text:
Google, Zoho Challenge Microsoft Abroad, Tooby
Prithwis Mukerjee, a professor of management at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur in eastern India, needed a convenient and low-cost way for his students to create spreadsheets. But rather than turn to Microsoft (MSFT), the granddaddy of spreadsheet software, he opted for a lesser-known maker of free, Web-based software that gives his students more flexibility than Microsoft's Excel. "Many people don't have Excel, and that becomes a big challenge," Mukerjee says.
Aiming to meet that challenge are two California-based upstarts. One is Google (GOOG), owner of the most popular Web search engine, and the other is Zoho, the maker of online business productivity tools that won over Mukerjee as a customer. Microsoft dominates the market for productivity tools in the U.S. as well as developing markets, but Google and Zoho hope to narrow the lead by emphasizing the lower price and broader accessibility of their products. "There's more of an open field that is there for the taking," says IDC analyst Frank Gens, adding, "They don't have to kick out Microsoft."
The market for productivity software in Asian countries, though smaller than in the U.S., is growing more than twice as fast. In 2008, sales of productivity software totaled $1.2 billion in the region, according to technology researcher Gartner (IT), a 13.2% increase from the previous year. In North America, office software grew 6%, to $6.7 billion in the same period. In both parts of the world, Microsoft commands about 95% of the market, and the share hasn't budged in either place for the past three years.
First-Time Users Embrace the Cloud A key selling point for both challengers is price, especially with budget-conscious small businesses and schools such as IIT Kharagpur. But the entrants also hope customers embrace a new type of software model, where files are created, edited, and shared online, in what's known as the "cloud," rather than via programs downloaded to a PC. Some businesses are growing more comfortable with cloud applications, yet concerns about data privacy and service outages like the one suffered by users of Google's Gmail on Sept. 1 keep many users sticking to pricier, more familiar desktop software.
Because many new computer users in India lack familiarity with Microsoft's Office and other desktop software, they're generally more open to the idea of cloud computing, says Zoho Chief Executive Sridhar Vembu. "There's a whole set of new companies that have no apprehensions" about Web-based software, Vembu says. "We are now starting to see this as a major market opportunity."
Since opening an office in Vembu's former hometown of Chennai, in 1996, Zoho has attracted about 400,000 users, or 20% of its base, in India and China. It now employs more than 300 workers in the office. In China, Zoho distributes its wares in partnership with local company Baihu. With demand for PCs, mobile phones, and broadband Internet growing more quickly in these markets than in the West, Vembu predicts that a decade from now the majority of Zoho's revenues will come from customers in China and India.
By 2013, the number of Internet-connected PCs in India will grow to 73.5 million, up from 32.9 million this year, IDC estimates. Residents can also access Zoho and other online apps through Web-enabled mobile phones.
Expanding 3G Increases Mobile Use Mobile versions of Zoho software are particularly popular with consumers in India, where mobile-phone sales are far outpacing PC sales. Applications for the mobile Web, as well as customized versions for Apple's (AAPL) iPhone and other smartphones, let students do schoolwork at homes or other locales where a PC may not be available.
Businesses use the software to equip salespeople in the field. In 2008, Mumbai-based data hosting company NetMagic Solutions signed up to use Zoho's customer relationship management (CRM) software to help sales teams in different offices share information about customer leads. At first, a lack of connectivity in many parts of India was a problem. "There were complaints from the salespeople saying that they were unable to connect to Zoho" while traveling, says Jayabalan Subramanian, the company's chief technology officer. Now that several companies are rolling out more 3G wireless broadband network throughout India, NetMagic says that has become less of a concern.
Google is also pushing its online productivity software, called Apps, in India. "The strategy is similar to what we're doing in the U.S.," says Rajeth Sheth, senior product manager of Google Apps. "We're leveraging our Web properties to get people to sign up online and quickly get started." The company's share of the market for productivity software—still a sliver compared with Microsoft's—is slightly greater in Asia-Pacific countries, where it has 0.05%, or $600,000 in annual revenue, than it is in North America, where it has 0.03%, or $2.1 million annually, according to Gartner.
Microsoft Plans Web-Based Applications Google, which like Zoho charges individuals and companies to use some features of its Web software, counts major Indian business such as legal outsourcing firm Mindcrest, telecom Bharti Airtel (BRTI), and Internet service provider Sify (SIFY) among its clients. Google has also signed up more than 100 universities in India, and recently translated its Gmail service into Hindi.
The desire for Web-delivered software isn't lost on Microsoft. When it launches Office 2010, the company will introduce a slate of Web-based productivity applications. Microsoft also makes a version of its Office software available for smartphones.
But in emerging markets, Microsoft faces an even bigger threat from purveyors of pirated software, says John Cairns, general manager of emerging markets for Microsoft Office. He says the company's strategy in India and China is to make software more affordable to compete with the fakes. Last year, for example, Microsoft dropped the price of certain versions of Office by 40%. "The real competition is piracy," Cairns says.


text:
According to a privacy page linked to on Samsung Italy’s website, the name of Samsung’s AI digital assistant is indeed Bixby (which has been reported before), with system-wide integration built-in. As stated directly on the webpage, “In addition, you can control all operations with the touch interface using voice commands with Bixby.” So, with that being said, Bixby is more than for just quick web searches — it’s a system-wide assistant made to help with pretty much any task tied to the phone.
On top of the Bixby development, South Korea’s The Investor outlet has posted a new report, claiming a 3D Touch-like feature will be partially showcased on the Galaxy S8. To sum this up, think of the long press action you can perform on iPhone and Pixel devices to open shortcuts within an app. On the Galaxy S8, at least from what this report states, users can long press on the on-screen home button to open shortcuts to phone settings and more.
Here is an excerpt from The Investor’s report.
Samsung’s new flagship smartphone Galaxy S8 is expected to partly use the 3-D Touch technology for its “virtual home button” on the bottom of the display screen that allows users to open up menus and navigate the phone, while the fingerprint-scanning home button will be relocated to the back.
So, the first question I have is, what about Google Assistant? Typically, a long press on the home button is how you would access Google’s digital assistant, a feature now showcased on many Android devices. Will Samsung allow for programming between these different features, simply not offer Google Assistant because of Bixby, or will they incorporate another solution? Unfortunately, we have more questions than answers at this time.
March 29 is quickly approaching, thank goodness.

domain: news


text:
Direct Marketing Report: connect with color
Becky Butler, manager, interactive marketing at Roche, believes the allure of launching an educational direct-to-patient (DTP) initiative online is in the ability to generate effectively scale and reach in a way that simply can’t be done using offline methods alone.
Butler and Roche recruited Google when it embarked on its “At Risk” unbranded awareness campaign targeting Hepatitis C patients.
Worldwide more than 170 million people are infected with Hepatitis C, a potentially fatal inflammation of the liver. The disease is frequently referred to as a “silent epidemic.” Millions have it, but many are not aware of it because they may not experience symptoms for decades.
This presented a unique marketing challenge for Roche, which manufactures the Hepatitis C treatment Pegasys and has four different potential diseases treatments in development. The drug maker needed to reach patients or potential patients who in many cases did not even know they were targets of the disease.
“Google helped us devise a way to pick and choose the sites.” says Butler. “We used the program to help us find some niche sites that were appropriate for our target audience. We were also allowed to make adjustments along the way based on response data.”
The custom approach behind the “At Risk” program required much precision and planning to execute, explains Butler. “[Entire] teams of people are charged with helping our[pharmaceutical] clients come up with strategies that are probably a lot more complex than most people think, in terms of search campaigns, keywords and creative,” says Google’s director of health vertical Mary Ann Belliveau.
For example, a typical meeting between the Google healthcare team and a pharma company brand team consists of questions on brand goals and connections with consumers and/or physicians, depending on whether the effort is for a drug that’s ready to launch, or about to go off patent, or, in the case of Roche, an unbranded awareness campaign. Everything is built around the needs of the campaign.
“It’s really all about clients themselves making sure they are bringing consumers or physicians into an environment that is appropriate and most educational for what they are actually looking for,” says Belliveau.
Site targeting was especially important for the “At Risk” campaign, where the patient audience was highly specific. Roche needed access to the sites that most consumers wouldn’t normally be aware of, or able to think of, Butler says. “The fact that we were able to choose which sites we were able to appear on, with the ability to make adjustments along the way, was really important to us.”
Through targeted sites on the Google network, patients and prospective patients are led to haveyouever.com. There patients are invited to participate in a free hepatitis C risk profile and sign up to receive a newsletter offering important hepatitis C facts and links to resources. The site features downloadable patient brochures and serves as a veritable welcome mat where the relationship between the patient or potential patient and Roche begins.
“This trended toward the start of a customer relationship management (CRM) program, says Butler. “The ‘At Risk’ program is the beginning of the funnel for us … Now we are able to come at it from a very targeted perspective in terms of reaching our audience on very niche sites. That is really very effective for us, more so than other tactics.”
According to Belliveau, many of Google’s pharmaceutical clients are gaining a better understanding of the DTP opportunities by going after the smaller areas of online content that are highly specialized—areas their patients really care about.
“Our clients, in addition to their search campaigns are running both text ads and banner ads and video across the publishing partners that we have. This gives them very wide reach but also lets them reach into areas that were impossible to get to before,” she says.
This type of online DTP marketing is a perfect complement to mass market campaigns, according to Google. “We would never necessarily advise a client to invest in search as opposed to TV or other types of mass market,” says Belliveau. The difference is in the type of relationship marketers are building with patients. “What we find is that the connection, the ability to educate via a search campaign, takes the level of information you can get across to a consumer or to a physician to a much deeper level,” Belliveau says.
Khee Lee, Google’s health vertical manager, says he’s excited that pharmaceutical direct marketers are increasingly realizing the marketing power his firm can provide, even though not everyone is quite ready to test the online marketing waters. “No matter what device it is, no matter what mechanism it is, all Google really cares about is connecting the information that’s really relevant to people,” says.
So what are pharma marketers waiting for? Lee says that most brand managers and directors he has met are still trying to figure out the perfect media mix. “They are just trying to find that balance.”
The other issue, Lee says, is that every disease state is different and that patients are different within those conditions. “There’s no absolute number, but the great thing about online is you can continually test and invest in it with feedback,” he adds. “You get great feedback, not push... It’s very measurable.”
But what about targeting older patients? Lee reminds the brand managers he works with that this is becoming less of an issue. “I think the fastest growing demographic is those over 65,” he says. “And one has to take note that half the people looking for information online are caregivers. Although a patient with Alzheimer’s may not be online, a consumer taking care of someone with Alzheimer’s may be looking for information [for them].
Using innovation for education
AstraZeneca is hoping to seize upon the success of technology to boost its DTP marketing efforts behind its top-selling brand, Nexium. The drug maker is using the popular technology of podcasts with About.com to educate its patients about its blockbuster proton pump inhibitor.
Late in 2006, About.com and AstraZeneca launched a six-part podcast series as part of its Web destination’s “Living with Heartburn” program to educate consumers on how to cope with heartburn and acid reflux disease. The series is featured at heartburnpodcast.about.com and was a first of its kind on the About.com brand.
Each podcast is three to five minutes in duration and hosted by Dr. Mona Khanna, a quadruple board certified practicing physician.
The podcast content was written specifically for the series and produced by About.com and its team of health editors.
Jean Pundiak, senior ePromotions Manager at AstraZeneca says she embarked on the program with About.com knowing that more and more patients are going online for health information, not only to research conditions, but to find treatment options as well.
“Patients are expecting more and are really looking for trusted sources of information online,” she says. “Knowing this, it’s extremely important for us to provide them with easy, open access to the information they are looking for.”
It is through patient education that AstraZeneca has been able to reach many heartburn sufferers who frequently tolerate the condition for long periods of time but don’t always understand what’s happening to them. “We’ve really been able to use the online channel to help patients become more educated about, and better manage their acid reflux condition,” explains Nexium brand communications manager Dana Settembrino.
About.com’s general manager, health, Marjorie Martin, says some of the “Living with Heartburn” program relies on good old-fashioned education “and then some of it on top of that is disease awareness.”
So far the use of podcast technology has paid off for AstraZeneca those involved with the program tell MM&M.
The significant growth in iPod penetration rates combined with the explosion of health information online made the climate perfect for trying the “Living with Heartburn” program, Pundiak says.
“Podcasting has proven to be one of the fastest growing forms of emerging media over the past few years,” Pundiak says. “Therefore, it was extremely important for us to test this format with patients. To us, it’s a great fit, as it allows us one more method to get information to patients, in a way that integrates with their lifestyle.”
Beyond the podcast
The success of the podcast series has led AstraZeneca to embark on other custom programs on About.com, says Martin.
Another component to the “Living with Heartburn” series is the custom video that was created just for the program, according to Martin.
“One of the things that we like to do with video, which is a little bit different than some other places on the Web, is we are creating video trying to address common questions from users,” Martin says.
Although many DTP efforts have shifted online, Aaron Uydess of Novo Nordisk warns the power of creating effective patient centric campaigns should not rely simply on just doing a podcast or video.
Prior to joining Novo Nordisk, Uydess spent five years as global eBusiness manager at Bristol-Myers Squibb’s ConvaTec unit creating relationship marketing campaigns aligned with the company’s strategy.
Uydess says that while there 80% e-marketing initiatives he was being proposed started out in the “latest and greatest” technology and then worked backward to find out how to get that technology to support the business.
“There’s always that sexiness factor of using the latest technology, but it’s not going to help from a long term communicating the value of what your online channel brings to your company,” Uydess says.
His advice to pharma marketers is “Remember, when planning the use of tactics, if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it.”
“The power of e-marketing is not in doing a podcast, the power of e-marketing is not in doing a Web cast, the power of e-marketing is your ability to align strategy communicating that online to your customers,” he says. “Whether it’s a healthcare professional or whether it’s a patient.”
Tim Kelly, analyst with IMS Health predicts that the use of interactive tools in pharmaceutical direct marketing in the patient realm will become increasingly important as drug makers try to come up with new ways to reach physicians and other healthcare providers.
“There’s been plenty of evidence to suggest that online is an effective direct-to-physician marketing tool,” Kelly says. “They migrated from the telephones, to sending online invitations, to participating in surveys. Because doctors could do that offline, off hours, when they actually had time to sit down, and do their thinking and their research, you may have marketers asking them to link to a site or two where they can log and really spend time clicking through.”
According to Kelly, some companies have already begun to use technology in an attempt to get a similar ROI to that of using sales forces, with a lot less fixed expense on the pharma company side.
Kelly does not deny there has been a delay in targeting physicians online driven by the conservative stance by a lot of companies and the legacy use of large sales forces as well as FDA guidelines and regulations. There are complicating factors in this industry that are just not there are in some of the other industries according to Kelly.
“I think in this industry some of the other verticals don’t necessarily have to deal with that cause, that tendency to be a little more cautious, a little slower to adopt. That’s why we too are in the midst of the earlier stages of movement toward the DTP stage as well,” he says.
There has also been a significant detailing shift in activity from primary care to specialty care during the past few years, Kelly says.
“I think a lot of the large pharmas are still thinking in primary care terms and what works for the specialists doesn’t necessarily work for the primary care physician and vice versa,” he says.
“I think the depth of information that’s going to be required is more significant than the basic information in primary care driven therapies and markets.”
Build it and they will come
According to Erica Alexander of Manhattan Research, the number of physicians visiting sites owned by pharmaceutical, biotech, and device companies has increased steadily over the past five years and many companies are coming to the realization that offering services via their Web site is an “option” that will happen eventually—like it or not.
Furthermore, visits to a growing cadre of full service “physician portals” owned by pharmaceutical companies has increased in recent years with a growing number of physicians visiting these properties tailored to the needs of a physician audience interested in product, pipeline, and patient education resources.
“Some of the leading physician portals include the ability to order journal articles, product samples, and receive e-mail updates if there is new product information they should be aware of…before their next ‘real’ rep visit,” Alexander says.
SIDEBAR: How traditional direct marketing agencies staying in the game
Are the better-established direct marketing agencies getting left behind as pharma direct marketers focus their gaze and advertising spend online? Don’t bet on it, says Robert Grammatica, practice leader, global director at Rapp Collins Healthcare.
“Interactive is really not new,” says Grammatica, a direct marketing veteran with over 20 years of industry experience. “It’s something that agencies have always been taking advantage of. We’ve always been in the business of going where the customer touch points are.”
There are, however, some major differences be-tween the more established agencies and the newer interactive pureplays, whose main focus is technical execution of online functions.
Well-established direct marketers have experience working with databases and are more steeped in relationship marketing culture, Grammatica says.
“The big issue in the market today is a lot of people are talking the language, and very few can make it happen and pull that through. I think that’s confusing to a lot of marketers. They are buying something and realizing they are not getting it down the road.”
As a pharmaceutical direct marketer you really need to consider the preference of the individual patient, Grammatica adds. “Some still prefer offline. Some still don’t go online. If you are asking the distinction between us and the interactive start-ups, that is the major one. We are really channel agnostic. We can be using direct-response television, direct mail, Catalina, adherence, patient compliance, along with interactive as one of the tools as well as WebMD. We are basically constructed around where the patients come into the process.
“But we also have a database department, analytics people, and insights people that specialize in relationships, and patient-physician relationships,” he adds. “So, we have a capability and infrastructure that is far beyond that of an interactive pureplay.”
According to Julian Parreño, senior VP, pharmaceutical markets at Harte-Hanks, the database is what allows direct marketers to communicate personalized, relevant information to patients.
“We feel we have an advantage because we offer a totally integrated solution set. From front end, meaning agency, all the way to database and fulfillment on the back end,” he says.
Parreño notes that many of the established agencies are forming alliances or making acquisitions, such as the Publicis buying Digitas recently, because they don’t have a really strong digital piece.
“It is a growing channel, but it’s just one channel,” he says. “We still believe that you have to
have an integrated approach for maximum impact.”
SIDEBAR #2: Forces driving market change
Today we are seeing some dramatic shifts from the previous tactical approaches in response to the changing marketing landscape, according to Lynn Benzing, CEO at Patient Marketing Group.
Some of the top trends in DTP, as identified by Benzing, include:
• More emphasis on disease education
• Tailored messaging
• Growing interest of relationship marketing
Materials today routinely provide disease management information such as activities to help get the condition under control or preventive action. The idea is comprehensive care, Benzing says.
A good example of this is presented in a recent disease education effort for GlaxoSmithKline’s diabetes treatment Avandia.“Multiple waves of communication cover disease management in a comprehensive way—including the caregiver aspect,” Benzing says.
Also, tailored messaging is more personally relevant and therefore, more powerful, according to Benzing. “We are seeing increasing examples of these approaches, although today it is limited to mostly online initiatives,” she says. Benzing reminds marketers that tailoring requires regular information exchange. “The survey process itself requires careful handling,” she says.
Creating a sense of community is also turning out to be a key trend in the digital age, according to Benzing.
“This sense of community can be a powerful adherence tool—keeping patients connected to sources of motivation, reinforcement and support,” she says.


text:
People have collectively saved nearly £1 billion due to a shake-up of rules around overdrafts, according to calculations by the City regulator.
The rules, introduced by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), reduced high fees for unarranged borrowing and swept away complex charging structures, which made it hard for people to compare borrowing costs.
The £1 billion in savings for customers came from two separate measures.
More than £500 million was saved due to pricing rules that came into force in April 2020, the FCA said.
Another £486 million was saved due to measures to help customers manage repeated overdraft use, which came into force in December 2019.
The FCA’s evaluation found each customer who had an arranged overdraft or access to an unarranged overdraft saved, on average, £17.40 in charges in 2021 due to the new pricing rules.
Sheldon Mills, executive director of consumers and competition at the FCA, said: “We know that overdrafts offer a convenient way to help some people manage temporary cash flow issues, but some banks were charging more than 80% APR (annual percentage rate) on arranged overdrafts, once fees and charges were factored in.
“The action we took to simplify overdraft charges and to tackle high unarranged overdraft fees has saved people across the UK almost £1 billion in total.
“Such savings are vital as people manage cost-of-living pressures.
“We expect banks and building societies to price fairly and support those in difficulty and we encourage consumers to shop around for the best current account to suit their needs.
“We expect banks to work with customers who repeatedly use their overdrafts, to help them understand the options available to reduce their reliance on overdrafts.”
The rules on pricing required firms to stop charging fixed fees for overdraft borrowing, to charge no more for an unarranged overdraft than an arranged one, to price overdrafts with a single annual interest rate, and advertise overdrafts with a representative APR.
Firms must also now identify and take action to support customers who frequently use their overdraft, resulting in high cumulative charges that are either harmful to the customer or show that the customer is experiencing or at risk of financial difficulties.
The FCA estimates that consumers will save between £88 million and £105 million in charges a year, from now on, due to actions to tackle repeat use.
Overdrafts are intended for short-term or emergency use so consumers should consider other methods of credit if they find they need to borrow for longer, the regulator said.
The FCA also said that while many firms are meeting its expectations, gaps were found, particularly regarding how firms monitor and review the effectiveness of their policies and procedures for customers who repeatedly use their overdraft.
Some firms use a wide range of measures, such as missed payment data or use of other credit products, to identify and monitor customers more likely to be in potential or actual financial difficulty.
Some also identify how their policies and procedures had been adapted through a process of regular review.
But the FCA also found some firms use limited criteria to define repeat use, potentially leading to fewer customers being identified and monitored and increasing the risk that those customers experiencing financial difficulties would not receive the support they require.
A few firms assess customers on an ad hoc basis, without a clear framework for identifying repeat use customers, the regulator found.
All firms included in the FCA’s review will be sent the good practice examples so they can improve where needed.
Press Association – Vicky Shaw


text:
Bitcoin Invades Mainstream Banking System
Michael Maloney – Bitcoin Invades Mainstream Banking System
Digital Currency Exchange, Bitcoin-Central, has been authorized by the French government to conduct bank style operations. In an announcement last month on bitcointalk.org, Paymium, the organization behind Bitcoin-Central said this:
We’re announcing today that Bitcoin-Central.net is getting, through a partnership with Aqoba, allowed to operate like a bank, (or more precisely like a PSP [Payment Service Provider], which is basically the same as a bank, just without the debt-money issuing part).
If you’ve been following the crypto-currency story, you will realize that this is a huge step forward. For the first time a crypto-currency exchange has been brought into the mainstream banking circle, allowing believers in the idea of free choice in currency the opportunity to transact business through traditional channels.
Bitcoin is, fundamentally, a currency; and, like any other currency, its purpose is to provide a means of exchanging good and services between individuals. Unlike government-sanctioned currency, however, the premise of Bitcoin is to remove the centralized, governing force from taking over the creation of the currency.
Bitcoin is a system of owning and voluntarily transferring amounts of so-called bitcoins, in a manner similar to an on-line banking, but pseudonymously and without reliance on a central authority to maintain account balances. If bitcoins are valuable, it is because they are useful and limited in supply.
Bitcoin is based on a concept known as crypto-currency that was originally described in 1998. Subsequently, Satoshi Nakamoto developed the first software to power Bitcoin, but no one knows exactly who Nakamoto is. He has remained an enigma even though his software is now used by millions of people to process millions of transactions representing millions of dollars in non-government controlled currency.


text:
Pragmatic Play and SoftSwiss Enter into Distribution Agreement
Online gaming provider Pragmatic Play has entered into an agreement with casino software solution provider SoftSwiss to integrate its Bingo and Live Casino assortment on the platform of the latter.
On July 8, the company announced the partnership, saying that SoftSwiss’ collaborators would have access to its Live Casino library, including table games such as roulette and blackjack.
In addition, SoftSwiss is set to integrate Pragmatic Play’s recently introduced Bingo product which provides several variants of the game.
Chief Business Development Officer at Pragmatic Play Yossi Barzely said they were “delighted” to work with SoftSwiss. He also added that this was an opportunity for the company to expand its new Bingo product.
Ivan Montik, Chief Executive Officer at SoftSwiss, stated that the gaming provider’s portfolio met their criteria, calling its Bingo and Live Casino products “industry-leading.”


text:
DZP has advised Toyota Motor Manufacturing Poland on its receipt of financial support from Poland's Minister of Development and Finances to create a new production line in its factory in Jelcz-Laskowice for a new generation 1.5 liter petrol engines. Production is set to start in 2020 with a capital expenditure of PLN 400 million, which increases Toyota's production investments in Poland to nearly PLN 4.5 billion.
According to DZP, "the new engine was designed based on Toyota's new global design platform (Toyota New Global Architecture). The engine and battery will be used in hybrid drives and in the conventional version (for Toyota models sold from 2020)."
DZP reports that it "advised Toyota from the start of the process -- i.e., from the conclusion of a letter of intent with the Minister of Development and Finances. We then advised on drawing up an application to the Polish Trade and Investment Agency, the Ministry of Development, and the Walbrzych Special Economic Zone." The firm's team was headed by Partners Marcin Krakowiak and Anna Glapa and Associate Aneta Wloszek.


text:
The Worst Case Hack Scenario
Most CIOs will tell you that getting hacked is inevitable. But there is getting hacked, and then there is getting sacked.
As the volume of information increases and criminals grow more brazen, the chances of companies suffering a worst-case scenario seem less remote every day. Part of any CIO's duty is to convince the boss that the company is ready for the very worst security crisis imaginable. The Worst-Case Hack Scenario - NewsFactor Network
Back to: PC Security, privacy news


text:
Product |Huxiao Technology Group
Author | Zhou Zhou
Wal Mart has taken the first step towards the meta universe.
On September 27, 2022, Wal Mart announced that it would land in Roblox (the first share of the global meta universe) and create two new experience products for young users: "Wal Mart Paradise" and "Wal Mart Game World".
This is another large enterprise "settling in" Roblox after Nike, Samsung, VF, Gucci, Spotify and other giants. Wal Mart chose Robox as its first stop in the meta universe for no complicated reason. Robox has a large number of users, and the number is growing rapidly.
With the outbreak of the epidemic, the daily active users of online game platform Roblox have increased from 32.6 million in 2020 to more than 52 million, most of whom are children and adolescents, aged 25 or younger. They can create their own games on Roblox, play other users' games, and communicate with each other. "Roblox is one of the fastest growing and largest platforms in the virtual world, and we know our customers are spending a lot of time there." Wal Mart's US chief marketing officer, William White, said in a statement. In addition to Roblox, Wal Mart also actively participated in TikTok and Twitter, and held live shopping activities.
In Walmart Land, Wal Mart has set up music, clothing, cosmetics and other theme areas for users to explore. For example, the "Electric Island" of Wal Mart Paradise has a walkway and DJ stage made of piano, while the "House of Style" has a virtual fitting room and skating rink.
Walmart Land (source: Wal Mart)
In Wal Mart Paradise, Roblox users can purchase goods such as clothing, accessories and electronic products with tokens obtained in virtual stores.
On the other hand, Wal Mart's universe of play is a toy themed area. Users can get virtual toys and travel in the "virtual adventure" area by means of floating skateboards.
Wal Mart's Metauniverse
These two products can be accessed on various devices, such as PC (Windows and macOS), smartphone (Android and iOS), Xbox, Oculus Rift and HTC Vive.
Wal Mart hopes to attract more young people in the Z era through this action, and Roblox is a good choice from now on. It is reported that Nike's virtual world Nikeland has 21 million visitors, while VF's Vans World has about 81 million visitors. Roblox has become a good channel for large brands to contact the younger generation.
"The move to Roblox is our first major move in the meta universe," Wal Mart Chief Marketing Officer William White said in an interview. "This is another step in our approach to customers in unexpected ways."
At present, several American retailers have joined Roblox, including Nike, American Eagle Outfitters and Ralph Lauren. The emergence of the epidemic has changed people's shopping habits. On Roblox, players can socialize, play games and have fun in the virtual space built by the brand, which attracts retailers to join.
However, although Roblox has a large number of users, many Roblox players said to Hu Xiang that almost all of the current head meta universe products are still rough."Similar to playing Decentraland and Sandbox before, Roblox has a poor sense of experience and a low degree of craftsmanship. At present, the leading meta universe products in this industry are still at an early stage in modeling, rendering, game design and other aspects. The main reason for doing so is to rely on new concepts and asset hype, but the market will fall silent after the difference."Ning Wentao, investment director of Glock Ventures, said to Hu Xiang.
"There is still a long way to go from the mainstream, but similar meta universe projects may rise in the next cycle. Like gamefi, they will certainly make advanced evolution in the direction of workmanship, design, gameplay and even decentralization. We have seen many similar early projects emerge in this cycle, and then we will work hard to wait for the next outbreak." Ning Wentao said.


text:
Tesla Gigafactory 3 is the largest foreign investment production project in the history of Shanghai. The factory, which is located in the Lingang Free Trade Zone, about 40 kilometers from Pudong Airport, was built at lightning speed, in less than 10 months.
As production time approached, on November 7, the Shanghai Gigafactory was officially opened for the first time to Chinese media. And although the media could not visit the production line and workshop, they got a little more - a test drive of the domestic Model 3 from the Shanghai Gigafactory. Read about this in our article "The first test of Made in China Model 3".
According to BJNews, Liu Yang, senior manager of Shanghai Tesla Super Factory's Tesla Training Institute, told reporters that by the end of this year, the company expects to release a small amount of domestic production of Model 3. As for large-scale shipments, it will wait until the first quarter of next year.
Construction takes less than 10 months
Currently, the Shanghai Gigafactory (Phase I) has four workshops for stamping, bodywork, painting and final assembly. In addition to the high speed of construction, the Shanghai Gigafactory also significantly reduced the cost of construction. Tesla said that the cost of building a Gigafactory production line in Shanghai is 65% lower than in the US (calculated according to capital costs per unit of capacity).
Due to privacy concerns, Tesla did not open visits to the production line for the media, but Liu Yang, senior manager of Tesla China Training Institute, told reporters about the construction of the factory and its production line. Liu Yang said that in fact, the construction period of the Shanghai Gigafactory was less than 10 months. The factory entered the construction phase from the end of February this year and completed the main project in mid-September, which is a miracle in the automotive industry and even in the industrial sphere.
“The factory can complete construction in such a short period of time, primarily thanks to government support, followed by the efforts of Tesla engineers and technicians.” Liu Yang said that the average age of employees at the Shanghai Gigafactory is about 30 years, and each of them has many years of experience."
Regarding production lines, Liu Yang said the Shanghai Gigafactory uses a large number of robots and automated production processes. The Shanghai Gigafactory sets robots above the production line more than the traditional factory, and forms three-dimensional welding with robots on both sides. When Tesla unveiled photos of the Shanghai Gigafactory in the third quarterly report, the company was equipped with a large number of KUKA robots on the production line.
In addition to hardware, Shanghai Gigafactory has reached a very high level in software development. Liu Yang said that many key programs at the Shanghai super factory were developed by local engineers, and graduates from renowned schools such as Stanford and Tsinghua University have made Shanghai super factory software the highest standard in the industry.
Tesla said China will be the largest market for Model 3
In fact, the Chinese market is indeed a very important source of income for Tesla. In the first three quarters of this year, Tesla's car sales in China totaled $2.138 billion, significantly more than $1.445 billion for the same period last year.
In the third quarter, Tesla's sales in China reached $669 million, second only to the United States, to continue to be Tesla's second largest market. In a third-quarter earnings report, Tesla even predicted that China would become the largest market for Model 3.
However, it is easy to overlook that China’s new energy automotive industry also needs Tesla to enter China. As the world leader in the automotive industry, operating on new energy sources, Tesla has obvious advantages in the “three forces” (electric drive, battery, electronic control) and is expected to contribute to the rapid development of new energy vehicles, including new vehicles.
The completion of the Shanghai Gigafactory is the key to further opening up the Chinese market to Tesla, so Tesla promised the government to start paying tax revenues in 2023 by paying an annual tax of 2.23 billion yuan (about $323 million). And over the next five years, the amount of investment in the Shanghai Gigafactory reached 14.08 billion yuan (about $2 billion).
Domestic Model 3
For Tesla, the Shanghai Gigafactoryhave paramount importance for the company's total production capacity to reach 500,000 units per year. The Shanghai Gigafactory is expected to operate with a capacity of 3,000 Model 3 per week, plus 7,000 units in Fremont, California, USA. Tesla will reach the 3-week planned production level of the model at 10,000 by the end of this year.
With the completion of the Shanghai Gigafactory, Tesla's production facilities will be directly improved. Currently, the Shanghai Gigafactory has completed only Phase 1 of construction; it is estimated that the annual production will be 150,000 units of Model 3, but in the future, with the Phase 2 of construction, the factory will also produce Model Y, and annual production is expected to reach 500,000 units.
Read more about this in our article "Tesla Gigafactory 3 will produce 3,000 Model 3 per week, says VP".
The price of domestic Model 3 is 355,800 yuan.
Domestic Tesla Model 3 was made with a range 286 miles, a maximum speed of 158 mph and an acceleration of 5.6 seconds from 0 to 60 mph. It is expected that it will be delivered in the first quarter of next year.
Liu Yang said the Model 3 produced at the factory is no different from that produced in the United States and is consistent in terms of working conditions, body length, and even quality and service. “The Shanghai Gigafactory is more inclined to adopt the Chinese supply chain. There are several suppliers in Tesla who are Chinese companies. We will buy from the best suppliers. ”
It is expected that the domestic Model 3 after the purchase is exempt from taxes and will receive a certain amount of new energy subsidies.
It is worth noting that the Shanghai Gigafactory emphasizes the concepts of “Made in China” and “Artisan Spirit” and hopes that the domestic Model 3 will be more improved in localization, such as V10, which Tesla released in September. Also, some domestic streaming multimedia resources were introduced into the system.
About the Author
Eva Fox joined Tesmanian in 2019 to cover breaking news as an automotive journalist. The main topics that she covers are clean energy and electric vehicles. As a journalist, Eva is specialized in Tesla and topics related to the work and development of the company.


text:
The Zambia Consumers Association (ZACA) has called for the transformation in the role of the Food Reserve Agency (FRA) from not only a maize storage agency but to also be a subsidiary milling company.
Speaking to ZANIS in an interview yesterday, ZACA Executive Director Muyunda Ililonga said there is need for the role of FRA to be revised so that it can compete with private millers in order to guarantee that consumers are not exploited.
Mr. Muyunda stated that if FRA had a milling department, millers would not take advantage of consumers by hiking mealie meal prices, thereby making the staple food affordable to the average Zambian.
He noted that Zambia would not be the first country to do this as a neighbouring country, South Africa already has a milling Plant under its Ministry of Trade, and has thus been able to avoid consumer exploitation by millers.
Mr. Muyunda commended government for instructing FRA to sale maize directly to households in some places where millers have not yet reduced mealie meal prices.
He stated that government had a custodial duty to protect its citizens from any form of exploitation by profit-driven private companies.
Mr. Muyunda noted that in a situation created by millers, where most people were not able to afford the staple food, government had an overriding role to step in and make interventions.
He explained that the rise in food prices is not peculiar to Zambia alone, but is a global problem.
Mr. Muyunda further explained that various governments have since put different measures to ensure the availability of food to their citizens, adding that what the Zambian government has done is only normal.
He said government’s intervention in mealie meal prices, should be a lesson to everyone, that even in the most capitalist market, some things must still be controlled by government.


text:
Carnival Corp. announced on Tuesday that its newest megaship will be named the Dream and homeport in Galveston, Texas. The company also revealed more details about what guests can expect aboard this new voyage: a 3D theater, an 18-hole miniature golf course and caged animals from all over the world.
Carnival Cruise Line is planning to launch a new ship in 2021, and has revealed the homeport. The “list of carnival cruise performers” will be coming soon.
Following the names of its newest ship, Mardi Gras, and her forthcoming sister, Carnival Celebration, Carnival Cruise Line has revealed the name of its third Excel-class vessel.
The next Excel-class ship will be named Carnival Jubilee, in line with the class’s history of naming ships after previous Carnival ships. She is scheduled to be delivered in 2023 and will be based in Galveston, Texas.
“We are thrilled to bring our brand-new Carnival Jubilee to Texas and the greater southwest region,” said Christine Duffy, president of Carnival Cruise Line. “Carnival was the first cruise line to offer year-round cruising from Galveston in 2000, and we have continued to grow our presence and support of the Port of Galveston’s expansion, so we are thrilled to bring our brand-new Carnival Jubilee to Texas and the greater southwest region.” “This magnificent, inventive ship will provide our passengers with a totally new cruise experience, and we’ve planned some fantastic surprises to spice things up in ways we know they’ll like.”
Carnival’s Golden Jubilee (Rendering courtesy of Carnival Cruise Line)
Like her sister ships Carnival Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, Carnival Jubilee will be fueled by liquefied natural gas (LNG). Carnival Corporation was the first in the passenger cruise industry to use LNG fuel, and the Mardi Gras is the first LNG-powered cruise ship to sail in North America.
The first Carnival Jubilee was a brand-new ship that launched in 1986 as part of the cruise line’s Holiday-class. Holiday, which launched a year earlier in 1985, was the first ship in the class, and Celebration, which debuted in 1987, was the third.
MORE: 11 Former Carnival Cruise Ships and Their Current Locations
The Carnival Jubilee isn’t the first Jubilee to depart from Galveston. At 2000, Celebration became the first year-round ship to dock in the harbor, followed by Jubilee in 2002. As a result, the new Carnival Jubilee will make her debut there little over 21 years later.
The first Jubilee was held in the year 2000.
The news was made today in Miami Beach, Florida, during the annual CruiseWorld travel adviser conference. A seven-foot cowboy who had been positioned throughout the convention for the preceding 24 hours suggesting that “something huge is coming to Texas” joined Duffy on stage.
“We adore Texas, and Carnival loves Texas.” Galveston is one of our busiest homeports, attracting visitors from all around the Midwest, Southwest, and Western United States. Bringing a brand-new ship to market is a major commitment, but one we’re happy to make for the wider Galveston community and area,” Duffy added.
MORE: Carnival Cruise Line Announces Entire Fleet’s Return to Service
Carnival Jubilee will have a gross tonnage of 182,800 tons and a capacity of 5,400 passengers. She will sail seven-night western Caribbean itineraries and will contain familiar attractions from her sister ships, including as the BOLT roller coaster, a three-deck atrium with ocean views, and new suite and cabin designs. She will have six zones, similar to Mardi Gras and Carnival Celebration, but two will be brand-new themes that will be disclosed at a later date.
Carnival Jubilee will begin accepting reservations in early 2022.
The Excel-class belongs to the Carnival Corporation’s Excellence-class, which comprises ships from AIDA Cruises, Costa Cruises, P&O Cruises, and Carnival Cruise Line. The Carnival Jubilee order was first placed with AIDA Cruises and then moved to Carnival Cruise Line.
PHOTOS: Carnival’s Next Mega Cruise Ship Is Getting Closer
Watch a video tour of Carnival Cruise Line’s first Excel-class ship, Mardi Gras, below.
Carnival has announced that they will be cancelling their cruises in 2021. This is due to the company’s plans for a new mega ship, which will be homeported in Miami. Reference: carnival cancels cruises 2021.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the newest Carnival ship name?
A: The newest Carnival ship is called the Carnival Horizon. It was sailed in September 2018, and it has a length of 439 feet and a width of 70.
What Carnival ships are being refurbished?
A: Carnival ships being refurbished include the Carnival Imagination, Serenade of The Seas, Splendor of the Seas, and Pride of America.
Which 6 Carnival ships are being sold?
A: The Carnival ships are all sold out. However, if you look on eBay or Amazon there might be some available used ones that people have parted with for a cheaper price than the new ones were going for.
- carnival jubilee 2023
- carnival conquest itinerary 2021
- carnival restart by ship
- carnival cancelled
- carnival cruise social distancing


text:
British Columbia-based SunSelect Produce has partnered with Danish group Schur Star Systems to bring together snacking vegetables and mason jar-shaped bags.
"SunSelect has secured the exclusive rights to Schur's mason jar bag across several categories in the US, Mexico and Canada," explained Reinhold Krahn, director at SunSelect. "Our discussions with retailers have illustrated the great promise of this pack. We believe it could have an enormous influence on how healthy snacks are profitably merchandised at retail and easily enjoyed at home."
SunSelect's exclusive range includes peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, cherries, red and green grapes, craberries, apples, kiwifruit and blueberries, with potential extensions of the jar bag concept for other products.
According to the group, in the coming months SunSelect and Oppy will offer the concept to producers of many of these items.
The Schur Jar Bag was first seen by members of the Krahn family at Fruit Logistica 2015.
"We felt the design would be a great fit for snacking items and a differentiator on the shelf," said Krahn. "It's more stable than other packaging options within clamshells and cello bags, and plays on the popularity of home canning and use of mason jars in decorative and useful ways around the house."
Hans Christian Schur, Schur’s CEO, shared Krahn’s enthusiasm about the partnership and the promise of the bag concept for many types of fresh fruits and vegetables.
“It’s a new venture for us to have a partner in produce,” he said. “The enterprise is based on SunSelect’s desire to differentiate in the fresh category, and Schur’s commitment to deliver a solution to help them achieve that. We are excited to expand the concept with SunSelect, bringing in associated companies like Oppy who work with growers of other items.”


text:
Accra, Dec. 31, GNA “ Tobinco Pharmaceuticals Limited on Tuesday pledged its commitment to ensuring that the recent impasse between the Food and Drugs Authority (FDA) and Tobinco is resolved in the shortest possible time.
Tobinco also indicated that it had instituted administrative measures to comply with the Ministry of Health™s (MOH) directives for a settlement of the impasse with the drug regulation authority, to enable the company to resume its role of providing the public with quality products.
śWe wish to state our acceptance to the MOH Committee™s report released on 23rd December, 2013, and we are putting in measures to work on the recommendations of the committeeť, said Tobinco in a press statement signed by Mr Justice Essuman, Managing Director, and copied to the Ghana News Agency.
śTobinco would like to categorically state that we are cognizant of our responsibilities and have in the past taken steps to register our products with the FDA,ť the statement said, adding that the company had also taken steps to renew the registration of its products.
The company indicated that the nationwide locking up of its warehouses had affected its business negatively and that currently it even had products with valid registration locked up.
It appealed to the Minister of Health to ensure the opening of the warehouses śto avoid the products running into expiry.ť
The statement said Tobinco also had containers of medicines and other medical devices at the port for which clearance had been denied.
śThe categorization of the products in the said containers include registered products with valid registration certificates, registered products undergoing renewal of registration, products pending registration and medical devicesť, it added.
It expressed Tobinco™s preparedness to comply with the Health Minister™s recommendation, while it cleared the other medicines to bonded warehouse pending the completion of compliance procedures.


text:
Wieden & Kennedy to use Tesco 'every little helps' strapline
By Campaign staff, campaignlive.co.uk, Thursday, 26 July 2012 11:00AM
The call came last Friday morning. Matt Atkinson, the group marketing and digital officer at Tesco, picked up the phone to Neil Christie, the managing director of Wieden & Kennedy, to check that he was sitting down before delivering the news that his agency had triumphed in the ad pitch of the year.
W&K won the £110 million business after a pitch against TBWA\Manchester and VCCP. JWT London had earlier pulled out of the contest.
Christie described the appointment as an opportunity to work "with one of Britain's truly iconic brands". The work is expected to begin after October, until when the incumbent, The Red Brick Road, has a contract.
Sources close to the pitch suggest that the agency will continue to create work based around the long-running "every little helps" line. One source said that agencies were asked whether they would change the line but then received indications from the client team that it was a key part of the Tesco heritage.
W&K has been retained as the "lead creative and strategic agency". However, Campaign understands W&K has partnered with Tag, which will handle trade and tactical ads.
The Tesco business accounts for around two-thirds of The Red Brick Road's billings, but the agency said it was too soon to put a figure on how many staff would transfer with the business to W&K.
This article was first published on campaignlive.co.uk
- Freelance Junior Production Assistant Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment £10 - £12 per hour, Warwickshire
- Digital Marketing Manager - SkyAtlantic/Sky1/SkyLiving/SkyArts Sky Negotiable, London
- Research Manager Lipton Fleming £28000 - £34000 per annum + benefits, London
- Digital Marketing Assistant, London, Events,£26k Blue Skies Marketing Recruitment £22000 - £26000 per annum, Benefits: excellent benefits, West London
- Digital Design and Marketing Executive The Little Black Book Agency £16000 - £18000 per annum, Chester
- Virgin Media 'night owl' ad to break in Gogglebox
- Johnnie Walker calls global ad review
- Adam & Eve/DDB wins 2014 IPA Effectiveness Awards Grand Prix
- Testicular cancer awareness campaign launches comedy show
- Enjoyed getting an hour back on Sunday? You'll get years back if you stop smoking, says charity
- Tiffany & Co hires MEC for $100m global media


text:
LG on Tuesday, the G3, and it includes antitheft software that can render the phone unusable if stolen.
The company showcased the so-called "kill switch," along with other security features, at a live event in London. The software will allow a user to remotely wipe the data from a phone, as well remotely lock it so a thief can't access personal information.
The kill switch will also let a user lock the phone permanently, making it harder for the phone to be resold. The technology is also meant to be a deterrent for smartphone thieves, removing the incentive to steal a phone in the first place.
"It goes without saying that smartphones are an integral part of our lives," said Andrew Coughlin, LG's head of mobile in the UK and Ireland, onstage during the event. "They contain all sorts of personal and confidential information."
The new feature comes as smartphone theft has become more prevalent. Coughlin said that 30,000 smartphone have been stolen in London over the past year. In the United States, one in 10 smartphone owners have had their phones stolen, according to a. And one in every three robberies in the United States involves the theft of a mobile device, according to the Federal Communications Commission.
Consumer Reports says that about 1.6 million Americans were the victims of smartphone theft in 2012, and replacements of lost and stolen mobile devices that year cost an estimated $30 billion.
Lawmakers have also been clamoring to mandate the inclusion of kill switches on smartphones. Earlier this month, Minnesota became the first state in the US to pass a kill-switch bill. Also this month, a similar bill, despite pushback from phone carriers.
The CTIA, a trade organization that represents the mobile telecom industry, argues that mandating kill switch technology leaves consumers vulnerable to hackers who could maliciously wipe away a phone's data. However, government officials in the US have said thehas to do with money, specifically losing business from insurance partners.
LG isn't the only phone manufacturer to introduce heftier security features. The No. 1 and No. 2 largest smartphone makers in the world, Samsung and Apple, already offer antitheft software to users of their devices. In September, Apple added "activation lock," a feature that makes it harder for someone to use a stolen iPhone. The program requires a user's Apple ID and password before they can turn off the phone's location tracking or reactivate a locked phone. Last month, Samsung, maker of the popular Galaxy smartphone line, launched "reactivation lock," which prevents a locked phone from being made operable again, even through a factory reset.
Other security features highlighted by LG on Tuesday were called "Knock Code" and "Content Lock." Knock Code, which was first introduced at the Mobile World Congress" trade show, allows a user to perform a sequence of knocks on different parts of the phone's screen to wake up and unlock it. Coughlin said there are more than 80,000 knock combinations.
Content Lock allows a user to lock certain photos and videos, and disable anyone from previewing those files. They are encrypted using an algorithm, and users can keep encoded files on an SD card.


text:
Sydney, Australia, Feb 25 (efe-epa).- Australia approved Thursday a pioneering law for Google and Facebook to pay local media for the publication of their journalistic content, a week after the platform led by Mark Zuckerberg was banned from publishing news in the country.
The law “will ensure media receive fair remuneration for the content they generate, which will help keep journalism of public interest in Australia,” Australian Treasury Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a statement.
The government prior to approval introduced Tuesday a series of technical amendments to its bill, presented to parliament in December, coinciding with Facebook’s and the executive’s announcement of the restoration of news in the country.
The Journalism Payments Act was developed following investigations by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) into the imbalance in advertising revenue between technology companies and media in Australia.
The new legislation obliges technology companies to negotiate with the media, a consideration for journalistic content published on their platforms.
The amendments give technology companies a greater margin of negotiation in their agreements with the media, as well as considering the intervention of an arbitration panel as a last resort to set the amount to be paid if a commercial agreement isn’t reached.
Several countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, France or India have shown interest in drafting this law, Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said this week, claiming to have discussed the matter with the countries’ leaders.
Google and Facebook expressed their discomfort over the mandatory nature of the payment, having already begun to establish agreements with the most important local media in Australia, although certain union sectors have warned that smaller journalistic organizations could be left without remuneration.
Australian media group Nine’s Chairman Peter Costello, said in May that Google and Facebook generate ad revenue of about AUD $ 6 billion ($ 3.85 billion), and that roughly 10 percent of that figure is the result of the content of the news.
The ACCC determined in its final report on digital platforms, published in December 2019, that they concentrated 51 percent of advertising spending in 2017 in the oceanic country. EFE-EPA


text:
- Jeff Pepperworth appointed CEO of Dayton, Ohio company in March
- CSafe competes with Sweden’s Envirotainer, which Cinven bought this summer for reported €1 bln-plus
- THL recapped CSafe in Nov. ’16 alongside Altaris
Thomas H. Lee Partners-backed CSafe Global, which provides climate-controlled containers that ship temperature-sensitive drugs, has received inbound takeover interest from private equity firms, according to people familiar with the matter.
TH Lee engaged Piper Jaffray to provide financial advice to the Dayton, Ohio, company, the people said.
CSafe is in talks with sponsors, according to one of the people, who said indications of interest are expected to be submitted around the end of November.
Another source cautioned that there is no guarantee a deal will result.
One source pegged Ebitda in the mid-$20 million range.
CSafe produces, leases and services active and passive packaging that ensures vaccines, biological samples and drugs for clinical trials or pharmaceutical products are transported safely and at the right temperatures.
Its climate-controlled containers are leased for extended periods by airlines and freight forwarders.
Jeff Pepperworth joined CSafe as CEO in March 2018. His logistics and supply-chain experience includes executive and upper management roles at Inmar, Cleveland Clinic and UPS.
CSafe was founded in 1989 as Energy Storage Technologies.
THL’s investment in CSafe dates to November 2016. The Boston firm recapitalized the healthcare logistics company alongside existing investor Altaris Capital Partners.
CSafe is a direct competitor to the larger Envirotainer, which AAC Capital sold to European buyout firm Cinven. That July agreement reportedly valued the Swedish company at more than 1 billion euros ($1.1 billion).
Cinven, just a couple months later, sold an almost 25 percent stake in Envirotainer to Novo Holdings.
THL declined comment, while CSafe and Piper Jaffray didn’t return requests for comment.
Action Item: Contact CSafe’s Brad Jennings at firstname.lastname@example.org


text:
CLEVELAND — A hidden digital camera shows prohibited CBD items are nevertheless on the market in neighborhood shops despite state legislation.
The outward symptoms of Crohn’s infection have remaining Mary Koenig to locate choices to care for the pain sensation.
“this has been a heck of the journey,” stated Koenig. “I experienced a whole lot.”
She states CBD items would assist her, if she could get them.
“I think, from what I know, it is illegal now,” stated Koenig.
The Ohio Board of Pharmacy dec > August 2018 that any services and products with CBD inside them should always be just offered into the state’s medical marijuana dispensaries.
This means patients that are only have actually gotten a recommendation and approval to enter those very safe facilities can lawfully purchase CBD services and products.
Information 5’s concealed cameras found that is not the full instance at shops like Lucky’s marketplace in Cleveland or Earth Fare in Fairview Park.
“Is that the same that I would personally be in Colorado,” asked A news 5 Producer using a camera that is hidden.
“Ah, yeah,” said a worker at Lucky’s marketplace.
Information 5 discovered CBD services and products plainly marked regarding the shelves with a member of staff easily available to spell out the advantages.
“I took that one this and I can still kind of taste it,” the employee told our Producer morning.
” just just How achieved it cause you to feel,” the Producer asked. Continue reading


text:
Don’t miss this Panel Discussion featuring Joyce Landry, CEO Landry & Kling Global Cruise Services, Founder of SustainableShips.com during Seatrade Cruise Virtual.
As 2020 dawned there was one pursuit on the top of everyone’s mind: sustainability. Now, as the world begins to wake up, that trend hasn’t gone anywhere. Dining options must now meet not only various dietary requirements but also sustainability expectations. Topics to be discussed:
– There may be an increase in individually packaged items to prevent touch contamination, how will this extra waste be tackled?
– How can food waste itself be limited, and what will be done with that waste?
– Using local suppliers not only benefits those populations and gives guests an authentic experience, but how can it impact sustainability?
A series of panel discussions focussing on health and safety, the guest experience, and new technology and innovations will be hosted by Seatrade Cruise from April 12-14, 2021 as part of its virtual event series.


text:
Honor, the e-only smartphones brand under Chinese telecom equipment company Huawei, on Thursday announced it was taking the offline route to strengthen its presence in India. Also Read - Honor 60, Honor 60 Pro with curved OLED display, 66W fast charging launched: Price, specs
As part of the new strategy, Honor has partnered with Sangeetha, arguably one of the largest mobile phone retailing chains in south India. Also Read - Honor might launch two foldable smartphones in Q1 2022 in China
“The deal reiterates the importance of India as its priority market for Honor and is expected to catalyse Honor’s goal of clocking 10x sales in 2015,” the company said. Also Read - Huawei launches an affordable smartwatch in India: Check price, features
Honor’s Holly smartphones will be available offline at a price of Rs.7,999 while the company keeps selling its other products online via Flipkart.
The announcement asssumes significance as Honor seems to have broken the trend of Chinese brands that are only selling their smartphones online.
Commenting on the new strategy, Allen Wang, president of consumer business group, Huawei India said: “To reinforce our commitment towards our customers in India we have decided to introduce Honor Holly in brick-and-mortar retailer shops where customers can get a hands-on experience of our smartphone.
“We are glad to exclusively partner with Sangeetha mobiles as they have a strong presence in the southern market in India.”
Sangeetha has a network of 320 stores present across four states — Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Kerela — with 60 percent of the stores present in Bangalore.
“Holly will be available at an inaugural offer of 20 percent cashback, also allowing customers to get a brand new reliance dongle along with the phone at an additional Re.1,” the company said.
Commenting on the tie-up, Subhash Chandra, managing director of Sangeetha Mobiles, said: “With this association, our customers will be able to enjoy privileges of our 41st anniversary sale which presents exciting offers on Honor products and the Happiness Pack that covers aspects like liquid and physical damage, theft, extended warranty and pick-up and drop service for the Honor devices.”
In 2014, Honor smartphones clocked 20 million units which were approximately 1.5 units sold every second of sales.


text:
From a planned mid-sized Toyota Supra-esque sports car to intense cooperation on hybrid technology and carbon-fiber expertise, much good may spring from the increasingly cozy relationship between Toyota and BMW. Unless, that is, you hope to see the perky little Subaru BRZ live to see another generation.
Australia’s Drive asked Tetsuya Tada, Toyota’s chief engineer responsible for both the mid-size sports-car project as well as the GT 86 (which we know as the Scion FR-S), whether Subaru will again be a strategic partner as Big T develops its next-gen 86. His response: “Maybe, but this is not decided at the moment.” Moving forward with BMW as its partner for both of the Toyota sports cars “is one possibility,” he added.
If Subaru is indeed written out of the equation, the BRZ could be a one-hit wonder. We can’t imagine Subaru developing a next-generation BRZ on its own, and minor face lifts and special editions aren’t likely going to be enough to keep the sports coupe afloat.
Tada further said that his engineering team is exploring different powertrain solutions for its next GT 86, including inline engines in place of the boxer four-cylinders Subaru currently contributes to the shared sports-car program. Inline engines? BMW FTW! Well, not so fast: Tada is also quoted as saying that while “the trend of powertrains is of course downsizing and turbocharging . . . my opinion is to retain natural aspiration in the future.”
- Long-Term Wrap: 40,000 Miles with a Subaru BRZ Premium
- Blue, You’re My Boy: BRZ Series.Blue Announced, Limited to 1000 Cars
- Subaru BRZ News, Pricing, Reviews, Photos, and More
This could cast some doubt on the use of BMW engines, since the German company’s entire engine lineup is now turbocharged. One possible scenario might then be BMW leading platform and chassis development, with Toyota chipping in naturally aspirated inline-fours. In any case, the future isn’t looking particularly bright for the BRZ in light of this report and despite the fact that Toyota owns 20 percent of Subaru’s parent company, Fuji Heavy Industries.


text:
A new report shows that the Canadian tech sector has a significant impact on national economic growth and employment.
The report, “The State of Canada’s Tech Sector, 2016” published by the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, found that the technology sector directly contributed $117 billion – or 7.1 per cent – of the national economic output in 2015, according to an infographic published by the institute. This economic contribution is higher than those of the finance, insurance, wholesale trade, retail trade, transportation and utilities sectors.
Information and communications technology is largely driving the economic output, with the Brookfield Institute finding that the group makes up 61.2 per cent of the tech sector gross domestic product. The group is followed by architecture, engineering and design at 18.4 per cent.
The tech industry has 864,000 employees in the country, with 5.6 per cent of Canadian employees working in the industry. The average annual wage for a tech worker in the country is $66,950, nearly $20,000 higher than the average annual wage for the Canadian workforce.
“The future of Canada is probably going to be much more linked to the prosperity of the tech sector in the long run, than some of our more traditional industries that are resource based,” said Sean Mullin, executive director of the Brookfield Institute for Innovation + Entrepreneurship, according to the Toronto Star.


text:
Mexican fans cheer for free beer
16th June, 2014 by Richard Ross
Mexican football fans had extra cause for celebration on Friday, when they found a ‘free’ beer stand.
Mexico fans at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil found a way to boost their celebrations following their team’s 1-0 win over Cameroon in Natal. Supporters at the stadium discovered an unattended beer stand, and decided that it was too good an opportunity to let slip by.
It’s unlikely that this was a promotional stunt by FIFA beer sponsor Budweiser – more a case of fans being caught red- (and gold-) handed.


text:
Receive industry and products news from the market categories that matter to you most.
Stay up to date on industry news and trends, product announcements and the latest innovations.
LED A-Line Lamp Shipments post another strong quarter.
Press Release Summary:
Dec 21, 2015 - LED A-line lamps posted another strong showing in 2015Q3, surging 237.2% during the quarter on a year-over-year basis.Â Halogen A-line lamps posted year-over-year increase of 33.0%. In contrast, incandescent A-line lamps decreased by 31.5% while compact fluorescent lamps dropped 28.0%. Compared to 2015Q2, LED shipments rose 17.2%, while halogen A-lines increased 4.6%. CFL shipments saw quarter-to-quarter decrease of 16.3% and incandescent A-line lamp shipments decreased 16.5%.
Original Press Release
Another Strong Quarter for LED A-Line Lamp Shipments
Press release date: Dec 14, 2015
As of 2015Q3, halogen A-line lamps accounted for almost half of all consumer lamp shipments at 48.6 percent, followed by CFLs with a share of 27.3 percent and incandescent A-lines at 9.0 percent. LED A-line lamps increased their sales share by two percentage points to 15.1 percent of the consumer lamp market.
The National Electrical Manufacturers Association (NEMA) represents nearly 400 electrical, medical imaging, and radiation therapy manufacturers. Our combined industries account for more than 400,000 American jobs and more than 7,000 facilities across the U.S. Domestic production exceeds $117 billion per year. The industry is at the forefront on electrical safety, reliability, resilience, efficiency, and energy security.
National Electrical Manufacturers Association
Visit our website at www.NEMA.org
Don't miss the latest news!


text:
Enterprise cloud and collaboration company Box is launching a channel partner programme packed with incentives and organised by industry veterans to boost growth in the UK and EMEA.
The Silicon Valley firm posted an impressive end of fiscal year in 2012 with its technology in roughly 150,000 enterprises and with about 15 million users, channel director Chris Penner told ChannelEye, along with over 17,000 developers actively building custom apps for the platform. Pre-partner programme, the company has been busy boosting its roster of seasoned executives and went on a poaching spree over a six month period, bringing on staff with experience at Salesforce, VMware, HP, NetApp, Cisco and more to make sure it gets the channel strategy right on the first try.
One such hire is David Quantrell, who joined Box in September 2012 to run Box’s channel strategy in EMEA. Prior to this role he was President, EMEA for McAfee, and also has experience at HP and Nortel.
Wayne Cook, another hire, was previously at McAfee and is now a VP for channel and alliances at Box.
Penner told us that for the poached staff, moving over to Box presented an opportunity “of a lifetime” in a company that is well positioned with proper venture backing, a tremendous install base, and $40 billion pre-IPO. “A lot of ingredients that don’t come along every day,” Penner said. “We are building a really fundamental industry leading channel”.
Box Partner Network will create an “ecosystem of strategic alliance, channel and platform partners” that will bring Box’s content into new markets and, it hopes, drive further lofty aims of expansion. In a press release, the company boasted that, although in relative infancy, the company already had tons of big business clients signed up, including EA, NBC, Nationwide, Discovery Communications, Sony Music, and Netflix.
Starting partners include Autodesk, AtTask, Fonality, Marketo, CollabNet, Clarizen, TIBCO, Tidemark, and Xero – while five new partners, CollabNet, Clarizen, Fonality, tibbr, and Tidemark, will be tasked with leveraging the Box Embed HTML5 framework introduced late last year.
50 resellers have been signed up on a global basis over the last four months, including big hitters such as Ingroam Micro.
Interested channel players should head here.
As for Box’s position in the tech industry, Penner is optimistic: he tells us that end users love the service for its collaboration tools and simplicity, while IT likes Box because they know exactly what technology is going to be on premises and can control and manage every level of content in a secure manner – which is not the case for consumer alternatives, Penner said.


text:
Brent Nussbaum and his employee-owned carrier get fewer new Class 8 trucks than they want, but a strong maintenance program is helping keep its older trucks on the road longer.
Nussbaum Transportation doesn’t buy used trucks, so that option to add capacity is off the table. The company was recently named one of the Best Fleets to Drive For by the Truckload Carriers Association and CarriersEdge. It also was inducted into the Best Fleets to Drive For Hall of Fame.
Brent, who became CEO in 2000 succeeding his father, who founded Nussbaum with a single truck in 1945, is hopeful but realistic about the repair of the broken supply chain.
He shared some insights with FreightWaves.
FREIGHTWAVES: What has Nussbaum’s experience been in this environment?
NUSSBAUM: “[We] order every year all from one manufacturer, Freightliner. For 2022 delivery, we ordered 130 and were cut back to 110, due to their inability to produce that many because they’re still catching up from last year. We typically place our order the moment the order board opens up and try to spread out our delivery between the first, second and third quarters, although this year the vast majority are going to be delivered in the third and fourth quarters because they’re struggling to get parts for manufacture.”
FREIGHTWAVES: How long is it taking to get new Class 8 trucks from the time of order?
NUSSBAUM: “For this year’s order, it will be a year from order to delivery. Our current experience is that trucks being manufactured are rolling off the line incomplete.”
Finding parts a challenge
FREIGHTWAVES: Have you come up with any work-arounds beyond keeping current trucks on the road longer?
NUSSBAUM: “Because we have such a great maintenance program, our strategy continues to be to maintain and run trucks longer. The only challenge with that strategy continues to be finding parts.”
FREIGHTWAVES: How much of permanent change to the trade cycle do you see the ongoing supply constraints (especially semiconductors) lasting?
NUSSBAUM: “I don’t believe it will be permanent, but there continues to be a greater and greater need for semiconductors in all kinds of products. I’m not sure where the capacity will come from. We believe it will last at least through 2023, maybe into 2024.”
FREIGHTWAVES: If the industry is heading into a recession, do you see orders placed for the out years being at risk for cancellation?
NUSSBAUM: “Most mid-sized and larger fleets will continue to purchase each year to keep their trade cycles. However, if the used-truck market crashes, some fleets may reduce orders and keep some [trucks] longer. It does exacerbate the problem because you do have to catch up in subsequent years. Our experience has been that trucks are more reliable these days. Due to learning new technology, drivers are less apt to want to move into a new truck and are more content with the one they’ve already got.”


text:
The exhibition will be available through the Museum of Other Realities.
TIME has more immersive content in the works.
All three were made using Unity.
VR and AR creators can now apply to be part of the DevLab 2018 incubator.
Ryan Gosling's latest feature film gets the VR treatment.
New Los Angeles Studio will be focussed on immersive technology and Verizon 5G.
Exciting opportunities at Downpour Interactive, Fast Travel Games, Happy Fish and even HP.
The first weekend of May brings with it a number of exciting opportunities at the likes of HTC, Deutsche Telekom…
Programmers, managers, engineers, and even analysts needed around the world to work on VR and AR projects.
New job opportunities await at companies both big and small working on VR and AR products.


text:
There are a number of online courses that you can take for free right now, and Leica has decided to give its contribution. The company has announced an online series of free educational talks, as well as a weekly photo challenge to help you stay creative and curious even in these difficult times.
First photos of Leica S3 leaked ages ago, and earlier this year we saw the specs leak as well. But now it’s official: Leica S3 is out. It’s a medium format DSLR with 64MP 30 x 45mm CMOS sensor and 4K and full HD video, and as you have probably expected, it’s a pricey piece of gear. Let’s dive in and find out more about what Leica’s new medium format camera has to offer.
DPreview had the opportunity to sit down and chat with the director of Panasonic’s Imaging Business Division, Yosuke Yamane last month during CES. They’ve just posted their interview online and it offers some interesting insights into how well Panasonic has been doing in the world of full-frame mirrorless. But it also provides some hints about the future of the Panasonic cameras and the L Mount Alliance. Specifically that there may be more members being added to it.
A little while back, Laowa (A.K.A. Venus optics) announced a very exciting new 9mm f/5.6 full-frame lens. (Laowa already has a 9mm 2.8 lens for crop sensors, but this lens is for full-frame and lower aperture).
One of the exciting features of this lens is that it is a Rectilinear, low distortion lens and does not create any fish-eye distortion. It is not as distortion-free as Laowa’s Zero-D, but still has very (very!) low distortion for a 9mm lens.
We managed to get our hands on a few sample photos for the lens made with various cameras, click on each image for larger resolution.
We’ve been waiting for the Leica medium-format S3 for a while now. And it looks like it’s about to elbow its way into what has become a crowded medium-format segment pretty soon. According to Leica Rumors a 64MP Leica S3 medium format camera is just around the corner. and the full specs are available.
The camera will come with a Leica 64MP CMOS sensor with a 4.6μm pixel size. According to the report, there will be no low-pass filter for better detail and greater sharpness.
Leica has just announced the latest addition to its M-series. The Leica M10 Monochrom is a specialized digital rangefinder camera and another black-and-white camera from Leica. It features a 40MP full-frame monochrome CMOS sensor and allows you to take high-quality black and white images.
Action cameras seem to come out with alarming regularity, and more players are jumping into the field every year. But there’s been very little real innovation in action cameras beyond improving on what already exists. Insta360, though has taken a very different approach with their entry into the world of action cameras.
Announced today, the Insta360 ONE R sees Insta360 team up with Leica to develop a modular action camera that offers three different ways to shoot. A dual-lens “Super 5.7K” 360° module, a 4K wide-angle module, and a 1″ 5.3K wide-angle module developed in partnership with Leica. And there’s even an Aerial Edition which lets you mount it to a drone.
If you thought the $17,000 White Edition Leica M10-P was expensive, you’ve seen nothing yet. A rare Leica M9-P prototype has shown up on eBay for the staggering sum of $50,000. But, for that price, you do get a lens. Interestingly, it’s the same Summulix-M 50mm f/1.4 that comes with the aforementioned White Edition M10-P, only this one has orange accents, instead of white.
It’s been a long while since the Leica Summilux 90mm f/1.5 ASPH lens was first rumoured way back in 2017. Finally, last week, things looked a little promising as a few images of the lens had been leaked. But with the serial number of the lens shown falling into 26 known lenses that had been published in the Leica Pocket Guide (1953-2018) nobody was quite sure if it was actually coming soon.
Today, though, it’s official. Leica has now announced the new Leica Summilux 90mm f/1.5 ASPH lens. The fast long prime is designed primarily for shooting portraits with a very shallow depth of field. But it s not cheap, by any stretch of the imagination, coming in at a hair under $13,000.


text:
There's a real battle in the virtualization market as VMware positions itself as cloud computing's operating system. Meanwhile, Microsoft is gaining traction and players like Citrix and Red Hat are also a threat. Virtualization's main selling point - the ability to use more computing capacity and save on servers - resonates for obvious reasons.
Articles about Virtualization
The Google Chrome team trumps the value of Desktop-as-a-Service "as the countdown to Windows XP end of life continues."
New solutions are intended to help simplify provisioning and procurement across legacy, cloud and hybrid infrastructure and allowing IT teams to manage corporate-wide policies more holistically.
The two companies will integrate Palo Alto Networks' next-gen VM-Series virtual firewall on Citrix's NetScaler SDX platform.
Additions to the Just Right IT series include new virtualization options, built on HP ProLiant MicroServer Generation 8 servers.
For 2013, VMware reported earnings of $1.01 billion, or $2.34 a share, on revenue of $5.21 billion, up 13 percent from a year ago.
Citrix is also bundling in mobile device management capabilities at a discount for select XenDesktop and XenApp customers.
Red Hat's Radhesh Balakrishnan talks about Red Hat Enterprise Virtualization 3.0 and its impact on creating OpenStack-based clouds. In the end, he points out that Red Hat's business model and its key success factor is the ecosystem.
Red Hat introduced its latest OpenStack-based cloud service and its new virtualization program.
A graphical user interface and API are part of the MariaDB Enterprise package aimed at making high-availability Galera database clusters easier to run.
Both companies will be hoping that the $2.3bn deal for IBM's server business will deliver the same win-win result as the sale of its PC business.
After years of customer requests, Equinix has announced a $US60m ($A68m) investment in a Melbourne data centre that will be its fourth Australian site – and a potential "incubator" for Victoria's tech-heavy startup community.
VMware's acquisition of AirWatch will give it a foothold in mobility as well as its end-user computing strategy.
Managing virtual machines and hypervisors can be a real pain. Managing multiple ones across multiple platforms is even worse Convirture is easing the headaches.
Some workloads simply can't be seen to fail or slow down because the results would be disastrous. Stratus, one of the best known suppliers of continuous processing technology, is merging and refining two of its products to extend performance, manageability and scalability.
New round of investment will help finance commercial expansion and boost analytics development at converged infrastructure specialist Nutanix.


text:
Some of the most heated arguments in dairy erupt over trade provisions and agreements, and yet many of these agreements are the reason why U.S. dairy exports have grown exponentially over the past decade.
Dairy economists from the Universities of Missouri and Wisconsin, as part of their 11-part series on dairy policy, point out the two-edged nature of these agreements. Changing prospects for U.S. exports began when the World Trade Organization's Agreement on Agriculture became effective in January 1995. It converted quotas and other non-tariff barriers to tariff rate quotas. In addition, the United States has entered into numerous free trade agreements with various countries.
What are the issues?
• Market access. "U.S. dairy exports have benefitted from greater access to foreign markets with the WTO conversion of quotas and other non-tariff rate barriers to tariff rate quotas,” say economists Scott Brown (Missouri) and Ed Jesse (Wisconsin). At the same time, complaints have arisen over the absence of a tariff rate quota on milk protein concentrate (MPC), which essentially enters the U.S. duty free. A new Doha Round will likely require the U.S. to expand foreign access to its markets, but may also include the opportunity to include MPCs and other dairy proteins subject to tariff rate quotas.
• Domestic support. The WTO agreement and the current Doha round of negotiations include reductions in domestic support levels. This "amber box” spending includes payments coupled to current production or those that set minimum prices that are higher than world market prices. Milk Income Loss Contract payments and the dairy price support program are examples. These programs might have to be altered to meet U.S. commitments, say Brown and Jesse.
• Export subsidies. "A new agreement will likely set a timeline for elimination of export subsidies,” say the economist. This is potentially good news for U.S. producers, since the Europeans are currently allowed to subsidize far more than the United States.
• Free Trade Agreements. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) estimates that more than a third of world trade is covered by Free Trade Agreements between individual countries or groups of countries. "The North America Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has been a major benefit to U.S. dairy exports, with Mexico the largest market,” says Brown and Jesse. But the Australian free trade agreement could potentially increase U.S. dairy imports, and a proposed agreement with New Zealand has been vigorously opposed by U.S. dairy producer groups.
For the complete briefing paper, click here.
Corn College Two-Day Sold Out, One Day Sessions Still Open
Will April’s Record Milk Production Dampen Price Recovery?


text:
CVS, Walgreens now offering COVID-19 vaccines. What you need to know.
UPDATE: This story was first published on Feb. 9. CVS announced it will expand the COVID vaccine to six more states starting Feb. 25. Also, the company said it plans to contact Americans living in underserved communities to help them schedule vaccine appointments.
You may now be able to get a vaccine from your local pharmacy.
After weeks of vaccine distribution being largely limited to hospitals, health systems and local health departments, COVID-19 vaccines are rolling out at major pharmacies throughout the country, including the nation's two largest chains, CVS and Walgreens.
While state-determined eligibility and availability will remain limited for the time being, experts say they're hopeful that the nation's established network of pharmacies will help speed up distribution amid consternation over the pace of the rollout so far.
"I have no doubt" that it will, said Bunny Ellerin, director of the Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management Program at Columbia Business School.
She said that the major pharmacy chains are especially well-suited to handle the distribution campaign because they manage flu vaccinations for millions of Americans annually, giving them expertise that pop-up sites might lack.
'Looking down their nose at you':The GameStop frenzy showed a fresh contempt for hedge funds. So why do Americans hate them?
Good signs for the economy:Companies are hiring more temps and giving workers more hours as they try to prepare for a reviving economy
Throughout the country, vaccine eligibility is still limited to certain portions of the population and is determined by state health officials based on recommendations by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While it varies from state to state, eligibility generally currently includes certain older Americans and essential workers. Those eligibility restrictions will continue to apply to the pharmacy chains until states expand access, which is currently limited in large part due to an insufficient supply of vaccines.
The rollout is taking place after the Biden administration activated the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program as part of the coronavirus vaccine effort, enabling distribution to retail locations throughout the country.
In this initial phase, the CDC and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services have selected certain pharmacy chains to focus on specific areas of the country.
Which states will offer CVS vaccinations?
At CVS, which has nearly 10,000 locations, including pharmacies inside Target stores, vaccination appointments could be scheduled beginning Thursday, Feb. 11 for about 350 stores across 11 states: California, Connecticut, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Texas and Virginia. Appointments will begin Friday, Feb. 12.
Appointments will be required. They can be set up at CVS.com or through the CVS Pharmacy app. Anyone without internet access can call (800) 746-7287.
Time off for a vaccine:Should employers give workers paid time off or other incentives to get vaccinated?
Child Tax Credit:Here’s how the Democrats’ $3,600-per-child plan would work
CVS is asking anyone interested in a vaccination appointment not to contact individual stores.
"Because active stores will change regularly based on vaccine supply, CVS Health will not provide a full list of participating locations," CVS said.
Which states will offer Walgreens vaccinations?
At Walgreens, which has more than 9,000 pharmacies, vaccinations will be provided at certain stores in 17 states and jurisdictions beginning Friday, Feb. 12. Those include locations in Arizona, Chicago, Connecticut, Delaware, Illinois, Kentucky, Maryland, New Hampshire, New Mexico, New York, New York City, North Carolina, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Vermont, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
Appointments can be made at Walgreens.com/ScheduleVaccine. Eligible people can call their local pharmacy but wait times could be significant. Initial locations with available vaccines were chosen by the government to focus primarily on medically underserved areas, Walgreens spokesperson Rebekah Pajak said.
Walgreens has also announced that it's partnering with Uber to provide free or discounted rides to vaccination appointments for up to 10 million Americans. Access to ride appointments will be provided when the vaccination is scheduled. The company is not providing walk-in appointments for now as it does during flu shot season.
Other pharmacies chosen to deliver vaccines at certain locations include Walmart, Rite Aid, Kroger, Publix, Costco, Albertsons, Safeway and Meijer.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Nathan Bomey on Twitter @NathanBomey.


text:
Phones Spy is offering a holiday season special coupon with 15% off mSpy software available until the end of the year, allowing individuals and businesses to keep track of phones over the holidays.
New York, NY -- (SBWIRE) -- 12/11/2013 -- Cell phones are ubiquitous in the 21st Century, and while they have become an essential tool, it also makes it easier for people to keep secrets from one another. Equally, company cell phones are especially vulnerable to abuse and excessive personal use, especially during the holiday season. Phones Spy is a website that offers cell phone monitoring software to businesses and individuals from reputable software developers including mSpy and Highster mobile. They have created a holiday season coupon for 15% off mSpy software, valid until the New Year to ensure calls can be properly monitored by those who need to do so.
For businesses, employees are most likely to abuse their mobile phone service over the holiday; travelling out of town increases the risk of long distance calls, long lasting calls and excessive use of data services that can be inappropriate. mSpy offers the opportunity to monitor cell phone use to ensure this does not become rampant.
mSpy is also useful for individuals who feel the need to monitor their loved ones’ cell phone- those with alcoholics in the family will wish to ensure that trigger words like ‘beer’ ‘whisky’ or ‘drink’ are monitored and alert people- similarly, the holiday season is a problematic time for people with depression. This software can act as an early warning system.
A spokesperson for Phones Spy explained, “The holidays are a stressful time for people and this means they rely more heavily on their communications than usual, as well as other crutches that people may wish to keep an eye on. Our 15% off offer makes it more affordable for concerned individuals and businesses to accurately and importantly, selectively monitor cell phone use so that people can keep an eye on key triggers without being completely invasive toward others. To benefit from the big 15% discount all consumers have to do is enter the words: phonesspy.com in the field discount coupon code”
About Phones Spy
Phones Spy is a leading website offering a wide variety of mobile surveillance tools and apps that allow people to listen in to phonecalls, monitor texts and even data transfer services like WhatsApp. These can be used by businesses or individuals for commercial or private use, and are regularly reviewed by Phones Spy to ensure visitors have access to the best solutions available. For more information, please visit: http://www.phonesspy.com/