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PROTECT YOUR KIDS
Cameras with behavior-tracking software will watch for danger on the playground
A kidnapper loitering in front of the local school. A thief slipping into a warehouse. A suspicious stranger dropping a bag in a hallway. The average security camera can catch all these actions, but the footage isn´t much help if the person monitoring the screens is dozing, or so wiped out after hours of viewing that he wouldn´t notice a mushroom cloud erupting on monitor three.
In the next five years, the security industry could be revolutionized by the spread of smart cameras that pick out shady behavior. Like a friend rousing you from a nap on the couch to check out a great play in a ballgame, these cameras will flag important events and encourage security guards-and high-school principals-to take a closer look. Instead of blankly staring at a screen for hours, says David Abrams, the CTO of Interact Public Safety Systems in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, “you´re only looking at video when the software thinks something is going on.”
As part of a test program at Hazard High School in Hazard, Kentucky, Interact has set up 16 smart cameras that can pick out suspicious parked cars, intruders climbing over the fence, or people entering buildings at odd times. The software ignores the background elements in the camera´s field of view-buildings, trees, bushes-then establishes a set of normal, baseline events and watches for unusual occurrences. Since it´s all digital, Interact´s system also enables easy Web access. The principal can view suspicious activities on a handheld wireless device, and police responding to a school shooting could tap into a live video feed of the scene from inside their squad cars.
Although basic test programs are in place now, by about 2012, smart cameras should be capable of much more, says Vaidhi Nathan, CEO of San Jose”based IntelliVision. This will stem in part from the spread of higher-resolution cameras, but industry experts also expect the algorithms themselves to become more reliable and versatile. At the University of California at San Diego, computer-vision researcher Sangho Park is developing algorithms that distinguish violent from friendly behavior. Given a camera with high enough resolution, he says, his program can distinguish a friendly handshake from a punch, or a hug from a push, with 80 percent accuracy. Whether it´s behavior tracking or face recognition, though, the basic idea will remain the same. “The computer does all the work for you,” says Dilip Sarangan, an industry analyst at global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan. “It makes life a little easier for everyone.” Except the bad guys. -Gregory Mone
**PROTECT YOUR CAR **
Unmistakable identification keeps car thieves away from your ride
More than one million vehicles are stolen in the U.S. every year, with a total value of over $7.6 billion. And once thieves remove license plates and vehicle identification numbers, there´s no way of knowing who the vehicles once belonged to.
DataDot Technology-a startup company in Australia, which has the highest rate of vehicle theft in the developed world-has devised a way to cover valuable items in identifiers as small and invisibly scattered as hairspray droplets on a bouffant. Transparent DataDots are laser-etched with an identification number unique to you and glued to every internal surface of your car, boat or laptop. The sheer number of sand-grain-size dots on treated possessions-up to 5,000-makes it all but impossible for thieves to take them off and sell the harvested parts. In contrast, existing theft-deterrent systems such as a LoJack can be hidden in only one of about 20 places, and so can be removed much more easily.
Cops determine who stolen property belongs to by using a 50x magnifier to read the dots. If a person reporting a theft mentions that the item was Data-Dotted, police departments can access a company-run international database to find out if the car has turned up elsewhere. “The system really works in favor of the police,” says Scott McKeever, program-development director for DataDot´s American division. “They only need to locate one dot to determine an item´s owner, whereas thieves would have to remove thousands of them in order to resell a stolen item.”
Although DataDots are still largely undiscovered in the U.S., McKeever predicts that as awareness grows, they will become highly effective deterrents. In a three-year study, Australia´s National Motor Vehicle Theft Reduction Council found that cars with DataDots were 80 percent less likely to be stolen and never recovered than cars of the same make without DataDots. “Once the word spread among thieves,” McKeever says, “it was clear they wanted to stay away.”
DataDot is just starting to test the consumer waters here. As part of a pilot program at auto dealerships in a dozen states, the company will apply around 1,000 dots to your new vehicle for $300-and offer you a $5,000 refund on top of regular insurance benefits if your car is stolen. The royal DataDot treatment should go nationwide this year, but in the meantime, you can obtain a DIY kit online. These kits cost about $25 and contain 500 dots that can be applied at home with a swab. Schools including San Francisco State University have started encouraging students to use them on laptops and iPods. -Elizabeth Svoboda
**PROTECT YOUR MONEY **
Flexible display technology could lead to fraud-proof bank cards
The modern pickpocket lifts a victim´s financial vitals by reading through his mail, hacking into Web sites, sucking him into complex e-mail and phone scams, or even bribing bank employees. Whatever the means, though, the results are effective: More than 60,000 people in the U.S. fell prey to credit-card fraud in 2005, at a cost of more than $1.4 billion dollars.
One of the reasons it´s so hard to protect yourself against modern crooks is that you´re using the same digits every time you buy something, whether it´s online or at the local diner. But that could change soon, thanks to electronic credit-card displays that will generate new account numbers on command. This way, a crook who tries to use your digits from a previous purchase will be left with an expired card.
Your card will still have a static account number. But during each transaction, you´ll also press a small button in the card. This action will instruct a microchip to spit out a new string of additional electronic digits in the small, calculator-like flexible screen. These aren´t random: Each card will start with a base number-or “seed”-and with every press of the button, an algorithm will calculate the new digits from the last one. Your bank or credit-card company will be able to verify the info because it knows both the seed and the algorithm. When it does match them up, this proves that you have the physical card in your possession and haven´t just “phished” its vitals off the Web. To thwart old-fashioned pickpockets, you´ll probably enter a static PIN as well. That way, says Dennis Brestovansky of Aveso in Fridley, Minnesota, “even if somebody steals the card, they can´t use it.”
All of this can work on a standard-size card, says Andrew Ho, CEO of SiPix Imaging in Fremont, California, because flexible electronic screens are cheap enough to distribute en masse, strong enough to survive wear and tear in your wallet, and so efficient that one small battery will last for three years.
Alan Finkelstein, president of Innovative Card Technologies in Los Angeles, says that banks will start running pilot tests with these dual-factor security cards later this year. “If you´re one of the lucky ones,” he says, “you might get one soon.” Eventually the technology could lead to added features-future bank cards might flash your remaining balance or allow you to scroll through your last few purchases. -Gregory Mone
**PROTECT YOUR SECRETS **
Data thieves will soon have to crack the toughest lock imaginable: quantum weirdness
Losing private data to online eavesdroppers. When you send your banking information or other sensitive data over the Internet, it´s protected by cryptographic keys made from sequences of prime numbers. Right now it would take hackers days to crack these keys and break in. But the exponential rise in computing speed is shrinking that time, forcing researchers to devise new approaches to hack-proof communication.
Use the built-in randomness of quantum theory to lock and unlock data, eliminating the possibility of a break-in. In an experimental network designed by Cambridge, Massachusetts”based BBN Technologies, a laser creates a key out of individual bits of light, or photons. It sends this key along a fiber-optic cable, and another optical device at the end of the line collects the photons and records the key. If the received photon sequence matches up with the one conveyed by the sender, the recipient is permitted to use this key to gain access to top-secret data over the network.
If an intruder tries to use a photon detector or other tapping device to snoop on the transmission, however, the eavesdropping attempt will irreversibly damage the photon sequence. This is because of the central rule of quantum physics: Observing impossibly small entities, like electrons and photons, necessarily alters them. “If someone´s trying to listen in, they change the quantum state of the photons as they´re going through the channel,” says Jonathan Habif, a physicist at BBN. “You can´t measure a quantum state without changing it.” Any such change is obvious, and alerts network administrators to the possibility of a break-in.
The high cost of specialized photon detectors means that quantum-secured networks will initially be reserved for classified government chats and high-value bank transfers. Still, Habif has wide-ranging goals for the future. “People will be able to use quantum cryptography for all kinds of transactions as the technology becomes cheaper and easier to implement,” he says. “This could become the standard in communications security.”
When BBN first designed its prototype network, quantum cryptography could be used only to protect messages sent a couple miles or less. Last year, BBN researchers developed a more powerful single-photon detector that picks up even the faintest signals, increasing network range to more than 50 miles (new detectors in the works should extend it even further). Expect quantum-level security for consumers in about 10 years, after a test run of a few years in government settings. -Elizabeth Svoboda
**PROTECT YOUR FOOD **
Dinner tonight? A steak with certified “disease-free” DNA
Since 9/11, the threat of terrorists poisoning our food supply has diverted attention from more ordinary risks, like the dual threats of mad-cow disease and the E. coli bacterium. Food-safety scientists are bemoaning this development. E. coli sickens 73,000 Americans yearly, and in the U.K. mad-cow disease has killed 156 people, whose brains degenerated when they ate meat contaminated with the errant proteins that cause the disease.
To assure consumers that the rib eye they buy comes only from noncontaminated cows, Irish company IdentiGEN has developed TraceBack, the first-ever commercial DNA-fingerprinting technology for meat. The process starts at the farm or slaughterhouse, where cows are tested for pathogens. Once each animal receives a clean bill of health, a worker takes a sample of the cow´s blood, meat or hair, analyzes it for genetic identifiers known as single-nucleotide polymorphisms, and stores the information in a central database.
At the supermarket, butchers take another DNA sample and match it to the database. In this way, beef producers can prove that they packaged meat from a 100 percent disease-free cow. And if an errant pathogen is introduced at some point along the line-at a shipping facility riddled with E. coli, for instance-food-safety officials will be able to nail down the source of the outbreak within hours by retracing the journeys of infected animals. “Each product has its own inherent label. It´s like nature´s bar code,” says Ronan Loftus, IdentiGEN´s director of business development, who created TraceBack as a research fellow at Trinity College in the mid-1990s. “Once this system is in place, you can pull a package of meat off the shelves and access its entire history.” Consumers pay a barely noticeable premium for the “disease-free” sticker on their beef-on the order of pennies per pound-but come out ahead in peace of mind.
After successful trials in Ireland and elsewhere in Europe, IdentiGEN opened its first North American offices last July. TraceBack certification stickers should start appearing in U.S. supermarkets within the next five years. -Elizabeth Svoboda


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Posted by Barry Silverstein on August 14, 2013 02:22 PM
Gap is launching the biggest marketing campaign in its history—dubbed "Back to Blue"—this fall with a global media push that includes the brand's return to TV after a hiatus since 2009, as well as print and outdoor advertising, social media, in-store promotions and digital marketing. In fact, Gap will be the first brand to take over all mobile ads on Tumblr for one day, August 29.
"Pop culture doesn't really start on TV anymore," Rachel Tipograph, Gap's global director of digital and social media, told Mashable. "Pop culture starts on the Internet. When you think about what community is creating pop culture on the Internet, it's Tumblr."
The Tumblr campaign includes a content creation contest, where the winning work will earn a spot on Gap's Tumblr and be turned into Tumblr mobile ads. There are also nearly 10 "Back to Blue Moments" videos on its YouTube page.
The impetus for "Back to Blue" is two-fold, according to Seth Farbman, Global Chief Marketing Officer for Gap.Continue reading...
brands under fire
Posted by Sheila Shayon on August 1, 2013 03:47 PM
Lululemon Athletica is becoming quite the newsmaker. Since the yoga apparel brand made headlines back in March after pulling its proprietary 'luon' yoga pants off shelves due to "sheerness," the company can't seem to stay out of the limelight.
After ousting its chief product officer, losing its CEO and being berated by disappointed customers, the brand is now under fire again for an offense that has become a common topic among today's clothing giants. In an article by The Huffington Post, former Lululemon employees accused the brand of purposely shunning plus-size customers, relegating larger-sized apparel to a "heap" in the backs of stores.
While most of the merchandise was displayed "out on the floor, hung on the walls, or folded neatly in cabinets," larger sizes, such as 10s and 12s, were not stocked on those same shelves, and were rarely offered in the latest styles and prints. "All the other merchandise in the store was kind of sacred, but these were thrown in a heap," former employee Elizabeth Licorish told HuffPost. "It was definitely discriminatory to those who wear larger sizes."Continue reading...
Posted by Sheila Shayon on July 30, 2013 06:15 PM
Dear Nike: "Somewhere in Swoosh Central, there's been an oversight."
At least that's what sneaker enthusiasts Emily Hodgson and Emilie Riis, founders of Purple Unicorn Planet, think. The pair started the website to showcase all of the cool, "men's only" style sneakers on the market with the hope of influencing companies like Nike to make them in women's sizes. Many shoe companies neglect to create styles that use custom colors, materials or patterns in women's sizes, forcing some to wear sneakers designed for men and others to just lose out.Continue reading...
Posted by Mark J. Miller on July 9, 2013 11:39 AM
With a commitment to making a "Better World," Nike is determined to produce more environmentally conscious, and sustainably innovative, products. And it's not just looking at its own branded products, either. The sports apparel giant has released a new mobile app (now available for Apple's iOS devices) called Making with the lofty goal of helping designers and the fashion industry (as well as consumers) decide what source materials are the most environmentally responsible.
Using information from the students at London College of Fashion’s Centre for Sustainable Fashion as well as the Nike Materials Sustainability Index, the app “ranks materials used in apparel manufacturing in terms of the use of water, types of chemistry, amount of energy and the levels of waste required during production,” Sustainable Business Oregon reports.
"Innovation is in Nike's DNA, and sustainability is an integral part of Nike's design process," said Lee Holman, Nike apparel design VP, in a press release. "We've created the Making app to empower any designer around the world to make better materials choices in the initial stages of the innovation process to ultimately create products that are better for consumers and better for the planet."Continue reading...
Posted by Kristen Van Nest on July 5, 2013 01:16 PM
Founded in 2004, Thrillist started as a guide to New York City for recent male graduates. Today, Thrillist Media Group generates over $40 million in revenue , 45 percent of which comes from its e-commerce site, JackThreads, which it acquired in 2010 to complement its content offeringson its Thrillist and Crosby Press sites.
Unlike most media companies, Thrillist has over half a million credit card numbers on hand. The seamless shopping experience, where men can discover and purchase product on the same site, means that the user is more engaged and more likely to have intent to buy. “They’ve got their wallet in hand. They’re looking for recommendations and what to do and what to buy,” Eric Ashman, Thrillist Media Group's strategic advisor told brandchannel. “Reading GQ, your feet are up on the coffee table, you’re leaning back. And when you’re [on Thrillist], you’re leaning forward and looking for ideas and looking for recommendations and things to share with your friends.”
Refinery29, like Thrillist, is also at the forefront of seamlessly joining content and commerce. With 5 million visitors per month, Refinery29 focuses on building brand loyalty for the brands advertised on its site, but without a major complementary online store.
Whether it's driving sales or driving loyalty, both sites utilize and prioritize content over commerce.Continue reading...
brands under fire
Posted by Sheila Shayon on July 3, 2013 04:13 PM
Lululemon has been hit with a lawsuit from a shareholder accusing the company, founder and Chairman Dennis "Chip" Wilson and departed CEO Christine Day of "defrauding shareholders by hiding defects in yoga pants whose sheerness led to a costly recall, and concealing talks that led to the sudden departure of its chief executive," Reuters reports.
Tuesday's lawsuit, which was filed by Houssam Alkhoury, who owns 7,500 shares, follows a previous lawsuit that was filed in May by the Hallandale Beach Police Officers and Firefighters' Personnel Retirement Fund, which claims Lululemon's compensation committee voted to "boost the maximum payout of the executive bonuses plan just before a $60 million recall of yoga pants," raising executive bonus plans as much as one-third when management knew of the imminent sheerness debacle.
The dust has yet to settle from the Canadian company's March recall, which pulled 17 percent of its black luon yoga pants from shelves after it was revealed that the garments were too sheer to wear. While shares have experienced double-digit drops since, the brand, at least on the stock market, has seemed to recover fairly well.Continue reading...
Posted by Mark J. Miller on June 27, 2013 06:09 PM
There are plenty of folks who don’t think you need anything special on your feet to be a good runner. There are some—like Ethiopian Abebe Bikila, who won the 1960 Rome Olympics marathon barefoot—who don’t think you need anything at all to be the best in the race.
Adidas (and Nike, for that matter) aren’t in that group, of course, and keep upping the design ante to show runners the world over how much better they can be wearing their innoative products.
Now adidas, fresh off the heels of launching the Boost running shoe earlier this year with the help of Britney Spears, is debuting another running shoe, the Springblade—a model billed as its priciest, and most advanced, to date.Continue reading...
Posted by Mark J. Miller on June 20, 2013 02:39 PM
Men's Wearhouse founder George Zimmer may have been able to guarantee the way you'd look in his suits, but that same comfort didn't extend to his own job. In fact, Men’s Wearhouse tossed the 64-year-old Zimmer out the door Wednesday after he spent 40 years building the brand, starting with the first location that he opened with his college roommates.
No reason was given for the ouster but analysts suggested to The New York Times “that the conflict might be over the company’s efforts to appeal to younger customers, who could have been hampered by Mr. Zimmer’s continued presence in ads.” A person familiar with the matter told Bloomberg that Zimmer, who still owns about 3.5 percent of the company’s shares, and his handpicked CEO, Doug Ewert, have had “repeated clashes” about buying back shares and selling off apparel chain K&G.Continue reading...


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More patent acquisitions shed light on what Apple plans on doing with its upcoming flagship phone, the iPhone 6. According to a recent report published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, Apple acquired another patent describing the use of passive audio call screening through an off-site voicemail service. In theory, the feature can be used in mobile devices like the iPhone. Can Apple create a mobile phone with landline features?
The patent goes by No. 8,666,034 entitled "Audio call screening for hosted voicemail systems." According to the patent, Apple may include a consistent landline technology to mobile handsets. According to the patent, the existing technology will let users to monitor or track screen messages sent at a hosted voicemail system originating from a telephone terminal.
Incoming calls that should come to the telephone terminal will be redirected to the voicemail system at once. Likewise, the same process will happen even after the system tries to connect the incoming call to the terminal. Even when the caller is in the process of leaving the message for voicemail, the system will establish a connection between the voicemail system, incoming call and telephone. This setup will let the person hear the message in real time. This helps the user to decide whether he or she should or should not answer the call.
The user can let the caller finish the message or answer immediately. In one edition of the system, the telephone terminal comes with a function allowing the user to simply open the channel for tracking messages. The system will offer a completely bi-directional connection should the user answer the call. The telephone terminal and supporting switch will work together to manage how users can track and take calls.
Back in 2011, there has been a consortium of tech firms including EMC, Ericsson, Research in Motion, Microsoft, Sony and Apple called the Rockstat. The consortium applied for a $4.5 billion- worth of patent collection. That is, over 6,000 Nortel patents. Later on, reports claimed that Apple footed a considerable amount of the bill. The company spent $2.6 billion for the project.
Although the Rockstar consortium has been working on key patents as opposed to Samsung and Google, many of these properties have been going into Apple slowly. The same thing applies for the '034 patent.


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POMQUET: An Antigonish County entrepreneur has a goal to bridge the gap in the shop local movement between local businesses and conscious consumers following the significant impacts the pandemic has had on small, local businesses.
The Little Shop Box is a subscription box company that curates collections of locally-sourced luxuries, specifically from small businesses across the country, and ships them to doorsteps across Canada.
Antigonish native Jenny MacDonald, who lived in Guysborough for the past five years and has now settled in Pomquet, where she bases her business out of her home, suggested The Little Shop Box is aimed to make the “shop local” experience easy for those looking to support local, wherever they are.
“Shopping locally is a growing priority for many,” MacDonald told The Reporter. “We are working to create connections between these conscious consumers and local small businesses through convenience and quality experience.”
Each box collection features five-to-six items and runs the gamut with everything from home décor, fashion accessories, bath, body and beauty care, artwork, eco-friendly items, and more. As a subscriber, members receive four seasonal collections each year, or a customer can buy a single season’s box if they are looking to test the waters, or gift it to a loved one.
“Being a customer of subscription boxes, I think it’s a super fun way to discover new things, and everybody loves to get a gift in the mail,” MacDonald said. “One of the things I’m very proud of and very, very intentional about is this focus on sourcing the items from small businesses, means that every time we put together a box, we’re putting money into the pockets of small businesses in Canada.”
With a business model of buying in bulk, there is an automatic injection of cash for small business, which she advised could be the difference of survival and going out of business throughout the pandemic.
Other than her own personal love of participating in subscription box services, the entrepreneur, who also a marketing coordinator at the Coady International Institute, indicated the motivation behind her business was two-fold.
“I wanted to offer something that people can enjoy, that will brighten their day during this time,” MacDonald said. “And importantly, I wanted to do something to support our small and local businesses during what has been a very trying year for everyone.”
She said they have already received great feedback from their small business partners on how these partnerships have supported them by both creating quick cash flow through her bulk wholesale orders and by introducing new customers to the companies for longer-term benefits.
The company embarked on a soft launch with a collection called the Peek-A-Boo box which debuted on April 1 and was sold out by May 6.
“That was absolutely incredible; I definitely did a happy dance,” MacDonald said. “That was the first box, we hadn’t opened up the subscription model yet, and that was to make sure we were getting it right before going big.”
After closing on their first quarter in sales, they have already sold $12,000 in subscriptions, something the owner said she’s incredibly grateful to everyone who has supported her new venture so far.
“It’s so rewarding to receive feedback from businesses when they see an increase in their sales and from our customers when they open their collection of goodies,” MacDonald said of the wonderful community it has created. “It’s really a win-win.”
The purchase of a single box supports at least six small businesses, while one annual subscription would benefit at least 24 businesses, however the business’ commitment to supporting local does not stop there.
As a social entreprise, The Little Shop Box has committed to donate 5 per cent of profits to organizations working on important community issues such as poverty reduction, affordable housing, food scarcity, anti-violence, and human rights.
Even though it’s only undergone a soft launch, as the Fall Box is scheduled to be released in October 2021, the brand new company is already starting to gain recognition.
As voting for the 3rd Annual Canadian Subscription Box Awards hosted by A Year of Boxes ends on July 30, The Little Shop Box is nominated in the Best Box that Gives Back category.
“I’m getting over myself just talking about it, because another piece of the business is we’ve dedicated 5 per cent of profits to be donated back into communities,” MacDonald said. “As a small business, and as a brand new business that 5 per cent isn’t a lot, yet. But our hope is to grow that to a point where that 5 per cent is really making a significant financial contribution.”
The Little Shop Box has already made their first donation and it was to residential school survivors, as it just couldn’t wait until they had secure profitability.
For more information on The Little Shop Box, you can visit their web site: https://www.thelittleshopbox.com/.


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“Apple’s new iPad debuts a new VGA-style video output option, a first for the company’s mobile device lineup,” Daniel Eran Dilger reports for AppleInsider.
“Like the existing iPhone and iPod touch, the iPad can output video via the same composite or component video cables to present standard definition, analog video with roughly 480 lines of resolution,” Dilger reports. “The iPad’s new VGA-connector option delivers PC style video at the device’s native 1024×768 resolution. Existing iPhone and iPod models won’t work with the new VGA cable, as they aren’t designed to support higher resolution outputs than they can display.”
Dilger reports, “The iPad gets the new VGA output option primarily to support video projectors, which will allow business users to present Keynote presentations directly from the device.”
Read more in the full article here.


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Google appoints Stanley Chen to Head Greater China Sales, Operations
Alphabet Inc’s Google has appointed Stanley Chen as its managing director of Greater China sales and operations,
the company said in a statement on Monday.
Chen, who will be based in Shanghai, was most recently general manager of Google Taiwan, a role he held for the last eight years, as per source.
Stanley Chen headed up sales in Taiwan for Apple, the US Tech Group before joining Google in December 2011.
Sundar Pichai, Google CEO, told the US House of Representatives judiciary committee in December that Google was looking into what a search engine in China would look like, it had no plans to launch a service in China. But, he did not rule out doing so in the future.
China is still an important market for Google, which runs a big advertising business and also employs engineers, including an AI research centre in Beijing.


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MONTEREY COUNTY — Grants are still available to local small businesses in Monterey County that have suffered financial losses due to Covid-19.
The Monterey County CARES Small Business Relief Program, administered by the Monterey County Workforce Development Board on behalf of the County Board of Supervisors, will award grants of up to $10,000 next week to about 40 to 50 small businesses that are operated and headquartered in the county.
A total of $425,000 in CARES Act (Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act) funding is available for distribution.
Eligible businesses must have no more than 50 full-time equivalent employees and have experienced economic hardship since the shelter-in-place order effective March 18 caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
“Businesses located in unincorporated areas, in industry sectors disproportionately impacted by the crisis or who have not previously received Covid-19-related financial assistance will be given priority; however, these are not requirements,” according to the Monterey County Workforce Development Board in a news release.
The funding awarded may be used for reimbursement of payroll and rent or lease expenses incurred during the period of economic impact, as well as equipment or supplies purchased in order to reopen or continue operating safely, such as Personal Protective Equipment or outdoor dining equipment.
Small business applicants have until Nov. 15 to complete an online application at the Monterey County Workforce Development Board website. If approved, they will be notified of their awards by Nov. 20.


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Boosting manufacturing on the Central Coast
This week Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation, Ed Husic joined Member for Dobell, Emma McBride to announce that an Albanese Labor Government will boost manufacturing jobs on the north end of the Central Coast by funding a Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub.
(L-R): Paula Martin – Business NSW, Gail Cotrill - Open Shutters, Steven Hyde - Executive Chairman TrendPac, John Mouland from RDA Central Coast, Ed Husic, Emma McBride, Peter Crane – Chair of Central Coast Industry Connect, Ian Hemphill from Herbies Spices, Frank Sammit from CCIC, Alex Blow from CCIC, and Professor David Cameron Smith from UON.
13 May 2022
THE Coast has a strong history of manufacturing, especially in food and beverage, but currently has no pilot facilities for product development.
As part of this commitment, Labor will invest $17.14 million to create a Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub on the Coast, which will be backed up by $37.5 million from industry.
It will be managed by not-for-profit manufacturing network, Central Coast Industry Connect (CCIC).
This will create 285 jobs, made up of 85 during construction and another 200 ongoing jobs in food product manufacturing.
This project has the full support of CCIC and their partners TrendPac, Regional Development Australia, and the University of Newcastle.
Local food manufacturers Sanitarium, Mars Food, Sara Lee, and Agrana are set to come on board as collaborators.
Ed Husic said, ““The Coalition has completely neglected to deliver good manufacturing jobs on the Central Coast. There’s huge potential here with industry ready to act yet the Coalition has never done the right thing by the Coast when it comes to manufacturing jobs. Labor is determined to reverse that with this investment. It’s thanks to Emma McBride’s advocacy that Labor will make this commitment.”
The Food Manufacturing Innovation Hub is strategically located near a unique mix of local and national food and beverage manufacturers and smaller artisan food producers.
The Hub will drive economic growth in the region and help the Coast expand its unique food and beverage market.
This investment is urgently needed to boost employment and create local jobs, given one in four people on the Coast commute outside the region for work every day.
With the Coast expected to grow its population by another 75,500 people by 2036, it is vital we create more jobs in the region to keep up with that growth.
Only a future Labor government will boost manufacturing jobs on the Coast, securing Australia’s supply chains and create more secure, well-paid jobs.
The hub will be based at Lisarow and will house a purpose-built facility designed to grow local food manufacturing businesses and attract more manufacturers to the region.
It will support small and medium food producers to scale up their business and create more jobs for the Coast, giving firms access to commercial production facilities.
Emma Mc Bride said, “The Central Coast has a proud history of food and beverage manufacturing. We produce premium products that are enjoyed here and around the world. The Coast needs proper investment to boost local manufacturing and secure more well-paid jobs for locals for the future.”
Under the Coalition, Australia is dead last on manufacturing self-sufficiency. Labor will back local industry and help grow manufacturing jobs through our $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund and Buy Australia Plan.
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Arizona food company JBS Tolleson Inc. is recalling more than 12 million pounds of beef that might be contaminated with salmonella.
The recall is an expansion of an Oct. 4 recall of 6.5 million pounds of non-intact and ground beef packaged between July 26 and Sept. 7, the US Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) announced Tuesday.
The products were sold nationwide and have the stamp “EST. 267” inside the USDA mark of inspection.
The beef is linked to nearly 246 cases of salmonella illness in 26 states since August. An additional 16 case patients provided receipts or shopper card numbers for product traceback investigations, and at least three salmonella patients had JBS ground beef not part of the Oct. 4 recall.
No deaths were reported as of Nov. 15.
Eating food contaminated with salmonella can cause salmonellosis, a bacterial illness. Symptoms such as fever, diarrhea and abdominal cramps appear within 12 to 72 hours after consuming the contaminated product. The illness lasts for four to seven days and usually goes away on its own, but sometimes becomes severe and requires hospitalization. Elderly people, children and those with compromised immune systems are more likely to develop severe illness.
The FSIS warning included a concern that the recalled beef products may be in people’s freezers. Products should be thrown out or returned to the place of purchase, FSIS said.


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Smithers expands sales efforts in India
Smithers Scientific Services Inc. has entered into an agreement with Akron Test Measurement Systems Integrators Pvt. Ltd. to provide sales and marketing services through its office in Chennai, India.
“We are expanding our sales efforts in India and Sri Lanka to meet the growing needs in the rubber and tire markets,” says Smithers President Jim Dowey. “This move facilitates the company’s ability to provide customer support and sales services throughout the region.”
Chennai-based Akron Test Measurement Systems Integrators specializes in
custom-designed scientific test engineering systems in the automotive and tire industries.
For more information about Smithers' activities, visit www.smithersscientific.com.


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VMworld: Microsoft Goes On Warpath Against vSphere 5 Licensing
This year, Microsoft is focusing on vRAM, the new licensing model VMware introduced with vSphere 5 in July. VMware's decision to shift its vSphere licensing entitlement from the number of server cores to the amount of memory that customers allocate to virtual machines on the host (vRAM) could lead to higher costs for customers, according to Edwin Yuen, director of virtualization and cloud strategy at Microsoft.
"The concern is not just how it impacts customers today, but how it will impact them going forward," Yuen said in an interview prior to the opening of VMware 2011 earlier this week.
VMware boosted its initial vSphere 5 vRAM allotments after customers went ballistic, and the pricing controversy has since subsided. Nevertheless, Microsoft sees vRAM as a golden opportunity to attract more customers to Hyper-V.
In fact, since VMware introduced vRAM, Microsoft has heard reports of VMware customers planning to hold off on upgrading to vSphere 5 and taking a long, hard look at Hyper-V, Yuen said.
"I think we will definitely see customers that will come over as a result of the vRAM change," Yuen told CRN. "VMware shifted from an unlimited model to one where every time an administrator presses a button, they'll have to think about the financial costs. It really hurts those customers that buy higher end servers."
Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, a Fairfax, Va.-based Microsoft partner, believes vRAM could help steer customers toward Hyper-V, particularly in the low end of the market. "I think VMware has struggled in the low end of the SMB space, and [vRAM] isn’t going to make it any easier," Sobel said.
None of this is at all new: Microsoft has been hammering the cost advantages of Hyper-V server virtualization ever since launching it in 2008. But there's a new urgency in its message given that virtualization costs are directly tied to the costs of building private clouds, and Yuen was eager to note the advantages Microsoft enjoys in this regard.
"Our cloud is still licensed on a per-processor, per-server basis, and the customer decides the size of the VM and the density," Yuen said. "As customers buy next generation servers, and get more power out of the systems, they'll get more of the economic benefits. In the VMware model, only VMware gets the benefits."
According to Microsoft's analysis of the costs of each company's private cloud offerings over a three-year period, Microsoft's private cloud is one-fifth the cost of a comparable VMware private cloud when configured for 6 VMs per processor. At 15 VMs per processor, Microsoft's private cloud is one-eighth the cost of VMware's.
"Larger VMs, scale-up scenarios, and memory over-commitment will lead to higher costs on VMware," said Yuen." If you increase the density of VMs, the cost differential grows."
Microsoft and VMware have a history of clashing during VMworld. In 2008, Microsoft handed out poker chips to VMworld attendees along with fliers that highlighted the costs of VMware virtualization. In 2009, Microsoft and Citrix complained about being relegated to small 10 x 10-foot booths on the show floor and shut out of promotional opportunities offered to other exhibitors.
Last year, Microsoft placed a full-page advertisement in USA Today warning VMware customers of vendor lock-in and other alleged problems.
It remains to be seen whether this year's campaign will have any effect on the balance of power in the server virtualization space, but Microsoft clearly thinks vRAM is going to end up being a major windfall.


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Browse and search Leo Apotheker and more at WRKO
computer systems, software and technology services. HP first considered breaking off the PC unit three years ago, when Leo Apotheker was CEO. But the idea was controversial and Whitman rejected it after she took his place in 2011 and launched a lengthy
simultaneous management problems. CEO Mark Hurd was forced to resign in 2010 in an ethics scandal, and his successor, Leo Apotheker , was ousted less than a year later after a string of disappointing earnings reports and the botched handling of key
Audio & Video
Jeff Macke from Yahoo! Finance tells us What's Up On Wall Street.
Suzanne O'Halloran from Bloomberg tells us What's Up on Wall Street. We also find out that the Medfield native, turned NYC resident, still runs on Dunkin'!


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Garde Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Expedia, Inc. (NASDAQ:EXPE) during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 4,040 shares of the online travel company’s stock, valued at approximately $602,000.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in EXPE. Edge Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Expedia during the first quarter valued at $126,000. Bessemer Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Expedia by 16.6% in the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 1,039 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $155,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co boosted its position in shares of Expedia by 18.7% in the second quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 1,059 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $158,000 after buying an additional 167 shares in the last quarter. State of Alaska Department of Revenue purchased a new position in shares of Expedia during the first quarter valued at $146,000. Finally, Point72 Asia Hong Kong Ltd boosted its position in shares of Expedia by 6,905.6% in the first quarter. Point72 Asia Hong Kong Ltd now owns 1,261 shares of the online travel company’s stock valued at $159,000 after buying an additional 1,243 shares in the last quarter. 81.22% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of Expedia, Inc. (EXPE) opened at 143.71 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.85. Expedia, Inc. has a 52 week low of $105.62 and a 52 week high of $161.00. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.79 billion, a PE ratio of 67.63 and a beta of 0.92.
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 14th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 24th will be paid a dividend of $0.30 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, August 22nd. This represents a $1.20 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. This is an increase from Expedia’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. Expedia’s payout ratio is 53.08%.
ILLEGAL ACTIVITY WARNING: “Garde Capital Inc. Purchases New Stake in Expedia, Inc. (EXPE)” was published by Community Financial News and is owned by of Community Financial News. If you are accessing this news story on another website, it was copied illegally and republished in violation of U.S. & international copyright legislation. The original version of this news story can be accessed at https://www.com-unik.info/2017/08/19/garde-capital-inc-purchases-new-position-in-expedia-inc-expe-updated-updated.html.
Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Credit Suisse Group set a $151.00 target price on Expedia and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Sunday, April 30th. BidaskClub downgraded Expedia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 9th. Zacks Investment Research lowered Expedia from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 2nd. SunTrust Banks, Inc. initiated coverage on Expedia in a report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $190.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Jaffray Companies reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $173.00 target price on shares of Expedia in a report on Friday, July 28th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $160.81.
In other Expedia news, EVP Mark D. Okerstrom sold 12,500 shares of Expedia stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.00, for a total transaction of $1,875,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 71,248 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,687,200. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Victor Kaufman sold 35,598 shares of Expedia stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.29, for a total value of $5,314,425.42. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 167,673 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,031,902.17. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 134,326 shares of company stock valued at $20,478,885 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 20.95% of the company’s stock.
Expedia Company Profile
Expedia, Inc is an online travel company. The Company operates through four segments: Core Online Travel Agencies (Core OTA), trivago, Egencia and HomeAway. The Company’s Core OTA segment provides a range of travel and advertising services to its customers across the world, through a range of brands, including Expedia.com and Hotels.com in the United States, and localized Expedia and Hotels.com Websites throughout the world, Orbitz.com, Expedia Affiliate Network, Hotwire.com, Travelocity, Wotif Group, CarRentals.com and Classic Vacations.
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The founders of a startup brewery hinging its launch on using a novel method to reach more investors hit their nearly $1.23 million fundraising goal – and then some — in just a few months.
By dusting off a little-used provision allowing companies to advertise investment opportunities online and in the media, Bryn Mawr Brewing Co. far outpaced more traditional fundraising efforts that exclusively tap into high-net-worth accredited investors.
Using a framework enacted as part of the 2012 Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act (or JOBS), brewery cofounder Dan Justesen and his partners created an online investment portal accessible to anyone. Companies were historically limited to accredited investors and private campaigns.
“Fundamentally, we chose this option which is unique in this marketplace because I don’t know enough rich people personally to do a traditional accredited-only offering,” Justesen said.
All told, the brewery – set to open in April in north Minneapolis – drew about 40 investors, most of them injecting between $20,000 and $30,000 into the budding business. Two investors put up $100,000 and a couple together contributed $170,000, Justesen said.
“I kind of figured it would be almost all people coming in around $20,000 – instead of buying a sports car this year, they bought an investment in the brewery,” he said. “But we have had people put some significant amounts of money into this.”
Other breweries in town have struggled to raise half as much money in twice as much time, according to local market watchers. Bryn Mawr had to turn away interested investors after it hit its goal, proving its method — made possible by federal rule 506(c) — can be a game-changer.
Including its four founders and initial staff members, the number of Bryn Mawr partners will hover near 50. The wide response reflects rising interest in more inclusive fundraising methods, including equity crowdfunding.
MNvest, a state-specific program to expand investor pools for Minnesota businesses, is expected to officially launch next year after legislators signed off on it earlier this year. Bryn Mawr initially expected to use MNvest, but didn’t want to wait out a lengthy rulemaking process.
Instead, the group leveraged a 506(c) offering to advertise on Facebook in a move that drew interest from around the country and raised the brewery’s profile locally. The framework also allowed Justesen to talk to the media about the effort, prohibited in more traditional approaches.
But most of the fundraising effort fell to family and friends of friends.
A series of meet-and-greet events at the brewery drummed up support and raised awareness of the venture. Between three events, hundreds of people showed up and several helped to push Bryn Mawr to its fundraising cap.
Still, the accessibility of the Web portal was invaluable, Justesen said. The company could track log-ins and follow up with people they knew were interested, but more importantly it provided the freedom for prospective investors to get comfortable with the business in their own way.
“It’s an incredible tool in terms of giving people, with the website, the ability to look at the information on their own time, in their own place,” Justesen said.
Technical difficulties early on forced the Bryn Mawr owners to begin pushing their campaign in July rather than June 1, their initial target date. But it didn’t take long to catch up.
By the end of July, the brewery had raised $255,000. About three months later, that tally shot up by $1 million.
Still, the process wasn’t always a smooth one for Justesen and his partners. After smoothing out the glitches that pushed back the launch date, some investors’ email providers filtered out important messages from Bryn Mawr as spam.
Meanwhile, the Bryn Mawr owners found themselves in a crash course on the finance jargon familiar to the seasoned investment professionals who typically use investment portals.
But they figured it out, and as pioneers in the Twin Cities marketplace, the Bryn Mawr founders are considering opening a side business to apply lessons they learned as consultants for other startups as equity crowdfunding picks up steam nationwide.
“We’ve talked about the idea of … helping other brewery startups, preferably in other markets, raise money and do the same thing that we’ve done,” Justesen said. “We would not be sitting with an oversubscribed offer in three months in this market with the same story without this tool.”


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Despite the poor economy, 2010 was a record year for the Lynnwood Convention Center.
It grossed more than $2 million, 10 percent more than 2009 and 23 percent more since 2006. Facility users also gave management company SMG their highest customer satisfaction ratings in the center’s history.
“As the economy headed south in 2008, we had to find a new way of doing business that would minimize the impact of the recession while maintaining our focus on providing a first class guest experience,” said General Manager Kelvin Moore.
It’s estimated the convention center generated $17.3 million in direct and indirect economic impact for the local economy. “The Lynnwood Convention Center is a catalyst of Lynnwood’s economic development and revitalization of our City Center,” said David Kleitsch, Lynnwood’s Economic Development Director.
In 2010 more than 80,000 people attended 447 events at the convention center.


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The ceramic variant of OnePlus X will be available for purchase on 24 November, but only in limited numbers, the company has announced. This model will be available with a ceramic-specific invite, and there will only be 10,000 units, the company had confirmed previously.
The ceramic model costs €369 (£259), whereas the new Onyx black glass variant of the phone which went on sale in early November comes with a suggested retail price of €269 (£189).
For those looking at purchasing it without an invite, the phone has been on sale via pop-up events in a number of cities across the globe such as Paris, London, Berlin, Rome, Hong Kong and Los Angeles. While the pop-up events in most countries have concluded, there is one event remaining for users in Los Angeles, which is scheduled for 21 November.
Meanwhile, the company has also announced sales for users in US and Canada. Alongside this, the company has announced a contest to win invites. Those who wish to participate in the competition need to compose photos using the Reflexion app, available for both Android and iOS.
Share the photos on Instagram and you will be eligible to win one of the 1,000 invites for OnePlus X. The lucky winner of the contest will be able to win an Onyx OnePlus X phone. More details about the contest are available on the OnePlus forum.


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Tonight's club meeting was a busy one for sure! Paulette had a lot to talk about regarding the updated bylaws. Susan H. shared that the club will be aquiring a tv, camera and tripods to use at monthly meetings to make it easy for everyone to see the demos and hands on project on the screen without having to leave their seats. A new production crew of club members was formed to be in charge of the equiptment and running it at the meetings.
The board members along with a couple other club members met last week and it was decided that from now on all board members will have a 2 year term. There will no longer be a 1/2 price membership for people joining the club half way through the year. And all members will pay full dues from now on.
It was voted on and passed tonight that the club raise annual dues to $30 per member which will begin in October.
Barb H. shared a tool of a plastic pastry mat to easily roll out fondant on that is far less expensive that other mats.
Pam and Ellie shared a recipe and samples too for a crusting buttercream.
EVCDS employee, Rebecca talked about some new edible glitter sprinkle blends they are now carrying in the store.
Kim lead the hands on project making fondant high heel shoes.
More photos from tonight's meeting on the gallery page.
A brand new website has been made to contain the club's history starting from 1995 to 2014. Please check out information and photos through the years at
Cottage Food Law in Arizona
The AZ State Legislature passed a brand new Cottage Food law that was signed by the Governor on April 13, 2011. This law means that home bakers will legally be able to bake and sell baked and confectionary foods from home kitchens. Bakers will not have to have a business license or any inspections. The Department of Health Services will require that each person gets a food handler's card and an online registry of food preparers that are authorized to prepare food for commercial purposes will be set up.
"Baked and confectionary goods that are not potentially hazardous and that are prepared in a kitchen of a private home for commercial purposes if packaged with a label that clearly states the address of the maker, includes contact information for the maker, lists all the ingredients in the product and discloses that the product was prepared in a home. The label must be given to the final consumer of the product. If the product was made in a facility for developmentally disabled individuals, the label must also disclose that fact. The person preparing the food or supervising the food preparation must obtain a food handler's card or certificate if one is issued by the local county and must register with an online registry established by the department pursuant to paragraph 13 of this subsection. For the purposes of this subdivision, "potentially hazardous" means baked and confectionary goods that meet the requirements of the food code published by the United States food and drug administration, as modified and incorporated by reference by the department by rule."
This law goes into effect July 20, 2011.


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Consumers looking for a new motor to put in the garage of their property investment in Dubai may be interested in a model from BMW's 7 Series.
The manufacturer has announced sales in the Middle East of these vehicles have increased by 73 per cent during the first half of 2009.
It also revealed the UAE was another strong market, with the number of autos sold in Dubai and Abu Dhabi rising 32 and 142 per cent respectively.
Director of sales and marketing for the company's Middle East group James Crichton said the results were very encouraging, adding the 7 Series offers the best in engineering and technology.
"We are confident our flagship model will continue to set the trend in the luxury performance class and maintain BMW's leading position at the forefront of automotive innovation," he asserted.
Earlier this week, it was announced auto importer AGMC had installed its 6,000th vehicle with the BMW ConnectedDrive technology.


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by Tom Fels (@thomasfels) Oh my, it seems we’ve hit a collective stumbling block, where the future we’ve all been building for ourselves has proven fundamentally unsustainable, given the resource constraints of our planet —and, to make matters worse, is an imminent threat to our very existence.
While some, like Elon Musk, are looking beyond Earth’s borders for solutions, many business leaders, scientists, consumers and otherwise spirited individuals the world over are baying for radical economic change to avoid our looming demise. They’re probably right, given the first five threats in the 2020 World Economic Forum (WEF) risks report for the coming decade are all related to the climate crisis; so, while the scale of it is beyond daunting, we must act now.
Many of the answers to address the pending tipping point and stay under the 1.5C to 2C global-warming target of the Paris Agreement have been available to us for some time. It’s only in very recent weeks and months that the global media machine has spun the story to such dizzying heights that the world’s most-influential capitalists have been stirred to action.
Catalysts for change
Among the leading activists, “TIME’s Person of the Year” Greta Thunberg has been the spark for what’s likely the largest climate strike in history, with over 6m people having gathered in streets around the globe in September 2019 alone. Love her or hate her, she is asking the tough questions of today’s regime.
In response to the pressing paradigm shift, Larry Fink, CEO of the world’s largest asset manager, BlackRock, recently made a firm statement in an open letter to CEOs, asserting that we’re on the “edge of a fundamental redefining of finance”, and that “in the near future — and sooner than most anticipate — there will be a significant reallocation of capital.” In short, he’s saying that climate risk is finance risk; our ecosystem is our economy. And we can’t afford to wait.
What politicians have failed to successfully do through policy creation and enforcement, consumers are demanding must be done. In the middle of the two lies an unfathomably powerful vehicle for pressing change home: our business sector.
Capitalism has long been the most-effective, -productive and -innovative form of exchange — the lifeblood of human advancement. But it’s clear to see that the system is now broken. According to Global Footprint Network, humanity is currently using nature 1.75 times faster than our planet’s ecosystems can regenerate, equivalent to 1.75 Earths per year. Global leaders in Davos have now been asked by WEF to set a nett-zero target for carbon emissions. The writing is on the wall.
What happens next
What we’re entering into is an era of two radical shifts to our economy, past the fourth industrial revolution (4IR), characterised by rapid technological transformation (the information technology age) to the fifth industrial revolution or Society 5.0 (a term coined by the Japanese government), in which production, consumption and life will be oriented towards a sustainable (even regenerative), inclusive existence powered by digital technology.
This fundamentally alters the way that organisations view value creation and distribution, stakeholder-orientation and the kind of leadership culture that’s required to guide this transformative change.
Every active businessperson is both a cause of the crisis (calculate your own carbon footprint here) and a cog in the solution. What we do inside and outside of our businesses can and will change the status quo. It’s a problem that extends far beyond marketing, to the very fabric of organisational philosophy, construct and operation. Yet marketing can help; it can be the mouthpiece of brands manifesting change and championing the underserved, of embedding hope in the consciousness of society and creating purpose-led futures.
We are indeed entering an age of more-human, -conscious capitalism that will better serve the world, all stakeholders and, ultimately, our existence.
This is a defining time in our collective history where every little bit counts; it’s time to do work that matters to us all.
- The Guardian.com
- Global Footprint Network
Tom Fels (@thomasfels) is a mission-driven brand expert, keynote speaker and an evangelist for conscious business. Recently CEO at Singita and Nurun and group MD of Publicis Machine (now Machine_), he’s overseen local and global award-winning communications, digital and hospitality businesses. With experience in guiding some of the world’s top brands across the areas of business strategy, digital transformation and marketing, Tom is currently an independent strategic advisor, focusing on creating visionary, high-growth futures for change-making organisations. A past MarkLives.com contributor, his new monthly column, “Mission”, will offer perspectives that motivate a more-conscious approach to business and inspire change.


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LA Tech Summit 2016 in Silicon Beach
LA Tech Summit is an ideal place to gain more insight into Silicon Beach
by Jessica Ferguson, Brand Ambassador @ Vroozi
About The LA Technology Summit in Silicon Beach
Meet with Entrepreneurs, Investors, Decision Makers and Influencers…
LA Tech Summit October 25, 2016.
Meet the hottest companies in LA and learn what makes LA Tech; the most innovative technology ecosystem in the nation.
LA Tech Summit will feature some of the most successful entrepreneurs and venture capitalists in the world.
Vroozi to Attend LA Tech Summit 2016
At the heart of Technology & Innovation in Tech LA
Vroozi, the online procurement platform that supports your corporate smart spend strategy, is a brand that aims to simplify buying for your business and minimize wasted time, energy and physical resources. While the platform focuses on streamlining and increasing the efficiency of the procurement process, its mission also extends outside of the office space and into the community.
That is why Vroozi is eager and enthusiastic to join this week’s LA Tech Summit in Santa Monica.
Hosted right in the epicenter of Silicon Beach, the conference promises to connect startups, investors, incubators and thought leaders at the forefront of tech, finance and funding. Cornerstone OnDemand, the purveyor of the annual event, has earned a reputation for cultivating an informative, collaborative and reactive atmosphere for fellow techies to meet, mingle and learn from each other.
Vroozi is involved in the LA Community
Los Angeles’ Silicon Beach at the forefront of Digital Innovations
Vroozi operates on a global scale, and its team is made up of a rich variety of people from every background and ethnicity across the world. However, the founders chose to root their company in Los Angeles, because they truly believe the emerging “LA Tech” & Silicon Beach scenes are at the cutting edge of innovation and imagination.
Shaz Khan, Co-Founder & Chief Strategy Officer, says, “Los Angeles continues to exceed expectations and garner the best talent, ideation and disruptive systems across several industries. We look forward to further establishing ourselves in the LA community, meeting and partnering with likeminded organizations, and supporting the local tech ecosystem. This city has become our home, and we are excited to see the newest and boldest developments that are coming from it at the LA Tech Summit.”
Having secured its place in the procurement space, Vroozi is now interested in helping foster the local tech talent pool, entice new innovators to make LA their home base, and ultimately, make a meaningful impact on its industry, customers and community — all of which are opportunities available at this year’s conference.


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The potential of SAP's HANA in-memory computing engine permeated the agenda and had attendees' tongues wagging this week at the Tech Ed conference in Las Vegas, but the technology still has some maturing to do.
SAP has agreed to pay just over $US20 million to settle a criminal case brought against its TomorrowNow subsidiary.
Infor and its CEO, former Oracle co-president Charles Phillips, are hoping to jump-start the ERP (enterprise-resource-planning) software vendor's profile and revenues with Infor10, a major new rebranding and technology effort that was launched Tuesda...
SAP is in the middle of a sweeping "renewal" of its software portfolio, powered by the HANA (High Performance Analytic Appliance) in-memory computing engine, executive board member and technology chief Vishal Sikka said during a keynote address Tuesd...
SAP is hoping to spark more adoption of its Solution Manager platform for managing and monitoring SAP software environments, a new version of which was announced Tuesday during the Tech Ed conference in Las Vegas.
SAP customers looking to open iTunes-like enterprise app stores through Apple's Volume Purchase Program (VPP) will soon have the ability to manage and deploy the software securely thanks to new VPP support in the Sybase Afaria platform, SAP said Tues...
The family of specialized applications for SAP's HANA (High-Performance Analytic Appliance) in-memory computing engine is growing, with a new application that allows utilities to crunch information from smart meters, and another that companies can us...
Former SAP subsidiary TomorrowNow will plead guilty to criminal charges of copyright infringement for downloading software from Oracle's servers.
SAP is to buy 3-D visualization toolmaker Right Hemisphere in a bid to improve the user interfaces of its various lines of business software, the companies announced Tuesday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Oracle and a large New York law firm are in a legal dispute over $US1,500 that has likely already rung up many times that amount in costs, according to recent court documents in Oracle's lawsuit against third-party software support provider Rimini St...
A federal judge has overturned the $US1.3 billion judgment Oracle won against SAP in its corporate theft trial, according to a ruling made Thursday.
A reportedly serious security bug affecting the J2EE (Java 2 Platform Enterprise Edition) engine in SAP's NetWeaver middleware will be patched soon, SAP said Friday.
SAP is now offering its high-end MaxAttention support service to customers in China in response to increasing demand there for its ERP software, the company announced Thursday.
Ingram Micro's profits were dragged down for the second quarter in a row due to problems with an SAP implementation in Australia, the technology distributor said Thursday.
Though faring better than businesses in other sectors, technology companies have not escaped the market storm stirred up by reports of tepid economic growth and political squabbling over the U.S. deficit.
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First impression on unpacking the Q702 test unit was the solid feel and clean, minimalist styling.
For work use, Microsoft Word and Excel programs pre-installed on the device are adequate for preparing short documents.
The Fujitsu LifeBook UH574 allowed for great mobility without being obnoxiously heavy or clunky. Its twelve hours of battery life did not disappoint.
The screen was particularly good. It is bright and visible from most angles, however heat is an issue, particularly around the Windows button on the front, and on the back where the battery housing is located.
My first impression after unboxing the Q702 is that it is a nice looking unit. Styling is somewhat minimalist but very effective. The tablet part, once detached, has a nice weight, and no buttons or switches are located in awkward or intrusive positions.
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- CCContract Programmer (Internet/Intranet) 161019/P/615Asia
- FTMobile Delivery Manager / Studio LeadNSW


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the startup rundown
Fast Company decided it was time to check in on the Hipstamatic guys. How’ve things been since the Instagram acquisition made them look like the losers in the photo app head-to-head? Well, no one expected everything would be happiness and fun times. But the picture that emerges in the second installment of a three-part series on the company sounds a lot like Lord of the Flies set in Silicon Valley.
In the very first line, CEO Lucas Buick admits that, in the last year, the company has lost focus. Twitter expressed interest in an acquisition, sources say, but the idea wasn’t taken too seriously. Attempts to transition to social have been rocky.
But it sounds like matters haven’t been helped by a cultural rift within the company. Outlined in painful detail is a gulf between the founders and
the developers the employees (many of them developers) hired once the company was up and running:
SHUTTER. Luminance is not your average photography conference. Instead of focusing on the latest gear, this two-day program will bring together experts at the forefront of the technology we use to create, manipulate and share our images. Among the speakers are Behance founder Scott Belsky, Hipstamatic cofounder Lucas Allen Buick, Google’s Chris Chabot, Pulitzer prize winning photographer Barbara Davidson, Tumblr
CEO president John Maloney, Facebook Photos engineer Srinivas Narayanan and the School of Visual Art’s David Ross. All speakers will present a 20-minute TED-style lecture.
TOE, HEEL, TOE, HEEL. What Not to Wear‘s Stacy London is the cofounder of a just-launched site that aims to connect personal stylists with the stylistically clueless. Style For Hire stylists will perform a “closet audit,” provide personal shopping services or create new outfits out of clothes a customer already has—that’s called closet shopping. Now women who aren’t lucky enough to be on the show can still have their closets—and lack of fashion sense—torn apart, but without the benefit of a judgmental, national audience.


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Elon Musk’s Twitter takeover continues to be a multitude, and the longer term isn’t clear for one of the vital influential social networks on the earth. Musk’s Twitter troubles are hardly over, and the latest addition to a rising record of ache factors is the prospect of Apple and Google banning Twitter from the iPhone and Android app shops. It seems that’s truly an thrilling chance, and the rationale has nothing to do with censorship or content material moderation. Instead, a Twitter ban from Apple or Google may result in Elon Musk creating his personal smartphone, which we’ll name the Twitter cellphone.
Musk is struggling to show Twitter into a special type of expertise, one which’s truly worthwhile. And he’s doing it whereas slicing the workforce considerably and attempting to implement a brand new hardcore work mentality that workers don’t respect.
Unsurprisingly, the fast-paced modifications that Musk has applied up to now have turned out to be large failures that Twitter wanted to repair instantly.
While doing that, Musk can also be seeking to reinstate Twitter customers who had been banned from the platform for violating its guidelines. One such consumer is former President Donald Trump.
All this motion prompted discussions about whether or not Apple and Google may take away Twitter from their app shops. Responding to such hypothesis, Musk mentioned on Twitter that he would make an alternate cellphone to iPhone and Android if it involves that.
It’s too early to speak a few Twitter ban from Apple or Google. It’s nonetheless unclear whether or not Twitter will be capable of proceed to operate as an organization for the foreseeable future, given the large layoffs, departures, and repeated bungles we’ve seen previously few weeks.
Also, Twitter must fail miserably at content material moderation for Apple and Google to think about banning the social community. And if it had been to occur, the ban could possibly be short-lived if Twitter implements modifications to deal with no matter causes drive Apple and Google to ban the app.
But there’s no denying that the prospect is thrilling. That is, the potential of Elon Musk making a Twitter cellphone.
We’re at the moment residing in a duopoly relating to smartphone platforms. You can solely select between iPhone and Android. And regulators in numerous international locations already hate the facility Apple and Google wield due to that.
As loopy as it could sound, a Twitter cellphone born out of hate is thrilling. Especially if the Twitter cellphone may threaten that duopoly and put stress on Apple and Google to hasten the tempo of innovation.
We’d be years away from such a tool. And there’s no assure that will probably be a profitable or extensively accessible product. We can’t assist however surprise how Elon Musk would go about making a Twitter cellphone and what such a tool must provide.
Then once more, Musk may fail spectacularly in attempting to deliver his personal smartphone to market. As we’ve seen again and again of late, a lot of Musk’s half-cocked concepts have been spectacular failures. And if Amazon and Facebook’s current makes an attempt have taught us something, competing with Apple and Google is an enormous problem.
Not to say that by the point a Twitter cellphone hits the market, a special kind of machine may already be within the strategy of “killing” the iPhone and Android telephones.


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Cyberpunk 2077, the much anticipated game from CD Projekt RED, has been delayed until September 17, 2020. If you don’t know what this game is about, check out the trailer here. In the announcement, they say that “…the game is complete and playable, but there is still work to be done.” This is in reference […]
Animal Crossing on the Switch was originally supposed to be released later this year. However at the Nintendo Direct at E3 2019, they announced the title for the game, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, as well as a new release date- March 20, 2020. Why the delay? The reason for the delay was so that they […]
Ubisoft won’t let Skull and Bones walk the plank into our homes just yet.
Today, the Nintendo of America Twitter account posted an update regarding the highly anticipated installment in the Metroid Prime series, Metroid Prime 4. However, senior managing executive officer Shinya Takahashi stated that the game’s initial development didn’t meet Nintendo’s standards and that all development from the prior team has been scrapped. On the other hand, […]
Yesterday, the publisher behind Overkill’s The Walking Dead, Starbreeze Studios announced on their website (via Starbreeze.com) that the game’s Xbox One and PlayStation 4 releases have been postponed. They promise that information for the titles’ new release date will be shared in the future. Sadly, Starbreeze doesn’t share any information regarding the game’s reasons for being […]
Yesterday, the NIS America, Inc. Twitter account announced that RPG Maker MV’s western console release in February for the Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 4 systems has been delayed. Apparently, “due to issues with development, the release of RPG Maker MV will be delayed to later this year,” according to the NIS America, Inc. […]
Several hours ago the Nintendo of America Twitter account informed their audience that the recently announced September 6th, 2018 Nintendo Direct has been postponed. Here’s the explanation given by the Nintendo of America Twitter account, “Due to the powerful earthquake in Hokkaido, Japan, we have decided to delay this week’s planned Nintendo Direct. We will […]
What a way to start a morning because the action game, Code Vein, that was initially scheduled to release on September 28th, 2018 has been delayed into 2019–according to the Bandai Namco US Twitter account. It seems the developers need more time ironing up the game’s gameplay based on advice and feedback given at two major […]


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Last week Elon Musk saw his net worth plunge after stock markets took a hammering, with Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) stock’s recent surge quickly unraveling.
Rising bond yield leading to massive selloffs
Currently, there is growing concern among Wall Street investors regarding the rising bond yields that could potentially make borrowing expensive. This could potentially affect corporate profits, and it is the reason behind investors reversing their positions they had taken this past year in the risky, high-growth stocks such as Tesla. Tesla saw its stock drop 11.5% this past week, and Musk, who holds around 18% stake in the electric car manufacturer bore most of the massive selloff’s brunt.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, the Tesla CEO’s net worth dropped by $27 billion in the past week. Interestingly, the decline is almost equal to Dayson founder James Dayson’s, currently the 52nd richest man globally, entire fortune.
Musk drops to second as richest man globally
Notably, Musk and Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN), have been changing places on Bloomberg’s richest people list globally since the beginning of this year. However, for now, Musk is in second place with a net worth of $157 billion, trailing Bezos whose net worth currently stands at $177 billion. Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ:MSFT) founder Bill Gates is the third richest man globally with a net worth of $136 billion.
In 2020, Tesla’s stock surged 743%, taking the company to fifth in the most valuable companies’ list in the stock market. In the early weeks of this year, the stock continued to rise gaining 25% to close at $883.90 on January 26 but, since then, shares have shed almost a third of their value to place tesla stock in bear territory. On Friday, the shares closed under $600, which is the first time they have been that low since early December.
Tesla to introduce “Full Self Driving” beta
Despite Tesla’s stock experiencing declines, the company plans to expand the “full Self-Driving” (FSD) beta, according to Musk. The CEO confirmed that the company will double the size of FSD with a new update, eventually increasing participants tenfold. In a tweet, Musk said, “still be careful, but it’s getting mature.” According to Musk, Tesla will add a download beta button to the display going forward because of high demand.
The company had introduced the FSD beta in October 2020 in the Early Access Program. Musk indicated at the time that they were handling the software update cautiously. Notably, drivers should put their hands on the steering wheel and should be ready to assume control of their car anytime. According to Electrek, the company uses FSD beta data to enhance performance, and as of last month, around 1,000 cars had the beta.
Most importantly, beta helps reduce complacency in usage, according to Musk, and assists in setting expectations appropriately. The Tesla simulation and QA drive teams first test all software. Because of regulatory approval delays and the company’s internal testing, FSD beta availability will vary by region.


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Domestic and government spending and business investments will drive moderate growth in the Philippine economy this year. However, exports are an area of concern, given a slowdown in global demand.
The Philippines economy will likely continue expanding at a moderate pace this year, achieving the government’s growth target of 6–7 percent. The country ended 2012 on a positive note, registering a growth rate of 6.6 percent—the fastest in Asia after China. Favorable domestic consumption, government spending, and business investments in the Philippines will remain the country’s primary drivers of growth as exports stay subdued with only a marginal improvement in the global economy.
Domestic consumption in 2013 will likely be driven by expectations of better employment prospects, salary increases, and stable prices. According to the central bank’s consumer sentiment survey, demand for big-ticket items such as consumer durables, automobiles, and real estate is expected to remain steady for the next 12 months. Remittances from overseas Filipino workers, which account for nearly 8.5 percent of the GDP and are vital to household spending, are also projected to rise by 6.3 percent in 2013. Meanwhile, spending related to the midterm elections in May will likely be another significant economic driver this year.
In addition, rising government expenditure on infrastructure, health care, education, and other social welfare initiatives is expected to enhance economic activity in 2013. The government is planning to increase its spending by 10 percent in 2013 to $47 billion, and it will direct nearly $7.7 billion toward infrastructure development, including highways, railways, and natural gas pipelines. However, similar to previous years, the government may underspend its infrastructure budget because the public-private partnership (PPP) scheme to execute these projects is progressing slowly; delays in infrastructure improvement could adversely affect growth prospects in the long run.
Philippines’ economy might also benefit from positive business sentiment across most sectors, including manufacturing, construction, trade, and services. Anticipated election-related spending, higher consumer demand, rising tourism, stable prices, and foreign exchange rates are driving business confidence. As such, 30 percent of the 1,247 respondents of the central bank’s sentiment survey are planning expansions, new projects and product lines, and hiring in the second quarter of 2013. Expansion plans are the strongest in the electricity, gas, water, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing sectors. To support local businesses’ growth aspirations, the central bank intends to keep interest rates low this year. Inflation is also expected to remain at the lower end of the targeted 3–5 percent range this year.
Furthermore, the country may achieve an investment grade rating in 2013, which could expand foreign investments and boost growth. In addition, increasing production costs in China and disputes in the South China Sea are prompting many Japanese and South Korean businesses to shift their operations to the Philippines. Meanwhile, the government plans to revisit policies that restrict foreign ownership in order to attract overseas investments. However, bureaucratic hurdles and challenges related to infrastructure and labor laws have traditionally limited investments in the country.
In addition, rising government expenditure on infrastructure, health care, education, and other social welfare initiatives is expected to enhance economic activity in 2013.
Amid the many positives for the Philippines economy, exports could be a dampener. In 2012, exports grew 7.6 percent, falling short of the government’s target of 8 percent. This year could prove more challenging; the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) expects weak export growth of 4.3 percent for Philippines due to lukewarm global demand. However, the Philippines government remains hopeful and has again set an annual target of 10 percent export growth. According to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), there will be rebound demand for goods such as electronics, garments, and wood products as well as services such as business process outsourcing. Last year, electronics exports, which account for 38 percent of total exports, shrank 5.5 percent.
The central bank plans to ease rules on foreign exchange transactions to prevent an appreciation of the local currency in order to improve export performance. In addition, the DTI is encouraging local businesses to boost their global competitiveness on non-price aspects such as innovation and superior after-sales service. Local businesses are also being asked to explore new markets in emerging economies worldwide while continuing to concentrate on the traditional markets of China, Japan, Korea, and the United States.


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According to an article posted on Forbes today, Rocket League is still going strong. In fact, it’s doing even better than ever. The indie game, which was first released on the PS4, has already surpassed $110 million in sales, and it’s still growing. Since the game’s launch on the Xbox One and PC, it’s also sold over 5 million copies across all three platforms. I’m just making a wild guess here, but Rocket League’s consistent popularity is probably due to Psyonix’s support for the game and its management of new content being added into it.
Between last July and now, over 15 million gamers have played this game, and April 2016 alone saw 5 million players as well.
Rocket League recently released its new Hoops mode, which incorporates the fun car gameplay with basketball. Just last week, the game also started supporting cross-network play for Xbox One and PC, allowing for greater integration within the player base.
Rocket League is now available on the PS4, Xbox One, and PC. Are you still playing Rocket League? Let us know in the comments down below.
- The Division is Getting a Movie Starring Jake Gyllenhaal
- This Overwatch Player Has Already Reached Level 100
- Dungeons & Dragons MMO Neverwinter is Coming to the PS4 this Summer


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The Zaranda Restaurant in Mallorca gets its second Michelin star
The restaurant Zaranda, which is under the direction of chef Fernando Arellano in Castell Son Claret, has been given a second Michelin star and is thus the only two-star restaurant in the Balearic Islands.
In a solemn ceremony, the winners were announced on the 25th of November 2015 in Santiago de Compostela. Only two restaurants in Spain have recently been awarded: Restaurant Zaranda (Mallorca) and the Coque restaurant (Madrid).
Along with these two new award-winning restaurants, Spain has now 18 restaurants which have been awarded with two Michelin stars.
According to Michael Ellis, director of the ensnared Guide Michelin, Fernando Arellano got its second star thanks to "his signature cuisine, its excellent technology, the quality of the regional products, which spoil the palate with amazing and surprising flavor compositions."
On the photo of this article one of his most famous creations is shown: Black egg with cuttlefish caviar.


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Let’s start with an example to make you understand the importance of digital marketing in news industry.
Example: Most of you must have gone to a hotel or a restaurant, big or small, in your respective cities and must have ordered vegetarian or non vegetarian food there. While the dish may have been delicious, you could not have been able to savour it had it not been brought to your table.
Like a waiter brings a dish from kitchen to your table in a hotel, same is done by digital marketing that brings content from the website to your laptops or mobile phones.
Before proceeding further on importance of digital marketing in media industry, I would like to ask what would happen if a news of extreme national or international importance is posted on a website but it is not presented to the readers. There would be two scenarios: firstly, either no one would read the news. Secondly, few people may read the news but it would not be able to make an impact.
It is this time that importance of digital marketing comes to the rescue of websites running news. With the help of digital marketing, news reports could not only be presented to the readers but it can be spread like a wild fire.
Digital marketing meaning
In simple terms, digital marketing is the use of internet and social media platforms by a sender to approach potential customers or receivers present across the globe within few minutes. Digital marketing uses various techniques to send a message to the receivers of a particular niche.
Social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and various search engines among others are used to reach these potential customers. The importance of digital marketing in news industry has risen considerably during the past few years.
Media houses are using these social media platforms and search engines to push their news stories to the readers. Digital marketing also helps a news industry to understand its niche and other demographic factors of the receivers.
How to do digital marketing in media industry
In news industry where there is a rapid inflow of information from different sources and locations it needs to be added and updated besides providing it to the readers. Digital marketing comes to the rescue of the news websites and allow them to get accustomed to these changing at a fast pace.
Tools like Google Trends allow the marketing managers at the media houses to know what all is being searched by the people after which journalists or content writers are informed about the search trends. Article is written based on the keywords that can bring a news article on top even in the real time on different search engines.
Example: If there is news on television regarding arrest of dreaded a gangster in Uttar Pradesh, people would probably search for ‘dreaded gangster arrested’, ‘Gangster arrested in Uttar Pradesh’ or ‘Police arrests gangster in Uttar Pradesh’.
All the phrases including ‘dreaded gangster arrested’, ‘Gangster arrested in Uttar Pradesh’ and ‘Police arrests gangster in Uttar Pradesh’ will become the keyword for the media houses and the content or a news story will be written in such a way that these words are included which would help the article to come in the results on search engines.
Important of social media in digital marketing
To known importance of digital marketing in news industry, we need to understand the role of social media platforms in digital marketing.
When we talk about digital marketing, social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, WhatsApp among other enter the scene naturally as they form the basis of social media marketing. Almost everyone these days has a profile on one of many of these social media platforms and is an active user.
For news website, finding a niche becomes very important as a result they create pages on social media, groups on WhatsApp and account on Instagram and so on so that people can come and connect with these media organizations on social media. News is served to the followers and clicks are received instantly without even bothering if a page ranks on search engine or not.
Social media has given a major push to small media organizations and websites that are so far unknown to masses. Facebook allows page boost that helps media organizations to reach thousands of new readers and potential customers by paying an amount.
Instagram can also help in branding for new as well as established organizations by posting pictures. Links of news stories can also be posted along with pictures if the followers on Instagram are more than 10,000.
Digital marketing institutes
Hundreds of institutes have cropped up in different cities after the importance of digital marketing was understood. Thousands of students are being trained by these institutes every year. While most of these students join e-commerce industry, many also enter the news industry especially in Delhi and Noida.
While joining a digital marketing institute, few things are important to be kept in mind.
- Fee: The basic information that you require to know about a digital marketing institute in Noida or Delhi is fees. While most of the institutes claim that their fee is minimum, it becomes important to know about it through brochure or by directly talking to the concerned person. Reasonable fee for digital marketing could be anywhere between Rs 15000- Rs 25000 and not more than that.
- Location: You can get a first impression about a digital marketing or any other institute by its location. If an institute is located far off from a metro station, it can become difficult for you to walk or take an auto till that point as most of the commuters use metro in Noida and Delhi.
- Syllubus covered: Almost all digital marketing institutes claim to cover each and every aspect of the field. It is very important to first research on internet as to what are the important areas of social media marketing are and which part of it suits you. Only after being satisfied with what you want to go ahead with, you should approach an institute.
- Trainer: After approaching an institute you should first check on if the institute has only one trainer for entire course or more. It is very important that an institute should have at least two trainers. One for the training of digital marketing and other for explaining the technical issues of website.
Best digital marketing institutes in Noida and Delhi
Importance of digital marketing cannot be understood unless we find the best institute that deals in social media marketing. While the parameters for a best social media marketing institute have been explained above, these are some of the digital marketing institutes in Noida and Delhi where you can enroll.
- Insider Academy
- PIMS – Professional Institute of Marketing & Strategy
- Asian Institute of Digital Marketing
- Cetpa Infotech Pvt. Ltd.
- Delhi School of Internet Marketing
- Digital Vidya