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The latest Intel processor, Ivy Bridge is now making its way for its latter launch this year. Hence, its manufacturing partners aimed to strike the opportunity equipping this Intel software mostly on their newly-designed laptops.
One good example is Sony. This company has been reported to come up with another notebook model for VAIO family expansion. In fact, last week, this rumored laptop, has made an appearance in the FCC database.
But then recently, more viable evidences are spotted. The soon-to-launch VAIO C series’ images leaked primarily in the NotebookReview.com forums. There aren’t indications yet, as to what will be the exact model number of this chromebook but the source can pretty tell that it will have a 15-inch panel display running on Ivy Bridge processor.
It comes in exciting colors as well, including pink, teal trim, black and silver trim too. Also, as for the basic case feature of Sony’s VAIO, the laptop’s top lid will have an embossed silver VAIO logo.
The current VAIO C cost starts at around $750, and so consumers would expect that this future to be released-chromebook will quite fall into that similar price line.


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Italy has lit up the world's largest Christmas tree
This year it turns 40 years
- November 20, 2020 09:30
- Monika Dimitrova
The world's largest Christmas tree lights up each year on the slopes of Monte Ingino, overlooking the medieval town of Gubbio in Italy's central Umbria region. To mark the winter festive season, the beautiful town illuminates its magical Christmas tree with more than 700 lights.
Topped with a giant star, the tree is 750m high with 8.5 km worth of cables powering its lights.
The 'roots' of the tree starts from near Gubbio's ancient walls while its star reaches the basilica of the town's patron Saint Ubaldo, at the peak of the Ingino mountain. The stunning Christmas tree entered the Guinness Book of Records in 1991.
Every year people 'adopt' a light from the world-famous Christmas tree display
This year, the tree's lights were illuminated again thanks to the annual campaign inviting people to 'adopt' a light. Each of the tree's lights has been sponsored by locals who dedicate it to their loved ones, with messages ranging from welcoming a new-born baby to saluting dearly-missed grandparent.
The lights were adopted with a symbolic amount of 10 euros each and were available until exhaustion. Each light was adopted by a single user.
In 2020, the largest Christmas tree in the world turns 40 years. To celebrate the event a documentary film will be presented, that marks this gesture of devotion of the people of Gubbio, which has now become a true icon of Christmas all over the world. The movie will be streamed online on the Facebook of the Christmas tree on Saturday, 5 December at 6.00 pm.
The town of Gubbio is usually organizing an official ceremony to light up its Christmas lights but that has been cancelled this year due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The Christmas tree will remain lit until January 2021.
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domain: news


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Some canned cat food products from 9Lives, Special Kitty and EverPet were undergoing a voluntary recall due to possible low levels of thiamine, or Vitamin B1, the J.M. Smucker Company announced Wednesday.
The company said in a news release that no illnesses have been reported, but that the products were being recalled as a precautionary measure after it discovered the issue during a review of the manufacturing facility’s production records.
The products affected had been distributed to a limited number of retail customers from Dec. 20 through Tuesday.
A full list of the recalled cat food products is available on the company’s website.
Cats that have been fed diets low in thiamine for several weeks could be at risk for developing a thiamine deficiency, which is a vitamin essential for cats, the company said. Cats showing signs of thiamine deficiency may have decreased appetite, salivation, vomiting and weight loss.
Consumers who have cans of cat food from the impacted lots are advised to stop feeding it to their cats and are asked to call 1-800-828-9980 between 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday or email email@example.com.
The recall was being conducted in cooperation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.


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The African Bitcoin Conference 2022 (ABC 22) took place from December 5 to December 7 in Ghana, West Africa. It is the first Bitcoin conference of its kind to be hosted on the continent. The conference will include keynotes, fireside talks, panel discussions, presentations, crash courses and Bitcoin-only training workshops. More than 60 speakers are in attendance, including former CEO Jack Dorsey Twitter and chairman Block, Inc.Ray Youssef, CEO of a global peer-to-peer (P2P) cryptocurrency exchange Paxfuland Bitcoin payment provider Jack Mallers A blow. The conference attracted bitcoiners, entrepreneurs, educators, investors and industry leaders.
The conference has a hackathon where participants can choose to develop a project based on a specific track.
Three days of bitcoin in Africa
The first day of the conference started with the opening ceremony and welcome speeches by the organizers of ABC 22. Paxful CEO Ray Youssef had a fireside chat moderated by Togolese human rights activist and Bitcoiner Farida Naboureman. 4 panels were organized during the day where such topics were discussed Bitcoin is money, the path to a career in Bitcoin and advancing social justice with Bitcoin, among others, have been discussed in detail.
The first speech on the second day of the conference was given by Professor Nii Quaynor, a Ghanaian professor who Farida Naboureman presented as a powerhouse. maybe One of the greatest scientists of the African continent; A man who greatly contributed to the development of technology and the internet in Africa and is credited with building the first Bitcoin ATM in Ghana.
In his keynote address, Prof Quaynor spoke about the efforts to regulate Bitcoin in Ghana and the initial hurdles. Professor Quaynor mentioned an incident in 2015 where 120 Bitcoin Antminers were purchased for Bitcoin mining. According to him, soon after mining started, Ghana’s Financial Intelligence Center (FIC) expressed concern that the outcome of mining activities could be used to finance terrorism; The FIC has called for the intervention of other regulatory bodies and financial authorities in the country. The professor said he and his team responded by demonstrating and explaining the Bitcoin mining process to regulators and authorities; through the demonstration, the fears and concerns of the authorities at that time were removed.
Prof. quoting statistics indicating the growing interest in blockchain technology shown by financial institutions in Ghana over the years. Quaynor noted that between 2016 and 2020, he and his team held several crypto-centric workshop sessions; most of the participants in this seminar session were from the Bank of Ghana, the country’s central bank. The professor urged ABC 22 attendees to reach out to regulators and policymakers in their various jurisdictions so the crypto community can learn what concerns or concerns regulators may have.
Jack Mallers, founder A blow, made the second keynote speech of the day. In his address, he explains the concept of payment rails, highlights the challenges faced in cross-border payments due to differences in currency and payment systems; he called cross-border payments a moment “Unsolved problem.” Jack Mallers stated that the impact of this difference in currency and payments is huge in developing markets like Africa. He referred to the current cross-border payment bottleneck in Africa; the continent has 54 currencies and 41 central banks, resulting in more than 80% of cross-border payment transactions going offshore for clearing and settlement. This then leads to delays in finalizing the transaction and high cost of transaction processing. Some payment processing companies have been forced to shut down operations in many countries on the continent, while businesses such as airlines have been stranded on the continent due to a shortage of dollars needed for international clearing and settlements.
Jack Dorsey sat down with Farida Nabourema for his first fireside chat of the day. Giving a brief history of how he became interested in distributed ledger technology, ex Twitter The CEO thanked the open source community for their goodwill in making the work free and open to software development. Bitcoin is built on the principle of open source. Jack, whose company Block Inc. Focused on building payment apps and services, including apps and services that make it easier to access Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies, it says the goal is to help the internet realize a local currency — an open monetary protocol that anyone can see, trust, and is government-free. or corporate control. Block Inc. contributed to a funding round for an African Bitcoin mining company called Torsless.
The second day of the conference continued with more keynote speeches, fireworks talks and panel discussions. Discussion topics include The Power of the Lightning Network in the Face of Climate Change, Traditional Payment Systems Powered by Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Miningamong others.
The third, final day of the Africa Bitcoin Conference is underway. The conference opened this morning with a welcome speech and announcements. As in the previous days of the conference, there are keynote speeches and fireworks talks. The topic was discussed in the first panel of the day: Is Bitcoin a Threat to Central Banks?
The second panel on the topic: Tackling gender inequality in the ecosystem. There are a total of five discussion panels throughout the day. The final event will be the Hackathon Awards Ceremony followed by the closing speech.
The Future of Bitcoin and Blockchain Technology in Africa
The cryptocurrency market and adoption of cryptocurrencies is growing rapidly in Africa. Despite the lack of regulatory clarity in many countries on the continent and some governments warning banks against handling funds associated with crypto-related transactions, the continent’s people (especially the young population) have continued to explore and embrace digital assets. The continent has high remittance flows; cryptocurrencies have created a faster, cheaper and more reliable means of cross-border settlement, making it perfect for receiving foreign money transfers.
Nigerian citizens and residents have turned to peer-to-peer (p2p) trading platforms despite Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policies making it difficult to buy and sell cryptocurrencies in the country. mass, keeping the crypto-currency flame alive and making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest p2p trading volume.
Recently Bank for International Settlements (BIS) The survey found that most of the continent’s central banks are exploring the use of distributed ledger technology to build payment systems.
Confidence in cryptocurrency remains largely unshakable in developed, developing and underdeveloped countries and regions alike.
To learn more about Bitcoin, visit the Investing in Bitcoin guide.


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Accounting software company Intuit on Tuesday announced a set of widgets and a service for integrating its QuickBooks software into web and mobile apps.
The new service, Intuit Anywhere, lets developers connect their apps to Intuit’s Partner Platform, giving them the ability to integrate with QuickBooks data and let customers sign on using their Intuit ID. That’s similar to the way you can sign on to websites using Facebook Connect or a Twitter ID, except in this case you’ll be using an Intuit login and giving the web apps access to your QuickBooks data on Intuit’s servers.
The service is aimed at helping turn QuickBooks into a platform and an app store, an approach that has generated huge returns for Apple, Facebook, Twitter, Salesforce.com and others. Intuit also said it would make certified apps available on its Intuit App Center, a collection of Web apps that work with QuickBooks. Intuit said that 1 million users have registered for its App Center.
With just 4 million customers, QuickBooks doesn’t have anything like the gravitational pull of an Apple or a Facebook. But those customers — small businesses that use QuickBooks to run their core operations — are a prime target for developers.
“The ease of building and marketing apps using Intuit Anywhere means we’re going to see more developers integrating with QuickBooks,” said Paul Jackson, president and founder of MethodCRM.com, in Intuit’s press release.
Companies using Intuit Anywhere include Bill.com, Concur, eBay, FreshBooks, Mavenlink and MethodCRM.com, according to Intuit.
Intuit Anywhere is in beta now and will be released in the fall.


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WACO, Texas — Whether you like it frozen or on the rocks, the margarita has become one of Mexico's most popular cultural exports.
According to the Smithsonian, the classic lime margarita is the perfect combination of sweet, salty, sour, and bitter.
You can order them in all kinds of flavors including the lesser-known avocado marg.
But when prices recently went up after the U.S. banned imports of the popular fruit from Mexico, it left restaurants like Hecho En Waco having to absorb the cost themselves.
"They are getting a little pricey," said Hecho En Waco General Manager Diana Gonzales.
"Produce is getting a little higher than it was before. We are still determined to serve the best quality to our guests and customers. Quality is always a big thing at Hecho En Waco."
The U.S. lifted the ban on Feb. 18.


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Today marked the grand opening of DHL’s 28,000-square-foot Americas innovation center in Rosemont, Ill., near Chicago. The center will benefit from its proximity to American technology start-up regions, such as Silicon Valley.
The Americas center is the third in DHL’s portfolio after the initial center in Cologne, Germany, and the Asia-Pacific center in Singapore. Chicago was selected as the center’s site due to its easy connectivity for passenger and cargo operations at O’Hare International Airport (ORD) and because four of five divisions under parent organization Deutsche Post DHL Group – DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Express, DHL Supply Chain and DHL eCommerce Solutions – have facilities in the Chicago area.
DHL’s innovation center aims to demonstrate DHL’s vision of the future of logistics and commerce, technology trends entering the logistics space and current solutions the group offers customers. During a media tour of the center, DHL showcased wearable technology and robotics already in use in its supply chain and global forwarding operations, including smart glasses used for warehouse picking and a virtual reality (VR) training tool. Other technologies on display are still in the early stages of implementation, including a robotic picking machine (featured in the video below) that uses artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to correctly pick and sort items it previously may have never encountered.
For more on the application of wearable technology in logistics, see our September feature on “Cargo Couture” in the digital issue of Air Cargo World.
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RAWALPINDI: The Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) Rawalpindi’s endeavor to improve the interiors of both modest and large homes in the city has been a success.
Following the city’s beautification, the PHA started the “Phool Bootay” initiative to decorate the interiors of small and large homes, offices, hotels, motels, stores, plazas, and shopping centers in Rawalpindi.
As per the details, PHA began supplying miniature plants of various species to be placed in pots in the living rooms, bedrooms, lawns, gardens, halls, TV lounges, and corridors.
Besides, long and spherical glass jars, vases, clay pots, miniature pots, and small hanging pots on the walls were also beginning to be supplied for the decorating of these plants.
According to an estimate, in a month, over 300,000 households came to the PHA’s “Phool Bootay” market on Double Road in Shamsabad, where they could purchase indoor plants, vases, and lovely pots in addition to pesticides, fertilizers, and special soil.
Furthermore, services for large house gardens, landscaping, planning, beautifying, and flower planting on expansive lawns were also launched.
According to PHA Chairman Asif Mahmood, the “Phool Bootay” floral decorating center has been created for residents of the garrison city where professionals create and craft these decorations by themselves in various pots and vases.
He said private schools have also been the customers and the authority do not generate any more profit but rather only pay expenditures.
Numerous diplomats from Islamabad also visit this place to purchase decorative items, he claimed.
The initiative would be expanded, according to the PHA chairman, as all of the small and large residences in Rawalpindi city as well as the stores on the streets would be made more attractive with the help of our initiative, he added.
The chairman of the PHA added that if a family so desires, PHA can even design the lawns of their houses.
This “Phool Bootay Center” has had unprecedented success, he claimed.


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A series of new job listings at Sony Bend has revealed some interesting details about its new project, among which mentions open-world elements and vehicles.
The studio is hiring for a number of positions including Art, Animation and Programming, and gives mention of not only open-world environments, but also weapons, vehicles and more. This obviously makes it sound a lot like Days Gone, although it’s not, as we know that Sony did not green-light a sequel.
Right now we can only speculate what Sony Bend is working on, although fans aren’t happy that Days Gone 2 isn’t coming, so much so that they’ve put together a petition that is aiming to hit 25,000 signatures.
Sony Bend has been reportedly working on its new title since September 2019, just a few months after the launch of Days Gone.
Related Content – Sony PS5 Complete Guide – A Total Resource On PlayStation 5
Days Gone was released for PS4 in April 2019, and you can read our review here.


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Roy Sawrad had gathered for over 50 years, the autographs of the most famous people in Hollywood and other parts of the world.
However, the worshiper considered autograph hunter was separated from life at the beginning of the year, without having close to his collection, because he was lost in unfamiliar circumstances.
But this collection has recently been found in a London apartment and is expected to be auctioned out soon.
Actors, singers, musicians, athletes, and presenter are some of the famous Sawrad signers.
At the same time, this collection is the only one of its kind, since it has been lost by the owner and found years later in an abandoned place.
It is expected that the pictures with the original signatures will be sold separately, reaching thousands of euros.


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Shares of United Technologies (UTX) were rising Tuesday afternoon following the release of the company's second-quarter earnings results.
CEO Gregory Hayes believes the company received a boost from its new engine this quarter. as it reported earnings of $1.82 per share, topping analysts' expectations of $1.68 per share. "Pratt & Whitney had 4% organic growth, our aerospace systems business had 2% growth. The commercial side was really hurt by slow growth in China where we saw orders for new equipment down about 14%," Hayes told CNBC.
Verizon VZ shares were down nearly 2% following the communications company's second-quarter earnings release. The company said a strike by 40,000 employees hurt its revenue in the period. Revenue fell 5% year over year to $30.53 billion vs. analysts' expectations of $31.12 billion. Net income of $0.94 per share topped analyst expectations by a penny.
The revenue miss comes one day after the company announced that it won a bid for Yahoo's YHOO internet business for $4.83 billion. The company plans to combine Yahoo with AOL, which it bought for $4.4 billion last year.
Activision (ATVI) shares were down more than 2% after the company announced it will host a conference call on Friday to discuss changes to the release of its latest quarterly report. The changes are due to the SEC's concerns about the use of non-GAAP numbers in multiple securities' reports.
Finally, Coca-Cola shares were falling ahead of the company's earnings release on Wednesday. Analysts are expecting the company to report earnings of $0.58 a share on revenue of $11.65 billion. In the year-ago period, the company reported a profit of $0.71 per share on revenue of $12.61 billion.


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Voguestrap has developed a line of comfortable replacement watchbands for smartwatches to overcome the #1 reason consumers will not purchase a watch - comfort.
Online PR News – 17-September-2014 – Brooklyn, NY – Voguestrap, the leader in replacement watchbands for over 70 years, proudly introduces its latest innovation in high-quality replacement watchbands with the launch of its new line of Kreisler Tech and Smart Buddie replacement bands for smartwatches.
The Kreisler Tech and Smart Buddie lines of innovative replacement bands were designed and developed after months of research among consumers and retailers. The research found that while the overall smartwatch category is growing tremendously based on high-tech innovation from the likes of Pebble, Sony, Samsung and the soon-to-be-released Apple watch, the category is focused on the technology of the operating system and its corresponding watch face – and not necessarily on the watchband. However, when dealing with an accessory that consumers constantly wear on the wrist, manufacturers and retailers who neglect the watchband’s importance do so at their own risk.
"Our research found that 30% of consumers will not purchase a watch because a watch feels uncomfortable on their wrist," states Sy Greenwald, COO of Voguestrap. "We feel that there is an opportunity to support the smartwatch category’s growth by offering a dedicated line of highly comfortable replacement watchbands in luxurious leathers and stunning metals in order to overcome consumer resistance to buying and wearing today’s smartwatches."
Kreisler Tech and Smart Buddie replacement watchbands are comfortable, water resistant, and made in extra wide sizes to support the large screens on smartwatch faces. The replacement bands can be easily placed on most smartwatches including Pebble, the Samsung Gear 2 and the Moto 360. Kreisler Tech and Smart Buddie bands come in different materials, colors and styles for both men and women and are available nationally at Best Buy and other fine retailers.


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The challenges and opportunities facing cruise lines and cruise destinations in Asia are much the same as elsewhere in the world, says Ted Blamey, principal consultant of Chart Management Consultants Pty Ltd. Blamey and three other cruise experts are participants on the "Destinations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of the Cruise Industry" panel at the http://www.cruiseshippingasia.com/ event in Singapore Nov. 16-18.
Blamey notes there are two core criteria required for a successful cruise port: "Ensure cruise guests rate the destination highly and ensure the cruise line operation is smooth and economical."
To garner high ratings from guests, destinations need to provide "activities and attractions ashore to make the guest experience enjoyable and memorable, have sufficient local transport to allow guests to get to the attractions comfortably and safely, provide trained, knowledgeable guides with good language skills to deliver the experience and create a clean, safe and welcoming environment to make the experience pleasant and hassle-free," said Blamey.
On the cruise line operations side, Blamey says it is essential that the ship -- or its tenders -- is able to disembark and embark guests easily, quickly and safely. Lines also expect port charges to be reasonable, red tape minimal, local officials helpful and port agents experienced and capable.
He notes that Asia presents a mix of both mature and emerging cruise destinations.
"Many Asian destinations have been welcoming cruise ships for decades and receiving high ratings from both guests and the ships, among them Singapore, Hong Kong, Bali and Penang," he said. "In the past five to 10 years, many 'new' destinations such as Korea's Jeju Island, Vietnam's Halong Bay, Shanghai and other cities in China have become cruise success stories."
But while in other parts of the world port operations have become standardized and best practices set, those functions largely are dependent on local custom and laws in Asia.
"Most destinations come under the local port and municipal authorities," Blamey said. "While progressive destinations study successful practices across the region -- and the globe -- and adopt what makes sense to them, they typically work to their own agenda, which perforce must take account of existing infrastructure, geographic features, local laws and customs. However, the role of the port agent is critical to the industry and here we do see companies with global or region-wide operations standardizing, sharing personnel and taking a customer-centered approach."
Though Western cruise operators have now been there for a number of years, they are still trying to understand subtle differences in the Asian market.
"The global cruise operators are still discovering how to best meet the aspirations and expectations of Asian passengers, in every aspect of the cruise experience," Blamey said. "Shore programs are part of this. And it should not be assumed that guests from one Asian country will be looking for the same shoreside activities as those from another - each national market will have its own orientation and preferences."
But, he noted, as long as the cruise line and its shore tour operators and destination-management companies offer a combination of the iconic sights and attractions for which a place is famous and some unique experiences in each destination, most guests will enjoy the destination and be satisfied with their port experience.
Though many Asian destinations are investing heavily to develop their passenger infrastructure, Blamey points out that the emphasis should be on the experiential aspects of cruising.
"It is the experiences ashore that matter most to the guest, not the dedicated cruise infrastructure," he said. "Sometimes a great destination may have no infrastructure at all -- for instance, certain islands, beaches and villages in the South Pacific and Papua New Guinea. From the ship's point of view, even an established port in a prominent city need not have a dedicated cruise terminal as long as passenger and coach movements can be conducted in safety and under shelter."
But the challenges for many ports in the region lie in developing sufficient shoreside support services and equipment -- especially as the size of cruise ships in the region rapidly increases.
"The tourism plant can be a constraint," said Blamey. "Coaches and guides, sometimes watercraft, do need to be of sufficient number, safe, clean and comfortable to deal with the number of passengers coming ashore and taking excursions."
The "Destinations: Challenges and Opportunities in the Development of the Cruise Industry" panel is scheduled for the afternoon of Nov. 16. Moderated by Yeoh Siew Hoon, producer of WebinTravel, in addition to Ted Blamey of Chart Consultants, the panel will feature Dr. Sapta Nirwandar, director general of the Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the Republic of Indonesia; Richard Doyle, managing director of Doyle Tourism Services, and Dr. Gary Cheng, associate professor at the School of Economics and Management of Shanghai Maritime University and Eduardo Gonzalez Cid, under secretary general of the Mexico Ministry of Tourism.
Cruise Shipping Asia is presented by UBM plc. The conference and exhibition are scheduled Nov. 16-18, 2011, at the Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Center in Singapore.


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A Singapore-based exchange will allow for easy fiat-to-crypto trading and aims to make digital currency more easily accessible to businesses and consumers than ever before.
Singapore-based fiat-crypto exchange EurekaPro, led by a team comprising Junus Eu, Douglas Gan and Kin-Wai Lau, announced its entry into the Southeast Asian blockchain market, according to a media release sent on Monday.
EurekaPro offers the widest Asian fiat-to-cryptocurrency support, allowing holders of the Singapore Dollar, Malaysian Ringgit, Indonesian Rupiah, and other Asian fiat currencies to seamlessly transact on the EurekaPro exchange. The firm has already launched an open public beta, in which over 8,000 users have signed up in its first week.
With a combined population of 655 million and a rapidly growing middle class, Southeast Asia presents endless opportunities for the blockchain space, and is home to a burgeoning blockchain community. EurekaPro aims to bridge the gap between an increasingly tech-savvy population and the blockchain space by enabling unprecedented ease of transaction between fiat and crypto.
EurekaPro began as Overswitch, a company headquartered in Sweden. With an international team based in Singapore, Malaysia and Sweden, the firm is poised to be a fiat-to-crypto hub for the growing Southeast Asian market.
Around the Clock
Through its exchange that facilitates fiat-to-crypto transactions securely, in real-time, and around the clock, EurekaPro aims to make digital currency more easily accessible to businesses and consumers than ever before.
“Our platform represents a unique proposition for the blockchain space in Southeast Asia, by removing or reducing entry barriers to the crypto market that may otherwise prevent consumers from adopting blockchain technology,” said EurekaPro co-founder and CEO Eu.


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Happy Wednesday, everyone!
Today’s StrictlyVC comes to you courtesy of Treble, a data-centric PR agency specializing in securing targeted media coverage for an array of global venture-backed startups and venture capital firms, including Mercury Fund, Next Coast Ventures and Signal Peak Ventures. With its proprietary scalable retainer model and team of experienced PR professionals and ex-journalists, Treble operates as a newsroom by reverse-engineering thought leaders into the news cycle. The founder of Treble penned a piece on how startups can capitalize on PR to accelerate the path to exit. Check out media coverage highlights here.
Top News in the A.M.
The International Monetary Fund just raised its outlook for global growth, citing a postelection surge in confidence in the U.S., better prospects in large emerging markets, and an uptick in global trade. The rosy forecast is something of a change of mind for the fund, reports Dealbook.
The German media company Axel Springer has taken an undisclosed stake in Uber, the companies confirmed earlier today.
This Pet Supplies Company Just Sold in the Biggest E-Commerce Deal Ever
If you haven’t heard of Chewy, you aren’t alone. But PetSmart, the retail giant with more than 1,500 stores across the U.S., has clearly been tracking the low-flying, five-year-old pet supplies company. According to Recode, it just agreed to purchase its young rival for a stunning $3.35 billion, just slightly more than Walmart paid for Jet.com last year.
This editor only heard of Chewy for the first time last fall, when talking with one of its earlier investors, Larry Cheng of the Boston-based growth equity fund Volition Capital; Volition had written Chewy its $15 million Series A check in 2013, and the company had been growing quietly like a weed, he’d told me.
By design, that began to change late last year, when Bloomberg wrote a long profile about the Dania, Fla., company and the $236 million it had subsequently raised from investors, including BlackRock and New Horizon, the venture arm of mutual fund T. Rowe Price. Until then, said its chairman, billionaire e-commerce veteran Mark Vadon, his advice to the team had been to keep a low profile to better to avoid competition.
It was something of a feat. By the time Bloomberg published its story, the company had more than 3,000 employees and more than $880 million in annual revenue.
Its apparent key to success: personalization, from writing customers hand-written thank you and holiday cards to dedicating roughly one-sixth of its employees to customer service so pet owners’ questions could be answered quickly. Free shipping on orders over $49 also helped.
Perhaps as a result, the company hadn’t yet reached profitability, Bloomberg noted, but no matter.
Barnebys, a six-year-old, Stockholm, Sweden-based online service that allows people to search for, compare, and buy items from dealers and auction houses around the world, has raised $3.3 million in funding Industrifonden, Howsat Venture Partners, Accum Kapital and Kichi Invest. More here.
BIMA, a nearly seven-year-old, Stockholm, Sweden-based startup focused on mobile-delivered insurance in emerging markets, has raised $16.8 million in funding led by Axiata Digital, with participation from Kinnevik, Milicom, LeapFrog Investments, and Digicel. Tech.eu has more here.
CyberGRX, a year-old, Denver, Co.-based cyber risk management platform, has raised $20 million in Series B funding led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Earlier investors also joined the round, including Aetna Ventures, Allegis Capital, ClearSky, GV, MassMutual Ventures, Rally Ventures, and TenEleven Ventures. The company has now raised $29 million altogether. Fortune has more here.
DadeSystems, a six-year-old, Miami, Fla.-based company whose software automates the accounts receivable process, has raised $2 million in funding from Ocean Azul Partners. More here.
Dome9 Security, a six-year-old, Mountain View, Ca.-based cloud infrastructure security company, has raised $16.5 million in Series C funding led by Softbank. VentureBeat has more here.
Onkos Surgical, a two-year-old, Parsippany, N.J.-based medtech company focused on surgical oncology, has raised $17.6 million in Series B funding led by Canaan Partners, with participation from earlier investors 1315 Capital and 3D Systems. More here.
Sapho, a three-year-old, San Bruno, Ca.-based company whose enterprise software platform aims to surface relevant tasks and data using micro apps, has raised $14 million in Series B funding led by Caffeinated Capital. Felicis Ventures also joined the round, along with earlier backers Alsop Louie Partners, SoftTech VC, Morado Ventures, AME Cloud, and Bloomberg Beta. TechCrunch has more here.
Nasdaq just launched a new venture investment program, Nasdaq Ventures, which will look to invest in and partner with fintech startups around the world. Investments are expected to range from $1 million to $10 million. Banking Technology has more here.
Nauta Capital, a 17-year-old, early-stage venture firm with offices in London, Barcelona, Spain and the U.S. (in Boston), has closed its newest fund with $170 million in capital commitments. TechCrunch has more here.
Bright Scholar Education, an operator of international and bilingual schools in China, has filed for a $200 million IPO in the U.S., with plans to trade on the NYSE. The company is almost entirely owned by two groups: Excellence Education Investment Limited, which owns a whopping 72.6 percent of the company, and Ultimate Wise Group Ltd., which owns 20 percent. Nasdaq has more here.
AirAsia, the budget airline for Southeast Asia that’s headquartered in Malaysia, has bought a 50 percent share in the two-year-old, Malaysia-based trip planning service Touristly in a deal worth $2.6 million. TechCrunch has more on the tie-up here.
Microsoft is acquiring Intentional Software, a 15-year-old, Bellevue, Wash. software programming company that was founded by Excel and Word creator Charles Simonyi (who has also famously visited space, twice, as a tourist). Terms weren’t disclosed. GeekWire has more here.
Oracle has acquired the seven-year-old, ad measurement company Moat, which helps advertisers and publishers measure whether people see and interact with online ads. Terms of the deal aren’t being disclosed. Oracle says that Moat will continue to operate as an independent platform within Oracle Data Cloud, with the Moat team joining Oracle. Moat had raised more than $67 million from investors, including SV Angel, Mayfield and Insight Venture Partners. TechCrunch has more here.
The celebrity “techsplainer” of Beverly Hills.
Cambridge Associates is looking to hire a senior invesment director. The job is in Boston.
The cross-border venture firm DCM is looking to bring someone new into its two-year associate program (from which people are sometimes promoted to an investment manager role). The job is in the Bay Area. No cold emails but we hear a “warm intro” to anyone on its team will do the trick.
The percentage of U.S.-based venture-backed startups with a female cofounder: 17 percent. That number hasn’t moved in five years, says Crunchbase. More here.
Everything that Facebook launched at its F8 conference yesterday and why.
Baidu said yesterday it plans to share software technology that it’s developing for self-driving cars in a bid to catch up with competitors like General Motors and Waymo, the self-driving unit of Alphabet. As the WSJ notes, this same open-platform concept was tested by Tesla nearly three years ago, when the company decided to offer open access to Tesla’s patents to drive electric-vehicle sales more broadly.
Juicero has raised $120 million from Silicon Valley investors for its whiz-bang juicing machine. But oops, it turns out its juice packs can be squeezed by hand.
Life is a little different in Palo Alto.
How Harvard created Steve Bannon.
Math problems for English majors.


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Is your car’s MOT due this September or October? Drivers are being urged to book their MOTs as soon as possible as the Covid extension means that there will be an extra 1.3 million MOT tests falling due in these months.
Book Your September or October MOT Now!
Motorists whose vehicles are due for an MOT in the next two months are being urged by the DVSA to book their tests as soon as possible as demand for garage services is expected to soar. The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency has revealed that 1.3 million extra MOTs are due in September and October compared to the same two months in 2019.
The spike in MOTs is because of last year’s six-month MOT extension which was put in place at the start of the Coronavirus pandemic. Many car owners were allowed to push their MOT dates back when garages were required to close in March 2020. The DVSA estimates a 22 per cent increase in MOTs this September and October compared to the same months prior to the pandemic as a knock-on effect of the 6-month exemption from 2020.
The agency’s records show that 9.58million drivers took advantage of the MOT extension, and this has altered the peaks and troughs in MOT volume across the calendar year. It follows are reported 60 per cent increase in MOT demand in the first half of this year as more and more drivers flock to their local Ellesmere Port MOT garage for their obligatory annual car safety check.
Car Clinic MOT Centre – Ellesmere Port Garage
For all your car care advice, MOTs and servicing needs, call Car Clinic MOT Centre Ellesmere Port car garage your local independent Ellesmere Port MOT, Ellesmere Port brakes, car repairs, Ellesmere Port car servicing or Ellesmere Port tyres garage. Call us on 0151 339 0101 for a free quote.


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When you think of breast implants, do you picture a woman increasing her bust size by several cup sizes? While a significant increase in breast size is certainly an option, these days there are many women who choose to have smaller breast implants. One reason that small implants are becoming more popular is that women are seeking out a more natural look, and opting for a subtle increase in breast size.
Call it the Kardashian effect: Today, everyone wants to talk about butt lifts, injectables, implants, and of course, dermal fillers and Botox. There's also a lot of discussion surrounding nonsurgical treatments to melt away or freeze off fat. But in an age when posting personal cosmetic treatments has become the norm, why isn't anyone talking openly about breast augmentation?
Instead, women are seeking a more balanced body. Gone are the days of 5 foot 3-inch starlets carrying around F-cups and looking painfully top-heavy as a result. A little, in other words, goes a long way; many women are surprised to see how an implant that fit in the palm of their hand can lend such a noticeable boost to their bust.
September 14, The Food and Drug Administration said it would hold the meeting even as its officials and several independent experts disputed the new work. Leaders of the study concede that it has big limitations and cannot prove that implants cause any of these problems.
You may be tempted to go all out when considering a breast augmentation for the first time, but a closer look reveals that modestly sized implants can have transformative, natural-looking results. Discover why more and more women are opting for smaller implants when making the decision to enhance their breasts. As a result, many women find that smaller breast implants often look more natural.
Women thinking about breast augmentation have a large selection of breast implant sizes to choose from. A more natural look can be obtained by small breast implantswhich can increase size and lift while maintaining a more modest look. This technique has become more popular lately, though several women who decide to go for a smaller implant sometimes regret that they didn't go larger.
After breast augmentation, your breasts will evolve and change over the next several months. This is a process called implant settling. It happens to everyone and it does take time.
Heard the term, mini boob job, and wondering what it means? Plus, a bit of cleavage, to some women, is better than none — compared to having too much cleavage or a significant volume increase that might impede sporting activities or sleeping options. If you have uneven nipples or asymmetric breasts different sized breasts on the left and right sides of your chest areaask for our Surgery experts for corrective surgery for Uneven Nipples or for noticeably different Nipples Breast Asymmetry.
Statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons show that breast augmentations were the most popular cosmetic surgical procedure in and have been for the past few years. Here, some expert plastic surgeons share what you should keep in mind before getting breast surgery. According to Melissa DoftMD, FACS, surgery will sometimes be covered when correcting severe asymmetry due to developmental deformity or reconstruction after mastectomy or lumpectomy.


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Hasbro as well as developer Jagex Games Studio have announced that Transformers Universe is about to arrive at the end of the road, where this third-person shooter MOBA game will shut down early next year. Jagex Games Studio mentioned, “We’re hugely disappointed, but the game will be closing over the coming weeks.” The final date mentioned? January 31, 2015, would be the last day in which you would be able to enjoy Transformers Universe, where after that, you would have to look elsewhere for your gaming entertainment needs.
Just a little background, Transformers Universe happens to be a multiplayer tactical arena game which will blend third-person shooter combat alongside mechanics that have been inspired by MOBA games such as League of Legends and Dota 2. I suppose it ain’t too bad that it is shutting down at the end of next month, especially when you take into consideration that this online game was in an open beta since July – so there is not too much time for you to get attached to it.
Players who picked up the game’s Founders Packs, which will boast of in-game equipment, upgrades, and currency among others, will be refunded, while one is no longer able to let new players create accounts, with existing players being unable to purchase relic packs and starter bundles. The game’s servers and forums will go dark at 10 a.m. GMT on January 31, 2015 – you have been warned ahead. [Press Release]
Filed in Transformers.. Read more about


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Since a landmark ruling in the Supreme Court last year hundreds of cases of pharmaceutical injury have been dismissed simply for the fact that the victims were given the generic brand of the medicine. The Supreme Court (in a 5-4 split decision) found that since manufacturers of generic medications are held to have the same labeling as their brand-name counterparts they are not liable for insufficient labeling that causes injury to a consumer since they are unable to alter the label themselves.
While it seems to make sense, this ruling basically allows generic manufacturers to market dangerous medications to consumers even if they are aware of the risks. If the brand name manufacturer does not label or is unaware of a particular risk they will be held liable but not the generic companies. If you have been injured as the result of taking a dangerous or defective drug speak with a knowledgeable New Jersey injury lawyer to find out your legal rights and options.
The New York Times recently profiled this issue and addressed the cases of those who have been adversely affected by the Supreme Court ruling. First they told the story of two women who both had to undergo amputation as the result of an anti-nausea drug they were given that is known to cause gangrene if it enters an artery. The only difference between the two women is that one was given the name brand of the medication, Phenergan, and was awarded $6,800,000—the other was given the generic form, promethazine, and received nothing.
The Supreme Court explained when they made their decision on this topic that if the FDA and Congress want generic brands to be held accountable then they have the power to change the laws on it. Giving generic companies the added responsibility of controlling their own labels will not only ensure that individuals taking these generic brands are receiving the best product but also that these companies will conduct their business with added care. Hiding behind the larger companies and blaming them for a mislabeling or inadequate labeling problem does not make it any less negligent.
If you or someone you love has suffered serious injury as the result of taking a dangerous pharmaceutical you may be entitled to compensation. Speak with a skilled personal injury lawyer in New Jersey today.
Blog submitted by Console and Hollawell Law Firm


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Apparently 2005 is shaping up to be the year of the steakhouse in private equity. Castle Harlan unloaded its investment in Charlie Brown’s earlier this year through a secondary sale to Trimaran Capital Partners, and in April, Madison Dearborn Partners followed suit with an exit, filing to float Ruth’s Chris Steak House in an IPO.
With two straight years of growth and appealing prospects going forward (high beef prices aside), it would seem to be a now-or-never window for Madison Dearborn. The firm brought the company in 1999, reportedly investing $47 million of equity from its third fund into the $190 million acquisition.
Through the IPO, Ruth’s Chris intends to raise $235 million. The proceeds of the offering will go toward the redemption of the company’s outstanding senior preferred stock (all of which is held by Wachovia Investors), the redemption of its outstanding series B junior cumulative preferred stock (of which Madison Dearborn controls an 88% stake), and to repay a portion of its outstanding indebtedness under the company’s senior credit facility.
Banc of America and Wachovia Securities are the joint bookrunners for the offering and Goldman, Sachs & Co., RBC Capital Markets, CIBC World Markets Corp., SG Cowen and Piper Jaffray & Co. have been tapped as co-managers. The timing and the exact terms of the offering have not yet been determined, although the filing indicated the company is being floated on the Nasdaq and will trade under ticker symbol “RUTH.”
Throughout its six-year investment, Madison Dearborn has seen some highs and lows, but like other high-end steakhouses, Ruth’s Chris has held steadfast. The company has been aided by the now teetering Atkins diet trend but ongoing mad-cow scares and escalating beef prices have made the environment challenging at times. Ruth’s Chris also had to endure the death of Ruth Fertel, the founder of the steakhouse, and an extended management change following the resignation of CEO William Hyde.
But the company rebounded strongly from a slump in the 2001 and 2002 timeframe. Most recently, in the 2004 fiscal year, the steakhouse generated operating income of $23.3 million, on $192.2 million in total revenues, representing jumps of 51% and 15%, respectively, year over year. And for the first quarter of this year, Ruth’s Chris has logged $56.6 million in revenues, and recorded a 12% increase in same-store sales during the period.
Looking ahead, the company said in its prospectus that it intends to continue expanding its restaurant base. There are already 89 company-owned and franchised Ruth’s Chris restaurants in operation, and the company believes there is room for an additional 100 to 150 restaurants in both the large and smaller U.S. markets.
There was no mention in the filing as to how much the IPO will dilute Madison Dearborn’s stake, although the filing did indicate that the firm would receive roughly $65.4 million in net proceeds in connection to the redemption of Ruth’s Chris’ junior preferred stock.
The restaurant industry has been a popular destination for private equity firms recently, and according to figures from the National Restaurant Association (NRA), the sector should continue to grow in the coming years. The NRA anticipates that that industry will grow almost 5% in 2005, and the consulting firm Technomic, meanwhile, has forecast 6% annual growth from the high-end steakhouse segment from 2003 to 2008.
In just the first quarter of this year, there were eight restaurant transactions completed by buyout firms, including the purchases of Chevy’s, Uno Restaurant Holdings and Papa Gino’s among others.


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For the past two years, ITV and the BBC have been running an experimental streaming platform in the US. BritBox is a TV time warp, which launched in March 2017 with a mix of quaint British comedies – Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and Absolutely Fabulous, long-running soap operas and a modest smattering of fresher shows.
Its lineup is evocative of a very particular kind of Britain. One of bumbling neighbours, family disputes and village murders. BritBox is – in other words – about as far away as you can get from the kind of slick, visual-effects-laden five-season epics that dominates much of US programming. And it seems to be finding an audience in North America where the service now has half a million subscribers paying $6.99 (£5.25) a month to fill up on episodes of Doctor Who and Gavin & Stacey.
News of BritBox’s UK launch – slated to take place in the latter half of 2019 – brought with it the inevitable onslaught of Netflix comparisons. The logic is simple and the narrative seductive. BritBox is a streaming platform and, as such, it must be a Netflix rival. Can a quaint British programming defeat the incumbent tech giant?
In short: no. It can’t. But that’s not the point. BritBox isn’t a Netflix rival – it’s an attempt to prove that online streaming doesn’t have to be a winner-takes-all market. And if it is successful, it will be because of Netflix, not in spite of it.
When Netflix launched its streaming service in 2007, it made an audacious bet. It wasn’t wagering that online video was going to be the next big media format – the meteoric rise of YouTube already confirmed what had been obvious for years. No. Netflix was wagering that people who already paid for TV subscriptions would be willing to shell out a little more for content that they couldn’t get elsewhere.
Rather than taking another slice of the existing film and TV industry pie, Netflix figured it could make that pie a little bigger, and take that extra crust for itself. It worked. According to a 2018 poll by CNBC the largest category of TV viewers – making up 36 per cent of people – are those who pay for cable or satellite and a streaming service. In the UK, the rampant rise of Netflix – from its launch in 2012 to 9.78 million subscribers in 2018 – has not been mirrored by an equally dramatic decline in Sky and BT subscribers.
Make no mistake, Netflix has put the squeeze on existing TV firms. Sky and BT have both reported small declines in viewer figures, and there are a remaining 20 per cent of consumers in the US that only watch streaming services. But the point is that – despite the breathless headlines – Netflix hasn’t brought anything approaching a total collapse of more traditional TV formats.
Why not? Because although Netflix has a vast store of all kinds of content, there are huge areas of programming where it has no presence at all: sports, news and live content. That’s one of the reasons why Amazon has tried to make its own streaming platform stand out by adding 20 live Premier League games a season in the UK from 2019-2020 as well as the US Open and, in the US, select NFL fixtures.
BritBox occupies a niche of its own. Less distinct than sports or news, for sure, but the BBC and ITV are betting that there are enough people who value the uniqueness of British content that they will be willing to pay extra for it. That’s why – to British audiences – the lineup of content might seem esoteric. It’s deliberately meant to provide something that isn’t catered for elsewhere.
You can make a similar case for Disney, which is gearing up to launch its own streaming service, Disney+, in 2019. Disney+, which will host the firm’s raft of family-friendly fare, is often labelled a “Netflix rival,” but, as with BritBox, Disney+ is hoping it can occupy the position of an add-on rather than an outright alternative.
The difference between Disney+ and BritBox and an outright Netflix competitor, such as Amazon Prime Video is simple. It comes down to intellectual property. BritBox will host a style of content that you genuinely can’t find elsewhere on the internet – and one that its creators will hope that people are willing to pay for.
Of course, Netflix invests a vast amount on original programming – $12.04 billion (£9.038 billion) in 2018 alone – but its content is aimed at a very different kind of consumer. By producing a vast amount of broad-appeal programming in a range of different languages, Netflix is trying to appeal to a mass middle ground of subscribers – people who want to watch more quality TV. It isn’t appealing to the kind of viewers who want a very specific type of content – which is exactly the niche that BritBox is aiming at.
Strategically-speaking, Netflix and BritBox are hardly competitors at all. As Ben Thompson – the business analyst behind the tech blog Stratechery – points out, Netflix didn’t even bother to flag Disney+ as a competitor in its letter to shareholders in January 2019. To borrow one of Thompson’s most useful terms, Netflix is an aggregator – it takes a load of content from lots of different places and lumps it together in one place for a broad consumer base to find.
Disney+ and BritBox are perhaps more accurately termed “digital channels” – they funnel a narrow range of content to a specific audience. In the case of BritBox, English-speaking people with a penchant for the shows of yesteryear. The method of delivery – streaming – is the same, but the aims and stakes are totally different. If BritBox fails it won’t be because of Netflix, but because the audience it is aiming for doesn’t exist. Likewise, if it succeeds, it will hardly matter a jot to Netflix.
In fact, BritBox might owe its very existence to Netflix. The resounding success of The Crown – which cost Netflix £100 million to produce – has helped carve out an even bigger international market for distinctly British content. If BritBox is to succeed it may have to think about how to move beyond nostalgic content, and instead capitalise on the international success of shows such as Killing Eve and Bodyguard.
The great irony is that the idea for BritBox was floated way back in 2007 – five years before Netflix launched in the UK. Then called Project Kangaroo, a plan for a joint streaming venture between ITV, Channel 4 and BBC Worldwide was blocked in 2009 by the Competition Commission after it was declared a threat to the UK video-on-demand market. A decade later, the UK’s video-on-demand offerings are fractured, under-funded and light-years behind their US competitors. Now the best it can hope for is not to be a Netflix competitor, but a kind of streaming-mushroom, growing in the shadow of the US giant and feeding off the remnants of its vast success.
More great stories from WIRED
– Inside the vulnerable fame of YouTube's child ASMR stars
– I tried to keep my baby secret from Facebook and Google
– How SoftBank became the most powerful company in tech
– What happens when you drink Huel and Soylent for a month?
– Why your standing desk isn't solving your sitting problem


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Cruise ships returning to Bahrain.
One of the world's largest cruise ships, the AIDA BLU V, will make 14 calls starting on December 14.
Officials hope it will give Bahrain's economy a major boost, with industry estimates showing each cruise ship tourist spending at least $125 (BD47) in Bahrain.
"Each trip will have between 2,000 and 2,300 cruise passengers on board, who will spend a day in Bahrain and visit its various tourist attractions, said Al Sharif Group assistant shipping manager Hassan Al Sharif, whose company is the local agent for AIDA.
"This is very good news for Bahrain and a stamp of approval on its standing as a major port of call for cruise ships.
"While some cruise companies have taken Bahrain off their itineraries this year, citing the uncertain political situation, the AIDA vote of confidence will be a major boost."
Copyright 2011 Al Hilal Publishing & Marketing Group
Provided by Syndigate.info an Albawaba.com company


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Treyarch caused a big stir during the unveiling of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 last year when it announced there would be no traditional single-player campaign for that year's installment. At the time, Treyarch explained this was because developers were focused on the new battle royale mode, Blackout. But a new report suggests there was a single-player campaign in development for Black Ops 4 right up until the release year of the game.
In a new report by Kotaku discussing the crunch culture at Treyarch, sources revealed that right up until 2018, when Black Ops 4 was set to launch, there was a campaign mode in development for the game. In a departure from previous years, the mode was set to be a two-versus-two PvP mode baked inside a traditional campaign.
The mode would have the player and a partner battle another pair of human opponents, or AI-driven bots if the player chose to run the mode solo. Each side would be allied with a competing faction and the four players would fight over different objectives in a post-apocalyptic world. There would be opportunities to fight with the opposing side, or even change sides during the campaign if desired.
Treyarch developers were working on this mode as late as the end of 2017. There was even a demo of the 2v2 campaign mode in development as well. But following negative feedback from playtesters and technical concerns, leadership told employees at the beginning of 2018 that the campaign mode was getting cut.
Originally, the plan was to scrape together a new, more traditional campaign mode. With 11 months until a November release, this would have required crunch on the developers. But further problems arose when Rockstar announced it would be moving Red Dead Redemption 2's release from Spring to October 2018.
In response, Activision ordered Black Ops 4 to be moved forward to October 12. With a month less to develop a new campaign, Treyarch decided to scrap the mode altogether and instead create the battle royale mode: Blackout.
The full story details not only the struggle to retool an entire game less than a year before launch, but also the treatment of QA and contract employees. Something we've seen before at companies like NetherRealm Studios, which have been accused of treating contract employees like second-class citizens.
The decision to scrap Black Ops 4's campaign now makes sense as it was a matter of limited development time, not a new direction for the franchise. The next Call of Duty game, Modern Warfare, will have a campaign as well. Read Kotaku's full story for more on the troubled development of Black Ops 4.


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Recently an anonymous game developer spoke to Eurogamer about the woes of developing for Nintendo’s Wii U, giving a clear explanation as to why third-party developers would choose to stay away from the console. Now, a couple of third-party developers, including Hideki Kamiya, the director of (among others) The Wonderful 101 and Okami, are speaking up. They say that the Eurogamer article is flawed in that it mostly lists pre-launch issues that have since been fixed and that developing games for the Wii U is not much different from developing on other platforms.
Chris Arnold, an indie studio president, took to Twitter to refer to the article as “clickbait”. He said:
“They titled it to stir up the Nintendoom wheel again.”
Helping third-party developers has become a hot topic as of late. It was even one of the selling points for Sony’s Playstation 4, as Sony hopes to gain the support of indie developers as a means to get ahead of the competition. The Eurogamer article probably isn’t going to make anybody view Nintendo in a favorable light. Whether the third-parties continue to neglect the Wii U or not remains to be seen, though it should be noted that, as Destructoid puts it:
“When you’ve got reports from an anonymous source versus the word from developers who are willing to go on record with their names and track history, it doesn’t take a genius to figure out who to believe.”


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Brexit: Barnier warns of ‘feelings of not being protected’
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Under the terms of Mr Johnson’s new EU trade deal Northern Ireland, remains tied to the European single market, resulting in some regulatory checks on trade with Great Britain. These will increase from April 1 when the current grace period for a number of restrictions expires.
Lord Frost will confront the EU over its “overly legalistic” and “heavy-handed” interpretation of the new trade agreement, insiders have told the Daily Telegraph.
EU legislation has caused outrage in Northern Ireland with unionists demanding the return of uninterrupted trade with Great Britain.
Graffiti has appeared across loyalist areas attacking the restrictions whilst customs officials were briefly forced to stop work earlier this month following threats.
DUP leader Arlene Foster is demanding Britain withdraw from the Northern Ireland protocol.
The EU threatened to suspend this last month in a row over coronavirus vaccine doses, but backed down following outrage in London and Dublin.
Ms Foster, addressing Mr Johnson’s dilemma, said: “He needs to set his sights on a long-term solution rather than sticking plasters.
“Whether it is the flow of parcels, supermarket goods, chilled meats or medicines, from GB to NI, the United Kingdom single market has been ruptured.”
Lord Frost was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister responsible for EU Relations earlier this week.
He is taking on this role from Michael Gove with reports the prime minister is hoping for a tougher stand.
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07.43am update: Buy BRITISH! Brexiteer Redwood orders urgent delivery of Cornish fish – EU exports snubbed
Brexiteer Sir John Redwood has continued his push for people to buy British after revealing he is waiting for a delivery of Cornish fish as “some supermarkets are still not offering enough UK produce”.
Earlier this week, a new survey indicated a third of British consumers have stopped buying produce from EU countries since Brexit.
Sir John said the results of that survey emphasised exactly why the bloc needs to make it as simple as possible to get goods into the UK – instead of its current “curious” attitude.
The research, undertaken Censuswide for Eskenzi PR and Marketing quizzing 1,000 people living in the UK, found 34 percent had stopped buying goods and services from the EU since the UK finally severed all ties from the bloc following the end of the Brexit transition period on December 31.
Source: Read Full Article


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Monday, President Donald Trump signed a bill that will repeal former president Barack Obama’s internet privacy rules.
These rules were passed by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) last year in an attempt to give internet users more control over their data. Providers were no longer allowed to sell users’ data information without the user’s consent.
Some of this previously protected data included a user’s browsing history, geolocation and financial and medical information. This information can now be sold.
Craig Aron, CEO of the advocacy group Free Press, said, “It’s shocking that of all the challenges facing this country, the Trump administration would prioritize taking away people’s privacy.”
Much of the backlash comes from the idea that the only people benefiting from this bill are big service providers. This information can be used to create targeted advertisements, similar to the ones Facebook users see on their newsfeeds. It does not appear to help the general public in any way.
Those arguing in favor of the bill claim that major websites, like Facebook, are already selling user data and this is just the next step. However, Facebook does state in their user agreement that by using the social media one is giving Facebook the ability to use and sell their internet data to advertisers.
We at The Voice feel that selling a user’s internet data without their consent is a violation of privacy. Data should never be distributed to anyone outside of the provider unless the user agrees to the transfer of information. What one does online on their private computers is their own business.
Not only does this bill remove a sense of privacy, but who’s to say that internet providers won’t keep sensitive information from falling into the wrong hands when all they care about is selling data to the highest bidder. No one is exempt from this bill. People in power may have data from secure sites sold off without their knowledge.
This bill also has the opportunity to set a precedence for future privacy stealing actions by the government. If taking citizens data without consent is ok, what else can be justified?
We at The Voice hope that the rights of the citizens of the United States are recognized and considered more in the future when more bills and actions like this one come to light. We hope that the generous backlash from citizens is enough to make the politicians responsible for this bill and President Trump who signed think again about what the lack of privacy means.


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4 July 2022 “The European Commission and national consumer protection authorities published the results of an EU-wide website screening (“sweep”) of websites brokering car rentals. Under
Travel is back with a vengeance this summer. But so are cancellations. Many Irish consumers will travel for a sun holiday abroad this summer – it
The European Consumer Centre (ECC) Ireland is a member of the European Consumer Centre Network (ECC-Net), which offers consumers across the European Union advice on their consumer
ECC Ireland has recently kickstarted a project that provides a roadmap for our parent organisation ECC-Net’s future collaboration with international consumer protection organisations and stakeholders.
P R E S S R E L E A S E 07 SEPTEMBER 2021 On 7 September 2021, the European Consumer Centre (ECC)
One year after the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic and its severe impact on the aviation industry and air passengers’ consumer rights, the European Court


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Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche says that almost 90,000 people have ordered the new A-Class. More than double compared to Golf VII orders.
Chief Executive Dieter Zetsche says that almost 90,000 people have ordered the new A-Class.
Less than a month ago we talked about Mercedes-Benz adding a third shift to meet strong A-Class demand. At that point, the company had received 70,000 orders but now this number has grown to almost 90,000. In comparisson, Volkswagen has received so far more than 40,000 orders for its seventh-gen Golf.
Dieter Zetsche declared that Mercedes-Benz will increase global car sales by five percent in 2012 versus last year’s 1.28 million units. By 2020, the Stuttgart-based brand wants to double deliveries of Mercedes and Smart cars to approximately 2.6 million.
Despite an objective to lower cost by 2 billion EUR by the end of 2014, Zetsche says that “no active job reductions” will occur.


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Pretty penny is in a pickle / It costs 1.23 cents to make -- a dime costs less than a nickel
Penny-wise, we're starting to look pound foolish. It has just become more costly to produce a penny than a penny is actually worth -- which suggests it's time to re-examine why we even bother with the runt of the coin litter.
The penny is in oldest U.S. coin, originally proposed by Benjamin Franklin and made with copper donated in part by Paul Revere. In 1909, its heads and tails were redesigned to commemorate the 100th birthday of Abraham Lincoln. And in 1982, its composition was recalibrated to combat the rising costs of copper.
Now, for the first time, the U.S. Mint has confirmed that because of soaring metal prices, the lowly cent, now made mostly of zinc wrapped inside a shiny copper skin, will cost an average of 1.23 cents to make this year. (A dime still costs less than a nickel to fashion, and a quarter costs less than a dime.) Not that penny-ante irony is giving Uncle Sam second thoughts: the undaunted Mint is on track to produce 8.7 billion new pennies this year.
This factors out to a loss of about $20 million a year -- not exactly chump change, even for an operation with a license to print money.
The penny's obvious handicap, of course, is that virtually nothing costs a cent anymore, not even a gumball. Cities have replaced their antiquated penny parking meters with new models that accept only larger coins or debit cards. Given inflation, a dime doesn't even buy what a penny used to purchase.
Nor is the prevalence of pennies -- more than four rolls' worth for every man, woman and child in the United States -- a benign blight. They weigh down our pockets and purses and retard our retail transactions. The National Association of Convenience Stores has calculated that penny use costs people 2 to 3 seconds more per sale -- and that delay increases exponentially when there are lines at cash registers. Stores spend 5.5 million hours a year just counting their pennies, and the esteem in which shoppers hold them is evidenced by those ubiquitous "Give a penny, take a penny" trays at many checkout counters.
Most U.S. pennies aren't even in circulation, instead languishing in obscurity at the bottom of a coffee can, pickle jar, sock drawer or sofa cushion, or stuck to the floorboard of a minivan. In the typical home, pennies exist in utilitarian limbo alongside expired grocery coupons and dead batteries.
Production of more pennies also extracts a toll on our natural resources, not to mention taxpayer-funded operations. Former Treasury Secretary William Simon once had this advice about the penny: "Get rid of the damn thing. If we'd abolished it years ago, we wouldn't have had to open the Denver Mint."
Ridding the nation of a coin be unprecedented -- Congress eliminated the half-cent coin in 1857 -- and the republic weathered the loss. Other countries have abolished low-denomination coins, including Britain, France and Spain. And two decades ago, the United States ended the use of the penny at overseas military installations, to save the cost of transporting them. The General Accounting Office observed that after initial complaints, the penny's absence became accepted.
So what has prevailed to preserve the penny?
Sentimentality, for starters. Unlike in other countries, no living American has ever been forced to surrender one of the nation's coins to the ravages of inflation. Surveys show that Americans have a nostalgic bond with their pennies, recalling their own childhood piggy banks, their trips to buy penny candy, the time they cashed in enough pennies to purchase a modest engagement ring.
Coinstar, a Washington state company that makes coin-counting machines, polled 1,000 Americans last year and reported that although one-fourth of respondents were ready to scratch the penny, about two-thirds preferred to keep it. More amazingly, more than three-fourths said that when they see a penny on the ground, they stoop to pick it up (presumably they don't frequent San Francisco's Market Street).
Surveys reveal an unmistakable generation gap, with older Americans particularly attached to the penny. Coinstar found that almost half of the respondents under age 35 admitted to having thrown a penny away at least once -- four times as many as older people, who found such wantonness appalling.
Poorer people, too, are among the penny's staunchest defenders, perhaps lacking the cavalier attitude of affluent Americans who don't know what it's like to pinch them. A Harris Poll in 2004 found that people in the top income bracket were twice as likely to support abolishing the penny as those in the lowest income bracket.
Their apprehensions may be justified, because some economic research indicates consumer costs will edge higher in the penny's absence, as merchants round prices up instead of down. There is conflicting research as well, which suggests merchants may be more likely to round down, because cents are often incorporated into prices merely to give the illusion of lower cost (a merchant might round a price of 98 cents down to 95 cents, for example, to preserve the lure of pricing under $1.)
Even so, one Penn State economic analysis concluded that rounding cash sales to the nearest nickel would cost consumers more than $600 million a year.
The penny also is a popular and effective charity gimmick. Jars that invite buyers to drop in their change raise impressive sums, predominantly in pennies, for good works like AIDS research. UNICEF enlists children to collect millions of dollars in pennies for world relief. Even now, a guy in Miramar, Fla., is stacking a ton of them -- that's 300,000 pennies -- into a passive pyramid in his dual quest to break the Guinness world record for coin-stacking and raise public awareness of colorectal cancer.
Even if the penny were sent packing, it would just move the nickel onto the hot seat. The Mint now projects its cost this year at 5.73 cents. So much for getting your nickel's worth.


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President Donald Trump said Monday he's in no rush to respond to a coordinated attack that hit Saudi Arabia's oil industry over the weekend.Marketsread more
The price of oil could go sharply higher, depending on the duration of the disruption at Saudi oil facilities and whether there is a military response.Powering the Futureread more
Energy stocks, one of the worst-performing sectors this year, spiked Monday after an attack on Saudi Arabia's heart of oil production Saturday sent oil prices soaring.Marketsread more
The Saudi-led military coalition battling Yemen's Houthi movement said on Monday that the attack on Saudi oil plants was carried out by Iranian weapons and did not originate...Oilread more
"The United States military, with our interagency team, is working with our partners to address this unprecedented attack and defend the international rules-based order that...Politicsread more
Crude oil's spike following attacks on Saudi Arabia's energy supply has experts weighing whether or not the gains will last.ETF Edgeread more
"In the old days, the averages would've plunged on this kind of oil shock. I know because I've lived through a bunch of them, starting in 1973," Jim Cramer says.Mad Money with Jim Cramerread more
Traders in the fed funds futures market on Monday were pricing in a 34% chance that the Fed will stay put on rates.The Fedread more
The meeting comes amid months of stalled trade talks between Washington and New Delhi, resulting in both sides taking retaliatory measures.Asia Politicsread more
Gas prices could rise by about 20 cents per gallon "starting tomorrow," oil analyst Andy Lipow says Monday.Oil and Gasread more
Some operators are cashing in on the CBD craze by substituting cheap and illegal synthetic marijuana for natural CBD in vapes and edibles such as gummy bears, an AP...Health and Scienceread more
Self-driving robots from Starship Technologies can now deliver Starbucks, Blaze pizzas, sushi rolls, and almost anything but alcohol to students on college campuses in the U.S. via partnerships with food service companies including Sodexo and Compass Group.
University of Pittsburgh and Purdue University are the latest to get the robots, following in the footsteps of George Mason University and Northern Arizona University. Students use the Starship app to order at all hours of the day and night, and can pay with their meal card if they're buying items covered through their plan. They typically pay a delivery fee of $1 to $2, and get their delivery within a half-hour of placing the order.
Fleets of the robots should be on 100 U.S. campuses within the next two years, according to Starship CEO Lex Bayer. To support that expansion, the company raised $40 million in fresh venture funding, bringing its total capital raised to $85 million.
Bayer told CNBC that the robots, which he refers to as autonomous vehicles, are ideally suited to make deliveries on sidewalks and narrow campus streets where cars aren't permitted or can't fit. The delivery service can also give local stores and restaurants a shot in the arm to fight against online sellers.
"Why buy a wrench online from an e-commerce site that will get there two days later when you can buy it from a local hardware store and have it in half an hour?" Bayer asks.
Unlike delivery drones, and self-driving cars, states have been quick to sort out regulations allowing the pervasive use of autonomous delivery robots. That's because they are comparatively lighter and slower and therefore less likely to hurt people or damage property.
Nine states already allow the use of these robots, giving Starship access to reach at least 100 million people, the CEO said. For now, the company delivers mostly groceries, hot meals, and retail packages to its customers on college campuses, corporate campuses and other communities.
The company recently notched its 100,000th delivery and has dropped off at least 6,000 pizzas, 9,000 sushi rolls, 5,000 bananas and hundreds of thousands of diapers to customers, Bayer said.
Starship aims to someday deliver pharmaceuticals. But for now, its most important delivery was a bill that the company rolled out to Washington Gov. Jay Inslee to sign into law in April. Of course, the bill enabled delivery robots to operate commercially in the Evergreen State.
Correction: The robots are not currently slated to come to Indiana University in September. Sorry, Hoosiers.


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Starmobile is aiming to enhance its aftersales services with the launch of two new apps in select Android smartphone units.
The company unveiled the new services Star Phone by One Smart Network and its own E-Warranty app. “We are launching these apps to make customer service more convenient for our users,” said Ardie Balderrama, Sales and Marketing Head of Starmobile.
He added that these will deliver efficient personal aftersales service online, offline and in stores.
With the Star Phone app, users would only need to dial *7827 (*STAR) and the they can access a menu of Starmobile services. For the E-Warranty app, this allows users to register their smartphone’s warranty online for faster support in Starmobile service centers.
Starmobile also said it would use the E-Warranty system to register all units to avoid fraud and double registration.
Currently, the apps are available in selected UP- and PLAY-series smartphone. Consumers may expect to see these in all future Starmobile Android products.
Starmobile devices can also be purchase in more than 900 sari-sari stores nationwide.
Its products, such as UNO feature phones and the entry-level PLAY and UP series android smartphones, are made avaiable in Mr. D in Atimonan, Quezon, Double Barrel in Sta. Cruz ,Laguna, Abay Sari-Sari Store in Naga City, Bicol and in several other outlets in Quezon City such as Hi ACE Sari Sari Store San Bartolome, Novaliches and CJ Loading Station Pingkian Sauyo, Novaliches.


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(Reuters) – London’s main stock market index held steady on Wednesday after a run of six losing sessions triggered by worries over the U.S.-China trade dispute, although commodities trader Glencore hit an almost 3-year low after poor first half results.
Glencore’s almost one-third drop in core profit, allied to lower copper prices, pulled mining firms lower. That was offset by gains in healthcare and consumer goods stocks, leaving the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> blue chip index largely unchanged.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 <.FTMC> rose 0.3% by 0706 GMT, helped by a post-earnings jump in Ultra Electronic <ULE.L>.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; editing by Patrick Graham)


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Transformers Adventure April Releases on Amazon Japan
Amazon Japan has begun listing preorders for the April releases of Takara Tomy’s Transformers Adventure Line. First up are TAV13 Nemesis Prime, TAV14 Ultra Magnus, and TED06 Big Optimus Prime. Read on for the details and pics.
TAV13 Nemesis Prime 2,700 Yen
TAV14 Ultra Magnus 4,320 Yen
TED06 Big Optimus Prime 3,780 Yen
Release date is currently set for April 25. You can discuss the news on our forums.


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A look at how new technologies - for example, virtual reality, augmented reality and 3D printing - are strengthening innovation in product development
Reality Labs, Facebook's augmented reality and virtual reality division, now accounts for 20% of the social media giant's workforce. A focus on the immersive future...
A new leak from Apple could reveal the tech giant's plans for its own high-end virtual reality headset in 2022.
AUDI relies on virtual planning using virtual reality and 3D scans to save costs and resources in production and logistics.


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SAMSUNG has officially unveiled its prototype folding smartphone.
The Apple rival has been working on the gadget for years, but it was made official at this week's Samsung Developer Conference.
The handset is supposed to bridge the gap between smartphones and tablets, and could revolutionise mobile design forever.
The technology is described as an Infinity Flex Display – in the form of a tablet that packs down to smartphone size.
It's got a large 7.3-inch screen (as rumoured) that's nearly an inch bigger than the heftiest Apple handset, the iPhone XS Max.
And up to three separate apps will be able to run simultaneously.
The reveal came alongside a separate announced about foldable phones by Google at the Android Developer Summit.
Google officially announced support for a category of Android handsets it described as "foldables".
Dave Burke, who heads up engineering at Google, said the company would be "enhancing Android to take advantage of this new form factor with as little work as necessary".
Sadly there's no confirmation of an actual release date for the phone.
Earlier this year, a report by Korea's ETNews suggested that production for the Galaxy X smartphone wouldn't begin until November.
And Samsung seemingly confirmed this, saying it would begin mass production "in the coming months".
This would mean it's very unlikely that the device would arrive in stores before Christmas.
It's more likely that we'll see the handset made available in early 2019.
A potential launchpad for the device would be Mobile World Congress, Barcelona's annual tech tradeshow at which Samsung is a regular attendee.
The event takes place at the very end of February 2019.
It's also not clear how much it will cost, but it's almost certainly going to be expensive.
MOST READ IN TECH
We recently spoke to industry expert Dan Ives, of Wedbush Securities, who said that Samsung's foldable handset could cost far more than the £899 Samsung Galaxy Note 9 – currently Samsung's priciest model.
"Given this totally innovative design and significant R&D behind it we believe $1,200-$1,350 price points are what we would expect when they eventually hit the market," Ives told The Sun.
Phone makers typically use identical or near-identical numbers (rather than direct currency conversions) for US versus UK pricing.
So if a phone was sold at $1,350 in the USA, you'd expect UK pricing to fall somewhere between £1,250 and £1,350.
What do you think of this wacky device? Let us know in the comments!
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at email@example.com or call 0207 782 4368 . We pay for videos too. Click here to upload yours.


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Speaking to Anadolu Agency’s Editors’ Desk in Ankara, Agbal said the government will discuss additional support and incentives to boost economic activities in the country.
"The economy will also have two main pillars: the first one is structural reform, the second is new support and incentives to further strengthen economic recovery," he said.
The measures will positively impact the exchange rate, interest rates, economic growth and capital inflow after the referendum, he said.
Millions of Turkish citizens will vote on Sunday in the referendum which calls for constitutional changes and handing wide-ranging executive powers to the president.
The minister said Turkish economy’s recovery in the last quarter of last year came at the back of government incentives and support.
The finance minister also said the government will maintain fiscal discipline in the coming months.
"We will never give up on fiscal discipline," he added.
Turkish economy expanded at a rate of 3.5 percent in the last quarter and 2.9 percent in 2016, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute.
About the government's budget performance, Agbal said a sustainable fiscal discipline had been observed in the last 14 years.
"The government's support to the economy through fiscal policies has been evaluated positively by the markets. We will apply temporary tax reductions until this September, and then we will end it," he said.
"The government ran a budget surplus of 4.6 billion Turkish liras [around $1.24 billion] in January-February this year. The budget is continuing to comply with our targets," he added.
This February, the government reduced by 6.7 percent the special consumption tax on white goods -- electronic goods that tend to be white in color such as refrigerators -- and cut 18 percent value-added tax on furniture to 8 percent for the next three months in a bid to support domestic demand.
Agbal said the impact of tax reductions on furniture and household appliances had been positive for markets; sales of white goods and furniture had increased by 40 percent and 15 percent, respectively.
Recalling the government's efforts to enhance the capacity of the credit guarantee fund (KGF) Agbal said: "Around 157,000 companies benefited from that guarantee and reached 114 billion Turkish liras [some $31 billion] finance through KGF."
Early this year, the parliament approved a bill to provide a collateral of up to 250 billion liras (some $69 billion) to boost bank loans for businesses by covering non-performing loans at up to 7 percent of all loans -- an increase from the current 3 percent.
"We provided a significant cash flow in favor of the economic growth through banking channels and fiscal policies," Agbal said.
The minister also said the government is taking the price stability issue very seriously since the inflation figures have been showing an upward trend in recent months.
"There is a high correlation between prices and foreign exchange rate fluctuations. The exchange rate effects will be eliminated in the coming months and then a downward trend in inflation will be observed," he added.
According to the Turkish Statistical Institute, Turkey's annual inflation rate rose 11.29 percent year-on-year in March from 10.13 percent in February.
The U.S. dollar/Turkish lira exchange rate was 3.02 on average last year while one dollar was traded for 2.71 liras in 2015.
The lira has witnessed harsh foreign exchange rate fluctuations in recent months. Dollar/lira rate saw a historic hike -- around 3.94 liras -- in mid-January this year.


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New Retail and Condo Space in Portland, Maine, to Take Over Parking Lot
In the current times, where new buildings are popping up left and right in downtown Portland, Maine, it wasn’t surprising to hear that a new one is in the works on Commercial Street in front of Amigo’s Restaurant, which will provide retail and condominium space.
The parking lot was private and used by Amigo’s employees and the employees of the other businesses within the building, until it was purchased a few years back by UPP Global.
A few grandfathered spots remained for employee use, and the rest became “pay to park”. These were mostly used by tourists, who were frustrated with the lack of parking options and succumbed to paying large amounts of money to park for a few hours while they walked downtown.
It’s not clear whether the current owner of the lot is involved in the planned project, or if they sold the lot to developers. The proposed building appears to be fairly large, and will ultimately vanish the view of Casco Bay from Gritty McDuff’s Brew Pub and other nearby businesses.
With bars and restaurants nearby, it will surely be interesting to see how it goes over with new condo owners and renters. Sure, the location is convenient, but the potential noise and lack of parking will likely not be.
According to a nearby employee, there still hasn’t been a permit obtained yet, which could delay the project.
Needless to say, a few nearby businesses and employees that I spoke to are not happy about the project. This is mainly for the reasons stated in this article, especially the fact that they will now be scrambling to find a parking spot in Maine’s biggest city, which already has a massive shortage of (affordable) parking.
25 Photos of Downtown Portland, Maine in 2010 Taken From the Seventh Floor
Gallery Credit: Jeff Parsons
The Best Spots in Portland, Maine’s Old Port to Eat While You Work
Gallery Credit: Jadd


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Back when I was a cub reporter for my hometown newspaper, covering high school baseball and football on the weekends, I knew that I was a “Figure Filbert.”
That’s the nickname that was given to Ernest Lanigan, a reporter of the early 20th century who seemingly was obsessed with statistics. He claimed to have no real interest in baseball, but wanted to know what made each player unique, and invented his own statistics to do that. As an example, nobody kept track of runs batted in until Lanigan did.
I enjoyed stats, too, and usually cited some in my stories. I was no Ernest Lanigan, but I definitely was a “Figure Filbert.”
Statistics are not exclusive to sports, of course, and these days, I always look forward to the annual wine industry statistical update compiled by the Wines Vines Analytics team and Wines & Vines magazine.
Here are some of the stats just released…
- There now are 9,436 wineries in North America.
- 4,054 of those wineries are in California.
- The overall winery count in North America grew 5% from 2014 to 2015.
- There now are 1,640 virtual wineries in the U.S., up 165 in 2014. Virtual wineries do not have their own winemaking facilities, but rather produce their wines at “host” or “custom crush” facilities.
- Washington ranks second among states when it comes to its number of wineries — but it’s a distant second. In 2015, it added 15 wineries, increasing its total to 718.
- Oregon ranks third with 689. It added 57 wineries in 2015.
- We’ve reported many times that each of America’s 50 states is home to at least one winery. Lesser known is that half of our states have at least 50 wineries.
- The fastest pace of growth in 2015 was experienced in Florida, which saw its number of wineries increase by 22% to 55. Watch out, Mickey Mouse!
- Significant growth also was shown in Ohio, with the number of wineries up 15% to 181, and in Minnesota, also up 15% to 62.
- Although the wine industry, like many other industries, has experienced much consolidation in recent years, the vast majority of wineries are small businesses. Of North America’s 9,436 wineries, 6,850 produce fewer than 5,000 cases of wine per year.


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Shoppers seek out cannabidiol (CBD) products for a variety of reasons. For example, some may be looking for help in managing anxiety, while others may be looking to reduce stress or eliminate pain.
CBD Wellness Users tend to be more confident, happy, extroverted and positive compared to other CBD users. What’s more, they are also likely to be brand loyal as well as big spenders when it comes to CBD purchases. Brightfield group pointed out that wellness users are attracted to CBD because they are seeking “well-being,” which they believe the product helps to provide. Unlike many other CBD customer groups, wellness users do not report any medical conditions — like pain or anxiety — and are not using CBD for medical purposes.
Wellness users of CBD are more likely to be multicultural women over the age of 40. Some 53% buy CBD online compared to 47% of overall CBD customers. And 45% use CBD daily or multiple times per day, while 55% use CBD at least five times per week, according to Brightfield Group.


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PayPal has been granted a banking licence in Luxembourg. They will be relocating their European headquarters to the Luxemburg from London. With the new banking licence, issued by the Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier (CSSF) in Luxembourg, PayPal is no longer authorised by the FSA and says it can now establish local sales teams across Europe. Brent Bellm, head of Europe, PayPal, says establishing a new European headquarters in Luxembourg is a “significant step in the next phase of PayPal’s European growth”. PayPal has 35 million customers in Europe, including 15 million in the UK. In March, the company reported that it processed US$8.4bn of total payment volume in Europe in 2006 and said its growth in the region is due to high penetration rates among online shoppers in the major European markets, including the UK, Germany, France and Italy. The payments service is already accepted at more than 100,000 web sites in Europe, but most of these are small firms and only a few of the larger retailers have signed up to the service.
The annual BNP Paribas Cash Management University kicked off on Thursday morning with treasury professionals congregating in Paris from across Europe.
APIs may be a solution to MT940 challenges, says Karen Fagan, treasury operation manager, for British television company, ITV.
Kicking off the first day of the Singapore Fintech Festival, issues with cryptocurrencies were addressed by MIT media labs director, Joi Ito, and panels of technology leaders discussed how they’re using data analytics.
Sibos 2017 day two highlights: Brexit and banking, and why ‘data is the new oil’ in financial services
How nation first politics can impact global financial organisations It’s clear that data and regulation are the two key topics that are ... read more


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Contracts for new, single-family home sales increased 7.9% in January to a 764,000 seasonally adjusted annual rate according to estimates from the joint release of HUD and the Census Bureau. The increase came off an upwardly revised December estimate, which was revised from an initial reading of 694,000 to a new estimate of 708,000. Year-over-year, the January estimate is 18.6% higher than the same period in 2019. The three-month moving average for new home sales reached 721,000 in January, the strongest since September 2007. Sales were strong in January, supported by lower mortgage rates and historically low unemployment.
Regionally, new home sales were up 4.8% in the Northeast, 30.3% in Midwest, and 23.5% in the West, and down 4.4% in the South.
Compared to last month, inventory of new homes for sale increased 0.3% to 324,000 in January. Year-over-year, inventory of new homes for sale was 6.6% lower than a year ago (347,000). The current months’ supply fell to 5.1 in January, pointing to additional production gains.
Median new home sales price (price of a home in the middle of the distribution) rose 7.4% in January to $348,200 compared to December ($324,100) and 14.0% higher than a year ago ($305,400).
About 9% of newly built home sales are priced under $200,000 in January, compared to 11% last month and 9% one year ago. The number of new homes priced above $400,000 increased.


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Merger and acquisition (M&A) activity has been heating up with several large transactions over the past few weeks.
As a boomer, I didn’t realize I have the millennial attitude.
Are consumers getting the protein they’re paying for?
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