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Google has once again topped Leger’s annual rankings of Canada’s most reputable brands. The tech giant has held the top spot on the list since 2013, when it edged out the previous year’s top ranking brand, Heinz.
Leger’s rankings are based on online survey responses from January 2016 of over 25,000 Canadians, with 2,100 consumers answering questions about each brand. In total, the study looked at 225 companies.
This year, Dollarama made its debut in the top 10, jumping six points from number 12 to number six. The discount retailer was one of three Canadian-owned companies to earn a top 10 spot.
In terms of overall trends, Dave Scholz, managing partner at Leger, said the research group found brand reputation overall is improving in Canada. Last year, Scholz said there was a general drop in brand reputation, whereas this year there was a positive turnaround with “good opinion” scores for brands largely returning to where they sat in 2014.
Below is a look at the top 10 brands on the list along with Leger’s “good opinion” score for each. (Note: While the good opinion score reflects the percentage of survey participants who said they had a good opinion of a brand, the overall ranking takes into account bad opinions as well as those respondents who said they “didn’t know enough” to have an opinion or don’t know a brand “at all.”)
Scroll down for the Top 100 Leger Brand Reputation results
The Top 10
Google retains its number one spot this year, thanks in part to its status as what Schulich School of Business assistant marketing professor Ela Veresiu calls an “obligatory passage point.” Whether at work or school, Canadians use Google’s products on a daily basis to find information and connect with friends, family and colleagues.
Google has become the Kleenex of search, having all but replaced a product category with its brand identity. It’s not just search, either – globally, Google now has seven products with more than one billion users, including Gmail, YouTube and Google Maps. That global footprint has helped cement Google’s reputation, Veresiu said.
Being omnipresent isn’t enough to retain a stellar reputation, though. Google’s strength, Veresiu said, is its consistency. Consumers have come to trust the brand because of its batting record with useful, easy-to-use products. And when a product doesn’t work well or connect with consumers, Google usually retires it, which also helps the company maintain its positive reputation.
Leger’s Scholz said Google has a stronghold on the number one spot. Unless the company sees a huge setback – or another brand has an unexpected surge – Scholz said he expects Google to remain number one on the list in 2017.
When Heinz first announced it was closing its plant in Leamington, Ont., in 2014, Leger saw an approximate 5% drop in Canadians who said they had a positive opinion of the brand. However, the brand’s reputation has managed to bounce back.
Overall, 84% of Canadians said they have a positive opinion of Heinz this year. Given all the negative buzz about the plant closure, Scholz said he was surprised to see the brand so high on the list this year (it has previously held the number one spot).
While Heinz ranked well this year, Scholz said it’s facing increased competition ignited by the so-called “ketchup wars” that took place this spring, not long after the study was conducted. When Loblaw pulled French’s ketchup from its shelves earlier this year – a decision that was quickly reversed – it led to a groundswell of support for the company, which uses 100% Canadian-grown tomatoes.
If French’s is able to hold on to the positive buzz it gained during that heavily publicized episode, Scholz said it may surge in terms of reputation while Heinz suffers.
• Best Reputations 2016: Who lost ground?
Shoppers Drug Mart is the top-ranking Canadian brand in Leger’s study this year. Luke Sklar, a partner at Sklar Wilton & Associates, a market research company with a strong stable of retail clients, said he believes Shoppers’ positive brand reputation is a result of its in-store experience rather than traditional marketing.
Where Shoppers succeeds, Sklar said, is delivering an “effortless” shopping experience backed by its stable of knowledgable pharmacists and beauty experts. He added that in recent years, the retailer has also built up its reputation in the beauty market with its Shoppers Drug Mart “Beauty Boutique” sub-brand.
The retailer has also successfully emerged from its its 2014 acquisition by Loblaw by slowly integrating key products from Loblaw’s President’s Choice label instead of suddenly flooding its stores with PC brand items, Sklar said. “I personally have been impressed with the way Loblaw products have been creeping into Shoppers without undermining or confusing the customer,” Sklar said.
In recent years, Canadian Tire has undergone massive changes as it transitioned from a traditional brick-and-mortar retailer to a fast-paced, innovative and digitally focused company (efforts that landed it Marketing‘s Marketer of the Year honour in 2013.) Those moves are now paying off, with 85% of those surveyed now reporting they have a positive opinion of the brand.
Sklar, who has worked with the brand for several years, counts Canadian Tire as one of his least patient clients, which he said is a major competitive advantage in the retail market. “They understand the retail world is moving faster and faster,” Sklar said.
He points to the retailer’s recent reinvention of its catalogue as an example of its innovation mandate. The digital version of the catalogue makes great use of data and video, providing an annotated, interactive representation of the store’s offering.
As the cereal market shrinks, Kellogg’s has gone to great lengths to adapt to changing consumer tastes. In January, for example, the company introduced six new cereal and snack products under its “wellness” brand designed to cater to consumers looking for products with real flavours and ingredients.
The brand has also pledged to remove all artificial ingredients from its cereals and snack bars by the end of 2018. As it adapts to a quickly changing CPG landscape, Kellogg’s continues to benefit from years of built up trust amongst consumers.
Leger’s Scholz said Kellogg’s high ranking is largely the result of its long history – its products have been part of consumers’ lives for so long that Kellogg’s is a name they now inherently trust.
As noted earlier, Dollarama made a major surge this year from number 12 to number six. Sklar Wilton & Associates’ Sklar said the brand has earned its reputation by consistently delivering on its promise of affordable products and an easy shopping experience.
While discount shopping once meant digging through shelves overstuffed with dated or low-quality products, Sklar said Dollarama has managed to “bring dignity back to the dollar shopper.” Dollarama stores are clean, easy to navigate and consistent from location to location, Sklar said.
This positive shopping experience has allowed Dollarama to grow its brand without investing heavily in marketing, Sklar said. He said the retailer’s reputation has also benefitted from bringing name brand products to its shelves. By striking deals with CPG brands to make smaller bags of chips to sell at a lower cost, for example, Dollarama has been able to provide consumers both with brand names they trust and prices that meet Dollarama’s low-cost promise.
For Schulich’s Veresiu, Samsung’s high ranking on this study is a sign that “consumers are starting to question Apple’s omnipresence.” Indeed, Samsung ranked a full 29 spots ahead of its chief competitor in the mobile phone market. Though Apple may still be ahead of Samsung in terms of smartphone sales, its detractors have hurt its reputation score. Twelve per cent of respondents said they had a negative perception of Apple this year, compared to just 5% who have a poor opinion of Samsung.
Veresiu said she believes Samsung’s positive reputation is driven by its Galaxy brand of smartphones. She said the company now competes head-on with Apple in terms of its product offering in mobile and has gained caché along the way. Backed by a large global ad spend, she said the company’s marketing – like its celebrity-studded Oscars ad this year – is boosting its reputation as a cutting-edge brand and a tech innovator.
According to Leger’s Scholz, Kraft maintains its ranking in part thanks to the sheer number of products that carry its name. Because the company uses Kraft as its master brand and gives it prominent placing on its products, consumers have come to know the Kraft brand as well as they know its products.
In terms of its advertising, Scholz said Kraft has recently done a good job of targeting specific consumers groups, like its recent campaign that used nostalgia to appeal to the older end of the millennial market.
Campbell’s isn’t just resting on its history, though. Over the past year, the brand has branched out with its marketing by hosting a sample kitchen pop-up shop promoting its soups and re-launched its “Chunky” soup line in transparent packaging – a decision that’s proven to be a hit with consumers.
Rounding out the list is Tim Hortons, which dropped from number two to number 10 this year. The drop should be a cause for concern for the quick-service restaurant, according to Schulich’s Veresiu. Tim Hortons, she said, is facing increased competition from both the high and low end of the coffee market.
McDonald’s McCafe brand in particular is moving in on Tim Hortons’ dominance in the lower end of the market, Veresiu said, while other consumers are opting for higher end options like the Aroma Espresso Bar or local, independent coffee shops.
If the brand wants to maintain its dominance in the coffee market, Veresiu said it must change its approach to marketing. The problem, she said, is that the brand isn’t fresh or hip, and too many of its ads are geared towards older consumers rather than the younger ones who represent future customers.


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The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has announced that it will be introducing a phased pilot of its own Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC). The central bank released a concept note detailing its version of CBDC—the e-rupee.
What is CBDC?
CBDC is a digital form of currency that is issued by a central bank. RBI explains that the e-rupee is an “easier, faster and cheaper” version of banknotes due to its digital nature. Over 60 countries have already expressed interest in CBDC as a viable alternative to paper money. Countries such as China and South Korea are currently piloting CBDC. The paper cites that China is targeting an extensive domestic adoption of the e-CNY as early as 2023.
The concept note adds, “Increasingly, CBDCs are being seen as a promising invention and as the next step in the evolutionary progression of sovereign currency.” The central bank expects the introduction of CBDC in India to offer a host of advantages over paper money, such as reduced reliance on cash, lower currency management cost, and minimal settlement risk.
When Will RBI Launch E-Rupee In India?
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The RBI aims to launch the e-rupee in phased pilot launches. It will arrive as a supplemental form of currency and will coexist alongside paper money. The e-rupee is touted to roll out as an alternative to cryptocurrencies.
According to the central bank, cryptocurrencies are a threat to the financial stability of India. “CBDCs will provide the public with benefits of virtual currencies while ensuring consumer protection by avoiding the damaging social and economic consequences of private virtual currencies,” the concept note explained.
The RBI plans to roll out two types of CBDC—Retail and Wholesale. The former will be used by the general public and the private sector. Meanwhile, the latter will be used by financial institutions for the settlement of interbank transfers and wholesale transactions.
The central bank acknowledged that CBDC will not offer the privacy and anonymity of physical cash transactions. Moreover, security risks also have to be considered. Hence, the RBI plans to mitigate these risks by subjecting its functionalities to rigorous testing during the pilot before launching CBDC to the public.

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42 operators chosen to apply for Ontario pot store licences in second lottery
August 21, 2019 By The Canadian Press
TORONTO – Ontario has selected 42 operators who can apply to run the next wave of cannabis shops in the province but some analysts say the new stores still won’t be enough to combat pot sold on the black market.
The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario – which regulates the sector – held the province’s second cannabis store lottery Aug. 20 and announced the results Aug. 21. The new stores, when approved, will more than double the number of marijuana outlets in the province.
“The AGCO will only licence applicants and authorize stores that meet all legal and regulatory requirements,” the agency said in a statement, noting that the aim was to have new stores open in October.
Unlike the first lottery for 25 stores, applicants in the latest draw had to show they had secured retail space that could be used as a store if they were selected, and that they had enough capital – $250,000 on-hand – to open it.
Those selected now have until Aug. 28 to pay licensing fees, and provide a letter of credit for an additional $50,000 to the regulator.
Another eight stores will be located on First Nations reserves and are being approved through a separate process. Applicants for those licences were selected last month and are currently being greenlit, the AGCO said.
The latest lottery and the on-reserve stores mean the number of pot shops in Ontario will eventually rise to 75, but some observers said that still wasn’t enough.
“Fifty more licences is a good step, but it’s nowhere near what they need to do to actually deal with the illicit market,” said Omar Khan, a vice president at strategy firm Hill+Knowlton who advises cannabis sector clients.
“What that means is that the small business person whose taken out a line of credit and put money down for the lease is facing some stiff competition from those who aren’t necessarily following the legal framework. To me, that’s quite unfair.”
David Phillips, a principal at consulting firm Navigator who is a former executive at the Ontario Cannabis Retail Corporation, also said the black market continued to be an issue.
“Every additional store in Ontario will help towards eliminating the illicit market, but the province still has a long way to go,” he said.
The latest lottery winners appear to be a mix of sole proprietors and numbered companies that could turn out to be part of larger entities, Phillips noted. Small business owners who were selected will likely have to partner with companies who have experience in the field, he said.
“That suggests we’re likely setting ourselves up for another feeding frenzy where these lottery winners will be out seeking partnerships with well-known commercial enterprises and essentially auctioning off their golden ticket to the highest bidder,” he said.
AGCO rules prevent a lottery winner from actually selling their store outright but do not prevent limited ownership stakes and consulting contracts with larger companies, Khan said.
The 42 new stores will be distributed regionally, with 13 in the city of Toronto, six going to the Greater Toronto Area, 11 in the west region, seven going to the east region, and in the north, one each in Kenora, North Bay, Sault Ste. Marie, Thunder Bay and Timmins.
Phillips said the random nature of the lottery may create problems for communities when it comes to the location of their pot shops. For example, three applicants won licences to apply to locate stores on the same street in Innisfil, Ont.
In Toronto, five of the lottery winners have leased shop space on Queen Street, where two pot shops already operate, he said.
“That suggests that Queen Street in Toronto is going to quickly turn into cannabis row,” he said. “That’s a consequence of them setting up a system where essentially the applicants could decide where the store location was going to be and then because its subject to a draw you’re essentially leaving it to chance.”
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San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a proposal to expand the city’s bag on plastic bags from grocery stores and pharmacies to all retailers, including restaurants.
The expanded regulations also call for customers to pay a 10-cent surcharge for paper bags at the point of purchase. The businesses charging the fee will keep the money to use how they see fit.
The proposal, which would go into effect in October, is backed by the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce, the California Grocers Association and the city’s Small Business Commission. It would exempt the use of plastic bags for items such as loose nails, dry cleaning and restaurant “doggy-bags.”


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(FREIGHTWAVES) – Just how high can Asia-U.S. West Coast spot rates go? They blew past $3,000 per forty-foot equivalent unit (FEU) in early August and have been climbing ever since. They've just topped $3,700. Can they reach $4,000?
No one predicted that the container industry would be doing this well, this quickly.
"We've been scratching our heads a lot, trying to figure out why ocean freight prices have climbed so high," commented Eytan Buchman, chief marketing officer of Freightos, on Wednesday.
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The bullish view is that import demand will continue to surprise to the upside. Ocean rates evidence a U.S. economic rebound. COVID erased demand for some products and services, but increased demand for other products. Storefront sales won't recover, but e-commerce sales will offset storefront losses. Government support will counter shutdown fallout.


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Since being known chiefly as a fishing port in the early part of the 20th century, the city has grown into a heaving metropolis, largely on the back of its four key industries: financial services, trading and logistics, tourism, and professional services.
These already offer plenty of opportunities for MBA grads in the region—but they’re not the only ones that students should be looking out for.
In recent years the Hong Kong government has been driving investment in six new growth industries—including, but not limited to, medical services, wine trading, green business, and innovation and technology.
Green business and innovation and technology, in particular, are key sites of business growth the world over, and for MBA students at Hong Kong’s CUHK Business School, opportunities to make a mark are rife.
Hong Kong is a mass of contradictions when it comes to the environment. While only a fraction of the city’s buildings are eco-friendly, more than 75% of land in the territory has been left in its natural state, due to either being undevelopable or protected green space.
This fraught relationship to sustainability is set to even out as the Hong Kong government implements its plans to drive growth in green business.
Plans include bringing the environmental sector into the Closer Economic Partnership Arrangement (CEPA) with the mainland, which gives green businesses based in Hong Kong the ability to penetrate deeper into the Chinese market.
This could mean growth in the number of Hong Kong-based green businesses over the next few years, particularly as the city also hosts Eco Expo Asia each fall, giving the stage to sustainability-focused companies from around the world.
CUHK Business School itself runs a sustainability conference each year, inviting expert speakers to educate students on the benefits of corporate social responsibility (CSR).
The roster for 2019 included speakers from big corporations like H&M and BASF, as well as business school leaders and representatives of bodies such as the Hong Kong Green Finance Association.
Sustainable business also sits at the heart of the MBA’s entrepreneurship and innovation concentration.
Students on the course get to work in teams on real business propositions, which they then present to social impact investors and practitioners in the sustainable business arena.
The MBA program won a certificate of appreciation from the Global Green Economic Forum at the Women Eco Game Changer Awards this year, testament to its place within the sustainable business landscape in Hong Kong.
Innovation and technology
It is hard to have any conversation about long-term sustainability without mentioning technology. While close neighbor Shenzhen is often the name on commentators’ lips when they mention tech in Asia, Hong Kong should not be underestimated.
The government’s initiatives have overseen the creation of tech communities focused on innovation, such as Hong Kong Cyberport—a creative digital community that is home to over 100 ICT and digital content companies and which includes centers for collaboration, technology, knowledge sharing, and entrepreneurship.
In addition, a $640 million innovation and technology fund provided by the government makes sure that launching a disruptive tech venture is not just a pipe dream for MBAs in the city.
As well as benefiting from proximity to these activities, CUHK MBAs who are interested in technology can match with theory what they see in practice.
The school offers a finance and technology concentration that gives students a rigorous grounding in tech and its connections to the Hong Kong financial powerhouse—from a FinTech 101 course that takes them through the basics, to corporate fundraising training and education about the applications of AI and machine learning.
CUHK also offers a business practicum in the subject, challenging students with a real-life business issue that they are then sponsored to solve by a corporation in the city, as well as playing host to student-led events such as the Women in Technology and Entrepreneurship lecture series organized by the Women in Business Club.
The results of this dynamic learning environment are tangible for CUHK MBA students, more than 10% of whom are employed in the tech sector after graduating.
With global innovation increasingly facing East, staking out a career in Asia is a prudent choice for any future business leader—getting a foothold in growth industries like green business and tech could be the way to do it.


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On Friday morning, April 1st, Ola shared a video from their Twitter page saying- ‘Introducing #OlaRooms, our latest innovation that allows you to spend the night in our cabs’. Soon the hashtag started trending and there was a lot of speculations around whether this is one of their April fool jokes like last year. In 2015, they had introduced a service called #OlaAir on the same day and after creating enough curiosity and excitement with the audience, it was revealed to the audience that it was a prank.
On the other hand, even Oyo Rooms shared a blog note, announcing one of the biggest partnerships that Indian start-up space has ever witnessed between Oyo Rooms and Ola Cabs to take the hospitality to the next level.
Below is an excerpt of the blog post:
In order to keep the excitement level high, the brand kept on tweeting #OlaRooms is going LIVE on your Ola app at 5pm.
At 5pm, the brand tweeted saying- ‘Go Knock Yourself out with #OlaRooms
Ola even went on to tag other brands like Housing.com, Myntra, Flipkart, Swiggy and invited them to check their app.
Tweets poured in from everywhere which made #OlaRooms trend in the morning. Some of the audience started believing in the prank, while few others just played along.
Towards the end of the day, the brand revealed that it was prank.


text: In 2006, it was brought to the attention of Department of Agriculture Sec. Art Yap that vegetable losses went as high as 40 percent due to damages from inadequate logistics containers. Secretary Yap studied the problem with container experts and with the industry designing vegetable transport containers that could preserve vegetables and protect them during long distance transportation. According to Ms. Veronica Co of Manly Industrial, the packaging industry that Sec. Yap inspired more than a decade ago has helped countless farmers and has steadily increased the income of farmers while ensuring the quality of fruits and vegetables for Filipino consumers.


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New York senator Charles Schumer—who successfully pulled the caffeinated Four Loko from New York shelves four years ago #RIP—has now turned his attention to the powdered alcohol “Palcohol.” The politician wants the freeze-dried vodka banned, because one day, he says, it could be “the Kool-Aid of teenage binge drinking.”
From the New York Post:
“Palcohol can be easily concealed and brought into concerts, school dances and sporting events,” Schumer said. “It can be sprinkled on food and even snorted.
“I’m calling on the food and drug administration, the FDA, to immediately step in, investigate Palcohol based on its obvious health risks, and prohibit this ludicrous product from going to market.”
Palcohol was initially approved by the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau last month, before the feds said they had screwed up and accidentally given the product a green light. (Still not sure how you screw that up.) The company says it’ll submit its proposal soon—but it could be DOA if Schumer has his way.
[H/T: NY Post]


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By Allison Cross.
John Biehler isn’t afraid to admit he’s consumed by a lust for technology. The moment a sleek new gadget, preferably one manufactured by Apple, hits the market, the 37-year-old from Port Coquitlam knows he has to have it.
“For certain things, like the iPhone, it was a no-brainer. I knew I was going to have it within 10 days of it coming out,” Biehler said. “I couldn’t even get it legitimately in Canada. I had to go to the U.S.”
He figures he was one of the first people in Canada to obtain one.
The business analyst regularly buys new products to try them out or upgrade his existing equipment. Sometimes he turns around and sells a new gadget shortly after he buys it or uses the parts to build other computers for family members and friends.
But when the thrill fades, yesterday’s gadgets being tossed in favor of the next big thing pose an environmental challenge all their own. Biehler’s garage is packed with leftover gadgets, computer towers, monitors and game systems.
A mountain of plastic bags, cardboard boxes and Styrofoam used to ship the products themselves also accompany his electronic castoffs.
Where does it go?
Not everyone indulges their techno-lust quite like Biehler, but electronics that have broken or been cast to the wayside have become common sights in landfills. They contribute to a mass of unsightly garbage and risk leeching dangerous chemicals like lead and mercury into the ground. Or worse, they could make their way to a developing country where they are picked apart for their valuable pieces and discarded.
To cope with the e-waste, the province of British Columbia banned the dumping of electronics in its landfills in August 2007 and established a recycling program with Encorp Pacific, a federally incorporated non-profit organization.
Their Return-It Electronics program set up drop off locations across the Lower Mainland where residents can bring their computers, TVs and printers.
After materials are sorted, they end up in the hands of three processing and recycling contractors in Ontario, Alberta and B.C. That includes a smelter in Trail, where mercury and copper are extracted during the smelting process.
The program was initiated by the Electronics Stewardship Association of B.C., who covers costs by charging a handling fee to electronic retailers. In turn, customers pay a charge when they buy a new TV or printer from the store.
But local advocates, who have taken on the task of recycling and refurbishing computers and other products independently, are concerned about a program that works so closely with manufacturers.
There is a concern that Encorp does not sort through the products it receives and risks losing perfectly good computers that could be reused. Encorp also doesn’t accept widely used items like cell phones and iPods.
Resuse over recycle
The warehouse that houses Free Geek on Vancouver’s east side doesn’t accept cell phones, but it is crammed with every imaginable computer part. Computer towers are stacked neatly in one corner, while a mass of tangled cords is stuck in another.
The grassroots organization accepts old computers from people and businesses, wipes their hard drives and either recycles the materials or rebuilds machines for volunteers who put in a certain number of hours.
“We don’t have a minimum level of age for computers,” said Ifny Lachance, one of the Free Geek founders. “Anything people drop off we will have some use for. It can still go through dismantling, which is great for volunteers to go through.”
She likes that people aren’t just passive consumers of software – they learn how it works.
Free Geek recycles parts that can’t be used, but Lachance said that recycling of computers is a complicated process.
“It can mean anything from proper smelting, dismantling, sorting, but it can also mean open burning in poor nations,” she said.
They also wipe all hard drives of all data, which is often a huge barrier for people when they are thinking about recycling their computers, Lachance said.
Lachance said it’s really important consumers always ask where the computer parts go after they are dismantled.
“When we first started, we had to go and find recyclers for out stuff. But people wouldn’t tell us where it was going,” she said. “If you want to do the right thing, it’s really hard.”
Aluminum and copper wire isn’t considered toxic waste, Lachance said, and those are taken to a scrapper down the street in Vancouver, where they can get some money for it. They do have to send some of their stuff to one of the recycling depots run by the Electronics Stewardship Association of B.C.
“All of their stuff is destroyed, so for us, as an organization that promotes reuse, we would rather see that things were tested and the good things were kept back,” Lachance said. “So many people need computers. It could boost productivity in the province.”
Lachance said she is at least satisfied that parts will be sent to a smelter in Trail.
“We follow everything until the end of the line,” she said. “It’s far better that we, as Canadians, take responsibility for our own toxic waste. A smelter here is going to be a lot cleaner than a smelter in China.”
Recycling should be easy
Bojan Paduh suffers some pain when he sees a perfectly good computer dropped in a bin for recycling. If he had the time, he’d jump in the bin and try to salvage the machine himself.
Paduh is a director with the Electronics Recycling Association, which recycles, reuses and disposes of computers for businesses and individuals in Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto. They also accept items like televisions and Blackberries.
They refurbish the computers, often donated by businesses upgrade their systems, and donate them to daycares, seniors’ homes and charities. Paduh said B.C.’s program for electronics recycling is on the right track, but needs to do better in meeting the needs of citizens.
“People are very lazy,” he said. “If it’s easy to take it to a landfill, they will take it wherever is the closest. It really has to be convenient.”
Ideally, he would prefer to partner with the government program and offer to sort the materials they receive before they are dismantled, recycled and sent to smelters.
“We are pro recycling, but we’d really like to see it reused first,” Paduh said. “But people want the latest and greatest thing so we see a lot of waste coming in.”
He said he has tried repeatedly to partner with Encorp, and even offered to sort their electronics waste for them, but so far hasn’t received any response.
“It’s a sad state in B.C.,” he said. “The manufacturers have created the non-profit agency. They have huge resources and their goal is to sell new things.”
Encorp did not respond to requests for an interview.
Technology isn’t all bad
Biehler said he isn’t without some guilt from having amassed so much technology, but he’s never enough to keep him from investing in more. He also reuses it as much as possible and tries to recycle it in a responsible way.
“I’m one of those people that believes technology can be used to help people,” he said. “So I’m going to keep using it.”
Biehler said he recognizes how some products are built with reuse in mind. He lifted up his MacBook Air to emphasize his point.
“There’s a lot of metal in there and it’s entirely recyclable.”


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Corporate Subscribers Provide Hope for Mobile Operators
18th April 2001, Ledbury,UK: – By 2006, mobile European businesses will be spending US$20 billion per year on mobile internet services, according to a report published today. The figures come from a new report, Wireless in the Enterprise, published by telecoms consultancy BWCS.
According to BWCS, the corporate mobile internet market is set for rapid growth over the next five years. In 2000, corporate WAP users generated revenues of US$865 million in Europe, but spending is set to accelerate with the launch of high-speed 3G networks and enhancements to existing GSM networks.
However, BWCS warns that mobile operators risk losing a large slice of these revenues to corporate network providers, system integrators and wireless LAN operators unless they better serve the needs of their corporate customers.
BWCS Consultant and report author Ross Parsons said: “The majority of large corporate customers feel let down by mobile service providers. Many corporate customers are still trying to understand how high speed mobile internet services can deliver competitive advantage to their business – and they are not getting many answers from the majority of operators. With mobile penetrations reaching near saturation and the consumer market predominantly populated by low revenue pre-pay subscribers, it is vital that operators make a big play for higher revenue, lower churn business users.”
Wireless in the Enterprise finds that despite the imminent introduction of packet-switched GPRS services across Europe and the fact that some operators are preparing to launch an all out assault on the corporate sector, many mobile companies are still lagging behind. BWCS Director Graham Wilde said: “Over the past 12 months we have seen operators such as Vodafone and BT Cellnet entering into partnerships with a host of mobile application developers in preparation for the launch of new wireless enterprise applications, but they remain the exception rather than the rule. There is a huge opportunity to win high margin business from multinationals, but operators need to have an international footprint and strong systems integration skills, either of which can be delivered in-house or via a network of alliances. Right now the door is wide open for major fixed line operators like Equant, and Concert, to capture the mobile solutions spend of the Fortune 1000. This would relegate th!
e mobile operators to mere spectrum providers, with no ownership of their largest customers.”
About Wireless in the Enterprise
BWCS’ latest report, Wireless in the Enterprise, uncovers the potential for future growth in this sector and strives to reveal what factors are driving this market forward. Our team of analysts spent five months interviewing –
· All the major mobile service providers
· Application Developers
· Equipment vendors
· Systems integrators
The result is a comprehensive, well-researched, in-depth study of the future markets for corporate mobile services.
For further information on this report please call BWCS on +44 1531 634 326 or visit our website at http://www.bwcs.com
BWCS Ltd is a telecoms consultancy that advises on the sales and marketing of telecoms and e-commerce related services, software and equipment. BWCS has worked with leading players in the telecoms sector, providing them with a services including strategy formulation, competitor profiling, bid management and due diligence.
BWCS also produces a range of expert-authored reports and handbooks for the telecoms industry. These cover specialist areas such as telecoms law as well as technologies such as wireless application protocol and strategic issues such as revenue opportunities for the wireless internet. Further information on BWCS can be found on our website at http://www.bwcs.com
This press release was distributed by ResponseSource Press Release Wire on behalf of BWCS in the following categories: Consumer Technology, Personal Finance, Business & Finance, Computing & Telecoms, for more information visit https://pressreleasewire.responsesource.com/about.


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Sleep is essential for youngsters, but it’s hard to catch Zs with a phone in your hand. According to a new Ofcom report, however, that’s exactly what many kids are doing: more than half of parents with young teens let them take their devices into their bedrooms when they should be heading into the land of nod. In fact, 71% of 12-15 year-olds who own phones take them to bed.
The report, based on surveys with more than 2,000 parents and kids, also found – perhaps unsurprisingly for those who’ve spent time with teenagers recently – that more than a third of the 12-15 year-olds found it difficult to moderate their screen time. That figure is up 28% on the year before.
“It’s hard to take things off your kids, so a good proportion of 12-15 year olds are taking their phone to bed,” Yih-Choung Teh, one of the report’s authors, told Sky News. “I think it’s something families should be having a discussion about [in] ensuring that our kids have healthy lives.”
Those discussions might not be easy (or even civil, depending on your teen), which is why we asked HuffPost UK readers if they let their kids – of all ages – take their phones to bed. And the answer was unanimous: Absolutely not.
When you discuss unsupervised phone use with parents, they express a number of concerns: what their children might stumble upon online, what they are searching for or playing, and also, perhaps most importantly, whether their phone might be disturbing their sleep. And with reason: a recent study by the University of Sheffield and Silentnight found that children with phones, tablets or computers in their rooms got a whole hour’s less sleep, on average, than those without.
So how can we prize our kids’ phones away from them, when they’re so used to having it stuck in their hands? It’s important that parents stress the effect that constant communication can have on sleep, advises psychologist Dr Linda Papadopolous from Internet Matters. That’s particularly the case with older children. “This will help them make more informed choices about physically disconnecting by switching off at night,” she tells HuffPost UK.
“Sleep is crucial to a child’s emotional development, and therefore if you spot signs that your child’s wellbeing is affected by their device, have a conversation with them about why you are concerned and consider introducing parameters such as ‘no tech once the lights go out’,” he says. For younger kids, it’s best to start the habit of “no phones in the bedroom” early.
Sleep expert Dr Nerina Ramlakhan from Silentnight, explains that parents need to make it clear to kids that phones do not belong in their bedrooms. “Children and teenager’s brains are still developing, and therefore they need the right amount of sleep, and deep sleep, to ensure that they are energised and are able to concentrate,” she argues.
“As parents, we need to be the change, and act as role models. This means we also need to not be on our phones late at night.”


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By Tonya Garcia
Mattel Inc. stock jumped nearly 9% in early Wednesday trading before settling at a 4.3% rise for the day after it announced that it has won the license to sell Disney Princess dolls and those based on the animated “Frozen” film from rival Hasbro Inc.
Mattel (NAS:MAT) will start selling the Disney toys in 2023.
“We are incredibly proud to welcome back the Disney Princess and Frozen lines to Mattel,” said Richard Dickson, Mattel’s chief operating officer in a statement.
The Disney Princess lineup will include dolls based on “Beauty and the Beast,” “Brave” and “The Little Mermaid.” Mattel already had a deal with Disney for the Pixar Animation Studio “Toy Story” and “Cars” franchises.
According to a report from The Wall Street Journal , the group that managed the Barbie revival lead the effort behind the new dolls. Mattel lost the license to the Disney Princess lineup in 2016; a period of instability followed, notes the WSJ.
Mattel stock has gained 10% over the past year.
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Hasbro (NAS:HAS) stock fell 6.1% in Wednesday trading after the news. That company’s brands include Nerf, Peppa Pig and the Monopoly board game.
Hasbro announced Wednesday that it has renewed its license deal with Lucasfilm for the Star Wars lineup, which is under the Disney umbrella, and has expanded its relationship to include a line of Indiana Jones toys. The Indiana Jones line will be available in the U.S. in 2023.
“Hasbro is proud to maintain a strong connection with Disney, the creator of some of the most celebrated and everlasting entertainment franchises and looks forward to continuing its storied relationship with new product lines for Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Marvel and many more initiatives in the future,” the company said in a statement.
Hasbro named Chris Cocks chief executive in early January after the death of Brian Goldner in October. He will assume the role on Feb. 25.
“Overall, we see this news as a bigger positive for Mattel, than a negative for Hasbro,” wrote Stifel in a note. Analysts say they’re not surprised by the development.
“[W]e see this as a slight negative for Hasbro as the Disney Princess and Frozen franchises contributed hundreds of millions in annual revenue at an attractive gross margin. But our sense had been that the license had underperformed expectations,which may have made it more difficult to retain.”
Analysts say the LucasFilm partnership eliminates the risk that Hasbro will lose another partnership.
“The Disney Princess and Frozen franchises are evergreen properties that further solidify the company’s strong competitive position in the doll category,” the note says.
“Furthermore, the move validates Mattel’s improving financial condition, in our opinion, as we suspect there are minimum guarantees and a 20%+ royalty rate attached to the license.”
D.A. Davidson maintained its buy stock rating on Mattel and raised its price target by $2 to $38. Analysts also maintained their buy rating on Hasbro and lowered its price target by $2 to $138.
“We have heard criticism of Hasbro in the industry, with some saying the quality of the Princess dolls was inferior to Mattel’s fashion dolls, especially the facial features; Hasbro historically has been more dominant in action figures and boys’ toys, whereas Mattel’s competencies are strongest in dolls and girls’ toys,” wrote analysts in a Mattel note.
“We think Hasbro management’s focus on gaming and entertainment may be compromising the performance of its toy business, which still represents about 35% of annual operating profit; Hasbro’s board chose the internal head of the company’s gaming business, Chris Cocks, as the new CEO, which we think sends a strong message.”
Hasbro shares are down 2.5% over the past year. Walt Disney Co. (NYS:DIS) stock has fallen 16% over the last 12 months. And the benchmark Dow Jones Industrial Average (DOW:DJIA) is up 14.3%.


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South American Coffee Blight To Cause Severe Caffeine Deficiency
South America is one of the main coffee importers of coffee. Nicaragua, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and El Salvador have all been affected by the recent blight. The rain continues to arrive, but still plantations are producing damaged bushes.
Because of what a large industry coffee is in these countries, over half a million people have been out of work because of the severe damage to the plants. Because of job loss, migration to the U.S., and subsequently crime, have increased.
The rust usually doesn’t exist in the coffee-growing conditions, but because of a change of climate, it can now thrive on the plants. “No one imagined that it could thrive in that environment and go airborne,” said Christian Wolthers to the McClatchy News. As a past president of the Specialty Coffee Association of America, he has observed the coffee industry over the years.
Usually, pesticides have been able to kill off the rust, but in this case, the climate and environment over powered the herbicides. Farmers are looking for alternative ways to assist the situation, and hopefully keep the countries that they export to, like America, running on coffee.


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The company being squeezed out is Google (GOOG). Although Android phones represent 80% of the market, Google is losing money on its hardware, and its largest partners plan to continue taking away its software profits.
Last week's news that Apple and Samsung, between them, represent all mobile industry profits put a period to that sentence.
The most recent IDC Worldwide Quarterly Phone Tracker shows how it's done. Four in five phones sold now are Android phones, but Apple sales were still up substantially during the third quarter from the same period a year ago, according to Strategy Analytics.
Still, Apple got 56% of the industry's profits during the quarter, according to Canaccord Genuity. Samsung had 53%. The total is more than 100% because everyone else lost money.
A study by Union Square principal Fred Wilson also shows marked differences between Android and Apple buyers. He sees an Android "barbell," with very young buyers without cash and older buyers without appetite for many apps surrounding Apple, which controls the high-end and high-spend heart of the U.S. market.
The situation is different in the tablet market, where Samsung "phablets," small tablets that double as phones, hold a large share. UBS analysts say Apple's share of the tablet market has plunged, from 70% to less than 30%, as Asians gobble up products that sell for less than $200.
Real tablets (as opposed to phablets) are mainly being used for entertainment, according to UBS. This benefits Amazon.com (AMZN), which integrates its Android-based Kindle with its own media offerings. When tablets aren't mobile, they're Amazon. When they go on the road as phablets, they're Samsung.
These partners include Intel (INTC). The Tizen software is based on Intel's old Meego project, which, like Android, is a version of Linux. Intel hopes to use Tizen to finally gain a foothold in the mobile space with Samsung having folded its first effort at a mobile operating system, Bada, into Tizen.
Samsung also hopes to get into the "class" end of the market with new "wraparound displays" that put function keys on the side of the phone. Apple, meanwhile, may abandon Corning (GLW), the maker of its past displays, for a new technology based on artificial sapphire. Apple is also targeting Samsung's share in India and China through new agreements with carriers aimed at bringing down the upfront cost of its phones.
The result is that, despite Apple's successful monetization of its iPhone and iPad, UBS has a neutral rating on the stock, even though Apple has a below-average price-to-earnings ratio of 13.2 and a $3.05-per-share dividend that now yields 2.34%.
Samsung is doing precisely what Microsoft (MSFT), which now has 4% of the mobile market, did to Apple more than two decades ago. Apple was years ahead of the pack with its Macintosh PC, but Microsoft was able to make the business market wait for Windows through alliances with companies such as IBM (IBM), in part thanks to high Apple prices, and it eventually dominated the market.
But it's not Google that's Microsoft in this case. And it's certainly not Microsoft that's Microsoft in this case. It's Samsung. That's the story investors need to watch in 2014.
At the time of publication, Blankenhorn owned shares of Apple, Google and IBM.Follow @DanaBlankenhor
This article is commentary by an independent contributor, separate from TheStreet's regular news coverage.


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Blue Moon, Blue Breakfast: Denny's Turns Iconic “Moons Over My Hammy” Breakfast Sandwich Blue for Halloween
This Halloween marks a special, spooky occasion — a Blue Moon — the first on Halloween night since 1944, and 19 years from the next event in 2039. And because 2020 couldn't get any weirder, Denny's, the creator of the lyrically named Moons Over My Hammy breakfast sandwich, is having some fun with the rare celestial event by putting an innovative spin on the iconic dish by turning the bread blue. For one day only, America's Diner will unveil the very first ever Blue Moons Over My Hammy sandwich that will be exclusively available in select Miami restaurants on October 31.*
Available for a limited time while supplies last at 20 Denny's restaurants in the Miami-Dade area, the Blue Moons Over My Hammy is a ham and scrambled egg sandwich with Swiss & American cheeses on specially created blue sourdough bread, then grilled to toasty perfection. Moons Over My Hammy, inspired by the 1935 jazz song, “Moon Over Miami,” has been a Denny's best seller since it was introduced in the early 1990s.
“Only in 2020 would a Blue Moon coincide with Halloween — so what better way to celebrate than by giving one of our most legendary breakfasts, the Moons Over My Hammy, a little makeover?” said John Dillon, chief brand officer for Denny's. “With Halloween looking very different this year, we took the opportunity to make our world famous sandwich look different as well, and this colorful upgrade gave us an opportunity to have some fun and show our guests that anything is possible in 2020!”
For more information and to find a Denny's location serving the Blue Moons Over My Hammy near you, please visit www.dennys.com.
*The Blue Moons Over My Hammy will be available in 20 Dade County restaurants and for dine-in only, while supplies last
ABOUT DENNY’S CORP.
Denny's Corporation is the franchisor and operator of one of America's largest full-service family restaurant chains, based on the number of restaurants. Denny's has approximately 1,700 franchised, licensed, and company restaurants around the world including 147 restaurants in Canada, Puerto Rico, Mexico, the Philippines, New Zealand, Honduras, the United Arab Emirates, Costa Rica, Guam, Guatemala, the United Kingdom, El Salvador, Indonesia, and Aruba. For further information on Denny's, including news releases, please visit the Denny's website at www.dennys.com or the brand’s social channels via Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn or YouTube.
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When it comes to unethical business tricks, one of the first instances that come to mind is Bill Gates and how he allegedly stole the idea of Apple’s co-founder Steve Jobs. And Steve has always been pretty much vocal about this fact. He even took a dig at Microsoft in his now-hailed commencement speech at Stanford University in 2005.
While many people rebuke the claim that Bill Gates stole anything from Steve Job’s ideas, even underlining the difference between iOS and Microsoft, the stories seem true on many levels. And this was a cheap shot from Bill Gates. But then again, at the prime of his age, more ambitious than ever, and ever-so-talented, what he did was a pretty straightforward—do things that your competitors are doing, do it better than them and faster than them. So many of today’s entrepreneurs do the same thing. And that’s a trick—not necessarily an unethical one, but a trick nonetheless that doesn’t confine within the boundaries of values and principles.
(Personally speaking, if Bill Gates did steal Steve Job’s idea, I do not care. It’s what everyone does. And just stealing ideas doesn’t help. You have to work extremely ***** it. And that’s what Bill Gates did.)
These days, in fact, there is so much competition in the corporate world that companies actually plant employees in their competitors’ staffing just to get the inside scoop on this company.
Also, some of them go to the extreme end, even planning and plotting to destroy competitors’ business just to increase their own profit. These are not an unethical trick but rather a crime.
As for some strict “unethical business tricks” that business owners of today employ, here are few:
· Using cheap quality material. They say they offer high-quality products. But just to increase their profit margin, they use poor-quality inputs which decrease their cost of production and increase profit.
· Copying competitors’ marketing strategy. Or take a dig at them in the garb of being smart. Yes, I think it’s unethical. If you want to get to the top, your focus should be on your own self and not the competition.
· Saving taxes by not showing income to the government.
· Sensationalizing their products and stories in sync with current news. Again, some people can call this marketing, I say it’s unethical and unoriginal. Like, for example, a fewmonths back, when there was quite a hullabaloo regarding Indian army, some brands thought it was okay to exploit the patriotism of consumers and sell them their products by incorporating Army-story in their ads and marketing campaigns.
There are many such ways how today’s entrepreneurs use unethical business tricks to generate more profit. Morally, they are wrong. But strategically and financially, since not breaking any law and regulation, they are fine.


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The Farm Fresh Concept Will Rename Popular Bacon Boy ® Burger To ‘Bacon Girl,’
With Deal And Fundraiser On Sunday, March 8
RIVERSIDE, Calif. (February 19, 2020) – Farmer Boys®, the Southern California-based fast casual concept known for its award-winning burgers and exceptional service, is celebrating Women’s History Month throughout March by changing their iconic name to ‘Farmer Girls’ and giving their popular Bacon Boy burger a fresh new name: ‘Bacon Girl.’ In honor of International Women’s Day on Sunday, March 8, participating Farmer Boys locations will offer $1 off the burger from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m., as well as donate $1 from every Bacon Girl sold to Catalyst, a global nonprofit on a mission to build workplaces that work for women.
“Women’s History Month and International Women’s Day are all about celebrating the contributions of women to society, and because we have more than 1,600 female staff members who help run our business and make our guests happy each day, we wanted to honor them with the Farmer Girls brand,” said Karen Eadon, president and chief operations officer for Farmer Girls. “While our concept was started by five brothers, our team is supported by all genders and we wanted to use Women’s History Month to recognize that and express our gratitude.”
Farmer Girls is proud to be a women-led company with Karen Eadon, restaurant industry veteran and President since 2015, at the helm. The company has more than 30 women on their corporate team, with more than 290 female managers and employees working at Farmer Girls’ more than 90 restaurants in California and Nevada. Additionally, more than 27% of franchisees are female.
The Farmer Girls name change will be visible at 75 restaurants across California and Nevada, with a new logo proudly displayed through front door decals and reflected on the menu via the Bacon Girl burger.
Additionally, follow the brand on Instagram and Twitter at @FarmerGirlsFood for the month of March. For participating locations and more information, visit www.farmer-girls.com.
About Farmer Girls:
Founded in 1981, Farmer Girls is a farm-to-table fast casual restaurant chain serving award-winning burgers and all-day breakfast, stacked sandwiches, hand-chopped salads, and signature hand-breaded zucchini sticks and onion rings. At Farmer Girls, Farm Food Ain’t Fast Food®. Farmer Girls is annually recognized with ‘Best Of’ food awards, voted by consumers who value generous portions of farm fresh food at a fair price. The burger concept has also been recognized by notable industry publications, including being named one of Fast Casual’s Top 100 Movers & Shakers. Farmer Girls currently operates restaurants in California and Nevada. For more information, visit www.farmer-girls.com.


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Apple recorded substantial revenue in the final quarter of 2020. The firm reported on the earnings name that it generated $111.4 billion in revenue for the quarter ended December 26, 2020. A 21% year-on-year enhance, making it one of the best quarter in the corporate’s historical past.
The iPhone 12 significantly helped the corporate earn most of its revenue. Last 12 months, Apple launched the 2020 flagship iPhone 5 collection with 5G capabilities. As a consequence, many customers have upgraded from the earlier technology iPhone to the newest and quick 5G community. Although 5G remains to be being rolled out, it’s a good suggestion to organize for the long run as a result of the community shouldn’t be too far-off.
Historic holidays: Tim Cook (Tim Cook)
Apple’s CEO mentioned: “If there is no tireless innovation work by every Apple team member in the world, Apple can’t have this quarter.” Tim Cook. “We are satisfied with the unparalleled cutting-edge products delivered during the historic holiday season, and we are satisfied with that. We are also committed to adopting our Racial Equality and Justice Initiative and our years of commitment to invest $350 billion throughout the United States. Commitment to work hard to help us become part of the community so that we can rebuild the community effectively and fairly.”
As Apple launched a number of the finest machines final 12 months, the Mac enterprise has additionally achieved substantial development. The firm launched an up to date model of the MacE book Air, 13-inch fundamental MacE book Pro and Mac Mini powered by its personal silicon. These machines are extra highly effective than the earlier technology Intel chips.
Of the $111.4 billion in revenue in the earlier quarter, 64% got here from exterior the United States. Apple is an American firm headquartered in California.


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Intel CEO Brian Krzanich addressed the Meltdown and Spectre bugs during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas, saying that forthcoming updates will fix all processors that have been introduced in the past five years.
Krzanich thanked cybersecurity professionals for their work in uncovering and fixing the bugs, touting “the collaboration among so many companies to address this industry-wide issue across several different processor architectures.”
Meltdown and Spectre are two exploits that leverage critical vulnerabilities in a wide range of processor chips. Intel is the company most directly impacted. The vulnerabilities allow attackers to steal data being processed on the computer, including passwords and other sensitive data.
Since the bug became public, users have complained that patches have slowed computer performance anywhere from five to 30 percent.
“We believe the performance impact of these updates is highly workload dependent,” he said. “Some workloads may experience a larger impact that others, so we’ll continue working with the industry to minimize the impact on those workloads over time.”
Krzanich popped into the news last week when it was revealed that he sold an exceptionally large amount of company stock in the fourth quarter of 2017 after the company was informed of the widespread vulnerabilities affecting their processors. Experts say the size of Krzanich’s transaction mean the SEC will almost certainly examine the transaction, but few believe anything significant will come of it.
Underscoring the severity of the vulnerabilities, there are reports that Intel is creating a new hardware security and quality assurance team led by some of the company’s top executives.
Apple released a new series of security patches to address the vulnerabilities on Monday to harden both iOS and MacOS. That follows steps taken by cloud computing giants Google, Amazon and Microsoft to mitigate the impact on their customers, while also protecting users from attacks and performance loss.
Krzanich repeated again that there is no sign that the vulnerabilities have been exploited. However, researchers say there would likely be no way to tell if exploitation has occurred, specifically with the Spectre bug.


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Microsoft is proud of its Surface devices. Not only do they showcase Windows 10 and the various software services that are at the heart of Microsoft’s ongoing business plans, Surface also allows new technology and techniques to be pushed to the foreground. In this way Microsoft can push the trend of mobile computing closer to its own worldview.
The latest step looks to be improving the stylus designs for high-end laptops with touch screens.
Thanks to a patent simply titled “Stylus Capsule”, we can see that Microsoft has been working on interchangeable nibs to accommodate switching stylus tips into a stylus barrel. Mayank Parmar looks at the details:
A new patent has emerged online and it shows off a modular capsule for Surface Pen and other styli. The patent talks about a capsule of a stylus which is sized and shaped to fit within a housing of the stylus and is modular.
…The capsule is made of plastics material and it comprises cylindrical housing tapered at a tip end. The capsule has a stylus tip comprising a tip antenna and one antenna printed on an outer surface of the housing.
Strictly speaking you can already switch out the nibs on one of the Surface Pens, but this goes further than replacing the plastic part that makes contact with the screen, it replaces part of the electronics package.
That should allow for different types of stylus. We’ve already seen evidence of this approach in the specifications of the latest Surface Hubs which lists a specific ‘Surface Hub 2 Pen’. Given the focus on artistic and creative applications of Surface technology, how about an artists’ brush capsule to enhance a Surface Pen for the digital Bob Ross in your office?
Naturally, being a published patent does not mean that the technology will be given a public release, but Microsoft has always put a lot of effort in its touchscreen and stylus input technology to make it as natural and accurate as possible. Allowing for different types of styli to be incorporated into the Surface Pen makes sense.
With a new batch of Surface hardware expected to be announced early in Q4 2019, watch for any changes to the Surface Pen.


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The South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor has announced that it will achieve carbon neutral status by the year 2045. In conjunction with the IAA Mobility show in Munich, the company also declared that it’ll stop selling internal combustion powered cars in Europe in 2035.
Hyundai Motor, which consists of Hyundai and Kia in the United States and around the world, is adopting what it calls a holistic approach to carbon neutrality. It’ll look at clean mobility solutions, develop and implement next-generation platforms, and develop and work with green energy solutions.
“Climate change is an undeniable challenge that needs everyone’s utmost and urgent attention. Hyundai Motor commits to become carbon neutral in its global products and operations by 2045, and we will make investments in cleaner transportation and greener energy solutions to achieve a better and more sustainable future for all,” said Jay Chang, President and CEO of Hyundai Motor Company.
Addressing the clean mobility aspect of the process, the company is working on battery electric vehicles and fuel cell electric vehicles.
We’re familiar now with the company’s E-GMP architecture, and the next BEV to come from Hyundai after the Ioniq 5 is the appropriately named Ioniq 6. Based on the Prophecy EV concept, the car will focus on customized eco-friendly solutions for any type of lifestyle the buyer may have.
Hyundai is planning a large SUV powered by a fuel cell after 2025.
For next-generation platforms, we’ve already seen the Ioniq 5-based robotaxi. It’ll be in full driverless service in 2023. Additionally, the company is also working on an urban air mobility solution that’ll work in intracity routes in 2028, while connecting other cities in the 2030s. Urban air mobility, or UAM, is flying personal transport.
When talking green energy, Hyundai will continue working on green hydrogen solutions. That means using electrolysis from low-carbon power sources. Additionally, the brand is focusing on reducing carbon at its locations.
Additional development of vehicle-to-grid technology can help power companies balance the load of electric cars, supplying power to the grid during peak hours and then charging the cars during off-peak hours.
Finally, all of these batteries in these electric cars will need somewhere to go. Hyundai Motor is working on what it calls a Second Life Battery Storage System, or SLBESS. Even though batteries might not be viable in a car anymore, they can be used a variety of different ways to power commercial buildings, hospitals, or anything else that needs a backup or stable power source.


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Mediterranean diet reduced rate of cognitive decline and Alzheimer’s disease in older adults. So far, the Mediterranean diet has been acclaimed for its benefits to heart health, but much research has also shown its benefits to the brain.
The Mediterranean diet is full of fruits and vegetables, olive oil, whole grains, fish, and alcohol in moderation.
The study was conducted by researchers fever has been found that the Mediterranean diet can work to slow cognitive decline in the elderly. The study looked at more than 4,000 older adults who closely followed the Mediterranean style of eating.
The study results showed that most adheres to the diet had slower rates of cognitive decline, compared with participants whose eating habits to the Mediterranean diet has not looked as closely.
Participants underwent cognitive tests every three years and completed questionnaires about the frequency of consumption of 139 foods.
The maximum score a participant could have received was 55, indicating a complete adherence to the diet. The average score among participants was 28.
Lead study author Christy Tangney said, “It is always beneficial to eat healthily. But we’re finding more and more evidence that people who follow a Mediterranean diet have the right idea, because they are actually helping to prevent some the serious health problems that are common among older adults. ”
The Mediterranean diet works as follows:
- Seven to 10 servings of fruits and vegetables
- Whole grain breads and whole grain cereals, rice and pasta
- Nuts taken as snacks but limited due to high calorie count
- replaced butter and margarine with olive oil or canola oil
- Herbs and spices used for seasoning salt instead of
- limited to red meat only a few times a month
- fish and poultry a few times a month
- High-fat dairy products exchanged with skim milk or nonfat
- Moderate amounts of red wine
Apart from the foods you should eat, diet also emphasizes foods you should not eat, like processed foods and trans fats.
Mediterranean diet reduced the rates of cognitive impairment, reduced conversion to Alzheimer’s disease, and improvement of cognitive function
The Mediterranean diet has been shown to slow cognitive decline, reducing progression of Alzheimer’s disease and improve cognitive function. The researchers evaluated all available studies between 2000 and 2015 looking at the impact of diet on cognitive process over time.
Lead author Roy Hardman said. “The most surprising result was that the positive effects in countries around the world found themselves So regardless of being outside of what is considered the Mediterranean region, the effects positive cognitive greater adherence to a MedDiet were similar in all documents evaluated. “
“The MedDiet offers the opportunity to change some of the modifiable risk factors. These include reducing inflammatory responses, increased micronutrient improve vitamin and mineral imbalances, the change of lipid profiles by using olive oil as the main source of dietary fat, weight maintenance and potentially reducing obesity, improving polyphenols in the blood, improve metabolism of cellular energy and perhaps change the intestinal microbiota, although this does not has been examined further, however, “added Hardman.
The results also revealed that the benefits were not just for seniors, but could be extended to all people.
Mediterranean diet can reduce the loss of brain cells (brain atrophy) in old age: Previous study
The Mediterranean diet has been shown to reduce the loss of brain cells (brain atrophy) in old age. Researchers have found that eating too much meat can actually reduce the size of your brain, but the consumption similar to the Mediterranean diet can help keep the brain healthy in old age. The findings suggest that over 65 who consume more fish, fruits, vegetables, grains and olive oil, had a higher brain volume, compared with those who did not follow the diet.
Study author Dr. Yian Gu said: “It is encouraging to see that the more we stick to this Mediterranean diet, get more protection against brain atrophy [shrinkage] For people interested in diet and style. life that lead to better health, I think this is another study consistent with previous studies indicating that the Mediterranean diet is a healthy diet. “
Dr. Gu said the study itself does not imply causation between diet and brain volume, but reveals an association between the two.
In previous studies, it was found that the Mediterranean diet is beneficial in preventing Alzheimer’s disease.
Dr. Gu and his team divided 674 adults in two groups depending on how close their diet was to the Mediterranean diet. Each individual underwent an MRI to measure brain volume and thickness. The questionnaires also filled out to obtain information on their diet and eating patterns.
Those who do not follow the Mediterranean diet were found to have smaller brain volumes, equivalent to a five-year-old.
Dr. José Masdeu, the National Center for Alzheimer Nantz at Methodist Hospital in Houston, said: “I think the bottom line is clear a diet containing less meat and maybe more fish is good for you there…. negative studies [focusing on] Mediterranean diet as well, but there are several that confirm a positive effect. so it is provisional, but is the strongest preventive approach that we [promoting brain health] along with exercise. ”
Dr. Gu recommends eating three to five servings of fish a week and limiting other types of meat to 3.5 ounces per day for optimal brain protection.
Dr. Malaz Boustani of the American Federation for Aging Research said… “This is an encouraging study that really make us work harder to see how we can really encourage people to change their diet to accommodate the Mediterranean diet. “
The findings were published in neurology .


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Switzerland Franchise News
Check out the latest news regarding franchise opportunities in Switzerland.
Phenix Salon Suites, the nation’s leading salon suite brand turned international trailblazer, revealed its strategic global expansion plan, starting with its first British location in Manchester, which opened in early October.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts announced the opening of H2 Hotel Budapest, Trademark Collection by Wyndham.
Radisson Hotel Group Looks Back on 33 New Hotel Signings to Date in 2021 Across EMEA and Plans 30 Openings This Year
Radisson Hotel Group welcomes back guests this summer with exciting new hotel openings and new property signings, as the Group is ready for the rebound of holiday and business travel.
Sylvan Learning has formed an exclusive partnership with Ceylan Duru and her sister Gonca to open the 750-plus-unit franchise’s first locations in Turkey.
Popeyes® and Gulf First Fast Food Company Announce Plans to Grow Iconic Fried Chicken Restaurant Brand in Saudi Arabia
Popeyes® and Gulf First Fast Food Company ("Gulf First") are excited to announce a plan to develop and grow the Popeyes brand in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
Radisson Hotel Group Announces New Comprehensive COVID-19 Testing Program For Guests And For Meetings And Events
Radisson Hotel Group launches its new comprehensive testing program as the first hotel group to roll out a rapid testing service for meeting and event attendees at properties across its EMEA portfolio.
The Popeyes® brand and Jubilant Foodworks Limited announced exciting new plans to develop and open hundreds of Popeyes® restaurants across India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan.
Hyatt announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Alliance City LLC for the development of Hyatt Centric Boulevard Batumi.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) today announced plans to grow its brand portfolio in Europe significantly by the end of 2023.
Wyndham Hotels & Resorts is expanding its soft-branded Trademark Collection by Wyndham®, the fastest-growing brand in the Company’s portfolio, with new hotels across the U.S., Canada and Germany.
Hyatt Plans to Expand Global Luxury Portfolio With More Than 20 New Hotels and Resorts by the End of 2020
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that more than 20 new luxury hotels and resorts are expected to open worldwide by the end of 2020, boosting Hyatt’s luxury portfolio.
Ateeb brings more than 16 years of experience in the hospitality sector to his new role, including three years as general manager with Six Senses Ninh Van Bay.
ranchise Update Media, in collaboration with MFV/Comexposium, will host their 2nd European Master & Multi-Unit Franchising Conference at the historic Hotel Savoyen in Vienna, Austria on January 28-29, 2020.
Six Senses Hotels Resorts Spas is pleased to announce the appointment of Michael Gaehler as the general manager of Six Senses Uluwatu, Bali.
Hyatt Hotels Corporation (NYSE: H) announced today that a Hyatt affiliate has entered into a management agreement with Resort 4 SA, owned by Ben Golf Investissements SA, for Europe’s first Alila branded resort.
IHG® (InterContinental Hotels Group), one of the world’s leading hotel companies, today announced the promotion of Joanna Kurowska to Director Operations Luxury & Managed, Northern Europe
Hilton Garden Inn, Hilton’s (NYSE: HLT) globally recognized upscale hotel brand, is celebrating strong growth in Africa with four open properties and an additional 14 in the pipeline just three years after opening its first hotel on the continent...
Signarama, the world's largest sign franchise, has announced its expansion into Quebec, Canada's largest province by area - and a territory nearly three times the size of Texas.
For those wishing to truly immerse themselves into local culture, arts and festivities, Carnival is the perfect time to explore many cities across the world.
Pizza Hut, a division of Yum! Brands, Inc. announced a strategic deal and master franchise alliance to accelerate growth across Latin America (excluding Brazil), the Caribbean, Spain (including Andorra), Portugal and Switzerland.
Following the success of the first Johnny Rockets in Italy, Johnny Rockets is announcing the opening of a second restaurant located in Lonato del Garda.
Creative Learning Corporation is pleased to announce that Bricks 4 Kidz has again made significant in international sales, expanding further into Europe and Asia with new master franchises in Italy and Mongolia.
Dunkin’ Donuts today announced that it has signed a master franchise agreement with Amba Daoud B.V. to begin developing Dunkin’ Donuts restaurants in The Netherlands.
RE/MAX, the world’s most productive real estate network, continues its worldwide growth with a recent expansion into Norway and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.
Dunkin’ Donuts announced today that it has made significant strides in its European expansion efforts in 2015 with the opening of 55 net new restaurants with its franchisees across the region.
Hurricane Grill & Wings®, a beach-themed full-service restaurant franchise, announced the opening of its first international location in the suburbs of Milan on January 29.
Hurricane Grill & Wings® announced today that it concluded 2015 with 12 new locations and a record 10 new multi-unit development agreements.
Hurricane Grill & Wings®, a beach-themed full service restaurant franchise, continues its national expansion with the opening of its first California location in the city of Antioch.
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New reports show that the market for hemp in the U.S. could grow even faster than it has been in 2019 after the Department of Agriculture introduces new rules this month.
Initial market analysis has placed the value of new American hemp markets very highly, with Markets and Markets projecting that the hemp industry could be worth $39.4 billion by 2023. Past projections of the CBD trade by the Brightfield Group said that sector could be worth $22 billion by 2022.
Those Brightfield projections didn’t incorporate the wider uses of the hemp plant, which include textiles, plastics and other innovations Americans have been missing out on for decades while hemp was unfairly prohibited.
Now, farmers, scientists and entrepreneurs of all stripes are turning to cash in on a green wave of cannabis crops and CBD products.
People all over America are flocking to CBD retailers for their chronic pain, anxiety, insomnia and a long list of other issues.
As an influx of businesses flood the market for hemp and CBD products, its understandable why the prospect is at once exciting, attractive and confusing.
Navigating the web of federal, state and banking regulations swirling around the cannabis industry in an amorphous but intimidating posture is daunting.
Many first time entrepreneurs need resources to make the venture more palatable, even as they become convinced of the promise in CBD and hemp.
This is why Nothing But Hemp and its licensing program has been such an unmatched success in recent months. With locations in Florida, Nevada, Minnesota, and a consistently expanding user and licensee base, Nothing But Hemp has the perfect mix of features for those interested in cannabis entrepreneurship.
As licensees of Nothing But Hemp, owners can be totally free to mold their store or kiosk after their own tastes while marshaling the CBD products, know-how, branding and management assistance they can only find with the company’s experienced staff with years in the retail and marijuana trades.
From advertising and marketing assistance, cannabis education sessions at the Nothing But Hemp headquarters or a new licensee’s location, plus banking resources to make sure businesses are off and running from the start, Nothing But Hemp continues to innovate and offer opportunities for excited investors.
The business-in-a-box model makes it easy to start a Nothing But Hemp location with minimal obstructions and at a range of prices to fit each owner’s needs.
For more information about the cannabis market or licensing opportunities at Nothing But Hemp, check out the links below.


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Eugene, Ore.-based Papé Machinery Agriculture & Turf bought Longview’s Chinook Sales & Rentals John Deere Dealership, it announced Thursday.
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed, according to a press release. This is the fifth location Papé Machinery Agriculture & Turf has bought in Washington and the 23rd overall in the past eight years, according to a press release.
“Papé Machinery Agriculture & Turf is pleased to welcome Chinook Sales & Rentals to the Papé team, where for 80 years we have built a reputation for always keeping our customers moving forward,” President Ryan Papé said in the press release.
Former Chinook Sales & Rentals owner Jeff Trass said in the release that “joining Papé is an excellent opportunity for employees and customers, alike.”
“We have been proud to serve our customers in the region since 1979,” Trass said. “Like Chinook Sales & Rentals, Papé Machinery Agriculture & Turf is a family-owned and operated business, with a sharp focus on delivering unparalleled customer service and solutions.”
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A tourist information centre in west Cornwall which closed in May because it was too expensive to run is to reopen.
The St Ives centre is to have a four-month trial financed by the town before any decision is made about its long-term future, the town council says.
However, it added that it reckoned it would cost £40,000 a year to run and it would need local businesses to sign up at a cost of £100 each to finance it.
The centre, in the Guildhall, will reopen later this month.
The office, which was previously operated by Visit Cornwall, receives between 80,000 and 100,000 visitors a year.
Town clerk Louise Dowe said there were advantages to businesses joining the newly renamed Visitor and Information Centre.
She said: "They get to be included on the listings available from the centre and on the website.
"Accommodation providers can also be included on a booking system, which will hopefully bring a lot of last-minute customers to them.
"It would be ideal if everybody could join. We're working on the idea that the more funding we've got, the better service we can provide."
Deputy mayor Colin Nicholls said he believed local businesses realised they were "in the real world, so we have to pay for such services".
He said: "We must be prepared to put our hands in our pockets to help visitors."
The fates of two other Visit Cornwall-operated centres in Penzance and Falmouth - whose closures in May were announced at the same as the St Ives office - are currently not known.


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To mitigate the impact of COVID-19 and protect the capacity of New Jersey’s health care system for the state’s most vulnerable individuals, Gov. Phil Murphy on March 21 signed Executive Order No. 107, directing all residents to stay at home until further notice.
The order provides for certain exceptions, such as obtaining essential goods or services, seeking medical attention, visiting family or close friends, reporting to work, or engaging in outdoor activities, according to a press release from the governor’s office.
“From day one, we have made a commitment to be guided by the facts and take any action necessary to protect the health and safety of New Jersey’s nine million residents,” Murphy said.
“We know the virus spreads through person-to person contact and the best way to prevent further exposure is to limit our public interactions to only the most essential purposes. This is a time for us all to come together in one mission to ‘flatten the curve’ and slow – and eventually halt – the spread of coronavirus,” he said.
In an effort to strengthen the existing social distancing measures in place, the order also prohibits all gatherings of individuals, such as parties, celebrations, or other social events, unless otherwise authorized by the order.
When in public, individuals must practice social distancing and stay at least 6 feet apart whenever possible, excluding immediate family members, caretakers, household members, or romantic partners, according to the press release.
Murphy’s Executive Order further directs the closure of all non-essential retail businesses to the public, with the exceptions of:
• Grocery stores, farmer’s markets and farms that sell directly to customers, and other food stores, including retailers that offer a varied assortment of foods comparable to what exists at a grocery store; Pharmacies and medical marijuana dispensaries; Medical supply stores;
Also, Gas stations; Convenience stores; Ancillary stores within healthcare facilities; Hardware and home improvement stores; Banks and other financial institutions; Laundromats and dry-cleaning services; Stores that principally sell supplies for children under five years;
And, Pet stores; Liquor stores; Car dealerships, but only for auto maintenance and repair, and auto mechanics; Printing and office supply shops; and Mail and delivery stores.
Nothing in the order limits the provision of health care or medical services; access to essential services for low-income residents, such as food banks; the operations of the media; law enforcement agencies; or the operations of the federal government.
The order mandates that all businesses or nonprofit organizations, wherever practicable, must accommodate their workforce for telework or work-from-home arrangements.
To the extent a business or nonprofit has employees who cannot perform their functions via telework or work-from-home arrangements, the business or nonprofit should make best efforts to reduce staff on site to the minimal number necessary to ensure essential operations can continue, according to the press release.
The Order continues existing bans on recreational and entertainment businesses, requirements that all restaurants operate by delivery and takeout only, and the directive that all pre-K, elementary and secondary schools close, and all institutions of higher education cease in-person instruction.


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Eight years after the first iPhone came out, Americans are starting to seek products that help them cut back on their mobile phone use.
The New York Times reports that the proliferation of smartphones has resulted in massive amounts of time spent staring at a mobile screen. eMarketer has found that more than half of the American population owns a smartphone and, moreover, that many owners spend on average three hours a day looking at their screens or searching in search engines.
The three hours do not reflect the amount of time users actually spend talking on their phones.
Another Bank of America survey found that close to 33% of smartphone users claim to “constantly” check their phones and that 67% go to bed with their phones by their side. A separate survey from another company shows that nearly two-thirds of consumers are more likely to purchase products from a website that is mobile-compatible.
As a result of what some consider to be an over-dependence on smartphone use, some companies are developing products and services (including, ironically, smartphone apps) to wean users off.
“Technology has evolved so quickly that we have spiraled out of control and nobody has stopped to think about how this is going to impact our lives,” said Kate Unsworth, the founder of Kovert, a British company that makes “high-tech jewelry” which filters out all but the most important smartphone features, such as phone calls and texts.
The products companies like Kovert make can be categorized as “wearable technology,” which encourages users to look at their phones less. Apple was one of the first major technology companies to offer such technology when it released the Apple Watch. Since then, other prominent companies like Google and Levi’s announced their intention to make “high tech clothing” capable of, among other things, turning off a ringing phone by swiping their jacket cuff.
“If there is a chance to enable the clothes that we already love to help us facilitate access to the best and most necessary of this digital world while maintaining eye contact with the person we’re eating dinner with, this is a real value,” said Paul Dillinger, Head of Global Product Innovation at Levi’s.


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Heineken has gained full operational control of United Breweries Limited (UBL) in India following the acquisition of additional shares in the Kingfisher lager owner in June.
The decision comes after UBL’s annual general meeting on 29 July and will see UBL become an operating company of Heineken.
On 23 June, Heineken acquired an additional 39.6 million ordinary shares in UBL – taking its shareholding interest from 46.5% to 61.5%.
As part of the Heineken group, the Dutch brewer says Kingfisher will become a top five global brand.
According to Heineken, India offers an exciting long-term growth opportunity as per capita beer consumption is low at 2 litres per year. Meanwhile, the company added that the growing population includes a strong emerging middle class which will enable further premiumisation.
“UBL has a proud history dating back more than a century as an influential shaper of the beer industry in India,” said Dolf van den Brink, chairman and CEO of Heineken.
He added: “It built its position as the undisputed market leader in India with a strong network of breweries across the country and a fantastic portfolio led by its iconic Kingfisher brand family, complemented more recently by a strong Heineken international brand portfolio.
“We are honoured to build on this legacy and look forward to working with our colleagues at UBL to continue to win in the market, delight consumers and customers and unlock future growth.”
Heineken expects the consolidation of UBL will have a small accretive effect on its EPS and a dilutive effect on operating profit margin.
The company released its half-year financial results today, posting 109.3% organic growth in operating profit.
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We all have fond memories of Pink Dot, which came to the rescue on many a youthful night when suddenly – gasp! – we found ourselves completely out of beer and in desperate need of a roast beef sandwich at 1 in the morning.
PD only serves Venice and West Hollywood now, but late-night food-and-booze delivery is apparently enjoying a renaissance in Orange County. First came Midnight Muncheez, and now a service called HB Liquor Liquor has debuted.
Despite the Surf City-centric name, owner Robert Khamis tells me he’s expanded deliveries to Sunset Beach, Fountain Valley and Westminster. Hours are 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday-Saturday (his site says otherwise and needs updating, he tells me).
Besides snacks, beer and hard liquor, Khamis says he’s going to be teaming up with restaurants to deliver Philly cheese-steaks, Mexican food and pizza. There is a $4.99 delivery charge, and alcohol prices are marked up a bit, but the trade-off is worse, as is made clear by the company slogan: “Better Than a DUI.”
(Keep reading to print coupons for a $1 six-pack and a $5 twelve-pack.)Editor’s note: Jeff Overley co-writes the Register’s Food Frenzy review blog.
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16 Apr 2020
Sector responses range from new research initiatives and partnerships, to gifts of safety equipment, tech and financial assistance.FLIR Systems has announced the A400/A700 thermal smart sensor and thermal image camera solutions for monitoring equipment, production lines, critical infrastructure, and screening for elevated skin temperatures. The smart cameras provide non-contact temperature monitoring across a range of disciplines including health and safety.
FLIR said that the A400/A700 Thermal Smart Sensor solution “initially will be prioritized for those responding to Covid-19. For all applications, the series offers multi-image streaming, edge computing, and Wi-Fi connectivity to help speed data flow and enable faster decisions, improving productivity and safety for professionals.”
The A400/A700 cameras are designed with two configurations. The Thermal Smart Sensor configuration, recommended for measuring elevated skin temperatures, incorporates advanced measurement tools and alarms with edge computing to enable faster critical decisions.
Jim Cannon, President and CEO, commented, "As the world works together to face the global Covid-19 pandemic, FLIR will prioritize initial deliveries of this new A-series camera to professionals using it in elevated skin temperature screening as an adjunct to other elevated body temperature screening tools to help to fight the spread of the virus."
FLIR is now in beta testing phase for an automated elevated skin temperature screening software solution integrated with its US FDA-certified thermal cameras. The solution is designed to rapidly increase the accuracy, ease-of-use, and speed of existing screening procedures.
EOS, a developer of industrial 3D printing systems of metals and polymers, has launched an online platform 3dagainstcorona and LinkedIn group to support the battle against Covid-19. The company stated, “We want to thank the additive manufacturing community that has been working to find solutions for the fight against Corona.
“At EOS, we have leveraged our global network so our open platform initiative features relevant data, impactful projects, and offers valuable files free to download and ready to print. All of these are designed to support pandemic-fighting and life-saving approaches. The 3DAgainstCorona site will be updated on a regular basis.”
Marie Langer, CEO of EOS, commented, “The current pandemic now calls for a joint approach, more than ever before. Today, we are asking all partners to join us in tackling the challenges. Let's do what our technology enables us to do. One of the most valuable benefits additive manufacturing can contribute is that it can reduce dependence on traditional supply chains. Based on AM, critical shortages can be more rapidly addressed.
“Data can be shared or sent across the globe and products can be 3D printed where they are most needed. Current activities range from filling critical needs, to helping repurpose existing equipment or providing rapid tooling for traditional manufacturing."
Israeli defense company Elbit Systems, which also manufactures electro-optic and countermeasures systems, announced that it is closely monitoring the development of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impacts on employees, customers and suppliers, as well as on the global economy.
He added, “Our 2019 year-end financial results from March 25, 2020, indicated that the pandemic has not had a material impact on the company. Subsequently some of our businesses have begun to experience disruptions. We are monitoring these businesses closely and plan to update the market in due course. We have initiated a series of cost control measures to help limit the financial impact.”
'$50 million available'
The US Department of Commerce’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has launched the application process for $50 million in grants to help manufacturers respond to the Covid-19 pandemic. Using funds authorized by the CARES Act signed by President Trump in March, NIST will issue awards to Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) centers in all 50 US states and Puerto Rico for Covid-19-related projects.
“The MEP centers have the expertise to help client companies make the products needed to fight this pandemic, and to help manufacturers across the supply chain to weather this storm,” commented Under Secretary of Commerce for Standards and Technology and NIST Director Walter Copan.
Through a formal Request for Applications, NIST MEP centers may apply for a portion of nearly $50 million allocated to support new projects, which will not require matching nonfederal funds. Successful applications will allow MEP centers to help manufacturers recover from workforce and supply chain interruptions; apply for private insurance claims and disaster loans from the Small Business Administration; and access resources at the federal, state and local level.Luna Innovations has joined forces with its Charlottesville neighbor, shoemaker OESH, to manufacture flexible 3D printed respirator masks for use during the Covid-19 pandemic N95 respirator mask shortage.
OESH is using its 3D printers and expertise designing around body features along with flexible, plastic material to produce the masks, which have a tight seal around the edges. The facemask can be used when there are no certified N95 masks available. Luna is welding the masks together, adding an aluminum strip on the nose and distributing them.
Hamamatsu supports remote pathology initiative
Inspirata, a cancer informatics and digital pathology solution provider, announced earlier this week its free remote pathology initiative, available to healthcare institutions looking to provide flexibility to their staff during the pandemic. In an important boost to this campaign, Inspirata is now joined by two industry partners, Hamamatsu and KiKo Knowledge Hub. Hamamatsu will provide its Whole Slide Image scanner, Nanozoomer, to scan glass slides submitted by institutions for research and secondary consults (the device will not be used for any primary human diagnosis).
The founders of KiKo knowledge hub, a knowledge sharing platform for pathologists and other physicians, will leverage their pathology practitioners' expertise to ensure successful scanning and processing of all received pathology slides. "This is an important validation of our efforts to support the community. Our successful previous digital pathology collaborations make Hamamatsu and KiKo optimal partners for this initiative," said Mark Lloyd, EVP and Founder of Inspirata.
High power fiber laser manufacturer IPG Photonics has worked with local health authorities and government agencies around the world to lend support “in any way we can during the global Covid-19 pandemic”. In February, IPG donated $250,000 to local China organizations to support the aid and welfare of communities hardest hit by the corona virus. This donation benefited the Hope Project, operated by the China Youth Development Foundation that used the funds to provide aid and assistance directly to 200 China-based families.
As the pandemic reached the neighborhoods and communities surrounding IPG global headquarters in Massachusetts, the company identified local hospitals and organizations that could benefit from its assistance. IPG says it found that many of the smaller and local institutions struggled to receive support to keep their workers on the frontline safe.
As a result IPG Photonics committed its resources to procure 30,000 N-95 protective masks for local health care professionals and first responders in the greatest need. These protective masks were distributed in early April to multiple hospitals and other first responders in Massachusetts and Rhode Island.
IDL states, on its website, “Although the International Day of Light recognizes the anniversary of first laser operation on 16 May, events throughout 2020 can still take place with official recognition as an IDL2020 activity.
“So instead of cancelling outright, at this stage you may wish to simply announce rescheduling to a later date to be confirmed once we see how the global situation develops." Further information is available on the IDL Events website.