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NORTHFIELD, Ill. -- Kraft Foods Inc., maker of Lunchables kids meals and Oreo cookies, is trying harder to reach out to older consumers, the head of its North American Commercial Division said on Wednesday, according to a Reuters report.
Many of the products in Kraft's portfolio have traditionally been geared more toward children, David Johnson, president of Kraft's North American Commercial group, said at the Reuters Food Summit in Chicago.
"As the kids leave the household and you've got that older consumer, there are a lot of [image-nocss] needs that we see," he said. "I think it heightens the need for health and wellness...heightens the need for taste delivery."
Even issues such as making packages easier to open are being considered to attract older consumers, he said.
Johnson said he has seen some shift in research and development spending toward consumers 50 years and olderwho Kraft calls "liberated boomers"by the largest North American food company, though he and Kraft could not quantify the shift in spending.
The Northfield, Ill.-based company will consider coming out with adult flavors of traditional children's foods like Kraft macaroni and cheese, while also looking at more singe-serving offerings, Johnson said.
He pointed to the company's Tassimo coffee system, a machine that brews coffee from single-serving pods. Liberated boomers, said Johnson, "are not going to be brewing pots of coffee."
After starting in Europe, Tassimo was launched in the United States last year, where it is sold in department stores and specialty retailers like Bed Bath & Beyond; however, unlike systems by competitors Procter & Gamble Co., Tassimo coffee is not sold in grocery stores, requiring consumers to make a special trip to buy refills or order them online. Johnson said the company will start selling Tassimo coffee in traditional grocery stores by fourth-quarter 2006. The company also has expanded the Tassimo line to include versions of its Maxwell House coffee, a brand more familiar in the United States.
One benefit to focusing on older consumers is they are willing to pay more for premium products, Johnson said.
Overall, Kraft is trying to keep up with the quickening pace of change in the food industry, Johnson said, adding that another trend the company is seeing is more multiculturalism. "The biggest overarching trend is just the growth in the Hispanic consumer," Johnson said. The company has tried to customize some products to that market and has utilized bilingual packaging, he said.
Kraft is in the midst of one of the largest restructurings in the food industry as the company tries to pare down a business some analysts have said grew too big and unfocused. The company in January announced plans to cut up to 8,000 more jobs and close up to 20 more plants after cutting 5,500 jobs and closing 19 plants in 2004 and 2005. Kraft has also sold brands like Life Savers candies and Stella D'Oro cookies in order to focus on products like beverages, cheese and cookies.
Johnson declined to say if the company would sell other brands, but did say that Post, its cereal brand that many analysts have said could be sold, still fits the Kraft portfolioespecially as the company tries to offer more whole grain and convenience products to meet demands of consumers who are trying to eat more healthily.
Meanwhile, Credit Suisse First Boston food-industry analyst David Nelson has issued a research note suggesting that Kraft might benefit from a break up, said Crain's Chicago Business. The company, he said, has been suffering from high commodity costs and competition with retailers that mimic Kraft brands and then sell them for less.
Nelson suggested that Kraft think outside the blue box, a nod to Kraft's blue Macaroni & Cheese box, by splitting into four separate businesses: snacking, grocery, frozen and refrigerated.
The $5.7 billion snacking unit, which would consist of Kraft's cookies and crackers (Oreo and Ritz among them) could trade for a higher earnings multiple than the other businesses, Nelson argued, while its nonperishable grocery brandsa $15 billion portfolio that includes Jell-O, Maxwell House coffee and Mac & Cheesecould be restructured as a high-dividend income trust.
He pointed out that Kraft's $1 billion frozen-foods business, which consists mostly of pizza, would be a good fit for HJ Heinz Co., while its $12.4 billion worth of refrigerated brands (Oscar Mayer meats, cheese and Cool-Whip) are good candidates for being taken private.We are always looking at our business and at ways to deliver shareholder return, and everyone is entitled to his opinion on how, a Kraft spokesperson told Crain's. At present, we feel the value of our business is stronger together than what it might be in separate entities.


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Rework a track using just a mouse and keyboard.
Novation has launched a browser-based version of its Launchpad hardware that allows you to remix a track in Google Chrome.
Launchpad Intro gives you the basic building blocks of a track and lets you remix them using a virtual version of the controller, offering a selection of pre-recorded drums, percussion, chords, melodies and vocals by Harry Coade.
The browser-based controller doesn’t just work with your mouse and keyboard: if you own a physical Launchpad you can plug it in and use it to trigger samples and loops. If you want to go deeper you ca also download Coade’s sounds as an Ableton session.
Launchpad Intro isn’t the only Novation software app that works with physical hardware. Last month the company announced that the Launchpad for iPad app now connects to physical MIDI gear.

domain: news


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Engadget has been testing and reviewing consumer tech since 2004. Our stories may include affiliate links; if you buy something through a link, we may earn a commission. Read more about how we evaluate products.
In Verizon's never-ending quest to continue bumping the bandwidth to the four or five lucky customers that actually have access to its FTTH network, the firm is planning to implement a new technology which will hopefully increase the speed of FiOS fiber-to-the-premises links "by four to eight times." Of course we jest about the amount of you oh-so-fortunate ones that can actually get ahold of such speedy luxuries, but Verizon is looking to Alcatel-Lucent to help with the forthcoming gigabit passive optical network (G-PON), which is slated to "increase the aggregate broadband speeds on Verizon's FTTP systems by four times downstream to the customer, and by eight times upstream back to the Internet." The outfit also stated that it would "continue deploying the broadband passive optical network (B-PON)" that it has been using since 2004, and took a moment to boast about "how simple" upgrading FiOS actually was. Still, the vast majority of you won't even be in the general vicinity necessary to acquire the newfangled G-PON niceties, but the soon-to-be-celebrating town of Lewisville, Texas can keep an eye on Q2 of this year, while folks in Kirklyn, Pennsylvania should have it sometime "over the summer."
[Thanks, Jim V.]


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Animal Humane Society
The CDC does not have any proof to counsel that imported animals or animal products pose any risk for spreading COVID-19. Imported animals and animal products still must move the traditional pointers set by the CDC, USDA and other federal regulatory businesses. Stock up on a number of supplies for your pet, similar to an additional bag of food or cat litter, so that you simply received’t run out in case you do should isolate yourself at residence or somebody has to care for your pet elsewhere. However, should you have to be around your pet, such as a service dog, while you’re sick, wash your hands with soap and water for a minimum of 20 seconds earlier than and after interacting with the animal, and put on a face masks.
As the maintaining of pets has been practiced from prehistoric times to the current and as pets are present in nearly each culture and society, pet keeping apparently satisfies a deep, universal human need. If cats or canines can spread the coronavirus, well being businesses and the general public would want to incorporate these animals into their planning to comprise and sluggish the pandemic. It is very important to understand how simply the coronavirus replicates in pets and whether or not they can switch it to other animals. A group of researchers in China set out to answer these questions.
Visit the pages to the best and find out how medicines, alongside practices like good husbandry and biosecurity, are … Read More


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Google and Yi, working together have launched what can only be described as a monster of a 4K ultra HD Jump camera for the near future of virtual reality.
The Yi Halo camera, as it’s called is the product of recent collaboration between tech giant Google and the Chinese imaging company and camera manufacturer Yi, whose other recent –and much less extravagant- individual 4K action cameras we’ve reviewed quite favorably before. The Yi Halo camera is designed for highly immersive virtual reality interfacing at a professional level and comes with a total of 16 different Yi 4K cameras in a circular arrangement with a 17th camera placed atop this circular assembly for an even wider viewing space. The camera itself has been built by Yi and all of its 17 individual joined-together cameras are from the company. However, the assembly’s capacity to stitch together all of its visuals comes from Google’s Jump cloud stitching software technology, which uses smart stitching algorithms from a Google cloud for fully stereoscopic 360 degree viewing and VR construction of visuals.
The camera’s overall resolution specs are also nothing short of impressive as hell, as should be expected when you seamlessly stitch together so many 4K video cameras. The shooter can produce streamed stereoscopic 3D video feeds at up to 8K resolution at 30fps and in 6K resolution at 60fps. These total 360-degree resolutions of course suggest that each of the 17 Yi cams onboard isn’t used at its maximum resolution when they’re all working together. Thus, we don’t yet know if the camera array could also eventually be made to stream full 360 degree video from all of its 4K cameras with each recording in full 4K.
Another remarkable thing about the Yi Halo camera is its impressive portability and lightness. This powerful device weighs in at only 8lbs with al 17 cameras and accessory hardware combined.
Google first unveiled the Jump system in 2015 for the sake of simplified virtual reality creation but has recently expanded their software into collaborative projects with camera manufacturers and Yi is only Google’s second partner in this so far. The search engine giant also recently collaborated with GoPro for a Jump-based GoPro Odyssey camera setup.
This entire apparatus was introduced just yesterday at NAB 2017 in Las Vegas and will start going on sale as of the summer for a price that’s definitely not in the budget consumer range -The camera is expected to retail for $17,000. Some early release units of the Yi Halo camera are however already being made available to a limited group of 100 (so far) professional users. Aspiring video production pros who want early access to their own Yi Halo camera can send in an application for early access via this link before May 22, 2017.
Here’s a video from the Yi Halo’s creators explaining a bit more about this remarkable piece of VR technology.
Story by 4k.com


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Microsoft is hoping the appeal of glossy hardware like its new hybrid laptop -- which features a kooky bendy-straw hinge -- can bring the masses to Windows 10.
Along with performance improvements, the XPS 15 is now the world's smallest 15-inch laptop and the XPS 12 2-in-1 is the first to get a 4K UHD display.
Along with getting the latest Intel processors, Dell claims the "world's smallest" title for the 15- and 13-inch models with "virtually borderless" displays.
The HP Star Wars Special Edition Notebook includes custom graphics and icons, plus built-in photos and art.
The company will bring a high-resolution 4K screen to its smaller desktop machine, going on sale ahead of the iPad Pro, according to 9to5Mac.
New hybrids and laptops build out HP's premium computer lines.
A new screen and slimmer body made this an even better bargain.
Hybrids, laptops and a curved-screen all-in-one build out HP's premium computer lines.
A new screen and slimmer body make this an even better bargain.
The 34-inch curved-screen Envy all-in-one offers an immersive experience.
This powerful 13.5-inch laptop include Nvidia graphics and a new hybrid hinge.
Having Wi-Fi troubles?
From the garage to the basement, we blanketed every square inch of the CNET Smart Home with fast, reliable Wi-Fi.


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Linda Evangelista's lawyers and François-Henri Pinault's lawyers will meet in a Manhattan family court room Thursday to do scary lawyer-things to one another. Then a judge will decide whether Evangelista's petition for child support for her and Pinault's 5-year-old son Augustin will be granted. Evangelista — who never publicly named Pinault as Augustin's father, until attempts to come to a private support agreement with Pinault came to naught — is seeking $46,000 a month in child support from the French luxury baron. Pinault has a personal fortune of $11.5 billion and is understood to lavishly support and contribute to a trust fund for the daughter he acknowledges, Valentina, but child support isn't tied to parental income — the custodial parent has to demonstrate what the child's needs are. Evangelista says Augustin needs $46,000 per month for a round-the-clock security detail, private school tuition, a driver, and nannies. That would be the most costly monthly child support judgment ever handed down in a New York family court — that record is currently held by P.Diddy, who pays the mother of his son $19,000 per month for the care of the child. [NYDN]
Azealia Banks Tweeted about — and then deleted — the news that she is the headline act for this year's Met Costume Institute ball. Meanwhile, the Post is reporting that Banks wasn't the first choice — party organizers had been in talks with Nicki Minaj, but apparently couldn't come to an agreement over a contract. And another chapter is written in the bizarre, passive-aggressive relationship between Nicki Minaj and Vogue magazine. [The Cut, P6]
Kenneth Cole will remove a billboard (and take down related Web ad copy) that posited there was some kind of zero-sum competition between "teachers' rights" and "students' rights." "Should underperforming teachers be protected?" asked the Kenneth Cole Web site, as if anyone were actually in favor of that. Because teachers are all just unionized fat-cats who sit around counting their fat, unionized paychecks and then going on long summer vacations! Meanwhile, the best takedown of the Right's organized campaign to demonize teachers that we have read remains this 2010 piece from the New York Review of Books. [Salon]
Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is going to "design" a line of lingerie for Marks & Spencer. [Telegraph]
Interesting tidbits from the Times' long reported story on the parlous — but improving? (Sound familiar?) — state of the Gap include plenty of dirt from the Patrick Robinson era. And this note about former Gap C.E.O. Mickey Drexler, who was unceremoniously dumped by the company in 2002, only to go on to lead J.Crew to retail darling status:
In 2007, Mr. Pressler stepped down and, according to someone familiar with the matter, a board representative reached out to Mr. Drexler, who by then was running J. Crew. Would he return if Gap bought J. Crew? he was asked. Nothing came of it.
Gap came crawling back. And as for Robinson, he made clothes people didn't like:
The stylish Mr. Robinson had previously designed for brands like Paco Rabanne and Perry Ellis, and is a friend of Anna Wintour of Vogue. But his designs seemed lost on Gap customers. One former senior executive recalled seeing a preview of the 2009 holiday collection: it was in spring colors, not traditional holiday ones. Mr. Robinson and the designers were urged to add in festive winter colors, but did not. In the end, Gap rushed in some holiday plaids, so it had something wintry to feature. [...]
Things came to a head as the designers worked on the 2011 season. Mr. Robinson complained that merchants, who ordered and adjusted the products, were ruining his vision. So Mr. Murphy gave him full control.
"Merchants were literally told, ‘You don't get to change the product as it's presented,' " one former merchant recalled. "Usually, you want to bring financial history, a consumer focus, make sure you do have a white button-down."
Style.com's Nicole Phelps is going there:
[C]onsidering that 85 percent or so of graduates at Parsons The New School for Design, arguably the number one fashion design school in America, are women, a question begs asking: Is it easier to succeed in New York fashion as a man?
Top model Carré Otis wrote a frank and moving account of the abortion she had as a teenager, and why as a victim of sexual violence (she wrote about her rape at the hands of her agent in her memoir last year) she supports women's equality and reproductive choice. [HuffPo]
Andrej Pejic was pretty popular in high school. "I was prom queen, and the year before, I was prom king. It was kind of the same, you just got a differently shaped crown." That is interesting, considering they do not customarily call it "prom" in Australia, where he grew up. [The Cut]
Apparently, Salvatore Ferragamo will continue to transform itself from being a slightly under-the-radar brand your grandmother liked, known for making really fucking comfortable flat shoes that you can find for like no money on eBay, to an "it brand." With all the "brand ambassadors," dedicated Tumblrs, and tacky Webpromotional shit that entails. Ferragamo had an IPO so it has responsibilities to its shareholders now! WHY DON'T YOU BLOW UP OUR SPOT A LITTLE MORE, FORBES MAGAZINE. [Forbes]
American Apparel may still be drowning in debt, with a share price that stubbornly refuses to rise above $1, but C.E.O. Dov Charney made $10.1 million more last year than he did the year before. Former executive Marty Staff was awarded compensation of nearly $1.6 million, including a $300,000 severance package. Staff worked for the company for just eight months. American Apparel lost $39.6 million in 2011. [WWD]
You may read a story on the Internet today about how 9-month-old Harper Seven Beckham has been offered her first modeling contract. Should you see such a news story, know that it is not true. What has actually happened in this: a random unknown children's wear company has made headlines by publicly "offering" the baby Beckham a "modeling" "contract," and various news organizations are dutifully rewarding the random unknown company with Gee Whiz! headlines and editorial mentions. See also: Abercrombie & Fitch and the Situation. [E!]
Here is an update on the weekend spending habits of Kyle Anderson, Marie Claire accessories editor. This weekend, Anderson spent $2,404.10; this weekend, instead of shopping at Bergdorf Goodman's or Barneys, our man shopped online. Since he began documenting his weekend spending last November, Anderson has spent $55,074.42. [DFR]
Glamour seems to be exiting its circulation slump: since the redesigned April issue launched, each month has seen newsstand sales rise year-on-year of 9-10%. Editor Cindi Leive promises that the September issue will be entirely dedicated to fashion. [WWD]
Elle.com has lost more than half of its editorial team. Fashion news editor Britt Aboutaleb is leaving for celebrity fashion site Who What Wear, and editorial director Keith Pollock is leaving for a new Gilt Groupe venture called Du Jour. Pollock is taking with him Elle.com's market editor and art director. Interesting. [Fashionista]
Yohji Yamamoto says he plans to direct a feature film in the next two years. [WWD]
India is going to resume exporting cotton. Cotton prices are down significantly from the year-ago high of $2.12/lb, but the market is still highly volatile. [WWD]
And now, a moment with Versace heiress Francesca Versace. Francesca, what was it like growing up in the fashion industry?
"As a young girl I never wore make-up, but I was frequently surrounded by it. I'd sit backstage at the Versace catwalk shows, watching all of the models having their faces done. I was captivated by the way their lips were painted with amazing oranges, pinks and reds. The models would say to me, 'Darling, come here, I put some lipstick on you.' Naomi Campbell would pass me a lip-gloss every now and again."


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Cases in federal courts in New York now account for over 70% of all federal website accessibility lawsuits against Americans with disabilities, as the coronavirus pandemic has pushed people to rely more and more on digital services and “sparked an increase in lawsuits” in New York City, according to information released by UsableNet Inc., a company that tracks ADA “all digital-related” lawsuits nationwide.
Meanwhile, as has also been seen in recent years, only a handful of plaintiff-side law firms in the New York metropolitan area bring the vast majority of lawsuits brought by New York federal courts on behalf of the plaintiffs. complainants, according to a September 24 report. press release on UsableNet that describes the company’s recent research findings.
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The Facebook-led Libra project is mooted for launch by June next year. Regulators’ and politicians’ concerns range from the risks that Libra could be used to launder money to privacy and the possibility that it could upset financial stability.
“We want to make sure that if there are significant risks, they need to be addressed,” said Xiangmin Liu, the president of the Paris-based Financial Action Task Force (FATF), which acts as the global standard-setter on anti-money laundering.
Earlier on Tuesday, a senior U.S. Treasury official, speaking to reporters in Switzerland, said that Libra must meet the highest standards for combating money laundering and terrorism financing if it is to get off the ground.
The full original article can be found at Reuters


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know what is metaverse who will change facebook
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced that the company will grow from a mere social media company to a “metaverse company” and work on the “embedded internet” in which the real and virtual world are more aligned than ever before. Will happen. Talking about changing the direction of Facebook, which is used by nearly three billion people, will have some meaning.
What is “Metaverse” after all?: Humans have developed many technologies to activate their senses, from audio speakers to television, video games and virtual reality. In the future we may also develop devices that activate other senses, such as touch or smell. Many terms have been given for these technologies, but there is not a single popular term that can best describe the combination of the physical world and the virtual world.
Words like ‘internet’ and ‘cyberspace’ refer to places we see through screens. But these terms do not fully describe the Internet’s Virtual Reality (3D Game World or Virtual City) or Augmented Reality or Augmented Reality (Navigation Overlay or Pokémon Go), etc.
The term metaverse was first used by science fiction author Neil Stephenson in his 1992 novel Snow Crash. Many similar words have been invented from novels. For example, in 1982, the term ‘cyberspace’ came from a book by William Gibson. The term ‘robot’ originated from a play by Karel Kapek in 1920. The ‘Metaverse’ comes in this category.
Who will benefit from the Metaverse?: If you read a lot about big tech companies like Apple, Facebook, Google and Microsoft then you might realize that modern evolutions in technology are inevitable and in this category comes the origin of metaverse. We can no longer stop thinking about the impact these technologies will have on our society, politics and culture.
The ‘metaverse’ vision is encouraging for Facebook and other large companies as it creates opportunities for new markets, new types of social networks, new consumer electronics and new patents.
In today’s cosmic world, most of us are facing problems like the extinction of various species due to an epidemic, a climate-related disaster or human beings. We are also struggling to understand how we can live a good life with the technologies we have adopted (mobile devices, social media and global connectivity causing unwanted effects like anxiety and stress).
#metaverse #change #facebook


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Big trouble in big China
22 May 2020
Over the past week, it felt as if the new normal of enforced idleness paired with less stringent lockdown rules and summer weather would lead to a happier mood across Western Europe, including the UK. The same applied for investors, whose portfolios also enjoyed some time in the sunshine. However, the outlook began to cloud over somewhat again towards the end of the week.
Stock markets jolted upwards at the start of the week on news that a viable coronavirus vaccine may become available before the start of the next cold season. A surprise announcement by Germany and France that they supported the issuance of quasi-joint European bonds – to the tune of half a trillion €-Euros – with the aim of pump-priming the European Union’s post-COVID-19 recovery added to the positive air within markets. Some thought such Eurobonds could become a very powerful counterweight to US Treasury bonds, and help overcome one of the core fiscal and monetary weaknesses of the Eurozone.
Economic news flow later in the week cheered up economists, who have recently been expecting the worst. As a result, data that is only ‘really quite poor’ rather than outright ‘devastating’ is being greeted more warmly than we ever thought recession-indicating numbers possibly could. That, combined with oil prices stabilising at levels above $30 per barrel (see separate article) does tell the story of a tide turning, after so many weeks of economic doom and gloom.
The positive stock market movements of the past weeks have all but anticipated this turning already and it takes considerable, optimistic imagination to see stock markets rising higher without considerable risk of ‘altitude sickness’ hounding capital markets once more. It is undeniably positive that the loosening of lockdown restrictions across Europe has led to an already notable rise in levels of economic activity, but without – thus far – a rebound in the rate of infections. Quite the contrary, many formerly strongly affected areas are not registering any new cases.
Given the rate of infections is still growing in countries blessed with permanently warmer climes, like India and Brazil, we cannot be sure whether COVID-19 is following the seasonal pattern of influenza, but for the moment it would appear that the coronavirus’ decline, together with the prospect of a vaccine before the winter, is providing a better near-term outlook than we could recently have dreamed of.
That’s where the ‘onward and upwards’ narrative ends and pressing concerns have to be discussed. First comes the prospect of negative interest rates and bond yields in the UK. This may be a new and alien concept to UK investors, but it has been the norm across the Eurozone, Switzerland, Sweden and Japan for considerable time (and they have coped with this relatively well in recent years). To put this prospect into perspective, for institutional investors the ‘real’ interest rate is far more relevant than the ‘nominal’ rate (i.e. the yield after the impact of inflation).
As the chart below shows, holders of UK inflation-linked government bonds have endured ‘negative yields’ since 2015, lower than other major nations’ inflation-linked bonds. Another way to think about this is that investors expected UK inflation to be higher than elsewhere – so nothing really new there.
On the positive, the lower the rate at which the government can borrow to pay for all the coronavirus expenses right now, the less of an interest burden this constitutes for the future. And, given all western nations are increasing their borrowing at a similar rate versus their GDP, there is much less pressure to reduce the national debt levels in the near future in order not to be shunned by the bond markets for ‘profligate spending habits’. This is why economists are currently far less concerned about austerity coming back to bite us in quite the same way as after the global financial crisis more than ten years ago.
The other concern is once again that of international politics. Following Donald Trump’s tirades against China of the past weeks, this week was China’s turn to strike back. Their once-a-year parliamentary session rubberstamped a proposal to align Hong Kong’s legal status much more closely with mainland China, which will give the Chinese authorities far-reaching powers to crack down on the freedom-defending people of Hong Kong. Sadly, this also entirely devalues their parallel announcement of intending to honour the US-China trade truce of January (Phase 1 trade deal), because the US would never be able to do the same if China effectively annexed Hong Kong.
Against this new and unexpected development, we will be assessing whether this move is as much a domestic manoeuvre driven by domestic political needs as Trump’s election campaign anti-China rants are. We are not overly optimistic at this point and may have to revise our previous optimism towards China – that has benefitted portfolios nicely so far over the course of this year.
Oil is back
Time has started to have little meaning during lockdown, but it was just one month ago when the financial world looked on in collective awe at a ‘never-event’ in the oil market. Just as economies around the world were shutting down, OPEC+ (OPEC led by the world’s largest producer, Saudi Arabia “plus” other producers, led by the second largest, Russia) ended the previously-agreed production restraint and began flooding global markets with oil, resulting in a monumental supply- demand mismatch. This meant the West Texas Intermediate (WTI) benchmark for US oil prices, sank into minus territory.
The massive fall in oil demand was no surprise. At the beginning of April, nobody was driving around. All the storage was filled with unused oil. With no tanks of their own, traders had to pay somebody to take it off their hands. Contracts for American crude went as low as -$37 per barrel (pb). It wasn’t just in the US. Negative spot prices occurred in Russia’s markets. Brent crude, a more international benchmark, avoided negative prices but still touched intraday lows of around $10pb. Over the last four weeks, both indices have staged steady recoveries. At the time of writing, WTI and Brent are trading at around $34pb and $36pb respectively. So, is this another case of ‘crisis averted’ in the oil market?
The main driving force behind the recovery has been a reversal of the oil production free-for-all. By March-end, oil prices had fallen far below sustainable levels relative to OPEC+ national producers’ expected government spending. Russia has the lowest budgeted level, reportedly around $40pb. Possibly, it could sustain a couple of years closer to $20pb. For the other members, any extended period below $30pb would prove very difficult. So, whatever is normal, current readings, even if off recent record lows, remain a challenge for most oil producers.
On 12 April, OPEC+ announced its intention to cut production by 9.7 million barrels a day in May and June, the deepest cut ever agreed to, along with committing to a steady return to previous production levels until the agreement expires in April 2022. Nonetheless, near-term demand remained close to nil. Meanwhile, given Russia’s starring role in the initial free-for-all, many oil- trading veterans were sceptical it would take its commitments seriously, having never got close to complying with previous production cut promises.
One of the desired outcomes of flooding the market with oil was to inflict deep wounds on the US shale industry by slowing down drilling operations, driven by the knowledge that the only place to store oil was for it to remain in the ground. Russia’s deputy energy minister Sorokin was quoted on 6 May: “We see that the production drop in the United States may range from two to three million barrels daily this year either on account of storage capacities filling or merely because it is not possible for certain companies to work in the conditions of the price being $30-35 [per barrel], to say nothing of $20 [per barrel].”
Reopening shale production in the short term is possible but not easy, and some producers have gone to the wall. More importantly, the fragile equilibrium of supply and demand means only the most cost-efficient new production can expect to make a profit. Very little new capacity will be forthcoming.
So, the oil veterans have been surprised. Russia’s commitments to produce 8.5 million barrels per day (a cut of about two million) has nearly been achieved. Non-OPEC production has also fallen back more sharply than expected.
Economic activity is literally fuelled by oil, so the price of crude is often read as a key indicator for the health of the global economy. We wrote a month ago that circumstances meant the oil price’s usefulness as an economic indicator – even for the short term – was probably diminished. But we also noted that the oil futures market could give valuable insight into when capital markets expect the world to return to something like normality – which we put at around $30pb. Of course, even though oil prices are now above that level, we are still some way from ‘normal’.
In theory, cheaper oil is a good thing for most businesses and individuals, since energy prices are effectively a tax on consumption. But in reality, the energy industry is so huge – and so intricately woven into the fabric of the global economy – that when its profits fall, there are often big knock- on effects. This is why, when pandemic fear set into capital markets at the end of February, falls in asset prices were accompanied by a nosedive in oil prices. Regardless, low oil prices should be good for the economy in the long-term, since low and stable prices make for a better bedrock for any post-lockdown recovery.
What’s more, even though the price rebound has mostly been caused by supply-side constraints, there has been some recovery in demand. China, the world’s second largest economy and the epicentre of the virus, is now well on its way to opening up. Europe, the second major hub to be hit, is also in the early stages of recovery. Even Britain and the US – the two worst affected regions – seem to be over the strictest of their lockdown measures. The Petroleum Retailers Association reported that demand for petrol and diesel this week was 40-45% lower than pre-crisis levels across the UK – but that is still substantially up from the negative 70% reported a month ago. Sectors such as air travel will be under sustained pressure for some time, but a rebound in other types of energy demand does not seem so far away.
Consistent with our overall predictions about the global economy, we expect Chinese demand will be crucial for oil producers coming out of this crisis. China’s incredible rise is one of the main reasons why oil was on a secular uptrend for nearly the last two decades. Of course, as the global economy emerges slowly from lockdown, fuel consumption in traffic – cars and aeroplanes – should pick-up again. Some of this near-term recovery in demand is likely already reflected in oil prices. In the medium term, it is unlikely that oil prices will be as high as we have grown used to over the last few years, but stability in the $30-$50pb region is not fanciful. Another big component is the prospect of a ‘green recovery’ – led primarily by renewable energy – that many politicians have been agitating for. BP’s new chief executive has gone as far as claiming that we may already be passed “peak oil”. Over the long-term, so much the better.
Even though current oil prices look low by recent standards, they are quite typical by historical standards, as the chart above demonstrates. Periods of low oil prices may cause short-term troubles, but in the past, they have almost always boosted the global economy later down the line. We seem to already be stuttering along the path back towards ‘normal’, but may well end up arriving at an entirely new destination. Overall, that may not be such a bad thing.
Amazon & Walmart: two winners – but who loses?
We are, so politicians keep telling us, all in this together. Lockdown measures, and the deep recession they have brought, impact all sectors of the economy. But while all businesses are equal under COVID-19, some are more equal than others. With the world still mostly under quarantine, online and delivery sales have been booming. Unsurprisingly, the companies reaping the benefits are those with an established online presence and delivery network. In the US, the two that stand head and shoulders above the rest are Amazon and Walmart.
Aside from their online retailing expertise and technological know-how, these two firms share one key advantage. Both have tremendous economies of scale that few competitors can match. They have their own national and international distribution networks, a wealth of experience in logistics and deep data on their consumers’ preferences. Such scale allows companies to turn a profit at prices that would be ruinous for most other retailers. This has entrenched their positions as leaders, not just in their own sector, but among equity markets at large. In the first quarter of 2020, companies across the board saw plummeting profits as the world economy went into hibernation. Meanwhile, Amazon and Walmart reported strong sales growth. Recession? What recession?
Anecdotally, many US consumers say they have switched to shopping almost exclusively at Amazon or Walmart since the lockdown began. The two almost invariably have the lowest prices and most convenient delivery methods available, so there is very little incentive for consumers to shop around. Such has been the success of these companies that their free delivery offer – which comes with any order over $25 and $35 for Amazon and Walmart respectively – has become the norm that customers expect of all delivery services. It costs just $10 for Amazon or Walmart to ship an order to the continental US – this cost includes everything from transportation to inventory management, which only becomes more complex as retailers add more products in different sizes, colours and varieties.
In recent years, a backlash has grown against large companies like Amazon and the other tech superstars. But as yet the force of this backlash has been almost entirely from government or political groups, rather than from consumers. Even the most high-profile news stories detailing seemingly shady working practices has not really affected the bottom line of Amazon or other tech giants. A huge part of that is just the convenience and low prices they offer. Amazon’s $119 a year Prime subscription covers everything, from free and fast package delivery to premium music and films.
Even where national delivery is unfeasible or cost-prohibitive, both Amazon and Walmart have found ways to crowd out other market participants. Amazon’s subsidiary Whole Foods has become a staple of many American households, while Walmart’s membership-only retail warehouse service Sam’s Club has seen considerable growth in recent years. In terms of local warehouses (in the US at least), Walmart has the advantage: they have 5,355 locations in the US and 11,000 globally, compared to just a few fulfilment centres for Amazon.
As we have written before, the pandemic is accelerating many structural economic changes already in play. Consumers have been using online retailers increasingly over the last two decades, but online services have been massively boosted by the current crisis. The really worrying question for many businesses is, after consumers make the switch to Amazon or Walmart delivery, how likely are they to switch back?
For these two firms, scale begets scale. The attraction of low prices and convenience only enables them to pour more money into solidifying their market position. That is why these trends will not stop on their own. Unless politicians step in, or we see some deep structural shift, their advantages will keep growing. Unfortunately for them, such an intervention is not that far-fetched.
A growing political consensus (a rare thing in today’s incredibly polarised US politics) has formed that believes firms like Amazon have been left unchecked for too long. Amazon is now facing anti- trust scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, and last year had to pull its plans for establishing headquarters in New York after a torrent of local political opposition. In response, the company has raised its lobbying efforts, trying to paint itself in a more positive light. Last Autumn, Amazon raised its minimum wage to $15 an hour, and this year it hired 175,000 new employers just as layoffs were skyrocketing across America.
One of the reasons Amazon has not fallen foul of the existing anti-monopoly legislation is that the established thinking says that the problem of monopoly is a problem of price control. When you are the only one offering goods, you can hold consumers to ransom and charge what you like. But the current batch of monopolists (or rather, oligopolists) have not hiked prices – quite the opposite. However, while consumers have benefited from a cost perspective, they have arguably lost out from an income perspective. With only one or two retailers to sell goods to, end-producers have taken a beating. Some have suggested this – along with increasingly globalised competition – as a reason behind the stagnation in wages since the financial crisis.
As yet, no sweeping anti-trust legislation has been tabled. But the mega-retailers – along with the US tech giants – are now firmly a part of the political conversation across the developed world. It is hard to say how the current crisis, and the steps we take to recover from it, will shape that conversation. Politicians might want to avoid rocking the boat by targeting big companies in the short-term, since their focus will be primarily on getting the economy back on track. But if the negative publicity around Amazon’s share price growth throughout the crisis is anything to go by, increased public scrutiny for firms like Amazon and Walmart could be part of the long-term picture. What we can say is that, without it, there is little else to stop them.
Data used within the Personal Finance Compass is sourced from Bloomberg/FactSet and is only valid for the publication date of this document. The value of your investments can go down as well as up and you may get back less than you originally invested.


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Photo: Afghan National Police
Outgoing Prime Minister Mark Rutte and Economy Minister Miki Adriaenssen are scheduled to visit the United States next week, accompanied by Flemish Prime Minister Jan Jambon. The aim of the economic mission is to promote cooperation in the field of semiconductors.
The ministers will travel to the United States with a delegation of companies and knowledge institutes led by VNO-NCW and the Flemish Agency for International Entrepreneurship. In addition to the company visits, a visit to Luke Air Force Base in Arizona is also scheduled. Dutch Air Force pilots are trained here on F-35 aircraft.
Rutte will, among other things, visit the American branch of ASML. At the insistence of the United States, chip machine manufacturer Veldhoven has imposed restrictions on exporting its devices to China. Washington wants to prevent China from accessing high-quality technology that can also be used for military purposes.
Other companies Rutte appears in are software producers Microsoft and Nvidia, self-driving car developer Waymo, and companies specializing in artificial intelligence. At the end of the trip, Dutch startups will have the opportunity to present themselves in Silicon Valley.
“Travel enthusiast. Alcohol lover. Friendly entrepreneur. Coffeeaholic. Award-winning writer.”


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Love its new looks or or hate them, production of the 2014 Jeep Cherokee is scheduled to begin later this year, and parent company Chrysler Group has high hopes for it already.
Read This Article
Fiat is mulling building Jeeps in China again, as part of its corporate stewardship of Chrysler and its joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile.
It would appear Chrysler Group is on the right path with the redesign of many of its models, its new Pentastar 3.6-liter V-6 engine, and recently announced eight-speed transmission.
It's been a busy day for the folks over at Chrysler Group.


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|By Kevin Benedict||
|April 30, 2014 09:00 AM EDT||
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The days of the “buy-10-get-one-free” loyalty punch card are as numbered as the paper punch itself. “Within five to 10 years, we’ll move away from punch cards and key fobs and even apps and go to smartphones,” said the director of PricewaterhouseCoopers’ customer. Read Original Content
Wish, a leading mobile commerce platform founded by Google and Yahoo alums Peter Szulczewski and Danny Zhang, announced it closed a $19 million round of financing led by GGV Capital and Formation8. Read Original Content
According to the results of the analysis of mobile commerce data by Branding Brand, major retailers have seen a tremendous increase in the revenue generated by their sites that are optimized for smartphone users. Read Original Content
Ever wonder why your Citrix or VMware mobile applications are so hard to use? Recently, with the increased adoption of mobile devices by enterprises and enterprise workers, remote desktop computing protocol providers are enabling their customers to extend existing applications in an “as-is” format to mobile devices. While it is indeed attractive to consider the usage of remote desktop protocols and their variants as a solution for enterprise mobility, there remains a critical failure of these approaches that have severely handicap them from serious adoption. Join us as we debate and discuss the use of remote desktop protocols and their variants as a solution for enterprise mobility. Join StarMobile as we debate and discuss the use of remote desktop protocols and their variants as a solution for enterprise mobility. http://starmobileinc.com/webinar-virtualization-is-not-mobilization/
China leaves the U.S. in the dust when it comes to embracing m-commerce. Seven out of 10 smartphone users in China have used their devices to make a purchase in the last three months, compared to only 22 percent in the U.S., 13 percent in France and six percent in Belgium, according to Digitas LBi. Read Original Content
IMRG, a market research firm, has released the results of its latest e-Retail Survey. The survey shows 11 percent of e-commerce professionals believe more than half of all online sales will come from mobile devices by the end of this year. Read Original Content
Research and Markets forecasts the M-Commerce market in the U.S. to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.38 percent over the period 2012-2016. One of the key factors contributing to this market growth is the high adoption of smartphones. Read Original Content
According to the results of recent mobile commerce research conducted on behalf of ActiePagina.nl, part of the RetailMeNot marketplace, the Dutch will be spending an estimated 69.8 percent more this year over their smartphones and tablets than they did last year. Read Original Content
Yapital, a payment processor based in Germany, has plans to become a competitor to PayPal in Europe. The company specializes in cashless payments and has seen a great deal of promise in the emerging mobile commerce sector in Europe. Read Original Content
A new survey from RetaleThe found 71 percent of mobile app users don’t like the idea of being tracked into a store via their smartphones, and 56 percent say they are not interested in receiving push notifications while shopping. Read Original Content
Lord & Taylor's parent company, Hudson's Bay Co., deployed a mobile app that allows customers to scan print pictures with their mobile phones and then buy the items immediately, without having to visit a Lord & Taylor website. Read Original Content
According to a recent study by mobile commerce technology provider Usablenet, 30 percent of U.S shoppers use a mobile phone while in a store to help with shopping. Read Original Content
MarketsandMarkets forecasts the mobile commerce market to grow from $116.1 billion in 2014 to $467.3 billion in 2019. In terms of geography, North America and Europe are expected to be the biggest market in terms of revenue contribution. Read Original Content
Worldwide retail mobile commerce sales are predicted to represent 27 percent of e-commerce sales in 2014, and to continue growing to reach 43.8 percent in 2017, by which date mobile payments are expected to transfer nearly $1 trillion, according to Business Retail. Read Original Content
MasterCard believes mobile technology will have a greater role to play in the future of economics and human interaction and MasterCard has been positioning itself to take advantage of this trend. The company has begun adopting digital services designed to provide consumers with “shortcuts” when it comes to commerce. Read Original Content
A survey by eDigitalResearch in the UK found that of the 1,300 smartphone user participants almost half (45 percent) are “very willing” or “somewhat willing” to allow retailers to send personalized messages to their mobile device. Read Original Content
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IoT offers a value of almost $4 trillion to the manufacturing industry through platforms that can improve margins, optimize operations & drive high performance work teams. By using IoT technologies as a foundation, manufacturing customers are integrating worker safety with manufacturing systems, driving deep collaboration and utilizing analytics to exponentially increased per-unit margins. However, as Benoit Lheureux, the VP for Research at Gartner points out, “IoT project implementers often ...
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The Jevons Paradox suggests that when technological advances increase efficiency of a resource, it results in an overall increase in consumption. Writing on the increased use of coal as a result of technological improvements, 19th-century economist William Stanley Jevons found that these improvements led to the development of new ways to utilize coal. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Mark Thiele, Chief Strategy Officer for Apcera, will compare the Jevons Paradox to modern-day enterprise IT, e...
Sep. 27, 2016 10:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,171
Complete Internet of Things (IoT) embedded device security is not just about the device but involves the entire product’s identity, data and control integrity, and services traversing the cloud. A device can no longer be looked at as an island; it is a part of a system. In fact, given the cross-domain interactions enabled by IoT it could be a part of many systems. Also, depending on where the device is deployed, for example, in the office building versus a factory floor or oil field, security ha...
Sep. 27, 2016 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 474
SYS-CON Events announced today the Enterprise IoT Bootcamp, being held November 1-2, 2016, in conjunction with 19th Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Combined with real-world scenarios and use cases, the Enterprise IoT Bootcamp is not just based on presentations but with hands-on demos and detailed walkthroughs. We will introduce you to a variety of real world use cases prototyped using Arduino, Raspberry Pi, BeagleBone, Spark, and Intel Edison. Y...
Sep. 27, 2016 09:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,957
Is your aging software platform suffering from technical debt while the market changes and demands new solutions at a faster clip? It’s a bold move, but you might consider walking away from your core platform and starting fresh. ReadyTalk did exactly that. In his General Session at 19th Cloud Expo, Michael Chambliss, Head of Engineering at ReadyTalk, will discuss why and how ReadyTalk diverted from healthy revenue and over a decade of audio conferencing product development to start an innovati...
Sep. 27, 2016 08:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,038
Fifty billion connected devices and still no winning protocols standards. HTTP, WebSockets, MQTT, and CoAP seem to be leading in the IoT protocol race at the moment but many more protocols are getting introduced on a regular basis. Each protocol has its pros and cons depending on the nature of the communications. Does there really need to be only one protocol to rule them all? Of course not. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Chris Matthieu, co-founder and CTO of Octoblu, walk you through how Oct...
Sep. 27, 2016 08:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,233
SYS-CON Events announced today that Bsquare has been named “Silver Sponsor” of SYS-CON's @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. For more than two decades, Bsquare has helped its customers extract business value from a broad array of physical assets by making them intelligent, connecting them, and using the data they generate to optimize business processes.
Sep. 27, 2016 07:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,860
Identity is in everything and customers are looking to their providers to ensure the security of their identities, transactions and data. With the increased reliance on cloud-based services, service providers must build security and trust into their offerings, adding value to customers and improving the user experience. Making identity, security and privacy easy for customers provides a unique advantage over the competition.
Sep. 27, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 3,568
There are several IoTs: the Industrial Internet, Consumer Wearables, Wearables and Healthcare, Supply Chains, and the movement toward Smart Grids, Cities, Regions, and Nations. There are competing communications standards every step of the way, a bewildering array of sensors and devices, and an entire world of competing data analytics platforms. To some this appears to be chaos. In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, Bradley Holt, Developer Advocate a...
Sep. 27, 2016 06:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,207
If you’re responsible for an application that depends on the data or functionality of various IoT endpoints – either sensors or devices – your brand reputation depends on the security, reliability, and compliance of its many integrated parts. If your application fails to deliver the expected business results, your customers and partners won't care if that failure stems from the code you developed or from a component that you integrated. What can you do to ensure that the endpoints work as expect...
Sep. 27, 2016 05:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,665
So, you bought into the current machine learning craze and went on to collect millions/billions of records from this promising new data source. Now, what do you do with them? Too often, the abundance of data quickly turns into an abundance of problems. How do you extract that "magic essence" from your data without falling into the common pitfalls? In her session at @ThingsExpo, Natalia Ponomareva, Software Engineer at Google, provided tips on how to be successful in large scale machine learning...
Sep. 27, 2016 05:30 PM EDT Reads: 2,036
If you had a chance to enter on the ground level of the largest e-commerce market in the world – would you? China is the world’s most populated country with the second largest economy and the world’s fastest growing market. It is estimated that by 2018 the Chinese market will be reaching over $30 billion in gaming revenue alone. Admittedly for a foreign company, doing business in China can be challenging. Often changing laws, administrative regulations and the often inscrutable Chinese Interne...
Sep. 27, 2016 05:15 PM EDT Reads: 321
In his general session at 18th Cloud Expo, Lee Atchison, Principal Cloud Architect and Advocate at New Relic, discussed cloud as a ‘better data center’ and how it adds new capacity (faster) and improves application availability (redundancy). The cloud is a ‘Dynamic Tool for Dynamic Apps’ and resource allocation is an integral part of your application architecture, so use only the resources you need and allocate /de-allocate resources on the fly.
Sep. 27, 2016 05:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,773
Enterprise IT has been in the era of Hybrid Cloud for some time now. But it seems most conversations about Hybrid are focused on integrating AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google ECM into existing on-premises systems. Where is all the Private Cloud? What do technology providers need to do to make their offerings more compelling? How should enterprise IT executives and buyers define their focus, needs, and roadmap, and communicate that clearly to the providers?
Sep. 27, 2016 05:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,603
SYS-CON Events announced today that Commvault, a global leader in enterprise data protection and information management, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON's 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Commvault is a leading provider of data protection and information management solutions, helping companies worldwide activate their data to drive more value and business insight and to transform moder...
Sep. 27, 2016 03:15 PM EDT Reads: 2,772
The many IoT deployments around the world are busy integrating smart devices and sensors into their enterprise IT infrastructures. Yet all of this technology – and there are an amazing number of choices – is of no use without the software to gather, communicate, and analyze the new data flows. Without software, there is no IT. In this power panel at @ThingsExpo, moderated by Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff, panelists will look at the protocols that communicate data and the emerging data analy...
Sep. 27, 2016 03:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,697
Digital innovation is the next big wave of business transformation based on digital technologies of which IoT and Big Data are key components, For example: Business boundary innovation is a challenge to excavate third-party business value using IoT and BigData, like Nest Business structure innovation may propose re-building business structure from scratch, as Uber does in the taxicab industry The social model innovation is also a big challenge to the new social architecture with the design fr...
Sep. 27, 2016 02:45 PM EDT Reads: 1,279
Data is an unusual currency; it is not restricted by the same transactional limitations as money or people. In fact, the more that you leverage your data across multiple business use cases, the more valuable it becomes to the organization. And the same can be said about the organization’s analytics. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Bill Schmarzo, CTO for the Big Data Practice at EMC, will introduce a methodology for capturing, enriching and sharing data (and analytics) across the organizati...
Sep. 27, 2016 01:30 PM EDT Reads: 1,720
IoT is fundamentally transforming the auto industry, turning the vehicle into a hub for connected services, including safety, infotainment and usage-based insurance. Auto manufacturers – and businesses across all verticals – have built an entire ecosystem around the Connected Car, creating new customer touch points and revenue streams. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Macario Namie, Head of IoT Strategy at Cisco Jasper, will share real-world examples of how IoT transforms the car from a static p...
Sep. 27, 2016 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 1,605
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Sep. 27, 2016 01:00 PM EDT Reads: 2,669


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600-gallons of berries on hand for Strawberry Festival
Six hundred gallons. Between shortcakes, frozen drinks and bulk sales, that's how many strawberries organizers estimated they would go through during the 36th annual Strawberry Festival in Starlight Saturday.
And that's not to mention the 200 gallons of chicken and dumplings, nearly 600 pounds of homemade coleslaw and countless pieces of freshly fried chicken served in the always-popular buffet dinner.
St. John the Baptist Catholic Church hosts the festival as a fundraiser, featuring games, bingo, live entertainment, contests, lots of food, and a slew of strawberry-related activities, drinks and foods.
Thousands of people make their way to the tiny community in the rolling hills of southern Indiana for the annual event. "Last year we did better than we have ever done," said Sonny Grantz, 84. "This year looks like it may be even better."
"This is probably our best year ever," said festival chair Damon Andres. "Attendance is off the charts."
Grantz, along with his sister, Rosie McCartin, 72, spent part of the day in a tent hulling strawberries, preparing them for use in the build-your-own strawberry shortcake or frozen drink booths.
"It's just a fun time," McCartin said. "Starlight is a little slice of Heaven. It's just really special. This festival just starts the summer for me."
The daylong event started at 8 a.m. with the 5K Run/Walk for the Berries. Booths, vendors and the buffet operated until 6 p.m.
"We were supposed to start serving at 11:00," said volunteer Ginny Balmer. "We had so many people in line we went ahead and started serving early."
The event started small in 1979. "It wasn't very much," said Sharon Niehoff, 78, who has worked the festival every year from the beginning. "We had a display of strawberry-related items and it just grew from there."
Entirely parish-run, the event charges no admission or parking fees, making its money strictly from booths and food sales.
While other food was available on the grounds, the buffet dinner is a perennial favorite with a long line winding its way through the booths and other activities most of the day.
Missey and Ed Badgett of Floyds Knobs come every year, "because they've got a good chicken dinner," he said. "It's something fun to do on the weekends when we're not chasing the grandkids around."
Church members pride themselves on the quality of the food, arriving at 5 a.m. to begin preparations. "We made the dumplings back in February and froze them," Balmer said. "The slaw we made fresh Wednesday. We even make our own strawberry butter and ice cream."


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Mobile phone market to drop 13% in 2009 says IDC
Worldwide shipments of mobile phones to decline by 13% this year says research company
IDC is predicting that the worldwide mobile phone market will decline by 13% in 2009. Shipments of mobile phones have been hit by the overall economic situation, the research company said.
In Q2 09, shipments declined by 10.8% year-on-year, down to 269.6 million units worldwide from 302.2 million units in the same quarter last year. The results marked another quarter of declining shipments, although IDC said that the results were better than the 17.2% slump in the first quarter of this year.
Ramon Llamas, senior research analyst with IDC's Mobile Devices Technology and Trends team commented: “The challenges from the previous nine months – aggressive channel destocking, foreign exchange volatility, and uncertain demand – continued to plague the mobile phone market in the second quarter, but were not as severe as before.
“Those vendors who were able to adjust quickly were rewarded with greater shipment volumes. Although this tested the handset vendors’ abilities to hit a moving target, customers reaped the benefits of lower-costs, even on key high-end devices,” he added.
The Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa region saw shipments up by 15% in Q2 from Q1 of 2009, following two quarters of decline. IDC said that the prior decline was mainly due to inventory being squeezed out of channels due to lack of financing, and that the improvement in shipments this quarter suggested that the process was now complete, and underlying demand remains strong.
Overall demand for smartphones and high end handsets remained strong, which helped several of the leading players, according to IDC.
Ryan Reith, senior research analyst with IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker said: “Among the big handset vendors, Nokia, Samsung, Research In Motion, and Apple, all beat expectations for smartphones within the second quarter. This demand for high-end mobile phones has created a price war among large mobile operators and handset vendors. Apple’s price cut on the iPhone 3G reflects a trend we expect to continue in the upcoming quarters, and one that will effectively maintain competitive pricing within mature markets.”


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The venture capital arms of Citibank and American Express have joined a $21 million funding round for digital marketing communications company Persado.
American Express Company (NYSE:AXP) today reported fourth-quarter net income of $1.4 billion, up 11 percent from $1.3 billion a year ago. Diluted earnings per share rose 15 percent to $1.39, from $1.21 a year ago.
UL is pleased to announce that the Collis Brand Test Tool is qualified by American Express for the simulation of AEIPS test cards.
Draft terms agreed to by the European Parliament and the European Council in December that cap interchange fees on some European debit and credit card transactions will likely have a manageable financial impact on American Express (AmEx, 'A+') and Discover Financial Services (Discover, 'BBB+'), Fitch Ratings says.
American Express is tapping into its Serve software platform for a research pilot into the savings behaviour of customers.
American Express is opening a technology hub in Silicon Valley that will house a team building up the card giant's capabilities in big data, cloud computing and mobile.
American Express (AXP) today announced the launch of its redesigned customer website, americanexpress.com, another step in the company’s ongoing efforts to apply innovative technology that meets the changing needs and expectations of customers.
American Express (AXP), the Brooklyn Nets and Barclays Center are launching a pilot program of the Brooklyn eWallet, a digital payment solution integrated directly into the Brooklyn Nets mobile application.
American Express Global Corporate Payments (AXP), the division of American Express servicing companies from midsize to global Fortune 500 companies worldwide, today announced the company has joined forces with Intacct, a leading provider of cloud financial management and accounting software.
American Express today announced the launch of its American Express Token Service, a suite of solutions designed to enable its card-issuing partners, processors, acquirers and merchants to create a safer online and mobile payments environment for consumers.
© Finextra Research 2015


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SHOPIAN: SHOPIAN: The postal services in south Kashmir’s Shopian district are available in archaic manner as people get delayed consignments and often the delivery boys call the addressees to fetch their packets from the office.
Local residents said the post office at Shopian was not doing its job properly and the employees often forget to deliver the services and if they do, it is in a much delayed manner.
Muntazir Ahmad, a local said that he mailed some important documents via speed post of ‘Indian Post’ but till date neither the documents reached to the destination nor the officials at post office Shopian offer any explanation for the delay.. He said that the men at Indian post in Shopian are callous resulting to immense suffering to the people.
Rahie Jan, another local resident told Kashmir Reader that she is waiting for her PAN card for a month but it is not being delivered. “While tracking the PAN card I found that the card is at post office Shopian. I went there but the employees said the card would be delivered at my home. I am waiting for the card but it is not arriving. My bank account has been suspended for want of the PAN card,” she said.
Locals said that the postmen instead of delivering the products at the doorsteps are asking the consumers to visit their homes for receiving goods. “I ordered some books which were supposed to be delivered through Indian post, the books reached after two months when my exams were over,” said another resident.
Consumers also allege that the officials at post office Shopian are often overcharging for the speed post and other services. Suhail Ahmad, another villager said that the employees overcharge for the services and sometimes give excuses that they have no change for bigger notes.
No official from the postal department could be reached for comment.


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RUSSIAN energy giant Gazprom admits British Gas IS on its shopping list. Shares in British Gas-owner Centrica jumped 1.6 per cent after bosses at the Kremlin-controlled group said they were tracking the business.
Chief exec Alexander Medvedev said: "I would not hide that Centrica is considered by us as one of the potential acquisition targets." British Gas - promoted on the box by Royle Family star Ricky Tomlinson - would be a huge catch for Gazprom.
The Russian firm is the world's biggest gas producer, but wants to double its share of the UK gas market by 2010.
A Centrica spokesman said: "We never comment on speculation."


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The list of newspaper websites with paid subscriptions is growing, as the Los Angeles Times has announced plans to begin charging readers for online content. As of March 5th, visitors to the Los Angeles Times' website will only be able to view a certain number of stories for free. Once the monthly limit of fifteen articles is reached, they will be asked to buy a digital subscription for $0.99. A number of other publications are implementing such subscription services, including the Chicago Tribune.
Read More at Mediapost.com


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Federal Reserve officials welcomed a recent inflation slowdown at their last meeting in late January but were intent on proceeding carefully as they tiptoe toward rate cuts, according to minutes from that gathering, which were released on Wednesday.
Central bankers raised interest rates sharply from March 2022 to July 2023, pushing them to 5.3 percent from a starting point near zero. Those moves were meant to cool consumer and business demand, which officials hoped would weigh down rapid inflation.
Now, inflation is slowing meaningfully. Consumer prices climbed 3.1 percent in the year through January, down sharply from their recent peak of 9.1 percent. But that is still faster than the pace that was normal before the pandemic, and it is above the central bank’s goal: The Fed aims for 2 percent inflation over time using a different but related metric, the Personal Consumption Expenditures index.
The economy has continued to grow at a solid clip even as price growth has moderated. Hiring has remained stronger than expected, wage growth is chugging along and retail sales data have suggested that consumers are still willing to spend.
That combination leaves Fed officials contemplating when — and how much — to lower interest rates. While central bankers have been clear that they do not think they need to raise borrowing costs further at a time when inflation is moderating, they have also suggested that they are in no hurry to cut rates.
“There had been significant progress recently on inflation returning to the committee’s longer-run goal,” Fed officials reiterated in their freshly released minutes. Officials thought that cooler rent prices, improving labor supply and productivity gains could all help inflation to moderate further this year. Policymakers also suggested that “upside risks to inflation” had “diminished” — suggesting that they are becoming more confident that inflation is coming down sustainably.


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Xiaomi to come out with limited edition K20 Pro gold phonetext_fields
Hyderabad: Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi would be coming out with 20 units of Redmi K20 Pro Limited Edition phones that come with diamond-studded gold panel on the backside, a top official of the company said Friday.
Xiaomi India Managing Director Manu Kumar Jain said the signature phone, priced at Rs 4.80 lakh, will be made in India and the company has not yet decide whether to sell or gift and if to be gifted, to whom.
The back cover is made with approximately 100 gms of gold and is not detachable, Jain said.
"We are making this (gold phone) for K20 Pro. We had made only two units. We want to show this to people. We will make 20 units. We have not decided whether to sell these phones by invitation or gift them or auction them and use that money for charity," Jain told reporters.
According to him, some people who showed interest on the phone, were asking their initial to be put on the gold panel instead of K.
He further said they want to make only 20 of these phone as it symbolises with K20 and also keep the exclusivity.
He said Xiaomi will be selling or gifting or auctioning these phones in India only.
Xiaomi recently announced the launch of Redmi K20 and K20 Pro in India.
Jain said currently the phone maker is selling 55 to 60 per cent phones online and rest offline.
By the end of the current year he expects the ratio to be equal.
He, without giving timelines, said the smartphone maker is in discussions with some of the Indian manufacturers to produce some of the products such as T-shirts, shoes and fitness bands for Xiaomi.


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The Austrian village of Reifnitz, positioned on the shores of Lake Wörthersee and forming a part of the municipality of Maria Wörth, has performed host to an annual meet for Volkswagen GTI followers going all the best way again to 1982. VW itself has joined the enjoyable and used the occasion to introduce new fashions and ideas prior to now.
The occasion hasn’t run since 2019 as a result of pandemic, and now the municipality of Maria Wörth has determined to cancel it because of the sustainability considerations of locals. In a press release issued in February, the municipality stated the large progress of the occasion in recent times led to decreased acceptance by the locals of the small village. The municipality additionally cited the consequences of local weather change among the many causes for canceling the occasion.
There GTI meet will return, however it should happen within the German metropolis of Wolfsburg, the place Volkswagen Group’s headquarters are positioned, and the place the present Golf GTI is constructed. VW stated final week that the primary working of the brand new GTI meet in Wolfsburg will happen in 2024.
“Our GTI followers are of nice significance to Volkswagen and that is why the trade with them may be very pricey to us,” Imelda Labbé, head of gross sales, advertising, and after gross sales on the VW model, stated in a press release. “Because of this, after the GTI assembly at Lake Wörthersee was sadly canceled, we determined fairly rapidly to supply the GTI fan neighborhood a brand new residence for the occasion.”
VW stated the brand new meet will proceed to host automobile displays, stage exhibits, and GTI membership occasions, along with new occasions and a few surprises. The automaker additionally stated Wolfsburg has the house and infrastructure to help a big meet just like the one which has historically taken place in Reifnitz.


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The infamous Massachusetts Institute of Technology has released a video of their Cheetah Bot jumping over progressively larger obstacles thrown in its way. Pretty cool.
Archive for May, 2015
This may not be a master plan for Skynet to help pick fashion choices for clueless men. It’s probably just clever marketing. Unless your fashion


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Published on : Monday, July 4, 2022
Mohawk Industries has entered into an agreement to purchase Foss Floors, which operates three northwest Georgia facilities. The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of this year, and Foss will be integrated into the Mohawk Home business.
Founded in 1954, Foss sells primarily to national home centers and other manufacturers. Its state-of-the-art technology creates products that are differentiated from traditional tufted and woven manufacturing, the company said, adding non-woven production yields a versatile, felt-like surface that can be used for indoor or outdoor applications.
In a memo to employees, Paul De Cock, president of Mohawk Flooring North America, and Rocky Casteel, president of Mohawk Home, said, “Foss has a great team of people. We have witnessed their commitment to customers, product innovation, safety and sustainability; and we are confident this will be a successful partnership, with many opportunities to learn from one another as we go forward. We believe it will be an excellent complement to our existing Mohawk Home business. In every product category, we are committed to being the best in the industry, delighting our customers with quality and service and providing a full array of flooring solutions for today’s consumer.”
According to the company, Foss will continue to operate with its current leadership team, led by Brian Warren, who will report to Rocky Casteel.


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Revealed: How Netflix plans to stop you sharing your password
Netflix’s impending crackdown on password sharing includes plans to force users to regularly connect via their home Wi-Fi.
An update to the streaming giant’s help page reveals details of how the company will finally take a tougher stance against the practice, which millions of people in the UK are estimated to partake in.
While logins will still be shareable within a single home, Netflix has outlined new measures to ensure that any device which uses the account is associated with the account holder’s primary location.
Who will I be able to share my account with?
People within your home can still use your account – so if mum or dad are paying, but the kids are still at home, they can have their own profiles and watch Netflix on their own devices as they do now.
But if the kids have gone to university or moved out, maintaining access to their parents’ Netflix will get trickier.
That’s because by using information such as IP addresses, device IDs, and account activity, the company can detect where users are logging in from and may choose to intervene if they suspect a case of freeloading.
How is this going to be enforced?
Netflix will treat devices which use your account as trusted if they are connected to your home Wi-Fi regularly.
So don’t worry, you can of course still take your Netflix account with you on your phone when you go out, assuming that you bring it back home with you and log in there at least once every 31 days.
But if a device from outside your household signs in or is used persistently, Netflix says it may ask you to verify that device before it can be used to watch anything.
How streaming services could change in 2023
What sort of verification?
Netflix says it will send a link to the email address or phone number associated with the primary account holder, containing a four-digit code that will need to be entered on the untrusted device within 15 minutes.
This “may be required periodically”.
And this will also be needed of you if you are away from your home for an extended period of time, for example if you take your phone travelling and plan to keep using Netflix.
So I can still share my account?
Technically, yes, it’s just becoming a lot more inconvenient, riskier, and could end up costing you.
Firstly, don’t forget Netflix limits how many devices can be using one account simultaneously depending on which pricing tier you’re on, and it maxes out at four at £15.99 per month.
Even if the prospect of constant verification code messages or someone swinging by to use your Wi-Fi isn’t inconvenient enough, Netflix may still act if it suspects blatant password sharing is going on.
Those who are logging in from outside the household will either have to pay up for their own account, or the original account holder will need to spend a little extra.
Netflix has been trialling a feature to let people add subaccounts for up to two people they don’t live with. It’s been testing in parts of South America since last year and costs the equivalent of an extra £2-£3 a month.
Why is Netflix doing this?
Netflix started talking tough on a potential password sharing crackdown during a lull in subscriber numbers.
With more competition from the likes of Disney+ and Amazon Prime, and the cost of living crisis, the company was looking for ways to reverse the trend and boost revenue.
It started trying to tempt account sharers to make the move of their own accord last year, by letting people transfer profiles from one account to another.
The Intellectual Property Office has since clarified that password sharers may be breaking copyright law – it’s just down to the streaming services themselves to enforce it.
(c) Sky News 2023: Revealed: How Netflix plans to stop you sharing your password


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Farmers are dumping millions of dollars of fresh produce as worker shortages caused by COVID-19 continue to wreak havoc on Australia’s food supply chain.
Paul Gazolla, owner of Gazolla Farms on the Mornington Peninsula, is ploughing up to 30 per cent of his weekly output of lettuce, celery, broccoli and Asian greens into the ground because he does not have enough staff to pick the produce.
He said he had reduced his deliveries to Coles, Woolworths and smaller retailers because up to 20 per cent of his staff were sick with COVID-19 or isolating. He is struggling to access rapid antigen tests so employees can safely return to work.
“Most growers are putting some portion of product back into the ground,” he said. “It’s been really bad the past four weeks. Every day is a blur at the moment. I look forward to the day when I can just focus on growing vegetables.”
While consumers are being confronted with empty shelves at the supermarket, farmers are growing the same volume of food but struggling to harvest it due to labour shortages. Shortages of transport, processing and distribution workers are also making it difficult for produce to reach shops.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano said the situation was heartbreaking and she knew of one farmer who recently dumped $1 million worth of tomato and cucumber stock because a major supermarket had cancelled an order due to worker shortages.
“There’s nothing worse for a farmer who grows something [than] for it to be wasted in the paddock,” she said. “There’s the environmental impact of that, the financial cost of business, it’s just absolutely obscene.”
She said fruit and vegetable growers were being hit the hardest because, unlike livestock farmers, their produce needed to be harvested at a certain time.
Organic fruit grower Nathan Free, who is also the Victorian Farmers Federation’s horticulture president, said he had been left with 22,000 pre-packaged units of stone fruit after Woolworths halted orders due to worker shortages.
He said he would normally send out about 25,000 units, but had moved only 3000 this week. He said he would run out of storage by the end of the week and have to start dumping stock the following week.
“We’ve never experienced anything like this before and we are a fourth-generation farm,” he said. “There’s no issue of supply, but we’re struggling to get food to the consumer.”
A Woolworths spokesman said the supermarket was working with some producers to review their supply volumes, to ensure the right balance of stock reached distribution centres.
“While this is never our first preference, this short-term measure will help us prioritise key lines for our customers,” he said. “We’re currently experiencing delays with stock deliveries to our stores due to the impacts of COVID-19 across the food and grocery supply chain.
Agriculture groups have repeatedly called for food supply chain workers to get priority access to rapid antigen tests, which are in short supply across the country.
Victoria and NSW’s governments have introduced rules that have stopped isolation requirements for essential, asymptomatic workers even if they are a close contact of someone with COVID-19. National cabinet will on Thursday introduce similar federal rules.
Echuca pork producer Tim Kingma, who supplies his meat to butchers, said the easing of isolation rules for food supply workers was useless while there was a shortage of rapid antigen tests.
“I have tried for the past week to buy a single one and I haven’t found one,” he said. “We have staff who may be unnecessarily isolating at home because they can’t get a RAT.”
Mr Kingma said he had been unable to move 20 per cent of his stock this week – 100 pigs – due to worker shortages in the boning room. He will be able to look after these pigs for up to two weeks, but he worries what will happen to the animals if worker shortages continue beyond this.
“Pigs put on a kilogram a day,” he said. “There may not be a buyer that can deal with them. They would be too big after this time.”
A Coles spokeswoman said the retailer was working closely with fresh produce suppliers who were facing disruptions and in some cases “simplifying the range we accept from them, at their request. We also know many of our customers are currently staying home and cooking their own meals, which is putting additional strain on the supply chain as many families would usually be enjoying the school holiday break, socialising and going out to eat.”
The supermarket said the changes to isolation requirements for close contacts would allow it to deliver more food and essentials to customers.
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Hyundai i20 N Line Hatchback Car
Renault India on Wednesday announced the launch of the all-new Kwid MY21 at its 10th-anniversary celebrations. Kwid has a significant presence in the small and affordable passenger vehicle segment. Many safety features will be available in Kwid MY21. Also, the Kwid MY21 model has been made quite attractive.
The Kwid already offers dual front airbags as standard across all variants. At the same time, the Kwid MY21 Climber Edition will get a dual-tone exterior in white body color and black roof. It also gets electric side mirrors and day-night rear-view mirrors. The pyrotechnic and pretensions have been given in the front driver side of the car, due to which its safety has increased as compared to earlier.
2021 Renault Kwid MY21 Two Engine Options
The Kwid MY21 has been launched with 0.8-litre and 1.0-litre SCe engine options. It will get both manual and automatic transmission options. Dual-airbags will also be available in its standard variant. At the same time, the Kwid MY21 Climber Edition will get dual-tone exteriors. It will get a black roof with white body color. The car will get electric side mirrors and a day-night rearview mirror.
2021 Renault Kwid MY21 Price
|Renault KWID Variant||Price (Rs.)|
|RXL 1.0L MT||4,53,600|
|RXL 1.0L MT||4,93,600|
|RXT 1.0L MT Optional||4,90,300|
|Climber 1.0L MT Optional||5,11,500|
|RXT 1.0L Easy-R Optional||5,30,300|
|Climber 1.0L Easy-R Optional||5,51,500|
2021 Renault Kwid MY21 Offer
Renault expects the all-new Kwid MY21 Edition to further enhance the prospects of the car for the customers. Along with this, the company has also announced benefits of up to Rs 80,000 on different variants of the car in the country. Along with this, loyalty benefits of up to Rs 1.10 lakh have also been issued for the customers. Apart from this, the company has also announced region-based offers on the occasion of the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Goa from September 1 to 10.


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Mercedes-Benz India on Friday announced that it will officially launch its AMG GT 63 S E Performance in the country on April 11 in a bid to further strengthen its portfolio of performance models here. But in the lineup of AMG models available to interested customers in the country, the AMG GT 63 S E Performance is likely to have a place of prominence as it is touted as the most powerful production AMG ever.
The Mercedes AMG GT 63 S E Performance, inspired by Formula One, is powered by a 4.0-litre V8 biturbo engine and an electric motor that generates a system output of 843 hp and offers over 1,400 Nm of torque. It takes just 2.9 seconds to go from 0 to 100 kmph. In electric-only mode, the company claims that the supercar will be able to travel around 12 kilometres.
In terms of design, the Meredes AMG GT 63 S E Performance is slightly enhanced as against the Mercedes GT 63 S 4-Door Coupe. This includes slightly modified front bumper, badging, updated exhausts and new designs of the alloy on the 20 and 21-inch wheels.
Although Mercedes-Benz India has started locally manufacturing several of its AMG models in the country, the AMG GT 63 S E Performance will come in via the CBU route. And this particular model is likely to be a crowning jewel among all new launches lined up for India in 2023 – 10 in all. The calendar year for the German luxury car maker began with the launch of the AMG E 53 Cabriolet which has been priced at ₹1.30 crore.
First Published Date: 24 Mar 2023, 12:13 PM IST