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Okanagan Cultivators has approved further plans to set up cultivation operations in the Czech Republic with the Czech Government in support of medical cannabis. Okanagan Cultivators a Canadian cannabis company that specializes in premium medical grade cannabis cultivation with operations in Canada and Europe has much to gain from this decision. Currently the Czech Republic imports all its product from outside sources leaving the country out of the cannabis gains to a degree. The government plans to vote on changing this in 2021 allowing for cultivation of THC Cannabis flower, although it is unknown what this will look like for potential cultivators Okanagan is already approved to cultivate CBD and CBG in the Czech Republic. The facility will cultivate CBD & CBG flowers only until approved by the government to also cultivate THC.
“We are currently looking at around 5000m2 approx. 50,0000 sq ft of cultivation space,” said Ken Fortier, Okanagan’s Chief Operating officer and Master Grower “We have a new technology we will deploy in this facility which should allow us to produce roughly 6 to 8000 kilos per year. At today’s market price that is about 50,000,000 euros worth of premium product.” This may seem like a lot but for Okanagan there is a huge demand for organic premium pharmaceutical grade medical cannabis and this may only meet a portion of the demand.
Okanagan who signed an off-take agreement to supply Remedy Pharmacy earlier this year is in much needed expansion in order to supply the needs of Remedy Pharmacy and other clients. Which is why the Czech Republic is not the only country Okanagan plans to operate its cultivation fasciitis, Greece is also on the list for Okanagan, with their licence application currently in process with the Geek Government and supported by Dentons law firm.


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Amazon's Jeff Bezos Meets with Boxed's Chief Executive to Talk about Possible Acquisition
SEATTLE, WA — Amazon may have interrupted Kroger’s efforts to acquire Boxed.com according to the NY Post.
In the last two weeks, The Post’s sources reported that Kroger made an offer to acquire the meal kit company for between $300 million and $400 million, but Boxed rejected the offer just days before a scheduled visit to Amazon headquarters—possibly because the meal kit provider is holding out for a higher offer. A Forbes report published earlier this month noted that Boxed may be targeting a $500 million mark after receiving a $470 million valuation last year.
Amazon invited Boxed’s CEO Chieh Huang to meet at with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to discuss a possible acquisition sources with knowledge of the trip and discussion informed The Post. The meeting was reportedly to take place on Wednesday, January 24th, at Amazon’s Seattle headquarters.
The Post speculated that a partnership between Boxed and Kroger would aid Kroger as it attempts to bolster its online presence and offset the impact of Amazon’s partnership with Whole Foods.
Although Kroger has also been in talks with Alibaba, as we previously reported, this strategic move on Amazon's part could put Kroger and other brick-and-mortar stores looking to expand into e-commerce at a disadvantage. If Amazon acquires Boxed, The Post speculated, the acquisition could threaten Costco’s customer base. Boxed, like Costco, specializes in bulk sales. With Amazon’s backing, Boxed could further push the e-commerce trend, having gained foothold in every aspect of the grocery market—from health-conscious Whole Foods to convenience-oriented Boxed.
For updates as the occur, stay tuned to AndNowUKnow.

domain: news


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Rumour: VW Passat could be axed in US & Europe in 2023
The Passat has been Europe’s best-selling non-premium midsize sedan.
According to a media report, Volkswagen could discontinue the Passat in USA and Europe by 2023. The decision is likely to be taken as the company shifts its focus to electric cars and SUVs.
While it could be the end of the road for the Passat sedan in Europe, the estate version of the car will continue to be sold in markets like Germany. Reports suggest that the next generation Passat estate could be introduced around end-2023.
That said, it seems unlikely that VW will cancel the Passat in the Europe given its popularity. It is Europe’s best-selling non-premium midsize sedan. VW sold 88,478 units in October 2020.
In comparison, sales performance of the Passat in the US market hasn’t been as encouraging. The carmaker sold just 16,190 units in the first three quarters of 2020. Therefore, cancelling the model in the US would make sense.
As far as the Indian market is concerned, VW will continue to offer the Passat for the time being. In fact, test mules of Passat TSI have been spotted on the roads. The car is likely to be powered by a BS6-compliant turbo-petrol engine.
Source: Read Full Article


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Real-Time Card Spending Data Shows The Next Stimulus-Funded Buying Spree Has Arrived
The latest real-time data from BofA credit and debit card usage showed a marked turnaround in spending from the December slump – according to BofA economist Michelle Meyer, total card spending was up 9.7% YOY for the 7-days ending Jan 9th, owing in large part to the $900bn COVID-relief stimulus passed at year-end. This is up from -0.6% just 9 days earlier, and confirmed that the latest government-funded spending spree has arrived.
The surge in post-holiday spending thanks to the $900BN stimulus can be seen on both a total card and ex-auto basis in the two charts below:
As before, the bulk of the excess spending was funded by debit card, which is where government stimulus funds were deposited. And, as before, most spending took place online which was about 80% higher compared to a year ago while traditional retail spending was flat to slightly down Y/Y.
According to the Treasury, $112bn of “Economic Impact Payments” were distributed through direct deposit in the first week of the year. Using BAC aggregated direct deposit data, one can isolate the cohort of households who received the payment and track aggregated spending for this population versus the rest of the sample to gauge the impact of the stimulus. This is the same exercise we showed following the April CARES stimulus.
Here are the main points:
- Total card spending for the stimulus recipients accelerated meaningfully at the start of the year with a jolt on Jan 1st which lasted about 5 days. Total card spending for stimulus recipients is up nearly 20% yoy average since Jan 1, which is almost 4X the Dec average growth rate. This compares to those without stimulus payments where spending was flat on a YOY basis since Jan 1. We can also show the differential using indexed values – over the five days starting Jan 1st, total card spending for stimulus recipients was 30% above the rest of the population (Chart 1).
- Lower income households saw a bigger boost from the stimulus with spending for stimulus recipients reaching nearly 40% above those without. The differential for the highest income tier was a more modest 20%
- Indeed, total card spending for the lowest income tier is running at a stellar 22% YOY for the 7-days ending Jan 9th.
- Stimulus funds provided the biggest boost to clothing, followed by online electronics, general merchandise, and home improvements. In April, stimulus funds disproportionately went to online electronics, suggesting there may have been some saturation in electronics demand. This is shown in the next chart which compares the change in the YOY growth rates pre (Dec avg) and post (7 days ending on Jan 9) stimulus for the recipients vs. those without the payments.
- Expanded unemployment insurance (UI) also helped on the margin with total card spending for UI recipients accelerating modestly relative to non-UI recipients.
Bottom line: lower income households, who have the highest propensity to spend any “unexpected” financial windfall, are doing just that, which means that retail sales in January will be off the charts. The only question – for market participants – is how much of this latest stimulus, or the coming $1.9 trillion one for that matter, will enter the market?
Fri, 01/15/2021 – 07:11
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Pepsi and Airtel Nigeria have collaborated on a consumer promotion that will reward customers with 350 million minutes of free airtime for their loyalty.
The two firms said the partnership will see every consumers winning airtime for every glass bottle of Pepsi, Mirinda, 7Up, Teem and Mountain Dew purchased over the next 70 days.
Speaking at the launch of the promo tagged “Everybody Is A Winner’, Head, Marketing, Seven-Up Bottling Company Plc., Mr. Norden Thursten, said the partnership with Airtel is aimed at giving consumer the best of two worlds: drinking refreshing Pepsi and talking with excitement on the Airtel network.
Thursten said Pepsi is consumer-centric and always evolving ways to delight its consumers. “The Nigerian consumer is becoming more discerning and is beginning to get wary of elements of luck associated with lotteries and raffle draws hence we are giving him instant win and multiple entries to enjoy on-net Airtel calls,” he said.
According to him, Pepsi is happy to align with Airtel, which has the same consumer focused philosophy for this win-win promotion.
General Manager, Value-Added Services, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Victor Bannerman-Chedid, said: “The partnership between Pepsi and Airtel, two of Nigeria’s leading companies is one of the most exciting things to happen to the Nigerian consumer in recent time. We are happy to begin the New Year on a very promising and positive note for the good of the Nigerian consumer. We recognise their importance and the immense roles they play in the success or our businesses.”


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The Steuben County Sheriff’s Office reports the arrest of several people after a fraud investigation in Erwin.
According to deputies, Leona Allison, 48; Infinitee Beard, 26; Mone Wiggins, 24; and Michael Pinckney, 53 were arrested following that investigation.
It is alleged that Ms. Allison, Ms. Beard, Ms. Wiggins and Mr. Pinckney attempted to steal property by use of an assumed identity and fraudulent credit cards at a retail establishment in the Town of Erwin.
All four were charged with grand larceny and identity theft- both as felonies.
The charges will be answered at a later date.
FingerLakes1.com is the region’s leading all-digital news publication. The company was founded in 1998 and has been keeping residents informed for more than two decades. Have a lead? Send it to [email protected].


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US West is turning up the heat on its competitors by nearly doubling the number of cities it serves with its high-speed Internet access, known as digital subscriber line or DSL services.
The company will announce today that it plans to bring its MegaBit Services connections to more than 30 new cities, including Pueblo and Grand Junction, by year's end. US West currently provides DSL services in 40 cities.
DSL lines increase the amount of information that can travel through a copper phone line. The always-on connections al low voice and data transmissions.
US West leads the industry in customer penetration rates for DSL services. It reached a regionwide customer milestone of 150,000 this month. But it can't rest on its laurels, industry analysts say, because federal rules mandating that US West share its lines give competitors a chance to jump into the fray.
The planned expansion will bring DSL access to customers in cities that include Flagstaff, Ariz., Albuquerque and Las Cru ces, N.M., Casper and Twin Falls, Idaho.
Matt Rotter, US West's executive director of MegaBit Services, said the move is part of the company's aggressive approach toward establishing a larger area of DSL in its 14-state region.
US West recently announced that it will offer DSL out of its region, as well. It will sell service in several markets in California, a stronghold controlled by incumbent SBC Communications and its Pacific Telesis subsidiary.
"This is very good news for US West, US West shareholders and for the marketplace," said Jeffrey Kagan, an independent telecommunications analyst in Atlanta. "There is a lot of urgency right now to expand DSL services. People are frustrated because they see advertisements and read articles about DSL and can't access the services."
Kagan said the first in the market advantage would benefit US West because DSL customers would be reluctant to switch their services once additional providers became available. "There's a real feeling of urgency with DSL expansion right now, but that's good for the customers. They are going to see lower rates," Kagan said.
But some of US West's competitors in the DSL market say they don't think the move will affect them.
Rhythms NetConnections is in the midst of its own rapid expansion that will give it a presence in 70 markets by the end of the year, said Chris Hardman, a spokesman for the Arapahoe County-based DSL provider. He said Rhythms will proceed with
its scheduled expansion and that the move does not change anything for the company.
Another DSL provider, Denver-based Jato Communications, said it does not see US West's move as increasing competition for the company, which primarily markets its services to businesses. Rather, Jato sees the move as a validation of its own strategy of marketing in smaller cities.
"The fact that they're seeing the benefits of taking DSL into the secondary market when that has always been our marketing strategy shows that they are acknowledging the importance of these markets,"
said Keith Bennett, Jato's president of direct markets.
In April, US West signed a linesharing agreement with Rhythms, Jato and other DSL providers. The Federal Communications Commission ruled in November that telephone companies such as US West must share their phone lines with competitors who want to use them to provide high-speed Internet access and other data services.
Bennett said that because the line-sharing situation is still shaking itself out, he does not know how the expansion will affect Jato.
In addition to the expansion, US West is also set today to launch a new Web site, called Online Avenue, for MegaBit subscribers in Denver. The site will provide content including streaming video, online music and educational materials for DSL distribution.


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Gigi Hadid is at the top of her game as an international supermodel and style icon, so she was the perfect addition to Reebok’s #PerfectNever campaign. According to Reebok, the campaign “celebrates imperfections and empowers women to rise above the expectations of outside critics, while also celebrating Reebok’s message of self-betterment.”
Hadid’s streetstyle has the envy of every fashion lover, and when asked in an interview with Reebok “Catwalk or streetstyle?” Hadid said, “Streetstyle.” Duh!
The young model continues to defy expectations, but she’s not immune to the pressures most people feel. “I definitely feel the pressure to please everyone because you’re just trying to make everyone happy,” she says. “I think the most important part is making sure that you balance your own little universe and then proceed with life.”
Check out Gigi Hadid’s #PerfectNever campaign at Reebok, shop the hot styles from her shoot, and read more of Gigi’s interview.


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|By Business Wire||
|July 8, 2014 11:02 AM EDT||
A global leader in the management, marketing and sale of live event tickets for arenas, stadiums, theaters and clubs, Outbox Technology CRB Inc. uses the Linea Pro from Infinite Peripherals, Inc. (IPC), the leading developer of mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) devices, to more efficiently and accurately conduct business around the world and get event-goers in the door and in their seats quickly.
IPC’s first-to-market iOS peripheral barcode scanner and magnetic stripe reader, the Linea Pro attaches to an Apple® iPod touch® or iPhone® and runs on custom software to validate tickets and RFID wristbands in real time for event access. Outbox created its own proprietary iOS app, Event N3™, that is used to scan tickets using 1D or 2D barcodes, credit cards or RFID wristbands.
“The Linea Pro leverages the Apple hardware in a novel way, giving us access to the iOS platform and converting a consumer device into an effective enterprise-level solution,” said Eric O. Brousseau, product manager for access control at Outbox. “In addition to the ‘wow factor’ here compared with conventional industrial handheld devices, the Linea Pro lets us leverage the iOS platform to develop state-of-the-art solutions.”
Based in Montreal, Canada, and with offices in Los Angeles and London, Outbox has deployed this mobile ticket and wristband scanning solution in more than 100 major concert and sports venues in 20 countries, including Staples Center in Los Angeles, Target Center in Minneapolis, Caesars® Palace Colosseum in Las Vegas and the O2 Arena in London. To date, the company has used the devices to scan more than 60 million tickets.
Brousseau noted that the compact Linea Pro system, which is more powerful, versatile and cost-effective than its previous handheld devices, has earned universal positive reviews. “Our employees find this solution lighter and more user-friendly, with more wireless connectivity options (WiFi and wireless) and media read capabilities.”
The Linea Pro comes also can be used in various settings for mobile POS, expediting inventory management, asset tracking, ID verification, lead tracking, inspection/work flow, dispatch, time/labor and lab and healthcare. Software development resources and tools are available for the product so customers can program scanner and reader functions into their own software application.
About Infinite Peripherals
Since 1993, Infinite Peripherals, Inc. (IPC) has been fueling mobility with cutting-edge mobile peripheral devices, receipt printers, mechanisms and receipt printer-related components. Numerous major retailers in the United States are moving to mobile POS with IPC’s Linea Pro® and Infinea Tab™, helping to transform shopping, drive traffic and increase customer conversion rates. Anticipating trends and pre-empting solutions for a constantly evolving business landscape, IPC enhances operations in retail and other industries, including healthcare, hospitality, transportation, warehouse and logistics, entertainment and security. For more information, please visit www.ipcprint.com. Connect with us at www.facebook.com/infiniteperipheralsinc and www.twitter.com/infiniteperiph.
Linea Pro and Infinea Tab are registered trademarks of Infinite Peripherals, Inc. All other trademarks are protected by their respective owners.
SYS-CON Events announced today that T-Mobile will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. As America's Un-carrier, T-Mobile US, Inc., is redefining the way consumers and businesses buy wireless services through leading product and service innovation. The Company's advanced nationwide 4G LTE network delivers outstanding wireless experiences to 67.4 million customers who are unwilling to compromise on ...
Mar. 23, 2017 12:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,563
SYS-CON Events announced today that Addteq will exhibit at SYS-CON's DevOps Summit at Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Addteq specializes in creating innovative solutions to solve business processes through the use of DevOps automation. Addteq was founded on the firm belief that automation is essential for successful software releases. Addteq's products and services are centered around the fundamental approach of understanding the pr...
Mar. 23, 2017 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,617
Keeping pace with advancements in software delivery processes and tooling is taxing even for the most proficient organizations. Point tools, platforms, open source and the increasing adoption of private and public cloud services requires strong engineering rigor - all in the face of developer demands to use the tools of choice. As Agile has settled in as a mainstream practice, now DevOps has emerged as the next wave to improve software delivery speed and output. To make DevOps work, organization...
Mar. 23, 2017 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,025
SYS-CON Events announced today that SoftLayer, an IBM Company, has been named “Gold Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 18th Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York, New York. SoftLayer, an IBM Company, provides cloud infrastructure as a service from a growing number of data centers and network points of presence around the world. SoftLayer’s customers range from Web startups to global enterprises.
Mar. 23, 2017 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 911
SYS-CON Events announced today that Loom Systems will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Founded in 2015, Loom Systems delivers an advanced AI solution to predict and prevent problems in the digital business. Loom stands alone in the industry as an AI analysis platform requiring no prior math knowledge from operators, leveraging the existing staff to succeed in the digital era. With offices in S...
Mar. 23, 2017 12:30 PM EDT Reads: 402
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloudistics, an on-premises cloud computing company, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Cloudistics delivers a complete public cloud experience with composable on-premises infrastructures to medium and large enterprises. Its software-defined technology natively converges network, storage, compute, virtualization, and management into a ...
Mar. 23, 2017 10:45 AM EDT Reads: 1,304
SYS-CON Events announced today that Infranics will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Since 2000, Infranics has developed SysMaster Suite, which is required for the stable and efficient management of ICT infrastructure. The ICT management solution developed and provided by Infranics continues to add intelligence to the ICT infrastructure through the IMC (Infra Management Cycle) based on mathemat...
Mar. 23, 2017 09:30 AM EDT Reads: 2,428
"I think that everyone recognizes that for IoT to really realize its full potential and value that it is about creating ecosystems and marketplaces and that no single vendor is able to support what is required," explained Esmeralda Swartz, VP, Marketing Enterprise and Cloud at Ericsson, in this SYS-CON.tv interview at @ThingsExpo, held June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Mar. 23, 2017 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,683
The buzz continues for cloud, data analytics and the Internet of Things (IoT) and their collective impact across all industries. But a new conversation is emerging - how do companies use industry disruption and technology enablers to lead in markets undergoing change, uncertainty and ambiguity? Organizations of all sizes need to evolve and transform, often under massive pressure, as industry lines blur and merge and traditional business models are assaulted and turned upside down. In this new da...
Mar. 23, 2017 08:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,237
SYS-CON Events announced today that CA Technologies has been named “Platinum Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. CA Technologies helps customers succeed in a future where every business – from apparel to energy – is being rewritten by software. From ...
Mar. 23, 2017 04:15 AM EDT Reads: 1,041
Web Real-Time Communication APIs have quickly revolutionized what browsers are capable of. In addition to video and audio streams, we can now bi-directionally send arbitrary data over WebRTC's PeerConnection Data Channels. With the advent of Progressive Web Apps and new hardware APIs such as WebBluetooh and WebUSB, we can finally enable users to stitch together the Internet of Things directly from their browsers while communicating privately and securely in a decentralized way.
Mar. 23, 2017 03:00 AM EDT Reads: 5,398
SYS-CON Events announced today that HTBase will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. HTBase (Gartner 2016 Cool Vendor) delivers a Composable IT infrastructure solution architected for agility and increased efficiency. It turns compute, storage, and fabric into fluid pools of resources that are easily composed and re-composed to meet each application’s needs. With HTBase, companies can quickly prov...
Mar. 23, 2017 02:15 AM EDT Reads: 2,364
SYS-CON Events announced today that Outlyer, a monitoring service for DevOps and operations teams, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Outlyer is a monitoring service for DevOps and Operations teams running Cloud, SaaS, Microservices and IoT deployments. Designed for today's dynamic environments that need beyond cloud-scale monitoring, we make monitoring effortless so you ...
Mar. 23, 2017 02:00 AM EDT Reads: 3,747
SYS-CON Events announced today that MobiDev, a client-oriented software development company, will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY, and the 21st International Cloud Expo®, which will take place October 31-November 2, 2017, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. MobiDev is a software company that develops and delivers turn-key mobile apps, websites, web services, and complex softw...
Mar. 23, 2017 01:15 AM EDT Reads: 3,381
In his General Session at 17th Cloud Expo, Bruce Swann, Senior Product Marketing Manager for Adobe Campaign, explored the key ingredients of cross-channel marketing in a digital world. Learn how the Adobe Marketing Cloud can help marketers embrace opportunities for personalized, relevant and real-time customer engagement across offline (direct mail, point of sale, call center) and digital (email, website, SMS, mobile apps, social networks, connected objects).
Mar. 22, 2017 11:00 PM EDT Reads: 3,023
With the introduction of IoT and Smart Living in every aspect of our lives, one question has become relevant: What are the security implications? To answer this, first we have to look and explore the security models of the technologies that IoT is founded upon. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Nevi Kaja, a Research Engineer at Ford Motor Company, will discuss some of the security challenges of the IoT infrastructure and relate how these aspects impact Smart Living. The material will be delivered i...
Mar. 22, 2017 10:15 PM EDT Reads: 1,758
SYS-CON Events announced today that Hitrons Solutions will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Hitrons Solutions Inc. is distributor in the North American market for unique products and services of small and medium-size businesses, including cloud services and solutions, SEO marketing platforms, and mobile applications.
Mar. 22, 2017 10:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,322
Your homes and cars can be automated and self-serviced. Why can't your storage? From simply asking questions to analyze and troubleshoot your infrastructure, to provisioning storage with snapshots, recovery and replication, your wildest sci-fi dream has come true. In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 20th Cloud Expo, Dan Florea, Director of Product Management at Tintri, will provide a ChatOps demo where you can talk to your storage and manage it from anywhere, through Slack and similar services ...
Mar. 22, 2017 06:15 PM EDT Reads: 3,998
My team embarked on building a data lake for our sales and marketing data to better understand customer journeys. This required building a hybrid data pipeline to connect our cloud CRM with the new Hadoop Data Lake. One challenge is that IT was not in a position to provide support until we proved value and marketing did not have the experience, so we embarked on the journey ourselves within the product marketing team for our line of business within Progress. In his session at @BigDataExpo, Sum...
Mar. 22, 2017 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 2,292
SYS-CON Events announced today that Ocean9will exhibit at SYS-CON's 20th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 6-8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY. Ocean9 provides cloud services for Backup, Disaster Recovery (DRaaS) and instant Innovation, and redefines enterprise infrastructure with its cloud native subscription offerings for mission critical SAP workloads.
Mar. 22, 2017 02:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,474


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Will the stamp duty holiday and Rishi's rescue plan be enough... and how will we pay for all this? The Covid mini-Budget on the This Money podcast
The showstopper was a big stamp duty cut, the important element was about keeping jobs afloat, and the rabbit out of the hat was a great British meal deal.
But the question is, was Rishi Sunak splashing the cash in the summer statement enough to get the nation’s confidence back in the coronavirus crisis, or will real recovery require more down the line?
On this week’s podcast, Simon Lambert, Lee Boyce, and Georgie Frost run the rule over the Chancellor’s performance (spoiler alert, he’s good) and the substance of his speech (you’ll have to listen to the show for the verdict on that).
They also ask the awkward question of how are we going to pay for all this – and does that even matter right now?
Plus, was that a killer blow for the ‘bad tax’ that is stamp duty; will a £1,000 bung be enough for a company to keep someone in work; how badly will the hospitality industry be hit; and just how crazy would you have called someone who forecast at the start of the year that by summer we’d have an official Eat Out to Help Out scheme?
On this podcast, the team dive into Rishi's rescue plan and look at what's working, what isn't and who the winners and losers are.
The stamp duty cut should keep more money in home buyers' pockets ready for them to spend and help the economy, but will they do that or save it - and does the suggestion that it will just push up house prices stack up in a tough buyer's market?
The furlough scheme will be wound down, but the mood music is now about getting people working rather than paying them not to - is the £1,000 bonus for that a genuine helping hand, or just money to firms who would have taken people back anyway?
And finally, the Chancellor declared he was going to do something Britain had never done before... and then delivered a Monday to Wednesday meal deal.
Is government subsidised dinners out a sign that the world has finally gone completely mad, smart little confidence booster?
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Rapidly Growing Number of Seafood Companies Join The Nature Conservancy to Save Indonesia’s Snapper/Grouper Fishery
BOSTON—Snapper, one of the most popular fish fillets ordered in US restaurants, is often anything but snapper when it shows up at your table, according to one investigation released earlier this month. But even real snapper comes at a cost: Flaky, whole fillets that fit attractively onto one’s dinner plate are usually sourced from immature fish harvested before they could reproduce. And that has startling implications for the health of many of the world’s marine fisheries, including Indonesia’s — the world’s largest snapper/grouper fishery.
Seeking to help shift this trend toward a sustainable model, five companies today, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy (TNC), signed an agreement Sunday at the Seafood Expo North America in Boston to avoid buying juvenile fish from the Indonesia snapper/grouper fishery, joining the ranks of now 10 major fish processors and importers that have all signed on to this growing movement.
While bigger may be better with some types of fish, the American market is currently driving demand for smaller snapper. But a market preference for these juvenile fish is impairing the long-term sustainability of the fishery. Avoiding the purchase of immature fish, on the other hand, ensures that each fish can contribute to the reproductive cycle at least once.
Earlier this year, three US-based companies—Norpac Fisheries Export, Netuno USA (the largest U.S. importer of frozen snapper) and Anova Food—made commitments to a minimum trading size for snapper/grouper. Together, such agreements will enhance traceability and transparency in Indonesia’s fisheries, and will position this fishery for formal recognition of its sustainability, such as certification to Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) sustainability standards.
“Indonesia has made significant strides in protecting its fisheries. But the real cost of consumer preference for smaller snapper and grouper in the US is quickly mounting, both for local fishing communities and biodiversity,” said Charles Bedford, regional managing director of TNC’s Asia Pacific program. That’s what makes the new commitments from these fishing industry giants to save Indonesia’s snapper/grouper stocks so powerful. By getting juvenile fish harvesting out of the supply chain, and changing the incentive system for what fishers target, we can help achieve a more sustainable snapper/grouper fishery for Indonesia—from bait to plate.”
A seafood producer of increasing global prominence, Indonesia is home to the world’s second-largest fisheries and the third-largest aquaculture sector. A key fishery for the nation is its snapper/grouper fishery: Here, an estimated 10,000 fishing vessels, from motorized canoes to large ships, catch about 80,000 metric tons annually, with an estimated retail value of nearly U.S. $350 million.
However, government assessments indicate this sprawling deep-slope fishery comprising over 100 species of snapper, grouper and emperor is in trouble: the Indonesian National Commission for Fish Stock Assessment rates the snapper/grouper fishery as fully exploited or over exploited.
“The Indonesian snapper fishery has been a mainstay of the seafood industry for fishers and processors alike for decades,” Blane Olson, managing director for Anova Technical Services, said. “Given the strong continuous market demand in the United States and the growing demand for snapper from China, it is imperative that today, we work collaboratively to ensure that all snapper are harvested sustainably, and of a size that ensures sustainable replenishment.
“Consequently, plate-size snapper fillets, which come mainly from immature snapper, are no longer acceptable as a harvestable and marketable size. To make the switch, the whole supply chain, including supermarket retail and food service markets, must also be accountable and eliminate the demand for immature snappers, which puts fisheries at risk of being unsustainable,” Olson said.
Supporters of the snapper agreement, known as a Fisheries Improvement Project (FIP), are:
- Netuno USA Inc.
- Norpac Fisheries Export LLC
- Anova Food LLC
- PT. Solusi Laut Lestari
- CV. Bali Sustainable Seafood
- LP Foods Pte Ltd.
- PT. Sukses Hasil Alam Nusaindo
- PT. Bahari Biru Nusantara
- PT. Kemilau Bintang Timur
- PT. Graha Insan Sejahtera
“We know that the availability of high-value fish, such as tuna and red snapper, is declining due to overfishing,” PT. Graha Insan Sejahtera, a processing company in Indonesia, said in a statement. “This is a very serious problem, not just for us as a company, but also for hundreds of thousands of Indonesians who make a living by fishing. ...We believe that we need to start and make changes before it is too late.”
Through the Supporting Nature and People–Partnership for Enduring Resources (SNAPPER) Project, TNC has collaborated with United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, local fishers and other key partners to enhance the sustainability and profitability of snapper/grouper capture fisheries in Indonesia.
The Nature Conservancy is a global conservation organization dedicated to conserving the lands and waters on which all life depends. Guided by science, we create innovative, on-the-ground solutions to our world's toughest challenges so that nature and people can thrive together. We are tackling climate change, conserving lands, waters and oceans at an unprecedented scale, providing food and water sustainably and helping make cities more sustainable. Working in 72 countries and territories: 38 by direct conservation impact and 34 through partners, we use a collaborative approach that engages local communities, governments, the private sector, and other partners. To learn more, visit www.nature.org or follow @nature_press on Twitter.


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Paul Solman answers questions from NewsHour viewers and web users on business and economic news most days on his Making Sen$e page. Here’s Wednesday’s query:
Name: Rich Tuloch
Question: I learned long, long ago in school that military spending is a form of economic stimulus. If I am correct, the past administration (President Bush & co.) spent a great deal more money as stimulus than seems to be acknowledged in today’s political news. Is military and/or homeland security spending considered economic stimulus, even though it is necessary?
Paul Solman: “Necessary” has nothing to do with “stimulus.” As the English economist John Maynard Keynes noted in his famous 1936 book, “The General Theory,” the idea of stimulus (though he didn’t use that word) is to get people and businesses to spend, even wastefully, when they’re saving too much and thus keeping the economy from full employment.
Keynes used the example of a government program to stuff dollar bills into bottles and bury them in caves so that businesses would have the incentive to undertake their excavation and retrieval.
Anything, in other words, to put idle people and resources back to work.
So ALL government spending can be considered stimulus spending. Some spending is more stimulating, however.
Military spending on Iraq or Afghanistan, for example, is not as stimulating as it might appear at first blush. That’s because a lot of the money is spent abroad and for transportation, which uses oil, which we buy from non-Americans, who certainly don’t use all — or perhaps any — of the money to buy things from us.
Spending on homeland security would fall into the “more stimulating” category, presumably, because it would be spent at home.


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"The workers started demonstrating after authorities failed to meet their demands, which include higher wages and benefits, one day off per week and an end to forced overtime, said labor leader Belayet Hossain.$22 a month. €17. R145. I don't give a flying fuck about exchange rates or relative costs of living in Bangladesh, that does not even rate as a pittance in my book. 1,8 million people work in a $6 billion industry in Bangladesh so that people in Europe can have cheap but fashionable underpants for next winter. Even if it was $50 or $100 dollars a month, that is still not a living wage.
Workers are often forced to work seven days a week or late into the night to meet production deadlines, Hossain added.
"We have joined the protest as we are paid pittance for our hard work," said Kamal Hussain, a garment worker who was demonstrating with about 100 others in Uttara, just outside Dhaka.
A textile worker earns about $22 a month in Bangladesh. Hossain said they were seeking at least a 30 percent raise." More...
And it's not just Bangladesh. It's India, China, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. And more. There is probably someone in Cambodia willing to work for $18 a month.
If the fashion gurus of Europe and the US cancel their production and shift it elsewhere, as is their want, and although these fashion houses may suffer lost profits temporarily, it is the 1.8 million workers in Bangladesh who will be up shit creek without a paddle.
But that is not why the factory owners are calling for the army to be brought in to crush the uprising, it is their fear of losing their lion's share of the $6 billion.
Greed and the profit motive is destroying this world.


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Presentation of the “dream of millions” iPhone SE 2 postponed
12.03.2020 0 Comments
Apple postponed the March presentation, but did not cancel it, the publication emphasized. The company did this amid the outbreak of the coronavirus COVID-19. Apple’s decision was affected by a ban from Santa Clara County authorities on public events until April 1 and delays in the production of new devices.
The insider did not specify whether Apple plans to introduce the iPhone SE 2 and iPad Pro 2020 later this year or to release devices without a presentation, immediately launching sales of new products. Last year, Apple released a number of new devices in March without a presentation. Among the new products were the second-generation AirPods and the inexpensive iPad 2019.
According to numerous leaks, iPhone SE 2 will be an improved version of iPhone 8. The smartphone will receive a 4.7-inch display with wide frames, a single camera with a resolution of 12 megapixels, the flagship A13 Bionic processor and 3 GB of RAM. Price iPhone SE 2 should be $ 399 for the basic version with 64 GB of internal memory. Earlier it was reported that at the current dollar exchange rate at the beginning of 2020, the price of iPhone SE 2 in Russia will be about 36 thousand rubles. However, in March there was a sharp jump in the value of the US currency against the ruble.
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Mall of America
Holiday travelers dreaming of a White Christmas in America can find joy in knowing they can hear sleigh bells in the snow by visiting places in New England and the Great Lakes region such as Concord, New Hampshire, Madison, Wisconsin and Stowe, Vermont.
While many other consumers will simply avoid holiday crowds at shopping malls or even wait until Cyber Monday, retail stores across the nation will be buzzing with activity on the day after Thanksgiving. The following are five of the best American cities for Black Friday deals.
After 10 years, the long-delayed retail and entertainment complex at New Jersey’s Meadowlands may finally be entering the homestretch.
The troubled Xanadu retail and entertainment complex at the Meadowlands will be renamed “The American Dream.”
The structure once referred to by Gov.Chris Christie as the “ugliest building in New Jersey” will soon be getting a major makeover.
The company that owns Mall of America now has its eye on a massive, troubled retail and entertainment complex in northern New Jersey.


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Horizon 2020, European Commission’s funding program for research and innovation, recently awarded Fintech startup Hokodo €2 million ($2.23 million).
The London-based firm, established in 2018, aims to give European small and medium enterprises access to insurance and financing, particularly those which have late and unsettled invoices.
Awarded to the fintech’s office in France, the Horizon 2020 funding will be used to launch its API-based invoice insurance offering in Europe. This move will potentially protect millions of SMEs from unpaid invoices, which is one of the most significant causes of insolvency in the region.
A 2017 study showed that more than 20% of insolvencies took place because of late settlement or non-payment of invoices. However, invoice insurance is commonly only sold by brokers. The arrangement makes the commissions generated by SMEs too low to justify the cost of sale. As a result, current market penetration for SMEs is only 0.25%.
Hokodo allows better accessibility to SME invoice insurance in two ways. Firstly, it uses data science and machine learning to enable SMEs to insure single invoices instead of their entire turnover, which traditional providers require.
Secondly, through APIs, Hokodo distributes its products through the platforms that SMEs use daily, such as accounting, invoicing, or sales tools. This system works like travel insurance is being offered on airline websites.
The fintech launched its technology in the UK in October 2018. Since then it has already established multiple partnerships, including one with Centrifuge, a trade finance platform, as well as with CountingUp, the challenger bank. Moreover, it has also developed HokoScore, its unique credit scoring algorithm. HokoScore enables businesses to check the credit ratings of their clients and suppliers, and make intelligent decisions about credit and the need for invoice protection.
Before the Horizon 2020 funding, Hokodo previously raised €2.1 million ($2.34 million) in a funding round led by Anthemis, a financing company focusing on funding innovative fintech startups.


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When in December 2020 Apple (AAPL) announce that it's moving forward with self-driving technology and aims to produce an electric vehicle featuring breakthrough innovations by 2024, its stock climbed as much as 4.7% on the day. Likewise, Tesla (TSLA) stock closed at a high of $695 on the day it joined Wall Street’s S&P 500 share index. With the push for more sustainable modes of transport surging and gaining traction in recent years, electric vehicles (EV) have stepped into the limelight with EV stocks in particular cruising in the fast lane.
And as demand for autonomous and electric cars is increasing, so is the opportunity for investing in the sector. Launched in 2018, the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (DRIV) invests in companies that develop autonomous vehicle technology, electric cars and EV components and materials. Since crashing below $10 per share at the height of the pandemic selloff, DRIV has trended sharply higher ever since. The ETF was up 76% in 2020, while as of February 10, 2021, the DRIV has $802 million in net assets.
|Fund launch date||13/04/2018|
|Legal structure||Open-ended fund|
|Net Asset Value (NAV)||$27.87|
|Dividend frequency||Semi annual|
|Competing ETFs||EKAR, IDRV, KARS|
DRIV invests in companies involved in the development of autonomous vehicle technology, as well as EVs and EV components and materials, including those that develop autonomous vehicle software and hardware and those that produce components like lithium batteries or critical EV materials such as lithium and cobalt.
The ETF’s objective is to provide investment results that correspond to the price and yield performance, before fees and expenses, of the Solactive Autonomous & Eletric Vehicles Index, while it invests at least 80% of its total assets in the securities of the index.
So why DRIV? Without a doubt, the autonomous and electric vehicles sector has been making enormous strides, often touted as a potentially transformative economic innovation. By enabling investors to access companies critical to the development of this sector, DRIV is also offering high growth potential. At the same time, the ETF tracks an emerging technological theme, not to mention that in a single trade, DRIV offers access to several companies with high exposure to the sector.
What are DRIV’s top holdings?
DRIV has 75 stock holdings and zero bond holdings with 15 companies originating from the electric vehicles category, 30 from components and another 30 from technology. More specifically, the consumer discretionary accounts for 35.9% of net assets, whereas information technology 32.2% and materials 15.5%. Its top holdings include industry heavyweights such as Alphabet, Google’s parent company, Microsoft, Apple, Tesla and many others.
Below is a breakdown of the ETF‘s top 10 holdings.
|TICKER||COMPANY||MARKET VALUE ($)||NET ASSETS %|
|GOOGL||ALPHABET INC-CL A||27,990,129.20||3.42|
|7203||TOYOTA MOTOR CORP||20,976,650.22||2.68|
|MU||MICRON TECHNOLOGY INC ||16,285,206.60||1.99|
What has DRIV’s performance been like?
DRIV has had a good year, gaining 48.9% over the past 3 months and 76% over the past year, mainly attributed to the ETF’s investment strategy.
If we assume a hypothetical scenario whereby you would have made a $10,000 investment in the ETF on April 30, 2018 and assumed the reinvestment of dividends and capital gains, your initial investment would have increased to $18,348.41 as of January 31, 2021.
So is DRIV a buy?
EV stocks have been incredibly popular over 2020 and all thanks to an EV craze that doesn’t seem like it’s bound to fade any time soon. Tesla (TSLA) for one has gone up an astounding 695% in 2020, making it one of the most valuable companies in the world with investors fascinated by the company’s product lineup, manufacturing expansion plans, growth narrative, self-driving technology and Tesla’s very own CEO, Elon Musk. What’s more, between July and December of 2020, the company delivered just under 320,000 vehicles, roughly 140,000 units more than during the six months of 2020, lifting the year’s total to almost 500,000 units, while annual deliveries increased by around 36% year-over-year.
Likewise, NIO (NIO) rose 1,110% in 2020 according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, thanks to its incredible momentum and the industry’s long-term growth potential. In December of 2020, the company deliver over 7,000 vehicles, up 121% year-over-year. Meanwhile, General Motors (GM) announced that it plans to increase the amount it invests in electric vehicle development to $27 billion, while it aims to sell 1 million electric vehicles in 2025.
Total global EV sales rose 43% in 2020 to reach 3.24 million units for the first time, while Europe has managed to superseded China as the global driver of electric car sales in 2020 for the first time in five years, despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales of plug-in passenger cars in the continent rose 137% year-over-year to almost 1.4 million in 2020.
On the other hand, the global autonomous cars market reached a value of nearly $818.6 billion in 2019, having increased at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.7% since 2015, while following a decline mainly due to lockdown and social distancing norms imposed by numerous countries, the market is expected to recover and grow in 2021, potentially reaching $1,191.8 billion in 2023.
A shift to autonomous and electric vehicles could not only reshape the entire transportation industry, but could also improve our way of life as attested by GM’s CEO Mary Barra who once was quoted as saying that such a future could spell ‘zero crashes, zero emissions and zero fatalities’. And as the autonomous and electric vehicle industry continues to disrupt the broader automobile industry, poised to trigger the transportation industry’s largest shakeup, DRIV should also increase and significantly too.
Invest in Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF (DRIV) with Moneybase Invest
Ready to invest in DRIV? Download Moneybase Invest, the award-wining live trading platform powered by Calamatta Cuschieri from the Android or Apple App Store or visit https://live.cctrader.com from any browser to sign up.
Moneybase Invest is brought to you by Calamatta Cuschieri Investment Services Ltd and is licensed to conduct investment services business by the MFSA under the Investment Services Act.
Moneybase Invest offers direct market access and speed of execution and is intended for knowledgeable and experienced individuals taking their own investment decisions. The value of investments may go up and down and currency fluctuations may also affect investment performance.
The contents of this article are not intended to be taken as a personal recommendation to invest but strictly based on research and for information purposes only. Retail investors should contact their financial adviser for a suitability assessment prior to taking any investment decisions.


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Soil Scout announces the appointment of Jim Coley to Sales Executive
Soil Scout are pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Coley as Sales Executive. Based in the UK, Jim will be working alongside Soil Scout’s VP of International Sales Adam Sedgwick and has been tasked with identifying and growing new business opportunities in the agriculture and horticulture sector.
This new position is Soil Scout’s second sales appointment this quarter after Richie Stephens joined the team in January and demonstrates the company’s determination, despite the current COVID-19 restrictions to push onwards with it’s forecasted growth.
In joining Soil Scout, Jim brings with him a wealth of experience in the agriculture and sports turf industry. His previous positions include working as a transport manager in the arable field and more recently he was employed as a sales executive in the sport and agriculture sector supplying soil amendments.
Commenting on his new position Jim said: “I’m really excited to be joining Soil Scout and working with a fantastic company of professional people. I’m looking forward to bringing my energy to the team and along with it a desire to meet new clients and provide them with great customer service.
“I’m also hoping to have fun along the way too, tackling new challenges and experiences head on.”
Soil Scout VP of International Sales Adam Sedgwick commented: “I’m really pleased that Jim has joined Soil Scout, he is someone with whom I have been keen to work with for a while now. He has all the right qualities that we are looking for in a person and also holds an impressive knowledge of the agriculture and sports turf industry and we can’t wait for him to get started.
“Despite all the current restrictions placed upon business and travel, we have continued to invest in the team and Jim will fit perfectly into our family as we make exciting plans for the company’s future.”


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June 18, 2019
J.P. Morgan's focus and investment in global eCommerce payments is paying off with top rankings from The Nilson Report.
May 15, 2019
Payvision, a global payments fintech player, celebrates its one-year partnership with ING, one of the largest European banks, with a brand-new visual and sonic identity, marking the company's shift into a new era.
October 29, 2018
Sift Science introduces Sift Insights, with dashboards that reveal the business impact of fraud, operational metrics, and opportunities for greater efficiency.
July 20, 2018
With one pre-conference day of workshops and two full days of content in the lively city of Dublin, this conference covered diverse and trending topics and facilitated great networking and collaboration opportunities among merchants, solution providers and industry leaders.
April 11, 2018
Acapture, a global omni-channel payment processor, has partnered with Sift Science, a machine learning company that protects businesses from fraud and abuse. This joint effort aims to make online experiences smoother and safer, and help merchants maximize their revenue.
March 28, 2018
Kaspersky Lab has become the latest company to join the MRC as Premier Solution Provider, further demonstrating its commitment to helping online retailers and eCommerce businesses protect themselves and their customers from fraudsters.
March 28, 2018
SafeCharge launched SafeCharge Reconciliation Manager, a new solution for businesses to automate the matching of transactions across all their payment service providers, merchant platforms and banks.


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Wall Street and investors might be itching to pile into the travel and leisure space and other stocks that have been hampered by social distancing after Pfizer’s (
PFE Quick Quote PFE - Free Report) big Covid-19 vaccine announcement. The overall earnings picture is also improving and there are certainly many reasons to remain bullish.
Yet, investors might want to consider stocks that were thriving during the heart of the stay-at-home economy and will likely remain staples of broader economic growth for years.
Walmart (fits nicely into this category and it’s set to report its third quarter FY21 financial results on Tuesday, November 17. WMT Quick Quote WMT - Free Report) Preparing for the Future…
The retail world is firmly in the Amazon (
AMZN Quick Quote AMZN - Free Report) age and Walmart’s drive to compete for consumers who want as many options as possible sets it up nicely for the future. The largest U.S. retailer has multiple delivery and pick up options and its e-commerce platforms are more robust than ever.
Walmart in mid-September launched its subscription service to help it further challenge Amazon. The service, dubbed Walmart+, costs $98 a year vs. Amazon Prime’s $119, and offers unlimited free deliveries on orders worth at least $35. Members also get discounts on fuel and access to new-age in-store checkout offerings.
WMT has also tried to expand its consumer base and diversify its portfolio in a time when smaller brands can thrive online. This includes teaming up with secondhand e-commerce clothing firm ThredUp, partnering with Shopify (
SHOP Quick Quote SHOP - Free Report) to bring more small businesses to its own third-party marketplace, and more.
Meanwhile, Walmart has spent to break further into the digital advertising business. Walmart hopes to follow Amazon’s lead that’s seen the e-commerce firm become the third-largest player in the space behind only Facebook and Google (
GOOGL Quick Quote GOOGL - Free Report) . And let’s not forget its plans to purchase a piece of TikTok.
Walmart’s digital push was paying off well before the coronavirus, with its U.S. e-commerce sales up 37% in fiscal 2020 and 40% in FY19. Then Walmart’s second quarter U.S. e-commerce sales soared 97% to beat Q1 FY21’s 74%. These showings helped its overall revenue jump 6% in Q2 and 9% in Q1.
Even though Walmart is preparing for the shifting retail landscape, brick-and-mortar is still hugely important. For instance, e-commerce accounted for only 16% of total U.S. retail sales in Q2, despite perfect conditions, up from roughly 11% in the year-ago period. It’s also worth remembering that WMT is ready to benefit from growth in the world’s second largest country, India, through its Flipkart deal.
Wall Street has rewarded WMT for its efforts, with the stock up roughly 160% in the last five years to outpace rivals Target (
TGT Quick Quote TGT - Free Report) and Costco ( COST Quick Quote COST - Free Report) and nearly double the S&P 500. Shares of Walmart have climbed around 12% in the past three months and the stock currently hovers right near its early September records.
Despite its climb and outperformance, its valuation is hardly that stretched when we take into account its peer group, the market, and where it has traded historically. And the retailer’s 1.50% dividend yield roughly matches the S&P 500’s average and looks great compared to the 10-year U.S. treasury.
Looking ahead, Zacks estimates call for WMT’s adjusted Q3 earnings to climb 2.6% on nearly 4% stronger sales. The company’s fourth quarter outlook appears somewhat similar and its full-year sales are projected to pop 5.3% to come in at a mind-blowing $552 billion.
This would top last year’s 1.9% revenue growth and mark its strongest year since fiscal 2013. Walmart’s FY22 revenue is then projected to climb another 1.5% higher. Meanwhile, its adjusted full-year earnings are projected to climb by 8.5% and 7%, respectively.
Walmart’s overall earnings revisions have improved and it sits at a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at the moment. The stock also grabs “A” grades for Growth and Momentum and a “B” for Value in our Style Scores system. And WMT is part of an industry that rests in the top 35% of our more than 250 Zacks industries.
All that said, playing stocks for near-term gains around earnings is always risky. But long-term investors might want to consider it as a stable play during the coronavirus and beyond.
Just Released: Zacks’ 7 Best Stocks for TodayExperts extracted 7 stocks from the list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys that has beaten the market more than 2X over with a stunning average gain of +24.3% per year. These 7 were selected because of their superior potential for immediate breakout. See these time-sensitive tickers now >>


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Motorola Edge 40 is all set to go official in India on May 23. Just days forward of the official debut, the value of the smartphone has been revealed through Flipkart itemizing. The Motorola Edge 40 is teased to be powered by a MediaTek Dimensity 8020 SoC paired with 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 onboard storage. It is confirmed to be out there in three distinct color choices with a 3D curved show with 144Hz refresh fee. The smartphone has a 50-megapixel twin rear digicam unit and is backed by a 4,400mAh battery with assist for 68W TurboPower charging. The Motorola Edge 40 was unveiled initially in Europe.
Motorola Edge 40 worth in India
Ahead of the scheduled launch on May 23, Flipkart has added a banner on its web site teasing worth particulars of the Motorola Edge 40. As per the itemizing, the handset might be priced at Rs. 27,999 in the nation with pre-orders beginning on May 23. There might be no-cost EMI choices beginning at Rs. 5,000 monthly. Further, the itemizing suggests an change supply of as much as Rs. 2,000. However, the value of the Motorola Edge 40 isn’t presently listed on the e-commerce web site.
Flipkart’s banner of the Motorola Edge 40 was first spotted by a Twitter consumer named Karan Mistry (@karanmystery). However, Gadgets360 was capable of independently confirm the itemizing. Unfortunately, the itemizing is now not confirmed the value and sale particulars on the time of writing.
To recall, the Motorola Edge 40 was launched in Europe earlier this month with a price ticket of EUR 599.99 (roughly Rs. 54,000) for the only real 8GB RAM + 256GB storage configuration.
Like the mannequin launched in Europe, the Indian variant of Motorola Edge 40 can also be teased to pack MediaTek Dimensity 8020 SoC below the hood. It is confirmed to be out there in Nebula Green, Eclipse Black, and Lunar Blue color choices. It is claimed to be the slimmest 5G telephone with an IP68-rated construct.
The Motorola Edge 40 could have a 3D curved show with assist for a 144Hz refresh fee. It is teased to pack 8GB of LPDDR4X RAM and 256GB UFS 3.1 of storage. A twin rear digicam unit, led by a 50-megapixel main digicam, twin speaker setup with Dolby Atmos sound, and 32-megapixel entrance digicam sensor are some of its different specs. It is confirmed to deal with a 4,400mAh battery with assist for 68W quick charging.
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44 commercial drivers have been apprehended by the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), over failure to install the speed limit device in their vehicles.
This was disclosed by the State Sector Commander, Clement Oladele, on Thursday, in Abeokuta, that those apprehended had been sanctioned by the mobile court of the Corps.
Oladele said 82 vehicles were booked while 36 were cautioned.
“After our operation on Wednesday on enforcement of speed limiters, a total of 82 vehicles were stopped, with 44 vehicles booked, with 36 vehicles cautioned.
“A mobile court was also organized in Ota and I want to tell you that most of the drivers were fined N3, 000.
“The installation of the speed limit device is for their own safety and it will reduce the rate of accidents on our roads.
“I want to urge all commercial vehicle owners to try and get their speed limit device because the FRSC would continue to monitor to ensure that all of them comply,” he said.
However, many commercial drivers abandoned their routes for fear being caught.
During a visit to the popular Kuto Garage, some of the commercial drivers lamented the on the price of the device.
A driver, who identified himself as Saka Sobande, said that the money put at N50, 000 was too high, considering the present economic realities in the country.
He pleaded that the money should be paid instalmentally to ease their burden as regards purchasing of the device.
Many motorists were stranded in some major parks over the development.


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Triumph Has Big Updates For Their Upcoming Electric Motorcycle / Powertrain
The Fully British Project Is Nearing The Half-Way Point
News about Triumph’s TE-1 electric motorcycle has been circulating since early 2019 when they initially announced the big undertaking. However, since then, things have been relatively quiet regarding the project until recently. The British motorcycle manufacturer has been easing their way closer to their project completion since then, and now the OEM has some official concept images drafted up for what their debut electric motorcycle could look like in addition to some updates regarding the current state of the project itself.
The TE-1 concept images reveal that the design of their first EV motorcycle will lean much closer towards the styling found on their modern street bikes (such as the Street/Speed Triple), rather than their classically inspired Bonneville lineup. This makes sense as EV motorcycles are quite a modern idea, to begin with, so it aligns with the idea to pair up a futuristic drivetrain with a futuristic-looking motorcycle.
The electric drivetrain is being developed with the assistance of Williams Advanced Engineering (who will be handling the battery and control systems) and Integral Powertrain will be assisting with the research and development of the electric motor itself. Once Triumph has managed to scrounge up a final design, they intend to send it over to the University of Warwick – located in Coventry, England – for prototype testing and further research. This makes the entire project completely handled by companies that reside in the UK. How “Triumph”, indeed.
Although the team of companies is only halfway to completion of the project, Integral Powertrain has come out and announced that the 22-pound motor is currently sitting at a point where it can make the electric equivalent of 180 horsepower. However, the efficiency of that power delivery will depend on how far Williams Advanced Engineering can take the battery that will be supporting said motor.
We’re excited to see what Triumph brings us when the official prototype is ready.


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Posted November 11, 2018 17:50:03 The new year is a busy time for Israeli women’s apparel companies.
They’ve already launched the most anticipated line of women’s clothes in decades: the “sophistate” range, featuring dresses with cut-outs on the hips and skirts, which will cost about $300 each.
But it’s not just the high-end stores that are going to have to start thinking about the new year with a new look.
There’s also the more traditional women’s department stores like H&M and Nordstrom, which are going out of business.
These two retailers are among the biggest beneficiaries of a recent ruling by Israel’s Supreme Court that will allow retailers to start selling women’s lingerie.
The ruling, which took effect on Tuesday, allowed them to start accepting online orders and carry the goods for customers who want to shop on-site.
“It’s the first time a major Israeli retailer has allowed online sales,” said Avi Sela, the founder of Yedioth Ahronoth, an online publication that covers women’s lifestyle and fashion.
“They are going through a bit of a transition right now, and we’re really excited to see the next chapter of this evolution.”
Sela says it will be interesting to see how this will affect women’s shopping habits, but the new rules will also mean a shift in the way Israeli women shop.
“Now that it’s legal, they are going shopping on the Internet,” Sela told Wired.
H&M, which has been a popular destination for Israeli shoppers, announced it would close stores in the country in 2018, and Nord, a leading retailer of women-oriented clothing, said it was pulling out of the country altogether. “
But the women have also been able to buy clothes online, which is very much an extension of the shopping process.”
H&M, which has been a popular destination for Israeli shoppers, announced it would close stores in the country in 2018, and Nord, a leading retailer of women-oriented clothing, said it was pulling out of the country altogether.
“The women are going back to shopping with men and with men’s brands,” said Sela.
“I think we are going a bit more in the same direction with the clothes we will no longer be buying.
We will still be buying things from the big guys.”
In a statement to Wired, H&m said: “The Supreme Court decision on online shopping is an important milestone for women in Israel.
As part of its initiative to enable women to shop online, H+M is discontinuing online retail in Israel.”
“In addition, the company is committed to offering our customers with online shopping a range of products including fashion, accessories, home décor, and home improvement products, and will continue to work closely with the retail community to further enhance the online experience for women,” the statement said.
Nordstrom said it would also start selling online orders, and H&M will begin accepting online order requests from consumers, which means customers will now be able to get the latest arrivals from retailers online, rather than waiting for a delivery date.
But even as H&am said it will no long be selling online, it said it is working on a “small number of” online orders.
Meanwhile, Haniya, a fashion retailer based in the Israeli city of Kiryat Gat, is launching an online store to take over some of the responsibilities of its old-school stores.
The company said it plans to open three new stores in 2018.
The first is an online shop in Tel Aviv that will be open on the day of the Israeli Sabbath, but it will also sell other products like handbags, shoes, accessories and more.
The second will be in the northern Israeli town of Mea Shearim, where it will focus on women’s jewelry and accessories.
The third store will be located in the south of the city, in Haifa.
Haniyah said it had already received about 100 orders from customers looking for items like handbag bags, women’s boots, and men’s shirts.
For more than a decade, Haniah has been selling products in Israel through a network of independent retail shops, but Haniy said the new business model will allow the company to continue to sell in Israel even after the Supreme Court ruling takes effect.
“As of now, there is a big need to sell our products to consumers,” Hani ya said.
“We have the ability to do so.
We just need to start to sell more.”


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Uber’s troubles are growing, the ridesharing company has been trying to sell its Xchange Leasing program to Fair.com, The Wall Street Journal and Engadget reported.
Xchange offers vehicle leases to Uber drivers, and it was not making money. A problem with the service; was that the leases were paid from the drivers’ earnings which are often pitiful. Many of the drivers were simply not making enough money to pay the lease from the fares.
Tellingly, Uber had to buy a stake in Fair.com in order to get rid of the leasing scheme, Endgadet reported. Fair is a website that leases cars without commitment. Fair’s leases are supposed to cover many of the expenses vehicle operation such as warranties, roadside assistance, routine maintenance, and insurance.
Is Uber’s Business Model Sustainable?
Uber apparently had trouble unloading Xchange Leasing, several potential buyers including billionaire Carl Icahn and Avis Budget Group (NYSE: CAR) refused to touch the program. That calls Uber’s whole business model into question.
If the Uber leases cannot sustain themselves, can Uber sustain itself? An interesting reason why Uber might have wanted out of Xchange was to limit the number of Uber drivers so it can charge higher fees. Xchange might have been attracting poorer, lower quality drivers that damage the brand by repelling customers.
This is a sign that Uber’s new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi is trying to limit the breakneck growth, and trim the size of the business. Another sign of that is Uber’s decision to effectively pull out of Russia in November.
The company has merged its business in that country with a taxi service owned by Yandex, Engadget reported. Under the deal, customers will be able to book vehicles through both Uber and Yandex’s apps in the Russian Federation. That allows Uber to make a gracious exit from the market.
Something else that undoubtedly shrink is Uber’s valuation. There is no way this company can be called the world’s most valuable Unicorn (pre-stock offering company) if it keeps trimming its operations.
UberEats is growing
There is one bright spot in Uber’s ecosystem – UberEats. The takeout delivery servicing is growing faster than the ridesharing solution in 19 European cities, Business Insider reported.
More importantly, Uber Eats might actually be making money. The Financial Times claimed the service is on track to do $3 billion in sales by the end of 2017. UberEats might also be capable of generating float with a subscription plan.
It goes without saying that UberEats can easily be adapted as a delivery service for groceries and other products like retail stores. That would put Uber in a good position to cash in on the growth of same-day delivery. Uber has been experimenting with grocery delivery from Kroger’s (NYSE: KR) Harris Teeter stores in the United States.
To survive Uber might have to change its whole business model and start hauling goods instead of people. There are potential flaws in Uber Eats; including low pay, which might make it difficult to attract or keep a labor force. Uber Eats also faces strong competition from GrubHub (NYSE: GRUB).
Uber is facing a struggle for survival. Vast changes at the company will be needed to just keep it in business in 2018.


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Maharashtra: Maharashtra is lastly put to permit its farmers to sell their produce to their favored buyer in a straight line in the market. Under the APMC Act in Maharashtra, Direct selling of all farm produces is severely. On Tuesday the suggestion, which has got in-principal endorsement of the cupboard, is life form projected as one of the major reforms in the cattle farm sector by the Devendra Fadnavis administration.
It aims to get farmers out of control of the Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) where farmers' cluster and self-help collection have to disburse a licence fee and beginning selling, so as to merely from side to side APMC dealer which accuse payment. The administration experience that the shift will rationalize the cost of vegetables and fruits which frequently missile with traders and middlemen creation most of it still as farmers get skewed returns. The observers conveyed "wait and watch" move toward. The opponents called the shift as politically aggravated and claimed that this will grow weaker the NCP-controlled APMCs. Chandrakant Patil, minister for cooperatives and marketing, conveyed that "They have resolute to demanage the markets and permit farmers groups to get most excellent prices for their manufacture. APMCs charge other duty from farmers. He further spare that a sub-committee of seven ministers would well tune the map at the first previous to swelling it out. Patil conveyed that, “We would approach out with a decree to this result before the Monsoon session of the Legislature. The assembly starts on July 18. Nearly all states counting as Karnataka, Chhattisgarh, Assam, West Bengal, Delhi and Haryana have full fruits and vegetables totally out of purview of APMC Act little years ago. Farmers in Maharashtra have been challenging decontrol of the markets since long. The centre has asked all states little year’s reverse to alter their APMC Acts and smash the control of APMC traders—an alarming political lobby—in excess of farm creates and de-controls unpreserved merchandise from the APMC system so that a direct market between farmers and consumers could be recognized.


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ATLANTA – November 22, 2022 – (Newswire.com)
As the holidays approach, t…
Collaboration enables tailored charging solutions for all types of customers and requirements.
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With multiple U.S. suppliers and manufacturing facilities, EcoClear Products are the highest quality and meet safety standards while supporting American jobs and avoiding foreign supply chain problems.
The winner will be announced Dec. 8
ORLANDO, Fla. – November 22, 2022 – (…
The New York-based beauty product and cosmetics photographer Isa Aydin is opening a new studio in Hollywood, Los Angeles, and will primarily provide beauty products, skincare, and cosmetics imagery.
The holiday season represents some of the most significant sales opportunities of the year; it’s crucial for businesses to protect their revenue and stay vigilant against online scams and malicious advertising.
BALTIMORE – November 22, 2022 – (Newswire.com)
For many businesses, the fourth quarter represents the highest revenue potential for the year, with online shopping and ad spending at their peak. But with this opportunity comes some risk; online scams and malicious advertising also hit their highest point around this time, jeopardizing lucrative seasonal revenue. clean.io, a leading digital engagement security platform recently acquired by HUMAN security, is sharing its most valuable tips to prepare businesses for a busy fourth quarter and holiday season.
“Companies set their biggest revenue targets during the fourth quarter, and malvertising presents one of the most significant risks to meeting those goals,” said Geoff Stupay, CEO of clean.io. “For some of our clients, monthly losses were as high as 3%. But let’s not forget that malvertising also wreaks havoc on proper revenue attribution and data collection, leaving companies with an inaccurate representation about what went right and wrong during its most profitable quarter — it’s not a good way to start the new year.”
1. URL redirects are one of the most common attack vectors used by malicious advertisers. They occur when users click a compromised link on a trusted business’s website. This link reroutes visitors without their consent to an untrusted external site. Redirects are a strong indicator that malware is present and at work. While search engines have proprietary mechanisms for detecting redirects, it’s good practice for companies to have a protocol in place. Some of the most effective methods for that include:
- Using a web application firewall
- Keeping software updated as often as possible to prevent zero-day vulnerabilities
- Using an automated web scanner
- Purpose-built anti-malvertising tools like cleanAD
2. Public data shows that malvertising occurs at the highest rate on weekends and holidays, and as many as one out of every 100 ads may be vulnerable to malicious ads. Blocklisting removes known bad actors and potential threats and is an effective way to mitigate such threats. The National Security Agency issued guidance on blocking ad content to mitigate malvertising through network and host-based solutions, which include:
- Using DNS to block known ad domains
- Blocking ads at the host or endpoint level and
- Blocking ads through the use of browser extensions
3. As an e-commerce merchant, taking a proactive approach — going beyond to detect and eliminate instances of malvertising — is key to prevention. cleanAD makes malicious advertising unprofitable for bad actors by analyzing ad behavior in real time and targeting specific triggers associated with malicious activity. When cleanAD discovers such triggers, it prevents the malicious code from executing but allows ad auctions to complete and render on the page. As a result, the bad actor has paid for the ad but receives no engagement.
Malvertising, a portmanteau of the words malicious advertising, involves bad actors purchasing and submitting ads that appear normal but execute malicious activity on the publisher’s site. When clicked, those ads inject malware into a user’s device, which can obtain personal information or perform other nefarious activities through phishing or other means. It’s the business’s responsibility to provide a memorable user experience on its website, and malvertising can severely impact brand reputation.
Visit clean.io for more information on how its suite of digital engagement security solutions can protect the online user experience, brands, and revenues.
Founded in 2017, clean.io is a digital engagement security platform that provides businesses with the tools they need to protect their user experiences and brands by controlling the third-party code that executes on their websites. clean.io was recently acquired by HUMAN security, a cybersecurity company that safeguards 1,000+ brands from digital attacks, including bots, fraud and account abuse. Today, HUMAN verifies the humanity of more than 20 trillion digital interactions per week across advertising, marketing, e-commerce, government, education and enterprise security, putting the company in a position to win against cyber criminals. Learn more at www.humansecurity.com.
From helping some of the world’s largest online publishers to prevent malvertising to giving e-commerce merchants the ability to block the injection of unwanted discount codes at checkout, clean.io’s mission is to ensure that brands truly own and control their most valuable digital assets – their websites. Visit clean.io at www.clean.io.
Press Release Service
Flex Fleet Rental announced today it will begin conducting business in Canada as Flex Fleet Canada
TORONTO – …
Proceeds to Benefit Indianapolis-Based Village of Merici
Cincinnati Bengals Center Ted Karras
Ted Karras models one of his Cincy Hats, which goes on sale tonight at 7 p.m. EST.
INDIANAPOLIS – November 22, 2022 – (Newswire.com)
An act of friendship toward new teammates has turned into a full-fledged philanthropic endeavor for Cincinnati Bengals player Ted Karras. Fans and local media have quickly taken notice of Karras and other players wearing new “Cincy” hats in the locker room. Starting tonight at 7 p.m. EST, the hats are being made available to the public for the first time.
“The Cincy Hat” will be sold online, with the proceeds going to the Village of Merici in Indianapolis. The organization provides direct support services, learning opportunities, and independent living through partnerships with various developers. The Village of Merici currently supports more than 75 people throughout Indianapolis with a goal of self-reliance.
“The hats were originally a fun gift for my new teammates through a family friend’s golf supply business,” Karras says. “I figured everyone loves to get a piece of gear, and the response from my teammates, Bengal fans, and media members was extraordinary. The demand for the hats grew rapidly thanks to my teammates wearing them in interviews, and we decided to sell them, but it had to benefit Village of Merici.”
Karras’ involvement with Village of Merici is thanks to childhood friend Matt Renie. Karras and Renie were high school classmates at Cathedral High School in Indianapolis.
“Ted grew up as a family friend observing his friend’s brother who has intellectual and developmental disabilities,” says Colleen Renie, Executive Director of Village of Merici. “Ted also has a family member with autism. He saw the potential in individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities and their desire to live independently as they grew up.”
There are currently three hats available, with a fourth in the works. The hats retail for $35 each, and customers can choose from black, orange or white. The fourth hat will be white with a black logo.
The funds will go to supporting the Village of Merici programs that teach and support individuals in independent living skills to enable them to be successful.
“I am so grateful that a fun gift and project has found a special purpose,” Karras says. “It’s a great hat with an awesome design that I hope can become the unofficial hat of the Bengals. The Village of Merici is a very special place that does so much good. Any way I can ever help their cause is a special opportunity for me.”
To purchase a hat, visit thecincyhat.com. The website also offers a link for donations for Village of Merici. For more information regarding Village of Merici, visit villageofmerici.org or call Karyl Davis, Director of Development, at 317-601-0513.
Director of Development
Press Release Service


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Many on the Planet of the Vapes forum have expressed concern regarding the listing of PMI’s IQOS heat-not-burn (HNB) product in vape shops. While some support the notion of offering all reduced harm products to smokers, others warn that tobacco companies could use a foothold in the industry to attack the independent vape sector.
In April, PMI began to encourage stockists to display posters in store or up in windows. The gist was that the company claimed HNB devices were akin to vape products and should therefore be allowed more leniency than the outright ban placed on cigarette advertising.
ASH’s Deborah Arnott commented: “The legislation is very clear that advertising which has the effect of promoting tobacco products is illegal. That includes iQOS, just as it includes pipes used for smoking tobacco. It’s a barefaced cheek for Philip Morris to argue otherwise.”
The action accompanied disastrous financial news and PMI’s share price receiving and massive knock back in trading markets – and it prompted investigations by Trading Standards officers in Hackney, Lambeth and Glasgow. All in all, it is a far cry from the announcement in the New Year that the company was attempting to turn over a new leaf.
Public health minister Steve Brine MP announced this week that the Department of Health has issued a “formal order” to PMI, instructing it to remove all posters claiming that IQOS is a "healthier" product.
Brine informed the media that the department was fully prepared to resort to the law, and repeated the fact that (if found guilty) PMI’s UK managing director Peter Nixon faces up to six months in prison if found guilty.
“We have been explicit that the promotion of tobacco products is unlawful - as my letter to Phillip Morris International makes abundantly clear,” said the minister. “Smoking kills 78,000 people every year and I am personally committed to doing all I can to protect people from the harms of tobacco. We expect PMI to stop this unlawful advertisement of tobacco products and we will not rule out legal action if they continue.”
Nixon responded: “We have already replied to the Department’s letter asking for an urgent meeting to clarify the concerns. We believe that all of our activities are within the law. Our business is committed to helping smokers switch from cigarettes to better alternatives as fast as possible.”
While latest research confirms that HNB products do reduce the risk of tobacco-related harm for smokers, devices like the IQOS still remain tobacco products. PMI’s attempts to link HNB with vaping, and distance it from tobacco cigarettes, threatens vape companies with stricter regulation in the future.


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10 numbers that changed technology in 2016
900 million Indians who will need to be brought online to make the Prime Minister’s plan to move to digital payments a success.
1. 1 billion: WhatsApp users globally, than 160 million of which are in India.
2. $3 billion: Amount Amazon said it would put into India out of a commitment of $5 billion.
3. 900 million: Indians who will need to be brought online to make the Prime Minister’s plan to move to digital payments a success.
4. 8-10 %: What IT industry body Nasscom finally cut the industry growth estimate to after months of speculation that the previous 10-12% was unreachable.
5. 32 lakh Indian debit cards hacked in one of the largest disclosed security breaches in the country.
6. $26 billion: Amount Microsoft paid to buy LinkedIn, one of the largest deals in the year.
7. Rs 39.8 crore: Paid by Amazon to buy Tata Group’s publishing arm Westland, which publishes books by writers such as Amish Tripathi, Ashwin Sanghi and Rashmi Bansal.
8. 1 billion Yahoo accounts that were breached, the largest data breach in history.
9. $7 billion: Valuation of Uber China when it sold to Chinese rival Didi Chuxing.
10. $5 billion: That’s roughly what it will cost Samsung to recall its Galaxy Note 7 line of phones that tended to burst into flames when charged.


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India is unlikely to be directly affected by the recent US-China trade deal signed as the country gained little from the almost two-year old trade war between the two trading giants. But, if the hard-negotiated pact goes beyond the first phase and is implemented in spirit by both nations, India could benefit from an overall improvement in sentiments and performance of world trade. However, there are some, who argue that India seems to lack the competitive strength to take advantage of a global turnaround.
Moreover, as per the pact, tariffs on $120 billion worth of goods would be halved, but much of the higher duties on about $360 billion of Chinese exports to the US and more than $100 billion of US exports to China would stay. China has also committed to increase its purchases in manufacturing, services, agriculture and energy from 2017 levels by $200 billion over two years and that could include $ 50 billion worth of agricultural goods a year. But that should also not be a reason for worry for India’s exporters. India and China have been in talks since the trade war started for increased purchases by Beijing of commodities such as soybean which it had been mostly buying from the US. But it did not actually result in much increase in exports from India. So, a resumption of farm goods purchases by China from the US is not likely to hurt India.


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A major consumer privacy law is likely this legislative session in Florida that stands to jeopardize not only technology companies, but financial services, healthcare entities, and thousands of small and medium-sized businesses that rely on digital marketing and advertising to conduct business.
Florida legislators are generally pro-business, but this year could be an exception. Talks are well underway in both the House and Senate to rewrite Florida’s data privacy laws with a nod toward adopting components of the more restrictive California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which became effective January 2020.
Proponents of more consumer-focused privacy legislation are gearing up for a fight this session.
From a recent POLITICO Florida article:
Since its creation, Propel Florida has given $100,000 in political contributions to key Republicans and hired a lobbying team ahead of the 2021 legislative session.
“The fact of the matter is Floridians can’t trust Big Tech,” said Shaun Keck, who identified himself in an email as Propel Florida’s director. “For years, virtual platforms have been collecting personal, private information from all of us. After which they capitalize by renting and selling this private information.” (“Mystery Florida company lobbying to fight big tech,” Matt Dixon, December 10, 2020, Politico Pro)
Businesses that serve Florida consumers still have time to stand up and take notice, but the clock is ticking – committees start hearing bills on January 11, 2021, and session officially kicks off March 2.


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Lenovo Windows 7 Theme is dedicated to the computer manufacturer Lenovo. This is a high resolution Windows 7 Theme which will fit very...
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Lenovo intends to continue riding its Yoga line of tablets and laptops, and launched a Yoga Tablet 2 with a strange feature, along with the Yoga 3 and ThinkPad Yoga laptops.
Lenovo formed a joint venture in 2011 with NEC to sell laptops in Japan, and the companies are launching two models to sell outside of Japan.
Lenovo has been all over the CES in Las Vegas, announcing new products right and left. Today brought the launch of two Flex laptops, the Tab 2 tablets starting at $99, and the S41 Ultrabook.
Lenovo unveiled its new ThinkPad line at the CES, including lots of laptops and the innovative ThinkPad Stack accessory system.
The electronics retailer is also taking $50 off a Steam Machine gaming PC console and offering a Lenovo Windows 8.1 desktop for $199.99, though its deals are only available in its retail stores.
Hot on the heels of the launch of Android and Windows Yoga Tablets, Lenovo unveils a 13-inch model running Windows.
Three new Lenovo tablets land with (depending on your choice) Windows and Android. The Yoga Tablet 2 Pro also has an in-built pico-projector.
If you're envious of the affordability of Chrome OS laptops, but need to run Windows applications, Lenovo's 15.6-inch B50-30 has much to recommend it.
After halting sales on the ThinkPad 8 and selling out of the Miix, the company promises to keep producing new 8-inch Windows tablet PCs in the future.
The computer giant has also announced the B50, G50, Z40, and Z50 notebooks, all starting under $600.
The University of Sydney has successfully piloted the deployment of 100 Windows 8-based Lenovo ThinkPad Tablet 2 devices to encourage more in-class discussions.
Microsoft is poised to become a Windows Phone manufacturer in its own right, but is still managing to add new partners to its roster.
A special offer is on the Lenovo online store that shows the Yoga Tablet 8 running Windows. That is a mistake.
Lenovo has a big line of tablets crossing the consumer space and the enterprise. This 8-inch tablet is a solid performer running full Windows 8.1 and packing Office.
The new notebook lineup is ruggedized and will start at $349 when it becomes available this spring.
HP and Lenovo are betting that Android PCs can convert both office and home Windows PC users to Android.
Lenovo unveils a small tablet running Windows 8.1 with the ThinkPad brand.
Monday Morning Opener: As CES 2014 kicks off Lenovo launches an Android all-in-one. Android desktops plus Chromebooks could give Microsoft's Windows 8 franchise a headache.
The PC manufacturer has a wide variety of systems at sale prices available through its online store, but some specials are better than others.
Lenovo has more Windows 8 computers than most companies and the Miix with the unique keyboard folio is aimed at those on a budget.


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Businesses will be free to choose any suffix they please for their internet addresses after a decision yesterday to expand the choices beyond current staples such as ".com", ".co" and ".org".
The decision by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (Icann) to liberalise the online naming system - allowing the creation of customised domain names - follows a three-year project.
"What we are now considering is a global equivalent of people moving to liberalised telecommunication markets or electricity markets," Paul Twomey, Icann's chief executive, said at the organisation's meeting in Paris.
Icann, a non-profit body that co-ordinates the naming system, plans to accept the first round of applications for new domain names in April or May next year. It expects the cost of registering a new suffix to be at least $100,000 (€64,00, £50,000) - far higher than the current price of a ".com" name, which is as little as $14.
Some analysts worry that the changes could yield more costs for businesses operating online as they try to protect their presence on the web.
The last large-scale domain launch - of ".biz" in 2001 - did not reduce the popularity and dependency on the ".com" suffix. Registrations for ".biz" have lagged far behind ".com", with fewer than 2m names in use compared with more than 77m for ".com". A 2002 Harvard Law School study found that about 30 per cent of ".biz" registrations were made by organisations that already owned the ".com" version of their name.
The new move is unlikely to cause an immediate surge in the number of customised domain names online.
Icann hopes the high cost and a rigorous application process will deter any "domain squatters", who purchase company-related domain names and try to sell them back to the company for a profit.
Any disputes over names would be referred to an independent arbitrator, who would consider existing trademarks and intellectual property rights.
However, Alex Burmaster, an analyst at the internet research company Nielsen Netratings, said fraudsters and "domaineers" - who buy up groups of domain names - were likely to benefit from the changes.
"We could see an exponential rise in dispute cases," he said. "The two biggest losers will be businesses and customers. It will be a big cost for companies, and confusing with all the potential domains."
Jonathan Robinson, chief operating officer of NetNames, a consultancy and registration company, said he feared that the move "would dilute online brands, putting them at risk. I'm not convinced this is being done in the right way".
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Just a few years ago, nobody thought that small commercial vans would find much place in the US market. But Ford has turned that notion on its head with the Transit Connect, Nissan has joined in with its NV200 and others are apparently keen to follow.
- Mid-engine Corvette spied in daylight
- Matt LeBlanc threatens to quit Top Gear
- Best Lease Deals for June 2016