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VMware Inc.’s transition away from a seller of commodity data center infrastructure to a well-rounded solution provider continues apace judging by another strong earnings report today.
Third-quarter earnings of $1.56 per share came in a nickel better than consensus estimates and up 26 percent from the same quarter a year ago. Revenues rose 13.5 percent, to $2.2 billion, beating consensus estimates of $2.17 billion.
Reflecting what Chief Executive Pat Gelsinger (pictured) said appears to be a broad-based increase in technology spending that “will be sustainable for many years to come,” VMware issued a bullish forecast, raising full-year fiscal 2019 total revenue guidance more than $60 million to $8.882 billion and offering high-end earnings per share guidance of $6.22, up from its previous guidance of $6.14.
Wall Street investors smiled, bidding VMware shares up nearly 2 percent in after-hours trading. The company is one of the few tech stocks to have fully recovered from the selloff of the past month. Update: Shares were up 2.5 percent in late trading Friday.
More: How is Cloud Computing Will Going To Impact The Banking Sector?
Executives said the company’s strategic moves in the cloud market, which include its growing partnership with Amazon Web Services Inc. and acquisitions of CloudHealth Technologies Inc. and Kubernetes specialist Heptio Inc. vindicate its confidence in the resilience of hybrid cloud and its strategy of helping customers navigate a multi-cloud world. “The world is aligning to the view we’ve been taking for the last five or six years of the hybrid opportunity,” Gelsinger said.
The CEO also stressed that VMware has moved completely away from selling basic computer infrastructure and toward solutions focus.
“We almost never sell compute anymore,” he said. “We sell VMware Cloud Foundation, fully hyper-converged solutions with VxRail and a combination of security and compute. Almost everything is aligning against the hybrid cloud, network security, and digital workspace to deliver a higher value proposition.”
Not long ago, VMware was seen as being vulnerable to the twin threats of cloud computing and software containers, which are essentially miniature virtual machines. However, the company has successfully pivoted to become a cloud enabler and to bundle virtualization with value-added services.
More: A.I. Security Camera Can Identify Guns with 99 Percent Accuracy
Gelsinger was particularly high on the company’s new vSphere Platinum Edition, which integrates its AppDefense endpoint security product with its flagship vSphere virtualization. “Making security intrinsic [to the virtual machine] is flipping the security industry on its head,” he said. “We’re out to change security in a fundamental way.”
The Charles King, president and principal analyst at Pund-IT Inc. “VMware is adapting to new technologies and trends as it sees fit. Meanwhile, it remains one of the enterprise sector’s most trusted vendors.”
Gelsinger also pointed to this week’s blockbuster announcement by Amazon.com Inc. of an on-premises version of the Amazon cloud that includes VMware virtual machines as evidence of the fruits of its growing slate of partner relationships. The company’s new VMware Cloud Provider Program, which comprises a combination of VMware and third-party cloud products, now counts 4,200 cloud partners. “We are seeing great momentum in that business,” Gelsinger said.
More: Alcide Raises $7 Million in the funding round of Series A
VMware doesn’t break out revenue by product line, but CFO Zane Rowe offered a few growth highlights. License bookings for the NSX virtualization and security portfolio grew 40 percent and nine of the company’s top 10 deals in the quarter included NSX. The vSAN storage virtualization layer grew nearly 50 percent. Cross-sales with the company’s Dell Technologies Inc. parent also contributed $700 million in revenue in the quarter.
VMware is also showing strength in regional diversification. International sales grew more than 19 percent and now make up a larger share of the company’s revenue than domestic sales.
“People have been incorrectly prophesying VMware’s demise for the past half-decade, but evolutionary technologies like Kubernetes tend to move at a fairly stately pace among enterprise clients,” King said. “The longer VMware has to adapt to upstart players and solutions, the less risk it will face.”
More: Spending on hyperscale infrastructure reaches $26B in Q3 2018


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The supermarket, along with others including Woolworths and Harris Farm, has long offered the program for shoppers, which allows kids to grab a fresh piece of fruit while their parents shop in-store. But noticing its absence recently, a Victorian mum decided to question the staff.
"I have been to two locations in Victoria and both staff members told me they no longer offer it. Mind blown," she said in a video on social media. "I am very disappointed in Coles, and I hope this isn’t true across the board".
The furious mum who goes by @getsocialwithsammi on TikTok, called on the supermarket to "do better", and said, "clearly the person who made this decision does not have young kids that they have to go shopping with".
Not all stores will offer free fruit for kids: Coles
Coles confirmed the change to Yahoo News and said some stores, but not all, will still have the free offering for families.
"We are always looking at new ways to help Australians live and eat better every day, but it’s at the discretion of the store and not all stores have this offering," a spokesperson said.
Parents had been grateful for the opportunity to give fruit to their children for free while getting their shopping done.
"For me now I'm boycotting Coles," Sammi continued in her rant on social media. "I cannot shop there with a toddler. It's Woolworths for me from now on."
The news riled up other shoppers too with one mum admitting she was "so irritated" by the change. Others said "greed" was the reason for the change, noting the supermarket's billion-dollar profit last financial year and rising grocery prices — but some weren't too bothered by the change.
"I’d imagine they will eventually cave. All the skin of the fruit still consumed by kids will end up on the floor or there will be bite marks in fruit," said one. "They still don’t owe anyone free things," another said.
The Coles spokesperson said the supermarket remains focused on ways to encourage healthy eating among children. "Coles sell ‘kids’ packs’ of undersized fruit including apples, pears and mandarins that are perfect for school lunchboxes," they said.
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The Pill Box Pharmacy, an independent pharmacy located in Decatur, Alabama, has been serving its community since 1973. With 48 years of experience, pharmacy owner Sam Costello, believes that it is important to stand out in a competitive pharmacy industry.
Lee Henderson, pharmacist in charge and manager at The Pill Box Pharmacy, understands first-hand the challenges facing independent pharmacies.
“We were really looking to keep our own patients because they were getting cold calls from other pharmacies offering strip packaging solutions,” says Henderson.
After seeing the RapidPakRx at a tradeshow, Costello and Henderson realized they were ready to invest in their own strip packaging automation.
“We were already bubble packing for patients, but we had problems with the packaging, and it just wasn't right for us,” says Henderson. “The RapidPakRx makes us feel empowered because we offer patients the ability to take their medication more readily.”
Click above to watch the video.
Being First in the Community
“We realized there are other huge companies out there who are nowhere near us that have the ability to offer strip packaging,” says Henderson.
Companies, such as Amazon’s PillPack, know that strip packaging is a growing market. With more patients expressing interest in strip packaging, there is an opportunity for independent pharmacies to offer strip packaging, along with better service in their communities.
“We wanted to be the first pharmacy in our community that offered strip packaging,” says Henderson.
“We don't want to be third and fifth down the line, because if everybody gets it before we do, we won’t have anything special that sets us apart,” adds Henderson.
Pharmacy owners know that medication non-adherence is a problem among some patients. Patients with higher volumes of medication usually struggle to manage their prescription regimen, because it is too complicated and/or stressful. Strip packaging can help ease the frustration of managing multiple medications for patients.
“One of the impacts that we have seen is increased adherence of patients taking their medications,” says Henderson. “Patients do a better job of staying on top of taking their medications.”
With the RapidPakRx, each pouch is labeled with the time and date that the medications need to be taken. Patients can easily check if they have taken their medications for the day and eliminate the worry of missing or duplicating their doses.
“The patients love our adherence packaging. Every patient that we've talked to absolutely loves using it,” says Henderson. “It's just so simple and easy to use.”
“You can tear off what you need to take with you for the day or if you're going on vacation, you can tear off your seven-day supply,” adds Henderson. Strip packaging can transform the lives of patients, allowing them to take control of their time and feel more confident about their medications.
Helping More Patients
“We've gained so many new customers per month on strip packaging, than we did with our bubble pack because of the attractive packaging that the RapidPakRx offers,” says Henderson.
The RapidPakRx can complete packaging for up to 50 patients, using only one technician in an 8-hour shift. It is easy to add new patients to the pharmacy workflow, without increasing labor costs.
If a new patient comes in and inquires about receiving their medication packaged in the same day, Henderson knows they can accommodate their request.
“With the speed of the RapidPakRx, we can actually finish a box under five minutes,” says Henderson.
"We've had patients come from other parts of the community who are needing a packaging system in order to remember to take their medication,” says Henderson. With the RapidPakRx, The Pill Box Pharmacy can fill a 31-day, 60-day or 90-day medication supply.
“We give patients the ability to feel more secure in taking their medication,” says Henderson. There are no more bottles, and patients do not have to worry about keeping track of their medications.
To watch the full testimonial, please watch the video above. If you would like more information regarding the RapidPakRx, please visit our product page or call (877) 797-2332.


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Walmart re-zoning issue packs in huge crowd at Springfield City Council meeting
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- An enormous crowd packed into Springfield's Historic City Hall on Monday night for a public hearing on a re-zoning issue that would pave the way for the construction of a new Walmart Neighborhood Market. More than 50 people signed up to speak in favor and in opposition of the proposed re-zoning.
February 11, 2013


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Capcom, Durante it Mega Man 30th Anniversary Livestream, announced the arrival of Mega Man 11, which will be published for PC, 4 Playstation, Xbox One and Nintendo Switch towards the end of 2018. The new game promises the classic "side-scrolling action gameplay" familiar to fans of the series, while simultaneously "completely revolutionizing the experience for modern consoles".
The classic series takes a leap forward in the visual presentation in Mega Man 11 with an 2.5D design direction that introduces beautiful characters and environments designed entirely by hand. A redesigned Mega Man tackles Dr. Wily's crazy machines, defeating the Robot Master bosses and taking their weapons, in an ever-changing justice struggle with new, uniquely designed enemies.
Capcom has also announced that all eight games in the Mega Max X series, with new features and "more mature themes", will also arrive on PC and has announced that further information on this distribution will be released in the coming months, even if the arrival should be scheduled for the summer of 2018.
An update is also coming soon Mega Man Legacy Collection that will add a new "rewind" option.


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We are still some distance away from British homes fully embracing smart technology by installing major systems like KNX automation or Control 4 lighting. However, we are beginning to see a shift towards adopting smart technology in the United Kingdom. A growing number of homes have started making in-roads by purchasing some form of smart device. 24 per cent of homes in the country, almost a quarter of the population, have some sort of smart device to help them around the house. The most popular of these are smart hubs such as Amazon’s famous Echo, wireless security cameras and smart plugs.
The figures, which were revealed by the retailer Maplin, may reveal that families are starting to realise that smart technology will be an important function in the homes of the future. This is emphasised by the fact that an additional 10 per cent of people revealed that they plan to purchase a smart tech device in the next six months. They are expected to be one of the hottest items this Christmas with many retailers and manufacturers using them in their seasonal marketing drive.
However, the survey also shows that one of the main problems with smart technology still persists: people do not seem to understand why it is important. Over half of the people surveyed revealed that they do not know what it is, how it works or why it is so useful for a home. Households remain unsure of the ways in which home automation can make lives easier and cut spending in the long run.
Those of us in the United Kingdom who have embraced smart technology say that the major difference it has made in their lives is convenience. However, one of the other popular reasons for investing in smart technology is security. KNX home automation, for instance, allows you to remotely view your CCTV and receive alerts when there has been a security breach on your premises. Meanwhile, small items like smart plugs help you switch off the power when you are out in case you have left any dangerous items on.
The survey shows that there is still some way to go for the entire British population to embrace smart technology in their homes. However, their growing demand proving that the UK is slowly but surely beginning to realise the way in which home automation, smart lighting and internet-connected devices can improve our home lives.
To have home automation installed, call Intecho on 01565 750 632 or email firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Google News has undergone a recent SEO change, according to an article published by Search Engine Watch.
The service will now utilise the commonly-used Googlebot, rather than using its own dedicated crawler, to inspect newly published content.
While the change isn’t anything to drastic, – with the basic elements of web crawling staying the same – Google’s official Webmaster blog has indicated that there will be some minor alterations.
Googlebot will perform the same task, in the same way, as the former crawl system – Rob D Young writes: “A negative ‘Googlebot-News’ entry in the robots.txt file will still halt just the news crawling, sitemaps will still be crawled, and all analytics for actual visitors will remain the same.”
More noticeable changes will become clear when examining site logs; now users will only be able to view the Googlebot user-agent – making it much more difficult to be aware of whether your website is being indexed and featured on the Google News feed.
As expected with this type of change, all guidelines traditionally implemented for Googlebot will apply for news content too – this will mean that pages will not be fully indexed if they require a payment for access.


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Livestock feed: Algeria, France seal MoU on production of food supplements
APS : Monday, 20 February 2017
ALGIERS-A memorandum of understanding (MoU) has been sealed Monday in Algiers between a subsidiary of the Public group of livestock feed manufacturing (ONAB) and two French groups to establish a joint-company for the production of mineral and vitamin complexes (CMV) for animal feed.
The partners of this joint-venture, which will established in Oued Tlelat (Oran), are Premix Ouest (subsidiary of ONAB) and French groups Roullier and Neovia.
The agreement was inked between CEO of ONAB Salah Meddour, the Executive Director of Neovia group Josef Paolé and Director General of Rouiller subsidiary in Algeria Moncef Bourkouk, in the presence of Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development.
The project aims to produce mineral and vitamin complexes designed for the manufacturing of livestock feed with a view to enhancing productivity in the red and white meat industries.
The first Algerian-Foreign partnership in the field of livestock industry in Algeria, said Chelghoum, who stressed the Algerian market, the most important in Africa, might meet the needs of red and white meat producers.
Algeria, which whose meat imports hit USD 60 million, banks on this project to meet its needs, reduce imports and move towards exports.
“We aim to go beyond the Algerian market. We count on partners to attract markets abroad,” stressed the managing director of the Algerian group Agro logistique.
For Neovia, “this partnership is an excellent opportunity to transform its subsidiary, which now imports and sells on the Algerian market the products necessary for animal nutrition.
“We aim to build a profitable project with our partners. This will allow us strengthen our presence on the market and draw up an export strategy that will help us move towards neighbour emerging markets,” said representative of Roullier, Berkouk.


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In the near future will users want to pay for the content? And who will hold the «power», will it be the operators, the equipment manufacturers or the content producers? The questions were the basis of yet another panel at the 20th APDC Congress, but there was no single answer, not least because the trends are very undefined.
Erik Kruse, Strategic Marketing Director at Ericsson AB, believes that new generations are more willing to pay for content, but that it is necessary to implement a system of micro payments that makes sense on the Internet and on mobile.
The idea is shared by Joaquim Paiva Chaves, from Edifer, who recalls that 5 years ago nobody paid for the contents, but that the situation is changing because they have become more differentiated and sophisticated.
This differentiation also makes all the difference for Luís Avelar, director of TMN, who says that the current value chain is more complex but that it is not Nuclear Physics. In fact, the model is simple: understand the user well, give him easy-to-use products, communicate well and ask for a fair value for the contents and services.
A formula that Apple has effectively applied and that TMN and PT are also using, on various platforms.
The success of innovative business models can determine the winners in this «war» between operators, manufacturers and content producers, where there are new «gatekeepers» on different platforms, as pointed out by Vassilis Seferidis, Director of Business Development, Samsung, specifically speaking of the model for connected TVs.
This official also recalls that more than thinking about the winner of this war for power with customers, it is necessary to think that these changes have already brought benefits to users, who now have more options and more power in the creation and distribution of content.
But the doubts are many. Luís Nazaré, professor at ISEG, even wonders about the survival capacity of some content producers in the face of these changes in the scenario, especially broadcasters, even because of the «intruders» of social networks, who make the contents quickly shared, cited and disseminated in other media.


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concealment writes: "Many of us have had the experience of going to Amazon to buy one thing but checking out with a huge shopping cart of items that we didn’t initially seek—or even know were available. Amazon’s merchandising often benefits Amazon’s customers, but trademark owners who lose sales to their competition due to it aren’t as thrilled. Fortunately for Amazon, a California federal court recently upheld Amazon’s merchandising practices in its internal search results."
The time spent on any item of the agenda [of a finance committee] will be
in inverse proportion to the sum involved.
-- C.N. Parkinson


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Nokia x5-01 colours in india are among the selected colors, which might not be the choice elsewhere in the world.
We see a lot more interest of Indian customers in owning a handset with the color of their choice. However, this is not the only criteria users would be looking forward to opt for.
Nokia x5-01 colours in india is something the demand of which has once again bothered the manufacturer to come up with variety of them.
Graphite Black and Azure are among the favourite list , as experienced since the launch of x5-01 in Indian market.
There seems to be quite a few colors, although the releases are stil in queue in the Indian market with variations of upcoming nokia x5-01 colours in india.


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Buy Local—Take Your Family’s Food Safety Into Your Own Hands
FOLLOWING THE RECENT MASSIVE RECALL of eggs that had been reportedly contaminated by salmonella from chickens raised in filthy conditions on factory farms, Congress is at it again, looking to pass new regulations directed at food safety. The problem, critics say, is that so-called food safety legislation (H.R. 2749) introduced to clean up the country’s food supply is misdirected. Instead of reducing the ridiculous rules that prevent family farms from butchering livestock in small batches and selling meat and produce directly to consumers, congressmen want even stricter rules that only serve to benefit the massive multinational corporations that run the polluting factory farms.
The latest incarnation of food safety was introduced by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.) in late July and has already passed the House. It is currently being vetted in a Senate committee.
Take the recall of a half billion eggs from a corporation in Iowa that was well-known for its unsanitary conditions. State and federal agricultural authorities had regularly inspected the egg factory and had repeatedly cited and fined it for health hazards. Yet, the bureaucrats never did a thing to shut down the massive factory farm. The solution now being discussed in Congress is to hand even more power to federal authorities to impose recalls or shut down factories. In reality, the government already has that power, evidenced by the assault on independent family farms, especially producers of raw milk who have faced years of persecution at the hands of local, state and federal authorities. But corporate interests have the power and the money to fight the bureaucrats with their own army of lawyers.
The mainstream media remains clueless about the entire debate. For example, on Sept. 19 The New York Times excoriated legislators for not enacting even more stringent rules on food that would further consolidate the production of food in the hands of fewer and fewer multinational corporations, as if that is the answer.
It doesn’t require sterile laboratories to produce safe food. Enacting legislation that encourages the diversification of food is one solution, and there already is a bill that encourages this option. H. Res. 458, introduced by Rep. Jeff Fortenberry (R-Neb.), calls on the federal government to encourage “organic farming, gardening, local food production, and farmers markets.” But that has been stuck in the House Subcommittee on Department Operations, Oversight, Nutrition and Forestry since last year.
But the truth is, even that bill does not go far enough. The only way for Americans to be certain that their food is safe is to get more involved in food production. Reject massive supermarkets and other corporate bigbox stores. Support family farms that allow consumers to tour the facility to personally witness the conditions in which livestock are raised. Purchase produce and meats directly from the farm whenever possible. It may cost families a few extra dollars to do this, but it is the only way to truly be safe.
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(Issue # 40, October 4, 2010)


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Representative photo: ja ma/Unsplash.
Chennai: A startup called Lean Green – which aims to sell ready-to-cook frozen vegetables in India’s National Capital Region (NCR) – is being led by women in an effort to make India’s currently lopsided farm-to-fork chain a more level playing field. But equally importantly, the startup’s impending birth also points to the under-utilisation of the potential of frozen foods in India to improve access to good nutrition.
Founders Priya Kumar and Aditi Rathore have assigned all key roles in their enterprise to women, and in all, 70% of their employees are women. In addition, Lean Green also pays its farmer-suppliers double the market price, at a time when farmers have been protesting to have the government maintain a minimum sale price. It plans to sell chopped okra, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, corn and peas grown by around a dozen women farmers near Bagru, Rajasthan. The vegetables are sourced, quality-tested, then chopped, peeled, graded, blanched, frozen, packaged and transported, and later stocked in cold-storage facilities in Delhi.
Kumar and Rathore say they had the idea to launch Lean Green when they saw millennial households in urban India struggle to prepare home-cooked meals during the pandemic, with neither domestic workers nor food-delivery companies for help. And according to them, a market survey they conducted found that 95% of those responsible for preparing cooked meals in households were women.
“Ready-to-cook vegetables are convenient and suited to the new age, busy lifestyle as they save the drudgery of peeling and chopping. They are healthy, hygienically sourced, last for 12-18 months” – a longevity that they hope can help curb waste – “and have to just be stored in the freezer,” Kumar told The Wire. “Unlike traditional bulk freezing methods, [the one we use] involves quick freezing of individual pieces of the product that helps retain nutrition, taste and texture.”
Rathore, who hails from Jaipur, said that the biggest takeaway from their groundwork was that women had a fleeting presence in the frozen-food business.
“The men to women ratio is skewed in both established and small vendor companies. We decided it wasn’t enough that we venture into this industry – that a sustainable and more impactful move to challenge gender dynamics would be to encourage women employment especially in those profiles where they are likely to be underpaid,” Rathore said.
Rathore’s reading was that men and women farmers could perform equally well if the latter had access to the same tools, resources and skills. And as it happens, Rathore and Kumar experienced some of the discrimination firsthand themselves, when they had to deal with the industry’s more important members who mostly belonged to “family-backed male domains”. She said they had trouble convincing stakeholders at factories as well as farmers, and were often quoted “exorbitant rates”, but they persisted.
“Cooking is time-consuming and we want to make the experience breezy for everyone. My father is still sceptical about my solo visits to the factory, located a two-hour drive from the city,” Rathore said.
While Kumar has previously worked in business development and operations in the hospitality industry, Rathore has an MBA from the ESSEC Business School in France, and where she became familiar with ready-to-cook frozen vegetables.
According to Rathore, “This is the first time in the Indian domestic market that pre-chopped, ready-to-cook frozen vegetables are being offered as their only precedents have been peas and corn.”
“The frozen vegetables industry has around five dominant players even as the non-vegetarian sector has several competitors.”
“While the country has readily accepted non-vegetarian frozen food and preservative-laden potato chips in the last decade, the scope for ready-to-cook vegetables hasn’t been adequately explored,” Kumar said. A part of the resistance, she continued, is rooted in an entrenched assumption that frozen vegetables “can neither be fresh nor healthy” – and this she says isn’t true.
Though the Indian frozen food market has been projected to grow at a CAGR of more than 16% from 2018 to 2023, experts say freezing technologies, transport and cold-chain logistics don’t yet have the capacity to mobilise the food chain.
“The first step to address food insecurity is to control waste, and cold storage facilities are the way forward,” Eram S. Rao, an associate professor in the department of food technology, Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi, told The Wire. “India is the second largest producer of vegetables and fruits, yet we process only 5-6% of it.We are behind even smaller countries like Indonesia, Philippines and Malaysia.”
Rao vouched for freezing technologies, especially cryogenic freezing, and said that micro, small and medium enterprises could take advantage of them as long as they follow the standard operating procedures, “hygiene and manufacturing protocols laid down by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India”.
Instead, Rao continued, most companies these days skip freezing spices and condiments before they are ground, and as a result volatile compounds are lost. “The other important aspect is robust packaging that prevents spoilage, contamination and ensures safe storage. Finally, timely transportation from the farm to the consumer’s table is crucial,” she added. “A major roadblock is the massive trust deficit when it comes to frozen food.”
Dos and don’ts of frozen foods
But the roadblocks aren’t to be sneezed at. “Freezing does not kill microorganisms but puts them in a state of suspended growth and activity,” according to Rao. As a result, this state needs to be maintained — which in turn needs a sustained power supply. “The blunders usually happen at dairy stores, where shopkeepers tend to turn off refrigerators in the night to save electricity.”
Some others also turn up the refrigerator temperature in winter, allowing microbes to resume growing and putting food products like ice creams at risk of contamination by Escherichia coli bacteria. But over the years, many frozen-food manufacturers have caught up, with help from technology, to ensure the produce is frozen at its peak nutritional value and ripeness.
Contrary to a popular misconception that packaged foods are laden with preservatives, it’s possible with a combination of technologies and science to freeze vegetables without additives. “One must scrutinise the ingredient label of a package and if preservatives, artificial flavours or food colours, among other chemicals, find mention,” Rao said, “steer clear.”
According to a study comparing the nutritional value of fresh, frozen and canned vegetables, published in 2007, spinach loses 100% of its vitamin C content in seven days when stored at 20º C, 75% when refrigerated and 30% when frozen. Carrots, on the other hand, lose only 27% of their vitamin C content when stored for a week at room temperature. Another study, conducted by researchers at the University of California-Davis and the Frozen Food Foundation, revealed that the nutritional value of water-soluble vitamins – B2 and C – in frozen vegetables was the same or sometimes more than their fresh counterparts.
Ishi Khosla, a clinical nutritionist in New Delhi, said that once food thaws, it should be cooked thoroughly and not refrozen. “The produce is most nutritious when it is harvested, and from then, there is a progressive loss of nutrition,” she told The Wire. “Freezing does slow the process of degradation of nutrition.”
She also admitted there’s a marginal decline in nutritional value once a food is frozen, and that it varies. Produce that’s frozen to preserve its protein, carbohydrate, fat and vitamin content could, say, instead lose its phytonutrients and antioxidants. If customers are particular about colour and texture, the produce will have to be blanched before freezing to inactivate unwanted enzyme action. However, blanching leads to nutrition loss.
Finally, the importance of time and convenience also make frozen vegetables better than processed foods. Fresh foods are only marginally better than their frozen counterparts, according to Khosla, and in fact have an advantage when it’s hard to ensure fresh food is stored properly. “Instead of relying solely on frozen vegetables, they can be sensibly used as adjunct to fresh produce, whenever necessary,” Khosla said.
“If fresh isn’t available, frozen is a viable alternative. The principle should be to consume a diverse diet that is fresh, seasonal, local and organic to get nutrition on a consistent basis.” And during a pandemic, “the consumption of greens is far more important and vegetables in any format are better than none at all.”
Nalini Ravichandran is based in Chennai and has written for The Wire, Mongabay India and Culturico. Previously, she was with The New Indian Express, Chennai, and Mail Today, New Delhi.


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Alisha Goldstein didn’t want to let Lucky Brand Jeans give in to the urge to tear the house down and start over.
It was 2015, and Lucky, a heritage denim and apparel brand, was seeing sluggish sales and increased competition from upstart brands. Goldstein, a former brand director at BCBG Max Azria, was freelance consulting for the brand in-house, working across departments and with different C-suite executives to revamp their creative strategy and brand repositioning.
“This was a brand that had a good heritage, but with customer behavior changing and market pressures, that branding got muddled,” said Goldstein. “I wanted to understand where the brand was coming from, its heritage and how to use what was still strong within that, while modernizing. The goal is to build off of things, and not knock everything down and start from scratch. Some agencies might rub their hands together at that opportunity, but it didn’t seem right internally.”
While working across Lucky’s internal teams to not just plan a new marketing campaign for an upcoming collection but also to align other departments on the budgeting and fresh direction for the brand, Goldstein saw an opportunity to take a new approach to traditional brand-agency relationships. After working in-house at the brand for a few months, she could identify what the brand needed to outsource, like photoshoot production, and what it could handle in-house, like day-to-day campaign management and social media copy. She pulled together a network of freelancers she worked with on past projects and, in August of that year, launched Jane Smith, an agency that operates a hybrid model of in-house consulting and external agency services to better meet brands’ evolving needs.
Jane Smith, which has now worked with brands including Lucky, Chanel, Sephora, David Yurman and Elie Tahari, is offering brands an alternative to traditional agency services that aims to better serve individual brand needs, while maximizing their budgets. Part of the goal is that, eventually, brands will be able to do more on their own and complement those internal resources with agency services as needed. At the same time, the way brands operate has changed: Fashion houses are expected to produce more content more periodically, with similar budget restrictions. Meanwhile, young consumer startup brands have begun to eschew the agency model altogether, a cost-cutting strategy that also gives them more control over branding and customer data.
“The agency-as-service model has fallen out of favor,” said Chris Fryburger, a business development consultant. “Brands are more often seeking to build up their own creative capabilities, which they see as making them more competitive in the market, as well as getting them more consistent results for the investments they’re making.”
To survive, agencies have been changing the way they work with brands in order to align with their needs.
“A couple of things have changed: We’re tasked with producing more content, and we have to have more of a narrative with our target audience. But you want to keep your stability and be on brand with everything you’re doing,” said Deanna Bedoya, the senior director of brand marketing and creative services at Lucky. “This model gives us agility to work with creative agency talent alongside an internal team that’s more organized and efficient. It’s not an agency as service, but an agency partnership. The most important thing is that the people you’re working with know how you operate as an organization.”
Other agencies have risen up specifically to fill gaps for brands that want to bring more talent in-house. Vitamin T, a staffing agency, works with brands like Louis Vuitton to help them fill both temporary and full-time positions for new roles they’re hiring for, where they might have sought out agency services in the past.
“We’ve seen roles moving in-house, so there’s a need for more hiring to keep control of the creative lens along with the message that brands are putting out there across platforms,” said Colin Kerr, a business development manager at Vitamin T. “Brands today are more interested in spending money on people who can immerse themselves in the brand, not spending money to keep an agency on retainer.”
The outcome is twofold: Brands’ in-house teams are getting better at fielding the right work from agencies, while agency and brand relationships that form are becoming closer.
Work & Co, a digital product agency that counts brands like Celine and Aldo as clients, works with brands to develop new platforms, like websites and apps, as those areas have become more important. The team found brands that bring more talent in-house are better equipped to know what they need from agency partners.
“As our client partners come in with a better understanding of not just the power of digital to open up possibilities — but the complexities inherent in redesigning a website or building a new app or launching a conversational interface — that means we can spend more time actually working on products and refining them, versus a lot of up-front explaining,” said Jon Jackson, design partner at Work & Co. According to Jackson, the best agency work comes out of long-term brand relationships.
For Goldstein, her approach was to bridge the disconnect between what agencies are tasked to do — a silo in and of itself — and how brands are operating internally. So, that work includes setting up brands’ internal processes to succeed when the agency steps in to assist on creative projects.
“Typically, agencies get one assignment and work on that assignment. It’s not that agencies don’t want to succeed, but there’s a separation and lack of integration with the daily happenings of the brand’s in-house environment,” said Goldstein. “By getting inside and understanding the mentality behind the decisions and why those are being made, you can prioritize properly and bring projects to life.”


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Retailers are expected to rack up fewer sales than originally predicted this holiday season, ShopperTrak reported Wednesday.
The Chicago-based consultancy has lowered its holiday sales forecast to gains of 2.8 percent, down from the 3.3 percent predicted at the start of the holiday season.
ShopperTrak maintains that holiday season foot traffic will remain at its original forecast of 2.8 percent growth.
Several factors played into the revised outlook, including Hurricane Sandy and retailer's selling heavily discounted merchandise.
ShopperTrak monitors foot traffic and sales in more than 50,000 retail locations worldwide. For the week that ended Dec. 15, retail sales increased 16.4 percent from the week before and foot traffic rose 15.1 percent. Still retail sales declined 4.4 percent and foot traffic by 4.3 percent from the same time last year.
Though sales and foot traffic picked up last week, overall they have lagged last year's largely as consumers postponed purchasing and mild weather has slowed sales of cold-weather gear.
"Hanukkah-related shopping helped boost retail sales last week, but many consumers delayed their Christmas shopping -- and with good reason. They saw 32 shopping days between Black Friday and Christmas, the longest interval possible," said Bill Martin, ShopperTrak founder. "However, time is running out and Christmas is less than one week away.
ShopperTrak expects Saturday. Dec. 22 to be one of the biggest shopping days of the year for retailers as the last minute Christmas shopping rush kicks in.
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As part of Techweek in May, TECH-Xpectations connected the school-to-scaleup Innovation Escalator, providing an interactive platform to discuss the challenges and opportunities presented by digital transformation. The event at the B:Hive in Takapuna bridged the gap between businesses, innovators and students in the Grow North Innovation District and was a collaborative initiative between ecentre, Massey Business School, Shore Junction, Smales Farm and Takapuna Beach Business Association.
Live demonstrations included KiwiQuads racing drones and indoor racing league, virtual reality for retail research from Massey University spinout company Consumer Insights, augmented reality from Curiat, and a number of tech-focused Impact Projects from students at Albany Senior High School.
“Seeing the enthusiasm of the high school students being exposed to leading edge tech was most memorable,” noted Dorian Scott, special projects manager at ecentre. “I’m sure students saw possible career paths for themselves.”
Everedge IP senior strategist Sarah Cross emceed the event, hosting an interactive, real-time discussion and problem-solving forum with experts across a wide variety of topics:
Digital Humans: Digital Humans with Mark Fitzgerald, FaceMe
Artificial Intelligence: Conversational Interfaces with Atilio Ranzuglia, Head of Technology, Aider.AI
Internet of Things: Sam Houghton, Digital Services, BECA
Bootstrapping vs Angel Funding with Jackie Young, Flying Kiwi Angels and technology investor Peter Knowles
Wearables with Andrew Wong & Rakesh Vallabh from iMeasureU
Agritech with Chris Wigley
Retail Tech with Dr John Murray, Senior Lecturer in Retail and Marketing, Massey University
MedTech with Richard Little and Faisal Almesfer, Exsurgo Rehab
Augmented Reality with Rob Hanks, Founder, Curiat
Gaming with Charlie Meaden Director, Metagame Technology
Logistics and Transport Technology with Tim Russell, Callaghan Innovation
Massey University’s business innovation incubator ecentre - a leader in innovation in North Auckland – links entrepreneurs with business mentors every day. Head to Sprint Programmes to find out how to enrol.


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BlackBerry Finds a Buyer, Layoffs Likely to Continue
Troubled smartphone maker BlackBerry has agreed to be bought out by a consortium to be led by hedge fund Fairfax Financial Holdings Limited. But this pending acquisition is unlikely to reverse BlackBerry's plans to cut 40 percent of its workforce. Fairfax, BlackBerry’s largest shareholder with a 10 percent stake in the company, will buy the company and take it private for $9 a share – making the deal worth approximately $4.7 billion. Just Friday, BlackBerry announced it would cut 4,500 employees, or 40 percent of its staff, while attempting to reduce operating costs by approximately 50 percent. In announcing its plans to slash its workforce, buyers apparently ramped up their interest in the company over the weekend, according to a report in the Telegraph. With the financial profile of the company improving with far fewer workers and buyers' interest rising, it's unlikely BlackBerry will suddenly reverse its layoff plans. It's unclear if the prospective buyers would seek even further reductions, should the transaction go through. BlackBerry's board has until Nov. 4 to find a better offer than Fairfax’s, before submitting the proposed deal to its shareholders for a vote. Fairfax Financial CEO Prem Watsa characterized the deal as one that "will open an exciting new private chapter for BlackBerry, its customers, carriers and employees" while at the same time delivering “immediate value to shareholders." The other members of the consortium were not announced.


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Apple Has Big Lead on Microsoft in
Corporate Market for Smartphones
– Will Tens of Thousands of iPads Follow?
– Has Microsoft Lost the Corporate Market for Smartphones &
Another indicator of how far ahead Microsoft has allowed Apple
and Android to get ahead of it in the corporate market is
shown by the latest numbers from IDC, which predict that for
2012 the combined number of iPhones and Android smartphones
will surpass the BlackBerry in the corporate marketplace.
Corporate employees will buy for business use 87.7 million
Android smartphones and 37.1 million iPhones. Corporate direct
purchases will be 15.1 million for Android and 31.1 million
for the iPhone.
In 2011, BlackBerry led in corporate purchases of smartphone
with 22.4 million.
The IDC report said that BlackBerry remains “the gold standard
for security” but that reduced interest by consumers and
developers “hinders its viability going forward.”
IDC predicts the iPhone will become the top corporate
purchased smartphone in 2016 with 68.9 million shipments.
It said businesses are buying iPhones “in droves” and that its
iOS platform and tight security are a “win-win” for the
It acknowledged that Android has lots of apps developers but
said the “fragmented” operating system has “more gaps in
security than many organizations are comfortable with.”
There’s another takeaway. The corporates approval and
purchases of the iPhone’s iOS means that millions of iPads
will soon find their way into the corporates.
Government agencies are following suit. The National
Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) has switched from
BlackBerry to the iPhone. So has the US Immigration and
Customs Enforcement agency, which is buying 17,600 iPhones.
The NOAA and the GSA will do the same.
Can iPads be far behind?


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Primark podpisał Kartę Przemysłu Modowego na Rzecz Klimatu pod egidą programu klimatycznego Narodów Zjednoczonych (UNFCCC), wspierając tym samym jej założenia mówiące o dążeniu do osiągnięcia neutralności klimatycznej oraz zobowiązując się do 30% redukcji emisji gazów cieplarnianych do 2030 r.
Primark is announcing today a further substantial commitment to suppliers, pledging to pay our garment suppliers in full for all outstanding finished garments and to utilise or pay for any finished fabric liabilities.
Primark firmly endorses today’s announcement from the UN’s International Labour Organisation calling for urgent collaboration between stakeholders to support garment industry workers across the world affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.
Primark extends its commitment to support its suppliers, agreeing to take some £370m of additional products both finished and in production
Primark announces today that it is now able to commit to pay for some £370m of additional orders for product over and above the £1.5bn of stock in stores, depots and in transit. This means it will now take all product that was both in production and finished, and planned for handover by 17 April.
Primark is donating care packs filled with 74,000 products including underwear, leggings, t-shirts, footwear, and towels for NHS frontline staff working at the UK’s new NHS Nightingale Hospital in London, boxed and delivered by Primark volunteers.
Following the global covid-19 health crisis Primark announces today that it has established a fund to cover the wages component of orders that have been cancelled. Since March 22, Primark’s entire store estate has been closed, with the loss of sales worth £650m every month.


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PARIS, July 29 (Reuters) – Publicis (PUBP.PA), the world’s third-largest advertising group by revenue, posted better than expected first-half results and raised its outlook as the global advertising industry recovers.
Publicis’ outperformance in the first half was fueled largely by a return to growth in nearly all regions, including the U.S., Europe, Asia, and Latin America, as well as by its digital business, the company said.
“The growth came from both new business and existing clients raising their ad spending,” Publicis CEO Maurice Levy told journalists. “We really have the feeling of being at the end of economic crisis, or even having put it completely behind us.”
Publicis, which competes with WPP (WPP.L) and Omnicom Group Inc. (OMC.N), posted first-half revenues of 2.54 billion euros and operating profit of 369 million euros, and had an operating margin of 14.5 percent.
The results exceeded analysts’ expectations of revenue of 2.44 billion euros, operating profit of 326 million euros, and a 13.4 percent operating margin.
Publicis’ strong performance comes after some of the world’s big advertising groups have sounded optimistic notes about the economic recovery lately as blue-chip companies boost their ad spending.
Omnicom posted better-then-expected results last week with CEO John Wren saying growth had returned to the U.S., Middle East, Asia, and Latin America, although Europe remained sluggish. [ID:nN16117713] [ID:nLDE65O1BB]
Analysts at ZenithOptimedia recently upped their forecast for worldwide advertising market growth from 2.2 to 3.5 percent this year.
“Of our 30 biggest clients, the vast majority of them have increased their ad budgets and are doing more business with us than before,” said Levy.
The group also signed new business contracts worth 2.1 billion euros in the first half.
Levy said the situation led Publicis to raise its full-year guidance for organic growth from 3 percent to at least 3.5 percent.
He also said Publicis hoped to exceed the 15 percent operating margin it achieved last year, a change from its earlier target of meeting last year’s level. [ID:nLDE65O1UT]
Levy added that concerns remained over Europe’s sovereign debt crisis and the prospects for the U.S. economy, but that he felt that Publicis would reach its raised targets nevertheless.
“There are indications that the market could slow, and I take them into account,” he said. “But even in a slowing market Publicis will do better than what we have announced till now.”
(Additional reporting by Cyril Altmeyer, editing by Geert De Clercq)


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Amazon is trying to give mobile Flash a new lease on life, long after Adobe left the plug-in for dead on phones and tablets.
Citing an Amazon spokesman, All Things D reports that the company has been quietly testing Flash video playback on Kindle Fire devices since February. Users who try to watch video on sites like NBC.com and CBS.com may see an option to enable an “experimental streaming viewer” that plays Flash content.
To help handle the load, the experimental viewer uses Amazon’s Silk browser technology, which processes and compresses webpages on Amazon servers.
“We also wanted to use the cloud to offer new features or capabilities that solve customer frustrations—one we heard often from customers was that they wanted to view Flash content,” Amazon spokesman Kurt Kufeld told All Things D.
Adobe stopped developing the mobile version of Flash Player in November 2011, and withdrew its Android app from the Google Play Store less than a year ago. On Android devices, Flash was always a bit clumsy, demanding lots of system resources and running into stability problems.
Apple’s famous refusal to allow Flashon the iPhone and iPad led many online video services to adopt native apps and HTML5-based web players as an alternative. Adobe is now focusing its efforts on HTML5 and native apps as well.
Still, there are lots of video sites that require Flash, such as TheDailyShow.com. For these sites, Amazon will take a controlled approach, supporting just a handful of video sources and slowly expanding support to more sites over time.
It’s unclear when Flash will become more broadly available on Kindle Fire tablets though, if the feature works as well as Amazon says, it could make a useful addition to the company’s next generation of tablets.
Unnamed sources tell Boy Genius Report that a trio of new Kindle Fires will be out this fall, with higher-resolution displays and lighter designs than the current models.
Just one thing to consider: Your inability to watch full TV episodes on NBC.com or Fox.com is more about strategy than technology. As we saw with the blocking of network TV shows from Google TV and other Flash-enabled devices, networks want to tightly control how their content is accessed on tablets and televisions. Amazon may find that if it does enable Flash more broadly, the Kindle Fire could quickly become cut off from the videos that Flash was meant to access.
This story, "Amazon tests Flash support for Kindle Fire as new tablets wait in the wings" was originally published by TechHive.


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SAN FRANCISCO (CN) - A federal judge rejected Abbott Laboratories' request for judgment in an antitrust suit over wide price swings for the HIV drug Norvir.
U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken's Nov. 24 ruling follows a 9th Circuit mandate that a new trial must be held because a juror was improperly dismissed during jury selection.
The appellate court's remand for a new trial, which was based on Abbot's use of a preemptory strike against the only identifiable gay member of the jury pool, led to Abbott's renewed motion for judgment as a matter of law.
But Wilken found enough evidence was presented during the jury trial for her to deny Abbot's motion on all claims, including that GlaxoSmithKline had failed to demonstrate Abbott's monopoly in the market for HIV protease inhibitors that require the use of Norvir, an HIV drug that boosts their anti-viral properties.
GlaxoSmithKline and several pharmacies and drug wholesalers sued Abbot in 2007 after it increased the price of Norvir.
Before researchers uncovered Norvir's booster properties, which can help HIV patients live longer, Abbott sold the drug as a stand-alone protease inhibitor at $18 for a full dose. In 2003, Norvir's average price had plummeted to just $1.71 for a daily dose.
Abbott meanwhile had introduced the stand-alone protease inhibitor Kaletra, which contained the booster ingredient and a second protease inhibitor. Around the same time, Bristol Meyers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline released their competing protease inhibitors, Reyataz and Lexiva. Consumers who bought Reyataz and Lexiva also needed to buy the Norvir booster for the drug to approach, or surpass, Kaletra's properties. A competing boosted protease inhibitor did not hit the market until Prezista launched in 2006.
Struggling to boost its market share without removing its product from the market in 2003, Abbott increased Norvir's price. The prices of Kaletra, Reyataz and Lexiva rose as well, but Reyataz and Lexiva consumers were hit hardest since they also needed the expensive Norvir booster.
Wilken cited trial evidence that showed Abbott's anti-competitive conduct.
"Abbott had a pattern of licensing Norvir and increasing the price only at the rate of inflation. In contrast, the December 2003 400-percent price increase caused the cost of GSK's boosted Lexiva-based therapy to increase by seventy-one percent. In addition, GSK presented evidence of 'anticompetitive malice' including a presentation recommending delaying the announcement of the price increase to be 'simultaneous with' the launch of Lexiva and calling the plan a 'clever creative way to make [GSK] look bad.' GSK also presented an email sent shortly after the price increase, from the president of Abbott's United States Pharmaceutical Products Division to a group of individuals responsible for the price increase, stating, 'Congratulations to the A Team. You folks are fantastic. It's too bad you're giving a lump of coal to BMS and GSK for the holidays, but such is life,'" Wilken wrote. "This evidence, combined with the sudden price increase, was sufficient to allow a reasonable jury to find in GSK's favor on its duty to deal claim."
Wilken also found that GlaxoSmithKline had presented sufficient evidence to rebut Abbott's claimed "legitimate business justification" of profiting from its intellectual property rights in Norvir.
"GSK presented evidence that the price increase was timed to disrupt the launch of Lexiva," Wilken wrote. "In addition, GSK presented other evidence that, in response to concerns that competitors were taking market share from Kaletra, Abbott was considering either pulling Norvir from the market or implementing the price increase at issue in this case. Based on this evidence, a reasonable jury could find that Abbott's purported legitimate business justification was pretextual."Follow @MariaDinzeo
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The impact of Brexit for companies operating in the greater Rotterdam port area is expected to be immense. The remaining time until ‘Brexit day’ on March 29 is hard needed to finetune the last and most important details in the negotiation process between the UK and the EU. Over 100 participants attended the Deltalinqs Autumn-Seminar to get up to speed and discuss the latest insights on this subject. The seminar was a co production of Deltalinqs, the Rotterdam Port Promotion Council and the Rotterdam Maritime Services Community,
The joint presentation of the representatives of the Dutch Customs and KPMG provided clear insights: “Brexit is unique, but not extraordinary – make sur to be prepared”. Companies expect their business to be impacted by Brexit. By conducting thorough impact analyses, they can prepare themselves as far as possible. Roel van ‘t Veld, Brexit-specialist at Dutch Customs, stated that because of the importance of UK related business in the Rotterdam port area, Dutch companies are better prepared than other EU countries.
The combination of visions from the public sector and the birds-eye view from the private sector was also interesting; one of the ferry companies active towards the UK, DFDS Seaways, gave a clear indication; “without the right papers, trucks won’t be allowed to enter the terminal”. Which directly shows the importance of cooperation throughout the entire chain. DFDS stated that they are preparing in different ways. Including educating employees and making adjustments to the infrastructure at the terminal. From a producers point of view, Fred van Dijl from Sunrise Medical elaborated on the impact of the insecurity surrounding Brexit at the moment.
In a little over an hour, the attendees were brought up to date. During the wrap up the audience had the opportunity to ask questions. It was great to hear most attendees are already preparing their companies for Brexit, both at company level and as part of the Dutch logistics cluster.
Afterwards, there was more than enough time for networking – hope we can repeat this soon again.


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Move over, Samsung, The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 aren’t the only foldable phones using the latest and greatest from Samsung. According to Pricebaba, the next Oppo Find N foldable phones will use the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1.
With all of the excitement around the latest Galaxy foldable phones, it’s easy to forget that other companies also make foldable phones. Motorola just announced its latest Razr phone and Xiaomi is also bringing a foldable phone to the market. Unfortunately, there’s just not much competition in the market, as Samsung owns the foldable phones market.
While Samsung’s foldable phones are the most popular, other companies were able to create their own compelling foldables. Oppo introduced its first back last year called the Oppo Find N. It’s much shorter and boxier than the Galaxy Fold of that year. This is something that people actually liked, as the outer display was more usable.
Now, the company is working to bring a pair of new foldable phones to the market. They will be called the Find N Flip and the Find N Fold when they launch. Notably, these new Find N phones are expected to be powered by the new Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC.
Right now, that chip is about the most powerful mobile on the market for Android phones. This means that these phones will have as much power as they need to do anything.
Right now, details on this duo of phones are extremely scarce. Rumors point to these phones launching sometime in the Fall. This means that it could possibly launch earlier or right around the time of the first Oppo Find N. That phone launched back in December of 2021.
We will get more information on these devices as the months roll on. Hopefully, they’ll be worthy competition for the newly-released Galaxy Foldable phones.


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Facebook's data collection practices have come under scrutiny following a controversy involving Cambridge Analytica, a digital consultancy with ties to the Trump presidential campaign that improperly obtained data on up to 87 million Facebook users without their permission.
What are Facebook's 'shadow profiles?' And the agreements users are confronted with are often opaque making it hard for people to understand what data is being collected and shared, and who would get access to it.
Earlier this week, The Interceptor, based on the confidential documents obtained, exposed Facebook's secret new advertising service that leverages artificial AI to predict user behavior.
However, he never explained what these reasons are, nor did he explain what Facebook is doing with the information it gathers, aside from using it for security purposes. In order to maintain one's privacy better, delete the unknown set of friends you've ever added Only keep reliable and trustworthy people on your list.
Privacy protection - as much as we can expect from our engagement with social media - is the predominant issue for people angry at Facebook these days. "We also get information about which website or app you're using, which is necessary to know when to provide our tools", Baser noted. The hearing of Zuckerberg's testimony exemplified that the proposed ideas from Congress on how to regulate Facebook were not efficient options for the company. Yes, you heard that right. Any violations of the 2011 agreement could subject Facebook to fines of $41,484 per violation per user per day.
Facebook does offer a handy link that allows a quick adjustment to your account settings.
"Facebook provides a network where the users, while getting free services a lot of them consider useful, are subject to a multitude of nontransparent analyses, profiling, and other mostly obscure algorithmical processing", said Johannes Caspar, the data protection commissioner for Hamburg, Germany.
If we are going to continue to use Facebook, as users we must also learn how to crackdown on the site and protect ourselves.
Facebook sent notices alerting users of its new face recognition uses and said it provides a page where they can turn the feature off.
Zuckerberg has stated his willingness to comply with GDPR for its European users but has stopped short of guaranteeing similar protections for users in the USA and elsewhere.
According to Facebook, this program will reward those with first-hand knowledge and proof of cases where a Facebook platform app collects and transfers user data to another party to be sold, stolen, or used for scams or political influence.
Facebook also says it uses the data to improve its own ads and identify bots and bad actors. You can change these permissions, " he said.


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A firm in China is encouraging its employees to hook up, offering cash incentives.
The company will offer 1,112 Chinese yuan (Â£112) to any two people who start an office romance.
It is hoped that the initiative will boost morale and create an "even more harmonious team", according to Business Insider.
The Chengdu cloud computing company will also offer two days leave for any office couple that breaks up.
The launch of the new bonus coincided with China's 'Singles Day' on November 11, which acts as a counter to Valentine's Day and celebrates being single.
> Chinese couples to send 'seven-year itch' love letters
> Men more likely to say 'I love you' first, researchers find


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Topic: Personalized experience
We spoke with Garrett Schott, director of food and beverage at the Irvine Marriott, about two brand-new concepts.
Personalized guest experiences are an increasingly crucial element for any bar, nightclub, restaurant or hotel's success.
Today’s consumer craves the convenience advancements in technology can offer them. What tech will come to our industry next?
A new study has revealed the lucrative emergence of the new nightclub, known as the eatertainment venue.
New tech allows operators to collect hundreds of guest datapoints and use them without sacrificing guest engagement.
Independent operations can learn a lot about the guest experience, brand loyalty and visit frequency from their chain counterparts.
Both bottle service and bar service are important aspects of your nightclub’s performance, but which model is best for business?
One effective tactic for developing a loyal customer base that returns to your venue on a regular basis is recognizing life-stage moments.
Technology can help you keep up with shifts in customer expectations but you have to know how to integrate new tech partners without causing major disruptions.


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Retailer Walmart has come under fire for selling a line of T-shirts accused of mocking the “Black Lives Matter” slogan.
T-shirts on the Walmart Canada website included the phrases ‘Irish lives matter’, ‘Homeless lives matter’, ‘Motorcycle lives matter’, and ‘Red lives matter’.
Other merchandise sold on the US website included the phrase ‘Blue lives matter’ a slogan coined to support police and a T-shirt with the slogan ‘All lives matter’, a slogan that has been used by some who don’t support the Black Lives Matter movement.
Several Twitter users slammed the retailer for promoting messages that have been deemed as dismissive to the Black Lives Matter movement.
“Are you kidding me @WalmartCanada? Disgusting. Do better,” one commenter wrote.
“Disgusting @WalmartCanada take this off of your racks,” another commented.
Many people have suggested the variations of slogans are mocking the Black Lives Matter movement with the phrase used as a rallying cry during protests against racism and police killings of black people.
According to website The Real, Wallmart Canada said the items are sold and shipped by a third party seller who they were looking at to see if items sold on its website breach the company's "terms and conditions".
“At Walmart Canada, we stand against any form of racism or discrimination. We promote listening, seeking to understand and embracing individual differences.
“Today, our third-party marketplace has a number of items with variations on the phrase ‘lives matter.’ We will continue to review those items to ensure compliance with our terms and conditions,” they said in a statement.
As of Wednesday (local time), Walmart Canada had removed the “All lives matter’ T-shirt but is still selling a ‘Blue lives matter’ onesie.
Do you have a story tip? Email: firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Posted on May 23, 2012 AT 07:08pm
On May 30th at 5pm GMT, CD Projekt RED will hold its Summer Conference. CD Projekt RED is the developer of The Witcher series, as well as the owners of the distribution platform GOG.com. The studio is planning on making a major announcement that day. They will also talk in detail about news concerning the products on GOG.com.
The entire event will be streamed live from facebook.com/thewitcher. CD Projekt RED’s joint-CEO Marcin Iwiński has invited everyone to join the stream in a little video:
Today's Top 10 Stories
Website Interface © 2012 EGM Digital Media, LLC.


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Tropicana Gets Fifth New Jersey Online Gambling OKPublished October 29, 2013 by OCR Editor
Tropicana has become the fifth operator to be granted an online casino in New Jersey.
Atlantic City is breaking into the online gambling industry as they have been awarded the prestigious fifth permit to operate a New Jersey online gambling site. New Jersey gambling officials granted Tropicana with their permit last Monday and they will soon be offering a long list of online casino games to players in NJ.
Tropicana and Gamesys Limited entered into a partnership and will be providing players from the Garden State with the chance to gamble from the comfort of their own homes just as players from the rest of the world have been able to do so for some time now. Gamesys operates JackpotJoy Casino and with this new partnership they will now be able to operate in the US.
New Jersey is the 3rd state to pass the law which allows online gaming within their borders. Both Delaware and Nevada are able to offer online gambling but in Nevada it is currently restricted to online Poker games.
The topic of US online gambling has been first page news since the law came up and the huge US market is more than ready to go digital. Atlantic City brick and mortar gambling has been slow going since it peaked in 2006 and with new online gambling sites soon to be available, hopes are that new, young, more tech-savvy players will get on-board.
"Both Tropicana and Gamesys are looking forward to introducing our customers to a new level of gaming through its online offerings, which will both entertain and raise the bar in gaming experience," related Tropicana CEO and president Tony Rodio.


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Nail-painting robot startup Nimble nets $10 million in seed funding
Nimble, the world’s first device that uses artificial intelligence to self-paint and dry nails in 10 minutes per hand, also launched a Kickstarter campaign last month which has raised over $1.4 million
Nimble has created the world’s first device that uses artificial intelligence to self-paint and dry nails in 10 minutes per hand. The company launched, in addition, a Kickstarter campaign on April 12 with a goal of raising at least $25,000 for product production and accelerating growth. Within three weeks of the campaign, the company has raised more than $1.4 million in funding, with over 4,000 customers purchasing the product. The company promises a professional-looking manicure in three easy steps, with the device autonomously painting nails using the precise amount of nail polish for a perfect manicure.
The Kickstarter campaign will continue through May, and the product will then go into production and be available to consumers by the end of the year.
Nimble, which currently has 12 employees in Israel and New York, was founded at the end of 2016 by CEO Omri Moran, VP R&D Avichay Mor-Yosef and CTO Ron Miller.
“The idea for Nimble came from having to wait for a long time for a date with my wife-to-be,” explained Moran. “When I asked her why she took so long, she explained that the reason was her manicure. We went on to talk during the date about all the troubles caused by manicures and I understood that a technological solution was really necessary.”


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Aktarer Zakman figured out a secret tactic for getting massive discounts on flights. His method is completely legal, but could cost airlines millions.
Now, United Airlines and Orbitz Travel are taking aim at the 22-year-old computer genius/entrepreneur. Both companies have deployed their lawyers in a desperate attempt to shut him up.
So what exactly has airlines and travel companies running scared? Zakman's website, Skiplagged.com, reveals "hidden city" ticketing.
How does hidden city ticketing work?
Let's say that I wanted to fly from Phoenix to Denver. If I was to fly directly to Denver, it'd cost me $200. If I wanted to fly to Seattle, though, I'd only pay $120 with a stop in Denver.
The Skiplagged system finds flights that cost less with ending destinations in different cities. Instead of continuing on to your destination, though, you just get off the flight when you reach the city you're hoping to hit.
Airlines jack up the prices for flights and Skiplagged lets you hunt new methods for ways to get around these prices.
Zakman and his website are being sued by Orbitz and United Airlines for $75,000 in damages. We'll see how all of this turns out.
Want more great bargains? Check out the new best day to get cheap airline tickets.


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The latest posts from Doom And Bloom
In a rare bipartisan effort, 50 members of Congress have asked the DEA to hold off on the upcoming ban on the active ingredients in the plant Kratom (Mitragyna speciose). Kratom, a member of the coffee family, is used by many Americans as a substitute for opiates. A plethora of testimonials exist online by former users of Heroin and other drugs that the plant has “saved their life”. 130,000 people signed a recent White House petition to protest the DEA’s actions.
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Having launched its digital currency, the Sand Dollar, in December 2019, the Bahamas could reach a new milestone by becoming the first country to roll out a sovereign digital currency to neighboring islands. The public release is slated to happen in October.
Citing sources close to the matter, Bloomberg reported the development latest development, which is set to make it simple for islands surrounding the Bahamas to settle transactions using the new digital payment solution. The inhabitants of those islands have little or no access to banking platforms or even digital payment solutions.
Commenting on the new payment solution, the assistant manager of Solution at the Central Bank of the Bahamas, Chaozhen Chen, said that the apex bank “had to customize the effort and the solution to what we need as a sovereign nation.”
At this time, only $48,000 worth of Sand Dollar (pegged to the Bahamian dollars) is on the central bank’s balance sheet.
Upon setup, the Sand Dollar payment solution service will be made available on mobile devices. Even when users are offline, they can still have access to run their business transactions. The user experience might reportedly vary slightly for already existing customers.
Meanwhile, transaction facilitators in the likes of payment services providers (PSPs) will pose as a ‘go-between’ for the ease of utilizing the Sand Dollar as a means of settling a transaction or debt.
Speaking on how The Bahamas’ regulatory policy will support the acceptability of the Sand Dollars, the head of technology at Island Pay, a PSP firm, said: “The Bahamas is laying the groundwork for how it could be done throughout the Caribbean.”
Unlike fiat-backed dollars used in the crypto space, Chen said that The Bahamas would only mint new units of the Sand Dollar in the future to meet with growing demand. The digital currency project will not give room for its populace to illegal activities often found in the crypto space.
For instance, the digital currency will be subject to the same anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) policies associated with traditional bank accounts.
In such a manner, the Sand Dollar differs from existing digital currencies like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), which does not have a direct link to fiat currencies and cannot be traced to a particular holder.
Your crypto deserves the best security. Get a Ledger hardware wallet for just $79!


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The Realme Narzo 60 5G has caused a stir in the smartphone world with its recent appearance on the Geekbench 6.1 test, revealing exciting performance insights and standout features. With a motherboard codenamed “k6833v1_64_k419” and powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor, this device is poised to make a strong impact in the mid-range segment. Garnering a single-core score of 714 and a multi-core score of 1868, the Realme Narzo 60 5G demonstrates its ability to handle demanding tasks.
Additionally, hints from certifications such as TENAA and BIS suggest that the international version may bear similarities to the Realme 11 5G, featuring a 6.43-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate.
International Version: Resembling Realme 11 5G
Early certifications such as TENAA and BIS suggest that the international version of the Realme Narzo 60 5G shares similarities with the Realme 11 5G. While specific details are yet to be confirmed, users can anticipate a consistent design language and potentially similar specifications across these models. This provides Realme enthusiasts with a familiar experience when transitioning between different devices.
Powerful Performance with MediaTek Dimensity 6020
At the heart of the Realme Narzo 60 5G lies the MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor, delivering impressive power and efficiency. This octa-core chipset ensures smooth performance, effortlessly handling multitasking, gaming, and resource-intensive applications. The Geekbench 6.1 test results showcase the device’s prowess with notable single-core and multi-core scores, indicating a device capable of delivering a seamless user experience.
The Realme Narzo 60 5G has generated excitement with its recent appearance on the Geekbench 6.1 test, revealing its impressive performance capabilities and standout features. Powered by the MediaTek Dimensity 6020 processor and featuring a generous RAM configuration, this device promises seamless multitasking and smooth performance. With hints of resemblance to the Realme 11 5G in its international version and an immersive FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90Hz refresh rate, the Realme Narzo 60 5G is set to captivate mid-range smartphone enthusiasts. As anticipation grows, users eagerly await the official launch of the Realme Narzo 60 5G, poised to make a strong impact in the competitive smartphone market.


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With just the right amount of brutality and craziness, Wolfenstein: The New Order is a genuine good-old Nazi-killing time.
We speak with MachineGames narrative designer Tommy Tordsson Bjork about the challenges of creating a new look for the granddaddy of first person shooter protagonists, B.J. Blaskowicz.
The game will be available in the fourth quarter on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PCs, according to Bethesda.
Over a dozen of EA's most popular titles will get a makeover for the iPhone this year as the company continues to invest in titles for the App Store.
ZeniMax Australia will oversee local sales, marketing and distribution for gaming titles from the publisher.
You won't want to dawdle. The sale cuts the price of Xbox One accessories and games but is good only Friday and Saturday.
Nintendo's making toys, Destiny takes gamers back to a familiar place, elephants become weaponised, and a shooter classic makes a comeback in a packed day one for E3.
ZeniMax is taking the VR company and its 21-year-old founder to court for allegedly misappropriating trade secrets.
Mark Licea jumps back into the guest seat today for a chat about Wolfenstein: New Order, a hack that gives you a spoiler-free Internet, and Nintendo's big problem in advance of E3.
Sony has promised to show off more than 40 new games at its PlayStation 4 event at E3 tonight -- follow all the action on CNET from 1.30am.


text: It’s difficult to believe the West Village is ground zero for new high-end real estate. Anyone who walks through that part of Manhattan will see that not only is most of the space all taken up, but its taken up by small, independent boutiques, dive bars, and prewar multi-family townhouses and brownstones. Not exactly the stuff that surrounds luxury Manhattan condos. But there’s been an influx of high-end development in the area recently, and several ultra-luxury Manhattan condos for sale are scheduled to open over the next few years. How are developers dealing with the space constraints? They’re focused entirely on redevelopment. Which means that many of the West Village’s old and derelict commercial buildings are becoming new, modern luxury condos.


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While Apple’s iPhones, AirPods, and the Apple Watch support wireless charging, Apple’s iPads have been left off that list. To be fair, it’s not like there’s a lot of demand for wireless charging tablets to begin with, but perhaps that could change next year with an iPad Pro with wireless charging support.
This is according to Mark Gurman’s Power On newsletter in which he reiterates claims that Apple could launch a new iPad Pro that will not only feature a new design, but will also support wireless charging.
It was actually reported earlier this year that the new iPad Pro could support wireless charging and reverse charging, meaning that it will be able to recharge other devices wirelessly as well. Given that the iPad typically has a bigger battery, we suppose it could be used to charge other Apple devices like the iPhone and AirPods.
This wouldn’t be the first time that we’ve heard about reverse wireless charging. FCC filings for the iPhone 12 have suggested that the phone could in theory support the feature, although it was never made a reality. In any case, this redesigned iPad Pro is scheduled for 2022, possibly in the early part of the year, so we’ll be keeping an eye out for it.


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By Desiree Homer
Technology advancements aren’t just reserved for AV/EV segments. There are innovations launching daily to help improve the operational and mechanical components in today’s gas-powered vehicles, too. In fact, two automakers have recently announced a new transmission and smart shifting advancement, intended to use artificial intelligence to improve overall fuel economy. As a dealer, promoting new tech advancements with your franchise brands can keep you ahead of the pack. If you’re a Hyundai or Kia dealership, you may have some new tech to talk about with your customers.
Hyundai & Kia Embracing Smart Shifting Tech
Together, these automakers have developed what they call the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Connected Shift Transmission. By intelligently using mapping data, paired with sensors, the transmission is designed to select the optimum gear based on road conditions. Future vehicle models will feature this newly predictive tech, and eventually, these types of 5G vehicle-infrastructure communications will be fully integrated.
How It Works
Imagine having sensors that evaluate a driver’s acceleration, speed, and upcoming road conditions to then determine the most optimum gear to engage. Traditional transmission configurations typically rely on speed and acceleration alone to determine when to shift. The latest innovation by Hyundai and Kia taps into the same type of sensors that already exist in the adaptive cruise control feature. They marry this existing platform with 3D mapping that helps a vehicle predict shifting based on elevation and winding roads ahead. Hyundai says it’s an “artificial intelligence algorithm” that allows the car to find the best shifting scenarios in real-time. The numbers are showing real results, too. On a curvy road test, shifting through the corners dropped 43%, and braking showed a reduction of 11%.
What Problem It’s Intended to Solve
Finding the right gear at precisely the right time translates to better fuel economy. Taking a look back at the transmission designs over the years, enhancements have often solved vehicle performance problems, as well. Consumers wanted to venture away from the manual transmission hassles. For some, the manual transmission is still the best option for fuel economy, and they prefer to find the optimal gear themselves. There always presents real opportunities to make the automatic, computer-determined shifting scenarios better for the rest of those consumers who prefer not to shift manually. With today’s gas prices, any boost to savings at the pump is appreciated.
Automaker Innovations Mean Dealer Marketing Opportunities
There are a host of weekly headlines about recent innovations in electric and hybrid vehicle technologies. But many of these enhancements and changes are still in development. Not all consumers will be ready to make the leap to the EV lifestyle, either. This makes tech-based innovations on the existing fleets of gas-powered models all the more exciting for dealers. Anytime your automaker brands make significant headway in advancing the technology in present inventories, it presents a marketing opportunity and selling point on the showroom. The car-buyers may not need to understand the science behind smart-shifting transmission configurations. But, they will definitely understand and appreciate stretching those miles per gallon and reducing their overall cost of ownership due to infrequent gas stops.
Hyundai and Kia said future models would feature this new transmission, but did not say which vehicles in their lineups would be included. Consider looking into any significant technological enhancements your franchise brands have developed. You might be able to leverage some of those upgrades in your marketing strategies and sales conversations.


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Shortly after he began with First Financial Bank some nine years ago, Claude Davis felt so strongly about building brand awareness that each year he and his team engaged a study to measure the awareness of the bank in each of the states where it operates. The year-to-year report showed the progress — and the momentum the bank was achieving.
“We did a lot of work,” says Davis, who is CEO, president and chairman of the bank. “It has been about constant marketing, constant awareness building and the consistency and the look and feel of the brand.”
The payoff has been impressive. The bank has locations in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. With 1,400 employees and company revenue of about $300 million, Davis has been leading a significant expansion for the bank since 2008. In Indiana, awareness has increased from less than 10 percent to 53 percent. It’s a similar story in Ohio where the bank went from less than 10 percent awareness to almost 50 percent.
Here’s how Davis builds awareness for First Financial Bank in a highly competitive industry.
Go for innovation
With 20 local banking centers, 90 consecutive quarters of profitability and the continuation of a 100 percent dividend payout ratio, it’s no surprise that Davis’ leadership has garnered praise across the banking industry for his efforts to grow the bank despite an economy in the doldrums.
If you had to pick the “must haves” to grow your business, innovation has to be among them.
“One of the real changes in the business is that you have to be focused on really being more innovative as a company,” Davis says.
That focus, which is becoming more 24/7 every day with the Internet and smartphones, has been spawned by the rapid advances in technology. While you can keep up with competitors and offer every product they do, it only goes so far.
“You always have to be in touch with what the competition is doing,” he says. “We certainly don’t have a lock on good ideas.”
There are a lot of people in the industry who are very innovative and develop interesting ideas that you may choose to follow.
“You have to think about it and look at all aspects and say, ‘What is the best thing for our client, and what can we offer?’
“The challenge is also being in touch with the technology companies that serve the banking industry,” Davis says, “and to make sure you are drawing the connection between your client and what is being developed in the industry — and deciding when is the right time to offer that as part of your product suite.”
It’s not a good idea to second-guess consumers on the subject of technology and online banking.
“Our younger clients start out very electronic-based and just grow with that,” he says. “But what we are finding with our more mature clients is that they are adopting the electronic form of banking more quickly than I would say is common wisdom — and it is because of the ease-of-use. Secondly, with the introduction of mobile banking and smartphones, we are all very comfortable now making transactions online. The rate of adoption is increasing among all our clients.”
Adopt a ‘client first’ model
If innovation is among the “must haves,” another requirement involves exceptional customer service. To stand out against your competitors, think about how you base your decisions.
“All our decisions have to be based on the client,” Davis says. “We believe we have to be a client-intimate oriented company. We call it being ‘client first’ in our operating model.”
It means taking care of all your customers without any favoritism. It has to cut across every business line.
“For us, that’s from small business to large corporate clients to individuals and in the individual states from those who were maybe just establishing bank accounts and bank business to those who are high net worth and who really need investment advice and stated advice,” he says.
“You try to serve that full-spectrum and serve all of them in a very personalized way.”
To stay in touch with both consumers and developers, it takes doing your own research and tapping into industry research.
“Talk to your own clients about how they want to be served, what products they would like and more importantly, what delivery channels they want to use to interact with you.
“So if you are a consumer client, you want to be able to interact with your bank whenever and however you want to interact,” Davis says. “We have every touch point covered as well as we are continuously asking consumers what do we not have in our products that they would like to see.”
First Financial launched a product called Panorama by which users can assemble their accounts from all their banks and credit cards on one online site.
Such a step requires some stepping out of the comfort zone for a company.
“It is our recognition that while we would like everybody to do business only with us, we understand that that is not the case with most consumers,” Davis says.
Blend the cultures in acquisitions
A third “must have” to employ during the growth efforts pertains to acquisitions. While such growth was often thought to be only in the realm of large companies, small and midsize companies are taking successful ventures into the once-exclusive territory.
The focus, not surprisingly, is that the cultures of the two or more businesses are aligned.
First Financial Bank has had five acquisitions since 2009, three in Indiana and two in Ohio. The company also has a long history dating back to the 1980s of doing more than 20 acquisitions in Indiana and Ohio.
“Cultural integration is the most important part of that process,” Davis says. “It is not the data processing conversion. It is not the financial metrics. It’s how well you integrate the associates of the company you are buying and how well you integrate the clients that are a part of that company you’re buying and making both feel like your company is a better place for them to be.
“Be open and willing to say that they may do something better in one or more areas than you do, and you decide to adopt that practice,” he says. “When you take that attitude, then you create a foundation and a trust level between the two organizations that says you really do value the merger process and it is not just a function of you want to buy their assets and move on.
“Begin with openness: ‘Look, we’re going to take the best of both and not make assumptions, just because we may be the buyer, everything we do may not be better than what the seller has been doing.’”
It takes time. It can sometimes take a few years to work through that process to really have everyone feeling like they are equal partners in the newly combined company.
“It takes a couple of years typically for that process to occur and to leave behind what that company used to be,” Davis says. “There is typically a lot of loyalty and pride that is built up in that prior company that doesn’t just leave you in three, six or nine months.”
How to reach: First Financial Bank, (877) 322-9530 or www.bankatfirst.com


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Our team closed out the 2022 trade show season with a wonderful trip to bauma in Munich, Germany. My first trip to Europe was inspiring, especially talking with all the passionate exhibitors about the new technology on display. Our website is filled with great articles, images and videos from the event. If you’ve missed any of it, make sure you check it out. Much of it is still featured on our home page.
Speaking of closing out seasons, this is our last print issue of 2022, and we may have saved the best for last! We are excited to include the winners of our 2022 Top New Products of the Year. Congrats to all our winners.
We also asked 10 industry experts about the trends and challenges of 2022 and predict what may affect the off-highway sector next year. When sharing what challenged their organizations as well as the industry this year, most indicated that the supply chain remains an issue but will hopefully abate in 2023. Another trend that was no surprise is the move to alternative power sources, including electrification, hybrid configurations and alternative fuels. This trend was indicated as both a positive transition and a challenge for original equipment manufacturers and the companies that supply them. Check out the article for more details.


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Fisker Karma - Click above for high-res image gallery
Vice President Joe Biden will be delivering a speech on the economic recovery efforts that have been implemented thus far at the NextEnergy Center in Detroit on Wednesday. The Detroit News is reporting that Biden will be using the occasion to announce the first round of battery research grants from a $2 billion program that was part of the stimulus package passed earlier this year.
- Volvo shoots for self-drivers by 2021
- Jeep spends $1 billion on factories
- Find Parts & Accessories for your vehicle!
- Obama rolls out new EV plan
- Infiniti dealers ranked best, Tesla worst
- Compare Volvo XC90 and Lincoln MKX


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“Storage is where the stickiness is,” said Jeffrey Mann, vice president for research at Gartner. “It’s how they hold a customer. If they store your stuff, they get to know you better.”
It’s an interesting concept. Many of us are now used to the idea of corporations like Google or Microsoft learning more about us as individuals from our browsing habits – what we search for on their engines, what websites we visit. This data is collected, analysed and used in many ways; one of which, slightly controversially, is tailor advertisements specifically to your needs.
However, the idea of the data we store in the cloud undergoing similar analysis would be unwise. Personal, private data can be stored in the cloud and we expect it to stay secure and unseen. But cloud storage providers are increasingly looking to push past the personal, single user. Although there’s still money there, the real dollar lies in enterprise users. Perhaps the analysing can be better served there?
At a recent annual developer event, Google spoke about a number of changes they are making to their cloud offerings. Companies will be able to audit who is reading specific documents, easily encrypt data and be able to work with data stored in old formats.
“Cloud storage is a temporary market,” said Scott Johnston, director for product management for Drive. “In the future it will be about elevating productivity: How do we look for patterns? What does it mean if a document is read by 10 percent of the company? What does it mean if you haven’t read it yet?”
The key word that will stand out to those in charge of enterprises here is ‘productivity’. If a document is sent to the cloud and it’s shown that a certain number of users haven’t read it, perhaps there’s a way to flag it up on their systems and make it more prominent? That’s an example, and a simple one at that, but it’s the kind of idea that Johnston is getting at.
It isn’t just Google who are looking to use their cloud service to offer business insights, though. Microsoft announced a service this year called Oslo (that’s a code-name) that generates an “office graph”. Using signals from emails, social conversations, documents, websites, instant messages, meetings, and more, a map can be generated that shows the relationships between the people in a business. It can show who’s currently working with whom on a project, or perhaps who has shown someone else a presentation.
Box, another big player in the cloud industry, is also working along similar lines with machine learning, a data-centred analysis and prediction tool. Microsoft and Google are also planning to implement a similar system in their infrastructure.
“Google used to have the moral authority on where the cloud is going, but Microsoft has caught up with Google. Companies don’t want to deal with Google’s changing strategies,” said Aaron Levie, co-founder and chief executive of Box. “The more attention [these innovations get], the more demand we’ll see from customers. For now, it’s still good for us.”
Can Using Cloud Storage Offer Business Insights?
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