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Tick Box is a national scheme that aims to prevent self-storage facilities, or ‘lock-ups’ being used to hide illegal products such as illicit tobacco and alcohol and counterfeit goods.
Warwickshire County Council Trading Standards Service is responsible for running the free scheme and three Warwickshire self-storage businesses have already joined, including Squab Removals and Storage of Leamington Spa.
Emlyn Evans, Director of Squab Group said:
“We believe that the Council’s Tick Box scheme provides our customers with a clear notice of intent around our approach to the storage of illegal substances. As the self storage industry grows in popularity the potential for abuse increases and this scheme is a great way of demonstrating that we won’t put up with customers who choose to carry out improper activity in our stores.”
Warwickshire County Councillor John Horner, Portfolio Holder for Community Safety said:
“Self-storage facilities are becoming an increasingly popular choice for people looking for both temporary and long-term storage. However, from work that has already been done by Trading Standards and other enforcement bodies across the UK, we know that these facilities are sometimes used by criminal gangs to conceal illegal goods.”
Warwickshire County Councillor Philip Johnson, Chair of the council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, added:
“By joining the Tick Box scheme, self-storage businesses agree to follow a code of practice obliging them, for example, to ask for photo-id and proof of address information. It is made clear to customers that Trading Standards will monitor the premises and enter them as necessary.”
“We anticipate that the Tick Box scheme will discourage counterfeiters and others from using these facilities and so disrupt the trade in illegal goods.”
Warwickshire based self-storage businesses interested in joining the scheme can contact Warwickshire Trading Standards on 01926 414040 or email firstname.lastname@example.org
Or for more information about the scheme visit: www.tick-box.org.uk/


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Evan Blass, professional spoiler of well kept smartphone secrets, is back with another hit today, this time revealing the most-anticipated non-iPhone of 2017, Samsung's Galaxy S8. His new image reveals a handset that agrees wholeheartedly with Samsung's Mobile World Congress teaser of a device with utterly minimal front bezels. It also features Samsung's confirmed date for the launch, March 29th, and gives us a good look at what's presumably going to be the lock screen welcoming new users when the phone is released in April.
More from The Verge:
The new Alien: Covenant trailer gives us a good look at the xenomorph
Can the Huawei P10's 'Leica-style' portraits beat the iPhone 7 Plus?
The five most interesting Oculus games at GDC

domain: news


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Police are offering two rewards through the CrimeStoppers organization for information that helps them arrest suspects in robberies at two fast-food stores Sunday and last Wednesday.
Guns were used in both robberies, and a security video shows one of the robbers at a Chick-fil-A holding a pistol to a worker’s head.
The Chick-fil-A at 3429 Hillsborough Road was held up just before 7 a.m. on Sept. 3 by two men, one carrying the handgun and the other a rifle or shotgun, the video shows.
A Subway shop at 121 Sherron Road was stuck up about 4:45 p.m. Sunday, police said.
The suspects in the Chick-fil-A holdup were described as black men, one wearing a brown hoodie over a dark blue shirt, denim shorts and tennis shoes and the other wearing a red hoodie over a black vest, camouflage pants, tan boots and a red baseball cap with a dark brim that had a reflective sticker on it.
The man who robbed the Subway as described as a black man, 18 to 20 years old and standing about 5-foot-8 with a medium build. He wore a dark T-shirt and blue jeans, police said.
Police did not disclose how much money was associated with the rewards.
Anyone with information about the Chick-fil-A holdup should call investigators at 919-560-4582, ext. 29245.
People who have information about the Subway holdup should call investigators at 919-560-4281, ext. 29123.
It also is possible to contact CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases, and callers never have to identify themselves.


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The 2014 Chevrolet Silverado High Country. Gannett file photo
- Filed Under
Trucks continue to outsell cars and that could be a good sign. So far this year, cars account for 47.4 percent of U.S. sales, according to data from WardsAuto. Analyst Haig Stoddard forecasts light trucks will outsell cars for the foreseeable future.
"Going forward, if cars can stay below 50 percent, it's a good economic barometer," Stoddard said.
Pickup sales continue to rebound with the housing industry. "As long as the economy keeps growing, pickups will be strong," Stoddard said. ...


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The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) is today urging the public to be vigilant to the threat of online investment fraud.
Fraudsters offering investments in binary options, contracts for difference (CFDs), forex and cryptocurrencies (such as Bitcoin) often promote themselves online and via social media channels, such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.Â
They typically promise high returns and use images of luxury items, like expensive watches and cars, to entice people to invest in their scams. After someone has invested, they distort prices on their website, tie people in with extreme pay-out clauses and even close customer accounts, refusing to pay back their money. This call comes as the regulator reveals that last year investors lost Â£87,410 per day to binary options fraud.Â
This rise in people being targeted online means that the profile of investment fraud victims is changing. While historically over 55â€™s have been most at risk to investment fraud, the FCAâ€™s latest study conducted as part of its ScamSmart campaign, found those aged under 25 were six times (13%) more likely to trust an investment offer they received via social media, compared with over 55s (2%).Â
Action Fraud figures reinforce this trend, showing that under 50â€™s are significantly more likely to fall victim to a binary options scam versus other types of investment fraud (34% v 21%).
More than one in five (23%) respondents said that online customer testimonies and reviews increase their trust in an investment company. Yet, fraudsters are known to create highly professional looking online investment platforms that feature fake customer reviews, logos, and statements, to lure in prospective investors. A further one in ten (11%) said they wouldnâ€™t conduct any of the listed checks at all, such as checking whether the firm was regulated by the FCA or registered with Companies House, before parting with their money.
Binary Options are called â€˜Binaryâ€™ because there can be only two outcomes â€“ win or lose. To trade, all you need to do is bet on whether the price of something will rise or fall below a certain amount - if it is correct, you win and get paid. If not, you lose all of the money you originally invested.Â
You can choose various commodities to trade in such as gold, oil or stocks etc. The value of a Binary Option is made up from the value of the asset you want to trade.On 3rd January 2018, binary options became a regulated investment product, meaning that all firms trading in binary options will need to be authorised by the FCA.


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The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has described reports of looming fuel scarcity as “tales fabricated by mischief makers with intent to create undue panic in the prevailing sanity in the fuel supply and distribution matrix across the country”.
The corporation disclosed this in a Thursday statement signed by its spokesman, Ndu Ughamadu.
“The Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has once again appealed to Nigerians to disregard trending social media report of an impending fuel scarcity due to purported refusal by some oil marketers to lift products from depots,” the statement further read.
NNPC said it has stock of stock of over one billion litres of petrol, with over two billion litres secured for April through imports of 48 vessels with each having a capacity of 50 million litres of petrol.
The corporation said there was no need for panic buying or hoarding as there was no chance of fuel scarcity in the country.
In the same vein, Group Managing Director of the corporation, Mr Maikanti Baru, assured Nigerians that the Easter period would be fuel scarcity-free.
Baru gave the assurance on Thursday in Enugu at the ongoing 30th Enugu International Trade Fair.
Baru said that the NNPC would provide petroleum products to all parts of the country.
He said that no fewer than 55 depots across the country were fully stocked with petroleum products, including Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).
“To make the Easter holidays pleasurable, the NNPC has put all the necessary arrangements in place to berth two vessels of 50 million litres of petrol daily.
“I caution depot owners or terminal operators against selling petrol above the official ex-depot price of N133.28k per litre.
“Consumers of the product should be informed that the price of petrol in the country remains N145 per litre,” he said.
Baru warned that any station that sold the product above the regulated price would be reported to the Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR).


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Amazon (AMZN) has joined the list of retailers sort-of apologizing for selling consumers a dead DVD format. It's giving a $50 credit to people who bought HD DVD players before Feb. 23. Amazon sent out an e-mail to qualifying customers, Ars Technica reports.
So if you bought an HD DVD player...
- At Circuit City: Full refund within 90 days of purchase.
- At Best Buy: $50 credit if you bought a player before Feb. 23.
- At Wal-Mart: Full refund if you bought before Feb. 23. But hurry! You only have until April 30.


text: Back after a long absence Nintendo has announced that GoldenEye will be available for the Nintendo Wii. So when is the new GoldenEye heading our way? Well your Christmas list is getting bigger because it is set to release this Holiday. Yes I mean Holiday 2010. This will probably be the only Wii game I have ever pre-ordered.


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Gearing up for the November launch of its RealOne service, RealNetworks Inc.
Tuesday signed agreements with 20
media and content companies to provide programming for subscribers.
Built on RealNetwork’s GoldPass subscription service, RealOne integrates the functions of RealPlayer and
RealJukebox with a media browser and content discovery window.
At launch, subscribers will have access to news, sports, and entertainment programming. RealNetworks said the cornerstone of the
service’s content will be provided by ABCNEWS.com, allFOOD, Animal Channel, CBS SURVIVOR INSIDER, CNET Networks, CNN, E!
Entertainment Television, FOX Sports.com, MediaBay, MLB Advanced Media, NBA, ON24, RadioAMP, The Wall Street Journal Online and The
RealOne Music, a premium music subscription offering that will also be available with the launch of RealOne, will utilize MusicNet,
allowing consumers to stream and download music from the catalogs of Warner Music Group, BMG Entertainment, EMI Recorded Music and
Zomba. RealNetworks said RealOne Music’s integration with the RealOne Player will make it easy for subscribers to combine music from
MusicNet into their existing collections and compile personalized playlists of downloaded or streaming tracks.
“RealOne is poised to provide consumers with unprecedented media experience through its one-stop destination where they can
discover, consume and enjoy the latest and greatest in digital media,” said Larry Jacobson, president and chief operating officer of
RealNetworks. “We’re thrilled to partner with these leading content companies who share our vision and are blazing the Internet
trail by putting their valuable media assets into an online subscription service.”


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Swiss International Air Lines Ltd.
Phone: +41 (0)848 773 773
Fax: +41 (0)61 582 3554
Swiss International Air Lines is to be an official partner airline of Swiss Solidarity (also known as the “Glückskette”) and the relief organisations it supports, assisting in travel to and from the countries affected by the Asian tsunami disaster. SWISS has donated over CHF 250 000 to Swiss Solidarity from its online ticket sales and duty-free revenue and through the reduced rates it has been charging for its air travel and transport services.
SWISS continues to support the work of the relief organisations helping those affected by the Indian Ocean disaster. As an official Swiss Solidarity partner, SWISS offers special fares to personnel of the relief organisations supported by Swiss Solidarity on flights to Colombo, Bangkok, Jakarta, Kuala Lumpur, Mumbai and Singapore.
Over CHF 250 000 of help for Swiss Solidarity and relief organisations.
SWISS announced on January 4 that it would donate CHF 10 to Swiss Solidarity for every flight booked online via its www.swiss.com website between January 5 and 9, along with 10 per cent of the total revenue earned from its inflight duty-free sales for the month of January. The donation based on online ticket sales totalled CHF 61 790, while duty-free sales added over CHF 100 000 to this amount – 50 per cent from SWISS and 50 per cent from Aeroboutique. SWISS has also been supporting Swiss Solidarity’s relief organisations with reduced-rate travel and transport worth a further CHF 90 000.
SWISS thanks all its customers who have made these donations possible through their online bookings and their duty-free purchases.


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Samsung Bucks Trend, Ups 1Q Mobile Phone Shipments
The company increased market share primarily through rising sales of low-end, inexpensive mobile phones.
Samsung Electronics showed respectable growth in mobile phone shipments in the first quarter, while the remaining top five vendors posted decreases, a market research firm said Monday.
Overall, mobile phone shipments during the seasonally slow quarter fell by 12.8% from the fourth quarter to 253 million units, which was 13.5% more than the first quarter of 2006, industry analyst firm iSuppli said. Samsung reported a quarter-to-quarter increase of 9.1% to 34.8 million units.
Samsung's success was mainly due to strong sales growth in Asia, iSuppli analyst Tina Teng said. In Asia, Samsung shipments soared by 28% over the fourth quarter, and 57% compared with the first quarter of 2006. As a result, Samsung achieved a 13.9% market share in the first quarter of this year, its highest level since the second quarter of 2005.
Not all the news for Samsung was good, however. The company increased market share primarily through rising sales of low-end, inexpensive mobile phones. As a result, the company's average selling price declined by 10% during the quarter.
Motorola posted the worst results among the top five vendors, as shipments fell by 30.9% in the quarter to 45.4 million units. Samsung and fellow South Korean mobile phone maker LG both saw market-share advances at Motorola's expense.
Teng, however, noted that Motorola's market share and volume declines might have been intentional. While shipments were down, Motorola's average selling price was up 0.41% to $119.20, an indication that it was less interested in grabbing market share with low-end phones that carry less profit. Indeed, Motorola officials have said that the company's pursuit in the past of market share has hurt profits.
"Recent acquisitions, shifts in product mix, and the slight increase in the ASP highlight Motorola's strategy of putting margin improvement before rapid market share expansion," Teng said in a statement.
Of the remaining top five vendors, No. 1 Nokia shipped 91 million units, a 13.6% drop from the fourth quarter; Sony Ericsson, 21.8 million units, a decline of 16.2%; and LG Electronics, 15.8 million, a drop of 6.5%. Market share for the five vendors was: Nokia, 36%; Motorola, 17.9%; Samsung, 13.8%; Sony Ericsson, 8.6%; and LG, 6.2%.
How Enterprises Are Attacking the IT Security EnterpriseTo learn more about what organizations are doing to tackle attacks and threats we surveyed a group of 300 IT and infosec professionals to find out what their biggest IT security challenges are and what they're doing to defend against today's threats. Download the report to see what they're saying.
Infographic: The State of DevOps in 2017Is DevOps helping organizations reduce costs and time-to-market for software releases? What's getting in the way of DevOps adoption? Find out in this InformationWeek and Interop ITX infographic on the state of DevOps in 2017.
Digital Transformation Myths & TruthsTransformation is on every IT organization's to-do list, but effectively transforming IT means a major shift in technology as well as business models and culture. In this IT Trend Report, we examine some of the misconceptions of digital transformation and look at steps you can take to succeed technically and culturally.


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(USA) – BuzziSpace announces the opening of its first New York showroom.
Located in the heart of the Flatiron District, at 45 West 21st Street, the 2400 square foot location will feature a full range of the brand’s original acoustic solutions, furnishings and lighting.
“North America has been and will continue to be an increasingly important market for us,” said Steve Symons, Founder & CEO. “The New York City location is a reflection of who we are, and what we stand for. It’s a destination where our team, sales network and the local A&D community can all come together to collaborate and experience BuzziSpace first-hand, year-round.”
The company, which recently celebrated its 10th anniversary, largely relied on tradeshows to establish a name for itself in the U.S., and has been working in recent years to expand market share out of its North American manufacturing plant in High Point, N.C.
The hybrid space will also serve as an office for the company’s New York operations, housing its regional sales and business development team under the leadership of Genevieve Lemire, National Sales Director at BuzziSpace.


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If you’re a hardcore gamer, there’s a good chance you care about how your games look. People in the UK are as much enthusiastic about using the latest camera mobile phone, as their counterparts in say, America or the Indian subcontinent. Laser or Light Amplification by the Stimulated Emission of Radiation has been used in eye surgeries and removal of tattoos.
It’s none other than the Sony Xperia XZ we saw at IFA 2016 in Berlin, and the smaller Xperia X Compact. And one of the major factors fuelling this growth in the popularity of mobiles has been the latest models of mobile phones from established names in the industry such as Nokia, Samsung and Motorola. The latest rumors suggest that Apple’s long and eagerly awaited new MacBooks (which may or may not have OLED touch bars) could be launched as soon as in late October. The author of this article discusses the latest technologies including the newest mobile & gadget updates. As a matter of fact, the 3g mobile telecommunications technology is gradually coming of age. Technological innovations are turning around the world however the newest technology on four wheels has triggered a debate in the auto world. Take advantage of premiere vacuum technology that comes with most new vacuum cleaners today.
The latest products of wireless mouse and keyboard are said to be highly durable and error free. Meanwhile, in the screen department, HD screens have started to hit the latest premiere smartphones. We’re chasing the next gadgets, widgets, products and services with high speed efficiency and expect to have gratification in our acquisition within seconds. The end goal for both pieces of technology is to change how pain medications, especially opioids, are prescribed. Playstion VR , Sony’s VR headset, is coming out in October 2016 and will bring a brand new gameplay experience to PS4 gamers. Many vicious are saying that the automotive technology is nothing but evolutionary. The strength of your vacuum’s vacuum technology will depend on its wattage and amps. Speech recognition definitely seems to be the next big thing in smartphone technology. Another aspect of smartphone technology is literally just days old, and that’s the latest version of Android.
Latest computer processor provides high speed processing, great performance, effortless multitasking and a dramatic increase in your productivity. Almost all latest technologies that are introduced in the industry can be found in some Nokia mobile phones on the other. It is in this field that a battle of developing latest technologies in computer hardware takes place. The inner structure of a plasma TV comprises of thousands of tiny cells sandwiched in two sheets of glass. Not only is this wheel affordably priced but it comes crammed with all the latest features that can now be engineered into a tire in its price range.
As the world’s leading trade fair for compressed air and vacuum technology and the foremost event of its kind, ComVac showcases cross- over technologies that are energy-efficient and sustainable, with a key role to play in the future of industrial production processes.


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Cassidy Turley sues to evict restaurant from Tower Place Mall
As sparse as customer traffic has been at Tower Place Mall in downtown Cincinnati, it could get sparser.
Cassidy Turley, the court-appointed receiver for the largely vacant Fourth Street shopping venue, is suing to evict a Hamilton-based franchisee of Great Steak & Potato Co. for alleged failure to pay its rent.
The restaurant has occupied space in the mall’s food court since 1992.
Cassidy Turley said in its Oct. 26 complaint that it served a notice of default on Nicar Enterprises Inc. of Hamilton on Sept. 21 and that Nicar had not cured its default. Then it failed to vacate the mall after being served with a notice to leave the premises on Oct. 16, according to the complaint filed in Hamilton County Court of Common Pleas.
Cassidy Turley is seeking a court order to recover the premises and an award of $63,581 it claims it’s owed in back rent, plus interest.
According to a copy of a 2010 amendment to its lease that was filed with the lawsuit, Nicar agreed to pay $4,375 a month in rent for 1,301 square feet in the food court.
The initial three-year lease signed in 1991 called for annual rent of $51,795 plus 8 percent of gross sales.
Officials at Nicar were not immediately available for comment.
Great Steak & Potato Co. has five locations in Greater Cincinnati according to its website, including Tower Place Mall.
Cassidy Turley’s complaint was filed by Cincinnati lawyer Danielle Lorenz at Reminger Co.


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Facing stiff competition from Bangladesh and Vietnam on export of leather goods, the Council for Leather Exports (CLE), today said it was eyeing newer markets to boost the trade volume. “We export leather to various countries, with a majority of it to Europe.. We are facing stiff competition from Bangladesh, Vietnam.. Hence, we plan to focus on newer markets like United States, Russia,” CLE Chairman, Mukhtarul Amin told reporters here. Elaborating further, he said the Government of Bangladesh has set a target of USD 5 billion. “They have also announced cash assistance (incentive) on exports of leather products. Initiatives like these are a threat to our exports,” he said. CLE, represents the traders’ community. Vice-Chairman of CLE P R Aqeel Ahmed said about 50 leather traders would take part in a leather expo scheduled to be held in Moscow in March. “The focus is on newer markets like Russia, United States of America.. We are also discussing with Footwear Distributors and Retailers of America (FDRA) to enhance trade,” he said.
To a query, he said there was a proposal to tap markets in Central America, Africa apart from Russia and United States. Responding to another query, he said the leather exports which earlier recorded de-growth in the last four years have recorded a 1.48 per cent growth in the April-December 2017 period as compared to same period of last year. “Our aim is to register 10 per cent growth in the coming financial year (2018-19),” he said.
Top officials of Council for Leather Exports and Indian Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) were here to announce the 33rd edition of three-day India International Leather Fair (IILF) scheduled to begin from February one in city. “This year we are expecting participation of more countries than previous years. The third edition of the designer fair will be conducted along with IILF this time,” Amin said. For the first time a raw material sourcing exhibition was also planned during the three-day meet, he said. “Raw material suppliers from various countries will be coming to take part in that event,” he added.


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During an industry insider event in Seattle on Friday, HTC revealed that it typically builds about 20 or more prototype phones as it begins its design process. Those prototypes aren’t cheap, either. According to Eric Lin, the company’s manager of product strategy, each phone costs between $2,000 and $5,000 to build.
HTC’s engineers first start with a raw rectangular block before giving the device to designers, which are “obsessive” in making sure the device has a unique flavor that will attract consumers. After that, HTC begins showing the device to focus groups in various colors and with slightly tweaked designs. “Imagine AT&T selling a red phone?” Lin remarked, noting that Verizon’s corporate color is indeed red (although AT&T has released several dark red BlackBerry smartphones in the past).
The phone then goes back to the design team, which takes all of the input from the focus groups and heads back to make any necessary tweaks. During this period HTC has already started talking to carriers and showing off prototypes, which the carrier often keeps.
Finally, HTC will then go back to focus groups with the semi-final design, make a final round of tweaks, and then release the phone to carriers and to in-house testing.
So the next time you love (or dislike) a phone, now you know a bit about the type of work that goes into building one.


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Mississippi parents are furious over a onesie being sold at a store called Gordman’s in Southaven. The piece features a cartoon bikini print, not unlike the kinds you see in novelty stores and on fratty types. An Action News reporter named Michael Clark was on the case, saying that the onesie’s tag says “right on the front… that it’s for 18 month old girls.” He brought the onesie around Southhaven and (seemingly) ambushed parents in parking lots to get their opinions:
“I feel it’s very inappropriate for an 18-month-old girl,” said one parent.
After an email from a concerned viewer, Action News 5 took to the streets to see what other parents had to say.
“I don’t think it’s appropriate for a small child,” said parent Cathryn McKee. “I just think that is a little ridiculous that you would put that on your child.”
Saddie Webb said it’s a sign of the times. “I could be 18-years-old and that would never be allowed in her house, ever.”
Laura Faulkner has a little boy who is 19-months-old and said if she saw one of his playmates wearing one of the controversial onesies, it wouldn’t go over very well.
Although we’re not crazy about bikinis on babies… this isn’t one. It is, in fact, a completely unsexual cartoon print. A few parents interviewed for the story also noted that it wasn’t that big a deal.
However, when Action News manufactured this non-controversy, it led to this terrific image of the reporter in question:
Which about sums up the level of humor we’re working with on this post-holiday hangover.
Happy morning after the 4th of July, guys! Drink lots of water.


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Ville Doors Gone Online with Its New Website
With the creation of a new website www.villedoors.com, Customers in the US will now be better able to access interior classic doors from Europe.
By: Ville Doors
As the manufacturers and suppliers of the best interior doors of varied European designs, this company has seen a great change and shift from the traditional doors to the contemporary doors that are more stylish, easy to install and better looking.
Research has shown that majority of the shoppers in the US have no time to do conventional shopping even for the home construction equipments. The attention has shifted to the internet where there are better prices and more variety than when pone buys offline.
With most of the home owners taking over the door and window installation, they have found a good hub on the new company website where they not only access the interior European doors and their accessories, but they also find the best installation tips that have been written by the company’s experts. In addition, research has shown that the interior doors are now considered aesthetic as much as they are considered functional. Therefore, many people are looking online where they can find more styles and better budgets for their doors.
Considering the shift in the numbers of people who have visited the company website since its launch, the completion of this eCommerce site coincided very well with the launch of the European interior doors in New Jersey. Customers can now be able to make inquiries on the internet about various doors and accessories. They can also be able to make their purchases online. With many people having diverse needs, looking online is now the order of the day where they can even order customized doors that are unique to them only, which meet their personal interior door needs perfectly.
In the company’s bid to provide the best interior classic doors from Europe and now backed by the best, it seems like the latter was a very good idea for the business because it makes the customers feel part of a larger family. While the building industry in America has been on the slump for some time now, since 2008, there has been a big shift from the local products to better options, and these European interior doors seem to have entered the market at just the right time.
Ville Doors sells many types of European interior doors. They include left hand, right hand, in swing and out swing, oak, mahogany, old oak, Wenge, tinted oak and many more. Some of the styles are from Vienna, London, Paris and other places. Some doors are solid oak, wenge or mahogany while others are wood and a bit of privacy glass. Contemporary designs have no limit here and backed by the eCommerce site, www.villedoors.com is able to reach the customers better and faster.


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“The year is beneficial”, this was the prediction of the Eurasian Experts’ Club for the current year both from global perspective and the perspective of Armenia’s economic development. It is based on official numbers, the analyses and predictions of various international organizations. The Eurasian Experts’ Club has summarized the economy of Armenia in 2017, from June to May, in the context of membership in Eurasian Economic Union. The club conducts these summaries for already the second time in half-semester and annual terms. This year promises positive development forasmuch as the prices of oil and raw materials have stabilized, which enables the Russian Federation and other partners of the Republic of Armenia to have daring development programs.
The coordinator of the Eurasian Experts’ Club, “Integration and Development” NGO president Aram Safaryan does not consider the announcement of Russian Central Bank president implying that the RF has entered a new phase of development a coincidence.
“This means that in 2017, pursuant to the optimistic predictions of international credit organizations, the RF will have 1-2 GDP growth, that number will increase year by year giving an opportunity throughout the upcoming 2-3 years to undertake serious development programs”, says Mr. Safaryan adding that this is an optimistic program in which the economists and political economists of Russia have started to believe. “As regards our country, this is already the second year we record export increase in terms of 5 months. This is a very important indicator inasmuch as the export of ready-made products will characterize the overall plot of our economy and the possibility of the growth of our living standards. Today we see that the increase of ready-made products to the RF double grows. I insist that for the growth of RF ready-made products we still have place and if we are able to satisfy the technical, phytosanitary and other requirements during the forthcoming years – 2018, 2019, 2020, which are not insurmountable that much for the Armenian entrepreneur, then the growth of our ready-made product will be continuous”, tells Mr. Safaryan, adding that the European sanctions on RF will continue until 2018, no predictions are in place constituting that the sanction war between Russia and Europe will cease until 2020s. And it signifies that in the East and South, Russia’s partners – Turkey, China, Iran, etc, which are the main importers of the RF food and products of wide consumption, will enlarge the scales of their production trying to find their place in Russian market. “Our economy is a very modest one, but manifesting prudence and agility, using the experience of working with Russian partners, the EEU membership and other circumstances in the course of the previous 2 years, we were able to find a very stable place in the markets of the RF of the European parts”, informs our interviewee, adding that there is nothing to be happy about all of this, it is simply necessary to us for progressive economic development, which entails up to 7% economic growth within the EEU.
“The total optimistic background is in place, everything depends upon how our banking, administrative-commanding system, the organization, the cooperation with Russian state machine, etc, will be, which will allow us to make the privileges written on the paper actual ones. The tension in international markets increases forasmuch as the competition grows. 50 countries negotiate with EEU to create a free trade zone. We are EEU member, our GDP portion amounts to 0,1. President Putin has announced lately that he invites the EEU member countries to use the system of RF’s state purchases. RF state purchase system estimates to 300 billion USD. 0,1% of it amounts to 300 million dollars. If we get our 0,1%, we will have a growth of 300 millions in our economy. But for that we need to work. We are blamed for making optimistic predictions, which do not come to life and I put the question another way, whether our administrative, business and banking environment does what it can for the improvement of economy and people’s condition, and does not receive a result.”
Simultaneously, Aram Safaryan thinks that we should seriously think of protecting, guaranteeing and providing the interests of our people working in RF and EEU market and this should be one of the important directions of our foreign policy: “Starting from driving license to the fulfillment of packages, signing agreements and providing social packages.” He states the scale of the transfers significantly grows and as the RF economy develops, the labor force demand will increase. Consequently, according to him, the number of the people leaving the country for temporary work will increase and not only to the RF, but also to Kazakhstan, as until 2015 – the collapse of Kazakh currency, Armenia has had 40.000 labor force in Kazakhstan annually. Aram Safaryan thinks that they should pay a special attention to the fact that the volume of agricultural and recyclable products grow and it gives hope that for those fields we can include serious investments from Russia. “Samvel Karapetyan has created an investment company with 300 million USD capital. This is the money which our economy did not receive from July to November and because of investment hunger, the positive indicators of GDP collapsed. If this year that volume of investments is provided, during the upcoming years Armenia becomes an attractive field for investments, we can seriously speak of 7% economic growth, providing 30-35% export.”


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New releases available from Thundercloud Miniatures
Thundercloud Miniatures has 3 new releases available over in their webshop.
From the release:
Thundercloud miniatures are pleased to announce the release of 3 new miniatures to join their expanding range.
As an added bonus they are offering free worldwide shipping for the next week on any miniature in their range.


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In 2022, U.S. law enforcement made more than 2 million arrests along the southern border – the highest number ever at the border.
Even worse, the cartels are always coming up with ways to defeat the latest U.S. security upgrades.
It’s no secret that the U.S. military and government agencies have used drones extensively.
This includes the Department of Homeland Security using drones along the southern border.
But, as law enforcement started using drones along the border, cartels started working on ways to beat them.
This included hacking drones that border patrol agents use to monitor the area.
According to the Department of Homeland Security…
“The bad guys on the borders have lots of money, and what they’re putting money into is in spoofing and jamming of GPS.”
Spoofing is a technique where hackers send a signal that impersonates the signal that the drone has been receiving. It allows the hackers to take control of the drone.
One cyber security expert said, “Drone hacking will be an increasing threat in years to come.”
But, when it comes to drones, the security risks aren’t just from hackers. There could be risks in simply just buying the drone.
So, if you are considering getting a drone there are a few security factors to keep in mind before spending a lot of money.
Where is the drone made?:
The majority of non-military drones are made in China.
One company, DJI or Da Jang Innovations is a technology company based in Shenzhen, China. The company is known for making inexpensive drones.
DJI, controls more than 70% of the U.S. hobby drone market, and also sells about 90% of commercial drones in the U.S.
The scary thing is, the company has direct funding ties to the Chinese government.
And if the Chinese government is providing funding, I can assure you that they are getting something in return.
So, if you are in the market for a drone, I would stay away from models made in China.
Don’t use your phone:
Many drones allow users to operate the drone with their smartphone.
The smartphone acts as the remote control for the drone (you can also use a computer or tablet).
The bad thing is that by connecting the drone to your smartphone, it essentially gives the drone access to your phone.
It’s like downloading the Tik Tok app to your smartphone. You might as well send the Chinese government all your data and everything on the smartphone.
If you are going to use a drone you should have a dedicated smartphone or tablet to use with the drone and nothing else.
The idea is that the tablet or smartphone that you use won’t contain any personal data that could be stolen.
Before buying a drone, you should ensure that the drone has a return-to-home feature.
The way this feature works is that if the drone loses signal, or if the signal is jammed, or if the battery is about to die, the drone will return home.
Of course, the home location should be your house or where you launched the drone from.
But you want to make sure this feature is enabled and set up before launching the drone.
The feature doesn’t mean the drone cannot be hacked. Yet, it’s a good security measure to have in place in case something goes wrong.
As drones continue to be used by companies and hobbyists, the companies that make them will always be looking at ways to improve security.
But you can be sure that along with security improvements, criminals will look for new weaknesses to expose.
So, make sure you get a quality drone with these security features set up and ready to go.


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This year’s E3 may have spectacular games at every turn, but on the show floor, it’s a disaster.
I’m by no means an E3 veteran, but I have been fortunate enough to attend four shows over the years – 2009, 2015, 2016, and this year – in each case, representing the good ship Thumbsticks.
In that time there’s been a huge change in how the games industry speaks and engages with its customers.
Social media and web broadcasting has, in effect, removed the media middle man. Big publishers are no longer dependant on the press, and now speak directly to the people that buy their products. Customers have become ‘the community’, and the line between press, enthusiast bloggers, and “internet influencers” is blurring more and more with each year.
It’s no secret that E3 has struggled to keep pace with these changes, and with the likes of Electronic Arts deciding to go it alone, the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has had to react.
Steps have been taken to make E3 more inclusive, beginning with 2016’s E3 Live event, and continuing this year with the sale of 15,000 public tickets. Geoff Keighly has also pitched up down the road with the E3 Coliseum, a three day program of panels from big name developers and publishers.
Based on my first day on the E3 2017 show floor, I don’t think the move has been successful. E3 is always busy, and there were always long lines to play games, but the addition of 15,000 extra bodies has had a noticeable, and negative, effect.
It’s all very nice pouring more people onto the show floor, but when the nature of the show itself has not changed to accommodate the extra numbers, we have a problem. The result – on day one, at least – is that a lot of people seem stuck, with nowhere to go.
Today’s E3 booths are no longer packed with demo stations as they were in the 2000s, but now predominantly based around live broadcast stages. You’ll spend more time viewing from a distance or peering over shoulders than getting hands on.
For the first time at E3 I have seen tempers frayed as attendees have become clogged up in various bottle necks. The path between the Activision and Warner Bros. booths was a particularly grim place to be today, and at times the Nintendo booth felt dangerously overcrowded.
I’m not suggesting that the public shouldn’t be able to attend E3, but the ESA needs to ensure the show adapts to make the experience more worthwhile for everyone who attends; they could do worse than to follow the model used by Gamescom. Held in a much larger venue – 345,000 people attended last year in a venue 193,000 square metres, versus the estimated 50,000 in 13,700 square metres here in LA – there is still room to breath, even when the show floor is busy.
Gamescom also has a business only day to start the week. Not only is this welcome respite from the crowds for lucky attendees like me – meaning I can cover more games for Thumbsticks – but it also gives organisers a feel for how the show will run, giving them a brief window to make any necessary tweaks to line layouts or exhibition areas to keep the thronged masses flowing.
This year’s E3, so far, is chaotic and doesn’t appear to be satisfying the press or paid attendees. As it stands, a member of the public could attend this year’s show, and not lay hands on a single controller all day.
Here at Thumbsticks we’re fortunate. We get to go events because we talk and write about games, and we also get appointments with publishers to play games away from the show floor. If it’s an uncomfortable day then so be it; it’s the price we pay to be here. But if I had paid $150-$250 to attend, I’d be very tempted to ask for a refund.


text: According to the data made available by the Communication Authority of Kenya, the country is gradually approaching the standards of the more “connected” African nations. In fact, figures reveal a sustained growth both of internet connections in general and broadband connections. In addition, the mobile sector is strong and dynamic, and smart phones are the main means of accessing the internet. However, according to the Alliance for Affordable Internet classification the quality and accessibility of the internet needs to improve. In fact, Kenya is only in 7th place out of the 24 African countries analysed.


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A third-party Instagram app designed to steal passwords was briefly the most downloaded app on the Apple App Store before it was removed.
Google was first to remove the app before Apple quickly followed suit. Before the tech giants could act the app had already become the top-grossing app in Apple’s App Store and had been downloaded over 500,000 times from Google Play, writes Liam Tung for ZD Net.
Developer uses Twitter to raise the alarm
An iOS developer known as David L-R was the first to notify the companies about the app, called “Who Viewed Your Profile – InstaAgent.” He took to Twitter to detail how the app was storing Instagram logins and sending them to a remote server.
According to MacRumors InstaAgent became the top free app in the UK and Canada, but was less of a hit in the U.S. While 500,000 downloads were logged from Google Play, Apple does not release download numbers from its App Store. David L-R claims that the number would be vaguely similar on both stores.
The app claimed to be able to show who were the top 100 viewers of your Instagram profile, and would charge over $10 through in-app purposes for the promised capability. This is far from the first time that a malicious app has been brought to the attention of Google and Apple.
App store security a worry for Apple and Google
Google has in fact been criticized for an app review process that many claim is less strict than Apple’s. This time around both tech companies failed to flag the app until many people had installed it and potentially paid money for a non-existent service.
Apple also came in for criticism after dozens of apps in the China app store were found to contain XCodeGhost malware. In this latest case it seems likely that neither company will pay the developer for the downloads that the malicious app received.
Google outlaws malicious scripts in its terms of service, and says “developers must not mislead users about the apps they are selling nor about any in-app services, goods, content or functionality they are selling”. Apple did not comment on the latest case but it is company policy to offer EU customers a 14-day refund period.
There is still hope that affected users will be reimbursed for their purchases.


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The coronavirus pandemic has derailed Australia’s progress in reducing food waste, leading to a spike in the amount of food Aussie households are throwing out.
The 2020 Food Waste Report, produced annually by Rabobank, found that Australians are now wasting 12.7 per cent of their weekly grocery shop, costing the average Australian household an all-time high of $1043 per year and totalling $10.3 billion nationally.
Australians were surveyed in March and again in September, and food waste increased significantly after the onset of the pandemic as people focused on keeping safe at home.
Of the people who wasted more food during the COVID period, 46 per cent said it was because they were cooking from home more often, 37 per cent said it was because they were experimenting more with recipes and baking, 28 per cent said it was because they were buying more food, 23 per cent said it was because they were ordering takeaway/home delivery more frequently and 21 per cent said it was because they were buying brands and food items with which they were less familiar.
The research found that Australians were making positive inroads to reducing food waste before the pandemic hit, dropping almost two percentage points from an average of 12.9 per cent of food purchased in 2019 to 11.1 per cent in early 2020.
During the pandemic, however, food waste had crept back up to being 12.7 per cent of the food purchased.
Rabobank’s Glenn Wealands says thinking about food waste was the furthest things from many minds during the height of the pandemic in Australia.
“It’s to be expected that food waste has been de-prioritised by Australians during this stressful year when our attention has been focused on other urgent issues,” Mr Wealands said.
“We were making headway in terms of minimising food waste before we faced this pandemic, however, our research shows we’ve headed off track.
“The average household is now wasting nearly 13 per cent of the groceries they buy and also spending more on food delivery and self-prepare food services.
“We’ve also seen almost 10 per cent of households increasing their spend on food to stockpile items in case supply ran out during lockdown.”
How to cut down on food waste
Mr Wealands said that now Australia was emerging from the pandemic it was time to get back to good food usage habits.
“Think about how and when you can use the excess food in your pantry and freezer, check your cupboards and the use by dates on packages to ensure you’re using what you have, make a weekly meal plan before you shop online and factor in a night off when you order your favourite local takeaway,” Mr Wealands said.
The research shows that the majority (77 per cent) of Australians care about reducing waste, with 78 per cent annoyed when they see food wasted and 64 per cent wanting people to think about the impact on the environment.
Did you waste more food during the height of the pandemic? Did you order more home-delivered meals? How much money do you think you waste on unused food in your house?
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With average sales of over 200,000 tracks per month, mobile media company 3 today announced that its audio service has made up over 53% of mobile audio track downloads since the start of 2006, according to the Official Charts Company (OCC), the body responsible for compiling the UK charts.
OCC figures also show that 3's audio sales already account for 3.7% of the combined singles chart and 7.5% of the digital download chart this year. The findings come as 3 celebrates the millionth audio download on its award-winning music service in just 4 months
Graeme Oxby, Marketing Director of 3, said: "These figures show that 3 is dominating mobile music and punching way above our weight. Every one of our 3.5 million customers has a music shop in their pocket, and their choices now have as much impact on the charts as a traditional music store."
Brit award winning artist James Blunt has sold over 80,000* copies of his single "Goodbye my Lover" in the UK and it was revealed today that over 10 per cent (8,627) of these have been downloaded through 3, the mobile media company. With these findings suggesting 1 in 10 prefer to buy Blunt's singles over the phone, the mobile music medium is now playing a major role in the UK charts.
Other artists celebrating mobile success with 3 include:
Hard-Fi: Cash Machine - sold 7.4% of all singles on 3
Kaiser Chiefs: I Predict a Riot - sold 5.5% of all singles on 3
Gorillaz: Dare - sold 4% of all singles on 3
3's video sales - which currently outstrip audio sales - are not considered eligible for inclusion in the charts by the OCC. If included, 3 predict that its share of the singles market would more than double. Over 15 million music videos were watched by 3 customers in the first year of the video jukebox service.
3 has led the field in music over mobile with a series of innovations. 3 streamed the first live gig on mobile, launched the first music video jukebox, introduced 'dual downloading' (each audio track downloaded simultaneously to your mobile and PC) ; and have worked with labels and artists to secure a series of world premieres on 3, including James Blunt, Madonna and Robbie Williams. A Will Young track was the millionth song to be downloaded from 3.
3 has also adopted an industry-leading, transparent pricing policy for music over mobile. 3's customers pay a flat-rate for each track or video, with no hidden per megabyte costs.
"It will be really interesting to see 3's progression throughout 2006," comments Mark Krendal, Head of Digital at Polydor: " Their rapid ascension to being the front-running mobile music service has already shown 3's potential to have a positive effect on music industry revenues in addition to showcasing emerging artists."
The millionth download arrives two weeks after 3 was named 'Best Digital Music Service' at the Music Week awards.
"3 has really pushed the boundaries in offering their customers innovative, exclusive and consistently great music downloads, which overall creates a highly unique and desirable service for them," comments Ajax Scott, publisher, Music Week.
3 will continue spearheading mobile music in 2006, with plans to release the UK's first mobile-only single and the launch of a new music service for up-and-coming talent in the months ahead. 3 is also running a special course on making music videos especially for mobile with St Martins College of Art.


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Global tax deal leaves billion-dollar loopholes, Reuters analysis finds
DUBLIN, Dec. 3 (Reuters) – Leaders of the world’s largest economies have hailed a recent agreement to revise global corporate tax rules as the key to enabling multinationals to pay their fair share of tax.
The October agreement established a global minimum corporate tax rate of 15% aimed at limiting profit transfers to low-tax jurisdictions like Ireland, where many large international companies have their European headquarters. “It will remove incentives to move jobs and profits overseas,” US President Joe Biden said in early October.
But some companies could still use Ireland to lower their tax bill even after the deal goes into effect, according to tax experts and a Reuters review of the companies’ returns.
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Indeed, the new agreement will not prevent companies from benefiting from a strategy widely implemented in recent years that reduces taxes over a period of up to a decade or more. Ireland’s relatively generous tax breaks allow multinationals in the country to sell intellectual property, such as patents and trademarks, from one branch to another in order to generate deductions that can be used to protect profits future tax.
Companies that have generated deductions to reduce their taxable income by more than $ 10 billion each in recent years through this tax reduction strategy include U.S. technology companies Adobe Inc (ADBE.O) and Oracle Corp (ORCL. N), according to company statements.
Enterprise software provider Oracle declined to comment, and Adobe, creator of software such as Acrobat pdf-maker, did not respond to requests for comment. Both companies said they were in compliance with relevant tax laws.
The agreement, negotiated by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), is expected to enter into force in 2023. It has been signed by more than 130 jurisdictions, including Ireland.
The Irish Department of Finance has said Ireland’s tax treatment of intellectual property transactions is in line with that of other OECD countries.
In response to questions from Reuters, the OECD acknowledged that companies could continue to benefit from profit shifting strategies already in place, but that it expects companies to be unable to form such tax shields in the future. The approach is typically based on the fact that a company also has a subsidiary in a country with a zero corporate tax rate, such as Bermuda, which allows the company to sell duty-free. tax. By phasing out zero-tax jurisdictions for multinationals, the OECD expects the 15% global minimum tax to make the strategy more attractive.
âWe are trying to design rules for the future,â said John Peterson, an OECD official.
Peterson added that the OECD cannot know for sure how individual country’s rules would interact with the global minimum tax. But he said the OECD is confident the abuse will be limited by requiring countries to calculate taxable income in accordance with accounting rules.
Tax experts say the impact of the deal remains uncertain as key details have yet to be agreed, including how to calculate the profit pot that needs to be taxed. Countries are currently debating waivers for certain tax breaks. In addition, jurisdictions could retain wide latitude in how they allow businesses to calculate taxable income, the specialists said.
“Where there is no accounting consistency there is room for play,” said Nicholas Gardner, tax partner at London law firm Ashurst.
The new rules are expected to be finalized next year and require legislative approval in some jurisdictions. This includes the United States, where several senior Republican politicians have expressed their opposition to the deal.
Malta is another country that allows multinationals to minimize taxes through intra-company sales of intellectual property. Malta’s finance ministry did not respond to requests for comment on its intellectual property tax breaks.
International pressure has forced Ireland in recent years to phase out one of the world’s best-known tax loopholes, known as the âIrish Doubleâ. intellectual property, according to tax advisers, economists and business returns.
Since 2015, multinationals have transferred hundreds of billions of euros of intellectual property to Ireland, economists say. This has led to large annual tax deductions for foreign companies linked to so-called intangible assets – over 45 billion euros in 2019, up from less than 2.7 billion euros in 2014, according to administration data. Irish tax. The data does not disaggregate how much of these deductions were related to intellectual property transactions within a company.
âVirtually all multinationals have moved intellectual property,â said Christopher Sibley, senior statistician at Ireland’s Central Statistics Office.
Profits protected from tax by US-based corporations typically come from sales in Europe, Asia and Africa, according to tax practitioners and company returns. The US Treasury loses because the products and services sold are based on research conducted and investments made in the United States, according to academics.
The US Treasury declined to say whether US companies would continue to profit from pre-existing tax strategies or profit from futures.
Adobe reserves most of its sales to non-U.S. Customers through an Irish subsidiary based in a four-story building in an office park outside of Dublin, according to company documents.
In 2020, Adobe Systems Software Ireland Ltd purchased the intellectual property of another subsidiary which was both a company registered in Ireland and a resident of Bermuda for tax purposes. The implementation meant that no tax was due on the $ 11 billion in profits from the sale. Meanwhile, Irish tax resident Adobe Systems Software Ireland recorded an expense of $ 11 billion that could be used to offset income taxes over a period of around eight years as it is a asset that depreciates over time, according to the accounts of subsidiaries.
Adobe paid $ 197 million in taxes on $ 3.1 billion in reported profits in Ireland in 2020 and sales of $ 5.6 billion, according to accounts from its main Irish unit. This equates to an effective tax rate of around half of the current statutory corporate tax rate of 12.5% ââin Ireland, thanks to the impact of capital allowances.
Other U.S. companies that have racked up multibillion-dollar tax deductions on sales of intellectual property to affiliates over the past three years include semiconductor maker Analog Devices Inc (ADI.O), the maker medical device company Stryker Corp (SYK.N) and the Cadence software group. Design Systems Inc (CDNS.O), show the public accounts of their Irish subsidiaries.
Analog Devices and Stryker said they comply with tax rules and regulations, but declined to answer questions about their specific tax provisions. Cadence declined to comment.
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Tom Bergin reporting; Editing by Cassell Bryan-Low and Rachel Armstrong
Our standards: Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.


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No matter what all new food options make their way to the streets of India, the popularity of pani puri remains unabated. The light snack has a truckload of flavours and still makes people queue up wherever it is offered. Pani puri is known by different names like gol gappa and puchka in different regions of India. But what doesn’t change is pani puri’s lip-smacking taste and people’s love for it. While pani puri continues to outshine other street foods, it has also been often termed as an unhygienic food, given the way it is prepared on the streets. But, a woman seems to have vowed to change this perception. She has been serving healthy and hygienic air fried paani puri on the streets of Delhi.
In a video, shared by a food blogger on Instagram, the woman is seen arriving on a bike with her pani puri cart attached at the back. The woman, Tapsi Upadhyay, then sets up her cart called BTech Paani Puri Wali and shares that she serves air-fried pani puri.
Tapsi adds that the pani puris are also not made with maida or refined flour, which makes them healthier. Further, she says that the pani is prepared using just jeera and coriander seeds which are roasted and then crushed.
The pani puri is not just healthier and more hygienic but, according to Tapsi, the plates she uses are also eco-friendly. Coming to the chutney, Tapsi says that it is made with organic tamarind, jaggery, and dates.
The clip collected more than five million views on the platform where many users lauded the woman. “Superb! Hats off that she is doing everything it takes to be her own boss and being financially independent,” a person wrote. Another said, “Well done. Good job”.
Last month, a video of a street vendor selling idli and sambar on his bike in Lucknow went viral. The clip showed the bike turned into a mini street food shop with food containers having fluffy idlis, sambar, and coconut chutney in them.
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Cooking Beyond Boundaries: Chef Gaggan Anand In Conversation With Gargi Rawat


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The euro is at a nine-year low, but it’s not exactly a crisis for everyone. On Monday, the eurozone currency fell 1.2 percent against the U.S. dollar to hit $1.19, its lowest rate since March 2006.
Although some economists are concerned that fresh rumors of a Greek exit -- or “Grexit”-- from the eurozone are driving the currency downward, most experts say the euro’s most recent slide is due to the combination of a strong U.S. dollar and an upcoming decision from the European Central Bank on whether to begin a round of economic stimulus.
In spite of the panic, many businesses, as well as some budget-conscious tourists, stand to gain. European companies exporting goods and services abroad will now have a major advantage over their American counterparts, since Europeans can offer lower prices for comparable items.
Tourism in Europe is likely to see a major boost, too. “If you’re a tourist and you want to visit Europe, it’s going to be a great time to do it,” Bert Colijn, senior economist for Europe at the Conference Board, a research group with offices in New York and Brussels, said.
But as with most economic issues, not everyone can win. Sharp currency moves always provoke questions, says David Wessel, director of the Hutchins Center on Fiscal and Monetary Policy at the Brookings Institution. One of the most important queries: Where is demand likely to increase or decrease?
“If Europe is effectively reducing the value of its currency so it can export a little more, at the expense of the rest of the world, that’s probably not a good thing for the world economy,” he said.
The boost in the U.S. dollar will also make for a difficult situation in emerging markets, which could have trouble paying debts that are now more expensive. “It’s never just one thing,” Wessel said. “It’s never just black or white.”
The euro is likely to stay weak for a while. One of the most important factors is a high likelihood that the European Central Bank will soon implement a stimulus plan, known as quantitative easing, to boost the region’s lagging economy.
“One of the reasons why the ECB has started to talk about quantitative easing is to bring the exchange rate down,” Colijn said.
In the latter part of 2014, ECB chief Mario Draghi discussed the possibility that the bank would begin purchasing government bonds, its most powerful economic tool. Unlike the U.S. Federal Reserve, which focuses on maintaining low rates of inflation and unemployment, the primary concern of the ECB is inflation. The ECB’s mandate is to keep inflation at just under 2 percent, but real rates are far below that target. Germany, the largest economy in the region, said on Monday that its inflation rate slowed to 0.1 percent in December, lower than analyst expectations of 0.2 percent, according to Bloomberg.
Bank officials will meet on Jan. 22 to make the decision.


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UK-based pharmaceutical group GlaxoSmithKline is reported to have started a process to sell sports nutrition arm MaxiNutrition.
GSK is working on a possible sale of MaxiNutrition with professional services giant EY, Sky News reported.
Approached by just-food to confirm if GSK was looking to offload the unit and had hired EY, a spokesperson for the drugs giant said: “I’m afraid this isn’t something we can comment on.”
A spokesperson for EY said: “For confidentiality reasons, we are not able to comment on specific client engagements or whether or not client relationships exist.”
At the time, John Clarke, then president of GSK’s consumer healthcare business, said: “This deal will give GSK a strong presence in the fast developing protein-based sports nutrition market. GSK will invest behind Maxinutrition’s science-proven products to extend the growth of Maxinutrition within its UK and European footprint and expand to the global marketplace, where GSK has existing infrastructure and capabilities.”
The UK sports nutrition sector has seen a number of deals this year. In April, Associated British Foods snapped up two firms H5 Ltd and Reflex Nutrition. In March, private-equity firm Lion Capital bought a majority stake in UK-based sports nutrition start-up Grenade Holdings.


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Mall activity solid going into critical holiday period
Sales at Ala Moana Center have increased by single digits this year from last year
Oahu's mall managers say holiday sales this year seem to be on track to match last year, even likely to surpass it.
"We're on track to increase sales slightly over last year," said Fred Paine, general manager of Pearlridge Center. "It's upward, and that's good. The merchants are all very upbeat about the season."
Specialty stores at Pearlridge, Paine said, were reporting sales at 6 percent higher than previous years, he said yesterday.
"Ala Moana Center is optimistic about this year's holiday season sales," said Sharon James, regional vice president of marketing for General Growth Properties, "as it looks very promising with a strong single-digit sales increase for the center as a whole over 2005 figures."
James said the holiday shopping period -- from mid-November to December -- represents up to 25 percent of Ala Moana Center's annual sales volume.
Windward Mall opened at 6 a.m. yesterday, offering its own doorbuster: a drawstring backpack filled with coupons and goodies for the first 400 customers.
Mall manager Jonathan Kim is feeling positive about sales this year.
"I think overall we've seen an increase over the year in spending, and hopefully the trend will continue through the holiday season," he said.
He says a long line formed outside of Sears, which opened at 5 a.m. yesterday. KB Toys, which opened at 3 a.m. at Windward Mall, also had a line outside the door.
The mall, which is now about 90 percent occupied, also will welcome a few new tenants in the next few weeks, including Lids, Sanrio and Journeys.
Kahala Mall was one of the few that did not get caught up in the frenzy of opening up early. A few tenants, such as Macy's and KB Toys, chose to do so on their own.
But general manager Ron Yoda says the Saturday before Christmas brought in more sales last year and that Black Friday is becoming less relevant.
"We didn't go along with that early opening," Yoda said. "We're not that type of mall. We wanted to give customers as well as our merchants a chance to enjoy Thanksgiving without having to worry about getting up at the crack of dawn."
The mall opened at 9 a.m. yesterday morning, while Santa arrived at 11 a.m. to pose for photos.
Yoda said he expects sales this year to surpass last year's, due mainly to the low unemployment rate and strong consumer confidence. But it's hard to say whether holiday sales will compensate for the four days the mall lost when it was flooded in March of this year.
"We're looking to maximize sales over the holidays," he said. "But once you lose those days, you can't get it back."
The Kahala 8 theater complex, which has been closed since the flood, is now expected to open in mid-December, Yoda said.
Nationally, Thanksgiving weekend is expected to bring up to 137 million shoppers to retail stores, according to the Washington, D.C.-based National Retail Federation, which commissions its own survey.
Most of those consumers, according to the federation, will head straight to the electronics and toy sections. Among the hottest items: high definition televisions, life-sized robots, MP3 players and game systems.
The retail group estimates holiday sales will rise 5 percent this year to $457.4 billion.
The International Council of Shopping Centers estimates about 17 percent of U.S. consumers will spend more this holiday season, while 56 percent expect to spend about the same.
On average, consumers are expected to spend about $676 on holiday purchases this year, with men spending a little more, at $717, compared to women at $637.


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Business development program kicks off in October
September 15, 2006
Local businesses will have the opportunity to try a business development program that originated in Littleton about 20 years ago.
Greeley’s economic gardening program will have an official kickoff to demonstrate the program at 8 a.m. Oct. 4 at the Greeley Chamber of Commerce, 902 7th Ave.
Economic gardening, a program to grow local business, originated in Littleton about 20 years ago and uses databases as one of the tools that will help businesses track their customer bases for more strategic marketing.
Other technology and business management techniques also will be available.
The city of Greeley teamed up with entities including the chamber of commerce, the University of Northern Colorado, Aims Community College, Weld Library District and the Greeley Downtown Development Authority.
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May 16, 2019
Jake Plante, adjunct instructor in the Department of Environmental Studies, recently wrote an op-ed published in the Portland Press Herald regarding efforts by two top automakers to rollback emissions standards.
In his piece, “Amercia’s big automakers are running out of gas,” Plante comments on why he thinks the automakers would be better served to invest in cleaner technology. He argues that instead of focusing on the emerging electric vehicle market, “GM and Ford are doubling down on a sales strategy featuring large SUVs and pickup trucks.”
Plante says that with the world growing more concerned about carbon pollution, sections of the global auto market are becoming more innovative. He cautions that GM and Ford are “falling behind the competition,” by not doing the same.


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Middle East goes wild for UK sweets
Friday 28 September 2012
Food manufacturers appear to have found a sweet spot in the Middle East, with exports from the UK up by more than a quarter to some Gulf countries this year.
UK food and drink exports overall are up 2.2 per cent on last year, with chocolate and cake doing best. The first-half results for 2012, compiled by the Food and Drink Federation, show top growth regions include the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia which have respectively seen jumps of 37 per cent and 25 per cent.
Chocolate exports were up 31 per cent and cakes were up 11.8 per cent, boosted by small businesses expanding into emerging markets.
Despite this, the overall size of the UK's chocolate export market, at around £450m a year, is still beaten by Swiss exports at around £550m. But the UK's growth rate in the sector has beaten Switzerland's.
Other big markets for the UK's exported chocolate include Ireland, France and the Netherlands.
A total of £5.9bn food and drink from the UK was shipped in the first half but Europe's economic woes weighed heavily on the figures with a 0.7 per cent fall in exports to the EU.
Children's bookseller wins The Independent's new author search
Board creates magnetic field to achieve lift
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Cameron is warned 'no possibility' of UK reducing immigration and that bid to bring in quota on migrant workers would be illegal
Residents should throw a street party and mix with immigrant neighbours, councils told
Russell Brand threatened with arrest after filming outside Fox News headquarters
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From today (Tuesday, 12 February) we’re increasing prices for new customers who join Co-operative Energy. This is due to the rising cost of transporting energy, which is beyond our control.
We would like to assure existing customers that they will not be affected by the price increase and advise anyone considering joining Co-operative Energy that we will be competitively priced against the big suppliers’ standard tariffs. We launched with a commitment to provide a fair and competitive deal, which we demonstrated by being the only energy supplier to cut our electricity prices this winter, when households typically use more energy. And we promised existing customers to freeze our prices until at least 15 April 2013.
We are owned by our customers, so we are not increasing prices to reward financial investors, but we have a duty to our members to run a sustainable business and if we didn’t match the transport cost increases by putting up our prices by a similar amount, we would be selling energy at a loss, which is not sustainable.


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AHMEDABAD: The government should give industry status to the Gems and Jewellery (G&J) sector to give it the much needed boost as the sector has great potential to create new jobs and contribute to the economy through exports, industry body Assocham said today.
While releasing the study here today, Assocham's National General Secretary D S Rawat said the sector is going through a rough phase and needs the government's attention.
"Overall exports from gems and jewellery sector in India during the first 6 months of 2015-16 stood at USD 19.22 billion, which shows a decline of 5.59 per cent over the USD 20.3 billion exported in the same period last year.
"This sector may register an overall decline of 15 per cent due to global economic downturn," said Rawat.
The suggestion was made in the study -- 'Gems and Jewellery: Contributing to Make in India' -- conducted jointly by Assocham and Thought Arbitrage Research Institute (TARI).
"Granting industry status can give a fillip to investments and bring down costs of operation in this sector. It will also help build trust and faith in Indian brands in the global markets. We also urge the government to create a separate ministry or department for this sector," he added.
As per the study, Indian Gems and Jewellery industry is one of the largest in the world with a share of 29 per cent in global jewellery consumption.
This sector's market size is about 6 to 7 per cent of the country's GDP, and it is the second highest contributor to the Indian commodity exports with a share of 13 per cent after petroleum products (20 per cent).
As per the figures of 2012-13, the industry recorded a total market size of Rs 4,63,000 crore with domestic consumption standing at Rs 2,51,000 crore and exports stood at Rs 2,12,800 crore.
India exported gold jewellery worth USD 8 billion in 2013-14 and is expected to reach USD 40 billion by 2020 as per the World Gold Council, stated the study.
It also pointed out that young workers are shunning this sector and moving to other lucrative industries in the manufacturing sector.
G&J sector is the least paying industry in India, the study said.
"The average salary in this sector at Rs 2.52 lakh per annum is perhaps the lowest amid manufacturing industries like pharma (Rs 5.09 lakh), capital goods (Rs 4.49 lakh), chemical (Rs 3.97 lakh), automotive (Rs 3.77 lakh), metal and metal products (Rs 2.52 lakh)", it added.
"Following the transaction, majority Indian ownership will create the regulatory space to even convert the operations into a B2C entity. It will provide a better shopping and pricing experience. But it's a call that has to be taken," said a source familiar with the transaction.


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The future of film distribution, long overdue some would say, could finally be arriving soon as Bloomberg reports that much earlier film rentals may be coming to iTunes with major blockbusters potentially hitting the service as early as two weeks after films open in cinemas.
Apple Inc. is said to be pressing Hollywood studios for earlier access to movies and three of the big six studios – 20th Century Fox, Warners Bros. Pictures and Universal Pictures – have all confirmed in the past week that they plan to look into offering high-priced, home-video rentals of new movies shortly after they open in cinemas.
As a result, talks are underway for a potential iTunes deal which the company has been pushing forward with for a while. While Apple Music has been a big success, its film and TV offerings on iTunes remain only a player in a market dominated by SVOD services like Netflix & Hulu, and a step behind its main competitor Amazon. A deal like this could help change that and make iTunes stand out in a crowded online market.
iTunes already has an established, well-known and secure infrastructure in place and currently offers premium priced day-and-date rentals on smaller titles. This would simply add an earlier option on all the other films which normally don’t go up on the service until 2-3 weeks before the Blu-ray release. The price point for these new premium rentals is said to likely lie somewhere between $25 to $50.
With cinema attendance mostly stagnant and home-video revenue flat in some areas and falling in others, studios are struggling to find areas of new growth as the market shifts towards the future of digital distribution faster than exhibitors would like. Of course the studios could also end up choosing another technology platform to deliver such a service, but estimates are that we’ll see a premium film digital distribution offering of some kind within the next 12-18 months.
Earlier availability is also being pitched as a piracy deterrent for those downloading films due to lack of access to titles – especially ones that don’t get to screens outside a handful of major U.S. cities.


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This is a novel concept, instead of billing for a text message of 160 characters like most mobile operators, Indian mobile operator Tata Docomo has just launched a short messaging service, called Diet-SMS, which enables customers to pay on a per-character basis.
“The cost of any Diet-SMS will be only one paise per character used (100 paise= 1 rupee), thereby providing complete value to customers. ”Deepak Gulati, President Tata Docomo said in a statement – “We broke the per-minute pricing paradigm for voice calls when we launched our services. With Diet-SMS, we are doing it again, this time on the SMS front.”Tata Docomo is a frontrunner in the pay-per-use business model in the Indian mobile telephony segment. It will not charge for space between words!
Tata Docomo has launched services in eight telecom circles and a countrywide rollout is expected to be completed this year.
“In all of the eight circles where we have launched our GSM services, we made the promise of introducing path-breaking innovative products and services, and never-before tariff options. Diet-SMS is another way of fulfilling that promise,” said Tata Docomo president Deepak Gulati.
Source: Wireless Federation


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Yesterday New Frontier Health (NYSE:NFH) announced that the going private transaction was completed successfully. I wrote about the stock in August when it was trading at a 7.2% spread. I thought it was a deal without any hair on it, and it was indeed more or less completed without any hiccups. There was a small delay at the end, because when the company received shareholder approval more than 10% of the outstanding shares were demanding appraisal rights. Based on the press release it isn’t clear if this condition was waived, or if some holders agreed to withdraw their appraisal demands. But I don’t think it is a big surprise that this issue was resolved. The funds or individuals seeking appraisal rights have nothing to gain if the merger doesn’t go through, and my assumption is always that insiders are getting a good deal, so everybody involved has a good incentive to figure out a solution.
Since I haven’t received the cash yet, still long NFH
A corner of the special situations market that has had my attention almost since starting this blog are going private transactions with Chinese companies. A decade ago investors got a strong reminder that investing in China isn’t without risks after a massive wave of fraud was discovered. And more recently, the for-profit education sector showed how businesses can be wiped out at the whim of the Chinese government. But where there is risk, there is also opportunity. And because of that I do think that Chinese going private transactions offer in general a fertile hunting ground for special situation investors. Spreads are usually a lot bigger than for similar transactions in the US or Europe, and since insiders are usually taking the company private at a cheap price they are plenty motivated to complete the transaction. Once a definitive agreement is signed almost all deals get completed.
New Frontier Health (NYSE:NFH), an operator of hospitals in China, became public at the end of 2019 through a combination with a SPAC. Now, less than two years later, insiders are trying to take the company private again for $12/share. Not the worst possible outcome for shareholders, given that most should expect to lose money if you don’t redeem your SPAC shares for trust value. At the same time, it does not make this transaction an obvious great deal for insiders. You take the company public at $10/share (effectively less since a bunch of warrants are given away as well) and then you buy it back less than two years later for $12/share. I have no doubt that insiders are getting a good deal. It is just not as obvious as IPO’ing your company for $10/share and buying it back for half price. New Frontier Health seems like a reasonable decent business and in their latest investor presentation they estimate a SOTP valuation of $15/share and a growth scenario that could get to $45/share.
New Frontier – Potential transaction value creation slide
Insiders own 39.3% of the company and the definitive merger agreement was signed less than a week ago. So we don’t have to worry that for example recent changes in the Chinese/US regulatory landscape have given insiders second thoughts about completing this deal. At the moment the stock is trading at $11.19, offering a 7.2% spread to the merger consideration. With an expected deal closing in the fourth quarter of this year I think this is a pretty decent opportunity. There are Chinese going private transactions with bigger spreads, but for a Chinese deal without any visible hair on it, I’ll take it.
Author is long New Frontier Health


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Musk Claims Tesla Doesn’t Need More Capital
On Friday, chief executive Elon Musk said that Tesla Inc. will rake in profits in the third and fourth quarter this year. The billionaire said that the company wouldn’t have to raise money from investors and the statement drove the electric carmaker’s shares higher. This month, there has been rampant speculation on Wall Street that Tesla would be returning to the capital markets this year for raising more funds, but the company has already attempted to downplay such talk.
The money-losing company is currently ramping up production of its Model 3 Sedan, a vehicle that’s regarded as crucial for their long-term profitability. Nearly 10 days ago, the Silicon Valley car maker said that from the third quarter onwards, it would have positive cash flow. Tesla has falling short on production targets consistently and is trying to deal with the bad publicity it has generated due to a fatal car crash that occurred because of its Autopilot system. The Economist had published a story regarding Tesla in which it was stated that the company would need an additional $2.5 billion to $3 billion additional funding this year.
In response, Musk tweeted on Friday that the Economist had been boring yet smart previously and had a wicked wit, but now it was plain boring. He said that since they would have a positive cash flow and be profitable in the third and fourth quarter, there was absolutely no need to raise money. On April 3, Tesla had disclosed the production numbers for Model 3, which had boosted its share price by 10 percent. The disclosure by Musk drove the price 1.8 percent higher. Model 3 is the latest vehicle by Tesla that’s experiencing production delays.
The claims about positive cash flow and profits made by Musk all hinge in a quick increase in production of this vehicle. The delays in production have postponed the revenues from reaching the company’s bottom line from the cars that are being provided to customers. They delays and complexities have further increased because the final assembly process of Model 3 has seen an unprecedented number of robots used. This is a break from the traditional automotive manufacturing norms and the CEO acknowledged these issues on Friday.
In a tweet, he admitted that Tesla’s excessive automation was a mistake and called it his mistake. Regardless, analysts have predicted that Tesla would continue to have negative cash flow well into 2019, partly due to the heavy investments. They also said that the refinancing risk of the company was high until it was able to produce 10,000 models of the new vehicle on a weekly basis. At the end of the first quarter, the company had missed its own target of weekly production of 2,500 Model 3s.
Therefore, it is not surprising to know that fund managers and analysts doubt the company’s ability of meeting its own target of 5,000 units of the vehicle in three months. In July, Musk had said that ramping up production for Model 3 was ‘manufacturing hell’ for Tesla.


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Educational publisher Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has unveiled a free iPad app designed to help children in grades K-6 to improve their reading skills.
Teachers are conflicted about the effect of the Internet and digital search tools on their students' research and writing habits, according to a new study. While they seem to agree that mobile devices and Internet-based resources have had an overwhelmingly positive impact on students' research habits, they also question students' abilities to use them properly.
A software development company has updated a service that allows schools to create a customized Google Android app to connect to the school community and keep it informed about activities and resources.
- By Dian Schaffhauser
Google will release the Nexus 4, Nexus 10, and an updated version of the Nexus 7 November 13. All three devices will run on Android 4.2, the release of which was also announced today.
By 2015 more end users will access the Internet through a mobile device than a PC, according to a new report from the International Data Corporation.
Kno has brought its interactive textbook reader to the latest Android operating systems. Kno Textbooks supports devices running Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) and 4.1.x/4.2 (Jelly Bean), including the Samsung Galaxy Note II; the newly expanded Google Nexus family (Nexus 4, 7, and 10); and other tablets and smart phones.
Project RED has chosen five new "signature" districts to participate in its 1-to-1 technology implementation program, bringing the total number of participating districts to 15.
Apple today unveiled the iPad mini, a 7.9-inch tablet built around a dual-core A5 chip and offering dual-band 802.11n wireless networking. The company also launched the fourth-generation iPad, as well as new models in its MacBook and iMac product lines.
Apple has released a new version of its 13.3-inch MacBook Pro notebook, offering a high-resolution Retina display with a pixel density of 227 pixels per inch (for about 4.1 million total pixels).
Technology in education is one of the "prominent technology trends expected to influence the consumer electronics industry in the years ahead," according to the 2013 edition of "Five Technology Trends to Watch," a report released by the Consumer Electronics Association.


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I am the Alt Chin
You get what you pay for and as you deadbeats have not been paying from your ill gotten portfolios, there will be zero entertainment in this, but just the facts.
I witnessed a story where the Mockingbird was brainwashing people that there was not an alternative to China in Donald Trump's trade war. That is bogus.
It is bogus that China can mount an effective counter strategy to Trump Trade Wars.
Jul 19, 2018 · There are many reasons as to why China wouldn't do this — it would make China's own holdings lose value and there's no good safe alternative for their dollars, but if they really want to .
The alternative to China is Indian manufacture, Indonesian oil sold to fund American exports and adding Africa to the American sphere, as Sebastian Kurz has annexed Africa's 2 billion for European trade.
The alternative to China is the 4 billion of Africa and South Asia.
This is what American policy looks like if Donald Trump was an American and not Democrat Don.
What is the reality in this of the king pin, is President Vladimir Putin. Donald Trump makes peace with Russia, and it solves China by playing the Russian card. America replaces China with 4 times the people, in 1 billion out manufacture China, 1 billion fund through their oil American exports to them, and 2 billion more are the golden goose of Africa.
China has no weapons.
- China can retaliate beyond instituting tariffs on U.S. goods.
- China holds $1 trillion worth of U.S. treasury bonds. If it stops buying new bonds, or sells off its holdings, it would trigger a hike in yields putting pressure on America's debt load.
- Devaluing the yuan by 8 percent could make tariffs moot.
- The Chinese government could make it harder for U.S. companies to operate in China.
The one in question is lowering the value of their currency, but the minute China does that, it devalues China on the international stage, and for revolution sake, it costs disgruntled Chinese 8 percent more to exist in that shit hole. Inflation to China kills China.
So no entertainment, just the facts, just the reality of what US policy should be, and you can ask yourself the question in searching for the answer why the Nazi conglomerates of America have not produced this effective policy, instead of one which is robbing Americans in Republicans States in Trump Trade Wars.


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Bots behind majority of vaping marketing messages on social media – CBS News
Automated social media accounts referred to as “bots” are behind a bulk of marketing messages about vaping and e-cigarettes– many of which incorrectly promote the gadgets as much healthier options to standard cigarettes, a brand-new research study has actually discovered.
Such accounts are thought to generate nearly 80% of all Twitter traffic around vaping and tobacco items, with much of the information directed at minors, according to the report, from The Public Good Projects (PGP). Posts often include false information about e-cigarettes, and also aim to reject scientists and public health organizations, consisting of the Centers for Illness Control and Avoidance and the Food and Drug Administration, the public health not-for-profit group found.PGP, backed by the Nicholson Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to improving public health results, analyzed 1.3 million tweets sent in between Feb. 1, 2019, and June 1, 2019.
“These are truly persistent marketing techniques that are misguided, or are spreading false information, and it seems to be fueling a new generation of nicotine addicts in youth,” said Raquel Mazon Jeffers, who heads The Nicholson Structure’s research on population health.
E-cigarette usage has actually increased greatly among teenagers in the U.S., from 1.5% in 2011 to 20.8% in 2018. The devices’ effectiveness as a. Some studies even recommend that e-cigarettes might hook youths on nicotine, who then later on rely on traditional cigarettes.”Spaces in understanding, along with the emerging news about the unfavorable health impacts of e-cigarette use, make the topic one that is particularly susceptible to misinformation,” the research study states.”Wake-up call”
The large volume of content distributed by bots is of specific issue, according to vaping critics.
“This report ought to work as a wake-up call: Bots are assisting to fuel the vapor cigarette epidemic,” said Joe Smyser, CEO of PGP. “Pro electronic cigarette messages find you, not the other way around,” he stated.
While the study does not recognize the parties behind the bots, some experts presume that much of the accounts belong to smaller e-cigarette makers and retailers.Greg Conley,
president of the American Vaping Association, stated that bot-generated tweets “are essentially meaningless” because these kinds of accounts have couple of genuine fans. He said the report mistakes volume of tweets with real engagement.
“A bot can spit out countless tweets per month, but if the associated account has couple of fans and even less engagement, the tweets are essentially useless,” he informed CBS MoneyWatch.
Not so, said Dr. Jidong Huang, associate teacher of Health Management policy at the Georgia State University School. “It’s not about the fans, since not a lot of individuals follow those bot accounts to begin with,” he stated. “The method they increase their direct exposure is through continuously putting material on Twitter, and hopefully when individuals search ‘e-cigarettes’ they will see links and click through to their websites. It’s a various method or marketing and promoting.”
Huang, who has actually performed his own research study into the marketing of vape products on social networks, added that most of the tweets he analyzed were to promote business sales.”It’s not surprising to me that the majority of the bot material would be favorable towards e-cigarettes,” he told CBS MoneyWatch. “We have actually looked at their accounts, and a great deal of times they connect to sites where they promote specific e-cigarette gadgets.”
“Bot tweeting” prevails amongst little and online e-cigarette suppliers since it’s more economical than conventional marketing, Huang stated.
Social media is likewise a fantastic way to reach youth markets. “They’re marketing e-cigarettes to kids and misleading the public without any traceability and in a way that materially misrepresents the number of people who like these items,” stated Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Children.
This content was originally published here.