text:
"We are always looking at where we can add value, whether that be through commercial production, genetic research, postharvest applications, etc. We are very excited about the idea of high-value nurseries to produce more crops to be planted by AeroFarms, other indoor growers, and even in the field," said Marc Oshima, Co-founder, and CMO at AeroFarms last summer to VerticalFarmDaily.com.
Last week, AeroFarms filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, seeking legal protection to restructure their finances and operations. So how could this have been prevented? Are microgreens too much of a niche and not for large-scale production? How could we avoid the growing pains of energy costs? Let's have a look at what the industry thinks.
'Problematic for the industry'
"This news is problematic as vertical farms are dying so rapidly that it's more a fundamental thing, whereas AeroFarms, in particular, is so embarrassing for constantly creating their alternative realities even now that they filed for chapter 11," says Mark Korzilius, Creator of Opportunities.
As he continues to elaborate, the term startup in any sector is relevant as long as you pursue new ideas, identify roadblocks and define ways how to potentially overcome them. When applying that to the vertical farms, you realize that not only did they not highlight the massive roadblocks, but instead reinvented the wheel by ignoring existing tech solutions eg, in the Netherlands. They also ignored the issue that globally leafy green and produce farmers suffer economically. Also, from a consumer perspective, they didn't offer something more relevant.
The wrong focus
"Instead, everyone focused on 10 billion people, 95% water BS, AI, the most optimal light recipe, developing 'proprietary LED,' robotics, and above all, pesticides. Pesticides are truly a nightmare for everyone, but if consumers would wholeheartedly care, then they would have to stop eating bread, drinking beer, and plenty of other things or vote green in order to impact politics. But none of that took place, and the argument just doesn't get consumers to buy plastic packages that contain vertical farm salads when the fresh organic alternatives look so much more attractive," Mark claims.
According to Mark, the issue was addressed by &ever, and together with partners, they tried to overcome the key aspect, which is energy efficiency. Therefore moving to Kuwait was a logical consequence as &ever realized early on that with given solutions, indoor farming in Europe is not going to work at scale.
"Scale means 10 hectares or 100.000 m2 grow space. Thus, it will hopefully be niche players who cater to a dedicated community that will survive the massive shakeout. AeroFarms, Infarm, and Crop One, constant and shameful exaggerations harmed the interest of those who still believe that there is light at the end of the tunnel. I'm convinced that there are ways to grow hyper-locally as long as the fundamental strategy suits the market. That is why we are right now in the process of starting a new company where we hope to present a smarter way forward," Mark affirms.
Replacing sunlight is costly
"I know the team at AeroFarms poured their hearts into trying to make vertical farming work in North America, and they very nearly got there. Energy, labor, and construction costs were simply too high for vertical farming in the North American geography," shared David Vosburg, Chief Innovation Officer at Local Bounti, on his LinkedIn page.
Commenting on that, Javier Suarez-Vargas, Agronomist at Via Verde Hydroponics, expressed his concerns and thinks this is the future of all vertical farming operations. "Why? Just because greenhouses already exist, the same greenhouse industry that developed and keeps on perfecting CEA also takes advantage of free power, which is the sun," he finds. David agreed, saying that it's rather difficult to make the unit economics work without sunlight.
Joe Schwartz, VP at AmHydro, commented on that, "Great point, the economics are almost routinely left off the discussion table until things go sideways. I would also add that crop quality (or lack thereof) is a big factor as well. In almost 40 years, I have yet to see a 100% artificially lit system produce market-competitive products on a consistent basis. Ambient sunlight plus supplemental (when needed and at the concentration/volume appropriate) has consistently produced the best quality crops with the most positive economic outcomes. Success leaves clues."
Others find that vertical farms can actually be a supplement to agriculture in places where there is a gap to meet food security and where food is already expensive due to imports.
High operating costs
Yet, Diego Rivera, Director of Cultivation at ZY Labs LLC, believes that is due to the fact that high amounts of money were dedicated to developing technologies that already are developed outside. Adding onto that, they had, high salaries, high employee turnover, inexperienced growers and engineers, their Standard Operating Procedures weren't executed to detail, poor training, environmental controls not controlling the environment, misdirected research, and not sharing the same goals between companies.
Diego finds that "these are just some factors affecting expected growth in the industry. This situation came sooner than expected. Some excellent people will suffer after the decision. Hope the whole industry evolves over the future."
"We are not surprised about this news because we are clearly getting the evidence that things have to be handled differently in vertical farming. We are happy that our model does work and that it is becoming increasingly clear that there are first and second-generation farms and business models," says Ard van de Kreeke, Founder and CEO of Growy. Yet, it is a pity that pioneers in the sector who have done so much to develop a new sector fall over, he adds.
FarmTech Society is taking notice with concern about the admittance to file for bankruptcy by an international market leader in vertical farm operations and technology development. "In terms of the timing, it is not surprising as the sector has been facing real-world volatility, as the last 12 months have been extremely challenging to the economies and agriculture in particular," Thomas Zoellner, Secretary at the FarmTech Society, explains.
But what is normal in agriculture? He continues. "Entering the fray of high-risk operations like growing plants for a living has been a continued saga of disappointing 'over-promised and under-delivered, leaving farmers wondering what all this noise was all about."
Despite raising almost obscene amounts of capital (completely new to agriculture at large), as Thomas finds, and employing high- to mid-technology, the challenge of validating an actual cash-flow positive unit economics has not been the strength of some of the 'first generation' vertical farm startups. "Pragmatically, this may be a normal but painful market correction that will allow only cash-flow-positive farms to scale up and grow into the mainstream agriculture adoption."
As Thomas points out, there is also a take-home message for us all here. As it is equally important to find out what doesn't work as it allows an evolutionary process in the innovation field to eventually reach that magic adoption by the mainstream market.
"Also, our heart goes out to all staff, supporters, and customers, as this is a bitter process and requires retooling, which may open doors to many of them starting their own farms, having gained tremendous knowledge and potential to help transform the image of this mission-critical sector to a more adaptable and affordable technology to grow more with less."
"Basically, we all know that Vertical Farming is at a critical point not only since energy costs went up - that accelerated a development that was obvious in the past 3-5 years. Most of the players, that developed their own technology became growers to persuade investors that their systems are working with the metrics/numbers of their business plans and were confronted with the complex reality of CEA," says Christine Zimmernmann-Loessl, Chairwoman of the Association for Vertical Farming.
Thus, she finds that systems had to be improved, adjusted as well as business models, and more money was needed to do so. Markets were not ready to take on large production volumes - but only a certain size of a high-tech farm was economically viable. According to Christine, It is a tricky situation that caused a lot of expectations and often the industry couldn't deliver. "Trust and transparency were and are missing. Often the "noise" of the big ones drowned out the success stories of small/medium players, who proved that Vertical Farming is a possible and necessary part of food production in the future. Our mission has not changed - we need to implement more vertical farming around the globe because of the climate crisis, shrinking resources, and a growing population to feed."
Aerofarms has its fifth generation farm ready to probably fulfill the claims and it took them much longer than anticipated. Many others in the industry share this experience and had to give up. But Aerofarm's situation could be different as investors still see the potential and that consumers and customers are more ready, contracts are in place, and profitability possible. Restructuring is necessary for this as well as a clear-cut with too costly technology enhancements and a lot of honest communication.
"We need success stories but also admit mistakes and learn from them - finally."
Microgreens cultivation at scale?
Grahame Dunling shared his opinion saying, "Try too many top-heavy salaries that have to be paid for by selling microgreens?" Does this mean that large-scale production of microgreens cannot be viable?
Agreeing with him is Joe Swartz again, "The microgreen market always has been (and likely always will be) a very small part of the retail leafy greens segment. Nothing to justify the level of investment or application of technology. Not even close.
According to Crunchbase, the company has raised $238 million in funding over the past 19 years. In October 2021, AeroFarms was set to merge with Spring Valley Acquisition Corp, a SPAC, to reach a pro forma equity value of $1.2 billion. Although it was expected to raise $357 million in gross proceeds for the company, it didn't go through.
Back then, CEO and co-founder David Rosenberg commented that the transaction would not be in the best interests of their shareholders. 'The decision was purely made to ensure an optimal position for AeroFarms to pursue its growth strategy.'
The investors, known by Crunchbase, involved with AeroFarm's fundings are; Abu Dhabi Investment Office (unknown amount), Ingka Group ($100 million), Meraas ($40.5 million), Foundation for Food and Agriculture Research ($1 million), Newark Venture Partners ($35 million). Other investors of the remaining $61,5 million are unknown to date.
Ard van de Kreeke, Farmer


text:
The phenomenal success of OnePlus has alerted other brands to work on launching their own devices in the mid-premium segment. This is a segment that is below premium and may be a bit above what is traditionally described as the budget segment.
Google is reported to be eyeing this, particularly in the Indian market. The price of such a phone, when introduced, could be around Rs 40,000 to Rs 50,000. But the report claims Google will first go through with its launch of the Google Pixel 3 and Pixel 3 XL in October and the new upper middle segment phone could be released in January next. These top end phones are priced around Rs 75,000. These will continue to take on the rivals in the premium category, Apple and Samsung.
It is reported that a team from Google had visited India to understand the market sensitivities so that they could go back and build the design around these learnings.
Google has an issue on hand in trying to bolster up its market share in the premium segment too where its share is negligible when compared to the top three, which now includes OnePlus. Its last phone, the Google Pixel 2 sold only 80,000 units in India, it is reported.
Google’s plans to enter the segments other than the premium one has also to do with the desire to expand the user base for its devices. This in turn comes out of 2 factors: One is that Google feels it has now gained what it needs to be a hardware designer/manufacturer/supplier and if anything, the experience with Pixel 2 has established that. The other reason is that its phone can offer the pure Android experience to the users instead of being diluted by the interfaces added by the smartphone brands.
There are other technologies that are the preserve of the premium segment phones into these lower segments too and gain more traction with the users.

domain: news


text:
Kazakhstan's transport and logistics potential within Belt and Road Initiative discussed in Singapore
ASTANA. KAZINFORM Ambassador Usen Suleimen delivered a lecture at the Institute of the South Asian Studies (ISAS) on Kazakhstan's transport and logistics potential within the "Belt and Road" Initiative (BRI) and the opportunities for connectivity between Central Asia and ASEAN.
In his speech, Ambassador Suleimen stressed that the initiative to create the land-based BRI - "Silk Road Economic Belt" was announced by Chinese leader Xi Jinping in September 2013 during his visit to Astana, which clearly signaled that Kazakhstan had an important role to play in the implementation of this mega-project, the official website of the Kazakh MFA reads.
He also pointed out that Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev's "Nurly Zhol" infrastructure programme is very similar to BRI as it also places emphasis on the development of transport and logistics infrastructure in Kazakhstan. Its synergy with BRI now has the potential to boost Kazakhstan's economic and infrastructural development.
"Kazakhstan has already created infrastructural conditions which are necessary to firmly link the trade routes of Asia and Europe through Central Asia. Using these advantages, Kazakhstan is able to liaise between the other Central Asian countries and ASEAN region," - noted Ambassador Suleimen.
Ambassador Suleimen also talked about President Nazarbayev's idea to build a ship canal to link the Caspian Sea with the Black Sea, which can open an access for Kazakhstan and Central Asian countries to the Mediterranean Sea and Atlantic Ocean, which was recently announced during the Eurasian Economic Union member states Summit held in Sochi.
The lecture was moderated by Ambassador Dr Iftekhar Ahmed Chowdhury, the Principal research fellow at ISAS, former Foreign Minister of Bangladesh and attended by the representatives of the Singapore Foreign Ministry, heads of diplomatic missions accredited in Singapore, representatives of business, academicians, media and the ISAS PhD students.


text:
Owner and founder of Rectify Gaming.
Nintendo has filed for a trademark for Cappy. They plan to use the trademark for clothing, hats, toys, Christmas decorations and more. We’re talking about the original form of Cappy seen above in the featured picture, and not Cappy as Mario’s hat.
Super Mario Odyssey has been out for over a week now and one thing people seem to like are the outfits for Mario. Odyssey offers a lot of options for clothes compared to other Mario games we’ve seen in the past.
Would you buy Super Mario Odyssey Merch?


text:
» View Pengumuman Hasil Plpg Gelombang 1 Rayon 110 Jabar 2013
View Pengumuman Hasil Plpg Gelombang 1 Rayon 110 Jabar 2013
We are sorry, article about "View Pengumuman Hasil Plpg Gelombang 1 Rayon 110 Jabar 2013" is not found or may be has been deleted. You may read other articles below or searching by type keyword in search form above!
Not long after the presence of the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 at Mobile World Congress, is now audible leaks on the presence of its 3G version.
It is verified through a newspaper as reported endgadget.com (12/03), the series Galaxy Note 8.0 3G has entered [...]
BlackBerry, the big names who are drowning and trying to get up. Research In Motion (RIM) is ready with a new platform that can be trusted to restore the glory of the BlackBerry.
BlackBerry 10 to be slid January 30, 2013 could be the answer. Just how [...]
Many Japanese game lovers prefer to search for information about the price of PlayStation 4 (PS4), rather than the design of the console and software support.
The poll Famitsu, Japan’s leading game magazine, mentions 1064 respondents finding out [...]
Who says Gangnam Style fever is gone? Maybe so for some people, but not for these robots.
Quoted from ITN UK, Tuesday (11/06), in a robot competition called Chinese Intelligent Industrial Exposition and Forum Summit in Hangzhou, China, robots skill performance.
Laptop and computer hardware manufacturers, Gigabyte, has just launched its newest product U2442 Extreme Ultrabook.
In an event held in Taiwan, Gigabyte explained that U2442 Extreme Ultrabook features graphics Nvidia GeForce GT 650M or GT 730M.
In addition, [...]
The latest report from future games console from Microsoft, Xbox 720, likely will have features similar to Siri.
Yes, this means that the Xbox 720 can be controlled via voice commands.
Excerpted from The Verge, Friday (2/8), this information comes from [...]
Cover story this week will discuss the new smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4.
One thing that most attracted the attention of the successor to the Galaxy S3 is the availability of Octa-core processors (8-core), which is believed to provide exceptional performance.
This feature can be used to create a reminder.
For the Pinterest users, now comes a new feature for the application of various writing and drawing.
Pinterest recently announced Secret Board, which allows the users to be able to make a writing board in [...]
This product is a breakthrough which brings the Go Green campaign. What are these phones? Read short reviews below.
Samsung Blue Earth
Blue Earth phone is a touchscreen mobile phone made by Samsung’s first solar-powered, which first appeared [...]
Jakarta – Samsung Galaxy S4 comes with its smartphone technological innovation is likely to soon be your handheld.
Because, Samsung Electronics has started pre-orders or reservations for the Galaxy S4 in Indonesia.
Pre-order Samsung Galaxy S4 already [...]
Human skull intentionally shaped like alien heads were found in a 1000 year-old tomb in Mexico, according to the researchers reported as quoted by LiveScience.
Practice changing the shape of the skull has become common practice in Central America. But [...]


text:
Cars are exploding. Walls are falling down.
This can only mean it’s time for a brand new behind-the-scenes look at Infinite Crisis, the all-new multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) game set in DC Comics’ legendary Multiverse in development by Turbine, the award winning studio behind the free-to-play online games such as The Lord of The Rings Online.
In this video, the Turbine development team discusses the catastrophic event system and the destructible environments contained in the maps in Infinite Crisis – and how they change the game entirely.
In addition to the behind-the-scenes video and in celebration of DC Entertainment’s Villain’s Month, we’re releasing three new Joker key art from Infinite Crisis: Prime Joker, Atomic Joker, and Gaslight Joker. Look for them soon in Infinite Crisis.
Sign-up for the closed beta to be among the first to test your skills in the Infinite Crisis battle arena or purchase a Founders Program pack to get exclusive limited edition costumes and early access to the newly released Coast City map.


text:
Reliance Jio has already brought about a revolution in the telecom sector, and a new report suggests that it’s now eyeing the laptop market. The company is apparently looking to launch a laptop with 4G SIM card support.
Such connected laptops have slowly begun emerging over the past few months from brands like HP, Asus, and Lenovo. Dubbed “Always Connected PCs,” these devices are powered by Qualcomm processors and run on Windows 10. The idea is to provide connectivity and portability without being dependent on a dongle or Wi-Fi network.
According to ETTelecom, Reliance Jio is in talks with Qualcomm to bring these cellular Windows 10 notebooks to India. The pair have worked together before on the former’s JioPhone 4G feature handset. The latter has confirmed that it’s held discussions with the telecom brand, suggesting that the company will bundle the device with data and content.
Reliance is also reportedly in touch with domestic manufacturer Smartron to produce Snapdragon 835-running laptops with cellular connectivity. The second has also verified the talks. The operator itself hasn’t confirmed the product yet.
4G SIM card compatible laptops haven’t made a huge impact in India yet, but may well become the next big thing for the telecom market. It would provide an additional source of revenue beyond smartphones. Plus, laptop users generally require more data.
Over 5 million notebooks are sold in India every year according to Counterpoint Research, with most relying on enterprise, home, or public Wi-Fi spots. Adding cellular data to that mix could be a game changer, if the price is right on the hardware and network front.


text:
Clinical skincare company Image Skincare will now be selling its products directly to customers on its UK website after previously only being available through purchase in clinics.
A new online creative agency that specalises in graphic and web design for clinics, websites4clinics.com has launched.
Aesthetic distributor Aesthetica Solutions Ltd has launched a new website to provide ease of access for practitioners wishing to order products online.
Marketing and design agency Cosmetic Digital has rebranded and launched a new website and blog.
Merz Aesthetics has launched a new ePharmacy to make ordering its comprehensive range of aesthetic products easier and more convenient for its customers.
SkinCeuticals has launched a hydrating daily-use corrective and protective sunscreen to even out and brighten skin tone, whilst correcting and preventing the appearance of pigmentation.
Schuco Aesthetics, the newly launched division of UK distributor Schuco International, has released the latest addition to the Princess dermal filler range to the UK.
A new online skin superstore has been developed by UK distributor Vida Aesthetics to help consumers seek professional skincare and antiageing products at affordable prices.
Skincare developer AlumierMD has introduced a new take-home kit that aims to help patients maintain in-clinic treatment results at home.
Foundation and treatment recovery brand Oxygenetix has rebranded its Oxygenating Moisturiser to Oxygenating Hydro-Matrix.


text:
Amid hardware developments like Apple TV and news that pay-TV subscriber numbers are down, two areas of the connected consumer industry had especially significant developments in the third quarter: e-books and TV-band white spaces. As we discuss in a new report at GigaOM Pro, developments in these areas could have tremendous effect on the industry.
Amazon, with its $139 Kindle, has essentially made the e-book a mass-market device. The company, of course, has already become the dominant platform for self-publishing, which allows unpublished and mid-list authors to increase their income and audience. Since Amazon already uses behavioral targeting to provide merchandise suggestions — including book titles — to each customer, the company could promote e-book authors in ways that will prove difficult for traditional publishers to match. This could have effects beyond the Kindle. Others are introducing lower-priced devices and we believe it likely that a major player will be in the market with a $99 reader by Christmas or soon thereafter.
Troubles at the most iconic name in terrestrial book retailing culminated in yet another milestone signifying the pending triumph of e-books. In August, Barnes & Noble announced it was evaluating strategic business alternatives, including a potential sale of the company. Indeed, we expect that most of the remaining brick-and-mortar bookstores will follow the same path. Print books will never go away, but the industry will follow the trends of the music and film industries, which were reshaped by digital distribution. Traditional retailers and publishers weighed down with legacy cost structures that cannot be rapidly adapted will ultimately sink.
The FCC, meanwhile, made a unanimous vote during the third quarter to approve 20 MHz of TV-band white spaces for unlicensed use. This is the largest block of spectrum released for open access in 25 years and promises an alternate route for consumers who wish to bypass metered rates on wireless Internet access as more and more connected devices come to market.
The unanimous approval by all five FCC commissioners is significant. It signals that the Commission could be entering a new era characterized by more competition and open access to provide for innovative services. FCC chairman Julius Genachowski quoted one analyst who concluded that TV white space use could generate $7 billion annually in new equipment sales and services. Despite a number of challenges faced with building out this unused spectrum — including the challenge of ensuring noninterference between unlicensed devices — the ruling would encourage entrepreneurs and innovators to develop new technologies that can be exported around the world.
Read the full report here.
Image source: flickr user jurvetson.
Related GigaOM Pro Content (sub req’d):


text:
Paint companies’ relatively good performance in recent quarters, with double-digit volume growth and strong margins, is a key driving factor. Importantly, the trend of volume-led profitable growth is here to stay for paint companies, especially decorative
According to Vishal Gutka, vice-president, PhillipCapital, “Paint companies
are expected to continue growing strongly, while maintaining their margin profile, with supportive macro factors. The near-term growth, however, may moderate due to a high base.”
There are strong growth levers for paint companies — rising share of paintable (concrete) houses, low penetration of paints in India, and shortened repainting cycle (over 80 per cent of decorative paint demand comes from repainting), among other factors.
The growth outlook is strong for organised paint players as lower goods and services tax (GST) helps them gain market share from unorganised ones, mainly in the economy segment (products like putty, distemper, etc).
A Kotak Institutional Equities (KIE) report says: “The reduction in GST rate to 18 per cent, from 28 per cent in June 2018, and higher compliance under GST has reduced the price gap between unorganised and organised players’ products.”
This is also evident from the double-digit volume growth for listed decorative paint majors in June 2019 and September 2019 quarters, even as other consumption pockets witnessed growth moderation. The volume growth was driven by economy products, following price cuts by paint companies.
Unorganised paint companies are likely to lose 15-17 per cent market share in volume terms over the next 10 years, according to the KIE report.
Though the premium segment has grown at a relatively slow pace and had restricted gross margin gains in recent quarters, the way forward for high-margin premium products looks encouraging. Analysts believe that the overall price gap between premium and economy products is narrowing, with higher labour cost; the premium segment should fare better. This, along with better pricing power of top players, is keeping the medium- to long-term margin outlook buoyant for paint companies, even if crude oil prices see some volatility.
“Margins could come under pressure if crude oil prices rise sharply. However, paint companies have historically controlled margin erosions through successful increase in product prices,” says Abhijeet Kundu, analyst at Antique Stock Broking. Experts, however, believe that a sharp upswing in crude oil prices is unlikely at this juncture.
Among the few caveats are paint companies’ pricey valuations, which could limit upsides in their stocks. So, investors should await some correction in stock prices for a better entry point.


text:
HERB GREENBERG'S BUSINESS INSIDER -- Will Wired's Latest Try at Going Public Electrify Investors? / Also, did Paradigm take itself much too seriously?
Published 4:00 am, Wednesday, October 2, 1996
Wired, update: Wired Ventures, the San Francisco-based parent of Wired magazine, has revised its filing for a public offering, which had been postponed several months ago.
The revised plan will give it a market value that's around 40 percent less than the company originally wanted.
Wired plans to sell 4.75 million shares at $12 to $14 each. That will raise $57 million to $66.5 million, and will value the entire company at $252 million to $294 million.
That would make Wired worth slightly more than the current market value of San Francisco-based C/Net, one of the last Internet-related companies to go public before the IPO window slammed shut in July.
Now that the IPO market has come back to life, a successful Wired deal could trigger a whole new round of offerings by profitless (but perhaps promising) Internet-related companies.
Those believed to be toying with the idea of going public include Starwave, Sportsline and Pointcast, which like Wired, aren't believed to be making any money.
Which brings us back to Wired: Just how seriously will Wall Street take it? Its last attempt at going public was widely ridiculed as being too expensive, even during the glory days of Internet hype. But as one seasoned IPO expert said, "It doesn't go over the insanity meter like it did the first time."
And depending on how you read the latest prospectus, business is either getting better or has hit some rough spots. Losses are mounting. Excluding special one-time charges of $26 million, the company's second quarter net loss more than doubled to around $8 million compared to the first quarter of this year. Its third quarter loss is expected to be as high as $9.4 million.
The company also said that operating expenses "will increase faster than revenues" for at least 18 months -- resulting in losses through all of next year.
That compares with C/Net, which expects to break-even or even post a profit in the third quarter of next year.
However, C/Net and Wired are two different animals. Most of C/Net's revenues come straight from the Internet and television-related activities; 90 percent of Wired's revenues come from its flagship ink-and-paper magazine, and that business has been booming.
During the first six months of this year, Wired magazine's advertising revenues jumped by 55 percent and circulation revenues climbed 40 percent compared to the same period a year ago.
Even the company's online operation, HotWired, has fared well, with advertis ing revenues during the first half of the year up by 37 percent.
The company is actively trying to diversify, with mixed results. Wired rolled out its first book title last month, but the company's first television program -- a political commentary partially funded by MSNBC -- didn't air last summer as planned. And, according to the prospectus, Wired has experienced turnover of key personnel connected with its TV show. However, sources say it still may get off the ground this fall.
Speaking of personnel, the company has been under the leadership of Louis Rossetto and Jane Metcalfe, who are identified in the prospectus as "domestic partners," (something I've never seen in an SEC filing before).
According to the document, Metcalfe is expected to take a leave of around three months next year. No reason was given, but Wired staffers were told at a meeting on Monday that she's pregnant. A MEETING ON MONDAY THAT SHE'S PREGNANT. PARADIGM, SMASHED
Until a few months ago, visitors to the San Jose headquarters of Paradigm Technology were greeted in the lobby by one of those tacky advertising signs with a moving message that flashed the chip maker's stock price. But as the stock tumbled from its high of about 35 a year ago, shortly after going public last June at 14, its earnings began tumbling.
Then the earnings vanished entirely, as did the sign.
Its shares slipped 1/16 yesterday to close at 5 3/16. But after the market closed, Paradigm disclosed that its third-quarter loss will be greater than expected. The company also issued an ominous warning about its cash position, or lack thereof. It says it is "actively" looking at all sorts of ways to raise cash, and added that there are no assurances it will be successful.
Moral: Anytime you walk into a company's headquarters and see a prominent display of its stock price, consider doing an about face.


text:
Apple AAPL appears to be zeroing in on a date for the debut of the next series of its hugely popular iPhone. According to The Wall Street Journal, Apple has “ordered key components for a new iPhone it is aiming to launch by the end of September.” It is said to be thinner and lighter, with a better eight-megapixel camera.
Apple has declined to confirm the speculation, but it is clear that the trailblazing company is feeling the pinch of competition from such smart-phone rivals as Samsung Electronics.
Expect to read and hear nonstop talk about the fate of the Apple iPhone this summer.
Up to now, the discussion about the company’s investment and innovative prospects has centered on visionary Steve Jobs’s uncertain health. Now, the commotion among Wall Street, Silicon Valley and corporate America will shift and center on when the iPhone will be on sale? How will it do? Can a new model live up to the hype?
It’s easy to understand the excitement. The iPhone has transformed society. We’ve become dependant on these instruments, which combine telephone, text, photographic and iPod services — and provide the user with a satisfying level of status in our culture. If you have an iPhone, you occupy a slightly higher rung than those grubby Blackberry RIMM peons — at least that’s what Apple wants us all to believe.
And when we do stop believing all the hype, the iPhone becomes just another gadget. It’s shaping up as a noisy summer.


text:
A survey by consumer research company Canstar Blue found half of respondents welcomed government’s new nutritional on-pack star rating systems advice — but were unlikely to take its advice.
The front-of-pack labeling provides quick ‘at a glance’ advice to busy shoppers, the more stars a product has the ‘healthier’ it is.
More than 1,000 products sold in Australia now carry the ratings, including Kellogg’s, Sanitarium, Nestle, Heinz, Fonterra, Simplot, Vitality, Mars, Lion, Betta Foods, Monster Health Food Company, Food for Health, Freedom Foods, Vetta, Parker’s Organic, Yummia, Campbell’s, Arnotts and Unilever.
The study of 3,002 adults in August 2015 found:
- Most adults (95 per cent) think people should take more personal responsibility for their eating habits.
- A small majority find the ratings easy to understand (58 per cent) and helpful in understanding what foods are good for them (60 per cent).
- A large majority (78 per cent) agree that all food companies should carry health star ratings.
- Fewer than half (48 per cent) say the ratings have had, or will have, an impact on their purchase decisions.
- Just over two-thirds (68 per cent) find it confusing that some seemingly unhealthy foods carry high ratings and some healthy foods have low ratings.
- Young Australians (aged 18-29) are least likely to find the ratings easy to understand, helpful, and to consider them in their purchase decisions.
Head of Canstar Blue, Megan Doyle, said: “We support any system that helps consumers make better decisions, particularly when it comes to their health, so it’s disappointing to find the majority of Australians are not making these ratings a part of their purchase decision. The system seems to have been met with apathy by some.
“The trend from our results is that younger people are going to be the hardest to influence – which is not what the Government would like to hear in its bid to curb Australia’s obesity crisis.”
Despite the government spending an estimated $280,000 on market research into the health star rating system, there appears to still be much confusion around the system. The study by Canstar Blue found
“In the case of the [two star] yoghurt, the message is simply that the product is less healthy compared to other yoghurts, while the four-star rated frozen chips are simply a healthier version of other frozen chips,” said Canstar Blue.
Here we have it: all the winners for this year’s 2021 Snapchat Young Lions Competition. The Misfits Media Company, proud official representatives of the Cannes Lions Festival in Australia, is delighted to share the winners for this prestigious award. After presenting their second-round pitches, all the shortlisted candidates were evaluated by 50 esteemed industry judges. […]
IAB Australia has announced that the MeasureUp conference will return for its fifth year on 27th October and is seeking submissions for smart and engaging speakers, sessions or workshops from Australia’s media and marketing industry. As investment in digital advertising continues to outpace the rest of the media sector representing two-thirds of the paid advertising market, […]
In-Play advertising platform Admix has announced a new partnership with Integral Ad Science (IAS). This integration with IAS makes Admix the only In-Play advertising company to offer ad inventory that is measured and verified by a trusted, independent partner. This ground-breaking news means that the quality of Admix’ In-Play advertising is independently assessed and verified […]
The Children’s Tumour Foundation (CTF) has teamed up with international fashion photographer and industry veteran Scott Ehler, to develop a striking campaign that aims to shine a light on a lifelong, genetic condition called Neurofibromatosis (NF). Progressive and unpredictable, NF causes tumours to form on nerves in the body, including the brain and spine. In […]


text:
Apple drops mask requirement for company employees ‘in most places’
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, Apple has imposed a masking mandate for its corporate employees and retail staff. Although this mandate has been revised several times since then, there are still places where Apple employees were required to wear a mask. Now the company is dropping the “in most places” mask mandate for company employees.
Masks are no longer necessary at Apple
In an internal memo obtained by The Verge, Apple’s COVID-19 response team told company employees on Monday that the company is updating its health and safety protocols “in light of the circumstances current”. Apple confirms in the memo that company employees are no longer required to wear face masks unless local health authorities still require it.
The company also recognizes that “everyone’s personal situation is different”, so it asks employees to feel free to continue wearing a mask if they prefer. In the same email, Apple also says employees should respect individual decisions about whether or not to wear a mask.
Earlier this year, the mask mandate for Apple employees was dropped at Apple Stores in the United States. In March, the company relaxed the requirement to wear a mask in certain places for most of its employees. With this week’s decision, the company appears to be taking another step towards returning to normal operations, although there is still some controversy.
The edge notes that the end of the mask requirement at Apple comes at a time when the BA.5 variant of COVID-19 has spread rapidly.
We are writing to share an update on our current protocols. Given the current circumstances, wearing face masks will no longer be required in most places. As always, please check Welcome Forward regularly for requirements specific to your site, including those of local health authorities or any site you may visit.
We recognize that everyone’s personal situation is different. Feel free to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so. Please also respect everyone’s decision whether or not to wear a mask.
Thank you for all you do to support Apple’s COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
The COVID-19 Response Team
Apple and work in person
On April 11, Apple corporate employees began returning to in-person work after two years of working remotely in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Employees had to work in person one day a week. Since May 4, this requirement has been increased to two days a week. Apple wanted to increase that requirement to three days a week, but the company backtracked due to rising COVID-19 cases.
At the same time, Apple has come under fire for its insistence on requiring employees to work in person, as the company’s policies are more restrictive than those of other Silicon Valley companies.
It’s still unclear if Apple is already planning to demand a full in-person job.
For many months, Apple has applied reinforced health measures in the context of the Covid 19 epidemic. It has also experienced certain difficulties with its return to work policy in offices, which has been postponed several times. In an internal email, it today lifts the obligation to wear a mask on its premises in the light of certain circumstances, the employees however remaining free to wear one. According to our US colleagues (who managed to get their hands on the message), this requirement is abandoned in most places (unspecified of which), with some words intended to reassure: Do not hesitate to continue to wear a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so. Also, please respect each individual’s decision whether or not to wear a mask.
Apple no longer requires the wearing of masks for most of its American employees
Apple was not left out when it was necessary to apply strict sanitary measures in its stores in order to fight against the Covid-19 pandemic. The Cupertino firm was even the most “proactive” GAFA in this crisis situation, which gives even more weight to an internal note/email that the Cupertino firm has just sent to its employees, a note in which it is stipulated that employees may remove their masks on the premises of theApple Park (and elsewhere), a recommendation that applies here to the group’s American employees.
The email also reminds that everyone remains free to wear a mask: “Feel free to continue wearing a face mask if you feel more comfortable doing so. Additionally, please respect each individual’s decision whether or not to wear a mask. As a reminder, the COVID-19 pandemic remains far from being completely under control in the United States, but the latest variants, which are highly transmissible, are significantly less dangerous than the first strains of the virus.


text:
Discovery Communications, the company behind Shark Week and popular cable channels including TLC and Animal Planet, is moving its headquarters from Silver Spring, Md., to New York.
The company — which has 1,300 employees in Silver Spring, down from 2,500 a decade ago — announced that it plans to sell its current headquarters and move into a new building in New York in the second half of 2019.
“To compete, survive and grow, Discovery must continue to change as well,” David Zaslav, the company’s chief executive, said in an email to employees Tuesday morning. “At the center of our new blueprint is New York. New York always has been home to the global media industry. Our ad partners on Madison Avenue, investors and analysts on Wall Street, many of our creative and production community and, increasingly, our content partners, are based in New York.”
Zaslav added that the company will keep some of its operations — government relations, for example — in Maryland, although not necessarily in Silver Spring. Discovery also plans to expand its technology hub in Sterling, Va.
In July, Discovery announced it would be buying Scripps Networks Interactives, the Knoxville-based owner of HGTV, Food Network and the Travel Channel. The $11.9 billion deal is expected to be finalized in the coming months.
“It became clear that, pending closure of the Scripps transaction, we could not operate three large facilities in the U.S.,” Zaslav wrote in the email.
Discovery has spent the past decade building up its presence in New York, which is already home to channels like Animal Planet and ID, as well as the company’s advertising sales, investor relations and business development teams. Zaslav spends much of his time at the company’s Midtown Manhattan offices, and a spokesman said the company plans to consolidate its Manhattan operations into a new location in the second half of 2019.
The announcement comes less than a year after BET Networks, the country’s largest cable network for African American audiences, moved from Northeast Washington to New York.
Discovery in 2016 reported a profit of $1.19 billion on $6.5 billion in annual revenue.


text:
Weekly Digital News Roundup: April 16 – April 20
Google Introduces Wireless Service Called Project Fi
- According to the New York Times, Google unveiled its long-awaited phone service, called Project Fi, putting the search giant in competition with Verizon, AT&T and other wireless service providers. In addition to new turf, the service is an attempt to blend several communication tools and the multiplying ways of calling people — cellular calls, online calls like those offered by Skype — into a single phone number and service.
- For now, Project Fi could be considered an experiment. It will be available only to people using Google’s Nexus 6 phone, limiting its reach. Analysts see the new service as a bid to reimagine phone calls so that they have greater overlap with Google’s expanding world of devices and services.
- Unlike your typical cell service, Project Fi will mix traditional wireless technology, where calls are routed through cellular towers, with the wireless Internet service found in Starbucks, airports and elsewhere. Google has teamed with Sprint and T-Mobile to provide the traditional wireless service, and said it had about a million wireless hotspots for the rest.
Mark Zuckerberg seeks to ease net neutrality concerns over Internet.org
- According to LA Times, Mark Zuckerberg is defending Internet.org, the project to bring free Internet access to impoverished parts of the world. The Facebook-led initiative had been criticized for being anti-net neutrality. Internet.org grants access to only a limited number of Internet destinations, including Facebook. In India, that has led a number of start-ups to pull their support.
- In ablog post Friday, Zuckerberg said he strongly disagreed with characterizations that Internet.org violated the spirit of net neutrality. Universal connectivity and net neutrality, he said, “can and must coexist.” “To give more people access to the internet, it is useful to offer some service for free,” he wrote. “If someone can’t afford to pay for connectivity, it is always better to have some access than none at all.”
- org offers free access in local languages to basic Internet services in areas including jobs, health and education. Already, more than 800 million people in nine countries can access those services through the initiative, Zuckerberg said.
CDC using new technology to track listeria Illnesses
- According to com, the government is relying on some new technology — as well as a bit of luck — to track an outbreak of life-threatening listeria linked to Blue Bell ice cream products. Texas-based Blue Bell Creameries recalled all its products this week as listeria was found in a variety of the company’s frozen treats.
- The investigation has been helped by new technology called whole genome sequencing that maps all an organism’s DNA. With help from that new technique, federal and state officials realized the outbreak was not just a recent event — the ice cream had likely made people sick since 2010. It gives officials hope that future outbreaks can be tracked faster, and more accurately.


text:
You can say we're having a grilled cheese moment.
Our favorite childhood comfort food is suddenly commanding not just a spot on menus, but full-fledged restaurants.
Last November, longtime Miami chef Allen Susser opened Daily Melt, a grilled cheesery in the food court at Coral Square Mall. A second has since come to Miami's Midtown neighborhood.
February saw the arrival of New York Grilled Cheese Company in Wilton Manors. This fall, the owners of the popular food truck Ms. Cheezious plan to open their first brick-and-mortar location. Many people consider Ms. Cheezious the originator of South Florida's grilled-cheese movement, since the now two-truck-operation started selling its creations almost three years ago.
Lots of places serve grilled cheese sandwiches. But these three operations built their businesses on them. Come along.
Daily Melt: Coral Square Mall food court, 9409 W. Atlantic Blvd., Coral Springs, 954-227-8505, 10 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and noon-6 p.m. Sunday; the Shops at Midtown Miami, 305-573-0101, 10 a.m.-10 p.m. daily, DailyMeltGrill.com
"I think grilled cheese is one of those comfort foods that just brings back good memories," says Susser, who for 25 years operated the high-end Chef Allen's in Aventura. Now, he's making grilled cheese sandwiches imbued with a chef's touch.
"Anything that I'm going to get involved with, it still has to be within the network of the things that I've always done with food," he says. "I believe in keeping food fresh, keeping it simple and focusing on details where it makes a difference."
The fast-casual Daily Melt offers 15 sandwiches, including a barbecue pulled pork and Swiss sandwich and a white-truffle-butter sandwich with cheddar, provolone and Roma tomatoes.
But the biggest sellers are the three-cheese sandwich — with mozzarella, provolone and cheddar — and the bacon melt with cheddar, bacon, spinach and tomatoes.
"Bacon sells," Susser says. "In the restaurant business today, it's all about bacon. You have to put something tasty and original on the plate without having to go to the bank. And that's really what we're doing here."
Susser plans to open additional Daily Melt restaurants in Fort Lauderdale, Coral Gables, South Miami and Miami's Brickell neighborhood.
New York Grilled Cheese Company: 2207 Wilton Drive, Wilton Manors, 954-564-6887, noon-11 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, noon-3 a.m. Thursday, noon-4 a.m., Friday-Saturday and noon-3 a.m. Sunday, NewYorkGrilledCheese.com
Since owner Leor Barak added New York Grilled Cheese Company to the back of his Nuts About Yogurt store, business has quadrupled.
"We opened March 11," he says. "I'll never forget, because we wanted to do a real quiet opening to work out the kinks. We were bombarded."
It helps that Barak serves grilled cheese sandwiches until the wee hours on weekends, catching the crowds leaving Wilton Manors' bars. "That's when our sales just peak," he says. "The drunk folks from the bars are really eating with their eyes."
Barak uses three kinds of bread: sourdough, country loaf and oatmeal wheat. The macaroni and cheese and tomato bisque, the latter of which comes with each sandwich, are made in-house. A favorite on the menu is the Wall Street Grindr Award sandwich: toasted sourdough with American-cheddar cheese, French fries, bacon, crispy onions, garlic butter and a fried egg.
New York Grilled Cheese Company also a hot pork sundae, with fries, shredded pork, gravy and Cajun American-cheddar cheese. Barak, who is Canadian, also offers the French-Canadian favorite known as poutine: French fries, cheese morsels and hot gravy.
The tiny restaurant has just a few tables and a long sofa. The cheddar-colored walls are decorated with famous cheese-related quotes. My favorite comes from comedian George Carlin: "When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?"
Ms. Cheezious food trucks, MsCheezious.com
When the pair behind the Ms. Cheezious food truck opened for business on the first day of Art Basel in December 2010, they didn't know what to expect.
"We had never made a sandwich out of the truck, and we had a line before we even opened," co-owner Brian Mullins says. "After that first day, we kind of felt right about our decision to open."
These days, Mullins and co-owner M. Christian Dickens operate not one but two trucks that travel as far north as Jupiter. They're at ArtsPark at Young Circle in Hollywood most Mondays and set up shop across the region during lunchtime. Keep up with the truck on Twitter at @MsCheezious.
Mullins' most-popular sandwich is the Grilled Blue and Bacon: crisp bacon with creamy blue cheese and green onion on sourdough bread. It's won several awards, including best food-truck sandwich at the 2012 South Beach Wine and Food Festival. At this year's festival, Ms. Cheezious won for a creation called South in Your Mouth: house-smoked pulled pork, barbecue sauce, cheddar cheese and fried pickles on Texas toast.
That sandwich isn't sold on either food truck, but it will be on the menu at the first brick-and-mortar Ms. Cheezious restaurant, expected to open by November in Miami's MiMo Biscayne Boulevard Historic District. The 75-seat restaurant will feature a big backyard garden with fresh herbs. Beer and wine will be served.
"We're going to keep to our core menu, but we'll also offer salads, breakfast items and some desserts," Mullins says. "We'll finally have some space to work in."


text:
MOZILLA CONTINUES TO EXPAND ITS FIREFOX OS PROGRAM: Mozilla is continuing a campaign to make its open-source mobile operating system a global mobile platform contender. The company has announced that Firefox OS has now expanded to 12 smartphone models in 24 different countries. Mozilla's focus is emerging markets, including Central and South America and Asia. Last August the company announced a series of cheap smartphones in India. One model, manufactured by Intex, retails for 1,999 rupees or $33.
This is a smart move on Mozilla’s part as its phones appear to be even cheaper than the low-budget Android One line recently launched. Said the company’s president Li Gong, “the successful launch of Firefox OS in Asia in the last quarter proves that this mission appeals to one of the fastest growing populations in the world.”
SNAPCHAT'S PHOTO BREACH A WARNING SIGNAL FOR OTHER APPS: Hackers have reportedly gained access to a trove of ordinary user's private Snapchat photos and posted them on underground chatrooms and 4chan. Snapchat maintains that its servers were not compromised, and that instead unauthorized third-party apps were to blame for the breach. These are services that allow users to save photos and videos they send through Snapchat, in violation of Snapchat's terms of service.
BI Intelligence reached out to Snapchat, which confirmed its servers were not breached. The company has been working to get rid of rogue third-party apps: "We have been successful in removing dozens of these types of apps form the Google Play and iTunes store and continue to aggressively pursue the removal of any new ones that crop up." Other popular apps should be on the lookout for unauthorized third-party services. The photo breach is unwelcome news as Snapchat moves to monetize its fast-growing user base with a recently revealed ad program.
CHINA SEES HUGE RESPONSE TO iPHONE 6 PRE-SALES: Preorders for the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus have opened up in China with a reportedly massive response. Within six hours 1 million phones had been ordered at China Mobile, China Telecom, and China Unicom, reports Fortune. Although China has over 450 million smartphone subscribers, there is still room to grow for smartphone manufacturers, including Apple. Only 33% of China's mobile population owns a smartphone. (See chart, below).
STAT OF THE DAY: 48.1% of all attacks on web apps were directed at retail websites, while 10% targeted financial institutions. This comes via a Web Application Attack Report from enterprise security firm Imperva, which analyzed targeted attacks on over 300 websites during a 9 month period.
THREE QUARTERS OF SMARTPHONE SHOPPERS WILL USE PHONES IN-STORE: A new survey shows that the smartphone will become a widely used assistant device for holiday shoppers this year, according to Google AdWords: “Our research found that 75% of smartphone shoppers plan to use their phones in-store this holiday season." This shows a key shift in consumers' shopping habits. While many people use phones to research products, now many shoppers will be using their phones as a companion device for brick-and-mortar shopping. Many retailers have also been implementing beacon systems to help communicate notifications and offers to smartphone-toting shoppers, both reinforcing and taking advantage of this behavior.
MOBILE CONTINUES TO DOMINATE DIGITAL AD GROWTH: Mobile is now the fastest growing digital ad medium, and US mobile ad revenue will top nearly $42 billion in 2018. Within mobile, video and display (particularly rich media interactive ads) will see the fastest growth. This comes from BI Intelligence's new Mobile Ad Report, which also documents the rise of Real Time Bidding (RTB). According to our numbers RTB will account for 43% of US mobile display-related ad revenue by 2018, up from only a 6% share in 2013. Check out the entire report here.
Have news? Tips? Insights? Email me: email@example.com
Here's what else BI Intelligence subscribers are reading…


text:
It was reported recently that Samsung is going to reignite consumer interest in the Galaxy S7 series by launching new color options. The company has implemented this strategy by launching the Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge. According to a new report out of Korea, the company is going to launch a new color option for the Galaxy S7 next month, one that's going to rival the Jet Black iPhone 7. Samsung is apparently going to launch the Glossy Black Galaxy S7 in December.
The handset is already offered in Black Onyx but it has a matte finish. Glossy Black, as the name suggests, will be quite shiny but as we've already seen with the Jet Black iPhone 7, it may be prone to scratching very easily. The report fails to mention if the Glossy Black Galaxy S7 will be exclusive to Samsung's home country of South Korea or if it will be released across the globe. Seeing as how the Blue Coral Galaxy S7 edge has been launched in multiple markets across the globe, similar treatment can be expected for the Glossy Black Galaxy S7 if and when it arrives.


text:
Martinez is on trial for his 2015 sentence
Manufacture and sale of Xanax-like tablets
Yesterday for the production of counterfeit drugs containing the same active substance
Material in the form of Xanx from the US Department of State
Justice told the media.
Ereremi Donagal (41), also known as Xanax King or XK
In connection with the sale of counterfeit bullets in the dark places of the area
Internet access is required for certain software
Offer to unknown users. Donagal signed a lease in December
At Concord 2018 warehouse, he is accused of giving more drugs
Thousands of media and plastic shelves collide.
Compressed tablets, packaging, carriers and other equipment
The business deals with ordering letters in a statement.
Donagal generally produces and sells Alprazolam
Tablets containing the same active substance as Xanax
According to the crime, Donagal produces talaprazolam tablets and used the same brand name “Sandoz AD”.
One of the largest pharmaceutical manufacturers in the country, which recently agreed to teach the monopoly system and prices.
In January 2018, participants based their beliefs on 2015
Lawsuit, which involves three years of supervision. It’s here
He was arrested Thursday at a Concord store.
On Friday, the government demanded neutrality in the race,
He said he began developing synthetic drugs
He was released from prison.
Establishment of corporate governance
Malicious drugs blind the internet
Country tablets. He also created a sales page
On black markets like Samara and the Kingdom.
In 201 In, Donaga and five others were arrested in Contra Costa and charged with setting up a fake Xenax company.
Traditional Medicine Pfizer Inc. Trade and other murders, including the transfer of money
A lawsuit has been filed against 50 years in prison in China.
Dingle appeared in federal court Friday. Let’s stop answering
He was sentenced to four years in prison and supervised for one year
Inadequate treatment, three-handed equipment
I was sentenced to one year and one year in prison
Production and sale of counterfeit medicines.


text:
Appear Here, a marketplace for short-term retail space that originally launched to ride the ‘pop-up’ shop craze, has raised $12 million in Series B funding.
Leading the round is Octopus Ventures, with participation from Simon Venture Group, and existing investors Balderton, MMC, Meyer Bergman and Playfair Capital. It brings total funding for the company to $21.4 million, according to CrunchBase.
Founded in London in 2013 by then-20-year-old Ross Bailey with the support of Forward Partners (the idea-stage and seed investor that offers operational support to burgeoning founders), Appear Here offers a marketplace for short-term retail space.
The idea is to connect brands, retailers, designers and entrepreneurs with available space, and as frictionless as possible and all done online. The company launched first in the U.K., but has since expanded to France, and most recently New York in the U.S.
“With our international expansion, we’re excited to continue to build deep relationships in the top retail cities around the world,” says founder and CEO Ross Bailey, in a statement. “Appear Here is the world leader at what we do and this is the perfect time for us to scale. We’ve got offices in London, Paris and New York, and now we’re looking forward to launching more tools and opening up new locations for our growing community to take their ideas to the next level”.
To date, the startup says its marketplace has been used by more than 80,000 brands, including the likes of Nike, Loewe, Givenchy, Coca-Cola, Net-a-Porter, and Kanye West, and a raft of independents — the whole idea is to lower the barrier for a brand or startup wanting to have a temporary brick ‘n’ mortar presence, after all. Meanwhile, more than 4,000 “exclusive spaces” have been listed.


text:
LONDON (Reuters) – Carmaker Aston Martin reported on Wednesday a 224% increase in sales to its dealers, boosted by its first sport utility vehicle, the DBX, as losses fell in the first half of the year.
The DBX 4×4, which first rolled off the production line just over a year ago, accounted for more than half of its 2,901 vehicles between January and June.
“Building on the success of DBX, our first SUV, we have since delivered two more new vehicles and with more exciting product launches to come we are well positioned for growth,” said Executive Chairman Lawrence Stroll.
Fictional agent James Bond’s car brand of choice has had a tough time since floating in 2018, as it failed to meet expectations and burnt through cash, prompting it to bring in fresh investment from billionaire Stroll last year.
The DBX entered production in July 2020 and has helped the company widen its appeal in a lucrative segment of the market which has proven profitable for its rivals.
Its pretax loss fell from 227 million pounds in the first half of 2020 to 91 million pounds ($126 million), with the company saying trading was in line with expectations as it aims for 2021 volumes of around 6,000 vehicles.
($1 = 0.7209 pounds)
(Reporting by Costas Pitas, Editing by Paul Sandle)


text:
With licenses including Ralph Lauren and Calvin Klein, Bidermann’s U.S. arm was a training ground for many of the industry’s key executives.
The hosiery brand, which will celebrate its centenary in 2021, is being relaunched under new leadership and creative direction.
Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello received carte blanche for the exhibit at the Yves Saint Laurent Museum in Paris.
Rami Malek, Charlotte Gainsbourg and Charlotte Casiraghi were among the first to discover the exhibition at the YSL Museum.
The fashion executive recounts his long career in a new book, offering a more personal take on fashion history.
For the first time, the institution is giving Saint Laurent creative director Anthony Vaccarello carte blanche for the exhibition.
The exhibition comes amidst major restructurings at Condé Nast Germany.
Items from the home and studio of Claude and François-Xavier Lalanne will go under the hammer in Paris on Oct. 23 and 24.
Four lucky Parsons students were allowed into Alaïa’s personal archive of more than 10,000 couture garments as part of the school’s first “Archiving Fashion” summer course.
An estimate has the legal cannabis market reaching $14 billion by 2022.
Starting July 5 at the Musée Bourdelle in Paris, “Backside” explores the tricky relationship fashion has with the back part of garments.
WWD and Unilever Prestige present a pioneering grant initiative designed to showcase the next generation of business…


text:
Gathering of cars set to rev collectors’ motors
After the inaugural event in 2016, the Concours SA is set to return with another display of some of the most iconic automobiles, writes Mark Smyth
The motoring media and car enthusiasts get excited when a major concours event takes place. Think about Pebble Beach, Villa d’Este or Goodwood — beautiful locations where some of the world’s most desirable cars emerge from the garages of collectors, allowing the public to gaze at them in awe. These events are true motoring heaven, packed with motoring icon after motoring icon. The inaugural Concours SA took place at Sun City in 2016. Some of the best local and international vehicles were presented on the lawns to be scrutinised by judges in white coats to find the best in class in a range of categories. Exotics There was everything from beautiful Minis and US muscle cars to exotic Europeans and everything in between. Overall honours at the September event went to a true 1980s icon, a De Tomaso Pantera GT5, which was brought in from Botswana. In 2017, the event has moved to August 4-6, which is not ideal because it clashes with what is probably the biggest classic car event on the ca...


text:
Britney Spears wore an elegant custom Versace gown to marry personal trainer and model Sam Asghari at an intimate wedding ceremony outside Los Angeles on Thursday.
The pop princess completed her outfit with a dramatic satin-edged veil and white choker as she tied the knot at her home in Thousand Oaks, California.
Following months of speculation about who would design Spears’ gown, the singer reportedly let slip in a since-deleted Instagram post last year that “Versace is making my dress as we speak.” The brand’s chief creative officer, Donatella Versace, confirmed her involvement Friday, revealing on social media that her label had also designed Asghari’s tuxedo.
Posting a picture of the newlyweds to Instagram, the Italian designer wrote that Spears held “a very special place in my heart.”
“Designing Britney and Sam’s wedding outfits came naturally to me,” she wrote in the accompanying caption. “A tremendous amount of love was poured into every detail. Together with our Atelier, we created a gown and tuxedo that exudes elegance and glamour. They look just perfect together!”
Versace joined a high-profile guest list that included Lady Gaga, Madonna and Selena Gomez.
With its classic silhouette and three-meter-long (10-foot) train, the design featured a plunging neckline and capped, off-the-shoulder sleeves. The gown’s fitted bodice was pleated in the front, while the skirt split into a deep V-shaped leg slit.
A representative for Versace told CNN that Spears also wore tulle gloves embellished with pearls and a pair of white satin pumps. The gown took the fashion house’s tailors over 700 hours to produce.
Spears accessorized with 62 carats’ worth of diamonds in the form of a tennis necklace, tennis bracelet and tear-drop earrings, according to Vogue. Her bridal makeup was the work of British makeup artists Charlotte and Sofia Tilbury, with the former telling the fashion magazine that she was “thrilled and honored” to work with Spears on her wedding look.
According to Vogue, there were three outfit changes throughout the evening. Spears later appeared in a red mini dress, a black mini dress and a two-toned outfit – all of which were designed by Versace.
Asghari, who met Spears on the set of her “Slumber Party” music video in 2016, meanwhile wore a black wool tuxedo to the ceremony. His suave Versace jacket featured silk satin details, and was paired with a white shirt, black loafers and black silk bow tie.
Spears’ wedding dress bore some similarities to the one she wore to marry Kevin Federline in 2004. On that day, she opted for a classic, strapless satin wedding gown by Filipina American bridalwear designer Monique Lhuillier, and later changed into a white lace mini-dress with a high-neck and open back.
Speaking to CNN last year, Lhuillier said she was given just three weeks to design and produce the wedding and reception dresses, as well as gowns for the entire wedding party. “(I told them) ‘OK, we’ll get it done. Don’t worry,’” she recalled, “but inside, I was dying.”
Spears’ first husband, Jason Alexander (to whom she was married for just 55 hours before the union was annulled in 2004), attempted to crash the star’s wedding Thursday. He was arrested and charged with trespassing and battery, police said.
The nuptials come nearly seven months after Spears won a court battle against her long-standing conservatorship, a binding legal agreement that she said prohibited her from getting married or having children. In April, she and Asghari announced that they were expecting a baby, though they later posted a joint statement revealing that they had lost their pregnancy
This article was updated to reflect the year of Spears marriage annulment, and to include details of her and Asghari’s pregnancy announcement.


text:
Samsung's smart watch will be called the Galaxy Gear and will be part of the company's existing Galaxy range.
The name of the smart watch was revealed in a new US patent filed by Samsung.
Little is known about the internals of Samsung's upcoming smart watch, but it is extremely likely to run on a heavily modified version of Android.
It is also rumoured that the Galaxy Gear will be officially announced on September 4th – just under one month from now.
According to the patent, the Galaxy Gear will offer access to the internet, allow calls to be made, emails to be read and it will also be able to send text messages.
Interestingly, it will not require a connection to your smartphone to do so. Whether or not that means you will need a separate data contract with the like of Everything Everywhere, O2, Vodafone or Three remains to be seen.
Unveiling the device on September 4th would give Samsung a head start and the ability to capture mind share from its rival Apple.
Apple is expected to officially unveil its own smart watch later this year.
The iPhone maker began registering the iWatch trademark earlier this year. It has applied in Russia and Japan. However, it has emerged that the trademark is already registered in the US and Europe.
You can read the full trademark application for the Samsung Galaxy Gear on the US Patents and Trademark Office's website.


text:
Privacy and data protection issues have dominated headlines and boardroom discussions over the past two years. With the introduction of GDPR, data breaches such as Cambridge Analytica and even the recent COVID-19 situation, data privacy has been at the forefront of general consciousness.
The Asia Pacific regulatory landscape has not been immune to these developments, with many countries in the region introducing and updating their privacy laws in quick succession. Unlike the broadly consistent approach to privacy in Europe with GDPR, Asia Pacific remains a patchwork of different privacy laws that companies must learn to navigate. This session will kick off with an overview by our data protection experts of the recent developments in their region followed by an interactive panel discussion.


text:
Hypertensive and heart medication containing valsartan has been recalled around the globe, having been contaminated with a substance believed to cause cancer.
One of the most important aspects of this recall is that those taking valsartan understand that they should not stop their treatment before seeing a medical professional.
MyTherapy have created an infographic explaining the key points regarding the valsartan recall.
With 1 in 3 people living with hypertension, it is likely you and your readers know of someone taking valsartan. We therefore encourage you to share the infographic to help ensure that everyone affected is aware.


text:
The leading independent vehicle safety advocate, the Australasian New Car Assessment Program (ANCAP), released 5-star safety ratings for four vehicles, the Holden Spark, the Kia QL Sportage, the Jaguar XF and the Skoda Superb.
GENESIS has unveiled its striking ‘New York Concept’ luxury sports sedan at the New York International Auto Show. The New York Concept hints a new level of prestige for the South Korean automaker as it attempts to challenge German brands such as Mercedes and BMW.
Australia’s Michael Simcoe, after a 33-year stint on General Motors design team and currently Vice President of GM International Design, has been appointed to Vice President of GM global Design and will start transitioning into his new role from May.
Rolls Royce are challenging their ‘crusty’ stereotype by catering towards the well-heeled baby-boomer and millennial market with their new ‘Black Badge’ series, in the hope that it will capture sales opportunities for today’s young, ‘self-empowered, self-confident rule-breakers’.
The MTA Institute has launched its new Learning Management System (LMS). In development since mid-2015, the LMS will offer training courses, and certain elements of training courses, to students via an online portal.
A $16 million advanced biofuels pilot plant will be built at Southern Oil Refining’s Yarwun plant at Gladstone.
Caleb Ferguson is MTAQ’s Apprentice of the Month for February 2016.
South Australia’s Premier Jay Weatherill has urged General Motors to make a financial contribution to the northern Adelaide suburb at the core of Holden's looming shutdown.
The 21-year-old Gold Coast mechanic, who trained with the MTA Institute and completed his apprenticeship at the beginning of the year, was presented with the award at the Club’s national rally in Launceston, Tasmania, at the beginning of March.


text:
Well I’ve heard that 60 is the new 50, which might just about be believable, given that the average life span is more than when I was young, but I pass at the optimist who said that 60 is the new 40! 631 more words
Tags » Denny's
If you’re hungry for some pancakes, Amazon’s Alexa has your back.
The restaurant chain Denny’s announced on Wednesday that you can now use Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant to order food through its Denny’s On Demand service. 266 more words
The 19th annual Tom Joyner Foundation Fantastic Voyage is set to sail on April 29, 2018 with a new partner.
Denny’s, America’s favorite family dining chain, is officially teaming up with the original “Party with a Purpose” to support students through the action-packed event which includes more than 60 live entertainment acts, seminars, fitness classes, and lots more! 126 more words


text:
A Panda Express restaurant opened on March 22 on the New Mexico State University campus, at the Barnes & Noble Bookstore on the corner of University Avenue and Jordan Street. It celebrated its grand opening April 7.
The eatery will open from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. seven days a week.
"We believe that NMSU is the heart of Las Cruces," said America Chong, Panda Express mulit-unit manager via a release. "The campus continues to bring new blood and possibilities to Las Cruces. It's eco-friendly, health oriented and we are happy to be here."
Chong manages the four Panda Express locations in El Paso and also will manage the NMSU location, where she hopes her restaurant will be staffed 90 to 100 percent with NMSU students.
The NMSU location will feature the newest design look the company offers, complete with digital menu boards, a different color scheme, layout and lighting. It also offers several eco-friendly features, such as a steam-less induction table for warming food, sensors on the faucets in the restrooms and hand dryers, rather than paper towels.
The Panda Express menu offers chicken, beef and shrimp entrees, with several appetizer and side dish options. In addition to the current menu, Chong said that brown steamed and fried rice will be offered beginning in April.
FRENGER FOOD COURT
Frenger Food Court's Mix Express recently expanded its hours to include breakfast. It will now offer mochi crepe or mochi pancake, in multiple varieties, with a choice of orange juice or coffee for $3.99.
Dick's Café and Smokey Dick's BBQ team up in Frenger Food Court to offer popular items from both menus, along with a couple of new items, from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Breakfast items will include French toast and breakfast tacos. Burgers, brisket and pulled pork sliders, nachos and other items will be served for lunch. Healthy options will also be available, including a Chicken Caesar Salad and a grilled chicken breast sandwich with romaine, spinach, dried cranberries and dried apricots.
"We try to mix it up. We don't want every vendor in Frenger to offer the same meal," Pierson said.
An official opening date was not announced, but a press release indicates it will be open by next week.
Other food options at Frenger Food Court include Chihuahuas, Dynasty Express, TCBY Treats and Coffee Haus.
PLAYERS GRILL AND THIRD FLOOR BISTRO
The Third Floor Bistro is a full-service dining establishment featuring buffets, appetizers and a variety of entrees from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday to Friday. It is located at the Danny Villanueva Victory Club inside NMSU's Stan Fulton Athletics Center at the corner Arrowhead Drive and Wells Street.
The Player's Grill is a bar and grill overlooking the NMSU Golf Course. Open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. through the weekend, the menu offers breakfast, lunch and dinner daily specials and a different soup each day.
"A lot of people think you have to play golf there. That's actually a public restaurant," said Kyle Pierson with NMSU Auxiliary Marketing & Promotions, about the Players Grill.
The same goes for the Third Floor Bistro at the Danny Villanueva Victory Club inside the Stan Fulton Athletic Center. It's not just for athletes.
"It's public. You get a great view of the Aggie Memorial Stadium and there's parking for both of them," Pierson said.
For information on Player's Grill, call 575-646-2457. For Third Floor Bistro, call 575-646-4763.
The biggest challenge for the public when dining at NMSU is parking.
For Panda Express patrons, there are reserved spots for that building, all of which are fair game.
"There are a number of spots...whether you are going to the parking department, the book store to get your books or going to Panda to get some Chinese food," Pierson said.
Parking is free at the Third Floor Bistro in lots 88 and 86, at the south end of the football stadium. It's also free at the golf course for The Player's Grill.
As far as the rest of the areas, parking must be done in the free lots surrounding the campus or it requires a parking permit. Free parking permits for the day are available through the parking department.
All campus parking is free on Sundays.
Pulse Editor Tracy Roy may be reached at 575-541-5424.
More on-campus food options
• AC Power Station
Located in the James B Delamater Activity Center. Packaged sandwiches, salads, parfaits, smoothies and fresh fruits and vegetables. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday to Friday.
• Aggie Grill
Located in the Gerald Thomas Hall. Burgers, grilled sandwiches, fries, burritos, tacos and packaged sandwiches, salads, fruits and veggies. 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday to Friday.
• Blake's Lotaburger
Signature green chile cheeseburgers, burritos, burgers, hot dogs and more. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday.
• College Canteen
Located in the Health and Social Service Buidling. Grill 155, Einstein Bros. Bagels and Simply to Go offer a variety of meal options. 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
• Corbett Center Food Court
AFC Sushi, Chick-Fil-A, Einstein Bros. Bagels, Gila Grill, Simply to Go, Taco Bell. The food court is open from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, 6 p.m. to midnight Monday through Thursday and 7 p.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday. Einstein Bros. Bagels is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Friday.
Located in O'Donnell Hall.
• Taos Restaurant
Located in Corbett Center. Freshly prepared meals, including entrees, deli and grilled sandwiches, burgers, soups salads, breakfast items and vegetarian options. 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Thursday, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Prices are $5.75 for breakfast, $7.50 for lunch and $7.75 for dinner.


text:
A South Carolina man accused of spraying a liquid with a fecal odor at a supermarket pleaded not guilty to federal charges on Wednesday, Dec. 27.
Pau Hang, 41, was arrested after he sprayed a “brown liquid” on a Harris Teeter salad bar, produce, and other items in West Ashley on Oct. 15 by Charleston police. The substance was later tested positive for feces, reported The Post and Courier, citing police.
— Karina Bolster (@KRBolster) December 27, 2017
Hang was described as a “disgruntled contractor” for the store who was angry because he thought the business owed him money, reported Fox News.
Additional charge filed against suspect in incident @ Harris Teeter @ 975 Savannah Highway pic.twitter.com/PGkqHI6T0V
— Charleston P.D. (@CharlestonPD) October 20, 2017
The 41-year-old was indicted on Dec. 13 on charges of tampering with consumer goods with reckless disregard to people and tainting products with intent to damage a business.
He was accused of spraying “foods and fresh produce, and items in the deli food area, the prepared food bar, the prepared salad bar and the sushi bar,” reported The Post and Courier, citing the indictment. Authorities estimates Hang ruined about $3,000 worth of food.
He was initially arrested on state charges of tampering with food products and malicious injury to personal property which were later changed to federal charges, reported the newspaper.
Hang remains in jail on a $200,000 bond. If convicted on the federal charges, Hang could be sentenced to 13 years in prison.


text:
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The retail sector's key indicator moved marginally higher in early trading as shares of Federated Department Stores Inc. and Limited Brands Inc. got early boosts. The S&P Retail Index RLX, +0.00% edged up to 452.89. Shares of Federated FD were last trading 3.5% higher at $66.10, up $2.19, after the retailer delivered better-than-expected third-quarter earnings. Limited LTD, -0.25% meanwhile, jumped 3.5%, to 71 cents, to $21.23, after Bank of America urged investors to buy the stock.
Have breaking news sent to your inbox. Subscribe to MarketWatch's free Bulletin emails. Sign up here.


text:
Advanced Micro Devices beat Wall Street projections in its fourth quarter, but the company's sales projections for the current quarter were below analysts’ expectations.
The forecast sent the technology company’s share price down in after-hours trading Tuesday.
AMD is formally headquartered in California, but most of its operations and executives are based in Austin.
For the fourth quarter, AMD reported net income of $170 million. Using GAAP standards -- industry shorthand for generally accepted accounting principles -- the company said it earned 15 cents per share. Adjusted for one-time gains and costs, earnings were 32 cents per share, the company said.
AMD reported revenue of $2.13 billion for the quarter, a 50% jump over revenue of $1.42 billion in the same quarter last year.
Those numbers beat Wall Street expectations, as analysts had projected earnings of 31 cents per share on revenue of $2.11 billion.
AMD said results for the quarter were driven by the company’s 7-nanometer Ryzen computer processors, its Epyc data center processors and its Radeon graphics cards.
In chip industry terms, nanometer refers to the size of transistors that go on a chip. In general, smaller transistors are faster and more efficient in using power. Ryzen is the company’s newest line of processors for personal computing, while Epyc is its product for data centers.
Industry analyst Patrick Moorhead of Austin-based Moor Insights and Strategy said AMD’s quarterly financial numbers looked solid.
“Highlights for (the quarter) included an incredible 50% revenue growth driven mostly by Ryzen desktop and laptop and Radeon discrete graphics which was up 69%,” Moorhead said. “The company said it had ‘strong Epyc sales’ which I believe grew triple digits. Game consoles down a lot which is natural given Microsoft and Sony's schedules for the next generation consoles.”
In its guidance for the current quarter, the company said it expects its revenue to be about $1.8 billion, which would be about a 42% percent increase year-over-year, but a 15% decrease compared to the previous quarter. It would also fall short of the average analyst estimate of $1.87 billion.
AMD shares were up about 2.6% on Tuesday at market close, but were down more than 4% in after-hours trading.
The company said its revenue forecast was “driven primarily by negligible semi-custom revenue,” which includes revenue from processors and graphics cards sold for the production of Sony and Microsoft console game systems.
AMD CEO Lisa Su she expects the company’s revenue to rebound later in the year.
AMD also reported full year results Tuesday, and said it had a record revenue of $6.73 billion and net income of $341 million in 2019. The company said it is expecting 28% to 30% in revenue growth in 2020.
“We enter 2020 well positioned to continue gaining share across the PC, gaming and server markets based on having an unmatched portfolio of leadership products spanning from desktops to laptops, data centers and game consoles,” Su said.


text:
Top fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies Marico, Godrej and Himalaya have partnered e-commerce marketplace Snapdeal to cater to the growing demand for their value-product portfolio in non-metros.
The companies will list their select popular brands such as Livon, Set Wet and Parachute from Marico, Godrej Expert and Hit from Godrej, Himalaya Baby Lotion, Lotus Herbal facial kits, Lacto Calamine face wash and Vaseline petroleum jelly.
According to Snapdeal, online buying has gained momentum and the number of first-time users has been growing steadily on the platform due to pandemic-led changes.
âThe acceleration in online shopping presents an opportunity to increase consumer choices and offer brands access to a much larger, deep market,â said a Snapdeal spokesperson.
As part of the arrangement, the products will be sold on the platform directly by dealers and authorised by the brands.
Many upcoming brands including The Man Company, Mamaearth, and Ustraa have also partnered with Snapdeal to penetrate non-metros. Snapdeal has about five lakh registered sellers and services around 27,000 pin codes.


text:
Ford announced this month that it will lower the fuel economy rating on its C-Max Hybrid. The C-Max had been marketed as a 47-mpg crossover, blending generous cargo space and fuel economy in a new way. But in real-world driving, the vehicle fell significantly short of those claims. Consumer Reports found that the C-Max yielded 37 mpg in its
A lot of people have been waiting to get behind the wheel of an electric vehicle since the 1980s. But what was once promised to consumers as an extremely economical way to reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and help conserve the environment turned into another green movement pipe dream. While the talk about electric vehicles was full of hope,
Indian cell phone maker Micromax has announced the launch of a unit equipped with photovoltaic cells. The model is called X259 and the company describes it as “functional and efficient”. It features a 2.4” screen, camera, Bluetooth and the option to use two chips.
Renewable energy sources like solar and wind only generate electricity when the wind blows or the sun is out and that isn’t always when customers need power. Batteries large enough to hold megawatts of electricity are prohibitively expensive but another potential source of battery storage is fast emerging: electric vehicles.
In 1914, Rauch & Lang built an electric vehicle, the Brougham B4. I recently saw an example of this on Chasing Classic Cars. It was amazing to see that back in 1914 electric vehicles were very popular and served as an alternative to cranking the engine or getting the steam engine to work.
According to Chasing Classic Cars, the
Imagine that every car in America was an Electric Vehicle (EV) powered by a electric battery like the Tesla’s (Nasdaq: TSLA) Roadster. Imagine also that each and every car was powered with solar energy. Here’s a question: what amount of land would you need to generate the solar energy to power every electric vehicle in America? And how would that solar acreage compare with the land surface that the oil industry uses to drill today?
I did the numbers and the answer will surprise you.
The federal government has made it abundantly clear that they want the upcoming plug-in and electric vehicles to succeed. The government has awarded $2.4 billion in stimulus funds for the manufacture of vehicles and their components as well as to establish a vehicle charging infrastructure.
Among the grants is funding for establishing 12,500 charging stations across five states. Another 2,550 charging stations could be becoming very competitive in installing public charging stations. Also, big box retailers are expected to offer free charging to encourage people to shop and recharge their batteries.
But government agencies need to walk a fine line in building out the electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The government is keen on eliminating “range anxiety” — the fear that an electric vehicle might run out of battery power before it can be recharged — that could discourage consumers from buying electric vehicles. (Extended range vehicles such as the Chevrolet Volt can tap the gas tank, so it’s less of a concern.)


text:
Tech trade fair’s success reflects industry’s rapid rise
Hong Kong-listed Tencent Holdings rose nearly 3 percent Friday to 403.4 HK dollars per share, making the Chinese Internet giant Asia’s largest company by market value.
The company’s fiscal report, released Wednesday, showed third-quarter revenue rocketed up 61 percent year on year to 65 billion yuan (9.8 billion U.S. dollars).
The China Hi-Tech Fair (CHTF), China’s largest high-tech fair, held annually in Shenzhen, where Tencent is based, has also witnessed spectacular growth since its days as a young startup.
Read the full story at http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2017-11/19/c_136764182.htm
tags: technology sector tencent


text:
You’ve been granted free access to this subscribers only article.
TDA market recap: Feb. 1
AUSTIN -- For the week ending Feb. 1, Texas feeder cattle auctions reported prices $4 lower to $8 higher per hundredweight (cwt). Texas direct feeder cattle prices were steady to $3 lower. Fed cattle cash prices declined $2.50 from the previous week’s record-high, averaging $144.62 on a light sales volume. Wholesale beef values were sharply lower, with choice-grade offerings down $6.50 from the record high set the previous Wednesday. Beef export sales totaled 10,600 metric tons (MT) last week, down 26 percent from the previous week and down 39 percent from the prior four-week average.
Cotton prices were modestly higher due to another strong weekly exports report. Cotton export sales for the week were down 3 percent from the previous week, but were still the second highest of the marketing year and more than double the prior four-week average.
Corn and grain sorghum prices were higher as solid export data continued to support the market. Corn export sales totaled 1.8 million MT last week, 2.5 times higher than the previous week and more than four times higher than the four-week average.
Wheat prices were lower as large world supplies continue to pressure the market and in spite of strong export sales and concerns about freeze damage. Wheat export sales for the week were 794,900 MT, nearly double the previous week and nearly three times higher than the average.
Most of the state recorded precipitation during the week, with totals of one-half inch or more reported in parts of North Texas, East Texas, and the Lower Rio Grande Valley. Last week’s U.S. Drought Monitor showed further deterioration in conditions in Texas, with the area of the state rated as abnormally dry or in drought up four points to 81 percent. The areas rated in moderate, severe, and extreme drought increased and the percentage in exceptional drought held unchanged. It has been more than three years, since early November 2010, that more than half the state has been rated in some degree of drought.
Nationally, 56 percent of the contiguous states were reported in some degree of abnormal dryness or drought, up three points from a week ago. There are growing concerns about drought conditions in California. Officials there have said that their agricultural sector stands to lose more than $5 billion if they do not get relief soon.
Texas Cash Markets for the week ending Feb. 1:
•Feeder steers, $164.74/cwt
•Fed cattle, $144.62/cwt
•Slaughter lambs, $192/cwt
•Slaughter goats, $241/cwt
•Grain sorghum, $7.61/cwt
•Cabbage, $8.25/50 lbs
•Feeder cattle, $169.42/cwt
•Fed cattle, $141.67/cwt
•Lumber, $353.80/1000 bd ft.
The cash prices above are market averages for locations covered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture Market News program and do not reflect any particular sale at any specific location.
Feeder cattle prices are for Texas direct sales of 650-850 pound medium and large No. 1 steers for current delivery. Futures prices are quoted for the nearest month contract on the last trading day of the week.
For more information, contact TDA at 1-800-835-5832 or visit, www.TexasAgriculture.gov or from “Links” at http://www.wilson countynews.com.
Your Opinions and Comments
Be the first to comment on this story!
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Agriculture Today Archives
Cattlemen learn to combat brush to protect grazing (February 10, 2016)
Charolais for Profit Sale Feb. 13 (February 10, 2016)
Could live oak pose a hazard? (February 10, 2016)
EPA comment deadline nears (February 10, 2016)
Hay & Forage Report (February 10, 2016)
Livestock Market Reports (February 10, 2016)
Meat is in, sustainable [diets] are out … for now (February 10, 2016)
‘Grants For Growing’ news (February 10, 2016)
‘U.S. beef’ — What’s in a name? (February 10, 2016)
Cisco man arrested for horse theft (February 3, 2016)
EC livestock judging Feb. 27 (February 3, 2016)
Fletcher wins top individual at national contest (February 3, 2016)
Hay & Forage Report (February 3, 2016)
La Vernia stock show news (February 3, 2016)
Livestock Market Reports (February 3, 2016)
Poth ag mechanics welding for success (February 3, 2016)
Raccoons may be culprits behind missing suet blocks (February 3, 2016)
Texans can win lifetime license (February 3, 2016)
Trail ride dance Feb. 9 (February 3, 2016)
Trail Ride Schedules (February 3, 2016)
Who’s the boss? (February 3, 2016)
Yosko places second in nation (February 3, 2016)


text:
CHICAGO – If you recently bought frozen broccoli tots, be sure to check your freezer.
The recalled 12-ounce packages, which bear case UPC 20-0-14500-00125-6 and item UPC 00-0-14500-00125-2, include the following batch or lot codes and best-by dates:
- 4715105620, Aug. 19 and 25, 2022
- 4715104220, Aug. 11 and 12, 2022
- 4715113720, Nov. 17, 2022
- 4715113020, Nov. 10, 2022
Conagra, which said it has received two reports of dental damage tied to the recalled products, is working with retailers to remove the items from shelves, according to the news release.
“Consumers who have purchased this product are advised to dispose of it,” the release said. “Anyone concerned about an injury or illness should contact a health care provider.”
For more information about the recall, call Conagra at 1-800-921-7404 or send an email to email@example.com.