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NJ lawmaker look at possible bag fee to help clean up bay
Updated On: Jan 08 2013 04:50:40 AM CST
If you plan on shopping in New Jersey, you could be asked to dig a little deeper in your pocket when it's time to pay.
A new bag fee in 2014 would help clean Barnegat Bay, along the coast of Ocean County.
"We were well aware of it," said John Holub, president of the New Jersey Retail Association. "We've been in discussions with Senator Smith who is sponsor of the legislation. So we've been in discussion with him for quite some time. Unfortunately we can't be supportive of this proposal."
The New Jersey Retail Association says the fee or tax, as officials call it, would hurt business.
There is also the work it's already done over the last 10 years to make plastic bags more environmentally safe.
"Everything from just the overall encouragement, the reduction and the reuse of plastic bags," added Holub. "As well as even offering in store recycling of plastic bags."
Some shoppers say that is a good thing but after seeing all the damage Hurricane Sandy did at the shore, they would pay the extra money to help fellow residents.
"It's helping to clean the shore," said Phillipsburg, New Jersey resident Michelle Kenney. "I know I love to go to the shore when I get a chance and it's just a beautiful thing. We should all help."
"I wouldn't care where it goes," said Robert Stambtz, another Phillipsburg resident. "As long as it's helping people get through the storm and stuff."
The full New Jersey Senate is expected to vote on the bag fee bill in the next two months then it will move to the New Jersey Assembly.
Copyright 2013 WFMZ. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Family desperate for answers in search for missing woman
City's "ugly" Christmas tree causes controversy
Family's home still standing as gaping sinkhole remains open in front yard
Lehigh County animal shelter in dire need of food donations
Reading parting ways with 'ugly' Christmas tree
Construction worker struck by vehicle on turnpike
Balloon release marks one-year since Holly Grim's disappearance
WWII vet shoots wife, kills self, Allentown police say
State police seek missing Palmerton teen
Lafayette pounds Lehigh in 150th meeting, 27-7


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This is a guest post form David Fullbrook, aspiring webtrepreneur, Snagsta flagwaver and all round good egg. This is a summary of a recent exchange of emails I had with him over the past week about what he thinks the Big G might be up to…
Since November, Google has taken three important steps releasing Android, Gears and, on 2 September, Chrome.
Android is Linux cut-and-pasted to operate mobile devices, like phones.
Gears is a piece of software letting online utilities, like Google Docs, work offline.
Chrome is Google’s way of helping people kick around the wonderfully wide web.
Android puts Google on mobile phones, probably the most ubiquitous computers on the planet. Chrome puts Google into the arena of perhaps the most widely used software today, the internet browser.
But why stop there? If the pace since November is anything to go by, during the next year or so Google is going to be releasing more products. Android suggests Google could be working on Google Linux for desktops – Ginux? Cyborg?
Google Linux, to really hit home, must be really easy to use, still a sticking point for most Linux distributions. Few if any pass the ‘mum test’ (if your mum can use it, anybody can).
Linux users are often ignored by major software developers. iTunes for Linux? Keep dreaming. But Google is making most of its products available for Linux. Okay, so most major types of software are available in one shape or another, usually for free. But compatibility is still an issue, even for the latest versions of OpenOffice/StarOffice; and the music players are still not quite up there with iTunes.
This is another space Google could enter. Google has all it needs – Chrome, Checkout, Froogle, V8 Java, Search – to build a great music player, one that easily syncs with Androids, Cyborgs and Windows.
Easy Linux and a powerful music player could break Microsoft’s monopoly on the operating system market, creating hundreds of millions more outlets for Google’s ads and potentially customers for its services. It might even put a bruise on Apple.
There also looks like a gap for Google to fill in personal information management. Google does email and calendars, perhaps mix in Chrome, V8 Java and Search, and something interesting could happen.
Would Google spend its cash to build V8 Java just to run a browser?
Or perhaps V8 Java is a sign of other things to come. Google has the resources, perhaps the intellectual curiosity, and probably the needs to develop an entirely new operating system, one which is lightweight, robust and open, and which passes the ‘mum test’.
More software and services pushes Google closer to Apple and Microsoft, both of which build hardware.
New products and perhaps those to come are taking Google to places where it hasn’t been before. Google may be the first to provide seamless integration, connectivity and availability of information and the experiences it generates across multiple platforms anywhere.
Which might mean that no matter what people do on a computer they will see ads from Google. The boundaries of search are being pushed further and further into our lives.
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domain: news


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AVG fixes antivirus software skewing Web site statisticsJuly 8, 2008 – 5:57 AM
Security company AVG is upgrading a component of its antivirus software so as not to place an undue traffic load on the Web sites it scans.
The company has already released a patch for LinkScanner, part of its Anti-Virus Free Edition 8.0, and will release a patch for the paid versions of the software on Tuesday, said Lloyd Borrett, marketing manager for AVG in Australia and New Zealand.
The behavior of AVG’s LinkScanner caused much animosity toward the Czech-based company, including a Web site dedicated to the issue, despite the popularity of its free security software.
Web site owners complained LinkScanner was hitting their sites repeatedly, using up the bandwidth they paid for and causing their Web analytics programs to suddenly record high numbers of visitors. AVG acquired LinkScanner’s maker, Exploit Prevention Labs, in December 2007.


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A cup of Espresso coffee in Cascais, Portugal on October 11, 2021.
Nikolas Kokovlis | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Extreme weather conditions brought on by an approaching El Nino are fueling concerns that robusta beans in major coffee producers like Vietnam and Indonesia could be hit, resulting in soaring prices.
“The now widely-expected transition to El Nino conditions in Q323 has stoked fears of reduced output in Vietnam and Indonesia, both major coffee robusta producers,” Fitch Solutions’ research unit BMI said in report dated May 24.
Robusta beans are known for their bitter characteristics and higher acidity, containing more caffeine than their premium and pricier arabica counterpart.
Brazil’s robusta crop has also been negatively impacted by drought as well, the report said.
That means the cost of instant coffee and espressos, which are often made with robusta beans, could come under pressure amid supply worries and a stronger than usual demand for robusta as consumers turn to cheaper substitutes for arabica.
El Nino is a weather phenomenon that typically brings hotter and drier than usual conditions to the central and eastern tropical Pacific Ocean. Climate scientists are predicting that this year’s El Nino could descend in the second half of 2023.
Southeast Asia recently saw record-breaking heat in the middle of May.
“Across Southeast Asia, El Niño conditions are associated with below-average rainfall and higher temperatures, both of which depress coffee production,” the BMI report said.
Vietnam, Indonesia and Brazil are the largest producers of robusta, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization.
“We draw attention to heavy rains in Indonesia through Q123, which have had a negative impact on coffee bean quality, with the USDA forecasting a decline of about one fifth in coffee robusta production,” the analysts said.
Carlos Mera, head of agri commodities markets at Rabobank, is forecasting a 10% drop in production to 11.2 million bags of robusta in the coming crop harvest.
A man holding Robusta coffee beans at a coffee tasting fair in Buon Ma Thuot city in Daklak province, Vietnam. Bitter and earthy. fit for instant brews only.
Nhac Nguyen | Afp | Getty Images
In 2016, El Nino-related water shortages in both Vietnam and Indonesia led to a global production decline of close to 10%, according to the research unit’s statistics.
Typically, in an El Nino year, it is “not uncommon” for Vietnam and Indonesia to “see a 20% decline in production” in robusta beans, Shawn Hackett, president of commodity brokerage firm Hackett Financial Advisors, told CNBC.
“That would mean a pretty severe contraction of robusta,” he said.
Rising demand for the robusta
Robusta beans account for 40% of the world’s coffee production, and arabica beans make up the remaining 60% of global coffee production. Arabica beans are usually deemed to be of higher quality and command higher prices than robusta coffee.
However, global economic pressures are tipping demand toward robusta, the underdog of coffee beans.
Robusta prices are supported as coffee-product manufacturers and consumers substitute robusta beans for pricier arabica beans to save costs during inflationary times, the BMI report said.
Robusta coffee prices recently soared to a 15-year high of $2,783 per ton toward the end of May. They last traded at $2,608 per ton for July futures, according to data from the Intercontinental Exchange.
Additionally, the premium that arabica beans have over robusta beans plunged to the lowest since 2019 due to soaring demand for the relatively cheaper coffee bean.
“Asia, generally speaking, has taken a liking to robusta more so than arabica, and as such the demand for robusta is growing at a much faster rate than demand for arabica,” said Hackett.
He cited the lower price point of robusta beans in Asia and the population’s palette for robusta-bean based drinks.
Kopi, also known as Nanyang coffee, is a dark coffee beverage popular in Southeast Asia that’s traditionally brewed using robusta beans.
A farmer harvesting coffee cherries at a coffee plantation in Central Java, Indonesia, on May 25, 2023.
Dimas Ardian | Bloomberg | Getty Images
But Asia is not the only region that has taken an increased liking to robusta.
“While the reduction in washed arabica imports is partially due to lower availability … the shift to robusta shows that cheaper coffees are being heavily preferred by the European market,” said Natalia Gandolphi, analyst at HedgePoint Global Markets’ Intelligence.
Gandolphi said she expects a deficit of 4.16 million bags of robusta for the October 2023 to September 2024 period.


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Jindal Aluminium, the country’s largest aluminum extruded products maker, is looking to invest ₹150 crore-odd over a two year period as it looks to bring on-stream new capacities across its two verticals – extrusions and rolled products.
The company will ramp up capacities by nearly 50 per cent primarily across the extrusions vertical.
Its existing capacity in the extrusions segment is 1,25,000 tonne per annum; while in the rolled products category the capacity stands at 50,000 tonne per annum.
According to Pragun Jindal Khaitan, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, Jindal Aluminium Ltd, investments towards incremental capacity addition would be funded through internal accruals.
Of ₹100 crore-odd investment, a part will go towards de-bottlenecking at the existing unit in Bengaluru while the majority will be spent as capex in upping capacities at the recently acquired Indo Alysus Ltd plant. The Bhiwadi (Rajasthan) plant, which Jindal Aluminium acquired at a cost of ₹100 crore has a capacity of 15,000–18,000 tonne per annum. It will be expanded by another 32,000 tonnes per annum, to 50,000 tonnes per annum over the next few quarters.
Capacity addition at the rolled products unit - with the addition of the fifth caster – happened in 2019. Two more casters are expected to be added in over the next 12 -18 month period at a ₹50 crore cost thereby taking the total capacity up to 75,000 tonne per annum.
“We are open to Greenfield capacity expansion in the future. The Indo Alysus acquisition will bring us closer to customers in North India – one of our larger markets. We are targeting to close FY22 at Rs 3000 crore,” he told BusinessLine.
Once capacity additions come on stream, it is expecting a 15 per cent increase in the company top-line; and 20 per cent addition to aluminum extrusion businesses topline. Extrusions account for 65 per cent of its topline and rolled products the remaining 35 per cent.
Jindal Aluminium is witnessing a CAGR of 8-10 per cent, in line with the industry.
“We do not plan to get into mining. We procure aluminum from the primary players. The base price of primary aluminum is determined by London Metal Exchange rates,” Khaitan added.


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A traditional offset printer with a primary focus on folding cartons, Pacer Print and Packaging of Chatsworth, California, shifted 80 percent of its label business in-house with the new inkjet press.
FastCap, LLC, a lean manufacturer of unique household products located in Ferndale, Washington, installed the press in June 2020 and has since increased its productivity by 500 percent.
SCREEN Americas announces its sponsorship of research recently conducted by the Book Manufacturers’ Institute, a non-profit trade association for the book manufacturing industry.
SCREEN Americas announces the sale of its Truepress Jet520HD to The Dot Corporation, a California-based company specializing in a variety of services including printing, direct mail and marketing, retail and trade show graphics, healthcare supply chain services, digital applications and solutions, e-commerce fulfillment and creative services.
Find content that most interests you by selecting a subject below:


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MODESTO, Calif. — Save Mart Supermarkets here said Wednesday it has agreed to pay nearly $2.6 million to settle a complaint filed in each of the Northern California counties in which it operates over its handling and record-keeping of retail hazardous waste — the latest retailer in the state to pay a fine and bring its practices in line with current environmental standards.
According to local reports, the settlement money, which involves civil penalties, costs and expenses for future environmental enforcement activities in California, covers violations that took place over several years involving the storage, handling and disposal of hazardous waste, including over-the-counter medications, pharmaceuticals, aerosol products, ignitable liquids, batteries, electronic devices, pool chemicals and other toxic and/or corrosive materials.
According to the company, the complaint was not related to any fresh grocery products or other items sold to customers, nor where there any injuries suffered by any customers.
A Save Mart spokeswoman said the company has retrained store employees to ensure compliance with proper disposal practices.
"The settlement is the result of constructive, cooperative negotiations with 935 county] district attorneys," the company said in a formal statement. "We are pleased [they] have recognized the efforts and commitments of Save Mart to ongoing environmental compliance and that the case has been expeditiously resolved."
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BRIGHTON, N.Y. (WROC) — Brighton Whole Foods will in fact be opening tomorrow morning, according to the building’s developers the Daniele Family Company.
The company shared with News 8 that in the first step in an appeal, a judge has decided to not grant the preliminary injunction on Whole Foods that was requested.
This means that the Whole Foods will remain open while the appeal moves forward.
Previous coverage on the appeal:
This court date followed a ruling in favor of the project’s developers and the Town of Brighton, a case in which a Wegmans-backed group called Brighton Grassroots sued claiming fault with the approval process for the project, which sits just to the west of the Monroe Ave and Clover St. intersection.
Judge Scott Odorisi disagreed with that argument and told the developers they could move forward with the opening of Whole Foods.
Friday, the Whole Foods opponents announced they plan to appeal that decision and have asked New York State’s Appellate Division for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in order to prevent the opening of the remainder of the Whole Foods Plaza, which includes the Whole Foods grocery store.
In the court paperwork, the opponents’ attorney claims the recent trial provided “overwhelming evidence at trial showed that the Town improperly allowed a massive plaza to be built directly on top of the Auburn Trail.”
Town Supervisor Bill Mohele said Wegmans already had their day– their months– their YEARS in court.
“I feel very strongly Judge Odorisi’s decision after the trial was a strong one. It was a good one,” said Mohele.
Moehle said Wegmans has a right to appeal, but the real reason for this… is clear. “It shows once again that this is all about Wegmans trying to avoid competition.”
Danny Daniele, of Daniele Family Companies, which is developing Whole Foods Plaza, sent News 8 a response saying, “It’s no surprise Wegmans has chosen to appeal the ruling in another attempt to stop Whole Foods from opening in Rochester even after the judge ruled against them in the trial where the most riveting testimony came from their leader Howie Jacobson when he broke down and was forced to admit under oath that he lied to the public and was in fact paid by Wegmans to keep Whole Foods out of Rochester.”
A spokesperson for Whole Foods provided a statement saying, “We’ve been given approval to open our doors and are looking forward to serving the community on April 12.”
Brighton Town Supervisor Bill Moehle previously told News 8 that their analysis revealed that during the busiest times, only 40 seconds would be added to drive time.
At peak afternoon traffic times, the study does show some level of congestion for certain intersections.
For example, those heading east on Monroe Avenue at Clover Street may get backed up so far that they temporarily block one of the driveways on that road. For those heading east on Monroe Ave. and trying to get on I-590 north, the cars may back up the entire stretch of available road.
But literally 95% of the time, “the queues will be shorter than those,” the final findings document reads.


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Food tracking technology a growing industry
Australian food producers are set to benefit from increasing use of food tracking technologies, as consumers become more aware of the importance of produce authenticity.
According to a report by Allied Market Research, the global food traceability market is growing by 9 per cent annually.
The greatest growth is forecast for the Asia-Pacific region, as consumers demand greater information on the products they buy. The growing appetite for this technology is set to grow by nearly 17 per cent annually in the region, faster than any other area of the world.
The new technology will allow products to be tracked by consumers and retailers, ensuring greater accountability along the production chain. Different tracking methods include barcodes, biometric scanning and infrared scanning to determine a product’s authenticity.
Effective tracking will also allow for better product recalls, allowing potentially dangerous food and drink products to be recalled quickly and without posing a risk to consumers. Producers will also be able to gain valuable information on how well their goods are surviving the export process.
While product tracking has already been used on Australian wine exports, there is great growth potential in other product categories, especially around meat, fish, dairy and fresh produce. Introducing this technology to perishable goods will increase the safety for end consumers and boost the overseas recognition of authentic Australian produce.
These new initiatives will bring greater career opportunities in the food industry, as Australian products are recognised for their safety and freshness in overseas markets. From growers and packagers to exporters, many different firms will benefit from this technology.
Increased investment will also provide further employment opportunities for the engineering and design industries, as firms create new tracking technologies and modify their business practices to make the most of existing opportunities.


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Leading shares have recorded their largest two day fall for 15 months, as the FTSE 100 lost another 1.5% on growing fears that the European sovereign debt crisis could put the global economic recovery at risk.
The UK's leading index finished down 84.95 to 5073.13 having fallen as low as 5000 at one point for the first time since November. This follows a 2.81% decline yesterday following news that Germany had unilaterally declared a ban on short selling certain government debt. The two day decline is the biggest since early March last year, when HSBC announced its deeply discounted £12.5bn rights issue and insurer AIG revealed the biggest quarterly loss in US corporate history.
Ahead of a meeting of European finance ministers tomorrow and Germany's vote on its share of the €750bn Greek bailout package, both the French and German markets fell around 2% while the euro lost more than cent to $1.23 before making a slight recovery.
Meanwhile Wall Street dropped just over 200 points by the time London closed, with the US market additionally unsettled by larger than expected weekly jobless numbers. The number of new applications for unemployment benefits rose by 25,000 to 471,000, some 30,000 more than analysts' forecasts. Joshua Raymond, market strategist at City Index, said:
The markets are a whole mess of uncertainty and fear right now and so it is hardly surprising that investors are fleeing risky assets everywhere and this means heavy weakness for stocks, sterling and the euro.
The move by Germany to ban short selling, seemingly without mass consultation of the rest of Europe, is an indication that there are strong divisions in the Euro Zone at a time when the market is crying out for some form of unity and strength. The fear is that without unity, debt problems could become contagious across borders quicker and easier.
Let's not forget, many investors in today's market still bear the scars from the credit crunch induced market falls of 2008 and with sensitivities just as high now as they were then, they don't want to get burned again and this is almost certainly playing a role in the recent falls.
Manoj Ladwa, senior trader at ETX Capital, said:
The uncertainty over European sovereign debt, rising jobless claims in the US and economic growth concerns are all weighing heavily on the market.
Mining companies were among the leading fallers, on fears that economic turmoil in Europe could dampen demand for commodities. The sector was not helped by news that Bank of America/Merrill Lynch had downgraded basic materials from overweight to neutral. So Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation lost 58.5p to 934.5p while Rio Tinto fell 172.5p to £28.12.
A surprise £3.2bn cash call from National Grid left its shares 43.5p lower at 576.5p, while Scottish and Southern Energy dropped 33p to £10.40. Traders thought investors could be switching out of the company to fund their take-up of National Grid's rights issue, while there have also been suggestions Scottish itself might seek a fundraising if its consortium succeeds in buying EDF's three distribution businesses which are currently up for sale.
Elsewhere SABMiller dropped 123p to £19.12 after disappointing full year figures and a cautious outlook. The brewer, whose brands include Peroni and Miller Lite, said operating profits had risen 6% to $4.3bn and it said it did not expect a broad recovery in consumer spending until the second half of the current financial year.
BP was among the few risers in the leading index, up 5.3p to 528.8p amid signs of investors covering their short positions as the company continued its efforts to clean up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Among the mid-caps Mothercare fell 22p to 525p after the mother and baby products retailer reported flat full year profits of £37m. But Booker was 1.15p better at 40.35p as the cash and carry wholesaler beat forecasts with a 21% rise in annual profits.
Dairy Crest, the milk and food business whose brands include Cathedral City cheese, Clover vegetable oil and Country Life butter, added 6p to 365p after a buy note from Shore Capital. Analyst Clive Black said:
Dairy Crest stock is too lowly rated to our minds. We make this assertion not just on what we deem to be too heavily discounted current earnings and cash flow ratios (7.7x and 5.5x respectively) but also because we believe that the market is possibly overseeing the implicit value in the group's stable of brands. Indeed, we argue that Dairy Crest's key brands, such as Cathedral City, are worth well in excess of its market capitalisation (and probably its enterprise value on a bid multiple, suggesting that the dairies division is 'in for free') and we believe Dairy Crest stock is worth at least 459p on our analysis.
We believe that its brands alone are worth around £764m. Put another way, if these brands were to be put up for sale by the company it is our view that well in excess of the group's current market capitalisation of £483m and probably its £787m enterprise value could be recouped.
In addition to what we deem to be discounted valuations we also highlight the attractive income stream on Dairy Crest stock.


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The Cigar Trophy Awards are the only distinction in the cigar industry that is decided on by public vote. Once again, thousands of passionados took the opportunity to nominate their favorite cigars in various categories as well as the best cigar accessories and lounges. After an extended nomination phase, the short list was determined and five nominees in each category were put up for the final voting.
The results were finally revealed on September 22, and the winners of the 2017 Cigar Trophy Awards were announced at a big gathering in presence of industry giants. You’ll find the video of the awards ceremony as well as some photos of the winners below.
We want to give our thanks to all cigar smokers who made their voice heard and participated in the nominations and the voting for the 2017 Cigar Trophy Awards!
-> View the Cigar Trophy Awards Ceremony in full length
-> Here’s the overview of the nomination and voting procedure as well as the shortlist of 2017
-> To the winners of the 2017 Cigar Trophy Awards
Pingback: They wrote about Cigar Sense


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Last month, the European Parliament and the European Union council reached a political agreement to introduce the Digital Markets Act — a proposed legislation that intends to ensure fair competition in digital markets. While including broad-based obligations, the Act targets a specific set of tech companies, known as “gatekeepers”. They are defined as organisations that either have an annual turnover of at least €7.5 billion (Rs 621.2 billion) within the EU in the past three years, or have a market valuation of €75 billion (Rs 6.2 trillion), according to the proposal. They must also have at least 45 million monthly end-users and 10,000 business users established in the EU.
The Act is the result of policymakers’ frustration with traditional antitrust tools to remedy harms to competition. However, the European Commission may commence discussions to craft ex-ante regulations that can forecast distortions, to tackle level-playing field issues in innovation-led businesses. The calls for such regulations are growing louder in India too. So far, such issues are handled by the Competition Commission of India (CCI), which relies on an ex-post approach. In other words, the CCI swings into action only after the level-playing field has been distorted.
Also Read: Overhaul regulation of E-marketplaces. Small sellers have stake in platform economy growth too
The Digital Markets Act
The Digital Markets Act (DMA) targets core services provided by gatekeepers. These include intermediation services, social media networks, communication services, operating systems, and cloud computing. Some of the notable obligations of the Act on large platforms include a ban on promoting their own products or services and limiting the ability to combine personal data from various platforms operated by a gatekeeper.
The proposed legislation has received significant media attention due to its intention to mandate interoperability between online messaging platforms operated by gatekeepers. In other words, the DMA may require communication platforms such as WhatsApp and iMessage to offer interoperability with competing services such as Signal and Telegram.
EU policymakers think that opening up large platforms by providing interoperability will limit user lock-ins due to the presence of network effects. In other words, a user will not be required to download WhatsApp on their phone only because their friends are on the platform. The proposal may seem attractive to decision-makers who are under political pressure to rein in big tech. However, a closer look reveals that the impact might not be so straightforward on consumers and the innovation ecosystem.
Also Read: India’s ed-tech is a predatory market. Modi govt can learn from UK, US
Interoperability isn’t straightforward
Interoperability by itself doesn’t have a very clear definition, and evaluating its costs and benefits would require a clear context and the degree to which it is being applied. Since the final text of the draft is yet to be released, we assume that the EU regulators are referring to complete interoperability between service providers. If that is the case, then their claim that non-interoperability among such services leads to network effects with lock-in isn’t necessarily valid.
First, it is worth noting that consumers are ‘multihoming’ while using digital products. It means that they access multiple platforms without incurring significant switching costs for doing so. This allows consumers to communicate with each other across all messaging platforms, without being subject to any significant inconveniences or extra monetary costs.
Further, the communications market today offers services that cater to varied consumer requirements — a reason why people choose to be present on more than one of these platforms. This acts as a strong incentive for firms to innovate. Now let’s consider a scenario where governments mandate complete interoperability. Here, the user of a large dominant platform will be disincentivised to download other applications as this one will allow them to connect with users of other smaller platforms. The dominant application will, therefore, further entrench its market position without consistently upgrading its quality of service.
Second, complete interoperability may raise concerns about user safety and privacy. In the last few years, some major platforms have taken several measures to enhance consumer security and safety. For instance, WhatsApp has introduced features such as limits on forwarding messages, end-to-end encryption, and detection and reporting of spam. Introducing limits on forwarding messages was one of the ways in which the company intended to curb the spread of misinformation. WhatsApp even claims that this measure has effectively slowed down the speed at which viral messages travel on the app. However, a smaller platform may not be under any obligation to introduce such features when interacting with WhatsApp, and can potentially compromise user safety.
Also Read: Health data cannot be fragmented and inaccessible. Modi govt needs a policy revamp
The Indian experience
The Narendra Modi government has taken several efforts to minimise concentration in digital markets. Examples include the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy for e-commerce, which prevents e-commerce marketplaces from adopting an inventory-based model where it has ownership or control over the goods and services sold on their platform. The intent of the policy is to prevent marketplaces from selling their own products or services to ensure fairness in their dealings with business users.
However, measures that focus on market participation by offering open solutions have been more effective in enhancing consumer welfare and increasing competition in the market. Illustratively, the development of infrastructure systems such as the United Payment Interface (UPI) has significantly democratised the payments ecosystem — a segment that has traditionally been controlled by a handful of companies. It is not surprising that India has emerged as a Fintech industry leader with the highest FinTech adoption rate of 87 per cent globally. In 2020, about 1.7 billion transactions worth Rs 3.29 lakh crore were carried out in the country.
Similarly, the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) decided to set up an Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) last year, which aims to provide alternatives to proprietary e-commerce sites. While the details of how the ONDC will operate remain unclear, reports indicate that the intent is to allay concerns about self-preferencing by e-commerce websites.
In contrast to the Modi government rules, measures to open up markets via innovation-led instruments have been more effective in fostering competition in digital markets. More importantly, such regulations can create artificial entry barriers for small businesses. For instance, an Indian communications start-up looking to enter the EU may find it challenging to attract new users, as the incentive for users to switch to a new platform will remain low. As countries explore different approaches to tackle new challenges in digital markets, India has a unique opportunity to demonstrate what consumer and innovation-friendly technology standards look like in practice.
The authors work at Koan Advisory Group, a technology policy consulting firm in New Delhi. Views are personal.
This article is part of ThePrint-Koan Advisory series that analyses emerging policies, laws and regulations in India’s technology sector. Read all the articles here.
(Edited by Srinjoy Dey)


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Arise hosted its 3rd “African Fashion Collective” at the tents in Bryant Park last night. There seemed to be something different about this year’s show–maybe because the energy was a little low as the fashion community is still recovering from the death of McQueen or just the simple fact that Arise has been going on for three years and is inevitably carrying that silent question–can they do it again?
Well, they did! We all woke up this morning to a rave review by the Wall Street Journal. This year’s show seemed as it should be more established and in tune with the rest of New York. The backstage area was packed with tons of press from NY Mag to Elle Germany, and everyone just wanted a piece of Deola Sagoe!
This year’s model selection was less about the “celebrities” but featured a lot of new and fresh faces. However we were still able to catch up with our favorites: Chanel Iman and Oluchi.
The night culminated with an awesome after-party hosted by Mr. Obiagbena at The Plaza Hotel in New York. Guests were treated to an open-bar, hors d’oeuvres and a private performance by Ciara. Arise Fashion Collective has established itself as “the show to attend” at NY Fashion Week.


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In that they are faced with a stagnant market, the Crypto firm called Civic has been faced with a growing problem.
As you may know, Civic is at its core, a Blockchain network that is built to store and verify identities at scale, as well as transfer them between parties who need to be involved in this verification process.
According to the company’s founder, Vinny Lingham, this difficulty that the company is experiencing is not due to any sort of technical weaknesses of the platform. Lingham’s opinion is that Civic’s struggles all are due to the fact that they cannot seem to reach a critical mass of users.
To address this problem, Civic has proposed what some might consider to be a unique solution. In a nutshell, they plan to pay users to join and use their platform in order to finally reach a level of users that suggests that they are here to stay.
The central problem is that only Civic knows what number this is, so we are then left with the question of when this incentivized form of growth will end.
Fortunately, in an interview with Coindesk, Lingham explained that this will continue until 333 million tokens, or roughly $43 million is used up, over the course of the process.
In explaining why the company chose to do this in the first place, Lingham added that this entire strategy is intended to drive network effects, which is in line with the reasoning that we have already mentioned. Given that the majority of the the value of a technology company is usually created by network effects as we have seen time and time again with companies like Ebay, Amazon, and PayPal, it is not hard to see why Lingham and his team have chosen this strategy.
As of now, the only remaining question is: will Civic become one with the greats or will it continue to stagnate?
By: BGN Editorial Staff


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UNXL - finally a crack, looking to long any big drops and reshort the 28 area.
NUAN - Icahn took 9% stake in a 13g ah's filing, should be in play tomorrow. Its a good trader.
SCTY - short bias.
RPRX - accum < 15, sell into 15.6+ area.
Extended-Hours Earnings: GIII.
Economic Data: 10 a.m. Factory Orders; 2 p.m.
WEDNESDAY, April 3
Extended-Hours Earnings: MON
Economic Data: 7 a.m. MBA Mortgage Index; 8:15
a.m. ADP Employment Change; 10 a.m. ISM Services;
10:30 a.m. Crude Inventories.
THURSDAY, April 4
Extended-Hours Earnings: XRTX.
Economic Data: 7:30 a.m. Challenger Job Cuts; 8:30
a.m. Initial Claims; 10:30 a.m. Natural Gas
FRIDAY, April 5
Extended-Hours Earnings: None.
Economic Data: 8:30 a.m. Unemployment Rate; Trade Balance;
3 p.m. Consumer Credit.


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Here's what the rumors say about when it's coming and what to expect.
When will the next-gen iPad arrive? The rumor mill has a few guesses.
Start placing your bets now.
According to widespread rumors and speculation, a new iPad 3 might come out next year, probably in March. The device will look a bit like something out of Star Trek with a screen that stretches from one end of the tablet to the other, almost like a see-through plate, according to rumors.
The Wall Street Journalreported back in August that component manufacturers in Asia—those who supply iPad parts such as the display and memory and processor chips—are already taking orders. An unnamed supplier told the WSJ that Apple has ordered 1.5 million parts for the new tablet.
Business Insider, on the other hand, reported more recently that Citi analyst Robert Gardner has said that Apple will release the new iPad 3 in February and has advised investors accordingly.
A new “retina” display, which matches the quality of the iPhone 4S in number of pixels on the screen at the same time, might run at 2048×1536 resolution, or roughly twice what you see on the current iPad, according to the report. At that resolution, movies and TV shows would look strikingly smooth.
Another widespread rumor is that the iPad 3 will come with a much higher resolution camera. The current iPad 2 snaps photos at just below one megapixel, producing blurry and almost unusable photos. The iPad 2 has two cameras, one on the front and one on the back. The front camera works better for video chats over the built-in Facetime app, but neither camera works well for still photos.
Speculation has run rampant over which processor will be used on the iPad 3. PC World suggests a new Apple processor called the A6 will power the next-gen tablet. The processor will improve battery life and game performance. The recently released Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime, which uses the NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, raises the bar for graphics performance with better lighting effects for games, water reflections, and smoke effects that rival what you see on some video games.
The rumors about the next iPad haven’t hurt holiday sales for the current tablet, however. The LA Timesreports that sales might hit a high of almost 14 million units.
So, will the iPad 3 be worth the wait? The details are still sketchy, but the announcements about component manufacturers and accessories-makers getting ready for the release are usually trustworthy, as they were with the iPhone 4 and last two iPad releases. But as always with Apple, there’s no guarantee that it will offer the next iPad according to any set timetable.
Meanwhile, Google's Eric Schmidt offers another bit of news to feed the tablet rumor mill: "In the next six months, we plan to market a tablet of the highest quality," he reportedly told an Italian journalist. Android tablets haven't yet proven to be a serious contender to the iPad, but there's still time.


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BlackBerry: the crash that launched 1,000 startups
Tech startups in BlackBerry's hometown of Waterloo, Ontario, are tapping talent from the struggling smartphone company and filling the void left in the region by its meltdown. Reuters correspondent Euan Rocha visits the region that could become Canada's Silicon Valley.
Hathaway and Hudson star as best friends who are pitted against each other when their wedding dates clash. They compete for venues, services and guests, once it's clear that neither will step aside.


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19 April 2017, India:
One of India’s leading mobile wallet and e-commerce marketplace Paytm might raise 1.2-1.5 billion from SoftBank group in cash in a deal that could raise Paytm’s valuation to $7-9 billion as per the report by ET.
SoftBank, when contacted, refused to comment on the issue. However, a source said digital payment was a lucrative space to be in for the bank. “If SoftBank manages to close the deal with Alibaba, it would get a stake in the country’s largest wallet,” the source said. Alibaba, which has a 40 per cent stake in Paytm, has invested close to $1 billion in the company.
“The discussions are still preliminary. If the talks reach a conclusion, SoftBank is ready to back Paytm with long-term plans,” a person aware of the development told TOI.
SoftBank is the largest shareholder in Snapdeal, which is locked in an intense battle with Amazon India and Flipkart. One of the sources said Paytm may buy Snapdeal-owned payments firm Freecharge as part of the transaction with SoftBank.
The funding will also help Paytm accelerate expansion ahead of the launch of its payments bank service. The Alibaba-backed company already runs mobile wallet and e-commerce services. Image- (IndianCEO.in)


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A hacker who claims to have stolen the source code of the graphics software from Xbox Series X He has recently published part of it on the Internet and has asked for a payment of 100 million to not reveal it publicly.
AMD confirmed that the material published on GitHub belongs to them and in fact they have eliminated it by means of a copyright claim, thus verifying that it is a legitimate leak.
The company ensures that the stolen material is not key in the face of competition or the safety of its products. Despite this, they are already working with the police in an investigation that aims to recover the information and punish the hacker as appropriate.
TorrentFreak claims the footage was found on a hacked computer that included the source code for Big Navi and AMD's Arden GPUs, the latter being the rumored 12-teraflops GPU of Xbox Series X.
A portion of this code was posted on GitHub and a ransom of $ 100 million was requested. The offender ensures that if he does not find a buyer, he will release the code publicly. This could be fatal for AMD even if they affirm that it is not important in terms of security or in relation to the use that the competition could make of said information.
Details on AMD's enforcement of the Digital Age Copyright Act on GitHub can be read in full at this link.
Microsoft presented all the technical details of Xbox Series X last week and thanks to this we know the potential that the platform has for its launch at Christmas this year.


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Ford has announced the start of production of an electric version of the F-150, the fastest pickup in the series’ history with the Lightning attachment. The assembly of the novelty is established at the new Rouge Electric Vehicle Center in Dearborn, Michigan, which took a year to build. To date, Ford has already collected 150 thousand applications for an electric truck, but so far we are talking only about the pre-production version. The first deliveries to customers will begin in the spring of 2022.
Ford F-150 Lightning caused a stir: in the first two days after the May premiere, nearly fifty thousand applications were filed, three weeks later their number exceeded 100 thousand, and now it has reached 150 thousand. Part of the reason for the popularity of the pickup truck lies in the small refundable deposit, the amount of which is only $ 100.
Nonetheless, with demand exceeding expectations, Ford has decided to invest an additional $ 250 million in production in Michigan. In addition, the company will create 450 new jobs at Rouge Electric Vehicle Center, Van Dyke Electric Powertrain Center and Rawsonville Components Plant. This will increase production capacity from 40 thousand to 80 thousand pickups per year.
Earlier it was reported that the starting cost of the F-150 Lightning is 40 thousand dollars. The basic version will be available at the start: it is equipped with a twin-engine power plant with a capacity of 432 horsepower, and on a single charge such a pickup truck drives 370 kilometers. In the “top” modification, the return of the engines reaches 571 forces, and the power reserve is 482 kilometers. The torque is the same and amounts to 1051 Nm. From a standstill to 60 mph (97 kilometers per hour), the F-150 Lightning accelerates in 4.4 seconds – faster than all previously released pickups in the series.
This week, another American brand, Rivian, began production of an electric pickup truck, putting on the conveyor the R1T electric pickup truck presented three years ago. Thus, Rivian and Ford beat Tesla with Cybertruck and General Motors with Hummer EV.


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GENEVA — The end of quotas on textiles and clothing in 2005 is likely to bring a surge in business for Chinese and Indian apparel makers, according to a recently released U.N. study. The report predicted that China’s apparel consumption would surge along with the nation’s growth in exports.
This story first appeared in the July 22, 2003 issue of WWD. Subscribe Today.
The study predicted that there will be much shifting in trading patterns over the remaining 17 months till the quotas are dropped by World Trade Organization nations. That move will liberalize the world apparel trade, which the study valued at $344 billion in 2001, and shift production centers.
“The lion’s share of these benefits will accrue to India and China,” said the World Commodity Study 2003-2004, which was compiled by the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development.
In 2001, Chinese exports of clothing reached $36.6 billion and accounted for an 18.8 percent share of world clothing exports, sharply up compared with a 4 percent share in 1980 and an 8.9 percent share in 1990, according to WTO estimates.
“Post-2005 will be a very competitive situation,” said Chiedu Osakwe, WTO director of textiles. “Market-access opportunities will be significantly improved for textile and clothing exporters and consumers.”
But Osakwe also?stressed that the opportunity of market access would bring “considerable challenges for small-scale exporters, largely beneficiaries of preferential market access.”
Industry experts have said it’s likely that some small nations, particularly those without vertical industries, are likely to lose most of their apparel businesses when the quotas are lifted.
Still, Osakwe contended the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing, which set the 10-year quota phaseout in motion, will enhance the credibility of global rules and solve “one of the one of the greatest anomalies of the past 40 years in global trade.”
The UNCTAD study, which draws on research and analysis by a range of academic research institutions and industry associations, predicted that China’s clothing market, which it said was worth $48 billion in 1999, could be worth $78 billion in 2005 and $101 billion in 2010.
However, a former top Chinese official, who declined to be identified, said he considered the projections “too conservative.”
India, with a population of 1.05 billion,?and a well-heeled middle class is also seen as a market with “tremendous market potential.”
The snag, however, is India’s high tariffs which on average are nearly four times higher then the applied U.S. textiles tariffs of around 17 percent.
On China’s export front, UNCTAD said “the biggest market for Chinese exports of textiles and clothing might not be, as one might expect, the U.S., but rather Japan with over $10 billion in textile sales.”
Looking at the?global picture post-2005, one official from the International Textiles and Clothing Bureau, a Geneva-based organization of developing nations that pushes for market access, said he believed traditional Japanese and Italian textiles and clothing makers with profitable businesses in high-value-added lines face no immediate threat from Asia. The official asked not to be identified. China and India, along with 22 other developing and developed nations, belong to the ITCB.
The cutthroat competition to retain market share, the same?official said,?is likely to focus on low-priced and moderately priced products, market sectors where countries such as China and India are highly competitive.


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An antibacterial product found in Colgate Total toothpaste should not be sold over the counter in New Zealand, says an environmental chemist.
Canterbury University senior lecturer Sally Gaw says she does not use triclosan, which is found in Colgate Total toothpaste, baby wipes, soaps, sports clothes and toys.
She said the chemical potentially had important uses but should not be used in homes, as a study had shown the benefits are no better than washing your hands with soap and water.
Gaw said triclosan should not be sold over the counter in New Zealand.
However, despite concerns over the use of a antibacterial product found in Colgate Total toothpaste, its manufacturer is adamant it's safe to use.
Colgate-Palmolive has responded in a statement to concerns raised in a recent article around the presence of triclosan in its range of toothpaste - a substance some argued should be used sparingly or not at all.
The agent has been linked to negative effects on the environment and a range of potential health issues.
But a Colgate spokesperson said users could be "fully confident in the safety of our toothpaste for daily use".
"It continues to be approved as safe and effective through a rigorous review by the US Food and Drug Administration and is approved by regulatory authorities in Europe, Australia, Canada, and New Zealand.
"Colgate Total is clinically proven to work better than other toothpastes to reduce harmful plaque germs and prevent gingivitis, providing an important health benefit in New Zealand, where one third of adults suffer from gum disease."
On Thursday an article was published which called for the product not to be sold over the counter.
Meanwhile, Popular scientist Michelle Dickinson, who goes under the guise of Nanogirl, has also tweeted on the issue.
Dickinson told the Herald her tweet was to show the science is still inconclusive and the sweeping headlines designed to scare the public about a product they use was not backed up with evidence.
She said there was no scientific evidence that triclosan in soap was more effective at preventing the spread of germs as plain soap and water, but there is disease prevention benefit from using triclosan in toothpaste.
She said some of the research papers on the US Food and Drug Administration website showed the science only seems to have been tested on rats and mice.
"The studies that show negative effects have been very short term experiments using high doses of triclosan.
"I don't believe enough research has been carried out yet to make wide sweeping statements about dangers to human health," Dickinson said.
She said the doses used in toothpaste are very low compared with the rat studies and also shown to prevent gingivitis (a form of gum disease).
Enthusiastic toothbrushers are being warned to stay away from Colgate Total toothpaste, or at least to use it sparingly.
The toothpaste is one of the few toiletries in New Zealand that still uses triclosan, an antibacterial commonly found in soaps, toothpastes and body washes until September last year, when the US Food and Drug Administration banned it from soap because of possible health risks.
Triclosan has been linked to changes in hormone function, liver and kidney damage, and is a suspected carcinogen.
Consumer NZ researcher Jessica Wilson said the FDA ruling had seen it quickly disappear from many toiletry products, but not all.
"The publicity on triclosan has prompted manufacturers to start removing it from their products, so we have seen it disappearing from handwashes.
"However, it's still used in everything from hand soaps to toothpaste, and it's permitted in our cosmetics at a concentration of 0.3 per cent."
One of the most commonly available products containing it is Colgate Total toothpaste.
Triclosan can be useful for fighting diseases such as gingivitis, but Wilson said it wasn't needed for everyday use.
"Our main concern is that it's being used in products where it doesn't need to be used.
"Triclosan is a very broad-spectrum product and given its environmental effects and potential health effects, regulators really need to be taking a precautionary approach.
"There are no good reasons to be using this every day, avoid, unless you've been advised by a medical practitioner that this is the best option."
Last year, the Environmental Protection Authority received an application to check if triclosan's use in New Zealand products should be reassessed.
The EPA said it had found grounds for changing New Zealand's approach to the "hazardous substance" of triclosan, but that nothing had happened since then.
The EPA said there would need to be another request for changes to be made, and whoever made the request would need to partially fund the research to guide those changes.
Foodstuffs, which owns the Pak 'n Save and New World supermarket chains, said after the FDA ruling last year it contacted suppliers, and asked whether they were using triclosan in their antibacterial products.
"Suppliers either advised that their products did not contain triclosan or any of the other ingredients listed by the FDA or if it was present, products were being reformulated by October 2017.
"The only exception is Colgate Total, which has recognised benefits around the treatment of gingivitis.
"Our private-label products including Pams and Value do not contain any of the ingredients listed by the FDA."
Countdown spokeswoman Kate Porter said they decided to remove triclosan from Countdown's own brand products some time ago, and only a few products are still being reformulated.
"We're also having conversations with retail suppliers in New Zealand about what their position is on triclosan, and any plans they have to address concerns regarding their products."
Last month, an international group of 200 scientists and medical professionals called for further restriction of the use of the chemical.
The call was backed by New Zealand scientists including Cawthron environmental toxicologist Dr Louis Tremblay.
Studies on lab animals have shown a link between triclosan and hormone disruption, leading to problems including infertility, impaired brain development, and impaired heart function.
The FDA has also noted a link to the overuse of triclosan, and the rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.


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Comm Ave Starbucks Strike Ends: Does That Mean Strikes Work?
Questrom’s Michel Anteby explains the difference between the Starbucks action and the threat of strike by freight train workers
It’s hard to imagine how 18 workers at a Commonwealth Avenue Starbucks in Boston could have something in common with 50,000 conductors and engineers in the nationwide Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen union. But one word bonded them together this month: strike.
The Starbucks workers at BU’s Central Campus location went on strike in July, demanding more flexibility in their working hours and complaining about a manager’s treatment of employees. After 64 days—the longest strike in Starbucks history—the walkout ended Thursday with both sides claiming victory as the store reopened.
The national freight train union never went on strike—but the mere threat of a walkout, which would have had a devastating impact on the US economy, was taken so seriously that President Biden intervened and US Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh had to help hammer out an agreement over 20 straight hours of negotiations. As with the Starbucks workers, both sides walked away satisfied.
So does that mean strikes really work? In this new post-COVID world, where workers feel more empowered to fight for greater flexibility and other benefits, will we see more labor actions? BU Today spoke with Michel Anteby, a Questrom School of Business professor of management and organizations and a College of Arts & Sciences professor of sociology, about strikes, employees, businesses, and who has leverage today.
with Michel Anteby
BU Today: What struck you about these two cases, the striking Starbucks employees and the freight train union’s threatened strike?
Anteby: What strikes me between these two contexts is that Starbucks is fairly typical of today’s economy. It’s a service business. The workforce might be full-time or part-time, people come and go, turnover is probably high. Companies have typically had a divide and conquer strategy in these instances rather than try to cater to every single location.
The freight train issue is really unique, in that it’s an interconnected railway system and if one regional company or hub pulls out, the entire system could be lost. It’s a completely different kind of economy. Very different situations. Some might wish the freight train situation was more the way these things were organized, with the power of labor unions. But apart from transportation, airlines, electricity, there are very few industries that are integrated like this.
BU Today: So what makes some strikes more successful than others?
Anteby: Maybe during COVID there was a feeling that lots of jobs were essential. Many frontline workers were praised for being that front line. That included grocery workers, truckers, nurses. The narrative of you being a hero, being essential, was there. It empowered workers to think of themselves as essential. But in the eyes of the employers, they are still replaceable.
It means you are essential. But you are also replaceable. But some are not replaceable. Think of Uber and Lyft drivers. They were considered more essential during the pandemic. But a lot of people were interested in that line of work, so there was a lot of turnover and they could be replaced.
The central, replaceable, discussion resonates a lot. I conducted a study of puppeteers at Disneyland in California. A small group of maybe 30 puppeteers. They decided to organize, not strike, but during that process Disney just decided to close the show in which they were employed. They all grabbed other jobs, and only a handful stayed at Disney doing other jobs. They were replaceable.
BU Today: Has technology changed the way workers organize or has it made them more worried about being replaced by automation?
Anteby: I would venture that technology has been oversold as a replacement for workers. Uber was built with the assumption that automated cars would replace drivers. This is not happening. If anything, automated cars are crashing, so it’s really hard to see this happening. My sense is that technology is helping workers organize, by comparing working conditions, being empowered to improve conditions.
BU Today: Did the length of the Starbucks strike surprise you?
Anteby: I suspect that they want broader changes, not just for themselves. They really want to make a statement. Some Starbucks locations have unionized. It seems to be more about the principle position and frustration with a manager than just about pay. I see why Starbucks is so concerned. It’s a precedent of who is worthy of joining management ranks. If you delegate that to a team of workers, it sets a dangerous precedent—at least from the headquarters’ viewpoint.
BU Today: What role does COVID play in all this?
Anteby: I published a study about Instacart. They were being called heroes during the pandemic. Their tagline was: ‘Not all heroes wear capes.’ We followed [employee] shoppers who had joined them during COVID. Those who were most likely to embrace the hero narrative were also workers who felt completely entitled because they thought of themselves as heroes. Those who were most motivated and engaged with the mission were workers who were ambivalent about being heroes. They knew those were doctors and nurses. They would try and go above and beyond. They would find toilet paper when it was hard to find. Deposit groceries inside the homes of frail people. The first group who thought they were heroes, they just left the platform. The ones who were more resilient tended to be more productive.
BU Today: How do employers handle this issue of who is essential and who is not?
Anteby: Nurses and teachers, these are two professions where the amount of training and certification to get up to speed has a much longer runway than others. We need more awareness of how easily replaceable workers are when employers are making these decisions. The air traffic controllers under President Reagan were hyperqualified, but the federal government was willing to let them go and replace them with military personnel. The question is how captive you are to your employees. The more captive [a company is] to employees, the more likely a strike will end up succeeding.
BU Today: What did you think this week when you saw the Starbucks strike had ended?
The outcome does underline that even workers deemed “replaceable” can collectively organize and get a say in their working conditions. This is particularly true when the brand equity of consumer-facing companies is at stake.
While Starbucks spokesperson Reggie Borges wrote that “No negotiations were conducted with these partners [workers] for their return,” he did say in a phone exchange [with Boston.com] that “the minimum availability policy [that workers took issue with] did not apply to these Starbucks workers, as their work to unionize predated the rule.” Thus, he is implicitly acknowledging that the unionization efforts did help workers to have a stronger voice with respect to their working conditions.


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Donald Trump -- DJ Learns Art of the Deal ... I Got Your Slogan Right Here!
Donald TrumpDJ Learns Art of the DealI Got Your Slogan Right Here!
8/14/2015 12:30 AM PT
Donald Trump is getting out-Trumped by a radio DJ who's trying to snatch the candidate's catchphrase -- "Make America Great Again" -- and then sell it back for a $100k.
Bobby Estell is such a huge Trump fan he tried to score a hat with the slogan, but the website was sold out. So, Estell ... star of the 'Bobby Bones Show' on iHeartRadio ... decided to make his own and found out the clothing trademark for the slogan was up for grabs.
Estell filed a trademark application, and he's now first in line to own exclusive rights to make and sell clothing with Trump's red hot campaign slogan.
Estell's lawyers tell us their client would be willing to hand over the trademark ... for a price. All he wants is a one-on-one with Trump, AND a $100k donation to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.
Ya gotta think the Donald at least admires Estell's entrepreneurial spirit -- if not his price tag.


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Apple and several of the top tech companies in Silicon Valley have spoken out against President Trump’s controversial immigration ban, but not many tech CEOs have aired their views on camera, until now.
Earlier this week, during a visit to the University of Glasgow in Scotland to receive(opens in a new tab) (opens in a new tab)an honorary degree, Tim Cook opened up about his feelings on the travel ban that was recently struck down(opens in a new tab) in the courts. During a long fireside chat session, Cook talked about the beauty of getting people with "different backgrounds and all different points of views that are able to create the best products."
He even invoked the name of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, saying, "Steve was the son of an immigrant. Our company has immigrants in it that are key to the innovation of our company." Passionately detailing why he hasn't remained silent on the issue, Cook also said, "Our simple view is that Apple would not exist without immigration, so this is a huge issue for us."


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In an attempt to curb runaway inflation that threatens to get Argentina kicked out of the International Monetary Fund, the government has imposed a bizarre, unofficial ban on advertising, businesses and publishers have told the Wall Street Journal and The Associated Press.
Inflation in Argentina is likely near 26 percent, but the government of Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner claims it is much lower.
It's not clear how a halt to advertising spending would lower inflation. The WSJ reports:
... retail executives say price-control czar Guillermo Moreno pressured them earlier this week to agree to freeze prices for two months. Executives say Mr. Moreno then told them to pull all newspaper sales ads in hopes this would somehow curb inflation. "This was an imposition, not a request. He simply decided that nobody should publish any ads. It's not sustainable and will be hard to comply with," said one retail-sector executive.
The government officially denied the ban to the AP.
One theory is that the ban is intended to punish newspapers which have published stories about inflation, the WSJ said:
The Buenos Aires Newspaper Editors Association said the order was a reprisal against those who publish independent inflation estimates. "This is another display of how far authoritarianism can go in a context that is dominated by discretional policies and bullying," the group said in a harshly worded newspaper ad Friday.


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"If you look at what is happening with Takata and other things, it might not be that strange that this is the consequence,” he said.
During the recent quarter, Autoliv said airbag revenue grew 4 percent to $1.3 billion. Revenue from seat belts, its second-largest product line, grew 2.7 percent to $682 million.
Sales in the Americas, Autoliv’s largest region, increased 6.5 percent to $875 million. European sales surged 17 percent to $835 million while Asian business grew 15 percent to $869 million.
The company said its adjusted operating margin declined by nearly a point to 8.6 percent.
Autoliv, based in Stockholm, Sweden, ranks No. 25 on the Automotive News list of the top 100 global suppliers with worldwide sales to automakers of $9.2 billion in 2015.
Reuters contributed to this report.


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At Hypepotamus, we focus on the Southeast startup scene. But the reality is that in our post-COVID world, borders and definitions matter less. Talent is distributed, and investors are looking across more geographies than ever to find the best startups.
And the global startup landscape has changed dramatically over the last year. After a record-breaking few years during the height of the pandemic, inflation and economic turmoil caused VC funding to hit its lowest point in five years, according to Crunchbase.
As spokesperson and Editor for The Product Manager, Hannah Clark has a unique perspective into the state of the global venture market. So she answered a few of our questions about the state of the venture scene right now and what it means for startups looking to raise capital right now.
Here is a snippet of our Q&A:
QUESTION: If you could describe the current VC landscape in one word or phrase, what would it be?
While it’s true that venture capitalists have not stopped funding new startups, there has been a seismic shift in investor sentiment post-pandemic. As we collectively weather a turbulent economic climate and read daily headlines of large tech firms laying off double-digit percentages of their workforce, investors are being very diligent in screening investment opportunities. Early-stage startups need to have proof of strong, sustainable growth engines and resilience to economic unpredictability.
What types of startups are breaking through and getting those VC checks right now? Is that different than what we saw over the last few years?
The trend I’m seeing across the early-stage startups receiving funding right now are those in markets with strong likelihoods of growing even in the event of another global catastrophe. Many of the recent investment deals announced this month were in blockchain, healthcare, and cloud services. In the years before the pandemic, investors were a lot more flexible and optimistic about the market potential of new and novel ideas. Now, VCs are tightening their belts and looking for much more robust financial projections.
QUESTION: Is there any indication you would give to a founder that they should not pursue VC funding right now?
If you’re not sure your startup could survive another wave of lockdowns, it might be too early to seek external investments.
QUESTION: What are the common mistakes you see people making right when they are looking for VC funding?
The biggest mistake startups and scale-ups can make in today’s market is to neglect to build strong user feedback loops. Even if your business model appears solid enough to secure funding early on, cutting corners when it comes to user research can ultimately put companies in a dire position—falling out of touch with users threatens your ability to retain and grow your user base.
QUESTION: How are you feeling about the state of venture in 2024?
It makes a lot of sense. The cautious investor sentiment is in everyone’s best interest. Today’s market is a lot more ‘famine’ than ‘feast,’ so if your startup isn’t demonstrably ‘famine-proof,’ it’s not a good time to take on significant debt.


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WASHINGTON — AT&T has received a patent for new technology that will detect and block file-sharing software, as well as track which users are using it.
With the real-time technology, the telecom intends to evaluate usage patterns and assign users “scores” that places them into varying “risk classes.”
Once a user’s activity is categorized, the technology can respond in a number of ways, including blocking the transfer entirely and reporting copyright infringement to "interested parties" such as copyright owners, according to the patent.
U.S. Patent No. 8,590,054 is defined as "methods, devices and computer program products for regulating network activity using a subscriber scoring system."
In its patent abstract, AT&T said that efforts to date have been insufficient in protecting users and service providers from unwanted network activity and that copyright protection measures that have been deployed have failed to curtail increases in Internet piracy, particularly with the entertainment industry.
The adult entertainment industry, of course, has been hit hard by piracy through the past five years, with DVD sales seeing a freefall since 2007 by as much as 40 percent.
The patented tracking system can be deployed across a wide variety of Internet providers, which can then share a database of "prohibited" files.
“The present invention thus can be seen to have many advantages: it is capable of identifying likely incidents of illicit content transmission, such as piracy of copyrighted material, confirming the presence of such content, and then taking action while preserving the privacy of those ISP customers who have no association with copyright infringement,” the patent filing says.
This isn’t the first anti-piracy monitoring system developed by the telecom; last year, AT&T received U.S. Patent No. 8,190,581 for “Real-time content detection in ISP transmissions,” which also can be used to report customers sharing copyrighted materials to interested parties.


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Discover more from The Shortcut
Sony Project Q will cost less than $300, says Microsoft
Microsoft has made its own Sony Project Q price prediction and it lines up with what we've heard
We’re still waiting for the Sony Project Q price, but it’s likely to be around $199 to $299, according to reports and our own analysis. And it seems like Microsoft agrees with that figure.
Microsoft believes the PS5 handheld that lets you stream the best PS5 games using Remote Play will be less than $300 when it launches sometime this year.
As spotted by Axios’s Stephen Totillo on Twitter, the finding in Microsoft’s ongoing dispute with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) over its Activision Blizzard acquisition says, “Sony is also anticipated to release a handheld version of PlayStation 5 later this year for under $300.”
➡ The Shortcut Skinny: Project Q price prediction
💰 Microsoft believes the Project Q PS5 handheld will be less than $300
🤔 We’re still waiting for Sony to reveal the price but it’s tipped to be between $199 and $299
🎮 The Sony Project Q lets your play PS5 games using remote play
☁ Cloud streaming may also come to the device in the future
From what we’ve seen of the Sony Project Q so far, a price of $299.99 would be a hard sell for many. The device is fairly limited, but sports a 1080p LCD display and includes all the features of the PS5 DualSense: adaptive triggers and haptic feedback.
The Sony Project Q’s battery life is also reportedly only three to four hours, which makes it worse that the PS5 DualSense Edge controller and far worse than the 2019 Switch and Switch OLED.
There are other devices out there that do more, which is why I said don’t buy the Sony Project Q when it was revealed, but it may also benefit from PS5 cloud streaming in the future, making the handheld a little less useless.
Sony has said it will share more information on the Project Q PS5 handheld in the coming months and it’s due out at the end of the year. We should also additional details about the PlayStation Earbuds for PS5, which are also due out this year.
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The executives behind Halston are still striving to resurrect the brand that boogied the nights away with Liza Minelli and Bianca Jagger at Studio 54. But after bringing back signature Halston styles like studded catsuits in bright colors in recent seasons, this time the brand is seeking inspiration from a luxury cash cow: its perfume bottle. (Nina Ricci, under the design direction of former creative director Olivier Theyskens did the same thing a few seasons ago, with dresses shaped like the brand’s L’air du temps fragrance bottle.)
For fashion week, Halston presented a dozen champagne and ivory looks at a small space SoHo, all of which had been inspired around the re-launch of its fragrance. The pieces hung on shiny black mannequins, which press materials said were intended to reflect the fragrance’s metallic bottle. A pair of live models circulated around apathetically. They wore colored versions of two dresses on display in lavender and poppy, two ingredients in the perfume.
The scene was a far cry from the Halston launch show a couple of years ago, where Liza Minelli herself graced the front row in a vintage pantsuit. . .


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November 2, 2018
First, the challenge: Cannabis use is widespread in our society. Canadians, and particularly young Canadians, are using cannabis at some of the highest rates in the world. According to the 2015 Canadian Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs Survey, the prevalence of past-year cannabis use was 21 per cent among youth aged 15 to 19; just under 30 per cent among young adults aged 20 to 24; and 10 per cent among adults over the age of 25. The evidence is clear that young Canadians are currently consuming cannabis at alarming rates.
There are well known risks associated with cannabis use. This is particularly so for younger Canadians when the drug is consumed frequently and intensively. There is evidence that frequent and heavy use of cannabis can affect brain development in children and adolescents.
Beyond the health risks associated with cannabis, the criminalization of this drug results in tens of thousands of criminal records each year, which can have long-term consequences for Canadians, including stigmatization, marginalization and restricted employment opportunities.
Criminalization of cannabis has also contributed significantly to high costs and backlogs in the criminal justice system. More than half of all reported drug offences were cannabis related. In 2016, this amounted to nearly 55,000 offences reported to police. The majority of these offences--81 per cent--were possession offences.
Prior to legalization, 100% of non-medical cannabis was provided by an illegal market worth between $6 billion and $7 billion. These drugs were, and remain, untested for potency or contaminants.
It was for all of these reasons that Bill C-45, an Act respecting Cannabis and to amend the Controlled Drug and Substances Act, was introduced. The Bill was passed by the House of Commons and Senate and became law on October 17, 2018. It is now known as the Cannabis Act.
The Cannabis Act creates a legal framework where adults can access legal cannabis through an appropriate retail framework sourced from a well-regulated industry or grown in limited amounts at home. The Act is divided into four main themes: consumption, production, distribution, and penalties.
In addition, there is a division of powers between the federal government and the provinces and territories. Provinces and territories are generally responsible for the distribution and sale components of the legalization framework and can create further provincial restrictions as they see fit...


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Announcement of the second part of the Halloween event in Pokemon GO. Everything you need to know
Information has emerged about the second part of the Halloween event in Pokemon GO.
A few days ago, news about the first part of this year’s Halloween event appeared. Today, the developers have released more information, this time about the second part, which will take place at the very end of the month, which is when the holiday of ghosts and spooks falls.
What attractions will players get at the end of October?
The Halloween event will be divided into two parts. The first will begin today, which is October 20, 2022, and will last until October 27, 2022.
The second will run from Thursday, October 27 to Tuesday, November 1, 2022.
Vulpix wearing a Spooky Festival costume, Ninetales wearing a Spooky Festival costume, Gengar wearing a Spooky Festival costume, Pumpkaboo wearing a Spooky Festival costume, and Gourgeist wearing a Spooky Festival costume will also make their Pokémon GO debuts!
In addition to the Special Research available to all trainers, paid Timed Research tickets will also be available at the event.
Ticket 1: $1 gives access to the first Timed Research, which will include a Yamaska meeting.
Ticket 2: $5 gives access to Timed Research, which will include a candy bonus, additional Halloween-related tasks, and an item for the player character.
Trainers can buy either or both of these tickets. Each ticket includes unique Timed Research tasks.
IMPORTANT: Please note that Timed Research will expire. The tasks associated with Timed Research must be completed and their rewards must be claimed before Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at 10 a.m. local time.
Trainers will be able to purchase and gift tickets to any of their Pokémon GO friends that they have achieved a Friendship level of Great Friends or higher with. Please note that purchases—including those made for other Trainers—are non-refundable (subject to applicable law and the exceptions set forth in the Terms of Service). Tickets cannot be purchased with PokéCoins.
You can assist Professor Willow and Rhi in Halloween-themed Special Research! Along the way, you’ll learn more about Yamask and Galarian Yamask. Also, for the first time in Pokémon GO, you’ll be able to encounter Shiny Galarian Yamask—if you’re lucky!
Special Research will be available to claim from Thursday, October 20, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. to Tuesday, November 1, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. local time.
In addition, the following attractions will come to players during the event:
7 km eggs will hatch Yamask, Galarian Yamask, Phantump, Golett, and Noibat.
The following Pokémon will make wild appearances: Pikachu in a Halloween costume, Vulpix in a Spooky Festival costume, Zubat, Haunter, Spinarak, Murkrow, Misdreavus, Sableye, Shuppet, Dusclops, Piplup in a Halloween costume, Yamask, Golett, Phantump and Pumpkaboo in a Spooky Festival costume.
At night, a remix of music from Lavender Town will be played in the game.
The following Pokémon will be obtainable from Field Research tasks: Pikachu in a Halloween costume, Vulpix in a costume from the Spooky Festival, Shuppet, Piplup in a Halloween costume, Duskull, Yamask, Galarian Yamask, Phantump.
In addition, the following bonuses will be active:
Double the number of candy for catching Pokemons.
Double the number of candy for hatching eggs.
Double the number of candy for transferring Pokemons.
Trainers with level 31 or higher will receive one guaranteed Candy XL when walking with their buddy.


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Paytm IPO Analysis: BUSINESS OVERVIEW, RELEASE DATE, GMP, PRICE BAND
According to Bloomberg, Paytm, India’s foremost digital payments company plans to raise $3 billion (about Rs 21,800 crore) in an initial public offering (IPO) later this year in India, which would be the country’s largest public offer launch ever in India.
If the Paytm IPO is successful, it would beat Coal India’s IPO in 2010, which generated Rs 15,000 crore in the country’s largest IPO to date. The float is likely to be a combination of fresh stock issuance and existing investor share sales. Morgan Stanley is a prominent candidate. The business is in negotiations with a number of investment banks. Paytm is said to be planning to go public in November and to begin the IPO process next month or in July.
What is Paytm?
Paytm (a partial acronym for “pay through mobile”) is a financial technology and e-commerce payment system startup based in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India. Paytm is currently available in 11 Indian languages and offers online services such as mobile recharges, utility bill payments, travel, movie, and event bookings, as well as in-store payments using the Paytm QR code at grocery stores, fruits and vegetable shops, restaurants, parking, tolls, pharmacies, and educational institutions. Paytm is worth $25-$30 billion (2 lakh crore) as of June 2021.
Paytm was started in August 2010 in Noida, India’s capital city, with an initial investment of $2 million by its creator Vijay Shekhar Sharma. It began as a prepaid mobile and DTH recharge platform, but in 2013 it expanded to include data cards, postpaid mobile, and landline bill payments.
Paytm is India’s most popular mobile commerce and payment platform. Using the Paytm Wallet, we can enable you to send money to anyone quickly and for free. This money may subsequently be used to pay for things like taxis and vehicles, groceries, restaurants, coffee shops, multiplexes, parking, pharmacies, hospitals, and Kirana shops, among other things.
On the Paytm app or website, you may use it to pay for online recharges, utility bill payments, and movie or travel ticket bookings, among other things.
Financial points of Paytm IPO ?
When Indo-China tensions peaked last year, Vijay Shekhar Sharma’s Paytm was caught in the crossfire over the roughly 40% shareholding owned by Chinese enterprises. Sharma has recently pushed for the development of indigenous technology while forming a start-up coalition against large tech companies such as Google and Apple over increased in-app payment rates for developers.
Ali Baba and Ant Financial, two of its Chinese backers, are expected to withdraw or decrease their stake during the offering, according to persons familiar with the situation. Paytm is owned by Ant Financial and Ali Baba, who together own 37 per cent of the company, with SoftBank owning 20 per cent and SAIF Partners owning 19 per cent.
|Paytm shareholding distribution
|Percentage sate %
|Vijay Shekhar Sharma
Berkshire Hathaway, AGH Holding, T Rowe Price, and Discovery Capital all own less than 10% of the firm.
With over 1.4 billion monthly transactions, Paytm claims to be 30-50 per cent larger than smartphone applications in the market.
In the fiscal year 2019-20, the firm claimed a 40% decrease in loss and a 40% rise in sales to 3,629 crores compared to the previous year.
To fulfil legal obligations in India, Paytm’s public market debut will contain a mix of new and existing shares, as well as a partial exit for some current investors. Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc, and JPMorgan Chase & Co have been nominated as advisers for this IPO, with Morgan Stanley being the frontrunner. The initial public offering (IPO) is planned to begin in late June or early July.
In February 2021, the firm completed over 1.2 billion monthly transactions spanning physical and online payments as well as financial services, with over 150 million monthly active customers throughout its financial services. Paytm processed 975 million digital transactions in March across all of its services, including Paytm Wallet, Paytm FASTag, Paytm UP, and online banking.
In March, Paytm Payments Bank set a new monthly milestone by opening over 1 million new savings and current accounts, bringing the total number of bank accounts to 64 million. It also topped beneficiary banks on the UPI platform, with 469.8 million transactions processed in March and 430.04 million in April.
Paytm’s revenues fell slightly in fiscal year 2021, from INR 3,391 Cr to INR 3,350 Cr, compared to INR 3,391 Cr in fiscal year 2019. However, its operational share grew marginally from INR 3,049 Cr in FY2019 to INR 3,115 Cr in FY2020. The firm’s losses decreased by 28% in the past fiscal year, from INR 3,954 C to INR 2,833 Cr, while the firm cut its expenditure by 19%. The company’s expenditure decreased from INR 7,254 crores in FY19 to INR 5,861 crores in FY20.
Paytm IPO details:
|IPO Opening Date
|IPO Closing Date
|? per share
|? to? per equity share
|Min Order Quantity
|$3 billion (about Rs 21,800 crore)
What would be the price band of the Paytm IPO?
Procedural book-building methods will decide the pricing range for Paytm’s offer. The company has yet to decide on an issue price and make it public.
We will update the page as soon as we obtain price information from a trusted source.
Morgan Stanley, Citigroup Inc, and JPMorgan Chase & Co have been nominated as advisers for this IPO, with Morgan Stanley being the frontrunner. They will be the book building issue’s book formulating lead chiefs.
What would be the Grey Market Premium of Paytm IPO?
Paytm stock has been in high demand in the grey market since the announcement of its initial public offering (IPO). The stock price has surged to Rs21,000 from Rs11,500 in the last four days. Investors continue to be prepared to pay a premium over current pricing. (The data is as of 03/06/2021)
Make sure your notifications are turned on to receive the most up-to-date information from our website.
What will be the release date for Paytm IPO?
Officials have yet to announce a particular date for the Initial Public Offer, although it is expected to be issued soon. After the pandemic situation has settled down, the IPO is planned to be launched in 2021.
However, as we receive more accurate information about the date, we will notify you.
How to apply for Paytm IPO?
You may now apply for the IPO through Zerodha, Upstox, or any other broker using the regular IPO application process; if you don’t know how to apply for an IPO, visit our article on ‘Easy Step by Step guide apply for IPO in India.’
However, earning an IPO allocation is similar to winning the lottery, and it all depends on your luck. If you obtain an IPO allocation, read our blog on ‘How to make money using IPO in India.’
Select the Auto Pay option while filling up your UPI ID application since IPO applications are subject to a cash block with the bank account.
Paytm’s IPO aspirations come at a time when many other major Indian businesses are also considering it. Zomato, a food aggregator, and CarTrade, an auto classifieds firm, have both filed draught red herring prospectuses (DRHPs) for their IPOs this year, while gaming company Nazara Technologies and online travel agency (OTA) EaseMyTrip have already gone public. This year’s applicants include epharmacy firm PharmEasy, cosmetics eCommerce company Nykaa, and insurtech venture PolicyBazaar.


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As a media partner of the POST-EXPO, CEP-Research will again take part in this year's international exhibition and conference for the world's postal, courier and express industries in Hamburg. Visit us at stand 4.255!
POST-EXPO provides the most significant opportunity for postal, courier and express industries to debate current issues and form business relationships on a global scale. 2018 will be the 22nd international exhibition and conference for postal and parcel technology, equipment, services and innovation.
Over three days POST-EXPO 2018 will bring together CEOs, senior directors and managers, key decision makers, suppliers and buyers from all over the world to exchange ideas and information about the future development of the postal, parcel and express industries.
The POST-EXPO exhibition and conference is a world-class event that attracts over 3,000 attendees from international and private postal operators, express and courier companies, mailing companies and related businesses of more than 100 countries each year.
The conference programme is now online! For more information on the event, please visit http://www.postexpo.com/


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Apple's iPhone takes 75% mobile phone profits with just 9% of units sold
Apple has reached new heights in unit sales and revenues, but its remarkable profitability in doing so has inhaled three quarters of the oxygen in the room.
While Apple only sells smartphones, its sales are now large enough to make up 9 percent of all phones sold, highlighting how rapidly the smartphone is taking over the basic phone market.
Despite that relatively low share of all unit sales however, Apple takes in the most revenues and earns by far the most profits, as graphically depicted by Asymco writer Horace Dediu, a former Nokia analyst.
Dediu has previously presented how Apple rapidly became the most profitable phone maker by the end of 2008, when the company's iPhone franchise was bare a year and a half old. Apple subsequently took the top spot in mobile revenues last year, although Samsung briefly surpassed Apple in revenues the third calendar quarter.
In terms of profit share however, Apple has led the industry almost from the start, and its share of profits among mobile phone vendors has regularly gone up since.
The only other highly profitable smartphone maker is Samsung, which earned 16 percent of the industry's profits, or as Dediu notes, combined with Apple to earn 91 percent. RIM is third with 3.7 percent profit share, followed by HTC at 3 percent and Nokia at 1.8 percent.
The figures only look at profits for the top phone makers that report their earnings; other phone makers, including ZTE and Huawei, aren't figured into the profit share figures. Given the cutthroat competition in the mobile industry, figures from these and other smaller manufactures would likely reduce Apple's unit share figures but may possibly have little to no impact on its profit share.
LG, Motorola and Sony Ericsson all failed to report any significant profits over the last few quarters, similarly lowering Apple's iPhone unit and revenue shares but having no impact on its profit share.
It follows that Apple could maintain or grow its share of profits while dramatically increasing its unit share as iPhone sales continue to increase, aided significantly by even wider rollouts into new markers and on new carriers. It has been less than a year since Apple added Verizon Wireless as a US carrier, and just a few months since it added Sprint. A large number of carriers still do not carry iPhone.
[ View article on AppleInsider ]


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Vodafone NZ ups its cybersecurity game with new cloud product
Vodafone New Zealand has announced the launch of a new cloud-based cyber security product as it continues to invest heavily in its cybersecurity solutions.
Powered by CrowdStrike, the Vodafone Secure Endpoint solution is designed to protect organisations from cyber threats such as ransomware, malware, data breaches and and other sophisticated attacks.
CrowdStrike is recognised by Gartner as a Leader in the 2021 Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms. The platform is designed with a single, lightweight-agent architecture that leverages cloud-scale artificial intelligence (AI) and offers real-time protection, detection and response across the enterprise, preventing attacks on endpoints on or off the network.
“Cybercrime is on the rise in New Zealand, with CERT NZ reporting cyber security incidents rose 25% over the past year," says Glenn Johnstone, head of ICT at Vodafone New Zealand.
"High profile breaches show cyberattacks can impact organisations large and small, so choosing the right security partner to protect your devices and data is vital," he says.
“We're partnering with CrowdStrike as they are globally recognised for next-generation endpoint protection, threat intelligence and incident response services.
"Vodafone Secure Endpoint answers a gap in the NZ market for intuitive yet effective cloud-native endpoint security, and we already have a number of customers who are using the solution to help protect their customers and operations.
According to Vodafone, this new offering complements the company's already stringent measures in place to protect itself and its customers from security breaches.
Among these is the Vodafone Cyber Defence Centre (CDC), and its security monitoring managed service closely linked to Vodafone's Global Security Operations facilities, which ensures ready access to valuable threat intelligence.
Waste Management New Zealand Limited, a leader in the waste management industry, is one New Zealand business who has signed up to use the service.
Steven Ongley, Waste Management Head of ICT says, “Vodafone Secure Endpoint answered a need for us in reducing cyber risk across the enterprise.
"The solution has complemented the other security offerings we have in place from Vodafone's portfolio, delivering greatly improved endpoint security and reducing internal support workload," he says.
"The increased visibility and actionable insights have made this an essential solution for incident response and ICT operations.
Vodafone New Zealand offers a range of broadband, mobile and technology products. It maintains almost three million connections to consumer, business and public sector customers, and partners with world-leading brands to offer ICT services to organisations in Aotearoa. Vodafone New Zealand is owned by Infratil and Brookfield Asset Management and is a partner market in the Vodafone Group.


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Police say 150 criminal charges related to property crime have been recommended to Crown counsel over three months.
Vancouver police say they are cracking down on property crime in downtown Vancouver, with 26 arrests and 150 charges recommended in three months.
VPD Const. Tania Visintin says police have been working with businesses to catch repeat offenders.
The charges include breach of probation, auto theft, theft under $5,000, robbery, possession of break-in instruments, and possession of stolen property.
“Thanks to our partnerships with the Downtown Vancouver Business Improvement Association and loss prevention officers at multiple retail stores, we have been able to target repeat offenders who threaten retail staff with violence in committing their crimes,” said Visintin.
Patrol officers conducted a special three-week project in November that also targeted shoplifters in downtown Vancouver and resulted in 25 arrests.


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The industrial Internet of Things (IoT) market is starting to take shape in the Asia-Pacific region, and a new report sketches out its trends. Published by Frost & Sullivan, the “Industrial Internet of Things Market in Asia-Pacific” predicts steady growth for a forecast period stretching to 2020.
According to the report, the Asia-Pacific industrial IoT market is being fuelled primarily by interest in the manufacturing sector, where smart technology could help to produce more efficient and transparent processes. Moreover, the convergence of big data technologies with the IoT is also helping to promote IoT adoption – a trend also expected for the emerging smart buildings market.
Looking at where specifically the growth is expected to be strongest, the report points to Singapore, Austrlia, Japan, and India, with the manufacturing industries in the latter two as well as China already showing signs of early adoption.
There are challenges to overcome, of course. To ensure IoT’s growth, the report suggests that robust security measures will need to be implemented, echoing past calls from security experts for advanced security technologies like biometrics to be integrated into the IoT. The report also asserts that IoT communications must improve, and that uniform protocols should be developed across the industry – areas where cross-industry conglomerates like the AllSeen Alliance are hard at work.