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Eindhoven’s Pathé cinema sold its 100,000th ticket for IMAX movie Star Wars today.
The ticket was purchased by Michael Waterman, 41, of Veldhoven, who also received champagne, flowers, and two Pathé Unlimited Cards from manager Bart van den Boom in recognition of the milestone.
The Force Awakens, the latest in the Star Wars saga, is also being shown on IMAX screens in Amsterdam, Arnhem, The Hague, Rotterdam, and Tilburg.
The 100,000th ticket sale is a new milestone for the movie, out since December 16th in Dutch cinemas. Earlier reports highlighted its best Tuesday and Wednesday sales to date, while it earned a record-breaking €1billion in just 12 days.


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'Hearthstone' Balance Changes, Nerfs and Patch Notes: Update 7.1 aims to mix up the meta
A new patch is on its way to Blizzard's card-battler Hearthstone. The update appears to focus on mixing up a meta that's grown stale, hoping to encourage some new strategies and make experimentation a little less risky in Ranked Play.
Unfortunately, if you've been relying on those well-established strategies — like the Small-Time Buccaneer and Patches the Pirate combo — you might not be quite as thrilled about the nerfs included in patch 7.1.
Here's what you can expect from the new Hearthstone update.
Hearthstone Update 7.1 Patch Notes: Nerfs to the Small-Time Buccaneer/Pirate combo and Spirit Claws
In an update that should arrive before the end of February, Small-Time Buccaneer will have its health reduced from two to one, according to a post on Blizzard's forums.
"The combination of Small-Time Buccaneer and Patches the Pirate has been showing up too often in the meta," the post read. "Weapon-utilizing classes have been heavily utilizing this combination of cards, especially Shaman, and we'd like to see more diversity in the meta overall."
In a similar effort to mix up an overused strategy, the patch will increase the cost of Spirit Claws to two mana, up from its current cost of one.
"Spirit Claws has been a notably powerful Shaman weapon," the post read. "At one mana, Spirit Claws has been able to capitalize on cards such as Bloodmage Thalnos or the Shaman Hero power to provide extremely efficient minion removal on curve. Increasing its mana by one will slow down Spirit Claws' ability to curve out as efficiently."
Hearthstone Patch 7.1: Additional Ranked Play floors
The other major update in upcoming patch 7.1 is the addition of several "floors" in Ranked Play at levels 5, 10 and 15. Once your skill level reaches one of these floors — in addition to the already existing floors at 20 and Legend — you can no longer de-rank below that level for the remainder of the season, regardless of how many losses you incur.
Blizzard hopes "this promotes additional deck experimentation between ranks, and that any losses that may occur feel less punishing."
If there's anything new in the full patch notes, we'll let you know.
More gaming news and updates
For more gaming news, check out the latest from Mic. Here's an explanation of the new berry types making their way into Pokémon Go, a quick look at the four new characters in Fire Emblem Heroes, a visual comparison of the Wii U and the Nintendo Switch and deep dive into the latest Overwatch Doomfist rumor.

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Penske Logistics opens up new DC in Brazil
Penske Logistics, a subsidiary of global transportation services provider Penske Corporation, announced it has opened up a new 110,000 square-foot square foot factory distribution center in Manaus, Brazil.
in the NewsISM Semiannual report points to growth for both non-manufacturing and manufacturing through 2017 ISM Semiannual report provides optimism for both non-manufacturing and manufacturing through 2017 “Digitization” of ocean cargo industry continues to gain traction JDA releases Digital Supply Chain For Dummies book Cross Border 2017: Managing Your Supply Chain for Efficient and Secure Crossings More News
Earlier this week, Penske Logistics, a subsidiary of global transportation services provider Penske Corporation, announced it has opened up a new 110,000 square-foot square foot factory distribution center in Manaus, Brazil.
Company officials said that at this location Penske Logistics Brazil will store and ship Whirlpool brand air conditioners and microwaves (Cônsul and Brastemp) to the company’s retail customers throughout Brazil.
Penske performs warehousing, sequencing, inbound and outbound transportation services across Whirlpool product lines in the U.S. Canada, Mexico and Brazil and this is the first time the company has set up operations in Manaus.
“Manaus has been a strategic growth location due to the concentration of manufacturing,” said Bill Scroggie, President, Penske South America, in an interview. “The search of the correct opportunity and customer to begin operations has been in progress in several years.”
Scroggie said Penske Logistics has been in operating in Brazil for 11 years, also noting that the contract with Whirlpool in Brazil began on July 1, 2010.
Penske has a total of 37 new employees in the location– all local professionals from Manaus, including the operations manager.
About the AuthorJeff Berman, Group News Editor Jeff Berman is Group News Editor for Logistics Management, Modern Materials Handling, and Supply Chain Management Review. Jeff works and lives in Cape Elizabeth, Maine, where he covers all aspects of the supply chain, logistics, freight transportation, and materials handling sectors on a daily basis. Contact Jeff Berman
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In response to the growing demand for high-quality camera equipment to meet the evolving requirements of today’s content creators, Canon Europe has announced the EOS M50 Mark II, the successor to the award-winning EOS M50.
Intracto Group has acquired Ghent-based agency Marlon together with it’s over 30 digital experts. The agency is renowned in the field of design and development of apps, web shops and websites.
At a time when the world could use a little more fizz, Pepsi® has unveiled a highly entertaining new campaign that will cut across cultural playgrounds with the uncontainable fizz of the brand.
Havas Group has announced the acquisition of a majority stake in Singapore-based creative agency BLKJ. The agency will join forces with the Havas Creative network and will strengthen the Group’s creative operations in South East Asia.
Heineken's tequila-flavoured beer brand Desperados has partnered with eight emerging graphic designers, painters, photographers and illustrators, creating the Desperados Design Collective, to develop its latest advertising campaign.
Creative agency SouthPaw has developed a new creative platform for single malt brand Benriach, ‘A World of Flavour’ to drive awareness and penetration.
Mono Solutions, an offshoot of German multimedia conglomerate Bauer Media has partnered with Lokale Internetwerbung GmbH & Co. KG, a company that delivers a SaaS marketing solution to local businesses in more than 40 markets.
Verizon Media has announced a series of new Media Platform enhancements designed to evolve the live streaming experience.
ReverseAds has announced the launch of its reverse-engineered search advertising solution that uses Big Data, A.I., and predictive modeling to help brands serve intuitive ads everywhere buyers go online after their initial search.
Digital marketing agency Wpromote, has announced the launch of The Ad Creative Bank, a tool to help marketers identify trends, build new best practices, and improve marketing creative.
Kubient and Zoox Smart Data, a solution in applying Big Data and artificial intelligence, have launched a strategic partnership to allow advertisers to buy with vetted first party, consumer provided audience data.
German-based service provider Admitad has launched Admitad Affiliate Marketplace, an aggregator of affiliate programs from multiple networks.
Hivestack, a global programmatic digital Out of Home (DOOH) ad tech company, has announced a new partnership with Clear Channel UK, part of Clear Channel Outdoor, one of the global leaders in Out of Home.
Samsung Electronics has announced a new partnership with design company d’strict to showcase groundbreaking new media art on Samsung’s industry-leading SMART signage.
The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council in partnership with Cision has published a new report - Bridging the Gap for Comms & Marketing: Building Cohesion in the Age of Customer Disruption.
Nielsen has announced it is launching Nielsen Compass, a powerful, world leading database that leverages the company’s global scale to establish syndicated normative standards for campaign outcomes measurement.
World Federation of Advertisers has unveiled an advertiser-centric Framework for cross-media measurement – the “holy grail” for marketers.
Top-selling toy on France Amazon, Lunii has crossed the Atlantic and is launching in the U.S. this month (now available in B8TA). Perfect for this COVID times, it's screen-free and emissions-free.
Channel 4 has announced that 4Creative’s Eoin McLaughlin has been promoted to the newly created role of Deputy Executive Creative Director and the appointment of award-winning creative Lydia Raghavan to Creative Director.
PostCoronaPosts.com is a global online platform where people can share their post-pandemic intentions anonymously with the rest of the world.
Geometry has announced promotion of Will Good to the newly created role of Global Head of Business Development, reporting directly to Global CEO Beth Ann Kaminkow.


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EU relaxing travel rules for fully vaccinated people
THE European Union (EU) last Wednesday took a step towards relaxing tourism travel rules for visitors from outside the bloc with EU ambassadors agreeing to allow fully vaccinated visitors in, according to American broadcaster CBS News .
The EU also agreed to ease the criteria for nations to be considered safe countries from which all tourists can travel. Up to now, that list included only seven nations. Names of nations were not disclosed.
The EU imposed strict measures last year to contain COVID-19 outbreaks but the bloc’s 27 ambassadors now say many of those restrictions on non-essential travel should be eased. Specifically, tourists from outside the bloc who have been fully vaccinated should be allowed in.
The European Council “will now recommend that member states ease some of the current restrictions” for those who have been vaccinated, said EU Commission spokesman Christian Wigand. He didn’t give a date when the borders will reopen since EU countries have yet to formally approve the measures.
“The council should also soon expand the list of non-EU countries with a good epidemiological situation from where travel is permitted,” said Wigand. The EU’s European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control is to give advice on the list.
CBS reported, too, that the EU would be granting COVID-19 “safety seals” to tourism businesses compliant with health and safety requirements, and a new COVID-19 tourism safety protocol and label will facilitate the safe reopening of tourism in the EU. The safety seal received by these compliant tourism businesses will therefore increase the trust of travellers and workers.
The relaxation of rules was proposed earlier this month by the European Commission, which said entry should be granted to all those fully vaccinated with EU-authorised shots. COVID-19 vaccines authorised by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), the bloc’s drug regulator, include Pfizer, Moderna, AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson. The EMA hasn’t approved any vaccines from Russia or China as of yet but is looking at data for Russia’s Sputnik V jab.
Wigand said ambassadors also agreed on an “emergency brake” mechanism designed to stop dangerous virus variants from entering the 27-nation bloc through quickly enacted travel limits if the infection situation deteriorates in a non-EU country.
EU nations have been struggling throughout the pandemic to prop up their vital tourism industry, and hope to recover some income over the peak summer season.
Greece, which is heavily reliant on tourism, has already lifted quarantine restrictions for the US, Britain, Israel, and other non-EU countries as negotiations between governments and EU lawmakers to introduce COVID-19 certificates aimed at facilitating travel across the region this summer continue. A deal is required by the end of the month to ensure the system will be up and running by the end of June.
Now you can read the Jamaica Observer ePaper anytime, anywhere. The Jamaica Observer ePaper is available to you at home or at work, and is the same edition as the printed copy available at https://bit.ly/epaper-login


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The latest previews have released for IDW’s Sonic the Hedgehog comics, and while we await issue 6 we have details on issue 9. This issue will kick off a new multi-part story entitled “The Battle for Angel Island” and will Sonic and friends taking on a treat to the Master Emerald. Unlike past issues which have been debuting characters one at a time, this issue promises everybody to team up. Interestingly, one cover features Emerl from Sonic Battle and Sonic and Knuckles riding their extreme gear from the Sonic Riders games.
The full solicit can be read after the break.


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Morocco inflation eases to 2.2 pct in February
RABAT, March 20
RABAT, March 20 (Reuters) - Morocco's consumer price inflation eased to an annual 2.2 percent in February from 2.6 percent in January, the High Planning Authority said on Wednesday.
Food price growth fell to 3.3 percent in the 12 months to the end of February from 4.2 percent in January. Communications expenses tumbled 16 percent after mobile telephone fees were cut; education costs rose 6.1 percent.
On a month-on-month basis, consumer prices fell 0.1 percent in February after rising 0.2 percent in January, as food prices decreased 0.2 percent.
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- South Africa mourns Mandela, will bury him on December 15 |
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text: Cyber security centre warns businesses about cyber chatbot risks 31 Aug 2023The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) has warned UK businesses about the risks cyber chatbots pose to firms. Officials from the NCSC said that cyber experts do not yet fully understand the potential risks digital algorithms that create human-sounding interactions, or large language models (LLMs), may pose to businesses. Chatbots make use of AI to aid in providing customer services and making sales calls on behalf of firms. However, the NCSC warned that using chatbots could carry 'unforeseen risks' when they are linked to businesses' internal processes and networks. It warned that AI chatbots could be manipulated into taking rogue commands, which may lead to rises in cases of fraud and data breaches. The NCSC stated: 'Organisations building services that use LLMs need to be careful, in the same way they would be if they were using a product or code library that was in beta. 'They might not let that product be involved in making transactions on the customer's behalf, and hopefully wouldn't fully trust it. Similar caution should apply to LLMs.'


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The World’s Most Expensive Car Just Sold for an All-Time Record of $142 Million
In a secret auction at the brand’s museum in Germany, Mercedes-Benz sold one of just two 1955 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupes from its extensive collection of historical automobiles—which dates back to the earliest days of the car in the late 19th century. The sale, to a private buyer, was for 135 million euros ($142,769,250). It handily outstripped the previous record-setting $48.4-million sale of a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO at a 2018 auction to become the most expensive car ever sold at auction. Both of these high-dollar sales were brokered by RM Sotheby’s.
“Despite Ferrari being the most likely marque to have built a $100-million car, Mercedes-Benz was the next most likely candidate,” said Brian Rabold, the vice president of Hagerty Automotive Intelligence, the valuation wing of the classic car insurance, lifestyle, and editorial giant, Hagerty.
The two street-legal 300 SLR Uhlenhaut coupes were created by (and named for) Mercedes-Benz’s racing director at the time, Rudolf Uhlenhaut, who built them as part of a motorsport assault. Despite being among the fastest cars in the world at the time, they were never raced due to the brand’s withdrawal from racing in 1955 following a disastrous crash at the Le Mans endurance race that injured hundreds of spectators and killed over 80 people, including Mercedes’s driver.
Read more here


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A case for raising capacity of non-oil exports
While attention seems to be shifting to the non-oil sector as alternative source of revenue, following the drop in global oil prices, stakeholders in the sector believe government needs to do more beyond playing lip service to revamping of the sector. FEMI ADEKOYA writes on how to improve capacity of the non-oil sector as a viable income earner for the country.
A school of thought holds that sustainable development through the non-oil requires that government policies towards non-oil sector production be multidimensional as there are several challenges bedevilling the non-oil sector from taking its pride of place in revenue generation for sustainable development.
In other words, there has not been adequate investment in equipment, infrastructures, intellectual capital, human capital and consistent policy framework to spur interest in the sector, which will positively affect the cost of doing business. This has aided the neglect of production in the real sector of the economy, as manufacturers continue to explore importation option to access raw materials that could have been accessed locally.
With government seeking to improve its earnings from the non-oil sector, stakeholders in the sector have suggested enhanced capacity building for exporters and revival of commodity boards to address quality challenges limiting the growth of the sector.
According to the stakeholders, there is also a need to revive incentives for the non-oil sector as part of measures to drive export, adding that quality challenges and losses recorded by farmers could be minimised if the government could buy the excess farm produce from farmers through Commodity Boards to stablise prices and also avoid losses due to the absence of storage facilities to store harvest products.
Indeed, the non-oil sector which showed remarkable growth from $1 billion in 2006 to about $3 billion in 2013 in foreign exchange had equally experienced a decline from 10 per cent in 2014 to 20 per cent in 2015.
Following the inability of Federal Government to revive incentives for non-oil exporters, proceeds from the non-oil sector has continued to witness a southward trend as the nation’s earnings from the sector hits $1.6 billion from $3 billion recorded in 2013.
According to stakeholders in the sector, earnings from non-oil export can easily cross $5 billion this and bring some relief to tackle the foreign exchange crisis prevailing in the economy if suspended incentives are revived and other challenges addressed.
Executive Secretary of the Organised Private Sector Exporters Association (OPEXA), Jaiyeola Olarewaju in a chat with The Guardian, noted that exporters have in the last two years, been sitting on a backlog of over N100 billion worth of unutilized export certificates issued under the seal of the Ministry of Finance, urging government honour its financial commitments in regards to extant law
“It is paradoxical that one sector that had the potential to cushion the commodity shock has been paralysed due to lack of inter-ministerial coordination. Nigeria’s non-oil exports fell from $3billion in 2013 to $1.6 billion in 2015. In 2014, the country had realised $2.7 billion in non-oil exports. In 2015, exports of cocoa, Nigeria’s largest commodity declined by 35 per cent whereas leather exports, which is the main stay of industrial economy in the North plunged by 60 per cent.
“If the EEG policy had been sustained, our non-oil exports today would have easily crossed $5 billion by 2016 and brought some relief to tackle the foreign exchange crisis prevailing in the economy. The officials have been evading the issue by alluding to perceived abuses of the grant which led to its suspension. It is classic case of throwing the baby with the bath water. The exporters relied on the extant policy and repatriated forex through the banks duly verified by the CBN”.
Director/Zonal Controller, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), George Enyiekpon stated that the move is to renew focus on finding problems to issues affecting non-oil export.
Enyiekpon noted that the call for revival of incentives in the non-oil export is to further aid competitiveness of goods, adding that efforts are geared at boosting other non-oil exports apart from agricultural products.
Similarly, Managing Director, Multimix Academy, Dr Obiora Madu, stressed the need for improved transparency in the regulatory process, adding that compliance by value-chain operators should be enforced while defaulters should be made to face the liabilities.
“There is need for a new inter-agency strategy as well as a re-assessment of the system of regulation. Ensuring domestic food safety and agricultural health controls promote export market requirements. These are some of the issues hindering Nigeria from improving its earnings from non-oil export.
“On poor earnings, stakeholders should note that value placed on agricultural products is a function of the quality of the product. There has been a steady decline in revenue and foreign exchange earnings due to the poor quality of products being exported. Government needs to coordinate and integrate food control policies to avoid dissenting voices that confuse value-chain operators”, he added.
Executive Director, Nigerian Stored Product Research Institute, Prof. Olufemi Peters urged stakeholders to address issues of post-harvest handling in a bid to reduce heavy metals in products while improving access to market information.
Chairman, Manufacturers of Nigeria Export Group (MANEG), Tunde Oyelola urged government to address challenges in the value-chain adding the problem with product quality borders more on the middlemen who buy the products from farmers and use heavy chemicals for preservation.
Olarewaju further explained that while diversification is being advocated as the need of the hour to generate employment by boosting production in the non-oil sector, government should clear the backlog of unutilised NDCCs and exports made in 2014 and 2015 under the extant policy to sustain about 11 million Nigerians employed directly and indirectly in the non-oil export sector.
He noted that addressing unutilized export certificates could be done by converting them into government bonds with a medium to long term maturity to avoid undue pressure on current government revenue.
“The Ministries of Industry, Trade and Investment as well as Finance should harmonise their position and come up with a sustainable and effective EEG policy to put non-oil exports back on track. Nigeria’s non-oil export sector is still in its infancy and came into mainstream in the last 10 years due to the policies that were put in place that encouraged the sector to invest in agricultural supply chains, export processing factories and overseas marketing.”, he said.
“The root cause of the decline in non-oil exports was a legacy of the past administration inherited by the present government. There is an opportunity to reverse the trend by restoring the policy framework that led to the rapid development of the sector.
“Non-oil exports were boosted by the Export Expansion Grant or EEG policy meant to cushion the cost disadvantages faced by our exporters due to infrastructural deficiencies. It improves the price competitiveness of Nigerian products in the international market. Since 1999, EEG has been given in form of negotiable duty credit certificates (NDCCs). However, the former Minister of Finance arbitrarily suspended the utilisation of the certificates pending a review of the scheme which for the past three years has been languishing due to lack of inter-ministerial coordination”, he added.
Latest monthly economic report released by the CBN provisionally puts non-oil exports at $244 million in the month of November, noting that the month-to-month decline was precipitated by fall in receipts from the food products and minerals sectors. Industrial products, which earned $79 million, accounted for the largest proceeds.
The sector breakdown shows that proceeds from manufactured products, agricultural products and the industrial sub-sector grew by 13.3 percent, 13.5 percent and 38.3 percent, respectively, on a month-to-month basis.
On the other hand, proceeds from food products and minerals decreased by 86.4 percent and 49.2 percent, respectively.
In the month of November, non-oil exports stayed very low at approximately 1 percent of GDP.
The report stated that, “the agriculture and manufacturing sector, which underpinned non-oil exports in November, grew by 2.6 percent yearly and contracted by minus 1.8 percent in third quarter 2015, respectively. The national accounts are due for later this year.”
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Your cats-pertise could earn you a whole lotta "litter." The Purina Tidy Cats “Pet Projects” Design Challenge is searching the country for the most innovative “pet projects” cat owners have created or will create - from creative cat inventions to crafty cat décor.
Cat owners can enter the contest online now through Aug. 16
The contest requires creating an original video, no more than two minutes in length, that showcases their pet project and explains how and why they created it, as well as how it enhances their life with their cat.
Two Grand Prize winners will each receive a $10,000 cash award and a trip to New York City where their winning pet projects will be unveiled at a special event


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As New York State ludicrously defines a mansion, such a property in a new development or otherwise owned by a building’s sponsor must sell for $1 million or more to earn that dubious distinction.
That’s the number used by legislators in 1989, when $1 million was $1 million. As of 2008, however, a million was $1.7 million, thanks to inflation. And whether $1.7 million would buy a mansion in New York City then or now certainly is open to question. Just try to find something that might correctly be called a mansion for $1.7 million – for example, a townhouse in excellent condition. You would be hard pressed to find one in good condition for under $10 million in popular neighborhoods. The highest priced one today is on the Upper East Side at $75 million, but there’s not a scintilla of hope that it well sell for anything like that sum.
(If you’re a regular reader of my biweekly newsletter, you’ve perhaps already subjected yourself to this post. But, hey, it’s a holiday weekend: Happy Independence Day!)
Even $1 million on the bottom line is too high to avoid the tax. That’s because there’s another tax that, in the state’s eyes, must be added to the purchase price. Continue reading


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The number of Americans filing new claims for unemployment benefits rebounded last week, returning to levels consistent with only modest job growth after a seasonal quirk caused a sharp drop the prior period.
Initial claims for state unemployment benefits increased 34,000 to a seasonally adjusted 386,000, the Labor Department said on Thursday. Claims had dropped by 24,000 in the prior week and a combined 36,000 over the previous two weeks.
Economists polled by Reuters had forecast claims rising to 365,000 last week. The four-week moving average for new claims, a better measure of labor market trends, fell 1,500 to 375,500 – staying in the middle of the range it has held for much of 2012.
Traders at Deutsche Bank AG (DBK), HSBC Holdings Plc (HSBA), Societe Generale SA (GLE) and Credit Agricole SA (ACA) are under investigation for interest-rate manipulation in a global probe that led to a record fine for Barclays Plc (BARC) last month, a person with knowledge of the matter said.
Regulators are examining the possible roles of Michael Zrihen at Credit Agricole, Didier Sander at HSBC and Christian Bittar at Deutsche Bank, said the person, who asked not to be identified because the probe is continuing. Investigators are focusing on their links to Philippe Moryoussef, an ex-trader at Barclays, which was fined $451 million for rigging the euro and London interbank offered rates, the person said.
Morgan Stanley’s (MS) second-quarter profit dropped 50% as the bank recorded a weak performance in its institutional securities business, which includes investment banking and trading results. Shares slid 5.2% to $13.27 premarket after earnings fell short of analyst expectations.
Walgreen Co. (WAG) and pharmacy-benefit manager Express Scripts Holding Co. (ESRX) struck a multi-year pharmacy network agreement, concluding a long-running dispute between the two companies. Shares of Walgreen, which has struggled with slumping sales since leaving the Express Scripts network on Jan. 1, surged 14% to $35.23 in premarket trade. Fellow pharmacy chain CVS Caremark Corp. (CVS) shed 5.1% to $46.00 while Express Scripts added 3.7% to $59.83.
EBay Inc. (EBAY) said Wednesday both its core business and its PayPal payments unit have continued to turn in strong performances, helping send the Internet pioneer’s shares up 6.7% to $43.15 premarket. Revenue beat expectations.
International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) boosted its guidance for full-year earnings, alleviating some worries about tech spending, even as its revenue fell short of expectations for the fourth-straight quarter amid “pretty significant” currency headwinds. Shares gained 2.6% to $193.17 premarket.
Qualcomm Inc.’s (QCOM) fiscal third-quarter profit rose 17% as the chip maker continued to see strong demand for its smartphone technology. Shares traded 5.8% higher at $59.28 premarket.
Select Comfort Corp.’s (SCSS) second-quarter earnings climbed 50% as the mattress seller booked strong sales through its company-exclusive distribution system. Results beat analyst expectations and the company also raised its earnings target for the year. Shares jumped 22% to $26.50 premarket.
Mellanox Technologies Ltd.’s (MLNX, MLNX.TV) second-quarter earnings soared as the data-storage company’s better-than-expected revenue broke a new record. Shares surged 46% to $95.70 premarket as adjusted earnings sharply beat analysts’ expectations.
PPG Industries Inc. (PPG) plans to merge its chemicals business with Georgia Gulf Corp. (GGC) in a $2.1 billion cash-and-stock deal. The paints-and-chemicals supplier agreed to form a new company by separating its chemicals business and merging it with Georgia Gulf. PPG shareholders will receive 50.5% of the shares of the merged company. Georgia Gulf shares surged 14% to $32.99 premarket; PPG shares added 1.6% to $105.87.
Skyworks Solutions Inc.’s (SWKS) fiscal third-quarter earnings fell 4.3% as the wireless-semiconductor company struggled with higher costs that outpaced improved revenue. However, shares popped 8.1% to $28.80 premarket as the company topped its quarterly estimates.
Diana Containerships Inc. (DCIX) plans to offer 8.1 million shares to raise funds for general corporate purposes, including vessel acquisitions and working capital. Shares fell 16% to $6.07 premarket.
Nanosphere Inc. (NSPH) intends to offer shares to raise proceeds for general corporate purposes and working capital. The medical diagnostic-test developer didn’t indicate how many shares it plans to sell. Shares sank 5% to $2.50 premarket.
Johnson Controls Inc.’s (JCI) fiscal third-quarter earnings rose 17% as the car battery maker saw a rise in revenue along with lower expenses. Shares slumped 6.4% to $26.50, however, as results came in below Wall Street estimates and the company’s previous growth forecast.
Anthera Pharmaceuticals Inc. (ANTH) said it will offer an undisclosed number of shares, intending to use the proceeds for the drug maker’s general corporate purposes. Shares were down 15% to $1.13 premarket.
American Express Co.’s (AXP) second-quarter profit was essentially flat as the pace of customer card spending slowed, though it continued to benefit from historically low loan losses.
Capital One Financial Corp.’s (COF) second-quarter earnings plunged 90% from a year earlier as the company booked a slew of charges related to its acquisition of HSBC Holdings PLC’s (HBC, 0005.HK, HSBA.LN) U.S. credit-card portfolio and a settlement with U.S. regulators.
F5 Networks Inc.’s (FFIV) fiscal third-quarter profit rose 16% on healthy network-security demand, though the company warned cautious economic sentiment would drag on current-quarter results.
Greenhill & Co. (GHL) said its second-quarter profit fell 90% to $2.2 million on significantly lower revenue from advisory services compared to last year’s strong quarter.
Verizon Communications Inc.’s (VZ) second-quarter earnings rose 13% as the company added more contract wireless customers and increased its base of FiOS subscribers.
Yum! Brands Inc. (YUM), which owns the Pizza Hut, KFC and Taco Bell fast-food chains, saw its profit rise 4.8% in the latest quarter, as improvements at Taco Bell boosted its U.S. business, which is becoming more important given the pullback in China’s economic growth.


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TORONTO — The head of the Canadian Auto Workers says he doesn’t want to speculate on what the union will give up in negotiations with Chrysler, which were set to resume Monday after a three-week break.
Ken Lewenza has previously insisted that his union will stick to the pattern established in a deal with General Motors last month, but he seemed to soften his stance Monday.
“I don’t want to speculate at this particular time,” Lewenza said at a news conference when asked whether he would refuse to bend from pattern bargaining.
“Things are shifting enormously, especially with our UAW colleagues in the U.S.”
The United Auto Workers — the CAW’s sister organization in the United States — has so far been unable to reach a deal with either GM or Chrysler.
Lewenza said the CAW is willing to do what it takes to make sure unionized plants in Canada are competitive with unionized plants in the U.S., but it’s hard to know what that will be until the UAW has formalized its own agreement with the troubled automakers.
Chrysler Canada has insisted that it needs to reduce its all-in labour costs, currently pegged at $76.14 an hour, by $19 to be competitive with non-unionized assembly plants in Canada — a different measure of competitiveness than the CAW is using.
The agreement between GM and the CAW reduces that company’s labour costs by about $7 an hour, but CEO Fritz Henderson has said several times that the deal is competitive.
Chrysler has been backed up in its demands by both potential partner Fiat and the federal government. If Chrysler can’t reach an agreement with its unions and cement an alliance with Fiat by the end of the month, governments in Canada and the U.S. have said they won’t provide the company with long-term assistance. If this happens, it’s likely Chrysler will be forced to file for bankruptcy protection and maybe even liquidate its assets.
But Lewenza said reducing labour costs by $19 an hour is simply “not feasible,” and the union already provided the company with millions of dollars in cost savings in an agreement negotiated a year ago which froze wages until 2011 and reduced paid time off, among other things.
He said the union is under a “significant amount of pressure” to reach an agreement by the end of this week so Chrysler can complete its restructuring plans by the April 30 deadline.
“Both the provincial and federal governments contacted us on the weekend, insisting that the agreement come sooner rather than later,” Lewenza said.
He said the union is prepared to bargain, but accused Chrysler of negotiating in bad faith and deliberately using the CAW as a scapegoat for the company’s problems. Chrysler CEO Bob Nardelli and president Tom LaSorda said in a letter to employees last week that the company could go out of business if it can’t reach a deal with the CAW.
Ontario Economic Development Minister Michael Bryant said Monday that there need to be concessions from all stakeholders if Chrysler wants to receive long-term government support.
“It is absolutely the case that everybody has to come to the table. There has to be equality of sacrifice,” Bryant said. “I’m hopeful that that’s going to happen.”
The federal and Ontario governments have already lent $750 million to Chrysler Canada of $1 billion promised. The governments have also given GM Canada $3 billion to draw upon when needed.
Chrysler employs about 9,000 hourly workers at assembly plants in Windsor, Ont., and Brampton, Ont., and at a casting plant in Toronto.


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Inflation in the United Kingdom has not yet seen the summit
In a turnaround, Wells Fargo Advisors sees slight bump in headcount
Toys R Us Looking At Virtual Reality To Bounce Back From Bankruptcy
US Gives 15 Cuban Diplomats One Week to Leave Embassy in DC
Brexit is our core task says new Ukip leader Henry Bolton
Alphabet paid Google CEO Sundar Pichai $200M in 2016
October 19 2017, 11:46 | Alonzo Simpson
As per the latest reports, he increased his compensation by nearly 2 times from the year 2015 in the year 2016.
And the revenue increases were not driven by sales of Pixel smartphones, cloud or any of the other technologies the company likes to show off, but of online advertising.
The company's approach to the market is to be one Google, Pichai said.
Google parent company Alphabet saw sharesrise after beating analyst expectations for its first quarter earnings report. They expected the company to deliver earnings of $7.39 per share on $24.22 billion based data compiled by Thomson Reuters. Google site revenues were $17.4 billion (up 21 percent), and network revenues were $4 billion (up 9 percent). "Hardware sales continue to be strong", says CEO Sundar Pichai during the call, hinting that revenue from hardware did contribute quite a bit to the jump in revenue.
Shares were up 4 percent in after-hours trading; shares are up more than 20 percent in the past year.
Google's revenues from hardware and cloud services which is categorised under "other revenues" stood at Dollars 3.1 billion in the last quarter which is nearly double when compared to the same period, the previous year. Facebook and Google had accounted for 99 percent of the industry growth in digital advertising in 2016. The company delivered $24.75 billion in revenue. Other bets includes Waymo, a self-driving auto division, and Verily life sciences division.
GAAP income from the quarter was reported at $5.4 billion, or $7.85 per share, up from the $4.2 billion, or $6.12 per share, the company reported for the same period of past year. "We will continue to invest here for the long-term opportunity", said Porat, on an analyst conference call last night.
Alphabet CEO Larry Page released a letter last night defending the two-year-old Alphabet structure, which he said had achieved its objective of giving investors greater visibility into Google's performance while empowering entrepreneurs in other parts of the company.
Diane Greene, now senior vice president for Google's cloud operations, earned total compensation of $43.7 million previous year, most of it via two stock awards totaling $42.8 million.


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OnePlus shared some new news on Their Official Wiebo and Forum page about the arrival of something new on 18th march that comes with New brand Image. The company posted an image of something covered with a curtain and with the date of “03.18 12:17”. Speculation of announcement about OnePlus 8 Series was unfortunately False.
The Weibo post reads “New week, New life, New …,” followed by the numbers indicating a date – March 18 and what seems to be the time – 12:17.
In the Forum Post Pete States
We’ve come a long way from our early days, with a team of a few dozen employees that went above and beyond to make sure every OnePlus One order reached its buyer. Several years later, our team has grown across multiple offices, time zones and languages. We’ve become an important player in the tech industry, always focused on delivering the best smartphone experience for our users.
Our passion is stronger than ever, and we have experienced some amazing success along the way, but sometimes it’s good to shake things up a bit. So, before you find out from anyone else, I wanted to let you know first that two days from now, we’re refreshing our brand visual identity (VI).
Check Out our Post on OnePlus 8 And OnePlus 8 Pro: Leaks, Specification And Release Date
further adding to post Pete stated
We are sharing this information with you the same day as we’re sharing it internally. We consider this community as part of our family, equally as passionate about the brand as we are, so I felt I should inform you about this change, before it’s publicly announced.
On March 18, when we unveil the new brand VI for the world to see, we’ll follow up here on the forum with more details about what’s changing, what’s staying the same and what this means for the OnePlus brand. So, stay tuned for more in just a couple of days.
Followed by Famous OnePlus Keyphrase
The Reason Behind Change in OnePlus “brand visual identity ” is the survey taken last year as per CEO of Company. Pete stated on Chinese forum further Explaining Details about the survey
“Last year, after a series of preliminary surveys, we found that our brand image did not meet our high standards in many online and offline channels, and occasionally there were ‘not so particular’ situations. Therefore, our original intention to launch this renewal project is for a simple wish – ‘will not be’, to provide users with a better experience, which should be implemented from all aspects of the brand. We need to research, iterate, and polish the entire visual system to make it look as it should be.”
The post went on to state that on March 18, fans will be greeted with a new visual system. “I hope that the new design will present a new look for OnePlus and make your eyes more comfortable,” he adds.
Report out by IThome claims to have spotted a new trademark filing by OnePlus in China’s National Trademark Office, showing a black and white logo, setting aside the red and white colour scheme. The new logo also has the company’s name in all caps – ‘ONEPLUS’. The numeral 1 also has a different design.


text: With fans eagerly awaiting tomorrow’s release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi , now is a good time to take a glance what many top brands have created to celebrate this most popular of franchises. Christian Louboutin Female fans will be amazed when they see renowned shoemaker Louboutin’s “Star Wars” collection, created in collaboration with Walt Disney Studios to celebrate the release of the The Last Jedi . The four main shoes are all inspired by the main leads in the film – Rey (Daisy Ridley), Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo (Laura Dern), Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) and mechanic Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran). The showpiece of the collection is the “Space Shoe” art piece, complete with six-inch heels. The fruits of the collaboration were unveiled at the film’s premiere in Los Angeles on December 9. Swarovski In anticipation of the release of The Last Jedi , and to celebrate the memory of Star Wars: The Force Awakens , Swarovski has launched a special crystal collection, featuring characters such as the iconic droids R2-D2 and BB-8. The most expensive piece in the collection – a mere snip at HK$91,400 – is that of Darth Vader, limited to only 300 pieces worldwide. S.T. Dupont To commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars franchise, the French luxury brand created an exquisitely handcrafted Star Wars chess set, costing HK$1 million. Hand-carved stones and with gold detailing bring the Empire and its iconic characters vividly to life. Is this Star Wars chess set worth HK$1 million? Tanaka Kikinzoku The 24ct gold life-size Darth Vader mask, showcased by Japanese jeweller Tanaka Kikinzoku, is worth HK$10.9 million, and was commissioned to mark the 40th anniversary of the release of Star Wars . In addition to the gold mask, Tanaka Kikinzoku also released gold coins featuring Yoda and Luke Skywalker. Five luxury Star Wars collectibles to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the sci-fi franchise Nissan Nissan has unveiled seven Star Wars-themed vehicles – but they aren’t for sale. They were created in collaboration with Lucasfilm to support the launch of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and to draw attention to Nissan’s capabilities. Disney Resort Apart from Star Wars theme park, a Star Wars-themed resort is also planned for the Walt Disney World Resort. Disney’s new ‘Star Wars’ land is a 24-hour immersive experience Resembling the interiors and exteriors of spaceships from the Star Wars movies, the resort will draw fans to the Star Wars universe.


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New Tesla Semi prototype spotted transporting Tesla Model S cars to showrooms and it is beautiful
Even if you are not a Tesla fan, you have to hand it to Elon Musk and Tesla Motors for doing things differently. Who would have thought that in 2020 we would have an electric driven truck delivering electric cars to showrooms? This happened Fremont in California when a Tesla fan spotted a Red Tesla Semi delivering Tesla cars to showrooms.
— Alex (@Westy543) June 26, 2020
Tesla’s new Semi is simply awesome. It is being used for Tesla car deliveries as Tesla Motors has been facing issues supplying cars to customers due to the ongoing coronavirus lockdown. It is reported that Tesla has to deliver up to 10,000 cars by the end of June to meet the delivery deadlines but it has not been able to find a suitable transporter. CEO Elon Musk even tweeted about the delivery issues and apologized to Tesla car buyers for rescheduling delivery dates.
The new Tesla Semi seems to be Musk’s answer to the Tesla car delivery problems and the solution is simply brilliant. Alex who is a mod at r/planetside and also a chemist was surprised to find the beautiful Tesla semi being used transport the Tesla cars. He immediately took a picture and tweeted about it. Too bad he didn’t click the whole thing.
Tesla Semi has been in the works for a while now. In 2019, Tesla had announced the electric truck to reduce its transportation costs but the launch was delayed. Now coronavirus pandemic seems to a perfect launchpad for the Tesla Semis. Recently Elon Musk had said that “it’s time to bring Tesla Semi to volume production” and the Fremont delivery seems to be a result of that.
It’s awesome to see an electric driven truck deliver electric cars to customers.


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Studio Trigger, the Japanese animation company behind Kill la Kill and Darling in the Franxx, might be working on a new project with Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear, and BlazBlue developer Arc System Works as the former has launched a new countdown website with a timer that’s set to end on June 15 at 8:00 p.m. PT / 11:00 p.m. ET. An image, shown below, was found by Twitter user zetsubouquet on the website’s server which shows the names of both companies as well as part of the word “countdown,” which pretty much confirms the collaboration.
Studio Trigger is known for quite a number of anime productions including Kill la Kill, Space Patrol Luluco, Kiznaiver, Little Witch Academia, and, most recently, Darling in the Franxx which is a collaboration alongside fellow animation studio A-1 Pictures. The studio was founded by former employees of Gainax, the studio famous for anime such as Neon Genesis Evangelion and Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.
Arc System Works just recently launched its latest 2D fighting game BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle which features a crossover between BlazBlue, Persona 4 Arena, Under Night In-Birth, and RWBY. The company also launched Dragon Ball FighterZ earlier this year, which was met with very high praise. Dragon Ball FighterZ is set to be one of the main event titles at this year’s Evo 2018, the biggest annual fighting game event.
It isn’t clear what the two companies are working on together but given the Arc System Works’ history with 2D fighting games it wouldn’t come as a surprise if the company announced a new fighting game featuring characters created by Studio Trigger. There’s also the possibility that Studio Trigger will be working on a new anime project in collaboration with Arc System Works. We’ll just have to wait until the countdown runs out or more information leaks to find out what the companies have in store for us.


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In 2018, Packaging World readers’ interest was wide-ranging, demonstrating their appetite for those trends and technologies reshaping the packaging landscape. Enjoy this countdown of the Top 10 stories from this past year.
Corrugated is seeing lots of innovation in digital printing technology, but a look across all packaging material substrates reveals fresh new initiatives just about everywhere.
As in recent years, our talented and experienced PMMI Media Group Editors fanned out across the many booths at PACK EXPO Las Vegas to bring you this Innovations Report.
Packaging professionals share their experiences with active and intelligent packaging for consumer engagement, food waste reduction, e-commerce, and more at the AIPIA World Congress.
Back in the news after a self-imposed hiatus is one of the more intriguing sustainable-packaging initiatives of the past decade.
This year’s chosen color communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points toward the future.
Top-of-mind CPG concerns around e-commerce packaging are addressed, including package design, sustainability, specialized packaging equipment, and Amazon’s packaging requirements.
A new PET bottle with metal closure—a U.S. first for beverages—replaces Snapple’s glass package, keeping the satisfying snap of the cap when it opens as well as other iconic features.
According to new research by PMMI Business Intelligence, these are the most frequently mentioned consumer trends driving snack food SKU proliferation.
The Dow Chemical Company (Dow) announced the winners of the 2018 30th Awards for Packaging Innovation, which recognizes the packaging industry’s top achievements in innovative packaging designs, materials, technologies, and processes.
Whether you see it as a return to the Wild West or the opportunity of a lifetime, the cannabis industry has arrived. But be forewarned: its most distinguishing characteristic is rapid change.


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Photo: crd!, Flickr
We're not sure if the folks in the City of Watsonville, California, were fans of Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution, but we're pretty sure the star-chef would give a high-five to its council members. In a 6-1 vote on Tuesday, members passed a Healthy Eating Options ordinance, requiring all new restaurants (and existing restaurants looking to expand), to offer healthy options on their menus if they want to secure a building permit.
"It's a very attainable requirement," says Marcela Tavantzis, assistant city manager. "We're not trying to dissuade businesses from coming to Wastonville. The threshold is very low, but it's designed to get restaurants to think about their selections."
The ordinance is based on a point system determined by a list of options. Offering whole-grain bread will earn a restaurant one point. Prepare fish, chicken or beef by broiling, baking or poaching? Bingo! Two points. Offer water free of charge to customers? Yup. That's another point. To secure a permit, restaurateurs need a total of six points. Existing restaurants are also encouraged, but not required, to participate. Certificates are given to businesses that earn nine points, while restaurants that reach 13 will be able to proudly display a Golden Carrot Award. (Sounds like hot-dog joints should rethink the new construction in Watsonville.)


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Google is respecting the German history of dachshunds and the dashboard bobblehead figures made in their similarity with an intelligent bobblehead Doodle.
The dog doll was first manufactured in Germany in the 1970s. The bobblehead was affectionately known in German as the Wackeldackel or wobbling dachshund in English.
The dachshund bobblehead made a comeback in the late ’90s after being featured in a German advertisement. The toy then sold 500,000 units in eight months.
“Keep an eye out for these four-legged passengers on the road! You never know when you might spot a hot dog in the back of a hot rod,” Google said.


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Archbishop Justin met fashion students at the Norwich University of the Arts this afternoon. They explained their work on ethical and sustainable fashion and their ambition to change one of the world’s most polluting industries for the future well-being of our planet.
“Tremendous fun meeting fashion students at NUA. You were very kind not to mention my ancient suit! Inspiring to hear about your desire to tackle the devasting impact of disposable fashion – thanks God for your creativity and passion for justice.”


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updated 04:15 pm EST, Fri December 28, 2007
iBiquity Fights Sirius-XM
The FCC should not allow the proposed Sirius/XM satellite radio merger to go ahead unless it includes special exceptions to give HD Radio a boost in the market, the latter standard's creator iBiquity Digital has argued in a newly discovered complaint. The electronics firm claims that a union of the two satellite providers would harm its ability to launch HD Radio, which relies on traditional ground-based broadcasts. A merger should include a clause that forces devices using the combined network to include an HD Radio receiver at the same time, iBiquity writes in its FCC letter.
Any exclusive deals between Sirius, XM, and other companies such as stereo or vehicle manufacturers should also be voided, according to the complaint, as these discourage many if not all users from buying any equipment that supports HD Radio once they have bought a car or home audio system with satellite radio onboard. Both Sirius and XM have extensive deals that include car manufacturers such as BMW's MINI label and Volkswagen as well as home theater equipment makers such as Audiovox.
Neither Sirius nor XM has commented on the letter, which would set a controversial historical precedent by requiring that a perceived monopolist in the communications business include a specific competitor's rival technology. Sirius and XM have so far contended that their potential merger is competitive as the new body would compete against music of all kinds, including HD and analog radio as well as portable media players and similar devices.


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YouTube user sute aka has shared off-screen footage of a Japanese Monster Hunter: World TV spot, which confirms the addition of Elder Dragon Kirin. In the brief video above, you can catch a glimpse of the monster – who made its first appearance in 2004’s original title – as it uses lightning attacks.
Kirin joins recently announced Elder Dragons Kushala Daora and Teostra, and new monster Dodogama. While Capcom has yet to release more details about Kirin, here’s what the developer said about the other three in a recent press release:
The steel dragon Kushala Daora is a beast with a body covered in metal plates and has the power to keep hunters at bay by generating wind storms around itself. The flame king dragon Teostra is a brutal fiend that spits blazing fire and any hunter who faces this fierce and deadly monster is in danger of being engulfed in a hellish inferno. Dodogama is a rock-eating wyvern that possesses a unique saliva that causes rock to become explosive, a hazardous mix it will spit at its foes to warn off attackers.
Monster Hunter: World releases worldwide on January 26 for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One. A PC version will release this fall.
For more on Monster Hunter: World, check out our previous coverage and stay tuned for updates.


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Smash-and-grab thieves steal $100K worth of jewelry in Falls Church
FALLS CHURCH, Va. - Detectives from the Falls Church Police Department are searching for three suspects who they say stole $100,000 worth of jewelry from a store in the Eden Center shopping mall.
Police said the three suspects entered Princess Diamonds around noon on Friday. One of the bandits pointed a gun at an employee, while another used a hammer to shatter display cases to access the jewelry.
Authorities believe the robbers, who each wore ski masks that covered most of their faces, fled in a black Mercedes-Benz.
Two of them were last seen wearing black winter coats, and one of the suspects wore a gray winter coat with red and blue stripes across the chest.
Anyone with information regarding the theft should contact Detective Clyde Gandionko at 703-248-5284.


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By Bakare Idris
Since the revolution of GSM hit the market in 2001, Businesses, relationships, academic world, security agencies, entertainment industry, health sector, banking industry and so on, have benefited immensely from the telecom services, both directly and indirectly
Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) have made billions of dollars from Nigerian subscribers, at the same time created thousands of jobs for, hitherto, unemployed Nigerians. There have been several arguments as to whether the telecommunications services being rendered by the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to subscribers are commensurate to telephone bills being paid by the consumers.
There have been cries from Nigerian subscribers on how they are being short-changed and exploited by the Network Operators via poor Quality of Service (QoS), which falls short of age-longed business principle of reciprocity. It is worthy to note that in 2015, Nigerian telecom consumers spent a whopping sum of $5.6 billion on telecommunications services.
And in 2016, they topped it up by another $1billion, to make it $6.6 billion. If after spending this huge amount and they are not getting the best of services, initially there is something wrong with the system, and needed urgent attention and should be rectify.
Nigerian consumers have been at the receiving end of the excesses and ineptness of Mobile Network Operators for over a decade. It is ignoble and unjust for telecom subscribers to continue paying for telecommunications services they are not using, or under using. Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) had in the past introduced some measures to checkmate poor Quality of Service in the sector, but it seemed that Network Operators found ways to evade these Quality of Service checkpoints.
The NCC had fined cum penalised defaulting Mobile Network Operators in the past, for performing below Quality of Service (QoS) benchmark set for them. The Quality of Service yardstick is being reviewed periodically by the Commission to reflect happenings in the industry
The Nigerian Communications Commission’s recent declaration of 2017 as the year of telecom consumer came as breath of fresh air, to Nigerian subscriber, who has endured lot of difficulties, orchestrated by poor quality of telecommunications services in the sector.
The NCC officially flagged off Nigerian Telecom Consumer year on 15th of March, 2017. Coincidentally, March 15th, 2017, happened to be United Nations World Consumer Day (WCRD). The Theme for the day was: “Building a Digital World Consumers can Trust”. It is very strategic for the NCC to flag off Nigerian Telecom Consumer project on a day the world celebrated, not only consumers, but digitisation—which falls within the purview of the NCC’s mandate of regulating telecommunications industry.
Executive Vice Chairman of the NCC, Prof. Umar Garba Danbatta, during the flag-off, narrated the ordeal of telecom consumer in his pro-consumer speech. The NCC’s EVC, Prof. Danbatta, did not only state the obvious, but empathized with the consumer who bears the brunt of ineptitudes of Network Operators.
If the NCC will march its words with corresponding actions, I foresee a future for Nigerian Telecom Consumer, filled with satisfactory telecom services. Improved Quality of Service (QoS) will not only be taken for granted, but will become part of the fundamental rights of Nigerian telecom subscribers.
The NCC, not too long ago, summoned all the Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) to a crucial stakeholders meeting, where riot act was read to them on the urgency of enhancing proficiency of telecom services being rendered to the subscribers. There is no doubt that the appointment of Prof. Garba Danbatta as the Executive Vice Chairman of the telecom regulatory commission will make Nigerian telecom consumers to heave sigh of relief, as regards quality of services.
The quest to promote and protect the warfare of telecom consumer will run concurrently with that of Mobile Network Operators (MNOs). Making Nigerian telecom consumer king does not necessarily imply that the NCC will declare “war” on the Network Operators.
As a regulator, the NCC has the mandate to ensure all its key stakeholders are protected and their interests balanced in an atmosphere of openness and transparency; and within the framework of the Nigerian Communications Act of 2003 and other subsidiary legislations.
The recent prompt intervention of the NCC in the debt dispute between Etisalat and its creditors—consortium of bankers, has not only saved Etisalat from being taken over based on non-performing loans worth $1.2 billion, being owed these banks, but ensured the protection of over 21 million telecom consumers on the embattled Mobile Network Operator. Thousands of Nigerians, who earns their living working directly or indirectly for Etisalat, were also given lifeline.
If Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) had acted proactively like the NCC did in the case of Etisalat, Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) would not have taken over Arik Airlines and Aero Contractors on the issue of debt. And thousands of jobs already lost, as a result of this development would have been saved. The NCC should be commended for recognising the indispensible place of the consumer in the dynamics of telecom market in Nigeria.


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India eyes USD 100 billion FDI in next two years: Suresh Prabhu
India will aim to receive USD 100 billion in foreign direct investments in the next two years and special industrial clusters are being created for countries like Japan, South Korea, China and Russia where their companies can invest and operate, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu said. The commerce and industry minister said his ministry has also identified sectors and countries which holds huge potential for investments in India.
IT & Startups expected to hire five lakh people in 2019: T V Mohandas Pai
India’s information technology (IT) services sector and startups together are expected to hire up to five lakh people in 2019 as demand for freshers is on the upswing, an industry veteran said Wednesday.
Former Chief Financial Officer of IT major Infosys Ltd, T V Mohandas Pai said entry-level packages in the industry went up by as much as 20 per cent in 2018, after stagnation in salaries for the past seven years.
“Growth is coming back to the Indian IT services industry,” he told PTI, talking about industry highlights in 2018 and prospects in the coming calendar year.
Pai said 2018 saw “H1B visa situation getting tougher,” Indian companies focusing more on Japan and Southeast Asia, massive expansion of captives and buy-backs by big companies.
Hyderabad has become a hot destination, with many new age companies coming to the Telangana capital, thanks to good infrastructure, and “very good marketing” by KTR (KT Rama Rao, who served as IT Minister in the previous TRS government), according to him.He also said Indian companies were now trying to expand in markets in Asia much more vigorously, particularly Japan which is “opening up” and southeast Asia.
Indian-American Rajesh Subramaniam named fedex president
Indian-American Rajesh Subramaniam has been named as the president and chief executive officer of US multinational courier delivery giant FedEx Express.
Subramaniam, currently the executive vice president, chief marketing and communications officer of FedEx Corporation, will assume his new role on January 1, 2019. He replaces David L Cunningham at the Tennessee-headquartered company. Subramaniam, an IIT-Bombay graduate from Thiruvananthapuram, has been with FedEx for more than 27 years. He has held various executive-level positions in the company. He began his career in Memphis and subsequently moved to Hong Kong where he oversaw marketing and customer service for the Asia Pacific region. Subramaniam then took over as the president of FedEx Express in Canada before moving back to the US as senior vice president of international marketing. He was then promoted to executive vice president of marketing in 2013 at FedEx Services, prior to being named executive vice president and chief marketing and communications officer at FedEx Corporation in 2017. “Raj’s global vision and broad experience make him uniquely qualified to lead our largest operating company. We look forward to the continued growth of FedEx Express within our global portfolio as Raj takes on this critical role,” David J Bronczek, president and chief operating officer, FedEx Corporation, said. Subramaniam earned his Master of Science in Chemical Engineering from Syracuse University and MBA from the University of Texas in Austin.
India networking market grew 67 per cent in third quarter of 2018, CISCO leads: IDC
Cisco continues to lead the India networking market which witnessed 67.1 per cent year-over-year growth in the third quarter of this year, the International Data Corporation (IDC) said on Wednesday. Government and enterprise digitalisation initiatives are expected to drive future growth in the India networking market which includes Ethernet switch, routers and wireless local area network (WLAN) segments, according to IDC. “Mobile workforce, anytime anywhere access to enterprise networks, security across multiple channels and shift towards cloud-based application workload are key drivers for investment in network infrastructure,” Dileep Nadimpalli, Research Manager, Storage, IDC India said in a statement. In the third quarter of 2018, the Ethernet switch market in India stood at $160.3 million with an year-over-year (YoY) growth of 34.4 per cent, according to IDC’s latest “Asia/Pacific Quarterly Ethernet Switch Tracker”. Cisco continues to dominate the Ethernet switch market with a 65.7 per cent share in Q3 2018, followed by HPE and Huawei, the report said. The India router market in Q3 2018 stood at $214.9 million with an YoY growth of 140.4 per cent, IDC said. Cisco accounted to three-fourth of the router market in Q3 2018. Nokia and Huawei witnessed high double-digit YoY growth on the back of a few big-ticket wins in the telecom space, according to IDC’s latest “Asia/Pacific Quarterly Router Tracker” report. The WLAN market in India stood at $54 million in Q3 2018 with a healthy YoY growth of 12 per cent. Cisco retained the top spot in the WLAN market with a 24.8 per cent market share in Q3 2018, followed by TP-Link and HPE, IDC said. “Software defined networking solutions are expected to gain prominence as the enterprise infrastructure evolves from siloed, human-dependent systems to self-servicing, fully automated and seamless integrated systems,” said Ranganath Sadasiva, Director-Enterprise, IDC India.
Commerce ministry in favour to hike import duty on aluminium: Prabhu
The commerce ministry is in favour of hiking import duty on aluminium with a view to support domestic manufacturers, Union Minister Suresh Prabhu has said. “That is a proposal to protect our domestic industry. The proposal is under examination and we support the proposal,” Prabhu told. The commerce and industry minister said that there has been a complaint by aluminium industry about the dumping of the commodity. He was replying to a question about the government’s plan to increase import duty on aluminium. The industry has demanded an increase in import duties on aluminium scrap and primary aluminium amid a high growth in inward shipments of these items. They are demanding to raise the duty on primary and scrap aluminium to 10 per cent. Currently, the basic customs duty on aluminium scrap and primary aluminium is 2.5 per cent and 7.5 per cent, respectively. Besides this, domestic players have also urged to impose minimum import price and some kind of quota on the imports for the user industry. Total production of aluminium in India is about 4 million tonnes and consumption is about 3.6 million tonnes. The demand comes in the wake of the US imposing 10 per cent duty on certain aluminium products. China too has raised the duties. Aluminium is required by industries like automobile, construction, consumer goods etc.
All these industries are growing in India and the country is producing a sufficient amount of the required metal domestically, an industry expert has said. As per estimates, during the first quarter of the current fiscal, imports of aluminium scrap increased to 36,000 tonnes from 16,000 tonnes. Further talking about a proposal to cut export duty on iron ore, the commerce and industry minister said the ministry has sought views of steel and mines ministry on the issue. “We are open for the proposal,” he said, adding the government would provide all support for the growth of domestic industry.
Economic ideas once dismissed as ravings of the loony left are becoming mainstream
We live in an age of political earthquakes: That much, at least, seemed clear from newspaper headlines nearly every day of 2018. But intellectual tectonic plates were also shifting throughout the year, with ideas once dismissed as the ravings of the loony left breaking into the mainstream. A Western consensus quickly formed after the collapse of communist regimes in 1989. It was widely believed by newspaper editorialists as well as politicians and businessmen that there was no alternative to free markets, which alone could create prosperity. The government’s traditional attempts to regulate corporations and banks and redistribute wealth through taxes were deemed a problem. As the economist, Milton Friedman put it, “The world runs on individuals pursuing their separate interests.” Neither individuals nor companies needed to worry much about inequality or social justice. In Friedman’s influential view, “There is one and only one social responsibility of business – to use its resources and engage in activities designed to increase its profits.” Political fiascos in the West, following its largest financial crisis – events accompanied by the emergence of China, a Communist-run nation-state, as a major economic power, as well as an unfolding environmental calamity – have utterly devastated these post-1989 assumptions about free markets and the role of governments. Confessions to this effect come routinely from disenchanted believers. Take, for instance, Olivier Blanchard, former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund, who recently posed the once-blasphemous question: “What comes after capitalism?” Blanchard was commenting on the recent demonstrations in France against President Emmanuel Macron. He rightly described a global impasse: “Given the political constraints on redistribution and the constraints from capital mobility, we may just not be able to alleviate inequality and insecurity enough to prevent populism and revolutions.” Nor, for that matter, can we work towards a greener economy. In any case, Blanchard’s admission confirms that we inhabit, intellectually and culturally, a radical new reality – one in which “neoliberalism,” a word previously confined to academic seminars, has entered rap lyrics, and stalwarts of the establishment sound like activists of Occupy Wall Street. Thus, Martin Wolf, respected columnist for the Financial Times, recently concluded, if “reluctantly,” that “capitalism is substantially broken.” This year, many books with titles such as “The Myth of Capitalism: Monopolies and the Death of Competition” and “Winners Take All: The Elite Charade of Changing the World” blamed an unjust economic system and its beneficiaries for the rise of demagogues. It is becoming clear that the perennial conflict between democracy, which promises equality, and capitalism, which generates inequality, has been aggravated by systemic neglect of some fundamental issues.
Mithali Raj honoured by Australian diamonds retail partner Senco gold & diamonds
Mithali Raj, captain of the Indian women’s cricket team and the official ambassador for Rio Tinto’s Australian Diamonds programme, was honored with the Senco Gold & Diamonds, Swarna Samman award at a star-studded event held in Kolkata on Friday 21st December.
Swarna Samman is an annual award by leading retail Jeweller Senco Gold & Diamonds to recognise outstanding achievers in the fields of art, culture and sports. This year Mithali Raj is honoured for her excellence and contribution to women’s cricket in India.
Speaking at the event Ms Raj said, “I am delighted to be the recipient of Senco Gold & Diamonds, Swarna Samman. When I first started playing cricket, there was no recognition of female players in India. I have had to strive for all that I achieved and I’m honoured to have represented my country and taken it to the pinnacle of world cricket.”
The award was presented by Shaankar Sen, Chairman and Managing Director, Senco Gold & Diamonds in the presence of Sourav Ganguly, former captain of the Indian men’s cricket team, and Brand Ambassador for Senco Gold & Diamonds.
Suvankar Sen, Executive Director, Senco Gold & Diamonds, said, “Swarna Samman is our way of recognising exemplary individuals who have dedicated their lives to their chosen field. We wish to thank them for enriching our lives and being an inspiration to society. This year we are honoured to present the award to an icon of Indian cricket, Ms Mithali Raj.”
The following day at the Senco Gold & Diamonds, Moulali showroom Mithali Raj unveiled an exclusive collection of Australian Diamonds jewellery from Rio Tinto’s Argyle mine in Western Australia. Comprising both bridal and fashion jewellery, the Australian Diamonds collection is available at all Senco Gold & Diamonds stores.
Central to Rio Tinto’s Australian Diamonds initiative is a leading-edge system to track Rio Tinto’s rough diamonds from its Argyle mine in Australia through to jewellery in India, thereby celebrating Rio Tinto’s diamond heritage and pedigree from a clean, traceable source of diamonds.
Vikram Merchant, Director of Rio Tinto’s Diamond Sales and Marketing activities in India said, “We are delighted to work with leading retailer Senco Gold & Diamonds and honoured that Mithali Raj is the official ambassador for Australian Diamonds, helping promote the popularity of diamonds in fashion and bridal jewellery, particularly for younger Indian consumers.”


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Honda has had a long track records of great ads, known to be slick, stand out. Well it has done it again!!
Choreographer of Honda HR-V “Stepping” advert, Supple Nam is excited to announce the news of its success. Just one week into its release its voted best commercial of the week (City AM London) and ad of the day (AdWeek).
Currently shown on cinema, TV and online.
Congratulate everyone involved.


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American Apparel is coming back, so get your disco pants ready
When we heard American Apparel was closing down, our hearts dropped out of our legging-clad bodies. Was this it — the end of an era? An end of the era? Where else could we go for jelly sandals, high-waisted metallic disco pants, and velvet blazers in one convenient location?
American Apparel ending meant that the days of accessible non-Yeezy basics were over. But now, our hope is rekindled because Gildan Activewear, Inc., the company that bought American Apparel, has announced they’re relaunching the brand’s online store. Is this the hope we’ve been looking for?
While we’re extremely hype to not see American Apparel go, we can’t help but wonder: What’s next?
After all, the brand was bought out, so there’s a possibility it won’t be the same one we know and love. However, according to Business of Fashion, chief executive of Gildan, Glenn Chamandy, said that the new website will open over the course of the next two weeks. It will carry some of the company’s signature products, including jeans. The phrase “reenergize” was also thrown around.
If you’ve been wondering if your favorite merch will still be printed on American Apparel classics, then you don’t have to worry. Chamandy said that the brand is still selling pieces to wholesalers who can customize them.
We’re glad we’ll still be able to rock our best basics, and we’re crossing our fingers that our favorite pieces will make it into the new online store.


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Published on November 27th, 2020 | by The GC Team0
AMDEA introduces new energy labelling toolkit
All the trade needs to know from A-to-G…
Trade association AMDEA has created an easy-to-use online toolkit for appliance manufacturers, distributors and retailers to ensure they are customer-ready for 1st March 2021 when new energy labelling will replace the old labels on shopfloor and online displays.
The new energy rating affects dishwashers, washing machines, washer dryers, fridges and freezers and wine storage. These products will be rated simply from A to G, doing away with the current ‘plus’ system, making it easier for customers to compare products and allowing the industry space to develop eco-performance.
The online toolkit is a visual guide designed to bring retailers up to speed with the changes.
It explains that vast improvements in energy efficiency have driven the need to rescale the labels. The information pack offers easy access to the background, a timeline of what needs to be done and when, a gallery of the new labels defining their key features, FAQs to prepare the industry for answering customer questions and an infographic highlighting the industry’s eco-achievements over the last decade.
A 3-minute training video offers retailers another quick way to brush up on all they need to know about the new labelling.


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China’s education gap is a huge problem. It is said that some 60 million students in rural schools are left-behind children, struggle to grasp advanced subjects such as English and chemistry.
To mitigate the education gap between the rich and the poor in China, China’s Ministry of Education has said that roughly 358,000 teachers were hired in the past year to serve in primary and middle schools in rural areas across the country.
It’s also hoped that the proliferation of low-cost smartphones and education tech in the market will democratize education in rural China, where roughly 70% of China’s population live. There has been a project done in rural China to explore how the phone games could possibly be adapted to English literacy learning. Researchers with the Mobile & Immersive Learning for Literacy in Emerging Economies (MILLEE) Project have used gamification elements to teach literacy with promising results.
Now it’s hoped the sector will go one step further. IoT is now widely adopted in the education sector to help teachers engage their students. TutorGroup provides its English learners TutorGlass lessons, where Google Glass enabled teachers give out lessons in the stores and streets while having English conversations. HAX introduced on its fifth batch Demo day, an educational toy for kids to awaken their interest in logic, programming and robotics, Robo, and Microsoft IoT introduced the connected classroom in Beijing.
Seoul-based SmartStudy is utilizing IoT to make its content more engaging and interactive for children, providing IoT devices and IoT toys and connecting them to mobile applications. The company agreed to supply ‘PinkFong’ content to China’s major IPTV company WASU and release apps for 360, Baidu and Xiaomi. Its content is available on internet TVs and streaming media like Google TV, YouTube, Xiaomi, Hua Shu, U+ TV, and Youku.
“Education combined with entertainment, edutainment, is hard to achieve. If it’s too much focused on games, it has less educational value, and if it’s too much focused on education, it will need sugar-coating with game features,” Senior Vice President Ryan Lee said.
Targeting 2-K (2-year-old to Kindergarten) children, the company claims that they achieved 70 million downloads and 8.8 million monthly active users worldwide, with its strongest user base in Asia, followed by the U.S., Europe, and other English speaking countries. Based on a monthly subscription model, users will be able to access 5000 videos by paying 9.9$ a month.
“We develop our own online contents with our in-house content creators who previously worked in children’s book publishing and IT developers from internet, games, and electronic companies,” Business Development Gemma Joo said.
“We plan to open offices in China and the U.S. to make local content for each market,” Lee stated. According to Lee, the U.S. users like interactive, actionable content such as writing letters on the tablet or taking pictures with the character, while Asian users prefer one-way streaming video content.
Image Credit: Shutterstock, SmartStudy


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RWDSU news from across North America
At the Conclusion of the 2017 UNI Commerce Global Conference in Berlin, Germany
BERLIN, GERMANY – Today, President Stuart Appelbaum of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) was elected to a four-year term as Global President of UNI Commerce at the conclusion of their 2017 conference. UNI Commerce is the global union for the retail and wholesale industry and represents more than 4 million workers in 160 unions around the world.
“I want to thank the delegates to the UNI Commerce Global Conference, which met in Berlin this week, for electing me to a four-year term as president. At this critical time, we must bring working people together across their differences. We must help them understand their common interests. And we must stand ready to fight and organize as a globally unified labor movement. I am proud to bring together our 160 unions that represent 4 million workers as we work to build the movement that will deliver.” said Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU).


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Carbon has set up a $100,000 Pan-African fund to help budding tech entrepreneurs scale and address a lack of funding on the continent.
Through the funding, Carbon’s Disrupt fund, the company said it will invest up to $10,000 per startup (for 5% equity) and give access to Carbon’s API, allowing investees to leverage Carbon’s growing customer base and innovative technology platform, to get to market faster.
Acknowledging that its success is dependent on the growth of the tech ecosystem, Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem.
Chijioke Dozie, CEO and co-founder of Carbon, said, “Common investor wisdom is to stay in your market and dominate. This assumes that you are expanding on your own but we believe that by collaborating and partnering deliberately, Carbon and other tech companies can scale faster and build more enduring platforms. There are many excellent companies across the continent looking for the kind of scale Nigeria offers and we are excited to partner with them to provide the support and financial investment they need. We are equally excited to expand beyond Nigeria and Kenya by working with a new generation of innovators across the continent and sharing our experience to tackle common obstacles to growth”
Ngozi Dozie, the co-founder of Carbon, added that “The investing environment for early-stage startups has improved in recent years. However, a key issue for most startups that has not been addressed is the cost of customer acquisition. A lot of money is spent on acquiring customers, mainly via social media, when a more collaborative approach among tech companies could be more efficient. Our fund will enable this collaboration, allowing others to market to our customer base and vice versa – a win-win for everyone.”
Table of Contents
Carbon’s $100,000 Pan-African fund applications roll out
The company is now accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, and Egypt.
Startups must have a functioning product, post-revenue, and looking to operate in multiple countries.
The fund has a wide investment mandate but target sectors include insurance, health, education which have not seen as much investment as the fintech space.
Carbon disburses more than $63.7 million in loans in 2019
Since 2016, Carbon said it boasts of 2.1 million users, disbursed more than $63.7 million in loans in 2019, and processed more than $140 million in transactions.
In December 2019, Carbon expanded expansion into the Kenyan market, as well as its Carbon for the Business platform which provides startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and FinTechs with access to uncollateralized credit, secure online payments, reliable funds transfer and fast KYC (know your customer) compliance obligations.
Bukola Owo-Bello is a spirited storyteller, content creator and YouTuber who loves sharing amazing opportunities, inspiration, and ideas with forward-thinking African youths.
Follow her on YouTube, TikTok and Instagram on @BukkiTalks


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Many fans were delighted at the arrival of Pixel Factory’s Parasite in City on Steam just over a week ago. Unfortunately, in a recent blog post by the developer, it was reported that this listing was not created by them at all.
[UPDATE 12/18/2018] The group who initially uploaded Parasite in City as their own haven't stopped their deception. Currently, the Steam store page is for a game called Poor Sakura Fight 2. Also, the release date was changed to April 22, 2012 to further cover their tracks. Unfortunately for them, this page still details the full history of what they've done. Anyone mentioning the developer's dirty deeds is being banned. [/UPDATE]
In the wake of Tumblr’s recent “exodus of adult content,” Sony blocking boobies, and all sorts of other gaming-related catastrophes, we are reminded once again that Steam is still not a flawless storefront. Another opportunistic non-developer has taken it upon himself to upload a game he didn’t make. This time, Pixel Factory’s Parasite in City was targeted for this all-too-common crime. Pixel Factory made the following post:
We are sorry that we 've been disappeared for a long time , and came back with a scam incident.
We have recently learned that someone has uploaded our game "Parasite in the City"on steam without our consent.
After discussing with the team we found that the person who uploaded the game on Steam is not one of us .
Please do not pay any money to this scam .
We will discuss this issue with Valve and take this fraud down quickly .
最近、誰かが私たちのゲーム「Parasite in the City」をチームの同意なしでSteamにアップロードしたことを知りました。
It would seem that the would-be thieves have realized they were caught. At the time of writing, they have completely nuked the store page in an effort to cover their tracks; however, thanks to the help of SteamDB, we can see the various changes that were made along the way. Below are some screenshots outlining the store page’s information when it was created, and when it was modified later on. Also, while the non-developers have wiped the community hub clean, we can still see the incriminating title at the top of the page.
If you've been following recent developments on Steam, you may be aware that this isn’t the first time someone uploaded a title they didn’t own onto Steam. One such case is when 2ndUp Studios’ Red Alliance was illegally submitted to Steam Greenlight back in 2015. Aside from having to suffer the headache of filing a DMCA claim, there was also a secondary problem. The game’s name was filed in Steam’s database, which initially prevented the real developer from submitting it legitimately. Another case was when SakuraGame created a store page for a game, despite not having the rights to it. You can read more about that here.
On the bright side, the real developers were able to contact Valve before this game fully launched. Hopefully, if Pixel Factory ever does decide to put Parasite in City on Steam, they will be able to without much of an issue. For now, you can still buy their game legitimately on DLsite for $14.33. If you're interested in our thoughts on this title, you can also check out our review.


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Next year, the latest generation Audi A4 will be revealed. Following its debut, the new range-topping Audi RS4 will debut and it has emerged it will likely ditch its current naturally aspirated V8 in favour of a smaller and more efficient V6.
While details about this engine are limited, it will be turbocharged just like the BMW M3 and M4 duo as well as the latest Mercedes-AMG C63. A key reason behind the implementation of a new engine will be to ensure the car meets ever harsher CO2 emission regulations across Europe.
Additionally, while speaking with Australia media, the managing director of quattro GmbH Heinz Hollerweger, revealed that the RS4 could be available as a sedan once again rather than just an Avant.
“We are considering [sedan RS models] yes. But there’s no decision. The question is which body style is the most international. It could be a sedan or a sportback,” he said.


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Social media has become an increasingly important component of corporate marketing strategies and daily collaboration. But few U.S. organizations have extended their social media campaigns to the very large and expanding Brazilian market.
Each geography has its own style of social media etiquette and online behavior – and these regional idiosyncrasies will without a doubt have an impact on marketing activities — but it is time that U.S. companies operating in Brazil stop assuming that only Americans have embraced all things Web 2.0. It is time to get friendly with the continually expanding Brazilian social media environment.
Worldwide social network ad spending is expected to increase 31% to $3.3 billion, according to online advertising researcher eMarketer Inc. Gartner has indicated that 50% of web-based sales will originate from social media interactions.
Sure, if your enterprise has expanded to Latin America and you are targeting Brazilian consumers, an aggressive social media strategy makes sense. But, what if your company doesn’t fit that profile? What is the value proposition of investing in social media locally when you are simply leveraging outsourced IT services in Brazil? Should you care about engaging in social media in the country? Yes, and here’s why:
• Social media can be a source of local staff, but it can also make local staffing more difficult if negative commentary is made in social networks regarding the working environment. This could be critical in a market like Brazil where there is significant labor competition.
• Negative comments from consumers regarding the brand can damage local or even global brand reputation. Brands may want to monitor networks to understand consumer, staff, and partner perception.
• Companies concerned with branding and embracing the idea of new influencers can invite them to interact with the brand.
• They can gain visibility into trends and behavior of similar firms operating in the environment.
Although a smaller percentage of the Latin American population has web access, 82% of Latin American web users participate in social media. This means that it is second only to North America in terms of social media penetration.
Brazil, the most populous country in Latin America, is also the country with the largest number of people with Internet access. For social networks, Brazil is the leader in the use of almost all forms of social media, not just in Latin America, but in the world. According to CSK Comunicação, the trend started with the arrival of Google’s ORKUT, the very popular network in Brazil (U.S. not so much), and the use of social media has expanded beyond any expectations.
Seventy-million people, one third of every person in the country, is connected to the web, and 79% are part of a social network. This huge population of social media users is not some isolated entity. It is the same pool of individuals necessary for your business operation in Brazil; so even if you aren’t a Web 2.0 organization, you simply cannot ignore the far-reaching impact of the medium.
Nearshore Americas spoke with Justin Seymour of Atlanta-based executive search consultant Thomas+Seymour Group. Seymour’s firm has seen a surge in placement requests over the last year in the Latin American market led by Brazil, Mexico, and Chile. Seymour said that within his firm social media has become an increasingly important tool for identifying talent pools.
“We use social media site like LinkedIn extensively to identify possible candidates. However, we are yet at a point where social media is the deciding factor in hiring a candidate. It’s an excellent research tool.”
Other firms are finding social media valuable for staffing as well. Porto Alegre, a mid-sized city in Brazil that houses multiple universities, and has attracted companies like Stefanini, Motorola, GM, HSBC, Citibank, IBM, and Dell is a hotbed for social media. The companies have found that social media is useful for finding candidates with deep skills in agile and open-source software.
Even large multinationals like Pepsi have developed local strategies for social media that extend far beyond a staffing mechanism. Although Pepsi has a healthy consumer base, organizations that only operate in the market would be wise to consider developing a holistic social media campaign using a local firm familiar with regional specifics of the audience. Millions can now see what might have previously been seen by one person. A single negative comment does not stay within the walls of the dissatisfied. It becomes instantly available to everyone with a web connection, and in a world where it seems like almost every person has a mobile device, that means everywhere. But, with a little monitoring and planning, companies with a social-media strategy can minimize the impact.
Brazil, with its huge wired population, its extensive trade ties with the U.S., and its increasing economic clout, would be a good place to take advantage of the power of social media.


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If packets of oily fish can become currency in U.S. prisons (they have!) it’s only a matter of time before people on the outside start using their mobile phones to make purchases in stores.
That’s the logic of Daniel Marovitz, managing director of expertise exchange website Buzzumi, who gave a colorful address to banking and technology experts gathered in Toronto this week for the Sibos international conference.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
“People will pay with mobiles, because (like the cheap and oily mackerel that replaced cigarettes for barter when they were banned by prisons) it’s what we have,” Mr. Marovitz said.As a top Citigroup executive noted later at the conference, there are more mobile phones in some countries than personal bank accounts.
Turf wars and still-evolving technology are hampering efforts to create so-called “mobile money,” but people will “find their own mackerel,” Mr. Marovitz said.
“Trust me — because if people can figure out a way to trade with (not-so-tasty fish) it’s going to get sorted out.”


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Booking.com has recently brought on a market veteran from Google to be its new Chief Marketing Officer.
Absent a public announcement, Skift has reported that Netherlands native Arjan Dijk, most previously Google’s Vice President of Global Marketing, assumed the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Booking.com in June. Booking.com is headquartered in Amsterdam.
A blurb on a Booking.com page about its executives’ biographies states about Dijk: “A key leader of the Booking.com business, Arjan leads the company’s global marketing efforts, overseeing strategy and execution of all initiatives across the marketing funnel, including the brand, social, performance and innovation marketing tracks.”
Dijk served as Google’s Vice President of Global Marketing for more than a decade until assuming his new position at Booking.com in June. At Booking.com, Dijk replaced Pepijn Rijvers in the CMO role. Rijvers stays on with the company as Senior Vice President of Accommodation, a position he’s held since January.
Djik takes on the CMO role at Booking.com at a key moment. The parent company is in the midst of trying to tilt its traditional search engine marketing bent toward increased emphasis on brand marketing, including TV, in a bid to attract more direct traffic, which officials have stated stands at more than 50 percent of all visitors.
At Google, according to Dijk’s Booking.com biography, he was tasked with “overall strategy and operations for Google’s marketing worldwide. His responsibilities included the marketing of Google’s suite of ads product solutions globally. Arjan also led media strategy and execution for all paid media across Google’s marketing campaigns.”
Read more here
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