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Women entrepreneurs win top awards
Dubai, November 10, 2013
Five of the 11 major awards were won by women business owners at the 2013 Gulf Capital SMEinfo Awards.
The Centre for Musical Arts, owned by UAE national Tala Badri, won the ‘Emirati Business of the Year’ award, in recognition of Badri’s efforts in setting up and managing a centre offering instrumental music education to over 1,200 students.
Smashing! Cleaning Services, a specialist hygiene clearning company founded by expat entrepreneur Leny Day, won the ‘MasterCard Small Business of the Year’ and the ‘Sustainable Initiative of the Year’ awards. Day was awarded the ‘Regus Business of the Year’ award for leading the company in its growth and adopting sustainable business practices.
Lilliam Pollard’s company, E-Wall Studio received the ‘Customer Focus of the Year’ award.
The MEED’s panel of judges evaluated hundreds of small and medium-sized businesses which demonstrated outstanding business performance, innovation and growth and picked a group of SMEs that provided employment opportunities to thousands of professionals.
The finalists in all the categories recorded a combined total of Dh850 million ($231.4 million) in turnovers last year, representing a 150 per cent average growth rate in the last two years.
Dr Karim El Solh, chief executive officer of Gulf Capital, a leading alternative investment firms in the Middle East and headline sponsor of the annual Gulf Capital SMEinfo Awards, said: “I would like to congratulate all the finalists and winners this evening. They have all truly demonstrated what it takes to be successful entrepreneurs who can build excellent businesses through dedication, innovation and resourcefulness."
This year’s ‘Gulf Capital Business of the Year’ winner was F&B brand Just Falafel, which since its establishment in 2007, has experienced extraordinary growth establishing presence in seven countries and 1,500 stores in 11 additional countries sold into.
The ‘RSA Start-up Business of the Year’ honour was won byo Platinum Heritage Tourism, which leveraged its growth on Dubai’s booming tourism sector by providing exotic adventure tours.
Online real estate portal propertyfinder.ae scooped the ‘Online Business of the Year’ award, on the strength of its growth - from its humble beginnings in the UAE to having offices in Egypt and Qatar and becoming the property portal of choice for sellers, buyers and brokers.
Meanwhile, Micro Automation Industries won ‘Business Innovation of the Year’ award for successfully developing its own brand of power protection and electronic controllers for the mass market and the industrial community. In 2009, the company even set up its own innovation and incubation centre in Belgium for knowledge development and SMT assembly.
Innovative HR Solutions (IHS), a leader within the GCC region for assessment and development, won the ‘DHL People and Culture of the Year’ award. It boasts the largest team of organisational psychologists and leadership development specialists within the Middle East.
The ‘Grant Thornton Entrepreneur of the Year’ award was given to Prabissh Thomas, founder and group MD of PTL Solar, winning this award for the second consecutive year. Under Thomas’ leadership, PTL Solar has become a market leader in providing world class reliable solar energy solutions across Middle East, Africa and South Asia.
“Congratulations to all the winners. It has been a truly amazing year for the awards programme which received a record number of entrants. The awards not only celebrate outstanding achievements among SMEs, but also become a more proactive intelligence support system for the sector,” said Becky Crayman, head of MEED Awards, Middle East and Africa. - TradeArabia News Service


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VILLAS – Ledwon’s Sauce Company began with the “Buzzing Dragon,” a hot honey sauce that bubbled up as a humble at-home recipe. Greg Ledwon, one of the sauce company’s three founders, crafted the sauce for his father, who could no longer eat the spicy foods he enjoyed due to a cancer diagnosis.
“Greg was trying to develop a recipe for his dad that was spicy, flavorful, but all-natural and easier on the stomach,” Steve Dunwoody, a Ledwon’s founder and one of Greg’s best friends, told the Herald on an appropriately hot morning at their new hot sauce kitchen in Villas.
That first “Buzzing Dragon,” with spicy chili notes and strong hints of honey, was a hit with Greg’s dad. But it also wooed Greg’s friends at a happenstance family dinner. Steve remembered being instantly wowed by the sauce. “Greg – is this your recipe? Are you sure?” – he asked in mild shock.
Steve was sure that the formula was a winner. And he was right – the sauce went on to win the first-place prize for best sauce at a major competition in 2022. It is still their most popular sauce.
“But at first, none of us knew anything about starting a small business,” Steve said. The hurdles to operation were many, and much of the work meant interfacing with local, state, and federal regulatory bodies.
The federal Food and Drug Administration oversees all acidified foods sold commercially, which means cooking at very specific, documented temperatures. Cape May County’s health department inspects the facilities used to create the sauce. And after all that, they had to acquire a wholesale license from the state of New Jersey.
“Navigating the different levels of government with different stages of regulation was all new to us,” Steve said.
But the mightiest hurdle of all was a familiar one: the COVID-19 pandemic. “We got our final inspection in February of 2020, and a month later there were no events, and everybody was told to go home.”
It might have been easy to give up on the whole ordeal. But Steve, Greg, and Chris Baeringer, a third partner, were so confident in the sauce that they pushed through despite heavy setbacks.
Steve remembers biking some of Ledwon’s first orders to customers in the middle of lockdown. Those first orders came from friends, acquaintances, and co-workers within their circles.
But word got around fast: these guys were doing something fresh in the local hot sauce scene. Every ingredient is sourced locally as much as possible, and the gang isn’t afraid to get wild with the flavor offerings.
Four years on, you’ll notice a variety of Ledwon’s hot sauces dotted along the shoreline, with custom hot sauces produced for Exit Zero, Nauti Spirits, and Taco Caballito. A bigger kitchen space in Villas allows them to meet increased demand, along with the addition of a fourth partner, long-time friend and Cape May Firefighter, Tim Durstewitz.
“Despite the bigger kitchen, every batch is still crafted by us, by hand,” Steve said. “Making that jump from borrowed kitchen space – we were working out of the Ugly Mug’s kitchen at first – to having our own kitchen has been our biggest challenge by far,” Steve said.
Every hot sauce flavor is typically cooked in quantities of 100 bottles or fewer. Some sauces with a passionate niche following, like their Wing Night sauce that is popular come Football season, are made just a few times a year.
“This has really been a crazy journey for us,” Steve stressed. “But we love our sauces, and we’re always trying new things.”
Ledwon’s Sauce Company can be found at events and farmer’s markets across Cape May County. You can make an online order via their site for pickup or delivery.

domain: news


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AT&T parades 5G suppliers
AT&T (T) is underway with preparations to launch its mobile 5G (fifth-generation) service in 12 US markets in 2018. Rival Verizon (VZ) is on track to launch its fixed 5G service in four markets next month.
AT&T has announced that it is securing telecom equipment and technology from Ericsson, Nokia, and Samsung for its nationwide 5G network build-out. Ericsson predicts strong demand for 5G services, saying there will be as many as 1 billion 5G subscribers globally in five years.
AT&T wants to own more airwaves
As part of its 5G plan, AT&T recently told the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) that it intends to purchase more specftrum to meet its long-term needs. The communications regulator is expected to hold a spectrum auction in the coming months. T-Mobile (TMUS) and Sprint (S) have indicated that they want to participate in the auction. T-Mobile participated in the previous federal spectrum auction, emerging as the top bidder. Sprint and Verizon did not participate in the auction.
AT&T wants more content
In addition to purchasing additional spectrum and building a 5G nationwide network, AT&T also plans to step up its investments in content, particularly for HBO. AT&T came to own HBO through its acquisition of Time Warner. HBO is battling Netflix (NFLX) in the subscription video market. Netflix plans to spend as much as $8 billion for content acquisition, including original production, in 2018. AT&T may not match Netflix’s budget, but it still wants to increase HBO’s content supply.
AT&T operates the second-largest wireless network in the United States.


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BMW PHL opens new flagship plant in Greenhills
SMC ASIA Car Distributors Corp. (BMW Philippines) has a new flagship dealership in the country, RSA Motors Greenhills.
The largest local BMW facility has four floors and is located on Connecticut St., corner of Florida St., Barangay Wack-Wack in the town of Mandaluyong, a short distance from EDSA. The building stands on a plot of 1,800 mÂ². plot of land and each floor measures approximately 1,500 mÂ².
RSA Motors Greenhills is “one of only two in the world to follow unique ‘Fit to BMW’ standards, delivering a more personalized customer experience with signature furniture and design elements.” In a statement, BMW Philippines continued, âIt creates an atmosphere that is unmistakably BMW while ensuring that every guest feels right at home. These features ensure that RSA Motors Greenhills is proudly the nation’s flagship dealership, offering the most comprehensive line of BMW vehicles combined with key services, for a complete brand experience.
Downstairs is the main floor of the showroom, which BMW Philippines President Spencer Yu said can accommodate up to nine vehicles. There is also a lounge and the Isetta cafe. The Car Delivery Room, on the other hand, is where new BMWs are handed over to their owners, which adds a special touch to the event.
BMW Lifestyle products are also available for purchase: toys, bikes, luggage and other BMW branded items.
The second floor is also an exhibition hall, which presents âthe growing BMW fleet with M vehicles as well as the BMW 7 Series and X7â. Another living room and a cafÃ© area are located on this level.
As part of the current enhanced community quarantine, RSA Motors Greenhills will be open Monday through Saturday 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. until April 30. The company said. For more information, call the RSA Motors Greenhills hotline at 0917-127-1311 or follow the official Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/RSAMotorsGH for announcements.


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[Digital Business Africa] – In an age of containment and social distancing imposed by the global health crisis caused by Coronavirus 2019, companies are innovating and offering new solutions to satisfy their customers and keep their businesses afloat. At SGS, and particularly at the Governments and Institutions division, world leader in inspection, testing, verification and certification, the group reminds that thanks to new technologies, inspections are carried out on your premises under the guidance of an SGS expert. And this, all over the world.
The Swiss group offers exporters and importers its innovative mobile remote digital inspection application called SGS QiiQ®. According to the group’s explanations, “as the world’s leading provider of inspection services, with our unrivalled experience in conducting inspections in all sectors, we offer our expertise remotely using the latest technologies”.
The group, which took the lead few years ago in the implementation of remote solutions, records more than 21,000 inspections per year with this application. With the current global coronavirus health crisis, the group is recording a 30% increase in the use of this application.
Concretely, says SGS, this application allows exporters and importers, wherever they are in the world, to continue their activities despite the Covid-19 crisis, to connect remotely and in real time to an SGS expert who will guide them through all stages of the inspection.
Under this innovative inspection system, SGS uses a combination of conventional and experience-proven inspection techniques and inspectors along with advanced technological tools in order to make better inspection reporting and inspection judgment. This new concept reduces inspection and turnaround time for certificate issuance.
According to the company’s explanations, remote inspection involves a pool of SGS product expert inspectors who are virtually and in real-time connected to the place of inspection. Thanks to SGS QiiQ®, the client‘s contact person will be connected live from the client‘s premises, to an SGS product expert who will guide him remotely through all the steps of the inspection. Once installed on any type of mobile device (tablet, mobile phone or even smart glasses working on android or IOS), SGS QiiQ® simply needs an internet connection (wifi, 3/4G) to connect the Client‘s contact person to the SGS product expert.
The app will record the video inspection stream and allow the SGS product expert to trigger pictures of the inspection process (packing & marking, packages, product, etc.) while directing the Client‘s contact person at each step, asking some probing questions and checking documents like labels, manuals, etc.
Once completed, the full recorded inspections will be available to the Principal, allowing him to assess and audit the remote inspection, by accessing to the video recording and pictures taken by the SGS product expert.
The group assures that SGS QiiQ® provides a highly interactive collaboration experience that is proven across large field deployments. The software can be installed on an unlimited number of smartphones, tablets, smart glasses, and computers.
SGS’s contribution to trade ensuring continuity of their inspection services in such efficient and fast way, during this critical covid19 period, has earned the company the recognition of their clients and Principals.
By Digital Business Africa


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An Intel Tiger Lake Xe graphics leak shows how Windows 10 laptops could trounce ARM-based MacBooks.
The new Dell S-Series brings a variety of designs and resolutions and promises great color performance.
A Chrome fix might be on the way that could seriously help your laptop last much longer while using the browser.
GeForce RTX 3080 Ti leak hints at a massively powerful graphics card to drive next-generation PC GPUs.
Apple won't ditch Intel chips just yet, as the iMac 2020 is set to use a customer Core i9 processor.
As Apple moves to ARM, we're keeping an eye on future versions of Microsoft's ARM-powered Surface Pro X.
Windows 10's recent updates are forcing unexpected reboots on users' PCs, and while Microsoft is working on the problem, it may not have a fix for everyone affected.
Apple oracle Ming-Chi Kuo predicts Apple ARM Macs will launch with a redesigned iMac and refreshed MacBook Pros.
Looking at the risks in the rumored plans for Apple to ditch Intel for ARM Macs. Professional creator applications, high-end gaming and other areas are at risk.
The Windows 10 May 2020 Update is here with fresh icons, new Cortana features and improved performance.
The 16-inch MacBook Pro now offers an AMD Radeon Pro 5600M GPU, which promises 75% faster performance.
A huge memory boost arrives for the Raspberry Pi 4. Here's what you need to know about the 8GB model.
No matter what platform you're on, there's a way to capture on-screen content. Here's how to record your screen on your phone, tablet or computer.
Billions of smartphones, laptops and other devices may be vulnerable to Bluetooth attacks, thanks to a newly revealed flaw.
Everything you need to watch Microsoft Build 2020 online, including registration help and schedule details.
The best printer deals for your home office. Save on photo, monochrome, color, inkjet, and laser printers.
Intel’s 10th Gen H-Series chips promise big power for gaming laptops and MacBook Pro rivals. Here’s what you need to know.
Microsoft has announced that it will halt all optional Windows 10 updates starting in May, only delivering critical security patches.
The latest Windows 10 update delivered new annoying bugs. Here's how to stop them and save your performance.
Windows 10 will have a redesigned Start menu, losing the live tiles and streamlining the layout of the remaining icons.


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National Retail Properties, Inc. (NYSE:NNN – Get Rating) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Hold” by the ten brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, one has issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $48.78.
NNN has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James dropped their target price on shares of National Retail Properties from $55.00 to $52.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 6th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of National Retail Properties from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $45.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, July 12th. Credit Suisse Group began coverage on shares of National Retail Properties in a report on Wednesday, June 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $46.00 price objective on the stock. StockNews.com downgraded shares of National Retail Properties from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 6th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of National Retail Properties to $47.00 in a report on Monday, August 15th.
Insider Activity at National Retail Properties
In related news, CFO Kevin B. Habicht sold 10,520 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $48.06, for a total transaction of $505,591.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 203,717 shares in the company, valued at $9,790,639.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.82% of the stock is owned by company insiders.
Hedge Funds Weigh In On National Retail Properties
National Retail Properties Stock Down 0.9 %
Shares of NYSE NNN opened at $42.32 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $7.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.40 and a beta of 0.85. National Retail Properties has a 52-week low of $39.12 and a 52-week high of $48.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97, a quick ratio of 1.51 and a current ratio of 1.51. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $45.85 and its 200-day moving average price is $44.60.
National Retail Properties (NYSE:NNN – Get Rating) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 3rd. The real estate investment trust reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.78 by $0.03. National Retail Properties had a net margin of 42.21% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $190.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $190.68 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.77 EPS. National Retail Properties’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that National Retail Properties will post 3.13 earnings per share for the current year.
National Retail Properties Increases Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, August 15th. Investors of record on Friday, July 29th were given a dividend of $0.55 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 28th. This represents a $2.20 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.20%. This is a positive change from National Retail Properties’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.53. National Retail Properties’s dividend payout ratio is presently 129.41%.
National Retail Properties Company Profile
National Retail Properties invests primarily in high-quality retail properties subject generally to long-term, net leases. As of September 30, 2020, the company owned 3,114 properties in 48 states with a gross leasable area of approximately 32.4 million square feet and with a weighted average remaining lease term of 10.7 years.
- Get a free copy of the StockNews.com research report on National Retail Properties (NNN)
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FTC Ruling Says Marathon Petroleum Must Divest Five Locations to Acquire Express Mart
ENON, Ohio — Marathon Petroleum Corp. will divest five locations to satisfy conditions set by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in order for its subsidiary Speedway LLC to complete its acquisition of 78 New York state convenience stores.
According to the FTC, the purchase of the Express Mart branded c-stores, which are owned by Petr-All Petroleum Consulting Corp., would harm competition for both retail gasoline and retail diesel in five local New York state markets: Farmington, Fayetteville, Johnson City, Rochester and Whitney Point.
Primarily located in the Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo markets, the stores will be rebranded to Speedway, as Convenience Store News previously reported.
The FTC stated that the deal reduces the number of significant competitors from three to two in four of the local gasoline retail markets, and reduces the number of competitors from four to three in the remaining market.
Additionally, in three of the five retail diesel markets, the acquisition would result in a merger to monopoly; in the fourth, it would reduce the number of significant competitors from three to two; and in the fifth, it would reduce the number of significant competitors from four to three.
The FTC's complaint alleges that without a remedy, the acquisition would substantially lessen competition for retail sales of gasoline and diesel in the five markets and would increase the likelihood that Marathon could unilaterally raise prices there. It also alleges that the deal would enhance incentives for interdependent behavior in all five markets.
The terms of the proposed consent order require Marathon to divest to Sunoco retail fuel assets in Farmington, Fayetteville, Johnson City, Rochester and Whitney Point within 90 days after the purchase is completed. Marathon and Express Mart will be required to maintain competitiveness of those assets during the divestiture process.
The consent agreement also includes asset maintenance orders and allows the FTC to appoint a monitor trustee. The FTC stated that it worked closely with the New York State Attorney General's office on the matter.
Following a unanimous vote to issue the complaint and accept the proposed consent order for public comment, the FTC published the consent agreement package in the Federal Register on Oct. 25. It will be subject to public comment for 30 days, after which the FTC will decide whether to make the order final.
Headquartered in Enon, Speedway is the nation's second largest company-owned and -operated c-store chain with approximately 2,740 stores located in 21 states. It is a wholly owned subsidiary of Marathon Petroleum Corp.


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Two of the world’s giants are standing eye ball-to-eye ball, and no one wants to blink. The world’s largest two economies have started a vicious trade war. It started in 2018 when the countries started imposing tariffs on each other’s goods. The tariffs have reached to the worth of hundreds of billions of dollars. US President Mr Donald Trump’s election campaign slogan “Make America Great Again” and the accusation towards china for unfair trading is being considered the main reason behind this traded war. Whereas according to the China-United States of America is trying to limit the growth of the Chinese economy and becoming a global economic muscle.
US president’s tariffs policy’s objective is to reassure that the American consumers are buying, products that are only made in the USA. To achieve that objective, Donald Trump imposed tariffs on traffic on china which was a major exporter to the USA. The tariff imposed by the USA is more than USD 360 billion. In the retaliation china imposed USD 110 billion tariffs on US products. In 2018, Washington further delivered three rounds of tariffs, and another following in September 2019. Recently Chinese imports were targeted to 15% duty, and Beijing retaliated with tariffs ranging from 5% to 25% on goods imported from the USA.
Statistics of the Trade war
In July 2018. US imposed the tariffs of USD. Thirty-four billion and china in the response imposed tariffs of USD 34 billion on American goods. In August 2018, US stroked again with the tariffs of USD 16 billion and China replied with the same. Following that the trump administration increased the pace of tariffs, it imposed 10 % tariff on the goods of around USD 200 billion and which was answered by China with 10% tariffs on goods of USD 60 billion. Yes, China was unable to reply with the same force as the trade deficit between the two countries is huge. China has been earning a fortune by liberal trade policies of America. In May 2019, the US administration further imposed the duty of 25% on the goods of value USD 200 billion, which was replied by china in June 2019, not to the same amount of goods but equal in percentage, 25% on USD 60 billion. Both countries have further threatened each other for imposing more duties. The US took further steps by imposing bans on Chinese companies such as Huawei and accused to of the espionage and Intellectual property theft. Huawei the leading network equipment producer in a leader in 5G technology as well.
Consequences for US Companies
Following the ban on Huawei by the US government, US tech companies joined hand with the administration and pledged to stop selling goods or services to Huawei. Many US top tech industries, manufacture there products in china due to skilled workers and cost of production. Terminating the business in china means increasing the cost of their goods, especially in the information and technology sector. Products such as Apple inc. Are earning a fortune by manufacturing china. Apple lovers might witness the increase in the products of their brand if the operations are terminated in China.
Under the phase one of the deals signed in January, the Chinese government pledged to increase US imports to china by USD 200 billion concerning the level of imports in 2017, and it will strengthen intellectual property rules. The situation is not improving any further due to various international factors, such as US-Afghan Taliban peace talks, US-Iran tensions, Middle East uncertainties, US-North Korean crises, Riots in China-Taiwan. All these factors created a situation for the US to delay imposing tariffs on Chinese goods till December 15, the product included Smartphones, Video game consoles, laptops, computer screens, clothing and footwear. The most important factor that determines the future is the upcoming US presidential elections. US President has to make that he pressurises China to come to the terms and negotiate according to him. As he has to go back to the elections with the slogan of Made in America. The US administration well manages the threat of unemployment in the import industry. However, building a wall on Mexican borders by getting the funding from the Mexican government remains a distant dream. In the initialising of the trade tensions, it was forecasted that Donald Trump is following the policy of isolation that was followed in the 1930s. Trumps is completely focused on getting out of Afghanistan, as he has successfully pulled out US troops from Syria. The emerging of a novel coronavirus in China and US quick blockage of people to people contact is further deteriorating the relations between the two. As the US Doctors are leading researchers for the cures of disease. US administration has currently stopped its doctors to go to china or provide any Nursing Assignment Help. It is estimated that the next round of tariffs blows will appear after the US elections and after the Coronavirus epidemic.
Alexa Bliss is a PhD in International Relations, Currently teaching as a Professor of International Political Economy. She works with students all over the world for the research on different topics on international relations and others such as Medicine, Health and Nursing Assignment Help and other such topics in various countries.


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McLaren F1 supercar in Forza Motorsport 4 trailerEnlarge Photo
Today at Motor Authority we drive the first BMW ActiveE in North America and Audi reveals a special edition S5. Murilee Martin has a new guilty pleasure and Mercedes-Benz reconfirms the GLK will offer a diesel engine option.
All this and more in today's car news, right here on Motor Authority.
A British firm has revealed plans for a new Audi R8 stretch limo.
Murilee Martin's guilty pleasure this week is the Oldsmobile Cutlass Calais.
Saab's bankruptcy is putting Spyker at risk.
New rumors emerge regarding the McLaren F1 successor.
Audi has shown a new special edition S5.
Ordering a new 2012 or 2013 Chevrolet Corvette? Beware of ordering deadlines.
We find out what it's really like to drive the BMW ActiveE electric car.
Mercedes-Benz reconfirms the 2013 GLK will have a diesel engine option.


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We laid out our argument against holding Apple Inc. (AAPL) stock in the coming year as the technology giant appears ready to take another year off from performance.
For a number of reasons, Apple stock appears ready to be a follower — not a leader — among tech stocks.
Serious questions regarding Apple’s product line, flagging technicals and trendlines with overly optimistic sentiment all adds up to a bearish outlook for AAPL stock, with our models forecasting a price target of $90 that may be lowered as the year progresses.
So, if Apple, the world’s largest tech stock, isn’t going to provide performance for your portfolio in 2016 … well, just what tech stocks should you buy to rev up your returns?
Here’s a look at our top five tech stocks for 2016.
Tech Stocks to Buy: Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN)
Believe it or not, it’s hard to include a stock that returned more than 120% in a list of companies to hold in 2016, but Amazon (AMZN) is one tech stock that doesn’t look ready to quit.
The casual observer might think that Amazon stock gets its boost from online retailing, but that’s just eye candy. AMZN’s not-so-secret profit machine is Amazon Web Services, their cloud computing business, which is now generating more than $7 billion in revenue and is growing by leaps and bounds.
At last check, revenue from Amazon Web Services alone overshadowed combined revenue for cloud services from its top four competitors, Salesforce (CRM), Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM) and Alphabet (GOOG, GOOGL).
Watch for this business to continue serving Amazon stock well through 2016.
Tech Stocks to Buy: Intel Corporation (INTC)
We’ve been pretty outspoken on Intel’s (INTC) ability to lead tech stocks higher in 2016 over the past month or so. Growing strength on the fundamental side of business has resulted in a surge in Intel’s stock price.
The technical trends are pointing to a positive 2016 as a lot of pessimistic sentiment is beginning to unwind in the form of buying interest for Intel stock. The potential for upgrades alone to drive INTC 20% higher is real, with only 47% of the analysts covering the stock rating it a “buy.”
Make no mistake: Intel will lead the tech sector in 2016.
Tech Stocks to Buy: Palo Alto Networks Inc (PANW)
Remember, you don’t make money by following the crowd — you make it by finding the undiscovered performers. Palo Alto Networks (PANW) falls into that category. The company is on a revenue-growing tear, with an average year-over-year revenue growth of 55% for each quarter since January 2013.
Palo Alto Networks is widely seen as the Cisco (CSCO) of the 1990s as their networking and security products are an integral part to the current infrastructure updates as we prepare for even more digital consumption.
We like the shares to follow up this year’s 45% gains with another similar year in 2016.
Tech Stocks to Buy: Cree, Inc. (CREE)
We just covered this stock as a short squeeze candidate a few days ago, but it’s so much more than that. Cree (CREE) develops LED lighting and semiconductor products, two things that will be very much a large part of the Internet of Things in the coming years.
Two things stand out on Cree:
First, the long-term chart which shows a definite range between $20 and $70. We love charts like this, especially when we’re sitting at the low end of the range.
Second, as one of the leading LED light manufacturers, we’re interested to see Cree potentially emerge in the development of Li-Fi networks — something that is currently on the technical horizon. Early detection of a development like this often leads to blockbuster performance.
This, of course is speculation … but speculation drives the market, too!
Tech Stocks to Buy: Microsoft Corporation (MSFT)
We would have been remiss to leave Microsoft (MSFT) off our list of Apple stock substitutes. MSFT is finding itself a leader among tech stocks again as its CEO has pared the company’s product lines and focused on revenue-generating businesses like cloud computing, the Surface tablet and a profitable search engine product in Bing. (Finally!)
Look for another 25%-plus year from Microsoft stock as the 41% of analysts that don’t have the stock ranked a “buy” figure out that they’re wrong and begin to upgrade the stock early in the year.
As of this writing, Chris Johnson was long CREE.
More From InvestorPlace
- 10 Cheap Stocks Under $10 to Buy for 2016
- 10 Biggest Mergers and Acquisitions of 2015
- The 10 Best Fidelity Mutual Funds for 2016


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Indonesian youth are buying more fake fashion despite some awareness of its harmful impacts
This article is part of a mini-series featuring the work of journalism students from Queensland University of Technology (QUT) who travelled to Indonesia in November 2019 as part of the Australian government's New Colombo Plan Mobility scheme
Alice Sinclair, Daniele Antonaglia and Max Eagles
‘The original price is Rp16 million,’ says the young Indonesian man as he points to a new season Dior bag on the glass counter of his cluttered stall, located in a multi-levelled, indoor market hotspot for counterfeit goods in Jakarta.
‘Here you can buy it for a fraction of that price, only Rp1.4 million. They are mirror quality, meaning no one will be able to tell the difference.’
For this vendor and many like him, business is booming. Sales continue to increase across his five stores and online marketplace as more and more young Indonesians want the designer look, he tells us.
The International Trademark Association’s recent report reveals Indonesian youth are purchasing more fake fashion from counterfeit marketplaces, despite possessing a basic understanding of the harmful impacts of the industry. Simultaneously, interest in sustainable, fair fashion manufactured in a regulated environment is growing, with those surveyed hoping to eventually leave counterfeits behind.
According to the ITA 2019 report, 87 percent of Gen Z-ers in Indonesia, born between 1995 and 2010, purchased counterfeit products, namely apparel, shoes and accessories, in the past year. While 90 percent of those surveyed reported an appreciation for intellectual property rights, when it comes to deciding whether to purchase fakes, income considerations continually outstrip moral concerns.
The economic impact of the counterfeit goods market is also significant, with a 2014 study by the Indonesia Anti-Counterfeiting Society estimating that it causes a loss of up to Rp65.1 trillion for the national economy. Impacts of the unregulated industry are wide-ranging, from lost sales for intellectual property infringement to environmental damage.
On average, Indonesians earn about US$183 or Rp2.5 million per month, while a single pair of genuine Gucci sneakers can cost more than three times that. ‘Teenagers in my country always buy fake goods because the price is very different and they’re also very easy to find,' 22-year-old Jakarta resident, Shasa, tells us.
‘My friends are mainly interested in Gucci, Hermes and Balenciaga, all brands which they could definitely not afford otherwise.’
These big international designers are among the largest victims of the counterfeit fashion market, however, the practical solutions for them are limited. There are avenues for big brands to enforce their intellectual property rights, but they can be costly, slow and inconsistent from region to region, explains intellectual property lawyer and founder of the Indonesian Anti-Counterfeiting Society (MIAP) Justisiari Kusumah.
Further, enforcement of intellectual property law is complicated because complaints must be initiated by the brands themselves.
‘Authorities can only take action on the basis of complaints from trademark holders, they cannot act without a complaint.’ Brands are often dissuaded from pursuing those who infringe trademarks because the process can be lengthy and complex.
‘Intellectual property court proceedings will usually take at minimum four years to resolve. We make sure clients are aware of the difficulties of pursuing this avenue.
‘MIAP, while not an enforcement body against counterfeits, aims to combat counterfeiting, through raising public awareness and consumer protection by promoting education on these issues', said Kusumah.
Sustainable and ethical fashion
The push to inform the public is paying off, with the recent survey showing that 72 percent of participants expect to buy fewer counterfeit products in the future.
University student Octaviani, 20, is part of a growing number of young Indonesians taking an active stance against the counterfeit industry in favour of ethical and sustainable fashion.
‘My friends and I do not buy fake goods but I know many students do. We like to buy Indonesian brands when we can afford them. The quality is much better and we don’t want to support an illegal industry.’
Counterfeit goods are increasingly unappealing to consumers concerned with the ethical and sustainable nature of producing fashion. ‘Slow fashion’, a higher quality, ethical and sustainable alternative to fast fashion, is booming in Bali. Brands like Rimmba and Indosole produce their goods using recycled materials. Sunglasses producer Bambusee partners with local charities to improve eye health access for disadvantaged Indonesians.
The material quality of both counterfeit and genuine fashion can be easily measured in person. For example, when turning a shoe over, a buyer can observe the materials used and the quality of construction. Consumers cannot tell with similar ease whether the shoe was produced ethically or sustainably.
‘There are no easy answers to what makes an ethical garment,’ says a sustainable fashion expert at Queensland University of Technology, Dr Alice Payne.
Genuine product manufacturers can publish production information, which naturally the counterfeit market producers do not. Genuine products can also use third-party accreditation, such as that by Fairtrade International, to help convince shoppers of a brand’s commitment to ethical fashion.
Businesses can operate transparently, publishing production costs, allowing would-be shoppers to understand where the money from their purchase ends up. They can release details on the working conditions at the company, and publish the wages paid to workers.
Even when enforcement works effectively and counterfeit goods are confiscated, the destruction of fakes poses sustainability concerns. Seized goods are often incinerated, releasing harmful greenhouse gas emissions. Dumping the shipments in landfill is even worse, considering the detriment to the environment due to the waste and the emissions that are released over time.
‘It would be better to prevent counterfeiting in the first place, but this is also contrary to how fashion works as a cultural industry – fashion thrives on imitation and the diffusion of trends,’ says Dr Payne.
While the trademark infringement regime remains complaints-based, responding to counterfeiting is solely reactive. Without a proactive infringement body, progress is unlikely to be made in curbing the counterfeit market.
For vendors trading in this relaxed regulatory environment, business is thriving.
'Business is doing very well. We run five other shops just like this nearby and our online store is highly trafficked. As goods are mirror quality and can be delivered within 24 hours via Gojek, it’s easy to see why young Indonesians keep coming back.'
Daniele Antonaglia (email@example.com), Max Eagles (firstname.lastname@example.org) and Alice Sinclair (email@example.com) are journalism students at the Queensland University of Technology who travelled to Indonesia with the support of the Australian Government’s New Colombo Plan Mobility Scheme.


text: The search giant winds up the year with a list of top 10 searches for the last 12 months. iPhone6 gets the position of top consumer electronics searches. Flappy Bird tops the list of gaming searches. Jennifer Lawrence overshadows Kim Kardashian in the most-searched people’s list. Robin Williams tops Google’s list of most-searched terms for 2014 - for global and the US list.


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(Bloomberg) -- Taiwan’s exports recorded their highest increase in more than a year but still fell short of market expectations, tempering enthusiasm for a quick rebound in global demand for the trade-dependent economy.
Overseas shipments expanded 3.8% in November from a year ago, according to a statement from the Finance Ministry Friday. While that was the fastest pace of growth since July 2022, it still fell short of the median expectation of a 4.6% increase in a Bloomberg survey of economists. Month on month, exports contracted 1.7%.
Imports sank 14.8%, far more than economists’ expectations of a 2% decline, with the main headwind a steep drop in purchases of semiconductor manufacturing equipment from abroad. The resulting trade balance stood at $9.8 billion, the second-highest amount on record.
Improvements in tech exports were held back by “drag from non-tech exports, especially around chemicals, plastics, and mineral products exports,” said Bum Ki Son, an economist at Barclays Plc. “Softness in capital goods and consumer goods imports suggest domestic demand momentum is softening in the fourth quarter.”
Investors and analysts have been looking for signs that sluggish demand across Asia is reversing. China’s exports rose 0.5% in November from a year ago, though that data was skewed by the fact that it compared to a year earlier when the nation was still grappling with pandemic-related restrictions.
There have been other positive signs in the region: South Korea, another bellwether for global trade, saw its recovery in exports accelerate last month on the back of a rebound in semiconductor demand. Taiwan has been hoping for a pickup in chip exports as well, given the importance the sector holds for the economy.
--With assistance from James Mayger.
(Adds economist quote in fourth paragraph.)
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.


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The Gillette Venus shaving brand also features women removing actual body hair in its new commercials
Shaving giant Gillette Venus has thrown its weight behind the body hair and positivity movement with its new campaign.
The lack of body hair in shaving and waxing adverts has been a hot topic on social media for quite some time, with many consumers questioning why brands are depicting models removing hair from already airbrushed smooth skin.
The P&G-owned brand’s new ‘My Skin, My Way’ advert comes after ...
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As technology gets smarter, so do fraudsters. Bots and fake ad traffic are causing corporates to lose more than 40% of their investment, according to the recent AppsFlyer report, The State of Mobile Fraud: Q1 2018.
Video and mobile formats of ads have brought a new playground for fraudsters to engage in making fake ad traffic through content scraping websites. They also use bots to auto-click ads or present ads outside of a user’s view.
“Bots, developed by fraudsters, are deployed to engage with the ads, which leads to a massive dip in viewability,” Business Line quoted Rahul Vengalil, CEO of What Clicks, a digital media audit firm.
According to the Media Rating Council (MRC) standards of viewability, 50% of the ad space must be seen by a human for one second in case of a static ad and two seconds in case of a video, to call an ad ‘viewed’.
“Since ads are paid on cost per mile impressions, the more the impressions, even if fake, the more the payment,” adds Vengalil. “Brands that are not using any safeguarding tools might as well say goodbye to 30 per cent of their investment before the campaign even starts.”
Vengalil says because of ad fraud, the rate of viewability has come down to 12%. “If a company has paid INR 1 crore for digital advertisement on a particular publisher’s website, it would have lost INR 88 lakh,” he said.
According to the AppsFlyer report, mobile app marketers are bearing the brunt of ad frauds. The report reviewed over 10 billion installs of 6,000 apps and found that mobile app marketers had to deal with 30% more fraud in the first quarter of 2018 than the quarterly average last year. The report also reveals that with media costs and third-party attribution, fraud has already touched $700-$800 million, and this is just the first quarter! The report recorded a fraud rate of 11.5%, a 15% hike since the last study.
According to the report, in the APAC region, Singapore was hit most in mobile ad fraud, with app install fraud rates rising to 27%. India, Indonesia, Hong Kong, and Malaysia, were also in the line of fire. Countries like India and Indonesia are targeted because of the sheer volume of numbers. China doesn’t figure in the list in spite of being one of the biggest regions in APAC, because it doesn’t have a Playstore, and users install apps through individual app stores.
However, countries, such as Japan, Germany, US and UK, are also chosen because of their relatively high Consumer Price Indexes (CPI). Fraudsters often select a wider area than a single country, so that higher payments aren’t concentrated in a particular area only.
Exchange4media quoted Neeraj Sharma, Country Manager, South Asia and Middle East, Mobvista, “Mobile penetration is higher in the Indian market and people are evolving at a faster speed than any other country in the APAC region.” Mobvista is a five-year old mobile marketing automation.
Fraudulent installs have also risen by 15%, tainting 11.5% of marketing-driven installs. According to the report, this indicates that of every 1000 non-organic installs advertisers pay for, 115 are spurious. According to the report, shopping, gaming, finance, and travel apps are the most targeted, especially shopping apps.
Fraudsters use high-tech ways to fake viewership, such as device farms. Device farms are locations where cyber criminals can repeat clicks, registrations, installs, and engagement and thus generate counterfeit activity. A method used in mobile fraud is click flooding or click spamming, in which networks generate high-numbered, but fake, click reports.
Several softwares for countering such fraud are being introduced in the market. For example, Protect360 is a real-time fraud protection and detection solution platform.
While, with a growing industry, it is to be expected that fraud would increase too, some experts are touting the use of blockchain technology as a means of countering the onslaught. Ashish Shah, Founder and CEO of Vertoz writes, “Blockchain technology provides transparent ledger of all records and transactions, thus reducing the possibilities of frauds. All record entries can be traced back, bringing in more accountability for the intermediaries involved.”
Reports say that Unilever, along with IBM, is working to use blockchain to overcome the issues in ad media. Blockchain could also bring relief from ‘tech tax’, which marketers have to pay for digital media.
The Financial Express quoted Sumit Gupta, Chief Operation Officer, Zohem, a blockchain startup, “Blockchain can empower advertisers by helping them take control of their media spend and can at the same time open up new direct revenue streams for publishers, which till date are non-existent.”
Still, digital ads are preferred over TV, because digital ads can target a specific audience better. This is leading marketers to shift their strategy from an inventory-based one to an audience-based one, but the transparency of this strategy is questionable. Recently, Lotame, the Data Management Platform (DMP) provider, removed 10% of its 4 billion profiles, after they found them to be spurious.
The recent Facebook data breach and the rising ad frauds must be factors big advertisers are considering while spending on digital ads. Experts say that advertisers are definitely asking more questions though still going digital.
According to Campaign India, Michael Tiffany, CEO, White Ops, USA called ad frauds ‘the most attractive cybercrime in the world right now’, during the I-Com Global Summit. “Bots don’t buy anything. Numbers usually never lie, but they do only in advertising. The trick is to infect real people’s computers. Bots can inflate the size of any audience. Publishers paying handsomely for legitimate search traffic are competing against publishers paying much more for bot traffic, and the tools used by most marketers can’t tell the difference,” he said.


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Mumbai: Xandr today announced its growth across its Indian offices as it hits 100 employees after only three years. To celebrate the occasion Xandr’s Ben John, CTO, IlonaJurkiewicz, HR lead and Christina Beaumier, SVP, product and technology, attended a conference with the team in Bangalore to discuss everything from strategy to building diversity within the region.
Xandr opened its first office in India in 2019 and has since had over 100 employees join the company. Alongside this success Xandr opened a second office in Pune to continue its growth in market. As one of Xandr’s hubs for engineering, tech ops and customer support, the team in India is now focused on growing its commercial team as well as its original hubs even further.
Ben John, CTO, comments: “Xandr has always been focused on getting the best talent across every market. I am immensely proud to see that even through a global pandemic, we have grown to have two offices in India and have reached 100 employees.Our India offices are a hugely important part of our overall business with our engineers and technologists from the India office directly contributing to Xandr’s global product innovation and platform delivery.I can’t wait to see the progress our India offices will make across this year.”
Pawankumar Sadarangani, AVP, Information Management adds: “As the founding leader of the Bangalore based technology team, it has been exciting to watch our company presence grow in India. With the team focused on addressing the challenges of the advertising ecosystem across identity, curated marketplaces and more, we’re looking forward to adding to our team of experts in the region.”
Sumit Shah, EG-Director, software engineering, Xandr says: “Whilst the Pune office is a newer part of our India presence we are looking forward to watching our team grow and develop. Seeing how the Bangalore office has expanded, makes us excited for the future of Pune”.


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NEW YORK - The Federal Trade Commission is suing Amazon over charges the company has not done enough to prevent children from making unauthorized in-app purchases, according to a complaint filed Thursday in federal court.
The move had been expected since last week, when Amazon said it wouldn't settle with the FTC over the charges. Amazon said in a letter to the FTC last week that it already had refunded money to parents who complained and was prepared to go to court.
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Bob Fant, staff vice president, Advertising and Brand Development at MetroPCS has been confirmed as a participant in the previously announced Radio Show Advertiser Luncheon.
Fant joined MetroPCS in January 2010 after spending eight years as director of advertising for Advanced Auto Parts. He has a strong retail marketing background as he has held previous positions at Federated Department Stores and Sears.
Wednesday, September 19
|SESSION DESCRIPTION:||Prominent advertising executives will discuss the expanding array of media options for advertisers and radio's role in enabling marketers to connect with consumers in this insightful Q-and-A discussion, moderated by Tim Castelli, President of National Sales, Marketing & Partnerships for Clear Channel Media and Entertainment.|
Moderated by Tim Castelli, president of National Sales, Marketing & Partnerships Clear Channel Media and Entertainment
About the Radio Show
The 2012 Radio Show, produced by the Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB) and the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB), will be held September 19-21 in Dallas. This year's show brings radio broadcasters and industry colleagues together to share knowledge, discover the latest innovations, network with industry leaders and explore creative business strategies to help radio flourish in the digital age. To learn more about the 2012 Radio Show, visit www.radioshowweb.com.
News media registration is now available for the Radio Show.
The Radio Advertising Bureau serves more than 6,000 member Radio stations in the U.S. and over 1,000 member networks, representative firms, broadcast vendors, and international organizations. RAB leads and participates in educational, research, sales, and advocacy programs that promote and advance Radio as a primary advertising medium. Learn more at www.rab.com.
The National Association of Broadcasters is the premier advocacy association for America's broadcasters. NAB advances radio and television interests in legislative, regulatory and public affairs. Through advocacy, education and innovation, NAB enables broadcasters to best serve their communities, strengthen their businesses and seize new opportunities in the digital age. Learn more at www.nab.org.


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The 2020 hemp season was a challenging one for growers in the US state of Illinois, reflected in recently released harvest statistics.
The Illinois Department of Agriculture (IDOA) final harvest numbers for the 2020 hemp growing season indicate 2,734 acres of hemp was planted, with 2,392 acres harvested. Last year, the total acreage harvested was 2,800 – so a significant drop that has been put down to COVID-19 and market related issues along with some processing problems initially.
“Despite these challenges, the Illinois hemp industry continued to demonstrate resilience and strength. IDOA remains committed to being a good partner to the industry, and we look forward to the 2021 growing season,” said IDOA’s David Lakeman.
In terms of what the harvest produced:
- 1,278,00 pounds of flower
- 39,000 pounds of seed
- 8,500 pounds of grain
- 48,000 pounds of fiber
IDOA issued 802 Hemp Growers licenses for the 2020 season, compared to 651 for 2019’s. In the 2019 season, 137 licensees failed to put in a crop, but there were no figures mentioned in this regard for 2020.
In 2015, the state’s Industrial Hemp Pilot Program came into effect. This was followed then-Governor Bruce Rauner signing the state’s Industrial Hemp Act into law in 2018, saying the legislation just made good sense. His successor, Gov. J.B. Pritzker, has also been bullish on hemp’s future in Illinois, stating in 2019:
“Industrial hemp is a potentially billion-dollar industry that Illinois will now take part in. From farming and processing to sales and exports, this will have a massive impact on our state’s economy.”
In October last year, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced the approval of Illinois’ plans under the U.S. Domestic Hemp Production Program.
As in other states, Illinois farmers have faced the challenge of a hemp surplus on the market after the explosion of interest in cultivating the crop across most of the USA. As part of providing more opportunities for hemp growers, in 2020, IDOA developed a policy that enables licensed hemp growers to sell their crops to licensed cannabis cultivators for use in medical and adult-use cannabis products.


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Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2016 Set For October 28-30 at the L.A. Convention Center
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo 2016 – L.A.’s ultimate comic and pop-culture convention – has officially opened up advance ticket sales for what promises to be the biggest 3-day extravaganza yet in the show’s extraordinary 6-year history. Comikaze is L.A.’s biggest and best annual mega-event that pays homage to the stars and creative talent behind today’s biggest names in pop culture.
Last year’s Comikaze drew 76,000 – and such luminaries as Carrie Fisher and William Shatner, along with the memorable and much-covered cast reunion of All That. There was also the Power Rangers Pavilion, the Cosplay National Championship, the Prop Making National Championship, LA’s Ultimate Trick or Treat, and unforgettable panels with comic book greats Stan Lee, Mike Mignola, Grant Morrison, Marc Silvestri, Rob Liefeld, Phil Tippett, Todd McFarlane – and so much more.
For 2016, Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo will roll out the red carpet for even more stars, creators and vendors making the show a must-attend for every fan of comics, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, video games, fashion, toys, art, collectibles, film, TV and music. There’s a reason why Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo is the defending ConHQ Con of the Year, winning the honor not once – but twice!
Stan Lee’s Comikaze Expo kicks off advance ticket sales with the absolute best deal on tickets anyone will ever see all year – three-day passes for only $55! You will not see a better price…guaranteed!
“We are thrilled to launch advance ticket sales to the public with an offer that can’t be refused – the coveted three-day MultiPass for an incredibly low $55 dollars. The first ticket purchasers will receive a coupon for a FREE celebrity autograph. And most important, it’s a price that – once the advance window closes – won’t come around again,” said Comikaze founder Regina Carpinelli.
Formerly an editor at Demand Media, writer at Citysearch, The Examiner and proofreader at The Los Angeles Daily News, Christy Buena decided to start Disarray Magazine because she missed writing what she wanted. From hiring writers, to contacting publicists and making assignments, Christy is responsible for the editorial strategy of DisarrayMAG.
When she’s not running Disarray, she’s consulting for Tigerlily Consultants, helping businesses with their content marketing and social media strategies.


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Japanese food expert Bonnie Chung has explained that the way Brits deem ‘impolite’ to eat noodles is actually the correct way – and she hopes more people will start to cook noodles at home
Ah noodles – one of the top takeaway choices for a delicious weekend treat.
But many of us are eating them completely wrong according to an expert – and as a result, we’re unnecessarily making a mess.
Thankfully, Japanese food expert Bonnie Chung has explained the correct way we should be eating noodles, and she’s highlighted the mistakes that lots of us are inadvertently making.
Only seven per cent of Brits have admitted that they slurp their noodles, as many believe that it’s rude to do so, but it’s actually the correct traditional method.
Bonnie explains that to eat ramen, diners should pick the bowl up with their hands and begin their dining experience by smelling the broth.
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Then, using chopsticks, diners should pick up a bunch of noodles and pull them out of the liquid.
Bring your mouth forward to avoid the noodles splashing (messy!) and purse your lips. Then, you should put the noodles into your mouth and start slurping – apparently, the noisier the better!
According to Bonnie, founder of Japanese home cooking brand Miso Tasty, there are also some mistakes lots of people make when cooking noodle dishes at home.
She says: “Sticky, mushy, slimy noodles are exactly what we want to avoid when cooking a dish like ramen.
“Like pasta, noodles should always have that al dente bite – or ‘shikoshiko’ as it’s known in Japan.
“But unlike pasta, instead of going straight from the pan to your bowl, you should immediately rinse them in water to remove any starch, which is what creates that sticky texture. From there, rest your noodles in ice-cold water while you prep your other ingredients.
“While it might sound crazy to put your noodles on ice, it immediately stops them from continuing to cook and turning mushy.
“Then just before you’re ready to serve, simply reheat for 10 seconds in simmering water.”
Bonnie added: “Noodles are a symbol of life in Japanese culture and eating them is considered a very special experience that should be savoured and enjoyed.
“But a lot of Brits associate them with quick, cheap convenience food and the rise of instant noodles means many people have never actually learnt how to cook them well.
“It’s also such a shame that nearly half the population say they never cook Japanese food from scratch. It doesn’t have to be a scary or complicated process – so long as you get your hacks nailed and your routine mastered, amazing Japanese food can be created in your own kitchen.”
Do you have a story to share? We want to hear all about it. Email us at [email protected]


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COLLEGE PARK, Md. (CBSDC) – Earlier this month, London hosted the Wearable Tech Show where many new watches were on display.
Two watches that were on display can warn you when you are getting sunburn.
The SunFriend — based out of College Park, Md. — is a monitor people wear around their wrist that uses sensors to measure their UVA and UAB exposure from the sun.
It was developed from technology based off of NASA UV monitoring, and will alert people when they are nearing their limit of UV rays.
Another device is the SunSprite, which was developed by two Harvard PhD graduates.
The SunSprite is a meter that measures bright light exposure. It can be used to monitor seasonal affective disorder, which is a condition that can cause depression and other negative effects when a person does not get enough bright light exposure through their eyes.
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, one in five people will get skin cancer.


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The Clover Trail processor will be chip giant's major launch vehicle for Windows 8 tablets, CNET has learned.
A short video shows off the power of Intel's Clover Trail + platform on the Lenovo K900.
The chip giant said its Clover Trail+ chip has double the performance and triple the graphics capabilities of its predecessor. And it reveals Asus to be a new customer for a couple of its mobile chips.
Intel will take to the stage at Computex at 4.00pm AEST today to talk about the latest developments in its Ivy Bridge processors, its upcoming Clover Trail chips and the future of computing.
Intel is demonstrating a Windows 8 tablet at CES that uses its future Clover Trail Atom processor--which will be Intel's platform for Windows 8 tablets.


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Sany will launch three motor graders in North America next year, according to a report from our sister site Better Roads.
Citing an interview Sany Road Machinery chairman Xie Zhixia chairman gave to KHL’s International Rental News, Better Roads says the SMG 160, SMG 200 and SMG 230 motor graders will be assembled in Sany’s plant near Atlanta, Georgia.
The graders, which the company plans to unveil at ConExpo-Con/Agg 2014 in March, are all powered by Tier 4 Cummins engines.
Sany’s Road division expects to double its amount of total revenue generated through exports to 30 percent by adding North America. It expects that total to grow to 40 percent within five years.


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PALO ALTO, CA – General Motors marketers are convinced the redesigned ’16 Chevrolet Malibu Hybrid will snag buyers with the promise of 48 mpg (4.9 L/100 km), despite sagging fuel prices and tepid sales in the segment.
“I would be concerned if it only delivered a couple extra miles to the gallon, but this is a quantum leap,” says Steve Majoros, director-marketing, Chevrolet Cars and Crossovers.
GM has not received U.S. EPA estimates for the Malibu Hybrid, but its testing puts the longtime family sedan at 48 mpg in the city cycle, 45 mpg (5.2 L/100 km) on the highway and 47 mpg (5.0 L/100 km) combined. The automaker considers those numbers segment-leading.
“Those are some dramatic numbers, and we think there are customers out there who will appreciate it,” Majoros tells WardsAuto on the sidelines of a media preview for the car here.
The standard Malibu is no wilting flower, either. Its 1.5L 4-cyl. engine gets a peak 37 mpg (6.4 L/100 km) on the highway and starting at $22,500 is a relative bargain compared with $28,645 for the hybrid model.
The Malibu Hybrid will not arrive at U.S. dealers until spring, but it’s unlikely the national average for a gallon of gasoline will tick too much higher than the $2.014 it started at this week, according to the American Automobile Assn.
The popularity of hybrids has dipped alongside pump prices, slumping 17.4% so far this year to 345,739 from 418,551, WardsAuto data shows. Even the perennial segment-leading Toyota Prius has seen sales slide 8.8% to 129,926 from 142,455.
Hybrid sales peaked at 498,054 in 2013, when the national average per gallon was $3.575, according to the U.S. Energy Information Admin.
Majoros remains optimistic, estimating a 10% take rate for the Malibu Hybrid. He thinks the technology under the hood will be as attractive as the car’s fuel efficiency.
“Look at why people buy hybrids and fuel type comes up as much as fuel prices,” he says. “These customers want technology. It’s in their mindset.”
The Malibu hybrid is not short on technology. It borrows much of its powertrain from the Chevy Volt extended-range electric vehicle, mating a naturally aspirated 1.8L 4-cyl. engine with a 2-motor electric drive unit to assist during acceleration. The combination provides 182 hp.
A 1.5-kWh lithium-ion battery provides the electric power and can propel the car to 55 mph (88 km/h) on electricity alone. Regenerative braking maintains the battery’s charge.
In another bit of energy saving, the Malibu Hybrid uses exhaust-gas-heat recovery to warm up the engine more quickly, which reduces carbon-dioxide emissions at startup. EGHR also heats the cabin.
Majoros says GM will play up the Malibu Hybrid’s connection to the Volt when it launches, especially in key hybrid-vehicle markets such as Los Angeles and San Francisco where the Volt has seen success.
Piggy-backing on the Volt also could distance this Malibu Hybrid from the previous-generation model, which used GM’s eAssist mild-hybrid technology. The technology united a 2.4L 4-cyl. with a 115V li-ion battery and 15-kW (20 hp) motor-generator.
The system provided electric boost to the ’13 Malibu Eco during acceleration and a smooth stop-start function but robbed trunk space, a key shopping feature for customers in the midsize segment. And when GM switched to a new stop-start technology for the next model year, it killed eAssist because standard models achieved the same combined-cycle fuel economy as the Malibu Eco for nearly $4,000 less.
The ’08 and ’09 Malibu also offered a hybrid powertrain, but the fuel-economy gain over standard models was unimpressive and again the technology came at a premium.


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The Japanese OEM, NEC is rather new to the mobile scene when it comes to Android smartphones, however the company has released a few devices in Asia.
According to UPnP Forum’s listing NEC received certification for one of its unknown and upcoming Android smartphones – C811. The phone apparently will sport Qualcomm’s dual-core MSM8960 Snapdragon S4 processor and Android 4.0.4 Ice Cream Sandwich as the OS of choice, which makes us belive that the Japanese vendor prepares for a high-end smartphone launch sometime soon.
We have no details whether this device will be available on its domestic market alone or if it will hit the international market as well (Europe, North America, Australia).
photo credit: Reuters


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Apparel and accessories
January 14, 2021
LVMH is now accepting submissions for the 2021 competition. Image credit: LVMH
By Luxury Daily News Service
French luxury conglomerate LVMH has opened the application process for its Prize for Young Fashion Designers initiative, which has celebrated young designers from around the world since 2013.
Share your thoughts. Click here


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16 nations reach 2 more deals in RCEP talks
Sixteen economies, including Japan, China and 10 members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, concluded negotiations in two more areas covered by the envisaged Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership free trade agreement.
Negotiators from the Asia-Oceania countries struck deals on customs procedures and trade facilitation and on government procurement during their 11-day meeting in Bangkok through Friday.
Although talks have yet to be concluded on 14 more elements of the multilateral trade pact, the participating countries find it possible to effectively reach a full RCEP agreement by the end of the year as scheduled, people familiar with the matter said.
Before the latest negotiation round, the countries, also including Australia, India, New Zealand and South Korea, had reached accord on economic and technical cooperation as well as on matters related to small businesses.
Keiya Iida, deputy director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Economic Affairs Bureau, told reporters on Friday that participants exchanged views more constructively than ever during the Bangkok meeting.
The talks are “progressing steadily,” he added.


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The Coffee Board of India, launched the pilot of the country’s first blockchain-based marketplace app for trading in Indian coffee on Thursday, in order to get growers better returns by removing myriad middlemen.
Known as the Coffee Blockchain initiative, the pilot was initiated simultaneously by Jose Dauster Sette, executive director of the International Coffee Organisation from Nairobi and Anup Wadhawan, India’s commerce secretary from New Delhi. The minister for commerce and industry, Suresh Prabhu has announced the project last September. Srivatsa Krishna, chief executive officer and secretary of the Coffee Board, a government organisation tasked with promoting Indian coffee said,
“There were more than 20 stakeholders from three different countries. We had to get all of them on board, and then test the platform. We believe this is perhaps only the third attempt at a coffee blockchain after France and Ethiopia.”
The blockchain platform will allow a coffee producer to directly transact with multiple buyers.
In India, coffee is cultivated in about 454,000 hectares by 366,000 coffee farmers — 98% of them small farmers — whose returns are meagre. Krishna said the aim of using blockchain is to “premium-ise” coffee, add “bean-to-cup traceability” and cut the role of middlemen.
The blockchain-based solution was developed in coordination with Eka Software Solutions. Manav Garg, the company’s CEO and founder, said the idea of using blockchain is to “record the first smart contract on a blockchain with the 20-odd stakeholders, and establish trust in the marketplace”. He added,
“With this activation, we are confident that the Coffee Board of India will help the Indian coffee trade make more inroads into the premium market internationally and make India one of the top three coffee producers in the world.”
Krishna said the Coffee Board is also “testing” blockchain-based solutions from a couple of other vendors but added that “the one from Eka Software was the most suitable at this moment”.
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At its recent World Wide Developers Conference, Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) introduced Home Kit, a new developer framework aimed at bringing the myriad of smart-home devices, apps, certifications, and so on under one streamlined roof.
But who might the winners be if Apple's Home Kit manages to get everyone on the same page and drive the smart-home revolution forward? Perhaps notable plays in the space including Taiwan Semiconductor (NYSE:TSM) -- the company has already been benefiting in recent years from the rise of tablets and smartphones, but the Internet of Things could fuel new device categories.
Along those lines, ARM Holdings (NASDAQ:ARMH) is another company investors could look into, but it trades at a much richer multiple relative to Taiwan Semiconductor. Eric notes that overall, Taiwan Semiconductor could be an overlooked beneficiary of Internet of Things trends across the next decade.
In the video below, The Motley Fool's Alison Southwick talks to Fool tech analyst Eric Bleeker about Apple's move into the smart home and what it means for the companies that follow it into this realm.
Alison Southwick has no position in any stocks mentioned. Eric Bleeker, CFA, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Apple. The Motley Fool owns shares of Apple and General Electric Company. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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kraft takes bega to court over classic peanut butter stand-off
Can you tell the difference? Here’s a hint.
Look at the logo.
Source: SuppliedEXCLUSIVE: American condiment king Kraft went to war with Australia\'s rival Bega in the classic conflict.
On Monday, Kraft issued an \"exciting announcement\" confirming that \"Kraft\'s two traditional favorites will be back on supermarket shelves and Kraft\'s singles will be available this week, kraft peanut butter will make a comeback in early 2018 \".
The happy statement, however, masks an ugly Pan-Pacific peanut butter war.
Last Friday, the US giants Kraft and the new state dairy company begin, after Kraft urged a judge to mediate a continuing dispute over \"the blatant breach of Kraft\'s intellectual property rights, was quietly summoned to federal property in New York, \"according to court documents seen in the news. com. au.
The core of the fierce battle is the seemingly harmless problem of a can of communication design.
Kraft peanut butter is currently produced by Bega.
By next year, there may be a strange situation where customers who are keen on the original Kraft taste have to buy begra peanut butter, although there is also a product called Kraft peanut butter on the supermarket shelf.
Bega even said that only it now has the classic formula, and Kraft\'s rebirth spread will be \"made by different recipes, made by different people in different factories \".
Does it look familiar?
Supplier: Wait a minute. . .
Source: The Origin of serving this breakfast time, Braun haha, dates back to 2012, and Kraft, who has been on Australian shelves for more than 90 years, has been split in two.
A company still known as Kraft focuses on North American grocery products; the other —
Global cookies and sweets including Cadbury.
But Kraft\'s products in Australia are trapped by the regulation of Yizi.
A company that is more interested in chocolate than cheese and cheese.
This year, Yizi sold unwanted Kraft products, including vegetables and popular peanut butter, to the Australian cheese giant, Bega.
However, there is a capture.
Although Bega got the factory and the recipe, it was only able to use Kraft\'s name until the end of 2017.
So the subtle thing is that Bega has been busy remodeling classic Australian favorites with its own name.
You won\'t know because everything else
Can and yellow lid includedlooks the same.
On the 5 th of this year, Kraft peanut butter will become a good nut peanut butter, although the packaging is still similar.
While the product itself remains the same, Kraft\'s name is marginalized.
The British brand \"Dairylea slices\'\" also replaced Kraft singles.
Now Kraft, which merged with Heinz, wants to bring its name back to Australia.
To do this, it must start from scratch when selling its manufacturing facilities.
\"Kraft has been immersed in life, culture and history in Australia since 1926, and with the planned return of the two local supermarkets, Kraft will appear again on the shelves of Australian supermarkets --
\"Make traditional favorites, cheese and peanut butter,\" a statement reads . \".
\"The brand is an integral part of Australian families, and KraftHeinz listened to loyal consumers and quickly resolved the issue of temporary absence.
\"In the licensing agreement with Kraft, the Bega is allowed to use the traditional peanut butter Kraft design, complete logo and combination design of cans with yellow lid and yellow label with red or blue \"Peanut device-
In a limited time
But that\'s not what Beba sees.
Named after its headquarters in the new state town of South Coast, the company claims that it now has jar design and packaging and will continue to use the license agreement after it expires at the end of this year.
As far as Kraft is concerned, this is a big problem.
Because in addition to its name, it also hopes that its jars and unique colors will come back when Kraft peanut butter is re-launched next year.
Kraft claims that the license is due to expire on December 31, 2017, \"when all rights to Kraft\'s trademark and peanut butter trade clothing will be restored to Kraft \".
Last week, in court, Kraft claimed that the design of the begra was \"deliberately damaging the goodwill of the Kraft brand, causing confusion to consumers and causing irreparable damage to the value of Kraft\'s intellectual property rights \".
When Kraft approached begin on the issue, it \"informed Kraft that it did not consider itself obligated to comply with the dispute resolution provisions of the licensing agreement.
Kraft described the behavior of Bega as \"a blatant violation of the most basic principles of contract law \".
Kraft urged the court that if the Bega failed to comply with the agreement, \"The court issued an order declaring that Bega had refused the agreement and therefore no longer had any rights under the agreement \".
Kraft peanut butter packaging that looks like 1996.
Source: The Australian news group\'s \"good nuts\" brand is starting to appear on peanut butter jars, and the Kraft logo is quickly disappearing.
Source: where is the peanut butter?
Until 2018, Kraft\'s hands were tied, in line with its announcement of a \"comeback in early 2018.
In a statement to the newscom.
Bega confirmed that although the new name is Bega Peanut butter, it will continue to produce the original Kraft \"never greasy, never dry\" peanut butter recipe.
\"We can\'t guess about Kraft\'s plan,\" a spokesman for begin told the news . \". com. au.
Owned by Bega Cheese Co. , Ltd. purchased the original formula that was never greasy and never dry, as well as the Victorian factory that was manufactured by the former Kraft peanut butter for 55 years.
\"Bega is proud to own and manufacture delicious peanut butter that Australians have loved in the same factory for 55 years.
The only change in Australia\'s most popular peanut butter is that it will be sold as a Bega Peanut Butter.
What we know, however, is that it (
New peanut butter from Kraft)
It will be different recipes made by different people in different factories \".
Views on the court\'s documents on the case.
Source: Australian news group in their new singlelook packaging.
Source: also provided in the press statement. com.
Kraft said: \"The future of the Kraft brand has never been questioned.
A series of historic company decisions allowed the brand to obtain permission from outside companies in a limited time under strict conditions.
We have always intended to continue to produce Kraft products in Australia.
Kraft products will soon be put on the supermarket, Kraft peanut butter will be listed in the new year;
Both products will be made locally.
Court documents show that \"all disputes arising from or in connection with the agreement must be resolved through mediation and arbitration in New York, all of which shall be governed by New York law \".
How not Australia. —
Share your storyyoungma@news. com.


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Blog: Bangladesh: a letter of complaint
Leonie Barrie | 21 June 2006
Not surprisingly, European and US buyers want to see a quick solution to the ongoing unrest in the Bangladesh garment industry, and have now written to urge the country’s government to find a speedy solution to the problems. Understandably they’re deeply concerned about the situation, not only because it affects their own ability to place orders and plan deliveries, but also because the first whiff of worker exploitation could be enough to prompt a boycott among European consumers.
Most workers have returned to work after a series of proposals were hammered out by the government, workers and employers – including a fixed minimum wage. But sporadic low-level unrest has continued to break out amid delays in implementing the changes. The reality for retailers, though, is that part of the appeal of sourcing from Bangladesh is the fact that it’s so cheap. And the reality for many Bangladeshi businesses is that they can survive only by paying such low wages. And however appalling that may be to us in the west, it’s very likely that 2 million people – 80% of them women – would lose their jobs if Bangladeshi businesses paid wages on a par with Thailand, China or even India.
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NBA Hall of fame legend and business mogul, Magic Johnson, is known for his investment endeavors. His latest addition to his investment empire is Naturade, a Black-owned natural health products company, founded in 1926 and acquired by best friends and Duke University alumni, Kareem Cook and Claude Tellis.
Witnessing many of their family members succumb to diet-related illnesses, Cook and Tellis decided to acquire Naturade in 2012 after successfully launching Healthy Body Products, a healthy vending machine company in 2002.
With the help of Magic Johnson and other NBA stars like Grant Hill, they’re well on their way to accomplishing their goals of providing natural plant-based foods and products to urban communities across the nation.
“Magic Johnson has been tracking us and watching what we’ve been doing for a few years and he decided to become a significant equity owner,” Cook told WholeFoods Magazine.
Cook explains that the vision of Naturade aligns perfectly with Johnson’s track record of investing in urban communities.
“Magic invested in companies that work in urban communities. He proved that you can put a premium theatre on Crenshaw and it will be a robust business,” said Cook about Magic Johnson Theaters, a chain of movie cinemas founded by Johnson in 1994.
Johnson is also excited about his partnership with Naturade and the work they will accomplish together.
“I’ve followed Kareem and Claude’s journey for some time and their mission aligns well with my own passion to live a healthy lifestyle. I strongly believe in exercise and being intentional about what I eat and drink. Therefore joining Naturade was an easy decision,” said Johnson.
Click here for more information on Naturade products.


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Win! 50,000 Steam keys for PC game Hostile Waters
Skyforge: we have 1,000 gift packs to give away
Yoichi Wada has come out and said that Final Fantasy XI is not coming to an end.
Yoici Wada headlines
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Wada: Final Fantasy XI not coming to an end


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Pizza Delivery Guy in Connecticut Crushed By Cheese, Wins Lawsuit
A pizza delivery guy just won the lawsuit that he filed against Dominoes for being crushed by 400 pounds of cheese.
According to an article in the Connecticut Post, Mohammed Hassan from Meriden will be pocketing a check for $180,000 after Dominoes decided to settle his workmen's compensation claim.
Back in June of 2016, Hassan was unloading pizza-making supplies in East Granby when he attempted to lift a 400-pound box of cheese onto his hand truck. Unfortunately, his attempt failed as the hand truck slipped under the weight of the gargantuan amount of cheese. The hand truck then proceeded to land on Hassan as he fell onto his back injuring his ankle, knee, and back.
Maybe, just maybe this entire debacle could have been avoided if Americans didn't require copious amounts of cheese on their pizza or pasta.
Case in point, data from the U.S Department of Agriculture shows us that in 1995, the average American consumed 27 pounds of cheese per year. Fast forward to 2016 where now the amount is up 37 pounds of cheese per person.
Hassan had to wear a leg brace for six months and it looks like knee replacement surgery is a good possibility.
Read More Local Stories:


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Google has announced it will be taking action to demote Chrome’s search rankings for at least 60 days, after its video advertising campaign accidentally breached the company’s strict rules against paid sponsorships and links.
The online search giant had commissioned Unruly Media to promote a Chrome video advertisement, across various blogs, as paid featured content. However, some of the blog sites weren’t too careful, and included links back to the Chrome download page themselves – not an prescribed part of the contract. The real problem arose when these hyperlinks were not given a ”nofollow” attribute, which Google requires paid links to have, when it conducts its trawling.
Essence Digital clarified Google’s role in the matter, that Google only agreed to buy online video ads on the blogs in question. The company later apologized to Google for causing the confusion.
"We want to be perfectly clear here: Google never approved a sponsored-post campaign. They only agreed to buy online video ads. Google have consistently avoided paid postings to promote their products, because in their view these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users.In this case, Google were subjected to this activity through media that encouraged bloggers to create what appeared to be paid posts, were often of poor quality and out of line with Google standards. We apologize to Google who clearly didn't authorize this."
"We want to be perfectly clear here: Google never approved a sponsored-post campaign. They only agreed to buy online video ads. Google have consistently avoided paid postings to promote their products, because in their view these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users.
In this case, Google were subjected to this activity through media that encouraged bloggers to create what appeared to be paid posts, were often of poor quality and out of line with Google standards. We apologize to Google who clearly didn't authorize this."
The CEO of Unruly Media, Scott Button, elaborated a lot further, when he told the Guardian:
"A blogger, who we didn't ask to link to a Google Chrome page, linked to a Google Chrome page, and did so without using the nofollow attribute. Obviously they shouldn't do this in the context of a blog post that embeds one of our sponsored videos. As soon as we found out about it, we got it fixed. To be clear, we're not in the business of getting bloggers to write about products or link to advertisers' websites. We distrubute branded video content, and we pay bloggers (and big websites and app developers) when their audiences watch the videos. That's what Google paid us to do, and that's our business. The SEM angle is basically a red herring - it doesn't bear any relation to our business nor any relation to the objectives of the Google Chrome campaign."
A Google statement also responded to allegations:
“We have consistently avoided paid sponsorships, including paying bloggers to promote our products, because these kind of promotions are not transparent or in the best interests of users. We’re now looking at what changes we need to make to ensure that this never happens again.”
Source: The Guardian