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SAN FRANCISCO -- K. Shelly Porges, the credit card marketing consultant, isn't giving in to at least two pieces of conventional wisdom.
She refuses to believe that the credit card market is saturated, and she sees no end -- but perhaps different twists -- to the cobranding phenomenon.
In a presentation last week to Fair, Isaac & Co.'s 1994 conference, Ms. Porges dismissed the market-saturation "myth" simply by citing statistics. And she called on banks to turn inward in their search for cobranding or cross-marketing opportunities, taking a lesson from Wells Fargo & Co.'s California Advantage card, which provides rebates to the bank's mortgage borrowers.
"There is still room for growth," she said. "Outstandings are up overall. And with lower interest rates, credit cards compete with other forms of credit."
Indeed, the Federal Reserve Board said consumer installment loans grew in March at an 11% annual rate. At $808 billion, they were 8% higher than in March 1993. Revolving debt, mainly credit cards, which accounted for 35% of the total, grew in March by 5% and averaged a 10.2% annual growth rate for the first three months of 1994.
"Half of those without credit cards are employed and have at least the minimum income threshold of $15,000," Ms. Porges said. "And that's not to mention the secured-card opportunity."
Industry Slow to React
"Value-added cards," she continued, referring to the cobranding phenomenon and bank issuers' competitive rebate and benefit offers, "have changed the way people use cards."
She suggested that the industry is only now coming to grips with the way cardholder expectations have changed, noting that only two nonbank efforts -- Synovus Financial Corp.'s AT&T Universal Card and Household Bank's General Motors MasterCard -- have been true blockbusters.
Among the top 10 bank card companies in 1993, the fastest growers were MBNA America Bank, which concentrates on affinity programs, at 26%; AT&T Universal Card Services, at 38%; and Household Credit Services, the issuer of GM and Ameritech cards, at 54%.
Chemical Banking Corp., the eight-largest issuing bank according to RAM Research Corp., had a vastly improved 18% growth rate, spurred by its alliance with Shell Oil Co.
Ms. Porges and Patricia Hudson, her partner in San Francisco-based Porges/Hudson Marketing Inc., said they recommend that clients consider "a new type of cobranding with their own retail banks."
Wells Fargo's credit card-mortgage tie-in is the best known example. Also, NationsBank has linked cards to annuity products through Start Inc. of Herndon, Va.
Ms. Porges and Ms. Hudson said similar programs are in the works. Ms. Porges said they can have the advantage of producing income for the bank and cementing customer relationships, neither of which may be easy as traditional, interindustry cobranding programs mature.
At the Fair Isaac conference, which covered a wide range of credit marketing and information technology issues, the consultants took attendees through a mock brainstorming session to demonstrate how different areas of a bank can find mutual benefits in a "cobranding" venture.
One popular idea was to connect a home equity line of credit with a credit card. Some bankers have explored the idea -- cardholders could deduct the interest payments on their tax returns -- but few have implemented it.
Some cite regulatory complications -- Texas, for example, does not permit second mortgages -- and others say the systems of the relevant bank departments are incompatible.
Larry Rosenberger, the president of Fair Isaac, said the lack of home equity tie-ins reflects historical cultural barriers within banks. "The credit card people usually don't talk to the mortgage people," he said.
Porges/Hudson Marketing had several cobranding ideas of its own, including a frequent-usage program modeled after airline mileage plans; a reverse mortgage card that lets elderly customers turn home equity into cash; and a homeowners card that provides rebates on loans, discounts on insurance, and discounts from Home Depot or similar stores.
Ms. Hudson urged the marketers to base their innovations on an understanding of their banks' business issues and problems, keep the product concept simple, and provide sales incentives to branch personnel.
"We are trying to break down the barriers between credit cards and the retail bank," she said. "This should not be like a direct marketing program that does not touch the branches."


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- 5 min read
Singapore tourist arrivals fall to record low in 2021
Singapore received only 330,000 international visitors in 2021, the lowest on record. It is less than two per cent of the 19.1 million tourists who came to its shores in 2019.
Last week, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) released numbers that highlighted the dramatic impact Covid-19 has had on the tourism industry in the city-state as well as the wider Southeast Asia region.
Although Singapore has a well-diversified economy and tourism makes up only about four per cent of GDP before Covid, the same cannot be said of its neighbours the Philippines and Thailand. According to data from the World Travel and Tourism Council, tourism was responsible for 24 per cent and 21 per cent of GDP respectively, in those two countries, and Covid has caused much distress among those in travel-related industries.
Singapore had only 330,000 international visitors in 2021, the lowest on record. It is less than two per cent of the 19.1 million tourists who came to its shores in 2019. 2020 was a better year with 2.7 million visitors but most arrived in the first two months of the year before Covid forced Singapore to close its borders.
China, India, and Indonesia were the top three visitor source markets last year. Singapore saw 88,000 visitors from China, 54,000 from India, and 33,000 from Indonesia.
During the last pre-Covid year, 2019, the top three sources of visitors was similar. Singapore drew 3.64 million visitors from China, 3.08 million from Indonesia, with India rounding up the top three with 1.42 million visitors.
In 2019, Singapore collected SGD 27.7 billion (USD 20.4 billion) of tourism-related receipts. It managed a mere SGD 4.8 billion in 2020 and SGD 1.9 billion in 2021.
STB said that while the numbers in 2020 and 2021 represent only a fraction of Singapore's tourism performance prior to the pandemic, it is encouraged by the signs of recovery. The last three quarters of 2021 saw year-on-year growth of 221 per cent in tourist arrivals compared with the same period in 2020.
That it managed to receive some visitors in 2021 was mainly due to Singapore's gradual reopening as a result of the VTL (vaccinated travel lane) scheme which was launched in September last year.
What also aided the tourism sector are locals who were unable or unwilling to travel overseas booking "staycations" at local hotels. Hotels managed an overall occupancy rate of between 56 to 57 per cent in 2020 and 2021.
There was also a government grant to the tourism industry through Singapore Rediscover Vouchers (SRV) where each resident was given SGD 100 to spend on local attractions and experiences. STB reported that by the end of the SRV scheme on 31 December 2021, there were about 2.6 million SRV-linked transactions amounting to almost SGD 300 million, out of which SGD 180 million were vouchers redemptions and SGD 120 million paid in cash.
Furthermore, Singapore residents also went on "seacations" by "cruising to nowhere" on two luxury cruise liners which started in late 2020. Singapore's cruise industry saw over 400,000 domestic passengers set sail on close to 300 cruise sailings. To further boost the cruise industry, STB is planning for cruises to other Southeast Asian countries later in the year.
STB is building up a strong pipeline of MICE (meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions) events this year. The most important of which is the Singapore Airshow in February. Other MICE events it is planning include Design Fair Asia 2022, Global Health Security Conference 2022, 60th International Young Lawyers' Congress 2022, World One Health Congress 2022, and Seafood Expo 2022.
Also announced last week on Thursday (January 27) was the renewal of Singapore's contract to host Formula One Grand Prix for another seven years from this year to 2028. The duration of the contract is the longest so far and STB explained in a statement that "This will give Singapore a longer runway to capture pent-up demand as international travel recovers. It also allows STB, Singapore GP and industry partners to develop new experiences to meet the evolving interests of locals and visitors."
Singapore which hosted Formula One's first-ever night race in 2008 cancelled the races in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the organisers are working with relevant government agencies and industry stakeholders to refine and implement appropriate protocols to ensure the safety of fans and participants for this year's race.
There were 268,000 spectators over the three days of the 2019 event, but it is unlikely to attract the same number of fans at this year's event even as Singapore is gradually relaxing its pandemic border restrictions.
Although a pre-departure rapid antigen test and an on-arrival PCR (polymerase chain reaction) test are still required currently, since January 23, visitors only need to conduct self-tests from day 2 to 7 of their arrival if they plan to leave their accommodation. There is no requirement for supervised tests. It is hoped that with the planned events and as border restrictions begin to lift, Singapore's tourism sector will soon recover.
Keith Tan, Chief Executive, Singapore Tourism Board (STB), said, "While it will take time for tourism numbers to return to pre-pandemic levels, we are encouraged by the resilience of our tourism businesses, and their commitment to preserve good jobs, transform their businesses and invest in new products and experiences. These efforts will strengthen Singapore's appeal as we prepare to welcome more international visitors."
"We must anticipate setbacks and challenges even as the tourism industry recovers slowly. But I am confident that the tourism industry has learnt from its experiences and is poised to recapture demand when it returns."

domain: news


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Intel has tied up with different phone makers and carriers in France, England, China and India to launch Android powered smartphones. In India Intel has launched the Lava Xolo X900.
Lava Xolo X900 Specifications
Lava Xolo X900
4.03inch 1024 x 600px Resolution
Corning Gorilla Glass
8MP with 1080P HD video recording
1.3MP front camera with 480P video
16GB Internal Memory
Android 2.3 (Gingerbread)
(upgradable to Android 4.0)
1.6 GHz Intel® Atom™ with Hyper Threading
Clock speed 400 MHz
The Xolo X900 has a single core processor and is still able pull of a 1024 x 600px Resolution and a 1080P video resolution “without breaking a Sweat” which is pretty impressive, would really definitely love to test drive this baby to it’s limits (Review it).
The other phones launched in different parts of the world have the same specs except the phones launched in France and China have a 4.5inch screen.


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The European Parliament passed the landmark Digital Markets Act on Tuesday. The legislation aims to outlaw many common practices of Big Tech companies, especially Apple, Google and Amazon.
For iPhone users, the DMA would force Apple to allow rival app stores and sideloaded applications. And these are only two of many significant changes in the act.
There are still further steps the the EU government must go through before the DMA goes into effect, but that’s expected to happen before the end of 2022.
Digital Markets Act will remake iPhone and the App Store
What happens in Europe doesn’t stay in Europe. The sweeping new law just passed by the European Union will almost certainly affect Apple devices around the world. And the changes championed by EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager really are sweeping. They are intended to increase competition between Big Tech and smaller companies, and help users too.
New DMA regulations will force Apple to allow iPhone users to download apps from the internet and third-party app marketplaces. That’ll be the end of the App Store being the only option.
Apple CEO Tim Cook previously said this change will, “destroy the security of the iPhone and a lot of the privacy initiatives that we built into the App Store.” It will, for example, enable unscrupulous devs to ignore Apple’s privacy rules, including the one that requires third-party apps to ask permission before tracking users.
Messaging services must be open to third-party applications. This will apparently allow Android users to get the benefits of iMessage. And they might also be able to make FaceTime calls.
iPhone developers will be able to use whatever in-app payment systems they choose, not only Apple’s. And they’ll be able to advertise offers directly to users. Apple’s lengthy lawsuit with Epic Games was because the App Store prevented these — and the iPhone-maker lost that lawsuit.
The DMA will prevent companies from requiring developers use a specific browser engine. Apple currently requires all iOS browsers to use its WebKit platform.
The DMA also requires companies to give the option to use a third-party voice assistant. So, in the future, an iPhone could be controlled by Google Voice rather than Siri.
In addition, parts of the DMA prevent companies from preferring their own apps and services in rankings or search results. These will have big effects on Google and Amazon, but less for for Apple.
DMA has teeth
The Digital Markets Act still must be passed by the Council of the European Union before it goes into effect. But the EU Parliament and the Council worked out their differences on the legislation this spring, so it’s essentially a done deal.
Apple has been opposed to the DMA from the beginning. It’s likely to keep fighting the act’s provisions until it passes into EU law… and beyond..
But the European Commission and Vestager can impose fines of up to 10% of a company’s total worldwide annual revenue if it’s found to be in violation of the DMA. The total can jump to 20% if the company continues to break the law.
That said, some experts are concerned that the EU is not building a large enough enforcement team, according to Reuters.


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The way things are going, the term "cable TV" may have to be replaced by "phone TV."
Nearly a decade after Verizon Communications Inc. and AT&T Inc. began building pipelines to carry TV service to U.S. homes, they are nearing the market share of cable operators in areas where they operate, according to third-quarter results released by cable and phone companies in recent days. The top two cable providers, Comcast Corp. and Time Warner Cable Inc., shed 435,000 video customers in the quarter, while AT&T and Verizon added 400,000.
The growth of telecom's share of the TV business could have a significant impact on the television industry. Both phone companies have shown a greater willingness than their cable rivals to experiment with delivering movies and TV programming over the Internet outside the traditional pay-TV bundle.
AT&T and Verizon are now the fifth and sixth biggest pay-TV providers in the U.S. after Comcast and Time Warner Cable and the two satellite-TV companies, DirecTV and Dish Network Corp. The phone companies account for only about 10% of the pay-TV market, compared with 55% for cable, according to MoffettNathanson LLC, but that is largely because phone companies don't offer service everywhere cable does.
In the markets where they do operate, Verizon isn't far behind cable: FiOS has signed up 35% of the households where it offers its service, compared with 40.3% for Comcast and 38.9% for Time Warner Cable. AT&T's average is much lower, but it has become much more aggressive lately, launching a $6 billion investment in its wireline operations last year that includes extending the reach of its TV service.
The AT&T effort has had a noticeable impact on cable operators recently. In their earnings reports this week, Time Warner Cable and Comcast both reported greater-than-expected video-subscriber losses over a period that AT&T said was its second best quarter ever in television. Both cable operators attributed their weaker performance at least in part to telephone competition, though Time Warner Cable's summer fight with CBS was also a major cause of its shortfall.
The third-quarter results are a reminder that the biggest threat facing the cable industry is competition from phone companies, despite worries about consumers disconnecting to adopt cheaper online options, says MoffettNathanson analyst Craig Moffett.
Some cable executives say their industry needs to compete better. "When I first got this job 12 years ago, I think the cable industry as a whole, including our company, was in denial that we had real, viable competition," said Time Warner Cable Chief Executive Glenn Britt on a conference call Thursday.
"I still hear some of my peers saying dismissive things about our competitors, and certainly each of them has strengths and weakness, just as we do. However, they are around to stay, and we need to keep getting better at competing."
The phone companies are following in the footsteps of DirecTV and Dish, which started eating into cable's monopoly position in pay television in the 1990s. But the satellite-TV firms, unable to offer competitive broadband services, face greater challenges now that broadband has become a crucial product for TV providers to sell.
Both Verizon and AT&T jumped into television in the mid-2000s, looking to offset a steady erosion of their landline phone business to wireless and cable. Initially at least, Verizon made a bigger commitment. Starting in 2004, it launched a $23 billion investment plan to build an all-fiber network called FiOS, offering customers a bundle of phone, Internet and TV.
After years of criticism about the returns FiOS could generate, Verizon slowed its FiOS expansion to concentrate on signing up more subscribers in its existing markets. Working in its favor: FiOS's ability to easily increase the speed of its Internet service as cable operators scramble to catch up.
Meanwhile, AT&T, which launched U-verse using a cheaper technology that combines fiber-optic and copper wire, has signed up an average of 21% of the potential subscribers with access to U-verse, the company says. And in particularly mature markets like Texas, that share is in the 30s. Under the investment plan it announced last November, AT&T expects to extend the availability of U-verse by 7.5 million homes, to a total of 33 million by the end of 2015.
"It is going to be a dogfight between us and cable for the next 20 years," said AT&T Chief Executive Randall Stephenson in September. "They will invest, and they will step up. We will invest. It will go back and forth."
Cable executives and analysts say AT&T and Verizon have largely won share using discounted pricing and promotional packages. ISI Group Inc., a Wall Street research firm, noted that U-Verse has been going after "low-hanging fruit in new markets," offering low-price bundles of TV, slow-speed Internet and limited phone minutes. ISI also said FiOS was offering "aggressively priced bundles," including $100 gift cards. Company spokesmen disputed those claims, asserting that customers are leaving cable for more than just price benefits.
Cable operators aren't sitting still. Comcast has increased investment in on-demand services and new technology, marketing its souped-up Internet-connected set-top box and guide dubbed the "X1" to draw new customers. Meanwhile, Time Warner Cable executives said on a conference call Thursday that they will market their broadband service at a discounted price to the 4.5 million households in their service area that still use the relatively slow DSL Internet services offered by phone companies.
The growing might of the phone giants could eventually feed a shift of TV viewers to Web-based services. Phone companies' public statements and other actions suggest they're more focused on offering strong broadband products and more willing to experiment with streaming services outside of traditional pay TV than the cable industry.
In an interview Wednesday, Lori Lee, AT&T's senior executive vice president of Home Solutions, which includes U-verse, made clear the company was agnostic about what form television takes, whether traditional or Web-based "over the top" options like Netflix Inc.
"We are well positioned in the video space no matter how the model evolves, whether it becomes more over the top or stays linear," said Ms Lee. "We understand that over the top is an important trend in the market, and we intend to work to participate in that."
Both Verizon and AT&T have taken steps to offer video-streaming services more aggressively than cable operators. Verizon, for instance, struck a deal with Outerwall Inc.s Redbox to create a streaming, subscription-video service available to anyone. AT&T has talked to startup video-streaming service Aereo Inc. about possible partnerships, including bundling its service on broadband. AT&T also made an unsuccessful bid for the video-streaming service Hulu LLC in partnership with entertainment veteran Peter Chernin.
Corrections & Amplifications
An earlier chart accompanying this article understated the extent to which phone companies have taken market share from cable companies. Phone companies have taken more share than the graphic represented. The chart has been corrected.


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Sometimes when you're in grief, you do things you don't mean to do.
In the case of these anime fans mourning the death of their favorite illegal anime streaming website, however, they are truly making the best memes to celebrate the memory of what used to be.
RIP to piracy.
On August 15, news broke on Discord.
Moderators from the unofficial subreddit announced that both KissAnime and its comic equivalent KissManga have both chosen to permanently close their doors for good.
The closure of the site comes after news that Japan's parliament would be enacting stricter laws on copyright material, announced back in June.
According to The Japan Times, the revised anti-online piracy law aims to tighten copyright control, ban illicit downloading of manga, magazines, academic texts, as well as music and videos.
It also regulates "leech websites" that provide users with hyperlinks to download torrent files of pirated materials.
The ban will take effect January 1, 2021. But restrictions on leech websites begin on October 1, 2020.
And those "leech websites" they're targeting? Yep, it's websites like KissAnime.
But while many fans are left disheartened, a lot of them are also using this tragedy to fuel their creativity through memes.
If you too are at a loss on where to consume your daily anime episodes, there's no need to fear.
Here are some free legal streaming alternatives for you to watch your favorite shows.
2. Muse Asia
4. AniPlus Asia
If you don't mind paying to support your favorite creators, there's also options such as Netflix and Hulu.


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San Francisco hosted Google Marketing Live 2019 from May 14 to May 16, 2019, Google’s annual conference for marketers and advertisers, and this one was all about innovation and product releases. The key updates were centered around shopping and ads. We discuss the updates most relevant to marketers here.
Twitter has been raving with excitement and anticipation over #GoogleMarketingLive all week. Over 5000 marketers attended, and they were not disappointed! Google announced 10 new ad innovations and product announcements, and we can’t wait to share them with you.
The main themes at Google Marketing Live 2019 were privacy, discoverability and lots of shopping. Before we go into the key takeaways for brands after Google Marketing Live 2019, watch the highlights from Day 1 here:
Watch 👓 quick highlights from Day 1 of #GoogleMarketingLive. Tune in today to catch 10+ live streamed sessions → https://t.co/J8PIH9BX7m pic.twitter.com/fjNYRQKP6L
— Google Ads (@GoogleAds) May 15, 2019
Google is also answering questions about these latest announcements. To know more, you can ask away on Twitter with the hashtag #AskGoogleAds.
Top 4 Takeaways for Marketers from Google Marketing Live
From ads to shopping and discoverability, let’s find out what’s in store for us now that Google has decided to take on Amazon (and the world).
1. Discovery Ads
Screenshot of Google’s Discovery Ads Displayed Across Platforms
Source: Google Ads Blog
Since Google is where people go to discover practically anything, and 76 percent of consumers enjoy making unexpected discoveries when shopping, Google introduced Discovery ads!
Discovery ads are now monetizing the discovery feed. Native ads will blend in across Google’s properties, including the YouTube home feed, the Gmail Promotions and Social tabs, and the feed in Discover, that now reaches 800 million users globally.
2. Google Shopping
Representation of the new Google Shopping App
Source: Google Ads Blog
The app that was earlier known as Google Express is now being merged into Google Shopping. This entails a fresh revamp of the shopping experience on the app that was released earlier this year.
The redesigned Google Shopping app includes new features that include a personalized homepage, with filters to sort brands and products and a Google guarantee for customer service and easy returns. The features will also be rolled out to YouTube and Google Images later this year.
With this move, Google seems to be competing with more than just Amazon. Pinterest and Instagram – watch out!
3. Audience Expansion Tool
The Custom Audiences feature now includes a brand-new audience expansion tool to reach lookalike audiences. That’s right, you will now be able to reach audiences who look and behave in a similar manner to your customers through Google. Ironic how Facebook is struggling with similar ad targeting segmentation due to customer privacy (or is it?).
4. Gallery Ads
At Google Marketing Live, it was also announced that later this year, Google will release Gallery ads, a new search ads format that brings more of your content to the top of the Search results page. These are interactive visual ads only for mobile, in a carousel format so users can easily swipe through and browse products.
Key Takeaways for Marketers
Google has long considered Amazon a competitor and these releases show that Google is stepping up to challenge not just Amazon but also the likes of Instagram, Pinterest, and practically anyone in the ecommerce industry.
If as a marketer you’re worried about how these changes are going to impact your advertising activities, our advice to you is to listen to Mr. Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google, “You might fail a few times, but that’s Ok. you end up doing something worthwhile which you learn a great deal from”
Here are some actions we think you should definitely take:
- Signup for Google Ads and experiment before the new features are rolled out to be among the first brands to advertise with Discover ads and likewise, Gallery ads when they roll out.
- Get your products on Google Shopping and experiment with the new audience targeting.
- Stay up to date with all of Google’s releases and updates to be relevant, search engine optimized and visible to your audiences.
The giant that Google is, there is no stopping them, and in innovating, they’ve opened fresh avenues for marketers to reach their prospects. Jump on for the ride, steer a bright path and set lofty goals – the future looks limitless!
What do you think about Google’s updates and the future of Google? Tell us on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Twitter.


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My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell is seen outside the door of the West Wing at the White House on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images
MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has repeated false claims that President Donald Trump did not lose the election, said retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s are removing his company’s products from their stores.
Trump’s supporters on social media platforms are now calling for boycotts of the retailers, while other consumers are urging people to not purchase MyPillow products.
“I just got off the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond,” Lindell said during an interview Monday evening with the Right Side Broadcasting Network. “They’re dropping MyPillow.”
“Just got off the phone — not five minutes ago. Kohl’s, all these different places. … These guys don’t understand,” he went on. “They’re scared. Like a Bed Bath & Beyond, they’re scared. They were good partners. In fact, I told them, ‘You guys come back anytime you want.'”
Representatives from Kohl’s and Bed Bath & Beyond did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
A search by CNBC on both of the retailer’s websites Tuesday morning still showed available MyPillow merchandise for sale. MyPillow is also still sold at J.C. Penney, Amazon, Belk and some other major retailers.
Lindell has come under fire for spreading of conspiracy theories. Last year, for example, he promoted a fake cure for Covid. More recently, he has said there was widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.
According to report by The New York Times, officials at Dominion Voting Systems have now sent Lindell a legal letter that warns of pending litigation over his baseless claims of widespread fraud involving their machines. Lindell was not immediately available to respond to CNBC’s request for comment about the letter.
Last week, Lindell was seen visiting the White House and carrying partially obscured notes that looked to tell Trump to invoke “martial law if necessary.”
Following Lindell’s interview where he referenced Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl’s, users on Twitter are calling for other retailers, like Walmart, to drop MyPillow as well.
The country’s largest retailer recently halted donations from its political action committee to the campaigns of congressional Republicans who opposed certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.


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Fast-growing business software startup Zenefits pushed out its co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad yesterday following a months-long controversy involving the selling of health insurance without proper state licenses. It’s a sour turn for the buzzy startup, which helps small businesses manage their human resource operations. It’s also an illustration of what happens when a tech company tries to bring Silicon Valley’s gospel of disruption to an ultra-regulated industry — one that everyday people don’t know or care much about, and certainly aren’t willing to rally behind.
Three-year-old Zenefits is one of the fastest growing cloud computing companies in history, earning it more than $600 million in venture funding and a $4.5 billion valuation on the promise of shaking up the confusing health insurance brokerage market. Yet Zenefits’ compliance missteps appear to be a byproduct of its meteoric growth. The sales milestones consistently touted by the company were achieved in part thanks to deals made with unlicensed brokers.
Zenefits offers a lesson for other high-flying would-be disruptors
At a time when startup valuations are being cut in half and fundraising is becoming increasingly difficult, Zenefits’ stumble offers a lesson for other high-flying would-be disruptors. Hoping companies can transform industries at nearly three times the speed of Salesforce, as Zenefits has described its growth, is a heavy expectation — and the industry is already adjusting to the new reality. Conrad’s departure is the most visible sign yet of the reckoning.
If you’ve never heard of Zenefits, that’s because the company sells software services you don’t care about to small businesses you’ve never heard of. Its value as a company is associated with things we like to avoid talking about — insurance, payroll, forms, fax machines. For businesses, though, that’s the appeal of Zenefits: it promises to take away the administrative pain and bureaucratic hoop-jumping involved with managing a small company.
By giving away a software tool to companies for free, Zenefits is able to help with things like managing payroll and then take a cut every time an employer buys health insurance using the Zenefits platform. The real money comes in the form of commission fees for bringing customers to providers like Aetna and Kaiser, putting Zenefits in direct competition with brokers. That market is worth around $18 billion, by some estimates.
Zenefits' real money comes in the form of commission fees
The problem is companies like Aetna don't like selling insurance through an unlicensed broker, regardless of whether the salesperson is part of a multi-billion-dollar startup. The state licensing process involves background checks to ensure sellers aren't negligent or incompetent, meaning they can’t sell you bogus plans just to net a commission. And states hate missing out on receiving the application fee that must be paid every time a broker renews a license, which can be as frequent as once every two years.
Conrad, who has in the past said his company’s business model meant insurance brokers were "fucked," essentially lost his job by following the grow-at-all-costs playbook of Uber and Airbnb. But because Zenefits wasn’t delivering cars to your doorstep or radically undercutting the price of hotel rooms, few came to the defense of the company that wanted to sell insurance without the proper paperwork.
David Sacks, a well-known tech executive who joined Zenefits after roles at PayPal and Yammer, replaced Conrad as CEO, noting in a letter to employees that its "culture and tone have been inappropriate for a highly regulated company." Sacks would most likely avoid telling insurance brokers "we’re going to drink your milkshake," as Conrad did in 2013.
Conrad once said insurance brokers were "fucked"
"I believe that Zenefits has a great future ahead, but only if we do the right things," Sacks added. "We sell insurance in a highly regulated industry. In order to do that, we must be properly licensed. For us, compliance is like oxygen. Without it, we die." That kind of language would be unimaginable coming out of the mouth of Uber CEO Travis Kalanick, who has likened his company's competition with the traditional taxi industry to a political campaign against an "asshole" incumbent.
Is a taxi medallion much different than an insurance license? Uber argues it’s not actually offering you a taxi — it’s a marketplace for matching drivers with riders, the defense goes — so it could avoid regulations around who can ferry people in their cars. Airbnb says it’s helping a host offer you a spare room to stay in, not offering a platform to transform your apartment into a hotel. Meanwhile Zenefits was selling boring old health insurance, but doing it in violation of the law.
More strange, perhaps, is how Zenefits' struggles have gone largely unnoticed. BuzzFeed News first revealed the company’s licensing issues back in November, detailing at great length how the company’s fast-paced, aggressive culture created a sales environment susceptible to continuous slip-ups and a lack of regulatory responsibility. Until now, the subject hasn’t gained the same headline-grabbing attention as Uber and Airbnb’s regulatory battles, maybe because insiders at Zenefits clearly knew what they were doing was wrong and scrambled to remedy the situation. Because Zenefits was still growing at breakneck speed, everyone seemed to let the company figure it out — until the gravity of the situation became clear.
"For us, compliance is like oxygen. Without it, we die."
Washington is currently examining Zenefits’ operations in the state, where it’s a Class B felony to sell insurance without a state license, according to BuzzFeed. As many as 83 percent of insurance deals in Washington up until August of last year may have been conducted by unlicensed Zenefits salespeople, BuzzFeed revealed last week.
Zenefits' growth is remarkable — that much has not changed. But the company's narrative as an emerging peer of Uber or Airbnb doesn’t seem to hold as much water now as it did when Conrad was steering the ship. The day before Zenefits fired him, the venture capitalist Tomasz Tunguz warned that companies selling software as a service should prepare for much slower growth. Instead of burning tens of millions of dollars growing 400 percent a year, he said, the smart ones would grow 50 percent a year while breaking even. "Many software survivors of the dot-com crash pursued a more conservative strategy and were rewarded for their prudence," wrote Tunguz, a partner at Redpoint Ventures. If Zenefits is to succeed, the company’s anything-goes past must give way to a much more sober future.


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ST. JOHN’S, N.L. — When Home Again Furniture Bank (HAFB) accepts donations for people who cannot afford to furnish their home, it often ends up with pieces not suitable for clients referred to them through community agencies.
According to Amy Tulk, the non-profit organization’s director of operations, these items, including hutches and large cabinets, often ended up in landfills.
“In order to get the good furniture, a lot of times we were saying yes. If somebody had a table and chairs and a china cabinet, they wanted you to take it all,” Tulk explained.
The china cabinet would ultimately be disposed of, as HAFB did not have a use for it. Tulk saw this happen over and over and began to wonder whether there was a way the organization could find buyers for these items and use that money to buy mattresses. HAFB accepts donations from businesses (including some hotels) and individuals, but the only item it purchases is mattresses.
Three years ago, HAFB struck up a committee, and now after a slew of conversations and written proposals, Again & Again is in business on Hebron Way in St. John’s, selling used furniture and home decor items out of a large store. It opened as a pilot project last November and is now a fully-fledged social enterprise business.
“We did the research, we did a business plan, we did all that and decided, let’s open the doors,” Tulk said.
Since 2015, HAFB has furnished close to 3,000 homes in the Northeast Avalon and diverted hundreds of tonnes of furniture from landfills. Tulk noted the need for their service has increased. In 2022, demand went up by 25 per cent compared to the previous year, and Tulk is seeing that trend continue in 2023.
“With that comes higher cost, and we need to be able to meet the demand,” she said. “We have to add a day delivery or add wherever needed to get to them. Just for an example, all of last year, we had our list (of homes to deliver to) and we were able to keep it around the 50-mark. Right now, it’s at 120, and we’ve been delivering on bust this quarter. We need the furniture to continue, and we need to generate revenue too so that we can afford to continue.”
With help from HAFB volunteers, furniture items sold at Again & Again are cleaned and often fully refurbished to increase their salability. An extra nice antique piece that can sell for a few hundred dollars, for example, will bring in enough revenue to buy two mattresses, Tulk noted.
“Every piece of furniture that’s sold in the store, proceeds support Home Again,” Tulk said. “It’s multipronged in terms of the benefits, because now we are able to take everything that somebody wants to give us. If there’s two good pieces (for HAFB to distribute), and the rest are not so good, they can come here, and then we sell them. The money goes back to the organization. We’re keeping more out of the landfill, offering better service to our donors.”
Choices for Youth support
As a social enterprise, Again & Again has a great partner to help staff the store. Choices for Youth is on board, with their trainees able to gain work experience at Again & Again. That arrangement has worked out great so far, according to Tulk.
“We would never have been able to open our doors having to pay staff from the get-go,” she said.
One Choices for Youth trainee who spent time working at Again & Again prior to graduating from the program has since been hired as Again & Again’s first store supervisor.
Again & Again found a great space to set up shop on Hebron Way. There’s a roomy showroom for shoppers and a big storage area out back where items can be kept until they’re ready to be sold. They can clean and refurbish items on site (volunteers from Bell Aliant Pioneers also take some items and repair them for HAFB and Again & Again).
The building has a second level with office space and an area where HAFB volunteers gather to create arts and crafts that can then be sold as home decor items in the store. Tulk sees potential for this area to generate revenue as an event space for workshops and art classes.
“It is beyond my wildest dreams to have this space, but it works out perfectly for us, for what we’re trying to do,” Tulk said.
The provincial government contributed $85,000 towards the project. A grand opening event to celebrate Again & Again’s transition from a pilot project to a permanent endeavour is happening Saturday, April 29.


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A specialised zone to manage the circulation of vegetables, fruits and meat will be established in Alexandria's Borg El Arab to revolutionise trade of produce within Egypt and abroad.
In cooperation with French produce logistics company Rungis International, the Ministry of Supply and Internal Trade will establish a specialised zone to manage the circulation of vegetables, fruits, meat and all other such commodities in Alexandria’s Borg El Arab. The zone will be 119 acres large, with investments of up to EUR 100 million.
The cooperation will include procedures for digital transformation in Egypt’s internal trade system and streamline globalisation across fields, linking merchants and outlets to each other more efficiently. The export of produce has long been a key factor in the health of Egypt's economy and, over the last few years, there has been an increase in demand from global markets for onions, sweet potatoes, grapes and oranges.


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Posts tagged Touch
As expected, Apple has refreshed its iPad line with a new iPad Air 2, the company’s thinnest and fastest tablet to date.
The super-skinny iPad Air 2 measures 6.1 mm thick and offers, among other things, TouchID. The new hardware component will help secure certain apps and the tablet itself with fingerprint recognition security. It also makes the iPad ripe for Apple Pay, which will also come to the tablet.
In addition, Apple executive Phil Schiller emphasized that the new tablet will offer extremely low reflectivity to kill typical touchscreen glare. Then he boasted about a few more things. The iPad Air 2 features a new A8X, next-generation processor designed specifically for the tablet. Schiller claims the new iPad and its 64-bit architecture offers the fastest performance yet.
Other additions: Motion co-processor, new barometer, 802.11 ac/MiMo support for faster WiFi, new HD selfie camera with larger 2.2 aperture, and 8MP iSight camera, 1080p HD capture, with burst-mode, time-lapse, and slow motion—just like the new iPhones can do.
Pricing starts at $499 for 16GB; cellular versions cost $130 more.
Schiller slipped in an iPad mini announcement: The new generation of the company’s compact tablet will also get TouchID. The iPad mini 3 will sell for a starting price of $399 (up to $599, depending on storage capacity). Budget shoppers will love that the company’s hanging onto the older tablet models, but cutting those prices by $100, to offer cheaper options. Last year’s iPad mini will start at just $299.
All tablets will be available silver, space grey and a new gold color. Pre-orders begin tomorrow, with shipping starting at the end of next week.
Many people suspected many of these announcements were coming. And if they didn’t, Apple’s accidental leak of its own iPad product info yesterday basically sealed the deal.
iPad sales have been slowing quite a bit recently, though you wouldn’t know that from Apple’s event. According to CEO Tim Cook, Apple sold more iPads in the first four years than any other product in its history. It sold “225 million iPads around the world,” and 675,000 apps designed especially for it now exist.
Photo by Apple
View full post on ReadWrite
If Apple’s pricing for its 7.9-inch iPad minis is anything to go by, it apparently figures you will gladly pay an extra $100 for its Touch ID fingerprint scanner.
The company’s new iPad mini 3 offers exactly the same specs as last year’s model, excepting only the addition of Touch ID. Yet it will set you back another full 100 clams:
- iPad mini 3: 16GB $399, iPad mini 2: 16GB $299
- iPad mini 3: 32GB none, iPad mini 2: 32GB $349
- iPad mini 3: 64GB $499, iPad mini 2: none
- iPad mini 3: 128GB $599, iPad mini 2: none
The very first 2012 iPad mini now costs even less, at $249 for 16GB of storage—but that price differential seems justified, considering it was slower and didn’t come with a high-res “retina” display.
The new iPad mini 3 is exactly the same size and weight as the iPad mini 2, and boasts exactly the same A7 processor, cameras, screen size and resolution. Meanwhile its bigger sibling, the 9.7-inch iPad Air 2, shaved off 1.4 mm (0.05 inches) and lost 34 grams (0.07 pounds) relative to its predecessor.
It’s also worth pointing out that the new version of the large tablet is the only iPad to come with the new A8X processor—the one Phil Schiller couldn’t stop gushing about today.
But back to the iPad mini: The only other differences that we can spot between this year’s and last year’s versions are a new gold color option and a reshuffling of its storage capacity options (as you can see in the list above). Apple has officially ditched the 32GB option in the new model—presumably to shuffle people into larger, pricier tiers.
Maybe Apple’s paying less attention to the iPad mini now that it has the gargantuan iPhone 6 Plus and its 5.5-inch display. More likely, though, is the possibility that Apple’s big plans to generate iPad excitement relied on the new iPad Air and an even bigger 12.9-inch version, which supposedly got delayed until next year.
Either way, if you already have an iPad mini 2 and are wondering if you should upgrade, the decision is pretty simple: Ask yourself if having a fingerprint scanner is worth plunking down more money.
Photo of Touch ID on the iPhone 5S by Kārlis Dambrāns
View full post on ReadWrite
For the second time in two iPhone releases, mobile-security firm Lookout has tested and bested the security of Touch ID.
Touch ID lets users unlock the iPhone 5S, iPhone 6, and iPhone 6 Plus just by putting their fingerprint over a sensor on the home button. By requiring a fingerprint to unlock the device and make purchases within the App Store, with Apple Pay, or through third-party developers, Apple is trying to make your data and information more secure.
So what happens if it’s hacked?
Lookout’s principal security researcher Marc Rogers hacked Touch ID on the 5S last year, and now he’s done it again. Through a CSI-like process, he was able to unlock an iPhone 6 using a fake fingerprint made of glue.
With such a fingerprint facsimile in hand, an attacker could theoretically take over someone’s iPhone to make purchases or steal the owner’s photographs, email, texts or other personal information. It sounds like a plot from a prime-time crime drama—and so it’s probably only a matter of time until iPhone fingerprint hacks hit the big screen.
While the thought of someone accessing your phone with a copied fingerprint might make you uncomfortable, don’t worry. Accessing a device the way Rogers did takes significant skill, time and effort. And, as we reported last year, a malicious attacker can’t use a finger that’s, well, detached from your body.
Rogers says consumers shouldn’t worry too much about the potential for duping the system.
“I don’t see this to be a risk to consumers in any way because I don’t think criminals are sophisticated enough,” Rogers said in an email interview. “It is difficult to make these fingerprints—think of Touch ID as being the equivalent of a door lock. It’s there to stop the average criminal from getting access, or in the case of Touch ID, claiming they are you.”
Not only does a potential hacker need a clear print from their target that can be lifted by using super glue fumes and fingerprint powder, they will also have to get access to lab equipment to photograph, print, and then cast the fingerprint using chemicals and smearing it with glue. Unless you have access to a crime laboratory, the equipment is prohibitively expensive.
Through the experiment, Rogers discovered that there’s virtually no measurable improvement in the fingerprint sensors between the iPhone 5S and the iPhone 6, except that he got fewer “false negatives,” on the iPhone 6, meaning the reading was clearer.
Even though Rogers is impressed with the technology, he says Apple could do more to keep devices secure. Some improvements, he says, could include limits on the number of unlocking attempts a device will allow, a fallback to a passcode when the device hasn’t been used for a specific amount of time, and “best practices” suggested by Apple which may include using different fingers for different authentication.
“I was hoping to see improvements in the Touch ID sensor that show Apple is working to come up with a solution that cannot be fooled as easily,” he said. “However, while I can’t say Apple isn’t working on this, I don’t see any significant signs of improvement in this version despite the fact that it is now going to be used for payments.”
Lead photo by Selena Larson for ReadWrite; iPhone 6 and iPhone 5S image courtesy of Lookout
View full post on ReadWrite
Bing Image Search Updates Include Touch Friendly Result Pages That Adapt To Screen Size & Resolution
Over the next few weeks, Bing is rolling out new updates to its image search experience that include touch-friendly search result pages that have been designed to adapt to a user’s screen size and resolution. According to the announcement, image results will soon expand to the full width of a…
Please visit Search Engine Land for the full article.


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We are now open Thursday-Sunday, 10am-4pm.
Our outdoor grounds and viewing platform are open to visitors and our takeaway coffee Kiosk will be offering drinks, snacks and picnic food to enjoy outside.
The City Observatory has re-opened with a one way system and a maximum of 5 people at a time.
The City Dome has re-opened with a one-way system and only one party inside at a time.
The Hillside will open from the 24 October with an exhibition by Kirsty Hendry.


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VW knows how much it needs to spend to overtake Toyota.
That's the amount of money the German manufacturer plans to invest in its automotive division in the next five years in order to overtake the current top dog, Toyota. The figure was quoted by CEO Martin Winterkorn in a statement to VW's supervisory board, which approved investment plans through 2015.
A little more than half that expenditure will go to modernizing the stable of brands, including luxury badges, thereby extending the product range of Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Porsche as well as VW and Europe-only Škoda.
New F-150 EcoBoost proves it's up to the task during the Baja 1000.
Ford has been putting its new 3.5-liter EcoBoost V6 engine through some serious abuse recently. The company has organized a number of stunts to attempt to prove to buyers that the engine is just as stout as its 8-cylinder, naturally aspirated counterparts. After all, Americans have been buying V8 trucks for generations, but until now, turbochargers have belonged only on diesel engines. Combining forced induction and gasoline with the kind of torture that most trucks endure during a lifetime, and you’ve got one formula still lacking proof.
Well, proof in the eyes of the public, at least.
Consumer Reports on the bargains to be had for navigation systems.
Thanksgiving, of course, means tradition and family and, hopefully, an abundant feast. But for the deal-obsessed shopper Turkey Day is akin to an early Christmas.
Black Friday, as the day after Thanksgiving is known, is notorious for kicking off the holiday shopping frenzy with heavy markdowns — sometimes for that day only. In that spirit, Consumer Reports has published a piece on the best deals to be found on GPS units going into the holiday season. The list, after the jump, is a straight-up buyer's guide, taking into account price -- and where to buy, when -- and relevant information on notable features. We also feature Consumer Reports' brief video on how to shop the segment, which is also worthwhile; hardware and features are evolving rapidly enough that it's nice to know what's out there, and what's worth your money -- or not.
Large majority of owners support 'right-to-repair' laws.
The law went out with a whimper when the House failed to vote, amid what seemed to be strong grass-roots support, and ended its regular session at the end of July. But according to a new study by AutoMD.com, nearly 83 percent of car owners support such a bill.
The 2012 VW Beetle is revealed -- sort of -- on the 'Oprah Winfrey Show.'
The 2012 Beetle, not yet out, was revealed only in silhouette; a current model was featured during the discussion of the vehicle. The actual unveiling will take place sometime in the spring.
Performance-specific components, such as stiffer suspension, dual exhausts, sport seats and 19-inch wheels, will be a part of the new iteration, as will a clean-diesel powertrain option in the cabriolet version.
Volkswagen's media site is having problems -- no doubt in part due to the massive influx of interest in anything Oprah-related -- so I can't access a shot right now. I'll post one when it's available. From some of the spy shots I've seen, the thing looks decidedly sportier, but also a bit weird. From the side, it resembles the rear of a Porsche Panamera mated to the front wheel arches of a PT Cruiser.
[Source: Autoblog; USA Today.]
NASCAR has never seen a driver win five straight Cup titles -- until now
NASCAR has never seen a driver win five straight Cup titles--until now. After Jimmie Johnson's second-place finish at Homestead-Miami clinched the 2010 championship, reaction poured in from around the racing world. Here's a recap of the highlights.
Jimmie Johnson, on his car's radio immediately after the race:
"Unbelievable! Unbelievable! Woohoo! You guys are the best. I can't believe that we did this. Unbelievable!"
On winning the fifth straight Cup:
"I'm so proud to be in this position and so thankful to have my great race team and everybody at Hendrick Motorsports giving me great race cars. I think this year we showed what this team is made. At times we didn't have the most speed, but we proved it here at the end of the Chase and especially here today. I am just besides myself. Four was amazing. Now I have to figure out what the hell to say about winning five of these things because everybody is going to want to know what it means. I don't know! It is pretty damn awesome, I can tell you that."
TV show's U.S. version debuted last night.
Chemistry among the hosts is a huge appeal of the BBC version, of course, though one can't expect too much in that department from three guys new to working together; passable would work just fine. Do you think the trio hit that mark?
What about the segments? The Dodge Viper/Cobra helicopter segment seemed to come straight from the Brits' playbook -- but the execution, not so much. Dueling Lamborghinis likewise was vintage TG, and this one fared a bit better. Buzz Aldrin was the guest, and the first in the "Big Star, Small Car" segment -- yep, they renamed "Star in a Reasonably Priced Car."
Well, look, I'm actually more interested in your thoughts on the thing. Anyone watch it? Those of you who did -- what did you think?
By Greg Kable
WITH VIDEO -- Audi has finally come clean on its RS3 Sportback, revealing photos and information about the four-door hatchback planned for European sale next March.
The RS3 uses a turbocharged 2.5-liter inline five-cylinder direct-injection gasoline engine borrowed from the TT RS.
The RS3 Sportback will not come to the U.S. market.
With 340 hp and 332 lb-ft, Ingolstadt's latest performance model packs 75 hp and 74 lb-ft more than the turbocharged 2.0-liter four-cylinder used by its S3 four-wheel-drive sibling.
Explore New Cars
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Clifford Atiyeh has spent his entire life driving cars he doesn't own. Raised in Volvos, he has grown to love fast, irresponsible vehicles of all kinds. He is the senior news editor at MSN Autos and also reports for Car and Driver, Road & Track, The Boston Globe and other publications.
In the garage: 21-speed Iron Horse, 2002 Jeep Wrangler X (not his)
Doug Newcomb has covered car technology for over 20 years for outlets ranging from Rolling Stone to Edmunds.com. In 2008, he published his first book, "Car Audio for Dummies" (Wiley). He lives and drives in Hood River, Ore., with his wife and two kids, who share his passion for cars and technology.
In the garage: 1996 Chevrolet Impala SS, two 1984 Chevrolet Blazers, 2008 Honda CR-V
James Tate learned to drive stick at age 13 in a 1988 Land Cruiser - in La Paz, Bolivia. He's since been a mechanic, on a pit crew and has wrenched on every car he's owned since his first 1989 Honda CRX Si (and won't stop until the car is a 1973 Porsche 911 RS). His work has appeared in Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Automobile and others.
In the garage: 1995 Porsche 911 Carrera, 1988 BMW M5
About Exhaust Notes
Cars are cool, and here at MSN Autos we love everything about them, but we also know they're more than simply speed and style: a car is an essential tool, a much-needed accessory to help you get through your day-to-day life. What you drive is also one of the most important investments you can make, so we'll help you navigate your way through the car buying and ownership experiences. We strive to be your daily destination for news, notes, tips and tricks from across the automotive world. So whether it's through original content from our world-class journalists or the latest buzz from the far corners of the Web, Exhaust Notes helps you make sense of your automotive world.
Have a story idea? Tip us off at firstname.lastname@example.org.


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Problems with Croatia Must be Solved in "European" Way, PM Says
Ljubljana, 28 August - Slovenia's government has decided to do everything in its power to harmonise its position with Croatia and find a solution to the issue of the Adriatic Sea in a "European" fashion while protecting Slovenian interests, PM Anton Rop outlined Thursday's session of the government in an interview for the commercial POP TV.
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CAN THO – Maintaining an upward trend, Vietnam’s shrimp and tra fish exports continued to soar in April, contributing to making seafood the spotlight of the export growth in the year to date.
Tra fish and shrimp are the two main earners for the country’s seafood exports.
The overseas sales of tra fish in April amounted to US$297 million, more than double the figure seen during the same period last year, according to data released on May 6 by the Vietnam Association of Seafood Exporters and Producers (VASEP).
Between January and April, Vietnam exported tra fish worth over US$950 million, skyrocketing 94% year-on-year.
April saw the country’s outbound shipment of shrimp surging by 35% year-on-year at US$406 million, raising the total shrimp export value in the first four months of 2022 to US$1.36 billion, up 41.5% year-on-year.
In the four-month period, Vietnam’s seafood export turnover reached some US$3.6 billion, jumping 44.5% year-on-year. The export of shrimp and tra fish accounted for US$2.31 billion of the total, according to VASEP.
The United States was Vietnam’s largest seafood buyer in the first four months of the year, with a value of US$842 million, up 74% year-on-year. China came second with a value of some US$578 million, a year-on-year upsurge of 94%.
In the first quarter of 2022, Vietnam’s seafood export fetched some US$2.5 billion, up 46% year-on-year. The shrimp export value during the January-March period amounted to US$955 million, up 37% year-on-year, while the country saw a year-on-year surge of 88% in tra fish outbound shipments worth US$654 million.


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- 2 min read
RBI announces proposals to strengthen grievance redressal for digital payment users
They include setting up of an integrated Ombudsman platform, a 24*7 customer helpline to address payment systems related queries.
The Reserve Bank of India on Friday announced a slew of measures to strengthen grievance redressal and security features for users of digital payments in the country.
They include setting up of an integrated Ombudsman platform, a 24*7 customer helpline to address payment systems related queries and outsourcing norms for payment companies availing services of third-party players for stricter monitoring.
The central bank governor Shaktikanta Das announced these measures on Friday during the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) address to strengthen and deepen India’s digital payments network to gradually replace cash-based transactions in the country.
At present, the framework consists of three separate schemes for banks, NBFCs and non-bank prepaid payment issuers (PPIs) operated by the RBI from twenty-two offices across the country.
“To make the Ombudsman mechanism simpler, efficient and more responsive, it has been decided to integrate the three Ombudsman schemes and introduce centralised processing of grievances following a ‘One Nation One Ombudsman’ approach,” Das said.
“This is intended to make the process of redress of grievances easier by enabling the customers to register their complaints under the integrated scheme, with one centralised reference point,” Das added. The Integrated Ombudsman Scheme will be rolled out in June 2021.
Separately, the central bank is also working with major payment system operators on setting up of a 24*7 customer helpline for raising awareness responding to queries. The proposed helpline, expected to go live by September 2021, could later be used for lodging complaints pertaining to digital payments as well, Das said.
“…major payment system operators would be required to facilitate setting-up of a centralised industry-wide 24x7 helpline for addressing customer queries in respect of various digital payment products and give information on available grievance redress mechanisms,” said Das.
“Going forward, the facility of redress of customer grievances through the helpline shall be considered,” he added.
The RBI Governor also hinted at a detailed framework for the outsourcing of payment systems to third-party players with a view of tightening monitoring and supervision standards while also reducing operational risks in the digital payment ecosystem.
“The resilience of the digital payments ecosystem to operational risks needs to be constantly upgraded. A potential area of operational risk is associated with outsourcing by payment system operators (PSOs) and participants of authorised payment systems,” Das said.
The measure comes on the back of a string of high-profile cybersecurity attacks – such as the JusPay breach -- on banking channels that has led to leak of millions and millions of sensitive customer information on the dark web.
“To manage the attendant risks in outsourcing and ensure that a code of conduct is adhered to while outsourcing payment and settlement related services, the Reserve Bank shall issue guidelines on outsourcing of such services by these entities,” Das added.


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The 1920s flapper aesthetic is not so different from the current party dress revival. In fact, many experts have predicted a return of the Roaring 20s in fashion post-vaccination. Moving into fall, the one thing I’m looking for – which I might end up spending too much money on, but it’s okay – is an oversized Golden Goose Outlet cashmere sweater. I managed to thrift one last year, and it’s so comforting and it’s so easy to wear.
Civil disobedience gets attention, and it draws people into looking further into the message of what the protest is about, says See. Athleisure isn’t going anywhere. Adding to the flapper-like style of the dress were layers of pearl necklaces, including a Vivienne Westwood cross chocker. The messaging women normally receive is that we need to be more, better, different, Pomellato CEO Sabina Belli says in a press release.
When it comes to women in music, it doesn’t get more legendary than Aaliyah. Though she left us far too soon, the R&B singer made a mark in the music and fashion industries with her iconic sound and style. As part of Levi’s spring campaign Buy Better, Wear Longer, the brand brought together six changemakers, including Bastida alongside Emma Chamberlain, and Jaden Smith, to discuss the responsibility we all have in choosing when and how we buy clothes. The message of the campaign is pretty straightforward, as the six featured in the video above explain: When we www.goldengoosesow.com make better, we can buy better.
The duo’s first collection, Jentle Home, inspired by Jennie’s childhood, sold out almost immediately-and we have a feeling this one will be no different. Oscar has been a long-time fan and has been wanting to wear skirts for press and events, says Isaac’s stylist Michael Fisher. According to Google Trends, the search for leather face mask is on the rise. This may also have something to do with Lady Gaga wearing a leather mask – hers was hot pink, and one of the nine face masks she donned! – during the 2020 MTV Video Music Awards.
The reader-favorite indie fashion label Lisa Says Gah wants to make your wildest cool-girl sweater weather dreams come true with its latest flash promo. For the next 48 hours or, until March 10 at 11:59 PT, all sweaters are 50% off – this includes Lisa Says Gah and all brands featured on the site including Paloma Wool, Ganni, and Arthur Apparel. Instead, the butt has, for 30 years-ever since hip-hop and McQueen’s bumsters hit in the late 1980s early ’90s. When we talk to each other, we can change social norms, Bastida says.


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- As part of the deal, Visa will provide eligible Infinite, Signature and Platinum cardholders up to 4 gift months of Disney+ when they sign up.
- Streaming trends from a recent Visa study show that consumers are adopting Subscription Video on Demand (SVOD) as an essential service in the region.
Miami, Florida - November 4, 2020 – Ahead of the long-awaited upcoming arrival of the Disney+ streaming service to Latin America and the Caribbean on November 17th, Visa today announced a two year agreement with The Walt Disney Company that will enable its eligible Infinite, Signature and Platinum cardholders in the region to enjoy unique benefits and experiences when they sign up for the Disney+ service. As part of the deal, Visa will provide all eligible Platinum, Signature and Infinite Visa cardholders in some Latin American and Caribbean countries up to 4 gift months of Disney+ “on Visa” when they sign up (Platinum: 2 gift months, Signature: 3 gift months and Infinite: 4 gift months).
“We know that people are increasingly watching streaming video platforms more than ever before, and are thrilled to ally with Disney to bring the best of worldwide video entertainment to our consumers in the region,” said Ricardo Tafur, Vice President of Consumer Products for Visa Latin America and the Caribbean. “This deal -the first of its kind for Visa in the region– will allow us to enhance our benefits platform, providing an unrivaled offering and a memorable streaming experience for our cardholders.”
Disney+ is the first and only streaming service in the region that will offer all audiences, in their preferred device, unlimited access to the most complete selection of films and series from iconic brands like Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic, and more. It will also bring together all of Disney’s animated classics for the first time in one exclusive destination as well as original Disney+ series and films and locally produced content.
In this first phase, this unique Visa benefit will be available in some Latin American markets beginning with Antigua, Bahamas, Barbados, Bermuda, Bolivia, Cayman Islands, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Curacao, Aruba, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad & Tobago and Uruguay.
Visa Data Shows Streaming Platforms are on the Rise
The Visa and Disney agreement takes place amid a growing demand for video streaming services in Latin America and the Caribbean. According to a recent Visa study, streaming – watching movies and series – stands out as the most popular way to spend leisure time during the COVID stay at home orders (90%). And intentions to watch streaming will remain relevant after the confinement for most consumers surveyed in the region (82%). The study revealed that streaming has become the main entertainment option now that people spend more time at home. It also showed that most consumers value variety and choice, as well as quality and novelty in the contents streaming platforms’ offer. All the data points to an increasing appetite for new and novel steaming platforms in the region now and in the future.
Visa’s new alliance with Disney also brings unique business opportunities for issuers across the region. Incorporating unique Disney+ benefits and omnichannel marketing tools to their card portfolios will provide them with a more compelling and differentiated product offering, promoting greater loyalty and incremental transactions.
From its international launch in November 2019, Disney+ has reached more than 60.5 million paid subscribers worldwide on the first 9 months, exceeding expectations. Disney+ will offer subscriptions in the region at competitive prices, without advertising and unlimited downloads on up to 10 devices.
 Visa LAC Consumer Insights, October 2020. The survey included 547 respondents from Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru and Dominican Republic.


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Unilever Plc feasts Ibadan Muslims with Ramadan Iftar
AS part of its nationwide Ramadan special for the Muslims, Unilever Plc, through its Lipton brand of products is feasting faithful in Ibadan throughout the period of the fast. This is in continuation of the brand’s loyalty to not only give back to loyal patronage but also to celebrate with Muslim faithful at the special it of Ramadan through giving and share.
First of its kind, the Lipton brand of Unilever make its debut with its Ramadan Iftar as part of its big cities Ramadan campaign with hashtag; #ThinkLessDoMore.
The Lipton Ramadan campaign is about encouraging our Muslim brothers and sisters to not just think of being a better person, but also do more by giving to others.
Speaking on the campaign at the Housing Central Mosque, Bodija, Ibadan, the Category Manager Tea and Spreads, Vivian Ihaza explained, “With our flagship brand, which is Liption yellow Label tea, we believed it is one of our responsibilities to celebrate with our host consumer because we have consumers all over Nigeria, so it is an opportunity to encourage our Muslim consumers as they embark on their period of Ramadan.
“As you know, this is Ramadan period and Unilever Nigeria as a corporate organisation has been around for so many decades, it is our duty to join our Muslim consumers to celebrate this special month.
“The Ibadan outing is the first, last year, we were in Ijebu Ode and a few other cities in the west and other places in the country. But this time around, we decided to come to Ibadan because it is a big city for us to encourage our consumers.
“The reception has be encouraging, just as we received everywhere we have gone to, including Kaduna, Lagos, Kano, Abuja, Jos, Nassarawa among others,” Ihaza added.
Ihaza explained that Lipton brand of Unilever products is a global brand and a market leader and we believe this Ramadan treat will strengthen the bond between the brand and our customers.
“So what we are doing at the period of fasting is encouraging Muslims to not only think of being a better person, but also do it by giving and sharing, which is the main essence of the Lipton Lounge at
different cities in Nigeria.
Corroborating Ihaza, the Secretary of the Muslim Community at Housing Central Mosque, Bodija, Mr Lukmon Ogunrinde, while explaining the significance of the month of Ramadan, said “it is a time of multiple rewards, which for every 10 things you do, you get 700 fold. It is also a month of interceding, forgiveness, fasting and generosity among others.
He commended the support of Lipton Brand of Unilever products for celebration and encouragement our Muslim brothers and sisters at the special period of Ramadan, adding that their rewards are also going to be in folds.


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Steve Jobs has been dead three years, but his words live on -- and continue to be used against him.
Emails sent by Jobs have surfaced once again in a class action lawsuit brought against Apple (Tech30) for making iTunes the exclusive store for iPod music. Jobs' emails are characteristically frank, which could hurt Apple. ,
Jobs' famous candor wasn't limited to face-to-face encounters. His brusque manner translated to email as well. That's unusual for modern CEOs, who are trained to exercise restraint in emails. Those words can easily be entered as evidence in a trial.
Either Jobs didn't get that message -- or he didn't care. These 10 emails from Apple's co-founder reveal the stern, outspoken and often witty personality that made him one of the most charismatic CEOs of his era.
10) To Apple executives about preventing a rival service from being compatible with the iPod
"We need to make sure that when Music Match launches their download music store they cannot use iPod. Is this going to be an issue?"
9) To an eager college journalist who was dumbfounded that Apple's media relations team hadn't replied to her
"Please leave us alone."
"Throw in with Apple and see if we can all make a go of this to create a real mainstream e-books market at $12.99 and $14.99."
7) To Apple's HR chief after learning that Google ( had fired a recruiter who was poaching Apple employees -- something the companies had conspired not to do )
" :-) "
6) To Palm CEO Ed Colligan after the company refused to reverse its decision to poach an Apple employee
"I'm sure you realize the asymmetry in the financial resources of our respective companies. My advice is to take a look at our patent portfolio before you make a final decision here."
5) To an advertiser who told Jobs he was being a "jerk" about mobile ads
"You are a super salesperson, by the way."
4) A bullet in an email outlining Apple's 2011 strategy
"2011: Holy War with Google"
3) To a Mac owner whose computer got wet and was having no luck with Apple Care replacing his laptop
"This is what happens when your MacBook Pro sustains water damage. They are pro machines and they don't like water. It sounds like you're just looking for someone to get mad at other than yourself."
2) To the makers of the app iPodRip, which Apple threatened with a lawsuit
"Change your apps name. Not that big of a deal."
1) Response to an iPhone 4 owner who was a victim of "Antennagate"
"Just avoid holding it that way."


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South Africa remains in a ‘legal limbo’ around cannabis, with the new Cannabis for Private Purpose Bill awaiting finalisation, leaving growers and private users uncertain about the boundaries of the law.
Myrtle Clarke, founder of Green for All, told 702 that the legislative framework remains unclear, with the bill in question becoming a point of contention between lawmakers, private groups and users.
Amendments to the bill proposed by private entities have not been taken into account in the drafting process, Clarke said, adding that the version of the regulations that is open for public comment has come out as being more unconstitutional than they were before the changes.
Currently, the laws allow that cannabis can be used and cultivated within private spaces. However, uncertainty persists about what constitutes “private spaces”, she said – ie, whether your home, car or other owned space is included.
While you can grow and consume cannabis at home, trade remains illegal unless you can get your hands on a licence, which is near-impossible to attain.
Another hole within the current legislative framework around cannabis is that in the landmark ruling by the Constitutional Court that ignited the semi-legalisation of non-medical use – there is no specification on the number of plants one is allowed to grow.
The proposed bill aims to address this, but until laws are in place, everything continues to operate in a legal grey area.
As a result, there are instances where police arrest people with small amounts, arriving at a home claiming that a person has too many plants, said Clarke.
Legal firm Cliffe Dekker Hofmeyr said that as it stands, under the Medicines Act, through an application to the South African Health Products Regulatory Authority, patients can buy and use unregistered medical cannabis products for legitimate, therapeutic purposes.
Adult individuals may legally grow and consume cannabis in private for any reason, as well as purchase it for medical purposes.
Big business money grab
Uncertainty around personal use of cannabis persists even as regulators appear keen to prioritise the cannabis ‘gold rush’.
Even President Cyril Ramaphosa is investigating the cannabis economy, which is promised to lift South Africa out of some of its economic headwinds.
During the State of the Nation Address in February of this year, Ramaphosa said that government will fast-track regulations for the cannabis industry.
He claimed that industrial hemp and cannabis have “huge” potential for investment and job creation and that the government will review the policy and regulatory framework for a variety of processes in order to realize this potential. He claimed that this would be good news for residents of the Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in particular.
He claimed that these goods, which had previously been raised for a variety of uses, would now be industrialized – “We want to harness this.”
This is not exactly as simple as it seems, Clarke said, noting that the government is likely overselling the opportunities the industry could yield.
It is more important that authorities manage the consumer laws first, she said.
Instead, it seems as if big business or government may be withholding personal trade for everyone else while they get their ‘ducks in row’ to jump into the market, said Clarke.
Read: Sharing these messages on WhatsApp can land you in serious legal trouble in South Africa


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Xenoblade Chronicles 3D arrives in Europe on 2nd April, and naturally we've been hoping that the rad New Nintendo 3DS cover plates would make it out of Japan; it was clearly a no-brainer, as Nintendo of Europe has announced just that.
As you can see in the tweet below Nintendo's even used a Vine, which is cute.
We're not even going to pretend to be neutral with these plates and just say that we're really chuffed (and feeling it) with the news they're coming to Europe. Really, just look at them.
Thanks to RupeeClock for the heads up.


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MapR unveils platform for IoT analytics at the edge
MapR Edge is a new small footprint edition of the MapR Converged Data Platform geared for capturing, processing and analyzing data from internet of things devices at the edge.
MapR Technologies took the wraps off a new small footprint edition of its Converged Data Platform geared for capturing, processing and analyzing data from internet of things (IoT) devices at the edge.
MapR Edge, designed to work in conjunction with the core MapR Converged Enterprise Edition, provides local processing, aggregation of insights at the core and the ability to then push intelligence back to the edge.
"You can think of it as a mini-cluster that's close to the source and can do analytics where the data resides, but then send data back to the core," says Dale Kim, senior director, Industry Solution, at MapR Technologies. Read the full article here.


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China's June factory price inflation subdued on modest raw materials recovery, uncertain economy
Tue, Jul 11, 2017 - 5:50 AM
There are concerns that price pressures could weaken throughout the rest of 2017 as economic fundamentals soften. China is targeting 6.5% economic growth and 3% inflation this year.
CHINA'S producer price inflation was unchanged in June and remained well off highs seen earlier this year, amid lingering oversupply issues in the steel sector and as signs of economic weakness weighed on the outlook for prices.


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Ladbrokes to buy online casino 888
A £490M takeover of online gambling group 888 by bookmaker Ladbrokes is imminent.
The two companies have been in talks for over a month and a source close to the situation said a deal could be struck as early as next week.
An offer for 888 is expected to be pitched at between 140p and 145p a share, netting millions for the two sets of brothers who founded the internet poker and casino group.
Aaron and Avi Shaked and Shay and Ron Ben-Yitzhak still own about two-thirds of 888 - worth over £300m. It is not known whether they will sell out completely or take a share in Ladbrokes.
The acquisition would beef up Ladbrokes' online gambling operation, increasing liquidity on its poker sites, while providing software capability that it currently outsources. Analysts have estimated cost savings could be as high as £30m.
The bookie set its sights on 888 (down 2p at 1281/2p) after the sector was hammered by the US ban on online gambling - gatecrashing early takeover talks between 888 and PartyGaming (down 1/2p at 30p)
888, led by John Anderson, a former Ladbrokes director, has fared better than its rivals in the aftermath of the American clampdown because less than half of its revenues came from the States. Compare that with PartyGaming, which relies on the US for three-quarters of its sales.
News that Rank (down 11p at 2551/2p) had sold off its Hard Rock Cafe chain raised speculation that Ladbrokes' boss Chris Bell could turn his attention to the operator of Grosvenor Casinos once the 888 deal is signed. Ivor Jones, analyst at Panmure Gordon, said: 'Post the (Hard Rock) disposal, the probability of Rank being taken over goes up.'
Ladbrokes (up 1p at 4013/4p) and William Hill (up 5p at 622p) are seen as the potential buyers because they have the scale to extract the maximum benefits from any deal. Bingo groups and bookies are being forced to consider consolidation because 2007 is forecast to be a tough year.
There are no major sporting events and they face being hit with a big tax bill on gambling machines after this August's introduction of the Amusement Machine Licence Duty.
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West Way Nissan has announced an extension of its contract with Aston Barclay.
Even in a turbulent year, West Way has continued to see an excellent performance in remarketing its vehicles to Aston Barclay’s buyer base, through a programme of physical and online auctions.
West Way Nissan has been remarketing its part exchange vehicles through Aston Barclay since January 2018 and typically the group sells 10,000 used vehicles per year.
“I’m really pleased to work with Aston Barclay and continue to grow our relationship during 2021.
“The West Way Nissan vehicles sold by Aston Barclay have become a favourite with buyers and continue to perform well in the current market,” said Westway Nissan’s group vehicle remarketing manager, David Hunter.
“Our digital sales have been extremely well attended since April when we first switched them on. West Way’s stock always does well at auction as much of it sits in the sub-£10,000 sweet spot that is so popular with consumers. We look forward to continuing our partnership in 2021,” said Martin Potter, Aston Barclay’s managing director – customer.


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Waupaca Elevator Company, Inc.’s assets were sold through a receivership proceeding to Wisconsin Elevator Company, LLC d/b/a Fox Valley Elevator. At this time, there is no recall remedy available for consumers with Waupaca elevators.
The Commission warns consumers not to use their recalled Waupaca elevators until the elevators are inspected and an overspeed safety device is installed by a local dealer, if necessary.
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) and Waupaca Elevator Company, of Appleton, Wis., are reannouncing a 2018 recall and warning consumers not to use recalled Waupaca elevators until an overspeed safety device is installed by a local dealer. There have been incidents reported of the elevators falling unexpectedly without the overspeed safety device installed, including one resulting in a death.
Consumers should not use the recalled elevators until the overspeed safety device is installed. Waupaca and its dealers have an extensive backlog of overspeed safety device installations, which may take several years to complete.
The elevators were recalled in October 2018 because the elevator cab can fall unexpectedly to the bottom of the elevator shaft and stop abruptly, posing an injury hazard to consumers inside the elevator cab. As part of the 2018 recall, Waupaca agreed to provide consumers with a free gearbox inspection and to install a free overspeed safety device, and a free gearbox, if the oil sample test shows an elevated level of wear in the oil.
Waupaca has received 15 reports of the elevator cab falling unexpectedly, including three incidents since the 2018 recall announcement. Two of the incidents involved elevators that had oil samples taken, but that had not received the overspeed safety device. Until an overspeed safety device is installed, all elevators should be placed out of service. Many of those incidents allegedly caused by the defect in the elevator gearbox resulted in injuries. In one of those incidents a consumer in Milbrae, Cal. died. The incident occurred in August 2018. Other injuries caused by elevators falling include broken bones and strained or sprained knees and ankles.
The recalled elevators are Custom Lift 450# and 500# Capacity elevators sold by Waupaca Elevator's dealers nationwide from 1979 through 2008, for between $5,000 and $14,000.
Consumers should report any incidents to CPSC at www.SaferProducts.gov or to CPSC’s Hotline at 800-638-2772.
About the U.S. CPSC
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with protecting the public from unreasonable risk of injury or death associated with the use of thousands of types of consumer products. Deaths, injuries, and property damage from consumer product-related incidents cost the nation more than $1 trillion annually. CPSC's work to ensure the safety of consumer products has contributed to a decline in the rate of injuries associated with consumer products over the past 50 years.
Federal law prohibits any person from selling products subject to a Commission ordered recall or a voluntary recall undertaken in consultation with the CPSC.
For lifesaving information:


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The latest IHS Markit Canada Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), released at the beginning of this month, indicates that 2018 is off to a strong start for Canadian manufacturing.
Underpinning the optimism are faster rises in output volumes, new business intakes and staff recruitment. There were also signs that the resurgence in production schedules would continue in the months ahead, with incomplete workloads (backlogs) accumulating at the fastest pace since the survey began in October 2010. Improved demand conditions and sharp input cost inflation meanwhile led to the largest increase in factory gate prices for almost seven years.
The seasonally adjusted PMI picked up to 55.9 in January from 54.7 in December, remaining well above the 50.0 no-change threshold. Moreover, the latest PMI reading signalled the joint-strongest improvement in business conditions since April 2011.
Production volumes have now increased for fifteen months running, with the rate of expansion accelerating to its fastest since July 2017. A robust rise in manufacturing output was driven by greater demand from both domestic and export clients at their start of the year. Survey respondents commented on more favourable economic conditions and increased spending by US clients in particular.
There were signs that production schedules struggled to keep up with rising order intakes during January. This was reflected in a solid accumulation of incomplete workloads, with the latest rise in backlogs the fastest for over seven years. At the same time, stronger than expected sales contributed to a further reduction in stocks of finished goods across the manufacturing sector at the start of 2018.
Manufacturers responded to pressures on capacity by increasing their staffing numbers at the steepest pace since last August. Input buying also strengthened in January, driven by improved demand and efforts to rebuild warehouse inventories. Increased stocks of purchases have now been recorded for three months running.
Source: IHS Markit


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Acres may approach 100,000 | Canadian production could improve with processing plants and specialized equipment
Up to 100,000 acres of hemp will likely be grown in Canada this year, up from 67,000 acres last year, and 20,000 of them will be in Alberta.
Breaking the 100,000 acre barrier may indicate that hemp is finally coming into its own as a viable prairie crop.
So says Jan Slaski, senior researcher with Alberta Innovates Technology Futures.
Prairie farmers’ history with hemp has had its ups and downs, but Slaski said they were growing pains.
“We didn’t have a well established value chain,” he said in an interview after his presentation at the Feb. 27 annual meeting of Farming Smarter.
“Now what we have, we are seeing this steady increase. Fifteen to 20 percent from year to year is because we are past the stage where there is no market for the crop. There is market demand.”
Canada exports $40 million in hemp products annually, which is 85 percent of total production.
Most of it is seed related. American firms are the primary buyers.
They process hemp seed into products popular for their nutritional value and health benefits. Hemp seed derivatives are also used in cosmetics.
Slaski said Canada’s two major contractors of hemp seed, Hemp Oil Canada and Manitoba Harvest, have been increasing their contracted acres, and a value chain for fibre as well as seed is starting to develop.
“This industry is growing and will be growing again because of market pull, not because it’s such a fantastic crop,” he said.
“It is indeed, but so what, if you cannot sell it, if you cannot use it and if you cannot make money on it?”
Two firms have recently indicated plans to establish fibre plants in southern Alberta, and one of them, Stemia, is expected to break ground on a plant near Chin later this year.
The other firm, Cylab International, also intends to build a decortication plant with planned start-up in 2015.
Slaski said a market for hemp fibre could be the turning point for the crop.
“The question is not why hemp or if hemp. The question is when,” he said.
“Once we have this facility … I think it will be a game changer in perception and it will be a driver that will be promoting and conducive to the increase of hemp acreage in southern Alberta.”
Hemp fibre can be used in biocomposites for car parts, building materials, insulation, mulch and livestock bedding.
Processing plants in southern Alberta could allow farmers to sell stockpiled fibre.
Farmers can use cereal and oilseed equipment to seed and harvest hemp, but it is not always ideal for managing fibre.
Applied research projects, including Farming Smarter in southern Alberta and the Smoky Applied Research and Demonstration Association in northern Alberta, aim to identify best management practices for the crop.
Slaski said he hopes that returns from hemp crops will allow farmers to buy specialized equipment that is available in Europe, which will improve crop quality and profits.
“When you put seeds in the ground, you have to know what you’re growing hemp for,” he said.
“(The) agronomy is different if you grow hemp for grain, different if you grow for biocomposites, different if you grow for textiles. So you will be harvesting at different times, you will be using different cultivars or seeding at a different rate.”
- Hemp’s history in Canada dates back to the 1600s.
- In the 1800s, it was grown and used for oil, rope, clothing and paper.
- The crop fell out of favour when cotton and jute from other countries became readily available.
- Production took a further downturn with the development of synthetic materials.
- Canada prohibited hemp production in 1938 as part of a battle against the abuse of the psychoactive ingredient tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and other controlled substances.
- Canada legalized industrial hemp in 1998, but growers must still obtain a licence from Health Canada.
- Industrial hemp, cannabis sativa, has less than .3 percent THC.
- The most common varieties contracted and grown in Canada are Alyssa, Anka, CRS-1, CFX-1, CFX-2, Delores and Finola.
- About 67,000 acres of industrial hemp were grown in Canada last year.
- About 100,000 acres are projected to be grown in the 2014-15 crop year.
- The new U.S. farm bill allows for regulation of industrial hemp in the 10 states that allow it to be grown.


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President Clinton last week announced incentives for borrowers in the direct student-loan program that would reward those who make on-time payments and those who consolidate their loans with the program.
Supporters of direct lending praised the...
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updated 05:45 pm EST, Fri November 6, 2009
Latest computer maker to challenge Apple
An Italian computer maker is the latest company to ignore Apple's Mac OS X license agreement and launch a new series of Mac clones, according to the Italian site Macity. The startup Engineering Project recently launched a site promoting its upcoming EVO computers, which are allegedly compatible with several platforms including Mac OS X.
Although the company clearly advertises compatibility with Apple's OS, it remains unclear if the PCs will ship with Snow Leopard pre-installed. Several other companies, such as EFi-X, have developed clone technology but left users to break the licensing terms by installing the software themselves.
Engineering Project lists several offerings including a 2.93 GHz Core 2 Duo configuration with a 500GB HDD and 2GB of RAM, which is listed for €479. The highest offering integrates a 2.66GHz Core i7 CPU with a 1TB HDD and 4GB of RAM for €849.
The Evo Store is currently inactive, but the company claims it will soon be operational.
Apple is currently involved in an ongoing legal battle with the Florida-based company Psystar. The clone maker sells systems with Mac OS X pre-installed, which Apple claims is a violation of the software's end-user license agreement (EULA). Psystar filed a countersuit arguing that Apple abuses the copyright protection.
It remains unclear how Apple will choose to react to foreign clone makers.


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'Fortnite' was the most important video game of this decade, and it will be for the next one too
- "Fortnite" has inspired a cultural phenomenon beyond that of most any other recent video game, with more than 250 million players worldwide.
- Epic Games' has the ability to understand and adapt to its huge audience, and "Fortnite" has provided a new model to which these kind of ongoing games can aspire.
- Epic has used the success of "Fortnite" as leverage to challenge the way the gaming business operates.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
In the hit-driven video game industry, few franchises grow large enough to become household names, and even fewer can remain popular enough to survive more than a few years. "Fortnite," however, has already surpassed both milestones to become one of the most influential video games in recent history.
The sandbox shooter created by North Carolina-based Epic Games has brought in more than 250 million registered players and reportedly generated no less than $2.4 billion in 2018. "Fortnite" is totally free to play, but players spend billions on in-game microtransactions and other rewards - a testament to "Fortnite's" ever-engaging weekly updates.
Outside of perhaps "Pokémon Go" or "Minecraft," few recent games have managed to reach the level of pop-culture ubiquity that "Fortnite" has enjoyed for the past two years. A star "Fortnite" player made the cover of ESPN The Magazine, and "Time's" list of 100 most influential people. Musicians and actors have been filming themselves playing "Fortnite," and the game even had a cameo in "Avengers: Endgame," the biggest movie of all time.
"Fortnite" itself is a living entity that changes at the whims of its creators and is built to suit the tastes of its incredibly broad audience. Epic Games' ability to understand and adapt with that huge audience is nothing short of impressive and "Fortnite" has provided a new model to which ongoing games can aspire. Epic works with an ecosystem of professionals gamers to keep the game at the forefront of the online conversation.
Epic Games' CEO Tim Sweeney said the success of "Fortnite" has helped the company gain "great economies of scale," which it has used to challenge the gaming business as a whole. The company has pressed industry giants like Sony into changing their tactics, and even launched its own digital storefront to redefine how video game publishers negotiate fees with online marketplaces.
Here's why "Fortnite" is the most influential game of the past decade, and the most important game to watch in the next one: