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Kingdom Hearts III is promising to be a huge game, but it seems that it does not want to take as much storage space, at least on Xbox One.
A few minutes ago it has been revealed through a listing on Microsoft's website discovered by ResetEra forum member Chaserjoey that Kingdom Hearts III on Xbox One should be around 35 GB, which is quite low, especially compared to the latest AAA- titles.
Related Kingdom Hearts III Gets Brand New Trailer; The development is finally completed
On a related note, Pixar has recently commented to work with Square Enix on Kingdom Hearts III on the Winter 2018 edition of the Disney Twenty Three magazine. The collaboration between the two parties went amazing, with Square Enix that delivered Pixar's stories perfectly. Pizar was also involved in all stages, worked with Japanese developers on scripts, storyboards, scenes and cartoon signals. According to Disney's Tasha Sounart, we have never seen Pixar like this.
Last year another Kingdom Hearts III trailer has been released online to celebrate the game eventually goes gold.
I'm proud to uncover an extended version of the trailer that has been playing in NA cinemas. And guess what? We have wrapped in the development of # KingdomHearts III!
If you have not had the chance yet, it would be a good time to prep by playing 1.5 + 2.5 and 2.8. See you next month! – Nomura
Kingdom Hearts III launches next month on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in all regions.


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After Apple has revised their whole iPod line. It looks like that’s not the only thing they have plans on upgrading. Rumors have been speculating that Apple is planning on upgrading their notebook line. Apple will be releasing the new notebooks on October 14th according to sources “familiar with Apple’s hardware plans.”
The MacBook Air will also see new upgrades coming it’s way. A new version of the MacBook Air’s custom Intel processor will be included in the new MacBook Air. Apple is also looking to update the hard drive for the super slim laptop. Apple has plans on using the same hard drive that’s in it’s new 120GB iPod Classic into the MacBook Air.

domain: news


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Fake Untethered 6.1.3 Jailbreak Spread On The Web. If you search home page with message “Evad3rs Jailbreak 6.1.3 Team has released an Untethered Jailbreak 6.1.3 and 6.1.2 via software.
This new untethered jailbreak is compatible with all devices like:
iPhone 5,4S, 4,3GS, or iPod touch on the newly released iOS
6.1.3 and 6.1.2 firmware.
This untethered jailbreak and unlock iPhone 5/4/4S/3Gs is running on an tools developed by the experts, who tested
it on iPhones and iPads last week before releasing it over to the rest.
iOS 6.1.3 was originally untethered jailbroken and
unlocked last week but it was limited to tethered boot and it did not
had the unlock option. But now, this new version of ….. we can
jailbreak and unlock iPhone 5/4S/4/3Gs, fully untethered
on iOS 6.1.3″. Don’t believe it. It’s fakers.
“We are not working on a 6.1.3 Untethered Jailbreak, that would be too much efforts
for a minimal update. We’re waiting for a major release. “(Pod2g)
To Jailbreak your iPhone 5/4/4S/3GS 6.1.3 visit the official status link: iOS 6.1.3 Jailbreak


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Growth likely to revive in coming quarters: SBI chief
Bhattacharya said that some traction is being seen in sectors such as roads and fertilizers, but the benefits would reflect in banks’ credit books with a lag.
Sistema forms joint venture to bring Russian kids' brand Concept Group to India
Concept Group, one of Russia’s leading fashion retailers, cre...
SBI to teach bankers from South East Asian countries
The institute will impart leadership training to people in the mid-managemnet level and ...
Air India requests lenient view on pilots, cabin crew under DGCA lens
As many as 132 pilots and 434 cabin crew have been found by the DGCA to have allegedly skipped the compulsory pre-and post-flight alcohol tests this year.
Why millennials are checking into hotels in their hometowns
A growing number of millennials prefer to spend a night at a low-budget hotel to avoid traffic or even if they've had too much to drink and don't want to go back home.
How festivities are bringing local cuisine to the cosmopolitan market
Even in cities such as Delhi, hitherto regarded as conservative foodwise, growing culinary cosmopolitanism is evident in the "buzz" surrounding festive eats.
BSF uses local intel, language skills to check Rohingya influx
According to BSF sources in South Bengal frontier, patrolling in those areas has been enhanced and the ground level forces with boosted jawans who are adept in Bengali language.
Why the veg/non-veg debate during Durga Puja is wrong to engage in
Bengali caterers in cities are in huge demand to set up their stalls within pandals to sell fish fry, kobiraji cutlet and plethora of chops.
100-ft idol of Goddess Durga all set to enter Guiness Book of Records as world's tallest bamboo structure
The idol is being made by the artisans of the Guwahati-based Bishnupur Durga Puja Committee.
Andrew Yule to set up two bought-leaf plants in northeast
The two factories, the establishment of which was announced earlier by the Kolkata-based Andrew Yule, will come up in Upper Assam and the Dooars in North Bengal.
Utkarsh looks to raise Rs 125-150 crore from existing investors
World Bank's invest arm IFC sold a part of its holding in Utkarsh -- 4.9 per cent -- to Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments AG in August.
Improved fundamentals to sustain higher pricing for global base metals: Moody's
Moody's price sensitivity ranges represent baseline approximations that it uses to evaluate risk when analyzing the credit conditions of companies within the sector.
Ahead of Durga Puja, SVF unveils Bengali digital content platform 'Hoichoi'
The digital entertainment business is expected to achieve break-even in four years
'New demon' GST pinches Durga Puja organisers, idol makers
The five-day Durga Puja festival, the biggest annual carnival in this part of the country, is being held from September 26 to 30 this year.
SBI Card to offer pre-approved cards to SBI customers
SBI Card, now the second largest issuer of credit cards after HDFC Bank, is looking to tap SBI’s customers aggressively with an aim to double its base to one crore.


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In the middle ages, pilgrims were known to chip fragments from saints’ tombs then steep them in water so as to consume the holy relics. This autumn, visitors to Antony Gormley’s Royal Academy exhibition in London could purchase a similarly intangible souvenir: a £150 limited-edition perfume made to smell like iron. It was one of a raft of imaginative products that accompanied the sculptor’s retrospective, including a hi-vis jacket with Gormley’s Buddha drawing on the back and a kilogram of clay.
The RA describes its gift shop collaboration with Gormley as probably its closest to date, and yet it is becoming the new norm for museum gift shops. The skyrocketing prices of contemporary artists, cuts in state funding and even the decline of the high street have coalesced into a boom industry for creative merch. Amid the tote bags and novelty mugs, gift shops are brimming with investment-worthy artists’ editions: a Cindy Sherman plate for £450 at the National Portrait Gallery, a rug designed by Howard Hodgkin for £3,500 at Hepworth Wakefield, even a Phyllida Barlow sculpture for £20,000 at Tate.
“Happily, I think the days of direct reproduction of artwork on to product types that don’t relate is pretty much gone,” says Jo Prosser, the RA’s director of commercial and visitor experience.
Some artists shun these merchandising collaborations entirely. Most participate — particularly when the request goes alongside planning for a solo show — but proceed with caution. “It’s just becoming more and more omnipresent that institutions need the artist to make artwork or make some sort of product because of squeezes on funding and lots of competition,” says the artist Cornelia Parker. Having previously been on the Council at the RA, she says she’s fully aware of how a successful shop display from an artist like Anselm Kiefer or Ai Weiwei can “underwrite” an exhibition.
Still, Parker admits she is sometimes “bamboozled” by the exigencies of this growing sector. She was recently asked to sign off on a raft of generic gift shop products that were, as she puts it delicately, “a little less achieved” than she would have chosen, and which had been developed without her collaboration.
But merch is also an opportunity for artists — not just to scratch the back of supportive institutions but also to put their work in reach of the 99.9 per cent of visitors priced out of buying it. Rosey Blackmore, merchandise director at Tate, says artists interested in their work getting “out there” are keen to engage. She worked on a collaboration for Olafur Eliasson’s In Real Life exhibition that extended the artist’s interest in sustainability to Tate Modern’s shop, offering discounted exhibition T-shirts in exchange for old, recyclable ones. The artist waived his royalties, making it a useful fundraiser.
Grayson Perry, whose silk scarves remain among the most perennially popular gift shop purchases, insists he makes merch for love, not money. “There’s a democracy in merchandise,” he says. “I try to go from the fridge magnet, a few quid, right up to something that might be a couple of grand.” Why does he think some artists balk at the prospect of seeing their work so widely disseminated? “If they feel their process is part of a philosophy or has nothing to do with the commercial realm, then they’re perfectly entitled [not to],” he says.
The rise in sophisticated artists’ products has created a new niche at the intersection of commerce and creativity. In the UK, the shaded centre of this Venn diagram is dominated by the work of one man: Kit Grover, an American-born designer and painter (although he no longer exhibits) who runs his studio alongside business partner Hilary Arnold. Over a drink on London’s Southbank, Grover tells me he’s produced an estimated 1,500 products since the Gilbert & George Rubik’s Cube that marked his debut for the freshly minted Tate Modern shop at the turn of the millennium — the opening of which he considers to mark the beginning of “museum shop mania” in the UK.
“I spend a lot of time going into a trance with people’s work and thinking about what’s odd or unusual, and how it might connect to anything else that works in a retail setting,” Grover explains. His role is often that of a diplomatic envoy, reconciling the good intentions of celebrated artists who are “willing to consent to, in theory, support the institution” with the pragmatic imperatives of commercial teams.
From his bag, Grover carefully unwraps the end result of one of his trances: a handkerchief produced for Parker’s current exhibition at Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art Australia, which recreates the two-sided embroidery technique found in the artist’s exhibited work. “I do think that some of the products I’ve made with artists are as much art as the things in galleries,” he says. Unfortunately, he won’t be drawn on the “long list” of artists who have refused to discuss merchandise over the years but hints that many have since put their work on tea towels and similar. “I don’t feel vindicated by that, but I say it as evidence that they either had a commercial epiphany or they caved under perceived pressure.”
Is Grover right that artists’ products can, in fact, just be art? Certainly, collectors increasingly treat them as part of the market. Rosie Ripley, retail development manager of Hepworth Wakefield, says the edition of 20 lithographs produced for Christina Quarles’ exhibition sold out before the show opened because of intense commercial interest in the artist. “People are really struggling to buy her painting at the moment because her prices are soaring,” she explains.
But Grover is also referring to a non-commercial measure of value. He recalls the “Meniscus glass” he designed with Richard Wentworth for Tate — a fanciful take on a measuring glass that cost less than £10. “It’s not ‘fast’,” he says. “You have to think about it. And I think, ‘What’s the difference between something on a plinth and that?’” Over email, Wentworth tells me he likes the idea of a “paternity suit” in future years, as the products he has made with Grover resurface and their authorship is debated. It’s unlikely he’ll need to wait that long: an example of the glass is already in the Victoria and Albert Museum’s collection.
It is, of course, unrealistic to imagine a world in which a stocking filler-priced glass is afforded the same prestige as a gallery work. But if gift shops offer access to interesting art without the premium that comes with exclusivity, then this colourful grey area of commerce is worth celebrating. “I think for lots of people who can’t afford to collect art, sometimes that’s a good way to start,” agrees Parker, adding that even she’s got a Grayson Perry headscarf at home: “I could never imagine wearing it, but I thought it might look good on the wall.”
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Could Rhubarb Help Make the Battery of the Future?
The race is on to find cheap renewable fuel sources, but there’s a problem: how do we store renewable power like solar and wind energy? Right now, battery storage devices are costly and potentially hazardous. Yet, could simple plants like rhubarb provide the materials for large-scale power storage devices of the future?
Yes, say scientists at Harvard university who this month reveal in the scientific journal Nature that they have been able to harness the composition of simple plants to create a revised “flow battery.”
The technology is a type of rechargeable fuel cell that utilizes chemical compounds dissolved in liquids. Flow batteries replace solid electrodes with two liquid electrolytes. These kinds of batteries can be scaled up to increase the duration of wattage they’re able to deliver without changing the power capacity, unlike lithium batteries which have to be scaled up in every sense in order to increase battery storage.
Flow batteries, which have been around for more than three decades, have long been seen as a promising technology but, until now, flow batteries have relied on compounds from high cost metals like vanadium, and this has made them unsuitable for mass market application and production.
Now, Harvard researchers have managed to adapt the technology to use quinones, organic molecular compounds which in this case were from crude oil but are virtually identical to those found in rhubarb and many other simple plants. As such, the process could cut the cost of creating flow batteries by over a third or even more.
“We’ve introduced the world of organic chemicals to flow batteries,” Professor Michael Aziz of Harvard University is quoted as saying. ”The ones we have used are very inexpensive, very abundant, they work really well and they’re safe.”
Why is this technology so interesting? Well, it could in the future change batteries in a big way. Currently, other than the expense of battery technology, there are a number of safety issues. For instance, market leading lithium batteries all come with one very big downside: they can catch fire. The newly engineered organic flow batteries on the other hand use molecules that are dissolved in water and so the batteries are unlikely to pose a fire hazard risk.
What’s more, the batteries could potentially be engineered very specifically so that they could meet the specific challenges of industry while remaining low cost and still relatively kind to the environment.
Roy Gordon, another researcher who worked on this technology, puts into perspective the exciting potential of this technology:
“The whole world of electricity storage has been using metal ions in various charge states but there is a limited number that you can put into solution and use to store energy, and none of them can economically store massive amounts of renewable energy. With organic molecules, we introduce a vast new set of possibilities. Some of them will be terrible and some will be really good. With these quinones we have the first ones that look really good.”
At the moment the technology remains in the testing phase. The researchers have said that the testing cycles on their small prototype have yielded good results with little energy loss and they believe that, based on these results, there is no reason why the battery couldn’t be scaled up to the size of a heating tank. This would enable a household to store about a day’s worth of solar-generated energy. Eventually, they hope to build batteries on a larger scale that could then be connected to solar arrays that are seen on commercial buildings, thus creating the potential for greater stores of power.
So, how far are we from seeing this kind of technology on the market? Currently, the test cycles have only lasted into the hundreds. The batteries will need to be capable of thousands of cycles of output before they could be commercially viable, but the aim to produce a battery that can provide eight or more hours of energy does appear within reach.
What’s more, now that this energy storage technology appears more than just theoretically viable it could increase the funding for renewable energy sources. This in turn will feed back into innovating storage — that is, assuming that those opposed to renewable energy don’t see fit to delay development like they have in the past.
While we must be cautious and say that at the moment this is all possibility and not fact, the organic flow battery is an exciting breakthrough that could at last answer part of the renewable energy problem that clouds our future.
Photo credit: Thinkstock.


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On Wednesday mid-day, Ford Motor Company (F 4.93%) reported stellar second-quarter profits outcomes. Earnings exceeded $40 billion for the first time because 2019, while the company’s readjusted operating margin reached 9.3%, powering a significant revenues beat.
Somewhat, Ford’s second-quarter earnings may have benefited from positive timing of deliveries. However, the results showed that the auto giant’s efforts to sustainably improve its success are working. Because of this, ford motor company stock price rallied 15% recently– and it might keep rising in the years ahead.
A huge earnings recuperation.
In Q2 2021, a serious semiconductor shortage crushed Ford’s earnings and also earnings, especially in North America. Supply restrictions have actually alleviated significantly ever since. Heaven Oval’s wholesale volume rose 89% year over year in North America last quarter, climbing from roughly 327,000 units to 618,000 units.
That quantity recovery created profits to almost increase to $29.1 billion in the area, while the section’s readjusted operating margin expanded by 10 percent indicate 11.3%. This made it possible for Ford to tape-record a $3.3 billion quarterly modified operating profit in The United States and Canada: up from less than $200 million a year earlier.
The sharp rebound in Ford’s largest and also crucial market aided the firm greater than triple its international adjusted operating profit to $3.7 billion, enhancing adjusted revenues per share to $0.68. That squashed the analyst consensus of $0.45.
Thanks to this solid quarterly efficiency, Ford preserved its full-year advice for adjusted operating earnings to rise 15% to 25% year over year to in between $11.5 billion and $12.5 billion. It likewise continues to anticipate modified cost-free cash flow to land in between $5.5 billion and also $6.5 billion.
Plenty of job left.
Ford’s Q2 revenues beat does not suggest the firm’s turn-around is full. First, the company is still struggling simply to break even in its two biggest abroad markets: Europe and also China. (To be fair, short-term supply chain restrictions added to that underperformance– and also breakeven would certainly be a big improvement compared to 2018 as well as 2019 in China.).
In addition, profitability has been rather unstable from quarter to quarter since 2020, based upon the timing of production and also shipments. Last quarter, Ford delivered substantially more vehicles than it provided in The United States and Canada, boosting its earnings in the area.
Undoubtedly, Ford’s full-year guidance suggests that it will certainly generate a modified operating earnings of about $6 billion in the 2nd fifty percent of the year: an average of $3 billion per quarter. That implies a step down in earnings contrasted to the car manufacturer’s Q2 changed operating profit of $3.7 billion.
Ford is on the best track.
For investors, the crucial takeaway from Ford’s profits record is that administration’s lasting turn-around strategy is gaining grip. Profitability has improved substantially contrasted to 2019 in spite of reduced wholesale volume. That’s a testament to the business’s cost-cutting efforts and its critical decision to discontinue most of its cars and also hatchbacks in The United States and Canada in favor of a broader variety of higher-margin crossovers, SUVs, and also pickup.
To be sure, Ford requires to proceed cutting costs so that it can stand up to prospective pricing stress as auto supply enhances as well as economic growth slows down. Its strategies to boldy grow sales of its electric vehicles over the following few years might weigh on its near-term margins, also.
However, Ford shares had lost over half of their value in between mid-January and very early July, recommending that lots of financiers and also experts had a much bleaker outlook.
Also after rallying last week, Ford stock trades for around seven times forward revenues. That leaves huge upside prospective if administration’s plans to increase the company’s adjusted operating margin to 10% by 2026 is successful. In the meantime, financiers are making money to wait. In conjunction with its strong profits report, Ford elevated its quarterly returns to $0.15 per share, enhancing its yearly yield to an appealing 4%.


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Brazil’s Minister of Development, Industry and Foreign Trade, Luiz Fernando Furlan, criticized news from the US that the United States is considering putting and end to old trade preferences granted Brazil and another 12 developing countries.
"Unilateral measures are always a bad option between two countries," said Furlan, adding: "In the meeting that we had with secretary Gutierrez (Carlos Gutierrez, the US Trade Secretary) about two months ago, we created a group to facilitate trade. Unilateral measures are going to jeopardize companies that operate in both countries creating a climate not conducive to the evolution of bilateral relations"
In 2005, the US imported US$ 26.7 billion in products from 133 developing countries under the so-called Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) maintained by the American government. That’s the first time in 20 years that the preferences system is being reviewed.
Created in 1974 the program favors products originating in poorer countries. About 20% of all products exported to the United States by Brazil benefit from the preferences system.
In the past the American government has already threatened to deny Brazil preferential treatment as punishment for a country that has maintained a years-long feud with the United States in trade matters.
In one of the most notorious cases Brazil has complained to the WTO (World Trade Organization) against US cotton subsidies and won, forcing the Bush administration to change its policy.
Since the Doha round collapse Brazil has hinted that it might once again appeal to the WTO so it may retaliate against the United States imposing billions of dollars in trade sanctions.
According to the USTR (United States Trade Representative) the Bush administration is studying if it "restrains, suspends or cancels" the eligibility of 13 countries that in 2005 either shipped more than US$ 100 million in products to the US under the preferences program or represented more than 0,25% of the world exports.
Besides Brazil, the other 12 countries threatened to be deprived of their preferential status are: Argentina, Croatia, India, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Romania, Russia, Southern Africa, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela.
American senator Chuck Grassley said recently that he would support taking Brazil and India from the GSP list due to their less than constructive behavior "Why should we continue to give them preferential treatment?" Grassley asked. "India, Brazil and other developing nations don’t want to give us access to their markets in the World Trade Organization negotiations," he said.


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Oil prices have hit a record high. Inflation is rising. The dollar is sinking. The stock market is at its lowest point in a year. Is there any good news for our finances these days?
Yes -- and it pays to look on the bright side. Congress has passed several measures that take affect this year that will help you keep more money in your pockets. Plus, the economic downturn and market decline present opportunities for some of us to get better deals when we borrow money, buy a home or invest in stocks.
When it comes to your finances, here are eight things to smile about -- especially in these hard times.
1. THE REBATE CHECK
In an effort to encourage people to spend and boost the ailing economy, the government wants to give you money. Taxpayers who file their 2007 returns by April 15 can expect rebate checks by late spring or summer.
2. UNDERVALUED STOCKS AND BONDS
Now is the time to pick up shares of big-name companies because their stocks are beaten down and relatively cheap. Even bond prices have fallen lately.
- Don't Miss the Muni-Bond Sale
- Deals in Construction-Equipment Stocks
- Are Cisco Shares Too Cheap to Ignore?
- A Sale on Crocs
3. LOWER INTEREST RATES
The Federal Reserve has been lowering interest rates to stimulate the economy. For consumers with good credit ratings, that means savings when they borrow.
4. NEW TAX BREAKS
You might owe less to the IRS this year thanks to a new deduction for private mortgage insurance, an extension of the sales-tax write-off and a boost in the alternative minimum tax exemption amount.
5. FALLING HOUSE PRICES
This isn't very good news if you're selling home -- but it's great for those buying.
6. HIGHER RETIREMENT ACCOUNT LIMITS
You can contribute $1,000 more to your traditional IRA or Roth IRA this year. Limits have risen for retirement plans for the self-employed, too. Where to get the extra money to contribute? The rebate check.
7. HELP WITH COLLEGE BILLS
A new law lends a helping hand to those pursuing a career in teaching or public service. Find out what it takes to qualify and how to apply.
8. NEW ROLLOVER OPTION
Now you can roll your 401(k) directly into a Roth IRA without jumping into a traditional IRA first.


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At BlizzCon last year, it was revealed that Tracer would be the first Overwatch character to enter the Heroes of the Storm Nexus. When that would happen though, remained a complete mystery.
The presumption of course, was that she would arrive around the same time as the launch of Overwatch, which was only just recently confirmed to be May the 24th. During the tease of the latest Heroes of the Storm character Dehaka however, I suspected she may be coming a little earlier.
And lo and behold, I was right for once! Blizzard have now officially announced the release date for Tracer – she’s coming soon.
Tracer, the time-jumping adventurer from Overwatch, is getting ready to make her Heroes of the Storm debut! Equipped with the chronal accelerator designed by her gorilla scientist pal Winston and a pair of deadly pulse pistols to match, this highly mobile ranged Assassin zips around the Battlegrounds of the Nexus, catching enemy heroes off guard and then vanishing before they have a chance to react.
Tracer will be available starting April 19 exclusively to those who pre-purchase a digital copy of Overwatch: Origins Edition for Windows PC. Starting on April 26, she’ll become available for sale to everyone in the Nexus.
Wow, she’s coming to Heroes of the Storm more than a month earlier than the release of Overwatch. How exactly will she translate from shooter to MOBA though ? Here’s a preview…
Tracer brings a diverse set of unique abilities and talents into the Nexus. She can move while attacking—a first for a Heroes character—and has a single Heroic ability that she can customize by upgrading it in three different ways.
Tracer seems to play almost identically to her Overwatch counterpart. She looks to be a real headache to take down thanks to her blink and recall abilities, and capable of some serious AOE damage thanks to her pulse bomb ultimate. I can’t wait to see what talents she’ll have at her disposal when she releases later this month!
What about you? Are you excited to have the speedster enter the Nexus?
Last Updated: April 4, 2016


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Digital TV News: Medialaan
Yospace intelligently reduces addressable ad load for OTT
Nov 28, 2018 – Yospace has developed Non-Linear Startover (NLSO) technology which allows users of OTT streaming services to rewind live content mid-stream. Ad breaks are then intelligently reduced in length, allowing them to catch up with the live action.
News categories: Yospace, Medialaan, Tim Sewell, Calogero Macaluso, Olivier van Zeebroeck, Advertising, Belgium, Digital TV, OTT
FreeWheel Council for Premium Video expands into Europe
Jun 29, 2017 – Following on the success of the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video (FWC) in North America, the FWC announced its European launch, extending its remit to champion the premium video industry on an international level.
News categories: FreeWheel, Thomas Bremond, Emmanuel Josserand, Advertising, Digital TV, Europe
MEDIALAAN selects castLabs multi-screen playback technology
May 4, 2017 – castLabs has announced that it is supplying its multi-platform player technology and cloud-based DRM licensing to enable secure streaming by MEDIALAAN, the Flemish commercial television broadcaster.
News categories: castLabs, MEDIALAAN, Michael Stattmann, Wim Notredame, Apps, Belgium, Content Distribution, Digital TV, DRM, OTT
Belgacom launches TV Replay in Dutch-speaking parts of Belgium
Feb 17, 2014 – TV Replay is a Belgacom service which allows Belgacom TV customers to watch programs up to 36 hours after they've been broadcast, on their TV, computer, tablet or smartphone.
News categories: Belgacom, Belgium, Digital TV, IPTV, Mobile, TV Everywhere
- MediaKind first to deploy latest You.i TV video experience SDK
- TVSquared and Blockgraph partner on TV and cross-channel measurement
- PlayStation 5 launches this November
- BrightLine launches connected TV ad solution
- FIH and NAGRA launch Watch.Hockey app
- Gracenote enables cross-platform search and discovery for sports content
- VR headset market expected to grow despite short-term decline
- Pay TV in Portugal grows 4.1% YoY in 1H 2020
- Liberty Puerto Rico launches Hub TV powered by TiVo
- Verizon Media offers header bidding-like solution for OTT publishers
- Watch Brasil launches SVOD Smart TV app with Accedo
- ViacomCBS global streaming service to be called Paramount+
- TV3 to trial 5G immersive sport at Superbike World Championship
- Finns prefer to watch streaming services on the TV
- Proximus Pickx Android TV service goes live with 3SS
- Disney+ launches in eight more European countries
- Orange delivers 1.75bn multi-DRM licenses with Viaccess-Orca
- Dotscreen renews metadata deal with Red Bee Media
- Broadpeak powers NPVR service for Orange France
- ZEASN announces Smart TV App Store v3.0


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Solid numbers from the US continued the gains on USD with initial jobless showing a strong labour market. Stocks dropped as well after Netflix Inc issued a disappointing revenue forecast representing a drop in risk appetite, which also benefited USD. EUR and GBP both continued their moves lower.
Whilst this may not be an immediate concern for markets with regards to GBP, by-election results this morning showed the Conservatives suffered a political upset by losing one special election to Labour and another to the Liberal Democrats. Reports suggest that Rishi Sunak is considering holding a general election in November 2024.
Retails sales for June this morning came in higher at 0.7%, higher than the expected 0.2%. GBP has caught a bid early this morning.
* Daily move - against G10 rates at 7:30am, 21.07.23
** Indicative rates - interbank rates at 7:30am, 21.07.23
Quiet rest of day with only the Canadian retail sales numbers. The stronger retail sales numbers for the UK will likely cause GBP to drift higher today, but overall the currency is set to have its worst week since March. The overall theme of USDgaining this week should continue today as well.
We have a busy diary next week with monetary policy meetings from the Fed, Bank of Japan, and the European Central Bank. For the UK, the major data points will be on Monday with the services and manufacturing PMIs.
UK retails sales remain resilient in the face of high inflation and higher borrowing costs. But, its worth noting the full effect of higher interest rates is yet to take effect on the economy, with households likely needing to readjust their spending with the recent surge in mortgage rates. Consumer confidence recently fell to the lowest since April – levels seen during the recession in 2019/2020, 2008, and the 90’s. The mood may well be good now with spending but this may sour in months to come.
Our team of currency experts are here to help you get more from your money when making international payments. We will work with you to understand your payment needs and offer specialised guidance on the best options available to you. Over the last 17 years we’ve helped over a million customers and last year alone processed over £9.1bn. We’re tried and trusted, and we’re ready to help you.
Have a great day.


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The man, Noah Kravitz, attracted Twitter followers while he Tweeted for the mobile news website Phonedog.
Kravitz tweeted as @Phonedog_Noah, while he was tweeting for Phonedog. However, according to BBC
, Kravitz left the company and changed his username too. Kravitz ended up taking the 17,000 followers with him.
Phonedog is now suing Kravitz for damages of $2.50 per month, per user. The total is $370,000.
Kravitz left the company back in October of 2010. Kravits, 38, was told he could keep the Twitter account when he left, according to the New York Times
. However, the company wanted Kravitz to still Tweet on their behalf sometimes. Kravitz agreed because he said that they were leaving on good terms., but he changed his name on Twitter.
Kravits was then hit with a lawsuit after 8 months of quitting his job. The company said that the Twitter following was a customer list.
According to the Daily Mail
, Kravitz now has around 22,000 followers. His Tweets are diverse too. Some of his Tweets are about flu bugs, liquorice, Steely Dan and even Android phones.
Phonedog considers the followers, fans and brand awareness through social media to be property of the company. This is because of the resources and costs invested into growing them.
Phonedog said that the company will continue to aggressively protect their property.


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At Lombardo’s request, control board finds dozens of outdated gaming rules to eliminate
Many of the subsections and amendments tucked into Nevada’s nearly three dozen gaming regulations have been on the books for so long they are no longer applicable in overseeing the state’s largest industry.
For example, Regulation 26, which governs pari-mutuel wagering, contains Subsection 26.060, which was added in the 1970s. However, it’s never been adjusted to include legislative changes in the activity’s tax percentage.
“No one ever went back and fixed it,” said Gaming Control Board Chairman Kirk Hendrick. “Of course, it’s inconsequential. The industry has been paying what's required by statute.”
The outdated subsection was found as part of the board’s effort to comply with a directive issued in January by Gov. Joe Lombardo, tasking all state agencies to review existing regulations and recommending at least 10 for removal by May 1.
The control board scheduled a public workshop for Wednesday in Las Vegas to discuss removing that particular subsection of Regulation 26 along with more than two dozen other regulation subsections deemed to be out of date or no longer relevant.
The subsections headed to the chopping block are within nine of the state’s 37 different gaming regulations.
Five of the subsections recommended for removal fall under Regulation 14, which covers the licensing process for gaming equipment manufacturers and distributors and the approval process for all casino games, equipment and systems, cashless gaming and interactive gaming products. Regulation 14 also includes seven technical standards documents.
One of the five subsections highlighted was 14.160, which was adopted in 1989. It required duplicating the contents of gaming device programs when storing the information. This action is no longer necessary because of changes in technology.
“It’s not an earth-shattering regulation, but we found it because of the directive, which allowed us to go back in and clean up the regulations,” Hendrick said.
During the workshop, he assumes the board will hear from gaming company representatives suggesting additional regulation subsections for removal, primarily from the equipment manufacturing sector after last month’s workshop that discussed speeding up the approval process for bringing new gaming products to casino floors.
Complying with the governor’s directive wasn’t a simple task for the control board, which has policies and procedures for making regulation changes. The workshop is the first part of the process, which would be followed by a control board recommendation to the Nevada Gaming Commission, which would make the final decision.
Hendrick called the regulation review “a real deep dive by the staff and every agent in every division,” adding that division chiefs and their deputies made the final suggestions.
He credited Jose Torres, the board’s senior research specialist, and Deputy Attorney General Tiffany Breining with compiling and organizing the sections for removal.
“Our procedures allow the industry and the public more time to consider and comment on any revisions,” Hendrick said. “The workshop will greatly expedite the future process because most of the drafting and reviewing will have already occurred.”
Hendrick said removing an entire regulation “would be difficult and could produce unintended consequences.”
Former control board Chairwoman Becky Harris, who is now a distinguished fellow in gaming and leadership at UNLV’s International Gaming Institute, agreed that removing entire regulations would cause considerable problems in the industry. Revamping gaming regulations is something that takes place on a regular basis.
“I would suggest that Regulation 14 is probably ripe for massive editing,” Harris said.
She also recommended the control board take its time in evaluating any future regulation revisions.
“You really have to do it with a 360-degree view and understand how removing certain sections, especially if they are significant sections, will impact the rest of the regulations,” Harris said.


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Barrett's Equine Ltd. will conduct the first phase of the 505 dispersal on July 22. (More, WTBA)
The second phase of the dispersal of the late Marshall Naify's 505 Farms will be conducted by the Washington Thoroughbred Breeders Association. With Narvick International acting as agent, the Washington phase of the 505 Farms dispersal will consist of 52 horses: 36 horses of racing age; 11 broodmares, most with foals at side and bred back plus seven yearlings.The sale will be held in conjunction with the WTBA's summer yearling sale on Sept. 5. The 505 dispersal will kick off the sale and will be immediately followed by the yearlings auction. Among the stakes winners or stakes-placed horses that will be sold on behalf of 505 Farms are Blue Indigo, Chelan, Fair Apache and Get Smart.


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Doja Cat is echoing the footsteps of Lady Gaga, Rihanna, Selena Gomez and Jennifer Lopez by becoming the newest pop star to launch her own makeup line.
The "Say So" singer has teamed with BH Cosmetics to release her first-ever BH x Doja Cat collection, which offers a wide variety of products, from eye shadow to lip-plumping glosses.
"This collaboration is such a full-circle moment for me," Doja said in a statement. "I grew up doodling in school and always had an artistic eye, so naturally experimenting with makeup was a huge part of my life as a teenager."
She went on to share that one of the first eyeshadow palettes she ever purchased was from BH Cosmetics.
The new BH x Doja Cat line, available now at BHCosmetics.com and Ulta on Oct. 3, has numerous eyeshadow palettes that offer an array of shades and attention-grabbing colors featured in her music videos -- from hot pink to deep space blue.
In addition to an array of high-impact makeup picks, Doja has also released sets of brushes, mirrors and other makeup tools so consumers can properly store and apply their makeup.
"I remember the first time that I heard and saw Doja, she immediately stood out," Fabrice Gibert Darras, chief marketing officer and general manager of BH Cosmetics, said in a statement.
He continued, "She has something different to say and show, and she's continuously pushed aesthetic boundaries with her unique point of view. This is everything that BH seeks in a creative collaboration. We are so proud of this partnership and the collection that we developed together."
In addition to creating cool makeup, Doja has continued to also make great music and recently took home a VMA Award for best collaboration attached to her "Kiss Me More" song featuring SZA.


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By Joshua Roberts, The Paducah Sun
Distributed through the Kentucky Press News Service
Tesla Motors' fifth supercharging station in Kentucky is operational in
Lyon County and may give a small boost to county tourism.
The eight-stall supercharger, which delivers up to 120 kW of power
directly into Tesla vehicles, opened Dec. 31 in Kuttawa, off Interstate
24's Exit 40, near Days Inn and Oasis Southwest Grill.
Matt Daniel, whose family owns the land where the supercharger sits,
said he believes the station is getting used by about 10 Tesla owners
per day, and the number should go up as more learn about the location.
Lyon County Judge-Executive Wade White has been enthusiastic about the
Tesla addition to his community, saying it has a chance to draw in
people who "normally would just pass on by."
"It's a very positive thing for the area," White said of the station
opening. "They're already getting people charging there, so it didn't
take long for the word to get out. It was great foresight by the Daniels
to see it was something worth getting involved in. It's a good
strategic move for them, and good for the rest of Lyon County tourism."
Tesla, the American automaker that specializes in electric cars, has 795
charging stations in the U.S., representing 5,085 individual chargers,
and has been regularly expanding its network.
"We strategically place superchargers along well-traveled highways and
in congested city centers," the company states on its website.
The four other stations in the commonwealth are in Louisville,
Lexington, Bowling Green and London. Other area stations include St.
Louis; Nashville; Mount Vernon, Illinois, and Miner, Missouri.
The charging stations are free connectors that charge the Model S luxury
sedan and Model X crossover SUV. A 30-minute charge, according to the
company's website, provides up to 170 miles of driving range.
Tesla recommends its customers charge to about 80 percent capacity,
"which is typically enough to reach a neighboring supercharger station."
Charging to 100 percent, according to the automaker, doubles charge
time because the car must reduce current to top off cells.
"Charging each cell is like filling a glass of water without spilling,"
the website states. "As the glass fills up, you reduce the flow to catch
every last drop."
Daniel said it's likely too soon to say whether the station is a good candidate to someday be expanded.
"I'd like to say yes, but like anything else, it's about the market," he
said. "Gas prices probably have a lot to do with how many people buy
them, and you never know what technologies might come out.
"But my guess is, yeah, you're probably going to start seeing a lot more
Teslas. Even with gas prices going down, people are still excited about
them and think they're saving a lot of money. And they're really cool


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By: Linda Rosencrance
BenefitMall Partners, Gravity Software Team on Payroll Services
BenefitMall, a leading provider of employee benefits, human resources and payroll products and services, has teamed up with Microsoft partner Gravity Software to bring payroll and additional HR services to Gravity’s clients.
Built on Microsoft Dynamics CRM, Gravity is an online business management application that incorporates Dynamics CRM and the EOS Scorecard; part of the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) for small businesses.
“Our guiding principal at Gravity is to simplify the lives and end users while providing our clients with the platform it needs to grow,” said John Silvani, president & CEO of Gravity, in a statement. “The partnership with BenefitMall will further enhance our clients’ satisfaction by providing them with payroll and HR services that can increase value to their business.”
Sycor.Rental Upgrades to the New Dynamics AX
Microsoft partner Sycor has upgraded its Sycor.Rental to the new version of Microsoft Dynamics AX, said Frank Jakobi, the Sycor vice president in charge of the entire group’s worldwide activities related to Dynamics AX, in a statement.
“In summary you could say that Sycor.Rental now is even more innovative, intuitive and flexible than ever before,” said Lars Podszuweit, strategic product manager at Sycor.
Podszuweit said Sycor.Rental now offers the advantages of the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
“In particular, it boasts the scalability and flexibility required in a dynamic market environment,” he said. “Combined with the new web-based client, full mobile availability of the industry solution for mobile goods rental, trade and service is assured on all devices.”
He said that Sycor.Rental employees can now Sycor.Rental on smartphones or tablets anywhere and anytime, even on customers’ construction site or in large open-air storage facilities.
“The customer self-service functions are also of great use to our customers. Their customers and suppliers, with no need to purchase licenses, only need internet access to view things such as open items, invoices, delivery notes or rental inventories,” Podszuweit said.
The rental processes have been fully integrated into the standard project module of Dynamics AX and the device specifications were expanded and structured, he added.
Serenic Navigator 2016 Now Available
Serenic Software Inc., a Sylogist Ltd. company, has announced the availability of Serenic Navigator 2016, built on Microsoft Dynamics NAV.
A Microsoft Gold Partner, Serenic is a publisher of financial management and business operations software for the public sector, including nonprofits and international non-governmental organizations (NGOs).
The new release refines and extends Serenic’s core financial systems that address the unique challenges public sector, nonprofits, and NGO groups face, according to company officials. Serenic Navigator 2016 offers new capabilities in mobility, report creation, and improved integrations with Microsoft Office and Office 365, while addressing a collection of important updates to the Serenic Navigator feature set, officials said.
Serenic Navigator 2016 offers improved application functionality and several levels of customer choice on how to deploy and access the solution. And the Web client received more than 60 enhancements improving productivity and performance, according to officials.
To enhance reporting, the company added the ability for users to design report layouts by using Microsoft Word 2013. With Serenic Navigator 2016, the company also introduced key warehouse management features and added related features for Inventory, company officials said.
Armanino Announces Coupa Value Added Reseller Partnership
Microsoft Gold Partner Armanino LLP, a provider of audit, tax, consulting services and technology services, has announced that it will become a value added reseller (VAR) for Coupa Software, a provider of cloud-based spend management solutions.
Armanino and Coupa have worked together for the past year. Armanino has developed robust out of the box integration packs for Coupa with enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems such as Microsoft Dynamics AX and Microsoft Dynamics GP, according to officials of the two companies.
The Armanino ERP-Coupa Integration Packs include the migration of general ledger accounts, vendors, users, items, tax schedules and payments from the ERP to Coupa. It also migrates purchase orders, purchase invoices, receipts and invoices from Coupa to the ERP system, officials said.
The Integration Pack also lets users pull budget information from the ERP into Coupa and see purchase order balances and budget to actual, officials said.
TrueCommerce Launches Microsoft Dynamics AX EDI Integration in Europe
TrueCommerce, a HighJump company and a global provider of trading partner connectivity and integration solutions, has announced today that it has launched its EDI for Microsoft Dynamics AX integration offering to the European market. The fully managed cloud based service allows AX users to automate accounts receivable and accounts payable transactions like purchase orders, invoices and despatch advices while working within the native Dynamics AX platform.
“The new offering will help our customers maximize their ERP investments,” said Michael Latimer, VP sales & marketing, TrueCommerce Europe. “Tight cooperation with the leading publishers such as Microsoft is the strategy that has been time-tested in North America. It has delivered significant ROI to thousands of organizations across numerous industries and established TrueCommerce as a leading provider in North America. We are looking forward to offering the same benefits to AX users in Europe.”
TrueCommerce Europe was formed following the integration of its three European businesses – Wesupply, Atlas Products and HighJump B2Bi.


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For quite some time, I have been predicting that the future of retail will be driven by stronger branding and increasingly digitally influenced, immersive customer experiences. COVID-19 became a major accelerator of digital transformation trends, with technology often becoming the differentiator to changes in consumer loyalty.
The pandemic ushered in an unprecedented level of channel switching and brand loyalty disruption. A whopping 75 percent of consumers tried new shopping behaviors, with many of them citing convenience and value. Fully 39 percent of them, mainly Gen Z and Millennials, deserted trusted brands for new ones. That restlessness is reflected in the fact that many younger consumers say that they are still searching for brands that reflect their values.
This article summarizes the continued importance of branding focusing on the 2022 leaders as researched in one of my favorite annual reports from Brand Directory / Brand Finance.
Strong Brands Consistently Outperform the Market
According to McKinsey, “the world’s 40 strongest brands yielded almost twice the total return to shareholders (TRS) of an investment in a Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) World index certificate over the course of the 20-year period ending in 2019.”
Some other interesting statistics about the value of branding include:
- It takes five to seven impressions for people to remember a brand.
- 73 percent of consumers love a brand because of helpful customer service
- Presenting a brand consistently across all platforms can increase revenue by up to 23 percent.
- Brands with poor company branding pay a 10 percent higher salary.
- 89 percent of shoppers stay loyal to brands that share their values.
- 73 percent of people prefer brands that personalize shopping experiences.
- Consumers expect brands to demonstrate they know them on a personal level.
As McKinsey summarized, “personalization is a force multiplier—and business necessity—one that more than 70 percent of consumers now consider a basic expectation. Organizations able to build and activate the capability at scale can put customer lifetime value on a new trajectory—driving double-digit revenue growth, superior retention, and richer, more nurturing long-term relationships.”
The Top 5 Global Retail Brands
According to the 2020 Brand Finance retail research, “American and European retail brands are leading the global retail sector in bouncing back better from the pandemic, with Amazon (brand value up 38 percent to $350.3 billion) and Walmart (brand value up 20 percent to $111.9 billion) leading the way. In a world of changing customer demand and disrupted supply chains, these big retailers are applying their logistics expertise to adapt in innovative ways to the ‘new normal.’ Increasingly, these mega retail brands are bringing logistics operations in-house and using their vertical integration to deliver—literally—for customers.”
Seven out of the 10 highest value brands are from the United States. The other three in the top 10 are from China. Note that the two Chinese brands in the top 5 have low brand value growth.
The US department store retailer Burlington with a brand value of $2.6 billion, up 80 percent, is the world’s fastest growing retail brand. Chinese retailer JD.com and US retailer Target broke into the top 10 in the 2022 report.
A Peek into the Fastest Growing Technology Brands
Interesting this year is the crossover of Amazon as the number two most valuable technology brand.
Not surprising is Apple being number one and Google, Microsoft, and Facebook appearing in the top 5. The Chinese retailers Taobao and Tmall also make an appearance on the technology brand value leadership list at number 10 and 11, respectively. Outside Samsung (number six technology brand), US and Chinese brands dominate the top 10 most valuable technology brands in the world.
Retail and technology are forever linked. Continued innovation coupled with strong branding is what will deliver a prosperous future of retail.


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Thanks to plenty of drone footage, we’ve had a chance to watch Apple’s new “Spaceship” Campus 2 office building take shape. We haven’t yet had a chance to go inside the building; but, thanks to a new report from Reuters that taps insiders, we’re starting to learn a bit more about the interior of Campus 2.
Reuters‘ report discusses Apple’s obsessive attention to detail from everything to the emergency exit signs to the concrete ceilings of the building. It suggests that some of Apple’s perfectionist tendencies may have led to delays; the building was originally set to open sometime during 2015 but has been pushed back due to “a lengthy approval process with the city” of Cupertino, Reuters explained. The news outlet also touched on how Apple’s engineers wanted everything to be exactly as imagined by Steve Jobs, even if construction crews didn’t think that was feasible.
“One of the most vexing features was the doorways, which Apple wanted to be perfectly flat, with no threshold, ” Reuters explained. “The construction team pushed back, but Apple held firm. The rationale? If engineers had to adjust their gait while entering the building, they risked distraction from their work, according to a former construction manager.”
Apple also drew inspiration from the iPhone for much of the building’s features. “Architect German de la Torre, who worked on the project, found many of the proportions – such as the curve of a rounded corner – came from Apple’s products,” Reuters said. “The elevator buttons struck some workers as resembling the iPhone’s home button; one former manager even likened the toilet’s sleek design to the device.”
We have yet to see any official photos of the interior of the building, but we hope that changes if Campus 2 is set to open this spring. With features like the largest single panel of curved glass in the world, it’s shaping up to be an engineering marvel that we hope Apple shares with everyone.


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Children's virtual world Moshi Monsters signed up 15m new users in 2012, but its parent company Mind Candy's growth was fuelled more by sales of licensed products than subscriptions.
The London-based firm's turnover grew 62% from £28.9m in 2011 to £46.9m in 2012, while its net profit rose from £7.4m to £8.1m in the same period, according to its annual report filed with Companies House.
Moshi Monsters ended 2012 with 70m registered users compared to 55m at the end of 2011, with subscriptions and membership cards revenues rising 28.6% to £19.8m in 2012. However, sales of licensed products doubled to £19.3m for the year, accounting for 41% of Mind Candy's overall turnover.
The obvious comparison is to Rovio, the Finnish company behind Angry Birds. Although Rovio made much more money in 2012 – around £129m – its proportion of licensing income was similar at 45%. Mind Candy made an additional £7.7m in 2012 from its products division.
The company claims that Moshi Monsters is the top licensed property in the UK, and cites the success of its self-published Nintendo DS games Moshling Zoo and Moshlings Theme Park in particular.
Its Moshi Magazine is currently the top-selling children's monthly magazine in the UK, and 28th in ABC's overall rankings. Meanwhile, the Moshi Monsters Music Rox album was released in March 2012 and had sold more than 100,000 copies by November, earning a gold certification from the BPI.
Mind Candy stresses in its financial report that it continues to carefully manage its licensing business, warning of "a risk of over exposure of the brand" while flagging a policy of not over-commercialising Moshi Monsters.
"We have been careful with the licensed partners we have chosen and execute a strategy of limiting how many products we have in the market at any one time, for example we aim to only release two Nintendo DS games per year," explains the report.
Mind Candy also provides an update on its expansion plans in the filing, outlining plans to develop new IP "to build out a successful portfolio of brands", while noting "significant growth potential" for Moshi Monsters in non-English speaking territories.
The UK's share of Mind Candy's revenues actually edged upwards last year, from 65.2% in 2011 to 66.2% in 2012. The US was its second biggest market in 2012 with 16.8% of revenues, followed by Australia (9.8%). Back in 2010, the UK accounted for just over 46% of Mind Candy's turnover, although its greater share now is a mark of the company's success with licensing in its home country.
The key area for growth – and possibly the biggest threat to Moshi Monsters as things currently stand – is smartphones and tablets. The company has released a handful of apps, but admits in the report that there are "untapped revenue and growth opportunities across different platforms not yet exploited for example on smartphones and tablets".
In July 2012, Mind Candy's chief executive Michael Acton Smith announced that a full iPad app for Moshi Monsters would be launching "in the next few months", telling the Children's Media Conference that "we really firmly believe at Mind Candy that the tablet device is going to be the dominant form of entertainment for kids over the next few years".
At that time, Mind Candy already had an in-house mobile team, as well as having struck a deal with Japanese social mobile games company GREE for the latter to launch two mobile games later in 2012. Those games never appeared, although an early version of one seen by The Guardian was a FarmVille-style town-building game that looked likely to use in-app purchases.
In the light of the recent Office of Fair Trading report into children's apps, it's possible to see why Mind Candy may have retreated from the idea, or at least adopted a more cautious approach on mobile.
The full iPad app has also yet to launch, with the likely reason the use of the Flash technology on the Moshi Monsters website. As other children's brands like CBeebies have discovered, re-engineering Flash web games to work well on smartphones and tablets is a challenging task.
"Building on work started in 2012 the company is developing new smartphone and tablet titles due to be released in 2013 and 2013 as part of its diversification strategy in order to appeal to a larger demographic," explains Mind Candy's 2012 financial report.
The company's previous annual reports reveal that its meteoric growth in 2010 and 2011 slowed down in 2012. The company's number of registered users grew 190% year-on-year to 32m in 2010, then 72% to 55m in 2011, and now 27% to 70m in 2012 – these are all total registered users, rather than active user figures. Mind Candy's turnover growth was 294% in 2010, 282% in 2011 and then 62% in 2012.
Making a success of mobile is thus a necessity for Moshi Monsters and similar brands, with more children using tablets in particular. Earlier this week, research firm eMarketer claimed that of the 20m Brits using tablets this year, just under 1.8m will be children aged under 12.
Ofcom's Communications Market Report 2013, meanwhile, noted that 24% of British households own at least one tablet, with 91% of tablet-owning parents saying that their children either use it, or have one of their own.
The main competition for Moshi Monsters used to be other web-based virtual worlds like Disney's Club Penguin. In 2013, it's increasingly brands emerging from the apps world like Angry Birds and Talking Friends, which have notched up more than 1.7bn and 1bn downloads respectively while expanding into online video and licensed products.
These brands are based on characters and individual apps, rather than a Moshi-style virtual world. But it's a matter of time before someone disrupts Mind Candy with a direct competitor on mobile devices, so the company's task is to take on that disruptive role itself.


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Brunswick County loses $4 million in alleged phishing scam
Brunswick County lost more than $4 million to a phishing scam in late 2020, and it has yet to completely recover.
According to court filings, between Oct. 16, 2020, and Nov 25, 2020, phishing scammers collected $4,026,180.07 from the county by mimicking the email address of a county contractor, TA Loving Company, but with extra hyphens in the domain name.
Stay connected:Like the Brunswick Today Facebook page for all of the latest Brunswick County news.
On Sept. 23, 2020, the scammers requested the county update TA Loving’s bank account information, which the county did. Over the next two months, four payments the county made to TA Loving for contractor work were instead rerouted to a PNC bank account belonging to the scammers.
Each of the four payments was larger than the next, ranging from $155,555.25 on Oct. 16, 2020, to $1,958,086.81 on Nov. 25, 2020.
The scam was discovered Nov. 25, 2020, when TA Loving reached out to the county about the past due invoices and confirmed the September account information change was fraudulent, according to the filing.
The scheme was detailed in a forfeiture in rem complaint filed by Assistant United States Attorney Matthew Fesak in the Eastern District Court of North Carolina.
“Once the county’s payment hit the fraudster(s)’ account, the fraudster(s) usually rapidly transferred the money to numerous other accounts owned by numerous other entities, many of which appear to be illegitimate shell companies,” the filing states.
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As many as 40,000 Target gift cards could be faulty, spelling trouble for the US retailer as it struggles to recover from a data breach.
Some of the gift cards sold during the holiday season will not activate properly, although the number of cards affected is thought to be less than 1% of the total cards sold during the period.
Target spokeswoman Molly Snyder confirmed the problem, saying: "We are aware that some Target gift cards were not fully activated and apologise for the inconvenience."
Target would not confirm how many cards were faulty, but asked affected customers to visit an in-store customer service centre or call the phone number on the reverse of the card.
This latest glitch comes on the tail of a massive data breach that saw the credit card details of 40m customers compromised, leading some banks and credit unions to immediately cancel and replace their cards.


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Templeton, known for its rye whiskeys, recently debuted the 2022 version of their Barrel Strength variant.
The new Templeton Barrel Strength 2022 expression, according to those behind it, has been bottled at 57.3% ABV. Previous expressions from the Templeton Rye Barrel Strength Series include a 2018, 2019 and 2020 expression, with each year’s release being drawn from what’s described as “a a select number of noteworthy barrels, which vary in ages and maturity.”
“Our Barrel Strength series is dedicated to producing innovative offerings with compelling taste profiles and our Barrel Strength 2022 iteration is our most exciting release yet,” said Blair Woodall, Senior Vice President of Templeton Distillery, in a prepared statement. “We’re delighted to share this new Barrel Strength 2022 expression with the world of our fans who seek a quality rye.”
With a 95% rye / 5% malted barley mash bill, it’s aged in new American oak barrels and is non-chill-filtered. Templeton Barrel Strength 2022, pricing around $60 per 750 ml bottle, is available in limited quantities in both the USA and select international markets including the EU.
Best enjoyed neat or on the rocks, you’ll find official tasting notes for this whiskey below.
- Aroma: Intense aromatics, succulent exotic fruit and honey with decadent aromas of toasted oak
- Palate: Rich and fully rounded with sweet notes of sugar-dusted raisins, subtle dark chocolate, complimented spectacularly by black pepper spiciness
- Finish: Long and lingering with a warming balance of wood spice and dried summer fruits that slowly fades to delicate notes of spiced ginger and oak
Nino Kilgore-Marchetti is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Whiskey Wash, an award winning whiskey lifestyle website dedicated to informing and entertaining consumers about whisk(e)y on a global level. As a whisk(e)y journalist, expert and judge he has written about the subject extensively, been interviewed in various media outlets and...


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The brand's What's Your Mountain promotion asks its Facebook fans to define and share their goals.
To celebrate the 60th anniversary of Sir Edmund Hillary taking Grape-Nuts with him on his ascent of Mount Everest, as well as the launch of Grape-Nuts Fit cereal, the brand is asking its Facebook fans to define their own mountains.
Targeting active adults, the digital initiative - What's Your Mountain - launched in January. It includes an overall marketing campaign, as well as two promotions: one by the same name, which launched March 11 and is live until April 21; and another, Do Something Extraordinary, which recently wrapped up and announced a winner.
According to a Grape-Nuts rep, Do Something Extraordinary received more than 500 submissions. So far, What's Your Mountain has about 300.
Asking fans to think about what Grape-Nuts can do for them if it had the power to propel Hillary to the top of Everest, Grape-Nuts says it wants to hear about fans' so-called mountains - anything from completing a half marathon to losing five pounds or living a healthier lifestyle - in the most recent What's Your Mountain promotion.
In order to enter, consumers must like Grape-Nuts on Facebook and allow the app to post on their walls. Then, they select the type of goal from a drop-down menu and explain their goal in 140 characters.
The prior initiative, Do Something Extraordinary, showcased four people doing "extraordinary" things and asked fans to share a project they'd like to kick off to become extraordinary in their own lives. The winner, Nicole A., told Grape-Nuts, "My extraordinary goal is to go mountain climbing in the Alps despite having asthma and rheumatoid arthritis."
Grape-Nuts says she will receive $5,000 to help make her project a reality.
Similarly, once a winner has been selected in the What's Your Mountain promotion, Grape-Nuts will evaluate the goal to determine what tools are necessary to help achieve it. This personalized prize will have a value of $5,000.
Grape-Nuts says What's Your Mountain will also engage consumers in ski resorts, state parks, and "Everest-like skyscrapers" before culminating with celebratory activities on the actual anniversary of Hillary's climb in May.
Promotion includes Everest-themed TV commercials, digital advertising, and sampling efforts. Digital advertising includes Rodale's online properties like Men's Health, as well as Patch.com newsletters, says Mangala D'Sa, director of marketing for healthy brands at Post Foods.
Grape-Nuts has 131,000 Facebook fans. Its Twitter handle, @GrapeNutsCereal, has just 26 followers.
In addition to ClickZ and Search Engine Watch, Lisa's work has appeared in The Huffington Post, The Luxury Spot, LearnVest, MarthaStewart.com, GoodHousekeeping.com, amNewYork, and The Wall Street Journal. She's a graduate of Columbia's School of Journalism.
2015 Holiday Email Guide
The holidays are just around the corner. Download this whitepaper to find out how to create successful holiday email campaigns that drive engagement and revenue.
Three Ways to Make Your Big Data More Valuable
Big data holds a lot of promise for marketers, but are marketers ready to make the most of it to drive better business decisions and improve ROI? This study looks at the hidden challenges modern marketers face when trying to put big data to use.
December 2, 2015
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Wednesday, December 9, 2015
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Rising FinTech Sezzle is testing its service offering in India for an expected launch at the end of the year, Charlie Youakim its CEO said, as competition intensifies in the industry.
Moving into India would mark an ambitious plan as the second-most populous country gravitates more toward a society and people purchase goods online during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minneapolis-based FinTech, which offers interest-free instalment loans at certain online shops, undertook an approximately $61.99 million equity raise in July, out of which nearly a fifth was earmarked to test international markets.
At present, Sezzle only operates in the US and Canada.
“If this works, we have a massive opportunity in India… We think it’s well worth the opportunity,” the Chief Executive told journalists, pointing to a digital boom in India that presents a billion dollar-plus gold mine and could follow the success of companies like SoftBank-backed Paytm.
Mr Youakim said Sezzle started the pilot in July, but still integrated with the Unified Payments Interface – a system that would power multiple bank accounts into a application – and is evaluating repayment data.
In the three months from March, Sezzle added more than customers, highlighting the appeal of BNPLs.
Spurred by recent expansion , more players are currently moving to the business, which took off in Australia. Tencent’s investment in Afterpay this year was seen by analysts as a possible entry point into China for the BNPL leader.
The team at Platform Executive hope you have enjoyed this news article. Initial reporting via our content partners at Thomson Reuters. Reporting by Nikhil Kurian Nainan in Bengaluru. Editing by Bernard Orr.
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The general trend is expected to be proceeded SUV-isation (even the Kia Picanto city car is obtaining a jacked-up crossover spin-off) along with considerable financial investment in electrical designs, evidence which could be seen today with the statement by VW that it had actually suspended sales of the Golf GTE plug-in hybrid, as manufacturing can not keep up with demand. In November last year, sales of cars qualified for the federal government's plug-in car grant increased 53.7% versus the exact same month in 2016, from 2,482 to 3,814, versus a decrease in overall car sales of 11.2%.
However 2018 will not be everything about the electrical transformation; we still have a lot of petrol and diesel versions landing on these shores over the next 12 months. Below are the most popular cars to watch out for this year.
Best Car Of 2018
The F-Pace's baby sibling joins the fastest-growing car segment as well as makes sure to help grow Jaguar's sales.
Kia Picanto X-Line
The small Picanto city car gets a crossover version.
Kia Stinger GT
Movie critics are raving regarding Kia's initial sports GT. Not surprising, offered it's the creation of a designer poached from BMW's M department.
The stately home on wheels returns for a 8th generation. Cool down, Jeeves.
Seat Leon Cupra R
One of the most powerful version of Seat's Golf-derived hatchback boasts 306bhp as well as lines so sharp you'll require handwear covers to unlock.
The Karoq killed off the charming Yeti. Yet don't worry, it's a wonderful mid-sized crossover, even if it does resemble every one of its competitors.


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After 12 years as Northern Region Membership Development Manager for the Australian Automotive Aftermarket Association (AAAA), Grahame McCraw has announced that he is retiring from the industry in August this year, and he will pass the baton to former Robert Bosch Australia Queensland/Northern Territory Sales Manager Mark Walker.
Grahame McCraw has had a long and distinguished career in the automotive industry. He became the first AAAA employee to operate remotely from the Melbourne national office. “Grahame’s understanding of the aftermarket, its products, supply chain and challenges, together with his genuine concern to further the case for our members, made him a great ambassador for the aftermarket industry,” said AAAA Executive Director Stuart Charity.
“Grahame proved that a regional role was highly valued by members – and he recruited over 900 companies into membership. He also worked assiduously as an advocate for our 4 Wheel Drive Council members. In addition to his skill and experience, Grahame’s down to earth manner and sense of humour will be greatly missed. We wish him health and happiness for a long retirement.
“In taking on the Northern Region Membership Development Manager role, Mark Walker brings 15 years experience with a number of AAAA member companies to the task. He has worked in sales and management roles with top brands including Fulcrum Suspension, National Parts, Autopro, GUD Automotive and Bosch.
“Mark will report to National Membership Development Manager Robert Johnson. In the lead up to Grahame’s retirement in August, Mark will gradually take on the additional responsibilities of the role, including convening the 4WD Industry Council and maintaining our proactive relationships with Government officials and regulators in the Northern Territory, Queensland, New South Wales and ACT.
“Mark will work from his Brisbane office commencing in April and we look forward to his contribution,” said Stuart Charity.
Automotive industry – always changing
In his AAAA role, Grahame McCraw has been a strong voice for product advocacy working with regulators on issues such as bull bars and modified 4WD suspension. “My time in the aftermarket has spanned more than 37 years and covered most levels in the supply chain, from importer to retailer, distributor to field representative, from advocacy to publishing positive changes in regulation,” Grahame McCraw said.
“I’ve seen major changes as smaller independent retail stores have joined Franchise Groups; as bulwarks of distribution in our Industry like Traders Auto Spares, GKN, Echlin, Repco, Bennett and Wood, National Parts etc have changed the way they do business or succumbed under the weight of change.
“I have seen the rise of small state based wholesalers to become national suppliers and then attract the interest of international business.
“The automotive industry has never stagnated. Some changes are monumental, such as the decline of vehicle manufacturing. But the aftermarket sector has always moved forward. I see a tough, but bright future for the industry that has provided me an income, job satisfaction and a lot of friends over the years,” said Graham McCraw.
AAAA – passionate about the industry
With experience across a range of suppliers, Mark Walker has a solid understanding of the aftermarket supply chain. “Being part of the aftermarket for 15 years means I have seen a lot of changes. Joining the AAAA allows me to be part of an association that is passionate about the aftermarket’s future,” said Mark Walker.
“We are moving into a new phase of this ever changing business environment. Now more than ever, with the local car manufacturers closing, we need to ensure a strong future for the aftermarket. The AAAA has a critical role in our industry’s successful transition,” said Mark Walker.
As a keen 4WD enthusiast Mark Walker looks forward to working with the Australian 4WD Industry Council. “4WD drive vehicles are an important part of the Australian way of life and a major contributor to the economy,” he said.
“Helping to manage the 4WD sector’s issues and building relationships with its stakeholders will be exciting and rewarding. One big challenge will be filling the shoes of Grahame McCraw – he has been an inspired supporter of the aftermarket and its people,” said Mark Walker.


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Market expectant about Nike, Ann and Billabong
“But while Ann seems to be doing well in most areas of its business, there are some risks that can potentially weigh on its growth. These include relatively higher pricing and fewer promotional activities compared to its rivals such as Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF ) and Gap (GPS),” they warned.
Elsewhere, Oregon´s Gov. John Kitzhaber and athletic-wear giant Nike Inc. agreed Wednesday to a 30-year deal that promises Nike will only be taxed on its in-state sales. Nike requested the deal while it plans a 150 million dollars expansion and 500 or more jobs. "We appreciate Gov. Kitzhaber's leadership and the Oregon Legislature's support," said Nike CEO Mark Parker. "Our roots are here in Oregon, and over the last 40 years we've grown from a small company to a global one connecting with consumers in markets all around the world." Nike told the state it would only pledge to expand if the so-called "single sales factor" tax benefit remains in place, a calculation favorable to the global apparel giant. The guarantee means Nike won't later be taxed on its payroll expenses if it hires hundreds more workers.
Nike is projected to report second-quarter earnings of 1 dollar a share on Thursday, according to a consensus survey by FactSet. “We expect a mainly in-line quarter with the potential for slight upside as NKE historically beats estimates. That said, we expect somewhat choppy futures trends as strength in North America, Latin America and Central and Eastern Europe is offset by softness in Western Europe and pressure in China,” said Christopher Svezia, an analyst at Susquehanna International Group.
“Compared to the overall growth of Nike, growth in Europe (specifically Western Europe) has been extremely slow. Nike’s overall growth figures the past three quarters have been 11 percent, 16 percent and 21 percent, respectively. Western Europe’s last three quarters have been –5 percent, 4 percent and 7 percent, respectively. The numbers demonstrate that Europe has been dragging Nike’s overall global median growth down quite significantly. Many experts have attributed Europe’s low figures to a weak economy,” Forbes analysis team wrote Wednesday.
Finally, Billabong shares climbed 4.8 percent to 98 Australian cents Wednesday before being suspended, after the Australian Financial Review reported on Naude’s offer. The company cited “a possible change of control proposal” as reason for the suspension in a filing today, without identifying the bidder.


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JINGMEN, China — Shandong Linglong Tire Co. Ltd. has inaugurated production of passenger tires at its newest factory, the $875 million plant in Jingmen, Hubei Province, that the company built over an 18-month period.
Passenger tire production started Dec. 30, just over a month after the facility started production of radial truck and bus tires, the company said.
The new plant, Linglong's fourth in China, has rated annual capacities of 12 million radial passenger tires, 2.4 million radial truck/bus tires and 600,000 off-the-road tires, the company said.
The opening of this plant, which operates as Hubei Linglong Tire Co. Ltd., represents a "major milestone" in the company's growth plan, the company said.
At full production, the new subsidiary is expected to generate over $700 million in annual sales, Linglong said.
The 7.5 million sq.-ft. plant will integrate intelligent manufacturing, PLM (product lifecycle management), industrial big data application and a high-end brand, Linglong added. Helping the company overcome "regional restriction", Linglong said that the new location will serve customers "at zero distance, improve market share and reduce logistics cost."
In 2017, Linglong moved to a "5+3" strategy, with plans to build the fourth manufacturing base in Jingmen and increase its international locations to three.
The company opened a plant in Thailand in 2014 and is building its second overseas unit in Serbia to serve the European market, while also mulling a plant in the U.S. as its third overseas factory.
Linglong is considered China's second largest tire maker and 17th largest worldwide, based on fiscal 2018 sales of $2.32 billion, according to Tire Business' Global Tire Report.


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Ontario launches supplier portal
Development and Mines is launching an online portal to help promote the Northern Ontario mining supply and service sector to international buyers.
The “Mining is at our Core” portal is scheduled to go live this month with profiles of 80 companies.
“It’s the next ambitious step in our mining supply and service export assistance program,” said Ontario Mines Minister Rick Bartolucci.
The launch of the portal, which will be in English and Spanish, will coincide with the distribution of a core sample replica that opens to reveal a memory stick.
“The campaign will involve directly contacting 200 international buyers who will receive a letter from me inviting them to buy into our trove of mining expertise,” said Bartolucci. “Plugging the memory stick into their computer brings them directly to a website showcasing the products and services of our mining supply and service companies.”
The promotion will target senior procurement personnel at mining companies in Chile, Peru and Mexico.
“Think of it as a virtual, electronic shopping mall for Ontario’s state-of-the-art mining supply and service companies,” said Bartolucci. “It’s simple, convenient and effective, and we believe it will be attractive to international buyers who are constantly seeking innovative products and services.”
The 80 companies profiled in the portal have had to demonstrate export readiness, said Paul Bradette, the Ministry’s manager of information and marketing services.
“We hired a company to compile a list of mining supply and service companies, and went through every one of them, looking at their website, their experience, their capacity,” he said.
“If a company feels they match the criteria, they should send in an application. We’ll look it over and if there’s a problem or an issue, we’ll recommend that they leverage some of our (export assistance) programs. They can sign up for our one-on-one consulting program or leverage our export assistance funding to translate their literature into Spanish. We’re not letting them fall off the cliff. If they’re not ready, here are the tools, here is the support. We’ll help you get there.”
According to Bartolucci, the Northern Ontario mining supply and service sector consists of approximately 500 companies and 23,000 employees producing supplies and services valued at $5.6 billion annually.
“That’s pretty impressive, but guess what?” he remarked. “The supply and service sector isn’t satisfied, the mining world isn’t satisfied, the Ministry of Northern Development and Mines isn’t satisfied and the Minister isn’t satisfied. We’re determined to reach even higher. We want to step up our efforts to help the mining supply and service sector go after international markets.”
The three-year, $4 million export assistance provides funding for trade shows and incoming missions, consulting services and marketing initiatives.
Launched last year, the program has already helped more than 200 companies and generated more than $30 million in new sales with another $70 million in the pipeline, said Bartolucci.
Tagged Canada, Canadian mining, Greater Sudbury, Northern Ontario, Northern Ontario Business, Ontario, Ontario Ministry of Northern Development and Mines, Paul Bradette, Rick Bartolucci, Sudbury, Sudbury Basin


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Super As reported, offered to buy the food delivery service Postmates, according to the New York Times.
According to the present, the talks are still ongoing, and deal may fall through.
For those who have noticed that Uber, the appetite is not new, although to be consistent. A few months ago, called the car company is reportedly pursuing an acquisition of the Grubhub, Another food delivery company. Grubhub Eventually get through the Just Eat takeaway a 73 million dollar deal, but only in dealing with Uber fell, by a variety of concerns.
The food delivery market to benefit a large extent from COVID-19 epidemics, such as shops remain closed or to convert the operation other than to sell only. The latest revenue from the public called the car company showed that its taxi business slows, while its food delivery service more and more like hell. Gross booking Uber eat the last quarter to $ 4. 68 billion dollars.
Therefore, even if the Super is still losing a large sum of money($2.94 billion US dollars, including all fees), which is Uber eat the growth is amazing. And green sprouts can contribute these interests in other competitors.
If the regulatory problem is a problem, Postmates You can do a better fit.
With a valuation of $ 2.4 billion, Postmates is significantly less than Grubhub. Although the company filed to go public nearly 16 months ago, it held a final citing a”choppy market”conditions.
So if Super eat And Postmates combined, the result will still be less than Doordash of the market held, but the competition though. DoorDash, and finally, the value of 13 billion dollars, the confidentiality of the application for initial public offering nearly four months ago.
In addition, Postmates offers more than food.
If the merger was through, the food delivery game will be refueled in a fun way: super eat And Postmates and Grubhub and external selling DoorDash .
Postmates declined to comment on rumors or speculation. Super did not immediately respond to a request for comment.


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Two years in, and data privacy’s seismic shift — with California at its epicenter — may upend the way retailers close the deal.
As noted Monday, there’s at least some backing and filling as companies draw more of a bead on what they’ll need to do to comply with the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA). The beginning of next year looms as a red line has been drawn, when a 30-day cure period sunsets and firms are on the hook for how they treat all sorts of personal information.
Sephora’s $1.2 million fine is small potatoes, we contend, for a company that logs $10 billion in annual sales. But there’s also the impact on reputation, which can’t be quantified. There’s also the possibility that other states might enact similar legislation, which in turn means that companies will have to grapple with a patchwork quilt of data protection mandates that differ here and there.
In that case, the challenges will be especially acute for the companies that are increasingly going direct to consumer (D2C). The business model shift has its value, especially in the digital age. A streamlined D2C approach means that companies can cut out wholesalers and distributors and might need to jockey less actively for share on shelves and customers’ mindshare.
But such an approach also demands that, as new data privacy laws take shape and are implemented in states as far-flung as Utah and Virginia, companies must adapt to and adopt new laws as they arise, fine-tuning operations on the fly.
Compliance Complexities Mount
Eventually, as so many companies become global in scope, the compliance complexities mount. In an interview with PYMNTS, Dylan Lowrey, general counsel at Nium, told PYMNTS that “you cannot take a one-size-fits-all approach … you need to go country by country.” Companies and the platforms they operate on have to strike relationships with local regulators to make sure that data localization laws are followed.
We’ve noted that as recently as July, 90% of U.S. companies are not prepared to meet the rigors of CCPA. Part of the issue may be that they do not know just what they must do to comply with those regulations. And what these firms don’t know can hurt them: The CCPA’s civil penalties can quickly add up, with $2,500 for every unintentional violation and $7,500 for every intentional violation. We’d hasten to add that there may be some controversies moving forward as to what the intentional vs. unintentional divides might be.
Such controversies might be the province of litigation and of appeals, and all of it winds up costing time and money. For foreign firms, too, there’s the issue that operating as a “service provider” in California means they are covered under the CCPA. Given the fact that California is the most populous state in the country, it’s a market that no retailer seeking reach (and wallet share) would shun.
Sephora’s fines are the tip of the iceberg, it seems, a salvo that will be the first of many.
For all PYMNTS retail coverage, subscribe to the daily Retail Newsletter.


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The Greater Irving-Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce along with the North Lake College South Campus kicked off its campaign on April 14th to encourage small businesses in Irving to apply for the Small Business Development Grants from the Texas Workforce Commission. Prady Mahle, Program Manager for the Small Business Development program from Austin, was the keynote speaker at the luncheon. Mahle explained the program and encourage Irving’s small businesses to apply.
Mayor Herbert Gears attended to thank the small businesses for choosing Irving for their business. Also in attendance Dr. Herlinda Glasscock, who advised that her staff is available to assist the business owners in completing the simple one-page application and get their employees registered for courses. David Schmid, Senior Vice President of Human Resources for HMS and Chairman of the Chamber’s Workforce Enrichment Council, emceed the event.
All Irving businesses with two to 99 employees are encouraged to apply for these grants to training their employees.
For an application, a list of potential courses, and frequently asked questions, businesses may go to www.irvingchamber.com, click on “Download” for this information.
Businesses may also go to http://www.twc.state.tx.us/svcs/funds/ssb.html.
Pictures from the event are below!
Irving Mayor Herbert Gears thanks small business owners for doing business in Irving.
Greater-Irving Las Colinas Chamber of Commerce, President & CEO Chris Wallace, spoke to small business owners about doing business in Irving.


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Barnes & Noble confirmed it experienced a cybersecurity attack that resulted in unauthorized and unlawful access to some of its corporate systems.
In an email sent to customers on Wednesday, the retailer said it was made aware on Oct. 10 about the breach. Although payment cards and financial data weren’t compromised, impacted systems did contain emails, billing and shipping addresses and phone numbers.
“We currently have no evidence of the exposure of any of this data, but we cannot at this stage rule out the possibility,” the company, which was once named one of the most reputable retailers, wrote.
It added: “While we do not know if any personal information was exposed as a result of the attack, we do retain in the impacted systems your billing and shipping addresses, your email address and your telephone number if you have supplied these.”
W. Curtis Preston, chief technical evangelist at data protection and management provider Druva, noted to RIS that beyond the traditional best practices of separating IT systems and roles, using intrusion detection and malware protection systems, and regular backups, retailers should ensure they’re properly vetting and monitoring any contracting resources they use.
“Understand that many systems you do not think of as computer systems now have embedded computers in them that also must be monitored and protected, as they could be used as an attack vector toward other systems with data.”
Chloé Messdaghi, VP of strategy at information security provider Point3 Security, added that retailers should ensure they’re properly supporting their security teams to reduce burnout.
“Burnout leads to breaches — guaranteed. And when you’re recruiting folks, do it in a way that’s unbiased,” she said.
Beyond that, retailers can better protect themselves with thorough, hands-on phishing training and forcing their customers to have longer, stronger passwords, in addition to two-factor authentication.
“Attackers know how humans behave,” said Messdaghi. “They know how to get our attention and get us to click on a link. They’re continuously trying to outsmart you, so you and your customers should be on your toes at all times. Expect to be targeted.”


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On Thursday, Refinery29 published an article announcing that Olivier Rousteing, the head of Balmain, “isn’t just paying lip service” to diversity in fashion. How do we know? Well, Balmain now has three CGI models, two of which are not white. I would like to point out that all of them are not human.
“It was never my dream to be a model,” Jocelyn Corona said when she visited the Jezebel studio last week. “It was more like to be like a Miss Universe... I was always thinking that I was too big to be a model, so I was never even thinking of the possibility to become one.”
Industry standards expect models changing backstage at a fashion show to just to take off their clothes, in front of complete strangers, and get out on the runway as quickly as possible. But as the fashion industry begins to look at its accepted practices with a more critical eye in light of #MeToo, the CFDA and the…
Carolyn Kramer retired from working as a modeling agent in the fashion world in 2004. After the Harvey Weinstein scandal broke in October, Kramer was contacted by a former model, who told her she’d been raped at 16 by a photographer Kramer sent her to see. He is still working.
A wise woman (Rihanna) once told the Cut that having a fluctuating body type is fun because you can dress it in different clothes:
British model Edie Campbell has written an open-letter for Women’s Wear Daily on model abuse in the fashion industry, speaking out against the ways the fashion industry has normalized sexual abuse for the sake of “artistic genius.”
Russian authorities are currently investigating the death of Vlada Dzyuba, a 14-year-old model who died in China during a three-month assignment.
For anyone not immersed in the world of #sponcon, the power of Instagram celebrities to sell trends is not a well understood phenomenon. The Guardian interviewed a bevy of young women making their living with selfies and social media, and it seems terrifying from both their perspective and ours.
In the days after Hollywood began to reckon with the allegations against Harvey Weinstein, women in different industries came out with their own stories of sexual harassment and assault. Model Cameron Russell helped add to that group’s startling numbers when she posted a screenshot on Instagram of an anonymous model’s…
Were you one of the tens of fans waiting with bated breath for Bella Hadid’s takes on Nikes and under what conditions it will be “quiet” if “homeboy comes through”? Well, the wait’s over.
In 2009, France’s lawmakers proposed that images in which a model has been photoshopped be labeled. Now, in 2017, that law is going into effect.
Gigi Hadid has a bad runway walk.
As we coast into another fashion month, the luster of glamour feels duller than usual, and it’s not just thanks to the past year and change of handwringing reports and think pieces about the State of the Future of Fashion Week.
Have you ever wondered how Donatella Versace would interpret the very clear lyrics to Bruno Mars’s song about sexin’, “Versace on the Floor?”
Ashley Graham, known for being one of the more famous plus-size models, has given a pretty candid interview about her industry experiences in New York magazine. And one of those experiences includes having to stay at home for the 2016 Met Gala because she had nothing to wear.
Everyone’s favorite gap-toothed model Lindsey Wixson (sorry Lara Stone and Georgia Jagger) is retiring at the ripe ol’ age of 23.
On Monday, casting director James Scully posted some scathing commentary on Instagram addressing the alleged mistreatment of models by casting agents Maida Gregori Boina and Rami Fernandes, who were working for Balenciaga. Scully’s Instagram called them “serial abusers” for allegedly making models wait in a darkened…
In a critical, if protracted, move towards representation, French Vogue has featured transgender model Valentina Sampaio on the cover of its March issue. A native of Brazil, Sampaio is the first transgender person to appear on the magazine’s cover.
In 1993, a young model named Melanija Knavs was working in her native Slovenia, dreaming big. Her future soulmate was busy insulting Native American casino operators in breathtakingly racist testimony before a Congressional subcommittee. One day, they would fall in love and she would watch, beaming, as he careened…
Though Kanye West’s Spring 2017 Yeezy show was widely panned for the way it subjected street-casted models to hours of intense heat to the point of passing out, it still achieved the distinction of being the most racially diverse runway at all of fashion month. Ninety-seven percent of West’s cast was comprised of…