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In a recent interview with Cointelegraph, Mihailo Bjelic, Polygon cofounder, stated that zkEVM Rollups will enable the smart contract protocol outpace Visa in terms transaction throughput.
Polygon claimed that it was the first to implement zkEVM scaling solutions. This solution aims to reduce Ethereum’s transaction costs while increasing its throughput. This layer-2 protocol allows you to bundle multiple transactions together and relay them to the Ethereum network in one transaction.
According to Bjelic the solution is the Holy Grail for Web3, as it offers security and scalability, along with full compatibility with Ethereum. This means that developers don’t need to learn a new programming language in order to use it.
“Ideally, you want to keep the developer experience intact when you launch scaling solutions. Bjelic explained that there will be friction if this happens.
This solution, according to Sandeep Nailwal (Polygon’s co-founder), will reduce Ethereum fees by 90% and increase transaction throughput up to 40-50 transactions per seconds, according to Sandeep Nailwal.
Bjelic noted that ZkEVM Rollups could handle thousands of transactions per seconds if they are further upgraded. This would surpass mainstream payment systems such as Visa.
You can watch the entire interview on our YouTube channel. Don’t forget to Subscribe!


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$8.8B raised by NYC startups in Q1 in the single-best quarter in NYC history. Here are some of the leading startups that are scaling fast and attracting new capital.
$560M+ invested in NYC startups in the past week; three acquisitions, consolidation in the ad tech space continues, and one IPO. NYC Tech News for the week ending 4/3 featuring news forÊHoller, Ethic, and much, much more.
The notable startup funding rounds for the week ending 4/3/21 featuring funding details for Stord, Holler, and twenty-five other rounds that you must know about.
The latest venture capital, seed, pre-seed, and angel deals for NYC startups for 3/29/2021 featuring funding details for Cityblock Health, Locals, and much more.
Over $1.6B raised by NYC startups in December! Everything you need to need to know about the largest NYC startup funding rounds of December 2020; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
Everything you need to need to know about the largest NYC startup funding rounds of Q3 2020; broken down by industry, stage, investors, and more…
The Weekly Notable Startup Funding Report takes on a trip across various ecosystems in the US, highlighting some of the notable funding activity in the various markets that we track. The notable startup fundings for the week ending 7/18/20 featuring funding details for Homee, Crisp, Skydio, and much much more.

domain: news


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When Steve Jobs departed from Apple last year, Apple fans speculated about the what would happen to the brand that was built around Jobs’ obsessive perfectionism. Now that Apple has released the iPhone 4s and the new iPad under the watch of a company post-Jobs, we have enough hindsight to see changes in Apples airtight brand at a retail store level.
Based on the recent experiences that I have had in the Apple retail environment, it looks like Apple has a few things to iron out before they expand their retail empire. It’s not so much that the brand has become lax, it’s more like Apple’s brand is morphing into something different at the retail level. The clues have become more apparent since the new iPad release on Friday.
Clue 1: There is no incentive to participate in the excitement of a product launch.
Thanks to the overall efficiency of pre-ordering new Apple products, there is no incentive to participate on launch day. When you get a box delivered to your office, I guess you can participate by taking a video of your unboxing and posting it on Facebook, but that’s about as social as it gets. Plus, participating in the launch onsite is more hassle than it’s worth. This makes me believe that Apple is moving totally away from event driven launches and more towards efficient launches. They just want to get the transactions and they don’t care about the hoopla.
Clue 2: Apple’s customer base is changing.
Apple’s products are becoming more mainstream even as prices continue to stay high. The constant flow of new product versions means that the second market for Apple hardware is quite lucrative. As Apple’s customer base morphs from tech elites to the tech elites + everybody else, the brand that was seen as increasingly elitist five years ago now has to become more egalitarian in its brand messaging. Apple used to only be for those who wanted to think different. Now, to think different means to not covet your neighbor’s new iPad.
Clue 3: More retail stores equals an lower ratio of real Apple nerds regular retail employees in the store.
Although Apple employs people with varying levels of technology experience, the reality is that retail store work is viewed (and paid) as lower-level service work in the modern American economy. This sucks because retail work is hard work and deserves a higher pay rate. Although there are plenty of knowledgable Apple Store employees who work at the Genius Bar and teach in-store classes, the expansion of Apple’s retail empire means that Apple stores are bound to become more like traditional retailers – like Best Buy – which employed some specialists and many generalists at the height of their retail reign.
Clue 4: Apple stores as tourist attractions makes it difficult to make purchases at Apple stores.
One of the strategies of the Apple retail team is to make landmark Apple stores tourist destinations rather than a place to purchase Apple products. The glass cube that sits atop Apple’s 5th Avenue store in NYC is a beautiful architectural accomplishment. But going to an Apple store to actually buy something is becoming increasingly annoying. I know that showroom stores like the Grand Central store are designed to have customers experience a product in real life before ordering it and shipping it. That’s how Steve imagined it. Apple doesn’t want you to purchase items in the store. They want to you experience, then order.
What is Apple going to do next with its retail stores? It won’t be building more landmark locations. Instead, it seems that more functional locations that will make sense. Apple already plans to test its store within a store concept at 25 Target locations this year. If the tests show promising results, Apple will most likely move ahead with it’s underemphasis on in store shopping and emphasis on in-store order pickup.
Photo provided by Apple Inc.


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Meet Retention Score, the new metric that predicts your customer churn
Ecommerce businesses do everything in their power to acquire customers. Along the way, most use sophisticated targeting and optimization tools to find those consumers who will be the most valuable. Yet once those customers have been acquired, few companies employ tools of any sophistication to keep them there. As a result customer attrition, aka “churn,” is an enormously costly, and largely unnecessary problem.
Los Angeles startup Retention Science is hoping to solve this problem using big data. After launching into public beta in July 2012 with $1.3 million in backing, the company has worked to further analyze the customer data of its etailer partners and draw insights to refine its product.
Today, the company is releasing a major product update that focuses around a new summary metric: the “Retention Score.” Similar to a Klout score for ecommerce merchants, the Retention Score give an at-a-glance measurement of customer retention effectiveness and churn probability. With each score comes customized, actionable recommendations for maximizing customer lifetime value.
“The whole point is so marketing managers don’t have to think too hard about what steps to take next,” co-founder and CEO Jerry Jao says. “As a Retention Automation Platform, we let our algorithms tell businesses exactly what to do with their customers, instead of just telling them information about their customers.”
Retention Score is available as an ecommerce platform extension (Magento only, currently). The software analyzes four key metrics: customer churn, customer engagement, customer sentiment, and repeat purchase rate. The output is both a single representative score, the Retention Score, calculated relative to industry and category peers, and granular analysis of each above individual metric.
“Retention Score is computed from various metrics that measure customer retention throughout the entire lifecycle of the shopper,” Retention Science data scientist Dan Feldman says. “We simplify a lot of complex calculations and predictions into one simple score, which provides concrete means for businesses to monitor and improve their retention health.”
Recommendations take the form of targeted email, SMS, and push notification campaigns aimed at re-engaging fatigued customers. The system combines signals including demographic, social, and behavioral data, real-time Web viewing patterns, and purchase history, to dynamically create relevant and timely offers for each individual customer. For some, it may be 10 percent off their next purchase. For others it may be $20 off a purchase of $200 or more, depending on their individual preferences as determined by the software. The platform even optimizes the time of day to send the retention offers based on each user’s historical Web browsing and email opening activity.
The ineffectiveness of current customer retention efforts across the industry makes little sense, given that current customers spend 33 percent more on average than new ones, according to the company. Further, customer retention typically costs significantly less than acquisition.
For industry leading companies like Amazon, Zappos, JustFab, Gilt, and the like, repeat business is essential to success. Amazon’s $79 per year Prime membership, and JustFab’s refusal to move away from subscriptions despite the surprising decision by its largest competitor to do so, are indications of this value.
Some technology-savvy etailers have in-house data science teams and handle their own customer retention efforts, but most large brands do not. Retention Science already has several paying customers, and is in conversations with the vast majority of ecommerce companies that you’ve ever heard of.
While pricing is not advertised publicly, Retention Science operates on an annual, volume-based SaaS licensing model, under which the largest customers will likely pay six figure sums – and earn exponentially more through increased sales and reduced customer acquisition costs, if all goes according to plan.
Jao and co-founder Andrew Waage launched Retention Science as a pivot of a previous startup – a cash flow positive, but overall uninspiring social media rewards platform – and joined Santa Monica’s MuckerLab accelerator with the new idea in early 2012. The company has since grown to nearly a dozen employees, primarily data scientists.
The Retention Science team has built a compelling product. The biggest challenge ahead for the engineer-heavy team is likely that of selling its solution to customers. Jao is taking his time building early market adoption before hiring dedicated sales force. But it’s likely this step that will prove (or disprove) the long term sustainability of the company. Until then, the company is targeting slow and steady growth, and watching its burn rate closely.
Unlike other more nebulous marketing and customer analytics tools, Retention Score is the kind of technology that, if effective, can deliver a quantifiable return on investment to its customers. As the company gets its product into the hands of more and more merchants, and thus gets access to their consumer data, it should be able to further refine its algorithms and improve the overall effectiveness of the product.
The ecommerce category has been growing increasingly competitive and hostile. Only the very best, and most metrics driven operators can survive. Customer retention may be a historically overlooked science, but with the launch of Retention Score it doesn't need to be.


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China gold purchased in the second quarter of 2013 has hit new highs. China's gold demand more than doubled from a year earlier to 385.5 metric tons in the second quarter. The figure was 20% higher than the record set in the first quarter. These purchases were powered by Chinese consumers, with female buyers known as damas a major factor.
By CHUIN-WEI YAP
August 12, 2013, 10:49 a.m. ET
The Wall Street Journal
BEIJING—Chinese buyers flocked to jewelry stores in the second quarter to send China's gold purchases to a new high, according to Chinese figures, demonstrating the growing market power of customers such as Zhu Di.
The 45-year-old Ms. Zhu, who also goes by Judy, saw gold's 23% drop in U.S. markets during the April-June quarter and decided it was a time to buy. "I've always paid attention to gold prices," she said as she shopped recently at a jewelry store off Beijing's eastern Dongzhimen hub. "I pay attention not only to Chinese gold prices but also U.S. gold prices."
China's gold demand more than doubled from a year earlier to 385.5 metric tons in the second quarter, according to calculations by The Wall Street Journal based on figures released on Monday by the state-backed China Gold Association. The figure was 20% higher than the record set in the first quarter.
Analysts say the purchases were powered by Chinese consumers, with female buyers known as damas a major factor. Dama, which means something akin to "big mama" in Chinese, conjures in China an image of a middle-aged woman who keeps a tight grip on the family purse and an eagle eye on gold prices in jewelry shops. Analysts say such consumers have helped stabilize prices at a time when investors globally have shed gold as the price of bullion has fallen.
"Without the strong Chinese physical demand, I think gold prices would likely be trading at a much lower price now," said Phillip Futures analyst Joyce Liu.
Albert Cheng, managing director for the Far East for the World Gold Council, also cited Chinese retail as helping to set a floor on gold prices during an 8% plunge in April. "Chinese retail consumers have a very strong affinity toward gold," he said in a recent email. The council is set to report its own second-quarter figures on Thursday, which don't always match official Chinese figures but generally show similar trends.
In China, lower-end gold retailers woo retail consumers with low prices and a sales pitch of buying gold as a way to store value. That can be an attractive argument in a country where the stock market is still well below its highs of five years ago and the government limits other investment options.
Nobody keeps figures on damas themselves, but they are the most visible segment of the Chinese retail gold-buying public.
"Older consumers—women—definitely took up a larger proportion of consumers in the gold rush," said Jiao Guangyi, deputy general manager of the All Love All Life gold store in Beijing. "They hadn't seen such prices in a long time so it was a big draw for jewelry and investment gold buyers." Mr. Jiao said dama-driven sales at his store more than doubled in mid-April from a typical month.
One of them was Xie Xiaoying, who was shopping for a gift to commemorate the her brother's infant's first month, a traditional Chinese rite of passage. But she held back on a purchase, calculating that gold would go still lower. "If the price is 220 or 250 yuan [US$36 to US$41 a gram], more gold buyers would come out," she said.
The market, which is intensely watched in China, has also drawn scrutiny. China's top economic-planning agency said last month it was investigating whether retail gold prices in the city of Shanghai were manipulated by jewelry shops to keep them in a narrow range. On Monday, officials fined five Chinese firms a combined 10.6 million yuan ($1.7 million).
China's rising purchases could help it win sought-after price-setting power in the gold markets, an initiative it has pursued by widening trading hours and giving commercial banks greater ability to trade. China is the world's largest gold producer but local prices usually take their cue from U.S. and European markets. Following global market prices, spot-gold prices in China have fallen to their lowest levels in three years, shedding 20% from the start of the year to reach 266 yuan a gram Monday, according to the Shanghai Gold Exchange.
That price equates to about $1,232 an ounce. Mid-morning Monday in New York, gold futures were trading at $1,340 an ounce, up $27.80.
Damas generally frequent budget markets, but higher-end retailers have also seen an impact. Analysts say they likely played a role in boosting Hong Kong's Chow Tai Fook Jewellery Group Ltd.'s 1929.HK +0.81% first-quarter earnings. The company announced last month a 48% rise in first-quarter same-store sales, with sales of gold products jumping 78%
"We are seeing a lot more of them," said Li Ying, a deputy store manager at a branch of Chow Tai Fook in eastern Beijing.
It's difficult to speak for all of China's damas. But those interviewed suggested gold's worst is yet to come. "When it gets to 230 yuan, I will start to look," said Ouyang Liying, a 50-year-old electronics saleswoman in Shanghai. "That's what I would call a good price."
At Beijing's Caishikou Department Store, the capital's premier outlet where damas thronged for golden bling on a rainy weekday, the sales force has its finger firmly on the pulse of damas' tastes. "We do notice that the damas prefer thicker gold necklaces, so we make recommendations according to their preference," said a marketing department supervisor.
Some are holding out for a better bargain. Ms. Zhu, of Beijing, who sports a small gold Buddha on her gold necklace, believes gold will fall by an additional 30 to 50 yuan "but not much more."
"Then I'll come back and buy," she said.
To see original article CLICK HERE


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With hopes of providing businesses an efficient method to communicate with their clients and customers, WhatsApp has officially announced its business messaging service called WhatsApp Business. In their blog post, WhatsApp said that this service is meant to authenticate businesses and is aimed at companies that are using WhatsApp accounts. The service is integrated with the regular app and will feature distinct business contacts with a verified “tick” badge. The business contacts will also display their addresses and other extra information.
WhatsApp started authenticating businesses recently via a closed pilot program which places a green badge next to a business contact. It indicates that the business is verified by WhatsApp. WhatsApp also said that it is building and testing new features for small companies via a free WhatsApp Business app and is developing an enterprise solution for bigger businesses who operate on a large scale with a global base of customers like airlines, e-commerce sites, and banks. WhatsApp says that “These businesses will be able to use our solutions to provide customers with useful notifications like flight times, delivery confirmations, and other updates.”
Book My Show (BMS) is the first business that was launched on WhatsApp Business. We tried contacting BMS via WhatsApp and received an automated response saying that the service is not fully functional yet. The BMS Phone Number which can be contacted via WhatsApp and shows the verified badge was found at the BMS website.
A FAQ on the blog said, “WhatsApp will also let you know when you start talking to a business via yellow messages inside a chat. There is no way to delete these messages from the chat. If you already have a business's phone number saved in your address book, the name you will see is the name you have saved in your address book. If you'd like to stop a business from contacting you, you can block them.”
In an interview with Wall Street Journal, WhatsApp COO Matt Idema said, “We do intend on charging businesses in the future.” He further said, “WhatsApp has simplified communication for people around the world. Now, we want to apply this same approach to bringing businesses onto WhatsApp in ways that create value for people. We're looking forward to making it possible for people to connect with businesses in a fast and personal way, and giving businesses the tools to make that easier to do.”
WhatsApp started back in 2009 and was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for a whopping $22 Billion. In a recent report, WhatsApp was said to be planning to implement UPI-based digital payment, using which business and customers could make transactions easily.


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New York-based video-hosting site Vimeo today added a way for its paying users to sell their works online as part of a new program.
At South by Southwest, the company announced Vimeo On Demand, which lets its paying Pro users (a $199 a year service) sell access to their videos to other users.
Video creators can set their own price for the video, and then get 90 percent of the revenue, the company says. Other features include the option for video makers to select where exactly they want their video to be available, as well as the design of the page around it.
Vimeo previously relied on a "tip jar" for users to pay content owners any amount, though there was no block on viewing the videos. With the new service, you won't be able to see the work until you've paid, just like any other video-on-demand offering.
Vimeo kicks off the new service with a screening of Don Hertzfeldt's "It's Such a Beautiful Day" at SXSW later today. The film will be sold as a $2 rental, or for sale at $6.
Of note, the service is not available to subscribers of Vimeo's Plus service, which increases the amount of weekly space for uploads and removes advertisements, and costs $9.95 a month, or $59.95 a year.
The move comes some three years after Google-owned YouTube delved into film rentals, which began with a handful of independent films before Google got some Hollywood studios on board. YouTube's rental service for independent content creators remains in beta, and available only in the U.S.
Here's Vimeo's video pitch for its new service:


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Food labeling measure is a reasonable step
Opponents of Ballot Measure 92, which would require the labeling of food sold in Oregon that contains genetically modified organisms, want to make the measure about the unproven health effects of eating GMOs. It's not.
Measure 92 is about consumers having enough information about the food they buy to decide whether to purchase it. That's a reasonable request.
The processed food industry is understandably opposed to enacting a new requirement that foods be labeled if they contain GMO ingredients. Given that the vast majority of corn, soybeans and canola grown in this country have been genetically modified, that's a lot of food. Think of how many foods contain corn syrup, soy products and canola oil.
Not surprisingly, the opposition is largely coming from out-of-state food companies, along with out-of-state money. Opponents managed to defeat labeling initiatives in California and Washington, hugely outspending supporters, although the margin of defeat in California was only 2 percent, suggesting that Oregon's measure has a solid shot at passing.
Opponents say adverse health effects from ingesting GMO food have not been proven. That's true; in fact, a team of Italian scientists came up with nearly 1,800 studies of GMO foods (the majority of them independent of any GMO-related funding source) done between 2002 and 2012 and not one of them found any evidence of negative health effects from consuming GMO's.
Tthough that may be true, that's not the point with this measure. There is doubt among many people, and fear that genetic engineering may have consequences that we do not yet recognize. Enough doubt exists that sizable numbers of consumers want to know what foods to avoid. That's not unreasonable.
Opponents say labeling would be costly, raising the price of food. But European countries that require labeling have not seen significant cost increases. And a new study released Wednesday by the respected research firm ECONorthwest concluded Oregon's labeling measure would result in a median increase to the consumer of $2.30 per year.
Measure 92 would not apply to animal feed, to meat or dairy products from animals fed GMO feed, or to restaurant meals, because those fall under different regulations and are not subject to labeling requirements.
Ballot Measure 92 appears to be a carefully worded initiative that simply requires food manufacturers to provide consumers basic information about what's in their products. We recommend a yes vote.


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The U.S. Senate has, by a wide margin, supported a bill allowing an Internet sales tax, but the legislation appears to be a tougher sell to the public.
Sixty-one percent of U.S. residents surveyed by online postage vendor Endicia said they don’t support the Marketplace Fairness Act, which would allow states with sales taxes to collect those taxes from large online retailers. The Senate voted 69-27 to approve the Marketplace Fairness Act last Monday.
If the Marketplace Fairness Act passes through Congress, 44 percent of respondents said they would buy fewer products online, and 12 percent said they would buy more products at hometown bricks-and-mortar stores. Another 4 percent said they would buy more at large retail chains, and about 40 percent said the legislation would have no impact on their online shopping habits.
The House of Representatives would need to pass the bill and President Barack Obama would have to sign it before it becomes law. Obama has voiced support for the legislation.
Sixty percent of the 1,095 respondents to the online survey said they believed the legislation would be bad for the U.S. economy.
Endicia’s survey found that 74 percent of respondents had heard of the legislation. Thirty-nine percent approved of the bill, and 35 percent of those who approve said they do so because it would create taxing fairness for bricks-and-mortar and online retailers.
Fifteen percent said state and local governments need the sales tax money. The other 50 percent of respondents who approve of the sales tax said they did so for both reasons.
Of those who oppose the tax, 40 percent said it’s because they are already overtaxed, 14 percent said the tax would be unfair to small Internet sellers and 46 percent said it was for both reasons.
Endicia has taken no position on the Internet sales tax, a spokeswoman said.
The bill would allow states to collect sales tax on large Internet sellers that have no presence within their borders, curtailing the ability of Internet shoppers to avoid sales tax. Now, online retailers only have to collect taxes in states where they have a physical presence, including retail stores and warehouses.
Online sellers with less than $1 million in annual Internet sales would be exempt from collecting the taxes.
Lawmakers have been fighting for more than a decade to pass Internet sales tax legislation, and some businesses have called on Congress to fix the problem since a 1992 Supreme Court case that prohibited states from collecting sales tax from sellers that have no physical presence within their borders.


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The Otago University Students Association (OUSA) has announced The Dunedin Craft Beer and Food Festival has been rescheduled to the weekend of December 3-4, 2021.
Originally set to take place on October 29-30, the date change is due to the impact of the recent COVID lockdown restrictions across New Zealand, and the impact it took across stakeholders.
“The shift to December should hopefully see the wider craft beer industry in a better recovery position, post-lockdown,” says Festival Director, Jason Schroeder.
Andi Hickey, Beer Baroness, says shifting the dates further out is a great move.
“Although we know it’s a logistical nightmare for a lot of people, and for the public who already have tickets, from a small brewery perspective who have not been able to brew for the past five weeks, this is a saviour,” she says.
“It means we have some time to prepare and brew something special, so we can bring the festival magic that people want.”
Tickets for the current festival dates will automatically be transferred to the new dates and refunds are available through Ticketmaster for those who are no longer able to attend due to the change in dates.
Any refunded tickets that are able to be reallocated will be distributed via the Ticketing Waitlist on Ticketmaster.
For those travelling from out of town, Air New Zealand will also credit flights for transfer to the new dates (T&C’s apply).
Minor changes to the vendor list, and entertainment line-up will be released soon.
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Camden, New Jersey-based Campbell’s has released its inaugural “State of the Sides” report, a food-focused trend report that dives into common holiday food debates, top side dishes and recipes, as well as a limited-edition holiday sides plate for sale to benefit Feeding America.
The holiday report comes at an important time as the majority of holiday hosts will plan their menu approximately one month to a few weeks out from the holiday. Through a consumer survey and primary research, Campbell’s confirmed 66 percent of respondents prefer sides to their holiday entrée, along with other statistics such as:
- The top five most popular holiday side dishes: mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, stuffing and mac and cheese.
- People will not cut back when it comes to sides dishes on their holiday table: 90 percent of consumers plan to serve the same number or more sides this season.
- Traditions can be tweaked: 54 percent of consumers plan to try new recipes this season.
- Thanksgiving dinner or Thanksgiving lunch? The most common time to eat your holiday meal is between noon-3 p.m.
- Half of the U.S. would be content with only sides on their holiday plate, and 73 percent of respondents complained about running out of space on their plate for all their sides.
In celebration of the sides being the most loved on the holiday table, the brand is also introducing the Campbell’s Holiday Sides Plate to give consumers exactly what they need – more room for their sides.
The limited-edition, sides-only plate was designed to be a dinnerware for side dishes. The plate further leans into data from the “State of the Sides” report to incorporate features, including:
- Monochromatic coloring and high-grade silicone material to reflect casual tables, with many younger holiday hosts opting for everyday dishware and disposable plates.
- Microwave safe to allow the 98 percent of consumers who plan to eat sides as leftovers the next day to reheat and enjoy.
“The results are in, and Americans love the sides,” said Gary Mazur, VP of marketing, soup and broth, Campbell Soup Company.
“Campbell’s has proudly shared its Green Bean Casserole each holiday season, but we’re excited to celebrate even more joy this season by introducing new side dishes recipes, from mashed potatoes to mac and cheese. Our new Holiday Sides Plate embodies the brand’s joy for the season, while more importantly, giving back to help feed communities in need.”
The Campbell’s Holiday Sides Plate will be sold for $15 on SidesSeason.com with all proceeds going to the brand’s charitable partner, Feeding America, which supports more than 34 million food insecure households in the U.S.


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•The Donbas blockade’s impact on the Ukrainian economy will definitely be negative, but experts polled by Interfax Ukraine vary in their predictions of how much damage it will do. Meanwhile, the central bank weighed in by lowering its GDP growth forecast for the year to 1.9 percent because of the blockade.
•Finance Minister Oleksandr Danyliuk said Ukraine will provide an update to the International Monetary Fund on Tuesday or Wednesday that takes into account the effects of the Donbas blockade, Interfax Ukraine reported.
•Year-on-year retail trade in Ukraine over the first two months of the year grew slightly, but in February it shrank nearly 4 percent from the previous month, according to the State Statistics Service.
•Forbes’ annual list of global billionaires features a six-pack of Ukrainians. Tycoon Rinat Akhmetov, whose Metinvest Group is Ukraine’s largest private company, leads the group with a net worth of $4.6 billion. He is No. 359 in this year’s rankings. PrivatBank founders Hennady Boholiubov and Ihor Kolomoisky joined Victor Pinchuk, Yuriy Kosiuk and Konstantyn Zhevago on the list.
•ArcelorMittal Kryviy Rih, the country’s largest steelmaker, posted a net profit of $100 million in 2016, nearly double the 2015 figure of $51.3 million, Unian reported.
•In the first two months of the year, Ukrzaliznytsia transported 9 percent more cargo than it did in the same period last year, according to the company’s website, Ukrinform reported.
•With 2.3 percent economic growth in 2016, Ukraine reversed four consecutive years of decline in its economy, the State Statistics Service announced. The government’s latest figure bumps up the official measure by 0.1 percentage points.
•As of March 17, 53 companies had applied for parcels in the Chernobyl exclusion zone as sites for solar energy arrays, according to Ukrainski Novyny.
•Russia's Sberbank is seeking a way to make a quick exit from the Ukrainian market as pressure from both the authorities and the public builds, Novoe Vremya reported.
•Partnering with the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization, the Agriculture Ministry is working on its piece of a national strategy for adapting to climate change, according to Ukrinform.
•Belarus imposed temporary restrictions on imports of live pigs, pork and pork products from the Kherson region because of African swine fever concerns.
For comments and news tips, contact UBJ AM editor David Edwards at email@example.com.
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Why are people calling Papa John's "the official pizza of the alt-right"?
Papa John’s pizza found itself in the midst of a major political controversy this year. The company also earned itself a questionable reputation in the last few weeks, leading many to wonder why, exactly, people are calling Papa John’s the “official pizza of the alt-right.”
It all started in November, when the CEO of the company, John Schnatter, blamed declining pizza sales on the Take A Knee movement, which saw football stars like Colin Kapernick taking a knee during the national anthem to protest police brutality and racial injustice in America. Schnatter implied that the movement was to blame for NFL ratings slumps, which in turn, hurt pizza sales (because apparently people order pizza while watching football, though there has been no hard evidence to back up any of these correlations).
His full comments read,
While many social media users viewed the comments as racially insensitive (because protesting racial injustice is more important than pizza sales), white supremacists had a different reaction. They vowed to make Papa John’s the official pizza of the alt-right and praised the company for the comment. The alt-right’s affinity for Papa John’s also gained fuel from the fact that Papa John’s leadership donated to the Trump campaign and has publicly condemned Obamacare.
Despite Papa John’s disavowal of the alt-right, the label seemed to stick, and the controversy didn’t help sales. On December 21st, it was revealed that Schnatter would be stepping down as CEO as of January 1st, and Twitter users have mixed reactions.
Schnatter has yet to make an official statement about stepping down from his role.


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New Delhi: India’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL)’s premium Nexa chain of dealerships has introduced connected technology in the form of ‘Suzuki Connect’, an advanced telematics solution to offer seamless connected car experience to its owners.
According to the company, this initiative is in line with the introduction of Augmented Reality (AR) experience, which will bring alive the NEXA cars in multiple colours and variant options digitally in front of the customers.
Shashank Srivastava, Executive Director (Marketing & Sales), Maruti Suzuki said, “With digital technology slowly overtaking the conventional methods, it becomes imperative for us to constantly upgrade our offerings to delight our customers.”
“Using augmented reality to develop the ‘One by One. An AR experience.’ is a huge leap forward for Maruti Suzuki as well as the industry as a whole. Further, we have received encouraging reviews for the offering from experts as well as customers further strengthening our confidence in the offering. This can be called NEXA’s biggest innovation in the smallest size,” he added.
The innovation will break away from the predefined requirement of having a big physical space to display a car. It is expected to create increased curiosity among the customers to experience the digital showroom, the company claimed in a release.
To present this technology, NEXA has announced its smallest showroom- ‘One by One. An AR experience.’
The most significant boost will come from the currency benefit, which may add more than ₹1,500 crore to its operating profit this fiscal year, as per an ETIG analysis, if the currency exchange rates remain at the current levels.


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Flowerfield Arts Centre & Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre launch Christmas card art competition
Wed, December 02, 2020
Flowerfield Arts Centre and Roe Valley Arts and Cultural Centre have launched a Christmas card art competition for children aged 5 – 11.
Help spread some festive cheer by designing a very merry Christmas card which will be featured in our Very Merry Causeway Christmas Virtual Exhibition.
20 participants will be chosen at random to receive a special festive treat in the post by Christmas Eve. As well as this, up to 10 cards will be selected for use on promotional material next year.
To enter, all you have to do is take a photograph of the Christmas card design and email it, along with the child’s name, age and address, to firstname.lastname@example.org or
email@example.com by Tuesday 8th December 2020.


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During its annual I/O Developers Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, Google senior vice president Vic Gundotra announced 41 new features for the company’s social networking site. Google+ will receive yet another redesign that looks to unify the website on smartphones, tablets and desktop computers. The redesign will adapt based on the screen size of the device from one column when viewing on a smartphone to two to three columns when on a tablet or laptop. One of the new features Google added is called “related hashtags,” which can analyze the content of a post and automatically apply a hashtag to them. Another feature, known as Auto Enhance, will analyze uploaded photos and help make them look even better by adjusting the saturation levels, brightness, contrast and color.
Google’s I/O keynote is streaming live and the video feed is available on this page. Follow along with BGR’s coverage of Google I/O 2013 on this page.


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5 ways c-stores are adapting foodservice in response to the pandemic
It is an area of growth that has sizzled for c-stores: foodservice, from freshly brewed coffee and freshly baked croissants to prepared soups, sandwiches, ready-to-eat meals and more. Foodservice in Canadian retail (c-stores, supermarkets and department stores) reached an estimated $2.9 billion in 2019, according to Restaurants Canada in a report that noted it is also the fastest-growing sector of foodservice.
However, the pandemic has hit the foodservice industry hard, as more Canadians stay home and make their meals. But foodservice consultants say c-stores that have pivoted in response to the pandemic should maintain their strength in the category and could even build on it.
“Foodservice was one of the hottest and most top-of-mind categories for the c-store industry before the pandemic,” says Diane Chiasson, president of Chiasson Consultants Inc. “Those who changed, adapted and thought out of the box will continue to do well.” From the adoption of new technology to changing their menus and food preparation, we look at how c-stores are reimagining their foodservice footprint.
1. From self-service to full-service
C-stores across Canada shuttered self-service coffee bars and fountain drink stations in the wake of the pandemic and government restrictions. Some have waited for restrictions to be lifted, while others have moved their offerings behind the counter and have cashiers providing customers with their morning cup of java. It may not be self-serve, but this shift has been embraced by customers and has given them peace of mind, says Neil Turkington, national foodservice category manager at Parkland Corporation. “Despite the impacts from COVID-19, we’re delivering strong same-store sales growth across our Canada convenience retail business and have successfully adapted our self-serve food business.”
While some c-stores have hit pause on the roller grill for now, others are moving roller grills behind the counter, so customers can still enjoy a hot dog for lunch or dinner, says Jenny Companion, VP of Eastern Canadian operations for hospitality consulting agency The Fifteen Group. The company worked with a major Canadian gas/c-store chain and recommended their self-serve foodservice move to full-service. “It has worked well in high-volume locations where they can afford to add another body, having someone make the food and serve it.”
Full-service, however, comes with other increased costs. For instance, c-stores have to provide everyone a cup for their coffee, rather than allowing customers to use their own refillable mug. And condiments, such as ketchup and mustard, move to single-serve packets, which is more expensive to purchase than in tubs. But this strategy keeps hungry customers coming in—and potentially making other purchases with their lunch, such as beverages or confectionary.
2. Mobile delivery acceleration
The pandemic has accelerated consumer adoption of digital innovation by as much as years ahead of where we would otherwise be, say experts. That is certainly the case in the foodservice industry. With pandemic restrictions and fears of contracting COVID-19, more and more consumers have turned to apps for easy foodservice pickup and home delivery.
7-Eleven Canada, for instance, has a partnership with Uber Eats in major urban centres, allowing customers to order pizza, chicken wings, corn dogs, Slurpees, breakfast sandwiches and more to their home. It has also created combos with bottled pop and confectionaries to help drive sales. Circle K, meanwhile, has a partnership with DoorDash to deliver items like a steak-and-cheese taquito, sausages, donairs, paninis and chicken wraps.
Parkland’s QSR partner in B.C., Triple O’s, works with Skip the Dishes and Turkington says it is yielding encouraging results: “We are concurrently piloting convenience store delivery, and are pleased with the early uptake and stickiness, demonstrating consumer confidence in our offer.”
By getting into delivery, c-stores also have an opportunity to bring customers food when restaurants and grocery stores are closed—late evening and early morning, satiating customers whenever they have a case of the munchies. “I’ve seen mobile ordering do well after hours, because gas stations are 24 hours and an essential service,” says Companion. “This is a time period when c-stores really have the delivery market all to themselves.”
3. Quality control
Before COVID, customers associated food that was made in-store with freshness. “Previously, many of our c-stores made fresh sandwiches and packaged them on-site, which has its advantages,” says Turkington. “However, the pandemic has shifted consumer sentiment and now many sites make their sandwiches at commissary kitchens. Our sandwiches feature clear labelling indicating they’ve been made by quality, vetted suppliers.”
For independent operators and others that have built a reputation for preparing fresh foods or unique menu items on site, there’s a strong focus on clearly communicating new food handling and cleaning protocols in order to provide customers with added peace of mind about quality and safety.
4. Menu additions and subtractions
Jeff Dover, president of fsSTRATEGY, a consulting firm for the hospitality industry with a focus on foodservice, says there is an opportunity for c-stores to add healthier—and more diverse—fare than typical c-store menu staples, like hot dogs and chicken tenders. “When the pandemic started, comfort food sales went through the roof, but people are now at the point where they want variety.”
Couche-Tard, for instance, is pushing ahead with its Fresh Food Fast program and is adding new options to its ready-to-eat menu, including sweet and sour chicken, spaghetti beef balls and tortellini with rosé sauce, which compliment comfort staples like mac and cheese, shepherd’s pie and lasagna.
5. Reduced customer touchpoints
Customers are naturally uneasy about having to handle doorknobs, countertops and other shared surfaces. That has resulted in some changes in foodservice storage and display.
Self-service bakery display cases have been altered so that doors don’t have to be opened to access croissants, muffins and other goodies. Baked goods and other food items also now come individually wrapped to keep them free from contamination and to avoid customers having to use shared tongs to grab them.
For Parkland, as Turkington notes, “we have always been focused on safety—for customers, retailers and staff—however, the pandemic required us to take additional precautions. We have reduced the number of touchpoints and increased sanitization in the forecourt and c-store including with individually wrapped baked goods and non-touch displays.”
Originally published in the November/December issue of Convenience Store News Canada.


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We recently reported that Nintendo’s stock had climbed as a result of expectations that the company would be included into the Nikkei 225, Japan’s prestigious equivalent to the Dow Jones Industrial Average. In a turn of events, Nintendo has not been added to the group of 225 blue-chip companies of the Tokyo Stock Exchange that make up the Nikkei, and as a result, the company’s shares fell 8.4% to 10,980 yen.
After transferring its listing from Osaka to Tokyo, investors had long speculated that the video game giant would become one of the 225 companies that make up the Nikkei, a revolving index that includes Toyota, Sony, and Yamaha, among others. In 2013, Nintendo’s stock has risen 31% because of these expectations, and was predicted to continue climbing following the announcement of the 2DS and a Wii U price drop. Instead, its 7.3% decline is the biggest drop experienced by Nintendo in over two years.
Only time will tell if Nintendo is able to bounce back from these new developments and the free-falling sales of its flagship Wii U console. In a recent report, Tokyo analyst Takao Suzuki summed up Nintendo’s exclusion from the Nikkei as follows:
“We believe Nintendo’s shares have been overvalued due to speculative demand, on the assumption that they would be included in the Nikkei. As this expectation has come to nothing, this appears to be the right time to sell.”


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Are you ready for what’s next in social media advertising? Here are the most significant social media advertising updates from June that you need to know.
Projected to beat TV spend this year, digital ads will be the top media category worldwide. Here’s a primer on influencer and social marketing for max ROI.
It’s crucial that you recognize indicators of when to scale your advertising, and you want to time it accordingly and move slowly.
“Why would I WANT to scale my advertising? Doesn’t that mean spending more money?” Technically that’s true, but it’s how you drive real, profitable growth.
Are you familiar with Pinterest’s Taste Graph? Find out how this new feature is an ideal solution for e-commerce enterprises, especially for retail and fashion.
Watch Trustpilot, one of Elite SEM’s top partners, showcase their new ideas to maximize digital success.
Instagram users should expect to see ads in their Stories soon. The new video ads could turn out to be a big win for Instagram. Find out how and what this could mean for Snapchat in Katy Lucey’s new blog post.
Social Media Week New York is a “must attend” digital media conference. Joining this year’s event are some of the industry’s leading brands and individuals at the intersection of media, entertainment, marketing and technology.


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How to watch your favourite channels without cable TV
Now Playing: Why you should watch Netflix and Amazon Prime Now Playing “There’s a lot of good stuff in Netflix,” said a woman who works in the video game industry, explaining why she prefers streaming content over cable TV.
“The fact that Netflix is still the only one that’s available online is pretty amazing, and Amazon has an amazing lineup of titles that you can buy with a credit card, that I can watch on my phone,” she said.
The woman who spoke to HuffPost says her favourite TV shows are all on Netflix, and that she can watch them without cable or satellite.
“It’s the same way you could watch a movie or a TV show on Netflix and then just go and buy it on Amazon or YouTube or Hulu or someplace else,” she explained.
“You can watch Netflix, you can watch a video game, you’re going to get to enjoy it, you’ll be able to enjoy the whole thing.”
The woman also noted that many other TV shows on Netflix are available to watch on Amazon Prime Video.
“I think it’s awesome to be able pick up an Amazon Prime video, watch it, and then pick it up on Amazon and watch it on your TV,” she added.
The experience can also be different for different devices.
“For instance, I don’t have my Xbox 360, and I don


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Earlier this month, britvic ireland announced that club soft drinks would feature ron burgundy on over three million 500ml bottles of club orange, club diet, club rock shandy and club lemon in the run up to the irish release of anchorman 2. this week, Britvic ireland launched a tv ad, developed by chemistry, to support the campaign featuring a special announcement from Ron Burgundy.
This professional campaign titled 'Club Anchorman' was published in Ireland in November, 2013. It was created for the brand: Club Soft Drinks, by ad agency: Chemistry. This Film medium campaign is related to the Soft Drinks industry and contains 1 media asset. It was submitted over 10 years ago.
Advertising Agency: Chemistry, Dublin, Ireland
Creative Director: Mike Garner
Art Director: Fabiano Dalmacio
Copy Writer: Rob Maguire
Account Manager: Mags O'Reilly


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Steve Jobs tooks some time to speak with the press at the Apple Expo in Paris and the press asked questions that've been on our minds for a while. MacWorld UK reported on some of the questions put to Jobs concerning the iPod; more specifically the inclusion of Bluetooth and FM radio in the iPod. On integrating a radio:
“We don’t get a lot of customers asking for it”, he said. Apple’s senior vice president of worldwide product marketing Phil Schiller pointed out that iPods now offer radio on demand: “Thanks to podcasting you can listen to radio shows whenever you want to”, he said.
Jobs called Bluetooth on the iPod a "technology in search of a problem" and noted it's poor audio quality as well as his opinion that users would hate having to charge their headphones.
The reasoning for launching the nano two weeks before the Expo was given as an opportunity to get more nanos into people's hands prior to and leading up to the Christmas shopping season. What would an interview with Jobs be withouth a few biting remarks about the competition? Today they were framed within a question regarding Apple's reknowned secrecy:
"Microsoft is copying our operating system," he said, adding, "Dell is copying our hardware. "They just have to follow our tail lights," he smiled
No one told me I needed my FUD-boots when I started reading this article.
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EvoEnergy Year in Review 2017December 15, 2017
2017 has been another busy and eventful year for EvoEnergy that has seen the company further cement its position as leaders for solar PV and battery storage solutions in the UK.
EvoEnergy finished 2016 with a 999 kWp installation at DPD (Oldbury), and this relationship continued in early 2017 where EvoEnergy commissioned a 450 kWp system at their neighbouring hub in Hinckley. The dynamic export control system used for the DPD Hinckley installation was a pioneering solution that went on to win the company a highly commendation accolade in the Innovation category at the 2017 Celebrating Construction awards.
In March, EvoEnergy also received two awards at the Energy Efficiency awards, collecting ‘East Midlands Solar PV Installer of the Year’ and ‘Small Project of the Year’ for the leading solar carport installation at Harvey Hadden Sports Village.
Just one month later, EvoEnergy were shortlisted finalists at the prestigious Nottingham Post Business awards in the flagship category ‘Nottinghamshire Company of the Year’. After a long elimination process involving several rounds, EvoEnergy picked up 3rd place, which was a proud achievement for the company.
In July, EvoEnergy joined their parent company – Stepnell – in celebrating 150 years of business. Incidentally, this year was also the 10th anniversary for EvoEnergy. Celebrations were held by competing in a dragon boat racing event at the Billing Aquadrome, attended by staff and their families from both companies.
With solar PV installations continuing throughout the year, the next iconic installation began in August where the largest solar PV array on a UK shopping centre was designed and installed for Landsec at their White Rose Shopping Centre in Leeds. This installation was completed in September with a further 50 kWp installed at another of Landsec’s shopping centres, Trinity Leeds, shortly after.
This year, EvoEnergy have continued to be proactive in developing their commercial battery energy storage system (BESS) opportunities by collaborating with battery manufacturers, funders and aggregators to offer a range of market-leading BESS solutions.
This work was instrumental to EvoEnergy being successful in proposing a fully funded solution to Lyreco (Telford) that would see the installation of the UK’s biggest commercial ‘behind the meter’ BESS combined with solar PV (EvoEnergy installed a 3.8MWp array for the company in 2016). Three electric vehicle charging stations are also part of the installation, with Lyreco now setting an example for other businesses to follow with regards to smart energy solutions. This project is now close to completion – watch this space for further announcements soon.
October was also an eventful month, with Grand Designs airing the Spiral house project where EvoEnergy designed and installed a bespoke curved solar PV array on the unique curved roof earlier in the year. To add to the awards success this year, in October, EvoEnergy also collected the prestige ‘Contractor of the Year’ accolade at the industry Solar Power Portal awards. Later that month, Tim Hickman, Technical Manager at EvoEnergy traveled over to Berlin to speak at the popular Smart Solar PV forum where he delivered a well-received presentation on Performance Measurement Innovation.
After completing a number of iconic installations in 2017, EvoEnergy worked on yet another iconic project by installing a 180 kWp array on the roof of the new US Embassy in Nine Elms, London. Due to the sensitive nature of the building and client, details and photography have not yet been published.
In November, EvoEnergy worked with industry-giant, Games Workshop, to install a 404 kWp array on the rooftop of their busy manufacturing site in Nottingham where millions of war game figures are produced and distributed every year.
With 2017 drawing to a close, EvoEnergy are still busy working on a number of projects; in particular the battery storage project at Trent Basin, which was announced at the start of the year but delayed due to changes in the development plans. Using Tesla technology, once installed in early 2018, this battery project will be another leading installation in the battery market.
To provide further education to the market about how smart energy solutions can work for their business, EvoEnergy launched a new interactive webpage in December (link above) that demonstrates the intelligence of multiple energy technologies working together to deliver energy independence. The launch of this content also coincided with a refresh of the website navigation system for an enhanced user experience of the site. Further educational content will also be made available online shortly – watch this space.
Overall, its’s been a successful year for EvoEnergy; innovating and delivering even more of the industry’s leading projects in both solar PV and battery. With an appetite from businesses to reduce their energy costs and increase energy independence through smart energy solutions, EvoEnergy are confident that 2018 will be another exciting year.
More reading: EvoEnergy’s Year in Review 2016.
Categorised in: EvoEnergy News


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Argentina is a potentially lucrative market for genetically modified seed makers. The South American farming powerhouse is the world’s third-largest soybean exporter and ranks No.2 in corn exports.
The 50-50 venture between Bioceres and Arcadia, dubbed Verdeca, hopes to have its soybean seeds on sale in 2015 or 2016, Arcadia Biosciences CEO Eric Rey said in an interview.
The two companies have already invested about $120 million to develop seeds that will combine transgenic traits for resistance to the herbicide glyphosate with drought tolerance and increased nitrogen and water use efficiency.
Another $20 million to $40 million will be spent over the next four or five years to gain regulatory approval for the seeds in key markets, including other South American nations, the US, China and India, Rey said.
Bioceres is owned by over 230 of Argentina’s biggest farmers, who together plant about 2.5 million hectares of soybeans each year in South America.
The firm has developed its seed technology with the federal government’s science and technology promotion institute, Conicet.
Verdeca’s strategy involves building on a platform of established genetic traits and to take advantage of the expiration of Monsanto’s US patent for glyphosate-resistant soybeans in 2014, said Bioceres CEO Federico Trucco.
Privately held Arcadia has so far focused on developing new agricultural biotechnology and licensing it to other companies who go through the costly process of obtaining regulatory approval.
But as a partner in Verdeca, Arcadia wants to take its new seeds through the regulatory approval process, after which "value goes up dramatically," Rey said.
Verdeca plans to sell its products through conventional seed channels under licensing agreements with major distribution companies, he said.
Risk of introduction
Verdeca is aware of the risk of introducing new soy seeds into Argentina, but Rey is confident that the company’s ownership structure will allow it to generate sales as many of its potential customers are also shareholders. "We have a built-in customer base," he said.
Grupo Los Grobo, one of the largest soybean producers in the world with fields in Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, owns 3% of Bioceres.
The small number of biotechnology companies in the transgenic seed market is a problem for growers and more competition is needed, Los Grobo President and Bioceres board member Gustavo Grobocopatel said in an interview. "There should be 20 Monsantos and 10 Bioceres," he said.


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E-commerce and B2C marketing software platform, Betaout has, today, raised undisclosed amount of funding from Southeast Asian investors to boost up its operations in Indonesia and other parts of SEA. The customer intelligence and marketing automation platform for e-commerce companies, with the funding from SEA focused East Ventures and angel investors, will be focusing on clientele expansion and product development.
According to an official press release by the organization, Ankit Maheshwari, CEO and Co-founder of Betaout said, “Indonesia is an important market for us and having the support and domain expertise of East Ventures, will help us in executing our vision of enabling e-commerce marketers across South East Asia to retain their customers and drive better ROI.”
Venture Capitalist firm for consumers of Internet and mobile, based in Indonesia, Singapore and Tokyo, East Ventures were started in 2010.
East Ventures Co-founder & Managing Partner Willson said, “We are very pleased to partner with the Betaout team, seeing the efforts and innovations that the team has achieved since their founding. The growth potential of the SE Asia e-commerce market is tremendous and Betaout’s focus on this market excites us.”
“We are confident that with the smart personalization in communication offered by Betaout, for each of our different customer segments, we are better able to engage customers and also retain them for a longer period of time,” the press release quoted Betaout’s key customers Joseph Aditya.


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Mainetti Polyloop is a global clear polythene recycling process that enables Mainetti to provide its customers with a closed-loop recycling system for all of their clear polythene sourcing requirements.
The combination of Mainetti’s network means that, for the first time, it can offer customers the ability to source clear polythene film containing 30% recycled scrap material from anywhere in the world. The process sees scrap materials collected, cleaned and processed within the UK before being distributed to Mainetti’s manufacturing sites offshore.
This global initiative leverages Mainetti’s network of 47 manufacturing and recycling operations across the globe.
So far, the retailers have been using Mainetti Polyloop for its consistent supply of recycled content. According to the company, the polyethylene film it provides via this initiative clears any print and labelling and therefore creates the “highest level of clarity for post–consumer recycled content.” Mainetti reportedly has the capacity to process 4,000 tonnes of recycled materials per year.
Keith Charlton, CEO at Mainetti, comments: “We recognise this move is needed to accelerate the changes we all need to make if we are to reduce carbon emissions in line with the commitments made in the Paris Accord and Mainetti recently joined the Ellen MacArthur Network to be part of the community that is working to drive change on a global scale.
“Through the introduction of Mainetti Polyloop, it is our aim to help retailers and global supply chains tackle some of the issues they are facing and ensure that circular processes are built into every aspect of the manufacturing process.”
Mainetti started to introduce the concept of Mainetti Polyloop to leading fashion retailers in Europe through the innovation platform Fashion For Good, which seeks to help its fashion industry members transform from linear to circular methods.
More recently, the global retail solutions provider introduced Mainetti Polyloop to the signatories of the Fashion Pact – a global coalition of companies in the fashion and textile industry, all committed to a common core of key environmental goals.


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House stands firm on GM law
By Jean Christou
Cyprus Mail, 13 July 2007
PARLIAMENT yesterday refused to acknowledge a veto by President Tassos Papadopoulos on the stacking of products with Genetically Modified (GM) content on separate supermarket shelves, the Green Party said.
A bill providing for separate display was passed by Parliament on June 14 but was vetoed by the President, who said it would have to be amended. The bill had been before Parliament for two years and when it was passed it made Cyprus the first EU country to create such a law.
"The President is allowed to practice his veto and ask Parliament to withdraw or amend the bill," said Green Party leader George Perdikis. "We said 'no' to the President."
Perdikis denied that the EU had quashed the idea of such a law. "It was the government that assumed the EU would have a position on the bill and that's why they asked for it to be withdrawn," he added. "We are not going to change it, and of now it's final."
Perdikis said Papadopoulos could appeal to the Supreme Court on the issue if he wished.
The proposal had been put forward by the party because it felt that the current labelling of GM products was inadequate, as they are mixed with standard products so the public is not given a clear choice, misleading many people who did not want to purchase GM foods.
"As of now, they will have to be placed on separate shelves," Perdikis said. He said the Green Party would be monitoring the situation "very strictly and closely" to ensure the law was followed by shops and supermarkets.
Shortly after the Greens proposal was first made two years ago, an unsigned letter from the US embassy in Nicosia to House Speaker Demetris Christofias was leaked to the press. The US is the biggest producer of GM foods.
The letter warned Cyprus that passing such a bill was tantamount to "stigmatising" products that have been "found safe by the European Commission experts" and that the legislation would hurt Cyprus-US relations.
Results of a State Lab test in Cyprus found that 12 of the 63 products tested (almost 1 out of every 5) contained GM organisms without the required labelling. Five of those 12 were even labelled 'GM-free'.
In other tests since 2005, it was found that two of 37 tested products which were all soy or corn based contained GM in quantities greater than 0.9 per cent.


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Last December, China's Commerce Minister, Chen Deming, said the country "has no choice" but to take stringent measures to clean up its rare earths industry, placing export controls on some of the world's most vital elements. Beijing cut exports for the first half of 2011 by 35 percent, following a 72 percent reduction for the second half of last year. While most of the attention in the world's press centered on what was regarded as a strategic decision, Chinese officials said they could no longer afford the damage to their environment. With one third of the world's rare earth reserves, the country at that point was delivering 95 percent of the world's exports of 17 different rare earth substances, which go into a wide and growing variety of crucial industries from computer to catalytic converters to wind farms to many more.
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Latest fashion trends, update on Bollywood/Hollywood news, current fashion looks, beauty, lifestyle and celebrity gossips and more...
Friday, June 21, 2013
Miss Connecticut Erin Brady is new Miss USA 2013
Erin Brady is named Miss USA 2013 at Planet Hollywood Resort Casino in Las Vegas, Nevada on June 16, 2013. Ms Brady is a 25-year-old East Hampton native, who beat out 50 other gorgeous contestants for the crown. This was the state of Connecticut's first ever Miss USA crown.


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NEW SHRIMP FEED SUCCESS
New Shrimp Feed Success – Corbion, a global market leader in algae-based food and feed ingredients, announced at last week’s Seafood Summit that AlgaPrime(TM) DHA has been successfully trialled in shrimp feed from global seafood producer Thai Union Group PCL.
AlgaPrime(TM) DHA is the leading sustainably produced, algae-based source of long-chain omega-3s, globally recognized for improving omega-3 traceability and reducing the fish-in fish-out ratio of farmed seafood.
“Our new opportunity with Thai Union demonstrates our continued commitment to sustainability,” said Chris Haacke, Global Aquaculture Lead at Corbion. “Shrimp farming is one of the fastest growing sectors in the aquaculture industry, and AlgaPrime(TM) DHA has the potential to offer shrimp farmers assurance in traceability and sustainability of their feed, while also allowing them to add beneficial omega-3s to their product.
“Shrimp farming currently consumes approximately 100,000 tons of fish oil annually, predominantly because fish oil contains DHA, a key ingredient in shrimp growth and development. Global demand for omega-3s, such as DHA, is growing rapidly, but the availability of omega-3s from their current source – wild caught fish – is limited.
Since 2016, Corbion has been producing AlgaPrime(TM) DHA at large industrial scale relevant to the needs of the aquaculture industry. Developed to reduce dependency on marine fisheries and provide a new source of long-chain omega-3s for the aquaculture industry, AlgaPrime(TM) DHA is a native, whole algae ingredient that contains approximately three times the level of DHA of fish oil. AlgaPrime(TM) DHA is a clean ingredient, sustainably produced through fermentation with non-GM cane sugar as a feedstock.
“At Thai Union, our SeaChange® sustainability strategy drives meaningful improvements across the entire global seafood industry, especially when it comes to traceable and responsible sourcing,” said Darian McBain, Global Director of Corporate Affairs and Sustainability at Thai Union. “By working with Corbion, we are progressing our goal to bring even more responsibly sourced and sustainably harvested shrimp to market.”
New Shrimp Feed Success


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The OnePlus 8 will be launched in the U.S. as a 5G phone on Verizon's mmWave network, according to a new report.
Sensel pressure sensors can register accurate touch response and deep force feedback without many of the constraints of current capacitive touch technology.
Looking Glass Factory will sell its 8K holographic display, aimed at commercial and business markets, starting in Spring 2020. The company has not shared pricing.
Wiz Connected, the sister company of Philips Hue that sells Wi-Fi connected bulbs, is now offering a remote control as well as a new motion and light sensor.
Ultrasense ultrasound sensors are minuscule and self-contained systems, able to replace switches under surfaces and in locations where capacitive and other touch technology has been unable to reach.
Linksys Wellness Pods use mesh Wi-Fi signals to track movement and are sensitive enough to detect breathing patterns and sleep movements.
Audio-Technica ATH-ANC300TW is the company's first pair truly wireless earbuds. The buds feature active noise canceling technology and Qualcomm TrueWireless Stereo Plus for a more stable connection.
Philips Hue smart bulb family grows with three new outdoor fixtures, all of which support Bluetooth. Philips will also update its Hue Play hub with voice control through your favorite assistant.
Sonos is suing Google in Federal District Court and at the U.S. International Trade Commission over patent infringement. The suit seeks financial damages and a ban on infringing product sales.
PopSocket is offering a compatible PopPower wireless charger that has a recess to perfectly fit the company's popular PopGrips.
The Wacom One pen display tablet is an entry-level pen-input display that costs $399 and works with Android, macOS, and Windows devices.
Panasonic has introduced a pair of new truly wireless earbuds, one of which offers industry-leading noise cancellation
Aukey's Omnia Series chargers are much smaller than stock laptop chargers and feature gallium nitride technology and integrated chips for faster, smarter charging.
Some Amazon employees who were organizing around reducing the company's climate change impact were reportedly sent warning letters against speaking publicly, with a direct threat of termination.
A Google Nest Hub user who connected a Xiaomi security camera reportedly received photos that seem to originate from cameras in other homes.
Samsung has announced CES plans for its C-Lab Inside and C-Lab Outside programs, which incubate startup ideas from internal employees and external startups, respectively.
The FCC is testing a program that will allow some wireless carriers to use CB radio bands for service at no cost, and will soon sell priority access licenses to these bands
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Gap ( GPS) may provide its investors with some holiday cheer, following an upgrade from Gerard Klauer Mattison. The institutional brokerage raised its investment rating and earnings estimates for the San Francisco-based apparel retailer, citing improved merchandising and marketing efforts that should generate better-than-expected sales during the holiday shopping season and beyond. The brokerage upgraded the stock to buy from neutral and raised its fourth-quarter earnings estimate to 16 cents a share, from 14 cents. Overall, analysts are expecting the company to earn 12 cents a share, according to Thomson Financial/First Call. The brokerage expects same-store sales to grow at a 5% clip, a significant swing when compared with a 17% decline in the year-ago quarter. For the full year, the brokerage is projecting a net profit of 41 cents a share, ahead of the consensus estimate of 38 cents, and up from a loss of 16 cents last year. "We now believe than an improvement in the quality and styling offered across all divisions is luring core customers back to the stores, and this is sustainable in the near future," wrote analyst John Morris in a research note. Morris said the holiday season for apparel has started off stronger than expected, despite a later Thanksgiving, and that Gap should be one of the best plays in the retail sector, given its broad national exposure and improved merchandise positioning. "The stock has had a nice run, but we see room for further upside, and we are setting a price target at $19," Morris said. Recently, the shares were trading up 36 cents, or 2.3%, at $16.25 on the
New York Stock Exchange .


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- Do you work in the Marketing, Media & Advertising industry? Get business insights on the latest tech innovations, market trends, and your competitors with data-driven research.
- This is a preview of the Programmatic Ad Spending in Germany 2019 report. You can purchase and download the full report here.
Despite a hiccup in the advent of the EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), programmatic advertising in Germany remains on the rise — currently accounting for 70% of all digital display ad spending in Germany.
Outlays on programmatic ads will rise more than 15% in 2019, and nearly double the rate for mobile. But this growth could be threatened by two key obstacles: transparency and ad fraud.
What is being done to address ad fraud issues? And what standards are big institutions developing in order for the programmatic process to be properly assessed?
eMarketer has put together the Programmatic Ad Spending in Germany 2019 research report with updated estimates for programmatic digital display ad spending in Germany, including breakouts by transaction type. It also explores recent trends behind the numbers.
Some highlights include:
- Spending on programmatic direct will grow by double digits in both 2019 and 2020, and spending on social media advertising in particular is expected to boost outlays in direct.
- Germany may not have taken the driver's seat on programmatic transformation, but the country's current ad spend is soaring. As long-favored open exchanges are losing steam in Germany, spending on all types of programmatic buying will continue to rise.
- The growing YouTube effect is raising concerns about brand safety and fraud. Consumers, advertisers, and publishers tend to be especially sensitive to the potential dangers arising from digital platforms and networks – but erring on the side of caution could actually be helping the programmatic market to achieve transparency faster.


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The U.S. trade deficit dropped to $58.1 billion in June, a 1.7 percent decline from May’s level, the Commerce Department reported.
It was a bigger improvement than had been expected and left the deficit at its lowest level since February.
U.S. exports and imports both set records in June. Exports of goods and services rose by 1.5 percent to $134.5 billion, reflecting big increases in shipments of semiconductors, autos and farm products such as corn and meat.
Imports also set a record, rising by 0.5 percent to $192.7 billion as foreign crude oil rose to the highest level in nine months, reflecting a big jump in prices.
In other economic news Tuesday, inflation at the wholesale level jumped 0.6 percent in July. However, outside of energy costs, wholesale inflation remained under control with core prices rising just 0.1 percent.
The overall rise was far above the 0.1 percent increase analysts had been expecting. It reflected a hefty 2.5 percent jump in energy prices, which reversed a 1.1 percent decline in the previous month. Food prices dropped for a third straight month.


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Wednesday November 15, 2017
JAY-Z ANNOUNCES 4:44 TOUR
Continuing its commitment to bring fans closer to their favorite artists, TIDAL members will have access to a special presale beginning on Monday, July 10th at 12:00pm ET. Members can find details for purchasing tickets at TIDAL.com.Citi® is the official presale credit card for the 4:44 TOUR. As such,Citi® cardmembers will have access to purchase U.S. presale tickets beginning Monday, July 10th at 12:00pm ET until Thursday, July 13th at 10:00pm ET through Citi’s Private Pass® program. For complete presale details visit www.citiprivatepass.com. Tickets for the 4:44 TOUR go on sale to the general public starting Friday, July 14th at 10am local time at livenation.com. VIP Packages are available at VIPNation.com.


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Gary Corbett is Fair Oaks’ CEO and one of its founders. “A lot of our visitors have seen lions, tigers, and bears but never cows and pigs,” Corbett said. “Now we’re bringing in more than a half-million people each year, giving them context for where that gallon of milk or pork chop comes from.”
Visitors can tour the farm’s milking facility, stables, and birthing center, and they can get a taste of its meat and dairy products in the Farmhouse Restaurant, market and bakery, and gift shop. But what might surprise them most is Fair Oaks Farms’ entrepreneurial spirit, clearly displayed by its commitment to sustainability.
How? By “making rocket science of manure management”; that is, processing the phosphorus in manure for use as fertilizer, and the methane to make electricity and compressed natural gas (CNG) that powers one of the largest fleets of CNG delivery trucks in the country.
“It means a 90 percent reduction in our carbon footprint and brings a cost savings of about $2 per gallon,” Corbett said. “And a side benefit, Cummins—which is right here in Indiana—is the biggest producer of CNG engines right now.”
That kind of ingenuity has led Fair Oaks Farms to keep growing. Expect a hog education facility to open soon, and a crop education center in early spring. There’s a craft center on the horizon, a John Deere equipment museum, a new lunch facility for the 75,000 school and camp kids who come through each year, and an egg-laying facility. Probably a convention center and inn. Certainly a concert facility.
Still, the animals are the main attraction.
“We didn’t think that agriculture could keep its attitude that the world ends at the farm gate, and we wanted to develop a new paradigm as best we could,” Corbett said.
Mission accomplished. Fair Oaks Farms is empowering visitors to understand how food gets from rural America to all kinds of dinner tables in all kinds of households across the nation and around the world. It’s also an economic development success story—proof that all kinds of big dreams and great ideas can thrive here—a deliberately different approach to business that’s right at home on Jasper County REMC’s lines.
Download This Case Study
Case Study-Fair Oaks Farms


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At CES 2016 next month, LG will debut its 2016 TV line-up with an upgraded webOS platform. Besides being faster, webOS 3.0 offers a range of new features, including multi-view and Channel Plus, as well as a new remote control.
webOS 3.0 on new TVs
LG will stay committed to webOS in 2016. That much is clear after the manufacturer has confirmed that webOS 3.0 will be integrated in its 2016 TVs.
webOS 3.0 is a continuation of the simple and intuitive user interface that has defined webOS, says LG.
Besides being faster webOS 3.0 features:
An upgraded Magic Remote with more buttons that allow you to better control connected devices such as set-top boxes
Magic Mobile Connection makes it possible to connect a mobile device to the TV with the “LG TV Plus App” to access mobile apps on the TV screen
Channel Plus is a unified channel list that combines OTT content with broadcast TV channels. Users can pay to access premium internet channels
Xumo integration makes it possible to watch free content from publications such as Bloomberg, TIME Inc., Conde Nast Entertainment, The Wall Street Journal, BuzzFeed, PopSugar, Mode Media and others in the Channel Plus app
Channel Advisor analyzes viewing patterns and displays upcoming time slots with program information about frequently watched programs
Multi-view allows you to watch two different channels at the same time or a channel and a Blu-ray movie, for example
Music Player app plays music through the webOS 3.0 TV speakers, even when the TV is off
My Channels & Live Menu have been upgraded with new sub-features to make them more useful to viewers
IoTV app allows on-screen control of smart home appliances from LG and other manufacturers that are compatible with LG IoTV
Magic Zoom allows you to zoom
- “We are excited about webOS 3.0, a major update since this advanced TV platform technology was first introduced in 2014,” says Brian Kwon, CEO of LG’s Home Entertainment Division and continues; “The webOS story of Simple Connection, Simple Switching and Simple Discovery has really connected with customers and illustrates very clearly our commitment to securing a leadership role in the smart TV market with innovation and creativity.”
It is not clear whether LG has plans to update previous TVs to webOS 3.0. When the company releases webOS 2.0 they initially said that previous TVs would not be updated but they later changed their mind and released a major update.
LG’s 2016 TV models will be unveiled at CES 2016 in Las Vegas (Jan 6-9). FlatpanelsHD is there to give you all the news.


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“This is to intimate you that the board of directors of Nazara Technologies, at its meeting held on September 16, 2020 approved the proposal to undertake an initial public offering of the equity shares of Rs 4 each of the company through the book building process and list the shares on one or more recognised stock exchanges in India,” says the letter. ETMarkets.com has seen a copy of the same.
The issue may comprise fresh shares and offer for sale of equity shares from existing shareholders. The company will soon file the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with markets regulator Sebi.
The issue size is yet to be decided, but some traders estimate the IPO price around Rs 950. When contacted, Nazara Technologies declined to comment.
Nazara has a diversified business model comprising subscription business, Freemium business and Esports business across emerging markets such as India, West Asia, Africa, Southeast Asia and Latin America.
Shares of Nazara Technologies have almost doubled in last six months in the unlisted market. The unlisted shares traded at around Rs 750-800 this week against their April price of Rs 400-450.
Besides Jhunjhunwala, Westbridge Ventures, Turtle Entertainment, IIFL Special Opportunity Fund and Emerging Investments are other key shareholders of the company.
Sandip Ginodia of Abhishek Securities said it is the first domestic gaming company eyeing a listing on the bourses. “Strong promoters and a unique business model are going to be key strengths of the issue,” he said.
Ginodia said leisure mobile gaming saw a lot of traction during the lockdown, as people had nothing much to do. It is among those segments of the media and entertainment sector, which has seen rapid growth due to the pandemic.
The company’s flagship mobile games include 'World Cricket Championship 2', 'Chhota Bheem Race' and 'Motu Patlu Game'. Its subsidiary Nodwin Gaming hosts multiple gaming events across the country.
The company’s consolidated revenue for financial year 2019 stood at Rs 183 crore, on which it generated a Rs 4.2 crore PAT. For the year 2018, these figures stood at Rs 180 crore and Rs 1.2 crore, respectively.
Dinesh Gupta, Co-founder of UnlistedZone, a Delhi-based firm that deals in unlisted shares, said the gaming technology company has no peer in the listed or unlisted space.
“The technology space is rocking in this market. However, some of the recent IPOs have not seen great success,” he said, adding that the company earlier did a private placement at Rs 728 per share in July 2019 and as such the IPO price is likely to be around Rs 950.”
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- NFTs are digital property exploding in recognition and worth proper now.
- David Pakman is a VC backing NBA High Shot, one of the vital profitable mainstream NFTs.
- Pakman says the recognition will proceed rising and main manufacturers will create their very own.
- Visit the Business section of Insider for more stories.
Non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, have jumped into the mainstream just lately.
NFTs are digital property which have been round since 2017, and in 2020 they turned a $250 million market. Creators are already realizing the potential to make thousands and thousands within the comparatively new area. Grimes offered her digital assortment for $5.8 million in a 20-minute public sale. A Miami artwork collector offered a 10-second video for $6.6 million. The NBA Top Shot on-line market has carried out over $65 million in gross sales in simply the final week.
Enterprise capitalist David Pakman is a accomplice at Venrock, an investor within the firm behind NBA High Shot. He shared three tendencies he sees developing within the crypto world with Insider in a cellphone name.
NFTs are nonetheless tiny, however they’re poised to explode
Based mostly on the hype over the previous few weeks, it appears as if everyone seems to be within the NFT sport by some means, however that is not the case in any respect, Pakman says. When he spoke to Insider on Wednesday, about 90,000 distinctive patrons had bought moments on NBA High Shot — only a drop within the bucket in comparison with the a whole lot of thousands and thousands of NBA followers around the globe. With lower than 1% market penetration, there’s “in all probability quite a lot of operating room right here,” Pakman mentioned.
Of these patrons, 60 to 70% are new to the crypto world, so High Shot is definitely introducing them to NFTs as an idea.
High Shot and NFTs are “going to develop to be a lot greater than they’re proper now,” Pakman mentioned. High Shot was launched in October, nevertheless it’s nonetheless in beta. There’s been “no advertising, it is simply been natural.”
“Some NBA gamers have tweeted about it,” he mentioned about High Shot’s huge progress. “We’re not attempting to create extra demand proper now.”
Anticipate digital collectibles from Star Wars, Harry Potter, and different popular culture icons
The NBA’s huge early success in early NFTs might be only a peek at what we’ll see extra of, Pakman says.
“I am certain you will see Star Wars, Harry Potter, all tremendous common international IP,” will finally get into digital collectibles. “These brands have touched a whole lot of thousands and thousands of individuals” he notes, and so long as they’ve web entry they’re all potential prospects.
Creating digital collectibles is a great cash choice, too. Digital collectibles, in comparison with analog gadgets, are software program, so the creator can proceed to generate profits as it’s resold.
“Within the bodily world, you get a p.c of income when the plush is offered the primary time, but when it goes up in worth and folks promote it at a flea market, you aren’t getting something on downstream gross sales,” Pakman mentioned for instance.
Creating digital shortage like NFTs then turns into a compelling enterprise mannequin to large corporations like Disney, so extra of them will create within the area. Creating an ongoing financial relationship, reasonably than a one-time sale, may be very attention-grabbing to corporations with common manufacturers.
“You may receives a commission endlessly,” as Pakman places it.
Gen Z is able to embrace NFTs
Gen Z — extensively thought of the first digital generation, having grown up utilizing the web — has over $140 billion in spending energy already. This ease and willingness to buy things online can translate into adopting NFTs. They’re additionally used to quick, liquid, international markets for practically something — which is precisely what makes NFTs totally different from analog collectibles.
Whereas know-how like NFTs might need been restricted to individuals in tech niches in earlier generations, “that is beginning with the normals,” in Gen Z, Pakman says.


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April 29, 2011
While Apple celebrates its continued grow, Research In Motion (RIM) is seeing its bottom-line erode. Now, The Wall Street Journal is reporting a well-respected analyst is moving its position on the BlackBerry maker from “buy” to “underperform.” This comes at a time when RIM attempts to reboot its business with its new PlayBook tablet. Once the darling of both Wall Street and Main Street, RIM continues to fall behind Apple and Google in the growing smart phone market. In fact, a recent report indicated just 11 percent of future handset buyers would chose a BlackBerry, versus 31 percent for an Android-based device, and 30 percent who indicated they’d buy an iPhone. Now, weakening sales and uncertainly about the PlayBook are leading to financial downgrades. According to Jefferies analyst Peter Misek:
We Were Wrong: QNX Too Late and Too Little; Downgrade to Underperform In addition to lowered May Q guidance, our checks indicate RIMM will see continued execution issues, product delays, and lackluster product launches for the next year. We believe Blackberry OS 7.0 (renamed, formerly 6.1) and QNX will be delayed and that carriers are withdrawing support. We cut our [Fiscal year 2012 (Feb) EPS [estimate] to $5.50 (guidance $7.50), [fiscal year 2013 estimate] to $5 [(versus the street consensus of $7.37)], and [our price] target to $35.QNX Software Systems is the RIM unit responsible for the PlayBook. The shares of the Waterloo, Ont.-based company, were off $7.33, or 13.6 per cent, at $46.50 on the Toronto Stock Exchange after touching a low of $46.26 near the start of the session. The sell-off comes one day after the company said that it shipped fewer BlackBerry smartphones than it expected. What do you think? Is RIM in real trouble? Leave your comments below.


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A Florida man is accused of using a 24-cent packet of Kool-Aid to rack up nearly $1,000 in fraudulent charges at a Walmart in North Naples.
The Collier County Sheriff's Office arrested Bradley Young, 37, on charges of grand theft and shoplifting.
Deputies said Young scanned merchandise at the Walmart with the Kool-Aid packet hidden in his hand. Each item rang up for 24 cents. The final bill ended up being just under $25. The goodies were really worth $994.13, the sheriff's office said.
A loss prevention worker at Walmart recognized Young from a previous situation. She followed him around the store and watched him in the self-checkout lane. The worker said Young also took a soda and fan from the shelf and returned them at customer service after showing workers there a photo of the receipt on his phone.
Shortly before deputies caught up with him, investigators said Young left Walmart with a cart full of unpaid items, which included a $248 scooter, $160 worth of batteries, and a dual-navigation system worth $120.
Young is now in jail. He's a convicted felon out of Ohio, the sheriff's office said.


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Samsung’s news galaxy smartphone to have unbreakable display
New Delhi: The Galaxy range of Smartphones by Samsung has created mania among millions of fans every time before its launch.
The mania is going to continue as far as the features of the new phone are concerned. However if you want to have the Galaxy S IV, you can bend it the Samsung way!
Reportedly the new galaxy phone may come with a breakthrough unbreakable screen.
The Korean company which is a major backer of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) display, is a frontrunner in developing unbreakable screens, as OLED panels can replace glass substrate with plastic material. Down the road, mobile gadgets could be flexible as well as unbreakable.
"Eventually, they'll have unbreakable and flexible displays. Either the Galaxy S IV or S V will have unbreakable and even possibly flexible and foldable displays by 2014. That's going to be a game-changer," said Mark Newman, an analyst at Stanford Bernstein in Hong Kong.
Codenamed Project J, Samsung Galaxy S IV will run the latest version of android.
It will have a full HD AMOLED display with 1920*1080 resolution and a pixel density of 441PPI.
Galaxy S IV will feature a 2 GHz quad-core Exynos processor and an 8-core GPU and a 13 megapixel camera with a screen size of 5.0 inch.
With Agency Inputs


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CBD HEMP OILS
HEAL GREEN 4 PETS
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I'm busy working on my blog posts. Watch this space!
March 30, 2018
Alcohol and drug addictions are serious disorders that impact a surprisingly large amount of people.
While alcohol and drugs can be safely used in moderation. However, once there is an addiction, many need medical help to recover.
Marijuana and CBD oil can help addicts r...
12 Amazing Benefits of CBD Oil for Dogs
November 10, 2018
CBD for Diabetes in Dogs Explained
November is National Diabetes Month
November 2, 2018
CBD compound in cannabis could treat diabetes, researchers suggest
Medical cannabis extract could help pancreatic cancer patients live longer, early study suggests
October 30, 2018
Cannabis oil and cancer
CBD OIL CANCER TREATMENT
October 24, 2018
Olivia Newton-John Announces Cannabis CBD Oil Use for Breast Cancer Treatment
Grandmother praises cannabis oil after breast cancer disappears
October 18, 2018
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Authoritarian and communist mayor of New York City Bill de Blasio got upset that a Domino’s pizza chain was selling $30 pizzas on New Year’s Eve. However, he got schooled and received an important lesson on the finite and most basic of economic laws: supply and demand.
De Blasio called out the company in a tweet on Wednesday, outraged about its New Year’s Eve prices for those celebrating the holiday in Times Square, and encouraging New Yorkers to ditch the corporate franchise for local eateries. According to his tweet, the mayor doesn’t understand basic economics:
Jacking up your prices on people trying to celebrate the holidays? Classy, @dominos.
To the thousands who came to Times Square last night to ring in 2020, I’m sorry this corporate chain exploited you — stick it to them by patronizing one of our fantastic LOCAL pizzerias. pic.twitter.com/rO6I9oYIku
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) January 1, 2020
But de Blasio’s tweet was met with an education from other Twitter users who do understand basic economics.
It isn’t difficult to figure out that de Blasio’s communist feelings were hurt by the free market working as it should.
And if the $30 was too expensive then nobody would have bought it. The market worked perfectly here, people who really wanted pizza got it despite the chaos of NYE in Times Square
— The Safest Space (@TheSafestSpace) January 1, 2020
Fox Business’s libertarian stalwart John Stossel also took a slice out of de Blasio, slamming the mayor’s extravagant spending of city tax dollars, while others sought to impart a lesson in basic economics:
De Blasio spends billions forcibly taken from taxpayers, but complains when people voluntarily pay extra for pizzas.
— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) January 1, 2020
We in strange and authoritarian times. Times where it’s ok to steal as much money from the public as possible through every type of tax (legalized theft) imaginable, but where it’s bad to voluntarily spend your own money on what you want on New Year’s Eve. Welcome to Amerika.