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Outrigger Resorts has opened a sales, marketing and PR representation office in Russia, effective 1 January 2015.
Three hundred and fifty VIP guests attended the lavish opening party of the Outrigger Mauritius Resort and Spa in the Indian Ocean, 16 April. Guest of honor, the Mauritius Minister for Tourism, Mr Michael Sik Yuen, welcomed Outrigger and wished them well on the island.
Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels & Resorts has continued to expand its global portfolio of beachfront properties with the announcement it has purchased from its partner, Geoffrey Shaw, the complete shareholding in the ownership company of Outrigger on the Lagoon Fiji, and his privately held Castaway Island, Fiji. The two award-winning resorts combine to offer the perfect Fiji islands holiday experience.
The beachfront Outrigger Mauritius Resort and Spa is now open. The Deluxe 181-room, all sea-view resort opened 30 January and is the first in the Indian Ocean belonging to Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, the 66-year old Hawaii-based hospitality company which now has 45 properties open or under development in eight countries.
Outrigger Hotels and Resorts in Asia-Pacific will be prominent at upcoming major travel trade events in Singapore and London ahead of the Mauritius Outrigger Resort and Spa opening on the idyllic south coast of the Indian Ocean island state in December. Details about the property and all Outrigger properties in Asia-Pacific will be promoted during ITB Asia in Singapore and WTM in London.
Hawaii-based Outrigger Hotels and Resorts announced today that it has purchased from Dubai-based Kingdom Hotel Investments the 181-key Movenpick Resort and Spa Mauritius in the island nation of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean from Dubai-based Kingdom Hotel Investments. The transaction closed on May 29, 2013, for an undisclosed amount.
Four hundred people attended the sensational grand opening party of the 255-room Outrigger Laguna Phuket Beach Resort in Phuket, 4 April. Guest of honour, Phuket Governor Maitri Inthusut, cut the opening ribbon along with Outrigger senior executives and the company’s founding family members who had flown in from Hawaii for the occasion.
Outrigger Hotels & Resorts Asia-Pacific is now taking reservations for its new absolute beach front property in Thailand, the Outrigger Phuket Beach Resort. It will be the only property in the Laguna Phuket destination resort to have a dedicated club lounge for guests looking for additional personal service and privacy.
Richard Kelley has been replaced as chairman of Outrigger Enterprises by his son, Charles Roy “Chuck” Kelley with immediate affect. Outrigger has been nominated as Australia’s Leading Hotel Brand at the upcoming World Travel Awards Asia & Australasia Gala Ceremony in Bangkok.
Darren Edmonstone, managing director of Outrigger Hotels & Resorts, Asia Pacific, is pleased to announce the appointment of William Visser as vice president operations, Asia Pacific. Visser will be based in Outrigger’s Asia Pacific corporate office in Phuket, Thailand. The news comes at an exciting time for Thailand, which is preparing to welcome the second WSDE Sports Destination Expo later this year.


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Dubai, UAE — (ARAB NEWSWIRE) — Meet the web 3.0 revolution: a more inclusive, democratic and secure internet. With the partnership between Dhabicoin 3.0 and Bluesea Watersports in Dubai, the use of digital assets as a payment method in sectors such as tourism and leisure becomes a reality, providing customers with a safe and efficient payment experience. Discover how this partnership is transforming the way we interact with the digital world and experience the thrill of a jet ski ride while connecting with new web 3.0 technologies.
Bluesea Watersports is an excellent example of how web 3.0 can be applied in different sectors and bring concrete benefits to users. By allowing customers to pay for their jet ski rides with a secure, decentralized asset, Bluesea Watersports not only simplifies the payment process, but also promotes the adoption of new technologies and innovative services. This is an important step where cryptocurrencies and other blockchain-based solutions play a key role.
Bluesea Watersports is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is known for offering thrilling jet ski experiences to tourists and locals alike. With the partnership, customers will be able to use Dhabicoin 3.0 to pay for services, which include guided jet ski tours through the beautiful landscapes of the Arabian Gulf.
This partnership also highlights the growing acceptance of digital assets as a form of payment in various sectors, including tourism and leisure. Using Dhabicoin 3.0 as a payment method will allow customers to avoid exchange fees while enjoying a secure and efficient payment experience.
The Dhabicoin 3.0 team is excited about this new partnership, which represents another major step in the adoption of web 3.0 assets in the UAE. They believe it will help promote the use of Dhabicoin 3.0 and other digital assets across the country.
If you are planning to visit Dubai soon, be sure to experience the thrill of a jet ski tour with Dhabicoin 3.0 partner tour company and use it to pay for your experience.
Meet Dhabicoin at: https://dhabicoin.ae.
+55 11 9 4088 1109
This press release is issued through Arab Newswire (www.arabnewswire.com) – a newswire service for Arab World, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and it is distributed by EmailWire™ (www.emailwire.com) – the global newswire service that provides Press release distribution with guaranteed results™.

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Draft digital commerce act facing backlash
E-commerce entrepreneurs yesterday came down heavily against the formulation of a new law to regulate the sector, saying that it would hinder the development of digital commerce in Bangladesh.
The "Digital Commerce Act 2023" recently prepared by the commerce ministry includes provisions that will practically upend the business of small-and-medium digital commerce entrepreneurs, they said.
The law bars people from running a digital business without obtaining a Digital Business Identity (DBID) from the ministry. If anyone is found operating a digital business without it, then that person would be fined Tk 5 lakh or have to spend one year in prison as a penalty.
"The new law will be suicidal for the sector. I think we don't need a law because existing laws are enough for the sector," said Fahim Mashroor, chief executive officer of AjkerDeal.
"Imagine a woman entrepreneur who runs a small business through a Facebook page is made to go to jail or face a Tk 5 lakh fine for not getting a DBID. This law is particularly harmful for them," he added.
Millions of educated young women are not getting employed as there are not many jobs available for them. As such, a significant portion of them have been trying to sustain their livelihoods by starting online businesses using Facebook or other digital platforms.
"Whereas we should be trying to help them, we are doing everything to make it harder for them to do business. Millions of small online traders are being blamed and new laws are being put in place for a few e-commerce fraudsters," Mashroor said.
He was speaking at a roundtable on the draft of the new Digital Commerce Act, organised by the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS) at its office in Dhaka.
The law comes amid widespread scams centring the e-commerce sector in 2021, when it was found that some fraudulent platforms embezzled thousands of crores of taka from customers and merchants.
Wassem Alim, the CEO of Chaldal, a top online grocery platform, said the law would restrict the sector's growth rather than help it flourish.
There is a trend in the country where laws are enacted only after an incident occurs.
"But when any fraud happens, no authority gets the courage to implement the law. So, no fraud occurs because of the lack of law, it takes place due to the lack of implementation," he added.
Alim then said the digital commerce sector in Bangladesh is very small and so, a law can be formulated when it grows further. Alim also criticised the harsh penalty regime included in the law.
Syed Mohammad Kamal, a director of BASIS and country manager for Mastercard Bangladesh, said there are adequate laws or rules to regulate e-commerce in Bangladesh, such as the consumers' rights protection law, Bangladesh Bank's escrow system and logistics authority.


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BANGKOK, Oct 16 (Bernama) — Tata Motors Thailand will expand its market, introduce new products and lift the quality of after-sales services, said its chief executive officer, Sanjay Mishra.
He said the company would definitely introduce new products in the third quarter of this fiscal year ending March 2015.
He said pick-up truck waiting to be launched by year-end would be the Tata Xenon Refresh.
“It is equipped with a new diesel engine, new gear system and more internal and external features.
“We have made continuous developments in our products to make them look more stylish which suit the Thai customers’ needs,” he said at the 2014 Tata Motors Thailand Dealers’ Conference in Bangkok, Thursday.
Sanjay said people tended to think that those who drove Tata pickup were drivers, not the owners themselves as most Tata pickups were commercial vehicles that customers purchased for the purpose of delivering goods.
“The company is expanding its market and is launching the Tata Xenon Refresh so that owners themselves can drive around with,” he said.
Aside from the Tata Xenon Refresh, Tata Motors also planned to introduce one of the company’s line of tractors – Tata Prima, he said.


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NEW YORK, NY – NOVEMBER 08: Yolanda Hadid and The Weeknd approach 2018 Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in New York…
<p content = “Razek’s comments derive from the negative reaction regarding his comments in a recent Vogue interview where he claimed that viewers do not want to see more different models on the runway Razek’s comments derive from the negative reaction to his comments in a recent interview Vogue interview claiming that viewers do not want to see more different models on banana.

” If you have asked if we have considered putting a transgender model in the show or looking to add a plus-size model to the show we have. We invented the plus format model in what was our sister department, Lane Bryant. Lane Bryant still sells a large underwear, but sells a certain range, just like all specialists in the world sell a lot of clothes, told Razek Vogue . “We also do We market who we sell to, and we do not market for the whole world.”
He added that the company previously only had a project with only the size application almost 20 years ago, but that viewer did not match. “We tried to make a television special for size [in 2000]”, says Razek. “Nobody had any interest in it, it still does not.” Razek announced the pressure to include transgender and plus-sized models to “political correctness.”
“I always ask: If we do, what’s the reason? Why did we include that person? And did we include them to turn off a reporter? Did we include them because it was the right thing to do or to That was the politically correct thing to do? “he said. “Do they take the place of someone who worked for a year for the opportunity and cried when they discovered they got it?”
He cemented his frustration with the “hate” by claiming that Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show is not meant to be based on reality.
“It’s like, why does not your show do this? Do not you have transsexuals on the show? No No, I do not think we should. Well, why not? Because the show is a fantasy. It’s a 42-minute entertainment perspective. That’s what it is. It’s the only one of its kind in the world, and any other fashion brand in the world would take it in a minute, including the competitors who carping on us. “
While Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show continues to be an International phenomenon, the sale in the store has suffered. In July, Forbes reported that the company had suffered a 1% decline in sales in the five weeks ended July 7th.
The real reason Meghan Markle will not wear a Victoria Beckham dress
Pippa Middleton’s Friendship with Sister Kate
Meghan Markle shows love to pal Serena Williams by wearing one of her blazers – and it’s already sold out!


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Insurer Aviva Singapore's VNB up 19% at S$216m
BRITISH insurer Aviva Singapore has posted a 19 per cent rise in its value of new business (VNB), a measure of expected profits from new premiums written, to S$216 million in 2015, following higher sales of protection products through the financial advisory (FA) channel.
- CALL +65 6388 3838
- EMAIL firstname.lastname@example.org


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The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 has finally received the Android 10 beta
Samsung’s flagship phablet has finally started to receive the beta for the Android 10 operating system — but British customers will have to wait a little longer.
Samsung’s One UI 2.0 beta, which is based on Android 10, has been released to India and the United States, but there’s no sign of it appearing in the UK just yet. We’re still eagerly looking forward to seeing what new tricks are included in the package for Samsung’s latest user interface, and how well it will complement the software of Google’s latest mobile operating system.
Related: Best Phones
The Samsung Galaxy Note 10 received 4 out of 5 stars in our recent review, thanks to its muscular performance, varied camera sensors, and unique S-Pen. We found the relatively new OneUI to be a refreshingly simple interface, although we thought the DeX mobile-to-desktop mode to be a work in progress.
If the OneUI 2.0 beta can iron out some of these problems then it would be a welcome update. However, the device had a few shortcomings that can’t be made up for with a mere software patch; we were underwhelmed by the battery life and the lack of features such as Micro SD card expandability or a 3.5mm headphone jack.
Related: Best Android Phones
As for the underlying software, Android 10 offers quite a few new tips and tricks that are worth a look. For starters, there’s a new system-wide dark mode that gives you a rest from the standard bright white default screen in favour of a subdued black and grey interface. You’ll also get to play around with the handy new Live Transcribe feature that converts speech to text instantaneously, saving you from painstakingly copying up your notes. Full gesture navigation is also now available as an alternative method of finding your way around your smartphone rather than using the three-button system.


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Las Vegas Sands is selling two properties in Las Vegas as it pursues expansion opportunities in Asia.
US.- Las Vegas Sands has confirmed it is selling two of its properties on the Las Vegas strip.
It will sell the Venetian Resort and Sands Expo and Convention Center for $6.25bn to Vici Properties and Apollo Global Management.
Apollo will pay $2.25bn for the operating company of the 7,000 room resort, while Vici is buying the land and real estate assets for $4bn.
Apollo, a private equity firm, recognised that the purchase was a bet, given the declining traffic on the Las Vegas strip as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The company said in a statement: “This investment also underscores our conviction in a strong recovery for Las Vegas as vaccines usher in a reopening of leisure and travel in the United States and across the world.”
Las Vegas Sands to continue expansion in Asia
The sale comes as Las Vegas Sands moves its focus towards Asia Pacific, particularly Macau and Singapore.
Before the pandemic, Asian markets made up 90 per cent of the company’s revenue.
Las Vegas Sands Chairman and CEO, Robert Goldstein, said in a statement: “This company is focused on growth, and we see meaningful opportunities on a variety of fronts. Asia remains the backbone of this company and our developments in Macao and Singapore are the center of our attention.”
Goldstein took over earlier this year after the company’s founder and CEO Sheldon Adelson passed away.
There were reports that Adelson was considering selling his Las Vegas properties prior to his death.


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© 2015, Blastr. All rights reserved.
The cast of Star Wars: Rogue One has just become more interesting.
Information continues to trickle out about Gareth Edwards' foray into the Star Wars universe.
Director Michelle MacLaren recently left one high-profile genre project, but she could land another soon.
If you've missed your favorite smooth-talking galactic scoundrel, then you shouldn't miss this.
Official images of Star Wars: The Force Awakens merchandise have been unleashed in a galaxy not so far, far away.
Over a six-decade career, Sir Christopher Lee left more than a few big marks on genre cinema.
The man who made Dracula a legend and brought Saruman to life on the big screen has passed away.
It’s taken a few decades, but a long-lost Star Wars novel has finally found the light of day — and it aims to tell one interpretation of what happened after the original trilogy.
Along with expanding the Star Wars canon in a big way with everything from comic books to new film sequels, the folks at Disney haven’t forgotten where it all began.


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Kendall Jenner is continuing her reign as mirror selfie queen during New York Fashion Week.
Kendall posed in front of a full-body mirror while sporting a casual yet chic look for a stroll around the city.
Kendall has been giving her fans, particularly those who like to imitate her style, a look into her high-end designer wardrobe as she galavants around New York City.
Fortunately, for those hoping to snag some of the 818 Tequila owner’s pieces, fan accounts on Instagram have been diligently tracking the model’s NYC outfits for those who can afford to purchase them.
In this latest look, the off-duty model went for a whimsical, polka-dotted, two-piece outfit that highlighted her toned physique.
The supermodel shared the snap via Instagram stories with her 253 million followers.
Kendall Jenner bares midriff in mirror selfie
Kendall’s black mock neck tank top featured large, cream polka dots. The cropped shirt highlighted Kendall’s toned stomach.
Meanwhile, Kendall’s high-waisted, flare pants were covered in much smaller spots.
The dramatically long bottoms, which hugged her lean waist, pooled around her ankles as she posed for the picture.
Kendall kept the chic look casual as she opted for minimal makeup and her long unstyled brown hair draped over her slender shoulders.
The second oldest KarJenner sister kept her accessories minimal, carrying a sleek black shoulder bag and donning a pair of sunglass on her head.
Kendall opens up setting boundaries
Kendall has been quite busy during her trip to New York for Fashion Week.
She attended events such as the US Open with her boyfriend Devin Booker and a Revolve x 818 Tequila party. Kendall has also walked the runway for various brands.
Much like her sisters, the supermodel has a strong work ethic. However, Kendall recently opened up to Jay Shetty about how she pushed herself to exhaustion.
Kendall went on to explain that after deciding at the age of 14 that she wanted to model, she essentially worked nonstop until just shortly before the pandemic.
She explained, “There was a long period of time, I’d say the core five years of it that I was extremely overworked, not my happiest…because I was overwhelmed…and it just took a lot out of me to the point where I just wasn’t happy anymore.”
But Kendall has shared that she’s since learned to prioritize her happiness by setting boundaries and learning to say “no.”
The Kardashians Season 1 is now streaming on Hulu. Season 2 premieres on September 22, 2022.


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The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) spent AU$1.2 billion on IT services in the first half of the 2017 financial year, up from the AU$752 million it spent during the corresponding period a year prior.
With total IT spend increasing 54 percent, the amortisation of software assets cost the bank AU$613 million during the six-month period, while AU$222 million was spent on technology application, maintenance, and development.
For the six months ended December 2016, CBA reported statutory net profit after tax (NPAT) of AU$4.9 billion, up 6 percent year on year. Operating income for the period experienced a 6 percent increase to AU$13.1 billion.
Retail banking pulled NPAT of AU$2.5 billion, while business and private banking accounted for AU$791 million, institutional banking and markets took AU$683 million, and wealth management took AU$249 million.
The bank's New Zealand banking operations reported AU$471 million in NPAT, while wholly-owned subsidiary Bankwest made AU$355 million in after-tax profit.
Cash-based internet transactions for the period reached an all-time high, with 684 million instances performed via internet banking -- 80 percent via mobile -- and accounted for 53 percent of the bank's total money transacted for the half.
5.8 million CBA customers are currently using a digital channel to perform banking-related activities, with the CommBank app recording 27 million logins on average per week.
During the half year, CBA introduced instant transaction alerts for credit cards, as well as camera pay, which allows customers to use their smartphone camera to scan a code to send and receive money.
"Our job as a major financial institution is to maintain a focus on the long term, whilst ensuring that we can withstand nearer term shocks," CBA CEO Ian Narev told shareholders on Wednesday.
"Our contribution to Australia's economic growth must continue to be the combination of strength and innovation that has served Australia well through global volatility.
"We will continue to manage our balance sheet, and our expenditure, conservatively. But we will also continue to invest confidently so we can play our part in the bright future that we see for Australia."
In October, CBA entered into a memorandum of understanding with Alipay, Alibaba's online payment platform, to deliver payment solutions to Australian and Chinese consumers and retailers.
Under the agreement that saw CBA the become the first Australian bank to secure a deal with Alipay, the Chinese giant will use the bank's digital payments infrastructure to enable Australian consumers to make purchases across Alibaba Group's ecommerce websites including AliExpress.
During the half, CBA, in partnership with Wells Fargo and Brighann Cotton, claimed the first interbank trade transaction combining blockchain technology, smart contracts, and the Internet of Things (IoT).
The transaction, which took place between Brighann Cotton US and Brighann Cotton Marketing Australia, and their respective banks Wells Fargo and Commonwealth Bank, involved a shipment of 88 bales of cotton from Texas, USA to Qingdao, China.
At the time, the bank said the advancement from paper ledgers and manual processes to electronic trackers on a distributed ledger will reduce errors and accomplish in minutes what used to take days.
"This proof of concept demonstrates how companies around the world could benefit from these emerging technologies," Michael Eidel, executive general manager of CBA's Cash-flow and Transaction Services, said.
"The interplay between blockchain, smart contracts, and the IoT is a significant development towards revolutionising trade transactions that could deliver considerable benefits throughout the global supply chain."
In announcing its first half results, CBA said the investment in blockchain will continue throughout the rest of the 2017 financial year, with the bank announcing last month that the Queensland Treasury Corporation (QTC) will begin using a prototype of the bank's capital markets blockchain platform, to be executed via a virtual "cryptobond".
QTC has already successfully used the bank's distributed ledger to generate a bond tender, view investor bids in real time, finalise investment allocation, and instantly settle with investors.
CBA also entered into a partnership with Barclays in September that saw the banks connecting with each other's apps to allow mobile payments between Australia and the UK.
At the same time, CBA also opened the doors to an innovation lab in London, joining Barclays' own Rise innovation hub, which has focused on fintech since 2014. CBA's innovation lab network now spans Sydney, Hong Kong, and London.
CBA's Albert -- which was launched in FY15 -- also had an active six months, adding 13 new apps to the 70,000 the "clever" eftpos devices deployed around the country.
The bank revealed in September it would be copping a AU$2.5 million write-off due to a programming error that resulted in CBA breaching responsible lending laws when providing personal overdraft facilities.
For the 2016 financial year, CBA reported statutory net profit after tax of AU$9.2 billion, up 3 percent year on year; operating income increased 5 percent to AU$24.6 billion; and revenue from ordinary activities came in at AU$44.4 billion, down 2 percent from the previous corresponding period.
"We have pursued a simple, consistent strategy for over a decade now. Continued execution of that strategy, focused on customer satisfaction, innovation, and strength, has again driven solid operating performance and balance sheet growth for the group," Narev said at the time.
Total IT expenses came in at AU$1.5 billion for the full year. Specifically, software amortisation increased by 23 percent to AU$379 million, while application maintenance costs went up 19 percent to AU$511 million. The largest IT expense for the full year was the desktop line item, which increased by 30 percent year on year to AU$143 million.


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Retail spending charged to electronic cards rose 1.1 per cent last month, seasonally adjusted, the largest monthly increase since August last year, Statistics New Zealand said.
For the June quarter the value of card transactions, which are about two-thirds of all retail spending, was up 1.7 per cent on the March quarter.
Westpac economist Michael Gordon said household spending looked likely to have made a greater contribution to GDP growth in the June quarter than the 0.4 per cent recorded in the March quarter, which would help to blunt the impact of lost production as a result of the drought.
Deutsche Bank chief economist Darren Gibbs said growth in nominal consumer spending, as measured by the cards data, was running a little above growth in labour incomes, but less enthusiastically than might have been expected given the rapid rise in house prices, especially in Auckland.
The largest increase was in spending on fuels, up 3.5 per cent. That was in line with the rise in petrol prices over the month, ASB economist Christina Leung said.
Spending on vehicles rose 1.7 per cent.
Outside the automotive sector the rise in spending was led by the hospitality sector, up 1.7 per cent for the month, apparel (up 2.5 per cent) and durables (up 0.8 per cent). Spending on consumables, such as food, and services was little changed.
Retailers were the least optimistic sector in the NZIER quarterly survey of business opinion released yesterday (though it does not survey farmers).
A net 8 per cent of retailers reported lower sales over the past three months and a net 24 per cent reported a decline in profitability, though that was an improvement on the previous quarter.
A net 2 per cent reported lower selling prices, though again that was an improvement on the March quarter, and a net 11 per cent expect to lift prices over the next three months.


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Bigotry & Hate Delivered By A Smug Punk ( Video )
The amazing world of technology. Who would have thought ten years ago, that there would be virtually a camera pointing at you every place you go? Some may find it completely intrusive, while you're out there pumping gas, shopping, out in the parking lots, on the side of buildings, a lens capturing your every move. I actually find it comforting, a safety net if you will. I know of several people who have a security system set up on their doorstep. We all have seen videos on social media of idiots stealing packages that were delivered just seconds prior. Takes just a second for a moron to scramble onto your porch and vanish - a security camera will help freeze-frame their sloppy act of cheap crime, and Bismarck or Mandan police can take it from there. Over the holidays, we had our share of crime. Wouldn't you think that a petty punk thief would take into consideration the possibility of being filmed?
Wouldn't you think that a delivery driver, whose job it is to make his or her rounds all day long, would definitely be aware of their actions on-site? An unbelievable shocking video has captured a UPS driver attempting to deliver a package. According to nbcnews.com - A UPS driver went on a racist rant while delivering a package to a Latino household in Milwaukee several days before Christmas Day. The Video caught by the home's doorbell camera on the evening of Dec. 17 shows a white man wearing a UPS uniform, standing on a porch while holding a package and writing what appears to be a "failed to deliver" notice. “Now you don’t get f------ nothing...You can’t read and write and speak the f------ English language," the UPS driver is seen saying as he pastes the notice in the home's door. A young Latino police officer lives in the house.
Obviously, this charming fellow was immediately fired. The sad thing about this, of course, is that one piece of garbage can taint the reputation of a well-respected company. Matthew O’Connor, senior manager of media relations at UPS had this to say "There is no place in any community for racism, bigotry or hate. This is very serious and we promptly took action, terminating the driver’s employment. UPS is wholeheartedly committed to diversity, equity and inclusion,”
For more on this story and to watch the video - click here.
North Dakota Urban Legends


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The Beat has learned that last week Archie Comics laid off five employees from their 30 person staff. Archie did not respond to enquiries.This isn't necessarily doom and gloom for the company, but it's a fairly large chunk of their employees.
Updated on 09/28/15: Rich Johnston of Bleeding Cool offered additional details today. He reported that all of the layoffs came from the production and warehouse divisions of Archie Comics. This included a production assistance and a senior art director with 20 years within the company.


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ReCore may not have the same pre-E3 hype as some Microsoft exclusives, but these new screenshot leaks will have fans hyped for the September release date.
When it rains, it pours, and Microsoft’s apparently called down the storm leading into this upcoming week’s E3 extravaganza. Another leak has made its way online, this time regarding Microsoft exclusive action adventure ReCore. It started with a post on NeoGAF coming from user Gwyn, who’d be unreliable except for the fact that they have been leaking Dead Rising 4 screenshots all day. It started with ReCore‘s release date and Gwyn followed that up with two brand new ReCore screenshots and the game’s box art as a bonus.
Of course, considering the odd source of this material, both the screenshots and the release date should be considered rumor and potentially false. Yet, as we’ve yet to be shown any in-game content from ReCore as of yet, the screenshots and release date are certainly more than believable. Anyone willing to model out ReCore‘s protagonist and robot dog just to stir up some pre-E3 leak hype deserves some credit.
Two screenshots are available, the first showing the previously cinematically revealed female protagonist using her grappling hook to pull on what seems to either be a door or perhaps “core.” Considering the game appears to be a type of post-apocalyptic or space wasteland-style salvaging game, the protagonist pulling cores out of old abandoned installations makes a lot of sense. The second image features our hero wielding a very large gun at an unseen enemy. Robot dog doesn’t seem too wary, however, so maybe’ she’s just checking the sights.
As for the release date, it looks like Microsoft is targeting an earlier window to try and help ReCore get out on store shelves before the holiday season. September 13 later this year is the rumored release date for ReCore, but whether that’s true and whether or not the game hits that date remains to be seen. Keep in mind that ReCore is being co-developed by Mighty No. 9 developer Comcept. But if Comcept was going to make a 2016 release, then September is certainly the game’s best chance for success.
Even with the screenshots, ReCore has a lot to prove to fans before it garners any significant hype. With E3 ahead, hopefully Microsoft and the game’s developers go out of the way to show just why players should be excited to play the game. That’s not to say the game is in a bad spot right now, but it certainly has yet to show its heart to fans despite being only a few short months away from launch. Hell, most of the games at E3 will have more hype and won’t be released until 2017 or later!
Expect more information regarding ReCore during Microsoft’s press conference starting at 9:30am PDT on Monday, June 13. ReCore is a PC and Xbox One exclusive title and is rumored to launch on September 13 later this year.


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Barber shops and salons across the country have been hit hard by the pandemic, as public health orders forced them into a cycle of opening and closing.
Barbers, salons reopen
Indoor operations for barbershops and hair salons are allowed as of today, Aug. 31. In San Luis Obispo County, 4.2 percent of COVID-19 tests come back positive, allowing hair services to reopen indoors under new guidelines from Gov. Gavin Newsom. “We’re happy to be inside, our clients are happy to be inside as well. I […]
Barbershops and places of worship reopen in San Luis Obispo
San Luis Obispo county hair salons, barbershops and places of worship can begin reopening, according to a May 26 press release from the city of San Luis Obispo. In-person religious services were granted an allowance for reopening on May 25, and hair salons and barbershops on May 26. “We’re pleased to announce that our County […]
Clippers puts the ‘bar’ in ‘barbershop’
It’s five o’clock somewhere, and that somewhere is Clippers on Monterey Street, where you can drink a beer in the barber’s chair.
University Barber Shop brings old-school charm and cuts
Aryn Sanderson firstname.lastname@example.org Gray hairs fall to the black-and-white checkered floor. “Have you been to the gym yet today?” Eva Pierson, a barber at University Barber Shop on Foothill Boulevard, asks the man in her chair, her voice ringing out over the background hum of sports on TV. “He’s what, 90-years old? And he goes […]
A community in the Kut: the hip-hop barbershop
Aryn Sanderson email@example.com There are seven barbershops in San Luis Obispo, a city with a population of approximately 45,000. The barbershops farthest from one another, University Barber Shop and SLO Town Barber Shop, are a mere 3 miles apart. Ray’s Barber Shop, Anderson Barber Shop, The Barber, Clippers Barber Shop and Kut to be the […]


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UPS Capital, the financial services and insurance arm of the major carrier, has introduced an AI-powered solution to combat the scourge of porch piracy by creating a score indicating the likelihood of a package being stolen from an address, so it can be diverted to a safer pickup or delivery location. It uses AI and ML to assess billion of data points from deliveries, then creates a confidence score.
Boxbot, a startup that pivoted from autonomous vehicle technology to automated parcel storage and retrieval for last-mile delivery applications, announced a $12 million Series A round that will help the company deploy its “three-dimensional conveyor belt” that handles sequenced sortation.
Roadie, a crowdsourced last-mile delivery platform that is owned by UPS, is expanding availability of an app that allows same-day delivery and pickup of ecommerce orders by Roadie drivers from warehouses to local customers, which was launched a year ago by sports apparel retailer Fanatics. The app enables pre-sortation and staging of local orders in a designated area within a facility.
Less-than-truckload platform provide Warp is looking to “gigify” LTL, much as the last mile space has been for the past several years, by letting shippers choose among various types of delivery providers, enabling faster service than waiting for a combined load with traditional carriers. The service, called gLTL, leverages Warp’s load-matching technology.
FedEx picked up a good bit of the 1 million packages a day that UPS said it lost due to shipper uncertainty in the runup to its July 31 contract deadline with the Teamsters, adding an average of 400,000 daily packages for its Ground and Express units by the end of the first quarter ended Aug. 31, and confident the new accounts will be sticky.
Instacart issued its long-expected initial public offering of stock on Tuesday, priced at $30 a share for a valuation of $10 billion, well below the $39 billion it was valued at after a fundraising round in early 2021, but at an offering price low enough to entice retail investors to join the party. The company has been profitable since Q2 2022 despite falling revenue, thanks to various trimming.
At its Accelerate seller conference in Seattle, Amazon announced a raft of interconnected services Tuesday, branded as Supply Chain by Amazon. It handles everything from logistics and forwarding from point of origin all the way to the customer’s door. For the first time, Amazon offers bulk storage, distribution and replenishment across channels from the same inventory pool, including retail stores.
FedEx Express package and freight standard list rates for U.S., U.S. export and U.S. import services, and FedEx Ground standard list rates will increase an average of 5.9% as of Jan. 1. The Sept. 7 release of the General Rate Increase marks the earliest announcement in company history. While it’s impossible to analyze every 2024 change, here are some important takeaways for shippers to note and assess.
Better Trucks, a Chicago-based parcel delivery firm, has enlarged its footprint through opening new locations in Texas and partnering with West Coast-based GLS U.S., giving the two firms same-day to two-day coverage of 32 markets in 20 states, representing 40% of the U.S. population. The deal is similar to the joining of regional carriers OnTrac and Lasership in 2021, though on a smaller scale.
FedEx, sensing an opportunity against its main rival, has posted a general rate increase for next year three weeks earlier than usual and lower than the current year’s figure, coming in at 5.9%, as UPS is dealing with a new union contract cost that the Teamsters estimates at $30 billion over five years. Analysts believe it will lead to a rethinking of UPS’s approach to its GRI strategy.


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Windows Phone 7 devices coming this fall will initially work with GSM carriers such as AT&T and T-Mobile, but will not include carriers of CDMA technology, which include Verizon Wireless and Sprint Nextel.
" Microsoft chose to focus on delivering a great GSM version to the world first, and then a great CDMA version in the first half of 2011," a Microsoft spokesman said Friday via e-mail.
Microsoft is "placing high-quality customer experiences above all else," he added.
GSM is widely used throughout the world, although in the U.S., CDMA represents about half the nation's wireless customers.
Finland-based Nokia, the largest maker of mobile phones globally, announced a push into the U.S. market earlier this week, and also said that it will not focus on further CDMA phones for the U.S., preferring GSM technology and development for 4G phones running LTE, a faster wireless standard.
The first phones running Windows Phone 7 are expected to go on sale next month, according to various reports. An Oct. 11 launch date has also been reported.
Windows Phone 7 is Microsoft's attempt to recapture smartphone and mobile phone sales, especially to consumers, after several quarters of disappointing sales with its older brand, Windows Mobile. The OS maker is expected to take a 4.7% share of the smartphone market for 2010 and 3.9% by 2014, according to a recent Gartner forecast.
Matt Hamblen covers mobile and wireless, smartphones and other handhelds, and wireless networking for Computerworld. Follow Matt on Twitter at @matthamblen or subscribe to Matt's RSS feed . His e-mail address is email@example.com .
Read more about mobile oses in Computerworld's Mobile OSes Topic Center.


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EasyJet is allowing passengers to pay excess luggage ‘fines’ before arriving at the airport, claiming it will save their customers money.
The advance-purchase excess luggage charge is £15 per 3kgs, which easyJet says is a saving of £3 on check-in charges.
At the airport, the airline charges £6 per kg - but these charges can be paid in increments of 1kg, so it is still cheaper for a passenger whose bag is 2kg overweight to pay £12 at the airport instead of £15 in advance.
The new charges are listed alongside other extras, such as priority boarding and travel insurance, at the time of booking.
Passengers will have the option to pay the charges online or over the phone up to two hours before their…


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Your Pillowcase Has The Same Amount Of Bacteria As A Toilet
Hello and welcome to today's edition of 'News That Will Terrify The Living Daylights Out Of You'.
And boy have we got a doozy for ya.
Long story short; your pillowcase if pure, festering filth.
Following a study, mattress guru's Amerisleep report that after one week, your pillowcase contains 17,442 times more bacteria than a toilet seat.
Than a toilet seat.
After two weeks, something you put your face on for eight hours a night is copping 332 times more bacteria than a tap handle.
Gawd forbid it hits four weeks 'cause then you're sitting at 39 times more bacteria than a pet bowl.
Certified sleep science coach Chris Brantner told INSIDER more:
"Most people don't realize that our hair holds more dirt in it than anywhere else on our bodies," he explained, advising we all wash our cases every two days.
"And each night, we're mopping our pillowcases with it. Not only that, we are rubbing our faces all over our pillowcases as well, leaving behind sweat, oils, dead skin cells ... you name it."
And apparently, using a pillow protector is simply not enough. Bill Fish, co-founder of Tuck Sleep, spoke to the publication explaining that these can only do so much and that by not taking proper care of our pillowcases, we subject ourselves to particles and allergens.
"[These] can get into your respiratory system and not only trigger an affliction like asthma, but other forms of illness," Fish told INSIDER.
While we personally have already bought brand new bedding while researching this article, experts recommend washing your bedding covers at least once a week on a warm wash, and your pillowcases once to twice a week.
And we haven't even gotten into the whole 'what's living in your pillows’ thing.


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The House of Representatives is now back in the hands of the Republicans while the Democrats still have a slight majority in the Senate.
It took just one season at Werder Bremen for Thomas Delaney to attract interest from bigger clubs, and in the summer, BVB triggered his release clause. Speaking to DW, the Dane shared his first impressions of the club.
What's in a name? Based on a French box office hit, a new German comedy plays on the fact that "Adolf" still isn't something you can take lightly. But some comedians have successfully managed to do so.
Amazon is accused of a "systematic and coordinated" scheme to lure eBay's sellers since 2015. In the lawsuit, eBay claims that Amazon representatives targeted their sellers in the US and around the world.
DW News presents the most important news — in brief, quickly and up-to-date.
© 2018 Deutsche Welle |
Legal notice |
| Mobile version


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The Japanese company behind retailer Muji is reportedly considering moving its European headquarters outside of the UK amid concerns about Brexit.
Ryohin Keikaku Co's 12 UK stores sell products ranging from furniture to clothing under the Muji brand and has operated its European headquarters from London since 2007. The retailer is likely to move its headquarters to Germany, though the plans are not yet in the public domain, according to a Bloomberg report. Muji was asked for comment.
It is unclear what the impact will be on the estimated 50 employees based in the London offices and whether the employees would join the company in its move.
A spokeswoman for Muji told Bloomberg: “As a company we’re...


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Lagos - Singer Seyi Shay has officially been signed as an ambassador for Pepsi and joins Tiwa Savage and Wizkid who have contracts with the soft drink brand.
This comes just 24 hours after the sultry songstress mentioned how she would love to be a Pepsi brand ambassador on Twitter.
Also read:Seyi Shay releases trailer for her debut album
She said this as part of the the #ThingsILongThroatFor trend on Twitter where celebrities such as Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Banky W, Davido as well as several fans talked about some of their hopes, dreams, wishes and aspirations.
“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!! Say hello to your latest @Pepsi_Naija ambassador!!!! #ThingsILongThroatFor Praise be to God” she wrote on social media.


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Actually, what was to like about last night’s big earnings announcement?
After all, compared to prior year, revenues were down 5.1%, gross profit was lower by 6.8% and operating expenses were up by 11.7%. That meant, in turn, that the company’s operating margin slid from 26.0% to 23.2%, causing pre-tax profits to drop by 14.7% and net income to fall by 16.3%.
That’s the very picture of a company experiencing negative operating leverage and deteriorating performance fundamentals and fixing to take a drubbing in the casino from the “growth” momos.
It’s also the very metrics that Apple Inc. reported last night, but a drubbing is not what happened upon their release. Instead, the stock has ripped higher by 5%, thereby adding a round $45 billion to its market cap and putting its nose just at the entry line for the trillion dollar club.
OK, there’s the “beat” thing, the “guidance” ruse and the “story” meme about services coming to the rescue of the iPhone’s nose dive.
As to the latter, it was exactly that: March quarter iPhone sales of $31.1 billion were down by $6.5 billion or 17.3% from the year ago figure. So the $1.6 billion gain in its services revenues made up barely 25% of the slack.
Likewise, the “beat” thing is a patented Wall Street scam, but this one was especially ludicrous. Apparently, the consensus projected a sales decline of $3.77 billion or 6.2% compared to prior year, but the actual drop came in at $3.12 billion or 5.1%.
Whoopee—a tad less down!
So hit the “buy” key and slather on another $45 billion of market cap.
Then there is the “guidance” ruse which bubblevision pitched as, “Apple stock spikes after reporting strong guidance.”
In fact, the company’s guidance for the June quarter was the following:
- revenue between $52.5 billion and $54.5 billion
- gross margin between 37 percent and 38 percent
- operating expenses between $8.7 billion and $8.8 billion
- other income/(expense) of $250 million
- tax rate of approximately 16.5 percent
If we take the mid-point of each we get revenues of $53.5 billion which compares to $53.3 billion in last year’s June quarter and a gross margin of 37.5% compared to 38.3% last year.
Of course, even part way down the income statement, this math does not bespeak of “strong”. The implied gross profit of $20.1 billion in the up-coming quarter is actually “down” from $20.4 billion last year.
To be sure, the guidance for operating expense of $8.75 billion is indeed strong—it’s up by 12.1% over last year!
Alas, that means that the implied operating income guidance of $11.35 billion (mid-point) does not stack up well at all to last year’s $12.61 billion. To paraphrase the Donald, any more of this kind of “strong” 10% decline in operating profits and someone’s liable to say we can’t stand all this strong.
But the seemingly odorless skunk in the woodpile comes on the bottom line. Apply the other income/expense and tax rate guidance and you get net income of $9.69 billion.
Perhaps not inadvertently, the company did not spell out the net income math in its press release—since last year during the June quarter net income posted at $11.52 billion.
That’s right, the company confessed that its next quarter earnings are going to be down by 16%, and the morons on Wall Street genuflected “strong” and raced off for the buy key.
In fact, its “strong” guidance of 16% down for June is exactly equal to the 16% net income decline reported for the March quarter last night. In effect, the company projected no progress at all next quarter in turning the mighty ship of Apple Inc., but the boys & girls and robo-readers down in the casino apparently bought first and did the math later, if at all.
Of course, they actually did do the math, Wall Street style. That is, the talking heads claim Apple always sandbags its guidance—meaning that the projected 16% down next quarter is actually “strong” on a sandbag-adjusted basis. Apparently.
But here’s the thing. After the most amazing outbreak of product innovation and sales and profits growth in corporate history triggered by the iPhone launch a decade ago, Apple reached a financial performance peak in its 2015 fiscal year; and it has been struggling to stabilize, revamp its product mix and re-set its financial course ever since.
But it’s simply not happened because Apple’s current guidance implies that its LTM results next quarter will be still way below the it’s peak level three-and-one-half years ago.
Thus, if we take the last three quarters of actuals plus the June quarter guidance we get the following LTM comparisons with the company’s fiscal 2015 results (September). On revenues, the June LTM number would be $258.7 billion—up 11% from 2015. But the income statement is a downhill slalom thereafter.
To wit, the LTM gross margin would be 37.9% compared to 40.1% in 2015. Accordingly, actual LTM gross profit of $98.0 billion would represent only a 4.7% gain from 2015, which isn’t much to write home about given Apple’s exploding operating costs for R&D and SG&A.
Based on the last three quarters of actuals plus the company’s guidance for the June quarter, LTM operating expense pencils out to $33.85 billion—compared to just $22.4 billion in 2015. That’s a 51% eruption of operating expense on the back of a 4.7% gain in gross margin dollars.
Needless to say, it doesn’t pencil out. The LTM operating income figure would be just $64.2 billion, down 10% from the peak 2015 level of $71.2 billion.
Stated differently, Apples’ business model is changing substantially and it’s dragging down its fabled profit margins. That is, with gross margin down by more than 200 basis points in the LTM model and operating costs up from 9.6% of sales to 13.1%, the implied LTM operating income margin is a wholly different kettle of fish: It drops from 30.5% of sales at the once-in-history iPhone peak to 24.8% in our June LTM estimate.
Again, it needs to be recalled that our LTM estimate reflects three quarters of actuals and one quarter which is already one-third over. So we don’t think anybody is sandbagging anything.
And we also don’t think Apples’ projected pre-tax income of $65.72 billion is anything to sneeze about. It represents truly barn-burning profitability on sales, and an even more prodigious return on capital (which, as we show below, is likely the Achilles Heel in the whole Apple story). Still, it’s not close to the $72.5 billion of pre-tax profits Apple reported back at its 2015 peak.
In short, Apple’s true profitability looks to be off by 10% from it peak, and at this point of the repositioning game its operating leverage seems to be falling faster than gains from its Wearables, Accessories and Services can be harvested.
Moreover, that’s to say nothing of the big Red Hole called China, where its six months’ sales have declined by a thumping 25% and we are talking about real money here: Sales of $31 billion in last year’s first half have fallen to $23.4 billion this year.
Yes, the Donald and Emperor Xi Jinping may bury the hatchet next month. Sort of.
But what is percolating through the current trans-Pacific negotiating shuttle looks increasingly like a Rube Goldberg contraption where most of the tough issues–including mutual removal of the existing 10-25% tariffs—will be punted into the foggy future. There they will presumably be sorted out under the auspices of a K-Street special of milestones, performance tests, compliance assessments and penalty imposition and appeal procedures, which will make even the pointy heads of the beltway lawyers spin.
So we have no idea whether China is coming back or not, or whether Services and Wearables will win the day or whether the ferocious competition—Huawei, Samsung etc.– in the smart phone space will not continue to erode Apples’ vaunted margins on its proprietary devices.
The latter does not look especially promising. Just during the quarter reported last night, its gross margin on Products–principally iPhones, iPads, Mac’s and Wearables—fell from 33.8% last year to 31.2% this year; and Products still account for 80% of sales.
In all, the only two bright spots in the outlook actually go right to the heart of the Apple problem per se, and the reason why the Fed’s destruction of honest price discovery is so foreboding with respect to what’s coming down the macro-economic and financial pike.
To wit, the 10% decline in pre-tax profits in our LTM model compared to the 2015 peak represents the real economics. But thanks to the Trumpite/GOP’s corporate tax slashing, the company’s LTM tax rate will be just 15.9% compared to 26.7% in 2015. Still, that’s just a one-time gift, not growth, and it’s already anniversaried out.
Likewise, thanks to the Fed’s endless coddling of Wall Street and its defacto subsidization of rampant financial engineering in the C-suites, Apple’s share count has been reduced by nearly one billion or 16% since the 2015 peak. So on an after-tax per share basis, net income under our LTM model is a tad higher than 2015.
But here’s the thing. The Bank of Apple has been running down its vaunted net cash reserves, and its operating free cash flow is seriously falling. With respect to the latter, free cash flow during the last six months was down by 12% versus prior year; and the comparison with the 2015 peak is even more telling.
Back in 2015, the company generated $81.3 billion of cash from operations, which was reduced by $11.4 billion for CapEx, thereby generating operating free cash flow of $69.8 billion.
By contrast, the figures for March LTM are $71.6 billion of cash from operations (down 12%), which was reduced by $12.0 billion of CapEx (up 5%), thereby generating operating free cash flow of just $59.6 billion.
The truth of corporate finance for a mature monster of the midway like Apple Inc, of course, is that operating free cash flow is the ultimate measure of profitability and value, and it’s now down 14.6% from it 3.5 years’ ago peak.
In fact, the company’s weakening free cash flow gets to another key “internal” in the March quarter report. To wit, Apple spent the incredible sum of $27.1 billion on stock buybacks ($23.7 billion) and dividends ($3.4 billion) against only $11.6 billion of net income and $8.8 billion of operating free cash flow.
Needless to say, the math eventually gives out when you distribute to shareholders 2.3X your net income and 3.1X your free cash flow. Those ratios, of course, explain why Apple’s stock came roaring back during the first four months of this year, thereby leading the overall cap-weighted S&P 500 and NASDAQ-100 in their V-shaped rebound from the Christmas Eve interim lows.
The bid from Cupertino was Mighty indeed—-even if it does mean that Apple’s net cash position at the end of March at $122 billion ($225 billion of cash and liquid investment netted by $104 billion of debt) has already come down substantially from the $142 billion net cash hoard ($217 billion of cash netted by $75 billion of debt) it had posted at the end of 2015.
In this respect, the company did announce an increase in its dividend and a new $75 billion buyback authorization, which apparently got the headline reading robo-machines lathered up for the buy.
Then again, in Q1 the company pumped into Wall Street $18.3 billion in excess of its operating free cash flow. At that rate, its net cash hoard would be gone in seven quarters, and it would then become a plain old debtor like the rest of corporate America.
Undoubtedly, in future years Apple would distribute less back into the casino or borrow even more or maybe even find some way to reduce the 14.6% plunge of its free cash flow since the 2015 peak.
As to the latter, it’s a matter of faith that what is now a $45 billion annual Services business can replace the continued run-off of its $215 billion gadgets business. Naturally, Jim Cramer thinks so because Services currently have a higher gross margin than gadgets.
Then again, the unique peak profitability of Apple in 2015 reflected the perfect storm of selling premium products to affluent Americans and Europeans that were made with the deeply discounted labor supplied by Foxconn’s 1 million plus nimble young fingers and backs spread among the former rice paddies of China’s interior industrial centers.
It was that massive arbitrage which created the Bank of Apple, and it is a bank. At the end of Q1 it had $342 billion of assets on its balance sheet, but $225 billion or 66% of that consisted of the aforementioned cash.
At the same time, the mightiest gadget seller in the world of extremely exacting and technologically advanced products had net PP&E of only $39 billion and operating working capital of negative $38 billion (payables and other current liabilities less inventories and trade receivables).
That’s right. Aside from it cash, which in today’s Fed-world generates only rounding error interest income, the mighty profit machines called Apple Inc. has only $1 billion of net operating capital employed behind its $260 billion business!
That’s your trans-Pacific arbitrage at work: All the capital is over there in Foxconn and the rest of Apples’ massive and intricate global supply chain.
So the real question is whether the greatest arbitrage in history will hold; whether other smart phone makers will compete down its massive iPhone margins; whether anything remotely as profitable as its peak gadgets business( iPhone) can be created in services, where there is huge competition and no proprietary manufacturing farm in China; and whether its shrinking free cash flow trend can be arrested and reversed in the face of the self-evident decline (per above) in its operating leverage.
These are huge imponderables, and that’s what honest free market price discovery was supposed to suss-out as the future unfolds.
But in the Fed’s hyped-up casino, there is apparently no time for sussing. That is to say, back at its peak in September 2015, Apple’s market cap weighed in at $625 billion, meaning that it was being valued at 8.9X operating free cash flow.
And that’s not exactly unreasonable for a company sitting at the tippy-top of an historic and aberrant run of profitability attributable overwhelmingly to the (unsustainable) first mover advantage of the iPhone.
Now 42 months later with all of the aforementioned headwinds and the deteriorating financial results itemized above, and with free cash flow down by 15% for the LTM period we have modeled, the Apple stock closed today after its post-earnings rip at a $992 billion market cap.
That means, in turn, that it is now being valued at 16.6X free cash flow.
You could call that multiple expansion with a vengeance.
And you could also say that in in the manic eye of Wall Street, Apple is simply the poster boy for momentum and liquidity driven speculation run wild, as we will further address in Part 2.


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Jonah Peretti, the founder of the viral content website BuzzFeed, told the Atlantic in an April 2012 story discussed some of the ways that the popular website avoids copyright infringement issues. In addition to licensing fees BuzzFeed pays to Reuters, the Associated Press and Getty Images for use of their libraries, Peretti argued that a lot of the website’s other images are protected by the Fair Use limitation and exception. The Atlantic noted that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) does not offer BuzzFeed the same protections that it offers other websites like Tumblr or Pinterest in which users upload images. “I would love if every image contained some secret metadata and a way to license that image,” Peretti said. “But the practical reality is that it is pretty challenging, particularly in the web culture of animals and the images that spread on Pinterest and Tumblr.”
Because a key consideration for the Fair Use exception is the extent to which the use could be interpreted as transformative rather than derivative, Peretti claimed that the sequencing, framing and other elements of BuzzFeed lists containing images are a transformative use of photos. “It’s a question … of when lots of little things add up to a transformation as opposed to a copyright violation,” Peretti told the Atlantic.
That argument is likely to be put to the test after photographer Kai Eiselein filed a lawsuit against BuzzFeed last month. Forbes reported that Eiselein is seeking more than $3.6 million and claims that BuzzFeed infringed his copyright in a photograph he posted on Flickr in 2009 showing a soccer player heading a ball. He alleges that the website included the photo without his consent in a June 2010 post entitled “The 30 Funniest Header Faces.” While BuzzFeed removed the photo and renamed the collection “The 29 Funniest Header Faces” after Eiselein sent the company a takedown notice in May 2011, the photographer claims his photo had spread virally to dozens of other websites and BuzzFeed is liable for contributory infringement for the photo’s use on those sites. As Forbes noted, Eiselein registered the photo with the US Copyright Office in late June 2011, and copyright registration allows a plaintiff to recover very high “statutory” damages for subsequent infringement.
While Eiselein may have a difficult time prevailing on all of his claims, Forbes was right to suggest that “he is also unlikely to walk away completely empty-handed.” This will certainly be a case that deserves to be followed closely as it develops. If your company needs experienced legal representation for intellectual property litigation, Los Angeles business litigation attorney Robert G. Klein has over 25 years of experience handling complex copyright issues. Use the form on this page or contact our firm today at [number] to have our Los Angeles copyright infringement attorney review your case.
Klein Trial Lawyers – Los Angeles business litigation lawyers


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Apple Loses Almost Half Of Its $1 Billion Patent Award From Samsung
With so many different legal battles roaring on between Samsung and Apple, it’s easy to lose track of which court case is which. The one that really stands out from the crowd though is the infamous court decision which awarded Apple a cool $1 billion, with Samsung told to pay up for infringing upon some of Apple’s patents.
Now though, with an appeal already in the pipeline, Apple has been stripped of almost half of that billion dollars after the case’s judge, Lucy Koh, noticed that the damages were calculated incorrectly by the jury involved in the case. Koh has wiped out some of the fee, stating that a new trial will be required in order to calculate the correct amount of money required to change hands.
Koh has effectively wiped $598 million off the figure Samsung was originally ordered to pay Apple after a jury decided that some of Samsung’s devices infringed upon iPhone related patents held by Apple.
According to Koh, the jury calculated the damages based on a system reserved for situations where a design patent has been infringed upon, whereas the case in question revolved around a utility patent. Furthermore, the damages should only have been awarded for product sales after Apple had informed Samsung of its belief that a patent had been infringed upon. Apple argues that a meeting on August 4th 2010 served to fulfill that purpose, but that appears to not be the case.
While the final figure may be lower than first thought, it is important to note that the decision has not changed here: Samsung still has to pay up after infringing upon Apple’s patents and it is merely the amount of money that is due to change hands that Koh is now questioning.
With these latest developments, it’s beginning to become even clearer that we’re destined to be in the middle of a Samsung vs. Apple legal battle until the end of days, or at least until either of the companies in question gets bored.
One thing is for certain though: that’ll be a long, long time after we all got bored of it!


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Friday, Nov. 9, 2012 4 p.m. to 7 p.m.
Location: Universalist-Unitarian Church, Belfast, Maine
BELFAST, Maine — A used book sale will take place 4-7 p.m. Friday, Nov. 9, and 9 a.m.-10 a.m. Saturday, Nov. 10, at the Unitarian-Universalist Church.
Most books, hardcover and soft, will be priced at $1 each with small paperbacks three for $1. Starting at noon on Saturday books will be $4 per bag.
A craft sale also will be held at the same time and place and will include jewelry, pottery, wreaths, wool art, pens and cards. The crafters have donated items for a raffle to benefit the church. Tickets will be available at the event.


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Tartan High School students who launched a business last fall have some good news for their shareholders.
Shareholders will in fact be getting a return on their investment.
Students who are involved in the school's marketing class and the DECA School Store partnered with D:Spot in Maplewood to launch their own business to sell chicken wings to students at school. Marketing Teacher Craig Spreiter oversaw the co-curricular project.
"The kids learned a lot and enjoyed keeping up with it, especially going through and crunching the numbers," Spreiter said after the project wrapped up.
Related: Tartan Students Launch New Business with Help from a Local Restaurant
Students sold D:Spot wings out of their school store on a pre-order basis. The students. The students running the business sold shares of their company's stock at $2 per share.
The students launched their business in October with the plan to liquidate their assets and dissolve their business on Jan. 31
After dissolving their company, the students found that they had a 7.5 percent return on their investment. Those who bought $2 shares saw a 15-cent return.
"Students bringing in their stocks are excited just to get any kind of money back," Spreiter said of the students who bought shares.
The student businessmen and women sent out letters to their shareholders after the venture was complete. Below is an excerpt from the letter to shareholders, written by 11th-grader Marc Buchmayer:
We paid wages, salaries, equipment, and all the typical expenses of doing business. Department teams maintained detailed production, sales, financial, and personal records. In brief, we performed all the functions of an ongoing company.
As with any business, we encountered several problems and faced some difficult decisions that ultimately provided insights, and practical knowledge of business and the economic system. We learned the importance of teamwork and communication to business success, and the value of listening to customers and producing high-quality products.
We wish to express our sincere appreciation to Darin Koch of D:Spot who partnered with us in this business venture. Finally, we would like to thank you, our stockholders, because without your interest and monetary commitment in our business, this experience would not have been possible.


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Last summer, Salesforce announced it was buying marketing intelligence provider Datorama.
On Thursday, the CRM giant said that it is launching a Datorama Marketplace to help developers create custom and specialized apps that employ the marketing intelligence platform. And, to get the ball rolling, the company is launching a contest for innovative app ideas, with cash prizes.
As we reported after the initial acquisition,
“Salesforce’s acquisition of Datorama is significant because it represents a broader trend of consolidation within the marketing industry. CRM and analytics providers are realizing that the siloing of data has become a serious problem in the marketing space, and many firms are looking to solve that by creating platforms that merge multiple streams of data into one unified interface that can rapidly surface insights to marketers.
Having Datorama inside its fold will provide significant benefits for customers already in the Salesforce ecosystem, not the least of which is more accurate tracking of their marketing data – even if it’s stored outside of Salesforce today. As the trend of industry consolidation seems set to continue, Salesforce’s acquisition of Datorama will help it face the rising tides of competition while giving its customers enhanced analytics capabilities.”
And indeed, we’re seeing now an example of that consolidation, and the industry’s trend toward data-driven analytics in marketing.
The apps themselves will be available through the Salesforce AppExchange, and designed for use on Salesforce’s platform, as well as for the Google Marketing Platform, Pinterest, and other partners. Currently numbering 14, the apps include ones from Salesforce, as well as ones from customers and partners that have been built using the Datorama Developer Portal.
By opening up the Datorama platform, the apps are intended to highlight Datorama capabilities, such as measurement analysis, data visualization, and insights powered by AI.
In its announcement, Salesforce pointed to Land O’Lakes, which said in a statement that the Marketplace apps can help “uncover new performance data and gain faster insights to improve our campaigns.” Ad platform AppNexus said that its apps on the MarketPlace can help advertisers determine the best campaign outcomes, without spending time “manipulating manual spreadsheets.”
Apps in the Marketplace currently include:
Headquartered in New York City, Datorama has more than half of its 400 employees in Israel, and its clients include PepsiCo, Ticketmaster, and Unilever. It focuses on providing a single dashboard with data from a variety of advertising and marketing tools, enhanced by automated reporting and AI-derived insights.
Last year, it also launched the ability for brands to create a separate dashboard for a specific data stream, and it went beyond its foundational AI for organizing incoming data to launch Genius, an embedded AI layer that makes suggestions about data the user is employing. In late 2016, Datorama became one of the first marketing analytics platforms to provide a voice interface integration with Amazon’s Alexa voice agent.
The post Salesforce launches Datorama Marketplace for creating apps with marketing intelligence appeared first on ClickZ.Reblogged 2 years ago from www.clickz.com


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* Q4 adj EPS $1.70 vs est $1.83
* Q4 rev $356.3 mln vs est. $354 mln
Feb 8 (Reuters) - Compass Minerals (CMP.N), a provider of highway de-icing salt and specialty fertilizer, posted lower-than-expected results, hurt by lower demand for de-icing products and higher per-unit costs in its salt segment.
Demand for consumer and professional de-icing products declined on customers’ carryover inventory following last season’s mild weather, the company said in a statement.
October-December salt operating earnings declined 18 percent on higher costs, the company that makes salt, sulfate of potash and magnesium chloride said. [ID:nASA01IYT]
Net income fell to $61.1 million, or $1.83 per share, from $62.5 million, or $1.88 per share, a year ago.
Revenue rose 14 percent to 356.3 million.
Shares of the company, which have gained about 19 percent since it reported third-quarter results, closed at $94.4 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Swetha Gopinath in Bangalore; Editing by Joyjeet Das)


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Please contact Sales at: (212) 520-2765 or email firstname.lastname@example.org
Latest From Avatex Corp.
Cardinal's acquisition of Bergen was unexpected, if only because the company has spent the last several years buying higher margin businesses that integrate vertically with its core distribution business. But the ability to get critical mass was too much to pass up; now the only question is, will the merger pass FTC muster?
Through a series of innovative service acquisitions, Cardinal is moving closer to the point of dispensing and to the point where it can influence product selection.


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Geneva: India's tough diplomacy blocked a landmark world trade treaty late on Thursday, despite last-ditch talks to rescue what would have been the first global trade reform since the creation of the World Trade Organization 19 years ago. (India Says WTO Deal Not Dead, Can Sign in September: Report)
Trade diplomats in Geneva have said they are "flabbergasted", "astonished" and "dismayed" and described India's position as "hostage-taking" and "suicidal". Here are nine reasons why they say India's stance made no sense.
1. India has been a vocal backer of world trade reform. It has criticised the small clubs of countries, led by the United States and European Union, that lost patience with the slow pace of global reforms and started to discuss faster liberalising of trade in certain areas, such as services and information technology products. India is not in any of these groups. But Thursday's veto is likely to give them even more momentum as hope of a global trade pact, long in doubt, appears to be over. (WTO Veto: PM Modi Says Developed Nations Should Understand Challenges of Developing Countries)
2. India's veto may be the beginning of the end for the WTO. Trade experts say that if the WTO's 20-year-old rulebook does not evolve, more and more trade will be governed by new regional agreements such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership, which will have their own rules and systems of resolving disputes. That could lead to a fragmented world of separate trade blocs. (Also read: What Does PM Modi Have to Gain by Defying the WTO?)
3. India's new government was widely seen as being pro-business. And yet it blocked a deal on "trade facilitation", a worldwide streamlining of customs rules that would cut container handling times, guarantee standard procedures for getting goods to and from their destinations and kill off vast amounts of paperwork at borders around the world. Some estimates said it would add $1 trillion to the world economy as well as 21 million jobs, 18 million of them in developing countries. (PM Modi's Image of India Undermined by WTO Stand, Says US)
4. Nobody else was negotiating. Thursday's meeting was simply supposed to formally adopt the final trade negotiation text into the WTO rulebook, following its agreement by ministers at a meeting in Bali last December. India's then Trade Minister Anand Sharma hailed the Bali deal as a landmark in the history of the WTO. "We were able to arrive at a balanced outcome which secures our supreme national interest," Sharma said at the time. India did not hint at any further objection until days before it wielded its veto, and even then it made no concrete demands until the WTO meeting to adopt the new rules was in progress.
5. India did not object to the deal it vetoed. Its objections were unconnected to trade facilitation. It blocked the trade facilitation deal to try to get what it wanted on something else: food security. (India Firm on Stand, WTO Fails to Reach $1 Trillion Deal on Customs Rules)
6. India had already got what it wanted on food security. At Bali, it forced a big concession from the United States and European Union, which initially strongly opposed its demands, but agreed that India could stockpile food at subsidised prices, reversing the trend of trying to reduce and remove trade-distorting food subsidies globally. The arrangement was temporary, but the WTO agreed to work towards a permanent solution within four years, by the end of 2017.
7. India's demands reversed its previous position. India blocked the trade facilitation deal because it wanted the WTO to move to a permanent solution more quickly than the four-year timeline. But diplomats say that India was offered a two-year timeframe before Bali but it insisted on four.
8. India's veto could put it in legal danger. As part of the Bali deal, India won a pledge that nobody would bring a trade dispute to challenge its food stockpiling programme, which is widely thought to have broken the WTO rules. However, diplomats say that Bali was a "package" of 10 agreements, and the only legally binding part was trade facilitation. If that fails, the package unravels, and India may lose its protection.
9. India was isolated. Cuba, Venezuela and Bolivia voiced support, but diplomats say other big developing countries such as Russia, China and Brazil, as well as India's neighbour Pakistan, were among the chief opponents of its veto. Poorer countries stand to lose most, WTO chief Roberto Azevedo told the WTO meeting after the deal collapsed. "They're the ones with fewer options, who are at risk of being left behind. They're the ones that may no longer have a seat at the table."
© Thomson Reuters 2014


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Baby milk producer Kendamil, a brand of Kendal Nutricare, is set to become the first international manufacturer to export infant formula to the US in response to a shortage crisis, with plans to double capacity in response.
Scotland, alongside Wales and the North East of England, had the strongest recovery in response to the supply chain problems caused by Covid-19 and the new UK-EU trading relationship, according to research by the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
The UK government’s U-turn on border strategy will help clear up red tape surrounding imports, but could endanger parts of the industry to potentially devastating disease risks, warned members of the food and drink industry.
Soaring commodity prices and deteriorating supply conditions created by the war in Ukraine caused the output growth of UK food and drink manufacturers to fall to an eight-month low in March, the latest Lloyds Bank UK Recovery Tracker has revealed.
Nomad Foods – the frozen food company which owns brands including Birds Eye, Findus and igloo – has partnered an Open Innovation Portal as it invites partners to share solutions that could be scaled to help shape the future of food and support more sustainable...
The ‘just in time’ supply model is at risk of failing if fresh food isn’t prioritised at UK ports, as delays at Dover leave meat sitting in lorries for days, warned the British Meat Processors Association (BMPA).
The National Farmers Union (NFU) has welcomed Government measures to help farmers tackle rocketing fertiliser costs, which are sparking concerns supply chain costs will be passed on to already cash-strapped consumers.
In this exclusive video, Butchers Petcare chairman Geoff Eaton discusses the long-term and short-term challenges threatening to disrupt the prices of raw materials, as well as the effect of switching to more sustainable packaging for a brand.
The Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) with Australia and New Zealand risk significantly undercutting domestic products, endanger food standards and threaten sustainability, according to members of Scottish government and the Welsh meat processing community....
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent sanctions, trade restrictions and supply chain disruption will lead to food price rises and the possibility of temporary shortages, according to the Food and Drink Federation (FDF).
The UK’s agreement of free-trade deal with New Zealand will provide significant future growth of exporters, but concerns surrounding animal welfare and competitiveness for UK business were prevalent among producers.
Associated British Foods (ABF) claims its sugar and ingredients divisions have delivered powerful performances in the 24 weeks to 5 March 2022, while Twinings Ovaltine proved a star performer in its grocery channel.
Food manufacturers and retailers need to change their approach to inflation to tackle current trends and understand that mid-sized and small retailers and brands are more vulnerable than big companies or own-label.


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The Geforce chip is made of copper instead of aluminium, which means it can run faster - Spencer Kelly, BBC Click Online
GAMES CONSOLE MAKER Microsoft has revealed that the Xbox One will be able to support up to eight wireless controllers at once, double the number supported by the Xbox 360.
Microsoft announced the news on the Xbox One website, saying that users of the console will be able to "connect up to eight wireless controllers at once". The updated webpage also reveals that the controller has a "30 foot wireless range" and comes with "seamless profile and controller pairing", with the Kinect sensor tracking the infrared LEDs in the Xbox One controller.
Discussing the redesigned controller on its website, Microsoft said, "Experience the action like never before with the Xbox One Wireless Controller. New Impulse Triggers deliver fingertip vibration feedback, so you can feel every jolt and crash in high definition.
"Redesigned thumbsticks and an all new D-pad provide greater precision. And the entire controller fits more comfortably in your hands. With over 40 innovations, it's simply the best controller Xbox has ever made."
Xbox One controllers will cost £44.99 each in the UK or £59.99 with a Play and Charge kit, and the console will ship with one controller in the box. Microsoft also recently said that it is working on a way to make Xbox 360 controllers compatible with its Xbox One console, which could save gamers a lot of money, but it's still unclear how this will work.
It's not yet clear how many controllers the Sony Playstation 4 (PS4) will support, although Sony's PS3 supports up to seven gamepads simultaneously.
Check out our Xbox One hands-on review.
Sony has since confirmed that its PS4 console will support four controllers, which means that those who want eight person gameplay will have to opt for the Xbox One. µ
Tags: Numb Thumbs
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Wine brand news
David Atkinson on how technology is vital in how big drinks brands communicate with consumers Subscription
Drinks brands have been among the most enthusiastic adopters of technology for marketing purposes. It’s easy to see why. The social nature of drinking makes digital a natural bedfellow for drinks brands with novel and entertaining content to have a direct conversation with their drinkers such as the Fosters’ Comedian in Your Pocket app, which forges a direct link with drinkers.
The annual review looks at the 100 biggest alcohol brands in the off-trade and found that over the last year UK consumers spent £400 million more on alcohol, an increase of 5% and consumed more than 70.3 million litres, an increase of 3.3%.
The Harpers Design Awards are being relaunched for 2014 as a global competition, inviting entries for wines, spirits, beers, ciders and soft drinks from anywhere in the world – providing they are already on sale in the market.


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Juul accused of selling 1 million tainted vaping pods to customers and retailers
A new lawsuit claims that Juul shipped and sold contaminated vaping pods to customers and retailers. A former executive for the e-cigarette maker alleges that at least one million tainted pods were put on the market earlier this year. Juul is already under fire following an outbreak of vaping-related illnesses and deaths nationwide.
Former Juul senior vice president Siddharth Breja claims he was fired in March for raising concerns about the contaminated pods the company allegedly shipped to customers and retailers. Breja says in a lawsuit that he raised concerns about the contamination of Juul's "mint refill kits." He also said he voiced concern about the company selling expired products in meetings with senior management.
The lawsuit cites several instances where Breja expressed concerns about the quality of the products being sold, reports CBS News correspondent Anna Werner.
According to the lawsuit, then-CEO Kevin Burns responded to those concerns saying: "Half our customers are drunk and vaping like mo-fo's, who the f*** is going to notice the quality of our pods?"
Burns, who stepped down from Juul last month, denied making such a remark. "I never said this, or anything remotely close to this, period. As CEO, I had the company make huge investments in product quality, and the facts will show this claim is absolutely false and pure fiction," Burns said in a statement to CBS News.
Burns told "CBS This Morning" co-host Tony Dokoupil in August that the company's products are safe.
"People say Juul is toxic. Is it?" Dokoupil asked.
"The product or the company?" Burns said.
"Interesting that you would ask. The product?" Dokoupil responded.
"We toxicology test all of our products," Burns said.
But last month the FDA warned Juul about misleading claims that vaping is less harmful than smoking.
"We think we have a product that is legal today, is tested for toxicity, and does not present a risk based on the guidelines of the category today to the American public," Burns said.
"But fair to say, if you knew this to be a toxic or dangerous substance, you wouldn't be selling it?" Dokoupil asked.
"I can't imagine we had the data to support that we're selling a product that is damaging to the American public and we had that data that we'd continue to sell that product," Burns said.
It's worth noting there is no evidence that links claims in the lawsuit to the more than 1,600 vaping-related illnesses and 34 deaths reported nationwide. Most of those instances involve vaping with THC, the psychoactive ingredient in marijuana, or both THC and nicotine.
In a statement, Juul told CBS News: "Mr. Breja's claims are baseless. He was terminated in March 2019 because he failed to demonstrate the leadership qualities needed in his role. The allegations concerning safety issues with Juul products are equally meritless, and we already investigated the underlying manufacturing issue and determined the product met all applicable specifications. The company will vigorously defend this lawsuit."
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Consumer Groups Shut Out of Hearing on Deceptive Meat Packaging
Washington, DC — Four consumer groups are protesting not being given the opportunity to testify at an October 30, 2007 House Agriculture Committee hearing on a questionable food technology that is deceptive to consumers.
The four organizations, Food & Water Watch, Safe Tables Our Priority, Consumer Federation of America, and the Government Accountability Project, have been critical of decisions by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) to allow the use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging that artificially prolongs the color of red meat. The House Agriculture Committee has decided to hold a hearing on October 30 to provide a platform for the supporters of this deceptive technology, without hearing from consumer advocates who have been critical of this practice.
The consumer organizations sent a letter to House Agriculture Committee Chairman Collin Peterson on October 22, 2007 asking for the opportunity to testify, but they have not received a response (see attached).
‚I dont understand what the House Agriculture Committee is afraid of,” said Wenonah Hauter, Executive Director of Food & Water Watch. ‚Both FDA and USDA have allowed a practice that defines month-old meat as being fresh because using carbon monoxide keeps the pigment of meat red longer than meat that is untreated. This technology can mask spoilage because the product appears to be perfectly fine. Congress needs to hear both sides of the story on this issue,” added Hauter.
Testing conducted by Consumer Reports and reported in the July 2006 issue indicated that some CO-treated meat available on supermarket shelves could be spoiled by its use, or freeze,by date. Consumer Reports recommends that consumers ‚check the package and buy meat whose stamped date is a couple of weeks away.”
‚The use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging is clearly deceptive to consumers,” said Donna Rosenbaum, Executive Director of Safe Tables Our Priority. ‚Consumers rely on color to make meat purchasing decisions. It is not surprising that the European Union has banned the practice because of the consumer deception issue.”
‚Consumer Federation of America commissioned a national poll in September 2006 that showed 78% of respondents considered the use of carbon monoxide in meat packaging to be a deceptive practice, and 68% strongly favored mandatory labeling of any meat product that was treated with carbon monoxide,” said Chris Waldrop, Director of CFA‚ Food Policy Institute.
‚I find it interesting that some in the meat industry continue to devote incredible resources to promote this deceptive technology when it is clearly becoming unpopular even within its own ranks,” remarked Jacqueline Ostfeld, Food and Drug Safety Officer for the Government Accountability Project. ‚Industry giant Tyson Foods stopped using carbon monoxide in its meat packaging because it stated that its customers were not requesting meat treated with this technology. Furthermore, supermarket chains such as Whole Foods, Kroger‚, Publix, Safeway, Giant Foods, Stop & Shop, and A & P have either never carried or have stopped carrying meat packaged with carbon monoxide because consumers just do not want to buy it” added Ostfeld.
In addition to the letter sent by these consumer groups, telephone calls and e-mails to House Agriculture Committee staff about the hearing went unanswered.


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By: Simone Baptiste, Beverly B. Media and Communications.
Christmas seems to come earlier and earlier each year. Although the days on the calendar remain the same, commercials calling for consumers to shop for Christmas seem to start while we are still in shorts and flip flops. The day retailers are now shooting for is Black Friday. A day once promoted for getting great deals on electronics and clothing is quickly turning into a day of chaos and violence. The retailer leading the way in the melee is your friendly neighborhood Wal-Mart.
While a number of retailers and malls experienced violence on Friday, Wal-Mart’s name seems to be leading the pack in the media. In 2008, a Wal-Mart employee, in New York, was trampled to death by shoppers in frenzy for store wide deals. Fast forward just four years in a California Wal-Mart, a woman allegedly pepper sprayed a crowd, including children, all for an Xbox. Could Black Friday possibly turn into a black eye for Wal-Mart?
Understandably every retailer looks forward to Black Friday because it, well, puts them in the black, but when does the retailer start to take some responsibility? Do I believe people must morph into animals just for a bargain? NO! Some of these people behaved in the same manner last year for a product that is now lying on the floor in their closet or in their junk drawer with the other products from Black Friday pasts. However Wal-Mart is already on shaky ground in the community, from low wages for employees with children (the majority of them live below the poverty line), to a sex discrimination class action lawsuit (the supreme court dismissed the suit in June of this year) Wal-Mart shouldn’t believe they are too big to fail. Instead of speaking out about and against the violence that plagues Wal-Mart stores on Black Friday, they are taking a stance of self-defense. In the Los Angeles Times Nation Section Wal-Mart Spokesman Greg Rossiter was quoted as saying “It’s been a very safe event at thousands of Wal-Mart stores,” Rossiter said. These were “a few unfortunate incidents.”
What should Wal-Mart do? Wal-Mart CEO and President, Mike Duke should appear on television or on the radio to discuss the situation and the plan to make things better for next year. Ignoring the problems only portrays a lack of concern for customers that are faithful to Wal-Mart, it makes it seem as though they are nothing more than a dollar. A note to Wal-Mart, you better love the one your with because there is always someone that will treat them better. Hey Target…how you doin?
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One of the world’s biggest cruise ships is heading to Texas -- for real, this time
It's official: Texas will be home to one of the world’s biggest cruise ships by the end of 2022.
Royal Caribbean on Wednesday said its long-awaited deployment of the 5,484-passenger Allure of the Seas to Galveston, Texas, is back on for November of 2022 after a year-long delay related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The massive vessel originally was scheduled to debut in Texas later this year, but its arrival in the Lone Star State was delayed after the development of a $100 million ship terminal in Galveston was put on hold due to the coronavirus outbreak. Construction of the terminal now is set to begin in the next few months and be done by the fall of 2022.
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The terminal will be the only one at the Port of Galveston capable of handling a ship as big as Allure of the Seas.
At 225,282 tons, Allure of the Seas is the fourth-largest cruise ship in the world. Unveiled in 2010, it’s one of Royal Caribbean’s four giant Oasis Class vessels, which are more than 20% bigger than any other cruise vessels afloat. The series includes the recently unveiled Symphony of the Seas, the current size leader in the cruise world.
Related: The best credit cards for booking cruises
The arrival of Allure of the Seas in Texas will be a major milestone in the history of cruising from the state. The 18-deck-high, 1,187-foot-long ship is more than 40% bigger than the largest cruise vessel that has previously sailed out of Galveston (Royal Caribbean’s 3,798-passenger Liberty of the Seas).
Until now, Royal Caribbean’s Oasis Class ships mostly have sailed out of the major Florida cruise hubs such as PortMiami and Fort Lauderdale’s Port Everglades, as well as select ports in Europe.
Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean
Royal Caribbean CEO Michael Bayley has said that the development of the new terminal at the Port of Galveston and the deployment of Allure of the Seas to the port would allow Royal Caribbean to increase its passenger count on ships sailing out of Galveston by 50%.
Before the coronavirus pandemic brought cruising to a halt early last year, cruising out of Galveston had been booming. More than 1 million cruise passengers passed through the Port of Galveston in 2019, up from 641,650 just five years earlier. Cruise calls over the same period jumped from 181 to nearly 300. The port is now the fourth-busiest for cruise ships in the U.S., after PortMiami, Port Everglades and Port Canaveral in Florida.
Royal Caribbean’s parent company, Royal Caribbean Group, will build the new terminal but won’t own it. Royal Caribbean will lease the site from the port for an initial term of 20 years that can be extended. The new terminal will be a two-story, 170,000-square-foot structure with state-of-the-art technology such as mobile check-in and facial recognition to expedite passenger arrivals.
Related: Everything to know about Royal Caribbean cabins and suites
Designed for vacationers who love big, bustling megaresorts, the Oasis Class ships are chock full of more deck-top attractions and interior lounges, bars, restaurants and showrooms than any other cruise vessel.
Like its sisters, Allure of the Seas boasts three main pool areas; a separate, adults-only outdoor lounge area; an outdoor “aquatheater” with diving shows; an ice skating rink; two rock-climbing walls; a basketball court; a massive spa; and a mall-like indoor promenade with shops, bars and places to eat. There’s also an open-air, tree-lined area called Central Park with more restaurants, bars and upscale shops; plus one of the biggest showrooms at sea.
Related: The ultimate guide to Royal Caribbean's loyalty program
Like most Royal Caribbean ships, Allure of the Seas currently isn't sailing due to the coronavirus pandemic. But, assuming cruising resumes, it's scheduled to spend the summer sailing to the Caribbean and Bahamas out of Port Canaveral. It will then move to Port Everglades in November for the winter season before sailing in Europe for the summer of 2022.
Once in Galveston, Allure of the Seas will operate seven-night Western Caribbean itineraries with stops in Roatan, Honduras, and Costa Maya and Cozumel, Mexico.
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Singtel last week launched UNBOXED, an unmanned 24/7 pop-up store designed to introduce customers to a new retail experience featuring the convenience of digital technology in a friendly store environment.
In a first for Singapore, customers can consult with a roving live bot, which is powered by facial recognition technology, to receive personalised recommendations; try out phones; conveniently sign up for mobile plans at video-assisted self-serve kiosks; and immediately collect their purchased devices from the in-store POPStation. Additionally, customers can browse and buy popular accessories such as headphones, phone cases, power banks and contract-free handsets. They can also make bill payments, top up prepaid cards and Dash wallets, and get instant SIM card replacements.
Currently based in the CBD at 20 Pickering Street, the pop-up store is modular and movable. Measuring 45 square metres when fully extended, it can be easily transported and reconfigured to fit different spaces. The store will move to a new location every few months to serve customers at high-traffic areas such as transport hubs and school campuses.
Co-created by Singtel staff, NCS and SingPost, security for the store is provided by NCS which developed a round-the-clock security platform called Sentinel while the POPStation lockers are prefilled with devices and replenished daily using SingPost’s Last Mile Platform (LaMP).
UNBOXED builds on the success of the digital transformation of Singtel’s flagship Comcentre store. It offers one of the most intelligent retail experiences in Asia, featuring an intelligent WiFi queuing system, integrated online and in-store shopping carts, and instant purchases via automated checkout.