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Startups in the web-based bookmarking space are seeing huge surges in the final days of December following news that Delicious may shut down or be sold in the near future.
While Yahoo insiders say Delicious's future remains uncertain — and continuing service and new registrations may be unlikely — startups such as YourVersion, Springpad, Histori.us and others have seen spikes in traffic and usage, much of which is due to Delicious users jumping ship and importing their bookmarks onto other sites.
On December 16, a leaked slide from a Yahoo all-hands meeting showed that the semi-popular social bookmarking app Delicious, which the former company acquired back in 2005, was set for a "sunset" phase.
While Yahoo claims it wants to sell the app rather than kill it off entirely, it's difficult to say who would buy the service, given its financial struggles and deep integration with Yahoo's technology.
As a result of the leaked slide, Delicious users have rushed to find alternative bookmarking apps and features. Many of the startups in this space have built and publicized importing tools for quickly and easily migrating from Delicious to their apps.
And YourVersion CEO Dan Olsen wrote that while his company has supported Delicious imports for a while, "We did see a traffic surge in December from Delicious users... In fact, the Delicious servers were often timing out when people were trying to do imports via the API, so we quickly added the ability to import your bookmarks from an XML file as well."
Delicious traffic, according to a couple of metrics tools, has seen wider-than-usual swings in December. A surge around the time of the leaked slide seems in line with the volume of alarming news about the service. However, the subsequent dip in traffic, while it could be due to end-of-week and holiday doldrums, could also signify a coming dive in traffic as the "sunset" approaches.
Several competing startups we looked at, however, have seen marked spikes in traffic for the same time period. According to Alexa.com, Histori.us's traffic was up 40% for the month, Pinboard.in saw a 720% spike, Zootool was up 21%; Springpad's site saw a 30% increase in traffic; and YourVersion was up 154%. These are just figures for web traffic, not mobile or tablet apps.
It will be interesting to see how the Delicious drama plays out in 2011, and perhaps more interesting to see how these startups continue to capitalize on the sunset of a rather large web service.
Disclosure: Yahoo! is a sponsor of the Mashable Awards.


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New Delhi, October 25 (IANS): A whopping 85 per cent of people, particularly the young adults, in India, China, Australia, and the UK are being exposed to e-cigarette advertising via television, print, radio, and or social media, according to a study.
This comes even as the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends banning all forms of e-cigarette advertising, promotion, and sponsorship.
The study by the George Institute for Global Health was based on an online survey of about 1000 people in each country, in the age bracket of 15-30 years.
About 85 per cent of respondents reported being exposed to e-cigarette advertising on at least one type of media platform. Exposure was more common on social media platforms, vape shops, supermarkets, petrol stations, among others.
The average number of types of media to which the respondents were exposed was 5.
"Despite advertising restrictions in place in all four countries, large majorities of young people reported being exposed to e-cigarette advertising. Social media and advertising in and around vape shops and other retailers appear to be key exposure locations," said Simone Pettigrew, The George Institute for Global Health, in a statement.
“Urgent attention is needed to address these forms of exposure given their apparent association with e-cigarette use,” Pettigrew added.
The use of e-cigarettes by children, adolescents, and young adults has raised substantial public health concern. These e-cigarettes not only increase exposure to nicotine, leading to a greater risk of addiction.
An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits a vaporised solution to inhale. Although less harmful than regular cigarettes, e-cigarettes contain ultrafine particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs. These can harm the lungs as well as brain development of adolescents and young adults.
The researchers in the study contend that exposure to e-cigarette advertising can alter people's perceptions of the danger and risk involved and further pique their interest, leading to an increase in their propensity to use.
Meanwhile, in India, the possession of e-cigarettes and similar devices in any form, quantity or manner is banned.
The Prohibition of Electronic Cigarette Act (PECA) 2019, prohibits the production, manufacture, import, export, transport, sale, distribution, storage and advertisement of e-cigarettes.
Yet, 2023 data from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) reveals a significant increase in the number of e-cigarette users in India -- over 100,000 users in 2023 from approximately 10,000 in 2019.
The rapid growth is particularly noticeable among young people and adults under the age of 30.

domain: news


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U.S. light-vehicle sales -- led by big gains at Nissan, Toyota, Chrysler and General Motors -- rose 11 percent to 1.6 million in May as a raft of discounts and extended holiday deals drew consumers to showrooms.
The annualized pace of sales shot up to 16.8 million. That's the highest rate for the seasonally adjusted annual rate since July 2006 and marked the third consecutive month the SAAR has topped 16 million after a weaker-than-expected start to the year.
“Industry sales in May soared as consumer confidence improved and demand for new vehicles continued to strengthen,” said Bill Fay, Toyota division group vice president and general manager. “May was just one of those months where everything came together with five weekends, an early Memorial Day and an extra selling day.”
The SAAR had been forecast to come in at 16.1 million, according to analysts' estimates. In May 2013, the figure was 15.5 million.
GM's U.S. sales rose 13 percent last month despite an escalating recall crisis that has dogged the company since February.
All four of GM's brands increased sales as the automaker posted its biggest monthly gain of the year. Nissan, Toyota, Mazda and Chrysler Group also tallied their biggest gains of 2014 with double-digit increases. Hyundai Motor America advanced 4 percent, and Ford Motor Co. was up 3 percent.
GM's increase was double what had been projected by analysts. After a sluggish start, the automaker's sales are now up 2.8 percent for the year.
“There's some risk associated with the recalls, but it hasn't been evident in GM's sales numbers so far,” Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for researcher LMC Automotive, said before today's results were released. “The jury is still out, but at this stage, it's not derailing their momentum.”
Chevrolet led GM with a 14 percent gain, followed by Buick at 11 percent. GMC was up 8 percent, while Cadillac advanced 6 percent.
GM said its retail sales advanced 10 percent, while fleet shipments rose 21 percent last month.
Nissan Motor Corp. reported a 19 percent rise in May sales -- its second straight month of double-digit gains. The Nissan brand set a May record of 125,558 units sold, up 18 percent, and Infiniti volume advanced 31 percent to 10,376.
The Altima, Sentra, Rogue, Versa and Juke -- all core models -- each set May U.S. sales records. Overall, the Nissan brand has now set sales records in 14 of the last 15 months.
“Car sales are heating up as we head into summer,” Fred Diaz, Nissan's senior vice president for sales, marketing and operations, said in a statement.
Toyota Motor Corp. sales jumped 17 percent to 243,236 units. Volume rose 12 percent at the Toyota division behind Camry, Corolla, and Prius demand, while Lexus deliveries advanced 17 percent.
Ford said its retail sales climbed 6 percent last month. Demand at the Ford division edged up 2 percent and Lincoln volume jumped 21 percent.
Three core models -- the Accord, Civic and CR-V -- helped Honda Motor Co. to a nine percent increase in May sales. Deliveries rose 10 percent at the Honda division and 2 percent at Acura. Honda officials, noting the launch of the all-new Fit this month, said the brand remains well-positioned heading into the second half of the year.
“Our dealers are preparing for heavy customer traffic in the coming months,” said Jeff Conrad, Honda division senior vice president and general manager.
At Chrysler, strong Jeep and Ram pickup demand helped propel the company to its 50th consecutive monthly advance.
Jeep sales, behind the new Cherokee and redesigned Grand Cherokee, surged 58 percent and Ram pickup deliveries climbed 17 percent.
Jeep sales have now jumped 30 percent or more for seven straight months. May also marked the first month ever that Jeep's U.S. volume has topped the 70,000 mark, Chrysler said.
Sales rose 18 percent at the Fiat brand and 3 percent at Dodge, while volume slid 22 percent at the Chrysler brand.
Overall, Chrysler Group's light-truck sales rose 38 percent while car deliveries dropped 27 percent.
“Our dealers reported brisk May sales over five weekends and the Memorial Day holiday,” Reid Bigland, head of U.S. sales operations for Chrysler Group, said in a statement.
Hyundai Motor America set an all-time monthly sales record in May of 70,907 units, up 4 percent over May 2013. The company cited gains of 20 percent or more in sales of the Tucson, Santa Fe, Genesis and Equus.
Kia Motors America set a monthly sales record of 60,087 units, a 15 percent increase over May 2013. Last month also marked the first time Kia has generated more than 60,000 monthly U.S. sales.
May sales rose 17 percent to 5,840 at Jaguar Land Rover North America. Land Rover sales reached an all-time May high of 4,536 units, up 28 percent, while Jaguar deliveries slipped 9 percent.
Volkswagen Group said sales at the VW brand slumped 15 percent, stretching its skid to 14 months.
Audi, aided by the redesigned A3, said deliveries rose 26 percent to 16,601 vehicles, which is the brand's second-best month ever and its 41st consecutive month of record sales.
The U.S. launch last month of the Macan crossover helped Porsche set an all-time monthly sales record of 4,609.
Sales at Mitsubishi Motors Corp., driven by the Outlander Sport and revamped Mirage, rose 54 percent. It was the third consecutive month the company's deliveries surged by 47 percent or more.
“We are enthused that new-car shoppers are taking notice of our brand, and we are not going to let up in June,” said Don Swearingen, executive vice president for Mitsubishi Motors North America.
U.S. light-vehicle sales for the month were projected to rise 6.5 percent to 1.54 million, based on a survey of analysts by Bloomberg. But that estimate proved too conservative.
5 weekends of sales
May deliveries were aided by five weekends of sales and generous Memorial Day deals that were extended through Monday, June 2, the cutoff point for last month's sales count.
TrueCar estimated the average incentive per new unit sold last month rose 1 percent to $2,677 from May 2013, and jumped 3.5 percent from April. Hyundai-Kia, Honda and Volkswagen Group posted the biggest gains in deals over May 2013, while incentives dropped at Chrysler and Nissan, TrueCar said.
Mazda was another automaker that reaped dividends from strong holiday shopping: sales rose 23 percent to 29,731 vehicles.
“Despite the economy being anyone's guess these days, with GDP down and durable goods orders off, we see consumer confidence looking strong and shoppers turning into buyers, and the proof of this is the results we saw across the industry,” said Ron Stettner, vice president of sales for Mazda North America. “Memorial Day was huge for us, and we feared a slowdown toward the end of the month that never happened.”
Michael Foote, a general manager at Lia Auto Group in Albany, N.Y., said sales and traffic were “very heavy” last month.
The group sells Toyota, Scion, Kia, Honda, Volkswagen, Hyundai, Infiniti, Nissan, Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, and Ram.
“We use database mining through a software program to contact customers to put them into a new or newer car for close to the same monthly payment. It's worked well for us, has helped our sales immensely,” Foote said. “Honda had a fantastic program on their core products [the Accord, CRV and Civic], strong lease programs and finance programs.
“Business is fabulous,” Foote added. “We had a long winter, so it's well deserved.”
GM, Ford top forecasts
Sales at GM had been forecast to rise 6.4 percent by analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, despite a raft of recalls this year, including 2.59 million small cars for a faulty ignition switch linked to 13 deaths.
Analysts said U.S. buyers see the spate of flaws as a legacy of the company's past rather than a defining condition of GM today.
“Shopper consideration for every GM brand has remained consistent through the recall headlines,” Edmunds.com senior analyst Jessica Caldwell said. “Many people may not realize that GM is the parent company of these brands, but others may be overlooking the trouble with older models and simply seeking shiny new sheet metal that serves their needs.”
Ford, facing a comparison to a strong May last year, managed its 3 percent increase against an analyst forecast of a slight decline.
U.S. auto sales topped 16 million a year from 1999 to 2007 -- peaking at 17.4 million in 2000 -- and remain on track to reach that level again in 2014, analysts say.
At Machens Chrysler Doge Jeep Ram in Columbia, Mo., sales manager Mark Winstead said the dealership spent a lot of money on advertising in May and was counting on robust sales to offset that spending.
“Jeep is always a hot product; people want SUVs,” Winstead said late last week ahead of today's sales report, adding Ram pickups with a diesel engine were also popular sellers last month.
"Auto sales rise 11% as 'everything came together'" was posted at AutoNews.com on 6/4/2014


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The leading model Eva Padberg and the new Mercedes sports coupe CLC share top billing in the key visual for the second Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin, which takes place from 27 - 31 January 2008. The new CLC will be unveiled to the public for the first time at the fashion event.
The purpose of the key visual is twofold: it will be used as a motif on adverts, posters and event materials promoting the Berlin event, and at the same time will generate interest and a sense of anticipation in advance of the world premiere of the new CLC, because the photo reveals only part of the sport coupe. Most of the body is hidden by the vivid yellow fabric of the evening gown worn by Eva Padberg.
“The choice of Eva Padberg as our brand ambassador lends a fascinating face to our long-standing commitment to fashion,” says Dr Olaf Göttgens, Vice President Brand Communications Mercedes Benz Cars. “Like Berlin, she epitomises a young, modern lifestyle. That's why we are introducing our new sports coupe here, at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Berlin, and are presenting the CLC and Eva Padberg together in the key visual.”
Eva Padberg has been representing Mercedes Benz as a brand ambassador at international fashion and lifestyle events since May 2007. Her encounter with the new CLC was captured on film by the renowned fashion photographer Ellen von Unwerth, whose photos encapsulate perfectly the relationship between fashion and Mercedes design – both worlds in which innovation and perfection, coupled with elegance and style, are critical success factors.
Elegance, style and lifestyle: in the automotive world, the name Mercedes Benz epitomises these values. The commitment to fashion is therefore a logical development of the Stuttgart motor manufacturer's traditional image and claim.Just like fashion, the car is now an expression of personal lifestyle. This is particularly true of the highly individual and exclusive species of the coupe.
This is a 13-year+ news article, from our Mercedes Benz archive, which dates back to the year 2000.
If in doubt check with your local Mercedes Benz dealer as car prices and technical data will have changed since 2008.
Although our car news is published in good faith, we cannot guarantee it to be error free or complete or up-to-date.
Mercedes Benz CLC-Class Images may not be UK specification cars. Colours and exterior and/or interior elements may differ from actual models.
The car news and images remain the copyright of the rights holder and may not be used without their consent.


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US consumers of French handbags will be partying along Fifth Avenue this evening, with reports that the Biden administration will end the handbag tax. There are also reports of an EU-US Boeing-Airbus trade dispute resolution. Did taxing handbags help solve the aircraft trade war? It has taken 17 years and a pandemic that has devastated the travel industry to reach a solution. It is hard to believe that the assorted trade taxes did anything to help.
Podden och tillhörande omslagsbild på den här sidan tillhör Client Strategy Office. Innehållet i podden är skapat av Client Strategy Office och inte av, eller tillsammans med, Poddtoppen.


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Huawei Mate 10 Pro pre-orders arenow open in the US ahead of a February 18th release date, meaning buyers won’t have long to wait until Android Authority ’s Best of Android 2017 winner is finally in their hands.
As great as theMate 10 Pro already is, Huawei is apparently keen on making it even greater. Today, the Chinese giant started rolling out a new update for Mate 10 and Mate 10 Pro users in its native region that includes a handful of welcome app optimizations and bug fixes.
In this post, which will be updated regularly, we take a closer look at the latest rumors surrounding Huawei's upcoming P20 and P20 Plus smartphones. Although the Huawei P10 and P10 Plus are great smartphones, they …
The new OTA update (version 220.127.116.11) carries the build number SP1C00 and is currently exclusive to the Chinese variants of the Mate 10 (ALP-AL00) and the Mate 10 Pro (BLA-AL00). A wider rollout is likely in the pipeline in the near future.
Aside from region-specific improvements to Tencent’sWeChat app, the optimizations are generally minor tweaks that enhance the user experience and power consumption. Here’s what to expect as per the changelog (via The Android Soul ):
The fixes, meanwhile, focus on WLAN connectivity niggles, automatic time zone updates, and an irritating-sounding issue with the main Camera app:


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A large, slimline iPhone 5 is looking ever more likely as sources claim the next generation Apple handset will have a 4-inch screen to be ordered from manufacturers in June, making an autumn release date probable.
Rumours circulated on Wednesday that the next iPhone’s screen would measure at least 4 inches diagonally and these have been compounded by ‘people familiar with the situation’ who tell Reuters that the display will ‘measure 4 inches from corner to corner’.
The smartphone industry has very literally been expanding over the last couple of years with devices falling somewhere in between the size of tablets and traditional smartphones proving popular with consumers.
The source goes on to say that manufacturers in Korea and Japan are expecting to receive screen orders from Apple in June, with production of the iPhone 5 predicted for August.
All this suggests that an October launch seems likely for the much-coveted handset, which fits with Apple’s annual product cycle as the iPhone 4S arrived in the same month last year.
Nokia accused Apple of bias this week, after it appeared to change Siri’s answer to the question ‘what is the best smartphone ever? ‘ from ‘Nokia Lumia 900’ to ‘wait…there are other phones?’


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Here’s what global tech CEOs have to say about India's data protection laws
- Global tech CEOs have been voicing their concerns against India’s proposed
Personal Data Protection Billto looks to localise the data of Indian users. Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM, and data firms like Cognizant and Genpactare only the most recent companies to flag the potential issues with the bill.
- CEOs of other global companies like Google, Mastercard, Twitter and Qualcomm also have concerns with how the bill will be implemented.
The Draft Personal Data Protection Bill suggests that the personal data of Indian users should be held by digital and global firms within and processed only in India. But, global CEOs have been making a case for how hindering the free flow of data across borders might have “unintended consequences”.
One concern is that the regulations that govern the privacy of data should be able to differentiate between user data and data from businesses. Ginni Rometty, the CEO of IBM, said, “We believe strongly in consumer privacy and you have to be careful to not conflate consumer data issues with business-to-business data issues,” in an interview with the Economic Times on Tuesday.
Cognizant and Genpact share a similar view flagging the risks to business-to-business data issues in their annual filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) this week. Cognizant remarked, “Complying with changing regulatory requirements requires us to incur substantial costs, exposes us to potential regulatory action or litigation, and may require changes to our business practices in certain jurisdictions, any of which could materially adversely affect our business operations and operating results.”
Genpact also told the SEC, “Evolving laws and regulations in India protecting the use of personal information could also impact our engagements with clients, vendors and employees in India.”
Google’s CEO, Sunder Pichai, addressed the issue more directly warning the government of the effect that it may have on the ‘Digital India’ program in the country.
"Free flow of data across borders — with a focus on user privacy and security — will encourage startups to innovate and expand globally and encourage global companies to contribute to India's digital economy."
"When we talk about our lack of support for data localisation, it is not caused so much by expenses. It is caused by the inefficiency of what that does to the ability to provide safety, security and analytics to India’s banks and merchants."
But, some companies believe that the conversation shouldn’t be about localisation in the first place, but about ownership.
"That's the conversation that I think we need to have rather than where exactly the data sits. It's more about the ownership by the individual."
But there’s also an argument to be made about how changing technology which, in turn, would make any new regulations obsolete when new technology comes into play. Qualcomm’s president, Christiano Amon, notes, “Certain things can be centralised, certain things can be localised, but you can't really have a rule that mandates this.”
Sharing Banga’s concerns about the safety of data Amon said, “A regulation like that instead of helping, prevents a company from becoming competitive and make use of the technology…One possible approach is to make sure that the systems they're using, the data are secure.”
"You have to look at it case by case. Because technology moves faster than regulation, I think it is important to take a very pragmatic view."
Nasscom and the Broadband Indian Forum have also criticized the Draft Personal Data Protection Bill 2018. Global companies are calling for the Bill to be consistent with international best practices outlined in the APEC CBPR rules and the OECD privacy framework.
GDPR compliant firms should find it easy to adhere to draft Personal Data Protection Bill in India
India plans on handing over the reins of data privacy to the telecom industry watchdog
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It’s now confirmed that blogging won’t be a lucrative venture in future after many Kenyan bloggers opted to quit the profession. Blogging is becoming complicated each day and income is shrinking for most bloggers-the future looks blurred.
I started blogging in 2011 when competition wasn’t stiff. During those days, you could post anything and get massive readership.Ghafla,Nation,Standard and a couple of other blogs existed…majority of blogs you’re seeing now didn’t exist that time. I remember in Facebook, I could write any nonsense and receive hundreds of comments. But as time went by, competition became stiff, leading to loss of traffic to competitors.
A few years ago, blogs like Kenyaplex and Softkenya used to dominate in education niche,Ghafla was the king in the entertainment industry and Nation dominated the news segment but the entry of venas news,tuko and numerous other news blogs impacted negatively on traffic numbers to those old sites. Even with the increase of Kenyans using the internet, the future is not promising either as major media houses plan to launch new blogs in the country. What I foresee is an exit of bloggers who used to dominate the blogosphere a few years back.
There is something new bloggers didn’t experience. About 5 years ago, advertisers used to spend heavily on advertisement. They would approach AdSense with lots of cash. One advertiser could pay up to Ksh 100 per click. They purposely did this because they understood only few blogs existed. But things have changed. From the information I got, it’s not going to be business as usual.Currently,I hope you are aware of this,the average AdSense cost per click in Kenya is 0.03 and this figure might reduce to 0.02 in few years to come. This implies that for you to make over Ksh100,000 per month,you have to receive at least 800,000 page views per month.I wonder where you will get all this traffic yet Facebook is misbehaving.
Over the past 3 months,I am sure you have noticed a significant drop in Facebook traffic to your blogs.What will now follow is a drop in Twitter and Instagram traffic.This was purposely done by Mark Zuckerberg to force companies to spend more on sponsored posts.What does this imply?That if you don’t have cash,you won’t survive as a blogger.
I have seen a growing number of Kenyan bloggers using email marketing to increase their traffic numbers.Most of them are using ConvertKit(You can sign up for free here) to allow their readers to subscribe for automatic updates.This has helped boost traffic and fill the gap created by Facebook.Others have already purchased SEMrush plans in order to familiarize themselves with keywords and also have their content indexed.
All in all,in future blogging won’t be a lucrative venture in Kenya.It will only be sustainable when bloggers switch from AdSense to affiliate marketing.Affiliate marketing is not heavily dependent on traffic .
What is more heart breaking is that it will be extremely hard for new bloggers to break into the already saturated market.If you manage to receive 1,000 visitors per day,you will thank your God 1,000 times.


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PES 2018 Details
The PES 2018 E3 presentation is scheduled for 20:30 BST. We will see for the first time the PES 2018 gameplay and no doubt be provided with all sorts of much awaited PES 2018 details. There has already been a lot of PES 2018 details released up until this point however. We are going to list this below.
It is well known at this point that Maradona threatened Konami with legal action regarding the use of his likeness in PES 2017. Fortunately any problems have now been resolved and Maradona has signed an agreement with Konami that will see him appear all the way through to PES 2020! Maradona is the highest rated player in PES 2017, even surpassing Lionel Messi. It will be interesting to see how highly he is rated in PES 2018 after all these developments.
Some of you eagle eyed football fans will notice that Usain Bolt isn’t actually a professional footballer. He is the fastest man on the planet however. This fact has gotten Bolt a deal to appear in PES 2018 as a player! There will be mixed reactions to this from PES fans. Regardless of your feelings though this is huge PES 2018 news! Here is the PES 2018 Usain Bolt reveal trailer:
PES 2018 Online Beta
Konami have announced there will be a PES 2018 Online Beta. This is amazing news for PES fans who have been requesting this for a while now. Details are limited right now but we do know the PES 2018 Online Beta is confirmed for PS4 and Xbox One.
Here are the details Konami have released straight from their official website:
PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018 Online Beta, Available on PlayStation®4 and Xbox One™ in July !
This application is exclusively for [PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2018 Online Beta].
8:00 20/7/2017 to 4:00 31/7/2017(UTC)*
*We will announce changes in date/time if they are made.
Please check our official website for survey forms.
Comment to receive in-game items!
PES 2018 Screenshots
There have been several more PES 2018 screenshots released. These screenshots provided further insight in to what we might see in the PES 2018 E3 presentation. Details here: https://pesmyclub.com/pes-2018-screenshots/


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In the latest installment of "What Will Rich People Think Of Next," Trump SoHo is offering guests the opportunity to spend the night eating some really expensive chocolate, for a mere $10,250.
Sorry — a "starting rate" of $10,250 per night.
Trump SoHo's new "Sweetest Thing To'ak Tasting Package" includes a one-night stay on the top floor of the 46-story hotel, in the Duplex Penthouse, which boasts floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Manhattan and the Hudson River, plus "an open floor plan that is perfect for entertaining," according to a spokeswoman for the hotel.
It also includes a "decadent selection" of To'ak chocoate, sourced from a small patch of 100-year-old cacao trees in Ecuador.
To'ak usually runs $260 for a 1.5-ounce bar, according to the website for the chocolate company.
Trump SoHo guests who spring for the package deal get a chocolate box wrapped in gold paper, a pairing of Frapin XO Cognac, and wood tweezers with which you can eat the chocolate "so that the natural oil from fingerprints do not interfere with the rich taste!"
(Exclamation point courtesy of the aforementioned hotel spokeswoman.)
The package is available for stays between now and Dec. 31, and guests have to prepay and book their reservation at least 72 hours in advance. Reservations can be made by calling 212-842-5500 or emailing firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Steve Burd, Safeway’s long-time chairman and CEO, will retire as chief executive and director of the large Pleasanton, CA supermarket chain at the company’s annual stockholders meeting on May 14, 2013. The board of directors will begin a search for a successor, and will consider both internal and external candidates for the job. Burd will help with the search and will continue to assist the company after he transitions out of his leadership posts.
Burd joined Safeway in October 1992 as president and was appointed CEO in May of the following year. As CEO, he has been responsible for transforming the company over an unprecedented 20 years at the helm.
Like other large supermarket chains retailers over the past two years, Safeway has struggled with same store sales and its stock price. During the past year, the Pleasanton,CA based retailer made several moves to position itself to be a stronger operation in the future.
In April 2012, Safeway EVP/CFO Robert Edwards, 56, succeeded Burd as president of the company, taking over day-to-day oversight of retail operations, marketing, merchandising, corporate brands, manufacturing, distribution and finance functions. Edwards joined Safeway in 2004.
Edwards and executive VP Larree Renda, 54, are considered two of the strongest candidates to be considered for the CEO post. Renda, who has been with Safeway since 1974, now oversees information technology and real estate initiatives, human relations, labor relations, strategic initiatives, corporate social responsibility, government relations, public affairs and Safeway Health.
In September 2012, Safeway announced plans to sell a minority stake in Blackhawk Network Holdings, its gift-card subsidiary, a move analysts said could generate more than $750 million while enabling Safeway to continue to reap benefits from Blackhawk’s growth.
Safeway said it will file a registration statement for a potential initial public offering of Blackhawk and expects to execute the deal during the first half of this year. Blackhawk represents volume of $6.9 billion, or 14 percent of Safeway’s business.


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NEW YORK (Reuters) - Gap Inc (GPS.N) is looking to simplify its clothing offerings, dab in more color, and de-clutter its North American namesake stores to help boost its languishing sales.
The namesake chain strayed from what it was best known for — high-quality jeans and casual clothes with an American aesthetic — and must go back to what initially made it successful, Art Peck, head of Gap North America, told Reuters in an exclusive interview at the company’s Manhattan design center.
“What’s expected of us is pretty clear,” Peck said on Wednesday, the eve of the retailer’s investor day. “I think it’s been us who’ve kind of wandered around.”
Peck, 56, oversees the Gap stores in North America, but not the company’s Old Navy and Banana Republic chains.
He replaced Marka Hansen in February, when Chief Executive Glenn Murphy shook up senior management because of disappointing North American sales, particularly in womenswear.
As far as plans outside of North America, the company said on Thursday it will almost triple the number of Gap stores in greater China from roughly 15 at the end of this year to about 45 by the end of 2012, and will open Old Navy Stores in Japan in the next 18 months.
The company also backed its earnings expectations of $1.40- $1.50 a share for the full year, more or less in line with Wall Street estimates.
Industry experts and analysts say that Gap North America has confused shoppers in recent years by adding and pulling many lines of clothing. As a result, consumers did not know what they could find at the chain that they couldn’t get elsewhere.
“They were not able to hold on to that unique space they had,” said Wendy Liebmann, CEO of consultancy WSL Strategic Retail.
Peck intends to remedy that. Although he’s only been on the job for a few months, Gap’s shelves have begun to reflect his back-to-basics-with-a-twist approach, which will become even more noticeable during the upcoming holiday season.
He wants to build on the success of Gap’s 1969 brand of high-end jeans, which have become a hit with analysts and customers.
For example, Gap has added more color to its denim jeans and introduced skinny jean leggings with animal prints as well as colored corduroy leggings, which Peck said have sold well so far. There will also be more color in women’s jeans in its spring line, he added.
Gap’s more formal, sober clothes for women fell flat, Peck said, proving that the chain should stick to what it does best.
The Body Fit line of yoga and casual clothing for women, introduced last year in a direct challenge to Lululemon Athletica LLL.TO is doing well, he said.
Gap shares were trading up 1 percent at $18.06 Thursday morning on the New York Stock Exchange.
Peck isn’t crazy about how Gap displays clothes on the sales floor. So another change he is implementing is to stack fewer items on top of one another to reduce the clutter that makes shelves look like discount bins and use more elegant shelving to give the clothes a more sophisticated air.
“We have far better product in our stores than we’re getting paid for,” Peck said.
An avid runner and cyclist, Peck was hired in 2005 from the Boston Consulting Group. He oversaw corporate strategy before being tapped three years later to head the outlet unit, which operates stores under the Gap and Banana Republic brands.
Gap’s sales in the United States and Canada have languished for years, a decline from the chain’s heyday in the 1980s and 1990s as the go-to retailer for casual American style.
Sales at North American stores open at least a year fell by at least 5 percent in six of the last seven years and have kept dropping this year. In September, they slipped 4 percent.
The company has faced competition from specialty retailers like Abercrombie & Fitch (ANF.N) and new rival Uniqlo, owned by Japan’s Fast Retailing (9983.T). That chain intends to have about 200 U.S. stores by 2020, up from three.
Gap currently operates about 890 namesake stores in North America, not including its outlet locations, but plans to lower that to 700 by the end of 2013. Gap North America represents about a quarter of the company’s sales.
The chain frequently offers deep discounts and will continue to do so this holiday season, but Peck said the focus needs to shift away from price.
“We need to start talking about the merits of the product versus the merits of the deal,” he said.
Having clothes that shoppers actually want is the best way to reduce the need for the discounting that has dented Gap sales and margins.
“If you have compelling merchandise, people will buy it whether it’s on sale or not,” said KeyBanc Capital Markets analyst Edward Yruma.
Peck said Gap must lure a younger generation of shoppers, which means selling clothes that stay true to its image, but aren’t just the same old clothes.
“Predictability ultimately means you fade into the background,” he said.
Reporting by Phil Wahba in New York and Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore, editing by Bernard Orr, Saumyadeb Chakrabarty


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Hibbett Sports is opening new stores in Garner, N.C., and Beaufort, S.C. Both will be open to the public on July 10. The Hibbett Sports store in Garner is 4,200 square feet, while the Beaufort location will be a 4,600-square-foot City Gear store.
“We are excited to open the first-ever Hibbett Sports in Garner and look forward to serving this community with our top-of-the-line brands and shoe launches such as Jordan and other signature footwear,” said Gerald Frye, district sales manager, Hibbett Sports.
“Our work is about building stronger communities and neighborhoods, and we believe our talented staff is an important part of that equation,” said Abu Young, district sales manager, City Gear. “Our City Gear mission is to connect people with an incredible urban apparel and footwear shopping experience that exceeds customer expectations.”
Hibbett, headquartered in Birmingham, AL, operates more than 1,070 Hibbett Sports and City Gear stores in 35 states.


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Energy Minister, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh has hinted at plans by the government to invest in the promotion of electric vehicles in the 2024 budget.
According to him, electric vehicle usage has witnessed a steady surge in the country with the total currently standing at 17,000.
Addressing the media on Thursday, November 9, 2023, the Manhyia South legislator explained that Ghana has since developed an electric vehicle policy which will soon be unveiled.
Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh further highlighted the economic benefit of the usage of electronic vehicles compared to diesel-powered vehicles suggesting that the government must take steps to discourage their usage.
“Last year, the Energy Commission working with the Ministry and other agency players came up with the standards for chargers that we use for electric vehicles…and this year is COP28.
“This year, the Transport Ministry will unveil Ghana’s electric vehicle policy. With that Electric Vehicle Policy, we want even the public sector to take more. Already, the Ghanaian trotro drivers and taxi drivers have started the revolution of using gas.
“I went for a demonstration at Movenpick last year and I was surprised that currently, we have 17,000 electric vehicles in this country. Ghanaians are far. They are gone. It makes economic sense to some of these fleet operators who use urban buses to transport workers in Tema, Accra and things to industry,” he said.
“Most of the cars that are now coming out are now EV vehicles. We are promoting EVs and I am sure in the budget, we will hear more from the government about how we are promoting EVs,” the minister stressed.


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The new partnership with Mastercard will allow Conferma Pay to expand the use of virtual cards for business-to-business travel payments.
Sabre acquired Conferma Pay for $72.5 million in August 2022, according to a filing in September with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
UK-based Conferma Pay provides software and commercial deals to help the travel industry move to virtual cards, through which account information is issued for one-time use in an effort to shield the buyer’s identity when making online purchases and prevent fraud. Virtual cards also allow travel buyers and suppliers to more easily track and reconcile payments.
(Skift has covered this in its recent megatrend Travel Payments Find Path to Painless.)
Conferma Pay said it connects issuers to more than 700 travel management companies, all the major global distribution systems, and more than 100 online booking tools. The company said it is fully integrated with all the major card brands and works with more than 50 banking partners, allowing them to issue virtual cards in nearly 100 currencies.
Conferma Pay will continue to operate independently. Sabre’s Virtual Payments platform integrates the Conferma Pay services.
“The payments industry is in the midst of a revolution and there is an increased need for travel companies to better manage the whole payment experience,” said Roshan Mendis, chief commercial officer for Sabre Travel Solutions, in a statement. “Companies in the travel space — including travel management companies, travel agencies, corporations, issuers, and technology partners — need sophisticated solutions and seamless connections. Sabre is taking strategic steps to fulfill the needs of our industry, beginning with the acquisition of Conferma Pay.”


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DA urges farmers to expand organic rice seed production
The online news portal of TV5
LEGAZPI CITY - The Department of Agriculture regional field office in Bicol has urged farmers to expand the production of rice organic seeds specially the aromatic varieties.
Emily Bordado, DA-Bicol information officer, said the Pecuaria Development Cooperative Inc. (PDCI) is the single producer of organic rice in Bicol and DA's certified organic collaborator for its project Development of National Organic Rice Seed Production Systems.
“Organic rice is more nutritious and we encourage farmers to promote and spread the production of these varieties,” Bordado said.
Aside from Bicol, other four certified organic farms are the Central Luzon State University in Nueva Ecija, Kahariam Realty and Farms Inc. in Batangas, the Negros Island Sustainable Agriculture and Rural Development Foundation Inc. and Bios Dynamis of South Cotabato.
PDCI produces aromatic rice varieties such as JM 2, Basmati and MS 16, and traditional varieties RC 18 and RC 160 which are being developed in a one-hectare demo farm in the more than 800-hectare Pecuaria Rice Central in Lanipga Bula, Camarines Sur and were harvested that field day.
The project is being implemented by the DA-Bureau of Plant Industry and funded by the Bureau of Agricultural Research to support the Philippine Organic Agriculture Law.
The seeds produced from this techno demo will be procured by the DA and will be distributed as starter seeds to farmers engaged in aromatic rice production.
Bardado noted that NSIC RC 160 is a high yielding variety developed in CLSU, while the MS 16 (Maligaya Special) developed by PhilRice has good eating quality. He emphasized the continued support of the DA National Rice Program to the Filipino farmers and promised to revitalize organic agriculture in all areas of the country.
Bicol contributes 44 percent of the country's organic crops production and contributed 74 percent to the total organic palay production from January to September this year.


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GoPro, Inc. (NASDAQ: GPRO) is at a crossroads in its history as a company. Fifteen years of developing and improving digital action cameras have gotten GoPro to where it is today, but now it needs to reinvent itself to stay relevant and be a winner for investors.
Part of the plan for doing that in 2016 was the Karma drone, which ended up being harder to make than GoPro anticipated. But the idea for Karma is the same as it will be with any new product the company introduces: Leverage its foundation of GoPro Hero camera users to push into new markets and continually improve the digital imaging experience for consumers. And with nearly 4 million cameras shipped in 2016, there's a big foundation to build on.
Is this a vision of GoPro's next big product? Image source: GoPro.
GoPro's next frontier
Beyond Hero cameras and drones, I think there's an even bigger market GoPro could grow into in 2017: virtual reality. The company has had the Omni rig for a while, but with a $5,000 price tag, it's out of reach of most consumers. But it might not be for long.
Digging through the company's blog posts, we can see what the company has been working on. The two-lens with HEROCast VR that was mounted on a motorcycle last summer seems like a model for the future, given its similarity to new products from Samsung and Eastman Kodak. The Kodak Orbit360 4K is a model GoPro will have to at least match in capability to get any real traction in the market, and it's built to easily upload content to Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) and to YouTube 360.
While the market for traditional digital action cameras may have topped out, the VR camera market is just finding its feet. And while consumers and tech companies know VR is coming, no one has made it so easy that millions of customers are running out to buy a VR camera. At least not yet.
If GoPro can introduce a compelling, easy-to-use VR camera in 2017, it could bring an immense amount of excitement to the company's products this year. And it's one of the few areas where GoPro can take a market lead, building on its success in action cameras.
GoPro's Omni rig. Image source: GoPro.
Taking everything live
Another related advance I think GoPro needs to make in 2017 is going live. It's developed HEROCast for live broadcast television, and the two-lens camera I mentioned above was built for live broadcasting. But now it needs to take those capabilities from advanced users to the average consumer. Facebook and Twitter's Periscope are perfect places to live-stream an adventure, whether it's skydiving, zip-lining, driving around a racetrack, or even streaming a kid's soccer game -- and those are things you may not want to stream while putting your smartphone at risk.
We know GoPro has the capability to do this, too. The GoPro Passenger app that works with Karma allows a smartphone to see what a drone sees from the sky. That's a nod to what GoPro could do with live-streaming in the future.
New products will be key for GoPro
If GoPro is just going to be a digital camera company with the Hero line of products, it will die a slow death. But if it can use the Hero cameras as a base on which to build out new product lines like Karma, and VR offerings, we could see the company grow in size and profitability. That's what it needs to do in 2017 to show that it's not going to slide into obscurity with a product that slowly becomes obsolete.
What may be encouraging is that GoPro has been working on some of these product capabilities for years, particularly in the VR space. Now, it's time to introduce them to the world, and watch consumers get excited about the GoPro experience once again.
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1984 Press Photo Striking Detroit Edison workers rally
Every photo in our collection is an original vintage print from a newspaper or news service archive, not a digital image. Please see our FAQ for more information.
Caption: Striking Detroit Edison workers rallied at Edison Plaza Wednesday to make their strike more visible and boost workers' morale. Some 3,600 employees, members of Local 223 of the Utility Workers Union have been out more than a month in a dispute ov
The front and back of this photograph are pictured below:
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Ford will launch its digital launch on September 14, where it will present its new brand vision “Bring on Tomorrow”, which will guide the future of the automotive world, and innovative technologies and services developed to “keep the future alive today” with surprising contents.
Leading the transformation of the automotive world that excites everyone, Ford also carries out different projects that direct the industry in the digital field, in addition to its innovative communication works in many different media. Ford will introduce its new brand vision “Bring on Tomorrow - Live the Future Today”, with a digital launch on September 14, which will keep the technologies of the future alive today.
Ford promises much more than a vehicle with its vision of 'live the future today'
The first screening broadcast, which will take place from “Ford Digital Studio”, Ford's application that takes customer experience to the next level, will be moderated by the successful actor Uraz Kaygılaroğlu and hosted by Ford Otosan Marketing Manager Talat İşçioğlu.
Turkey increases its claim in the emerging trend in the SUV segment with the new Kuga and the Ford Puma models, these two new models to describe the nature of the intelligent world Rutkay and his followers accompanied Bora Kuzum with an unusual and enjoyable experience. Tourneo Custom, the first and only hybrid model of the commercial segment, will be presented with a surprising content featuring World record holder Şahika Ercümen.
Successful youtubeIn the digital launch, where Barış Özcan will interpret Ford's innovative technologies from a different perspective, the brand's new approach to automobiles with electric, autonomous and connectable technologies, as well as the brand's “smart cities” vision, will also be introduced.
Ford's intelligent connection technology and focusing on new experiences that create rich content and video of the popular vision of the digital launch will be presented with the name of surprises containing cooperation on Monday, September 14 at 19: 00 at Ford Turkey Youtube will be broadcast on the channel.
Günceleme: 12/09/2020 15:50
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Olga Hernandez carefully wrapped the 10-ounce chicken leg -- the first poultry she's seen in a long time at the state-run bodega -- and stored it in the freezer for a special occasion.
"I think it's been about a year since we got any chicken," said Hernandez, 45. "When I saw this plump thigh I knew it had to be imported."
Hernandez lives just blocks from the bay of Cienfuegos, the port city buffeted by Hurricane Michelle in November. Her roof is still patched with plastic sheets where the storm ripped up tiles, and her mattress is dank from the rain. But like many Cubans who were in Michelle's path, Hernandez said more food has recently been available, something she attributes to Cuba's multimillion-dollar purchases from the United States
The Cuban economy was already struggling when tourism tanked after Sept. 11. Then came the Category 4 storm, the worst to hit the island in 50 years. It flattened a million acres of sugar cane and destroyed the harvest of one of the world's largest citrus operations.
The United States offered humanitarian aid. Cuba politely declined, but said it would make a single cash purchase. Instead, two have been made -- and a third is in negotiation -- with deliveries arriving about every 10 days since December.
The Cuban government has not disclosed how the food is distributed, but people in the stricken areas say the bodegas have had more food on their shelves in the past four months than in the past year.
The government has given hurricane victims extra rations of rice, dry peas and beans each month since November. The reinforced quotas end this month, but many hope Cuba will continue to buy American food that will appear on the bodegas' often-bare shelves.
Cubans buy bread, rice, sugar and a few other staples for heavily subsidized prices at the local bodegas. But standard food quotas last less than half the month, forcing average families to spend most of their $12 monthly salaries at the higher priced farmers' markets and the ubiquitous black market.
At the Santa Elena chicken farm tucked among sugar cane fields in Rodas, an assistant administrator said high-quality American feed has helped fatten their 134,000 hens and increase egg production, which dropped about 12 percent last year due to a feed shortage.
"The hens are closer to their target weight," said the administrator, who declined to give her name. "The comandante has set a goal for us to produce 280 eggs per chicken this year. This is going to help us meet that goal."
Cuba has been able to buy U.S. food since 2000, but only with cash. Fidel Castro initially proclaimed he would not buy "a single grain" of American rice unless the restriction was removed. But days after Michelle pounded the island, Castro reversed himself.
In the first round Cuba bought about $36 million in wheat, soy, corn, rice and chicken. A second round of purchases followed in February, more than doubling the total to $73 million.
But a third buy -- $25 million in turkey, pork, beef and grain -- may be jeopardized by the State Department's recent revocation of visas issued to the Cuban officials who were to negotiate new deals and inspect poultry plants, the American Farm Bureau Federation said recently.
"If the technical people do not come here the third round may not happen," said John Kavulich, president of the New York based U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. "U.S. companies are attempting to resolve the visa problem privately and not create an issue with the Bush administration."
Officials at Alimport, the Cuban company that negotiated the U.S. purchases, did not return repeated phone calls.
In the province of Matanzas, where Havana and Washington politics feel very far away, Natalio Puente, 68, a retiree living on $5 a month, wondered how he would get by once his extra rice quotas end this month.
"Cuba should buy wherever it can," he said. "The issue is for us to get by. Right now I don't even know how we make it."
Vanessa BauzM-a can be reached at email@example.com


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Australia’s largest bank has chosen Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) as its trusted service manager. Commonwealth Bank launched its first NFC service, Commbank Kaching, in October 2011. The service lets iPhone users send money to their Facebook friends, and email contacts as well as make payments in stores via an add-on NFC case. The bank is now “adding multiple mobile phone-based payment options to its range of mobile banking services,” says G&D.
- Apple Pay runs free meal delivery promotion
- Google Assistant adds support for voice-based payments
- Shell rolls out mobile payments at the pump
- China opens up its payments market to foreign companies
- Starbucks to run cashless store pilot in South Korea


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British Success In Green Challenge
Revolutionary start-up, SoluBlue, has been awarded the top prize of €500,000 from the Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge, one of the world's largest annual sustainability competitions. The Cambridge-based organisation beat over 650 start-ups from across Europe to be crowned winner and will use the prize money to scale up its technology for pilot production among retailers.
SoluBlue wowed the jury by revealing its potential to revolutionise the way we store food to eliminate plastic and food waste. Its innovative packaging stops food from rotting by absorbing excess moisture so that packaged food gradually dries instead, meaning many everyday foods stay fresh for more than 50% longer. Food types, including cheese and fruit, were even found to stay fresh and safe for consumption after two years in SoluBlue's packaging.
The seaweed-based packaging is also 100% natural and non-toxic. It will completely biodegrade in a normal household compost bin within eight weeks, as opposed to many plastic alternatives that need commercial composting facilities. SoluBlue packaging also has the same look and feel as conventional plastic, so consumers and companies can reduce their plastic use without having to compromise on the look and feel of their packaging.
Commenting on SoluBlue's win, Ayca Dundar, Co-Founder of SoluBlue, said, "Winning Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge 2020 is an incredible achievement and honour for us. Winning the top prize is not only going to revolutionise our growth plans, but it will provide further confidence to investors that our technology is the future. We've proven that our packaging works so now is the time to show the food industry and consumers that SoluBlue can help create a cleaner and greener planet!"
For the first time in its 13-year history, the competition has both a British winner and runner-up. Jiva Materials is this year's runner-up and has been awarded a total of €200,000 to scale up the world's first fully recycled printed circuit board to tackle the world's mounting electronic waste.
Jiva Materials impressed the jury with its ability to drastically improve the recyclability of electronic products, radically reducing the need to mine rare and precious metals used in many of our electronic devices, from washing machines to lighting. Jiva Materials has created a flax-based printed circuit board, Soluboard®, which can be simply separated in hot water so the metals in electronic devices can be easily and safely extracted for new purposes. Soluboard® can be easily integrated into supply chains and so has the potential to make a huge impact in reducing carbon emissions in the production chain.
Commenting on the results, Jack Herring, CEO and Founder of Jiva Materials, said, "Electronic waste is increasing at an alarming rate, but now Jiva Materials is one step closer to tackling it. The prize money from Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge is going to transform Soluboard, propelling Jiva Materials from our R&D phase to offering customers a product that significantly cuts their carbon footprints and electronic waste worldwide."
The Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge is hosted by People's Postcode Lottery in Britain and its sister lotteries in the Netherlands, Sweden, Norway and Germany. The competition awards champion start-ups from across these nations that successfully combine sustainability, entrepreneurship, and creativity to help tackle some of the most pressing environmental challenges. Over 650 start-ups applied to the competition in 2020.
Commenting on the announcement, Clara Govier, Managing Director at People's Postcode Lottery, said, "Well done to SoluBlue and Jiva Materials for their exciting and ground-breaking inventions. These innovative start-ups now have the potential to accelerate their route to market with the competition prize money and the additional mentoring support provided by the Postcode Lotteries Green Challenge. Thanks to the players of Postcode Lottery who have raised over £150 Million for environmental charities, we will hopefully see these game-changing products in use and see the transformational impact they will have on the planet in the not-too-distant future."
The competition's six finalists were announced on 1st September 2020 and were each awarded €100,000 and a place on a bespoke accelerator programme. The finalists then pitched their business models to the international jury on 30th September before the jury made its final decision in February 2021.
The competition will re-open on 1st March 2021 where a new round of start-ups will get the chance to be crowned next year's winner.


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2016 Volvo S90 spy photos
The new Volvo S90 sedan has finally been captured, giving us a first tentative look at the Swedish brand's upcoming flagship sedan.
Photographed by a fan of our spy photography agency, this prototype uses a lot of false body panels to disguise the new sedan's shape and detailing.
Despite that, we can see that the new S90 will share design elements with the XC90, including headlights that are bisected by a horizontal styling line.
Rumours suggest that the new S90 will debut towards the end of this year before going on sale some time next year, at which point it will replace the S80 sedan that debuted back in 2006.
A closely related V90 wagon will join the range down the track, and will displace the V70 from the Volvo family.
Under the skin, the new S90 will use Volvo's new Scalable Product Architecture (SPA), which made its debut under the XC90.
Given the close relationship between the upcoming S90 and the just released XC90, it's virtually a given that the new sedan will feature the same drivetrain options as the large crossover.
This means that the four-, six- and eight-cylinder engines used in the current car will be replaced by the turbocharged four-cylinder petrol and diesel motors employed in the XC90.
Australia-bound XC90s are currently available with either the D5, T6 and T8 drivetrains. The 165kW/470Nm D5 employs a 2.0-litre twin-turbo diesel engine, while the 235kW/400Nm T6 features a turbocharged and supercharged 2.0-litre petrol motor.
The top-shelf T8 takes that twin-charged 2.0-litre engine and adds in plug-in hybrid components for a total of 303kW of power and 640Nm of torque.
In overseas markets, a 142kW/400Nm D4 diesel and a 197kW/350Nm T5 2.0-litre turbo-petrol are also available.


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Itching to try out iOS 11? The public beta is now available. Here’s how to download it!
iOS 11 is coming down the road with a … Continue reading
Installing the tvOS 11 beta is more complex than an iOS or macOS beta, but it’s also for developers only.
Update June 21, 2017: Apple has just released …
macOS Sierra, the next generation of Mac software, is now available as a public beta.
Update June 19, 2017: Apple has released macOS Sierra 10.12.6 public beta 4 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have …
Itching to try out iOS 10? The public beta is now available. Here’s how to download it!
Update March 13, 2017: Apple has released iOS 10.3 public beta 6 for members of the Beta Software Program. If you already have a version of the iOS 10 public beta …
If you are a developer and want to know what to expect in macOS Sierra, here is how to install the developer beta
Update December 8, 2016: Apple has just released macOS Sierra 10.12.2 beta 6 for developers. If you already have the macOS Sierra beta installed, head …
Kindle User Guide & Kindle User Manual: A Step by Step Kindle Survival Guide That Reveals The Secrets of the Kindle, Hidden Tips, Tricks and Shortcuts, Download Free Kindle EBooks, Send Email, Surf Kindle Websites.
The kindle …
Download, eBooks, Email, Guide, Kindle, Manual, reveals, secrets, send, Shortcuts, step, Surf, Survival, Tips, Tricks, user, websites
For years, the only people who had early access to Apple’s next operating system were its developers.
But this year, for the first time ever, Apple will let anyone play around with the new mobile software before it’s officially released to the general public.
After opening up a public testing …
The latest version of Facebook for the iOS is 31.0 and now available for download from various sites. What this app would provide is a fast access to the very popular social network account from the Apple iPhone and iPad tablets. The updated version comes with a lot of additional …
You’ll need something to do while you wait for your pre-ordered Apple Watch to arrive — things
officially kicked off online at 12:01 PDT last night, or 3AM if you’re on the East Coast like me — so we’re compiling … Continue reading


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Solving The Attribution Riddle In The Age Of Programmatic [Infographic]
Programmatic advertising, although a recent phenomenon, is spreading fast. AdRoll’s State of the Industry UK 2016 report highlights marketers’ attention to mobile and challenges of attribution.
It’s easy to forget just how new programmatic advertising really is. The earliest seeds were planted less than a decade ago and, in recent years, mainstream businesses and media have been primary adopters.
As a disruptive technology, programmatic advertising has quickly changed industries, and brought with it challenges, such as how marketers should be tackling attribution among others.
We recently surveyed more than 200 U.K. marketers across categories for AdRoll’s State of the Industry UK 2016 report, to discover how businesses are adopting the new marketing opportunities brought forth by programmatic advertising and also how they are overcoming any obstacles they may face.
Mobile: Room For Growth
Our report finds that U.K. marketers are thinking mobile first this year, despite persistent challenges. Fifty-four per cent of marketers are already retargeting on mobile. Furthermore, 58% plan to increase their mobile-advertising budget in 2016, which speaks to the importance of reaching people where they’re spending more and more time: on mobile devices.
But our report also uncovered some of the particular hurdles marketers are still facing. For example, 25% of those surveyed still don’t have a mobile app and 14% still don’t have a mobile-optimised site. Some UK marketers feel that consumers still don’t convert on mobile, with 37% saying that it’s mobile advertising’s biggest stumbling block, highlighting the distance the industry still needs to go to before mobile reaches its full marketing potential. Hopefully, further investment in mobile budgets will deliver marketers the answers they are looking for.
Attribution: A Challenge To Overcome
While mobile retargeting remains a top priority for U.K. marketers, attribution is hot on its heels as an issue that needs to be resolved. As we all know, one of the most difficult—and crucial—tasks for a B2B or B2C marketer is trying to solve the attribution riddle. Just how much influence did a piece of marketing activity have on that successful conversion? The report finds that this continues to be at the front of marketers’ minds, with 75% of those surveyed asserting that solving attribution is critical or very important to success in marketing. Although many marketers have now adopted an attribution model that tracks multiple customer touch points, there are still 17% who turn to a single-click method.
Disconcertingly, the report found that 39% of marketers are now attributing only between 10% and 24% of conversions to view-throughs, while the number of marketers attributing over 50% of their conversions to view-throughs is a mere 9%. This further highlights that U.K. marketers do not fully understand the process of attribution in marketing campaigns, perhaps because the “right” way to approach it is becoming increasingly complex. Marketers are finding ever more sophisticated approaches to programmatic advertising, but the unintended consequence of these clever solutions is fragmentation across devices and platforms, making it trickier to measure campaign success.
The good news is this typically taboo topic is finally coming into the open and becoming more important than ever, with our report finding that 96% of marketers acknowledged the importance of solving the attribution conundrum. Marketers need to fully embrace attribution models that track multiple customer touch points to help observe campaign metrics and to give credit where credit is due.
Overall, our report finds that marketers have enthusiastically embraced the programmatic era: an incredible 95% of marketers who were surveyed plan for programmatic ad budgets to increase or stay the same this year. In a further proof of this shift, a solid 61% of marketers said they believe that programmatic ads provide a greater return on investment than traditional media.
With a strong grasp on social—and more ambitious investment in mobile—marketers are showing that their relationship with ad tech is becoming stronger and more competent. With the majority of marketers indicating that they intend to keep raising their investment in programmatic, retargeting, and mobile, 2016 promises to bring even more efficiency to the marketer’s working world, benefiting media agencies, their partners, and the businesses they deal with every day.


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December 09, 2005
Zyprexa Patent Battle Continues
Read more... Schizophrenia Medications
The Indianapolis Star reports that the makers of generic drugs to appeal; 3 companies will continue efforts to get share of the billions spent on the antipsychotic drug.
Generic Drug Companies Challenge Lilly's Patent on Zyprexa
The Indianapolis Star stated that while "round one" of the legal battle went against three makers of generic drugs that had challenged Eli Lilly and Co.'s patent on Zyprexa, its best-selling drug. But attorneys for the companies immediately vowed to appeal -- and they like their chances in Round Two.
Zenith's parent company, Ivax Corp., issued its statement shortly after Judge Richard L. Young rendered his decision Thursday. Stuart Sender, an attorney for another challenger, Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, said it also would appeal.
It's no secret why the drugmakers are trying to break Zyprexa's patent. Lilly's best-seller, an antipsychotic drug, generated U.S. sales of $2.4 billion and worldwide sales of $4.4 billion in 2004. Those totals equal $12 million every day, or about $8,000 every minute.
What's hard to say, however, is whether Zenith, Dr. Reddy's and Teva stand a better chance of victory on appeal, which will be heard in a federal court in Washington, D.C.
That was where Barr Laboratories won a reversal in 2000 from an appeals court and broke Lilly's patent on Prozac three years early. At the time, Prozac was Lilly's best-seller, generating annual worldwide sales of $2.6 billion.
"That's obviously something that the generics hope for," Sender said. "The federal circuit looks anew at a lot of cases."
An appeal will extend the court battle for months, but the generic firms still have a chance to score a financial windfall by breaking Lilly's Zyprexa patent before it is scheduled to expire in 2011.
"It's like holding a lottery ticket," said Casey Alexander, a pharmaceutical analyst at Gilford Securities in New York.
The company holding the biggest ticket is Zenith. It was the first to file a patent challenge for five of the six dosages of Zyprexa. That includes the most popular 5 mg dose, which has an average wholesale price of $6.89 per tablet.
Its first-to-file status would give Zenith a six-month window to sell generic Zyprexa without generic competition if it won on appeal. Typically, Zenith would cut Zyprexa's price by 20 percent and gain market penetration of 40 percent, Alexander said.
If that proved true, Zenith would garner more than $300 million in revenue and more than $100 million in after-tax profit during the first six months, Alexander estimated.
Dr. Reddy's has first-in-line status for the 20 mg dose of Zyprexa, which wholesales for an average of $20.71 per tablet.
Posted by szadmin at December 9, 2005 10:23 AM
More Information on Schizophrenia Medications


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The economy is facing a dramatic change that will lead to the emergence of a cashless culture.
In the long term, commerce and finance will change profoundly, so a cashless economy will
come quickly. Cryptocurrencies and central bank digital currencies will be able to replace paper
Currently, central bank digital currencies (CBDC) are fully operational in ten countries around the world, including China.
However, most countries using CBDCs are developing countries with a low supply of banking services. For them, CBDCs are a breakthrough opportunity for the development of a national payment system. Moreover, CBDCs reduce an economy's dependence
on cash and free the public from the uncertainty associated with it. During the pandemic, for example, people increasingly used electronic payments to reduce their risk of infection. Cash is also a common target for attackers.
In recent years, the proportion of central banks exploring the potential of digital currencies for domestic and cross-border payments has increased significantly. According to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS)
, 86% of global regulators are now exploring digital central bank currencies. By the end of 2021, digital currencies had been officially launched in regions such as the Caribbean, Southeast Asia, and Africa.
Countries on the African continent, plagued by runaway inflation, have been the first to shift away from the traditional fiat money system. Residents are moving to digital credit and cashless payments, even where mobile technology and financial infrastructure are weak. In this regard, it will take much longer for developed countries and economies to transition to digital money.
Central bank digital currencies have little or no impact on the crypto market, while classic cryptocurrencies have their own features and applications.
Cryptocurrencies open up a new direction in the economy
, allowing financial services to be built and used on new models without being tied to central banks or other regulators. More and more people are buying and storing cryptocurrencies on cryptocurrency exchanges and forgoing complex, specialized wallets. The barrier to entry into the crypto market continues to drop. Crypto wallets are increasingly integrated into smartphones and will eventually be as convenient as regular mobile banking.
Cryptocurrencies are less convenient for everyday payments than central bank digital currencies because of their volatility and insufficient legal protection. Blockchain companies and projects are trying to overcome these disadvantages through strict corporate control, accountability, and specific architectures.
Digital money will slowly replace cash. On one hand, the elimination of paper money will affect large, developed cities and countries in the near future. On the other hand, the digitization of payments may happen much faster in developing countries. The development of projects with digital currencies is progressing very quickly, so joint projects in this direction could be a realistic scenario in the near future.


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See the Top 10 Honda Civics of All Time at AutoGuide.com.The tenth-generation Honda Civic is just around the corner and it can’t come soon enough.
Many feel the current Civic has lost its edge and the new car hopes to change all that. With new-found style, substance and the addition of turbocharged engines, the next generation Civic is poised to do big things for Honda.
There’s also a good chance that the new Type R will be the best Civic ever made. With a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine producing 305 HP, this front-wheel drive hatchback is claimed to have lapped the Nürburgring racetrack in just seven minutes and 50 seconds.
But there have been plenty of other great Civics since its birth more than four decades ago.


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Advertisement agencies and media buyers are slowly finding their way from traditional media into the digital future, says William Bao Bean, partner at Softbanks’s China and India Holdings, the Hollywood Reporter, The market share of online media in China went up last year from 7 to 11 percent of the total expenditure.
The Hollywood Reporter:
… [T]he rise is attributed to a change in attitude by advertising agencies and media buyers, which are redeploying their key staff from traditional to digital media. Consumer attitudes are also changing as younger demographics prefer digital to traditional media. Also, in a country where most payments are still made using cash, enabling technologies on mobile phones also helps the growth in online ad spend.


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Doug Ducey signed an executive order in March 2020 legalizing the sale of spirits to-go. The sale of alcohol to-go becomes permanent with the implementation of HB 2773, even after the pandemic ends. Upon signing HB 2773 Gov.
The drink will be 5% ABV and apparently made with real vodka. AriZona has dipped their toes into the alcohol market before by partnering with MillerCoors to launch the hard version of their Arnold Palmer beverage called Arnold Palmer Spiked.


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Apple CEO Tim Cook was interviewed by the American television and radio network CBS. Although the interview itself was mainly devoted to the riots in Washington last week, the top manager made an interesting statement about Apple itself.
As the host of the program Gayle King noted and stated in a note on the CBS page, the interview with Tim Cook was originally planned to be devoted to the “big announcement” of Apple.
However, in a small video published so far, they talked about the political situation in the country, and only a mention was made of Apple’s plans to hold a “big announcement” on January 13, 2021. The full version of the interview will be published just today, apparently during or after the announcement.
However, it is also noted that Apple will present some “important initiative”, and not a new product. Thus, it is hardly worth hoping for the presentation of new devices today.
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For months, the economic data have been dizzying: Housing is up! Housing is down! The market is up! The market is down! Confidence is up! Confidence is down!
All of that "noise," as one local economist calls it, conceals an economic malaise that has set in like a low-grade fever. Despite President Obama's heightened attention to the middle class in his State of the Union address tonight, experts agree there is no immediate remedy for the crippling aftereffects of the recession, as long as the following remain in short supply:
Jobs. Money. And job security.
"We have double-digit unemployment," said Justin Wolfers, associate professor of business and public policy at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. "The patient is very sick."
The 10 percent national unemployment rate is expected to reach 11 percent later this year, clouding talk of recovery and fomenting discontent in political discourse.
"Even though 90 percent of people are employed, when you see 10 percent of the others getting hit by it, it makes you wonder as an employee whether you're next, how secure your job is," said economist Lonnie Golden, a labor expert at Pennsylvania State University who is holding a talk on the topic tonight at the school's Abington campus.
While it is easy to focus on the negative, the fact is that Americans are in much better spirits than they were in February, March, and April of last year, when consumer confidence plummeted to record lows and the economy was purging hundreds of thousands of jobs a month.
The monthly Conference Board Consumer Confidence Index, released yesterday, was 55.9 in January - well above the record low of 25.3 set in February 2009, said Lynn Franco, director of the board's Consumer Research Center.
But it remains well below the level of a healthy economy - 90. And it is significantly lower than the July 2007 peak of 111.9, or the 144.7 reached in 2000, before the dot-com bubble burst and the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred in 2001.
"It was a different world back then," Franco said.
People do not have faith things will be much better in the near future. More people believe their incomes will drop rather than increase six months from now, according to the Conference Board.
"The first thing we need to see is a turnaround in the labor market," Franco said. "Since jobs are the primary source of income, that will alleviate some of the concerns that consumers have regarding their earnings."
When will the confidence index manage, at least, to rise out of the 50s, where it has hovered for several months?
"That's the magical question," Franco said. "I think confidence is going to go as the labor market goes."
The true extent of today's unemployment problem is masked by the incredible shrinking workforce.
Since the start of the recession two years ago, 5.8 million people have left the workforce, even as the population of working-age people has increased. More college students are staying in graduate school, mothers are staying home, and many people who have lost their jobs are too discouraged to look.
Just to keep pace with the growing working-age population, the economy must create 120,000 to 150,000 jobs a month, according to many analysts. That means that in the two years since the recession began, the economy should have created 2.88 million to 3.6 million jobs.
Instead, it lost 7.24 million positions, which probably will rise to 8 million when the U.S. Labor Department revises its calculations next month.
Over the next year, the economy would have to create as many as 13.4 million jobs, or more than a million a month, to reach prerecession employment levels while also accommodating new workers.
Nobody is predicting that kind of growth.
"That's why it's important that we remember we have a very long road ahead of us. We may see a month or two of job growth this quarter, but that doesn't mean the economy has recovered," said Ryan Sweet, a senior economist with Moody's Economy.com in West Chester who specializes in the local economy.
Sweet predicts the unemployment rate will peak at about 11 percent nationally and about 9.6 percent regionally in the third quarter of this year. But unemployment won't return to "normal" until late 2013 or 2014.
Normal unemployment, which used to be 4.5 percent, will then be 5.5 to 6 percent. "A lot of the jobs lost in manufacturing and construction are never coming back," Sweet said.
With all the ups and downs of economic reports, employers seem to be taking a "wait-and-see attitude" before adding permanent jobs, focusing instead on temporary workers for now, said Golden of Penn State.
Indeed, hiring is on the back burner for a large majority of eastern Pennsylvania business leaders. Only a quarter of the 271 executives at companies with annual sales between $5 million and $200 million expect to add jobs this year, according to a survey released yesterday by First Niagara Bank of Buffalo, which is moving into the Philadelphia region with the purchase of Harleysville National Corp.
And while the retail industry expects consumers to come out of hiding a bit more this year, with a modest 2.5 percent projected increase in retail sales for 2010, the battered housing market remains in flux.
Housing prices are down by a third in major markets since their 2006 peak. And there is no clear sign of a sustained recovery, with historically low interest rates likely to rise by year's end.
A year ago, Obama pushed through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, which sought to stem job losses with federal spending.
But state-government woes have worsened. California is facing a 49 percent budget shortfall this year. Pennsylvania's projected revenue will fall 18 percent short of expenses, and New Jersey's, 30 percent short.
"It's no longer the case that all economists are confident that we've hit a trough," Wolfers said. "It may be a rocky bottom we've hit."
Among its predictions, Moody's Economy.com expects a hopeful 2011:
Jan. Home sales bottom.
March. Stock market hits a low.
April: Banking system stabilizes. New-home construction hits bottom.
May. Retailing stabilizes.
Aug. Economic downturn ends.
Feb. Employment hits bottom.
May: Home prices bottom. Foreclosures peak.
Aug. Jobless rate peaks.
Dec. Fed raises rates.
Jan.-Feb. Home prices resume rising. Self-
sustaining expansion begins.
June. Inflation accelerates.
Sept. Extraordinary bank failures end. Securities markets up and running.
Nov. Fiscal pressures intensify.
SOURCE: Moody's Economy.comEndText
What is your take on the economic state of the union? Take our polls on how you've been faring during the recession, by going to http://go.philly.com/economy.


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On Oct. 15, 2018, North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein submitted a civil investigative demand to Juul Labs “for more information about Juul’s marketing practices, retailers, contact with resellers, efforts to verify age before purchase, and any youth education and awareness programs.”
“We’ve had ongoing conversations,” Stein said. “They’ve been producing documents that we’ve requested on a rolling basis and continue to, so the investigation proceeds.”
The investigation follows similar moves by other states, like Massachusetts, that are taking a deep look at how effective e-cigarette companies are at preventing their products from getting into the hands of minors.
Most notably, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) launched a crackdown on the industry in April after learning through the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey that 1.5 million more students used e-cigarettes in 2018 than in 2017. The survey, carried out by the FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), highlighted a dramatic surge in youth e-cig use, with 78 percent more high schoolers and 48 percent more middle schoolers vaping this year than last.
“It’s incredibly stark, dramatic, and scary,” Stein said of the rates of youth e-cigarette use. “I want people to understand how this has mushroomed at just an incredibly fast rate. If you had a high school senior three years ago and you have a middle schooler now, the world has completely changed in the last three years.”
The FDA’s investigation of Juul made headlines again in October when it announced it had raided Juul’s offices and seized thousands of documents related to the company’s marketing practices. The agency then gave a 60-day deadline for plans limiting teen access to products for five e-cigarette makers: Juul Labs (for Juul), R. J. Reynolds Vapor Co. (for Vuse), Altria Group (for Mark Ten), Imperial Brands (for Blu), and Japan Tobacco (for Logic).
However, the FDA’s requests — for revisions to marketing practices, ending distribution to retailers selling to minors, and discontinued sale of popular flavored e-cig products — fell largely on Juul. That’s because Juul has the majority of the market share in the e-cig industry, estimated at about 76 percent, according to recent Nielsen data.
“By comparison, for the most recent period, blu eCigs is at 6.3 percent, MarkTen is at 4.3 percent and Logic at 2.3 percent,” reporter Richard Craven wrote in the Winston-Salem Journal.
In response to requested regulations, Juul Labs released a comprehensive action plan last month. The action plan includes measures to:
- stop “accepting retail orders for our Mango, Fruit, Creme, and Cucumber JUUL pods to the over 90,000 retail stores that sell our product, including traditional tobacco retailers (e.g., convenience stores) and specialty vape shops”
- adding “additional age-verification measures to an already industry-leading online sales system that is restricted to people 21+ and utilizes third party verification”
- preventing bulk shipments of online orders to “two devices and fifteen JUUL pod packages per month, and no more than ten devices per year”
- adding a secret shopper program to ensure retail compliance
- stopping unauthorized online sales
- shutting down Facebook and Instagram and using YouTube “for posting testimonials of former adult smokers who have switched to the JUUL system”
- new age-verification technologies for online and retail sales
Juul Labs also released a 3 percent nicotine version of its Juul pods, lower than its usual 5 percent nicotine cartridges.
When I asked a smoke shop employee, who I interviewed for our science of Juuling article, how the regulations have impacted Juul customers visiting the store, he responded, “It hasn’t phased Juul people at all.”
And as regulations in the U.S. are enforced, Juul, with its $16 billion valuation, also has its eyes on the international market, including Canada, Israel, the U.K., and Indonesia to expand its mission as a smoking-cessation product globally.
The ever-growing issue of young people vaping, however, hits closer to home — even for Attorney General Stein.
“[The investigation] was prompted from the fact that I have high schoolers, and I see their friends, and I see when I go to the school for activities — Juuls are everywhere,” Stein said. “And you see children vaping. If you walk in the parking lot, it’s littered with the little flavor pods.”
“This is an instance where we need, the government needs, to help protect kids and that’s by holding companies accountable for how they do business,” Stein added. “And what I need to determine is whether Juul intentionally tried to get its product seeded throughout our nation’s high schools and middle schools.”
Stein views regulation of nicotine-based vape products like Juul not only as a way to stem more young people from getting addicted to nicotine at a young age, but also from using other drugs in the future.
“There’s a relationship between getting addicted to anything as a high schooler and future addiction into adulthood,” Stein said. “The vast majority of people addicted to substances as adults were addicted to something else as a teenager.”
“So once you’ve trained your brain, the neural pathways to need a chemical, to become addicted … you’re also going to be more likely to become an alcoholic or become addicted to opioids or cocaine or methamphetamines or some other drug that can have incredibly devastating effects,” Stein added.
Stein also said he thinks Juul should be aware of how their product may already be misused by young people.
“The pods are not supposed to be refillable, they’re supposed to be disposable,” he said. “But all you have to do is go online and you can see a video and if you have a toothpick and pair of tweezers, you can fill the pod with any kind of chemical, and that’s gravely concerning.”
This concern of students vaping other substances (in any vape device) has become a reality for schools across the state, and while many teachers shared stories of incidents of students vaping other drugs in our recent teacher survey on e-cigarette use, most wanted to remain anonymous for the sake of student confidentiality or for the sake of simply not making their school look bad.
But after an incident in Cabarrus County Schools where 14 students were rushed to the hospital after vaping synthetic products, the district openly stepped up to enforce consequences.
“In Cabarrus County, any possession of vapes or vape pods or vape juice, which is the liquid that goes into a vape, is considered drug paraphernalia,” said Amanda Macon, assistant principal of Jay M. Robinson High School in Concord. Macon said the disciplinary decision came after police told her they had evidence some of the vape liquids confiscated were laced with heroin and methamphetamines.
This disciplinary action differs from other districts who treat vapes —often nicotine-based — as tobacco products, which are also prohibited on school’s tobacco-free campuses.
“Because we have no way to test it, then everything is disciplined as if it were drugs and drug paraphernalia,” Macon said, referring to the incidents in the county where students became seriously ill or unconscious by vaping laced synthetic cannabinoids.
Cabarrus County Schools’ approach means that students with vapes or vape products receive an automatic 10-day suspension and have to take a drug education class with a parent before being able to return to school.
Just the day before I spoke to Macon on the phone, she had a student suspended for vape possession.
“His mom came in and said, ‘We found that he was doing this, and we told him he had to stop, and obviously he didn’t,'” Macon said, noting that awareness among parents and students has grown because the district made the consequences very clear “both in writing and verbally in assemblies, and on our website, and in our handbook, and in the Cabarrus County handbook.”
As a result of the district’s crackdown, Macon has upwards of 30 confiscated vapes in her desk drawer.
“I started taking pictures and sending them out to my network because they all look different,” said Macon, whose team has worked to educate fellow administrators and school nurses through continued professional development on the issue of vaping. But since last fall, she has recognized that new products are harder to catch than the older ones.
“The little Juuls, they don’t make much of a noise,” she said. “They’re hard to catch unless somebody rats somebody out.”
The district continues disciplinary action on student vaping and remains partners with the Concord Police Department and the Cabarrus County Police Department. Macon said it’s also helpful that every school in the district has a school nurse.
“I want the general public just to understand that vapes are one of those things just like any other product that’s not allowed on a school campus,” Macon said. “It becomes a distraction to the school environment and that’s why these consequences are so severe.”
“Part of our jobs as educators is to help students make good decisions about their personal health, and this is not one based on research that is a good health choice for them. It’s also not legal for students who are under the age of 18,” she added.
But do these types of regulatory measures by schools have any impact on student behavior?
“I have two students who each received a few days out of school for vaping,” a teacher from Gaston County said, following up from our teacher survey. “They knew vaping was against school rules and still decided to use them in the boy’s room.”
So I spoke to one tenth grader in Cumberland County to learn more about why students might choose to vape despite the consequences. He started Juuling about six months ago, and for the sake of his anonymity, we’ll call him Chase.
“One of my friends, he got caught the other day actually,” Chase said. His friend received a three-day, out-of-school suspension. Other students, though, he said have figured out a way to avoid the consequences.
“The kids are outsmarting the teachers,” he said, explaining that if students are caught they may hand off a vape on the way to the office to someone else that’s not going to get caught, or simply hide it somewhere.
Students go to the office to get searched without the vape on them. “Then when they don’t find anything they just go back … pick it up, and go back to class,” he said.
Kids working to outsmart the system didn’t quite stand out to me, but something else he said did.
I asked him how many of his friends still bring vapes with them to school.
“I know only like three people that have a Juul that don’t bring it to school,” he said. “But then I know like 50 people that have one and bring it to school.”
Then I asked him why he thought they felt the need to bring their Juuls with them, knowing the consequences.
“I’m going to say they’re most likely addicted,” he said.
Tomorrow, we wrap our Juul series with a look at student vaping and public health.
Editor’s Note: One week after the publication of this article, it was announced that Altria “will buy a 35 percent stake in Juul Labs Inc for $12.8 billion.” While this article reported that Juul’s valuation was $16 billion, it is now valued at $38 billion. More on this development here.