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Trading Bitcoin is rapidly becoming the new normal. Virtual money is seen as the currency of the future. Trading products online using a global currency appears to be a technique that may speed up trade without the complexities of a national currency.
Bitcoin is by far the most successful currency today, yet there are going to be certain challenges as with any new frontier. Despite bitcoin’s recent popularity, investing in cryptocurrency has some major dangers.
With so many individuals racing to participate, it’s critical to be aware of the risks associated with this new market. Here are the top ten hazards of bitcoin investment, as well as how to prevent them.
1. Watch Out for Volatility
The value of bitcoin is continuously fluctuating. One bitcoin was valued $6,461.01 on November 6, 2018. If you bought a bitcoin on December 17, 2017, the price had risen beyond $20,000. However, buyers were unable to sell their investment for more than $14,626 a few days later, on the 24th. The bitcoin market is continuously ebb and flow. With such unpredictability in the market, it’s impossible to anticipate if you’ll get a return on your investment. Keep a close check on the market to avoid a big loss. Make little investments; they will be more profitable in the long run.
2. Protect Your Bitcoin Wallet Against Cybertheft and Fraud
Because cryptocurrency is built on technology, it is vulnerable to cyberattacks. Because there is no method to recover lost or stolen bitcoins, hacking is a major danger. According to several reports, many customers lose their capital due to exchange and mining losses. Even if you have the security of a smart wallet, exchanges are more likely to be hacked. Furthermore, if you do have a wallet and forget or misplace your key, it is quite unlikely that you will be able to reclaim your coins. Investigate your bitcoin wallets thoroughly to ensure you have the most dependable alternative. A secure and reliable exchange option with premium technology is the 1kdailyprofit website.
Aside from hacking, the bitcoin market has a high level of fraud. Buyers and sellers are looking to trade bitcoins online, but due to the cryptocurrency’s popularity, some of these exchanges may be fraudulent. The Consumer Finance Protection Bureau and the Securities and Exchange Commission have both issued warnings about these transactions, in which unsuspecting investors are duped out of their bitcoins through fraudulent exchanges. This absence of security poses a significant danger to investors. While methods have been developed to address these issues, security remains a major concern.
3. Look Out for Use Cases
Bitcoin may be a start toward a new monetary exchange, but few businesses recognize it as a legitimate form of cash. Currently, bitcoin trades are permitted on a few online retailers, like Overstock, Newegg, and Monoprix. Furthermore, bitcoin owners may use their cash to book flights with businesses such as AirBaltic, Air Lituanica, and CheapAir.com. Unfortunately, many businesses do not accept bitcoin as a legal form of payment.
4. Don’t Put All of Your Eggs in One Basket
Cryptocurrency has the potential to be a useful online currency exchange; nevertheless, consumers purchase bitcoins with the intention of investing, just like they would with stocks. Some even believe that bitcoin is a good retirement investment. With a continuously fluctuating market, no regulation, and no physical collateral, investors risk losing all they have invested. While bitcoin has the potential to pay off, it is essential to proceed with caution. Smaller expenditures and actions will cover a greater amount of ground.
5. Make Sure to Conduct Due Diligence Before You Start Trading
Cryptocurrency is still a relatively new technology. Bitcoin appeared around ten years ago and has yet to mature into something substantial. With so many changes in the last several years, it’s impossible to predict how the industry will evolve. Bitcoin, as we know it today, may become obsolete in the future. This new investment opportunity should be approached with care and thorough diligence. Take the necessary precautions to safeguard your assets and brace yourself for the market’s future.
And there you have it! Five safety measures you should take while trading Bitcoin. Of course, Bitcoin still has the potential to be an even more successful currency. However, you must always remember to maintain these safety tips. Which of these tips do you think is the most helpful? Which tips do you plan to implement moving forward? Do let us know in the comments section below. Thanks, and stay safe out there.


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Along with AirPods 3 and new colors for the HomePod mini, Apple introduced the new 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro this week. In addition to a new design and the superpowered M1 Pro and M1 Max chips, the new MacBooks feature a rather controversial addition: a notch at the top of the screen. Now we want to know your opinion on the notch coming to the Mac.
The post Poll: What do you think about the new MacBook Pro having a notch on the screen? appeared first on 9to5Mac.

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“It’s an space of our business that hasn’t been counted a lot, if I’m trustworthy, but I think it’ll get further visibility as we progress on that mission,” stated Farfetch CEO José Neves in November. Richemont additionally partnered with LVMH and Prada on the Aura Blockchain Consortium in an effort to develop a unified method to blockchain among luxurious brands. Here’s what we realized from another 12 months of fashion-tech launches, milestones and developments.
So, businesses planning to surpass their opponents in the coming time need to stay updated concerning the well-liked new era technologies. Overall, IT professionals have become the only real necessity to control rising technological tendencies on time. Today, a myriad of new technology in 2022 are there that businesses ought to know to achieve Technology news business success within the coming period. Also, the surprising change to distant working has fuelled progress in the IT business. But, all this wouldn’t have been attainable without the invention ofnew lightning technology. If you would possibly be additionally a enterprise proprietor looking forward to increased development, you shouldn’t miss studying this weblog.
From event sponsorships to customized content material to visually arresting video storytelling, promoting with MIT Technology Review creates opportunities on your model to resonate with an unmatched viewers of technology and enterprise elite. Bit.ai is the important next-gen office and document collaboration platform. That helps groups share information by connecting any sort of digital content.
But buyers are worried about these startups’ reliance on corporations like OpenAI or Google because this could make them susceptible to being replicated by rivals or by the larger companies themselves by way of product updates. Apple fans the world over have already branded the model ‘fragile’, after a ‘durability test’ by one user discovered that the phone’s back glass shattered in his naked arms after being bent. There is no one-size fits all approach when it comes to dogs, and a few breeds are much more likely to be distressed when left alone, stated Lorna Winter, dog trainer and co-founder of puppy training app ZigZag.
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Toyota's Annual Governance Reports Reveals That it Holds a $293 Million Stake In Uber
Toyota's latest corporate governance report was released on Wednesday and it revealed that the automaker holds a $293 million stake in ride-hailing giant Uber Technologies Inc.
Toyota said it held 10.25 million shares valued at 31.15 billion yen ($292.46 million) as of March 30. This amounts to roughly 0.6% of Uber's outstanding shares, Reuters reports.
Toyota made several other high-profile investments in Uber over the past several years.
In August 2018, Toyota invested $500 million in Uber to jointly work on development of self-driving vehicles. Uber planned to incorporate Toyota's Guardian driver assist technology with Uber's self-driving system. Uber planned to add the autonomous vehicles to its ride-hailing network by 2021.
Two years earlier In 2016, Toyota invested an undisclosed sum in Uber to partner on a car-leasing program for Uber drivers. However Uber announced in Sept 2017 that it was shuttering its U.S. car leasing business.
Like Toyota, Uber has been developing autonomous driving technology since at least 2016 with its Advanced Technologies Group (Uber ATG). Uber eventually plans to add self-driving vehicles to its ride-hailing network and its partnership with Toyota is part of that effort.
Uber became a listed company in May 2019, pricing its shares at $45. The IPO was one of the biggest in recent years. At Uber's IPO price of $45 per share, the company was valued on a non-diluted basis at about $75.4 billion, making it one of the most valuable companies ever to go public.
However, Uber shares never rose above $46.38 as the company struggled to reach profitability in its ride-hailing business. When the coronavirus pandemic began in March in the U.S., the company's shares fell to a low of $21.33 as demand for ride-sharing business suddenly declined.
Toyota, one of the world's biggest automakers and holds investments in a variety of industries. The company said it had reduced its shareholdings in 24 companies and increased them in 10, including two listed companies.
"If Toyota determines a shareholding is no longer meaningful or the meaning of a shareholding has been diluted due to changes in business environment or other reasons, (it) will proceed with the sale of such shares," Toyota said in the report.
Toyota currently has an interest in 174 firms, including 65 listed companies, compared with 200 firms in 2015, of which 80 were listed companies, according to Reuters.
In January, Toyota announced a $394 million investment in California aviation startup Joby Aviation. The company is developing vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) aircraft designed to carry passengers.
Uber is also working on VTOL aircraft as part of its aerial ride-sharing business Uber Air. The first flights are scheduled for 2023.
- Honda. Motor Co Invests in Battery Maker CATL, Will Jointly Develop EV Batteries
- Tesla is ‘Very Close’ to Level-5 Autonomous Driving, Chief Executive Elon Musk Says
- Uber Launches a Grocery Delivery Service in South America & Canada, Will Soon Launch in the U.S.
- Tesla Reports Better Than Expected Q2 Deliveries, Stock Reaches an All-Time High
- TuSimple Launches the World’s First Autonomous Freight Delivery Service
- The Lucid Motors Air Sedan Will Be One of the Most Aerodynamic Vehicles Ever Made
- Online Auto Retailer Shift Technologies Plans to Go Public Through a Reverse Merger
- Volvo Car Group is Partnering With Waymo to Develop Robotaxis


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The policy was approved by the ATA Board of Directors at its July meeting. The Board acted to minimize damage done by counterfeit products, including lost income for manufacturers and decreased funding for conservation efforts from reduced federal excise taxes paid on legitimate archery equipment. Counterfeit products also jeopardize the safety of anyone using them.
ATA members expressed support for the ATA’s counterfeiting policy as they became familiar with it in recent weeks. They’ve sent the ATA thankful emails, supportive posts on social media, and creative videos like the one mentioned earlier and described below.
T.R.U. Ball Archery’s 1-minute, 34-second video showcases popular archers expressing their devotion to genuine products, and endorsing the video’s theme: “Protect the sport you love. Shoot only originals.”
The video’s powerful message urges the archery community to be aware of counterfeit products and not trust them. If you love archery and want to support the sport and stay safe, use only original name-brand products.
Manufacturers’ concerns and support for the new ATA policy are just the beginning of the industry’s war on counterfeiters. As ATA president/CEO Jay McAninch said in a previous article, “We’ll never eliminate counterfeiting, but we can reduce blatant acts of counterfeiting and drive it far underground.”
ATA members must be vigilant and provide evidence of counterfeiting to ATA staff. If you find evidence of counterfeiting — whether physical products or online advertising that makes unauthorized use of industry photos or descriptions —contact Wendy Lang, ATA membership manager, at firstname.lastname@example.org. Lang can also be reached at (507) 233-8134, or toll-free at (866) 266-2776, ext. 103.


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Grocerant niche Ready-2-Eat and Heat-N-Eat fresh prepared food continues to drive top line growth and bottom line profits in every retail foodservice sector according to Tacoma, WA based Foodservice Solutions® Grocerant Guru® Steven Johnson. One big reason is continued customer adoption of fresh prepared meal components that comprise most portal mini meals today.
Today consumers of 88% of Americans over the age of 18, in every region of the country, male, female and income group consume mini meals (snacks), meal components at least once a month according to Johnson. Why to retailers it simply should not matter. What should matter is consumer’s rapid adoption of fresh prepared food.
According to Nielsen despite evolving eating preferences and tastes, American consumers still reach for sweet and salty snacking staples. Salty snacks, including chips, popcorn and meat snacks generated more than $27 billion in sales across Nielsen-measured U.S. retail stores for the year ended April 1, 2017. Sweets are close behind, with candy bringing in more than $20 billion, and cookies bringing in more than $7 billion.
The Harris Poll EquiTrend study released by Nielsen, U.S. consumers evaluated 275 snacking brands and identified their favorite items to reach for when they have snack cravings. The majority of consumers chose items from the candy/chocolate category, but there were some notable differences by region.
Consumers in the East and West ranked cheese, particularly Sargento Sliced Cheese in the East and Tillamook and Sargento Ultra-Thin Cheese in the West, in their top 15 snack items. Consumers in the Midwest also ranked non-sweet categories as their favorites, including Ritz Crackers and Wonderful Pistachios.
Mini meals will likely continue to drive top line sale and bottom line profits. While no one at Foodservice Solutions® was surprised that candy was a top snack. What retails must understand is the rapid rise of fresh foods from nuts, cheese, meats (beef jerky), milk products.
Foodservice Solutions® specializes in outsourced business development. We can help you identify, quantify and qualify additional food retail segment opportunities or a new menu product segment and brand and menu integration strategy. Foodservice Solutions® of Tacoma WA is the global leader in the Grocerant niche visit Facebook.com/Steven Johnson, Linkedin.com/in/grocerant/ or twitter.com/grocerant


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Miss Galaxy International 2011, Jamie Lee Williams becomes the face of SwimSexy.
Jamie Lee Williams, the beautiful Welsh model who won her Miss Galaxy International crown earlier this month has become the new face of designer swimwear line SwimSexy by Sandstorm Boutique.
By: Sandstorm Boutique
Jamie Lee Williams, the beautiful Welsh model who won her Miss Galaxy International crown earlier this month after beating a bevy of beauties has become the new face of designer swimwear line SwimSexy by Sandstorm Boutique.
Sandstorm Boutique is owned by young entrepreneur Naomi John, and the company sells exclusive designer swim collections from the top designers to customers across the globe. The company which is also a favourite shopping location for many celebrities has also created and brought to market its own in-house designer collections in the past 18 months. The collections called SwimSexy and Lizzie beach have both been very well received and are achieving great sales.
Naomi created the gorgeous swimwear line SwimSexy in 2010 for the 2011 season and in the past few months she has also created and developed a stunning resort wear collection in collaboration with the TV Presenter Lizzie Cundy called 'Lizzie Beach'.
“We’re very excited about working with Jamie Lee” said Naomi, “she is a lovely lady who looks fantastic and she has the perfect look for our SwimSexy line. We are delighted she has decided to join our team. We have worked with Jamie Lee previously on a swimwear shoot so we know the SwimSexy shoot will be amazing”.
The SwimSexy 2012 collection will go on sale in October 2011
For further information on Sandstorm Boutique, SwimSexy and Jamie Lee please contact:
For - Sandstorm Boutique – SwimSexy - firstname.lastname@example.org
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Sandstorm Boutique exclusive designerswimwear store. They sell beautiful designer swimwear and beachwear to women who enjoy the feel and look of luxury.
Page Updated Last on: Sep 01, 2011


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BERLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Einride, a freight mobility technology company that provides digital, electric, and autonomous shipping, today announced its expansion into Europe’s largest transportation market – Germany. In conjunction with the official launch, Einride has signed an impressive list of local partners including global appliance leader Electrolux.
“Germany is in the driving seat of Europe; where it goes others follow suit,” said Robert Falck, Founder and CEO of Einride. “We have the opportunity and technology to bring the biggest change to the freight industry since the invention of the internal combustion engine and are ready to join forces with local partners to make transportation history.”
Through its freight mobility platform Einride Saga, electric and autonomous fleets and charging and connectivity networks, Einride enables companies to move goods from A to B in a smart, green and cost-effective way. It already operates a large fleet of heavy-duty electric trucks in Sweden and the U.S., where Einride partners with industry giants such as Lidl Sweden, Maersk and Oatly. Operations with Electrolux follow a successful partnership in Sweden and are expected to reduce CO2 emission by 92% compared to driving with diesel. Other Einride partners have seen a similar decrease while matching the cost of diesel.
“The German road freight sector is facing its biggest challenge to date – with rising fuel and energy costs, a driver shortage and the government demanding emissions be cut in half by 2030,” said Robert Ziegler, General Manager Europe of Einride. “We know that through digitalization, automation and electrification we can dramatically reduce costs, delivery times and emissions. Now it’s time for German shippers to adopt a new generation of freight technology and future-proof their business.”
Einride will initially set up a regional office in Berlin. In addition to the German capital focus, logistical hubs in Hamburg and the Ruhr Area will also be built. A charging grid along Germany's most important commercial routes and neighboring trade regions will be implemented to enable customers and partners to seamlessly electrify transportation.
Einride is a freight mobility technology company building the grid for the future of the shipping industry. Founded in 2016, Einride became the first company to pioneer a freight mobility grid by deploying an autonomous, electric vehicle on a public road (Sweden, 2019). In 2022, it was the first company to receive approval to operate a pod on a U.S. public road. Through its freight mobility platform Einride Saga, its electric and autonomous fleets, and its charging and connectivity networks, Einride enables shippers to deploy sustainable and cost-competitive freight mobility for their business. For more information, please visit einride.tech.


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PC retailer and manufacturer Time Computers has insisted that its financial status is sound, despite industry rumours that the company has been in urgent refinancing talks with HSBC because of declining...
For those that have been to the CRN Sales and Marketing Awards, one or several of these points will strike a chord!
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Ben Boswell says opportunity around DevOps start-ups GitLab and HashiCorp is rocketing as he returns to the market with D|OPS Digital
Healthcare workers are a prime target for hackers, according to David Critchley
Demand for products to enable remote working and learning will see a strong Q2, according to IDC


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Alphabet (GOOGL) - Get Alphabet Inc. Class A Report continues to rank as Bank of America’s best positioned online media stock, as the technology juggernaut prepares to release third-quarter earnings Tuesday.
“We continue to rate Google as our top 2021 FANG [Facebook (FB) - Get Facebook, Inc. Class A Report, Apple (AAPL) - Get Apple Inc. (AAPL) Report/Amazon (AMZN) - Get Amazon.com, Inc. Report, Netflix (NFLX) - Get Netflix, Inc. (NFLX) Report, Google] given exposure to cyclical recovery versus peers with tough comparisons,” BofA analyst Justin Post wrote Sunday.
“Despite added IDFA [identifier for advertising] and supply chain uncertainty in the fourth quarter, we remain constructive on the stock,” he said. That’s partly because of his “reasonable” price-earnings ratio estimate of 18 based on 2022 core earnings.
His bullishness also owes to “expected … stability of search versus social due to added fourth-quarter search activity and travel/local ad recovery, and potential for $10 billion-plus, three-year cloud profit improvement.”
To be sure, risks include unexpected deceleration in ad revenue growth in the fourth quarter, due to slowing e-commerce volume (supply chain issues), and potential for a re-investment cycle to drive margin declines in 2022, Post said.
There also may be new regulatory challenges, with the revenue of Alphabet’s app store Google Play most at risk, he said.
Post has a buy rating and a $3,150 price target for Alphabet. The bank’s show of support didn’t have much impact on the stock, which recently traded at $2,746.57, down 0.17% at last check.
Morningstar analyst Ali Mogharabi puts fair value at $3,200 for Alphabet and assigns it a wide moat. “We expect the economic recovery, which Morningstar forecasts to continue through 2025, will drive solid overall advertising growth,” helping Alphabet, he wrote last month.


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Danone Aqua, a subsidiary of Danone, has partnered with Re>Pal Indonesia to convert its oriented polypropylene plastics label waste into pallets.
The agreement will see Danone Aqua send its Aqua label waste – taken from a bottle separation facility in Pasuruan, Indonesia – to Re>Pal, which will then use up to a maximum of 25 per cent of that waste in its pallets.
The news forms part of Danone Aqua’s pledge to create a circular economy for packaging and address plastics waste challenges in Indonesia by collecting more plastics waste than it produces by 2025.
“The plastics waste problem is not something we can tackle alone, that is why we are developing innovative partnerships with multiple stakeholders across the value chain,” said Corine Tap, president director at Danone Aqua. “In the context of this collaboration, we will look at other areas where Re>Pal’s technology can help us recycle packaging into pallets that we can then purchase across our business units.”


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It always seems to happen: Long before it is time to stow your tray table, your laptop battery gives out, and you spend the rest of your cross-country trip reading the SkyMall catalog.
In the information age, people want their electronics everywhere they go, and they want them to be on all the time. But they rely on batteries that have not improved as rapidly as the devices they power. Moore’s Law, which offers a yardstick for the exponential advances in computer chips, has no counterpart in the world of batteries.
Researchers are certainly trying to improve the situation, in part because there is money to be made. Portable rechargeable batteries are expected to be a $6.2 billion market this year, and more than one billion batteries will be made by some of the largest electronics companies in the world: Sony, Sanyo, Matsushita and Samsung.
But scientists are running into some basic hurdles of chemistry and physics. The more energy they store in a small package, the more volatile and dangerous that package becomes.
The volatility of batteries in laptops, and those powering millions of portable consumer devices from cellphones to power drills, was made apparent Monday with Dell’s recall of 4.1 million laptop batteries. Dell said the batteries, made by Sony, could catch fire because of a problem in the manufacturing process.
Though the chance of a flaming notebook is small, the number of incidents involving burning batteries is rising each year because there are so many more devices using small and powerful power sources.
There is another pressing reason for the quest for improvements: battery-powered cars. An electric car needs a power source that is 2,000 times as powerful as a laptop battery. “That size would be extremely dangerous,” said Sanjeev Mukerjee, a chemistry and chemical biology professor at Northeastern University. “This technology has a downside, and that is that it is very sensitive to how it is manufactured.”
The potential for fire in a lithium-ion battery is a result of its chemical composition. Contained in that small package are all the elements needed for a fierce blaze: carbon, oxygen and a flammable fluid. The battery is made of a thin layer of lithium cobalt oxide, which serves as the cathode, and a strip of graphite, the anode. These are separated by a porous insulator and surrounded by fluid, a lithium salt electrolyte that happens to be highly flammable.
When the battery is charged, lithium ions on the cathode migrate to the anode. As the battery is used, the ions migrate back to provide the energy. In the charged state, the cathode without most of its ions is highly unstable. If a spark occurs, the temperature of the cathode can exceed 275 degrees.
That is hot enough to cause the cathode to decompose and release oxygen. A fire starts, and as heat builds the battery begins what scientists call a “thermal runaway.” In the case of the Sony-made batteries recalled by Dell, a microscopic metal particle that contaminated the electrolyte during manufacturing caused the spark.
Scientists are looking for new battery chemistry that does not involve carbon, oxygen and fuel. One route is to make an electrolyte that is not flammable, said Jai Prakash, associate professor of chemical engineering at the Illinois Institute of Technology. But much of the work is concentrated on replacing the cobalt-based cathode with magnesium. Others want to get the carbon out of the system. Sony, for instance, has a new generation of batteries that use tin.
Valence Technology, a maker of alternatives to lithium-ion batteries in Austin, Tex., uses a phosphate-based cathode. “Consumers do a lot of bad things to battery packs,” said James R. Akridge, Valence’s chief executive. “These provide an extra measure of safety if they shake it or smack it.”
Valence products are used in Segway scooters and hospital diagnostic equipment. But the company has no intentions of competing against the large lithium-ion battery makers in the market for consumer devices. Mr. Akridge said the big companies dominate because they compete on price, and “price is determined by scale.”
As consumers demand more from notebooks and cellphones, the electronics industry may need a whole new way of thinking about power supplies. The most likely candidates are miniaturized versions of the fuel cells that are being developed for cars. Fuel cells use hydrogen, but because hydrogen is hard to store and handle, many microcells get hydrogen from fuels like methanol.
Microcells intrigue companies that make laptops, cellphones and other portable devices because they can store far more energy than comparably sized batteries. Methanol-based microcells, for instance, have roughly 10 times the energy density, creating the prospect of wireless laptops that could run all day without recharging, according to Rick Cooper, vice president for business development of PolyFuel Inc. The company, based in Mountain View, Calif., supplies components to several Asian manufacturers that have been working on such devices.
“The energy capacity of batteries is increasing 5 percent to 8 percent annually, but demand is increasing exponentially,” Mr. Cooper said.
The tweaking of materials and chemicals in the lithium-ion battery will extend its usefulness for at least another decade or more, said Gao Liu, a scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He expects innovation to come slowly.
“We don’t see any new energy storage devices,” Mr. Liu said. The best bet for the future is probably fuel cells, he said, but it may be more than a decade before they start appearing in mass-market portable devices.
Microcells have been just over the industry’s horizon since Toshiba demonstrated a prototype at a trade show in 2003. Pulling together all of the components has proved more challenging than fuel cell advocates predicted.
Manufacturers of fuel cells have been looking to the military and niche markets like users of professional video cameras as their first customers.
Nanotechnology, the fast-developing field that involves manipulating materials at scales measured in billionths of a meter, is likely to play a significant role in the future of consumer batteries. One essential for further development of current battery designs is the ability to cram more energy into today’s packaging. Nanoscale processes could be used to make the surfaces of electrodes more porous, creating a larger surface area for chemical reactions.
Nanotechnology could also help improve the performance of competing technology like fuel cells. “Designer” molecules and films that could act as improved catalysts in fuel cells are a hot research area.
But to some nanotechnology companies, consumer batteries are too competitive to be a high priority. Altair Nanotechnologies, based in Reno, Nev., claims that its technology has safety advantages over lithium-ion batteries, but Altair executives say the difference would not be enough to win over makers of laptops and cellphones. Nor could Altair compete on cost.
“If you go into laptops, you are competing with well-entrenched companies that make millions of batteries and have been doing it for years,” said Alan J. Gotcher, Altair’s chief executive. from this link


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Popular Gaming Empire, Konami, To Launch A Web3 And NFTs Marketplace
The Japanese gaming empire Konami recently announced that it would soon launch its marketplace. On the platform, users can buy and sell in-game NFTs and different types of Web3 services and products, as reported.
Konami To Build A Marketplace For NFTs And Web 3 Trades
According to reports, Konami, a giant Japanese entertainment empire, plans to create its NFT and Web3 marketplace. Also, it revealed its plans to recruit technology-inclined experts to help build its intended marketplace.
Furthermore, the gaming firm is actively researching how to create games from the latest inventions. It added that it focuses on building a platform on blockchain where gamers can trade their in-game NFTs.
In addition, Konami informed that Non-Fungible tokens (NFTs) have several use cases and purposes. NFTs can be used to designate a unique reward item in a game; also, they serve as fan tokens or tickets to occasions and so on.
Meanwhile, Konami has been making advances in the blockchain industry before now. Reports showed that Konami marked its 35th Castlevania anniversary with the sales of an NFTs collection earlier this year. According to reports, most of the NFTs Konami used then were designed with GIFs of Castlevania gameplay snippets.
NFT Sector Records Drastic Declination In Trading Volume
In addition, it is interesting that Konami decided to venture into the Non-fungible tokens space when the market was brutally bearish. According to reports, the trading volume of NFTs has been nose-diving for months unending.
Currently, the industry’s value has declined by almost 100% from its all-time high in January 2022. In January, the sector recorded a whooping trading volume of 17 billion USD.
However, due to the current unfavorable and bearish market, the trading volume has drastically declined to just $465 million in Sept. This amounts to a 97% loss of its peak value in January.
According to analysts, the deep plunge in NFTs trading volume aligns with the general downturn in the blockchain and stock market. Also, the declining NFT market is part of the $2 trillion loss incurred generally in the crypto space.
Furthermore, some analysts argued that the prevalent European war, increasing inflation, and poor monetary policies caused unfavorable market conditions. They claimed that the factors above narrowed the investment flows to the financial assets.


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Exeter Finance lands $150M line of credit
- Jeff Bounds, Staff Writer
(Page 3 of 4)
While Exeter doesn’t necessarily seek to do business with all subprime auto borrowers, Floyd maintains that there is plenty of business in the space that his company targets.
“We think it’s a $30 billion to $40 billion a year business,” he said of the market. “So we don’t need to compete with (big lenders). We have plenty to choose from in the niche where we play.”
Exeter currently does business with roughly 1,200 auto dealers, Floyd said. He believes the company will eventually be working with between 8,000 and 10,000 dealers, out of a total universe of 18,000 or so.
“That gives us a lot of growth in front of us,” he said.
Prime time for subprime
Analysts agree that now, in the beginning of the economic recovery, is when auto subprime lenders are going to do especially well.
“I think it’s a very good time to be a subprime player,” said Mack Caldwell, senior vice president and team leader of auto asset-backed securities at Moody’s Investors Service Inc. in New York. “The folks originating auto loans are survivors of the Great Recession ... We’re in the infancy of the recovery. It’s a profitable space, there’s less competition, and you have the luxury of attracting (customers with) better credit and charging (them) more.”
Casey Thormahlen, lead research analyst in the Los Angeles office of market researcher IBISWorld Inc., points to statistics that indicate now is a good time for subprime auto lenders:
n American consumers have some of the lowest debt levels in the last 10 years. The average consumer is spending 12.1 percent of disposable income on servicing debt, compared with 13.9 percent at the peak in third quarter of 2007. “The last time we saw these levels was the first quarter of 2000,” Thormahlen said.
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Health Information Manager / HIM Select Medical - Long Term Acute Care Hospital | Carrollton, TX


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GM has reported a fall in car sales in December in what was a disappointing month for US car makers.
GM stocks fell 2.4% after it reported a 6.3% fall in sales compared with December 2012.
Ford and Chrysler both reported rising sales, but not the increases that industry analysts were expecting.
Chrysler sold 161,000 cars and trucks in December, up 5.7% on the same period in 2012 and Ford reported a 1.8% rise in December sales.
Analysts said that poor weather in parts of the US kept customers away from dealerships in December.
“At the very beginning of the month the pace of buying was slow because there were so many storms around the country,” said Edmunds.com senior analyst Michelle Krebs.
“Now what we’re seeing is some of the automakers are stretching their December deals into January.”
Kurt McNeil, vice president, of US sales for GM, said: “December started a little slow but sales were stronger later in the month, especially in the week between Christmas and New Year.”
Meanwhile Ford said that a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving late in November may have brought forward sales that would have fallen in December.
For Chrysler the Jeep brand continued to be a strong performer with a 34% rise in sales last month.
With a 9% rise in annual sales, 2013 was the strongest year for Chrysler since 2007.
“Our Jeep and Ram truck brands had a strong finish led by the all new 2014 Jeep Cherokee and the Ram pickup truck,” said Reid Bigland, head of US sales.
Overall, sales in 2013 were strong for the big three Detroit car manufacturers, who were helped along by strong sales of their truck offerings.
Truck sales tend to increase in relation to home sales, which were strong for much of the year as the US economic recovery spurred long-delayed housing activity.
“Trucks on the road are even older than cars on the road,” said Michelle Krebs.
However, Toyota, the third biggest player in the US market, didn’t do as well as the US manufacturers.
Toyota saw sales in December decline by 1.7% from a year ago to 190,843.
Analysts had been expecting Toyota to report rising sales.
However, 2013 is expected to be the best year for US auto market since 2007, with total annual sales of about 15.6 million.
That would be a strong recovery from 2009 when sales fell to 10.4 million during the depths of the recession.


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|Day's Range||48.22 - 48.98|
|52 Week Range||46.07 - 66.50|
|PE Ratio (TTM)||23.60|
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|1y Target Est||N/A|
In March this year, Dish Network raised $1 billion in debt to finance wireless and spectrum-related strategic transactions. In July, reports surfaced that Dish Network and Amazon could partner to set up a narrow band Internet of Things (IoT) network.
As more and more streaming services come online, and younger content consumers simply do not care where or how they view content, the traditional cable/satellite model is struggling. As time goes on and this trend locks in, the most likely beneficiary may be Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN). It’s just one more reason to own AMZN stock.
Disney has struck a deal to buy film, television and international businesses from Rupert Murdoch's 21st Century Fox Inc for $52.4 billion in stock. Yahoo Finance’s Alexis Christofourous, Rick Newman, Justine Underhil and Dan Howley discuss the mega-merger deal.


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Apple’s beautiful Bejing Retail Store
Apple felt incredibly bullish on China in today’s conference call, rattling off numbers that even Tim Cook admitted they wouldn’t have believed if they had been told a year ago. How big is China for Apple?
In the year ago quarter, Apple counted $630 Million in revenues from China. Today, Apple grew that by a factor of six to $3.8B of the total $28+B of their total revenues for the quarter. That’s 13.3% of Apple’s total business by revenue which now comes from China.
To put that in perspective, $3.8B would have been over two-thirds of Apple’s 2007 (iPhone release) same quarter revenue and more than Apple’s whole global revenue for June ’05.
But ‘we’re only scratching the surface’.
Cook talked again about pre-paid phones (which are dominant in China) and a deal with the 600M-user China Mobile which is said to be in the wings. Apple is also said to be exploring a cheaper iPhone offering which would appeal to a much broader swath of the Chinese market (Indian too). This comes against a backdrop of Google Chairmen Eric Schmidt who is also bullish on Asia for Android.
Apple is also being aggressive in their China retail stores, choosing to open larger flagship stores which take more time to build. CFO Peter Oppenheimer mentioned that the Hong Kong Flagship store at the IFC would be opening this quarter. But Apple has an order of magnitude more stores opening up across China. Apple now sells through four stores. They have over 30 planned just for the next year.
If Apple’s growth in China stays on the current pace, which ‘scratching the surface’ seems to at least partially imply, China will account for over $20B in revenue at this time next year – which could start approach Apple’s US revenues even if Apple continues to grow globally as it has.
Below is an edited transcript of Cook’s remarks on China from Macworld: expand full story


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A new survey from market research firm Ipsos finds that by the end of 2006 nearly 100 million Americans age 12 or older had streamed some sort of online video. The number translates to about 44 percent of the entire U.S. population over the age of 12, and, according to Ipsos, highlights how online video is capturing the minds and hearts of the American public. Some 22 percent of Americans aged 12 and over reporting having downloaded a digital video file.
"Clearly the YouTube phenomenon has caught on with Americans, and given their appetite for video, the ability to select and watch exactly what you want online has become a strong lure for many consumers," said Brian Cruikshank, Executive Vice President of the Ipsos Insight Technology & Communications practice. "While streaming video online has clearly emerged as Americans’ favorite way to access video online, it also may be blazing a trail for other video formats and acquisition methods in the future."
The numbers come from Ipsos from MOTION, the firm’s bi-annual study of digital video behaviors.
The study found that teens and young adults are the most likely demographic to be streaming online video: 73 percent of respondents between the ages of 12 and 17 reported having streamed online video, as did 75 percent of respondents between ages 18 and 24. Ipsos also found Americans who tap into online video streams are an advertising demographer’s dream, being more likely to have high-speed Internet access, high levels of education, and (of course) high incomes, even when compared to other Americans with Internet access.
What do these folks stream? Short clips. Three quarters of all digital video streamers reported having streamed short clips from news or sports programming, while two third reported streaming amateur or home-made video clips. Ipsos speculates the popularity of short-format clips has been driven by YouTube, and reports that more than 40 percent of respondents who streamed video reported having access the site. Other commonly visited video streaming sites included MySpace and Google Video.
The study also found that teens and young adults store 20 percent of their video library in writable digital format, whether on hard drive or to DVD-R discs, as opposed to standard DVD or (shudder) VHS format. Ipsos forecasts the size of consumers’ digital video libraries will expand as the marketplace for streamed and downloaded video grows.
"Perhaps more impressive than simply how many young adults are currently tapping the Internet for their video entertainment, is that given how important it is for many marketers today to reach this group, we could be witnessing a tipping point in the evolution of digital video offerings online," said Cruikshank.
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After the turmoil of the past few years, relationships are more important in navigating the market.
Originally printed in the September 2023 issue of Produce Business.
With fuel prices stable and rates moderating, produce transportation is shaking off at least some of the troubles that plagued the sector during the COVID-19 pandemic and the global instability that followed its peak. Challenges remain, though, with a tight labor market, crime and climate change.
Freight rates have declined, which is one element in the produce transportation sector that has seen some normalization.
Evan Kazan, vice president at Target Interstate Systems, Bronx, NY, says basic economics have been behind rate declines.
“Capacity has exceeded demand for the last several months,” he observes. “That has caused rates to come down.”
But comparisons to previous years show the decline is still a higher plateau for transportation rates.
John Ryan, Boston office general manager for the Allen Lund Co., La Cañada, CA, pulled some numbers from California to Massachusetts for the last four Junes. “In June 2020, the average truck price was $7,275. In 2021, it went to $10,800, up 48%. In 2022, it was $8,952, down 17%, and this year it was $8,219, down another 8%. It is still up 13% from 2020 to 2023.”
However, don’t look for rates to stay down. Fred Plotsky, president of Cool Runnings, Kenosha, WI, expects lower rates will lead to a rebound. Many companies that started trucking operations when rates were peaking during the pandemic often had limited experience and spent too much on equipment. Operations, focused on the spot market, have been further undermined by the return of customers to contract arrangements.
Although the competition that’s developed has helped lower rates, Plotsky says companies that aren’t economically viable can hang around the market and even undermine established companies.
“That’s definitely a concern,” says Plotsky, “if they can withstand a slow bleed to buy time for rates to come back, then eventually get out, the guys who are left may say, ‘There’s a truck for every road, let’s firm up rates.’”
The reality is, he says, not everybody is going to make it, given market conditions.
“You’ve got carriers that are working at 20% below cost,” he says.
Chris Sujka, director of sales, TransLoop, Chicago, IL, says although the past couple of years have had ups and downs, the challenge today is “finding the bottom line in terms of where we can connect with shippers and carriers to keep companies in business. Rates continue to fall, and trucking companies are having a hard time keeping their lights on due to the competitive market.”
TransLoop has been able to keep costs in line, Sujka says. “We have been on a steady growth path over the past three years, not much has changed specifically. Contracted rates are down, but volume is still high.”
Target Interstate’s Kazan says costs are significantly less than three years ago, but have “definitely plateaued.”
“The cost to operate a truck rose sharply over the last few years, which raised the floor for freight costs,” he explains. “In addition, when the trucks have to wait long periods between their loads, their monthly expenses per trip increase, raising the floor even more.”
Still, all the turmoil of the past few years has made relationships more important in navigating the market.
“Relationships are better because there is a larger need for transparency and collaborative thinking/efforts to get orders sourced,” says Sujka.
While relationships remain important and helped companies through the pandemic, Plotsky notes shippers who paid big bucks to move their goods amid the pandemic have, in some cases, become less cooperative as the freight tables turned.
“Some say, ‘it’s just about the money,’” he says. “That’s their transportation creed.”
“We have some customers that our relationship got stronger, and some that we realized are strictly about the price,” says Allen Lund Co.’s Ryan. “The one thing that is certain is we have a much better idea of where we stand with every customer. We learned who were partners and who are transactional customers.”
As he looks ahead for the rest of 2023 and 2024, Ryan identifies a couple of critical considerations.
“The first is the amount of theft, fraud and double brokering that is going on in the industry right now. This is an issue that shippers and brokers need to work together to resolve. It is quite evident that the government will not get involved,” Ryan says. “The second is new regulations that California will develop to further hinder the industry.”
Wendy Adan, manager of Allen Lund’s San Francisco office, agrees thefts are a “massive concern.”
As carriers are getting more creative and using technology to get loads, it “creates the need for additional security measures and personnel to ensure we know the trailer’s location at all times. It is becoming very costly in aspects.”
Target Interstate Systems’ Kazan says although truck availability has been “plentiful” for the most part, he has seen “pockets of tightness here and there.”
“The biggest issue is that freight coming off the East Coast has been really tough lately, making it hard for trucks to make their turns and get back to the West Coast quickly. Many trucks wait several days or even a week before being able to get their reload, and the rates going back to California are less than half what they are from California.”
Scheduling is evolving as more technology is adopted.
“Scheduling is an issue we always adapt to,” says Ryan. “We adjust to the technology. Availability is back to normal cycles as well.”
Adan noted scheduling has become easier, “especially with those who manage their appointments with our Alchemy TMS.”
“The only challenge with those who schedule over the phone is the wait time, and once you speak to a clerk, appointments are gone. Drivers need to be unloaded as early as possible, and having late appointments creates issues with ELDs and unnecessary idle time,” says Adan.
“Technology has significantly impacted our sector, and if you want to remain a key player, you must be able to adapt,” adds Adan. “Compliance, reporting, tracking and tracing, and KPIs are constantly looked at, and customers expect you to be available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, technology is a must. Privacy laws are a big point of contention, and I am unsure how to mitigate that where all parties feel it is fair.”
Tracking is the biggest difference, Ryan contends. “It used to be, we let customers know when there was an issue. Now, almost every customer wants the ability to know where their loads are at all times.”
With labor tougher to get, scheduling has benefited from automation, says Plotsky, and companies have figured out how to do scheduling online. “Companies have been trying and have successfully done away with scheduling with human interaction.”
Still, interchange with customers requires flexibility to address changing conditions.
“There is a great emphasis on compliance, and customers are asking for a lot more tracking and tracing, along with the lowest price possible,” says Adan. “Most customers are reasonable, understand our business’ ebbs and flows, and are willing to be true partners. Maintaining a high level of service while adapting to the customer’s needs and being quick to pivot when the market demands is crucial.”
For the most part, Adan adds, customers are taking steps to be more efficient by consolidating produce loads.
“In the recent past, customers would move 18 pallets of light product from coast to coast. Now in California, we are seeing more local runs to make sure the long-haul trucks are being filled to capacity before heading to their final destinations.”
The labor situation remains a tricky element in the transportation equation. Although it’s eased somewhat, a lack of truck drivers is still an issue.
The relatively high average age of truckers and the decision of some to retire doesn’t necessarily suggest a new development in the transportation sector, says Target Interstate Systems’ Kazan, but rather a temporary acceleration of an ongoing reality.
“On average the long-haul truck driver workforce has always been older than the overall workforce,” says Kazan. “It’s been an ongoing issue for many years that doesn’t seem to be changing.”
Although Cool Runnings has been able to maintain itself in a good labor position, Plotsky says people aren’t exactly rushing to fill available transportation jobs. “You still can’t find people to work,” he says.
Adan adds that maintaining a solid driver/carrier base will be an ongoing consideration and part of a larger concern as equipment and fuel costs increase over time.
“For many of them, moving the truck at these lower rates does not cover the cost of keeping it running, so, often they sit until they can find a good-paying load. During COVID, the abundance of loads combined with capacity constraints created a perfect environment for drivers to be much more selective, often avoiding multi-pick loads and even converting their refrigerated trailers to dry for less liability,” says Adan.
Driver issues are set to be compounded by California law and its potential reclassification of certain workers as employees rather than independent contractors, which has an effect on the transportation sector.
“California’s AB5 law affected many small companies, and several moved out of state. Although Class 8 truck states still show growth, getting good drivers is a constant challenge,” says Adan.
• • •
Transportation Demand Influences Produce Industry
According to the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the transportation sector continues to suffer some softness in demand due to lower consumer spending and home construction, among other factors, which should mean the produce industry should enjoy a fair advantage in moving goods.
“While the tonnage index increased in both May and June, it remains in recession territory,” says ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “The index continues to fall from a year earlier and is off 1.9% from its recent peak in September 2022.”
Costello says a multitude of factors has caused a recession in freight, including stagnant consumer spending on goods, lower home construction, falling factory output, and shippers consolidating freight into fewer shipments. “However, the magnitude of the year-over-year declines is improving, perhaps pointing to a bottom in the freight market.”
The ATA advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose 2.1% in June after gaining 1.2% in May. In June, the index equaled 116.5 when compared with 114.1 in May. In the index, 100 equals 2015 volume.
Compared with June 2022, the SA index decreased 0.8%, which was the fourth straight year-over-year decrease. In May, the index was down 2.4% from a year earlier.


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There began South Africa’s very own fast-food fairy tale.
A video of the KFC proposal was taken and shared to social media by a surprised observer, identified by KFC as Kateka Malobola. His impromptu recording has since been viewed over 1.4 million times on Twitter. On Thursday KFC publicly thanked Malobola for “capturing the beautiful moment” and sharing it with the world. Then it appealed for help finding the couple.
With a little help from two viral hashtags: #KFCProposal and #KFCWedding, the couple were soon identified as Bhut’ Hector and Nonhlanhla.
With almost 300,000 tweets about the happy incident, South Africans united in their efforts to give the newly engaged couple the best wedding ever. While some strangers offered to help design wedding invites, others said they would make traditional wedding outfits for the pair.
A spreadsheet was even created to keep track of the Internet’s collective acts of kindness. On the list? Tents, sheep and formal shoes.
Then the brands got involved, offering free transportation, food and drink for the couple’s big day and their upcoming honeymoon.
“These honeymoon destinations look far. Someone needs to drive them there. We got you," tweeted South Africa’s official Audi account.
“Just like your chicken and our Coke® are the perfect pair, and we’re all for bringing people together. The soft drinks for the wedding are on us!” tweeted Coca Cola South Africa.
Aware that wedding planning can be somewhat stressful, Sony Movies took to Twitter on Friday to offer the couple movie tickets and popcorn to help them unwind.
On Friday, Malobola shared another video in which he said he was feeling “very teary” and provided more details about the proposal. “I took the video and sent it to a group that I’ve got on my WhatsApp to say ‘check this out’ and I put it on Facebook and put it on Instagram and then boom! The whole country’s got a bloody wedding!” he said.
“The couple’s pretty much covered when it comes to the wedding costs from what I’m seeing,” he added. “just from a single video.”
Speaking of the groom-to-be, Malobola said “I’m not as brave as he is,” while describing the scene he witnessed as “genuine love.”
On Friday, KFC South Africa said it would be meeting with the couple and vowed to keep people posted on any developments. “South Africa, you guys are amazing!” the restaurant tweeted.
KFC could not immediately be reached for comment.


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Chicago Analysis Reveals 96% of Airbnb Revenue Came From Operators Listing Units for Rent More Than 30 Days a Year
May 10, 2016 12:15pm
Amounts to $47.6 million in revenue; Multi-unit operators generate nearly 40% ($19 million) of Airbnb’s revenue in the Chicago region.
WASHINGTON, D.C., May 10, 2016 – The American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) today released a new study that provides a detailed analysis of the rise in commercial activity taking place in Chicago on Airbnb, one of the most trafficked short-term rental websites. The study was conducted by John O’Neill, MAI, ISHC, Ph.D., professor of hospitality management and director of the Center for Hospitality Real Estate Strategy in the School of Hospitality Management at Penn State University, and examined activity on Airbnb between October 2014 and September 2015.
The study builds on the national analysis released earlier this year that shows a troubling trend: a growing number of commercial operators are using Airbnb to run unregulated, and often illegal, lodging businesses.
“Chicago, like many large metropolitan areas across the country, is seeing a significant growth in the number of Airbnb hosts that are renting out their units full-time, or operating multiple units, as unregulated, and often illegal and unlicensed, hotel businesses. The rise of these commercial hosts represents a large and growing revenue stream for short-term online rental platforms like Airbnb and a challenge for elected officials who are trying to protect communities and ensure a level playing field for businesses in Chicago,” said Marc Gordon, President & CEO of the Illinois Hotel & Lodging Association.
“Commercial landlords using short-term rental platforms such as Airbnb are operating on an un-even playing field from small businesses like my own, as they skirt rules and regulations that were put in place to protect our guests and the communities we operate in,” said Kapra Fleming, owner of the House of Two Urns bed & breakfast. “The Chicago tourism and lodging industry thrives on competition, and we believe that we serve our customers best by following the rules of the road. Commercial operators using sites like Airbnb should also follow the same basic set of rules and regulations that promote fairness, respect communities and protect consumers.”
“Unregulated hotels operated in residential properties are disruptive to communities and pose serious safety concerns for guests, for communities and for neighborhoods,” said AH&LA President and Chief Executive Officer Katherine Lugar. “We have seen again and again across the country that Airbnb is unwilling to be transparent with its data and be a partner in creating safe environments for its users and the communities in which it operates. And now we know why: a growing portion of Airbnb’s revenue comes from commercial landlords using the platform to operate unregulated and often illegal lodging businesses. Airbnb’s reluctance to be more forthcoming with their data should call into question their ‘honor system’ for how the short-term rental platform plans to remit taxes in the city and crack down on illegal hotels. Policymakers should act to ensure a fair travel marketplace by addressing illegal hotels and commercial operators in Chicago.”
Chicago is the third of 14 cities profiled in a series of reports that comprise a second phase of an analysis into the commercial activity being transacted on Airbnb’s platform. The initial analysis (“From Air Mattresses to Unregulated Business: An Analysis of the Other Side of Airbnb”) was released in January 2016. That analysis revealed a troubling trend: In the nation’s largest cities, multiple-unit operators and full-time operators generate a disproportionate share of the company’s revenue – and their numbers are growing. From October 2014 through September 2015, only 5% of hosts renting out three or more units drove nearly a quarter (24%) of Airbnb’s Chicago-area revenue: $12 million.
The full report is available for download on the AH&LA website at www.ahla.com.
american hotel & lodging association
Serving the hospitality industry for more than a century, the American Hotel & Lodging Association (AH&LA) is the sole national association representing all segments of the 1.9 million-employee U.S. lodging industry, including hotel owners, REITs, chains, franchisees, management companies, independent properties, state hotel associations, and industry suppliers. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., AH&LA provides focused advocacy, communications support, and educational resources for an industry of more than 53,000 properties generating $176 billion in annual sales from 5 million guestrooms.
Contact: Rosanna Maietta
Contact: Katie Longo
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The New York City Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) has alleged that Whole Foods Market, Inc. “routinely overstated the weights of its pre-packaged products—including meats, dairy and baked goods— resulting in customers being overcharged.” According to a June 24, 2015, press release, DCA found mislabeled weights on 80 different types of products sold at New York City locations, with 89 percent purportedly failing to meet federal standards “for the maximum amount that an individual package can deviate from the actual weight.”
“The overcharges ranged from $0.80 for a package of pecan panko to $14.84 for a package of coconut shrimp,” claims the agency. “The fine for falsely labeling a package is as much as $950 for the first violation and up to $1,700 for a subsequent violation. The potential number of violations that Whole Foods faces for all pre-packaged goods in the NYC stores is in the thousands.”
In particular, DCA noted that packages of nuts, berries, vegetables, and seafood were often labeled “with exactly the same weight when it would be practically impossible for all of the packages to weigh the same amount.” The agency also cited similar issues uncovered by a 2012 investigation of California stores that led to a civil consumer protection case filed by city attorneys for Santa Monica, Los Angeles and San Diego. Additional details about the settlement of that case appear in Issue 528 of this Update.
“It is unacceptable that New Yorkers shopping for a summer BBQ or who grab something to eat from the self-service aisles at New York City’s Whole Foods stores have a good chance of being overcharged,” DCA Commissioner Julie Menin is quoted as saying. “Our inspectors tell me this is the worst case of mislabeling they have seen in their careers, which DCA and New Yorkers will not tolerate. As a large chain grocery store, Whole Foods has the money and resources to ensure greater accuracy and to correct what appears to be a widespread problem—the city’s shoppers deserve to be correctly charged.”


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It might be more than half a century later, but that hasn’t stopped 91-year old Pick n Pay founder, Raymond Ackerman, from celebrating government’s decision to put a price cap on 93 octane petrol, which means retailers can effectively sell below the regulated price. Government has also reduced the levy in an effort to take pressure off hard pressed consumers.
Ackerman has a long history with petrol pricing after publicly taking on the government in the 1970s to sell petrol at a discounted price. Favourably known as South Africa’s consumer champion, it is the one fight he took on during his career that he, unfortunately, didn’t win.
Raymond had a small win in 2018 when Pick n Pay’s Smart Shopper loyalty programme partnered with BP to offer cashback in points for fuel purchases but says it was always his goal to cut petrol prices for consumers.
He explains his quest to fight for the consumer. “We were stopped when we tried to cut petrol prices at our Boksburg Hypermarket store 52 years ago as fuel producers and government always held a tight relationship. We weren’t allowed to cut petrol, or the prices of many other essential items, such as bread. We even tried to offer our customers a discount for fuel if they bought food from us but this was stopped too. Eventually, the government threatened to arrest me if I sold petrol at a discount.”
Now, 50 plus years later, Ackerman lauds the decision to discount fuel for consumers. “By cutting the price of petrol, you give real relief to customers who are taking enormous strain. There’s no good reason why petrol can’t be discounted, just like any other commodity,” concludes Ackerman.
To further help customers save on fuel costs, Pick n Pay Smart Shopper customers will earn double points every Wednesday and Friday this April when buying fuel at BP and swiping their loyalty card.


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LOS ANGELES – A British national was sentenced today to 36 months in federal prison for defrauding over 100 investors out of more than $8 million through a scheme that sold “ancient slag,” a mining waste byproduct that supposedly contained precious metals.
Michael Godfree, 80, a United Kingdom citizen who resides in the Mount Washington neighborhood of Los Angeles, was sentenced by United States District Judge John A. Kronstadt, who also ordered Godfree to pay $8,336,965 in restitution.
Godfree pleaded guilty in December 2021 to one count of mail fraud.
From 2011 to November 2017, Godfree schemed to defraud victim-purchasers of material he identified as “ancient slag” and “gold ore.” He was co-founder of The Minerals Acquisition Company (TMAC), a Pasadena-based outfit that offered to sell slag to victims who were told the company would be able to extract precious metals from this slag, which was generated from copper mining. TMAC sold ton-quantities of the slag with promises of refining the material and recovering precious metals. TMAC provided victims with supposedly attorney-certified “Certificates of Title” that purported to transfer ownership of the slag to victims.
Godfree fraudulently induced the victims to buy the “ancient slag” by falsely stating the “ancient slag” was valuable because it contained precious metals and a process would soon be available that could extract the precious metals supposedly in the slag.
In fact, Godfree and TMAC did not actually own most of the slag they sold, there was not a commercially viable process for extracting precious metals from the slag, and the business operation had not been endorsed by a lawyer.
Acting on Godfree’s false promises, victims sent the company money by mailing checks to the TMAC offices in Pasadena and by wiring money to accounts that Godfree controlled. Godfree used the funds to pay for his personal expenses.
In total, Godfree and TMAC caused losses of approximately $8,336,965 to the victims of their fraud.
TMAC was dissolved in 2015, but its operations were largely taken over by Precious Metals of North America Inc., another of Godfree’s companies.
“Godfree was nothing more than a glorified conman,” prosecutors wrote in a sentencing memorandum. “At bottom, [Godfree] was selling nothing more than worthless dirt (that he generally didn’t own) along with a non-existent ‘process’ to extract value from the dirt…. Unsurprisingly, not a single victim-purchaser has ever seen any return on their purchase. Instead, the money was spent on lavish goods and personal expenses for [Godfree].”
The FBI investigated this matter.
Assistant United States Attorney Bruce K. Riordan of the Violent and Organized Crime Section prosecuted this case.


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Playstation E3 2016 Highlights: The Biggest Game Announcements
New games, remasters, exclusives and more are coming to the Playstation 4
The biggest games have been announced during the Playstation E3 2016 press conference. Coming to the Playstation 4 are some of the major titles gamers have loved through the years as well as new ones we’re pretty sure will be added to everyone’s favorites.
Here are the major announcements from the Playstation E3 2016 Press Conference:
Playstation E3 2016 Highlights
New God of War game gameplay demo revealed
The Last Guardian will be coming to the Playstation 4 on October 25, 2016
Trailer for Days Gone, Sony’s new post-apocalyptic game, revealed
Horizon Zero Dawn releases February 28, 2017
Resident Evil 7 will launch on Playstation VR on January 24, 2017
A brand new trailer for Quantic Dreams’ Detroit: Become Human has been revealed
Original Crash Bandicoot games (Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2, and Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped) will be remastered for the Playstation 4, although a specific release date is yet to be announced
A new Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare trailer has been revealed, showcasing its out-of-this-world setting – – space!
|Call of Duty Infinite Warfare||
|Call of Duty Infinite Warfare PS4||
|Call of Duty Infinite Warfare Xbox One||
A new Spider-Man game is coming exclusively to the Playstation 4 as revealed through a short trailer during the Playstation E3 2016 conference
Which of the games mentioned caught your eye? Which ones will be added to your list? Show us your list in the comments below!
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Ubisoft E3 2016 Highlights: 12 Upcoming Games You Can’t Miss
Check out these 12 upcoming games revealed during the Ubisoft E3 2016 press conference!


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The best of golf meets the best of technology once again this Labor Day weekend at the Dell Technologies Championship event in Boston! For the second year in a row, Dell Technologies is proud to be the title sponsor of our second event on the PGA TOUR’s FedExCup Playoffs, one of the most exciting in the game of golf.
An annual event since 2003, this year’s #DellTechChamp (Aug. 30 to Sept. 3) promises to be an event like no other, with the game’s top 100 players taking the course. And once again, Dell Technologies and the PGA are bringing an event like no other, merging one of the world’s oldest sports with the latest in technology, allowing fans interact in a way that truly demonstrates how the game is changing.
At the 17th Fairway, the Dell Technologies Fan Experience is a 4,300-sq. ft. tent devoted to showcasing how golf has become more technologically advanced. In the Experience is one of our biggest customers Topgolf, with its Swing Suite, where spectators can hit golf balls that track each shot’s accuracy and distance while awarding points for hitting targets in the outfield. This newest extension of Topgolf, powered by Dell EMC VxRail hyperconverged infrastructure, simulates the luxurious atmospheres of their hospitality and entertainment venues across the country.
We also invite spectators into the Fan Experience to test out the best in virtual reality golf. Dell Precision technology powers a virtual reality drone simulator, allowing the user to get a bird’s eye view of the course. And of course, our Alienware systems are the ultimate machines to test out your golf gaming prowess!
Not only does #DellTechChamp entertain, but it also has a substantial impact on the community, economy and charities where our team members live and work. Since the tournament began, more than $27 million has been raised for New England area charities, and we’re proud this year to continue supporting the Boys and Girls Clubs of Dorchester and Boston.
To keep up with all the exciting, heart pounding action during #DellTechChamp, follow us on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook.
See you out on the course!


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The complete lineup for Seiyuu Grandprix’s November 2021 issue is out. Jun Fukuyama, Shunichi Toki, Daisuke Ono and more featured on it.
Seiyuu Grandprix November 2021 is scheduled to hit stores on 08/10/2021.
This issue includes interviews with:
- Jun Fukuyama (new single “DIES IN NO TIME“)
- Daisuke Ono and Hiro Shimono (Ono Shimono no Doko Demo Quest 2)
- Yusuke Kobayashi and Shunichi Toki (Taisho Otome Fairy Tale)
- Wataru Komada‘s KOMASTA SELECTION – model: Yukihiro Nozuyama
Seiyuu Grandprix November 2021 is currently unavailable for purchase at CDJAPAN.


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BEIJING, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) — As Uber and Airbnb expand in China, homegrown online ventures are already taking a slice of the growing sharing economy.
Chen Chi, chief executive officer of the short-term home-rental site Xiaozhu.com, shrugged off the competition Airbnb might bring when the apartment-sharing service announced last Wednesday that it planned to enter the China market.
Instead of treating Airbnb as a threat to emerging short-term rental firms such as Xiaozhu and Tujia, Chen welcomes the development as an opportunity for China to embrace the sharing economy.
An increasing number of Internet startups in China are profiting by sharing access to resources that they do not actually own, from home rentals to car pooling to catering.
“Airbnb has recognized how fast the sharing economy is growing in China,” Chen said.
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At its core, the sharing economy brings together excess capacity of products or services to “share” them. Uber and Didi take advantage of the fact that individually owned cars spend a lot of time parked up, going nowhere. Airbnb and Xiaozhu rent out rooms when the owners are not staying in them.
The sharing economy in China has already gone far beyond car pooling and home rentals. Renren Delivery, for example, connects demand for package deliveries with “freelance” couriers. Anyone can earn a fee by picking up a package and carrying it to its destination.
Knowledge can be shared too. Zaih.com, launched this year, tries to connect people with expertise — whether in art, science or lifestyle — with people seeking advice. Those in need of professional help can click a button, schedule a face-to-face meeting with experts, and pay them a fee of about 50 U.S. dollars for a consultation.
Capital can work the same way. Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending connects individuals and small businesses who need money directly to investors with cash to spare; essentially, access to idle funds.
According to research agency 01caijing, P2P in China expanded 172 percent to 300 billion yuan (47 billion U.S. dollars) in 2014, with more than 1,500 market players similar to Lending Club in the United States or Zopa in the United Kingdom.
“The sharing economy is revolutionizing many sectors in China,” said venture capitalist Li Xiao, a founder of Joy Capital, the firm that led a 60-million-U.S.-dollar round of financing for Xiaozhu. “And it’s still accelerating.”
When Xiaozhu started out in 2012, many questioned whether the Airbnb model would prosper in China. The doubters said the Chinese would never feel comfortable with strangers in their homes.
But Chen Chi was not deterred and after two years, Xiaozhu’s profits have increased dramatically, with six time more transactions so far this year than last year.
Better individual credit reporting has helped build trust, the very foundation of sharing, Chen said.
Individual credit checks have never been a significant factor in evaluating credit worthiness in China. Before this year, the country had only one recognized credit bureau, an institution under the country’s central bank.
With the growth of Internet finance, however, big players such as Alibaba and JD.com are very interested in personal credit reporting. Alibaba’s Ant Financial launched credit scoring service Sesame Credit in January while rival JD.com partnered with U.S. firm ZestFinance in June to provide similar services.
According to Li Xiao, culture is simply becoming more socialized. There was a time when everyone wanted standard products, Li said, but as the economy grows, people crave something different: a conversation with an insightful taxi driver, for example, or a meal specially cooked to individual requirements.
Chen Chi himself is a Xiaozhu host. In the last three years, his guests have included a young student back from studying abroad, a music lover who gave up everything in the pursuit of stardom, and an elderly woman who offered to wash his clothes. Hosting taught him things about the world that he would never have learned through his immediate social circle.
“When we talk about the sharing economy, we always focus on the economy side, but it also contains the sharing part — that is, being kind to strangers,” he said. “I’m addicted to it.”
While the sharing economy is good for entrepreneurs, it threatens many industry incumbents, which puts pressure on authorities to regulate.
Executives of ride-sharing services Uber China, Didi, and Kuaidi have been summoned by authorities many times in the past few months to discuss the legality of their operations without taxi licenses.
Regulation of lodging-sharing services in China is even more opaque. Companies like Xiaozhu are operating in a gray area in which there are no rules specifying how hosts pay taxes on what they earn — so they simply don’t pay.
“Technology always outpaces regulation. Even abroad, regulations are still evolving,” Li Xiao said, “but I think everyone supports things that are fundamentally good for society.”
After a meeting in July, Chinese leaders declared that the country’s Internet Plus strategy of integrating online business models with traditional industries meant it needed to be made easier for people to launch online enterprises. While the authorities are still figuring out how to handle the sharing economy, Chen Chi is confident that Xiaozhu et al will grow, just like their foreign counterparts.
“Airbnb has been around for eight years and Xiaozhu for just three. It’s only a matter of time,” he said. Enditem


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Bangladesh: Latest apparel and textile news & analysis
More than 170 companies have now signed the Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh following the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory building in Dhaka, which killed more than 1,100 people last year.
The group of North American brands and retailers - including Wal-Mart Stores, Gap Inc and VF Corporation - working to improve safety in Bangladesh's ready-made garment factories appears to be sourcing more products from the country as efforts to upgrade the industry take hold. But one year on, progress is "far from over", with the total cost likely to be in the region of $150m and take 12-18 another months to complete.
A growing list of differences appears to be breaking out between groups working to improve factory and building safety for garment workers in Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's share of the US apparel market has been in decline since February this year. But a closer look at the figures shows that while it is holding up in basic men's wear, women's wear fashion is on a downward trajectory.
Tau Investment Management, the US private investment firm that is looking to drive capital into textile and garment factories to improve their competitiveness and de-risk supply chains, has told just-style it is moving swiftly towards its first investments - which are expected in the second half of 2014.
The Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh is continuing to look at ways to try to involve the country's leading garment trade associations in an effort to ensure the initiative's long-term success.
A project funded by the Norwegian Government and implemented by the ILO (International Labor Organization) aims to improve working conditions in Bangladesh’s tannery factories.
The IndustriAll global union has reiterated its call for more action from the Bangladeshi Government to create a safe and sustainable garment industry.
Bangladesh still has significant work to do in order to fulfil the sustainability compact drawn up in the wake of the Rana Plaza disaster, according to the country's US Ambassador.
Six members of the US House of Representatives have called on Bangladesh to ensure labour conditions in the country improve and that it minimises the risk of violence against union members.
Bangladesh's ready-made garment exports are continuing to soar, rising by nearly 14% in the just-finished fiscal year as political stability returns to the South Asian country.
The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) is to hold Batexpo in Paris this year, the first time its three-day fair will be held outside of Bangladesh.
Bangladesh's government has approved a draft labour law that will allow workers in export processing zones (EPZs) to form unions - a week after both the EU and US criticised the country's progress on improving worker rights.
Bangladesh must do more to address the worker rights and safety concerns that led to the suspension of its Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade benefits last year, the US says.
The Accord for Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh has become the latest group to condemn the controversial remarks by the head of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).
- ANALYSIS: New pricing strategy pays off for Nike
- Bangladesh Accord calls on firms for more funding
- Hanesbrands praises supply chain efficiency
- Alliance members buy more products from Bangladesh
- Africa courts clothing and textile investment
- Wal-Mart US chief resignation little surprise
- Under Armour "bullish" in full-year guidance rise
- Macy’s increases sustainability efforts
- Wal-Mart replaces US division chief
- AAFA urges Senate to modify Bangladesh provisions
- Global market review of denim and jeanswear – forecasts to 2020
- Myanmar - ISA Country Report
- Textile Wholesaling in the UK - Industry Market Research Report
- Plunkett's Apparel & Textiles Industry Almanac 2014: Apparel & Textiles Industry Market Research, Statistics, Trends & Leading Companies
- Management briefing: Sourcing shifts: Changes and challenges


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Nestlé is spending 45 million Swiss francs ($45.13 million) a year on efforts to source cocoa sustainably, the food company said, also citing progress in reducing child labour in its West African supply chain.
The company, which has spent about 220 million francs over the past ten years on efforts to tackle child labour and deforestation in cocoa, said it aimed to have 100 per cent sustainable cocoa sourcing in its confectionary products by 2025.
Nestle’s child labour monitoring and remediation system (CLMRS), a part of its sustainably sourcing scheme, currently covers just 57% of the cocoa it sources in West Africa, where child labour is prevalent.
Coverage under the CLMRS does not mean the elimination of child labour, but means that the issue is being addressed or remedied.
“We’re proud Nestle has made this commitment but (its) a daunting challenge to go from 15 per cent (industry-wide monitoring scheme coverage in the Ivory Coast) to 100 per cent in five years,” Reuters quoted Nick Weatherill, executive director of the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), an organisation working with governments and industry to eliminate child labour, to have said.


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Mother’s Day spending is expected to total $31.7 billion this year, up $3.6 billion from 2021’s record spending, according to the annual consumer survey released by the National Retail Federation (NRF) and Prosper Insights & Analytics. Approximately 84 percent of US adults are expected to celebrate Mother’s Day.
“Consumers are eager to find memorable ways to honor their mothers and other important women in their lives and are willing to spend a little extra on this sentimental holiday,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay.
Consumers are planning to spend $25 more this year on Mother’s Day purchases and are expected to spend a record average of $245.76.
Jewelry purchases and special outings such as dinner or brunch are driving this year’s spending increases, marking a record in the survey’s history for average spending in both categories.
“Jewelry remains a timeless gift selection for Mother’s Day and continues to capture an increasing market share,” said Prosper Vice President of Strategy Phil Rist. “Forty-one percent of consumers are planning to gift jewelry this year, up from 34 percent in 2021 and total spending on jewelry is expected to reach $7 billion.”
There is also a notable uptick in the number of shoppers seeking gifts that cannot be wrapped. Gifts of experience like concerts or sporting event tickets will be given by 27 percent of Mother’s Day shoppers, up from 23 percent last year and the highest since NRF started tracking this category in 2016.
More than half of consumers (57 percent) are planning to spend an average of $40.90 on a special outing like dinner or brunch, signaling continued post-pandemic prioritization of quality time with loved ones.
Greeting cards and flowers continue to be staple gift categories with 75 percent of shoppers planning to buy greeting cards and 72 percent planning to buy traditional Mother’s Day bouquets.
Finding meaningful Mother’s Day gifts remains a top priority for shoppers. The topmost important factors are finding a gift that is unique or different (46 percent) and finding a gift that creates a special memory (41 percent).
Over one-third (36 percent) are planning to make their purchases for the holiday online. Another 30 percent of consumers are planning to shop at department stores, 27 percent at specialty stores and 23 percent at local small businesses.
In addition, 39 percent of consumers are interested in gifting product subscription services such as Birchbox or Stitch Fix, extending the gift-giving experience beyond Mother’s Day.
The survey of 8,574 consumers was conducted April 1-11, 2022, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 1.1 percentage points.


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With products that ranged from lighting drones to a 3D violin, the product segments represented at Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound evinced remarkable innovation in the music and entertainment sectors. During the show, around 100,000 visitors made their way to the Frankfurt Fair and Exhibition Centre. With 144 visitor nations, as compared to 130 last year, the exposition was even more international than normal. In total, 1,922 exhibitors from 55 countries presented products that included media, lighting, sound and stage technology, event equipment, musical instruments, electronic equipment, and hardware and software.
“Against the background of significant concentration in the musical instrument sector and a continuous process of development in the event-technology field, we give the course of business at the international trade-fair duo a positive rating,” Detlef Braun, Member of the Executive Board of Messe Frankfurt, said. “It is our responsibility to provide a future-oriented marketing platform with target-group-specific formats and events. We take this very seriously and, accordingly, we will once again enter into an intensive dialogue with exhibitors and associations with a view to 2018.”
To increase value for all visitors, Musikmesse was supplemented by new attractions, and the complementary program of events was extended. Together with the Musikmesse Festival, the fair offered more than 1,000 events, inclusive of concerts, live performances, workshops and master classes. Accordingly, the level of satisfaction at Musikmesse was up as compared to previous years not only on the exhibitor side, but also among visitors. Eighty-three percent of visitors said they had achieved their personal targets for the fair. Retailers also confirmed the positive processes that have been set in motion by the exposition’s restructuring.
The next Musikmesse and Prolight + Sound will be held from April 11 to 14 and April 10 to 13, 2018, respectively.


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CLEVELAND, OH (WOIO) - Flats East Bank could soon become an open container area. It'd be the first of its kind in Cleveland.
City councilors approved an application process for outdoor refreshment areas Monday, and officials say developers with the Flats East Bank project have expressed interest.
City open container laws would not apply in such areas, as long as patrons carry alcoholic beverages in approved plastic bottles or cups sold therein.
Councilors will have the final say over which applications are approved, and would be required to review each designated area on an annual basis. Cleveland can only set up two open container areas in the city, according to recently passed state law approving open container areas.
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“We’re excited to welcome AWS into Nation’s Best,” Chris Miller, president and CEO of Nation’s Best, said in a news release. “While our acquisitions to date have been formed on home centers and hardware stores, AWS provides us a unique opportunity to enhance our window and door offerings across our locations nationwide, while capturing even more sales in the Dallas-Fort Worth market.”
In the transition to Nation’s Best, AWS owner Steve Johnson will retire while his sons Dustin and Seth and son-in-law Mitch Raymond will continue in their respective leadership roles in the business.
“AWS has done an outstanding job of being a leader in the market when it comes to quality and service for premium construction and renovation projects,” Miller said, “Now, we’ll be able to leverage their expertise and vendor relationships in the door and window product segments while extending their reach to all our other locations. We see tremendous opportunities to grow the business across the Nation’s Best platform, strengthening all of our individual brands as we drive more sales across the country.”
As part of Nation’s Best’s strategy, AWS will maintain operations under its existing brand name, with key leadership team members continuing to oversee company operations. Nation’s Best will provide strategic and financial support necessary to drive optimal growth and profitability, according to the co-op.
“I first heard about Nation’s Best through my connection with Groom & Sons’ Home Center, another acquisition of theirs,” Steve Johnson said. “I learned that they share the same values as our family business, putting our team and customers first. I’m confident that our move to Nation’s Best will put AWS and its associates in an even greater position for growth.”
Nation’s Best, founded in 2019, is a member-owner of Do it Best Corp., a U.S. based hardware, lumber, and building materials buying cooperative in the home improvement industry.


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Online purchase manager Slice released an Android app on Thursday that will keep track of your purchases and packages — automatically.
The app pulls purchase receipts and shipping information from your inbox in order to create a handy online shopping dashboard.
It sends notification alerts when you're about to receive a package, plots all incoming packages on a map, notes when they're each expected to arrive and provides easy access to your shopping history.
All you need to do is connect the app to your Yahoo or Gmail account.
The startup says it has processed more than 10 million purchases to date.
Image courtesy of iStockphoto, barisonal


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Spotify, the Swedish streaming music startup which has racked up more than 6 million users in Europe, has released a first glimpse at its much-awaited iPhone application. Spotify’s mobile efforts have been talked about as a potential iTunes killer, or even a rival to piracy, because of the application’s ease-of-use and comprehensive library of more than 6 million tracks. It resembles iTunes, although users stream the songs instead of owning them.
”We want to be better than piracy,” said Jim Butcher, a Spotify spokesperson. ”We want to provide a legal alternative to people that’s at their fingertips.”
On the app, you can search for songs and build a playlist, all without owning the tracks. On a Wi-Fi connection, songs play continuously although there are lags on the Edge and 3G networks, according to Wired.
The iPhone app comes with a key feature: you can cache playlists to listen to when the AT&T network fails or you lose connection. You can store up to 3,333 songs in Spotify playlists on the iPhone, which is 10 days worth of music.
Spotify plans to enter the U.S. market by the end of the year with the app, but it needs both approval from rights holders and from Apple. The company said the app should be available to premium subscribers in a few weeks in Apple’s store. Their developers also demoed an Android application in May at Google I/O, for which they plan a late summer launch.
Co-founders Martin Lorentzon and 26-year-old Daniel Ek have agreements with record labels including Universal Music Group, Sony BMG, EMI Music and Warner Music Group that compensate them via click-through rates. The pair came from European online marketing company TradeDoubler, which acquired Ek’s contextual advertising start-up Advertigo in 2006.
For users, Spotify has three models: One is free and ad-supported, another is subscription based at £9.99 a month and the last is a 99 pence day pass. The company is adding about 10,000 tracks a day.
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A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
To bring Mexican food to Pittsburghers, Nick DiCio has to go to Mexico for the machinery to make tortillas and chips.
Those foods are snapped up by shoppers at his Strip District-based Mexican market, Reyna Foods Inc., but he also supplies chips and tortillas to restaurants, grocery chains and even large snackmakers like Wise and Snyders of Berlin.
Reyna has been operating since 1987. DiCio buys items like vanilla through brokers, but still makes two to three trips to several Mexican cities every year to scope out unusual wares, such as pottery or woven goods. During his last trip, he visited Mexico City, Guadalajara, Oaxaca and Quiroga.
“With free trade, it’s become easier to do business, but Mexico is not that sophisticated as far as exportation,” DiCio said. “It’s not like China, where there are huge warehouses. You have to go around and look and make your deals.”
Mary McKinney, director of the Small Business Development Center at Duquesne University, has shepherded trade missions of Pennsylvania companies to Mexico since 2007 as part of Pennsylvania’s Mexico U.S. Agency for International Development Trading. The companies cover a range of sectors: tech, medical supply, machinery and equipment, plastics, hardwoods, chemicals and services.
“Doing business there is not too complicated, and distance-wise it’s acceptable,” she said. Once companies begin to realize that if you do your homework and commit some necessary resources, trade can become a significant portion of your revenue.”
But doing business in Mexico doesn’t come without concerns.
Lisa DiGioia-Nutini and her husband, Jean-Pierre Nutini, started their Squirrel Hill gallery and folk art store Mexico Lindo Mercado y Galeria de Artesanias in 2004 after two years as an online venture. They operate similarly to DiCio, but their experiences aren’t the same.
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