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Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) under Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO) has successfully developed lithium-ion batteries for use in electric vehicles. A new directive by the Indian government requests ISRO to share the technology with local automobile manufacturers for mass production. The information will be accessible even to private players, boosting production further. Also Read - Starlink satellite broadband service faces challenge in India, Elon Musk led company questionedAlso Read - Today's Google doodle is all about India's 'satellite man': Here's all you need to know
The indigenously manufactured batteries have successfully cleared multiple rounds of tests. ISRO has already used these batteries to power satellites and other space missions. Automobile manufacturers have had to import lithium-ion batteries making the final product expensive, and accessible only to a few. With the technology available locally, manufacturers can roll out cheaper, and more efficient electric vehicles. Also Read - ISRO joins hands with MapmyIndia to develop a Google Maps rival
The government gave a push to the new technology urging ISRO to commence production for automobiles. Early 2017 saw the roll-out of an electric two-wheeler prototype powered by the indigenous lithium-ion battery. ISRO also developed and delivered a lithium-ion battery unit prototype to Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) for testing at their Pune facility. While ARAI was expected to clear the batteries by end of 2016, the batteries are yet to arrive in the market.
ISRO has been approached by over a dozen automobile manufacturers for partnering and launching an electric vehicle with the lithium-ion battery. But the government has taken a new step, requesting ISRO to make the technology available to multiple private players instead of looking at a technology partnership. Mahindra Renault, Hyundai, Nissan, Tata Motors, High Energy Batteries, BHEL and Indian Oil are interested in indigenous production and have expressed an interest accordingly.
According to the government, sharing of manufacturing technology will aid mass production of batteries increasing competition and bringing down prices further. With development restricted to ISRO, volumes will continue to be low and pricing non-competitive owing to monopoly in the market. Bulk production can lower prices by up to 80 percent, making batteries feasible for the budget conscious Indian.
The government is looking at boosting the sale of electric vehicles to solve the problem of air pollution. Indian cities are besieged by air pollution with Delhi being among the top 10 most polluted cities worldwide. The Indian government has tried various measures to bring down pollution to no effect. In recent times, there has been a rise in sales of air purifiers, with bottled pure air entering the market too. The government is now relying on the appeal of budget electric vehicles to tackle the problem of pollution in the country. ALSO READ: Xiaomi Mi Air Purifier 2 Review: Let s clear the air


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An Alpharetta-based restaurant is opening a new location at Halcyon this weekend.
Never Enough Thyme is officially opening on Saturday, May 23 and will offer the same fare as it's sister location at the Alpharetta City Center, including sandwiches, salads, soups, quiches, desserts and more.
The new restaurant also has a “Thyme To-Go” pickup window, where customers can grab beer, wine, frozen drinks, craft cocktails and nitro coffee beverages.
The restaurant is opening with limited seating options and will offer takeout, as recommended by state capacity and health guidelines.
Never Enough Time is located on the corner of the entrance to Halcyon's parking deck and Town Square, at 6365 Halcyon Way, and will be open 11 a.m to 9 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. all other days of the week.
Starting on Saturday, May 30, brunch will be held on Saturdays and Sundays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
For more information, visit their website.

domain: news


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Under Armour vs. Nike: Who's the Best Bet for Gridiron Glory?
Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank is known for making bold moves. Without this type of personality, Under Armour would have remained the $110,000 company it was back in 1997, which was also the first time Plank set foot on Notre Dame's campus. Plank didn't know it at the time, but he would be forming an important partnership with Notre Dame later in life.
For some perspective on that $110,000 in 1997, Under Armour expects to deliver $2.2 billion in revenue for FY 2013. That's nothing compared to Nike's FY 2013 revenue of $25.3 billion in revenue, but Under Armour is growing at a much faster pace:
Under Armour revenue (trailing-12 months) data by YCharts
What are the details of the Under Armour deal with Notre Dame? What does it mean for the long haul? Is Under Armour really capable of catching Nike?
No longer my Adidas
Adidas had a partnership with Notre Dame since the late 1990s, but the contract will expire at the end of June. Adidas weighed its investment versus brand value and determined that continuing its partnership with Notre Dame wasn't in the company's best interest. Up until now, Adidas also had the highest paid contract in college sports with Michigan -- $8.2 million per year. That was up until Under Armour decided to make a splash, as it often does.
Under Armour moves in
The value of the 10-year deal between Under Armour and Notre Dame is expected to be $90 million, including cash and merchandise. This is a big number for Under Armour, which generated $93.4 million in operating cash flow over the past 12 months and has a balance sheet with approximately $186.4 million in cash and short-term equivalents versus about $54.2 million in long-term debt.
Affordable? Absolutely. But it might hinder Under Armour's ability to use capital for reinvestment in its business. On the other hand, Under Armour uses 11% of its annual revenue for marketing, and as you can see from the chart above, Under Armour has no problem driving the top line. The point here is that while it's a significant hit, Under Armour should recover.
And let's not forget that this is Notre Dame we're talking about. It might not be the Pittsburgh Steelers or Dallas Cowboys, but Notre Dame has 11 National Championships and seven Heisman Trophy winners to its credit. Fighting Irish is a household name, and while Under Armour isn't allowed to use any signage in Notre Dame Stadium, it will leverage this partnership toward its global marketing campaign and for social media initiatives.
Make no mistake about it. One of Plank's like goals: catching Nike. This will be difficult. Nike is one of the most recognizable brands in the world. When it comes to football, in 2012, Nike paid $1.1 billion to have the right to dress NFL players (not literally). Sports analysts estimate total revenue after five years of $2.5 billion. That's good business. That's Nike.
Nike's deal was also more affordable on a relative basis. For instance, Nike generated $2.7 billion in operating cash flow over the past 12 months, and its balance sheet has approximately $5.2 billion in cash and short-term equivalents versus about $1.4 billion in long-term debt.
The only way Under Armour would ever be able to supplant Nike from the NFL is if it grows so much over the next decade that it will be capable of outbidding Nike.
The Foolish bottom line
Notre Dame is Under Armour's 13th college partnership. This partnership comes at a steep cost which could limit the potential for any significant investments in the near future. However, Under Armour isn't concerned about the near future. It will recover from this steep cost. Over the long haul, it will lead to increased brand exposure, which makes it another step toward catching Nike.
Based on Under Armour's meteoric rise and highly focused and determined leadership that forms highly strategic relationships, Under Armour is capable of catching Nike over the long haul. It might take a decade or two, but it's more likely to happen than not happen. However, this is only my opinion. Please do your own research prior to making any investment decisions.
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The article Under Armour vs. Nike: Who's the Best Bet for Gridiron Glory? originally appeared on Fool.com.
Dan Moskowitz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Nike and Under Armour. The Motley Fool owns shares of Nike and Under Armour. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright © 1995 - 2014 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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They have a combined collection of 600 regional magazine titles and daily newspapers. They reach over 4 million devices, and deliver over 6 million digital publications a year.
Both are already impressive in their home countries. Ookbee has partnered with Thailand’s largest telco AIS and the country’s leading bookstore B2S. It also received an investment of USD2M from Shin Corporation at a USD8M valuation, and was reportedly growing at 5,000 users a day.
SCOOP, meanwhile, has gotten sizable traction on its apps. It hit 250k users on iOS and 30k to 50k users on Android with a mostly Indonesian user base. It raised USD 0.77M from Gobi Partners and Mitsui Global Investment last year, and is looking at expanding to Singapore, Malaysia, and Vietnam.
The collaboration could make them dominant regional players. It will accelerate growth through knowledge sharing, securing deals from bigger publishers, and cross-marketing their products. Foreign publishers and device manufacturers could benefit too: it’ll be easier for them to get visibility through the combined reach of both platforms.
“Partnering together will make Ookbee/SCOOP the biggest newsstand and e-book store platform in the SEA region. I believe this will create a synergy in so many ways in order to fulfill our visions of offering the best services for our users,” said Ookbee CEO Natavudh Pungcharoenpong.
Willson Cuaca, CEO of Apps Foundry, the company behind SCOOP, said that he compared notes with Ookbee and realized that firstly, both platforms are moving in the same direction. Second, Southeast Asia is made up of diverse markets.
So, to get over the hump of going regional in a fractious environment, it makes sense to partner up. Competition between both is inevitable, but knowledge sharing and cross-marketing could bolster both sides. This results in better products and improved services for customers.
It could also give them an edge over other competitors in the region. SingTel, for instance, has jumped into the fray with Skoob. Another Singapore corporation, MediaCorp, has launched ilovebooks.com. Thailand also has its own offering, Asiabooks, a traditional book business which recently ventured into digital publications. And of course, no one can overlook Apple and its Newsstand app.
The e-publishing industry is expected to see tremendous growth in the coming years as consumers migrate to mobile devices. According to Pricewaterhouse Coopers, e-book spending in Asia-Pacific is expected to hit USD2.26B by 2016. That’s up from USD1.27B in 2012.


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Yesterday, Beyoncé dropped a new song called “Formation” ahead of her Super Bowl halftime performance.
While the song immediately captured the Internet’s attention, her fans, a.k.a. The Beyhive, took notice of a particularly racy lyric mentioning a brand: “When he fuck me good I take his ass to Red Lobster, cause I slay,” sings Beyoncé.
Talk about publicity any brand would crave.
Unfortunately, looks like Red Lobster didn’t crave it enough. The lyric sent Twitter into a frenzy waiting for Red Lobster to respond:
everyone watching @redlobster like pic.twitter.com/tOqBsDC2U8
— Sam Diss (@SamDiss) February 6, 2016
Red Lobster are ringing their social media manager like “I DON’T CARE IF YOU’RE HAVING DINNER MARK WE NEED YOU RIGHT NOW” — Sam Diss (@SamDiss) February 6, 2016
waiting on red lobster like… pic.twitter.com/qEwObDgyqX
— dara (@lovedarbie) February 6, 2016
Well, it took Red Lobster eight hours, but it finally responded with… this:
“Cheddar Bey Biscuits” has a nice ring to it, don’t you think? #Formation @Beyonce pic.twitter.com/QzgVtYAKNo — Red Lobster (@redlobster) February 7, 2016
Red Lobster’s tweet racked up a combined 19,000 making it one of it’s most retweeted and liked posts ever. Despite the popularity, it didn’t win over the Beyhive, which were anticipating something, let’s say, snappier. One of the reasons they didn’t like the response was how late it came, with people dragging the brand and its agency for its tardiness, as seen here:
We were hoping @redlobster wouldn’t disappoint us but… pic.twitter.com/C29cvwZpjW
— xoNecole (@xonecole) February 7, 2016
.@redlobster @Beyonce Social media strategy: if this tweet was done during the #Formation firestorm, it’d get an okay. Hrs later? Nah. — Dara Adeeyo (@DAdeeyo) February 7, 2016
@redlobster yall had hours and this is what yall come up with? pic.twitter.com/DY2jO6y9Ti
— E. (@ErykahTbh) February 7, 2016
@redlobster fire ur agency. Then fire everyone who hired them — KING BEN SOLOMON (@KINGS0L0M0N) February 7, 2016
Late. @redlobster pic.twitter.com/mHqS6BpT11
— A. (@FreshAir_In) February 7, 2016
@redlobster too late. pic.twitter.com/rM8s3xd68o
— wewatchwatchers (@wewatchwatchers) February 7, 2016
It’s especially strange that it took the brand so long to respond. “Formation” already has 7 million views on YouTube, and if there’s a certain weekend brands need to be alert, it’s this, Super Bowl weekend, which is basically social media Christmas for brands.
If there’s a bright side for Red Lobster, at least Beyoncé still likes it.
TikTok’s uncertain future: the issues marketers should (and shouldn’t) fret over
A TikTok ban would require U.S. lawmakers to prove that the short-form video app is a genuine national security risk. So far, that hasn’t happened.
Maybe Web3 isn’t as dead as it would seem, as agencies play with new data-generating models
Agencies are continuing to invest in Web3 technologies in new ways, from client activations to data management.
Why real estate company Windermere is adding influencers to its marketing mix and spending half of its ad budget on them
Windermere is working with Seattle-based agency PB& as well as the home-focused publication Domino to partner with influencers like design influencer Max Humphrey.
SponsoredHow critical data pillars will increase brands’ confidence in CTV
Mario Diez, CEO, Peer39 With every quarter, the balance of TV viewership slips away from the traditional linear model and more towards connected TV. Less than half of the adults in the U.S. subscribe to cable or satellite, and fewer than half of the households watched linear TV daily in the second half of 2022. […]
Digiday+ Research: Agencies’ attitudes on secondary social platforms have seen ups and downs (especially on Twitter)
Digiday+ Research surveyed over 100 agency professionals, and found that agency clients' approach to the channels categorized as "other social platforms" has been somewhat erratic over the last year.
Why DOOH is a big draw for startups and direct response marketers
As digital ad channels, like social and paid search, become saturated and data privacy gets more restricted, startups and small businesses turn to DOOH to boost brand awareness.


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February 9, 2000 - Industry News
Independent truckers operating in and out of the Port Of New York and New Jersey plan a demonstration Thursday morning over the sudden increase in diesel fuel prices
Independent truckers at the Port of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada, have threatened a shutdown because they say a company has violated a wage agreement
The owner of a Pennsylvania trucking company pleaded guilty to dumping pollutants in the town's public sewer system for 12 years
Hundreds of independent dump truck drivers parked their trucks along a major Miami thoroughfare Monday to protest low wages
The U.S. is proposing a controversial customs fee on freight crossing the border from Canada, a move the Canadian government said would almost certainly violate the North American Free Trade Agreement.
The best weather forecasts today will usually give you accurate predictions 24 to 48 hours in advance, but there's a steep drop in accuracy when you go out three, four or five days.
Aerospace giant Lockheed Martin
February 8, 2000 - Industry News
Nissan Diesel is due for a management overhaul, says parent Nissan Motor. "Certainly we think Nissan Diesel has to be managed differently to recover," Senior Vice President Thierry Moulonguet told the Financial Times of London. "One condition is to renew the management of Nissan Diesel.
As the Teamsters prepare to meet with Overnite Transportation officials in Chicago today and tomorrow, the union says it will use an infusion of $500,000 from the AFL-CIO to step up its strike efforts against the less-than-truckload carrier
Nominations are being sought for the 7th Annual Professional Recognition Awards which honor leadership in the used truck industry. The recognition goes to those who demonstrate superior sales, business and management skills, contribute to the credibility of their profession and are involved in the community in which they work and live.
Nashville-based Williams TravelCenters has opened five new locations in December and another three more in January 2000. The eight new TravelCenters represent the company's most aggressive expansion to date, increasing Williams' interstate network to a total of 44 locations - 30 of the 12,000-square-foot TravelCenters and 14 slightly smaller "Travel Stops.
Trucking’s largest national trade association is going to lop off a significant portion of its activities, downsizing to fit members’ demands for lower dues.
Dues cuts for trucking company members of 51% over three years will cut $7 million from ATA’s budget, said president Walter B. McCormick in remarks to the ATA Executive Committee last weekend. The cuts will not apply to supplier members of ATA, whose dues were increased this year
American Isuzu Motors Inc. broke records in January by selling 947 medium-duty trucks in the U.S., or 51% more than the 627 units sold during the same month a year earlier
Covenant Transport has renewed a contract with Navilor for data extraction services, continuing a partnership that is over two years old. Using proprietary technology, Navilor has processed more than 3 million driver logs for Covenant Transport during the two-year term.
February 7, 2000 - Industry News
PNV Inc. has launched a new line of full-service Internet kiosks for truckstops. A total of 30 of the PNV Connect!Point kiosks are already deployed in TravelCenters of America and
Pilot facilities, and a further 500 will go in over the next few months.
Truckload fleet Celadon and GE Capital have launched TruckersCo-op.com, a site designed to provide discounts on items such as fuel, tires, parts, calling cards, insurance,
trailer leasing, credit cards, truck financing and truck washes
4usedtrailers.com is a new online B2B classifieds service that provides listings of used trailers. The site is currently using a simple static interface, but a search engine will be
implemented as the site grows.
"Those who sell these
Western Star Trucks has started a Platinum Pentad Parts Manager Certification program. The program is organized into five modules: sales management, personnel management, operations and training management, parts marketing and customer relations, and parts merchandising, advertising
Oregon has withdrawn from the Norpass weigh station preclearance system in protest against an operating agreement between Norpass and its competitor, PrePass.
Oregon’s action was triggered by a partial “interoperability” agreement between the two organizations. Under the agreement, which takes effect Feb. 15, Norpass carriers may use PrePass provided they meet PrePass safety criteria, have the right transponder and pay the fee.
Lana Batts has resigned as president of the Truckload Carriers Assn. The surprise announcement came at the TCA executive committee meeting in Ft. Lauderdale, FL, Feb. 5.
In an interview, Batts explained that her move anticipates a crucial upcoming vote on TCA’s affiliation with the American Trucking Assns. Batts, known as an outspoken and forceful leader of the truckload trade association, said she does not want to be an issue in TCA’s decision whether or not to integrate with ATA.
February 6, 2000 - Industry News
Volvo truck dealer TEC Equipment Inc. has begun construction on a new state-of-the-art facility in Portland, OR.
February 5, 2000 - Industry News
Three International manufacturing facilities have received ISO 14001 certification which means they have met worldwide management standards for environmental processes and system performance.
February 4, 2000 - Industry News
Weather-related construction delays have postponed the startup of Bering Truck Corp's truck assembly plant in Front Royal, VA
Freightliner Corp. is currently the second biggest manufacturer of medium duty trucks in the U.S., but parent DaimlerChrysler is aiming higher.
Volvo is going after the Thai truck market with local assembly and possibly a linkup with Mitsubishi
To offset the impact of a predicted 10-15% drop in North American new truck sales this year, Detroit Diesel will continue its cost cutting programs and "build on the strong fundamentals for growth in our service parts and remanufactured products operations," says president and CEO Charles McClure.
We offer e-newsletters that deliver targeted news and information for the entire fleet industry.
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Air Lift Offers Air Spring Kits for Ram ProMaster
Rotary Lift Incoporates Speed Into In-Ground Lift
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Noregon Releases JPro Professional 2016 Version 2


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Qlucore has launched Qlucore Gene Expression Explorer, a software platform that presents all data sets in 3D “so that researchers can easily visualize them in real-time, directly on the computer screen,” the company said. It allows users to analyze and explore data sets of up to 100 million samples on a PC.
The company said that the software can be used to study gene expression microarray data, protein array data, miRNA data, RT-PCR data, protein data from 2D gels, and “any data set of multivariate data of sizes up to 1,000 samples and 100,000 variables, or 1,000 variables and 100,000 samples.”
Innopsys recently launched Mapix 3.5, the latest version of its microarray image analysis software.
Mapix is designed to be used together with the French firm’s scanners. Innopsys said the software is compatible with a broad range of biochips from different suppliers, as well as custom-spotted biochips. It enables batch processing of arrays and allows users to flag spots according to their queries.
Mapix is platform independent and runs on 32- and 64-bits Windows and Linux operating systems.


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GOOGLE DATA LEAK
Almost entire population of Ecuador has online data leaked
Data on an estimated 20 million people, including almost seven million minors as well as deceased citizens, was exposed by the breach, the state attorney general's office said.
Industry wants careful drafting of regulation on non-personal data
Firms cheer the formation of a separate panel, but worries abound about re...
Go easy on H-1B, STEM pupils to win against China: US think tank
US should remove curbs on H-1B visas to help retain edge against China, a US...
Google to log into job search market in India with Kormo
Google has been undertaking pilots in the country since early this year through its next billion users (NBU) unit.
Govt panel may examine non-personal data regulation
MeitY wants Infy’s Kris Gopalakrishnan to head the committee and has sent a proposal to finmin.
Facebook urges India to share data, not hoard it
Clegg said that the true value of data comes from allowing data to flow freely and encouraging the innovation that stems from it.
Another leak for Pixel 4: Google's next flagship likely to get a grand unveiling on Oct 15
The Pixel 4 XL is likely to be powered by the Snapdragon 855 chipset instead of the 855+.
Selfie lovers, rejoice! Google Pixel 4XL likely to come with a brighter camera
The primary rear camera will reportedly snap shots with a brighter f/1.73 aperture.
Benefits of data rules must reach citizens, not just companies: S Gopalakrishnan
Infosys cofounder Kris Gopalakrishnan said worries over data sharing and privacy will subside once the boundaries around data are clearly drawn by the government.
Another leak from Pixel 4: Google's next flagship may let you capture the stars
The highlight is the new Astrophotography mode which could be a part of Night Sight mode.
Not just businesses, individuals stand to benefit from data: Infosys co-founder Gopalakrishnan
Gopalakrishnan heads the committee formed by the MeitY to look at non-personal data.
Reliance Jio to be in top 100 most valuable global brands in 3 years: Report
E-commerce giant Amazon this year surpassed Apple and Google to reach the No. 1 rank in the BrandZ Top 100 Most Valuable Global Brands.
Govt may soon make it mandatory for Google, Facebook to sell users’ public data
MeitY now says that companies – and not a government repository – should hold and monetise public data.
Next Trump tariffs may soon hit Europe’s luxury exporters
U.S. has identified possible targets -- with tariffs potentially as high as 100% -- on a list of goods with a total export value of $25 billion a year.
Facebook global executive meets IT minister, discusses cross-border data flows
Terming India as a "huge market" for Facebook and its group companies, Nick Clegg said the US tech giant is "keen to make progress" on rolling out its payments services on WhatsApp.
Copyright © 2019 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd. All rights reserved. For reprint rights: Times Syndication Service


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Apple may not have taken down the cable giants yet, but the folks in Cupertino are dead serious about the future of television. Today, at its annual iPhone launch event, the company also announced a new version of its Apple TV set-top box, leaning into the idea that apps are the future of television while trying to make everything look a little crisper.
The new box looks like the old box: It's still a chunky black square with that love-it-or-hate-it Siri remote. Thanks to some internal upgrades, it can now push 4K and HDR content out to your TV, assuming your set can handle that kind of hi-res stuff. Apple's a bit late to the 4K party but may be just in time: Sales of 4K TVs have spiked over the past couple of years, and by next year it'll be all but impossible to buy a big TV that doesn't do 4K. Netflix, Amazon, and others have accumulated big libraries of 4K stuff to watch, and now Apple TV users can finally get the good stuff.
It runs on the A10X processor, the same one in the iPad Pro. Apple's Eddy Cue says the new box is twice as fast as the old one. And everything's been upgraded to 4K HDR, including the iTunes movies you've already bought—your existing stuff will just appear.
It all runs on tvOS 11, the latest version of the Apple TV software. The new operating system includes an automatically switching dark and night mode, and support for AirPlay 2 and AirPods (so you can watch TV without disturbing the whole house). It also contains some backend improvements that should make downloading and updating apps mercifully easier, plus support for notifications. Best of all, it brings Amazon Prime Video to Apple TV, filling a giant Transparent-sized hole in what you can watch with Apple's box.
The Apple TV makes up just one part of Apple's ever-widening TV and movie strategy. The company already spun up shows such as Planet of the Apps and Carpool Karaoke, plus it has reportedly earmarked $1 billion to spend on shows that are hopefully better than those. Apple's apparently even bidding for the rights to all things James Bond.
Meanwhile, it's continually tweaking its TV app, which acts as a sort of universal guide for streaming services.At the launch, Cue showed off tighter integration with ESPN for live sports, and a new tab for all things Sports in the TV app.
The set-top box is a central part of Apple's strategy, but the company's aiming for much more than a slot underneath your TV.
The new box ships September 22 for $179 and up depending on storage. You can still buy the old, blurry one for $149.


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High costs force small dairies out of business
A new federal analysis shows basic economics - the simple balance of profit and loss - are driving small dairies out of business in California and the rest of the nation, leaving fewer, but increasingly larger, dairies.
And while environmentalists decry the impact of farms whose herds number in the thousands, ironically it is the large-scale operations that can best bear the costs of more-stringent air and water pollution restrictions now being imposed.
One Lodi diary farmer, Hank Van Exel, increased his operation by buying out another farmer a few years ago and now oversees the handling of 1,600 cows, even if that's not his first choice.
"I'd love to have just my very best cows, and have 400 cows and make a nice living; that would be a wonderful thing," he said.
But the increasing price of fixed expenses - such as $200,000 feed trucks, $100,000 tractors and million-dollar milking parlors - can best be supported by larger and larger operations.
"What you can do to maximize your efficiencies over those fixed costs (is) basically ... getting more cows into a facility," Van Exel said.
That's what the U.S. Economic Research Service, a Department of Agriculture agency, found.
"Large dairy farms have substantial cost advantages over smaller farms, derived from the ability to take advantage of economies of scale," it reported. On average, farms with 1,000 or more cows realize a cost savings of 15 percent compared with dairies with 500 to 999 cows. "Other evidence suggests that costs may continue to decline as herds increase to and above 3,000 head."
So Van Exel is justified at feeling his dairy is a "tweener," even though it's nearly twice the California average of roughly 900 cows.
Nationally, there has been a nearly 90 percent decline in the number of dairies over 36 years.
"Between 1970 and 2006, the number of farms with dairy cows fell steadily and sharply, from 648,000 operations in 1970 to 75,000 in 2006," the study found. Also, "the average herd size rose from just 19 cows per farm in 1970 to 120 cows in 2006."
California, where dairies run larger than national averages, still lost many farms, going from 4,473 dairy operations in 1970 to 1,974 last year, according to state figures.
But 2006 was unusually hard on the state's industry, due to a cow-killing July heat wave, record low milk prices, rising production costs and increasing regulatory burdens, said Michael Marsh, chief executive of Western United Dairymen.
"We lost about 10 percent of the state's dairies over the past 12 to 18 months due to a combination of those factors," he said. "We may dip below 1,800 (dairy) farms in California in the next several weeks."
In San Joaquin County, milk production is the No. 1 farm product, valued at $261 million last year.
While milk prices have rebounded this year, many farmers are still trying to make up for the losses they experienced in 2006, Marsh said.
"The dairies in California are family operations. They are passed form generation to generation," he said. "There may be families that make a different decision and the next generation may be the last."
It is harder for smaller dairy operators to make up their losses, said Ann Silva, owner of Bacchetti & Silva, a Tracy dairy.
"The big thing is when you lose money, everybody loses money, but where you're making money, you don't have the numbers to recoup your losses ... you need to have tremendous milk flow to recoup your losses."
"Actually, I should be bigger than I am right now," said Silva, who's currently milking 775 cows three times a day. Her dairy has been at that size for many years and probably won't change.
"Fifteen, 16 years ago we were a large California dairy," she said. Currently, it's a mid-sized operation and "quickly we'll become a small California dairy."
"We'll ride it out for another couple of years, and then we're probably going to sell the cows."
Not all small dairies are unprofitable, however.
Marsh said good management practices can produce profits at smaller operations, many which can be found in California.
Others may pursue niche markets, where they can earn a premium for their products, said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives at Consumers Union in New York.
"The fastest growing segment of milk is organic milk. Those guys are making money," she said. "They are doing better than the people doing conventional production."
With many consumers increasingly concerned about food-safety issues, and adverse to modern technologies that critics charge compromise quality, many are willing to spend more money on organically produced milk and butter.
"The attraction of organic to the public is such that a lot of the conventional processors, or the daily companies, are trying to make their milk more like organic, particularly like banning the use of bovine growth hormone," Halloran said.
Still, she conceded that larger farms do have cost advantages.


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According to an internal Microsoft tipster, the upcoming Zune HD will be available in 16GB and 32GB capacities, and be priced from $249 to $280 for the entry-level model. The company is considering a 64GB Zune HD later on in the model year, but the first of the PMPs will arrive in September; that tallies with previous rumors that fingered September 5th.
The source – a software engineer within Microsoft who claims that, while he chose to leak independently, his actions are known and unofficially sanctioned by the company – also suggests that movies are finally coming to the Zune Marketplace, and that the team are working on the final licensing agreements with the major studios. That content will be available in HD.
If that starting price turns out to be accurate, it will position the Zune HD above Apple’s rival iPod touch PMPs. The Zune’s Tegra HD-capable chipset, HDMI output and AMOLED multitouch-capable display are likely culprits for pushing up prices; it remains to be seen whether Microsoft can sufficiently persuade consumers that their platform is finally better than Apple’s.


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Gradient Photo Editor: The latest viral app will try to show you your celebrity lookalike
If your timeline is being inundated with celebrity lookalikes, that's because a new viral app has taken off.
Gradient Photo Editor allows users to upload a selfie or face photo and the app will use artificial intelligence to gradually turn them into a celebrity that they allegedly resemble. The photo editing app is just over a week old and has already amassed a huge celebrity following including the Kardashians and the record producer Diplo.
The app's results sometimes miss the mark.
One USA TODAY reporter's results included the Spanish soccer player Marc Bartra, rapper Tyler the Creator and Brazilian actress Giovanna Ewbank. However, people on social media are having fun with the idea that disgraced tech tycoon Elizabeth Holmes looks like Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg in disguise.
Robot helpers: Gita is a new cargo robot that can follow you, carry your stuff for about 4 hours
Yahoo Groups is shutting down: Act soon or lose all your old photos, message history
The app also suggests that Kim Kardashian looks like Cher and Diplo looks like musician Lil Nas X. According to the Google Play Store, Gradient has been downloaded over a million times and has a 4.3-star average review.
If you want to use the app, you can sign up for a free three-day trial. After the trial ends, you'll be charged either $4.99 per week or $19.99 a month unless you remember to cancel.
Not that long ago, consumers had their eyes on FaceApp, which would show you how you could look when you get older. Soon after going viral, the app raised tons of questions about privacy after it was reported that a Russian startup was harvesting metadata from users.
Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin_Brown.


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High Hopes In N.H. This Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start to summer — for New Hampshire’s Division of Travel and Tourism Development, at least. The DTTD just launched a television marketing campaign in Boston and New York featuring happy kids running in the woods and playing on the beach. This year, the tourism office predicts that visitors will spend $86 million in New Hampshire this weekend — an increase of five percent from last year.
Of course, the Director of the Institute for New Hampshire Studies at Plymouth state, Mark Okrant, made sure I understood that, really, Memorial Day is a spring holiday. So while the tourism industry’s performance this weekend will be a good indicator of how people are feeling about gas prices and the economy in general, it doesn’t really predict tourists’ behavior in the upcoming months.
Photographer Rick Libbey, who goes by “the moose man,” will be setting up shop in Meredith, NH this weekend at the 21st annual Memorial Day Weekend Craft Festival, where he has spent Memorial Day weekend for the last 5 years. Rick is banking on the same customers that the DTTD is targeting with their television ads in Boston and NYC. “I’m seeing that they’re spending,” Rick told me. After the recession hit, Rick restructured his business to keep prices down. He says that helped his business thrive despite the downturn. “When people see a nice piece of art at an aggressive bargain price, they’re gonna get it.”
His mantra is “think smart, play smart, and by all means have a smile on your face.”


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Qualcomm's new processor promises to be the most powerful on the market. Here's what they can do
New York – High numbers and percentages: as soon as presented by Qualcomm, the new Snapdragon 820 unmicrochip that contains many of the main functions of a smartphone and without a doubt more powerful, more efficient and less subject to heating compared to its predecessors.
But what is it really for? What can you do? Let's find out in ten, simple animated points, thanks to the demos seen in preview at the official New York event.
Photos and videos, even in the dark
Thanks to the double ISP (Image signal processor) called Spectra, the new Snapdragon manages to capture brighter images with less noise, even in low light conditions, without missing a frame.
Fly on the Net
Thanks to the new LTE and Wi-Fi modems, with downloads up to 600 Mbps and uploads at 150 Mbps, the Snapdragon 820 will allow devices in which it will be integrated to grind megabits at high speed, managing, for example, two video streams at 4K quality simultaneously.
More stable callsWith improved signal management thanks to TruSignal technology, Snapdragon 820 should guarantee clearer and more stable calls, as well as a reduction in consumption of up to 20%.
Improved fingerprint readingThe new SoC will allow manufacturers to insert a fingerprint scanner even under a metal body, making it easier to design smartphones, which will also be faster and more precise in reading fingerprints.
Goodbye malwareIn the new SmartProtect chip, a security system able not only to recognize malicious apps, but also to find and defeat a malware even before it is indexed by the antivirus databases.
Qualcomm's learning machine makes its debut on a commercial product with Zeroth, an algorithm that can analyze our shots and adjust the scene accordingly, then intelligently storing the images according to the contents of the photo or video.
Unlimited wireless charging
From Qualcomm they promise that the new wireless charging of Snapdragon 820 will be able to work even through surfaces of 20 millimeters thick, so that it can be integrated invisibly even within furnishing complements.
The combination of the new Adreno 530 GPU and the Kyro four-core processor is able to bring respectable graphics performance to mobile, managing, for example, virtual simulations in real time through the Unreal Engine 4. A rather powerful robot, in conclusion.
With the right speakers, devices equipped with Snapdragon 820 should be able to provide audio with virtual surround and intelligent equalization, which manages to maximize the volume of the device, but without risk of "clipping".


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Razer today announced Restorify, a climate-neutral online shop system that will also be used in its own store. Customers can use it to offset their purchases with a CO2 credit at the checkout. External companies can also integrate and use Restorify on their websites.
One of the world's leading computer hardware developers Razer announced in a press release the e-commerce service Restorify, developed by Razer Fintech. Restorify is a kind of CO2-neutral shop checkout system that was launched on Razer.com to coincide with the 27th UN Climate Change Conference in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt.
The shop system enables customers to offset their online purchases with a CO2 certificate and thus offset the greenhouse gas emissions that have arisen. All carbon credits used are traceable, so buyers know what their money is being used for. In addition, Restorify should help other companies to determine their own CO2 footprint of their products. Razer will work with partners in its supply chain, as well as an additional 50.000 retailers. Amazon Web Services will also support Razer to make Restorify available to more than 100.000 partners from 150 countries.
“Our life cycle approach enables us to develop measures that drive emission reductions. However, carbon credits will still play a role in the transition to net zero,” said Min-Liang Tan, Razer CEO. “On our journey to net zero, we realized that there are growth issues and that not all carbon credits are created equal. With Restorify, we hope our novel approach to carbon credits will encourage greater accountability and transparency in carbon offsetting.”
“Restorify's transparent carbon neutral shopping cart allows consumers to see a product's carbon footprint so they can make informed decisions. Additionally, during the checkout process, they will also be able to offset the products they purchase with carbon credits originating from already verified carbon registers." “Razer has begun to curate a diverse portfolio of carbon credit projects that work towards the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. To this end, Razer works closely with partners such as GoNetZero, the leading provider of energy and city solutions, as well as ESGpedia, which takes care of the transparent end-to-end data of high-quality carbon credits from registration to decommissioning, and the cloud computing platform from Amazon Web Services (AWS).”
“With a commitment to power all AWS regions worldwide with 2025 percent renewable energy by 100, AWS is committed to being the world's most sustainable cloud. This, combined with the differentiating breadth and depth of AWS data services, makes AWS an ideal partner for Razer as they begin this exciting new chapter. The collaboration provides Razer with both development and go-to-market support for Restorify, an innovative carbon tracking solution that will bring long-term benefits to Razer's business, customers and the environment,” said Conor McNamara, Managing Director, ASEAN, Amazon Web Services.


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Google (GOOG) is one of the biggest stocks on Wall Street, with a market cap of nearly $400 billion. But many investors forget that despite the hype around GOOG stock and its latest high-tech efforts, Google’s balance sheet remains very much the same as it has always been — heavily dependent on web advertising.
Consider that in 2013, Google revenue topped $59.8 billion, and more than $50.5 billion of that came from advertising. That’s a whopping 84% of total sales.
So why are investors so ginned up about GOOG stock and products like its Android smartphone OS despite this continued reliance on advertising?
Because while Google hasn’t moved wholly away from its dependence on advertising, it continues to branch out at an impressive rate. And before you know it, GOOG might be far more than just a play on Internet display ads — it could be a true tech powerhouse with its fingers in every piece of consumer technology.
Google Revenue: Ads Matter, But Growth Matters More
Revenue is indeed growing, up from a total revenue of $37.9 billion in 2011, and that is why GOOG stock has run up nicely in the past few years.
Specifically, Google stock is up about 270% from the March 2009 lows, significantly outpacing the 170% returns for the S&P 500 in the same period, and significantly outpacing other major online ad players AOL (AOL) and Yahoo (YHOO) in the long term.
And while there hasn’t been much top-line impact yet from Google’s latest offerings, it’s important to note that the growth beyond its advertising business is still substantial; it’s just not enough to move the needle dramatically on a stock like GOOG.
Click to Enlarge Take the “other” line on Google’s revenue breakdown. Sales have more than doubled from 2012 to 2013, going from just under $2.4 billion to almost $5 billion. Also, 2013 “other” revenues are more than triple the $1.4 billion from fiscal 2011.
The rate of growth is not only impressive — it’s widening.
Sure, that $5 billion is admittedly just 8% of total revenues. And sure, the margins on some of these new consumer products like Google Glass and Chromecast aren’t impressive and won’t be driving the bottom line significantly anytime soon.
But the fact that a $400 billion company like Google is ambitiously — and successfully — pivoting away from a dominant online advertising business is incredibly important to acknowledge if you’re an investor.
The Future of GOOG Stock
The big question, then, for GOOG stock investors is whether advertising will stay dominant and whether these new revenue efforts will continue their brisk pace.
Recent Google earnings show that there are risks on the advertising front. Ad rates (known as “cost per click” in the online advertising game) were down 11% year-over-year despite the fact that volume was up. That reaffirms the troubles shown both buy Google and competitors like Yahoo across last year.
Still, the “other” revenue growth seems to be more than enough to both fill the void on the balance sheet and please Wall Street. Consider:
- Android, Google’s dominant smartphone OS, commanded about 79% of global market share at the end of 2013. Apple (AAPL) and its iPhone software iOS came in at just 15%, and Microsoft (MSFT) and its Windows Phone software tallied under 4% to come in a distant third. That kind of scale is crucial to building out future Google products and mobile revenue to drive GOOG stock.
- Google Fiber, the ambitious Internet access plan which will compete with Verizon (VZ), Comcast (CMCSA) and other telecom service providers, is expanding into as many as 34 new cities. And while this is a very expensive endeavor to undertake on the construction side, the potential for big long-term returns is noteworthy. After all, once people get plugged in, they could stay Google Fiber subscribers for decades if the chips fall right.
- Chromecast, Google Glass and a rumored 3D phone named “Project Tango” prove that despite divesting itself of Motorola — selling part of the business to Lenovo (LNVGY) for about $3 billion — GOOG certainly has not given up on consumer technology.
My two cents: Google is a risky bet, but one worth taking.
GOOG stock faces very real advertising pressures ahead in the short-term. Facebook (FB) has supplanted the old model of advertising ad nauseam on web pages for some marketers. And more importantly, FB ad rates have managed to swim upstream even as advertising metrics continue to decline for sites like Google and Yahoo.
But long-term, the potential of Google Fiber and “other” revenue projects is real, and it’s highly unlikely that Google will see significant disruption — just a plateauing in previously impressive advertising growth.
With about $19 billion in operating cash flows and $61 billion in the bank, not to mention a willingness to spend that money and evolve, it’s hard to bet against a smart and ambitious company like Google.
Particularly when that “other” revenue category is growing so fast lately.
Jeff Reeves is the editor of InvestorPlace.com and the author of The Frugal Investor’s Guide to Finding Great Stocks. As of this writing, he did not hold a position in any of the aforementioned securities. Write him at email@example.com or follow him on Twitter via @JeffReevesIP.


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Canadians Using Cabs to Avoid Quarantine Restrictions
With Ontario embracing some of the strictest lockdown restrictions in the West and giving the police force carte blanche when it comes to enforcing public health, many Canadians have told us they’re not exactly enthralled with the idea of notifying their government that they’ve been out of the country. This is doubly true if they’ve just flown in by plane because the nation now requires a few days’ stay in a hotel as part of its mandatory 14-day quarantine for those traveling by air.
Due to the added time, cost, and general hassle of booking yourself into a hotel for 3 nights — awaiting the results of a mandatory COVID test before you’re technically allowed to go home to continue self-isolation — some travelers have opted to utilize ground transportation for the explicit purpose of avoiding restrictions. Rather than flying all the way into the Great White North, Canadians are flying into neighboring American airports and then hailing a taxi that will take them across the border.
Reuters had the cost breakdown, estimating that the average cost of hiring a car to get into Canada from the U.S. border is somewhere around $250. While the estimate on the 3-day hotel stay was a lofty $1,000, even a few nights at one of those fleabag joints will easily surpass whatever it’s going to cost you to just drive (or be driven) home. Another consideration is that those coming in by plane who do end up testing positive for COVID will be ultimately moved to a government-appointed facility and isolated for the duration of the illness.
Numerous cab and limo companies told the outlet that the situation had created an upswing in business near the border. New York has undoubtedly seen the most action, though it’s hardly the only area seeing a surge of activity. Similar trends have been noticed in just about any area where there’s a lot of cross-country commerce, including examples of people stopping at the border to walk across before booking another ride for the rest of the trip home.
Non-commercial land border crossings were 60 [percent] higher during one week at the end of March and beginning of April than in the same week in 2020, according to data from the Canada Border Services Agency. Air travel for that same week, meanwhile, increased 18.8 [percent].
The discrepancy between the rules at the land border and by air is a sore point for Canada’s hard-hit carriers.
Unlike land travelers who can choose where to quarantine, air passengers who test positive at a hotel must self-isolate at a government-mandated facility.
According to Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) data for Feb. 22 through March 25, 1.5 [percent] of air passengers to the country tested positive for the virus on arrival compared with 0.3 [percent] of land travelers.
As you might have expected, the knowledge that there are people crossing the border without being subject to the same rigid screening that air travelers receive has left some Canadians demanding tighter rules for ground transport — including Ontario Premier Doug Ford and Premier of Quebec François Legault. Assuming restrictions are enhanced, expect them to be limited to popular border crossings and places where the rules could be more easily enforced (e.g. bridges).
A staunch consumer advocate tracking industry trends and regulation. Before joining TTAC, Matt spent a decade working for marketing and research firms based in NYC. Clients included several of the world’s largest automakers, global tire brands, and aftermarket part suppliers. Dissatisfied with the corporate world and resentful of having to wear suits everyday, he pivoted to writing about cars. Since then, that man has become an ardent supporter of the right-to-repair movement, been interviewed on the auto industry by national radio broadcasts, driven more rental cars than anyone ever should, participated in amateur rallying events, and received the requisite minimum training as sanctioned by the SCCA. Handy with a wrench, Matt grew up surrounded by Detroit auto workers and managed to get a pizza delivery job before he was legally eligible. He later found himself driving box trucks through Manhattan, guaranteeing future sympathy for actual truckers. He continues to conduct research pertaining to the automotive sector as an independent contractor and has since moved back to his native Michigan, closer to where the cars are born. A contrarian, Matt claims to prefer understeer — stating that front and all-wheel drive vehicles cater best to his driving style.
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- Rust-MyEnemy Whoa, what the hell is wrong with Jalop1991 and his condescension? It's as if he's employed by Big Plug-In or something."I've seen plenty of your types on the forums....."Dunno what that means, but I'm not dead keen on being regarded as "A type" by a complete stranger"" I'm guessing you've never actually calculated by hand the miles you've driven against the quantity of gas used--which is your actual miles per gallon."Guess again. Why the hell would you even say that? Yes, I worked it out. Fill-to-fill, based on gas station receipts. And it showed me that a Vauxhall Astra PHEV, starting out with a fully charged PHEV battery, in Hybrid mode, on my long (234-mile) daily motorway daily commute, never, over several months, ever matched or beat the economy of the regular hybrid Honda Civic that I ran for a similar amount of time (circa 5000 miles)."You don't use gasoline at all for 30-40 miles as you use exclusively battery power, then your vehicle is a pure hybrid. Over 234 miles, you will have used whatever gas the engine used for 200 of those miles."At least you're right on that. In hybrid mode, though, the Astra was using battery power when it wasn't at all appropriate. The petrol engine very rarely chimed in when battery power was on tap, and as a result, the EV-mode range quickly disappeared. The regular hybrid Civic, though, deployed its very small electric reserves (which are used up quickly but restore themselves promptly), much more wisely. Such as when on a trailing throttle or on a downward grade, or when in stop-start traffic. As a result, at the end of my 234 miles, the Civic had used less gas than the Astra. Moreover, I hadn't had to pay for the electricity in its battery.I look forward to you arguing that what actually happened isn't what actually happened, but I was there and you were not."Regardless, that you don't understand it appears not to have stopped you from pontificating on it. Please, do us all a favor--don't vote."You really are quite unpleasant, aren't you. But thanks for the advice.
- Tassos Jong-iL Electric vehicles are mandated by 2020 in One Korea. We are ahead of the time.
- 1995_SC Can you still get some of the tax credits under the new program?
- Analoggrotto HyundaiGenesisKia saw this coming a long time ago and are poised for hybrid and plug-in hybrid segment leadership:[list=1][*] The most extensive range of hybrids[/*][*]Highest hybrid sales proportion over any other model [/*][*]Best YouTube reviews [/*][*]Highest number of consumer reports best picks [/*][*]Class leading ATPs among all hybrid vehicles and PHEVs enjoy segment bearing eATPs[/*][/list=1]While some brands like Toyota have invested and wasted untold fortunes into full range electric lineups HyundaiKiaGenesis has taken the right approach here.
- EBFlex The answer is yes. Anyone that says no is just….. wrong.But the government doesn’t want people to have that much freedom and the politicians aren’t making money off PHEVs or HEVs. So they will be stifled.


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WELCOME TO The TRAVEL REPORT
Feature market insights and perspectives from top C-Level executives, elite technology influencers and thought leaders from your company here. This signature initiative has garnered immense support...
TravelDailyNews International | February 25, 2020
HelloGbye, an automation solution for travel management companies (TMCs), announced that it has aligned with Travelport to offer email automation to Travelport’s network of TMCs. Through this strategic relationship, HelloGbye and Travelport will provide a complete digital itinerary planning solution to Travelport’s corporate TMC customers. The solution uses proprietary technology that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning techniques to generate itinerary recommendati...
Aeronology | November 21, 2020
The launch of Aeronology Mobile, a world-first travel agent application promises to help travel advisors rebound with a sophisticated and seamless global online, mobile and full-service travel booking toolbox.“It’s a going to change the travel advisor industry,” says Russell Carstensen, CEO of rising Australian travel technology company Aeronology. “An advisor can now keep all commission in what is an affordable, user-pay one-stop shop application which allows you t...
AIRLINES AND AIRPORTS
ExpertFlyer.com | December 21, 2020
Imagine experiencing a once-in-a-lifetime trip far and wide while never leaving your lounge or chipping in your seat on an overbooked trip in return for a future travel voucher, and being set up for the following trip out, before you even leave for the air terminal. These are only a few of instances of the innovation forward leaps that are supporting the new ordinary and propelling the eventual fate of air travel.
Many numbers of these new technologies were created dependent on ne...
Otium Technologies | October 23, 2021
Otium Technologies is proud to announce its launch, which will bring blockchain to the travel and tourism industry. The company's mission is to revolutionize the traditional travel and tourism industry.In a bid to revolutionize the travel and tourism industry after the monumental impact caused by COVID-19, the team at Otium Technologies is pleased to announce the introduction of its project and service offerings to the leisure industry. Otium Technologies uses blockchain technology to proffe...
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- Company in talks with government officials and agriculture industry leaders in Brazil’s Rondonia State
- Pacific Software’s blockchain technologies designed to increase supply chain transparency, thus impacting consumer confidence
- Brazil likely to soon become world’s top exporter of agricultural products
Pacific Software, Inc. (OTC: PFSF), a company engaged in the development, acquisition and licensing of Hyperledger blockchain-based systems, has announced that it has set plans into motion to tap into the huge Brazilian agriculture market. In a recent news release, the company said that it is in talks with the government of the state of Rondonia (http://nnw.fm/d0Tz4) and the state’s biggest exporters of meat and agricultural products to explore ways that the industry can use Pacific Software’s Agri-Blockchain technology (http://nnw.fm/AHmk1).
The move comes in the context of Brazil increasing its market share of global agricultural exports. A current report by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO), ranks Brazil as the world’s second largest supplier of food and agricultural products. The report, ‘OECD-FAO Agricultural Outlook 2015-2024’, further predicts that Brazil could become the world’s top agricultural exporter in the near future (http://nnw.fm/lM9Oc).
At the same time, trend-watchers in the global agricultural industry foresee a huge potential role for blockchain technology (http://nnw.fm/GD5Vk). In a world where consumers are increasingly concerned about the origins of their products, blockchain technology will make supply chains more transparent and easier to trace. Large-scale producers will be able to keep better records of their operations, and niche producers, such as organic farmers, will be able to more easily prove and certify every step their products take from field to store shelf.
Pacific Software is developing a cutting-edge trade portal that harnesses the power of blockchain’s ultra-secure databases, and it is now positioning itself to become a key player in the supply of blockchain technology solutions to Brazil’s agricultural industry. This tool will make it possible to track the entire supply chain with blockchain’s solid credibility.
In a news release, Peter Pizzino, president of Pacific Software, said, “We are excited to enter strategic alliances with some of Brazil’s largest agriculture and meat exporters to implement our disruptive blockchain technology-based B2B platform for the supply chain and logistics sectors.”
Pacific Software’s trade platform will be available in Portuguese, English, Cantonese and Mandarin – appropriate options, given that China and the United States are among Brazil’s biggest export markets. The company is developing the B2B and B2C portal in partnership with KBQuest Group Inc., a global IT service provider, and could utilize IBM’s (NYSE: IBM) Blockchain Hyperledger platform (http://nnw.fm/qaSN6).
In addition to providing transparency, accountability and trust in the provenance of agricultural products, the Pacific Software platform could also be used in many other key aspects of agricultural recordkeeping. Billing and invoicing can be automated and other records and processes migrated into digital formats. Improving recordkeeping and automating and streamlining processes will lead to improved efficiency which will, in turn, increase profitability.
Pizzino added, “The recent trip to Brazil has strengthened our relationships for building regional market share in order to become a major blockchain technology service provider in the region.”
For more information, visit the company’s website at www.PacificSoftwareInc.com
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|Above, three generations at Nijo Castle. Photo by Armand Vaquer.|
Kyoto, Japan is a very popular place to visit by foreigners. Readers of Travel + Leisure magazine voted it the world's best city to visit two years in a row.
According to the Japan Times, Kyoto drew 55.64 million foreign tourists tourists in 2014.
Unfortunately, Kyoto's popularity has created a headache. There is a shortage of luxury accommodations.
The Japan Times wrote:
The city has made it easier to use its public wireless network; it supports 13 different languages on its website; it arranges business conferences with overseas travel agencies that cater to the wealthy, and is hoping for an influx of luxury hotels.
But the sharp increase in the number of foreign visitors to Kyoto also brings with it challenges and difficulties. One is a shortage of high-class accommodation.As for me, I am going to visit Kyoto next month as a day trip, but I am staying in nearby Osaka
To read more, go here.


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PETA has come under fire for launching a “sexist” dairy-free campaign at Wimbledon.
It sent half-naked pin up models to hand out strawberries and dairy-free cream to the worlds best known tennis championship.
But thousands of outraged animal rights campaigners have now cancelled their PETA memberships and branded the use of models in swimsuits “sexist”.
PETA’s latest campaign featured two young women wearing 1950s-style red, white and blue swimsuits handing out sweet treats to people queuing for tournament tickets.
But the backlash was swift and it was soon branded “sexist”, “tired” and “distasteful”, causing fury amongst social media users.
Some people even accused PETA of objectifying women and valuing animals over humans.
Sharon McGuigan said: “Exploitation of women’s bodies is never a good look. Another sexist campaign. You value animals over women.”
His views were supported by another Twitter user Jennie Berman. She sated: “PETA, your “I wasn’t you to be vegan” campaign is sexist and objectifying to women. Why do women come in second to animals?”
@mugglayann tweeted : “ I used to support PETA, until I realised they make their campaign works through their sexist ads. I cancelled my membership.”
Red- faced PETA was quick to hit back, saying that their Wimbledon campaign was aimed to end cows being treated like milk-producing machines.
The charity said its strawberries and vegan cream campaign helped to expose more plant-based alternatives to the dairy market.
Elisa Allen, the director of PETA UK said: “PETA supports anyone using their bodies to make a social statement if they chose to. As an organisation staffed largely by feminist women, we believe women should be free to use their minds and bodies as political instruments to bring attention to animal suffering.”
Wimbledon officials have not yet commented on the PETA stunt, but confirmed that it breached their strict marketing guidelines.


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A Canadian company has announced an investment expansion that will create 600 additional jobs in the country
A Canadian company, which has had investments in the Dominican Republic since 2008, has expressed its decision to expand in the country in the current situation based on the confidence that the business climate inspires in the Caribbean nation.
It’s Hillsdale Asset SA, dedicated to Manufacture and manufacture of textile products of high quality, which is currently created with the name Mocha Free ZoneIsbayalt province, which provides 400 direct job opportunities.
Robert Saad, CEO of the company, was received by the Dominican Ambassador to Canada, Michel Cohen, who expressed his interest in establishing a new industrial warehouse in the province of Santiago, It will generate 600 additional job opportunities.
During the conversation with the diplomat, the investor said he was motivated by the vast amount of resources that the Dominican Republic has, the confidence and favorable investment climate generated by the current government administration, headed by President Luis Abenader.
Hillsdale Asset Company In addition to being recognized for manufacturing and manufacturing high quality textile products, It bases its operations on green energy It is characterized by providing a favorable organizational climate for its collaborators
Saad explained that his company focused on adopting the element of sustainability, social responsibility, innovation, use of the latest technologies, as well as quality control, and compliance with high industrial standards, as strategic pillars within its business model. To be at the forefront in line with the requirements and requirements of the current context.


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Tuesday, September 25th, marks the 3rd anniversary of the Sustainable Development Goals, set forth by the U.N. There are 17 goals that address the global challenges we face today, including poverty, inequality, climate, environmental degradation, prosperity, and peace and justice. If we are to survive and have a thriving population and planet, we need to meet these goals.
There’s a distinct limit to the economic footprint that our planet is capable of supporting. Right now we are stretching this limit beyond it’s capacity. The global economy is at an all-time high, yet many people still can’t meet their basic human needs. This is not sustainable. In fact 800 million people live in poverty around the world. We are not making progress fast enough to meet the goals.
Perhaps the most critical of all the goals is # 10: Reducing Inequalities. We must shift value to all parts of the trade chain instead of only to the top so that we can start to close the gaps in our society. We can’t achieve zero poverty if we do not tackle inequality. We can’t feed our people if the value and resources of economic activity go increasingly to the richest. We can’t fund education and health without a more equal distribution of resources.
Tackling inequality is key to reaching all 17 sustainable development goals. Right now, however, inequality is growing, driven by a system of business, finance, and trade that rewards wealth, not work. If business is increasingly obsessed with growing returns to shareholders, we will continue to have higher inequality. We must promote an alternative. Instead of a business world obsessed with maximum profits for shareholders, we could have a world that promotes people and the planet over profits.
The Fair Trade movement is uniquely poised as a proven method of business that can be viable for the company, the workers, and the planet.
Fair Trade organizations have pioneered social enterprise and are part of a larger justice movement that parallels the rise of cooperatives, B-Corps, and employee-ownership models that show we can share value and power differently.
Fair Trade Winds + Momentum has signed onto a new Global Fair Trade Charter along with the World Fair Trade Organization, Fair Trade International, & the Fair Trade Federation. As fair traders, we believe justice, equity, and sustainable development should be at the heart of trade structures. If all business incorporated and abided by the principles in the graphic below, we would be well on our way to surpassing the sustainable development goals and creating a global community that we all can be proud to call home.
This new charter marks an important step in the Fair Trade movement and provides a guide and inspiration for anyone who wishes to see a better, fairer world to follow suit.
As an individual or a business, you can express your support for this new vision of the world by signing on to the charter. Join us in creating a more fair world!


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AMD is Looking Good and Gives Hope to Industry Despite A Harsh Year for Chipmakers
Nov 03, 2022
Investors have already definitively dashed their dreams for chip, graphics card, and microprocessor makers, as they simply can't expect anything positive to come out of the market because of supply problems and other issues that show only poor results.
Because of the desire to save investors' psyches and prepare them for a worse outcome, Advanced Micro Devices came forward in early October with preliminary quarterly results.
Well after investors had already weathered the trauma and were ready for further poor results, exactly three days later, on the 10th of October, Gartner published the PC shipments data for the third quarter. The report confirmed that the PC market was in a harsh decline and nothing good can be expected there because Worldwide PC shipments totaled 68 million units in the third quarter of 2022, down 19.5% from a year earlier.
So why did this happen? It's simple: сonsumers and businesses simply began placing fewer orders for hardware than usual. And consequently, manufacturers began ordering fewer chips for their hardware to avoid overpaying for production. Manufacturers such as Dell, Lenovo, HP, and others were hit by this action.
What a Pleasant Surprise
Despite the gloomy predictions of the P.C. industry as a whole, investors put aside their antidepressants and were very surprised and delighted by AMD's third-quarter performance! P.S. results were published on November 1st.
According to the report, AMD's income rose by 29% over the previous year to $5.6 billion. Net income fell by 93% to $66 million, but this is because AMD spent $ 49 billion on Xilinx, a chipmaker known for its field programmable gate array. Nice!
Next quarter, AMD expects revenue in the range of $5.2 billion to $5.8 billion, a 14% year-over-year increase but almost unchanged from the previous quarter. Still, it's better than nothing! Annual revenue is expected to be in the range of $23.2 billion to $23.8 billion.
But the analysts are very upset because their expectations were broken. After all, they were expecting AMD revenue of $5.95 billion for Q4 and $23.88 billion for the year. Such a pity.
Something New Is Coming Up
So what can we say? AMD's forecasts are not horrible to live up to. But Lisa Su, AMD's CEO came to cheer us up with the most pleasant surprise. During the third quarter earnings call, she commented that the company plans to launch the fourth generation of server processors, known as Genoa, on November 10.
And that there are no problems with the company going through an economic downturn either, adding that the demand for the current generation of server CPUs also remains good.
She also added that Genoa will be publicly introduced next week and that they are already building up production to support initial cloud deployments and adoption of fourth-generation EPYC processor platforms by HP Enterprise, Dell, Lenovo, Super Micro, and others. Such good news!
Plans of AMD How to Fix Everything
So there is hope for good development already, after all!
Lisa Su, in her call, also stated that AMD is making very good progress with North American cloud solution providers. They expect growth in that market in 2023, with customers moving more workloads to AMD in particular, with the new Genoa product that's coming soon and will be revealed to the public.
She also admits that it's clear that the PC business is very unstable and gloomy right now and didn't meet investors expectations in the third quarter. And they're predicting that PC sales will decline again in the fourth quarter.
And, of course, she and her company will be watching the macroeconomic conditions and working on clearing inventory because they have faced this problem just like the rest of the PC manufacturers. And she's confident that AMD will definitely end the year in a better position.
When it comes to the China market, Su believes that China was very weak in 2022 and that she and her company are not projecting a significant recovery and support in 2023 from the country.
AMD also noted that demand in the gaming segment within a year was healthy. That's a good sign ahead of the holiday season. The chipmaker says demand for its graphics cards, or GPUs, which power the latest game consoles from Microsoft and Sony, remains strong and it is a good sign. Finally, AMD also plans to cut its spending to cope with the economic slowdown and possible recession to get the best outcome from this situation on the market.


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Milano witnesses 30% increase in sales for H1 2017
New product launches and increased dealership network contributes to growth
MEP product manufacturer Milano has witnessed a 30% increase in sales in the last six months.
The company says this is due to new product launches alongside a growing retailer base.
Milano held its annual dealers meet in July, at the Marriott Marquis Hotel with more than 400 retailers from across the UAE attended the event.
At the event, Milano rendered a preview of the new products launched, which included new variations of electrical fittings, sanitary equipment, hardware products as well as a new range of DIY tiles and water purifiers.
Danube Group managing director Anis Sajan said: “Every year we ensure that we bring our retailers and distributors together so that we can assess how well we are doing and also areas we can improve. The dealers meet has indeed become an anticipated event and a tool for keeping our businesses aligned.”
The evening was followed by an award ceremony, where the dealers’ performance was recognised, and awards were handed out to retailers who achieved respected sales targets.
Milano also announced the winners of its recently concluded dealer incentive scheme Milano wale Switzerland le jayenge (Milano dealers will be flown to Switzerland), where 120 traders who had qualified for the scheme were felicitated.
“With the increase in portfolio, Milano plans to tap different verticals of the hardware market in the years to come and expects a huge percentage increase in its market share,” Sajan added.


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- Tesla CEO Elon Musk is facing a potential tax bill of more than $10 billion on stock options granted in 2012.
- Musk began exercising options on Monday, exercising $2.5 billion in shares and selling $1.1 billion of those options to pay taxes.
- But he continued to sell additional stock, and it is likely that those sales were unrelated to the stock option exercise he would have to complete by August. This means that the stock is likely to be sold in the future.
Elon Musk’s sale of Tesla stock last week came as little surprise to those who are following the story of a potential tax bill of $10 billion to $15 billion on stock options granted in 2012. Yet according to the accountant, most of his sales don’t appear to be tied to taxes—which could mean he’ll be offloading far more stock than he expected.
Options for Musk’s 23 million shares expire in August, which is also a tax bill deadline due in California and the Internal Revenue Service. Musk began exercising the options on November 8. He exercised $2.5 billion in shares and sold $1.1 billion of those options to pay taxes.
“Shares of common stock were sold only to meet the reporting person’s tax withholding obligations relating to the exercise of stock options,” said a footnote to the Securities and Exchange Commission. filing For November 8th.
On November 9, however, their sales took a turn. Instead of selling as part of an options exercise, Musk began selling from his existing shares. Accountants said it would be impractical for Musk to use those existing shares to pay taxes on his options, as they carry a very high tax bill.
Musk’s options are taxed as ordinary income, as they are considered compensation. The combined federal and California rate can be as high as 54%. The strike price on the options is $6.24 per share, and since Tesla’s stock price was over $1,600 per share on Monday, it would pay higher taxes — more than $20 billion on its gains of more than $10 billion.
Typically, executives sell the exercised shares immediately after they are purchased to pay taxes, a practice known as “cashless”. Since the shares are sold immediately, no additional capital gains tax is levied on the shares sold.
Because Musk’s sale from November 9 was a direct stock sale at little or no cost, he would have to pay long-term capital gains tax of up to $1.3 billion. Using those proceeds to pay option tax would equal paying taxes twice — once on capital gains and once on options.
“It wouldn’t make sense from a tax perspective for them to use those proceeds for the option tax,” said Toby Johnston, partner in charge of the Silicon Valley office of the accounting, consulting and wealth management firm Moss Adams.
Musk acknowledged that regular shares are less tax efficient than selling options. “A careful observer will note that my (low basis) share sale rate is significantly higher than my 10B (high basis) option exercise rate, thus closer to tax maximization than minimization,” he tweeted on Sunday.
So why is Musk selling non-option stocks given its relatively high tax cost? Tax experts and Tesla analysts say he will still exercise the options before August, leaving billions on the table along with additional ownership of the company even after paying taxes by expiring them. That means it still has billions of stock to exercise and billions to sell to pay taxes.
$5.7 billion and any additional non-option shares he sells are straight cash-outs. While he does pay federal capital gains taxes on the sales, he probably won’t have to pay state taxes on the gains, as he is now likely to be a Texas tax resident. The same rule does not apply to his option taxes, however, because they are considered employee benefits and were earned while he was in California.
Accountants say the sale is unlikely to be for charity, as they would have simply donated the appreciable shares, rather than selling and paying capital gains tax first. He can use the proceeds for his privately held space company Space X or any other private venture. Or he wanted to take money off the table after being stock-rich and cash-poor for years and borrow the price of his stock to fund his lifestyle. The federal tax is also likely to increase next year, creating an additional incentive if it was already considering a cash-out.
Whatever the reason, Musk will likely end up selling more than the $10 billion needed for taxes to the tune of $15 billion. He did a Twitter poll on 6 November asking his followers if he should sell 10% of his stock and said he would follow the results. In the vote, 58% of those who responded said they should sell 10% of their shares, which could mean more than $20 billion in total sales.
“For people in his level, taxes are not always the primary driver of investment decisions,” Johnson said. “It still seems like there’s a piece missing in the puzzle that we might not have known about.”


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Discover more from Expedite
Uber Eats hits a record, goes social, and maybe also delivers pot?
From the info Uber released, it could be well on its way to 2021 profitability.
On Monday, an Uber filing noted, among other things, that its delivery business set a record, crossing a $52 billion annualized gross bookings run-rate in March. Run rates are great metrics for investor analysis because they show trajectory and potential. But basically: if Uber’s delivery business (that’s Eats but also grocery) continues at its March pace, it’ll reach $1 billion in gross bookings (that’s the total amount of money consumers pay, including food, fees, tax, etc. and is not adjusted for drivers’ earnings or other company expenses).
Former Uber Eats lead Jason Droege shared the stat on Twitter Monday; former Uber chief business officer Emil Michael who left the company in 2017 after a former U.S. Attorney General completed an investigation of complaints of toxic culture at the company, seemed to somehow challenge Droege’s position on the news. It was a strange exchange that made me uncomfortable just reading it. (You’ll maybe remember Michael was the same company exec who suggested digging up dirt on journalists who wrote critical coverage of Uber.)
The same day, Uber’s CEO Dara Khosrowshahi told CNBC the company would consider delivering cannabis once federal regulation allows it. Pot’s been on Uber’s mind for a whole; Bloomberg reported that the company worked (with outside help) to target pot users for Uber Eats advertising campaigns with significant success. (The headline of the piece says “weed customers are everyone’s dream demographic,” so.)
Then, on Tuesday, a few quick product announcements from Uber. And… if you thought there was no possible way that any other apps could insert “stories” functionality into their systems, you’d be wrong. Uber Eats unveiled the new functionality this week for partner restaurants, allowing a business to post stories (that look a whole lot like Instagram stories) to their business pages. “Owner-operators can upload images and add text to tell their customers about special deals, menu changes, new services, or seasonal promotions,” said the company in a blog post.
Uber says that in early testing, 13 percent of users who clicked on a restaurant’s story ended up completing an order in that same session. It’s a way for consumers on Uber Eats to “benefit from… closer, more meaningful relationships with the local restaurants they love.”
Additionally, Uber Eats announced new functionality that lets restaurants connect their Instagram feeds to their Eats profile pages. “We know from research that consumers regularly look to Instagram to validate their order decisions, and we are excited to see how this integration boosts sales for merchants,” Uber wrote in the post. Of course, it’s also a way to keep consumers inside Uber Eats, rather than directing them to other channels that come directly from the restaurant.
Punchh to Par for $500 million
Last week, Par Technologies, parent of point of sale system Brink, acquired loyalty provider Punchh for about $500 million in stock and cash — including a $160 million investment from Panera Bread founder Ron Shaich. According to its new parent, Punchh works with about a third of the top 100 restaurant chains in the country. It should be quickly integrated into Par’s technology — Par president and CEO Savneet Singh said on a call with investors about the deal that he sees no barriers to a fast technical integration, especially since the two companies have partnered for some time.
Singh said that at the end of last year, Brink was in 12,000 stores, and between 30 and 40 percent were already Punchh customers. Interestingly, he said that Punchh was being used by many restaurant brands not using Brink. “I think there’s a strong opportunity for us to use them as a wedge into some of these chains,” he said on the call — classic post-acquisition strategy.
In a statement, Shaich, who also earned a Par board observer seat in the deal, said, “As a founder and long-time CEO of a large restaurant company, I understand first-hand the struggles of trying to power a large enterprise by gluing together disparate technologies from multiple vendors which results in silos of data, increased management costs and barriers to agile innovation.” Later Monday, Restaurant Business reported that Panera had quietly ended its self-delivery program, instead relying on third-party partners.
If you need continued proof that a robust and tech-savvy loyalty strategy is important for growth, here’s half a billion dollars’ worth!
Loyalty programs, specifically personalized loyalty programs, are huge for restaurants. Every company in the space (there are many) has plenty of data to share that backs up how valuable a targeted message can be. It’s something that the biggest chains (think: Starbucks) do especially well thanks to large amounts of money and dedicated teams who spend their days on these efforts. Translating that success to a smaller business is trickier — but Adam Brotman, CEO of Brightloom, thinks he can help.
Brightloom is a tech company that uses AI to personalize a business’s marketing efforts.
Previously Brotman spent nearly a decade in various senior leadership roles at Starbucks, most notably as the coffee giant’s chief digital officer. Brightloom secured backing from Starbucks in 2019 when the company licensed Brightloom parts of its proprietary marketing software in return for what a recent Insider piece called “an undisclosed equity stake.”
In February, Brightloom announced another $15 million round of funding and officially launched out of stealth mode (whew, finally) to, in part, give smaller businesses the kind of technology that huge companies like Starbucks can develop and deploy. “Brightloom saw an opportunity to democratize the most elusive part of the Starbucks digital flywheel: How to leverage data-driven predictive-personalization to drive high-impact marketing programs,” said Brotman. There are plenty of these companies on the market, he says, but all are geared toward larger brands. Brightloom’s Customer Growth Platform (he refers to this as CGP) is built “to tell brands what to do next, so they don’t have to hire teams to build models, guess at rules, run experiments, and then interpret the results.”
I asked a few more questions, but this email is getting long, so you can check those out here:
What else is happening?
Singapore’s Grab is poised to debut on the U.S. stock market via SPAC. The ride-hailing and food delivery company will merge with a special purpose acquisition company from Altimeter Capital Management for a valuation of $39.6 billion. According to Fortune, it’s the “largest-ever deal of its kind.”
DoorDash says fee caps are hurting business (again). This time, in a blog post, DoorDash says that order volume is decreasing in markets that have instituted caps and DoorDash has started charging consumers an additional fee.
That is: when prices go up, order volume goes down. In Philadelphia, the company says, merchants saw an almost 7 percent decrease in order volume in March, translating to nearly $450,000 not going to DoorDash’s couriers. I’ve written plenty about fee caps (New York is the latest city that seems to be considering a permanent cap). As a reminder: DoorDash pegged its fourth quarter revenue loss due to fee caps and California’s Proposition 22 at $36 million. If you’re curious how DoorDash will respond to future attempts to cap commissions in certain markets, just read that blog post again.
DoorDash is considering its own credit card. The Wall Street Journal reported that JPMorgan is bidding for the business, which would create a DoorDash-branded card that would likely spur even more loyalty business for the delivery giant, but also, according to the piece, create more diversified interests for the card-issuing bank after a year that saw travel-related cards become near irrelevant. (I wrote a piece for Eater last spring about how some travel cards are adapting, and, spoiler alert, most of them were adding grocery and food delivery rewards as a way to offer perks to existing customers so they wouldn’t bail.)
OpenTable’s opening a restaurant. Well, kind of. A few weeks ago I mentioned that Kayak would open its own hotel in Miami to use, test, hone its own booking software. I guessed that OpenTable wouldn’t be far behind and, it’s true! Layla, a restaurant within the Kayak hotel operates in partnership with OpenTable and will be a testing ground of sorts for the company’s restaurant software.
Domino’s is testing autonomous delivery service in Texas with Nuro. The cars are kinda cute. Nuro, you’ll recall, just shared that Chipotle participated in its November round of funding. Nuro is also backed, in a big way, of course, by Softbank, which led the company’s $940 million Series B.


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HVAC construction equipment manufacturer Uniweld will be showing its full lineup of HVAC market tools and gauges at the AHR Expo-Mexico later this month.
The HVAC sales trade show will take place Sept. 23-25. Officials with Uniweld say that among the new products are the EZ Turn hose and the NV1 NitroVue nitrogen flow indicator, both of which will make the jobs of HVAC construction contractors easier, officials said.
“Our manufacturing presence in the Americas is of significant value to many of our customers,” said Richard Apodaca, the company’s international sales director. “We are able to control the entire manufacturing process, from the initial design to shipping a finished product, thus allowing Uniweld to be consistent with the quality products and level of service expected by our customers.”


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By Maria-Jose Subiria
Locals will be able to bring their antiques and collectibles to a roadshow, and exchange them for cash next week.
The International Collectors Association will present "The Treasure Hunters Roadshow," from Tuesday, April 27, through April 30, from 9 a.m., to 6 p.m., and May 1, from 9 a.m., to 4 p.m., at the Clarion Hotel Atlanta Airport South, 6288 Old Dixie Road, Jonesboro, said Matthew Enright, spokesperson for "The Treasure Hunters Roadshow."
According to Enright, between six and eight antiques-collectibles experts expect to assist approximately 1,200 participants, by informing them of their item's age, place of origin and worth, at the free event. People will have an opportunity to sell their antiques, if they wish, Enright said.
No appraisals will be conducted, explained Enright. "People can bring in their old stuff and get paid for it on the spot," he said, during a phone interview.
Modern-day treasure hunters are seeking items, such as coins made before 1965, U.S. and foreign bills made before 1934, gold coins, jewelry, platinum, silver, toys made before 1965 and advertising memorabilia, to name a few, said Enright.
Enright said guests should not clean their antiques or collectibles, because it might cause serious damage to the item, or its finishes. Depending on the number of participants in attendance, guests should expect to wait up to 45 minutes, he added.
Enright said people can bring an unlimited amount of items to the road show, and are eligible to get special treatment, if they decide to bring more antiques and collectibles to sell. "When you come to a show and decide you want to bring back more items, you will get an Express Card, which brings you right to the front of the line when you return," he said.
"Some collectors are looking for certain things in coins, some are looking for certain things in toys," he said about the variety of items that treasure hunters seek.
Jesse Price, the show manager for the event, said he has seen a lot of World War II items brought by guests ... such as guns, bayonets, swords and foreign metals.
"Honestly, you never know what is going to walk through the door," he said. According to Price, the roadshow has traveled annually since 1996, and has visited more than 1,000 cities.
He said Jonesboro was chosen as a location because the roadshow wanted to give residents an opportunity to participate in the free event. "It is just a town that doesn't seem to get much attention," said Price. "There is about 10,000 people [in the area] and we want to give everyone an opportunity to come and see what they all have."


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BUSINESSES and organisations across the town will soon have access to super fast wireless and fibre broadband thanks to a groundbreaking move by Eastbourne Borough council.
The cutting-edge technology will cost the council £357,000 and is due to be launched in January 2012.
It will deliver accelerated download speeds from 10 Megabits per second up to 1 Gigabit per second.
The package of measures also includes genuinely free Wi-Fi coverage across the Eastbourne seafront.
At a cabinet meeting recently, the council agreed to take the equity investment in CloudConnX, a company developing the super- fast broadband technology in Eastbourne.
The council says it will benefit from an income stream as the business grows with a future value in excess of the initial investment over the next five years.
Council leader David Tutt said, “Access to high-speed broadband connectivity is a must-have for any business looking to relocate or implement major expansion plans.
“This technology, which is complementary to conventional broadband services, will help us overcome a significant barrier to increased inward investment and growth of our existing commercial sector.
“The council’s corporate plan makes a very clear committment to the support of the economy in Eastbourne, and the provision of super-fast wireless broadband represents a significant contribution to this strategic objective.”
Eastbourne Chamber of Commerce president Christina Ewbank said she was delighted with the deal.
“This is clearly good news for local businesses and a major plus point for any commercial decision-makers looking for a viable business location,” she said.
“With a major airport an hour away, a major port 20 minutes away, great quality of life on the coast and a super-fast broadband offering, Eastbourne will be the perfect choice for new companies considering relocation.”
Martin Lulham, the managing director of CloudConnX, said, “The CloudConnX service will offer rapid delivery of ultra-fast wireless and fibre optic-based broadband circuits throughout Eastbourne under local control and management.
“It will release the Eastbourne economy from the constraints imposed by national agenda and regional priorities.”