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A Leamington couple have launched a pizza trailer to say thank you to their local community and help raise money for local charities affected by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Sukh Sangha and Parmy Dhillon have launched Salt and Pepper’s in Hatton Park, Warwick, providing handmade pizzas, sides, drinks and desserts with a free delivery service up to two miles outside Hatton Park on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.
The couple have started the enterprise to cater for the growing demand for food deliveries amid the current lockdown. The business has grown on the back of Hatton Park Village Stores, which Sukh and his family ran for more than 15 years. This soon expanded into outdoor events on the estate, including World Cup, Halloween, Christmas, Remembrance Day and live music and now the pizza trailer.
Sukh, known locally as Ess, said: “Hatton Park is special to me, it is my family. The community has seen me grow up in that shop since I was 18. I have been overwhelmed by their support over the years and this is my way of giving back to them.
“Since lockdown it’s been really busy and I want to keep growing the deliveries so we can get to everyone who needs us. We wear masks and always have worn gloves anyway as well as ensuring we’ve maintained a high standard of cleanliness since the start of our business. The drivers wear protective gear and deliver to the door, standing two metres away and card-only payments are taken to eliminate contact.
“Our message to our customers is, stay safe. Don’t come to us, we will come to you.”
Salt and Pepper’s is offering 25% off all orders for care workers, NHS and police as well as offering 10% of their profits to a number of local charities, which have also been impacted by the virus.
First to benefit is Hatton Park charity Molly Olly’s Wishes, which has forecast of loss of around £50k in funds in the coming months. The charity works to support children with terminal or life-limiting illnesses and their families and help with their emotional wellbeing as well as grant wishes and donate therapeutic toys and books to both children directly and to hospitals throughout the UK.
Salt and Pepper’s also planning to host a huge celebration party for the Hatton Park community to mark the end of lockdown as another thank you to the community, complete with professional DJ, barbecue and bouncy castle.
The couple are also planning to build on the business, setting up in Warwick with a shop or unit.
Ess said: “I am at my happiest when I am cooking food which goes back to my roots. I grew up with my dad’s hot dog van. It takes me back to my childhood. I actually love what I do and am deeply passionate about serving people good food. If I buy food anywhere I would never expect poor quality, so I wouldn’t sell anything less than good quality myself.”
For more information visit www.pizzawarwick.co.uk.


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Texas Instruments has a philosophy when it comes to the wireless world: Keep it simple.
On Monday, the company's top executive said companies that make cell phones and other wireless devices should take advantage of the ability to add multimedia, such as video. But don't take it too far, he said.
Achieving the balance between communications and computing power is easy, chief executive Tom Engibous said. Just remember, he said, "wireless will be a communications medium, not a computing platform."
It's about access to data -- whatever that data might be. "The mobile Internet is not designed to duplicate the PC. It is designed to enhance the Internet with a new experience," Engibous said during a speech at a JP Morgan H&Q investor conference in San Francisco on Monday. "Voice will go from being the wireless application to one of many applications."
TI builds a wide range of digital signal processors (DSPs), the chips used behind the scenes to help refine signals, such as voice, for cell phones, handheld computers, digital-audio players and other devices.
TI's latest DSP chips will ship shortly in new handsets from Nokia, Ericsson and Sony, Engibous said. The new chips are part of TI's Open Multimedia Applications Protocol (OMAP), which is for chips and software that can support multimedia. The latest OMAP chip, for example, combines an ARM9 processor core for running applications with a TI C55x-series DSP core for handling communications.
There's still a large amount of uncertainty as to which applications consumers will use on their wireless devices, hence Engibous' suggestion to concentrate on the connection.
"Many of us are convinced that the mobile Internet will be big, but few can predict exactly where it will go and what applications will be valued most by customers," he said.
Analysts agree that it's still unclear how next-generation phones and handhelds with applications such as streaming video will become moneymakers for wireless carriers.
"The real question from the operators is, 'How do we make money over and above the cutthroat voice business,'" said Will Strauss, president of market researcher Forward Concepts. "No one really has a clue."
Although he doesn't believe that people will watch the evening news on their cell phones, Strauss expects that streaming video will offer specialized uses such as allowing people to preview a home for sale as they drive by.
This is one of the reasons TI is investing in software development for OMAP. Software developers could well be sitting on the next killer application for wireless.
Still, Engibous emphasised, "these new terminals will be communications-centric, rather than compute-centric."
Engibous was referring to competitors such as Intel who, he would argue, are focused somewhat more on processing power than on DSP performance.
TI, by contrast, asserts that speed and reliability are more important because consumers will want to view data, such as email or a video, as opposed to using their devices like a PC to crunch numbers on a miniature spreadsheet.
To that end, TI is working with Microsoft, Palm and Symbian to ensure proper operating system support of its hardware.
At the same time, the company is working with RealNetworks and other software developers to create applications and boost security for OMAP-based phones. TI has an agreement with RealNetworks to embed streaming audio and video into OMAP phones. The company is also working with biometric security providers and other software developers to encourage them to create applications for OMAP phones. In addition, TI has set up a $100m OMAP software development fund.
Promoting the use of multimedia for next-generation phones is key to TI in more ways than one. The company, which laid off 2,500 employees after its first-quarter earnings announcement in mid-April, will need DSP sales to help bolster its flagging semiconductor business.
TI's DSP market share has actually dropped a bit. But when next-generation phones and handhelds do catch on, TI still stands to gain. The company supplies about 59 percent of the DSPs used in cell phones. "Whatever cell phone recovery there is, (TI) will provide most of those chips," Strauss said.
The company turns out DSPs for numerous devices, such as digital cameras, and is broadening its horizons for them as well. The company is going full-steam ahead on complementary technologies and devices for home networking, too. To that end, TI announced on Monday a pair of new DSP chips.
The first, TI's new TMS320C5502 DSP, aims to offer energy efficiency and a low price for devices ranging from Internet appliances to digital cameras and video cameras. The chips will cost less than $10 each when purchased in large quantities and will include such items as support for USB (universal serial bus, a connection technology). The company plans to send samples of the chip in the first quarter of 2002 and ship the chips in the third quarter of 2002.
The second, TI's TMS320C5509 DSP, integrates a number of features, including memory, USB and built-in support for storage technologies such as Sony's Memory Stick. The 144MHz chip is aimed at handheld devices that connect to PCs and the Internet. Samples of the chip will be available in June. The first shipments of the chip, priced at $18 in large quantities, are set for the first quarter of 2002.
See Chips Central for daily hardware news, including interactive roadmaps for AMD, Intel and Transmeta.
Have your say instantly, and see what others have said. Click on the TalkBack button and go to the Chip Central forum
Let the editors know what you think in the Mailroom. And read other letters.

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TM Studios Launches Updated Website And New Products For Radio
July 20, 2021 at 1:20 AM (PT)
Sound Agency TM STUDIOS, recently purchased by DAVE BETHELL, GREG CLANCY, and CHRIS “UK” STEVENS, has launched a new line-up of products and a newly revamped website. The launch includes the new TM NEXT updating jingle service, TM PRODUCTION MUSIC for spot and promo production, and TM COMMERCIAL, a bank of retail jingles for stations to sell to local advertisers.
CLANCY said, “We’ve been incredibly busy since we took over the business. We’ve spent the last eight months hyper-focused on what radio really needs right now. We feel this new line-up of products addresses how we can help stations thrive in the current environment, while bringing amazing new sounds and new technology to the industry. The new TM is not your father’s jingle company.”
BETHELL added, “The audio quality of the TM NEXT jingle service is without peer, and what you get with the updates is incredibly useful and easy to apply. TM NEXT is also extremely flexible. Our job is not to impose our sound on programmers. We’d rather listen to these pros and help create the sound they are envisioning.”


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Transit Protocol with China to come into effect from February, but there are obstacles aheadThe primary challenges to third-country imports via Chinese ports have to do with infrastructure in Nepal and a lack of knowledge about Chinese processes.
Ten months after signing the Protocol on Implementing the Agreement on Transit and Transportation between Nepal and China, Beijing has officially notified Kathmandu that it has completed all domestic legal procedures. This means that the protocol will come into effect from February 1.
Nepal and China signed the transit protocol in Beijing on April 29, during the visit of President Bidya Devi Bhandari.
After completing all domestic procedures, Nepal, on August 9, had notified China and had been waiting for a notification from Beijing.
According to officials familiar with developments, China notified the Nepali Embassy in Beijing on December 25. The embassy then forwarded the notification to Kathmandu and acknowledged the same to the Chinese Foreign Ministry on December 31, said officials.
The transit protocol allows Nepal access to seven Chinese sea and land ports for third-country trade. So far, all of Nepal’s third-country trade takes place via India.
“Now the deck is clear for Nepali businesspersons to conduct third-country trade via China,” said Navaraj Dhakal, joint-secretary at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce. “But there are challenges ahead.”
There are major concerns about infrastructure on the Nepali side, the lack of a trained workforce, and a language barrier.
With the protocol coming into effect, the immediate work will be to hold negotiations with shipping liners and importers, who will sort out issues related to shipments. Shipping liners are akin to agents who take the responsibility of importing and exporting goods from the country of origin to the next destination without any damage or tampering.
Nepali importers could face issues regarding the mode of transportation, cost, timing, non-tariff barriers, adminstrative hassles, and proper documentation, said former and sitting Nepali officials.
“We do not know how much time it will take for businesses to start importing goods from the nearest Chinese seaports,” said Dhakal. “We also do not know the cost of consignments from Chinese seaports to Nepal.”
The nearest Chinese seaport is Tianjin, which is 4,000 kilometres from the Nepal border—four times the distance between Birgunj and Kolkata in India.
“We will help freight forwarders initiate the process of importing goods via Chinese seaports. Once we begin the process, then we will know the challenges and how they can be mitigated,” said Dhakal.
The condition of roads on the Nepali side will be a major obstacle, said officials. To ensure an early start to third-country trade via Chinese ports, Nepal must work on a war footing to upgrade roads and highways and install other necessary infrastructures like customs, quarantine, and digitise all facilities at the border, and construct dry ports.
“Roads on the Chinese side are good, but we have poor infrastructure. We are already facing a lot of hassles on our side while importing goods from China,” said Prakash Karki, president of Nepal Freight Forwarders Association. “Unless such bottlenecks are cleared, it is going to take a long time for Nepali businesses to use Chinese ports.”
According to Karki, language can be yet another issue while dealing with the Chinese. “We are habituated to importing goods via India, where the language is not a problem,” Karki told the Post. “But since we have never imported goods from China, we don’t exactly know what the advantages or disadvantages will be.”
Despite being a friendly neighbour to the north with over six decades of diplomatic relations, Nepal only started looking to China for the possibility of third-country trade after the Indian border blockade of 2015.
During his visit to Beijing in 2016, Prime Minister KP Sharma Oli signed the Transit and Transportation Agreement aiming to break Nepal’s complete dependence on India for third-country trade.
But it took almost three years to sign the protocol for the agreement, without which Nepal could not access Chinese sea and land ports.
The signing of the protocol meant Nepal could use four Chinese seaports—in Tianjin, Shenzhen, Lianyungang and Zhanjiang—and three land ports—in Lanzhou, Lhasa and Shigatse—for third-country import. It will also allow Nepal to carry out exports through six dedicated transit points between Nepal and China.
But progress since the protocol signing has also been sluggish, with months between Kathmandu and Beijing’s notifications regarding domestic readiness.
Nepal imports goods from China through the Tatopani and Rasuwa crossings, but the trade volume via Tatopani has sharply reduced due to several bottlenecks, according to an official who oversees cross-border business matters at the Ministry of Industry and Commerce.
“The Rasuwa-Kathmandu road is not in very good shape and it frequently sees landslides,” the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Post. “There has been no progress in the opening of more routes through Humla, Mugu, Dolpa, Mustang, Dolakha, Sankhuwasabha and Taplejung.”
According to the official, until more routes are opened and infrastructure is built on the Nepali side, Nepal won’t be able to make the most of the transit protocol.
Rabi Sainju, a former joint-secretary who initiated the protocol talks with China, said it will be difficult to identify challenges on the ground until Nepali private sector starts importing goods.
“Due to long distances, the costs will certainly be high. However, the time spent on bringing the goods to Nepal will be shorter,” said Sainju.
According to Sainju, it takes around two to three months to import goods from Japan or South Korea to Nepal via Indian sea routes.
“Similar consignments via Chinese ports could arrive in Nepal in about three weeks,” said Sainju. “This can be an advantage.”
But officials said that the Nepali side does not know much about the Chinese railway system.
“That’s why I am saying we need to bring some consignments via China to understand the pros and cons,” said Sainju.
Dhakal, however, said the government is all set to implement the protocol and that private businesses should be prepared to start conducting third-country trade via Chinese ports.
“If problems surface, the government will help,” said Dhakal.


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Find series has been one of OPPO’s important mobile phone series. It is worth noting that on December 31, New Year’s Eve, Shen Yiren officially confirmed the new Find X2 on Weibo. Earlier, related news was also released. Today, the well-known concept video blogger Concept Creator has produced a OPPO Find X2 rendered video based on existing information.
In terms of configuration, according to the information exposed earlier, it is expected that the new OPPO Find X2 will be released in Q1 of 2020. It will use the Snapdragon 865 platform, equipped with sensors customized by Sony, and will debut the All Pixel Omni-directional technology. PDAF), focusing performance will be greatly improved.
In terms of screens, the quality of OPPO Find X2 screens will be greatly improved in all aspects, which should be the most overbearing screen in OPPO history.
There is currently no more information about the new OPPO Find X2.


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Post Holdings Inc. continued its recent buying binge in December by agreeing to acquire Golden Boy Foods Ltd. and Dymatize Enterprises LLC in unrelated transactions. These transactions further Post's efforts to expand into the private label and active nutrition categories.
Golden Boy is a Vancouver-based manufacturer of private label peanut and other nut butters, as well as dried fruit, baking and snacking nuts. It has three plants in Canada and two in the U.S. The privately owned company came from affiliates of Tricor Pacific Capital Inc. and other shareholders.
Post has agreed to pay C$320 million for Golden Boy, which had sales of C$164 million in the first nine months of last year. It will be combined into Dakota Growers Pasta Co., an acquisition Post completed on Jan. 2.
Another privately held company, Dymatize manufactures protein powders, bars and nutritional supplements under the Dymatize and Supreme Protein brands. The products are in the "rapidly growing" sports nutrition supplement and nutrition bar categories. Dymatize was bought from affiliates of TA Associates and other owners. Post agreed to pay $380 million.
Post also acquired Premier Nutrition last September and in May the branded and private label cereal, granola and snacks businesses of Hearthside Solutions.


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PORTLAND, Ore.– TransCore’s latest North American Freight Index shows that August was the highest level in five years.
Spot market freight availability in August increased 75 percent over the same month last year.
On a month-over-month basis, however, load volume was 14 percent lower in August than in July. This follows the seasonal pattern of the past five years, when spot market loads declines by an average of 5 percent in the latter half of the summer months.
Though, counter to historical trends, van spot market freight declined by the same 14 percent. Usually, van loads increase by an average of 5 percent in August, compared to July.
TransCore says the dip in van freight may be from an acceleration in imported goods shipments. Container traffic reportedly arrived early this year, to avoid down-time in busy West Coast ports.
TransCore’s year-over-year comparisons are expected to be progressively less dramatic in the coming months, the company says, as spot market freight volume in the last quarter will be compared to when freight volume began improving slightly at the end of 2009.
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(CNN) – Sports are on hold, movie theaters are closed and so are amusement parks.
But Americans held captive at home by the coronavirus can turn to Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and other streaming services, outliers in an entertainment industry otherwise brought to an unprecedented standstill.
One analyst says the demand for streaming services will only increase with consumers around the world stuck in place.
Disney’s new streaming service responded by making “Frozen 2” available earlier than planned, but so far major streamers have yet to announce major changes in their lineups or reduced subscriptions prices.
Some niche streamers are extending their free-trial window from a week to 30 days.
The European Union wants video platforms including Netflix to slow down streaming during the coronavirus pandemic to keep the internet from crashing.
Officials are asking the platforms to stop showing video in high definition.
Hundreds of millions of people are working from home, and even more children are out of school.
The result has been unprecedented internet usage and an intense strain on bandwidth.
European Commissioner Thierry Breton is also asking that viewers switch to standard definition “when HD is not necessary.”
Breton said he has spoken with Netflix CEO Reed Hastings.
A Netflix spokesperson said Hastings and Breton were expected to speak again on Thursday.


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The Tokyo Motor Show, as we’ve been noticing from various stories of late, was a hotbed this year for electric vehicle ideas. Another one in this vein came from Kawasaki, which used the event to showcase its futuristic J concept personal transportation concept vehicle.
Collaborative engineering has become more vital now than ever, as companies are learning what they do best and are looking to others to help perfect a product. Brammo, an electric motorcycle company, did just that when they started development on what they hoped would be the fastest electric ...
Take five students in their 20s at the University of Life Sciences in Oslo, Norway who are all studying machinery and product development or process technology.
Illinois-based manufacturer Roehr has debuted an all-new electric motorcycle called the eSuperSport based, in part, on a Hyosung Motors USA GT650R.
Chip Yates, the racer and designer of a 240 horsepower, 400 pounds of torque electric motorcycle, is claiming that his vehicle is the world’s fastest, having reached a top speed of 190.6 miles per hour.
It wasn’t too long ago that electric motorcycle company Zero Motorcycles overhauled its 2011 lineup, unveiling what was said to be "sweeping technical improvements."
Electric motorcycles have been gaining ground in the racing world, and Miika Mahonen, an industrial designer from San Francisco, thinks BMW should make one ASAP.
Mission Motors is on a mission to build the "purest expression of electric performance."


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They are two St. Charles Parish natives who decided they wanted a “completely new and revolutionary” business and set out to New York’s floral district to get it off the ground.
When they returned, Lauren Bercier and Laken Swan made six floral collections with the silk flowers they bought, set up their online business and started renting the arrangements. They weren’t sure if it would work, but they’d done their homework. Nearly three years later, the cousins are happily reporting the kind of numbers that have taken their business to more than 40 states in the U.S. and are getting inquiries that will likely take their business international to English speaking countries.
“This could be really big,” Bercier said. “We’re right on target with the way millennials are spending money and shopping.”
Something Borrowed Blooms literally budded as their business in 2015. By December of that year, they had their first wedding and along with it came the confidence that people were looking for their service.
A customer can save up to 70 percent on renting flowers over buying live ones.
Less than three years after going into business, the Hahnville High School graduates are averaging 60 weddings a month, a number they anticipate could hit 100 by mid-year.
They’ve boosted advertising and are about to launch an affiliate program where they work with wedding planners.
Bercier lives in Lafayette, where their business is based and houses more than 1,000 floral items. They have two employees there. Swan and Bercier’s sister, Cameron, who both live in Luling, help design the collections, and Swan educates their workers on how to build each floral piece and ensures items made match what customers are seeing on their website.
“We noticed brides wanted to allocate their budget differently, possibly paying for their own wedding,” Bercier said. “Millennials are more likely to spend their money on experiences, and being more a part of the community.”
Swan added a well-thought-out wedding budget resonated with these customers.
Today’s millennial bride is also more economical, so it wasn’t surprising when they observed them trying to do their own flowers.
But they also noticed it didn’t always come out well and that’s when the two recognized their opportunity.
Intrigued with the Rent the Runway concept, they decided this could be their direction, too. The online business rents out designer clothing for anything from proms to weddings for considerably less than buying the clothing, and it was successful.
Bercier and Swan agreed they’d found their niche and went to work.
“We can’t do funky, craft store flowers so we researched and found the floral district in New York,” Bercier said. “We found a really good wholesaler with good quality silk flowers.”
They did 50 weddings in their first year in business, which the two considered healthy traction. With the numbers continuing to grow, they put their plans for growth in motion.
By May of last year, they launched an updated website and increased social media promotion.
“We created a website completely mobile friendly that allowed a bride to do her entire flower order from a mobile device,” Bercier said. “They can add all they want to their cart – bridal bouquets, bridesmaid’s pieces, centerpieces or garland. You add the wedding date and shipping information along with payment and you’re done.”
They are now promoting nine flower collections with a 10th due out soon to be called the Jane Collection (named after Bercier’s late mother-in-law Jane Bercier). It will feature the timeless, classical style of white flowers with more greenery.
They are in bloom, too.
With business growing and about to make a global leap, Bercier and Swan are glad they had the confidence to make that trip to New York that put them in motion with their own business.
“One of the things that makes me really proud is going to Facebook and seeing our reviews,” Swan said. “We don’t have a personal relationship with our brides. These are people all over the country who found a solid value in our product and are willing to share their experience with other brides about this special day in their lives.”


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First-quarter 2020 net income was $770 million, or $1 a share, compared with $834 million, or $1.02 a share in the first quarter of 2019, the company said Wednesday.
Meanwhile, CSX’s first-quarter operating ratio was a record 58.7%, compared with 59.5% for the same period a year ago. Operating ratio, a company’s operating expenses as a percentage of revenue, can be an indicator of a company’s financial health. A lower operating ratio implies improved financial performance.
First-quarter revenue decreased 5% to $2.86 billion as gains for merchandise revenue weren’t enough to offset declines for coal and other revenue, according to the company. CSX attributed the revenue and volume decline for coal to lower shipments of utility coal and export coal, while the intermodal volumes were under pressure from extended closures in China because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
CSX said the “other” revenue was primarily due to a favorable contract settlement with a customer in the prior year and lower revenue for demurrage and intermodal storage in the current year.
But first-quarter expenses fell 7% to $1.68 billion on what CSX described as continued efficiency gains. Operating income fell 3% to $1.18 billion.
Meanwhile, train velocity in the first quarter rose 4% to 21.2 mph compared with the first quarter of 2019, while terminal dwell, or the amount of time a train spends at a terminal, fell 3% to 8.3 hours.
“I am extremely proud of our outstanding CSX employees for keeping the railroad running at such a high level during these unprecedented times and enabling the delivery of critical goods across the country,” said Jim Foote, CSX president and chief executive officer. “Their hard work and dedication over the past few weeks, and throughout our transformation, have put CSX on the strongest footing it has ever been heading into this period of economic uncertainty.”


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Sezzle is the next payments company on equity raising watchlists.
The company is believed to be considering an $80 million raising with the help of stockbroker Ord Minnett.
Funds raised would be used to help fuel growth, at a time when the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns have proved helpful to online retailers and their payments providers.
It comes amid huge investor interest in payments providers, with Afterpay launching a capital raising and founder sell-down this week, as well as Brisbane-based buy now, pay later outfit Fu opening a Series A funding round and ASX aspirant and fellow BNPL player Laybuy launching a pre-IPO offer.
Sezzle shares were up 54 per cent and trading around $7.50 at lunchtime on Thursday.
News of the potential raising comes the same week Sezzle provided a second quarter update to the market where it reported June quarter merchant sales had risen 58 per cent to $US188 million ($267 million), and total merchants were up 27 per cent to 16,112.
Meanwhile, active consumers using Sezzle had jumped 28 per cent from the March quarter to the June quarter to 1.48 million.
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Canadian asset manager Brookfield has dropped out of the $US2.5 billion ($3.7 billion) auction for a stake in infrastructure assets associated with Shell's QCLNG gas project in Queensland.
Healius' safety net has got the wobbles.
North American valuations and advisory firm Duff and Phelps has tapped Australian insolvency industry doyen Stephen Parbery to help build its new Australian practice.
After a 15 month long hiatus, under administration gold miner Gascoyne Resources is poised to resume trading on the ASX.
The big Australian invoice and debtor finance company has kicked off its search for a new boss to take the reins from industry veteran Peter Langham next year.
- Sally Patten


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Volta Trucks has confirmed engineering work has begun on smaller Zero models
The two new variants – 7.5-tonnes and 12-tonnes – will be joining the original 16-tonner, with production to begin in 2024.
Furthermore, the design of the vehicle has been completed by Warwick-based Astheimer Design.
The two smaller Zero trucks will feature a number of attributes seen on the larger model.
For example, the three versions share the same cab and working environment.
In addition, the low central seating position and optimised visibility has been retained.
However, the two new trucks will be able to operate differently to the original.
The 7.5-tonne Zero, for example, can operate on Sundays in some areas where larger vehicles are currently banned.
A pilot fleet of 7.5- and 12-tonne trucks is set to enter customer trials in 2023.
Therefore, there will be plenty of opportunities for operators to sample the smaller Zero models before production.
The Volta Trucks model will see vehicles launched into Paris and London initially.
Then, other cities will follow such as Milan, Madrid and Randstad, in the Netherlands.
In total, the company expects production to move from 14,000 units in 2024 to more than 27,000 in 2025.
Thereafter, Volta expects numbers to increase further, with future production sites to be considered.
Ian Collins, chief product officer of Volta Trucks, explained the need for smaller Zero trucks.
“We knew that we’d need to scale the innovative packaging and cab concept to accommodate different size vehicles.
“Our customers need 7.5- and 12-tonne vehicles – and they need them quickly!
“Our partners at Astheimer have created an inspiring vehicle design that we’ve now started to engineer and bring to life.”
Concluding, Collins said R&D operations have been scaled up so the company can deliver on its promises.


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Upon reviewing Novint's Falcon peripheral for the PC, we said we loved the hardware, but that software support was going to be key moving forward. Novint seemed to agree, as the company has since made an impressive deal to bring Falcon support to a number of EA games. Today, it has announced that support is coming for Valve's biggest titles.
The list of games is impressive: Counter-Strike Source, Half-Life Episode One and Two, Team Fortress 2, Portal, and the upcoming Left 4 Dead. This should coincide with the launch of the pistol grip for the Falcon, an add-on that gives you the feeling of actually firing a gun and feeling the recoil. There is also a special Orange Box bundle planned for the Falcon.
"Recently we've seen how new interfaces have changed gaming. The Falcon adds a new level of interaction for PC gaming, adding compelling force feedback while maintaining controls as accurate as a mouse, and now the millions of Steam gamers will have the chance to play, feeling this new type of experience," said Valve president and cofounder Gabe Newell.
This is an impressive deal, and the upcoming bundle is even better: for $189 you get the Falcon, the touch-enabled version of the Orange Box, and the Pistol Grip. This is yet another big move for Novint, and I'm looking forward to playing Left 4 Dead with haptic feedback.


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US Surgical takes up products option:
This article was originally published in Clinica
United States Surgical is to exercise its option to buy American BioMed's stents, atherectomy catheters and toposcopic catheters plus related intellectual property rights. The price will be $12 million, in addition to the $2 million US Surgical paid for the 90-day option last month (see Clinica No 654, p 14). American BioMed will retain the catheter, heart assist pump, spinal dissector and other businesses owned by its CathLab subsidiary. The company has also stated that an unnamed third party, which originally indicated it would top the offer price, has pulled out negotiations.


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Meet the BoomCast, a 3D-printed cast with embedded electronics, which gives patients more freedom and allows doctors to monitor a patient's progress anywhere in the world.
We discuss reactions to Microsoft's new operating system, GameSpot's Sarah Lynch explains the tech situation in the new "Mission Impossible" movie and more.
A Kentucky man thinks it's unacceptable when a drone floats over his property. So he shoots it down. Then the drone's owners come calling.
ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti took many photos during her time on the International Space Station, and now they've been stitched together to create a virtual tour of the ISS.
This week on Crave, we set a reminder for the Lexus Hoverboard unveiling on August 5 and take a virtual self-guided tour of the International Space Station. It's the Crave show!
Yahoo takes away sound from video as a twist to attract younger users. Also, Lexus teases that hoverboard again, and Google Translate adds more languages.
A new video from mad inventor Colin Furze shows his latest creation, a bed that ejects snoozers when it's time to wake up, in action. One thing's for sure. This guy will never oversleep again.
Need some greasy Polaroids with your next bucket of fried chicken? KFC invents the Memories Bucket, which lets people print pictures right from the bucket with Bluetooth.
A new teaser video from the company promises you'll see the magnetic-levitation device in action next week.
With incredible ease of flying and stabilised 4K video, the DJI Phantom 3 is great for filmmakers. Hit play to check out our video review.
FitNatic's Indiegogo campaign says the Nourish, a tabletop nutrition device, can customize the mixes you need based on your Fitbit, Apple Watch or other health data source. And its pods glow.
Whether for cooking in the kitchen or snapping selfies hands-free, this little sticky pad looks like a winner.
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Investor revolt against Conrad Black
A MAJOR shareholder in Conrad Black's newspaper company Hollinger has threatened legal action.
He wants to block dealings by directors that have added millions of dollars to the Canadian Press baron's personal account, according to Forbes magazine.
Christopher Browne, managing director of New York investment firm Tweedy, Browne, is livid that Black's fortunes have soared while other shareholders in Hollinger, which owns The Daily Telegraph and Sunday Telegraph, have suffered.
And he is prepared to protest at the company's annual meeting in New York on Wednesday.
Browne said that shares in Hollinger, trading at 1995 levels, would double if shareholders had confidence in Black's leadership.
'But the only way we're going to see that is if he sells or stops taking the funds, or someone gets rid of him.'
Browne's anger is directed at private deals totalling $74 million (£46 million) struck by Black with companies doing business with Hollinger. But Black, who is chairman, chief executive officer and controlling shareholder, has hit back at Browne.
'It isn't anyone's business how I make my personal money,' he told Forbes magazine.
The company did not return our phone calls seeking further comment.
Shareholders at the annual meeting are expected to argue that the $74 million should have gone to Hollinger's long-suffering investors.
Chicago-based Hollinger announced last week that foreign currency losses pushed it into the red in the first quarter, just a month after ratings agency Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating to 'junk' status.
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DURHAM, N.C., Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Inc. magazine has ranked American Journal Experts number 872 on its sixth annual Inc. 500|5000, an exclusive ranking of the nation's fastest-growing private companies. The list represents the most comprehensive look at the most important segment of the economy—America's independent entrepreneurs. American Journal Experts (AJE) joins Yelp, yogurt maker Chobani, Giftcards.com, KIND and famed hatmaker Tilly's, among other prominent brands featured on this year's list.
"We are proud to be the 872nd fastest-growing company on the Inc. 2012 list, which is especially rewarding because we are also larger than 99.6% of U.S. companies," says AJE founder Shashi Mudunuri. "American Journal Experts is working to improve the way that researchers discover, validate, and share human knowledge, and this award brings much appreciated attention to our mission. With a number of growth opportunities ahead of us, we hope to remain on this prestigious list for many years to come."
In a stagnant economic environment, median growth rate of 2012 Inc. 500|5000 companies remains an impressive 97 percent. The companies on this year's list report having created over 400,000 jobs in the past three years, and aggregate revenue among the honorees reached $299 billion.
The 2012 Inc. 500|5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2008 to 2011. To qualify, companies must be U.S.-based, privately held, for profit, and independent—not subsidiaries or divisions of other companies—as of December 31, 2011.
"Now, more than ever, we depend on Inc. 500/5000 companies to spur innovation, provide jobs, and drive the economy forward. Growth companies, not large corporations, are where the action is," says Inc. Editor Eric Schurenberg.
About American Journal Experts
American Journal Experts (AJE) was founded in 2004 to help the international scientific research community overcome communication barriers to academic publication. AJE provides editing, translation, content review and other manuscript services designed to help researchers throughout the publication process. Services are performed by academic experts in a wide range of areas of study, and are tailored to the needs of the research community. The American Journal Experts team strongly believes that it can accelerate the pace of discovery by helping researchers publish their work more quickly, and by helping their ideas reach a wider audience. www.journalexperts.com
Founded in 1979 and acquired in 2005 by Mansueto Ventures, Inc. is the only major brand dedicated exclusively to owners and managers of growing private companies, with the aim to deliver real solutions for today's innovative company builders. Total monthly audience reach for the brand has grown significantly from 2,000,000 in 2010 to over 6,000,000 today. Complete results of the Inc. 5000, including company profiles and an interactive database that can be sorted by industry, region, and other criteria, can be found at www.inc.com/5000. For more information, visit www.inc.com.
SOURCE American Journal Experts


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NEW YORK (AP) - In case Americans want to scarf down their fast-food even faster, KFC is stripping the bones out of its chicken.
I am usually pretty good at explaining Social Security laws and regulations. And just as importantly, I can provide the rationale behind various rules. In other words, I can tell you what purpose a certain policy serves or why Congress wrote a particular Social Security law the way they did.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Americans borrowed more in February to buy cars and attend school, but were more careful with their credit cards.
WASHINGTON (AP) - A streak of robust job growth came to a halt in March, signaling that U.S. employers may have grown cautious in a fragile economy.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A federal judge on Friday struck down an effort to form a class action lawsuit to go after Apple, Google and five other technology companies for allegedly forming an illegal cartel to tamp down workers' wages and prevent the loss of their best engineers during a multiyear conspiracy broken up by government regulators.
NEW YORK (AP) - The internet is blossoming into quite the virtual vineyard.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose last week by 28,000, the third straight increase.
MENLO PARK (AP) - With its new "Home" on Android gadgets, Facebook is trying to prove that a company doesn't have to make a smartphone or operating system to define how people interact with mobile technology. The audacious move will provide further insights into how pervasive Facebook has become, testing whether people want to be greeted with content from the social network every time they look at their phones.
LONDON (AP) - Capturing the unruly, ever-changing Internet is like trying to pin down a raging river.
NEW YORK (AP) - Shares of Best Buy jumped on Thursday after it announced plans to create store-within-store kiosks for Samsung products - a vote of confidence from a major consumer electronics retailer that the brick-and-mortar format is still an important way to sell products.
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Gun enthusiasts fearful of new weapon controls and alarmed by rumors of government hoarding are buying bullets practically by the bushel, making it hard for stores nationwide to keep shelves stocked and even putting a pinch on some local law enforcement departments.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple is set for a possible summer launch of the next iPhone, rather than a fall launch like the last two models, according to a report Tuesday in The Wall Street Journal.
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Securities and Exchange Commission will allow public companies to make significant announcements on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites provided they alert investors which sites they intend to use.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Dan Porter is leaving Zynga a year after the online game maker bought his company, OMGPop, for $183 million.
NEW YORK (AP) - To see what Facebook has become, look no further than the Hutzler 571 Banana Slicer.
WASHINGTON (AP) - With mortgage rates sliding for a fifth straight week, the possibility of locking in a rate below 4 percent is tempting for consumers and could unleash a wave of refinancing. It may even convince some Americans to buy their first home.
ATLANTA (AP) - PulteGroup Inc. on Thursday reported third-quarter net income of $140.5 million.
• CAMEL MAKER REYNOLDS SNUFFS OUT WORKPLACE SMOKING: RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - Camel cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. is snuffing out smoking in its offices and buildings.
NEW YORK (AP) - A vintage Apple computer that was one of only 50 made in Steve Jobs' garage in 1976 sold for $905,000 at auction on Wednesday, far exceeding pre-sale estimates and outdoing a previous high price of more than $671,000 paid in Germany last year.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Come January, nearly 60 million Social Security recipients will get benefit increases averaging $20 a month, the third straight year of historically small pay hikes.
NEW YORK (AP) - After posting yet another disappointing quarter, McDonald's CEO Don Thompson said Tuesday the company hasn't been keeping up with the times and that changes are in store for its U.S. restaurants.
NEW YORK (AP) - Toys R Us is pulling its four collectible dolls based on characters from AMC's hit series "Breaking Bad" after taking heat from a Florida mom who launched a petition campaign last week.
NEW YORK (AP) - America has rejected the idea of cappuccino-flavored Lay's potato chips.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple's mobile payment system, Apple Pay, made its debut Monday. Now you can flash your new iPhone in the checkout line to pay for food, clothing and other goods. There's no need to pull out your credit card.
ATLANTA (AP) - UPS says it is raising rates for a number of its shipping services by an average of 4.9 percent for 2015.
CUPERTINO (AP) - The iPhone again proved to be the engine behind Apple's blockbuster financial performance, driving quarterly results well past expectations.
NEW YORK (AP) - Cord cutters rejoiced last week after HBO and CBS announced plans to sell stand-alone streaming services, a move that cable and satellite television providers have resisted for years. Customers tired of paying big fees for hundreds of channels they never watch just to have access to a few favorite shows might be expected to start cancelling cable service in droves. Get Netflix, throw in HBO, add a network here and there - why would anyone sign up now for cable?
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple unveiled a thinner iPad Thursday with a faster processor and a better camera as it tries to drive excitement for tablets amid slowing demand. The company also released an update to its Mac operating system and introduced a high-resolution iMac model that might appeal to heavy watchers of television over the Internet.
MOUNTAIN VIEW (AP) - Google's third-quarter earnings slipped as the Internet search leader hired nearly 3,000 more employees while pouring more money into its zest for innovation and quest for new markets.
CUPERTINO (AP) - Apple showed off thinner iPads and a new iMac with a high-resolution display on Thursday. Sleek and stunning, yes, but not likely to spark the next iRevolution. The tech giant's bigger strategic bet is that mobile pay service Apple Pay, debuting Monday, will be the next thing you didn't know you needed - but now can't live without.


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A significant growth in energy prices has driven up the cost of running greenhouses in the UK to a financially unsustainable level for many producers. According to the British Tomato Growers’ Association (BTGA), several farmers have therefore opted out of planting energy-intensive winter crops, which is causing supply shortages and consequently driving up some vegetable prices. The price of cherry tomatoes in the UK rose by 58% year on year (y-o-y) in March 2022, reaching an average of GBP 3.83/kg. Growers in Europe are also facing similar challenges, thus supplies of imported vegetables are likely to decline, potentially causing shortages in supermarkets in the upcoming months.
Greenhouses are essential for the sustainable cultivation of various vegetables, including tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers and root vegetables. Natural gas, electricity and diesel are all required to keep greenhouses running, largely for the heating, maintenance and watering systems. Tight supply combined with firm demand has driven the cost of these inputs to unprecedented levels this year. The supply shortage has recently been exacerbated by the Russia-Ukraine geopolitical conflict which has contributed to a further peak in energy prices as Russia is the largest exporter of natural gas globally. The price of natural gas (NBPI UK) peaked at an all-time high of GBP 4.02/Therm, up 900% y-o-y on the 8th March 2022. Prices have since declined, reaching GBP 2.53/Therm on 11th April, yet remain well above 2021 levels (+430% y-o-y).
The substantial pressure of rising costs has resulted in many vegetable producers being forced to cease production for winter 2022, thus leading to a lower availability of supplies, particularly for tomatoes. Fast food chain, McDonald’s has been hit by the UK tomato shortage, and consequently is rationing the ingredient by only including one slice of tomato rather than two in some burger options. Mintec estimates that supplies will remain limited over the short-term, potentially resulting in further difficulties for fast food outlets and retailers to source ingredients, and firmer prices.


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August 23, 2012
I can't believe what I was reading. "Who cares" is the bottom line for some seniors. What if our parents thought the same way? How can we say we don't want our grandchildren to be burdened with the national debt, and then say who cares what happens about their future medical insurance? I, for one, do care what happens to my children and my grandchildren. The big problem is we are paying less into the system because manufacturing is down, we lost a lot of the major companies, and we lost a lot of jobs to outsourcing and to greed.
August 20, 2012
Now that Chick-fil-A CEO Dan Cathy has shared with us his personal opinion about gay marriage and had to have help getting all his profits to the bank, will he next share his personal opinion about abortion? That ought to make his bottom line skyrocket. Why are so many people led by a modern-day Pied Piper, instead of realizing it's a marketing tool to make money? I'm sure store employees didn't ask for identification and marriage certificates all the years he's been in business, so why talk about this now?
July 24, 2012
Air Products on Tuesday cut its full-year profit forecast on declining demand for electronics and weaker-than-expected economic growth overseas. Earnings per share are expected to be $5.40 to $5.45 in 2012, the Trexlertown company announced in a press release on its third-quarter performance. Air Products had previously predicted $5.47 to $5.60 for the year. "The current economic uncertainty continues to impact our near-term volume growth," CEO John McGlade said in the release.
June 9, 2012
I saw an ad in the June 3 Morning Call that astounded me — pleasantly. Lehigh Valley Health Network's Valley Preferred has an employee wellness program for local businesses called BeneFIT. In this ad for BeneFIT, there is an image of Kathy Wert of Wert's Cafe in Allentown. What was so delightfully astounding was that the plate of food that she was showing was piled high with vegetables: broccoli, squash, peas, carrots, peppers, cauliflower. Is the ad possibly suggesting that personal health is somehow connected to eating vegetables?
May 7, 2012
An educational tip for parents of Wilson Area High School students According to the Wilson Area School District website, parents of students attending the high school can register their Bottom Dollar Foods rewards cards at the store's customer service counter to earn points that the school can use to purchase educational resources. The school number is 51388.
February 25, 2012
As a woman who believes we should support Susan G. Komen for the Cure, I will not support it anymore if my money helps Planned Parenthood in any way. Planned Parenthood has destroyed the safest place in the woman — the womb — because the bottom line is abortion. Women, please wake up. Planned Parenthood destroys what it touches. Providence LaPadula Allentown


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Huawei Technologies Co Ltd posted a 15 p.c upward thrust in first-half income, with trade knowledge appearing marketplace percentage positive aspects at house for the smartphone maker that has been in large part close out of the United States marketplace over safety considerations.
The global’s third-largest smartphone maker stated on Tuesday income rose to CNY 325.7 billion ($47.7 billion) for the six months to June 30 because of sturdy performances throughout its companies together with smartphones, telecom apparatus and IT infrastructure services and products. It maintained the tempo of expansion observed in the year-ago length.
Operating margin in the length rose to 14 p.c, from 11 p.c a yr in the past. Shenzhen-based Huawei’s remark gave no different monetary main points.
The Chinese marketplace is essential for Huawei as it has come underneath expanding fireplace in United States, Australia and different countries over considerations it would facilitate Chinese executive spying. It has been thwarted in its efforts to determine its US cell handset trade. And Australia is making ready to prohibit Huawei from supplying apparatus for its deliberate 5G broadband community, assets say.
Huawei has denied it facilitates spying and has stated this can be a non-public corporate now not underneath Chinese executive keep watch over and now not matter to Chinese safety rules in another country.
Huawei expanded its marketplace percentage in the Chinese smartphone marketplace to a report 27 p.c in the second one quarter from 21 p.c a yr previous, consistent with marketplace analysis company Canalys.
The estimated marketplace percentage positive aspects in smartphone shipments come as a slowdown in the arena’s greatest smartphone marketplace turns out to were arrested, despite the fact that analysts say a large growth is not likely any time quickly. Industrywide smartphone shipments in China rose greater than 10 p.c to above 100 million in the second one quarter, consistent with Canalys, after crashing in the primary quarter.
Bigger rival Samsung Electronics Co previous on Tuesday posted its slowest quarterly benefit expansion in greater than a yr as its flagship Galaxy S9 instrument ignored gross sales objectives and less expensive Chinese-made handsets careworn margins.
Huawei’s client department, which properties its smartphones trade, accounted for kind of a 3rd of its general income remaining yr. The corporate were given half of its income from its provider trade.
Huawei didn’t supply an in depth efficiency breakdown in its remark on Tuesday. The corporate does now not liberate a benefit quantity for the half of yr.
© Thomson Reuters 2018


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The way restaurateur Jeff Kavin sees it, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti’s plan to hike the minimum wage will have a maximum impact on his business – and it won’t be pretty.
Garcetti last week called for the minimum wage for all employees in the city to rise to $13.25 an hour over the next three years and to be indexed annually to inflation thereafter. The first hike, from the current $9 an hour to $10.25 an hour, would hit sometime next year, possibly by July 1.
Kavin, who owns Greenblatt’s Delicatessen in Hollywood, said the wage hike will force him to cut back his hours and scale back on his hiring.
“A $1 hike in the minimum wage I can take,” Kavin said. “But a 47 percent jump in three years? That’s just too much. There’s only so much more I can charge for a pastrami sandwich. Something else is going to have to give.”
Kavin is not alone. Restaurateurs, retailers, apparel makers and other businesses with heavy concentrations of minimum-wage workers would be hit hard by the huge series of hikes in the minimum wage. They already absorbed a statewide minimum wage hike to $9 from $8 this past July 1. The state minimum wage will rise again to $10 on Jan. 1, 2016.
Under the Garcetti plan, the minimum wage for an estimated 567,000 workers would rise to $10.25 an hour next year, $11.75 an hour in 2016 and $13.25 an hour in 2017 before being indexed annually starting in 2018. The exact dates the hikes would take effect will be hammered out as the proposal wends its way through the City Council late this year.
Garcetti’s plan – or something very much like it – is expected to easily pass the council. Seven of the 15 council members attended the Labor Day press conference where Garcetti formally announced the wage plan and are on board with the proposal. Only eight votes are needed for passage; several of the remaining council members have said they support the concept of raising the minimum wage and are waiting for a more detailed ordinance before deciding whether to commit.
Path from poverty
Proponents of the wage increases argue they are necessary because the current minimum wage of $9 an hour (up to $18,700 a year) is not enough for a worker to support a family in Los Angeles. According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 27 percent of Angelenos – roughly 1 million people – live below the federal poverty line (defined as $23,650 a year for a family of four). Most of those people are working, either full time at one job or holding down multiple jobs.
“We all are now subsidizing these million people in poverty with our tax dollars,” said Garcetti spokesman Jeff Millman.
What’s more, proponents say, employees earning the $9 hourly minimum cannot afford to rent close to where they work without making tremendous sacrifices; buying a home, of course, is out of the question.
Some business leaders support Garcetti’s plan, including billionaire philanthropist Eli Broad and Rick Caruso, the billionaire shopping center magnate. Both have said the problem of poverty in Los Angeles has reached a critical level and that hiking the minimum wage is long overdue. They also argue that paying workers higher wages would pump more money into the local economy.
Others are generally supportive of the move to raise the minimum wage, but said the Garcetti plan moves too fast. They noted that with the combined statewide and Garcetti hikes, the minimum wage would jump more than 65 percent in four years.
“We do support the concept of fairness in wages and agree that it’s probably time to raise the minimum wage,” said Courtney Saavedra, director of marketing and public relations for Kitson, a high-end West Hollywood clothing retailer with four stores in Los Angeles. “But it absolutely would be better if we had an extra year or two to get to $13.25 an hour.”
Saavedra said that extra time would allow the company to adjust without having to make disruptive moves. She added that Kitson would probably be more selective in its hiring, especially at its L.A. stores.
“If we’re going to have to pay at that level – which we think is a good idea – then we’re going to have to get the highest-quality workers available,” she said.
Several California cities are weighing minimum-wage increases, including San Francisco and Oakland.
In San Diego, the City Council last month overrode Mayor Kevin Faulconer’s veto of a bill to increase the minimum wage to $11.50 an hour by January 2017. The San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce and the San Diego Small Business Coalition are mounting a petition campaign to put the hike before voters, with the expectation that they and Faulconer would campaign against it.
L.A.-area business groups are watching that referendum campaign closely. But even if that effort to overturn the minimum-wage hike succeeds, it would be more of an uphill battle in Los Angeles, with its higher proportion of Democrat-allied voters and a mayor who supports hiking the wage.
If stopping the wage proposal is unrealistic, pushing through changes could be more feasible for local business leaders. At the top of the list: obtaining a one-year extension to 2018 for the $13.25 wage.
“At the very least, we need to consider extending out the time and spreading the pain a little further down the road,” said Stuart Waldman, chief executive of the Valley Industry and Commerce Association.
Waldman said his group will also likely push for elimination of the annual indexing to the consumer price index that would kick in starting in 2018. He noted that inflation continued to increase even during the recent recession.
“Having an automatic raise during a recession just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
Both Waldman and Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce Chief Executive Gary Toebben said the city should enact offsetting proposals to save businesses money, such as eliminating the gross receipts business tax more rapidly. The City Council is considering a plan to eliminate the tax in gradual fashion over several years.
For Hollywood deli owner Kavin, it’s not just paying the higher wages to the dozen or so of his 35 employees who now earn at or just above the minimum. With a substantially bigger payroll, the restaurant would be kicked into a higher rate category for workers’ compensation premiums, costing him several thousand dollars more each year. Payroll taxes would also rise. And his vendors, facing their own cost pressures to deal with the wage hike, would charge him higher prices for the food ingredients he orders.
“We’re now open 17 hours a day,” Kavin said. “When you start plugging in the numbers under the Garcetti wage hike, you don’t want to be open 17 hours a day.”
Toebben said preliminary estimates are that the workers’ compensation premium hikes and payroll tax increases would add more than $3,000 in annual costs for each minimum-wage worker in the city, on top of the nearly $9,000 in additional wages, bringing the total annual additional cost to a business for each worker to roughly $12,000.
“This is a hidden cost that often gets overlooked but is even more crushing for the small-business owner and non-profits,” Toebben said.
Garcetti’s plan would also indirectly hit businesses that don’t even have any employees in the city, if those businesses rely on local suppliers.
One such business is Karen Kane Inc., a women’s clothing manufacturer in Vernon. President Lonnie Kane said many of his company’s garment subcontractors are within L.A. city limits.
“I expect those sewing contractors will seek at least a 25 percent markup,” Kane said.
What’s more, an increased wage in Los Angeles could force him to raise his wages, even though he wouldn’t be subject to the L.A. rules.
“If we’re paying our workers $11 an hour and they can go a couple miles up the road and receive $13.25 an hour,” he said, “then we may have to pay more to keep the quality workers here.”
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OSLO: A court in Norway has sided with Datatilsynet, the country’s data protection authority, affirming the legality of a daily fine imposed on Meta Platforms for invasive behaviour-based marketing on Facebook and Instagram, reported Xinhua.
In a judgment delivered on Wednesday, the Oslo District Court fully endorsed Datatilsynet’s action, dismissing Meta’s plea for a temporary injunction to halt the fine and stating that there was no cause to undermine the regulator’s judgment.
In July, Datatilsynet said it considered Meta’s behaviour-based marketing practices illegal as they excessively monitored user behaviour. As a result, it argued, the technology company must halt such practices in Norway immediately.
Meta faced a compulsory fine of 1 million Norwegian kroner (US$93,380) per day, starting on Aug 14 following its failure to comply with the ban.
The tech giant subsequently filed for a temporary injunction in the Oslo District Court, asserting that Datatilsynet’s directives were disproportionate, unfeasible and in conflict with other laws.
Rejecting these claims, the court also ordered Meta to cover Datatilsynet’s legal costs.
“We are very pleased with the court ruling and see it as a major win for privacy,“ commented Line Coll, director of Datatilsynet.
In a statement, the date regulator said it is now contemplating taking the decision to the European Data Protection Board in an effort to expand the scope of the ban to the entire European Union/ European Economic Area region. -Bernama


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NEW YORK (TheStreet) - Cloud communications company Twilio (TWLO) - Get Twilio, Inc. Class A Report has been on fire since its June 23 initial public offering. That day, shares of the company finished at $28.79, a 92% increase from its $15 IPO price.
As of early-afternoon trading Friday, shares of the San Francisco company were at $52.78.
Is this kind of growth sustainable? Loop Capital President Kourtney Gibson thinks so.
"I think it has plenty of room still to grow. I don't think it's overvalued," she said in an appearance on CNBC's "Halftime Report."
Twilio provides programming interfaces that allow software developers to add the capacity to send and receive text messages and phone calls to their applications. Ride-hailing app Uber, department store operator Nordstrom (JWN), housing-rental startup Airbnb and video-streaming service Netflix (NFLX) are some of the company's more notable clients.
"They are just knocking the cover off the ball," said Gibson, who bought shares of the company at its IPO. "I think as a tech company that's actually focused on profitability - and quick profitability - they are moving down the right path."
Twilio announced its second quarter earnings on August 8. The company reported a non-GAAP net loss per share of 8 cents, which surpassed analyst estimates of a 14-cent loss per share. It also reported revenue of roughly $64.5 million, a 70% increase relative to the second quarter of 2015. Revenue had been projected at $58.22 million.


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‘Fastest production car you can buy’: Jay Leno impressed by Tesla’s Model S Plaid
Bitcoin crosses $40K after Elon Musk says Tesla may accept it again
Speeding Tesla crashes outside assisted-living center, killing passenger
Elon Musk announces in tweet that premium Tesla model has been canceled
US safety regulators said they’ve opened 30 investigations into Tesla crashes that included 10 deaths since 2016 in which Autopilot was suspected to have been in use.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration released a list to Reuters with details about accidents under review by the agency’s special crash investigations programs.
The agency has previously confirmed individual investigations into specific Tesla crashes, but had not released a full list of all Tesla crashes investigated when Autopilot, or advanced driver assistance, was suspected of being involved.
The NHTSA has found that the Autopilot system, which automates some parts of driving but doesn’t make the car fully autonomous, was not responsible for at least three of the crashes, according to Reuters.
The National Transportation Safety Board has previously blasted Tesla over its lack of safeguards for Autopilot, which has been linked to at least three fatal crashes since 2016.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment Friday, but the Elon Musk-led automaker has warned drivers that the advanced features “require active driver supervision and do not make the vehicle autonomous.”
The NHTSA said in March that it was running 23 ongoing probes of Tesla crashes. At that time, the agency had already completed four other investigations and published the results.
The Silicon Valley car maker has previously faced criticism for allegedly overstating the features of Autopilot, misleading consumers to believe that it can autonomously operate a Tesla car.
The recent accounting by the NHTSA comes after a Tesla car crashed in Texas in April, killing two people. Local police said at the time that they believed no one was behind the wheel.
“With the physical evidence and the things of that nature on the scene, that night the position of the bodies, the trajectory of the impact, they are 100 percent certain that no one was in the driver seat driving that vehicle at the time of impact. They are positive,” Harris County Constable Mark Herman told local reporters.
With Post wires
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In an attempt to replicate the Apple iPhone X
, the China-based smartphone vendor has introduced the Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s. The device sports a bezel-less design which is coupled with a notch on the front. Also, the device comes with the facial recognition technology which lets users unlock the smartphone by just looking on the screen.
The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2s flaunts a 5.9-inch Full HD+ IPS display
which is paired with excellent viewing angles. The big screen which sports a bezel-less design is ideal for enjoying videos and games. Also, the screen is protected from scratches by a layer of Corning's Gorilla Glass.


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Wednesday, 9 July 2014
Dubai to Build World’s Largest Shopping Mall
The Vice-President and Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates, Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid has announced that the world’s largest shopping centre will be built in Dubai. Entitled ‘Mall of the World’, the 4.45 million square meter project will comprise seven-kilometer promenades hosting a temperature-controlled indoor theme park covered by a retractable glass dome that opens during the Winter, a 280,000 square meter wellness center, a cultural celebration district providing conferences and weddings facilities, and hotels offering a total of 20,000 rooms to accommodate up to 180 million visitors expected each year.
Images courtesy of Dubai Holding