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A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
In 2011, Five Guys Burgers and Fries, which has about 45 locations in Georgia, saw a nearly 33 percent increase in sales in 2011, according to Technomic. The chain raked in sales of about $950.6 million and grew its store count 25 percent to 918 units.
Smashburger saw its sales increase almost 72 percent last year to an estimated $118.7 million, Technomic says. The burger chain, which will open at least three new locations in metro Atlanta this year, raised its number of restaurants to 143 in 2011, a 54 percent increase.
Some local restaurant experts see better burgers as an indication that the populace is moving toward healthier food.
“I think the trend will continue to be Georgia-grown,” Bremer said. She said a top food trend this year is locally sourced meat and seafood.
Shaun Doty, founder and former executive chef of Yeah! Burger, couldn’t be more excited about that trend.
“The better burger is going to be embraced ultimately, hopefully, by the entire segment,” Doty said. “It’s not about concepts. It’s about better food. And awareness and demand for that. That’s the message.”
That could be why some better burger chains see continued opportunity in Atlanta, even if they are just now entering the market.
“The potential is enormous,” said Nick King, managing director of BurgerFi. The Florida-based, quick-service chain expects to open around 15 restaurants in Georgia in the next three years. “Atlanta is king of the South.”
The state’s first BurgerFi is set to open this year at the Emory Point development, which is currently under construction near Emory University. Capital Properties Group LLC brokered the lease for BurgerFi.
Amy Wenk covers hospitality, retail and restaurants.
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LOS ANGELES — OLS Hotels & Resorts, a hospitality management company with more than 30 independent and branded properties throughout the United States, this week announced its rebranding as Springboard Hospitality. Founded in 1988, the company is building on its history with a new name and visual identity that reflects its management services and technology solutions. Coinciding with the rebrand, the company is launching its new Hospitality Intelligence (H.I.) platform, which provides customizable technology solutions optimized for each property.
“Our new identity, Springboard Hospitality, encapsulates our abilities to uncover opportunities, develop innovative solutions, and drive more profit for owners and investors,” said Ben Rafter, CEO. “When I joined the company in 2016, we set out to infuse our operational success with investments in technology, people, and culture. Since that time, I’m proud that we’ve steadily grown to over 30 properties in 10 states, and we’re looking toward continued growth and investments under our revitalized brand.”
Led by tech entrepreneur Ben Rafter, the West Coast-based company embarked on its efforts to revitalize, rebrand, and expand in 2018. The opening of a second office in Honolulu allowed the company to focus on the Hawaii region, which accounts for seven of 15 properties recently added to the portfolio. Springboard Hospitality additionally has grown its presence in gateway cities, including Anchorage, Alaska, Honolulu, Los Angeles, and Portland, Ore., along with additions in leisure destinations, including Sedona, Ariz., Carmel-by-the-Sea, Calif., and Jackson, Wyo.
Springboard Hospitality has spent years vetting and partnering with leading technology companies to provide tailored solutions to fit each of its properties’ unique operating dynamics. Based on this experience, Springboard is introducing its Hospitality Intelligence (H.I.) platform to deliver streamlined operations, personalized guest experiences, and maximized revenues.
The Springboard Hospitality team’s technology expertise is fused with decades of operational experience in managing and developing hospitality concepts. The team specializes in creating lifestyle hotels with experience across a multitude of services including accounting, revenue management, sales, marketing, food and beverage, human resources, and new hotel development.
Springboard Hospitality has continued growth in 2020 despite COVID-19’s negative effects on the travel industry, adding three new properties to its portfolio with several others in the works. The company reported that it is positioned to take on new business and ready to assist properties that may be experiencing distress from the pandemic.

domain: news


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Can a circular economy save us from ourselves? The Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s Andrew Morlet thinks so
By 2050, there may be more plastic in the world’s oceans, when measured by weight, than fish.
Alarming? Yes – but that’s also what the uber-influential World Economic Forum (WEF) was told in 2016. According to an Ellen MacArthur Foundation report launched at the WEF that year, new plastics will consume 20 percent of all oil production within 35 years, up from an estimated 5 percent at 2016 levels. It comes without saying how devastating an effect that would have on the environment – and the very survival of humans as a species.
“What we can see today is we have an economy that’s largely extractive and consumptive,” says Andrew Morlet, CEO of the Ellen MacArthur Foundation. “It’s a massively wasteful system.”
Morlet advocates what is known as the “circular economy.” In short, a circular economy is one where all the resources we need to use are kept in effective, efficient use for as long as possible. In a circular economy, the systems that sustain us and our way of life do not pollute the natural world or disrupt its processes as much as single-use products or products with short lifespans. According to Morlet, as much as 90 percent of the things we use are either single-use or have lifespans of just a few years.
Morlet is visiting New Zealand for top-level meetings with business and government leaders. His visit comes at the same time former Prime Minister Helen Clark and actor Sam Neill have added their voices to a petition urging the Government to ban single-use plastic bags, like the ones people often bag their groceries in at the supermarket or take their fake plastic plants from Kmart home in. Famed primatologist Dr Jane Goodall has also called for a ban – and on Tuesday Greenpeace and the Jane Goodall Institute New Zealand (JGINZ) presented a letter and petition signed by more than 65,000 people to Conservation Minister Eugenie Sage urging a disposable plastic bag ban.
Morlet says a ban would be important. “It’s a fairly simple and highly symbolic initiative in shifting public perception and awareness.”
Legislation can help the circular economy “take off,” says Morlet. “We have evolved into an economy that is focused on pushing down costs as much as possible,” he says. “We are starting to see the challenges of limited resources and commodity availability. The existing linear model has run its course.”
Yet still we are wasteful. “The massive trend over the last 30 years or so is single-use or short lifespan,” he says. “Recycling of most products is almost negligible.”
One particular concern, Morlet says, is the rise of so-called fast fashion – which, in addition to perpetuating environmental destruction and human rights abuses, is only increasing our waste when we could easily reuse or repurpose such items. “People are buying much more clothes than they have in the past, and disposing of it much more quickly.”
But all is not lost. A study by McKinsey & Co recently estimated that transitioning to circular economy models could unleash $1 trillion worth of new business into the global economy. New Zealand, in particular, could learn from models such as those in China – where organisations like YCloset and Rent the Runway encourage people to rent and reuse clothes rather than buy and discard them – and Japan, according to Morlet. He adds that, in the last seven years, there has been a significant increase in interest in the circular economy. He says the number of Google search results alone for the term “circular economy” has risen from just a few hundred to “millions.”
“There is a massive innovation opportunity here,” Morlet says. “There has been an awakening over the last few years of the challenge plastics represent.”
And he believes New Zealand can play an important role – particularly in setting an example for other small, island and Pacific nations. “There’s a tremendous amount of influence New Zealand can have,” he says. “New Zealand is renowned for its ability to innovate and creative leadership.”
As part of his visit to Aotearoa, Morlet will also be speaking at public events in Auckland and Wellington, organised by the Sustainable Business Network with support from the Ministry for Environment and WasteMINZ.


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PARIS--French luxury goods house Hermes International said revenue in the fourth quarter of 2016 rose 7.6%, fueled by strong sales in its mainstay leather goods business.
Sales were strong acoss most regions. In Asia, revenue rose 9.1%. Sales in Europe rebounded after suffering in the aftermath of the November 2015 terror attacks in Paris, rising 6.3% and by 8.2% at constant exchange rates.
"For France it's pretty much better than last year," said Chief Executive Axel Dumas, "but it's not yet at the level that it used to be."
-Write to Matthew Dalton at email@example.com


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Last month, Local Search Masters (LSM) was named a finalist for the Nashville Business Journal’s Small Business Awards for the category of 11-25 employees. The Small Business Awards, sponsored by Comcast Business, recognizes fast-growing small companies in Nashville; this is the fourth consecutive year that LSM has been a finalist!
For a company to be considered the public sends in nominations and then the nominees provide more information about their respective business, including revenue numbers over the last three years, company size and a couple reasons why they should be considered for the award.
“LSM is excited about another consecutive nomination and looks forward to continuously being one of the fastest-growing businesses in the Nashville marketplace,” says President and CEO Trevor Emerson.
The 25 honoree companies (congratulations to our fellow finalists by the way!) will attend a special luncheon, held at the Omni Nashville Hotel on Thursday July 23, where the winners will be announced. For additional information about the event you can click here. If you’d like to attend and cheer for LSM, you can click here.
About Local Search Masters
Local Search Masters (LSM) is a digital marketing agency located in Nashville, TN that specializes in organic SEO, local search marketing, paid-per-click advertising, social media management, online reputation management, and franchise development marketing for franchise systems, local businesses and large corporations with multiple locations. For additional information about our agency, contact us today!
Local Search Masters
631 2nd Ave South #LL-D
Nashville, TN 37210


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Ducati’s second dealership will be opening up in Bandra, Mumbai and is located exactly opposite to the Royal Enfield dealership.
Commencing its second line of operations in the Indian market, Ducati’s first dealership is being built in Sector-34 Gurgaon near Delhi and we have now spotted the company’s second dealership that is coming up Bandra, Mumbai. Backed by its parent company Audi this time round, Ducati’s new Mumbai dealership is located exactly opposite to the Royal Enfield dealership off the Link Road in the vicinity and will be commencing operations next month. Incidentally, even Harley-Davidson has its dealership a few blocks away.
Ducati will be entering the Indian market with a range of offerings starting from the entry-level Monster series and newly launched Scrambler going up to the Panigale 899 and 1199 Supersports, Diavel power cruiser, Hyperstrada and the Multistrada 1200 multi-purpose adventure bikes. To be imported from Ducati’s facility in Thailand, the bikes will be brought in as CBUs and will come with an attractive price tag starting from around Rs. 7 lakhs (ex-showroom).
The sales and service backup will see a major turnaround for Ducati this time round and will be a boon for new as well as existing customers. The company has already trained its service technicians that will be ready for service as soon as the operations start. The Italian manufacturer will be commencing its operations in India on 18th March with deliveries to commence almost immediately. More details on the Indian lineup will be available closer to launch.


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Apartment living has found its way to the south-western suburb of Altona Meadows, where a new apartment building has been proposed for 390-394 Queen Street and 83-91 Merton Street. Designed by Mills Gorman Architects and developed by Noordenne Constructions, the development if approved will include 80 dwellings comprising of one, two and three bedrooms within a 4 storey complex, reaching a maximum height of 13.3 metres.
Accompanying the planned apartments, will be 82 resident car spaces and 2 gymnasium car spaces which will be located in a basement level; there are no guest car parks associated with the building. Incorporated into the proposed development will be a new gymnasium which is slated for the busy corner of Merton and Queen Streets, directly opposite the controversial flower sculpture “Grow”, as well the local shopping centre, Central Square, also owned by Noordenne Constructions. If the green light is given to the proposal, construction will not proceed until after Noordenne completes the new ALDI supermarket, currently being built within the Central Square Shopping Centre car park.
While proposals of this magnitude are relatively new to Altona Meadows, it is not the first medium-high density apartment project that has come before the Hobson’s Bay Council with 2 new apartment complexes currently nearing settlement in Pier Street, Altona. The 5 level apartment building at 105-113 Pier Street will hold 95 dwellings and associated retail upon completion, meanwhile a 4 story development across the road at 112-114 Pier Street will add a further 45 dwellings and 5 new retail tenancies.
Apartment living in areas such as Altona raises an interesting question:
Would you rather live in an apartment within a short walk to public transport, beach, retail and services or the other side of Geelong Rd in a new estate such as Truganina where you have, well....a house, car and not much else?


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WASHINGTON – Officials investigating the new U.S. case of mad cow
disease said on Friday they had a “strong lead” on a second calf from
the crossbred beef cow and hoped to find the farm where the cow was
born a decade ago.
The U.S. Agriculture Department announced the new case, in a cow …
By Rajeev Syal
March 02, 2006
TRACES of a carcinogenic chemical have been found in soft drinks at
eight times the level permitted in drinking water, it was revealed
Tests conducted on 230 drinks on sale in Britain and France have
identified high levels of benzene, a compound known to cause cancer,
according to the …
Protect your health freedom: Put an end to Codex and support the
Health Freedom Protection Act
March 15 2006
The United States has come to a decision point on nutritional
supplements. Choice A is to continue participating in the Codex
Alimentarius Commission (Codex), which could be hazardous to public
health by setting limitations on supplements, and …
From Dr. Fuhrman’s book Eat to Live:
Remember those four basic food group charts we all saw in every classroom in elementary school? Protein had its own box, designated by a thick steak, a whole fish, and an entire chicken. Dairy foods had their own special box as well. A healthy …
By LIBBY QUAID
14 March, 2006
WASHINGTON – Despite the confirmation of a third case of mad cow
disease, the government intends to scale back testing for the
brain-wasting disorder blamed for the deaths of more than 150 people
The testing program detected an infected cow in Alabama last week,
and further analysis confirmed Monday …
What is the Meatrix? It is the lie we tell ourselves about where our
meat and animal products come from.
In an age characterized by mechanization, there is a large gap
between our illusions about where food comes from and the stark
industrial reality of meat production. No longer the dominion of the
suspender-clad farmer, …
13 March 2006
LONDON – If you want to keep the weight down, switch to a meat-free
diet, scientists said on Tuesday.
Researchers, who studied the eating habits of 22,000 people over five
years, including meat eaters and vegetarians, found they all put on a
few kilos but meat eaters who changed to a vegetarian …
WASHINGTON – A cow in Alabama has tested positive for mad cow disease, the Agriculture Department confirmed Monday, the third case in the U.S.
The animal was a beef cow but hadn’t entered the food supply for people or animals, said the department’s chief veterinarian, John Clifford.
A routine test last week …
March 7, 2006
Silver Spring, Maryland, United States
Recent news reports from the Food and Drug Administration in the
United States indicate that meat companies sometimes use carbon
monoxide to keep beef looking red and more attractive to consumers.
While many doctors agreed that carbon monoxide used in small amounts
is not unsafe, the concern …
By: Marianne Harris, guest columnist
Thursday, March 9, 2006
So, you want to lose weight. You want to live healthier. You want
fewer visits to the doctor. Normal blood pressure and cholesterol
levels. Clear, unclogged arteries. Pain-free days and nights. A good
night’s sleep – good digestion – a sharp memory with good
concentration. Sexual vitality. …
Omega oils influence mood, impulsivity and personality
People who have high intakes of omega-3 fatty acids are more
agreeable and less impulsive, says a new study from Pittsburgh.
Previous studies have linked low levels of omega-3 to several
neurobehavioral disorders, while rowdy British kids supplemented with
omega-3s showed improvements in behavior and learning after only …
By Stephen Daniells
Residues from star fruit, a waste product from the juicing process,
is a rich source of extractable antioxidants, says research from
Star fruit (Averrhoa carambola L.), also known as carambola, are
grown extensively in Southeast Asia, Australia, South America, Hawaii
and Southern Florida. Sales of star fruit from Florida were estimated
at $17.1 …
Your range of available choices right now has no limits.
The only limits you have are in your mind.
You’ve got it in you to succeed.
Just make up your mind and stick with it.
You weren’t born with any limits on your powers
or any set limits to your capacity.
At any moment, you have …
Fruits and vegetables are not as vitamin rich as in the past, says new data
March 1, 2006 — While modern farming tecniques are producing larger and more perfect fruits and vegetables, the yeild in terms of nutrients is declining.
Of the 13 major nutrients found in fruits and vegetables, six have …
- A middle school student’s science project uncovered a disturbing fact — the ice in fast food beverages in filled with bacteria, including types that come only from fecal matter.
for the complete article:
Published on: February 21, 2006
Millions of Americans may be buying beef or seafood that has been treated with carbon monoxide as a “pigment fixative” – in other words, carbon monoxide has been used to keep the product’s pink or rosy color in an effort to keep it looking fresh.
The problem …
Eating more than the recommended five portions of fruit and
vegetables a day can cut risk of stroke, a study says.
Friday, 27 January 2006
People who ate three to five cut the risk by 11% compared with those
eating fewer than three, The Lancet reported.
It was 26% lower for people who ate more …
Things turn out best for those people
who can make the best out of the way things turn out.
It’s not the situation, it’s your reaction to the situation.
The reality in your life may result from many outside factors,
none of which you can control.
Your attitude, however,
reflects the ways in which you deal …
Spiritual Health Inspirations
by Dr. Richard Anderson
Causes of Dis-ease
1. Disease is a natural result of an unnatural lifestyle.
2. A smile is a bloom of the soul.
3. Disease occurs only when our internal environment is favorable for
disease growth. We create our internal environment through our diet,
lifestyles, and thoughts.
4. As …
Once upon a time, it used to be a beautiful day in
the neighborhood…that no longer applies to the
world of 2006.
Good morning, boys and girls. Can you say:
Polydimethylsiloxane is a substance that is manufactured by
Dow Chemical and is primarily used in food-manufacturing
factories as a de-foaming agent for commercial boilers.
Polydimethylsiloxane is not …


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Total economic losses from drought in the United States are likely to reach at least $3 billion.» Read More
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal said he believed Jack Dorsey would bring continuity to Twitter and he would back him if he wished to become CEO.
Billionaire private equity pro David Rubenstein tells CNBC stock prices "are not cheap" right now, creating a tough environment for dealmakers looking for bargains.
CVS Health and Target on Monday announced a deal for CVS to acquire Target's pharmacy and clinic businesses for about $1.9 billion.
Some are eyeing the retail brokerage space for disruption, with industry experts contemplating an end to the "unfair" fees charged.
For technician Craig Johnson of Piper Jaffray, the recent rise in the 10-year yield clears the way for a move to 4 percent.
Uh oh. The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services says that it has discovered 103 credit card skimmers attached to pumps at 7,571 gas stations.
The market knew it would be ugly. Now, it's clear just how much havoc the strong dollar is wreaking on corporate America.
Here's why "buy" buttons will pose big challenges for Google, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.
Stocks have been weak during the last half-hour of trade. As it turns out, that's when the biggest buyers of this rally walk away.
Labor's victories in hiking minimum wages stand to "eat into" restaurant profitability, USA Today reports.
U.S. consumer sentiment rebounded in early June, beating expectations, according to a report released on Friday.
Homes that sat vacant but not repossessed are now being pushed aggressively through the foreclosure process as home prices rise.
U.S. producer prices in May recorded their biggest increase in more than 2-1/2 years as the cost of gasoline and food rose.
A resurgence in the move-up buyer, who had been stuck in place throughout the recession, is boosting San Diego's housing sales.
Household net worth also jumped $1.6 trillion to a record $84.9 trillion as home and investment values rose, according to the Fed.
More states are fining slow drivers who lollygag in the fast lane with some fines as high as $500, according to NBC News.
The real reason payroll giant ADP blocked HR start-up Zenefits from accessing its systems is fear, Zenefits co-founder and CEO Parker Conrad tells CNBC.
Google is starting and funding an independent company dedicated to coming up with new technologies to improve urban life. NYT reports.
Although Pepsi discontinued the clear soda Crystal Pepsi 20 years ago, the drink could be back. NBCnews reports.
This is where Janus Capital's Bill Gross is investing now, and what he's warning about when global quantitative easing ends.
Get the best of CNBC in your inbox
Polaroid will release a modernized version of its classic instant print camera in the fourth quarter of 2015 that doesn't use ink.
Tesla's long-awaited mass-market car, the Model 3, now has a price and debut plan courtesy of the company's founder, Elon Musk, who posted the details to Twitter on Wednesday.
Hecret Service figures show there's $150 million in fake money in circulation.
Guatemalan President has resigned, and police continued their search overnight for 3 men wanted for killing an Illinois police officer, reports CNBC's Sue Herera.
Cantor Fitzgerald's Youssef Squali explains why Netflix shouldn't be too worried about Apple.
CNBC's Jackie DeAngelis reports natural gas inventories.


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The European Antitrust Review 2014 • Section 3: Country chapters
Germany: Federal Cartel Office
In 2013, the Federal Cartel Office (FCO) will be working intensely on numerous proceedings and projects across all sectors. At the FCO, we believe that protecting competition is the best way to protect the consumer. We make sure that open markets are maintained, which in turn secures good quality and fair prices.
In July 2013, an important amendment to the German Competition Act will come into force that addresses a number of issues ranging from cartel enforcement and unilateral conduct to merger control. Arguably the most significant change concerns the substantive merger test. The dominance test will be replaced by the SIEC test, which mentions the creation or strengthening of a dominant position as an example for a significant impediment to effective competition and has been applied by the EU Commission since 2004. The shift in the substantive test takes account of the FCO’s significant development in its case practice over the last five to 10 years, with a sharper focus of investigations on economic concepts and findings. This development is already reflected in the FCO’s new merger guidelines on substantive merger control that were issued in 2012. The guidelines will be updated further on the basis of the FCO’s first experience with the application of the test.
Foreign-to-foreign mergers are another issue that will be addressed in 2013. The major shift in legislation in this area already occurred in 2009, when a second domestic turnover threshold was introduced. It dramatically reduced the number of mergers that have a limited impact on Germany and do not raise any competition issues (leading to a reduction in the total number of cases by roughly 30 to 40 per cent). After this reform the issue was raised whether there was still any room to exclude the notifiability of a merger on the basis that it lacks sufficient domestic effects or whether reaching the turnover threshold was sufficient to trigger a notification, which is still the current approach in EU merger control. The FCO plans to issue an updated guidance document that sets out in which cases (that reach the turnover thresholds) a sufficient effect on markets in Germany can be excluded ex-ante.
Cartel prosecution will remain a key area of focus in our work in 2013. We have already concluded several protracted cartel proceedings with heavy fines – for example, price agreements for confectionery and drugstore products, which we punished with substantial fines. Several companies in the milling industry were also fined. New cartel investigations have also been opened – for example, earlier this year we conducted dawn raids in the steel industry and sanitary wholesale sector.
The FCO’s cartel enforcement has been reinforced recently by a decision of the German Federal Court of Justice (BGH). The court largely upheld the fines imposed against the members of a cement cartel – the highest ever imposed by the FCO. In the proceedings, the BGH also confirmed that the key provisions on the fining of cartel law violations in Germany are in line with German constitutional law, which has been disputed by several companies and lawyers for quite a long time. In our work we can now rely on a clear statement from the highest criminal court on a variety of questions concerning the method of calculating fines. On this basis, we will adjust our guidelines on the calculation of fines accordingly.
Current activities show that vertical competition restraints will be a significant issue this year. We already conducted a number of proceedings last year, the main focus of which was the business relations between producers and retailers. In many cases, these concerned price maintenance agreements or the exertion of pressure by producers on retailers. We are working intensively on a cartel proceeding against food retailers and producers. Here we are following up suspicions that producers of branded goods and retailers selling confectionary, coffee and pet food have fixed end consumer prices.
Price maintenance is not necessarily always the key issue. A growing number of producers are introducing selective distribution systems with a vast number of sales conditions for retailers. In principle, producers have great freedom in how they conduct their distribution activities. Their distribution systems must not, however, involve inadmissible restraints of competition. Such restraints can either take the form of the restriction of internet sales, such as banning sales via third-party platforms such as eBay or Amazon, or anti-competitive rules concerning the choice and implementation of quality criteria for product presentations and the choice of sales partners. In this context, we are currently examining the sales conditions of several sporting goods manufacturers.
We are also currently conducting a major sector inquiry into the food retail sector. The examination focuses on the competitive conditions in the markets for the procurement of food and beverages by food retailers. The increasing consolidation in the food retail sector leads to a high level of concentration in favour of the leading retail companies, in both the sales and procurement markets. The four leading retail companies have come to control around 85 per cent of the total sales market in Germany. With the sector inquiry we intend to take a closer look at buyer power in the food retail sector and base the current debate on a solid body of data.
Finally, last year we were given new competencies for our work in the energy sector. Together with the Federal Network Agency, the FCO will assume new monitoring competencies on the production and wholesale markets for electricity and natural gas.
The launch of the Transparency Unit for Fuels is a key project this year that has already made substantial progress. At the end of 2012, we set up a project team whose task is to prepare the launch of the unit. This new unit will enable consumers to inform themselves on up-to-date fuel prices in Germany. Via the internet, a smartphone or navigation system, motorists will be able to gain information on the current fuel prices or the cheapest petrol station in their vicinity or along a specific route. This will allow for a better overview of prices and an informed choice which will increase competition.
The transparency unit will not lead to lower prices from one day to the next. However, consumers will have access to current, comprehensive and reliable information on prices at petrol stations in their vicinity. and thus be able to select the one offering the best price.
Next Chapter: Germany: Cartels


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Campbell Soup Co. is looking to generate growth from its fresh division, the side of the business that houses brands including Bolthouse Farms and Garden Fresh Gourmet, through a focus on “breakthrough” innovation.
Speaking to just-food at the Natural Products Expo West trade show in California, Suzanne Ginestro, the CMO and general manager of innovation at the C-Fresh unit, said innovation is “part of our core strategy” to tap into rising interest in fresh products, particularly among millennial consumers in the US.
“The consumer shift toward fresh is accelerating. Recent research suggests that 78% of consumers are trying to eat more fresh food and we’ve seen an even more dramatic shift with millennials who exhibit a different approach to eating. Research has shown that twice the number of millennials versus non-millennials only shop in the perimeter of grocery stores,” Ginestro explained.
Campbell formed C-Fresh to tap into those changes in US consumer demand following the company’s 2012 acquisition of Bolthouse and the 2015 purchase of Garden Fresh. The unit has, however, come under recent pressure and, last month, Campbell reported an 8% drop in sales at its fresh division during its second quarter.
To try to revitalise sales and make its products more “accessible” to consumers, at Expo West Campbell detailed the launch of a number of products it hopes will prove the “breakthrough” innovation to expand its key Bolthouse and Garden Fresh Gourmet brands.
“The Campbell Fresh division aims to introduce breakthrough innovations in faster growing categories across the grocery store perimeter,” Ginestro explained. By “providing more options across the fresh-refrigerated categories” the group hopes to expand its sales and support continued consumer excitement around this higher growth category.
The company is extending its Bolthouse brand into new areas with the pending launch of a plant-based protein milk. The product is made from pea protein, is nut free, soy free, non-GMO and, according to Campbell, has 50% more calcium than dairy milk. It will be available this summer in grocery channels throughout the US, the company revealed.
The group is also expanding its line of Bolthouse salad dressings with the introduction of a refrigerated yoghurt-based alternative to mayonnaise, Maio. This product will initially have a “limited release” in northern California Safeway stores and a number of Schnucks stores.
Also under the Bolthouse brand, Campbell is introducing a number of organic salad dressing options, including avocado ranch, blue cheese, raspberry balsamic and caesar vinaigrette flavours. Ginestro said the line aims to “address the growing consumer demand for organic products”.
Meanwhile, products like Garden Fresh Gourmet soups “tap the growing popularity of fresh-refrigerated soup and small-batch production”, she suggested. “Each innovation leverages a specific trend within the fresh category.”


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Analysts warned that the annual post-Thanksgiving shopping event was more important than ever this year with high unemployment and fears of a weak economy hitting consumer confidence.
But crowds of shoppers at a Wal-Mart store in San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, were drenched in pepper spray when a scramble for deals turned ugly. A woman shopper injured 10 after a confrontation at 10.20pm - 20 minutes after the shop had opened.
In New York, Occupy protesters formed human barricades to try to block shoppers from entering shops - in particular Macy's department store. Many leading stores in the city had opened before midnight offering bargains including half-price PlayStations and wide-screen televisions.
Early indications were good for retailers with shops reporting steady footfall and online retailers calling sales "buoyant". It is expected that shoppers will spend £320 billion during the holiday season - three per cent more than they did last year.
Black Friday is hugely important to US stores which try to encourage early shopping. Up to 40 per cent of their sales can come in December.
"It's a good move to try to get shoppers to spend sooner, before they run out of money," Burt Flickinger, president of retail consultancy Strategic Resource Group said. Millie Ayala, a 28-year-old receptionist, began queuing at a Toys R Us in New York last night. The hard-up mother was hoping to buy an interactive dog named Cookie and some baby dolls for her two daughters for Christmas. "Finances have been tough," she said. "Things are a lot more expensive but with Black Friday deals, things are more affordable."
Over the weekend, 152 million people are expected to shop.
- More about:
- Los Angeles
- Los Angeles Superior Court
- Retail Sale Via Mail Order Houses Or Via Internet


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Quibim was delighted to take part in this year’s Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) Annual Meeting. The experience has been an exceptional one. We have got the chance to meet our industry colleagues and partners and exchange the latest findings, trends, knowledge, and experience in the field.
For Quibim, RSNA was one of the most important events of the year. Since the annual meeting had a pause last year because of the global pandemic situation, we have expected that this year will be exceptional and indeed it was. The internal team at Quibim had to plan for the event months ahead to make sure they are covering all the details and to uplift the experience from the previous years.
RSNA 2021 was a hybrid one, which means the events and activities were both presential and virtual. This was a great opportunity for everyone in Quibim to be able to participate and experience the meeting. The theme chosen for this edition was about Redefining Radiology which intends to showcase new ideas and technologies that redefine what it means to work as a radiologist. The convention delivered an amazing program with a multitude of science, education, and CME opportunities for radiology professionals from across the world, with more than 2,000 presenters and more than 300 live educational courses. There were also more than 20,000 attendees and 500 exhibitors.
Quibim was at AI showcase #4135, we participated with a new booth concept fully lighted and branded with our new brand identity. During the week of the exhibition, we have had meetings with different radiologists, KOP, and vendors, the quality of the meetings we had this year has increased dramatically as we have seen more interaction with our team and more interest in the details of the products through the demos we offered and other materials.
On the other hand, our AI-based products were of interest to many companies, and got the chance to discuss important potential partnerships with large vendors and hardware companies. Our FDA Cleared QP-Prostate® product was the star of the show for this year as it triggered the interest of the majority of our visitors.
We got the chance to speak to our industry colleagues and competitors and understand the market closely, we realized that the field can be going through some difficulties which we have noted in some companies that are struggling. But there are also others that are doing exceptionally well and are on the path of constant growth. This for sure is a learning experience for Quibim helping us in the implementation of the growth plan for the upcoming year.
In the end, the experience overall was quite positive. Quibim’s team had a great time in the exhibition and Chicago. We came back home with plenty of stories to tell and ideas for future meetings.
Looking forward to the coming RSNA. See you next time.


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A new report from Bowker counts more than 235,000 print and digital self-published titles being released annually in the United States.
You can keep track of this marketplace every week through our Self-Published Bestsellers List. Compared to 2006 figures, this year marked a 287 percent increase for the booming section of the publishing industry. At the same time, the marketplace is dominated by four companies: CreateSpace, Smashwords, Author Solutions and Lulu.
Here’s more from the report: “In 2011, CreateSpace dominated the print segment, supporting the creation of 58,412 titles (39 percent of self-published print books). Smashwords topped the e-book producers with 40,608 titles (nearly 47 percent of total self-published e-books). The combined divisions of Author Solutions (part of Penguin Group) produced a total of 47,094 titles and Lulu Enterprises checks in with 38,005 titles. The Bowker analysis shows that beyond these four players, no company has more than 10 percent of market share.”
We discussed the report on the Morning Media Menu today. Press play below to listen…
During the show, TVNewser senior editor Alex Weprin added this thought: “Anytime a market is saturated like that, it reminds me of when YouTube first came out. There were a handful of really great YouTube shows. Ze Frank sticks out in my head. What he did online, nobody had seen that before. But for every Ze Frank, there was some guy sitting in the dark room rambling on about the movie he saw last week. The eBook market might be seeing the same thing that YouTube saw–a flood of original content, but the challenge is sorting the good from the crap … Anytime you’ve got that much content coming out, it’s hard to stand out.”


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6 years ago, 1253 views, By flymedia
So who is the one that love to watch Jupiter Ascending Online, this must be specially those who love matrix and are just like Matrix Nerd.
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Innovative runway fashion show in Denver with designs made from paper
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Actionspace announced new executives' features and a redesigned user interface for its enterprise task management and simple project management solution for SharePoint and Office 365.
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A tragic incident in Springfield, Massachusetts highlights the dangers associated with some do-it-yourself treatments for head lice.
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Will Rap 4 Food, Inc. will join Washington DC's Ward 7 and 8 communities at Anacostia Library to discuss the imbalance faced by low-income families when purchasing fresh produce.
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TMC Financing today announced new territory assignments for its Bay Area business development associates.
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Parlance Corporation, a provider of call automation for operator services and contact centers, today announces a new webinar, “Eliminating the Call Center – A Higher Ed Case Study”.
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Dubai is a key logistics center in the global economic trade route. In fact, the trading originally opened up the oil economic boom. Jitendra Group brings Dubai into perspective with your gulf base ambition.
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According to the German division of market analyst RL Polk, Volkswagen AG is set to pass General Motors as the second-largest automaker in the world, relegating the long-time sales champion to third-largest automaker. Toyota passed GM as the world’s largest automaker last year, ending a decades-long run at the top of the sales charts by the U.S. automaker.
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360i Gets Top Agency at Digiday Awards
360i, Red Bull and Buzzfeed were awarded last night at the 2013 Digiday Awards, honoring overall excellence and breakthrough achievement in digital media, marketing and advertising.
360i was named most innovative agency. Its crowning moment was the “tweet heard round the world,” the quick-on-the-feet response for Kraft’s Oreo during the Super Bowl blackout. The move showed nimbleness, having grown from a search shop to a full-fledged agency that’s adept in social and untethered to structures of the past. It spawned a trend of real-time marketing, putting megabrands that aren’t agile to shame. It shined in its work with Oscar Mayer on the clever “Butcher Thick Cut Bacon” campaign, tying with Thinkmodo for Popcorn Indiana’s “Popinator” for the best creative category.
Buzzfeed took home the award for most innovative publisher. It led the charge for native advertising, consistently pointing out the shortcomings of the banner ad. That gospel has now spread far and wide as other publishers have adopted similar strategies. The publisher has coupled its innovative ad approach with a publishing system built for social, combining both high-minded coverage of politics and business with the low brow of addictive Internet memes.
Redbull was named most innovative brand for its pioneering work in showing how a brand can be a media company. The pinnacle of its efforts was sending Felix Baumgartner to leap from the edge of space last fall.
Digiday awarded David Kenny as person of the year. Under Kenny’s watch, Weather has cast its lot fully with data-driven advertising. The ex-Digitas CEO brought in a team of ad veterans, including former VivaKi exec Curt Hecht and ex-Reuters exec Vikram Somaya, to transform Weather from a fairly traditional publisher to a data-rich platform that links ads to weather conditions. At a time when many publishers are still playing defense on data, Weather under Kenny has taken the lead.
The Digiday Awards were presented last night at an event in New York City hosted by Chris Pfaff, chairman of Producers Guild of America New Media Council East.
The 2013 Digiday Award winners are:
Best Branding Campaign – Consumer
Oscar Meyer and 360i for Butcher Thick Cut Bacon
Best Branding Campaign – B2B
Traction for Accountemps’ Robert Half International
Best Direct Response Campaign
ReTargeter for BustedTees
Best Brand Platform
R/GA for Nike
Best Publishing Platform
Tie between Oreo and 360i for “Dunk in the Dark” and Thinkmodo for Popcorn Indiana
Most Innovative Agency
Most Innovative Publisher
Most Innovative Brand
Person of the Year
IPSY and Huge are among 2021 Future Leader Awards nominees
The Future Leader Awards — presented by Digiday, Glossy and Modern Retail — are back to spotlight our industries’ most outstanding up-and-comers.
Comedy Central Digital, VH1 and Johnson & Johnson top this year’s Digiday Video and TV Awards shortlist
In a year like no other, the finalists for the Digiday Video and TV Awards broke new ground. They made big bets across channels to create and deliver outstanding content despite incredible production constraints.
Ally Financial, M&C Saatchi Group and Comedy Central are Digiday Awards winners
The 2020 Digiday Awards honorees were not only able to successfully pivot and innovate, but found the common thread of empathy and decency that would resonate with consumers.
SponsoredPeople-based identifiers are driving personalized customer experiences
Marketing teams are now well into 2021, and third-party cookies along with mobile ad IDs are officially on notice, which has implications for all marketers. Soon, cookie- and device-based targeting, frequency capping, measurement and attribution will break. Evolving privacy regulations and policy changes from browsers and device makers have sparked many proposed solutions to replace […]
Hinge, Deloitte and RingPartner are Worklife Awards winners
This year’s Digiday Worklife Awards winners provided their employees with the benefits and resources they needed to adjust to a changing world and live their healthiest lives.
The Martin Agency, Sweetgreen and Condé Nast are Digiday Awards finalists
This year’s Digiday Awards will honor the companies that thrived throughout the most tumultuous year in the modern history of digital media and marketing.


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September has been a fairly big month for Android announcements, with a number of phone and tablet makers taking the stage to announce new products. From the unveiling of a new line of Kindle Fires to Google and Motorola’s Droids, in this article we’ll take a look at some of the new gear.
I am a huge Google fan and a huge fan of Android OS. While I admit that the iPhone changed the smartphone market (how could I not), I still think that iOS leaves a lot to be desired, and that Android is a far superior mobile OS for many reasons.
However, a lot of people have trouble seeing that because of what the tech world now calls fragmentation – the fact that Android is on so many different devices. This has proven to be a challenge for Google because you may get a subpar device running Android, which reflects poorly on the OS. It’s for this reason (mainly) that I’m excited about the recent deal for Google to purchase Motorola’s mobile arm, Motorola Mobility.


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While virtual gigs thrive, physical gigs die
Ever since the economy took a nosedive in 2008, the gig economy has been thriving. Massive layoffs led people to look for freelancing jobs, and it didn't take long for startups to notice. Companies like Fiverr and TaskRabbit launched in the aftermath, giving people a platform to turn to for some extra cash.
Now, years later, the economy has been slowly recovering, and the gig-based startup landscape has turned into survival of the fittest. Companies focused on facilitating physical errands and odd jobs between strangers are struggling or pivoting, whereas those that expedite virtual tasks -- like design work or copywriting -- are thriving.
Case in point, in the last six months: $5 online gig site Fiverr hit 2 million gigs listed, 99designs rolled out a new $15 cash-for-design-task branch called Swiftly, and freelancing writing platform Contently expanded its features. All three of these startups facilitate tasks that can be completed online, without the receiver and provider ever meeting in person.
In contrast, companies focusing on physical tasks have not stayed their original course. Zaarly pivoted from a marketplace where people could pay others to do errands for them, to offering local online storefronts. Exec originally let people pay a set fee by the hour for errand running, now it focuses largely on house cleaning. And TaskRabbit laid off a decent chunk of its workforce and started expanding its enterprise offering, matching temp workers with businesses. All three startups, which were based on facilitating face-to-face tasks, have had to adjust their business plans.
There's a variety of possible reasons why virtual gig sites are thriving and physical gig sites are pivoting, ranging from the trust barrier for in-person interactions, to the difficulties of scaling a business tied to local, physical encounters.
Perhaps the public feels more comfortable commissioning freelance gigs from strangers virtually, versus having to interact with them in person. "It's just not that appealing to do something with a stranger if there are better alternatives," Zaarly CEO Bo Fishback told me. "If you're going to hire someone, you want them to care about what they do and have a unique ability to carry that out."
Fishback says that Zaarly decided to shift its focus to virtual storefronts because people wanted to buy from strangers when they were skilled, specialized service providers. In its initial model -- a reverse Craiglist where people posted how much they would pay someone to do a job -- Zaarly didn't see enough demand for commodity based errand runners. "We regularly see people who put a product on the market that's what we launched two years ago," Fishback says ruefully. "I wish they would call me before they do that."
Scaling is the other big consideration when it comes to the struggles of physical vs. virtual task matchers. Once you take location out of the equation it's easier to scale because the pool of people on supply and demand is bigger and steadier, right out of the gate.
"Dealing in the virtual world is significantly easier," 99designs CEO Patrick Llewellyn says. "You can build a much larger qualified crowd by being able to pull from the world's freelance community."
Not to mention the fact that virtual companies can service demand from people all over the world. A company like TaskRabbit has to ask the question: how many people in San Francisco want someone to do their laundry? Whereas 99designs gets to ask the question: how many people in the world want a design task done for them?
The big exception to the physical gig struggling rule, obviously, is car-sharing services like SideCar and Lyft, which seem to be scaling quite well. Maybe that's because car sharing falls in the realm of Airbnb: it's about capturing the value of a latent asset, not leveraging a human resource.
Zaarly's Fishback says, "I do think there is a perspective on patience for people building a service based on local businesses. You better have investors who are patient and a team in it for the long haul. There will be no Instagram built in this section of the economy."
[Image courtesy dickuhne]


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ingerlakes Mall’s owner of 11 years will hold onto the Aurelius shopping center for the foreseeable future.
John Bouck, who does leasing work for the mall through Bouck Real Estate, said Tuesday that its owner, Siba Corporation, has rejected all of the recent bids to buy it.
“At this point there is no acceptable offer, and none on the horizon. … There seem to be no current negotiations for it,” he said. However, Bouck added that Siba is still open to offers.
Siba, a New York City diamond wholesaler, listed the mall for sale in April through brokerage firm Eastern Consolidated. Siba’s asking price is $7 million.


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New Delhi: In trying times for household budgets, onion prices have skyrocketed sending budgets out of control. The average wholesale price of onion has more than doubled since the beginning of this month. It's selling between Rs 70 and Rs 80 rupees per kg.
Hoarding has led to a 25 per cent hike in India's biggest wholesale market in Lasalgaon, Nashik, where it is Rs 4,500 a quintal. Drought has led to a 40 per cent fall in supply in both Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, squeezing supplies further.
Prices are not likely to come down before September when the new crop comes into the market. Looking at the market trend, traders pointed that in the coming days retail onion prices can soar up to Rs 80 per kg.
"If this trend of of increase in onion prices continues, the retail price could touch Rs 80 in next week or so," Azadpur Mandi's Onion Merchant Traders Association President Surendra Budhiraj said. He added wholesale onion prices soar to Rs 50 to 55 per kg on back of higher prices in Pune and Nashik mandis.
Traders at Nashik and Delhi mandi also noted that prices would cool down once the supplies of the new crop from Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka increase.
(With additional information from PTI)


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Pune, August 22, 2019 : As the war over discount goes on between restaurants and Zomato, the president of National Restaurants Association of India (NRAI) and Zomato founder were caught in a spat on Thursday.
Zomato founder Deepinder Goyal said, “Zomato is logging out of the logout campaign. We have said enough and we are getting back to work. I am confident better business sense will prevail at the end.”
He had earlier tweeted, “I welcome the NRAI president, Rahul Singh embracing the Gold standard at his own restaurants. Welcome to Gold, Rahul! @NRAI_India This proves that Rahul Singh, is not really against deep discounts, as these discounts are being offered on his own brand, on his own app. On a democratised platform like Zomato, large restaurant owners have to compete with independent restaurants on a hyperlocal basis, and are not able to leverage their large presence to pull more distribution/profits.”
“An aggregator’s most important job is to level the playing field for everyone. This is not about aggregators vs restaurants; this is about the small restaurant owner vs the large restaurant owner – and we are being painted as bullies”, Goyal further tweeted.
He went to explain, “This logout campaign as it seems now, is driven by Rahul Singh, along with participation of a few large restaurant owners, to use the NRAI platform to sabotage aggregators and benefit themselves. We stand by the changes we are making to Gold, they are in supreme interest of our restaurant partners and valued members — it helps everyone win.”
Rahlu Singh, who is Beer Cafe founder and CEO, said that his company is offering loyalty program since 2014. He further said that as a brand owner, they have the right to provide privileges to their loyalists, reported news agency PTI.
The agency further quoted him saying that Brokers cannot have same rights as owners.


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Alias/Wavefront, the big news at this year’s National Association of Broadcasters trade show was the announcement that Maya 4 would be available for Windows, Irix, and Linux users in June. But Mac users shouldn’t feel left out — an OS X-native version of the powerful 3-D animation software is coming to the platform. And Alias/Wavefront’s progress on the Mac version of Maya was on full display this week at the Las Vegas trade show.
Apple’s booth featured frequent demos of Maya running on OS X. NAB attendees saw a robust and stable version of the product used to create 3-D images in movies, commercials, and video games. Look for Maya to ship this summer — if not at July’s Macworld Expo New York, then certainly at Siggraph 2001 in Los Angeles this August.
One of the highlights of the Maya demonstration included the creation of a jellyfish using the animation software. Alias/Wavefront showed 3-D painting of animated tentacles and used the program’s Jiggle Deformer feature to create the fluid, pulsing motion of its creation.
Maya 3 for OS X supports OpenGL — one of the three graphics technologies built into the new operating system. Maya also can render directly to QuickTime — a good feature for moviemakers who want to quickly prepare daily samples of their work.
The OS X version of Maya will have the same features as the existing Maya 3 does — not the new tools of the latest version announced by Alias/Wavefront at the NAB show. But Mac users can expect feature parity with the PC version in three to six months after Maya’s release. The reason for the modest lag? Maya includes some 26 million lines of code — more than even OS X itself.
Alias/Wavefront will charge $7,500 for the OS X version of Maya — the same price as the PC versions. Alias/Wavefront recommends a PowerMac G4 system with 512MB of RAM and an ATI Radeon or Nvidia GeForce video card.


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Apple is rumoured to launch three variants of iPhone this year. While the company is expected to launch flagships, there’s a chance that Apple might renew the budget-oriented iPhone SE.
Apple introduced the small iPhone SE as a small budget phone for people who prefer to have the latest hardware packed in a small 4-inch screen. Apple did launch the iPhone XR as an unofficial replacement for SE but it looks like SE might get a proper replacement after all. At the moment, Apple is selling SE at a much lower price than the actual price it was launch at so there’s a chance that Apple is trying to clear their inventory for a new iPhone SE. We don’t know if Apple plans to revive iPhone SE or not but the demand for SE is still there and Apple is going to address that sooner than later.
There are also rumours floating around that Apple might launch SE 2 with a glass back which would allow them to add wireless charging support to the phone as well. Currently, iPhone XR is doing better than XS and XS Max which is another reason why we might see SE 2 soon.
Certainly, everything we have covered in this article is circumstantial and we don’t exactly have solid evidence to confirm the claims but there surely are subtle hints. If Apple were to launch a successor to iPhone SE then it would most certainly happen at their annual iPhone event in September. We might see the successors to iPhone XS and XS Max at the event as well.
Via: Tech Garage


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News: SEMA Announces Finalists for Automotive Influencer of the Year
Gifting of specially refurbished and modified van for 10-year-old Dominic Cumo – the youngest person to be diagnosed with ALS – to take place on popular show on Sunday, Dec. 27th.
Caliber Collision has announced that its gifting of a specially refurbished and modified van for 10-year-old Dominic “The Dominator” Cumo – the youngest person to be diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) – will be featured on an upcoming episode of the popular West Coast Customs television show on Sunday, Dec. 27th at 7 p.m. PST/10 p.m. EST on Fox Sports 2.
Dominic’s new ride is courtesy of Caliber and the Auto Club of Southern California as part of the National Auto Body Council’s Recycled Rides program where auto body repair facilities, insurance companies, and others in the collision industry team up to refurbish and donate vehicles to individuals in need.
The original 2012 Chrysler Town & Country van was donated by the Auto Club and repaired by technicians at Caliber’s Chino Valley, Calif., location who volunteered personal time as a community service. West Coast Customs joined the effort by installing a wheelchair lift, custom wheels, television and other interior upgrades.
Despite his debilitating and degenerative illness, Dominic has always had a positive and cheerful spirit, eager for new experiences. The Recycled Rides van donation will provide him with more opportunities to enjoy his favorite activities – traveling, football games, music concerts and visiting firefighters.
The customized van will also provide comfortable transportation for the frequent 60-mile commutes from the family’s home in Apple Valley, Calif., to Loma Linda University Children’s Hospital, which nominated the family for the Recycled Rides vehicle donation.
“We are thrilled to work with West Coast Customs to bring the national spotlight to the invaluable impact our collision industry has in providing reliable transportation for those in need through the Recycled Rides program,” said David Goldstein, Caliber Collision senior vice president of operations. “Most important, we are honored to be able to provide Dominic with this gift of transportation so he can indulge in life to its fullest.”
The surprise van presentation to Dominic was filmed in October at the West Coast Customs studio in Burbank.
“When we first heard about Dominic and his courageous spirit, we immediately wanted to be part of this project and help make this vehicle special for a family in need,” said West Coast Customs Founder and CEO Ryan Friedlinghaus. “It was a pleasure to work with Caliber Collision and AAA to put something amazing together for such an inspiring young man.”
The upcoming West Coast Customs television episode also includes a nostalgic tour by Friedlinghaus of his former shop in Corona and preview of renovation plans by Caliber Collision, which purchased the facility for its new Corona location.


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Will the Gains in 2014 Happen this Year Too?
Let's face it, for the majority of the semiconductor and electronics industry, 2014 turned out to be a banner year, all in all. According to SEMI, semiconductor equipment sales were up roughly 20% in 2014, year-over-year. Well, not quite for every market sector, but, as an industry, worldwide semiconductor revenue grew to US $339.8 billion, a 7.9% increase for 2014 year-over-year, according to recent Gartner data.
Smith is conducting its Global Supply Chain Survey again this year, please click HERE and with just 5-10minutes, you can add your voice and experience to the data that we'll be reporting on that later in this first quarter. We'd like to include your market views along with your industry peers!
Read more: Will the Gains in 2014 Happen this Year Too?
Detroit Auto Show 2015: Showcasing Smart
Wednesday Jan. 14th is the Industry Preview for the North American International Auto ShowNorth American International Auto Show (NAIAS) (aka "Detroit Auto Show") but today is the first Press Preview day and it's been an exciting opening in Detroit already. On the heels of CES and all the impressive auto-infotainment and "Connected Car" news (see this blog by Smith's Todd Traylor from the CES floor), there's still more to see as 2015 auto industry blazes new trails.
Read more: Detroit Auto Show 2015: Showcasing Smart


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Sony announced the Xperia Z1s at CES earlier this month, and it quickly showed up on T-Mobile's website. So Americans looking to just own the handset have had a week to order one online from the carrier, while those wanting a deeper relationship with the device - to love it for what's on the inside, rather than the outside - have had to wait a little longer. But now their opportunity has come as well.
The Sony Xperia Z Ultra has a 6.4-inch screen, which is dangerously close to the the tablet side of things. Apparently Sony agrees – a new version of the Xperia Z Ultra has been announced in Japan that does away with the cellular connectivity. Now it's just a tiny tablet instead of a monstrously huge phone.
Motorola has been making a name for itself by uploading many of its pre-installed apps (both the exciting and the utterly mundane) into the Play Store where it can serve out updates more quickly, but the Google-owned company isn't the only one to make use of this approach. Today Sony has uploaded the Xperia ZI's Timeshift Burst functionality into the Play Store.
Update: According to comments, the app is also compatible with a handful of other Sony devices, including the Xperia Z, ZL, ZQ, and the Tablet Z.
One of the many vectors which delivers leaked information on upcoming phones is the device benchmark score. Many apps upload the results to online leaderboards for all to see. There's quite a bit of information to be gleaned from these online listings – basically the entire spec list. Now Sony is looking to plug this leak by blocking benchmarking apps.
It's no secret that some of the biggest mobile hardware gets announced at Mobile World Congress, fast approaching at the end of February. So it's about this time of year that we expect to start seeing major leaks from OEMs. Queue XperiaBlog, hot on the trail of the next Sony devices as usual. Today they've published an absolutely massive gallery of screenshots from an upcoming Sony phone, codenamed "Sirius" and running Android 4.4.2.
There's not a legitimate Sly Cooper game on Android yet, but you can get a tiny bit closer with a new game from Sony. Bentley's Hackpack is a collection of three minigames that originally launched last year on PSN alongside Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time for PS3 and Vita. Now you can get these minigames on Android.
The new Xperia Z1s on T-Mobile is almost identical to the international Z1, except for the radio bands and some software tweaks. One thing that definitely isn't the same is the bootloader – it appears that T-Mobile has requested Sony not allow bootloader unlocks on this device. For a company trying to upend the traditional carrier model, this is awfully old-fashioned carrier behavior.


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The Subaru Kansha Festival runs from October 16 to November 14, and you can get yourself a lot of good deals
Motor Image Pilipinas launches Subaru SPEED online platform letting customers experience the showroom from their homes
Bring home the Subaru of your dreams with Motor Image Pilipinas’ Tanabata Promo
Check out the latest Motor Image Pilipinas promo including zero down payment schemes, service discounts
After being temporarily closed for 2 months, Subaru Philippines reopens select dealerships
Subaru gives customers a 360-degree experience of EyeSight with their mobile devices from the comfort of their homes.
Subaru Philippines officially launches the stylish Forester GT Edition
Subaru is making it easier to own one of their safety feature-packed vehicles with their latest promo
Get a chance to win exclusive gifts from Subaru when you find their zebra-striped Forester on the roads or online
Subaru Ascent to be officially launched in the Philippines according to Glenn Tan himself
Bugatti reveals 1825 HP Bolide track-only hypercar that can go beyond 500 km/h.
You can soon travel from SLEX to NLEX faster and easier
Hyundai builds its smallest EV yet for the younger audiences
It's amazing how much the Isuzu mu-X changed over the past seven years, and we're looking forward to driving the new one.
LGUs have until January 15, 2021 to clear the roads of obstructions
Expect violations and fines if you try to enter and RFID toll gate
Unlike its main competitors, the 2021 Isuzu mu-X is not a facelifted model
SMC's Head for RFID Operations explains why it's taking longer for RFID tags to be fitted
Toyota Fortuner TRD Sportivo revealed in Indonesia, should Toyota PH bring it in?
Still no Easytrip RFID? You can still get at NLEX, SCTEX, and other MPTC tollgates even after November 2


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Yesterday, Elon Musk announced via Twitter that orders for his revolutionary solar roofs hardware would begin from today. He said it would be available in almost any country. Tesla has developed a revolutionary solar roof that will have an infinity warranty.
These solar roofs complete your home’s structure and turn sunlight into electricity. It consists of a power walk battery that stores energy in the form of sunlight. Tesla also guaranteed that the tiles are literally forever. It stated, “Glass solar tiles are so durable they are warranted for the lifetime of your house, or infinity, whichever comes first.”
CEO Elon Musk first hinted that this solar roof will be cheaper than a regular roof after accounting for energy savings. Later he said that Tesla’s solar roof could cost less than a regular roof – even before energy production.
The solar cells are invisible that customize the amount of electricity according to energy needs. It uses two types of glass tiles solar tile and non-solar tile.
In actuality, this solar roof is made from tempered glass. Thus, the tiles used inside it are three times stronger than standard roofing tiles. That’s the reason, it has a lifetime best warranty.
The company reported, “The value of energy your Solar Roof is expected to produce over 30 years is based on the average price of electricity in your area, adjusted for inflation by 2% annually.”
The test video is for the highest FM 4473 hail rating, and Tesla asserts that the video was filmed at a staggering 2,500 frames per second. Each five-centimeter (two-inch) hailstone travels at approximately 177 kph (110 mph) on impact.
The user could also use other energy solutions alongside the solar roofs to help decrease energy bills and allow individuals to truly go off the grid.
If asking about cost, as mentioned above, it will cost less than a regular solar roof. In fact, it may earn you money – as an example, the out-of-pocket cost of a Solar Roof for a typical home in Maryland will be around $52,000, but after considering the tax credit and the value of the energy it generates, the roof will actually pay for itself and earn you about $8,000 over 30 years.


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2023 Maruti Suzuki Swift is expected to make its global debut later this year; India launch likely in the due course of next CY
The speculations surrounding the new generation Swift have existed for several months in the Japanese media and adding fuel to the fire, the first ever spy pictures of the upcoming hatchback came up on the internet only a few days ago. The Swift is one of the best-selling passenger cars in the country as its latest iteration has been a big hit.
The compact hatchback is currently in its third generation for around five years globally and with growing competition, it is expected to get a major update sooner rather than later. The spy images of the new-gen Suzuki Swift caught in Europe indicate that the developmental duties have indeed commenced and the world premiere can be expected later this year.
The latest Swift for India only launched in early 2018 after the arrival of the redesigned Dzire a year prior. Will Maruti Suzuki follow the same strategy? It is too early to judge! For those of you who cannot wait, here we have a rendering of the fourth generation Swift based on the test prototype giving you a sneak peek of what is about to come.
The front fascia has thoroughly been updated with the presence of a swooping hood, redesigned headlamps with integrated LED Daytime Running Lights, a more prominent hexagonal grille section with black inserts leading onto the vertically stacked fog lamps and the Suzuki badge is mounted in the middle, a lower air intake, and dual-tone brown and black exterior shade.
While the test mule wore a set of newly designed black alloy wheels, the digital imagery features two-tone machined alloy wheels. The side profile, pillars and roofline have been accurately replicated, as do the traditional pull-type rear door handles in place of the pillar-mounted units.
We do expect the upcoming Swift to sit on the updated Heartect platform with improved safety and bigger proportions as the greenhouse appears to have grown slightly. The test mule also showed us newly designed tail lamps and an updated rear bumper. Don’t be surprised if Suzuki brings hybrid tech into the mix with the new avatar of the Swift.


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Kenna Security Names Caroline Japic Chief Marketing Officer
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SAN FRANCISCO, Calif., August 06, 2019 – Kenna Security, a leader in predictive cyber risk, today announced that seasoned marketing executive and Silicon Valley veteran Caroline Japic has joined the Kenna executive team as Chief Marketing Officer.
As Chief Marketing Officer, Japic will lead corporate and partner marketing, creating an integrated marketing strategy across branding, communications, customer marketing, demand generation, and sales development. She will be responsible for telling the Kenna Security story, will work to expand awareness for the Company’s risk-based approach to vulnerability management, and will focus on creating deeper relationships with Kenna’s customers.
“Caroline is a creative and entrepreneurial executive with a strong track record of driving hyper growth in both startup and public companies,” said Karim Toubba, CEO at Kenna Security. “Kenna’s next chapters promise to be energetic and highly competitive. In Caroline, we’ve found a proven leader with the creativity and business skill to differentiate us in the market, scale our marketing efforts, and communicate the benefits of our risk-based approach to Kenna’s future customers.”
Japic brings more than 20 years of experience as a marketing executive with a focus on enterprise-class software, a reputation for driving measurable growth, and a history of building high-impact marketing teams. She joins the company from Pramata, where she served as CMO, winning numerous industry awards and developing a go-to-market strategy and target market initiative that increased the company’s visibility, drove revenue growth, and created customer advocates. She also served as a global marketing executive at Hewlett Packard Enterprise where she drove strong marketing-generated sales results. Before that, Japic served as CMO of Tidemark where she was the key storyteller, responsible for creating new positioning, messaging, and an integrated marketing strategy.
“Kenna’s customers are fantastic—they are innovative and forward thinking and understand that Kenna’s data-driven, risk-based solutions are a must have. I’m excited to begin building a powerful, comprehensive marketing strategy for Kenna Security, based on its already strong foundation. We will focus our efforts to delight our customers, drive greater awareness, and generate new opportunities,” said Japic. “I’m so proud to join this talented team and look forward to accelerating the company’s momentum.”
Japic joins Kenna at a time of significant growth. In 2018, the company doubled its headcount, launched major research initiatives, won numerous awards, and launched channel sales in EMEA. Over the two prior years Kenna Security saw annual recurring revenue balloon by 400 percent.
About Kenna Security
Kenna Security is a leader in predictive cyber risk. The Kenna Security Platform enables organizations to work cross-functionally to determine and remediate cyber risks. Kenna leverages Cyber Risk Context Technology™ to track and predict real-world exploitations, focusing security teams on what matters most. Headquartered in San Francisco, Kenna counts among its customers many Fortune 100 companies, and serves nearly every major vertical.
|Media & Analyst Contact:|
|Gregory FCA for Kenna Security|


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LOCATION: Unionville Courts, Next to Buddy’s Union Villa
DAYS: Monday – Wednesday – Friday – Saturday
DATES: April 29, 2019 – October 2019
TIME: 8:30 am – 11:30 am
SEASON PRICE: $25
You can register and pay online here:
You can also mail in the form and payment, the form can be downloaded here and is also attached:
After plans to open a second location in Middleboro fell through, Kinfolks Award Winning BBQ will officially open their second location in the Highland Shopping Plaza in South Easton next summer.
EASTON — After plans to open a second location in Middleboro fell through, Kinfolks Award Winning BBQ now hopes to open their second location in the Highland Shopping Plaza next summer.
Sylvester English, founder and owner of Kinfolks, said that the new location will be located in the old Radio Shack next to PieZoni’s Pizza. The project will be a complete rebuild, according to the post on Kinfolks’s Facebook page announcing the new location, with an expected opening in summer 2020…


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Dyad Puts a Headlock onto the PC on April 24. OLE!
It seems as if exclusives never stay exclusive to consoles for very long when it comes to indie titles. Case-in-point: Dyad will make its way to the PC in mere days via Steam and GOG.
While Dyad was originally supposed to be out to last month, the creator, Shawn McGrath, welcomed a baby into the world.
Dyad will arrive soon, and all will be well for those wanting to have the best headache possible.
Until then, here are the words from Shawn's cruddy mouth:


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East African ministers of tourism have agreed to revitalise free movement of tourists through the promotion of a single tourism visa for Kenya, Uganda and Rwanda.
This will ease travel woes for both local and foreign visitors. Kenya’s tourism minister Najib Balala said on Wednesday that the ministers from the three countries met in Kenya from October 9 to 11 to discuss promoting the region as a single travel destination in order to attract foreign visitors and encourage domestic tourism.
“The biggest bottleneck we faced was ensuring the free movement of people using their national identity cards,” Balala told reporters in Nairobi after attending the opening of the Magical Travel Expo, an annual travel promotion event in Nairobi.
Heads of State from the East African Community (EAC) agreed to launch the regional initiative to ease the free movement of people across the region using the national identity documents in 2014. The free movement of people is part of the region’s customs territory, one of the pre-requirements for the launch of an East African Federation, which is still in the planning process.
The countries of the region also agreed to release the region’s single visa, known as the uni-visa, allowing tourists to enter each of the states.
“The single visa has received low numbers because of the lack of awareness,” Balala said.
At least 4,000 tourists have used the uni-visa since it was launched as an initiative to promote tourism to the EAC as a single destination.
Tanzania, an international tourism hotspot, and Burundi, have opted out of the single tourism visa initiative, citing lack of benefits. Balala said the rest of the EAC countries were still hoping the Tanzanian and Burundian governments would see the benefit of the joint tourism marketing initiatives. The Kenyan tourism minister said to effectively compete with foreign exotic locations such as the Caribbean Island states, the region needs to work together to attract tourists internationally, using the various tourist attractions and products available regionally.
Author: Gesture Chidhanguro


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Whether you like maids, muscles, anime, birds, or sleeping on $9,000 beds, there’s a themed cafe ready to accommodate your tastes in Japan. With so many unusual concepts and settings on offer, it can be hard for a new cafe to stand out amongst its competitors, but one new establishment is doing just that, by bucking conventional beauty trends and hiring staff who are happy to work in the cafe without wearing makeup.
Called Naturalia, the cafe originally opened in Hokkaido’s capital city of Sapporo in October 2015, where they billed themselves as the “World’s First No-Makeup Cafe Bar“, dedicated to promoting the concept of natural beauty in a society obsessed with makeup, manicures, and even fake eyelids. Following on from the success of their first opening, the cafe is now hoping to spread the no-makeup trend further afield, with a crowdfunding campaign set up to help them make the move to Tokyo, where they plan to open a second cafe in Shibuya’s Dogenzaka on 3 April.
According to the owners of the cafe, the concept for a makeup-free team of staff came about after they became tired of encountering girls with lots of makeup, blonde-dyed hair, and overly manicured fake nails working at cafes and bars in Sapporo. Unable to find a place where the staff looked like ordinary girls, they thought to create one instead and gathering from the support they’ve received, it looks like they’ve filled a much-needed niche in the market.
Half-Japanese, half-British singer and TV personality Becky showed her support for the cafe recently, helping to promote the team for a TV episode filmed last month.
To maintain their “natural” image, the girls hired to work at the cafe are non-smokers who don’t have previous night-time work experience in places like cabaret bars and who don’t have excessively dyed hair or garish manicures. These natural-looking girls exude beauty without relying on makeup, which is a breath of fresh air in a country where girlish appearances are paramount.
Support for the new Shibuya cafe has been overwhelming, with their online crowdfunding page raising 955,000 yen (US$8,578) in funds with six days left in the campaign, smashing their initial target goal of 500,000 yen by a whopping 191 percent. Patrons will get to enjoy special commemorative party nights, all-you-can drink offers, and branded t-shirts in return for their contributions.
▼ The new Shibuya location will have bar-style seating and a stylish, dimly lit interior.
While the hours and charges for the new cafe bar are yet to be revealed, their Sapporo location is open from 3:00 p.m. to midnight every day with a 500 yen (US$4.50) entry fee, and a system that offers ten minutes of all-you-can drink beverages at a cost of 300 yen for men and 200 yen for women.
Entry charges and hourly fee systems are not uncommon for themed establishments like maid cafes in Japan, but here at the No-Makeup Cafe, the focus is on a much less theatrical interaction with a staff of more natural-looking girls.
Naturalia Shibuya / ナチュラリア 渋谷店
Address: Tokyo-to, Shibuya-ku, Dogenzaka 2-10-12, Shintaiso Building 3, 6F


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Mumbai, Oct 2 : In a bid to popularise khadi, the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) has held global exhibitions of its products since August 15, Union Minister for MSME Giriraj Singh said here on Tuesday.
He said that in the first phase, expos were held at 10 places followed by another 50 organised on Tuesday, with the number set to go up to 150 centres worldwide in the next couple of months.
"Our aim is to generate employment.
We do not focus on profits but promote social welfare by bringing women entrepreneurship in rural India," Singh said while inaugurating a month-long 'Khadi Fest-2018' on the birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Emphasising rural development through 'charkha' and cowdung and cow urine, the Minister said: "We expect every (gram) panchayat to generate Rs 100 million per annum from 'charkha' and Rs 150 million from household articles made of cowdung and urine.
This Rs 250 million per annum revenue earned by every panchayat will help India achieve enormous rural economic growth.
Attacking the Congress, Singh alleged that the party took political advantage of Mahatma Gandhi but forgot to implement his ideology of rural empowerment and employment, especially for women.
As a result, he said, 'khadi' lost its significance over the years.
"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership, our government has changed the mantra from 'Khadi for Nation' to 'Khadi for Fashion' and brought it on the rampwalk for the first time at Lakme Fashion Week.
We are stepping towards 'Khadi for Transformation' to make it the preferred choice for consumers," Singh said.
KVIC Chairman Vinai Kumar Saxena said that in 2017-2018, its turnover grew by 34 per cent to Rs 25.08 billion.
Encouraged by the innovative initiatives taken by the government to promote 'khadi' clothes and household articles, KVIC has set a sales target of Rs 32 billion for the current financial year.
Saxena pointed out that in the past four years (2014-2018), KVIC has achieved "tremendous growth" in sales at an average of 133 per cent, which stagnated at around 6.8 per cent per year between 2004-2014.


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China’s total online sales growth slowed to 26.2% in 2016, according to China’s National Bureau of Statistics, however several sectors, such as cross-border and online ...
More than half of consumers are looking forward to shopping the day after Thanksgiving.
Black Friday this year promises to be more digital than last year, suggest survey results from Accenture. The management and information technology consulting firm says that 30% of consumers will do most of their day-after-Thanksgiving shopping online this year, up from 25% who said the same in 2012.
Accenture based its findings on an online survey of 500 consumers conducted in September.
A separate survey from the National Retail Federation finds that nearly half of consumers expect to go online to research gift ideas.
Of the respondents to the Accenture survey, 55% said they expect to shop on Black Friday. That compares with 53% last year, 44% in 2011 and 47% in 2010, Accenture says. By comparison, 38% expect to shop on Thanksgiving Day.
Younger consumers will account for much of the holiday shopping enthusiasm around Thanksgiving, Accenture says. 55% of consumers 18 to 24, along with 61% of consumers 25 to 34, plan to shop on Thanksgiving. That compares with 31% of consumers 45 to 59. For Black Friday, 80% of consumers 18 to 24 and 70% of consumers 25 and 34 plan to shop, compared with 51% of consumers 45 to 59.
Other Accenture holiday shopping findings include:
• 68% of consumers say free shipping encourages them to shop online. 58% say the same about online-only discounts.
• 28% cite privacy concerns as discouraging their shopping from mobile devices.
• 28% of consumers who will shop online do so to avoid crowds. 22% like shopping in stores because they want to touch products.
More survey findings, these from the National Retail Federation trade group, shed light on how online consumers will shop for gifts during the holiday shopping season. The retailer trade group says that 47.9% of consumers will seek out holiday gift ideas online. The survey also finds that:
• 36.0% will seek out holiday gift ideas from retailers’ advertising circulars;
• 33.7% will use catalogs;
• 22.2% will use magazines;
• 21.5% will use e-mail marketing messages;
• 14.0% will use Facebook;
• 10.1% will use retailers’ apps;
• 7.2% will use Pinterest.
The National Retail Federation based its findings on a survey of 6,201 consumers conducted between Nov. 1 and 7.


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The coronavirus pandemic has caused a dramatic shift in the way consumers and business owners conduct their daily processes. Economic lockdowns all over the globe have adversely shaped production and growth, and economists are already predicting the possibility of a long term dip, or even a recession.
History is riddled with examples of individuals or industries taking hold of uncertain times, and using it for their own growth. And in this time, we are lucky to face a pandemic with the presence of the internet. People have a chance to keep interacting, and many industries are enabled to continue operations even if the pace has slowed. While customers cannot come to your brick-and-mortar to buy, there are booming alternatives like e-commerce — thanks to the internet.
If you never believed in online marketing before, this is the time you need to more than ever before. It will help you minimize the economic impacts of coronavirus to the economy — your business does not need to go afloat. That said, here are the leading digital marketing trends many businesses are using with some degree of success at this time of crisis.
It’s still too early to gauge exactly how high e-commerce sales have surged since the world came to a halt, but early indicators from SearchEngineLand suggest that online spending could be up anywhere from 10-30% across the board. An additional survey conducted from all industries ranging from medical supplies, to travel spending and baby products suggested a 28% increase in e-commerce sales. All of that to say, there is likely an opening in your market to introduce or improve revenue streams for your firm. There are tools and workshops out there to integrate the technology on your web platform, with little cost to you.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has always helped businesses to rank higher on search engines. This is the best time to leverage this online marketing technique. As a measure to protect the public from coronavirus infections, people are not allowed to move around easily, making it hard to do routine shopping. They are therefore forced to buy goods and services from the internet.
That said, it is only those businesses that are easily visible on the internet that will benefit from this turn of things. SEO is the best way to improve your visibility and attract more traffic to your website. For those who are not in total lock-down, their movement is also restricted to local areas only. Anyway, no one will risk traveling far for fear of infection. Therefore, you should consider local SEO as well. People want to buy commodities from stores near them.
During these trying times, it is vital to make use of the vast assortment of free website builders for non-profit organizations. This will come in clutch when the economy has nose-dived due to the pandemic going in full swing. Website builders help take your organization to the next level. Website is the portal through which prospects get to know your organization and how you operate. So choosing a website builder is of paramount importance for creating an appealing page. Shelling out a ton of money is not required these days. A free website builder in the hands of a capable person can work wonders.
This may sound like an absurd idea since the economy is not doing so well to start advertising. However, people are spending more time on the internet, and the possibility of them coming across your ad is very high. If it is something they need, they might end up making a purchase. Well, it will cost you some money, but remember, you are planting a seed to not only benefit you now but also in the future. Your target audience is found more on the internet today, and they have all the time to open those ads they used to ignore before — why not take advantage?
Social distancing is one of the ways to prevent coronavirus infections, and as much as we may not like it, it is quite necessary. However, as stated earlier, we are lucky to have the internet, and this means that we can still socialize through social media platforms. People are spending most of their time with their phones on their hands while scrolling up and down different social media walls.
Now, as a business owner, you need to make sure that some of the posts they come across are published by you and your brand. Use these platforms to interact and sell to your customers. If you were afraid to boost a post before on Facebook or Instagram, overcome the fear now. Boosting those posts will attract potential customers, including those who are not your current followers.
Apart from selling your business, post useful information related to the pandemic. Your focus is not to sell during the pandemic only but also after. Similarly, use it to inform your customers about any changes brought by the coronavirus, and this includes ordering, delivery, or paying procedures.
Covid-19 has affected everyone across the world, and while it is a sad situation, we must face it with determination. Don’t let your business die because when all this is over, you will still need it. Take advantage of digital marketing services to keep it going and leave it even more influential after coronavirus pandemic.


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Texas State, San Marcos welcome 200 Spin electric scooters to community
Texas State University and the City of San Marcos have signed a pilot agreement with Spin electric scooters for an initial two-step deployment of 200 shared scooters beginning this month.
A launch event for Spin scooters will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 23 on Bobcat Trail adjacent to the Quad at Texas State. There will be a helmet giveaway and safety briefing. All participants and presenters are required to wear masks and maintain social distancing.
Spin, a dockless electric scooter share company, is providing the scooters at no cost to the university and the city. Scooters will cost $1 to unlock and 29 cents per minute of use. Hours of scooter operation are 6:30 a.m.-11:30 p.m. Riders should note that scooters must be parked in the designated scooter zone to end the ride and avoid accruing additional fees.
To locate and unlock a nearby scooter via a smartphone, download the Spin app. Users who enter the promo code TXST will receive $5 off their first ride. Additional safety measures include COVID-19 disinfection.


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Starbucks is hoping a little free caffeine will go a long way during these difficult times with the government shutdown. According to the Bloomberg on Oct. 8, the giant coffee company will give all customers a free brewed coffee when they buy a drink for someone else, today until Oct. 11.
Chief Executive Officer Howard Schultz announced the movement today in an email. He says, "This is a different yet authentic way Starbucks can help our fellow citizens to come together by supporting one another during a particularly challenging time," in encouraging its patrons to pay it forward.
This isn't the first time Starbucks has tried to be relevant during politically-charged times. Back in December of 2012, baristas in Washington, D.C., wrote, "Come Together" on to-go coffee cups to encourage compromise on reducing national debt. Since that didn't seem to work, though it did bring some extra awareness to the issue, this approach seems to benefit those who are most affected by this current government shutdown: The American people.
Though some restaurants are offering furlough-specific discounts, Starbucks' offer includes everyone who has gotten a sense of unease from the lack of compromise in Congress.
Will you use this opportunity to “support and connect with one another” as Starbucks’ CEO wants us to?