (EU+EFTA),” commented Gerd Götz, director general of European Aluminium. “As a long-standing political ally with strongly interlinked aluminium value chains and numerous multinationals operating on both territories, Europe should have been exempted from the tariff. If the tariff comes into force, it will greatly damage our trading relationship with the U.S. The EU currently exports 1.2 billion euro of direct aluminium products to the U.S., shares many industrial clusters, innovation hubs and transatlantic synergies.”
However, some U.S. companies are in support of the tariffs decision. Michael Bless, CEO of Century aluminum believes that this decision will be “extraordinary” for business, as the smelter will be able to add 300 jobs and invest over $100 million to restart production and upgrade technology at the Hawesville, Kentucky smelter.
Craig Bouchard, founder and CEO of Braidy Industries (which is currently constructing a greenfield aluminum rolling mill in Kentucky to produce sheet and plate for the automotive and aerospace industries), has also showed support. “Our costs will go up a little. This is ok,” Bouchardtold WDRB News. “The potential effect on jobs across America may far exceed our increased costs.” He further added, “My prediction: You will soon see foreign companies reacting to the tariffs by building new plants in the United States. The aluminum smelting industry could be one example. Foreign companies will do so in return for negotiated exemption to the tariffs.”
Edited to Add (3/10/2018): Australia will be exempt from the aluminum and steel tariffs.


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NEW DELHI India's motorcycle sales are expected to grow by 3-5 percent in the current financial year, the country's automobile industry association said, lowering its forecast as a slowdown in demand for cars spreads across the automobile industry.
The Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM) cut its growth forecast for the year that ends in March from 5-7 percent previously, also reducing its growth estimate for truck and bus sales to 0-2 percent from 3-5 percent.
Total automobile sales in India are seen growing 3-5 percent this year, SIAM said, down from 5-7 percent.
(Reporting by Anurag Kotoky; Editing by Daniel Magnowski)
Trending On Reuters
Companies are struggling to recover from years of exuberance, and say that Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan's caution in cutting rates despite historically low inflation is making it harder for them to get back on track. Full Article


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(Bloomberg Opinion) — A weak fourth quarter for Hon Hai Precision Industry Co. could be the wake-up call required to accelerate a transformation away from the low-end electronics assembly the company has dominated for the past two decades. But faithful investors may yet need patience before a new Foxconn starts showing dividends.
Net income reported late Tuesday for the December period dropped 4%, missing analyst estimates for the third time in five quarters. Sales, up 15%, were largely in line with expectations, indicating that the flagship of Taiwan’s Foxconn Technology Group faced increased operating costs and thinner margins.
Foxconn’s biggest challenge is the golden handcuffs it wears as the chief supplier for Apple Inc.’s iPhones. The Cupertino-based company accounts for around half the manufacturer’s revenues, yet the decades-long relationship has seen Hon Hai’s margins shrink to the lowest levels in its almost 30-year history as a listed company.
To highlight this mismatch in fortunes, Apple’s market capitalization has jumped 25-fold in the 14 years since Steve Jobs unveiled the first iPhone, while Hon Hai’s, the only company to win the assembly contracts each year, have climbed a comparatively tiny 71%.
Since taking the helm from founder Terry Gou in 2019, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Young Liu has had to tread a fine line between the legacy business his predecessor built, and the necessity of ditching that high-volume, low-margin thinking that will hold it back in coming decades.
What Liu has promised is a move into new realms, such as electric vehicles and fifth-generation communications equipment. Robotics, smart manufacturing and even quantum computing are long-term goals for a company that still relies on hundreds of thousands of workers each year to churn out electronics gadgets.
Management is keen to talk up those prospects. Last year, the company launched its MIH electric vehicle platform, a bold plan to speed up and modularize the development of cars similar to the way Alphabet Inc.’s Android spurred the entry of dozens of new smartphone brands.
Even though it may fail in a bigger goal to be a contract manufacturer of cars, Foxconn might be able to pick up enough small wins along the way to ensure its continued relevance in an era in which governments are mandating the end of internal combustion engines. The company already specializes in components — such as micro-controllers, cables, flat-screens and sensors — that are of specific need in electric vehicles.
Separate, but parallel to its EV plans, is Foxconn’s desire to move deeper into networking equipment. This isn’t a new area for the company — it’s been supplying Cisco Systems Inc. for decades. Yet with an increasing proportion of 5G networks being rolled out by non-telco operators, Foxconn sees an opportunity to grab a bigger share of the wireless sector.
Manufacturers, logistics providers and even theme-park operators are keen to set up and run their own networks, independent of telecom companies, which broadens the market for equipment and offers Foxconn an entry point. This may put it in competition with its own clients, such as Ericsson AB, but if the company treads carefully, it could keep the big names happy while supplying smaller rivals on the side.
Investors are buying into the thesis. Its shares are up almost 50% since Liu told reporters in December that the EV business is already showing signs of life and would be a driver of revenue in the first half of 2021. That momentum puts Hon Hai on track for the stock’s best performance since 2009.
Expect that loyalty to be tested. Quarterly misses remind investors that neither Hon Hai’s current nor future performance are guaranteed. The company is still inexorably tied to one major client as it awaits a new era of EVs. For Foxconn, that future can’t come soon enough.
This column does not necessarily reflect the opinion of the editorial board or Bloomberg LP and its owners.
Tim Culpan is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering technology. He previously covered technology for Bloomberg News.


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Hurricane-watchers take heed. Finding a room in Hernando County will soon get a little easier, since two new hotels are slotted to go up in Spring Hill in the next two years.
Holiday Inn Express plans to take a major step into the county, with one hotel at Cortez Boulevard, near Barclay Avenue, and another at U.S. 19, near Sealawn Drive, across from the giant pink dinosaur.
Hernando County's hotel room availability would increase by 20 percent, compared to the 600 rooms now available at local hotels and bed and breakfasts countywide, according to the county tourism department.
Construction on a 60-room Holiday Inn Express on State Road 50 is scheduled for early 2005, with an opening in early 2006, said hotel spokeswoman Monica Smith. Construction on a 73-room hotel on U.S. 19 would begin between April and June next year with an opening between April and June 2006.
While the closest Holiday Inn Express is in New Port Richey, this will not be Holiday Inn's first foray into the county. In the past decade, two Holiday Inn hotels became Best Westerns. Holiday Inn Express is a different brand from Holiday Inn, although both are owned by InterContinental Hotels Group, based in the United Kingdom.
Holiday Inn Express hotels are smaller than Holiday Inns, with no restaurants or meeting rooms. Holiday Inn Express hotel rooms tend to be lower-priced, in the $60 to $90 range. They also offer free breakfast.
InterContinental Hotels Group owns, manages or franchises 173 hotels in Florida, Smith said.
The addition of the two new Holiday Inn Express hotels will raise the county's hotel count from seven to nine, which means the county's revenue from the bed tax will also soon be increasing.
The new hotels could bring about $50,000 more in annual tourism tax dollars, which funds the county's Tourism Development Department. The bed tax is a 3 percent fee charged on the price of a room. The bed tax is applied to all short-term overnight businesses, including landlords who rent out homes for less than six months at a time.
"We're going to work our best to keep them full," said county tourism director Sue Rupe.
Other area hotel managers knew about the plans for the Holiday Inn Express hotels, and they noted that the county's population growth continues to attract such new businesses.
"There's always room for more hotels, and competition is always good for existing hotels," said Scott Guthman, general manager of the Best Western at Weeki Wachee.
Jennifer Liberto can be reached at (352) 848-1434 or libertosptimes.com.


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Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) decided to adopt a new “positive list” system for food-contact materials in order to impose restriction on substances that may be used in raw materials of food containers and packaging materials such as cooking utensils and lunch boxes contacting directly with foods.
The existing “negative list” system that bans uses of certain substances for food packaging materials is not regulating uses of materials except these substances.
MHLW plans to replace the “negative list” system with the “positive list” system by revising the Food Sanitation Law in 2018.
The revision of the Law aims at reducing risk that hazardous substances are mixed into foods through food-contacting materials, by putting restrictions on substances of synthetic resin.
The new “positive list” system will be worked out so that it will be consistent with standards of other countries’ rules for the purpose of effectively coping with increased imports of food items.
MHLW does not expect that the revision of the Law will have a great influence on related industries in the country, because various trade associations of those industries have already adopted their voluntary “positive list” systems.
Under the revised Law, however, all the companies handling foods will be required to check the safety of respective food-contact materials according to the “positive list.”
Food-related industries are developed in a wide range of areas, including agricultural cooperatives and farmers shipping their products to farmers’ markets.
It will be a challenge for MHLW to make all the related people well informed about a shift from the “negative list” system to the “positive list” system.


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Domino's Pizza Inc. DPZ, +0.55% reported Thursday third-quarter profit and sales that rose above expectation. Net income for increased to $56.4 million, or $1.18 a share, from $47.2 million, or 96 cents a share, in the same period a year ago. Excluding non-recurring items, such charges related to a recapitalization, adjusted earnings per share came to $1.27, which was above the FactSet consensus of $1.23. Revenue rose 14% to $643.6 million from $566.7 million, due primarily to higher supply-chain revenue and increased volume, to beat the FactSet consensus of $628.4 million. Domestic same-store sales rose 8.4% above last year, exceeding the FactSet consensus of 6.5% growth. The stock fell 2.4% in premarket trade. It had soared 31.4% year to date through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 SPX, -0.39% had gained 14%.1%.
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Putting its off-season time to good use, Volkswagen Motorsport India has revealed the Polo RX. Labelled as the carmaker's ‘Winter Project’, the Volkswagen Polo RX is unshackled from any kind of racing rules and regulations and Volkswagen Motorsport India has taken things a step further by changing the engine and drive layout for this track-special model.
The highlight of the Polo RX is that the engine – a 1.8-litre turbo-petrol borrowed from the Ameo Cup race car – is mounted at the back, and drives its rear wheels via a 6-speed sequential gearbox. The engine has been carried over unchanged from the Ameo Cup race car, so it still makes the same 205hp and 320Nm of torque, and should make the Polo RX one quick hatchback around the race track.
Changing the location of the engine meant significant re-engineering on the manufacturer's part being carried on the car. New mounts had to be created for the engine, gearbox and rear suspension, and the intercooler had to be installed where the fuel tank would otherwise be. As a result, the fuel tank had to be moved to the front of the car, and Volkswagen Motorsport India also had to add air ducts to the roof, the rear doors and boot lid to help cool the rear-mounted TSI engine. The Polo RX rides on 17-inch wheels wearing MRF ZLO slick tyres and shares its electronics package with the Ameo Cup car.
Speaking about the Polo RX, Sirish Vissa, Head of Volkswagen Motorsport, said, “It is commendable how the team has managed to pull off this project with limited access to high end software and technology. Young engineers and technicians in the team have shown real calibre by getting this masterpiece ready in less than three weeks”.
The Volkswagen Polo RX – originally built as a one-off model – is still in the initial stages of testing, but Volkswagen says it can be adapted to regulations to suit various forms of motorsport such as autocross, circuit racing or rallying. What will come as good news to enthusiasts is that Volkswagen will also sell the Polo RX to those who want a purpose-built track car. No, there is no price tag on it yet, but you can be certain it’ll cost a whole lot more than your everyday Polo.


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The trade association of the world’s airlines, International Air Transport Association (IATA), has on Saturday placed a ban on Samsung Galaxy Note 7 on all flights worldwide.
The ban, which takes immediate effect, comes after Qantas and Virgin Australia placed bans on the device on all their flights.
The US had earlier on introduced a blanket ban on the device in the air.
The battery of the Galaxy Note 7 has been known to overheat and catches fire, with Samsung issuing a recall for about 2.5 million phones.
IATA, whihc regulates activities or airlines has decided on Saturday to ban the device completely from flights.
“The ban applies to devices being carried on to the aircraft, in carry-on baggage as well as check-in luggage,” the Association said in a statement.
Initially, the device had been allowed if it had been turned off and not charged during the flight.
The US Department of Transportation issued an emergency order to ban the Galaxy Note 7 on all flights to and from the country on Friday.
The Civil Aviation Safety Authority is monitoring the situation in Australia but hasn’t enforced a blanket ban.
“If we need to take further action we will but at this stage we haven’t moved to actually ban them,” CASA spokesman Peter Gibson told AAP.
Samsung announced on Tuesday it was halting production of the Note 7 after some updated versions of the phones continued to overheat.


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There is a lot of dispute right now about what products or merchants are essential during the coronavirus pandemic. But there’s no dispute over Walmart (NYSE:WMT) — and that has all eyes on WMT stock.
Walmart is the center of the virus storm. The company is hiring like mad as 10% of employees are on leave. Starting April 20, all employees will be required to wear facemasks at work, even senior executives. Just wearing a mask while shopping is exhausting.
Investors are giving Walmart stock a lot of love for its efforts. The shares are up 11% so far in 2020. This despite Walmart still not being a growth company. Its first-quarter numbers, due out May 19, are expected to show revenue of $127 billion, up 3% from a year ago, and lower earnings.
Fly the Flag for WMT Stock
The sales estimate may be low. The Wall Street Journal reports that Walmart stores saw a 20% jump in sales during March. With about 150,000 employees out on leave, the company has quickly hired replacements from a pool of 1 million applicants. Most of the new workers were laid-off from restaurants and hotels. It plans to add another 50,000.
Walmart has 400 stores in China and got through the pandemic there in good shape. But in the U.S., it faces a myriad of local laws on what it can sell, many of them being changed on the fly. The company is also having to limit traffic in the stores as shoppers ignore social distancing rules.
Before the pandemic, I criticized Walmart for ramping up pick-up capacity. I was wrong. This has become vital during the crisis. The stores now have special pick-up hours for seniors and first responders. Online sales have doubled.
Last August I called Walmart hamburger priced like steak. Since then shares are up by 25%. I’d call that filet mignon, but the move is rational with so many other companies failing. Walmart shares did drop 12% in the early days of the pandemic. But they have since recovered.
The New Normal
Unlike with previous crises, like hurricanes, the pandemic is not going to be over soon. It will be over when it’s over. If Americans continue to ignore social distancing rules, if a second or third wave of infections hit, this could last until 2022.
That means Walmart is going to have to define the new normal. That means reducing how often merchandise is touched. It means negotiating with health experts who want to keep people from going inside stores at all. It means negotiating with local governments on uniform policies of what it can sell, and how. With no national leadership on issues impacting daily life, Walmart must become a de-facto government entity.
Many smaller grocers have closed. Walmart is more essential than ever, even if its stores are a vector for the virus.
The Bottom Line
Walmart was already a virtual downtown in many towns. Now it’s the whole town.
Walmart must stay open because curbside pick-up doesn’t scale. Shoppers looking for the service must wait days for their orders. People on food stamps aren’t allowed to buy online at all.
These are huge challenges but also opportunities. Walmart is picking up market share during the pandemic. It will probably retain much of that share afterward. It is ramping up contacts with local government. It will need those connections to fight anti-trust enforcement afterward.
For Walmart stockholders, and for Walmart management, these are both the best of times and the worst of times. Shares are fully priced but are likely to hold their value.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a financial and technology journalist since 1978. He is the author of the environmental thriller Bridget O’Flynn and the Bear, available at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at firstname.lastname@example.org or follow him on Twitter at @danablankenhorn. As of this writing he owned no shares in companies mentioned in this story.


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FCM, one of the world’s largest travel management companies is growing its presence across Asia through a joint venture with NSF Engagement in Japan.
The quarterly report from FCM uses global data sourced from FCM corporate bookings for travel during April to June 2021 (Q2-2021) and compares the data to January – March 2021, as well as data from 2020 and 2019.
FCM, one of the world’s largest travel management companies, has today announced two appointments to the European team.
Flight Centre Travel Group has selected HotelHub, the leading hotel technology solution provider for travel management companies (TMCs), to provide a seamless, global hotel booking and distribution solution for its global corporate brands, including FCM and Corporate Traveller.
Travel management company FCM has partnered with South Pole for new global carbon offsetting programme for business travel customers
FCM and FCTG have released our inaugural Sustainability Report. Download to discover the programs and initiatives we have in place to address today's sustainability issues.
A significant rebound in its global corporate travel business is expected by year-end as activity increases and as FCM starts to see stronger returns on the multi-million dollar investments made during the pandemic.
Sydney’s The Grounds in Alexandria was transformed into a sea of neon colour on Thursday 22 April...
Fresh faced after a major brand transformation, FCM welcomes two new specialist divisions.
FCM is pleased to announce it has been awarded the contract to manage the North American and European travel program of Procter & Gamble (P&G), one of the largest consumer goods companies in the world.
Since the start of its financial year on July 1, 2020, FCM has won new business globally with a total projected annual spend of $US700m. "FCM’s priority throughout these challenging times has been to support our customers... Our strategy is not only to survive, but to thrive."
A rapidly evolving business travel landscape has been the catalyst for award-winning global travel management company FCM to transform its brand identity and take a fresh approach to developing a new tech platform.


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Deepika Padukone and Priyanka Chopra
Priyanka Chopra cheered for designer Prabal Gurung at the ongoing New York Fashion Week. She was in the front row along with Sarah Jessica Parker and Diane Kruger.
With PeeCee there, how could bete noire Deepika Padukone be far behind? Dippy too has winged her way to the Big Apple where she will grab prime seat for a show.
Designers Marc Jacobs, Ralph Lauren, Bibhu Mohapatra and Vivienne Tam are slated to showcase their collections at the fashion week.
Photos: Shraddha Kapoor, Kim Sharma at 'Haseena Parkar' screening
Mumbai to Goa train: First look at the glass-top Vistadome coach
Shuttler Ashwini Ponnappa keeps it short and sexy on social media
Photos: Narendra Modi, others at Marshal Arjan Singh's funeral
Photos: Sussanne Khan and Nimrat Kaur spotted at a spa in Juhu


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Ford and Volkswagen expand their collaboration to advance autonomous driving, electrification
that the popularity of electric and
self-driving vehicles is quickly increasing. Executives at Ford Motor
Company and Volkswagen AG recognize this and as a result have recently
announced a global alliance to expand the market of these popular vehicles.
autonomous and electrified vehicles to the list of joint projects that began
with January’s announcement of a joint venture covering commercial vehicles, Ford
Motor Company and Volkswagen AG are now expanding their global alliance to
include electric vehicles – and will collaborate with Argo AI technology
platform company to introduce autonomous vehicle technology in both the U.S.
and Europe. Positioning both companies to better serve customers with the
latest in automotive technology, two of the best automotive manufacturers are
expected to dramatically reshape the global auto industry over the coming
Interested in the Future of Driving
While Ford has already invested billions of dollars on this growing side
of automotive technology, including setting up an outpost in Silicon Valley to
tap into this tech-friendly region’s know-how, officials at this popular
automotive company describe the latest “big deal” as a new deal that is sure to
overcome the former difficulties and usher in a bright future.
This new Ford and Volkswagen partnership will also include the
development of battery-operated electric vehicles, an area in which global
automakers are expected to invest $225 billion from 2019 to 2023. Ford will use
also Volkswagen’s electric vehicle architecture and Modular Electric Toolkit
(MEB) to design and build at least one high-volume fully electric vehicle in
Europe for European customers starting in 2023, more efficiently advancing its
promise to deliver expressive passenger cars while taking advantage of
Along with a partnership to expand the electric vehicle market, both Ford
and Volkswagen are investing billions of dollars in the latest Intelligent
Driving (AID) company, Argo AI to provide the autonomous vehicle technology the
automakers need to deliver fully integrated self-driving vehicles that can be
manufactured at scale for safe, reliable and durable deployment in ride sharing
and goods delivery services.
“While Ford and Volkswagen remain independent and fiercely competitive in
the marketplace, teaming up and working with Argo AI on this important
technology allows us to deliver unmatched capability, scale and geographic
reach far into the automotive future,” said Ford President and CEO Jim Hackett.
“Unlocking the synergies across a range of areas allows us to showcase the
power of our global alliance in this era of smart vehicles for a smart world.”
Driving into a Smarter Future
Stay tuned to
find out how you and your loved ones can dive into the smartest of automotive
futures in the near future. If you are tired of waiting for the vehicle of your
future, your Southern
California Ford Dealers has the perfect Ford vehicle waiting for you at
your local dealership showroom. So, stop the waiting and get behind the wheel
of your already very bright future.


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Professional-grade web hosting service providers continually upgrade their hosting infrastructure, and an outdated CMS or website code may not operate properly with the patches implemented by the host.As such, maintaining the health of your website code is crucial, and one easy step is updating your underlying CMS as soon as updates are made available.This is especially important when there is a new release available for software you use, because most change logs and update notes reveal previously-known exploits that have already been patched.
Yet over the past year we’ve seen new endeavors by Google and some leading Android manufacturers to tackle this seemingly impossible problem.
There have been efforts on multiple fronts: Firstly, the introduction of new features and APIs through Google Play Services, and the spinning of major Google apps out into the Play Store, allowing them to be updated independently from the OS.
Whereas Apple rolls out i OS updates instantaneously across much of its product line — the platform absolutely was designed with that in mind — Google’s lack of direct control over the firmware running on most of the world's billion or so Android devices means it’s impossible for it to do the same.
In an article published in late 2012 we discussed exactly why this is the case.
First pushed out in September 2012 with an update to the Play Store app, Google Play Services lets developers interact with Google’s services and your device through a set of APIs that live outside of the OS layer.
The genius of this is that Google can update Play Services in the background, without a firmware update, and in most cases without users even knowing it.Google has put future Android code into the hands of OEMs earlier than before, through the “Google Play edition” program.There’s also evidence that manufacturers are seeing the competitive value in being first (or at least quick) with new OS versions.And as we move from Jelly Bean into the Kit Kat era, it’s enough to give us some hope for the future of Android updates. Conventional wisdom states that if you want to get new APIs (application programming interfaces), features and security improvements pushed out onto a mobile device you need to prepare an OS update, with all the waiting and hoop-jumping associated with that.Yet for the past year Google has been bypassing that whole process through Google Play Services, a development platform that sits on top of Android on version 2.2 (Froyo) and above.And OEMs, particularly HTC and Motorola, are getting better at communicating details of these updates to end-users.


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Xiaomi is known for its aggressive pricing of smartphones and accessories in India the company has expanded its footprint in almost all the technology categories. Besides its offerings, the brand is also known for its annual Mi Music Festival under which the company provides hefty discounts on its wide range of audio products. Today the company has announced the arrival of Mi Music Festival 2021, which is slated to kick off from June 12th and run until June 16th. The official dates are out and the company has also released some details about the offers, let’s have a closer look at the details of the upcoming Mi Music Festival.
Mi Music Festival 2021 Official Announcement
Redmi India shared a post on its official Twitter handle announcing that the Mi Music Festival 2021 is going to kick off from June 12th onwards. According to the post, the event will end on June 16th and the company is said to provide up to 50 percent off on your favourite products. The post also consists of a teaser poster that shows Mi speakers, and TWS earphones.
Time to go " Tunak tunak tun da da da"! 💃🏻
The Mi Music Festival will be here from 12th June onwards! 🎵
Stay tuned to get upto 50% off on your favourite products! 🤩#MiMusicFestival21 pic.twitter.com/WmlWpnuARF
— Redmi India – #RedmiNote10 Series (@RedmiIndia) June 9, 2021
Like every year the Mi Music Festival is going to bring attractive discounts on audio devices like Mi and Redmi Bluetooth speakers, collar headphones, TWS earphones, and a lot more. This time the company is said to offer up to 50 percent discounts on the products so if you’re planning to purchase anything then you must hold your purchase.
Notably, the official website is yet to list any official banner neither Mi India has tweeted anything about the Mi Music Festival. It seems that the company is busy with something else and we can expect to witness the dedicated Mi Music Festival product page soon on the official website. Do share your thoughts about the Mi Music Festival 2021 in the comment section below.


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“The best way to predict the future is to invent it” – Alan Kay’s words come to mind when I speak with the many companies that Innovate UK supports. The UK’s innovative businesses that are developing the technologies and services of tomorrow. We are on the brink of the fourth ‘industrial revolution’, where physical, biological and digital worlds meet. Businesses that can compete in this new world – or better still, shape it – will be the creators of strong economic growth for our country. Disruptive technologies are redefining how we innovate, how we design new products and how we deliver services to customers.
Digital companies like Snap Fashion are redefining the way we shop for clothing online and on the high street. Healthcare companies such as Owlstone Medical and Oxford Biomedica are reinventing the diagnosis and treatment of disease.
But innovation like this is a risky business, and it doesn’t happen by chance. Strategic collaboration between the public, private and academic sectors is vital.
As the UK government’s innovation agency, Innovate UK works alongside the private sector, de-risking innovation, helping get ideas off the drawing board, or out of the lab, and providing confidence to the private sector in its investments in the UK’s industries of the future.
These investments are critical to companies’ growth, and do reap rewards: the Biomedical Catalyst, a collaboration with the Medical Research Council, has returned £1 billion of private sector investment to the economy. The winner of the award for innovation attracting investment at our recent ‘Oscars’ event for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and also chosen by Minister Jo Johnson for the inspirational innovation award, Dearman, have attracted over £16 million of investment in the past five years. As well as receiving support from Innovate UK and the Office for Low Emission Vehicles, they are conducting a world-first trial with Sainsbury’s to prove the usefulness liquid nitrogen engines in the efficient transport of cold products.
The Prime Minister spoke recently to the CBI on her aspiration to turn the UK’s “bright start-ups into successful scale-ups by backing them for the long term”. Our role in this is to support SMEs to become high-growth, mid-sized companies with strong productivity and export success. Scale-ups are projected to create a million new jobs by the mid-2030s – jobs that are key to an economy that benefits the whole country.
Just a few weeks ago, seven companies (Dressipi, Geo, Hiring Hub, Metail, SEaB Energy, Snap Fashion and Undo) supported by Innovate UK were announced as Scale Up Club members for 2016. Members of this prestigious group have been identified as those most likely to build a £100 million global business within the next three to five years. Software de-bugging company Undo’s third consecutive membership of the Scale Up Club is an impressive demonstration of its high potential for the future. Many of the seven companies are in the digital sector; we supported them with small amounts of funding early on in their development. Growth of digital businesses has been so good that much of this sector is now independent of Innovate UK’s support with a strong showing from private investors.
Britain’s ambition for business, a key message from the Prime Minister’s speech, was expanded in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement. Businesses have welcomed the announcement of a new Industrial Strategy challenge fund. A challenge-led approach is important to allow the UK to support emerging fields where the UK has a proven strength and where there is a significant economic opportunity for commercialisation; areas such as robotics and artificial intelligence, industrial biotechnology, medical technology, satellites and advanced materials.
For our part, we will be partnering with the Research Councils to make sure the fund unlocks the full economic and business growth potential of our world-leading science base, creating more skilled and highly-paid jobs right across the UK. The task at hand is to carefully formulate the detail of the challenges to encourage aspiration and economic growth across all the nations and regions of the UK.
The future is bright for UK research and innovation. I am in no doubt that innovative British companies share Steve Jobs’ ambition to make their mark and “put a ding in the universe”. A new Industrial Strategy challenge fund lays the groundwork for growth, and we are committed to ensuring it is well spent, to enable the industries of the future.


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Consumers of California asparagus may be pretty savvy about the long, green spears, but they still need a little encouragement to buy a bunch.
“My challenge is to get consumers to put it on their grocery list and try it in different applications,” said Cherie Watte Angulo, executive director of the El Centro-based California Asparagus Commission.
“It’s extremely versatile,” she said.
Angulo’s other challenge is to dispel the myth that skinny spears are “baby asparagus.”
In fact, skinny spears come from older plants later in the season that have run out of energy.
The thicker spears, which are from younger, more energetic plants, actually have more carbohydrates and less fiber, she said.
But each has a niche. The skinnier spears may be better for stir-frying because they don’t take long to cook, while the thicker spears may be better for grilling.
For retailers, having both the standard and extra large or jumbo sizes helps increase overall category sales more than having just one, Angulo said.
“When we talk to retailers, we try to convince them to supply at least two sizes so the consumer has a choice,” she said.
Angulo works with recipe developers every year to come up with new ways to use asparagus that also follow food trends.
California asparagus is seasonal, typically in the market about 90 days beginning in early March.
The seasonality in itself can create a buzz, as does the commission’s social media efforts, Angulo said.
As the season approaches, Angulo receives an increasing number of e-mails inquiring about the actual start of harvest, she said.
“People really seek out California asparagus during the season, and they know the seasonality,” Angulo said. “We don’t get those e-mails in September.”
The asparagus commission is part of the California Grown program, which features promotional and point-of-sale materials built around a blue and gold license plate that says “CA Grown.”
“The commission really emphasizes bunch tags with a clear marking of a California origin,” she said. “The commission encourages all shippers to mark very clearly the state of origin because we believe that’s our biggest marketing tool.”
That’s because consumers think California asparagus is fresher than imports, Angulo said.
“I don’t think the retailers really appreciate consumers’ awareness of the seasonality and their preference for California asparagus, so (using the logo) does help us move the product,” she said.
“Even if it’s not on ad, we feel that it goes a long way to move the product.”
Jacobs Malcolm & Burtt, San Francisco, affixes California-grown bunch tags to all of its product, said Leo Rolandelli, president.
“I think it’s really important,” he said, adding it helps promote the product to shoppers seeking locally grown or domestically produced items.
James Paul, director of sales and marketing for Greg Paul Produce Sales Inc., Stockton, Calif., said his firm tries to sell to retailers who value locally grown produce.
Most of Greg Paul Produce’s product is marketed throughout the West, from Southern California through Canada, under the Delta King or Clements Ranch labels.
Greg Paul Produce exports very little, instead focusing on marketing a quality domestic product.
“The reason why we don’t export is it really takes away from the appearance of the product you have for your domestic market,” he said. “We’ve put our effort and focus on the product we have for U.S. sales.”
Easter and Mother’s Day are traditionally big promotional times for California asparagus.
But Angulo said retailers may want to think about other holidays, such as the wearing of the green spears for St. Patrick’s Day, asparagus guacamole for Cinco de Mayo or larger-sized spears for grilling during Memorial Day weekend.
Cross-merchandising also helps boost sales. Pairing asparagus with mayonnaise or hollandaise sauce is traditional, but Angulo said selling the green spears alongside lemons or scallions puts a fresh twist on it.


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Sony continues to selectively abandon the exclusivity of some of its titles. The MLB baseball simulator The Show 21, which was previously released only on PlayStation, will also appear on Xbox for the first time. This is hinted at, among other things, by the cover of the game merged into the network.The covers of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox One versions of the game were shared by a well-known insider Anerdydad.
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In a statement, the MLB Baseball League said that versions of the game for other consoles will be released in early 2021. At the same time, this information was retweeted by the official Xbox and Nintendo accounts.
Last year Sony released some of its PC exclusives, including Horizon Zero Dawn, Death Stranding and Detroit: Become Human. However, the case of MLB The Show 21 is unique, since the company has not yet published titles of its internal studios on competing consoles.
Last summer, Sony also announced the possible release of its other titles on the PC. However, this does not mean that the company is going to abandon the exclusivity policy.
The head of PlayStation Studios Herman Hulst noted that such releases will remain an exception to the rules rather than a regular practice. “The release of one AAA title from an internal studio on PC does not mean that each of our games will be released on PC,“ he said in March last year.


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- Cop resigns after CCTV emerges showing horrific b0:40
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This explosive CCTV footage shows the moment a man to plants explosives to blow up a cash machine in a busy shopping centre.
A man is seen at the ATM with his wallet out, seemingly about to withdraw money at the Old Oak Road shopping centre in Bellville, South Africa.
Shoppers and a security guard walk past without noticing anything is amiss, in footage uploaded to LiveLeak.
But the man then takes something out of his backpack and appears to attach it to the machine before walking away.
Moments later the machine is blown apart by a blast, propelling shopping baskets and debris from the machine across the floor.
The man returns and appears to steal cash from the machine, while a fellow accomplice emerges from a nearby shop and waves a gun around in the air before they make their escape.
Five suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident, according to South African website IOL.
Two are reportedly in hospital after being wounded during a shoot-out, while three firearms were also said to have been confiscated.
Police say no-one else was injured in the incident.
Police spokesman Captain FC van Wyk said the incident happened at an ATM opposite a supermarket.
He said: “It is reported that four suspects entered the supermarket and used unknown explosives to damage the ATM and remove the cash box.”


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HYPRES Featured in Business Publication–CEO Discusses ‘R&D to Product’ PathOctober 26, 2011
Digital Superconductor Leader HYPRES Completes Spinoff of +n, a Developer of Capacity Management Solutions for Data CommunicationsAugust 15, 2012
HYPRES’ digital superconductor technology is referenced in an article that highlights innovative technologies that defy the odds.
Microwaves & RF
Technologies That Defied The Odds
Jack Browne , Nov 2011
(excerpt) … HYPRES, Inc. (Elmsford, NY), has made numerous advances in low-temperature superconducting components and systems, earning several contracts from the US Department of Defense (DoD). For example, HYPRES’ model HYDR-01 digital RF receiver is designed to operate at 4.2 K cooled by a commercial cryocooler. … Most recently, HYPRES demonstrated the world’s fastest arithmetic logic unit (ALU), a digital superconducting IC fabricated within the firm’s foundry capable of 8-b resolution at 20 GHz. …
Read more at http://mwrf.com/Articles/ArticleID/23799/23799.html


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“Something is not working” with the free trade deals Canada has signed onto, CIBC World Markets says in a new report — but don’t expect the usual argument against globalization.
Instead, CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal says the problem with existing free trade deals is they are so unwieldy that in some cases they’re not actually eliminating the barriers to trade between countries.
And though the government of Prime Minister Stephen Harper has made signing new trade deals a major priority, Tal says Canada should focus on fixing the ones it already has.
He painted a picture of a Canadian economy that is failing to live up to its trade potential.
“Despite all the efforts, the import share from non-U.S. destinations is the same as it was a decade ago, while the export share is up by only five percentage points,” Tal wrote.
But even trade with the U.S. is suffering. NAFTA’s rules to determine which products meet the requirements to be tariff-free are a “bureaucratic nightmare” estimated to cost companies nearly $40 billion a year, Tal wrote.
“No wonder then that some companies elect to pay the tariff as opposed to going through this process.”
And free trade deals so far have failed to eliminate some major inefficiencies. “The differences in rules regarding food safety and the protection of ecosystems add tens of billions of dollars annually to the overall cost of trade,” Tal writes.
“In the auto industry different requirements suggest that in many cases, a car crash test of an exported vehicle is conducted twice — once in the country of origin and the other in the target country.”
Some of this can be easily fixed, Tal wrote.
“Many of these trade issues are low-hanging fruit. They do not require renegotiations, only a fresh injection of common sense and political will. So perhaps we should focus less on signing more deals and more on fixing existing ones.”
Tal’s report comes after a new poll found three-quarters of Canadians have never heard of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a proposed 12-country trading bloc that would include Canada, as well as Japan, Australia, Chile and Vietnam, along with existing NAFTA partners the U.S. and Mexico.
That’s “not surprising,” Tal says.
“After all, Canada has free trade agreements in force with more than 10 countries and is in negotiations with more than 60. So free trade is not such a big deal anymore.”
Not everyone agrees. The Trade Justice Network, an umbrella activist group which commissioned the TPP poll, said it’s “deeply disturbing” Canadians aren’t aware of the talks to form a trading bloc that would encompass nearly 800 million people in economies with a combined annual GDP of $25 trillion.
Like many other activist groups, the Trade Justice Network has been critical of the secrecy surrounding the TPP talks.
The Harper government has aggressively pursued new free trade deals over the past nine years, signing or agreeing to deals with the EU, South Korea, Panama and Peru.
Canada is in ongoing free trade negotiations with numerous other countries, including Japan, India and the Caribbean free trade area, Caricom.
But two of the largest deals appear to have stalled. Parts of Canada’s trade agreement with the EU, which was agreed "in principle" in 2013, are facing opposition from some EU member countries.
And the Trans-Pacific Partnership suffered a major defeat in the U.S. earlier this month when the House of Representatives voted against giving President Barack Obama the “fast-track” authority needed to negotiate the TPP with congressional interference.
Also on HuffPost:


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Xiaomi introduced its latest smartphone, the Redmi 12C, in Indonesia only recently. Now, the company seems to be preparing to launch the device in India soon. Xiaomi has created a new microsite on its official Indian website to announce the launch of its new Redmi 12C model, which is expected to take place on March 30, 2023. Although the microsite does not disclose much information, we can expect that the device will have the same features as the global version. The Redmi 12C comes with a large 6.71-inch LCD display that has an HD+ resolution, a waterdrop notch, a 20.6:9 aspect ratio, a 1,500:1 contrast ratio, and 500 nits of peak brightness.
The Redmi 12C, a budget smartphone from Xiaomi, comes powered by the MediaTek Helio G85 SoC, coupled with LPDDR4x RAM and eMMC 5.1 internal storage. The Redmi 12C runs on Android 12 OS based MIUI 13 and features a 50 MP rear camera and a 5 MP front camera for selfies. Xiaomi promises at least two major Android updates and three years of security updates.
The Redmi 12C also comes with a large 5,000mAh battery that supports 10W charging rates. Other features include dual SIM support, 4G, dual-band Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 5.1, GNSS, a micro USB port, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and a MicroSD card slot to allow for the addition of more storage. The device is expected to be priced similarly to its launch in Indonesia, where it came in three variants – 3 GB + 32 GB, 4 GB + 64 GB, and 4 GB + 128 GB. More details are avoided. Stay tuned.


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Samsung is now the world’s leading smartphone maker, according to a slew of reports out this week from Juniper Research, International Data Corp (IDC), and comScore. Thanks to impressive shipment numbers during the first three months of 2012, Samsung now controls more of the smartphone market than either Apple or Nokia.
According to IDC’s estimates, Samsung shipped 42.2 million smartphones during January, February, and March — a whopping 267 percent increase over the same period last year. This gives Samsung a commanding 29.1 percent of the world’s smartphone market.
Apple, by comparison, sold 35.1 million iPhones during the first quarter, a 88.7 percent increase over 2011’s Q1 numbers. This puts Apple in the number two slot, with 24.2 percent of the market. It should be noted that, while it’s never ideal to be second best, 35.1 million phones sold in three months is nothing to balk at. And Apple currently owes its overall success to the popularity of the iPhone.
Nokia, on the other hand, isn’t doing so hot. Once the world’s largest cell phone maker, Nokia has yet to make significant headway in the world of smartphones, despite its partnership with Microsoft. The Finnish company sold 11.9 million smartphones during the first quarter, according to IDC, a 50.8 percent drop over the previous year. Nokia now holds 8.2 percent of the smartphone market.
HTC sits at the bottom of the top five with 4.8 percent of the market, based on 6.9 million in sales. This could change in the next quarter, however, with the help of HTC’s new blockbuster handset, the One X (review).
Of course, we can’t mention decline in the smartphone market without talking about Research In Motion. The Canadian company sold about 9.7 million BlackBerry handsets, giving it 6.7 percent of the smartphone market. This constitutes a 29.7 percent drop over Q1 of 2011.
Thanks primarily to Samsung and Apple, as well as a number of smaller manufacturers, the smartphone market is doing well overall. Total shipments are up 42.5 percent, says IDC, to 144.9 million. The overall mobile phone market took a hit, however, dropping 1.5 points in the first quarter.
Of course, there’s no guarantee that Samsung will stay in the top spot for long. The Galaxy S III is expected to arrive on Wednesday. And Apple’s next iPhone — whatever it’ll be called — will be here soon enough. Regardless, it would seem that we have our top two contenders for the foreseeable future. Unless, of course, RIM makes a miraculous comeback with BlackBerry 10. Or, you know, not…
- Did you get Android 10 in the dying days of 2019? Here’s every phone that did
- Apple overtakes Samsung as the biggest smartphone vendor
- HTC is dead and Samsung is king: Smartphone manufacturers that won and lost in 2019
- The best VR headsets of 2020
- Why India is the newest hotbed for tech experimentation


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In a sign of the strong fundamentals of lithium, a key electric vehicle (EV) battery metal, oil service giant Schlumberger Limited (NYSE: SLB) announced on March 18 that it plans to build a lithium extraction plant in Nevada. More specifically, the company plans to extract lithium from brine at its proposed Clayton Valley project site. Schlumberger hopes its plant can begin operating by the end of 2021.
The key read-through from this decision is that extremely well capitalized companies may be seeking to enter this space, potentially making junior miners like Lithium Americas Corp. (TSX: LAC) and American Lithium Corp. (TSXV: LI) acquisition candidates, particularly as they near the start of commercial production.
Stocks of Lithium Miners Have Dramatically Underperformed Over the Last Two Months
As investors have rotated to cyclical, “economy re-opening” stocks over the last two months, lithium junior mining stocks have performed extremely poorly over that period. For example, Lithium Americas and American Lithium have declined 39% and 31%, respectively, since February 8, 2021. Perhaps this underperformance, coupled with the Schlumberger announcement, creates attractive entry points for these stocks.
In the graph below, Lithium Americas, American Lithium, large-cap lithium miner Albemarle Corporation (NYSE: ALB), and the S&P 500 Index are presented in index form and in terms of common currency, where 100 is the uniform starting point. The S&P is essentially unchanged and Albemarle has declined about 11%. Both have significantly outpaced the smaller junior lithium miners.
Lithium Miners Seem Well Protected Regardless of Electric Vehicle Battery Chemistry
Per a recent tweet from CEO Elon Musk citing concerns about sourcing nickel, Tesla is shifting its standard-range car batteries to lithium iron phosphate (LFP) batteries from lithium-ion batteries. Lithium is a key component of both LFP and Li-ion cells, while nickel is used in the latter but not the former. As a result, lithium miners may in some sense be considered “more protected” from EV market conditions than nickel miners.
While the stock prices of lithium miners have corrected, the price of the underlying lithium commodity continues to increase. Battery-grade lithium-carbonate prices have more than doubled since the early fall of 2020.
Information for this briefing was found via Sedar and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.


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Everyone's so paranoid about the RFID chips that are already in place in so many parts of our lives, so here's an item (via Engadget and Pink Tentacle) about Hitachi's new powder-sized RFID chips to make us even more scared of Big Brother (or little-Brother-ID thief).
TOKYO - Tiny computer chips used for tracking food, tickets and other items are getting even smaller. Hitachi Ltd., a Japanese electronics maker, recently showed off radio frequency identification, or RFID, chips that are just 0.002 inches by 0.002 inches and look like bits of powder. They're thin enough to be embedded in a piece of paper, company spokesman Masayuki Takeuchi said Thursday


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Cactus claims 1st spot with 3rd Ultra
There may be printers with more of the high-performance machines in the world, but none pump through more Fujifilm ink than the iconic Australian wide-format business … and that’s only going to grow in 2021.
Powering on as the industry’s technology leader, Sydney-based Cactus is continuing to defy economic predictions, by posting growth throughout the pandemic period. Even as the rest of the industry and the economy reeled under lockdowns and downsizing last year, the business enjoyed two of its best months ever.
According to Nigel Spicer, general manager, the work coming through from owner, outdoor major Ooh Media, played a significant role. Speaking at the company’s Silverwater plant he paid tribute to both Ooh Media and his own Cactus reps for the result.
“We posted a very good result last year. The market stayed strong for us. You have to take your hat off to the people at Ooh Media. They rallied the marketplace exceptionally well in tough, tough, times and we rode on the back of that. We run two different silos; the Ooh business and the Cactus direct work. Our direct reps also did exceptionally well. We couldn’t have put our hand up for a new machine if not for the support of Ooh, as well as the work of our direct reps,” he said.
Under the management of Spicer and industry veteran, Keith Ferrel, Cactus Imaging has now installed its third Fujifilm Ultra 5-metre inkjet machine, bolstering its line up of industry standard technology that includes Durst and HP print systems. Long recognised as the leader in introducing new technology to Australia, the innovative company continues to set the benchmark for the industry to follow.
According to Ferrel, manufacturer reps have told him they can expect to sell three to five more machines into the industry on the news of a Cactus investment decision. Long known as being brand agnostic, Ferrel is renowned for his in-depth technical appraisal of new technologies, and over the years himself and Spicer have an enviable record of bringing in more world firsts than just about anyone else.
The new Accuity Ultra has the flexibility to print on fabric and wallpaper as well as billboard and poster substrates. It can print a single image up to five metres wide, or produce two to three posters at the same time. UV inks and a 3.5 picolitre drop size give it the ability to print on the broadest range of materials.
Ferrel accepts the accolade of highest Fujifilm UV ink consumption. He tells of sharing the top position with an Italian company before the pandemic, but with the European lockdowns supressing activity there, it is now likely Cactus has moved to top spot.
In addition to expanding print capacity with the new Ultra, he highlights the role of automation in finishing as a game changer.
“We’ve automated a lot of our finishing. It used to take three guys 34 minutes to finish a supersize billboard, now it takes one guys three minutes. You don’t need extra print capacity for that, it allows you to finish ten billboards in the time it used to take to do one,” he said. “It’s a bit of a furphy about print capacity, because you’re only as fast as your slowest point. Now we’ve got guys waiting for the printer to print.”