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Stratford-upon-Avon is one of the premier tourist destinations in country and the town’s historic markets play an important role in promoting the town as a tourist attraction. After 50 years under the same contractor, the market operation was put out for tender in 2012 to ensure the best value for the councils and to breathe new life into the markets. Geraud Markets UK Ltd and LSD Promotions Ltd, who have maintained dialogue for many years, made a decision to collaborate for the five year tender. Malcolm Veigas Geraud Markets UK Chief Operating Officer said ‘The first two years has been very successful with the partnership seeing an increase revenue and the enhancement of the market via significant investment by the company.’
Since being awarded the contract, the partnership has:
Δ Increased income for the councils and reduced costs.
Δ Increased the footprint of the market, raising the number of stalls and visitors per week.
Δ Improved the visual quality of the markets by investing in new stalls
Δ Increased the number of markets held
Δ Brought new energy into the markets and boosted trader relations
Δ Engendered a partnership with senior council representatives.
Δ Introduced discounted trial incentives to encourage new traders and new business
Δ Adapted procedures to meet the current and future needs of the market
Δ Reduced waste going to landfill from 100% to 5%, with 95% of waste now being recycled
Δ Has engaged with Stratforward (The towns BID team) to work together on an annual themed markets events programme for the Town.
Group Geraud invited MTN to the recent review of the market where Cllr Diane Waldon (former Mayor) and Cllr Tessa Bates of Stratford Town Council told us,
“It has been a learning curve, but the first couple of years have been absolutely brilliant and we are really looking forward to the next three. The market is so bright and colourful now, it looks amazing. “It is also really encouraging to see just how many traders want to come and trade here, it’s such a massive improvement from before and the public feedback has been really good.”
“The traders feel valued and you can often see members of council shopping here. Anyone involved in local government up and down the country at the moment know it is a very difficult place to be, however one of the joys we have found is defiantly how the market has resurrected itself and it is something to be very proud of. Winning Nabma’s ‘Best Private Market of the Year Award 2014’ is true credit to the work put in by Groupe Geraud and LSD promotions.”
Tony Peddle, who sells watches and batteries at the market and has traded at Stratford for over 20 years, told MTN, “The last two years has seen a vast improvement to the market. Trade has picked up and there is a great energy around the market. The market staff of Group Geraud and LSD are fantastic, I cannot rate them highly enough. I wouldn’t be here today if they hadn’t of come in. “One of the most interesting results of the change has been I now feel that the Council really care about our market and I see people from the Council regularly shopping on the market.”
LSD Promotions Ltd managing director Dermot McGillicuddy added,
“We must acknowledge the supreme effort and hard work put in by the market manager, ground staff and traders into making Stratford-upon-Avon markets the success story they are today. I cannot thank them all enough”


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When I invest a nontrivial part of my capital in a company, one of the things that is of utmost importance is the quality of the management. Can I trust this management team to deliver strong returns in the long run? Of all of the companies that I've studied, Intel Corporation's (NASDAQ:INTC) management team is one of the best, if not the best, that I've seen. Here's why:
1. Returning Cash To Shareholders
Intel aggressively spends to reduce the share count and to raise dividends. In the most recent quarter, the company spent $1.1B to buy back shares and spent $1.1B to pay dividends to shareholders. The current dividend of $0.90/share on an annualized basis represents a payout ratio of 36%. This leaves ample room for additional R&D, capital expenditures, and M&A, which implies a healthy mix of stability in the core businesses (CPUs and software for the PC and data center ecosystem), while at the same time allowing for ample capital to fund future growth.
2. Shrewd Acquisitions, Partnerships And Investments
Intel has been on a M&A spree during 2012. The company recently purchased a 15% non-voting stake in ASML (NASDAQ:ASML), a company that specializes in lithography equipment, in order to speed up the development of 450mm wafers (larger wafers mean more chips per wafer, lowering costs over time and increasing margins) as well as EUV lithography (a technology that is needed in order for the company to scale to 10nm nodes and beyond). This move, I believe, will help Intel maintain a manufacturing advantage over fabless rivals such as Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA), Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD), Qualcomm (NASDAQ:QCOM), and others.
An example of a strong partnership is the Intel-Micron Flash Technologies joint venture with Micron Technology (NASDAQ:MU). NAND flash will be the cornerstone of storage technology going forward, as traditional disk drives prove to be too slow to keep up with the increase in compute power that we've seen in recent years.
A further demonstration of the shrewdness of Intel's management is that they sold their stakes in the two less advanced fabs of the venture back to Micron in exchange for NAND, while retaining a 49% stake in the most advanced fab. This allows Intel to limit its exposure to the quickly falling NAND flash prices, while at the same time securing enough supply for its own drives for both consumer and enterprise markets.
In addition to the other acquisitions this year, including interconnect IP from Cray (NASDAQ:CRAY), a number of wireless patents from InterDigital (NASDAQ:IDCC), and the InfiniBand business of QLogic (NASDAQ:QLGC), a quick perusal of the Intel Capital (Intel's investment arm) shows that they have made a number of excellent investments in companies that ended up doing extremely well, including Mellanox (NASDAQ:MLNX), RedHat (NYSE:RHT), and Broadcom (BRCM).
3. Strong Corporate Direction
Intel's core business, microprocessors, is a shining example of a success story. The company commands gross margins in excess of 63%, holds a strong technological lead over its primary competitors, releases products in a timely, consistent manner, and manages to shift quickly to meet the demands of the market.
Intel was quick to identify the growing demand for laptops, and in 2003 released its "Centrino" platform, which helped push laptops into the mainstream. While some say that Intel "missed the boat" on the mobile revolution, it is clear that the company does not give up without a fight. Intel went through several iterations of mobile SoC development before coming up with Medfield. While the Medfield chip isn't particularly earth-shattering, it showed that Intel could take its 5-year old, unsophisticated CPU core and build a viable phone SoC around it that, in many cases, outperformed dual-core, modern ARM (NASDAQ:ARMH) based chips.
Further, the company managed to spend a good deal of time working with Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) to develop and optimize Android for the x86 instruction set, highlighting the strength and the synergy between the hardware and software teams at Intel.
So, What Could Go Wrong?
While Intel's management is strong, there are a number of headwinds that the company could face going forward. First, consumer spending is down given the macroeconomic difficulty that the global economy is facing. Competitor Advanced Micro Devices reported a less-than-stellar quarter due to the dependency of larger portion of its sales in the consumer segment. Intel is not immune, however, and continued macroeconomic problems could pose significant downside risk.
In addition, investors looking for near-term growth will be disappointed: at the most recent earnings call, the company slashed its 2012 revenue growth forecast to merely 3-5% from its previously guided "high single digits." I applaud management for being forthright with investors, but this does pose a near-to-medium term risk, especially if the company misses these targets.
Finally, Intel's success in the mobile phone sector is still yet to be seen. Despite a strong manufacturing advantage over all of the fabless semiconductor companies (and even over the dedicated foundries), the company's offerings still need to fight the well-established ARM ecosystem. Intel's success is not guaranteed here, which provides a long-term risk.

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In its continued race against Nvidia to provide gamers with the latest resources for not only playing, but streaming and recording content using its GPU’s, AMD has today announced the launch of the Radeon Software Adrenalin 2019 Edition.
The new software suite comes with a plethora of new and upgraded features, some which you might never use, others which will become indispensable.
While the company has ensured that the software is supposedly more stable than ever, offering performance improvements of up to 15 percent since the last Adrenalin launch, the big addition where VRFocus is concerned is streaming.
Thanks to Radeon
Read the full article on VRFocus here


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The first images of the upcoming Sony ZV1 compact camera for vloggers already leaked online, which is expected to be announced on May 26th, 2020.
Sony ZV1 Rumored Specifications:
- Looks like an RX100 VII
- Has a fully articulating screen on the side similar to the Canon EOS RP
- Better grip than current RX100 cameras
- Very big Video record button
- integrated ND filter
- 20MP 1 inch sensor
- 24-70mm F1.8-2.8 lens
- All the autofocus features like: EyeAf and so forth
- One touch Bokeh feature
- Auto Object detect
- Announcement on May 26
Stay tuned with us for more Sony Camera Rumors.
Read more: Best Memory Cards for Sony RX100 VII


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ANN ARBOR, Mich.—Domino's Pizza will extend the run of its highly successful Philly Cheese Steak Pizza. According to a news release, the pizza's September 2003 launch was the company's first new pizza offering since January 2000.
"Extending a limited-time pizza is unprecedented at Domino's, but so is the response we've received across the country for this exceptional product," said Ken Calwell, executive vice president.
Recent promotion for the Philly began with national advertising support started April 12. In the offer, customers can buy a medium Philly Cheese Steak Pizza for $9.99, plus any second medium pizza for $5 more.


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May 2017. A Virginia greenhouse recalled 10 lines of packaged produce due to the potential presence of metal as a result of construction at the greenhouse farm.
October 2017. A New York greenhouse recalled assorted greens due to potential presence of E. coli.
April 2018. A Canadian greenhouse recalled all its microgreen products due to potential contamination of Listeria monocytogenes.
In each of these incidents, the recall was made out of an abundance of caution when it was discovered that the produce may have been compromised, as no illnesses or injuries were known to have been caused by the contaminations. And for that, the greenhouses are to be commended for discovering the issues and recalling product before consumers were impacted — because any of these could have turned out differently.
For instance, take the two leafy green E. coli O157:H7 outbreaks in the U.S. earlier this year. The first, which began in late 2017 and was determined to be closely related genetically to an outbreak in Canada, caused 25 infections in 15 states including nine hospitalizations and one death. There was no product recall in the U.S., however, because the source was never determined. Although the Public Health Agency of Canada eventually identified romaine lettuce as the source of that outbreak, the U.S. was able to state only that the likely source of the outbreak appeared to be leafy greens. This was compounded by the fact that the outbreak was being reported by news channels well before FDA or CDC made any announcements or recommendations for consumption or avoidance of produce.
The second was the E. coli-contaminated romaine lettuce, which resulted in 210 reported infections, including 96 hospitalizations and five deaths. While the source was eventually traced to the Yuma, Arizona, region and contaminated canal water implicated in the outbreak, no single farm was identified. The traceback took nearly four months from the onset of the first illness. In neither of the incidents was a specific grower or supply chain facility identified as the source. But the longer it takes to recall product, trace an outbreak and communicate with consumers, the more the entire industry segment is impacted.
This is where the food producer comes into play. While it is the federal agencies that are tasked with tracing contaminated product back to its source, it is the food producer’s responsibility to conduct a timely recall and provide the relevant agency with enough information to enable traceback to the source and trace forward to the point of sale to ensure all customers and consumers are notified. That is not — yet — a legal responsibility. However, rarely does it benefit anyone for any facility to implement only the required minimum in food safety. Rather the more proactive each grower, producer and retailer is, the better will both the consumer and the industry be protected.
While consumer safety should always be the primary objective, it is important to understand the impact a recall can have on the entire segment in which it operates. As reported by Nielsen, the week the news broke (April 14) on the second E. coli contamination:
- Romaine lettuce sales fell by 20 percent.
- Iceberg sales were down 19 percent.
- Red leaf sales were down 16 percent.
- Endive sales fell 17 percent.
Lessons learned and shared
As evidenced by the recalls discussed, food contamination can be caused by internal, external or unknown factors. Things can happen that one can’t control and doesn’t expect. But, said BrightFarms CEO Paul Lightfoot in a recent Hort Report podcast, “You have to have the SOPs [standard operating procedures] and the cultural factors in place and be ready for these unexpected sources of problems so that you can reduce the likelihood that they are going to happen in the future.”
The podcast, also featuring AeroFarms CEO David Rosenberg, focused primarily on a new controlled-environment agriculture coalition, but Lightfoot also discussed BrightFarms’ Virginia and New York recalls.
In both cases, the issue was caused by third-party suppliers. Both were detected and a voluntary recall initiated by BrightFarms, with no detection by retailers, consumers or government. “In both cases, our voluntary testing protocols were successful and identified the problems before there was any risk of problems to consumers that were buying our products at our retailers,” Lightfoot said.
Although AeroFarms has not had a recall, Rosenberg noted his agreement with Lightfoot and the crucial importance, especially when working with big retailers, of “making sure one builds the SOPs in which the response time can be fast,” he said. “Of our about 250 SOPs, half are related to food safety.” These include areas such as holding mock recalls so everyone knows what to do if one should occur, reducing risk from a sanitation standpoint and ensuring that SOPs and design go through the right stage gates.
As also evidenced by the BrightFarms recalls in which the cause was linked to third-party suppliers, such analyses and preparation needs to include that of external conditions as well. One example Rosenberg gave was that of air pollution for urban operations. Greenhouses need to have protocols in place for understanding what’s going on outside and putting in the right filtration (such as HEPA filters) to minimize the effect to the plants, he said.
“It was our recognizing that it was sort of ‘black swan’ things and uncontrollable things happening that made us realize that we should start sharing what we’ve learned with the rest of the industry to reduce the chances that, God forbid, someone would be made ill in the future by someone in the industry,” Lightfoot said.
Hear more about the growers’ sharing of experiences through the CEA coalition here.


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BANDUNG, West Java: From beef udder satays to volleyball-size meatballs, the city of Bandung has always been known for its buzzing culinary scene, feeding hungry locals and tourists.
It is a safe bet that someone, somewhere in this city of 2.4 million inhabitants is concocting a dish, snack or drink no one has ever seen. Over the years, Bandung has gained a reputation for one-of-a-kind and bizarre dishes.
“What makes the Bandung culinary scene unique is its creativity. And its been that way for a long time,” food blogger, Sepsa Zulkaida Subhi told CNA.
Citing an example, Mr Subhi said batagor, or deep fried meat tofu was first sold in Bandung in 1970s. It is now popular in many parts of the country.
The dish was born when a street hawker named Mr Ikhsan, who like many Indonesians go with one name, could not sell his tofu and decided to stuff meat in them.
To cook the meat, he deep-fried the stuffed tofu. He then decided to complement the snack with peanut sauce.
The dish has since spread to other parts of Indonesia and came to define Bandungs spirit of culinary invention.
“No other (Indonesian) city has such creative and innovative spirit. Not even Jakarta. No other city has so many people trying to create something new,” the 39-year-old blogger said.
SPIRIT OF EXPERIMENTATION
Just like batagor, many of Bandung's famous dishes and snacks came from finding a new twist to classic delicacies.
The humble surabi is an Indonesian pancake made with rice flour and coconut milk.
Elsewhere in Indonesia, Surabi is traditionally eaten with caramelised palm sugar or sweetened coconut milk sauce and served as as a sweet treat.
But in the hands of vendors in Bandung, they became savoury snacks after someone had the idea in the 1980s of topping them off with oncom, spicy fermented soybeans native to the people of West Java.
Today, some restaurants serve their surabis with oreos, nutella and chocolate chips while for the savoury version, some have gone as far as to experiment with surabi carbonara and smoked beef surabi.
Restaurant owner, Mr Muhammad Rifky said the people of Bandung are always looking for the next culinary invention or rare delicacy, putting pressure on businesses like his Dapur Suami Isteri (Husband and Wifes Kitchen) to think out of the box.
When the former television commercial director started his business in 2018, he sought advice from his friends and customers on how to put his small cafe on the map.
“They all said that I should either create something unique and new. If I want to go traditional, I should find dishes which are getting harder and harder to find,” Mr Rifky told CNA.
Eventually, the cafe grew from exclusively selling authentic Indonesian cuisine, to coming up with one-of-a-kind dishes such as its signature beef rendang sandwich, served with over easy egg and poached papaya leaves.
A more recent invention is the katsu coffee, made out of espresso mixed with kaya jam and tiramisu syrup (hence the acronym “katsu”). The concoction is stirred until the kaya jam is completely dissolved before ice and cold milk are added.
The drink was created just one week before CNAs visit to the cafe, located in an upscale residential area in the western part of Bandung.
“We used to offer kaya toast. But it didnt sell very well and we were left with jars of kaya jam. So we experimented with ways to use it,” Mr Rifky said.
READ: From lawyer to insect farmer – Malaysian entrepreneur touts roasted crickets as healthy, sustainable snack
Bandungs love for anything unique and strange also means that dishes that became out of favour in their native places could find a new lease of life in West Java.
The jando satay, made out of cows udder is one such example. The dish hailed from Klaten, Central Java and was on the verge of becoming extinct.
“My father brought it to Bandung in 1975 and we have been selling it since,” Mr Agung Suganda told CNA at his street side stall behind the governors office.
Mr Suganda said the dish was not an immediate success but over time, through word of mouth, people began to look for it, drawn by its soft, juicy texture and savoury taste.
“No one sells jando satay in Klaten anymore. But here in Bandung, people love it so much, they would queue for more than an hour. Sometimes people from out of town travel all the way here just to taste it. Because you cant find it anywhere else any more,” the man said, adding that he can sell up to 14,000 sticks of satay per day.
While some like Mr Suganda have insisted on keeping the traditional recipe, others like Mr Laman who hails from Solo, Central Java, have injected new elements into his Solo-style meatball soup.
The 71-year-old has been selling meatballs since 1985 and competition from similar businesses made him think big, quite literally.
Almost 20 years ago, he began selling meatballs the size of an adult mans fist.
That was enough to attract a loyal following among local foodies, but he did not stop there. In 2012, he created an even larger meatball the size of a volley ball. And this put his stall on the map.
Weighing in at 2.5kg and filled with chunks of minced meat at the centre, the giant meatball can easily feed a family of five.
“Everyday, we makeRead More – Source


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With TikTok taking the world by storm, it’s interesting to see how TikTok songs have drastically changed the music industry.
Looking back historically on how music distribution has constantly changed to meet the evolution of technology and the demands of the masses, we’ve already witnessed how the industry had to maneuver itself in the early 2000s with streaming. After all, name a person who doesn’t use either Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube Music, or some other variation of a music streaming platform.
However, the explosion of TikTok meant that the industry had to once again undergo a shift.
Changing Operations to Better Leverage TikTok
With over 1 billion users on the platform, TikTok songs wield such a large influence that various recording labels now have staff dedicated solely to supervising which songs are amassing popularity.
In an interview with Business Insider, the senior vice president of marketing at Legacy Recordings (a division of Sony Music), Andy McGrath stated that “Our entire music catalog is effectively tracked on a daily basis. We’re constantly monitoring actions, reactions, and trends that happen on TikTok.”
Even Tarek Al-Hamdouni, current SVP of digital marketing for RCA Records, states that the label tracks TikTok’s effectiveness by watching how an artist’s song numbers and demographics shift on other platforms such as YouTube and Spotify.
Acknowledging the power that the social media platform holds, TikTok has even created a team of its own to work directly with the industry regarding licensing deals and generating content ideas with various artists and labels – further cementing its impact on expanding revenue prospects.
With the power of TikTok songs to influence radio plays, album/song sales, and award shows, it’s no surprise that some of today’s biggest music artists have leveraged the social media platform.
Read more about the hit songs on TikTok and their accompanying impact here.
Music Marketing for TikTok
When Miley Cyrus was preparing to release her single “Midnight Sky,” her marketing team worked with the app to host Zoom calls with 15 different creators and give them an early listen to the track. She then also used TikTok to host a live-only listening session on the platform for the release of her album, Plastic Hearts.
Other artists like Khalid, BLACKPINK, Marshmallow, and Demi Lovato have all done similar events.
Audio plays a key role in dispersing trends and challenges across the app and across culture as a whole. Now, what’s occurring is that marketing in the music industry now must have a TikTok strategy.
And what’s TikTok without creators?
Thus, incorporating such creatives in the marketing process becomes equally as important as any other stop when doing promotion — especially in this day and age where TikTok influencers have immense driving power with their followings.
Looking to run an epic influencer marketing campaign on TikTok? NeoReach has the best experience in creating viral campaigns that convert on social media. Sign up here!
Marketing in the Hands of the People
It’s important to note that part of the reason why TikTok has come to be such a big player in the music industry is because of the sheer amount of user-generated content — or UGC if you’re feeling fancy — that is being created.
Whether that’s participating in a specific challenge, dancing, or lip syncing, the fact remains that app users must respond to music with their own clips. Therefore, this back-and-forth creates an active atmosphere for listening to music.
It only snowballs from there.
According to a study conducted by Midia Research, TikTok users are not only 8% more likely to buy artist merchandise monthly in comparison to the general population, but also 15% more likely to have a monthly music subscription (which in this day and age where artists are making fractions of pennies per stream, goes a long way in regard to supporting an artist).
Additionally, when you look at the data for the TikTok songs that do manage to trend, it’s not uncommon to find them charting on Billboard’s Hot 100 or Spotify’s Viral 50 playlist. In fact, MRC Data reported in a study done for TikTok that 67% of the platform’s users are more likely to seek out songs on music-streaming services.
In April of 2020, Billboard’s Top 10 songs on the Hot 100 shot to fame largely due to TikTok’s influence.
Creating a campaign in the music industry seems to require a TikTok strategy. Read more here.
Creating New Hits…
One notable example of the power of the social media platform is Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.” While the artist initially uploaded his song to Soundcloud, he made headlines for Billboard magazine removing the song from its country charts. There’s no denying that the TikTok song’s meme-ability contributed to Lil Nas X’s breakthrough success.
Becoming the first song to reach 15x platinum, what “Old Town Road” signifies is the power of TikTok songs and the beginning of viral music successes.
— chart data (@chartdata) September 20, 2021
From Olivia Rodrigo to Måneskin, TikTok’s worldwide reach makes it incredibly easy to see what styles of music are ringing with the tastemakers of today’s generation.
Here’s a list of other songs that went viral on the platform and may (or may not) end up on your playlist:
- “Gyalis” by Capella Gray
- “Break It Off” by PinkPantheress
- “ABCDEFU” by Gayle
- “Love Nwantiti” by CKay
- “Stuck in the Middle” by Tai Verdes
And Reviving Old Ones…
And it isn’t just new releases that are benefitting from TikTok’s special power.
In fact, hit songs like Celine Dion’s “It’s All Coming Back To Me Now” (which was released 25 years ago and set a one-day streaming record on Spotify and YouTube earlier this year) and Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” (this icon re-entered Billboard’s Hot 100 charts a full 40 years after its release) all made huge comebacks because of the app.
Thus, with the rising popularity of TikTok, it makes sense that radios take note and cater to what’s popular. With song plays being decided by radio station managers who are not only just as susceptible to current music trends as anyone else, but also are looking to sustain and expand their station’s audience, it’s no surprise that TikTok songs get airtime.
As one can see, in the span of a few short years, TikTok has managed to imbue itself quite well into this new fabric of the music industry.
As critical as the social media platform has become in regards to artist storytelling, it would be unfair to state that the hyper-focus on TikTok isn’t going to have consequences.
Numerous music artists like Charli XCX and Halsey have publicly stated how draining and frustrating it can be when labels force them to make TikToks to promote the songs.
Stream good ones tho !
While this artist-label dynamic isn’t necessarily new, it ignores the fact that TikTok’s ease of access and usage for so many people doesn’t make it any easier to make or break a song. The added pressure to make a viral TikTok from a record label then curbs an artist’s creative freedom to promote their projects in the way that they feel most comfortable.
In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, Adele took a moment to point out that the social media platform is generated towards a certain demographic.
She stated, “If everyone’s making music for TikTok, who’s making music for my generation?”
She went on to say how her music is for those who have more life experience under their belt.
“I don’t want 12-year-olds listening to this record — it’s a bit too deep, But the 30 and 40-year-olds who are all committing to themselves and doing therapy, that’s my vibe, ’cause that’s what I was doing. So I’m more concerned with how this record can help them.”
There’s truth to how TikTok – like any other social media platform – is designed for the upcoming generations. Al-Hamdouni stated to Business Insider, “If I see that in the course of a week our audience [on YouTube] went from being primarily 25 to 34-year-old males and a week later the majority is 13-to-24 female, then that’s a pretty easy bridge to connect between those two platforms.”
While TikTok certainly has its challenges for the music industry, there’s no denying its ability to elevate a song’s level of globalization. With new avenues for making content, what lies ahead is a path for people to continue to not only connect over music but also explore what “creativity” means in this new digital age.


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[News/Alerts] The Fairmont San Francisco Celebrates Music Legend Tony Bennett With His Own Signature Luxury Suite
The Fairmont San Francisco is celebrating one of its most iconic guests, Tony Bennett, with a special suite dedicated to him and his unique place in the hotel’s storied history. The Fairmont San Francisco’s famed Diplomat Suite, Bennett’s favorite “home away from home” suite, will now be dedicated to giving guests a one-of-a kind opportunity to experience luxurious accommodations characterized by elegant décor inspired by the world-renowned performer and his connection to the City by the Bay. A just released new giclée print of one of Bennett’s original paintings entitled “Golden Gate Bridge” will be launched during the anniversary weekend and will be available for purchase exclusively in San Francisco at The Fairmont San Francisco’s Front Desk as well as through www.tonybennett.com.
In December 1961, Tony Bennett took the stage of The Fairmont San Francisco’s famed Venetian Room and performed his version of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco” for the first time. His lauded rendition of the beloved song has generated worldwide adoration and nostalgia for the city and is one of its official anthems.
Mandarin Oriental, San Francisco, didn’t lose in the translation from Asia. The hotel’s legacy is become legendary in North American


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Trying to gain an edge in the electronic commerce marketplace, the Price Quote Network announced Monday that it has received a US patent on a technology that will allow comparison shopping on the Internet.
The software will route buyers' shopping requests through the databases of multiple vendors to find the best price on items in stock around the world. It can potentially search any vendor from a local Sears store to an electronics supplier in Hong Kong, regardless of whether or not it maintains a Web site. And buyers can specify the brand, price, and size of any item they want, whether it's a big-screen TV or an automobile air filter.
"It sounds like it's a similar offering to others, so I wouldn't say it's a first. But it's definitely part of a growing trend towards simplifying the online shopping experience," said Paul Johnson, an analyst at International Data Corporation, which assesses technology trends.
With PQN technology, "the vendors can be in your own town and have nothing to do with the Internet. For this reason the local vendor can compete with the national one," said Joseph Giovannoli, inventor of the technology and president and CEO of PQN. Amazon's newly acquired Junglee and Excite's Jango price and compare commodities available only on the Web.
"It depends on how they implement their technology. If they're anywhere close, they will. We have a pretty broad claim," Giovanolli said. "But we're not really putting any effort into that. We're mostly interested in bringing a new way of doing business into the world," he added.
Whereas Junglee�s mantra is "the Web is the database," PQN believes any company's database is available, providing it is linked with PQN's software to its Web site. To become part of the system, vendors use PQN's software to hook their product database into PQN's Web site. Then, users can search the multiple vendor databases, and merchants use filters to indicate what type of buyers it wants to serve.
"It would take you two minutes to find exactly what you're looking for," Giovanolli said. "You sign onto the PQN Web site, indicate the product, [and] that information is run through a filter that would ID the appropriate vendors for the product. The software actually interrogates the vendors' data through our software, and you get multiple instant quotes." The buyer can then click an icon to find out more about the vendor or purchase the commodity via PQN's site.
"The buyer could be an individual or General Motors -- it doesn't matter," Giovannoli added. "It's a different approach. It automates the process of competing. The concept we're using brings the product to the buyer instead of the merchant trying to sell to the buyer."
The next patent PQN has pending is for a technology that would let a customer hold out for a bargain. Potential buyers would enter relevant product information and indicate the price they're willing to pay. Vendors would email them when the product goes on sale.


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NEW YORK (AP) - The stock market is drifting lower in midday trading after disappointing news about consumer spending.
NEW YORK (AP) — The stock market is drifting lower in midday trading after disappointing news about consumer spending.
The Dow Jones industrial average fell 49 points to 14,791 shortly before 12 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time Friday. The broader Standard & Poor's 500 index was down five points to 1,632. The Nasdaq composite fell 27 points to 3,592.
The Commerce Department said Friday that U.S. consumers barely increased their spending in July after their income grew more slowly.
The stock price of Salesforce.com jumped to an all-time high after the cloud computing company reported strong quarterly results and raised its sales forecast late Thursday. Salesforce.com was up $6.07, or 14 percent, to $49.73 at midday, the biggest increase in the S&P 500.
The markets will be closed Monday for the Labor Day holiday.


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Microsoft is again updating Samsung's Windows Phone 7-based smartphones, after technical problems forced a halt to the program, it said in a <a href="http://windowsteamblog.com/windows_phone/b/windowsphone/archive/2011/02/23/more-answers-about-our-fi...
Sales of 3D television sets and handheld devices will surge this year after a weak start in 2010 as manufacturers step up production and marketing, an analyst said on Thursday.
Five start-ups unveiled services for building mobile applications and Web services this week at DEMO Spring 2011, bringing application development capabilities to the masses - or, at least, to people who lack traditional programming and mobile develo...
Qualcomm on Tuesday said it is stepping up its software efforts as its chips begin supporting more operating systems, including Microsoft's upcoming Windows OS, which will be targeted at mobile devices, tablets and PCs.
Sony Ericsson is doing its best to attract developers who can create games tailor-made for its upcoming Xperia Play smartphone, working with third-party tool makers to simplify the development process.
One evaluation of how well the browser on Motorola's spiffy new Xoom tablet supports HTML5 and other modern Web standards reaches a disappointing conclusion.
Extreme Networks is going mobile. The company today wheeled out a roadmap that will steer the company's product line toward mobile device and application access, availability and management support.
InfoWorld has been putting the major contenders up against Apple's iPhone for several years, and the iPhone handily has won each time. But with Motorola Mobility's new Atrix 4G smartphone, the iPhone's reign may be coming to a close.
Despite apparent light demand for the Verizon iPhone 4 on launch day, estimates suggest Verizon and Apple sold around one million of the devices by the end of its weekend. Scott Moritz of The Street reports that analyst estimates put the number of Ve...
China Unicom announced a new smartphone and software platform Monday, Wophone, that will rival Apple's iPhone, Google's Android and China Mobile's Ophone offerings.
Despite the fact that his company specializes in designing device hardware, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha thinks the tablet market's future is largely out of his hands.
HTC has announced that its Desire Z Android smartphone will launch in Australia in 'mid-March' exclusively through Vodafone.
Following a three month exclusivity deal with Telstra, the ruggedised Motorola Defy Android phone is now available through Optus.
Sprint Monday debuted a host of smartphone security services as part of its Total Equipment Protection package.
All of Motorola's high-end smartphones will soon be able to work with a docking station that provides them with a large screen and keyboard when needed, the company's CEO said Monday.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
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Judge OKs deep hyperlinking
The USAToday has this story on a ruling in an important case involving the bility to link to other sites.
\"U.S. District Judge Harry Hupp said hyperlinking was not illegal as long as consumers understand whose site they are on and that one company has not simply duplicated another\'s page.
While companies may benefit by more customers using their service, hyperlinking to deep pages allows users to bypass the \'\'front page\'\' area that contains advertising Web companies rely on for revenue.
\'\'If we spend substantial money to build up a site, why should they be able to take that and build their business on the backs of our hard work?\'\' Ticketmaster attorney Robert Platt argued.
Officials with Ticketmaster.com, a unit of tickets leader Ticketmaster Online-CitySearch in Pasadena, hoped the lawsuit against Costa Mesa-based Tickets.com would protect its site from such unauthorized incursions.


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Thrifty car rentals are growing in popularity in the U.S. and many consumers are choosing them for convenience and convenience’s sake.
But the cars are also the latest examples of a trend that can be hard to predict.
Here’s how to find the cheapest car rental company in your area.
Read More The best value for money comes from the low cost of the car and the low-end of the market, according to a study from the UBS Wealth Management.
But how much do you actually need to spend to be competitive in this new, high-end market?
How much will you pay for the car?
Here’s what you need to know about the market.


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With an aggressive new growth strategy, NFLPI is looking to score big in brand licensing as it looks beyond traditional products to drive retail sales.
Netflix and 41 Entertainment have teamed up to create "Kong–King of the Apes," an original animated TV series for kids.
Kabillion has finalized a deal with Premavision/Clokey Productions to air the iconic series “Gumby” on both is video-on-demand platform and YouTube Channel.
IMG and Topman have announced a new collaboration between youth brand American Freshman and Jamal Edwards, founder of SB.TV.
Trevco Sportswear, which creates on-demand licensed apparel, will create a full line of t-shirt offerings for licensing agent Epic Rights' roster of music clients.
WildWorks, a developer of online worlds and free-to-play games, has appointed Peeko as the worldwide licensing agent for its Animal Jam brand.
Rainbow Studios is expanding its Winx Club franchise with a spin-off series, "Winx Club WOW: World of Winx," that will be available exclusively on Netflix.
Puffin has joined PopJam, Mind Candy's social community for kids, as the platform's first major publishing partner.
Saban Brands is planning a new original kids' series inspired by its Popples toy brand that will be available exclusively on Netflix worldwide.
LIMA will host the latest in its series of webinars designed to bring licensing professionals local knowledge about global marketplaces.
Otter Media, a joint venture between The Chernin Group and AT&T, has purchased a majority stake in the YouTube multi-channel network Fullscreen.
Sina and NBA China have expanded their existing partnership to provide fans in China with unprecedented access to NBA content.
The NBA and American Express have launched a new digital destination to bring some of basketball’s best players to life.
CafePress has launched the official online store for Cartoon Network’s animated series “Annoying Orange.”
Nearly half (49.9 percent) of holiday shoppers plan to do the remainder of their holiday shopping online.
Babies ‘R’ Us has entered into a strategic partnership with the pregnancy and parenting website TheBump.com.
DecalGirl has signed a licensing deal with Disney and Disney Pixar to create electronics skins featuring more than 30 of the studios’ properties.
A raft of BabyFirst TV shows are now available on the Hulu Plus subscription service.
Two animated series and two feature films from The Pokémon Company International are now available on Netflix.
Online retailer SwimsuitsForAll is pairing with celebrity and lifestyle mogul Jessica Simpson for a line of plus-size swimwear.
Amazon Studios has given the go-ahead for six more original series for its Prime Instant Video online streaming service.
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Isolation Heading To iOS And Android On December 16
The mobile adaption of Alien: Isolation will include all seven DLC packs.
Feral Interactive today revealed a mobile launch date for Alien: Isolation – December 16. The survival horror game first launched on PC and consoles back in 2014, and a new trailer for the mobile adaptation shows how the experience is being transformed for the small screen.
Aside from reworked graphics, Feral Interactive is also adding a fully customizable interface so players can optimize their experience. If touchscreens aren’t your thing – and you’d rather not play Alien: Isolation on another platform – gamepads are fully supported. Better yet, all seven DLC packs are included in the mobile version.
“Alien: Isolation on mobile offers a mesmeric action-adventure on a damaged labyrinthine space station, lightyears from Earth,” said Feral Interactive. “The stunning AAA visuals, arresting narrative and terrifying atmosphere of Creative Assembly’s award-winning sci-fi masterpiece have been faithfully replicated for phones and tablets. This is the complete survival horror experience brought to mobile without compromise.”
Alien: Isolation pulled in positive reviews in 2014, with most critics praising the intelligent AI and game’s ability to build suspense. It’ll be interesting to see how much of that remains intact while playing on smartphones or a tablet – but the early footage shows the team is off to a good start.
Alien: Isolation will be available on December 16 for $14.99 on both iOS and Android.
NEXT: “Something About Infinite Has Brought Back The Spark” – Halo Infinite’s Multiplayer Ignites Halo Nostalgia
Your drying pan won’t protect you from the wrath of societal cancellation, Brock.
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Hundreds of workers at Ford's stamping plant in Woodlawn will receive profit-sharing checks of $7,600.
That is how much Ford's U.S. production workers are getting in profit sharing, based on the automaker's 2018 financial results. The amount was up $100 from a year ago.
Ford has about 900 hourly workers, represented by United Auto Workers Local 897, at the Route 5 plant. The automaker couldn't specify how many of them were eligible for the checks.
But full-time Ford hourly workers are eligible for profit sharing unless they have terminated their employment for a reason other than death, layoff or approved leave, retirement or sale of the operation in which they were employed, said Kelli Felker, a Ford spokeswoman.
The profit-sharing arrangement is included in the UAW's contract with Ford. The agreement calls for Ford to pay hourly workers $1,000 in profit sharing for each $1 billion in Ford's North American profits, before taxes.
Eligible workers will receive their checks on March 14. Workers still need to pay taxes on them.
Hourly workers represented by the UAW at General Motors also receive profit-sharing checks. GM is set to report its fourth quarter and year-end earnings, including the profit-sharing amount, on Feb. 6. GM has two area plants, in Lockport and the Town of Tonawanda.
Last year, GM workers were eligible to receive up to $11,750 in profit-sharing checks.


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Scammers capitalise on pandemic.
Australians lost over A$851 million to scams in 2020, a record amount, as scammers took advantage of the pandemic to con unsuspecting people, according to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s (ACCC) latest Targeting Scams report.
The report compiles data from Scamwatch, ReportCyber, other government agencies and 10 banks and financial intermediaries, and is based on more than 444,000 reports.
Investment scams accounted for the biggest losses, with A$328 million, and made up more than a third of total losses. Romance scams were the next biggest category, costing Australians A$131 million, while payment redirection scams resulted in A$128 million of losses.
“Last year, scam victims reported the biggest losses we have seen, but worse, we expect the real losses will be even higher, as many people don’t report these scams,” ACCC Deputy Chair Delia Rickard said.
“Unfortunately scammers continue to become more sophisticated and last year used the COVID-19 pandemic to scam and take advantage of people from all walks of life during this crisis.”
Of the A$851 million in combined losses, A$176 million were reported to Scamwatch alone. (All losses described below are from Scamwatch data only).
“Victoria, which was significantly impacted by the second wave of the virus, recorded the highest losses nationwide for the first time and Victorians reported A$49 million in losses to Scamwatch, more than double those in 2019.” Ms Rickard said.
“We saw scammers claiming the government restrictions meant people could not see items in person before purchase. This was a common ruse in vehicle sale and puppy scams, which both had higher reports and losses.”
As people spent more time online during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, reports and losses for some scams also increased.
Health and medical scams increased more than 20 fold compared to 2019, accounting for over A$3.9 million in losses. Losses to threat based scams increased by 178 per cent to A$11.8 million, and there were more than A$8.4 million in losses to remote access scams, an increase of over 74 per cent.
Phishing activity also thrived during the pandemic, especially through government impersonation scams. There were over 44,000 reports of phishing scams, representing a 75 per cent increase.


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But for the first time, the Indian Railways received a unique tweet addressed to its name.
India’s most famous dairy giant Amul reached out to the Indian Railways and tweeted their business proposition to the Railways, seeking permission to use their refrigerated parcel vans to transport Amul butter to different parts of India.
The Indian Railways had made the refrigerated parcel vans’ service available a few years ago with an aim to allow the transportation of presumable products such as vegetable, fruits poultry products, etc.
The service is available on selective routines, however, the refrigerated parcel vans are supposedly lying defunct.
The Indian Railways promptly responded to Amul’s business proposal in the most cheek-in-tongue manner and won hearts once again!
NewsGram is a Chicago, US-based nonprofit media organization, approved by IRS as a tax exempt 501 (c) (3) entity. We are a public funded media committed to provide news and analyses in an objective and non partisan manner. Editor-in-Chief: Dr. Munish Kumar Raizada


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Nada Stirratt is leaving her post as EVP, Digital Advertising for MTV Networks (NYSE: VIA) to take on the role of chief revenue officer at MySpace, MediaMemo’s Peter Kafka reports. Her hiring comes about two months after Jeff Berman exited MySpace as sales and marketing head, after the company hired consultancy MediaLink. Stirratt joined MTVN just over three years ago, after serving as SVP and GM of ad sales at AOL’s Advertising.com. She’ll be starting at MySpace later this month. Stirratt joins a growing list of MTVN defectors to MySpace, including Jason Hirschhorn, who signed on in April as chief product officer, and Courtney Holt, who became president of MySpace Music last November. (A MySpace spokeswoman says the social net isn’t announcing anything.)
By luring an online ad vet like Stirratt, MySpace hopes to counter its advertising challenges amid the economic downturn and the surging of Facebook. It’s no coincidence that MySpace has hit up so many MTVN alums to help meet that challenge. The social net has been trying to fashion itself as more of an entertainment-based outfit. At the same time, MTVN has been trying to build out its social net abilities. As for how Stirratt’s decision will affect both companies, it remains an open question.
Rafat adds: Well, even if MTVN couldn’t buy MySpace back then, its management certainly is taking it over, one by one. Jason missed buying it by a hair’s margin, as has been well documented before, though in hindsight it wasn’t a bad miss, now that you think about it. What next? Tom Freston to actually really rescue MySpace now? How long’s Owen staying there, stuck in his outpost in San Francisco?
Update: An MTVN rep says no permanent replacement for Stirratt has been named yet. The company didn’t say if it will conduct an internal or external search for a new digital ad sales head. In the meantime, Kevin Arrix will continue to lead the sales team, which includes Brad Herman, SVP, digital ad operations; Jason Witt, general manager of Digital Fusion and Heather Hopkins, general manager of the Tribes ad networks. They are all reporting to COO Rich Eigendorff.


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SALT LAKE CITY — A new Pew Research Center report finds that 53 percent of people find it generally unacceptable for a white person to use makeup to darken their skin to appear as a different race.
However, 34 percent say wearing makeup to darken your skin for Halloween is always or sometimes acceptable.
Meanwhile, 37 percent say it is never acceptable to use makeup to darken your skin for Halloween.
Race: There’s a divide among those of different races in the report.
- The report found 39 percent of white people feel blackface can be used for a Halloween costume, while 19 percent of African-Americans feel the same.
- For whites, respondents who were younger than 30 are less accepting of blackface. The survey found 27 percent of younger whites say it is sometimes acceptable to use makeup to darken skin for Halloween. However, 23 percent say it is rarely acceptable and 41 percent say it is never acceptable.
- About 44 percent of whites with some college or less education say it is always or sometimes acceptable. Meanwhile, 28 percent of whites with at least a bachelor's degree agree.
- The survey found 9 percent of black college graduates say use of blackface is acceptable, compared to 21 percent of those who have some college or less education.
Partisan: There’s a partisan gap in this survey, too.14 comments on this story
- About 51 percent of those who lean Republican say wearing blackface is sometimes acceptable, with 24 percent saying it’s always acceptable and 37 percent saying it’s rarely or never acceptable.
- By contrast, a majority of Democrats and Democratic leaners, 67 percent, say blackface is not acceptable.
Context: The survey dropped after the news broke about Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and other politicians wearing blackface for their Halloween costumes. On Monday, Katy Perry was criticized for her shoe brand having the appearance of blackface.


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'Popcorn Lung' Chemical Affecting More Than Factory Workers
Several consumers have come forward with a rare lung disease, claiming it is from the same dangerous chemical that is used in butter flavoring.
The government has been aware of the illness that is caused by diacetyl, a chemical found in microwave popcorn and other products, 10TV's Anietra Hamper reported.
Wayne Watson loved microwave popcorn. He would have two bags of it every day.
"Who would reasonably think that popping popcorn in your own home - no matter how it's packaged - would turn into an agent for toxic lung disease?" Watson said.
Hamper visited Watson in his hometown of Centennial, Colo. He made national headlines when he was the first consumer who was diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans, also known as "popcorn lung."
It is a rare, irreversible lung disease that is caused by the blockage of tiny airways in the lungs.
Watson said that he first noticed the issue during a church Christmas concert. During a solo, Watson, a baritone tenor, realized that he was struggling for each breath and did not realize that night that his life would change.
"I wasn't able to sustain the notes like I should be able to," Watson said.
In 2007, Dr. Cecile Rose of the National Jewish Health Center in Denver diagnosed Watson with bronchiolitis obliterans.
"(Rose) said, 'I have one more question. It's going to sound really weird, but bear with me - are you around, or do you eat a lot of butter-flavored, artificially butter-flavored popcorn?'" Watson said. "I (almost) fell out of my chair. I was literally astonished."
Diacetyl is in more than 6,000 products, including microwave popcorn, frozen foods, cake mixes and butter-flavored cooking oils. When heated, it is released in a vapor form, Hamper reported.
Watson's two-bag-a-day popcorn habit was not the problem. Instead, it was the continuous inhalation of the rich, buttery vapors that poured out with each snack.
The disease afflicts hundreds of popcorn and food plant workers across the U.S. who work near the chemical. There is no cure. Those who don't die or end up on lung transplant lists simply live with the debilitating capacity to breathe, Hamper reported.
Watson has to wear oxygen at night because he now has 50 percent lung capacity. He has difficulty with the simplest of tasks. Walking up the stairs is even a struggle.
Until his diagnosis, bronchiolitis obliterans was thought to be only a popcorn worker's disease. After diagnosing Watson, Rose sent a letter to four government agencies, including the Food and Drug Administration, warning that diacetyl was a potential health threat not just to workers, but also to consumers.
According to the FDA, it followed up with Rose and incorporated her findings in its review. They also assigned a team of scientists to examine scientific research into types of diacetyl exposure. The FDA said that it has not ruled out any regulatory option.
"We're looking at the available information we have on the potential for consumer exposure, and how that relates to the available safety data," said Dr. Mitchell Cheeseman of the FDA. "At this time, we still consider diacetyl used as a flavoring agent to be safe for consumers."
While the FDA looks into consumer exposure, lawmakers in Washington are saying they are keeping a close on the FDA's next move.
"This is something we're focusing on with them, and we want to see the FDA either reassure us with equivocation or move forward on telling the public this substance is questionable," said Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown.
Connecticut Rep. Rosa DeLauro chairs a House committee that appropriates funds to the FDA. She made a commitment to Hamper during 10TV News' visit to Washington to further examine the consumer issue.
"We have to be advocates for consumers," DeLauro said. "I'm sure there's some people that don't even know if they have difficulty - what it might be stemming from - so it's an education process as well. Then, you can hold feet to the fire."
More people are coming forward with popcorn lung cases. Attorney Ken McClain is representing at least three other consumers with pending lawsuits after they were diagnosed with bronchiolitis obliterans.
"It is not possible for consumers to protect themselves in the current environment," McClain said.
Diacetyl is not found on ingredient labels. The only indications of its presence are words like "enhanced butter flavoring."
Vapor concentrations in consumer products are minimal, compared to occupational exposure. There are no current regulations of the chemical and limited testing being conducted, so no one knows how much exposure it would take to make consumers sick.
"I don't think these companies thought a consumer could ever be exposed to enough of it to matter," Watson said.
Some companies who have stopped using diacetyl have it listed on their products, saying "No diacetyl." During 10TV's six-month investigation, we also discovered that researchers from the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health, the research branch of the Centers For Disease Control and Prevention, are currently testing the substitutes being used for diacetyl and have found that most of them are as toxic - and in some cases - more toxic than diacetyl.
The FDA still considers diacetyl safe, so it is not telling people not to use products with it in it.
Stay with 10TV News and 10TV.com for additional information.
- Occupational Safety And Health Administration/Action On Diacetyl Issue
- FDA: Concerns About Regulated Products
- FDA: How To Contact The FDA
February 4, 2010: Common Food Flavoring Changed Lives Forever


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Brisbane Thai restaurant will close after more than two decades of service, as the long term lease has come to an end.
Fans of red chilli Thai took to social media to express their disbelief and sadness at the news of Red Chilli’s impending closure.
Related QLD: Douglas Shire rejects $300m Fairmont resort proposal
from courier mail 18.10.21
A beloved Brisbane Thai restaurant will serve its last green curry next month after more than two decades of service.
Red Chilli Thai Restaurant owner Kelvin Lai confirmed the news to South-West Satellite.
He said the decision to shut Red Chilli’s doors was “very sad” and was due to the end of his long-term lease.
Mr Lai and wife Kate, who runs the kitchen, purchased Red Chilli in 2012 from its inaugural owner.
Mr Lai said the restaurant was founded in 1998, shortly after Forest Lake Shopping Centre threw open its doors to the public.
He said after Red Chilli closes at the end of November, he and Kate will take a “couple of months” to consider their options, but had “no plans” to open another venue at this stage.
Centre manager Rebecca McKeown said Red Chilli’s departure would “provide us with the opportunity to refresh our retail mix at Forest Lake Shopping Centre”.
“At this stage it is still too early to provide any more detail about what will replace Red Chilli Thai, but we look forward to sharing further updates with our community as our planning progresses,” she said.
“Forest Lake Shopping Centre continues to experience strong demand for retail space, and we remain committed to providing a retail experience that meets the evolving demands of our local community.”
Gutted members of the Forest Lake community took to social media to express their disbelief and sadness at the news of Red Chilli’s impending closure.
“That is very sad news, we have been regulars there over the past 18 years and absolutely love their food. I hope they find somewhere close by to open as I am sure their regular customers will follow,” said one.
“What a shame, great food and people,” said another


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Clash of Clans is a freemium real time strategy game for mobile devices that rose to the top of the app store when it was released in 2012. And it’s stayed there—as of this writing, it’s sitting at #12.
Here are two promotional images for the game from its app store listing:
Clash of Clans has proved so successful that it has inspired dozens of, to use an industry term of art, “fast follows”; copycats. Reddit user sonuvagon06 noticed just how egregious these imitations are, and posted his findings.
Here are some of the worst offenders:
Of course, this phenomenon isn’t limited to Clash of Clans. Candy Crush Saga, the wildly successful match-three game (itself no great original), has “inspired” such copies as Candy Blast Mania and Fruit Mania:
Minecraft and Angry Birds have each led to legions of “fast-follows”. But Clash of Clans, the new kid on the block, may well be the worst.
- Greece will decide on Sunday whether they will accept austerity measures as a condition of a bailout that may stave off an imminent financial and economic crisis.
- It took a while, but an English national soccer team has finally defeated Germany in a major tournament. England took third place with a 1-0 win over the top-ranked German team in the FIFA Women's World Cup ⚽
- Chile defeated Argentina on penalties to win the Copa America tournament. It's the first ever trophy for Chile in the 99 years of the Copa ⚽


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Samsung's rolling in the dough, with profits revealed to be rising 55% in their Q1 2013 earnings call. And the Samsung Galaxy S4 is only just going on sale! Samsung have filed a massive $7.9 billion (just over £5 billion)…
We've heard of some pretty awful cases of neglect when it comes to online gaming addiction around the globe, but never any quite as mercenary as this. A Chinese couple have been arrested after it was discovered the pair had…
SmartSwipe, the USB credit card reader that makes shopping online quicker and safer, is now available from Firebox.com. Great for online shopaholics and those wary of inputting their credit card details online, this USB gadget lets you swipe the card…
New research from SellMyMobile.com has revealed that Britain is sitting on a mountain of as many as 68 million unused or unwanted mobile phones. A sample study of 1,332 past and present mobile owners showed that two thirds (65%) of…
Universal Music Group's Rob Wells has said that Spotify is finally beginning to present itself as a very sustainable financial model for the record labels that have agreed licensing deals with the streaming app. Wells went on to reveal for…
Back in March, this very blog suggested five ways in which Twitter might be able to make money.
Suggestion one was entitled “Companies must pay!” and highlighted how businesses were benefiting from free advertising via the microblogging site.
Today, it has emerged that computer giant Dell has made $3m from advertising its products via Twitter, with a third of this coming in the last six months – the period in which Twitter’s popularity has exploded.
This may seem small peanuts compared to the $12.3 billion of revenue Dell earned during the first quarter of this year, but $3million is still a whole lot of moolah. And it doesn’t really seem fair that Twitter won’t see a single penny of this.
The good news for Twitter is that Dell, who had previously dismissed the idea of ever paying Twitter for its service, may be coming round to the idea that there’s no such thing as a free lunch. They’ve admitted that Twitter offers a unique service that is incredibly useful in terms of marketing.
The web is full of affiliate links whereby commission is paid to sites linking to products – it’s what makes the free-content based system viable. It seems a bit silly that one of the web’s most popular systems isn’t involved in this system.
(via PC Pro)
I know, I know. You’ve always wanted to combine your love of Lego Star Wars and Rock Band. Well, Warner hear you and they’ve got your back. The company has confirmed that it’ll be releasing Lego Rock Band later this year on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and DS.
Songs already confirmed for the game include Blur’s “Song 2”, Carl Douglas’ “Kung Fu Fighting”, Europe’s “The Final Countdown”, Good Charlotte’s “Boys and Girls”, and Pink’s “So What”. It’ll combine the actually-quite-funny Lego games’ humour with the gameplay of the Rock Band franchise. And you can bet it’ll be one of those circular pieces over to the left speeding towards you.
There’ll be a career mode, just like the other versions of the game, except you play as a lego minifig. Players will be able to customise their avatars, as well as customising their entourage, including roadies, managers and crew. It’ll work with existing Rock Band instruments.
Facebook’s now been around for five years, but will it still be around in five years’ time? There’s a long and a short answer to that question. The short answer is yes. A website, operating at www.facebook.com, will still be going in five years. That, assuming the internet survives the next five years, is a given.
But will it still be the cultural force that it is today – 150 million users worldwide, twice the size of its nearest competitor, leading to academic misconduct, arrests, multiple lawsuits, house-trashings and viruses? I suspect the answer might be no. Click over the jump to find out why.


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Classic car collection for sale
STOVERTOWN – In 1943, 14-year-old Bill Thomas tried to buy his first Ford Model T. The $65 price tag was just a few dollars out of his grasp, and he was forced to wait a few years before he bought his first one.
But he didn’t stop at just one. After buying four Model T’s, he acquired a pair of model A’s, three Plymouths and dozens of other antique cars.
In all, Thomas amassed 39 antique cars and trucks over his lifetime, as well as 10 horse-drawn wagons and countless numbers of automobile-related antiques such as porcelain license plates and gas pumps from the 1910s.
When he died last year, Thomas’ five children began organizing their father’s belongings for an auction. As Bill’s wife, Lucille, used to jest, “it’s going to be one heck of an auction.”
The lawns and barns at 5960 Stovertown Drive, where an auction will start at 10 a.m. Saturday, are packed with vehicles, the majority of which were built before 1950. Some of the cars are functional while others were used for parts, but it seems like each holds a childhood memory to Bill’s children.
Susan Miller, Margie Tysinger, Karen Showers, Bill Thomas Jr. and Dianna Wright all walked around their childhood yard, peering into barns, trailers, canopies — basically anything that would keep a car out of the elements.
The group stopped in front of a 1914 Model T sedan.
“You had to pick up your feet to go up a hill,” Wright said. “You had to back up and get gas in the tank on a steep hill. You really have to know how to drive it.”
The car hadn’t run in three years, and Miller said her son played an integral role in getting the car back in working order, even driving the car to test it out.
“Grandpa would be so proud of what the family has done in getting these cars running,” Miller said. “It really brings it full circle.”
As evidenced by his yard, the elder Thomas wasn’t fond of selling his cars. Jerry Imes, a longtime friend and fellow car restoration aficionado, was denied a car sale when the two first met. They have been friends ever since, and Imes was instrumental in identifying parts on the property.
For a long time, the elder Thomas’ kids assumed he was disorganized because of the cluttered storage units. But upon inspection, Showers noticed labels on tiny pill bottles of screws, identifying which car door they were to be used on.
“He knew where everything was,” Showers said. “It’s really amazing.”
The elder Thomas was a horse teamster as a child, and collected an assortment of wagons. Walking between several of the vintage wagons, his children talked about Sunday afternoon rides and sing-alongs.
“We picked corn in this wagon,” “someone said.
“So did the grandkids,” another said.
As the lone boy in the family, the younger Thomas complained of the woes of sanding, to which eldest sister chimed in: “Oh, trust me, we all sanded. I used to have to have to bandage my fingers from sanding so much.”
The elder Thomas rebuilt his last car four years ago, although he continued to tinker with cars up until two years before his death. Stopping to admire a 1971 International Trailer, the younger Thomas told of the countless miles his parents drove across the country, attending car shows and auto club meetings.
The trailer had no air conditioning, no power steering and seats everyone in the family remembers as “about as uncomfortable as you could get.”
“They were just good, salt of the earth people,” Wright said.
When they were kids, each of the elder Thomas’ children recalled embarrassing moments when they were picked up in vintage cars. Some of them drove cars to high school that were 20 to 30 years out of style.
The grandchildren could always easily locate their grandmother in “the pickle,” a long olive green 1972 Chrysler Newport that Lucille Thomas drove.
Still, they have a special connection to five of the vehicles, and each child has kept one for themselves. And they’re starting to build their own memories. A couple of weeks ago, a nephew was taken to prom in one of the vintage cars.
“There’s so many special memories with these cars,” Showers said. “It’s really bittersweet to see some of them go.”
If you go
The auction will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at 5960 Stovertown Drive. The auction continues at noon Sunday with the sale of parts.


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Laws banning children from working are often counterproductive. A better approach is to give parents incentives to send their kids to school
Tablets remain a problem in a record-breaking quarter
From Michael Dunn's trial in Florida to discord over open-carry laws in Colorado, the debate about gun control has driven Americans to indulge their worst behavior
The company misses earnings forecasts, drops its 2015 profit goal, and regroups
Chinese millionaires are moving in—and building up—in Arcadia, Calif.
A new book surveys the best places to hide out from the digital world
The two tech giants fight over market share and patents but not over the NBA superstar
More business schools than ever are accepting the GRE as an alternative to the GMAT, according to just-released data
Small businesses are changing hands at the fastest pace since the recession
How'd he get so rich? In 1979, the former Iowa farm boy mortgaged his home to start his own pesticide company. Today Albaugh is a multibillion-dollar company with operations as far afield as Brazil and Argentina. Albaugh owns 100% of the company and has a fortune estimated at $1.5 billion.
Learn more about Albaugh.


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Building material firm CRH to buy assets worth €6.5m from rivals
CRH has been given the go-ahead by the European Commission for its €6.5bn acquisition of assets from rivals Lafarge and Holcim.
The Irish building materials giant is buying a number of global assets belonging to the French and Swiss firms as they finalise terms of their own merger.
Lafarge and Holcim are disposing of some of their businesses to clear regulatory hurdles for their merger.
The European Commission said that acquisition by CRH of the assets being sold would raise no competition concerns, “in particular because the merged entity (CRH and its newly-acquired businesses) will continue to face sufficiently strong competition after the merger and customers will have alternative suppliers in all markets concerned”.
In making its decision, the EC analysed border markets for so-called grey cement in Poland and Slovakia, border markets in France and Belgium, and also the sector in the UK. The watchdog also examined the competitive landscape for ready-mix concrete, cementitious materials, aggregates and asphalt in several regions of the European Economic Area.
The planned merger between Holcim and Lafarge nearly collapsed last month as the pair fell out over terms of the deal.


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The e-cigarette (e-cig) industry has been increasingly viewed as one of the most disruptive changes in the global tobacco market and this is no different for India. India’s e-cig market is poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 34% from INR4.1bn in 2017 to reach INR7.4bn in 2019. This tremendous growth is mainly driven by smokers opting for e-cig as they believe it can help them quit smoking, according to leading data and analytics company GlobalData.
e-cigs to curb cigarette consumption
e-cigs are mainly positioned as a smoking cessation product in India. However, due to lack of confidence on linking vaping to smoking cessation, seven states have currently banned e-cigs sales in their respective states. Nevertheless, consumers in India are opting for e-cigs as a method to quit smoking as they are perceived to provide a nicotine kick while avoiding the harmful contents present in a traditional cigarette. This is also evident in a consumer survey conducted by GlobalData, where in 53% of the vapers lie in the mid-age group of 30-49 years, who have a history of smoking and thus opt for vaping to curb the habit.
Majority of the vapers were dual users
According to the survey, e-cigs being in its infancy has majority (90%) of its vapers as dual users who vape them along with smoking traditional cigarettes. These dual users in their pursuit to quit smoking, replace one or more instances of smoking with vaping in order to replace it entirely. It was also observed that 92% of these vapers vaped with their friends, vaped a few times a week (53%) and preferred menthol (25%) as a flavor.
Moreover, both dual and exclusive users who mainly lie in the mid-age group also believed that vaping is safer (67%) than traditional cigarettes and thus opt for vaping devices as a cessation product. This is contrary to young users who also vape for recreational purposes.
Banned states hinder growth
The lack of clear medical evidence and uncertainty have led multiple states to ban the sales of e-cigs as they term them to be equally harmful as traditional cigarettes if not less. Thus, though the industry exists from more than a decade now in India, it has struggled gaining penetration when compared to traditional cigarettes.
Currently, seven states in India–Punjab, Bihar, Mizoram, Karnataka, Jammu and Kashmir, Kerala and Haryana– have banned the sales of E-cigs and more are expected to follow suit. Though these states have banned the sales of E-cigs, the usage of the same is not regulated and thus online sales in these states will continue to flourish due to no clear guidelines.
Imported brands dominate
Sanjeev Raikar, lead analyst of consumer market at GlobalData, says: “Due to unclear regulations and import policies, E-cigs market in India is dominated by imported devices and consumables. Majority of these devices are imported from China while e-liquids come mainly from China and Malaysia. This uncertainty in regulations has also raised skepticism amongst domestic manufacturers, which is in turn driving imports.”
While these high imports have led to fragmentation, nevertheless, consumable brands such as Naked, iVape and Fantasi Malaysia have managed to lead the market with a sizable portion. On the other hand, domestic players such as ITC Ltd and GPI Ltd with their large presence in disposables and closed-style rechargeable devices, constituted a much smaller share in the overall market pie.
Online stores continue to drive demand
This vaping trend will only increase in the near future as more smokers join the bandwagon even though more number of states join the ban. This is credited to word-of-mouth, as vapers advocate their vaping experience and thus add vapers. Similarly online channel, which is the major channel of e-cigs distribution, is expected to further drive the industry in the near future as there is no clear regulation to monitor sales.
It is also expected that vapers will opt for more expensive and sophisticated devices such as mod styles and vape pens away from disposables and closed style rechargeable devices, while experienced users will use more than one device based on their preference.


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Braid creator Jonathan Blow has been hard at work on an exploration/puzzle adventure title called The Witness. Currently, The Witness is only scheduled for release on PC and Apple’s iOS. However, a new interview with Blow suggests that The Witness may be coming to consoles.
Game Informer interviewed Jonathan Blow about The Witness, who discussed platforms for his next game. “My current idea is to launch on PC and iOS, and then maybe one of the consoles which has not been decided, and later to bring the game to all other platforms,” Blow said.
Blow then explained why The Witness wasn’t scheduled for consoles and what has changed since:
We can only do a certain number of platforms at launch, because we’re small. A few months ago, I was doing all these interviews, and I didn’t think we were going to do a console at launch. But we’re hiring two more programmers, which has a huge impact on what we can do. So now the idea is open again, that we might do a console launch, but now what exactly that is depends on all sorts of business things that we just haven’t figured out yet.
More on The Witness can be read in Game Informer #225, which features a four page feature on the game and more comments from Jonathan Blow.


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LivingSocial is new round of financing raises fund nearly half or defer IPO
Dispatch oflouis vuitton outlets Netease science and technology On December 8 message, according to foreign media coverage, the 2nd big group of American buys website LivingSocial to belouis vuitton outlets stores in new capital of 176 million dollar already raised money in round financing. LivingSocial the target of this round of financing is 400 million dollar.
Occupy personage of know the inside story to divulge, these capital will be used at daily expenses and business dilate. LivingSocial trades to American louis vuitton 2012 negotiable securities today committee (SEC) a referred document confirmed this one information.
Participate in this round of financing already LivingSocial has shareholder, also have new investor. Magendatong is one of new investor, existinglouis vuitton outlet partner includes: Yamaxun, velocity of light is achieved cast, Revolution Fund, Grotech Ventures and U.S. Venture Partners.
This round of financing willlouis vuitton wallets give LivingSocial in future a few months have enough financial flexibility, in order to decide application makes public collect first (IPO) right turn.
The mostLouis vuitton outlets store online notable is, personage of know the inside story discloses, the capital that place of LivingSocial epicycle financing raises money will be used at the operationlouis vuitton outlets online of the company entirely, the company won't have any to have shareholder or administrator is covered now. Last rounds of financing of this and Groupon hasauthentic louis vuitton outlets very big distinction, groupon the capital of 1 billion dollar that place of last rounds of financing raises money, be used at administrator and other shareholder entirely almost cover now.


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The corona pandemic has had major consequences for the number of foreign guests in the Danish summer country in recent years. But according to one of the country’s leading holiday home agencies, this indicates that especially the Norwegian guests are on their way back – and even to a greater extent than before the pandemic.
The summer holidays are just around the corner, which in recent years has led many Danes to set course for the Danish summer country. But according to one of the country’s leading holiday home agencies, DanCenter, it is to a much greater extent the foreign guests who want to go on holiday in Denmark this summer:
– In the last two summer seasons, we have experienced an extraordinarily large demand from Danish guests, but for the first time in a long time, it is instead the foreign guests who account for the majority of our bookings in July, says Kim Holmsted, who is CEO of DanCenter, and elaborates:
– We experience, for example, a quadrupling in the number of Norwegian bookings in July compared to the same period last year, when corona continued to have a major impact on Norwegians’ travel activity. If we compare the Norwegian booking figures with before the corona in July 2019, we also see an increase of 25 percent. It thus testifies to a happy form of new normal effect, where the Norwegians are more likely to seek out the Danish holiday homes than before the corona.
According to figures from Statistics Denmark, the Norwegians booked a total of 6,757 Danish holiday homes in July.
Expecting full houses
But the Norwegian guests are not going to get the summer country for themselves. Figures from DanCenter show that the interest in holiday home stays this summer is on a par with the record year in 2021, when the holiday home industry together experienced more overnight stays than ever before.
– The occupancy rate in week 29 is currently 95 percent, which is similar to the level we experienced at the same time last year. A similar development applies for the rest of July, and we are thus looking forward to a summer with full houses, which is especially to the benefit of our many homeowners, but also for the local cottage areas, which will automatically experience more life in the summer season, ends Kim Holmsted.
In addition to the Norwegian guests, who currently account for 10 percent of the bookings, the majority of DanCenter’s guests in July are German and Danish and account for 37 and 46 percent of the total number of bookings, respectively.


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The Browning of our economy
Small-business advocate says California’s ‘Green Chemistry’ initiative will hurt the state
- John Kabateck
Small businesses are the lifeblood of California’s economy, supporting almost 80 percent of jobs within the state. However, they are also the most vulnerable — and in some ways the most unappreciated — sector of the economy.
They are less capable of absorbing increased costs of doing business, and their needs are often ignored when laws and regulations are crafted in Sacramento. According to a recent study by the National Federation of Independent Business, small businesses pay 37 percent more than larger firms to comply with federal regulations alone. Mom-and-pop businesses — the majority of job creators — earn less but are forced to pay more.
The plight and needs of Main Street job creators were once again passed over as the California Air Resources Board implemented its cap-and-trade auction, increasing costs to California’s families by up to $4,500 on average. And small-business concerns are again being disregarded as the state Department of Toxic Substances Control rolls out its “Green Chemistry” initiative — a set of regulations the agency says will mean safer consumer products.
Green Chemistry is yet another example of Sacramento pursuing its agenda of environmental extremism without any concern for costs to consumers or California’s economic future. The department has issued a broad proposal that will enable it to regulate the manufacturing and distribution of any product it chooses that could impose unworkable burdens on tens of thousands of small businesses in the state.
Consumers also will suffer. Just as California is driving incandescent light bulbs from its market, the same will occur to popular electronics, cosmetics and other common household projects found to be safe by the federal government and 49 other states.
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Joe Satriani’s has announced his new studio album “Shapeshifting” will be released on April 10 via Sony Music/Legacy Recordings. The first single, “Nineteen Eighty”, is available today on all streaming platforms and at rock radio stations nationwide. Pre-order packages are also available beginning today. In addition to the CD and standard black vinyl, the D2C store will offer an exclusive translucent blue colored, signed vinyl. Additional offerings will include stemless wine glasses, coffee mugs, koozies, crew socks, guitar picks and a t-shirt — all featuring Joe’s original artwork. Also available, an autographed CD via pre-order with Newbury Comics online retails store. Anyone who pre-orders via the D2C will receive early access to the upcoming U.S. tour, to be announced shortly.
Visit the pre-order page here: http://www.satriani.com/discography/Shapeshifting/
“I’ve always been a huge fan of Eddie Van Halen,” Satriani says. “In my mind, he just crystallized that era. The late ’70s and early ’80s, he kind of saved rock guitar. So that’s what I would have been doing.”
Satriani has previously announced “The Shapeshifting Tour” beginning April 15 with a 42-date European leg that currently concludes in mid-June.
“Shapeshifting” track listing:
02. Big Distortion
03. All For Love
04. Ali Farka, Dick Dale, An Alien And Me
06. Perfect Dust
07. Nineteen Eighty
08. All My Friends Are Here
09. Spirits, Ghosts And Outlaws
10. Falling Stars
12. Here The Blue River
13. Yesterday’s Yesterday


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A few days ago, Dove unveiled plans to post billboards in The Garden State that would declare, “Dear New Jersey, when people call you ‘The Armpit of America,’ take it as a compliment. Sincerely, Dove.”
The company was hoping to send the message that an armpit is actually quite a lovely thing, and assumed the majority of its audience would understand and appreciate the joke. Matthew McCarthy, the senior marketing director of deodorants at Unilever, told The New York Times last week, “I don’t expect that there will be a lot of people who misunderstand, but to the degree that they do, we’ll be open about what we’re really trying to say…The message that we want to get out there is that the armpit is not a bad thing, and that we stand for caring for the armpit.”
Talk about misreading your audience — Unilever may want to invest in a new crystal ball.
New Jersey residents were not amused, and took to the internet in droves to express their outrage and defend their home state against what they perceived as a direct, decidedly un-funny attack. Here are just a few choice comments that were left on Dove’s Facebook page and on NJ.com:
“Regarding your new ad related to NJ: F*ck you Dove. Unilever products will no longer be purchased by me for anyone in my family.”
“If New Jerseys The Armpit of America. Dove [is] The Scum of the Earth.. (it’s not a bad thing.)”
“A marketing campaign that insults the people you are marketing to…Brilliant! You’re Hired!”
The backlash against the campaign was so swift and so overwhelming, the company has already scrapped its plans altogether.
In response to the outcry that McCarthy predicted would not come, he told The New York Times in an email: “Our intent with the ‘Dear New Jersey’ ad was to call attention to the fact that armpits can and should be considered beautiful and ask women everywhere to accept this as something that is O.K. We did not wish to cause any misunderstanding or offense. We take feedback from our community very seriously and will not be running this billboard advertisement.”
After taking a moment to drink a tall glass of water to wash down its foot, we imagine Dove will be heading back to the drawing board.


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Facebook has announced that its Watch service is now globally available on desktops and on the Facebook Lite app. The company also announced that Ad Breaks are now rolling out to eligible Pages in 40 countries, including India. In its review of the Facebook Watch service, the social media platform also shared some interesting numbers, along with details on its video strategy and a range of new updates for Watch.
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Our retail store is currently closed to walk-in customers, but we are still accepting online orders for pickup at our office. The state of Florida is currently under a stay-at-home order through April 30 due to COVID-19, but we hope to reopen on Friday, May 1.
Celebrate Freedom features multi-layered mine effects including gold crackle and glitter with red, white, and blue stars; followed by comet tails to aerial breaks of gold brocades with glitter and chrysanthemum crackle.
Okay but finishes too fast
This one spreads out when it shoots. It completes really quick.


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Saudi Arabia has approximately 8.5 million vehicles on the road, with the Middle East and Africa seeing in the region of 2.3 million cars sold annually, most of which are imported.
In January, the Saudi Government launched its National Industrial Development and Logistics Programme (NIDLP), whereby nearly 40 agreements worth an estimated $53 billion have already been signed. Although none of these deals are directly in automotive products, the future for spare parts manufacturing is very bright.
The Kingdom already has a significant automotive spare parts industry, which imports parts worth around $5 billion annually. This includes all forms of imports—dealers importing from vehicle OEMs to direct importers importing multiple brands in one consignment.
With such substantial automotive demand and strong growth plans for the future, there is an opportunity to localise manufacturing in the kingdom. Large global players such as Isuzu, Mercedes, Volvo and MAN have already established commercial vehicles assembly bases in the country, with a cumulative production volume of about 12,000 units per year, slated to rise to 39,000 units per year in 2022.
Supply of upstream materials, including carbon black and synthetic rubber, and automotive steel and aluminium sheets, is also available through government entities like SABIC, MA’ADEN, TASNEE, and ARAMCO. For example, SABIC has worked with BMW to produce lightweight instrument panel carriers for its 2017 Mini Countryman vehicles.
In addition, a number of Tier 2 and Tier 3 suppliers already exist in the Kingdom. These manufacturing units not only help increase the skill level of the local population, but also decrease the dependency of the country on hydrocarbons.
There are a number of spare parts categories, ranging from brake pads to fuel pumps that could be manufactured in-house, based on various factors including market demand, barriers of entry, technological requirements and capex requirements. These assembly plants would have the capability to supply to the local and regional aftermarket demand. The total employment generated through these units could be in the range of 3,000 skilled jobs, with around 47% of them manned from the local Saudi workforce.
The most important requirements for any spare parts factory are land, energy and skilled manpower. Saudi Arabia offers lucrative incentives on the first two and has launched extensive skill development and vocational training institutes, by partnering with global training institutes in the country. Currently, there are in the region of 10 such institutes producing around 9,000 graduates per year, who can operate and manage parts assembly plants with ease.
The large automotive market, long distance driving habits and extreme weather conditions produce the appropriate mix of factors for creating a successful auto spare parts industry. The latent demand of the country, coupled with the regional requirements and the absence of large global brands in establishing manufacturing sites in the region make it a perfect situation, of which a first mover could take advantage.
With the launch of the NIDLP project, the country has taken significant strides towards becoming a regional manufacturing hub. The government is providing lucrative incentives, setting up required infrastructure and coming up with all possible support to enable the country to achieve its dream.
Aadil Rashid Khan is Principal Consultant, Mobility Practice, MEA at Frost & Sullivan. He leads and executes consulting projects across multiple sub-sectors of the automotive industry.


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Our Chief Executive, Petri Alava, has been unveiled among global digital commerce’s most influential individuals in The Tech List, the annual index published today by leading business intelligence site Retail Week.
The Tech List replaces The Tech 100 to exclusively celebrate the work of 50 – rather than 100 – digital retail leaders achieving demonstrable success by steering technological change.
The index has been determined with recommendations from industry specialists including NBK Retail Founder and Retail Analyst Natalie Berg, WARC Director of Insights Aditya Kishore, and True Executive Chair and Co-founder Matt Truman, alongside Retail Week’s team of expert journalists.
Leaders behind start-ups and disruptors, retailers and brands, investors, collaborators (third parties working with industry) and tech titans are celebrated for driving innovation in key areas such as stores, personalisation, payments, supply chain, social commerce and sustainability.
The Tech List is an essential read for retailers and brands looking for insights on the hottest digital trends, who to partner with and where to prioritise investment.
Produced in association with Braze, Emarsys, Fourth and Okta, The Tech List has greater female representation than ever before (36%) – compared with 32% last year – with Alibaba Group President of Core Domestic Commerce Trudy Dai, Olio Co-founders Tessa Clarke and Saasha Celestial-One, and AiFi Co-founder Ying Zheng among those celebrated.
It also boasts greater global diversity with individuals profiled from across the UK, US, Europe, Japan, China and Israel, and is not limited to tech job titles, with chief operations officers, eCommerce directors, founders and chief executives featured in the index.
Retail Week Senior Commercial Content Editor Megan Dunsby, who oversees The Tech List, said: “The Tech List serves as the ultimate showcase of digital leaders that the industry should be working with, taking inspiration from and investing in.
Despite the challenging market conditions in which global retail finds itself, these digital leaders highlight the real progress being made to stay ahead of competitors, improve customer experiences, and overcome the various cost pressures and supply chain disruption beating down on industry.
It’s interesting to see the contrast between those leaders – typically those with bigger budgets – making headway with game-changing technologies such as drones, robotics and the metaverse, and those making necessity-driven investments to make their businesses simply run more efficiently.”
View the Tech List.
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