text:
The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry by Misha Warbanski
Take a look around your bathroom. The average North American woman uses 10 or more personal care products every day.
From toothpaste and soap to antiperspirant and moisturizer, personal care products are made from 10,500 chemical ingredients that are as much a part of our daily routine as sitting down to breakfast.
And like most things that happen before a mug of morning coffee, it’s easy not to think about them too much. But researchers and women’s health activists are sounding the alarm bell about the makeup of makeup.
Women and girls are particularly susceptible to exposure to certain chemicals that mimic hormone activity. Because our bodies have a greater percentage of fat in comparison to men, chemicals that are fat-soluble are more easily absorbed. Breast tissue is one such site where chemicals can accumulate.
“As more and more women are diagnosed with cancer, we have to question, where is this all coming from?” posits Carol Secter, a board member of Breast Cancer Action Montreal. With an emphasis on breast cancer prevention, Secter’s group is part of a North America-wide movement to have harmful chemicals banned from personal care and household products.
Increasingly, science is pointing out that exposure to many of these chemicals—including parabens used to preserve antiperspirants and creams, and phthalates added to perfumes and nail polish—may harm our health. A 2004 study of breast tumours by Dr. Phillippa Darbre, from the University of Reading in the U.K., and published in the Journal of Applied Toxicology, found parabens in each of 20 samples.
This led researchers to suspect that parabens, which mimic estrogen when absorbed through the skin, may play a role in the development of breast cancer. The researchers suspected the parabens came from underarm deodorants; however, they concluded that more research is needed. While parabens aren’t restricted in Canada, many manufacturers are going paraben-free because of consumer demand.
Now banned in the European Union, phthalates are another common ingredient in personal care products suspected in a variety of health problems from liver malfunction to low testosterone levels and low sperm counts in men. In 2002, researchers in Chicago tested 72 brand-name cosmetics and found that 52 contained phthalates, a compound that helps cosmetics stay put without smudging.
Phthalates are also used to make perfumes and soaps. Scientists suspect the absorption of cosmetics through the skin could explain why young women in one study had 20 times the level of phthalates in their body compared to young men. Seventy years ago, the first cosmetics law in the U.S. banned the use of coal tar dye in mascara after the ingredient was found to cause blindness.
Today, the accumulation of chemicals found in personal care products may affect men and women’s offspring. In August 2005, researchers, including University of Rochester epidemiologist Shanna Swan, published the first study to examine prenatal exposure to phthalates. The study found that the development of the genitals of boys whose mothers had high levels of phthalates in their bodies was less complete compared to those exposed to lower levels. Swan believes phthalate exposure may be contributing to increasing rates of male infertility and testicular cancer.
In response to a growing concern about the risks associated with personal care products, Health Canada now requires personal care product manufactures to list product ingredients by the end of the year. The department also maintains a hotlist of already restricted and banned chemicals. The hotlist was expanded in 2003 from less than 100 to almost 500 after reviewing some chemicals that are restricted in the E.U.
However, no independent testing is done prior to a new product hitting the shelves in Canada—manufacturers are only required to submit a list of product ingredients. This is just one reason critics are demanding that the precautionary principle be imposed on Canada’s $3.5-billion personal care industry.
“There is no review to ensure the list on the label is accurate,” says Madeleine Bird, a researcher at McGill University’s Centre for Research and Teaching on Women. Bird cites a Danish study on parabens that discovered that contents listed on a product’s label were different from the makeup of the product, which sometimes had much higher concentrations.
“Some check and balance is needed,” adds Bird. However, health activists say harmful chemicals shouldn’t be there, period. Formaldehyde, benzene and lead are associated with not only cancer, but endometriosis, birth defects and developmental disabilities in children. Coal tars used in hair dye have long been associated with liver cancer. Petroleum distillates, a suspected human carcinogen banned in the E.U., are still in use in North America.
According to the Washington-based Environmental Working Group, 89 percent of ingredients in personal care products have never been assessed for safety. Breast Cancer Action Montreal figures Canada would be roughly similar, as ingredients were grandfathered into use in Canada without being tested for safety. Under the 1999 Environmental Protection Act, Health Canada and Environment Canada are reviewing more than 23,000 chemicals that were never tested for safety.
Until recently, the contents of personal care products have been a mystery. While the Canadian government requires food manufacturers to list ingredients on packaging, cosmetics and personal care products have historically been exempt. Last November, Canada caught up with the United States and European Union and will require the contents of personal care products to be labelled by the end of the year. Retail outlets and manufacturers were given a year’s grace to sell off unlabelled products.
Still, Dr. Samuel Epstein, coauthor of The Safe Shopper’s Bible and head of the Cancer Prevention Coalition, has said that the labelling will be meaningless to anyone without a pharmacology degree. Secter agrees.
“I don’t want to go shopping for my body products, my cosmetics, with a chemical dictionary telling me this one’s okay, this one’s not. I want to be able to walk in and buy it off the shelf with the understanding that it’s safe.”
In Europe, Secter would be better protected. The European Union bans more than 1,100 chemicals from personal care products because they may cause cancer, birth defects or reproductive problems. In stark contrast, just nine chemicals are banned from cosmetics in the United States; Canada follows U.S. standards.
Women in California won a recent victory with the passage of the Safe Cosmetics Act, which takes effect later this year. The law compels manufacturers to disclose product ingredients if they are on state or federal lists of chemicals associated with cancer and birth defects. Importantly, California’s bill also contains provisions designed to protect the safety of nail-salon and cosmetology workers who handle solvents, chemical solutions and glues.
In the rest of North America, governments remain slow to regulate, so activists and consumers are taking the matter into their own hands, using the power of the pocketbook to pressure companies to change their formulas. “Information is something that can be very empowering,” says Bird, who completed her degree in women’s studies and is now working to raise awareness about chemicals so that individuals can reduce their own exposure, seek out alternatives and demand change.
Abby Lippman, a professor of epidemiology at McGill University, says the answer for her is simple: “If you can’t say it, don’t wear it.” Although not using cosmetics may seem like a simple answer, Lippman doesn’t expect most women will suddenly stop using them. “I don’t want to make women who are wearing makeup sound like victims when they’re making a conscious decision,” says Lippman, who is also a member of Breast Cancer Action Montreal.
“But when they make a conscious decision, I want them to be able to be aware of what they’re putting on their bodies, and I want them to have access to the safest products. We need good choices, not just an array of some worse than others.”
Deciding which products are safest can be a time-consuming task. Designed to make those decisions easier, the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep report created a searchable database of personal care products and ingredients. The Working Group’s information looks at American brands and formulas, most of which are sold in Canada.
The group created fact sheets that identify which chemicals and which companies to avoid. Revlon, Estée Lauder, Avon, L’Oreal and Johnson & Johnson are ranked in the group’s top 20 of concern. Chanel cosmetics are not tested on animals, but the group gives them the number two rating of brands to avoid, citing a lack of safety data available for the ingredients used.
In 2006, The Body Shop announced it would phase out the use of phthalates from its products and packaging, but the company still uses parabens, which are not among the 37 top ingredients of top concern on Skin Deep’s list. With its custom shopping list feature, Skin Deep provides consumers with information to enable them to choose the safest products. The website offers suggestions on where to find that elusive non-toxic lipstick or deodorant and lists over 300 companies that either don’t use harmful chemicals or have pledged to eliminate ingredients related to cancer, birth anomalies or hormonal disruption within three years.
Companies like The Body Shop, Burt’s Bees and Afterglow Cosmetics have signed on. However, the industry’s major players such as Avon, Estee Lauder, L’Oreal, Revlon and Proctor and Gamble, are notably absent. According to the Environmental Working Group cosmetics report, hair colour, nail polish and nail treatments contain some of the most toxic chemicals. One product in particular, OPI natural nail strengthener, received the highest hazard rating of all 14,100 products in the database. The company’s nail polish and nail treatments contain toluene, formalde-hyde and dibutyl phthalate—three of the top ingredients of concern.
Of particular concern are products aimed at black consumers that promise lighter skin and straighter hair. Not only do these products impose a white standard of beauty that is harmful, but many hair relaxers and skin lighteners contain ingredients linked to cancer, early puberty and other ailments. For example, hydroquinone, a skin whitener, is deemed a carcinogen by the E.U. While not permitted in Canada in cosmetics, hydroquinone is available in products classified as drugs in Canada.
Black women under 40 have a higher breast cancer incidence compared to white women of a similar age, and studies have noted that many of these products are used starting in childhood, prolonging exposure. The cosmetics industry says it can regulate itself and lobbies for fewer, not more, regulations.
Organizations like Breast Cancer Action Montreal aren’t waiting for industry to change its practices voluntarily. That’s why the organization has launched letter-writing campaigns to four cosmetics companies—Unilever, Johnson & Johnson, Avon and Estée Lauder—the big names that have been stubborn about changing their ingredients. Until we can get all toxic ingredients banned from personal care products, a generous application of consumer pressure may be our best bet. -30-
The Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Report: www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2 Campaign for Safe Cosmetics: www.safecosmetics.org Cosmetic Ingredient Hotlist: www.hc-sc.gc.ca/cps-spc/person/cosmet/hotlist-liste_e.html
What’s on the Ingredient List?
If personal care ingredients are not listed, you can request content information from the manufacturer. Check the Environmental Working Group’s Campaign for Safe Cosmetics report Skin Deep to get details on specific ingredients and to find safer products. Hotlisted ingredients in Canada may be subject to limitations in their concentration or can still turn up in products categorized as drugs, like antiperspirant and anti-dandruff shampoos.
These are some ingredients to avoid: LEAD ACETATE Found in some hair dye, and cleansers, lead acetate is hotlisted in Canada and banned in the E.U. Lead acetate is a reproductive and developmental toxin.
FORMALDEHYDE Found in some nail products, antibacterial soaps and foundations, formaldehyde is a carcinogen restricted in Canada.
TOLUENE Found in some nail polish and hardeners. It is suspected of being a reproductive or developmental toxin. One form, Toluene-2,4-diamine, is prohibited in Canada.
PARABENS A class of preservatives commonly found in moisturizers, deodorants and many personal care products. Methlyparaben, butlyparaben, isobutylparaben and propylbaraben are classed as endocrine disruptors in Skin Deep.
PETROLEUM DISTILLATES Found in mascara, perfume, lipstick and foundation, petroleum distillates are a suspected carcinogen.
COAL TAR Found in dark hair dyes and antidandruff shampoo, coal tars are carcinogenic and permitted in hair dyes in Canada when accompanied by a warning.
DIBUTYL PHTHALATE Found in nail products. All phthalates are banned in the E.U., but not restricted in Canada. Dibutyl phthalate is an endocrine disruptor and suspected to reproductive toxin.
Source: Environmental Working Group Campaign for Safe Cosmetics


text:
Hong Kong News
A whole world on a single island
Sunday, Sep 20, 2020
Best of all, it’s in Hong Kong
Add Your News
The Hidden Reasons People Spend Too Much
Researchers are beginning to discover why you can break your budget despite getting all the basics right.
Quote of the Day
Stop chasing the money and start chasing the passion.
Cosmetic surgery platform SoYoung opens internet hospital
China's leading online cosmetic surgery platform SoYoung is foraying into internet hospital sector as part of its efforts to extend its presence in online consumer healthcare.
Ant Group’s IPO wins swift approval from Shanghai’s Star Market
Shanghai’s speedy approval of Ant Group’s IPO paperwork showcases China’s eagerness to attract fast-growing technology companies to its markets as it competes with the US for te...
Bars open to brisk business on Friday after two-month closure
Anti-pandemic measures, such as limiting two customers to a table in bars, have been put in place at the nightlife venues to ensure public health safety.
Top Glove looks to list in Hong Kong after 'supernormal' pandemic demand
Malaysia's Top Glove Corporation Bhd TPGC.KL said it planned to list in Hong Kong within six to nine months after "supernormal" demand for disposable gloves during the COVID-19 ...
China poised to be only G20 country with positive economic output in 2020
Bringing the coronavirus under control quickly with strict lockdown measures has ensured that China will see a ‘stable environment for the continued recovery of the domestic eco...
Chinese companies making tentative return to Hong Kong’s offices
As Asia’s third-largest capital market, Hong Kong is where hundreds of mainland Chinese companies go to raise capital, and where thousands of multinational companies locate thei...
Hong Kong raises loan cap for SMEs, extends repayment period
The maximum loan for SMEs has been doubled to 12 months of employee wages and rents, while the loan repayment period has been extended by two years.
China’s digital sovereign currency tests give it a leg up on global peers
Beijing’s ambition to create a digital yuan used globally underscores its attempts to prepare for the future of the international monetary system amid economic decoupling with t...
Livestreams Are the Future of Shopping in America
The U.S. has been slow to shop via live online video, but the coronavirus sparked interest: “It’s basically digitizing QVC and HSN.”
Oracle confirms it has a deal to become TikTok’s ‘technology partner’
Proposal comes just ahead of US President Trump’s threat to ban the video-sharing app on national security grounds; Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin says the plan will undergo ...
Hong Kong lays out discounts and giveaways to spur shoppers to spend
It’s too early to tell if promotions are enough to get shoppers back to spending money at shopping centres, analysts said, as remaining social-distancing rules and the absence o...
Huge 'Bitcoin Tram' Ad Campaign and 20 Billboards Flood Hong Kong's Financial District
A massive Bitcoin ad campaign has launched in the heart of Hong Kong's financial district, featuring three Bitcoin trams and 20 matching billboards. It is a community initiative...
Market watchdog looking into Next Digital share surge, insider says
Securities and Futures Commission says in a rare statement it is ready to offer help with police investigation.
Cathay Pacific shuns subsidies, job cuts likely to follow
Hong Kong's Cathay Pacific Airways said on Friday it would not apply for further government employment subsidies for its main business units, freeing up its ability to make majo...
Crowds return to struggling Hong Kong businesses as social distancing eased
Ice-skating rinks, game centres, and museums among venues allowed to reopen on Friday. Restaurants also benefit as number of people allowed to sit together is raised from two to...
Lay-offs loom as Hong Kong’s Cathay Pacific, Cathay Dragon to forgo wage relief
Accepting city’s coronavirus wage relief means agreeing to not let staff go, something the embattled airlines are not prepared to do as they eye future.
Standard Chartered to merge businesses, shrink some senior roles
Standard Chartered to combine retail banking, private banking and wealth management under one umbrella headed by Judy Hsu, regional CEO for Asean and South Asia.
Federal Report Warns of Financial Havoc From Climate Change
Climate crisis could cause economic recession ‘like we’ve never seen before’. A report commissioned by President Trump’s Commodity Futures Trading Commission issued dire warning...
Hong Kong in travel bubble talks with 11 countries across Asia, Europe
Government to relax social-distancing measures in city, allowing number of businesses and venues to reopen from Friday, as officials reveal they are discussing opening up travel...
Hong Kong tycoon moving out of China
Li Ka-shing is selling two properties in Beijing and Shanghai worth $10 billion in the latest sign he is pulling out of mainland China, where his ties to power appear to have we...
Subscribe also to our WhatsApp channel:
Hong Kong News
Add Your News

domain: news


text:
The Internet of Things to bring a new economic boom by Patrick Thibodeau
The Internet of Things (IoT) may be more significant in reshaping the competitive landscape than the arrival of the Internet. Its productivity potential is so powerful it will deliver a new era of prosperity.
That's the argument put forth by Michael Porter, an economist at the Harvard Business School and James Heppelmann, president and CEO of PTC, in a recent Harvard Business Review essay. PTC is a product design software firm that recently acquired machine-to-machine (M2M) firm Axeda Corp.
In the past 50 years, IT has delivered two major transformations or "waves," as the authors describe it. The first came in the 1960s and 1970s, with IT-enabled process automation, computer-aided design and manufacturing resource planning. The second was the Internet and everything it delivered. The third is IoT.
With IoT, "IT is becoming an integral part of the product itself," wrote Porter and Heppelmann. It is doing this by infusing sensors, processors and software in every product imaginable and coupling it with analytics. That combination will change how businesses operate, how they deliver their products and how interact with customers.
"Another leap in productivity in the economy will be unleashed by these new and better products," Porter and Heppelmann argue. "The third wave of IT-driven transformation thus has the potential to be the biggest yet, triggering even more innovation, productivity gains, and economic growth than the previous two."
That's a strikingly sweeping claim and there will no doubt be contrarians to Porter and Heppelmann's view. But what analysts are clear about is that IoT development today is at an early stage, perhaps at a point similar to 1995, the same year Amazon and eBay went online, followed by Netflix in 1997 and Google in 1998. People understood the trend at the time, but the big picture was still out of focus.
Alfonso Velosa, research director of IoT at Gartner, believes a fundamental change is coming, but at a more distant horizon -- 10 or 20 years out. The interest in IoT is happening now because all the necessary ingredients, the semiconductors, sensors, software, communications, "have all come to align us on this path," he said.
Velosa said IoT-related industry changes are just beginning. Usage-based insurance, for instance, based on mileage and driving behaviors, was a new thing just five years ago. Today it's a real option.
It "highlights how an industry can change in five years," said Velosa, "but it also points to the fact that we have just barely scratched the surface."
The IoT is premised on the idea that products can become smart, and can communicate with each other on your behalf. Every product becomes part of a service, and no product will have significance as an independent entity, said Fiona McNeill, global product marketing manager at SAS, an analytics software firm.
To illustrate, SAS is working with a truck maker and is using IoT technologies coupled with predictive analytics to determine when a part might fail. It can now predict failure 30 days in advanced and with a 90% accuracy rate, said McNeill. That type of capability is being added to high-value equipment, such as locomotives, medical equipment and oil and gas equipment, but eventually will find its way into wearables, she said.
The IoT's potential may be hard to realize because it takes imagination to consider how products change once they are enabled. What's done with the data? What services does it create? What new products emerge from it? Are you now competing on price or services (or both)?
All the recent advances -- cloud computing, mobility and big data -- either extended or replaced existing business operations, said Seth Robinson, senior director of technology analysis at IT trade association CompTIA. But with the IoT, "the greatest opportunity for a business is to do something new."
There's no map to how this may unfold and that makes some hesitant about it, said Robinson.
"That lack of [a] direct map ... highlights, actually, that there is great potential here."
Patrick Thibodeau — Reporter
Patrick Thibodeau covers cloud computing and enterprise applications, outsourcing, government IT policies, data centers and IT workforce issues for Computerworld.
Read more: https://www.computerworld.com/article/2854635/the-internet-of-things-may-bring-a-new-economic-boon.html#social


text:
The Daily Churn
California startup turns methane into biodegradable plastic
A new California startup aims to convert methane into virtually anything currently made with conventional plastics or polyester — from toys and backpacks to flexible film packaging.
Mango Materials‘ founders say they can capture the potent but short-lasting greenhouse gas from manure, creamery waste or from organic residuals to create durable products that are biodegradable and compostable.
“(We are) excited to be part of the revolution to change the plastics industry,” Molly Morse, CEO and one of the company’s three co-founders tells the Daily Churn.
She sees their products as an alternative to conventional plastics that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) says require 100 to 400 years to break down in landfills.
After use, according to Anne Schauer-Gimenez, co-founder and vice president of customer engagement at Mango Materials, their products re-enter the biogenic methane cycle as gas through the biodegradation process.
Turning a problem into a solution
Mango Materials say they can turn what most consider a problem — methane — into a solution for another problem: the global popularity of plastic.
In a company video, Morse explains conventional plastics, utilized in many places, tend to rely on fossil carbon while indefinitely polluting ecosystems.
Their methane-based alternative mitigates this issue.
When methane gas is captured, it can be put through a processing facility housing methanotrophs – a type of bacteria – that will “eat” it, turning the gas into a natural compound called a biopolymer.
Mango Materials in company literature compares these polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHAs) biopolymers to the way people and animals turn food into fat. When separated from the bacteria, these biopolymers can then be turned into a biodegradable plastic or bioplastic.
“There are so many uses for this biopolymer,” Schauer-Gimenez told us. “It makes a really interesting, closed-loop story that can be told at dairies, especially if they have a creamery business.”
Specifically, Mango Materials produces what they call YOPP and YOPP+ – that’s You Oust Polluting Plastics named as an ode to consumer empowerment, or small bioplastic pellets. (YOPP is derived from plant materials and YOPP+ is from methane)
These are then sold to manufacturers who can turn them into usable consumer goods. Schauer-Gimenez says the pellets can even be melted down into a fiber to create fabric similar to polyester for clothing.
For now, Allison Pieja, co-founder and chief technology officer, says while they currently source their methane from wastewater in the San Francisco Bay area, they are eager to expand to other industries with new investors confident in their process.
For their efforts, Mango Materials received $150,000 in 2012 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) to scale their new plastic-making process.
They also won the Postcode Lottery Green Challenge that year, one of the largest competitions within the sustainable entrepreneurship community, netting their company an additional €500,000 (around $608,000).
They have received additional grants since then too, including from NASA. For this research (called A Novel, Membrane-Based Bioreactor Design to Enable a Closed-Loop System on Earth and Beyond), the startup worked with Colorado School of Mines to conduct further research.
Because dairy offers methane from multiple sources, Morse notes this can increase the value of the methane gas. At the same time, she adds, both farm and company growth could encourage biomanufacturing activities and jobs in rural settings.
Carving out a new future
The co-founding trio see PHAs as appealing because they break down back into their natural state – even when disposed of incorrectly.
By returning to methane gas, these products can ultimately be recaptured, creating a closed-loop system, according to Schauer-Gimenez. But other corners of the scientific community are cautious about these new plastics.
While biodegradable and compostable, Ramani Narayan, professor of chemical engineering and materials sciences at Michigan State University tells the Daily Churn that the type of soil and environment will impact the decomposition process.
If it ends up in the wrong place, Narayan believes they could still spell trouble for wildlife.
“It does not absolve anyone of saying, ‘Oh it’s biodegradable so I am free; let me throw it anywhere,’” he explains. “There is that fine line between calling it a solution to calling it a useful property attribute.”
The team at Mango Materials, however, is convinced their products are safe.
“As a conventional polyester replacement,” Schauer-Gimenez points out, “a YOPP fiber can biodegrade in a coastal environment such as the San Francisco Bay in six weeks at a depth of 15 feet.”
On the farm
By shifting to other industries, such as dairy, she notes they can increase their production, which could further reduce the need for non-biodegradable fossil carbon-based plastics.
Along with other methane gas sources including landfills and food processors, a Mango Materials facility could be customized to a farm setting.
One way to do this, Schauer-Gimenez notes, would be to build one alongside an anaerobic digester at a dairy farm capturing methane. Then it could be converted on-site.
Having worked with dairy farms in the past, she is excited to explore the dairy potential on the horizon.
“I personally would love to see Mango Materials technology on farms in the future.”
:: All images by Mango Materials


text:
YES:Head-STARTUP has been launched by Yes Bank to help tech-enabled startups.
According to an official statement,
The programme will offer startups a customised current account, digital cash management solutions, trade-forex advisory services, startup-focussed branches, personal banking products, credit cards, loan products (business & personal), and event partnerships.
Digital banking services like UPI and API access will be given to the startups partnering with Yes Bank’s programme. Yes Bank currently works with 35 fintech companies in India, according to an official statement.
Talking about this new venture, Ritesh Pai, Senior President and Country Head, Digital Banking, Yes Bank said,
“If startups are the WhatsApp of today’s world, banks can happily play the role of ISPs.”
As a part of the programme, Yes Bank has collaborated with marquee service providers including Indian Angel Network, T-Hub, Registrationwala, Awfis, ISDI, and VC Circle to provide a range of services to startups.
Commenting on the development, Rana Kapoor, MD and CEO, Yes Bank said,
“At Yes Bank, we believe that this phase of entrepreneurship in India can be furthered using the F.I.V.E. approach, which involves support at key life-stages of enterprises – funding, incubation, vesting, and expansion. The ‘F.I.V.E.’ approach involves financial institutions at the fulcrum, delivering catalytic change by harnessing the power of entrepreneurship. The launch of YES:Head-STARTUP reinforces our unstinted commitment to nurturing and promoting entrepreneurship and innovation in India.”
The salient features of the current account to be provided to startup clients include no minimum balance for one year, free-of-cost banking at any Yes Bank’s location, and a debit card with higher transaction limit, among others.
The programme is available in 10 branches across India in startup aggregation hubs including Mumbai, Pune, Gurugram, Noida, Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Chennai, Chandigarh, and Kolkata, that will serve the targetted startups.
The traditionally conservative banking sector’s evolving interest in the fundamentally risky, yet rapidly, growing Indian startup ecosystem is fostered by the fact that India is amongst the first five-largest startup communities in the world. The startup community is now being recognised as a serious banking community.
In December 2015, Yes Bank, in collaboration with software product think-tank iSPIRT, launched a fintech app store for Indian startups in the financial technology space.
Following that, in April 2016, it signed a MoU with T-Hub, a technology incubator set up by Telangana government, to set up a centre of excellence for startups in fintech space. Under the agreement, the association will help create a conducive business environment and support system for a large number of fintech startups.
Along the same lines in January 2016, SBI launched InCube – its first exclusive startup bank branch in Bangalore.
Through ‘SBI InCube’, the bank will provide help, guidance and counselling to the entrepreneurs in starting a new company or business enterprise. Similarly, HDFC also recently launched SmartUp – a dedicated banking solution for startups.


text:
Latest Crowd funding Stories
The three-day conference to focus on best practices for raising money with crowdfunding CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct.
Smart Crowdfunding is slated to carry out strategic marketing initiatives for the '24Pi7' crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo.
HD resolution, motion and audio detection, night vision, and multi-camera support highlight the new iCamera KEEP.
The founders of We.Ua, a patriotic social network in Ukraine, are launching a campaign to raise funds for the First National Hackathon in Kiev.
The 50 is the first 100% recyclable and 100% American-made jacket HICKORY, N.C., Oct.
Gitomer will share his expertise on sales, customer loyalty and personal development for those looking to succeed CHARLOTTE, N.C., Oct.
Innovative resources significantly improve funding goal achievement.
Aries TCO is pleased to announce they are launching several crowdfunding campaigns to help them fund the launch of their "go to market" plan. Palm
Network encryption program known as Project Sierra seeks to raise funds on Kickstarter to bring user-friendly security device to market Portsmouth, VA (PRWEB)
LOS ANGELES, Oct.
- The word or words serving to define another word or expression, as in a dictionary entry.


text:
Proper support for breastfeeding is an environmental imperative.
So many other countries see the value in breastfeeding support but the UK is lagging behind.
Breast milk contains ingredients in concentrations that change over the course of the day. Researchers think milk is chrononutrition, carrying molecular messages to help set a baby's internal clock.
If breast milk was made in factories, we'd count it in the GDP.
Does beer help a new mother's milk come in? Does 'pumping and dumping' allow you to drink and breast-feed? A doctor sorts the evidence from the myth.
Breastfeeding is not a logical choice based on some health benefit but an urge, an instinct.
Mothers who cannot breastfeed are absolutely not failing, rather, they are being failed.
The ability to help save other babies’ lives can make recovering from a big loss easier.
Human milk is being traded online in the mistaken belief that it is a panacea.
South Africa is still lagging behind when it comes to support for breastfeeding in the workplace.
As US mothers returned to breastfeeding, the market for infant formula dried up, leading formula makers to seek new markets in developing nations. Here's how that led to a recent outcry.
Breastfeeding isn't easy, and that's ok – new parents can handle the truth.
It's time to normalise it.
A chemist explains how some molecules in human breast milk help fight infection. Understanding their properties could lead to better infant formulas that share the health advantages of breastfeeding.
Why was one gene mutation that affects hair, teeth, sweat glands and breasts ubiquitous among ice age Arctic people? New research points to the advantage it provided for ancestors of Native Americans.
Domperidone raises levels of prolactin, which increases the production of breast milk. It's safe for mothers and babies, but not all women will experience the same increase in milk volume.
Employers must do more to support breastfeeding mothers who return to work.
South African health authorities educate the public about breastfeeding but without supportive legislation and strong communication, it will never be normalised.
The potential for exploitation is rife in the international market for breast milk. Fair trade and fair pay regulations are crucial to protect consumers in Australia and suppliers abroad.
The UK isn't doing enough to help mums breastfeed successfully


text:
It's easy — some would say too easy — for women to think they don't look good enough. One glance at a fashion spread or makeup ad can have many wanting to crawl into a cave and hide.
Enter Raw Beauty Talks, a website that wants women to feel beautiful — without airbrushing.
Founded by Vancouver's Erin Treloar, Raw Beauty Talks features photographs and interviews with women sans makeup and retouching, thus presenting them in their rawest form.
For 28-year-old co-owner of a Pilates studio, who struggled with an eating disorder in high school, it's a place for women to feel safe, no matter how they look.
"I really wanted to create media that left women feeling inspired and connected and whole after looking at them," she told The Huffington Post B.C. "So I came up with the concept of photographing women without makeup, Photoshop, or filters, and having conversations with them about their relationship with beauty, confidence, and self love."
It's an idea Treloar has had for two years, but the wheels weren't put into motion until October. She gathered women in Vancouver, as well as Los Angeles and Lake Tahoe, and launched the site on Jan. 13.
The portraits include Vancouver's Ashley Diana Morris, who is a Guess model, keyboardist Jaycelyn Brown of Said The Whale, and "Being Erica" actress Erin Karpluk.
On its first day, the Raw Beauty Talks had over 10,000 views. Treloar says she's overwhelmed and inspired by the feedback thus far—from women who want to share the site, and even from women who want to participate. Anyone who takes a photo of themselves on Instagram and uses the hashtag #RawBeautyTalks will be uploaded to a feed on the website.
And while Raw Beauty Talks features women without makeup, Treloar is quick to clarify that she is not against the use of beauty products.
"It's almost symbolic of us stripping down and getting raw so that we can talk to one another," she said. "It's not an anti-make-up movement."
Treloar has big plans for Raw Beauty Talks, including trips to events such as Coachella and New York Fashion Week where she knows she will able to talk to women from all over the world. She also hopes to eventually run an educational program that teaches both girls and boys aged nine to 14 about interpreting media and finding their own self confidence.
Of course, confidence takes a long time to grow. Even for the women who pose for Raw Beauty Talks, it's a process.
"Generally people start making excuses or they justify why they look the way they look," Treloar says of the women when they arrive at their photo shoot. "And they look beautiful, and they don't really look different than they do with makeup. But people say, 'I didn't sleep last night,' or, 'I really need to get a haircut.'
It comes so naturally that it's almost scary that this is what we're used to doing and this is the way we're used to talking to one another. And that alone tells me that we need to shift some things in a major way."
See more Raw Beauty Talks photos below:
Raw Beauty Talks
Like this article? Follow our Facebook page
Or follow us on Twitter


text:
Ensuring your Cryptocurrency Investments.
News that crypto trade QuadrigaCX originator Gerald Cotten kicked the bucket with customers incapable to get to $190 million in bitcoin and different assets is disturbing to financial specialists. Cotten's widow says the passwords to the cool stockpiling of the digital currencies are obscure to her, leaving financial specialists with barely any cures. The kept hacking of advanced cash trades is another worry. Bitcoin and other virtual monetary standards stay an exceptionally famous objective for programmers since concealing their tracks is basic as their impressions can be eradicated carefully. Advanced monetary standards stay unregulated by an administration substance or national bank, leaving financial specialists without lawful response when a record is hacked. So here are 10 hints for ensuring a cryptographic money venture.
Use wallets from known sources.
A developing number of wallets from less legitimate organizations that offer appealing highlights are malware in mask, says Nathan Wenzler, ranking executive of cybersecurity at Moss Adams. Pick a directed trade since it's bound to have legitimate security instruments set up, specialists state. "QuadrigaCX was confronting liquidity issues for a considerable length of time and anyone who did even a negligible measure of examination online would have seen this," says Matisyahu Greenspan, a senior market expert at eToro, an Israeli social venture organize. Almost the entirety of the organizations in this space are new companies and not examined by money related controllers, says Alex Hammerstone, administration, hazard the executives, and consistence practice lead at TrustedSec in Strongsville, Ohio.
Get your work done.
Digital money wallets are not physical ones; rather, a mystery is utilized to confirm the client, says Johannes Ullrich, senior member of exploration at SANS Technology Institute. A typical method to scramble the mystery is with a secret phrase, however in the event that the secret word is lost or overlooked, the crypto coins related with this mystery are lost, he says. There are an assortment of wallets out there, including equipment, programming, and paper, Wenzler says. Every sort has its advantages and disadvantages. As a rule, equipment wallets, which are physical wallets that store the client's private keys, are apparently the most secure. In any case, if this kind of wallet is lost, it is highly unlikely to recuperate it.
Store your coins in a cool wallet.
A disconnected equipment gadget like a USB or hard drive keeps away from capacity on an online trade. Jason Glassberg, the prime supporter of Casaba Security, says the fundamental thought is crypto financial specialists should have the option to see and feel their cash. "The QuadrigaCX circumstance is a genuine case of one kind of hazard, yet another increasingly regular danger is from programmers who routinely focus on the online trades, wallets, and different techniques for capacity to take cash." USB gadgets have catches that expect clients to affirm or drop exchanges by contacting the gadget, says Benjamin Cole, a partner educator at the Gabelli School of Business at Fordham University. "That guarantees no programmer can record your keystrokes," he says.
Try not to keep all your cryptographic money in a solitary spot.
This is like any standard venture exhortation, yet you shouldn't keep all your investments tied up on one place, Wenzler says. "Should a trade be lost under any conditions, you can secure your speculation and limit the effect of any misfortune by spreading out where your monetary standards are put away and how no doubt about it," he says. While it's additional tedious and expects you to monitor things, it's an increasingly secure hazard the executives procedure.
Back up your cryptographic money private keys.
In a similar soul of utilizing a disconnected wallet, a reinforcement of the private keys is required if the keys are lost, Morales says. Make repetition: It's smarter to avoid any and all risks and approach. Make reinforcements of cryptographic money stash as regularly as could reasonably be expected, yet especially whenever there is an exchange, Borohovski says. "Store them both locally in an equipment wallet and in the cloud, so that on the off chance that one assistance or hard drive kicks the bucket you won't lose the entirety of your cash in digital money," he says.
Utilize solid passwords.
Secure your wallet and reinforcements with a solid secret word or set of keys, Borohovski says. A solid secret phrase is one that can't be recollected or split without any problem. Most secret phrase generators will make one with 64 characters, numbers, capitalized, and lowercase letters and images. "Crooks utilize refined secret key saltines to attempt to capture these records, and these devices use word references, arrangements of regular passwords and beast power assaults also, so the more drawn out and increasingly shifted your secret word is, the more entropy it has and the more it will take to split," he says. It's likewise critical to realize the seed expression and store it in a safe or security store box.
Try not to discuss your ventures.
Keep data about ventures and records hidden, Glassberg says. "Cybercriminals are effectively scouring web based life, online gatherings, and different locales to discover expected focuses for digital currency assaults." Investors need to comprehend that when they own cryptographic money they become a "huge objective for these con artists whether they understand it or not," Glassberg says. The most significant thing is to abstain from discussing your exchanges or portfolio via web-based networking media or anyplace else on the web.
Lead littler exchanges.
Try not to do gigantic exchanges on the double and start little so you abstain from drawing consideration, Glassberg says. Limit yourself to leading various littler exchanges instead of one enormous exchange since that huge exchange "puts you on the radar of any individual who's searching for a rich objective," he says. "A whale is a superior venture for a criminal's time, vitality, and assets than little fry. Cause yourself to seem, by all accounts, to be a little fry. This is likewise a decent method to test the trade you are utilizing before you overextend yourself."


text:
Lexus LF-Gh Hybrid Concept [teaser]
Lexus will exhibit its LF-Gh Hybrid concept at the 2011 New York International Auto Show from April 20th to May 1st. The car will be a redefinition of the luxury "grand tourer". Actually, the car will be the next generation of GS, which is expected to be introduced late this year.
There are no further information about the car and all data will be released to media guests at a preview event in New York on 19 April.
Untill then, we have too high resolution teaser pictures of LF-Gh Hybrid, one with a headlight on it and one with a rear light. The pictures reveal pure aggression and we hope that the exterior of LF-Gh will be brutal, because the interior is expected to be extremely fashionable with high quality expensive materials.
Stay tuned for more information and check out the pictures!


text:
Sony Pictures Television and Nielsen are teaming up to develop metrics that will measure the combined impact of SPT’s media properties, both traditional and online.
The move is meant to help Sony target “technologists,” or consumers who self-identify as early adopters of new technology, regardless of price.
Among the preliminary findings: 64.6% of “technologists” aged 18-34 saw or used a Sony property, from syndicated TV shows and HD channel Mojo to Sony’s MusicBox Web site.
“This vital research underscores Sony Pictures Television’s exceptional ability to reach a critical group of consumers who are leading the adoption of new video and mobile systems,” said Amy Carney, president of advertising sales for Sony Pictures Television, in a statement. “It establishes our leadership across multiple platforms in reaching target audiences in expanding advertising categories like cell-phone services, HD equipment and satellite television. It also allows us to have a deeper dialogue with advertisers, moving away from age and sex to the marketing targets they are trying to reach.”
As content continues to grow online, the networks and distributors are looking for ways to measure where and what people are watching and how they use their content to interact with others. While the SPT/Nielsen data is still fresh, this sort of measurement of likely to take on increased significance as more and more content migrates to the Web, blurring the line between traditional methods of distribution and new-media initiatives.
The television industry's top news stories, analysis and blogs of the day.


text:
After reporting its fourth-quarter results this week, customer service platform Zendesk (ZEN) impressed investors yet again, adding to its stock's big gains recently. Thanks to their approximately 5% rise on Wednesday in response to the report, shares are now up a whopping 65% in the past 12 months and 20% year to date.
Some of the most important takeaways from Zendesk's report help explain why the stock has been on such a bullish run lately. For its fourth quarter, the company delivered robust revenue growth and solidified its first full year of positive free cash flow. Here's a look at the results.
1. Revenue handily exceeded guidance
Investors were watching Zendesk's revenue growth closely when the company reported its fourth-quarter results. In its third quarter, revenue growth actually accelerated, easily beating the consensus analyst estimate for the top line during the period. Third-quarter revenue was about $113 million, up 40% year over year.
What was particularly notable about Zendesk's 40% revenue growth in Q3 was that it was a marked acceleration from the already impressive 36% year-over-year growth it posted in its second quarter.
Going into Zendesk's fourth quarter, both management and analysts expected revenue growth to return to lower levels again. While revenue growth did slow, it wasn't by much. Fourth-quarter revenue grew 39% year over year to $123.4 million -- well above management's guidance for between $118 million and $120 million.
2. Zendesk was free-cash-flow positive in 2017
In its third-quarter shareholder letter, management forecast its free cash flow (measured by net cash from operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and internal-use software development costs) would be positive for the full year, highlighting the company's scalable business model.
Zendesk delivered. Combining its revenue growth and improving profit margins throughout 2017, free cash flow sat at $18.2 million.
This helped contribute to a stronger cash position. Zendesk ended the year with about $109 million of cash and cash equivalents, $138 million in short-term marketable securities, and $97 million in long-term marketable securities.
3. Large customers continued to drive growth
Large customers continue to be a key driver for Zendesk's business, giving credence to the company's strategic goal during 2017 to move upmarket by landing more large deals with mid-market and enterprise companies.
One of the key metrics for gauging its penetration with larger organizations is its percentage of support monthly recurring revenue generated from customers with 100 or more support agents. This penetration rose to 38%, up from 34% in the year-ago quarter and 37% in Q3.
In addition, Zendesk said the number of contracts it signed with an annual value of $50,000 or more was up 25% year over year.
Notably, however, this growth is down meaningfully from the 50% year-over-year growth in these large customers in Q3. In addition, Zendesk also warned for a decrease in the average size of its over-$50,000 transactions compared to the same period last year. Comparatively, the average size of its $50,000-plus transactions in Q3 were up 40% year over year. In light of these trends, growth in large customers could play a smaller role in driving growth in 2018.
Looking ahead, Zendesk expects more strong growth but at a decelerated rate, as well as 2018 revenue to land between $555 million and $565 million, up 29% to 31% year over year. "As we move into 2018, we are focused on further maturing our omnichannel offering and accelerating our push upmarket," it said.


text:
Medco Health 4Q profit jumps 24 pct due to new clients, higher prices on brand-name drugs
Pharmacy benefits manager Medco Health Solutions Inc. said Tuesday its profit climbed 24 percent in the fourth quarter on higher revenue due to higher prices for brand-name drugs and new clients.
The adjusted earnings and revenue figures topped analysts’ expectations and Medco reaffirmed its outlook for 2010. Its shares edged up 9 cents to $64.77 in premarket trading.
The company said profit rose to $341.5 million, or 70 cents per share, in the three months ended Dec. 26, up from $274.4 million, or 54 cents per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 18 percent to $15.25 billion from $12.96 billion a year ago. At the company’s Accredo specialty pharmacy business, revenue jumped 18 percent to $2.46 billion.
Excluding valuation costs still being recognized related to its 2003 spinoff from Merck and Co., Medco said it earned 76 cents per share — a penny more than analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected. Analysts were also looking for lower revenue of $15.09 billion.
Medco said it filled 227.4 million prescriptions during the quarter. That includes standard monthlong prescriptions and three-month prescriptions filled by mail. Prescriptions increased almost 15 percent from last year.
For the full year, the company earned $1.28 billion, or $2.61 per share, compared with profit of $1.1 billion, or $2.13 per share, in 2008. Revenue rose to $59.8 billion from $51.26 billion.
The company is also reaffirming its outlook for earnings of $3.28 to $3.38 per share, excluding charges, for the year. Analysts are looking for $3.36 per share. Medco said it has won $4.2 billion in business with new clients for 2010.


text:
Influencers and advertisers in Norway will soon have to label photos that have been retouched, according to new regulations passed as an amendment to the country's Marketing Act last month, Vice reported Tuesday. Norway's king will determine when the new rule will go into effect.
Any ads where someone's shape, size or skin has been altered will have to include a label designed by the Norwegian Ministry of Children and Family Affairs. That includes changes like slimmed waistlines, enlarged lips and exaggerated muscles. Influencers and celebrities who post images from which they "receive any payment or other benefit" will also be subject to the rule. That includes posts on social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Snapchat and Twitter. Violators are subject to fines and possibly imprisonment.
The move comes amid mounting concerns over the mental health impact of sites like Instagram, where it can be hard to separate reality from altered images. Advocacy groups and lawmakers have long criticized Instagram and parent Facebook for harboring harmful content and fostering anxiety and depression, particularly among younger audiences. A 2017 report by the UK's Royal Society for Public Health found that Instagram is the worst social media platform for young people's mental health. Reports earlier this year revealed Instagram is planning to launch a platform for kids under 13, stirring up more criticism from child health advocates who are concerned about threats to children's online privacy and their mental well-being.
In response to criticism, Instagram started to test hiding the number of likes posts get around the world in 2019, in an effort to around how "popular" their content is in comparison to others'. In May, both Facebook and Instagram said that they'd give all users the option to from the public and to choose whether they can see like counts on all posts in their feed.


text:
Is the age of the pale, nondescript waif model almost over? According to Anna Wintour’s letter in the April shape issue of Vogue, it ought to be. She explains she chose Gisele Bündchen for the cover because she’s remained “athletic and curvaceous (by the standards of the modeling business).” Wintour continues:
I wish I could say the same for the young women who were just on the runways at the New York fall collections. Overall, they were pale and thin, and entirely lacking in the joyfulness and charm that once defined the supermodel. This, of course, is not their fault: Designers now near-uniformly favor a non-vivacious, homogenous ideal.
Wow. We’re kind of speechless. The most powerful force in the fashion industry — and the head of a magazine chock-full of super-thin models — has finally spoken out about the Skinny Minnie thing. But it wasn’t because she was worried about the girls’ health (she is) but because she thinks the industry is out of touch:
It’s a strange time in the fashion industry. Our top talents, usually so adept at anticipating their public’s preoccupations and desires appear to me to be utterly disconnected from the cultural stream. Surely, given the upcoming summer Olympics in Beijing and the significant attention lavished on pro sports heroes, it would be the right moment to celebrate healthy toned physiques….I would urge designers to consider athleticism and vitality as assets in the wearing of great fashion.
So to recap: People have been saying models are too skinny for years. There’s been a wee bit of change in Europe. La Wintour has written an earth-shattering editor’s letter that could shake things up. Could this be the beginning of a paradigm shift? Or was it just a moment of outspoken girl power in honor of the shape issue? We wish it were up to Anna to decide.


text:
Dairy Checkoff Helps Drive Sales Growth in 2021
Checkoff’s foodservice partners continued to increase sales of US dairy products and more domestic dairy products destined for the international market. Increased efforts have also been made to connect with the valued Gen Z consumer and the dairy sustainability journey has reached new levels.
These and other results are some of the main highlights for Dairy Management Inc. starting in 2021.
Despite a year of continued COVID-19 challenges, the dairy fund has fulfilled its mission of boosting sales and confidence, said President and CEO Barbara O’Brien, who took over from Tom Gallagher in October.
“We have not only adapted to the realities of the pandemic, we have used it as an opportunity to become even more consumer-centric and more efficient and collaborative,” said O’Brien. “We were more determined to tackle the challenges facing dairy products and found new growth opportunities in the dairy category.
“Through it all, we’ve been able to show that farmers are an essential part of the American food system. It was a year when the milk sample made every drop count. “
O’Brien noted the continued success of checkoff foodservice partnerships with globally recognized companies Domino’s, Taco Bell and McDonald’s. She said overall sales of dairy products at these chains have increased 3 to 6 percent this year.
Here are some highlights of the partnership from 2021:
Checkoff scientists at Taco Bell headquarters helped the chain launch the Mtn Dew Baja Blast Colada Freeze, which features a cream made from dairy products. The team also helped Taco Bell relaunch the Quesalupa, which uses seven times more cheese than the chain’s regular taco.
Domino’s has responded to consumer needs with a new cheese marinara and five-cheese dips accompanied by parmesan or garlic twists.
McDonald’s featured McFlurries in consumer promotions that increased sales of dairy products.
International sales growth
The partnership model that has worked so well at the national level has found more space internationally. Selling more dairy products in overseas markets is important to US dairy farmers, as 1 in 6 milk tankers make their way to the international market. Additionally, 96 percent of the world’s population lives outside of the United States, and people adopt a Western diet and have a taste for American cuisine, including cheese.
In June, DMI entered into a partnership with Alamar Foods Company, which owns 455 Domino’s stores in the MENAP region (Middle East, North Africa and Pakistan). DMI’s partnership will focus on approximately 300 locations in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) with the aim of increasing cheese sales in the United States.
For Pizza Hut, the focus in Asia Pacific was on value promotions in support of takeout and delivery in key markets in the region including Japan, Korea and Indonesia. . To date, the growth of American cheese in Asia-Pacific has more than doubled since the partnership began. Additionally, Domino’s Japan has launched two American cheese dishes: the Jumbo Pizza and the Pizza Rice Bowl. This innovation combines a familiar Japanese dish with pizza toppings. Since the start of the DMI / Domino’s Japan partnership in 2019, the chain’s American cheese volume has doubled.
Further growth in sales of US dairy products internationally is being achieved through the American Dairy Export Board, founded by Checkoff. Through October, total US dairy exports rose 11 percent from the same period a year earlier and are holding steady at a record pace. The value of exports rose 17 percent to $ 6.48 billion in the same period, also a record pace.
Improved Generation Z, sustainability efforts
Checkoff’s teams at the national and local levels continued to work to reach Gen Z consumers (ages 10 to 23), who make up 20 percent of the population. They have a purchasing power of around $ 100 billion, which does not take into account the influence they have over their parents when it comes to products brought home.
That’s why the Levy kicked off a wave of the Undeniably Dairy campaign in October to create a deeper connection between Gen Z and dairy and give them new reasons to choose it over other products. ‘Reset Yourself with Dairy’ is a youth-centric initiative that uses a variety of media channels and marketing strategies, including games, social media influencers and digital content, as well as retail and college campus promotions. , to engage with Generation Z.
And America’s dairy sustainability efforts have been given a boost in many ways. First, levy-led efforts have finalized 5-year agreements, up to $ 10 million, with Nestlé and Starbucks to support research, on-farm pilot projects, and efforts to increase adoption. Volunteer for environmental practices and technologies on all farms through the US Dairy Net Zero Initiative. (NZI).
Additional funding from NZI – a $ 10 million grant from the Food and Agriculture Research Foundation (FFAR) – will enable the Dairy Soil and Water Regeneration Project to research feed production over the next six years. The Greener Cattle Initiative was also announced, a research program developed with FFAR and five partners to provide $ 5 million over five years to support research into mitigation of enteric methane from livestock.
More highlights of the 2021 direct debits
The farmer-founded Fuel Up to Play 60 program has been repositioned in a new way to help students and educators navigate the new school year. Fuel Up to Play 60 unveiled an easy-to-navigate website (www.FuelUpToPlay60.com), an educator dashboard, and an improved student app that allows teachers and parents to learn about and access the program. to resources focused on dairy nutrition and care of dairy farmers For the environment.
The National Dairy Council has led a variety of dairy-focused educational outreach efforts, which included farmers, with key opinion leaders heading to the United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) in September. The event brought together international stakeholders from across the food system with the aim of making food production and consumption more sustainable and will serve as a call to action to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals by 2030 .
National and local collection teams, along with dairy companies and other organizations, helped move 664 million pounds of dairy products to Feeding America’s network of 200 food banks in its most recent fiscal year (July 1, 2020). – June 30, 2021). This is an increase of 195 million pounds from the previous year for the monitoring partner, which seeks to distribute more than 900 million pounds of dairy products per year by 2025.
E-commerce milk sales were up 24% and cheese sales by 16% (through October compared to the previous year), fueled by Checkoff’s partnership activities with Amazon and Kroger.
Drinking milk partners Darigold, Kroger and Shamrock Rocking Protein launched or extended value-added products this year with support for samples.
More highlights and picking strategies are available at www.usdairy.com/for-farmers
Source: Dairy Management, Inc.


text:
That's 12 percent more than the same survey issued three months ago, and most of the blame lies in a sluggish economy--both in the U.S. and overseas, says a firm representative.
"The slow recovery of the U.S. economy, Europe and its ramifications on global and domestic economies, and the political situation in the U.S. are all weighing heavily on the minds of retail investors," said Tom Bradley, president of retail distribution, TD Ameritrade, Inc.
Whatever optimism consumers are beginning to regain hasn't settled with investors, according to the survey. Forty-seven percent said they were optimistic about the U.S. stock market this time around, nearly 20 percent fewer than those who were optimistic in April.
The findings are echoed by the Investment Company Institute, which, according to NPR News, puts the rate of households with money in stock or mutual funds at 46 percent, down from 59 percent in 2001--a $70 billion dollar drop.
Caution might be the trick of the trade as investors renew faith in their portfolios, but it's important to know the right time get aggressive, notes U.S. News & World Report's David Francis.
"As people become more comfortable with investing and as their wealth grows, many shift from a passive strategy to active investing," he says, though it's ideal to find a balance. Ask your portfolio manager to help come up with an asset-allocation system that leaves room for both--and keep it diversified.


text:
RBK would like to congratulate all the finalists in the various categories at the Athlone Business Awards 2018 which were held at a Gala Ball in the Sheraton Athlone Hotel on Saturday, 21st April.
This year’s finalists were an outstanding group of businesses, companies and individuals who showcased excellence, innovation and best practice within their sectors in the Midlands.
In particular, congratulations to Paddy Dunican, Manager at Kilbeggan Racecourse who won the Business Person of the Year Award, which was sponsored by RBK. On winning the award, Paddy said ‘I am delighted and humbled to receive the very Prestigious Athlone Business Person of the Year Award. I am surrounded by a team of great people in Kilbeggan who support and work very hard with me. And It’s a great honour for all of our hard work over the years, that I was presented with this Award."
Commenting on the Awards, David Gleeson, Managing Partner at RBK said “We were delighted to sponsor the Awards again this year and would like to thank Athlone Chamber and everyone involved making it such a fantastic night. 2018 marks a very special year in RBK’s history as we celebrate 60 years in business as one of Ireland’s leading Chartered Accountancy and Business Advisory firms.”
The Athlone Business Awards are the most prominent and sought after Business Awards in the Midlands and are open to Businesses in Athlone and the surrounding region.
Congratulations again to all the finalists and winners.


text:
Agregador de canales de noticias
A key to success with an IoT strategy is to keep the IT group involved in the process even at the pilot stage.
After the worst year for stocks in a decade, investors are eager to hear what executives expect in 2019 as companies report fourth-quarter earnings.
A visual tour of the world’s most important tech conference offers a window into the year’s trends, including next-generation wireless networks and the invasion of A.I.
Li Yuan conducts much of her work on the WeChat mobile app, including spotting trends — and prodding sources to get back to her.
Retailers will invest more heavily in IT technology than other industries do in the coming years. Here's how this industry will leverage technology to take them into the future.
Luckily, more options exist to help both companies and their individual employees get up to speed on new IT skills quickly.
Think through your customer and supplier relationships, as well as your operational efficiency to identify the best areas for artificial intelligence.
After years of experimenting with open office layouts, the search for places where developers can work both uniquely and collaboratively continues.
The 20-year-old suspect said he had acted alone in publishing private information of hundreds of lawmakers and others, the authorities said.
Learn how to avoid the security and scalability concerns that come with blockchain.
What are some of the big data-oriented trends for enterprise programs and culture in 2019? Here's a look.
Kenichiro Yoshida says he considers Sony “a creative entertainment company” and sees the PlayStation Network as a way to bring Sony movies, shows and music to consumers.
Some venture capitalists are rooting for a market dip to calm Silicon Valley’s overheated start-up scene.
The most consequential hit to the bottom line may be from people, including longtime fans, who are holding on to their phones longer.
The overall number of guests affected by the hacking, in which Chinese intelligence is the leading suspect, declined to 383 million. But the passport data is critical to intelligence agencies.
The tech giant’s recent warning about disappointing iPhone sales in China obscured the fact that it is also losing out to Chinese brands in places like France, Germany, India and Southeast Asia.
Twitter has shut down an account that had been posting personal data for weeks. Only the Alternative for Germany party appeared to be unscathed.
Apple’s chief executive has enjoyed enormous success over his seven years running the company, but he’s likely to face tougher times ahead.
Three critics review their respective versions of the “Black Mirror” choose-your-own-adventure movie, which has been elaborately dissected by the internet.
Technology publications are asking pointed questions about the online retail company. And Apple had rare, surprising bad news about sales.


text:
Fujifilm have announced that the silver version of the Fuji X-T4 mirrorless camera will now be launched in late May 2020, whilst the black version will be available on April 28th.
Fujifilm Advisory Notice
Notice Regarding Release Date of Mirrorless Digital Camera "FUJIFILM X-T4"
Thank you for your continued support of Fujifilm products.
We will announce that the release date of the mirrorless digital camera `` FUJIFILM X-T4 Black '', which was announced on April 2020, has been decided on April 28, 2020.
The release date of "FUJIFILM X-T4 Silver" will be postponed to late May 2020 in order to secure a sufficient supply. We apologize for any inconvenience, but we appreciate your understanding.


text:
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has sparked controversy amongst cryptocurrency customers after suggesting builders might reverse transactions.
Buterin’s neighborhood suggestions falls flat
In a Twitter survey on Oct. 26, Buterin quizzed followers about their opinion of reversing chain exercise within the occasion of a significant hack of an trade or comparable entity.
“Suppose a well-liked sensible contract pockets that a big portion of the ETH neighborhood makes use of will get hacked. This could possibly be reverted by reverting all chain exercise for the reason that hack and doing a DAO-style HF to get well the funds,” he wrote.
Persevering with, he requested what number of cash would wish to be stolen to ensure that followers to assist guide reversal.
The survey appeared to contact a nerve amongst commentators. Ethically, they argued, the sum of money shouldn’t matter — rolling again transactions removes the advantages of a blockchain with out centralized management.
“Failchain,” fashionable Bitcoin pundit Dennis Parker summarized.
Lifeless towards intervention
Correspondingly, greater than 60% of the over 10,000 responses to the survey confirmed they might not tolerate remedial measures below any circumstances.
Ethereum builders have reversed transactions earlier than, notably following the infamous Decentralized Autonomous Group, or DAO, hack in June 2016, which misplaced Ether (ETH) price $60 million on the time.
Ethereum is at present present process a significant transformation in a long-term improve which can finally even see it change its algorithm. The modifications will assist resolve a number of the community’s rising pains – in August, Buterin warned its blockchain was nearly full.
The most important altcoin by market cap, ETH has nonetheless fared underwhelmingly this 12 months as Bitcoin (BTC) cements its place on the high.


text:
- December 12: GM Air Conditioning Problems Lead to Lawsuit news | 3 days ago
- November 16: GM Recalls Chevy Silverado 3500 and GMC Sierra 3500 recalls | 29 days ago
- October 30: GM Recalls GMC Canyon, Chevy Colorado and Chevy Volt recalls | 46 days ago
2012 Chevrolet Sonic
CarComplaints.com Notes: The 2012 Chevrolet Sonic is fairly new & is already showing an early trend of transmission problems.
Owners report hesitation when shifting & grinding/hard shifting into gears. Some dealers are calling the condition "normal". Another owner reported his dealership replaced the transmission under warranty, but the new transmission had the same exact grinding problem. Design defect?
Worst 2012 Sonic drivetrain Problems
Stay Up to Date
Compare Chevrolet Sonic Model Years
Curious how the 2012 Sonic compares to other years?
Check out our Chevrolet Sonic overview to see the most problematic years, worst problems and most recently reported complaints with the Sonic.


text:
Elizabeth Warren Is Such A Bad*ss She Now Has Her Own Action Figure
An Elizabeth Warren action figure is about to happen and the proceeds will go to charity
Elizabeth Warren is basically a great American hero so it’s no surprise there’s now an action figure made in her likeness. Not only is the brand new toy awesome but all the proceeds raised from selling it will go to nonprofits.
“The moment Mitch McConnell spoke the words, ‘Nevertheless, she persisted,’ we knew Liz had to be our next figure,” Jason Feinberg, the CEO and Creative Director of FCTRY tells HuffPost. His company created the Warren action figure and released it to the world Tuesday. The now famous quote stems from when McConnell silenced Warren when she was reading an objection to the nomination of Jeff Sessions, who’s a known racist. It’s obvious why Warren (and most of America) didn’t want him as the next Attorney General.
Like every rational soul on the planet, Feinberg and his team were inspired when Warren didn’t back down from the dumpster fire that is the GOP. “Elizabeth Warren is a relentless fighter and it reinvigorated us to see her go toe-to-toe with the Republicans at a time when we personally were still shell-shocked,” Feinberg adds.
So he launched a Kickstarter for his action figure honoring the Massachusetts state Senator. To start production, the campaign needs to raise $15,000. As of Tuesday night, the Kickstarter had $43,775 in pledged funds. Clearly, Warren is the hero America wants in politics and in our action figure collections. While Feinberg has already created political action figures like Hillary Clinton, Bernie Sanders, and Donald Trump, he’s most thrilled about his latest creation and says Warren was by far the most exciting character to develop.
Having a hardworking, honest, and fearless politician around is crucial to our country’s sanity at the moment. Every day Trump produces another shitstorm that leaves more and more Americans considering a move abroad. Feinberg was no different. “Going into making [Trump’s action figure], we thought it was going to be a harmless, short-term joke,” he explains. “Like everyone else, we got thrown for a loop on Election Day and it left us selling Trumps when we were supposed to be selling Hillaries, which was just a huge bummer.”
The best part – outside of motivating little girls to kick ass just like Warren – is that most of the profits the company makes from their political action figures will be given to progressive nonprofits like the American Civil Liberties Union. Since Warren has been inspiring women all over the country to consider running for office, Feinberg and his team decided to donate proceeds made from her action figure to Emily’s List, a nonprofit that helps women get involved in politics.
“We heard a number of stories around Election Day about what our Action Figures meant to young kids, especially young girls,” Feinberg shares. “We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we’re hoping that seeing Warren, Obama, Hillary, and Bernie as accessible toy heroes that will inspire kids during a time that must be awfully confusing for them.”


text:
Big companies, big decisions, even bigger risks! And companies rarely come bigger than Dell and Microsoft. But their reported new partnership is starting to turn some heads, even though an official announcement is expected sometimes this week.
We already covered in detail how Microsoft plans to help Dell go private by providing funding. While industry insiders are pointing a stronger collaboration between the companies if the deal goes through, particularly as far as Windows is concerned, other Microsoft partners are not much impressed.
According to Bloomberg, the Redmond company could stand risking further tensions with its partners who would feel that Dell may get early look at software developed by the software giant or insights into Redmond’s marketing plans and product strategies.
As Michael Gartenberg, an analyst at market research firm Gartner noted:
“If you’re a vendor that wasn’t happy with Surface, the idea of Microsoft owning part of Dell is not going to cheer you up. But if you’re Microsoft and you feel you need to do more devices, and that hardware and software need to be more integrated, the ability to have major influence on a big PC vendor opens some interesting opportunities.”
Microsoft was already criticized by hardware vendors leading up to the release of the Surface tablet, with several companies, Acer in particular, saying Microsoft could potentially kill the whole ecosystem.
Nevertheless, if the deal goes through, it could come in real handy for Microsoft and its future development in the hardware realm. We will know soon enough, it seems.
But in a world where consumers are increasingly leaning towards smartphones and tablets, Microsoft’s speculated arrangement could hold quite some significance.


text:
This is the good news of the day. On Fortnite, players have been more than generous in helping the Ukrainian people. The video game publisher has announced that it has already raised an incredible amount in less than 24 hours for associations such as UNICEF and the Refugee Agency with 36 million dollars (about 33 million euros).
Solidarity is not dead on social networks or on video game platforms. Epic Games has revealed the $36 million amount raised for Ukraine in just 24 hours. The publisher of the Fortnite video game had announced that it would donate all amounts collected on the platform to humanitarian organizations that help the Ukrainian people. An operation that only takes two weeks. It has been in effect since March 20 and ends on April 3. This amount, which is already significant, can only increase.
Launched with the new season of the game called “Resistance”, this solidarity initiative immediately mobilized online players. These amounts will be donated to four associations: UNICEF, Direct Relief, the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the World Food Program (WFP).
Epic Games had even assured that the donations would be made as soon as possible, without even waiting to receive the money directly: “As soon as possible. We do not wait for the actual money from our platform and our payment partners, which may take some time depending on how the transaction was processed. When transactions are reported, we record them and send the money within a few days to aid organizations”the video game publisher said on its blog.
Microsoft will also donate net profits from purchases made in the Microsoft Store, Epic Games said.
Other initiatives have also raised money to help the Ukrainian people since the Russian invasion. By early March, $25 million worth of cryptocurrencies had been raised.
—Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 21, 2022
We like to share that @Xbox join us in this effort and commit their net proceeds to Fortnite during this time so that we can get more help for the people of Ukraine. https://t.co/JYpF3ZDLC8
—Fortnite (@FortniteGame) March 20, 2022
A remarkable initiative with spectacular results.
(ETX Daily Up)


text:
With the recent release of the Apple Watch, Fiksu, Inc., the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company, announced its ability to recognize and track user behavior on the Apple Watch, including launches, registrations, purchases or any watch event a marketer is interested in keeping track of.
For the first time, the cost to acquire loyal app users (CPLU) surpassed the $3 mark, according to the Fiksu Indexes published today by Fiksu, Inc., the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company. At $3.09, this represents a 10 percent increase in CPLU since last month and a significant 113 percent rise from last year.
Data from Fiksu, Inc., the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company, reveals a relative stabilization in app activity in February, after four consecutive record-breaking months of volume and similarly high costs.
Fiksu, the data-fueled mobile marketing technology company, today announced it has joined the Adobe Digital Marketing Solution Partner Program and will integrate with Adobe to deliver mobile campaign performance insights and media source attribution data details within Adobe Analytics.
New data published today by Fiksu, Inc. (www.fiksu.com), developer of award-winning mobile marketing technologies, shows app downloads once again breaking all previous records.


text:
Ray-Ban’s Push Towards the Metaverse Reveals a Company Set on World Domination
Ray-Ban’s Push Towards the Metaverse
Ray-Ban is one of the most iconic brands in the world of eyewear, but with strategic and innovative partnerships and expansion plans mounting, it seems clear that Ray-Ban is dreaming of becoming a dominant force across a range of industries.
In one of the most eye-catching moves in the glasses industry, Ray-Ban launched their first pair of glasses in partnership with Meta.
The product, called Ray-Ban Stories are a pair of smart glasses that heavily feature social media integrations that can keep users connected whilst also featuring photo and short video recording functions thanks to embedded cameras.
Despite being the result of a collaboration with Meta, Ray-Ban Stories have created the eyewear, drawing on the company’s iconic Wayfarer design and encapsulating discreet hardware that avoids heavy bulk.
Tellingly, however, Monisha Perkash, director of product management at Meta, claims that the smart glasses are the first in a line of products that the companies hope will result in fully-fledged augmented reality glasses.
“Our mission is to help build tools that will help people feel connected any time, anywhere. We want to create a sense of social presence, the feeling that you’re right there with another person sharing the same space, regardless of physical distance,” said Perkash.
“While we hope the technology is good enough, we are focusing on what we can enable right now. We are delivering the first pair of smart glasses that combine form and function.”
As we can see from the chart above, Meta and Ray-Ban’s bid to build their way into the AR glasses market could be highly lucrative should the social media giant’s collaboration with the eyewear icons strike a chord with consumers.
With the market set to grow at an exponential rate as the decade progresses, Meta’s bid to enlist the help of a leading industry brand like Ray-Ban is a clear attempt to win customers with the prestige factor. The fact that the furore surrounding the metaverse is continuing to pick up in recent months is also no coincidence. Meta and Ray-Ban are working together to establish market dominance by the time the metaverse and augmented reality reach mainstream acceptance.
At this point, it’s important to note that Meta’s partnership is actually with Ray-Ban’s parent company, EssilorLuxottica. Mark Zuckerberg’s appetite for the prestigious Italian firm’s collaborative releases has been made clear as the company’s CEO met with EssilorLuxottica’s founder and chairman in May 2022.
“Great to be back in Milan to discuss plans for new smart glasses with Leonardo Del Vecchio and the EssilorLuxottica team. Here Leonardo is using a prototype of our neural interface EMG wristband that will eventually let you control your glasses and other devices,” Zuckerberg wrote in a Facebook post.
EMG stands for Electromyography, which means that Zuckerberg’s vision is for users to control their glasses via their muscle movements in their hand and arm. It’s clear that Zuckerberg sees this technology as possessing great potential in a future where users are processing information relayed on their lenses in an augmented manner.
For now, Ray-Ban Stories still packs in plenty of industry-leading technology, and glasses can be controlled via voice recognition, whereby users can send WhatsApp messages securely to friends in a similar way that voice assistants can help to send messages.
Branching Out Into the World
Although the launch of Ray-Ban Stories has been regarded by many as a hallmark of Mark Zuckerberg’s enthusiastic attempts to position the social media giants at the forefront of the metaverse, it’s also very telling of Ray-Ban’s ambitions to use their reputation to secure industry dominance.
It’s also not the only ongoing project that Ray-Ban is involved in. Reliance Brands is currently in negotiations with Ray-Ban’s parent company, Luxottica Group to roll out Ray-Ban stores throughout India, according to Insider Retail.
Should the expansion get the green light, we’ll see the launch of Ray-Ban standalone stores and dedicated shops within department stores.
Although Ray-Ban is currently operating in India through the company’s online presence, the availability of products in physical stores in a market of some 1.3 billion people is a clear signal of intent.
The company’s ambitions for growth are telling. Although the lure of Ray-Ban prescription lenses is strong among many consumers, the demand for sunglasses and in the future, smart and AR glasses will be strong.
As EssilorLuxottica’s stock price movements show, the company has generally performed exceptionally well in the wake of its partnership with Meta. Recent investor sell-offs amidst choppy markets are unlikely to be a cause for concern among the firm’s decision makers.
Should Ray-Ban Stories evolve into a fully functioning Meta-powered AR powerhouse ahead of the arrival of the metaverse, the company’s prospects will be extremely bright for the future.
With Meta’s rivals yet to form a similar style-oriented partnership with leading eyewear designers, there’s certainly scope for Ray-Ban to continue on its path to world and metaverse domination.
Top 10 Electronic Stores in the Athens city, Alabama, United States of America
Athens is one of the famous cities of Georgia, located in Clarke, in the United States of America. It is…


text:
Are we in deflation now?
In all likelihood: yes. The Office for National Statistics reported that there was zero consumer price inflation in February. That means a representative basket of goods and services in February 2015 cost precisely the same as it did in February 2014. This is the weakest inflation figure recorded since the Consumer Price Index data series began in 1989. And according to an experimental longer-term Consumer Price Index series put together by the ONS this is actually the lowest inflation figure since 1960. There’s more to come too. Analysts expect the next official number (covering March) to be negative, which would mean the UK is now in outright deflation.
So why are prices falling?
The latest recorded steep decline in the inflation rate, between January (0.3%) and February (0%), was driven by falls in food, toys and furniture prices. But the annual inflation figures show the big picture to be one of plummeting energy prices. Fuel prices are down a massive 16.6 per cent on the same month last year. The most tangible manifestation for most people is, of course, that the average price of a litre of petrol at the pump, which was fallen to 111p this month, down from 133p last summer. This, in turn, is being driven by a collapse in global oil prices. The price of a barrel of crude oil has have roughly halved since last summer, declining from $110 a barrel to $55 a barrel. Energy companies have also slashed household electricity and gas bills in response to the falling global oil price. And analysts think this is only now feeding through into the official figures. “It looks odds on that inflation will turn negative in March, when the cut in gas prices by British Gas (the utility company with the biggest market share) will show up in the inflation figures for the first time” said Vicky Redwood of Capital Economics. However, food is also making a sizeable contribution to the downward pressure on inflation. Prices were down around 3.3 per cent in February, a benefit of the intensifying supermarket price war.
Aren’t falling prices a good thing?
Many economists are certainly accentuating the positive from inflation’s collapse. Wages are now increasing faster, in annual terms, than prices for the first time since the financial crisis. Most City of London analysts believe the fall in prices will boost households’ after-inflation disposable incomes and help boost GDP growth. “Low inflation will provide a substantial boost to activity in the economy” according to Martin Beck of the EY ITEM Club. Another beneficial side-effect of low inflation is that it helps the Government balance the books. The Office for Budget Responsibility, the Government’s fiscal watchdog, cut its forecasts for UK borrowing over the coming years largely on the back of lower interest payments. Yet there are potential economic problems too that could arise from falling prices.
What are the problems?
The danger, in a nutshell, is that a period of falling prices will clog the arteries of the economy. Households could delay big-ticket discretionary purchases of consumer goods such as sofas and cars in the belief that prices will go down the longer they wait. It means employers, fearing lower demand for their products, could keep a squeeze on their workers’ wages. This could create a self-reinforcing downward spiral of prices. Low inflation would also end up making it more difficult for households, companies and the government to service their debts. In inflation-adjusted terms borrowers would see the value of their debts increase – another factor that could make them less likely to spend. This can be loosely characterised as “bad deflation”. Japan has been suffering from this kind of economic illness for the best part of 20 years.
How serious is the risk of “bad deflation” in the UK?
Economists are mostly sanguine. Michael Saunders of Citi noted that consumer confidence surveys showed the share of people who believe it is now a good time to make major purchases rose to the highest since 2007 in February. “There is no sign that UK consumers are reacting to declines on consumer goods prices by delaying purchases: the opposite is the case, with falling prices spurring increases in confidence and purchases” he said. Measures of financial market inflation expectations have moderated in recent months. For households they have also come down. But in both cases the declines have been pretty modest. Official forecasters such as the Bank of England and the OBR do not expect deflation to become entrenched.
Yet deflation for the UK would be unchartered territory. It is possible that it might be harder to escape than many expect, especially with large parts of Europe battling the same problem. It was notable that so-called core inflation – which strips out volatile items such as oil, food and alcohol – ticked down in February to 1.2 per cent, down from 1.4 per cent in the previous month. The consensus from City economists was for inflation to fall to 0.1 per cent, rather than zero, in February. The Bank of England made the same estimate earlier this year. One month’s overestimate does not matter too much. But more downside misses over the coming months will prompt a lot of analysts to start sweating.Reuse content


text:
Envisioning more Partner Value with ThousandEyes, Now All In with the Channel
We’re helping our partners further deliver on their commitment to customers by announcing that Cisco ThousandEyes is moving to a full channel sales model. I’m thrilled about this and the work our teams are doing to support partners' needs in adding this capability to their Cisco portfolio.
Building On Our Success for the Opportunities Ahead
If 2021 is any indication, 2022 will continue to be challenging – at least in the beginning. But at the same time, it also marks a period of potential growth, profitability, and an opportunity to reach higher.
Announcing Cisco’s 2021 Partner Summit Global Award Winners!
Cisco Partner Summit is always a time to celebrate the incredible things partners have made possible, and every year, as part of this great event, we recognize our top-performing partners and their incredible achievements. I’m thrilled to announce the 20 global partners receiving top honors at this year’s Partner Summit.
Make Everything Possible
Cisco Partner Summit 2021 is around the corner! I hope you’re looking forward to this special event as much as I am. Registration is now open, and I can’t wait to celebrate everything you’ve helped make possible—and will continue to make possible.
Look Closely Before Hitting “Buy”
I was about to hit “Buy” for a name brand microphone when I noticed something was a bit off. Looking more closely, I realized this was not the true brand I thought it was and that it was being sold by a suspicious third party. My experience was trivial compared to what can happen to Cisco’s partners with gray market and counterfeit products which account for over $1 Billion in displaced sales annually.
Sneak Peek at Exclusive Cisco Live Content
At the end of the month, we’ll TURN IT UP at Cisco Live! Cisco partners and distributors will be able to enjoy exclusive content as part of our Early Access Experience starting on March 22.
The Most Wonderful Time of an Unusual Year
This year, more than ever, I am grateful for you, our partners, and for everything we’ve learned and achieved together.
Cisco’s 2020 Partner Summit Digital Global Award Winners!
Each year at Partner Summit, we recognize our top-performing partners and their incredible achievements. Even though we are not in person in 2020, Cisco Partner Summit Digital is no different--and Oliver Tuszik is thrilled to announce the 19 global partners receiving top honors at this year’s event.
Future Ready, Together
Get a glimpse into why Oliver Tuszik is so excited about Partner Summit Digital in his latest video!


text:
Sunjoy Industries of China is recalling about 10,900 Oakmont LP fire pit tables.
An incorrectly installed burner kit hose can melt and ignite, posing a fire hazard.
The firm has received 17 reports of the fire pit tables hose installed incorrectly with 12 of those fire pit tables igniting, resulting in four reports of minor property damage and one injury.
This recall involves Sunjoy’s Oakmont LP fire pit tables, measuring about 38 inches wide, 38 inches deep and 25.6 inches high.
They have a powder-coated steel frame with an all-weather wicker base that conceals a 20 lb. liquid propane (LP) tank.
The tables operate with push button ignition and have an adjustable flame with a steel burner cover included.
The tables, manufactured in China, were sold exclusively at Big Lots stores nationwide and online from January 2020, through June 2020, for about $480
What to do
Consumers should immediately stop using the fire pit tables and contact Sunjoy to receive a free replacement burner kit and installation instructions.
Consumers may contact Sunjoy toll-free at (866) 578-0101 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (PT) Monday through Friday or online at http://oakmont.sunjoygroup.com/service or www.sunjoyonline.com for more information.


text:
Disney Interactive Studios today announced that it has released a new downloadable content (DLC) pack for ‘Disney Universe’ featuring characters from the Walt Disney classic, The Jungle Book. Players on Microsoft Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 can now suit up with characters such as Mowgli, Shere Khan, King Louie, Bagheera and a baby elephant. Each costume is $.99 on PlayStation Network and 80 Microsoft points on MSN Live or the complete set is available for $2.99 and 240 Microsoft points on the respective console.
The Jungle Book joins previously released packs such as Nightmare Before Christmas and Disney Villains. In addition, a Muppets pack is expected to be released in March.
The new costumes as well as screenshots from the game featuring the costumes in use have been added to the beginning of our growing, extensive library below.


text:
Time Equities affiliate buys Anguilla resort: TEI Anguilla Villa Equities LLC, an affiliate of Time Equities bought the Altamer Resort, which includes a 30-room hotel and 134 cottages and condominiums, from Shoal Bay West Properties.
Home Inns profit up in Q4: Home Inns & Hotels Management reported a net income of 12.9 million yuan (US$2.1 million) in the fourth quarter of 2013, up from 6.3 million yuan (US$1 million) during the same period in 2012.
Read more at The Wall Street Journal
Bail for Subrata Roy rejected: The Supreme Court of India ruled the Subrata Roy, chairman of Sahara India Pariwar, will have to remain incarcerated as the company’s ongoing legal dispute over a US$3.9 billion refund to 22 million small investors continues.
Read more at The New York Times
Benchmark adds Florida resort: Benchmark signed a deal with Bankers Financial Corp. to add the private Gilchrist Club hunting resort to its portfolio.
RLJ closes on 10-hotel purchase from Hyatt: RLJ Lodging Trust closed on its previously announced purchase of 10 U.S. hotels from Hyatt Hotels Corp.
Western Europe business travel to grow: The Global Business Travel Association projects that business travel spending in the U.K., Germany, France, Italy and Spain is set to grow 5.1% in 2014 and 6.5% in 2015.


text:
Planet 13 Enters California as State’s Largest Dispensary – Cannabis Now
Southern California residents have a new option for purchasing legal marijuana with the opening of the Planet 13 cannabis superstore in Santa Ana this week. The licensed dispensary, Planet 13’s third retail outlet and the first in the Golden State, opens its doors to customers 21 and older beginning on July 1.
“We are thrilled to be bringing our industry-leading retail experience to cannabis consumers in Southern California. The Planet 13 brand is synonymous with exceptional customer experience with a focus on extensive product selection, unique entertainment features, and world class customer service. Our Orange County SuperStore is designed to encompass all of the above,” Bob Groesbeck, co-CEO of Planet 13, said on June 24 in a press release from the company. “Orange County is home to 3 million people and has another 50 million visitors each year — making it a massive opportunity for consumer-focused cannabis brands. P13 OC is modelled after our extremely successful Las Vegas superstore, and with today’s announcement we look forward to offering consumers the Planet 13 retail experience, blended into the fabric of California.”