text:
Credit institutions maintained lending standards for retail housing loans and land ones constant and have marginally toughened those for consumer loans in the last quarter of 2017, shows survey conducted by the National Bank of Romania (BNR) on lending to non-financial companies and population.
According to the document, at the level of non-financial companies, lending conditions were maintained at a steady level compared to the previous quarter. Banks forecast for the first quarter of 2018 the marginal tightening of lending standards for both mortgage and consumer loans. Instead, according to banks, the lending standards for non-financial companies will not change in Q1 / 2018.
The BNR survey shows that, in Q4 / 2017, loan demand declined significantly on the both segments of retail loans. In the case of non-financial companies, aggregate demand for credit continued at a constant level over the previous quarter, contrary to the banks’ initial expectations indicating an increase.
The BNR notes that the survey is conducted quarterly in January, April, July and October. It is based on a questionnaire (published within the May 2008 analysis) which is sent to the top 10 banks selected according to the market share related to crediting companies and population. These institutions hold about 80% of the lending to these sectors.


text:
CHESTERFIELD TOWNSHIP, MICH. — Transforming a roomful of skeptical Bob Woodward wannabes into wonder-struck children is all in a day`s work for Lionel Trains magnate Richard Kughn.
``Say the magic word-Lionel-and that`ll start the trains,`` Kughn said from the command center at the company`s Chesterfield Township Visitors Center as he pulled down the five levers.
Ceiling lights flooded 10 trains as they chugged or zoomed past one another over 1,000 feet of track crisscrossing miniature villages and mountains.
The same reporters who had walked into the room with rigid self-assurance soon were craning their necks to spot the silver Amtrak train emerge from the tunnel, and hopping from one accessory to another, testing the crossing gates and the loading docks.
``Welcome to Lionelville,`` read the index card-size billboard signs. Nicholas DeGrazia, president of Lionel Trains, said employees initiated the project and volunteered evenings and weekends for more than half a year to build the 560-square-foot layout.
``Ten employees from the company came to us and said they had a great idea. We build these trains in a manufacturing environment, and when we take people through the factory, they all have the same question when we get to the end: `Well, we didn`t see any trains running. Where can we play with the trains?` ``
More practically, the 91-year-old company hopes that the center will attract visitors and boost recently sluggish sales. The recession has not spared model trains, said Kughn, adding that sales have dropped about 17 percent in the last two years.
``Model trains are not low-ticket items, and people have been buying low- ticket items for the past two years,`` Kughn said.
The company also will begin exporting to Europe next year, with plans to ship trains to Australia and Japan.
A longtime model train enthusiast, Kughn bought Lionel in 1986 after the quality and sales of its products had declined in the early `80s. Kughn turned the 500-employee company around and made $50 million in 1988.

domain: news


text:
The owner of the Regus, Spaces and the No.18 serviced office accommodation brands is reported to be considering splitting the business as the market evolves towards the WeWork model.
It is reported that Regus founder and CEO of IWG, Mark Dixon, is proposing to hive off its operating brands from the company’s property portfolio with the brands continuing as a standalone franchise. Such a move would pave the way for a potential sale of the property portfolio, worth an estimated £200m. As well as creating value for shareholders the franchise system could facilitate faster expansion of the individual brands.
Regus is still the predominant brand in the serviced accommodation market with 3,000 offices worldwide. However, it has come under pressure from WeWork of late, which despite a much smaller portfolio of under 300 offices has a market valuation of £20bn.
It is anticipated IWG could make an announcement within the next few weeks.
Such a move, allowing a more agile IWG to compete more effectively with WeWork, isn’t unlikely given Dixon’s 40-odd-year track record of innovation.


text:
Austria’s government will finalize plans to raise more than 200 million euros ($224 million) in taxes from Internet businesses in its meeting April 3, the chancellery said in an emailed statement.
The move comes after Austria failed to convince the other European Union members last year to agree on a joint plan that ensures Internet giants can’t avoid national taxes. The estimated revenue the measure will generate is equivalent to 0.2 percent of Austria’s total 2018 tax income.
“We’re making a first important step to increase the contribution of digital giants to the tax revenue,” Finance Minister Hartwig Loeger said in the statement.
The three-pronged tax package, first flagged in January, includes:
- A 5 percent tax on advertising sales that targets companies such as Alphabet’s Google or Facebook.
- A requirement for online platforms such as Airbnb to report to Austrian tax authorities the transactions they arrange, and be liable if landlords don’t tax their rental income.
- Two thirds of the foreseeable revenue expected to come from online retailers from non-EU countries such as Alibaba Group Holding; they will have to pay value-added tax for low-value goods as an exemption for orders below 22 euros is phased out.
©2019 Bloomberg L.P. All rights reserved. Used with permission


text:
Kony has unveiled results from a new sponsored enterprise mobility app designer and developer survey, which highlights key pain points in the enterprise mobile app development process. The “Bridging the Gap: Mobile App Design and Development” survey reveals that a traditional approach to mobile application development for enterprises causes friction and misalignment between developers and designers, with 50 percent of respondents saying their projects fail to lock or get approved because of user interface issues.
The survey of more than 340 respondents from leading global brands reveals a clear gap in the mobile app design and development process specifically when it comes to user interface and user experience. This user interface gap and rework are the causes for many change requests, which lead to project delays and poor user adoption.
“Today’s IT departments are struggling to keep pace with the demands of their business to mobilise their enterprise,” said Dave Shirk, executive vice president and chief marketing officer, Kony, Inc. “CIOs are faced with the challenge of rapidly delivering mobile applications for their businesses, and this survey sheds light on one of the biggest hurdles: business users, designers and developers don’t see eye to eye when it comes to user experience and interface design, which can cause costly delays and mobile app failures, leaving the business looking for a better answer.”
“To ensure mobile app success, businesses should take a holistic approach to mobile app development,” continued Shirk. “In the world of mobile, the software development lifecycle needs to begin with design. Mobile app design is often overlooked in the development process, but companies are finding that most mobile apps fail because of lack of user adoption caused by poor design and experience. Enterprises should design their app with a mobile perspective when it comes to look and feel of the app. Doing this in a collaborative way and leveraging cloud technology is far better than the classic design tools, which have zero functionality or relevance to support the rich and varied user experience requirements of mobile technology.”


text:
Over one million sole traders have been shunned by mainstream lenders, with nearly a third of one-man bands admitting they’ve been turned down for a loan, according to new research from Amigo Loans.
The survey of 500 sole traders found that when refused credit, entrepreneurs are turning to their nearest and dearest for financial support. 40% turn to family and 30% look to their friends to give them a helping hand.
In addition, 42% of business entrepreneurs are also dipping into their overdraft to fund their aspirations. This comes despite the fact authorised overdraft fees have hit record highs this summer as the banks introduce new usage fees. These fees have forced the cost of using an overdraft up to six times that in 2009 with the typical cost of an authorised overdraft now £140 a year. If the overdraft isn’t authorised this can be substantially higher with charges of up to £35 for each payment made.
Over 5% of business start-ups which have been turned down by mainstream lenders didn’t look anywhere else to support with funding. This means nearly 73,000 potential businesses may have simply faded away because they haven’t been able to access the funding they needed, Amigo Loans claimed.
Glen Crawford, CEO of Amigo Loans, commented: “It’s a disgrace that the people who keep our society operating, the mobile hairdressers, the wedding photographers, cleaners, cafe owners, mechanics, driving instructors and a whole host of other ambitious sole traders are being alienated by banks –the bankers have forgotten why they exist.
“Whilst some responses may be tongue in cheek, our findings outline the clear lack of confidence people have in high street lenders. At Amigo we have the flexibility to lend to microbusinesses because of the way we lend. If a borrower’s family and friends trust them and they can afford the repayments, we’ll support any business. We have already helped over 6000 businesses across the UK.”


text:
FORTUNE -- Next time you whip out your iPhone on the sidewalk or the subway, you might first want to glance over your shoulder. Smartphones have become a favorite target of thieves who do what the police call a snatch and grab. One favorite M.O.: The perp grabs a phone and jumps off the train just as the doors are closing. So far this year, over 40% of thefts in MOREOct 17, 2011 5:00 AM ET
AT&T alone sold 200,000 in 12 hours. By Friday night, ship dates slipped to 1-2 weeks
If you had any doubts that Apple (AAPL) would be able to beat the record 1.7 million iPhones sold in three days in June 2010, you can put them to rest.
Despite early glitches that slowed down pre-orders, AT&T (T) announced Friday it had taken orders for 200,000 iPhone 4S units in the first 12 hours MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 8, 2011 8:25 AM ET
Fifteen months after the iPhone 4 was introduced, Apple unveils its successor: the iPhone 4S
Apple on Tuesday introduced a new iPhone, the iPhone 4S, and a new voice control system called Siri that it hopes will keep it ahead of its competitors by changing the way people communicate with their mobile phones.
Siri, however, is still in beta -- or not quite finished -- mode.
And the phone most of the world MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Oct 4, 2011 11:38 AM ET
Fortune's curated selection of newsworthy tech stories from the last 24 hours. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you every day.
* Sprint (S) is betting billions that the next Apple smartphone will boost its business. The number 3 mobile network in the U.S. reportedly committed to buy more than 30 million iPhones and doesn't expect to make money off the deal until 2014. (The Wall Street Journal)
* Speaking of, Apple (AAPL) finally reveals MOREJP Mangalindan, Writer - Oct 4, 2011 3:30 AM ET
Expect two new models and expansion into untapped U.S. and Chinese carriers
J.P. Morgan's Mark Moskowitz, one of the last holdouts on Wall Street, has come around to what has become conventional wisdom among Apple (AAPL) watchers: That the company is set to release not one but two iPhones, an iPhone 5 and what Moskowitz calls an iPhone 4-plus.
In a report to clients Monday he describes what his "research" has turned up. MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Sep 19, 2011 12:14 PM ET
Fortune's curated selection of the day's most newsworthy tech stories from all over the Web. Sign up to get the newsletter delivered to you every day.
* The Netflix-Starz partnership is no more, meaning all Starz content on the movie and TV-streaming service will be unavailable beginning next February. In a statement, Netflix (NFLX) CEO Reed Hastings told Business Insider that domestic viewership of Starz content has declined to 8% given increasing content from MOREJP Mangalindan, Writer - Sep 2, 2011 3:30 AM ET
According to the Wall Street Journal, Apple will add a third U.S. carrier in mid-October
"Sprint Nextel Corp. will begin selling the iPhone 5 in mid-October, people familiar with the matter said, closing a huge hole in the No. 3 U.S. carrier's lineup and giving Apple Inc. another channel for selling its popular phone."
So begins the report in the Wall Street Journal -- Apple's (AAPL) current favorite backchannel outlet for releasing unofficial product news -- that MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - Aug 23, 2011 5:26 PM ET
Brain tumor rates in Japanese atomic bomb survivors are often used to scare cell phone owners. The real story turns out to be far more reassuring.
FORTUNE - Tumors in the brains of Japanese civilians who survived Hiroshima and Nagasaki seem to tell a frightening tale, the story of how a cancer epidemic can remain hidden for several decades and then suddenly metastasize. The atomic bombings thus provide a perfect explanation MOREScott Woolley - Jul 28, 2011 9:00 AM ET
Want to buy a high-definition cell phone? You can now get one in 22 countries, including Uganda — but not the U.S.
FORTUNE -- Thirty years of experience have taught people to expect conversations over mobile phones to be low-fidelity affairs. But around the world people are quickly learning it doesn't have to be that way.
Today, the technology exists to make mobile phone calls sound not just good, but flat-out great. This MOREScott Woolley - Jul 18, 2011 8:51 AM ET
The No. 1 carrier signed up 3.4 million new subs last quarter, while its competitors lost share
It's probably fair to assume that at least part of the Q1 2011 bump in the blue line at right can be attributed to the Feb. 10 launch of the Apple (AAPL) iPhone for Verizon Wireless (VZ).
As Piper Jaffray's Christopher Larson notes in a report to clients Monday, 38% of the new cellular subscriptions MOREPhilip Elmer-DeWitt - May 9, 2011 1:10 PM ET
|Delinquent IRS employees paid bonuses by the agency|
|Court quizzes Aereo: Do TV streams break the law?|
|Gun silencer sales are booming|
|How women can narrow the 'confidence gap'|
|Premarkets: Waiting for big tech earnings|


text:
Kubrin impresses Little Hoover Commission with retail-theft presentation
- February 1, 2024
- Charis Kubrin, law, criminology, and society, UCI News, February 1, 2024
After explaining her extensive research showing no correlation between criminal justice reform measures and crime in California, UC Irvine criminology, law and society professor Charis Kubrin offered recommendations about recent trends in retail theft to the Little Hoover Commission during a Jan. 24 video hearing.
For the full story, please visit https://socialecology.uci.edu/news/expertise-action.
Related News Items
- Opinion: Laken Riley's killing does reflect a broader danger. But it isn't 'immigrant crime'
- UC Irvine law, criminology experts release second edition of Rap on Trial: A Legal Guide
- Charis E. Kubrin has been named a Faculty Fellow of UCI's Newkirk Center for Science and Society
- California lawmakers want to stop 'alarming rise' in retail theft. How big is the problem?
- National Academies report identifies ways to reduce intergenerational poverty in US


text:
Sling TV Integrates Locast to Add Locals to Grid Guide on Amazon Fire TV
While Sling TV only offers local NBC and FOX affiliates in local markets – they are now making it easier to stream your locals on your Amazon Fire TV device. With an integration with Locast, now you can access local channels in 35 markets from a single interface. This comes after rolling the feature out on Android TV, including the Air TV Mini, and iOS and Android mobile devices earlier this year.
Locast, the donation-supported streaming service, includes ABC, NBC, FOX, CBS, The CW, PBS, and others – with a $5.50 monthly donation to the service. For a limited time, you can get a your first month of Sling TV for just $10, which is the least expensive way to stream the 2020 Olympics on NBC, NBCSN, USA Network, and The Olympic Channel.
In the Sling TV Fire TV App, which just had a major refresh, you will be prompted to install Locast on your device. Once you do, when you select a Locast-powered local in your TV guide, it will switch over to the Locast App automatically. While you can stream them from Sling TV, you won’t be able to record them to a DVR.
One of the primary ways that Sling TV keeps costs down is by not including local affiliates, which cost $15-20 a month to other services.
Earlier this year, Locast announced that they now have 2.8 million registered users in total.
“Our mission is clear: to increase accessibility and availability of free over-the-air broadcasts via the internet,” said consumer advocate David Goodfriend, chairman and founder of the nonprofit Locast. “The fast pace of our growth shows that for millions of Americans, reliable, affordable, and accessible local broadcast programming has been out of reach until now.”
Locast is now available in 35 markets reaching half of the U.S. population. In 2020, Locast launched in Puerto Rico, Florida, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Indianapolis markets, among others.
The 35 markets carrying the service are:
- Los Angeles
- New York
- Puerto Rico
- Rapid City
- San Francisco
- Sioux City
- Sioux Falls
- Tampa Bay
- Washington DC
- West Palm Beach


text:
Official Phuket Monopoly Game Coming Next Year
Global board game icon Monopoly will launch an official Phuket version in 2021.
The Phuket game will be the same product but highlight local landmarks and locations on the island.
A UK company has licensed the game from Hasbro and is creating a number of licensed products around the world.
The company has set up a Facebook site to ask for public comments on what locations should be promoted.


text:
Nigeria’s premier and leading financial services provider, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, has announced that its 2019 FirstBank Agric Expo would hold on Friday, 30 August 2019 at the Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos. The 2019 edition – the third in the series – is themed “Agricultural Value Chain – Spotlighting Opportunities and Managing Risks” would have Professor Benedict Oramah, President of AFREXIM Bank as the Keynote Speaker.
The annual FirstBank Agric Expo, launched in 2017 provides the lead in national discourse on sustainable agriculture value-chain as a substantial source of Nigeria’s economic development, improved contribution to her balance of trade as well as foreign exchange. The 2019 edition would host over 600 delegates and over 60 exhibitors to display the latest technology in farm equipment, tools and machineries as well as packaged finished agricultural produce, logistics and supply, thereby keeping the participants and sundry agribusiness practitioners abreast with new opportunities in the Agricultural industry.
Besides the plenary session, the expo will feature three (3) Masterclasses with in-depth analysis on specific areas of Agribusiness, facilitated by enterprising Subject Matter Experts (SMEs). The Masterclass facilitators include Mr Leonard Anyanwu, Group Executive Director, Saro International Limited; Mr Segun Ogunwale, Team Lead, Kominity Digital and Mr Bamidele Ayemibo Managing Director, 3T Impex Trade Centre, who will provide insight as well as share success stories and experiences.
Expressing his delight on FirstBank’s leading role at not just promoting Agriculture but diversifying the Nigerian economy, the CEO, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, Dr. Adesola Adeduntan said, ”In the last 125 years, more than any other financial institution, we have played a key role in financing different sectors of not just the Nigerian economy but other economies in sub-Saharan Africa. As Nigeria expands opportunities in its non-oil sector – especially Agriculture – we remain committed to the growth of the agricultural sector and its contribution to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product.”
“Our consistency in convening the FirstBank Agric Expo, which is in its third consecutive edition, is a demonstration of our commitment to building the agribusiness economy which is capable of delivering sustained prosperity by meeting domestic food security goals, generating exports, supporting sustainable income and creating employment opportunities,” he concluded.
First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) is the premier Bank in West Africa and the leading banking services solutions provider in Nigeria for 125 years. With some 15 million customer accounts, FirstBank provides a comprehensive range of retail and corporate financial services with over 750 business locations. The Bank has an international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.
Since its establishment in 1894, FirstBank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on the fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management and leadership. Over the years, the Bank has led the financing of private investment in infrastructure development in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in the Federal Government’s privatisation and commercialisation schemes. With its global reach, FirstBank provides prospective investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities that are available in Nigeria, an internationally competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.
FirstBank has been named “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group; “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards and “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years. Our brand purpose is to always put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision “To be the partner of the first choice in building your future”. Our brand promise is to always deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.
Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications
Zenith Bank rewards customers with massive giveaways in the “Zenith Beta Life” weekly promo
The Promo is open to existing and new Zenith Bank customers.
Zenith Bank Plc, Nigeria’s leading financial institution, has commenced its “Zenith Beta Life” Promo to reward customers of the Bank with gifts every week starting from 31st July 2020 to 30th July 2021.
During this period, fifty (50) customers will be selected via raffle draw each week and rewarded with gifts worth NGN30,000.
The Promo is open to existing and new Zenith Bank customers with the following raffle qualifying criteria:
- maintain a minimum deposit of NGN5,000 for the period;
- request and collect a Zenith Bank Card; and
- download and register on the Zenith Mobile App or register for *966# EazyBanking.
Zenith Bank Plc is recognised as one of the most customer-focused financial institutions in the country and was voted the most customer-focused bank in Nigeria for the retail and SME segments in the 2018 KPMG Annual Banking Industry Customer Satisfaction Survey (BICSS).
A clear leader in the digital space with several firsts in the deployment of innovative products, solutions and an assortment of alternative channels that ensure convenience, speed and safety of transactions, Zenith Bank has clearly distinguished itself in the Nigerian financial services industry through superior service quality, unique customer experience and sound financial indices.
In recognition of its track record of excellent performance, Zenith Bank was voted as the Best Commercial Bank in Nigeria 2019 by the World Finance and the Best Digital Bank in Nigeria 2019 by Agusto and Co. The Bank was also recognised as Bank of the Year and Best in Retail Banking at the 2019 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BOFI) Awards.
More recently, the Bank emerged as the Most Valuable Banking Brand in Nigeria, for the third consecutive year, in the Banker Magazine “Top 500 Banking Brands 2020”, number one Bank in Nigeria by Tier-1 Capital in the “2020 Top 1000 World Banks” Ranking published by The Banker Magazine, Best Bank in Nigeria 2020 in the Global Finance World’s Best Banks Awards 2020, and Bank of the Decade (People’s Choice) at the ThisDay Awards 2020.
Corporate Finance and Business Valuation redefined by Coronation Capital
Professor Aswath Damodaran took his time to provide practical guidance on the entire valuation process.
The word ‘valuation’ has been mistaken by several experts and audiences around the world as the process of pricing an asset. While some believe it is an opportunity for bargaining or negotiation between parties involved, lessons from the just concluded 2nd edition of the Coronation Capital Masterclass, which was tagged Corporate Finance and Business Valuation, suggests otherwise and the expert trainer provided a simplified process for carrying out company valuation.
The facilitator of the Masterclass, Professor Aswath Damodaran of New York University Sterns Business School took his time to provide practical guidance on the entire valuation process to the participants. According to him, “Valuation is not a science or an art, it is a craft that provides a bridge between values and numbers. Valuing an asset is not the same as pricing that asset. Valuation is driven by Cash-flows from existing assets, the growth in those cash flows and quality of the growth (which represents the risk in the process).
The Second edition of the Coronation Capital Masterclass which discussed “Corporate Finance and Business Valuation” with Professor Aswath Damodaran of the New York University Sterns Business School, unlike the first edition was hosted virtually due to the impact of the novel coronavirus on the globe which includes sustained travel restrictions.
Giving his opening remarks the Chairman of Coronation Capital Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede said the masterclass was an attestation to the value placed by the Coronation Capital and its ecosystem on valuation of assets and its culture of continuous learning and development. He described himself as a student of Professor Aswath Damodaran and believed it was a privilege to learn from the scholar.
Here are 10 key takeaways from the NYU Finance Professor’s classes during the Coronation Capital Masterclass session.
- Valuation Is not a Science or Art, but a Craft
- Valuing an Asset is not the same as Pricing an Asset
- A Good Valuation is the expression of a Possible, Plausible and Probable story in numbers
- When developing stories from numbers, ensure to connect all drivers of value to valuation and keep the feedback loop open
- All Valuations are biased. The only question is how much and in which direction is the bias
- There is no precise valuation and “You don’t have to be right to make money, you just have to be less wrong than everybody else”
- As companies get larger, it gets more difficult to sustain value-adding growth
- The payoff to Valuation is greatest when it is least precise
- Simpler valuation models do much better than complex ones
- Always question but respect markets. The market is always right
“Valuation is a process that needs to developed, through understanding what the #company does, and ensuring the story is possible, probable, and plausible, it should not sound too abstract”. – @AswathDamodaran
Every Valuation starts with a narrative. In developing that narrative, the critical assessment of the following is crucial in providing a strong base of understanding about the business.
- The company (products, management & history)
- Present and future competition
- Macro environment in which it operates.
Max.ng, uplifting its communities through social impact interventions
MAX.ng is a company founded on the principles of solving problems.
MAX.ng, Nigeria’s frontline financing and technology platform for mobility, delivering services such as vehicle-financing, electric mobility, logistics, and mobile payments, prides itself on being a company advocating for behavioural change in the Nigerian society. In recognition of the weakening effects of the COVD-19 pandemic, the company has been working actively to bring relief and support to its target communities.
All over the world, COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on lives. Businesses are shutting down and lives have been lost, the world is gradually adapting to a new norm and efforts are being made globally to limit the negative impact of the virus.
In Nigeria, MAX.ng has joined several organizations in playing their part to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. The company adopted a systematic approach towards minimizing the negative impact of the pandemic among its communities, employees, customers, and drivers.
MAX.ng, a company founded on Innovation:
MAX.ng is a company founded on the principles of solving problems. It started as a logistics company that was established to solve the infrastructural and delivery challenges some businesses faced in fulfilling orders due to the unending traffic in Lagos, Nigeria’s economic hub. As a forward-thinking company, MAX.ng saw the opportunity of using motorcycles to address these challenges. Its success in this field led to the consideration of how technology could be used to bring sanity to the chaotic scene of motorcycle transportation (popularly called okada). From there, it was just a step and a hop delving into the motorcycle-hailing business as a means of transportation.
Impacting its Communities Positively:
As part of its efforts to contribute positively to communities around it, MAX.ng built the company around the principle of empowering individuals and giving them the means of providing a livelihood for themselves and support their families. It operates a business model that provides vehicle financing where drivers can receive the vehicles and pay back the cost over a period of time. In addition to financing, the company also provides safety training and access to healthcare and insurance for its riders. MAX.ng changed the face of motorcycle transportation in Nigeria and this led to other companies jumping on the bandwagon to follow its model.
In the famous words of Mother Theresa, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the waters to create many ripples.” MAX.ng has continuously created ripples across its communities by recognizing that a business cannot grow without the communities around it. MAX.ng has actively shown support to its target communities.
The company recently embarked on a CSR campaign around markets in Ibadan, Oyo State, where it distributed parasols to market traders so that they can protect themselves and their wares from the rains and harsh weather. MAX.ng also provided targeted interventions to residents and transport industry workers by providing hygiene products, facemasks and food to over 5,000 beneficiaries across Akure, Ibadan and Lagos.
COVID 19 Initiatives:
As the world experienced the COVID-19 pandemic, which affected the way of life of almost everyone across the country, MAX.ng stepped up to the plate and rolled out systematic approaches to cushion the effects across its operational communities and ensure the safety of lives of its drivers and customers. It embarked on continuous training of its drivers on safe and proper hygiene practices to minimize the risk of infection and to ensure they are not exposed to the virus.
During the pandemic lockdown mandated by the Federal Government, MAX.ng provided a 50% discount to small scale businesses for their deliveries and activated digital wallet and electronic payment features on its mobile app to eliminate the need for cash transactions. The MAX.ng team also visited police stations across the country to provide them with safety kits and sensitize them on COVID-19 protocols. This gesture was also extended to residents within the communities visited.
As part of its safety measures, it provided face masks and hand sanitizers to its riders and ensured that their motorcycles are periodically disinfected. The MAX.ng tech mobility model has also made it easier for business owners to use the platform to sell and deliver their products directly to their customers, thus eliminating the need for physical contact.
The future is bright for MAX:
On its plans for the future, MAX.ng has promised to stay true to its mission of “making mobility safe, affordable, accessible, and sustainable through the deployment of high-performance technology and operators.” The company is currently in talks with different states on how technology can be used to organize the transportation industry in a better way and also tackle the issues of identity management.


text:
Microsoft is betting pretty solidly on the end of not just the current console generation, but console generations in general.
With its new 4K-ready "monster" Project Scorpio console, Microsoft hopes to usher in a new era of iterative hardware to the gaming world. Redmond has a vision where consoles are upgrade-able not unlike PCs, where the past, present, and future merge to form one continuous solid line of inter-compatibility.
"I think [this is the last console generation] ... For us, we think the future is without console generations, we think that the ability to build a library, a community, to be able to iterate with the hardware, we're making a pretty big bet on that with Project Scorpio. We're basically saying 'this isn't a new generation, everything you have continues forward and it works.' We think of this as a family of devices," Xbox exec Aaron Greenberg said in an interview with Engadget.
Even with this vision, Project Scorpio is a gamble, and Microsoft will wait and see how gamers react to the system before it decides to go all-in on the iterative model. Well...even more than it already has. The company certainly has invested heavily in its unified cross-platform approach, and iterative consoles like the new Xbox One S refresh--which uses a new 16nm FinFET AMD SoC instead of the original 28nm APU--and Project Scorpio.
"But we'll see, we're going to learn from this, we're going to see how that goes. So far I'd say based on the reaction there appears to be a lot of demand and interest around Project Scorpio, and we think it's going to be a pretty big success. If the games and the content deliver, which I think they will do, I think it will change the way we think about the future of console gaming."
If this iteration cycle continues onward, I honestly feel that Microsoft will take a kind of Windows-like approach to its Xbox division and retire old systems after a certain period. Sure the Xbox One is part of the family now, but it'll likely be squeezed out like old Windows operating systems, so the new cycle won't be that much different than the old.
- > NEXT STORY: Support for DirectX 12 in Deus Ex delayed two weeks
- < PREVIOUS STORY: Battlefield 1's massive 64-player battle footage debuts


text:
CommerceHub (NASDAQ:CHUBA) was downgraded by Zacks Investment Research from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday.
According to Zacks, “CommerceHub, Inc. provides distributed commerce network which connecting supply, demand and delivery for retailers and brands. CommerceHub, Inc. is headquartered in Albany, United States. “
Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on CHUBA. DA Davidson started coverage on CommerceHub in a research note on Friday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price (up from $22.00) on shares of CommerceHub in a research note on Monday, October 2nd. Dougherty & Co started coverage on CommerceHub in a research note on Tuesday, October 31st. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Oppenheimer started coverage on CommerceHub in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Finally, CIBC started coverage on CommerceHub in a research note on Friday, December 22nd. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. CommerceHub currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.17.
CommerceHub (NASDAQ CHUBA) remained flat at $$21.06 on Wednesday. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 195,662 shares, compared to its average volume of 144,271. The stock has a market capitalization of $868.11 and a P/E ratio of 72.62. CommerceHub has a 12 month low of $13.74 and a 12 month high of $24.53.
Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Nationwide Fund Advisors purchased a new stake in shares of CommerceHub in the second quarter worth about $137,000. Hosking Partners LLP purchased a new stake in shares of CommerceHub in the third quarter worth about $217,000. Diligent Investors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CommerceHub in the third quarter worth about $223,000. Citadel Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of CommerceHub in the third quarter worth about $270,000. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund purchased a new stake in shares of CommerceHub in the second quarter worth about $256,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 28.98% of the company’s stock.
TRADEMARK VIOLATION NOTICE: “CommerceHub (CHUBA) Stock Rating Lowered by Zacks Investment Research” was first reported by Dispatch Tribunal and is the sole property of of Dispatch Tribunal. If you are accessing this news story on another site, it was illegally stolen and reposted in violation of US and international trademark and copyright laws. The original version of this news story can be viewed at https://www.dispatchtribunal.com/2018/01/10/commercehub-chuba-stock-rating-lowered-by-zacks-investment-research.html.
CommerceHub, Inc is a provider of cloud-based e-commerce fulfillment and marketing solutions that integrate supply, demand and delivery for retailers and consumer brands, manufacturers and distributors. The Company’s end-to-end solutions are provided through the CommerceHub software platform, a hub that streamlines integration and enables transactions among its retailer and supplier customers and their other trading partners, while also enabling them to access the online marketplaces, search engines, social and product advertising and other digital marketing channels where consumers browse and buy.
Receive News & Ratings for CommerceHub Daily - Enter your email address below to receive a concise daily summary of the latest news and analysts' ratings for CommerceHub and related companies with MarketBeat.com's FREE daily email newsletter.


text:
Crypto Comes to S&P 500 Via Tesla’s $1.5 Billion Bitcoin Bet
(Bloomberg) -- When Tesla Inc. joined the S&P 500, people balked. Wasn’t that a lot of volatility to embed in the world’s most important stock index? Turns out they had only part of the picture.
Founder Elon Musk opened a new chapter in the saga of his electric-vehicle maker with a disclosure Monday that Tesla invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin and intends to begin accepting the cryptocurrency as a form of payment. The move comes less than two months after the company was added to the S&P 500 in the index’s largest-ever inclusion.
For anyone who worried Tesla’s high price and share turbulence was an issue for passive investors, this is something new to consider. Tesla is one of the S&P 500’s biggest members with a weighting of almost 2%, meaning at least a dollop of the roughly $11.2 trillion of money tracking the benchmark is now exposed to a cryptocurrency known for its wild swings.
“It’s absolutely a fascinating story to think S&P 500 investors now are investors in Bitcoin,” Phil Toews, chief executive officer of asset manager Toews Corp. “Just absolutely mind-blowing.”
Tesla isn’t the first to make a foray into cryptocurrencies -- other companies have made similar investments. MicroStrategy Inc., a software firm, has spent about $3 billion on Bitcoin, while Square Inc., headed by longtime crypto advocate Jack Dorsey, announced that it converted about $50 million of its assets into the coin as of the second quarter of 2020. But those companies aren’t members of the S&P 500, limiting the number of mom-and-pop equity investors who were exposed to Bitcoin.
Tesla has surged 460% over the past year and more than doubled since the S&P Dow Jones Indices said in November that the vehicle maker would be added to the index the following month. The announcement spurred warnings over what impact Tesla’s entry would have on the S&P 500, with the likes of Research Affiliates founder Rob Arnott cautioning that benchmark overseers tend to “buy high and sell low.”
While Tesla’s Bitcoin purchase indirectly exposes S&P 500 investors to crypto, at least one knowledgeable observer doubts it would’ve kept the carmaker out of the storied index.
“The index is designed to measure the U.S. equity market, not to judge or second-guess management decisions on cash management or strategy,” David Blitzer, who headed the S&P Dow Jones Indices selection committee until 2019, said in an interview. “The index methodology doesn’t provide for dropping a company based on a management decision except in extreme cases such as an impending bankruptcy.”
Ray McConville, an S&P Dow Jones spokesman, declined to comment on Musk’s move.
Bitcoin, coming off a 300% gain in 2020, has added 50% this year. It hit an all-time high of $44,795 on Monday following Tesla’s news. Its price has been sensitive to Musk’s proclamations on cryptocurrencies in recent weeks -- it surged at the end of January, for instance, after Musk changed his Twitter profile to “#bitcoin” with an emoji, which he later took down. He again sent waves through the cryptosphere a few days later when he declared on social audio app Clubhouse that he was a supporter of the largest digital asset.
In December, Musk inquired on Twitter about converting “large transactions” of the electric-car maker’s balance sheet into the coin. MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor urged him to make the move, writing that he’d be doing his investors a “favor,” and adding that other S&P 500 firms would follow his lead.
Many analysts argue against such a tactic, often citing Bitcoin’s volatility as well as its vulnerability to hacks and fraud. The token has posted an average daily move of 5.2% this year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That compares with swings of 0.8% for the price of gold, which is sometimes compared with digital assets.
To JJ Kinahan, chief market strategist at TD Ameritrade, Tesla’s move could mean heightened volatility for the index overall.
“You can buy any blue-chip company and they probably have some other things going on” that investors might not be aware of, he said by phone. “Now it’s just a matter of do you believe that many of these companies are becoming more volatile than you’re comfortable with?”
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.


text:
Surveys of business have been universally bleak. The Bank of England and the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development have cut their growth forecasts. Warnings from multinational companies about the consequences of a no-deal Brexit have been coming thick and fast.
Little wonder, then, that the financial markets feared the worst from the last heap of official data before Wednesday’s spring statement from Philip Hammond. The feeling was that the chancellor would give his latest update against the backdrop of an economy losing further momentum after a sluggish end to 2018.
In the end, the figures were not nearly as bad as the surveys had suggested. Output was up 0.5% in January, the sharpest one-month rise for more than two years, with increases in the three big sectors: services, manufacturing and construction. Spending in the shops was strong and the UK’s annual growth rate picked up from 1% to 1.4%. While not exactly booming, Hammond will be able to tell MPs that the UK is growing faster than all the other G7 countries bar the US and Canada.
Of course, there are plenty of caveats. The stronger than expected performance in January did little more than reverse a 0.4% drop in gross domestic product in December, and the quarterly growth rate – a better guide to the underlying trend – remained unchanged at 0.2%. It is always a mistake to read too much into a single month’s data, and manufacturing and construction were both down over the quarter.
The service sector, by contrast, grew by 0.5% in the three months to January, in large part because the doom and gloom that appears to have descended over company boardrooms does not seem to have filtered down to the shop floor. Wages are rising faster than prices, and that means consumers have more money in their pockets.
While it is possible that consumers became more cautious as the Brexit deadline neared, there is not much sign that they have done so yet. Nor was there a lot of evidence that companies have been stockpiling goods.
It would hardly be a surprise if the data for February and March is less strong than that for January but as things stand growth in the first quarter is on track to pick up to 0.3% or 0.4%. That’s still modest, but, in the circumstances, Hammond would certainly take that.


text:
Featured Services: Asbestos Removal, CNC Machining & Milling, Commercial Electricians, Crane Hire, Electronic Design & Engineering, Fire Safety & Protection , Forklift Training & Licences, HVAC Cleaning, Industrial Design, Office Fitouts, Plumbing, Road Freight, Safety Consultants, Sheetmetal Fabrication, Structural Engineering, Warehousing & Distribution, Welding Services
Bakeries boss calls it quits after carbon tax controversy
09/07/2012 - Brumby's bakeries boss Deane Priest has quit over the carbon tax controversy.
Find related suppliers
Priest told Brumby's franchisees in a June newsletter, made public this week, that they should "let the carbon tax take the blame" for price rises.
A spokeswoman for parent company Retail Food Group (RFG) said on Friday Priest had resigned from the group, effective immediately.
"That resignation has been accepted," she said in a statement.
The comments by Priest, who joined RFG in 2007, were described by its CEO Tony Alford as an "unacceptable error of judgment".
Meanwhile, a memo to franchisees from RFG's marketing and innovation director, Tracey Catterall, obtained by the ABC, says the company is planning to "win back the hearts and trust" of Brumby's customers in a campaign involving newspaper advertisements and social media.
Franchisees have also been asked to remove Liberal Party posters which suggest prices have gone up because of the carbon tax.
"We have not had the opportunity to inspect these placards and therefore have not formed any opinion as to their legality," Catterall wrote.
"Both RFG and the Brumby's bakery system are apolitical organisations.
"We would ask that any franchisee who continues to display the placards referenced above immediately remove them from their business premises."
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet said the move showed that Opposition Leader Tony Abbott was putting businesses at risk of breaching consumer laws.
"If businesses make false carbon price claims they run the risk of ... a $1.1 million fine for misleading consumers," Combet said in a statement.
Brumby's has posted a plea on its Facebook page to customers to support local stores.
"Please don't blame the people at your local Brumby's store for a serious error at head office," the posting said.
"They are innocent victims in this situation.
"At the heart of every Brumby's store are hard-working people running a small business. Please give them your support."
Browse the IndustrySearch directory: Food & Beverage Processing
Related Feature Articles
A man is in hospital with serious injuries after he became caught in a...
Telstra is not saying how many jobs may be lost as part of a major...
Labor and the coalition are at odds over how to save the manufacturing...
The Productivity Commission will review red tape across the food supply...
Australia's bosses are being encouraged to employ older women in their...


text:
Estimated Reading Time: 1 minutes
Rajat Tandon (President, IVCA) spoke about the outlook and trends in India’s EV sector. He stated that the PE/VC investors invested $1.7 billion in the EV industry by 2021. This sum has reached $666 million by 2022.
“While the Indian start-up ecosystem is focused on technological adaptation and environment, social aspects have also topped their themes for innovation. This is likely to give further boost and momentum to the growth in ESG and climate-specific funds. Fast adoption of EVs across all segments is truly the path to the green frontier. The IVCA-EY-IndusLaw report reveals some interesting facts and data as it elaborates on various challenges and opportunities that prevail in the sector,” he added.
It also features the best global practices in EVs, current Indian policy and PE/VC investments. The report also highlights Indian investment opportunities for entrepreneurs and investors. By 2030, the EV industry will create more than 10 million direct jobs and 50 million indirect jobs.
Many first-time and new investors are jumping on the bandwagon. Experts believe that the government and investors need to work together towards sustainable solutions.
Srihari Mulgund, New Age Mobility Partner, EY-Parthenon, said that “electrification of Indian mobility presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to reimagine the future of the Indian automotive sector. Electrification has levelled the playing field across the value chain and Indian players must acknowledge this new dynamic and increasingly work towards becoming a global automotive powerhouse of the future. Technology will be a key enabler for a successful transition and given that technology is evolving faster than ever, the players need to make multiple bets to survive and grow during this transition. Hence, capital becomes a strategic lever as we embark on this journey to electrify mobility.”
IndusLaw’s founding partner Kartik Ganapathy stated that electric cars are in “a world that is ripe for innovation, but also rife from various stresses.”


text:
- Subscribe NowLimited Time Offer
In Australia, Burger King to become 'Hungry Jack's'
Send this to a friend
According to company executives, the Burger King brand will soon cease to exist Down Under.
The management team at Miami-based Burger King Corp. said it has reached a conceptual agreement with the company's Australia-based burger brand, Hungry Jack's, to consolidate their restaurants under that brand.
In the near future, Burger King Corp. said, 81 Burger King restaurants in New South Wales, Australian Capital Territory and Victoria will be rebranded as Hungry Jack's to create a national network of about 300 restaurants.
Brad Blum, Burger King chief executive officer, called the move a milestone for Burger King's new executive leadership team. Blum joined the company in January.
"Consolidation means more money for marketing and will create a powerful, single brand with an increased focus on operations excellence that should add to growth in profitability," he said.
The consolidation, according to Burger King, will "unlock the potential" for 100 new Hungry Jack's restaurants within five years, which the company said would represent an investment of more than $150 million and creation of 3,500 jobs. The Hungry Jack's brand started 32 years ago with one restaurant in Perth in 1971.
"Furthermore, it will deliver reduced operating costs to Australia's second-biggest chain of hamburger restaurants, as well as an increased marketing budget, greater franchising opportunities and more resources for product development," Burger King added.
Acting Burger King International President Ian Martin said the Burger King team in Australia, headed by Atul Sharma, general manager for Burger King Australian operations, will work with Jack Cowin, Hungry Jack's managing director and Australian franchisees to grow their businesses and attract new business partners.
"We are now focusing on the future together under a single brand, a future that will allow us to give the brand additional mass to fully compete with other global brands in the $7 billion Australian fast food market," Cowin said.
- Most popular
- 7 South Florida restaurants closed for critical code violations
- Miami Beach residents found guilty of Bahamas land scam
- Tobacco Road, Miami's oldest bar, to open in new location
- Regulators warn of counterfeit City National Bank checks
- ArtCenter building on Lincoln Road sold for $88M
- See Rick Scott's most notable wealthy and corporate donors
- Magic Leap announces $542M in Series B funding led by Google
- Boca Raton broker banned, fined for misappropriating client funds
- Strip club owner buys Palm Beach shopping center
- Miami is the next stop for global retailers after Manhattan
Mobile Developer - iOS/Android Robert Half Technology | Miami, FL
Accounts Payable Accountemps | Boca Raton, FL
HVAC Counter Sales Associate Carrier Enterprise | Pompano Beach, FL
Junior PHP Developer Robert Half Technology | Miami, FL
Physical Therapist-Mederi Caretenders- PRN Mederi Caretenders | Naples, FL


text:
Samsung led the 5G smartphone market in India last year, and the company recently said it wants to “democratize 5G in India” by 2023. Samsung wants to make 5G smartphones available to everyone, but even so, it won’t stop offering 4G smartphones, mainly for the low-end.
Aditya Babbar, Samsung’s head of product and marketing in India, recently confirmed that the Galaxy A is the best-selling smartphone series in India in 2022, with more than 62 million customers. Samsung overtook Xiaomi to become the country’s largest smartphone OEM in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Samsung also released the Galaxy M and Galaxy F devices, the latter series for the Indian market only. Despite this, the Galaxy A seems to be the series of choices for budget customers in India.
Samsung wants to stay on top of smartphone shipments by 2023, the company’s senior director added. To achieve this goal, the company is betting on 5G, aiming for 75 percent of its smartphone business in India to come from 5G devices.
Samsung launched the Galaxy A14 5G and A23 5G in India earlier this month, and Aditya Babbar says Samsung will continue to bring more 5G phones to India this year.
Even so, Samsung is not giving up on the 4G space. Samsung is having a hard time bringing 5G phones to the INR 10,000 (currently about RMB 832) price point, and Samsung wants to “continue to innovate at each price point and evolve as the market grows.” With that in mind, 4G smartphones are here to stay. At least until 5G technology becomes more affordable.
The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G recently went on sale in India, starting at INR 16,499 (currently about RMB 1,373). Samsung also announced the Galaxy A23 5G phone, starting at INR 22,999 (currently about RMB 1914).


text:
Connect with top gaming leaders in Los Angeles at GamesBeat Summit 2023 this May 22-23. Register here.
Zspace has dedicated itself to “spatial content,” and today it is unveiling a laptop targeted at kids that lets them easily interact with augmented reality or virtual reality content.
The company will show the device, which is available now, at the CES 2019 trade show event in January. The Sunnyvale, California-based company said the laptop is the first portable Windows PC to break the screen barrier between users and VR content by creating a multi-dimensional environment that leaps out of the screen.
Featuring patented 3D screen technology and lightweight glasses, the Zspace (the company styles it zSpace) laptop is aimed at fostering creativity, collaboration, and education by allowing users to interact with VR content in a more flexible and immersive environment that doesn’t hinder spatial awareness or block peripheral vision. When not used for VR content, the $1,400 laptop serves as a traditional Windows 10 PC.
“The computing experience has mostly remained unchanged since the introduction of the mouse and touchscreen in the 1980s. With Zspace technology, we are totally reinventing the capabilities of personal computers by eliminating the barrier between our eyes and the content we interact with, allowing for complete immersion in games and incredibly interactive apps for education, ecommerce, enterprise, and more,” said Zspace CEO Paul Kellenberger. “Our Zspace laptop PC packs all of the awesome capabilities afforded by our award-winning desktop into a cost-effective and compact, take-anywhere form factor.”
GamesBeat Summit 2023
Join the GamesBeat community in Los Angeles this May 22-23. You’ll hear from the brightest minds within the gaming industry to share their updates on the latest developments.
The Zspace laptop comes equipped with a set of specially designed glasses that enable depth perception of virtual content, and a stylus boasting six degrees of freedom that allows users to pick up items on the screen and move them naturally in 3D space. Those two items, combined with the laptop’s built-in tracking sensors, allow the Zspace technology to track head and hand movements and dynamically correct the viewing perspective in full HD.
The Zspace laptop specifications include an Advanced Micro Devices APU A9-9420 (which combines a central processing unit and a graphics processing unit in a single chip), 8GB of DDR4 main memory; a 256GB SSD storage device, wireless networking, and a 15.6-inch 1920 x 1080 full HD screen. It enables 3D viewing when paired with circular polarized viewing glasses.
“One of the things driving innovation at AMD is working with companies, like Zspace, who are creating novel solutions that need powerful compute and graphics capabilities that only AMD can provide,” said Kevin Lensing, corporate vice president and general manager of embedded solutions at AMD, in a statement. “With AMD’s strong x86 processor and graphics technology and the ability to combine them on a compact system on a chip design, Zspace was able to turn its unique laptop dreams into reality, creating a complete package in a portable computing experience that readily immerses users into virtual environments.”
More than 1,000 school districts, technical centers, medical schools, and universities rely on Zspace today. The company said millions of learners have experienced Zspace, and academic studies have demonstrated an average performance improvement of 16 percent with Zspace education apps.
Zspace has 200 employees and has raised a total of $56.6 million. The company said it currently has more than 40 patents.
GamesBeat's creed when covering the game industry is "where passion meets business." What does this mean? We want to tell you how the news matters to you -- not just as a decision-maker at a game studio, but also as a fan of games. Whether you read our articles, listen to our podcasts, or watch our videos, GamesBeat will help you learn about the industry and enjoy engaging with it. Discover our Briefings.


text:
SCOTS have finally been given some hope for summer holiday abroad this year.
The Scottish Government is set to announce that it will allow people to travel to some overseas countries without needing to quarantine when they come back.
It is understood the move will come into effect from May 24 and will be similar to the traffic light system.
Countries on the green travel list have not yet been confirmed by the Scottish Government.
In England, a traffic light system has been introduced for foreign travel and people can travel abroad from May 17.
Only a select few destinations have made the green list like Portugal and Israel as the Prime Minister tries to prevent new variants of Covid coming into the UK.
Travellers returning from green list countries will need to take a test at least 72 hours before their departure.
The First Minister previously stated that no one should travel outside of the UK for non-essential purposes at at least May 17 - maybe even a small time beyond that.
However, Grant Shapps told a Downing Street press conference that he expects other UK nations' rules will be "broadly similar in design” when it comes to the traffic light travel system.
The SNP leader said “family reunification” will be prioritised when international travel finally gets back up and running.
Ms Sturgeon said a “cautious” approach must be taken to prevent the virus being re-seeded in Scotland or new variants being imported.
She is set to announce the easing of Covid restrictions at a briefing tomorrow.
Most read in Scottish News
The Scottish Government has been gradually easing lockdown restrictions, with stay at home measures lifted at the beginning of last month.
From May 17, cinemas, bingo halls and amusement arcades are expected to reopen, with adult outdoor contact sports and indoor group exercise set to resume.
Indoor gatherings are also expected to be allowed again, with four people from two different households socialise in private or public indoor spaces.
We pay for your stories and videos! Do you have a story or video for The Scottish Sun? Email us at firstname.lastname@example.org or call 0141 420 5300


text:
TripAdvisor Inc. (NASDAQ: TRIP) on Wednesday reported fourth quarter revenue that beat analysts’ estimates and provided strong guidance for 2018, sending its share up more than 6 percent.
The company posted revenue of $321 million in the quarter ended December 31, 2017. Analysts polled by Zacks Investment Research had projected revenue of $310.9 million.
TripAdvisor reported a loss of $84 million, or 60 cents a share, in the four quarter. It missed analysts’ estimates.
“During Q4 and 2017 we continued to make progress along our key initiatives,” said Chief Executive Officer Steve Kaufer. “Continued product enhancements, as well as strong content, community and supply growth, nicely position the TripAdvisor platform in front of long-term growth opportunities. In 2018 and during the years ahead, we will continue to improve the traveler experience, helping more users in more moments throughout the travel journey. We will find new ways to help travel partners get more visibility in front of our massive global travel audience. We are taking essential steps to unlock long-term growth.”
TripAdvisor shares surged as much as 20 percent in the extend trading on Wednesday. But it eased some gains on Thursday morning and it is trading 7.91 percent higher at $43.93. The company was up about 27.8 percent this year.
In 2018, the company now expected expect strong revenue growth at levels similar to 2016 and 2017 in its Non-Hotel segment.


text:
Last Updated: Saturday, September 22, 2012, 20:11
The iPhone-maker has requested for a court order to permanently ban Samsung products in the US for violating its patents, seeking additional damages of USD 707 million .
Last Updated: Wednesday, August 29, 2012, 13:39
This also included technology for a wireless keyboard to allow users to surf the web and order films on demand, a feature, which is already available on Apple iPads.
more videos >>


text:
WOOSTER -- There's a rapidly growing running community in Wayne County, but until now they had to travel farther than the 26.2-mile distance of a marathon to find top-of-the-line equipment.
Vertical Runner of Wooster, a specialty running store located at 207 South Market St., can solve the problem. The store co-owned by Brian and Tammy Polen of Wooster hopes to save runners -- and walkers for that matter -- the runaround when it comes to finding high-end running shoes and apparel.
"Distance running has really become popular in this area, from elite local athletes like Beth Woodward and Don Asher, to college and high school athletes and lots of others," said Brian Polen, a 1998 Waynedale graduate, who himself has run 15 marathons with a best time of 2 hours, 53 minutes. "But people who like to run are constantly having to go out of the area for running supplies. Some other people order shoes out of a catalog, like Eastbay, and I think 'How can you do that? You have to try them out first.'
"I really want to be able to help local people here get in the right shoes, especially the high school runners. We hope to square up kids from Wayne County and put them in line with the rest of the state."
Brian Polen explained that the running shoes people find at common big-name sporting goods stores usually aren't the very best that are available.
"The big sporting good chains carry the mainstream shoes from manufacturers such as Nike, Adidas and New Balance, but the real high-end stuff is only going to be available through a specialty shoe store," he said. "We have products that people will never see at (general sporting goods stores)."
Vertical Runner, which also has stores in Hudson and Brecksville, will have sales associates with an advanced understanding of how to fit people with the proper shoes.
"We'll be able to watch people walk and-or run, look at their feet and help set them up with the best shoes for them as an individual," Brian Polen said. "If you're in the wrong shoes, you risk foot or knee injuries, back problems and underperforming."
Brian Coote, director of HealthPoint in Wooster and an avid distance runner himself, is excited about the addition of Vertical Runner to the area.
"One of the biggest things for me as a physical therapist is making sure our local athletes are fitted in the right shoes," Coote said. "I think having something close to us like (Vertical Runner) is a really great thing.
"In the past, I've had to send people to Akron, Medina or Canton to get fitted for shoes, and Buzzard's in Loudonville also does a good job. Also, Brian is very passionate about what he does and that helps bring a high level of expertise into the store."
Coote added that even for experienced runners like Polen and himself, it's important to try new shoes on each time because major brands can change the way their shoes are made from time to time.
Tammy Polen pointed out that Vertical Runner can benefit even people who aren't runners.
"We can help anyone who wants to have more comfortable shoes," she said.
Tammy added that she wished a specialty shoe store would have been available when her boys, both Waynedale graduates, were in school.
"It's really exciting,
especially from the standpoint that there's nothing like it in the area," Tammy said. "We always used to have to go out of the area to get our running equipment until now."
The Polens said they also want to get involved in the community and have already signed on as sponsors for events such as the Heart and Sole Race and Casey's Challenge. They have also been organizing group runs on Wednesday nights at 6 p.m. for a variety of different endurance levels that originate at the store.
Vertical Runner of Wooster opened its doors to the public Oct. 13 and it will hold a special grand opening this Saturday. To coincide with the grand opening, there will be a group run starting at the store at 8 a.m. Many prizes will be given out during the day.
Call the store at 330-262-3000 for more information on the fun run and check out their website at www.verticalrunner.com. They're on Facebook under Vertical Runner - Wooster.
Aaron Dorksen can be reached at 330-287-1621 or email@example.com. Follow him on Twitter at @adorksenTDR.


text:
News The Anime Network Plans Streaming iOS App for Subscribers
posted on 2011-11-19 11:48 EST
Stacy Dodson, Executive Vice President of The Anime Network television service, revealed on the ANNCast this week that the service is planning a streaming iOS app for subscribers. Dodson added that the app will support AirPlay so subscribers can wireless stream video from the app to the Apple TV and other compatible devices.
discuss this in the forum (4 posts) |


text:
Digital products for news consumers are becoming increasingly more important for the success of news organizations, whether you're a well-established publisher like The New York Times, or a relatively new player like Nexo Jornal in Brazil. As more users shift their news habits to digital platforms, a growing number of journalists are learning how to become product experts to help their organizations diversify revenue. A product expert in a newsroom can help disparate areas work together with the goal of serving both audience needs and business growth.
Because product expertise in newsrooms is an emerging field, product professionals in newsrooms can struggle to find peers in similar roles. Google is a product-driven company, with many product engineers who have refined best practices and are eager to support journalism and connect with journalists working in this field. Today, we're announcing our support for the News Product Alliance, a global community of product experts that is aimed at building communities of practice and support for product professionals in newsrooms.
Our first collaboration will be around the News Product Alliance Summit, the first global annual event dedicated to connecting product professionals from across the news industry. The summit will bring 300 participants virtually together and feature two programming tracks: Support and Practice. In the Support track, participants will connect with peers and discuss topics like navigating a unique career path, confronting challenges in their work and building confidence as a leader and change-maker.
In the Practice track, attendants will learn new skills, share case studies and insights and collaborate to define best practices for news product management. In this track, William Vambenepe, our product management director for news, will lead a session to share lessons about product management at Google.You can apply to participate until March 5.
Finding the right people to fill product roles within news organizations can be very difficult, according to a 2019 survey of more than 130 publishing executives. There is a big skill gap and these are not positions that can be easily filled with product experts from other industries. The challenge can be especially acute for small newsrooms, which can often have limited resources. It’s also important for newsrooms to diversify their staff and find product experts who have different perspectives and backgrounds.
That's why we're also supporting the News Product Alliance Summit with diversity, equity and inclusion scholarships, to broaden access to underrepresented communities. If you are part of a historically marginalized group and want to attend the summit, make sure to note that in the application.
Supporting associations like the News Product Alliance is key to help product experts, newsrooms and tech companies connect, share skills and collaborate to build a better future for news. We hope our support will help create even more vibrant connections in the community.


text:
Intel plans to build chips for handhelds and mobile phones on a separate version of its future manufacturing technology that greatly minimises transistor current leakage, according to the company's manufacturing chief.
Wearable, interactive 3D technology being developed by the University of South Australia will be able to transfer people into 'mobile augmented reality (AR) systems.'
By year's end, Sana Security plans to ship a new version of its Primary Response antivirus software that will be able to identify and remove malicious software without the use of the "signature" code used by the majority of antivirus vendors.
Acer expects to be the world's third largest PC seller by the end of 2008, with a 10 percent share of the global market and US$20 billion in revenue, the company's chairman said Monday.
PC vendors aren't enjoying as much growth as last year, but PC shipments in 2005 should finish well above previous expectations for the year, market researcher IDC said Monday.
Dell is launch a fresh attempt at breaking Apple's stranglehold on the portable music player market, along with some new personal digital assistants and photo printers.
When it comes to 3G technology, Australians are clueless, reports a recent study from IDC on the Australian consumer mobile market.
The first USB (universal serial bus) phone developed by a new Taiwanese venture focusing on hardware products for use with Skype's VoIP (voice over Internet protocol) software sold out in just 50 hours in Taiwan, a company representative said Friday.
Nintendo will offer a game controller with its upcoming Revolution games console that is drastically different from those used in previous consoles.
Trend Micro has weaved smarts gained by its acquisition of InterMute into its latest anti spyware product, available now.
Adobe Systems on Thursday reported its third quarter net profit rose 39 percent from a year ago on solid business execution.
Downloaders looking for a free "Star Wars" game may instead find themselves installing a new worm that gives them dodgy Google search results.
Looking to ease the way customers manage their digital identities, Microsoft has begun working to integrate its InfoCard authentication technology with Internet Explorer and is in discussions with the Firefox and Safari browser developers to have the...
Dutch electronics giant, Philips Electronics, plans significant cost reductions in its semiconductor division in a move to improve its operating margins.
Dell is ending its support for Intel's Itanium processor, an Intel spokeswoman said, closing the door on a product line that was a marginal part of Dell's server strategy.
Enhance your TV experience with extra channels, on-demand movies and more
Most Popular Reviews
- 1 Kogan Agora 4G Pro review: the final word on Kogan's best smartphone
- 2 Sony Xperia Z4 Tablet (LTE) review: The tablet of choice for anyone on Android
- 3 Bose SoundLink Mini II Bluetooth speaker review
- 4 Apple MacBook Air 2015 review: Only better with time
- 5 Lenovo ThinkPad T550 laptop
Join the PC World newsletter!
Deals on PC World
- Networking, Wireless & VoIP
Deals on PC World
Latest News Articles
- Obama rolls out initiative to boost US supercomputer capability
- Oracle preps 'Sonoma' chip for low-priced Sparc servers
- Researchers develop astonishing Web-based attack on a computer's DRAM
- Samsung plots Galaxy S6 price cut, new phones to help business
- As Windows 10 launches, Microsoft pushes for enterprise adoption
GGG Evaluation Team
First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
- FTBusiness Development Manager & Account ManagerVIC
- CCLead Generator - Software SolutionsNSW
- CCAccount Strategist | Sales Executive | Global Search EngineNSW
- FTDevOps Consultant - Microsoft Experience - Digital ConsultancyVIC
- CCMarketing Coordinator - World's largest search engine!NSW
- FTTechnical Sales Support Representative - The Worlds largest Search Engine!NSW
- FTAccount Manager - PR AgencyNSW
- CCInternal Communications ExecutiveNSW
- FTField EngineerNSW
- FTDesktop Engineering ManagerNSW


text:
Audi owners love their cars because of their quality, style and performance. Now they can enjoy unmatched selection and service in a new location that reflects the popular brand.
Audi Shawnee Mission recently moved to 6601 E. Frontage Road in Merriam. The dealership now has nearly 37,000 square feet of space to accommodate the largest inventory of new and preowned cars in the state.
“We continue to grow, and we wanted to be able to offer the amenities that have been associated with a premium brand,” general manager John Coats says. “The city of Merriam has done a great job in developing the area, and we wanted to be a part of it. The new location offers customers a convenience that cannot be found anywhere else in the Kansas City metro area. We have to deliver a customer experience that sets us apart and takes us back to our core values and principles that guide us every day.”
The new facility was designed from the ground up with the customer in mind. It features 15 service bays for factory-trained technicians, an enhanced loaner fleet and an indoor service drive. Customers who wait while their car is serviced can relax in the premium upgraded lounge, conduct business in a quiet workstation with a charging dock or enjoy the Quattro Café.
Valet service is available for those who are not able to wait. “We drop off a loaner car to their home or office, service their vehicle and return their car without even taking time out of their day,” Coats says.
Audi Shawnee Mission attracts customers from across the metropolitan area and bistate region, and it also works with customers nationwide through its partnership with the online service Holman Automotive. Many customers are checking out the new e-tron, which is Audi’s bold new entry into the electric car market. It features all-wheel drive and fast-charging capabilities.
“Audi took a good look at how our competitors were approaching the electrified market, and they were delivering an unconventional-looking result,” Coats says. “Audi took a very specific direction and conducted focus groups. It determined that it was important that its first electric vehicle look like an Audi and in fact is 100 percent an Audi. The e-tron received the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety top safety rating—the first ever electric vehicle to receive this award.”
Despite the new facility and the introduction of electric cars (Audi expects one-third of all new models to be electric by 2025), one thing remains constant. Coats and his team are committed to giving back to the community they serve.
“This year, we were able to get involved with the Veterans Community Project and had a great time doing it,” he says. “We ended up with approximately 40 Holman employees (combining efforts between Audi Shawnee Mission and The Auto Truck Group) helping to build tiny homes for veterans. It was a great day, and we were able to build relationships with some incredible people involved with the project.”
Coats invites people to stop by and check out the new location, regardless if they have plans to purchase an Audi.
“We strive to create an environment where our team is passionate about their work and the product,” he says. “We continue to work hard every day to find better ways to do things differently, such as change the paradigm of the car-buying experience. By taking care of our team members and customer base, we will keep Audi Shawnee Mission viable and vibrant for generations to come.”


text:
The US chip sector is experiencing both feast and famine. This week the US signed $52bn of subsidies into law. It is a transformative level of support designed to help the expansion of domestic chip manufacturing. The timing, however, is unfortunate. Around the world, demand for chips is collapsing.
With inflation in the US at 8.5 per cent it makes sense that spending on PCs and other personal tech is down. The knock-on effect has been reported by Intel and Nvidia. But Idaho-based Micron Technology has also pointed to weaker demand in cloud computing and cars. These two areas were expected to hold up better than consumer tech.
Before inflation rose, the chip sector was already dealing with the end of the coronavirus pandemic sales boom and the aftermath of a production increase that could lead to overcapacity. Inventory is being run down. Sales of the chips that power computers, cars and other electronics are unlikely to recover this year. Global sales rose 13 per cent in the second quarter of the year, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association. But within that period, sales in June were down 2 per cent on the previous year. Overall, they are expected to rise just 7 per cent this year, down from 26 per cent in 2021, according to Gartner.
The Philadelphia semiconductor index, which comprises the 30 largest US companies involved in the design, manufacture and sale of semiconductors, is down 25 per cent this year. That is twice as large as the decline in the broader S&P 500. Yet valuations remain elevated. Micron, for example, is valued at over 10 times forecast 2023 earnings — a 12-month high.
The saving grace is that investment from the US government will not create oversupply. Projects will take years, perhaps decades, to come to fruition. It will take three or four years for production to start at Intel’s Ohio chip plant. Micron’s $40bn investment will be spread over 10 years. The chip cycle is typically around three to five years. With luck, the next upswing will coincide with a renaissance in US manufacturing.


text:
Restaurateur puts old oil to good use
BRUNSWICK, Ga. --- As fuel prices go higher, Danny Maley isn't worried.
He should get 28 miles and about 100 chicken wings per gallon.
The owner of Danny's Pizza in Douglas, Mr. Maley bought a 1990 Mercedes 350 and had it converted to burn his used cooking oil.
"I probably have 8 to 10 gallons a week," he said of the used oil, "which is not a lot. But that's enough for me to travel on a week."
Drivers are looking for alternatives including smaller cars that sip instead of gulp, hybrid vehicles and taking public transportation. Mr. Maley simply decided to stop throwing away money and cooking oil.
Mr. Maley paid about $600 for a conversion kit and took his car to Southern Star Inc., a foreign car repair company on St. Simons Island, for the conversion.
Raising the hood, Bob Papson, the owner of Southern Star, pointed to a round silver filter sitting on top of a small red heater.
"That's it," he said of the undertaking.
Even after sitting idle all weekend, the car fired right up.
"It smells like a hamburger back there," said Phillip Smith, the mechanic who converted the engine.
Actually, it smells more like someone left a frying pan on the stove, but it doesn't smell like diesel smoke
It still has the diesel clatter, but Mr. Papson said the conversion actually quieted the engine a little. All diesel vehicles have filters, but this one picks up stuff that may have been left in the cooking oil.
If Mr. Maley gets too far from his kitchen, the car will still run on regular diesel fuel.
Mr. Maley said he doesn't know exactly what kind of oil he uses, except it's a blend of mostly peanut oil with other varieties of vegetable oils.
He uses it in his restaurant to cook appetizers such as chicken wings, chicken fingers and cheese sticks.
"It's free," Mr. Maley said of his fuel, but it's actually better than free. Restaurants have to pay to have the used cooking oil picked up for recycling.
The oil costs Mr. Maley about $3.70 a gallon. With diesel fuel at more than $3 a gallon now, Mr. Maley theorized he may fuel up with unused cooking oil if diesel prices spike much higher during the winter heating season.


text:
Natalie Portman: Sexiest vegetarian?Natalie Portman is being hotly tipped to be the World's Sexiest Vegetarian in 2006.
The 'V for Vendetta' star, who has not eaten meat for 16 years, is currently topping the poll to find the most attractive female vegetarian.
Natalie, who also avoids gelatine and other meat by-products recently spoke out about her strict eating habits, saying: "I am a very strict vegetarian. I just really love animals and I act on my values."
The online awards were launched six years ago by animal rights group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA).
The rocker and his wife Gwyneth Paltrow are both strict vegans and are renowned for their planet-friendly beliefs.
The couple even gave their daughter Apple a vegan birthday cake from musician Moby's New York eatery.
The winners of the competition are chosen by fellow vegetarians and will be announced at the end of May.
Have an question? Get it answered by AskMen's guyQ.


text:
In a notice to shareholders and the public Thursday morning, NSE says the move by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA) follows the placement of the listed sugar company under receivership following a Deed of appointment of Receiver between KCB Group Ponangilpalli Venkata Ramano Rao on September 20, 2019.
“The extension of suspension from trading of the company’s shares will remain in force until further notice,” said the NSE.
Consequently, for Deacons East Africa, it follows the appointment of Joint Administrators by the Board to run its business. The fashion retailer was declared insolvent on November 19, 2018.
Currently, the miller has been involved in ethanol production since February.
The miller posted a net loss of KSh.15.1 billion in the financial year 2018/2019 against compared to the previous year’s loss of KSh.6.8 billion.
It owes the Kenya Revenue Authority KSh 10 million while the Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB Group) which appointed a receiver-manager is owed KSh 20 billion.
On the other hand, in May 2019, Deacons announced the sale of its business and assets through Dyer & Blair, an investment firm.
Deacons East Africa owns 4U2, FNF, Adidas and Bossini clothing and shoe stores in Nairobi and Kigali, Rwanda.


text: This article originally appeared on ABACUS China’s bike sharing bubble has burst, and some users have decided that they don’t want to wait to get their deposits back. Bike sharing in China is really more like bike rental -- users aren’t sharing their own bicycles, they’re borrowing bikes owned by a company. Each ride only costs a few cents, but users need to pay deposits that vary from about US$15 to US$50. Over 40 bike-sharing startups appeared in the past year, but only a handful still exist . According to Chinese media , shared bikes were spotted for sale on Xianyu, an Alibaba-owned site that specialises in used products. (Abacus is a unit of the South China Morning Post, which is owned by Alibaba.) Among the listings on Xianyu are bikes from Kuqi and Bluegogo , two of the bike sharing startups that went bankrupt in late 2017 and failed to return deposits to millions of users . One of the sellers listed a Kuqi Bike for 60 yuan (US$9), saying in the description that “there is no hope in getting back my 298 yuan (US$46) deposit, and I’m selling the permanent right to use this bike.” The item was later deleted. When we contacted him to ask why, the seller said he wants to avoid any misunderstanding from people -- but didn’t clarify what kind of misunderstanding. One thing is clear: When asked if he took the bike from the street, he replied “yes.” For more insights into China tech, sign up for our tech newsletters , subscribe to our Inside China Tech podcast , and download the comprehensive 2019 China Internet Report . Also roam China Tech City , an award-winning interactive digital map at our sister site Abacus .


text:
Chattanooga's Hamilton Place is one of two malls debuting CBL's "Inventory Insider."
Visitors at two Tennessee malls will have an easier time finding exactly what they’re looking for on their visits.
At Nashville’s CoolSprings Galleria and Chattanooga’s Hamilton Place, CBL Properties has launched “Inventory Insider,” an AI-influenced technology that can be used by mall visitors to quickly track down the locations of highly specific items such as asymmetrical women’s tops or two-terabyte hard drives.
Adeptmind’s system uses advanced analytics to monitor an individual customer’s search behavior to anticipate needs and intentions, creating the opportunity for additional purchases. If shoppers are not exactly sure of the specific name of a product they need, they can type in what it is they’re looking for and Adeptmind will narrow the selection down to specific items in specific store locations.
“The way people shop has changed significantly over the last several years with advanced research on local product availability being a key part of the shopping experience,” noted CBL’s CEO Stephen Lebovitz. “Inventory Insider enables us to add this capability to our websites and gives our customers a seamless way to browse the entire mall online.”
Dallas-based Centennial introduced a similar Adeptmind search program called Shop Now in 2022, the same year that Simon Properties debuted Simon Search at its outlet properties.
Adeptmind is staffed by the team behind Maluuba, a Canadian artificial intelligence and language understanding company that developed the artificial intelligence behind the voice assistants for Blackberry, LG, Samsung, and Tesla. Maluuba was acquired by Microsoft in 2017.
“Adeptmind will boost the online visibility of these two properties, making retailer products easily discoverable for their customer base, which positively impacts the consumer experience,” said G Wu, co-founder and CEO of Adeptmind. “The Adeptmind team is very enthusiastic about supporting the dynamic properties of CBL, specifically Hamilton Place and CoolSprings Galleria, where we will enhance these properties with a more robust online presence.”
Inventory Insider leverages Adeptmind’s technology to give shoppers online access to all the products carried by each local retailer in one centralized location on the mall’s website. Inventory Insider is currently accessible from each property’s website through a new “Products” tab.


text:
Google: sparking ‘a privacy Chernobyl’?
Ahead of a live spiked debate, Simon Davies of Privacy International says Google should stop treating privacy as a pain.
In the run-up to the live spiked debate ‘Has Google got too big?’, taking place in central London this Thursday, we are publishing a series of articles on Google. Here, Simon Davies of Privacy International tells Tim Black that it makes good business sense for Google to start treating privacy protection as an opportunity, rather than an inconvenience.
Last week, a year after Google’s Streetview was launched in the UK, a further 210,000 miles of the country’s roads and streets were made available to internet users. In fact, it’s now possible to investigate virtually any street in Britain. You can gawp at where you grew up, you can poke around old student digs, you can even go carousing in Lincoln. Yet while this might sound like an innocuous, sometimes useful, sometimes fun, online tool, for some Google Streetview constitutes a serious invasion of people’s privacy.
At the forefront of the criticism of Google has been Privacy International and its director general Simon Davies. Last May, PI submitted a letter to the UK’s information commissioner outlining their objections to Streetview. As Davies himself tells me: ‘Our concerns were, and still are to an extent, that the necessary safeguards were never put in place in the way that we wanted.’ The chief problem was that Google’s ‘faceblurring’ technology, which was meant to obscure every individual’s face, actually left many people unblurred. Such was the ease with which some people were identified, like the man enjoying a crafty fag despite telling his wife that he didn’t smoke, that what seemed like a harmless piece of technology managed to cause considerable embarrassment and, in some cases, distress. This wasn’t the only problem. People just weren’t consulted – which was worrying given the extent to which Google had ‘cameras looking into houses and into private spaces, such as backyards’, says Davies.
What Streetview indicates, and what PI has long criticised, is Google’s rather blasé attitude to an individual’s privacy. Not for nothing did PI rank Google bottom out of several major IT firms in terms of their attitude to privacy. This isn’t to suggest that Google is some malevolent, totalitarian force. Google does not seem to be deliberately setting out to invade privacy, to monitor, survey and profile individuals. Rather, it does so by default. Hence it just seems to develop and deploy products, like Streetview, and then consider privacy implications later. As Davies explains, ‘Google’s fundamental issue is that the company has grown so fast, and has taken on so much, that the mere idea of slowing down a product deployment through consultation [with users] is difficult for many people in the company to understand.’
To a limited extent, things are changing, however. ‘Before now Google never saw privacy as part of its core mission. It’s perhaps only been over the past six to 12 months that Google has started to see privacy as a prime differentiator in the market, and something which customers expect’, Davies tells me. ‘From a management perspective, Google is certainly getting the message now. And I think the engineers are, too. It’s a matter of getting the decision-making process and the product cycle aligned. And that’s something that takes years.’
In going through this years-long development, as Davies is quick to emphasise, Google is not unique among major IT firms. In fact, it’s going through the same process that several companies have gone through before: ‘I remember about 15 years ago nearly coming to blows with Microsoft executives over privacy – a couple of celebrated moments that spilled blood on the carpet. It’s forgotten that in those years Microsoft was condemned for prolonged systematic privacy breaches. Now, although not whiter than white, Microsoft has certainly turned the ship around in understanding the importance of the issue – even though that doesn’t always translate into their product development.’
‘All large companies go through this’, Davies continues. Facebook, for instance, has been subject to similar levels of public flak for its flagrant disregard of individuals’ privacy. ‘And it is being burned routinely in the press as a result. Just as Google is.’
But while Google is clearly making some efforts to incorporate a concern with privacy into its operations – such as introducing an admittedly overly-complicated privacy dashboard – Davies suggests there are significant obstacles, not least Google’s sheer size. In fact, it is Google’s near universality as an internet tool, from email to search, that makes it, to use PI’s phrase, an ‘endemic threat to privacy’.
‘There is no question that any company that aspires to create a monopoly poses a threat endemically’, Davies tells me. ‘That’s not just Google, that’s also Microsoft. Google is fortunate in that it’s working on the new wave of information processing. Many regulators don’t understand the importance of what Google is doing. Because Microsoft was selling hard products, it was easier to understand what the Micrososft monopoly meant, but it still took regulators years to get that far.’
There is potential for the threat that Google poses, albeit by default rather than design, to grow. As Davies says: ‘In the future, if you combine a Google utility, say your search profile, with your diary or even your email addresses, Google will have an extraordinary reach into every aspect of your life to an extent that isn’t happening currently.’ This ability to drill deep down into an individual’s private life, is clearly a worrying prospect for privacy campaigners. ‘The real battle is when Google starts to join together the information reserves to each service through a single sign-on or log-in. There is some sharing at the moment, but if you look at what it potentially could do, there is a privacy Chernobyl ahead, and Google needs to recognise it.’
The problem is that Google’s raison d’être, and the reason for its interest to both commercial and political spheres, runs counter to a regard for people’s privacy. ‘Google’s business model, as far as we can see it, depends upon a knowledge of the individual, a knowledge of the account holder. To achieve that goal, it’s going to have to take some very tough decisions with regards to the way it handles information, and I don’t think the company is set up well enough, or aligned well enough to take those decisions yet… Our concern is to see how the business model can be maintained while protecting privacy.’
However, there is one key factor that may mitigate against this ‘privacy Chernobyl’, argues Davies: the need to avoid the potential cynicism of internet users. That’s where, as Davies sees it, ‘trust becomes a key element’. He continues: ‘Screwing over your customers by trying to pull a fast one over privacy doesn’t work. It’s crucial to build that trust so that a fast-growth company can maintain its position in the market. That’s why all these companies need to see privacy as something that is a potential plus for them rather than a pain in the arse, which is the way they’re seeing it at the moment.’
Tim Black is senior writer at spiked.
What do YOU think? Let us know by clicking here.
The spiked debate, ‘Has Google got too big?’, will take place at the Royal Society of Arts in London between 6.30pm and 8pm on Thursday 18 March. It’s a free debate, but to avoid disappointment book your place NOW: click here.
Previously on spiked
Andrew Orlowski said we’re all in Google’s crossfire. Rob Killick called Google a frenemy of the internet generation. Back in 2004, Sandy Starr said Google was being slated and feted for the wrong reasons. Elsewhere, he criticised the publishing industry for stalling Google’s attempt to create a virtual library. Tim Black examined an Italian court’s desicion to sentence Google executives for privacy infringement. Jennie Bristow reviewed a book which put the case for people escaping from their all-consuming ‘Second Lives’. Or read more at the spiked debate page Has Google got too big?.
To enquire about republishing spiked’s content, a right to reply or to request a correction, please contact the managing editor, Viv Regan.