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Advertisers are always looking to make a lasting impression — but sometimes audiences claim they go too far.
One controversial ad for Edeka, a German supermarket chain, recently sparked outrage among viewers who thought the plot — an old man faking his death to get his family together for the holidays — was just too morbid.
But the clip was just one of the ads to offend audiences this year.
Here are five other controversial commercials in 2015:
This ad was meant to spread holiday joy by showing a group of white people traveling to a remote village in Mexico to build a Christmas tree and give Coca-Cola to locals.
But indigenous rights groups saw nothing but themes of colonialism, racism and discrimination.
"It is a comment on our type of life and an attempt to put a culture of consumerism in its place," said Elvira Pablo, an indigenous lawyer.
A Coca-Cola spokesperson offered an apology and the company pulled all versions of the ad online after a week.
4. Carl's Jr.
Already known for its racy commercials — this burger joint had people flipping out over model Charlotte McKinney, when she was featured in a Super Bowl ad walking nearly naked on a crowded street.
The fast food chain again prompted an outburst from critics charging the ads were too sexist.
The outrage turned into a social media trend, with users tweeting their frustrations with the hashtag #WomenAreMoreThanMeat.
This web hosting company is known to provoke controversy, but they had to pull this Super Bowl ad after outrage from animal rights activists.
The commercial features a puppy who fell off a truck and, after a harrowing ordeal, manages to find its way back home.
But once reunited with the owner, she says: "I'm so glad you made it home, because I just sold you on this website I just built with GoDaddy."
The CEO of the company later admitted that it was a big mistake and that their intentions were to be funny, but instead "(the ad) clearly missed the mark."
2. Tony the Tiger
The three highly controversial spoof ads presented an unauthorized version of the famous Kellogg's Frosted Flakes mascot, Tony the Tiger, trying to help troubled adults.
The pranksters created the series of disturbing commercials — which featured drug users and prostitutes — and posted them on a phony site, but were later taken down.
1. MTV's White Squad
This controversial ad is for a company that doesn't even exist, the so-called White Squad — a fake company that gives people of color a white representative to overcome issues of racial inequality.


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How time flies! The scheduled break in the BrauBeviale cycle is already over and preparations for the next three-year programme, specifically the first event in Nuremberg on 13 to 15 November 2018, are already in full swing. Visitors will follow a new route along the process chain for beverage production at the world’s most important capital goods fair this year. The event sees itself as the regular meeting place for the industry, and where else if not there do you get to talk about the issues that you care about? The beverage industry is facing huge challenges. As the key platform for the sector BrauBeviale will be providing inspiration on the future viability of the industry during the event’s next three-year cycle.
The last three-year cycle was one of the most successful in the history of BrauBeviale and because it was fully booked in 2016 an extra hall has been added in 2018. And this was a good enough reason for the exhibition team to rethink the hall configuration. “We are delighted about the huge response and that there is moderate growth from within the industry,” says Andrea Kalrait, Exhibition Director BrauBeviale. Even with nine halls, the relaxed atmosphere that is typical of BrauBeviale will be retained and the fair will be as compact as ever. How does this work? “It’s quite simple. We have made it even easier for our visitors to navigate around the exhibition. From now on the exhibitors will be positioned in the order of the beverage production process chain around our exhibition park,” says Kalrait about the new concept. “However, regular visitors should still do a bit of preparation before their visit this year so that they can find the exhibitors that interest them quickly,” Kalrait recommends.
Thinking about tomorrow today: future viability
“In the past year we have seen again and again that the beverage industry is currently facing major challenges. These affect all companies, regardless of their size,” says Andrea Kalrait, summing up the numerous conversations held with industry players during the break year. Digitalisation, automation, changing consumer behaviour, commercialisation versus passion for the product, and scarcity of raw materials are just some of key issues that came up. And underlying is all this is the issue of future viability. But what do we need to put in place now so that we can continue to operate successfully in the market in the next five to ten years? “Of course there is no magic formula,” says Kalrait. “But BrauBeviale is the right platform for addressing and discussing these issues and providing inspiration.” The range of solutions on display and the supporting programme at the international capital goods fair for the beverage industry offer drinks manufacturers a comprehensive and informative range of ideas and approaches to equip them for the future.
Highly satisfied regulars and curious first-time visitors expected
The just under 38,000 trade visitors at BrauBeviale 2016, more than 16,000 of them from outside Germany, came from the technical and commercial management segments of the international beverage industry, i.e. from breweries and malt houses, companies producing and bottling alcohol-free drinks, wine and sparkling wine cellars, distilleries, dairies, specialist beverage retailers and wholesalers, the hotel and restaurant sector and service providers for the beverage sector. Trade visitors from overseas came primarily from Italy, the Czech Republic, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Russia, Belgium, Poland, the UK and France. Almost all (99%) beverage specialists were satisfied with the range of products on display. After a year’s break, Andrea Kalrait is delighted to be able to finally welcome the industry back to Nuremberg again: “91 percent of industry professionals had already determined by the end of their visit in 2016 that they would be attending BrauBeviale again in 2018. We are looking forward to welcoming our regular attendees as well as first-time visitors!”
Dates of the current three-year BrauBeviale cycle:
BrauBeviale 2018: 13 – 15 November 2018
BrauBeviale 2019: 12 – 14 November 2019
BrauBeviale 2020: 10 – 12 November 2020
Beviale Family: International expertise in the beverage industry
NürnbergMesse Group demonstrates its expertise in the beverage industry on an international stage, beginning with BrauBeviale, the international capital goods fair for the beverage industry in Nuremberg. This is where, for over 40 years, the sector has been showcasing all aspects of the production process chain for beverages, such as raw materials, technologies, logistics and marketing. Other members of the product family are operating in important growth markets worldwide: For example, Beviale Moscow is the first and only trade fair for the entire beverage industry in Eastern Europe. CRAFT BEER CHINA in Shanghai is the gathering place for the Chinese craft beer community, while CRAFT BEER ITALY in Milan is the B2B platform for the Italian sector. In Bangalore, CRAFT DRINKS INDIA is designed to meet the needs and interests of the fast-growing drinks market in India. The Beviale Family also supports other projects through collaborations. It is represented in Brazil, for example, through the Feira Brasileira da Cerveja in Blumenau. SIBA’s BeerX, Britain’s largest trade fair about beer and brewing, is also an official partner to the Beviale Family. And ProPak Asia is likewise a part of the global network for the beverage industry. The “international sponsors” of the Beviale Family are Doemens Akademie and the VLB (Versuchs- und Lehranstalt für Brauerei), the Berlin-based teaching and training institute for brewing. Other projects are in the planning phase. For details and dates go to: www.beviale-family.com

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Black Mesa, McPixel, Routine, Kenshi, Heroes & Generals, Cry of Fear, Dream and No More Room In Hell are some of the games that have been officially green-lit from Valve's new Steam Greenlight process. Users have voted, gamers have spoken and Valve has listened. The above games will officially be available on Steam soon enough.
In an official press release sent out officially from an official at Valve details which games have officially been green-lit to make money. The first 10 titles are listed below and they include:
· Black Mesa
· Cry of Fear
· Heroes & Generals
· No More Room in Hell
· Project Zomboid
The Steam Greenlight project launched on August 30th as a way for Valve to gauge which games to bring to the Steam platform to enable users to buy the product or allow for Steamworks integration. Gamers are able to vote for the game(s) that best suit their interest or downvote the game(s) that look like trash.
Anna Sweet of Valve commented in the press release, saying...
"The Steam community rallied around these titles and made them the clear choice for the first set of titles to launch out of Greenlight," ... "Since launch, hundreds of titles have been submitted, with more coming in every day. We expect to be announcing more titles coming to Steam via Greenlight soon."
This is great stuff. I imagine the huge surge of the Pirate Bay and Sos Sosowski really bumped McPixel over the marker. And well, for Routine anyone who took a peek at that game didn't have to think twice about voting it up, it's easily one of the most anticipated atmospheric horror-survival titles coming out and is being hailed as the new successor of the Dead Space style deep-space thriller.
Games like No More Room in Hell and Heroes & Generals have had time to establish communities and it's not surprising to see them make the cut as well. I was really, really hoping Dream would make the cut because it's a beautiful game and seems like a perfect fit for Steam.
Gamers are Greenlighting games rather quickly and keeping a lot of the trash out of the spotlight. It will be interesting to see how this advances in coming months and I'm glad put the power back into the hands of gamers as it bridges a direct connection between developers and the community like never before...well, except for Kickstarter.
You can learn more about the Steam Greenlight by paying a visit to the Official Website.


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WAUKESHA — Sobelman's Pub and Grill in Waukesha is making it so you can help support our furry friends and honor the legacy of Betty White all at the same time.
Sobelman's has teamed up with the Humane Animal Welfare Society (HAWS) of Waukesha County and will donate 50 percent of its sales from the 'Betty White' burger to HAWS. This is a one-day only event, though. It's happening on Jan. 17, which is what would have been the Golden Girl's 100th birthday.
Earlier this week, Sobelman's announced it had created a burger made in honor of Betty White. It features aged white cheddar, bacon, fried onions, two golden onion rings, and honey mustard sauce. It is only available at the Waukesha location.
The actress died on New Years Eve when she was 99.


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For this international competition, the participating studios had to present a PC game for one of Universal’s film brands such as «Back to the Future», «The Great White Shark» or «Battlestar Galactica». Matthias Sala, CEO of wining Swiss studio Gbanga, and his team chose «Voltron: Legendary Defender», an animated series that has been around since 1984, about intergalactic super robots, heroes and villains, and whose latest episodes are currently shown on Netflix.
The result, «Voltron: Cubes of Olkarion», is based on the ZHdK work «Tower Defense» by Robin Bornschein, and challenges the player to build towers to destroy the opponent’s home base, using strategies and tricks to outsmart their rivals.
On October 23rd, the Gbanga team accepted the 150,000 US dollars in prize money during a ceremony in Los Angeles, thanking “the entire Swiss video game industry, which is small, but which shows an incredible team spirit and solidarity”. It is a well-deserved recognition after a few months where the entire Gbanga team worked on the project. There are currently discussions to finish developing the game.


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New Delhi: Singapore Airline Group ‘Scoot’ has launched a low priced inaugural flight from Singapore to Jaipur on Monday.
The passenger can travel four times a week from Singapore to pink city Jaipur from October 30,2016. The reports revealed that the services between Singapore and Jaipur will begin next month. The airlines will operate from Chennai and Amritsar.
According to International Air Transport Association (IATA), India is projected to be the world’s third largest air passenger market by 2031 with a projected total of 367 million passengers by 2034, an increase of266 million annual passengers compared to today.
Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje said, “We are excited to welcome an international airline like Scoot as it opens new avenues for the public in Jaipur to fly to popular destinations. This will go a long way in boosting trade and tourism for the city making it more prominent on the world map”.
Regional Director, South Asia, Middle East & Africa, Singapore Tourism Board Srithar GB said, “For the first half of 2016, visitor arrivals from Tier 2 cities registered a 10% growth compared to the same period in 2015. We are confident that the launch of Scoot’s direct flight between Jaipur and Singapore today, coupled with STB’s tactical efforts including joint marketing partnership with Scoot, will help promote travel to Singapore.”


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Microsoft is one of the most innovative technology companies out there that has recently taken upon themselves, a new project to bring cloud-based gaming services which analyst are reportedly called “Netflix for games” services into play.
We all know how Netflix works and it is basically “entertainment on cloud”, Microsoft is developing something similar but for games and according to recent reports, the Windows-maker is building new hardware as well to support their Netflix for games cloud services.
Sounds about right when we think of it as the future of the gaming industry. Microsoft affirmatively believes in this vision as well and reportedly bets that the future of gaming will involve a subscription-based model where gamers will have to pay monthly in order to avail a cloud full of unlimited games to play, a plethora of desirable and most popular games. Microsoft’s Xbox Game Pass service works on the same principle and the future shall embrace what Microsoft has created over the years.
The company’s cloud gaming services offer access to a complete library of games that are built in-house and even sourced from third-party developers. As the world has adopted the digital culture quite easily, the gaming industry doesn’t want to be left behind. The pandemic has given rise to a new boom in the gaming industry around the world and Microsoft has tried to leverage the opportunity by launching Xbox Cloud Gaming which is the ‘Netflix for games’ service from the Windows-maker.
However, now the company wants to bring the experience to our Television sets, the bigger screens and it further plans to introduce the cloud gaming experience on smart TVs. Microsoft is reportedly partnering with manufacturers and is also reported to building its own hardware, a streaming device that users can simply plug into their smart TVs or PC monitors to stream Microsoft’s cloud gaming library.
As mentioned in a report by CNBC, the Windows-maker did not elaborate on what the devices could look like but as far as analysts envision it, the hardware streaming devices should be something similar to Google’s Chromecast dongles and Amazon’s Fire TV stick. FYI, both of these devices also support cloud gaming services.
The report further suggests that Microsoft is even expanding its cloud gaming to Japan, Australia, Mexico and Brazil in the coming months of 2021 and is also planning to launch a browser-based version of its cloud gaming service to all members for USD 15/ month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscription.


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LONDON — Compagnie Financière Richemont SA took a bigger step into the e-commerce arena Thursday with the purchase of the remaining 67 percent of Net-a-porter.com, the online fashion retailer. The purchase price was not disclosed, but the deal values all of Net-a-porter at 350 million pounds, or $532 million at current exchange.
Richemont, which already held a 33 percent stake in Net-a-porter and preemptive rights to purchase the remaining shares, said Thursday the site would be managed as an independent entity, just like Richemont’s other brands, which include Cartier, Van Cleef & Arpels and Dunhill.
Natalie Massenet, the founder and chairman of Net-a-porter, will remain at the company, and is looking at an estimated 50 million pound, or $76 million, windfall from the sale. A Net-a-porter spokesman declined to confirm that figure.
Johann Rupert, Richemont’s executive chairman and chief executive officer, lauded Massenet for creating a “superb, customer-oriented business in a relatively short period of time,” and promised to provide the company with “the support it requires to realize its business strategies.”
Massenet said in a telephone interview Thursday that day-to-day business at the site would continue as usual. “Nothing is changing. We’re here to stay — and there’s no intention to slow down the momentum,” she added.
Her new title is executive chairman of Net-a-porter Ltd., and she has taken a stake in the new Richemont subsidiary that was created to own the site. Mark Sebba, ceo of Net-a-porter, will remain in his post, and also has taken a stake in the new company.
Rupert was not available for further comment Thursday, and a Richemont spokesman declined to speak further about the deal. However, a source close to Richemont said it purchased Net-a-porter for a variety of reasons.
“It was time to take Net-a-porter to new markets and to the next level,” the source said. “It’s a nice, freestanding business with a capacity to grow. The purchase also gives Richemont a head start in understanding how e-commerce can be applied to luxury goods, but it’s not a turnkey solution. Richemont won’t be copying Net-a-porter, and they won’t be selling watches like the site sells dresses.”
Richemont has only begun to dip its toes into e-commerce via a new Web site for Cartier in the U.S., which launched last month. Luxury jewelers worldwide traditionally have been wary of selling — and engaging with their customers — over the Internet.
Massenet founded Net-a-porter in 2000 with $1 million in start-up money, and has built the site into a cutting-edge, consumer-focused retailer that’s changed the way brands market and sell their goods. The site pioneered the online trunk show, launched an iPhone app and regularly offers flash capsule collections from designers that can be delivered within hours.
Sebba said unaudited sales to Jan. 31 reached 120 million pounds, or $182 million. Last June, the company reported profits had more than tripled to 10.1 million pounds, or $18.3 million, in the year to Jan. 31, 2009. Sales that year rose nearly 48 percent to 81.5 million pounds, or $147.6 million. The dollar figures have been calculated at average exchange rates for the period.
Net-a-porter sells in 170 countries, and already has distribution centers in London and the U.S. Massenet and Sebba said the brand is growing rapidly in other regions of the world beyond Europe and North America. Over the next 12 months, Net-a-porter will leverage Richemont’s commercial networks in Asia with an eye to opening a distribution center there.
“We’re still in the early stages,” Sebba said. “Asia is a significant and growing market for us — it represents about 10 percent of sales — and is a very important market already for Richemont.”
In the third quarter, Asia-Pacific was the top-performing region for Richemont, with sales growth of 25 percent, thanks mostly to Mainland China and Hong Kong. The region generated 31 percent of overall sales in the three months.
Net-a-porter also plans to upgrade and expand its southeast London warehouse, installing state-of-the-art automated storage and retrieval systems, and to expand the U.S. distribution center.
Asked whether she expected Richemont to use the site to sell its own brands, Massenet said: “No discussions have taken place. We’re not talking about that, but we won’t rule out anything in the luxury space.”
Net-a-porter already carries the Richemont-owned brands Azzedine Alaïa and Chloé — and some 300 other labels, including those owned by Richemont competitors Gucci Group and LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
Massenet said she and her team regularly have given advice to “all brands” that want to explore e-commerce. “We’re there to give advice to anyone,” she said.
So far, Richemont has been a hands-off shareholder, stepping in to give advice and support about legal and intellectual property issues and to advise on general business parameters.
Luca Solca, senior research analyst at Bernstein Research in London, said that on one level, Richemont’s move was savvy. “Brands are no longer able to prevent the distribution of their goods online, and a company like Richemont risks seeing Harrods and Harvey Nichols taking the lead in Internet distribution,” he said. “The move is a quick way for Richemont to establish its own functional platform.”
However, Solca said he remained skeptical about the future of the Net-a-porter/Richemont tie-up. “The current Net-a-porter format will be difficult to pursue because other brands may resent, and be concerned, that one of their competitors owns their distribution. We’ll see over the next year whether Net remains the same or becomes more focused on certain brands,” he said.
Net-a-porter currently carries all the Gucci Group brands, save for Gucci and Boucheron, as well as the LVMH-owned Givenchy, Fendi, Marc Jacobs and Marc by Marc. “We have always had a very fruitful partnership with Net-a-porter and we do not envisage this changing in the future,” said Robert Polet, president and ceo of Gucci Group.
Fabrizio Malverdi, Givenchy’s ceo, said, “Givenchy is not selling [ready-to-wear] and bags through e-commerce pure players for the moment. We are in the stage of strong development of personalized corners with department stores in Europe and the U.S. as well as franchising. We feel like protecting these relationships with our partners for now.”
Other analysts, however, were more sanguine about the deal. “It’s a good investment for Richemont — sales are growing at Net-a-porter — and it’s not a costly way for them to get into e-commerce,” said Antoine Belge, analyst at HSBC in Paris. “And Natalie needed some more financial resources to grow the business.”
Net-a-porter is one of the great success stories of its generation. The site launched two years after Boo.com, the much-hyped fashion site that was going to create a new way for consumers to shop and interact. But Boo went bust when the dot-com bubble burst, and when Massenet conceived the idea for a site selling expensive designer apparel, many brands were questioning whether the Internet would ever be for real.
“Nobody wanted to invest in e-commerce. They all wanted to invest six months before,” she told the WWD CEO Summit in November 2008.
Unlike Boo, which launched in 1998 and went into liquidation two years later, Net-a-porter started quietly and slowly — with a focus on the customer. It grew along with its brands, providing a platform for Burberry Prorsum to sell in far-flung markets such as Australia. The site took items on consignment from brands including Jimmy Choo, which launched around the same time, and every time someone did a search for Choo, they’d end up on Net-a-porter, as Choo wasn’t yet widely available online.
Today, Net-a-porter and its sister discount site, TheOutnet.com, draw 3.3 million unique visitors a month, and the company has 600 employees in London and New York. “And we’re actively recruiting and hiring,” Massenet said.
As for the future, Massenet said she wants to focus on delivering “unrivaled access and service to her customers. There is so much opportunity for growth — we have only just begun.”
EXCLUSIVE: @tomford is opening its first-ever beauty store. The boutique, which opens November 20 in London’s Covent Gardens, was designed with the over-the-top glam Ford is known for. Read the full story on WWD.com, link in bio. #wwdbeauty #wwdnews (📷: Simon Wagner) #TomFordBeauty
New York-based DJ @harleyvnewton threw a party to celebrate the holiday collection of her dress and pajama line @hvn at the Ladurée Beverly Hills. It Girls @katebosworth, @rashidajones and more joined in on the fun, which included cocktails, croque monsieur sandwiches and a photo booth. #wwdfashion (📷: Owen Kolasinski/BFA.com)
For the holidays, @Burberry partnered with 20-year-old artist @blondeymccoy on a series of three outdoor murals in downtown Manhattan. The murals are McCoy’s interpretation of a Christmas eve party, the idea of charity and the spirit of family. His third mural, pictured here, is the most personal. The image depicts McCoy’s grandparents and father in London’s Trafalgar Square in the Seventies. “My work often features lots of sentimental objects.” #wwdeye
For spring 2018, designers applied bold colors and cartoonish motifs on everything from sneakers and belts to key chains. See all the top men’s accessories trends on WWD.com. #wwdtrends (📷: George Chinsee; Prop Styling by @rnasti; Market Editor: @luiscampuzano)
The @dior-sponsored @guggenheim international gala pre-party has a history of drawing cool-girl musical acts to serenade the crowd –– and last night was no exception. @haimtheband performed songs both new and old, and lured a star-studded audience with the likes of Rebecca Hall, Kate Mara, Mamoudou Athie and more. #wwdeye (📷: @lexieblacklock)
In a partnership between the @metopera and the @englishnationalopera, “Marnie” was born. The opera, with costumes sponsored by @mrporterlive, is an adaptation of the 1961 thriller by Winston Graham. Arianne Phillips, who created the costumes, is no rookie: She’s styled Madonna for her tours and created costumes for a myriad of films in the past. Read WWD’s interview with Phillips, where she talks about her inspiration for the opera’s costumes on WWD.com #wwdfashion
@barneysnyc took a different approach to their holiday windows this year. Instead of Christmas decor, Barneys tapped @thehaasbrothers to tell a story of positivity, gratitude and inclusivity via heartwarming silliness and humor. “It’s about kids and it’s about coming together and being family and loving each other,” said Simon Haas. #wwdfashion (📷: @joshuascottphoto)
Beauty influencer @kandeejohnson makes her foray into hair care with a collaboration with @ogx_beauty — making it the first time that OGX has teamed up for a product creation. The collab includes shampoos and conditioners in three scents. At 39 and a mom, Johnson is a different profile than the emerging social media stars, but is considered one of the pioneers of the digital beauty influencer world. Read WWD’s interview with her on wwd.com, including the strangest beauty product she’s ever tried #wwdbeauty


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Posted on March 26, 2016
Leavins Inventory Manager is now free to use!
That's right! Leavins Inventory Manager, a painless invoicing, customer, & inventory management system is now free to use for everyone. And it's absolutely ad-free and DRM-free!
To download Leavins Inventory Manager for your Windows PC, just click here:
Today also marks the release of a new version LIM. This is the first new version in 2 years, and I sincerely hope that you enjoy using it.


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CATCH OUR FRESHEST TOY & REVIEW NEWS 1ST ON TWITTER Follow @FLYGUY
January 03, 2013 | By FLYGUY
Hothbricks bringing it again from ToysRus in Hong Kong where this showed up as part of a promotion.
As mentioned by our sister site flyguy.net yesterday several new Super Hero Poly bag sets are being revealed. Same Iron Man as previous release so may not be so essential for many...
Related TekSushi Posts


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Amazon.com has an offer for authors at the book publisher Hachette, which is embroiled in a fight with the Internet retailer over e-book prices: Amazon will restore the authors' books to its Web site and give writers all of the revenue from digital sales of their books.
Hachette confirmed in a statement that Amazon has sent it a brief proposal to this effect, but says the best solution would be to resolve the dispute as quickly as possible. The publisher and Amazon have been fighting over the pricing of e-books and what share each of the firms will get from digital sales. The publisher alleges that the Web retailer is purposefully not delivering Hachette books promptly, even though the titles are in stock and available.
"We invite Amazon to withdraw the sanctions they have unilaterally imposed, and we will continue to negotiate in good faith and with the hope of a swift conclusion," the publisher said.
But Amazon, whose chief executive Jeffrey P. Bezos owns The Washington Post, has made clear that it's ready to play hardball. In a statement Tuesday, the firm referred to earlier comments from the publisher that accepting Amazon's offer would be suicidal. Amazon countered that Hachette would be more than able to afford the sort of deal the retailer proposes.
"We call baloney," the Amazon statement said. "Hachette is part of a $10 billion global conglomerate. It wouldn't be 'suicide.' They can afford it. What they're really making clear is that they absolutely want their authors caught in the middle of this negotiation because they believe it increases their leverage."
According to Hachette's Web site, the publisher makes approximately 33 percent of its sales from e-books; the New York Times reported that around 60 percent of that business comes through Amazon. A New Yorker report in February estimated that 7 percent of Amazon's revenues come from books.
Authors should not have their books held hostage as a bargaining chip, said Robert Gottlieb, chairman of Trident Media Group, a literary agency.
"I feel from an author's standpoint that what matters to them is that their books are available," said Gottlieb. And retailers, he said, have the right to conduct business as they see fit.
Meanwhile, authors are still weighing the pros and cons of accepting such a deal. Some authors feel that Amazon's proposal is unfair and asks writers to burn bridges with their publishing company.
"They're asking us authors to load Amazon's guns for them," said Doug Preston, a best-selling author who had penned a letter asking Amazon to resolve its dispute with Hachette. That letter, which he circulated to other writers, has thus far gathered at least 400 signatures from notable authors such as Stephen King, James Patterson and Robert A. Caro. David Maraniss, an associate editor at The Washington Post, has also signed the letter.
Preston, who spoke with Amazon senior vice president of Kindle content Russ Grandinetti over the weekend, said that he wouldn't feel right taking Amazon's proposed deal -- even though he estimates doing so would make him millions of dollars.
"That would be like blood money," he said. "I would never turn around and do something like that to them."
Best-selling Hachette author Scott Turow called Amazon's offer "little more than a publicity stunt."
Turow, a lawyer and former president of the Authors’ Guild, said accepting the offer "would be very shortsighted on the part of authors. If they succeeded by this tactic in making Hachette cave, one of the losers would end up being the authors. Amazon is not offering 100 percent in perpetuity.”
Turow said that “to some extent the publishers have brought this on themselves by not sharing appropriately with authors. There are much fatter profits on ebooks than on physical ones and that has drawn Amazon like bees to the honey.” But he added that “giving more to Amazon is not the solution.”
He said only best-selling authors have the bargaining power to get better royalties from publishers. “If Amazon really wanted to split authors from the publishers, it would wrap its arms around us and demand higher royalties for authors while not increasing its share of revenues,” Turow said.
Update, July 9: In response to Preston’s comments, Amazon said in a statement, “Easy for him to say. He's rich and already successful. He can opt out of the offer for himself if he wants, but he shouldn't stand in the way of debut and midlist authors benefiting from the offer."
Staff writer Steven Mufson contributed to this report.


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Bogus mail and email insurance scam impersonating CTSI continues to target the public
A bogus mail and email insurance scam impersonating the Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI) continues to target the public after almost two years in circulation.
CTSI warns consumers to be vigilant and to report it if they are targeted.
The letter in question, which uses CTSI branding, informs the recipient that Trading Standards has caught insurance scammers and that they should fill in a "creditors debt form," which is is supposedly a compensation scheme but in actual fact serves as a means for fraudsters to gain access to personal details which puts respondents at risk of financial loss.
CEO at CTSI, John Herriman, said: “I am appalled to see scammers impersonating Trading Standards and CTSI to defraud consumers out of their hard-earned cash. We often see fraudsters impersonating trusted brands to deceive the public but impersonating the very essence of those that protect consumers by pretending to be Trading Standards is disgusting and shows that these criminals have no limitations to how far they are willing to go to defraud people of their savings.“
This scam, which initially was reported in England only, has now spread throughout the United Kingdom, with the email and letter recently materialising in Scotland.
CTSI has informed trading standards services across the country of these emails and letters, and there is an open investigation with consumer protection professionals working hard to protect the public from these scams.
Anyone who receives this letter should contact the Financial Conduct Authority
For consumer advice, please call the Citizens Advice Consumer Helpline on 0808 223 1133
In addition, to report scams, contact Action Fraud, in Scotland, or contact Advice Direct Scotland on 0808 800 9060, or if in Northern Ireland, call Consumerline on 0300 123 6262.
The public is encouraged to join Friends Against Scams. This is an initiative to protect and prevent people from becoming scam victims by empowering them to take a stand against scams.
Chartered Trading Standards Institute (CTSI)
CTSI is a training and membership organisation that has represented the interests of the Trading Standards profession since 1881 nationally and internationally. We aim to raise the profile of the profession while working towards fairer, better informed and safer consumer and business communities. CTSI's members are engaged in delivering frontline trading standards services in local authorities and in businesses. www.tradingstandards.uk
Please contact CTSI Press Office: email@example.com for any queries.


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Anne is a freelance science and technology writer and editor residing in London, UK. Mountain enthusiast and early riser.
Student engineers use 3D printing to improve vehicle design -- with an emphasis on efficient fuel consumption -- for the Shell EcoMarathon.
Siemens is planning to build a new $37 million 3D printing factory in the United Kingdom. Located in the town of Worcester, the facility will have a total of 50 industrial 3D printers installed over the next 5 years.
Researchers from RMIT University have developed a groundbreaking technique for 3D printed titanium implants, coating them with synthetic diamonds to improve biocompatibility with the human body.
Stanley Black & Decker is using the Markforged Metal X 3D printer to produce functional parts. Since adopting the metal 3D printing system into its production workflow, the industrial tool manufacturer is saving between 34 percent to 48 percent on manufacturing costs.
Researchers from Michigan State University have developed 3D printed smartphone device that is able to monitor the user's blood pressure. The device uses a sensor that calculates blood pressure at the touch of a fingertip.
Researchers from the University of Michigan have developed a new 3D jet writer that allows them to print high-resolution polymer as microtissues. These tiny tissue structures are able to facilitate cancer cell growth, allowing for improved drug development and testing.
Researchers from Harvard University have developed a 3D printing platform for creating soft robotic systems embedded with sensors. The team uses a technique developed in the lab of Jennifer Lewis to 3D print organic ionic liquid-based conductive ink within soft elastomer matrices.
re:3D's Gigaprize for 2017 of a large format 3D printer has gone to Magic Wheelchair, an organization empowering handicapped children to follow in their heroes' footsteps with incredible costumes that integrate wheelchairs.
On the hunt for the perfect bicycle for his child, Austrian designer Christian Bezdeka decided to start woom Bikes. The company is using 3D printing to create lightweight and comfortable bicycles for children aged 1.5 years and older.
ColorFabb, the Dutch 3D printing filament maker, today launched a new filament. Based on its bestseller, the co-polyester nGen, the new nGen_LUX has been made using Eastman Amphora AM3300 3D polymer and some added "fairy dust".
The German automotive parts supplier will be implementing Ultimaker 3 3D printers across its locations worldwide to streamline production. Manufacturing companies are turning increasingly to additive manufacturing to boost their parts production.
Australian metal 3D printing company Aurora Labs has made some visible progress toward the development of a new rapid metal 3D printing technology. Dubbed Medium and Large Format Printer, the process could significantly speed up the 3D printing of large metal parts.
This is an open source design for a smartphone camera microscope which can be customized, downloaded and 3D printed.
LiDAR scanning technology offers tremendous potential to help archaeologists discover lost cities across the world.
Rosalie Yu recreates her sweet treats in hyper-realistic detail with a grand project called a Ritual of Habits. She's creating a virtual reality experience -- and a 3D printed facsimile -- of 256 desserts (and counting).


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Rastah, first Pakistani clothing brand to reach its ways towards London fashion show. It is a homegrown street wear brand known for classic south Asian culture in its fashion trends. The brand got a slot for spring season 23 collection. It will cover evening event for presenting Menswear and Womenswear on February 17.
The coolest brand is covering all the hurdles and making its way on international platforms. The brand is not only designing unique fashion sense but also presenting funky street wear of Pakistan and reshaping local fashion into a new and unique way.
It is the first Pakistani brand to appear in London Fashion week, a global level fashion show to revolutionize modern fashion sense. The vision of ‘Rastah’ is to ensure quality and credibility with its customers. The brand manager deals with customers in most interacting ways.
Read more | Mahira Khan’s first brand ‘Razia’ launched
Announcing the news on social media, the brand manager of Rastah tweeted that, “London we are coming for you with an amazing pop up experience in heart of SoHo during London Fashion week”.
Volume IX of Rastah will be showcased in fashion show featuring different colors and patterns with unique style. The collection will be open for public from 21st of February.
The social media handles of brand posted different pictures of brand with cute captions. Volume IX is a deeply personal story inspired by conflicts, desire and human conditions. It explores what it means in largely material world. Posted brand manager of Rastah. The collection consist of oversized jackets, pants, trousers and embrioded pairings of clothes.
Previous appreances of Brand
The brand was also previously utilized in Disney’s Ms Marvel series. Award winner Riz Ahmad opened the ways for brand to London Fashion week. The famous Bollywood stars Karan Johar and Anil Kapoor also spotted wearing Rastah in some events.
This brand was officially founded by three cousins Zain, Adnan and Ismail who are based in Lahore and grew up in London. The owners’ discussion with media showed that they are truly inspired by local street culture of Lahore and want to present it for world.
London Fashion week displays more than 250 designer brands from all around the world twice a year in February and September.


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Amazon surprised the market Thursday with a quarterly profit far better than anticipated for the online giant known for investing for the long term. Amazon posted earnings of $214 million in the fourth quarter as sales jumped 15 percent to $29.3 billion, swinging to profit after two consecutive losing quarters. Shares in Amazon shot up 7.8 percent to $336.20 in after-hours trading following the release. For the full year 2014, Amazon posted a net loss of $241 million on sales of $89 billion.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Key U.S. senators said they want more oversight of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, the federal government's development finance agency that was the subject of an Associated Press investigation earlier this week into a failed $217 million energy project in western Africa marked by insider connections and questionable due diligence.


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Patrick Byrne Has a Sense of Humor
Byrne finds that humor is the best therapy
Overstock.com CEO Patrick Byrne, the full-time Wikipedia editor who mismanages his train wreck of a company in his off hours, proved in a press release last night that he has a sense of humor.
Commenting on the countersuit filed against him and his SEC-investigated company by Gradient Analytics, Byrne said, "This lawsuit is an attempt by Gradient to distract attention from their failing business model."
Zac Bissonneette comments on AOL's Bloggingstocks:
The CEO of a company that has a track record of missing its own projections -- and has lost over $240 million to date selling chatchkas over the internet -- has filed a lawsuit against a research firm that correctly forecast the company's problems and is accusing that firm of trying to "distract attention from their failing business model."It is certainly hypocrisy, as Zac points out, but personally I think that Byrne is just trying to be funny.
That's like Donald Trump telling someone they need a new haircut.
Byrne also is showing his sense of humor by (according to chitchat on some message boards) taking his nauseating house stalker Judd Bagley off the corporate payroll, presumably under legal or SEC pressure (or board insistence--see comments). I'd say it's a bit late to shift to a more discreet method of financing his campaign of menace against critics. The rat, as they say, is out of the bag.
UPDATE: Byrne's sense of humor in overdrive. The meltdown continues. Better lock your front gate. You have to figure, when this guy runs out of despicable, attention-getting stunts, drowning puppies is next.
© 2008 Gary Weiss. All rights reserved.


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Samsung just released its Galaxy Note 3 but Samsung Galaxy Note 4 started making headlines already. While some think it is too early to look into the Note 4, there are several leaks worth checking. According to new reports, the new device will feature ISOCELL technology, AMOLED Display and will launch around September 2014. Is it worth waiting for?
While Samsung may announce the device during the Mobile World Congress 2014, it is still likely the device will launch around September. There are more reports confirming the first quarter release of the Samsung Galaxy S5 than the Galaxy Note 4. Considering production delays, consumers should allot a few weeks after September for the final release according to analysts.
One of the most interesting features about the Note 4 is the camera. A Samsung executive revealed recently at a conference in Seoul that they plan on including a 16MP ISOCELL camera. According to previous reports, Samsung claimed that their ISOCELL technology will be groundbreaking. The technology will render image quality not seen before.
ISOCELL uses individual pixel isolation to provide great quality images. With the technology, Samsung can improve the camera's light sensitivity on BSI sensors. The camera can shoot high quality photos even in low light conditions. The images feature more natural colors. The 16MP ISOCELL sensors will come with 1.12 micron pixels. This is lightly lower compared to Apple's iPhone 5s.
The market has seen its fair share of devices with top notch cameras. These include the Nokia Lumia 1020 with 41MP pureView camera plus optical image stabilization and Sony Xperia Z1 with its 20.7MP camera. Samsung claimed that the Galaxy Note 4 and other devices featuring their 16MP ISOCELL camera will join this lineup.
Samsung has been reportedly working on a 64-bit processor. When Apple released their A7 chipset, there has been pressure among tech manufacturers to produce something well performing. Analysts say that once Samsung finishes its 64-bit processor, it will power their next generation smartphones and tablets. Since Samsung Galaxy Note 4 will be released later in 2014, it can sport the new chip possibly.
Samsung has also claimed that all devices for 2014 release will feature AMOLED displays offering 2560 x 1440 resolution. People will have to wait for further announcements from Samsung for final details.
To contact the editor, e-mail:


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u-blox extends Digi-Key disty deal to worldwide
Stephen LawElectronics Wireless Supply Chain communication communication disty wireless
Distributor’s success in the Americas region leads to worldwide engagement
Swiss-based u-blox, a global provider of leading positioning and wireless communication technologies for the automotive, industrial and consumer markets , has announced that it is extending its distribution agreement with Digi-Key a global distributor of electronic components, from covering just the Americas region to a global arrangement.
u-blox will now appear on all Digi-Key websites worldwide, including 80 country websites that together trade in 28 different currencies.
“u-blox has always been a global provider and this partnership with Digi-Key aligns with that strategy,” says Suresh Ram, president, u-blox Americas. “u-blox and Digi-Key together will be better able to support customer designs worldwide and provide fast access to development tools, evaluation boards, modules and silicon, making our customers’ lives easier and our business relationships more effective.”
“We’re excited to take this next step with u-blox after seeing the success of their products with our customers in the Americas,” said David Stein, Vice President of Global Supplier Management at Digi-Key. “This expansion brings a powerful and innovative cellular, short range


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iOS 5.1 Release Date Rumoured for March 9th?
iOS 5.1 beta has been available to developers since the end of last November, and currently sits at beta 3, released last month. When will the final GM release come out? According to YourDailyMac (via BGR), evidence within carrier profiles leads them to believe it will be Friday, March 9th:
We today discovered that Apple published eleven new profiles for various iPhone-operators. These files are compatible with iOS 5.1 and are set for release on March 9. This could indicate that iOS 5.1 will be released around that date, is will be available for the following devices; iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4, iPhone 4S, iPod Touch 3G/4G, iPad, and iPad 2.
The profiles that have been found by us are intended for operators in Japan, France, Greece, Finland, and Sweden.
iOS 5.0.1 was released on Thursday, November 10th and iOS 5.0 was released on Wednesday, October 12th of last year. Take this rumour for what it is, as we would expect at least one more beta and GM to arrive before the final release. If the March release is correct, maybe it’s to coincide with the debut of the iPad 3?


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Recently we reported that the auto bailout cost had increased to $25 billion, mostly due to General Motors‘ plummeting stock price. Things could, however, get worse for GM before they get any better – if they get any better.
That at least is the opinion of Louis Woodhill, a contributor to Forbes magazine, who has penned a controversial proclamation that America’s largest automaker is headed for bankruptcy once again. Here’s Woodhill’s reasoning:
In the past couple of years since GM went public 0n November 17th, 2010, the American automaker has failed to recapture a significant amount of market share, and some of it newest models have been a little underwhelming to say the least – the Chevy Malibu in particular. Thanks to the bailout, the federal government owns half a billion shares of GM, or about 26-percent of the automaker. While GM’s stock went public at $33 a share, it’s currently hovering around $20 a share, meaning it has dropped in value by a significant 39%.
As a result, in order to break even on the bailout, shares would have to reach $53 each for the government to sell.
Making matters worse is the fact that GM’s stock has underperformed relative to the market. During the period since GM went public in November of 2010, the DOW Industrial Average has risen 20 percent, meaning the current shares have actually lost 49% of their value relative to the DOW.
Woodhill puts the blame on poor products and poor leadership. Initially seen as a flop, the Chevrolet Volt has seen rising sales this year, though it’s hardly enough to keep GM appealing to the masses. The bigger issue is the new Chevy Malibu, the Malibu Eco in particular, which is regarded as uncompetitive with industry leaders.
And then there’s the spate of changes in senior management, most notably the recent departure of Global Marketing Head, Joel Ewanick. According to Woodhill and his crystal ball, CEO Dan Akerson just rearranging the chairs on the deck of the Titanic.


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Rumours of the disc-less Xbox One persist.
A disc-less Xbox One called the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition is rumoured for a May release, Windows Central has today reported.
The site states that the All-Digital console will be available for pre-order in mid-April for release worldwide in early May. While pricing wasn’t detailed in the report, the initial report of a disc-less drive by Thurrott suggested the console will be approximately $100 USD cheaper without a Blu-ray disc drive.
Microsoft seems to be keen on offering consumers a disc-less Xbox; further next-generation Xbox rumours suggest the company will come out of the starting blocks with two flavours of Xbox, with one an entry-level option and one similar to the Xbox One X. It could very well be the cheaper of the two come without a disc drive.
We’ll keep you informed as we learn more. Microsoft is rumoured to announce its next-gen Xbox at this year’s E3.


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The Indian unit of McDonald's said on Monday it ended a pact with Connaught Plaza Restaurants Pvt, a joint venture that operates 169 outlets in the northern and eastern regions of the world's second-most populous nation. McDonald's said its partner violated "certain essential obligations" of the agreement, including the payment of royalties.
The local partner "has failed to remedy the breaches, despite being provided with an opportunity to do so in accordance with the agreements," McDonald's said. "We understand that this action brings uncertainty for many."
In a separate statement, Connaught Plaza said it's considering "appropriate legal remedies" in response.
The development creates a challenge for McDonald's, disrupting operations in one of the world's biggest emerging markets. The company will need to rebuild its brand across half the country as it searches for another partner.
McDonald's and Connaught Plaza have been at odds for the past few years and some of the joint venture's restaurants were recently forced to suspend operations. An Indian court in July reinstated local partner Vikram Bakshi as Connaught's managing director after its board had removed him earlier.
With fewer than 500 eateries, India is a relatively small market for the world's largest restaurant chain, which had almost 37,000 locations in 120 countries at the end of last year. Of those, more than 31,000 are franchised.
The company has mounted a comeback from a prolonged sales slump under Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook, who took over in March 2015. Same-store sales rose 6.6 percent globally for the chain in the most recent quarter.
Shares of McDonald's rose 0.38 percent to $158.36 in New York trade on Monday.
Get Breaking news, live coverage, and Latest News from India and around the world on NDTV.com. Catch all the Live TV action on NDTV 24x7 and NDTV India. Like us on Facebook or follow us on Twitter and Instagram for latest news and live news updates.


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Turkish University Sets up Blockchain Hub at Boston’s Northeastern University
According to news Daily Sabah, Turkish Bahçeşehir University (BAU) has introduced a blockchain hub at Boston’s Northeastern University (NEU), a major university on new-generation networks. This has arrived a year after setting up Turkey’s first university-based blockchain center, BlockchainIST.
Bahçeşehir University (BAU) has now inaugurated a blockchain hub at the Boston’s Northeastern University. Besides informational assistance, the BAU–NEU Blockchain Laboratory aims to apply for funding in the United States, the European Union and Turkey, thereby improving Turkey’s participation in the blockchain industry and attracting experts in the sector.
Commenting on the collaboration, BAU Board Chair Enver Yücel said he also wanted to begin blockchain-related master and phd education programs in collaboration with the Turkish Exporter’s Assembly.
Pointing out that they spent eight months on the freshly launched facility overtime, Bora Erdamar, director of BAU’s BlockchainIST Center, said blockchain innovation would fit in the notion of confidence, which is widely perceived to spark disagreements.
“[Blockchain] will directly change all sectors from logistics to trade, from education to health, from energy to agriculture where we need to keep our products and people’s information in a safe environment.”
Blockchain technology picked up steam in educational arena Recently, two South Korean colleges, Yonsei University and Pohang University of Science and Technology, partnered to create a whole Blockchain Campus with their own cryptocurrency. Within the endeavor, a student-centered venture intends to boost every day cryptocurrency use.
In February, the Indian Management Institute (IIM) Calcutta and coaching platform TalentSpirit started collectively providing a sophisticated fintech and blockchain technology program. The program is supposedly targeting management and finance experts who wish to teach respondents on progress in financial technology and its prospective impact on banking and financial ecosystems.


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DPR Group, Inc., a full-service public relations and marketing agency in Frederick serving high-tech companies, is overseeing the public relations and marketing strategies for Greasezilla on behalf of West Virginia-based Downey Ridge Environmental Company. Greasezilla is an environmentally friendly system for separating fats, oils & grease from commercial restaurants & regulated industries
Sage Growth Partners, a Baltimore-based healthcare research, strategy, and marketing firm, has been chosen by InsightRX for ongoing strategic marketing communications. SGP will help the precision dosing company develop its reputation as a leader in individualized drug dosing and increase demand for its cloud-based precision dosing platform. Used by more than 100 healthcare institutions and life sciences companies throughout the U.S. and Europe, InsightRX helps hospitals and health systems transition from one-size-fits-all drug dosing to individualized dosing at the point of care. SGP clients include Philips Healthcare, Quest Diagnostics, Inspirata, Livongo, Ingenious Med, and North Jersey Brain and Spine.
Marketing Automation Platform provider DemandBridge, LLC is “delighted” to announce its new office location in Hunt Valley, seen in photo, which will serve as the company’s headquarters. Other office locations include Dallas; Norcross, Ga.; and Reno. “We are delighted to announce the opening of our new Hunt Valley office,” said David Rich, chairman and CEO. “The expansion of this office is a logical next step in our evolution and growth as an independent software provider. This move increases our ability to attract and retain the necessary talent to properly serve our current and future markets.”
Warschawski has promoted Hanly Heubeck to vice president. She will oversee day-to-day client relations and lead the team in creating integrated marketing campaigns, as well as manage Warschawski’s competitive internship program. Since joining Warschawski in 2018, Hanly has successfully led communications and digital marketing campaigns for many of the agency’s clients, including Plank Industries, Cristal, Bright MLS, Alex Cooper, Sagamore Spirit, and The Edward A. Myerberg Center, among others.
Sinclair Broadcast Group, Inc. announced that Steven Zenker has joined as vice president, investor relations. The announcement was made by Lucy Rutishauser, SVP and Chief Financial Officer of Sinclair. Zenker has over 30 years of investor relations, financial planning & analysis, communications, and investment management experience. Before joining Sinclair, Zenker was VP of Investor Relations, FP&A and Corporate Communications for Central Garden & Pet Company for nine years. From 2007 to 2011, he was SVP & Portfolio Manager for Bank of America Private Wealth Management.
MGH is excited to announce that it has been selected by Hanover, Md.-based DTLR to provide public relations support for the growing retailer, which boasts more than 245 stores in 19 states and Washington, D.C. The agency, “which has vast local market public relations experience,” according to a release, will work with DTLR to promote the brand and many of its community-based outreach programs in select markets, including Atlanta, Chicago and Detroit. DTLR promotes many charitable endeavors throughout the year, including a back-to-school haircut program, local holiday toy drives and an annual fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
“We’re excited to add DTLR to the MGH family to help promote the amazing ways they give back to the communities where their stores reside,” said Andy Malis, chief executive officer of MGH. “Rarely can you find a company that is so dedicated to giving back to the community, so we are thrilled to once again work with them to generate awareness for their local initiatives.”


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Right out of the box, you can tell that DJI's Phantom 4 is a complete reimagining of the entry-level lineup. From the sleek chassis to advanced automated controls, DJI has set a new standard, leaving competitors and its own legacy models in the dust.
With WWDC wrapped up for another year, attention turned back to future product rumors -- and for once, the iPhone 7 didn't dominate the discussion.
Yesterday's referendum on the United Kingdom exiting the European Union was widely expected to fail, but instead surprised markets globally by narrowly passing. The Euro and British Pound both subsequently dropped significantly, and markets worldwide recoiled in shock. Here's a look at how will this affect Apple going forward.
Apple on Friday was slapped with yet another patent lawsuit leveled by a non-practicing entity, this time a renewed complaint dealing with VoIP technologies targeting FaceTime video and audio software.
As part of efforts to generate clean energy at its Campus 2 headquarters, Apple is investing in an array of environmentally friendly fuel cells installed by Bloom Energy, the same manufacturer that supplied units for the company's Maiden, N.C., data center.
Customers looking to purchase apps, music or e-books through found themselves out of luck on Friday as a handful of Apple's internet services were hit by an hours-long outage, the third such downtime to hit Apple's services this month.
The new data collection method set to roll out in iOS 10 will require users to opt in, and will be limited to four specific system functions, according to Apple.
The number of default Apple Watch apps will grow with the upcoming release of watchOS 3, gaining Reminders, Home, Find My Friends, as well as a separate heart rate app, and also adding watch face complications for each.
Despite killing the Thunderbolt Display without a replacement this week, Apple is still working on a successor -- one that will reportedly have its own separate integrated graphics card, likely to push a high-resolution Retina display.
Honda on Friday announced that the 2017 Accord, going on sale June 27, will be available with an upgrade supporting Apple's CarPlay and Google's Android Auto.
Apple surprised many this week by abruptly discontinuing the Thunderbolt Display without announcing a replacement. But, as Apple pointed out, "there are a number of great third-party options available for Mac users." With that said, AppleInsider has compiled a list of the top Thunderbolt-alternative displays for Macs that are available today.
Putting itself in direct competition with Facebook and Twitter, YouTube is now in the beginning stages of rolling out live video streaming from its main mobile app.
Starting with iOS 10, the Photos app on your iPhone and iPad will automatically scan your pictures for faces and places, making it easier to find the shots you're looking for. It'll even group them into collections, and quickly automate creation of a view to relive your memories. AppleInsider offers a closer look at how it all works.
Netflix is developing a long-awaited option to download some content for offline viewing, according to an executive described as an industry insider.
While this year's Apple Watch upgrade is expected to feature largely the same OLED display as its predecessor, the wearable smartwatch could see a major overhaul next year, with Apple said to be investigating micro LED technology for a future model.
This week on the AppleInsider podcast Neil and Victor to talk about his experiences with beta iOS 10 and watchOS 3 features. They also wrap up all the current iPhone rumors.
Grammy Award-winner Adele's latest album, "25," was made available for streaming through a variety of services at midnight on Friday, including Apple Music and Spotify, some seven months after initial release.
Huawei, the second largest Android phone maker in market share behind Samsung, is "secretly developing an alternative mobile operating system" in a bid to hedge its bets against Google's increasingly assertive control over Android.
In an addition to its developer resources mini-site on Thursday, Apple posted a profile of "Lifeline" developer 3 Minute Games, highlighting how the studio found success with the iOS App Store's paid business model.
After going years without update, Apple has decided to discontinue the Thunderbolt Display, marking an end to the company's current first-party monitor product line and sparking speculation that a high-resolution replacement is in the offing.


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Leo Bistro, the restaurant inside the Dayton Art Institute, will reopen in July with a new café concept.
The Dayton Art Institute has announced plans to partner with Ohio company AVI Foodsystems, Inc. to bring a new dining concept to their restaurant, Leo Bistro at the museum. The Bistro is set to reopen on Wednesday, July 11.
“After reviewing a number of options, we are excited to partner with AVI Foodsystems, Inc. as Leo Bistro’s new manager, offering a new model that will best meet the needs of museum guests and the downtown community,” said The Dayton Art Institute’s Director & CEO Michael R. Roediger. “Beginning July 11, Leo Bistro will be open during all regular museum hours, offering a variety of fresh food and drink options.”
Leo Bistro will feature a fast-casual concept, serving freshly made Boar’s Head deli sandwiches, soups, and bakery items from Boosalis Bakery of Centerville, as well as proudly serving hand-crafted Starbucks coffees, other specialty beverages, and a selection of beers and wines. Leo Bistro’s new selections and extended hours are being added to better respond to customer feedback and interest. Museum members will continue to receive a discount on purchases at Leo Bistro.
AVI Foodsystems, Inc., based in Warren, Ohio, is America’s largest, family-owned and operated food and hospitality provider, serving clients in the business, education, healthcare, and leisure sectors. Celebrating nearly 60 years of continued success, AVI continues to grow and expand into new geographic markets and business segments.
“Thank you to everyone for your patience during this transition,” added Roediger. “We hope you will visit for lunch, a snack, or a cup of coffee, and that you will meet friends and business colleagues often at Leo Bistro.”
Dayton Art Institute


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[size=36]The Minister of Commerce announces the start of the marketing season for the 2022 wheat crop[/size]
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In a statement received by Mawazine News, the ministry stated, "The Minister of Commerce, Alaa Ahmed Al-Jubouri, announced the start of the marketing season for the 2022 wheat crop, after a number of trucks arrived at the Samawah Center in Al-Muthanna Governorate, and these quantities are the first for the 2022 marketing season, and in preparation for To start marketing operations in other southern governorates.
He added, "The first quantities received from farmers in the governorate, a laboratory test was carried out and conformed to the standard specifications under the supervision of the regulatory cadres, which is a message that sends good and success for the current marketing season."
He pointed out, "The Ministry of Trade announced a number of administrative and technical measures for the purpose of receiving the marketing season, preparing examination and marketing centers, in coordination with the security services, and mobilizing technical and administrative staff in the governorates, in preparation for the marketing season in order to achieve success and overcome the difficulties that occur."
The statement stressed, "All owners will continue to work around the clock for the purpose of receiving the quantities received from wheat to the marketing centers," calling for "reporting any violations that occur during the marketing season or transgressing the instructions and controls prepared by the Ministry of Commerce for the success of the marketing season."
He pointed out that "the spread of supervisory teams to audit the processes of receiving and conducting laboratory examinations, in coordination with the security services, for the purpose of monitoring violations and taking legal measures against violators in a way that preserves public money and contributes to the success of the marketing season."


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Pacifica Named Best Minivan by Auto Trader
More awards for the Windsor built Chrysler Pacifica and Grand Caravan.
For the second straight year, the 2021 edition of the vehicle is taking home the "Best Minivan" award from autoTRADER.ca.
According to a release, the autoTRADER.ca awards are Canada's "most comprehensive awards with a jury of more than 20 automotive journalists from across the country who evaluate hundreds of cars according to 12 different criteria."
Also winning an award, the 2021 Ram 1500, which was named the "Best Full-Size Truck" and "Best Overall Truck" for the second consecutive year.


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According to the Minister of Commerce, this ban is intended to guarantee the availability of these foodstuffs in local markets.
Grain prices are rising in markets in the Far North region. Inflation caused by "a low availability of these products on local markets caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. A context that disrupts the import of certain products and even the costs of sea freight. This means that there is enormous pressure on local products that are already not very important in terms of sufficient quantity at all times and at attractive prices," the Cameroon Tribune reported.
To this end, to guarantee the availability of these consumer products, the Minister of Commerce, Luc Magloire Atangana in a correspondence addressed to the governor of the Far North prohibits the export of cereals in this part of the country. "The government is taking these steps to ensure that these products will be available to people in the region before considering exporting them if possible, but after local consumers are satisfied first. "Said Boubakary Abdoulaye, regional delegate of Trade for the Far North to the state newspaper.
According to a report published on 3 November 2021 by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), in Logone and Chari, during the last agricultural season, drought significantly affected crops in eight out of ten districts. Seeded areas have been reduced by 43% compared to 2020, with a greater impact on maize cultivation.


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Breaking: AT&T (s t) said it will drop its planned acquisition of T-Mobile and take a $4 billion charge against its fourth quarter earnings on Monday afternoon. This paves the way for new partners to emerge for T-Mobile and means AT&T will have to build its LTE network without taking out a competitor.
From AT&T’s statement:
The actions by the Federal Communications Commission and the Department of Justice to block this transaction do not change the realities of the U.S. wireless industry. It is one of the most fiercely competitive industries in the world, with a mounting need for more spectrum that has not diminished and must be addressed immediately. The AT&T and T-Mobile USA combination would have offered an interim solution to this spectrum shortage. In the absence of such steps, customers will be harmed and needed investment will be stifled.
“AT&T will continue to be aggressive in leading the mobile Internet revolution,” said Randall Stephenson, AT&T chairman and CEO. “Over the past four years we have invested more in our networks than any other U.S. company. As a result, today we deliver best-in-class mobile broadband speeds – connecting smartphones, tablets and emerging devices at a record pace – and we are well under way with our nationwide 4G LTE deployment.
We’ll continue to update this story as we gather more reactions and analysis.
Update: AT&T set the wheels of the $39 billion acquisition in motion last March, shocking the public with the sheer size and apparent audacity of the deal.AT&T tried to justify the merger by stating that the resulting huge economies of scale would drive down prices for consumers, create new jobs, and allow AT&T to launch a robust and nationwide LTE network—something AT&T claimed it couldn’t do with its existing spectrum alone. The public outcry against AT&T, however, was huge. A few organizations such as Communications Workers of America sided with AT&T, while Verizon(s VZ) gave tacit support to the deal, but most every other operator, public policy, and consumer group roundly condemned the deal.
On the operator front, Sprint(s S) led the charge against the merger, filing an antitrust suit against AT&T and T-Mobile’s parent Deutsche Telekom, while CEO Dan Hesse harangued AT&T at every opportunity from every pulpit. In a recent interview with GigaOM, Hesse said AT&T’s announcement was a wake-up call for the entire industry, which had failed to address just how large AT&T and Verizon had become:
When AT&T announced its intention to take over T-Mobile USA, it made me realize the industry has been gradually moving toward being a duopoly and how tenuous the competitive situation is in the U.S. wireless industry. … [Before the merger was announced] I could see this gradual creep in size and market dominance of the big two—growing gradually each year, though not to the extent that it became alarming. But the attempted acquisition of T-Mobile set off all sorts of alarms and had you step back and notice what’s been happening each year for a number of years.
If the merger would have gone through Sprint would have become a far-distant third in a mobile industry dominated by AT&T and Verizon, while a competitive low-cost nationwide operator would have been removed from the competitive landscape, though AT&T pledged to maintain T-Mobile’s cheaper data plans for all of the operator’s current customers.
It turned out regulators had just as many problems with the deal as consumer groups and smaller operators. In August, the U.S Department of Justice said it would block the merger, filing an antitrust suit against AT&T and DT. In November, the FCC condemned the merger as well and used the most powerful weapon in its arsenal – sending it to an administrative hearing – to try to defeat it. Sensing it was loosing ground, AT&T tried to play for time. It yanked its petition from the FCC to focus on the DOJ suit only to encounter resistance to that tactic from the court hearing the antitrust case.
Last week, AT&T and DT put the deal on hold until next month as it searched for any available means to salvage the deal. As of Monday, it appears to have exhausted all possibilities, leading to it throwing in the towel.
Update: The minute AT&T’s withdrawal hit the wires the reaction statements started flooding in. The Free Press summed up its feelings in two words: “Good riddance.” It did, however, elaborate in a statement from CEO Craig Aaron:
This deal has been as good as dead for months because the facts never matched AT&T’s fabrications about the benefits of the merger. As the public, the Justice Department and the FCC long ago recognized — and now even AT&T must admit — this deal would have only meant higher prices, fewer choices and tens of thousands of lost American jobs. Good riddance. The Obama administration deserves praise and credit for standing up to AT&T’s relentless lobbying and propaganda. And the American public can breathe a sigh of relief that this time the public interest trumped AT&T’s self-serving attempt to kill off what little competition remains in the wireless market.
Sprint’s statement was almost subdued compared the unpulled punches its delivered over the last 9 months. From SVP of government affairs Vonya McCann:
This is the right decision for consumers, competition and innovation in the wireless industry. From the beginning, Sprint has stood with consumers who spoke loudly and clearly that AT&T’s proposed takeover of T-Mobile would create an undeniable duopoly that would have resulted in higher prices, less innovation and fewer choices for the American consumer.
U.S. Senator Al Franken (D-Minn); who chairs the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Privacy, Technology and the Law; also emphasized the duopolistic aspects of the failed deal:
This merger would have put us one step away from the monopoly we had during the Ma Bell years. Wireless telecommunication plays a central role in the 21st century American economy, and I’m relieved that we are no longer at risk of concentrating such enormous power in the hands of AT&T and Verizon.


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news National broadband company iiNet revealed late last week that it had installed a Wi-Fi service throughout the Perth central business district that would let any customer of its growing family of brands access free Internet in the area.
“Over the past few months we’ve been busy working behind the scenes to install a number of wireless hotspots around the Perth CBD to make life a little easier when you’re out and about,” the company’s operations manager of its business division, Balmik Soin, wrote on its blog last week.
“There are 15 hotspot locations across the city. Whenever you’re near one of the hotpots with a wireless compatible device in hand, simply select the ‘iiNet’ WiFi network and log in with your account details. You don’t even need to know your primary account username and password – any email address and password associated with your account will let you onto the WiFi network.”
The service is branded ‘iiNet’, but customers of most brands within the iiNet group (including Westnet and Netspace) will be able to access the service, with the company to add access for customers of its new acquisitions TransACT, Internode and AAPT soon.
Soin appeared to hint that the iiNet Wi-Fi service could be coming to other cities shortly. “This is just the start of our Wi-Fi rollout plans. Keep an eye out for further announcements on where you can access ‘iiWiFi’ (say it out loud, it has a nice ring to it!) as we’ve got a couple of new locations in the pipeline already,” he said.
Further information about iiNet’s Wi-Fi coverage is available here.
iiNet has not historically invested much in Wi-Fi networks around Australia, preferring to focus on its direct broadband offering. However, rival Internode, which iiNet recently announced it would acquire, operates a large number of Wi-Fi hotspots around Australia, which are free to access. Internode has also partnered with companies such as CityLAN, cafe chain Cibo Express, airports in Darwin and Adelaide and others, in order to broaden its service nationally to some 400 locations.
At various stages over the past few years, a number of Australian Governments and other organisations have offered or planned to offer free Wi-Fi services in CBD locations. In November 2006, for example, then-NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced that the CBDs of key cities in NSW would get free Wi-Fi broadband within the succeeding three years. The project was eventually scrapped.
Many in the telecommunications industry believe that in large part, the popularity of 3G mobile broadband, either through dedicated USB dongles for laptops or through tethered smartphones or tablets, had made the need to offer Wi-Fi services fairly redundant. However, new Wi-Fi services such as iiNet’s are still launched at regular intervals in Australia.
Image credit: iiNet


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Destiny: The Taken King is a DLC primed to breathe new life into Bungie’s extremely successful action-RPG franchise. Recently, the studio announced two new multiplayer modes – called Rift and Mayhem, respectively – for the Crucible that will be included in the add-ons, and fans couldn’t be happier. Plus, with the forthcoming content promised to be double the size of The Dark Below, would-be Guardians ought to have plenty to be excited about.
Bungie’s Year 2 stream for The Taken King started today, and as previously reported, the broadcast was presented by the game’s developers (executive producer Mark Noseworthy, senior design lead Tyson Green, and community manager David “DeeJ” Dague) and they went over various improvements for the first-person shooter’s upcoming expansion. More specifically, the hosts went into detail about Destiny‘s forthcoming upgrades for old exotic weapons.
Discussing the game’s exotic weapon blueprints system, it’s been confirmed the firearms from Year One still exist, but Bungie has created updated versions of them with fresher designs. For instance, the Suros Regime Auto Rifle they showed off in the demonstration has a black and red coloring instead of its white paint job. Not to mention, some of the exotic guns will have new perks right from the start, in addition to several new talents available for select improved weapons. Players will spend legendary marks for them, but not all Year One exotics will have the option to upgrade.
Furthermore, exotic guns’ attack values have been altered. While their potency appears to be the same, the actual numbers have been shifted so as to make weapons’ and armor’s effectiveness more properly aligned with one another. Although this change might not be welcome to some, at least exotics aren’t getting the treatment of upgrades for old legendary gear. But should people still be somewhat put off by the modifications, such alterations should come as no surprise, for these refinements are commonplace for ever-evolving MMOs.
All in all, considering the brevity of Bungie’s first livestream, the webcast’s coverage for The Taken King seemed to be pretty successful. In addition to the explanation of the Destiny‘s exotics upgrades, the studio also revealed that players will be getting double the vault size for storage, much to the audience’s delight. Bearing that in mind, it seems as if the game developers have been paying attention to what’s on the fans’ wishlist for most wanted features. Hopefully, the team’s upcoming transmissions regarding the expansion will knock some more socks off.
What surprises do you think Bungie has in store for Destiny fans during their scheduled broadcast next Wednesday? Do you think the studio could shock everyone with a completely new weapon class?
Destiny: The Taken King is set to launch on September 15, 2015, for PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One.


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If a series of patent lawsuits filed last week against Kickstarter and the makers of a number of haptic sex toys prevails, it could have a chilling effect on entrepreneurs using crowdfunding services.
TZU Technologies filed suit in U.S. federal district court alleging that Kickstarter and seven makers of sex toys with haptic features–which offer some form of tactile feedback along the lines of the well-known “rumble” of a game controller–had infringed on one of its patents, known by some as the “teledildonics patent.”
Teledildonics, according to Wikipedia, are “electronic sex toys that can be controlled by a computer to enable the human user to reach orgasm.” The patent was originally held by a company called HasSex, but was transferred just months ago to TZU, according to Kyle Machulis, an expert on teledildonics.
In addition to Kickstarter, the defendants are Comingle, Holland Haptics, Vibease, Winzz, Frixion, Internet Services, and WMM Holdings, all makers of different teledildonics products.
In a blog post about the lawsuits, Machulis wrote that there’s finally a “test case for” the teledildonics patent, which was first filed in 1998. Much of his post focuses on the potential impact of the suit on the seven sex-toy companies. But Machulis told Fast Company that, in fact, the bigger impact might be if a company like TZU–nominally a patent troll, given that just about the only search results for the company relate to its lawsuit–is able to prevail against Kickstarter.
In its suits, TZU claimed that both Kickstarter and the sex-toy makers willfully infringed on the patent by proceeding with the manufacture and sale of products, or the funding of them, after being aware of the patent. In theory, at least, willful infringement can result in treble damages, although courts have recently made it more difficult for successful plaintiffs to collect the full three times the damages.
TZU’s attorney, Dan Cotman, told Fast Company that each of the defendants in the case “have either made or offered to sell the patented technology.” Cotman also explained the timing for the suits, even as he rejected the notion that TZU is a patent troll.
“Recently a number of startups have developed haptics/remote touch-based technologies covered by the patent,” he said. “Since most have exhibited a total disregard for the patent even when approached, the inventor Warren Sandvick felt it was time to act. Our take on things is that inventors ought to be rewarded for their innovation rather than kicked out or called names like ‘troll,’ as such is mostly an attempt by large companies to take other people’s intellectual property without attribution.”
Kickstarter is just as liable as the sex toy manufacturers, Cotman argued, and said that because “it is an advocate and promoter of innovative products . . . we think it is important they have a mechanism for handling intellectual property rights on their website, and this lawsuit will bring how they do that to the forefront.”
Kickstarter declined to comment on TZU’s lawsuit.
TZU’s position is that Kickstarter shouldn’t be a platform for entrepreneurs raising money “based on the patented ideas of others,” Cotman said.
If the outcome of this case goes against Kickstarter, Machulis believes, it could be very bad for crowdfunding, in particular because of the burdens it would place upon those who operate companies like Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
“The implications for crowdfunding are similar to places that host user-created [or] provided content, like YouTube or Second Life, and how they deal with [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] requests,” Machulis said. “Requiring proof of patent research to start a crowdfunding campaign would greatly curtail the speed and openness of crowdfunding systems, as most people don’t really even know how that process works in the first place, and it’s neither cheap nor fast. Requiring the crowdfunding company itself to do the research legwork before approving would take a vast amount of resources, so it’s pretty disastrous from either side if something like this goes through.”
Fortunately, legal experts seem to believe that Kickstarter is on safe ground when it comes to being sued over intellectual property battles involving the people who use its service to raise money.
In large part, that’s because Kickstarter doesn’t really make or offer to sell products, said Mark Lemley, a patent law professor at Stanford Law School.
“They simply provide funding for the products,” Lemley told Fast Company. So unless they are somehow directly involved in delivering products to customers, a claim for direct infringement against Kickstarter seems implausible.”
Lemley said he has an inkling of what TZU may really be trying to do by including Kickstarter as a defendant, noting that by giving manufacturers a way to raise funds to sell allegedly infringing products, Kickstarter may have induced that infringement.
“But a defendant is liable for inducement only if they deliberately intended to encourage infringement, something that requires knowledge of both the patent and the fact that the product maker was infringing it,” Lemley said. “So the plaintiff would have to prove advance knowledge by Kickstarter of this patent, or at least ‘willful blindness’ about the patent. That’s a tough burden.”
To be sure, many patent cases are filed in the hope that a defendant will settle out of court in order to save money. Kickstarter, though, may well “have an incentive to establish precedent that it is not liable for devices funded on its site,” Lemley said.
TZU’s suit against Kickstarter is not the first time the crowdfunding site has been sued for patent infringement.
In late 2012, 3-D printing giant 3D Systems sued Kickstarter as part of an infringement suit against Formlabs, which had raised nearly $3 million using the site.
Rick Frenkel, a partner at Latham & Watkins who has a background in IP strategy and patent litigation, told Wired in 2013 that Kickstarter was “an unusual target” for an infringement suit.
In the end, 3D Systems dropped its suit against Kickstarter.
“Patent laws are not meant to stop companies from raising funds,” Frenkel said. “If you can sue Kickstarter, can you go sue the bank?”


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Travis Kalanick tried to make it in China by spending billions with Uber, but lost to Didi Chuxing. Now, he’s trying again with shared kitchens.
In March, the South China Morning Post reported that the Uber co-founder was looking to bring his shared kitchens business, CloudKitchens, to China. CloudKitchens takes over properties and outfits them as commercial kitchens, then rents out the space to food businesses that want to expand without having to open a costly new location or serve customers from a public-facing storefront.
Kalanick bought a controlling stake in Los Angeles-based City Storage Systems, the holding company for CloudKitchens, for $150 million in March 2018. Both CloudKitchens and Kalanick have kept a low profile since—not surprising after his messy ouster as CEO of Uber in 2017—and neither responded to a Quartz request for comment.
CloudKitchens’ website offers little information on its current operations, other than the names of seven delivery-only brands it works with and a single testimonial from a local chef. The company has properties in Los Angeles and Seoul, and is reportedly eyeing space in Austin and Detroit, among other US cities.
The shared kitchens model—also called “ghost” or “dark” kitchens—is fairly novel in the US and Europe, where it’s being tested by companies including Uber and Deliveroo as a way of growing their food-delivery businesses. Amazon-backed Deliveroo built early rental spaces in windowless metal boxes similar to shipping containers, which helped coin the “dark” kitchen nickname. Uber, meanwhile, has leased kitchen space to “virtual restaurants” in Paris and partnered with a kitchen-rental company in London.
But shared kitchens are already popular in China, where cheap labor and generous investor financing have fueled a booming market for delivery services.
China’s online food ordering and delivery market hit 442 billion yuan ($62 billion) in 2018, and is expected to top 900 billion yuan by 2021. The market capitalization of Chinese food-delivery platform Meituan Dianping recently surpassed that of search giant Baidu, at more than $50 billion. Food-delivery companies think shared kitchens are key to their growth because they allow restaurants to expand their reach without shouldering all the overhead costs of opening their own kitchens.
Panda Selected is a Beijing-based shared kitchens company known as the “kitchen version of WeWork,” with more than 120 locations in mega-cities like Beijing and Shenzhen. Founded in 2016, it raised $50 million in February at an undisclosed valuation in a deal led by Tiger Global, an investor that previously backed Meituan Dianping, Didi, and Uber. Jike Alliance, a four-year-old shared kitchen business, says it has more than 200 brands using its kitchens, in four cities.
Panda Selected provides kitchen utensils, helps restaurants build their brands, and sells data analytics to help merchants boost their sales. Its fees vary by location, and data analytics cost extra. In Beijing, merchants pay around 20,000 yuan ($2,800) in “entrance fees” plus another 10,000 yuan for monthly rental fees and access to kitchenwares, Panda Selected’s founder Li Haipeng told local news outlet Kanshangjie (link in Chinese) in April. It’s unclear what’s meant by entrance fees. Neither Jike or Panda Selected could be reached for comment.
CloudKitchens advertises commercial kitchens “optimized for delivery” with multi-compartment sinks, commercial refrigeration, and stainless steel work benches. It says restaurateurs can “get started” for “just around $20,000 and two months deposit” compared to spending $1 million or more “to build out a brick and mortar restaurant.” It also says online that it will “help facilitate demand generation through every online ordering platform” below logos for Uber Eats, Postmates, Eat24, DoorDash, Caviar, and Grubhub.
The economics of shared kitchens
Success in the shared kitchen business boils down to how efficiently a can utilize its space. Because shared kitchens function as delivery hubs, they are ideally located in areas with lots of people and high demand, which can mean paying a premium for rent.
“Shared kitchens in China have the same problem as traditional kitchens, which are only used during peak hours, and the rest of the time it’s empty,” Tong Qihua, the founder of a dim sum chain that operates both in China and the US, told state broadcaster CGTN in April.
Panda Selected’s Li told Kanshangjie that the average catering business receives 290 to 320 orders each day, and can turn a profit after about two months of operating in a shared kitchen. That’s far quicker than a traditional restaurant would break even after opening a storefront.
Panda Selected is expanding rapidly, with plans to operate 200 locations by the end of August. Its kitchens average 400 to 500 square meters (4,350 to 5,350 sq. feet) and can be used by 15 to 20 restaurants. One of China’s most popular hotpot chains, Haidilao, is a Panda Selected client. The company isn’t profitable, but Li told Bloomberg that he hopes to reach break-even by the end of this year.
It’s unclear what Kalanick’s CloudKitchens can offer China that it doesn’t already have, other than a repeat of the ride-hailing funding war that ended with Didi acquiring Uber’s China operations in 2016. That sort of battle could be good for customers, but not necessarily for the companies trying to build a sustainable business by scrambling for market share.


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Cyberpunk 2077 has been getting a lot of talk lately. Contrary to the media tide in December 2020, the game talks about it in a positive way. In fact, we learned a few days ago that the address is going to go Back on the PlayStation Store After five months of suspension (the game is now available since June 21). For its part, Microsoft plans to Suspension of payment without proof About Cyberpunk 2077 starting next week.
Today, CD Projekt Red (the game’s developers) are proud to announce, in their opinion, that the title has finally reached a “satisfactory” level of reliability.
Cyberpunk 2077 is finally playable?
In December 2020, gamers around the world were waiting for Cyberpunk 2077 on consoles They were taking a cold shower. Despite numerous messages to reassure players about the state of their game, CD Projekt Red failed to deliver a definitive title. The Lies followed one of the biggest deals in video game history with non-playable games on old versions of PS4 and Xbox One.
After six months of work, several patches have been uploaded and hundreds of gigabytes of fixes have been downloaded…CD Projekt Red thinks its game is finally stable. Anyway, this is what Adam Kiesinski (Chairman of CD Projekt) announced during the Innovation Day at the Warsaw Stock Exchange, an event dedicated to shareholders and investors.
Cyberpunk 2077 now shows satisfactory stability. We’ve also worked on the overall quality of the title, which is what we prefer today. Of course, we also fixed some bugs and visual issues and will continue to do so. As we go, we’ll make improvements, most notably to the players, to the game as a whole.
Thus, at the end of June 2021 (that is, more than six months after its launch), the stability of Cyberpunk 2077 became “satisfactory”. Far from being perfect, CD Projekt teams should continue to deliver fixes in the coming weeks and months.
However, let’s not forget that Sony highly recommends that gamers play the game at least on PS4 Pro and if possible on PS5. and that Microsoft determines that bugs may still exist on Xbox One.
The studio’s second goal is to offer a next-generation version of the title by the end of the year on PS5 and Xbox Series X that will make people forget about the messy release of the PS5 and Xbox One versions.
“Unapologetic analyst. Infuriatingly humble coffee evangelist. Gamer. Unable to type with boxing gloves on. Student. Entrepreneur.”


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Torrid weather from El Niño in South America to frost and hail in France means that the world will produce millions fewer bottles of wine in 2016, the International Organisation for Vine & Wine has predicted.
World wine production is set to plummet to a near 20-year low this year, thanks to poor weather conditions affecting countries as diverse as France, Argentina and South Africa.
According to early estimates from the International Organisation of Vine and Wine (OIV), some 259.5m hectolitres of wine will be produced around the world in 2016, 5% down on last year’s figure.
That would place 2016 among the three lowest-production years since 2000, but the picture varies hugely among the world’s biggest winemaking countries.
While Italy retains its world-leading position with estimated production of 48.8m hl (down 2% on 2015), second-placed France is likely to see its amount of wine made this year fall 12% to 42.2m hl.
Spain ranks third (37.8m hl, up 1%), but both Germany and Portugal are set to record production falls, down 4% and 20% to 8.4m hl and 5.6m hl respectively.
While production in the US rose again (+2% to 22.5m hl), there were sharp declines in South America: Argentina will produce 35% less wine this year (8.8m hl), and Chile’s production is down 21% to 10.1m hl.
South Africa is also down, with production falling 19% to 9m hl, but both Australia (+5% to 12.5m hl) and New Zealand (+34% to a near record 3.1m hl) made more wine this year.
The global fall in wine production comes at a time when consumption is likely to be increasing: while the OIV has no definitive figures on wine consumption at the moment, it is likely to have risen on last year, to between 239.7m hl and 246.6m hl.
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