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Salesforce Tuesday released what it described as the next generation of its artificial intelligence (AI) technology, Einstein, which contains a new out-of-the-box conversational AI assistant and a new way for organizations to build applications.
Speaking at Dreamforce 2023 in San Francisco, Marc Benioff, the co-founder, chairman and CEO of the company, said that today “it’s squarely about one thing, this AI opportunity. There is no question that (it) is going to change everything and probably anything.
“The decisions that we make, in terms of how we shape how our companies are using these technologies is very important. We can see we can have higher levels of customer success and productivity and growth and transformation and strategy with this new technology. There is no question.”
Slated to reach the pilot stage this fall, the two new components have been christened Einstein Copilot, which Salesforce said allows users to ask questions in natural language and receive “relevant and trustworthy answers that are grounded in secure proprietary company data from Salesforce Data Cloud,” and Einstein Copilot Studio.
The latter, it said, provides a simplified ways for the building of AI-powered apps that contain “relevant prompts, skills and AI models to accomplish specific sales, service, marketing, commerce and IT tasks.”
According to the company, both will “operate within the Einstein Trust Layer, a secure AI architecture natively built into Salesforce that allows teams to generate higher-quality AI results by grounding responses with customer data, while preserving their company’s data privacy and security standards.”
The reality, said Benioff, is that “every company will undergo an AI transformation to increase productivity, drive efficiency and deliver incredible customer and employee experiences.”
The company also launched the Einstein 1 Platform, which it said contains advancements for Salesforce Data Cloud and Einstein AI capabilities built on the metadata framework and “gives companies the ability to safely connect any data to build AI-powered apps with low-code and deliver entirely new CRM experiences.”
Parker Harris, co-founder and chief technology officer (CTO) at Salesforce, said a company’s AI strategy is only as good as its data strategy. “We pioneered the metadata framework nearly 25 years ago to seamlessly bridge data across applications. It’s the connective tissue that fuels innovation. Now with Data Cloud and Einstein AI native on the Einstein 1 platform, companies can easily create AI-powered apps and workflows.”
In a press briefing on Monday, Patrick Stokes, the company’s executive vice president of product and industries marketing, said, “as customers, and businesses are driving towards these AI strategies, they may not have the platform that they really want or that they really need. They have platforms that are disconnecting all of their data. They have different applications. They’re building data lakes, they’ve got lots of disconnected data, they’ve got disconnected API’s, many, many different vendors and this is all leading to low productivity.
“The Einstein 1 platform is integrated, it’s intelligent, it’s automated. And most importantly, it is an open platform, meant to support many, many different data providers, large language model providers, and independent software vendors.”
There were also a number of other product announcements at the conference, which included:
- Salesforce and Google are expanding their partnership so that organizations can access data available from both. It will, a release stated “allow them to bring together context from Salesforce and Google Workspace, including Google Calendar, Docs, Meet, Gmail to power generative AI experience across platforms. With these integrations, users will be able to seamlessly work across platforms through Salesforce and Google Workspace’s GenAI assistants, Einstein Copilot and Duet AI, in Google Workspace.
- Salesforce and Amazon Web Services (AWS) are expanding their existing partnership with new Bring Your Own Lake (BYOL) and Bring Your Own Large Language Model (BYO LLM) integrations between AWS and Salesforce Data Cloud. “These integrations build on AWS and Salesforce’s existing generative AI partnership, allowing customers to seamlessly and securely unify their data across Data Cloud and AWS services … to leverage the broad set of foundation models available in Amazon Bedrock and Amazon SageMaker securely within the Salesforce Platform,” a release stated.
- The launch of new Einstein features for the company’s Net Zero Cloud to make “corporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) reporting easier for companies as they navigate a rapidly evolving regulatory landscape.” With Einstein, according to a release, Net Zero Cloud will suggest responses based on prompts that are in line with specific reporting framework criteria to help companies streamline the ESS reports authoring process. Einstein for Net Zero Cloud is expected to be available next spring.


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VW’s emissions cheating scandal put diesel in a bad light in 2016. However, the bad publicity has not deterred all manufacturers. We’ll see several new diesels in the 2018 model year.
Ford is rumored to be adding a 3.0L V6 turbodiesel to the the 2018 F150 pickup. It’s expected to be the same diesel used by Land Rover in the 2017 Discovery, so about 440 ft lb of torque. The 3.5L Ecoboost gas engine in the F150 is rated to deliver 470 ft lb, so comparing the two engines’ performance and fuel economy will be interesting.
Also interesting is the natural comparison between Ford and Nissan full size diesel-powered “half ton” trucks. Nissan uses a 5.0L Cummins V8 diesel in their Titan. The engine in the Titan XD has 555 ft lb of torque, but also has to haul around 1500 lb more weight than the aluminum bodied F150.
Chevrolet plans to put a 1.6L diesel (236 ft lb) in the remodeled now-compact Equinox SUV. (Compact means about the size of a Honda CR-V). GM estimates 40 mpg on the highway with FWD. The Chevy Cruze sedan will also be available with the 1.6L diesel. The new Equinox will be a world car, sold on 6 continents (including as a Holden in Australia).
The remodeled Jeep Wrangler and Jeep Pickup are rumored to have a diesel option for 2018. It’s likely to be the 3.0L diesel currently offered in the Grand Cherokee, where it produces 420 ft lb. of torque.
Mazda says they plan to offer a 2.2L turbo diesel in the next generation CX-5 SUV, planned for late 2017 as a 2018 model. Not many other details released. Since Mazda announced a diesel on at least three occasions since 2010, this has to be in the “I’ll believe it when I see it” category.
Diesel fuel continues to be less expensive than regular unleaded gas. Let's hope the new diesel options will not be hugely more expensive than their gas powered counterparts.
If VW can't pass emissions. How are the others? They are all basically the same thing.
Mercedes is now under fire. http://blog.caranddriver.com/mercedes-benz-under-federal-investigation-for-diesel-emissions/
The question is, modern efficient diesels are finally coming to the US, but will they be quickly killed off by the EPA? Seems like a bit of a conundrum, EPA wants vehicles to get better fuel economy, yet want super clean emissions as well. Something is going to have to give.
VW recently laid off 30,000 workers, and pulled out of rally racing. Will the company survive this scandal?

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Pitti Uomo is the world’s most important platform for men’s clothing and accessory collections and for launching new...
The fabulous Caribbean resort of Carlisle Bay located in Antigua has announced today several enhancements to their already, luxurious villa complex and luxury resort.
New General Manager John Rogers – ‘These include luxury furniture and furnishings in the Pavillion Bar, upgraded rooms, not to mention the new Honeymoon four poster Bay Suites. The new adults only Jetty Grill, located right on the beach, will no doubt be a firm favourite. The enhancements are also very personal too and we are delighted to announce that Lisa Sellers will be joining the team from an exclusive private Island in the Caribbean as Head Chef.’
John has spent many years managing international hotels and resorts worldwide and will bring his expertise to this beautiful property.
We visited Carlisle Bay earlier this year, and can honestly say if you are looking for the ultimate in luxury, service, exclusivity and friendly service in a Caribbean paradise, then Carlisle Bay must definitely be on your short list!
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An access to information and privacy request acquired by The Western Producer shows how complicated the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement is to sustain.
A Nov. 30, 2018, email between Agriculture Canada staff included a background document on Poland’s move to introduce mandatory country-of-origin labelling for fresh potatoes, despite the Canada-European Union trade deal’s tariff elimination for fresh potatoes.
The Polish Vegetable and Potato Union complained about its ability to sell Polish products on both domestic and foreign markets and that Polish stores were mainly supplied with foreign products.
Potatoes are one of the most important crops in the EU, but legislators never reached an agreement for common rules for the potato market.
Poland mandates COOL on fresh potatoes sold loose or packaged but not processed potatoes in order to align the crop with COOL rules for fresh fruits and vegetables covered by marketing standards at the EU level.
The general rules for food labelling in the EU say COOL is permitted where its omission could mislead consumers as to the true country of origin of the final food and where there is a proven link between certain qualities of the food and its origin.
However, fresh potatoes used for human consumption are not covered by these rules because the potato sector opposed the enforcement of a European quality standard, the background document said.
Beyond EU legislation, the United Nations’ Economic Commission for Europe developed more than 50 specific marketing standards for fresh fruits and vegetables including COOL rules for potatoes, but they apply only for early potatoes and those for human consumption.
Potato producers in Europe may also apply for other quality standards, including protected geographical indication (PGI) and protected designation of origin (PDO).
The Agriculture Canada email said “the impact (of Poland’s COOL on potatoes) is minor but is still a worrisome development in the narrative of proliferating COOL measures in the EU.”
The EU’s piecemeal approach to country-of-origin labelling reminds me of a tangled mound of Christmas lights that take more effort than it’s worth to sort out.


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Chipper Cash, Africa’s fastest-growing fintech has announced a launch of extra services that enable users to make money transfers to and from the United States.
The company seeks to expand their territory to the USA which is known to have a large diaspora population that spends a significant amount of remittances back to the continent.
Already, Chipper Cash has a mainly pan-African market (South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ghana, Nigeria, and Uganda) and the United Kingdom.
This development was publicized at a recent event that saw the announcement of the multiple international award-winning Afro-fusion musician as a global brand ambassador of the company.
Founded in 2018 by Ghanaian, Maijid Moujaled and Ugandan, Ham Serunjogi Chipper Cash is now Africa's fastest-growing fintech company’s. The company was built on the notion of
transparent, instant, and trouble-free money transfer across Africa.
They have also integrated the payment system into Twitter Tips as one of the options for creators in emerging markets to receive monetary support through Twitter.
Unlike other money transfer agents, Chipper Cash is bent on reducing the stress and expenses associated with transferring money internationally.
According to the company's blog, "Sending money into and across the continent should be affordable, easy, and secure. To that end, the Chipper Cash mobile app will enable instant peer-to-peer (P2P) payments from the US to 8 countries in Africa and the UK. And it gets better—payments from the US to Nigeria are free.
To crown it off, the fintech announced its integration with several banks in Ghana, Stock trading of U.S companies for Ugandan users and a Network API service.
In 2020, Amazon founder and the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos invested in the startup.
This came after the cross-border, peer to peer payments service raised $30 million in a Series B funding round led by Ribbit Capital with support from Bezos Expeditions, a personal venture capital fund owned by Bezos.


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NEW DELHI: The government's determination to ban the plastic bag in the capital can fetch results only when people resolve to shun the bag and help implement the ban. That can come about only with awareness. However, the ban can be seriously undermined by the hundreds of illegal manufacturing units operating out of non-conforming areas in the city, without the necessary environmental clearances.
Till recently, the city had only three inspectors, one each from MCD, NDMC and Delhi Cantonment Board. As a result, several illegal units continued to thrive. However, these units took care of a large part of our daily waste several tonnes of plastic in the form of bags, containers, toys, buckets etc. This waste was collected by ragpickers and taken to scrap markets. Sources say that the Mundka scrap market is one of the most important places for purchase and sale of plastic.
From here, the waste is picked up by pellet manufacturers. The plastic is washed, treated and shredded into small pellets, popularly known as `daana'. Most of the pellet manufacturing units are located in small, dingy, airless rooms where the plastic and acid fumes can be lethal for those working there. From here it is sold to the bag manufacturers.
At this step, manufacturers can either buy recycled pellets or buy `virgin' pellets. The pellets are exposed to a high degree of heat and converted to plastic sheets. Depending on the requirement, they are then cut into bags of different sizes and branded.
"About 2 lakh people are involved in the trade who will stand to lose their livelihood with the ban. We cannot send our products out of Delhi as several states have different rules governing sale of plastic bags, ranging from 15 microns to 70 microns. While we are now being forced to manufacture bags of at least 40 microns, thinner bags come much cheaper and hence we will lose out on market share,'' said a bag manufacturer.
There is another fear. "With the primary wage earner without a job, it is most likely that they will rope in everyone in the family, including children, for work. The government needs to address these finer points that arise from a seemingly simple move like banning the bag,'' says Bharati Chaturvedi, director of NGO Chintan.
The industry argues that with only biodegradable bags in use, the problem of littering would become more acute as recycling of biodegradable bags was not an option.
At present, Delhi has only about 150 registered units that are recycling plastic and converting it into polythene bags.
Delhi government's environment secretary J K Dadoo says they are putting a mechanism in place to take action against the illegal units. As a first step, a person is being appointed to guage the extent of the problem.


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NY Legislature Considers Supply-Chain Transparency Bills
Monday, April 3, 2023
New York State's Legislature is considering several bills to get the state to utilize ethical and sustainable supply chains.
One piece of legislation would establish the Supply Chain Transparency Assistance Program to help businesses across the state utilize more environmentally conscious supply chains.
A report from the Accountability Framework Initiative and the Carbon Disclosure Project finds 77% of companies surveyed do not have sufficient traceability across their supply chains to meet climate accountability commitments.
Leo Bonanni, CEO of the supply-chain mapping company Sourcemap, said companies can take additional action to ensure their supply chains aren't contributing to deforestation.
"We know that there are ways for industry to be monitoring for deforestation impact and to be preventing them or to be addressing them when they do find problems," Bonanni pointed out. "Now we're just waiting to scale that technology up to all of the other industries that could be involved in deforestation."
While this might be too much for companies to fit on their product's packaging, Bonanni added consumers can do their own research to ensure they are getting something ethically sourced. The report noted more than 200 companies surveyed identified almost $80 billion of forest-related risks. The bill is under consideration by the State Assembly's Economic Development Committee.
Another bill, the New York State Transparency in Supply Chains Act, would require companies to disclose efforts being taken to eradicate human trafficking in their supply chains to consumers. Bonanni described the importance of tracing from suppliers to the farms cultivating raw materials.
"Why do they have to go down to the farms? Because that's where the biggest risks present themselves," Bonanni explained. "Risks like forced labor or deforestation are happening the farthest away from the brands that we know and buy from. And, that's exactly why companies are mapping today."
According to Anti-Slavery International, about 27.6 million people are believed to be trapped in forced labor across the globe. This includes more than 17.3 million people exploited for forced labor in the private economy. The bill is under review by the state Senate's Consumer Protection Committee.
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Supermarket chain Provigo plans to spend $110 million this year in store changes
QUEBEC - Supermarket chain Provigo says it will spend about $110 million this year to continue renovations and upgrades to its Quebec stores.
The company, a member of the Loblaw (TSX:L) group, has been giving its locations a significant makeover since last year.
In 2013, the company spent about $100 million on the initiative, which included opening a new market-inspired store format called Provigo Le Marche, which emphasizes fresh foods.
Provigio said it plans to introduce the new concept design at other locations this year.
Loblaw spokesman Hugues Mousseau said Le Marche stores employ 50 to 100 more employees than a typical Loblaw store.
The company did not outline details how many new locations it plans to open.
Provigo is part of the Loblaw group, which operates nearly 400 corporate, franchised and affiliated stores in Quebec and employs close to 30,000 people in Quebec, making it the province's third-largest employer.
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AXS Price Analysis: Rising AXS Price Aims To Reclaim $17.6 Mark
For nearly two months, the Axie Infinity(AXS) price resonated inside a falling wedge pattern. However, the altcoin recently rebounded from the $12.3 support pump by 34.3% and poked the nearest resistance of $17.6.
Axie Infinity to start reimbursing Ronin bridge hack victims from June 28
Months after the exploit that led to the theft of over $600 million, Axie Infinity developers Sky Mavis will finally reimburse users and restart the Ronin bridge exploited in the attack, Bloomberg reported. The post Axie Infinity to start reimbursing Ronin bridge hack victims from June 28 appeared first on CryptoSlate.
Axie Infinity Developer Sky Mavis to Reimburse Victims of Ronin Bridge Hack
A total of $216.5 million in USDC and ethereum at today's prices will be returned to users.
Axie Infinity's Ronin Bridge to Re-Open After $552M Hack
Axie Infinity's Ronin sidechain is expected to be relaunched next week after the $552 million exploit, 'with all user funds returned.'
Axie Infinity value Forecast for June 24: AXS/USD Inches Higher
AXS/USD rose to the top of the crypto daily mover list. This crypto moved roughly 14% up in price.
Axie Infinity developer to reimburse users June 28 after losing $620m in hack
A hack in March caused Sky Mavis Inc., the developer of the play-to-earn computer game Axie Infinity (AXS), to lose.
Axie Infinity (AXS) surges 17% because of this development
The price of Axie Infinity (AXS) surged on Friday, June 24, and rose to hit a high of $17.46 down from trading at about $14.5. Although the general crypto market is currently experiencing some form of a comeback with the global crypto market cap rising by about 3% to $942.35B at the time of writing. […] The post Axie Infinity (AXS) surges 17% because of this development appeared first on Invezz.
Axie Infinity's Ronin Network to Reopen Bridge Months After $625M Hack
Ronin Network, the Ethereum-based sidechain created by Axie Infinity developers, has announced that it will reopen its bridge to aid users with the ease of moving their assets across the Ethereum network. Ronin Network Reopens Bridge In a tweet thread, Ronin's developers noted that the reopening of the bridge, which will occur on June 28th, will pave the way for users to access their funds once again since the closure of the bridge.


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After a long retail drought, shoppers seem to be starting to return.
And while no one’s looking for that trickle to turn into a monsoon, there are some hopes that the declines hitting stores hard over the past year are starting to level out.
The most distinct signs of life amid what some have sought to dramatize as a retail apocalypse came from Wal-Mart Stores Inc., Target Corp., Kohl’s Corp. and perennially strong TJX Cos. Inc., all of which singled out traffic momentum when they reported second-quarter results this week.
Most recently, Wal-Mart said Thursday that its U.S. comparable sales rose 1.8 percent with traffic growth of 1.3 percent. The company’s sales online grew 60 percent, fueled by Marc Lore’s Jet-led push. Chief executive officer Doug McMillion said, “Traffic increases at store level and the e-commerce growth rate are key highlights.”
RetailNext, which tracks footfall in thousands of stores, said traffic showed its smallest decline since January 2016 last month — but still slipped 5.5 percent. Conversion, or how many of those shoppers became buyers, was more promising, rising 0.5 percent in June and July, the best showing in about a year.
Anna Vichitcholchai, senior manager of retail consulting at RetailNext, said she’s “expecting traffic to level out” eventually and if there is an upward trend, it will become clearer in the months ahead.
Vichitcholchai said retailers that are doing a good job of engaging with their customer, online and in stores, are seeing their traffic improve.
She pointed to increased coffee and food offerings in some stores as well as loyalty programs, such as those at Ulta Beauty and Sephora, which connect consumers with discounts or other incentives that keep them coming back for more.
Retailers are learning more from each other, studying their approaches and picking up on what works, Vichitcholchai said.
“We’re still seeing the need for customers to touch and feel the product,” she said. “Even for companies that are digital leaders, they’re starting to open their own locations because customer acquisition, the costs of it are lower than online business and provide margins that are higher. The storefront is the new homepage for retailers.”
While nobody disputes the importance of e-commerce, retailers are keenly aware that brick-and-mortar stores still represent 91.1 percent of all retail sales and that most of their money comes when shoppers are within their four walls.
Kohl’s ceo Kevin Mansell talked up “traffic momentum” for the second quarter and said that although foot fall was “slightly negative” that “improvement in traffic was the driver of the improved performance in sales.” Kohl’s comparable sales went from down 2.7 percent in the first quarter to off just 0.4 percent in the second quarter.
“The fundamental message I’m giving is the improvement in our sales trend was driven entirely by an improvement in traffic,” the ceo told Wall Street analysts. “And I think we believe that’s going to continue. You can look at all these other numbers monthly, weekly, forward-looking, backward-looking, but it’s about traffic. And so we’ve got to get traffic positive. We do that, there’s a lot of good things coming.”
Of course, the intense desire to drive traffic can also lead retailers into a dangerous territory.
“There’s been a conscious investment in lower prices over the last few months,” said Pete Madden, a director in AlixPartner’s retail practice. “It’s starting to pay off with the higher traffic, but there’s risk, too. Retailers need to be careful not to go too far and erode their brand and margin.”
Target said the number of transactions in the second quarter grew 2.1 percent, but was offset by a 0.7 percent decline in the average ticket amount, leading to a 1.3 percent comp-sales increase.
Mark Tritton, chief merchandising officer and executive vice president at Target, assured analysts: “At first glance, reporting a slight decline in average ticket might not sound like good news, but when it’s more than offset by an increase in traffic, the picture is more positive. As we dig into the drivers, the change in basket reflected two key factors. The first was a reduction in general incentive offers, which were replaced with better daily-value pricing and more category-focused discounts. The second was a meaningful increase in the number of quick trips and fill-in trips we saw from our guests.”
Simple mathematics might also be driving traffic gains: There are fewer stores.
Retailers from Macy’s Inc. to J.C. Penney Co. Inc. to Guess Inc. and Abercrombie Fitch & Co. have been closing doors en masse, winnowing down the brick-and-mortar base to stronger locations that have the potential to gain.
Fung Global Retail & Technology projected 9,452 store closings this year, up 53 percent from the doors that went dark during the Great Recession in 2008.


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Speaking at CES 2020, Tivo’s vice president of consumer products and services Ted Malone described the company’s Roku and Apple TV apps as “in limbo.” However, the firm later clarified and said that the products are actually “on hold” (via TechHive).
Tivo Apple TV and Roku Apps Not Imminent
During an interview at CES in Las Vegas, Mr. Malone said:
My bet is we’ll get Android, and because of that we’ll get the Fire TV, because it’s the same app, just different qualifications. I think Roku and Apple are in limbo.
However, following that, Tivo put out a statement to clarify the situation. It did not make it better for users who want to access Apple TV. The statement said:
During the second half of this year, we re-prioritized several projects in order to focus on the launch of TiVo Stream 4K. Because of this, the streamer clients were put on hold. We are looking at moving forward with the Android streamer client in order to provide compatibility between Stream and Linux based DVR’s. Apple TV and Roku clients are currently on hold.”
Furthermore, the ability to stream live and recorded video from TiVo to other streaming players is not on the way any time soon either. However, the company did launch TiVo Stream 4Kmedia player this week.


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Reserve Bank of India to improve security in FY19
Tue 4 Sep 2018
An alarming number of cyber fraud crimes have forced the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to seek out more hardened measures to protect against security threats.
For the fiscal agenda for 2018-19, RBI has publicised its focus on improving security measures against cyberattacks with the help of detection company Acalvio.
Acalvio’s report said: “The ever-increasing threat landscape and seemingly never-ending list of breaches discovered each year have driven tighter security controls by many enterprises globally.”
Rises in digital transactions and e-commerce popularity have shown to have increased the chances of fraudulent cyber theft in the first half of 2018 alone.
Acalvio detailed three security measures that it would be focusing on in the next year including constant surveillance, a crisis management plan and incident notifications.
By continually surveying the bank using a Security Operations Centre (SOC) through the use of ShadowPlex, a threat defence system, cyber attackers would be presented with false details in a decoy trap which would cause a lengthy distraction and end the attempted crime.
ShadowPlex is a uniquely designed security programme designed to identify attackers without requiring pre-definition of attack tactics or methods.
The use of a Cyber Crisis Management Plan (CCMP) would allow the Bank to focus on tougher threat prevention.
“Banks must…begin work on their CCMP, which should address incident Detection, Response, Recovery and Containment.”
Acalvio also stressed for incidents to be openly discussed: “Banks must promptly notify the RBI of all ‘unusual’ cyber-security incidents whether successful or not…within two to six hours.”
RBI said in 2016 that: “Banks need to take effective measures to prevent cyber-attacks and to promptly detect any cyber-intrusions so as to respond/recover/contain the fallout.”


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At just 3 years old, Victoria Spano feels perfectly at home seated at her great-grandfather’s desk at Modern Gas Sales, Inc.
At 90, Edward Gorzkowski, is equally comfortable with Victoria dancing around his office and telling him about her day.
The interaction seems reflective of the culture of the business which has served area residential, commercial and industrial propane customers for over 50 years. Gorzkowski started the business with one pickup truck in the early 50s and has watched it grow to five different locations.
“When my dad started the business, not only did he have only one pickup truck, but he was working other jobs at the time,” said Richard Gorkowski. “He wanted start a business that would benefit the community and be an anchor for his family.”
The business has now passed to second and even third generations with sons Richard, Edward and Jay overseeing daily operations.
Granddaughter Lindsey Spano detailed the growth of the business in product, staff and geography.
“We started with one location and now we have five: Nanticoke, Tannersville, Edwardsville, Honesdale and here, ” she said. “The business has over 50 employees.”
And those employees, she said, are prepared not just to keep customers warm in the winter and cooking in the summer, but to do so with a great attitude and understanding of the importance of customer service.
“Some of our employees have been here throughout our history,” she said. “Carl Bonitz is one of those employees.”
Bonitz came to the business after he graduated from high school and worked until he retired several years ago.
What truly speaks to the company’s treatment of its employees is that Bonitz still comes back to work at Modern even though he is retired.
“If he sees something that needs to be done, he does it,” Richard Gorkowski said of Bonitz.
The senior Gorkowski, born in an era without cell phones, social media or GPS, does not let that stop stop him from embracing technology as an opportunity for company growth and service.
“He might not understand everything about technology,” he said. “But, he is excited about us using it to better our customer experience.”
His father, he said, is loved by employees and customers, no matter what their age.
“He gets along well with younger people and he relates with the older people,” said Richard Gorkowski.
The business boasts of service to residential and commercial customers at reasonable costs.
Direct delivery of propane to the business makes those low prices possible, according to Spano.
In the meantime, most days find Edward Gorkowski, Sr. at his desk before everyone else, at the helm of a business that benefits his family, his employees and the community.
“I get here first and I make the coffee,” he said, smiling.
Reach the Sunday Dispatch newsroom at 5709-655-1418 or by email at email@example.com.


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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League recently shared an extended look at their gameplay a couple weeks ago during Sony’s State of Play.
At this point, the game’s release date was already the announced as of May 26, 2023, so it was seemingly prime to finally launch.
However, according to sources (via Bloomberg), it appears the game will be seeing yet another delay. Previously it was set for 2022 before being delayed to the current date listed above.
According to the source, the delay is mainly to fix up some bugs and general polish. It’s not expected to make any massive changes to the core gameplay, which might disappoint some after learning of the game’s battle pass and online requirements.
Currently this news isn’t yet public or official and only is reported via the anonymous sources with Bloomberg. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League’s website still lists the original launch date as of this writing.
Here’s a rundown on the game:
Jump into Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the genre-defying, action-adventure third-person shooter in development from Rocksteady Studios, creators of the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham series. This title combines the studio’s signature character-driven story gameplay with third-person shooter action to deliver a gaming experience unlike any other.
Discover the origins of Amanda Waller’s infamous Task Force X (aka the Suicide Squad) as Harley Quinn, Deadshot, Captain Boomerang and King Shark begrudgingly embark on their mission to take down the World’s Greatest DC Super Heroes, The Justice League. Featuring an original narrative set within an expansive open-world city of Metropolis, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League puts the four DC Super-Villains on a collision course with an invading alien force and DC Super Heroes who are now laser-focused on destroying the city they once vowed to protect. All the while, the Suicide Squad must be mindful of the lethal explosives implanted in their heads that could go off at the first sign of defiance.
Each squad member has their own unique moveset with enhanced traversal abilities to freely explore the dynamic open-world of Metropolis, along with a variety of weapons to customize, and skills to master. Fans can tailor their experience, whether playing on their own as a single-player, or teaming up with friends in multiplayer co-op.
Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will now be expected to launch some time in 2023 across Windows PC (via Steam), PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X.


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The latest trend in Snapchat ads: 360-degree video
When the highly anticipated film “Fifty Shades Darker” hit the theaters on Valentine’s Day weekend last month, Universal Pictures took users on a 360-degree tour of a masquerade ball featured in a scene in the movie. But this experience didn’t live on Facebook or YouTube. It was on Snapchat.
After going full circle on Facebook and YouTube, 360-degree videos have arrived on Snapchat, but as more of a hack than a feature offered by the platform. While Sony Pictures was the first to direct Snapchat users to a 360-degree video back in August 2016, a number of brands including Netflix and Chick-fil-A have run 360-degree virtual experiences on Snapchat recently. Netflix, for instance, launched a 360-degree trailer for its first reality show Ultimate Beastmaster, and promoted it through Snapchat ads last month.
Universal Pictures ran video ads within Snapchat’s Discover channel between February 10 and 14, prompting users to swipe up to view more content. The 360-degree videos aren’t native Snapchat ads, users saw them only once they swiped up, and were directed to the 360-degree video within the platform. The 360-degree experience was powered by VR company OmniVirt, one of Snapchat’s ad partners.
According to Michael Rucker, co-founder and chief operating officer at OmniVirt, there has been “an uptick” in the number of advertisers looking to run 360 videos on Snapchat because it provides for a far better clickthrough rate and much higher engagement than regular video ads on the platform. It is a good option for brands — especially at a time when recent stats show that 69 percent of American adults skip regular Snapchat ads “always” or “often.”
On the other hand, OmniVirt’s clients have seen two to three times more swipe-ups for 360-degree experiences versus other swipe-up call to actions on Snapchat, according to Rucker. And users also engage with the content better — the average user spends over a minute in these 360-degree experiences.
Universal Pictures, for example, saw two times the engagement on the “Fifty Shades Darker” 360 video than it has on its other Snapchat video ads, according to Leigh Godfrey, vice president of digital marketing at Universal Pictures. . The company has run Snapchat video ads for movies like “Ouija” before. Further, the time spent with the 360 video was 50 percent more than its benchmark to date for long-form video. It made perfect sense: the ads were targeted to millennial women between the ages of 18 and 34.
Snapchat will likely see an explosion of 360-degree videos, according to Nick Cicero, founder and CEO of content shop Delmondo, because the content lives within the platform and users don’t have to be directed anywhere else. It will be interesting to see how Snap improves its ad experience, bringing together 360 videos and its Spectacles, he said.
“360-degree videos are not yet a native Snapchat function, so they’ve got the novelty factor,” he said. “And they are very promising because swiping up is very powerful, as it signals intent. Users are watching the videos because they want to.”
Homepage Image courtesy of Universal Pictures
‘Exceeded our marketers readiness’: As e-commerce growth accelerates, Dentsu is adding a new practice to meet the demand
The commerce practice was already in the works but the pandemic and changing consumer behavior due to the pandemic accelerated it.
‘Hooked on the Facebook drug’: Media buyers say smaller brands will return to the platform, but bigger brands will continue to boycott
Large consumer brands aren’t happy with Facebook’s response to the boycott so far and will likely wait until fall to reconsider the boycott.
Nobody in elevators, fewer gag lines: How an agency is remaking its ads to fit the coronavirus era
The process has allowed the full-service agency to enlist its post-production arm to help its clients adjust ads rather than press pause on advertising due to the ad content.
SponsoredAs live sports roar back onto screens, brands capture a social-media lift
By TJ Adeshola, head of U.S. Sports Partnerships at Twitter Live sports are back and sports fans couldn’t be more excited. It’s no surprise that communities across the country are welcoming their teams back with open arms. For many, the return of sports brings a sense of normalcy — 67 percent of U.S. fans see […]
Member Exclusive‘People have to be more aware of bullshitters’: Why there’s a push for more realism in advertising now
In advertising, there’s long-been a “fraud problem” in that the industry has a surplus of poseurs or bullshitters.
Why beverage startup United Sodas is testing out a new out-of-home strategy
Out-of-home advertising has slowly picked back up in recent months. But now DTC brands, who've long favored the sleek subway ads, are finding new ways to target potential customers as pedestrian foot traffic picks up in cities.


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NASA dominates the news this week, but theirs isn’t the only name. In this issue: Dawn, Juno, SpaceX, Spitzer and the ESO.
Missing: One sample of metallic hydrogen. If found, please call Harvard.
5,000 Model 3s a week by end of year, 10,000 per week sometime in 2017. 375,000 in line for a Model 3. Not all will get the tax credit.
Feds threatened DIY self-drive hardware/software seller Comma.ai. So the company made plans for linking hardware (Android phone) and software free.
Buckle your space Boötes and head straight on til Dawn: NASA and the UCLA both just independently reported that they’ve found “the building blocks of life,” off-world.
It won’t cooperate long enough for us to measure its properties, so nobody has any idea what to do with it, but it sure does aim to misbehave.
It’s much smaller and cooler than our sun, but all seven of those planets are clustered in very close, which would make for an incredible view.
The good news: experts say it probably wasn’t a bomb. The bad news: we know very little else.
True wireless power is still a no-go in consumer technology, but Disney Research has developed a version that might work in the future.
A new process for obtaining uranium from seawater could make the process cleaner, cheaper, and more accessible to countries around the world.
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What is Black Friday?
Black Friday is the name given to the shopping day after Thanksgiving. It was originally called Black Friday because so many people went out to shop that it caused traffic accidents and sometimes even violence. The Philadelphia Police Department coined the phrase to describe the mayhem surrounding the congestion of pedestrian and auto traffic in the downtown area.
The name was first recorded in 1966 by Earl Apfelbaum, a dealer in rare stamps. In his ad, he said, "'Black Friday' is the name that the Philadelphia Police Department gave to the Friday following Thanksgiving Day. It is not a term of endearment for them. 'Black Friday' officially opens the Christmas shopping season in center city. It usually brings massive traffic jams and over-crowded sidewalks as the downtown stores are mobbed from opening to closing."
Black Friday has two relevant meanings. The more contemporary one refers to the day after the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday, which has also traditionally been a holiday itself for many employees; a day full of special shopping deals and heavy discounts, it's considered the kickoff of the holiday shopping season.
When is Black Friday 2018?
Black Friday is on Friday, November 23th, 2018


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Facebook, founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, is the dominant social media application. It is unquestionably the monarch of its genre. Importantly, Facebook has not restricted its reach to its parent business, Facebook, but has instead bought some of the largest companies in existence. Facebook adheres to a simple creed: acquire the firm before it becomes a competitor. Its name is shared by the top five technology-related businesses, namely Microsoft, Amazon, Apple, Google, and Facebook.
Nonetheless, we will examine the top 10 firms controlled by Facebook in 2021 in this article. Therefore, please have a seat, as we are about to reveal the secret behind Facebook being a trillion-dollar company.
The Top Ten Businesses Owned By Facebook
Facebook is a trillion-dollar firm, and it is exceedingly difficult for a parent company to generate such a large revenue stream. Facebook has a pattern of acquiring companies that resemble possible competitors in the future. In terms of numbers, Facebook has bought 78 businesses since its founding. Therefore, what firms does Facebook own? Below are listed all Facebook, Inc. subsidiaries for 2021.
Yes, you may be startled to learn that Facebook owns another social media giant, Instagram. Remember the Facebook mantra: purchase a business before it becomes a potential competitor. Instagram was founded in 2010 and operated independently until Facebook acquired it for $1 billion in 2012.
According to numerous statistics, Instagram makes more advertising money than Facebook. Upon acquiring Instagram, Facebook intends to develop Instagram as a standalone photo-sharing application.
2. Facebook’s WhatsApp
Surprise! Surprise! WhatsApp, the most popular messaging application, is acquired by Facebook. WhatsApp was created as a less expensive alternative to text messaging providers. And WhatsApp continues to operate under the same premise, namely providing free calling and messaging services.
Facebook acquired WhatsApp for $19 billion; WhatsApp was worth $1.5 billion at the time of acquisition. However, there is no information available on WhatsApp’s annual revenue. According to some projections, WhatsApp will earn $5 billion by 2021.
3. Oculus VR
Facebook purchased Oculus VR, a virtual reality hardware and software business, just a few weeks after purchasing WhatsApp. The company is well recognised for its Oculus Rift, a gaming-specific headset. Since Facebook’s acquisition of Oculus VR, Oculus has made a number of acquisitions, with Surreal Vision being the most prominent.
In 2014, Facebook acquired Oculus VR for $2 billion. And because of this acquisition, Oculus was able to establish itself in the market for virtual reality.
Onavo was a web analytics business whose primary purpose was to identify client usage. It was launched in 2010 and operated independently until October 2013, when Facebook purchased it for an estimated $100-$200 million.
However, many experts believe that Onavo is not the most important Facebook, Inc. subsidiary. But according to us, Onavo assists Facebook in making key early decisions on the acquisition of other companies and applications.
In 2011, less than a year after its introduction in 2010, Facebook purchased Beluga. Unfortunately, the cost of acquisition has not yet been made public. Beluga was originally a chat app.
Faced with Beluga, Facebook purchased the most successful social media messenger platform. This acquisition demonstrates that Facebook has once again bought a prospective competitor.
In 2019, Facebook purchased CTRL-labs, a New York firm that focuses primarily on inventing a method for humans to control computers using their thoughts. The exact cost of the acquisition is unknown, however numerous sources estimate that it ranges from $500 million to $1 billion.
Since 2016, Facebook has been working on brain computing technology. And the acquisition of CTRL-labs will be of tremendous assistance to them.
LiveRail is a video ad tech business whose primary mission is to link advertisers with web and mobile publishers. The company was acquired by Facebook in 2014 for $500. LiveRail, which was introduced in 2007, has a large customer base that consists mostly of Major League Baseball, ABC Family, A&E Networks, Gannett, and Dailymotion.
In 2013, LiveRail aimed to generate $100 million in income, but Facebook’s offer of $500 million is significantly more attractive.
FriendFeed is one of the initial firms in which Facebook has made an investment. FriendFeed was acquired by Facebook in 2008 for $47.5 million. FriendFeed was primarily a platform that aggregated content from social media networks, blogs, articles, and RSS feeds.
FriendFeed was a firm that allowed users to share links and status updates online at the time of its purchase. Facebook paid approximately $15 million in cash, with the remainder invested in Facebook stock.
Facebook acquired Ascenta in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. According to numerous reports, the amount is significantly less than $20 million. At the time of the acquisition, Facebook stated that they are not particularly interested in the company itself, but rather in the minds of the engineers that work there.
Ascenta is a manufacturer of solar-powered drones whose mission is to bring internet connectivity to the most remote locations. Facebook essentially acquired the five-person engineering team from Ascenta.
10. Little Eye Labs
Little Eye Labs, an Indian startup business, was bought by Facebook in 2014 for $15 million. According to Facebook, Little Eye Labs developed software that provides an accurate analysis of various Android applications, and this software would help them increase their productivity.
Little Eye Labs has not updated its website or social media accounts since the acquisition, so it is unclear whether they are still working with Facebook.
These are the top ten firms that Facebook owns. Are you startled by the appearance of any of the names in this post? Please indicate this in the comment box. In addition, please make comments and recommendations regarding the topic in the space provided below.


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SOUTH CHARLESTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- Two men are wanted in a crime spree at different Target stores in our region, South Charleston Police say.
They say the pair stole more than $1,000 worth of merchandise from the South Charleston store last month in the Southridge shopping plaza.
Last Thursday, police say the men tried the same thing at the Southridge store. They were unsuccessful there, but then went to the Target in Barboursville a few hours later and were able to get away with more items.
The men were seen leaving in a silver Jeep Liberty.


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28 October 2002 – With the CBI reporting a weakened sales growth for September, compared to figures from the first half of 2002, UK retailers need to use every method available to maximise their till returns. But, according to Robin Koffler, Managing Director – Commercial at power solutions expert Advance Galatrek, an alarming number of retailers are failing to take proper precautions against the consequences of power failure. And to make matters worse, there is widespread ignorance in the sector as to the true cost of a power outage.
Koffler argues that many medium sized retailers, as well as individual shops that comprise larger chains, are unaware of the real difficulties that power quality issues can bring. ‘We’re not just talking about the occasional mains hiccup here,’ says Koffler. ‘Although even the briefest interruption in the mains supply can shut down tills and cause chaos at the checkout, it is back office systems that are most at risk. And, when there is a power problem, it is the back office where the greatest remedial cost lies.’
‘Imagine the wider implications of a power cut. Not only are tills and checkouts inoperable, but also stock control systems no longer function. That means that there is no way of checking with the warehouse about what’s in stock, or automatically updating stocking levels once a line is sold. And as for automatic re-ordering facilities, you may as well forget it while the power is down,’ states Koffler. ‘What’s more, a power outage will frequently corrupt data on its way to the back office servers, so that you will be left with false information that only a manual stock take can rectify,’ he adds.
‘And these issues are compounded by the longer-term hardware problems caused by power fluctuations. In fact, in many cases, it is only after a sustained series of power surges, sags and outages that we begin to experience the real damage that poor power quality can bring, especially in dramatically reducing the lifespan of critical computing, comms and IT components.
Indeed, the retail sector is often more at risk from poor mains power quality, than from actual power interruptions,’ he cautions. ‘However, I don’t want to imply that the checkout should be passed over for power protection – far from it. For virtually every retailer, the till is literally a conveyor belt for cash, and if the checkout goes down, it takes time – and money – for the system to recover. And, after all, where’s the profit in a till that’s lying idle because of an external power problem?’
What is needed, according to Koffler, is for retailers to take the issue of power quality much more seriously. ‘They should look at power protection as a necessity – like insurance – rather than as something that merely affects others,’ he states.
My advice is save money by investing in reliable UPS, generators and lightning & spike protection devices to help protect critical equipment and data, and to maintain business continuity. If they are concerned about initial expenditure and the need for future proofing, there are now scalable products on the market that will allow for subsequent expansion, without storing up legacy problems. Every retailer owes it to their shareholders to maximise profit, and how can they do that when their tills aren’t functioning,’ he concludes.


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AWS today announced a number of IoT-related updates that, for the most part, aim to make getting started with its IoT services easier, especially for companies that are trying to deploy a large fleet of devices. The marquee announcement, however, is about the Alexa Voice Service, which makes Amazon’s Alex voice assistant available to hardware manufacturers who want to build it into their devices. These manufacturers can now create “Alexa built-in” devices with very low-powered chips and 1MB of RAM.
Until now, you needed at least 100MB of RAM and an ARM Cortex A-class processor. Now, the requirement for Alexa Voice Service integration for AWS IoT Core has come down 1MB and a cheaper Cortex-M processor. With that, chances are you’ll see even more lightbulbs, light switches and other simple, single-purpose devices with Alexa functionality. You obviously can’t run a complex voice-recognition model and decision engine on a device like this, so all of the media retrieval, audio decoding, etc. is done in the cloud. All it needs to be able to do is detect the wake word to start the Alexa functionality, which is a comparably simple model.
“We now offload the vast majority of all of this to the cloud,” AWS IoT VP Dirk Didascalou told me. “So the device can be ultra dumb. The only thing that the device still needs to do is wake word detection. That still needs to be covered on the device.” Didascalou noted that with new, lower-powered processors from NXP and Qualcomm, OEMs can reduce their engineering bill of materials by up to 50 percent, which will only make this capability more attractive to many companies.
Didascalou believes we’ll see manufacturers in all kinds of areas use this new functionality, but most of it will likely be in the consumer space. “It just opens up the what we call the real ambient intelligence and ambient computing space,” he said. “Because now you don’t need to identify where’s my hub — you just speak to your environment and your environment can interact with you. I think that’s a massive step towards this ambient intelligence via Alexa.”
No cloud computing announcement these days would be complete without talking about containers. Today’s container announcement for AWS’ IoT services is that IoT Greengrass, the company’s main platform for extending AWS to edge devices, now offers support for Docker containers. The reason for this is pretty straightforward. The early idea of Greengrass was to have developers write Lambda functions for it. But as Didascalou told me, a lot of companies also wanted to bring legacy and third-party applications to Greengrass devices, as well as those written in languages that are not currently supported by Greengrass. Didascalou noted that this also means you can bring any container from the Docker Hub or any other Docker container registry to Greengrass now, too.
“The idea of Greengrass was, you build an application once. And whether you deploy it to the cloud or at the edge or hybrid, it doesn’t matter, because it’s the same programming model,” he explained. “But very many older applications use containers. And then, of course, you saying, okay, as a company, I don’t necessarily want to rewrite something that works.”
Another notable new feature is Stream Manager for Greengrass. Until now, developers had to cobble together their own solutions for managing data streams from edge devices, using Lambda functions. Now, with this new feature, they don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time they want to build a new solution for connection management and data retention policies, etc., but can instead rely on this new functionality to do that for them. It’s pre-integrated with AWS Kinesis and IoT Analytics, too.
Also new for AWS IoT Greengrass are fleet provisioning, which makes it easier for businesses to quickly set up lots of new devices automatically, as well as secure tunneling for AWS IoT Device Management, which makes it easier for developers to remote access into a device and troubleshoot them. In addition, AWS IoT Core now features configurable endpoints.


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Why is Chevrolet Cruze Coolant being blamed for hot car crashes?
There’s no question that there’s been an increase in hot car fires in recent years.
And while some of the causes of the fires are unknown, many people are blaming the coolant used in hot cars.
According to CBS News, many hot car owners are now complaining that they’re having problems breathing after consuming coolant that they purchased from an online vendor.
According a new study, the coolants are also being blamed.
According the study, hot car fire victims are suffering from a variety of conditions including breathing difficulties, asthma, dizziness, confusion and cognitive impairment.
The report was released on the same day that a California court ruled that an online supplier must pay $20 million to settle charges that it falsely advertised its products as safe and effective.
The California Supreme Court upheld a lower court decision that found that the company’s products were “a genuine product of reasonable belief.”


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The Post Office in Monterey and Salinas will be open with extended hours Saturday to help last-minute Christmas shoppers get their packages in the mail on time.
The offices at 565 Hartnell St. in Monterey and 1011 Post Drive in Salinas will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today, according to Bay-Valley District Manager Kim Fernandez.
The U.S. Postal Service said it expects to send more than 20 billion cards, letters and packages between Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Eve. Holiday travelers who will be away from home for an extended period can also request a vacation hold for their mail online. For more information, see www.usps.com


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Evelyn Walls explores how Facebook may navigate Chinese free speech restrictions as it seeks to enter the market.
In October 2014 Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, gave a speech in Mandarin at Tsinghua University, a top-ranking Chinese university in Beijing. This speech went viral on the internet and was widely applauded by Chinese netizens both in China and abroad. It became the headline topic on all social media available in China, including Wechat, Weibo and Xiaonei, but not Facebook – Facebook itself has been banned in the country since July 2008. The popularity of Mark Zuckerberg’s speech among the Chinese, therefore, reflects a great irony: a country that has no access to Facebook has shown its love for the founder of this social media platform in what appears to be a kind of political satire.
What is the deal, and for whom?
There is certainly a lot of business manoeuvring involved in this speech tailored for its Chinese audience. The first and perhaps most obvious point worth noting relates to the business strategy behind Zuckerberg’s speech. Tsinghua University, famous for its technology studies, is often considered to be China’s equivalent of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Choosing Tsinghua made Zuckerberg’s visit an engagement of the brilliant technological minds of the country, an intellectual encounter in addition to a political one. Zuckerberg was also nominated as an advisory member of Tsinghua’s School of Economics and Management. Other top executives at the event included IBM chief executive Virginia Rometty and Anheuser-Busch InBev CEO Carlos Brito.
During the visit, Zuckerberg stated that he would push for more cooperation with Tsinghua. Doug Young from Forbes predicted that Facebook could be considering entering China through a partnership with Tsinghua, which has shown a penchant for doing business with foreign firms. The university was one of China’s early tech manufacturing leaders with its Tongfang Group. More recently it has emerged as a consolidator for China’s high-tech microchip industry through its purchase of US-listed smartphone chipmakers RDA Microelectronics and Spreadtrum. It later merged those companies into a single microchip maker, and sold 20 per cent of it to Intel in 2015.
Despite the fact that Facebook’s main site was blocked by Beijing in 2008, Zuckerberg has stated repeatedly since then that he wants Facebook to enter the market. He has made frequent trips to China, often traveling as a private citizen rather than a company executive. Three years ago he reportedly met with a number of executives from major internet firms, including internet search engine leader Baidu, to discuss a potential joint venture. But nothing ever came from those talks. China has had an entrepreneurship boom – homegrown internet giants like Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu have convinced a generation of young professionals that passion, focus and risk-taking can yield massive rewards.
This brings us to a more sensitive issue, namely what kind of vehicle Facebook might use to finally enter China. Zuckerberg’s meetings with successful online media and business models that are intrinsically Chinese suggests that he is still searching for a direction. This could be alarming from a free speech perspective, as it suggests a higher risk of Facebook’s entry into China being compromised and manipulated by interested parties. Already, a Twitter office has been opened in Hong Kong – could such tentative easing into the region be a strategy that Facebook might emulate?
The Tsinghua partnership
Tsinghua University is one of the high-ranking universities in China, and it is particularly famous for training top party leaders (including the current president, Xi Jinping). Choosing Tsinghua to visit and deliver his speech was no accident but a business strategy that was carefully planned prior to his visit to Beijing.
Doug Young observed that Apple CEO Tim Cook’s frequent visits to China have been quite official and included many stops at government and company offices, whereas Zuckerberg has been far more low-key in his equally regular visits, due to Facebook’s lack of official presence in the country where it is formally banned. But of course Zuckerberg desperately wants to find a way to enter the market. Young also suspected that Beijing might welcome the world’s biggest social networking company in the current climate. Such a move would help to deflect the criticism that China is hostile to foreign companies, amid the antitrust probes against mostly major multinationals. Allowing Facebook to enter would also help to deflect the criticism levelled by foreigners who say China’s strict censorship policies are aimed at quashing free speech. Those strict censorship policies are believed to be the main reason why Facebook’s global website has been blocked in China for the last five years.
The power of social media in a global age
Despite all the speculation regarding this speech, it is an undeniable fact that online social media has a defining influence in today’s world. In November 2014, China hosted an internet conference in Wuzhen, a historical town located about halfway between Shanghai and Hangzhou, and the headquarters of e-commerce juggernaut Alibaba. Media including CNN reported that Chinese officials punched a hole in the “Great Firewall” for the inaugural World Internet Conference, allowing more than 1,000 attendees to access parts of the internet that are off limits to the 1.3 billion Chinese people. The concession underlines the dilemma facing non-Chinese tech firms as they try to reconcile the country’s enormous potential with its heavy-handed approach to censorship and market access. The conference drew the ire of Amnesty International, which said China’s internet model is one of “extreme control and suppression.” William Nee, a researcher at the human rights group, told CNN: “China appears eager to promote its own domestic internet rules as a model for global regulation, this should send a chill down the spine of anyone that values online freedom.”
Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells argues that the internet has become “the fabric of our lives”, and amounts to a form of power in the information age based on the management of communication networks, profoundly changing political processes and social movements, for instance the misinformation of the American public on the Iraq War, the control of information in China and Russia and internet-based political campaigns. If conscious communication is the distinctive feature of humans, it is logical that it is in this realm that society has been most profoundly modified. As China’s new generation of “digital natives” grow up with more choices and connections to the outside world, they are well adapted into this world of technologies despite the official bans of certain sites. It remains to be seen what they will make of the new era of social networks and how Facebook may change, or adapt to, the existing free speech landscape.
Evelyn Walls is a pseudonym.


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TIMONIUM, Md.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Curio Wellness, a cGMP-certified, vertically integrated medical cannabis company and market leading innovator of health and wellness products derived from cannabis, has announced four newly created vice president positions representing additional expertise in the areas of expansion & integration, supply chain, marketing and brand development.
Mark Gilhuly has been named Vice President of Expansion and Integration, reporting to Curio Wellness Chief Information and Strategy Officer Brad Friedlander. Mark joins Curio Wellness from BC Foods where he most recently served as VP of Business Expansion and Services. Mark will be responsible for leading the development and deployment of new business initiatives and systems across several States.
Pamela Davis has been named Vice President of Supply Chain, reporting to Curio Wellness Chief Operating Officer Rob Bellezza. With more than 20 years of supply chain and operations experience, Pam will plan, direct, coordinate, and oversee Manufacturing, Supply Chain, Procurement, Distribution and Logistics activities.
Lisa Schaefer has been named Vice President of Marketing, reporting to Curio Wellness Chief Revenue Officer Rebecca Raphael. Lisa has more than a decade of experience in consumer goods and cannabis retail marketing. In this role, Lisa will be responsible for developing and implementing new and innovative marketing strategies for Curio Wellness’ cannon of products.
Anthony Darby has been named Vice President of Brand Development, Far & Dotter, reporting to Far & Dotter President Greg Miller. Anthony is a three-time CEO within the medical cannabis space, having led multiple local dispensaries as well as consulting for nationwide cannabis start-ups. In this new position, Anthony will oversee brand marketing strategies to create heightened brand awareness nationally as Far & Dotter scales.
“Each of these executives and their expected contributions represent progress toward our three-year strategic plan designed to propel our wholesale business into new states, while we also invest in plant health sciences, product innovation, and the national expansion of the Far & Dotter franchise,” said Michael Bronfein, President and CEO of Curio Wellness. “We are pleased to be making this investment in our leadership team as we engineer for our future.”
Curio Wellness was the first cannabis producer in Maryland awarded cGMP certification, the same quality standard set by the FDA for the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies.
About Curio Wellness
Founded in 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland, Curio Wellness is a cGMP certified, vertically integrated medical cannabis company and trusted healthcare partner. Recognized as the leading wellness brand in cannabis by BDS Analytics, Curio is committed to serving patients with targeted, effective, and reliable cannabis-based medicine. For more information visit https://curiowellness.com.
About Far & Dotter
Far & Dotter is a trusted expert and ally in the quest for innovative holistic healthcare and a personalized, unintimidating approach to cannabis education. We support consumers and franchisees through a contemporary, curated dispensary experience that emphasizes cannabis quality and pharmacist-led guidance. Our stores are holistic pharmacies and wellness hubs devoted to empowering local entrepreneurs and providing safe, effective, reliable products and services that enhance quality of life. Far & Dotter was founded by the team at Curio Wellness, a leading cannabis brand based in Maryland that established our proven, patient-first clinical approach and our inclusive franchise model. For more information visit https://fardotter.com.


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The Biden administration continues to fail, and employment rates can now be added to the list of ways President Joe Biden has disappointed the American people.
“The U.S. economy added 210,000 jobs in November and the unemployment rate sank to 4.2 percent,” according to Breitbart News.
“This was a far weaker jobs report than expected. Economists had forecast 545,000 positions added to payrolls and an unemployment rate of 4.5 percent, according to Econoday,” reported Breitbart News.
“The unemployment rates for adult men and adult women declined to 4.0 percent. The white unemployment rate fell to 3.7 percent and the black unemployment rate fell to 6.7 percent. The Hispanic unemployment rate declined to 5.2 percent. There was little change in the unemployment rates for Asians, at 3.8 percent, or teenagers, at 11.2 percent,” reported Breitbart News.
“Surprisingly, employment in retail trade declined by 20,000 in November. General merchandise stores shed 20,000 jobs, clothing stores shrank employment by 18,000, and sporting goods, hobby, book, and music store employment declined by 9,000,” according to Breitbart News.
These reports raise great concern for the strength of retail as America enters the Christmas season.
To read more, click here.


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Here Is Yet Another iPhone 5S Color
Will Apple’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) iPhone 5S be available in four different colors? Previous iPhone leaks from earlier this month seemingly confirmed that Apple’s next-generation flagship smartphone would be unveiled in three different colors: gold/champagne, slate/black, and white/silver.
However, it now appears that Apple will also release the iPhone 5S in a graphite/gray color. Once again, well-connected Apple leaker Sonny Dickson is the source of the latest high-quality images of Apple’s upcoming smartphone.
Although it is impossible to confirm the authenticity of these images, it should be noted that Dickson has been the source of many previous leaks of high-quality images of the iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C in various colors. Dickson’s previously leaked images of the other iPhone 5S colors also lined up with images that were posted on the Japanese tech site ASCIIPlus last week.
According to insider sources cited by AllThingsD, Apple will launch its new iPhones in the U.S. on September 10. The flagship model iPhone 5S is expected to be unveiled alongside a lower-cost iPhone 5C model.
The more expensive iPhone 5S model is rumored to have a fingerprint scanner as well as an upgraded A7 processor. On the other hand, the lower-cost iPhone 5C model is expected to help the Cupertino-based company establish a larger footprint in emerging markets such as China and India.
Here’s how Apple has traded over the past five days.
Follow Nathanael on Twitter (@ArnoldEtan_WSCS)


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June 26, 2020
India's social inequalities reflected in coronavirus care
When Pradeep Kumar's wife was admitted to a government-run hospital in India's capital for treatment of COVID-19, it took two ...
May 11, 2020
UK U-turns on masks as lockdown-easing steps spark confusion
The British government performed an about-face on masks Monday, telling people to cover their mouth and nose in shops, buses ...
April 17, 2020
With price high, Thais with dwindling incomes sell off gold
With gold prices rising to a seven-year high, many Thais have been flocking to gold shops to trade in their necklaces, ...
April 10, 2020
Bunnies to the rescue as virus hits Belgian chocolatiers
Master chocolatier Dominique Persoone stood forlorn on his huge workfloor, a faint smell of cocoa lingering amid the idle ...
March 24, 2020
Cheap fares luring travelers to fly despite pandemic
With the coronavirus pandemic escalating in the U.S. and overseas, Dylcia McBlackwell couldn't justify taking a single spring ...
March 04, 2020
Ending campaign, Bloomberg says defeating Trump his priority
In just over 100 days, Mike Bloomberg spent over $500 million of his own fortune in a quixotic bid for the presidency that ...
March 03, 2020
Target offers solid profit outlook despite virus uncertainty
Target Corp. offered a solid annual profit outlook on Tuesday and said that it hasn't seen anything related to the spreading ...
February 18, 2020
A rare miss for Walmart to end the year
Walmart reported disappointing fourth-quarter profits and sales after a sluggish and shortened holiday shopping season.
February 04, 2020
AP FACT CHECK: Bracing for Trump's 'relentless optimism'
The most jagged edges of President Donald Trump's day-to-day rhetoric may be sanded at the edges Tuesday night. No speech is ...
January 27, 2020
GM to invest $2.2B in Detroit to build electric vehicles
General Motors is spending $2.2 billion to refurbish an underused Detroit factory so it can build a series of electric and ...
January 15, 2020
Target, like other retailers, did not have a Merry Christmas
Target reported a rare shortfall in holiday sales, raising concerns about the challenges ahead for the traditional retail ...
January 14, 2020
Citigroup profits rise 15%, helped by trading like JPMorgan
Citigroup's fourth-quarter profits rose by 15%, as the banking conglomerate benefited from a boost in trading similar to ...
January 11, 2020
Can cash buy the Dem nomination? Two billionaires are trying
Billionaires Michael Bloomberg and Tom Steyer are testing an unproven theory in the contest for the Democratic presidential ...
January 08, 2020
Macy's closing stores despite upbeat holiday sales numbers
Macy's is closing 29 stores in coming weeks despite the company reporting some improvement in comparable-stores sales during ...
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The big JWA Update 2.20 is just around the corner! Keep your eyes out for all things prehistoric, with sharp teeth… This will be one of the biggest updates in the game’s history!
Jurassic World Alive is one of the longest-running, and most successful augmented reality titles. Whilst it was initially branded a Pokemon GO clone—it quickly forged its own identity.
We recommend checking out the game, especially with the big JWA update 2.20 on the horizon! It’s the perfect time to jump in.
So, what’s exactly coming in this new update?
- New Creatures
- New Abilities
- New Isla Events
- New Armor Effects
- New Achievements
- New Creature Rotations
What systems are being improved in-game?
- Creature Updates
- Tech Update
Some new features of this update include a new fusible Apex creature, as well as improvements to the battle system. For a full changelog and list of features, check out the official v2.20 Jurassic World Alive release notes.
The “Isla Event” will be a new game mode added to Jurassic World Alive. It’ll be accessible by Players level 3 and up. You’ll be able to battle special opponents for a limited time, for exclusive rewards!
With the big JWA Update 2.20, it’s been announced the game will drop iOS 11 support. There have also been new achievements added to the game to collect.
For example, there is the new Feeding Time achievement. Which is unlocked by feeding the Panthera 10 times in your Sanctuaries!
The huge 2.20 for Jurassic World Alive is going to be a game-changer! Especially with the news of The Walking Dead Our World shutting down, we needed some positive AR gaming news!
Jurassic World Alive is out now for both Android and iOS devices! The game is completely free-to-play, and one of the best augmented reality gaming experiences out there!
Never miss out on an augmented reality gaming-related update or event! Follow AugRea on Twitter, and join our weekly email newsletter for all the latest news.
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Ambiguous Dress Code Prompts Baton Rouge Business To Apologize
Red Stick Social, a new three story bowling alley, bar, restaurant, and live music venue in Baton Rouge, has issued an apology after they posted an ambiguous dress code to their Facebook page that caused a stir.
The new venue posted the dress code to its social media account saying that it is suggested that men wear collared shirts, requiring guests to be "neatly groomed," and "soiled and torn" clothing will be judged at management's discretion.
The post went on to add several others things to their dress code that didn't sit well with many potential patrons. Voiced concerns leaned toward the ambiguity of the guidelines.
After the backlash, they took the posted dress code down, and issued an apology that is still up on their Facebook page.


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Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology partners with UAE Food & Beverage Business Group, launch Nationals Development Pathway
DUBAI, 14th February, 2022 – The Ministry of Industry and Advanced Technology (MoIAT) has joined hands with the UAE Food & Beverage Business Group to launch the Nationals Development Pathway (NDP), a series of initiatives to boost the local food manufacturing ecosystem and promote food security.
Announced at Gulfood 2022, Omar Al Suwaidi, Undersecretary at MoIAT, said: “The Make it in the Emirates Lab is one of our strategic initiatives to promote public-private partnerships to provide best-in-class training for small- and medium-sized enterprises in the industrial sector.
Knowledge exchange is a key component of the National Strategy for Industry and Advanced Technology, Operation 300bn, and hence this initiative will contribute to its success.
Our local food and beverage manufacturing sector not only plays a key role in promoting food security, but also in driving the growth of SMEs and in creating jobs.
Through the Nationals Development Pathway and its series of initiatives, we aim to enhance the competencies of the local food and beverage sector and create a vibrant manufacturing ecosystem.
The Middle East Sugar and Calorie Reduction Programme was also unveiled at Gulfood as the first series under NDP.
It aims to build the capacity of small- and medium-sized enterprises and Emirati enterprises developing new products that address the changing needs and aspirations of the community.
A capability-building industry excellence programme, it features a series of knowledge sharing and training sessions and concludes with a practical session in the state-of-the-art lab offered by sector expert Tate & Lyle.
Participating companies will get up-to-date information on the various innovations, tools and technologies, as well as learn practical skills and obtain ongoing support for capacity building.
For his part, Saleh Lootah, Chairman of the UAE Food & Beverages Manufacturers Group, said: “Our founding goal is to support the local manufacturing sector to achieve higher levels of operational efficiency and self-sufficiency, and in turn contribute to MoIAT’s strategic goal of promoting localized manufacturing.
With the food and beverage industry identified as a strategic sector to promote via the Ministry’s ‘Make it in the Emirates Lab’ initiative, we are working to promote localized innovation and manufacturing across the F&B value chain.
He added: “With the Nationals Development Pathway, we are introducing a strong public-private partnership model that will accelerate the growth of the UAE’s F&B sector.
Gulfood 2022, the largest annual food and beverage trade exhibition, offers a strong platform to highlight the new initiative, secure stronger industry linkages and facilitate best-in-class discussions.
By building a vibrant F&B manufacturing ecosystem through training and development, we are laying a firm foundation for strong growth that will position the UAE as a global food manufacturing hub.
Other initiatives to follow in the NDP series include the UAE F&B Innovation Lab, an innovation and development programme that will bring together food manufacturers and innovators to co-develop the next big F&B products, and a training programme on the UAE Food Platform, which will help companies to better utilize data to boost ease of doing business.
The UAE Food & Beverage Business Group has been a strong pillar of the industry by enabling the active participation of professionals, Emiratis and SMEs to support the food sector.
The group has been working in alignment with MoIAT’s objectives to support the ‘Make it in the Emirates’ campaign and boost the competitiveness of the local industry.Share on Facebook «||» Share on Twitter «||» Share on Reddit «||» Share on LinkedIn


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Telstra sees $4b tumble
Telstra has had its worst day in more than six years, losing over $4 billion in value.
Telstra CEO Andy Penn announced on Thursday that a fierce price war with competitors was damaging earnings.
This sent shares tumbling 6.6 per cent, leaving net profit for the six months to December clocked in at $1.79 billion – down 14.4 per cent on the same period a year earlier.
Revenue dropped 6.4 per cent to $12.8 billion.
It was the biggest share rout since August 2010.
“There is no doubt the competitive tension in the market has increased,” Mr Penn said.
“We are not driving that – how that plays out is how the market plays out.”
He said “intense competition on pricing” across various services forced the company to question “how we continue to win new numbers and retain new customers”.
Telstra says it gained subscribers for mobiles and fixed-line services despite the intense competition, adding 200,000 domestic retail mobile subscribers, 90,000 retail fixed-broadband customers, 124,000 customers with bundled products, 292,000 NBN services and 322,000 Telstra TV devices.
“Ultimately (adding customers) is what is critically important,” Mr Penn said.
“The economics of the competitive dynamic of the market are going to be what they are going to be. We have to compete effectively within that.”
He said the NBN is expected to erode about up to a quarter of its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation, but that the group maintains its forecasts for growth in earnings.


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With the annual consumer electronics show - where the latest gadgets are on view - underway this week in Las Vegas, a couple of UK technology companies have caught investors' attention.
CSR, the bluetooth specialist, has climbed 8.6p to 358.8p as it made a number of announcements for the show, including news of a demonstration of its technology for use in wireless gaming.
Meanwhile Imagination Technologies, which is hosting analyst presentations at the show, has added 17.7p to 455.7p. Investec issued a hold recommendation on the company, which recently won the battle for US business MIPS, but cut its target price from 498p to 490p. Analyst James Goodman said:
Imagination shares have continued to trade weakly, down around 25% in a rising market since their September high, with increasing costs the latest worry for the market (on-going concerns being declining royalty rates and ecosystem
news flow). With a number of positive underlying trends set to play out in the second half, and with a 35% discount to Arm having emerged (from a premium previously), we see the near-term risks as positive. Given modest
upside (10%) and high volatility, however, we retain our hold.


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SHANGHAI — While a blustery cold spell blew in here on the final day of the Fashion Accessories China Sourcing Fair at the New International Exhibition Center in Pudong, a chill lurked inside, as well.
Buyers were scarce and eager domestic exhibitors accosted every foreign-looking visitor who walked past. It seemed that more than the weather was keeping turnout low, as participants said they hoped to survive the economic downturn in the U.S. and Europe by shifting to more domestic sales.
“The economy will have some influence and those doing more exports will feel a bigger impact. There will not be as many export opportunities as before,” said Ann Chen, a merchandiser for Trimax International, which is based in Huzhou City of Zhejiang Province and manufactures apparel, textiles and accessories for export to Europe, North America and Russia. “We haven’t seen much change yet — orders come in advance — but we probably will, and 2009 will be a lot more sensitive,” said Chen. “Quality is a big problem. Customers are now more concerned with it. Before, they were more forgiving of small flaws, but now buyers are in a foul mood, so we have to be proactive and attentive.”
Running Dec. 3 to 5, the accessories sourcing fair occupied two-thirds of a hall and was held concurrently with a similarly proportioned fair for baby and children’s products. Both were organized by Global Sources, which also organizes similar, but larger, fairs twice a year in Hong Kong.
Like most returning participants to the China Sourcing Fair, Chen expressed her disappointment with the number of exhibitors and buyers at this year’s event.
“There are even empty booths, and not enough buyers coming,” said Serena Pan of Walinco and the Taiwan Glove Manufacturers Association.
Pan lamented that the Mainland had drawn off all of Taiwan’s manufacturing, and while “China’s costs are getting higher and higher, it still doesn’t help Taiwan.”
A Taiwan pavilion was, along with a smattering of Hong Kong firms, the token international presence at the show, with exhibitors primarily from the Mainland. Most expressed macroeconomic pessimism, combined with the belief that their factory was unique and would survive.
“We have a more unique product, so we’re not that impacted,” said a spokesman for glove manufacturer Yiwu Paite Leather.
“Of course business is worse — the economy influences everything. It definitely is impacting us, and will completely change the industry,” said Elaine Qian, a representative of Shaoxing K&E Import & Export Co. “Our business at the fair is good; we’re doing well. Of our products, ties seem to be more influenced by the economy.”
Qian suggested that a European, mostly German customer base buffeted the firm somewhat.
Lin Lin Q, a Guangzhou producer of crystal-embedded purses, hats and pens, is looking to survive by expanding on the 30 percent of their sales that are domestic.
“What’s good is that we found some domestic customers here,” said salesperson Luke He. “We are looking for more domestic sales because of the global economy. Domestic consumption is getting better.”
For some, like Wenzhou Jimmy Fashion Co. Ltd., that transition brings other challenges.
“We’re looking at entering the domestic market, but products for foreign trade and the local market are not the same in terms of price and quality,” said representative Lasia Chan. “Our company actually has done better this year than last, as we have some good, reliable customers and added some new ones this year, and not a lot are doing our business niche.”
“Look around this show: I think a lot of suppliers won’t survive,” said Bernie Orbin, managing director of Sino-American joint venture Winland Enterprises. “There is now less money to go around and a lot of competition for it. There is too much supply, too little demand. To sustain a factory by borrowing can no longer work, so the borderline ones won’t survive. Already thousands are out of business and factories are closing down. A lot can’t sustain for the long haul and there will be a tremendous cleansing. The upside is that we will have a healthier manufacturing base in China, as the remainder will be more sound.”
However, Orbin continued, the environment provided an opportunity for niche companies — in his case, manufacturing higher-quality specialty and ecological bags.
“[The fair] has been much more successful than I ever anticipated,” he said. “For us, it’s all about the materials, and it seems we have some unique natural ingredients that are being well reacted to. We’ve met 60 leads, and the prospects for success based on the economy are so much better than I expected. I realize the consumer is looking for value.”
China Sourcing’s exhibitors were overwhelmingly from Shanghai and Zhejiang Province, the comparably affluent trade and manufacturing center immediately south of Shanghai. Only a handful of companies represented China’s southern export hub encompassing Guangzhou and Shenzhen — the area hardest hit by the downturn and that has witnessed a spate of major factory closings.
“So far, Zhejiang’s doing OK. It has more small business and not as much big industry as Guangzhou,” said Shaoxing K&E’s Qian. “Guangzhou has more big factories, so is more vulnerable to a domino effect.”
As one of the most recognizable models in the world, Christy Turlington Burns has an insider’s view of the fashion industry and the allegations of sexual harassment swirling around it. “I can say that harassment and mistreatment have always been widely known and tolerated in the industry. The industry is surrounded by predators who thrive on the constant rejection and loneliness so many of us have experiences at some point in our careers,” Turlington told WWD, along with her suggestions for how the modeling world should protect younger women and men. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. (📷: Tony Palmieri) #wwdnews
@asics America has tapped a new brand ambassador: famed DJ/record producer @steveaoki. This initiative is intended to set the tone for the new brand identity and philosophy and will include partnerships with influencers and in-store and off-line activations that will continue into next year. This is Asics’ most significant marketing effort in two decades, and is expected to attract younger consumers to the brand. #wwdfashion
24-year-old Jean Prounis is redefining the rules of jewelry. Formerly a studio assistant to Jemima Kirke and a design apprentice at Ghuran, she focuses on handcrafted subtleties and ancient goldsmithing techniques. “There was a really sterile feel in the environment and I wanted to have jewelry with character that shapes how you wear it everyday,” Prounis said. Each piece is hand made in New York, either by Prounis or three other jewelers in the district. #wwdfashion
“These collections continue to build on that vision, empowering differently abled adults to express themselves through fashion,” said @tommyhilfiger of his line of adaptive apparel, which launches today. The line consists of 37 men’s and 34 women’s styles based upon the pieces from the spring Tommy Hilfiger sportswear collection. #wwdnews
“Stranger Things” is getting a new cast member for season 2. Meet @sadiesink_, the 15-year-old who will be joining the Netflix series for its new season. You may recognize her from “The Glass Castle” with Brie Larson and Woody Harrelson, but the Texas native’s next role goes in an entirely different direction. She describes her character, Max, as “a rough and tumble skater girl [who] becomes friends with the boys at school.” The second season debuts on October 27. (📷: @jgreenery) #wwdeye
Amid the Harvey Weinstein controversy, there’s another sector that’s being put under the spotlight for sexual abuse: the modeling industry. While rumors about abuse and sexual harassment of female and male models — and the photographers, agents and others who perpetrated it — have circulated within the fashion world for years, model @cameronrussell started posting stories from models on Instagram last week about abusive situations they’ve encountered — from sexual harassment and molestation to attempted rape. Over 75 have weighed in so far. Read more on WWD.com. Link in bio. #wwdnews
To celebrate its 16th anniversary, @dylanscandybar tapped designers and celebrities to create mosaics out of candy. The mosaics will be auctioned off to support the philanthropic cause of each participant’s choice. Pictured here is the mural created by @aliceandolivia's Stacey Bendet. For a first look at some of the other artwork being unveiled tonight, go to WWD.com. #wwdeye
The annual Veuve Clicquot Polo Classic in Pacific Palisades this weekend drew Kate Hudson, Tracee Ellis Ross, Laura Dern and more. See pictures of the star-studded event on WWD.com. (📷: @chelsealaurenla) #wwdeye
In his new book “Hollywood Royale,” Andy Warhol’s Protégé Matthew Rolston celebrates the Eighties revival of Hollywood glamour. Featuring more than 100 portraits taken by Rolston from 1977 to 1993, the book contains photos of icons like Michael Jackson, Cyndi Lauper, and @drewbarrymore, pictured here in 1991. “Hollywood Royale,” out today, will be accompanied by an exhibition opening at Los Angeles’ Fahey/Klein Gallery on March 1. #wwdeye


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Updated April 2 at 1:12 p.m.
Elizabeth Hollister “Holly” Adam, former men’s and children’s fashion director of Bloomingdale’s, has died at her home in Connecticut after a long illness. Adam, who was 65, passed away from acute liver disease, according to her brother the Rev. Dr. A.K.M. Adam, an associate priest in the Church of England in Abingdon, Oxford, and a theology professor at Oriel College at Oxford University in England.
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Holly Adam was born in Pittsburgh to Donald G. Adam, an English professor at Chatham College, and Nancy Tuttle Adam, a poet and professional photographer from Nantucket, Mass.
Holly Adam first exhibited her love of fashion in high school where she joined a local Pittsburgh retailer and joined its merchants on buying trips to New York City. She studied English at Hobart-William Smith College and after graduation, relocated to New York to take a job as an assistant fashion editor of Vogue Magazine.
After two years, she joined Bloomingdale’s, where she served as men’s and children’s fashion director for a decade, according to her LinkedIn page.
After leaving Bloomingdale’s, she opened a boutique in Greenwich, Conn., named Cashmere Inc., which she operated for more than 12 years.
After that closed in 2011, she created A Fashionable Mind, a business that sourced and merchandised product for different companies in a variety of categories, including cashmere. At the same time, she operated HomeWorks, a residential real estate project management firm.
Adam was also the creator of the MensWearNetwork, which organized get-togethers for people who had, or continue to, work in the menswear industry.
Hearing of her passing, Kevin Harter, vice president of integrated marketing and fashion the fashion office at Bloomingdale’s, said, “Early in my career, I served as a menswear buyer at Bloomingdale’s, when Holly held the position of fashion director. I was consistently inspired by her passion and expertise, and I greatly admired her meticulous attention to detail. When I eventually assumed her role years later, I found myself faced with the challenging task of living up to her impressive legacy. May she rest in peace.”
Among those paying tribute to Adam on her Facebook page was Jeffrey Banks who said she was “savvy, smart, with a rapier wit…and loyal as the day is long.” Fashion editor Kimberly Cihlar wrote that “heaven seems much more stylish,” adding that the “menswear world will miss the wit, glamour, savviness and friendship of Holly Adam, [who was] the glue of the MensWearNetwork, an organization born to keep us reunited and connected in a somewhat organized fashion.”
“I worked closely with Holly when Bruce Morrison and I were buying and merchandising women’s coats at Bloomingdale’s. She was instrumental with us in launching some of the most innovative and luxurious coat designs and fabrications to be found in Europe and brought to Bloomie’s in the late ’80s,” said David Fisher, the former executive vice president and general merchandise manger of menswear at Bloomingdale’s.
“Holly was the quintessential ‘New England Yankee,’ with a voice reminiscent of Katherine Hepburn and a taste level that was both trendy and luxurious, and understood better than most the balance needed between fashion and commercial appeal. She’ll be missed,” he continued.
In addition to her brother, Adam is survived by a niece, Philippa Adam; her nephews, Nathanial Adam and Josiah Adam; Josiah’s wife Laura and their children, Thomas and Lydia. She is also survived by an uncle, Richard Adam of Albuquerque, N.M., and an aunt, Harriet Tuttle Noyes of Arlington, Mass.
According to her brother, plans for a memoriaI are “unsettled at this point.”
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