text:
Watch it Now! LG Releases its Full Super Bowl 50 Commercial
We’ve been hyping this one up for a little while now (see here and here), but I mean it’s LG, it’s the Super Bowl, it’s Ridley Scott’s return to the biggest sports Sunday on the calendar, and—probably best of all—it’s Liam freaking Neeson. How can you not be excited for that?
In case you missed any of the previous memos, here’s the cliff notes version: LG, manufacturer of some pretty high-quality televisions, asked the father-son team of Ridley and Jake Scott (Ridley was the mastermind behind the Apple 1984 Macintosh Super Bowl commercial) to produce and direct the company’s first-ever Big Game commercial. LG announced their intentions to participate in the Super Bowl advertising frenzy back in December and said the spot would focus on the future of OLED technology. Then, in January, LG released a teaser for the commercial. That’s when Neeson made his presence felt, relaying some cryptic message about how he was a #ManFromTheFuture, inevitably coming to tell us all about OLED TV technology and the very particular set of skills it possesses, which separates it from other TV technology.
But now, less than a week before kickoff of Super Bowl 50, LG has dropped the full-length commercial online. Here it is:


text:
There's nothing wrong with promoting a sex toy that allows men to masturbate without getting their hands dirty. But when a company tries to sell said toy through fat-shaming and offensive stereotypes—then yeah, it's a problem.
The sex toy company Whizworx has recently been pushing a product called FiFi, which is essentially a masturbator that uses disposable sleeves. The idea is that using your hand and lubricant can lead to a lot of unnecessary mess, and what modern gentleman has time for that? The product itself—which sells for $15.95, plus a box of 20 disposal sleeves for $17.95—is a bargain, if wadded up tissues bum you out.
But some of the promotional tweets and Instagrams the company has been posting have riled sex bloggers—and for good reason. Here are some of the ads:
And this one with the line, "Women complain about balancing a career and home life. They should try balancing a laptop while jacking off!"
And a racist one for good measure:
Sex bloggers were quick to attack the tweets:
The company has since removed some of these posts, and with a Twitter following of around 50, it looks like maybe they're not reaching that many people anyway—but the damage has been done. I reached out to WhizWorks for comment but had not heard back at the time of publication.
It's not a good look when a product designed to make solo sex better tries to dissuade its client base from engaging in sex with other humans. Because here's the deal—if this type of advertising resonates for you, stock up on these. You're gonna need a lot of them.
Cleo Stiller is a digital producer covering the intersections of sex, tech and culture. Words to live by: get your money's worth.

domain: news


text:
We’ve known an all-electric Land Rover model was coming, but that was about it. Now, thanks to a report from Drive, we have confirmation it will ride on the same platform as the Jaguar I-Pace. It’s a smart move, because developing a new vehicle platform costs a ton of cash. Add in that it’s all-electric, and the costs soar.
This isn’t just some heresy. Drive says Land Rover Chief Creative Officer and the head of design, Gerry McGovern, shared the info at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
Apparently, an all-electric Land Rover is coming sooner than later. We just saw the first two plug-in hybrid models from the brand, so things are moving quickly. At the show, McGovern openly explored the possibilities of an all-electric SUV, saying the extra space opened up by a lack of an engine up front meant Land Rover could do a cab-forward layout, à la the Jeep Forward Control. He mentioned other options, but that was the most outlandish, and probably the least likely.
McGovern put in that all three model lines for Land Rover — the Defender, Discovery, and Range Rover — will have at least one electrified option in the near future.
No matter the propulsion system, McGovern reassured everyone that future Land Rovers will still be able to conquer trails.


text:
Bloor-yorkville hosts their annual frozen fest
Icefest’s sculpture contest is worth braving the cold weather for.
Feb. 25 and 26. What better way to celebrate a country known for its cold weather than with 20,000 pounds of ice? The Canada 150 celebrations spill over into a new year as the 12th annual Icefest transforms Bloor-Yorkville into an outdoor art gallery featuring frozen depictions of the Parliament Buildings, the Centennial Flame, Mounties and maple leaves—many of which will be created live. Vendors are also on hand offering a variety of food and drink, including “kiddie cubes” (ice pops with a toy inside) and maple taffy. Village of Yorkville Park, bloor-yorkville.com/icefest


text:
Just Water CEO Ira Laufer appeared recently on Cheddar.com, an on-demand streaming news network, to talk about the company.
The Glens Falls water company founded by Jaden Smith is setting a trend for other plastic bottle companies. Laufer took over in April and the environmentally friendly containers dominated the interview.
The containers are made out of paper and the cap and shoulder are made of sugar cane from Brazil.
He also hints at the company branching out into other products and how they decided on Glens Falls water in a public-private partnership.
Laufer said the company visited a few cities and ultimately decided on the region for its water quality.
"We found the water in Glens Falls to be the most delicious," he said.
Laufer went on to talk about the history of the region.
"The city had an interesting story. They had 40,000 population and had major loss of industry and now it is down to about 14,000. So we thought the entire story of basically creating more infrastructure and payback to the city to gain some of the loss of industry was very interesting and intriguing to us," Laufer said.
Just Water buys its excess water and pays Glens Falls six times the municipal rate, he said.
Just Water also has an exclusive deal with the Houston Zoo, according to the interview. Laufer also hinted at other partnerships with aquariums and zoos across the county that have come out against plastic bottles.
Watch the interview below:


text:
It is crucial that black business owners gain wider exposure in mainstream stores.
We recently put out a message to find out who would be interested in appearing in a pop up store at a major department store in the UK. The response has been great and it shows that the ambitions are there. Well done Guys.
If you are one of those trying to phone through, please note that we stopped taking calls and are just focusing on the emails. Just email through your interest and what you do to firstname.lastname@example.org We will get back to you shortly. All details are being sent out via email.
Appearing in busy shopping centres and well known department stores is a boost for any business. It introduces your brand to new customers – and they will visit your website and possibly buy at a later date.
Even if that appearance is a pop-up shop for one or two weeks – there are people you will meet, who for whatever reason, would not have found you online. Then you the brand owner can sweet talk them into buying from you then and there, or in the coming weeks.
It is also crucial that black business owners have our own physical stores too – and some already have this. Kudos to those who do and we know it is not always easy. However, especially during these Covid 19 times, online presence needs to be made a priority.
An Ecommerce presence is extremely valuable in this day and age. There are many ways to sell online:
Woo Commerce Store
But having an online presence is not enough. The constant marketing and promotions are key. Free Social Media communications and paid digital marketing are valuable methods to bring more people to your products.
Wishing you every success, even as we lead up to Christmas 2020 – which it seems be very different this year. In all that you do stay safe.
WHAT PERCENTAGE OF SHELF SPACE?
It is important to note what is going on in the USA since the BLM protests started in May of 2020. Major brands such as Target and Sephora have announced that they will devote 15 percent of their shelf space to products from Black-owned businesses.
The announcement comes after the designer Aurora James (pictured above) called on the brands, including Net-a-Porter, Target, and Whole Foods, to sign the 15 percent pledge, a commitment to buying 15 percent of their goods from Black-owned businesses.
“We represent 15 percent of the USA population and we need to represent 15 percent of your shelf space,” James wrote. The beauty retailer Sephora was the first business to sign up.
So in Britain – what percentage should we be asking for. In the 2011 census Black residents constituted around 3 per cent of the United Kingdom’s population. We would estimate that now in 2020, this is 7 percent, accounting for mixed races, larger families and immigration.
So if retailers and department stores are ready to offer 7% of shelf space – our black-owned businesses are ready for it. Contact us. We have Ready, Willing and Able producers of unique products for your shelves. Fashion, Art, Cosmetics, Accessories, Jewellery, Furnishings, Health supplements, Hair products, Beauty products, Hats, Shoes, Food, Drinks, Electronics, You name it.
Email us to discuss – email@example.com
Visit BlackBizApp.net to see the breadth of businesses out there. Each listing has a link to their website.


text:
River cruise operator A-ROSA will put its entire fleet on sale in the UK next year as the company prepares to reshape its premium all-inclusive product.
All 13 of its ships – including the A-ROSA SENA which launches in May and five vessels which serve the German market – will be available to book by UK agents, the operator confirmed.
A-ROSA River Cruises UK & Ireland Managing Director Lucia Rowe said having a full international fleet will open up more dates for the UK trade.
The operator also revealed it will strengthen its sales teams to work closely with the trade.
“We remain 100% committed to the trade and in order to maximise on opportunities and drive greater awareness, we are busy recruiting two regional sales managers who will be out on the road meeting with agents,” Ms Rowe said.
“We also recognise how important experiencing our product is in the sales process and are looking at ways to get as many agents as possible on board in the next two years.”
In a further development, A-ROSA said it is set to “reimagine” its product with new flexible dining options, free room service in every cabin and new off-the-beaten track excursions.
More details will be unveiled in the spring.
Meanwhile, the brand launched its 2023 programme with a number of new itineraries including one way Rhine cruises between Amsterdam and Basel and a range of new northern Rhine cruises.


text:
News|Industry News Springfield Armory is starting off this year strong with an interesting new rifle to its 2022 lineup. This rifle platform will be a change of pace for the […]
Firearms|Handguns John Moses Browning’s 1911 is one of the most iconic firearms ever created in the history of weaponry. Over the last 110 years the pistol has been refined and […]
Firearms|Rifles Over the last several years Springfield Armory has stepped further into the AR platform like never before. When people usually think Springfield their popular XD lineup and 1911s come […]
Firearms|Handguns Last week, Springfield Armory released a cryptic photograph on their social media teasing something new from the firearm manufacturer. A social media post I did not have the opportunity […]
News|Industry News The firearm industry is familiar with the occasional lawsuit between companies over patent infringement of a potential product design. Recently, we seen Trijicon and Holosun settle a court […]
Firearms|Handguns Recently, Springfield Armory has released a brand new pistol to the XD-M Elite lineup with the XD-M Elite Compact OSP. This new pistol is optics-ready and comes with a […]
Firearms|Handguns Yesterday, social media was abuzz with news of Springfield Armory’s launch of their new Hellcat Rapid Defense Package or RDP for short. The new Hellcat features a threaded barrel […]
Firearms|Handguns Last year the Springfield Hellcat took the market and industry by storm. Springfield had design and built a new micro-compact pistol that was competitive in the merging market. The […]
Firearms|Rifles Ever since the introduction of the Springfield Armoty’s SAINT Victor lineup of rifles has been a best seller for the firearm company. Recently, Springfield Armory has released a new […]
Firearms|Handguns The micro-compact pistol has been gaining popularity over the last two or three years in the firearms community. First, with the introduction of the SIG P365 and P365XL. Next, […]
Firearms|Rifles Last week, Springfield Armory introduced the firearm community to the Model 2020 Waypoint rifle series. The new series of bolt- action rifles features a laundry list of premium features […]
Recently, Springfield Armory started shipping their new 1911 Ronin Operator 4.25” handgun to firearm retailers around the country. At Shot Show 2020 Springfield unveiled and showcased their Ronin Operators in Government and Commander models. Now, the 4.25” variant has shipped and ready to hit consumer hands.
Last September Springfield unleashed the Hellcat pistol. A high capacity micro subcompact pistol into the emerging and flourishing market. The original Hellcat was released in a sleek Black Nitride matte finish. Now, Springfield Armory has released a new Hellcat dipped in Cerakote Flat Dark Earth.
Springfield Armory has joined forces with Vickers Tactical and Wilson Combat to create Vickers Tactical Master Class 1911 chambered in .45 ACP. The new Master Class 1911will be a new Lipsey’s distributor exclusive model.
A couple of weeks ago Springfield Armory announced they will be offering all Saint Rifles and Pistols with B5 Systems furniture. B5 Systems furniture will consists of stock, pistol grip, trigger guard, and handguard.
Springfield Armory adds to The Saint lineup with the powerful Saint pistol chambered in .308. The Saint chambered in .308 will feature the same length 10.3” barrel as the 5.56 version of The Saint pistol.


text:
This includes both a free update in ver.3.0, as well as the game's first paid DLC featuring a single-player expansion. The returning maps are Piranha Pit and Camp Triggerfish with Wahoo World being the new one.
Nintendo also revealed that a big update will be hitting Splatoon 2 in April. There will also be Rank X, which will be higher than S+.
This summer, a new single-player will release for Splatoon 2, and its thefirst paid DLC developed for the ink shooter.
Coming out in mid-2018, the Splatoon 2 Octo Expansion stars Agent 8, an Octoling with no memory.
The Octo Expansion is an entirely new story mode campaign with 80 stages. New stories will shed new light on Splatoon characters and add to the game's overall lore.


text:
DTI issues SRP for propagandize supplies
May 14, 2016 - School Supplies
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) has released a list of suggested sell prices (SRP) for propagandize reserve as students and relatives are looking forward during a opening of classes this June.
DTI Regional Director Judith Angeles said, “The SRP list will offer as a beam to consumers for them to demeanour during a opposite brands of propagandize materials.”
The SRP list covers opposite brands of propagandize reserve including combination notebooks, essay notebooks, turn notebooks, pad papers for Grades 1 to 4, middle pad papers, crayons, pencils, ballpens, erasers and sharpeners.
The SRP list records that a cost of an 80-page cover ranges from P11 to P31, while opposite brands of an eight-piece box of crayons operation from P8.75 to P21.75.
Prices of ballpens operation from P4.00 to P31.75.
Angeles pronounced one of a critical uses of a SRP list supposing by a DTI is to assistance consumers devise their squeeze for a entrance propagandize opening.
The DTI also reminded propagandize supply sellers to follow a SRP and equivocate overpricing generally as a opening of propagandize approaches.
Angeles additionally speedy buyers to demeanour for peculiarity when shopping propagandize supplies. She also remarkable that buyers should review a labels of equipment they are shopping so that they get a right information. The SRP list is posted during heading bookstores and supermarkets and can be noticed during a DTI website :www.dti.gov.ph/e-presyo
Published in a Sun.Star Pampanga journal on May 14, 2016.
Latest issues of Sun.Star Pampanga also accessible on your mobile phones, laptops, and tablets. Subscribe to a digital editions during epaper.sunstar.com.ph and get a giveaway seven-day trial.
DISCLAIMER: Sun.Star website welcomes accessible debate, though comments posted on this site do not required simulate a views of a Sun.Star government and a affiliates. Sun.Star pot a right to delete, imitate or cgange comments posted here but notice. Posts that are inapt will automatically be deleted.
Forum rules: Do not use obscenity. Some difference have been banned. Stick to a topic. Do not curve divided from a discussion. Be awake and respectful. Do not scream or use CAPITAL LETTERS!


text:
Sony has yet to announce any new PS4 hardware, but an image has surfaced on the web claiming to be a box shot of a new PS4 1TB Gold model.
There’s zero indication of the source of the shot, which appeared on Imgur earlier today with the title “New Gold PS4 Slim 1TB”, but potentially it could be something we see revealed at E3 2017 at the Sony press conference in just a couple of weeks.
Currently, the only way to make your PS4 gold is by buying a gold-colored skin, though you can pick up golden DualShock 4 controllers. There were also limited edition gold PS4 bundles available, but if this is true this will be the first Gold PS4 slim. The SKU number of the box "CUH 2015-B" refers to a PS4 slim.
As we head to E3, there’s some big rumors doing the rounds, some more believable than others. For instance, there’s been growing speculation about the announcement of a new Sony handheld, perhaps the PS Vita 2, or another gaming device to combat the successful launch of Nintendo Switch.
All eyes are on E3 2017!


text:
11/06/12 - 0 Comments
Fashion tycoon Ralph Lauren donates $2 million to Hurricane Sandy relief efforts
Bronx-born fashion designer, Ralph Lauren has pledged his support at relieving the devastation that has swept the East Coast of the United States due to the post-tropical cyclone, Hurricane Sandy.
In a statement Lauren said, “I’m a born and bred New Yorker. I raised my family here and started my business here. The Tri-State area is home to thousands of our employees and our customers and we have a special and personal relationship with the affected areas.”
Best known for his Polo Ralph Lauren clothing brand, the 73-year old fashion mogul, has donated an impressive $2m to the funds aimed at supporting the relief and rebuilding efforts in New Jersey, Connecticut, Long Island and Westchester County.
Lauren commented on the goal of the donation saying, “We want to support the selfless work of so many agencies, professionals and volunteers and hope that these donations will make it easier for our cities to rebuild and recover.”
The charitable contribution is comprised of £1m from the Ralph Lauren Corporation, of which Lauren himself is CEO and chairman, as well as £1m from the Ralph and Ricky Lauren Family Foundation.
The $2m donation will be split between the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, the American Red Cross Disaster Relief Fund, the Robin Hood Relief Fund and other local organizations.
With news that a second storm is set to hit New York and New Jersey this week, whilst tens of thousands of residents remain homeless, this donation could certainly not have come at a better time.
Photo Credit: www.forbes.com


text:
|AMRI CEO William Marth|
Earlier this year, AMRI ($AMRI) paid $110 million for injectable drug specialist Oso Biopharmaceuticals Manufacturing, expecting to make some extra money in its contract manufacturing operations. Instead, a power loss at that company's facility in New Mexico was a big factor in it reporting a loss in the last quarter.
"A weather-related power interruption at our OsoBio facility in Albuquerque took the facility offline for a period of time, contributing to the loss of finished product and the need to remediate one of the suites at the facility," AMRI CEO William S. Marth, said as the company reported an $8.6 million Q3 loss. "Costs associated with this activity--together with facility downtime--increased our operating costs and contributed to the quarterly earnings loss."
There were other issues also playing into the loss, Marth said, like lower active pharmaceutical ingredient sales.
When AMRI completed the OsoBio buyout in July, it said it had expected the deal to add to its contract work and so its earnings this year. The acquisition of OsoBio was its second this year. In February it paid $41 million for contract manufacturer Cedarburg Pharmaceuticals. The deals were key to AMRI's plan to move past its reliance on royalties tied largely to Sanofi's ($SNY) Allegra, and build its strength in manufacturing.
AMRI was not the only company to have manufacturing issues related to weather this year. Valeant Pharmaceuticals' ($VRX) Bausch + Lomb division recalled 880,000 tubes of eye ointment that it believed had been frozen during delivery last winter, causing consumers to complain about grittiness in the products.
- here's the release


text:
The Transform Technology Summits start October 13th with Low-Code/No Code: Enabling Enterprise Agility. Register now!
Roboflow, a Des Moines, Iowa-based startup developing tools for building computer vision models, today announced that it raised $20 million in a series A round led by Craft Ventures. It brings the company’s total raised to $22.2 million to date, and CEO Joseph Nelson says it’ll be put toward ongoing product development and hiring efforts.
The global computer vision industry was estimated to be worth $11.32 billion in 2020, according to Grand View Research. But while the technology has obvious enterprise applications — computer vision algorithms can be trained to perform tasks like spotting gas leaks, counting pills, and monitoring workplaces to enforce social distancing — companies can face barriers to leveraging it in production. Teams are often faced with rebuilding software infrastructure and attracting the necessary machine learning expertise.
Founded in 2019, Roboflow is the brainchild of Brad Dwyer and Nelson, who see computer vision as a foundational technology that can enable developers to solve problems resulting from devices’ inability to see the world around us. The platform provides a framework for developers to build computer vision into their products, enabling them to upload images and videos to train custom or prebuilt computer vision models.
“Computer vision is one of those generational technologies that, like the personal computer or mobile phone itself, will be adopted by every industry. Software is limited by its ability to receive structured information as input, and that structure is typically provided by a person,” Nelson said in a statement. “What computer vision does, is enable every part of the world around us to become programmable, unleashing a Cambrian explosion of applications. That’s why computer vision needs to be a part of the toolkit of every developer, not only expert machine learning teams.”
With Roboflow, customers can annotate images while assessing the quality of datasets to prepare them for training. (Most computer vision algorithms require labels that essentially “teach” the algorithm to classify objects, places, and people.) The platform lets developers experiment to generate new training data and see what configurations lead to improved model performance. Once training finishes, Roboflow can deploy the model to the cloud, edge, or browser and monitor the model for edge cases and degradation over time.
“The promise of Roboflow reminds me of the early days of Stripe,” Roboflow investor Lachy Groom said in a press release. “Like payments, computer vision is a critical piece of infrastructure that needs to be made broadly available to developers. Consider how FaceID aims to unlock phones seamlessly, or how mobile check deposit alleviates the need to wait in line at a bank, simultaneously allowing bankers to focus on customer service.”
Roboflow competes with CrowdAI and Chooch, among others, in the growing computer vision development tools market. But Roboflow claims to have over 50,000 users, including engineers in half of Fortune 100 companies, startups, universities, and hardware companies including Pfizer, Walmart, Amgen, and Cardinal.
“These [computer vision] examples are the tip of the iceberg. Every industry will be rewritten, and for that to happen, all developers — not just machine learning experts — need to have tools that make vision accessible,” Groom continued.
VentureBeat’s mission is to be a digital town square for technical decision-makers to gain knowledge about transformative technology and transact.
Our site delivers essential information on data technologies and strategies to guide you as you lead your organizations. We invite you to become a member of our community, to access:
- up-to-date information on the subjects of interest to you
- our newsletters
- gated thought-leader content and discounted access to our prized events, such as Transform 2021: Learn More
- networking features, and more


text:
4 Feb 2020.
ten years, meaning he thinks one bitcoin will be worth a staggering $400000 and giving bitcoin a market capitalization of around $8 trillion.
Tezos was designed as a “self-amending cryptographic ledger”, it does not rely on mining (Proof-of-Work), but instead.
19 april 2020.
Als je nu voor $100 aan bitcoin wilt kopen zal je hier ongeveer 0.0112 BTC voor krijgen. De totale market cap bedraagt $164,137,414,045.00 met.
Bitcoin’s consolidation may not last long, as analysts believe that the recent decline marks the start of a fresh crypto.
Watch the heatmap of cryptocurrency prices, market capitalizations, and volumes on COIN360. Add our widget to track the price of BTC, ETH, XRP, LTC, BCH,
The cryptocurrency market has grown about fourfold in market cap over the last 22 months, with altcoins growing faster than. Bitcoin. This is seen by comparing.
Bitcoin Usb Miner For Sale PRNewswire/ — Mechanical Technology, Incorporated ("MTI"), a publicly traded company (OTC Pink: MKTY) headquartered in. GekkoScience NewPac 130Gh/s+ USB Bitcoin / SHA256 Stick Miner ▫ Most Efficient, Powerful USB Miner on Market ▫ Mine Almost Any Crypto on Multi-Pool: . X2 Original Bitmain Antminer S9 Control Board Bitcoin Mining Miner in Stock $148.95 New Bitmain
Ripple has been losing market share since 2017 and has a new opportunity for a change of scenery. Main indicators show a high.
Bitcoin could ‘easily’ reach $10 TRILLION market cap, similar to that of gold – investment strategist on RT’s Keiser Report.
Cryptocurrency market cap rankings and latest price data for Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Bitcoin Cash, and more.


text:
- Funding was already drying up for some Silicon Valley startups when the coronavirus hit, threatening their wild growth.
- Some are now shutting down, laying off staff, or drastically changing their marketing plans.
- Here are all the ways startups from Peloton to Convene are being impacted.
- Visit Business Insider’s homepage for more stories.
Silicon Valley startups were already seeing investors tap the breaks after a series of black eyes for high-profile companies like WeWork and Peloton when the coronavirus hit.
Now, many of these startups, some of which raised a lot of money on the promise of rapid growth, find demand is drying up as consumer spending stalls and unemployment is set to surge.
Business Insider has been reporting on how the coronavirus pandemic threatens these companies’ growth, the fallout so far on companies like Convene and sectors like AI, and how they’re pivoting in the face of the crisis.
Go deeper: ‘Businesses will shut down’: The coronavirus threatens to crush direct-to-consumer businesses’ wild growth
SoftBank’s vision fund, which has bet on 88 companies including WeWork, Uber, and DoorDash, reportedly anticipates that some startups in its portfolio may not have enough cash to make it through the end of the year.
Read more: SoftBank is reportedly looking to raise $10 billion to support startups reeling from the coronavirus outbreak — and some might not have enough cash to survive more than a year
Convene went from planning to add 500 people this year to laying off 150 while ThirdLove laid off staff.
See more here: Brookfield-backed Convene just laid off 20% of its workforce as the coronavirus upends the flex-space and events industries
And here: ThirdLove, the buzzy lingerie upstart that challenged Victoria’s Secret’s dominance, just laid off nearly 30% of its workforce as the coronavirus crushes DTC companies
Salespeople at tech startups are already running into trouble closing deals.
Read more: We talked to 7 salespeople at tech startups about how the coronavirus is already hitting them as layoffs have already begun
Even the shiny sector of artificial intelligence startups may not be immune from the effects of the pandemic.
Read the full story: The AI startup industry may be heading for consolidation and bigger problems as the economy gets tougher: ‘Get acquired or go out of business’
Digital fitness company Peloton will temporarily suspend sales of its high-end treadmill because of coronavirus containment measures.
See more: Peloton is temporarily halting sales and deliveries of its $4,295 treadmill because of the coronavirus, just as people are looking for new ways to work out at home
And: Iris Nova, the buzzy direct-to-consumer startup backed by Coca-Cola, has laid off half its staff as the coronavirus pandemic hits its retail business
Venture capitalists have warned a recession brought on by coronavirus could have a serious impact on the UK’s startup scene.
Read further: ‘A recession is inevitable’: European investors and startups brace for cash drought and lower valuations
Startups specializing in booze and CBD-related products are seeing record sales as people work from home and distance themselves, though.
See more: Alcohol delivery and CBD-infused beverage startups are flourishing during coronavirus containment, while the broader direct-to-consumer industry struggles to keep a foothold
Investors from Greycroft, Menlo Ventures, and Mayfield warned of a potential downturn that could make it harder for startups to raise new funding. They are telling portfolio companies to cut costs, shrink plans for growth, and maintain focus to conserve capital.
Go deeper: Silicon Valley’s startups are facing the biggest crisis in a generation. Here’s what venture capital investors are telling founders they need to do to survive.
As the coronavirus devastates swaths of the economy, startups are variously slashing ad budgets, giving away products, and using content to stay connected with shoppers.
See more here: Buzzy DTC startups like Hippo, Ro, and Tiny Organics are slashing ad budgets, offering free products, or ramping up content as they try and ride out the coronavirus crisis
And here: Direct to consumer retail startups like Bandier and Rhone are retraining staff and doubling down on e-commerce as they face the worst financial crisis in a generation
SEE ALSO: An Amazon-focused agency tells sellers how they can survive volatile sales under coronavirus
Join the conversation about this story »
NOW WATCH: 9 items to avoid buying at Costco


text:
LOS ANGELES -- Sony wasn't originally going to talk about its game sharing policy at E3.
But the company saw the ill will Microsoft engendered with its guidelines, and stuck it in the script, according to Scott Rhode, head of software product development for Sony Worldwide Studios America.
Sony had never thought about imposing restrictions or fees on used games, and wouldn't have addressed the controversy had it not cropped up over the last few weeks, Rhode said in an interview with CNET on Tuesday.
"This was always part of our plan," he said. "We didn't feel it was necessary for us to talk about it."
Sony, however, is only setting the standard for the used game policy, which states that anyone who buys a game can sell it back or lend it without any restrictions. Rhode said that it is up to each publisher to decide on what to do.
"We can't dictate what another company's policy will be," Rhode said.
That take sounds suspiciously similar to Microsoft's own guideline, which states that it has no hand in imposing fees on used games, but would leave it up to the publisher.
Rhode, however, said Sony's policy is clearer and different because it explicitly says it is against fees on used games.
While publishers can impose fees, Rhode said it was highly unlikely that they would do so. No publisher wants to be the lone company adding restrictions to used games, he added.
"Especially after they saw the reaction from last night," he said.
After Sony announced the policy, as well as declaring that the PlayStation 4 would not require an online connection, the attendees at the Sports Arena in Los Angeles Monday night roared in approval.
Rhode disputed speculation that the moves were made in the 11th hour after Microsoft's press conference. There have been some rumors that Sony set its price of $399 for the PlayStation 4 after seeing Microsoft set the price of the Xbox One at $499, but Rhode dashed that notion too.
"This is a big business, and we can't change things that quickly," he said. "This has always been the price we have targeted for years."


text:
Wednesday, February 27, 2013, 08:23 am PT (11:23 am ET)
iTunes in the Cloud goes online in 11 European countriesEleven new countries in Europe gained access to Apple's iTunes in the Cloud service on Wednesday, allowing users to re-download content they have already purchased.
iTunes in the Cloud is now available in Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, and Sweden. France also gained the ability to re-download TV shows a feature that is now available in just five countries.
Apple has been gradually rolling out iTunes in the Cloud functionality internationally since the service first debuted in the U.S. in late 2011. Because of licensing agreements necessary to sell content like movies and music, certain material has become available at different times.
On Topic: iTunes
- Apple Inc's new Swift language a "huge leap forward for iOS ecosystem," offers "enormous opportunity" with IBM in enterprise
- iTunes Software and Services fastest growing Apple business segment this year
- Apple releases iTunes 12 beta with 'elegant new design,' Family Sharing
- Apple's 2014 iTunes Festival in London to feature Maroon 5, Beck, Blondie, more
- Apple responds to EC complaints by touting iTunes' app controls as 'leading the industry,' cites iOS 8 "Ask To Buy" feature


text:
A new OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition leak has surfaced, showing off the phone’s official design with multiple press renders of the device. In addition to showing us what the phone will look like, the renders of the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition also confirm that the phone will be equipped with 10GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage.
The phone will also come with “Warp Charge 30” which promises to deliver a “day’s power in 20 minutes.” Previous iterations of OnePlus’ Dash Charge technology (which are already considered quite fast) delivered 20W of power to the device. Bumping up the wattage by 50% would be a significant improvement, but would still be slower than the 50W Super VOOC charging tech Oppo announced earlier this year. OnePlus jumped in by officially teasing the phone’s new charging speed on Twitter, but didn’t reveal any real details.
— OnePlus (@oneplus) December 7, 2018
As for the phone’s design, the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition shares the same overall design with the standard OnePlus 6T. The only tweaks we’ve been able to notice is a subtle carbon fiber weave pattern on the back glass (likely a sticker applied to the back of the glass) and a McLaren logo at the bottom.
The last piece of the puzzle which is still missing is the price of the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition. The phone will likely sell go on sale with a price tag ranging from $650 to $750, but there’s no guarantee that it’ll actually be available in the US. OnePlus plans to officially unveil the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition in London on December 11th and in Mumbai on December 12.
EXCLUSIVE LEAK! Here is your first look at the Official Renders of the OnePlus 6T McLaren Edition Speed Orange variant with 10GB+256GB Storage and super fast new 'Warp Charge' which will provide you a day's power in 20 minutes! Do you like the phone?#SaluteToSpeed#WarpCharge pic.twitter.com/8JdoNb6SWG
— Ishan Agarwal (@ishanagarwal24) December 7, 2018


text:
UK won't lower food standards to win post-Brexit trade deals - minister
Britain’s trade minister Liam Fox will “categorically” deny on Wednesday that the government plans to lower foods standards to win trade deals after Brexit, Reuters reports.
The United States wants Britain to cut European Union regulations after Brexit to boost the chances of the two countries striking a free-trade deal.
“There have been a lot of reports lately, mostly on social media, that my department has been planning to lower food and farming standards when negotiating Free Trade Agreements post-Brexit,” Fox will tell farming industry representatives in a speech. “Let me tell you categorically that these reports are untrue.”
Opponents of Brexit argue a U.S. trade deal means opening up Britain’s markets to the likes of chlorine-treated chicken and genetically modified crops.
Fox played down public health concerns last year, saying consumers should be given a choice and the British media were obsessed with chlorine-washed chickens.


text:
Among other things, the holidays are the season for generating garbage, experts say.
Batteries, wrapping paper, cans and bottles all get thrown out in copious amounts during the holidays, but cities and counties are urging residents to "reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible to cut down on some of that.
"We can change the traditional holiday habit of tearing open presents and throwing away wrapping paper and cardboard," Doug Eubanks of Sacramento County's Department of Waste Management and Recycling said. "We can recover these materials if residents use their curbside recycling program. Recycling holiday paper is a better alternative than burning it or throwing it into the trash."
* About 40 percent of all batteries are sold at this time of year -- some 200 million in California alone.
* Though it's illegal to throw batteries away in the garbage, most people don't realize that, or forget to take them to a hardware store that recycles them, so, only a small percentage are recycled.
* Nearly 30 million pounds of batteries end up in landfills, costing taxpayers an estimated $31 million per year.
* Americans throw away 25 percent more trash during the Thanksgiving-to-New Year's holiday period than at any other time of year -- about 25 million tons of garbage or about 1 million extra tons per week nationwide.
* The number of empty bottles and cans soars during the holidays. About 100 million plastic water bottles will end up in the trash statewide during the holiday season.
* If recycled, those bottles could be used to make 48,000 sweaters, or 220,000 square feet of carpeting.
* Most residents can put holiday waste paper like greeting cards, gift boxes and wrapping paper, in their curbside mixed recycling along with phone books and calendars.
* Mixed paper, like cardboard, advertising mail, catalogs, paper boxes, newspapers, computer paper, old calendars and other "clean" household paper, can be recycled in curbside recycling programs.
Source: CalRecycle. For more information, visit www.HolidayRecycling.com.


text:
Photo Credit: Getty Images
This recent piece of shoe news stopped me in my tracks. According to a nationwide poll by ShopSmart magazine, women own about 17 pairs of shoes and spend an average of $49 on each pair. Does that seem kind of low? Or am I just a raging footwear fanatic waiting to be called out on the next episode of Hoarders?
(After some unscientific calculations, I estimated to have over 30 pairs in my stash at a cost of roughly $80 to 100 per pair. Could be worse, right?)
Four years ago, the magazine found that ladies owned 19 pairs. The recession probably caused this year's dip. On the flip-flop side, online shoe shopping has increased during that same time frame, with almost a third of women (29 percent in 2011 vs. 14 percent in 2007) filling up their virtual carts.
But, according to the survey, we typically only buy three new pairs a year -- Carrie Bradshaws we are not. And even though most of us aren't on a complete shoe cleanse, we also only tend to wear three pairs in regular rotation. I'm totally guilty of this, which means it might be time to add some brand-new kicks to the lineup or simply clean out my closet...
To read more about the footwear poll, grab the April 2011 issue of ShopSmart.


text:
‘The Interview’ Will Be Distributed: Sony Lawyer
December 22 2014 12:26 AM
While Sony Pictures had earlier said that it was exploring ways to release the film, a lawyer said the film would still be distributed.
Sony Considers Internet Release Of 'The Interview': Report
December 20 2014 1:03 AM
The CEO of Sony Pictures refuted assertions from president Obama that the company had "made a mistake" by canceling the film's release.
Former NSA Insider: More Cyberattacks To Come
December 19 2014 12:55 PM
Investigators are caught in a never-ending game of catch-up as hackers continue to diversify their methods and mask their locations.
North Korea Hacked Sony: FBI
December 19 2014 12:05 PM
Chinese hackers are known to have conducted hacking operations on Pyongyang's behalf, though its unclear if that's what happened to Sony.
Apple CEO 'Offended' By Worker Abuse Charges
December 19 2014 11:26 AM
Workers were forced to labor for 18 days straight to make the latest iPhones, according to a BBC report.
Sony Hack Could Be Costliest Ever
December 18 2014 5:36 AM
U.S. investigators reportedly said that North Korea was “centrally involved” in the hacking attacks against Sony.
China's Baidu Confirms Investment In Online Taxi Service Uber
December 17 2014 2:48 AM
Chinese Internet giant Baidu confirmed it is buying a stake in Uber but didn't disclose the stake size or the investment amount.
NYC Premiere Of ‘The Interview’ Off
December 17 2014 1:04 AM
U.S. theaters have started canceling upcoming shows of “The Interview,” after Sony allowed them to do so amid a threat from hackers.
7 Great Health And Fitness Holiday Gifts
December 16 2014 4:02 PM
Check out some of the best fitness and health gadgets for those on your Christmas list.
T-Mobile Unveils Rollover Data In Latest Salvo With Verizon, AT&T
December 16 2014 1:43 PM
CEO John Legere's announcement comes after T-Mobile was the only mobile carrier to add customers in Q3 of 2014.
Saving The Music Business, One Fraction Of A Penny At A Time
December 16 2014 8:32 AM
Sweden gave us Spotify and Soundcloud, but Kobalt could be the most transformative.
Indian Court Wants Former Prime Minister's Statement In Coal Scam Case
December 16 2014 7:51 AM
A New Delhi court says Manmohan Singh's statement is crucial to the case as some of his officers may not have been investigated properly.
HBO Go Arrives On Amazon’s Streaming Devices
December 16 2014 6:50 AM
The streaming service also supports Amazon's voice search.
Sony Warns Employees To Beware Of Fraudsters Misusing Hacked Data
December 16 2014 5:16 AM
Earlier, Sony had asked certain media outlets not to publish details about its stolen data.
Police Find No Explosives After Amazon Headquarters Bomb Threat
December 15 2014 6:20 PM
CEO Jeff Bezos reportedly assisted in the evacuation of the company's Seattle buildings.
Hackers To Sony Staffers: We Can Redact Your Information
December 15 2014 11:24 AM
The group known as Guardians of Peace has threatened to unveil a "Christmas gift" that will devastate Sony.
TCS Stock Drops After Indicating ‘Weakness’
December 15 2014 7:08 AM
Large U.S. corporations are hedging their bets on technology, leading to continued uncertainty in demand.
Xiaomi To Invest $200M In Home Appliance Company Midea
December 15 2014 12:23 AM
Xiaomi is seeking to expand its ecosystem of partners to build a portfolio of connected devices that it can sell on its online store.
Palantir, Which Purportedly Helped Kill Bin Laden, Looks To Raise $400M
December 12 2014 11:22 PM
The big data firm is on its way to blowing past last year's $9 billion valuation.
Foxconn To Shutter Indian Mobile Plant
December 12 2014 10:14 AM
India's aspirations for an electronics manufacturing base got another jolt this week after Foxconn Technology Group decided to close its plant there.


text:
UPDATE: The reports were true. Amazon is buying Twitch for roughly $970 million. The deal is expected to close in the second half of 2014.
“Broadcasting and watching gameplay is a global phenomenon and Twitch has built a platform that brings together tens of millions of people who watch billions of minutes of games each month--from The International, to breaking the world record for Mario, to gaming conferences like E3. And, amazingly, Twitch is only three years old,” said Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in a press release. “Like Twitch, we obsess over customers and like to think differently, and we look forward to learning from them and helping them move even faster to build new services for the gaming community.”
Twitch CEO Emmett Shear published a statement as the news went live:
"Dear Twitch Community, It’s almost unbelievable that slightly more than 3 years ago, Twitch didn’t exist. The moment we launched, we knew we had stumbled across something special. But what followed surprised us as much as anyone else, and the impact it’s had on both the community and us has been truly profound. Your talent, your passion, your dedication to gaming, your memes, your brilliance - these have made Twitch what it is today. Every day, we strive to live up to the standard set by you, the community. We want to create the very best place to share your gaming and life online, and that mission continues to guide us. Together with you, we’ve found new ways of connecting developers and publishers with their fans. We’ve created a whole new kind of career that lets people make a living sharing their love of games. We’ve brought billions of hours of entertainment, laughter, joy and the occasional ragequit. I think we can all call that a pretty good start. Today, I’m pleased to announce we’ve been acquired by Amazon. We chose Amazon because they believe in our community, they share our values and long-term vision, and they want to help us get there faster. We’re keeping most everything the same: our office, our employees, our brand, and most importantly our independence. But with Amazon’s support we’ll have the resources to bring you an even better Twitch. I personally want to thank you, each and every member of the Twitch community, for what you’ve created. Thank you for putting your faith in us. Thank you for sticking with us through growing pains and stumbles. Thank you for bringing your very best to us and sharing it with the world. Thank you, from a group of gamers who never dreamed they’d get to help shape the face of the industry that we love so much. It’s dangerous to go alone. On behalf of myself and everyone else at Twitch, thank you for coming with us."
It seems inevitable that Twitch is getting sold. The first reports suggested Google would pick up the popular streaming service, but both The Wall Street Journal and The Information (both outlets require a subscription) are reporting it's actually Amazon.
(This certainly makes Venture Beat's headline about Google from weeks back seem a bit silly. Confirmed!)
According to the WSJ, negotiations between Google and Twitch "cooled" in the last few weeks. It's also possible the Amazon buyout could be announced later today, assuming everything goes as planned.
So, what say you? Is Amazon a better or worse home for Twitch?


text: Greenville, S.C. (October 30, 2012) – Michelin Aircraft Tire has announced it will be providing a MICHELIN ® AIR X ® radial tire fitment for Gulfstream’s newest super mid-size business jet, the G280. The announcement was made during the National Business Aviation Association’s Annual Meeting & Convention being held at the Orlando County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida October 30 through November 1, 2012. The G280 aircraft has received certification from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Civil Aviation Authority of Israel. “Michelin is proud to be the tire of choice on the new G280,” said Bob Pointon, Michelin Aircraft Tire Company’s Director of Original Equipment. “Michelin is committed to providing innovation and safety. Our radial tires are designed to provide a long tire life and exceptional performance.” As innovation leaders, Michelin introduced the world’s first radial aircraft tire in 1981. Michelin is a trusted partner for original equipment manufacturers and equips over half of all new general aviation aircraft. The MICHELIN ® Air X ® is offered in more radial sizes than all other aircraft tire brands combined, including 12 sizes for business jets. The MICHELIN ® Air X ® provides the advantages of more landings per tread, improved cut resistance and measurable fuel savings, versus bias-ply technology. The radial tire offers a 20-30% weight reduction over comparable bias tires, an extra strong carcass to restrict tire growth, an optimized tread design for cut resistance, customized rubber compounds for ozone and ultraviolet light protection and a flexible casing for smooth taxiing, takeoffs and landings for passenger comfort.


text:
Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Android smartphones took the top three places in the UK's bestseller charts in the pre-Christmas sales period, according to uSwitch's latest Mobile Tracker report.
In at No. 1 was the Galaxy S III, with the ageing--but still desirable--Galaxy S II close behind at No. 2 and the low-cost Galaxy Ace taking third place.
The firm's tracker system, which uses UK aggregation data from searches together with pre-orders and sales from the network of comparison and consumer technology sites monitored by Omio.
LG's Nexus 4 scrambled to fourth position, while Apple's iPhone 4S and 5 only managed to capture the No. 5 and No. 6 spots, respectively, in December, claims uSwitch.
Ernest Doku, telecoms expert at uSwitch.com, said: "December's top ten chart reads like the Who's Who of smartphones. Top of the tree were three Samsung Galaxy phones--more than matching the iPhone with a range of incredibly affordable devices."
"The enduring presence of the Ace and Galaxy S II--both released back in 2011--prove that a bargain price point and strong software support can keep classic handsets battling with the heavyweights."
However, Doku warned that current favourites Samsung and Apple need to be aware that competition is going to be increasingly fierce this year.
"2013 looks set to introduce yet more exciting phones--January sees the make-or-break return of BlackBerry with a brand new operating system and refreshed range of devices," Doku said "Rumour has it that a wave of turbo-charged Android devices are set to follow suit, while new Windows Phone 8 phones will also be looking to make an impact."
Research firm Strategy Analytics thinks Samsung will ship 290 million smartphones this year, up 35 percent from a projected 215 million in 2012. Meanwhile, Strategy Analytics forecasts Apple's smartphone sales to reach 180 million this year, up 33 percent from 2012.
"We expect Samsung to slightly extend its lead over Apple this year because of its larger multi-tier product portfolio," Strategy Analytics analyst Neil Mawston told Reuters.
Samsung plays in more segments and this should enable it to capture more volume than Apple, Mawston said, although he accepts that Apple could return to the offensive and roll out a smaller, cheaper "iPhone Mini" to grab market share by targeting demand from users of lower-end smartphones.
Analyst: Samsung expected to widen smartphone lead over Apple in 2013
Samsung, Apple poised to dominate smartphones in 2013
Analyzing the world's 11 biggest handset makers in Q3 2012
Nokia aims for BlackBerry sales ban in UK after winning patent battle
Motorola halts Android device sales in Germany


text:
Even with the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on businesses, international trade continues, and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. remains ready to assist Wisconsin companies with their export goals. Companies can emerge stronger from the economic downturn if they take steps now to pursue new opportunities, the organization said.
In light of the current environment, WEDC has converted its global trade ventures into a virtual format with online meetings between Wisconsin companies and potential customers, distributors and other partners in international markets. The first virtual trade venture will connect Wisconsin companies with potential partners in Germany.
Under normal circumstances, face-to-face meetings are key to establishing trust in international business, but given recent events and constraints on international travel, the focus has shifted to companies that are nimble and adaptable.
Wisconsin firms that take advantage of technology instead of letting export expansion grind to a halt can set themselves apart in international markets, leaving them well positioned to grow these relationships further once travel restrictions ease and in-person meetings become possible. Wisconsin companies interested in expanding their exports to Germany are invited to join WEDC’s virtual trade venture, which will take place Sept. 21 through Oct. 2.
Germany is consistently among Wisconsin’s top export destinations and was No. 5 in 2019. This healthy volume of trade reflects a history of German immigration in Wisconsin, mutual strength in manufacturing and shared emphasis on quality, productivity and a strong work ethic. In all, Wisconsin exported $761 million worth of goods and services to Germany in 2019. The potential exists to increase Wisconsin companies’ sales to German customers even further.
Although the pandemic has cut into the economic growth that had been predicted for Germany in 2020, the country remains a major trading nation with significant imports and exports. It is the fourth-largest economy in the world, with a GDP of $4 trillion, and accounts for more than one-fifth of the European Union’s GDP.
The virtual format means participants won’t need to be away from the office for a full work week. Because of the time zone difference, most meetings with German counterparts will be scheduled in the morning, leaving afternoons free. The meeting schedule will be spread across two weeks to enable easier scheduling given the limited time window for meetings each day, making the meeting schedule lighter on any given day.
To learn more or sign up, click here.


text:
October 10th, 2022
Falconer was at London Packaging Week on 21 & 22 September at London Olympia. The show, which debuted its new ‘Packaging Week’ branding, provided us with a busy couple of days seeing new prospects and existing customers. On stand were Richard Martin, Colin Pow, Angela Simpson & Troy Kinney.
The new look event comprised of four exhibitions, including ‘Packaging Première’ for the luxury product market, where we had stand E26; PCD for perfume, makeup and toiletries; PLD for premium and luxury beverages; and Food & Consumer Pack for groceries.
Falconer has booked a stand for next year on 21st and 22nd September 2023, but this time London Packaging Week is moving to the ExCel exhibition centre in East London – bigger is better we’ve been told!


text:
New nonstop flights from Portland International Airport will mean increased access for Oregon businesses to key locations. Beyond the obvious boon to consumers, businesses and business travelers will reap a huge benefit from the new nonstops.
It’s too early in the summer to be definitive about how Oregon’s peak tourism season will shape up, but early reports show Europe’s ongoing economic woes is meaning fewer visitors from the United Kingdom to Stumptown, but more tourism coming from Asia, Australia and New Zealand. The nearly $9 billion industry showed very little growth last year and fingers are crossed that this year will be better.
An embrace of a new food processing technology has led to quick growth and job creation for Pressure Safe, a spin-off company of Morasch Meats, a family-owned meat processing and packaging business based in Wood Village.
You most assuredly do not control or direct your boss. Nor do you staff him or her. To attempt to engage in any of the standard management behaviors toward your boss is, by definition, insubordinate. Your goal is to be effective, and leadership expert Tom Cox explains how to do that.


text:
Herman Miller’s Aeron chair is a fixture in high-tech work environments.
When it launched in 1994, it looked different from other office furniture — engineered, not designed, according to Wired. Startups and even big tech CEOs like Mark Zuckerberg swear by it.
Now Herman Miller is trying to transform the rest of the workspace to be as high-tech as its office chairs. It announced a new set of smart office furniture on Monday that uses sensors to relay exactly how a workspace is being used.
Those sensors send data to software called Live OS, which can display on a dashboard exactly how much time people are spending on their desks, if they’re getting up to stand and move around, or just which desks are currently in use.
That can be extremely useful for startups and other high-tech companies that don’t assign every worker a personal desk.
Herman Miller will sell Live OS sensors separately, for around $US100, to retrofit existing furniture. But the system really starts to shine when an office is equipped with the company’s new standing desk. Through an app, workers can set preferences for their desk’s preferred height, or reminders to stand and change positions.
Running these sensors don’t come cheap — the software to run them costs about $US36 per desk per year, according to Quartz. Part of that is the cost of hooking the sensors up to a cellular network. But for a company that has its eyes set on an efficient, quantified office, they might be just what an office manager is looking for.
Check out how Herman Miller’s new high-tech furniture works in pictures:
Live OS is Herman Miller's new software that uses sensors embedded in desks and other office furniture.
The biggest advantage for companies running Live OS is that they can track how their office is being used on a dashboard.
For users, one of Herman Miller's biggest advantages is that you can set personalised settings for a standing desk.
You'll need a Herman Miller 'sit-to-stand desk,' but if you have the proper hardware, it will remember your preferred settings. These desks start at $1,600.
Simply tap on a desk control mounted on the furniture, and it will adjust to your saved position. Users can also receive reminders, like those on the Apple Watch, telling them to stand up or switch postures.
Business Insider Emails & Alerts
Site highlights each day to your inbox.


text:
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) — Restaurants around the capital city and beyond are offering a variety of limited-time deals as part of Providence Restaurant Weeks.
The annual event started Sunday and runs through Saturday, July 24.
More than 40 Providence restaurants are participating this year, according to the Providence Warwick Convention & Visitors Bureau President and CEO Kristen Adamo.
“Providence Restaurant Weeks is always an exciting time of year because it showcases dozens of nationally-recognized restaurants throughout the state while making their best dishes extremely accessible,” Adamo said. “As leisure travel continues to pick up momentum and locals continue to support small businesses, this is the perfect opportunity for everyone to get a taste of the region’s world-class dining scene.”
In the above video, Adamo joins 12 News at 4 to discuss Providence Restaurant Weeks and more.


text:
Jawbone, the San Francisco-based company that got its start making headsets for mobile phones is launching a new wireless speaker, simply called the Big Jambox. It is a much larger (and louder) version of its portable Jambox speaker that is one of the top selling wireless speakers in the market.
The Big Jambox comes with 15 hours of battery life and connects to the iPhone via bluetooth. “We are targeting the speakers that want to make you dock your phone,” says Hosain Rahman, chief executive officer and founder of Jawbone. “It makes no sense to dock your phone, considering we are doing more and more things on the phone.” In other words, they are taking aim at the likes of Bose with this new speaker.
Rahman, in an earlier interview said that emergence of iPhone-connected consumer electronics
devices is a big opportunity for his company, which has gone through many ups-and-downs. Jawbone has taken the audio technology it used in its original headphones and expanded into different categories by building new capabilities. The Big Jambox is the latest in a series of connected devices being launched by the company. Jawbone launched the original (and smaller) Jambox a couple of years ago and a few months ago launched the fitness-oriented UP device in addition to its lineup of bluetooth headsets. UP launched with much fanfare but encountered stormy weather soon after launch. In comparison, the $299 Big Jambox is a less risky move for the company.
Rahman believes that the devices such as the Big Jambox have to be social as well and as a result they have built in ability to take sound inputs from different sources – so for instance you could be playing your playlist and your spouse could switch the Big Jambox to playback their playlist. The speaker is simple, well designed and easily portable. It was designed by Yves Behar, chief creative officer for Jawbone.
Hey Dj, Hit That Bass
So how must be wondering does it sound?
I have been using the Big Jambox for a couple of days and my initial impression is that the speaker is very good. First as a speakerphone, it is a godsend. I cannot underscore how much better it is to make phone calls via Big Jambox versus turning on the speaker phone functionality that is built into the iPhone. I used it to make phone calls via Skype and so far have nothing to complain. You can customize the Big Jambox via the company’s MyTalk platform.
Now when it comes to music, Big Jambox isn’t going to replace my Sonus Faber speakers or even the Sonos Play 3, but it is a nice addition to my home office. The sound is clear, crisp, though I find it a tad metallic. I like my sound “warm” but you can get that only from old-fashioned speakers. The sound of Big Jambox reminds me of old-fashioned cassette players that made Sony and Panasonic a lot of money. Think of it as a boom-box for the iPhone age.
The speaker comes with what the company calls Live Audio technology that makes it possible to get a 3D audio effect, which is pretty awesome when you are watching movies. I would say that is my most favorite part of the speaker. Rahman says that the company wants to get more folks using the Live Audio technology and is going to offer an API that can be utilized by other apps as well. As it is always the case, I don’t make a decision or a recommendation based without putting it through the paces, so stay tuned for the review.


text:
Vanya Manova Appointed as MasterCard Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia
Sofia, Bulgaria March 15, 2016 – MasterCard’s Vanya Manova becomes MasterCard Country Manager for Bulgaria & Macedonia.
In this new role, Vanya will continue to drive innovation in both markets and further strengthen the collaboration and partnership with key customers, governmental bodies and the public sector “MasterCard has a long lasting culture of diversity.
I’m therefore very pleased that Vanya Manova has been promoted to the position of Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia”, said Artur Turemka, MasterCard General Manager for the Balkan Region. “More and more women do embrace high level positions within our company. They have a different business approach, which enables them to add new perspectives and find opportunities that were previously unexplored”, he added.
Vanya joined MasterCard in 2008 as an Account Manager. Over the past few years, she has driven the business in Bulgaria and has helped to position MasterCard as a strategic partner for key customers, non-traditional partners, local government institutions and regulatory bodies. She led the launch and growth of contactless in Bulgaria & Macedonia making MasterCard the ultimate leader in contactless within these markets. Vanya has been working in the finance industry for more than 20 years. She started in 1995 as system administrator at the Bulgarian Russian Investment Bank (nowadays CIBank). Prior to joining MasterCard, she was Head of the Bank Cards Department at DZI Bank (later merged with Postbank). She graduated at Sofia Mathematical High School and holds a Master’s degree in Computer Technologies from the Technical University of Sofia. Vanya lives in Sofia and has three children.
About MasterCardMasterCard (NYSE: MA), www.mastercard.com, is a technology company in the global payments industry. We operate the world’s fastest payments processing network, connecting consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments and businesses in more than 210 countries and territories. MasterCard’s products and solutions make everyday commerce activities – such as shopping, traveling, running a business and managing finances – easier, more secure and more efficient for everyone. Follow us on Twitter @MasterCardNews, join the discussion on Beyond the Transaction Blog and subscribe for the latest news. Contacts Venelina Mihova +359 887 701 firstname.lastname@example.org The post Vanya Manova Appointed as MasterCard Country Manager for Bulgaria and Macedonia appeared first on Global Hub.
- Payment Savvy Launches New Fee Solution with Complimentary Payment Processing
- VMob Appoints Retail and Marketing Innovation Executive Jen Millard as CRO
- Elo Announces New Large Format Touchscreen Interactive Digital Signage Displays
- Epson and Impression Solutions Collaborate to Expand Commercial Printing Offerings for… — LONG BEACH, Calif., March 15, 2016 /PRNewswire/ —
- SOTI Warns Retailers Must Put Mobile at the Heart of Customer Service Strategy
- Harvard Business School Launches New Program For Senior Leaders In Retail
- Heartland, Computop To Offer Secure International Payment Processing
- Retailers Can Push Highly Relevant Messages Direct to Browsers


text:
The FOMC decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 2-1/4 to 2-1/2 percent. In light of global economic and financial developments and muted inflation pressures, the Fed will be patient as it determines what future adjustments to the target range for the federal funds rate may be appropriate.
November new home sales rebounded 16.9 percent from October, down 7.7 percent year-on-year
Sales of new single-family houses in November 2018 were at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 657,000. This is 16.9 percent above the revised October rate of 562,000, but is 7.7 percent below the November 2017 estimate of 712,000.
January planned job cuts up 20.7 percent from December and 18.7 percent year-on-year
Employers at U.S.-based companies announced plans to cut 52,988 jobs from their payrolls in January, 20.7 percent higher than in December, and up 18.7 percent year-on-year. Over forty percent of these January cuts were in the retail sector.


text:
Seventy-seven percent of automotive manufacturers cite the globalized nature of supply chains as their number one concern, according to research by Business Continuity Institute.
Articles Tagged ‘Automotive’
Fairmont Hotels and Resorts has tapped Cadillac to oversee its guest transportation program in the United States.
German automaker Audi is giving job hunters a leg-up with a new Web site that demystifies the apprenticeship journey.
Mercedes-Benz has been fined $56.49 million by a Chinese pricing regulator for fixing prices at local dealerships.
The biggest car markets in Europe — France, Germany, Italy, Spain and Britain — have all seen rising sales in each month of 2015, according to a report by JATO Dynamics.
British automaker Jaguar Land Rover is looking to score points with tennis enthusiasts as the official car of the Wimbledon Championships June 29 to July 12.
Waterford Wedgwood Royal Doulton and Jaguar Land Rover are among the brands being transparent about their corporate responsibility through participation in Business in the Community’s 2015 CR Index.
Toyota Corp.’s Lexus is bolstering its ongoing “Verses and Flow” initiative with a scholarship available to African American students.
While Rolls-Royce Motor Cars may not directly trigger sales through Instagram, the social platform has become a place for prospective buyers to get ideas for bespoke requests and cultivate their enthusiasm.
Waldorf Astoria Hotels & Resorts is giving consumers a chance to bring variety in their lives with the Waldorf Astoria Driving Experiences for guests in North America, Europe and the United Arab Emirates.


text:
Posts Tagged ‘breakfast’
by LIBN Staff Published: April 29, 2013
Tags: bacon, bread, breakfast, breakfast sandwiches, coffee, cold cereal, consumers, dietary shakes, drinks, eggs, food, fruit juice, milk, NPD Group, report, research, Retail, supplements
NPD Group has released the top 10 breakfast foods.
As cereal consumption continues to decline in the U.S., Kellogg and General Mills are both preparing to roll out breakfast drinks.
by LIBN Staff Published: September 28, 2012
Tags: Angel Dough Ventures, Argentina, bagel, Bagel Boss, Bagel of the Month Club, bagels, breakfast, Israel, Long Island, New York, overnight shipping, Technology
Andrew Hazen launches “Bagel of the Month” club.
Sometimes one breakfast isn’t enough. So why not sneak in a second or a third? On-the-go Americans increasingly are consuming their morning calories over several hours instead of sitting down to devour a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs in one sitting. The case of the morning munchies is being fueled by the belief that [...]


text:
The platinum recording artists also will be part of Hollister’s yearlong #CarpeNow campaign.
The social bookmarking service dishes on back-to-school traffic and trends, even as new competition looms on the horizon.
PMX Agency’s report on the season revealed an increase in the number of pre-K to high school aged students.
Shoppers are becoming primed for spending on the splashy occasion from a variety of e-commerce sites.
A recent report by ContentSquare illustrated the state of the market for this year’s back-to-school season — here’s what the findings might mean for holiday.
The Retail Economist-Goldman Sachs Weekly Retail Sales Index rose 2.4 percent this past week.
The Retail Economist-Goldman Sachs Weekly Chain Store Sales Index fell 0.5 percent.
Telsey Advisory Group said in a research note that the back-to-college segment is on track to have a record year.
Some 89 percent of retailers will increase their marketing spend on mobile for b-t-s.
HRC Retail Advisory polled the cohort and found a preference for shopping sooner, and in stores.
Parents with children in grades K-12 are expected to spend an average of $501 per student.
Google’s back-to-school trend report looked at how people are using Google Search and YouTube to inform their shopping journey.
Spending on clothing is expected to rise 3 percent, while electronics spending should be up 20 percent.


text:
Wish the rainbow was a little less subdued
No, this isn’t a homophobic slur or a slight against PlayStation. This is a customized rainbow console created in support of pride week in Sweden from retailer Webhallen, via CVG. It’s being auctioned off to support The Swedish Federation for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Rights (RFSL).
The “GayStation 4” was designed by the Federation and the auction began at $400. Right now, the console has reached about $2493 at the time of my writing this post, so it’s steadily reaching a hefty sum.
From the Webhallen post, these inspirational words ring out:
“For many young people, the world of games will become a refuge to escape the taunting or worse of real life. On Webhallen, we are gamers in heart and mind, and are keen that as many as possible have the opportunity to feel welcome and enjoy the world’s largest and fastest growing interest: video games.”
I only wish the console had a little brighter colors. It’s kind of a dark rainbow.


text:
SAN FRANCISCO, April 27 (UPI) -- Downloads of iPhone apps were down 30 percent in March, the lowest since the launch of the iPhone 4S in October, a mobile app marketing firm reports.
Fiksu said iPhone mobile app downloads decreased by about 2 million downloads last month, with the Top 200 free U.S. iPhone apps seeing 4.45 million downloads a day in March, down from 6.35 million per day in February, PC Magazine reported Friday.
Fiksu called the decline in app downloads predictable.
"With the novelty factor of the iPhone 4S launch and the holidays well behind us, and no other events in March to spark discovery, March's download dip was expected," Micah Adler, Fiksu's chief executive officer, said in a statement.
Part of the decline is attributable to a change in policy on Apple's part, Adler said, as the company cracked down on the use of so-called download bots -- automated programs that repeatedly download an app to increase its ranking in Apple's App Store.
Apple has warned app creators that using such programs could get them banished from its developer program.


text:
Domestic cement consumption grew 5 per cent to 31.51Mt in 2005 from 30.04Mt a year earlier, the Indonesian Cement Association (ASI) said. Cement exports also rose 11.6 per cent to 3.29Mt from 2.95Mt previously while clinker exports dropped 26.9 per cent to 3.42Mt, the association said in a report.
It said among the major domestic markets, cement consumption in Jakarta grew 4.5 per cent to 3.67 mln tons in 2005 while sales in the nearby province of Banten rose 20 per cent to 2.10 mln tons from 1.75 mln.
The biggest market was in West Java, where cement consumption increased 6.6 per cent to 5.27Mt from 4.93Mt a year earlier, followed by East Java with growth of 3.2 per cent to 4.50Mt from 4.36Mt while Central Java sales rose 2.3 per cent to 3.60Mt from 3.51Mt previously. All other markets outside Java reported a rise in consumption except for Sulawesi, the report said.


text:
Flagship Studios has suspended work on Mythos, the publisher's anticipated RPG. The hiatus was announced on the game's official web site late last week and could be attributed to the company's major layoffs. While Flagship Studios asserts that talks of the company's death have been greatly exaggerated, there is currently no date set for the return of Mythos.
For players unfamiliar with Mythos, the game is an online action RPG featuring a top down camera angle in the same vein as Blizzard's Diablo series. Flagship Studios is actually composed of ex-Blizzard employees; however, unlike Diablo, Mythos is supposed to be a free-to-download-and-play game that would rely on optional payable in-game items for revenue.
The RPG made it all the way to the beta-testing stage before it was put on hiatus. The company is extending its thanks to everyone who worked on the game and hopes to share Mythos with gamers sometime in the near future.


text:
Exceed Norge Joins The Data Gumbo Smart Contract Network
Data Gumbo, the industrial smart contract network company, today announced that Exceed Norge, the Norwegian subsidiary of Exceed Energy — the world’s largest independent well management company, has adopted GumboNet to deploy smart contracts across the large and complex oil and gas projects it manages on behalf of its energy operators and their vendors.
“We are attracted to the promise of GumboNet because of its ability to guarantee accurate, on-time and automated invoicing and payments for our clients’ contractors working in some of the most difficult conditions in the world,” said Mike Simpson, Managing Director, Exceed Norge. “Management of vendor contracts is a core capability of our company, and smart contracts will better serve our operators’ needs and the vendors who meet those needs. The inherent trust and transactional certainty smart contracts deliver across commercial relationships opens up a new way to do business.”
Informational and transactional friction between counterparties contribute to excessive Days Sales Outstanding (DSO) with the average DSO in Europe between 20 to 35 days. Long invoicing cycles and billing challenges can be attributed to an overarching lack of transparency in supply chains, the necessity of multiple human checks and balances, and to payments based on estimates and accruals rather than real-time, accurate data.
GumboNet smart contracts deliver transactional certainty to commercial relationships, enabling counterparties to streamline operations and shorten long payment cycles. By providing a single immutable record of truth, GumboNet synchronizes data across parties for complete transparency to free up working capital, reduce contract leakage, enable real-time cash and financial management and capture provenance. The network is currently in use by Exceed Norge with a large energy operator and its counterparties, an oil and gas service company and drilling contractor, with plans for further implementation across the supply chain.
“Exceed Norge is in an optimal position in the energy supply chain for it and its customers to experience maximum benefits of our blockchain-powered smart contracts gained by automating the billing and invoicing process,” said Ove Sandve, Country Manager - Norway, Data Gumbo. “We pride ourselves on being an honest broker in commercial relationships, and this implementation of GumboNet provides Exceed Norge with a competitive advantage to enhance its contract management to experience transparency between parties, faster payment times and lower project costs.”
About Data Gumbo
Data Gumbo is the smart contract company trusted by global industrial enterprises. The only network of enterprises and their customers, suppliers and vendors that successfully incorporates real-time sensor level and field data to validate transactions, GumboNet™ reduces costs by more than 10% for all network members by automatically eliminating payment delays, disputes and complicated reconciliations.
To date, Data Gumbo has received equity funding with Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures, the venture subsidiary of Saudi Aramco; Equinor Ventures, the venture subsidiary of Equinor, Norway’s leading energy operator; and L37, a hybrid venture capital and private equity company. Data Gumbo is headquartered in Houston, Texas, with global offices in Stavanger, Norway, and London, UK. For more information, visit www.datagumbo.com or follow the company on LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook.
To view this piece of content from cts.businesswire.com, please give your consent at the top of this page.
About Business Wire
(c) 2018 Business Wire, Inc., All rights reserved.
Business Wire, a Berkshire Hathaway company, is the global leader in multiplatform press release distribution.
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
Nordic Enterprises Seek to Automate App Development20.10.2021 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
Enterprises in the Nordics are seeking ADM providers that use automation and agile methods to lower app development costs, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm. The 2021 ISG Provider Lens™ Next-Generation Application Development and Maintenance Services Report for the Nordics sees the move toward cloud transformation and cloud-native applications driving most application modernization projects and demand for ADM services in the region. There is also a high demand for help migrating enterprise resource planning (ERP) workloads to the cloud. “With a high cost of labor and a highly competitive market in the region, Nordic enterprises are looking to contain costs through automation,” said Ola Chowning, partner, Digital Strategy and Solutions for ISG. “ADM service providers are offering a whole set of automated app development tools, using AI, machine learning and other technologie
Jesper Kärrbrink Appointed Chairman of deWiz Golf20.10.2021 10:00:00 CEST | Press release
deWiz Golf’s Board, including co-founders Christian Bergh and Markus Westerberg, has announced that Jesper Kärrbrink has been appointed new Chairman of the Board. Kärrbrink brings extensive experience from company leadership roles, currently as chairman of Green Jade Games and previously as CEO of, among others, Svenska Spel, Eniro, Euroflorist, Mr. Green, and Östersunds-Posten. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211020005415/en/ The world's first biofeedback swing modifier, deWiz, is a wearable tech that delivers full swing analysis and its patented Learning Stimuli with real-time feedback within a golf swing to accelerate the pace of learning. (Photo: Business Wire) “On behalf of my co-founder Markus and deWiz's board, it is with great pride that I announce that Jesper has been appointed deWiz's new chairman of the board,” said Christian Bergh, co-founder and COO of deWiz Golf. “After five years of development
Total Telecom: Leveraging Technology Innovation for Building Energy Efficiency 5G Networks20.10.2021 09:00:00 CEST | Press release
Total Telecom attended Huawei’s Better World Summit (BWS) for Green ICT for Green development in Dubai in United Arab Emirates (UAE), found out that the ICT industry, which is a backbone of the modern-day global economy, must adopt green and energy-efficient practices and products and take the lead in correcting the course of the climate change crisis. Huawei is at the forefront to reduce our new carbon emissions and has taken several initiatives to bring down its own carbon emissions. "With our innovative products and solutions, we want to work with customers and industry partners to jointly define industry standards, and help operators better measure and manage their carbon reduction roadmaps," says Bob Cai, Chief Marketing Officer at Carrier Business Group, while opening the Summit. The company is not just taking measures to reduce its carbon emissions but is also pursuing innovations to make telecom networks more sustainable and energy-efficient. Cai further elaborated that the ICT
FourKites Expands its Market-Leading Ocean Visibility Platform with Industry-First Dynamic ETA ® for Ocean Shipping and New Tools to Manage Demurrage and Detention20.10.2021 08:30:00 CEST | Press release
FourKites®, the world’s leading real-time supply chain visibility platform, today introduced Dynamic ETA® for Ocean, a new AI-powered innovation as part of its Dynamic OceanSM offering. The new enhancement provides shippers, carriers and 3PLs with the market’s most accurate estimated times of arrival (ETAs) for 100% of their ocean shipments across all lanes worldwide. In addition, the company has rolled out new capabilities for monitoring and mitigating demurrage and detention risks. With these new enhancements, FourKites now provides the most advanced and robust solution on the market for real-time and predictive ocean visibility, exception management and cost controls. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211019006198/en/ FourKites Expands its Market-Leading Ocean Visibility Platform with Industry-First Dynamic ETA® for Ocean Shipping and New Tools to Manage Demurrage and Detention (Photo: Business Wire) These po
Evasc Neurovascular Announces the New eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter20.10.2021 07:00:00 CEST | Press release
Evasc Neurovascular is proud to announce the third generation of its eCLIPs™ device, the eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter. This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211019006102/en/ The third generation of Evasc's eCLIPs™ device, the eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter. The new device is classified as a flow diverter, with a leaf density of 35%, which is 60% higher than the existing eCLIPs devices. As a result, the new eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter does not require coiling and provides for the same unique neck bridging delivery. The new eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter can cover up to a 6mm neck length. The eCLIPs Bifurcation Flow Diverter also simplifies deployment with greatly reduced delivery times. “We’re excited to see the latest innovation in Evasc Neurovascular’s eCLIPs devices, which will lead to better outcomes for patients and remarkable device delivery time—usually within 10 minutes,” said Leif Sorensen, Neur
Breaking the Silence in Osteoporosis20.10.2021 07:00:00 CEST | Press release
A new international survey of 1,008 women with osteoporosis from six countries, launched on World Osteoporosis Day, reveals that while more than two-thirds (67%) of women over the age of 55 mostly understand what osteoporosis is and the potential negative impact of future fractures, 19% felt poorly informed at the time of the diagnosis.1 This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211019005894/en/ The survey initiated by Theramex in cooperation with the International Osteoporosis Foundation (IOF), was conducted in Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Australia, and Brazil. It included 316 postmenopausal women over the age of 55 years and 315 premenopausal women (40-55 years) with osteoporosis (altogether 62% of the surveyed women). Of these women, osteoporosis was only diagnosed after a fracture in almost 60% of the cases. This survey highlights a gap in osteoporosis awareness, as one-fourth of the patients aged 55 years and ov
Rossum raises record $100 million Series A from General Catalyst to reinvent B2B document communication20.10.2021 06:00:00 CEST | Press release
Rossum, the artificial intelligence company that is re-inventing the way businesses send documents to each other, has raised $100m from one of the US’s best known funds, General Catalyst in what is Eastern Europe’s largest ever Series A. Previous investors, including LocalGlobe, Seedcamp, Miton and Elad Gil are participating, as Rossum looks to capitalise on surging corporate demand for automation in business processes. Having rapidly secured market leadership in document AI technology and become the go-to software for many of Europe’s biggest companies, Rossum is creating a universal document gateway designed to help the corporate world move faster and complete transactions in minutes not weeks. Rossum’s founders, three PhD students who dropped out of university to start the business, are automating the whole business communication stack with a view to making bureaucratic, costly and time-consuming document communication frictionless and paperless. Rossum has seen year-on-year growth


text:
North Korea’s senior leadership has been exploiting loopholes in international sanctions to obtain the U.S. technology that Pyongyang uses to conduct “destructive cyber operations,” according to a global cyberthreat intelligence company.
Recorded Future, based in Massachusetts, found that while export bans and restrictions are somewhat effective in keeping North Korea from acquiring technology for its nuclear weapons program, sanctions fail when it comes to regulating computer products from entering into North Korea.
“Because of the globalized nature of technology production and distribution, the traditional export control is not really working for [computer] technology,” said Priscilla Moriuchi, one of the authors of “North Korea Relies on U.S. Technology for Internet Operations.” “It may work quite well for ballistic missile parts or fissile material, but the system is not designed to limit technology transfer, and it’s not optimized for that.”
In the report, Moriuchi and her co-author, Fred Wolens, call for a “globally robust unified effort to impose comprehensive sanctions” on North Korea, warning that without this Pyongyang “will be able to continue its cyberwarfare operations unabated with the aid of Western technology.”
The report was released days before North Korean leader Kim Jung Un and U.S. President Donald Trump are scheduled to meet in Singapore for a summit focused on ending the North’s nuclear weapons program in exchange for economic incentives and security guarantees.
But some consider North Korea’s cyberthreat capabilities as damaging as the threat of its nuclear weapons, Morgan Wright, a former a senior adviser in the U.S. State Department Antiterrorism Assistance Program, wrote in The Hill.
Even as advance teams prepared for the June 12 summit, North Korean cyberattacks continued, Moriuchi told Cyberscoop. On May 28, it reported the Department of Homeland Security and the FBI released a joint alert about Hidden Cobra, which is associated with North Korea’s hacking activities.
FireEye, a Silicon Valley cybersecurity company, detected cyberattacks by Lazarus, the North Korean hacking effort responsible for stealing millions of dollars from the Bangladesh Central Bank in 2016. Lazarus is also believed responsible for the 2014 Sony Picture’s hack and last year’s WannaCry ransomware attack.
Defining ‘luxury goods’
How did U.S. technology reach North Korea? Part of the answer lies in “international inconsistencies in the definition of the term ‘luxury goods,’” according to the Recorded Future report. The U.S. “effort to restrict technology exports at the national and international level” has not reaped results because of “varied definitions by nations and [their] inconsistent implementations,” said Moriuchi, a former East Asia analyst for the National Security Agency.
While the United Nations did not include electronics in Resolution 2321, which covered exports to North Korea, when it was issued in 2016, each member nation was allowed to interpret luxury goods. The U.S. has defined luxury goods to include laptop computers, digital music players, large flat-screen televisions and electronic entertainment software. China, in particular, does not “honor the luxury goods listed by other countries when it exports to” North Korea, according to the report.
US exports OK
Another factor is that for seven years in the period spanning 2002 to 2017, “the United States allowed the exportation of ‘computer and electronic products’ to North Korea,” according to the report. The total for those seven years was more than $430,000 of legal exports, and according to Recorded Future, “at its peak in 2014, the U.S. exported $215,862 worth of computers and electronic products to North Korea.”
The Recorded Future report, citing the U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC), said that category includes “computers, computer peripherals (including items like printers, monitors and storage devices), communications equipment (such as wired and wireless telephones), and similar components for these products.”
Much of that equipment remains in use, according to Recorded Future, and North Korea’s ruling elites, including party, military, and intelligence leaders and their families, have long been known to use products manufactured by U.S. companies such as Apple, Microsoft and IBM to access the internet.
A third element in how the U.S. tech went astray is what the report called North Korea’s “sophisticated sanctions evasion operation, which uses intermediaries and spoofs identities online.”
As an example, the study points to North Korea’s shell company Glocom with which Pyongyang “used a network of Asian-based front companies to buy computer components from electronic resellers, and the payment was even cleared through a U.S. bank account.” The United Nations found that Glocom was tied to Pan Systems Pyongyang, whose director, Ryang Su Nyo, reports to Liaison Office 519 in the North Korean intelligence agency’s Reconnaissance General Bureau.
Just like us
North Korea’s elites surfed and browsed just like users outside North Korea until recently when the Recorded Future researchers found “a stark change” in the elite’s usage patterns as they “migrated almost completely” from Facebook, Google and Instagram “to their Chinese equivalents — Alibaba, Tencent and Baidu,” and over the course of a few months “dramatically increased” their use of internet obfuscation services, such as virtual private networks (VPN), virtual private servers (VPS), transport layer security (TLS) and the Onion Router (Tor).
While tracking the change in activity from December 2017 to April 2018, researchers found “the overwhelming presence of American hardware and software on North Korea networks and in daily use by senior North Korean leaders.”
While U.S. exporters are responsible for understanding and adhering to export regulations, the study indicates even the implementation of robust compliance procedures were insufficient in preventing banned U.S. computer products from reaching North Korea.
U.S. export enforcement rests with the Office of Foreign Asset Control, the Office of Export Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. The U.S. is one of the only countries that enforces its export laws outside of its national boundaries, placing federal agents in foreign countries to work with local authorities.
Widespread international sanctions were imposed beginning in 2006, when North Korea conducted its first nuclear weapons test. In response, the U.N. passed two resolutions (Resolution 1695 and 1718) banning a broad range of exports to North Korea by any U.N. member states. The U.N. subsequently expanded those sanctions through a number of resolutions that prohibit and restrict exporting items ranging from missile material to oil to North Korea.
The case of ZTE
The Recorded Future report mentions Chinese manufacturer ZTE (Zhongxing Telecommunications Equipment) as a case where the implementation of export regulation failed, pointing out that the U.S. had the chance to enforce its export laws when the company was under Export Administration Regulation (EAR), a dense set of laws regulating exports.
ZTE was initially placed on the so-called Entities List for violating U.S. sanctions for selling products containing U.S. goods to Iran and North Korea in March 2016. For two years, the company and the U.S. government attempted to reach an agreement over penalties and how to verify that ZTE had stopped violating U.S. sanctions.
The Department of Commerce (DOC) ended the negotiations and imposed a denial order that banned U.S. companies from selling to ZTE for seven years.
In May, the DOC lifted the denial order, which would have put ZTE out of business, and allowed ZTE to purchase components from U.S. companies. The move came after threats of a trade war and Trump’s intervention.
Moriuchi said if the U.S. had let ZTE fail, it would have sent “a huge message to the rest of the world that there is no [company] too big to fail” and that “the U.S. government takes export control very seriously.”
In the end, “an opposite message ended up being sent with the administration’s deal with China, and that there are companies too big to fail especially if that company … has significant interest with the United States,” she said, adding the case demonstrated that “you can circumvent U.S. export control as a company and in the end, survive.”
The U.S. enforces its export laws through the DOC and regulates them through EAR, which not only restricts commercial goods and technologies from reaching hostile countries but also regulates the re-export of U.S. goods and technologies from one foreign country to another.
Until 2008, U.S. sanctions prohibiting exports to North Korea were implemented through the Trading with the Enemy Act, through which the U.S. government banned any exports to designated countries including North Korea.
Subsequently, the Obama administration issued the North Korea Sanctions Regulations and a number of Executive Orders (13551, 13570, 13687, and 13722) to further prohibit various measures, including exports of “goods, services or technology to North Korea.”
Additionally, numerous U.S. sanctions were imposed against North Korea under Trump’s “maximum pressure” campaign, especially in 2017 during Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles tests, which also saw the U.N. issue new sanctions.
VOA's Christy Lee contributed to this report.


text:
Givergy has announced the Kidney Research UK has won its 2018 Fundraising Technology competition.
The competition launched in July this year, and offered charities the opportunity to win fundraising technology to help them with their next event.
The technology has been specifically designed to help charities increase the amount they raise, and supporter satisfaction and enjoyment.
Kidney Research UK has won the following for its next fundraising event:
- Pre-event custom online auction
- Silent auction technology
- Direct donation feature
- Access to Givergy’s auction item collection
- Up to 150 tablets
- 3 expert onsite staff
Julian Sykes, Givergy CEO, said:
“We’re thrilled to announce that Kidney Research UK is the winner of our 2018 Fundraising Technology competition. We’re excited to see another extremely worthwhile cause benefit from utilising fundraising technology.”
Naomi Butters, Head of Philanthropy and Partnerships at Kidney Research UK, added:
“We’re delighted to receive such a fantastic prize from Givergy. Having this technology available at our next major fundraising event will give our supporters an extra special experience, and hopefully generate more income to enable us to fund more life-saving research.”
37 total views, 1 views today
38 total views, 2 views today