text:
Many of the latest casino news articles center around the topic of the newly emerged affiliate markets around the globe.
As the trend for globalization becomes more prominent and marketing restrictions tighten in some European jurisdictions, many affiliate companies have begun to explore casino markets of Asia, LATAM, Africa, and the countries of CIS block. The gambling markets of Canada and Australia have risen to prominence in recent years as well.
The US has also been a huge focus for many providers of affiliate services. The need to obtain an operating license in every state, however, drives away many companies, leaving only those with the big budgets to stay.
Experts believe that market research is mandatory for affiliates
Affiliates can encounter multiple challenges when entering a new jurisdiction. Experts from the panel “New market pioneers” at the CasinoBeats Summit have unanimously stated that detailed market research is a key to the successful launch in a new territory.
Johan Styren, the CEO of DilantiMedia, has highlighted the importance of embracing the new culture. Styren provided Japan as an example, where adapting popular pachinko games for virtual slot machines was a huge success. The expert has also noted that building trust with the customers is vital for the affiliates, especially in the Asian market.
According to Marcos Oliveira, the CMO at Clever Advertising Group, entering the new market is always a process of trials and errors. The extensive knowledge of payment methods and types of games that are popular in a country can help to avoid some mistakes. In any case, the affiliates have to wait for traffic to come in and analyze the response of the audience, optimizing their content accordingly.
Affiliate companies should adhere to a revenue-share business model and build their strategy from a long-term perspective.
Alison Brincat, Head of Affiliates at Branders, believes that the affiliates should create the most optimal user experience, considering all the aspects of the market. Brincat has added that the communication between operator and affiliate is also important at every stage of the marketing process.
Read more: The best bonus codes for 1xslots casino
Read more: An ultimate review of SkyKings Casino


text:
Amazon stock was rising by an explosive 6.8% on Thursday after the market close, as the company delivered a broadly strong earnings report for the first quarter of 2015. Let's take a look at the latest announcement from Amazon, and why it looks like a big victory for the bulls in the always-intense battle of Amazon bulls versus bears.
Accelerating sales growthNet sales during the first quarter of 2015 were $22.72 billion, a 15% increase versus $19.74 billion in the first quarter of 2014. Excluding the unfavorable impact from changes in foreign exchange rates, net sales grew 22% year over year.
This is quite a strong performance for a company as big as Amazon, and the number was also better than expected by analysts, as Wall Street was, on average, projecting $22.39 billion in total sales for the quarter. Amazon's guidance was for sales to be in the range of $20.9 billion to $22.9 billion, so sales came in above the company's guidance, too.
Importantly, growth is even accelerating versus prior quarters. By comparison, sales in the fourth quarter of 2014 grew 15% year over year in U.S. dollars, and 18% in constant currency. Even when excluding the rapidly growing Amazon Web Services segment, sales growth accelerated both in the U.S. and in international markets.
Fears about the possibility of decelerating growth have been a major concern for investors regarding Amazon stock in the last several quarters, but the financial figures from the latest report confirm the Amazon growth story is as strong as ever.
Improving cash flows and profitsOperating income grew 74%, to $255 million, in the last quarter compared with an operating gain of $146 million in the same quarter last year. This was considerably above guidance; the company was expecting operating results to be between a $450 million operating loss and a $50 million operating gain.
Cash flows are looking remarkably healthy. Operating cash flow grew 47%, to $7.84 billion, for the trailing 12-month period ended in March 31, 2015 vs. $5.35 billion in the trailing 12 months ended March 31, 2014. Free cash flow during the year more than doubled -- to $3.16 billion from $1.49 billion.
The company lost $0.12 per share during the quarter, marginally better than the $0.13 loss per share forecasted, on average, by Wall Street.
Amazon not only delivered accelerating sales growth during the last quarter; the company also did it without eroding margins too much. In fact, profit margins even improved versus prior quarters.
Operating margin in North America increased to 3.9% of revenues versus 2.7% in the first quarter last year. This is particularly encouraging, as it shows that Amazon is successfully buffering the increasing costs in areas such as fulfillment expenses.
Amazon Web Services is huge and growing rapidlyThis was the first quarter that Amazon disclosed financial information for its Amazon Web Services -- AWS -- cloud-computing segment, and the business looks remarkably strong. Sales during the first quarter were $1.57 billion, growing by an impressive 49% year over year. AWS is also quite profitable: Segment operating income was $265 billion versus $245 billion in the same period last year.
CEO Jeff Bezos even bragged in the earnings report about Amazon's performance in AWS: "Amazon Web Services is a $5 billion business and still growing fast -- in fact, it's accelerating."
To wrap up, sales are growing rapidly and even accelerating, profit margins showed signs of improvement, and the AWS division looks remarkably exciting. Investors in Amazon stock have valid reasons to applaud the company's latest earnings report.
The article Amazon.com, Inc. Earnings: Crushing the Bears originally appeared on Fool.com.
Andrs Cardenal owns shares of Amazon.com. The Motley Fool recommends Amazon.com. The Motley Fool owns shares of Amazon.com. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
Copyright 1995 - 2015 The Motley Fool, LLC. All rights reserved. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

domain: news


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
Time: 5:30 pm - 8:00 pm
Place: The Triple Door, Seattle
Online holiday spending up 13% over 2011
Send this story to a friend
- Staff Puget Sound Business Journal
U.S. consumers have spent $27 billion in the first 37 days of holiday online shopping, which is up 13 percent compared with the same time last year.
Monday, Dec. 10 is referred to as "Green Monday" and is expected to be one of the heaviest online shopping days of the season. According to ComScore Inc., which compiles the online shopping data, Green Monday got its name for being "that Monday near mid-December when online spending actually tended to peak as consumers hurried to finish their online shopping in time for shipments to arrive before Christmas."
Amazon.com Inc. was the internet's top retail seller on Black Friday, and also recorded the highest year-over-year visitor growth rate among the country's top five retailers.
- Most popular
- Heating a skyscraper with a data center: Amazon's unique solution
- Seattle's top 12 neighborhoods for millennials
- Johnny Carson’s former yacht 'Serengeti' is in Seattle waters
- Microsoft announces additional 747 layoffs in Puget Sound region
- Preparing for takeoff: Wright Runstad eyes huge project by Sea-Tac
- The 'devices and services' era is dead. Microsoft is all about people
- Micro-apartments are about to become more costly to build in Seattle
- Miami firm turns up heat with Seattle acquisition in white-hot area
- Boeing and SpaceX win $7B NASA contract for space station capsule
- Microsoft will have to transform Minecraft without its creators
Stay on top of the latest tech news from Seattle and beyond.
Commercial Furniture Sales Workpointe | Seattle, WA
Allen Awardee Program Officer Paul G. Allen Family Foundation | Seattle, WA
President and Chief Executive Officer The Urban League of Portland | Portland, OR
Work For: ChannelAdvisor ChannelAdvisor | Seattle, WA
Vice President of Strategy & Programs Solid Ground | Seattle, WA


text:
Omnicom, which is the world's biggest marketing services company, reported revenues of £1.26 billion. WPP, its closest rival, revealed an increase of almost 4 per cent to pounds l.068 billion.
Third-quarter profits at Omnicom, which includes the TBWA, BBDO and DDB networks, saw an increase of 17 per cent to £76.06 million.
WPP pointed to significant growth from its operations in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East as one of the major reasons for its strong performance.
It marks the highest like-for-like quarterly growth recorded by WPP since the first quarter of 2001.
But Sir Martin Sorrell, the WPP chief executive, whose empire embraces J. Walter Thompson, Ogilvy & Mather, MindShare, Grey and Young & Rubicam, warned: "The jury remains out for 2005."
He added: "There are still concerns about the prospects for the US economy after the presidential election, with its fiscal deficit, weak dollar and rising commodity prices, including oil, although the weakness in some of the major markets in Western Europe is ameliorating." The performances in Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, all of which saw revenue increases of more than 22 per cent, were well ahead of the UK (more than 12 per cent), Continental Europe (almost 7 per cent) and North America (more than 10 per cent).
WPP is forecasting industry growth rates of between 2 per cent and 3 per cent in 2005, compared with between 3 per cent and 4 per cent this year.


text:
WhatsApp’s new calling feature has officially arrived on BlackBerry 10 devices with update 22.214.171.124 of the popular app.
Technically, this much hyped feature has been available in past beta updates, but this is the first time those sticking with the app’s mainline releases can try it out.
Moreover, as the fine folks at CrackBerry note, the update includes several other enhancements, including the ability to instantly look through old messages and existing contacts by tapping the search action; improved font scaling on all BlackBerry devices WhatsApp is available on; improved support for the BlackBerry Classic; as well as a host of other changes and improvements. Checkout the app’s change log for a full list.
Simply searching for WhatsApp on BlackBerry World should bring one to the update.


text:
Ola Kaellenius has been named as Daimler’s new head for sales and marketing, replacing Joachim Schmidt. Kaellenius leads the AMG unit of Mercedes and used to be the head of its factory in Alabama. Schmidt, a 34-year veteran of the company, is set to retire next month. In a statement, Daimler said that the changes will be effective on Oct. 1.
Schmidt, who celebrates his 65th birthday on Sept. 7, has led Mercedes’ sales and marketing department since 2009. It was in 1979 that he became a part of Daimler-Benz. He first started in passenger car development. He then went on to spend over 20 years in different sales and marketing management positions. According to Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche, Mercedes was able to penetrate significant growth regions and make major progress in quality and customer satisfaction during his tenure.
In the statement, Zetsche said that Schmidt also played a central role in the automaker’s strategy to attract new, younger customers. Since April 1, 2010, Kaellenius has led AMG, the performance unit of Mercedes that builds the exotic SLS gullwing supercar. Previously, he served as the plant manager at the Mercedes' U.S. factory in Vance, Alabama. In 1993, he became a part of Daimler-Benz.
Zetsche described Kaellenius as “someone with cars in his blood taking over the reins" and as a brand expert who has a deep knowledge of Mercedes customers. Kaellenius has a challenging time ahead of him, particularly in China where Mercedes has dropped behind its two larger competitors because it lacks dealerships.
Mercedes will also have to go up against two competing local sales subsidiaries. In 2012, Mercedes’ sales fell behind BMW by 200,000 vehicles throughout the world. On the other hand, Mercedes was overtaken by Audi in 2011 sales, selling around 100,000 more cars worldwide than its Stuttgart-based rival last year. Daimler said that the successor of Kaellenius' successor at AMG will be divulged in the near future. [source: Daimler]


text:
Magnums of Prosecco and Champagne surged in popularity over Christmas, according to UK supermarket Sainsbury's, with several retailers including Majestic and Tesco reporting higher festive wine sales versus 2012.
Early signs suggest UK wine drinkers banished concerns about the country’s fragile economy to buy more bottles over the Christmas period than they did a year before.
Prosecco, long touted as a rising star in the sparkling wine category, stood out as a top performer. Sainsbury’s saw Prosecco sales rise by 41% in volume terms between the 18 and 31 December, versus the same period of 2012, a spokesperson for the UK’s second largest supermarket told decanter.com.
Magnums of Sainsbury’s own-brand Taste the Difference Prosecco showed sales up by 291%, albeit this is off a relatively low base.
‘Between Christmas and New Year, sparkling wine sales were up considerably versus the same period last year, with Prosecco accounting for much of the growth,’ a spokesperson for Tesco said. ‘Sales of our own label Plaza Prosecco were up nearly 200% and [Tesco] finest Prosecco sales trebled.’
Tesco also sold ‘considerably more’ ready-mixed Bucks Fizz. Most growth in Tesco’s wine sales over the Christmas period has come from ‘existing shoppers increasing spend’, the spokesperson added.
Prosecco may have stolen the headlines, but Champagne, Bordeaux, English sparkling wine and some New World wines also enjoyed a good festive period at various retailers.
‘Champagne has been selling very well at Grand Marque level,’ Majestic Wine’s chief executive, Steve Lewis, told decanter.com. ‘It’s at the entry-level that consumers are switching to other sparkling wines.’
Majestic said today (8 January) that net sales for the 10 weeks to 6 January rose by 5.9%, and by 2.8% if sales from new stores are excluded. ‘We’re very pleased,’ said Lewis.
Alongside Prosecco and Champagne, he highlighted other strong performers as South African wine at the £5.99 price-point and Argentinian Malbec, as well as sparkling wines from England and New Zealand.
A revamp of the retailer’s fine wine business continued to pay off over Christmas, Lewis said. ‘We lost the plot a bit in fine wine,’ he said, commenting on the decision to refocus on central London consumers and on classics, such as Bordeaux, Burgundy, Barolo and Brunello, with some New World.
‘We’ve just had a good Christmas for Bordeaux, focused on the £18 to £25-a-bottle price point. There’s quite a lot of mature wine out there that negociants have got.’
At London retailer The Sampler, co-owner Jamie Hutchinson said of Christmas, ‘after a few years of poor sales, mid-range Bordeaux, from £15 to £60, did very well, as did grower Champagne’. Overall, The Sampler saw like-for-like sales rise by around 6% over the Christmas period, although Hutchinson said demand was ‘poor’ between Christmas and New Year.


text:
Makeup artist Jeffree Star frequently shares updates about his personal life as well as his love for makeup, and with the launch of the latest in his long line of cosmetics — a full line of skin products, the first of its kind from the beauty mogul — fans have been waiting for more content from the social media star. While Blue Blood, the latest from the makeup maven, has been slowly launching and appearing in stores, Star has been quieter than usual, and now fans have an answer as to why.
Although Star has been sharing updates about the health of his birth mother — who has recently fallen ill — to his Instagram stories, he’s also been alluding to another upsetting situation that he has finally opened up about. According to the makeup guru, the warehouse that was stocked full of his latest products was recently robbed, and an entire line of concealer was stolen and put for sale on the “black market” of makeup.
Star uploaded a lengthy tell-all to YouTube where he described the incident and shared how he and his team are working with the authorities, including the FBI. He revealed that two weeks ago, while he was traveling home from Texas, he got word that one of his products had been making the rounds on Facebook Marketplace with pictures of the unique, hand-designed container of concealer, as well as swabs of the exact color.
View this post on Instagram
NEW VIDEO IS NOW UP ???? Recently I had over 2.5 MILLION dollars of @jeffreestarcosmetics makeup products stolen from one of my warehouses.. Including thousands of my new concealer launching later this month???? It has now leaked and is being sold on the black market. Link in my bio.
Star further shared that he thinks that the robbery was an inside job, likely from someone who worked in the distribution center that houses his skincare line and that they tipped off the robbers to the exact location of the items allegedly stolen. The cases of concealer, which Star said where packed neatly in boxes and in a temperature controlled portion of the warehouse, where not easily found — so someone had to know what they were looking for in order to nab them.
“They came in through the roof, and it was was a very professional job. It was a team of people, and when you watch footage of this stuff, it is so so gut-wrenching to see people just take your s*** and put it in a truck and steal something that I have been working on for so long.”
In addition to the concealer making the rounds on the internet, a highlighter palette and some boxes of lip liner were taken from the facility as well.
Star said that although there has been speculation of him canceling the launch, which he has been working tirelessly on, he will continue to move forward. He asked his fans to report any stolen makeup that they may see floating around the internet and promised that this would not stop him from doing what he loves, despite the setback.


text:
Posted by Bethany Frank on 07 Nov 2016
From WeChat to Snapchat, messaging apps are an irreplaceable part of daily life for millions of consumers. American smartphone users, in particular, spend more time on messaging apps than most of their counterparts around the world, including those in other tech-centric countries like the UK, Japan, and India.
No longer just basic communication tools, messaging apps have evolved into full ecosystems of their own. Consumers are starting to prefer these closed, privacy-enhanced environments over the more public spheres of social networking sites. According to a report published by Business Insider, messaging app usage surpassed the usage of social media sites in early 2015 and has increased steadily since then. Recent trends indicate consumers are also willing to conduct activity extending far beyond simple conversation within such apps, prompting many businesses to change their online engagement strategies.
Chatbots, or computer programs that simulate human conversation, are fueling this shift in consumer behavior. While functionality tends to vary from one chatbot to the next, most are able to carry a conversation and fulfill various requests in a way that feels natural to users, enabling consumers to do things like check the weather or hail a cab without leaving a chat window.
Top messaging apps like Kik and Facebook Messenger recently opened up their platforms to the developer community to build custom chatbots. Facebook made headlines again when it enabled end-to-end encryption and announced that chatbots on its platform can now accept payments, making the popular app an ideal channel for businesses to pursue new e-commerce opportunities.
Plenty of businesses, especially those that cater to millennials and other tech-savvy demographics, already use chatbot technology to better serve their customers. Due to their cost-effectiveness, chatbots are quickly replacing human assistance in customer service and other contexts. As demand for speed, convenience, and flexibility increases, they can help businesses provide immediate customer service within the digital environments consumers prefer.
Chatbots have the potential to remove much of the friction in traditional e-commerce by creating a more connected experience. Presenting consumers with information or assistance where they already spend time decreases the chances of distraction along the path of purchase, making them more likely to spend. Natural language processing (NLP) and other machine learning techniques will eventually make chatbots even more intuitive.
Uber is one of the earliest adopters of chatbots and a prime example of how businesses can use the technology to provide superior service. The chatbot is automatically triggered when a user mentions phrases such as “need a ride” in any conversation within Facebook Messenger. Users then have the option to start a new conversation with the Uber chatbot and complete the request for service, or decline.
Shortly after launching chatbots integrated with Facebook Messenger, Amazon Alexa, and IBM Watson’s Concierge service, 1-800-Flowers president Chris McCann reported that over 70% of the orders received through the bots are from new customers. The company designed its chatbot experience to be as user-friendly as possible — it only takes about a minute for customers to work through the prompts and place an order for flowers or gifts.
The constant evolution of technology often leaves consumers seeking a better payments experience. While certain use cases are limited to industries like retail, payments are one area where any business can utilize chatbots. Offering the option to make payments via popular new channels such as Facebook Messenger can help businesses increase customer satisfaction and stay ahead of the competition.
Chatbots are still in the earliest phases of development, and their full potential remains to be seen. As the technology becomes more sophisticated, chatbots could fundamentally alter how businesses and consumers interact with each other. Although still a novel concept, consumer adoption of chatbots is on the rise, and usage is likely to increase as more businesses harness the technology to offer additional value and improved service.
24 Oct 2019 Blog What’s Driving Consumer Adoption of Digital Payments? Digital payments provide benefits including enhanced security, speed, and convenience. Our blog investigates key reasons why today’s consumers are adopting digital payments as an alternative to traditional methods like cash.
23 Oct 2019 Blog How to Streamline Auto Finance Payments in 4 Easy Steps On-time car payments can be as crucial to people’s well-being as paying their mortgage and utility bills. Here are four ways a forward-thinking EBPP solution can help auto finance customers stay current on their auto loans.


text:
Masood Okozuz, president of the Association of Glassware Manufacturers in Turkey, said his country aims to export $4.6 billion worth of products in the sector.
He added that the glassware sector witnessed a wide spread of vitality last summer, and said they expect more activity in it, with the advent of New Year's celebrations.
Turkey's glassware exports reached USD 3.84 billion in the first 10 months of this year, he said.
At the importing level, Oxoz said the UK accounted for 10 percent of Turkey's glassware exports this year, but the lion's share was the US, which accounted for 44 percent of the sector's total exports.
The main importers of products in the sector were Germany, France, Italy, Italy and Egypt.
He said they plan to grow by 15 percent next year.
Source/Anatolia News Agency


text:
Buyers To Expect Delay In Deliveries As Shopee Temporarily Closes Shah Alam Warehouse
Shopee's Shah Alam warehouse has been closed since 9 July in compliance with the Enhanced Movement Control Order (EMCO)
In a statement on Saturday, 10 July, Shopee said as Shah Alam is under EMCO, the company has to implement additional standard operating procedures (SOPs) at the warehouse as suggested by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
They also clarified that the Shopee platform will be operating as usual and deliveries made by Shopee Express and all their other delivery partners will not be affected.
However, they mentioned that some delays may occur for deliveries from their Shah Alam warehouse.
Buyers whose orders are affected will receive an alert via push notification in their Shopee account.
Shopee also emphasised that the temporary closure has nothing to do with the alleged COVID-19 cases and the inspection conducted by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) on 3 July
According to Malaysiakini, a Shopee spokesperson refuted the viral message claiming that 50 of its employees have been infected with COVID-19.
The message that has been making rounds on social media shows a photo of the MOH's order for the warehouse to be closed from 9 July to 19 July due to a COVID-19 outbreak in their company.
The Shopee spokesperson said that the company has strict COVID-19 response mechanisms in place whenever there is a positive case, including a team that handles first, second, and third degree contact tracing
Nonetheless, the spokesperson told Malaysiakini that they have taken proactive measures to get COVID-19 screening tests for their employees.
"This is also to sieve out any potential asymptomatic cases amongst the workforce," they said.
Read more recent stories on SAYS:


text:
The scooters are free to unlock and cost $0.15 a minute to ride
The District’s micromobility options are expanding today with the introduction of electric scooters from Jump, the Uber-owned operator that already offers electric bikes in the city. Jump will roll out more than 500 dockless scooters across D.C. over the next several days.
In a statement, Loic Amado, Uber’s East Coast General Manager of Scooters, says the firm wants to provide “a wide variety of transportation options, from scooters to rideshare and beyond, requested right from the Uber app.” Free helmets via D.C.-based nonprofit Gearin’ Up Bicycles are available until May 7, according to a release. The scooters are free to unlock (people can reserve them in advance through the Uber app) and cost $0.15 a minute to ride.
It was nearing 5 p.m. on a Wednesday, and as usual, Shawna Walker was doing three things at once.
After a long day of conference calls from her Springfield, Va., home, the federal employee was rushing to finish an assignment for her job in human resources. She stirred a pot of spaghetti on the stove, and made sure her 14-year-old son, Jalen, was working on his homework at the kitchen table. Jalen’s football practice would start in a half-hour, about a 20-minute drive from their home, but both Walker and her husband were still tied up with work.
Then, a woman knocked on the front door, wearing an orange T-shirt with the word “CareDriver” on the back.
“You can call me Miss B,” the woman, Jacqueline Bouknight, said while shaking Walker’s hand and introducing herself to Jalen.
In 2013, the District became one of the first jurisdictions in the U.S. to pass a lawgoverning the operations of self-driving cars—also known as autonomous vehicles—on public rights of way. Now, with the vehicles growing in popularity nationally and Ford testing them on D.C. roads, several local legislators want to make those regulations stricter through two new bills.
On Tuesday, Ward 3 Councilmember Mary Cheh, who chairs the Council’s committee on transportation and the environment, pitched the “Autonomous Vehicles Testing Program Amendment Act of 2019,” along with Ward 6Councilmember Charles Allen and Chairman Phil Mendelson. The bill would set up a permitting process for autonomous vehicle testing within the District Department of Transportation (DDOT), which would have to review and approve such permit applications. Companies that seek to test self-driving cars in the city would have to provide an array of information to officials, including on each vehicle it plans to test, safety operators in the test vehicles, testing locations, insurance, and safety strategies.
A Washington, D.C.,-based startup is selling ad inventory inside ride-share cars.
Octopus places screens inside vehicles for Uber and Lyft to let riders decide if they want to play a game to win cash, which also means watching a 15- or 30-second ad. The startup, which launched in 2018, isn’t the first of its kind, but it’s been able to impress some brands like Red Bull and agencies like Omnicom.
“We jumped on it right away. We do a lot of Taxi TV, and with the growth of Uber and Lyft in the market and the fact it’s reaching a younger millennial audience with disposable income and with the engagement option, it made sense for us,” said Hailey Barton, digital media director at Omnicom’s Serino Coyne.
Lyft launched the program last year in partnership with Martha’s Table, a Washington, D.C.–based nonprofit that provides healthy food, affordable clothing and quality education to D.C. residents, Technical.ly DC previously reported. The ridesharing service is now partnering with the Greater Washington Region American Heart Association (AHA) and DC Greens, a D.C.-based organization working to advance food justice in the nation’s capital, to add 50 senior residents to the program.
Selected seniors will receive 25 shared rides priced at $1.50 to participating grocery stores in Wards 7 and 8 from now through the conclusion of the pilot on June 30.


text:
1017 Alyx 9SM evolves into a new era for AW22
After two years off the catwalk because of the you-know-what, last night at Milan Fashion Week’s opening night, Matthew Williams’ 1017 ALYX 9SM held a physical show at a century-old church of Italy city. While it may have sounded like the “return to normal” we’ve all talked about so much over the past year, one look at the setup proves we’re not there yet. Presented to a small, socially distanced audience of around 70 – a cautious approach that we’re likely to see more of from those choosing to hold physical shows amid Omicron’s rise in Europe – the feeling of limbo that pervades our collective experience of everyday life was felt in the room.
It was also conveyed by the title Matthew chose for this season’s collection: Fade. “I wanted to frame it in a way that conveys the idea that there’s this constant back and forth between a world we once knew and the world today,” he said in a preview the day before the show. “Between normalcy and this surreal other life we live in.”
Rather than trying to design a collection that speaks directly to this existential ambivalence – to cater to the appetites of an audience that doesn’t know if they’ll be in town or slumped on the sofa next weekend – he and his team stayed with a more intuitive approach. “I find it hard to think what other people are thinking,” he said. “It might sound narcissistic, but I don’t really design clothes thinking about what other people would want. With my brand, that’s really what me and my team want to do this season. I’m just doing what I want and what I think is cool.
For AW22, that meant an update to the impeccably cut, tech-informed shapes that Matthew has established as the foundation of the brand since its inception – Alyx, after all, is “about evolution, not revolution”. Familiar archetypes – whether brand staples or instantly recognizable – have been re-evaluated. Men’s trousers inspired by workwear silhouettes came in fabrics ranging from aubergine wools, pearlescent satins and buttery black leathers, while perfectly cut outerwear with metal clasp closures came in heavyweight cashmere and curly wool. Elsewhere, chunky jackets of thick sheepskin and thick, smooth PVC created heavy, broad-shouldered silhouettes, the severity of which was at times counterbalanced by the frou-frou camp of ostrich-feather collars and feminine glamor front-closing bustiers with trailing trains and a long-sleeved shift dress delicately embroidered with chain-stitch sequins.
On the footwear front, a major area of technological innovation for the brand, we saw the return of the injection-molded EVA foam Mono boot – this time with a raised insole, a testament to the brand’s pioneer in new forms of technologically informed craftsmanship. — as well as the introduction of a new single-toe silhouette inspired, believe it or not, by bunion wraps. As esoteric as it may sound, the ability to elevate such obscure but mundane references into a compelling, elegant and cutting-edge proposition is testament to Matthew’s ability to “examine today’s ecosystem that m ‘surround and myself and mark it, synthesize that together and offer it as today’s meal,’ he says. “And next season we will serve something different.” I can’t wait to meet you in six months to see what’s on the menu!


text:
U MOBILE INTRODUCES THE LOWEST RATES ACROSS THE STRAITS
“U Mobile and Starhub team up to offer Zero Roaming Charges Between Malaysia and Singapore”
Kuala Lumpur, August 3, 2011 – U Mobile Sdn Bhd, Malaysia’s most dynamic and innovative telco service provider, continues to show their commitment by providing Malaysians with more affordable and more convenient solutions to their mobile communication needs.
Effective from August 3rd, all U Mobile prepaid subscribers travelling to Singapore will roam on Starhub network but only to be charged at local rates and enjoy roaming absolutely for FREE.
Dr. Kaizad Heerjee, Chief Executive Officer, U Mobile Sdn Bhd said, “Earlier this year, the Malaysian Minister of Information, Communications and Culture, YBhg Dato’ Seri Utama Dr Rais Yatim urged the industry to reduce cross-causeway roaming rates. Today we proudly announce that we are not just reducing the rates, but totally eliminating the cross-causeway roaming charges for U Mobile users. It is the epitome of convenience at no extra cost. As the industry innovation pioneer, we will continue to deliver beyond expectations.”
The new offering by U Mobile will benefit millions of travellers between Malaysia and Singapore. Recent numbers show there are approximately 150,000 Malaysians commuting from Johor Bahru crossing Causeway to Singapore, with an average of 60,000 vehicles crossing the causeway on any typical day. In 2010, more than 7 million tourists from Malaysia spent their weekends and holidays in Singapore.
These savvy business travellers and cross-border commuters often carry two SIM cards, one Malaysian and one Singaporean SIM, swapping them in and out their mobile phone to maximise value-for-money on mobile usage in both countries. However it is not convenient for people who are always on the go.
With U Mobile’s latest offering, travellers can now avoid the hassle of maintaining a second SIM or a second mobile phone and no longer worry about exorbitant roaming charges. When making local calls in Singapore, U Mobile subscribers will see significant savings of up to 59 percent, with call rates of RM0.55 per minute versus RM1.35 per minute to RM1.60 per minute charged by other telco service providers in the market.
“At U Mobile, we do not see ourselves as just another mobile service provider. We see ourselves as Malaysians’ first choice for quality mobile communication experiences. Our focus is always on user satisfaction. To achieve this goal we need to continuously introduce innovative offerings. Zero roaming charges between Singapore and Malaysia is another product in our offering pipeline to make mobile communication more accessible and more affordable to people in Malaysia.” explained Dr. Kaizad.
This product service will be pre-activated and therefore there is no need for additional registration. Once U Mobile customers enter Singapore, they will be able to enjoy StarHub’s local rates for calling and texting. This applies to local calls and SMS to Singapore number as well as calls and SMS back to Malaysia.
Customers with Feature phones or SmartPhones are also catered for this latest offering from U Mobile, with up to 50 to 80 percent savings in data roaming depending on the usage pattern. This will allow subscribers to continue accessing Mobile Internet services such as email, Facebook, Google, Twitter etc while they are in Singapore.
For more information on U Mobile’s prepaid offerings and other U Mobile products and services, please visit http://www.u.com.my/


text:
Forget about stamps, coins and even vintage wine, the growing trend in collecting has a lot of sole.
Grand View Research Inc. projects the sneaker industry could be worth $95.14 billion by 2025.
A big reason for that is the booming collecting culture, especially with teens.
“Kids treat them as stocks now,” Edmonton collector Jensen Joe told Global News.
But the investment isn’t how all collections begin. For many, they started buying shoes to be like Mike.
“Definitely nostalgia for me. Because you were able to buy the shoes that you watched Michael Jordan play in back in those days,” said Joe.
He and Francisco Rodas help run the Edmonton Sneakerheads Facebook page. With more than 4,500 members, it’s a place for people to buy and sell rare finds while also asking others for help in ensuring pairs they’re looking to purchase are legit and not coming from the growing fraudulent market.
Joe and Rodas say the recent Netflix documentary “The Last Dance” about Jordan’s time in the NBA has inspired a lot of people to start their own sneaker collections.
And while Edmonton’s sneakerheads group isn’t quite in step with others in the United States, it does have its own foothold.
“I feel as though it’s smaller, but I feel like the community sense is stronger,” explained Rodas.
Foosh on Whyte Avenue has been part of that community for 21 years.
Store owner Justin Der says the goal has always been to provide Edmontonians with something not available elsewhere in the city.
Der knows exactly what that is. At one point, he personally owned more than 1,000 pairs.
“I was wearing artwork on my feet,” he said.
Actually wearing the sneakers is a personal decision for each collector.
“What I would used to do is I would buy two or three pairs, I’d wear one pair and then I would ice (preserve) the second and third pair just to kind of have it,” Der explained.
He pointed to the teal and black Nike Jordans he was wearing and estimated they could be resold for $3,000. This reporter was sporting a dirty pair of $50 white Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars.
Der said it’s his fellow collectors keeping Foosh running when his other businesses are struggling.
As owner of The Common, 9910 and Grandin Fish and Chips, Der noticed how susceptible his restaurants were to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Foosh was able to adapt to serve sneakerheads even when the physical store had to close.
“I’m just glad we’re still here. And I’m glad we’re, you know, we’re able to facilitate the sneaker community here. Here in Edmonton and in Alberta.”
There have been challenges, though. Large conventions where collectors typically score limited releases have been cancelled. And usually when brands release rare pairs, customers line up outside of Foosh for hours to get their foot in the door.
“Having the lineups, that allows us to interact with the people that are buying the shoes,” lamented Foosh manager and Buyer Mac Doucette.
“And that’s something that we’re passionate about. Obviously the shoes themselves, but it’s really nice to talk to somebody about the product and maybe learn about their history collecting and what got them into it.”
As a teacher, Rodas uses his passion as a bit of a history and art lesson for his students who are well aware their teacher customizes sneakers.
“They’re always asking me like, ‘When can you paint my shoes next?’ Or ‘Can you?’ And I said, ‘Well, if you do really good in the semester or in this grade, then maybe I might. We may work out something.’ To motivate them.”
For anyone motivated to become a sneakerhead, collectors say just like wine, vintage is better.
“Do your research. I mean, there’s so many ways you can get to know the history behind the designs,” according to Joe.
It’s a hobby that you can put your own stamp on that could bring in a lot of coin.


text:
Traditionally, the International Autojumble is held on the second full weekend of September and for several years the Goodwood Revival, the date of which is always dependent on the F1 Grand Prix calendar, has taken place on the following weekend. However, for the last two years the Revival has been brought forward a week to fit in with the F1 race schedule and as it is not in the best interests of Goodwood, Beaulieu, their exhibitors or visitors, to hold events on the same weekend, the decision was made to move Beaulieu’s International Autojumble forward a week as well. The same situation has prevailed for 2016 so Beaulieu will again be held a week early, on the 3rd and 4th September.
Beaulieu’s Events Manager, Judith Maddox, said:” 2016 is a special year for this event as we will be celebrating the 50th International Autojumble. One of the oldest continuing motoring events, its appeal hasn’t diminished and in fact the upsurge in interest in classic motoring in recent years is bringing in a whole new generation of enthusiasts.”
The event which started with just 75 stands in a one day event in 1967, now has up to 2,400 stands, spread over 25 acres of Beaulieu’s parkland in a two day show which attracts over 39,000 visitors from all over the world. In addition to stands selling all kinds of vintage and classic motoring parts, accessories, literature, tools and clothing, there is an Automart with vehicles for sale from restoration projects to vehicles in concours condition and a Dealermart selling classic cars. On Saturday, Bonhams hold an auction of collectors’ motor cars, motorcycles and automobilia, whilst Sunday highlights include a Trunk Traders area where amateur autojumblers can sell their motoring items from their car boots.
For more information please visit www.internationalautojumble.co.uk


text:
In this edition of the magazine’s regular “Profiles” features Dan and Paulette Wohnoutka and their homestead health food business; Jan, Mike and Tom, the waterless plumbers, and Dr. Henry Mee, the mushroom kit seller.
In celebration of little-known MOTHER-type folks from all over.
Homestead Health Food Business:
Dan and Paulette Wohnoutka
You wouldn’t think that a health food store located on a winding dirt road in Ozark farm country could make a go of it. And not thinking that is exactly how Dan and Paulette Wohnoutka have proved that such a venture can succeed.
Three years ago, the Wohnoutkas and their three children moved from California to an 80 acre Missouri farm . . . with no intention whatsoever of starting a business. Dan and Paulette, however, discovered that the nearest store selling organically grown grains and herbs and other health foods (which they were used to eating) was over an hour’s drive away.
One day, in the company of a friend, Paulette wished out loud: “Someone should start a health food store around here . . . someone who would charge reasonable prices for their products.”
“Why don’t you?” her friend challenged.
That did it! “That ‘someone’ is us!” declared the Ozark couple.
The Wohnoutkas slowly managed to raise some money, buy their stock, and convert a guest house a few feet from their home into a well-supplied health food shop — New Life Natural Foods — that has all the flavor of an “old-time” general store (from the handmade shelves to the wood-burning stove).
New Life Natural Foods is now over a year old . . . and Dan and Paulette have already realized a small profit. But the benefits clearly do not stop there. Having a family-run, homestead-based business allows Paulette and Dan to spend more time with their children, work on their farm, and take odd jobs. Also, without the overhead of a storefront in town, the Wohnoutkas are able to charge those lower prices they had once dreamed about.
Most folks wouldn’t think it’d be possible to make a living selling health foods on a rural road in the Ozarks. But clearly, Dan and Paulette Wohnoutka aren’t like most folks!
— Edna L. Ryneveld
Jan and Mike Skenfield and Tom Scheller
Three years ago — when the solid waste management problem in Calaveras County, California reached the “saturation point”?the installation of a county sewage system (with all its attendant expenses and environmental problems) seemed inevitable. Local officials — at that time — knew little about composting toilets and were (to put it mildly) skeptical about their use.
All that’s changed now, however, thanks to Domestic Environmental Alternatives, a dry-toilet contracting firm headed up by Jan and Mike Skenfield and licensed plumber Tom Scheller.
Working in cooperation with Calaveras County health officials, Jan and Mike and Tom have — over the past three years — installed waterless, composting toilets on an experimental basis in several Calaveras County homes. In the process, they’ve managed to convince homeowners and health officials alike that total water conservation (via on-site waste disposal) is a viable long-term goal.
One of the many myths that DEA has had to deal with over the past three years is the idea that dry toilets are (like outhouse-type pit toilets) smelly. Mike Skenfield is quick to point out that, in fact, a well-designed, aerobic (functioning in the presence of air) commode has such a strong seat downdraft that no odors can ever escape. Mike proves his point by lighting a match over an open seat, whereupon the smoke is actually pulled down into the commode. “I’ve seen this a hundred times,” Mike says, demonstrating. “And still I’m amazed at it. Just look at that flame!”
Calaveras County may someday need the large, water-wasteful sewage system envisioned by local health officials three years ago. Thus far, however — perhaps due in part to the efforts of DEA — such a system hasn’t been necessary. It’ll never be necessary, if Jan and Mike Skenfield and Tom Scheller have anything to say about it!
— Cathy Bauer
Dr. Henry Mee
Mushroom Kit Seller
Henry Mee’s love affair with mushrooms goes back a long way . . . all the way to his teens, in fact, when (heeding his father’s advice) Henry began to seek better ways to grow edible fungi. What began as a hobby, however, has since grown to become a full-fledged career.
In 1964, Henry earned his Ph.D. in plant pathology at the University of Wisconsin, where he met his wife, Miyoko. Dr. Mee’s new bride encouraged her husband in his research efforts and hoped he might one day be able to grow the delicious Shiitake (Black Forest) mushroom that Miyoko had — as a girl — loved to pick and eat in Japan.
Shiitake mushrooms — which grow out of trees and require two years to mature-had never been cultivated in America, and were only available here in dehydrated form at a whopping $10 per pound!
“Fresh Shiitake is a totally different experience from the dried product,” Dr. Mee asserts. “The meat is white and tastes like a combination of finest abalone and filet mignon.”
Henry carried out his Shiitake experiments on a shoestring basis by using the family garage as a greenhouse and germinating the mushroom’s spores in his shower stall. By the end of 1975, Dr. Mee had finally achieved success: Not only did he find a way to grow the legendary Shiitake mushroom indoors . . . but he had also reduced the mushroom’s maturation time from two years to less than three months!
Dr. Mee’s years of persistent research yielded yet another first: home-growing mushroom kits. To market these kits, the mycologist founded The Kinoko Company, P.O. Box 6425, Oakland, California 94621 . . . which now offers four varieties of Mushroom-Mate packages: Velvet Stem, Oyster, Wood Ear, and one for growing the common button mushroom. (Each kit sells for $7.49 postpaid.)
Henry claims that “the world of fungi — which includes mushrooms — is the least understood of all the plant kingdom.” It looks, however, as though Dr. Mee — in his own quiet way — has begun to change that situation.
— Toya Morgan
Know someone — sung or unsung — who’s doing something of merit in wholistic gardening, alternative energy, conservation, self-employment, low-cost house construction, or any other field of endeavor featured in MOTHER? A fact-filled, 450- to 500-word essay describing that person and a sharp, glossy, black-and-white photo can — upon acceptance for use in PROFILES — earn you a fast, flat $50. Send your contribution to: PROFILES Editor, THE MOTHER EARTH NEWS, P.O. Box 70, Hendersonville, N.C. 28739.


text:
Tata Motors news
Mahindra & Mahindra and Tata Motors are the only two companies selected by state-owned EESL to supply 500 electric cars in the first phase.
The Nifty Auto index was 0.3 per cent up at 11,190 around 12:20 pm (IST).
The energy efficiency programme will be implemented in Tata Motors’ manufacturing units located at Pantnagar, Lucknow and Pune in the first phase, and will be later extended to other plants.
The Nifty Auto index was trading 0.11 per cent up at 11,146 around 10:20 am (IST).
The Chief Financial Officer of the Tata Motors’ Group and Key Managerial Personnel will help in driving financial performance and will bring greater rigor to operations and investment decisions across the different entities.
The Nifty Auto index was trading 0.07 per cent up at 11,193 around 11:30 am (IST).
Revenue rose to Rs 12,182.07 crore from Rs 11,446.14 crore a year ago,the utility vehicles major said.
The Nifty Auto index was trading 0.60 per cent down at 11,175 around 10:15 am (IST).
Higher costs for marketing new launches and incentives may squeeze margins in near term.
The EESL order for 10,000 electric sedans is the single-largest in the world and Tata Motors will have to begin delivery of the first batch of 500 cars by November 30.
The new Ford Ecosport has impressed with 85 per cent localisation in its making.
Among the 51 stocks in the Nifty50 index, 20 were trading in the green, while 30 were in the red.
The company reported Rs 70,156 crore in consolidated revenue for the quarter.
The stock had hit 52-week high of Rs 553 on January 27, 2017 a 52-week low of Rs 357.95 on August 11, 2017.
The Nifty Auto index was trading 0.16 per cent up at 11,350 around 11:05 am (IST).
The Nifty Auto index was trading 0.46 per cent down at 11,410 around 10:25 am (IST).


text:
Next has reported a “better than expected” start to the year despite a decline in its like-for-like sales.
The high street retailer recorded a 4.8% increase in sales to £1.6bn for the half year to the end of July while pre-tax profits were up 10.2% to £251m.
Like-for-like for sales in the period were down £18m on the same period last year and are expected to be down £39m at full-year.
However Next said that growth in its online business, the addition of profitable new space and good cost control more than offset the negative impact of the decline in like-for-like sales.
Profitable new space added £14m in sales while the growth in online sales added a further £26m.
Overall sales in the period in Next’s Directory division, which includes its online business, rose 13.3% to £551m while sales in its retail business were up 0.2% to just over £1bn.
Next said it had worked hard to control costs in the period and had achieved an improvement to gross margin, which exceeded cost increases by £1m.
When it reported its first half sales figure at the start of August, Next boss Simon Wolfson told Drapers that the retailer would look to drive online growth by offering improved delivery services to customers.
In its statement today Next confirmed plans to improve delivery services with options of same day, evening, Sunday and next day to store deliveries. In addition to these options the retailer is also extending its cut-off for next day delivery to 10pm.
Any new store space opened by the retailer must make a profit contribution of 15% and pay back all net capital invested within two years.
However recent trading meant management was cautious about the economic outlook.
Wolfson said: “Disappointing sales in an unusual August and early September reinforce the wisdom of this conservative approach.
“We are on track to meet market expectations and maintain the full-year financial guidance given in our August trading statement, with sales, profits and earnings per share all moving forward on last year.”
Wolfson went on to call for a relaxation on Sunday trading laws in the run up to Christmas when shoppers are pressed for time.


text:
Earlier today, NieR: Automata Producer Yosuke Saito confirmed via Twitter that the highly anticipated action role-playing game has officially gone gold several weeks ahead of its release. The tweet includes an image and is conveniently embedded below for all of you to check out:
— 齊藤陽介 Yosuke Saito (@SaitoYosuke_Z) February 3, 2017
I got a chance to play the NieR: Automata demo back in December and was absolutely blown away. This sequel was first announced way back at Square Enix’s E3 2015 press conference and is expected to be more action packed and compelling than the first game. NieR: Automata will also be the PlatinumGames developed title with the most attention so far this year after the unexpected cancellation of Scalebound last month.
NieR: Automata launches on March 7th for the PlayStation 4. A PC version is also in the works and scheduled for release sometime later this year. Are any of you planning on picking up the title? Please feel free to let us know in the comments section below.
Source: Yosuke Saito’s Twitter


text:
Apple has announced the release date of iOS 13 in the launch event of iPhone 11 in Cupertino, California. Not only this but also the brand has revealed about the release of its iPadOS. Having said that Apple has not revealed anything about the release of macOS 10.15. Let us have a look at the details of the release of iOS 13 and iPadOS.
Release date and time of iOS 13
The official iOS release date is Thursday which s September 19 and the users will easily download the operating system all across the world from the first day itself. The most compatible devices for iOS 13 are the iPhone XS, iPhone XS Max, iPhone X, iPhone XR, iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus, iPhone 8, iPhone 8 Plus, iPhone 6s, iPhone SE as well as the iPod touch of 7th generation.
iOS 13 features on iPhone 11 series
Few new additional features have been geared up with the announcement of the new iPhone 11 phones. As we all know that the iPhone 11, iPhone 11 Pro as well as iPhone 11 Pro Max are known for the best cameras but the iOS 13 software provides itself to the new wide lens as well as the special night mode features. The front TrueDepth camera situated on the iPhone 11 series has the capability to capture wide-angle selfies when the user holds it in the landscape mode and even have the potential to record up to 4K 60fps videos.
Not only this but also the iPhone 11 exclusive phone are featured with capture the attractive looking slo-mo video with the help of the front camera.
Dark Mode of iOS 13
The dark mode of iOS 13 has the capability of changing the hues from bright white t light grey to black as well as dark grey an each and every supported apps. This feature is amazing when you use this phone at night and generally tend to avoid bright light. This dark mode even also saves the battery life on the OLED equipped iPhones.
The Dark Mode of iOS 13 can be turned on in Control Center situated just inside the Display slider. You can even schedule it through the custom time.
FaceTime attention correction
If the users are looking straight into the selfie camera during the time of FaceTime video call when they are looking at the adjacent screen. That distracted look can be past.
iOS 13 on iPad is iPadOS is a key factor
One of the biggest changes for the iOS 13 on the iPad will be coming in the update known as iPadOS. The brand means to say that the iPad wants its own platform. There will be improvements to the iPad workflow with the redesigned home screen. Apart from this, the slide over will let the users in having multiple apps open and cycle them. The users can even preview them all at once by swiping. This can be a multi-tasking factor.
There is also an enhancement of Spit View which will let the users un opening one app on both sides of the screen. You can even pair one app with multiple apps.
App Expose has also been newly introduced to the iPad software which will let the users seeing all the space when they open it. They will be getting an App Expose icon on the Dock. This is required a single press for getting into the convenient overview mode.
Additionally, copy, paste as well as undo options are going to be introduced in the iPadOS. The keyboard of Apple can now float all around the screen in the smaller size and is introducing a swiping gesture keyboard which is known as QuickPath Typing.
Introduction of ‘Find My App’
The California Based company has now combined Find My Friends as well as Find My iPhone in iOS 13. The union will let the users locating their friends as well as the missing gadgets with the help of faster and a user-friendly interface. The app has worked a lot in making a bigger push in getting location track with this new app.
Announcement of iPadOS
Apple has taken a big step in towards boosting productivity on the iPad by announcing a dedicated iPadOS. The iPadOS is a specific OS which has been tailor-made for iPad. This is featured with a new home screen, upgraded files, multitasking features as well as high editing experience.
It is made for getting advantage of the larger screen by showing more icons. Along with this, there are new multitasking gestures available such as drop spilt view for opening apps multiple apps as we have mentioned above.
Not only this but also the iPadOS have made the use of Apple Pencil versatile as it comes with a wide range of tools such as eraser, rulers and lots more. It will be supported on iPad Air 2 and all the iPad Pro models, iPad Mini 4, as well as iPad 5th generation and all the later models in the series, are also in the queue in getting the free iPadOS upgrade. iPadOs will be released on September 30.


text:
With MLB and the NBA back in action in July, Illinois sportsbooks finally gave a glimpse at the true potential of the state’s sports betting industry.
Overall betting handle for July clocked in at over $52.5 million in Illinois. July marked the first month in which both retail and online sports betting were available to Illinois bettors for the full month.
Illinois retail casinos were authorized to reopen July 1. The retail sports betting handle numbers released by the Illinois Gaming Board include revenue earned by live sportsbooks at Rivers Casino Des Plaines and Argosy Casino Alton.
Illinois Sports Betting Handle March-July 2020
|March||April||May||June||July||March-July 2020 Totals|
|Retail Betting Handle||$997,739.13||N/A||N/A||N/A||$4,000,020.41||$4,997,759.54
|Online Betting Handle||N/A||N/A||N/A||$8,281,802.87||$48,524,591.97||$56,806,394.84
|Total Betting Handle||$997,739.13||N/A||N/A||$8,281,802.87||$52,524,612.38||$61,804,154.38
Online Handle From BetRivers Drives Illinois Numbers
Sports betting in Illinois generated just under $62 million in handle since sports betting went live in the Prarie State in March. Not surprisingly, most of that comes from online betting.
BetRivers launched Illinois’ first online sports betting platform in June. With professional baseball and basketball back in action in July, BetRivers online sportsbooks took in more than $48.5 million in monthly betting handle.
In the first full month that Illinois bettors could access both retail and online sports betting, online wagers made up more than 92% of overall betting handle.
BetRivers time as Illinois’ only mobile sportsbook ended in August, however, as both DraftKings Sportsbook and FanDuel Sportsbook joined the Illinois market. PointsBet and William Hill joined the ranks of Illinois’ online sportsbooks in September.
Since the end of July, six more retail sportsbooks have also opened for business in Illinois. With the number of retail and online options growing rapidly, and the NFL and college football back in action, revenue numbers for Illinois sports betting will likely experience a significant increase.
Customizable monthly revenue reports from the Illinois Gaming Board can be found here.


text:
We’re getting back at them today, even if just a little: looks like the publishing company just raised another $2.5 million according to an SEC filing, bringing the total of capital raised by Giga Omni Media to a healthy $8.33 million.
Update: GigaOm writes “Okay, We Got More Money”. You can get more details about the state of the company, future plans and its latest hires over there.
The most recent financing round amounted to $4.5m and was closed over two years ago.
Founded in 2006, GigaOM has grown into the leading independent voice on emerging technologies and the disruption of media. The GigaOM news network’s online audience of 5.5 million monthly unique readers relies on its definitive coverage of cloud, mobile, cleantech, consumer web and media. GigaOM Events bring together the people innovating, shaping and defining the ongoing evolution of the technology industry. GigaOM Pro offers the highest quality research and analysis of emerging technology markets and the companies making a...


text:
This week, Apple and Donate Life America announced that, for the first time ever, iPhone users will be able to sign up to be an organ, eye and tissue donor right from the Health app with the release of iOS 10.
The news came in a formal press release issued by the iDevice maker on its website.
Through a simple sign up process, iPhone users can learn more and take action with just a few taps.
All registrations submitted from iPhone are sent directly to the National Donate Life Registry managed by Donate Life America.
According to Apple, the ability to quickly and easily become a nationally-registered donor enables people to carry their decision with them wherever they go.
“On average, one person dies every hour in the United States waiting for an organ transplant because the demand for lifesaving transplants far exceeds the available supply of organs — and one donor can save as many as eight lives,” said David Fleming, President & CEO of Donate Life America. “By working with Apple to bring the National Donate Life Registry to the Health app on iPhone, we’re making it easier for people to find out about organ, eye and tissue donation and quickly register. This is a huge step forward that will ultimately help save lives.”
iOS 10 will be released this fall.


text:
Solarium and Philips are facing a lawsuit that claims they stole intellectual property and were not authorized to sell it.
Solarium filed the suit Wednesday in U.S. District Court in New York.
It claims that Philips infringed on patents that it has used to manufacture products that have become essential to people living outdoors.
In a filing that’s nearly 30 pages long, Solarium says Philips has used the patents for products that include solar panels, solar powered snow machines, and solar water filtration systems.
Solarium alleges that Philips “failed to make reasonable efforts to protect its intellectual property rights in the face of a widespread, coordinated, and aggressive marketing campaign that targeted and defamed Solarium, its product lines, and its suppliers.”
Solarium has filed an antitrust lawsuit against Philips and the makers of the Philips Facial Solarium.
Philips did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In an interview with Reuters last year, Philips Chief Executive Tom van Essen said that he thought it was safe to say that the facial solar products were “more or less a technology in its infancy.”
Solarium has said that the company has sold 1.7 million facial solar devices in the United States.
Solaris patents were first filed in 2001.
The company is a division of Philips, which is a global leader in home, office and commercial solar energy technology.
The company’s products include solar water filters and solar solar snow machines.


text:
By Liz Segrist
Published June 23, 2014
This is Agro’s first operation in South Carolina. The Alpharetta, Ga.-based company plans to create 63 jobs and invest $8 million in a 120,000-square-foot facility.
Renovations underway at the former Piggly Wiggly Distribution Center will include eight blast freezing cells and 14,000 frozen pallet positions.
The facility will also house a U.S. Department of Agriculture meat import and export inspection room to help move protein-based customer products into and out of the Southeast.
The facility will freeze and store products heading to Mexico, Eastern Europe, China, Africa and the Middle East. Agro aims to increase customers’ growth in international markets, according to Chris Hughes, the U.S. partner and president of Agro Merchants.
“We came to Charleston because we saw a large need for additional contemporary cold-storage space and state-of-the-art operations and processes for the Southeast,” said Hughes, noting that economic development efforts by the Port of Charleston and Berkeley County helped attract the company to the region.
This is one of three cold-storage companies that have announced plans to expand a facility or open a new one in the Charleston area this month.
Lineage Logistics plans to break ground in July on a 340,000-square-foot cold storage distribution facility in the Palmetto Commerce Park in North Charleston.
The S.C. State Ports Authority board also approved plans to expand its 55,000-square-foot refrigerated cold storage facility in North Charleston by 92,000 square feet. New Orleans Cold Storage will continue to operate the facility, as it has for nearly 30 years.
“When these three projects are realized, we will have half a million square feet of capacity for cold storage,” said Jim Newsome, the ports authority’s president and CEO.
Reach staff writer Liz Segrist at 843-849-3119 or @lizsegrist on Twitter.


text:
Islamabad, 18th June, 2023: The aerated beverages industry’s representatives appeared before the Senate Standing Committee on Finance and Revenue and Chairman of the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to seek a reduction in Federal Excise Duty (FED).
The industry presented their negative growth figures to the committee, highlighting how the imposition of 7% FED has impacted their business and led to an approximately 40% decrease in volume.
The industry’s representatives underlined that the aerated beverages industry has been a reliable contributor to the national economy, bolstering the country’s beleaguered forex reserves by an estimated US$200 million during a challenging economic period. However, recent tax measures have hindered the industry’s potential for growth, leading to a decrease in investment and revenue.
The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Revenue, Senator Saleem Mandviwalla, told the industry that he would consider the industry’s advocacy on tax relief, commenting that the sharp volume drop also adversely impacts government revenue.
Contact: Usman Suhail, +92 333 141 2496, [email protected], Latitude CRS
About the Coca-Cola Company:
The Coca-Cola Company (NYSE: KO) is the world’s largest total beverage company, offering over 500 brands to people in more than 200 countries. At Coca-Cola, we’re serious about making positive contributions to our world. That starts with reducing sugar in our drinks and bringing new and different drinks to people everywhere. It also means continuously working to reduce our environmental impact, creating rewarding careers for our associates, and bringing economic opportunity wherever we operate. For more information, visit our digital magazine Coca-Cola Journey at: www.coca-colacompany.com.


text:
For Immediate Release
Katherine Paul, 207.653.3090, firstname.lastname@example.org
Organic Consumers Calls on Natural Products Association to Stop Putting their 'Natural' Seal on Products that Contain GMOs
The OCA Launches National Petition to Stop NPA Consumer Fraud
FINLAND, Minn. - The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) today launched a national alert on behalf of consumers asking the Natural Products Association (NPA) to amend its certification process for its NPA Natural Seal to exclude any and all genetically modified ingredients.
“The NPA advertises itself as working on behalf of consumers who want to purchase products that they believe are safe and authentically natural,” said Ronnie Cummins, Executive Director of the OCA. “Yet nowhere in its personal care products certification process does the NPA screen for genetically modified ingredients, and nowhere on these products is there a label that says ‘may contain genetically modified ingredients’. This is an outright act of consumer fraud.”
On its website, the NPA states: “The NPA Natural Standard is based on natural ingredients, safety, responsibility and sustainability.” The website further states: “A product labeled ‘natural’ should be made up of only, or at least almost only, natural ingredients and be manufactured with appropriate processes to maintain ingredient purity.”
The NPA website provides a list of ingredients approved under the personal care products NPA Natural Seal certification process. Nowhere on that list is there any indication that the NPA differentiates between GMO and non-GMO ingredients.
“The NPA profits off of retailers, whom it charges for this certification process,” Cummins said. Worse yet, the NPA deceives consumers by leading them to believe that the products they buy, stamped with the NPA Natural Seal, are truly natural. There is nothing natural about GMOs.”
The NPA recently came out publicly against Prop 37, the California Right to Know Genetically Engineered Food Act, despite claiming that it supports the consumer’s right to know. Some of the NPA’s members’ parent companies, including DuPont, BASF, Bayer, have contributed millions to the NO on 37 campaign.
The OCA urges all consumers to sign the letter to key representatives of the NPA.
This is the world we live in. This is the world we cover.
Because of people like you, another world is possible. There are many battles to be won, but we will battle them together—all of us. Common Dreams is not your normal news site. We don't survive on clicks. We don't want advertising dollars. We want the world to be a better place. But we can't do it alone. It doesn't work that way. We need you. If you can help today—because every gift of every size matters—please do.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots non-profit 501(c)3 public interest organization campaigning for health, justice, and sustainability. The OCA deals with crucial issues of food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability and other key topics. We are the only organization in the US focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation's estimated 50 million organic and socially responsible consumers.


text:
KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 (Bernama) – Manufacturer and exporter of premium quality glove products, WRP Asia Pacific Sdn Bhd (WRP), has donated 500,000 DERMAGRIP Nitrile Ultra L S medical-grade examination gloves to the Ministry of Health (MOH).
WRP said this is to ensure healthcare givers have sufficient protective equipment to face the COVID-19 outbreak.
It said the latest contribution followed the company’s recent donation of over 100,000 similar gloves to the University Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC).
WRP's advisor on regulatory compliance and security Tan Sri Musa Hassan said the company recognised MOH tremendous sacrifice and are willing to support the ministry’s good work with relevant medical supplies.
“Assisting the ministry in overcoming this fast-rising health scare is definitely one of our top priorities at the moment and we will be able to contribute further should the need arise as well as working closely with MOH to overcome these testing times,” he said in a statement today.
Manufacturer and exporter of premium quality glove products, WRP has a wide range of high-quality products that are exported to countries such as the United States of America, Canada, and Japan.
TAGS: WRP Asia Pacific, donation, medical gloves, MOH, COVID-19


text:
Sign up for our daily recaps of the ever-changing search marketing landscape.
Map Search On PCs “Eroding,” Shifting To Mobile — comScore
It all makes sense. According to comScore, map-based search on the PC has now peaked and is starting to erode. By contrast mobile usage of mapping applications is growing and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.
Apple Maps’ problems notwithstanding, smartphone mapping apps offer a better overall experience than online maps. Because they’re in your pocket they’re available when they’re most needed: on the go. And they offer location-aware/search nearby capabilities that online maps do not.
Here’s what comScore recently said about the decline of PC mapping and the rise of smartphone based map lookups and local search:
In the past six months alone, according to comScore Mobile Metrix, the number of smartphone visitors to Maps websites and apps has jumped 24% to 92 million unique visitors – a monthly penetration of 83% among smartphone users . . .
Searches with a Mapping/Navigation intent on the Big 5 Engines are down 34% over the past 15 months, going from 74.8 million to 49.5 million in August. comScore Search Planner shows that search clicks to Map/Navigation sites show an even steeper decline, down 41% to just 55.2 million in August.
Image source: comScore
This is a significant development and underscores how much is at stake for all the parties in the “map wars.” While Apple has an opportunity to become a major player in “local search” if it can improve its maps, Google might be the bigger beneficiary when it releases its native iOS mapping app.
Previously there was minimal advertising on the iPhone mapping app by Google (probably per Apple). However Google would be free to fully monetize its own native mapping app for iOS, as it currently does with Google Maps for Android.
The mapping and local search shift to mobile also presents new risks and opportunities for others in the segment. Apple Maps has opened up a new competitive front and some smaller players may benefit in the short term because of increased visibility. By the same token those who’ve relied on PC-based local search traffic or local SEO may find that traffic flat-to-declining over time, as comScore suggests.
For local search and mapping companies it’s a time of upheaval as consumer local-search behavior undergoes a seismic shift — to mobile.


text:
The scheme started to find 3DS vulnerabilities now includes Nintendo's new console
Mobile developer says it was "overstaffed", former staff have already formed new studio
Jonathan Rowe working on Forza Horizon studio's mysterious new open-world IP
Experts and figureheads from across development, publishing, PR, journalism, eSports and more offer careers advice
League of Legends firm will re-establish UK presence to "grow the player base"
Early Access title continues its hot start, remaining at the top of the charts for more than two weeks
Set to take place at the Microsoft Store
Engine provider reaching out to more non-games firms for partnerships on VR and AR content
Far Cry 4 creative director starts up new studio, "imagining a brand new world to inflict on all of you"
Arkane's Ricardo Bare explains why immersive sims are here to stay, and why Prey took its name from a franchise it has essentially no connection to
The studio's Ian Richardson tells us how its indie-style hit went from concept to a Switch best-seller in just over a year
Bear Parker leaves Xbox PR agency Edelmen to handle "all things LEGO"
Internet giant's chief game designer departs after opportuninty to develop new titles "fails to materialise"
Pioneer Raph Koster reflects on metrics, VR and the human need to play
The head of the UK's fastest-growing games publisher delivers advice to indies at London Games Festival
Runescape firm says profits are up 21.5% during last financial year
Ken Perlin to discuss the future of mixed reality, Working With Streamers session also revealed
The TV and movie franchises may take all the headlines, but Frogware's Sherlock Holmes series has now shifted over 7m units and it's growing
Unravel developer would love to see Yarny's adventures on a disc, says current digital storefronts are too obscure
How big is the gender wage gap? How high is the industry staff turnover? Our findings are revealed
Isamu Kamikokuryo leaves, Yoshinori Yamagishi to lead development of VR MMO for Monobit
Nicholas Laborde, CEO of Raconteur Games, challenges developers to create games that make the world a better place
After months of nominations, voting and interviews, here is the GamesIndustry.biz 100, in association with Amiqus
Spiderweb Software's Jeff Vogel thinks indie scene has stabilized with creation being a hobby for the young more commonly than a career
Long-running games designer advocates teaching kids to code, broadening the scope of development and learning from board games


text:
Bandai Namco’s statement mentions that ‘some information regarding unannounced characters was shared via social media platforms’, which is the reason for this response. One Twitter user, @Lean_Buscaglia_, has shared a number screenshots of the new DLC characters, along with some gameplay footage.
Despite confirming that these characters are being added to the game, no release date was given by the publisher. It did mention that Giorno was still under development, so there might still be a decent wait before either DLC is made available.
- That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime coming to SINoALICE worldwide - January 25, 2021
- Guilty Gear Strive details game modes - January 25, 2021
- Wonder Boy: Asha in Monster World gets new trailer, 3 physical editions - January 25, 2021


text:
FIFA 20 in-game currency GC was spotted during FIFA 20 demo during E3 2019, Creative Director assured there will be nothing at the launch.
Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order Official Gameplay Video reveals 15-minute official gameplay footage of upcoming new edition of the Star Wars Game.
Watch EA Play Live Stream for Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order, Apex Legends, Battlefield V, FIFA 20, Madden NFL 20 and The Sims 4. Click to watch the live stream.
FIFA 20 Release Date, Pre-order Details, Pre-order offers FIFA 20 Ultimate Editions, FIFA 20 Champions Edition and FIFA 20 Standard Edition details with PC System Requirements.
FIFA 20 has a new feature Volta that adds a customizable arena where players can play in 3v3 Rush (No GK’s), 4v4, 4v4 Rush, 5v5, and Professional Futsal.
FIFA has been one of the best gaming series in a long time and FIFA 20 is trying to up the bar set by the previous installment
The Cheapest Icons on FIFA 19 Ultimate Team you need to look out for. Building a good squad seems difficult so try to balance your team with these icons.


text:
To celebrate its birthday this month, Network Q will be offering every customer a gift of up to £500 to spend on one of its 10,000 Vauxhall-approved used cars.
Online PR News – 24-October-2013 –To celebrate its birthday this month, Network Q will be offering every customer a gift of up to £500 to spend on one of its 10,000 Vauxhall-approved used cars.
From Saturday 26th October to Monday 4th November, Network Q dealers across the UK will be inviting car buyers to visit their local showroom and join in with the birthday celebrations. To get everyone in the party spirit, each participating dealer will knock up to £500 off stock prices, in the form of a pre-paid debit card, on models including the top-selling Corsa and the popular Astra.
“We’re really looking forward to celebrating Network Q’s 23rd anniversary this year and we’re hoping our customers will enjoy the special birthday offers and all the festivities as well,”
For those looking for a bit more space, the Vauxhall Insignia, the Zafira and the Meriva are all included in the birthday offer as well. To add to the birthday atmosphere, balloons, party bags and sweets will also be available to the first lucky customers through the door of specially decorated showrooms to enjoy.
With 23 years of car retailing experience, Network Q is the UK’s longest running used car scheme. Customers visiting showrooms will find a team of experts who can tailor advice on models, finance and aftersales based on each individual’s requirements.
“We’re really looking forward to celebrating Network Q’s 23rd anniversary this year and we’re hoping our customers will enjoy the special birthday offers and all the festivities as well,” said Derek Wilson, Network Q’s Operations Director. “We are offering even better value on our wide range of cars, whether you’re after a sporty run-around or a practical family model.”
Notes to editors:
Network Q’s vehicles are inspected by those who know Vauxhalls best – Vauxhall technicians – and are even checked against recall directories to make sure nothing has been overlooked.
Launched in 1990, Network Q was the first national, manufacturer-backed used car programme and is the largest used car programme in the UK and the best recognised in Europe. Network Q has sold over two million used cars to date.
For more information on Network Q visit: www.networkq.co.uk
Vauxhall Motors has been manufacturing motor vehicles in the UK continuously since 1903. Vauxhall’s range spans all mainstream sectors of the vehicle market with best-selling model names such as Corsa, Astra, Meriva, Zafira and Insignia regularly in the top ten of the sales charts. Vauxhall is also the largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles in the UK and its parent company General Motors’ 4th largest global market.


text:
The new palletising robot will help reduce the risk of costly injuries, as well as improve the safety and effectiveness of the pallet stacking process
Shorr Packaging has launched a new palletising robot, which is designed to be used within a variety of different industries.
The collaborative robot palletising solution has been designed to stack products onto pallets up to 108” in height.
Designed to replace human palletising, Shorr’s new palletising robot will allow to reduce the risk of costly injuries by completely avoiding the use of warehouse employees to exert physical stress on their bodies through bending, lifting, reaching and twisting motions.
The new palletising robot, which is equipped to work continuously, will enable to improve the safety and effectiveness of the pallet stacking process.
The new palletising robot has the capacity to stack up to 6.5 packs per minute
Shorr has designed the palletising robot to lift up to a seven-pound package, as well as stack up to 6.5 packs per minute.
The new robot palletising solution has the capacity to handle product pallets in the intra-logistics area with the support of pneumatic vacuum generation.
The set includes all the components needed to create a complete gripper while facilitating simple assembly and commissioning.
Shorr has equipped the universal robot arm with clamps to securely organise electric lines. The Quick Changer feature facilitates the tool changing within five seconds.
The new solution also features Pendant Armor, which is a silicone-free rubber frame designed to protect pendant. It also includes touch-sensitive screen protectors that are shipped pre-cut to match the customer’s exact screen size.
The co-bot has been designed with 32 safety area patterns. The presence detection feature enables to identify humans or objects entering the hazardous area, and intrusion detection enables to identify access into the critical zone.
Shorr stated that its palletising robot solution was pre-engineered with universal components, which are compatible with almost any warehouse environment.
The segments include warehousing and logistics industry, contract packaging industry, food and beverage industry, ecommerce industry and others.
In February this year, Shorr Packaging announced its international expansion via the opening of its latest facility directly outside of Monterrey, Mexico.


text:
It’s more hands-on than soup kitchens or free-food giveaways, it strengthens the commons — and you can even do it during a pandemic.
It’s called foodsharing, and the way it’s growing in Gothenburg, Sweden, just might be a model for the rest of the world.
Foodsharing is a practice developed in Germany, where volunteers visit grocery stores, bakeries, restaurants, and other such businesses, to collect high quality food that would otherwise have been thrown away.
Foodsharing groups give away food in various ways — sometimes through short events and sometimes through public or semi-public pantries or fridges.
Although making use of excess food is not new as a practice, a German website, Foodsharing.de, has enabled community groups to form quickly and organize effectively.
The phenomenon has since moved to non-German-speaking countries with the help of Karrot, a website that enables groups of people to organize around collecting and distributing things — such as old clothes, bicycles and food — that would otherwise be thrown away.
Gothenburg, Sweden’s second largest city, is home to a variety of initiatives that support resource sharing between individuals.
This includes the foodsharing group Solikyl, which reorganized its practices as the pandemic swept the country, learning how to minimize exposure to the virus, while also expanding its partnerships.
Solikyl — which translates as “solidarity fridge” — organizes itself as a food commons. Unlike traditional charities, which rely on volunteers to collect and distribute food to clients, Solikyl and other foodsharing groups organize themselves to help one another.
Thus, the people visiting the grocery stores to pick up food donations are also allowed to use the food themselves.
This eliminates the hierarchy between those who save the food from being wasted and those who need it.
It also makes clear that the excess food they’re collecting is good to eat — it’s not a bag full of undesirable, second-class throwaways.
Growing the “food commons”
In this way, Solikyl tries to create a food commons — food resources available to all regardless of need.
Food is in many respects already a commons. Humans all need to eat three times a day, making food production, along with clean air and water, an essential aspect of our well-being.
We have a limited supply of arable land and fresh water which we all share for food production. Agricultural land is a valuable common resource, regardless of ownership systems, which is sometimes preserved from development through land trusts.
Seeds have traditionally been seen as a common resource, with no one owning the genetic knowledge in traditional plants. We share cultural practices related to food such as recipes and food traditions.
Commons are traditionally thought of as natural resources — such as air, water, pastureland, or fisheries — which can be used by more than one person at a time, and which are available to users at all times.
However, some types of commons — including resources such as libraries, city parks, sharing libraries, or community gardens — are produced through social practices.
Solikyl aims to create the latter, a food commons, where food is seen as a shared resource through social practice rather than as a private good.
Creating a food-sharing community
One woman got involved with Solikyl after hearing someone speak about foodsharing, because she knew she could get her local grocery store involved.
She now helps coordinate food pickups not just from the grocery store, but also a local bakery and a sushi restaurant.
The food that is collected and distributed is near or past its “best before” date — but is still good to eat. (Many people believe that “best before” dates are expiration dates, but the dates are created by the company as an indicator of freshness not of food safety.)
In other cases, half of a box of fruits or vegetables might be slightly imperfect and the rest will be ideal. In addition, bakeries give away large quantities of unsold bread and sweet buns.
Up until the pandemic took hold, they would bring the food they collected to a busy local community center that gave them access to the refrigerator, freezer, and a shelf for dry goods.
The community center was very convenient, the woman says, “because it is always open and very busy, so we don’t need to have a special time for distribution.”
She said it also created a positive-feedback loop: “Some people learn about the community center because of the foodsharing. Other people learn about foodsharing because of the community center.”
However, the parish went beyond government guidelines during the pandemic and the community center has been entirely closed since March, possibly due to the prevalence of retired folks who visit the center, and foodsharing has had to move to other locations in the city.
Organizing against the pandemic
Solikyl’s founder Bruno Chies is originally from Brazil. He started the organization in 2016 after seeing foodsharing in action in Germany.
When the COVID-19 pandemic took hold, he said, Solikyl was able to grow, evolve, and fill a need that traditional food programs weren’t able to.
He describes a local “people’s kitchen” that had been providing low-cost community meals “with the saved food from the grocery store” to large groups of up to 80 guests.
After the pandemic, the national government prohibited meetings of 50 people or more.
Solikyl, which had changed its distribution practices to avoid large groups of people, stepped in at the point to work with the grocery store and collect the unwanted food.
Dan Lundberg, a Solikuyl volunteer, said that foodsharing has moved outdoors, where they can ensure that the line is spread out.
They also use gloves, hand sanitizer, and some people wear masks.
“If we can’t do the food distribution outside,” he said, “we do it inside and allow five people in at a time.”
How it works
Per Björklund was just finishing up his volunteer shift with Solikyl when I spoke to him.
“We set up boxes on tables,” he says. “They tell us what they want and we hand it to them.”
In the industrial Gamlestaden district, he added, “we have a porch with a used bike inner tube hung across it as a barrier. We tell them what we have and hand it out to them. In the past, they handled the food themselves.”
Per says that some people like the new system better, because there is less of a “grabbing mentality.” He said that “sometimes the person who is stronger or who has a bigger bag gets more.”
Per found that the new system increases solidarity among participants, since the division of food is more likely to be equal.
One drawback to the new system is that both food and people have had to wait outside amid the summer heat. Per said that people wait on the shady side of the building and that they do their best to bring refrigerated items out in batches as needed.
Commoning during the pandemic
In these ways, by innovating and adapting, Solikyl has followed Swedish national guidelines for avoiding large assemblies and enclosed spaces — while still continuing their work to reduce food waste.
Creating common resources is one way that community groups are restructuring our communities to be more efficient, while also ensuring that everyone can access the resources they need.
Solikyl demonstrates that with appropriate planning and care, there are ways to continue commoning even through a pandemic.


text:
Optus has been slapped with a $10 million penalty for misleading and charging customers. The penalty related to digital purchases through its direct carrier billing (DCB) service.
The ACCC took Optus to Federal Court back in October last year after the company admitted it misled customers and contravened the Australian Securities & Investments Comission Act 2001. The contravention arose when Optus billed customers for third party-produced content which they mistakenly bought or subscribed to through its “direct carrier billing” (DCB) service.
What did Optus admit?
Optus admitted that it failed to properly inform its customers that the DCB service was a default service on their mobile accounts. It also failed to advise that the customer would be continually billed directly by Optus for any content bought through the service, even if unintentionally.
As if that weren’t bad enough, Optus admitted that it earned commissions on items sold through the DCB service, including those items that customers had unintentionally purchased (or purchased without full knowledge of the implications).
In short, not only did it allow customers to unwittingly buy through the DCB service, but it also profited from customers mistaken purchases. Unsurprisingly, the ACCC has taken a dim view (and so has the Federal Court).
What did the regulators say?
The ACCC notes that despite over 600,000 enquiries about Optus’ DCB service, the company failed to put in place appropriate ID verification safeguards, and referred customers who sought to query DCB service charges to third parties.
ACCC chair Rod Sims as said that the decision:
“In many cases, Optus customers had no idea they were buying anything, and certainly did not need or want the content for which they were being charged.
Optus failed to take appropriate action, choosing instead to continue to charge customers and collect commissions on these sales, even after numerous complaints.
We are pleased that the Court agreed that this conduct is simply unacceptable, and deserves a significant penalty,”
The ACCC as acknowledged that Optus has refunded about 240,000 customers so far, with about $8 million paid out by Optus and another $13 million from its third party providers.
Where to from here?
Optus has committed to contacting potentially impacted customers who maybe effected and not yet received a refund as of yet, with the company will also review any future complaints in light of this decision.
Optus customers who may have been charged for the DCB service are encouraged to check their Optus mobile account and, if they believe unauthorised charges have been applied under the DCB service, they should contact Optus on 13 39 37.
Can’t believe they are going to refund me $864. by cheque. This apparently occurred on my prepaid account that I have had for 8 or 9 years, but I am unaware of any incorrect billing.
Becha Optus still made money out of it over the fine costs. And yes, I am cynical.


text:
Miss something this week? Don’t panic. CBC’s Marketplace rounds up the consumer and health news you need.
Want this in your inbox? Get the Marketplace newsletter every Friday.
You’ll have more rights at the airport this holiday season
Starting on Dec. 15, if your flight is cancelled or delayed, you might be eligible for compensation. A large Canadian airline will have to pay each passenger $400 for arrival time delays between three and six hours, and up to $1,000 if the flight is late by more than nine hours. And there’s more: If your delay is overnight, the airlines are now on the hook to pay for your hotel or other comparable accommodations.
WATCH: A CAA spokesperson has advice for anyone planning to fly
Canadian telecoms need to do more to fight scammers, says CRTC
If you’re fed up with the number of sketchy calls you’re receiving lately, you’re not alone. The CRTC says that Canadian telecoms can do more to help prevent these calls from getting through, and is mandating the implementation of STIR/SHAKEN technology by Sept. 30, 2020. CRTC chairperson Ian Scott says the new technology will allow Canadians to know before they answer a call whether it’s legitimate or should be treated with suspicion.
Online returns ending up in landfills, journalist’s research reveals
In an interview with The Current, environmental journalist Adria Vasil discussed how online shopping has created a surplus of perfectly good products that are ending up in dumpsters and landfills. Amazon has faced accusations in France and Germany of destroying returned items, and Burberry admitted in 2018 that it had incinerated £90 million ($156 million) worth of clothing and accessories in the previous five years.
Earlier this season, Marketplace investigated how some Canadian plastic was ending up overseas in Malaysian landfills.
Why some people are using safe parcel drops
The last thing any of us want over the busy holiday season is for packages delivered to our doorstep to be stolen. That’s why in Winnipeg, and other cities across Canada, many people are starting to get their parcels delivered to safe pickup spots. And in Prince George, B.C., police are even working with Amazon to place decoy packages on doorsteps in an attempt to discourage would-be thieves.
What else is going on?
YouTube will start removing videos featuring racist, sexist insults. The video streaming company said it will now take down videos that lob insults at people based on race, gender expression, sexual orientation or other “protected attributes.”
Volkswagen charged for allegedly violating Canadian emissions standards. The federal government is charging Volkswagen for allegedly importing cars into Canada that company executives knew violated emissions standards.
Privacy watchdog says StatsCan pilot raised ‘significant privacy concerns.’ In his annual report to Parliament, Privacy Commissioner Daniel Therrien says a plan by Statistics Canada to collect Canadians’ banking data raised privacy concerns but did not break the law.
Airbnb reins in parties with new rules. Airbnb is taking more steps to trial down on parties and nuisance guests in the wake of a Halloween shooting at an Airbnb rental in a San Francisco suburb.
The latest in recalls
Marketplace needs your help!
Do you have a story about getting an appliance repaired? We want to hear from you. Fill out this survey and share your experience with us: surveymonkey.com/r/appliancerepair
Catch up on past Marketplace episodes on Gem and on YouTube.