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Sahil Lavingia of Gumroad Broke into the venture capital world as one of the early testers of rolling funds, an AngelList product that allows investors to raise money in a subscription-like way. That was in 2020. Fast forward to 2022, and a lot has changed.
One of these changes? The number of proposals from founders looking to raise funds. “It’s down about 90 percent since March,” Lavingia told TechCrunch. “I’ve probably seen more than most people — about 20 to 40 heavily vetted decks per week — and that number has now dropped to about two to four per week.” He also sees wanting The quality of the people who work for it has improved Gum Road — which he attributed in part to the ongoing wave of layoffs — and a decline in founders starting companies.
The drop in the number of founders raising capital suggests that early-stage startups are not as immune to macroeconomic changes as some investors claim. By contrast, a boom in emerging startups would support the idea that recessions — and the wave of layoffs that followed — are when startups are born.
“I think the total number of founders we’re going to see will decrease, but the quality bar is going up.” Anne Kadavi, Managing Director of Red Dot
Lavingia categorizes founder status into three categories: “travel founders, immigrant founders, and ‘native-born’ founders.” Travel founders, he said, are those who only start companies in bull markets, a group he said has dropped by about 100%.
“They rarely get funding in a bear market,” Lavingia said. “They need to hire other people to build things.” At the same time, immigrant founders are less concerned with the reputation and status of starting a company, and more about weighing the risks and rewards. According to Lavingia, this cohort of founders has halved. In the end, “native-born” founders are founders regardless of the market: “They all exist, so they raised money in 2020-2021, so they didn’t start companies and raise money at the same rate.”


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Some of this year's hardest hit stocks came through with big gains last week. Shares of National CineMedia (NASDAQ:NCMI), AMC Entertainment (NYSE:AMC), and IMAX (NYSE:IMAX) soared 33%, 27%, and 16% respectively last week.
There were a couple of minor company-specific developments helping push the stocks higher, but the primary catalyst was the record-breaking opening week for Time Warner's (NYSE:TWX.DL) It. The silver screen adaptation of Stephen King's book and subsequent television miniseries shattered opening weekend records for any horror film as well as any movie debuting in September. The movie took in far more in its first week at the multiplex than all of the movies combined a week earlier.
Before Time Warner's It brought people back to the local multiplex the exhibitors were getting creamed. Year-over-year ticket sales had declined sharply for four straight months, and the industry suffered its worst weekend in more than 15 years late last month. It is saving the summer, and it's also providing a temporary fire under many of the stocks that live and die by movie theater audiences.
Fading to black
National CineMedia, AMC, and IMAX continue to be some of this year's biggest sinkers. National CineMedia, the leading in-theater advertising network, is still trading 53% lower year-to-date despite being one of last week's biggest market winners. Leading multiplex operator AMC Entertainment and experience enhancer IMAX are down 50% and 30%, respectively, in 2017.
National CineMedia is a speculative buy for income-chasing risk takers given its current yield of 12.8%, but the ability to keep those payouts coming relies on patrons to keep coming back to theaters to give the company the ability to deploy its inventory of video ads at attractive rates. AMC did announce that it was trimming its stake in National CineMedia this morning, but the stock sale could help bring a new partner into National CineMedia's fold.
IMAX needs people willing to pay up for premium screenings, and that was certainly the case with Time Warner's It. A healthy $7 million in domestic ticket sales and $17 million globally during the opening weekend alone came from IMAX theaters. IMAX also announced a two-theater deal with Malco, opening the door for the first commercial multiplex locations in Memphis, Tenn. and Fayetteville, Ark. last week.
AMC Entertainment was the beneficiary of a pair of upbeat analyst notes. Jason Bazinet at Citi kicked off the week by cutting his price target from $30 to $21, but with the stock beginning the week in the low teens it's actually a bullish update. Bazinet feels that the stock offers an attractive risk-reward ratio at this point. He feels that concerns about tightening release windows, leverage concerns, and uncertainties surrounding Wanda financing are overblown.
David Miller at Loop Capital closed out the week by sticking to what is now a very aggressive $33 price target on AMC Entertainment stock. He sees the chain having corrected the initial shortcomings at acquired theaters, and he's skeptical that premium video on demand -- a threat to multiplex owners as studios offer new releases directly to consumers at premium price points -- will ever launch effectively. He sees healthy year-over-year comps for the industry through at least the next five quarters.
None of the three companies are standing still, but with It bringing back movie theater audiences and Star Wars: The Last Jedi a lock to bring them back again just three months later it seems as if the cascading share prices this year overshot reality. The industry is struggling, but unlike many It Pennywise victims it's not dead just yet.

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China s Group to invest 3 billion in India - It will bring in relevant expertise operational excellence and global best practices for development of sunbo..
Group Co Ltd was founded in 1989 Since the establishment of company Adhering to future goals build a first-class enterprise foster talents and make contribution humanity created industry leading brand sunbo..
Now group has fully entered the construction machinery industry with the main products covering construction machinery road machinery excavating machinery piling machinery crane machinery trenchless equipment harbor machinery coal mining machinery and wind tubines machinery etcsunbo..
KUALA LUMPUR Dec 5 ML Global Bhd has inked a shareholders agreement with China s Group Co Ltd to form a joint venture company JVco to sunbo..
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China s construction equipment manufacturer Group today said it would invest USD 3 billion Rs 20 000 crore to develop 2 000 sunbo..
Jul 22 2014 0183 32 If Chinese machinery manufacturer Group takes further action against the US government over a controversial wind farm sunbo..
Group Group has developed from a small welding factory in China in 1986 to becoming an FT Global 500 enterprise recognized as one of the most innovative sunbo..
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America manufactures sells and supports construction and material handling equipment including crawler cranes rough terrain cranes truck cranes sunbo..
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The graph shows the revenue of Chinese heavy machinery manufacturer from 2009 to 2016 In 2016 had generated a revenue of approximately 23 billion yuansunbo..
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Dec 14 2011 0183 32 A new Ceredigion company has signed an exclusive multi-million pound deal with a Chinese firm to sell its heavy machinery in the UK Tramor Limited in Aberaeron says more than 20 jobs will be created as a result of the contract with the Group The firm is one of the world s largest sunbo..
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Group Overview Group began as a small welding factory in China in 1989 Since then the company has grown to include five industrial complexes in China as well sunbo..
Group Co Ltd one of China s leading machinery equipment manufacturers is poised to invest heavily in the internet of things and committed to sharing its sunbo..
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Sep 15 2014 0183 32 cracks Brazilian machinery marketplace Chinese Group has How can a company survive in such a large country which is different from China sunbo..
China Excavator supplier Road Machine Crane Manufacturers/ Suppliers - GROUP CO LTDsunbo..
Group Co Ltd one of China s leading machinery equipment manufacturers is poised to invest heavily in the internet of things and committed to sharing its benefits with more small and medium-sized manufacturers to help drive the new round of industrial upgrading said executives of the company sunbo..
Contact details of GROUP CO LTD China Manufacturer and exporter of Excavator Road Machine Crane Port Machine Hoisting Machinesunbo..
Group Over the last several years has come to dominate the Chinese equipment market a market that is today perhaps the largest and most competitive on sunbo..
Company profile key executives for Group Co Ltd SANYIZ - including description corporate address management team and contact infosunbo..
Group Trucks Wholesale Various High Quality Group Trucks Products from Global Group Trucks Suppliers and Group Trucks Factory Importer Exporter at Alibabasunbo..
By the end of 2003 rotary drilling rigs and other pili sunbo..
India is the largest overseas subsidiary of Group India operates in four Business Units viz Excavators Cranes Heavy Equipment Concrete Machinery sunbo..


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With social media spending continuing to increase this year, CMOs are being tasked to justify the investment. This is indicated vividly in a new report from Bazaarvoice, a poll of 175 B2C and B2B CMOs across various industries, with 74% of CMOs predicting they will finally tie social efforts to hard ROI in 2011.
Although CMOs will continue to track soft metrics such as popularity and engagement levels, tangible measures are rising dramatically to enable the calculation of realized ROI from social media. Rising dramatically for 2011 is the quantification of conversion and revenue as a result of social media efforts.
The majority of CMOs still don't know what the ROI is of their social media efforts, with the majority of respondents indicating that they were not getting an ROI or did not know the ROI from various campaigns and channels.
Facebook seems to have the most favorable ROI ratings so far, with 35% indicating superior or average ROI, but with so many not knowing for sure, it's hard to tell what the results will be until clearer measurement systems are put in place.
Did you know that, according to Forbes, 86 percent of customers will pay more for a better customer experience? Customer satisfaction is always a worthy business pursuit, but to identify customer preferences and exceed expectations, you must keep pace with innovations in the technology your customers are using. more
Deciding which phone system is right for your business can be difficult. With our VoIP technology blueprint, discover the top 15 questions you should ask VoIP vendors before you make a buying decision. more
Real-time personalization of the customer experience has been described as the holy grail of digital marketing. And the race is on. Gartner believes that by 2018, businesses that excel in personalization will outsell those that don’t by 20%. Though the benefits are clear, the path to get there is not. more


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Steve Ritchie, the CEO of Papa Johns’, came out and apologized to customers for the recent scandal faced by the company. The scandal has led to them losing an opportunity to supply pizza for the NFL. Furthermore, the situation escalated, and other consumers are disassociating with the brand, and this has led to a decline in the returns. The public image of the company was tarnished, and the general public has grown cold towards the brand too. Mr. Ritchie wrote the first apology letter, but it did not sink well with the public, and it was criticized for lacking a sense of compassion and genuine apology. The second letter was deemed to be appropriate and convincing by the general public.
The letter emphasized that the company will not entertain anyone promoting racism and insensitive language. Ritchie added that Papa Johns’ being a pizza company with various outlets in different locations worldwide, it has 120,000 corporate and franchise team members. These individuals are diverse in many ways and strive to ensure that the quality of services provided is not compromised, and the pizza is great. In order to gain the trust of their consumers back, various actions are going to be implemented. Having an external auditor to conduct an audit on the company’s culture and diversity and inclusion practice is one of the action. By doing so, the company will be able to identify its strength and weakness to visualize and actualize their goals. Read this article from the Biz Journals for further details.
The senior management team will be on a mission to gather vital information from employees and other franchises on the best way to move forward. Being transparent with the customer in the day to day activities will bring about an element of trust and Papa Johns will be accountable for any unfortunate situation. Steve Ritchie Papa Johns assured that he would be on the forefront in ensuring the efforts to regain the confidence of their customers since that is the optimal goal for Papa Johns at the moment. He also said that the past week had been the most hectic in the duration he has served at Papa Johns. Steve Ritchie concluded by thanking the loyal customers and promise to do better in the future because Papa Johns is in operation because of them.


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”If you think your organization is not going to be hacked, you will be hacked! The finest education you can get is finding your businesses hacked when and then you will understand, budgets that had been previously not offered will grow to be available and time was not there will be found” EC Council President Jay Bevis…
The truth of the matter is uncomplicated. We are in denial. We use the term ‘We will deal with the predicament, when it happens’ Is that sufficient? IT Services inform you not!! Cybercriminals are out there in search of to steal your information, commit Fraud, disrupt, degrade and deny access to facts systems, these cyber intruders are Risky and Manipulative they are out there causing financial, operation and reputational harm suitable now below your eyes with out you even knowing!
If an individual stated to you last year hackers are in a position to steal up to 45 million in 2days… You would say… Not possible? Nothing is not possible, we have been taking by complete astonish and anger when on December 12, 2012, and February 19, 2013, an international group of hackers and thieves stole a collective $45 million from far more than 5,000 ATMs across the globe. Eight suspects have been charged in connection with the crimes on May 9… how was this ”hacking done’. Mask involved? Weapons… answer… No… A hacking program… at the tip of their fingers and a couple of keyboards… Was this the wakeup get in touch with our Society required, that technology is becoming so advance, that it is creating it a lot easier for these cyber criminals to perform such acts and that cyber security education providers requires to be place in location into your banks!
IT Safety is essential! The World’s largest vendor Neutral cyber security education provider EC Council focus extremely on the threats of breaches on cyber security to organizations. The president of the Council states ‘”A nation deals with cyber threats by dealing with offensive capabilities by creating cyber armies – the whole idea of getting a cyber-command will turn into a clear interface in the war systems of governments.”. The EC-Council’s flagship course Certified Ethical Hacker, CEH set the typical for what the globe has come to anticipate from ethical hacking IT Safety courses, becoming one of the most highest and demand in the planet for organization’s to have, as effectively this they deliver Facts Safety, Network Safety, Computer Safety and Net Safety Certification and Education. So the Solution is BE Prepared & STEP UP on your education get your IT Security. To think like a hacker… Educate! Is this not an indication for all the CEO of the banks and organisations to have their workers educated as a CEH? Certainly this should really be made mandatory?!
Cyber threats are a big element highlighting banks, it is continuing to develop and becoming much more sophisticated in Australia, In March, Reserve Bank of Australia confirmed its computer system networks had been repeatedly hacked in a series of cyber-attacks to infiltrate sensitive internal information and facts, including by Chinese created malicious computer software – or malware, Hackers penetrated computers at the Reserve Bank in an e-mail scam targeting personnel in an incident in November 2011 but particulars only emerged this year. A criminal syndicate had access to 500,000 credit cards and had currently spent $30 million on 30,000 of them in transactions in Hong Kong, Europe, Australia and the US. Australian banks are facing new and ongoing security threats, this is combing with destructive hacking! Why do we not hear about the ongoing events and scandals in the media, what is the government in Australia performing about it? Pushing it below the carpet.. As if practically nothing is taking place? Is people’s identity, information files and revenue not significant right here? I thought Consumer Protection and care within a bank was number 1 priority? An additional valid point that CEOS should take on board crucial security instruction is a Must right here!
How many of you have a contactless credit and debit cards containing a chip, so that when the card is held next to a reader,a payment is made without need to have of a pin,. One thing basic like going to your neighborhood Meals Operates shop to purchase a loaf and pint of milk? Would you believe of fraud? Hacking? Card readers that are now being constructed in as normal to mobile phones can be adapted to access information from these cards!..Everyone can have your information!! Thomas Cannon of By means of Forensics accomplished a reconstructive test: “All I did was I tap my phone over your wallet and employing the wireless reader on the phone I was able to lift out the information from your card, that consists of the extended card quantity, the expiry date and your name. None of it was encrypted, it was just a case of the particulars coming out via the air. “This was with A Barclays Bank, Which has a maximum of 13 million consumers who at present use them… Though what other Banks and systems are accessible. I’m sure cyber intruders are planning their next intrusion with android apps which are acquiring extra advance each and every day!
Let’s face it… we are living in the 21ST Century, technologies is increasing, with the huge tech corporations such as Facebook, Microsoft, Apple, the New York Instances, NBC and its affiliate web sites currently being ‘victims’ to the cyber-attacks and hacking scandals within this year! Banks and finance are one of the principal sectors Cybercriminals are generally going to attack. Why? Money? Did you know At least $15 million was stolen via on the internet infiltration of 15 financial organizations — like JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup, E*TRADE, PayPal, TIAA-CREF, and TD Ameritrade — overly a practically two-year period. The perpetrators of the scheme have been a group of hackers and identity thieves led by two Ukrainian nationals, according to authorities stated by the LA Instances. This is an indication how potent banking, and hacking has grow to be.


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Sony announced earlier this week a reorientation of key business and executive appointments effective April 1, 2019. The very brief announcement also contains important information about the company's main business and the changes that will affect it as of next week.
In a surprising move, Sony has decided to merge three of its most profitable businesses with the wireless business. The business units Imaging Products and Solutions (IP & S), Home Entertainment & Sound (HE & S) and Mobile Communications are combined in a single unit called Electronics Products & Solutions (EP & S).
Another important piece of information is the legendary CEO of Sony Kazuo Hirai, the person who made one of the most surprising turnarounds in the Japanese electronics industry will retire in June after 35 years working for the company.
Hirai handed over CEO position to Kenichiro Yoshida a year ago. He retires on June 1
More importantly, his bet on the gambling division paid off. The same applies to the investment in image sensors, since Sony is today one of the largest suppliers of camera components in the smartphone industry.
When Sony retired from its position as CEO, Sony's entertainment and imaging products were more profitable than ever (and still are), but the smartphone business is still bleeding.
Is it a good idea to hide? The Problem Under the Carpet
Reports of a possible sale of Sony's mobile division came up last year, likely to put pressure on the company's current chairman, Kenichiro Yoshida. Today's announcement puts an end to these rumors, but doubts the decision to hide the problem under the carpet.
After a fourth unprofitable fourth quarter, it seems Sony is determined to hide the losses of the mobile sector behind a conglomeration of profitable companies. If you're wondering why Sony still uses smartphones, the Japanese company said that 5G is the technology that could make things better.
How to do this remains to be seen. On the bottom line, Sony's quarterly reports are likely to see less red numbers as the profits of the other three companies are more than enough to hide the losses of the mobile phone business.
What is not covered in the official statement is whether or not This "reorientation" does not mean dismissal among the staff of the mobile department or it is merely an administrative reorganization. As early as December, Sony had laid off 200 people in Europe to cut costs for a range of mobile businesses. A few days ago, the Japanese company confirmed the intention to close a complete smartphone factory in China.
With smartphone factory closed There may be fewer Xperia smartphones available in the market, and although Sony can run unexpectedly well, it can always use third-party manufacturers to supplement inventory, should that be required.
It's obvious that Sony Mobile is not what it once was But if the Japanese company thinks it can save its smartphone business this way, we're up for it.


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AstraZeneca's merger goes down well
Pharmaceuticals giant AstraZeneca today made its debut as the world's largest prescription drugs group - and Britain's fifth largest company - as Astra shareholders approved the Anglo-Swedish merger.
With acceptances received from holders of more than 96% of Astra shares, the merger is now complete. The shares dropped 173p to £28.64. The group will account for 4.3% of the FTSE 100 index and 3.5% of the All Share index.
AstraZeneca was third in the world league when the deal was first announced last year. However, chief executive Tom McKillop said it has since captured the lead position, ahead of the American Merck group and Britain's Glaxo Well-come
"We don't really like to boast but we are growing faster than the others," he said.
"I am determined that the energy, thoroughness and co-operation which has enabled the new company to be created in such good time will now be devoted to ensuring that AstraZeneca builds further on its excellent platform for growth."
Astra is best-known for its anti-ulcer drug Losec, the world's biggest-selling prescription drug, while the Zeneca portfolio includes the heart drug Zestril, cancer drug Zolade and asthma treatment Accolate.
Annual cost savings from the merger have been put at more than $1 billion over three years, with some 6000 jobs to go.
McKillop said the group would be pressing ahead with plans to sell off its specialty chemicals division. "The process is under way and we will be working through all the possible deals," he said.
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Xiaomi has finally launched its much-awaited annual masterpiece flagship of 2022, the Xiaomi 12S Pro. The device offers many breakthrough innovations and top-of-the-line specifications. It brings a noticeable upgrade in the camera department, as the brand has announced it’s a partnership with Leica for the camera department.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Specifications
Xiaomi 12S Ultra has got a gorgeous 6.73-inches E5 AMOLED panel with QHD+ 1440*3200 pixel resolution with support for AdaptiveSync Pro which can intelligently switch the refresh rate from 1Hz to 120Hz depending upon usage. It further comes with support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+ and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. It is powered by the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen1 chipset.
The camera is one of the most highlighted parts of the device. It comes with triple rear cameras with a massive 1-inch 23mm 50MP Sony IMX989 primary camera sensor with support for OIS. It’s the biggest camera sensor one can ever get on a smartphone. The lens in front of the 1-inch sensor is an 8P element lens, addressing issues like a flare, chromatic aberration, and ghosting.
The rest two cameras are 48MP 13mm f/2.2 ultrawide and 48MP 120mm f/4.1 periscope, both the cameras are powered by a Sony IMX IMX586 1/2.0-inch sensor. The 12S Ultra is the first smartphone in the world of Android to support Dolby Vision video recording. Overall, it’s very powerful camera hardware and we expect top-notch performance.
It has got a 4860mAh battery with support for 67W wired and 50W wireless charging. It has been said that they had to stick to 67W, instead of 120W, because of some motherboard issues. Additional specifications include dual stereo speakers support, all-new 3D liquid cooling technology and IP68 dust and water resistance rating. It will boot up on MIUI 13 based on Android 12 out of the box.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra Price and Availablity
The Xiaomi 12S Ultra will be priced at CNY 5999, CNY 6,499 and CNY 6999 for the 8GB+256GB, 12GB+256GB and 12GB+512GB respectively. It comes in Classic Black and Verdant Green with a Leather-like rear finish. There are no words on the availability and sales details of the smartphone yet.


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Online registry helps find stolen bikes
The idea began several years ago when Doug McKenzie and his wife, Deanna went to San Francisco to watch a Grand Prix cycling race. They drove to Sausalito with their bikes, then rode over the Golden Gate Bridge into the city for a fun day of watching the professional cyclists tear through the streets of San Francisco.
McKenzie is co-founder and lead guitarist for the local dance band Pulsators, an avid cyclist and a part-time bike mechanic. He parked his wife’s Trek road bike near the race route and chained it to his “pieced together” cross bike.
“It’s purposely ugly,” says McKenzie, a Santa Rosa resident who fixes bikes three days a week at Spoke Folk Cyclery in Healdsburg. “I put it together from all sorts of mismatched parts. It’s just not the kind of bike anybody would want to steal.”
So when he locked the bikes, he made sure his was the visible one. When the couple returned after the race, his bike was still there, but the chain had been cut and his wife’s beautiful Trek was gone.
“She was stuck. She had to go back on foot and take the ferry back, while I rode to the car,” he said. “It ruined a great day.”
Deanna never got her bike back, but the incident got him thinking that there had to be a better way to help people find stolen bikes. Some are broken down into parts that are sold or reused, and those are almost impossible to recover. But many thieves try to sell or trade stolen bikes via the Internet or at bike or pawn shops. He knew how hard it is to determine whether a bike being sold or traded is stolen.
While some companies charge people to register their bikes in case they get stolen, McKenzie wanted to set up something that anybody could use. So he created an online stolen bike registry and put it up on the Internet. For free, cyclists can add their stolen bicycles to a searchable database or check to see if that great deal on Craigslist is somebody else’s missing ride.
The registry has quietly been building a following over the past few years. Recently, he listed the site on Spoke Folk’s Facebook page in an effort to get the word out. The service is simple and free. All a bike-theft victim has to do is go online, fill in the make, model and other information about the stolen bike and, if desired, link to a photo.
“I think it’s really important to involve bike shops,” McKenzie says. “It will make it easier to identify when a stolen bike comes in.”
He isn’t sure yet how many people have retrieved their bikes using his site, which he maintains himself, but he has gotten listings from all over the country and as far as the U.K. A few people have even listed their stolen motorcycles.
As for keeping your bike safe, McKenzie says the most important thing to do is to record and save its serial number.
“There’s no way you’ll ever see it again if you don’t have the serial number,” he says. Owners can engrave their driver’s license number somewhere on the frame or hide their identifying info inside one of the tubes. “And get yourself a good lock.”
It’s hard to keep your bike totally safe, he says, so if you’re the unfortunate victim of a bike theft, be sure to call the police and file a report. Even then, it’s important to get the word out online and keep checking with bike shops. His own experience proves it can work.
When McKenzie’s expensive bike was stolen from his home, he kept checking until he saw that someone was trying to sell it on an auction website. He called the police and they sent out a detective. He got that bike back, but he is still haunted by the one that got away.
“It’s the worst feeling ever,” he says. “If this thing can help people, it will be worth it.”


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In a setback for Tata Sons, The London Court of International Arbitration has ordered the Indian conglomerate to pay NTT DoCoMO $1.17 billion in compensation for breaching an agreement on India telecom joint venture, Tata Docomo. The court ruled in favour of DoCoMo over price it was entitled for exiting the Indian joint venture, the Japanese firm said in a statement.
According to the arbitration award, Tata Sons will receive or designate a recipient for DoCoMo's entire stake in TTSL. NTT Docomo had filed a request with a London court for arbitration against Tata Group holding company Tata Sons in January 2015. It had claimed that Tata Group latter failed to fulfil its obligation to find a buyer for Docomo’s stake in Tata Teleservices Ltd.
In April 2014, Docomo had decided to exit after the joint venture struggled to grow subscribers in the highly competitive Indian market, and had accordingly sought Rs 58 per share or Rs 7,200 crore from Tatas to buy out its 26.5 per cent stake in the loss-making Tata Teleservices for Rs 23.34 a share.
The Japanese company said that the investment in 2008 was made with an understanding that it would get at least 50 per cent of its acquisition price if it exits the Indian company in five years.
Docomo in a statement said that the award orders that Tata Sons pay damages to Docomo in the amount of approximately $ 1,172 million for Tata Sons’ breach of the shareholders agreement, upon Docomo’s tender of its entire stake in Tata Teleservices to Tata Sons or its designee.
The Japanese company said it is uncertain whether Tata Sons will pay the awarded damages. “As of today certain matters remain uncertain, including whether Tata Sons will pay the awarded damages and when the delivery of Tata Teleservices’ shares will be made,” it said, adding that Docomo is not able to predict how events will unfold.
“The effect on Docomo’s corporate earnings for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2017 cannot be forecast at this time due to these uncertainties. Docomo will update this information in a timely fashion regarding any matters requiring disclosure,” Docomo said.
According to media reports, Tata Teleservices, which operates under the Tata Docomo brand witnessed its complete network go down two years ago. It posted a loss of Rs 3,846 crore on a revenue of Rs 10,944 crore in 2014-15 fiscal


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Online shopping startup Bigcommerce’s 70,000-plus clients will now be able to buy from top-ranked Chinese suppliers and manufacturers more easily, thanks to a deal with e-commerce giant Alibaba.
Bigcommerce, which already helps its clients build and market e-commerce websites, has created a software app with Alibaba to help them better navigate Alibaba.com. They will start out with access to 300 of Alibaba’s “gold suppliers”, but the partnership may eventually extend to thousands more suppliers.
Bigcommerce’s customers will also be able to sell their products on Alibaba.com, Reuters reported.
The six-year-old company counts Gibson Guitars and Ubisoft Entertainment SA as clients, and Softbank Capital, American Express and General Catalyst as investors.
“For many of our merchants, Alibaba.com represents a tremendous opportunity to tap into the world’s largest supplier network – whether to start selling or expand an exististing business – without taking on unnecessary risk or sacrificing margins,” Bigcommerce co-founder and CEO Eddie Machaalani said.
It seems laptops are about to catch the biometric fever as PayPal, Intel, Lenovo and Synaptics are collaborating to introduce FIDO-enabled embedded fingerprint solution to PCs.
Mastercard is working with Stripe to expedite the payment process for American sellers on the latter's marketplaces using the instant payouts feature from Stripe.
Chase, the US consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co, has signed a multiyear agreement with Best Buy, that will see the electronics retailer accept Chase Pay in its stores, on BestBuy.com and in the Best Buy app.
Barclaycard has partnered with Case Station, a company that makes personalised phone cases, to embed contactless technology in the latter's smartphone cases.


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Wilma den Hartigh
The 2010 Fifa World Cup will not only boost South Africa’s tourism industry, it will also be an opportunity for the country to show off its sophisticated banking system to the world.
According to Nikki Tyrer, Accenture South Africa’s heads of customer relations management, the financial services sector should make the most of this opportunity by offering efficient service to visitors at all times.
According to Accenture research, South African banks will be under severe pressure during the World Cup. With more than 3-million visitors expected in South Africa, foreign exchange and ATM facilities will experience much higher volumes of tourist traffic.
Coping with this demand will require meticulous planning. Banks should, for example, set up additional exchange counters in branches and ensure ATMs are always online and stocked more often.
Tyrer said that while the services locals and international tourists needed may be fairly similar, the visitors could require more help in areas such as language. More than this, plans must be made for situations such as an ATM machine swallowing a foreign tourist’s bank card late in the evening when the traveller is due to fly home the following morning.
South African banks could learn from the Bank of China, she said, which set up a multilingual call centre for international tourists as part of its drive to improve customer service during the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
All their branches and key staff were given training in business acumen, service etiquette, foreign languages and servicing customers with disabilities. Tyrer said tourists travelling to South Africa are unlikely to prefer a specific bank and all branches will be a key point of contact for many clients. Banks should consider additional signage in foreign languages and employ more floor staff to help with queries.
Prof Hennie van Coller, head of the Afrikaans Department at the University of the Free State, says the skills needed for a multilingual call centre can be readily found . “South Africa definitely has all the language expertise needed to set up a facility like this,” Van Coller said.
The university’s foreign language departments have already discussed setting up such a facility. He explained that it will also be useful in other sectors such as health, safety and general communication queries.
Volunteers from across the county could participate and need not be stationed in one place, Van Coller said. Postgraduate foreign language students could also get involved in the project, which could be structured as part of the courses.
Accenture also recommended that banks extend operating hours, step up security and even expand product offerings. For the Beijing Olympics, the Bank of China created targeted products for tourists such as “Olympic Temporary Accounts” and safe box facilities.
Other financial services institutions could also step in, which insurance companies, for example, offering short-term insurance against theft, or medical cover.
Doret Els, an economist with financial and investment firm Efficient Group, said the financial sector has already started taking steps in the right direction. “The latest development that allows people to pay for fuel with credit cards is very useful to South Africans and foreigners,” Els said.
She added that international visitors are used to sophisticated financial systems, which is why electronic banking systems are so important. Most tourists would prefer to make transactions electronically, instead of carrying large amounts of cash on them.
Accenture’s research had similar findings. Small businesses and vendors may require point-of-sale (POS) facilities for foreign tourists. Tyrer said financial institutions could supply POS facilities at a reduced rate for smaller businesses.
“If we have good financial structures it will attract more investment into the country in the future,” Els said. “This is a great opportunity that South Africa has to leverage.”
According to Accenture, the 2006 Fifa World Cup in Germany resulted in an annual GDP increase of 0.7%. Revenues from tourism and travel exceeded US$400-million (R4-billion), with a further $2.62-billion (R512-billion) attributed to retail sales during the four-week tournament.
South Africa stands to draw similar benefits for growth and investment, with its GDP expected to grow by about $2.1-billion (R21.3-billion) – a figure many economists consider to be an underestimate. Tyrer encouraged all sectors of the economy to prepare to create a positive experience for tourists, encouraging them to return.
- Do you have queries or comments about this article? Email Mary Alexander at firstname.lastname@example.org
- 2010 to give SA a $2.5bn boost
- Top marks for SA auditing
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- Standard Bank on the money


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Cruising-focused host agency Cruise CEO celebrated its first birthday on 18JUL. The Canadian agency is a member of luxury travel consortia Virtuoso.
Caroline Hay, President of Cruise CEO, reflects on the past year. “Everyone told us that it was crazy to launch in a pandemic, but immediately following, came the words ‘what a great idea and this concept is long overdue’! We’ve seen host agencies popping up all over the place this past year, Cruise CEO isn’t trying to recreate a host agency model that is already out there; we’ve created one that is not…We are standing out from the ordinary, and it’s working!”
Hay also notes that after one year, the agency’s results are what they “anticipated,” with 70 per cent of all sales are cruise, and 30 per cent are all-inclusive, tour, air, hotels, and insurance.
Hay added: “Our CEOs have fully embraced our partnership with Virtuoso, and 85% of our overall sales are with Virtuoso partner members. We couldn’t have achieved such great results without our Cruise CEO Advisors taking a chance on us; they are an incredible group of like-minded advisors eager to see the business grow!”
In celebration of its first anniversary, Cruise CEO will be awarding one travel advisor with a free cruise. To enter, advisors are invited to visit Cruise CEO’s web site, and a final random draw will be done on 01AUG.
“We know that it’s been a tough couple of years in the industry, and travel advisors have worked so hard, and the reality is we still have continued issues plaguing our industry. As we were thinking of ways to celebrate this momentous occasion of our first birthday, we decided to launch a contest where we would award a Travel Advisor with a free cruise,” Hay said.
For more information on Cruise CEO, visit its web site.


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Microsoft has announced that they have acquired id8 Group R2 Studios (R2 Studios) and has named Blake Krikorian corporate vice president in its Interactive Entertainment Business.
Detailed look at the Synology DS716+ NAS
Windows 10 seems to be a big hit with businesses
After four months, Marshmallow is now on just 1.2% of Android devices
Oukitel K4000 Pro - an affordable phone with a monstrous 4600mAh battery
oukitel k4000 pro
Insider Preview build 10586.71 rolls out to Slow ring
windows 10 mobile promo
VAIO's aluminum-bodied Windows 10 Mobile phone is official
Are you planning to buy a Windows phone?
Microsoft's recent acquisition, R2 Studios, holds a unique patent for a universal remote that will allow users to control a wide range of technology, from computers to household appliances.
A new report claims that Microsoft has acquired the startup company Id8 Group R2 Studios, which has secured patents related to distributing and displaying digital content on televisions.


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Fresh & Easy CEO Jim Keyes announced Friday in a YouTube video that about 50 Fresh & Easy stores, including 30 in Southern California, will be closing in the next few weeks. In the video, Keyes said the closures are an opportunity to take the money being spent in these locations to redirect it toward locations that are “better suited to the needs of the customers.”
According to ABC7, locations in Arcadia, Azusa, Buena Park, Camarillo, Chino Hills, Compton, Corona, Costa Mesa, Hermosa Beach, Jurupa Valley, La Habra, La Mirada, Lakewood, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Newbury Park, Oak Park, Ontario, Oxnard, Pasadena, Rancho Cucamonga, Riverside, Tujunga, Upland, Ventura, Walnut Park and Westminster are among the stores expected to close by April 3.
According to CBS Los Angeles, a list of the stores slated to close was released Sunday by a Fresh & Easy spokesperson. The only store set to close in Long Beach is the Spring St. and Palo Verde Ave. location, located at 6436 Spring St.
An employee at the Spring St. location mentioned the store will be closed by April 2, while the manager said she and her team were too rushed with mark-downs to comment on the situation.
Keyes said that some of the money will be used to build F3 stores, which are express versions of the chain, according to ABC7.
This story will be updated as we learn more.


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Right now, businesses all over the world are adapting to the new quarantine conditions. Work-at-home is the new status quo and home offices are being constructed in homes that never thought to house them. More importantly, people are working at home, recreating at home, exercising, and even socialising from home. Many people isolating now never thought they would be so physically cut off from their work and routine.
It seems like the world is waking up from a trance. Australia first began lifting its lockdown restrictions in late April, and has continued with a June 1 "Phase 2" of easing up in parts of the country. We're not close to 'business as usual' yet, of course. But around the country, businesses are beginning to look towards the future.
Brands all over the world are refocusing operations online in response to the changing global business environment. Recent events have all populations coming in and out of lockdowns and often with limited contact protocols. So what is the best online store solution you should look into for your E-Commerce business? Well WordPress of course!
In this time of social isolation, many businesses are struggling with how to stay top of mind for their customers. You might have needed to close your physical doors as a result of specific mandates in your area. You might still be open for business, but with only an online or delivery model.
Topics: Website Design
Right now, Amazon.com has roughly 2.5 million actively selling vendors working through the platform. eBay in its distributed populist way has even more. Etsy is a hotspot for handmade goods and there are more than a few tertiary marketplaces for niche or general goods. These shared e-commerce platforms are a good way to build early brand awareness, get those first product reviews, and make use of an existing selling infrastructure.


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McDonald’s has lengthy maintained the highest spot because the biggest fast food chain within the U.S., primarily based solely on income—and whereas it will doubtless all the time be residence to beloved burgers, fries, and fountain soda, the model has needed to do some evolving through the years to remain at No. 1. Which means some menu items have been discontinued (RIP, Mighty Wings), recipes have advanced (howdy, preservative-free McNuggets), and new products have been added to the choices (welcome, McPlant). However now, the corporate is planning to make a significant change to certainly one of its most beloved merchandise: the Joyful Meal. Learn on to seek out out what new, everlasting change is being made to McDonald’s most cherished meal.
On Sept. 21, McDonald’s pledged to considerably cut back using plastic in its Happy Meal toys worldwide. The company said that the adjustments will begin now and roll out across the globe so that each one McDonald’s toys will probably be made out of extra sustainable supplies by 2025. This alteration will end in a couple of 90-percent discount of fossil fuel-based plastic in Joyful Meals toys, which is concerning the “dimension of all the inhabitants of Washington D.C., eliminating plastics from their lives for a yr,” in accordance with McDonald’s.
“At the moment we’re taking a step to maintain the enjoyable going whereas serving to to construct a extra resilient planet for the subsequent technology,” the corporate stated in a press release. “Our ambition is that each toy bought in a Joyful Meal will probably be sustainable, made out of extra renewable, recycled, or licensed supplies like bio-based and plant-derived supplies and licensed fiber.”
Based on CNN, McDonald’s is weighing various options for these extra sustainable toys. As an example, as a substitute of plastic collectible figurines, younger clients may get 3D paper-based toys they put collectively on their very own. Different toys may embrace Pokémon buying and selling playing cards, that are already within the U.S. market, and board video games with conventional plastic items swapped out for paper ones, which can begin showing in U.S. Joyful Meals as quickly as Jan. 2022, CNN reviews.
“We’re drastically lowering plastics in toys whereas providing all of the video games, motion heroes and collectibles that proceed to spark children’ imaginations and love of play,” McDonald’s stated in its assertion.
RELATED: And for extra meals information despatched proper to your inbox, sign up for our daily newsletter.
This world initiative follows backlash in opposition to McDonald’s for its plastic toys. In 2019, British sisters Ella and Caitlin McEwan, then 9 and 7 years previous, started a petition calling on McDonald’s and Burger King to cease giving out plastic toys with their children’ meals. The petition garnered more than 566,000 signatures and shortly sufficient, McDonald’s started testing out books, board video games, and plush toys in U.Okay. Joyful Meals.
Nevertheless, throughout a press briefing, Jenny McColloch, McDonald’s chef sustainability officer, famous that among the adjustments have been already in movement earlier than the 2019 petition, in accordance with CNN. “We have had innovation in our toys for fairly a while,” she stated, noting the corporate “began introducing a few of these extra sustainable supplies” as early as 2018.
She added, “That stated, we’re all the time listening to our clients and our households, and understanding the place we will do higher.”
It isn’t solely McDonald’s that is heard the McEwan sisters’ plea. In 2019, Burger King vowed to cease giving away plastic toys with youngsters’s meals in Britain and pledged to remove all non-biodegradable toys from its eating places worldwide by 2025 as nicely, in accordance with The New York Occasions.
The quick meals chain additionally inspired clients to deposit previous toys in assortment bins, which it supplied to the recycling agency Pentatonic to soften down and switch into playground gear and reusable tray tables.
https://bestlifeonline.com/mcdonalds-happy-meals-news/ | McDonald’s Is Making This Everlasting Change to All of Its Joyful Meals


text: # ** iPhone in the next few years will look like the old “brick” Nokia design, all because of a new regulation? ** **iPhone equipped with removable battery is unprecedented since its release. eye. But with the rules recently adopted by the European Union (EU), Apple is likely to have to do this if it does not want to lose market share in Europe.** Mid-June 2023, a report has been published. reports that the European Parliament (EP) has voted to enact legislation forcing manufacturers of battery-powered devices, including smartphones – to supply easily replaceable batteries. . This week, the European Council (EC) has officially issued this new regulation. The only step left is for the Council and the European Parliament to sign the confirmation. By then, every manufacturer that wants to sell phones in the EU must sell phones with removable, easily replaceable batteries by 2027. According to Neowin, the rules are part of the EU’s latest effort to aim reduce e-waste load and promote easy repairability. Currently, most smartphones have a monolithic design that makes it difficult or impossible for consumers to replace themselves. The moment when the battery starts to degrade, users are forced to bring the device to a repair shop or choose to upgrade the smartphone. The EU’s new removable battery regulations will make it easier for consumers to extend the life of their smartphones by replacing the batteries. The new rules will apply to all smartphones sold in the EU, regardless of where they are manufactured. This means that not only Apple, but other OEMs like Samsung must comply with the new regulations. For many people, this is good news because they can easily replace iPhone batteries like Nokia phones of the past. However, the huge impact of this law on the iPhone is not so simple. The iPhone has never had an easily replaceable battery before, because Apple meticulously planned the iPhone’s internal design to make the most of the available space. Those design optimizations allow the company to use as much space as possible for the battery. In addition, Apple designed the iPhone to be optimally resistant to dust and water. It’s likely Apple will seek to meet strict EU laws on battery replacement, but the company will likely pass those research and development costs on to consumers. At the moment, users will not see any change. However, in the next few years, smartphones will have a different design as manufacturers begin to comply with this new law.


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Higher costs, economy force Tribune cuts
Layoffs come six months after aggressive expansion of editorial and distribution
- Lloyd Woods
- Business Journal Associate Editor
Turning the Portland Tribune Web site into a "daily" newspaper was originally planned for three to five years from now.
But increasing newsprint prices and a faltering economy led Tribune and Community Newspapers Inc. President Steve Clark to make the move earlier this month. The paper also cut back from two days a week to one.
"We act in recognition of current U.S. economics, which are leading the nation toward recession with not only higher fuel and food prices, but also an impending shortage of paper products such as newsprint," Clark wrote in a recent edition announcing the change.
The Tribune, a free newspaper, does not release revenue or circulation figures. Community Newspapers also owns 17 suburban weeklies.
Clark told the Business Journal in October that the company was investing "well into six figures" into the newspaper and planning to hire more newsroom personnel.
With the move to just one printed edition each week, six newsroom employees were laid off.
Clark said printing the Tribune just one day a week will not lower advertising revenue. Clark expects the move to daily online news will bring more ad sales to the Web site.
"We're committed to both online and print revenue," he said.
However, Katie Walther, president and owner of Sherwood-based Run Spot Run Inc., a media buying firm, said dropping the printed Tribune to weekly and expanding the Web site is "not a compelling reason" to advertise on the Web site.
"They need to do some marketing behind it," she said of the Web expansion, before advertisers can trust it is reaching a large enough audience.
The Newspaper Association of America, which is based in Columbia, Md., reports that a survey conducted by Borrell Associates found that newspapers with Web sites could gain new advertising. The survey found that the largest newspaper Web sites in the United States last year achieved a majority of revenue from non-print advertisers.
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Barbara Anthony, Undersecretary of the Office of Consumer Affairs and Business Regulation
Starting on Monday, we are going to feature here on our blog regular reports from Jayda Leder-Luis, who in preparation for new fees from her bank is going to try to get through November without using her debit card.
Jayda is one of our great Northeastern co-op students here at the Office of Consumer Affairs, and November should be an interesting month. On top of her regular tasks like grocery shopping and traveling to and from work, she will also be traveling home for Thanksgiving and maybe even starting her holiday shopping. She will be providing us regular updates as she avoids swiping her card at retailers, writing about near-misses and the trials and tribulations that will come with rolling back the retail clock a decade or so.
Like millions of others, Jayda is a Bank of America customer. The bank’s wide base allows her access to ATMs and branches both here in Boston and at her home in New York, certainly an importance convenience for college students and others who split their time between two places. But last month, Bank of America announced a new, $5 fee for using a debit card a point of purchase, whether it is used once a month or multiple times a day.
As you’ll hear from Jayda, she wants to try to avoid that fee, and is giving it a tryout in November. She is not alone, as many Bank of America customers are considering their options before the new fee goes into place. I look forward to seeing how her experiment works out, and reading her blog entries throughout November.
Something To Be Thankful For: Price Scanning Accuracy posted on Nov 19
The Massachusetts Item Pricing Law was written to ensure that food retailers remained consistent and accurate in how they charge consumers. Since its last update in 2013, the law has been extended to cover consumer-use price scanners and automated check out systems. The Division of …Continue Reading Something To Be Thankful For: Price Scanning Accuracy
Thinking of Joining a Health Club? Read the Fine Print. posted on Nov 14
With the holiday season fast approaching, and the New Year soon after, many consumers are already starting to consider health club memberships as part of their 2015 resolutions. Last year, our office surveyed local health clubs and found that getting a good deal on health club …Continue Reading Thinking of Joining a Health Club? Read the Fine Print.
IRS Scam Alert: Don’t Be Tricked into Paying Debts You Don’t Really Owe posted on Oct 3
Recently, the Hotline received three calls about this scam in just one week, so it is important for consumers to know how it works and how to avoid being scammed.


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Kempower North America’s First Produced EV Charger Order Ships to Canada
- Where crude oil reigns, Kempower’s carbon neutral DC rapid chargers are in high demand.
- As the world explores transitioning from fossil fuels, Kempower’s clean energy DC- chargers gain attention worldwide as a key part of the green climate solution.
Durham, NC – (Friday, December 15, 2023) In the heart of the largest known reservoir of crude bitumen in the world, Kempower’s direct current fast charging EV charging Satellites are being requested at record pace; with the company’s first product shipment in North America, deployed Thursday, December 14, 2023 from its new North Carolina site.
The world is taking notice, and in many places, decisions are being quickly and aggressively made to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. We are thrilled to provide an EV electrification solution that if adopted worldwide will be key to saving this planet for future generations.
In-step with worldwide climate talks, and within hours of the release of the COP28 draft; Kempower North America shipped its first carbon neutral, ETL certified, EV chargers made in the US to the heart of the Athabasca oil sands in Alberta, Canada.
“Even in an area that’s home to the fourth-largest oil reserves in the world; it’s clear that green transportation, particularly an infrastructure of DC-FC EV charging satellites, will no longer be optional,” said Business Development Manager Pascal Flambard, who spent months negotiating the first sale and shipment of the (pictured) EV charging solution to Kempower’s first Canadian partners ChargeStop and EVLution, consisting of a 600kW Kempower Power Unit and Kempower Charging Satellites.
“Alberta is the oil capital of Canada, but electrification is mandatory to sustain our future, and the future has already arrived,” added Flambard.
Just this year the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) proposed federal emission standards recommending that 67 percent of future light-duty and 25 percent of heavy-duty vehicles sold are electric by 2032.
Meeting those standards, Director of Operations & Business Development at Kempower North America, Marcus Suvanto says are dependent on infrastructure that will need a technological difference that makes Kempower’s DC charging technology a top choice for a myriad of fleet owners and operators, retailers, charging station developers, harbor facility operators, environmental planners and beyond.
“The key differentiator of Kempower solutions, is the dynamically shared power, which is controlled and optimized through our own Software called ChargeEye,” said Suvanto. “This one headed to Alberta can provide power to 6 Kempower Satellites; each one having the potential to dynamically dispense up to 300KW per port, guaranteed for around a decade.”
Kempower is in discussions with municipal designers across major metropolitans including but not limited to Alberta, Ontario, New York, Raleigh, Chicago, San Francisco and beyond to provide the revolutionary DC-FC EV charging systems to millions of diverse operators who need both low and high voltage; overnight, destination and on-the-move megawatt charging options.
“In Finland we’d say we’re ‘innoissaan!”
Every technician, engineer, sales rep, production employee, planner, safety, IT and operations lead, can barely contain themselves, as every day, since we opened the doors, we’ve been working towards this moment of completion and now gratitude.Timo Eronen, Operations Manager, Kempower North America
Kempower is revolutionizing the Electric Vehicle charging industry as it expands offerings of its diverse, DC-FC EV charging program, beyond the boundaries of the Nordics, and we’d love to partner with the world in the ongoing efforts towards ‘Powering Planet Cool’.
- Trucks, buses, and coaches are currently responsible for around 25% of CO2 emissions from road transport in the EU and approximately 6% of the region’s total emissions.
- In the US, medium and heavy-duty trucks account for about 29% of road transport’s total emissions – and approximately 7% of the country’s total – despite being less than 5% of the total vehicles on the road.
- Emissions are continuing to rise, primarily due to the growing amount of freight traffic on roads.
- According to the report made by Finnish industrial recycling company Kuusakoski Oy, the recyclability rate of our Kempower Movable Chargers (taking metals, precious metals, cars, batteries, tires, electric equipment, plastics, construction waste, energy waste and wood into account) charger is currently at total of 99.61%.
- We aim for 99% end-of-lifetime recyclability rate in all our product groups.
You can stay informed about Kempower’s technological advancements in EV charging technology by subscribing to our newsletter , following us on LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. You can also watch informational videos on our YouTube channel, and reach out to a representative at a location nearest you, to become a Kempower partner.
Kempower media contacts:
Miracle King-Wilson, Communications Manager, North America
Kempower in brief:
We design and manufacture reliable and user-friendly DC fast-charging solutions for electric vehicles. Our vision is to create the world’s most desired EV charging solutions for everyone, everywhere. Our product development and production are based in Finland and the USA, with a majority of our materials and components sourced locally. We focus on all areas of e-mobility, from electric cars, trucks, and buses to machines and marine. Our modular and scalable charging system and world-class software are designed by EV drivers for EV drivers, enabling the best user experience for our customers around the world. Kempower is listed in the Nasdaq First North Growth Market Finland. www.kempower.com


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Chicken is pulled off supermarket shelves in 5 states due to CHOKING hazard
All details here.
By Amy Sinclair
May 23 2019
A popular brand of chicken sold at Woolworths has been urgently recalled.
A type of Ingham’s Chicken Kievs - sold at the Woolworth deli counter in five states - has been pulled off shelves due to a possible choking hazard.
Authorities say that ‘blue rubber’ could be in the popular chicken item, sparking the recall.
Says Food Authority Australia: ‘Ingham’s wishes to advise customers it is conducting a recall on its sweet chilli kievs.
‘The recall only applies to product purchased from the deli counter in Woolworths stores in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and Western Australia and in Metro stores in Victoria only on the 19, 20 and 21 May 2019.
‘Product purchased outside of these dates is NOT subject to recall. Product purchased from the chiller case or freezer is NOT subject to recall.’
They add: ‘The recall is due to potential foreign material contamination (blue rubber). The presence of foreign material presents a potential choking hazard.’
Food Safety Australia add that anyone with a potentially contaminated product should return the product to their place of purchase.
Anyone wanting further information should contact Ingham’s on 1800 785 940.
This story first appeared on New Idea Food


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The next tax year is due to begin on 6th April 2019. On this date, several changes to taxes and benefits will come into effect. The major concern for drivers is what will happen to Vehicle Excise Duty. This car tax has been undergoing major changes since the initial overhaul in 2017. Last year saw even more changes begin to apply to drivers in the UK, and 2019 will be the same. Car tax is likely to increase this year for many drivers, from between £5 to £65. Read on to find out what to expect.
Car Tax 2017 Changes
The first step in the reformation of Vehicle Excise Duty began in April 2017. It saw the introduction of lower first-year rates with standard rates for the second year and subsequent years. These rates vary according to the type of car and the type of fuel it uses. Anyone registering a vehicle from 1st April 2017 would pay the introductory rate depending on its level of CO2 emissions. Even tax on some diesel cars could cost as little as £10 for the lowest band (1-50 g/km). The highest band (over 255 g/km) costs £2,070. Diesel cars failing to meet the RDE2 standard for emissions of nitrous oxide will cost a lot more to tax than those that do. Alternative fuel cars will be eligible for reductions. Only fully electric vehicles are exempt – but only if they are worth less than £40,000. Any car that costs more than this will also be liable for the “luxury car” surcharge of £310.
Car Tax 2018 Changes
After the first year of lower introductory rates, car tax rates increased from April 2018. The standard rate for vehicles in their second year of registration is £140 for petrol or diesel cars. Alternative fuel vehicles such as hybrids can get a £10 discount, paying £130 instead. It will cost more if you split the payment rather than paying the whole sum at once. Zero-emissions vehicles will not have to pay anything in car tax (again, unless they are worth more than £40,000). The tax rates are different for cars which were registered before 1st April 2017, and different again for cars registered before 1st March 2001. Diesel cars will be taxed the most.
Car Tax 2019 Changes
With the new car tax system underway, drivers can expect to pay the standard rate again unless they are in their first year of registration. However, the rates are due to increase in 2019, keeping in line with inflation. This is where the additional £5 to £65 will come from. Most motorists will only see an increase of £5 to £15 in their annual car tax. Vehicles registered between 1st March 2001 and 31st March 2017 will only experience a maximum increase of £15. However, for those whose vehicles have a CO2 emissions rate of more than 170g/km, there will be an increase of £25 at the minimum. It could even be a rise of £40, £55, or £65, depending on the emissions level of your vehicle. The surcharge for luxury vehicles still applies, as well. You can use the government’s online vehicle tax rate calculator to work out how much car tax you can expect to pay from 2019 to 2020 if you are not sure. You can also work out if you are entitled to any discounts or how your chosen payment method might affect the overall cost of Vehicle Excise Duty for your car in 2019 – 2020.


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Wisconsin, United States – Virent announced that its BioFormPX® paraxylene was used to produce the world’s first 100% plant-based polyester shirts. This important project demonstrates the potentialRead More →
Leverkusen, Germany – Materials manufacturer Covestro has once again received “Gold” certification from the international rating agency EcoVadis in recognition of its achievements in sustainability. In the recent survey,Read More →
Munich, Germany – Sympatex Technologies will introduce a new highlight of its sustainable product portfolio in Munich during the PERFORMANCE DAYS (20th – 21st April 2016): A currently important theme of the fair trade is recycling,Read More →
Republic of Ireland / Germany – Irish fashion retailer PRIMARK joined the German Partnership for Sustainable Textiles (Bündnis für nachhaltige Textilien or short Textilbündnis) further underlining its long standing commitment towards achieving social,Read More →
Leverkusen, Germany – Covestro has set ambitious sustainability targets for itself. Today on Earth Day, the company has announced that it intends to reduce its specific CO2 emissions per ton of product by 50 percent based on a base line of 2005. It joins global governments, civil society and forward-looking private sector businesses in supporting […]Read More →
North Carolina, United States – American & Efird (A&E), one of the world’s leading manufacturers and distributors of industrial and consumer sewing thread, embroidery thread, and technical textiles, announced it is releasing its 2015-2016 Sustainability Report in conjunction with the global celebration of Earth Day.Read More →
Stockholm, Sweden – The H&M Conscious Actions Sustainability Report 2015 has been published. The report shows a steady increase of sustainable sourced materials and great progress when it comes to the use of renewable electricity. Yet another highlight is the signing of the Global Framework Agreement with IndustriALL Global Union and IF Metall.Read More →
OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 Test Criteria – New Regulations for 2016 Came Definitely into Force on 1 April.
Zurich, Switzerland – After the expiry of the usual three-month transition period, the test criteria and limit values for OEKO-TEX® Standard 100 that were published at the start of the year came definitely into force on 1 April 2016.Read More →
United States / Italy – Aquafil announces a new partnership between its ECONYL® brand and Levi Strauss & Co., one of the world’s largest apparel companies and a global leader in jeans, to create a new men’s collection made from regenerated nylon from waste materials such as fishing nets and spent carpets.Read More →
HanesBrands has five additional manufacturing plants achieve U.S. EPA Recognition for Energy Efficiency Gains.
North Carolina, United States – HanesBrands announced that five additional company manufacturing plants have earned U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Energy Star Challenge for Industry awardsRead More →


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Good Food Institute (GFI) yesterday revealed that the European Union has rejected Amendment 171 that is aimed at imposing a set of restrictions on plant-based dairy companies. The amendment, if passed, would have made it illegal for plant-based companies to sell their products in cartons, display allergen information, use images of their own products, and explain the climate impact of food.
Amendment 171 had received a majority vote in the European Parliament and needed approval from the EU Council of Ministers to become a law.
Although the said amendment has been rejected, earlier restrictions on using terms such as ‘milk’ and ‘yogurt’ remain.
“It is reassuring that European leaders have listened to consumers today. This decision must signal the end of absurd labelling restrictions on plant-based foods at all levels of govt in Europe. Instead of wasting time with pointless proposals, EU leaders should put their climate ambitions into action & support consumers to make sustainable choices,” GFI said in a post.
“Huge thanks to the 21 NGOs who campaigned alongside us to reject Amendment 171!”
In January this year, ProVeg International, Oatly and several other plant-based dairy companies had launched a campaign asking the European Commission and EU Member States to put a halt on plant-based dairy censorship and reject amendment 171.
Later in February, international NGOs called for the EU Parliament to oppose the proposed ban on plant-based dairy alternatives. Led by The Good Food Institute, a coalition of 21 NGOs, including Greenpeace, WWF, Food Watch, and Compassion in World Farming, had signed an open letter to urge EU to not take any action that could stifle the growth of emerging plant-based companies.
The pathbreaking development is likely to set a precedent for how such cases are decided in the future in other countries, including India. In August last year, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) had issued a draft notification to prevent the use of the term ‘milk’ for plant-based products. FSSAI’s final notification on the same is expected soon and this announcement is expected to have a bearing on the same.


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We are just a day shy from the launch of the most-anticipated upgrade the 2020 BMW G 310 GS and the G 310 R in the Indian market. The brand already teased us with the BMW G 310 R and revealed that the production on the new upgraded model was in full swing at its cooperation partner’s Hosur production facility. For 2020, BMW Motorrad has given the motorcycle a few cosmetic changes, in terms of colour themes, but the motorcycle also gets a few mechanical changes and new improved equipment.
It is not a secret that the BMW G 310 GS will come with slightly reworked body panels, a new LED headlamp cluster with an integrated LED daytime running light that runs horizontally across the centre similar to the F 900 XR and LED indicators. But the motorcycle also receives a throttle-by-wire upgrade along with adjustable clutch lever and brake lever. The brand has also revamped the colour schemes and the BMW G 310 GS is expected to be launched with Metallic Titanium Grey, Polar White and the Rallye finish with the Deep blue and Red combination. The BMW G 310 GS will also come in the Black with Yellow accents ‘40 Years of GS’ edition. Similar to the recently unveiled BMW R 1250 GS.
The 2020 Model Year is also expected to receive mechanical changes such as an anti-hopping (Slipper/Assist Clutch) that will allow the rider a smoother off-the-line performance along with reducing the clutch pressure and more fluid clutch operation leading to more engine refinement. The engine has also been upgraded to match full Euro5/BS6 compliance and is powered by a 313cc, single-cylinder, reverse-inclined, liquid-cooled, four valves, fuel-injected DOHC motor that churns out 34 HP of power and 28 Nm of torque matched to a 6-speed gearbox. The engine is speculated to achieve Euro5/BS6 conformity by making changes to the closed-loop 3-way catalytic converter system.
The electronics package is likely to remain the same and full details on the motorcycle along with its pricing will be revealed tomorrow.


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Matsushita Electric Industrial said its DMR-E700BD model, announced Wednesday and scheduled to hit the market July 31, in Japan, supports single-side, dual-layer Blu-ray Discs with a maximum capacity of 50GB.
"As digital broadcasting services are expanding, demand for recording and storing HD video is increasing. Our new product responds to such a demand," said a statement from Etsuji Shuda, a director at Panasonic AVC Networks. "We believe the upcoming Olympic Summer Games in Athens is one of the factors behind the expanding demands."
, which uses blue-laser light, allows for much greater capacity than today's DVDs, which rely on red lasers and can hold 4.7GB on a single layer and close to twice than amount in a .
Blu-ray is supported by an array of companies including Sony, Pioneer and Hewlett-Packard. But it isn't alone in trying to replace the current generation of DVD products and accommodate the greater data volumes associated with high-definition programming. A rival technology called, and the so-called is backed by Toshiba and NEC.
HD DVD recently got astandards body. The Forum's steering committee approved version 1.0 of the physical specifications for HD-DVD read-only discs, which was seen as giving manufacturers a green light to begin producing devices.
In a contest that echoes the VHS-Betamax war over video tape standards, winning over content providers, especially movie studios, is seen as key.
Panasonic's new model is equipped with built-in tuners for a variety of signals, including terrestrial digital broadcasting, the company said. The new product also features an electronic program guide, designed to let users schedule recording of their favorite programs through on-screen guides.


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On Monday, October 11, 36 employees of Arnette Optic Illusions were let go in an anticipated move to further integrate Arnette's operations with those of its new owner, Luxottica Group S.p.A. (NYSE: BOL).
According to Arnette Director Of Marketing Gary Siskar, the affected employees worked in Arnette's customer service, production, shipping, and accounting departments in Arnetee's San Clemente, California offices. The founders of Arnette, including President Greg Arnette, COO Bruce Beach, Designer Kip Arnette, and Siskar, are continuing on with the brand.
“Obviously this was a really difficult move to make,” says Siskar. “Our industry is really tight–we don't hire people off of classified ads. Usually everyone who works here is a friend or a brother–it's one big family where we all have extended relationships outside of work. We all barbecue or go to the beach together on the weekends.
“But once everyone steps back and takes a good look at the business, this move–although hard–makes sense from a business perspective,” continues Siskar. “Luxottica has these same systems in its New York offices.”
Siskar says these New York departments were designed with Luxottica's tremendous diversity in mind, and will ultimately help improve product quality. The brands Luxottica owns offer more than 2,250 models of frames in a wide array of designs and colors. More than 500 new styles are introduced each year.
“What we're striving for is improved customer service, supply–product delivery will be immensely better, so will be the availability of raw materials,” he says. “With the supply better, product quality a lot better, and customer service better, we expect to be able to give retailers a greater retail margin.”
On April 28, 1999 Luxottica announced that it was purchasing the assets and liabilities of Bausch & Lomb's sunglass business for 640 million dollars. This transaction included the brands Ray-Ban, Revo, Arnette, and Killer Loop.
At the time of the announcement Leonardo Del Vecchio, chairman and founder of Luxottica, said, “We're excited about the potential economic and strategic synergies of the Bausch & Lomb sunglass business for our shareholders. It has been a strategic focus for Luxottica for several years to build our presence in the quality sunglasses business. With this we add the most prestigious sun brands in the world to our portfolio.”
In spite of the layoffs, Siskar says Luxottica has been beneficial for the Arnette business. “Before, Bausch & Lomb was really looking for double-digit growth and didn't care how they got it. Now we're breathing a sigh of relief. I can do my job and keep us strong in the core market. Sure, you can always find a way to hit double-digit growth, but if things don't add up on the earnings side of the equation, it doesn't mean anything. We're growing realistically, keeping our distribution where it should be, and making money. Right now, everything is coming together.”
Siskar says these layoffs will be a one-time incident: “I can confidently say that we don't expect any more of these types of actions whatsoever.”
Siskar says that even though many aspects of Arnette's customer service, production, shipping, and accounting departments have moved to New York, the heart of the brand remains in San Clemente. “We have a lease on building until 2002,” he says. “After that, who knows? However, I'm sure of one thing: Arnette will remain in San Clemente. So much of the vibe of our entire market comes from Southern California, it would be crazy to move it.”
According to the Luxottica Group's Web site, the company is the largest supplier of mid- and premium-priced eyewear in North America and Italy, and a leadinng supplier in Europe.


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Elephone X8 Lite gets a Helio X30
First of many
ElePhone is planning to launch s large number of new phones in the next few months including the three-side bezel-less Elephone S8. This first Helio X30 powered smartphone with 10nm deca-core SoC is called the X8 Lite.
The Elephone S8 has a bezel-less screen
With high-end Helio X20 SoC inside
The Elephone S7 launched roughly a year ago, and it packed a MediaTek Helio X20 MTK6797 SoC, 3GB RAM and 16GB storage. The successor of this phone, called the Elephone S8, comes with a three-side bezel-less screen and an updated specification.
Elephone P9000 Edge revealed
Edge screen Galaxy competitor for $250+
The Galaxy S7 Edge is one of the best Android phones, but Fudzilla thinks the company is overcharging for a curved screen phone. Elephone has released a snap of what looks like decent hardware behind a curved screen for about $300.
ELEPHONE M3 is first $199 Helio P10
Pictured, 3GB, touch ID, 5.5 FHD display
MediaTek is shipping both mainstream /performance Helio P10s and Helio X20 higher-end SoCs. The phone manufacturers are finishing up the phones and some designs including ELEPHONE M3 will get this cool chip for $199.
Elephone P9000 phones have Helio P10
January launch but shipping later
Chinese manufacturer Elephone has announced two new phones based around MediaTek's Helio P10 SoC – the Elephone P9000 and Elephone P9000 lite. It claims that it is the first company to get the new Helio P10 SoCs.
MediaTek Helio P10 confirmed for Elephone M3
Ready in February
The Helio P10 might ship around the Mobile World Congress 2016, or the middle to end of February in the Elephone M3.
Elephone ELE MediaTek Android Wear smartwatch listed
Round, all-metal, 400mAh battery
The Elephone ELE smartwatch has been listed, and as we suspected it is based on MediaTek’s MT2601 system-on-chip (SoC).


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Do you remember Lucid Launcher? We featured this indie launcher a few weeks ago right here on the XDA Portal. XDA Senior Member powerpoint45 made a video series detailing its creation. And then on Valentine’s Day, the developer decided to update the application and add some love in the form of a few new features. The application also changed its status from alpha to beta, so it should be considerably more stable.
Just a couple days ago, we talked about how Samsung finally shared its KitKat update plans for several of its devices. Now, we’re seeing Android 4.4.2 make its way to the Sprint variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, following up on the release of the KitKat-compatible kernel source for the device.
Having multiple apps that can perform the same actions installed on one device can get pretty annoying after a while. Ignoring the obvious question of why this is even the case in the first place, every time you press a link, a photo, or video, a whole bunch of apps pop up begging you to press them, no matter how many times you’ve made it clear that you prefer Chrome over Firefox. So with no native option to customize these menus on the Android platform, XDA Senior Member p.valenta developed an Xposed module to address this gripe.
Unlike the previous batch of updates for Google’s apps, there are no directly user-facing changes that we have observed thus far. The UI and menus all appear to be the same, as well as gross functionality. However, the update brings a couple of crash fixes that could potentially make your browser experience a tad better, as well as a more mysterious fix:
If an Android user in search of a full-screen call experience, a wide range of Android apps are available to accomplish this goal. Many of them are perfectly capable of providing a great alternative to the stock call screens OEMs have on their devices. Despite this, many would rather retain the native look of their applications instead of replacing them with something out of place.
You may remember that just recently the HTC Droid DNA gained the ability to dual multiple ROMs thanks to an unofficial MultiROM port. So for the folks who’ve been wondering how this may be of benefit, there’s now a Sense 5.5-laced build of Android 4.4.2 that’s been ported over from the HTC One to the Droid DNA that may serve as a fine starting point.
Holo UI has become an integral part of Android ever since the the launch of version 3.0 Honeycomb. Its visual styling has earned quite a few fans, as well as many who actually dislike it. A few days ago, we talked about the Holofication Nation project, where developers are transforming well known applications to better fit the Holo style. Now it’s time to continue this journey and further ‘Holo-ify’ your device.
It’s highly likely that all Sony smartphone or tablet users here on XDA have heard of Flashtool by XDA Recognized Developer Androxyde. It’s a great tool, which allows you to restore your Xperia to stock state, root it, unlock the bootloader, flash a kernel, and do basically everything else that’s needed to enjoy the custom ROM world.


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The Future of Digital Marketing Is You
Every minute, the world’s 2 billion Internet users upload staggering volumes of data to the web: an estimated 200 billion emails, 48 hours of YouTube videos, 684,478 posts on Facebook. And then there’s Tweets, Instagram photos, text messages and blog posts.
But what happens when what seems like social media ephemera enters into the vaults of Big Data, where everything we do online, and increasingly offline, is collected and stored for analysis?
“Those who have access to and control the platforms have the largest, most powerful source of information about human behavior that anyone has ever had in human history,” Mark Andrejevic, deputy director for the University of Queensland’s Center for Critical and Cultural Studies in Australia, who studies surveillance and the web, told FRONTLINE. “And that’s information that they are going to use for their ends, whatever those might be.”
The biggest players in the data market are the U.S. government, with its vast web of classified programs; and commercial interests, including data brokers. The government’s goal is ostensibly to thwart terrorists. Companies, meanwhile, want to sell more products to the growing consumer market online, which is currently worth $200 billion for U.S. retailers alone.
Today, companies reach consumers with targeted marketing — placing ads based on your web searches, the content of your Gmail messages, or your purchasing history. Every time you log into a site like Amazon, the recommendations you see are based not only on your purchase history and items you’ve viewed, but also an algorithm that factors in the preferences of people with similar buying histories. Companies also use retargeting: blanketing the ad space with images of products you’ve viewed as you move on to browse other sites.
But as the volumes of data we add to the web keeps multiplying — one estimate projects it will grow 300 times by 2020 — it becomes more difficult for marketers to figure out who to target with which ads and when.
So companies are turning to computer models that analyze these massive pools of information to make inferences about your health, personality traits, and even mood in real time, in order to help them predict, and ultimately influence, your next purchase.
Data Knows You Best
It only took a few months for Michal Kosinski, deputy director of Cambridge University’s psychometrics center, to build a computer model that could tell him, with 60 percent accuracy — based only on a person’s Facebook “likes” — whether their parents divorced before they were 21.
It could also tell, with 88 percent accuracy, whether a man was gay.
The study drew on data from 58,000 volunteers. Kosinski asked them personal details — their sexuality, whether their parents had divorced, whether they had used drugs — and split them into 10 random groups. He built the model using the information from nine of the 10 groups and used that information to predict the traits of the remaining group. “We used very generic methods,” he said. “You don’t need access to secret data.”
Kosinski said the model was based on people’s Facebook likes, as well as their friends’ comments and tags. And it doesn’t only work for people who overshare on Facebook. “Often, the less active you are, the more informative is what you do,” he said, because that can suggest that those select interactions are more significant.
The study underscores the power that computer models have to find patterns where humans can’t. For example, the model found that people who liked “science” and “Mozart” tended to have high IQs, which isn’t so surprising. But so did people who liked “curly fries” and “Morgan Freeman’s voice.” Of course, there’s no scientific correlation between curly fries and a high IQ — and probably not Morgan Freeman’s voice, either. But among this group of participants, the model found a pattern that led to a fairly accurate prediction.
Kosinski’s study was small. Most predictive models draw on millions, or even tens of millions of people, which makes them even more accurate. Such models, he said, also can learn from their mistakes. When they get a prediction wrong, they adjust to try to be more accurate in the future.
“It’s Like Minority Report”
Companies today are building much more sophisticated models as they gain access to information beyond just what you post online.
Part of the new information comes from what’s known in the tech world as the Internet of Things. This is where physical objects — such as televisions, refrigerators, thermostats, pacemakers, roads and cars — are equipped with sensors that gather data and upload it to the web for analysis. That data is used for all kinds of reasons: helping grocery stores keep shelves stocked, improving waste management and traffic control, figuring out the next original series that Netflix should commission.
It can also also provide a wealth of data on individuals that the commercial sector can collect, analyze and combine with your online activity to market to you more directly.
For example, a company might photograph customers when they enter a store and again at check out, to know what they look like and how much time they spent in the store. They could then combine that information with the customer’s purchasing history, zip code, demographic and other data that can predict what the customer will buy next. When the customer returns to the store — and is recognized by the cameras — he might receive a text with a coupon for his next purchase or a much more personalized interaction with the store’s employees.
“We’re able to see this kind of 360-degree view of an individual,” explained Jeff Eden, the principal at DEG, an agency that designs digital marketing strategies for companies. He added: “It’s like Minority Report. We’re there.”
Companies can use this data to map out the thousands of decisions a consumer might make next — likely purchases, for example — and use that information to influence them to do what they want.
“Everyone’s not as unique as people think they are,” Eden said. “Especially when there’s 10,000 other people doing the same thing.”
Data Knows How You Feel
Soon it won’t be enough for companies to know what you might want. The most sophisticated want to know when you’re most likely to want it.
Last month, Apple submitted a patent application for technology that could make inferences about people’s mood in real time. “If an individual is pre-occupied or unhappy, the individual may not be as receptive to certain types of content,” Apple said.
The company’s solution: Figure out how a person is feeling at any given moment, and target content — ads — to be delivered at the right time and place. To do this, the company could establish a baseline profile of each user, and then make inferences about a person’s mood based on deviations from that baseline.
Studies suggest that many people already unwittingly reveal a lot about mood and behavioral characteristics online. A team of researchers at Microsoft Research in Redmond, Wash. used Twitter to predict major depression with 70 percent accuracy in users by analyzing the time, content and frequency of their tweets. In another study, three researchers from that team predicted with 71 percent accuracy whether a woman would develop post-partum depression based on her online behavior before she delivered her child.
Apple said its tech would combine behavioral indicators — such as the rate of clicking, likes and comments; the order in which users open applications; and the date, time and location of their online interaction — with physical indicators gathered from wearable technology that can measure heart rate, blood pressure, adrenaline levels, perspiration rate, body temperature; voice level, pattern and stress; and movement and facial expression.
Are You Creeped Out Yet?
Digital marketers say that all of this data collection and analysis is designed to improve the experience for the consumer by offering more of what they want, or at least what companies think they want.
“[Consumers] are searching for emotional connections to companies, not just transactional relationships,” said Michael Lazerow, the chief marketing officer of the Salesforce ExactTarget Marketing Cloud, which helps companies streamline their digital marketing strategy. He added: “The value of targeted marketing isn’t just from the marketing message itself, it’s from the intelligence and optimization” — data — “with each interaction that builds a one-to-one relationship with each customer to increase brand loyalty and drives sales.”
Salesforce, for example, can help companies offer personalized product recommendations for users who visit the company website, or daily deals based on a user’s travel history and hotel preferences, according to its promotional videos. Or they can text a coupon to a customer’s phone when they come within range of a company store.
Privacy advocates worry that consumers aren’t getting fair deal for their data. “The idea that any of this actually matches people’s expectations is that just wrong,” said Lee Tien, a senior staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a nonprofit group that advocates for individual rights online. “It’s not a social contract. … It’s working for the commercial arena, but it’s leading to more and more collection of data, and there’s a lot of potential for mischief.”
He added: “There’s a butterfly effect that we don’t see. And one that the business world, for the most part, has no interest in helping us see.”
Tien points to security breaches, like the recent hack of Target’s customer data, as an indication that not all companies are responsible with the data they collect. The lack of transparency into what’s being collected, and by whom, he says, makes it more difficult to hold companies or individuals responsible for what they do with our data — or even to know how much data is out there and whether it’s accurate.
Some companies have already seen a backlash when the curtain is drawn back on their data collection. A few years ago, Target began analyzing purchase histories to determine when women were pregnant, and then sending them ads for baby products. Then, one of those fliers went to the home of a high-school student whose father didn’t know she was pregnant. Target apologized, and later scaled back its advertising to make the fliers look less conspicuous.
The Federal Trade Commission has brought several cases against companies for violating laws protecting consumer privacy, which include prohibitions on targeting children online.
But government regulators have struggled to catch up to the fast pace at which data analysis is evolving. Last month, Jessica Rich, director of the FTC’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, called for updated privacy and data security legislation to help “level the playing field” for consumers.
“We do have so much information that we could, absolutely get creepy,” Eden said, adding that Target’s flier was clearly a “miss.” “You have to be responsible with that information. … It’s a delicate dance. For most of our customers, for our clients, we’re hired to drive results. So it’s a barometer that we have. We have to be good stewards of their brands. But at the same time, if they invest a dollar in digital, they’re looking to get five dollars back.”