text:
and minority automobile buyers generally pay more than white men for
the same cars — but can erase that difference by buying over the
Internet rather than through car dealerships, a new study says.
conducted by researchers at the University of California's Haas School
of Business, the Yale School of Management and J.D. Powers and Associates,
concluded the Internet serves as an "equalizer" for car
buyers whose demographic characteristics can end up costing them at
shows women and minorities typically pay 2 percent (as much as $500)
more for cars than do White consumers when buying automobiles at a
dealership. The same study also found that women pay more than men
do when buying cars at dealerships.
(Source: Wire reports)


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They canceled Tucker, now they’re coming for us… but you can fight back. Cancel Fox Nation and instead click here to subscribe to Revolver. Or give the gift of Revolver—simply select the annual subscription and select “This is a gift” on the next page. If you want to give extra during this critical time, you can make a one-time or recurring monthly donation — whether it’s $1 or $1,000, every bit goes towards the battle to save our great nation.
Those who claim liberalism is a mental disorder might have a point. There’s something inherently off in people who dive headfirst into this woke nonsense. It’s like being part of a cult where they’re trapped in a little bubble and can’t see the real world around them. But let’s not write off this fanatical, cult-like devotion as just some funny woke illness — it’s far from it. It’s a calculated strategy to keep pushing and pushing until they make even the tiniest bit of progress towards their goals. Liberals may be unhinged, but they won’t stop until they’ve beaten you into submission, and before you know it, you’re begrudgingly accepting whatever perverted lifestyle they’re promoting.
A perfect example of this unrelenting campaign can be seen in the current efforts of corporate America to promote everything related to “women” and “trans.” Whether it’s movies centered around women or beer marketed towards transvestites, it’s evident that the left is determined to exclude and demonize men in every aspect of society.
However, this hasn’t been an easy journey for the left. We witnessed the consequences for Bud Light when they disregarded their male customer base and tried to appeal to a small group of crossdressers who weren’t even their beer consumers. They collapsed and now their parent company Anheuser-Busch is also feeling the heat.
The company’s flagship Budweiser brand took an 11.4% sales hit for the week ended April 29. Sales of Anheuser-Busch’s Michelob Ultra brand — the third-biggest-selling in the U.S. behind No. 1 Bud Light and No. 2 Modelo Especial — were down 4.4%, according to Bump Williams data.
“It’s not just a Bud Light issue,” said Bump Williams, chief executive of the consultancy. “It’s an Anheuser-Busch portfolio problem now.”
Anheuser-Busch’s other U.S. brands also got dinged, with its Natural Light brand down 5.2% and its Busch Light seeing a 1.8% drop.
The widening sales declines mark a painful hit for the dominant U.S. beer business. Last year, sales of Bud Light topped $4.8 billion, according to the Connecticut-based firm. Modelo Especial had $3.75 billion in sales, while Michelob Ultra generated $3.3 billion in sales.
The Bud Light ad blunder was a big deal that showed future marketing students exactly what not to do when dealing with loyal customers. But don’t expect it to be seen that way. The progressive corporate world tends to see failure only through their own distorted lens. They’ll likely think the ad failed because Americans are homophobic and racist. This belief gives them a reason to keep pushing their message even harder, knowing that eventually you’ll cave and accept the inevitable.
Sticking to the same idea, there’s another Miller Lite beer ad that jumped on the woke bandwagon and slipped by unnoticed just two months ago. Some might argue that this ad is even worse than the Bud Light/Dylan Mulvaney partnership. After all, Bud Light just made one silly “can” for Mulvaney. Miller, on the other hand, created an entire ad campaign for their latest woke message.
The Miller Lite ad called “Bad Shit to Good Shit” aired during “Women’s History” month and sought to undo all the “bad shit” beer companies have done to women by supposedly exploiting them in their bikinis.
Did NOBODY learn from Bud Light's COSTLY mistake?
Miller Lite just dropped this WOKE advertisement!!!
When will these beer companies learn???? pic.twitter.com/Zhbja6v77x
— Graham Allen (@GrahamAllen_1) May 15, 2023
How on earth would a boring, dark, dreary ad like that sell even one bottle of beer?
Miller Lite is making the same mistake as Bud Light. They’re sacrificing their massive core customer base to cater to a small group that don’t really drink their beer.
But this goes beyond mere “beer.” Ads like this revolve around the relentless pursuit of an ideology and pushing you until you finally succumb and conform to their beliefs.
Miller Lite has had some pretty sexist advertisements over the course of its nearly 50 years of existence.
So, in honor of Women’s History Month, they’ve committed to not only cleaning up their past, but also turning it into something good in their new campaign, “Bad $#!T to Good $#!T,” to collect sexist advertisements and turn it into compost to grow hops for women brewers.
Of course, it’s another woman in charge of marketing. Women destroying corporate America, one “woke” idea at a time.
Elizabeth Hitch, senior director of marketing for Miller Lite, says the brand’s position in the industry gives them a chance to create real change and to turn some “bad $#!t, old objectifying beer advertising into good $#!t, literal fertilizer to grow hops that will be donated to female brewers.” “We recognize that Miller Lite played a contributing role in this in the past,” she says. “We’ve been collecting our and other brands outdated, old sexist ads, displays and posters for months. We have been buying and removing any pieces we could find on the internet.”
“Our media plan for Miller Lite’s partnership with J Balvin this year revolves around giving back to Latino business and communities,” says Hitch. “We’ve had the pleasure of working alongside J Balvin since 2021 and this year, we wanted to not only bring back the Balvin-inspired limited-edition pints as a continuation of our mission to support and empower the community, but also donate a portion of proceeds from the limited-edition pints purchased during the program, up to $150,000, to Accion Opportunity Fund. This donation can help provide funding for up to 50 Latino business owners across the country.”
Of course, there’s nothing better than consulting some lady in a pantsuit with a Master’s degree if you’re looking for a “meaningful interaction”. Portada:
How does Molson Coors marketing team measure brand lift and sales related to the J. Balvin – Miller Lite Latino Business Owners Initiative? “We know that awareness and sales go hand-in-hand. We look at total sales, retail execution and consideration with drinkers who interacted with the program for a wholistic look at program impact. At the end of the day, we are always striving for meaningful interactions with our drinkers that increase brand affinity.”
It’s all about being “authentic” (lol) and finding those precious “new beer drinkers” — at the expense of the current market, apparently. Portada (emphasis ours):
The light beer category is extremely competitive how does Molson Coors marketing implement campaigns in order to stand out? Hitch answers that “whether it is partnering with global superstar and entrepreneur, J Balvin, or creating a OOH plan or store display, we want to capture the attention of our drinkers by doing something that resonates. Miller Lite has been giving people light beer with great taste for many years now. While we continue to serve up the same great quality, it’s important that the beer continues to fit into people’s lives and resonates with new drinkers. Miller Time is all about sharing real moments and the Miller Lite and J Balvin’s Tab program creates way to authentically give back to the Latino community as well as engage new beer drinkers.”
“It’s hard to say what the future holds as the landscape changes very quickly. But we will continue to show up where our consumers want to be and incorporate our brands into their lives in interesting and authentic ways,” Hitch concludes.
Considering who is running marketing at the company, it’s no surprise Miller Lite engaged in an all-out effort to undo all the past bikini beer advertising that everybody loved and replace it with boring, drab women-centric ads that make you want to drink arsenic, not beer.
The idea behind this campaign is to recognize that the beer industry as a whole hasn’t recognized women or given them the credit they deserve, Hitch says. “We can’t change the past, but we can help rectify the damage that was done alienating women from beer. We’re on a mission to clean up not only our mistakes but those of the whole beer industry by finding these bad ads and turning them into something that will have a positive impact.”
Miller treated this ad like a “gun buyback” campaign by encouraging people to mail in their old Miller Lite bikini posters. This idea is beyond cringeworthy, it’s bordering on agonizing.
They’re inviting consumers to ship them their old, sexist ads, too, and the brand has teamed up with Ilana Glazer, noted comedian and actor, to promote this campaign.
To create the good stuff, they’re taking the objectifying advertisements, and they’re putting them into a large compost pile, which after several months of composting, the compost gets fed to worms, which then create castings (worm poop) that then become a compost fertilizer that will be added to hops crops to help them grow. Right now, they’re aiming to grow more than 1,000 pounds of hops.
Miller thought this ad was a “tongue-in-cheek” way to address the so-called issue of “bikini beer ads.” The problem is, nobody who drinks beer was complaining about those ads. We liked them, and want them back. Forbes:
“Through our campaign efforts, we’re hoping to achieve both measurable impact and feel-good vibes,” Hitch says. “While we wanted to take a tongue and cheek approach to acknowledge the past, Miller Lite is also on a larger mission to make the beer industry more inclusive for women.”
In actuality, the Miller Lite beer commercial took on an annoyingly preachy and serious tone, completely lacking any sense of fun or humor, except for a desperate attempt to grab attention by repeatedly throwing in a crude swear word for “shock” effect. It made women look serious, stuffy, and homely. That’s what beer now stands for? Humorless schoolmarms in ugly outfits, swearing up a storm?
Awesome. I’m sure it’ll be flying off the shelves.
The whole style is reminiscent of those old anti-suffragette cartoons or (ironically) the teetotalers movement:
Sorry, but we think most people would prefer to have this back:
The positive news is that the “Bad Shit to Good Shit” ad was such an underwhelming flop that the website has been disabled.
Perhaps Miller Lite brass took one look at the Bud Light bloodbath and pulled the plug on Fraulein Frump A. Dump as their next spokeswoman.
But don’t celebrate too quickly. They’ll regroup and be back. Once the left sinks their teeth into a cause, they’ll never let go.

domain: news


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The next-gen 5G cellular network is around the corner and the biggest component missing in this cadre is the 5G smartphone that can actually be used on the networks. Lenovo claimed that it will be the first company to launch a 5G smartphone, using a currently unannounced Qualcomm chip.
World’s First 5G Smartphone
Lenovo VP Chang Cheng posted the info on the 5G smartphone on his Weibo account but deleted it later. The claimed that Lenovo will offer the world’s first 5G-capable phone and that it will be powered by the yet unannounced Snapdragon 855. This chipset is believed to have been in production since June, which would come with the end 2018 or early 2019 phones.
Qualcomm announced early this year that it has signed 5G modem and Snapdragon chip agreements with 19 cellular device makers. The company also said that it is working to help unspecified customers bring their first 5G devices to the market as early as this year’s end, though the devices will debut next year.
Lenovo could introduce the 5G smartphone under its own or under Motorola’s name. Cheng’s comments point to a single device with integrated 5G, but Motorola has spent around two years working on a “5G Moto Mod” attachment that will enable 5G capabilities to a 4G phone – widely believed to be Moto Z3.
Nothing is official, so, take this piece of information with a grain of salt. We have wait until anything goes official about the first world’s 5G smartphone.


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Three area Sears Hometown stores to close this spring
Updated: Mar 12, 2019
Sears Hometown stores in Petoskey, Charlevoix and Cheboygan are slated to close their doors .
Based on Sears Hometown’s separate corporate structure, its operations were spared from a round of 142 store closings announced last fall when Sears Holdings — which operates Sears corporate stores as well as the Kmart discount chain — filed for bankruptcy. Those cutbacks did impact Charlevoix’s Kmart store, which closed around the end of 2018.


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THANK YOU FOR VISITING SWEATSCIENCE.COM!
As of September 2017, new Sweat Science columns are being published at www.outsideonline.com/sweatscience. Check out my bestselling new book on the science of endurance, ENDURE: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance, published in February 2018 with a foreword by Malcolm Gladwell.
- Alex Hutchinson (@sweatscience)
I just noticed that a short article I wrote for Canadian Running‘s May/June issue is now available online. It’s my attempt to provide some context for the studies on barefoot running that made lots of (somewhat wild) headlines at the beginning of the year. It doesn’t offer any definitive conclusions, mainly because I don’t think such conclusions yet exist. My main point is the distinction between biomechanical studies and injury-rate studies. Everyone has been beating up on the shoe industry for years because it relies on the former rather than the latter — but that distinction is suddenly being “forgotten” now that biomechanical studies supporting barefoot running are appearing.
A short excerpt:
[…] There’s no doubt that thinking on footwear has evolved in the last decade or two. For instance, plush cushioning is no longer considered the ultimate defence against injury. “I wish running companies would stop rattling on about ‘gel’ and ‘air’ and so on,” says Simon Bartold, an Australian shoe researcher who consults for Asics. Newer shoes reflect this thinking, he says: Nike has introduced the Free, for example, and Asics has completely abandoned the concept of “motion control.” But rushing to the opposite extreme and claiming that runners of all shapes and sizes should give up shoes makes no sense either – and the new studies certainly don’t support this position. […]


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Communication group Publicis Groupe has acquired the Mumbai-based digital marketing and web development agency Indigo consulting. While the financial details of the acquisition weren't revealed, Publicis Groupe stated that Indigo Consulting will retain its name and operate as a separate unit within the Leo Burnett Group in India. Vikas Tandon, founder of Indigo consulting will remain as the unit's Managing Director and report into Arvind Sharma, Chairman of India Subcontinent, Leo Burnett. Publicis Groupe added that it intends to double its size in India by 2015. Launched in 2000, Indigo Consulting provides services like website design and development, search engine optimization, usability research and testing, and marketing online, on mobiles and in social media. It has developed websites, software solutions and digital marketing programs for various clients across the world including Asian Paints, HDFC Bank, HSBC (India, Asia-Pacific and Middle East), Loop Mobile, Tata AIG Insurance and South Australia Tourism. It currently employs 160 people across its Mumbai headquarters and its Delhi office. Publicis Groupe claims to be the third largest communications group in the world, and employs 54,000 professionals with presence in 104 countries. Its major networks include Leo Burnett, MSLGROUP, PHCG (Publicis Healthcare Communications Group), Publicis Worldwide, Rosetta and Saatchi & Saatchi. Publicis Groupe also has a media and digital accelerator called VivaKi which includes Digitas, Razorfish, Starcom MediaVest Group and ZenithOptimedia. In October 2010, Publicis Groupe had signed an agreement to acquire a majority stake in PR firm 20:20 Media, and social media consulting company 2020Social. Although both the acquired entities later become part of MS&L Group,…
- Navigating The Debate Over Ex-Ante Regulation in India’s Digital Market April 15, 2024
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Experts debate the efficacy of ex-ante regulation in India's fast-evolving digital market. Is preemptive control the answer?
Tech Manifestos 2024: BJP Wants to Promote ONDC, Increase Digitisation of Land Records, No Mention of AI, Digital India Act
Lacking plans about the use and regulation of artificial intelligence, use of drones, health stack, cybersecurity and Smart Cities, the manifesto does not have...
MediaNama’s mission is to help build a digital ecosystem which is open, fair, global and competitive.
Views: Response to NPCI CEO’s comments that what is not written in regulations is a no-go for fintech entities
NPCI CEO Dilip Asbe recently said that what is not written in regulations is a no-go for fintech entities. But following this advice could...
Notably, Indus Appstore will allow app developers to use third-party billing systems for in-app billing without having to pay any commission to Indus, a...
The existing commission-based model, which companies like Uber and Ola have used for a long time and still stick to, has received criticism from...
Factors like Indus not charging developers any commission for in-app payments and antitrust orders issued by India's competition regulator against Google could contribute to...
Is open-sourcing of AI, and the use cases that come with it, a good starting point to discuss the responsibility and liability of AI?...
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Brean Capital Likes Groupon Going Into Quarterly Results
Groupon Inc (NASDAQ: GRPN) is scheduled to report earnings on Thursday, with analysts expecting EPS of $0.03. Brean Capital is recommending traders buy shares of Groupon in advance, noting that the quarter includes record revenue from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, in addition to talk of Groupon divesting some or all of its Ticket Monster holdings.
Brean expects project sales, adjusted EBITDA and non-GAAP EPS to beat consensus estimates. Additionally, the analysts expect $27.55 million in shares to be bought back, part of a previously announced $300 million in repurchase authorization.
Brean expects volatility to spike around Groupon’s earnings. Analysts note that the average one-day move after earnings in Groupon is 17.9 percent since its November 2011 IPO. Analysts say that shares move up or down at least 10 percent more than 83 percent of the time.
Brean reiterated its Buy rating and has an $11 price target on the stock.
Latest Ratings for GRPN
|Sep 2016||Boenning & Scattergood||Initiates Coverage on||Neutral|
© 2016 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.


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The City of Toronto continues to respond to COVID-19. Mayor Tory today joined Toronto’s Medical Officer of Health Dr. Eileen de Villa to provide an update on the current situation in Toronto and reflect on the city’s accomplishments in fighting spread of the virus.
There are 16,127 cases of COVID-19 in the city, an increase of 48 today. There are 30 people hospitalized. In total, 14,565 people have recovered from COVID-19. To date, there have been 1,175 COVID-19 deaths in Toronto. Case status data can be found on the City’s reporting platform.
As the virus continues to circulate in the community, residents are reminded to adhere to Toronto Public Health’s advice to wash hands often, practise physical distancing, stay within their social bubble of no more than 10 people, and wear a mask or face covering in indoor settings and where physical distancing is difficult to maintain. Wearing a mask or face covering is required in indoor public spaces in Toronto.
Toronto Public Health staff will be attending shopping malls and retail spaces to ensure compliance with public health requirements. Those shopping in person are encouraged to shop at times when stores may be less busy or to try shopping online, when possible. Residents should wear a mask and keep a physical distance while shopping, and always wash or sanitize their hands after being in a store or public place and not go out if they are feeling ill. Public health guidance for retail stores and shopping malls is available online.
Provincial orders under the Reopening Ontario (A Flexible Response to COVID-19) Act and the City bylaw on physical distancing remain in effect. Yesterday, the City received 28 complaints related to parks use and physical distancing. Officers cautioned more than 4,800 people last month about physical distancing, alcohol, bonfires and littering bylaws; 28 people were cautioned yesterday.
As more of the city’s businesses continue to reopen, residents can learn about what to expect and what is required as Toronto moves into the new normal and they begin to visit more establishments and take part in more activities at toronto.ca/ReopenTO.
The City’s website is updated daily with the latest health advice and information about City services, social supports and economic recovery measures. Check toronto.ca/covid-19 for answers to common questions before contacting the Toronto Public Health COVID-19 Hotline or 311.
Toronto is home to more than 2.9 million people whose diversity and experiences make this great city Canada’s leading economic engine and one of the world’s most diverse and livable cities. As the fourth largest city in North America, Toronto is a global leader in technology, finance, film, music, culture and innovation, and consistently places at the top of international rankings due to investments championed by its government, residents and businesses. For more information visit the City’s website or follow us on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook.


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USD/JPY Forecast & Technical Analysis
Japan – Trade Balance
On Tuesday, at GMT 11:50 p.m., the Japanese Ministry of Finance will release the month-over-month national trade balance figure. It measures the difference in value between the total imported and exported goods over the last month. This data is usually reported by being seasonally adjusted in order to gauge the true changes in the trade balance situation of Japan.
The demand for a nation’s currency is directly correlated to the export it makes minus the net imports. Because foreigners must convert their currency to Yen in order to pay Japanese exporters. Hence, XM traders in Japan consider the trade balance to be a leading indicator of a currency’s strength.
Last month, the Japanese trade balance figure came out at -0.0.3 trillion (yen). The trade balance has gradually improved since May 2020 when it reached – 1.0 trillion. If the improvements continue, it will have a bullish effect on the Japanese Yen.
米国 – 小売売上高
On Wednesday, at GMT 12:30 p.m., the US Census Bureau will release the national month-over-month retail sales figure. It measures the changes in the total value of all sales made at the retail level in the country over the past month.
Retail sales data are considered by CFD brokers to be the primary gauge of consumer spending and confidence. This is because consumers spend more when they are confident about their future financial situation.
Last month, the US retail sales value increased by 1.2%. Analysts are expecting it to increase by 1.1% this month.
After the COVID-19 induced volatility in March ended, the USD/JPY has been trading within a narrow range over the last few months. Since the middle of June, the range has been getting narrower. During the last few weeks, it traded between 105.30 and 107.00, with a pivot zone around 106.00. Earlier today, it penetrated this pivot level, but currently trading just above it. Also, the RSI indicator on the daily chart for USD/JPY is hovering near the 50.0 level, indicating a lack of directional momentum in the market.
の Japanese Trade Balance reached the low of a negative trillion Yen in May. Over the last few months, it went up and reached near breakeven. Given the current momentum in improving international trade, there is a good chance that it will come positive this month. By contrast, the US retail sales will likely drop from a 1.2% increase last month to 1.1%. We believe it would set a 弱気な 今週のUSD/JPYのファンダメンタルズ見通し。したがって、USD/JPYが終了した場合、 下に の サポート near 106.00, it would likely attract additional 弱気な 市場の勢い。
Hence, Forex traders should look out for trading opportunities below this major support level around 106.00.
マーケットアナリスト/トレーディングコンサルタント。アシフはプロップトレーダーとして約 10 年間働き、その後、ヨーロッパ最大の外国為替戦略開発会社の 1 つでトレーディング業務を管理しました。現在、彼は複数のブローカーの取引コンサルタントとして働いており、さまざまなテクノロジーや金融のトピックについて執筆しています。 firstname.lastname@example.org までご連絡ください。


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Smart Parts Exports announces financial performance and roadmap for fiscal year 2020-2021
India’s leading exporter of auto parts for passenger vehicles and light and heavy-duty commercial vehicles, Smart Parts Exports, reported that the company had achieved 400% year-on-year revenue growth over the past year. the 2020-2021 financial year, an absolute record. high for the company.
The family business is run by brother-sister duo Mayank Jain and Saloni Jain, under the management of their father, Manoj Kumar Jain. After completing their academic endeavors in international trade and business management, the siblings established their export business, Smart Parts Exports, in 2019. They decided to present the company at various exhibitions around the world, including countries like the United Arab Emirates, South Africa, China, and Turkey, opening new avenues and converting global opportunities for smart parts exports.
The company has ties to major auto parts manufacturers in Germany, Korea, China and India as the official and preferred exporter of auto parts to the world. Smart Parts Exports’ product line includes the full line of automotive products and components. In the past two years, the company has exported auto spare parts to more than 45 countries.
Despite the pandemic and its impact on international trade in 2020, the company has managed not only to maintain its profitability, but also to show a strong growth trajectory. The company has faced many challenges including the impact on operations and logistics and uncertainty in business, especially in the early months of fiscal year 2020-2021 due to lockdowns and restrictions in the whole world. However, supported by a committed team, Smart Parts Exports maintained business continuity without impacting customer deliveries.
The increased use of private vehicles for social distancing amid the pandemic has led to the demand for auto parts, as well as the need for a more economical aftermarket for parts globally. This development has resulted in said growth in activity for smart parts exports.
Commenting on the performance, Mayank Jain, Managing Director and CEO of Smart Parts Exports, said, âThe past fiscal year has brought its own challenges and opportunities for us. We are happy to have weathered the crisis successfully and to come out with flying colors. This year also looks very promising for us, within the framework of the automotive industry, with factors such as the increase in components per vehicle, associated with a low base effect and higher achievements, working in our favor. . Smart Parts Exports has big plans in the pipelines, including more shutdowns for exports that could further facilitate exponential business growth. “
Saloni Jain, co-founder and CHRO of the company, added, âAt Smart Parts Exports, we will expand our global footprint with offices in UAE, Japan, South Korea and China and will eventually launch into the warehouse sector. We plan to add more than 300 people to our team in fiscal year 2021-2022 to meet our growing business needs. “


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BY JODI CAMP
Simpson County's own Dueling Grounds Distillery is officially a stop on the Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour.
"We are one of four new distilleries that came on board," said Marc Dottore, owner of Dueling Grounds Distillery.
The Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour is different from the original Kentucky Bourbon Trail, but both are sponsored by the same organization, The Kentucky's distillers Association.
A bottle of the distillery's Linkumpinch Bourbon was officially accepted into the Frazier History Museum on May 15 and Dueling Grounds Distillery joined The Kentucky Bourbon Trail Craft Tour on June 25.
"We are members of the Kentucky's Distillers Association and they are instrumental in helping put that together and supporting the Frazier (History Museum)," Dottore said.
Dottore said there is a total of 20 distillery's participating in the trail. The trail organizers came out with brand new passports and gifts visitors can receive after completing different sections of the trail.
The trail is divided into four sections Northern, Central, Western and Bluegrass. The Frazier History Museum is the official Northern kickoff for the trail, housing a bottle of bourbon from every current bourbon distiller, Dottore said.
"Being on the craft tour was part of the plan pretty much from the beginning," Dottore said.
The craft tour is what gave him the idea to start a distillery, he said.
The tour has specific guidelines that each distillery has to meet before joining as a location stop. He also did not want to join the tour until he had bourbon to sell in the store.
The first batch of Linkumpinch Bourbon was released in December 2018.
See tour/Page A8
from the front page
"(The bottle) is a limited edition," Dottore said. "We just have maybe a dozen barrels this year that we are going to be able to dump. We will have a little bit more supply next year and each year we made a little more so we will have a little more, but right now it is just limited to Kentucky and Tennessee."
Dottore said he hopes being part of the trail brings more visitors to Franklin and Simpson County. Last year almost half a million people participated in the trail, he said.
"I feel like we are bringing a lot of people to the community from all over the world that would not have any other reason to stop here," Dottore said.
Dottore has plans to continue to grow the distillery and hopes that as the business grows so does the town, so they can grow together. He sees the distillery eventually out growing the building they are currently in, but does not see them outgrowing the town.
Dueling Grounds Distillery is located at 208 Franklin Bypass. For more information, call the distillery at 270-776-9046 or visit the website www.duelinggroundsdistillery.com


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Connecticut aquaculture farmers offering direct sales of fresh shellfish and other products to consumers can now be found easily on a newly created aquaculture sales website.
Connecticut Sea Grant is encouraging teachers and parents to check out the many online educational resources available that can be used for virtual and at-home lessons about Long Island Sound and the larger marine environment.
Sales revenue for Connecticut aquaculture producers fell an average of 93 percent in February and March compared to the same period in 2019, and 70 percent of the workforce employed in shellfish, seaweed and finfish farming operations have been laid off due to impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
While nearly half of Connecticut aquaculture businesses have already completed a survey released on March 23, Connecticut Sea Grant and the state Department of Agriculture on March 24 urged those who had not yet responded to do so as soon as possible.
Beachcombing along the Connecticut coast can be a fun and healthy educational activity for families eager to get out outdoors while the COVID-19 virus keeps children home from school.
Adapt CT, an outreach partnership of CT Sea Grant and CLEAR, has been awarded a $2,978 grant to fund a student intern to work on a video about climate change in Connecticut.
The Bureau of Aquaculture issued the following notice about its status during the evolving COVID-19 virus situation.
Due to disruptions related to the COVID-19 virus, the deadline for the new Connecticut Sea Grant undergraduate research fellowship opportunity for summer 2020 has been extended to March 31.
The U.S. Small Business Administration is offering designated states and territories low-interest federal disaster loans for working capital to small businesses suffering substantial economic injury as a result of the Coronavirus.
Connecticut Sea Grant and New York Sea Grant announce the Long Island Sound Study extra-mural research program.


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Scientists say they’re preparing to release a “Privacy Visor,” an over-the-ear contraption that’s worn like ordinary eyeglasses but modeled to make it difficult for facial-recognition technology to identify whomever is underneath.
The Tokyo-based National Institute of Informatics (NII) has tried to release privacy visors in the past, but a prototype put on display in 2013 relied on bursts from nearly a dozen LED lights that are invisible to the eye but trick surveillance tech.
Now the NII says it is readying the release of a new model that uses a specialized (but unnamed) type of material, affixed to a titanium frame, to reflect and absorb light, which reportedly fooled smartphone-based facial-recognition systems nine out of 10 times during development.
“We are often told not to unveil our personal information to others, but our faces are also a type of an ID. There should be a way to protect that,” NII Professor Isao Echizen told The Wall Street Journal’s Japan Real Time blog, adding that the latest model “is the world’s first product” to use a new type of technology to take on spy software, and in the form of a sporty, even fashionable look.
What’s more, this offering isn’t expected to weigh too heavily on consumers’ wallets either, reportedly coming in at around $240.
But as clothing and accessories aim to counter facial-recognition programs, the algorithms that run the software used to identify individuals also are gaining ground.
NEC Corp., an international biotech group that boasts being among the world’s top suppliers of facial-recognition program, NeoFace, said its software has recently been upgraded to become 28 percent more accurate than before.
“Faced with ever-increasing threats, as well as the need for improved customer engagements and loss prevention, public safety agencies (such as law enforcement, border control, immigration) and enterprises around the world are increasingly turning to facial recognition, a highly reliable and accurate identification method,” Raffie Beroukhim, vice president of NEC Corp. of America’s Biometrics Solutions Division, said in a statement.
Adam Harvey, a New York City-based artist, has dabbled in similarly designed wearables for years, and in 2013 released a line of countersurveillance “stealth wear” that included anti-drone garments and pockets that can prevent radio frequencies from penetrating clothing.
In the case of the Privacy Visor, Mr. Harvey told The Washington Times that the LEDs appear to exploit a vulnerability that exists in certain types of security cameras that lack infrared cutoff filters. Since the product only works on the infrared spectrum, he said, a camera that is not sensitive to certain light would still be able, in theory, to identify a wearer without complications.
Nevertheless, he added that an increase in spying evidenced across the board may get consumers to stock up on clothing and accessories designed with privacy in mind.
“I do believe anti-surveillance fashion and wearables have a chance at becoming mainstream,” Mr. Harvey said, adding that he expects a “tipping point in culture when designs that may seem eccentric now will become normalized.”
“Constantly being watched over by mass surveillance, whether it’s government or corporate, can cause anxiety … I see anti-surveillance design as a field that explores … and hopefully overcome, the challenges of living in total surveillance societies,” he continued.


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Lidar set to power cars’ journey of transformation
Though many of us probably don’t know it, some drivers are already benefiting from the safety boost that lidar scanning technology offers. In 2017, German carmaker Audi reached this early checkpoint on the road to automated driving experiences, integrating lidar into its A8 model. To date, this lidar, from tier one French automotive part supplier Valeo, is the only such product qualified as safe to use in cars.
However, other lidar companies are also in the qualification process, noted Alexis Debray, technology and market analyst at industry research company Yole Développement. He cited the collaboration between German carmaker BMW, Canadian tier one part supplier Magna and Israel-based MEMS scanner lidar startup Innoviz. ‘They have a plan to integrate lidar in BMW cars in 2021. This is a big move, showing that lidar is coming to the automotive market.’ He also anticipated Volvo adopting lidar in 2020/2021.
Yole estimates that in 2018, the automotive lidar market was worth around $216 million. Another of its technology and market analysts, Pierrick Boulay, stressed that this is not just down to the Audi A8. Even though self-driving robotic cars are a rare sight on roads today, they already represent an important market. Such robotic cars should be fully autonomous, meeting SAE International’s highest standard of automation, at level 5.
No such vehicles have been successfully commercialised yet, but development models use up to eight lidar devices per car, Boulay explained, each being more expensive than the price expected for use in personal cars. He added: ‘Once they are commercialised, rather than being sold directly to consumers, robotic cars will be rented as a service, with the companies owning them doing regular maintenance to replace parts or upgrade performance. Yole also forecasts that by 2024 the automotive lidar market will reach $4.3 billion, expanding at a 64 per cent compound annual growth rate.
Yet, to deliver that requires optical components that can deliver lidar performance economically. As highlighted above, in the personal car market, price is one factor that currently limits lidar to just the premium A8 model. As costs fall for components, however, lidar will extend to more premium and mid-class cars, commented Laurent Demezet, key account manager, Hamamatsu Photonics France.
Lidar systems are often based on pulsed laser diodes and silicon avalanche photodiode (APD) arrays, with proven solutions exploiting 905nm wavelength light. But other options might include 1,550nm light, or continuous-wave illumination. Also, some lidars scan laser beams across the environment mechanically, while flash lidars have no moving parts, and illuminate their entire environments simultaneously. Companies seeking to exploit the industry’s explosive growth are therefore asking: How can systems be cheaper? And which are the optimal lidar solutions?
Falling component prices ‘will come in conjunction with the development of the artificial intelligence (AI) of the self-driving car software and fusion of multiple sensors, such as cameras, radar, lidar, and so on,’ Demezet said. Fully autonomous robotic vehicles will appear through taxi/shuttle-companies offering ‘mobility as a service’, with car manufacturers operating as sub-contractors to taxi companies. For them, full automotive qualification would be beneficial, but isn’t necessary as they would have regular maintenance regimes. ‘This has substantial arguments from a monetary standpoint, as it takes costs of maintaining and operating the vehicle from the user,’ Demezet noted.
The Valeo Scala is an automotive-qualified lidar product
Guillaume Devauchelle, vice president innovation and research at Valeo, agreed that lidar’s role is as one of multiple detection techniques to ensure safe object identification in autonomous vehicles. Combining advantages and drawbacks on the three different techniques should enable autonomous driving with fewer than one major incident per billion kilometres, he estimated.
Lidar as standard
‘The most effective combination so far is camera plus radar plus scanner lidar,’ Devauchelle continued. First, sensors have to recognise a scene, using semantic classification to identify objects like pedestrians, cars and traffic lights – cameras are the very best for this, Devauchelle noted. ‘But, if you consider detection range or ability to operate in adverse weather conditions, for sure the lidar scanner is far better,’ he added, expressing confidence that as so many companies are working on lidar, it will soon become standard. He added that safety regulations will also ultimately require lidar to supplement front cameras in cars.
Valeo’s first- and second-generation Scala lidars are scanners exploiting rotating mirrors, with four and 16 905nm laser sources respectively, rather than static flash systems. ‘Flash lidar only has 16 or so different spots, which is not enough, and flash lidars operate with limited power to avoid damaging eyes,’ Devauchelle said. By contrast, rotating mirrors offer large fields of view and good angular resolution, which has been boosted even further by increasing the number of laser sources. Valeo initially licenced its lidar technology from German firm Ibeo, which sold products for niche, low-volume applications. ‘We have completely redesigned the product to be an automotive-grade, as a safety device with a competitive cost far below €1,000,’ Devauchelle stressed.
Yet Valeo is now developing solid-state flash lidar technology for a third generation product. Devauchelle noted that the firm’s first and second generation products used established technology intentionally, to reduce the commercialisation challenge. ‘A rotating mirror with precision mechanics was available,’ he said. ‘Selecting the right diodes for imaging, the right receivers, the right data processing, was already quite challenging. The result is that, for the time being, we are the only one that has been qualified for automotive applications. We have produced 100,000 parts so far. We’re still not sure that solid state will replace the rotating mirror quickly, that it will be more economical or easier, but we’ll see.’
Scott Barrie, sales engineer at Hamamatsu Photonics UK, is familiar with the kind of concerns Devauchelle raised. ‘Two major points are important for automotive customers: reliability and low cost,’ he said. Japan-headquartered Hamamatsu Photonics develops and manufactures all constituent parts of lidar systems in-house. ‘Full control over the process allows Hamamatsu to offer the highest level of precision,’ Barrie asserted. ‘Hamamatsu has also invested heavily in infrastructure for production capacity at high volumes, allowing us to offer low-cost sensors.’
For example, Hamamatsu produces the main options of silicon photodiodes that detect at 905nm, including APDs, silicon photomultipliers (SiPMs) and single-photon avalanche diodes (SPADs). It also offers InGaAs detectors that can detect 1,550nm laser light. ‘Currently, APD arrays used with an amplifier array are the most demanded by the market,’ Barrie said. Hamamatsu offers all detector options in automotive qualified form, and they can be integrated onto various packages and with the associated integrated circuits.
The company also provides 905nm edge-emitting pulsed laser diodes, either individually as bare chips, in conventional bullet type or cheap and temperature-resilient surface ceramic packaging, or stacked together. ‘We have more than 70 different companies using our components in 70 different solutions,’ Demezet underlined.
Such components attract providers initially targeting self-driving robotic vehicles, and therefore whose products do not need full automotive qualification, such as Robosense, a developer based in Shenzhen, China. The company’s RS-Lidar-M1 system moves away from large-scale mechanical scanners, instead implementing MEMS reflectors in solid-state lidar. The core 2D MEMS micro-mirror technology combines with a low-cost 905nm light source and ‘a variety of breakthrough opto-mechanical systems and signal processing technologies’ according to vice president of R&D, Leilei Shinohara. It therefore achieves 200m measurement range, and a 120° field of view. ‘The new solid-state lidar system is stable, reliable, low-cost, easy to mass-produce, and easy to embed in the car body,’ he said.
Having established this offering, Robosense is now launching automotive-grade products in order to reach higher production volumes. ‘For mass production of autonomous driving, lidar’s supply capacity, cost and reliability need to meet the requirements of automotive products,’ Shinohara said. ‘The components selected for lidar must also meet such requirements – otherwise lidar products cannot truly enter mass production. In the industry chain, 905nm laser technology can meet such needs.’ Similarly, the company uses APDs as its detectors, thanks to their ‘mature supply chain, reasonable cost, relatively high sensitivity and fast response’.
In targeting autonomous driving, Robosense also has its own AI algorithm to detect obstacles from the ‘3D point cloud’ of location data that lidar creates. The algorithm ‘uses deep learning and incorporates the advantages of traditional algorithms’, Shinohara noted. It is embedded in chips in its systems and enables direct output of detected, tracked and classified obstacle information. The algorithm has allowed RS-Lidar-M1 to reach car makers’ requirements for level 3 automatic driving, such as enabling safe driving in traffic jams and on highways in high-speed road conditions, he added.
Fully-automated vehicles will be the fastest-growing automotive use of lidar in Robosense’s view. ‘We think large-scale application of lidar in the robot field may be earlier than the large-scale application of lidar in the automatic driving field – it will start in the next few years,’ Shinohara said. In preparation, the company is ‘constantly stepping up co-operation’ with carmakers and part suppliers. ‘Performance can always be better, but what the market really wants is to achieve a more reasonable price, more stable and reliable products, while meeting customer needs,’ he concluded.
Moore’s law of the road
Solid-state lidar startup Lumotive’s CEO Bill Colleran agrees that there is a key need for affordable performance sufficient to enable autonomous vehicles. ‘Significant effort by several vendors will likely make such units available in the next two years or so,’ he said. Then, to enable further adoption, he believes software must reach the threshold of true autonomy; initially in constrained environments, with regulators providing guidance to free fleet operators to offer services subject to appropriate constraints, that ensure safe operation.
In this context, Lumotive differentiates itself with an alternative beam-steering approach to the existing ones that rotate mirrors or entire lidar systems. ‘Lumotive’s beam steering system leverages Liquid Crystal Metasurfaces (LCMs), which control the direction of both the transmitted and received laser pulses to scan the system’s field of view,’ Colleran explained.
‘LCM-based beam steering is completely solid state and exhibits several advantages compared to mechanical approaches.’ Among those advantages, he continued, are high performance. This is measured by range, resolution and frame rate. For such high performance, lidar systems require a large optical aperture. ‘Lumotive’s beam steering is very fast while still having large aperture,’ he explained.
Like Valeo and Robosense, Lumotive uses time-of-flight (TOF) ranging to help commercial viability. TOF simply determines distances to objects by measuring the time it takes laser light to reach the object, then scatter and return to the lidar detectors. ‘This approach is the simplest architecture that can deliver the performance required for autonomous vehicles,’ Colleran said. Another approach, frequency-modulated continuous wave (FMCW), can be up to 100 times more sensitive than TOF approaches. ‘LCM-based beam steering can support any range-finding method, so as complex approaches like FMCW become more affordable, our system can be upgraded cost-effectively.’
Lumotive uses common 905nm lasers, but exploits less common SPADs, which, Colleran said, ‘provide the highest gain of any available detector technology’. He highlighted that these silicon CMOS-based devices bring manufacturing advantages, potentially combining the detectors ‘with complex receiver electronics to provide an extremely efficient integrated circuit in terms of cost and power’. Such capabilities mean that lidar systems will improve greatly in performance over the next few years, while decreasing in size and cost, Colleran predicted. ‘All-silicon approaches that benefit from Moore’s Law will improve more rapidly than architectures which use mechanical beam steering or more exotic semiconductors,’ he explained.
Yole’s Debray agreed that such operational matters are among the most important for the next leg of automotive lidar’s transformative journey. ‘It’s a challenge to actually develop the technology, something reliable that works properly,’ he said. ‘Another challenge is to build an industry to actually manufacture the many lidars that we need for all of the vehicles. If everything goes well, this technology will become much cheaper. It was a few thousand dollars, but it will be a few hundred.’
That’s significant, because lidar is still an emerging technology, Debray added, even if most robotic cars use it. ‘In the next few years we should see lidar working together with cameras to improve the autonomy level and safety of more cars,’ he concluded. EO


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Auto Trader is targeting new car buyers with a multi-million pound marketing campaign to be aired across TV, radio and video-on-demand platforms.
The new marketing campaign depicts the modern-day new car buying experience, dramatising the often-conflicting opinions from friends and family, social media and changing government policies.
Auto Trader says car buyers face a constant stream of contradictory messages from national media, particularly around fuel, the economy and finance.
The campaign will be live across television, radio, broadcast video-on-demand, paid social and display advertising throughout June and July, followed by further support across traditional and digital radio later in the summer.
It is estimated to be seen or heard a total of 541 million times by nearly three quarters (74%) of the UK’s adult population.
Ian Plummer, Auto Trader’s commercial director, said: “Ever since we first launched our new car proposition, we have always had one clear objective in mind: to be to new car what we are to used.
"Fundamental to that is creating a quicker and more transparent new car buying experience for consumers, and also providing real value to both our retailer and brand partners alike.
"By continuously evolving our offering and improving our product, we are edging ever closer to that objective.”
Auto Trader expects to attract millions of new car buyers by simplifying the buying journey.
The online automotive marketplace's research highlights that three out of four car buyers are open to buying a new car, but often face a challenging journey.
So much so that 60% give up their search for their perfect car, and simply ‘settle’ for a car choice that’s ‘good enough’ out of fatigue caused by the many confusing ‘noises’ that they hear during their car buying research.


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Some of the largest US cannabis operators violated important rules set up for the newly legal marijuana market in New Jersey. And, they’re being fined for it.
According to state cannabis commission documents, obtained via Open Public Records Act request, Curaleaf Holdings Inc. CURLF, and several other dispensaries in New Jersey processed nearly 3,200 recreational sales during hours that were reserved for medical marijuana patients, reported Bloomberg.
These sales were “to the detriment of the medicinal patient population,” Jeff Brown, executive director of the NJ Cannabis Commission, stated in violation notices dated May 13. The notice was issued to five dispensaries: Curaleaf, Green Thumb Industries GTBIF, Acreage Holdings ACRDF, Verano Holdings Corp. VRNOF and Ascend Wellness Holdings AAWH.
On the first day medical marijuana dispensaries began selling recreational weed, Curaleaf’s Bellmawr store alone completed 142 transactions and Acreage processed 257 at its Williamstown and Egg Harbor shops.
As a result, Verano faces $90,000 in fines, Ascend and Green Thumb $80,000 each, Acreage $60,000 and Curaleaf $50,000, amounting to $360,000 in fines for those 8 days.
“Any cannabis business that does not prioritize medicinal cannabis patient access should expect similar action,” Brown told Bloomberg.
Stephanie Cunha, a spokeswoman for Curaleaf, told the outlet that the company has already accepted responsibility for its actions and paid the fines.
Curaleaf is “living up to our promise to provide two designated hours to the medical community at each of our locations every day,” Cunha said in a statement. “During the first few days of adult-use sales in New Jersey we were responding to the overwhelming lines and demand at our facility for adult use. Because of sales and events leading up to the first days of adult-use sales, a vast number of our medical patients had stocked up on products before the 21st, resulting in virtually no lines at our facility at the time.”
To avoid medical marijuana patients being overlooked once recreational cannabis sales began, the New Jersey Cannabis Commission demanded all dispensaries confirm special hours, before providing them with licenses.
Image: Benzinga; Source: Shutterstcok
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is coming to Florida
The Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference is returning to Florida, in a new venue in Hollywood, on April 16 and 17, 2024. The two-day event at The Diplomat Beach Resort will be a chance for entrepreneurs, both large and small, to network, learn and grow. Renowned for its trendsetting abilities and influence on the future of cannabis, mark your calendars – this conference is the go-to event of the year for the cannabis world.


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Despite global headwinds, Singapore in 2019 saw growths in both visitor arrivals and tourism receipts for a fourth consecutive year.
Visitor arrivals in Singapore rose 3.3 per cent in 2019 to reach 19.1 million visitors. A total of SGD 27.1 billion was spent in tourism receipts, a growth of 0.5 per cent.
However, there were declines in Accommodation (-7 per cent), Food & Beverages (-5 per cent) and Sightseeing, Entertainment & Gaming (-2 per cent). These were partially offset by growths in Shopping (3 per cent) as well as other tourism receipt components (4 per cent).
Airfare revenue rose on the back of more visitor arrivals via local-based carriers, the Singapore Tourism Board (STB) said in a statement.
In 2019, 11 out of Singapore’s top 15 source markets registered VA growth in 2019. Nine markets – China, Indonesia, Australia, Philippines, USA, South Korea, UK, Vietnam and Germany – hit record-high arrivals.
Meanwhile, China (+6 per cent), USA (+13 per cent) and Indonesia (+3 per cent) saw the largest absolute growths in visitor arrivals in 2019.
Indonesia led the growth in tourism receipts, with leisure visitors from Indonesia spending more on shopping and an increased number of visitors arriving via Singapore-based carriers.
STB added that as the Novel Coronavirus situation is expected to persist, and it will continue to identify targeted and effective ways to support the tourism industry and tourism employees.
“It is more important than ever to invest in tourism to support our businesses, build confidence in tourism, and boost our destination attractiveness – so that when things start to improve, Singapore can ride on the recovery for strong growth," said STB chief executive Keith Tan. "STB remains committed to our mid- to long-term tourism plans, to ensure that Singapore has a steady pipeline of new and repeat visitors."


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This week on Focal Point, we’re live from a local flower shop to see how people are sharing the love on Valentine’s Day. Over the weekend, the Lansing Women’s Expo celebrated 20 years with more than 300 attendees. The Lansing Pup House celebrates Valentine’s Day with their pets during speed dating for dogs. In entertainment, the 92nd Oscar’s had a lot of firsts and Justin Bieber returns from a four-year hiatus with a new album.
Megan Merriman watches people grab cards every day as she sits behind the pharmacy counter. She says getting a card is “tradition” but in today’s age a lot more is needed for this special day. As children, getting a card and a piece of candy on this day was all that was needed, and that concept remains the same but at a much higher price. When couples think of this day, they do not think about chocolate and flowers, they think about the dollar signs. Giving your loved one only a card and some candy doesn’t cut it anymore.
Michigan’s cold temperatures and blistering winds are impacting more than just college students’ commute to classes this winter. Classified by the store’s owner Beth Herendeen as the “Modern Day General Store,” DeWitt’s own Twiggies saw a decline in business this Valentine’s Day. Normally a bustling day of business for the floral and retail design shop, Herendeen saw the timing of this February 14 inhibited many potential buyers from making use of Twiggies services. Along with the holiday falling on a weekend, frigid temperatures made selling flowers hard. “Numbers were down quite a bit from last year,” said Herendeen.
Valentine’s Day was a special day in Meridian Township, not only for the couples fallen madly in love but for the businesses catering to their epic V-Day plans. While many restaurants were booked up for days in advance without a trace of Valentine’s Day advertising and Hallmark shops were packed full with last-minute shoppers, other businesses turned to specials to gain the impressive holiday clientele. Gilbert Chocolates in Meridian Mall received an enormous amount of attention this year with its chocolate-covered strawberries available for Valentine’s Day. The store does not offer these year-round, so V-Day was a special time to purchase Gilbert’s homemade, preservative-free chocolate strawberries. “There’s such a demand for it,” manager Lonnie Kellogg said.
A new bill proposed may give unpaid interns in Michigan the same protections as other paid employees. MSU President Lou Anna K. Simon gave her annual State of the University address, giving some students reason to speak out against the administration. And, a suspect has been arrested in connection to the death of MSU student Dominique Nolff. Focal Point is an Emmy awarding winning, student produced newscast from the School of Journalism at Michigan State University.
By Kasey Worst
Old Town Lansing Times staff writer
OLD TOWN LANSING – Special promotions around Valentine’s Day helped to bring new business to Old Town. The Chocolate Walk
Louise Gradwohl, executive director of the Old Town Commercial Association, said a new event called the Chocolate Walk brought a new group of people to Old Town the Wednesday before Valentine’s Day. Gradwohl said participants bought tickets and exchanged them for a punch card and a box for chocolates from the Old Town Commercial Association. They took these boxes to 18 different places in Old Town and collected a chocolate from each one. Gradwohl said the OTCA had intended to sell 175 tickets to the event.
As love is in the air, three Mason restaurants prepare for Valentine’s Day with drink specials, candy and special reservations this Friday. The Vault Delicatessen, a family owned independent business, offers special wine orders, candy and gift cards. Along with daily popular items like the Three Cheese Semolina bread, the deli also contains various wines, including several Michigan products. Mason resident and employee Sarah Thompson said the busiest time for business is usually during lunch.This year the deli is also selling new types of wine for the holiday, including one titled 50 Shades of Grey. “We’ve got Mason Blue too.
Whether it’s a small town flower shop, or a statewide recognized store, the florists of St. Johns did all they could to make Valentine’s Day special for the community. Wayne Woodbury, the owner of Woodbury’s Flower Shop, said how important Valentine’s Day is to his shop as well as most other flower shops in the country. “A typical Valentine’s Day is like doing a good month in two days,” Woodbury said. “It’s hard to imagine, but that’s just how busy we are.”
Love is in the air and Lansing Township businesses are reaping benefits. James Erevia, general manager of Bravo! Cucine Itailana, said he’s excited that Valentine’s Day is on a Thursday. Erevia said there will be an increase in sales all around, especially on appetizers, desserts and wine or cocktails. Based on previous years, Erevia said two people will spend more on Valentine’s Day than four people would spend on an average Thursday.


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Fulton, MD -- (SBWIRE) -- 06/05/2013 -- FULTON, MD– June 5, 2013 – RackTop Systems, a manufacturer and market-leader in data center technologies, celebrates the official opening of its primary integration and collaboration facility in Fulton, MD. The new office was designed to support manufacturing, assembly, and distribution operations from MD as well as create the perfect environment for technical collaboration with customers and partners of RackTop. The facility has a state of the art lab where customers can evaluate RackTop products and rapidly integrate them with complementary solutions in a dedicated environment.
RackTop Systems designs products for the high-performance unified storage and Global Enterprise cloud computing markets, which combined are expected to exceed $200 billion in 2013. With double digit growth anticipated in the industry, the company is projected to experience exponential growth over the next decade, bringing new high-tech jobs to Howard County. A significant number of RackTop’s customers operate private and public clouds with ever increasing data requirements. Additionally, RackTop operates a global multi-tenant private cloud powered by RackTop products.
“There is a substantial high-tech talent pool in the Baltimore-Washington Metro area, but most are strictly focused on supporting the Government. While we serve both the public and private sectors, we hope to bring more Silicon Valley type jobs to the area, providing options for those seeking worldwide challenges outside of the public sector alone.” said RackTop CEO Eric Bednash.
RackTop is poised to hire additional software developers and engineers this summer to enhance existing products as well as expand its global private-public hybrid cloud offering dubbed myRacktop.
We are very excited to have a company like Racktop headquartered in our backyard,” said Ken Ulman, Howard County Executive. “This shows that Howard County and the east coast can compete with California and the west coast when it comes to providing a home for technology companies. Having Racktop develop and manufacture high tech-cloud products is not just good for Howard County, it is good for Maryland.”
About RackTop (www.racktopsystems.com)
RackTop is transforming the way data is delivered and how users interact with data center systems. Focused on solving both the business and operational challenges of its customers through technology, Racktop Systems develops foundational IT appliances which are valuable, easy to use, and economical Enterprise computing solutions. Customers range from small business to Fortune 500’s, as well as the public sector. RackTop products are designed and assembled to the highest quality standards in the USA.


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Generic Drug Pricing: Understanding the Impact
The evolution of the generic drug market in recent decades has introduced many benefits to the healthcare industry – lower pharmaceutical costs and greater consumer access to needed medicines. By offering the bioequivalent product of a brand name drug that is no longer protected by a patent, the generic market has carved out a significant niche within the U.S. healthcare landscape, representing approximately eight out of 10 prescriptions.
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Google officially charged with antitrust
The US Justice Department formally charged Alphabet Inc.’s Google with antitrust violations on Tuesday, the first major action against Big Tech for its staggering market power and valuations.
Google ‘has maintained its monopoly power through exclusionary practices that have harmed competition,’ US deputy attorney general said.
“Google is a monopolist in the general search services, search advertising, and general search text advertising markets,” Market Watch quoted Justice Department’s complaint, filed in federal court in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday morning. “Google aggressively uses its monopoly positions, and the money that flows from them, to continuously foreclose rivals and protect its monopolies.”
Amazon extends work from home option till June
Tech giant Amazon.com on Tuesday told employees whose work can be done from home that they can do so until June, extending the timeline on a return to office due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Employees who work in a role that can effectively be done from home are welcome to do so until June 30, 2021”, an Amazon spokeswoman said in an emailed statement on Tuesday, adding the guidance is applicable globally.
Other major tech companies including Twitter, Google, Facebook have extended the work from home option for their employees with Microsoft Corp earlier this month saying it will let most employees work remotely for up to half their weekly working hours.
Netflix Q3 Earnings
Netflix Inc. released on Tuesday the company’s financial results for the third quarter of the year and failed to meet the expectations. It said 2.2 million net memberships were added during the period, significantly less than expected.
Annual revenue rose 22.9% to hit $6.436 billion while net income was up 19% to $790 million in the three months ending September 30.
“The state of the pandemic and its impact continues to make projections very uncertain, but as the world hopefully recovers in 2021, we would expect that our growth will revert back to levels similar to pre-COVID.” a report to shareholders noted.


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Guess what happened to this Audi RS3?
Considerable damage for Audi RS3
Photos of this Audi RS3 were shared by 412 Motorsport of Los Angeles, Calif. The Audi in question sustained considerable damage, but the big question is how could this have happened?
How could this have happened?
In this case, Mother Nature is the culprit. The Audi RS3 was parked next to a hill. A heavy rainstorm caused the ground to shift, resulting in the RS3 being buried under a large layer of mud. Whether the car can still be made is not entirely clear. At least the Audi was already in the right place for repairs, as 412 Motorsport is also a body shop.


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MBS Engages SDI in Law Lessons
The Malawi Bureau of Standards (MBS) has engaged the Staff Development Institute (SDI) to assist with lessons on how well to address legal challenges they face in their line of duty.
The Bureau’s Director of Metrology Services Thomas Senganimalunje says decisions which they make to enforce standards compliance usually face legal battles.
He said this on Monday in Blantyre where officers from the Bureau’s department of metrology services are therefore undergoing a five-day-training at the institute on criminal law, procedure and evidence.
“We work in the regulatory space and sometimes the decisions which we make are contested. Being scientists and technicians, we would like to know how best we can take up these legal matters into court,” Senganimalunje said.
SDI Head of Programs Humphreys Mndaka says the training is aimed at building legal skills among MBS staff members.
Mndaka further says such programs are important in raising awareness on consumer protection law.
“We have a lot of consumers in the country and as such it is very crucial that consumers should get standard goods as legal at the market,” Mndaka said.
(By Mathias Mkupasha)


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Plend has secured a lending partnership with micro-finance lender Purple Shoots as it gets closer to sealing regulatory approval.
The peer-to-peer consumer lender is still planning to launch in the coming months once its regulatory application to the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been officially approved.
It has already secured a partnership to provide underwriting tools for Purple Shoots an FCA-registered charity and lender that provides loans and business support to Welsh firms.
Plend has built a new credit underwriting system for Purple Shoots that blends data from open banking and credit files.
Karen Davies, founder of Purple Shoots said this will provide a score for borrowers that is “much more meaningful than standard credit scores.”
She said it would help people who struggle to get affordable credit by analysing them in a much fairer way.
“From our point of view, the system is going to give us much better data about our clients and will hopefully enable us to make better informed loan decisions,” Davies said.
“It could, in the longer term, increase the volume of loans we are able to make without losing the critical personal interaction with our client.”
Plend, which uses an innovative credit checking system through open banking to connect consumer borrowers and lenders, is awaiting final regulatory sign off ahead of a planned launch in the coming months.
The platform has already recruited Crowdcube co-founder Luke Lang as executive chair, hired RateSetter’s former risk officer Kevin Allen and has raised £700,000 in a pre-seed equity funding round from venture capital firms in preparation for its launch.
It has also become the second P2P lender to join trade body Responsible Finance, after Lendwise which joined in 2019.
The organisation aims to increase access to fair and affordable credit for people and businesses.
“The past 12 months saw us grow faster than we could’ve ever imagined,” Plend co-founder Robert Pasco said in the latest company newsletter.
“With new partners, new team members and our product almost ready to go live, we’re incredibly excited for what 2022 holds.”


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ABIOTIC partnered with director Dan Drescher once again. He filmed their previous video Vermosapien, and will now shoot a brand new video for Facades. The video’s release date is TBA, but ABIOTIC posted several still images on their facebook page HERE.
ABIOTIC elaborates on the video:
“The shooting for a second music video with director Dan Drescher is wrapped up and we couldn’t be more excited. We shot at two locations in Orlando, Florida and could not have asked for a better crew on the set. The song we’ll be releasing the video for is Facades and Dan was definitely in the same mind set as we were in taking this video to the next level. Prepare yourselves for something insane!”
ABIOTIC partnered with GuitarWorld.com to launch a brand new performance/lyric video for The Graze of Locusts. Fans can view the video, as well as enter to win an ESP/LTD EC-10 Two Tone burst with gig bag now at GuitarWorld.com.


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Jelly Bean rolling out to DROID RAZR M "in stages"
0. phoneArena 09 Nov 2012, 19:58 posted on
Motorola officially announced the Jelly Bean update for the DROID RAZR M, providing a glimmer of hope for quicker updates to Android handsets as we move forward...
This is a discussion for a news. To read the whole news, click here
1. Berzerk000 (Posts: 4275; Member since: 26 Jun 2011)
Oh wow, less than 2 months and Jelly Bean is already coming out to Motorola's new Razr series. Looks like Moto's past reputation of lacking updates is behind them. It took HTC 8 months to update the One X to Jelly Bean, and it took Samsung 5 months to update the Galaxy S3.
9. Angelface77 (Posts: 32; Member since: 10 Sep 2012)
Motorola are the king. The only thing that they are lacking now is the camera sensors and lens everything else is perfect.
2. KingKurogiii (Posts: 5711; Member since: 23 Oct 2011)
good work Motorola. you guys are the greatest. ;)
3. XPERIA-KNIGHT (unregistered)
glad for you guys........I just bought the htc droid incredible 4g lte which will be coming in tommorrow....and hope to see an update soon! :)
o and let us know how jelly bean works!
4. jroc74 (Posts: 6005; Member since: 30 Dec 2010)
Nice job Moto. I got the JB leak on my Maxx HD and I played with Google Now all day after I installed it...lol.
7. Angelface77 (Posts: 32; Member since: 10 Sep 2012)
Motorola are keeping all their promises lately. They need to find a way to put better lens and sensors in their cameras.
10. XPERIA-KNIGHT (unregistered)
should work with Sony for cameras that would be cool :)
8. Angelface77 (Posts: 32; Member since: 10 Sep 2012)
we will have it too. The new series will have it first.
11. mydi.maus (unregistered)
NEXUS 4 RULES! J. BEAN 4.2


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You can saw it, you can sand it and, if you want to, you can carve your sweetheart's name into it. But beware: Mementos etched into this park bench won't last forever.
That transient quality is one of the main selling points of recycled plastic "lumber" — vandals can't touch it. Markers and spray paint can be sanded away, and the "woodworking" of idle teens can be melted off, and the reshaped lumber made to look as good as new.
Of course, the ultimate appeal of recycled plastic lumber is that it's not really lumber at all. Though it looks and feels like hardwood, that picnic table you're sitting on is really about 2,000 reconstituted milk jugs that never made it to the landfill.
"I certainly don't condemn the use of treated wood," said Bob Schildgen, a Sierra Club magazine columnist and "Hey Mr. Green" blogger. "Harvesting timber is not an inherently bad thing, it can be done in an environmentally sustainable way ... but I would still give a nod to recycled lumber for the maintenance and material that would have been wasted."
Many people do. Since the late 1980s, recycled plastic lumber has made gains on its hardwood counterparts on mostly "greenness" grounds.
"Obviously, a tree is a renewable resource," says Alan Robbins, owner of The Plastic Lumber Company, Inc., in Akron, Ohio. "There certainly are a lot more trees than there are milk jugs in the environment. But a milk jug is a very stable part of the economy — they're not going away."
Robbins got into the business almost 20 years ago, about the same time chromated copper arsenate, the wood preservative that gave industrial-strength timber that certain greenish tinge, was either banned or replaced voluntarily throughout the preserved-wood industry after arsenic was linked to certain cancers.
"It's been a crazy ride ever since," Robbins told FOXNews.com.
"[Plastic lumber's] market acceptance has been so total that it is very difficult to find any natural wood used in current construction projects in park and playground applications," he wrote in a 2007 report on the industry, though he noted that the housing bust was starting to hit home.
Recycled plastic lumber comes in your standard 2x4 and 4x4 planks, but can also be molded into 3-D shapes and curves unseen on the woodcutter's block. It can be sawed, screwed and sanded just like wood, but without the sawdust.
A grain texture can give the surface a more woody appearance, and it's available in many different "flavors" — redwood, cedar, mahogany, "weatherwood" and even "night glow," which is phosphorescent and intended to hold up road signs.
It's most often used in park furniture, hot tubs, decking and railings, signs, railroad and marine applications and the birdfeeder industry.
"'No painting, no splinters, no rot' seems to be the catch phrase," said Robbins.
The Environmental Protection Agency is now warming to 100-percent post-consumer plastic lumber, reporting that the products last longer — indefinitely, at this point — and cost less to maintain than regular wood since they're impervious to termites and are flame-, weather- and vandal-resistant.
But not everyone's jumping on the recycled-plastic bandwagon. Plastic lumber, which costs three times as much as some wood, may be more susceptible to warping and discoloration and can melt under a tabletop camping grill. It's also more likely to sag under a heavy load.
And, like the old plastic or paper quandary, the jury's still out on which lumber is "greener."
No comprehensive study has yet compared the life-cycle energy consumption of real versus plastic lumber, according to the Madison, Wis.-based Forest Products Laboratory.
There are two major "species" of recycled plastic hardwood. The most prevalent is made of high-density polyethylene — derived from milk and juice jugs.
The other comes from recycled polyvinyl chloride — the notorious PVC that Greenpeace dubbed "the single most environmentally damaging of all plastics." Dioxin, a carcinogen and immune suppressant, is a by-product of vinyl production, as are many tons of greenhouse gases.
"The energy used in the manufacture of plastic and plastic wood composites is much higher than that used for manufacturing solid wood products," Dr. Brian Bond, a professor at Virginia Tech's Department of Wood Science, wrote in an e-mail exchange. "And many plastic wood composites still require a percentage of virgin plastic."
The Healthy Building Network suggests buyers steer clear of fiberglass-reinforced "composite" lumber, even though these more rigid products lend themselves better to structural applications.
The EPA warns that, because composites are non-recyclable, "a growing plastic lumber market could actually increase plastics production and waste volumes."
The promotion of plastics recycling in general boosts the production of virgin plastics, according The Healthy Building Network. But manufacturers argue their production line is greener than other kinds of recycling.
"It is mechanically ground, then it goes through a wash process," said Brian Larsen, owner of Bedford Technology, LLC, a Minnesota-based manufacturer of recycled plastic furniture, speed bumps and marine pilings. "It changes state — kind of like water, it melts and then it refreezes again," he said, adding that there are no heavy chemicals used, and no by-products.
He also said that since HDPE is so heavy, it's not economically viable to process overseas. Most plastic lumber is therefore "grown" locally, shrinking its carbon footprint.
And even though it comes from non-renewable petroleum, the volumes of milk jugs diverted from landfills keeps the consciences of plastic lumber builders clean and green.
"We're recovering that product and turning it into something else," said Robbins. "A dairy bottle with a [two-week] life in the fridge can be turned into an infinite life for long-term use."


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Today, Sink|Swim (3213 W. Armitage Ave., Logan Square) is changing its direction. Expect some tweaks that—while relatively minor—will shift the tone of the restaurant towards something more kitschy and casual.
Since opening in March 2015, Sink|Swim has peddled higher-end seafood just down the street from its sister gin joint, Scofflaw. Now, per partner and bar director Danny Shapiro, it will pivot toward a new vision: a “Scofflaw version of a seafood shack”, complete with a revamped cocktail menu. “We figured out, based on the reaction of the neighborhood, that we wanted to step back to our core components,” says Shapiro. “I think it’s a little more fun now. Plus, the average tab has come down a bit.”
Shapiro’s rebooted cocktail program includes three new fishbowls. There’s a take on the Zombie—a tiki classic—with a trio of rums buoyed by bitters, lime, pineapple, and grenadine, plus a spike of absinthe. The other two options—the Spritz Collins and Swim Margarita, both complex in their own right—sound refreshing and light by comparison. The food menu will skew affordable and approachable, with ceviche, a catch of the day (blackened, broiled, or fried—with a slew of new sides), and a rib-sticking crab mac and cheese. Broiled oysters join the fresh variety, still available for $1 each night from 9 p.m. to close. The popular fish and chips are also sticking around, alongside the popcorn custard dessert.
Shapiro says many of these changes are already completed: new dishes have worked their way onto tables over the last month. The ceiling has been repainted and the lights dimmed to a cozier level. Management is just waiting on some final touches: a few more portraits of sea captains and model boats are still to come. “It’s kitschy, for sure,” admits Shapiro. “But trust me—it won’t feel over the top.”


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The fall ad campaign featuring Cara Delevingne is just the beginning of what could well be a pivotal year for the brand.
Saiger said that the entire process to create newer watches that better match his aesthetic took months.
The signer's first fragrance — called Adrenaline — will launch in August.
Designer and Luxury
His first collection will bow for fall 2015.
Some top spring fashion looks from the shows.
The sportswear brand is finally taking the plunge into Manhattan.
To appeal to the young man of today, the brand has turned to hip-hop artist B.o.B to front its campaign.


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In an interview with Edge Magazine, Nintendo executive Shigeru Miyamoto has announced that Nintendo is renewing its commitment to core gamers.
With the rise of Microsoft and Sony as a focus for traditional gaming, Nintendo has attempted to expand the gaming experience and attract casual gamers, focusing on providing a ‘living room’ experience focusing on group setting for families. However, while the Wii was something of a cultural phenomenon, the Wii U has not had the same success, struggling to make an impact. As of August 16, 2014, Nintendo’s latest home console is trailing behind the PS4 in sales with a total of 7 million units sold, compared to Sony’s 9.9 million – though reports suggest that it’s doing better than Microsoft’s Xbox One, thought to be around 5 million.
Miyamoto is now pushing Nintendo to retake its role as one of the premier gaming companies for core gamers, by shifting the direction of the Wii U from the casual gamer to a platform for dedicated gamers. He explained, “Their attitude is, ‘okay, I am the customer. You are supposed to entertain me.’ It’s kind of a passive attitude they’re taking, and to me it’s kind of a pathetic thing. They do not know how interesting it is if you move one step further and try to challenge yourself, with more advanced games.”
It’s an unusually outspoken statement from the legendary designer, who is known more for his fun-loving attitude than he is for speaking out about industry trends, but it’s not without precedent. In June, he was quoted complaining about the amount of shooters on show at E3, commenting that “the majority of what the other developers exhibited was bloody shooter software… this is a revelation of creative immaturity.”
Upcoming games for the Wii U include Bayonetta 2, Super Smash Bros. and a new installment in the Xenoblade series, as well as new Kirby and Yoshi games.


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Australia, a country known for punching above its weight in sport, literature, cinema, media, wine and the pursuit of happiness, has tended to underperform when it comes to fashion. One major exception is Zimmermann.
The group announced a 178.6% increase in Q2 revenue on Wednesday, growth driven by the retail channel, which was, nonetheless, still not able to bring the company’s sales in line with pre-pandemic levels.
The fashion group, which has owned 70% of its flagship brand since 1999, has purchased the remaining 30% from Italy's Siny, taking complete control of the business. The value of the transaction was 66.5 million euros.
If there's one sector that doesn't seem to be struggling, it's the market for counterfeit goods with Rolex, Louis Vuitton and Gucci featuring among the brands whose counterfeits are the most popular online.
A life-size magenta pink teddy bear has taken centre stage at the heart of London’s Bond Street as part of a new 'Nature and Nurture’ artistic instillation to lure visitors to the premier shopping street.
UK retail sales continued to grow at a rate well above the long-run average in the year to July, but clothing and footwear stores are yet to see demand recover to usual levels, the CBI’s latest survey has showed.
Capital & Counties (CapCo) believes it’s slowly getting back to its best. The London, Covent Garden-centric property group’s CEO Ian Hawksworth said as much in its interim half-year trading update to 30 June.


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With the celebrations of Independence Day coming up, I am certain that tons of Americans will be getting ready for a day of drinking and snacking. A popular snack being some delicious chips and dip, especially guacamole.
However, as fancy chefs across America try to put a spin on guacamole, leader of the free world, President Barack Obama, weighed in on the debate of whether or not to put green peas in his guacamole as the New York Times suggested.
President Barack Obama seems to prefer the classic recipe of guacamole of avocado, onion, tomatoes, chilli peppers and garlic, not wanting to get into this new age idea of peas.
Enjoy your guacamole sir.


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On the web company that is dating has consented to sell its “casual dating” business to a company run by certainly one of its co-founders in a deal well worth Р’Р€45.1m.
The Edinburgh-based company stated it had been attempting to sell business to Grendall Investment Limited so that you can give attention to its niche and conventional websites.
The offer includes casual sites that are dating as Benaughty.com and Flirt.com.
In addition includes a software that is separate contract with Grendall, well worth Р’Р€2m.
Grendall, which can be registered within the Uk Virgin islands, owns a portfolio of online sites that are dating is handled by Cupid co-founder and 15% shareholder Max Polyakov.
Cupid continues to operate a wide range of mainstream and niche sites that are dating including Cupid.com, Amour.com, UniformDating.com and Canoodle.com, along with a number of international web sites.
It will likewise continue steadily to run dating activities company Speeddater.com.
Cupid’s share price climbed by a lot more than 16.5percent on to stand at 84.5p monday.
The company said it had decided to sell its “casual dating” sites because they did not fit in with its long-term strategy in a stock market announcement.
It stated: “Cupid plc believes that in niches and main-stream relationship, clients are demanding increasingly top quality and that this is often a fulfilling area for the business to target its efforts.
“by comparison the organization thinks that the casual market customer eventually calls for the prospective to get more adult oriented content and that going towards this end regarding the spectral range of dating just isn’t a route that the organization wants to pursue.
“throughout the previous several years, Cupid plc has increasingly spent M&A (merger and purchase) tasks towards niche community web sites and main-stream online dating sites such as for example UniformDating.com and Cupid.com correspondingly, after which spent greatly within these websites post purchase.
“the business thinks that such websites have actually more powerful long-lasting potential, and building a global profile of niche and mainstream online dating services makes for an improved quality, more sustainable organizations by which to take a position.”
It included: “as a result the casual internet sites try not to fit in this approach therefore the board thinks that realizing money from their purchase to a celebration dedicated to possessing such assets is a really good step for Cupid plc.”
Cupid leader Bill Dobbie stated the disposal ended up being a “significant good action” when it comes to team.
He included: “The proceeds from the purchase allows us to help expand improve the group that is remaining strengthening our brands as well as enhancing and widening the client idea.
“The consideration additionally provides the prospective to supply shareholders with further comes back.”
Cupid stated its primary areas – the UK, mainland Europe, the united states and Australia – would stay unchanged.
The disposal includes the purchase of 100% for the share money of Cupid plc’s Cyprus-based subsidiary businesses, Yarra Limited and EZD Limited, which operated the team’s European casual sites that are dating.
In 2012 the casual relationship supply’s assets created total product sales of about Р’Р€51m, along with the rest associated with the team recording sales of about Р’Р€29.8m.
Previously this present year, Cupid denied user that is creating on its sites to entice clients to join up, after a study because of the BBC’s “5 real time Investigates”.
It later on stated an independent report did perhaps not find any proof that the business utilized fake pages to enhance its account.
As a total result Cupid’s “motivation” group had been replaced by “dating advisors”.
Cupid additionally recruited brand new staff that is senior the united kingdom and stated it planned further management modifications this year.


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read Latest articles about Vietjet
The low-cost carrier is planning its return to five major cities around Asia, including Singapore and Tokyo.
Three routes will be launched next summer with the aim of connecting some of Vietnam’s top tourist destinations with Moscow.
The low-cost carrier is covering domestic travelers on a complimentary basis for greater peace of mind.
To meet growing travel demand, the international low-cost carrier from Vietnam will be expanding its flight network.
Vietjet takes delivery of new A321 aircraft, Singapore Airlines adds new partners to HighFlyer program, and more.
Malaysia Airlines begins codesharing with Cathay Pacific, Vietjet to launch nonstop flights to Australia, and more.
AirAsia to launch flights from Bangkok to Ranong, Vietjet links Nha Trang to Seoul, and more.
Vietjet launches ticket sales from Ho Chi Minh City to Phuket and Chiang Mai, Sri Lankan Airlines begins daily direct services between Melbo...
Cute characters will appear on a European aircraft while Vietjet offers $0 to celebrate the Chinese New Year.


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- By Roberto Ledesma |
- Tuesday January 13, 2015
One of the side effects of social media has been a rise in various forms of online activism. We typically encounter it in the form of a phrase or slogan—often attached to a hashtag—used as a message to create awareness, share information and organize action around a particular cause or issue. As I write this, […]
- By Valentina Palladino |
- Wednesday January 30, 2013
Apple officially trademarked its store design last week, an endeavor the company has been pursuing since May 2010.
- By Nathan Hurst |
- Tuesday November 27, 2012
Albino contends strongly — and frequently, on his blog and in the comments section of Banzi’s post — that he never intended to misrepresent his company as Arduino-affiliated; a non-native English speaker, he says he was merely trying to show that several of his employees had worked in an Arduino factory. But when the name “Arduino” shows up in an unaffiliated product’s title, the folks at Arduino itself could be forgiven for reading it as a false claim.
- By David Kravets |
- Thursday April 1, 2010
A federal appeals court ruled against luxury jeweler Tiffany and Co. on Thursday in finding eBay is not liable for trademark infringement just because some sellers hawk counterfeit goods. Tiffany’s lawsuit accused the online auction house of contributory trademark infringement because it allegedly turned a blind eye to a steady stream of sellers offering fake […]


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All set for virtual Miss Ghana fashion show tomorrow
Ghanaians would tomorrow experience another exciting show where contestants of Miss Ghana 2020, would hit the runway to exhibit their cat-walking prowess to judges of the contest.
This show is expected to take place tomorrow at the Underbridge Event Centre, in East Legon, at 7pm.
The initiative is a collaboration between organisers of Miss Ghana, Exclusive Events Ghana, Kri8 Concept and Underbridge Event Centre to ensure that talent was not impeded in this COVID-19 era.
In an interview with The Spectator, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Exclusive Events, Inna Patty, said all the necessary measures had been put in place to ensure a successful event on Sunday.
According to her, fashion would be one of the essential prejudging criterion to select a Miss Ghana, adding that the judges would look out for confidence, and exquisite catwalk.
Inna Patty further dislcosed that the aim of the fashion show is to select top models, promote local textiles, and showcase the country’s rich culture.
On the night, she said, contestants would showcase beads, evening and casual wears, as well as ‘bobo’ among others.
She expressed her appreciation to Tang Palace Hotel, Bel Beverages, Bel Aquah, Alt Fabrics, Snax restaurants, and Note Cosmetics Ghana, among other organisations for supporting this year’s Miss Ghana pageant.
The fashion show would be spiced with intermittent musical performances.
By Edem Mensah-Tsotorme


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Camp Jeep® Makes Canadian Debut, New Products at 2023 Canadian International AutoShow
Camp Jeep® Makes Canadian Debut, New Products at 2023 Canadian International AutoShowCamp Jeep comes to Canada for the first time and will offer attendees a chance to experience the legendary off-road capabilities of Jeep vehicles without leaving the auto show floor. Passengers will ride along in the latest Jeep vehicles, experiencing five, man-made obstacles that rigorously showcase their unmatched capabilities.
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Posted Nov 16, 2012By
NEW YORK—Twinkies may not last forever after all.
Hostess Brands Inc., which makes Ding Dongs, Wonder Bread and other snacks, filed a motion Friday with U.S. Bankruptcy Court seeking permission to shutter its operations. The move comes after the company said striking workers across the country crippled its ability to maintain production.
The closing would mean the loss of about 18,500 jobs. The company said employees at its 33 factories were sent home and operations suspended Friday and its roughly 500 bakery outlet stores will stay open for several days to sell remaining products.
Restaurant patrons at Lucky Baldwin’s in Pasadena and Tam O’Shanter in Los Angeles weigh in on Scottish
Toronto Mayor Rob Ford is suffering from a rare and difficult cancer that will require aggressive chemotherapy, his
Ruth Atkins is the first person to receive the new vaccine for the Ebola virus after US President Barack Obama call
A Pentagon spokesman, Col. Steve Warren, said it will be a peacekeeping exercise with training through Sept. 26 in
Iceland's Bardarbunga volcano system has been rocked by hundreds of tremors daily since mid-August, prompting fears
L.A. city officials designate the original Der Wienerschnitzel restaurant as a historic cultural landmark in Wilmin


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iPhone factory Jabil Circuit accused of labor abuses
The nonprofit China Labor Watch group says they have uncovered multiple labor violations in a US-owned factory in China. The factory is currently among those producing the soon-to-be-released new iPhone for Apple.
China Labor Watch says the plant infringements include millions of dollars in unpaid overtime wages, lack of rest for workers besides a 30-minute meal break, inadequate pre-work training, discrimination in hiring practices and more.
The China Labor Watch group says the violations contradict the codes of conduct of both Apple and Jabil Circuit.
Jabil Circuit is headquartered in St. Petersburg, Fla. You can read the full PDF report at this link. Apple has a history of claims that labor in its partner plants have been mistreated, most recently in a report about Apple manufacturing partner Pegatron.
Update: Apple issued a statement to Business Insider saying that in 14 audits since 2008, the factory has achieved 99% compliance with making sure each factory worker put in less than 60 hours a week.
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