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Mekong sub-region promotes tourism
VietNamNet Bridge – The tourism ministers of five countries in the Mekong sub-region have proposed a single visa scheme and other measures to facilitate travel for tourists in the area.
Tourists at Phong Dien floating market in the Mekong Delta province of Can Tho. Five countries in the Mekong sub-region have proposed a single visa scheme and other measures to facilitate travel for tourists in the area.
The scheme was discussed among leaders from HCM City, Phnom Penh, Vientiane and Yangon and senior tourism officials of the five countries on Sept 10 at the Ministerial Retreat Meeting on ACMECS Tourism Co-operation.
As part of the 10th International Travel Expo HCM City (ITE HCMC), the meeting reviewed achievements and sought solutions to difficulties in promoting the "Five Countries-One Destination" programme.
The mayors and ministers said that the Single Visa Scheme needed to be expanded. Only Cambodia and Thailand use a single visa for the five countries in the sub-region.
A breakthrough was needed, they said, in linkages of tourism products and travel facilitation among the five countries so that co-operation in the sub-region could become more practical.
The tourism ministers and mayors of the four cities agreed that the national tourism organisations of the five countries of ACMECS group (Ayeyawady- Chao Phraya- Mekong Economic Co-operation Strategy) had been successful in promoting international tourism fairs and coordinating surveys of river-tourism products.
The countries had also worked together to organise familiarisation (FAM) trips for tourism businesses and media, as well as meetings and workshops to introduce tourism markets.
The ministers also noted that low-cost airlines continued to expand with more routes and increased frequency in the region.
In a related matter, dozens of cruise ships with colourful lights joined a parade on Sai Gon River at the Lighting Cruises Festival held on Tuesday night.
The event with the theme "Vibrant HCM City," the first of its kind held in the city, attracted more 200 domestic and international travel agents and leaders in the tourism sector from Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.
Parading ships carried demonstrations of typical tourist attractions in HCM City, which has been developing waterborne tourist activities.
The event was part of the celebration of the 10th year anniversary of the International Travel Expo HCM City (ITE HCMC) that opened on Sept 10.
The expo themed "Five countries- One destination" aims to promote international cooperation in tourism among the five nations in the Mekong sub-region.
Nearly 100 outbound travel agents from five nations in the Mekong sub-region and 200 travel agents from 18 countries and territories are participating in expo.
The expo also features destinations and tourism products of 28 cities and provinces across the country.
A series of seminars to introduce promising tourist markets, including Japan, South Korea and countries with Islam as a major religion, will also be held.
The expo will run until September 13 at the Sai Gon Exhibition and Convention Centre in HCM City's District 7.


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Major NFT marketplaces, together with OpenSea, Blur, and Rarible, have taken down the Stoner Cats NFT venture following costs filed by the United States Securities and Trade Fee (SEC).
The Stoner Cats NFTs, initially bought in 2021, have been accessible for buying and selling throughout virtually all main NFT buying and selling platforms.
Nonetheless, as of now, OpenSea and Blur now not show any lively listings for Stoner Cats NFTs, whereas Rarible has eliminated the venture from its website completely.
OpenSea nonetheless maintains the venture web page, however the market has reportedly confirmed that Stoner Cats NFTs can now not be purchased, bought, or transferred via their platform.
OpenSea’s Group Requirements web page explains that venture pages are stored on-line even when buying and selling is disabled because the website additionally serves as a blockchain explorer for NFTs.
On Rarible, the Stoner Cats assortment has been hidden completely and is now not seen to the general public.
LooksRare and X2Y2 Proceed to Help Stoner Cats
Though the NFTs are now not listed on Rarible and buying and selling is disabled on OpenSea, they nonetheless exist on the blockchain and within the wallets of their holders.
Some marketplaces, akin to LooksRare and X2Y2, proceed to have lively Stoner Cats NFT listings.
Stoner Cats, co-created by actress Mila Kunis and developed by her Orchard Farm Productions studio, bought Ethereum NFTs that granted entry to a six-episode net collection that includes animated cats indulging in cannabis-related adventures.
The venture garnered vital consideration as a result of involvement of notable celebrities like Ashton Kutcher, Chris Rock, Jane Fonda, Seth McFarlane, and Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin, who lent their voices to the characters.
The first sale of Stoner Cats NFTs in July 2021 generated over $8 million, and the creators additionally earned from greater than $20 million price of secondary market gross sales.
SEC Sues Stoner Cats NFT Mission
Final week, the SEC charged the creators of the venture Stoner Cats with promoting unregistered securities.
Subsequently, the creators agreed to a cease-and-desist order and to pay a $1 million civil superb, which can set up a Truthful Fund to reimburse buyers, although eligibility particulars are but to be introduced.
The creators additionally agreed to destroy any remaining NFTs of their possession as a part of the settlement.
Following the SEC costs, the gross sales and costs of Stoner Cats NFTs skilled a surge, with costs reaching a peak of 0.082 ETH ($131) early on Thursday, based on NFT Worth Ground information.
As of now, the venture has a ground worth of 0.05940 ETH (price round $97), up by 19.3% over the previous 24 hours.
It’s price noting that the NFT market has skilled a whole reversal since its peak in 2021 and 2022.
Traders have seen the worth of their blue-chip NFTs drop considerably, whereas a number of platforms have been pressured to shut down operations.
Nonetheless, there’s nonetheless notable curiosity, with some large corporations saying NFT initiatives.
As reported, Prada Group, the mother or father firm of Miu Miu, in cooperation with the Aura Blockchain Consortium, has launched blockchain providers that permit clients to confirm the authenticity of their bought merchandise.
Likewise, Italian luxurious watch producer Panerai has revealed plans to incorporate an NFT-based “digital passport” with each watch bought after October 3.

domain: news


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FASTRAK app now available to download
FASTRAK Companies International has released a mobile app available on both Apple and Android devices. The app will give fans and drivers immediate access to the FASTRAK Racing Series powered by Chevrolet Performance, as well as the FASTRAK Racing Series Northeast and all regions of the ULTIMATE Super Late Model Series.
“The release of our mobile app will enable fans and drivers to have information about all of our series right at their fingertips,” said FASTRAK Vice President, DJ Irvine. “This is part of our continued efforts to stay connected and be a leader in the digital age.”
To download the app, search for “FASTRAK Racing Series” on the Apple App Store or Google Play. Once downloaded, users can select which series to view, see all the latest updates and upcoming events. The app comes after FASTRAK Companies International released redesigned, mobile responsive websites earlier in 2020.
“It is staggering the amount of web traffic that comes from mobile devices,” said Irvine, “the app will make it much easier to get updates from FASTRAK.”
Check out the official website for the FASTRAK Racing Series at www.fastrakracing.com and continue to follow our social media networks for the FASTRAK Racing Series. Like and Follow our Fan Page on Facebook plus follow @FASTRAK_Racing on Twitter to get up to the minute news and details as they become available. FASTRAK can be found on Instagram @fastrak_racing.
The 2020 marketing partners for the FASTRAK Racing Series are Chevrolet Performance, Hoosier Racing Tire, AFCO “The official shock of the FASTRAK Racing Series”, VP Racing Fuel “The official fuel of FASTRAK”, VP Racing Lubricants, DealergroupUSA, Speed51.com “The official video home of FASTRAK”, Dirt Track Bank, KRC Power Steering, TNT Race Cars, Arizona Sport Shirts, Simpson Safety Equipment, Rockauto.com, and Thomas Clarke Performance.


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It increased the import duty on edible oils and put quantitative restrictions on the import of tur, moong and urad to prevent any glut in the market and stop prices from coming under too much pressure. Typical tools used to control prices include restricting exports, easing imports as well as imposing stock limits on traders so that they do not manipulate. When it’s time to support farmers, exports are opened up, imports restricted and the government enters the market to procure farm commodities at support prices.
As the government tries to achieve the tough task of keeping growers and consumers happy, with some new and many old tools and policies, traders, farmers, industry and analysts think it’s time it takes some offbeat as well as fundamental and long-term decisions, such as market reforms.
There is a perception among some that government policies are tilted towards urban consumers and this had led to famers blocking supply channels of essential foods from villages to cities in June in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh and protests elsewhere in the most widespread farmer agitations in several years.
Taking actions that please both farmers and consumers is not easy. The procurement operation carried out by the Madhya Pradesh government this July after the farmer strikes led to the rise in onion prices as it created short-term shortages of the bulb that is integral to Indian cuisine. In 2015, scrapping of stock limits on pulses was blamed for speculative rise in prices.
While consumers suffered by paying as much as Rs 200 a kg for pulses like tur and urad in 2015-16 and close to Rs 100 for onions in 2015, farmers growing a large number of crops have been suffering in the past few years due to various reasons. First, it was droughts and later the unremunerative prices of commodities like onions, pulses, ground nut and soyabeans, which gave rise to the unrest among farmers. Even when consumer prices skyrocketed, producers didn’t get all the benefits.
In the case of fresh horticultural produce, maintenance of continuous supply chains from growing markets to consuming markets in cities is crucial to price stability. However, manipulation of these supply channels is one of the key methods used by a handful of traders to speculate. In the case of onions, the easiest method adopted by them is to close market operations according to their convenience. According to experts, a simple analysis of the holidays declared by the Lasalgaon agricultural produce market committee in Nashik, allegedly controlled by a handful of onion traders, shows weak market structures in the country.
This weakness in the system gives traders the opportunity to store goods in advance, create artificial shortage by stopping supplies from farmers, increasing the prices in the name of shortages and make a killing. And, stock limits on onion traders have hardly ever yielded desired results as they are known to store stocks in the names of other people, including farmers. Reforms of agricultural markets in the federal structure of the country have been pending for decades. However, even a simple solution like ensuring that the markets remain open for farmers on all days can work wonders.
“This is very important for the farmers to get their produce to the markets,” said Ajit Shah, the president of the Onion Exporters Association of India. “It will ensure that there is a steady flow of commodities to the markets, which will move further in the supply chain and find its destination.”
SUGAR: GIVE AND TAKE
Like onions, sugar is also a political commodity in India and many trade veterans say the situation was ripe in 2016-17 for speculative price rise, unless the reported production and carry forward stock estimates were wrong. But that was mostly contained by some smart moves. For a short period in April, spot wholesale sugar prices had touched Rs 40 a kg in Kolhapur, a producing centre, and Rs 42 in Kolkata, a consuming centre. However, since then, as a sugar miller from Maharashtra said, despite a hand-tomouth situation, prices have remarkably remained stable.
Indian Sugar Mills Association president T Sartia Reddy said the industry understands what the government wants: reasonable price of sugar for consumers and timely payment of sugarcane price to farmers. “There is very good rapport between the ISMA and the government, which has taken dynamic decisions, allowing only restricted imports when required,” said Reddy.
As industry sources said, it was a pure give-and-take policy that helped save the situation, with the government accepting ISMA’s demands and the trade body in turn ensuring stability of sugar prices. The industry association has been consistently telling its members, the private sugar mills, to keep selling sugar to maintain adequate supplies. Speculation was nipped in the bud in the case of sugar. “There was fear in the minds of traders and millers that this government can take harsh action.
There have been very insignificant volumes on NCDEX, too,” said the miller from Maharashtra. “Earlier, traders would stock sugar and then raise prices on NCDEX in what we call as the Harshad Mehta style. Now, there is hardly any buying or selling on this exchange.” Analysts also pointed to the effect of demonetisation and goods and services tax on commodity prices. “Demonetisation put a break on mass consumption including industrial consumption, while due to GST, everyone went into the liquidation mode, putting pressure on prices,” said Prerana Desai, the research head at EdelweissAgri Services & Credit.
EDIBLE OILS: IMPORT DEPENDENCE
In case of edible oils, according to industry veterans, India’s dependence on imported edible oil at about 70% has increased to dangerously high levels. Cheap imports of edible oil have stagnated growth of domestic oilseeds production. Unlike the sugar sector, government policies regarding imports and exports have not become dynamic yet for edible oils. Though, the edible oil industry had been demanding increase in import duty for a long time, the government increased it on soyabean oil only recently. Yet, the industry is not happy with it and wants the duty to go up to 37.5% from the present 17.5% and a similar increase on sunflower and canola oils as well.
“Import of soyabean oil has increased 400% in the past four years, while the domestic soyabean oil price is at the lowest in 5 years. No wonder farmers shifted away from soyabean this year, while cultivation of oilseeds like sunflower is on the verge of extinction in the country,” said Davish Jain, the president of the Soyabean Processors Association (SOPA). He said timely increase in import duty on edible oil could have supported the prices of soyabean seeds, thus reducing farmers’ sufferings.
But, like other agri-based industries, SOPA wants a long-term solution. It has demanded creation of an Oilseed Development Fund by imposing a cess of Rs 3 on each kilo of imported edible oil except palm oil, which India does not produce and is used by the poor as it is cheap.
CONTROLLING PRICES, PAYING FARMERS
A two-pronged approach to control inflation and give remunerative farm prices, industry executives said, would be making timely and dynamic decision with existing tools and taking long-term sustainable measures, including offbeat solutions. “Price control is a double-edged sword. We want to control inflation and we also want to increase farmers’ income, which are two conflicting ideas. There is no efficient way of doing this,” said Desai of Edelweiss. “In some countries, direct transfer of cash to farmers is happening and that could possibly one way of doing things. It will allow markets to decide prices and industry to get cheap raw material.”
The Madhya Pradesh government, where the farmer agitation turned violent after police firing earlier this year, has approved pilot implementation of a new scheme in kharif 2017. The Bhavantar Bhugtan Yojana (Price Deficit Financing Scheme) seeks to strike a balance between consumer and farmer interests by paying farmers the difference between the market price (capped at modal market price) and the minimum support price. Government sources claimed that even the central government is thinking of rolling out a Market Assurance Scheme, where the Centre will support states for below-MSP procurement operations.
The sugar industry is also hopeful that the government will soon set up a price stabilisation fund (PSF) and implement the revenue-sharing formula. “The revenue-sharing formula will make it mandatory for mills to share 75% of their revenue with farmers when sugar prices are high. When sugarcane price is lower than the legally binding fair and remunerative price, the government will pay the difference between the two to the farmer from the PSF,” said Reddy of the Sugar Mills Association.


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Kutaragi Retires from SCE
04.27.07 - 1:25 AM
Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) chief executive officer and chairman Ken Kutaragi will resign from both positions and henceforth only serve as honorary chairman of the company he built a decade ago, effective June 19th. Furthermore, the Father of the PlayStation family will continue to offer his technological expertise to Sony Group chief executive officer Sir Howard Stringer as senior technology adviser. In a statement, Kutaragi said he wanted to work on even wider network systems in the future.
Meanwhile, Kazuo "Kaz" Hirai will take over Kutaragi's responsibilities as chief operating officer, while retaining the position of SCE president.


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One of Australia's hottest-selling products, infant formula, has been caught up in the market woes about the health of China's economy.
Shares in some of Australia's most-popular infant formula brands have plummeted in the past month amid increasing concerns from analysts that the world's second-largest economy will cool further this year.
On Tuesday, Beijing said fourth-quarter growth growth was less than expected while China's economy expanded 6.9 per cent in 2015, the slowest pace in 25 years.
Trans-Tasman producer, a2 Milk, has fallen 26.7 per cent to $1.58 in the past four weeks, while Bellamy's Organic has eased 14.6 per cent to $13.22. This compares with the S&P ASX 200 Index shedding 8.3 per cent in the same period.
The sell-off comes as demand in China for Australian formula sent the shares of popular infant nutrition brands soaring late year.Phin Ziebell said demand for infant formula in China should continue to remain strong.
But infant formula makers, which have struggled to keep their products on Australian supermarket shelves, are still reporting strong sales.
One dairy executive said despite the China slowdown, disposable incomes and sales in China were still robust.
"There is a disconnect in the market," the executive said.
NAB agribusiness economist Phin Ziebell said demand for infant formula in China should continue to remain strong, particularly as the country moves from a manufacturing to a consumption led economy.
He said infant formula was different to other dairy exports because it was a premium, branded product.
"The thing about China and dairy is it's really going in two directions," Mr Ziebell said.
"There was the melamine scandal in 2008 and understandably people were terrified about that because food safety is a serious problem. That means for your infant formula there is going to big demand for product that isn't adulterated with poison.
"And certainly the Chinese leadership has an emphasis on a more consumption based economy. If they can do that, that's good for Australian agricultural exports because we can sell into that premium end of the market and have an FTA [free trade agreement] which gives us the ability to really effectively do that."Photo: Fiona Goodall/ Getty.
The outlook for bulk dairy commodities isn't as rosy. China has stepped out of the global dairy market in the past 18 months while it ran down inventories of milk powder, triggering a halving of prices for key dairy commodities. It has also ramped up its own supply, Mr Ziebell said.
"The medium-term story is for commodity-end milk powder, that's not baby formula and not at the premium-end of the market… there is a move to source that domestically," he said.
"That's quite separate from any of the financial market ructions that we've seen since the start of the year."
Mr Ziebell said this was likely to put a stopper on global dairy prices reaching the highs of the 2013 and 2014 seasons.
"We think they [China] will get back into the market a bit but I don't see the upside of that 2014 binge on global markets.
"So we won't see massive upside in price forecasts, but likewise we don't see calamity ahead either."
NAB is forecasting a "slow recovery" of global dairy prices this year, which will be bolstered by a lower Australian dollar that it expects will hit 66 US cents by June.
"Australian prices are also likely to be supported by the ongoing international interest in our products," said NAB regional agribusiness manager Dave Davies.
"Free trade agreements such as the China Free Trade Agreement will only help this trade, especially if we can operate on a more level playing field with the New Zealand industry."
Read more posts on Business Insider Australia »


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When the flu has you down, be careful what you take.
The FDA is warning about unapproved flu medications being sold online.
Ten retailers got warnings after selling so-called generic Tamiflu.
The companies claim their products are the most effective alternative to the flu shot.
These online drugs are not FDA approved, and may be too strong or not strong enough.


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Collaborative robots (cobots) are having a transformative impact on packaging processes, and nowhere on the PACK EXPO floor was this more evident than at the Yaskawa booth. According to Memco’s Peter Tosh, who was helping to demonstrate this equipment, cobots are changing the game for brand owners and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies, offering a unique blend of safety, flexibility, and efficiency.
During their early years, cobots were certainly marvels, but still were small, low payload, and low reach machines compared to their gated, less human-friendly industrial counterparts. Early cobots were often considered fragile or unreliable, too, by comparison. But this perception has evolved over the past decade. Cobots are now larger, capable of handling heavier payloads, and possess greater reach and speed while retaining their collaborative nature.
For example, a large 30-kg payload Yaskawa cobot was operating in the booth, without any gates, as attendees milled about nearby. The 6-axis equipment, a collaborative equivalent of Yaskawa’s GP series, was ,able to extend up to 6-ft. in any direction in free, open space, only gated by sensor automation affecting the palletizing robots’ speed. This expanded capability opens up opportunities for tasks like large(r)-format palletizing, previously considered beyond the reach of collaborative robots.
One of the defining features of these modern cobots is their safety mechanisms. They employ sensor-based technology, such as area scanners, to detect the presence of humans or objects in their vicinity. As a result, when someone gets closer to a cobot, it automatically slows down, minimizing any potential danger. And they can be programmed to deaccelerate to a crawl immediately, or altogether halt in an instant, in closer vicinities. This level of customization ensures that cobots can be integrated into production lines without posing risks to workers.
What sets these cobots apart from their less-collaborative coutnerparts is their adaptability. They can be programmed to handle various case types, different weights, and diverse stack patterns. This flexibility is a crucial asset for brand owners and CPGs, as it allows them to respond to changing market demands and product variations seamlessly. It’s even more important for contact packagers, who need to wring many different applications out of a single cobot.
It’s important to note that, beyond just being safe to be around themselves, these cobots are making significant strides in actually reducing workplace injuries. With a 30-kg load capacity, they can take on the heavy lifting, reducing the physical strain on workers. This not only enhances safety but also leads to fewer workman's compensation claims, benefiting brand owners in the long run.
One impressive aspect of the demo was the use of vacuum-based grippers for handling heavy loads. In some cases, cobots can pick up loads as heavy as 185 kilograms using this technology. While it may seem like science fiction, it's a testament to the innovation driving the industry forward.
According to Tosh, collaborative robots are indeed the future of the packaging machinery industry. Robotics in general have evolved from being seen as dangerous and limited machines to becoming indispensable assets that enhance safety, flexibility, and efficiency in production processes. And as labor shortages persist and the demand for adaptable packaging solutions grows, these cobots, a subset of larger robotics, are set to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of packaging for brand owners and CPGs alike.


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Starting this week, millions of Verizon High Speed Internet and Fios Internet customers will have access to thousands of wireless hotspots across the country. Verizon has teamed up with Boingo to provide the hotspots, which will provide high speed internet access at locations at various public places including many hotels, airports, restaurants, coffee shops, retailers, and convention centers.
This new feature pairs nicely with the current free Compaq Netbook promotion that Verizon is running. It’s apparent that broadband access is morphing into a more seamless, go anywhere product. In the future we can expect home broadband, wifi hotspots, and wireless 3G/4G broadband, and Wimax to become a single seamless product offering.


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McLaren P11 Supercar Photos Leaked
Leaked clay model photos of McLaren’s coming P11 supercar have just hit the web and it looks as though the speculative renderings we brought you back in August, were close to the mark. UK automotive magazine Car managed to obtain the images fro
Leaked clay model photos of McLaren's coming P11 supercar have just hit the web and it looks as though the speculative renderings we brought you back in August, were close to the mark. UK automotive magazine Car managed to obtain the images from an insider and has been kind enough to spread the love.
The two-door mid-engined supercar has been kept under close wraps, however various reports from people lucky enough to have spotted the prototype during testing, suggest the P11 will be a formidable machine. A Mercedes-Benz sourced 6.2-litre V8 engine is a distinct possibility, which, when coupled with an expected kerb-weight of around 1200kgs, should see McLaren's new baby put down some serious times.
Track-side witnesses at Surrey's Dunsfold circuit, have also reported that the P11 is capable of lightning fast shift times. This implies an F1 style sequential gearbox is a feature, and not surprising given McLaren's racing involvement.
While the P11 certainly has some big 'F1' shoes to fill at McLaren, these images confirm that on looks along the new car will be right up there. The P11 is expected to be priced in the Â£150,000 and Â£200,000 range, and should go a long way to securing McLaren's future as a producer of road-going supercars.
[Source: Car Magazine UK]


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Tesla Inc. (TSLA) - Get Tesla Inc Report shares extended gains to a fresh record high Tuesday, following on from the biggest single-session advance in six years yesterday, as it closes in on Toyota Motor Co. (TM) - Get Toyota Motor Corp. Report for the title of world's most valuable carmaker.
Tesla surged nearly 20% yesterday in heavy trading volume, boosting its market value to just under $141 billion, well ahead of domestic rivals Ford (F) - Get Ford Motor Company Report and General Motors (GM) - Get General Motors Company Report and now only $50 billion behind market leader Toyota -which sold 10.74 million cars last year compared to 367, 500 for Elon Musk's Palo Alto, California-based Tesla.
“It’s nowhere near ended at that point and time,” billionaire investor Ron Baron, and early Tesla buyer, told CNBC Tuesday, suggesting the company could have a trillion dollar market cap in ten year's time. “There’s a lot of growth opportunities from that point going forward."
Tesla shares were marked 23.6% higher in mid-afternoon trading to change hands at $964.00 each in a move that would mark a near 430% gain from the stock's June 3 trough of $179.87 per share. The gains also peg Tesla's market value at $173 billion.
Yesterday's move, which added $23 billion in value for Tesla shareholders, was largely pegged to earlier-than-expected profitability at Panasonic Corp. which makes batteries for the clean-energy carmaker at a jointly-owned plant in Nevada, and a pair of analysts upgrades that had retail investors pouring into the stock. Panasonic, it should be noted, also has a joint venture with Toyota that will launch in April.
Argus analyst Bill Selesky raised his Tesla target price by 45%, to $808, citing its "dominant position in the electric vehicle industry" and forecast "improved performance in 2020 and beyond." Ark Invest, meanwhile, put Tesla's value at in 2024 at an eye-watering $7,000 per share, based on optimism about its gross margins and capital efficiency.
Tesla shares, however, continue to have the biggest short interest in the U.S. market, with some $15.86 billion -- or 24.38 million shares -- betting against its continued rise.
That's around 18.22% of the entire Tesla float, dwarfing the 0.93% bet against Apple (AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. Report and the 0.88% bet against Microsoft (MSFT) - Get Microsoft Corporation Report, the second and third most-shorted stocks in the market respectively.
Some of the short interest could be linked to the stock's recent surge, which has seen levels from $400 to $700 taken out since late last year. In fact, while it took Tesla nearly 1,000 days to go from $300 to $400 a share, it took only 25 days to rise to $500, 18 days to rise to $600 and a mere 4 days to rise to $700 during yesterday's session.


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By Rolfe Winkler Sept. 17, 2018 10:42 a.m. ET
The 55-year-old marketing consultant loves sugar. Her boss hates it.
Cody Broderick, 38, would like Ms. Glass and the rest of the office to snack on the organic fruits and vegetables he sets out. Rather than an afternoon coffee break, the head of in What Language LLC, a translation service in Salt Lake City, recommends a short sprint around the office or a set of push ups.
“Oh my God, I can’t get rid of these people!” said Ms. Glass. She left a boss in New York City who also wanted to cap the office sweet tooth.
Most employees like the free doughnuts, cake and other confections that get parked “in the usual place” at work. But exploding rates of obesity and diabetes make sugar more like cigarettes to some employers. Tempting treats are the new secondhand smoke.
The rules at Health IQ in Mountain View, Calif., sounded pretty sour when they went viral earlier this year: “There is no sugar, candy bars, soda (diet or otherwise) allowed in our office. If you bring some it will get thrown away.”
Chief executive Munjal Shah said the rules, more flexible than they sounded, were relaxed after the social media outrage. The company, however, still wags a finger at secondhand sugar.
“Don’t tempt me with your kids’ leftover chocolate cake,” said Mr. Shah, who leads a startup that sells cut-rate life insurance to health-conscious buyers.
The shaming goes both ways. Hy-Deia Walker, 24, who works in development at a nonprofit in New York, said the amount of sugary treats in her office is overwhelming. Every birthday is celebrated with a cake, she said, and there are always leftover cookies and sugary snacks after client meetings.
Refuse a cupcake, Ms. Walker said, and some co-workers “give you a look like you’re being dramatic.” On her own birthday, she brought in a fruit plate. Colleagues arrived with a red velvet birthday cake. Ms. Walker cut herself a tiny slice, she said, and deliberately forgot to take home leftovers.
At in What Language, staffers fall into a similar divide. “The sales people are more on the healthy side, and the project management team wants doughnuts,” said Cyle Adair, director of business development. He keeps almonds and protein bars by his desk.
Abel Atwater, director of project management, described his colleague as “a health nut who eats rabbit food.” Mr. Adair said Mr. Atwater is nicknamed “Charleston Chew Man,” after the old-timey candy bar with the nougat center.
In June, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published the first national study looking at the food people get at work. No surprise that a lot of the workplace food was free, with much of it high in so-called empty calories from sugars and fats.
U.S. taxpayers spent roughly $660 each in 2016 treating obesity-related illnesses covered by Medicare and Medicaid, according to estimates by Adam Biener, assistant professor of economics at Lafayette College.
Office crackdowns, though, can’t keep workers from their fix. Jennifer Rice, 47, a nurse at Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, said that after the hospital banned the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks, colleagues discovered a fully stocked vending machine in the basement of a nearby office building.
Workers at the Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis began frequenting this vending machine in the basement of a nearby office building two years ago, after the hospital banned the sale of sugar-sweetened drinks.
The University of California, San Francisco, took a more circuitous path. In 2015, Well-Being Services Executive Director Leeane Jensen persuaded more than two dozen food outlets at the hospital and across campus to stop selling sugar-sweetened drinks. Going along were such franchises as Subway, Panda Express and Jamba Juice, which stopped selling juices that weren’t all fruit- or vegetable-derived.
The nearby Starbucks resisted. “Our menu is designed to reflect a range of choices from wholesome to indulgent, which allows customers to make nutritional choices that are right for them,” a company spokeswoman said.
At UCSF’s Jamba Juice on a recent Sunday, employee Anthony Patchill said he has warned customers from ordering a Protein Berry Workout smoothie. His location uses only unsweetened soy milk.
“It just tastes like nothing,” Mr. Patchill said.
Not all of the sugar-shaming stems from concern about worker health or the well-being of customers. Sometimes, it is to help the boss avoid calories.
Rudy Chung, 41, a partner at two small music companies in Los Angeles, told employees to please avoid their afternoon runs to the baked goods store next door after too many sweets piled up at the office during last year’s holiday season. The initiative didn’t last. “It was probably me that caved,” he said.
Another boss, Erin Wynn, 52, said it was tough to stay healthy leading a 50-person team of mostly millennials at WeLocalize Inc. in New York City.
Everywhere she looked. Ms. Wynn said, were bowls of candy, leftover cake and “bagels, bagels, bagels.”
She finally told workers in 2014 to stop. “I don’t care if you have it yourself, just don’t put it all over the office,” she said. “I can’t help myself.”
One of her employees at the time was Ms. Glass, now working for inWhatLanguage. After hearing the boss’s order four years ago, Ms. Glass recalled, she sped to the aptly named Black Market nearby for a stash of candy.


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Technology Briefing | Hardware: LSI Logic Raises Sales Forecast
Published: March 15, 2005
The LSI Logic Corporation, a maker of chips for data-storage equipment and electronics, raised its forecast for first-quarter revenue to as much as $435 million on demand from digital audio product manufacturers that was higher than expected. First-quarter sales will be $420 million to $435 million, compared with a previous forecast of $400 million to $415 million, LSI said yesterday. LSI, based in Milpitas, Calif., had 2004 first-quarter sales of $452.4 million. LSI has had more than $480 million in net losses in the last two quarters as chip demand sank and customer inventory swelled. Intel, the world's largest maker of chips, surprised investors on March 10 by saying first-quarter sales would be at the high end of its forecast. LSI was expected to have first-quarter sales of $407.7 million, according to the average estimate of eight analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call. Shares of LSI, which plans to report first-quarter results on April 27, rose 21 cents, or about 3 percent, to $6.27.
Graph tracks LSI Logic's share price for last week.


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Shares of News Corporation (NWSA - Free Report) rose 5.3% on Jun 18 following its announcement of exploring strategic options for News America Marketing (NAM) business, including a potential sale. This move will enable the company to simplify its structure, optimize portfolio and enhance shareholders’ value. Also, it will be able to focus on core areas that include creation and distribution of premium content along with digital real estate services.
This provider of home-delivered shopper media, in-store marketing products and services, and digital marketing solutions has been in troubled waters for a while now. We saw a drop in revenues from NAM unit to the tune of 8% in the third quarter of fiscal 2019 and 7% in the nine months period ended Mar 31, 2019, owing to reduced home-delivered revenues.
Management informed that NAM has extensive in-store marketing media options in more than 60,000 outlets in the United States and Canada. It has reach in households across the country, with circulation of more than 60 million via roughly 2,000 publications. Further, its mobile cash back apps, retailer load-to-card programs and print-at-home couponing help convert shoppers into potential buyers.
For now, News Corporation has not provided any details regarding the timing of review. The company has been looking into every corner for growth prospects. Its efforts to expand digital offerings, with greater emphasis on real estate businesses, bode well. Additionally, the company is diversifying its revenue streams through acquisitions and operational enhancement. It is also concentrating on augmenting the digital subscriber base.
We note that this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company gained 14% in the past six months outperforming the industry’s growth of 7.2%.
Three Stocks You Can’t Miss
Imax Corporation (IMAX - Free Report) has a long-term earnings growth rate of 17.5%, with a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.
New York Times (NYT - Free Report) delivered an average positive earnings surprise of 29.4% in the trailing four quarters. It currently flaunts a Zacks Rank #1.
Tribune Media Company has a long-term earnings growth rate of 9.30%, with a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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Adani Ports and Special Economic Zone Limited, the largest transport utility in India has reported a 288% year-on-year jump in net profit to Rs 1,321 crore in the quarter ended in 31 March. The company that operates some of the largest commercial ports in India, posted Rs 340 crore net profit for the same period last year. The company handled 73 million metric tonnes of cargo in the March quarter, up 27% year-on-year.
The operating revenue increased to Rs 3,608 crore, up by 24% year-on-year, during the quarter under review. It stood at Rs 2,921 crore during Q4FY21. Consolidated operating earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization or EBITDA stood Rs 2,287 crore in the March quarter.
In FY21, the total operating revenue increased by 6% year-on-year to Rs 12,550 crore. Port revenue increased by 12% to Rs 10,739 crore due to 11% growth in cargo.
Commenting on the FY21 results, Karan Adani, chief executive officer and whole time director of APSEZ said, “FY21 has been a transformational year for APSEZ. Some of the key decisions we took this year have set the foundation for the coming decade. Our customer centric approach has yielded good result for us as our market share increased by 4% on a pan India basis.”
On future outlook, Karan Adani said, “In FY22, basis our internal estimates we guide for cargo volume to be in the range of 310-320 MMT, this includes 10 MMT of Gangavaram port in Q4 FY22. Consolidated revenue to be in the range of Rs 16,000 crore to Rs 16,800 crore, Consolidate EBIDTA to be in the range of Rs 10,200 crore to Rs 10.700 crore and free cash flow to be in the range of Rs 5,500 crore to Rs 6,000 crore.”
“With all this APSEZ is well on its course to become a truly integrated transport and logistics utility and achieve 500 MMT of cargo throughput and ROCE to be in excess of 20% by FY25,” he further added.
The board announced a dividend of ₹5 per equity share of Rs 2 each fully paid-up for FY21. “The company will inform in due course the date on which the Company will hold Annual General Meeting for the year ended 31st March, 2021 and the date from which dividend will be paid or warrants thereof will be dispatched to the shareholders,” Adani ports stated in the regulatory filing.


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SVB, Meta, Y Combinator and rumble in the tech jungle
Welcome to the second edition of Full Stack, a place where you’ll find unfiltered commentary on all things technology.
Mortgages, wine and renovations: Silicon Valley Bank's deep tech ties
And when SVB held an annual event in January on the state of the wine industry, it featured speakers from Wine.com, one of the world's largest online wine retailers and a company that Kleiner had once invested in.
Stripe nearly halves valuation to $50 billion following $6.5 billion raise
Stripe's capital raise constitutes what is commonly known as a down round, where the latest funding fetches a lower valuation for the company than its previous fundraise.
Fintech startup Stripe integrating OpenAI's new GPT-4 AI
The news followed an announcement by Microsoft Corp-backed OpenAI that it would release GPT-4, a new version of the powerful artificial intelligence (AI) technology that has powered chatbot sensation ChatGPT.
SaaS startup Houseware raises $2.1 million led by Tanglin Venture Partners
Houseware will use the funds to grow its customer base, expand the team, and double down on alliances with partners like Snowflake to scale its offerings, the company said in a statement.
Stripe continues to cut valuation, now valued at $55 billion down from $63 billion: report
This is at least the third time since June that the payments startup has cut its internal valuation. Stripe had cut the internal value of its shares by about 11%, implying a valuation of $63 billion, in January.
Stripe in advanced talks to raise $4 billion from investorsThe latest capital raise from investors including Thrive Capital could be the largest private funding round in recent memory, marking a steep decline in the valuation of the fintech startup, which was valued at $95 billion in early 2021.
Actor Jansen Panettiere, Hayden Panettiere's younger brother, passes away at 28The Nickelodeon film "The Last Day of Summer," in which Jansen Panettiere starred, is well-known.
ChatGPT’s popularity to help AI-powered content creation platform in India: Writesonic's Samanyou GargWritesonic is a Y-Combinator backed AI writing and image generation platform and has raised $2.5 million.
Thousands of fintech jobs are gone as companies cut costs for first timeFintechs boomed during the early days of the pandemic, ambitious to grow and driven by low interest rates and consumer hunger for debt.
Stripe CFO Dhivya Suryadevara plans to leave firm to handle family mattersSuryadevara, who joined Stripe from General Motors in 2020, will stay with the company through April to help with the transition, she said in her post.
Economic Survey 2023: key highlights for the startup and tech sectorFinance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman tabled the Economic Survey 2022-23 in Parliament on Tuesday. While the document largely gave an insight into the macroeconomic health of the nation, there were a slew of measures the Survey put forth to iron out the challenges faced by the country’s burgeoning startup and ecommerce sector. It also suggested a path of caution for the highly volatile and unregulated crypto space.
Digital payments firm Stripe may raise $3 billion; valuation slashed to $55-60 billion: reportThe Silicon Valley-based company is looking to pick up funds in a round led by New York-based Thrive Capital. The VC firm, founded by businessman Joshua Kushner, is expected to pour in about $1 billion into Stripe.
Meet Sam Altman, creator of ChatGPT and president of OpenAI that aims to revolutionise responsible AISam Altman is the president of OpenAI, a research company that aims to create and promote friendly AI in a responsible way. He has also been a part of Y Combinator, a startup accelerator that has helped launch companies such as Airbnb, Stripe and Dropbox.
Exclusive: Dealshare lays off 100 employees; Oyo eyes first profitable yearLast year, Dealshare expanded to 150 cities and towns across India as it chased growth above all else. Now, the company has laid off 100 employees and shut down operations in many places as it pivots from growth to profitability amid the funding winter.
Stripe hires JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs to explore liquidity raiseThe move comes after Stripe told staff late last year that it would cut more than 1,000 jobs as it seeks to rein in costs ahead of any economic downturn.
Stripe cuts internal valuation by 11% to $63 billionIt's at least the third time since June that Stripe has cut its internal valuation, following a smaller cut in October, and brings the total reduction to about 40% in the past six months
2022 Year in Review | Tech firms embrace layoffs as recession fears buildAfter two years of staggering growth during the pandemic, online businesses were caught out when Covid began to fade. Russia’s invasion proved the final straw. Suddenly, tech companies found themselves with far too many employees, and proceeded to conduct layoffs for the rest of the year.
Amazon, Lyft, Stripe, Twitter and other tech companies that have announced hiring freezes and layoffsAmazon said senior executives this week decided to pause incremental corporate hiring because the economy was "in an uncertain place."Load More
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There is a need therefore to ensure efficient food value chains to guarantee that food produced by rural farmers is delivered to the growing number of urban consumers, experts say.
In an effort to feed growing urban as well as rural populations, Africa faces challenges posed by “weak links” which affect food delivery on the one hand and the delivery of inputs on the other, according to Kirimi Sindi, a Kenya-based agricultural economist.
“The main challenge is that Africa has very low farm productivity of all the major crops on the continent, being the biggest net importer of maize, beans, rice and wheat,” Sindi said.
“So what Africa has to do in order to feed rural and urban populations is to increase productivity. But issues of the agriculture value chain need to be addressed for the farmers to be able to deliver [produced] food to urban areas and in turn access services and inputs such as the best seeds and fertilizers [from urban areas].”
Although Africa has 65% of the remaining arable land in the world, its food import bill during the last five years averaged $68.5 billion annually, according to the African Development Bank.
And if left unchecked, it is estimated that by 2025, the import bill could surge to $110 billion.
Africa is the world's fastest urbanizing region, with an urban population of 472 million that is projected to double over the next 25 years.
The increase in urban dwellers greatly contributes to an increase in demand for basic staple foods at a rate of 4.8% per year, which means that every year, it increases by another 4.8%.
Cities shape Africa’s agribusiness environment by affecting patterns of agricultural production and bringing about the rapid expansion of food processing and distribution plans.
Sindi said to counter the mounting food imports from overseas, African farmers and traders need to devise means to drive down their production, storage and distribution costs.
“When we produce, our infrastructure presents a big problem. People produce food, but they are not able to transport it to the market due to poor roads,” he said.
Africa’s development priorities are outlined in Agenda 2063 -- the blueprint for the African Union’s economic development in the coming decades.
Agenda 2063 spells out agricultural development as a high priority, to be accelerated and transformed for shared prosperity and improved livelihoods.
As urbanization rises in Africa, achieving food security and nutrition for all will depend on interventions that transform urban–rural linkages, according to the Africa Agriculture Status Report released last week by the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.
The report underlined the need for farmers’ diversification to meet shifting demand for high-value perishables such as poultry, dairy, livestock and horticultural products.
Growing urban food markets imply longer supply lines, expanded wholesale and retail distribution systems, increased warehousing, food preservation and packaging, it said.
Rapid urbanization and population growth are expected to put growing pressure on the global food system as agricultural production comes under more threat from environmental degradation, urban sprawl, climate change, extreme weather conditions and limited arable land for the expansion of agricultural production, according to UN agencies.
Sindi underscored the need to minimize risks induced by natural conditions.
“Climate shocks also affect farming in very many ways. When we expect the rain, it doesn’t come at that particular time. We need to improve our weather predictions so that we can be able to advise the farmers much better but also grow new crop varieties which can withstand climate shocks,” he said.


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Gaming console industry is changing & here's why users may not like it
At Electronic Entertainment Expo, the video game industry forecast a future where Xboxes are updated almost as frequently as smartphones.
Game console, pool table, bonding over bean bags: Intuit employees chill in style
Bengaluru-based Intuit provides business and financial mana...
Flixy Games raises funds, launches first game with Axelmark
Japan-based Rebright Partners invests $425,000 seed funding in Flixy Games
Play time: SuperSuit to bring back outdoor games with its wearable gaming platform
Children can put on the suit and choose a game through an LCD display on the glove to start playing it.
Gaming companies like Empower Labs, Greedy Games play with innovation to stay relevant
In addition to introducing the gacha model, the gaming startup also plans to specialise in mid-core games to attract a niche crowd that sticks.
Why Modi needs to play the chicken game with Pakistan
China supports Pakistan, America needs Pakistan for Afghanistan reasons, and all diplomatic manoeuvring on this subject is just theatre.
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Indian flight operators engaging in a 'game of taunts'
Jet and others have said Vistara and AirAsia India are controlled by their foreign partners, something not allowed in the Indian aviation industry.
Baseball-Highlights from MLB games on Thursday
BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/:Baseball-Highlights from MLB games on Thursday
Baseball-Highlights from Tuesday's MLB games
BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/:Baseball-Highlights from Tuesday's MLB games
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BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/ (UPDATE 1):UPDATE 1-Baseball-Highlights of Thursday's MLB games
Yet again, 'Game of Thrones', 'Veep' conquer Emmys
Game of Thrones was honoured as top drama for the second consecutive year.
Baseball-Highlights of Sunday's MLB games
BASEBALL-HIGHLIGHTS/:Baseball-Highlights of Sunday's MLB games
'Game of Thrones' all set to make Emmys history
'GoT' had a total of 23 Emmy nominations, the most of any series this year.


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Coronavirus Relief Services
If the coronavirus pandemic has put a strain on you financially, the good news is that there are ways to get relief. At Boss Law, we help consumers get out of debt in a variety of ways. Our experienced legal team can help you understand the variety of coronavirus relief services available in St. Petersburg.
Mortgage Forbearance Guidelines
Homeowners who have lost income or their jobs because of the coronavirus outbreak are getting some relief. Depending on their situation, they should be eligible to have their mortgage payments reduced or suspended for up to 12 months. Federal regulators, through the mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are ordering lenders to offer homeowners flexibility. The move covers about half of all home loans in the U.S. – those guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie. But regulators expect that the entire mortgage industry will quickly adopt a similar policy.
Under the plan, people who have suffered a loss of income can qualify to make reduced payments or be granted a complete pause in payments. However, homeowners can’t just stop paying their mortgage. They must contact their lender to work out a payment plan.
Auto Loan Assistance
Several major lenders have announced programs to both help current borrowers and give new borrowers peace of mind. For example, the credit arms of Ford, Nissan, General Motors, and Toyota will offer first payment deferrals of between 90 and 120 days to buyers of new vehicles.
Additional actions taken by specific dealers and lenders include:
GM will also offer certain new car buyers zero-percent financing for up to seven years for top credit tier borrowers. The company is providing complimentary OnStar crisis assist services to current owners for a limited time.
Hyundai and Genesis are re-launching Hyundai’s job-loss protection program for buyers or lessees of new vehicles. If the customers lose their job, the companies will make as many as six monthly loan or lease payments.
Ford’s credit arm has launched a website and a hotline where customers who need help can discuss options with the lender.
Nissan Motor Acceptance Corporation, the Nissan’s automaker’s financing company, is encouraging customers to call to discuss payment arrangements.
Honda and Acura have announced late fee waivers, payment extensions, and deferrals. They request you contact Honda Financial Services to discuss your situation. Buyers of new vehicles may qualify for up to a 90-day deferred first payment program.
Maserati and Porsche will extend leases up to six months and are offering deferred payment programs.
Ally Bank, a major auto lender, will offer customers payment deferrals for up to 120 days. Interest will still accrue on the balance, but the lender won’t charge late fees. Ally is a financial partner to Mitsubishi, and their customers can contact Ally directly.
Credit Card Assistance
The most recognized companies in the credit card industry have stepped up to offer relief to consumers. The specific relief available depends on the particular credit card issuer.
Here’s how some credit card companies are helping:
Student Loan Assistance
Students and recent grads breathed a sigh of relief when the government announced it would suspend federally held student loans as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. To take advantage of the suspension, you’ll need to reach out to your lender. The Department of Education has contact numbers for servicers of federally held loans listed on its website. If you’re not sure who holds your loan, call the Federal Student Aid Information Center or visit StudentAid.gov/login.
Once you’ve found the right lender, ask them for an administrative forbearance. That will allow you to stop making payments without being marked delinquent. You won’t have to worry about extending the forbearance if the government extends the loan suspension program – that will be done automatically once you’ve called.


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Is Gucci the new Goop?
Let’s examine the evidence. Last week, the fashion brand announced it would be launching its own line of furniture and other decorative items, expanding its influence and allowing fans to literally live in the Gucci world. Sounds good. The brand then followed that up today, when it announced it would be launching a new travel platform on its app called “Gucci Places.” Now that sounds Goopy.
Gucci Places will allow users to learn about Gucci’s history by providing interesting facts and details about different locations around the world that Alessandro Michele has found inspirational. When users are near such a location, the app will invite them to visit it. Once there, they can check in and win the badge associated with it.
The first such “place” is Chatsworth in Derbyshire, England, where Gucci is sponsoring an exhibit on “House Style” (Gucci’s Cruise 2017 campaign was also shot there). In honor of this, the brand has developed a line of exclusive goods that are only being sold at the Chatsworth and in Gucci’s London location.
Technology + recommendations + expensive (and exclusive) products? Yup, we’re definitely getting a Goop-y vibe here.


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(December 26, 2018 / JNS) Israel’s Knesset finance committee approved a NIS 700 million ($185 million) grant to the Intel company to fund an expansion for its Kiryat Gat plant. Intel announced its plan to invest NIS 17 billion ($4.5 billion) in the expansion in May when it submitted its plan to the government for approval.
The new government grant is conditioned on Intel’s investment and its commitment to hire 250 new employees, as well as business arrangements with local vendors and retailers to the tune of NIS 2.1 billion ($555 million) a year.
Intel is expect to apply for further Israeli government grants for 2019 and 2020, and has announced its intention to expand its manufacturing capabilities in Israel, Ireland and Oregon.
In 2014, Intel received a NIS 1.7 billion ($450 million) grant for its NIS 23.5 billion ($6.2 billion) facility in Kiryat Gat, and secured a 5 percent corporate tax rate, much lower than the standards 23 percent.


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Google no longer permits crypto miners on its playstore
Google has updated its Play Store strategy, and obviously the new arrangement of guidelines was made to keep out the new kinds of obnoxious and risky substance flying out nowadays. One of the progressions Android Police has spotted is the expansion of a digital currencies area, wherein the tech giant expresses that crypto-miners are never again permitted on its application marketplace. Applications that can oversee crypto-mineworkers are An OK, however miners themselves are never again welcome.
The new control didn’t leave left field. Google restricted crypto-mining augmentations from the Chrome Web Store back in April because of “malicious software developers who attempt to abuse the platform at the expense of users.” We’ll anticipate that this is additionally why the tech giant has chosen to actualize a similar run for Google Play.
The store will now likewise boycott any application made to speak to youngsters yet contain precluded grown-up subjects, well on the way to counteract “Elsagate” applications from increasing any further.
On the off chance that you’ll review, one of the issues YouTube is thinking about is the spread of disturbing and violent videos taking on the appearance of children’s shows. Google Play has a similar issue – while it’s most likely not as terrible for the stage as it is for YouTube, it’s additionally been facilitating a cluster of children’s application that really contain frightening pictures and recordings.
Notwithstanding those two new standards, Google Play will now additionally boycott any application that offers explosives, guns and ammo. In addition, it’s making strides towards disposing low-quality, low-exertion applications.
Applications that sham others without including anything unique or anything of significant worth, and additionally various applications with comparable content and user experience made by a similar engineer will now get the boot. The Play Store will likewise kick out applications essentially made to serve promotions and those that mean to misdirect clients by putting on a show to be something unique totally.
Read: LifeLock identity theft service came under severe security flaw again
Image via bitcoin news
I’m a communication enthusiast and junior editor-reporter at Research Snipers, I have completed a degree in Mass Communication but am very enthusiastic about new technology, games, and mobile devices. I have the main interest in Technology and games.


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Earlier this week, we learned that 3D printing leader EOS, headquartered in Germany, was opening a new Innovation Center for 3D Printing in Düsseldorf in order to offer its customers individual consulting and regional support. The company, one of the world’s top suppliers of industrial metal and polymer 3D printers, clearly has expansion and growth on its mind, as it also recently increased production capacity by relocating its system manufacturing facilities to Maisach-Gerlinden near Munich, closer to its Krailling headquarters.
The doors of the EOS Innovation Center Düsseldorf, located in SEGRO Park and offering about 1,000 square meters of floor space, officially opened on Tuesday, March 13th. Representatives from the regional capital of Düsseldorf attended the event, along with multiple EOS customers.
“It can be a complex process to design new components for Additive Manufacturing and subsequently plan and optimize the production processes. The objective is clear, but companies still frequently lack the needed experience,” said Dr. Bernd Reinarz, Team Manager EOS Innovation Center Düsseldorf. “The EOS team in Düsseldorf comprises experienced engineers and consultants that can help companies rapidly achieve excellent results with industrial 3D printing – locally, personally, and individually.”
The new customer and technology center will provide EOS customers with regional support for their 3D printing projects, offering multiple training and consultation services that will equal out to fast results along the whole 3D printing process chain.
According to the company’s website, “In our customer centers visitors can get a feeling for the innovations that industrial 3D printing can bring to their businesses. The inspiring technology areas in Germany, located at the EOS headquater in Krailling/ Munich and in Düsseldorf, show different EOS 3D printing systems for metal and plastic materials and a lot of success stories from various industries.”
EOS is using all of its new floor space for individualized customer consultations, and has included a large area filled with its industrial metal and polymer 3D printers, which can help customers gain a competitive advantage and economically sustain their manufacturing processes.
“The excellent collaboration with the team of the EOS Innovation Center Düsseldorf enabled us to substantiate the profitability of industrial 3D printing for our product portfolio,” Holger Rübesame, the Business Development Manager at SPECS Surface Nano Analysis, said in regard to working with EOS. “Within a short time we were able to re-design our components, including the targeted development of process parameters.”
Additionally, companies can also rent project rooms and machinery space at the EOS Innovation Center Düsseldorf. Going hand in hand with this capability, EOS will also be offering training and consultation courses, including classes covering the 3D printing process, production planning, and, according to the company, “specialized advice on designing and optimizing the parts to be manufactured.”
Demand continues to increase for the company’s 3D printing solutions, which is why EOS is opening its new facilities in Germany. The company’s AM experts in Düsseldorf are creative problem solvers, working with their customers to overcome production challenges. By working with EOS’ Additive Minds consulting unit, companies can be assured that the whole range of EOS products and services, and skilled support, will be available at the new location in Düsseldorf.
EOS won’t just be working with companies at its new Innovation Center for 3D Printing – the company also plans to work closely with regional universities of applied sciences, in order to train the next generation of up and coming 3D printing specialists.
What do you think about the latest EOS facility? Discuss this and other 3D printing topics at 3DPrintBoard.com or share your thoughts in the Facebook comments below.[Images: EOS]
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In The World Of Technology, You Are Only As Good As Your Next Innovation
We live in a time when the pace of technological advances is increasing exponentially and overwhelmingly. Never mind today’s groundbreaking product launches- even tomorrow’s innovations are always en route to being classed as soon-to-be obsolete, because the day after, those inventions are already in research and development. Why? Because problems that need solving are evolving faster than the solutions to address them.
Successful technology, at its heart, has always been purposed to solve problems, whether of time, space, energy, communication or ability, and even of the mind. Innovation has the power to positively impact economies and societies, all in pursuit of one ultimate common goal: happiness. At Huawei, we understand this velocity all too well. It’s why we are one of the top 10 brands in global R&D investment in the world, and we have established 15 research centers globally. Huawei has put more than US$45 billion in R&D in total over the last 10 years.
Meanwhile, a robot named Sophia made global headlines in October after Saudi Arabia granted her citizenship at a summit in Riyadh, signaling the Kingdom’s vision to include robots in its workforce. But this is just the start. These initiatives set the stage for more investment, more research, more development, and more innovation in 2018. Such commitment resonates well with leading technology companies like Huawei that are dedicated to creating innovative devices that help make the lives of their consumers easier, and therefore ultimately happier. The political will for technological advancement will also continue to forge valuable partnerships between tech leaders and government. For example, Huawei has established a partnership with Dubai Smart Government to implement the Happiness Meter in our service centers in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, making it the first consumer technology brand globally to measure customer happiness in real time.
As a multinational tech company, we are also especially excited that we share the same vision as the region- to continuously innovate. Much like the UAE’s forward-thinking agenda, we at Huawei are leaders in innovation. This past October, we have launched our most innovative device yet –the Huawei Mate 10– a series of smartphones powered by AI. We at Huawei believe 2018 will set these plans in motion and just as the internet revolution saw businesses innovate to develop solutions that improve lives, companies across the region and globally will now venture into the fields of AI, robotics and autonomous vehicles, to create a whole new wave of possibilities and experiences. With the launch of Huawei’s newest chipset Kirin 970 -a mobile artificial intelligence computing platform that runs on a Neural Processing Unit- it goes without saying that AI is an area close to our heart.
Huawei is already the fastest growing smartphone brand in the region, and we will continue to invest in research and development efforts to create devices that understand our customers need; that are more human, transparent and rapid. After all, in the world of technology, you’re only as good as your next innovation.


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Nissan LEAF avec 8 797 immatriculations devant la Renault ZOE (8 468) et la Tesla Model S (7 166)
eagleaidGermany’s car makers, and prestige sector leading BMW, Audi and Mercedes in particular, received their second shock in little more than three weeks when AID compiled data for Western Europe revealed that in the nine months to September this year Tesla’s Model S has not only outsold previous sector heavyweights such as BMW’s outgoing 7-Series and Audi’s A8 by some considerable margin, but has also sunk its teeth into Mercedes’ top-notch S-Class, which of late has made Europe’s luxury car segment almost its own.
Tesla’s high-powered and high-range all-electric Model S, when judged from latest AID compiled figures, appears to have acquired an almost cult-like following among some of Europe’s well-heeled consumers.
Apart from Tesla’s European sales bastion in high-subsidy Norway, where some 3,243 Teslas found buyers so far this year, the data suggests that it is clearly the well-off that are now attracted to Tesla’s pricey crowd-stopping Model S.
10,600 Tesla Model S sales
That a least is the underlying message from AID’s exclusively compiled sales estimates for the nine months to September this year, showing that sales of Tesla’s Model S in Western Europe have already reached some 10,600 units.
“The Alliance has sold more than 274,000 electric vehicles around the world, accounting for half of all EVs on the road since its first electric vehicle Nissan LEAF went on sale in late 2010.” insideevs
Mitglieder in diesem Forum: Ernesto und 3 Gäste


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Beyond Meat (NASDAQ:BYND) rose 3.6% in premarket trading Wednesday on optimism that the company’s new unit in China will help it serve more customers and more quickly in the region.
Beyond Meat’s shares are 37% below their 52-week high of $220.8, falling back after the company reported losses that ballooned to $25.1 million in the fourth quarter of 2020 from a $500,000 loss in the same period in 2019.
The manufacturing unit near Shanghai is its first outside the U.S.
The plant will also help the company improve its cost structure and make its operations sustainable.
In order to meet China’s growing demand for plant-based meat, the facility will produce range of plant-based pork, beef and poultry products.
With a focus on long-term growth and expanding existing retail and foodservice business, the facility will also feature R&D capabilities for creating new products and supporting the company’s local strategic partners.
The company said it will also open its first owned manufacturing facility in Europe this year.
CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 76.4% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.


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Organizers may have made changes to this year's Miracle on Main event due to COVID-19, but the pandemic means Zelienople's major holiday celebration is more important than ever.
The event's creator, Donna Ziegler, described the annual parade not as a way to usher in the commercial aspects of Christmas but a way to bring hope to the winter holidays.
“It's all about bringing hope for Christmas, especially this year more than ever,” Ziegler said. “We probably have given away over 400 coats in the past few years. This is the third year. And we've given away 20 living room sets to families in need, mostly single moms, which I think is amazing.”
Santa Claus, a Nativity scene, reindeer and carols will still be present, but the urgency to bring Miracle on Main to 2020 wasn't driven by the need to shop for stocking stuffers but rather by the need to brighten the extraordinarily dim year.
“Everyone agreed the most important part of this is the charity part, so we're doing all of the charity events,” Ziegler added.
Running the evenings of Dec. 3 and 4, and in the daytime on Dec. 5, Miracle on Main will bring many of the festivities that Zelienople residents have become accustomed to since it began in 2017, including Mrs. Claus waving to children, cookie decorating and live reindeer.
Of course, some changes will be made. The live reindeer and Nativity scene will be in Zelienople Community Park this year, and will be drive-thru events.
Following the county and state governments' leads, masks and social distancing will be required, no large gatherings will be permitted and stores will be required to obey occupancy limits.
Decorations of cookies will not happen on Main Street either.
“Instead, they're going to get an un-iced cookie with icing and sprinkles and everything to take home with them,” Ziegler noted. “We had to make some tweaks.”
The way Mrs. Claus greets children will also seem different, though similar, from how it's occurred in years past.
“Mrs. Claus with an elf will be at Spring on Main,” Ziegler said. “She'll be waving from inside to the children, and an elf will deliver cookies to take home.”
Christmas lights satisfy the sense of sight, cookies the sense of taste and the crisp winter air the senses of touch and smell. But the Main Street celebration wouldn't be complete without something to satiate the sense of hearing.
“We'll have different carolers and things like that up on the balcony of Kaufman Tavern at different times on Thursday night,” Ziegler said.
Although some changes are present, perhaps Miracle on Main's new three-day run will give Zelienople residents and travelers the opportunity to spread and enjoy Christmas cheer for thrice as long.
In addition to the celebratory events, the giveaway of free coats and the donation of a six-piece living room set to families in need, organizers also plan on giving backpacks full of food to children yet again.
“They told us stories of so many neglected children, mainly because of drugs, and these are things they can make themselves so they won't go hungry,” Ziegler said. “Especially now, when schools are not in and they can't get a hot lunch at school, we can make sure they get something nutritious.”
Ziegler acknowledged that Zelienople stores would likely still have a mini version of the now-annual celebration, but said the rush to plan the event will provide more opportunities for those in need to get the supplies — and the sense of hope — for which they are wanting.
“I'm pretty sure that, unless something drastic happens, there are changes but ... it should still happen,” she said. “We're trying to spread things out so we don't have so many people, and we've spread it out to Friday night and Saturday during the day as well.
“It took some work, but what we're trying to do is eliminate things that they think they'd absolutely say no to.”


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Poco F1 entered the market to redefine what it means to be a flagship killer. This was, however, a one-off stunt as we still await the launch of the Poco F2. The company has focused its efforts towards budget and flagship phones – mostly rebranded – in 2020. It did launch the Poco F2 Pro in global markets, getting our hopes up for its younger sibling, but that day hasn’t arrived yet. It may soon though as Poco has quietly teased the Poco F2 in a recent 2020 highlights video.
The official Poco India account tweeted out a video last evening. It talks about what Poco has achieved as an “independent brand” in the country in 2020. The company launched five phones across price segments, sold more than 10 lakh phones, placed fourth in the list of online smartphone brands, and a lot more.
Towards the end of the video, you can see the words ‘Thank you for..’ flash along with ‘The F2’ and it appears to be a teaser for this much-awaited smartphone. The company has already confirmed that it is working on a true successor for the Poco F1. You can check out the complete video right here:
The stage is set! The fun has begun! Let us get ready to take it to the next level!
Excited? You should be, coz the next year is going to be even crazier.
While we enjoy, let us look back at everything we've achieved together! Thank you ❤ pic.twitter.com/K0432jSj8B
— POCO India (@IndiaPOCO) December 31, 2020
Poco didn’t offer a timeline back then, nor does it do that in yesterday’s video. But, it looks like the Poco F2 could finally launch in India very soon. The important question, however, is – Will Poco be able to build a true flagship successor to the Poco F1? Will it make a flagship chipset available at a similar price point?
As per leaks, the chances of Poco F2 being a true flagship smartphone look bleak. The reports online suggest that the device will be a mid-range smartphone, backed by the Snapdragon 732G chipset – the same as the Poco X3. It will also include an AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate, a quad-camera setup, and a modest 4,250mAh battery.
If the aforementioned specs turn out to be true, then the Poco F2 will not be seen as a true successor to the Poco F1. It doesn’t redefine the current market segmentation. But instead, it only adheres to it by offering a mid-range chipset. The tables could turn if the company chooses to power the Poco F2 with a flagship MediaTek Dimensity-series chipset. The chipmaker, along with popular OEMs, is currently making a push to bring affordable 5G phones to India.
Is this exactly the opportunity that Poco F2 has been waiting for? Would a Redmi 10X 5G rebrand, complete with Dimensity 800U or 1000+, satisfy the loyal fanbase? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.


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2022 London & East of England Rising Star winners, DueTrade discuss their recent winning, and what it’s like to be a startup
Founded by Henry Dewing, DueTrade develops customisable business-to-business apps for agriculture and construction firms and has ambitions to sell its technology to breweries, wholesalers and food-service companies, and was most recently awarded the Rising Star award at the London and East of England StartUp Awards this September.
Henry Dewing recently spoke out about what winning this award meant to him, and his life as a startup founder:
“Winning our second award in just under two years of business is definitely something to be really proud of,” said Henry, after his business was also awarded an Innovative Farming Award by the Aylsham Agricultural Show Association.
“There are days as a founder that are really tough, but when you enter something like this and a whole panel of judges sees the value in your business, it shows that we’re on the right track and obviously doing something right.”
Discussing how his business started, he said;
“I’d been working in London, in software sales predominantly, and it was very obvious the way the world was going,” Henry explained. “I think the average screen time in the UK is four hours a day, and that will just continue to increase. My thought was ‘why would you not want to put your business in your customers’ pockets?’
“Once my family’s company and the traders saw the value in it, I realised I could use my previous software sales experience and sell it into other industries that would benefit,” he added. “Traditional industries like millers, breweries, builders, merchants, wholesalers, food-service companies – where you can just simplify the process of ordering goods.”
And, DueTrade is seeing success after success. The company recently raised £115,000 from angel investors, which will go towards product development and recruitment. “It’s really exciting to have people on board who also see the growth potential in DueTrade,” said Henry, adding that it would be “brilliant” to expand the team to 15 people in three years’ time – and possibly offer four-and-a-half day weeks.
We’re excited to see what’s next for DueTrade and look forward to seeing them grow!


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In a strong finish to the year, Adidas recorded increasing sales in all markets except Europe in the fourth quarter (Q4). China in particular closed the year with a significant growth in Q4 as sales were up 7 percent driven by a strong recovery.
With Adidas global store opening rate currently standing at above 95 percent, Adidas expects a strong top-line recovery in 2021. On a currency-neutral basis, sales are expected to increase at a mid-to high-teens rate, with revenues increasing in all market segments.
Our business continued to recover towards year-end and we returned to growth in the fourth quarter, said Rorsted.
As of January 2021, Adidas changed its organizational structure to manage China as a separate market in order to reflect the importance of China as a growth market.
Operating profit of Adidas in 2022 plummeted by almost 72 percent, amounting to 751 million euros. According to Adidas, operating results were significantly impacted by several coronavirus-related charges in particular in the first half of 2022.
German sportswear manucturer Adidas announced on Wednesday that its full year revenues in 2022 declined by 16 percent year-on-year to 19.8 billion euros (23.6 billion U.S. dollars) as sales were significantly impacted by the global outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
Business development in the first half of the year in particular was negatively affected by a significant number of temporary store closures and a pronounced traffic reduction within the remaining store fleet, according to Adidas.
File photo/Zhu Wanping (NBD)
2022 was a year like no other, said Kasper Rorsted, chief executive officer (CEO) of Adidas. But despite all the challenges we ced, we still used the year to make Adidas a better company, Rorsted added.
In the second half of the year, however, opening rates of the companys global store network increased to more than 90 percent. With the exception of Europe, Adidas store fleet remained largely operational until the end of last year.


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Goldman Sachs says consumer spending remains patchy through the first quarter of the year, despite a recovery in housing, tax cuts and three cash rate cuts.
Pointing to the varied trading updates from retailers through the first three months of the new fiscal year, Australian equity strategist Matthew Ross said the evidence of a consumer recovery remained mixed.
“The market has priced in an improving consumer spending outlook since May’s surprise federal election result,” he said.
“While consumer-related stocks have outperformed through this period, the macro data remains patchy. Consumer sentiment fell in October to the lowest level since mid 2015, the unemployment rate has started to trend higher and aggregate retail sales trends up to August have shown little acceleration.”
The outlook is further consolidated by today’s retail sales data for September, which were below expectation.
Since June, consumer cyclicals have outperformed the S&P/ASX 200 by 10 per cent but so far, first quarter trading updates have shown that outperformance may be on shaky ground.
“The evidence of a consumer recovery remains very mixed; roughly half these firms have talked to an improving sales environment, while the remaining 50 per cent continue to flag a challenging consumer environment,” Mr Ross said.
He added he had been disappointed by the consumer response to a number of tailwinds including improving house prices and rate cuts.
“This is particularly so in light of what was a reasonably meaningful tax cut, the majority of which was refunded to households over recent months,” he said.
“Given the recent outperformance of consumer names, we see increased risk that the market has got too optimistic about the prospects of a consumer recovery.”


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The majority of Australian small businesses prefer to postpone adopting new technology into their day-to-day operations because the benefits are not immediately realised, new Commonwealth Bank research reveals.
The research examines three priorities through the eyes of Australian small businesses: technology, finance and work-life balance.
It reveals 80 per cent of small businesses delay the adoption of technology offering long-term benefits, despite more than half (58 per cent) claiming to have a good personal knowledge and understanding of technology.
At the same time, a knowledge gap still exists. The research found almost half (48 per cent) are reluctant to adopt new digital technology due to a lack of understanding of how it works and the potential benefits.
While more than one in two (55 per cent) have access to customer information that can feed into digital technology, the research also found small businesses are unsure about how data can enhance their business performance. Almost two-thirds (62 per cent) are not looking to use it at all.
Karen Last, General Manager Small Business, Commonwealth Bank said: “With more than half of small businesses having ready access to customer data, it is imperative small business owners understand how data analytics can help them make better informed decisions.
“A significant number of small businesses are reluctant to implement data analytics due to cost, or they believe it has limited value, or belongs in the ‘too-hard’ basket. These are all preconceptions which must be addressed so the benefits for small businesses can be realised.”
Managing cash flow a real pain
Cash flow remains another stress factor for small business owners, with half of the respondents opting to not pay themselves a wage one or more times in the past year as a result of cash flow issues.
To mitigate the strain of cash flow management, most small businesses rely on sending invoices to customers on time (37 per cent) or dipping into personal funds (32 per cent). Small business owners also use credit cards (44 per cent) as their primary tool to manage cash flow, working capital and business investment.
“Understanding and using funding options such as car and equipment finance, lines of credit, overdrafts, and loans can take a lot of pressure off small businesses and provide greater certainty. Relying on credit cards isn’t always the most cost effective option for the short or longer term. Overdraft facilities can be set up online within 10 minutes and don’t have to be used until necessary.
“Small business customers should also take advantage of real-time alerts through CommBank app notifications, SMS and email to inform them of incoming payment or when their balance drops below or exceeds a pre-set amount,” said Ms Last.
Wellbeing loses out to business needs
The research indicates the personal wellbeing of small business owners is being compromised for the sake of their business. According to the research, 44 per cent think they do not spend enough time on personal wellbeing and development – an interesting statistic considering one in two claim looking after themselves is crucial to ensuring productivity.
According to behavioural scientist, Dr Johann Ponnampalam, “Compromised wellbeing and stress often leads to poor decision making, inhibits creativity and increases status quo thinking. Given these consequences, it is unsurprising that stressed out small business owners are failing to recognise the benefits offered by new digital and analytic technologies.
“The unfortunate irony is that when implemented effectively, these technologies can enable individuals to gain back precious time to invest in their wellbeing; which in-turn fuels improved performance, productivity and creativity. These results suggest that small business owners need a nudge to adopt these time saving technologies,” said Dr Ponnampalam.
Interestingly, the percentage of those satisfied with their work-life balance decreases as annual turnover increases, with 55 per cent satisfied when they’re earning less than $100k, 51 per cent when earning $100-$250k, and bottoming out at 47 per cent for those earning between $250k-$1 million.


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Liberum Capital reissued their hold rating on shares of Whitbread (LON:WTB) in a report published on Friday, Stock Target Advisor reports.
WTB has been the subject of a number of other reports. Shore Capital reiterated a hold rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Deutsche Bank reiterated a hold rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Friday. Canaccord Genuity lowered their price target on shares of Whitbread from GBX 4,850 ($63.80) to GBX 4,500 ($59.19) and set a hold rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 7th. UBS Group lowered shares of Whitbread to a neutral rating and upped their price target for the company from GBX 4,850 ($63.80) to GBX 5,180 ($68.14) in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Peel Hunt reiterated a buy rating on shares of Whitbread in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have given a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has an average rating of Hold and an average target price of GBX 4,639.38 ($61.03).
LON:WTB opened at GBX 4,504 ($59.25) on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of GBX 4,754.64 and a 200 day moving average of GBX 4,485.94. Whitbread has a 52 week low of GBX 3,927 ($51.66) and a 52 week high of GBX 5,194 ($68.32). The company has a quick ratio of 1.55, a current ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 89.10. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.02 billion and a P/E ratio of 2.14.
In other news, insider Nicholas Cadbury sold 6,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of GBX 4,943 ($65.02), for a total value of £321,295 ($422,645.36).
Whitbread Company Profile
Whitbread PLC operates hotels, restaurants, and coffee shops. The company operates through two segments, Premier Inn and Costa. It operates approximately 785 hotels with 72,466 rooms in the United Kingdom, as well as hotels under the Premier Inn brand name; hotels under the hub by Premier Inn brand name in the United Kingdom; and restaurants under the Brewers Fayre, Beefeater Grill, Bar+Block, and Table Table brands.
See Also: Green Investing
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High-end audio equipment producer Bose has launched a single-brand store in Singapore.
The 1400sqft Bose @ Paragon store – opened in partnership with Bose’s authorised reseller, Thakral Group’s One Futureworld – will give followers of the brand the chance to experience its full range of audio products, from speakers to headphones. It features a demo room containing its home theatre system and trained sales staff will be on hand to advise customers in their buying choices.
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Bose. Bose invests heavily in developing next-generation audio technology, and their core values resonate well with us”, said One Futureworld director Bikram Singh Thakral.
He said the Bose @ Paragon store promises to bring the authentic “Bose experience” and high-quality sound to customers in Singapore and the region.”


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SELENE PEARSON is reporting live for wewomen.ca every day of Fashion Week.
Photos from Day One
Full catwalk reports and photos
London Fashion Week has hit 25 years old and in turn has received a shiny new makeover.
Leaving South Kensington well behind, this season the fashion glitterati are mulling around The Strand in their finest, anticipating six days of emerging, established and all-in-all exciting talent!
Enter into the electric grounds of Somerset House over the next week and you may find a swan-like Erin O’Connor, modelling a millinery masterpiece by Stephen Jones.
Or perhaps Boris Johnson sounding off about London Fashion Week (we overheard him exclaiming ‘I don’t know where hemlines are supposed to be this season but what I do know is that London is in fashion’).
But mostly you’ll find a buzzing hub of weird and wonderful characters awaiting the ever-important verdict of what we’ll be wearing in spring/summer 2010.


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Ireland’s most popular taxi booking app is set to introduce a lofty cancellation fee for customers.
The app has received criticism in the past from Irish customers for difficulties getting a cab during peak periods but the latest move from the German owned company is certain to receive an even bigger lash back.
As part of an update to the terms and conditions, mytaxi has announced that customers may be charged a fee if they cancel a journey after a driver has accepted the booking.
In a prepared statement that was emailed to customers, mytaxi said: ‘We’re introducing a €5 passenger cancellation fee.’
‘You can cancel your trip at any time, but you may be charged a fee in certain cases where a driver already accepted your request, for example where you cancel two minutes or more after a driver accepts your request and is on route to pick you up.’
Adding to the above, mytaxi have also stated that users who are not at the pick-up location ‘within five minutes of a driver’s arrival’ will also be charged the cancellation fee.
The changes will come into effect on May 23 and if you thought you could navigate around the cancellation charge by making cash bookings, unfortunately, you thought wrong.
Cash-only customers will be barred from using the app if they make two cancellations and fail to fork up the required fee.
Although users are sure to react with anger to the latest mytaxi move, the company claims that only 3% of its passengers cancelled on a driver in the last 6 months after the booking had been allocated.
With this in mind, the app suggests that very few customers will feel the sting of the new charge.


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PORT ARTHUR – A Port Arthur man has created a new chamber of commerce for minorities which will be open next month to help minority businesses in the community.
President and CEO Roosevelt Petry said he wants to reach out to the minority businesses to help them network and grow in the community.
He said he feels like minorities are not getting enough representation at the current Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce.
“One reason is because there is a lack of minority representation and participation,” said Petrey. “We needed this in the chamber for many years, this minority chamber is the first minority chamber in Jefferson County ever.”
Minority business owners like Phuong Tat said she thinks this will be a good idea for the community.
“We have to start to build our future for the next generation again,” said Tat.
Tat said she remembers the first time she came to Port Arthur from Vietnam several years ago. She is a a successful landlord who enjoys helping out young professionals in her free time.
One professional said she enjoys helping her friend Chi Luong who owns her own hair salon.
“She helped me a lot, when you come to the country and don’t know anybody it’s really hard,” said Luong.
With Tat’s help, she was able to open up her business and has been running the “Chi Hair Salon” for the past five years.
“When I started the business she taught me how to grow up and to keep going,” said Loung.
Tat said she thinks a new Chamber of Commerce will help business owners like Luong by teaching them how to grow their business in the community.
She said she feels like the current chamber of commerce does not focus on minorities enough.
“I don’t think they have anything to do with minority business right now because they are more concerned about the industry and refinery,” said Tat.
Petry said he wants to help minority businesses get certifications like the Minority Business Enterprise Certification and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise certification. He said the MBE will help certify a business’ minority status and give them the opportunity for more business.
“We want to feel like the minority businesses are included in business deals and it will give us a chance to network together,” said Petry.
Petry wants to emphasize that the Port Arthur Greater Minority Chamber of Commerce is open to anybody who wants to join.
Bill McCoy who is the president of the Greater Port Arthur Chamber of Commerce said Petry has the right to create any chamber he would like to. He explains the current chamber represents their members and does not exclude any businesses from joining based on race or any other reason.
McCoy said he would also be willing to assist Petry if he needed help with the chamber.
The chamber plans on having their first meeting during the first week of July.
If you are interested in learning more about the chamber you can the office at 7980 Anchor Drive in Suite 300A in Port Arthur.
The number to the business is 409-433-0010 and their website is www.pagmcc.com