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The celebrity chef was forced to apologise last month after he was reported as criticising Sainsbury's - with whom he has a £1.2 million-a-year advertising deal - for not participating in a TV debate on battery-farmed chickens.
Now it has emerged that Oliver's new range of sauces, oils and salads will shun the "traffic light" food nutrition guides employed by his paymasters. These use red, amber and green to indicate high, medium and low levels of fat, salt and sugar.
Instead Oliver's products will feature the single-colour labels favoured by Tesco, which show fat, salt and sugar as a percentage of the recommended guideline daily amount (GDA).
Representatives of the 32-year-old chef insisted the decision had been made in the interests of the consumer and was not a slight on Sainsbury's.
Jane Hilton, head of marketing for Fresh Retail Ventures, which markets the Jamie Oliver food range, told The Grocer magazine: "Both labelling schemes were looked at, but we decided that GDAs gave clearer information than traffic lights to allow consumers to make a decision."
A spokesman for Oliver said: "The food range has nothing to do with Sainsbury's, it's a totally separate thing... There's no connection at all - there isn't a slight because it's just not relevant."
Sainsbury's said in a statement: "GDAs provide customers with useful information, which is why we have had them on the back of pack for years.
"However, when it comes to front-of-pack labelling our view is that multi-traffic light systems have been frequently proven to be the best and most informative way for people to make at-a-glance decisions on the foodstuffs they buy."
A Tesco spokesman said: "If this is true, then we are glad that somebody of Jamie's experience and prestige has come round to our view."


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Facebook Overstated Video Metrics for 2 Years
Last week news broke broadly that Facebook had been overstating key video metrics for 2 years.
The news was originally released via the “Advertiser Help Center” and then grew based on a letter Facebook sent to Publicis Media, who is collectively responsible for purchasing roughly $77 billion in ads on behalf of marketers around the world in 2015. The metric issues essentially led to the platform to overstate average viewing time for videos by 60% – 80%.
The inflation occurred because Facebook—when calculating average time spent—was only factoring in video views of more than three seconds rather than lesser view times. As you can imagine, a lot of videos get viewed for less than 3 seconds on Facebook.
Does this matter and is it a big deal? Yes and no.
The argument for it not being a big deal is the fact that media agencies don’t buy on average view time. They buy on impressions, total, 10-second views and completed views. So this didn’t directly impact the billions being spent on Facebook. However, average few time is one of the positive metrics that Facebook reported to brands, over the last few years which subsequently allowed brands to channel more and more budget to the platform. In fact, it’s estimated that 85% of new digital spending goes to Facebook or Google now.
Where it is a big deal is the fact that Facebook continues to be a walled garden — they don’t let any outside tracking solutions in to verify their data. For that reason, brands & agencies have to take them at their word / metrics. There is no recourse to question otherwise. This is an example of where that dynamic becomes problematic.
Facebook’s David Fischer posted this follow-up piece on Friday regarding the situation.

domain: news


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Finley: Trump’s tariffs deny history
Winning a trade war? Easy peasy, says Donald Trump.
The president slapped tariffs on imported steel and aluminum last week, and in doing so declared going to battle with our trading partners would be beneficial for the economy.
The stock market thought otherwise, taking its second steep tumble of the year after the announcement as investors visited their history books and realized these truths: America has never won a trade war; trade wars have never boosted the U.S. economy; and Donald Trump is not likely to be the first president to prevail in using tariffs and quotas to create an edge for domestic industries.
If the ghost of Herbert Hoover is still hanging around the White House, hopefully Donald Trump will bump into him on his late night ramblings. Or maybe he can just dial up George W. Bush.
In 1930, as the Great Depression was grinding America to a pulp, Hoover turned to a desperate measure in hopes of stopping the carnage. It was called the Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act, and it raised duties on hundreds of imported goods.
Hoover’s theory then was the same as Trump’s now: Make foreign products more expensive, and it will drive business to domestic producers, who will then flourish and put Americans back to work.
The next four years were among the most brutal in American history. Governments throughout the world responded to Smoot-Hawley with their own tariffs, and global trade came to a virtual standstill. The devastation in America deepened, and hopes of a quick economic revival died.
Hoover’s successor, Franklin D. Roosevelt, almost immediately moved to ditch Smoot-Hawley and put in place “Never Again” measures to discourage future presidents from turning to populist trade policies and to encourage the formation of free trade pacts.
Time, as it often does, dimmed the historical lesson. President George W. Bush, facing similar pressure from the domestic steel industry that Trump is today, imposed tariffs on foreign imports in 2002.
Here’s what happened: 200,000 Americans lost their jobs that year, more than the total employed by the U.S. steel industry. A quarter of those jobs were in industries heavily reliant on steel. Despite the help from Washington, American steel producers did not turn around.
Now here comes Donald Trump, with 25 percent tariffs on steel and 10 percent on aluminum. The measures are aimed particularly at China, which admittedly is not the fairest of trading partners. Trump believes the higher duties will bring the foreign producers to their knees and force them to reprice their exports.
At the same time, under a banner of “America First,” Trump is renegotiating the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), long despised by the nation’s labor unions but widely viewed by economists as a driver of U.S. economic growth. Add in Trump’s misplaced preoccupation with the trade deficit, and we have all the ingredients for an economic nosedive. Particularly at risk is Detroit’s auto industry, which is heavily reliant on both steel and NAFTA.
Populists rarely regard history. Trump is proving no exception. Unless his bravado can overcome the tried and true wisdom regarding trade policy, history will likely repeat itself.
Catch The Nolan Finley Show weekdays 7-9 a.m. on 910 AM Superstation.


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Virus cases surging among the young, endangering the elderly
June 24, 2020
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Coronavirus cases are climbing rapidly among young adults in a number of states where bars, stores and restaurants have reopened — a disturbing generational shift that not only puts them in greater peril than many realize but poses an even bigger danger to older people who cross their paths.
In Oxford, Mississippi, summer fraternity parties sparked outbreaks. In Oklahoma City, church activities, fitness classes, weddings and funerals seeded infections among people in their 20s, 30s and 40s. In Iowa college towns, surges followed the reopening of bars. A clust...


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Zumiez to buy Austrian retailer Blue Tomato
(Reuters) - Teen-focused retailer Zumiez Inc (ZUMZ.O) has agreed to buy Austria-based Blue Tomato for 59.5 million euros ($75 million) to beef up its sports goods offering in Europe, it said on Tuesday, as it raised its second-quarter revenue outlook.
Under the deal, the snowboarding and surfing merchandise retailer will also pay 22.1 million euros based on certain milestones over the next three years.
The Everett, Washington-based company expects the deal to be modestly accretive to earnings per share in 2012.
Blue Tomato sells branded snowboarding and skating gear, apparel and footwear through its e-commerce website and 5 stores in Austria. For the year ended April 2012, it reported net sales of 29.4 million euros with more than two-thirds generated through its website.
Zumiez raised its second-quarter revenue outlook to $134-$136 million from $128-$130 million. It maintained its 4 cent to 6 cent per share earnings view for the second quarter.
Analysts, on average, are expecting earnings of 10 cents per share, on revenue of $131.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Shares of Zumiez closed at $39.37 on Monday on the Nasdaq.
($1 = 0.7949 euros)
RIMINI Italy - Fiat-Chrysler aims to list shares in the newly merged carmaker in New York on Oct. 13, Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne said on Saturday, adding that a decision on any capital increase would be made at the end of that month.
BEIJING/HONG KONG - China reiterated its opposition on Thursday to a European Union plan to limit airline carbon dioxide emissions and called for talks to resolve the issue a day after its major airlines refused to pay any carbon costs under the new law.


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A visitor looks at an electric kettle on display during a home appliance expo in Shanghai. (Photo: China Daily)
China's home appliance sector saw a strong rebound during the second quarter of this year, with total revenue rising by 2.64 percent on a yearly basis to 248.6 billion yuan ($35.6 billion), on the back of a healthy surge in online e-commerce retail, a new report said.
Retail sales of home appliances in China during the first six months of this year stood at 369 billion yuan, down 14.13 percent on a yearly basis due to the COVID-19 outbreak, said a report released by the China Center for Information Industry Development under the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
Home appliance manufacturers and retailers in the country have been readjusting their sales strategies in accordance with the various measures implemented to keep the epidemic under control and also to benefit from the consumption promotion policies. The strategy has paid off with overall sales improving significantly and returning to the levels seen last year, the report said.
Online sales revenue of home appliances stood at 191.3 billion yuan during the January-June period, up 7.23 percent on a yearly basis. Online channels accounted for 51.84 percent of the total home appliance sales via retail channels, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
E-commerce giant JD was the leader in online retail sales of home appliances, accounting for 28.86 percent of the market, followed by Suning and Alibaba's online marketplace Tmall.
"The epidemic will speed up the revolution in retail channels," said Guo Meide, president of Beijing-based consultancy All View Cloud.
"The 'New Retail' wave would lead to a reshuffle of the traditional offline channels, with the distinction between online and offline shopping becoming increasingly obsolete," Guo said.
The report also said in terms of products, most of the home appliances experienced different degrees of market shrinkage and suffered a fall in sales in the first half of the year. However, the sales of products for sterilization and disinfection increased significantly, such as disinfection cabinets, water purification equipment and dishwashers.
In addition, the sales of small kitchen appliances, like air fryers, electric ovens, blenders and steam mops saw robust growth during the epidemic period.
Generally speaking, the outbreak had a limited influence on the small household appliances sector with consumers preferring to make these purchases via online retail platforms and in most cases they did not require installation by technicians, said Li Ting, deputy director of the kitchen appliances department at AVC.
Li said merchants are willing to sell these products at social e-commerce websites and livestreaming platforms. "Online shopping habits of consumers will be cultivated further and we will see an increase in the proportion of online sales involving small home appliances."


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Online advertising grew 2.5 times as fast as overall U.S. advertising in the first three quarters of 2004, according to data released by TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.
Online advertising in the U.S. totaled $5.59 billion for the first three quarters of this year, up 25.8 percent over the $4.45 billion measured over the same time period in 2003. That growth was well ahead of the year-over-year increase of 10.3 percent in overall U.S. ad spending to $102.47 billion from January through September, from the $92.90 billion spent in the same time period in 2003. The figures come amid other signs of stabilization within the online advertising market in recent weeks.
Other U.S. advertising sectors that registered double-digit growth in the first three quarters of 2004 included: outdoor advertising (17.6 percent); nationally syndicated advertising (17.3 percent); cable television advertising (16.1 percent); network TV ad spending (14.0 percent); local magazine ad spending (10.3 percent); and consumer magazine advertising (10.0 percent).
“Throughout 2004, the advertising market has experienced steady, healthy growth with increases in all three quarters,” said Stephen Fredericks, chief executive of TNS Media Intelligence/CMR.
The TNS numbers are consistent with projections made by JupiterResearch, which expects an overall increase of 27 percent in online advertising across all four quarters this year, said Nate Elliott, an analyst with the firm. JupiterResearch forecasts the same growth rate in 2005, and 15 percent overall year-over-year growth in 2006.
Jupiter separates the growth in online spending this year into three primary sectors, with search advertising leading the way with growth of 34 percent. Online classified spending is second with year-over-year growth of 26 percent. Lastly, display advertising is projected to grow by 24 percent.
Elliott attributed that steady growth to rising ad prices due to the increased demand for and effectiveness of prime Internet advertising real estate of most-searched keywords and the best pages on key Websites.
“Rising prices are the key driver of that growth across all three sectors,” Elliott said. “We see strong growth in all three sectors, and that’s what’s surprising.”
Jupiter predicts that all three sectors will continue to grow at a steady pace, with search advertising growing more consistent with the rates of the other two sectors in coming years.
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Apple's (AAPL 3.25%) iPhone shipments rose just 0.4% in 2018, marking its weakest annual growth since 2016. That deceleration was mostly caused by stiff competition in China and sluggish demand for its pricier new models. During the fiscal first quarter, those headwinds caused Apple's iPhone revenue -- which accounted for 62% of its top line -- to decline 15% year over year.
However, CEO Tim Cook noted that the tech titan's business still "grew outside of China" with "record performance in large markets" like the United States. A recent eMarketer report suggests the iPhone's market share is still rising in the U.S.
eMarketer expects 105.2 million people in the U.S. to own an iPhone in 2019, and that figure should edge higher through 2021. However, eMarketer director Shelleen Shum notes that growth will be supported by sales of older and newer iPhones "at different price points."
Check out the latest earnings call transcript for Apple.
This indicates that Apple's less expensive devices could still cannibalize its pricier ones, which occurred last year when customers bought the cheaper iPhone XR instead of the high-priced XS. To counter that shift, Apple must keep launching new devices and services to reduce its overall dependence on the iPhone.


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U.S. college foods provider offers new plant-based food options on campus
A food provider for schools in the United States (U.S.) has introduced a number of plant-based food options.
Chartwells Higher Education is a contract food service within 280 colleges and universities.
Chartwells challenged their chefs to create plant-based pop-ups that can be creatively executed on campus to provide variety and alternatives to students.
Chartwells Higher Education Vice President of Sustainability and Culinary Services, Laura Lapp said:
"Over the past year our plant-based options have increased in popularity by over 30%.
“Students are more mindful of what they are eating, where their food is coming from and the impact it is making on the environment.
“While we have a growing number of vegan and vegetarian menu items available to our culinarians, we sought further opportunities to educate and offer these dishes to our guests through small, intimate pop up experiences."


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SmartPulse — our weekly reader poll in Restaurant SmartBrief — tracks feedback from restaurant owners and managers about current trends and issues.
Last week’s poll question: Is your restaurant raising prices because of higher food costs?
70.99% — Yes.
21.6% — No.
7.41% — I don’t know.
Darden: The parent company of Olive Garden, Red Lobster and LongHorn Steakhouse says that lower prices for chicken and cost-cutting measures will counter some of the rising prices of key ingredients. Darden hopes to boost profits with new and renovated locations. Darden also is expecting diners to make more visits and to spend more per meal.
Starbucks: With 2011 coffee prices forecast to affect profits, Starbucks is holding its pricing. Starbucks already has purchased coffee for “a few months” of next year, according to a spokeswoman. In 2010, Starbucks’ profits were up after a two-year plan to cut costs and close some locations.
McDonald’s: Expanded value menus and store renovations helped to boost McDonald’s market share last quarter. McDonald’s is expected to raise prices but will use its market influence to implement smaller increases than its competition.
How are you handling the rising costs of ingredients? Join the conversation in the comments.


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Brazil’s Economic Activity Fell in January
IBC-Br economic activity index, a proxy for the country’s monthly GDP figure, dropped 0.26%
SÃO PAULO—Brazil’s economy continues to struggle to emerge from a prolonged recession, data showed Friday, despite a recent improvement in confidence among the country’s businesses and consumers.
The Brazilian central bank’s IBC-Br economic activity index, a proxy for the country’s monthly gross domestic product performance, fell 0.26% in January from December in seasonally adjusted terms, and was down 0.79% from January 2016.
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Leading car manufacturer
Maruti Suzuki and Society of Automotive Engineers India (SAEINDIA) have
announced the finale of Supra SAEIndia 2015. Supra 2015 is a platform that
encourages engineering students across the country to conceptualise, design,
fabricate and run a Formula prototype car, end-to-end. The finale of the fourth
edition Supra SAEINDIA 2015 contest will be held at Chennai Motor Race Track
between July 15 and 19. This year around 2200 engineering students representing
167 engineering colleges will compete for the winner title.
The Supra SAEIndia competition
was first brought to India by Maruti Suzuki and SAEINDIA in 2011. Supra is
directed towards the Automotive Mission Plan 2016, a dream to make India an
International Automotive Hub. The
competition aims to offer engineering students a platform to test and
demonstrate their talent in the field of automobile engineering. The initiative
allows country’s future engineers to showcase their automotive skills.
R S Kalsi, Executive Director – Marketing
& Sales, Maruti Suzuki India Ltd., Dr. R K Malhotra, Ex-Chairman IOC &
SVP SAEINDIA and Prashant K Banerjee Convener, SUPRA SAEINDIA announced the
finale. Also present at the occasion were I V Rao, Founder SUPRA SAEINDIA and
Senior Advisor Maruti Suzuki India, and Sirish Vissa, Technical Committee
Chair, SUPRA SAEINDIA & Head Volkswagen Motorsport India.
Kalsi said, “Maruti Suzuki has
always been focusing on strengthening its connect with the youth of India. We
want to unleash the power of youth and encourage them to be innovative and
creative. Our association with SAEINDIA showcases this commitment towards skill
development of engineering students. It helps promote their dreams and
aspirations, leverage their strengths, tap into their talents and collaborate
with them to make our country’s future bright.
Maruti Suzuki has always supported such events and will continue to do
BorgWarner has clinched an agreement with a major North American OEM to supply its bi-directional 800V Onboard Charger (OBC) for the automaker’s premium passenger vehicle battery electric vehicle (BEV...
Uno Minda, a leading tier 1 supplier of proprietary automotive solutions to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), has unveiled an innovative range of side stand sensors and switches that use advanc...
As the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) continues to grow, Honeywell has created innovative solutions to address safety concerns across the spectrum of EV manufacturing and use.


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People in Toronto are starting to think wearing a face mask is arrogant
Face mask mandates have been dropped pretty much everywhere in Toronto, and it's rare to see someone wearing one as you walk down the street these days.
Of course, wearing one is a totally personal choice, but people have taken to Reddit to discuss whether wearing one can now actually somehow be perceived as "arrogant."
"I still wear a mask but today one of my coworkers told me that people that wear masks are showing their arrogance now. He said that I think people are beneath me and that I am saying that I am too 'clean' to breathe the same type of air as them," Reddit user cuhcuh99995 wrote on June 23.
"Is this how people think of masks? He also said that wearing a mask brings PTSD to everyone and people are trying to move on from Covid. Lately I have noticed that I am in the extreme minority when I wear masks but I don't want to offend anyone by wearing one."
Within 24 hours, comments on the post were locked, but not before people weighed in on the subject.
"Well, I have cancer and am on immunotherapy so… I'd prefer to avoid getting any viral infection. Selfishly, I wish to live for another year," wrote one person whose comment received over 500 upvotes.
"How arrogant of you… trying to survive and all," someone else joked. "I wish you a speedy recovery!"
People actually expressed some nervousness over wearing mask, one person saying they were worried about being confronted for moving seats away from people coughing and sneezing, and another saying they were confronted at a gas station over their mask.
Other people pointed out that some jobs require masks for work, while others said this shouldn't even be a politicized topic as masks are just a simple precautionary measure to protect against illness.
One person put it bluntly: "Your coworker is a tool."
"Society has become the equivalent of a Home Depot (full of tools)," someone agreed.
Someone else summed up the situation in a bullet point list:
That's not what PTSD means
Most masks are to actually protect people around you from you
COVID is very much not over, we're still getting 1k cases/day in ON
Your coworker is being an ass, you can wear whatever PPE you want at work
Call it what you want, but basically, if you're enjoying your right not to wear a mask in public spaces for the first time in years, don't try to tell someone they shouldn't be wearing theirs.
Join the conversation Load comments


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The S.C. State Ports Authority is getting in on the incentives action for the Giti Tire Group project in Chester County.
Its board voted this morning to kick in $2.6 million to pay for public infrastructure at the site off Interstate 77 in Richburg. That boosts to $64.7 million the package of incentives offered to the Singapore company for its 1,700-employee plant, according to Charlotte Business Journal calculations.
Jim Newsome, CEO of the S.C. Ports Authority, told the Charleston Regional Business Journal the agency often contributes to economic-development projects around the state. He also noted that Giti will bring in rubber through the Charleston port and then ship the finished tires through the port.
Enki Tan, executive chairman of Giti, said Monday that tire ingredients, with the exception of rubber, which comes from Southeast Asia, will be sourced in the United States.
Giti announced Monday that it will build a $560 million, 1.8 million-square-foot tire plant at the industrial mega-site off I-77 south of S.C. Highway 9.


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The electric pickup truck is about to alter the rugged, go-anywhere, haul-everything pickup truck beloved by Americans. Pickup trucks are the badge of small business owners. They’re the work horse for farmers. And they’re the joy-ride of extreme athletes. In fact, the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram were the three best sold vehicles in 2016.
And yet, they’re bumpy, enormous and extremely inefficient gas-guzzlers. They stand in stark defiance to where the industry is headed – towards alternative fuel sources and tight, efficient interiors.
But things may change. Ford says it plans to release all electric and hybrid versions of its best-selling F150 in the next five years. There’s still a way to go. Ford wants to make sure its electric pickup truck has a range of 300 miles, and they’re worried about the current weight of electric batteries hurting the car’s performance.
For the immediate future, the focus is on hybrid vehicles. Beyond making a hybrid F-150, a hybrid Mustang, two new hybrid police vehicles, a hybrid self driving car, a hybrid transit car and six other vehicles will be introduced before 2020 – that’s 40 percent of the vehicles Ford offers.
Raj Nair, Ford’s Chief Technology Officer told Business Insider: “We want electrification to be a bonus. One thing that is really advantageous on the hybrid is it also becomes its own power generating source.”
Ford says it’s reacting to market trends. Younger buyers want electric. It reflects a care about the environment, new technology and affordability. About 50 percent of Millennials say they will purchase an electric or hybrid as their next vehicle. The Brookings institute states that Millennial workers will make up 75 percent of the workforce by 2025. Which will mean huge demand for greener vehicles of all types.
Of course, Ford risks losing their core audience. The F-150 has been the biggest selling US vehicle for the last 35 years. An electric pickup truck with more weight, potentially lower performance and higher initial cost is not likely to convert the faithful. But, the cost and weight of batteries is falling, and the price of gasoline is rising. At some point, electric pickups will be cheaper to buy and cheaper to run – but that’s not likely to happen before 2020 – and may explain Ford’s hesitation.
Will Ford Be First?
Other companies aren’t hesitating. Tesla has been working on an electric pickup truck that the company says is in the ‘early stages of development’. Nonetheless, they expect to unveil their concept soon. And it’s expected to be in production within the next three to four years (2019-2020).
Workhorse, an electric truck and drone company, has unveiled their W-15 Electric Pickup Truck, although like the Chevy Volt, it’s not a true electric car – it has a twin motor. The claim is that lower fuel costs make it cheaper than a standard pickup over the life of the vehicle. General Motors is trying again with hybrid designs, and will be a fierce competitor for Ford.
To date, other companies haven’t had much success with electric trucks. General Motors sold hybrid versions of its Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups a few years ago. They weren’t very good and had only negligible fuel economy gains.
Electric Trucks: An Inevitable Reality
Everyone seems to be in agreement that electric vehicles are the future. As the U.S. vehicle of choice, a viable electric pickup would seem to be inevitable. But with ambivalence from it’s core audience, instead it’s still a waiting game. Electric vehicles are cheaper to run, but much more expensive to buy. And the F-150 Limited already tags in at over $60,000.
Despite all that, the tipping point is starting. Even at $20,000 more than the F-150, the Workhorse is still cheaper over the lifespan of the vehicle. Soon, manufacturing costs will fall, electric performance will improve and people will make the switch. It’s just a matter of when – and who will be the first to fully take advantage of the future of the automotive industry.
This article was written by Eric White. He is part of the team at 51st State Autos, the UK’s largest importer of American Pickup Trucks in the UK.


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Stripe, which builds economic infrastructure for the internet, announced on Sunday it has raised a $600 million funding round that puts its valuation at $95 billion.
The round was graced by many investors, including Allianz X, Axa, Baillie Gifford, Fidelity Management & Research Company, Sequoia Capital, and Ireland’s National Treasury Management Agency (NTMA).
The $600 million round has put the payment company above SpaceX and Instacart, whose valuation is placed at $74 billion and $39 billion respectively. Stripe has thus become the most valuable private company in Silicon Valley.
“The company will use the capital to invest in its European operations, and its Dublin headquarters in particular, support surging demand from enterprise heavyweights across Europe, and expand its Global Payments and Treasury Network,” Stripe said in a statement.
Stripe recently acquired Nigeria’s fintech startup, Paystack for $200 million, underscoring its determination to become a global brand. Although it’s still far behind other giants in the online payment industry, its $95 billion valuation makes a bold statement.
It was also named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Merchant Payments Providers, Q3 2020, achieving the highest scores of any company ranked.
Having fully established in the United States, the company has been taking investment to other parts of the world to secure more market share.
John Collison, President and co-founder of Stripe said Europe has become a lucrative destination for companies, and Stripe plans to cash in on the boom of its digital economy.
“We’re investing a ton more in Europe this year, particularly in Ireland. Whether in fintech, mobility, retail or SaaS, the growth opportunity for the European digital economy is immense,” he said.
Of the 42 countries in which Stripe powers businesses today, 31 are in Europe. And many of the continent’s largest and fastest growing companies are building on the platform.
Axel Springer, Jaguar Land Rover, Maersk, Metro, Mountain Warehouse and Waitrose have all recently turned to Stripe to grow and diversify their online revenue, or move faster on their transformation projects. Meanwhile, Europe’s hypergrowth companies such as Deliveroo (UK), Doctolib (France), Glofox (Ireland), Klarna (Sweden), ManoMano (France), N26 (Germany), UiPath (Romania), and Vinted (Lithuania) all build on Stripe to compete on the global stage.
Stripe now counts more than 50 category leaders—companies processing each more than $1 billion annually—as customers. Enterprise revenue is now both Stripe’s largest and its fastest growing segment, more than doubling year over year, the company said.
Stripe said it will double down on enterprise capabilities, particularly its customer success teams, to help even larger businesses like Twilio or Zapier significantly increase their revenue.
“We will also invest in our global expansion to help companies such as Glofox or MATCHESFASHION increase their market opportunity. And through partnerships with enterprise solutions like Salesforce Commerce Cloud we will make it even easier for large multinationals around the world to switch to Stripe,” said Mike Clayville, Stripe’s Chief Revenue Officer.
Stripe said it has built programmable infrastructure for global money movement, known as its Global Payments and Treasury Network, as well as a growing roster of products and services atop that foundation, including Billing, Capital, Connect, Issuing, Radar, Terminal and Treasury.
Only 14% of commerce takes place online today, despite the global economy accelerating its shift to online in 2020. Stripe’s aim is to grow the GDP of the internet, making it easy for ambitious companies everywhere to grow their business.
The company said it will continue to build its Global Payments and Treasury Network, further expanding its suite of software and services to help ambitious businesses drive more revenue in 2021. And Stripe services will also soon be available to millions more businesses in Brazil, India, Indonesia, Thailand and the UAE.
“We’re investing in the infrastructure that will power internet commerce in 2030 and beyond. The pandemic taught us many things about society, including how much can be achieved—and paid for—online, but the internet still isn’t the engine for global economic progress that it could be. While Stripe already processes hundreds of billions of dollars per year for millions of businesses worldwide, the opportunity ahead is much larger for Stripe than it was when the company was started 10 years ago,” ,” said Dhivya Suryadevara, Stripe’s Chief Financial Officer.


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Atria Books will publish The Magic, a new book by Rhonda Byrne, author of the multimillion copy bestseller, The Secret, in early 2012. The trade paperback original will be released simultaneously in print and as an e-book in the U.S. and by S&S subsidiaries in the Canada, the U.K., Australia and India.
More editions are coming including an Atria Espanol Spanish edition for the U.S. and an S&S audiobook. A global bestseller, The Secret has been translated into 46 languages and has sold more than 20 million copies. Her last book, The Power, is also a bestseller and has been translated into 40 languages.
Judith Curr, executive v-p and publisher of Atria Books, said, “We are thrilled to publish Rhonda’s new book, joining with The Secret and The Power, to inspire people to share the knowledge and tools to help them live their best lives.”


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19 Milan Interior Designers You Will Love to Know – Milan, the capital of Lombardy, has a population of 1.3 million people. It is the biggest industrial city of Italy with many different industrial sectors. It is a magnetic point for designers, artists, photographers and models. Milan has an ancient […]
Discover the Best 13 Interior Designers in Rome: Ancient Rome Architecture has been at the center of the city’s tourism sector. However, the city is fast reinventing itself with modern architecture and interior design. Now Milan Design Agenda presents 13 of the best interior designers and architects in Rome, who […]
Milan Design Agenda realized that over the past fashion seasons, Milan Fashion Week has had a few issues, with some editors and buyers — and even designers — losing interest in the city, which has taken a backseat to other fashion capitals in recent years. In Milan Design Agenda opinion, Berlin Fashion Week will have a big role on this…
Realizing this, the Camera Nazionale Della Moda launched an initiative last year to reinvigorate the event series and some big changes seem to be taking shape for the spring 2015 shows this September. According to WWD, an early version of the calendar reveals that several designers have changed their show dates to take place during the first five days, alongside some of the city’s emerging talent.
Young designers Stella Jean and Andrea Incontri will show on the first day, before Gucci, while Au Jour le Jour and MSGM will show the same day as Marni, Salvatore Ferragamo and Trussardi. Perhaps most notably, on September 22, the last day of Milan Fashion Week — the day Dsquared2 and Giorgio Armani typically showed — seems practically empty. They’ve pushed their shows up to Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, respectively. Armani has always been the big finale of the week, and famously outspoken towards big editors who have chosen to skip his show in order to get to Paris earlier.
Are you aware of the impact this will have in our lives? Fashion runs in Milan citizens blood! We live intensily world fashion seasons like a few! So, Milan Design Agenda has a question,what do you think of the changes to the Milan Fashion Week schedule? Share your thoughts with us in the comment section below.


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I spoke to Varney & Company’s Charles Payne this morning about the emerging market selloff and what is driving it.
At its heart?
Current account deficits. Turkey, South Africa, Argentina and Brazil—the countries that have been in the headlines the most of late—all have large current account deficits. Part of this is due to slowing commodity exports to a slowing China, but the strength of the local consumer economy—particularly in Turkey and South Africa—is a factor as well.
All else equal, a country that persistently imports more than it exports will see its currency weaken. Of course, all else is rarely equal, and large capital inflows in the form of direct investment and portfolio investment can cause a country’s currency to remain strong even in the face of persistent deficits. This was certainly the case for the United States during the “strong dollar” days of the late 1990s.
It was just a few years ago that emerging market finance ministers fretted that too much capital was flowing their way and causing currency values to rise to the point of choking off economic activity. Annoyed by the rapid appreciation of the real, Brazilian finance minister Guido Mantega declared that he was fighting a “currency war” to keep the real competitive, and that he had no intentions of losing.
Ah, those were the days.
It is important to realize that, while emerging currencies can always go lower, this is not 1997. We are not on the verge of a major emerging market crisis, unless something radically changes from today’s status quo. Unlink in 1997, most of the countries seeing their currencies come under pressure are on floating exchange rate regimes and, frankly, a little depreciation is not entirely a bad thing if it boosts exports and closes the current account deficit. In the meantime, we’re getting some fantastic bargains in many emerging stock markets.
Google Sells Its Handset Business
I also spoke with Mr. Payne about Google’s (GOOG) selling its handset business to Lenovo.
Leave it to Google to keep us all guessing. When Google first bought Motorola Mobility in 2011, we all assumed it was a “land grab” for the company’s patents. Google was getting sued on multiple fronts for alleged patent infringement related to its Android operating system.
We all expected Google to keep the patents…and dump the hardware business. Yet Google surprised us all by making a go at it as a manufacturer.
In the final analysis, was it a bad move for Google? Not really. After various assets were stripped and sold off, Google ended up paying about $4 billion for the patent portfolio. Given Google’s cash hoard, that is pocket change, and we may never know the extent to which Android needed those patents to avoid punitive lawsuits.
Going forward, Google will have a cleaner balance sheet without the hardware business, and selling to Lenovo makes good business sense. Lenovo has a great presence in emerging markets, and it helps reduce Google’s dependency on Samsung.
Charles Lewis Sizemore, CFA, is the editor of Macro Trend Investor and chief investment officer of the investment firm Sizemore Capital Management. Click here to receive his FREE weekly e-letter covering market insights, global trends, and the best stocks and ETFs to profit from today’s exciting megatrends.


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Trade negotiations with China continue
In mid-December, the White House announced a Phase One trade deal with China. The new agreement leaves the current 25 percent Section 301 tariffs on Lists 1, 2 and 3 untouched. These are the tariffs that most substantially impact NAFEM members and other manufacturers. It reduces the tariffs on List 4A from 15 percent to 7.5 percent. List 4A tariffs primarily impact the smallwares side of the industry. The new agreement also further postpones the planned Dec. 15 List 4B tariffs, which largely affect consumer electronics and apparel. More information is available in the Federal Register notice and this fact sheet from the United States Trade Representative.
China agreed to reforms addressing intellectual property and technology, agriculture, financial services, and currency and foreign exchange. It also committed to increase purchases of U.S. goods and services, and to establish a process to quickly resolve trade disputes. President Trump tweeted that Phase Two trade talks will begin before the 2020 election. According to U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, no date has been set.
It is important that NAFEM members continue to voice their opposition to the tariffs with elected officials. Here is a complete list of Congressional Representatives and their contact information.


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Europe cut off from UK
Japanese consumers showed themselves to be less than enthusiastic in retail data overnight. With the spring pay round approaching, this might be interpreted as a lack of confidence in wage gains. Japanese consumers believe consumer price inflation will be high, and this may also impact their shopping prowess.
US Fed President Evans is speaking again. Evans has been rather vocal of late, and there is unlikely to be anything new in the comments. Rosengarten and Williams of the Fed also speak, and may add more insight – there is at least some novelty value in their comments.
Fed Vice Chair Fischer has suggested that another two rate hikes would be about right. More relevant for the markets is what else happens, or might happen, this year. Quantitative policy tightening is being discussed, and Fischer is believed to be a strong advocate of action in this area.
UK PM May has posted her Article 50 letter to the EU, informing them that they are to be cut off from the UK. The details may give a sense of the direction of negotiations, but this is the start of a lengthy process; it would be unwise to emphasize today's theater.


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The four concepts will join an existing Sbarro outpost, but unlike the chain pizzeria, these additions come from notable local figures, such as "Top Chef" alum Spike Mendelsohn and future contestant Marjorie Meek-Bradley. Though they're still in the early planning stages, here's what's been confirmed so far.
Morris will be "the version 2.0 of the Sheppard," says Vinoda Basnayake, who co-owns the upcoming craft cocktail bar alongside celebrity chef Spike Mendelsohn. The Sheppard was forced to move after its Dupont Circle space came under new ownership. That gave the partners an opportunity to rethink their concept of a hidden, no-photos-allowed bar.
"We wanted to open a non-gimmick cocktail bar," Basnayake says, later adding, "We didn’t want there to be more attention on the gimmick than the product."
At Morris, the partners want the focus to be on the cocktail program by David Strauss, the former cocktail manager at Le Diplomate, whose menu will pay homage to D.C.'s drinking culture. Basnayake hopes the bar will open in February or early March.
Smoked & Stacked
Marjorie Meek-Bradley knew she was on to something when only half of the pastrami she made for Ripple's brunch would reach diners. Staff, she says, would devour the rest while it was still hot from the oven. So before long, the chef started thinking of opening a grab-and-go pastrami shop, where she could serve the smoked meat all day.
The result is Smoked & Stacked, a fast-casual concept debuting in spring 2016. "It's a really good location to build something that's familiar and unique at the same time," she says. Meek-Bradley has plans for a limited menu featuring pastrami, smoked chicken and pastrami-flavored portobello sandwiches.
The Unconventional Diner
Details are slim on this concept, which is backed by John Cidre of Mintwood Place in Adams Morgan. But it sounds like an ambitious project because it's not expected to debut for at least a year. "It'll probably take the greatest amount of build out," says Events DC president Greg O'Dell.
Union Kitchen Grocery
According to co-owner Jonas Singer, the food incubator's upcoming grocery store will resemble its Capitol Hill location, where fresh vegetables and pantry staples are sold alongside products made in Union Kitchen. "The idea is to be your everyday neighborhood grocery store," Singer says.
The main difference between the old location and the new one? The Shaw outpost will probably have a more robust selection of alcohol and prepared foods, plus a bigger floor space. Though an opening date hasn't been pinned down, Singer expects the store to be ready by spring or early summer.


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Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary, aka Mr. Wonderful, has predicted that trillions of dollars will flow into cryptocurrencies, particularly bitcoin. In addition, he said bitcoin mining will “save the world.”
O’Leary Says ‘Spigots of Capital’ Will Flood Into Crypto Like You’ve Never Seen
Shark Tank star Kevin O’Leary gave a keynote speech at the Bitcoin 2022 conference Thursday.
He said that based on his experience in the indexing business, “massive pools of capital, these trillion-dollar pools” are waiting for policy. They currently own zero or very little crypto. “It’s the purvey of high net worth individuals, hedge funds, and retail investors,” he clarified.
Mr. Wonderful detailed:
What we’re missing is policy. When we get policy and the regulator regulates, that’s not a negative thing. The spigots of capital are going to flood into this sector like you’ve never seen.
“So for those of us that can invest in it now, you are going to get ahead of what’s


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Protea Hotels by Marriott announces a new hotel in Pretoria – the Protea Hotels by Marriott Loftus Park.
As of 6 May 201 8, Airlink will be flying direct between Johannesburg and Port Elizabeth.
Hilton is set to open a 207 guestroom Hilton Garden Inn Umhlanga Arch in Umhlanga. The hotel will open in 2020.
Virgin Atlantic will operate a second daily service between OR Tambo International Airport and Heathrow, starting
The Regency Apartment Hotel, the latest luxury lifestyle development in the Menlyn Node, is set for completion in June 2018 to showcase t
Kenya Airways plans to add as many as 20 new destinations in Africa, Europe and Asia over the next five years in a bid to restore profita
Uber South Africa has taken steps in ensuring the safety of its riders by introducing its Incident Response Team (IRT) call-back line for
Cathay Pacific will launch a seasonal non-stop service to cosmopolitan Cape Town later this year, directly linking this popular business
Avis Luxury Cars has added the Range Rover Velar to its fleet.
Emirates will resume its second daily flight to the Portuguese capital Lisbon as of June 1.


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U.S. Factory Orders Rise 1% in JuneU.S....
U.S. Factory Orders Rise 1% in June
U.S. factory orders increased for a fourth straight month in June, a sign that production gains will help the economy accelerate in coming months.
The value of orders received by manufacturers rose 1% during the month after a revised 3.6% increase that was larger than initially estimated, the Commerce Department said. Orders increased for machines, computers and military equipment.
Unfilled orders surged in June by the most in four years, suggesting that factories were having trouble keeping up with demand, which may prompt them to boost production in coming months.
Reality TV Workers Join Editors Guild
Some 80 motion picture editors and their assistants on three shows produced by reality TV guru Mark Burnett have been organized by the Motion Picture Editors Guild, the union announced.
The guild, part of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, said union authorization cards were counted for workers on the shows “The Apprentice,” “The Apprentice: Martha Stewart” and “Rock Star: INXS.”
Hollywood unions have been trying to organize employees in the burgeoning reality TV genre. The Editors Guild has already organized such shows as “Big Brother” and “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy.”
Lawsuit Targets States’ 1998 Tobacco Settlement
A Washington advocacy group filed a lawsuit in a federal court in Louisiana challenging the state’s participation in a $206-billion settlement with the tobacco industry.
The Competitive Enterprise Institute sued on behalf of a tobacco distributor, two manufacturers that weren’t part of the settlement, a tobacco store and an individual smoker.
The case challenges the 1998 agreement between cigarette makers and 46 states on constitutional grounds. The complaint, filed in federal court in Shreveport, claims that the accord violates a prohibition against states making compacts among themselves without the approval of Congress.
BlackBerry Ruling Delays Sales Injunction
A U.S. appeals court upheld most of a ruling that Research in Motion Ltd.'s BlackBerry e-mail pager infringed patents, delaying a judge’s order to halt sales of the device in the U.S.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington told U.S. District Judge James Spencer to rewrite his 2002 injunction to reflect decisions made on appeal.
Research in Motion had agreed to pay $450 million to settle a dispute with NTP Inc., a closely held patent-licensing company. The accord began to fall apart when NTP sought more money for use of the BlackBerry service on other devices. Research in Motion has said it will ask Spencer to order NTP to abide by the settlement.
Whirlpool Must Make Maytag Offer by Tuesday
Whirlpool Corp. must submit a firm offer to buy Maytag Corp. no later than noon Tuesday, according to an agreement outlined in documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
A confidentiality agreement between Whirlpool and Maytag signed July 26 specifies that for a period of three years after Maytag opened its books to Whirlpool, neither company can try to acquire control of the other without permission.
Whirlpool’s offer, which remains tentative, stands at $18 a share, or $1.43 billion.
* Toyota Motor Corp. said it would boost production at a plant being built in San Antonio by 50,000 trucks a year. The Japanese carmaker said it would invest $50 million more in the plant, bringing the total to $850 million.
* A judge set a Sept. 19 sentencing date for ex-Tyco International Ltd. Chief Executive L. Dennis Kozlowski and his finance chief, Mark Swartz, who were found guilty of stealing more than $150 million from the company.


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Read customer reviews across Google, Facebook, and Yelp, in one place.
Partnership empowers Elavon merchants to respond to digital shifts in how consumers find, research, and interact with local businesses
ATLANTA–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Feb 13, 2019–Womply, the leader in front office software for small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), today announced it has partnered with Elavon, a global payments provider and subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), to launch a web-based solution that helps merchants attract, retain and engage with customers with real-time insight into their business.
In recent years, small businesses have adopted technology at an unprecedented rate, thanks in part to an expanding menu of value-added products and services offered through payment processors. According to research from Techaisle, 94 percent of small businesses now use software-as-a-service (SaaS), up from just 27 percent in 2011. With Womply, Elavon is able to go beyond traditional payment processing to help merchants grow their businesses online by providing services and business insights anytime and anywhere.
“Elavon supports merchants all over the world to stay competitive in the rapidly changing environment; much of which is driven by consumers’ behaviors and buying preferences,” said Guy Harris, president, North America and Global Revenue, Elavon. “Today, even sole brick-and-mortar businesses need an online presence to attract, retain and engage customers. Our partnership with Womply further shows our commitment to digital commerce and will help our merchants quickly and easily adapt to changes in the marketplace.”
The solution is powered by Elavon’s Payments Insider, an interactive customer portal, where merchants can view their statements, sales and funding activity, manage supply orders and more. The portal also arms them with industry news and alerts including valuable security and compliance information, and provides a secure communication channel to contact Elavon and provide feedback.
“Until recently, small businesses were completely forgotten as Silicon Valley spent decades helping large companies get a competitive edge through technology,” says Cory Capoccia, president of Womply. “We’re thrilled to partner with Elavon, one of the industry’s top payment processors, to help level the playing field for small businesses.”
With Elavon and Womply, merchants can:
Womply’s mission is to help small businesses thrive in a digital world. Our AI-powered data platform enhances our comprehensive small business management software, which includes the world’s only pre-populated CRM plus small business intelligence, reputation management, marketing automation, and integrated payments. Every day, we serve more than 150,000 small businesses across 400+ verticals, in every corner of America. To learn more, visit www.womply.com or email firstname.lastname@example.org.
Elavon is wholly owned by U.S. Bank, the fifth-largest bank in the United States, and provides end-to-end payment processing solutions and services to more than 1.3 million customers in the United States, Europe, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. As the leading provider for airlines and a top five provider in hospitality, healthcare, retail, and public sector/education, Elavon’s innovative payment solutions are designed to solve pain points for businesses from small to enterprise-sized.
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India Against Moves to Link Trade with CSR Standards
May 6 – India is trying to block moves to use an international standard on corporate social responsibility (CSR) as a basis for refusing exports from emerging nations.
The implementation of such a rule will inevitably increase business costs for companies from developing countries as well as affect global competitiveness. “We want to ensure that the standards are not used to restrict trade,” a commerce department official told the Economic Times.
“While our objective would be to block the standard at the ISO’s forthcoming meeting in Copenhagen later this month, we would at least want a caveat that it would not be used for international trade purposes,” he added.
Indian authorities think that the ISO standards could be used by developed countries as a way to decrease trade coming from developing countries. India has appealed that the ISO-26000 should not be deemed an international standard, guideline or recommendation to follow.
The CSR standard is being developed by the International Standards Organization (ISO) to encourage more corporations to implement socially responsible practices.
“The whole idea behind the move seems to be to achieve factor price equalization by imposing minimum wage standards on developing countries,” Biswajit Dhar, director general of Research and Information System for Developing Countries told the Economic Times.
In India, the informal sector employs a majority of the country’s workforce and CSR activities are typically not enforced.
- Previous Article French Retail Giant to Enter Indian Market
- Next Article New Liquidation Process for Troubled Firms to be Released


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Yesterday Microsoft unveiled a first look of the new MSN in South Africa.
“To make MSN relevant in a mobile-first, cloud-first world, we have gone back to basics and redesigned the platform with that in mind. The new MSN brings together the world’s best media sources along with data and services to enable users to do more,” said Justin Dewhirst, MEA Regional Director, Microsoft Information & Consumer Experiences.
“The new MSN focuses on the primary digital daily habits in people’s lives, helping them complete tasks on the web and across all of their devices, roaming data and personalized settings to keep users in the know wherever they are.”
MSN has partnered with sources, including the New York Times and Motor Trend in the U.S., The Yomiuri Shimbun and The Asahi Shimbun in Japan, the Guardian and the Telegraph in the UK, NDTV and Hindustan Times in India, Le Figaro and Le Monde in France, and Lance and Estadão in Brazil, and many more.
In South Africa, Microsoft has partnered with local content partners, including Primedia, Media24, MoneyWeb, eNCA, Mail & Guardian, Daily Maverick, PlanetSport, Kagiso Media and Creative Spark.
Spanning 10 sections including sports, news, health and fitness, money, travel and video, the new MSN provides a global perspective from thousands of publishers across the world. Information ranges from the latest stats on over 200 global sports leagues, reviews of over 1.5 million bottles of wine, to recipes and more.
MSN editors are able draw from more than 1,000 sources to hand-curate content for individual markets and cultures.
According to Ian Drummond, Digital Sales Manager at Mediamark, “The new look MSN is set to revolutionise the digital portal landscape. The new design has been created with the user in mind offering curated and aggregated content from over one thousand local and global content partners”.
New Opportunities for Brands
“From an advertiser perspective Microsoft is taking online advertising to a new level by ensuring an uncluttered canvas for brands to connect with users. The premium content ensures relevancy while the industry first guaranteed view ensure limited wastage,” says Drummond.


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Farmers are gearing up to tend the fields as the growing season starts up around the Great Lakes Bay Region.
The produce and agri-business products from local vendors will be featured in farmers markets in Midland, Bay and Saginaw counties.
Here is the schedules for local markets:
Frankenmuth Farmers Market opens from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, May 18, and continues through Saturday, Oct. 19. During peak harvest time, July through mid-September, the market also will open 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. Wednesdays.
The Midland Area Farmers Market opens from 7 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, May 4, and continues every Wednesday and Saturday until Wednesday, Oct. 30, at the structure at the end of Ashman Street near the Tridge.
The Downtown Saginaw Farmers Market opening day is Friday, May 24, at 507 S. Washington in Saginaw. The season continues through Wednesday, Oct. 30. The market is open 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Saturday.
Hemlock Farmers Market opens mid-June and continues through mid-Oct. from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. at Richland Township Park.
The Downtown Bay City Farmers Market opens Thursday, June 6. The market is open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursdays through Oct. 24. Located at the city parking Lot at the corner of Washington Avenue and Sixth Street.
The Cardinal Square Farmers Market will be open from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. every Tuesday beginning June 18 at the parking lot of the Home Depot, 3132 Bueker Drive in Kochville Township.


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Joystiq is reporting that Ziff Davis will be shutting down popular and long-running gaming sites 1UP, GameSpy, and UGO. The new owner of IGN also laid off the editorial staff at all three sites, as well as some employees at IGN. Ziff Davis's parent company J2 Global bought IGN and its various web properties earlier in the month, and today it has decided to focus on its core brands – IGN and AskMen. How many employees were laid off today is unknown as of this writing.
"We are focusing on our two flagship brands, IGN and AskMen. Unfortunately, as a result, we have made the decision to close sites and restructure our teams accordingly," a company spokesperson confirmed to Joystiq.
Kotaku has also obtained a lengthy internal memo sent to IGN staffers by Ziff Davis CEO Vivek Shah. In it he details the company's focus on Ask Men and IGN. After briefly explaining this new focus on "core brands," Shah said that the company would be "winding down 1UP.com, UGO.com and GameSpy.com."
You can read the entire memo here.
On a personal note, it is sad to see GameSpy come to such an end, having spent three years of my professional career working there prior to IGN acquiring the site and its technology. Our thoughts and prayers go out to all those who lost their jobs today.


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Newegg Gives Away 52” TV per Day in March
Newegg.com is giving a way a TV each day in March
The popular online electronics store is offering up a 52-inch Samsung TV each day in March, with a $10K theater system as a grand prize.
Talk about March madness.
Fans of Newegg.com, the popular online-only retailer, have even more reason to go to the website this month. The company is giving away a TV each day.
We’re not just talking about your average secondary-size model TV either. Newegg’s giving away a 52-inch Samsung HDTV—it’s even throwing in a Rosewill wall mount and Belkin HDMI cable to boot.
You can enter Newegg’s “TV-a-Day Extreme Giveaway” sweepstakes on the website at either www.newegg.com/EXTREME if you’re a U.S. resident or www.newegg.ca/EXTREME if you’re in Canada.
Winners will be announced each business day on the website in March.
To top things off, on April 1 Newegg will reveal a winner for its grand prize package—a full home theater package complete with 63-inch Samsung plasma and surround-sound system featuring Onkyo and Polk Audio products.
We know March is usually reserved for the sweepstakes types who fill out their NCAA basketball brackets, but if you’re feeling extra lucky you could be watching next year’s March Madness on a new 52-inch TV.
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SB FINANCE CO., INC., the joint-venture consumer lending firm of Security Bank Corp. and Thailand’s Bank of Ayudhya (Krungsri), announced their partnership with appliance and motorized vehicle dealer KServico on Monday on payment options for customers.
SB Finance said in a statement that they will be offering installment payment options through its Pay Hooloogan service to customers of KServico.
“We are grateful to SB Finance for offering the Pay Hooloogan service to our customers. This addition to our payment options allows customers to get the things they aspire for. We’re optimistic that through Pay Hooloogan, more Filipinos will be able to get the things they want, on their terms,” Kservico President Lolita Mercado was quoted as saying.
SB Finance said under the partnership, customers can avail of financing options with no down payment through Pay Hoologan.
“With Pay Hooloogan, Filipinos can get the things they need with easy, convenient and affordable payment options. This partnership helps us reach more Filipinos and help make their dreams a reality,” SB Finance President Abbie Casanova said.
Pay Hooloogan gives customers a P200,000 credit line payable in installment terms within 48 months. The service can be accessed through the Zuki mobile app.
Clients do not need to have accounts with Security Bank Corp., SB Finance’s parent, to use the app.
SB Finance offers multi-purpose personal loans. Its main product offerings via the Zuki mobile app, which was launched in March, include Pay Hooloogan, personal loans, Car4Cash, and MotorsikLOAN.
Meanwhile, KServico sells motorcycles, appliances, computers and furniture. It has over 185 stores in Metro Manila and Luzon areas and 128 stores in Visayas and Mindanao through EMCOR, Inc., their affiliate company.
SB Finance’s parent Security Bank posted a net income of P2.3 billion in the third quarter, up 35% from the year prior, amid increased revenues.
This brought its nine-month net profit to P8.6 billion, 77% higher year on year, on the back of the growth in its core businesses and lower loan loss provisions.
Security Bank shares gained 50 centavos or 0.56% to close at P89.90 apiece on Monday. — A.M.C. Sy


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To the uninformed they look like the kind of nerdy boys that couldn't get the girl at the school disco, but after years of losing out to their beefy peers, the skinny male is having his day. As London Fashion Week kicks off this weekend, stick-thin men will be parading the catwalks promoting an ideal of male beauty that is a far cry from the bulked-up models of the Eighties and Nineties.
But as indie kids and fashionistas across the country squeeze themselves into the latest drainpipe jeans, fashion's move towards a male size zero has a more serious consequence: it heralds an era where men – like women – feel pressure to conform to a waif-like body image.
The masculine ideal has undergone a step change, putting pressure on young men to conform to a new body shape. The fashion expert and agent Johnathan Phang explained: "Suddenly, you've got lots of guys becoming models who never thought they could be; the sort of people who were normally considered weeds or nerdy-looking."
Phang believes there could be serious consequences for men who want to fit into the latest designs. "There is a pressure to conform to the size that's in fashion," he said. "If the trend is to be skinny, then men who follow fashion will want to be skinny so they can fit into the clothes. I'm 42 and fat as a house, so I've got nothing to prove, but if I was 20 now I would definitely want to be skinny and conform to my peers." This year the catwalks of Paris, Milan and, most noticeably, New York, were full of skeletal men in tightly fitting clothes. Like women before them, many male models are now expected to have an almost pre-pubescent frame.
It began in 2000 when the Christian Dior designer Hedi Slimane designed clothes for male models so young and slim that they barely looked old enough to be in secondary school. Since then the trend has hit the mainstream, with young men aspiring to the slimline look.
Devon Parsons, a male model agent at Select, said: "For the catwalk, the boy look is still ruling. In the Eighties and Nineties, it was very masculine and muscular; great tanned bodies and a really manly look. Now there's a trend to the more younger-looking, skinnier men."
Dylan Jones, the editor of GQ magazine, said that the recent trend for slimline men had proved problematic for the lifestyle publication. "Skinny models with skinny waists and skinny legs have been fashionable for the past few years, which makes it a problem when you're trying to photograph clothes that men might actually want to buy," he said.
"The sort of male models who have been fashionable recently don't look like they can afford to wear the clothes they're wearing, which at GQ's end of the market is something of a problem."
Eating-disorder charities have raised more serious concerns. A spokesman from the charity Beat said: "There does seem to be a growing trend towards men's clothes being designed for the slimmer male physique, and we're certainly aware of more men with eating disorders."
But the British Fashion Council admitted yesterday that a proposed scheme of health certificates for models – one of many suggestions after last year's inquiry into models' health – would not succeed until it was backed internationally


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“Can you believe this is our thirtieth anniversary conference?” Paul Cooper says as he takes the stage in Birmingham in front of a packed crowd of SAP users.
As chairman of the UK & SAP User Group, which consists of a community of over 680 member organisations and 6,000 SAP professionals, he’s seen some changes over the years – and helped affect more than a few too.
Noting the longevity of the group Mr Cooper comments that: “Maybe most importantly we’ve stayed relevant. Technology is always at the core of what we do, but we cater for so many different business audiences that we can’t be considered just a technical user group anymore.”
The SAP veteran adds: “As technology has become more important to the success of our organisations, the need for us to be able to influence technology vendors and service suppliers has become more important than ever.”
While Paul Cooper goes on to talk about the group’s mature partnership with SAP – Europe’s largest tech company – and its successes over the years, all is not entirely rosy within the SAP user ecosystem: “It wouldn’t be a user group conference without us talking about licensing. [The issue]’s not going away…” he says.
SAP User Group Conference: Licencing Challenges on Many Lips
In April of this year SAP announced a new licensing model for indirect access; while the user group welcomed the model, they are quick to comment that SAP needs to give “reassurances to existing customers.”
Indirect access occurs when a SAP customer uses a third-party application in conjunction with SAP’s database.
The concerns over indirect access come after the company Diageo enabled SAP’s ERP system to be accessed via third-party software, in that case Salesforce software.
This resulted in SAP bringing a legal case against Diageo with the courts ruling that Diageo should pay SAP £54,503,578 worth of damages.
That case was settled out of court, but it has left the user base concerned.
SAP says that it wants to show its customers greater empathy when it comes to the issue of indirect licensing and the users do have questions such as when is a customer deemed to have indirect usage? Will SAP change the rules in their future?
SAP have stated that it is hard to judge these issues as each customer scenario is different, to which Paul Cooper says the company should: “Give us the 10 most typical and talk us through how the commercials worked out.”
He is clearly speaking as a representative of the user group, because he makes their concerns visible: “Most of us in this room have been SAP customers for many years and we need to know that we won’t be asked pay more for indirect use cases and implementations that were undertaken in good faith prior to the new model.”
“Without reassurances, and we see this in our conversations, customers could find themselves in a state of paralysis, afraid to look backwards or forwards, even afraid to look at what they are going to invest,” states Cooper.
Licensing is the big talking point here in Birmingham and it is clear that SAP needs to give a more concrete reassurance to the user base that has so far remained loyal, but patience does have a habit of running out.


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Everyone has their go-to response when their stress levels are off the charts. Some virtuous people like to sweat it out with a gym session or decompress with some yoga or meditation. Others (cough, me) default to ordering greasy takeaway and watching something mindless on Netflix. Then, there are the people who swear by chocolate to make it all better. If you fit into that last category, we’ve got some good news for you—you’re on the right track. Chocolate has actually been scientifically proven to make you calmer and happier, by regulating neural pathways and encouraging your brain to produce serotonin dopamine. That said, not all chocolate is created equal when it comes to fighting stress.
A new study published in Science Daily shows that dark chocolate is the best type of chocolate to eat when you’re stressed. I know right: cue eye roll.
‘Nowaaaay—the more sugary and decadent the chocolate, the better I’m going to feel,’ you may think. But here’s the thing—the research has revealed that contrary to previous belief, that isn’t the case.
The study, which was presented at the Experimental Biology 2018 meeting a few weeks ago, was the first time researchers have looked into the impact of large amounts of cacao in doses as small as a regular sized chocolate bar in humans over short or long periods of time.
A post shared by LOVING EARTH (@loving_earth) on Feb 4, 2018 at 12:36am PST
“We have looked at the influence of dark chocolate on neurological functions from the standpoint of sugar content,” says principal researcher Lee S. Berk of the School of Allied Health Professions and Loma Linda University. “[However] these studies show us that the higher the concentration of cacao, the more positive the impact on cognition, memory, mood, immunity and other beneficial effects.”
That is, it’s not the high amount of sugar in chocolate that’s giving us those good vibes, it’s the cacao itself. The research showed that the chocolate you eat must have a cacao percentage of at least 70% in order for the benefits to come through. In the first study, cacao consumption at this percentage was found to “[up-regulate] multiple intracellular signaling pathways involved in T-cell activation, cellular immune response, and genes involved in neural signalling sensory perception.” Meanwhile, the second study revealed that 70 percent cacao “enhances neuroplasticity for behavioural and brain benefits”
Those benefits go beyond just helping you feel less stressed. The flavonoids in cacao have been found to do everything from improving your memory and mood to having an anti-inflammatory effect on the body that helps prevent cancer and neurodegenerative and cardiovascular disease. So there you have it— you officially have permission to chow down on some delicious dark chocolate for the sake of your physical and mental health!


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What you need to know
- According to Capcom, the Resident Evil franchise has crossed 100 million copies sold.
- The most recent entry in the series is the Resident Evil 3 remake.
- Capcom just announced Resident Evil: Village, the eighth mainline game in the franchise.
In a press release, Capcom shared the news that the Resident Evil franchise has sold over 100 million copies. Resident Evil is the first Capcom series to pass the 100 million milestone. Monster Hunter: World remains the best-selling game overall however, with nearly 16 million copies sold.
The most recent game in the series is the Resident Evil 3 remake, which updated Jill Valentine's escape from Raccoon City for modern hardware. It's sold over 2 million copies since release.
Next up is Resident Evil: Village, a strange new entry that places players in the shoes of Ethan, the protagonist of Resident Evil 7: Biohazard. Resident Evil: Village is coming to Xbox Series X, PS5 and PC sometime in 2021.
A glorious remake
Resident Evil 3 is back and more gorgeous than ever. The package not only includes the remake of the original game, but the multiplayer game Resident Evil Resistance, as well.
Samuel Tolbert is a freelance writer covering gaming news, previews, reviews, interviews and different aspects of the gaming industry, specifically focusing on PlayStation on Android Central. You can find him on Twitter @SamuelTolbert
Across the entire franchise that isn't really very impressive at all.
Thought the same.
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Posted by AzBlueMeanie:
A coalition of labor, religious and other groups are calling for a nationwide strike by fast-food employees on August 29. Erik Sherman at CBS MoneyWatch reports, Fast-food workers urged to stage nationwide strike:
The call for a strike came this week from a public relations agency
that counts both the Service Employees International Union and United
Food & Commercial Workers as clients. Both labor groups are among
dozens of local and national religious, political, and union groups
supporting the call for strikes. Last month, the same groups supported walkouts in some fast-food restaurants
across seven cities. Others that have supported the event are the
United Auto Workers, the Presbyterian Church USA, individual churches
and synagogues like St. John's Catholic Church of St. Louis, and some
members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, including Minnesota
Congressman Keith Ellison.
The groups are calling for a
minimum wage of $15 an hour for fast-food workers, along with more
protections for employees wishing to unionize. According to the U.S.
Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average hourly wage last year for the
nation's roughly 505,000 fast-food cooks was $9.03 an hour, which amounts to $18,780 per year. The 2.9 million food preparation and serving workers had an average hourly wage of $9, or annual income of $18,720.
For many fast-food employees, even those low wages overstate their pay.
The annual wage estimates assume full-time employment of 2,080 hours a
year, or 40 hours a week, for a full 52 weeks. Many franchises limit
workers to working part-time, which keeps them from qualifying for
health care and other benefits.
The groups pushing for a strike note that fast food is a $200 billion
a year industry, with enormously well compensated CEOs. Industry leader
McDonald's (MCD) had total revenues of $27.6 billion and profits of $5.5 billion last year.
By contrast, pro-business organizations like the Employment Policies Institute — a PR front group created by conservative advocate Richard Berman
— rightly point out that many fast-food operations are operated by
independent franchise owners who operate under tight profit margins.
Pointing to a 2010 Deloitte study
for the National Restaurant Association, EPI claims that "[t]he typical
fast-food restaurant fitting McDonald's profile spends 30 to 35 percent
of its income paying labor costs." That is only true for "multi-unit
franchise-operated" establishments, which might describe a restaurant
operating company that owns a string of locations. For a single unit
franchisee, salaries and wages ranged from 22 percent to almost 35
percent of income, including management and employee benefits.
a comparison, full-service restaurants with an average check of less
than $15 per person had labor costs of from 28 percent to just over 39
percent. That figure doesn't include tip income generally unavailable to
Franchisees also pay significant amounts to the central corporation. McDonald's, for instance, charges franchise owners 4 percent of gross sales
as well as rent. Owners are often required to buy their good and
supplies from the company, eliminating competitive pressures that could
lower expenses. Food and beverage costs at multi-unit franchise-operated
restaurants ranged from 21 percent to 36 percent of income, with a
median cost of 34.6 percent of revenue. Franchisees also may have to pay
a percentage of sales for advertising.
In other words,
the corporations that back fast-food restaurants add significant costs
to franchisees' operations. McDonald's makes almost a third of its
annual revenue from franchisees. So even if only a minority of the
operations are directly owned and run by the big companies, the low
wages that many of the franchisees claim they need to make a profit
effectively subsidize the global corporation.
So frachisees and their employees are both getting screwed to subsidize multi-national corporations. These corporate behemoths are further subsidized by taxpayers who provide assistance to low-wage workers under public safety net programs. The "enemy," if you will, is the multi-national corporation without a conscience, driven only by its insatiable greed to increase profits. Franchisees should join arm-in-arm with their employees on the picket line against their corporate oppressors.
The AFL-CIO has more information about the national strike. Nationwide Fast-Food Strike Set for Aug. 29 – AFL-CIO:
The growing movement for a living wage and justice for fast-food and other low-wage workers will reach another milestone next week with a nationwide strike set for Aug. 29.
* * *
The strike is set for the day after the 50th anniversary of the March on
Washington for Jobs and Freedom. One of the historic march’s demands
was to "give all Americans a decent standard of living," and it called
for a minimum wage of $2 per hour. Adjusted for inflation, that would
equal $15.26 an hour today.
* * *
Fast food is a $200 billion a year industry and retail is a $4.7
trillion industry, yet many service workers across the country earn
minimum wage or just above it and are forced to rely on public
assistance programs to provide for their families and get health care
for their children. The median age in the fast-food industry is older
than 28 and more than one-quarter of fast-food workers are raising at least one child.
Learn more at Low Pay Is Not OK.


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Lady Baby Set to Make European Debut at HYPER JAPAN Christmas Market 2015
Japanese sensation, Lady Baby, will be making their long-awaited European debut on the Live.Japan stage in this year’s HYPER JAPAN London Christmas Market 2015.
A rigid blend of turbo J-Pop and Heavy Metal, the self-described “kawaii-death” sensations exploded onto the world stage earlier this year. Their first single “Nippon Manju” has attracted over 9 million views on YouTube and they are set to spread their enigmatic personas to the London public at HYPER JAPAN.
The idol group consists of Rie Kaneko – 17, Rei Kuromiya – 14, and Ladybeard, an Australian professional wrestler and kawaiicore performer who describes himself as a 5-year-old with a beard. Lady Baby’s upcoming appearance at HYPER JAPAN will mark their European debut.
Lady Baby said “We are so excited to make our UK and European debut at HYPER JAPAN! We hope all of our cute fans in London will love us, it’s such a great city and we can’t wait to show everyone kawaii-death. We will DESTROY all borders of gender, nationality, age, culture, rules and everything with singing and dancing!”
It is Ladybeard and Lady Baby who will be the main attraction in the long list of performers due to appear at this year’s HYPER JAPAN Christmas Market. Joining them in an all-star round-up is the Rakugo comedy master Katsura Sunshine, beauty and fashion icon MINORI plus many more.
For a full list of performers appearing at HYPER JAPAN click this link.
HYPER JAPAN started in 2010, and this will mark the 9th event in London. HYPER JAPAN festival 2015, the most recent festival, finished successfully in July with tens of thousands of participants.
HYPER JAPAN Christmas Market 2015 will be taking place from Friday 27 November 2015 to Sunday 29 November 2015 at Tobacco Dock London.


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Eoin Treacy's view -
In Brazil, the inflation pick-up comes as economists and company executives sound the alarm on rising meat prices due to dwindling supply. China, the world’s top meat consumer, doubled pork imports and shipped in 63% more beef in October than a year earlier as the country struggles to ease shortages due to African swine fever.
“The food price shock has arrived” in Brazil, said Leonardo Costa, an economist at Rosenberg Associados. “We’re increasing our 2019 inflation call to 4% because the increase in food and
beverage costs will be even stronger in December.”
If inflation is rising, and this appears to be a global phenomenon that will reduce the ability of central banks to continue to cut interest rates. That was certainly a factor in the RBI’s decision to hold rates steady in India today and similar decisions are likely across emerging markets as the full impact of higher food prices rolls through.
This section continues in the Subscriber's Area. Back to top


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Cape Coral couple arrested for fireworks theft
CAPE CORAL — Authorities say a Florida couple stole thousands of dollars in fireworks and tried to sell them online.
News outlets report 25-year-old Michael Naple and 20-year-old Ashley Lyall were arrested Thursday. They face several charges including grand theft and dealing stolen property.
The Lee County Sheriff's Office said in a press release that they were asked to watch a fireworks tent overnight by an employee at the business. Naple told deputies the couple awoke, hearing a noise, and found that thousands of dollars in fireworks had been stolen.
Detectives later discovered an online local buy/sell website with the fireworks on sale. Detectives arranged to meet the online seller to purchase the fireworks. During the buy, detectives discovered the sellers were Naple and Lyall.
It's unclear if they have lawyers.


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Google has seen the future and it’s the Web
This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.
Google got its geek on Wednesday for the kickoff of its two-day I/O conference for 5,000 developers in San Francisco where it pitched its vision of the future: the Web.
“The Web is the most important platform of our generation,” said Vic Gundotra, Google’s vice president of engineering.
The Internet giant showed off rich multimedia applications that come alive in the browser, not on the desktop, to get developers excited about the possibilities for creating Web applications that people can download to their desktops or mobile phones.
Google also introduced a potentially major coming attraction: a Web applications store called the Chrome Web Store where consumers can read reviews and ratings, and download or buy a variety of applications, including video games and magazines. The idea is to make it easier for developers to get their wares in front of consumers and make money with one-click app purchasing.
Sundar Pichai, Google’s vice president of product management, said that developers would be able to build apps for the store using standard Web technologies. The catch: You have to use Chrome to use the store, which will open later this year. It’s being built directly into the Chrome browser and into the Chrome operating system which will launch later this year.
Google also showed off an open-source, royalty-free video format called WebM. Mozilla and Opera executives said onstage that they would support the new format which will compete with browsers from Apple and Microsoft.
As we wrote earlier, Google also made its Wave product open to everyone.
Google wrapped up the keynote by unveiling its Google App Engine, which helps developers build and host Web apps for business. It also announced a collaboration with VMware. This is all part of Google’s ambitious push into enterprise development and puts Google in direct competition with Amazon Web Services. You can read more about that here.
-- Jessica Guynn


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Pokemon Red & Yellow sell at auction for record-breaking $162,000
Two sealed copies of Pokemon Red & Yellow sold at auction on November 20 for mind-blowing amounts of money. The 90s Game Boy RPGs broke records and brought in over $160k combined.
Pokemon made its North American debut in 1998, and quickly became a cultural phenomena. The series is just months away from its 25th anniversary, and has never been more popular. In 2019, reports listed the Nintendo property as the highest-grossing media franchise of all time, in fact.
In 2020, the 1999 Trading Card Game has had a major revival in popularity, with items selling for hundreds of thousands of dollars. However, now it looks like it’s not just the TCG that is seeing an explosion in value, as two Game Boy RPGs sold for as much as a house during a November 20 auction.
Pokemon Red & Yellow sell for insane amount of money
For many children of the 90s, their introduction to Pokemon was through the Game Boy titles, Red & Blue. The Game Freak RPGs hooked players with their addictive “Gotta Catch ‘Em All” mechanics. Decades later, adults are spending absurds amount of cash to rekindle their nostalgia.
On November 20, a 1998 sealed copy of Red sold for a whopping $84k, and a 1999 Yellow $78k. Both items were sold off at Heritage Auctions where bidders spent an absurd amount on the rare collectibles. In total, the two classic releases brought in $162k – a new record for both games.
It should be pointed out that both copies were sealed and had a 9.8 rating in condition by professional grading company Wata. Finding these 21-year-old collectibles in such pristine quality is nearly impossible in 2020.
Two graded and sealed Pokemon Game Boy games sold for $84,000 and $78,000 today in @HeritageAuction video game auction, both records for price paid for a Game Boy collectible. pic.twitter.com/wBP4ybeKxN
— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) November 20, 2020
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Pokemon has had a massive year so far in terms of collectibles. A sealed 1st Edition booster box from the 1999 Trading Card Game sold at the same auction company a day earlier for over $360,000.
As Pokemon inches closer to its 25th anniversary in 2021, the Nintendo franchise has never been hotter. Kids around the world that fell in love with the Nintendo RPGs are now grown up and wanting to recapture their childhood.
With the game set to have a major presence at the Tokyo Summer Olympics next year as well, the sky is the limit as to how much items from the series are going to continue to rise in value – but it doesn’t look to be slowing down anytime soon.


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The European vehicle lineup is a bit different when compared to the one in America. Where as its American lineup was outdated and uncompetitive a few years ago, the European products are just fine. The Opel Insignia was 2009’s European Car of the Year and the Astra was third in 2010.
Instead of product failures, it’s the high operating costs and mediocre sales that are hurting the company. On top of that, GM’s increased emphasis on importing cars from Korea has lowered production costs.
GM of Europe has seen its market share in Germany plummet to 8 percent during the first quarter of 2010. On the plus side, an increased demand for Chevrolet in the United Kingdom has seen the company’s European market share climb by 0.6 percent.
During the second quarter, GM did manage to reduce losses, but it was at a terrible cost. There were massive job cuts - around 8,000 people - and the closure of a plant in Belgium. Many believe this, and GM’s overall downturn, has hurt the brand’s image. GM even tried to sell Opel, but they changed their minds.


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Reuters KHJ // TC
According to sites interested in modern technology affairs, Samsung is seeking to develop a new generation of processors for smart phones.
According to the available information, Samsung is currently studying the idea of building a new factory for phone processors in the United States, in an effort to strengthen its position in the market of processors there, and to attract new American customers and companies to cooperate with it.
Samsung’s plan, according to Bloomberg, includes building the new plant in Austin, Texas, where it plans to spend about $ 10 billion to finance the project.
It is assumed, according to the leaks, that Samsung will start installing the equipment in its new factory next year, starting in 2023 by manufacturing processors of a whole new generation, developed with 3-nm technology.
Some analysts believe that this step may help Samsung acquire new American customers and companies in the United States, especially in light of the sanctions imposed on some Chinese manufacturers of electronics.
Commenting on these news and leaks, Samsung indicated to Bloomberg that it has not made a final decision on the matter yet.


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AAPEX has been named one of the Top 25 fastest-growing shows in attendance by Trade Show News Network (TSNN). AAPEX represents the $740 billion global automotive aftermarket industry and is held annually at the Sands Expo in Las Vegas.
AAPEX earned a spot in the Top 25 for its attendance growth rate between 2014 and 2016, and will be officially honored during a TSNN Awards Program in August in New Orleans.
Nearly 44,000 targeted buyers, including automotive service professionals, automotive parts retailers, warehouse distributors and dealers, are in Las Vegas every November during AAPEX to see the latest from more than 2,200 exhibiting companies.
AAPEX is set to continue this year from Oct. 31 through Nov. 2. Approximately 158,000 automotive aftermarket professionals from more than 140 countries are projected to be in Las Vegas during AAPEX and the SEMA Show.


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Wendake, QC – The countdown has begun! In less than a year, Québec Aboriginal Tourism (QAT) will host the International Aboriginal Tourism Conference in Fairmont Le Château Frontenac (on March 24-25, 2015).
This major conference will bring together 200 leaders, entrepreneurs and key players of the aboriginal tourism industry from Québec, Canada and other parts of the world like USA, Australia and New Zeleand. It will be a platform for sharing best practices and knowledge about aboriginal tourism, exchanging ideas, highlighting our rapidly growing industry and recognizing the achievements of aboriginal tourism enterprises in Canada and abroad.
The 3rd Conference was held this year in Whistler, British Columbia, on April 15-16. At this event, the delegation of QAT and Tourisme Québec proudly announced that the next edition would be held in Huron-Wendat territory and invited all those present.
Details about the schedule and registration procedures will be made available here. Work has already begun to provide you with an event that will live up to our legendary values of sharing and hospitality.
QAT is proud to be a partner of the Aboriginal Tourism Marketing Circle (ATMC), whose members held a meeting in the light of this announcement. ATMC officially launched its new bilingual website aboriginaltourismmarketingcircle.ca at that meeting and presented the first national award for aboriginal tourism. We would like to congratulate the first winner, B.C.’s Haida House at Tllaal. Québec had two nominations for this award – Steeve Gros-Louis from Wendake and the Cree Cultural Institute Aanischaaukamikw in Oujé-Bougoumou.
QAT would like to thank Aboriginal Tourism British Columbia (ATBC) for organizing these discussions focused on the importance of partnerships. We would also like to congratulate them for winning the World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) award for leadership and commitment to the fundamental principles of the Larrakia Declaration.
Each year, Aboriginal Québec welcomes over 800,000 visitors, sustains 3,500 jobs and generates an estimated $169 million in economic benefits.
QAT represents more than one hundred members from aboriginal tourism enterprises and band councils of all aboriginal nations of the province.
Contributing members are responsible for the accuracy of content contributed to the Member News section of AdventureTravelNews.


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Chicago’s coffee-loving sports fans are lighting up like an expired shot clock with last month’s opening of Mad West in the United Center, a retail collaboration between local roaster Dark Matter Coffee (DMC), Heisler Hospitality, and Levy Restaurants.
“We wanted to work with the United Center to provide the best representation of a DMC location, while honoring the heritage of everyone involved,” Kyle Hodges, DMC’s head of marketing, told Daily Coffee News. “The Bulls, Blackhawks, numerous events — and let’s not forget the Michael Jordan statue — are all iconic parts of Chicago. A lot of effort and thought went into creating a space that would honor these things, while still providing a new space that is unlike anything found in sports arenas.”
Inspired by elements of Chicago’s Near West Side, the space is designed with brick and murals by well-known local artists JC Rivera and Tyrue “Slang” Jones. A rotating art series will be launching soon, where selected artists will have their work hung in the adjacent wall across from the retail space, while selected will also be featured on some bags of coffee.
Located in the United Center’s public atrium, Mad West is staying open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. On event days, service is available for an hour after the event ends. Although there may be some unique challenges in serving sports fans and event attendees, Hodges sees this as an opportunity rather than an obstacle.
“Everyone appreciates a great cup of coffee. The patrons who are attending the events, as well as the neighborhood folks who come into the location during normal days, all want quality coffee at reasonable prices, with great customer service. We focus on doing just that,” Hodges said. “Too often the focus is pushed away from these three key pieces of what make businesses succeed.”
The menu at Mad West features several of DMC’s signature drinks, hot and iced coffee options, espresso-based beverages, and teas. Espresso drinks are made through a La Marzocco Linea, the standard piece of machinery within DMC’s other shops. The menu also features baked goods from West Town Bakery and Do Rite Donuts, as with all DMC locations.
A rotating selection of different barrel-aged iced coffees will be featured throughout the year, from the standard whiskey to beer, wine, tequila, and rum. DMC collaborates with numerous breweries, companies, and restaurants for its ongoing green coffee barrel-aging program.
“While DMC didn’t create barrel-aging coffee — something that dates back to the Dutch East Indies trading company — we are definitely the leader in this category,” said Hodges. “Having released over 85 different barrel-aged coffees since our first in August of 2014, we know how to make each barrel-aged selection original, without sacrificing consistency.”
DMC was established in 2007 with a flagship location, Star Lounge Coffee Bar, and is led by Jesse Diaz, DMC’s president and founder. The company has since opened numerous retail locations — each with its own elements of DMC’s characteristic underground psychedelia — while growing to more than 70 employees.
“We are proud to call Chicago home and work hard every day to make the best coffee on the planet,” Hodges said.
A new retail location — to be called Electric Mud — is scheduled to open within months. Like their other spaces, the location will have its own theme, mural, and other “electrified elements of artistic awesomeness to adorn every square inch,” according to the company. The inspiration for the new space is from Muddy Water’s album of the same name recorded in 1968 at Ter Mar Studios in Chicago. Said Hodges, “It’s a stone cold classic.”
Additional DMC locations are planned for late 2018 and early 2019.
Mad West is now open inside the United Center at 1901 W. Madison Street in Chicago.