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Harley’s 2012 stunners revealed
Harley-Davidson has decided to stagger the launch of its 2012 models, with the first batch being revealed now.
NEW MODELS: Harley-Davidson has revealed the first of its 2012 line-up - among them this Iron 883. Picture gallery.
The biggest news is the introduction of two models: The Switchback, that can easily be switched into a toure, and the Night Rod Special Anniversary model, which will commemorate the 10th anniversary of Harley’s V-Rod range.
The bikemker will also be axing three models – The Softail Cross Bones, Softail Rocker and Street Glide Trike.
The 2012 Sportster line-up's six models will showcase bikes ranging from the affordable Iron 883 to the track-inspired performance-orienatted XR1200X.
The Sportster 1200 Custom returns for its full year of production and still boasts the same smorgasbord of options to help riders personalise their ride.
All 2012 Sportster models will be treated to Michelin Scorche tyres which will now feature a tread pattern specially designed for the Sportster to provide better grip and a longer life.
Each of the eight Touring models is treated to a Twin Cam 103 engine with auto compression release and an oil cooler for 2012. The new engine produces a 138Nm of torque at 3500rpm.
All Touring models, with the exception of the Ultra Limited, will offer a new tubeless aluminium wheel for easier tyre replacement and repair. Six new colours or colour combinations are included in the 12 paint options offered within the 2012 Touring model range.


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"We're seeing significant growth in customers that don't shop currently at our stores," Ashe said. Another service that Walmart is experimenting with is the ship-to-store phenomenon at select stores, in which customers can place an order online, but make the actual purchase in-store. Ashe said this method works particularly well for the customer who prefers to pay in cash and avoid shipping charges. And of course, it gets the customer into the store. Other retailers are also experimenting with merging online with bricks-and-mortar stores, Gap ( GPS) announced last month at its annual investor day that it was expanding its offerings to include "ship-from-store, find-in-store and reserve-in-store." Walmart changed its store sales policies to allow for revenue credit of e-commerce sales in a store's geographic trading area, which has already had a sizable impact, Ashe said. -- Written by Laurie Kulikowski in New York. Follow @LKulikowski To contact Laurie Kulikowski, send an email to: Laurie.Kulikowski@thestreet.com. >To submit a news tip, email: email@example.com.
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Philosophy professor Steven Nadler is known for serious scholarship. For his latest book, he has chosen a very different format: full of bright illustrations and characters speaking in word bubbles.
A monumental new mural by iconic American artist Jim Dine will be on view permanently at the Chazen Museum of Art after an unveiling on June 22.
For two weeks in July, more than 50 Wisconsin rural high school students and 10 teachers will converge on Madison to get a taste of stem cell science, rubbing elbows in labs with some of the world’s leading researchers in regenerative medicine.
Donna A. Friedsam, an expert on health care financing, and Meg Gaines, an expert on consumer health advocacy, can comment on… More
1:30 pm, Meet at Picnic Point parking lot 129 (2004 University Bay Drive). On 80 bus route.
5:00 pm, Allen Centennial Garden
Companionship is as much a part of the attraction as the food, says co-founder Nathan Allman. Some of these relationships last for years.


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NEW YORK, USA – TheÃ‚Â Africa Travel AssociationÃ‚Â (ATA) will hold its sixth annual U.S.-Africa Tourism Seminar in Washington D.C. on Friday, March 8. Co-sponsored once again by theÃ‚Â Travel & Adventure ShowÃ‚Â and organized in cooperation with the African Union Mission to the USA, the international event brings tourism professionals from around the world and diplomatic representatives from Africa together to learn about AfricaÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s latest growth trends, tourism projections and marketing tools for selling travel to Destination Africa.
Confirmed participants at the 2013 event include the Ministries of Tourism of Cameroon and Zimbabwe, as well as diplomatic representatives from the African Union Mission to the USA and Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Lesotho, Madagascar, Malawi, and Zimbabwe. Senior representatives from the following organizations have confirmed participation: Affluent Hospitality, Afrique Expansion, Afropop, APG USA, Arik Air, Delta Airlines, EPIC Global Media, Ethiopian Airlines, The Bradford Group, National Tour Association (NTA), Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs at the Department of the Interior, Office of Travel & Tourism Industries at the US Department of Commerce, Thinking Forward Media, South African Airways, Wildlife Conservation Society, and the Washington DC, Travel & Adventure Show.
Under the banner ofÃ‚Â Ã¢â‚¬Å“Marketing Destination Africa 2020,Ã¢â‚¬ÂÃ‚Â the seminarÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s one-day program is designed with educational workshops that present a range of opportunities for travel industry buyers and sellers to grow their knowledge and expertise on all things Africa. Sessions will focus on marketing and promoting destinations and attractions, leveraging social media to grow companies and destinations and airline growth. Delegates will also receive the most recent updates on outbound US travel to Africa.
With a growing number of business travelers flying to Africa, high-end hotels being built across the continent, and a growing middle class, business and leisure arrivals to and investments in Africa are expected to continue to increase steadily over the next decade. To highlight these developments, the seminar includes updates on Africa product development.
The 2013 event will kick off with an evening reception on Thursday, March 7 spotlighting Cameroon as a site for tourism arrivals and investment from the United States. Co-hosted by the Ministry of Tourism and Leisure of Cameroon, the networking event for the travel industry will highlight the upcoming ATA World Congress, to be held in Cameroon in May 2013 and share updates on the program.
ATA welcomes two returning event sponsors: South African Tourism (SAT) and the Travel and Adventure Show.


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has been a host to a lot of tourists from across the world and also been a shooting destination for Bollywood and Gujarati movies. Gujarat Tourism
has gone through different phases of growth in recent years.Business travellers to Gujarat saw a rise of 12.38 percent in the 2015 fiscal year, while leisure travelers showed a growth of 17.7 per cent standing at 2.4 million. Not surprisingly a lot foreign tourists have been attracted by the Rann Utsav that spans three and half months.On the flip side, Gujarat’s tourism which once ranked among the top ten, now is out of the list. On World Tourism Day, Ahmedabad Times takes a close look at the ever-evolving tourism scene in Gujarat.
“We get around 100 tourists who stay at our haveli each year, most of whom are not Indians,” says Rajeev Patel,owner of a heritage property in Ahmedabad. Talking
about why they choose Ahmedabad, Patel says,” Most of them use Ahmedabad as an entry point and stay in the city for a couple of days. When they are here, most of them explore the textile industries and the city’s fascinating architecture.” Gujarat boasts of UNESCO World heritage
sites like Champaner-Pavagadh Archeological site and Ran Ki Vav in Patan
district.To encourage and promote tourism, Gujarat has also rolled out policy for home-stay establishments.
◗ SPECIAL NAVRATRI TOURS
Several tour operators in the state organize special tours during festivals. “Every year we see about 45 tourists which has a mix Indians and Non-Indians who travel to the state for Navratri. Most of these tourists are from France and UK and South Indians top the list of tourists from the country,” says Rajendra Singh, director of a city-based travel company.
Travel industry experts feel that there’s a need to promote Navratri Tourism
in an aggressive way. Most feel that in order to promote festival tourism in Gujarat, there’s a need for integrated communication media vehicles like television, print, web, roadshows, exhibitions and the like. In the digital age, social media sites, blogs need to be used to promote tourism. Places like Lothal,Saputara, Dasada, Modhera Sun Temple, Gir forest attract a lot of tourists each year.
◗ MEDICAL TOURISM
Medical tourism has sure picked up in the state in recent years. But a lot needs to be done to link homestays with medical tourism as this has tremendous potential. “Though we didn’t have a lot of tourists that time also but I got around 3-5 inquiries each day while the tourism ad was being showed on TV,” says Rajan Jani, who owns a homestay in the city. According to Jani, the biggest drawback about homestays in the state are the fact that the contact details are not easily available to those who are looking for it. Along with medical tourism, the state has also seen a rise in spiritual, wildlife, business and heritage tourism. To bring back the spotlight on both domestic and international tourism, Gujarat needs to pick up few lessons from neighbouring Rajastan and also Madhya Pradesh. That sure will add much vibrancy. Some fairs and festivals that attract tourists
● Tarnetar Fair in Surendranagar district — August/September
● International Kite festival in Ahmedabad —January
● Rann Utsav,White Rann of Kutch, November-March
● Navratri,across the state, September/October


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Christmas festivities kick off in Great Dunmow
- Credit: Saffron Photo
Fill Great Dunmow with Christmas cheer this winter, town leaders have urged.
The Mayor of Great Dunmow has said he is ready for Christmas to kick-off at the Great Dunmow Christmas Market, which takes place from 2pm on Saturday (November 27).
The event is set to include two live music stages, more than 60 stallholders offering gifts and food by local makers, Christmas crafts at the library, face painting, reindeer food making, and Santa's Grotto will be in Angel Lane.
The Mayor, Councillor Patrick Lavelle wants residents to "celebrate together" this season at the market and by shopping at independent Dunmow businesses.
He said: "I hope winter will be a time when everyone can enjoy a happy and healthy Christmas with friends and family, when we can enjoy all the celebrations in our beautiful market town."
He added: "The High Street is an important part of what makes our town special.
"Following a difficult year-and-a-half, it is important that we support the shops and enjoy the very best of what Dunmow has to offer."
The Great Dunmow Town Team, which is organising the market, has called on residents to "Enjoy Local" this Christmas.
- 1 Great Dunmow man jailed for 14 years
- 2 Assault in Dunmow's Tesco car park
- 3 Sir Tom Jones to play Heritage Live concert at Audley End House & Gardens in Saffron Walden
- 4 Court imposes five year ban on shoplifter
- 5 Plans for 18 houses in Countryside Protection Zone near Stansted Airport
- 6 Penalty save and late winner moves High Easter up the table
- 7 Great Dunmow Town Council will be asked to declare 'climate emergency'
- 8 East of England Tourism Awards 2021-2022: Meet the New Tourism Business of the Year finalists
- 9 Fight breaks out near Great Notley as man reportedly seen with a gun
- 10 Dinosaur park decision made
They are set to launch two new tote bags at the event to celebrate the campaign.
Rachael Clark of the Great Dunmow Town Team said: "The Christmas Market will be a great opportunity to 'Enjoy Local'.
"We have so many lovely shops and cafés, but a lot of people bypass us because they think there's more out there.
"Good food and gift shopping?
"We need to put Dunmow on the map!"
Rachael added that the Town Team is keen to "keep up the momentum" after a successful Summer Market in August, which featured MasterChef: The Professionals 2020 winner Alex Webb.
Town councillor Alan Stratton, who co-owns Chameleon Café on Market Place, said: "Dunmow is prospering as far as I'm concerned.
"The High Street is growing because residents believe in the town, and we need to keep that momentum going.
"I'm hoping for a safe and positive Christmas!"
There is no light switch-on event to avoid crowding this year, but the lights will be illuminated for the market.
After the market, the Live Nativity takes place in the town centre on Sunday, December 5.


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BRUSSELS — Europe’s antitrust regulator plans to file formal charges against Google Inc. for violating antitrust laws, a person familiar with the matter said Tuesday, stepping up a five-year investigation likely to become the biggest competition battle here since the European Union’s pursuit of Microsoft Corp. a decade ago.
EU antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager made the decision Tuesday in agreement with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker, this person said. She is expected to inform her fellow EU commissioners at a meeting Wednesday, said three EU officials.
The European charges will focus on complaints that Google GOOGL, +0.66% GOOG, +0.78% uses its dominant Internet search engine to favor its own services over those of rivals, people familiar with the situation said. Rivals say Google search results in areas like travel, shopping and maps increasingly favor Google’s own offerings, rather than links to similar online services run by rivals.
Google told employees Tuesday it has a “very strong case” against the expected charges. In the past, Google has denied breaking antitrust laws and argues that providing more direct answers to online queries, including from its own services, benefits consumers.
The move opens the possibility of Google facing fines of over $6 billion. Google also could face injunctions that require modifying contracts, said Ioannis Lianos, a professor of global competition law at University College London. Checks on its behavior could extend beyond search into related markets,which would “really put a squeeze on how they can run their business,” he said.


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The majority of small businesses worldwide still don't have a formal strategy for addressing and managing the "bring your own device" trend, according to a new report published by Citrix on Thursday.
Researchers who worked on the international study argued that the "ongoing shift toward a knowledge-based, global economy has not surprisingly caused companies to rethink their management policies, business processes and IT tools."
But based on the survey results, small businesses are responding very differently to BYOD from country to country.
Roughly 59 percent of employees worldwide included in the survey said they already use their personal devices for work. That figure jumps to 68 percent for American workers.
Furthermore, less than a quarter (24 percent) of U.S. workers said they didn't feel pressure from superiors to use their own devices at work — compared to 41 percent in the United Kingdom.
Respondents from the U.K., Canada and Australia were said to have admitted the most pressure to increase adoption of mobile work practices.
Thus, they would need to respond to BYOD demands (mobile device management, security concerns, etc.) as quickly as possible, which arguably could lead to rash and uneducated policy decisions.
The results are thrown for an even bigger loop when you take particular devices into account.
Approximately 72 percent of Australian employees included in the study use their own smartphones for work, compared to just 54 percent in the United Kingdom.
The global average for tablet usage was 25 percent, but that figure jumps to 35 percent in France.
This alone presents a problem for IT managers and business decision makers to figure out, as each medium comes with its own productivity use cases (which apps, how often they're toted around and where, etc.), which in turn contribute further to security issues need to be addressed.
The only conclusive link among all of these results is that there isn't a generic approach either from the employee or IT perspective yet.
Unfortunately, it appears that most SMBs will have to continue to address BYOD concerns through trial-and-error, which is typically much more costly for smaller companies than it would be for enterprise counterparts with more resources and larger budgets.
For reference, Citrix commissioned online market research agency YouGov for this study. The firm surveyed senior executives and managers across all disciplines at 1,263 public and private sector businesses and organizations across the United States, the U.K., France, Germany, Canada and Australia in April 2013.


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If you’re jonesing for a top down shoot ’em up on the Wii U, you have until May 15 to wait for Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails. The developer released a tweet stating the game’s release date in both North America and Europe, but neglected to mention any pricing information just yet.
May 15th! ‘Scram Kitty and his Buddy on Rails’ will be hitting the Wii U eShop in Europe and America next week. http://t.co/sEg1LqTOGn
— Dakko Dakko Ltd. (@dakkodakko) May 5, 2014
If you’re unfamiliar with the game, check out this trailer and let us know what you think!
- Walmart getting two exclusive Mario amiibo
- GameStop exclusive Bowser & Toad Wii Remotes
- Miyamoto will be attending Mario's 30th anniversary festival
- Amazon is now selling Nintendo digital downloads


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BERLIN Business software maker SAP AG says its fourth-quarter net earnings were down 8 percent but is reporting a 14 percent rise in revenue from software and software-related services.
The Walldorf, Germany-based company said Wednesday that it earned 1.1 billion euro ($1.4 billion) in the October-December quarter, down from nearly 1.2 billion euro a year earlier. Software and software-related service revenue, a key figure for the company, was up to 4.23 billion euro from 3.72 billion euro.
For the whole of 2012, earnings were 18 percent lower at 2.83 billion euro, while the revenue figure was 16 percent higher at 13.16 billion euro.
SAP forecast somewhat slower growth this year in revenue from software and software-related services.


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Of all the lasting effects of Edward Snowdenâ€™s leaks, thereâ€™s one photo that leaves a particularly strong mark. In it, US federal employees in T-shirts and blue jeans are seen intercepting network equipment from Cisco Systems Inc. at a shipping facility. The feds in the photo, their faces obscured, were reprogramming the machines to spy on peopleâ€™s activities. The image captured a deeply held paranoia within Silicon Valleyâ€™s biggest internet companies: In an era of increasingly sophisticated nation-state hacking, how can we trust that network infrastructure isnâ€™t compromised before itâ€™s dropped off at the company loading docks?
This fear has created a sense of urgency for Apple Inc., Google, Facebook Inc. and other technology giants that have been devising their own alternatives to Cisco, which controls more than half of the market for network equipment. After the photo was published, Cisco filed a public complaint with the White House, arguing that spying by the National Security Agency was hurting US companies. Cisco told Bloomberg it doesnâ€™t work with governments on backdoors for its products and maintains tight checks on its processes and supply chain to assure customers of their security.
While Ciscoâ€™s dominance isnâ€™t in danger of slipping any time soon, the industryâ€™s creeping concerns over cybersecurity have created an opening for new businesses and equipment-design skunkworks inside large companies. In the three years since the Snowden leaks, networking software and equipment startups raised $6.35 billion, a 47 percent increase over the prior three years, according to researcher CB Insights. â€œWeâ€™ve lost confidence in the vendors in the wake of the Snowden revelations, and that is a weakness and an opportunity,â€ said John Kindervag, a vice president at market analysis firm Forrester Research.
One company thatâ€™s benefiting is SnapRoute Inc., which was founded by a former manager of Appleâ€™s global data center network. The startup makes a cheaper, simpler network switch than the ones Cisco sells. And unlike most switches, itâ€™s open-source, allowing customers to look for bugs, performance glitches or backdoors that might allow a government to peek inside. SnapRoute plans to announce a $25 million round of funding Tuesday from AT&T Inc., Microsoft Corp., Lightspeed Venture Partners and Norwest Venture Partners. The startup counts Facebook among its customers.
Facebook is also a founding member of Open Compute Project, which develops and shares open-source data center designs. It launched the project in 2011 after revealing details about a data center it built in Prineville, Oregon, using only Facebook-designed servers, power supplies and backup systems. Alphabet Inc.â€™s Google, Apple, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Microsoft are now members. So is Cisco. Itâ€™s playing along with a potential competitor because Cisco Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins has said the company needs to be â€œpart of every technology discussion that our customers want to have.â€
The high cost of traditional networking products was the main reason for Amazon.com Inc.â€™s investment into creating its own equipment. â€œIt was cost that caused us to head down our own path,â€ James Hamilton, vice president and distinguished hardware engineer for Amazon Web Services, said at a conference in November. â€œNetworking gear is really expensive.â€
Besides looking to save a lot of money on premium equipment, companies are placing a higher value on transparency. Cisco guards its code and designs, making them difficult to repair when things break. Bloomberg Businessweek reported in September that a web hosting company filed for bankruptcy protection after a series of Cisco switches failed and a major customer left, while Cisco worked for months on a fix. Cisco has declined to comment on that case, saying only that it tries to fix problems quickly.


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Michael R. Page, PharmD, RPh, and Daniel Weiss, Senior Editor
Following the urging of many health care and public health organizations, CVS Caremark will become the first national pharmacy chain to stop selling cigarettes and tobacco products.
CVS Caremark has announced that it will stop selling cigarettes and other tobacco products at its CVS/pharmacy locations by October 1, 2014, making it the first national pharmacy chain to do so.
“Ending the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products at CVS/pharmacy is the right thing for us to do for our customers and our company to help people on their path to better health,” said Larry J. Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Caremark, in a press release
. “Put simply, the sale of tobacco products is inconsistent with our purpose.”
With 7600 locations across the country, CVS Caremark is the nation’s second largest pharmacy chain after Walgreens. Its decision to halt tobacco sales is in accord with positions taken by a range of health care and public health organizations, including the American Medical Association, American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, American Lung Association, and American Pharmacists Association (APhA).
“We welcome CVS Caremark’s commitment to health and wellness and its promise to remove tobacco products from their stores,” said APhA President and community pharmacist Steven T. Simenson, in a press release
. “As pharmacists step up to provide care to their patients, we cannot continue to sell known health hazards in our pharmacies.”
In an interview with Pharmacy Times
, John Colaizzi, RPh, PhD, a professor and former dean at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University who has called for pharmacists to stop selling tobacco products since the 1990s, argued that CVS Caremark’s announcement marked a turning point.
“It is inconsistent with the mission of pharmacy to continue selling cigarettes or tobacco products in pharmacies because today's pharmacy is a part of the health care system,” said Dr. Colaizzi. “Clearly this is a move in the right direction. We will see others, in time, follow in the same direction.”
CVS Caremark also announced that it will launch a smoking cessation program this spring that will offer information and treatment through its pharmacies, its 800 MinuteClinic locations, and through online resources. It will also offer smoking cessation programs to members of the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management plan.
In a statement
, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called the decision “an unprecedented step in the retail industry.” A recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that each year smoking kills 480,000 Americans and costs the country $289 billion. In addition, each day 3200 youths under 18 try their first cigarette and more than 700 under 18 become daily smokers. Based on current smoking rates, a projected 5.6 million children alive today will die due to smoking.
“Today’s CVS Caremark announcement helps bring our country closer to achieving a tobacco-free generation,” Secretary Sebelius said in the statement. “I hope others will follow their lead in this important new step to curtail tobacco use.”
President Obama, who has publicly struggled with a smoking habit, also applauded CVS Caremark’s announcement, as did First Lady Michelle Obama, who tweeted
: “Now we can all breathe a little easier, and our families can live healthier.”
Editor's note: Dr. Colaizzi was one of Dr. Page's professors at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy at Rutgers University.
What is your reaction to CVS Caremark’s decision to stop carrying cigarettes and other tobacco products in its pharmacies? Let us know by taking part in our online poll at www.pharmacytimes.com/pharmacist-pulse


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It wasn’t so long ago that industry was churning out packing materials with abandon – consumers in turn would’ve been horrified to receive goods that weren’t robustly wrapped in layers of plastic and/or cardboard. Now the opposite is the case – the result of shocking news headlines, public protest and warnings about the planet’s future.
Plastic packaging alternatives
Scientists and researchers are delving into new ways to produce biodegradable materials, exploring natural substances like algae, fungi, and plant-based polymers to create packaging that mimics the functionality of plastic without the environmental repercussions. Breakthroughs in nanotechnology have paved the way for smart packaging solutions, ensuring product safety and freshness while minimising waste.
Furthermore, advancements in recycling technologies have gained momentum. The development of closed-loop systems, where packaging materials are recycled and reused within a circular economy framework, hold promise.
All these innovations reduce our reliance on virgin materials and the burden on landfills and oceans, but they come at great monetary cost. Research institutions, governments, and industries must collaborate to invest in scalable, affordable technologies – exploring new materials and production methods.
Subsidies and incentives could be the answer to encourage more businesses to adopt sustainable practices, making it economically viable for them in the long run. Setting industry-wide standards and certifications can guide businesses in making informed choices about their packaging choices.
Consumer choice and brand reputation
Cost is the prime reason some companies that either manufacture packaging or depend on it are slow to change their ways, but the hard truth is others are purely in denial or apathetic to the urgency.
Consumers, particularly younger generations, are vocal in their demands for sustainability, demanding more from government, their employers, and where they shop. In a new world of so-called ‘cancel culture’, consumers know the power lies with them, leaving industry no choice but to get on board.
For those companies and consumers reluctant to adapt to eco-conscious trends, public campaigns and educational initiatives can enlighten about the environmental impact. Encouraging responsible consumption in schools and workplaces, for example, such as opting for products with minimal or biodegradable packaging, empowers individuals to contribute to the cause.
The science of packaging: ideas and innovation
Science has come a long way since the days of standard recycling practices. The environmental situation, unsettling as it may be, presents great opportunities for research and development. In a similar way that the emergency of the pandemic created high-speed medical innovations, the environment demands the same attention – and will result in transformation we can only now imagine. Scientists and researchers are in great demand, particularly those with the vision and skill to create rapid change. STEM education is more important than ever.
Low plastic sustainable packaging is not just a trend but a necessity and requires a collective commitment to safeguarding our planet for future generations. Investment will surely lead to new types of ‘green’ packaging, causing a ripple effect from science and manufacture through to marketing. Across the board, these challenges present hope and opportunities.
If you are looking to secure a talented professional for your team, or searching for a role in the scientific, food or FMCG sector, contact our team of scientific specialist recruiters.


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By Egotist / /
Partners in Crime has launched an awareness campaign for the Polkadot Trust, a brand new offering from the Osprey Bitcoin Trust (OBTC).
“Not only did we need to move at scale for Osprey but we needed to move at breakneck speed.” says Stephen Goldblatt, Founder of Partners in Crime. “We wanted to get the attention of and draw in prospects wanting to learn more about the crypto space. Cut through the noise of the financial space with something that is clean and attention-getting.”
Says Phil Pearlman, Osprey’s Chief Behvioral Officer and Chief Marketing Officer, “We needed to move quickly to launch this product and Partners in Crime understood the realities of our timeframe as well as the creative task at hand. They created work that feels as innovative and compelling as the Polkadot Trust itself.”


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Published March 3rd, 2021
This is a guest contribution by Jason Craft at The Stock Dork
Over the past few decades, countries around the world have legalized marijuana for recreational and medical use. As a result, there has been a lot of hype around marijuana stocks among investors. While many of the top marijuana stocks have provided strong returns, there are very few that pay dividends.
However, this is starting to change as the marijuana industry becomes more mainstream. Many startup companies can’t afford to pay dividends, because they are still working to stabilize their business models. This was exactly the case for many of the world’s leading cannabis companies, until recently. As these companies become profitable, some are starting to pay dividends to shareholders.
We’ve rounded up 5 of the best marijuana stocks that pay dividends. Not all are marijuana producers, but all 5 are involved in the marijuana industry in some aspect. As a result, these 5 stocks can be part of a robust income investing strategy, and they also have the potential to provide solid returns in the long run.
Innovative Industrial Properties (IIPR)
Innovative Industrial Properties is a Real Estate Investment Trust, or REIT, that owns medical cannabis properties throughout the United States. Most of their properties are greenhouses or other industrial properties specifically for cannabis brands. IIPR typically buys these greenhouses directly from cannabis companies and leases them back out. The sale helps the cannabis company get off the ground, and the lease gives IIPR a steady stream of revenue for years to come.
REITs are a great option for income investors. This is because they are legally required to return a large portion of their income to shareholders as dividends. Right now, Innovative Industrial Properties has a dividend yield of 2.6%.
This stock has been delivering strong returns in recent months as well. Their share price has slowly but steadily improved since November 2020. This is likely due to strong earnings reports over the past several quarters, which have shown solid year-over-year growth.
Altria Group (MO)
Most investors know Altria Group as the owner of Philip Morris USA, the company that makes Marlboro cigarettes. However, they also have a 45 percent stake in Cronos Group, which is a Canadian cannabis company. While Cronos Group has its own listing on the NASDAQ, investing in Altria Group could be a better option for investors focused on dividends.
Cronos Group currently runs six different marijuana and CBD brands. These include Lord Jones, which caters to a luxury market, as well as Cove and Peace Naturals, which cater more to the health and wellness market.
Altria Group has consistently increased their dividend payouts for the last five decades, making it a Dividend King. Their payout currently stands at 7.69 percent. If you’re looking for consistent dividend payouts, it’s hard to go wrong with this popular sin stock.
Scotts Miracle-Gro (SMG)
While Scotts Miracle-Gro may not be a marijuana stock in the traditional sense, their products have become essential to the cannabis industry. They have a huge portfolio of garden and pest control products. Marijuana producers use these products to increase their yields. Scotts Miracle-Gro is also involved in hydroponics, an agricultural technique that many cannabis companies use to increase their yields.
Scotts Miracle-Gro stock has performed very well in the second half of 2020 and the beginning of 2021. Their share price has increased by more than 250 percent since hitting a low in March 2020. They also currently pay a dividend of 1.15 percent.
AbbVie Inc. (ABBV)
AbbVie is a biopharmaceutical company with a long history. They were founded as a spin-off of Abbott Laboratories in 2013. Abbott Laboratories is a Chicago medical company that dates back to the late 19th century.
At first glance, AbbVie appears to be a pretty traditional pharmaceutical company. However, they have one drug on the market that uses a synthetic form of THC. This drug is called Marinol, and it’s a popular anti-nausea treatment for chemotherapy patients. Many doctors also prescribe it for AIDS patients who struggle with a loss of appetite.
The success of this drug is indicative of the future of medical cannabis. While there’s still plenty of research to be done, it’s clear that marijuana can help people with chronic conditions live a much more comfortable life when used appropriately.
AbbVie is also a consistent dividend stock. AbbVie is on the Dividend Aristocrats list. Right now, their dividend yield is 4.8%. AbbVie shares have also provided solid returns over the past few months, especially after a significant jump up in price in November.
Constellation Brands (STZ)
Constellation Brands is primarily an alcohol manufacturer. They produce notable wine, beer, and liquor brands like Corona, Robert Mondavi, and Svedka. However, Constellation Brands also holds a major stake in Canopy Growth (CGC).
Canopy Growth is a Canadian cannabis company that makes both THC and CBD products. They have a large portfolio of 16 brands, which cater to different segments of the cannabis market. Some of their most popular brands include Tweed, which is an accessible recreational brand, and Spectrum Therapeutics, which is a medical brand.
Like Cronos Group, Canopy Growth has its own stock. However, investing in Constellation Brands is a better way for income investors to benefit from this stock. Right now, Constellation Brands has a dividend yield of 1.4%.
Constellation Brands stock has also been improving significantly over the past several months. They have more than fully recovered from the lows of the COVID-19 pandemic, and their stock hit a five year high point in February 2021. Constellation Brands also has a very large, diverse portfolio, which makes it a relatively stable investment option.
As the marijuana industry grows, it’s likely that more stocks in this industry will start paying dividends. Many people rely on cannabis products for medical treatment or just for relaxation. This is an industry that’s only going to get bigger over time, and there’s plenty of opportunity for income investors if you know where to look.


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- NIS to release Harvest Moon: Skytree Village Limited Edition
- First six of 350-plus rides revealed from Forza Horizon 3
- Destiny: Rise of Iron trailer, screens released for pre-order bonus
- Dragon Quest Builders Day One Edition detailed, new screens up
- Gears of War 4 gameplay, story trailers and Comic-Con info released
Fancy A Date?
Developer- and Publisher-specific Articles: Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition
Namco Bandai has released a new batch of screenshots for Tekken Tag Tournament 2 Wii U Edition. The shots show off the character customization system, which looks to be capable of whipping up a decent Mario and Luigi, thanks to the inclusion of special Nintendo-themed costumes, Snoop Lion track suits (bizarre), and Tekken Ball.


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Because of the recent outbreak of the Coronavirus, COVID-19, And the forced Shutdown of many school’s and Businesses world wide. Both Google and Microsoft have come to the rescue to help keep businesses afloat during this Outbreak. Many employee’s are forced to stay home in isolation to prevent any further spread of the disease, and as a result many businesses are suffering.
Both Google and Microsoft have provided their Users with Free copies of their conferencing software. Google has Provided free access to their Hangouts Meet video-conferencing tool. And Microsoft has provided A free 6 month trial of Teams Premium which includes A video conferencing feature.
By March 10, users will receive the free offer as the roll out will be completed. That same day, Microsoft says it will also roll out an update to the free version of Teams that will lift restrictions on how many users can be part of a team and allow users to schedule video calls and conferences.
This should allow employee’s and students to continue working amid the Coronavirus crisis without having to enter the workplace. Both Microsoft and Google believe this will allow businesses to keep running and should keep the economy flowing.
If you or your Business need’s assistance with setting up a video conferencing solution. Feel free to call Techbug on 1300 655 121


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KIRKLIN, Ind. — To the ordinary eye, Jay Hawley Farms may
appear just as a grain and hog farm, but a closer look will show that owners Jay
and Sue Hawley work to add value to every agricultural operation on their farm.
The Hawleys took part in the recent Indiana Farm Management
Tour, where dozens of Hoosier farmers and agriculture industry representatives
stopped by the operation to learn the secrets behind the couple’s
One of the main lessons that Jay Hawley shared with the tour
participants was how he has tried to find a way to add value to all of the
products — whether they are crops or livestock — on his farm.
He noted that he and his wife add value to their corn by
selling it as food-grade corn. That decision came about, Hawley recalled, after
talking with a seed corn dealer, who commented that the farm already was using
three varieties that Cargill uses for food-grade corn.
Hawley said that since they already were growing it and were
happy with previous yield results, the family decided about six years ago to
start growing food-grade corn to be shipped to Cargill in Indianapolis.
While the operation, has been able to add value to its crop
through working with Cargill over the past several years, Hawley noted that when
they first made the decision to grow for the company, quite a few changes had to
be made so the new venture would be successful, as well as be compliant with all
the regulations for producing food-grade corn.
Right off the bat, the family had to make adjustments by
purchasing a semi for hauling the grain because it previously did not have
“Semis are expensive to keep running,” Hawley said, adding
that transportation has been the biggest change since finding a way to add value
to the family’s corn.
On top of the cost of a new semi, he noted that he also had
to deal with learning how to handle the route for hauling the food-grade corn to
Cargill, which included driving right through the middle of the Indiana
University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus.
“It’s not that bad after you get used to it and learn to do
it,” he said.
Today, the farm only grows food-grade corn because Hawley
doesn’t want to have to deal with cleaning the equipment every time he switches
to either planting or harvesting a different variety.
They family also adds value to its beans by producing
soybean seed. Hawley noted that the premium is very good, and he sometimes can
get $1.50 to $1.60 a bushel over the market price.
“We used to haul them to Westfield to be cleaned and
delivered, but now we have to take them all the way to New Castle,” he
He added that growing seed beans is a little more
labor-intensive than producing food-grade corn because the family has to clean
out the drill when switching between different varieties.
On the livestock side of the farm, Hawley and his wife had
about 250 sows on their farrow-to-feeder hog operation and were either looking
for a way to grow or sell all the feeder hogs.
He noted that if a producer’s pigs are not on contract, it
is very difficult to get them sold when they are ready for market.
“People are not going to buy them unless they are going to
make money,” he said, which led eight years ago to the birth of Grandpa Jay’s
Hawley noted that there was a lot of trial and error in the
beginning, as the couple started selling frozen pork at farmers markets. After a
few years and completing the proper paperwork with county and state health
departments, they have been able to serve already-prepared pork burgers.
Sue Hawley mentioned that attending the farmers markets
allows the couple to talk with consumers and see what kinds of products they are
wanting to buy.
She added that there are a lot of myths about how food is
grown, and farmers markets help consumers to meet and know the farmer that is
producing the product they are feeding to their family.


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Homespun Holidays at museum Saturday
Homespun Holidays will be featured Saturday at Dacotah Prairie Museum.
The event will include Christmas music, cookie decorating, crafts, ornament making and a visit from Santa. Sue Gates, director of the museum, will play music on a vintage 1890s piano throughout the afternoon. On the second floor, patrons can visit Christmas Tree Lane, a collection of unique trees and wreaths.
The event will be from 1 to 4 p.m. at the museum, 21 S. Main St. The gift shop will also be open for holiday shopping, and refreshments will be available. Donations will be accepted, and non-perishable food items will be collected.
— Staff reports


text: Recently the news reported that the GDP fell 9.5% in the second quarter – biggest drop on record – translates to a 32.9% annual rate of decline, the worst since quarterly performance tracking has started. This is a far greater contraction than during the 1929 depression. There are now 35-40 million people on unemployment, many of whom face eviction. According to Rasmus, consumer spending is 70% of the economy. There can be no “recovery” if people don’t have the money to pay for goods and services.


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SHENZHEN, China, Aug. 6, 2014 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Xunlei Limited ("Xunlei" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:XNET), today announced that it will release its unaudited financial results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2014 on August 20, 2014 after the US market closes.
The earnings press release will be available on the investor relations page at http://ir.xunlei.com.
Xunlei's management will host a conference call at 8:00 am US Eastern Time (5:00 am US Pacific Time/8:00 pm Beijing/Hong Kong Time) on August 21, 2014, to discuss its quarterly results and recent business activities.
To participate in the conference call, please dial the following number five to ten minutes prior to the scheduled conference call time:
The Company will also broadcast a live audio webcast of the conference call. The webcast will be available at http://ir.xunlei.com.
Following the earnings conference call, an archive of the call will be available by dialing:
|Replay End Date:||September 4, 2014|
Xunlei Limited ("Xunlei") is one of the top 10 largest Chinese internet companies, with an average of approximately 300 million monthly unique visitors for the three months ended on March 31, 2014, according to iResearch. Xunlei is the No. 1 acceleration product provider in China as measured by market share in March 2014, according to iResearch. Xunlei operates a powerful internet platform in China based on cloud computing to provide users with quick and easy access to digital media content through its core products and services, Xunlei Accelerator and the cloud acceleration subscription services. Xunlei is increasingly extending into mobile devices in part through potentially pre-installed acceleration products in mobile phones and to living rooms through TV coverage. Benefitting from the large user base accumulated by Xunlei Accelerator, Xunlei has further developed various value-added services, including Xunlei Kankan, online game and pay per view, to meet a fuller spectrum of its users' digital media content access and consumption needs.


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Fans looking to get their Ultraman manga fix will have to wait a while as it’s going on a two-month hiatus.
— 「ULTRAMAN」2019.4.1世界同時配信決定！【漫画＆アニメ公式】 (@heros_ultraman) January 31, 2019
Artist Tomohiro Shimoguchi is recovering from an undisclosed health issue, which has forced the manga to take a break. The official announcement reassured fans that Shimoguchi is making positive progress and needs time to ease back into the workflow. Which is understandable since Shimoguchi’s art is highly detailed!
The hiatus will also affect the manga’s 12th volume release — which will ship on March 5th instead of February 5th. This is so it will include the delayed chapter, which is set to be published on April 1 unless Shimoguchi faces a setback.
The Ultraman manga has been a big hit in Japan, in no short part that it’s an official sequel to the classic 1966 show. It follows Shinjiro, the son of the original hero Shin Hayata, as he comes to terms with being the new Ultraman as is tasked with stopping an alien invasion.
Oh, and it’s getting a Netflix anime adaptation from Production I.G and Sola Digital Arts. The anime is utilizing motion-capture for the CGI animation, which is not commonly used in the industry — meaning it should be smooth as opposed to the jerky movements many anime fans are accustomed to.
The Ultraman anime will also debut on April 1 and Netflix won’t be holding it hostage. Everyone will be able to binge watch it since it’s a global release.


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WHEN looking at tech companies, the views of a policymaker and an investor can seem at odds with each other - the former focuses on the stability and protection of the broader system, while the latter is looking at profiting off new products and services.
That difference is amplified in the heavily regulated high-value financial sector. Regulators have crossed the t's and dotted the i's in protecting the wider financial system, but investors do not want to be held back from lucrative opportunities that could be worth billions.
"The investors' view of the world is that if there's consumer demand, it has to be good.," noted Sopnendu Mohanty, chief fintech officer of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
"That's been the classic gap between investors and policymakers. What the consumer wants is not necessarily good for the ecosystem as a whole," he added.
For example, the push for growth to meet consumer demand could result in additional risks for the system.
In 2020, consumer lending platform Akulaku faced default issues, which led to its suspension from loan investment platform Mintos in April. There are also other similar tales of other peer-to-peer lending platforms in Indonesia constantly restructuring loans without the consent of lenders to avoid drawing down on their insurance schemes.
With pressure from investors to grow fast, fintech startups are making loans to riskier segments of the population in the bid to continue showing growth. There is also no shortage of funding for these startups - over US$3 billion has been invested into fintechs in Singapore.
Fostering conversations between investors and policymakers - who might be at opposite ends of the spectrum - could yield benefits for both parties. Investors would be able to understand the issues of importance to policymakers, while policymakers can gain greater insight into the types of innovation that pique investors' interest.
"The policymakers can lay out some of the areas they are concerned with for possible future considerations, if they become mainstream. When investors get that information early in the process, they can work with the entrepreneur to design products and services that address future issues if they go mainstream," said Mohanty.
After all, MAS wants to encourage innovation in financial services. In particular, Mohanty said, the central bank would like to see innovation that increases operational efficiency.
He noted that MAS has played supportive roles in the past for some innovative technologies. In 2016, as e-wallets became widely accepted, MAS started consultations on what would become the Payment Services Act. Policymakers shifted towards regulation that is modular, activity-based and facilitative of growth and development in the Singapore payments landscape.
"That's how balance was achieved - it followed the trail of market innovation, and we made a proportional response to the risk the particular service posed," Mohanty said.
He added that balanced regulation supports innovation by not overburdening products or services with regulatory views that are disproportionate to the risk.
But finding this balance is not always easy, especially when a new product changes the design or outcome of an existing regulated process.
Adding to the challenge for policymakers is the increasing speed of innovation, with the time taken for products or services to become mainstream now shorter than before.
Policymakers need to quickly consider the risk a product can create in the market, but no longer have the benefit of time to form an appropriate regulatory position, as profit-driven investors seek a quick product roll-out. This could result in conflict between investors and regulators.
Mohanty nevertheless sees ways for investors and policymakers to meet in the middle, such as having a sandbox to test products and services. MAS launched its regulatory sandbox in 2016, and has since enhanced it with Sandbox Express for quicker testing and Sandbox Plus for better assistance.
"Having a sandbox-based framework allows us to come in early in the process and get an early sense of the regulator's view at the same time as the product is being developed," said Mohanty.
Policymakers and investors might seem like they stand at the opposite ends of the spectrum, but both are similarly looking for innovation. Having a dialogue will help both allocate an optimal amount of capital and resources to innovating specific segments that need more attention than others.
"Our hope is that by working with investors early in the process, we will have efficient capital allocation to areas where we think need innovation," Mohanty said. "That is an optimal outcome for policymakers, investors and entrepreneurs."
For more stories, go to bt.sg/sff2022


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Kolkata, Oct 11 (IANS) Tea and coffee producer Assam Company Ltd is aiming at increasing annual tea sales to Rs.1.55 billion in 30 months, said a senior company official.
The company's current level of sales stands at around Rs.1.3 billion, Chief Financial Officer Abhay Chawdhry told reporters Tuesday.
The company also hopes to double revenue from tea exports and brands to Rs.700 million by then, Chawdhry said.
'We will export around six million kg within that period,' he said.
Lack of supplies owing to drought in Kenya, the world's leading exporter of black tea, would help in growth of exports, Chawdhry said.
This apart, company also plans to invest Rs.220 million in the next 18 months to launch brands in India and export tea to Russia, the official said.
Meanwhile, the company, a member of the Duncan-Macneill Group, has submitted bids under NELP VI for 2 blocks in the Assam-Arakan basin.
The bids are under consideration of Directorate General of Hydrocarbons (DGH).
'We are ready to invest around $100 million over the next two-and-half years in the project,' Chawdhry said.
Chawdhry said the company plans to raise $40 million from private placement, while the remaining $60 million would be raised from external commercial borrowings.


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On November 13, Student Association (SA) will host the annual 423 Night Market from 8 to 10 p.m. This event is an opportunity for students to sell their own creations to their peers. Goods being sold range anywhere from baked items to handmade art, and there will be about 75 booths this year, according to organizers.
Southern’s SA President Jhosuet “Josh” Esten, senior accounting major, urged students to attend the event.
“423 Night Market is an amazing event where we can celebrate the creativity and hard work our students have made,” Esten said. “I know this year we will be blown away by what they create.”
According to Esten, SA was unable to reach an agreement with The Commons this year, so it will be holding the event in the Collegedale Seventh-day Adventist Church upper parking lot to accommodate the large number of vendors.
“However, The Commons has expressed that they would love to partner with some of the student entrepreneurs we have on campus to sell their products there on selected Sundays,” Esten said.
Students interested in that opportunity can email him at email@example.com.
Whether or not food would be allowed to be sold at 423 Night Market was a big question on some students’ minds, and Esten clarified the issue.
“Yes! We are so happy that food will be able to be sold,” Esten said. “Just as last year, though, the vendors will have to prepackage all the food, and it must be vegetarian.”
Students who are unable to attend the event but still wish to support student entrepreneurs may have another opportunity to do so, according to Esten.
“If there are vendors who are partnering with The Commons on Sundays, we will make sure to let students know in The Weekender,” Esten said. “So please keep tabs on that.”
Junior nursing major Lauren Lapham is running a booth at this year’s 423 Night Market with her friends Sarah Manuel, junior mass communication – advertising major, and Jomar Villoso, junior marketing major.
“This is our first time selling anything at 423 Night, and we are selling Filipino street food (pancit and perkedel) and Filipino desserts (tapioca pudding and turon),” Lapham said. “Our booth is called ‘Markdown Munchies.’ We want to sell food since it wasn’t allowed last year, and food was the highlight for me from the 423 Night Market my freshman year.”
Lapham said she, Manuel and Villoso are excited to represent their cultures as they try to cook as well as their moms while sharing their cultural food with the students on campus.
“Estrella by Julie Jane” is a booth that will be selling handmade crochet accessories such as keychain wristlets, crochet pumpkins and crochet baby turtles. This booth is being run by senior health science majors Aly Cole and Julie Jane Pereira.
Another booth to keep an eye out for is “The Mad Baker.” This booth is being run by MadiEsther Rodriguez, business administration major.
“I’m selling baked goods –– chocolate chip cookies, dark chocolate brownies, pumpkin spice cream cheese filled cupcakes,” Rodriguez said. “I did not sell anything last year and am wanting to sell now to get my name out there and network my brand.”
Rodriguez said her earnings from 423 Night Market will go to further enhancing her company and brand.


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Cavium Inc., a provider of semiconductor products that enable intelligent processing for networking, communications and digital home applications, has joined with Qualcomm to offer a mobile adapter solution based on the industry’s emerging Wi-Fi Display standard (now known as Miracast) and designed to provide better peer-to-peer connections with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon platform.
As a result of the collaboration, major smartphone and tablet manufacturers will have access to a standards-plus wireless display reference solution capable of robust and high-quality video transmissions with simultaneous, full interactivity achieved through optimized video compression and transmission latency, the companies said.
“We are very excited about this collaboration with Qualcomm to address the emerging wireless display market,” said Rajiv Khemani, Cavium’s chief operating officer. “Cavium’s PureVu Media SoC has already been selected by several major smartphone [maker] for their wireless display products due to superior features and low latency. This collaboration taps the expertise of both companies to further facilitate the adoption of the new Miracast standard within the mobile industry, and to enable [manufacturers] to deliver differentiated products within an accelerated timeline.”


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Large size OLED TV production is one of the hot issues within the display market. Although OLED has long been a focus for the next generation display, the market share of OLED display is still low. According to UBI Research, a market research company, despite the continued increase in OLED panel production volume and application scope, the point when it moves toward consumer market from producer market will be another leap for the display industry.
UBI Research’s White OLED Display Annual Report (published April 15, 2015) notes that mass production actualization of large size display using RGB structured OLED panel has not been possible due to the dead space from drooped effect. Therefore, UBI Research analyzed that the additional processes and investment cost in order to improve this increases the production cost resulting in decreased competitiveness.
Currently, OLED panel with WRGB structure is being regarded as the only technology that can achieve large size display. As key production companies revealed in SID 2014, concentrated efforts in WRGB OLED research and production resulted in approx. 80% of target yield. In 2015, supply rate is estimated to be 600 thousand units, a 40% increase from 2014, and 1.6 million units in 2016. Chinese key panel companies, led by AUO and BOE, also possess pilot lines for large area WRGB OLED panel mass production including Gen8. (Source: White OLED Display Annual Report, UBI Research)
Solution process applied technology is being developed in close pursuit of WRGB OLED, but UBI Research surmises that it will take 3~4 years for the active mass production competing with efficiency and merits of WRGB structure.
UBI Research forecast WRGB OLED’s unrivaled path will continue for another 5 years or so with approx. 150 million units of WRGB OLED display production out of over 1,000 million OLED display units in 2020. Large size white OLED display panel for TV market is expected to record approx. 1.6 million units in 2016 and grow to produce US$ 13,759M in revenue in 2020 (figures 1, 2).
If the selection of WRGB OLED can solve the RGB structure’s limit in large area panel mass production, possible active OLED TV production is anticipated. With the publication of UBI Research’s report the timing of this is expected to be a point of much discussion. Additionally, further analysis is needed on whether WRGB OLED is really the only technology for large size display, and if so for how long WRGB OLED’s peerless growth can last.


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By Ed Owen, campaignlive.co.uk, Monday, 30 July 2012 12:00PM
O'Mara is a Gyro lifer, starting in 1999, working across the FedEx Express, T-Mobile, American Express, Nuffield Health and Sony brands in London and New York.
Baker joins following five years at Archibald Ingall Stretton and a brief spell with Proximity London, and hs worked with brands such as O2, Shell and Pfizer, and has particular expertise in CRM campaigns.
Tim Hipperson, chief executive of G2 Joshua, said: "Over the past few years G2 Joshua has continued to expand its client base and develop an innovative new agency structure. The appointment of fresh talent is vital to our ongoing success.
"We are thrilled to be able to welcome both Carol and Emma on board and I am certain their contribution to the team is going to be invaluable."
G2 Joshua won Costa Coffee's international integrated account in May, and is expanding following an agency re-branding, and the appointment of Owen Catto as creative director and Matthew Stockton as global brand director in March.
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
Annie Leibovitz explained the art of bringing a story down to a single moment, and shared the inspiration behind the campaign she created with Disney making tales as old as time relevant to today. We heard from Astro Teller, Captain of Moonshots at Google (yes, really) reinforcing the importance of storytelling in driving audacious invention. Mother warned us to hang on to the joy of craft and keep our brains happy in order not to become advertising douchebags. And Facebook discussed scalable creativity.


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The Reagan administration yesterday slapped tough trade restrictions on all imports of specialty steel products "to help the American worker" and protect the domestic industry from "the pervasive nature of unfair trading practices."
President Reagan said the aim of his four-year combination of quotas and tariffs is to force other nations to switch to a competitive trading system in specialty steel. He held out the possibility that the United States might agree to increase quotas for countries that end subsidies on speciality steel exports and open their markets wider to U.S. goods.
But the effect of the presidential order--which hits about 20 nations, including Japan, Canada and some of America's closest allies in Europe--was to increase concern that the United States is taking a protectionist turn despite the free-trade pledges of the Reagan administration.
U.S. Trade Representative William E. Brock emphasized the administration's commitment to free trade, but said it must enforce U.S. laws against unfair trade practices to hold down protectionist pressures.
"I am hopeful we have used a sufficiently strong two-by-four to indicate that we just can't continue to tolerate a world system that is totally trade-distortive, where governments intervene at will without any consideration of international rule," Brock said.
Brock said the Reagan decision on specialty steel is consistent with the commitment to free trade made at the Williamsburg economic summit in May.
Representatives of some other nations, however, disagreed. "It's a bad day for Williamsburg," commented a Western diplomat who attended the Brock briefing.
The decision comes as many of America's allies are questioning the administration's trade goals in light of a series of moves aimed at protecting U.S. industries from foreign competition--all taken under the rubric of combating unfair trading practices of other nations. These include asking Japan to continue limiting auto exports to the United States, setting high quotas on the imported heavy motorcycles and selling subsidized wheat flour to Egypt to capture a market from the French.
Industry and labor representatives, however, found the Reagan action "deeply disappointing" and "inadequate." A joint statement by Albert J. Lena, chairman of the Specialty Steel Industry of the United States, and Lloyd McBride, president of the United Steelworkers of America, said tariff levels on the flat-rolled product, which accounts for 75 percent of industry sales, are too small to stop other countries from overcoming them with increased subsidies. But both men approved of the quotas on stainless steel bar, rod and alloy tool steel.
Specialty steel is a low-volume, high-value product considered vital to national defense, telecommunications, aerospace and oil refining. It accounts for just 2 percent in tonnage but 10 percent of the dollar value of U.S. steel production. The White House said the United States imported $373 million worth of specialty steel last year, about 20 percent of total sales in this country.
President Reagan, faced with a series of options prepared by his trade advisers, made the decision shortly before noon yesterday at his Santa Barbara, Calif., ranch before leaving for a speaking engagement.
The U.S. International Trade Commission had recommended in May that Reagan grant relief to the specialty steel industry to overcome unfair trading practices of other countries. The ITC, which started its investigation at Reagan's instigation last November, recommended three years of relief, while the industry wanted five-year quotas.
Under the complex Reagan formula, the tariffs and quotas are imposed for four years, with the tariffs decreasing each year while the amount of specialty steel allowed to be imported increases.
Tariffs rather than the more severe quotas were placed on two forms of flat-rolled products that make up 55 percent of all specialty steel imports, because that section of the industry is the most competitive, Brock said.
The tariffs, added to the 10 1/2 percent duties already in force, start at 10 percent the first year for sheet and strip and decrease in steps to 4 percent the fourth year. The added tariff on plate starts at 8 percent and goes down to 4 percent.
Quotas were imposed on other products because the administration found that the ability of U.S. producers to modernize had been hurt by competition from low-priced imports. The quotas limit bar steel imports from all countries to 27,000 tons over the next year, rising to 29,500 tons in the fourth year; rod steel quotas are set at 19,100 the first year and 20,900 the fourth; alloy tool steel, 22,400 the first year to 24,500 the fourth. Last year the United States imported 40,053 tons of bar, 21,881 tons of rod and 40,058 tons of alloy tool steel.
The quotas and tariffs apply to all countries selling specialty steel to the United States. The major suppliers listed by the White House are Japan, West Germany, Sweden, France, Spain, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Canada, South Korea and Italy.


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Sigma Labs to Present at the Virtual Fall Investor Summit on Wednesday, November 18, 2020 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time
SANTA FE, NM / ACCESSWIRE / November 10, 2020 / Sigma Labs, Inc. (NASDAQ:SGLB) ("Sigma Labs"), a leading developer of quality assurance software for the commercial 3D metal printing industry, today announced that management will present at the Virtual Fall Investor Summit taking place virtually November 16th - 18th, 2020.
Sigma Labs CEO Mark K. Ruport is scheduled to host a virtual presentation during the conference and will also participate in one-on-one meetings throughout the day. Management will highlight its new PrintRite3D Lite In-Process Quality Assurance system, IN4.OS Strategic Alliance for Factories of the Future and recent contract awards.
Virtual Fall Investor Summit
Date: Wednesday, November 18, 2020
Time: 9:00 a.m. EDT, 6:00 a.m. PDT
For more information or to schedule a one-on-one meeting with Sigma Labs management, please contact your conference representative or you may also email your request to SGLB@mzgroup.us or call Chris Tyson at (949) 491-8235.
About Sigma Labs
Sigma Labs Inc. (NASDAQ:SGLB) is a leading provider of quality assurance software to the commercial 3D metal printing industry under the PrintRite3D® brand. Sigma specializes in the development and commercialization of real-time monitoring solutions known as PrintRite3D® for 3D metal advanced manufacturing technologies. PrintRite3D detects and classifies defects and anomalies real-time during the manufacturing process and informs the production manager of quality issues. Sigma Labs believes its software product will be a major catalyst for the acceleration and adoption of 3D metal printing. For more information, please visit www.sigmalabsinc.com.
Sigma Internal IR
SOURCE: Sigma Labs, Inc.
View source version on accesswire.com:
Released November 10, 2020


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Rumors abound about a potential search deal between Twitter and Google, Microsoft, or possibly Yahoo. But as deal and acquisition gossip proliferates, some are considering the potential value of such deals from a marketing standpoint.
“I don’t think there’s a lot of value for paid advertising [in Twitter]. I think it’s more for content targeting,” said search engine marketing consultant Eric Frenchman.
There are a couple obvious ways search advertising might appear on Twitter, including within search results or alongside content and targeted against specific keywords, À la AdSense. Whether marketers can derive the same value from Twitter search results ads as they do through more traditional search engine advertising is debatable. For instance, Frenchman contended the value of search marketing lies in its ability to reach people who are seeking information, while on Twitter, “I don’t know that people are looking for information as much as pushing out information,” he said. “You’re broadcasting to the world, and I don’t know if that broadcast has got the same targeting relevance that Google does.”
There’s also the question of whether or not a search ad partner would benefit from a deal with a social platform such as Twitter. Google, for example, has indicated its search ad deal with MySpace has been difficult to monetize. Still, the firm has signaled an interest in enhancing its current algorithm with social search elements.
While MySpace is used primarily for finding and interacting with friends, David Berkowitz, director of emerging media at digital marketing agency 360i, suggested: “A lot of Twitter’s value is really as a search engine.” He said advertisers could facilitate the user experience when people are looking for up-to-date information on a specific issue or news event. For instance, media brands might link to their stories through Twitter search ads in the same way they do in Google search results or their own tweets.
“MySpace already had a lot of venues for advertisers, and right now this is really about figuring out the first way for advertisers to actually take part in [Twitter],” added Berkowitz. “There will be a lot of opportunities for advertisers to keep adapting to ways [Twitter usage evolves.]”
Berkowitz also sees potential for local search ads within Twitter, suggesting users seeking timely data on the crowd status at nearby restaurants or bars could benefit from advertisements from local establishments. In addition, he anticipates Twitter offering advertising in mobile platforms. “One of the very convenient aspects of Twitter is that there are 140 characters, and with text messages there’s room for 160, so you have some built-in ad room right there.”
“If Twitter does do a deal with a major search engine, then there are going to be a few instant advantages,” added Berkowitz, noting a partner like Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo could make Twitter ads “fairly easy to buy.”
If Twitter were to offer contextually targeted ads, the company could be expected to face the same obstacles to monetization that social sites like MySpace, Facebook, and YouTube have been up against. Advertisers have long been leery of presenting their brands in uncontrolled or irrelevant content. If, for instance, advertisers were able to target ads contextually against tweets mentioning specific topics or brand names, the context of those posts would be difficult to determine.
“You could say, ‘This product sucks,’ ” suggested Frenchman, noting that such content would not be a good place for an advertiser selling said product. Such concerns seem legitimate as tags including brand names like “#amazonfail” gain ground in Twitter posts referring to alleged removal of gay and lesbian books from the Web retailer’s sales rankings.
Also, Frenchman noted the context of a tweet often lies elsewhere on the site, or beyond Twitter itself. “It’s usually a link to something else…Right now it’s an echo chamber.”
However, Frenchman sees some potential value in Twitter advertising from a branding perspective. For example, he envisions the ability to sponsor search results for Twitter hash tags, which allow people to easily find all posts related to a particular topic. “There’s some value in it, but I don’t know how much,” he added.
Some companies have already attempted to exploit Twitter content organized according to category or through dedicated hash tags. Glam Media allows advertisers to target ads to people using a tool that aggregates tweets and other social media content according to topic. Federated Media also launched a service in conjunction with Twitter recently which allows advertisers to brand pages compiling tweets on certain topics or from particular people.
The greatest benefit of Twitter to marketers may already exist. Search advertising or other forms of ads in Twitter may never be of as much value to marketers as the platform’s current use as a buzz research tool. “I hope nothing supersedes that value; it’s only going to get more important,” Berkowitz said.
Despite the fact that it faces growing competition from Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat, Google-owned YouTube is still one of the most popular ... read more
Amazon prides itself on being the most “customer-centric” company in the world, but according to investigative journalism non-profit ProPublica, Amazon’s algorithms are often anything but ... read more


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At an annual shareholders conference, Adair’s CEO, Mark Ronan told attendees that the company plans to focus on ongoing sales growth by expanding its omnichannel footprint.
According to Ronan’s presentation at the bedding retailer’s ‘Morgans Queensland Conference’, Adairs hopes to achieve a growth of five to eight percent in like for like sales in FY19.
Part of the company’s strategy for achieving this goal is to focus on its omnichannel shopping experience, to evolve its capabilities and drive growth.
“Online is now sufficiently material that if we can grow online by 30 percent in FY19, this will contribute circa four percent to our like for like sales growth for the overall business this year,” Ronan said in his presentation.
To achieve this, the retailer’s CEO says an expansion of online-only products that can be ordered either in-store or online and increased digital marketing efforts to drive consumers in-store and online will be two key focuses.
Ronan has also emphasised the importance of the company’s website as a shopping tool that aids research and planning. Using tech to provide better complementary product recommendations, and providing more ‘inspirational’ content that showcases how to get the look are on the radar for the business over the next 12-months.
According to Adairs, its cross-channel shoppers are generally more engaged and spend more money with the business each year than those who only shop through one channel. Online-only shoppers spend an average of $242 per year, followed by in-store shoppers spending an average of $374. Consumers who spend on both platforms, however, reportedly spend $801 in total per year, with $510 spent in-store and $291 online.
As such, the business reportedly wants to drive more customer engagement through its Linen Lovers loyalty program and social media, to drive higher spends across every category.
In 2018, 13 percent of the company’s revenue came from its online store, but by pushing more user engagement, the company has a target of 15 percent of total sales by 2019.
In the 13 weeks since the start of 2019, Adairs has reported a like for like sales growth of 5.2 percent across both its online and in-store channels. The company hopes that by the end of FY19, it will reach total sales of $345 to $360 million with a gross margin of 59 to 61 percent.
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Following Apple and Google, Facebook has also decided to roll out a new feature that will tell users how much time they spend on the app. Facebook announced about this feature ‘Your Time on Facebook’ in August this year to help people manage their time on social networking, it seems like the company is going to launch this feature soon.
The tool will be able to keep a track of how many minutes users have spent on Facebook each day and if they want to minimize the social media use they can even set a daily limit to remind them that they have spent the given amount of time on Facebook and now it’s time to stop using it.
The company also introduced many new features including shortcuts to notifications, news feed and friend request settings.
You can find the new feature under the Settings & Privacy menu, which is in the More tab inside Facebook. Once there, you will able to check how much time you have spent on the app on average and also the exact amount of time every day of the past week. Here you can also set up daily limits as well as a reminder that will tell you to stop using Facebook once that daily time limit is reached.
Users who cannot see “Your Time on Facebook” inside the Facebook app, it implies that Facebook has not rolled it out in your region for the time being. Also, make sure you update Facebook on iPhone and Android to get the new feature once it makes into your region.


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NUSEED believes its range of high omega-3 oil canola could be ready for commercial release in Australia as early as next year.
Speaking following the announcement that Nuseed has completed its preparatory work on submissions for regulatory approval for the canola to be grown in Australia, Canada and the US, Nuseed group executive Brent Zacharias said he was confident the innovation would benefit both farmers and consumers.
"This project underscores the vast potential for agriculture to solve problems, in this case creating a new source of omega-3 oils rather than solely relying on aquaculture," he said.
Mr Zacharias said it was a step forward for growers looking to stop producing bulk commodities.
"This scheme will create new value and new markets for canola producers, it is an exciting time," he said.
"The era of simply producing more of a particular crop is ending; we are now looking at producing things that change the value proposition."
The long chain omega-3 canola has been developed using genetic modification (GM) in the breeding process.
The omega-3 oils typically originate in ocean microalgae, which fish consume, boosting their omega-3 levels.
Nuseed has found a way to add the relevant microalgae genes to canola.
The company anticipates that one hectare of this canola has the potential to provide the omega-3 yield from 10,000 kilograms of fish.
Mr Zacharias said it was a chance for consumers to get their omega-3 requirements without further depletion of fish stocks;
Before the product can be grown in Australia it needs to get Office of Gene Technology Regulator (OGTR) approval.
Mr Zacharias said he thought the consumer reaction to the product would be positive, in spite of the fact it is GM.
"We obviously understand and respect there are some consumers that prefer non-GM, but we believe the acceptance for this product in large parts of the world is very high," he said.
"A lot of the world is very comfortable with GM products, especially when the products help with sustainability of resources."
Nick Goddard, of the Australian Oilseeds Federation (AOF) welcomed the news.
"It is a great initiative and we are very supportive of any innovation that creates value for Australian canola producers," he said.
Mr Goddard said demand for omega-3s was on the rise across the world and that producing omega-3 rich crops would be a good way for growers to move away from producing crops solely for the bulk market.
John Eastburn, chairman of farmer lobby group Grain Growers, was also excited by the news.
"GGL believes something like this is a win-win for both consumers and farmers," he said.
"Omega-3s help in people's diet and if you can get a product where you can easily get more of them into your daily diet then that has to be good for all Australian citizens.
"From the farmers' perspective it is good to have a means to get a better value for their oilseed crops."
Mr Zacharias said the crop would be produced along a closed-loop supply chain system, similar to what occurs with other Nuseed specialty crops such as Monola.
"It is likely to be a relatively small-scale, invitation-only crop for the first year at least, but the exciting thing is that it has the potential to scale very quickly," he said.
Mr Zacharias said there would be four major target markets for the product, aquaculture, food direct for human consumption, dietary supplements and the pharmaceuticals sector.
In terms of agronomics, Mr Zacharias said it would be a relatively quick process to breed the traits into Nuseed's elite genetics.
"We are looking to work with our elite materials and that has all been timed in with the end use market scale up, so farmers can expect the high omega-3 lines to perform well agronomically from the start," he said.
Mr Zacharias said based on previous experiences, the company expected Australian regulatory approval in around 12 months, stretching out to up to 24 months in the US and Canada.
Nuseed has worked together with CSIRO and the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) since 2011 on the project.


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In 2007, Indian companies acquired more than $18bn worth of western companies. And in the past four years, the Indian economy has grown by 9% every year.
A prime example of the Indian acquisition trend is the recent takeover of Jaguar and Land Rover by Tata. The world economy has, as Aditya Chakrabortty just wrote for the Guardian, tilted. In the favour of Asia.
But the big impacts of the new Asian economies aren’t mainly the acquisitions. It’s the prices of oil and commodities like steel that have burst through the ceilings thanks to a highly increased demand from the likes of India and China.
It’s quite logical. As The Guardian puts it;
India and China have such big populations that, as they get tied into the global economy, they can’t help but have huge impacts on the rest of the world.
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South Korean tech giant Samsung is reportedly planning to launch its M series smartphone, Galaxy M40, in India, next month. The phone is expected to cost nearly Rs 25,000 in the country.
The smartphone is said to feature a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor with triple rear cameras and is said to be the most powerful offering in the M series.
According to other reports, Samsung Galaxy M40 will come with a 5,000mAh battery, up to 6GB of RAM, AMOLED display.
Samsung initially had launched three phones under the Galaxy M series called the Galaxy M10, M20 and M30 that are powered by Exynos processors.
The company will also be launching some flagship features on the upcoming Galaxy M40 that could include the ‘Hole-in-Display’ that can be seen in the flagship S10 series.
Samsung had launched the Galaxy M30 in February that starts at Rs 14,990 for the 4GB+64GB version and Rs 17,990 for the 6GB+128GB version.
The company had launched the Galaxy M10 and M20 in January this year.


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Twitter is providing guidance to mobile advertisers thanks to a new study it completed and it’s pretty interesting stuff.
Did you know that 60% of Twitter’s 200 million active users log in via a mobile device at least once every month? You probably could’ve guessed that, with everyone buried in their phones as they walk down the street.
But did you know that as socially addicted as you think you are (and you are, make no mistake about THAT) – the next generation is pretty obviously headed for a world where “virtual” becomes the new reality? Looks like the folks at Google X are timing Google Glass just right.
According to Twitter’s new study, those who primarily use mobile to access Twitter share some startling characteristics. Twitter calls them “primary mobile users” but we’ll leave out “primary” as it brings to mind grade school.
Mobile users are young(er). “18 to 34 year olds are 52% more likely to be logging into Twitter primarily via a mobile device. Not a big surprise since younger consumers tend to be stronger adopters of mobile in general.”
Mobile users are on their phones all day. Twitter didn’t specifically state this, but it’s easy to pull that from the stats. If mobile Twitter users are “on Twitter throughout the day” as the figures below support, it’s safe to assume they’re accessing other sites in addition to Twitter.
Hopefully they’re not tweeting while driving.
And “62% percent of mobile Twitter users communicate with people near them via Twitter.” Here’s how Twitter explains what this means:
Think about times when you send a friend a Tweet who you are meeting at a store to let them know you’ve already arrived. Or you tweet a photo with friends and include their Twitter handles when you’re all out at a restaurant.
You can check out the rest of the study’s findings here. And when you’re done reading that, why don’t you put the phone down for a little while and look around?
(Boy business man image from Shutterstock)


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The UK chemical industry is likely to be impacted by the decision on Thursday, June 23, 2016 to break from the United Kingdom. According to the UK chemical industry associations, the chemical industry will have to adopt a wait-and-see approach to determine whether the UK chemical industry will be able to prosper following the UKs decision to break from the EU.
The CEO of the Chemical Industries Association (CIA), Steve Elliott expressed confidence that the UK chemical sector is resilient enough to withstand the Brexit shock and adapt to the new situation.
He did however indicate that the UK chemical industry needs certainty, although it is attuned to operating in volatile circumstances. Mr Elliott stressed the importance of limiting the uncertainty in the times ahead as the UK extricates itself from the EU.
The Chemical Business Association alluded to the benefits and risks inherent in the Brexit referendum. All chemical industry players are working hard to secure the creation of a structural framework within which the UK chemical industry can prosper with the European Union. To this end, governments, parliaments and member states are working with the commission to develop a framework for the growth and prosperity of both economies. It has been estimated that the United Kingdom contributes €46.3 billion of the 28-nation bloc European Union’s chemical sales totalling €531 billion. While chemical sales exports from the European Union to the United Kingdom total €22.3 billion.


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After Walmart workers went on strike in Seattle on Tuesday and in Los Angeles last week, on Wednesday workers walked off the job in Chicago at three store locations. Those workers will join supporters and other protesters at a rally at 4 p.m. central time.
After the strike in Los Angeles, activists and workers also took place in the largest act of civil disobedience against the company ever, with more than 50 getting arrested. The latest wave of strikes come after one that took place in Miami in October, the first work stoppage at Walmart since June. They come ahead of promises for further mobilization on Black Friday this year, echoing actions last year that drew around 400 strikers.
In response to the strikes in Seattle and Los Angeles, the company has insisted that a small percentage of its workers take part in the strikes because they feel the company provides “more opportunities for career growth and greater economic security for their families than other companies in America.”
The groups of strikers and protesters have been demanding a minimum of $25,000 a year for all workers, an end to retaliation against workers who strike or organize, and more full-time positions. Recent numbers show that the majority of the company’s in-store workforce made less than that figure last year, and its wages are so low that workers at one location consume about $1 million in public benefits to get by. It has been accused of firing or disciplining workers who go on strike and has admitted itself that it has told workers who looked into forming a union that doing so could mean their benefits disappear. While the company says the majority of its workers are full-time employees, surveys have found most locations hiring only temporary workers, and the lack of full-time employees so hurt its sales that it decided to add more for the holiday season.
Meanwhile, Walmart has joined a growing number of companies who have stretched Black Friday shopping so far that they will now open on Thanksgiving Day, denying those workers a chance to have dinner with their families. While these stores say the workers coming in on the holiday will be volunteers or temps, many retail workers already struggle to get the hours they need to survive and may have little choice.
By Bryce Covert


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Growing numbers of tenants are opting to live in build-to-rent (BTR) homes because many of these developments welcome their pet, according to new research.
Build-to-rent furniture provider Manor Interiors found that pet-friendly homes were the most common feature in BTR developments on the market, with 47% of them promoting pet friendliness.
The firm believes their popularity is a direct response to the increasing frustration felt by tenants towards private landlords who haven’t adapted to their increasing desire to rent with dogs and cats.
After pet friendly, the second most common BTR feature is car parking – shared by 40% of the developments currently being advertised – while 33% of developments come with an on-site concierge, perhaps due to increasing demand from tenants wanting to ensure their online shopping can be safely and reliably received, says the firm.
Also on the list of popular features is free Wi-Fi for all tenants (27%), residents’ lounge or other shared communal socialising space (26%), on-site gym (20%), communal garden space (12%), allowing tenants to move in without requiring them to pay a deposit (11%), and roof terrace (7%).
Manor Interiors CEO Farhan Malik (pictured) says its research of 103 build-to-rent developments helps explain why tenants are increasingly drawn towards them. He believes the attraction is also a result of the poor standards and inflexibility common among private landlords.
Adds Malik: “It’s clear that the build to rent industry has listened to these renter frustrations and responded by ensuring that their developments cater to the evolving expectations and needs. We see this in the fact that nearly half of build to rent developments are pet friendly, an increasingly common renter demand that private landlords have long refused to engage with.”
Pic credit: Quintain Living.


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Traders on Sunday conveyed to the government their fear that like previous years extortion by police and others from goods carrying vehicles and business establishments would push up prices of essentials during this Ramadan.
At a discussion, organised by Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry at its auditorium in the capital, businesses requested the government to stop extortion by police and political activists on highways and at shops to reign in prices during Ramadan.
‘A huge number of iftar parties and other events on the eve of Eid take place under the banner of different social and political parties and in most cases businesses are forced to bear the cost of the events,’ former DCCI senior vice-president MS Shekil Chowdhury alleged.
Extortion in the name of Iftar party and other events in the name of Eid celebrations also put pressure on commodity prices as businesses would try to recover the money from the prices of goods, he pointed out.
DCCI president Abul Kasem Khan said that traditional supply chain management, unabated hoarding, lack of market monitoring, extortion on highways, excessive traffic congestion and increase in transportation cost were behind price spiral of essential commodities.
He urged the law enforcement agencies to strongly handle extortion in transportation sector as well as manage traffic jam in the city and highways.
Before Ramadan, speedy customs clearance at ports of essential commodities, mostly used in Ramadan, could ease price hike, Kasem demanded.
Abul Hasem, general secretary of Bangladesh Paikari Vojya Tel Byabasayee Samiti, alleged that extortion from trucks on the highway was going on with the support of police.
He said that the prices of essential commodities were under the control of 5/7 businesses and the DCCI should sit with them.
Dhaka University professor Zia Rahman presented keynote paper saying that the government fails to control market during Ramadan every year due to the unholy nexus of a quarter.
‘We have to realise the situation of the market when prime minister has to intervene to control the commodity prices in a country,’ he said.
Zia urged the government to control political and police extortion from businesspeople.
DCCI member Siraz Uddin Malik alleged that region-based goons already started extorting money from the businesspeople and the government should take action immediately.
‘I want to ask home minister whether police would provide support if the businesses take initiative to prevent extortionists,’ he said.
Home minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said that the government would take stern action against extortion.
He requested businesses to file specific complaints over the extortion and the government would take proper action.
Asaduzzaman urged businesses not to cross load capacity on highway and not to run vehicles without legal documents.
He said that in some cases traffic inspectors were taking advantage as many trucks were carrying goods without registration.
‘Even if one plies his vehicle with proper registration and driving licence, police cannot take bribe. But it is true there are extortionist police and we are taking action against them,’ the minister said.
He, however, accused traders of adulterating food.
On law and order, Asaduzzaman urged businesses to play a role in this regard and observed that many big industries were being installed but some shut their factories without paying the workers before Eid, which affected law and order.
‘Sometimes we see that despite stable price on international market, increasing dollar price pushes up prices of essential commodities on local market,’ president of Consumers Association of Bangladesh Ghulam Rahman said.
He also blamed huge traffic jam and container congestion at the ports for price spiral.
Ghulam Rahman suggested that the government ensure strong market monitoring during Ramadan.
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Data scientists know that rich, interactive visualizations can turn complex data sets into something employees (of all backgrounds) can dig in to and discover new insights and ask new questions of. But maybe it’s time to deliver that same kind of “discovery” service into the hands of customers for other than data mining purposes.
Meet Katia Beauchamp and Hayley Barna, co-founders of Birchbox, a “discovery retail” cosmetics business launched in 2010. Customers who sign on to the Birchbox service receive a box every month containing four or five cosmetic, grooming or lifestyle samples. Customers get a chance to try something they’ve never bought before — without making a costly, up-front investment. If they like it, customers can return to the Birchbox site to buy a full-sized version, or go to any other retail outlet, for that matter, to make their purchase.
“The mission behind Birchbox is to make it easy, efficient and fun to buy beauty products online,” Barna said at TechCrunch’s Disrupt New York earlier this week.
What will come as no surprise to CIOs and IT leaders is the potent ingredient at the center of the Birchbox business model: Data. “We are data junkies!” Beauchamp recently exclaimed on Twitter. And when faced with a question at Disrupt New York about a Birchbox contingency plan if consumers scale back their cosmetic cravings, Beauchamp turned to data. “No need for a contingency plan,” she said. “We continue to monitor how consumers are spending their time with us, how they’re spending their money with us, and that informs what goes into the box. We will always be data driven.”
The co-founders see the boxes as “the beginning of the conversation we have every month with our customers,” Beauchamp said at Disrupt New York. And, based on data alone, it’s a conversation that’s getting louder and louder. To date, Birchbox has 800,000 paid subscribers who receive a box every month, according to Barna. And, starting this summer, customers in the New York City area will be able to visit the first Birchbox brick-and-mortar store, where data will play a big role in helping Barna and Beauchamp measure the store’s success.
“For us, we’re thinking about it as a laboratory,” Barna said.
“We’re going to see the numbers and how it will impact our online business, customer acquisition, the lifetime value of businesses who engages with us in that space,” Beauchamp said.
Those kind of data points are, no doubt, helping attract investor interest. Last month, Birchbox raised $60 million in a Series B funding round from firms such as Viking Global Investors and First Round Capital.
The funds will be used to grow the discovery retail business, Beauchamp said at Disrupt New York. That could, in part, help finance future acquisitions — specifically those that will push Birchbox into new markets. In 2012, Beauchamp and Barna picked up the Paris-based JolieBox, which paved the way for Birchbox to sell services and products in France, Spain and the United Kingdom. While the acquisition made good business sense, it also benefitted the Birchbox customer base.
“Through our expansion to Europe, we were able to bring European brands to the United States for the first time,” Barna said. “It’s been great for our customers.”
She probably has data to back up a statement like that one.